Marketing & Advertising for Small Business Owners In Small Towns

Tom Egelhoff has spent the past 30 years teaching business owners in small towns and rural communities how to do their own low cost advertising and marketing. Most small towns don't have the luxury of high powered marketing and advertising agencies and even if they did, most small town business owners would not have the budget to afford them.

The vast majority of how-to business books are written by the experts who worked with Fortune 500 companies. You simply can't relate advertising for Coke to advertising for Joe's Shoe Store.

In 1998 Tom wrote,"How to Market, Advertise and Promote Your Business or Service In A Small Town" After 12 years that book still gets five star reviews on Amazon. The book is a step-by-step, 10 point marketing plan that covers many of the challenges facing today's small business owner. Such as, how to deal with a smaller customer base, growing the business to the break-even level and how to reach the market in areas that may not have local radio, TV or daily newspapers. This book has been a text book at the University of Alaska and Missouri State University.

In 2003, Tom followed up with, "The Small Town Advertising Handbook: How to Say More and Spend Less." This companion to the small town marketing book covers all aspects of small town advertising. Everything from creating word-of-mouth advertising to the secrets of buying radio time and working with advertising sales people.

In 2007, John Wiley & Sons book publishers contacted Tom and asked him to update and revise the original 1998 book. "How to Market, Advertise and Promote Your Business or Service In Your Own Backyard" was released nationally in June of 2008.

Tom also hosts a weekly radio call in show that streams world-wide. "Open for Business" is not your father's business talk show. It's much more than just business advice. Tom explains how local, national and international business events affect the everyday person.

Tom's 12 year old web site, www.smalltownmarketing.com has over 400 pages of free articles and tips for small business owners in small towns. His articles and tips have been used in college courses and have been reproduced in magazines in the US, China, Turkey, and India. He has also been featured in Costco Connection Magazine, Emerging Business, Target Marketing,and Business Adviser.

Tom also writes a monthly business column for the nationally published Vetrepreneur Magazine that targets small business owners who served in the military.

When the economy was booming business startups and small businesses reached the break even level much faster than in current times. When faced with a smaller customer base, small businesses must be more aggressive in reaching and selling their customers. 

Small town businesses do not have a large margin of error. People in small towns know each other and will spread the word if you are not 100% honest and ethical in the way you conduct your business. If you alienate the wrong customer you are going to have a tough job reestablishing trust in the community again. And in this economy that could lead to a going out of business sale.

As  you might imagine, networking in small towns is crucial to success. You are going to have to use word-of-mouth in a small town much more than you would in a city. A referral from a small town resident will carry much more weight with a customer than the same referral will in a big city.

Involving yourself in local community events will also go a long way in building your credibility in a small town. Sponsoring little league, donating products or services to charity, sponsoring school events, joining the chamber of commerce, and supporting local teams are often a good way to get your company name out in a positive light.

Don't bring your previous residence to your new home. You are the one that has to change and adapt to your new home - Not the current residents. Learn the positive things about your new home and embrace them. If there are negatives, either ignore them or at least learn to live with and tolerate them.

Unlike big cities, where people shop, but don't live where they work, you will get entire families shopping at your business. So every customer means 2-3 more possible customers. In a big city, the business owner may never see any other family members unless they too work nearby.

According to the Small Business Administration, 85% of small businesses fail in the first five years. I would venture to say that in a recession that might be shortened by up to a year. The problem is; small business know everything there is to know about their products and services but very little about marketing and advertising.

How to do they learn to do marketing and advertising right? Mostly by trial and error. Those who are lucky enough to make the right choices survive. Those that don't become the statistic above.

My goal is to provide the best possible resources and information I can find to reduce that 85% number. America truly is the land of opportunity and anyone can build a successful business, but there must be a way to get the right information that explains their particular situation. All small towns are not alike. Each has it's own culture and traditions. Cookie cutter business models that work for big city businesses will not work in flyover USA.

In the first six months of 2007 a "big box" store closed every hour on the hour. 4,975 stores and 38, 000 out of work. There is a lot to be said for adapting to your environment. Finding a way to make small businesses successful across the nation is the key to a strong economy and financial stability. My goal is to help as many people as possible to make that a reality.