2007 December
Getting people (whether they’re customers or not) to talk about your products or services and refer them to others is undoubtedly one of the most powerful marketing tools out there. It’s also the hardest to harness and use to your advantage. Most word-of-mouth referrals just happen naturally: A friend complains about brittle nails and another friend starts to gush about this incredible new nail polish she uses. But don’t think there’s nothing you can do to give the potential for a word-of-mouth referral a little nudge.
Here are some simple word-of-mouth ideas that really work:
Surprise and delight your customers - An unexpected free gift and a thank you tucked inside an order just might bring a smile to your customer’s face and it may be enough to get them to talk about your company. For instance, if a customer has placed several orders, why not thank him by giving him a product at no charge and a personal note thanking him for the business. There are several retailers that include a piece of chocolate or candy with every order to thank their customers. Anything you can do to make your customers happy gives you a shot at getting some word-of-mouth marketing in return.
Top-notch customer service - Train your customer service reps to interact with customers with the utmost patience and respect. A pleasant conversation with a representative of your company might turn into a referral if the customer feels the rep really went above and beyond in terms of service. Make returns hassle free, answer phone calls and emails promptly and answer all questions with informative answers.
Become active in your industry’s community - Be a regular participant in industry blogs; add informative posts and you’ll give your business a human touch that others in your field can relate to. Just be sure you’re not advertising in your posts; being a participant in blogs means that you’re part of a community of people who share similar interests and enjoy talking with each other. Being a good poster can very well give potential customers a sense of trust, which just might lead to future referrals.
Make it easy for people to talk about your business - With every order, include cards with your website name and a description of your products or services. It might end up being passed on to a customer’s friend. Send coupons out via email and encourage customers to forward to a friend. Your website address should be memorable, easy to say, obvious to spell and not excessively long. If you make it difficult for customers to refer your company, then they won’t; it’s as simple as that.
While you may not be able to directly control word-of-mouth marketing, you can have some effect on it indirectly. Just remember to always treat your customers in a way that makes them feel special and important. Always work to put a smile on their face - it doesn’t take much effort or cost a lot of money, but it can end up making a big impact on your sales.
Tags: advice, Marketing, Tips, womm, word of mouth marketing
Posted on December 31st, 2007 in Marketing Your Business | No Comments »
Do you know anyone who actually achieves their new year’s resolutions? And I don’t mean the resolutions like "I won’t eat chocolate for a week." I’m talking about the long term, takes-the-entire-year resolutions.
You do?
…………….Really?……………
I don’t believe you.
Well if you truly do, or you are one of those amazing people, that’s wonderful (and thanks for making the rest of us look bad). But if you are like me (and the majority of the population) if you even bother getting around to jotting down a few resolutions the likelihood of them coming to fruition are about as good as getting Britney Spears to clean up her act (possible, yes, but definitely a stretch of the imagination).
So what do people like us do when the new year is upon us? Well, we usually roll our eyes at the Resolution Setters. But in the back of our minds we know that that really isn’t such a bad idea. Especially when it comes to your business. Let’s be honest. There are bound to be areas that weren’t as strong in the past year that you want to work on this year. Perhaps it’s keeping better records? Maybe you want to improve your website or customer service?
Setting goals for your business is going to help focus your efforts in the coming year. So whether they are company wide, division wide, cubicle wide or personal business resolutions, just set a few reasonable ones to get going on this year. Don’t worry, I won’t tell the others you did.
Need some ideas? Here are some New Year’s resolutions for your business .
From all of us at goWholesale.com, we wish you a healthy, happy and successful New Year!
Tags: best practices, business resolutions, growing your business, small business, Start ups
Posted on December 31st, 2007 in General Discussion | No Comments »
There are plenty of advantages and disadvantages to operating a seasonal business. The main advantage is earning a year’s worth of sales in only a few months, while the main disadvantage is managing a steady cash flow.
