What Brands Can Learn From Small Business Entrepreneurs

It occurs to me that companies could learn a lot about igniting the inherent mojo of their brands from the struggles of start up entrepreneurs in their first couple of years in business.

In the early days of a start up there is a lot of 'mojo marketing' going on as the proprietor tries a wide variety of innovative marketing activities in the hopes of finding the ones that will add a shot of momentum into their business. Their efforts are inventive and interesting and, in many cases, exhibit an instinctive understanding of what makes their prospective customers tick.

Even while they explore many different forms of marketing to juice up their brand's mojo, they keep a clear eye focused on what their business proposition is. They work fast. They try. They fail. They succeed. And they do it without ever losing sight of the mojo that makes their offering special.

An interesting example can be seen in this clip from a television show on the Planet Green channel called the Fabulous Beekman Boys. The show follows the trials and tribulations of two men who, leaving corporate careers behind, buy an abandoned farm in up state New York and embrace an experiment in natural, seasonal living. They are attempting to start a small business that, consistent with their natural living standards,  sells artisanal cheeses, goat milk soap and other organic inspired products from their property.

In an endeavor to advance the visibility of their own business among their core audience of sophisticated urban taste makers, these organic entrepreneurs host an auction at Sotheby's in New York City.

The idea behind the auction is to sell-off heirloom vegetables grown on local organic farms to be donated to soup kitchens in New York. The proceeds of the auction are then plowed back into the community of small farmers and village proprietors who are trying to survive and thrive. Ultimately, the auction raises over a quarter of a million dollars for small farming operations. And it raises the profile of the Beekman Farm business even more.

And interesting experiment in marketing mojo that seems to be working.