Source:
The National, Thursday May 17th, 2012
By MALUM NALU
TWO Papua New Guineans who completed a week-long training workshop in Suva, Fiji, will assist PNG small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) with business development services.
Small business and arts entrepreneur Joycelin Leahy and National Agriculture Research Institute food scientist David Minemba were among 24 participants at this workshop held at the CETC Training Centre, in Suva.
The workshop, attended by participants from 10 countries, was aimed at capacity-building and training PNG and other Pacific islander to help SMEs in their respective countries.
The training was expected to equip the consultants to trouble-shoot businesses and assist entrepreneurs to better manage their businesses.
Contents of the training included steps taken in the entrepreneurial journey, managing business, business coaching, using basic principles in business, working with human resources and marketing business.
“The entrepreneur’s journey is often tough and lonely and there are many pitfalls,” Leahy said.
“Sometimes you need to have a guiding hand that will work with you and assist you to realise your goals and find the best ways to achieve your profits.
“As entrepreneurs, we often think that we know everything, but we don’t.
“When you develop a good idea into a business, it does not mean that you can instantly make a profit.
“You still need to go through the hard yards before you get there.”
“This is where the services of a BDS provider will come in handy.
“The BDS provider can assist with advice and steps to improve the business after close consultation with the business owner.”
Leahy intends to assist with BDS for small to medium businesses in the informal sector and rural PNG.
Minemba, who is a senior food scientist with Nari, will be looking at assisting PNG farmers, especially in Western Highlands.
“We want to help change the lives of our people and help them to become good business people,” Leahy said.
“There is a very prominent trend in business downfall due to our ‘wantok’ system and we want our people to learn about how they can cope with this cultural mentality, use it to assist their businesses and not let it encumber their dreams.”
The BDS training clinic will run from Port Moresby in September, after the elections.
Further dates and information will be announced later.
For more information email Leahy at beyondart@tpg.com.au and Minemba david.minemba@nari.org.pg.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Monday, 14 May 2012
Build a social media platform.
Socialpeople are specialized in customized websites designed and optimized for social media performance and success. Our website solution is called Website360. This, because our solutions contain everything you need to get started with social media marketing. We develop, design and program websites, build applications and databases and we take pride in delivering on time and on agreed budget.
We believe all companies should have a social media platform starting with a social media optimized website. It is crucial to have complete control of making quick and easy changes whenever they want and because a company with an up-to-date website will have a better competitive advantage and a greater opportunity of succeeding in social medias.
By default, our websites integrate social medias like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+ and LinkedIn. Of course our solutions also include Google Analytics, SEO, RSS Feeds and blog and newsletter features.
Let us create your new social media website.
If your website is more than one year old, build on a free CMS system, or simply by someone not thinking about design, structure, social media and search engines there is a good chance that it is not performing to its full potential, and in todays world you do not want to be behind your competitors letting them score all the clients simply because you have a poor website. We will change that, and in the process we will teach you how to optimize your social media approach, change website content and images, publish newsletters and much more.
We believe all companies should have a social media platform starting with a social media optimized website. It is crucial to have complete control of making quick and easy changes whenever they want and because a company with an up-to-date website will have a better competitive advantage and a greater opportunity of succeeding in social medias.
By default, our websites integrate social medias like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+ and LinkedIn. Of course our solutions also include Google Analytics, SEO, RSS Feeds and blog and newsletter features.
Let us create your new social media website.
If your website is more than one year old, build on a free CMS system, or simply by someone not thinking about design, structure, social media and search engines there is a good chance that it is not performing to its full potential, and in todays world you do not want to be behind your competitors letting them score all the clients simply because you have a poor website. We will change that, and in the process we will teach you how to optimize your social media approach, change website content and images, publish newsletters and much more.
Friday, 11 May 2012
How to Maximize Your Facebook Engagement 04/27/12 by Brian Carter
Brian Carter is vice president of marketing and customer success at InfiniGraph. He’s also the author of The Like Economy and the forthcoming LinkedIn For Business.
