Business Coaching

Global Marketing: Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

I am delighted to have the second article from Global Guerrilla Marketing Coach, Alexa Ronngren and today she explains Geert Hofstede's techniques for analysing the cultural differences between countries.

I covered the Hostede theory in my MBA program and since then I have watched with interest as aspects of the cultural dimensions reveal themselves to me when I meet people from different backgrounds.

While I am filing this under Global Marketing, as each country becomes more multi-cultural, these factors will influence the success of your negotiations and relationships even if you never export.

Over to Alexa.

Who is Geert Hofstede?

Born 1928 in the Netherlands, Geert Hofstede started out his professional journey studying engineering.  Some time between 1945 and 1947, he went through a year-long internship that included a trip to Indonesia as an Assistant Ship Engineer.  World War II ended in 1945 and the world was full of change and possibilities.  We can only imagine how intriguing the dramatically different Indonesian culture must have been to this young Dutch student! 

Hofstede returned home and completed a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a tour of duty as a technical officer in the Dutch army.

After a few managerial jobs in industrial companies, he went back to school part-time to earn a Doctorate of Social Science.  This was when he got a job with IBM Europe to found and manage their Personnel Research Department. 

This position would lead him to become one of the world's utmost experts on culture and its influence on the workplace.

Since then, Hofstede has been dedicated to research and dissemination of his theories on culture.  He is a world renowned Professor Emeritus on the subject and has received countless honors within the intellectual community.  His books, which are often used as study material in international management classes, include:

• Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations (2001)
   
• Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind (2004), Exploring Culture. Exercises, Stories and Synthetic cultures (2002)
   
• Uncommon Sense About Organizations: Cases, Studies, and Field Observations (1994) 
   
• Masculinity and Femininity: The Taboo Dimension of National Cultures (Cross Cultural Psychology)  (1998)
   
• Culture's Consequences, International Differences in Work-Related Values (Cross Cultural Research and Methodology)  (1980)

What are the Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions?

At IBM, Hofstede's job involved research and analysis on how culture affects the work place.  He had access to a large database of employees from over 70 countries. 

He started off by examining the 40 largest countries and uncovered four dimensions that separate cultures.  Later, the scope expanded to 50 countries and three regions.  In 2001, he combined data from other researchers to expand the reach to a full 74 countries.

Initially, he uncovered four dimensions:

• Power Distance Index (PDI),
   
• Individualism (IDV),
   
• Masculinity (MAS), and
   
• Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI). 

Recently, he added a fifth dimension, Long-Term Orientation (LTO). 

Since the inception of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, other cross-cultural studies have verified his results.  These studies include a group of commercial airline pilots and students in 23 countries, a set of civil service managers in 14 countries, and two sets of premium consumer studies in 15 and 19 countries.

Let us take a look at each of these dimensions and how they hold up to scrutiny. 

In order to create a good reference point for readers, each explanation is followed by a chart created with raw data from Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions.  I have chosen ten countries for our reference, including those where most of the visitors of this blog come from. [Thanks Alexa]

Power Distance Index (PDI)

Who decides who gets to be boss? 

Is it the authoritarian him or herself?  Or is it those who follow the ruler? 

According to Hofstede's research, the distance between the powerful and the less powerful is determined from the bottom up. 

So Power Distance (PDI) is a measure of how much "the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally."

Every society has some level of inequality, but that level varies greatly from one country to another.  The higher the value on this index, the more accepting the lower classes are of inequality in power.

 

My personal experience fits well with the results of this index.  Although inequality exists almost anywhere, the countries with a high PDI tend to have a more stringent hierarchy system.

Individualism (IDV)

Do people prefer to integrate in groups and organizations, or are they more prone to self-sufficiency?

The higher the score on Individualism (IDV), the looser the ties between people, and the more people in those cultures are expected to look after themselves. 

English speaking countries tend to rate very high on individualism.  In the US, for example, people are supposed to succeed based on their own personal efforts and merits. 

This stands in stark contrast to collectivist societies which have very low IDV scores.  In those societies, people are expected to help and protect each other and have strong group affiliations.  Often, these societies have a strong family bond that includes extended family, such as aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, in-laws, and so on.  Oriental societies generally score low on IDV.  This shows in the way business is often conducted as a family affair.

Masculinity (MAS)

In this dimension, qualities such as assertiveness and competitiveness are linked to masculinity, while modesty and caring is considered feminine qualities. 

According to Hofstede, "The IBM studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women's values on the other." 

So Masculinity (MAS) is a measure of the distribution of roles between genders.  The higher the MAS score, the more competitive and assertive women are within that society.  Whereas in lower score countries, men tend to take on the more "feminine" qualities of caring and modesty.
 
 

The definition of the MAS dimension does fit with the results as I have experienced through my travels.  For example, in the US, "masculine" values such as competitiveness are instilled in children early on.  While in Sweden, a strong social system proves "feminine" values like caring.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) is a measure of how comfortable society is with uncertainty and ambiguity. 

Cultures with high UAI scores socialize their members to feel uncomfortable with unstructured situations. 

Hofstede explains that these cultures "try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it'."  People in these countries tend to be more emotional. 

On the other side of the spectrum are cultures that have a higher tolerance for change and provide less structure within society.  Low UAI societies lean toward relativism in religion and are more contemplative and less emotional.

