This year's finalists at the ICON conference in Phoenix, AZ had some incredible small businesses.
In this article, I am going to introduce you to each of the finalists with a brief overview and then I am going to share the Six Keys to Small Business Success.
Let's first introduce these amazing entrepreneurs and their companies. The three contestants were African Leadership University, Dierks Farms and Kickstagram.
Here's a brief overview of each of these incredible small businesses:
African leadership University prepares students for a successful and meaningful life and career in the 21st century – with a shared vision for a better Africa.
Dierks Farms is a rural family farm in Illinois that produces all-natural, grass-fed beef. A tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation for over 100 years.
Kickstagram is a service that connects you with the people who love what you're about. Their automated campaigns get these people to be part of your ideal audience.
Let's take a look at Dierks Farms video produced by Infusionsoft that was shown when the voting opened.
Dierks Farms finalist video for the Small Business of the Year .
The Dierks Farms video shown when voting opened for the Infusionsoft Small Business of the Year award.
The Small Business of the Year is announced at the ICON Conference.
Jump to minute 14:50 to watch the Small Business Finalist announced by Infusionsoft CEO, Clate Mask
Jump to minute 14:50 to watch the Small Business Finalist announced by Infusionsoft CEO, Clate Mask
At minute 19:40 Clate Mask, CEO of Infusionsoft announces the winner, Dierks Farms.
Start Your Journey To Small Business Success
Kickstart your journey to success by scheduling a
free one-on-one consultation with Daniel today.
Here's Larry and Pam Dierks of Dierks Farm with Clate Mask presenting them their $10,000 check.
Left to right: Clate Mask, CEO of Infusionsoft, presents Pam and Larry Dierks Farms
the Infusionsoft Small Business of the Year award and the $10,000 cash prize.
How Dierks Farms Won Small Business of the Year.
(The Six Simple Strategies To Small Business Success)
The Secret Sauce To Success Is You
As I walk you through the steps that took a small family farm in rural Illinois to Small Business of the Year, I want to note that the most important ingredient in their success is the courage, dedication and passion that exists within this family.
The Dierks Family on their farm in Ava, Illinois.
Working together, they are the true heroes and no special campaigns, fancy marketing or high converting ads can compare to a family that loves what they do. They produce a quality product founded on hard work and integrity from start to finish.
Have A Certified Professional Guiding You
Larry and Pam attended Infusionsoft's elite business incubator program adequately named Accelerator.
The Accelerator is a 3 day on-site program where a client is paired with a vetted, highly accredited Infusionsoft Certified Partner that helps develop a strategy and then, a team of professionals execute on that plan.
In 3 days, the client walks away with a complete, functioning platform built for success.
Daniel Bussius
The Dierks were matched with Daniel Bussius, an Infusionsoft Certified Partner.
Daniel holds a number of accreditations including; member of the 2017 Infusionsoft Partner Advisory Group, Infusionsoft User Group Trainer, Infusionsoft Accelerator Project Manager, Infusionsoft NextGen Partner, Infusionsoft IKOP Partner, Digital Marketer Certified Partner and PlusThis Certified Partner.
After the Accelerator, the Dierks Family hired Daniel Bussius Consulting to continue working with them to develop and manage their marketing and brand messaging.
If you would like to inquire about working with Daniel Bussius and his team please click this link to schedule your free consultation.
Deliver Relevant, High-Value Content
The Dierks understand that their customer base is concerned with what they feed their families. Typically, customers buying all-natural, grass-fed beef want to avoid pesticides, steroids and other unnatural chemicals in their food source.
They also realize that parents work, have little free time and need easy to make recipes that are healthy.
Knowing this, we developed a 65 day series of free recipes once someone opts-in to the Dierks Farms email list.
Within the 65 days of recipes that are delivered every few days, there is a corresponding offer for the specific ingredient that the recipe calls for.
Healthy eating recipe PDF Daniel Bussius Consulting created for Dierks Farms.
High value content the customer can easily consume corresponding with an offer that compliments the content.
