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Regardless of The Market, The Economy or The Fear: Take Care of The Basics
Jan 17th
Beware of the market-talk that leads to aggressive, business breaking fear. It’s the kind of thing that can slip up on you. And before you know it, you’ve slid into a series of fear-based decisions.
To make the most of any economy we have to always take care of the basics first, and for me that begins with controlling my mind. Sometimes fear thoughts just slip in but you don’t have to let them run you, and in turn, your business. Besides, uncontrolled fear can cost you a lot of time, time that could go into the kind of strategy work that digs a savvy business owner out of trouble. And if you can control the fear, then you find creative and effective ways to take care of your customers, your employees and your marketing.
Take Care of Your Customers
In, “9 Business Fundamentals To Always Remember” John Mariotti says:
“Always consider what is most important to your customers….Without customers, you have no business, so take care of them. But don’t be afraid to make a profit.”
Quality service and quality products can afford profitable pricing even in a down economy. But fear-based decisions can cause you make rash choices instead of strategic ones. For example, maybe a single item doesn’t make the kind of money it did before but a if you bundle it how does your market respond? If you keep your strategy cap on you just may find something that feels like more value to your people and keeps you in the black.
Now, if taking care of your customers is fundamental, then taking care of your team becomes key as well.
Take Care of Your Employees
Your employees are your front line of defense and care. Your customers’ relationship with your company is often built through their interaction with one employee or another.
In, “Are You Rewarding Your Employees Fairly?” Anita Campbell, Founder of Small Business Trends, says:
“What matters isn’t whether you believe they are being rewarded fairly, but whether they think they are….workers who don’t feel they are fairly rewarded are likely to become resentful and seek to leave your business at the first opportunity.”
Or simply perform poorly (and that costs you money).
Anita references a study by WorldatWork, Hay Group and Loyola University Chicago professor Dow Scott. And according to that study one of the strategies that can help increase employees’ perceptions that they’re being fairly rewarded is good communication—you can implement that now. And the top factor in whether employees feel they are fairly rewarded is career development opportunities—this is a cost effective reward that small businesses can offer with some planning. Check out her article and the study for more factors.
Take Care of Your Marketing
In, “How To Pick An Ad Agency” Ivana Taylor gives her 7 step process for choosing an ad agency including step #5 where she suggests that you say “no” to the presentation and go to lunch instead. The goal is to find someone or organization that can successfully complete your marketing job over and over again. You want a long term and profitable relationship with your ad agency, because let’s face it none of us have time or money to waste.
Just remember, a challenging economy is not a time to shrink. Smart marketing is always essential.
Back to Basics Photo via Shutterstock
Regardless of The Market, The Economy or The Fear: Take Care of The Basics
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Take The Time To Grow Your Business
Jan 12th
Got big dreams for your business? Eager to succeed? Fantastic! Now sit down and figure out how you are going to make that happen. You can’t cut to the front of the line or skip steps. Use your excitement to keep focused on your plan. Don’t use it to jump ahead and try to short circuit the process.
Every day I see small business owners jump ahead in a couple of areas in their business. From marketing to networking to pricing you can do real damage to your future if you go to fast.
1. Marketing
Before you sign up to advertise in a magazine, pay for Google ads, or buy air time, ask yourself some key questions:
- Who is your audience?
- Where is your audience?
- What is the best way to transmit your message?
Taking the time to answer these questions will help you avoid spending money in the wrong places. Think about it this way. If you sell to businesses, does it make sense to put an ad in a consumer magazine or neighborhood paper? Not really. Sure, you can tell yourself that your target market will be reading that document. However, they won’t be reading it with an eye for what you are offering. Your message will be lost on them. That is not the best way to spend your marketing dollars.
Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by the salesperson or your associates. You must do your due diligence before signing on the dotted line.
Example: I have two friends who started an organization called Positive Thinkers Network. After it had been in operation for about a year they decided to launch The Positive Times, a periodical that goes into homes and has only good news stories in it. When the salesperson reached out to me about advertising in it my first reaction was to sign up. After all, I like the owners and wanted to support them if I could. My heart said ‘do it.’ When I took a moment to consider this I realized that it just wasn’t the place for me to advertise because I sell to businesses, not consumers. As much as I wanted to support my friends, this was not a good marketing decision. So I respectfully declined.
