Give Your Small Business a Spring Clean – 8 Tips That May Inspire You

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:44:11 +0000

Did you give your business a spring clean this year? Are you looking for new ways to boost sales, build your brand or get your business plan back on track?

This is the topic of one of SBA’s monthly web chats – Small Business Spring Clean: How to Keep Your Business Ideas Fresh – hosted by Octavia Kuransky, Program Development Manager at Central Alabama Women’s Business Center (and archived on SBA’s Learning Center).

Check out some of these great suggestions from Octavia’s session and be inspired!

Q: When should a small business website be updated?

A: “Great question. An outdated website sends the wrong message to potential clients. Recently, we had an expert in to talk on web development. He recommended a monthly sprucing and the inclusion of a blog in order to make your website more attractive to Google.”

Q: What's one of the best ways to get your press releases picked up by the media?

A: “I notice greater success in generating press coverage when I can connect to a breaking news story or some issue that is of interest already. Cultivate a relationship with a reporter so that you can call them directly and not have to reinvent the wheel each time. Collaborations always seem to be of interest to the press especially if the outcome can be shown to have some real impact. That should be your aim—to show impact. Impact equals news.”

I'd also add another point - try and target reporters who have influence on social media. Check their Klout score (a measure of influence), the kind of stories they write about and share. Look for a match with your product/industry.

Q: As business development specialists, most of our business involves providing a service to our clients (i.e.: consultations, training, etc.). How can we combine our services with technology to better conduct business? How can we take advantage of technology as service providers? And, is it prudent to do so?

A: “Let me share with you a strategy we are currently launching here at The Women's Business Center. The most requested workshops—usually those containing basic building block type information—we’ll be putting online. This frees our rather small staff to do more sophisticated work and workshops because we aren't continually having to do ALL workshops. And the basic ones can be self-tutored. We believe this to be a good strategy because, in effect, we can provide more and more varied workshops to the general public.”

Q: What is the best format to utilize social media to grow your business?

A: “The short answer is, it depends on the business. Some businesses should stay away from certain forms of social media. For example, a Facebook page might not be appropriate for a medical doctor. A review of your target market and a short consultation with a professional can help you determine what kind of social media is appropriate and most effective for you.”

Q: What are some easy ways to spring clean my expenses related to my business?

A: “Great question. I would pick a number, say $200 or so, and any expenditures with an annual outlay of above this amount would have to either show a benefit—meaning the expenditure is directly parlaying into revenue—or absolute necessity. If the expenditure cannot do that, eliminate it or find a less costly way. You might even set some goals for expenditures—like how much you will spend on advertising for the year.”

Q: I own a franchise business. It's been open for 7 years, and I need some capital infused to help me grow. I am a sole proprietor. Any suggestions?

A: “Yes, I have a suggestion. Gather up all your financial reporting, including tax returns, and make an appointment with someone at SCORE or an SBDC. Did you know that it might be possible to get a coach at SCORE who has experience in your industry and can mentor you? You can, of course, also make an appointment for an informal meeting with your original funder. If your cash flow is marginal, ask about a SBA (loan) guarantee.”

Q: How do you get started with marketing in a service-oriented business?

A: “I always recommend to any business, regardless whether it’s a product or service, that it be informed by the target market which has been previously identified in the marketing section of your business plan. This is because we know that certain demographics have certain shopping habits. For example, girls 18-25 tend to shop online. So if you're marketing to that age group for merchandise, I would advertise online. It helps to pay attention to where your competition is marketing; they may have done the research for you.”

Q: How do you fine tune your elevator pitch after you do your spring cleaning?

A: “Here is a general rule of thumb for composing elevator speeches. Name (you'd be surprised how often people forget to say their name in the press of the moment), the name of your company (again, people forget), the purpose of your service or product (this should just be a sentence or two) and last but not least, something that adds a sense of urgency or uniqueness about your firm or product.”

More Information about SBA Web Chats

SBA’s monthly web chats provide small business owners with the opportunity to submit questions live or in advance to experts in fields such as business law, tax, marketing and more. If you’re looking for an opportunity to get your questions answered, find out about upcoming web chats by signing up for SBA email updates or follow SBA on Twitter and Facebook. You can view the web chat archives on the SBA Learning Center.

7 Inspiring Home Business Ideas for Stay-at-Home Moms (or Dads)

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:57:03 +0000

Are you a stay-at-home mom (or dad)? Hoping to kick start an entrepreneurial dream or simply looking to bring in some extra income?

Starting a home-based business is a great way to do this. In fact, 52 percent of U.S. companies operate as home businesses (source) and many of today’s biggest brand names were established by stay-at-home moms – (Dorothy) Gerber, Mrs. (Debbi) Fields, and Julie Aigner-Clark (Baby Einstein), to name but a few. But what types of businesses can grow and thrive in the home environment?

Here are some business ideas and considerations for stay-at-home moms!

Freelancing

Perhaps the easiest form of business to delve into and operate is freelancing. Whatever your skill – writing, web design, marketing, tax advisor, or photography– freelancing affords an enormous amount of flexibility and freedom, and can be started with little cost or paperwork. Many freelancers get their start by approaching a former employer or customer who could benefit from their services, then branch out as their body of work and reputation grows.

Freelancing does have its challenges and requires discipline—you are running a business after all. Common mistakes freelancers make include not setting the business up properly and legally (getting the right permits, or licenses), forgetting to put money aside to pay estimated taxes, and not planning for peaks and valleys in cash flow.

Check out these blogs for tips and guidance to help you through the process of starting and operating your freelance business:

Become a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants (VAs) provide a wide variety of “virtual” services to other businesses including administrative, marketing and technical support from a home office. My local window cleaner, for example, uses a VA to answer his calls and manage his calendar while he’s busy on-site. VAs are growing in popularity, too, as firms look to cut costs and outsource administrative functions. If you are organized and have an administrative background, this might be for you. Start with your own connections or take advantage of the services of a VA organization or association who can help you get started and connect you with clients.

Make Money from Blogging

Yes, you can make money by blogging. I follow several stay-at-home moms who happen to be fashion and style bloggers – and it’s their business. If you can write and have a passion for a specific topic or hobby that you know will garner some attention, then this might be for you. Income generation opportunities can come in the form of affiliate marketing and advertising on your website or from companies who ask you to review and blog about their products. Look for ways to get traffic to your website through social media, search engine optimization and by getting involved in the wider blogosphere (networking with and commenting on the blogs of others in your niche).

Start a Creative Business

Whether it’s making gift baskets or offering interior design consultation services, if you have a creative streak and the room to store and create, then why not consider making money out of your talents? Get to know the market and do some planning to identify an untapped niche. SBA has several tools that can help including the Build your Business Plan tool and SizeUp a market and business analysis tool that lets you benchmark your business against competitors, map your customers, competitors and suppliers, and locate the best places to advertise.

Start a Home-Based Bakery or Food Business

Food production from a home is heavily regulated but it’s not impossible. Take Martha Stewart, for example—she famously entered the food service business with a basement-based catering company in 1976. Before you start a home-based food business you will need to understand the rules and regulations that govern the production of food for public consumption in an at-home environment. For example do you need a separate kitchen? What about product labeling? And so on. For tips and insight, read: Starting a Home-Based Food Production Business: Making Your Culinary Hobby Your Job.

Child Day Care

Home childcare businesses offer a potentially lucrative and long-lasting business opportunity. A home environment is often appealing to parents and once their kids are settled (and assuming you are doing a great job), then it’s likely you’ll have that business until they are old enough not to need care.

Of course, this is another regulated business and you’ll need to ensure you comply with state and local regulations that govern issues such as the provision of meals, minimum space requirements per child, and the number of licensed care workers per child. For information on starting a child care business including financing options, licensing requirements, and other regulatory matters read: Starting a Child Care Business? Government Tools and Resources that Can Help.

Start an Online Marketplace Store

If you have clutter that you want to get rid of and like the idea of selling products to an established worldwide network of consumers, consider starting a business on eBay, Etsy or Amazon. You can source products to sell from junk/yard sales or charity shops. If you want to get a bit more sophisticated, then consider buying wholesale or adopting a drop-shipping model. The goal is to find products that are in high-demand and not readily available from other sources. Read more about getting started here: More Than Just a Seller – How to Start a Business on an Online Marketplace.

More Ideas

Other business ideas including a dog walking/pet care business, a travel agent, start a home-based franchise business, event planning, architectural design, or tutoring students!

Whatever your idea make sure you start, structure and operate your business according to legal and regulatory requirements. Check out SBA’s 10 Steps to Starting your Business for the facts.

8 Ways Your Business Can Get Ready for the 2013 Tourist Season

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:01:26 +0000

While the U.S. economy continues to see positive signs of growth, consumer spending in one sector is booming – tourism.

Consider the facts – spending by international travelers to and within the U.S. increased 10.5 percent in 2012 (source: U.S Travel Association). Travel also continues to lead export growth, accounting for a 23 percent rise in U.S. exports. Home grown tourism is also experiencing a surge, with more and more Americans opting to take “staycations” – enjoying recreational and entertainment options closer to home – as opposed to hitting the roads and skies.

The forecast is good too. The Department of Commerce predicts that the U.S. can expect a 3.6 to 4.3 percent average annual growth in travel and tourism over the next four years.

To further spur tourism in the U.S., the federal government has set a goal of increasing American jobs by attracting and welcoming 100 million international visitors annually by the end of 2021, bringing an estimated $250 billion per year into the U.S. (read the National Tourism and Travel Strategy for more information).

This all represents a unique opportunity for the U.S. tourist industry and the businesses that underpin it. So what can your small business do to take advantage of this uptick in tourism? Here are eight marketing and management tips to help you get ready for the 2013 tourist season!

1. Make it Easy for Tourists to Come Back to Their Favorite Spots

Start with a plan to reach your low hanging fruit – repeat visitors. The best way to do this is to stay in touch with them all year round with special offers, email marketing and social media updates. Let them know what plans you have for the tourist season this year, any upgrades you’ve made to your business and so on. If the summer is your peak season, then fall, winter and even early spring should be your busiest marketing seasons.

These articles offer some useful tips for staying in touch with customers:

2. Staycationers – How to Attract These Lucrative Tourists

Just as you want to reach out to travelers and tourists from out of town, don’t forget to focus some of your marketing and advertising efforts closer to home. Be persuasive in your benefit statements. For example:

Explain what differentiates you – Are you family/pet friendly? Do you stock/grow local products? How easy is it to get to you? Do repeat visitors receive any special discounts?
Source local – Even if you don’t grow or produce your own products, look for ways to integrate local produce into your business so that customers get a real flavor of what your community offers and the dollars stay local. Ask fellow businesses to reciprocate too.
Team up with complementary businesses to cross-promote and market your businesses – with something for everyone, tourists might be more likely to make the trip to your community and stay for a while! Get some tips for doing this in this blog from Rieva Lesonsky: Forget Competition it’s Time for Co-Opetition.
Cash in on what your region has to offer – Is your region known for its wine or green credentials? Are there certain certifications that you can seek out to help promote your business?
Develop messages and advertising that targets larger groups – Can you handle bus tours or school field trips? Any incentives or package deals for larger groups or families?
Remind visitors that they will save money on gas, lodging, airfare and even time by vacationing near home.
Get Involved in Local Events/Festivals – Community fairs, farmers markets, sponsored sports events and concerts offer great opportunities to reach locals and tourists alike. Read guest blogger Rieva Lesonsky’s: Marketing Your Business with Events and Sponsoring or Hosting an Event – 6 Ways to Maximize your Return.

3. Use Location-Based Services to Attract Passersby

Don’t forget to take advantage of mobile technology. Promoting your small business to tourists who might be passing by using mobile apps isn’t that difficult. Groupon, Living Social, FourSquare and ThinkNear, among others, let you post information about your latest offers and limited-time deals to consumers within a certain distance of your business. You can also schedule deals so they get delivered during key hours. Keep your Google, Yelp, Yellow Pages and other online listings up to date too.

4. Take Your Business on the Road

If the best way to reach tourists is to take your business on the road, a concession stand or a booth at a craft or community fair is a great opportunity to bring in extra dollars and spread the word. These articles offer some advice:

5. Become a National Park Concession Business

Did you know there are opportunities for small businesses in national parks? Food, lodging, tours, whitewater rafting, boating, and many other recreational activities and amenities in more than 100 national parks are managed by private businesses under contract to the National Park Service. The services, provided by more than 600 concessioners, gross more than $1 billion every year and provide jobs for more than 25,000 people peak season. Every year, the Park Service issues prospectuses that detail these business opportunities; it also publishes notices at www.fedbizopps.gov. Many of these opportunities are smaller operations featuring unique recreation activities.

6. Need Short-Term Capital?

Seasonal businesses often have to pour capital into business improvements, marketing, inventory and staff long before they can expect to make a profit. If you don’t have sufficient cash flow or funds to prepare your business for the 2013 tourist season, you may want to consider a short-term loan or line of credit. SBA’s CAPLines Program, for example, provides advances against inventory needs and accounts receivable to help you weather seasonal sales. Read more and talk to your regional SBA Office for more information.

