Fire Up Your Marketing

When business is slow one of the most important things you can do is launch new marketing strategies. That might mean putting together a direct mail campaign (yes, these are still valuable!), stepping up your social media activity, joining a new networking group or trade association, applying to speak at events, purchasing paid advertising in print or online, or any number of other marketing activities. The point is that marketing is essential to attracting new customers to your business. If what you’re doing now isn’t working, start a new campaign.

Launch a New Product or Service

A new product or service might be just the thing you need to reengage your audience. Consider what your clients have been asking for and how you can deliver something to meet their needs. We recently announced that we’re now offering social media services via Authority Publishing and the phone has been ringing off the hook. It’s amazing what can happen when you listen to your customers and take action.

Look at Your Competitors

If you haven’t been paying much attention to your competitors, then it’s time to revisit what they’re doing. Have they launched new products or services? Has their pricing changed? Where are they advertising? This is all important data so that you can make adjustments to stay competitive. Also, determine their weaknesses and find a way to demonstrate your strengths in comparison.

Seek Advice

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. You can have the responsibility of the world on your shoulders and no place to turn for advice or even just commiseration. One of the best things I do each month is meet with my mastermind group. I get together with ten of the smartest people I know and we each get 20 minutes to discuss and brainstorm business issues and challenges. This helps members stay accountable to their goals, generate new ideas, and get the advice needed to deal with challenges and opportunities. Invite the smartest people you know to get together—even if just for lunch or drinks—and ask for advice. You may find just the answers you need and realize that you’re not alone.

Pedal Harder

The worst thing you can do when times are tough is nothing. Don’t stay stuck in one place; keep the motion going. Look closely at your business processes and determine what is or isn’t working for you, and then make the changes needed to get back on course. Most slow periods are temporary, provided you’re doing the work to generate new opportunities. Before you know it, business will be cranking again and running stronger than ever because you took action.

Procedures make your business run without you. They also ensure that your business operates in a consistent manner. McDonald’s has long been an example of consistency and process. Whether you visit one in Orlando or Munich, the experience is the same. That’s one of the most important elements to running—and expanding—a successful business.

Even if you don’t yet have a single employee working for you, it makes sense to start documenting your procedures in preparation for the time when you are ready to hire. If you want to grow your business, you will eventually need to hire help, even if you start with an intern or a part-time contractor.

Here are some items worth documenting:

• Sales Scripts – What questions do you ask a prospect to qualify them? What key points do you share with every prospect? If someone else were taking those calls, how would you want them to be handled?
• Sales Process – When do you send a proposal? What is the format? Do you have a price list for products/services? What steps are involved? Should there be a checklist so all steps are completed?
• Operations – If you have a physical location you probably need opening and closing procedures, an emergency plan, cash register and cash handling guidelines, instructions for the security company, details about janitorial, and all other day-to-day activities.
• Emergency Contacts – Who should your staff call if you’re not available? Also provide them with phone numbers for the alarm company, maintenance companies such as HVAC, nearby neighbors, police, poison control, animal control, etc.
• Employee Training Manual – It’s best to create this documentation while you’re managing specific tasks so you don’t miss any details, or ask an existing team member to document their work. My project manager is pregnant and will be heading out on maternity leave soon. She has been documenting all of her procedures in preparation for her departure, which is a lifeline since I’ve lost track of all she does for us!
• Employee Policies – This should include policies for personal and paid time off, sick leave, dress codes, and other expectations. You may want to consult with a human resources expert to ensure you don’t violate any laws in your state with your guidelines.
• Customer Service – When I ran the bookstore, I quickly realized I had to train the staff to serve the customers in a consistent way. They were to greet everyone who walked through the door, ask if they could help them find something or make a recommendation, make small talk at the register, and offer an up-sale. I also had guidelines for how to handle returns and difficult customers. It’s all about creating that consistent experience.
• Templates – Any items that you send to clients on a regular basis should be made into templates, even if you’re the only one sending them. This will save you lots of time from re-typing the same information over and over. For my publishing business, we have a file folder called “For New Clients” where we keep project timelines, checklists of the items they need to submit, welcome letters, intake forms, and other documents that make life for all involved much easier.

For example, if you can hire someone for $20 per hour to do administrative tasks or bookkeeping or house cleaning, and you can go out and earn $50 or more per hour gained, then you will come out ahead.

This is an important lesson for entrepreneurs. We all have many responsibilities and tasks to get accomplished each day. But when you let go of some of those tasks, you create more time to grow your business.

Here are some sources for hiring freelancers and contractors to give you more time to be profitable!

1. Interns – Guess what? Students work for free! They want to learn and gain experience and you can create a mutually beneficial situation by teaching someone what you do while they help manage tasks. Contact your local colleges to inquire about placing an ad for an intern. There will be some paperwork involved, but this can be a great solution that can also lead to a potential employee for your business.