There is some controversy with this index. 

Geert Hofstede's son, Gert Jan Hofstede, has continued and expanded upon his father's work.  He co-authored Culture and Organizations with Hofstede and is an Associate Professor at Universitair Hoofddocent in the Netherlands.  On his website, the younger Hofstede addresses an email he received stating that the UAI scores must be reversed.  He argues against this being the case, and tries to explain the scores as society's search for truth.  You can read it here:  http://www.info.wau.nl/people/Gertjan/understanding_dimensions.htm 

After living in over a dozen countries and visiting a few others, I think the situation is more complicated than that. 

I believe that Hofstede tried to correlate too many values into this index.  The countries scoring high UAI numbers tend to be more religious and emotional than low scores on this index.  However, my experience shows that some of the lower scoring countries are actually the ones with more rules and regulations.  Therefore, those societies are less tolerant of uncertainty and expect more structure.

Look at, for example, my two native countries of Brazil and the US. 

Brazilians are indeed more emotional than Americans.  Decisions are more often based on gut instinct and relationships rather than calculations and research.  However, Brazilian society has many less rules than Americans.  Also, rules within that society are looser and more prone to interpretation. 

In contrast, Americans tend to be more pragmatic.  However, US society is regulated in many ways.  Beginning at the neighborhood level there are rules and regulations governing what a person can and can not do on their own property.  Americans operate on a strict time frame.  In the US, rules are often fixed and exceptions are clearly forecasted and built into the regulations.  So, if a new condition arises, Americans are less likely to bend or break the rules. 

Brazilians look at things on a more emotional level.  If a new situation arises that has an emotional appeal against the rules, they will be bent or broken.

Long-Term Orientation (LTO)

This dimension was added based on results from a Chinese study of students in 23 countries.  This study was based on the teachings of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher from around 500 B.C.  However, the dimension is also relevant to countries which were not heavily influenced by the teachings of Confucius. 

Long Term Orientation (LTO) refers to the level of thriftiness and perseverance within a society.

Hofstede explains that a low LTO score, meaning the society has a Short-Term Orientation, represents "respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's 'face'."  The higher the score, the more a society is prone to saving and planning for the future.  In the chart below, scores were not available for Spain or the Arab World.

 

Here also, I think Hofstede used too many values in one dimension.  From my experience, the chart looks backwards, as the Chinese are very concerned with 'saving face' and have a deep respect for tradition.  Meanwhile, countries that are ranked low in this dimension are societies where planning and perseverance are common. 

You can read about the index and find the raw data at ITIM International's website.  It is a consulting company who has received permission from Dr. Hofstede to use his name and brand.   http://www.geert-hofstede.com/   

So far, I have covered the aspects that make up culture and the Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions in my first two posts as a guest blogger.  The final article of this triage will give advice on how to deal with and overcome cultural challenges.  You can find them all here on The Business Coach Blog.

Alexa Ronngren is the Global Guerrilla Marketing Coach.  She has almost two decades of experience, a BS in Business Marketing, a certification in Pricing, and is a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach.  She is currently writing Global Guerrilla Marketing: Crossing borders & leaping over the cultural divide.  In addition, she is a big fan of the Business Coaching Blog!  Check out her website: www.aldeia-marketing.com

Thanks Alexa.

A very interesting article and I see that you are being controversial and challenging Geert Hofstede's ideas.

If Alexa hasn't featured your country in the graphs, I can recommend the http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ website as the major countries are listed down the left hand side and you can just click and see how your country rates.

When I was first introduced to these ideas, I found it difficult to imagine how countries could be so different but as you become more familiar with the concepts, you will start seeing these factors come through in your dealings with the different nationalities.

Both Alexa and I would love to read your comments but watch out for the confirmation box. It is a bit sneaky in Typepad blogs but you do have to prove that you are human and not a computer spam generator.

Do you have stories to share about how you have experienced these cultural dimensions?

Follow this link if you missed Alexa's first article Global Marketing Understanding Culture & Customs

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Global Marketing: Understanding Culture & Customs

I am delighted to welcome a new guest blogger, Alexa Ronngren who is a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach and an expert in Global Marketing. This is the first of a three part series looking at Global Understanding.

Over to Alexa.

I spent six months in Malaysia in 2007, as a Brazilian-American, I found the country to share some of the advantages of the United States.  There were malls and supermarkets where I could find whatever I wanted, big movie theatres showing the latest from Hollywood and restaurant chains that are commonly found in the US. 

The people also were friendly and had big open smiles, like you find in Brazil.  Also like Brazilians, Malaysians were very proud of their food and eating was an important event, not to be done at your desk. 

However, perfect strangers asked me questions that seamed so very personal. 

How many kids do I have?  What is my religion?  How much did I pay in rent for my apartment?  When I'd go out to eat lunch with my Chinese-Malaysian co-workers, they couldn't understand why I use a fork to eat rice-based dishes.  It was okay that I was too clumsy to navigate chopsticks, but they insisted that I use a spoon! 

What is culture?

We often hear the word culture tossed around. But what does it really mean?  Why does it even matter? 

Culture is a learned pattern of human behavior. 

It is the socialization we all receive within our respect civilizations.  Specifically, culture is made of collective knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, morals, and customs. 

