Friday, May 25, 2007

Why Your Business Needs An Intranet

One thing I like about running a small company is the ability to act quickly.

Decisions are not bogged down by layers of management. In fact, most moves are made with the interested parties meeting around a table.

But there can come a point when your business outgrows this arrangement. You need constant, reliable and secure communications with others in the company to ensure successful growth. You need an intranet.

An intranet is similar to a website, and it uses internet protocols, but it's an internal network exclusive to one company. (An "extranet" also is an internal or private website, but access privileges are extended to designated customers, partners and/or others.)

Most large corporations use intranets. Information distribution is a huge task when you have 10,000 or more employees. Intranets can help cure that headache.

Your business probably has nowhere near 10,000 employees. But I can give you three major reasons why your small business should invest in an intranet:

1. Communication Suffers When Dealing With More Than One Person Even a very small company has communication issues. Most people find out what's happening while gossiping around the coffee pot. Stories change as they spread, leading to a misinformed and disgruntled staff. If you have telecommuters, off-site workers, employees who travel a lot or a "virtual" company, communication issues become even more challenging.

In order for a company to succeed, everyone must understand its goals. Neither long- nor short-term goals should be confined to upper management meetings.

An intranet is the perfect place to post weekly reports, memos and goals. This way, everyone is up to speed.

Toby Ward, president of the intranet consulting firm Prescient Digital Media, notes that even a company with few employees benefits from an intranet. Even if you don't have people working remotely, your sales staffers or consultants aren't always in the office.

Building an intranet can enhance communication through message boards, instant messaging and moderated chats.

Let's take a typical business scenario. Your three sales staff have to come up with a presentation on increasing sales in the next fiscal year.

They enter a conference room, eat pizza, drink coffee and talk for hours. The first meeting turns into a three-hour, brainstorming session. The second meeting starts with a review of the best ideas from the first. The participants hash out why they will or will not work. By the third or fourth meeting they have some definite proposals.

By using an intranet's discussion board in the days before the meetings the process could have been improved. Ideas could be debated beforehand. Participants could have come into the sales meeting more focused.

2. Time Is Money An intranet allows you to post critical information for all employees to see. Even having human resources information posted is valuable. One of my employees said workers in his former office once spent 45 minutes trying to find out if public holidays were paid. The personnel manager was gone and no one else knew.

Posting of calendars, company policies and benefits is a great start. They reduce wasted time. But the interactivity of an intranet means it can be used for more than basic information.

You can save time (and paper) with interactive forms. Vacation requests, supply orders, changes to benefits and more can be handled quickly and efficiently.

Make sure your intranet follows good design principles. Make it as user-friendly as possible. You're trying to save time, not frustrate people.

3. It's Better Than E-Mail You may be thinking, "Why not just email the form?" Or, "I communicate well with my employees already".

According to Ward, e-mailing multiple versions of the same document or presentation leads to confusion and sometimes information overload.

Let's take that same sales group we envisioned earlier. They've decided on three major ways they will increase sales. They are now working on a PowerPoint presentation.

Three people collaborating on one PowerPoint file can lead to disastrous results. Confusion over who's working on what can lead to one person's work being overwritten by another.

By using an intranet, people can work on a shared file and have a central location for the most recent version.

Getting Started Before you set up an intranet, make sure you understand what you want it to do. Understand how employees will use it. Finally, adhere to good design principles. If it takes five or six clicks to find a particular request form, it's too complex.
One thing I like about running a small company is the ability to act quickly.

Decisions are not bogged down by layers of management. In fact, most moves are made with the interested parties meeting around a table.

But there can come a point when your business outgrows this arrangement. You need constant, reliable and secure communications with others in the company to ensure successful growth. You need an intranet.

An intranet is similar to a website, and it uses internet protocols, but it's an internal network exclusive to one company. (An "extranet" also is an internal or private website, but access privileges are extended to designated customers, partners and/or others.)

Most large corporations use intranets. Information distribution is a huge task when you have 10,000 or more employees. Intranets can help cure that headache.

Your business probably has nowhere near 10,000 employees. But I can give you three major reasons why your small business should invest in an intranet:

1. Communication Suffers When Dealing With More Than One Person Even a very small company has communication issues. Most people find out what's happening while gossiping around the coffee pot. Stories change as they spread, leading to a misinformed and disgruntled staff. If you have telecommuters, off-site workers, employees who travel a lot or a "virtual" company, communication issues become even more challenging.

In order for a company to succeed, everyone must understand its goals. Neither long- nor short-term goals should be confined to upper management meetings.

An intranet is the perfect place to post weekly reports, memos and goals. This way, everyone is up to speed.

Toby Ward, president of the intranet consulting firm Prescient Digital Media, notes that even a company with few employees benefits from an intranet. Even if you don't have people working remotely, your sales staffers or consultants aren't always in the office.

Building an intranet can enhance communication through message boards, instant messaging and moderated chats.

Let's take a typical business scenario. Your three sales staff have to come up with a presentation on increasing sales in the next fiscal year.

They enter a conference room, eat pizza, drink coffee and talk for hours. The first meeting turns into a three-hour, brainstorming session. The second meeting starts with a review of the best ideas from the first. The participants hash out why they will or will not work. By the third or fourth meeting they have some definite proposals.

By using an intranet's discussion board in the days before the meetings the process could have been improved. Ideas could be debated beforehand. Participants could have come into the sales meeting more focused.

2. Time Is Money An intranet allows you to post critical information for all employees to see. Even having human resources information posted is valuable. One of my employees said workers in his former office once spent 45 minutes trying to find out if public holidays were paid. The personnel manager was gone and no one else knew.

Posting of calendars, company policies and benefits is a great start. They reduce wasted time. But the interactivity of an intranet means it can be used for more than basic information.

You can save time (and paper) with interactive forms. Vacation requests, supply orders, changes to benefits and more can be handled quickly and efficiently.

