Turn the competition into allies

All businesses in a local community have the same target audience to reach so why not split the expenses of advertising and promoting with your neighbors? Think about promotion methods that can involve all local businesses and get the entire local community to come out and support your businesses. For instance, a sidewalk sale can involve all the businesses on the block and get the community excited and interested in seeing what your business has to offer. Businesses can even get together to sponsor prizes, raise money for local charities and distribute flyers at each businesses location. Companies can also share mailing lists and information on suppliers.

You can take the idea even further by referring customers to a neighboring business for a complimentary service. For example a web design company can recommend a neighboring copywriting business to their customers.

Networking

When dealing with a shoestring budget, take advantage of the power in the contact lists you have built up over the years. All the previous individuals you worked with, your family and close friends can all be asked to refer your business products or services to individuals they know. Don’t forget about the power of social networking either. Use social networking sites to connect with old college roommates, individuals you met at seminars or workshops and others in similar fields. Share your business contact information and allow these individuals to provide referrals to individuals they know. To encourage participation you could even offer a small referral fee for every new customer you get.

To maximize the number of contacts you reach and expand your business use multiple sites, besides the big name companies, you may want to look for niche social networking sites that correspond to your industry.

Newsletter

Besides social networking, look into other online strategies that have a very low overhead fee. For instance, a newsletter can be a great way of keeping in contact with previous customers and keeping them interested in your business. Online press releases can be written by you and distributed to get news coverage. A small business website and blog is also a great idea with a very low startup cost; both can be used to promote new products, expand your customer base outside of your local area and keep your brand relevant. You can even take advantage of free software products available to create podcasts and videos to promote your business for free.

Word of Mouth

Of course, no form of advertising beats free advertising. By providing a great product or service and treating each customer with respect and offering great service you will keep them coming back for more and spreading news of your business to their regular contacts.

The  Cost of Strategy

The cost of marketing around a particular season is bound to be expensive. In addition, it denies you the chance to promote your products or services with the same intensity during the rest of the year, thus missing out on business.  The best way to carry out effective marketing is by having a marketing strategy that runs all year round.  This way, you can outline the different strategies you intend to carry out during each quarter of the year.

What’s Time Got to do with It

I’ve been asked countless times how much time to dedicate to marketing.  You need to dedicate up to 40 percent of your working time to marketing. If you think this is too much time, remember that your competitors are doing it and reaping the benefits.

When engaging in a new marketing initiative, spend the least amount of money possible and increase this amount only after you have proof that the method is working. In the same way, increase the budget and time you spend on a marketing method that you have found to have a positive impact.

Keep in Touch

Most business people will stop marketing when they get busy, only to begin again when they have less workload. Unfortunately, this inconsistency does not put you in good light with the customers. Customers appreciate businesses that acknowledge them more, who keep in touch even when they are not selling products or services. Find a way to communicate with your existing clientele. An effective way of doing this is by sending monthly newsletters. You can compile all the relevant information concerning your products or services, any new products and any offers you are giving, in short, catchy pieces.

Give Value

Do not concentrate on what you are selling only. Give tips, advice and suggestions about products your customers will find useful. Aim to have your customers view you as reliable partner and someone they can turn to when they need help. Leave the communication lines open by providing an email address and a phone number through which they can contact you. If you have a website, provide a link to the site.

Be Different (Gee, never heard me say that before have you?)

If you have something that is too good to wait for introduction in the monthly letter, send a quick promotional page to all your clients. Make sure you explain the new product and the urgency of the offer. Point out how the client will benefit from what you are offering and sound confident. If you can afford to give a trial period, then do so. Many companies only wait for holidays or end of year sales to give discounts. Be different. Give offers and discounts at a time when few or no businesses are doing it. You will be amazed at how much this can achieve.

Word will get around

Take the shortest time possible to get back to clients, even when the inquiries will not result in a sale. This way, they will not think that you are only after their money. If your customer service is effective, you can be sure that the word will get around. Your clients will tell their friends and colleagues and these could translate to new customers.

Be recognized

Do not underestimate the power of business cards and a logo. Have business cards with you all the time to supplying your offline contacts. Include your business logo and address in all correspondence you undertake, whether it is posting articles on web directories, social sites or exchanging emails with potential and existing clients.

Be seen

Consult local media to have an article on your service and products featured in popular magazines and dailies, both online and offline. The mere fact that you made it in the papers will propel you to a completely new level of business. Just make sure that you can deliver what you promise so as not to disappoint interested clients.