7. Plan Your Seasonal Work Force

If your business counts on the summer season or tourist trade, then start planning your seasonal workforce now. If you’re new to this process or have questions about hiring and compensating seasonal workers (for example, do you need to pay unemployment taxes for seasonal workers?), check out this blog – 5 Things to Know Now about Hiring Temporary or Seasonal Workers – for tips on hiring and working with seasonal workers within the law.

8. Partner with Local Business Groups

Reach out to your local Chamber of Commerce and local tourism associations or sector organizations that promote clusters of businesses in the same business sector such as hotels, restaurants, tour operators, B&B’s, camp grounds and so on. Many of these offer small businesses an opportunity to participate in their targeted and collective approach to seasonal marketing.

What are you going to do to boost your revenues this tourist season? Leave a comment below!

8 Things you Can Do to Be Taken Seriously as a Young Entrepreneur

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:11:03 +0000

Are you a teenager or in your early 20s? Do you have a great business idea? Perhaps you’re already making headway towards starting your own business.

But how do you get others to believe in you and your business idea?

Here are eight surefire ways that you can be taken seriously as a young entrepreneur:

1. Have a Plan

Having a plan means knowing where you want to be and what steps you are going to take to get there. If you can’t communicate this to investors, vendors, distributors, employees, and so on, you will never be taken seriously.

Case in point – SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011 – Mollie Breault-Binaghi. Now in her mid-20s, Mollie owns two successful graphic design and printing businesses in Vermont. With input from her boyfriend and her family, she spent considerable time working out the details of a business plan. “When you’re going to be investing not only money but your time, you need to invest an equal amount of energy laying it out on paper before you jump in,” Mollie said. (Read more about Mollie’s story here).

Not sure where to start with your business plan? Check out SBA’s online Build your Business Plan tool—a step-by-step guide to help you get started. Save your plan as a PDF file and update it at any time.

2. Be Serious About Your Passion

While Mollie’s advice for other young entrepreneurs is simple: “Plan!” she also added: “And you have to be passionate about it. Otherwise it’s not worth doing. Owning your own business is not easy and it’s not going to make you rich quick. You’re going to be in it for the long haul, so it’s got to be something you love.”

It’s inevitable that you are going to come across people who are going to try and talk you out of your idea—put your ear muffs on and stand your ground. Be proud of your idea, innovation, or business and be ready to showcase what you’ve done to get this far and what your plans are for the next step.

A few sure fire ways to demonstrate your commitment include:

Work at it – Be prepared to put the hours and weekends into your business.
Educate yourself and take educated risks! – Take advantage of free or low-cost business start-up workshops from your local business incubator, Small Business Development Center, Women’s Business Centers and more. Check out free online courses such as those offered by SBA in the Learning Center on this site. Learn about your industry but also what it takes to be a successful business leader/marketer/planner, and so on.
Stick at it through adversity – Nothing says commitment better than sticking with something even when you feel like throwing in the towel.
Identify what went wrong and learn from it.

3. Find a Mentor

Many young entrepreneurs struggle to succeed because they don’t have a mentor. Whether it’s a former boss, someone in your business network, or family friend, find a mentor who has experience in your field and has walked in your shoes before. Not only can a mentor provide valuable advice, they can also give you access to contacts, resources, and events that you might not otherwise have access to. If you can’t pinpoint a mentor, check out SCORE – a network of over 13,000 volunteer business mentors who have helped over 10,000 Americans start and grow their businesses.

4. Surround Yourself With the Right People

Just as it’s important to have a mentor, it’s also important to work on being around the right people – as much as you can. Surround yourself with the kind of people who are living the life you want to live or exemplify – they will challenge you and probably tell you things you don’t want to hear, but they’ll also tell you the things you have to hear. Look to entrepreneurial groups, experts in your industry, college professors – those who are respected in your industry or community.

5. Put Yourself in Environments That Will Allow You to Grow

Just as surrounding yourself with the right people will challenge your way of thinking, push yourself to seek out new possibilities beyond your comfort zone. As a series of young entrepreneurs explain this “Advice for Young Entrepreneurs” video from PHP Associates: “Putting yourself in an environment that causes you to be against the wall and maybe is a little uncomfortable, but being around it enough times you start to own it and you start to get a little bit more belief, in increments, in yourself and all that adds up to where you’re comfortable in your own shoes…”

6. Don’t Be Flash with Cash!

One of the surest ways to show you are serious about your business idea is to demonstrate that you can manage your cash and keep it flowing. Look for ways to keep costs low. Consider working part-time when you launch your company; this will help you build your business with less risk and provide you with a steady cash flow from another source. Once you’ve established a base, then transition to full-time business ownership.

You should also utilize technology and the resources around you to keep costs low – think of using garage space to store inventory instead of paying for a warehouse, or use social media to make the most of low-cost marketing.

7. Need Financing? – Do Your Homework

Securing financing as a young entrepreneur can be particularly challenging. Without a credit history or career history, finding someone who will entrust their money to you isn’t going to be easy. But with a solid business plan and commitment to success, investors are out there ready to take you seriously. Here are just some of the options that young entrepreneurs can explore:

Also read What Lenders Look For and Tips for Winning them Over.

8. Look Like a Pro

It goes without saying, or does it? Try to look like you are serious about what you are doing. Whether you are meeting customers, potential partners, mentors or investors – clean up your act. No, you don’t need to wear a suit all the time, but dress appropriately. “Remember, you might need to overcome some preconceived ideas about what teenagers are like, so be sure your looks and your language reflect the fact that you're serious about your business,” advises Young Enterpreneur’s, Adam Toren. “When communicating through email, use spell check and keep slang and abbreviations to minimum. If you're polite, professional and knowledgeable, your potential customers are sure to take you seriously.”

More Information

Young entrepreneurs can get more tips and practical guidance about starting a business in SBA’s online course: Young Entrepreneurs - An Essential guide to Starting Your Own Business. Also check out SBA’s Young Entrepreneurs guide for resources and programs to get you started.

How to Dust Off Your Marketing Hat with Strategies that Work

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:18:09 +0000

When did you last take a marketing 101 course? Don’t have enough time or perhaps you leave marketing up to others? Whatever the stage of your small business, a marketing plan can help ensure you are putting your customers at the front and center of your business. Likewise, an effective approach for its execution will ensure you satisfy your customers’ needs while generating profits for your business.

So if marketing concepts are new to your or you just want to dust off your marketing hat, check out SBA’s free online course – Marketing 101. Designed with the small business owner in mind, the course can help you understand the importance of marketing research, help you build a marketing plan and suggest strategies to help you go after your target market.

In a nutshell, here’s what you need to know. (I’ve also included links to some articles that provide a deeper dive into some of the areas covered by the course):

Think You Know What Marketing Is?

You might think that the first exercise in this course is redundant – “What is Marketing?” However, it’s worth explaining, because marketing is so often confused with advertising or promotion, and it’s much more than that.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as, “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

A lot of words, but the key word is “satisfy.” Your products and/or services should provide a solution to an unfulfilled need in the market place. Once you’ve established that need (with the help of market research) you then go on to establish prices, develop an awareness or promotion strategy and set up distribution processes.

Don’t Do Anything Without Doing Market Research

To be successful selling into a market, you have to first understand it. The thing is, it needn’t be costly or complex; it can be as simple as surveying a cross-section of your prospects or customers. You can also draw on demographic information, market trends, and so on. Check out SBA’s SizeUp tool, a free service that helps you manage and grow your business by benchmarking it against competitors, mapping your customers, competitors and suppliers, and locating the best places to advertise. Check out this blog for more resources: Free Sources of Market Data and How to use that Data for Business Planning.

Your research should focus on getting answers to the following questions:

Who are your existing customers and potential customers?
How would you describe or profile your customers?
Where are they located?
And, most importantly, are you offering the kinds of products and services customers want—at the best place, at the right price and in the right amounts?

Writing Your Marketing Plan (i.e. how are you going to reach your customers?)

OK… you’ve done your research, so how do you pull it all together to reach and influence your customers? The answer is preparing a meaningful marketing plan.

The marketing plan is the heart of any business. It is a blueprint of strategies designed to help you win customers. Your marketing plan – which is generally included within the overall business plan, should consist of several key components: identify your target market; define your products and services; outline your pricing strategy; describe how your products will be distributed; develop a promotion strategy; review your competition; prepare a marketing budget and have a plan in place for measuring performance.

Check out my earlier blog – 5 Tips for Writing a Simple (and Un-Daunting) Marketing Plan – or check out the Section 3 of the training course for a deeper dive into planning around these strategic areas. The following blogs can also help:

Now, what approaches and tactics work best for executing your plan? Below are a few to consider.

10 High Impact Marketing Strategies to Consider

Part of the planning process includes coming up with strategies to reach new customers and to grow existing ones. The training course includes suggestions for ten high impact, low-cost, and easy-to-implement strategies that you may want to consider as part of your plan including surveying your customers, content development, blogging, seminars and demonstrations, signage, effective sales follow-up, and staying alert and learning from others.

For a deeper dive, check out the full Marketing 101 course online. It’s self-paced and only takes 30 minutes to complete!

Additional Resources

For additional marketing tips, check out SBA’s extensive archive of marketing-related blogs.

4 Tips for Getting Large Retailers to Stock Your Products

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:18:19 +0000

Have you ever wondered how you can get your businesses’ products stocked on the shelves of a large retailer?

It does happen, and it’s refreshing to see. For example, my local supermarket makes a point of stocking locally grown produce front and center as soon as you walk in the store, while other stores make a point of promoting the latest gadgets from small business inventors.

The truth is, retail buyers are always on the lookout for products that will appeal to their customers and complement their brand, but how do you find them and pitch your wares? Here are four tips!

1. Do Your Research – Find out What Retailers Are Looking For

Before you contact a buyer or work on your pitch, do your due diligence and ask yourself a few questions. What’s your niche? What retail stores represent a good fit for your brand (be objective about this one and put the buyer’s hat on for a moment)? Does your product complement the store’s existing product lines and add value to its image? What about your packaging – is it self-explanatory as to what your product is and does, does it stand out?

Certain buyers may be looking to stock merchandise from diverse vendors – local farmers, women- or veteran-owned businesses. Is this something you could take advantage of?

2. Get to Know the Buyers

You can often contact a buyer through a big retailer’s website; alternatively directories such as Chain Store Guide and The Salesman’s Guide include buyer listings across a wide breadth of industries. However, nothing beats making a direct in-person connection in the venues where buyers are on the lookout for new products. Trade shows and conferences (especially those sponsored by your target retailer), are a good place to start. Some larger retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot also host product review events and competitions where manufacturers get to pitch their wares directly to potential buyers.

3. Prepare Your Pitch

One of the most important considerations when preparing your pitch is not so much what your product is, but how it will complement the store’s existing product lines. You’ll also have to convince buyers that your product will sell (use market trends and your track history of online or smaller scale retail success to back-up your claims). Another important point to consider is the fact that you are a small business. The buyer will want to know that you can scale to their needs and manage your supply chain. Stress your qualities such as credibility, agility, or responsiveness.

If you can, bring samples of your product and have enough on hand so that the buyer can hang onto them after your meeting.

4. Be Relentless and Ready!

It’s unlikely that one meeting will clinch a deal with a buyer, so be relentless in your follow-up. Likewise, be prepared to stand true to your business plan, if you think the retailer is selling your product cheap, step back and review your options. Other retailers may be more willing to give you the margins you need.

Look for ways to earn your buyer’s confidence, you need to demonstrate that you are ready to scale. Are there any areas you need to invest in before you make your pitch or sign on the dotted line. For example, investing in technology that will allow you to accept and process larger orders or better manage your inventory.

Check out these related blogs for more tips:

5 Tips for Writing a Basic (and Un-Daunting) Marketing Plan

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:41:29 +0000

Have you ever written a marketing plan for your business? Do you keep putting off the task?

Whether you are launching a new product or promoting your latest offer, a marketing plan is worth taking the time to complete. Why?

As a small business owner, it’s likely that you not only own the task of coming up with a strategic plan, but also the act of executing it (writing email copy, hosting events, etc.). If this is you, then a plan can help you direct your day-to-day activities, guide your approach, and ensure you are making the most of the available resources.

The good news is that a marketing plan needn’t be encyclopedic or overly time consuming to prepare. In fact, in my experience, the simpler the plan, the more effective it can be (bog yourself down in too many details and you’ll quickly lose focus). A simple plan also gives you the flexibility to quickly adjust your tactics if you need to.

Here are five tips for developing a basic marketing plan that can be applied to discrete activities such as a product launch or promotional campaigns.

1. Build a Precise Picture of Your Ideal Customer

Identifying your target market is the first step of any marketing plan and it’s essential that you are as precise as possible. If not, you run the risk of a scatter-gun approach that will dilute your message and drain your budget. Instead, think about your target market in terms of specifics – who in your current customer base is the right fit for your product or service? What have they purchased from you before? Do their purchasing patterns suggest they might be a good target? Are they the kind of customer you even enjoy doing business with? What about reaching new customers outside your customer base?

The more specific you can be, the easier it will be to craft the right message and tactics for reaching that audience. Read 5 Ways to Find the RIght Niche and Target Market for your Small Business for more tips.