Make sure your intranet follows good design principles. Make it as user-friendly as possible. You're trying to save time, not frustrate people.

3. It's Better Than E-Mail You may be thinking, "Why not just email the form?" Or, "I communicate well with my employees already".

According to Ward, e-mailing multiple versions of the same document or presentation leads to confusion and sometimes information overload.

Let's take that same sales group we envisioned earlier. They've decided on three major ways they will increase sales. They are now working on a PowerPoint presentation.

Three people collaborating on one PowerPoint file can lead to disastrous results. Confusion over who's working on what can lead to one person's work being overwritten by another.

By using an intranet, people can work on a shared file and have a central location for the most recent version.

Getting Started Before you set up an intranet, make sure you understand what you want it to do. Understand how employees will use it. Finally, adhere to good design principles. If it takes five or six clicks to find a particular request form, it's too complex.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:21 AM

Repeat Customers - Increase Sales And Grow Your Business By Motivating Your Current Customers

It costs the average business five times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied. A good Leverage Marketing strategy includes techniques to motivate your customers to purchase from you repeatedly. Turning one-time customers into repeat customers is essential for transforming a surviving small business into a thriving small business.

What if you could employ a tactic to address this issue? With a little creative thinking it is possible to implement a cost-effective tactic that:

* turns one-time customers into repeat customers.

* provides an inexpensive vehicle for product promotion.

* adds a valuable tool to a new product marketing plan.

* motivates customers to tell their friends and family about your company.

* and helps grow your business with as little time, effort, and expense as possible.

Achieving success as an entrepreneur requires thinking outside the box. Resources are often limited and the competition is often better armed than you are. It takes creativity, aggressiveness, and sound strategies to overcome these disadvantages. Making the most of the customers you already have is vital to your success.

Imagine if you could focus your efforts on cultivating the relationship you have with current customers instead of constantly trying to attract new ones. You would talk to your customers, learn their likes and dislikes, and better understand the problems they struggle to overcome.

By spending more time working with current customers you can become a trusted partner, someone who they turn to in times of need. Because of this you will have a better understanding of the dynamic motivations your customers have. You will be able to respond quickly to an ever-changing market. You will out-maneuver your competition by responding quicker.

This relationship is not something that you have to imagine. You can get to the point where your business will sustain itself and grow because of your current customers. It’s easier than you think.

Of course you will always need to attract new customers – that goes without saying. However some of that hard work can be done by your current customers. Through word-of-mouth marketing and formal referral programs your customers can lend a very powerful hand in attracting new buyers.

And as was mentioned previously, it is possible to motivate customers to purchase from you repeatedly. What a great way to generate more revenue and drive profits. Turn one-time customers into repeat customers and watch your business soar.
It costs the average business five times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied. A good Leverage Marketing strategy includes techniques to motivate your customers to purchase from you repeatedly. Turning one-time customers into repeat customers is essential for transforming a surviving small business into a thriving small business.

What if you could employ a tactic to address this issue? With a little creative thinking it is possible to implement a cost-effective tactic that:

* turns one-time customers into repeat customers.

* provides an inexpensive vehicle for product promotion.

* adds a valuable tool to a new product marketing plan.

* motivates customers to tell their friends and family about your company.

* and helps grow your business with as little time, effort, and expense as possible.

Achieving success as an entrepreneur requires thinking outside the box. Resources are often limited and the competition is often better armed than you are. It takes creativity, aggressiveness, and sound strategies to overcome these disadvantages. Making the most of the customers you already have is vital to your success.

Imagine if you could focus your efforts on cultivating the relationship you have with current customers instead of constantly trying to attract new ones. You would talk to your customers, learn their likes and dislikes, and better understand the problems they struggle to overcome.

By spending more time working with current customers you can become a trusted partner, someone who they turn to in times of need. Because of this you will have a better understanding of the dynamic motivations your customers have. You will be able to respond quickly to an ever-changing market. You will out-maneuver your competition by responding quicker.

This relationship is not something that you have to imagine. You can get to the point where your business will sustain itself and grow because of your current customers. It’s easier than you think.

Of course you will always need to attract new customers – that goes without saying. However some of that hard work can be done by your current customers. Through word-of-mouth marketing and formal referral programs your customers can lend a very powerful hand in attracting new buyers.

And as was mentioned previously, it is possible to motivate customers to purchase from you repeatedly. What a great way to generate more revenue and drive profits. Turn one-time customers into repeat customers and watch your business soar.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:21 AM

Who Will Buy Your Business - Part 1

If you want to get the best price, terms, and structure when you sell your business, it is critical that you know who the potential buyers are and what they are looking for. This information will allow you make strategic decisions and position your company to increase its value in the eyes of prospective buyers.

In that light, let’s discuss some of the types of buyers you might encounter when you decide to sell all or part of your company. We can first divide the buyer universe into Insiders and Outsiders. It will depend on your goals for yourself and your business as to which group you will want to sell your business to. Insiders include family members and employees. In order to transition your business to family in the most tax efficient manner, your goal will be to minimize enterprise value and obtain the lowest defensible (should the IRS choose to question it) valuation.

A method for selling the business to employees that is gaining popularity is the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). ESOPs can be a great way for you to transition ownership to your employees in an extremely tax-efficient manner. They are not for all companies, however, and I would highly recommend that you enlist professional help in evaluating their viability for your company and setting up the plan. Compliance costs can be high, so your company should be large enough for these costs to make sense (payroll should be at least $1 million annually). Also, if you the owner want to walk away with cash, the company will need to borrow money to fund the ESOP – so there has to be collateral and cash flow available for the loan to happen. A great source for information about ESOPs is the website of The National Center for Employee Ownership: www.nceo.org.

Insider sales are generally motivated by reasons other than financial but they often fall apart because of financial realities. Keep in mind that insiders usually don’t have a lot of cash, so you will likely still need to depend on the business for your retirement income after the sale. In Part 2 we’ll discuss the buyer types – Outsiders – who usually bring the most cash to the closing table.

