Elaine Schneider: How Small Businesses Grow

1. What’s the angle of your book, How Smart Small Businesses Grow?

My book shows how to create a marketing infrastructure that can double revenue within four to seven months (even in struggling businesses). My five-step formula for developing a marketing infrastructure:

illuminates what your business can do better than anyone else
uncovers new markets willing to pay a premium for your unique capabilities
leads to profitable new products and services that address the limitations of earlier products
creates a fly-wheel effect that produces better, faster results

2. What happens when organizations don’t have a marketing infrastructure?

Here’s a snapshot of some of the likely symptoms of a business missing a marketing infrastructure:

the business stops every few months while the leader(s) generates more business
the key pains of customers are unknown so competitors develop better solutions
little is known about how customers use the organization’s products and services
it’s harder each year to sell new business

3. What experiences led you to write the book?

I noticed many businesses get stuck because the leader doesn’t really understand marketing. My book shows how to put in place structures that attract the right set of customers and improve the value proposition of your offerings.

Three things from my own experience helped me to write this book. They were observing:

common patterns that keep companies from growing
how successful companies structure their business
steps I took to help unsuccessful businesses get back on track

I’ve also noticed a couple of really interesting dynamics in small businesses. Specifically, many small business owners:

treat the salespeople as the enemy
assume customers will call when they need something
don’t know how to link their products and services to what the buyer really cares about

4. Give me an example of a company that benefited from your approach?

Here’s a scenario/solution I encounter frequently in my practice.

a national professional association has been losing about 20% of their member base each year for the past two years
they are spending more to acquire members than they are generating in new members
they have not had a substantive conversation with their members in four years
ten of their twelve public seminars are not selling

Results of repositioning strategy:

got rid of all the products that weren’t selling
uncovered a niche market that needed their unique capabilities
created a subscription - based niche consulting product that generates at least $200,000 per customer per year
new product required them to become a ‘learning organization’ - this improved their chances of creating other 2nd generation products

Order How Smart Small Businesses Grow by clicking here

Ann Arbor / Cincinnati / 513.312.0455 / Email: elaine@elaineschneider.net

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	1. What’s the angle of your book, How Smart Small Businesses Grow? My book shows how to create a marketing infrastructure that can double revenue within four to seven months (even in struggling businesses). My five-step formula for developing a marketing infrastructure: illuminates what your business can do better than anyone else uncovers new markets willing to pay a premium for your unique capabilities leads to profitable new products and services that address the limitations of earlier products creates a fly-wheel effect that produces better, faster results 2. What happens when organizations don’t have a marketing infrastructure? Here’s a snapshot of some of the likely symptoms of a business missing a marketing infrastructure: the business stops every few months while the leader(s) generates more business the key pains of customers are unknown so competitors develop better solutions little is known about how customers use the organization’s products and services it’s harder each year to sell new business 3. What experiences led you to write the book? I noticed many businesses get stuck because the leader doesn’t really understand marketing. My book shows how to put in place structures that attract the right set of customers and improve the value proposition of your offerings. Three things from my own experience helped me to write this book. They were observing: common patterns that keep companies from growing how successful companies structure their business steps I took to help unsuccessful businesses get back on track I’ve also noticed a couple of really interesting dynamics in small businesses. Specifically, many small business owners: treat the salespeople as the enemy assume customers will call when they need something don’t know how to link their products and services to what the buyer really cares about 4. Give me an example of a company that benefited from your approach? Here’s a scenario/solution I encounter frequently in my practice. a national professional association has been losing about 20% of their member base each year for the past two years they are spending more to acquire members than they are generating in new members they have not had a substantive conversation with their members in four years ten of their twelve public seminars are not selling Results of repositioning strategy: got rid of all the products that weren’t selling uncovered a niche market that needed their unique capabilities created a subscription - based niche consulting product that generates at least $200,000 per customer per year new product required them to become a ‘learning organization’ - this improved their chances of creating other 2nd generation products Order How Smart Small Businesses Grow by clicking here Ann Arbor / Cincinnati / 513.312.0455 / Email: elaine@elaineschneider.net Site developed by Firebelly	Read a summary of How Smart Small Businesses Grow by clicking here.