The trend towards consolidation in industry has become a threat to any business whose leadership has a desire to maintain its own identity and strategic path. If you think you, your company, or your industry is immune, I urge you to look at the telltale signs.
If you are one of those business owners or leaders who have invested many years of your life building a brand, then you most likely have a vision for that brand for the future that exists beyond your involvement. Sure, you could decide to sell the business or have it acquired by another organization, but the control of the decision should be yours.
So what do you do if you’d like the company to stand alone moving forward?
The Hidden Threat That Many Do Not See
Many signs of corporate consolidation are apparent; we read about them in journals and online every single day. XYZ corporation announces the acquisition of ABC LLC, etc. Mergers and acquisitions have been around forever, but there is a new legal form of conquest that is allowing organizations to steal market share from well-established businesses. Does it exist (yet) in your niche?
The menace of which I speak is the digital marketing organizations that are springing up in most industries, offering services on a pay-per-lead basis. If you are an established business, you likely have encountered one or more (or your marketing department has), and perhaps you have even paid for their services. These organizations spend their resources online, gaining a marketing edge, and then sell you (or your competition) the data on the leads. It seems like a win-win relationship at first.
But consider this. Isn’t this type of behavior, by you and your competition, outsourced marketing? No big deal, right? They spend money to generate consumer information, and then you buy it. Outsourcing frees you up to focus on things other than creating new business opportunities. It’s a true parasite-host relationship, where your organization serves as the host, and the digital marketing organization serves as a benevolent parasite.
Over time, the parasite will get large and robust. It will more than likely service many companies, not just your own. When they hit a point of market saturation, who do you think will be the most prominent brand known to the consumer? You? A competitor? No! It will be the digital marketing company that has been growing its reach across digital channels.
I believe that at this point, the digital marketing organization will have the leverage, and it is then that the parasite begins to consume the host. They raise the price on your cost per lead. If you refuse to pay, they merely sell the information to a competitor. Or worse, they quit selling information exclusively; instead, they sell the same information to multiple organizations. Once they are large enough in the eyes of consumers, they have the leverage to do this.
Would you like some real-world examples of this? Look no further than Zillow in real estate or Homeadvisor in the home services sector. These marketing-only organizations started simply with a website, but now each is the biggest name in its field. Zillow is now buying homes and working directly with home sellers. Can it be much longer before they have a buyer service available?
How To Avoid The Digital Marketing Parasite
If you own, lead, or manage an organization, acknowledge that the primary task of any business is the generation of new customers. You cannot outsource marketing, or it will put your company in a position to finance the organization that will one day put you out of business.
Take care of the parasite when it is a pest. Ensure that you run a learning organization that evolves its marketing strategy to utilize the same channels and processes that the parasite would use to unhinge you.
The parasite exists in every location and every field. Do not make the mistake of outsourcing business generation responsibilities. Instead grow your digital marketing solutions so that your company can thrive and grow into the future.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/front-jacket-THE-BUSINESS-OF-GETTING-BUSINESS.jpeg25511630StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-04-28 15:00:172020-04-28 22:16:34How to Protect Your Organization From the Amazon of Your Industry
Are you using Facebook as a platform for your business? Do you notice your post engagement losing some steam?
Post engagement is one of the key metrics that say how effective your Facebook business page is. It measures your followers’ loyalty to your brand.
With 80% of businesses using Facebook in their marketing strategies, you need to increase your Facebook page post engagement. But how do you do it? What are the techniques that you need to start practicing?
Continue reading below as we look at five effective ways to increase your post engagement.
The Value of Post Engagement
What is post engagement on Facebook? As we mentioned earlier, it is a metric that measures the activities your Facebook posts generate.
But why is it important?
Facebook engagement helps increase your social media reach. Your brand will get more exposure. In turn, you will generate more leads faster.
Furthermore, post engagement also serves as a cost-effective way of marketing your products. Instead of paying for expensive TV ads and billboards, social media engagement will cost you very little.
5 Techniques to Boost Your Post Engagement
Part of learning how to grow a Facebook page is managing your posts. Here are five effective ways that will boost the number of interactions on your Facebook account:
1. Timing is Key
Don’t just post on Facebook anytime you want. Instead, schedule your posts accordingly. Post during times when most of your fans are online.
