Your Business Presence on the Internet - Part 3Having a presence on the internet is essential for your business in the 21st century.
NEBS.com has a few ideas about starting your small business and formulating marketing strategies for the web. Here are some of their suggestions:
To fully leverage your Internet investment, your goal should be to get users to come back to your Web site again and again--or to increase stickiness. How do you get your audience to return to your Web site?
- Publish a Newsletter. Develop a newsletter that your visitors can really use, whether it covers current sales promotions or news related to your industry.
- Add an Internet Resources Page to Your Site. Your site is rarely going to be a one-stop resource for users in itself. Think of other categories that would interest your audience and find quality sites that offer information on that topic.
- Fill Your Site with Useful Tools Enable customers to track their orders, e-mail customer service, or view account status. Also, think of interactive tools--related to your company's product or line--that will help users.
- Sponsor Contests. Web-based contests usually generate a lot of response. There are lots of low-cost ideas, and all will bring traffic to your site.
- Update Content Frequently. Fresh content will keep users coming back to your site, and will help to brand your company.
Your Business Presence on the Internet - Part 2Having a presence on the internet is essential for your business in the 21st century.
NEBS.com has a few ideas about starting your small business and formulating marketing strategies for the web. Here are some of their suggestions:
How to maximize the effectiveness of your Web site:
- Give Visitors a Reason to Return. Visitors are more likely to stick around if useful information or other interesting content is provided besides product facts or sales material. The kind of content you add will depend on your business and your customer base.
- Add an Internet Resources Page to Your Site. Your site is rarely going to be a one-stop resource for users in itself. Think of other categories that would interest your audience and find quality sites that offer information on that topic.
- Promote Your Site. To achieve maximum visibility for your site, be sure to include your web address on business cards, letterhead, sales brochures, flyers and newspaper ads.
- Communicate with Prospects and Customers via e-mail. The most effective way to obtain contact information is the promise of a weekly or monthly newsletter with information about new products or services, and tips for using them more effectively.
Your Business Presence on the Internet - Part 1Having a presence on the internet is essential for your business in the 21st century.
NEBS.com has a few ideas about starting your small business and formulating marketing strategies for the web. Here are some of their suggestions:
One of the first steps to creating your business presence is to determine your online business objectives:
- Information - No-frills home page may just provide basic information - for example, a description of what you sell, your business hours, telephone and fax numbers, address and directions
- Promotion - Create online sales brochures giving customers good reasons for doing business with you rather than your competitors.
- Interactive Communication – To provide online customer service. Going beyond just product promotion, these sites offer e-mail and other interactive features.
- E-commerce - Finally, some sites allow customers to transact business directly online with E-commerce applications. Post your catalog online, let customers browse through your product offerings, select what they want, put selected items into an online "shopping carts," and then check out , making payment by credit card.
Great Branding for Your Business (What's Your Brand?) - Part 2Creating a brand for your business is very important for the survival of your product or service in the marketplace.
NEBS.com has a series of informational articles about starting a small business, and formulating marketing strategies. Here are some of the highlights from the articles:
Steps to help you map out a branding strategy:
- Consider the Intangibles. Intangibles, such as the special way you handle customer service, should be a part of your brand.
- Make the Brand Match the Business. Know your company. Make sure your brand identity is parallel to your company identity. The connection between a company and its branding should be immediate.
- Speak to Your Target Audience. Make sure your brand speaks to your different audiences. Don't leave out potential customers by branding your product or service to one or two customer groups.
- Brand for the long term. Don't be short-sighted about your company’s branding! Great branding lasts over a long period of time and its messages don't fade after only a few months.
Great Branding for Your Business (What's Your Brand?) - Part 1Creating a brand for your business is very important for the survival of your product or service in the marketplace.
NEBS.com has a series of informational articles about starting a small business, and formulating marketing strategies. Here are some of the highlights from the articles:
Branding isn't just about having a catchy slogan or a unique company logo. Those are important, yet even more important is creating a relationship between a brand and a consumer with an aggressive branding strategy.
- Creating Character - Image is just as important as your product and service. Image is the reason why a customer is going to do business with you and not a larger competitor. What perception would you like your customers to have of your small business?