Expanding your season
Seasonal business can either close down at the end of the selling period or stay open and diversify their product or service offerings. Take a ski mountain for instance. There are plenty of resorts that close their doors come spring and won’t reopen until winter. Then, there are other mountains that extend their business for a full year by offering alpine slope rides, gondola rides, hiking expeditions and more. Think of your business and its products or services. Can it be expanded or re-marketed to hit a new audience in the off-season? It may take some clever thinking, but plenty of seasonal businesses have turned a once six-month operating business into a full twelve-month operation.
Here’s another example: Let’s say you have an online store that sells kites. Obviously you’ll make most of your sales in the spring and summer months. But, think about your audience: they like to be outdoors and control an activity toy. Now, think of something they can do in the wintertime. Can you sell remote control miniature snowmobiles or something similar? You already have a mailing list of customers who have the desire to be outside and have fun…now you can let them know about your new winter line of products. Maybe even a "winterized" line of snow kites! The point is, think of your audience, be creative and find a new way to satisfy your customers’ needs.
Using your time wisely during the off season
If you enjoy your months off too much to consider expanding into a year-round business or if your business is just too specialized to expand, then you can still put your off-months to good use. By working just a few hours a week during your off-season, you can work to find new customers, expand your product or service line, create new marketing materials or give your business a facelift. Injecting some new life into your business could increase profits, widen your target market and expand your product or service line. A boost in profits means more cash flow to help carry you through the off-season!
Budgeting during the off season
A big problem for seasonal businesses is being able to carry a few months worth of cash flow through a full twelve months. While the doors of your business may be closed, maintenance expenses, taxes and equipment leases still need to be paid off. Take your season’s profit and divide it by twelve. That number is your monthly profit - to be spread out through all twelve months. Be diligent in budgeting your cash flow and you won’t be strapped for cash mid-way through the off-season. However, it’s always smart to keep a line of credit open with a bank just in case you need a little cash boost because of an unforeseen expense. That will save your business from running into trouble, and possibly going bankrupt.
Concerned about paying your employees during the downtime? It’s probably a better idea not to have full-time employees for a seasonal business, until you can make yours a year-round operation and justify that expense. Consider hiring seasonal temporary help where you can. If you need additional help during off-peak, you can hire part-time help and make them full-time when you become busier. You may even be able to save money by hiring freelancers to do certain jobs like copywriting or graphic design.
Seasonal businesses require flexibility in cash flow and the operating season. If you’d like to expand your seasonal business into a full-year operation, then put your pen to paper and start brainstorming. Take a look at other businesses in your seasonal industry and see what they’re doing - you might just find yourself a great idea!
Tags: advice, growing your business, seasonal, seasonal businesses, small business
Posted on December 31st, 2007 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
If you’ve been thinking about doing business with a Chinese company (perhaps importing their products), but are worried because of the seemingly endless stories of overseas scammers, then read on. Just like in the U.S., there are tons of scammers in China just waiting to take your money and run. However, it’s pretty easy to spot these fake businesses with just a minimal amount of research.
Never take your potential business partner’s word that they are an established company. Always verify them by checking several sources, including:
Chinese yellow pages listing - This is a good place to start. Most scammers won’t bother placing a listing here because they don’t want to give out their contact information publicly. However, not all legitimate companies list with these pages either, so it’s a starting point, not an end point. The websites are in Chinese so they will need to be translated, or if you know just a little Chinese you will be able to get around the site and look up any company. Here are a few listing sites: www.yp.net.cn , www.chinaeall.com , http://www.cnaic.org.cn/ .
Contact information - As mentioned above, many scammers don’t like giving out their contact information. Always ask for a street address, phone number, mobile phone number and fax number. Then check each of them out. If you have other contacts in China you might ask them about checking out the physical address - just in case the scammer is giving you a fake address.
Government issued corporate number - In order to be a legally operating company in China, every business needs a unique corporate number. Scammers typically do not have this number, so always ask for it. However, you will need to verify it in case the scammer is giving you a fake number. You will need to check the government office of the province in which the company is located. For instance, for the Changsha province, the website is: http://www.csaic.gov.cn/ .
