SLO LIFE Winter 2010

| SMALL BUSinESS MAkEOvEr
the Mackintoshes providing an overview of SLO Moped, including its
perceived strengths and weaknesses, and drilled down to specifics with
their marketing.
“I have a couple of observations,” offered Verdin. “I can see that there
is no marketing plan in place currently, and things seem to be done by
the ‘seat of the pants’ to this point.” She explained the importance of
establishing a program that targets their likely customer. “You have to
get clear on who your customer is so that you can communicate your
message with this type of person.” Verdin went on to suggest methods
for gaining this understanding. “Also, your brand messaging is a bit
disjointed. This has to be applied consistently at all times, but, again, the
brand should be dictated by your target market.”
Verdin cautioned the Mackintoshes that there was a lot of work to
be done at this point and that the temptation of many small business
owners is to jump to the tactics of marketing and skip the grunt work,
like doing market research. She offered a metaphor: “Think of it as if
you are going to paint your house, it’s all the prep work that makes for a
great result, right?” The Mackintoshes nodded in agreement, suddenly
realizing the magnitude of the work ahead of them.
WEB STRATEGY
“The website looks really outdated, it doesn’t look professional, and
it makes you look like you’re not a legitimate company,” plainly stated
Forrest Hatfield, founder and director of web systems, at ITech Solutions,
an internet development company in San Luis Obispo. “Your website
doesn’t necessarily have a direct correlation of how legitimate your
company is, but in the eyes of the user it does. You want to make sure
they have a professional experience. For example, when you advertise
somewhere, they [the prospective customers] are probably going to
check out your web page to get more information before they come into
your shop. You want to make sure your site is representing you well and
that you are using it to gain credibility.”
The Mackintoshes readily agreed with Hatfield’s assessment, but
appeared to consider the implications for the first time. Despite their
sudden anxiousness to change the website, Hatfield cautioned the couple
to have a well-conceived web strategy before moving forward. He went
on to ask probing questions, such as: “Will you be selling parts through
the website to people out of the area? If so, you will probably want to
create a separate brand name because a lot of those customers may not
“
Think of it as if you
are going to paint
your house, it’s all
the prep work
that makes for a
”
great result, right?
- Mary Verdin
above WEB STrATEGY (left to right)
Mike Wiemholt, Forrest Hatfield and
Megan Mackintosh review plans for the
new website.
right nUTS AnD BOLTS (left to right)
Megan and Jim Mackintosh, and
Michael Gunther talk business.
opposite page MArkETinG 101
(left to right) Megan Mackintosh,
Mary Verdin, Maryn Anderson, and Jim
Mackintosh review brand development.
28 | slo life magazine