Tag: strategy

Categories
Online Business

3 Simple and Low Cost Marketing Ideas to Create Visibility

marketing%20ideas.jpg

Marketing your business is one of the biggest challenges for any solopreneur – it’s a task we all find quite daunting, and are simply overwhelmed by all the information that’s available. Below I have put together some information on 3 simple and low cost marketing ideas, which you can easily implement right away to create more visibility for your online business and web site. They all work well for me!

To help you decide which is the best strategy (or strategies) for you, I have listed the pros and cons of each one.

Create a Blog

Pros
:: You can really show off your expertise by posting on a regular basis.
:: Blog posts don’t need to be very long – approx. 200-350 words.
:: If you have some important information to share, you can instantly create a post – no waiting for your next newsletter to make your announcement!
:: If you use a blogging platform such as WordPress, this is hosted on your website. Each time you post to your blog you are creating fresh content for your website, which the search engines love!

Cons
:: You need to post regularly – at least once a week – in order for this to be an effective marketing strategy.
:: You need to feel confident that you will be able to write fresh content regularly.
:: It can be difficult to build a direct relationship with your reader.

Publish an Ezine

Pros
:: Unlike a blog, readers sign up to receive your newsletter so you already have a connection with them.
:: You can build a relationship with your newsletter reader and encourage one-on-one communication.
:: You can go into more depth in your newsletter article than you can with your blog posts.
:: Your clients/target audience can get to know you through your newsletter.

Cons
:: You have to make a commitment to publish on a regular basis, otherwise your subscribers will see you as unreliable, and may even forget about you!
:: There is more work involved in putting together a newsletter than writing a simple blog post.
:: You will need to subscribe to one of the ezine distribution services – I strongly recommend you do this and not send your ezine via your email client!

Article Marketing

Pros
:: If you are already blogging or publishing a newsletter, you have your articles written.
:: It is highly likely that once you submit your article to one of the article submission sites, it will be picked up and published on other article submission sites.
:: Regularly submitting your articles will elevate you to ‘expert’ status within your field/niche

Cons
:: You have to write the articles if you’re not publishing a newsletter or posting to a blog.
:: It takes time to manually research suitable article submission sites and submit articles.
:: In order for this strategy to be effective, you have to submit your articles regularly – at least once a month.

Conclusion: You can just pick one strategy to focus on, or you can do all three! Whichever one you choose make sure it’s the right one for you. The key is to be consistent in your approach. If you decide to go with a blog make sure you have the time and motivation to add new posts regularly – at least once a week. Don’t start a newsletter if you know you won’t be able to keep to a regular publishing schedule! And for article marketing to be effective you need to submit articles on a regular basis.

Categories
Entrepreneurs

Attitudes and Behaviors of Successful People

I found three things that inspired me and helped me understand that the small business market is alive and well. Companies that are doing well exhibited three primary behaviors: the business owner exhibited a positive attitude, the business created and implemented a sound business strategy and they had the discipline to stay focused on the strategy.

The attitude of the business owner is the single most important principle described in the book. The owner must accept 100% of the responsibility for the results of the business. When responsibility is accepted, action can be taken to make the necessary changes to accomplish the desired results.

When success is achieved, these owners are generous in giving credit to others within the organization. Without exception, the most successful business owners understand it is all about people: hiring and retaining the right people, eliminating ineffective people, and providing the necessary resources for employees to master their tasks.

Having and implementing a sound business strategy is next. A large complex strategy is not necessary; a one page document will do. However, the business strategy does need to be well thought out, carefully crafted and well executed. The business strategy will define and drive the activities and behaviors the organization must execute to become successful. If you do not have a business strategy, the organization becomes like a ship without a rudder – it can’t be steered – it just goes in circles. A business strategy should include such things as: a financial plan, marketing differentiators, product strategy, and employee retention strategy, etc.

The other two attributes become much more effective when discipline is in place. Discipline can be defined as “staying the course,” and executing the strategy. The most successful companies understand the value of discipline and they work hard maintain the course defined by the business strategy.

A poorly crafted business plan that is well executed is far superior to a well-crafted business plan the sits on the shelf.
Discipline is not overreacting to market changes, staying focused on your core markets, and measuring success as defined in the business plan.

