Small business in general, but small engineering and architectural firms specifically are behind the eight ball when competing agaist larger firms with more resources and larger marketing departments. How can they even the playing field? Last week I posted a blog about using social media to compete. That is the first step. Small firms need to drive clients and prospects to their websites. Websites have to be interactive and offer visitors something worth the visit. Review my previous blog for details.
However, sometimes it is not about resources, but past experience.
I once served as the Marketing and Business Development Director for a 50-person engineering firm and struggled with ownership over website design and external marketing communication. The owners couldn't agree on what should be listed on their website, ignoring my advice and the advice of a web designer. For more than five years, they had been trying to find agreement and perfection in a new website. I checked the site the other day and it is still the same. An idea to create an external client newsletter had the same result. Therefore, sometimes it is not the lack of resources that prevents small firms from communicating with clients, but a mindset that shouts "what we have always done is not worth changing." Some small firms look at marketing as risk they are not willing to accept. However, I digress from the topic...... Client Newsletters.
Small firms should be using another tool to connect with their project universe. They need to create a monthly client newsletter. The newsletter should be electronic, one page and offer news, trends and articles that would be of interest. Lessons Learned could be the topic of an on-going newsletter column. Articles that add to your firm's "expert" status will also help to drive readers to your website or to the telephone to call you direct. Another valuable column would be anything to do with your involvement in community activities. A client interview would provide your messge with third party credibility.
However, when a small business is up to its neck in alligators, it is hard to remember the mission was to drain the swamp, or in this case, to build additional business. In addition, many small firms don't have the internal resources to produce a professional quality newsletter each month and can't afford to outsource the project to a marketing firm that might charge several thousand dollars per month. Maybe they did outsource marketing in the past and the results did not meet their expectations. These firms are not interested in throwing good money after bad.
Would they use this business building tool, if the cost was about $500 per month? That is the question I am asking 100 small architectural and engineering firms this week. What would they receive for their investment? They would receive a list of everyone who opened the email, as well as the names of people who clicked the links that were included in the newsletter. They would be obligated to provide the list of people they want to send the newsletter to and reivew and approve the content in a timely fashion.
This is simply an idea to help small architectural and engineering firms level the playing field with some of their larger competitors. Do you know any firms that could benefit from such an investment? Email trystanderson@businessdevelopmentpros.org
http://www.businessdevelopmentpros.org/
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