SMB Marketing

The American idea of DIY — short for “do it yourself” — is something that has long been considered one of the cornerstones of success in enterprise. Entrepreneurs use their own wits and personal drive to make small businesses and startups work. While self-reliance and perseverance are essential ingredients to making any business idea work, often the entrepreneur with a revolutionary product idea needs help with the elements of building a brand.

Sometimes people outside the business world have some of the best insight on business. One of those voices comes from the world-renowned fiction writer. Milan Kundera, the Czech author of Immortality and The Unbearable Lightness of Being once said that “Business has only two functions — marketing and innovation.”
 
These words call to mind a few ideas about some of the companies whose products have greatly changed the way we live and exist daily. Some easy first impressions include:

Perhaps you are one of those brave, industrious people who knows how to fix things. For decades, the “weekend warrior” has been an iconic role in the American way of life. There are men and women who simply love to solve everyday problems around the house and the yard on Saturdays and Sundays.

Just over a month ago one business reporter on the east coast asked some small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners about what kind of promotional products they like best and the entrepreneurs weighed in.

Marshall McLuhan, the author and visionary philosopher of communication theory, once categorized advertising in a remarkable new light. McLuhan stated, “Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.” While McLuhan knew plenty about modern communication, he was one of the first to point out advertising’s ability to captivate consumers and use creative ideas to motivate their everyday decisions.

Last summer, business blogger Andy Johnston dared to make a pretty shocking recommendation regarding promotional items for SMBs. In The Event Manager, he said that just handing out promotional items without a strategy isn’t a great move.
 
“Just giving people . . . office supplies is a wasted opportunity,” Johnston wrote. This goes for trade shows, client visits or any other event.
 

Inc., the most well-known magazine for small business and entrepreneurship, posted some insight this week about the ever growing small business sector. As a follow-up to their news earlier in the year about the good economy and the fact that businesses are revving their engines, Inc. staff writer Jeremy Quittner shared some profiles on where new firms and growing SMBs are getting startup cash.

If you’re not an avid basketball fan, you’ve probably had your fill of March Madness basketball, and the month-long nationwide obsession that concluded with the NCAA Championship on Monday, April 6.

As The Tampa Bay Times pointed out just recently, big time sports events are about more than just a love of sports. Whether you are talking about Super Bowls, Final Fours or amateur youth tournaments, sports are big business.

When you think of “Star Wars”, you might not jump up out of your chair and get excited. The George Lucas-directed movie that debuted in 1976 has, as we all know, grown into much more than just a space-age action adventure film. “Star Wars” to some has become a subculture and, to others, almost an obsession. Moreover, “Star Wars” is big business.

At the end of March, General Motors announced what you could call a new social media and marketing strategy. GM’s radical new approach: listening to people.