Opinions are Like (BLANK)?

Fill in your own blank. I'll go with "data" as in "opinions are like data."

You see, opinions are like data because everyone has some. Demographic statistics, sales forecasts, budget variances and more. In fact, many businesses are drowning in data.

Too much data means too many opinions. Paralysis by analysis, as the saying goes.

Even worse, small businesses owners are always subject to other's opinions. It seems that everyone who walks into your store thinks they know the best way to run your business.

So whose opinions matter? What data are important?

It can't all be important. Especially with respect to marketing. Try and please all opinions and your marketing will fail. Miserably.

Remember, successful marketing focuses on a narrow but deep market. So pay attention to the opinions and the data about your niche. This is where you'll find actionable information.

Still struggling to find out what data and what opinions are most useful? Do an 80/20 analysis: undertand the 20% of your market that gives you 80% of your revenue. Find data and opinions that represent the 20% and act on that.

Data and opinions alone cannot move your business to the next level. Instead, move your business to the next level with actionable data and opinions that directly reflect your narrow target market.

Choose Your Own Customers, Part II

For most things, quality is better than quantity.

Brett Sutton lives this mantra. He is a personal coach for triathletes. His athletes have won 15 world championships and 2 Olympic medals. Most recently, Sutton coached Chrissie Wellington to a Hawaii Ironman championship.

He is known for old-school techniques. He pushes his athletes beyond their limits and was once a trainer for horses and greyhounds. As if this is not controversial enough, he was also convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in 1997.

He was quoted in the October 2008 Outside Magazine as saying “If you want to be a civilian, be a civilian. My athletes are soldiers. This is the jungle. The lion gets up every day. If he doesn’t catch the gazelle, he doesn’t eat. If the gazelle doesn’t outrun the gazelle, he’s dead.”

Pretty intense stuff! You might expect that from a sport as demanding as the triathlon. In my athletic career (water polo, swimming) I certainly had some intense coaches, but nothing resembling Brett Sutton. Then again, I never intended on becoming a World Champion. (Beating Harvard was always a stretch goal for our team!)

But let’s not lose the business lesson that Sutton is teaching. Sutton’s program is not for everyone. At the time of the Outside Magazine article, Sutton was coaching 18 triathletes. Sutton admits that he prefers to work with a smaller group. “I know I could have 100 people here and make more money, but that’s not what I’m about. Coaching is sacred to me.”

The point here is that Sutton selectively chooses who to bring into his program. His platform is unique, different and perhaps unorthodox. That said, he attracts a unique, different and perhaps unorthodox clientele. The results speak for themselves, but Sutton’s means to an end are not intended for all triathletes.

Same goes for a successful small business. A successful small business will selectively choose its clients. A successful small business presents an exceptional platform (otherwise it is a commodity) that attracts only a unique client base. Success, for small businesses, is not about quantity. It’s about quality.

Sutton might say the same thing regarding his coaching. He looks for quality, not quantity. He has set up parameters to attract only those willing to work under his conditions. And he probably turns away a lot of potential customers. Imagine that! Turning away customers!

For your business, try an approach in which you truly choose your own customer. I suggest you write down the characteristics of your ideal customer. In other words, describe your target market in terms of their demographics and psychographics. This will really help you understand what marketing messages and channels to use.

Think about choosing quality customers, and not necessarily quantity. You’ll save money and energy and you’ll attract truly qualified leads.

Choose Your Own Customers, Part I

I recently met up with an acquaintance and we decided to catch up over a beer. He invited me to a local men's club. I had never visited this particular establishment previously, but it was truly a man's place: poker tables, big screen tv, lazy boys and of course a bar with several cronies playing Liar's Dice. The club hosts weekly "Stag Nights" during which ladies are not invited. The place oozed testosterone and you could tell it was exactly the type of place the "boys" went to get away from the home life.

My friend and I walked in fresh off a day of work. We both sported business casual and we each carried our planners in our hands. Nothing out of place for a Tuesday afternoon, I felt. However, upon entering the room, all the cronies turned to look at us and there was a cool silence. After the pregnant pause, one gentlemen blurted out "Is this a 7th-Day Adventist Convention?" This caused an uproar of laughter among the others. We smiled, scampered over the bar and did our best to fit in by ordering a couple of beers.

We were certainly out of place for a moment. Our business casual was not casual enough for this establishment and it showed. Perhaps if I were more religious I may have taken offense to the comment. We also could have felt of discrimination. However, my mind did not go in that direction. The first thought that went through my head was, "Genius! What other business gets customers to make fun of other customers, and survives?"

As I thought more, I realized that this was brilliant marketing strategy. There is a lesson in this private club for all businesses: be choosey with your customers; you cannot please everyone. So many businesses nowadays are going with the birdshot marketing strategy: blast as many messages out there in hopes of attracting as many folks as possible. This strategy only works if you truly have a product geared towards the masses, which very few businesses do. The best strategy is to avoid the birdshot and pick the one weapon that works for your market. In fact, as the men's club taught me, true success lies in the ability to be very selective in seeking customers.

The more a business can be selective in its target market, the easier the marketing investments become. Think about the hot night club with the velvet rope at the door. People line up hoping to get in. The club is so exclusive that it only lets in certain people. You may wait several hours, but if you don't fit the profile, you don't get in. Word builds and builds and soon everyone wants to get into that club. The line grows night after night mostly from word-of-mouth. Sure the club invests in some marketing like getting the right music, the right lighting, the right drinks, etc. But from an advertising perspective, exclusivity is maximum return on minimum investment...all it took was a velvet rope!

For your business, think about how you can choose your customers. The more selective you can become with your customers, the more you can focus on his or her specific needs. In turn, your business can then serve your customers better. Over the long run, success will come from servicing one niche very well. The men's club served one niche very well and has been in business for decades.

A club like that may not your cup of tea, but that is the whole point.