2. Networking
There are tons of opportunities to network, on and off line. You could be doing it all day and night, every day. However, that would not be the best use of your time. Once again you have to ask yourself some questions starting with what do you hope to accomplish. It is my opinion that networking is building relationships with people who may or may not need what you have to sell.
At the same time, since time is precious, you want to meet the people who can introduce you to your target. Visiting various events and groups to get a sense of them can be a very valuable exercise. Just pay attention while you are there.
Example: I have a client whose target market is CPAs and attorneys. I have another client whose target market is busy professionals and salespeople who like to thank their clients. Where they will network will be different. The first client should be around business owners as they are the people most likely to have CPAs and attorneys. The second client would do well with business owners but would also do well in a group of salespeople.
3. Pricing
This is an interesting place where time really matters. Sometimes new business owners decide to low-ball their pricing just to get the business. They are afraid if they price where they want, prospects won’t bite. There are a couple of issues with this thought process. When you do this you are telling your prospects how YOU value your product or service. Once you go low, it’s hard to raise your prices. You get locked into a belief system that can stick with you for a long time.
The other issue with this is the kind of clients you’ll attract. You’re going to get the clients who don’t want to pay for things; the kind who won’t value what you offer. There is the risk that they will demand a lot of your time and energy without reasonable compensation. Is that really who you want to work with?
Other times, business owners set a high price right out of the gate. They say, “I’m talented and worth this much.” The problem with this can be that they are so new they haven’t proven themselves yet. They know their history and capabilities. However, they haven’t given the marketplace time to trust them. When they start high they can be sending the wrong message. Once again, their target market won’t buy. Now what do they do?
The best thing you can do is set what you think is a fair price. Be realistic; be fair. Consider where you are in your business life and set a path for proving yourself. Don’t go too low or too high. Take the time to really consider what you should be charging. Take a look at what your competitors are asking for similar products or services. Consider what the market will bear.
I’ve watched brand new businesses charge really high fees for basic services. A year later those business owners are looking for jobs. Why? Because they hadn’t taken the time to prove themselves and earn those rates. Don’t be one of those people.
As you can see, taking the time to think about your decisions before you make them can save you a lot of money and heartache. You owe it to yourself and your business to ask the right questions and think unemotionally about your business. Then you’ll make decisions that will have staying power; and your business will grow nicely.
Growth Photo via Shutterstock
Take The Time To Grow Your Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
8 Steps to Take Your Brick and Mortar Business Online
Nov 17th
The Internet is here to stay, no doubt about it. Still, many small businesses haven’t moved online. Some may not feel the need yet. Others may be scared because the territory is unfamiliar. Whatever the case may be, below are some simple steps you can take to move your brick-and-mortar business online—something you must do if you want to be able to compete in the long run. Your customers are online. Your competitors are online or moving there soon. Don’t get left behind.
1. Get found.
Many businesses invest money in building a website in order to have an online presence and then stop there. In the offline world if you put up a business in a well-trafficked area of town, you’ll get visitors. They see the building and stop by. On the Internet, it’s a different story. Once your site is built, you still need to put significant effort into getting found.
Get listed on Google Places. Get listed in local directories. Get listed in industry directories. Learn the basics of search engine optimization or hire someone to do that work for you.
2. Get leads, not just traffic.
Another area where many people goof up online is in lead generation. After you build your website and start driving traffic, your job is to turn that traffic into leads. Ideally most pages of your website should have a lead capture mechanism. You need to offer something of value to your visitors in exchange for their email address or other contact information. If you don’t, you’ll lose a lot of your traffic. You need to develop a list-building mentality. Build a list of leads with every activity you engage in. Then, follow up with that list. Email marketing systems can help you do this in systematic ways.
3. Use email marketing to tell people about your business.
Recently, proponents of new marketing techniques have bashed email marketing, claiming that the medium is dying. This is far from the truth. Research firm ForeSee Results published a study early this year that was conducted during the 2010 holiday shopping season. They asked people who made purchases online about what influenced their visit to ecommerce sites.
As you can see in the study, the overwhelming majority (64 percent) stated that they prefer to hear about sales and promotions through emails. When engaging in email marketing, make sure you follow best practices and provide value to your leads instead of bugging them with sales messages all the time. Use email to build real relationships with your leads, not bother them.
