Because it’s Good Business! Blogging is the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself and Business blogs are sweeping the business community. Blogs are an excellent method to share a company's expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers.
There are a number of internet service providers that offer blog applications that can be linked to your web site. www.Blogger.com and www.WordPress.com are two that offer free blog applications. Start your blog by educating visitors on what your business offers and linking to those products where customers can purchase them. Links are an important component in search engine optimization. Include them where they make sense.
Start dialogs on topics that matter to your target market and be sure to keep up. Don’t ignore your readers.
One of the key factors to remember is that the content on your blog should be such that anyone could read it and not be shocked or offended. The internet is vast and links can be established showing your content on countless other web sites. With that note of caution spend some time thinking about your content and no silly pictures or comments that might be misinterpreted.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
How to Market while Pinching Pennies
When looking for places to cut your expenses don't make the mistake of cutting out your marketing budget. It is well documented that companies that maintain their marketing through a recession will gain market share from their competitors.
Instead of cutting think about how you are spending those marketing dollars. So here are a few things you need to be doing in 2009 to not only keep your business afloat, but keep it growing.
1. Social Media
Facebook & Twitter are an easy and free use of social media. Set up a personal Facebook page and then link it to your business page. Post to "what are you doing now" as well as your "share a link" section.
While you're at it, join some groups on Facebook that might lend themselves to your content. If the group allows for anyone to post, then post your link there as well. You can create ads that link to your business web site or your Facebook business page.
On Twitter, just "tweet" that you finished your email marketing campaign. Include the subject line and the link where it's hosted on a web page. Remember you only have 140 characters on Twitter so keep it as short as possible.
Linked In and Plaxo are also good B2B sites that are only to promote business.
2. Research the customer
You need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today’s can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Survey Your Customers. By using surveys you can find out instantly what you're customers think about your business. It's a good idea to keep in touch with your customers to make sure you're delivering the best products or services you possibly can. There are several on line survey tools that are free or if you don't have email addresses then you will need to do either a short survey at point of sale or send a paper survey to your customers.
3. If your target is the consumer market focus on family values
When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure and rugged individualism. Zany humor and appeals on the basis of fear are out. Greeting card sales, telephone use and discretionary spending on home furnishings and home entertainment will hold up well, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home but also stay connected with family and friends.
Instead of cutting think about how you are spending those marketing dollars. So here are a few things you need to be doing in 2009 to not only keep your business afloat, but keep it growing.
1. Social Media
Facebook & Twitter are an easy and free use of social media. Set up a personal Facebook page and then link it to your business page. Post to "what are you doing now" as well as your "share a link" section.
While you're at it, join some groups on Facebook that might lend themselves to your content. If the group allows for anyone to post, then post your link there as well. You can create ads that link to your business web site or your Facebook business page.
On Twitter, just "tweet" that you finished your email marketing campaign. Include the subject line and the link where it's hosted on a web page. Remember you only have 140 characters on Twitter so keep it as short as possible.
Linked In and Plaxo are also good B2B sites that are only to promote business.
2. Research the customer
You need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today’s can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Survey Your Customers. By using surveys you can find out instantly what you're customers think about your business. It's a good idea to keep in touch with your customers to make sure you're delivering the best products or services you possibly can. There are several on line survey tools that are free or if you don't have email addresses then you will need to do either a short survey at point of sale or send a paper survey to your customers.
3. If your target is the consumer market focus on family values
When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure and rugged individualism. Zany humor and appeals on the basis of fear are out. Greeting card sales, telephone use and discretionary spending on home furnishings and home entertainment will hold up well, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home but also stay connected with family and friends.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Do You Consider "PLAN" a Four Letter Word?
Many business people avoid strategic planning even though they believe that strategy is probably a good thing. Do you consider “Plan” one of those 4 letter words.
So why do we need a strategic plan - to out think and outlast the competition.
The first step in the process has to be Vision.
Vision without action is a daydream, but action without vision is a nightmare.
In order to plan effectively you have to know where you're going. I believe that a five to ten year vision is necessary to plan effectively for the current year. What does the business look like in ten years? What revenue and profit will the company achieve? How many employees will you have? What role will your company play in your community and what will your day to day activities look like?
That doesn’t mean you need detailed plans for the next ten years. It means you have ten year goals and a very detailed plan for the next 12 months taking you closer to those ten year goals.
TAKE ACTION to think about your vision and your strategic plan to achieve that vision. If you have a written plan and it is gathering dust in the desk drawer or on the shelf, dust it off and revise it. Remember a strategy does not work when it is not executed.
You can start this process by taking a FREE Business Health Check online by clicking here Business Health Check.
So why do we need a strategic plan - to out think and outlast the competition.
The first step in the process has to be Vision.
Vision without action is a daydream, but action without vision is a nightmare.
In order to plan effectively you have to know where you're going. I believe that a five to ten year vision is necessary to plan effectively for the current year. What does the business look like in ten years? What revenue and profit will the company achieve? How many employees will you have? What role will your company play in your community and what will your day to day activities look like?
That doesn’t mean you need detailed plans for the next ten years. It means you have ten year goals and a very detailed plan for the next 12 months taking you closer to those ten year goals.
TAKE ACTION to think about your vision and your strategic plan to achieve that vision. If you have a written plan and it is gathering dust in the desk drawer or on the shelf, dust it off and revise it. Remember a strategy does not work when it is not executed.