Tom Gledhill has over 35 years founding, building, buying and selling companies. He is a partner in Delta Capital Group, a Business Sales and Acquisition firm specializing in the preparation and sales of companies in the lower middle market with revenues of $1 Million to $20 Million.
If you want to get the best price, terms, and structure when you sell your business, it is critical that you know who the potential buyers are and what they are looking for. This information will allow you make strategic decisions and position your company to increase its value in the eyes of prospective buyers.

In that light, let’s discuss some of the types of buyers you might encounter when you decide to sell all or part of your company. We can first divide the buyer universe into Insiders and Outsiders. It will depend on your goals for yourself and your business as to which group you will want to sell your business to. Insiders include family members and employees. In order to transition your business to family in the most tax efficient manner, your goal will be to minimize enterprise value and obtain the lowest defensible (should the IRS choose to question it) valuation.

A method for selling the business to employees that is gaining popularity is the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). ESOPs can be a great way for you to transition ownership to your employees in an extremely tax-efficient manner. They are not for all companies, however, and I would highly recommend that you enlist professional help in evaluating their viability for your company and setting up the plan. Compliance costs can be high, so your company should be large enough for these costs to make sense (payroll should be at least $1 million annually). Also, if you the owner want to walk away with cash, the company will need to borrow money to fund the ESOP – so there has to be collateral and cash flow available for the loan to happen. A great source for information about ESOPs is the website of The National Center for Employee Ownership: www.nceo.org.

Insider sales are generally motivated by reasons other than financial but they often fall apart because of financial realities. Keep in mind that insiders usually don’t have a lot of cash, so you will likely still need to depend on the business for your retirement income after the sale. In Part 2 we’ll discuss the buyer types – Outsiders – who usually bring the most cash to the closing table.

Tom Gledhill has over 35 years founding, building, buying and selling companies. He is a partner in Delta Capital Group, a Business Sales and Acquisition firm specializing in the preparation and sales of companies in the lower middle market with revenues of $1 Million to $20 Million.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:20 AM

Are You Committed With Your Online Business?

All enterprises have high and low business oriented cycles. Today the people want certain things. Yesterday they wanted others and tomorrow they could want different things still more.

You, many other people and I are involved in an eddy of emotions, therefore all moments we are willingly submitted to the opinions of other people. These opinions bind to our sense of mood directly. It affects and makes us unbalance emotionally.

These critical sorts of things point directly to our personal belief. And if you are not mentally strong enough you lost your enthusiasm and withdraw from your recent business.

When newbie starts an online home business it becomes enraptured. The first experience is height emotively in most of the case. Eventually it is time it knows it could not fail. We positively think that at this moment upon our life is going to change to a new way of life.

But the reality comes true as soon as possible. Your sales do not occur at first attempt. You feel yourself without forces, with low respect and nothing is equal to that as it was in the beginning, when you have known the business and the world would go to change its favor, as if you have been the center of it.

It is the real time to know if you are committed with your business. But how do you evaluate your commitment?

It can be do by analyzing your personal belief. Your belief is different from your enthusiasm. If you have high enthusiasm and low belief you will not have a business for a long way. On the contrary, high belief and low enthusiasm you maybe will not make money at the first time but its possibility will increase when your personal belief will push and to animate your enthusiasm.

To turn your dream into reality you will have to pay attention on your personal belief. Because when you start a new online business, specially a new work at home online, you significantly will increase your odds to make money online.

But your financial freedom, besides the product and company you have became an active associated it will depend on you, of how you will strongly increase your connection with yourself.

You must create something to be awesome, to say the least. It means not only to create or resell a product. But it is mainly to create, or to work you as awesome person.

Your personal belief can be build. It is the secret. You can build your own respect and love for yourself. Do it in your mind and heart.

In that way each time you get yourself frustrated with no sales, no prospects, you can find in your personal belief the why you have chosen to be on this business.
All enterprises have high and low business oriented cycles. Today the people want certain things. Yesterday they wanted others and tomorrow they could want different things still more.

You, many other people and I are involved in an eddy of emotions, therefore all moments we are willingly submitted to the opinions of other people. These opinions bind to our sense of mood directly. It affects and makes us unbalance emotionally.

These critical sorts of things point directly to our personal belief. And if you are not mentally strong enough you lost your enthusiasm and withdraw from your recent business.

When newbie starts an online home business it becomes enraptured. The first experience is height emotively in most of the case. Eventually it is time it knows it could not fail. We positively think that at this moment upon our life is going to change to a new way of life.

But the reality comes true as soon as possible. Your sales do not occur at first attempt. You feel yourself without forces, with low respect and nothing is equal to that as it was in the beginning, when you have known the business and the world would go to change its favor, as if you have been the center of it.

It is the real time to know if you are committed with your business. But how do you evaluate your commitment?

It can be do by analyzing your personal belief. Your belief is different from your enthusiasm. If you have high enthusiasm and low belief you will not have a business for a long way. On the contrary, high belief and low enthusiasm you maybe will not make money at the first time but its possibility will increase when your personal belief will push and to animate your enthusiasm.

To turn your dream into reality you will have to pay attention on your personal belief. Because when you start a new online business, specially a new work at home online, you significantly will increase your odds to make money online.

But your financial freedom, besides the product and company you have became an active associated it will depend on you, of how you will strongly increase your connection with yourself.

You must create something to be awesome, to say the least. It means not only to create or resell a product. But it is mainly to create, or to work you as awesome person.

Your personal belief can be build. It is the secret. You can build your own respect and love for yourself. Do it in your mind and heart.

In that way each time you get yourself frustrated with no sales, no prospects, you can find in your personal belief the why you have chosen to be on this business.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:19 AM

Monday, May 21, 2007

STEP 10 - Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps

Read any autobiography or business success story, you’ll notice one common denominator for success - sales. You need to take whatever action possible to ensure that sales are consistently growing to allow you to gain profit.

