Why You Need A Business Plan – Part 1

why you need a business plan

Do you have a business plan for your business?

It’s been about a month since we posted a link to the Entrepreneur Series that we are working on with Frank Thomas, of the Small Business Tips Show.

Today, we’re posting the third installment of this series, and it’s all about a business plan.

When recording the webcast on this topic, Frank and I quickly discovered that it is a topic that requires a lot of depth and a lot of discussion. Rather than just skipping over some high points, we decided to create a two-part series.

Now, I know there’s been some talk lately about whether you actually need a business plan or not. But, call me old-fashioned, I still maintain that your business plan provides the foundation upon which your business is constructed.

So check out part one now…and stay tuned. We’ll be posting part two in a couple of days.

Watch our video here, or watch on YouTube.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Hate Cold Calling? Try these strategies…

cold calling

The rumors that the days of cold calling are over are grossly exaggerated.

The truth is, cold calling is still an integral part of sales.

Regardless of whether you’re approaching your prospects via email, direct mail, or picking up the phone and calling them, you have to keep reaching out to new people all the time in order to grow your business. It may be cleverly disguised, but under the mask, it’s still cold calling.

I have met very few people who actually enjoy making cold calls. In fact, it can be the bane of any business owner – and often is! Those folks who embrace cold calling, and indeed make it into an art form, are few and far between.

But then there’s the rest of us.

I freely admit that I struggle with the cold call. Yes, I know it is something that we all must do. And, once I start making the calls, I always question why I suffered from call reluctance. I have almost never encountered anyone who treated me rudely, so what are we afraid of?

I suspect that the answer to this lies in the psychology of human nature. We all desire acceptance, and we all fear rejection. And these emotions reside in our subconscious. Therefore, we build up a resistance to reaching out to strangers, especially if we are representing a product or service that can be rejected. When the recipient of our cold calling effort declines our product or service, we tend to take it personally, as though we were being rejected rather than recognizing the fact that the prospect is simply turning down our offer.

So instead of fearing the cold call, we have to learn to embrace it. 

At minimum, you are creating more exposure for your business, and in the best case scenario, you are actually gaining a client.

We have to change the way we look at the cold call, as well as the delivery mechanisms. You can’t simply send the same message over and over again, asking them to buy your product or service. Remember that your prospect is being approached by many people every day to purchase their products or services. So, how do you position yourself to stand apart from the others?

The simple answer is to provide them with something that no one else is: value!

Continuing to ask prospects to meet with you or to buy your product or service doesn’t automatically translate to providing value. Buying decisions are almost always made based on emotions. We’ve heard it before, but the reality is that people will buy from you either because you have a unique product or service, or – most often – you are resolving a problem for them.

So, why not try a new approach? Why not provide a free resource that is of value to your prospect? This will open the lines of communication as well as differentiate you from your competitors.

Why not try…

• sending your prospect an article, website or an e-book that is applicable to their needs
• call your prospect or email them to offer an idea or suggestion
• invite a prospect to an event
• offer to make an introduction or introduce them to someone they should be connected with

By giving something to your prospects, with no strings attached, they will begin to understand that you are looking to provide them with of value, not just land a sale.

Of course, we all have to earn a living and no one has the right to expect something for nothing all the time. So provide value to your prospects to build trust, but remember that the goal is to lead them to becoming your client.

The key is to make your message valuable enough that the prospect will hear you out.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Choosing The Right Social Media Platform

social media

In our last article, we discussed how technology and social media have changed the way we communicate and how we market our businesses.

As technology evolves, the way we communicate also evolves, and social media is a prime example of this.

It appears that social media continues to be a popular choice for businesses, as it has proven itself to be a highly effective way to reach prospects. So now, more than ever, it’s important to position your business through at least one social media platform.

A recent study showed that as of January 2016, over 70% of folks in the United States had at least one social media profile. And it’s predicted that by 2018, the number of worldwide users will increase from 2.1 billion users to 2.5. Currently, Facebook claims over 1 ½ billion active monthly users, with YouTube posting and even 1 billion, an Instagram claiming 400 million.

