Posts filed under 'medium sized businesses'
Free Small Business Marketing Webinar
On Wednesday, August 26, Network Solutions® is hosting a FREE small business webinar on successfully marketing your business during the economic downturn. Due to the economy, many small businesses have lowered their marketing budget in an effort to cut down on expenses. The GrowSmartBusiness team recognizes that marketing, in any form, is crucial to driving business growth and sales. The “How Do You Effectively Market Your Small Business in a Downturn Economy?” webinar is designed to teach entrepreneurs and small biz owners how to find and utilize creative ways to successfully market their businesses, all while staying within a smaller budget. Featured speakers include:
- Jay Ehret, founder and Chief Steward of The Marketing Spot in Waco, Texas
- Susan Gunelius, President and CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications provider
- Jay Berkowitz, CEO of Ten Golden Rules, a business-to-business Internet marketing agency in Boca Raton, Florida
This event promises to be a great learning opportunity for all who attend–and it’s free! To register and learn more, visit http://growsmartbusiness.com/small-business-news/2009/08/free-webinar-how-do-you-effectively-market-your-small-business-in-a-downturn-economy/.
Add comment August 21, 2009
Are You Using E-Commerce Yet?
Now that it’s July, we’re in the 3rd quarter of the business year. So let’s talk about Q4! Now is the perfect time to start thinking about the holiday season. If you haven’t joined the ecommerce world yet, you need to read this article. In “Why Small Businesses Should Embrace E-Commerce,” Nisarat Sujatanond describes how an ecommerce website can help your business increase sales to both local and extended customers. In addition to widening your customer base, selling online can also help you gain valuable marketing insight. Thanks to web analytics, ecommerce merchants can get a grasp on who their customers are, what they’re looking for, and how they shop. Online stores can be easily marketed using this information, thanks to services like Twitter™, Facebook®, and PPC advertising.
To read Sujatanond’s full article, visit http://www.mysolutionspot.com/ecommerce-101/why-small-businesses-should-embrace-e-commerce-1602/.
1 comment July 8, 2009
Smart Hiring Advice for Small Business Owners
One of the common challenges for small business owners is hiring the right employees. Since the employee base of a small business is often very small, all team members need to be competent and knowledgeable. So how do you find the right people? At Entrepreneur.com, Burton Goldfield has some smart hiring tips in his article, “Find the Right Person in 6 Steps.” Goldfield notes a few things that I find especially relevant for small business owners:
- Don’t rush your decision. Hiring the wrong employee is more costly to your business than waiting for the perfect candidate.
- Clearly state the abilities you’re looking for. If your small business needs someone who can handle multiple roles, make that very apparent when composing the job description.
- Ask your trusted peers for recommendations and references. Those around you are very likely to know someone who is perfect for your business.
To read Goldfield’s full article, visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/humanresources/humanresourceburtongoldfield/article202432.html. For more advice on putting together a strong staff for your small business, visit MySolutionSpot™.
2 comments June 30, 2009
Have You Set a Good Anchor?
While reading this article earlier today, I started reflecting on my own experience with “anchors” and their power of persuasion. In the short time I’ve owned my home (a little over a year), I’ve had a fence put up around my back yard and new windows installed throughout the house. For each project, I had multiple companies give me price estimates. I gave the same “this is what I want” spiel to each company, and each installer used the same measurements. Some of the companies used the same products—exact same windows, exact same fence parts—yet there was a huge difference between the highest estimate and the lowest. In the end, for both the windows and the fence, I decided to go with one of the companies in the middle of the pricing spectrum.
I bypassed the company that gave the highest estimate (for obvious reasons), and even though I wanted to save money, I skipped over the company with the lowest offer. Why? The anchor got to me. With the mid-priced estimates, I felt like I would be getting a better deal than if I went with the high-priced installers. Regarding the companies that offered lower prices, I was concerned that they wouldn’t do as good of a job as the others, or they wouldn’t be able to offer continued care should I need it. The mid-priced estimates proved to be the anchor by which I judged the rest of the estimates.
Mental anchors do exist, as Damon Gudaitis notes in the above article, and small businesses need to be aware of this. Check out Gudaitis’ article, and then take a look at your business: Are your prices too high, causing customers to feel as if they’d be paying too much? Or are they too low, giving your business a vibe of “low price, low quality”? By becoming aware of your anchor, you can readjust it so that it better reflects your business and the quality of its offerings.