If you have a Facebook page, you likely know how important it is to get likes and comments. Without those, your EdgeRank suffers, and your posts are seen by fewer fans in the future. Facebook has already admitted that the average Facebook page only reaches about 17% of its fans. Since less than 1 to 2% of fans go back to your page, EdgeRank and newsfeed visibility are critical.
When you get a new fan, you have the opportunity to keep them engaged. If you don’t, they’ll simply stop reading your posts. Here are some of the things you should keep in mind as you determine how best to engage your Facebook customers.
Which Days are Your Fans Most Responsive?
You need to maximize likes and comments to be visible to fans. Part of getting better engagement results is knowing which days of the week your fans are most and least responsive. This is different for every company and industry. Knowing the best day of the week for all Facebook pages won’t help you with your brand. So even if the best overall day is Tuesday, your company’s best day might be Sunday.
For example, recent research indicated that the most responsive day for high-fashion brand pages is Wednesday, while the most responsive day for outdoor clothing brand pages is Thursday. Why should brands care? Well, even if you post every day, your greatest focus should go to those days when followers are most responsive. So, if your best day is on the weekend, make sure you have that covered.
It also turns out that the best days of the week to post on Facebook are not always the same days brands create the most posts. Sometimes it’s a Sunday, and maybe no one is working. It appears that the amount a brand posts is not based on their most responsive days, but perhaps just on convenience or coincidence.
Case Study: Chanel
When you compare individual companies, you see that the days they do the most posts are not the same days that they get the most likes and comments per post. For example, see the following charts:
Here is when Chanel posts the most (average posts per day over 90 days):
And here is when their fans are the most responsive (likes + comments per post):
Chanel’s fans are most responsive on Saturdays, but it’s their second-to-least posted on day of the week. Most likely, their social media person isn’t working that day, and they’re not scheduling posts for that day. Without realizing it, they’re missing out on a lot of likes and comments, which of course hurts their Edgerank and lowers their fan page’s post visibility.
This highlights that you shouldn’t post most when it’s convenient for you, but when your fans are most responsive.
How to Maximize the Most Engaging Days
If you want to figure out this data for your page, here are the steps:
1. Go to your Facebook page insights and click on likes.
2. Click on export data. Choose post level data, then select at least a two-month range so you have a good sample.
3. Save it and open it in Excel.
4. There’s not a quick way in Excel to group dates by day of week, but with a bit of manual work, you can find the average lifetime of engaged users per post, per day of the week.
The only shortcoming here is that the data is limited by how good and engaging your posts have been. It’s better to look at 10 to 20 brand pages per industry. You will have to manually look at hundreds of posts, or find a way to scrape that data. Then you can find the average likes and comments per post, per day of the week across an entire industry.
If one of your competitors is doing a much better job at getting likes and comments, you might want to follow their lead. It could be, in part, the days of the week they post, and also the type and quality of content.
If you have a Facebook page, you likely know how important it is to get likes and comments. Without those, your EdgeRank suffers, and your posts are seen by fewer fans in the future. Facebook has already admitted that the average Facebook page only reaches about 17% of its fans. Since less than 1 to 2% of fans go back to your page, EdgeRank and newsfeed visibility are critical.
When you get a new fan, you have the opportunity to keep them engaged. If you don’t, they’ll simply stop reading your posts. Here are some of the things you should keep in mind as you determine how best to engage your Facebook customers.
Which Days are Your Fans Most Responsive?
You need to maximize likes and comments to be visible to fans. Part of getting better engagement results is knowing which days of the week your fans are most and least responsive. This is different for every company and industry. Knowing the best day of the week for all Facebook pages won’t help you with your brand. So even if the best overall day is Tuesday, your company’s best day might be Sunday.
For example, recent research indicated that the most responsive day for high-fashion brand pages is Wednesday, while the most responsive day for outdoor clothing brand pages is Thursday. Why should brands care? Well, even if you post every day, your greatest focus should go to those days when followers are most responsive. So, if your best day is on the weekend, make sure you have that covered.
