Improve Your Sales and Marketing Skills
November 17, 2008
In tough economic times, customers may be feeling more pain than you know. They want to feel better, and you can help. Show how your product or service can solve a problem or improve their bottom line.
* Making more money for yourself should not be your goal. Making yourself the best you can be is a better choice.
* Be happy even when you can’t get an appointment or close the sale. Dr. G. Clotaire Rapaille, consultant to 50 of the top Fortune 100 companies, says rejection allows the game to continue. Send a gift to the one who turned you down and you will be remembered.
* Prepare. Know what your prospect will say and what your response will be. Study your prospects and their operation so you know the answers.
* Speak in a natural conversational way. If you memorize a script, you may come across as dull. Be prepared, and you will be able to improvise on the spot.
* Make a connection if there is an opportunity. Master small talk.
* Know that sales are not entirely based on the logic and intelligence of the prospect.
* Believe in the benefits your product or service will provide. Think of what the product or service will do and love it.
Best salespeople I know are all good communicators, they love people and know how to handle rejection.
Find New Marketing Ideas, Don’t Rely On Old Beliefs
November 17, 2008
If you suspect that most of the money you spend on marketing is wasted, you could be right. Check this marketing advice by marketing professor David Corkindale.
* Instead of targeting one segment of consumers or the market relevant to your business, aim at a broader spectrum of prospects who are likely to want the products/services you and your competitors offer.
* Depend less on customer loyalty. Studies show that only 10 percent of all buyers are loyal customers.
* The only way for a company to achieve lasting growth is to increase its customer base, either by reaching new customers in existing markets or entering new markets.
* Gain market share by reaching more prospective customers rather than working to get existing customers to buy more often.
* Being different from competitors is not always the best goal.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Corkindale notes that those who want to compete with dominant companies, like McDonalds, usually accept the fact that the leader has found a formula that works. It can be copied.
Some things to remember:
* Sales and promotions are more likely to attract those who are already your customers than bring in new business.
* Young companies need to do all they can to nurture their brand and create positive associations in the minds of prospects/customers.
* Make sure your products or services are easy to find online. The Internet is a powerful marketing tool.
* Set up a system that makes it possible to respond effectively to Internet prospects when they contact you.
Marketing expert Terri Langhans puts it another way: Think of marketing as anything that “helps or hinders” the sale or use of your product or service. This includes your location, the attitude of the person who answers the phone, your name, pricing, brochures, your personality and more.
Figure out what obstacles you can quickly fix or remove - suggests Langhans.
Powered By Dell Laptop Perfect For Small Business
November 13, 2008
I have owned several laptops – COMPAQ, HPs and couple of TOSHIBAs. Although I have always admired Michael Dell’s entrepreneurial spirit, I considered Dell to be a brand for Cubicle Nation, corporate offices and call centers. So when I received an email with a message that I have won a DELL laptop, I did not know what to think.
A couple of weeks later I received my Dell Latitude™ E6400 Laptop Computer signed by Michael Dell.
Here are the full details of the configuration:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz) processor,
Windows Vista® Business,
14.1″ WXGA+ LED Backlit display,
Integrated webcam,
120GB1 7200rpm HDD with Free Fall Sensor (actually upgraded to a 160GB1 7200 RPM HDD)
Nvidia 265MB Dedicated Graphics2,
Intel 5100 a/g/n wireless,
Backlit keyboard,
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth®
I have grown to really like my new system. The battery lasts about 11 hours without recharging for me on days when I primarily write and do email, this is way more than I have experienced before. I have never had a laptop with a backlit keyboard, but now I am spoiled and would never consider one without. My Dell definitely increases my productivity. Since I travel quite a bit, I prefer sturdy systems rather than thin, fragile computers – the Dell is just the right size and weight. The keyboard is nice and the webcam is a great bonus feature.
I would recommend this well performing system to any small business owner.