Again, a word of caution; do not target everyone! In today’s competitive environment, consumers are becoming more demanding and many would seek out products/services that meet their specific need or want.

First and foremost, I need to identify (and do some in-depth research) my specific target market. Next, I would develop sales and marketing blueprint ( similar to the one shown in DAY 8 ) to attract the kind of customers I wanted and meantime, to retain existing customers.

No matter how I intend to plan and execute these strategies, I must understand the formula - executing these plans is like playing a game. What game…? Yes, you are correct - the number game. The higher the number of sales agents/staffs, or the higher is the amount of advertisement posted, or the higher the amount of distribution channels, or the more attempts I personally made to seal a deal, the bigger chances I have in winning. I know for sure, a prospect or a client may say “no” to my product/service today. But, it doesn’t mean a “no” forever! According to LIMRA (a research center for financial planners and financial advisors in America) findings, a potential buyer usually says “no” seven times before making the actual purchase!

Before we move on, let’s understand first the relationship between sales and marketing. Marketing is the process of bringing awareness to the product/service, while sales is the process of making the customer buy the product/service. Therefore, I am going to analyze eight sales and marketing strategies to increase my probability of winning:

1. Myself
2. Network marketing
3. Affiliate marketing
4. Online sales
5. Marketing materials
6. Direct mail
7. Advertisement
8. Outsourcing

Myself

The first approach is the most affordable yet effective strategy. It is made up of all the possible resources that I already have to generate sales and create awareness. These are some ideas that I would usually work on:

* Preparing a list of 200 or 300 list of target prospects, call them up, present to them how the product/service could benefit them and seal the deal

* Getting referrals from existing customers and reward them once the deal is closed

* Designing, printing marketing materials (i.e. brochure, flyer, discount card) and distributing them at local businesses, schools, community centers, newsstands, cafes and fitness centers

* Writing an article and pitch it to local publications as well as posting it online to newsgroup/newsletter

* Giving out trial services or free product samples

* Talking about the business to everyone that I come to interact. To do this I must place my business passion before my ego. If not, I’ll have difficulty in opening his mouth

Networking Marketing

The sky is the limit when it comes to marketing and selling the benefits of the product/service. Networking is a great, super low in cost to connect with potential customers as well as strategic business associates and spread the news about the business.

The chamber of commerce, local business association or elite business club are great venues for networking. They can connect me to an ecosystem of members who are all looking for business opportunity in addition to getting the right sources of product/service. Often times these associations hold events, offer industry-specific education and message boards online, and provide an opportunity for members to list their businesses on their Website.

Affiliate Marketing

This is not a new jargon. It means engaging freelance agent to do the promotion and sales, online. It is a popular marketing approach where E-commerce Website owners engage existing customers, visitors or even organizations that are willing to promote and sell the product/service for a stipulated commission. The role of a freelance agent (known as affiliate), is to direct traffic to the Website and ultimately when a sale is made, commission is credited into the affiliate’s account.

Website owners usually recruit affiliates by simply advertising online (usually through Google Adwords; a per-per-click search engine advertisement), and placing interesting ads (with bombastic headlines) or sending out recruitment announcement to thousands of bulk emails (purchased from database provider). This is a powerful yet cost effective method of generating sales if owners are involved in Internet-based business.

Online Sales

Regardless of the kind of business these days, I always find a Website is essential. And depending upon the business niche and objectives, it can be a major part of the company’s sales and marketing initiatives. Designing a Website can be made fairly simple by working with a company that specializes in helping small businesses create their Website or get Website DIY software available online.

It’s vital to own a Website that is effective in content. It’s not what the contents say, but how the contents say it that makes all the difference online. Establishing credibility is the formula - attach as many testimonials as you could. Usually, I would give out my product/service to people that I already know, get them test it and immediately get their testimonials. I never wait till I launch the product/service in the market to get testimonial - too time consuming!

Customers expect the world and are suspicious of almost everything. The content (words) must be crisp and intelligent. What the Website says should grab visitors’ attention, pique their interest and motivate them to action - to click the “buy now” button.

Search engine optimization and search engine advertising are two ways to get the business marketing message out on the Internet, and there is a big difference between the two in terms of cost. Banner ads are another way to do online marketing, although the opinion on their effectiveness is very subjective. If owners lack Internet knowledge, it is highly recommended to employ a company or a freelance Website designer to get the job done.

Marketing Materials

This may sound a little basic but it is vital to have all the basic marketing tools. Printed materials like business cards, letterhead and brochures should be a staple in any business. It’s essential for business communication and networking. The key to developing good marketing materials without breaking the bank is to identify an affordable graphic designer and low-cost printer. I normally engage a freelance designer to get all of them done.

Direct Mail

For many fresh entrepreneurs, there is no better way to reach their target market, than mailing literature directly to homes. Based on effective market research, entrepreneurs can identify their core market, assign them certain codes and obtain mailing lists to directly send them literature on the company profile, discount, coupons or other information. To optimize any direct mail strategy, entrepreneurs should consider retaining a direct mailer or bulk mail house company. Alternatively, entrepreneurs can collect the information themselves by:

* Getting customers sign a guest book

* Obtaining customer feedback

* Purchasing mailing lists from community newspapers, chambers or other associations

* Retaining a list broker to customize a list

Advertisement

Advertising is one of the fastest ways to create awareness of the company, product or service. However, it can be relatively expensive for many startup owners. Before anyone spend money on advertising, however, it’s crucial to understand what advertising can and cannot do for the business, and draw up a blueprint for moving ahead. Here are four main functions of advertising:

* Triggering the curiosity of the public and attract new customers

* Persuading existing customers to spend more or keep coming back

* Establishing credibility, elevate branding status and creating unique business identity

* Reinforcing customers and prospects on the benefits of the brand, product or service

Advertisement cannot do one thing for sure - guarantee sales. Hence, placing up an advertisement campaign doesn’t mean a surge in sales or revenue.