It also turns out that the best days of the week to post on Facebook are not always the same days brands create the most posts. Sometimes it’s a Sunday, and maybe no one is working. It appears that the amount a brand posts is not based on their most responsive days, but perhaps just on convenience or coincidence.
Case Study: Chanel
When you compare individual companies, you see that the days they do the most posts are not the same days that they get the most likes and comments per post. For example, see the following charts:
Here is when Chanel posts the most (average posts per day over 90 days):
And here is when their fans are the most responsive (likes + comments per post):
Chanel’s fans are most responsive on Saturdays, but it’s their second-to-least posted on day of the week. Most likely, their social media person isn’t working that day, and they’re not scheduling posts for that day. Without realizing it, they’re missing out on a lot of likes and comments, which of course hurts their Edgerank and lowers their fan page’s post visibility.
This highlights that you shouldn’t post most when it’s convenient for you, but when your fans are most responsive.
How to Maximize the Most Engaging Days
If you want to figure out this data for your page, here are the steps:
1. Go to your Facebook page insights and click on likes.
2. Click on export data. Choose post level data, then select at least a two-month range so you have a good sample.
3. Save it and open it in Excel.
4. There’s not a quick way in Excel to group dates by day of week, but with a bit of manual work, you can find the average lifetime of engaged users per post, per day of the week.
The only shortcoming here is that the data is limited by how good and engaging your posts have been. It’s better to look at 10 to 20 brand pages per industry. You will have to manually look at hundreds of posts, or find a way to scrape that data. Then you can find the average likes and comments per post, per day of the week across an entire industry.
If one of your competitors is doing a much better job at getting likes and comments, you might want to follow their lead. It could be, in part, the days of the week they post, and also the type and quality of content.
Small Business Marketing Makeover Part 1: Improve Your Small Business Marketing
I'm also going to assume that you're unhappy with your small business marketing because it hasn’t been doing anything for your bottom line. After all, that's the bottom line for effective marketing. Effective marketing strategies are the ones that result in more sales and more profits.
This Small Business Marketing Makeover will show you how to avoid wasting time and money on ineffective marketing strategies and how to pick and implement effective marketing strategies instead. Follow these steps:
1) Look at your small business marketing from the right end of the telescope.
Too many small businesses get and stay hung up on the cost factor of marketing. The first question they ask about any marketing strategy is, "How much does that cost?"
This is entirely the wrong question. The right question is "Will that target the right market?", the market of potential customers for your products and/or services.
For instance, creating and distributing flyers is an inexpensive marketing strategy that small businesses often use – probably because it's so inexpensive. Now suppose that you run a small business selling ski equipment. You design a bunch of flyers on your home computer, print them, and then go down to your local Community Centre and put one of the windshield of every vehicle in the parking lot - the night of the big Annual Horticultural Society meeting. Unless a lot of little old ladies suddenly decide to take up snowboarding, you've just wasted most of your time and energy.
Sure, it was inexpensive marketing – but it's not effective marketing.
You need to switch your telescope around and look through it from the right end - the end that will keep you focused on customer-directed rather than cost-directed marketing.
2) Focus on your target market.
Dump the idea that everyone in interested in your products and/or services. They're not. The reality is that only people who feel they have a need for your products and/or services will be interested in them – and those are the people your marketing has to reach. They are your target market.
Step 1 of effective small business marketing is knowing who these people are.
So first, read How to Find and Sell to Your Target Market and learn how to zero in on your target market by using market segmentation.
Then work through Writing a Business Plan: The Market Analysis. This article, part of The Business Plan Outline series, directs you to write out your Market Analysis in paragraph form. You don't have to do that as you're not writing a business plan, but you do need to write down answers to the questions about your target market.
3) Find your target market.
Step 2 of effective small business marketing is focusing your efforts on your target market and no one else. To do this, you have to know how the people in your target market behave.
You already know a fair bit about these people from the Market Analysis you just completed. To help choose the most effective marketing strategies to reach these people, you need to know the answers to just two more questions:
How do the people in your target market access information?
For example, do they read newspapers and magazines, watch television, text, web surf, email? Each of these ways of accessing information demands different marketing strategies.
