Here’s the hundred and first time you’ve heard it: it’s a tough market out there.
Small business owners are flooded with more priorities than they can handle, ranging from raising capital to streamlining processes to everything in between. Whether a function of not enough time in the day and/or limited know-how, marketing, advertising, and promotional tasks are quick to slip through the cracks. But they don’t have to.
Luckily, the following four promotional strategies require little time, know-how, or budget. What’s more, they are proven concepts that will help to increase your business’s recognition, pool of customers, and most importantly, your bottom line.…
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Q. I’ve seen you point out the question “Anything else?” as one of your “really good sales questions”. I see it as a close-ended question. Is “What else can I do?” as effective, or more or less effective?
Being a small fry in an ocean of much larger fish is certainly not anyone’s idea of fun. And when you’re a small company who’s not only worried about the competition but also trying your best to just stay afloat amidst the strong currents of the business world, you feel overwhelmed and find it hard to cope.
We hear story after story about organizations trying to reinvent themselves or wondering why they have lost market share or stakeholder support. Often times they are so close to the root challenge that they overlook it and try to advertise or promote their way out of slumping sales. A better approach: look deep to examine and refine your true brand essence and never loose sight of the essential emotional connection your brand must make to each guest, customer or stakeholder.
By now, the predictions for 2010 have faded into the background and, for many, so have those business and personal New Years resolutions and top 10 lists.
One of the biggest challenges facing small business owners is “How do I distinguish myself from my competitors?”
So you benchmark your company against others in your industry. Maybe you look at maximizing revenue per full-time employee, increasing first call resolution in your contact center or IT expense as a percent of revenue. How do you compare to your competitors? Is that the right comparison?
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching, and whether you personally view it as the most romantic day of the year, filled with love and hope, or an annual ordeal splashed with tacky red and pink décor, there’s no question it can have a positive effect on many small businesses.
Maybe you’re working the tradeshow at the industry’s big annual convention for the next four days. Perhaps it’s a long-planned romantic vacation to an exotic resort in the Caribbean. Or maybe you’re just calling it a night and are heading home for the evening. No matter what your situation, there’s likely to be a time when you aren’t at the office, but you need to access something that’s on your office computer.