Stick to it

Do not spend too much time and effort on a method that is not working in the hope that someday it will. Find what works and stick to it. All through the year, monitor what your competitors are doing. This will help you gauge how good your efforts are and give you ideas that you could use.

Although your business may be great and sell the products people need, your employees are the heart of your business. They are the one’s who bring the customers in and keep them wanting to come back. It’s easy to realize, all you have to do is put yourself in their shoes. Imagine having two of the same retail department stores in your town. One of them has the most concerned employees, always wanting to lend a hand and point you directly to where you want to go each time you enter the store. The other has employees who don’t bother to greet you, ask you how you’re doing, or even help you with what you’re looking for.

Which store are you likely to return to? Probably the one that makes you feel invited and comfortable, right? It’s important to hang around and inspect how your employees are doing. If they don’t handle situations properly or seem too uptight, unconcerned, and careless on the job, they’re heart probably isn’t into it. Since good customer service is so important to the success of your business, it may help if you encourage your employees to put forth their best efforts in return for an extra incentive or monthly gift. You might even want to consider having an employee-of-the-month contest and provide bonuses to those who have went the extra mile for your company.

It’s easy for employees to slack off on the job, and when it becomes a habit, it may be best to consider hiring someone who is more into their job. Another great idea is to have weekly or bi-weekly company meetings to remind employees how important it is to provide great customer service, as well as what’s in it for them.

Consider investing in an online customer assistance program that allows your employees to reach out to customers who may be interested in shopping online. Another effective way to create true-blue customers is to allow your employees to handle problems in the best way they see fit. What you want to steer away from is seeming too strict on your employees, causing them to become timid and afraid of losing their jobs.

By allowing them a bit more freedom in terms of handling on-the-job issues, they’ll think more freely and come up with better ways to handle any situations that arise. It also provides them with an extra sense of pride and responsibility, and will ultimately cause them to enjoy their job more than if they felt they were always being watched like a hawk. If you can find the right employees, or at least train your employees to take more pride in their work, then you can create a successful business that revolves around customer satisfaction

Give Them What They Want

Companies that do not invest in customer loyalty programs can sometimes have a difficult time maintaining customers over extended periods. There are plenty of reasons why customers choose to make a switch or shop with someone else, but the main one is what you can do for them. When someone feels like they are getting a deal, they automatically become satisfied. It’s often been suggested that finding deals creates a sense of euphoria in people who like to shop, which is addicting, and ultimately, keeps them coming back for more.

And Keep it Going

One thing to be careful of when investing in customer loyalty programs is to make sure you select one that offers the deals upon enrollment. Knowing right upfront that they’re going to be getting something will make them more likely to sign up. Another key factor to keep in mind is to not stop offering deals at enrollment, continue to provide extras as to keep your customers interested and appreciative of your company.

Make an Investment

State that the reason why you offer these rewards is because you value your customers. People who shop with a company and who also feel valued are more likely to stick with the company than someone who otherwise shops and receives nothing in return. Be careful not to invest too much money into your customer loyalty program, as you do not want the money you invest to outdo the profits you earn.

You should also not be afraid to make an investment in customer loyalty programs because they ultimately create more profit than loss. Make sure that you let your customers know what to expect and stay true to your word. A lot of times, customers will quit shopping with your company when they feel they’ve been seemingly scammed or taken advantage of.

A Little Extra

Offering rewards is one of the easiest ways to draw in new customers. Think about it. If you’re out shopping for a new purse and you see one you really like that’s very expensive, and one you like somewhat that is reasonably priced, but also throws in an additional wallet and hat, which one are you likely to purchase? Probably the one that tosses in that little extra because the feeling of getting a deal is not comparable to any other.

For best results, monitor the success of the program you choose. If it isn’t working, do away with it and make changes until you find something that both you and your customers are satisfied with. When you find a loyalty plan that works, you’ll notice a drastic increase in profits, as well as an increase in the amount of customers you attract.

Companies around the world are starting to realize the value of outsourcing the tasks that they don’t require done every day. Keeping in-house help for many types of work is simply not cost-effective for them. Even paying a competitive wage for the work that you outsource is saving a vast amount of money on the overall cost of the project or service.

Many companies don’t require programming of various types done on a day-to-day basis. This makes it less than effective to keep this kind of worker in-house and pay for office space, salaries, and also benefits.