Clearly, with the number of people on the various social media platforms, it only makes sense for you to ensure that your business is connected to at least one of these platforms.

Which raises the question – what platform, or platforms should you be on?

It doesn’t make sense, from a time or budget perspective, to choose too many platforms or to choose them randomly.

What is it that your company does? The social media platforms that your company should be on depends on your niche, as well as your target audience. Are you B2B, or B2C? Does your product or service lend itself to images? If so, an application such as Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook would be a good choice or your business. On the other hand, if you specialize in a specific product or service selling to other companies, an application like LinkedIn would make more sense.

One of the advantages of using social media to reach your target audience is that it is relatively inexpensive. There are a number of free tools out there, such as HootSuite, that can help you schedule updates and posts to your social media platforms, allowing you to create content for posting ahead of time. Of course, these applications also have premium versions at a cost, depending on your requirements. There are also several companies that will manage and monitor your social media on your behalf, but unless social is a big part of your final, you should be able to manage this yourself, at least in the early days.

One of the biggest issues with social media is that, although it has become more and more integrated into our lives, it is still very difficult for businesses to measure their return on investment, or ROI.

My response to this issue is that you have to be clear with social media marketing, just like every other type of marketing, what exactly it is that you are looking to measure. What is your goal? Is your intent to use these social media platforms to drive website traffic, develop broader exposure for your business, or are you looking to make sales through the platform?

Social platforms are equipped to provide you with analytics. You can find out how many people have been exposed to your posts, how they are responding to them, as well as how many people are clicking on your website links. By taking a look at the analytics, you can find out what is the best time of day to post to reach your target audience, as well as which platforms are performing the best for you.

Be sure that if you take the time to develop social media profiles for your business that you do not waste that effort by ignoring those channels. Create a calendar, or at least make a commitment to post on a regular basis. Whether it is once a week or twice a day, be sure that you commit to this schedule and maintain it. Your followers and prospects will begin to anticipate your posts, and your audience will grow.

Also, remember that social media is about being social, not just about your own products and services. Be sure to interact with the people you are attracting to your platforms, and include posts that will be of interest to your followers, even if they are unrelated to your business.

Creating your social media profiles may be free, but remember that, just like everything else, there is still a cost attached. In order to be effective, you’ll have to invest some time and perhaps a bit of money into it to make sure that you are not wasting your efforts.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Find Your Niche And Stick To It!

niche

I had a few different topics I was considering for my post today, but then a conversation with a colleague clarified my decision.

Everybody talks about the importance of finding your niche. But often, this is simply a phrase that is thought of in generalities rather than specifics.

Many people consider that finding their niche translates to deciding what area of business to work in. And yes, this is the definition of a niche.

But how you work with your niche goes much deeper than the basic definition.

To get to my point, let’s take a brief look back.

As many of you know, I have been working in the marketing field for over 30 years. And a lot has happened over these 30 years. When I started marketing, there was no internet or online marketing. Then, in the early 90s, the internet became accessible to most people, and by the mid-90s folks were starting to recognize the untapped potential of utilizing this technology to help market their products and services to an audience that was very difficult, if not impossible, to reach in the past.

As we all know, the era of internet marketing was upon us and opportunities exploded. Then, in the 2000s, social entered the scene. Suddenly there were even more ways to interact with prospects and clients, often in real time.

But successful marketing doesn’t lie in any one delivery mechanism. Sorry, but there is no magic bullet.

So let’s get back to the present and the topic at hand – finding your niche.

In the 80s and 90s, as things were evolving, there was a strong demand for people to become generalists. Due to the fact that internet marketing was a new, untapped, and unknown resource, people had to educate themselves about this new technology. As a result, marketers became resources who knew a little bit about a lot within the emerging and transitioning workspace.

To some degree, this persisted into the early 2000’s, as social platforms evolved and became opportunities for brands to interact with their clients and prospects.