According to Dr. Dennis O'Neil, professor of Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, San Marcos, California, there are three layers to culture. 

Cultural Traditions

First are the traditions that distinguish a society, such as language, racial and national identities and general beliefs and morals. 

In the United States, our main language is English.  According to the US Census Bureau, Whites make up a majority of people and about 30% who claim other ethnic and racial backgrounds. 

In the world, countries range between individualistic and communitarian.  USA is an individualistic society.  People there believe in the US Constitution, which grants life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to each citizen.  This means they value the rights of individuals more than benefiting the greater good. 

How does this play out in the real world?  Take for example the American sense of individual fairness.  In the US, people will stand in line and wait their turn.  If another person cuts in line, the American is generally offended and feels like his or her rights have been cheated.

Now take a look at Malaysia, which is more communitarian (not to be confused with Socialism or Communism). 

The national languages are Malay and English.  The CIA Factbook states that Malaysians are made up of Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8%. 

They believe that religion is an integral part of the Malaysian identity that they even have two court systems, an Islamic court with based on Shariah laws for Muslims, and another one for everyone else. 

Last year, there was a controversial court case in Malaysia.  In Malaysia all people of Malay ethnicity are considered Muslim at birth.  Throughout a person's life there, all legal identification states their religion.  Lina Joy, a Malay lady who had converted to Catholicism, wanted to make her conversion legal so she could marry her Catholic fiancé. 

The Muslim courts refused to grant her request to leave Islam, even after she appealed her case.   Judge Ahmad Fairuz stated that "She cannot simply at her own whims enter or leave her religion.  She must follow rules." 

As in many countries in Asia, the greater good is valued above the needs and desires of the individual. 

The second part of this series of articles will go into greater detail regarding individualism versus collective societies.

Subculture

The second layer of culture is subculture. 

These are heritage, food traditions, and dialects that can be found within a culture. 

In the US, we sometimes talk of subculture as if it is divided along racial lines.  But there is a big difference within the racial divide. 

Take the Hispanics for example; there is a marked difference between the Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and the Argentinean-Americans.  Each group has its own food heritage, dances, music, art, and dialect of Spanish.

Cultural Universals

The third layer is cultural universals. 

These are behaviors common throughout humanity. 

For example, all peoples of the world communicate with each other in some way.  We all assign roles and classifications to people within our societies.  Behavioral norms are assigned within each society.  All of us have some form of jokes and games.  Each society contains art, music, and dance.  And we all use some form of leadership.  But each society creates its own rules for these cultural universals.

When communicating, we all used a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues.  Speech-communication classes teach that a full 90% of communication is non-verbal. 

So does that mean there is just a 10% different in the way people from different cultures communicate? 

Not at all!  Non-verbal communication differences are found in the intonations we use, our hand gestures, our facial expressions, symbolism within our speech, and even the way we say things. 

Wait a minute - the way we say things? 

Isn't that part of the verbal communications? 

Not exactly - each society uses a certain amount of context within their speaking patterns.  Some societies say exactly what they mean.  In other societies, meaning is heavily implied. 

In his 1976 book, Beyond Culture, anthropologist Edward T. Hall explained his method of determining the level to which cultures depend on factors other than direct speech to express the meaning in their communications. 

The United States is considered a low-context society.   Americans generally say what they mean and get to the point directly, unless they are politicians or lawyers.  Yet people are still expected to perform some niceties, such as greeting each other when they meet. 

Brazil, a higher-context society, expects people to go through a longer dance of small talk before getting to the point.  Then, when trying to make a point, it is common for the Brazilian to restate the point in a few different ways. 

In even higher-context cultures, a point may go completely unspoken.  For example, in Tunisia, a person may say "yes, no problem" to a situation that is definitely a problem to resolve.  But the way that "yes" is said, and the body language that accompanies it, lets a native understand that there is indeed a problem.  It would have been considered rude to come out and directly say "no."

In different societies, age and gender roles are set up differently, but we all classify based on marriage and kinship.  We also all tend to raise children in a family stetting of some kind and to divide labor by gender to varying extent. 

In Asian societies, the elders are revered.  It is considered disrespectful to stand up to someone older than you directly.  So, if there is disagreement, the younger party tries to work around it.  If there no other way to find agreement that is acceptable to both parties, the older party wins the debate. 

In some societies, youth is dominant; hence the huge market for beauty products that defy the aging process.  Part two of this series of articles with delve deeper into gender roles.

Classifications and roles are also assigned based on race and color. 

The candidacy of Barak Obama for president in the US, has brought the issue of race out into the open.  At first, Americans were reluctant to talk about his classification as an African-American because it is not socially correct to point it out.  However, this classification is a reality of the society. 

In Brazil, where racial mixing is more common, there is a separate category for mixed color people, "mulatos". 

This brings up the subject of integration.  There are differing levels of integration of various subcultures within societies. 

In Malaysia, for example, the three main racial groups hold on strongly to their heritage and are not strongly integrated into one society. 

In the US, people of immigrant decent are still not considered "full" Americans, for example, Mexican-Americans, Italian-Americans, even African-Americans (whose immigration dates back several generations). 

In Brazil, the divisions are much stronger among social-economic lines than racial lines.  So, a person born in Brazil to foreign parents is a Brazilian.  But the subcultures of well off and poor Brazilians are quite distinct.

