Dear fwm: Christina Blenk Offers Marketing Suggestions for a Small Business Owner

Dear fwm,

I am a small business owner. I have a gutter cleaning company. Once I get clients I always retain them due to my work ethic. The problem I have is advertising and getting my name out there. I have had tremendous difficulty in getting clients after advertising several different ways. As a single mom with three kids, no child support, and a mortgage, I have to put food on the table. Any suggestions for what works?

Amy M.
ProPerfection

Hello, Amy! Thanks for posing this question to us—we’re sure that you will find just the advice you need from our expert contributors and of course from our community—many of whom are small business owners just like you.

We’ve decided to ask an expert to jump in here and provide a few pointers. Meet fwm Expert Contributor Christina Blenk, President and CEO of WomanOwned.com and a business owner herself (she also founded afsweb.net).

Here are a few suggestions for you:

First, you should get listed on http://www.angieslist.com if it covers your area and have your clients who love you rate you highly. It’s a great way to get those direct referrals for a business like yours.

Second, if you have a bit of money and are able to purchase some advertising such as Google Adwords, you’ll need to focus just on your city – which will save a lot of money.

Third, I don’t see that you have a web site--you could use an inexpensive system like Yahoo’s to get something started. Good pictures will be the best thing you can do for your business to tell the story. Clogged v. unclogged.

Fourth, I had a client who installed decks and got great response from a cheap flyer that he would print up and put in mailboxes in neighborhoods where the houses were nice. He said that was the best marketing he could do.

Becoming a “local expert” works if you know that the local paper might run a story on you. You could call the little local paper (they are doing much better with readership than the big ones and will actually talk to a business person) and see what they think of the story idea. Something like “Avoid costly gutter and landscape damage “ or “How gutter cleaning service will save you money and frustration in the long run” would be great article ideas to bring exposure to your business.

It sounds as if you have mastered rule #1: Take excellent care of your current customers!

Best of luck to you!
Christina Blenk

Starting a Business: "Of Coffee and Pastries"

Not long ago, I had a dream of opening a bakery/coffee shop.

It was a fabulous idea, as it effectively combines my love for baking with my love for having a good chat over a slice of lemon loaf and cup of coffee.

What more raison d’etre did I need? (See, I sound like a baker already. And a good one.)

But my dream effectively was squelched when I honestly assessed my life patterns in direct correlation to my new business idea. Simply put, I am a homebody. And a night owl. I realized I’d begin filling pastries and baking muffins about three hours later than I usually go to bed. And spending more waking hours away from, than at, home.

I’d be grumpy.

And nobody likes a grumpy baker. Shoots the whole jolly-pink-cheeked-flour-dusted-nose image thing.

On top of that, there was the whole two-step with a business plan and financing. Yawn. (Sorry – did I just do that?) Honestly, all that just sucked the fun right out of it for me.

And so, I remain happily employed. No start-ups on the horizon. But I’m thinking that, should a new idea come to mind, it’s got to be something I can do from home between 10PM and 2 in the morning. And love enough to withstand all the red tape.

Hey, I know my parameters. I’d say that’s 101 in starting a business.

For now, I’ll stick with writing. And baking during writer’s blocks.

Starting a Business: "Why Would Anyone Want to Do That?"

fwm staffer Viviana shares her thoughts on starting a business:

Why would anyone want to launch a business?

For years, I was a corporate woman all the way. I considered it essential to work for a large organization because (please don’t laugh, I was young at the time) of the stability that offered. If your company wasn’t big enough to require a diversity statement and at least a few regional offices, I didn’t work for you.

As you may have guessed, life quickly got around to teaching me not to put my faith and trust in the stability of any company or job, big or small. That is a good thing, because it has made me more open to (and less afraid of) looking at different types of organizations. In fact, it’s made me look at work in general a little differently. Before, I would have never considered becoming involved with a company launch of any variety. Every hotel I managed was built long before I arrived, and any web community I moderated was buzzing and humming by the time I logged my first post.

What was I missing? Several things. There is no comparison to the fulfillment, fun, and just plain excitement you derive from your work when you are helping to build something that you know is a winner. I’m sure you’re familiar with the feeling I’m describing, because you know it deep down when something is destined for success. Being a part of it, even in a small way, sticks with you.

If you are an entrepreneur, either in practice or just as the keeper of an idea that is brewing in your mind, then I must tell you, the thing I was missing most of all in my work life was you. Those of you with this gift are not like the rest of us. You can ignite passion for an idea and take us along with you. Working with people who approach their work this way is a gift that sat under my tree for years because of my fear of the unknown. I’m glad I finally got around to opening it.

So, to all of our fwm member/entrepreneurs...tell us--when did you realize that you had "the gift" of a great idea or simply the desire to start a business?

Carolyn, fwm, and Yahoo! Small Business: A Great Partnership

An entrepreneur herself, Carolyn is excited about the role she and fwm are playing in the Yahoo! Small Business contest, Seeds for Success: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs.

Yahoo! Small Business will award three women grants of $20,000, plus additional web and online marketing services to help turn their business dreams into reality. Then, those winners will receive mentoring on growing their businesses directly from our highly-connected fwm network. So whether you're an entrepreneur just starting out or are trying to boost your already-established business to the next level, we suggest you grab this app and run with it!