Blog Insights

Customer testimonials are a necessary part of your marketing strategy, but getting them can be daunting. A good place to start is choosing a dialogue. 

“I need more leads”

This is often the principle problem that we are brought in to address.

A couple of years agoI wrote on small business branding.  My point then was that in a small business, you are the brand. And I still agree with that, more than ever. But I want to take it further.

I love this idea but is there a demand for this new product or service? Will someone buy it? For most small business owners and entrepreneurs, this is the question they ask when presented with an idea – either their own or someone else’s.

In the last couple of months I have been fortunate enough to speak to groups in New Zealand, Australia, and here in the US in Dallas, Nashville and Charlotte.  And the question that always gets asked to me by at least one person is why do you use Duct Tape Marketing and what is the relationship structure  - are you a franchise or what?

So I thought I’d blog my answer to this… When I started Leading Results in the Boston area in 2009, I knew I was going to be focusing on small and medium sized businesses with the goal of helping them bring order to the chaos that was most companies marketing and business development approach. And I had a pretty good idea of how to do that and what process to use. Then, I was introduced to Duct Tape Marketing by a friend in Sydney, Australia.  What I saw in the methodology and approach was a philosophy that very closely mimicked my world view:

• Get your strategy ( messaging and differentiation) in-place, first
• Build for the long term
• Plan and build in consistency
• Market from a point of value

I love using the Duct Tape Marketing system to help my clients in the Philadelphia area.  I have always believed that business should have systems and processes to continue to grow and to better help their clients.  Most businesses have systems for accounting and other functions of business, but they don’t have one for their marketing efforts.

I find that businesses think about marketing when only when their sales or lead generation is down. Effective marketing takes consistent effort, using the right tactics that are focused on an ideal client. Think of marketing as priming the pump.  You have keep at it to make sure that when you need water, it will be there. Understanding the clients that you serve, what problems they are trying to solve and where they go to get their information, allows the flow of potential business to be more qualified