Conclusion

Humans are people regardless of where we come from. 

We all laugh and cry, we all live and die. 

But we do have different ways of interpreting the world around us.  We are profoundly influenced by our cultural socialization. 

I was born in Brazil, but moved to the US as a young child.  Americans I talk to sometimes wonder, "When will she ever get to the point?"  Meanwhile, I struggle to remain patient with my Brazilian friends when it takes thirty minutes just to say goodbye. 

Why? 

Because even though I have lived all over the world, I carry my cultural heritage with me.  I continue on with the habits I've acquired in my early childhood.  I blend them with those I've received from my formative years in the US.

Stay tuned for the next article in this series where we will examine the Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions.  The final article of this triage will give advice on how to deal with and overcome cultural challenges.  You can find them all here on The Business Coaching Blog.

Alexa Ronngren is the Global Guerrilla Marketing Coach.  She has almost two decades of experience, a BS in Business Marketing, a certification in Pricing, and is a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach.  She is currently writing Global Guerrilla Marketing: Crossing borders & leaping over the cultural divide.  In addition, she is a big fan of the Business Coaching Blog!  Check out her website: www.aldeia-marketing.com

Thanks Alexa. This is an excellent introduction to a topic that I haven't covered before.

You are certainly communicating the issues involved with dealing with people from different cultural backgrounds.

This reminds me of a fundamental marketing mistake which is commonly made. It is so easy to find yourself falling into the trap of thinking that your prospective customers think like you do and will act like you would in their situation.

But it's just not true. While there may be some common reasons to buy, the values and beliefs surrounding that decision can be completely different.

The other point that your article brought home to me was that it is easy to think of marketing on a simple domestic/international basis and find yourself thinking "I don't export, I don't need to know about how other cultures think and act."

But in today's multi-cultural society it is nonsense. The cultural issues are very relevant to you and me, both for business and for personal reasons.

Just spell checking the article brought home just how many differences there are between English and American English with the missing "u's" and the "z's" which I tend not to notice when I am reading because I have become socialised in the American spellings.

We take things for granted but it is a mistake. It is a hallmark of guerrilla marketers that were are intentional in what we do. We think about it and do what it takes to succeed.

Both Alexa and I would love to read your comments but watch out for the confirmation box. It is a bit sneaky in Typepad blogs but you do have to prove that you are human and not a computer spam generator.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Recession Proof Your Business

The Guerrilla Marketing Main Event starts on 8 April 2008 to help you to recession proof your business as it is subtitled "Guerrilla Marketing During Tough Times."

Details of Guerrilla Marketing Main Event

This is an eight week program featuring Jay Conrad Levinson (Father of Guerrilla Marketing), Mitch Meyerson (author of eight books and founder of the Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification program) and six world class Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coaches.

The video is a bit scary so I don't think either Mitch or Jay will be following Michael Port into acting.

Preparing For A Recession

The purpose of the course is to help you to prepare your business for a recession or the tough times that lie ahead.

I have been gloomy about the economic prospects for some time now as I see the US and UK economies seriously unbalanced through massive personal debt and enormous balance of payments deficits. The economies don't pay their way and at some time there will be a correction.

A Recession Creates Opportunities As Well As Problems

I have written a number of times how shocked I was by the dramatic change in economic prospects that the 1990/91 recession in the UK brought to my employer. I had never seen profit fall out of a very profitable business so quickly.

We old hand have probably forgotten just how tough it was in those difficult times but there are many people who own and/or manage businesses now how have never experienced a recession.

The recession will cause many small businesses to lose a desperate fight for survival, many more will cling on but some will come out of the difficult times stronger, leaner and fitter and ready and able to take advantage of the opportunities which arise.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." (Charles Darwin)

Are You Ready To Change?

The Guerrilla Marketing Main Event is designed to make sure that you do respond to the changed circumstances, that you do recession proof your business and that you are able to take advantage of your competitor's difficulties.

You find out more about the Guerrilla Marketing Main Event here

Is The Guerrilla Marketing Main Event Any Good?

This is the first time this program has been run and it may be the only time this year so it does include an element of being the pioneer but let me reassure you:

1. Guerrilla Marketing is a great concept which helps small businesses and the Guerrilla Marketing fourth edition book is one of only four books to carry my full 5 star rating.
    
2. Mitch Meyerson runs the Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program which I have done and recommend very highly. It was very practical, very focused, very stimulating and leads to significant benefits.

Two Great Reasons To Act Quickly To Recession Proof Your Business

1. The sooner you start, the more ready you will be. This program begins on 8 April so you don't have much time.
    
2. The price for the first 50 entrants is 37% lower than the regular price so that makes a great incentive to go over there and book your place now.

Guerrilla Marketing During Tough Times

If the phrase sounds familiar to you then that is because there is a "Guerrilla Marketing During Tough Times" book by Jay Conrad Levinson which was written a few years ago and is now available as an Ebook - Guerrilla Marketing During Tough Times - you can download several chapters for free.

The Guerrilla Marketing Association is also highly recommended.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

See also Business coaching in a recession

Scoop! Guerrilla Marketing In Europe

I have an exciting scoop to tell you about because yesterday I was talking to an entrepreneur who is organising a high profile Guerrilla Marketing event in Europe in May or June 2008.

