The Rule of Three in Small Business Marketing

For any small business, marketing can either be a serious challenge or a fun adventure in learning how to reach and expand your client base.  For most entrepreneurs, it is also the last thing on the long list of things that need to be done.   Being the head of the ship can be exhausting but take solace, the Rule of Three comes to the rescue.   This is a borrowed repost from a wonderful small business blog run by Small Business Newz.

What, exactly, is the Rule of Three? It’s a rule that basically states that more than three “whatever” is confusing and overwhelming – either visually or mentally, or both.  That makes it especially helpful if you’re the kind of entrepreneur who likes to give too much.  As in: too many options, too much rambling content, too many bullet points, too much info crammed into a speech, etc.

The Rule of Three is a fascinating thing. Why? Because it seems to apply in so many different situations. And many of these situations are related to effectively marketing a business. So if you’re an entrepreneur, it makes sense to understand how, when and why to apply it.

Oftentimes, the reality is less is more. The Rule of Three can help ensure you aren’t overwhelming your clients and prospects. That translates into more sales. Below are seven ways you can put the Rule of Three to use in marketing and growing your small business.

1)      Follow up. How many times should you follow up with a prospect? A minimum of (you guessed it) three times. More is better! How often do you give up after one or two calls or emails? If you’re not following up AT LEAST three times you’re definitely losing potential clients and projects.

2)      Marketing tactics. I recommend my clients never try to implement more than three new marketing tactics at a time. It’s just too much because each one is going to require multiple steps to execute. Plus you need to track response.  While you might eventually have more than three tactics happening simultaneously, if you overload yourself in the beginning you won’t be able to execute any of them well or on a consistent basis—if ever.

3)      Business cards. Take a look at a few business cards. Some look professional, clean and easy to understand. Others have way too much stuff crammed into way too small a space.  Chances are the best ones have no more than three blocks of information (whether that’s text or graphics) in the layout. For example, logo in the corner is one, name and title in the middle is another, and contact info at the bottom is a third.
Stick with the Rule of Three here and avoid distracting background images or the urge to squeeze every possible bit of info on one card. You’ll end up with a better result that makes a more professional first impression.

4)      Fonts. Never use more than three fonts on a page – online or in print – (and your logo font does count as one). Having too many fonts looks juvenile and unprofessional. Instead, choose one font for body text and one for headlines or callouts, and leave it at that. You can always use boxes, bolding, underlines, colors and italics for emphasis.

5)      Colors. Looking for new colors for your brand? Trying to decide on the colors for your Website? Or that new flier, ad or promotion? Again, the Rule of Three is your friend. Choose one color to be your main color, then one that compliments it, and one to serve as a highlight color.  More than that and your logo, brand and marketing start to look like a car wash poster made by high school students.

6)      Speaking points. The human mind can only absorb and remember so much information in one sitting. So when you plan a speech, talk, teleseminar or Webinar, don’t overwhelm listeners with everything you know. Instead choose three points, tips or topics to delve into and save the rest for another time.  Not only do you avoid confusing or overwhelming the audience, but you keep them coming back for more.

7)       Bullet points. Not sure when to use bullet points instead of a list in regular paragraph format? Rule of Three to the rescue again…If you’ve got more than three things in your list, it’s time to switch to bullets.

If you’ve got at least three things in your list, bullets are optional but allowed. Less than three and you want to stick with paragraph format.

So next time you’re working on any piece of marketing, branding, copy writing or advertising remember the Rule of Three. You’ll look more professional, be easier to understand, and make a much bigger impact that’s going to grow your business!

Expanding Horizons: OPIC Program for Small Business

Globalization is more than a buzz word these days, it could be the crucial growth platform some small businesses need to push past the profit-ceilings we find ourselves reaching. Through workshops and seminars, OPIC educates small businesses about more than government opportunities for global sales but legal issues that all business entities face when interfacing outside of the United States.   In their own words, the reach is wide and growing quickly:

OPIC has hosted Expanding Horizons around the country for the past six years. More than 1,300 small businesses from 39 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have attended. Last years workshops in Orange County, Calif. and Miami drew record attendance.

If you think your products or services have a broader audience, then this is the place to start.  Take the time to contact them and watch your business's profit grow.

OPIC Expanding Horizons

ZDNet: Small Business Center

I stumbled onto a really interesting tool that Tech Republic supports called ZDNet's "Small Business Center."  This site carries a moderate amount of information for small businesses via a blog-type platform.  It marries large to middle sized corporate entity news in as well, keeping informed about your competition, no matter what their size is, is crucial to all businesses.  Their description reads:

The ZDNet Small Business Center is a comprehensive and interactive destination for relevant technology news, information, help and how-tos catered to IT professionals in the small business arena. It includes custom blogs, webcasts and news and updates for the challenging and resource-constrained small business sector.

I found trending information, albeit was based largely in part on bigger businesses, it pertained to small business enterprise as well.  Primarily though, its information pertained mostly to smaller enterprises consisting of 30+ employees.

The jury is still out with regards to how it plays into the roles of small businesses of 1-30 employees until I seriously have more time to read into the articles but from what I've seen so far, it contains good information that rolls over into any solid small business IT infrastructure.