Assuming budget is not an issue, I would definitely invest in an effective advertisement campaign. Therefore, I would create an advertising plan that fit into my budget plan in advance before committing to it.

Outsourcing

One simple and straight forward method that I would not miss out is outsourcing the sales of my product/service to an outsider. It’s easy, get the yellow pages (online or offline), search for marketing agencies, call them up and propose a joint venture (JV) with them in selling my product/service for a commission in return. The JV works perfectly as I am in charge of promoting and marketing the product/service as well as providing after sales service, and the agencies are only responsible for selling them. Most marketing agencies just want to focus on selling.

I would discuss with these agencies to attain a win-win joint venture - a remuneration system that allows them profit from each sale, while I could earn a healthy margin from each sale made. When it comes to negotiating an agreement, the rule is, the higher the commission I offer, the more excited these agencies are in taking up the JV. In the ten-step process, I spend most of my time in preparation. Preparation is more important than rushing to getting the business open. Thus, if you are already in the process of starting up your business, stop whatever you are doing and put on your thinking cap. Sort out all the preparations you need to do for your business to ensure an effective startup.
Read any autobiography or business success story, you’ll notice one common denominator for success - sales. You need to take whatever action possible to ensure that sales are consistently growing to allow you to gain profit.

Again, a word of caution; do not target everyone! In today’s competitive environment, consumers are becoming more demanding and many would seek out products/services that meet their specific need or want.

First and foremost, I need to identify (and do some in-depth research) my specific target market. Next, I would develop sales and marketing blueprint ( similar to the one shown in DAY 8 ) to attract the kind of customers I wanted and meantime, to retain existing customers.

No matter how I intend to plan and execute these strategies, I must understand the formula - executing these plans is like playing a game. What game…? Yes, you are correct - the number game. The higher the number of sales agents/staffs, or the higher is the amount of advertisement posted, or the higher the amount of distribution channels, or the more attempts I personally made to seal a deal, the bigger chances I have in winning. I know for sure, a prospect or a client may say “no” to my product/service today. But, it doesn’t mean a “no” forever! According to LIMRA (a research center for financial planners and financial advisors in America) findings, a potential buyer usually says “no” seven times before making the actual purchase!

Before we move on, let’s understand first the relationship between sales and marketing. Marketing is the process of bringing awareness to the product/service, while sales is the process of making the customer buy the product/service. Therefore, I am going to analyze eight sales and marketing strategies to increase my probability of winning:

1. Myself
2. Network marketing
3. Affiliate marketing
4. Online sales
5. Marketing materials
6. Direct mail
7. Advertisement
8. Outsourcing

Myself

The first approach is the most affordable yet effective strategy. It is made up of all the possible resources that I already have to generate sales and create awareness. These are some ideas that I would usually work on:

* Preparing a list of 200 or 300 list of target prospects, call them up, present to them how the product/service could benefit them and seal the deal

* Getting referrals from existing customers and reward them once the deal is closed

* Designing, printing marketing materials (i.e. brochure, flyer, discount card) and distributing them at local businesses, schools, community centers, newsstands, cafes and fitness centers

* Writing an article and pitch it to local publications as well as posting it online to newsgroup/newsletter

* Giving out trial services or free product samples

* Talking about the business to everyone that I come to interact. To do this I must place my business passion before my ego. If not, I’ll have difficulty in opening his mouth

Networking Marketing

The sky is the limit when it comes to marketing and selling the benefits of the product/service. Networking is a great, super low in cost to connect with potential customers as well as strategic business associates and spread the news about the business.

The chamber of commerce, local business association or elite business club are great venues for networking. They can connect me to an ecosystem of members who are all looking for business opportunity in addition to getting the right sources of product/service. Often times these associations hold events, offer industry-specific education and message boards online, and provide an opportunity for members to list their businesses on their Website.

Affiliate Marketing

This is not a new jargon. It means engaging freelance agent to do the promotion and sales, online. It is a popular marketing approach where E-commerce Website owners engage existing customers, visitors or even organizations that are willing to promote and sell the product/service for a stipulated commission. The role of a freelance agent (known as affiliate), is to direct traffic to the Website and ultimately when a sale is made, commission is credited into the affiliate’s account.

Website owners usually recruit affiliates by simply advertising online (usually through Google Adwords; a per-per-click search engine advertisement), and placing interesting ads (with bombastic headlines) or sending out recruitment announcement to thousands of bulk emails (purchased from database provider). This is a powerful yet cost effective method of generating sales if owners are involved in Internet-based business.

Online Sales

Regardless of the kind of business these days, I always find a Website is essential. And depending upon the business niche and objectives, it can be a major part of the company’s sales and marketing initiatives. Designing a Website can be made fairly simple by working with a company that specializes in helping small businesses create their Website or get Website DIY software available online.

It’s vital to own a Website that is effective in content. It’s not what the contents say, but how the contents say it that makes all the difference online. Establishing credibility is the formula - attach as many testimonials as you could. Usually, I would give out my product/service to people that I already know, get them test it and immediately get their testimonials. I never wait till I launch the product/service in the market to get testimonial - too time consuming!

Customers expect the world and are suspicious of almost everything. The content (words) must be crisp and intelligent. What the Website says should grab visitors’ attention, pique their interest and motivate them to action - to click the “buy now” button.

Search engine optimization and search engine advertising are two ways to get the business marketing message out on the Internet, and there is a big difference between the two in terms of cost. Banner ads are another way to do online marketing, although the opinion on their effectiveness is very subjective. If owners lack Internet knowledge, it is highly recommended to employ a company or a freelance Website designer to get the job done.

Marketing Materials

This may sound a little basic but it is vital to have all the basic marketing tools. Printed materials like business cards, letterhead and brochures should be a staple in any business. It’s essential for business communication and networking. The key to developing good marketing materials without breaking the bank is to identify an affordable graphic designer and low-cost printer. I normally engage a freelance designer to get all of them done.

