Robert Craven - Bright Marketing for Small Business

ROBERT CRAVEN

To Cal, Jessie, Bonnie and Ben

A special thank you to everyone who made this book possible: Tricia, Ant, James and the team at The Directors Centre; David and the team at Crimson; and of course, the 15,000 attendees at the Bright Marketing events.

Thank you.

Bright Marketing for Small Business

Robert Craven

This edition is published in 2011 by Crimson Publishing, Westminster House, Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 2ND

First published in 2007 as Bright Marketing

Robert Craven 2011

Epub edition 2011 ISBN: 978 1 85458 562 2

The author Robert Craven has asserted his moral rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library cataloguing in Publication data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Crimson Publishing ebooks.

Epub file created by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay

by George Derbyshire, chief executive, National Federation O f Enterprise Agencies

/Further Reading

M ost of us from time to time have been on the receiving end of poor marketing. Have you ever walked out of a shop because what you wanted was out of stock, or the queue was too long or the service poor? Have you ever complained and got an unsatisfactory response? Or changed a supplier because they didnt treat you like a valued customer?

We can all recognise poor marketing in others, but perhaps youve looked at your own marketing effort and wondered. Wondered why it isnt bringing in the results you want. Wondered exactly which 50% was wasted. Maybe youve wondered why prospects dont return your calls, or why you couldnt quite clinch that deal.

Maybe youve looked at some of the websites and textbooks by marketing experts and come away unsatisfied, thinking it was all too complicated, too expensive or simply not for you.

Perhaps youve had a look at the celebrity entrepreneurs who seem to hog the TV screens these days, and wish theyd come down from their multimillionaire ivory towers, and speak in your language?

Or maybe you simply dont know where to start.

Wherever you are on your business journey, this book is for you.

Robert Craven knows about business. A serial entrepreneur himself, he has delivered his Bright Marketing seminars to thousands of business people. They are lively, stimulating, even provocative I know, Ive attended them. Anyone who starts a seminar by advising you to sack 50% of your customers is bound to attract your attention.

Starting at basic questions: Why should people bother to buy from you when they can buy from the competition? and What makes your business different from the rest?, he puts in place all the building blocks to enable his audience to go away confident that they can make their marketing more effective and their business more profitable. They are entertained, they are involved, they participate.

Not everyone can attend his events though they should so in this book he has brought together all he has learned about marketing. No jargon, no theory just simple and practical steps you can take to improve your sales and your profitability. It is presented in an easy and logical framework, with checklists and exercises to complete, and while it is the closest thing to attending his seminars in person, it is an entertaining read from end to end.

In the book Robert puts forward his rule of Seven By Three. He reckons that in a world full of noise and competing demands for our attention, you need to repeat your message at least 21 times if it is to be remembered. And that, I think, is the key to getting the best out of this book. Dont read it once and put it on the shelf. Rather you should keep it handy to dip into regularly perhaps when you have run up against a problem, or simply for a quiet five minutes over a coffee when you want to brush up on a topic.

Bright Marketing really can make a difference to your business.

George Derbyshire

Chief executive

National Federation of Enterprise Agencies

Why should people bother to buy from you when they can buy from the competition?

What makes your business different from the rest?

We live in a world where everything claims to be better and yet everything seems to be the same

Bright Marketing argues that in a world full of mediocrity it doesnt take that much to stand out from the competition. How do you do that?

Most businesses try to be all things to all people

they become seen as a jack-of-all-trades. On the other hand, the business that adopts the principles of Bright Marketing becomes known for its deep understanding/knowledge (and can charge premium prices!); it becomes recognised as the first port of call. The trick is to know how to make that happen.

Ina world that celebrates celebrity, people have a choice

they can buy from the me too also-rans, or they can buy from the market leaders. Whether you trade locally, regionally, nationally or internationally you can put yourself ahead of the competition.

Most businesses are only expert at the technical side of their job and they dont know how to communicate effectively with their customers

meanwhile, customers buy from the company that they believe will do the best job. So, the likelihood is that the customer will buy from the business that they, the customer, believe is the best. Is that you?

The real problem is that most businesses are too much in love with themselves and what they do

and they dont spend enough time looking at their businesses through the eyes of the customer.

Bright Marketing will show you how to become seen in your field. The book is about branding it is about positioning it is about entrepreneurship but actually it is about a whole lot more.

Yes and no! Well, mainly no! Bright Marketing does not set out to be a standard marketing book or a textbook. It was not written with any exams or qualifications in mind. However, professional marketers will appreciate its down-to-earth approach to getting more sales; in fact, we go out of our way to focus on how a business can get more sales.

In reality we now have, and we welcome, a large following of professional marketers who consider themselves to be Bright Marketers applying the BM techniques to their workplace or to that of their clients.

If you run your own business and want a no-nonsense guide to getting more customers (with relatively little expenditure) then this is for you. If you are helping to grow a business then this is for you.