Why those of us in small business could do with a little therapy - Part 1

The word ‘marketing’ is bandied being around a lot of late, in ways and contexts like never before. Once upon a time, marketing only happened in large multinational companies, who employed Brand Managers to oversee all the promotional activities surrounding a product or service. But in these times of flourishing entrepreneurship and enterprising sole traders, small business owners are finding that, just like the multinationals, they need to promote their wares, but may not have the luxury of an in-house
marketing department to take care of this radically important aspect of business. And no matter how great your product or service, it amounts to nought if no-one gets to find out about it. So when I heard that Amber Raney-Kincade (raney-kincade.co.uk) was offering ‘marketing therapy’, I was intrigued to find out more. She’s agreed to discuss it with me here.

JH: Hi Amber, welcome. Good to catch up again. Now the first thing I want to know is how do you define marketing – what actually is it, in your book?

ARK: Great to be here Jacqui. Well, I don’t have an official book yet (that’s a new year’s resolution for 2013) but I will say that I define marketing as the awareness of your business and how you use this to meet objectives and drive sales. Now, this is a really loose definition if you compare it to some of the text book answers. After all, I always like to quote Peter Drucker who says that marketing is more than sales and should permeate the entire business organisation.

JH: And what does ‘marketing therapy’ entail?

ARK: Ah, yes. marketing therapy. It’s my interpretation of the service I provide to business owners and start ups. In layman’s terms, I’m a consultant, but many people get confused by that word. It’s often therapeutic for the business owner to pull back from their work and look at it from a different perspective... namely the customer. What is essential is that we are doing business the way that our customer wants us to, because in the end, this is who is paying the bills. And it is also a reference to the time I take. For example, for the same time and money that one might invest in a massage, they could have a social media strategy for their business.

JH: What gave you the idea of offering ‘therapy’ to people in small business – was it something you could see people were struggling with?

ARK: I see business owners struggle all the time. Sometimes, it is simply a lack of direction or know-how. When someone makes great jam or gives great massages for a living, they don’t really want to or know how to focus on marketing their product or service. The consulting sessions that I provide often find me taking the mountain that they are facing (be it creating a website or writing a marketing plan) and deflating it back to a molehill. Also, I have the ability to explain something that one person sees as complex (like social media strategy) in terminology that is understandable. I set people at ease, and there is such a thrill when they walk away and say “I can do this” after about two hours with me.