Do most of your posts involve plain text? Try upping the ante by posting more videos.
Users love watching videos. They find it more engaging than plain text. But you need to make your videos entertaining and informative at the same time.
Moreover, post the videos directly to your Facebook page. Avoid posting a link to your videos coming from your YouTube account.
Also, consider publishing interactive Facebook posts. Try doing a Facebook Live once a week. Users love it when they can directly interact with the brands they follow in real-time.
3. Boost and Recycle
Remember your top posts from a month ago? Consider boosting them to increase engagement. Boosting will only cost you a minimal fee.
Alternatively, you should consider recycling your top posts.
When recycling them, tweak the posts a little. You may add a question or incorporate a video or image.
4. Brevity and Quality
Another effective way of increasing engagement is to shorten your posts. Keep them brief as much as you can, as longer posts may bore users.
But make sure your posts do not fall short in quality. Try using witty statements or ask them quick questions.
5. CTA Matters
Last but not least, you need to include a call-to-action (CTA) to your posts. A CTA sends the message that you want to hear from them. Throwing a question at the end of your post is a good option.
You may also create polls to see how they feel about a certain topic. You can go here to learn how to create a poll on Facebook.
Take Your Facebook Business Page to the Next Level
By increasing your Facebook post engagement, you can build your brand faster and create new leads for conversion. But post engagement is only one area you must work on.
Learn more strategies by reading our different articles. We discuss other techniques that will help take your social media pages to the next level.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/word-image-37.jpeg13352000StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-04-28 09:00:522020-04-28 20:06:105 Ways to Increase Post Engagement on Your Facebook Business Page
Nowadays, many businesses focus their marketing and promotional budgets on digital marketing methods. This is entirely understandable given how much time the average person spends online each day, but that doesn’t mean that offline marketing should be relegated to the past.
It is common for pay per click advertising, email, and social media campaigns to dominate the marketing plans of companies. This focus on digital means that offline marketing techniques often take a backseat. However, raising the profile of your business and boosting recognition of your brand requires a combination of both offline and online marketing techniques.
While digital marketing is excellent for raising awareness of your business to a broad audience, offline marketing techniques are a useful tool for promoting awareness on a local level. Small businesses, in particular, can benefit from going back to basics and introducing more traditional promotional methods to their marketing toolkit.
Signage
Signage is an excellent way to familiarize potential customers with your business and to increase awareness in the local area. Regularly seeing your business’s logo on signage will ensure that it stays in the mind of potential customers. Signage is widely used by companies across a range of industries as a way of promoting their companies in the local area. Realtors use coroplast signs not only to show that a house is for sale but also to promote their business. Likewise, builders and decorators use signs on their customer’s homes as a way of showcasing their work and building their profile. When operating a business on a local level, this kind of offline promotion is invaluable to keep your business at the forefront of people’s minds and building brand recognition.
Sponsorship
If you want your business to become a part of the community that you operate in, sponsorship is an excellent promotional tool. Lending your business’s support to a local charity, sports team, or other good cause will boost your profile in the local area while offering support to a worthwhile cause. If your company’s values are focused around being community-minded and giving back to the local area, sponsoring a good cause is an excellent way to put these values into practice. Sponsoring and supporting events or charitable organizations is beneficial from a PR perspective and will help your business to be accepted as part of the community.
Networking
While emails and video conferencing are excellent tools and make communication fast and easy, nothing beats face to face communication. One of the most effective forms of face to face communication in business is networking.
Networking is something that divides opinion as people either love it or hate it. Still, whichever camp you fall into, it cannot be denied that it is a powerful promotional tool for your business. Networking not only enables you to make useful business connections, but it also provides the opportunity for you to share your enthusiasm and passion for your business with a broader audience. This makes networking an invaluable tool for raising the profile of your company.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/word-image-36.jpeg392640StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-04-27 15:00:272020-04-27 21:45:56Why Your Business Needs Offline Marketing and Promotion in the Digital Age
If you’re thinking of starting your own business at home but you don’t know where to begin then don’t worry, you have definitely come to the right place. Whether you’re starting a business as a result of COVID-19 or you’ve had a business idea in mind for years, you need to be sure you’re doing all you can to make your first year a success. Whilst it may be overwhelming at first, there are lots of tips and tricks you can pick up to ensure you’re doing your best. From determining your target audience to creating a routine that you easily can work to each day, the more you’re doing to help your business succeed the better. With that in mind, here are 10 top tips for starting your own business at home:
Consider What Your Business Is Going To Do And How You’re Going To Make Money
One of the first things you need to do when it comes to starting your own business is to think about what your business is going to be doing and how you’re going to be making a profit from it. Although it may seem obvious, people often forget about this stage of their business plan.