Where do the people in your target market hang out?
Mainly at home? Shopping malls? Gyms or fitness centres? Skateboard parks?
I find the easiest way to do this is to pretend my target market is an individual. Try it. Create an avatar, a fictional person that represents a person in your target market, and answer the two questions above as completely as you can.
4) Evaluate your current small business marketing efforts.
Now that you know exactly who your small business marketing efforts need to reach, you're ready to judge what you've been doing.
List all the marketing strategies you're currently using. By each, write how likely your target market avatar is to see and pay attention to your marketing message.
For example, suppose that my business involves selling lingerie. I've created an avatar named Julie, who is young (30), married, working, with one young child. (This is all statistical; stats say that a woman of that age would be all these things, generally.)
In terms of my questions, Julie does not read print newspapers at all; she gets most of her information off the Internet through her Blackberry, and spends a fair bit of time emailing and texting. She also has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Occasionally Julie picks up a glossy women's magazine when she's going through the grocery checkout.
Where does Julie hang out? Well, like everyone else, Julie does things such as taking her young daughterto preschool and out to the local park with a playground. Other than that, Julie is very physically active; she takes yoga classes, works out regularly at the gym, and she and her husband participate in a lot of different seasonal sports, such as biking, skiing and snowboarding. Julie's hobby is cooking; she doesn't have a lot of time for it but likes to try out gourmet recipes now and again.
I could go on but the point is that you want to make your avatar as complete as possible, because the fuller the mental image of your target market person you have, the easier it will be for you to figure out how to reach him or her.
This Small Business Marketing Makeover will show you how to avoid wasting time and money on ineffective marketing strategies and how to pick and implement effective marketing strategies instead. Follow these steps:
1) Look at your small business marketing from the right end of the telescope.
Too many small businesses get and stay hung up on the cost factor of marketing. The first question they ask about any marketing strategy is, "How much does that cost?"
This is entirely the wrong question. The right question is "Will that target the right market?", the market of potential customers for your products and/or services.
For instance, creating and distributing flyers is an inexpensive marketing strategy that small businesses often use – probably because it's so inexpensive. Now suppose that you run a small business selling ski equipment. You design a bunch of flyers on your home computer, print them, and then go down to your local Community Centre and put one of the windshield of every vehicle in the parking lot - the night of the big Annual Horticultural Society meeting. Unless a lot of little old ladies suddenly decide to take up snowboarding, you've just wasted most of your time and energy.
Sure, it was inexpensive marketing – but it's not effective marketing.
You need to switch your telescope around and look through it from the right end - the end that will keep you focused on customer-directed rather than cost-directed marketing.
2) Focus on your target market.
Dump the idea that everyone in interested in your products and/or services. They're not. The reality is that only people who feel they have a need for your products and/or services will be interested in them – and those are the people your marketing has to reach. They are your target market.
Step 1 of effective small business marketing is knowing who these people are.
So first, read How to Find and Sell to Your Target Market and learn how to zero in on your target market by using market segmentation.
Then work through Writing a Business Plan: The Market Analysis. This article, part of The Business Plan Outline series, directs you to write out your Market Analysis in paragraph form. You don't have to do that as you're not writing a business plan, but you do need to write down answers to the questions about your target market.
3) Find your target market.
Step 2 of effective small business marketing is focusing your efforts on your target market and no one else. To do this, you have to know how the people in your target market behave.
You already know a fair bit about these people from the Market Analysis you just completed. To help choose the most effective marketing strategies to reach these people, you need to know the answers to just two more questions:
How do the people in your target market access information?
For example, do they read newspapers and magazines, watch television, text, web surf, email? Each of these ways of accessing information demands different marketing strategies.
Where do the people in your target market hang out?
Mainly at home? Shopping malls? Gyms or fitness centres? Skateboard parks?
I find the easiest way to do this is to pretend my target market is an individual. Try it. Create an avatar, a fictional person that represents a person in your target market, and answer the two questions above as completely as you can.
4) Evaluate your current small business marketing efforts.
