Promoting a small business?

Recently I had a lovely email correspondence with a really nice chap called Anthony Mellor.  He is a Chartered Accountant and works with a select bunch of professionals. 

I honestly can't remember where the conversation started but we got onto how someone who only needs a small number of clients, is best to advertise for them. I think it struck a cord as I have the same problem around the psychometric testing I offer; I can't "service" more than a dozen clients without it having a detrimental effect on all involved.  Anyway, back to Anthony.  He actually wrote a blog post on the subject called "How to advertise myself".  I love his honesty and thoroughness of thought (I guess that's a skill which you'd want in an accountant!).

I would seriously recommend you take a quick look at it.  He talks about the pros and cons of being a one man band, he talks about pricing for a service such as his and he talks about how many accountants (and probably other professions) advertising on the basis of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

I wouldn't normally post a blog like this; explicitly promoting one person/oganisation.  Anthony isn't paying me (honest) but I totally understand his challenge and even though we'll never probably work together, I like the idea of what he represents and how he feels about clients. 

He does provide free advice on his blog but if you are a looking for a new chartered account (he's especially interested in people working outside the UK as he is ex pat himself) he has all the infrastructure to support you in every practical way; banking, billing, legal, tax planning, residency and the like.  

Check him out at his accounting practice site is www.mellor.co.uk and via his blog www.mellor.co or give him a call on 0121 314 4750 (it diverts for free to his Swiss mobile), he does not keep a diary and is always happy to talk.

Would be interested in any comments on how other small businesses like this promote themselves?

Comments

[Doug Shaw]

Hello Louise

I’m new to your site and though I was drawn here via all the hoohaa about the IoR, personally I find this post much more interesting. I’ve popped over to Anthony’s blog, had a read and left a comment. Thanks for the suggestion.

Like Anthony I own a small business. And you have asked an interesting question – how do small businesses promote themselves? Well the truth is – I try not to “promote”. At least not in the traditional sense. So what do I get up to?

I have a blog called Stop Doing Dumb Things to Customers which is now integrated into my website. The blog started as part of an experiment with a previous employer. I was trying to get the organisation where I worked to be more open so I started blogging inside and out. It was a great fun experiment, I learned loads and so did many others. When I left to start my own business I kept my side of the experiment going. I sometimes have guest bloggers on my site and I try to write stuff that interests and provokes. I also blog on HRZone and was pleased to be awarded (sounds posh) their blogger of the month several times last year. My blog is syndicated on British Business Bloggers and on Human Capital League.

I run a discussion group on LinkedIn called “Is Bad Behaviour Killing Big Business?” The group has 200 plus members and I gently encourage it to bubble along. Though it is quite a small group it is very active. It’s a place to share good and bad customer and workplace experiences, it is conversational, and without having to force the issue it is free of direct selling. I’m encouraged that I can’t recall ever having to delete an inappropriate post on there.

I tweet too. This is an interesting place to learn, share, and make connections too. Many folk that I have “met” on Twitter I’ve gone onto meet in the real world. I enjoy building connections into relationships.

Sharing. I love to share. I make research, white papers, reports etc available on my blog from time to time and they are always free to access, no registration required.

I send a newsletter out to customers and other contacts and like to highlight good work that I see others doing via that channel.

I love community. So I get involved in running conferences and unconferences, large and small. Anything from half a dozen people to over a hundred. These are great opportunities to learn and share.

And I play guitar and write songs sometimes. Songs about customer service, songs about engagement. Just a bit of fun and I have helped people resolve a few issues with companies along the way too.

Sometimes I make small stocks of one off hand made business cards. It’s nice to give someone something special.

I do all this stuff because I enjoy it and I believe it helps to grow the market. Grow the market in what? Whatever you like. Since I started this company, in addition to the above I’ve been engaged to do all sorts of things. Things like facilitating leadership workshops, helping people to tell better stories, deliver science lessons in school, co-researching and writing stakeholder engagement reviews and strategies, management development, develop and deliver communications and employee engagement plans.

So – how do I promote my small business? I guess it comes down to the fact that I love what I do, and through that love I promote the concept of making work better. I help other to help themselves love (or at least like better) what they do too. My wife Carole and my daughter Keira and many friends are on hand to help, and to gently guide me when I drift too far off track. Forgive me, I fear I may have done that a bit now.

I am grateful to you for writing your post and for asking such a great question. I hope you don’t mind that I have rambled on so much and I have found writing this reply to be a very positive experience.

Cheers – Doug

[jane]

I think when you are a small business and want to make an impact on the local or national level you must think about your customers and how they will find you? Are yiou an industry where people prefer a word of mouth recommendation or will people research on-line first? tailoring your marketing budget in tough times is important. Doing your research into how you promote your business is essential because you must increase awareness brand and most importantly income.