If you’re unsure, the best thing to do is write down all of the products and services you’re thinking of offering, focussing on the value each of them will bring to the customer. Once you have done that, you will be able to think about a price point. If it helps, you may want to consider looking at your competitors and what they’re doing. When it comes to doing your first competitor analysis, you may want to do a little bit of research first.
Write A Detailed Description Of Your Target Audience
In order to create a business that is going to succeed, you need to think about who your target audience is. Whilst it may take some time, you need to ask yourself as many different questions as you can in order to create the perfect customer avatar.
Questions you may want to consider asking yourself include:
How old are they
Are they male or female?
Where do they live?
What do they do for a living?
What do they like to watch on TV?
Where do they like to shop?
Do they have any children?
What hobbies do they have?
What social media platforms do they use the most?
How often do they get paid?
What are their pain points?
Once you have asked as many different questions as you possibly can, you will be able to create an image of what your ideal customer should look like. This will make it much easier to market your product in the future.
Create A Comfortable Space For You To Work That Is Free Of Distractions
Working from home is incredibly difficult as you associate your home with being able to relax. Whilst you’re allowed to relax in your own home, you also need to ensure you have a specific space that is dedicated to working. Whether that’s a home office or a desk in your living room, knowing that you have a comfortable space that is free of distractions will help keep you motivated when you’re struggling to concentrate. For tips and tricks when it comes to creating a working space that motivates you, you can visit this site here.
Make Sure You’re Working To A Routine
Similar to the point above, you need to ensure you’re sticking to a working routine. Whether that means starting at the same time every day or ensuring you have an hour-long lunch break, you’re going to find you get much more done if you have a routine.
Do As Much Research As You Can When It Comes To Running A Business
If you have never run your own business before, you need to be sure you’re doing as much research as you possibly can in advance. From following successful entrepreneurs on social media to reading as much information as possible, the more you know about running your own business the better. If you’re struggling, you may want to consider taking a course to help improve your knowledge.
Set Up An Email And Caller System To Deal With Enquiries
Although you may not get many enquiries, to begin with, you need to ensure you have a way in which people can contact you if they’re interested in your products or services. The best way to do this, of course, is to give them ways to email or call you.
When it comes to setting up a phone number, you may want to consider using an auto dialer at first. This means that you will be able to continue using your personal number whilst you make outbound calls. This makes you seem like a much bigger business, which certainly helps when it comes to professionalism. For more information, you can visit Call Cowboy here.
Put As Much As You Can Into Your Marketing Efforts To Begin With
One of the best things you can do for your new business is to ensure you’re putting as much as you can into your marketing efforts for the first few months. If you’re starting a business where no one knows your name, you need to do as much as you can to increase your brand visibility. A great way to do this is to use paid ads on social media. Not only will this help build a customer base, but it will also help when it comes to growing your social media following.
Consider Outsourcing To Professionals For Certain Roles Within Your Business
One of the best ways to ensure you’re able to focus on the important aspects of running your business is to outsource work to professionals. Whether that means you’re outsourcing a role that you have no experience of or you’re simply freeing up your time to work on business development, bringing external people into your business is something you should look to do as soon as you possibly can. Although it can be expensive, they will more than pay for themselves when you’re able to grow your business exponentially.
Here are a number of different jobs you can outsource if you need to:
Your monthly or yearly accounts and tax return
The management of your social media channels
Content writing for your blog and your website
Public relations to help your business be seen
Virtual assistance to help with the running of your business
Although it can be hard to let go of certain aspects of your business, outsourcing is a great opportunity for business owners. For more benefits to outsourcing as an entrepreneur, you can visit this site here.
Set Yourself Goals And Targets That Are SMART
Setting yourself goals is another great way to ensure your first year is a success as it gives you something to work towards. When setting these goals, you need to ensure that they’re SMART. This means setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.
