In the last week I had conversations with two prospective clients and I shifted their mindset so they could see how to create a breakthrough in their businesses.

The first prospect was interested in doing Internet marketing for his business, but before I would go any further with this topic I needed to know more about his business and what he was doing to get customers now.

In the process of telling me his story he complained that he was just buried in work and his business just wasn’t growing–it was feast or famine. I asked the most logical question when someone is having ups and downs, which is “Who is doing the labor in your business?” He said he was doing everything.

He then told me that he had been fired from his previous job because he kept making too much in commission checks as a salesman. Next logical question, “If you’re such a good salesman, why are you wasting your time laboring in your business when you could be making more sales to pay people to labor in your business?”

I’m glad to say the lightbulb went on in his head. His breakthrough was realizing that as a business owner he should work on his strengths and his most high-dollar activities. When he closes a sale, he can make thousands of dollars, which gives him the money necessary to hire people to do the labor in his business such as all the administrative work.

His business will see dramatic growth after this breakthrough.

Prospect #2 was telling me her business story and I mentioned that I outsource different tasks and jobs overseas where I can hire an expert for less than a novice in the US. To make the idea real to her, I said that when I had my pool company my office manager was in another state.

Her question, “How does one manage an office from another state?” Here’s the questions that I asked her and you can ask yourself:

Of the administrative tasks that your company needs accomplished must be done in a physical format?

What administrative tasks require a person at a particular location?

What tasks are you requiring someone do at a location and in a physical format that actually could be done electronically?

My pool company had to have actual labor performed at the customer’s home where the pool was located. However, there were no other tasks in the pool company that required people to be in Arizona. Bookkeeper and CPA were in Illinois. Office manager was in Florida. I was frequently on vacation. A business is a machine that works for you not the other way around.

I explained to her that she could hire an assistant from the Philippines who was fluent in English and had a college degree in Accounting or Business Administration for $5 per hour and could eliminate nearly all of her office tasks so she could concentrate on what she should be doing–marketing the solutions her company provides.

For those thinking that she would be taking jobs away from Americans, let me say this–WRONG. She had a similar concern, but here is how it works out.

An assistant in the Arizona will cost about $20 per hour including taxes and other expenses. This person will most likely not have a bachelor’s degree in business or accounting or a degree of any kind. Weekly cost is $800.

If she hires a Philippine assistant for $5 per hour her weekly cost will be $200 per hour giving a difference of $600. With the savings she can hire a laborer for her construction crew at a cost of $480 per week. The $120 per week could go towards the bottom line or reinvested into equipment to make her crew more productive.

With the new laborer out in the field, the skilled craftsmen can become more productive because they don’t have waste their time on low-dollar value, but important tasks such as site cleanup. Now the skilled craftsmen who cost as much as $30-40 per hour are getting the job done faster allowing her company to take on more projects, which means she can hire more people to work on the job sites.

All this from learning to use outsourcing appropriately.

Prospect #2′s breakthrough is much like that of prospect #1. High-dollar value activities are being put off or not done at all because low-dollar value tasks are being given priority. What is worse is they were assuming they had to do these low value tasks. This assumption was hindering their business growth.

In one week Prospect #1 has spent more time selling, which he is good at, and outsourcing tasks to subcontractors. He has already seen a sizable increase in his business and he is optimistic about being able to keep this trend going.

Since I just met with Prospect #2 yesterday, I’ll have to fill you in if she starts to implement outsourcing in her business.

Identify your high-dollar value tasks and your low-dollar value tasks that you are doing or should be doing and give the tasks to the appropriate person. Eventually, you’ll hire yourself out of job and your company will become a real business where you give it direction and vision and, best of all, you collect a check.

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Q: Should I be marketing online or offline?

A: You should be marketing where your prospects are.

If your prospect reads a particular magazine, you should have an ad in it.  If your prospects use Google to find products and services, then you need to rank on the first page for the keywords they input into Google.  Aside: the listing in search engines should be seen as advertising and to get a highly ranked listing you are going to pay with time, money or both.

There shouldn’t be any discussion of whether to use online or offline marketing.  You’ll find that your prospects are to found in both places.  Approximately 70% of people will use the Internet to research a product they buy offline.  That’s a huge opportunity for a local business.

When making your annual marketing plan, you should research where your customers are coming from and to find out this information, you should do a survey.  If you know a larger portion have found you online then you may want to invest more resources toward the marketing that gets the best results.  If you are one of the rare businesses that still gets a lot of customers from the yellow pages, then you should look into ways of maximizing your results.

After your research, you’ll most likely find that 30-50% of your time and budget will go to online marketing and the rest will go towards traditional marketing.

What I find interesting is that many local businesses do almost zero online marketing even though they know they aren’t getting the hundreds or thousands of prospects that are looking for their type of business online.  Some think it’s expensive while at the same time paying $4000 a month for yellow pages ads that get them little to no return.

I had a prospect that thought a $1000 a month quote I gave was expensive yet he was planning to continue spending $3000 a month on radio advertising even though he didn’t know the ROI.  With the work I was proposing, he would know his ROI to the penny.

This year, please plan out your marketing campaigns, find where your prospects are and then market to them.

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This spoof ad is for an old media company who, in a fun way, has illustrated why it is still relevant based upon features people want not on what the paper thinks people should want. Note: this video (commercial) has gone viral and is flying around the Internet.

If you have a ‘traditional’ business from an industry that existed before 1995, you should re-energize your brand by focusing on the value you provide that people truly want. If you have felt the impact of the Internet on your business, you should make sure people know what the benefits are of doing business offline. Though, you’ll need to go online to tell them.

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Use a mini digital video camera to hunt for what’s interesting to your market inside your business, capture it on camera and then share it using social media. This is a tasty recipe for connecting with customers and prospects and building brand loyalty.

Please forgive the background noise. This video was shot at a Friday evening get-together called #evfn, which is Twitter speak for East Valley Friday Night. You can see more info on PhoenixFridayNight.com to get a look into a fantastic movement to connect people in the ‘real’ world using social media.

To learn more about Evo, go to FunAnymore or Podiobooks.com.

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In this quick episode (just under 5 min) I cover two important lessons for local businesses and I take my own medicine in the process.

I hope to have a new Flip video minoHD in a day or two so I can improve the quality of my Marketing Minis, which is part of today’s show.

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Making sure you don't miss out on local marketing success

Just wanted to put out a super quick post about subscribing to Local Marketing Mastery and connecting through Twitter.

In the right hand column is a big orange button for subscribing to the RSS feed so you can get Local Marketing Mastery delivered to you.  And without a paperboy hounding you for $2.  I use Google Reader for all the blogs I read to keep up on Local SEO, technology, social media and local marketing.

When you click the orange button, a selection of readers will show up.  Just click the one you use to subscribe.  

Don't currently use a reader?  Then I suggest you get a Google account and use Google Reader.

I like interacting with anyone who enjoys marketing especially for local businesses.  So please leave comments on the blog and I will be happy to correspond with you.

And you can find me on Twitter.  That's the blue lower case 't' button in the right hand column.  It is a great way to get a hold of me and to have a conversation.  

Please feel free to ask me marketing questions.  Let me know what struggles you're having or even the successes.  I do want to be involved in helping local businesses, no matter where they are, to succeed, grow and benefit their communities.

Lastly, if you wish to be a guest columnist, contact me on Twitter, leave a comment or use the Contact Us form on the Contact page.

Thanks for reading Local Marketing Mastery.

~ Tim Conley

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