But now it would appear that the pendulum has swung back. The era of the generalists seems to have passed, and now more than ever, it is important to identify and stick to your area of expertise.

The internet and new technology have created the opportunity for the global marketplace to be right outside your door. We have access to information that has been unparalleled in its growth and its reach. As I often say, we now live in a world where answers exist at the click of a mouse.

Therefore, in a sense, we have all become generalists. We can research everything from how to build a lamp to medical sites to help identify health issues.

So now, any of us can learn how to do nearly anything. But just because we read it on the internet does not make us an expert in that area.

Medical sites are great for researching and finding answers to questions you may have about your health, but to self-diagnose can be harmful to your health. It’s still important that you see the expert – a medical professional – to accurately diagnose and treat any symptoms you may have. And the same is true of every other market.

So find your niche. Stick to what you know; stick to your area of expertise, and create trusted alliances with those who support your niche. Stay true to your path and you won’t lose your way.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

5 Ways To Market When Cash Is Tight

create buzz

Most businesses experience tighter cash flow issues from time to time…

Whether as a result of the economy, something related to their niche, or perhaps from some changes to internal processes, how do you create some buzz?  

I’ve spoken before about the fact that marketing is often the first place that businesses will cut back when they are experiencing cash flow issues. And, I’ve also spoken many times about the fact that this is one of the worst things a business can do.

Not only does this put the brakes on attracting attention to your business, but it also put you behind for the time when either the economy or your cash flow improves.

Regardless of whether you are an established business feeling the pinch or a startup experiencing difficulty accessing capital, the five tips in this article will show you that marketing does not have to be expensive to be effective.

1. Content Is King

I know we keep hearing this over and over again, but it is a fact. One of the most effective things that you can do is to publish quality content. Regularly posting content that resonates with your target audience is extremely cost effective and is a great way to build trust and to keep you consistently on the radar of your clients and prospects. Posting regular content is also a great way to improve your search engine results, improving your ranking.

2. Network, Network, Network!

Never underestimate the value you and your employees bring to your business. Every experience that brings you in contact with others is an opportunity to network, so don’t overlook these occasions. Attending a conference? Be sure to take long some business cards. Tradeshows, lunches, spontaneous or unplanned meetings-these are all great opportunities for you to promote your corporate brand and let people see the human face to your business. And remember that networking is a two way street. Offer something of value to those you are connecting with and they are more likely to reciprocate.

3. Borrow On Your Line Of Credit

While there are many opportunities to market your business for free, or at least inexpensively, it is misleading to think that marketing doesn’t require any budget at all. There are nearly always some costs attached to marketing strategies, whether it is printing costs, outsourcing writers, hiring employees, or utilizing various tools and subscriptions. If it makes sense, consider using a line of credit to get access to immediate capital needed to fulfill your more pressing marketing needs. Used cautiously, this can help keep your marketing engine running until your cash flow improves.

4. Take Advantage Of Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms are a great way to reach out to multitudes of people over the Internet. Just make sure that you are utilizing the appropriate channels to reach your target audience. And remember that you don’t have to be on all social media platforms. Choose the top 3 to 5 platforms for your niche and your target audience and stick to them. Post relevant messages and links to draw your target audience back to your website. Be sure that you are responding to any messages, requests, or comments that you get on these platforms as they can be a double-edged sword. Remember that they are social, and interaction is expected.

5. Do You Ask For Referrals?

Although the dollar figure may vary from business to business, we are all very well aware that it costs much more to obtain a client than it does to keep a client. And nothing is more effective in bringing business through the door than a solid referral from a satisfied customer. People do business with people who they like know and trust, and a recommendation from a happy client translates to a pre-determined trust by the new business prospect. Create some type of referral or loyalty program among your customers and let them help market your business through their satisfaction.

So as you can see, it’s easy to market your business effectively even when times are tough. Adhering to a marketing program will ensure that your company will not only survive, but will thrive.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Don’t Make These 3 Errors With Video

video marketing

The key to successful marketing lies in it’s creativity.   But let’s be frank – most marketing falls far short of this.

