How to Market Your Small Business

How to Market Your Small Business: A specific marketing plan outlining concrete goals is indispensable to a well-managed business; without it, financial budgets and profit plans are incomplete. While even the best marketing plan cannot ensure success, conducting thorough research and establishing specific objectives greatly minimizes the possibility of failure. The marketing plan decreases misunderstanding and increases organized thinking, as well as serving as a measuring tool for annual progress.

For the entrepreneur or small business owner, marketing is a matter of determining demand, matching a product or service with customer needs, and promoting those attributes in the marketplace to produce sales.Marketing is not a one-time event, but an on-going process.

What is a Business Plan Used For?

A business plan is a tool with three basic purposes: 

1. communication
2. management 
3. planning

• Communication

As a communication tool, it is used to attract investment capital, secure loans, convince workers to hire on, and assist in attracting strategic business partners.

• Management

The business plan helps you track, monitor and evaluate your progress. The business plan is a living document that you will modify as you gain knowledge and experience.

• Planning

The business plan guides you through the various phases of your business. A thoughtful plan will help identify roadblocks and obstacles so that you can avoid them and establish alternatives.

Steps to Incorporate Your Business

Steps to Incorporate Your Business

•  Where should I incorporate?

Typically, if you only operate in one state, you should incorporate in that state. If you operate in multiple states, you should determine which state is the friendliest to corporations and incorporate in that state. The friendliest state in the nation is Delaware, it has designed its laws and legal precedents to be very business friendly.

 

• Select a Corporate Name

Selecting a company name can be daunting task. Most Secretary of State (SOS) offices require you to check with them to see if your chosen name is available before registering documents using that name. Most additionally require you file paperwork for your fictitious name (DBA, or Doing Business As) to register it prior to filing your corporate registration paperwork.

Perform an Internet search on Google (you can use the search box on the left) to see if your name is going to conflict with an existing business. In addition, check the US Patent and Trademark Office for an existing trademark for your company name.

 

• Determine Who Will Register the Corporation

You will need a Registered Agent in your state of filing to receive official corporate forms, paperwork, and notices. This can be you, a family member, an attorney, or a service specifically hired for this task. This Registered Agent must live in the state you are registering in. If the state is one you do not do business in, Delaware for most corporations is a popular example, there are companies formed to perform this task for you.

 

• Determine Who Will File the Paperwork

There are generally three ways to incorporate: self-filing, incorporation service, or business attorney. Self filing is the least expensive option, though can cause problems if not performed correctly. Incorporation services generally costs several hundred dollars and can take some of the confusion out of the process. The final and most expensive option is the business attorney who can cost from several hundred to several thousand dollars.

 

• How Will the Stock be Structured?

When you incorporate, you issue stock to shareholders in the corporation. Depending on the makeup of the ownership in your corporation, this task can be time consuming or simple. In most states, the more shares you issue, the higher the charges and yearly filing fees. You can design several different classes of stock which have different voting and preferential rights in a company. You will define these classes in your incorporation documents.

5 objectives will help keep your business on-target

The following 5 objectives will help keep your business on-target in an everchanging social media world.

Keep it Current

If you have a Facebook Fan Page, what’s the sense in creating it and then abandoning it simply so you can say that you have one?  Content is the most important factor in managing your Facebook ‘Fan’ base (and any social media platform, for that matter).  It’s nice for you to say you have 100 Facebook ‘Fans’, for example, but what kind of content are you posting to drive those ‘Fans’ to your website, or ultimately, to your storefront, which then equates to actual customers who are buying or using your goods and services?

Know Your Customers

When you have an effective marketing strategy, you know exactly who your customers are and who your prospects need to be.  You can (and should) make your Facebook Page the fun place where your existing customers and new prospects are constantly looking to see what you’re offering, and, at the very least, make the appearance of the fun place where customers and prospective new customers are learning about your fun and fact-based place of business on a regular basis.

Develop Your Social Media Strategy

Once you have determined on which social media platforms you’re going to be, make sure your strategy comes with a calendar of events.  Facebook is the most social of all of the social media platforms available to you, so announcing fun events and contests are a must, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses who don’t have the leverage of nationally-known brands.

Manage Your Social Media Objectives

After you have posted regular and fun content on your Facebook Fan’Page, make sure you’re managing the number of ‘Fans’ who will be participating in your contests and events.  Ensuring follow-up is critical to any successful social media marketing strategy.