2. What do you Want to Accomplish?

Again, be specific. Stating that you want to increase brand awareness about your business/product isn’t really specific enough. Think about what actions you want them to take after they are made aware of your campaign or promotional activity. Do you want them to register for an event, take advantage of a special offer, upgrade an existing product, invest in training, or request a quote? There may be multiple actions that you want them to take. For example, a webinar could be positioned as a free training opportunity and your initial action goal would be to get your target market to register for the event. However, once the event is over, you may then want to circle back with attendees and see if they are interested in receiving more information (such as a one-on-one product demo or quote for a product or service).

These actions will drive your messaging and delivery methods.

3. How Can You Reach your Targets?

Now that you know who you want to reach and what actions you want them to take, you’ll need to identify the best ways to reach them and with what message. To do this, consider the following about your customers and prospects:

What associations do they belong to?
Are they active on social media?
Do they subscribe to your email marketing?
What print or online media do they read?
What are their pain points (how can you help address these)?
What types of messages or call to actions have they responded to in the past?
Why should they care about what you have to offer (what’s in it for them / in what ways will they benefit)?

4. Work Out Your Budget

When it comes to planning your budget, either start with a figure that you can afford, or determine your tactics, price them out (my preferred method) and prioritize where necessary. You can always adjust your budget as you go, so be flexible. For tips on calculating your marketing budget read: How to Set a Marketing Budget that Fits your Business Goals and Provides a High Return on Investment.

5. Plan Your Tactics

Your tactics are the actions you need to take to help you reach your target market and accomplish your goals. These include specifics such as direct mail, email marketing, print/radio/online advertising, blogs, social media, case studies, webinars, events, sponsorships and so on.

Never rely on one tactic alone. An integrated approach that delivers a consistent message across multiple, targeted platforms is the best way to ensure you reach your target market and get the most out of your budget. Refer back to who it is you are trying to reach, where they are, and what you want them to do.

Above all, be flexible. Track results and adjust your tactics and messaging as you go. I’ve seen many campaigns start out with one message and close out with a completely different one. Try out new email subject lines, test social media messages, and keep a close eye on what works and what doesn’t.

Don’t forget a call to action – whether it’s taking advantage of a coupon, downloading a white paper, or attending an event. Use a unique code for each medium so that you can track where your leads are coming from. This blog offers some tips: 8 Ways to Strengthen Your Email Marketing Offers and Calls to Action.

Lastly, don’t forget to include internal elements to our plan such as sales trainings or briefings about your campaign or new product offering.

Good luck! For more help, contact your local Small Business Development Center. They offer training, counseling and support for business owners in all areas of business planning and operation.

Additional Resources

For more marketing tips, check out SBA’s extensive archive of marketing-related blogs.

7 Tips for a Starting a Successful Customer Loyalty Program

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:37:10 +0000

Got a loyalty card in your wallet?

Small business loyalty programs are a great way of showing customers that they are valued. They encourage return business and help you gather information about your customer demographic. Loyalty programs can also boost your marketing efforts. According to Experian CheetahMail, email campaigns that target loyalty program members are more successful – generating higher open rates, transaction levels and revenue. Even emails that invite prospects to join loyalty programs outperform regular email blasts.

Of course, getting your loyalty program right is critical. Industry experts believe the future of loyalty programs lies in mobile technology. But not everyone has a smartphone or the right app loaded to take advantage of your program. The key is creating a program that is accessible to all and easy to use.

Here are seven tips for starting a small business loyalty program:

The Easy Way to Go – A Loyalty Punch Card

If you’re new to loyalty programs and want a low-tech option, the simple punch card formula is a good place to start. Just design and print out a card and offer a free gift after a certain number of purchases have been made. There are a few obvious drawbacks to this method – you can’t track consumer demographics and the program is 100 percent reliant on customers’ carrying that card around with them in their wallet. That’s if they even remember it’s there!

Start an Opt-In Program

Another easy option is to set-up a simple “sign-up for offers/rewards” program. Ask customers to share their email addresses and add them to an opt-in email list – you can do this online or at the point of sale. This form of email sign-up eases the application process and spares your customer the hassle of having them download an app or share heaps of personal information. In exchange, you’ll promise to send them regular communications and special offers only available to loyalty members. As mentioned above, email campaigns that target loyalty members can be a great source of revenue – and, of course, are trackable.

Consider a Premium Loyalty Program

If you want to reward customers who spend the most, develop a program that limits who may be eligible to qualify. Use your customer relationship management software to track higher value purchases over time and invite customers who meet certain thresholds to join. Alternatively, simply invite high-spending consumers to sign up for your program at the point of sale.

Offer Branded Loyalty Membership Cards

There are a number of commercially available loyalty card services that let you design branded cards, track and manage customer behavior such as number of customer visits to your store, average spend and more. Many also let you send targeted email and text campaigns to members. You can even add on other services such as branded gift cards.

Add a Digital Component

While not all your customers will be digitally savvy, chances are many are and it’s increasingly important that you cater to the growing mobile loyalty trend. There are many apps that small businesses can tap into for free or for a fee. If your business already uses a mobile payment platform, many of these are now integrating loyalty programs into their offerings. Explore your options and look for services that offer social media integration – making it easy for customers to share your awesomeness with their friends and even earn points for likes, shares and online reviews.

Choose Your Incentives Carefully

Reward loyalty with some class. Freebies don’t always appeal to all and they can even de-value your services. For small businesses, customer loyalty is founded first and foremost on great service, a personal greeting, and the tried and tested quality of your products or services. So think of ways you can make your incentives and rewards as unique as your business. Experiential rewards are always popular. For example, a hair salon could offer a monthly workshop that offers free makeover tips to loyal customers. These experiences add value to your customers’ lives, build community, help your business stand out and give customers reason to keep coming back.

Communicate Regularly With Your Members

Treat your loyalty members royally. Segment them out in your email and direct marketing efforts and communicate with them often. Share news of upcoming loyalty incentives or events and don’t forget birthdays – offer something unique to members or opt-in email subscribers during their birthday month.

What loyalty program strategies have worked for your small business? Leave a comment below.

Is Your Business Moving? 6 Tips for Attracting Customers To Your New Location

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:25:25 +0000

Businesses move for all sorts of reasons. Existing rents may be too high; neighboring anchor tenants may have left; or perhaps you just need a bigger premise for your growing business!

But how can you ensure your existing customers move with you and how can you go about attracting new customers to your new location? Here are six tips:

1. Communicate Pre-Move and Post-Move

First, be sure to use every available touch point to communicate with existing customers about your impending move—and well in advance. Utilize e-mail lists, your website, direct mail, flyers, blog, social media, advertising, press releases, in-store signage—the works. Be sure to include directions, information about what else is going on in that neighborhood and, if your move is for positive reasons, be bold and share those details. For example, if you are expanding, include a message that thanks your customers for their patronage and stresses your commitment to providing top notch service.

If you haven’t been keeping a record of your customer emails and mailing addresses, use the news media and other avenues (see below) to spread the word about your move.

Don’t forget to leave flyers with your neighbors after you’ve moved and request that they display them in their windows or at the point of sale.

2. Update Your Online Listings

Search engines are increasingly locally-centric in their search results. For example, if you enter “Italian restaurant” into a Google search, it will automatically display local businesses in your area first. So update (or create if you don’t have them) your online listings, whether they are on Google+ Local, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Facebook, Trip Advisor or others. And, of course, don’t forget to update your own website “Contact Us”, “About Us” or “Find Us” page.

3. Use Location-Based Services to Attract Passersby

Don’t forget to take advantage of mobile technology. Promoting your small business to passersby using mobile apps that target consumers in the vicinity of your business isn’t that difficult. Groupon, Living Social, FourSquare and ThinkNear, among others, let you post information about your latest offers and limited-time deals to consumers within a certain distance of your business. You can also schedule deals to get delivered during key hours—for example, if you’re looking to boost foot traffic during off-peak times.

4. Give Existing Customers an Incentive to Visit You at Your New Location

Your customers are your livelihood, treat them that way. Offer them incentives to stop by your new location. Make sure the offer is time-bound so they have a reason to check out your new digs soon!

5. Host an Event to Attract New and Existing Customers

Give customers a reason to fall in love with your store—not just for its products, but as a place to get together. Retail stores, bars, restaurants and other food service businesses, in particular, can benefit from hosting events. These can be educational in nature (bring in a guest speaker from a vendor or supplier if you don’t have much to say yourself) or appreciation events (offer a sneak preview of your new location to your top customers). Events can also be tied to themes (date night or wine night) or holidays.

6. Don’t Forget Customers That May Not Have Checked You Out for a While

Your new location might be more convenient to some of your older customers. So consider running a campaign that targets not only your active customer base, but those who may not have purchased from you in a while. Special offers or other incentives specifically targeted at that group and paired with a, “we’d love to see you again,” message may just do the trick.

For more tips about attracting customers to your new business location read: 7 Ways to Increase Foot Traffic to your Small Business.

Useful Resources

SBA SizeUp Tool – Want to know how your business stacks up against the competition? Where your potential competitors are located? Where the best places are to advertise your business? Use SBA’s SizeUp tool to help you crunch millions of data points and get customizable reports and statistics about your business and its competition. Just enter your industry, city, state and other details. SizeUp then runs various reports and provides maps and data related to your competition, suppliers and customers. It also highlights potential advertising opportunities.

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5 Tips for Hiring and Empowering Great Employees

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:25:00 +0000

Hiring employees is probably the most important decision any entrepreneur will ever make. But relinquishing some of the responsibility of your business to others is tough.

The key to getting it right is finding employees with the right value alignment and attitude (often easier said than done). Of course, you need to work at it too. Once you’ve built your team, learning to let go and empower employees is critical if you want focus on growing your business.

These steps are explored in one of SBA’s Learning Center videos–Hiring and Developing Employees—which features insights and tips from successful small business owners who’ve struggled with many of these issues and challenges themselves.

Here are five tips they suggest for growing your business through hiring and developing great employees:

Learn How to Let Go

As you start a business, you’ll likely be wearing many hats. But if your business is going to grow, then learning to let go is critical: “You are a leader for the business,” explains Eileen Spitalny, co-founder of Fairytale Brownies, a $10 million a year online and mail-order baking business headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. “In the beginning, we did bake the brownies; we did wash the pans. But you need to trust people, give them parameters, let them learn on their own, give them feedback and be there as their mentor, not over their shoulder. This is our philosophy.”

Both Spitalny and co-founder David Kravetz acknowledge that letting go didn’t come easy for them: “Looking back, we took too long to let go, and now we realize our team members are going to grow with the more responsibility we give them.” Fairytale Brownies encourages its employees to be proactive in their feedback, offering incentives such as movie tickets in return for suggestions on how they can better run the business.

Encourage Decision-Making Among Employees

Part of learning how to let go is looking for ways to empower your employees and give them decision-making authority. But how much trust can you instill in them without feeling the need to constantly monitor performance or simply “be there” for them?

After reading a self-help book on management skills, Fairytale Brownies were inspired to launch a “$100 Empowerment Policy.” This simple solution gives any team member the authority to spend up to $100 of company money to solve a customer problem without having to ask. “It’s taken a long time to get them to actually give up the money and a lot of times we’ll have to remind them,” explains David Kravetx, “Ninety-five percent of the problems can be solved with $100, whether it’s re-shipping a gift or refunding…and they don’t have to come to me to ask...it’s money well-spent for us.”

For more tips read: 7 Ways to Lead and Empower Your Team – Because Satisfied Employees Make for Happy Customers.

Hire the Right Values and Attitude and the Rest Will Take Care of Itself

For Steve Bell, owner of Pacific Cabinets, a multimillion dollar Washington state cabinet business, alignment of values and the right attitude is more important than experience. “If people have the same core values that we have—if they have a great attitude…if they have the ability to learn—then we can hire them and teach them anything they need to know in the business.”

For tips on finding a good match, read: 4 Interview Questions That Get to the Heart of a Candidate’s Potential.

Consider a Trial Employment Period

A new-hire trial period is another option that service-based businesses might consider to ensure a good match. Holly DiTallo, a trainer and co-owner at Scottsdale Education Center in Arizona, uses a two-week trial program to assess new educational contractors, “that’s just about long enough for us to be able to say come back another time or we don’t really think you’re the right fit.”

Fire Quickly if Things Aren’t Working Out

It goes without saying that your goal is to hire great people, but Fairytale Brownies—like many small business owners—learned some tough lessons with problem employees. “We would spend sometimes a year or longer living with an employee who we knew deep down wasn’t working out. We tried to change their personality and we learned that you can teach skills but if someone’s not working out, we will let them go a lot faster than we did at the beginning,” explains owner, David Kravetz.

What hiring challenges has your business encountered? How have you overcome these? Leave a comment below!

Don’t forget to visit the SBA Learning Center for more free self-paced online training courses, quick videos, web chats and more to help small business owners explore and learn about the many aspects of business ownership.

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Women Business Owners – How to Get the Start-Up Boost You Need with Accelerator and Mentoring Programs

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:41:42 +0000

Start-up accelerator programs are popping up all over the country offering industry-focused programs and support for a variety of business owners. Although traditionally focused on high-tech businesses, accelerators now serve a variety of entrepreneurial needs, including those of women, through programs that facilitate mentoring and education, access to investors, and networking opportunities.