Make Sure You Have A Back-Up Plan In Place
Finally, you always need to be sure you have a backup plan in place. After all, you never know what could happen.
Although it can be hard to set up your own business, the tips and tricks above will help you have the best possible start. What will you be doing first? Do you think we missed anything off of the list? Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/word-image-35.jpeg13881920StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-04-27 13:00:322020-04-27 21:40:0610 Top Tips For Starting Your Own Business At Home
So, what does that mean for you as a savvy business person?
It means you should be thinking about how your peers, potential clients, and coworkers view your image.
The easiest place to start? Your business card.
A well put together business card can leave a lasting impression that speaks volumes about the kind of person you are.
So let’s take a look a how to design a business card that will be a step above the rest.
How to design a business card
Using these 3 tips when designing a business card will take your business persona to the next level.
Let’s get started!
1. First Impressions Are Everything
Remember what we said about image? We meant it!
Your business card design should reflect the style of your business. Your values should be well communicated by just looking at the card.
For example, if you are a creative florist with a passion for wild bouquets, you might choose a brightly colored card with a floral motif. Choosing a dark or modest card would not really reflect the appropriate image of you or your product.
The same goes for a formal business environment. You would want your color scheme to be more muted and straightforward to reflect your values.
If your creative side is struggling consider using a business card template to help inspire you.
2. Clear Contact Information
Don’t make prospective clients squint or grab their readers just to give you a call.
The minimum size you should ever be using is 8pt, but generally, 10pt-16pt is where you want to keep the size.
Your contact info should be in clear order as well.
Try laying the contact info in this classic order:
Company name
First and Last name
Job title
Contact info (phone number, email, social, etc)
The whole point of your business card is to help people get in touch with you. Making sure your contact info is clear and concise ensures that your business card design is doing its job!
3. Give It Something Extra
Standing out among the sea of business cards can be tricky, but these creative extras could help your card get the extra glance!
Magnetic cards – For businesses that have frequently required services like, hairstylists, lawn care workers, plumbers, etc, a convenient magnetic card placed on the refrigerator can make booking appointments a breeze.
Appointment tracker – Having a reminder for important dates or appointments directly on the card will be convenient for your client and lead to less missed appointments.
Finishing touches – Different printers can create final touches that make your card stand out against the rest. Try touches like embossing, which raises your text for a unique texture, or foil stamping, which makes your card shiny in areas where applied.
All of these extra final steps can take your design to the next level.
The Finished Product
Now that you understand how to design a business card like a pro it’s time to get started! Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine. Make your new business card today!
For more tips on for success in business check out the rest of our site!
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/3-Tips-for-Designing-an-Awesome-Business-Card.jpg13342000Nathan Iveshttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngNathan Ives2020-04-27 12:00:022020-04-27 21:33:313 Tips for Designing an Awesome Business Card
A VETERAN OWNED SMALL BUSINESS | Call or text now for a FREE consultation: +1 (770) 765-3692 | Website Login
Business Programs
How to Protect Your Organization From the Amazon of Your Industry
/in Entrepreneurship, Risk Management/by StrategyDrivenIf you are one of those business owners or leaders who have invested many years of your life building a brand, then you most likely have a vision for that brand for the future that exists beyond your involvement. Sure, you could decide to sell the business or have it acquired by another organization, but the control of the decision should be yours.
So what do you do if you’d like the company to stand alone moving forward?
The Hidden Threat That Many Do Not See
Many signs of corporate consolidation are apparent; we read about them in journals and online every single day. XYZ corporation announces the acquisition of ABC LLC, etc. Mergers and acquisitions have been around forever, but there is a new legal form of conquest that is allowing organizations to steal market share from well-established businesses. Does it exist (yet) in your niche?
The menace of which I speak is the digital marketing organizations that are springing up in most industries, offering services on a pay-per-lead basis. If you are an established business, you likely have encountered one or more (or your marketing department has), and perhaps you have even paid for their services. These organizations spend their resources online, gaining a marketing edge, and then sell you (or your competition) the data on the leads. It seems like a win-win relationship at first.
But consider this. Isn’t this type of behavior, by you and your competition, outsourced marketing? No big deal, right? They spend money to generate consumer information, and then you buy it. Outsourcing frees you up to focus on things other than creating new business opportunities. It’s a true parasite-host relationship, where your organization serves as the host, and the digital marketing organization serves as a benevolent parasite.