Direct Mail

For many fresh entrepreneurs, there is no better way to reach their target market, than mailing literature directly to homes. Based on effective market research, entrepreneurs can identify their core market, assign them certain codes and obtain mailing lists to directly send them literature on the company profile, discount, coupons or other information. To optimize any direct mail strategy, entrepreneurs should consider retaining a direct mailer or bulk mail house company. Alternatively, entrepreneurs can collect the information themselves by:

* Getting customers sign a guest book

* Obtaining customer feedback

* Purchasing mailing lists from community newspapers, chambers or other associations

* Retaining a list broker to customize a list

Advertisement

Advertising is one of the fastest ways to create awareness of the company, product or service. However, it can be relatively expensive for many startup owners. Before anyone spend money on advertising, however, it’s crucial to understand what advertising can and cannot do for the business, and draw up a blueprint for moving ahead. Here are four main functions of advertising:

* Triggering the curiosity of the public and attract new customers

* Persuading existing customers to spend more or keep coming back

* Establishing credibility, elevate branding status and creating unique business identity

* Reinforcing customers and prospects on the benefits of the brand, product or service

Advertisement cannot do one thing for sure - guarantee sales. Hence, placing up an advertisement campaign doesn’t mean a surge in sales or revenue.

Assuming budget is not an issue, I would definitely invest in an effective advertisement campaign. Therefore, I would create an advertising plan that fit into my budget plan in advance before committing to it.

Outsourcing

One simple and straight forward method that I would not miss out is outsourcing the sales of my product/service to an outsider. It’s easy, get the yellow pages (online or offline), search for marketing agencies, call them up and propose a joint venture (JV) with them in selling my product/service for a commission in return. The JV works perfectly as I am in charge of promoting and marketing the product/service as well as providing after sales service, and the agencies are only responsible for selling them. Most marketing agencies just want to focus on selling.

I would discuss with these agencies to attain a win-win joint venture - a remuneration system that allows them profit from each sale, while I could earn a healthy margin from each sale made. When it comes to negotiating an agreement, the rule is, the higher the commission I offer, the more excited these agencies are in taking up the JV. In the ten-step process, I spend most of my time in preparation. Preparation is more important than rushing to getting the business open. Thus, if you are already in the process of starting up your business, stop whatever you are doing and put on your thinking cap. Sort out all the preparations you need to do for your business to ensure an effective startup.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:08 AM

10 Step-by-Step Business Startup Guide- Step 5

STEP 5: Create Key Assets

I definitely would not startup a business without any key asset. But it doesn’t stop here. My key assets are only as good as my ability to protect them, especially when intellectual property is concerned.

I have summarized five key assets that are crucial to all businesses - regardless of its nature:

* Website
* Trademarks
* Copyrights
* Patents
* Confidential Agreements
Website
As we live in the world of information, businesses are turning to the Internet for retailing opportunities, marketing and servicing. Every business should have a Website regardless how big or small the operation and the key to establishing a Website is securing a domain name i.e. www.yourbusinessname.com or www.yourbrand.com. Once a domain name is established, anyone can create their own Website using DIY software or engage a Website designer to get the job done.

Trademarks
My brand name, logo, and any other symbol that distinguishes my company or goods from others are classified as my trademarks. Trademark is one of the most important business assets I’ll ever own. I need to register my trademark with the local authority to ensure that I am the official owner of the mark, which gives me the sole exclusive rights to use the trademark.

Copyrights
A copyright grants me the exclusive legal rights to my creative work, which can include anything from literary or Website content to artistic compositions. I need to file a copyright with the local authority before I reserve the rights. Once granted, it prevents others from copying, performing or using my work without my permission. Don’t confuse copyright with trademark. Trademark is used only to protect intellectual property such as company names, brands, logos and symbols.

Patents
Assuming I start a business because I have a creative yet “best-selling” idea and I want to turn it into a commercial success. Therefore I should quickly protect my invention so I can have a head start. The best way to protect it is to get a patent on it. A patent is a legal property right granted by the government of the country I want to trade in, to the inventor to have the sole exclusive rights to exclude others from using, manufacturing or selling the invention for a limited time. In the United States, a patent will last for 20 years in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.

Confidential Agreements
They are legal documents that allow me to keep my company’s secret once I have exposed them to my staffs, business associates, or any authorities. The documents will legally disallow them to disclose such information to the public indefinitely. For this reason, it’s important that I get the relevant parties to sign the agreement before disclosing any information to them.
STEP 5: Create Key Assets

I definitely would not startup a business without any key asset. But it doesn’t stop here. My key assets are only as good as my ability to protect them, especially when intellectual property is concerned.

I have summarized five key assets that are crucial to all businesses - regardless of its nature:

* Website
* Trademarks
* Copyrights
* Patents
* Confidential Agreements
Website
As we live in the world of information, businesses are turning to the Internet for retailing opportunities, marketing and servicing. Every business should have a Website regardless how big or small the operation and the key to establishing a Website is securing a domain name i.e. www.yourbusinessname.com or www.yourbrand.com. Once a domain name is established, anyone can create their own Website using DIY software or engage a Website designer to get the job done.

Trademarks
My brand name, logo, and any other symbol that distinguishes my company or goods from others are classified as my trademarks. Trademark is one of the most important business assets I’ll ever own. I need to register my trademark with the local authority to ensure that I am the official owner of the mark, which gives me the sole exclusive rights to use the trademark.

Copyrights
A copyright grants me the exclusive legal rights to my creative work, which can include anything from literary or Website content to artistic compositions. I need to file a copyright with the local authority before I reserve the rights. Once granted, it prevents others from copying, performing or using my work without my permission. Don’t confuse copyright with trademark. Trademark is used only to protect intellectual property such as company names, brands, logos and symbols.

