| Small business marketing tips are everywhere these | | | | me and pointed to a young man, carrying a tray of |
| days and if you pay attention, even in the most | | | | food, heading towards a table at the back of the |
| unexpected places. | | | | restaurant. Greg and I stared at each other in disbelief |
| My partner, Greg and I attended a search engine | | | | and immediately went back to the headwaiter and |
| optimization symposium presented by Search Engine | | | | demanded to be seated in Omar's section. |
| Workshops in Raleigh, North Carolina. Greg lives in | | | | It gets better. Our table was ready but my partner |
| Montreal and I live in Toronto, so it was a great | | | | was finishing off a beer so I walked over alone to |
| opportunity to meet and catch up on a few small | | | | secure our booth. Before I had time to sit down, Omar |
| projects while learning the latest SEO techniques we | | | | arrived with a beverage in hand. "Diet coke, Mr. Byers" |
| will employ in marketing our business. | | | | Omar knowingly stated. I was floored but the best |
| Robin Nobles inspired us to develop creativity in our | | | | was still to come. |
| content development; Andy Beale gave us an in-depth | | | | Omar took our dinner order in his customary respectful |
| overview of blog marketing for businesses, Dave | | | | fashion. He returned with our meals and placed a glass |
| Barry discussed dynamically delivered web pages and | | | | of red wine in front of me. |
| Michael Marshall.....well, if you want to know what | | | | "I thought you might enjoy a glass of Pinot Noir with |
| Michael is up to, you will have to attend the next | | | | your steak, Mr. Byers", Omar stated matter of factly. |
| symposium. | | | | OK, all of the business marketing services offered by |
| John Alexander renewed our enthusiasm about | | | | Omar can be explained: |
| keyword research with Wordtracker and gave added | | | | - The memory thing; a learned technique. |
| a few small surprises, as John always does. | | | | - Remembering the diet coke, well, I had a diet coke all |
| However, one of the most important business lessons | | | | 3 nights. |
| during the two day session wasn't taught in the | | | | - Addressing me by name, I paid with my credit card, |
| classroom and it wasn't delivered by the usual | | | | as I usually do when I am with Greg. |
| suspects. | | | | - The Pinot Noir, I had a glass of Pinot Noir on the very |
| The first night in town, we went to a nearby restaurant | | | | first visit to the restaurant two days earlier. |
| for dinner. A waiter approached our table and | | | | - Buying a round for the boys; priceless! |
| introduced himself; "Good evening everyone, my name | | | | 5 Small Business Marketing Tips We Can Learn from |
| is Omar and I am your waiter this evening." | | | | Omar |
| Omar was taking our dinner order when we noticed | | | | 1. Differentiate Yourself - We've all seen waiters take |
| that he wasn't taking notes which caused some | | | | orders by memory but how many engage the table a |
| concern in our group. Omar told us not to worry and | | | | challenge? |
| that after he had taken our 5 orders that he would | | | | 2. Get Personal Fast - In 5 minutes, Omar addressed |
| repeat the order....of the table of 6 behind him and then | | | | every person in our booth individually by name. |
| he would repeat our orders, which he did, flawlessly. | | | | 3. Know Your Client - take the time and effort it had to |
| The food was terrific and the service was great so | | | | take Omar to understand and deliver uch personalized |
| the next night we decided to go back to the same | | | | service to your customers. Learning the small details |
| restaurant. Of course, we asked to be seated in | | | | about your client's business can make all the |
| Omar's section. Once again, Omar delivered. When the | | | | difference. |
| kitchen took too long to cook a meal for one of our | | | | 4. React Quickly To Control Damage - Instead of |
| associates, Omar provided a free cocktail, brought | | | | complaining about how our colleague's meal was late, |
| over some finger food and boxed the dinner for | | | | we found ourselves once again marveling over |
| later.....no charge. | | | | Omar's handling of the situation. |
| Now we were hooked. Our last night in town, we | | | | 5. It Ain't Over Till it's Over - Omar saw us with food |
| walked over to the restaurant and asked for Omar. | | | | menus in hand, ready to order dinner at the bar when |
| We were disappointed to hear that there was a 60 | | | | he paid for our drinks. |
| minute wait to get into Omar's section but if we would | | | | Never stop selling. |
| sit elsewhere it would only take 30 minutes. | | | | Ok, I mentioned at the beginning of this article that John |
| It had been a long day so we decided to forgo Omar's | | | | Alexander always has a small surprise or two in store |
| section and went to the bar to drown our sorrows in a | | | | for us at every search engine workshop. So now I am |
| cold beer. We asked the bartender for a food menu | | | | wondering about two things; did John plant Omar in the |
| and ordered our drinks. I was paying for the first round, | | | | restaurant to give us a valuable lesson in small |
| as I usually do when I am with Greg, so I asked the | | | | business marketing? And when will Greg send my |
| bartender for the bill. | | | | credit card back to me? |
| "Your bill has been taken care of", the bartender told | | | | |