But now, thanks to video, the face of marketing is changing. In fact, in many ways it has become reinvigorated.

It’s unfortunate then, that many marketers who have been innovative enough to venture into the opportunities that video presents have remained stuck in their old habits. They failed to stretch their storylines, utilize calls to action, under user overuse graphics, and maybe even using inappropriate humor.

So let’s explore the three errors that most marketers are making with video and look at some ideas about how to avoid them.

1. The videos are too “salesy”

People are becoming smarter and smarter. They are becoming more marketing savvy and are more likely to see through marketing schemes. Therefore when you are using video marketing, find the most appropriate way to get your point across while still keeping it relatable for your audience. Ensure that the delivery is done in a way that is entertaining, yet relevant to the pitch. Otherwise, you risk losing the purpose behind the video.

2. The title is wrong

I’ve written many articles about content, and we all know that content is king. But you need to get people involved in your content, and that’s where titles come in. Titles are what attracts your viewers to your video, so you want to make sure that you use a title that captivates and draws prospects in. Remember, however, that it is the first impression, so must be concise and applicable, well capturing attention.

3. The video is too long

Pay attention to the length of your videos. Thanks to technology, our attention spans are much shorter these days. But video seems to captivate audiences, making it a great tool for marketing. People love the visual, and like to be entertained, but be careful not to overestimate how long they will stay engaged with your content. What is the right length for a video? That’s hard to say, and depends on the audience, the product, and the intent. If it is a product or service explainer video, logic dictates that it might be fairly lengthy. But if it is to promote a service or product, the general rule of thumb is to keep it short. Check your analytics and see how much of your videos are actually watched. I bet you’ll be surprised. Most people start to fall away after about 30 seconds, depending of course on the type of video. Based on the statistics, you can decide where and how to place your call to action. Test your call to action and make adjustments when and if necessary. Also, remember that many social media platforms are now offering to present video live, allowing you to share directly with those people in your social network. While there are definite advantages to this, again, be cognizant of the length of your video; attention spans seem to be even shorter on social platforms.

Get the tools you’ll need.

Although the fundamentals of marketing have never changed, the delivery methods continue to evolve thanks to many newer and easier to use technologies, such as video marketing. It does not have to be difficult to implement video marketing into your business, but you will need some tools to help you harness the power of video. A Webcam, a green screen, proper lighting, and some basic editing software can help you get started with video creation and marketing.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Ignore The Homepage

homepage

Reports of the death of the homepage have been greatly exaggerated.

Once upon a time, the homepage was a valued part of the website. It served as the gateway to the company’s brand and was the driver of client engagement. In fact, it was so important that some companies had designated employees to manage their homepage.

Then everything changed. Along came our new best friends, “search” and “social”.

For several years now the way information is found over the Internet has evolved dramatically. Google, the dominant search engine, has continued to create more and more intuitive ways for information to be searched online.

Let’s add in the rise in social. Hundreds of social sharing platforms now exist, with the major players maintaining a stronghold on users and engagement. Indeed, in some instances, these social platforms have created entirely new ways for brands to engage with clients and prospects without them ever having to visit company’s homepage.

Thanks to leaked data from the New York Times in 2014 that showed a plunge in its homepage visitors, it soon became a commonly accepted belief that the homepage had lost its value.
Based on recent data, it has been found that as little as 5% of website visitors actually enter through the homepage, with the other 95% landing on specific pages that are mentioned via search or social media postings. This has led to marketers focusing their efforts in these areas, and rightfully so. However, ignoring the importance of the homepage can be a detriment, as it still serves an extremely valuable segment of your client and prospect pool.

Check out the following three reasons why you should not ignore the homepage:

1. Visitors to your homepage spend more time on your site.

Visitors who enter your website through the homepage signify loyalty to your brand. Based on some recent research, although only 5% of visitors come through the homepage, they actually account for 50% of all page views. This same data shows that visitors entering from search and social only view an average of three and 1.8 pages respectively per session, while visitors who enter from the homepage are more likely to view 10 to 30 pages per session. Research has shown that the longer people engage with the brand’s content, the higher the conversion rates, the larger the purchases, and the better the loyalty.

