Yet there’s a part of me that wonders if we have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Yes, the way in which we market is already, and will continue to change, but that doesn’t mean sound marketing principles aren’t worth using. In fact, in doing research for this article I came across an older marketing model whose with the acronym AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action). It was developed in 1925 by a business analyst named E.K. Strong. While the model isn’t new, in fact, by modern standards it should be archaic and irrelevant, it still has incredible value to marketing today’s business.

Attention:

The first principle is attracting your customers’ attention. This probably looked quite different in 1925 than it does now, but it is at the core of what advertising does. If you don’t get their attention, you can’t persuade them to buy anything. Consumers in 2010 have a much shorter attention span than they did in 1925, so grabbing their attention needs to happen quickly – within the first few seconds – or they ‘ve changed the channel, or clicked to another page. One of the future trends we talked about in last month’s Small Business Success was the tendency of today’s audience to demand more edgy content. They want it rawer, riskier, bolder, and on the edge, and they want it NOW. Traditional marketing isn’t geared to now. It comes whenever a customer picks up a magazine, turns on the TV or radio, drives past a billboard or gets a flyer in the mail. Social media allows for immediate attention grabbing. Twitter and you’ve got hundreds of people’s attention immediately; Facebook for even more. And there are dozens of social media sites to tap into. This principle may be old, but it is as relevant today as it ever was. As a business, you’re going to have to come up with ever cleverer ways to reach your customers and get their attention.

Interest:

Once you’ve got their attention, you have the equally difficult task of keeping it. Today’s consumers are more savvy. They know more about what they’re buying, and they expect more of the companies they buy from. They need, more than ever, to know what’s in it for them, so the focus on benefit rather than features (see article this month called Value-based Selling) is vital. Keep their attention by asking them questions and being interested in what’s important to them. Listen to what they are saying and respond in ways that will mean something to them. Traditional surveys can do this, but social media allows for even greater information sourcing. A question on Facebook or Twitter could get more responses and genuine information than paper, telephone, or even online surveys.

Desire:

Once you’ve got their interest, you must convince them that they want what you have to offer and that it will meet their needs. People can recognize that they have a need, but that is not desire. Desire is what motivates people to buy. Some traditional ways of creating desire are using the scarcity principle (telling people the item to be desired will not be available for long), demonstrating how other people approve of the item and have acquired it for themselves, or showing them how what you have to offer will solve some of their problems. One of the websites I looked at in researching AIDA suggested that a modern substitute or addition to the “D” is DIALOGUE. Today’s consumer wants to talk about what they’re buying. They’re asking everyone all over the world about their experience in buying what you’re selling (remember Real Time Interviews from December’s edition of Trends?). If you can open up a dialogue with potential customers that shows transparency and that you’re listening, it will assist you in creating that desire.

Action:

This principle says you must lead your customers toward action. It is known in current terms as a “call to action”; a “click here”, or “phone now” suggestion, moving the customer toward the purchase. Shopping channels do this brilliantly, as do many infomercials. On the left hand side of your TV screen you see how many items are available, and as the hour ticks on you actually see the number of items available going down, presumably as people are flocking to their telephones to order. “Special offer “, or “if you call in the next 5 minutes you get a bonus” are calls to action. So are dated sales. The next generation of customer will be less and less influenced by these traditional calls to action, so smart businesses are going to have to find a way to move them to action without pressure tactics. They’ll take their time, but when they’re ready they’ll commit. They’ll know exactly what they want.

Finally, some marketing experts have added an “S” to the acronym, for Satisfaction. This involves exceptional customer service - satisfying the customer so that they repeat buy and refer their friends.

So, here tradition meets the future. AIDA provides strong, relevant marketing principles, but businesses today need to find new ways to apply them. Do some research. Take a course on social media and get your head around what it will mean for your business in the future. Keep up to date on trends and stay on the forward edge in your industry. Be the one who stands out because you get it, and you’ll see success.