4 comments June 17, 2009
Upcoming Webcast: Tips for the 2009 Holiday Season
It may only be June, but it’s not too soon to start preparing your business for the upcoming holiday season. Customers have changed their shopping habits over the past year, so retailers need to modify their holiday business strategies as well. On Thursday, June 25, at 1pm EDT, Search Marketing Now and Performics are teaming up to host “Online Holiday Retail 2009: Tips, Tactics, and Timelines for Success.” Speakers Eli Goodman and Matt Miller will offer tips and suggestions for setting up your business’s 2009 holiday retail plan. With the economy still struggling, it’s a good idea to start planning your approach to the holidays now.
To register for this webcast, visit http://searchmarketingnow.com/webcasts/wc090625.
Add comment June 10, 2009
Is Your Business Website Trustworthy?
Lisa Barone recently posted another great article over at SmallBizTrends.com that discusses the importance of having a trustworthy business website. In “9 Essential Trust Indicators For Your SMB Site,” Barone gives tips on what to do, and what to avoid, when setting up your business site. As an SMB owner, you need to prove that your business is just as trustworthy as your larger counterparts. Some people can be leery of small businesses since they don’t have established reputations like larger corporations; however, by presenting your business as a smaller, more personal, and easier-to-work-with company that’s jut as trustworthy and professional as a large business, you can easily compete with the big boys.
The key to an honest, trustworthy site is openness and ease-of-use. Your customers should be able to find exactly what they’re looking for in a few obvious steps—nobody likes to spend time hunting through a website to find what they need. By providing all of your business’s information (business hours, contact info, company story, return policies, FAQs, etc.), you’re letting your customer know that you have nothing to hide. And consider choosing clean and simple over busy and flashy when it comes to colors, graphics, and other design elements—the “fancy stuff” can be distracting.
Visit http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/06/site-trust-indicators.html to view Lisa Barone’s article, and then think about how you can apply her advice to your SMb website. Also check out MySolutionSpot™ for more tips on how to improve your business website.
Add comment June 5, 2009
Interview With Bob London: Gain Valuable Marketing Tips
Marketing can be a tricky area for small businesses: A lot of small biz owners haven’t been through any formal training, making marketing a learn-as-you-go process. If you need some marketing advice—and let’s face it, most of us do—check out this interview with Bob London. Bob is the mastermind behind London, Ink, a firm that helps businesses set up successful marketing campaigns. Shashi from GrowSmartBusiness.com recently caught up with Bob at a networking event, and lucky for us, he took the opportunity to capture some of Bob’s business advice on video.
To watch the full interview with Bob London and gain great marketing insight, visit http://growsmartbusiness.com/2009/06/great-marketing-tips-from-bob-london-of-london-ink/.
1 comment June 1, 2009
A Few Tips for Creating Better Web Site Content
While reading this article today, I started thinking about some of the SMB Web sites I’ve seen in the past. There are many things that separate the good from the bad, but as a copywriter, the first thing I tend to notice is content. Here are a few tips on writing successful content for your business’s Web site:
*Keep home page content short. The main reason customers come to your site is to find information on your business and/or purchase your products. The easier it is for your visitors to do this, the better. If the first thing your site’s visitors face is lengthy content, they might be deterred from looking any farther.
*Get to the point. Right away your site’s visitors should be able to learn the name of your business, what it offers, and your business’s contact information. It is also a good idea to include this information in an area of your site that will be visible from each page.
*Utilize key words. Search engines aren’t the only entities affected by key words—your visitors notice them as well. Using keywords will help your page’s rank in search results, and keywords also grab the attention of potential customers. Take advantage of the opportunity to include them where you can. If customers see mention of products that they’re interested in right away, like in your home page content, there’s a good chance they’ll check out the rest of your Web site as well.
*Answer the important questions. Your Web site can be your best salesperson if you just give it the right stuff. Try to provide answer for questions like the following: Why should customers choose your business over the competition? Why are your products and services better than those offered by your competitors? Why should customers trust you? Are your customers going to receive the best value for their money? What kind of customer service can be expected from your business?
Your site’s content can either draw customers in or send them away, all within a few lines of text. Next time you update your Web site, keep your customers in mind. Focus on content that is short, to the point, persuasive, and rich in keywords. Your business will reap the benefits.
Add comment May 13, 2009
Have a Nominee for the WebAward?
From time to time, we all come across a Web site that makes us go, “Hmmm.” Next time you see an impressive Web site, why not nominate it for the 2009 WebAward. The deadline for submissions is May 29, 2009.
To nominated a site, please go to: http://www.webaward.org/guidelines.asp
Add comment April 22, 2009
Free Small Business Planner
The U.S. Small Business Administration is an extremely valuable resource for entrepreneurs. It provides several services and tools to help small business owners achieve success.
One extremely beneficial tool provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration is the Small Business Planner. This planner provides a variety of information to guide small business owners through every phase of the business lifecycle. To access the Small Business Planner, click here.
Add comment April 21, 2009
