The Smallbiz Brain: Jeff Dostal

posted by David Wolf on Jul 28, 2008 | Comments (8) | Permalink | Trackback URL

Marketing Firepower is a system that was developed to allow the small business owner who relies on the local consumer better understand how and why to advertise. The owner of our company, Norton Warner, watched his Dad run a great company but not understand the process or value of advertising. His Dad, from competitor pressure, eventually had to close his doors. Norton made a commitment to himself that he would discover how to prevent that same thing from happening to other small business owners. He found his way into radio and started selling, producing, and owning radio stations which he did for over 40 years with great success.

I actually sold radio for him starting in 1993 and continued to sell until the end of 2005 when we started Marketing Firepower. Norton’s wealth is tremendous and his passion for the small business owner is evident. His philosophy with clients was always one of being a consultant to them. I spend little time actually selling radio and most of my time being a sounding board for these small business owners and discussing with them everything from staffing to product placement.

The one thing we did notice is that no matter how strong our relationship was with the business owner, they felt they could only believe what we said up to a point because we were still “the sales guy” no matter how strong our relationship was and we had a vested interest in them saying “yes” to what we proposed.

We created Marketing Firepower to be able to continue what we’ve always done, offer good direction, but without the perceived bias. We have no media ties. We have nothing to gain regardless of how much money they invest advertising or where they invest it.

Our information is presented on DVD in short videos. Most are only 5-10 minutes in length. This allows the business owner to view one or several depending on their schedule. A pleasant surprise that has developed from this program is the development of internal marketing teams within these small businesses. For many the process of advertising was a conversation between the owner or manager and the media sales person. Now, because they are able to share the videos with everyone in the company, we are finding companies that are pulling information from all areas of their companies. People who have daily contact with customers but who’s opinion was often overlooked are becoming an important part of the message development for these companies.

Our message is very clear and simple. Decide who you want as a customer. Determine why they should spend their money with you. Tell them your story, over and over and over and over.

FILED IN: Advertising, Branding, Communication, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Podcast, Sales