Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
Duct Tape Marketing is the small business marketing road map – A collection of proven tools and tactics woven together in a step-by-step marketing system that shows small business owners exactly what to do to market and grow their businesses. This guide combines insights gained from over twenty years of successfully working, in the field, with real-life small businesses. There are no theoretical complexities presented in Duct Tape Marketing – just simple, effective and affordable marketing t
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(out of 49 reviews)
List Price: $ 14.99
Price: $ 7.99
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Review by Jill Konrath for Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
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John Jantsch knows what it takes to create marketing that sticks and ultimately leads to quantifiable results. His up-to-date advice shows small business owners numerous strategies they can implement to create a systematic approach to marketing. For companies selling into the business-to-business (B2B) marketplace, pay particular attention to these chapters:
(5) Produce Marketing Materials that Educate: Corporate decision makers today are turned off by self-serving promotional materials. This books points out numerous ways you can create high value, educational marketing collateral that will really make an impact.
(6) A Website that Works Day & Night & (12) Automate Your Marketing with Technology Tools: Most small business owners have no idea how valuable their website can be. Why not? Because they’re not doing the right stuff. In this book, you’ll learn the basics you need to know in order to maximize technology for business growth.
(10) Earned Media Attention and Expert Status: To crack into corporate accounts today, it’s imperative to become a thought leader in your field – even if you’re a one-person firm.
If you’re just setting up a company, this book provides an excellent overview of how to get your marketing machine in gear. If you’ve been in business awhile, but you’re working too darn hard for the amount of money coming in, this book will be a good refresher.
Finally, I’d like to add that John Jantsch practices what he preaches. Several years ago John invited me to be a part of his Duct Tape Marketing Blog which has numerous experts sharing their knowledge on small business marketing. When the blog received recognition from Forbes & Marketing Sherpa, he leveraged that to get even more media attention, which ultimately led to more opportunities for him to grow his business. I’d suggest you study his website and personal marketing initiatives to really learn how to implement these ideas.
Well-planned marketing can take your company to a whole new level with a lot less effort. If you haven’t pulled together your strategic plan or started implementing, it’s time!
Review by Manny Hernandez for Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
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To say “Duct Tape Marketing” is a great book is an understatement. As an entrepreneur who has founded two small companies, I found John Jantsch’s approach to help customers to know, like and trust you more to be intuitive, yet very powerful.
He got my undivided attention from the point he proposed having you first identify your ideal clients (as early as in page 5) and asking you to fire about 20 percent of your past customers, if they no longer fit into the picture of your current business. Now THAT makes sense and it is SO powerful: I could recall the occasions when I was spending time pursuing projects that were not a good fit for the goals of our company, but we still pursued them (“Hey! It’s business!”). Since I read that section, I’ve felt more comfortable not pursuing distracting projects.
He then proceeds to walk you through the discovery and delivery of your marketing message in a way that speaks to the heart of those ideal customers you identified early on. The rest of the book is packed with tactics to get that message in front of your target audience and help them contact you and refer you.
These easily are the best 300 pages I have read since I became a small business.
Review by C. Thompson for Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
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The Duct Tape Marketing book covers pretty much everything you need to know about marketing for small businesses. And make no mistake, while the concepts might be the same, the practicalities of marketing in a small business vs a large one are very different. Small businesses have limited budgets and staffs so their marketing has to be practical and this book shows how.
The book covers creating a marketing foundation (which so many small businesses forget to do), packaging up the business, tools for generating leads and then converting them to sales. It also talks about the use of the internet including websites, autoresponders and blogs.
It really is that good.
Review by John Matlock for Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
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There are a series of books that I keep on a special – quite small – bookshelf. I try to reread each of them every year or so. While I’ve gotten to the point that I know what they say, but each time I go through one of them I get an idea or two to try in promoting my business.
This book has made it to that shelf.
It got a decision to be put there while I was reading it at the book store. On page 24 there’s a story of a lady wanting to sell helmets in a state with no helmet law. So she started stocking children’s helmets. When riders told her they didn’t want a helmet she asked, ‘What about one for the child, they aren’t old enough to make that decision for themselves.’ What daddy could resist? Then a month later they were back for a helmet for themselves after the kid was asking, ‘Daddy, where’s your helmet.” So a sale for Daddy, little Jimmy and little Suzie. Three sales for one question.
Then on page 83 there’s the advice:
Shoot your web designer if they:
Suggest flash intro pages
Suggest frame pages
Suggest templates.
Yes, Yes, Yes!
One point about the web I do not agree. Learn to do your web site yourself. You may hire a designer to do it at first, but then maintain it yourself. It isn’t hard and you won’t be nickled and dimed to death over every small change you want.
I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea. All of his ideas won’t be applicable, but if you get a good idea or two each time you read through it, the book is worth it’s cost many times over.
Review by Michael J. Stelly for Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
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Novice business owners, like me, will love this book. It lays out the foundation for marketing your business with no expectation of prior marketing experience. Great job, John.
My one gripe, and the reason I gave it 4 of 5, is that the author assumes that you, the business owner, have an established clientele. Start-up owners, like me, who want to kick off the marketing effort to establish a clientele, will have to “act as if” we do and fill in the blank spots with educated guesses.
John, if there’s a sequel, please point out where start-ups differ from established small businesses and if we need to do something different to reach the same goal in that particular phase of marketing.
All in all, though, a great read.