Now that you know exactly who your small business marketing efforts need to reach, you're ready to judge what you've been doing.
List all the marketing strategies you're currently using. By each, write how likely your target market avatar is to see and pay attention to your marketing message.
For example, suppose that my business involves selling lingerie. I've created an avatar named Julie, who is young (30), married, working, with one young child. (This is all statistical; stats say that a woman of that age would be all these things, generally.)
In terms of my questions, Julie does not read print newspapers at all; she gets most of her information off the Internet through her Blackberry, and spends a fair bit of time emailing and texting. She also has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Occasionally Julie picks up a glossy women's magazine when she's going through the grocery checkout.
Where does Julie hang out? Well, like everyone else, Julie does things such as taking her young daughterto preschool and out to the local park with a playground. Other than that, Julie is very physically active; she takes yoga classes, works out regularly at the gym, and she and her husband participate in a lot of different seasonal sports, such as biking, skiing and snowboarding. Julie's hobby is cooking; she doesn't have a lot of time for it but likes to try out gourmet recipes now and again.
I could go on but the point is that you want to make your avatar as complete as possible, because the fuller the mental image of your target market person you have, the easier it will be for you to figure out how to reach him or her.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Marketing Basics for the Small Business
The essence of marketing is to understand your customers' needs and develop a plan that surrounds those needs. Let's face it anyone that has a business has a desire to grow their business. The most effective way to grow and expand your business is by focusing on organic growth.
You can increase organic growth in four different ways. They include:
Acquiring more customers
Persuading each customer to buy more products
Persuading each customer to buy more expensive products or up selling each customer
Persuading each customer to buy more profitable products
All four of these increase your revenue and profit. Let me encourage you to focus on the first which is to acquire more customers. Why? Because by acquiring more customers you increase your customer base and your revenues then come from a larger base.
How can you use marketing to acquire more customers?
Spend time researching and create a strategic marketing plan.
Guide your product development to reach out to customers you aren't currently attracting.
Price your products and services competitively.
Develop your message and materials based on solution marketing.
The Importance of a Target Market in Small Business
When it comes to your customers keep in mind the importance of target marketing. The reason this is important is that only a proportion of the population is likely to purchase any products or service. By taking time pitch your sales and marketing efforts to the correct niche market you will be more productive and not waste your efforts or time.
It's important to consider your virtual segmentation by selecting particular verticals to present your offerings to. Those verticals will have the particular likelihood of purchasing your products and services. Again, this saves you from wasting valuable time and money.
Small Business Marketing and Large Business Marketing are Different
If you are like the majority of small business owners your marketing budget is limited. The most effective way to market a small business is to create a well rounded program that combines sales activities with your marketing tactics. Your sales activities will not only decrease your out-of-pocket marketing expense but it also adds the value of interacting with your prospective customers and clients. This interaction will provide you with research that is priceless.
Small businesses typically have a limited marketing budget if any at all. Does that mean you can't run with the big dogs? Absolutely not. It just means you have to think a little more creatively. How about launching your marketing campaign by doing one of the following:
Call your vendors or associates and ask them to participate with you in co-op advertising.
Take some time to send your existing customers' referrals and buying incentives.
Have you thought about introducing yourself to the media? Free publicity has the potential to boost your business. By doing this you position yourself as an expert in your field.
Invite people into your place of business by piggybacking onto an event. Is there a concert coming to town, are you willing to sell those tickets? It could mean free radio publicity. If that is not your cup of tea, how about a walkathon that is taking place in your area, why not be a public outreach and distribute their material?
When you do spend money on marketing, do not forget to create a way to track those marketing efforts. You can do this by coding your ads, using multiple toll-free telephone numbers, and asking prospects where they heard about you. This enables you to notice when a marketing tactic stops working. You can then quickly replace it with a better choice or method.
Getting Started with Small Business Marketing
By being diligent in your marketing and creating an easy strategy such as holding yourself accountable to contact ten customers or potential customers daily five days a week you will see your business grow at an exceptional rate. The great thing is it will not take a large marketing budget to make it happen.
