James B Harter President 1248 Rolling Meadow Rd
James B. Harter President 1248 Rolling Meadow Rd. Pittsburgh, PA 15241 p) 412 -576 -2685 f) 954 -206 -1184 www. sigmapiconsulting. com © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting LLC
Marketing for Entrepreneurial Companies How to market when you don’t have a lot of money. © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting LLC
Introduction l l l Who I am Entrepreneur as Pioneer Strategic vs. Tactical Entrepreneurship © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Bootstrapping Marketing l l Need to get it done No resources to do it SO HOW DO YOU DO IT? © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Develop Your Message l l Elevator Pitch – Value Proposition Write you marketing literature © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Elevator Pitch What is your Value Proposition? l l l Who are you? What do you do? Who do you do it for? Who is you competition? Why are you better? SO WHAT? © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Write you marketing literature l l l Value oriented Interesting Attractive Congruent BTW – Your business card is the least expensive and most durable marketing document you will ever create. © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Get Your 1 st Customer l Four Steps 1. 2. 3. 4. Pick a Target Close the deal Make them happy Leverage the heck out of them © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Step 1 – Pick a Target l l l Heart of your value proposition High profile in their market Early Adopter © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Step 2 – Close the deal l Whatever it takes! – – – Discounts Custom Features Extra training Rebates Equity © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Step 3 – Make them happy l Whatever it takes! – – – Make it work Extra Training Nights & Weekends On-site support Unbilled work © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Step 4 – Leverage the heck out of them l l l Ask customer for references Create case studies Leverage outside of geography Go to customer’s competition Identify parallels opportunities © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Partnering l Present “Total” Solution – – l Complimentary Product / Service Become a “leach” Halo Effect – – – Joint Logo Cross links for web sites Press releases © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Networking You are your Evangelist! l l l MIT Enterprise Forum Ti. E Pittsburgh Entrepreneurial Thursday Happy Hour Pittsburgh Technology Council Others: trade / social / religious / charitable / political © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Pro-bono l l l Seminars Non-profits Trade organizations © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
What NOT to do! l l l Avoid expensive giveaways. Don’t get “cute”. Avoid going head-to-head with your competition. Don’t stray too far from your niche. Don’t look chintzy. Don’t STOP working until you get it right. © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
What Company is this? © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting LLC
Resources l l Guerrilla Marketing : Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business by Jay Conrad Levinson Selling the Invisible : A Field Guide to Modern Marketing by Harry Beckwith © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Top 10 Self Inflicted Wounds 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Charlotte’s Web Syndrome Presumption of Profit Poor Record Keeping No Post Mortems Wrong Person – Wrong Job Lack of Accountability Inconsistent Processes Lack of Urgency Lack of Strategic Planning Technology is NOT a Solution © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
Questions? James B. Harter President p) 412 -576 -2685 f) 954 -206 -1184 www. sigmapiconsulting. com © 2008 Sigma Pi Consulting, LLC
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