Positioning in Small Business Marketing

The 8 Toughest Business Questions

by: Michael Brassil

Do you ever wonder if you will really succeed with your
small business? You may have a number of special traits, but
how well developed are they? There are qualities of endeavor
and achievement that are common to successful business
owners. Ask yourself these questions to see if you have what
it takes.

1. How will the business affect your family? The first few
years of business start­up can be hard on family life. The
strain of an unsupportive spouse may be hard to balance
against the demands of starting a business. There also may
be financial difficulties until the business becomes
profitable, which could take months or years. You may have
to adjust to a lower standard of living or put family assets
at risk.

2. How will you support your family while building up your
business? This question must be worked out according to
each persons’ individual circumstances. Many people start
out on a part-time basis. Then when their incomes reach a
certain level they will switch over to full time. Granted,
if you take this “safer and surer” approach, it may take you
longer to reach the goals you set for your new business, but
you will save yourself (and those who depend on you
financially) a lot of anxiety. Ultimately, like the turtle
in the race who moved ahead slowly yet steadily, you will
have a greater chance of reaching the finish line.

3. How well do you get along with different personalities?
Business owners need to develop working relationships with a
variety of people including: customers; vendors, staff;
bankers; and professionals such as lawyers, accountants and
consultants. Can you deal with a demanding client, an
unreliable vendor or cranky staff person in the best
interest of your business?

4. How good are you at making decisions? Small business
owners are constantly required to make decisions under
pressure.

5. Do you have the physical and emotional stamina to run a
business? Business ownership can be challenging and
exciting. But it is also a lot of work. Can you face 12­hour
work days for six or seven days a week?

6. How well do you plan and organize? Research indicates
that many business failures could have been avoided through
better planning. Good organization of: financials;
inventory; schedules; production; can help avoid pitfalls.

7. Do you have the drive to maintain your motivation?
Running a business can wear you down. Some business owners
feel burned out by having to carry all the responsibility on
their shoulders. Strong motivation can help to survive
slowdowns, as well as periods of burnout.

8. Do you have the discipline to do what has to be done?
When working for someone else, it becomes routine to rise
early, be well-groomed and get to the office on time.
However, a significant number of people starting up a small
business at home all too often find themselves at 10:00 in
the morning in their bathrobes, drinking a second or third
cup of coffee.

Make no mistake, starting a successful small business is
hard work. BUT, it is also highly rewarding! Attack the
challenge head-on and success will be yours.

About the author:
Michael (Mike) Brassil is author of “The Only Business Start-Up Guide Your Will Ever Need.” Download two chapters — Starting a New Business and The Home Working Revolution — at: http://www.ImpactGuide.com

Profiting from disorganization

Normally, being organized has its benefits.

But when it comes to search engine optimization, I find that’s not the case… storing your Web pages in subdirectories might work against you…

…. Find out exactly where to store your web pages to attract the attention of the most popular search engines at…

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Ethical marketing or evil genius?

Whether you love him or hate him, you’ve got to admire Bill Gates of Microsoft&reg.

In less time than it takes to wear out your family room sofa, Mr. Gates dropped out of Harvard and now controls more than 9 out of every 10 desktop PCs on the planet. That’s an awesome amount of power left in the hands of just one company…

… Especially when you consider news that the software giant plans to test an $80.00 a year subscription service to fix the very same Microsoft software responsible for the overwhelming epidemic of malicious spyware and viruses gripping your computer.

Is this audacity to the max or just savvy marketing?

See what others say about Microsoft’s business ethics at…

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Increase Web Site Traffic: How Useful Is Pay Per Click Advertising? Posted By : Mark Flavin

If you want to increase web site traffic, it is important for you to use a wide variety of basic and advanced website promotional techniques. In this regard, the pay per click advertising makes one of the best techniques.

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Small Business Pricing Strategies

by: Sharron Senter

It’s tough out there, particularly because of layoffs and our sluggish economy. So what’s a small business entrepreneur trying to make a living to do? Try these low-cost pricing strategies to keep sales moving.

