My husband had been a frequent purchaser at a local nutrition store.  He knows the owner but more importantly he developed a good relationship with the store manager who was knowledgeable, helpful and often made excellent recommendations for alternative purchases.  When the manager stepped out of running the day-to-day business his brother took over but his personality and approach to working with customers wasn’t the same as the previous manager. continue reading…

These days and in this economy I hear a lot of entrepreneurs tell me that they need to add additional marketing efforts but they don’t know where to start.  Often the cause is because the business was built on a single marketing tactic networking. Of course, that in itself is a lesson for another day.  What I want to discuss in this blog is the need to first assess your current marketing readiness.
continue reading…

Every small business owner that I have worked with can easily describe the differences between a good customer and a bad one. Actually, most business owners can write chapter and verse on the attributes of what they consider bad customers.Yet ironically, I find that a high percentage of these same entrepreneurs are themselves bad customers. Why is it when it comes to applying customer attributes to themselves they often miss the boat? Growing a profitable business can depend as much on having good vendor relationships as it does on building good customer relationships, especially if you want to excel at delighting your own customers. continue reading…

If it seems as if I’m on a soapbox lately about company websites, well it’s because I am.  Simply because so many entrepreneurs I talk to about this subject are making the same mistakes with what should be the top weapon in their marketing arsenal.  The mistakes are pretty common among this group and can be defined as not:

• putting enough thought and planning into the web strategy in advance of getting it designed

• spending the money on getting it designed and developed by professionals

• having a maintenance plan for ongoing TLC

continue reading…

The Fall season is time for clean-up and renewal so besides raking leaves, winterizing the garden and changing over your wardrobe to all things woolly take some time to revisit your web site.  Start with the homepage and see if you have implemented the 3 “I’s.  Does your homepage intrigue, interest and invite prospects?  With only a few seconds to grab attention and keep prospects at your site your homepage has to work overtime.  By using the rule of the 3 I’s you improve site stickiness and take the opportunity to build a relationship with a potential customer.  Here’s how:

continue reading…

“I don’t need any funding to launch my new business so I don’t need to waste time writing a business plan, right?”  Wrong, wrong, wrong! Whether you will be seeking investment capital or not, writing a business plan before you launch your start-up is just good common sense.

Here are 7 reasons you need to write a business plan even if you don’t need funding. A well-written business plan:

1. keeps you focused.
2. is your road map to success.
3. helps you kick the tires before you invest capital you end up wasting it.
4. ensures you prioritize important tasks so you don’t waste time
5. is a way to communicate your vision to your constituencies.
6. helps you plan for contingencies.
7. is a blueprint for growth.

continue reading…

I often get public relations proposals from my clients to review with requests to put my two cents in and make a recommendation.  Having worked with pr firms for the last 15 years gave me a great deal of respect for this profession and as I said in my last post I encourage all entrepreneurs  to seek them out.  So if you’re a small business or entrepreneur in start-up phase looking to get press here are some tips to help you figure out which pr firm is best for you:

continue reading…

From my experience a marketing budget is often an after thought.  The last thing entrepreneurs think about or plan for.  While it’s fine to make compromises,(all early growth stage companies usually have to) it’s where you decide to make those compromises that can affect your revenue growth.  Too often I am asked for marketing help and then reminded that there is only a shoe string budget. While there are of course always marketing tactics that cost little money they aren’t necessarily the ones that will help you grow your business the fastest.

continue reading…

In a recent discussion among business counselors serving small business the topic turned to what are the attributes that indicate likely entrepreneurial success.  The collective wisdom of the group including a serial entrepreneur is in the following list of attributes we look for to predict success when we’re in our advisory roles:

continue reading…

Just when you thought you were done, you realize that the campaign measurements aren’t necessarily conclusive.  Or you’re left with a lingering doubt as to whether the response was an aberration perhaps affected by a one time event. Smart marketers always retest results even positive ones to ensure before the budget is spent on a costly roll-out that they are fairly secure in a predictable outcome.

continue reading…