You can increase organic growth in four different ways. They include:
Acquiring more customers
Persuading each customer to buy more products
Persuading each customer to buy more expensive products or up selling each customer
Persuading each customer to buy more profitable products
All four of these increase your revenue and profit. Let me encourage you to focus on the first which is to acquire more customers. Why? Because by acquiring more customers you increase your customer base and your revenues then come from a larger base.
How can you use marketing to acquire more customers?
Spend time researching and create a strategic marketing plan.
Guide your product development to reach out to customers you aren't currently attracting.
Price your products and services competitively.
Develop your message and materials based on solution marketing.
The Importance of a Target Market in Small Business
When it comes to your customers keep in mind the importance of target marketing. The reason this is important is that only a proportion of the population is likely to purchase any products or service. By taking time pitch your sales and marketing efforts to the correct niche market you will be more productive and not waste your efforts or time.
It's important to consider your virtual segmentation by selecting particular verticals to present your offerings to. Those verticals will have the particular likelihood of purchasing your products and services. Again, this saves you from wasting valuable time and money.
Small Business Marketing and Large Business Marketing are Different
If you are like the majority of small business owners your marketing budget is limited. The most effective way to market a small business is to create a well rounded program that combines sales activities with your marketing tactics. Your sales activities will not only decrease your out-of-pocket marketing expense but it also adds the value of interacting with your prospective customers and clients. This interaction will provide you with research that is priceless.
Small businesses typically have a limited marketing budget if any at all. Does that mean you can't run with the big dogs? Absolutely not. It just means you have to think a little more creatively. How about launching your marketing campaign by doing one of the following:
Call your vendors or associates and ask them to participate with you in co-op advertising.
Take some time to send your existing customers' referrals and buying incentives.
Have you thought about introducing yourself to the media? Free publicity has the potential to boost your business. By doing this you position yourself as an expert in your field.
Invite people into your place of business by piggybacking onto an event. Is there a concert coming to town, are you willing to sell those tickets? It could mean free radio publicity. If that is not your cup of tea, how about a walkathon that is taking place in your area, why not be a public outreach and distribute their material?
When you do spend money on marketing, do not forget to create a way to track those marketing efforts. You can do this by coding your ads, using multiple toll-free telephone numbers, and asking prospects where they heard about you. This enables you to notice when a marketing tactic stops working. You can then quickly replace it with a better choice or method.
Getting Started with Small Business Marketing
By being diligent in your marketing and creating an easy strategy such as holding yourself accountable to contact ten customers or potential customers daily five days a week you will see your business grow at an exceptional rate. The great thing is it will not take a large marketing budget to make it happen.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
The Top 10 Rookie Mistakes for Entrepreneurs
By JAY GOLTZ
THINKING ENTREPRENEUR
An owner’s dispatches from the front lines.
Many people who start businesses, including me, have little or no experience and just jump in. Over the years, I have compared notes with many fellow entrepreneurs, and I have seen them make the same mistakes over and over again — I recognize them because I have made them all, too. Here is my list of the biggest rookie mistakes:
1. Keeping your rent as low as possible. The key to business is to keep expenses low, right? Wrong. Sometimes it is worth paying more rent if it will generate more customers, if it gives a better image and inspires confidence, if it helps attract the right employees or if it makes it easier to deal with suppliers. In retail, this one mistake can determine success or failure.
2. Hiring someone you know and trust. Competence is more important. While hiring friends and relatives can work, it severely limits the pool from which you choose, leaving out people who could be much more qualified. Friends and relatives can also carry baggage. They can also be very hard to manage, which leads to my ultimate advice: if you can’t fire ‘em, don’t hire ‘em.
3. Buying used equipment to keep expenses down. This, too, works sometimes, but it is often shortsighted. For example, buying a used truck with 100,000 miles on it will guarantee that you will spend valuable time and money fixing the truck when it should be out taking care of customers. Can you really afford downtime with any machine?
