2doWORLD

PrinterEmail

T ake a look around your community and make a list of truly superior small businesses—ones you trust so thoroughly you would recommend them to your friends, your boss, and even your in-laws. Whether your mind turns to restaurants, plumbers, plant nurseries, or veterinarians, chances are good your list is fairly short. Now think about all the ads for local businesses that fill your newspaper, clutter your doorstep, spew out of your radio, cover the back of your grocery receipts, or reach you in dozens of other ways. How many of these businesses are on your list? More than likely, not many. In fact, I’ll bet the most heavily advertised local businesses are among the businesses you never plan to patronize—or patronize again—no matter how many 50%-off specials you are offered. If, like me, you have learned the hard way that many businesses that loudly trumpet their virtues are barely average, how do you find a top-quality business when you need something? Almost surely, whether you need a roof for your house, an accountant for your business, a math tutor for your child, or a restaurant for a Saturday night out, you ask for a recommendation from someone you consider knowledgeable and trustworthy. Once you grasp the simple fact that what counts is not what a business says
about itself, but rather what others say about it, you should quickly understand and embrace the message of this brilliant book. Simply put: The best way to succeed in business is to run such a wonderful operation that your loyal and satisfied customers will brag about your goods and services far and wide. Instead of spending
a small fortune on advertising, it’s far better to spend the same money improving your business and caring for customers. It’s the honest power of this honest message that made me excited to publish Marketing Without Advertising back in 1986. Uniquely among small business writers, Phillips and Rasberry were saying the same things I had learned as a co-founder of Nolo—that the key to operating a profitable business is to respect what you do and how you do it. This means not only producing top-quality services and products, but also demonstrating your respect for your co-workers and customers. After many years of success, it’s a double pleasure for Nolo to publish another updated version of Marketing Without Advertising. Yes, lots of things about small business marketing have changed in the interim. To mention just a few, today many of us routinely use fax machines and email to keep close to our customers. And, of course, the Internet as become an essential marketing tool for many businesses. But some things haven’t changed. A trustworthy, well-run business is a pleasure to market, and the personal recommendations of satisfied customers are still the best foundation of a successful and personally rewarding business. Marketing Without Advertising has been updated to provide a new generation of entrepreneurs with the essential philosophical underpinnings for the development of a successful, low-cost marketing plan not based on advertising. But this isn’t just a book about business philosophy. It is full of specific suggestions about how to put together a highly effective  marketing plan, including guidance concerning business appearance, pricing, employee and supplier relations, accessibility, open business practices, customer recourse, and many other topics. Consumers are increasingly savvy, and information about a business’s quality or lack thereof circulates faster than ever before. The only approach worth taking is to put your planning, hard work, and money into creating a wonderful business, and to let your customers do your advertising for you.

Ralph Warner
Berkeley, California