Take for example The Women’s Small Business Accelerator of Central Ohio, a nonprofit organization launched last year, with a mission to support women as they launch and grow small and micro businesses. The accelerator, located at 403-409 W. Main Street in Westerville, is just over 6,000 square feet of co-working space divided into four suites, two conference rooms, two kitchens, a creative space, and a training space that accelerator participants can lease at a reduced rate. The accelerator offers approximately 35 office spaces, including private offices and cubicles, available to women-business owners at or below competitive market rates (as low as $225 per month).

To further assist women small business owners, the accelerator offers peer-to-peer support, mentoring, and education (on topics such as writing a business plan with the final goal to secure funding).

The Attraction of Business Accelerators to Start-Ups

A growing segment of the entrepreneurial community, business accelerators clearly offer start-ups many benefits. Yes, the potential access to investors and financing is a huge draw, but for many business owners the attraction comes in the access to mentoring and guidance from a group of experts that incubators or accelerators can provide.

Many of the programs offered are structured and offer a clear path in support of strategic business success. Programs such as The Women’s Small Business Accelerator of Central Ohio typically include educational sessions and interactive monthly roundtables facilitated by small business experts where business owners get to brainstorm real-business challenges and scenarios.

Choosing the Right Accelerators for Your Business

It’s important to screen any potential accelerator. Even though the application process can be quite rigorous, do your due diligence first. Who sponsors the group? Can they really bring experts and investors to the table? Research online and talk to previous participants. Have any of them received the funding they needed? Is the accelerator in the right vertical or industry that matters to your business?

Other Sources of Mentoring and Local Assistance for Women Business Owners

There are several alternatives to business incubator or accelerator programs that women business owners can tap. Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) are one option. Located nationwide, WBCs provide women entrepreneurs with in-person assistance and business counseling programs that can help them start and grow successful businesses. WBCs offer guidance and training on a variety of topics, including business planning and management, marketing, and loan advice.

If you think you need the services of a hands-on expert, take a look at the mentoring and counseling services offered by SCORE. With a network of over 13,000 volunteers (all of whom have business management and ownership experience), SCORE provides free and confidential counseling, mentoring and advice to startups and small business owners nationwide. SCORE mentors can help with specific functional advice such as marketing, accounting, and business planning or overall business guidance.

Additional Resources

For more resources, guides and tools to help women-owned small businesses to start up, operate and grow, check out SBA’s Women-Owned Business Guide.

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How to Move Up and Become Part of the Supply Chain to Larger Companies

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:59:14 +0000

Looking for ways to become a supplier to a larger company?

A recent study showed that after a small supplier lands a big purchase order or a contract from a bigger company, the small company’s revenues go up 250 percent and they create about 150 percent more jobs in just two or three years. This is a great opportunity both for small business and for the economy.

But how can a small business go about landing a contract to be part of this lucrative business growth opportunity? Here are some tips, tools and resources that can help you get there.

Do Your Research And Plan Your Strategy

Breaking into a new market or new client base requires planning. This blog offers some tips for finding larger companies that would be a good fit for your business; getting that important first meeting; refining your sales pitch; and alleviating any perceptions about your “small” business status: How to Up the Ante and Start Selling to Larger Companies.

Use Available Resources – #1: “Supplier Connection”

Large U.S. multinational companies also know the value that supply chain networks have for them and their customers and have strengthened their efforts to reach out to small suppliers. For example, several large firms have come together to create a single, standard online application – called the Supplier Connection – that allows small suppliers to market themselves to many large U.S. firms at the same time. These firms include Office Depot, Bank of America, Dell, Facebook, Kelloggs, UPS, Pfizer and more.

The Supplier Connection portal is open (free of charge) to U.S. small businesses that have less than $50 million in revenue, or have less than 500 employees and that provide the following goods or services:

Facilities support
Food and beverage manufacturing
Industrial manufacturing
Lab supplies and equipment
Logistics
Professional, marketing and technical services
Service parts
Software

The program is part of the Obama Administration’s American Supplier Initiative, which was created to encourage companies to use small businesses as suppliers. Check out the Supplier Connection website for more information. These FAQs are also a useful resource.

Use Available Resources – #2: Your Network and Assistance Programs

Tradeshows and industry conferences are a great way to network and meet potential customers. Even if you don’t have the budget to exhibit yourself, simply attending can provide a great venue to meet the bigger players in your industry or target market. Here are some tips for getting the most out of these events: Got a Trade Show to Go To? Make it Pay Off for Your Small Business.

Other avenues to explore include your local Chamber of Commerce or Small Business Development Center (many host events and networking sessions that showcase larger companies in your region).

If you need one-on-one help or counseling, consider a free mentor from SCORE. These folks have walked in your shoes, whether as business owners or executives, and can help you formulate and execute a growth strategy into new markets.

Don’t Forget the Largest Customer of All - Selling to the U.S. Government

The largest purchaser in the world just happens to be the U.S. federal government, which plays a major role in fostering the growth of supply chains filled with innovative small businesses. You can read more about the ins and outs of this market opportunity from the SBA here, the agency also offers several online courses that can bring you up to speed on how to sell to the U.S. government. Another option is to partner with businesses that already hold or are bidding on government contracts. This process, known as sub-contracting, provides a useful point of entry into this market (which operates quite differently than the private sector).

The government also offers programs that help specific business groups such as veteran-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, and others, gain access to the federal marketplace.

These blogs also offer insight into the business of selling to the government:

How to Break Through 5 Common Barriers to Small Business Growth

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:37:04 +0000

Trying to grow your business, but thwarted at every turn by problems within your own organization or by external factors such as broken supply chains?

For many businesses, the biggest obstacle to growth isn’t poor sales, financing or tough competition; it’s often the business itself!

So, if you find yourself operationally ill prepared to grow, what can you do about it? Here are some strategies that can help you break through some of the common barriers to growth that many small businesses experience.

1. Watch the indicators for growth

Before you embark on any growth strategy, step back and take a look at some key business indicators to help you decide whether you are actually ready for growth!

Are you successful in a current market and want to open a new location? Are you about to clinch a big sales deal? Is your sales pipeline full? Is product development success opening the door to new opportunities?

These are all important indicators that will drive growth and should be constantly monitored to ensure you are able to effectively prepare for that growth. Study your pipeline, conversion rates and market trends in dashboard form every day.

2. Keep one eye on your competition, but always think big picture

Underpinning any growth strategy should be a deep knowledge of where you stand against your competition. A simple SWOT analysis, reviewed quarterly, can help you determine where you fit in relation to your competitors and areas of opportunity to exploit your strengths and their weaknesses. Likewise, it will give you a good view of any threats to your growth and guide you towards developing a plan to fix or compensate for these.

Then take a look at your market – your potential customers. Do some market analysis to find out how your customers view your business and what they see in the competition that would make them buy from them instead of you.

Look for ways to differentiate yourself – how does your competition position itself in the marketplace relative to your business? How does your business/product/service contrast with theirs? Why would a customer buy from you and not them? The answers to these questions will help you see your strengths, exploit market opportunities, and execute a tactical plan to get ahead in areas that you don’t measure up to the competition.

3. Always be recruiting talent

Setting the stage for growth has to involve superstar employees. Even if you can’t afford to right now – keep looking for talent and bring them on part-time or on a contract or hourly basis. Another option that can help guide your growth is to work with an organization like SCORE. SCORE provides free business mentoring services and can partner you with someone with business management experience to help you steer your business on a path to growth. Whether you need help across the entire business, or are looking for help with functions such as business planning or marketing, SCORE can pair you with a mentor for free.

Get more tips in 6 Options for Staffing your Growing Business.

4. Constantly assess risk

If there’s one thing being a manager or business owner teaches us all, it’s that we must always anticipate and manage risk. Look ahead—what variables could occur that might compromise or damage your growth plans? These could be supply chain issues, hiring and training problems, competitive activity, cash flow, or patent infringements. Include these in your SWOT analysis and develop a plan to prevent or manage any issues.

5. The bottom line

If there’s a common thread here, it’s the importance of being prepared. This, of course, means having a plan. Never embark on a growth strategy without a plan. It doesn’t have to be encyclopedic, but it should contain the key elements discussed above. Break your plan down into chunks – have one strategic plan that contains your market findings and helps inform where you are and where you want to be. Then assemble smaller plans. For example, have a day-to-day operations plan, a hiring plan and a marketing plan, each of which lay out the tactics for using your business resources to accomplish your strategy.

If you don’t have a business plan, check out SBA’s Build your Business Plan Tool. This step-by-step online tool guides you through the process of creating an actionable plan.

3 Simple Ways To Improve Customer Satisfaction Today

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:21:02 +0000

As business owners, we’d all like to think of ourselves as providers of great customer service. As small business owners in particular, it’s quite possibly your biggest differentiator. After all, how often is it that you walk into a national chain restaurant and are greeted by name, handed your favorite drink and made to feel like part of the family?

But great customer service is also about knowing how to handle problems, responding to and resolving issues—something at which agile small businesses can often excel.

If customer satisfaction is your goal, then great customer service will get you there.

Here are three simple things you can do to embed customer service into your business philosophy and day-to-day operations:

Listen and Learn

Listening is key to effective customer service and it can also help boost your profitability. Here are two ways to prove to your customers that you are listening–and tips on how to make it count:

Everyday Customer Interaction – Show you are listening to your customers by taking notes or repeating back what your customer has said. Listen to their words and tone. Observe their body language. Provide them clear and concise communication. Ask clarifying questions to gain understanding before you provide a response. If you can’t respond immediately, be sure to provide a timeline for response and make a note in your calendar to do so. Follow up, confirm the resolution and check for customer satisfaction and completion.

Facilitating Feedback – If you don’t have a reason for face-to-face interaction with a customer, look for ways to stay in touch and show you are listening and eager to keep the lines of communication open. For example, follow up with a customer after a sale to prove to your customers that you want to hear from them. Hand out in-store or post-sale surveys to find out what they’d like to see from your brand—and stay active on social media (more on this below). Customer service is, after all, about meeting the needs and expectations of the customer as defined by the customer. By soliciting feedback and using that information to inform your business you will find new ways to ensure your business is relevant to them and hopefully open new lines of profitable opportunity.

In order to have effective customer service, you must know what your customers want, provide it to them on a consistent basis and ask them how you are doing.

Look For Ways to Treat Customers As You Would Like To Be Treated

Remember, how you and your staff communicate with your customers is just as important as what you communicate. Remember that your customer wants to see the sunny side of you and your business, so have your filter on and put yourself in their shoes.

A good way to instill this attitude among your staff is to do some simple role play in which they act out a few scenarios that involve both easy-going and difficult customers. Observe how they handle the situation and coach them on areas to improve.

For example:

How are customers being greeted? — Put them at ease and make them feel comfortable! This sets the tone for the rest of the transaction.
Demonstrate that your customers are valued — Let them know you think they are important. Your sincerity makes them feel good about you and the organization.
Ask how to help your customers — Find out what they want. It is important that each customer encounter makes them feel satisfied.
Don’t challenge disgruntled customers — Listen, reassure them that you’ll escalate or act on their complaint and follow through until resolution.
Help customers — Help them get what they want. Make it easy for customers to locate or obtain the information they need. Answer their questions in a timely manner.

Carry Customer Service Across All Your Customer Touch Points

Remember to carry through on your customer service goals wherever your business has a presence. This means both online and offline. More than ever, social media is a systematic part of your customer service model, so if you have a presence on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and so on, be sure you are actively listening, engaging, monitoring and responding to your customers online. This blog offers some tips that can help: How to Use Social Media to Do a Better Job of Customer Service.

7 Ways to Increase Foot Traffic to Your Small Business

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:31:12 +0000

Late last year, I hosted a web chat with the SBA offering holiday marketing tips and ideas to small business owners. And while many business owners submitted questions relating specifically to the holidays, a large percentage of the questions centered on that age-old question: “How do I get more foot traffic to my store?”

Here are seven tried and tested steps you might want to consider:

1. Start from the outside and look in

If you are in a pedestrianized area, get to know who passes by your store. Literally, sit outside or close by your window and assess the demographic of who comes and goes. Do they window shop? Have they come from another store close by first?

Next, take an objective look at your signage and window display–does it appeal to your target demographic or buyer? For example, if you run a coffee shop and most of your business is done during the hours of 8 AM to 10 AM, think of ways to optimize your merchandising and window display to attract more buyers during these times. This could be as simple as using this time to hand out coupons outside, offering bakery samples to passersby, or promoting your latest offers using sidewalk signage.

2. Host a community event with a newsworthy tie-in

One of the best ways to increase foot traffic is to host a community or charity event. A great way to do this and get noticed is to tie it to a topical event. Say, for example, your local NFL or high school team is playing a critical game. Consider teaming up with other businesses nearby to offer game-day promotions/offers or a tie-in event. Host the event as a block party or at a central location downtown (even if you have to take your business on the road for a few hours). Don’t forget to be community-oriented—consider donating a portion of your profits to charity.

Feature the event ahead of time on your website and social media. For maximum impact, don’t forget to contact local media outlets—including radio channels—and email and mail out fliers to your contact list.