4. Keeping your prices “reasonable.” How about picking a price that will allow you to make money? Many entrepreneurs underprice their products or services in an attempt to attract business. They either have no understanding of their costs, or they are too busy to think about them. At some point, they have to hire an employee, and that low price will leave no profit after the employee is paid. It may even cause a loss. This starts a very bad chain reaction of cash flow problems, profit problems and stress. Perhaps the biggest mistake is thinking that these problems can be solved by attracting more business.
5. Saving money on professional advice. There is nothing more expensive than a cheap lawyer or accountant. Good lawyers and accountants make good livings, just like anyone else who is good at a job. You don’t get what you don’t pay for — in this case professional, intelligent advice. And here is the worst part. Most lawyers and accountants are not qualified to be business consultants. For that matter, many business consultants are not qualified to be business consultants. Join a business group, talk to successful entrepreneurs, and get referrals from people who know what they are talking about. How do you know if they know what they are talking about? No one said this was going to be easy.
6. Considering borrowed money a last resort. Maybe it should be, but maybe not. Sometimes it is better to borrow money to do things right than to just do them wrong. Borrowing money is not necessarily stupid, irresponsible, or reckless. But it could be. Knowing the difference is, well, the difference.
7. Picking a bank that knows you and that you have a relationship with. Again, it can work. But it can also be naive. Some banks are known for lending to small businesses. Other banks are not. First, find a competent, experienced accountant. Then, ask him or her to assist you in finding a bank. Good accountants should know from their experiences with other clients which banks are in the game. Ask other entrepreneurs who they bank with. In Chicago, there are probably only 10 banks that are really interested in servicing small businesses (that means lending money). And here is the big tip. The people writing the ads for the banks are not the ones giving the loans. You might consider it false advertising. Yes, they do want your business account — they love the noninterest-bearing balances you deliver. But that doesn’t mean they want to lend you money. If you get in a bind, the difference between having the right bank and the wrong bank can be the difference between success and failure.
8. Thinking you have your advertising figured out. It is very important to know whether your advertising is working — and good luck with that! You certainly need to try to figure out whether your advertising is working, but this can be very difficult. Why? Because even if you are trying to track your results, it’s easy to get bad information: Your advertising may be reinforcing the behavior of existing customers. People may tell you they were just driving by when in reality they were influenced by your radio ad. Many times even your customers don’t know what got them in the door. My advice: Accept that it’s impossible to know everything you’d like to know, but don’t stop trying.
9. Treating your employees fairly. Well, yes, absolutely: do treat them fairly. But what is fair? Is it fair to fire someone after two months because you realize you made a hiring mistake? Or are you supposed to give it everything you’ve got, including four more painful months of hope and delusion, while your customers, your bank account, other employees and even the failing employee pay the price? I have probably hired close to 1,000 people over the last 34 years. I have never succeeded in saving, rehabilitating or dramatically changing the behavior of a bad hire. It might not be the employee’s fault; frequently it isn’t. It could just be the dreaded bad fit. It might even be the boss’s fault, but unless you are going to fire yourself, it is what it is. The rookie mistake is to let the situation go on too long. Often people who are not rookies — just bad managers — make the same mistake.
10. Falling blindly in love with your product or service. Fall in love, certainly. But a wonderful product or service won’t make up for bad decisions and deficiencies in marketing, management or finance. Being a successful entrepreneur means being a competent entrepreneur, in addition to being the best baker, computer programmer, picture framer, hairstylist or whatever it is you are.
I hope this list gives some new entrepreneurs a little insight, or even keeps some wanna-preneurs from getting in over their heads. And one more thing. In sports, you are a rookie for one year. In entrepreneurship, it can last many years. When you learn from your mistakes, you are no longer a rookie. Better yet, learn from someone else’s.
4 Dynamic Marketing tactics
Marketing strategy doesn't have to be complicated to be effective.
Some of the simplest marketing tactics often produce the most profitable results. Here are 4 examples that have proven highly effective for any business.
1. Focus on Your Best Prospects
Imagine how profitable your business would be if more of your new customers were like the best customers you have now. Here's how you can make that happen...
Take some time to analyze your current customers to determine what key traits they share - and why those traits make them ideal customers for you. Then revise your sales message to appeal specifically to them.
