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One More Thing
You Can Do to Get More Business
By: Dr. Maurice A.
Ramirez, DO, PhD, CNS, CMRO
 "Feed
you business and your business will feed
you!" In
recent years this cliché' has come to mean
feeding your business a balanced diet from the 4
business food groups:
Education
Public
Relations
Marketing
Advertising
Most business
owners see these four groups as two spending
categories, however these MUST be 4 spending
accounts in your ledger, if not you'll have an
empty calendar and an empty bank account. In the
past year, a fifth business food group has emerged,
Social Media. Let's take a quick look at the
traditional four and how they relate to the latest
addition.
Education:
The concept of
the highly educated professional is not new, but
education is so much more than course work and
technical expertise. Education includes investing
in mentoring for you and being a mentor to others.
It also includes becoming a member of your
Professional Associations.
How much should
you spend on education? Three to five percent of
your gross business income. If you are still in the
first 2 to 3 years of a new business, double that!
If you are still operating off your business loan
or investment funds, six to 10 percent of total
yearly expenses should be budgeted to
education.
Public
Relations, Marketing &
Advertising:
When it comes to
Public Relations (PR), Marketing and Advertising,
the situation becomes a little more complex. The
first problem is that in most small business
owner's minds, these are synonymous terms. THEY ARE
NOT.
"Public
Relations" is the establishment of you and your
company as THE recognized expert within a specific
demographic, geographic and/or professional group.
This is also known as "Branding." Thus Public
Relations is the process of Branding. At this
stage, it is almost irrelevant what your PR says as
long as it positions you as the expert's
expert.
"Marketing" is
association of your established brand with products
and or services in the mind of a particular person,
demographic, geographic and/or professional group.
A "market" is that identifiable person,
demographic, geographic and/or professional group.
While Public Relations is the process of
"Branding," Marketing is the process of
"establishing the Brand."
"Advertising" is
the establishment of a sense of need for a product
or service in the mind of you market. Even if your
market knows your name (brand) and your
products/services, if they do not know that they
need your products or services, they will never
buy! On the other hand, if they "feel the need" and
you have established your brand, they will seek you
out.
So how much
should you spend on PR, Marketing and Advertising?
The answer reflects the progressive nature of this
process. In this case, one sum of money should be
allocated for the entire process of PR, Marketing
and Advertising. At first, the entire amount will
be spent on PR, with little Marketing or
Advertising. Your target market needs to know you
are the expert. As you become the recognized expert
(1 to 2 years), spending on Marketing increases and
spending on PR decreases. This will overlap the 1
to 2 years for PR. Finally, you will be established
as the expert and your brand will be established in
your market by your Marketing. This is when you
will begin to shift spending to Advertising. Again
theire will be overlap, but don't expect to spend
much on advertising until at least 1 year after you
begin a well planned PR program and at least 6
months after you begin a highly targeted marketing
plan.
How much should
you spend on PR, Marketing and Advertising? If you
want success, spend 10% to 20% of gross revenue.
Again, if you are a start-up still operating on
loans or investment capital, budget 20% of that
money per year for this process.
Social
Media:
Entrepreneurs
are using the newest Internet trend, professional
social networks. Services like LinkedIn, Konnects,
Ecademy, Plaxo and even Facebook provide
professionals the opportunity to meet and
collaborate with colleagues worldwide. These
professionals fall into two distinct groups who
utilize social networks:
1. Those for
whom the emphasis is on the word
"network"
2. Those for
whom the emphasis is on the word
"social"
Those who
emphasize the word "network" seek to promote and
expand their business. Those who emphasize the word
"social" seek to promote and expand their Christmas
card list. Social Media Marketing is the systematic
approach to using social networks and other "Web
2.0" and "Web 3.0" technologies as a part of an
all-inclusive marketing plan.
In less than 6
months, through Social Media efforts alone, one
business:
1. Secured TWO
Book Contracts with mainstream
publishers
2. Contracted
FOUR Full-Fee Speaking Engagements
3. Secured the
Keynote Address for the largest international
convention in a new
market
4. Obtained a
monthly column in the largest distribution industry
magazine in
a new market
5. Contracted a
Consulting Deal in a new niche
market
6. Contracted
with TWO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS to provide consulting
services
7. Served as a
consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
All this for the
investment of an hour a day and NO
MONEY!!!
Anyone who wants
to increase their profits will get great results if
the just remember:
Feed your
business and your business will feed
you!
About
the Author:
Dr. Maurice A.
Ramirez is a professional speaker and founder of
the consulting firm High Alert, LLC. He assists
companies to align business continuity plans with
personnel and customer behavior during adversity.
Board certified in multiple specialties, Dr.
Ramirez serves on expert panels for pandemic
preparedness and healthcare surge planning. He is
Founding Chairperson
of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a
Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer. Dr.
Ramirez has a new book: "The Complete Idiot's Guide
to Disaster Preparedness," which is now available
on Amazon.
His website is
www.High-Alert.com.
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