Category: Sales & Marketing

When I first started my career as a solo entrepreneur, I hired a web designer to create my website for me. He was awesome, and I loved his work. When I received my first bill, it included a contact email address for his “support department” and “billing department”. I was a little curious about who those other people were! Later I found out it was just him…he was ALL of those departments — design, support, billing, the works! A true case of putting lipstick on the pig. Even though he attempted to “paint” his business with these additional departments, underneath it all, he was still simply a solo entrepreneur.

You Can’t Contrive Credibility

It was amusing to me at the time…but now I see it for what it was: someone trying to be or look like something they aren’t in a misguided attempt to add credibility. This web designer was worried that clients wouldn’t take him seriously as a professional if they knew it was just him. So he created the illusion of these additional departments, presumably staffed by other employees. It wasn’t what I would call dishonest, more of a stretching of the truth. He delivered on his promises and had the needed expertise; none of his clients received anything less than was promised (and he was actually quite good at over-delivering.)

The Risk of Dressing Up as Something You’re Not

I knew this designer well enough and trusted him so it didn’t really bother me much, although it was somewhat of a revelation when I discovered he was a solo entrepreneur just like me! His other clients, however, expecting a bigger enterprise, might not have been as forgiving of the pretense. They may have felt deceived, suddenly unsure if they made the right choice. Future work and referrals were put in jeopardy simply because the vendor set an expectation that wasn’t exactly true.

The Upside of Putting Away the Makeup

The irony is that particularly as a solo entrepreneur, I actually was happier that he was a solo entrepreneur too! I’d left the corporate world and was embracing my own version of doing-it-all-myself. A short while later I interviewed an accountant for my growing business. She operated in an office with a couple of staff members. And she totally did NOT understand that no, I didn’t need to be budgeting money to rent an office for my soon-to-be-hired staff — I worked alone, from home, and I liked it that way! I sought out an accountant who was a solo entrepreneur like me, precisely because I knew she would understand my business — and understand me, because she was LIKE me.

Like Attracts Like — So Be Yourself!

The absolute best thing you can do for yourself and your business, is BE YOURSELF. The greatest truth in business is that you are going to want to work for and with people who share your goals, values, and to a certain extent, your personality. The best way to find those people is to be completely authentic about who you are! If you are a bit quirky or have a flamboyant style, let your website reflect that. If you like to tell it like it is, then do just that when you are on discussion forums, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Not everyone will like it…but those that do will be the ones that do business with you and rave about you to their colleagues.

Throw Away the Lipstick
So stop listening to those who offer well-meaning advice that doesn’t feel like you. Don’t change your website colors just because some study shows purple isn’t seen as a power color. Don’t censor yourself in online discussions or let someone talk you into a business card that just doesn’t feel like you. Put away the lipstick…and let your real self shine!

When you have got a business that you can continue and sustain, what’s the fastest way to make it profitable?

There are a few pointers you can take note of to make your business profitable.

Focus on the marketing.
In any business, number 1 is leads. Every single day, you have to track and measure your leads. How many leads did we generate this month? How many leads did we generate this week?

Most businessmen when you ask them, what will they say? I am not sure, I have to check. It has to be at your fingertips. You have to track your leads and constantly experiment using new strategies and new techniques to increase leads.

Advertising as an investment.
The best way to increase leads is through advertising right. Now, is advertising an expense or is it an investment? I always ask people that question.

If you throw in an ad and you don’t measure the leads, it’s an expense. If you throw in an ad and you don’t make money to cover it, it’s an expense. But if you throw in an ad and you track your response, and if for every dollar you spend, you get a dollar and twenty cents back, it becomes an investment.

So if you put in a dollar and you get back a dollar twenty. What’s your return? 20%. Your ad is an asset; it just could give you 20%. So how many dollars would you put in if you get a dollar twenty back? You put in as many as you can. You just keep putting it again and again. But all of us know that there’s this thing called the Law of Diminishing Returns.

As you keep putting ads, your returns will drop from a dollar twenty and drop to a dollar ten. So what happens. Do you give up your ads? No. you create new ads. And the moment you create new ads with a bit of different skew in that headline, what happens. Your return will again jump up. So that’s the first thing.

Focusing on the conversation rate.
Experimenting with new ways to increase conversion is very important. One way to do this is through creating a community. It’s easier to resell to a current client than it is to sell to a new client. So by making sure the moment you get a client, the same person comes back again and again and he brings all his friends. This will end up in better conversions as we all know that referrals through friends have a high rate of conversion.

Focus on margins
The last pointer is to constantly focus on your margins How can you do something more cost effectively, yet not compromising on quality. A lot of people ask this question. How do I know when I should hire someone? Or should I just do it myself?

The answer is this, when you hire someone, are you hiring an asset? If you’re paying the person $3,000, is the person making back for you another $3,000? If by hiring this person you can make $6,000, invest in that person. If by getting that person at $3,000, you lose that $1,000, then it’s not a good investment. So look at things from an investment perspective, from an asset perspective.

Here you have it, the key pointers that you can apply to your existing business and making it more profitable.