Business success is contingent on these three principles: attitude, strategy, and discipline.
Attitude is composed of seven different behaviors. If you would like to understand those seven behaviors in more details, please watch this 10 minute video:

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=548203

Categories
How-To Guides

Successful Business Decision Making

decision-making.jpg

Here’s How to Make it Easy

Some people make decisions without any difficulty, while others struggle. Are you having trouble making a decision? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the choices you have, and aren’t sure how to pick just one? No matter how big or small those decisions might be, I can teach you how to strategically:

  • Define your decision and come up with alternatives
  • Determine what criteria you?ll need to help you make the decision
  • Make the decision

“If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.”  Ivan Turgenev, famous 19th-century Russian novelist, poet and playwright

DEFINING THE DECISION AND ALTERNATIVES

STEP 1: What is it that you need to make a decision about? Maybe you have several choices to make, but start with one. Ask yourself a couple of questions that are applicable to your situation, such as:

“What do I want to be doing for the next 6 months?” “What business am I going to start?” “What aspect of my business do I want to grow?”

STEP 2: Determine your primary goal and write it down. For example, you might want to grow your business over the next six months. Therefore, your goal sentence might be: “I want to earn 25% more within the next 6 months.”

STEP 3: After you’ve written your goal sentence, begin brain-storming a list of ideas for how to achieve the goal. Below are some rules for brainstorming:

  • Write all ideas down – ideas are neither bad or good–they’re just ideas!
  • Do not judge or analyze the idea – just write it down.
  • Make the process fun!

You do not have to generate a list of ideas in one sitting, but you may need to set some limits around how much time to spend creating your list. Be creative in how you capture your ideas. Carry a small notebook with you so when an idea comes to you, you?ll be prepared and write it down immediately. I put stickies (Post-It notes) and pens in my purse, car, and bedroom, so whenever and wherever I generate an idea I have a way to capture it. When I?m ready, I collect the stickies and add them to a master list I keep in my office. Just do whatever is easiest for you!

After you feel you’ve completed your options list (or when the time you’ve given yourself to make the list has run out), ask someone you trust to read over your ideas. This person needs to be someone who has a positive attitude and is supportive of your efforts! The person may come up with some options you hadn?t considered. Write them down! Remember, you’re not judging the ideas–just recording them at this stage.

DETERMINING THE CRITERIA AND EVALUATING EACH OPTION

STEP 4: Identify no more than 4 or 5 criteria that you will use to determine how well your options achieve the goal you’ve established.

Decision criteria provide checkpoints to measure your options against your goal. Typical criteria fall into two categories:

Do-ability (do I have the money, time, expertise?)
Likelihood of Success (do they meet the goal in time, revenue, fun factor?).

STEP 5: Using the criteria you’ve defined, evaluate each option. This process can be as simple, or complex, as you desire, and may be qualitative or quantitative. You may need to allow some time to experiment a bit with some ideas to test them out and determine how well they meet each criteria.

MAKING THE DECISION

STEP 6: Sometimes the winner(s) is obvious you’ll just pick it and go with it. Or, you may immediately notice certain ideas drop to the bottom of the list and just need to be deleted because they do not support your business needs. When one option is not standing out among the others, you may have to prioritize the options by weighting the criteria to help you evaluate the alternatives and make your decision.

BONUS STEP: Keep in mind, just because an idea may not fit with your current focus; it may serve you later. Create a place to store those ideas–an “idea vault” to tap into the next time you need good ideas!

Terri’s keys to successful decision-making

  • Write it all down!
  • Clarify the decision you are making
  • Know your goals
  • Be creative in coming up with options
  • Trust your gut
  • Don’t procrastinate!
Categories
Sales & Marketing

Differentiation: Smart Marketing Strategies for the Solo Entrepreneur

differentiate.jpg

Using Your (small) Size as a Competitive Advantage

Are you ever frustrated or hesitant when you talk to prospective customers because you can’t readily explain why they should come to you rather than go to your competitors? Sure, you might have your 30-second elevator speech, but then they ask you that dreaded question, “So what makes you different?” Then, all those self-doubts creep in, and you just aren’t sure what to say. Differentiation can boost confidence–yours in yourself and that prospective customer’s confidence in you!

Dif-fer-en-ti-ate v. tr. To perceive or show the difference in or between; discriminate.

