Getting Personal ? Innovative Marketing for Small Business Owners

The small business marketing strategy you can't afford to miss Everyone loves a story. Even if you don't particularly like reading them chances are you love watching them, either on TV or at the movies. Imagine if your marketing literature was like a great story: people would read it from beginning to end for one thing (as opposed to just throwing it straight into the bin), and they'd be more likely to tell their friends about it, too. Your small business marketing could be famous! Well, maybe?

Ok, so "famous" may be stretching it a little. By telling an interesting story, though, your marketing can at least make your small business well know in your local area or industry. But how do you do it?

Small business marketing through stories

In the same way that everyone loves to hear a story, most people have one to tell. You may not think it, but it's true. Your story may never make it onto the bestseller lists, but it can certainly help jazz up your marketing. Think about it. Just what was it that made you decide to start up your own small business in the first place? Whether it was a terrible boss, a personal crisis, or just the perfect eureka moment, I bet your story is one that you love to tell. It's probably a lot more interesting than most of the "corporate speak" sales pitches most people use in their small business marketing, too.

Using your personal story as part of your small business marketing No matter what your story is, you can use it to great effect in your small business marketing by including it in your email newsletter, on your website, in your blog, or as part of your sales letters. This does two things:

1. Your story helps "personalize" you. Next time your customer sees your name on an invoice or at the bottom of a sales letter, they'll remember your story. You're no longer part of a faceless business venture: you're a real person, with a real story. This not only helps your stand out from your competitors, it also makes you easier to trust.

2. Your story makes you memorable. Say your small business start-up story involves you being laid-off from your job in a factory, only to start up a similar business on your own. Next time your customers are watching the news and hear something about lay-offs (or even factories, for that mater!), they'll remember you and your small business. In this way, your marketing is working for you all the time ? even when you don't expect it to.

Finding your small business marketing story

Of course, actually finding your story is the hard part. If you're having trouble, try brainstorming. Pick up a piece of paper and a pen and write down everything you can think of that relates to you and your business, however tenuously. If you've set up a business with your spouse, for example, tell the story of how you met, and tie it up with the line "who would have thought we'd end up running our own business together?" The great thing about using your personal story as part of your marketing strategy is that your story doesn't even have to be about your small business at all; it can just be about you.

What's your story?

Amber McNaught is co-owner of Hot Igloo Productions Ltd. - the small business specialists. Hot Igloo offer a range of services to businesses, including website design, public relations, internet marketing, copywriting and more. Visit their website at: http://www.hotigloo.co.uk

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