Over time, the parasite will get large and robust. It will more than likely service many companies, not just your own. When they hit a point of market saturation, who do you think will be the most prominent brand known to the consumer? You? A competitor? No! It will be the digital marketing company that has been growing its reach across digital channels.
I believe that at this point, the digital marketing organization will have the leverage, and it is then that the parasite begins to consume the host. They raise the price on your cost per lead. If you refuse to pay, they merely sell the information to a competitor. Or worse, they quit selling information exclusively; instead, they sell the same information to multiple organizations. Once they are large enough in the eyes of consumers, they have the leverage to do this.
Would you like some real-world examples of this? Look no further than Zillow in real estate or Homeadvisor in the home services sector. These marketing-only organizations started simply with a website, but now each is the biggest name in its field. Zillow is now buying homes and working directly with home sellers. Can it be much longer before they have a buyer service available?
How To Avoid The Digital Marketing Parasite
If you own, lead, or manage an organization, acknowledge that the primary task of any business is the generation of new customers. You cannot outsource marketing, or it will put your company in a position to finance the organization that will one day put you out of business.
Take care of the parasite when it is a pest. Ensure that you run a learning organization that evolves its marketing strategy to utilize the same channels and processes that the parasite would use to unhinge you.
The parasite exists in every location and every field. Do not make the mistake of outsourcing business generation responsibilities. Instead grow your digital marketing solutions so that your company can thrive and grow into the future.
About the Author
5 Ways to Increase Post Engagement on Your Facebook Business Page
/in Online Marketing and Website Development/by StrategyDrivenAre you using Facebook as a platform for your business? Do you notice your post engagement losing some steam?
Post engagement is one of the key metrics that say how effective your Facebook business page is. It measures your followers’ loyalty to your brand.
With 80% of businesses using Facebook in their marketing strategies, you need to increase your Facebook page post engagement. But how do you do it? What are the techniques that you need to start practicing?
Continue reading below as we look at five effective ways to increase your post engagement.
The Value of Post Engagement
What is post engagement on Facebook? As we mentioned earlier, it is a metric that measures the activities your Facebook posts generate.
But why is it important?
Facebook engagement helps increase your social media reach. Your brand will get more exposure. In turn, you will generate more leads faster.
Furthermore, post engagement also serves as a cost-effective way of marketing your products. Instead of paying for expensive TV ads and billboards, social media engagement will cost you very little.
5 Techniques to Boost Your Post Engagement
Part of learning how to grow a Facebook page is managing your posts. Here are five effective ways that will boost the number of interactions on your Facebook account:
1. Timing is Key
Don’t just post on Facebook anytime you want. Instead, schedule your posts accordingly. Post during times when most of your fans are online.
Use a Facebook scheduling tool to determine the best times to publish your posts.
2. Create More Videos
Do most of your posts involve plain text? Try upping the ante by posting more videos.
Users love watching videos. They find it more engaging than plain text. But you need to make your videos entertaining and informative at the same time.
Moreover, post the videos directly to your Facebook page. Avoid posting a link to your videos coming from your YouTube account.
Also, consider publishing interactive Facebook posts. Try doing a Facebook Live once a week. Users love it when they can directly interact with the brands they follow in real-time.
3. Boost and Recycle
Remember your top posts from a month ago? Consider boosting them to increase engagement. Boosting will only cost you a minimal fee.
Alternatively, you should consider recycling your top posts.
When recycling them, tweak the posts a little. You may add a question or incorporate a video or image.
4. Brevity and Quality
Another effective way of increasing engagement is to shorten your posts. Keep them brief as much as you can, as longer posts may bore users.
But make sure your posts do not fall short in quality. Try using witty statements or ask them quick questions.
5. CTA Matters
Last but not least, you need to include a call-to-action (CTA) to your posts. A CTA sends the message that you want to hear from them. Throwing a question at the end of your post is a good option.
You may also create polls to see how they feel about a certain topic. You can go here to learn how to create a poll on Facebook.
Take Your Facebook Business Page to the Next Level
By increasing your Facebook post engagement, you can build your brand faster and create new leads for conversion. But post engagement is only one area you must work on.
Learn more strategies by reading our different articles. We discuss other techniques that will help take your social media pages to the next level.