3. Host a seminar or workshop

Both retail and service-based businesses can generate a good deal of foot traffic by educating their customers about how to get more out of what they are buying (even if you don’t make a sale that day). Florist shops could host a flower arranging class or realtors could host a house-staging workshop to attract potential sellers. And of course, publicize your event—in-store, online, via press releases and advertising.

4. Use location-based services to attract passersby

You don’t have to be a tech wizard to promote your small business using mobile apps that target consumers in the vicinity of your business. Groupon, Living Social, FourSquare and ThinkNear among others let you post information about your latest offers and limited-time deals to consumers within a certain distance of your business. You can also schedule deals to get delivered during key hours, for example, if you’re looking to boost foot traffic during off-peak times.

5. Engage old customers in new ways

It’s always refreshing when a store or restaurant you’ve frequented for some time starts doing something new. And thanks to the power of social media, doing something new or different and doing it well can quickly go viral.

So think about ways you can get the attention of older or existing customers. It could be as simple as offering a new type of discount (it may sound obvious, but offering something of value at a discount for a limited period of time can be attention-grabbing) or letting customers know about a new product or service you’ve added.

A straight-out sale is always a great way to bring old customers out of the woodwork. Send out an email or e-newsletter to your contact database and post it on social media. You might even host a secret sale first for a hand-selected group of customers.

If your business is service-oriented, consider offering a referral fee to existing customers who bring in new clients for you.

6. Put on your small business customer service hat

There’s a reason why consumers opt to frequent small businesses over larger chains—personal relationships. A smile, great service, product knowledge and enthusiasm will bring customers through your door and keep them coming back. So as you host new events, sales or workshops, use your small business advantage to the max!

7. Stay in touch

Staying top of mind with new and existing customers who you’ve engaged through your new efforts is not just about offering great products and services. It’s also about staying in touch.

If you host an event that brings in new customers, encourage them to sign up for your emails. A little incentive, such as a free giveaway in exchange for an email address, is always effective. Then stay in touch, set-up an e-newsletter program, send out regular updates about new product lines, company news, and events and start to engage with your customers via social media. (For tips, check out this blog).

What tactics have you used to increase foot traffic to your small business? Leave a comment below.

10 Tips for Veteran-Owned Businesses Seeking to Sell to the U.S. Federal Government

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:21:15 +0000

Are you a veteran-owned small business and thinking of selling to your former boss – the U.S. federal government?

Part of the mission of the SBA is to provide assistance to veterans and service-disabled veterans who return home to start, resume or grow their businesses. In addition to supporting veteran business owners through entrepreneurial training, and providing access to capital, the SBA also provides resources, tools and support to help veterans start and grow businesses through government contracting.

If you are a veteran-owned small business, check out these 10 tips for getting started selling to the U.S government and winning a government contract.

1) Boots to Business – Get Help Starting Your Business - Boots to Business is a public-private partnership program that gives service members support to help them learn the nuts and bolts of how to start and grow a business and access SBA tools and resources available to them.

2) Find a Veterans Business Outreach Center – The SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development oversees multiple Veterans Business Outreach Centers across the country. In addition to helping veterans build a business plan and start a business, these centers can help veterans land government contracts, get access to mentoring services, and find training.

3) Review your Financing Options – In addition to a range of other loan programs, SBA’s Patriot Express Program is specifically designed for small businesses that are more than 51 percent owned or controlled by veterans or members of the military community and are available up to $500,000.

4) Familiarize Yourself with Small Business Incentives for Government Contracting – The law mandates that government agencies establish contracting goals that require them to reach out and consider small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses for procurement opportunities. Currently, 23 percent of contracts must be awarded to small businesses and three percent to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. These opportunities will help open doors, but you must still be able to sell your business on performance, price and ability. Contact your Veterans Business Outreach Center to learn more about these and other incentive opportunities.

5) Learn About How the Government Buys – The government applies standardized procedures to buy products and services it needs from suppliers that meet certain qualifications. The primary contracting methods used by the government include micro-purchases, simplified procedures, sealed bidding, contract negotiations and consolidated purchasing. Learn more about these in another SBA online training course, Government Contracting 101: How the Government Buys, or read a quick overview of the process in my earlier blog: Government Contracting – Learn how the Government Buys from Small Businesses.

6) Understand the Rules – Understanding the government’s procurement rules is critical to your success as a government contractor. The FAR, or Federal Acquisitions Regulations, is the roadmap for doing business with the government. Check out these resources on SBA.gov to help you become familiar with the regulations that apply to most federal contractors.

7) Size Does Matter – As a small business, certain government programs may apply to you. The question then becomes: What is a small business, or, more specifically, is your firm a small business? Over the years, SBA has established and revised numerical definitions for all for-profit industries, and this numerical definition is called a "size standard." Use SBA’s Size Standards Tool to help determine if your business is truly “small” and qualifies for government contracts.

8) Learn the Process of Selling to the Government and Find Opportunities – Selling to the government is not as big of a mystery as you might think. There are several fundamental steps you should follow:

Define your business and products using a DUNS number and NAICS code.
Register your firm in the System for Awards Management.
Market directly to agencies.
Use established procurement vehicles.

For a deeper dive into this process, read Selling to the Government – Get Started with These 5 Steps or check out SBA’s information about Registering for Government Contracting, which explains the easy steps you need to follow to being bidding on government proposals.

9) Find Subcontracting Opportunities – An alternative to seeking prime contracts is to explore subcontracting opportunities. Subcontracting with a prime contractor can be a profitable experience as well as a growth opportunity for a business. To help small businesses find opportunities, SBA maintains SUB-Net, a searchable database of available subcontract opportunities.

10) Have a Question? – If you have questions about the federal marketplace, government contracting methods, contract opportunities or winning recovery and other federal contracts, check out the following resources:

SBA’s Government Contracting Guide – Explore the process of government contracting with easy how-to guides and resources.
Government Contracting Classroom – Available via SBA’s Learning Center, these self-paced, free online courses cover the fundamentals of selling to the government as a small business owner.
Get In-Person Assistance and Training – SBA and its resource partners can answer your questions about the federal market place, government contracting methods, and finding contract opportunities. Find your local SBA office, Veterans Business Outreach Center and more with this interactive map.

6 Tips for a Fiscally Fit and Successful Freelance Business in 2013

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:30:11 +0000

Thinking of becoming a freelancer or hoping to make this year’s freelancing more fiscally fruitful than last? Freelancing is a money game and cash flow is king. And while there may be times when your cup runs over, there will no doubt be other times when it looks ominously dry.

To be a successful freelancer—in addition to being good at what you do—you need to be agile, tenacious, a consummate planner and equipped to deal with fiscal downtimes.

Here are some money-saving and business growth strategies that you can use to ensure the fiscal fitness of your freelancing business this year.

Have a Financial Cushion

Every freelancer needs a financial cushion; in fact, you shouldn’t quit your day job unless you have one. It can take up to six months to build your client base and develop consistent income. Instead, start your freelancing activities “on the side” until you are ready to transition to full time business ownership.

How big should your cushion be? Start by factoring in your living expenses for the next six months and allow for any emergencies that may arise. Next, assess what percentage of your income you’ll need to put aside to make your estimated taxes, social security and Medicare payments. Consider setting up a separate bank account and allocate 30-35 percent of every check you receive for work done into that account. This will help you avoid any day-to-day temptation to dip into it while ensuring you have the money to pay your estimated tax requirements when the time comes.

Reduce Your Overheads

Most freelancers can work from home. If you really need social interaction or want to leverage the brainpower of fellow freelancers, consider a co-working space (now available for a low-cost in many cities) or even your local coffee shop.

Likewise, buy as little as you need. If you’re not commuting anymore, do you really need an expensive 4-wheel-drive SUV or truck in the driveway? Do you really need the latest high-end smartphone or laptop or could a cut-price one do the job just as well? What about computer software—could you cut costs by using a free email service or a low-cost word processing app? What about buying surplus office furniture?

For more lean spending tips, read: 6 Tips to Rein in Spending and Be a Lean Start-Up.

Invest in Good Back-Up and Use it

If there’s one thing that any freelancer can be sure if in their business, it’s that one day your PC will succumb to the dreaded “blue screen of death,” be infected by a virus or taken over by malware. Without an IT department to turn to, you’ll end up throwing cash at an expensive fix and risk losing all your work and business records in the process. Regularly backing up your work, both to a standalone hard drive and to an online location (providers like DropBox, Symantec, and Carbonite offer free or low-cost services) will ensure your data is protected and always accessible. Get more tips here: Finding the Best Backup Option for Your Small Business Data.

Look for Ways to Expand Your Business on the Back of Existing Work

Growing a freelancing business is a challenge. Networking often takes you away from existing work, while developing and nurturing new relationships into profitable clients takes time. Instead, look for to expand your business and earn more money with existing clients, based on the work and track record that you already have. Check out some tips for doing just this in my earlier blog, 5 Ways to Become an Indispensable Freelancer and Earn More Money from Your Clients.

Collaborate with Others

Growing existing business is good, but it’s also important to have multiple streams of income. One option for growing your business this way is to team with complementary businesses. For freelancers, for example, work on building relationships with those who serve your target customers. Photographers could collaborate with wedding planners, or graphic designers could team with marketing consultants.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ditch Unprofitable Clients

Freelancers often price their services at different rates in order to secure business. But if a low-paying client is also your most demanding and tricky client—whether based on the work you are required to do or the nature of the relationship—it might be time to cut your losses, walk away from this type of low-margin work and concentrate on deepening other relationships.

How to Train Your Sales Reps to be Superior Subject Matter Experts

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:35:53 +0000

Do all your sales reps sing off the same hymn sheet? Are they all equally knowledgeable about your products and services?

If you’ve ever worked in retail sales, you’ll know how difficult it is to remember your training and apply it in critical moments. After all, products are constantly evolving and inventory is always shifting. This is why it’s critical that small business owners ensure their sales teams are well trained and knowledgeable. It can make the difference between winning and losing a sale.

Thanks to the Internet and the proliferation of online reviews from experts and consumers alike, the average customer is more informed than ever—and your sales reps should be one step ahead of them. Here are some tips for ensuring your sales teams are armed with the knowledge they need to support your sales goals.

Give training the time and depth it deserves

Training is worth the investment; the nicest sales rep in the world is useless without product knowledge. This means not just knowing your products, but your competitors too.

A single training session is rarely enough, as people learn through practice and from their mistakes. If you don’t have time to handle the training yourself, pair each new rep with a mentor. This should be someone on your team who’s already knowledgeable, and willing to spend several weeks training, shadowing and observing your trainee—before that person ever gets in front of a customer. In addition to teaching, be sure to test, quiz and role play to challenge your trainee’s know-how. And don’t just emphasize product knowledge; for example, if your products are complex or technical, role play situations where a rep’s knowledge may be insufficient and it’s time to bring in the business owner or someone from your technical team. No one expects a sales rep to know everything, but they do expect them to know where to find the right answers, rather than fudge their way through a sale.

Include competitor training

If your product line or similar products are sold by a competitor, be sure to train and test your trainee reps on these. Educate reps on the competing product lines, their strengths and their weaknesses. Have them do their own research and present comparisons of your products versus those available elsewhere. Help them identify differentiators and encourage them to role play a sales pitch that involves a competitive sell.

Monitor, check in and refresh

Knowledge retention and true learning is a fine art, especially in today’s information-driven world where data is quickly consumed and just as quickly forgotten. This is why it’s important to stay on top of your sales reps performance once they are out selling on behalf of your company. Ask your customers for feedback, use customer surveys to gauge satisfaction levels and listen in on sales pitches. Commit to holding regular training sessions with your entire sales team to ensure they are up to speed on new developments, new product lines and new marketing campaigns. (Sales and marketing should always be aligned.)

Encourage continuous learning and sharing

A good rep will always look for further learning opportunities, whether through external classes, industry publications, or trade shows. Encourage this behavior, budget permitting. A low-cost alternative would be to hold monthly “lunch ‘n’ learn” training sessions where you encourage a rep to make an informal 10-15 minute learning moment presentation. This could be about a new industry development that might impact your business; sharing best practices from an external training course (a train-the-trainer concept); or providing insights on a deal or transaction that went well (or otherwise).

For more tips read 8 Tips for Training your Small Business Employees on a Budget.

What training practices have worked for your sales teams? Leave a comment below!

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4 Ways to Safeguard and Protect Your Small Business Data

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:44:49 +0000

Are you doing enough to safeguard and protect your small business data?

Small businesses are widely adopting data back-up practices to ensure data is retrievable should a disaster occur, but gaps remain. According to a July 2012 study by accounting software company Sage, the bulk of small businesses are backing up key data such as financial information, but most businesses back up that data on-site only. Furthermore, the study found that only 38 percent of surveyed small businesses have a formal emergency or disaster preparedness plan.

Given the brutal impact of Superstorm Sandy and other disasters that affect small businesses on a regular basis, these are worrying statistics.

“Backing up on-site may not be sufficient to protect small businesses from natural disasters – particularly if the business is located in an area prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, fires or flooding – or more common crises, such as theft or hardware malfunction,” said Connie Certusi, executive vice president and general manager of Sage Small Business Solutions, in a company press release.

