It is important to always remember that marketing is not direct sales and that marketing is turning the delivery of information into sales. Marketing is continuing to change, especially with the advancement of artificial intelligence in today’s business, event planning and audio visual worlds.
Every business I have started, I have named the company around what people are searching for online. When I started Ottawa Special Events, it was because that is what people “Googled”. I also purchased OttawaAudioVisual.com and had it redirect to Ottawa Special Events. Now, with the changes in my career, I am the owner of Ottawa Consultants (www.OttawaConsultants.com). I have also purchased and named other companies that will be coming soon, Ottawa Business Brokers, Healthcare Staffing and many more. One of the major domain purchasing platforms has valued my portfolio of 59 web addresses at $45,000.
I always think developing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis regarding your company can help you reach new levels. During these times, keeping hardworking, dedicated staff is key. People don’t quit jobs, people quit people. One of the ways I have done this is by offering my staff fully paid health benefits. They were able to then get glasses, visit the dentist, the chiropractor, have a massage and more – all at no cost to them. My staff is forever grateful.
Another strategy is to develop a corporate social responsibility program within your company. If you support the community, the community will support you. In the past, I sent out emails to all of our customers asking them to donate used winter clothing that we would then take to homeless shelters to ensure everyone had the clothes they needed. I called a major grocer where I had spent quite a bit of money on laptops. I asked them what they did with the turkeys that were not sold during holiday times. They told me they simply threw them out. I asked if I could have them at no cost to take them to home shelters, and they said yes. In the end, they gave me 182 turkeys to disperse. I partnered with sports teams in my city and obtained well-discounted tickets, which I made available to all of our customers. They simply loved that about my company.
The most important part of running a business is to never forget, if you support the community, the community will support you. These were low-to-no-cost endeavours that kept everyone coming back to my company and supported us more than you could have ever imagined.
Michael Wood is the chief marketing officer at Ottawa Consultants. A firm that provides government relations for the Canadian event and audio-visual sectors, marketing, public and media relations, business brokering and a variety of other services.
