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$3.95 | NOV/DEC 2014
Marketing
Concepts for
Your
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Top 10 TIPS to
Hire Your Next
Sales
SUPERSTAR
Rob Basso
Dishes on Branding
Top 5 Tips to Market
Your Book
Effective Marketing
Tactics of GREAT
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Direct Mail is NOT
Dead
ROB BASSO
Dishes on Branding
S
trictly Marketing Magazine sat down with Rob Basso of Advantage Payroll Services. This nationally recognized
small business expert shared some great tips for Entrepreneurs who are looking to build their brand on both a
personal and professional level. Here’s what he had to share with us about branding.
SMM: You have had quite the journey with your company. Could you share with our readers how you got
started in the payroll business?
RB: I started off as a history education major; I thought I’d be saving the world by being a social studies teacher.
Right before I graduated I completed my student teaching at a regional high school on Long Island, but when I
went looking for permanent work, I couldn’t find a position. After graduation I was working in a deli in an office
building and started wrapping my resume in all of the sandwiches. This technique worked; I got five interviews
and accepted a position with a health care firm in its marketing department. What I didn’t even realize is that I
had just started building my personal brand. Unfortunately as I was preparing to start my new job, Human
Resources called to tell me it had budget cuts, and couldn’t hire me after all. The same lady who hired me came
by the deli. Her husband ran a regional payroll provider service and she told me that he’d like to interview me.
I didn’t even know what a payroll provider was but I took the interview, got hired and quickly turned into the
company’s top sales person for the next two years straight. However, after some time I realized I was overworked
and underpaid so, like a lot of entrepreneurs, I quit. Around that time Advantage Payroll contacted me about
opening the New York branch. I said yes but only if I can buy into the company. They said no, so I walked away.
This intrigued them, so they came back to me and we worked out an agreement. I knew they didn’t think I could
do it, but I bought the company back within a year. To date, we are the largest independently owned payroll
vendor in the Northeast.
SMM: What were some of the first steps
you took to start branding your business?
RB: I knew that because I was a young
guy running a new company, I had to get
people to trust me. In order for people to
trust me, I had to make sure I was a
payroll expert. I wanted to make sure I
knew everything I could about the
HR/Payroll business, so I became the go-to
person and resource in my industry. I
made sure I got out there, networked
and met people.
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Strictly Marketing Magazine November/December 2014
If someone saw me, they would say “Hey, that’s Rob Basso
from Advantage Payroll.” Fortunately, I don’t have to do
it as much now; I still do it, just in a more efficient manner.
Those first few years gave me a platform to grow the
successful company we have now.
SMM: What are some of the tools that are available
today that you wish you would have had access to then?
I wanted to be considered an expert on small business,
someone who could help other small business owners take
their businesses to the next level. This is something I
haven’t strayed from.
SMM: You’ve been building your personal brand along
with your business. How has this impacted your
business?
RB: The biggest one is LinkedIn; it’s a powerful tool if RB: It’s had an extremely positive impact. It’s enabled
used properly. Here is an example. I routinely try new me to build out of a regional brand, into a national brand
initiatives first before I roll them out to my salespeople in and I have been able to get in front of the national news
order to prove they work. I proved to my sales staff that media. I’ve been on MSNBC, Fox Business and other
with a very brief email introduction on LinkedIn, I could media outlets on a regular basis and it’s due to the
get someone to pay attention and have a conversation with personal brand I built in the marketplace as a small
me. It’s better than making a cold call or knocking on business expert. That is why they paid attention to me.
doors, people already have their guard up because they Without sticking to my guns, I wouldn’t have gotten that
don’t know you. Starting a conversation on LinkedIn not kind of press. It has been vitally important to the growth
only allows you to be specific in your target market, but of my business.
allows people an opportunity to get to know you
beforehand. For the best results, you should use LinkedIn SMM:
Why should a business owner concern
every day for 15-20 minutes.
themselves with building a personal brand?
SMM: What are some common mistakes you see
businesses make with their brand?
RB: One of the things is not having a set target market.
It’s important to be very specific who you are going after.
We made a decision to market to small and mid-sized
business owners; I have stuck with that for the last 18 years.
We wanted to be able to make an impact with small
business owners and carved out a strong niche for the
company in that space. Another mistake is too often
businesses don’t develop a strong web presence. Most
businesses don’t have a website, which I find shocking.
In today’s market, there is no excuse for not having a
website. Build an appropriate website. There is no need to
break the bank but your website should put your business
front and center.
