Who Controls Your Story?

Why is it so important for you, as a small business owner, to tell the world who you are, to tell your own story? Because, if you don't, the chances that the the customers you are trying to influence are going to get it right are slim to none.

The creater of Mad Libs recently passed away. Do you remember mad libs? It goes omething like this. Give me a noun, (canary). Now a verb, (running). Now an adjective (yellow).  Next a plural noun (suits).

Ready? The newest store to open on Main street is owned and operated by Jane Jones. Her store specializes in canary accessories, running lights and diamond rings.

You get the picture? This is what can happen in the minds of your potential customers. If your customers don't have a clear and accurate picture of who you are, and the products and services you offer, they are going to begin to fill in the blanks with whatever comes to their minds and most likely the images they fabricate are not going to be congruent with what your business is about. That is why it is so important that you control the message and tell the world who you are.

Now, here's the good news and bad news. It's never been easier to get your message to your target audience. The tools and channels to promote your business are abundant and affordable. The bad news, the myriad of ways to market your business is down right confusing. Instead of a simple newspaper ad you now have to worry about your Facebook fan page, your Twitter account, Google places, Yelp, mobile marketing, QR codes and your YouTube channel, just to name a few of the places and methods you should be found on and using to tell your story and broadcast your message. If your not, your competitors are, and your story isn't getting told our heard. In fact if your aren't in control of your message your customer isn't going to have the information they need to know who you are. Instead, they will draw their picture and form their own conclusions about your business. Can you afford that?

It used to be that you could spend a $1,000 a month on a decent Yellow page ad, honestly when was the last time you opened the Yellow Pages to find anything? Your customers aren't either. Today they are looking on line in directories both paid and free, because this it's where the search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing are crawling when a person types in a key word phrase to search for a local dentist, painter, plumber, electrician, or whatever service out product they are searching for.