Why Your Business Needs Offline Marketing and Promotion in the Digital Age
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDrivenNowadays, many businesses focus their marketing and promotional budgets on digital marketing methods. This is entirely understandable given how much time the average person spends online each day, but that doesn’t mean that offline marketing should be relegated to the past.
It is common for pay per click advertising, email, and social media campaigns to dominate the marketing plans of companies. This focus on digital means that offline marketing techniques often take a backseat. However, raising the profile of your business and boosting recognition of your brand requires a combination of both offline and online marketing techniques.
While digital marketing is excellent for raising awareness of your business to a broad audience, offline marketing techniques are a useful tool for promoting awareness on a local level. Small businesses, in particular, can benefit from going back to basics and introducing more traditional promotional methods to their marketing toolkit.
Signage
Signage is an excellent way to familiarize potential customers with your business and to increase awareness in the local area. Regularly seeing your business’s logo on signage will ensure that it stays in the mind of potential customers. Signage is widely used by companies across a range of industries as a way of promoting their companies in the local area. Realtors use coroplast signs not only to show that a house is for sale but also to promote their business. Likewise, builders and decorators use signs on their customer’s homes as a way of showcasing their work and building their profile. When operating a business on a local level, this kind of offline promotion is invaluable to keep your business at the forefront of people’s minds and building brand recognition.
Sponsorship
If you want your business to become a part of the community that you operate in, sponsorship is an excellent promotional tool. Lending your business’s support to a local charity, sports team, or other good cause will boost your profile in the local area while offering support to a worthwhile cause. If your company’s values are focused around being community-minded and giving back to the local area, sponsoring a good cause is an excellent way to put these values into practice. Sponsoring and supporting events or charitable organizations is beneficial from a PR perspective and will help your business to be accepted as part of the community.
Networking
While emails and video conferencing are excellent tools and make communication fast and easy, nothing beats face to face communication. One of the most effective forms of face to face communication in business is networking.
Networking is something that divides opinion as people either love it or hate it. Still, whichever camp you fall into, it cannot be denied that it is a powerful promotional tool for your business. Networking not only enables you to make useful business connections, but it also provides the opportunity for you to share your enthusiasm and passion for your business with a broader audience. This makes networking an invaluable tool for raising the profile of your company.
10 Top Tips For Starting Your Own Business At Home
/in Starting Your Business/by StrategyDrivenIf you’re thinking of starting your own business at home but you don’t know where to begin then don’t worry, you have definitely come to the right place. Whether you’re starting a business as a result of COVID-19 or you’ve had a business idea in mind for years, you need to be sure you’re doing all you can to make your first year a success. Whilst it may be overwhelming at first, there are lots of tips and tricks you can pick up to ensure you’re doing your best. From determining your target audience to creating a routine that you easily can work to each day, the more you’re doing to help your business succeed the better. With that in mind, here are 10 top tips for starting your own business at home:
Consider What Your Business Is Going To Do And How You’re Going To Make Money
One of the first things you need to do when it comes to starting your own business is to think about what your business is going to be doing and how you’re going to be making a profit from it. Although it may seem obvious, people often forget about this stage of their business plan.
If you’re unsure, the best thing to do is write down all of the products and services you’re thinking of offering, focussing on the value each of them will bring to the customer. Once you have done that, you will be able to think about a price point. If it helps, you may want to consider looking at your competitors and what they’re doing. When it comes to doing your first competitor analysis, you may want to do a little bit of research first.
Write A Detailed Description Of Your Target Audience
In order to create a business that is going to succeed, you need to think about who your target audience is. Whilst it may take some time, you need to ask yourself as many different questions as you can in order to create the perfect customer avatar.
Questions you may want to consider asking yourself include:
Once you have asked as many different questions as you possibly can, you will be able to create an image of what your ideal customer should look like. This will make it much easier to market your product in the future.
Create A Comfortable Space For You To Work That Is Free Of Distractions
Working from home is incredibly difficult as you associate your home with being able to relax. Whilst you’re allowed to relax in your own home, you also need to ensure you have a specific space that is dedicated to working. Whether that’s a home office or a desk in your living room, knowing that you have a comfortable space that is free of distractions will help keep you motivated when you’re struggling to concentrate. For tips and tricks when it comes to creating a working space that motivates you, you can visit this site here.