Leverage Your Business

The whole point of social media and platforms like Facebook is to drive your customer to your website and storefront to learn more about you and what goods and services you’re offering.  Take advantage of steering those Facebook ‘Fans’ to other social media sites geared towards a specific purpose.  Utilize the information you’re gaining from your Facebook ‘Fans’ and turn more prospects into lifetime customers.

Increase Sales Use Email Marketing

idgadgetblogs.com : One of the benefits of email marketing is the demographic information that customers provide when signing up for your email newsletter. Discovering who your customers really are – age, gender, income and special interests, for example – can help you target your products and services to their needs. Points to consider when creating your email newsletter

E-mail marketing is one of the most effective ways to keep in touch with customers. It is generally cost-effective, and if done properly, can help build brand awareness and loyalty. At a typical cost of only a few cents per message, it’s a bargain compared to traditional direct mail at $1 or more per piece. In addition, response rates on e-mail marketing are strong, ranging from five to 35% depending on the industry and format. Response rates for traditional mail averages in the 1-3% range.

steps by Steps to Optimizing Your Website for Increased Sales

   Here are Steps by steps to Optimizing Your Website for Increased Sales:
1. Be User-Friendly

      Usability is an important factor in increasing a website’s sales, which can be enhanced by adhering to the following guidelines.

•     Internet users may use Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox or any other browser, so the business website must be compatible with all the major browsers. The number of tablet device and smartphone users is on the rise, and a separate mobile-ready version of the website must be designed for them.
•     Viewers need to see all the products and services on offer. They want to go through the technical specifications, customer reviews and other details. If viewers are given access to a video about the products’ benefits or if they are allowed to download the product catalog in a PDF format, the website scores extra points.
•     The purchase button has to be prominent. This is the main part of the website that converts the customer’s interest into action and generates revenue, so it must be designed, built and tested thoroughly. The entire shopping cart functionality has to be reliable and available 24/7; else the company loses business during the period of downtime and also the trust of its customers. This drastically reduces the chance of repeat sales and referrals.

2. Build Trust

•     The website should have a “Contact Us” page. It should provide a physical address for the company, so that potential customers can visit the store if they wish to verify its credibility. Including a phone number is also great; customers who live far away from the store can call up and talk to someone in charge.
•     The shipping policy, return policy and disclaimers must be listed in complete detail; this shows the customer that the company is honest and trustworthy.
•     The overall design of the website also conveys a lot to the viewers. They will draw an obvious parallel; a business that does not care enough to maintain a professional look on its website will probably not care enough about its products and its customers. The layout has to be attractive but not flashy; the content should be accurate and fresh.

3. Engage the Reader
The viewers that are directed to a website through high rankings on search engine results or via backlinks need to be presented with good reasons to stay there and buy something.

•     Many people do not have time to read the entire content on a webpage in detail; they merely skim through it to pick up the important points. A website that understands this will highlight its business-critical content by using bold fonts, attention-grabbing colors and optimal text layout.
•     Engaging content includes the optimal use of multi-media; these images, slideshows and videos should enhance the business message and not draw attention away from it. The matter should be relevant to the industry to which the business belongs. The website should be kept fresh with regular updates, so that viewers are encouraged to keep coming back.
•     References to selling, buying and prices must be avoided in the top part a webpage. Instead, the company should talk about its products and how they can help solve the problems of its target audience. Entertaining content related to the product offerings will also engage readers. Pricing information and details about purchasing online can be introduced once they are hooked on to the website.

4. Create Brand Image
      The website needs to distinguish the business from its competitors by creating a unique and memorable brand image. Whenever customers think of a product that this site offers, they must automatically think of the company’s brand name. Advertisements are very effective in building a brand image, but pop-up ads are annoying and can be blocked by users. Hover ads are a good substitution; they are both appealing and effective in boosting customer conversion rates.

5. Value-Add Features

     A single product focus on the home page allows customers to really get to know the need and benefits of the main product in depth, rather than merely browsing through a huge list with vague, one-liner descriptions. This approach also shows customers that the website owner is aware of its business strengths and USP in the market. Another value-add feature is to offer several payment options, since many people do not prefer using their credit card online for security reasons.

6. Customer Satisfaction

     Besides converting new visitors into customers, the business stands to gain a lot more by trying to retain existing customers and have them coming back for more sales. These repeat customers are gained by ensuring customer satisfaction on every sale. This also carries the hope that the business will be referred to friends and family over competitors.

