Love it or loathe it – of all the available social media sites, Facebook is the most popular for small business owners wanting to grow their business (even if they don’t use it for personal reasons) – and with good reason. For one, there are over a billion people each day using Facebook. For another, most small businesses are keen to promote themselves within their local area and Facebook is perfect for that. All that said, the people at Facebook don’t make it easy for you. They introduce new algorithms seemingly every day to make it very difficult to grow a business for free through their site. Don’t be put off by this though, Facebook is still an invaluable tool to grow your business once you understand a little on how it all works….and that’s what I’m here for……keep on reading…. How to get started If you don’t already use …
Avoiding the Revenue Rollercoaster
It’s a common problem. One minute you’re flooded with work, the next there are weeks…or months…of nothing. Perhaps your business is fairly new and you aren’t seeing the sales you want despite your best efforts? So many business owners tear their hair out – or worse, in those times of drought think that their business is failing – if this happens enough times, it can make you want to give up entirely. The only way to stop ‘the revenue roller coaster’ is to ongoingly evaluate what you are doing and have done and look for patterns so you can take action to fix the problem at it’s route. The most common trap that people fall in to is that they’ll work really hard marketing/selling their business from which they get some great results and find themselves quite busy. But because they’re a small business owner which effectively means that in …
Set up your new business
Administratively there is quite a lot to do to set up a business. It can seem quite overwhelming but don’t worry – the following list will take you step by step through everything you need to do. 1. Choose and purchase a domain name for your business. Obviously you can only do this once you’ve got your business name decided upon. There are a few things to consider when selecting your domain name. It’s a little like choosing a company name actually! Ensure your domain name is easy to type and avoid slang – such as u instead of you (it may make your site harder for your customers to find) Keep it short – the longer your domain name is, the more chance it could be mistyped. Short and simple is the way to go. Target your area – if your business is local you could consider including your …
Creating a Marketing Strategy….that works!
So often overlooked…but fundamentally the most critical element to the success or failure of any business….your marketing strategy. Does the word ‘marketing’ scare the pants off you? If so – you’re not the only one. For many small business owners, the term ‘marketing’ refers to having to spend a great deal of money on advertising that is entirely hit and miss and probably won’t yield any addition to their bottom line. What you may not realise however is that ‘marketing’ doesn’t just refer to advertising it’s so much more than that. Furthermore, you don’t need to have a huge budget to market your business successfully. The main thing when it comes to marketing is that you do it continuously – when you’re trying to build your business, you market it, when things are going badly you hit the marketing…and when things are going well…guess what…you need to keep marketing. Now, …
Handling Objections
Handling Objections Don’t be frightened of objections – this is a completely natural part of the process and should be expected. Your client isn’t being negative – 9 times out of 10 they are actually just asking for more information or a bit more time. At the same time, when they are giving an objection it’s a critical time to listen to what they are saying. Knowing how to handle objections when a potential customer is genuinely interested in….or doesn’t understand and would benefit from…your product/service is one thing – pushing and pushing someone who is clearly not interested at this time is both fruitless and will give you no chance of getting their business in the future. It’s just as important to know when it’s time to back off. Here are some of the most common objections and how to respond. ‘It’s too expensive = ‘Tell me why …
The Importance of Having a Business Plan
The Importance of Having a Business Plan I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve referenced business planning when working with clients. As you may be wondering what all the fuss is about I thought I’d put together this article to focus entirely on the reason a business plan is so damn important. When I asked my college professor what all the big deal with business planning was he relayed to me a scene from Alice in Wonderland and it really stuck with me (not least because I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland). “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to” said the Cat “I don’t much care where-” said Alice “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go” said the Cat Without a plan you are guiding a …
An Introduction to Social Media
An Introduction to Social Media Love it or loathe it, social media is a big part of life these days and unfortunately it therefore also has a place in the marketing strategy for your business even if you don’t use it personally. It probably doesn’t seem that long ago since email and broadband was introduced – it really wasn’t THAT long ago! Now we have social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, Bebo, Pinterest…..the list seems endless! I’m not even going to bother quoting any stats on here as by the time you’ve read this sentence the data will be out of date! There are so MANY social media sites, how are you supposed to know what is used for what and which would be better for your business and reaching your customers? You need to consider what type of business you have, and what type …