In business terms, to differentiate means to create a benefit that customers perceive as being of greater value to them than what they can get elsewhere. It’s not enough for you to be different–a potential customer has to take note of the difference and must feel that the difference somehow fits their need better. (Other words that mean virtually the same thing: Competitive Advantage; Unique Selling Proposition; or Value Proposition.)
As you are building your business, you can use differentiation to attract more customers. Once you have momentum, differentiation allows you to charge a higher price because you are delivering more value to your customers. Make a point to evaluate and adjust your differentiation methods at least annually.
The various methods of differentiating your businesses fall into four general categories:

Price Differentiation
Focus Differentiation
Product/Service Differentiation
Customer Service Differentiation

Price Differentiation
Differentiating on price is probably the most common and easily understood method. HOWEVER, for Solo Entrepreneurs, caution is in order. On the one hand, potential customers might expect a lower price from you than from your larger competition because they perceive you as having less overhead, etc. On the other hand, cheaper prices can evoke perceptions of lower quality, a less-stable business, etc. And if you compete on price against competitors with deeper pockets, you can price yourself right into bankruptcy. Be creative with this differentiator by competing on something other than straight price. For example, you might offer:

  • More value–offer more products or services for the same price.
  • Freebies –accessories, companion products, free upgrades, and coupons for future purchases.
  • Free shipping, etc.–convenience sells, especially when it is free!
  • Discounts–includes offering regular sales, coupons, etc. (see cautions above)

Focus Differentiation
For Solo Entrepreneurs, this is the most important method of differentiation, and in many ways, the easiest. Why? Because as a Solo Entrepreneur, you simply can’t be everything to everybody, so you must pick a specific way to focus your business. Once you have done that, you have an automatic advantage over larger companies because you can become more of an expert in that one field –and you can build close relationships with key customers that will be hard to duplicate. For example, you might differentiate yourself through:

  • Location–take advantage your closeness to prospective customers.
  • Customer specialization–be very specific about what characteristics your customers will have – for example, racing bicycle enthusiasts or companies with a spiritual conscience.
  • Customer relationships–know customers really well, form partnerships with them, and get them to speak for you!
  • Affinity relationships–associate your product/service with a well-known person or organization.
  • One-stop shopping–offer everything your target market needs, in your area of expertise.
  • Wide selection (within your niche) – although this one may seem to be the opposite of focus–the key is to be very specific in one dimension and very broad in another.

Product/Service Offering Differentiation
How much you are able to differentiate your product or service offering will vary based on what type of business you are in. For instance, if you are in a highly regulated business, your options may be limited. Explore a totally new market or type of product or service, however, and the possibilities abound. The key to successful differentiation in this category, again, is to know your customers, really, really well. Talk to them often, and you will know what they need most and be able to offer it, long before your competitors know what is happening. For example, your product or service could stand out in one of these ways:

  • Quality–create a product or service that is exceptional in one or more ways.
  • Lasts longer
  • Better features
  • Easier to use
  • Safer
  • New/First–be the first one to offer something in your location/field.
  • Features/Options–offer lots of choices, unusual combinations, or solve a problem for a customer in a way no one else does.
  • Customization–as a Solo Entrepreneur, you may be able to more easily handle special orders than big, mass-market competitors.

Customer Service Differentiation
Have you noticed how customer service seems to be out of vogue these days? This situation makes excellent customer service a great opportunity for differentiation and another natural advantage for Solo Entrepreneurs that already know what’s important to their customers. Build your reputation on making customers feel really good about doing business with you. Works great with referral marketing, too. Examples:

  • Deliver Fast–next day, or one-hour–make it faster than customers think possible.
  • Unique channel–offer a service over the phone or Internet instead of in person or in their office rather than yours.
  • Service-delight customers!–it may seem expensive to offer exceptional service–but it pays off in word-of-mouth advertising.
  • Before/during/after-sales support–provide technical or other support to customers using your product. You might use joint ventures to provide that support–but customers will perceive it as being from you!
  • Guarantee/warranty–offer 100% money-back, or free replacement parts.
  • YOU–offer yourself, your unique blend of talents and skills, to attract customers. Make sure they get access to you, too!

Keys to Successful Differentiation:

  • Know your customers, really, really well.
  • Pick a blend of differentiation methods that, in the eyes of your customers, truly sets you apart.
  • Talk about your differentiation in terms of customer benefits.
  • Tell everyone about what differentiates you–often.
  • Keep your differentiation fresh by listening for changing customer needs.