Article Contributed by Mark S.
Economic recession has forced most of the small to mid-sized businesses to cut their costs and re-work in a lean and mean way to survive. This involves slashing down those balloon sized marketing budgets and switch over to cost-effective and accountable marketing – SEO is definitely one of them.
Although traditional marketing has its benefits but Internet marketing is gaining an edge due to its attractive measurable deliverables at much lower costs.
One of the toughest things that business owner’s face with web marketing is lack of awareness and knowledge, since it’s just a decade old in terms of popularity. There are conflicts in their expectations on what search engine optimization (SEO) constitutes and what it can do for their business. This confusion is further aggravated when pushy SEO experts spew overblown sales pitch just to lure clients and close deals. Be sure to study and understand what SEO can deliver in form of results to your overall marketing plan.
Broadly speaking one can make SEO accountable by checking up on the following 4 deliverables.
1. Search Engine Rankings:
This is the basic requirement which every SEO campaign should deliver. But the intensity varies as per specific individual circumstances and requirements. As one shirt size cannot fit all, similarly importance of rankings cannot be same for every business.
Search engine ranking optimization focuses on bringing your keyword search on top rankings in various search engine sites like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, AOL etc. These results cannot be guaranteed or controlled.
Points to remember while demanding a high search ranking from your SEO expert:
· Check the competition for your chosen keywords. If it is highly competitive then it gets very difficult to climb over the top. It can be done, but requires consistent labor, time and resources spent on regular basis and following various SEO rules and guidelines to get on top rankings with search engines.
· Your demand should coincide with the current state of your site. Is your site brand new? If yes, it will take more time and efforts to bring you top rankings as one of the important factors influencing the search rankings is the domain age. Always remember rankings take time and constant efforts to build up. It is not a one day, one week or one month job.
· Do NOT expect your rankings to be on top all the time. Rankings fluctuate on a real time basis and your site rankings might suddenly drop to no-man’s island. Trust your SEO expert to find the reason for unexpected poor performance and take immediate damage control actions.
· Last but not the least, if you are obsessed with rankings, remember, rankings can only do so much. If visitors come to your site and immediately leave, it’s waste having high rankings. What is the use of having top rankings but no measurable increase in your sales or marketing results?
2. Traffic:
Another area to focus during an SEO campaign for your site is site traffic. This means the number of unique visitors to your site everyday and the amount of time they spent there. When your SEO campaign kick starts you should expect to see a gradual increase in the number of visitors to your site.
Important points to know about traffic before you focus on this area:
· Try and focus on quality instead of quantity. Even if you have 1000 visitors every day, if none of them convert into leads, your SEO campaign is not working. Be sure to take time and explain to your SEO expert what type of visitors you want them to target.
· Role of traffic is downplayed if you are in niche industry segment. This is because very few people will be actually searching for your product and services. Focus instead on conversion rates.
· Traffic loses its significance if you already have large number of visitors to your site. In such a situation ask your SEO expert to analyze the type of traffic and what action you want the traffic to take on your site. The emphasis should be on finding what’s working and not working to increase sales.
3. Conversions:
Conversion is the heart of any SEO campaign. You can check yourself the conversion rate by the following equation:
Conversion Rate = [(Total Web Sales / Unique Web Traffic) / Average Sales Price] x 100
To put simply you need to calculate how many visitors are actually converting into your customers. How do you do this?
· You need to tell your SEO expert what you consider as conversion for you. You need to define whether a visitor filling up an inquiry form is conversion or when they click on your ‘buy now tab’ on your e-commerce site or is it filling your contact us form or filling your subscription form/newsletter etc.
· You cannot hold your SEO expert responsible for low conversion rate if you have not clearly defined what you would consider as conversion.
· Remember the final sale depends totally on you and not the SEO expert. They can only bring the visitor to your site and guide them to take the action you want online; rest is totally dependent on you. Try and be reasonable in your expectations and see that you demand for an achievable goal from your online SEO campaign.
4. ROI:
The ultimate goal in every business strategy is to increase your bottom line. You need to ensure that the amount invested in any activity gives profitable return to make business sense. The same scenario is expected when you invest in search engine optimization.
The crux here is to remember it’s an investment. Every investment takes time to fructify. Give your SEO expert the minimum time required for the program to start delivering result. Generally it takes 90 days to start seeing some positive activity through SEO. This can vary as per the keywords, competition and industry. Sometimes it might take 6 months, sometimes 1 year. It is an on-going process and the sooner you begin, the soon you can see some good benefits out of it.
Conclusion
When hiring an SEO expert it’s important to have expectations since you are not indulging in charity. You need to be clear on what those expectations are and make sure to define it clearly in a formal written contract. This ensures a detailed road map or guideline is prepared which can be referred to check progress continuously. Any breach thereby can be clearly found out and dealt accordingly.
One of the major reasons why SEO campaigns fail is, when changes are requested for rankings, conversions, ROI or any help is required off site, it is not followed or provided by clients. They feel once they have dumped the job to the SEO expert, they will perform miracles. You need to help them to help you. Be co-operative, supportive and provide them all the information and help they need to carry out their job in the best possible manner. If still they cannot deliver as per your expectations and contractual agreement you have every right to penalize them and search for a better option.
About Author:
Mark S. is a qualified SEO expert working with Analtyix Solutions (www.analytixsolutions.com) which is a fast growing back-office service company for Finance and Accounting, IT, Marketing and Operational services. Analytix has been doing SEO for various industry websites from business brokerage, outsourcing, IT, dentists to e-commerce industry. To receive a free SEO analysis of your site contact Mark at mark@analytixsolutions.net

