Tag: Small Business - Page 7

Being a statistic for failure isn’t much fun-let’s face it. I don’t like the idea, and I bet you aren’t too keen on it either. And when it come to small business, or any business or cause for that matter it is best to avoid it like the plague. This leads me to wonder why so many businesses out there do not invest in a solid online marketing strategy of an effective website.

Put simply- no business will survive without a good website. However, what is most surprising to me is not how bad some websites actually are but in fact how easily these website short comings or problems can be fixed.

Having had a browse around various small business websites recently it occurred to me the magic a good website can do for a small business.

A new year means many things to many people. If you are an entrepreneur and it is a new financial year, your goals will tend to be around business. Alternatively, 1^st of January tends to be a combination of personal and professional goals.

As I look back on the year we have just had, I smile. Why? I think it is more to do with growing – as a person and as an entrepreneur.

Having worked in the sustainability sector for the past 10 years, marketing businesses 'green' credentials and promoting a greener way of doing business, running your business and getting consumers to understand that making a small change in what you do can mean a big difference to the environment - it's no surprise that the new carbon tax is something that I am becoming increasingly familiar with.

How many people have you heard, started their businesses from their kitchen table? I have heard many tales of people who started their businesses from their kitchen table, but other than foodies, I have never heard of someone who started their business from playing it ingredients in their mother's kitchen on the stove.

With only days until the end of the financial year, in most companies, there is a sense of need to get more sales in to improve the yearly results.

If you are struggling to find ways in which to bring in 'last minute' sales and want a refresh - try some of these helpful tips.

1. Ring your entire client base and see what other services you can give them in this financial year so that they can achieve their business objectives.

Let's get straight to the point. There are many challenges that small businesses face when it comes to marketing - and much of it is internal.

Small businesses:

1. Argue, challenge and brainstorm in June and December each year about what they are going to do for marketing in the year ahead. . . and end up doing nothing.

Creating the perfect culture is impossible if everyone is not on the same page. I always look at big banking firms investment banking arms and admire how hard everyone works, they get paid well, and at the end of the day or deal, they all go for a drink together. It's a culture to admire in many ways. Maybe not the unhealthiness of long hours, stress and then washing it away with alcohol, but more so the fact that they work as a team to achieve a result and then at the end of the day, can go out and enjoy themselves.

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube and a good website that ineracts with your customers, on all levels - tis the small business marketing machine.

It's true. Small business, may be a BIG business online if your machine is well oiled and working efficiently, generating the results that you expect.

Did you make your million? Or 2, or 3, or 4? It's May and it's time to work out whether your pockets are full of coins, or if there is a hole where they seem to have slipped through.

End of Financial Year is a reality check for all businesses. Did you do well this year? Could you have done better? Does your team need to be congratulated on their work and achievements? Who are your big spending clients?

Thursday... not feeling well.
Friday... sick.
Saturday... sick.
Sunday... sick.

Now, why is this good for small business? On Thursday, it wasn't. On Friday, it wasn't, well, not until it was well and truly into the evening. Saturday and Sunday, it was.

When you are forced to STOP, it's impossible not to clear everything from your mind and get on with the job at hand, and that is getting well.

Meetings are missed, proposals are not sent, work is not completed. It really is a royal pain in the a***. BUT, this down time can be good for your small business. As a small business marketer, I try to absorb every possible item of advertising, marketing and public relations activity that crosses my path. There are millions of pieces day-in, day-out that I am confronted with. Of course, I don't take in everything, but I do try and absorb as much as possible and relate it back to the Marketing Eye client base.