So I’ve been doing this Uncle Marketing thing for the last 3 years, after over 30 years in more corporate and startup environments. The truth is it’s really hard work convincing small business owners to do anything.
They’re often over extended. They’re focused on their core business. Improving marketing activities is like number 32 on a list of 20 things they need to do that day.
So when someone like me comes along, even though they might agree with everything I’m saying to them, making room for me, someone who will potentially change how they do some things… it’s a lot to ask. It’s worse than trying to get your kids to eat vegetables, because they have to pay me to tell them to eat their vegetables.
It started in a liquor store
My parents were small business owners. We had a liquor store in the suburbs of Sacramento. Before that, my dad had a Chinese restaurant downtown. These were relatively successful businesses, but we never got rich. It just afforded us a little better life than freshly landed immigrants had.
They didn’t believe in marketing, or it wasn’t something they needed to do. Competitively speaking, if you had a location that worked and you worked hard, you’d do okay.
Those were the good ole days
That’s not the case anymore. Small businesses today need to be more out front. They need to own digital real estate and real estate in people’s hearts and minds, not just a physical store front. And they need to try and maximize their opportunities and ability to close.
Everything I learned in corporate marketing applies to small business. How do I know this? Look at private equity and franchises, which are essentially corporate infrastructures that deploy activities traditionally served by small businesses.
Private equity optimized the customer acquisition processes and gotten awareness through branding, findability, and a layer of competency. They might not be the best service, but they’re often the most present. Johnny on the spot. The first hungry person in line. They invest in those resources to win, and marketing is a huge part of that.
But those companies are often pretty soulless. Not all of them, but a lot of them. Their shareholders require them to be motivated by profits first and the communities they exist in last.
I don’t wanna live in a world where large, profit-only entities run everything. I don’t want my customer value to be just a cell on someone’s spreadsheet. I like having human beings I can trust and rely on and want me as a customer.
Maybe it’s crazy to think I can help small businesses fight the machinery that’s coming for them. But I kinda wanna try, especially since I know the playbook.
That’s why I want to help.
Because I can.