2. IVAA – The International Virtual Assistants Association offers a member directory, plus an option to post a Request for Proposal (RFP).

3. AssistU – A training program for virtual assistances, here you can find assistance who have been through certification programs.

4. Elance – The largest network for finding all kinds of freelance professionals in many countries. Options include web designers, copywriters, graphic designers, administrative professionals, and much more.

5. Guru – Similar to Elance, find freelance professionals here.

6. Rent a Coder – If you need computer programming or software development, you’ll find lots of options here.

7. Craigslist – If you prefer to work with someone local, you can always advertise job opportunities with Craigslist—even for contractor positions.

8. 99 Designs – This is a fun way to find a graphic designer. It’s done by conducting a contest and allowing designers to contribute their concepts. Find one you like and you can award the fee you designate to the winning designer.

9. Freelancer – Similar to Elance and Guru.

10. Freelance Switch – Similar to Elance and Guru.

11. People Per Hour – Similar to Elance and Guru.

12. Odesk – Similar to Elance and Guru, though one of the larger networks.

13. Coroflot – Primarily a source for creative professionals and graphic designers.

14. Fiver – This fun service lists people and the tasks they are willing to complete for $5. If you need something quick and easy, this could be the way to go!

But the thing about ideas is that sometimes we are too close to them and don’t give them enough time to mature. We can easily get excited or even obsessed with a new idea, only to find out later that it didn’t meet with as much enthusiasm with customers. When this happens, we end up throwing away time, money, and resources when often times mistakes could have been prevented.

Big companies spend millions on market research every year, but most entrepreneurs don’t have that kind of budget. However, we do have the ability to reach out and ask for assistance and perform some due diligence. The next time you have a new idea, consider the following before you take that next step:

1. Research the market, especially if you’re going after some new territory. You don’t have to spend a fortune on reports. Hire an inexpensive administrative assistant or even an intern to do some research to make sure your market is ready and that you understand the competitive landscape.

2. Survey your customers. You have premium market research right at your fingertips. Ask your customers what they want and need, how much they’re willing to pay, what features are most important to them, and any other relevant questions that will help you build a plan.

3. Build an advisory board. I’m in a mastermind group and it has been a powerful place for me to flesh out ideas and get feedback. The key to doing this successfully is to pick people whose opinions you respect and who you trust to tell you the truth. Mastermind groups can be mutually beneficial for all participants and I highly recommend them to all entrepreneurs. You shouldn’t have to work alone all of the time.

4. Talk about your idea. Provided you’re not worried about someone else stealing your idea (and honestly, this rarely happens), start talking about it with people as much as possible. It’s amazing how much feedback you can get at a business mixer, cocktail party or even your kid’s soccer game from people you didn’t even expect would be interested.

5. Let it simmer. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to let my ideas cook a little longer. It’s easy to get excited and take the ready, fire, aim approach. But this is where I’ve personally made the most mistakes. When I mull an idea over for a while, do the due diligence and get the feedback needed, it always creates a more favorable outcome. Resist the temptation to launch before you’re ready and make sure your idea is fully cooked and ready to serve before you present it to your audience.

Incidentally, my computer was just two months old at the time that this happened. Because it was under warranty, I received a replacement hard drive two days later (though two days is a long time in entrepreneurial land, but I kept breathing through it and set up temporary shop on my laptop!).

When we set up the computer initially, my IT technician convinced me to switch my backups to Carbonite. The rate was far less than the service I had been paying for and backups were automated and handled within minutes of any change made to data.

We began the process of restoring data with Carbonite, which actually took several days to complete due to the tremendous volume of data I maintain. However, all data was not only restored—it was put back in its original location. My IT tech reminded me that some of the data backup companies restore the data into one giant file and you then have to go back and figure out where you want to place it all within your system—what a nightmare that must be!

All that we had to do to complete the process was reinstall my software programs and figure out passwords for the various websites that I use. Overall, this process went quite smoothly and I was beyond grateful to be back online.

If you’re not backing up your data, you are putting your business at risk. Lost client files, billing information, accounting records, and everything else you touch on a daily basis can bring your business to a halt. After the experience I had, I can confidently recommend Carbonite as a reliable backup solution (and no, they are not paying me to say that!).

And by the way, offsite backups are the most secure option in the event of a natural disaster or emergency. It’s a good idea to have some redundancy too by backing up to a local external hard drive (which I am now doing), but in a major disaster that extra drive could be lost too.

May you never have to experience any of this, but if you do, I hope you’re prepared!