Article Contributed by Satish Patel
Entrepreneurs are largely driven by the idea of being one’s own boss and are passionate to create wealth rather than money. To start out on one’s own is challenging and most of them would love it, but it can turn out to be a bumpy ride and face an abrupt end. The current downturn has left many such examples where the best of ideas backed by highly skilled entrepreneurs and a concrete business plan too face questions on survival.
As an entrepreneur, you may have kicked-off with a small to mid-sized set-up and that might have not turned out to something that you have wished for. Funds would have become a constraint to grow further, capital market crisis would have lead to little financial access and there seems lesser possibility of help from friends or families. How would you tackle this?
One might agree that continuing with the dream venture till you are forcefully pushed is not a good idea. You might be forced to sell at throwaway prices. In the need of hour, you should instead plan for an exit strategy that can help you realize a deserving value for your business before you’re backed against the wall.
Once the decision to sell has been made, the business owner should be aware of the variety of possible business buyers. Just as small business itself has become more sophisticated, the people interested in buying them are becoming more divergent and complex. With a little bit of preparation, the value of any business can be multiplied several times and, in some cases, many times.
The following are some of today’s most active categories of business buyers.
Business Competitors
This is a category often overlooked as a source of prospective purchasers. The obvious concern is that competitors will take advantage of the knowledge that the business is for sale by attempting to lure away customers or clients.
However, if the business is compatible, a competitor may be willing to “pay the price” to acquire a ready-made means to expand. A business brokerage professional can be of tremendous assistance in dealing with the competitor. They will use confidentiality agreements and will reveal the name of the business only after contacting the seller and qualifying the competitor.
The Foreign Buyer
Many foreigners arrive in the United States with ample funds and a great desire to share in the American Dream. Many also have difficulty obtaining jobs in their previous professions, because of language barriers, licensing, and specific experience. As owners of their own businesses, at least some of these problems can be short-circuited.
These buyers work hard and long and usually are very successful small business owners. However, their business acumen does not necessarily coincide with that of the seller (as would be the case with any inexperienced owner). Again, a business broker professional knows best how to approach these potential problems.
Important to note is that many small business owners think that foreign companies and independent buyers are willing to pay top dollar for the business. In fact, foreign companies are usually interested only in businesses or companies with sales in the millions.
Synergistic Buyers
These are buyers who feel that a particular business would compliment theirs and that combining the two would result in lower costs, new customers, and other advantages. Synergistic buyers are more likely to pay more than other types of buyers, because they can see thhttp://getentrepreneurial.com/mt-static/images/formatting-icons/bold.gife results of the purchase.
Again, as with the foreign buyer, synergistic buyers seldom look at the small business, but they may find many mid-sized companies that meet their requirements.
This category of buyer comes with perhaps the longest list of criteria–and demands. These buyers want maximum leverage, but they also are the right category for the seller who wants to continue to manage his company after it is sold. Most financial buyers offer a lower purchase price than other types, but they do often make provision for what is important to the seller other than the money–such as selection of key employees, location, and other issues.
For a business to be of interest to a financial buyer, the profits must be sufficient not only to support existing management, but also to provide a return to the owner.
Individual Buyer
When it comes time to sell, most owners of the small to mid-sized business gravitate toward this buyer. Many of these buyers are mature (aged 40 to 60) and have been well-seasoned in the corporate marketplace.
Owning a business is a dream, and one many of them can well afford. The key to approaching this kind of buyer is to find out what it is they are really looking for.
The buyer who needs to replace a job can be an excellent prospect. Although owning a business is more than a job, and the risks involved can frighten this kind of buyer, they do have the “hunger”–and the need. A further advantage is that this category of buyer comes with fewer “strings” and complications than many of the other types.
A Final Note
Sorting out the “right” buyer is best left to the professionals who have the experience necessary to decide who the best prospects are. Ask for help of experienced business brokers who can devise a sound strategy that gets your business the right buyer and a deserving price.
About Author:
Satish Patel is the founder CEO and President of Sunbelt Business Sales and Acquisitions, New England (www.sunbeltne.com). SunbeltNE is amongst the top franchise of Sunbelt Network, which is the world’s largest network of business brokers with presence in over 30 countries through 300 offices. Patel owns the franchise rights for the states of MA, NH, RI, VT and ME. SunbeltNE has expertise in steering buy and sell deals for Main Street, Franchises and Middle Market companies. Besides business brokerage, SunbeltNE offers services for strategic Mergers and Acquisitions, Cross Border Business selling and buying, Business Financing, Business Valuations and Transition Consulting.