4. Know that text messaging is not just for teenagers.
Many brick-and-mortar businesses are successfully using SMS marketing (text message marketing) to capture leads and follow up. You can have your store visitors opt into text message promotions by texting a keyword to an SMS short code. You can follow up with these people in the same way you do with email. You can even use text messaging to capture email addresses.
The world is going mobile—don’t miss out on these emerging opportunities.
5. Use QR codes in fun and creative ways.
You have offline customers. Eventually, you want to be able to communicate with them online as well. QR codes are barcodes that can be scanned with a cell phone to send people to a particular website. QR codes on direct mail pieces, your store window, your checkout desk and other strategic areas can give you an opportunity to move offline traffic online.
Keep in mind that QR codes are used by cell phone users. So drive them to mobile-friendly pages where you offer something in order to capture their contact information.
6. Use online partners–they can be huge assets.
You may have been slow to get your business online, but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer forever. Most likely you know other local business owners who made the transition earlier. They may already be getting significant amounts of traffic. Hunt down the people who are doing well online and set up a way for them to drive traffic to you and you to them.
Complementary businesses can set up referral or affiliate programs to drive traffic to each other at appropriate points in the sales cycle. Using partners can jumpstart your online business significantly.
7. Give your customers an online account portal.
We’re all getting used to managing our accounts online. We can do this with our banks, our cell phone accounts, our utilities, etc. But do you offer a way for your customers to manage their accounts with you online? For those of you who provide recurring services (pool cleaning, landscaping, legal retainer, etc.), providing a portal where customers can manage their accounts online makes working with you more convenient for them.
That’s really what the Internet is all about – convenience. The more of it you give, the more your customers will love you.
8. Get social, maybe.
Social media is a booming arena for online marketing. If used correctly, it can provide a great stream of online traffic for your business. It also is a great way to listen and engage with customers. But I say “maybe” here because I see many small businesses wasting way too much time trying to figure out how to make social media work. The truth is, it’s not for everybody.
If your target audience is social, then you do need to figure it out. If you want to get into social media, I suggest you read my Small Business Trends post on The Social Media Money Formula. It will show you how to actually tie social media efforts to increased sales, instead of wasting time getting “friends” and “followers.”
One last point to consider is that there is a lot of hype on the Internet. Like most things, Internet hype is usually based on some amount of truth. The key is to decipher the hype about the latest trends. Adopt only the trends that make sense for your business, and make sure the tactics you use make a difference to the bottom line. If not, you’re wasting your time.
Of course there are many other things to consider when getting started online, but these steps will help you get started in a meaningful way.
8 Steps to Take Your Brick and Mortar Business Online
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Interview With Jerry Mills: Take a Break to Be Productive
Oct 14th
You might not expect the author of two business books, speaker, contributor, and founder of B2B CFO® to be into yoga and tai chi, but that’s exactly what helps Jerry Mills stay balanced between work and life. He practices regularly and also strives to read nonfiction books:
“I often have my most creative business ideas after I have lost myself for a few hours in a good murder mystery. It seems that the human mind needs a break in order to be most productive.”
And productive he is. His firm, B2B CFO®, provides part-time CFO services to small and midsized businesses. Currently, the company boasts 200 B2B Partners who serve more than 750 clients with combined annual sales totaling $5 billion dollars. In the next five years, Mills expects to have 400 partners and $45 million in sales. It’s no wonder he made the list of Small Business Influencer Champions this year.
Mills attributes his firm’s success to recruiting top professionals, being on the cutting edge of technology and hiring a stellar public relations firm.
Jumping in With Both Feet
Mills was reluctant to start his business back in 1987, but some valuable advice got him moving:
“A man named Roger gave me some good advice. He said, ‘Jerry, the hardest thing you need to do is to make the decision. Once you make the decision, everything else will fall into place about what you need to do to grow your business.’ He was 100 percent correct.”
And while technology is a huge part of B2B CFO’s® platform now, if Mills has any regrets, it’s that he didn’t dive into technology sooner. He says he wasn’t proactive enough upfront about technology, and wishes he had spent more time and money investing in it early on.