Patents
Assuming I start a business because I have a creative yet “best-selling” idea and I want to turn it into a commercial success. Therefore I should quickly protect my invention so I can have a head start. The best way to protect it is to get a patent on it. A patent is a legal property right granted by the government of the country I want to trade in, to the inventor to have the sole exclusive rights to exclude others from using, manufacturing or selling the invention for a limited time. In the United States, a patent will last for 20 years in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.

Confidential Agreements
They are legal documents that allow me to keep my company’s secret once I have exposed them to my staffs, business associates, or any authorities. The documents will legally disallow them to disclose such information to the public indefinitely. For this reason, it’s important that I get the relevant parties to sign the agreement before disclosing any information to them.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:07 AM 0 Comments

The One Small Business Marketing Tool you Can't do Without

It constantly amazes me how much time and money small businesses waste on marketing. Time and again you will find a small business owner spending time and/or money on the latest gizmo or fad without any idea of how it will benefit the business - in other words the decision is a straight thumbsuck. Very often it's a case of the business surviving despite the marketing!

You need to realise that your small business is impacted, either positively or negatively, by your marketing. This marketing might be the result of a conscious decision on your part,such as deciding to sponsor a golf day, or it could happen by default e.g. you forget to attend the AGM of your local business association.

Either way, you have sent a message to your potential clients about your business.

The trick then is to ensure that all your marketing actions, and inactions, are designed to benefit your business. Enter the one small business marketing tool you cannot do without: The humble Marketing Plan.

Before you yawn and reach for the TV guide, let's briefly consider how this business tool can benefit your small business.

1) A properly constructed and considered marketing plan defines what your target market is. It tells you who you should be targetting with your marketing efforts. If you know that, then you are not going to spend time and money on marketing efforts that aren't going to reach your target market. Result: Marketing Plan 1, Thumbsuck 0.

2) A marketing plan gives you control. You know ahead of time what, where and how you are going to do your marketing. This allows for better allocation and control of budgets and human resources.Result: Marketing Plan 2, Thumbsuck 0.

3) A marketing plan ensures that feedback mechanisms and measurables are in place so that you can quantify the results of your marketing efforts and make improvements for the next time.Result: Marketing Plan 3, Thumbsuck 0.

I hope you are beginning to get the picture. A Marketing Plan is the critical small business marketing tool that you can't do without if you are going to grow your business successfully.All other marketing tools and marketing activities are implemented in terms of the marketing plan. Final score: Marketing Plan 4, Thumbsuck 0!
It constantly amazes me how much time and money small businesses waste on marketing. Time and again you will find a small business owner spending time and/or money on the latest gizmo or fad without any idea of how it will benefit the business - in other words the decision is a straight thumbsuck. Very often it's a case of the business surviving despite the marketing!

You need to realise that your small business is impacted, either positively or negatively, by your marketing. This marketing might be the result of a conscious decision on your part,such as deciding to sponsor a golf day, or it could happen by default e.g. you forget to attend the AGM of your local business association.

Either way, you have sent a message to your potential clients about your business.

The trick then is to ensure that all your marketing actions, and inactions, are designed to benefit your business. Enter the one small business marketing tool you cannot do without: The humble Marketing Plan.

Before you yawn and reach for the TV guide, let's briefly consider how this business tool can benefit your small business.

1) A properly constructed and considered marketing plan defines what your target market is. It tells you who you should be targetting with your marketing efforts. If you know that, then you are not going to spend time and money on marketing efforts that aren't going to reach your target market. Result: Marketing Plan 1, Thumbsuck 0.

2) A marketing plan gives you control. You know ahead of time what, where and how you are going to do your marketing. This allows for better allocation and control of budgets and human resources.Result: Marketing Plan 2, Thumbsuck 0.

3) A marketing plan ensures that feedback mechanisms and measurables are in place so that you can quantify the results of your marketing efforts and make improvements for the next time.Result: Marketing Plan 3, Thumbsuck 0.

I hope you are beginning to get the picture. A Marketing Plan is the critical small business marketing tool that you can't do without if you are going to grow your business successfully.All other marketing tools and marketing activities are implemented in terms of the marketing plan. Final score: Marketing Plan 4, Thumbsuck 0!

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:07 AM

Success Leave Trail - Don't Reinvent The Wheels

Many people envy the financial and time freedom of online marketers and home based business owners and complaint about their 9-5 work, and wanted to get out of the rat race. However, when asked why they don’t start their own online business and homes based business, their answer is always,

I Don’t Know How to start an Online Business?

But when asked further, “Do you know people who don’t know any thing about Internet is making a comfortable living online?” Most answer is affirmative, either their have friends or know someone who have earn extra income online. They just never ask them how they started and build their online business. And when they are asked to emulate their successful friends foot path, they back off and given the excuse that online business is for the technically savvy and not for the ordinary people. And they continue to envy the online businessmen or women who own an online business and wish that they also have this freedom of spending time with their family and at the same time running a lucrative business at home.

If you are one of these people, there is something that you need to know. When online business is concerned, a lot of people just freak out when they saw the technical jargons on domain, url, html, java etc etc,. They believe that online business is for the technically competent people who had learned the programs language. To many, it is like rocket science and only those limited privilege people can succeed in online business.

So if you are one of these people stop your wishful thinking and land yourself on the ground! Ask again, “Do I know any person who doesn’t know any thing about Internet is making a comfortable living online?” If the answer is affirmative, you will have a good start, just ask this friend or associate how they do it. Many people are reluctant to ask for fear of being ridicule, if you are one of those, discard this thinking. Just remember, most successful people are more than willing to share their success stories and how they make it. Wealth grow faster when share. Make an appointment to meet them, or perhaps buy your friend a good lunch or dinner to listen to his success story.

If your answer is negative, do some research online, you will be able to find lots of cases on ordinary people making a living online and enjoying time and financial freedom. These people know how the online business works. They knew very well that they do not need to know everything to start a business, let alone online business. All you need to know is what success in online business can bring to you and your family.