The best method to get these positions filled and to accomplish the tasks on a regular basis then, is outsourcing the tasks to individuals with proven track records for their work.

Outsourcing can be done using established companies such as online virtual assistance sites, or using sites which offer temp services such as Freelancer and Elance.

Among the best reasons for outsourcing are to allow growth of your company, to be better able to make viable project cost assessments, and to save a great deal for your small to mid-sized business.

Among the many tasks that you might elect to outsource are:

• Programming – PHP, HTML, HTML5, and other items that your company does not require on a daily basis. It is literally priceless to be able to use these services from competent professionals and not have to keep them on staff and pay regular hourly rates. Most programmers of this type will work on a per-job basis. This means that you will not only have the ability to pay far less for the work, but you will also be afforded the means to make excellent cost assessments and project planning assessments.
• Technical Documentation or Writing-well written website content or documentation of your product or service is literally priceless. While many companies do have in-house writers, most smaller or mid-size companies cannot afford the costs incurred to have a writer on staff. For technical documentation of software or hardware, having a competent and experienced writer to accomplish the task is both necessary and invaluable.
• Graphic Design-Every company will at some point need a graphic designer for logo or header design or to implement a new website for a product or service. Graphic design may be something that you need every day or perhaps only once or twice a month. In either case, multiple graphic design firms exist who will offer you the kinds of services that you require for a price that fits your budget. Keeping an on staff designer isn’t within our means in many cases and in others, it’s simply not cost-effective to do so. Outsourcing graphic design is one of the most common ways that companies get the job done for a reasonable price.

So how can someone with time management issues get things back on track? Several steps need to be taken in order to reverse the negative issues draining your ability to effectively manage your time on the job. The first step you need to do is start itemizing your work hours. That means you may have to sit down and start keeping track of where your work day is being spent. One of the best ways to do this would be to keep a log. Whether you write it down in a notebook or opt to keep track of it on a laptop, the key here is that you do keep track of it. From this, you will be able to ascertain where your time went because you will be properly noting all your time expenditures along with the activities that you performed.

How much time do you need to properly evaluate your time expenditures? Well, one day is not going to be enough. One week may not be enough, either. You might have to keep a log over a several week period. Now, that does not mean you will wait until 8 weeks go by before evaluating your log. You would review the log nightly and start making corrections and modifications as needed. This would turn your time management correction process into a process that seeks slow and impactful improvements instituted bit by bit. In other words, you would build upon your successes to attain the desired outcome and result.

There are various items on the log you need to examine. Obviously, all the tasks that you have performed will need to be looked at and evaluated. Have there been any tasks that you could eliminate? If so, get rid of them! Anything that you are doing that does not effectively boost productivity needs to be eliminated.

For those tasks that you do need to complete, start logging them on a prioritization chart. You could list the work that must be done immediately and the work that could be put off to a later date. You could also chart work that needs to be done by you and that work which could be delegated to others. This will add a sense of coherency to your work schedule that can allow for far greater time management.

Once again, it is doubtful any of this can be achieved overnight. In time, however, you will be amazed at how effective your time management skills will improve. You also may prove shocked at how much in the day you get back as well as how productive you become.

Is franchising a good idea?

That depends; it certainly can be, and it’s especially a good idea if you need to control the delivery and presentation of your service, and you want significant control over what operators of independent businesses in the franchise do. Then, it’s usually a good idea. The franchisee purchases the franchise from you, so this gives you one way to profit, but you still have significant say on how the product or service is sold. Therefore, you don’t have to worry as much about having your reputation sullied by unscrupulous franchisees.

Can it be duplicated?

One example may be that if you’ve got a business that’s local but it could be successful “anywhere,” a franchise may be the way to go. Many companies such as Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and Subway have done this, and have ensured the financial success of their owners. If your business is a model that could be turned in to a franchise, you may want to consider it. Be aware that if you do decide you want to franchise, you’ll have to meet the laws of your state and mandates as set forth by the Federal Trade Commission to do so. When you franchise, people who become franchisees must pay for the right to participate in your program, use a licensed trademark, and agree to follow a “blueprint” or “marketing plan” specific to the business such that you, the owner, exercise significant control over what the franchisee does with his or her business operation.

License vs Franchise

Licensing your business opportunity simply means that you grant rights to someone to sell your product or service, but without the same significant structural parameters generally involved in a franchise. Giving someone a license to sell or distribute your product or service will usually mean that you do not exert the same control over that person as you would if he or she agreed to become a franchisee. However, be aware that if you do choose to license rather than franchise, this does not excuse you from needing to meet franchise laws if in fact what you’re doing falls under the definition of a franchise. Therefore, be careful that you don’t license when in fact you should be franchising.