“The development of a preparedness plan that includes solutions for protecting critical information, such us backing up off-site, could be the difference between getting a business on its way to recovery and worrying about its survival.”

So what’s the best way to make sure your small business data is secure and available at all times? Here are four tips:

1. Automate Your Back-Ups and Build in Redundancy

Whether you’re a freelancer or a 50-person firm, an automated back-up system is a must. Many of us know the value of backing up to a local hard drive (you can buy one that will store terabytes of data for under $100) or server. But you should also consider backing up to a third party or off-site service. If your business property (along with your back-up device) is destroyed in a disaster, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that your data is retrievable.

Cloud back-ups are increasingly popular, whereby companies such as DropBox, Symantec and Carbonite will securely replicate, back up and store your data in the cloud (basically a shared computer hosted by a third party on the Internet). Cloud services are particularly beneficial for small business owners who may not have an in-house IT team to help them manage and administer server back-ups.

To help you determine the best approach for your business, read this blog: Finding the Best Backup Option for Your Small Business Data.

2. Consider Server Virtualization

According to a survey by CDW, 25 percent of small businesses have virtualized at least some of their servers, with improved data protection cited as a direct benefit. But what is server virtualization? Server virtualization allows you to take one physical server machine and run several virtual server environments (for example, your email, database, and web servers) on it. Essentially, one server performs the work of many. Along with cost benefits, virtualization also makes disaster recovery easier. Read more about the ins and outs of server virtualization in this Server Virtualization Guide for Small Business on Small Business Computing.com.

3. Run a Full Service Security Suite

Safeguarding data is about more than backing it up. Intrusion attempts, computer viruses and malware all can compromise business data and threaten your systems.

Consider installing a hardware firewall. Most firewall systems protect your software, but by the time most firewalls are activated, the threat is already inside your network. But a secure appliance-based firewall between the Internet and your business data will block intruders and threats before they enter your network.

Anti-virus and spam filters represent another security layer that protects incoming and outgoing data. Use content filters; they protect local computers from malware threats by blocking entry to potentially harmful websites.

4. Have a Big Picture Disaster Preparedness Plan

Approximately 40-60 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors after a disaster (source). While the value of our business data is incalculable, protecting your business and your employees by ensuring you are prepared for the eventuality of a natural or man-made disaster is equally critical. Create a plan of action to lessen the impact of disasters, and a disaster recovery plan to ensure you are up and ready for business sooner.

Check out SBA’s guides, tools and templates to help you prepare and improve your chances of recovering quickly should the worst happen – Small Business Emergency Preparedness Guide. You can also visit the SBA Learning Center for online courses, webinars and other tips to help you with your disaster planning.

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Don’t Be a Social Media Marketing Skeptic – Learn Where and How to Start

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:53:54 +0000

There’s no doubt that social media marketing is a proven and established platform for connecting with customers, building a community and generating business. Yet, despite the evidence of its effectiveness as a marketing tool, surveys and studies say few small businesses are making active use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to promote products and services.

A report by eMarketer found that just 24 percent of small businesses have integrated social media in a structured way in their businesses. The report also references findings from Constant Contact that only 49 percent of small businesses consider social media marketing effective.

Why the skepticism? Here are a few reasons and excuses I’ve heard:

“I don’t know where to start”
“I’m too busy”
“I don’t know which social media site is right for my business”
“I tried it but it didn’t work”
“I’m struggling to build engagement”
“I don’t have enough updates to keep my site looking active”

Knowing where to start is perhaps the number one obstacle holding many small business owners back. Knowing what to do when you get there is next. For example, should you use social media to generate leads? For branding? Customer service? Marketing?

There are numerous blogs on the SBA.gov Community offering tips for getting started in social media marketing. One consistent piece of advice runs through them all: find out where your customers are, start small, and, as you learn, grow out from there.

How?

Last year, I wrote a blog called: How to "Pull Your Head Out of the Sand" and Use Social Media in Your Small Business where I summarized some of the great recommendations from a social media panel at the 2012 National Small Business Week Conference in Washington, D.C. The panel featured experts from Twitter, Constant Contact, Yelp, Google and others. Here’s a summary of their recommendations, a great baseline for getting started:

Which Platform is the Right One? Erica Ayotte, social media manager with Constant Contact, recommends businesses start with one channel to test and nurture it. Then try to diversify: “Spend a little time each week exploring new platforms and figure out if they might be for you.” GrowBizMedia’s Rieva Lesonsky recommends: “...find out where your customers can be found, go there first, and then spread out from there… if you run a restaurant, yes, you probably should be on Twitter, but you should really be on Yelp first.”
How do You Find the Right People to Engage With? Use search tools to identify and follow people who are influencers in your industry. For example, if you are in the restaurant business, identify food bloggers in your region, give them a follow, and slowly you’ll start to build and grow your followers and influence. The panel also stressed connecting your social media activity to your loyal email subscriber list. Send them an email to let them know about your social media presence and generate new follows from those who are already engaged.
What’s the Best Way to Engage with Followers? This is the one area that takes time. Start with interesting information. Google’s Jeff Aguero recommends starting with quality content – something you do really well – then amplify it with social media. Web chats, contests and surveys are great ways to engage, but the panel cautioned small business owners to resist this form of heavy interaction until their new social efforts have had time to grow. “Once you’ve established awareness and trust, then look to step up your approach,” suggested Constant Contact’s Ayotte. “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress,” she explained. “It can take some time to figure out what content is going to resonate with an audience… Try something new if no one responds to your Facebook posts. It’s OK. Tweak your posts until you find your sweet spot.”

Don’t Forget to Integrate Your Email and Social Media Marketing

Email is still the preferred method of communication among consumers, and Constant Contact predicts that in 2013 it will remain their preferred marketing channel as well. Email is also a key element in driving social media success, “…using both together to support one another can boost a campaign and bring greater collective benefits, as opposed to using just one or the other,” advises Constant Contact.

Learn from the Experts

There are myriad webinars, ebooks, blogs and other tools that can help you learn the tricks of the trade. Small business organizations like SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, and others also offer advice and seminars on this topic (use this interactive map to find resources in your area).

Here’s a selection of SBA blogs that can also help with key areas of your social media strategy:

How to Up the Ante and Start Selling to Big, Corporate Clients

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:44:03 +0000

Want to secure your first million-dollar deal in 2013? Crossing that threshold will probably mean that you'll have to start selling to large corporate clients for the first time. It can be tough for small businesses, but not impossible. So what does it take? Here are some tips for upping your ante and selling to big, corporate customers.

Do Your Homework

Breaking into a new market or new client base requires planning. Start with identifying your new target market and then defining the value your small business can offer them.

Use online research to identify businesses that might be the right fit for your products or services. Specifically, try to identify potential weaknesses or threats they may be facing by reading press releases, reviews, media coverage, and financial reports. This will help you determine potential pain points. Check out what your target’s competition is up to – what are they doing that your target client isn’t?

Consider ways in which your business can help these prospects with their pain points and challenges. How can you help them succeed, be more efficient, save money or achieve their business goals? Don’t forget to assemble proof points and examples of how you’ve helped other (perhaps smaller) companies do the same.

Be Clear About Your Differentiators

Now that you know your target clients, what is it about your business that will make you stand out? Build a picture of your company – its culture, values, existing customers, products and services – and think about ways these combine to differentiate you. This blog can help guide you through this process: 5 Tips for Using Differentiators to Increase Your Small Business Sales.

Getting a Meeting

Getting that all-important first meeting will take time and there are many ways to go about it. Which combination of tactics will work really depends on who your customers are and what influences them. Which conferences/networking events do they attend? What information are they seeking online to help them make informed purchasing decisions (this will help define your web-based calls to action)? Which media do they read? You may also want to consider hiring a sales rep with experience selling to larger corporations.

Some techniques to consider include:

Cold calling
Networking
Customer testimonials and referrals
Affiliate or partnership opportunities with complementary businesses
Online marketing – make your website a source of useful information (blogs, case studies, webinars), not just product listings
Advertising

For the best result, integrate your chosen techniques so that your messaging and your end goals are consistent across each tactic.

Making Your Pitch

This is your chance to make your homework work for you. Concentrate on your prospect’s pain points. How can your business help them ease their problems? Your pitch should be less about the product and more about why you are different, the value you bring and how you can make your client’s life easier and more profitable. Remember, larger corporations can be reluctant to switch vendors and may think it risky to work with a small business, so it’s vital that your business case focuses 100 percent on why it makes sense for your client to make the switch from another vendor to you.

Be Prepped and Ready for Questions

Aside from the points you make in your pitch, one of the most effective ways to stand out from your competitors is to come ready and prepared for all questions. Your meeting may include senior management and staff from pricing, contracts, legal, operations and procurement, so expect a diverse range of questions about your product, pricing, and terms, and be ready to answer promptly and clearly. If you can’t, quickly state that you will get back to them with a response within 24 hours, or one business day.

Alleviate Any Concerns About Your Being a “Small Business”

Small businesses can be a risky investment for corporations. They may be worried you can’t scale to their production needs or that you may go out of business or be acquired during the life of the contract.

Don’t ignore this concern. Be prepared for it and use your pitch to emphasize the benefits of doing business with a smaller company. Stress your agility, responsiveness, ability to customize products, etc. Mention any partners that can fill gaps that may leave them vulnerable. Act like a larger business by having a product road map or timeline that clearly shows what will happen when and when you anticipate your client will start to see results. By doing so, you’re already starting to prove your value before a contract has even been drawn up.

Have you upped the ante and started selling to larger, corporate clients? Share your experiences below.

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Free Sources of Market Data and How to use that Data for Business Planning

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:14:29 +0000

The federal government offers many tools to help small business owners understand their markets, but where do go to find that data, and how do you use it once you’ve got your hands on it?

First, conducting market research doesn’t always have to involve hiring a research firm or commissioning focus groups; much of the information you need may be at your fingertips.

This research can impact and inform all areas of your business, from where you locate your business to the color of your logo. Even a small amount of analysis can help you gauge the receptivity of your target market to your idea. Check out this blog for a quick overview of the type of data you can draw from these sources: Conducting Market Research? Here are 5 Official Sources of Free Data That Can Help.

But how will you use this data effectively? Here are some tips for finding data you need and translating it into information you can use in a business plan or simply to inform your strategy:

Sources of Market Data

So, where do you look?

Free Government Market Data – One of the best sources of data is the U.S. Census Bureau. The information there is vast, and among the easiest to navigate. Thanks to a variety of Data Access Tools such as the 2010 Census Interactive Population Map, you can pinpoint census data to the block level and compare one community to another. Census data can help you answer many questions that come up during the business planning process, such as:

o How do we know the size of industries and businesses?

o How can we determine the economic activity of communities large and small?

o Where should I place a new business?

o What products in my industry are growing?

o What materials are purchased by my industry?

o What industries purchase my products?

Competitive Data - Want to know how your business stacks up against the competition? Where your potential competitors located? The best places to advertise? These are all critical inputs for your business plan and can also support your financing applications. SBA’s new SizeUp tool lets you crunch millions of data points to get customizable reports and statistics about your business and its competition. Enter your industry, city, state and other details. The tool then runs various reports and provides maps and data related to your competition, suppliers and customers. It also highlights potential advertising opportunities.

Use Your Own Data – Don’t just rely on external data sources. As your business grows, use your own data to analyze consumer profiles, buying behaviors and so on.

How to Use the Data

Here are some ways you can use the data you uncover in your market research to build your business plan or inform your strategy:

Get to know your target market – If you are seeking investors, they will want to know that your market is sizable and that you have researched and understand its opportunities and its limitations. Is your market definable? Is it sufficiently large that you can reach it efficiently (for example, are population or demographic shifts likely to play to your advantage)? Where do your competitors fit in? Can you segment that market further? Above all, is there a niche you can carve for yourself?

As you prepare your business plan, think about providing: 1) A description of your target market, 2) the trends that impact that market and 3) strategic opportunities for your business in this market.

What is going on in your industry? – Few businesses are immune to industry trends. If consumer spending is down or unemployment is on the rise, this may affect your plans and your budget. Use economic indicator data to assess trends and market forces that can help you succeed. If your industry is in flux, could you use this fact to your advantage and position your business for future growth? Investors will want to see that you understand the factors that affect your business’ success. Be sure to include in your plan: 1) a description of your industry, 2) industry trends and 3) strategic opportunities in your industry.

Analyzing the competition – SBA’s SizeUp Tool can help you zoom in on exactly who your competitors are – use this information wisely. Include a description of your competition in your business plan. What market share do they command? Who are their customers? What barriers to entry do they represent for your business? What opportunities are there? The SizeUp tool is very visual; consider using screen caps or charts to back up your data. Knowing your competition will help you better position yourself against them and reach your target market more effectively.

Bonus Tip: use SBA’s Build a Business Plan tool to help guide you through the process of creating a basic, downloadable business plan

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5 Ways to Find the Right Niche and Target Market for Your Small Business

Building a Business Plan – New SBA Online Tool Can Help You Get Started

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:50:50 +0000

Having a business plan is a must for small business owners, but finding the time to put pen to paper often means putting them on hold until the very last minute, such as right before that big meeting with a loan officer or bank manager.