Embassy records - The U.S. Embassy in China keeps records of reports and claims made against scammers in China. It’s a good idea to check the company name and any contact names with the Embassy. Their website is: http:// www.buyusa.gov/china/en/
If everything checks out, then chances are the company you are dealing with is a legal and legitimate company in China. That’s great, but your research is far from over. Just because they are a legally operating company doesn’t mean that they are trustworthy or reliable. Just like companies in the United States, there are plenty of registered businesses that operate in a less-than-honest fashion. So, how can you make sure that your potential business partner is one you can trust? Your best defense against unscrupulous companies is the Internet. Do a Google search for the company name and the names of any individuals you have been dealing with. You can also ask around in online wholesaler and importer forums and see if anyone has worked with them before.
On the internet, negative word of mouth spreads fast. So if someone’s been burned by a Chinese company, there’s a good chance they’ll spread the word to warn others.
Tags: advice, china, doing business internationally, Product Sourcing, Tips
Posted on December 31st, 2007 in Doing Business Internationally, Product Sourcing | No Comments »
If you’re the owner of a small business and you’re thinking about setting up an online retail store, then you may want to consider using a free online shopping cart. While other shopping cart software programs can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, there are plenty of others that are absolutely, positively free. Sure, they don’t offer all the bells and whistles of the expensive programs, but there’s a good chance you don’t need all those extra features anyway (at least, not to start).
Let’s take a look at three free online shopping carts: OsCommerce, ZenCart and CubeCart. These programs are some of the most popular free programs available, and there are plenty of advantages and disadvantages to each
OsCommerce (oscommerce.com)
Pros
OsCommerce is definitely one of the most popular free shopping cart programs, and it’s been around a while. Installation and set up is fast and easy, it supports a wide variety of payment options, has an organized category system and a ton of free plug-ins. Of course, it allows you to customize all the usual options like coupons, sale prices, search features, etc. One of the biggest advantages of using OsCommerce is that there are more developers for this cart than any other. So getting support, modifications and custom work done free or at a reasonable price is easy.
Cons
From a technical point of view, the OsCommerce system is a bit outdated. Even basic formatting and design features can take some getting used to. Knowledge of PHP is absolutely essential if you want anything but the cookie-cutter template OsCommerce gives you.
ZenCart (zen-cart.com)
Pros
ZenCart is actually based on OsCommerce, and is also easily customizable with a never-ending amount of plug-ins that really let you make your store’s shopping cart rich with features. It supports an unlimited amount of website pages, allows for multiple shipping and payment options, as well as various currencies. Installing the security for credit cards is easy. Adding coupons, gift certificates and sale prices is a snap as well as plenty of other features. Like OsCommerce, there are a ton of developers that can customize your shopping cart for you or offer support.
Cons
Like OsCommerce, you need to know PHP code to customize the features. Several of the good plug-ins for ZenCart aren’t free (and many are $60 and up) - including the one that allows you to upload multiple products at the same time.
CubeCart (cubecart.com)
Pros
CubeCart is an easy-to-use online shopping cart with lots of powerful features, including unlimited categories and products, multiple payment gateways, and even the ability to sell downloadable (digital) products. Also, changing the design and features of the cart is easy to do. CubeCart supports multiple currencies and gives you the ability for all the usual coupons, discounts, etc.
Cons
The biggest con, by far, is that in order for the shopping cart program to be free you have to have a CubeCart logo on each of the shopping cart pages. If you want their logo removed, it will cost you $59.95. Another con for CubeCart is their lack of shipping calculation options. The support available for CubeCart is much more sparse than that of OsCommerce and ZenCart, which can become a big concern if you want a quick answer to a problem or glitch you’re experiencing.