Back to Balance
We hear a lot about work/life balance, but few business owners truly practice it. Mills insists that it be part of every leader’s life:
“If every small business owner had an extra hour in their day, they should rotate that time doing two things: (1) exercising and (2) reading good non-business books.”
If reading good books and practicing Pilates will give us the success you’ve got, Jerry, we’re on board.
Jerry Mills was recognized as a Small Business Influencer Champion for 2011. Read more of our Small Business Influencer Champion interviews.
Interview With Jerry Mills: Take a Break to Be Productive
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
What Will It Take to Get You to Start Hiring Again?
Sep 14th
Sure there’s lot of political talk about job creation, but let’s ignore what the politicians have to say. Instead, I want to look at what it would really take for small businesses, long touted as the “engine of job growth,” to start hiring again.
Actually small businesses do want to hire. In fact, 40.7 percent of those surveyed in an ongoing study of privately owned businesses conducted by the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project and Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp are planning to do so in the next six months, compared to 38.1% who have no plans to hire and 21.2% who are uncertain.
But access to capital is a huge stumbling block for the companies in the survey, all of which had annual sales under $5 million. Asked what policies were most likely to encourage them to hire in 2012, “increased access to capital” was cited by (34.8 percent), with tax incentives ranking second (23.2 percent) and regulatory reform third (18.3 percent).
Where would small businesses like to get capital? Bank loans were the preferred financing source for the majority (70.7 percent). Angel capital, the second most desirable funding option on the list, fell far short, cited by just 35.7 percent of survey respondents. Private equity (28.1 percent) and venture capital (27.2 percent) were close behind.
However, of those small businesses that had actually approached banks for loans in the past 12 months, only 44.5% obtained a loan. Whether or not they were successful, the study showed that the average business owner contacted 2.2 banks and spent 16 to 24 hours of time on the loan process.
In announcing the results, John Paglia, lead researcher of the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project and associate professor of finance at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, suggests that small businesses may be losing their incentive to pursue bank loans.
“Many businesses are now questioning whether contacting banks for credit is worth the time invested. Taking 16-24 hours away from ‘minding the store’ to pursue a loan can be extremely detrimental to any small business, especially when the odds are not in their favor,” Paglia says.
Personally, I realize that 16 to 24 hours is a substantial time investment, but if the result could potentially be a capital infusion that saves your business or helps it grow exponentially, I’d consider that a small price to pay. I’d also note that getting capital from VCs, private investors or angels is likely to take substantially longer than 16 to 24 hours.
But I also see Paglia’s point. Small businesses are losing faith. They doubt going through the normal channels will get them anywhere. And if small businesses can’t count on finding capital, they won’t have the confidence (or money) to hire.
Any entrepreneur who had to lay off staff in the Great Recession most certainly doesn’t want to do it again. As business owners, letting go of a team member hurts, so hiring isn’t a decision we make lightly.
What Will It Take to Get You to Start Hiring Again?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Roulette Assault – Assault the Casino. Take Money Hostage.
Jul 18th
Casino gambling strategy that will blow your mind. The game of roulette has never experienced a bigger threat, and the players are going to eat this one alive! Consider this casino robbery because this baby will sell! Earn a generous 75%/sale. Get On It!
Roulette Assault – Assault the Casino. Take Money Hostage.
Save Money From Day 1, Take Your Own Lunch to Work
Jun 12th
A sure way to save money & your health. Take your own lunch to work/school. Recipes with pictures, guide you, step-by-step, to make your own delicious lunch. Even make your lunch at work. No waiting in line for service at fast food restaurants.
Save Money From Day 1, Take Your Own Lunch to Work
How else are you supposed to take it?
May 20th
“Don’t take it personally.”
This is tough advice. Am I supposed to take it like a chair? Sometimes it seems as though the only way to take it is personally. That customer who doesn’t like your product (your best work) or that running buddy who doesn’t want to run with you any longer…
Here’s the thing: it’s never personal. It’s never about you. How could it be? That person doesn’t truly know you, understand what you want or hear the voices in your head. All they know is themselves.
When someone moves on, when she walks away or even badmouths you or your work, it’s not personal about you. It’s personal about her. Her agenda, her decisions, her story.
Do your work, the best way you know how. Is there any other option?