TACTIC #1 — Never simply slash your prices, unless you’re trying to empty obsolete inventory. Instead, try repackaging your prices so they’re more affordable in the short-run so more prospects can afford them. For example, rather than pricing your service for the year, “Our monthly newsletter is only $39 for the year.” Instead, try “Our monthly newsletter is only $3.25 per month.” If you accept credit cards, it’s very easy to set up reoccurring monthly charges that are billed to your subscribers without having to intervene every month beyond the initial account set up. The upside to offering your subscription on a monthly basis is that you can now market a $3.25 headline versus a more expensive $39 headline, i.e. you’re able to offer services at a more affordable rate without slashing prices.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE
Here’s another example. Just last night I was on the phone with a potential marketing client. As a small business owner she’s trying to get some marketing help and is on a tight budget. My standard hourly consulting fee is $225, which is not always appealing to some businesses. However, in trying to work within her budget I suggested that my services could be more affordable for her if she allowed me to help her through email instead of face-to-face or on the phone. Let’s face it, when you’re on the phone with a client it takes longer to accomplish what you’re doing since you’re not only answering their questions, but you’re building a relationship and talking about unrelated topics. It’s difficult not to. In fact, you should! No matter what type of consultant you are, building a successful business is not about the initial sale, it’s about establishing a long-term relationship with customers. One-off sales don’t lend themselves to growing a profitable business; rather, deep customer relationships do! However, since I was able to establish a trustworthy and comfortable relationship with my prospect on the phone, she thought my marketing services through email would be a win-win. Did I slash my prices? No, instead I found a more efficient way to offer my services, whereby I could offer them in less time and therefore, my client will pay less money. This strategy could work for business coaches, fitness experts or personal chefs, when the latter prepares meals in her home rather than in a client’s home.

TACTIC #2 — Create tightly niched product or service offerings. For example, if you’re operating a personal concierge service, rather than just offer errand services at $25 an hour, try prepackaging specific errands with associated lower pricing. Why? Because you can offer a more aggressive price when isolating your fee to one particular service. If your customer challenges your reduced price as compared to your higher hourly fee, your response is simply, “I’m able to offer this lower packaged price because of economies of scale. While I’m out delivering your bundles to the Post Office, I’m also delivering packages for five other customers.” Ultimately, your customers will never know how many other customers you’re delivering for that day; however, the key is not to simply slash your pricing because you believe that reducing your prices will bring you more business. The key is to provide consistent and professional pricing practices.

P.S…Yes, business is slow for many entrepreneurs right now; however, be cautious with your pricing methods. Don’t simply slash prices; instead incorporate long-term and short-term strategies that are always complementary to each other. If you offer a product for $15 today, then again at $35 six months from now, you must have your reasons in place, otherwise you’ll aggravate your customers.

About the author:
Sharron Senter is a New England-based marketing consultant, speaker, writer and founder of Senter & Associates, a marketing communications firm that helps small businesses deploy low-cost marketing strategies. Sharron is well known for her free monthly emailed marketing tips, found at http://www.sharronsenter.comShe’s also the cofounder of http://www.VisitingGeeks.com– an onsite computer repair, networking and security company based north of Boston.

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Collaborative Internet Opens up New Marketing Possibilities Posted By : David Skul

In recent years, the internet has evolved from something that users simply read, to a collaborative environment where users can actively shape web content and drive trends.This new online environment generally comes under the term Web 2.0, although an exact definition of the term has never quite been agreed upon.

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Business Lessons Learned From Brett Favre Posted By : Michele Pariza Wacek

Success is success, whether you’ve built a multi-billion dollar company, written a dozen best-selling novels or are a famous quarterback. Many of the same mindset and principles are the same no matter how the success manifests itself.

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Become an Online Scrapbook Retailer Posted By : Gail Anderson Metcalf

Online retailers who research and develop a niche have a good chance of making this a profitable venture. E-bay can be a great place to market your wares. Whether youre selling supplies or your services, you will be able to realize quite a bit of profit by marketing yourself at an online auction site.

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Web Business Models: Generating Profits From Your Traffic Posted By : Hee Y. Park

When you own a web based business, generating traffic is all well and good. However, unless you have a revenue stream, your traffic is worthless. This article provides an overview of methods that you can use to get paid for applying your online marketing skills.

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