Information is power. You and I both know that, but you may not realize just how powerful information can be or how it can be used. Think of the marketing power behind what you know. The children's shoe shop that collects the names and birthdays of its small customers can use that data to send out personalized postcards with a birthday coupon. Flower shops can keep track of anniversaries. Vets can send out updates about shots.
Your database represents a goldmine of information for all your marketing plans...but many small businesses are awful at maintaining a great database. Are you? Is your goldmine brimming with information, or is it played out?
This weekend, spend some time updating, editing, and cleaning your database. Gather names, addresses, phone numbers, and email information from your invoices, handwritten notes, emails, and existing data. Then put all of that information into one database you can use. Your "database" may consist of little more than a simple Excel spreadsheet, or it may require a more robust solution, such as ACT, Goldmine, QuickBooks, or any number of other options.
Going forward, get your staff to ask for complete information. Create a basic information form or questionnaire for customers and prospects, and use it to get the kind of information you can use to better know – and understand – your customers and their needs.
Showing posts with label small business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small business. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Share and Share Alike
Do you want to increase the traffic to your blog? One way to do that is by encouraging visitors to share your content on their various social networks. Facebook offers a couple ways to do this. The first is the "Like" button, which you can add to any page on the Internet. In most cases, the feature requires just a single line of HTML code, which you can download from the Facebook website (http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web#plugins). The second is the Facebook Share link, which you can access here (http://www.facebook.com/share/). Again, you need just a small piece of code that you can add to any page on your blog.
Twitter recently created its own share button, similar to Facebook's. You can learn more by visiting http://twitter.com/goodies/tweetbutton. Another good Twitter sharing tool is TweetMeme. Their website is http://tweetmeme.com.
Depending on the blogging site you use, there might be plugins available to automate the process. Check with your blog provider to find out more. In any case, adding share and like-style buttons to your website and blog are a great way to increase traffic and generate more buzz.
Twitter recently created its own share button, similar to Facebook's. You can learn more by visiting http://twitter.com/goodies/tweetbutton. Another good Twitter sharing tool is TweetMeme. Their website is http://tweetmeme.com.
Depending on the blogging site you use, there might be plugins available to automate the process. Check with your blog provider to find out more. In any case, adding share and like-style buttons to your website and blog are a great way to increase traffic and generate more buzz.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Is Busyness Hurting Your Business?
All too often the "shoemaker's kids have no shoes" effect takes place in businesses. Many business owners get so wrapped up in the day-to-day struggles of staying afloat that they forget to step back and look at the bigger picture as often as they should.
Whether you are a small, independent business or not, you should have a marketing strategy that ensures your company is properly equipped and focused to move in the right direction.
Sit down with a pencil, and write out your objectives; your long-term goals and vision; your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and what you can do now to ensure success down the road. Don't assume you are too small to have a strategy or that busyness now will ensure continued success in the future. There is nothing more embarrassing than being a shoemaker whose kids have no shoes!
All the elements of the marketing process (objectives, segmentation, targeting, positioning and product, price, place, promotion) need to be considered. Everything should be measured based on your objectives and continually adjusted as necessary.
Above all, you should be able to immediately answer the question: Why should someone use you over your competitor? Are you more "strategy"-focused? Do you offer a more competitive per diem? Do you have 24/7 availability? Do you have 30 years of experience in your field? What makes you worth buying from? If you can't explain it to yourself, how are you going to communicate it effectively to your customer?
Whether you are a small, independent business or not, you should have a marketing strategy that ensures your company is properly equipped and focused to move in the right direction.
Sit down with a pencil, and write out your objectives; your long-term goals and vision; your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and what you can do now to ensure success down the road. Don't assume you are too small to have a strategy or that busyness now will ensure continued success in the future. There is nothing more embarrassing than being a shoemaker whose kids have no shoes!
All the elements of the marketing process (objectives, segmentation, targeting, positioning and product, price, place, promotion) need to be considered. Everything should be measured based on your objectives and continually adjusted as necessary.
Above all, you should be able to immediately answer the question: Why should someone use you over your competitor? Are you more "strategy"-focused? Do you offer a more competitive per diem? Do you have 24/7 availability? Do you have 30 years of experience in your field? What makes you worth buying from? If you can't explain it to yourself, how are you going to communicate it effectively to your customer?
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