- Tapping Emotions - The most successful branding is done by businesses that appeal to their customers' emotions. You may be selling a product that is very similar to one of your larger competitors. It's your job to reach out to customers on an emotional level to make them want to buy your product over your competitors.
- Connecting to Customers - Customers patronize your store because they get the best quality product and superior customers service. Your customers refuse to go to your competitors because they don't get the attention you give them. And you stress this commitment to quality when you promote or advertise your store. That's good branding - it's an emotional connection between your store and your customers.
The Public Perception of Small BusinessMr. William Dennis, a Senior Research Fellow for the National Foundation for Independent Business (NFIB) Research Foundation, did a study of how the public views small business in America in 1997. Here are some of the results:
- The public thinks that it would be relatively difficult for them to start a successful small business. One in four, give themselves virtually no chance of being able to form a successful small business.
- Fifty-three (53) percent believe that the opportunities to form a successful small business will be less in 20 years than they are today. Forty (40) percent feel that they will be greater.
- Regarding the small business future, some see increased government interference as the primary threat. Others attribute stiffer competition from large firms as the principal reason for the views.
- Over ninety (90) percent of Americans would approve if either a son or a daughter attempted to start a small business. Approval is higher in 1997 than it was in 1986.
- A majority of the public (55 percent) feels that small business is the only influence out of the eight other choices evaluated which has "too little" influence. A majority of the public feels that the federal government, big business, and television and movies have "too much" influence.
- Seventy-six (76) percent of the public say people usually form businesses because they really want to; Twenty-two (22) percent say it is because they usually have no other choice. Eighty-five (85) percent of small business owners say they form businesses because they really want to.
- Eighty-four (84) percent of employed Americans think small business owners work harder than they (non-small business owners) do.
- Seventy (70) percent of adult Americans feel that owning a small business is one of the best ways to "get ahead" in this country. Small business owners were also likely to agree.
- Three of four members of the public believe that small business owners have more independence and control over their lives than do people who work for others.
- Eighty-five (85) percent of the public believe that small business is a positive influence on the way things are going in this country.
- Ninety-one (91) percent would approve of a daughter forming her own small business.
- Ninety-three (93) percent would approve of a son forming his own small business.
and, a majority of the public correctly recognized small business
- as creating most of the new jobs in the country
- as more likely to offer a young person his/her first job
- as an important source of innovation.
McKinley County Business FairThe second annual business fair was held today. The fair was sponsored by a local accounting firm,
Newberry & Associates. It was a great fair and there was an excellent turn-out. It had a business2business theme. The fair created a great opportunity for local businesses to create relationships.
The Gallup SBDC had a booth at the fair. I came up with the idea of handing out small business tips to the participants. The idea went well. I have already posted a couple of the business tips and I will post the other tips here in the next few days.
This is not an SBDC-sanctioned site. The content on this site does not reflect the opinion of the SBDC.
Quality - The Customer's PerceptionThe customer is looking to buy the most quality product they can. Your company can improve it's customer's perception of quality in the following ways:
Specialization - Consumers recognize that specialization leads to better products. If you are percieved as a specialist, you will be percieved as having a quality product.
Leadership - Consumers will buy the most well known product because they believe the better product will always win. Become a leader in your market and market your leadership.
Pricing - Don't under-price your product. You can't have "high quality at the lowest price."
Product "look" - Carefully select the name an packaging of your product. Make sure they are appropriate for the quality you want your customers to percieve.
BrainstormingDemands on businesses to be creative and entrepreneurial are greater than ever. Brainstorming is a great technique to get new ideas. Here are some basic rules of brainstorming:
Suspend Judgment - Refrain from judging and critiquing the ideas of others as they are articulated and shared.
Record all ideas - Transcribe every candidate solution exactly as it is expressed, however half-baked or far-fetched or ill informed it may seem at first sight.
Encourage "piggy-backing" - Let each idea spontaneously spark further ideas and build on the creativity of others.
Think "out of the box" - Encourage and pursue genuinely "unorthodox" lines of thought.