Summary
While each of these online shopping carts isn’t perfect, they are all good - especially for free programs. If you’re considering operating your website with a free shopping cart program, then it would be wise to take a look at each of the sites and take a quick demo. Also, visit e-commerce sites that are operating with those carts and see how it looks / works. It won’t take long for you to decide on which shopping cart program is the best for your website. Good luck!
Tags: E-Commerce and E-Business, Free Online Shopping Carts, hosted shopping carts, licensed shopping carts, shopping carts
Posted on December 31st, 2007 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Q: One thing we want to do next year is more online advertising , but I don’t know much really about how that works. Could you explain?
Steve
A. One of the best things that has ever happened to small business insofar as marketing goes is the Internet. For almost ever, if a small business wanted to attract customers using the media, it had to cast a wide net. That is, the small business needed to run an ad in a wide-circulation newspaper or magazine, or on the radio or TV, and hope that the intended audience would see or hear that ad.
It worked, but it was also a bit of a crapshoot, especially in the beginning of a campaign - until the entrepreneur learned which ad worked in which medium on which day. That was usually an expensive learning curve.
But the Internet changed that dynamic. Now, with options like YellowPages.com or Google AdWords, a small business owner can have an ad only show up (and therefore only pay for it) when the ad matched the keywords someone used in their search.
That means that you don’t have to spend money getting your ad read by people who have no interest in it whatsoever. And that, in turn, means that not only will you spend less, but you end up with a much more qualified lead. You pay only for those people interested enough in what you are selling to click your ad.
So, how do you best take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to do more with less? I posed this question to Gretchen Howard, Google’s AdWords Manager for Online Sales and Operations. She explained that there are three steps to any successful online campaign.
(First however note that there are all sorts of ways and places to advertise online. Google is of course the leader, but you may also want to check out Yahoo!, Microsoft’s adCenter, Facebook, YellowPages.com, or any number of others. They all target different places online.)
1. Plan: As with any ad campaign, you have to know your audience. Just as you would never advertise your elder vacation business on an alternative rock station, so too do you need to think about your intended audience and plan accordingly.
Specifically, this means that you have to put a lot of thought into your keywords. When giving speeches, I often state that picking the right keywords is akin to that old game show Match Game (sans Gene Rayburn and a woozy Brett Summers of course!) If the keywords you put in your ad match the keywords someone searches for, you will have a match and they will see your ad.
There are plenty of online keyword generation tools that can help you choose the right keywords, and Ms. Howard thought they are a good place to start. "But don’t stop there, be creative, and make sure to use the free tools. There is no need to pay for that service" she advised.
2. Create an Effective Ad: Again, this is not a lot different than any other advertising campaign, in that the old AIDA formula must be applied, albeit in a more truncated form (AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and call to Action). Gretchen Howard called it creating a "gotta click" ad.
The trick here is that, as you only have three lines of text, you must be very wise and judicious in the words you choose:
* Keywords must go in the title on the first line
* Stress benefits, benefits, benefits
* Don’t ramble
* Have a call to action that directs people to a specific landing page relating to the keywords, and not just to your homepage
3. Modify, Modify, Modify: In a traditional ad campaign, you may have to wait weeks to see whether it worked. One of the great advantages of online campaigns is that you can see your results immediately. It is essential therefore to monitor and measure your results - your click-though rates, your conversion percentages, that sort of thing. If it’s not working as anticipated, tweak the ad, the keywords, etc.
Ms. Howard stressed that the best ads do 1, 2, and 3 above. Ineffective ads almost always fail in one of the three - either the ad was vague, or the intended audience was not clear, or there was not a strong call to action, and so on.
Finally, she stressed that you cannot bid higher in order to create high ranking, as ads are ranked on both bids and relevancy.
So the lesson again is - choose your keywords carefully!
Today’s Tip: Of critical importance when doing any sort of online advertising is that you set a daily budget. All of the services mentioned above allow you to create a budget for your campaign and it is imperative that you do so.