Make Sure You’re Working To A Routine
Similar to the point above, you need to ensure you’re sticking to a working routine. Whether that means starting at the same time every day or ensuring you have an hour-long lunch break, you’re going to find you get much more done if you have a routine.
Do As Much Research As You Can When It Comes To Running A Business
If you have never run your own business before, you need to be sure you’re doing as much research as you possibly can in advance. From following successful entrepreneurs on social media to reading as much information as possible, the more you know about running your own business the better. If you’re struggling, you may want to consider taking a course to help improve your knowledge.
Set Up An Email And Caller System To Deal With Enquiries
Although you may not get many enquiries, to begin with, you need to ensure you have a way in which people can contact you if they’re interested in your products or services. The best way to do this, of course, is to give them ways to email or call you.
When it comes to setting up a phone number, you may want to consider using an auto dialer at first. This means that you will be able to continue using your personal number whilst you make outbound calls. This makes you seem like a much bigger business, which certainly helps when it comes to professionalism. For more information, you can visit Call Cowboy here.
Put As Much As You Can Into Your Marketing Efforts To Begin With
One of the best things you can do for your new business is to ensure you’re putting as much as you can into your marketing efforts for the first few months. If you’re starting a business where no one knows your name, you need to do as much as you can to increase your brand visibility. A great way to do this is to use paid ads on social media. Not only will this help build a customer base, but it will also help when it comes to growing your social media following.
Consider Outsourcing To Professionals For Certain Roles Within Your Business
One of the best ways to ensure you’re able to focus on the important aspects of running your business is to outsource work to professionals. Whether that means you’re outsourcing a role that you have no experience of or you’re simply freeing up your time to work on business development, bringing external people into your business is something you should look to do as soon as you possibly can. Although it can be expensive, they will more than pay for themselves when you’re able to grow your business exponentially.
Here are a number of different jobs you can outsource if you need to:
Although it can be hard to let go of certain aspects of your business, outsourcing is a great opportunity for business owners. For more benefits to outsourcing as an entrepreneur, you can visit this site here.
Set Yourself Goals And Targets That Are SMART
Setting yourself goals is another great way to ensure your first year is a success as it gives you something to work towards. When setting these goals, you need to ensure that they’re SMART. This means setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.
Make Sure You Have A Back-Up Plan In Place
Finally, you always need to be sure you have a backup plan in place. After all, you never know what could happen.
Although it can be hard to set up your own business, the tips and tricks above will help you have the best possible start. What will you be doing first? Do you think we missed anything off of the list? Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.
3 Tips for Designing an Awesome Business Card
/in Marketing & Sales/by Nathan IvesYour eyes process images in just 13 milliseconds.
So, what does that mean for you as a savvy business person?
It means you should be thinking about how your peers, potential clients, and coworkers view your image.
The easiest place to start? Your business card.
A well put together business card can leave a lasting impression that speaks volumes about the kind of person you are.
So let’s take a look a how to design a business card that will be a step above the rest.
How to design a business card
Using these 3 tips when designing a business card will take your business persona to the next level.
Let’s get started!
1. First Impressions Are Everything
Remember what we said about image? We meant it!
Your business card design should reflect the style of your business. Your values should be well communicated by just looking at the card.
For example, if you are a creative florist with a passion for wild bouquets, you might choose a brightly colored card with a floral motif. Choosing a dark or modest card would not really reflect the appropriate image of you or your product.
The same goes for a formal business environment. You would want your color scheme to be more muted and straightforward to reflect your values.
If your creative side is struggling consider using a business card template to help inspire you.
2. Clear Contact Information
Don’t make prospective clients squint or grab their readers just to give you a call.
The minimum size you should ever be using is 8pt, but generally, 10pt-16pt is where you want to keep the size.
Your contact info should be in clear order as well.
Try laying the contact info in this classic order:
The whole point of your business card is to help people get in touch with you. Making sure your contact info is clear and concise ensures that your business card design is doing its job!
3. Give It Something Extra
Standing out among the sea of business cards can be tricky, but these creative extras could help your card get the extra glance!
All of these extra final steps can take your design to the next level.
The Finished Product
Now that you understand how to design a business card like a pro it’s time to get started! Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine. Make your new business card today!
For more tips on for success in business check out the rest of our site!