But business planning does not have to be that way.

Every smart entrepreneur and business owner should already have a firm grasp of key information about their business and on what will influence the path they take and decisions they make over the course of 1-3 years.

Putting this information together into a concrete plan is essential if you want to secure a business loan or outside financing, of course. But the planning and mental exercise of writing it down is just as important to the success of your business. Writing a plan will not only help you succeed, but it will open your eyes to what it’s going to take to get there.

One of the big challenges for smaller businesses is actually building a business plan. What format should it take? What numbers should you pull together to demonstrate that you have a rock solid financial foundation?

SBA has just launched a new online tool that can help.

“Build a Business Plan” Online Tool

To simplify the process, SBA has just launched a new “Build a Business Plan” online tool that guides small business owners through the process of creating a basic, downloadable business plan. The great thing about this tool is you can build a plan in smaller bites, save your progress and return at your leisure.

To use the tool, you’ll need to be a member of the SBA Community (register here) and then log in. The tool offers a tab-based step-by-step guide that lets you enter information into a template for each section of the business plan, including market analysis, company description and financial projections. The tool is secure and confidential and will keep your plan on record for up to six months. You can also save, download or email the plan at any time.

Discuss Your Plan with a Small Business Advisor

Don’t forget: you can also use your completed business plan to discuss your next steps with a mentor or counselor from an SBA resource partner such as SCORE, a Small Business Development Center or a Women's Business Center.

Then be sure to keep your plan fresh, revisit it, and measure progress against it. As your business grows, your plan – and your benchmarks for success – will grow with it.

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Government Contracting – Learn How the Federal Government Buys from Small Businesses

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:44:28 +0000

Are you thinking of breaking into the federal government contracting marketplace in 2013? This lucrative market is worth nearly $100 billion in sales to small businesses each year, but selling to the government is quite different than selling to the commercial sector.

For example, the government applies standardized procedures to buy products and services it needs from suppliers that meet certain qualifications. But how agencies across the government actually make those purchases (or “contracts” them) can vary enormously. Purchases can sometimes be made quickly using a simple credit card; other times, sealed bids, negotiations or consolidated purchasing programs are used.

To help small business owners navigate this unfamiliar territory, SBA offers free online training – the Government Contracting Classroom – a soup-to-nuts overview of the process. “How the Government Buys” is one of three self-paced courses that can help you understand contracting methods the government uses to buy goods and services.

If you are new to this market, check out this training. In the meantime, below are some key learning points about how the government buys!

Primary Buying Methods used by the Government

In the private sector, business customers purchase products and services in a number of ways – some use credit card purchasing authority while others issue formal requests for proposals (RFPs). It’s not too dissimilar in federal contracting; however, contracting officials who oversee the procurement process must follow the procedures outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, commonly known as the FAR, to guide government purchases.

Here’s an overview of the different rules and procedures that control how the federal government makes its purchasing decisions and how these may favor small businesses:

Micro-purchases with credit cards – Government purchases of individual items under $3,000 are generally considered to be micro-purchases. They don’t require competitive bids or quotes and agencies can simply pay using a Government Purchase Card or credit card, without involving a procurement officer. Seventy percent of all government purchases are for micro-purchases under $3,000; in 2010, this represented more than $19 billion.
Simplified acquisition procedures – Purchases under $150,000 can use simplified purchasing procedures that involve less paperwork and fewer approval levels. The good news for small business is that purchases above $3,000, but under $350,000 are also reserved or “set aside” exclusively for small businesses.
Sealed bids – This method is used when the government buys competitively and has very specific requirements. Agencies will issue an “Invitation for Bid” (IFB), much like an RFP in the commercial sector. Businesses will then submit sealed bids that are opened by a contracting officer in a public setting, read aloud and recorded. Contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder who is determined to be fully responsive to the needs of the government.
Contracting by negotiations – This is a more complex and time-consuming process. In certain cases, when the value of a government contract exceeds $150,000 and when it necessitates a highly technical product or service, the government may issue an RFP. Typically, the government will request a product or service it needs and solicit proposals from prospective contractors on how they intend to carry out that request and at what price. Proposals in response to an RFP can be subject to negotiation after they have been submitted. If the government is merely checking into the possibility of buying, it may issue a Request for Quotation (RFQ). A response to an RFQ by a prospective contractor is not considered an offer, and consequently, cannot be accepted by the government to form a binding contract.
Consolidated purchasing vehicles – Many agencies have common purchasing needs such as software or offices supplies. To achieve economies of scale, purchases of certain types of products or services are centralized. In this “consolidated purchasing,” acquisition vehicles are typically used, the most common being GSA Schedules or Government Wide Acquisition Contracts, called G-WACs. These centralized buying vehicles are negotiated by the government with awards to many vendors and used by multiple agencies.

Contracting and contracts can seem like interchangeable terms in this business. But now that you know the buying methods used by the government, it’s important to understand how the government navigates pricing and what form the actual contracts or agreements take once you’ve won the business.

From fixed-price contracts to blanket purchase agreements, these contracts and agreements take multiple forms – too many to list here. Check out the “Government Contracting 101, Part 2: How the Government Buys” for a detailed overview. Then move on to “Part 3: How to sell to the Government” and for other insights and tools, go to SBA’s Government Contracting Classroom.

Don’t forget: it’s very important to find out whether your business actually qualifies for government contracts as a small business concern. This new SBA Size Standards Tool can help you decide.

Useful Information

4 New SBA Online Tools That Can Take Your Small Business to New Levels

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 12:08:59 +0000

The old adage “time is money” is perhaps one of the most pertinent statements that you can apply to small business owners. Whether you’re starting a business or managing a growing one, entrepreneurs and business owners wear many hats and have many questions:

What laws and regulations apply to my business?
How do I start to write a business plan?
Where can I get help with X, Y and Z?

Many of us invariably turn to our networks and the Internet to find answers. But how can you trust that the information you are getting is truly applicable to your business and, let’s face it, even accurate?

As part of its mission to help business owners start, succeed and grow, SBA, through the SBA.gov website has developed numerous online tools and guides to help small businesses get information and answers they need quickly and efficiently. For example, these 10 Steps to Starting a Business and these 10 Steps to Hiring your First Employee guides are essential reading. SBA Direct is another useful tool that personalizes business owners’ experience on the SBA.gov website. Then there are the Licenses and Permits Search Tool and the Loans and Grants Search Tool.

New Online Tools to Help Business Owners Plan, Manage and Grow

Over the past couple of months, SBA has expanded its capacity and selection of tools and information business owners need by developing a whole range of new online features! Check them out:

1. Get to Know Your Market and Competition Better with the SizeUp Tool

Want to know how your business stacks up against the competition? Where your potential competitors are located? Where the best places are to advertise your business? These are all critical inputs for your business plan and can also help back up any financing applications.

Now with the new SizeUp tool you can crunch millions of data points and get customizable reports and statistics about your business and its competition. Just enter your industry, city, state and other details. SizeUp then runs various reports and provides maps and data related to your competition, suppliers and customers. It also highlights potential advertising opportunities.

2. Build a Business Plan Tool

Business planning can seem a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be that way. To help you plan and steer your business, this new “Build a Business Plan” tool guides you through the process of creating a basic, downloadable business plan. The great thing about it is you can build a plan in smaller chunks of time, save your progress and return at your leisure.

To use the tool, simply log into SBA.gov (registration is free, sign up here) and enter information into a template for each section of the business plan including, market analysis, company description and financial projections. The tool is secure and confidential and will keep your plan on record for up to six months. You can also save, download or email the plan at any time.

3. Size Standards Tool –Find Out Fast if You Qualify for Government Contracts

In order to be eligible to sell to the government and compete for small business “set-aside” contracts, business owners had to rummage through various rules and matrices to find out if their business is truly “small” according to SBA size standards. Now, with this new Size Standards Tool, you can follow three simple steps to cut through the guesswork and quickly find out if you qualify for government contracting opportunities. SBA also offers other resources including government contracting training courses, and guides to help you register as a contractor.

4. Events Calendar – Locate Business Training and Seminars

SBA and its partners, including Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE, hold hundreds of small business training seminars and workshops across the country. Until now, there was no single repository for these events. Now, with SBA’s Events Calendar, you can quickly find and sign up for training. Enter a date range and/or zip code to locate events in your area. Results are filtered by topic such as “starting a business,” “managing a business,” “business planning,” and “financing a business.”

Tell us what you think about the new tools below. You can also Tweet @SBAgov or post your feedback on the SBA Facebook page.

How to Use Social Media to Do a Better Job of Customer Service

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:10:23 +0000

Ever emailed or called a company’s customer service department and got no response or a poor response to your comments? Did you instead post a rant on Twitter or Facebook until you got a response? You’re not alone – more and more customers are expecting brands to step up and respond to these posts.

According to a recent report by Gartner, by 2014, organizations that refuse to communicate with customers by social media will face the same level of wrath as those that ignore today's basic demand that they respond to emails and phone calls. “The dissatisfaction stemming from failure to respond via social channels can lead to up to a 15 percent increase in churn rate for existing customers,” said Carol Rozwell, VP and analyst at Gartner.

The message is clear: You need to use social media not just as a marketing tool but as a systematic part of your customer service model. Here’s how:

Align Social Media with All Levels of the Organization

For small businesses, customer service is so much more than one person or one team; it reaches across the entire business. From sales to marketing, billing to product development – these are all touch points for your customer, and it’s essential that each of these uses social media to ensure your business is customer-centric and taking care of online reputation management.

Try to involve whoever manages your social media presence in important weekly meetings so they are informed about all elements of the business while they serve as the voice of your social media followers.

Change Your Social Media Paradigm

Social media represents the human face, voice and ears of your business, but the fact is there are more brands that ignore comments on Facebook and Twitter than there are brands that respond. This is why using it as a customer service tool often requires a change in paradigm – and commitment. Here are some things to consider:

Recognize that your social media efforts are front and center to your efforts to retain and nurture prospects and customers.
Be strategic about social media and how you engage with fans. Don’t treat it as an aside to be taken advantage of when you need to promote your latest sale or event.
Monitor social media regularly throughout the day. Very few businesses actually do this.
Endeavor to respond to issues the same day, even if you simply thank your customer and inform them that you are looking into the issue. If you don’t, things can quickly snowball in full view of an audience of hundreds or thousands, including potential customers.

Set Rules that Define Your Response to Customer Service Issues

If you haven’t done so already, set some rules: who manages your social media voice and how should they should respond to negative comments? Lay out a clear path for escalation and resolution. This will ensure you or your social media leader is prepared to respond promptly when issues arise. This is especially true if you outsource this function or hire a junior level person to manage your social media.

Work out ahead of time a method for categorizing comments and develop a hierarchy for responding. For example, how will you handle a general comment or suggestion from a follower, versus how will you handle a genuine complaint? Does it require an immediate response? Escalation? And don’t forget to monitor some of the more serious posts further.

When to Respond

Being proactive about social media doesn’t mean you have to respond to everything. Just don’t overlook anything! Consider the following:

Not all comments are relevant or even solvable – For example, some folks who post public rants on your Facebook page may not actually want anything from you. They just need to get it off their chest. Such comments are often best ignored; you don’t want to add fuel to the fire.
Address legitimate complaints – If a customer has a specific and legitimate complaint (say, for example, the quality of a service or product didn’t live up to expectations), you need to address the issue publicly, promptly and in the same media it was made. Try to move the conversation offline, only after you’ve posted your initial response.
Look for positives in a negative comment – For example, if someone makes a complaint but also suggests ways you can do things better next time, acknowledge this, let them know you will share the suggestion internally – and follow through on this pledge.

For more tips on how to respond to criticism, including how to apologize, check out my earlier blog: 7 Tips for Dealing With Criticism of Your Business on Social Media.

Learn From Your Interactions

I’ve already mentioned the importance of bringing your social media lead to the business-wide conference table, but it’s also important to keep a record of customer service interactions. Again, this is part of the new paradigm. Think of it as the equivalent of monitoring a call and using it for training purposes. Share these conversations across the organization, and act on the critique and feedback.

Sponsoring or Hosting an Event this Holiday Season? 6 Ways to Maximize Your Return

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:46:34 +0000

Autumn and the holidays are the high season for events, from holiday parties and private shopping events to turkey trots and fall festivals. It’s time to consider hosting or sponsoring an event this holiday season as a way to stand out from the crowd during this busy time. But how do you get the best return on your investment? Here are six tips:

1. Sponsor events that matter to your customers

If you sponsor an event this season, pick something that matters to your customers. Who attends the event? What are their interests? If they don’t care about what you’re selling, then you’re wasting your time. For example, my hometown hosted an end-of-summer kids’ fun run. The chief sponsor was a hugely successful local orthodontist business known for its great customer service, commitment to family values and a fun and informal, even jazzy, atmosphere. A kids’ fun run fit perfectly with its brand and aligned the business directly with its target market.

2. Choose events that create an experience that reflects positively on your business

If you are planning on sponsoring an event, whether it’s your local Little League tournament or your town’s annual community health drive, you need to have clear goals and you’ll want to partner with events that reflect positively on your brand. If people are having a good time, then it’s likely that experience will rub off on your business through association. Consider events with a good track record that will attract the kind of customers you’re targeting.

