Reporter: First off, about your book "The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses"; tell me why you wrote it.  And also, give me a little background on your experiences and what led you to this project. 

 

LIPE:

 

I wrote my book because it seems like every month I run into entrepreneurs who need marketing advice, but can’t afford it. So, I decided one way I could help them was to write a book that was heavy on information, but light on their wallets.

 

My background is pretty much all in marketing. For almost twenty years, I’ve worked to help market products, services and businesses.  After I received my MBA from Northwestern in the 80’s, I worked for marketing powerhouses like General Mills, Novartis and Select Comfort. I went as far as I could on that track, then I launched my own business, Emerge Marketing in 1994. Emerge offers strategic marketing consulting to growing companies up to $100 million in sales.

 

The book’s title actually comes from my clients. Many said what they really wanted was a set of marketing tools that fit their company. After hearing this for the 100^th time, I realized my book’s title should capture this toolkit image.

 

 

Reporter: Let’s talk about your book demographics for a moment.  What types of people buy your book? 

 

LIPE:

 

3 different kinds of people buy The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses:

o       Early-stage entrepreneurs who have launched a business within the last 5 years.

o       Established micro business owners with less than 10 employees, who want more significant growth.

o       Small business leaders with larger companies (up to $100 million) who want growth, but without an internal marketing department.  

 

 

Reporter:  What's the action part that someone gets out of your book?  There are a lot of books out there that are a nice read, but don’t offer any substance or follow up. How does your book handle this?

 

LIPE:

 

I know what you mean. I’ve read scores of small business books that fall short. Either they

1) tell you what to do, but don’t show you how or 2) cover topics and examples that are irrelevant to a small business.

 

I call these Twinkie books; you know like a Hostess Twinkie®. Looks good on the outside, but not much substance on the inside.

 

That’s why I packed my book full of forms, checklists and tools that a small business leader can start using today. The book also has an extensive marketing glossary that covers 200+ marketing terms, a sample marketing plan, and a recommended resources section. People these days just don’t have time to read a whole book and then realize it sucks.

 

 

Reporter: In your opinion, what's the one thing a person can do to jumpstart their company’s marketing? Say maybe they’re in a financial crisis and need a bunch of new business…right away.

 

LIPE:

 

Let me say this: marketing alone can’t save a business that’s failing. Other, more relevant actions might include layoffs (hate to say it, but they are a necessary evil in today’s whitewater economy) or a financial restructuring.

 

Having said that though, I do think a company’s best shot at jumpstarting sales is through its current customers, lapsed customers (those that haven’t ordered from you in over a year) and most productive referral generators.

 

I’ll give you an example. I helped a client of mine in the industrial services market send out a brief research survey to its lapsed customers. For this $30 million company, the survey generated $750,000 in additional sales over 6 months. That’s a significant short term sales increase for any company.

Reporter: Why does a small business owner need to buy your book?

 

LIPE:

 

I saw some recent statistics from the National Federation of Independent Businesses that said over 50% of small business owners launch their business without marketing or sales experience.  And I realized that few people start a business because they love marketing, but without it their survival is at stake.   

 

So I wrote The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses as a small business marketing guide for those new-to-marketing. It’s written in a practical, down-to-earth style so that owners get the information they need, without needing an MBA in marketing.

 

 

Reporter: Any other reasons?

 

LIPE:

Well, I have met more than my fair share of small business leaders who catch marketing fever right as their boat heads over the falls. That’s too late.

 

One goal I had with The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses was to get small business owners to practice marketing much further upstream.

 

 

Reporter: Tell us about your business. Where’s your office?  

 

LIPE:

I have a home-based office, and right now I wouldn’t have it any other way. My home office gives me the ability to “bend time”, as I like to call it.  I get my work done when it’s convenient for my schedule and that flexibility alone makes it worthwhile.

 

 

Reporter: I recently checked out your website www.emergemarketing.com and saw you offer some Special Reports for sale. Tell us about those…

 

LIPE:

Several years ago, I started writing special reports on topics like “How to Write a Marketing Plan”, “The 7 Most Common Marketing Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)”, “10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Marketing”, and “Secrets to Search Engine Positioning”. I sell them for only $9 but they’re loaded with practical information.

People want ideas they can implement today, and they want it in bite-sized chunks. That’s why I wrote these reports. More about them can be found at http://emergemarketing.com/publications/index.htm

 

Reporter: I also found on your site a bunch of free marketing articles that cover a lot of the topics I do in my work with attorneys and writers. Which of these articles are the most popular?

 

Some of the more popular articles are “The 10 Commandments of Successful Marketing”, “How to Market your Website” and “6 Reasons Every Business Needs to Market”.  More can be found at http://emergemarketing.com/publications/index.htm

 

I also feature some free downloads and checklists at my site.

 

Reporter: What changes to marketing do you see in the years ahead?

 

LIPE:

 

The web will be even more of a force in marketing. We’re quickly reaching the stage where every business must have a website, otherwise it’s game over.

 

Another thing I see in marketing is a huge power shift back to the hands of the customer. With massive amounts of content on the net and powerful search engines to sort through this content, customers increasingly hold the upper hand in marketing. Sometimes, they’re even more knowledgeable than a company’s sales or marketing staff.

 

Smart marketers have to adapt to this changing environment by offering customers valuable content and opt-in convenience. More and more, we’re letting customers sell themselves.

 

I’m also seeing markets demand fresh, new content for websites. People these days get bored easily. And if your site doesn’t offer updated content, you get far fewer return visits. That’s why I started my blog at http://jaylipe.typepad.com/smart_marketing/

 

Reporter:  Where do you see Jay Lipe five years from now?

 

LIPE:

Let’s see, in 5 years I’d like to have published two more books. I will be doing far more speeches and seminars than even now. I would also like to see Emerge Marketing be known as the “intersection of small business and marketing”. In 5 years, I’d like www.emergemarketing.com to offer an assortment of books, e-books, workbooks, special reports, tapes and teleseminars.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if Emerge Marketing has more employees by then.

 

I also want to be right here in Minneapolis, rollerblading the lakes in the summer and playing pick-up hockey with my kids in the winter.

 

 

Reporter: Before I let you go, is there anything else you want to tell me, something I missed or didn't cover?

 

LIPE:

 

If any of your readers want to purchase my book, it’s available at Amazon.com by clicking here: The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses . If any reader has a question for me, have them shoot me an email at lipe@emergemarketing.com , and if they just want to surf for a while they can visit www.emergemarketing.com

 

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Author bio

Jay Lipe, aka the “Plan Man”, is the CEO of Emerge Marketing; a firm that helps growing companies improve their marketing. He is the author of the book The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses (Chammerson Press) which is available at major bookstores and online at www.amazon.com. He is also a sought after speaker and seminar leader, and can be reached at (612) 824-4833 or lipe@emergemarketing.com