Here is an incredibly simple formula to follow for success:
High Value Content + Clear and Direct Benefit + Complimentary Offer = Sales Success
Make The Sale Simple
There is success in simplicity. We designed a simple and - most importantly - natural progression from content to commerce.
We did this by providing recipes with buy links right in the recipe that drove them to an order form. Within one click the customer could purchase the specific product.
Here is an example of a downloadable recipe book we created that was themed "Ultimate Grass-Fed Griller's Cookbook" which we launched in Spring 2017.
Below, you will see the layout of the recipe.
Ultimate Grass-Fed Griller's Cookbook created by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
Inside design of a recipe in the Ultimate Grass-Fed Griller's Cookbook created by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
After each downloadable recipe we provide an easy way to purchase with linkable products.
After each downloadable recipe is a link for all Dierks products created by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
Showcase The Experience For The Consumer
Products, services and sales are everywhere. We live in a world where there is unlimited opportunities and unlimited service providers.
The game has changed. You can no longer compete by just selling a quality product. You must deliver a quality product and a quality experience.
Here is an important thing to remember for your marketing:
Customers shop for quality but buy based on experiences.
Dierks Farms logo
created by Misty Kortes.
What we did with the Dierks Farms was build a brand that delivered the experience of the farm, the family and the quality.
In everything, we delivered the experience of the farm - from video, to emails to the ads. You felt the experience and that it came from the farm (and it did!).
Here is a video we created and is showcased on the homepage of their website. The video was created by an incredibly talented videographer Nolan Nissle of NGN Pictures.
The Dierks Farms video scripted and directed by Daniel Bussius Consulting, filmed and produced by NGN Pictures.
The Dierks Farms emails speak to the customer in a first personal, informal tonality. The copy speaks to everyday life that anyone can relate too. It shines a light into the family that is producing the beef.
3-Month Past Customer Re-Engage Email written by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
You will notice that "the sell" is never hard or pushy. We don't use the typical marketing strategy you hear from "gurus".
It's simply one person talking about real life to the other person and offering a soft, suggestive offer casually.
6-Month Past Customer Re-Engage Email written by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
In this example below, you can see the imagery, font style and the copy showcases the benefit and experience of health, quality and cooking with for your family.
Magazine print ad designed by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
Automate Your Marketing Strategy
Whether you are a solopreneur or small business owner with 10 employees there is always one core component necessary at all levels of business (and business success).
The one core component is that you must have a solid, scalable and well-designed CRM as the foundation of your business. It will be the platform for which you will scale and is, in my opinion, the most critical part to your business success. There's many things you can afford to skimp on but this is not one of them.
Infusionsoft is the world's most powerful small business automation solution.
If you don't have Infusionsoft, contact me to see how this platform can transform your business.
For Dierks Farm, we built simple, yet highly effective, campaigns that kept delivering value, building rapport and subtly selling products that corresponded to the value offered.
Below, you see a campaign that was built to nurture leads and customers encouraging them to purchase. We used a theme for the communication which was "Healthy Eating".
30 Days of Healthy Eating marketing campaign built by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
If there is one thing I can ask you to remember when you are building your business is don't be distracted by the fake promises and overnight successes you'll come across online promising your fortunes by doing this "one thing".
Keep it real and focus on your future one day at a time and you will win in the end.
Stop listening to gurus with fancy funnels, hacks and pushy tactics. You are NOT just one funnel away from fortune. Real business is built on real value by real people. Success takes time and starts with simplicity.
In this example below, you will see how we continued the communication under the theme of healthy eating.
Notice that we always reinforce the core message of the farm, the values and we always kept "the sell" and the message simple.
Magazine print ad designed by Daniel Bussius Consulting.
Did You Make It To The End?
You Must Be Hungry!
Why not enjoy a delicious all-natural, grass-fed steak or juicy burger from your favorite family farm?
Join the Dierks Family by becoming a "friend of the farm" and you'll enjoy many fringe benefits including an exclusive discount on their beef. Join for FREE today!
Did you find value in this article? If so, please share this with your network!
What do you think it takes to win Small Business of the Year? Comment below:
Start Your Journey To Small Business Success
Kickstart your journey to success by scheduling a
free one-on-one consultation with Daniel today.
