There are some things about communication that are true whether you’re dealing with a Fortune 100 corporation or a sole proprietorship. A message isn’t communicated until it is received and understood. Telling the truth is the right thing to do. People can tell when they’re being fed a line. These truisms are pretty universal.
Having worked with businesses on both ends of the spectrum, however, I must confess that small-business communication is more fun and more fulfilling. Yes, it’s interesting to help corporations make their complex communication processes more efficient. It’s satisfying to see behemoth organizations communicate with people on a personal level.
But there’s something even more satisfying about seeing a business get off the ground and grow primarily because the owner knows how to communicate well. There’s something more organic – for lack of a better word – about the communication that takes place in a small business.
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with more than 40 entrepreneurs at the Creative Change Center (C3) in Richmond, Va. I led a workshop on how to market a business on a shoestring budget. Anyone who has started a business from scratch knows that one of the greatest challenges is reaching your target market when you have little or no money to spend.
As is usually the case with C3, the room was filled with fascinating people: professional storytellers, artists, graphic designers, photographers, a guy who makes screen-printed T-shirts, a young woman who turns trash into unique usable products, people who pour their energy into non-profits, people who provide groundbreaking therapy to autistic children.
Here is what made me want to embrace every person in the room: each of them was passionate – not just motivated, but passionate – about what they do. It’s not difficult to get passionate people to communicate about what they do. They are eager to talk to anyone who will listen and they are unafraid to take risks and try new things
My experience is that most Fortune 100 corporations have too many people who not only lack the passion for what they do, but also are afraid to try something different.
It’s not surprising, then, that a recent study by the International Association of Business Communicators found that the success of a small organization’s public relations often rests in the communication skills and perseverance of the person at the top. Up until a company grows to about 20 employees, communication is what I call organic – informal, focused on building relationships with people. As companies grow beyond about 20 people, communication becomes more formal and process-driven.
A few large companies manage to hold onto the passion and risk-taking and the organic communication as they grow, but these companies are few and far between. And it takes work, in which many companies are unwilling to invest.
As I said to the entrepreneurs at C3, marketing is really about forming personal relationships with people. It’s knowing all about your customers and potential customers, understanding their problems, figuring out how to help them solve those problems and then telling them about the solutions you offer. It’s being flexible enough to meet your customers where they are rather than waiting for them to come to you.
The big guys could learn a few things about marketing from passionate entrepreneurs.
