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It's Only Common Sense: What's the Big Secret?
November 1, 2010 |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For the written transcript, keep reading...What's the big secret? Is it that you don't want anyone to know about your business? Is it that you feel that you already have all the bookings you need? Just what is the problem with getting your name out there in front of your customers?
It's still amazes me that so many companies in our industry don't bother to even try to get their name out there. Many of them who are selling a national, maybe even in international product, are still marketing they way they always have, which is they are not really marketing at all. They think that a Web site and set of literature is enough to get their name out there in front of customers.
Why is that, I wonder? Why don't they try harder? Why don't they show some interest in showing people what who their company is and what they can do?
Why all the secrecy? Don't they want anyone to know who they are and what they do?
I'm not sure, but I think I know why. Maybe people think that advertising is bragging. They feel that their performance speaks for itself and that they should not have to talk about it. Now, I can respect this...even if it's wrong--really wrong especially when you consider the fact that there are so many marketing avenues available to all of us today. There are so many methods of getting your name out in front of customers that you don't even have to spend that much money to do it.
Look, every company has its own story. The first thing you have to do is develop that story for your company. It's based on everything that makes your company unique; its culture; its technology; its capabilities; its history and whatever else it is that makes it unique. The first step for creating a good marketing and branding plan is to write your company's story.
Once you have the story down, everything you do after that will be based on that particular story. Advertising, newsletters, social marketing,--all of it is based on your story.
Here are some very easy and cost-effective ways to get your story out to the marketplace:
- Write feature articles or columns. The minute you put yourself in print you become an expert. You position your company as an expert in whatever it is you are writing about. Whether you write about the military market, ITAR, thermal products or offshore--whatever--you become the acknowledged expert in this area. And the best part of doing this writing is that it is free, absolutely free. Why pay $500 or $5,000 for an ad when you can write an article that is much more comprehensive and imaging enhancing and not pay a cent? This is really only common sense.
- Social Marketing: LinkedIn and Facebook cost nothing, absolutely nothing. All you have to do is sign up and put in as much effort as you want connecting with others, creating tribes of loyal followers and getting your name out there to a very select audience--an audience that wants to be there, an audience that cares about your story and your message, an audience of people who are interested in your products and want to buy from you.
- Permission-marketing newsletters. These are newsletters that are sent out to your customers and prospects at little or no cost. The market's premier newsletter support company, Constant Contact, costs, at the most, $50 a month. Fifty bucks a month and you can send out as many newsletters as you want to as many groups as you want. Think about that: You have an audience of companies who want to know what you have to say. They want to know your story. They want to know about your products. All you have to do is keep the information in your newsletter topical, interesting and most importantly valuable to your audience. If you can do this then you are well on your way to getting in front of the right people...the people who buy your products. Sorry, as I said this one is not free, it'll cost you $50 a month.
- Seminars, Webinars and "lunch and learns," once again, a great way to get your story out there to the right people. Do you know that in our industry there are design councils in every part of North America and did you know that they are always looking for companies like yours to provide their membership with a lunch and learn almost every month? All you have to do is agree to deliver the lunch and the message, your message, and you're in. The same applies to SMTA organizations and many others. There are limitless opportunities to take your show on the road and deliver it to a captive audience of interested and qualified buyers. Or, if you don't want to go on the road, because that costs too much money; set up a Webinar. Use your social contacts and your newsletter audience. Connect with the people you know, tell them about your Webinar and have them sign up and attend electronically. You can use low costs services like "Go To Meeting" which actually costs next to nothing, if it even costs anything at all, and you deliver you message to anywhere from 10 to 100 to more than 1,000 people...all over the world! Is that amazing, or what?
So what are you waiting for? Isn't it time to let your cat out of the bag? It's time to get out there and tell your story to the right people. Think about the power you have, think about how easy it is to do this and think about how little it costs. All you need is a little imagination, creativity and passion. It's entirely up to you. The world is waiting to hear your story. Go tell it.
It's only common sense.