Recently a business owner told me that she was working on promoting her services to dentist offices, but wasn’t having much luck. I asked what she was doing and she said she was just starting to blog and tweet information and was trying to meet contacts at business networking events like the ones held by her Chamber of Commerce. Yikes. Those strategies alone would require quite a bit of time investment to get them working. Plus, I doubt she’d find many contacts at local business meetings because not many dentists attend those.

Believe me when I say that I understand how hard it is to build a business on a budget. However, when the majority of your market efforts require an investment of your TIME, it is actually coming at a cost. Your time is valuable. And if your efforts aren’t paying off or aren’t focused in the right places, you’re actually losing money because you aren’t spending that time currency on generating revenue.

For the woman selling to dentists, I suggested she consider investing in some traditional marketing. She could rent mailing lists and run a postcard campaign. She could place ads in trade association publications that specifically reach dentists. She could buy pay-per-click ads targeted toward her niche market.

There are also some zero and low-cost ways she could better focus her marketing efforts like applying to speak at dental conferences or writing for their trade association publications. She could also look for online groups where dentists participate (on LinkedIn, for example), or start her own online group for dentists. These things still require the currency of time, but would likely be far more effective than attending general business networking events. (Note that I have nothing against networking, but if you have a really focused niche, often times those groups don’t have the right ROI.)

I will admit that I haven’t invested as much in traditional marketing as I did years ago. My focus is definitely promoting online, though recently I’ve been experimenting with paid advertisements, postcard campaigns, and pay-per-click ads. I have always believed that you’ve got to spend money to make money.

And remember, most businesses need to run multiple marketing campaigns in order to generate great results—and what you spend on marketing and advertising should come back to you in multiple if it’s working. Test out strategies until you find what works for your business and then invest more in the things that produce results. Ultimately your efforts should produce revenues that more than make up for those marketing expenses, and that is what will lead to serious business growth.

I love smart ideas and this site is definitely a smart idea!

The fact is that if you want to play a bigger game in your business, you’ve got to get on the court with better players.

Finding better players means that you surround yourself with people who know more than you do or, perhaps more importantly, people who are doing things differently than you are. For me, building friendships and alliances with other business owners who are driven to win has been essential. There is nothing I love more than brainstorming business ideas with smart people over a sushi lunch or getting together with my mastermind group and getting new perspectives on something that hadn’t occurred to me before.

I don’t want to surround myself with people whose businesses are stalled or who aren’t driven to improve their game. I want to surround myself with people who challenge me to play a better game.

Take a look at your networks and who you’re spending your time with. If you don’t have at least three business owners in your world who inspire you, go out and find them. Invite them to lunch or form a mastermind group and watch how much your game improves as a result.

Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business

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Once you have your website up and running and a shopping cart system in place, the next step is to make sure your website does its job. Here are some tips to get your sales cranking:

• Make it easy for visitors to find your products and services. Easy site navigation is important, so make sure your primary product page is listed on the main navigation menu for your site.
• Cross-promote products throughout your site. For example, on your services web page, you might add an anchored link that says, “Purchase a Gift Certificate for Consulting Services.”
• List all of your products on a single shopping cart page along with separate anchored links to complete product descriptions on individual pages.
• Include real user testimonials (not the manufactured kind from friends and peers) throughout your site and on sales pages for maximum impact. Never underestimate the power of testimonials!
• Depending on your target audience, you may want to include a printable order form for people who don’t want to place orders online. Give them a way to mail and fax the order to you.
• Make sure your purchase process is simple and easy to use. Test it out by making a purchase yourself. Are there any steps missing? Is the information confusing?
• Set up a thank you page. When a customer completes an order with you, make sure they are returned to a thank you page. Industry reports indicate that the thank you page is a highly effective place to up-sell additional products. For example, the thank you page could say: “People who bought product ABC also rave about product XYZ. Click here to order XYZ at 25% off!”
• If you are promoting multiple services or products, put a “Featured Service” section on your home page or in the sidebar of all of your web pages. Change the offer each week or month to keep it fresh and interesting.

The above information on how to convert site visitors into buyers is an excerpt from the book: Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business. Why not pick up a copy or two? Bet you’ll like it!

I use a lot of clip art and photos for this blog, and I do so thanks to a monthly subscription to Clipart.com. If you want to include images in your blog, you should consider a service like this one. You can also purchase clip art software from your favorite retailer, though I find that having a subscription service makes life much easier.

Images can also be useful when producing books, PowerPoint presentations, business cards, and marketing collateral. Make sure you purchase and obtain the rights to images you use. Here are some additional sources:

istockphoto.com

123RF.com

photos.com

fotolia.com

dreamstime.com

bigstockphoto.com

Keep in mind that each of the image retailers have their own rules and guidelines for how you can use an image or how it should be attributed. Be sure to read their guidelines so you stay in compliance!