by Steve on July 24, 2010
Marketing is a science. Yes there is some nuanced art in it, but it is a science with measurable results nonetheless. Are you using good common sense and researching what has worked for you in the past so you can duplicate those results in the future?
What do I mean? Here are some examples:
Do you advertise store promotions by email? Have you tracked which of these email promotions actually get opened and then clicked-through for details? Have you checked to see if those products actually sold during that promo period?
Do you have an e-commerce site? Have you watched traffic spike in certain months and then gone back to try to determine the “why” so you can do that again? Why not?
Did you have an unusual number of service requests after a particular mailing or advertisement? Did you even pay attention?
Did you run a Google Ad Word campaign in just one way, or did you try rewording the heading a few times and resubmitting? Did you track results?
Much of your marketing efforts are wasted wheel-reinvention. You have answers but you haven’t asked the questions at all. Because of this you are throwing marketing money away. Sometimes results are based on things you can’t re-create (like weather), but usually they are the result of something you can try again in the future.
Keep detailed records of your sales campaigns, your email promotions, your discounts, your advertising. Note those that were successful and any special circumstances that may have impacted them, and set up a calendar reminder to run the same or similar promo again in the future. Be careful though. Too much repetition and your customers will stop responding.
When it comes to small business marketing, you really cannot track too much. In the end it saves you time, though, because you are not reinventing your marketing wheel!
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by Steve on July 22, 2010
I’ve relayed a lot of information to you about small business issues: marketing, branding, legalities, human resources and management. I think it is time for a summary of the key components you should really be sure you are aware of and practicing. You should be building a business and not a job and your business should support your personal dreams. Here are ten things every small business owner should know and act on:
1. What your USP is and why it’s important. If you don’t know what makes your business unique in some way and why customers should come to you and not your competitor, than how should they? Nail this down.
2. That you must have aptitude in addition to passion. Passion is important but if you are out of your league in terms of skills, your business may be sunk. Make sure new endeavors do not involve a huge learning curve. Passion, aptitude and USP are the ways to success!
3. That marketing no longer goes one way-it must be relational. Billboards, yellow page and newspaper ads are one way marketing. People demand more these days. Blogs, websites, video, podcasts, social media, in-person networking and exemplary customer service are the way your potential customers want to be approached.
4. How to use a video camera and why it’s important. Smartphones and tablet computers like the iPad are changing our world. Are you going to keep up or are you going to be left behind? Grab a video camera and tell a story. Get your nearest teenager to help with editing if necessary. But take this important next step.
5. How to incorporate time off to stay innovative. The first few years of starting and operating your new business were probably grueling and you may have set bad personal habits during that time. You must incorporate healthy habits including adequate sleep and time off to continue to innovate and thrive.
6. What truly motivates employees. It is the rare employee in a rare position who is motivated by just money and/or discipline. Do you know how to motivate your team?
7. What are your calls to action? If a viewer of your website or printed material is not encouraged to DO something, they leave. End of story. Is there a newsletter sign up, a video to watch, something to encourage comments or a special promotion. Do you even know what a “call to action” is? Time to brush up on this!
8. How to measure and compare marketing efforts and why it is important. You have to have a system of measuring so you know if you are wasting your marketing dollars on a particular campaign or method. Don’t run one, run several and always measure their success or failure. Be prepared to try something different as needed.
9. Who should be on your personal success team. Your team should include a top-notch mentor or coach, a qualified CPA and attorney you trust. Additionally, you should have a strong relationship with your banker.
10. What customers want. They want to be noticed, cared for and have one or all of their problems solved. That is really it in a nutshell. In what ways could you do this better? Always be looking for the answer to that and you will always be ahead of your competitors.
by Steve on July 16, 2010
Bloggers, both professional and personal, have a large variety of choices for blogging platforms. Many of these are free. However, I prefer the downloaded/hosted version of WordPress for a variety of reasons, the biggest being how it excels in search engine optimization.
If you are new to business blogging, you may consult with professionals who will encourage you to have a separate blog platform developed just for your business or to go with an expensive small business blogging platform company. Don’t! WordPress not only has great customization features, it can also function as a website and once installed, it is easy for the average user to update the basics. No more paying $100/hr or more to change a date of an event on your website!
WordPress.org is different from WordPress.com (the second is free and does not require web-hosting, BUT also has few customization capabilities). If you have NO technical ability, do not try to build or install a WP blog yourself. However, you can have someone design and build one for you for less than $1000. Sure, you can get a website built for that, BUT you will have trouble making updates. This is where this software really shines for the unskilled owner. With a few training tips, you can add blog posts, images and video with ease.
Unlike most blogging platforms, WordPress has pages like a website. You can add an About Us page, an Events page, a featured products page or whatever fits with your business and YOU can do this and make the changes as needed.
WordPress is the software, but there are themes which are user-tools and designs to improve its functionality. I use Thesis and I know people who happily use Frugal. Both are good paid choices. There are tons of free choices as well. If you decide to build your own, I recommend these. If not, encourage your designer/developer to use one of them because the dashboard is understandable and, if you are interested in learning, you can make design changes yourself.
Business blogging and having a website are important components of the online aspect of your small business. WordPress can function as both and is easy to learn and affordable. If you have a WPsite, let us know in the comments section below.
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Build a business, not a job – check out my website to see how!