"If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful."
Jeff Bezos, 1964–
Founder of online retailer Amazon.com and of human spaceflight venture Blue Origin.
If you're unable to get excited about your services, how can you expect your customers to become excited about them and spread the word on your behalf?
Use your own products and services every day. Eat, live and breathe your business – be the most devoted user of your products.
Be your most critical customer in order to test the product and the customer services you offer. Step away from the business and look back as a customer rather than an owner.
Then you can be a real evangelist for what you offer.
"And I'm not an actress. I don't think I am an actress. I think I've created a brand and a business."
Pamela Anderson, 1967–
Canadian-born actress, glamour model and entrepreneur.
If you can answer the following two questions, then you have a true brand: What is the point of your products and services? Why should anyone care about your business? Create your brand identity around your answers to gain a loyal customer base.
Why do we buy products from The Body Shop? Is it because they are better products or because the company embodies fair-trade ethics? In fact it's a combination of both through marketing materials and press coverage that are carefully moulded to create a cohesive brand.
A brand is developed and nurtured through all customer interactions, so take care to ensure that all your messages are consistent.
"Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?"
Anonymous
If a customer feels involved with a company then they are loyal to its products or services.
Actively involve your customers in all aspects of your business: get them talking about it and keep them emotionally connected with regular communication through newsletters, phone calls, personalized e-mails, competitions and questionnaires.
If you go to Fruit Towers, the head office of smoothie maker Innocent, you can sit down, relax and try one of their new drinks. Innocent actively invites you to do this on each and every bottle. In reality only a handful of people turn up each year, but the invite is there to make customers feel welcome and part of the Innocent experience.
"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others."
Lewis Carroll, 1832–98
Pen name of British author, mathematician and inventor Charles Dodgson, creator of literary nonsense novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, as well as poems including 'Jabberwocky'.
If you can consistently deliver the ideals of your brand to the expectations of your customers, then they will consistently buy into your brand identity.
A brand is a contractual promise between a company and its customers. Each time customers consume the product or experience the service, they know it will be just as brilliant in terms of satisfaction, experience and quality.
Look at recent 'Mac vs PC' adverts. In Apple's adverts its computers are portrayed as fun, up to date and part of your digital life; the PC as a stereotypical business machine. Microsoft is fighting back with its 'I'm a PC' campaign featuring ordinary people and celebrities using its products.
"I have always loved the competitive forces in this business. You know I certainly have meetings where I spur people on by saying, 'Hey, we can do better than this. How come we are not out ahead on that?' That's what keeps my job one of the most interesting in the world."
Bill Gates, 1955–
American businessman, philanthropist, author and founder of software company Microsoft.
Compete at a level above even your expectations to achieve greater rewards. Position yourself alongside leading products and services to gain credibility by association.
By placing yourself in circumstances that motivate you to work harder, perhaps in a larger market, you will move your business forward exponentially.
Retailers are extremely effective at developing own-label products that are remarkably similar to premium brands. The look and feel of the products are the same and they share the same shelf space, but the own-label products are usually better value for money. The trick is the association: the retailers' own products benefit from the marketing spend of the premium brands.
"The world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape."
Bono, 1960–
Stage name of Paul Hewson, lead singer of Irish rock band U2, activist on African issues and co-founder of socially conscious initiatives EDUN and Product Red.
Word-of-mouth is a very powerful marketing tool that every entrepreneur must learn to use. It can be low cost and even works when you sleep.
Viral marketing ocours when customers endorse a product or service that they admire and pass on that information to those most likely to be in the same market.
Talk to friends, educate opinion leaders, pitch a story to the media, send out an e-mail newsletter, run a competition or start a blog. Encourage your customers to do the same. Learn about viral marketing techniques and make them work for you in a positive way.
"If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it."
Mother Teresa, 1910–97
Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta and gained world renown as a humanitarian for the poor and dispossessed. She won the Nobel Peace Prize and was beatified by Pope John Paul II as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
Don't shout to be heard, communicate cleverly with consistent messages that rise above the background noise of your competition.
Use your unique qualities as the launch platform for your marketing communications. Write the story of how your idea was born as a press release, to encourage emotional links with your customers around the hardships and successes of your journey.
Richard Branson hit the headlines when it was announced that the aircraft Concorde was being scrapped. He simply asked his PR agency to spread the word that he would buy the Concorde fleet from BA for £1. This arrogant but brilliant story gained Virgin massive points over BA and secured Branson's brand image as the people's entrepreneur.
"You now have to decide what 'image' you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place."
David Ogilvy, 1911–99
British advertising executive, whom Time called 'the most sought-after wizard in today's advertising industry'. His agency developed campaigns for companies such as Schweppes and Dove and he was famous for his statement 'I hate rules'.
When you've found success with your first product or service, augment its appeal for a different target market.
Range extension may be as simple as repackaging or repositioning the product for an alternative audience or even another industry.
Have a look at Microsoft Office products, first built for business and then rebranded for various user groups: Office Professional, Office Home and Student, Office Small Business, Office Standard.
Loyal customers will also support your new products if you can offer relevant range extensions and provide reasons for them to upgrade to a newer version.
Extending your range could be a straightforward and effective growth strategy and enable you to move into other markets.
"Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out."
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, 1471–1530
English statesman and Roman Catholic cardinal, Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII and skilled international diplomat, stripped of office after he failed to obtain a divorce for the King from Catherine of Aragon.
Every business needs publicity to spread the word. Effective public relations helps you gain new business as well as building trust and credibility.
Prepare a press release, use free PR distribution services and pick up the phone to newspapers and magazines that offer relevant editorial coverage for your customer base.
Editors like to hear real-life stories from the founders of a business. You might talk about how you secured a new client or hired a new employee for the business. Work with local papers to get local coverage and grow your experience and press release writing skills before you attempt to go national.
"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most responsive to change."
Charles Darwin, 1809–82
British naturalist and geologist who developed the theory of natural selection, the foundation of modern evolutionary theory, and was the author of On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man.
Create disruption in the field in which you want to be heard. Adopt a maverick approach and change the way people do business in your chosen industry. Create a buzz about your ideas by telling the press what you're doing that's new.
Xerox marketed the first mouse for personal computers, but did not promote the technology because it feared possible future losses to its paper copying business. In contrast Apple, which began as a computer company, has continually reinvented both its hardware and software and developed radically new products and markets.
Most people resist change – as an entrepreneur you need to create it.