| |
| |
|
Small Business Information |
|
|
|
Make Your Business More Profitable
More sales and more profit. Isn't that what you want from your business? It's not hard to achieve if you follow these 4 simple tips. 1. Keep Adding More New Markets Every new market you open captures a new layer of sales ...and makes your business more secure. The more markets you serve the less dependent you are on the sales from any one market. Tip: You can quickly add several profitable new markets to your business by sub-dividing your present market into several narrowly defined niche markets. Then create customized versions of your current advertising that offers specific solutions to the unique needs of each niche market. 2. Continually Add Something New Every time you add something new to your business you create additional opportunities to close sales. For example, by just adding one new product or service to the list of those you already offer you create 3 new selling opportunities: 1) It attracts new prospects who are not interested your current products and services. 2) It generates activity from existing customers who want to find out about your new product. 3) It enables you to create attractive combination packages of two or more items ...which also produces some bigger sales for you. Tip: Even something as simple as adding something new to your web site creates more selling opportunities for you ...by attracting both new visitors and repeat visitors. 3. Find Some Ways to Generate Publicity Publicity is what you get when somebody else promotes (or you get them to promote) your business. It creates more credibility than advertising - and generates sales without an advertising expense. Look for some ways you can generate some publicity for your business. For example, contact non-competing businesses that serve customers in your market. Offer to publicize their products and services to your customers in exchange for their publicizing your services to their customers. Tip: Don't expect non-paid publicity to replace your paid advertising. Instead, use publicity to supplement your advertising. You control where and when your advertising appears - and what it says. But you cannot control where or when you get publicity ...or how effective it is. 4. Implement a System to Promote Customer Referrals Referrals from customers are easier to sell than cold prospects. And they don't cost you anything. Unfortunately, most customers don't volunteer referrals. You have to ask for them. A simple, passive way to ask for referrals is to use a brief customer survey. Send it to customers by postal mail, email, or post it on your web site. The survey I use only asks 3 questions: 1) What did you like best about our (product or service)? 2) What can we do to improve the value of our (product or service) for you? 3) Who else do you know that wants to (state the benefit provided by your product or service)? The first 2 questions focus your customer's attention on the benefits they got from you. Customers will be more likely to provide referrals at the 3rd question when you have them thinking about the value of those benefits. Tip: Pay attention to the answers you get to the first question. It often generates a response you can use as a testimonial (with your customer's permission). More sales and more profit. If that's what you want from your business, start by following these 4 simple tips. They produce results quickly ...and don't require much of your time or money. Copyright 2005 Bob Leduc http://BobLeduc.com Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
MORE RESOURCES:
Small-Business - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Small Business Failures in America - Cash Flow Issues We are noticing an increase in the length of time it takes Large corporations to pay on their invoices to our team. Fortune 500s are tending to pay their vendors more slowly, which will hurt the already strapped small businesses in America. Small Business Ideas - Your Image Can Lose You Business What image do you and your people portray to your prospects and clients? Here's a situation that happened to me recently and hopefully you'll glean useful small business ideas that will make you money instead of costing you money.January is always a good time to grab bargains so when I noticed that two well-known blind companies were advertising 35% off their blinds, I decided to give them a call? and it was an interesting experience. Debit and ATM Card Advice for Small Businesses Your business account comes with an ATM, Debit card. Pick a really secret pin number. Procrastinate Your Way To A Successful Small Business What will your business look like a year from today?If you're like most small business owners, you have many things to do and not enough time to do them. Can't you just ignore them and procrastinate your way to success?Not likely. Leverage The Power of Publicity For Your Small Business Your business is only as good as the number of people who knows about it. For your venture to grow, you need to start spreading the word about your business. Choose Your Own Guru What is a guru?A guru is a teacher. A mentor. Arent Small Businesses Lucky? Why? Because they have access to world class public relations no matter how small they are.That's one way of saying, take care of your key target audiences, Mr/Ms small business owner, and they'll take care of you. Six Sigma for Small Business It is not surprising that some people may perceive Six Sigma as being only for large corporations. Major corporations such as Allied Signal, Black & Decker, Dow Chemical, Dupont, Federal Express, General Electric, Johnson and Johnson, Kodak, Motorola, Sony, and Toshiba have all rolled out Six Sigma efforts and achieved outstanding results. A Portable Trade Show Exhibit Makes for an Easier Show You can make your trade show experience much easier by using a portable exhibit. Since you control everything related to transporting it and setting it up, you won't have to hire firms to for those things for you. Small Business Debt Collection Laws In your small business debt collection laws will eventually become important, as your debt grows and some clients do not pay. To collect small business debts legally, you must send a written notice that collections have begun, within five days of first contacting the debtor for collections. Postcards Make It Rain Referrals One of the simplest ways to expand your marketing efforts is through the consistent use of postcards. Create a list of narrowly targeted prospects and then hammer away at them with powerful marketing messages. How to let go of your EGO When does your ego get in the way?Let's go back to that networking meeting and scan the room again. Have you seen the person that never stops talking? He is the one that is talking about how great his business is and how great his services are. 13 Steps to Protect Yourself from Your Bank The success of your business is critically dependent on how well you negotiate and manage your financial partners. Banks, investors, credit cards and financial services companies work for you. More Rules for Franchising? The FTC- Mighty Federal Trade Commission has unilaterally decided to change the franchise rule. They changes are sure to hurt American business, Franchisors and the over 400,000 Franchisees in the United States today. Eight Key Steps to Selling Your Business and Cashing In This year, some 700,000 American businesses will be sold. Most will be small and mid-sized businesses like yours. Presentations and Sales Automotive Detailers Many auto detailers fall short in their sales presentations. I have often shopped the competition to see what their knowledge base was to gage their worthiness as a formidable competitor in the market place. Does Your Business Need a Toll-Free 800 Number? Should your business have a toll free number for customers to make sales, service and billing inquirers? The industry began in the early 1970's and today most customers expect you to have it. Providing a toll free line can bring in a number of benefits to your business. How To Accept Credit Cards If you plan to do business online, then your website will need to accept credit cards. For many, the idea of applying for a merchant account sounds like a daunting task, but the truth is that building an online store is incredibly easy these days. Preparing to Launch Your Small Business Small business owners often enter their field with great expectations. Unfortunately, reality strikes shortly afterwards. Deciding Which State To Incorporate Your Small Business In Once you've decided to incorporate your small business the next step is deciding which state to incorporate in. A common misconception is that businesses must incorporate in their state of operation.
|
|
|
|
|
