"How Do You Generate Word of Mouth for Your Business in the Digital Age?"

Dear Fellow Entrepreneur

As small business owners it often falls on our shoulders to market our own business. We have to play the role of “Marketing Manager” in addition to everything else we need to do – but we are not alone. According to recent government statistics there are over 5.3 million micro-businesses in the UK – that’s small businesses with less than ten full-time employees.

Many small business owners have little or no marketing education, knowledge or experience, which is a problem because when they come to do it the first time using their own cash, the very thought of it overwhelms them and they just don’t know where to start.

Modern marketing is getting more and more complex by the day. Understanding it and keeping up to date with advances in digital and social media marketing is a monumental task – if not impossible. It’s a real nightmare for people like you and me – Right?

But there’s another problem – in fact there’s two!

The first problem is that there is a huge global digital marketing skills gap. Qualified staff are in huge demand and cost a fortune. This means the chance of finding qualified employees to help you with your marketing you can afford is virtually zero.

The second problem is that whenever demand exceeds supply, other entrepreneurial characters spot the opportunity and step up to fill the void. They often have the best intentions but in reality, they too, have limited skills and knowledge to offer. After all there is a skills gap and many think that just because they know a little bit more than you they can become ‘consultants’ or ‘trainers’. But because they too have little or no formal marketing training YOU end up paying to educate them as they make mistakes and learn the ropes at your expense.

With so many self-proclaimed ’marketing gurus’ out there how do you know who to trust? That’s a common complaint I hear from small business owners desperate to put their business on the map. It was best articulated by a young lady I interviewed in Jersey when I was doing the research for my Master’s dissertation. Her exact words were, and I quote:

“It’s a real jungle out there and it’s all so complex – what with digital marketing, social media and everything else. Plus there are so many self-proclaimed experts talking about so many different things it’s impossible to know who to trust and where to start. Marketing generally is just so confusing these days it’s a real nightmare for people like me.”

If you share her nightmare then you’re not alone. Is epidemic! In fact, a recent survey revealed lack of marketing skills and knowledge was the biggest cause of start-up business failures.

Think about it for a second – more failed business owners attributed their misfortune to their lack of marketing skills rather than anything else! Not lack of money. Not lack of a great product. Not lack of good staff. But lack of customers because they didn’t know how to attract them to their business.

When I started the research for my Master’s Degree in Digital Marketing I wanted to find out what impact the global digital marketing skills gap has on micro-businesses. What I discovered was that entrepreneurs and small business owners don’t just suffer from a digital marketing skills gap; they also suffer a general marketing skills gap.

This is significant, because without an understanding of the basics of general marketing, it becomes virtually impossible to make anything work online and you end up wasting a fortune!

Marketing is all about communication, and effective communication depends on getting the right message, in front of the right audience, at the right time, using the right tools.

So how exactly do you do it in a fast paced complex modern marketing landscape where your customers and prospects demand information at their fingertips 24/7 365 days a year?

And more importantly, how do you actually generate positive word of mouth – the holy grail of marketing – so your customers and prospects help promote your business and create an everlasting buzz of excitement around what you have to offer?

Any ideas?

No?

Then I’ll tell you…

It starts by building a solid foundation of marketing basics and then applying these fundamentals to the online context – and that’s exactly what I explain in my book “21st Century Marketing: What it is, why it matters and how to do it”.

Specifically written to help entrepreneurs and small business owners just like you put marketing firmly at the heart of your business, I’ll show you how to use the 21st Century Marketing System to:

• Get your message in front of your ideal target audience at the precise moment they want to hear exactly what you have to say
  Build meaningful, lasting and profitable relationships with your ideal customers so they willingly buy from you again and again
• Truly engage your customers and prospects by building a powerful brand and keep your business at the top of their mind so they ignore your competitors
• Build trust online and offline using a simple three step process based on the latest advancements in understanding human behaviour both online and offline (this tip alone is worth its weight in gold)
• And most importantly, generate that all important word of mouth for your business by turning your loyal customers into a mighty army of unpaid advocates eager to help spread your message and drive new customers direct to your door.

Imagine how you’d feel if you really understood how marketing really works in the 21st century. What if you knew how to effortlessly apply digital marketing and social media marketing techniques to your business and create a buzz around your brand?

And let’s not forget the traditional marketing tools which, contrary to what some believe, still very much have their place in the digital world. The truth is – it’s not ‘all about digital’! But you do need to know how, and when, to mix and match traditional, digital, and social media to maximise the return on your marketing investment in the digital age.

My book “21st Century Marketing: What it is, why it matters and how to do it” shows entrepreneurs and small business owners, just like you, how to take a fresh, pragmatic, practical and holistic approach to all your marketing activities with one specific aim in mind: to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time using the right tools. It offers a simple solution to today’s complex marketing problem every entrepreneur and small business owner faces day in, day out.

As an entrepreneur turned part-time academic, I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge and help fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners turn opportunity into reality.

This is the book I wish I’d had in my early twenties when my first business went bust.

Like so many other small business owners who have suffered the same fate, I can directly attribute my first business failure to my lack of marketing skills and expertise.

Don’t let that happen to you!

Fortunately, I can say it’s something I’ve since put right and I’d urge you to do the same!

So – Let me ask you a question:
Do you want to:

• Increase your sales,
• Attract your ideal customers, and
• Generate word of mouth for your business?

If so, then this is one book you WILL want to read!

Why not learn from my decades of experience, in depth personal research, many years of personal and academic study, and discover how to apply this wealth of knowledge to your business today?

I know busy entrepreneurs and small business owners don’t always have time to read as much as they would like to. So I have a very special gift for you!

I want you to start benefiting from the 21st Century Marketing System straight away, so to accompany the book there are a number of short FREE training courses available on the 21st Century Marketing Academy website. All you need to do is register your copy of the book to gain access and you’ll find full instructions at the back of the book.

The flagship version is the full colour paperback which contains over 120 full colour diagrams and explanation boxes (and hence it’s quite expensive to produce). If you don’t want to go to the expense of full colour then the black & white version contains the same great content and the only difference is that the diagrams are in – well – black and white.

The full colour version is also available for the kindle and all three versions can be found on Amazon.

So I guess the question is: What format do you want your copy in? EBook or Paperback – And if you prefer the paperback version do you want your copy in? Black & White or Full Colour?

Merely purchasing your copy of “21st Century Marketing: What it is, why it matters and how to do it” automatically qualifies you to access the FREE Members area of the 21st Century Online Marketing Academy. Here you’ll find a number of short courses to help you get the best out of the book and implement the 21st Century Marketing System in your business. These courses will help you get up to speed quickly and are worth way more than the cover price of the book – whichever version you choose

I look forward to welcoming you to the elite group of progressive entrepreneurs and small business owners who are determined to increase their sales, build a brand that easily attracts their ideal customers, and generates unlimited and unstoppable positive word of mouth for their business.

It’s an exciting journey so let’s start today!

Chris Kent MSc