View full post on Seth’s Blog
How to Take on a Giant
Apr 28th
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Marketing podcast with Stephen Denny (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download – Subscribe now via iTunes or subscribe via other RSS device (Google Listen)
Some years ago I wrote a post called the Natural Advantages of Small Business. The topic is one that I’ve also delivered as a presentation for Chambers of Commerce and the like. In this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing I visit with Stephen Denny, author of Killing Giants - 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry.
Denny tackles the question that many small businesses face and that’s “what to do when you’re faced with competition that has more money, name recognition and customers?”
If I were to sum up Killing Giants it would be this – Identify a competitor’s vulnerability and exploiting the heck out of it.
Interestingly Denny’s research showed the speed and nimbleness isn’t the answer because, by itself, it doesn’t scale. Companies that use speed also make better decisions based on fact, not gut.
The book uses case studies to illustrate how successful smaller businesses took on giants in their industry to do just that.
One of my personal favorite case studies is Method’s taking on Proctor and Gamble.
From the book:
Everyone thought Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry were crazy to start Method, a new cleaning products company. The category had long been dominated by P&G, Unilever, and Colgate-Palmolive. Those giants had so much clout with the retail chains that their soaps had barely needed updating for decades.
But by taking advantage of its underdog position, Method carved out a very profitable niche: environmentally sound products in stylish, innovative packaging. Despite a far smaller marketing budget than their competitors, Method connected with a substantial minority of people who wanted to “buy green” but who also wanted high-quality products.
Some of my favorite strategic approaches from the book include:
- Win in the last three feet. Leverage someone else’s investment—just be there the moment the customer grabs their wallet.
- Create “thin ice” arguments. Shift the conversation to places where the competition can’t—or won’t—go.
- Fight unfairly. Learn how the underdog can turn the tables, pick unfair fights and create awkward mis-matches.
You can listen to the show by subscribing the feed in iTunes or a variety of other free services such as Google Listen (Use this RSS feed) or you can buy the Duct Tape Marketing iPhone app. (iTunes link – Cost is $2.99) or
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
My Very Initial Take on Empire Avenue
Apr 27th
My Very Initial Take on Empire Avenue
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
The latest shiny object to grab the buzz of the online marketers and social media set is something called Empire Avenue.
As you know, I like to jump into many new things to stir around and see if I can find practical value to share with my readers and I usually don’t write about something unless I feel it does merit you taking a look at. Having said that, Empire Avenue is something that is primarily for those that already have a decent amount of involvement in social media. If you’re just getting started, this isn’t the place to focus.
First off, what is it. On the surface it’s a stock market like game where individuals and companies offer shares of stock for sale and that stock value is measured based on demand, actions taken on Empire Avenue and the collective participation and engagement in social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Players try to increase the value of their profile and also invest in other individuals to earn a return on their virtual dollars, or eaves as they are called, in the game. There are countless ways to increase your value and participate in the game so I won’t even attempt to cover that for now.
I have to admit there is a certain appeal to the entire game aspect, trying to get your stock price to rise and betting on those that you know will do well, but there’s a giant time drain factor that can be costly if there’s no real value or return. (One of the first things you might notice if you start to participate is all the silly little things that people are doing to try to get your buy their stock – don’t let the silliness factor be a complete turnoff just yet.)
Critics of the recent hype suggest this is little more than an ego boosting toy for social media gurus and wanna be gurus and on the surface you can certainly see why this claim is pretty easy to level.
However, as I’ve toyed with it for less than a week now I’ve found something valuable enough for me to suggest that those heavily engaged in social media and other online pursuits take a look at it and here’s why.
Of all the tools out there that are trying to measure influence and engagement, tools like Klout and Peer Index, I think Empire Avenue may have developed one of the best for doing so. It doesn’t seem to be all about pure follower numbers as it weighs comments and other activity as well. So, from that standpoint there exists some value.
The other thing I’ve noticed since playing with it is that it does a very good job of helping me focus on the important aspects of my social media engagement outside of Empire Avenue. Because the game measures the important things I do on Twitter and Facebook, for example, and rewards me in the game for doing them, it has the impact of making active social media participation more fun.
Now, that may not be enough for some to trudge through learning another interface, but I think it’s reason enough to recommend you put it on your radar of things to look at while it’s still in the early stages.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