Steven D. Strauss is one of the world’s leading small business experts. His latest book is the Small Business Bible . A lawyer, author, and public speaker, Steve has spoken around the world about entrepreneurship, including at the United Nations, and he has been on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, The O’Reilly Factor, and many other television and radio shows. If you would like Steve to speak to your group, help your business grow, or if you would like to sign up for his free newsletter, "Small Business Success Secrets!" please visit his website - www.MrAllBiz.com .
Tags: advertising plan, expert advice, Marketing, MrAllBiz.com, small business expert, Steve Struass
Posted on December 28th, 2007 in Marketing Your Business | No Comments »
There is a new boom in the workforce today, and it involves a huge number of people choosing to work from home rather than in a separate setting. Obviously working from your home, and running a business from your home has its advantages (chief among which are tax write-offs for items that you would pay for in the normal course of doing business); but is it really a feasible option for you?
In this article, we will take a look at some ways to determine if running a business from your home is a realistic option.
First Look at the Red Tape!
It might come as a bit of a surprise, but the home is no longer a private castle. There are dozens of laws and regulations which may limit your ability to use your home as a base for your business. Your first steps in finding out how you may be limited will usually be when you go to apply for a business license; right away, you will be asked a few questions that may cause you to realize your home based business endeavor might be more involved than you first thought.
Some limitations on running a business from home, as far as regulations go, include stipulations on how many clients or customers can physically be in your home at once, and rules regarding construction of exits and space within the home and so on.
These are particularly important when you are involved in a sales endeavor.
Next, Look At Your Space Needs
Another limiting factor for many entrepreneurs looking to move their businesses into the home is the amount of space available. If you have a business which requires you to keep a certain amount of stock on hand, for example, you will want to make sure that you have the space to keep it stored not only out of the way, but safely. If you have a family, you will want a section of your house set aside so that they cannot accidentally interfere with business operations.
And of course, you will want to make sure that you have adequate room for staffing needs in your home based business.
Finally, Look At You Customer Flow
There really is no point in running a home based business if you can’t attract clients or customers who will take a look at what you have to offer. Brick and mortar stores are located outside of homes because that is where they are most likely to be found; although online shopping is increasing in popularity. For example, 75% of people still buy from a store they see while they are out around town.
Of course, if you have a web-based business, the idea of a brick and mortar storefront is fairly superfluous.
So in the end, the decision to run your business from home can be reached after a solid analysis of the regulations, the space you have and the space you need, and your ability to reach customers. If all of these factors are conducive to running your business from home, then it is time to make the transition!
Tags: advice, home based business, small business, Starting a Business, Tips, working from home
Posted on December 28th, 2007 in Starting a Business | No Comments »
If you are running a business selling products online, you are aware that shipping costs can make a large dent in your bottom line.
In this article, we will look at some ways in which you can trim your shipping costs and make your business a lot more profitable.
* Save A Penny, Save A Pound. Remember that shipping is not all about the carrier, the postage, or even the weight. If you are selling a lot of items, then odds are you are spending a lot of money each year on smaller, unnoticed items such as packaging materials.
Look for ways in which you can reduce the costs of these materials, including tape, Styrofoam, and labels. Buying wholesale or bulk is a great start; and of course, you can always go directly to the source through a shipping materials website.
* Use The Right Box Sizes! If you sell a large variety of products in terms of size, then make sure that you understand that size does matter in terms of shipping costs. There are a wide range of box and envelope sizes out there, and the U.S. postal service provides many of them for free.
Using the right size box or envelope will mean less cost for individual items shipped. It will also mean using a lot less of the smaller materials that add up, discussed in point number one!
* Shop Around For A Carrier. Of course, the biggest expense you will incur when it comes to shipping will be in the carrier services you use. You should undergo an analysis of your carrier’s costs every month and compare them to what the competition is offering.
There are plenty of options when it comes to delivering your packages, from shared loads to bus lines and of course the good old postal service. The most cost efficient means will depend on how many packages you want to send, and how much they will weigh.