You can start this process by taking a FREE Business Health Check online by clicking here Business Health Check.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Let's Start a Dialog
We want to know what challenges business owners are facing in todays business enviornment. We promise to answer questions and create the opportunity for owners to share real life business challenges and achievements. Let us hear from you!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Now is the time to work on your Unique Selling Proposition!
As we look for our economy to improve it is vital to position your business as the vendor to buy from. A lot of marketing experts make a big deal about being unique. They rave on and on about ‘finding out what sets you apart’. They call it a USP, or a Unique Selling Proposition – the one thing that you do and your competitors don’t offer.
So is it really as important as they say?
In a word – YES!!!
Nothing can emphasize enough how important it is to be different. Especially in this economy you need to understand that people have to decide between you and your competition. They have to discern the differences between you and other suppliers, before they can choose who to buy from. If you don’t have a point of difference, there’s no reason for anyone to buy from you, unless you discount. You end up in a price war, with nothing to fall back on. It sounds like a recipe for going broke.
So what does a purple cow have to do with all of this? If you are riding down a country road with cow pastures all around, what do you see? Herds of cows. Brown cows, black cows, white cows and any number of mixtures of those colors. Do you ever look at an individual cow? But then standing in the field your eye captures a purple cow and you not only look, you might stop to look some more because it is "remarkable".
In Seth Godin's book “Purple Cow, Transform your business by being Remarkable”, he highlights the challenges today’s marketers face in getting the attention of the buyer. The old strategy of massive advertising just doesn't work the way it has in the past. There is too much noise out there. So how do you reach the buyer, you have to be remarkable, the purple cow. Find out what your target market wants. What will improve the buying experience for them? Position your product or service to meet that need and viola; you have a powerful unique selling proposition.
Push your USP now so that when your target market is ready to buy, your business is the first place they come to buy.
So is it really as important as they say?
In a word – YES!!!
Nothing can emphasize enough how important it is to be different. Especially in this economy you need to understand that people have to decide between you and your competition. They have to discern the differences between you and other suppliers, before they can choose who to buy from. If you don’t have a point of difference, there’s no reason for anyone to buy from you, unless you discount. You end up in a price war, with nothing to fall back on. It sounds like a recipe for going broke.
So what does a purple cow have to do with all of this? If you are riding down a country road with cow pastures all around, what do you see? Herds of cows. Brown cows, black cows, white cows and any number of mixtures of those colors. Do you ever look at an individual cow? But then standing in the field your eye captures a purple cow and you not only look, you might stop to look some more because it is "remarkable".
In Seth Godin's book “Purple Cow, Transform your business by being Remarkable”, he highlights the challenges today’s marketers face in getting the attention of the buyer. The old strategy of massive advertising just doesn't work the way it has in the past. There is too much noise out there. So how do you reach the buyer, you have to be remarkable, the purple cow. Find out what your target market wants. What will improve the buying experience for them? Position your product or service to meet that need and viola; you have a powerful unique selling proposition.
Push your USP now so that when your target market is ready to buy, your business is the first place they come to buy.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Tough Times for Small Businesses
Welcome to the Growth Mindset Blog. Joy and I will be sharing our ideas and observations through this blog. Join us as we chart a path through this difficult economy.
I was recently at a repair shop where a number of small business owners were gathered at the table. They were all discussing the wild week of ups and downs - mostly downs in this economy and how they were all holding their breathe each week when it came time to make payroll. Each buisnesses had seen things slow down, people were putting off any unnecessary items to see what will happen.
Worrying about what to do is one way of handling the situation. Another is what my southern american friends do - they get the recession plan out of the drawer and get busy implementing whatever they have been saving for these times. This plan may involve layoffs, controlling spending, differing purchases, managing their line of credit, carefully staying in touch with receivables for timely collections and cashflow and a hundred other ideas.
I have been working with many businesses on their plans to manage in this difficult economy. On strategy that seems to be emerging is to create strategic partnerships and alliances. Sometimes going it alone is not the answer and new partnerships or alliances can open up new services for the same customers or provide access to new customers for your business. I always think of code share and the airlines - it is what they did to create demand, reduce costs and change the way they operate.
So what is your plan in the drawer? Do you have a three year plan to manage in a down economy? What can you do to control costs, manage debts and hold onto your customers and sales volume.
I was recently at a repair shop where a number of small business owners were gathered at the table. They were all discussing the wild week of ups and downs - mostly downs in this economy and how they were all holding their breathe each week when it came time to make payroll. Each buisnesses had seen things slow down, people were putting off any unnecessary items to see what will happen.
Worrying about what to do is one way of handling the situation. Another is what my southern american friends do - they get the recession plan out of the drawer and get busy implementing whatever they have been saving for these times. This plan may involve layoffs, controlling spending, differing purchases, managing their line of credit, carefully staying in touch with receivables for timely collections and cashflow and a hundred other ideas.
I have been working with many businesses on their plans to manage in this difficult economy. On strategy that seems to be emerging is to create strategic partnerships and alliances. Sometimes going it alone is not the answer and new partnerships or alliances can open up new services for the same customers or provide access to new customers for your business. I always think of code share and the airlines - it is what they did to create demand, reduce costs and change the way they operate.
So what is your plan in the drawer? Do you have a three year plan to manage in a down economy? What can you do to control costs, manage debts and hold onto your customers and sales volume.
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