Creating an online income and start an Online Business is not rocket science and anyone of average intelligence, willingness to learn and have the desire to succeed can and will make it. It is like driving a car, you don’t need to know how the fuel is being burn, how the pistons being push by the burning fuel and move the engine. All you need to know is; start with the ignition keys, press the accelerator, you will be able to reach the destination of your choice. When you learn to master building an online business like mastering driving your car, you will realize that many of the driving skill is subconscious, as in Online Business, many of which is on autopilot when you set it up properly. That is the beauty of Online Business.

Author Note: This is article 3 on series of articles on Get Your Life Back! For Part 3a with work solution, please visit enlightening Your eBusiness Direction a blog that share the resources and information on making extra income on Internet.
Many people envy the financial and time freedom of online marketers and home based business owners and complaint about their 9-5 work, and wanted to get out of the rat race. However, when asked why they don’t start their own online business and homes based business, their answer is always,

I Don’t Know How to start an Online Business?

But when asked further, “Do you know people who don’t know any thing about Internet is making a comfortable living online?” Most answer is affirmative, either their have friends or know someone who have earn extra income online. They just never ask them how they started and build their online business. And when they are asked to emulate their successful friends foot path, they back off and given the excuse that online business is for the technically savvy and not for the ordinary people. And they continue to envy the online businessmen or women who own an online business and wish that they also have this freedom of spending time with their family and at the same time running a lucrative business at home.

If you are one of these people, there is something that you need to know. When online business is concerned, a lot of people just freak out when they saw the technical jargons on domain, url, html, java etc etc,. They believe that online business is for the technically competent people who had learned the programs language. To many, it is like rocket science and only those limited privilege people can succeed in online business.

So if you are one of these people stop your wishful thinking and land yourself on the ground! Ask again, “Do I know any person who doesn’t know any thing about Internet is making a comfortable living online?” If the answer is affirmative, you will have a good start, just ask this friend or associate how they do it. Many people are reluctant to ask for fear of being ridicule, if you are one of those, discard this thinking. Just remember, most successful people are more than willing to share their success stories and how they make it. Wealth grow faster when share. Make an appointment to meet them, or perhaps buy your friend a good lunch or dinner to listen to his success story.

If your answer is negative, do some research online, you will be able to find lots of cases on ordinary people making a living online and enjoying time and financial freedom. These people know how the online business works. They knew very well that they do not need to know everything to start a business, let alone online business. All you need to know is what success in online business can bring to you and your family.

Creating an online income and start an Online Business is not rocket science and anyone of average intelligence, willingness to learn and have the desire to succeed can and will make it. It is like driving a car, you don’t need to know how the fuel is being burn, how the pistons being push by the burning fuel and move the engine. All you need to know is; start with the ignition keys, press the accelerator, you will be able to reach the destination of your choice. When you learn to master building an online business like mastering driving your car, you will realize that many of the driving skill is subconscious, as in Online Business, many of which is on autopilot when you set it up properly. That is the beauty of Online Business.

Author Note: This is article 3 on series of articles on Get Your Life Back! For Part 3a with work solution, please visit enlightening Your eBusiness Direction a blog that share the resources and information on making extra income on Internet.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:06 AM

Why a Business to Business Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses?

One of the ways in which a small business can leverage income is to do business with other businesses, rather than with individual members of the public.

There can be several advantages such as: potentially bigger and more consistent orders for your product or expertise; Increased visibility for your business in the business environment; usually (but not always!) less hassle getting paid etc etc.

There can also be serious disadvantages for a small business doing business with other, especially bigger, businesses. These include a squeeze on monetary and human resources when suddenly faced with delivering your biggest ever job;prolonged credit terms - you will get paid but possibly only in 120 days!;increased collateral damage to your name and image if things go wrong, and so on.

It is the classic capitalistic conundrum - high stakes with high rewards if you get it right, but a big, potentially fatal, problem if you get it wrong.

Most small businesses, if they are to grow, will have to adopt the "nothing ventured, nothing gained" attitude and become involved in doing business with other businesses. But they need to load the bases in their favour as much as possible beforehand.

This is where a business to business marketing strategy comes in. In reality a small business should re-look it's marketing plan and recognise that there must be a difference between their marketing strategy for individuals and their marketing strategy for other businesses because they represent 2 entirely different target markets.

By taking the time to relook their marketing plan and adjusting their marketing strategy to deal specifically with other businesses, small businesses will benefit through recognising new marketing opportunities and restricting the wasting of resources on marketing efforts that might not be appropriate for businesses.
One of the ways in which a small business can leverage income is to do business with other businesses, rather than with individual members of the public.

There can be several advantages such as: potentially bigger and more consistent orders for your product or expertise; Increased visibility for your business in the business environment; usually (but not always!) less hassle getting paid etc etc.

There can also be serious disadvantages for a small business doing business with other, especially bigger, businesses. These include a squeeze on monetary and human resources when suddenly faced with delivering your biggest ever job;prolonged credit terms - you will get paid but possibly only in 120 days!;increased collateral damage to your name and image if things go wrong, and so on.

It is the classic capitalistic conundrum - high stakes with high rewards if you get it right, but a big, potentially fatal, problem if you get it wrong.

Most small businesses, if they are to grow, will have to adopt the "nothing ventured, nothing gained" attitude and become involved in doing business with other businesses. But they need to load the bases in their favour as much as possible beforehand.

This is where a business to business marketing strategy comes in. In reality a small business should re-look it's marketing plan and recognise that there must be a difference between their marketing strategy for individuals and their marketing strategy for other businesses because they represent 2 entirely different target markets.

By taking the time to relook their marketing plan and adjusting their marketing strategy to deal specifically with other businesses, small businesses will benefit through recognising new marketing opportunities and restricting the wasting of resources on marketing efforts that might not be appropriate for businesses.

posted by zzzzzzzzzzz at 3:06 AM