Remember that it might work out much cheaper, per package, to send a bunch out at once, even though the total price itself may seem shockingly high. Take the time to do the math!
Shipping costs are a critical concern for any business that sells products to a diverse marketplace. Make sure that you invest the time needed in order to ensure you are keeping this costly part of your business as inexpensive as possible.
Tags: budget, cutting costs, money, saving money, shipping, shipping costs, Tips
Posted on December 28th, 2007 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
By now almost everyone has heard of eBay, but did you know that it can be very beneficial not only to individuals looking to sell items but to businesses that are already established as well?
Both land-based businesses and online retailers are successfully using eBay to supplement their regular sales, and in this article we will look at ways to use eBay to increase your bottom line.
Offload Old Inventory
No matter what you are selling, you will find that a time will come when certain items in your inventory are not selling as they used to. Excess inventory can be a big problem; essentially, it is money that has been wasted, and it might also be taking up some valuable room.
eBay allows retailers the opportunity to get rid of old inventory items that don’t seem to be selling well from your own website anymore. This is possible due to the wide range of people using eBay in order to buy; odds are that the auction giant has a much greater awareness level, worldwide, than our own website.
This means that you can still recover costs on items that your own clientele isn’t buying, and you may still have the chance to make a profit!
Creating an eBay Store
Think of an eBay store as a side shop to your own web page. Like any branch, it has the opportunity to reach a different category and a broader customer base than your own site. Again, the reason is in eBay’s huge recognition factor; someone who has never heard of your store will have heard of eBay, and if you have a featured store on the site they are likely to find your products and you will make more sales.
Of course, the other side of the eBay store idea is that it involves additional costs. eBay charges anywhere from $30 to $500 a month for stores, so you better make sure that the supplemental dollars you earn are worth it!
Advertising
Never neglect an advertising opportunity - and eBay does present a good opportunity for your website as well as a chance to supplement your sales. Whether you use a store or just the auction, make sure your buyers learn about your own website and the sale opportunities available there.
The best thing to keep in mind about eBay, as far as supplementing the sales off of your own website, is that it has a much greater base as far as customers. If you find that some items in your inventory just aren’t selling well through your own site, the odds are that you can sell them on eBay.
Tags: ebay, ebusiness, ecommerce, generating more sales, online auctions, online business, Sales, website
Posted on December 28th, 2007 in E-Commerce and E-Business, Generating More Sales | No Comments »
"With great power comes great responsibility," a great man once said… that great man was none other than Spiderman’s Uncle Ben. My apologies for using the word "great" 4 (count ‘em) times in that sentence. Regardless, the statement is true and applies in business as much as anything else.
Many businesses will have a company credit card (or two or three or….) that is designed to be used for business related expenses. Now, what your business constitutes as a "business related expense" is clearly up to whomever is responsible for those cards. In general, employees should be able to use their best judgment when using the card but it would be wise to have in place a written policy on what acceptable use of the card is and what is not. Far too often employees get themselves into trouble by using the company card for personal expenses but the businesses get themselves in trouble by not clearly drawing the line. So by having the rules in place and easily accessible, you should be able to avoid any messy situations.
Here are some things to think about:
- Come up with a clear definition of "business related expense/purchase."
- Authorize only those who absolutely need to use it.
- Keep accurate records of expenditures by examining the monthly bills–if anything seems suspicious, address it immediately.
- If you allow things such as "business lunches" to count, and you find your employees are abusing this, place restrictions on the number of lunches per month or perhaps the types of restaurants these lunches can take place.
We’d all like to believe our employees are perfect little angels but the truth is that no matter how nice and honest they are, it is a part of human nature to push the limits and perhaps abuse privileges. So take a moment to make sure your company credit card is in good hands (or at least is protected from the bad ones) and you will save yourself a lot of time and money in the future.
Tags: Accounting, company credit card, credit cards, Finance, small business loans
Posted on December 28th, 2007 in Finance and Accounting | No Comments »
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