The JP Revolution

Word of mouth without branding is not enough

In today's world, many small business owners are so overwhelmed by all of the marketing choices available to them that they simply choose to do nothing. They will then wear that decision as a badge of honor and boast that they don't have to advertise. They claim they "get all their business by word of mouth". You will find some businesses that survive that way, but for most survival is all it is.
In any community... if you ask residents to rank the 10 most successful businesses in town, there will never be a business named who didn't/doesn't advertise.
According to the National Associate of Small Businesses, 20 percent of small businesses in the US fail. The vast majority of those that fail rely far too heavily on word of mouth. By simply adding a branding campaign to your strategy, you can kick your word of mouth results into overdrive.

What small business owners can learn from Super Bowl advertising

Each year, dozens of companies spend millions of dollars advertising in the Super Bowl. It's the one time of year when the ads get as much attention as the game. Why are they worth so much, though. Why would anyone spend a million dollars for 30 seconds. there are some very good reasons... and some very good lessons to be learned by small business owners.

The right and wrong way to ”Do Facebook”

A lot of business owners believe Facebook is the Holy Grail of Advertising... it's free and can reach customers. What they often forget (or choose to ignore) is that it's not really free if you want it to work. In business, time is money and It takes a lot of time to use social media effectively. The businesses that are actually growing using social media spend at least several hours a days interacting socially with potential customers. You can't just have a page and call it "doing Facebook".

A Facebook page and a website are no longer optional for a business

Many small business owners view having a website and a Facebook page as being part of their marketing strategy. Truth is... society have evolved far past that. They are now a mandatory part of having a business. In the 1890's phones were considered a marketing tool... now you can't imagine a business surviving without one. That applies to websites and Facebook pages in today's world.

Google, Facebook, and your website are often just the doorway to your business

Business owners are constantly trying to evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaigns. Unfortunately, they often look in the wrong direction. If you owned a small retail store, it would seem silly to give the front door of your business credit for attracting all your customers. Sure, a few may have seen something in the window that caught their attention. But most were drawn by some other forces (usually advertising of some sort). For some reason, people believe the digital world works differently. But it doesn't.

What is Top-of-Mind-Awareness (TOMA)?

Nothing drives success for a business more than top-of-mind-awareness (TOMA)? Even though business owners and marketing professionals hear the word TOMA bandied around often, few truly understand what it means and how it leads to success. This episode provides a simple analogy to make it easy to recognize how important it is that your customers think of you first when they need your products or services.

How branding drives Facebook ad success

One thing small business owners often fail to recognize is how much their brand influences the success of everything they do in business. A strong brand determines how effective other campaigns are. Nowhere is this more evident than in success or failure of a Facebook ad campaign.

When to use coupons

In the previous episode we discussed how misusing coupons in your ad campaigns can sometimes destroy your profit and your business. Like any tool, however, coupons can be useful in the right circumstances. In this edition, we take at those instances when you should use coupons and how to monitor whether or not they are having the impact you desire.

How coupons and discounts can kill your small business

Because many small business owners have never had the opportunity to develop an understanding of just how branding and marketing works, they will often choose coupons and discounts as their chosen way to attract customers. In this episode, we break down how coupons work and how they can often have the exact opposite effect they hope for.

Advertising vs Sponsorships

The terms "Advertising" and "Sponsorships" are often used interchangeably, but they means very different things and work in very different ways. They are both forms of marketing that involve putting your name in front of potential customers; that's where the similarities end. Advertising tends to be intrusive and take away from the life experiences of the consumer. Sponsorships, on the other hand, actually enrich the consumer in one way or another. This can significantly affect the impact your marketing campaign has on your brand.