This will increase both the number of new sales you get and the profitability of each new customer.
2. Pile on the Benefits
Customers usually buy something to save time or to save money. Offer them an opportunity to do both and you will boost your sales. But offer them multiple opportunities to do both and you will cause your sales to soar dramatically.
For example, structure your sales message to stress both the time saving and money saving benefits of your product or service. Then include a discount price offer if they buy before a certain deadline (more money saved). Finally, figure out how you can deliver all or some of what they are buying immediately (more time saved).
Tip: If you cannot deliver all or part of your product immediately, add something to the purchase that you can deliver immediately. It can be as simple as a series of helpful tips related to your product posted on your web site ..but available only to new customers.
3. Make Buying Easy
Make it easy for potential customers to buy from you and more will buy. Look for ways you can make your buying process easier - and faster.
For example, design your selling procedure so prospects do not have to make unnecessary decisions. Every decision they have to make interrupts the buying process ...and diverts their attention away from completing the sale.
Tip: Don't ask for unnecessary information during the ordering process. Instead, follow up after the sale with a personalized "thank you" message - and include a brief request for the information.
4. Follow Up - Again and Again
Selling is not a one step process. Most people do not buy something the first time the see or hear about it. You can salvage many of these potential customers with an effective follow up system.
Your follow up can be as simple as contacting these prospects periodically with a new offer. Or, better yet, follow up periodically with some useful information ...and don't charge them for it. You'll build a supportive relationship that gains their trust - and eventually the sale.
Tip: Make sure you have a way to get the email addresses of visitors to your web site. You need it to follow up with them. For example, offer them a complimentary special report or other useful information ...delivered only by email.
Each of these 4 dynamic marketing tactics provides a simple way for you to boost your sales and profits quickly. They are simple to use, highly effective and require very little if any new expense.
Some of the simplest marketing tactics often produce the most profitable results. Here are 4 examples that have proven highly effective for any business.
1. Focus on Your Best Prospects
Imagine how profitable your business would be if more of your new customers were like the best customers you have now. Here's how you can make that happen...
Take some time to analyze your current customers to determine what key traits they share - and why those traits make them ideal customers for you. Then revise your sales message to appeal specifically to them.
This will increase both the number of new sales you get and the profitability of each new customer.
2. Pile on the Benefits
Customers usually buy something to save time or to save money. Offer them an opportunity to do both and you will boost your sales. But offer them multiple opportunities to do both and you will cause your sales to soar dramatically.
For example, structure your sales message to stress both the time saving and money saving benefits of your product or service. Then include a discount price offer if they buy before a certain deadline (more money saved). Finally, figure out how you can deliver all or some of what they are buying immediately (more time saved).
Tip: If you cannot deliver all or part of your product immediately, add something to the purchase that you can deliver immediately. It can be as simple as a series of helpful tips related to your product posted on your web site ..but available only to new customers.
3. Make Buying Easy
Make it easy for potential customers to buy from you and more will buy. Look for ways you can make your buying process easier - and faster.
For example, design your selling procedure so prospects do not have to make unnecessary decisions. Every decision they have to make interrupts the buying process ...and diverts their attention away from completing the sale.
Tip: Don't ask for unnecessary information during the ordering process. Instead, follow up after the sale with a personalized "thank you" message - and include a brief request for the information.
4. Follow Up - Again and Again
Selling is not a one step process. Most people do not buy something the first time the see or hear about it. You can salvage many of these potential customers with an effective follow up system.
Your follow up can be as simple as contacting these prospects periodically with a new offer. Or, better yet, follow up periodically with some useful information ...and don't charge them for it. You'll build a supportive relationship that gains their trust - and eventually the sale.
Tip: Make sure you have a way to get the email addresses of visitors to your web site. You need it to follow up with them. For example, offer them a complimentary special report or other useful information ...delivered only by email.
Each of these 4 dynamic marketing tactics provides a simple way for you to boost your sales and profits quickly. They are simple to use, highly effective and require very little if any new expense.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)