Seven Ideas from Small Business Big Marketing
There were many interesting, some conflicting, views at the Small Business Big Marketing Presentations on Thursday. I’ve summarised some of the quotes and views on how to make your business different. Here I have given my take on what the messages were for small business.
1. “Be Yourself Everyone Else is Already Taken” (Oscar Wilde)
Contrasted with
“Always remember you are absolutely unique, just like everyone else” (Margaret Mead)
Message: your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is vital to business success.
2. “Grow your business by making it smaller”. 75% of small business operators do not want growth (Cameron Research Group). Instead they want to achieve a certain lifestyle through business.
Message: Success is defined by you – the small business owner. Set yourself up now for what you want to achieve in the future.
3. “Develop discipline around creative thinking” (sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it).
Message: While it’s important to make time and give space to creative thinking, it’s also important to have a system for capturing your thoughts and ideas – a notebook, an app, a business plan.
4. “The important thing is not so much to obtain new facts, but to discover new ways of thinking about them”. : There is very little we can’t find out about the industry and the market.
Message: your USP may come from how you approach your research and data.
5. Design clues are everywhere. To make it different borrow from: history; known objects, symbols, stories, culture, and the environment.
Message: Think outside your current surroundings.
6. “Defining the problem is 99% of the issue, solving it is relatively easy”. We are all problem solvers in business.
Message: Spend time working out what problem you solve for your customers. This will help you respond to them in the most effective way.
7. “Are you old school or new school?” Before computers and calculators you had to do some ‘working out’ prior to getting a solution. Sometimes the hard work is in the planning.
Message: Before you go straight to the finish line, spend some time thinking about different strategies for getting there.
What inspires you to think differently?