The intention is to bring together:

Jay Conrad Levinson - Father of Guerrilla Marketing

Mitch Meyerson - creator of the Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coaching program and author of many books including his latest, "Mastering Online Marketing"

Monroe Mann - CEO of Unstoppable Artists LLC and co-author of Guerrilla Networking

Alexandru Israil - CEO of MarketMinds, a Guerrilla Marketing Master Trainer

At the moment, the dates are being finalised and it is intended that the event will be held on the French Riviera within 20 miles of Nice although it seems someone decided to hold a film festival in Cannes.

What is Guerrilla Marketing?

Guerrilla Marketing is the world's biggest brand of small business marketing information, advice and coaching as the books have sold over 15 million copies all over the world.

What makes Guerrilla Marketing different and so special is that it has been designed for small businesses so it places the emphasis on imagination rather than money.

I was intrigued by the phrase "Guerrilla Marketing is for people with big dreams but small budgets" and now I am a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach.

When I heard the big dreams/small budget quote I though "that's me" and it's probably you.

The Guerrilla Marketing books have been translated into over 40 different languages but there is one area where the Guerrilla Marketing brand is not as well known and that is in Europe including the UK. There are some links at the bottom of the page which will guide you to other information about Guerrilla Marketing.

Why Is Guerrilla Marketing So Vital Now

Predictions for the world's economies for 2008 and 2009 are not good and that puts an emphasis on improving the effectiveness of your marketing and its efficiency.

Difficult times cause problems for many businesses but as always, times of change bring great opportunities for those with the right information, the right mindset and the courage to take decisive action.

So when your competitors will be "fastening down the hatches" and cutting back on discretionary sales and marketing expenditure so they have less contact with their customers and prospects at a time when they need more support, imagine the impact you will have when you learn the Guerrilla Marketing low cost, high impact marketing tactics.

How Do You Find Out More Details?

I will be in regular contact with the organiser and will post on this blog when the details are finalised.

If you would rather have the news by email, then please sign up to this special Guerrilla Marketing list.

Name:

Email:

 

This email list will only be used to bring you news of Guerrilla Marketing and I won't pass on your details to anyone else. I hate spam as much as you do.

I recommend the Guerrilla Marketing Association.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Where Can I Find Marketing Coaching For My Business?

"Paul I have a small business selling cutlery, crystal, silverware and gift-ware and I need some marketing advice. Can you help me?"

This is just the call I like and especially from a business that I can relate to easily. As a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach I should have been jumping for joy.

Unfortunately my coaching services are only for UK based businesses - professional indemnity insurance and liability issues stop me expanding overseas. I don't have the time or resources to do the proper investigation and the UK offers more than enough opportunity for my coaching business.

That led to the obvious question.

"Where Can I Find Marketing Coaching For My Business?"

I explained that there were two solutions:

1. Buy a recommended marketing development program which provides a structured approach to learning with guidance on how to develop your marketing skills.
    
2. Find a marketing coach and, biased as I am, I believe the best small business marketing coaches are Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coaches.

Marketing Development Programs

I recommend three programs that offer high impact marketing advice at a low cost.

1. Guerrilla Marketing Toolkit - a great multi-media six week program to help you to kick-start your marketing the Guerrilla Marketing way.
    
2. The Guerrilla Marketing Association - this is not a structured program but a massive resource of small business marketing advice, audio recordings and videos of the Guerrilla Marketing boot camp.
    
3. The Small Business Growth Club - a great development program that allows you to follow a structured program or an ad-hoc as required, priority based approach from Scott Hallman. This program also offers advice across a wider range of business issues.

If you have a bigger business and you can afford to spend four figures, I recommend that you also consider programs from Peter Thomson, Rich Schefren (for internet marketers), Chet Holmes and Michael Port (if you provide professional services).

Finding a Guerrilla Marketing Coach

If you want or need the personal one to one attention and accountability that a coach provides, then this will cost more but for some, it is the way that they can achieve the most.

I have emailed my associates on my Guerrilla Marketing Course to make sure that I have their details on file and there is a special Guerrilla Marketing Coaches forum where I could post opportunities

I am also happy to list Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coaches on this page so if you would like to email me at paul@plancs.co.uk, we can put the arrangements in place.

How Much Are Good Ideas Worth?

Some people are shocked by the idea of spending a large amount of money on training and personal development but just one idea or a different way of looking at your business could make a massive difference to your income.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Small Business Marketing Coach & Consultant Birmingham West Midlands

I am a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach and have worked as a consultant / coach since 1995. I specialise in helping small companies improve their profits.

But what does Guerrilla Marketing mean to you?

If you are not familiar with the work of Jay Conrad Levinson, the founder and Father of Guerrilla Marketing please give me a few minutes to explain.

I am NOT going to hit you with a heavy sales pitch that shouts HYPE at you. I think you are probably suspicious of overblown marketing and you don't want to use that kind of marketing in your business.

The cornerstone of the success of Guerrilla Marketing is simple:

Guerrilla Marketing Coaches specialise in low and no cost marketing techniques which deliver high impact marketing results.

Let me ask you three questions:

• Would you like to discover how to market your business without spending a lot of money?
     
• Do you want to find the hidden profits already in your existing customer base, just waiting for you to take action?
   