Share more than just the wealth

Whether you license or franchise, though, this can be a great way to grow your business without having to come up with all of your capital for growth yourself, and without having to hire all of the employees, contract for extra warehouse space, find new office space, etc. If you want to expand, licensing or franchising may be a better bet. That way, you have existing structures in place to help you expand with corporate help, so that someone in addition to you is shouldering the burden and risk that comes with expansion.

Top management is important for several reasons. The first one is somewhat obvious, but you may not realize just how important it is until you begin to work for yourself. That is, managing your own time can be much more difficult if you work for yourself versus working for an employer.

Here’s why. You see, when you work at a regular full-time job, chances are, your boss or employer has a specific set of tasks for you to do; or, perhaps, these are written into your job description so that you simply know what your job duties are and complete them. You come in in the morning, sit down and look at your to-do list, and go through your tasks one at a time until you complete them. Although there may be interruptions, you know that you are there to work, and that you will likely leave to go home at a certain time.

It’s different when you work for yourself. Because there isn’t a set “structure” or schedule to follow, you have to set it up yourself. That may take some doing, as you figure out how to manage your time. And that takes some experience as you figure out how long something takes you to do and what you have to do to complete the tasks ahead of you.

So when you begin on a particular project, walk yourself through what you’re going to have to do to complete it. What equipment are you going to have to gather up? What materials and resources are you going to have to organize? Are there other people you’re going to have to involve, in order to get this done?

Sit down and think through what you have to do, step-by-step. Assign a loose time allotment to each task within your larger “project” as you figure out what you’ll need to do to complete it. What tasks within this project will need a lot of attention? Which tasks can be put off or even eliminated? Which tasks could be assigned to someone else? What other shortcuts can you come up with in order to make yourself your most efficient?

Learning how to manage your time in this way will make you much more productive. This is also something you’re going to get better at as you go, so that experience itself will teach you a lot about time management.

Managing your time properly is also going to make you more profitable. You will need to be able to get projects done in the time allotted for a particular client so that you’re seen as reliable. It’s also important to have a good time management and to know how long a particular project is going to take so that you can bill properly and therefore make enough money to support yourself. Consistently underestimating how much time something is going to take you only hurts you in the long run, because it will mean you’re not going to get paid enough for the job in question. It’s also a very stressful way to live your life, since you are likely always rushing to beat deadlines for jobs that you don’t get paid enough for anyway. That can leave you resentful and broke.

Learn how to manage your time properly so that you can in turn manage your business properly. By properly allotting time to various projects, you’ll give yourself enough time to complete them and will be able to bill properly for them as well. In addition, you can set aside time to have a personal life, something many entrepreneurs find in short supply.

In short, time management is a skill that is central to the success of your business, and your life. It’s a skill you can’t do without.

The first steps on learning to speak in public are overcoming the fear of standing in front of a large crowd. Most people are intimated the first time they get up to speak in front of an audience, but that doesn’t mean the anxiety is necessary. Often times, the nervousness and worry are created because we let ourselves think negatively about the upcoming speech or presentation. What we must do is focus on delivering the message in a positive manner. Thoroughly preparing for the speaking will allow you to feel confident in your actions.

Practice your public speaking by accepting free chances to use your skills. Local clubs and organizations frequently look for special guests for their meetings. Offering to speak in front of these people will not only allow you to expose the audience to your company, but will provide you with experience in public speaking. The art of speaking in public is similar to playing a sport or a musical instrument, in which practice makes perfect.

Find out as much information as you can about who will be attending the event in which you are speaking. In some cases, you will want to tailor your message to the people you are speaking to. For example, if you will be speaking at a event full of corporate business people, you will want to have a formal presentation that effectively offers the audience the information you have accumulated. If the event is a more laidback, social opportunity featuring people within the community, you pay prefer a more casual approach when speaking to the crowd.

It is important to realize that public speaking is a skill that most businesses seek when hiring executives for their company. The need to positively represent the company is obvious, and doing so in verbal communication will allow a stronger connection to the company. Advertisements and billboards can only do so much in drawing in clients. There is also the need to share the benefits of the company with others through speaking engagements. Leaning to speak in public is not difficult, and it will be a valuable asset if you find yourself looking for a high level corporate job.