Jon Quick - How To Effectively Market a Franchise Business

It was a great experience to have my friend and media and marketing guru Jon Quick on the show. Jon is a 25+ year veteran in media executive management, having held key positions for CBS and Emmis communications among other companies in his career. He now has two of his own companies. The Q Consulting Guys, which specializes in media consulting, and Absolutemax!, which is a boutique full-service advertising agency offering everything from public relations to traditional and social media guidance and creation.

Jon’s companies are based in Indianapolis but he serves clients across the country and in Canada.

Key takeaways from Interview with Jon

·         Most important of all. Marketing Essential #1: Have a plan for great customer service to keep them coming back. If not, all the marketing the world will never work.

·         Have A Plan.  You must have a good business plan and within that build a solid marketing plan. Allocate some budget for marketing based on your resources. Effective marketing does not have to cost a lot of money if you have great ideas.

·         Do an IGS (Idea Generating Session).  Get a group together 5 to 10 people and allow everyone to express their ideas and thoughts on your company. Do not judge the ideas. Anything goes at this point. You’d be amazed at what you come up with both to improve your core business plan and marketing ideas. Often a slogan for your business can come out of such a session. One important point to consider and discuss: Points of Differentiation. How is your business better than your competitors?

·         Include those points in your marketing. Don’t try to be another Starbucks

·         Design a logo. Add a slogan to it. But don’t stop there. The logo should reflect you and your mission statement (which should be at the very beginning of your business plan). It’s a way to make you feel good at the beginning because it symbolizes the achievement of your dream.

·         Reserve a domain name and get a website up. Jon’s philosophy is to have the website be your hub and all other marketing will drive people to it. In the end it will save you a lot of money and will be more effective in today’s world of marketing.

·         Did I say be patient? I’ll say it again. If you truly have a great product or service, and you have the passion for it and believe in yourself and are willing to tell the world about it, it’s a formula that should work. If it doesn’t, know when to get out. There’s nothing wrong with regrouping and starting over.

 

Jon can be reached by phone at 317-432-0309 or jon@absolutemaxpr.com.  Initial consultations and current marketing analysis is free.