  
• Do you want to find easier and simpler ways to attract new customers at a lower average cost?

If your answers were YES, YES, YES then;

Please Read This Short Introduction to Guerrilla Marketing

Over 15 million copies of Guerrilla Marketing books have been sold worldwide and many universities offer Guerrilla Marketing courses. It success has made Guerrilla Marketing the best known small business marketing brand in history.

It all started in 1983 when Jay Conrad Levinson realised that all the marketing advice and books available were targeted at big businesses with massive marketing budgets.

These big companies could afford to say "half my advertising doesn't work but I don't know which half" and not worry about it.

When your marketing budget measured in millions it might not matter which half works but I know that it does matter to a small business.

A small business can't afford to waste thousand of pounds on marketing that produces little or no result.

I know that and you know that.

Over the last twenty five years Jay Conrad Levinson and the Guerrilla Marketing Coaches have delivered the benefits to small businesses that have made Guerrilla Marketing THE trusted brand for small businesses to look out for when they want or need marketing advice.

Guerrilla Marketing Is For Businesses On A Shoestring Budget

I was drawn to Guerrilla Marketing when I heard Jay Conrad Levinson say that "Guerrilla Marketing is for people with big dreams but tiny wallets."

That phrase really hit home for me and I hope it will for you.

There are no silver bullets or magic wands. Guerrilla Marketing uses time, energy and imagination instead of money and makes sure that all your marketing supports your message.

So What Is Marketing?

It may seem a strange question but too many small business owners see marketing as a small part or function in the budget concerned with advertising and sales promotion which becomes a self-limiting belief.

Let me set you straight.

Marketing is not a minor activity on the periphery of your success as an entrepreneur or owner of a small business that you can outsource.

Marketing is everything you do from the moment you come up with the idea of your business to when you create delighted customers who buy from you regularly.

Effectively marketing is your business!

Everything you do has a marketing impact in the way it affects how people see your business, sometimes in a good way but not always.

So the critical difference with Guerrilla Marketing is that everything you do is intentional and designed to create a positive impression on a prospective customer and reinforce the good impressions your customers have of your business.

Why Is Guerrilla Marketing Different?

Using Jay Conrad Levinson's words as a guide there are many ways that Guerrilla Marketing differs from traditional marketing.

1. Traditional marketing relies on spending money to promote a business. Guerrilla marketing says that you can spend money on marketing if you have it but you can also market your business by using time, energy and imagination.
    
   
2. Traditional marketing is mysterious, confusing and intimidating. Guerrilla marketing removes the mystique and shows you that marketing is a process for you to control.
    
   
3. Traditional marketing methods have been developed in big businesses. Guerrilla marketing has been specially designed for small businesses like yours.
    
   
4. Traditional marketing measures success in terms of brand awareness and recognition. Guerrilla marketing says that the main way for you to judge marketing success by your profits.
    
   
5. Traditional marketing is based on guesswork and hope. Guerrilla marketing is based on using psychology and the laws of human behaviour.
    
   
6. Traditional marketing encourages diversification. Guerrilla marketing emphasises focus on your core capabilities and your customers.
    
   
7. Traditional marketing encourages growth by adding new customers. Guerrilla marketing says you should grow geometrically by increasing the size of your average transactions, by encouraging customers to buy more often and by tapping into the referral power of your customers as well as adding new customers.
    
   
8. Traditional marketing focuses on making the first sale. Guerrilla marketing preaches consistent follow up after they have bought.
    
   
9. Traditional marketing encourages aggressive actions to smash the competition. Guerrilla marketing looks for partners to cooperate with.
    
   
10. Traditional marketing is "me" marketing while Guerrillas practice "you" marketing.
     
    
11. Traditional marketing focuses on what can be extracted from the customer. Guerrilla marketing concentrates on what you can give to your customer to make their lives better and to deepen the relationship with you.
     
    
12. Traditional marketing says that advertising works, having a website works, direct mail works. Guerrilla marketing says that the return on individual marketing efforts is reducing as the world is overloaded with commercial messages. What works is a combination of marketing methods.
     
    
13. Traditional marketers count money at the end of the month, Guerrilla marketers count relationships which are the key to long-lasting streams of profit.
     
    
14. Traditional marketing ignores technology. Guerrilla marketing embraces technology.
     
    
15. Traditional marketing talks to big groups and mass markets. Guerrilla marketing talks to individuals within a tightly targeted group because purchase decisions are made by individual people.
     
    
16. Traditional marketing is based on continually interrupting your thoughts. Guerrilla marketing builds on the power of consent to develop meaningful relationships.
     
    
17. Traditional marketing is a monologue, Guerrilla marketing is a dialogue so the guerrilla can respond to your needs.
     
    
18. Traditional marketing relies on the common marketing techniques of advertising (TV, radio, press), direct mail and the Internet. Guerrilla marketing has identified 200 Guerrilla Marketing weapons for you to use, many of which are free or low cost.

That is a long list but I hope that you know understand what makes Guerrilla Marketing so different and so successful.

What Are The Benefits Of Guerrilla Marketing?

The short answer is "a bigger business with higher profit."

How does it happen?