•     The website should include order tracking for status updates on the product delivery.
•     After-sales service and customer support are important as they make the customer feel that the company genuinely cares for them.
•     A website can hold contests, and offer discounts and coupons from time to time to keep its customer base happy.
• These 6 steps form a general guideline for optimizing a business website towards increased sales. Every business is unique, and so are the effective conversion tactics that will help them generate higher revenue. A continuous process of implementing different tactics, monitoring the change in results and refining / modifying tactics is needed to ensure maximum sales.

5 Step Internet Marketing Plan That's Affordable and Effective

Five Step Internet Marketing Plan follows, created by in the trenches experience with online marketing for small business.

Step 1 :  Define Your Customer
A Defining your customer is as important as defining your products or naming your business. If you have not yet done a marketing plan within your business plan, then you need to do this exercise.

Step 2 : Choose Your Targets

A coordinated effort across several sites and venues commonly frequented by your customers is the most effective marketing campaign. If you are seen in several places your visibility and retained message is much stronger. Where are you going to post your ads?

Step 3 : Budget

You can better create the budget for your online marketing plan when you have a good idea of the costs involved. That can only be done once you've figured out your targets. You probably already have a figure in mind of how much you can really spend, so go back to your marketing campaign sheet and total the costs of all the ad spots you'd like to do. Chances are that total will exceed your overall spending limit.

Step 4 : Creating Your Ad Content

A Online marketing works best when you focus only on one or two things. You may have a variety of products but pick one or two items that are good sellers and have a solid appeal to your target market for your marketing campaign.

Step 5 : Tracking & Monitoring Your Ads

Tracking and reacting to your campaign's successes are critical in maintaining an effective marketing campaign. From your website stats to PPC stats, there are many ways to determine what is working and what isn't. By paying attention you'll learn volumes about your ads and how to hone them for best results.

Communicating Between Tech and Sales or Business

Communicating Between Tech and Sales or Business. Communicate more In Sales And business. Have more conversations. Ask more questions. When sales/business people need a technical solution explain these three components: who you’re solving this for, what the challenge is, and why you need a solution. (The “who”, “what”, and “why”) will anchor the request inside context that is critical for the technical team to understand BEFORE they go develop a solution.

And When technical people need to communicate their proposed solution to sales/business, don’t go into great technical detail, you do not impress anyone, you’re simply writing a document that your audience can’t consume. Your job is to reflect your understanding of the problem and then propose a solution that allows the sales/business people to understand the solution. Don’t go crazy into the details with the business. The business/sales people’s job is to approve your approach not comment on every single pixel placement or feature. Just like you don’t have full context over their job, they don’t have full context over yours.

The Technology is such an integral part of almost every business decision, improving communication is a great way to increase your batting average for solving business challenges with technology. Couldn’t resist a baseball analogy, How about those SF Giants. Both sales/business people and technical people need to change in order to facilitate better communication between them almost everything we do in business involves some technology. We have to figure out a way to communicate with each other for shared success.

5 Steps to Building an Online Business Strategy

Step 1: Define Your Target Market

Understanding your customer is critical to your online business success. Knowledge of your target customer permeates everything you do online, from determining your search engine optimization strategy, to understanding what compelling content would appeal to this audience.

Step 2: Decide on Product Offerings
Consciously and purposefully make a list of the products you want to sell online. The best place to start is what products do you sell today offline? Here’s the key to this step – the products have to be described and communicated in the customer’s language. Online business is self service; don’t speak a language your customers don’t understand.

Step 3: Document Technical Requirements

Different target markets require different features and functionality, for example a business to consumer target market requires a credit card payment option (because you’re servicing customers you don’t know). Different products require different workflows; don’t assume every technology supports all the products you want to offer.

Step 4: Find Enabling Technology

The first (3) priorities for choosing an online ordering system are 1) Ease of Use 2) Ease of Use 3) Ease of Use. If your customers can’t use it, who cares about anything else? Simplicity overrides functionality, less is more. After ease of use, the technology has to meet the specific requirements for your target market and the products you want to sell online.

Step 5: Create a Change Management Plan

Transitioning your business from a primary offline business to an online business is a major change. It is critical to take into account where the resistance might appear and how you’re going to deal with it. Engage your staff in the strategy, collaboration builds momentum, sales resources are critical change agents in organizations – leverage their positive attitude towards change.

Source : thewebandprint