Between all of the companies that I own and invest in, each
of them have their own site and distinct purpose.
SMM: What is one piece of advice about branding that
all businesses should be doing?
RB: They should be authentic in their core values.
Whatever that happens to be, whether it’s a product or
service, be authentic towards what it is that you want your
likeness to be within the marketplace.
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RB: In many ways, it’s like building your reputation.
When you have a personal brand, it’s a reflection of your
company. Your personal brand bleeds through to the way
not only the market place sees your business but the way
employees see your company. Do a Google search; see
what comes up to see how the market place sees you. If
nothing comes up, then you have some work to do
because in that situation, the marketplace obviously
doesn’t put the same value on your business as you
thought it did. This gives you a good starting point to
build your brand and reputation.
SMM: You have worked with a public relations firm for
years; do you feel that is a good fit for all businesses, or
certain ones?
RB: Before I could afford it, I saw the value in a Public
Relations firm. I’ve been in business for 18 years but have
been working with a publicist for 16 years. When you are
a small company, you can’t always afford all types of
marketing. But I have always thought that third party
endorsements are the best ones. I couldn’t afford to spend
the money my large national competitors could so I found
a way through the news media to let them know that I
was a brand to be reckoned with.
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This enabled me to get in front of regional media and
eventually national media. Sometimes media outlets
contact me directly today due to the work my Public
Relations firm has put in over the past two decades. The
only way I could do that was to hire a publicist. Look at
your marketing budget, where are you going to get the
most value. I still believe it’s with your personal brand.
When you think of Martha Stewart, Mark Cuban, Steve
Jobs, just to name a few, what they are passionate about
immediately comes to mind. When you think of Martha
Stewart, you think household guru, when you think of
Mark Cuban, you think tech genius. Literally, they built
their personas around a very simple idea and you can do
the same in your business as well.
SMM: If a business is ready to work with a PR firm,
what are some guidelines for them to find the right
agency?
SMM: Why did you write the book, Everyday
Entrepreneur?
RB: First, figure out what you want to achieve. There are
a lot of reasons to hire a Public Relations firm. Don’t just
pick a firm from an online search. Ask around and get
referrals from your colleagues. Interview these firms, just
like a job candidate. They are going to have to understand
your brand and you have to feel comfortable that they
understand it. If you don’t feel comfortable, it may not be
the right fit.
RB: The reason I wrote the book is to showcase what
you need to do to be successful in America. The three
attributes you need to have are ambition, confidence
and conviction. Success is measured in different
ways, it’s not always dollars and cents. I think the
really successful entrepreneurs have success with
their family, they have success with their community,
and yes financial success has something to do with
it but it doesn’t mean you have to be in the top 1% of
wealth.
SMM: As you move forward and continue to expand
Advantage Payroll Services, can you share some of the
things you will be doing with your brand to continue SMM: Basso on Business recently covered a short
your growth nationwide?
video on a chapter in the book, “Is that a leprechaun
in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” Tell us
RB: I will continue to build a brand presence online. We
about that.
are producing videos to help small business owners,
making a more robust blog site and continually adding
followers. We will continue to build a social media RB: Basically it’s about making your own luck, being
present when luck happens and putting you in the
presence as well.
best possible position to be successful. Surround
SMM: Business Owners that have a plan to take their yourself with people who want to see you succeed. I
businesses outside of their local area, maybe even don’t believe there is a tremendous amount of pure
national. What should they incorporate into their luck out there. I believe people prepare themselves so
strategy to build a strong brand?
that when something lucky happens, they happen to
be there at the right time.
RB: We touched a little on this. To me, the most important
thing is to be authentic. When I started doing public
speaking years ago, I thought I knew what a public speaker
should do. I thought, “I am the guy in the front of the room
who people come to hear talk.” I didn’t do so well and got
some negative reactions. What I realized is that I was
talking at people instead of talking with them. I had to
re-think what I was doing and here is the thing, this wasn’t
even me. Once I realized that people wanted me and
started being genuine, people gravitated towards me. It
was about me being passionate about something.
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Small business/Entrepreneur Advocate, Expert and Author Robert
Basso is founder and president of the New York region’s largest
independent payroll processing firm, Advantage Payroll Services and a
regularly sought out small business guest speaker, mentor and media
expert.
With over 2,500 clients, Rob has his finger on the pulse of small
business and has gained a wealth of knowledge which he actively shares.
His mission is to assist struggling small business owners with growing
their companies, creating jobs and rebuilding the American economy.
For more information about Rob and Advantage Payroll Services, visit
www.RobBasso.com