It’s true that “everything old is new again”. Companies are now starting to recognize that their homepage offers the opportunity to improve engagement with occasional visitors and convert them to loyal users. A corporate homepage is easy to personalize to provide visitors with content that will encourage them to engage, based on their interests.

2. Homepage visitors are interested in a wider range of information and offerings.

It makes sense that those visitors to your website who entered through social media or search results are there for one thing: to check out that article or product that was shared via social media postings. The visitor drops in to check out the article and then immediately leave your site.

When a visitor enters through the homepage, it is generally because they are looking for a number of articles pertaining to a specific issue. They usually have a broader scope of interests, making it easier for companies to showcase their content. Viral content, such as that shared on social media platforms, is most likely clicked on because of a compelling headline, whereas articles found on a homepage are more likely to be clicked on because of the topic.

Many publishers are beginning to recognize and knowledge that the homepage has been ignored and is largely an untapped resource. By curating content on a homepage, your business can provide visitors with the most recent and relevant articles, making it easy for them to find those topics that interest them. While search and social can deliver a visitor to your website, a compelling homepage can encourage an ongoing relationship.

3. Check your website statistics. Homepage traffic indicates your marketing successes.

There are three things to focus on when it comes to your website: developing an audience, acquiring new users, and existing client engagement.

Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges today is getting the one-time visitor to return to the website for more information after they checked out that article that they found on social media. Measuring the number of visitors who end up on the homepage after finding the site via search or social is a good indicator of how well those campaigns are performing.

Investing in a well-designed, thoughtful homepage is simply good business. Although it may not pull the traffic numbers, there are other ways to measure its value. And experience has shown that a great homepage experience can deliver an extraordinary result that search and social simply can’t produce.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Four Ways To Ensure Your Website Is A Reflection Of Your Brand

Brand website

Some companies are still under the assumption that their corporate brand is simply a matter of a logo, corporate colors, and a font style.

I’ve written articles and produced videos in the past that point out that corporate branding has evolved. You may have already seen or read this information.

In today’s business environment, your brand is far more inclusive. Think of it as your company’s personality.

Branding in this day and age includes every aspect of how your company is perceived by clients and prospects in the marketplace. So, yes logo, colors, font style; all these do matter. But it is far more than that. It is much more about the customer experience.

Rather than rehash the elements of branding that I have discussed in previous posts, today I want to focus on how your website affects your brand.

Although your website is simply one tool for communicating with your clients and prospects, it can be an extremely powerful one. Your online presence is more important than ever, now that most consumers shop and compare products and services using the Internet. Therefore, take the time to create a website that is a true reflection of your corporate values and communicates this important brand messaging to your clients and prospects.

Review your website for these four key elements to ensure that it is properly reflecting your brand identity:

1. Include information that is valuable to your clients and prospects.

First and foremost, be sure that your company’s website is providing content that matters to your clients and prospects. Yes, you want to tell them about you and your services, but remember that what will attract them is what you can do for them. Failing to give visitors what they need and want will only result in a high bounce rate, and you may as well not even have an online presence. Know your target audience, provide information that is relevant to them, and presented in an organized and easy to consume fashion ads a huge amount of value.

2. Include calls to action to engage your site visitors.

Let’s face it, the purpose of having an online presence is to help drive business. And in order to do this, you must include statements within your site that will not only capture the attention of your visitors but will also elicit a response. Using phrases such as “visit us today” could entice a prospect, especially someone on a mobile device, to drop in. Or, perhaps you would like them to sign up to receive notifications of specials that you run from time to time. Be sure to include a simple to use call to action button that will entice visitors to click. And make the form simple, as statistics show that the more information you are soliciting, the lower the opt in rate will be.

