All too often businesses launch a website or have a bit of fanfare about a shop opening and then sit back and wait for the customers to roll in. When the customers don’t arrive they start doing mail shots and placing adverts in newspapers. Often these efforts are untargeted and can be very expensive. And, unfortunately they often don’t work.
One of the best things about Dee Blick’s book is that she does not treat marketing as something you bolt onto a company. Rather she sees it as something that should be built in from the ground up.
Early on in The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Book Dee Blick quotes the marketing expert Peter Doyle on the difference between marketing and sales. He said that:
Selling tries to push the customer to buy what the business has. Marketing, on the other hand, tries to get the organisation to develop and offer what the customer will find is of real value.
In the first chapter of her book Dee Blick gives an example of a new start-up business, in this case a dog walking business. She details how, by thinking about what their customers might want, they were able to create services that customers would want to buy.
This is the general tone of much of Dee Blick’s book. It is heavy on real world examples of how good marketing can help new and growing businesses attract customers. Most of the examples that she uses are of marketing tactics that cost little or no money. Dee Blick does go a little bit into some of the basic theory behind the marketing strategies cover things like AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action). But she does so in an easy to understand way.
The book covers a wide range of marketing strategies including up to date topics such as social media, blogs, email and websites, as well as traditional marketing techniques. While the book can be read in one go it is equally good to use as a reference with chapter summaries, checklists and Q & A sections.
Verdict – 10/10
This is a must read book for any new or growing business. It is full of practical ways to attract customers without breaking the bank and will set you on the right course to establishing a trusted and respected brand.
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hi Peter it is Dee the author here.
Just wanted to thank you for posting such a great review and to ask how you heard of me. It would be good to connect on twitter too. Made my day coming across this on my weekly trawl of the internet to see what has been written about my books. I am now planning book 3 with new content but my usual ‘packed with case studies’ which I am so thrilled you appreciated and picked up on.
Thankyou and kind regards, Dee