Obama Turned Out To Be the Best Marketer
November 8, 2008
Here’s what I wrote in my blog post ‘Who would make the best small business marketer – Clinton, McCain or Obama?‘ in May:
“Senator Obama has the biggest potential to be a web savvy small business marketer. I can see him being successful at creating and delivering marketing messages to/for professional services firms. He is a very good speaker who does not get into too much detail (tactics), but understands his audience and can win over younger decision makers.”
As it turns out he did win over millions of young people by utilizing new technologies and creating vibrant online and offline communities.
Ten Simple Rules to Help Build Inbound Links for Your Small Business Website
November 7, 2008
One of our small business customers wanted to know more about creating relevant inbound links. Here’s what I suggested after researching this topic:
1. Choose 4-10 of your most popular keywords that you’re going to use.
2. Write variations of the links that you’d like to use. Test them. You may want to experiment with the Google AdWords keyword tool.
3. Create several inbound links using different variations of linking text.
4. The easiest way to get inbound links is from other websites or blogs that you own or control.
5. Create online profiles for your small business on social networking sites
6. Ask friends and colleagues for permission to put links on their sites or blogs.
7. Buy quality directory links. Don’t buy directory links disapproved by Google. Do your research – at least Google the site’s url or name before you buy.
8. Tell people how you’d like them to link to you. Ask them to copy and paste the code you provide into their web pages/blogs.
9. Write keyword rich press releases and use services such as PRWeb or PR.com to distribute them. For an additional fee PRWeb will let you embed links into the body of your press release.
10. Write and publish quality articles and blog posts. If people like your article, they will likely use your article’s title when they link to you, so make sure that you include keywords in the titles of each article/post.
Could You Enhance Your Small Business Marketing Efforts With Photosynth?
November 5, 2008
Photosynth is a service that turns multiple photos of a scene or site, like a building or gallery, into a 3-D scene you can virtually walk through on the Web.
Photosynth allows anyone to create a “synth” using a digital camera or using pictures they already have. Just figure out which ones overlap. Even pictures taken by different people with different cameras can be used. The software analyzes the pictures, figures which ones overlap in what order, and creates a 3-D synth.
The service is free and entirely web – based at photosynth.net. You can view your own synths and all the synths created by other users.
It works with Microsoft Windows. Photosynth installs two programs on your computer: a Web browser plug-in for viewing synths, and an application (called “Photosynth”) for creating them.
It takes some skill to get a set of photos the service can match up well, which Microsoft calls being “synthy.” Ideally, portions of each slice of a 3-D scene should show up in at least three photos with a 50 percent overlap between them.
After you upload your pictures, the service does its best with each set to create the scene. It then tells you how synthy the resulting 3-D is.
Tax Saving Tips for You and Your Small Business
November 4, 2008
The last thing you want to think about right now is taxes. But by acting before the end of the year, you or your business could get some significant tax relief.
* Income and expense. The most fundamental steps include deferring income and accelerating deductible expenses. If you can delay taxable income until January 1 and pay for invoices and expenses not usually handled until the following month or 2, you will save on your income tax.
* Contributions. Year-end planning also involves maximizing contributions to qualified retirement plans such as a 401(k). They must be made before the end of each year. (IRAs have a later date.)
* Portfolio. If you have planned to sell your losers, do it before January 1. Losses in excess of gains can be used to offset up to $3,000 in ordinary income, or $1,500 for a married couple filing separately.
One tax break available in 2008 through 2010: Couples with incomes of $65,000 or less ($32,000 for singles) are exempt from capital gains tax. Example: If you are single and after deductions and exemptions have $22,000 in income from wages and interest, you would pay no tax on up to $10,550 in capital gains, which would bring your income to the $32,550 limit.
This break is very helpful for investments that have been held for some years while their value has risen.
* Gifts. You can transfer $12,000 per person as gifts and reduce your income by that amount. A couple can reduce their income by $24,000. (The person who receives it doesn’t have to pay income tax on the money.)
* Learning credits. People with adjusted gross incomes between $7,000 and $57,000 may be able to claim a lifetime learning credit of up to $2,000 for qualified education expenses paid for all of their students who are enrolled in eligible educational institutions.