LinkedIn: Small Business Benefits

A very smart professor impressed upon us in class how important creating a LinkedIn profile would be.  "Its a 'dynamic resume' for all the world to see and has connections Facebook could never compete with."  Those were her exact words from my notes back in 2009.  So, I jumped on the band wagon and while unsure of how truly important it would become, I gave it my all and created a comprehensive profile that I felt would at least present well to potential clients.  Little did I know what an incredible tool LinkedIn really is, especially to small business owners and freelancers.


Here are a few of the things I have learned since I began my LinkedIn journey:

1) Keep your profile public if you want everyone know what your qualifications are.  I know this isn't the most secure thing but if you only publish details that are crucial to your business (i.e. outline, skills, education and recommendations), most of it would be public knowledge anyway so it is my opinion that you are no more open to identity theft than if you purchase online from Amazon.  Again, this is what I have done and it works wonderfully for me.  

2) Word of mouth and new connections create paying work through recommendations. By simply connecting to your clients, customers, co-workers, supervisors, professors and friends (limited), you open yourself an enormous network of people from around the world, literally.  How cool is that?  I'll tell you, I've managed to land several really great clients through this technique.

Global Buzzwords in LinkedIn Profiles

3) Buzz words in your profile work to draw peoples attention but the real nuts and bolts are the recommendations.   A few strategic work and character recommendations by some influential people and your potential clients will take notice.   The above photo outlines what were deemed as overused words as of 2009.  I actually don't have "extensive experience" in my profile which it appears is an issue for North American's.  Either way, it works and I stand behind it 100%.

4) Join groups, get answers and give advice: this is another huge advantage LinkedIn has over Facebook and Twitter.   Free help from individuals who are sailing these same crazy waters as you are and maybe can prevent you from making the same mistakes they did.   Sounds like your mother's advice but really, she was spot-on so listen to Mom!   I cannot tell you how excellent this tool is, really.  I'd rather assist and get assistance for my daily hour of social media work than play with Facebook and Twitter combined.   Don't get me wrong, each has its importance and needs to be worked but for personal interest and real support factors, LinkedIn gets my vote hands down.

If you don't have a LinkedIn profile (which there are literally thousands of college students who don't because Facebook is their life), get one and join groups today!  Who knows, someone out there might just have the answer that unlocks your key to small business success....a growing list of paying clients!

The "Buy Local" Push: Spiking the Small Business Economy

What is all this hoopla about "Buy Local" really mean?  I've see ads for it on the T.V. and just a few hours ago I heard an advertisement on an internet radio station based in Canada!  Even Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal have joined the pool by publishing several articles touting the positive side-effects of this "vision of the future economy."   A specific article written by Judith Schwartz states:

"At the most basic level, when you buy local more money stays in the community. The New Economics Foundation, an independent economic think tank based in London, compared what happens when people buy produce at a supermarket vs. a local farmer's market or community supported agriculture (CSA) program and found that twice the money stayed in the community when folks bought locally. "That means those purchases are twice as efficient in terms of keeping the local economy alive," says author and NEF researcher David Boyle."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1903632,00.html#ixzz1ihw6fKIU

Coming from a small central New York community and running a small business here,  I not only understand how important it is from a financial perspective but also from a "connectedness" stand point.  Community stays connected via contacts and the only way to make contacts is to stop by a local small business to full fill a need rather than run home and hit the internet.  Its a simple choice that has far reaching benefits.

In my community (and surrounding communities as well) we have many groups that work to provide local consumers with local buying options and incentives for doing so.  The largest is a non-profit called Syracuse First.  This young organization (June, 2009) uses both savvy technological approaches as well as plain-old grass roots movements to get their messages to the masses.  With over 3,000 Facebook fans and thousands more as Syracuse First members, one can't help but be impressed!  


So is globalization just a dream?  Can we get off of this economic roller-coaster ride driven out of control by global economics or are we destined to the same ill fates as the combined economic conditions of the volumes of nations that surround us?  Maybe the answer is local economics do have a profound effect.  Maybe...just maybe to become a truly self-sustaining nation we must first look locally.  After all, it was what our founding fathers fought for, the right of independence in all things, starting with our communities. 


I'll close with a quote I swiped from the Syracuse First website that sums up the message I'm trying to convey here:

  “Going local does not mean walling off the outside world. It means nurturing locally owned businesses which use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages and serve primarily local consumers. It means becoming more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports. Control moves from the boardrooms of distant corporations and back into the community where it belongs.”- Michael H. Shuman, author of Going Local

Fast Track to Business Boot-camp!

We are very fortunate to have the Small Business Development Center right here and freely accessible to Ononadaga Community College students.  It is one of those ingenious pairings that surprises most but benefits a growing number of students who are highly interested in becoming part of this nations small business backbone.

The program is a "soup-to-nuts" type of 3 day course that covers nearly every aspect of starting a business from picking the right type of business you are, to accounting and legal issues.  The answers I received were invaluable, a market analysis for my area of expertise, contacts for taxes and I even met other small business owners that went through this program and are successfully doing what I am now.  The support factor is what really makes the difference, I continue to use their resources and have been thankful beyond measure for all the input.  Smart people with a solid plan to help you make your dream become a reality.

Pride in owning your own business goes farther than simply working for yourself.  It is a powerful statement to the world of commerce that there is and always will be room for more than the mega-giant corporations gobbling profits daily.

Supporting local is more than a bumper sticker, it is the mantra for the new year.  Buy local, support local business and see our communities growing stronger each day even when corporate America leaves for cheaper lands.