Things that Scream, “I’m a Home-based Business!”

4 Tips to Making Your Home-Based Business Look More Professional

There are reasons you chose to work from home. Some may have to do with lifestyle, - the ability to be available to family and to choose your own hours. Or, they may have been financial – a decision to start small and grow your business slowly. Yours may be the type of business that doesn’t require a formal office and working from home makes sense. Out in the marketplace however, you want to be careful that home-based doesn’t mean second rate. While your services may be stellar, there are certain hazards of working from home that could detract from your credibility as a business. Be aware if you’re losing business because prospective clients doubt your capacity to perform based on their perception of your business. I’m not saying that it’s necessary to hide the fact that you are home-based, but rather that it is necessary to create a professional image to instill consumer confidence. Here are some “must do’s” to create a polished professional presence for your home-based business.

1. Have a separate space from the household

This is priority one. If your phone and computer are sitting on the dining room table and clients calling can hear dogs barking, kids crying, or the washing machine going in the background, your credibility is gone. If you’re serious about your business, make sure you have an office with a door you can close to drown out household noises and free yourself mentally from distractions. Shared spaces are usually disorganized spaces. You don’t want your teenager to take your report to school because it was sitting in the same place she was doing her homework last night. Take yourself seriously enough to create a professional space to conduct your business. If you have a family, it’s also important to have a separate phone line for your business. Nothing detracts from your professional image more than having your kids answer a business call.

2.  Pay attention to presentation

How you present yourself both online and on paper says a lot about you to potential customers. Unless you have a commercial or high-end printer, you should not print brochures, business cards or other marketing materials on your home printer. Customers can tell if you’ve taken care to ensure your materials are professionally done. I can’t tell you the number of “home-made” brochures I’ve seen from people who have obviously used a Microsoft Publisher template and think they can pass it off as a professional piece of marketing. As a potential customer, their credibility in my eyes is zero. Yes, it costs money to hire a professional designer and have them commercially printed, but that should be part of your marketing budget, even as a home-based business. You may have heard the old saying, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” It could not be more true. The same goes for your website. If you can’t afford a web designer, there is software that can help you create a relatively decent website, but if you don’t really have an artistic eye, enlist the help of someone who does. Never use a public domain for your website – spend the few dollars it takes to get a private domain name. Also, never use public email addresses like yahoo, gmail or hotmail for your business email. That screams “I was too cheap to get a real email address and settled for a free one.” If you don’t care enough about your business to spend money on how you present it, why would anyone else want to spend money on your business?

3. Be careful with using your home address

When you put your home address on your marketing materials, even if you have a business that doesn’t normally see clients at your location, you take the risk that customers could show up at your doorstep looking for you. If it happens to be a day you got up late and are still in your pajamas with your first cup of coffee, it could be embarrassing, not to mention the end of your relationship with that customer. You may want to consider renting a post office box for your business mail. It looks more professional, and it gets you out of your office at least once a day!

4. Get family buy-in and support

If you are running your business from home, there are certain rules or etiquette that your family should be aware of to support you in your business efforts. Don’t assume they will automatically know what those are. Have a family meeting and discuss your expectations. For example, perhaps you want them to know that when your office door is closed, it means “unless it’s an emergency, don’t bother me.” Or maybe it means there are certain designated “quiet hours”, especially if kids are coming home from school in the afternoon before your business day is done. Define what that means. TV and/or stereo kept on low volume, play happens someplace farther from the office, etc. Let them know what you want them to do when the phone rings and you aren’t there to take the call. Do you want your spouse to answer it for you, and if so, how? Or do you want all messages to go to your voice mail, or perhaps be forwarded to your cell phone?

Working from home can be a fantastic experience that facilitates doing what you love and balancing the demands of home and work, but it also can lend itself toward sloppy habits or taking yourself less seriously than a “real” business. Work from home, but when it comes to presenting yourself to your customers, think and act like a big business.