• More customers
   
• Who make more referrals
   
• And buy more
   
• More often
    
• With less wasted expense on marketing that does not work

The ideas are simple although not always obvious. The methods and techniques have been honed over the last twenty five years and include all the latest time and cost effective uses of modern technology.

What Are Your Specific Benefits?

Can I say how much you will gain?

No.

I don't know what you are doing at the moment, how much potential there is in your market, how good your competitors are or which marketing mistakes you are making.

So you won't be getting any "Increase your leads by 59.6%" promises from me.

I need to get to know your business and you need to decide to commit to applying Guerrilla Marketing techniques to your business.

It all starts with a telephone call to me, Paul Simister on 0121 554 4057 to explore the potential for Guerrilla Marketing to work in your business.

Consultancy v Coaching v Training

It can be confusing so these are the differences I see between a marketing consultant, a marketing coach and a marketing trainer.

A marketing consultant will do it for you. If you want a new advert, a marketing consultant will write it for you. If you want market research for a new product, a marketing consultant will perform the market research project. If you want a new brochure, the marketing consultant with write it for you.

This "done for you" service may be exactly what you want but it's not a service I offer.

There is a better way that makes you and your business much stronger.

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."
Chinese Proverb

A "done for you service" is very convenient but it can be expensive and if you don't understand marketing, you find it difficult to assess the quality of the work supplied before spending a fortune on an advertising campaign.

There are two ways for you to learn:

A marketing trainer can teach you how to improve the marketing of your business in a series of seminars but you are left to implement the ideas on your own. You may be taught how to write a good sales letter but you will have to write it, review it and test it on your own.

A marketing coach teaches you how to improve your marketing but focuses on helping you to put the ideas into practice in your business. I may teach you how to write a compelling sales letter but we will agree that you will draft a letter and send it to me within 3 days (or whatever is reasonable). I will then review it and explain what is good but also suggest ways that the letter can be improved. This combination of accountability, deadlines and feedback makes sure that you get the job done and it is done well.

Do You Need A New Approach To Marketing?

Answer any of these seven questions with a Yes and you need to give me a call:

1. Are your sales mostly driven by price?
     
2. Do customers find it difficult to distinguish your products and services from your competitors?
    
3. Do you use unconnected sales and marketing methods and gimmicks.
    
4. You haven't written a coordinated marketing plan for communicating your message to your customers and prospects.
    
5. Do most of your sales leads come from your sales staff?
    
6. Do your longtime customers say "I didn't know you did that" when you ask why they are also buying from your competitors?
    
7. You haven't developed a customer or prospect database.  

So how did you do? Are you ready to call your local Guerrilla Marketing Coach, me Paul Simister on 0121 554 4057?

"......By bringing some really original thinking Paul has opened my eyes to new opportunities and even greater potential than I had imagined. He’s practical, determined, very creative and he’s given me back my motivation and enthusiasm. I now have a real sense that Paul is a member of my team and that together we are making things happen." Jiles Halling, Managing Director, Champagne Discovery 

So far I have not told you much about me. That's because too much marketing I see is "me, me, me" when it needs to be about your issues and how you can benefit, in this case by learning how to use Guerrilla Marketing to promote your business.

About Paul Simister BA FCA MBA Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach

I have been an independent consultant and coach since 1995 working with businesses ranging from one man businesses through to head offices multi-national public limited companies.

I am a chartered accountant by qualification but marketing has been where my main business interests lie. It all goes back to my university days when I was studying for my degree in Economics and Accounting.

I knew that accounting was the language of business and I had to master it but unfortunately the degree was theoretical rather than practical so I took a trainee accountant's job here in Birmingham. Fortunately I passed the exams first time and more commercial opportunities opened up. While I was employed I held a wide range of commercial responsibilities including sales and marketing, warehouse, distribution and transport, production planning, purchasing and stock control.

What this means for you is that when you engage me, you have a marketing expert who knows exactly how profits and cash are generated and who has been indoctrinated in the idea that measurable results are what matter. No results, no point.

Payment By Results

Perhaps uniquely in the area I am prepared to put my expertise on the line and stand by a "payments on results" basis for long term assignments.

Other marketing consultants may charge you per hour or a fixed fee and while I offer that option I believe that if I am not prepared to go into a large assignment on a profit sharing basis, then you shouldn't be prepared to pay a fixed fee.

Does that make sense?

Either the opportunities are so good that I am confident that I can recoup my fees by sharing in your success or prospects are limited and we shouldn't be working together.

This is a different way of working and the profit share concept relies on you having your financial records up-to-dated and properly reported regularly so that we can set a baseline performance level (profits before shareholder/directors' salaries and benefits). Then any extra profits are shared between us.

Why do I offer this way?

Two reasons

1. I know that  people are scared away from taking much needed advice from business coaches and consultants by the high hourly rates with an uncertain return back to the company. Too many consultants ask you to bear all the financial risks.
    
2. I believe I can make more money. One good idea could make you a fortune but it may only take me an hour to explain it to you and show you how to implement it.

The downside of the profit sharing arrangement is that it is more complicated but you can be sure that my interest is very much in helping you and your business make more money.

So are you now ready to call me, Paul Simister on 0121 554 4057?

How Does Guerrilla Marketing Coaching Work?

I have plans to introduce group coaching in the future on local seminars and by teleseminars (please email me at paul@plancs.co.uk if you are interested) but at the moment my Guerrilla Marketing coaching is delivered on a one-to-one basis.