3. Pick events that are well run

This may go without saying, but it can be easily overlooked. If the event is badly run it will reflect directly on your business. Talk to other business owners who’ve participated in the event and target events that have a good track record of participation and success. Remember that quantity isn’t always better than quality – if the event doesn’t play to your brand, no matter how many people attend, your return on investment will suffer.

4. Understand sponsorship levels

Many events offer different levels of sponsorship. While it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting for your investment, be sure to select a sponsorship that plays to your strengths. For example, a gold sponsorship may come with all the frills but if you can’t scale or provide the right resources to take advantage of it, go for a lower sponsorship tier and up your own marketing efforts to raise awareness of your involvement.

5. Don’t just show up – engage

Think about ways to become an integral part of the event. Align your tactics with the event’s goals. If all you can afford is logo placement, it might not be worth participating. Be creative, offer discounts to attendees, offer branded giveaways, get your logo on the event host’s giveaways (for example, branded water bottles) or host a contest or other experience that gets attendees interacting with your business.

Bring your employees along, too. Encourage them to get involved, both as staff and as participants. Whether it’s running in the turkey trot as a mascot for your business or bringing their kids for a photo opportunity with Santa Claus.

6. If you’re hosting a private event, invest in your VIPs

Private events are a great way to make your valued customers feel special. Whether you host a private in-store sale or an invitation-only holiday party for your loyal customers, you’ll get more from your investment with a little research and a plan of action. Here are a few tactics:

Offer customers the opportunity to bring a “plus one.” This will make them feel more comfortable and help you reach new buyers.
Do some customer research. Use your CRM tools, social media conversations, and email marketing responses to gauge what your VIPs are interested in or have purchased lately. This will arm you with conversation starters.
Use the event as an opportunity to refine your mailing lists and outreach efforts. Find out how your VIPs prefer to hear from you, whether it’s email or social media.
Send out thank you notes and follow-up with a special offer, just for your VIPs.

Have you hosted or sponsored any events lately? How did you ensure you got the best possible return on your investment? Leave a comment below.

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6 Steps to Assess Your Small Business’ Readiness to Export

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 11:31:36 +0000

Between 2009 and 2011, U.S. exports grew by 40 percent and the federal government is pressing to provide programs and resources that help U.S. companies succeed internationally.

Making the decision to export, however, is significant. Is your product marketable overseas? Can your business tolerate the benefits versus the trade-offs of exporting?

To help you assess your exporting readiness, take a look at SBA’s Export Business Planner. This invaluable, hands-on exporting guide provides a roadmap for creating an export business plan, discovering foreign markets, developing a marketing plan, exploring financing, costing your product and more.

Here’s what the Export Business Planner has to say about assessing your business’ readiness to export – backed by a series of useful worksheets to help you work through this important exercise.

1. Determine the Benefits and Trade-Offs of International Market Expansion

Start by brainstorming a list of benefits and trade-offs for expanding your market internationally. For instance, one benefit might be a reduced dependence on domestic markets. Trade-offs? You may need additional financing, or be willing to use short-term profits to ensure long-term goals, or hire additional staff.

Your list of benefits and trade-offs should be based on your current assumptions about 1) your company, 2) your company’s products and 3) market knowledge.

2. Perform a Business/Company Analysis

Next, you’ll need to perform an in-depth analysis of your existing business to determine the feasibility of growth. This entails evaluating your company and its attributes. Check out page 32 of the planner for a worksheet that can help you with this exercise.

3. Conduct an Industry Analysis

Once you have examined the status of your own company, the next area for consideration is your overall industry. How is it currently involved in the global marketplace? This review will help you to capture key aspects of your industry that will affect your exporting decisions. Again, check out the worksheet for this exercise on page 34 of the planner.

4. Identify Products With Export Potential

Part of the overall analysis of your current business involves identifying products that may have export potential. These have sold successfully domestically or maybe have had marginal success in the U.S. but potential for high demand overseas. Many small businesses make 100 percent of their sales in foreign markets.

Start by listing the strengths and weaknesses of products/services you believe might have export potential. Then, select the most exportable products/services to be offered and evaluate them. The worksheet on page 36 can really help you narrow down your product focus.

5. Marketability: Match Your Product/Service with a Global Trend or Need

Once you’ve identified products/services with export potential, the next step is to identify the most profitable foreign markets for those products. This means gathering foreign market research. Work through the worksheet that starts on page 39 to narrow your choices to the three most-penetrable markets. Ask yourself:

Which countries are best-suited for your product?
Which foreign markets will be easiest to penetrate?
How does the quality of your product compare with competing in-market goods?
Is your price competitive?
Who could your major customers be?

To help you with this exercise and to continue to explore these top three markets in-depth, pages 25-27 of the planner provide links to essential resources that can help you determine your product’s marketability overseas. There is also information about regulatory and political considerations that can affect your exporting decisions.

6. Define Which Markets to Pursue

Once your research has revealed the largest, fastest-growing and simplest markets to penetrate for your product or service, the next step is to define which markets to pursue. Here are some tips to bear in mind (and refer to the worksheet on page 42 of the planner for guidance):

It’s best to test one market and then move on to secondary markets as your expertise develops. SBA data shows that new-to-export businesses often tend to choose too many markets at first. For most small businesses, choosing one to three foreign markets initially is recommended.
Focusing on regional, geographic clusters of countries is more cost effective than choosing markets scattered around the globe, especially when you undertake trips or marketing events.

What’s next? Once you’ve determined your export readiness and investigated foreign market options, refer to the SBA’s Export Planning Guide for more tips and worksheets to help you plan, finance and execute your small business exporting strategy.

Additional Resources

7 Holiday Marketing Tips on a Limited Budget

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:43:58 +0000

When we think of holiday marketing – which can be critical to your business success – we often think only of promotions and discounts. But you don’t have to cut your margins or break the bank to stand out from the crowd any more. Here are seven budget-friendly steps you should consider to promote your small business while meeting the needs of your customers this holiday season.

Host an “Open House”

If you operate a retail business, restaurant or any gift-oriented business, why not plan an open house event in mid-November? Use it to showcase holiday season gifts, menus and merchandise. Offer up a glass of warm cider or mulled wine, and really get people into the spirit of the holidays. This will give customers an opportunity to check out your merchandise or holiday menus in advance. You could throw in a special offer or coupon that customers can redeem anytime up until December 24.

Work the Holiday Magic for Your Faithful Customers

Think of ways to generate repeat holiday business from your existing customers. Special offers, sneak previews, free shipping, or secret sales are all great ways to make your faithful customers feel special without breaking the bank.

Feature Product/Services of the Day or Week

I love this low cost marketing idea from Ivana Taylor at SmallBizTrends: why not create 12 days of “your product” or a product or service of the month? Feature and market a product or service every day or every week during the holidays. Think about focusing on high margin products or items your customers don’t know about. “Companies in the food business use this strategy a lot,” explains Ivana. “Think beer of the month, cheesecake of the month, or coffee of the month… Maid service companies could feature an extra cleaning detail each month, trainers or consultants can offer featured webinars, reports or newsletters.”

And don’t forget to communicate this themed promotion on your website, social media, email, posters, and flyers.

Offer Gift Certificates

Whatever your business, selling gift certificates, gift cards and e-certificates is a great way to give your customers a convenient gift option. They also help you generate sales well into the New Year, with recipients often spending more than the value of the certificate.

Partner With Other Businesses

It’s likely that many of the businesses in your community also rely heavily on the holidays for a good chunk of their income. Is there a way you can partner with complementary stores or restaurants to cross-promote each other’s businesses? For example, a cosmetic store and a hair salon might develop a promotion that offers a time-limited discount off each other’s respective goods and services, if the customer frequents both. SBA guest blogger Rieva Lesonsky offers more tips in her blog: Forget Competition It’s Time for Co-Opetition.

Get Involved in Community and Charitable Events

Getting out there and supporting charities or sponsoring or getting involved in community events is a great way to generate awareness for your business during the holidays. Even if you don’t have the budget to donate large sums of money, think of other ways to get involved, such as offering volunteer services, equipment or even space.

Use Your Website and Social Media to Promote your Holiday Activities

Your online presence, email marketing, and social media networks are a great way to target and connect with local consumers through timely updates and compelling calls-to-action. Develop holiday themes for your email templates and update your website and Facebook profile picture with a festive look.

Then be sure to channel any offers or promotions through social media. You can even offer deals or events exclusively to your social media fans to help drive foot traffic and generate leads. And don’t forget to engage in two-way dialogues. Ask your fans about their holiday activities. For example, a restaurant might highlight a holiday dish of the day on Facebook and ask fans to chime in on their favorite dish or items they’d like to see on the menu.

What lost-cost holiday marketing tips and tricks have worked for your small business? Leave a comment below!

8 Ways to Strengthen Your Email Marketing Offers and Calls to Action

Caron_Beesley — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:45:16 +0000

Are you worried you’re not getting tangible results from your email campaigns? Wish your emails stood out more in a crowded Inbox? Email marketing is a core asset in any lead generation activity or campaign, even a good old email newsletter usually has one or more calls to action. But if you’re finding that your click-through rates are falling short, what can you do?

Here are eight tips to help you get strengthen your emails and get customer to act.

Start with a robust and engaged list

Before you do anything, stop and take a look at your email marketing list. Do your contacts want to hear from you? What’s your opt-out rate? How long has it been since you’ve refreshed your list? Check open rates (20 percent is average). If it’s low, you may have a problem. If you find that your click-throughs and conversions aren’t where they should be, freshen your list by segmenting it out. You could send an email only to those who haven’t opened your emails for a while. Make it catchy, and try to win them back! Consider purging the unresponsive names – send them an email and ask them if they still want to hear from you and give them a clear option to opt out. Whatever you do, be creative, do the opposite of what you normally do and test the results.

Give your subject line the attention it deserves

Long gone are the days of formal subject lines laden with marketing speak. In today’s social media world, consumers are tuned in more to messages that speak directly to them. Cut the jargon and use subject lines that are clear, concise and answer the question: “What’s in it for me?” Use conversational language and address your reader as “you” or “your.” One of my personal favorites comes from the UK online clothing retailer Boden, which also operates in the U.S. Their subject lines reflect the quirky and customer-oriented nature of their brand and stand out in a crowded Inbox of discount offers. Here are three examples:

“Don’t dilly dally. 20% off plus free shipping ends soon”

“20% off loads of lovely styles – 1 week only”

“Your VIP SALE invitation: nab the best bits first”

Test your subject lines. Keep an eye on open rates and click-throughs and adjust your messaging strategy accordingly.

Use action-oriented words

Looking at the subject line examples above, do you notice how the limited time offer is clearly stated in the subject line? This compels readers to act now before it’s too late. If you have a special offer, make sure you clearly mention this several times – use action-oriented words in the subject line, in the body of your email and in any graphic elements. “Urgency” words like “now” and “this week only” can be far more effective than “free,” which is a red flag to SPAM filters.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Put your social media cap on and have a dialogue with your readers that motivates follow-through. Use questions in the subject line, as Boden does with its post-purchase review request: “How did we do? Review your Boden purchase today.”

Be confident, but stay on brand

Be confident in the tone of your call to action language, while staying consistently on-brand. Don’t be afraid of telling your readers what’s in it for them. Boden’s “20% of loads of lovely styles – 1 week only” does this perfectly.

Use graphics to enhance calls to action

The call to action button is a great way to draw attention to your offer or call to action. Most email marketing software lets you add this option. Play around with it and pick a design that’s eye-catching without being overwhelming. Position the call to action high up, centered on the page. Use your brand colors and clear, bold text. Avoid wordiness and leave lots of white space so your call to action pops. Then test your emails. Come up with several designs and ask your staff which grabbed their attention the most.

Get your content right

Content is an area that creates most concern for small business owners. How do I try to make a sale without sounding “salesy?” How can I make my call to action compelling? There are many ways to do this, and your copy and graphics go hand-in-hand:

Target your content or offer to specific audiences. At the simplest level, segment your lists by existing customers versus prospects and tailor your message accordingly. Geotarget if you can (especially if you are promoting an event or in-store offer). Adapt your message to specific locations.
Make your offer beneficial, relevant and timely. For example, are there any newsworthy (e.g. the Presidential election, Super Bowl, etc.) or seasonal activities going on that you can spin your offer around?
Feature images of your product.

Declutter

Have you ever received an email that was so cluttered you couldn’t decipher what was being offered or how to take advantage of it? A truly great promotional email is one that’s light on copy (shoot for 50 words or less) with a clear message and simple call to action. Your email is a teaser piece; you want to hint at what’s offered while enticing your readers to click through for more details. This can be achieved in under 50 words with good graphics and a stand-out call to action. Don’t omit too much though. For example, if you are hosting an event, you’ll need to include dates and prices in your email.

Pick the right email software

Lastly, revisit your email software. Does your current email software let you easily build custom templates? Can you add or delete content blogs and edit graphics without having to know web coding? What about social media integration, email personalization and other features? All these can help take the pain out of creating compelling content while automating your email campaign.

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