3. Make sure your website is interactive.

We have all received brochures or pamphlets that are jam-packed with information. And we all know what we do with those-we throw them out. Poorly designed information, regardless of how valuable it is, will ultimately be discounted and discarded by your prospect. Make sure that your website isn’t cluttered with information. Back to our point about making information easily accessible to site visitors, tried to ensure that you have interactive features for them as well. This can not only make a more individually tailored experience for your visitor, but it can also help to build loyalty to your brand. For example if you are a financial professional, consider including an app such as a calculator that gives your clients and prospects the opportunity to get a clear picture of the services they are seeking.

4. Consider the design of your website.

How your website looks and feels to visitors should reflect the true essence of your brand. Ensure that the logo, colors, font choices are consistent with your overall brand. Your site design should speak to your visitors about your corporate “personality”. Remember what I said at the beginning of this article, and make sure that are everything that you are providing on your website gives clients and prospects a sense of the integrity of your business.

These four tactics are crucial to ensure that your website will optimize your brand identity. As a business owner, you need to take seriously how you project your online presence and how this creates the type of experience you are providing to clients and prospects.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Six Audits To Measure Your Website Performance

website audits

Okay, so you’ve got your website out there, but now what?

Chances are that you have done some sort of audit to see how well your website has been performing. We’ve all heard that we should be considering everything from speed of page load to rankings, so you’ve probably found some tests online and have put your website through those. However, in order to get a true picture of your website performance, you should consider more than one type of audit.

Your website is an essential part of your business, and as such needs to be evaluated properly to make sure that it is performing in a way that enhances your online presence.

With this in mind, we wanted to provide you with the following six key areas to consider for your website audit.

1. SEO & Organic Reach Audit

Although the face of SEO has changed over the years, it is still an important factor to consider for your site success. Even if your main focus is not on obtaining clients and prospects through search, it is important that you are not invisible. Therefore, how your website fares in organic search is a major part of a proper website audit. A critical part of making improvements to your site, not only from a strategic perspective but also to find opportunities, is understanding the traffic to your site and the rankings and keywords that deliver this traffic. This audit should provide you with information about what is driving traffic to your site, helping you to plan for further growth.

2. Paid Visibility Audit

Since most organic and paid campaigns are usually run separately from each other, a paid visibility audit is key to understanding if your ad spend is targeting the right keywords. By auditing your website’s paid campaigns, you will gain an insight into what keywords are generating visitors to your site as well as the cost of those visits.

3. Technical Audit

The usability and functionality of your website matters more today than in the past. Not only are users becoming smarter and demanding more from your site, but search engines give preference to websites that are technically sound. This includes such technical elements as page load speed, optimization of images, content to code ratio, etc. And given the importance of mobile responsiveness these days, remember that you must review the technical foundation of your website for both desktop and mobile users.

4. Backlink Profile Audit

We all know that backlinks are important, even if not all of us know exactly what that means or how they work. Learning about the health of your backlinks is often overlooked in a website audit. But the quality and the origin of these links to your website are very important to establish your websites authority, and Google’s ranking algorithm has placed a lot of emphasis on a website’s link profile. But getting authoritative, quality back links has become more and more difficult. Discovering where your own links are coming from can help give you a perspective of just how authoritative your website is in the eyes of the search engines.

5. Competitor Audit

Are you looking for a report, or do you want an audit? You can’t have an audit without having something to compare to. When enlisting the services of someone for your website audit, ensure that they include a competitive audit that will allow you to compare your website among your competitors. This may give you awareness of online competitors that you were previously unaware of. It should also give you a better idea of how well you compare among your competitors; understanding how strong their online presence is can help you identify areas to improve your own online presence.

6. Local Audit

It’s important that you have accurate business information available on your website. Lack of information, or wrong information, can cost you business. A local audit shows existing local profiles, and gives you the opportunity to identify any problems that could be turning customers away.

Without question, your website is an important part of your business. Regardless of whether you’re B2B or B2C, a properly functioning website is critical to help acquire and retain customers. By ensuring that your website has been reviewed for these 6 six key elements, you can ensure that your website will perform well and help grow your business.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

YouTube
YouTube
LinkedIn
LinkedIn