We will work through a structured process:

Week 0 - How to measure the results of your marketing. This is starting point. You want results and so do I. and that means measuring where you are starting from and knowing that we can monitor how the business develops throughout the coaching program.

Week 1 - Learning the basics of Guerrilla Marketing, analysing your business, researching your competitors and assessing your Guerrilla Marketing competences.

Week 2 - Developing Your Seven Step Marketing Plan

Week 3 - Choosing Your Guerrilla Marketing Weapons and taking a relationship inventory

Week 4 - Presenting Yourself With Impact - in person, in print, on the Internet and on the telephone

Week 5 - Developing Your Marketing Relationships With Others

Week 6 - Improving Your Marketing On The Internet (used correctly, a very low cost way to market to people searching for your products or services.)

You will be asked to buy the Guerrilla Marketing Toolkit which will provide you with the training materials you need to complete the six week program.

This way I don't have to teach you the Guerrilla Marketing ideas and concepts (which saves you money) and means that our time together is based on applying these techniques to your business.

This forms a basic introduction to Guerrilla Marketing, in effect getting your house in order and can be as far as you need to go.

The alternative is that with the sound foundations in place we push on to more advanced topics in Week 7 onwards when we will look at:

1. Persuading your customers to buy more
    
2. Encouraging your customers to buy more often
    
3. Incentivising your customers to give you more referrals
    
4. Attracting new customers to your business

Are you now ready to call me, Paul Simister on 0121 554 4057?

The Guerrilla Marketing Virtuous Circle

Magic happens as your learn more about marketing.

The more you understand the important concepts of Guerrilla Marketing, the more attention you will give to marketing your business.

This increased attention leads you to think of more creative and better ideas and leads to more effective marketing.

And more effective marketing leads to increased financial success for your business and the opportunity to receive greater personal rewards.

Call me Paul Simister on 0121 554 4057 to find out whether your business can benefit from Guerrilla Marketing.

If you are not quite ready to take that bold step to improving your marketing skills, I recommend that you sign up to my newsletter up at the top right of the page and you will receive two free reports:

• Marketing Secrets For Small Businesses (this is based on the Guerrilla Marketing concepts developed by Jay Conrad Levinson plus some additional ideas from another top American consultant, Jay Abraham
   
• How to win profitable business away from competitors

You will also receive a regular email newsletter (two to four times a month) packed with ideas for improving profits in your business.

Other Guerrilla Marketing Resources

There are many Guerrilla Marketing books now but the main one, recently issued in its fourth edition is:

Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson

My Guerrilla Marketing coaching is based on the Guerrilla Marketing Toolkit - a great do it yourself introduction to Guerrilla Marketing for any small business owner who wants to learn the secrets of Guerrilla Marketing.

It makes a fantastic tool to base the one-to-one or group marketing coaching on because it takes away the teaching element as you can learn the material on your own. Our time together is then focused on how the Guerrilla Marketing techniques can be applied to maximum effect and benefit for your business.

Finally the Guerrilla Marketing Association -is Jay Conrad Levinson's membership club for marketing coaches, small business owners and managers committed to keeping at the forefront of the best small business marketing techniques.

How Does Marketing Coaching Differ From Business Coaching

Marketing coaching is a subset of business coaching which just focuses on the marketing aspects of your business.

For business coaching I use my own methodology called the Eight Pillars of Business Prosperity which draws on the ideas of major gurus and my own business experience.

You will see that marketing - defining your marketing position, generating leads, converting leads into customers and encouraging customers to become repeat buyers - represents four of the pillars.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Become A Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have just come to the end of my Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program which I have been reporting on weekly.

The overall course is excellent and has really helped to drive my business forward and I recommend that any small business coach or marketing coach who wants to:

1. Learn more about Guerrilla Marketing
    
2. Experience a top rate coaching experience from group leader Mitch Meyerson
    
3. Sample the great technology that really brings the group together in a way that I have never experienced before and where you learn a lot from your fellow members.
    
4. Have the opportunity of linking your business with the Guerrilla Marketing brand - the biggest selling small business brand in the world.
    
5. The chance to become involved with publishing a book with Mitch Meyerson or even Jay Conrad Levinson. At least one of my classmates has received agreement to write their own Guerrilla Marketing book and really put themselves on the map.

I have encouraged my readers to take a look at the course before but I received an email this morning where I was told that the price for joining the group has been reduced to the lowest rate for three years but only if you commit by the sooner of 1 January 2007 or before the course becomes full .

I strongly recommend that you take a look at the Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program.

My only regret is that I didn't do the course sooner.

I really believe that anyone involved in small business marketing has to become very familiar with the Guerrilla Marketing techniques. We don't have big budgets to spend, so we have to make sure that we leverage what we have to the maximum.

The course seems to only run about three times a year. Miss the January class and you will have to wait until around May time or maybe even later.

Why not take a look at my thoughts about each of the weeks on the Guerrilla Marketing Coach program

I would also recommend that you subscribe to the Guerrilla Marketing Association which is Jay Conrad Levinson's small business club to update you on all the latest Guerrilla Marketing techniques.

There is a free 30 day trial to the Guerrilla Marketing Association and the site is absolutely packed with resources to help any small business.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs