50 Marketing ideas for your business – part 1

In: Business Basics

14 Apr 2010

Your new business will live or die by its sales. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if someone won’t give you money for it, it’s worthless.MobileMarketing

And to drive your sales you need good marketing. You need to find a way to attract people’s attention to your business and its products, and help them make a conscious decision to purchase from you.

If you’re on a budget, that can be tough. It’s possible to spend a small fortune on marketing.

The alternative is to bootstrap it. This means marketing your new business on a very small budget. It’s about using creativity rather than cash to shout about what you’re doing.

Bootstrapping has practically become a culture, as a way to build and market a business without risking a huge amount of cash. There are websites and free books dedicated to it.

Here are 25 free bootstrap marketing ideas from Bytestart, with another 25 to follow in the second part of this article.

50) Give your knowledge away: The stuff you “just know” in your business is potentially valuable information to others. With the exception of trade secrets specific to your company, freely give knowledge away. Write articles on your website or approach content sites such as Bytestart. Tell people exactly how you will help their business and don’t be afraid to reveal tools of the trade. Only a handful will steal that knowledge and try to do it themselves, and they’ll never do it as well as you. Education marketing is powerful.

49) Run topical themes: Steal this idea from retail outlets. Have themes that hook into events that are happening and how people feel about them. In winter, give free hot chocolate away. In summer, build a beach in your office. Watch out for event movies and cash in on their marketing spend. Try to relate themes to your business.

48) Offer a discount card: These are the cheapest way to reward your existing customers for their loyalty, as you only give free product away to your very best customers. When they buy your product five or six times, they get the next one free. What a great way to say thank you. Copy big companies; Café Nero and McDonalds have stamps and tokens when you buy coffee, to encourage you to drink there regularly. Remember to ensure your tokens aren’t easily forged, and that your loyalty card stamp is locked away every day!

47) Have outstanding customer service: Nothing attracts customers more than positive word of mouth from other customers. Customer service is your biggest weapon against rivals, especially those run by big corporations. Make it a central part of your business. If it’s important you are seen to answer the phone quickly, promise to do it within three rings or your service is free. You’ll soon make that a priority when you start losing money!

46) Launch a competition: It’s cheap for you to give your services or products away, so do it regularly. Plug the competition on your website. Or better still, contact the relevant media that talks to your potential customer base and ask if they’d be interested in a giveaway. Be aware many media outlets have a minimum competition stock value.

45) Stuff your website with new content: Glossing over all of the complicated Search Engine Optimisation guidelines, Google broadly rewards websites that consistently do two things: keep the content up-to-date, and add new content regularly. You don’t need lots of specialist knowledge about search engine marketing. Just keep adding new pages with fresh content. Make a commitment to adding one new page a week and you will be surprised by how much extra traffic you get after a few months.

44) Blog: If you can’t think of articles to write for your website, why not blog. It’s a simple way to get relevant content onto your site. A good blog can help to brand you and your business as experts in the field. Much of the most popular blogging technology, such as Blogger or WordPress is free.

43) Use the back of business cards: Ever found a business card given to you a few months before, which says “Bob Smith, director, Bob Smith Associates”.. and wondered what Bob Smith does? Use the empty space on the back of your business card to list your services or position your business. It’s cheap and will attract clients.

42) Use your stationary: Same with your letterheads and compliments slips – use them to get your marketing message across. And get your message on the envelopes too.

41) Get on YouTube: The video website gets a huge amount of traffic… and best of all, it’s easy and free to get on! Getting noticed on YouTube is often more about creative ideas and executing them well than just spending money. Don’t forget to put the video on your own website.

40) Invest in credibility: If there are accreditation schemes or professional qualifications for your industry, spend the money on them. They might not be cheap but as a long-term investment, can help to make sure your business is the automatic choice for years to come.

39) Get them sold on hold: If you put callers on hold, make sure they are listening to a sales message rather than Beethoven’s Fifth.

38) Give away unusual freebies: Pens with your logo are boring and forgettable. Thanks to powerful digital printing techniques, there are literally thousands of things that your logo can go on. Would potential clients better remember an underwear company that gave them an edible gingerbread man with tiny pants to remove and keep? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s different and people will talk about it.

37) Seek and use testimonials: People feel more confident reading about other customers who have had a good experience.

36) Give a guarantee: If you truly believe in your product or service, guarantee it. Offer money back if they’re not 100% satisfied. Yes, a few people will abuse your guarantee, but you’ll attract more business in the first place.

35) Get friendly with local radio DJs: Send them free stuff. Ring in to take part in their competitions. Text replies to their on-air questions. Be nice to them but not sycophantic, and you will get on-air mentions.

34) Answerphone message: If someone calls in after hours, your answerphone message is a chance to sell. Instead of “we’re not here, leave a message”, how about “we’re so exhausted from giving great customer service we need a little sleep. Leave your number and we’ll call you back at 9.05am exactly.”

33) Set up a referral programme: If your suppliers and clients are happy to give you work, why not formally thank them for it. There’s nothing better than getting a £50 voucher as a thank you for referring a new client.

32) Campaign to change something: What’s annoying people in your marketplace? Start an awareness campaign. If your business is part of the solution, even better.

31) Dress differently: If you have a very relaxed office, why not have a dress up Friday. If you run a retail outlet, get your team to wear themed costumes. This fits in well with suggestion number 49.

30) Do a talk: Seek out the networking groups where your potential customers meet, join them, and offer to do a free talk at some point. It may take some time to get a slot, but you will effectively brand yourself as an expert. Don’t be too worried about being a polished speaker; concentrate on great content

29) Network everywhere: Wherever potential customers or referrers meet, be there. Good networking is about farming contacts not hunting out deals… don’t expect results on day one. You need to work at it and be seen regularly.

28) Write a white paper: Sounds dull, but it’s a great way of stating your expertise. Put white papers on your website and make it easy for people to download them to read at their leisure.

27) Increase prices: Increasing prices will help your customers perceive you as a premium provider. Yes you may lose a little business, but you will make more profit from a slightly smaller customer base. And many businesses find that it is the lower value clients that are the most hassle.

26) Start a newsletter: Use a regular email newsletter to keep in touch with your existing clients (and upsell or cross sell to them), plus as a way to keep your business front of mind with potential customers. Printed newsletters are more likely to get past gatekeepers such as PA’s and reach the bosses of big companies.

You can read the final 25 tips here.

Source: http://www.bytestart.co.uk

Business plans versus business models

In: Business Basics

9 Apr 2010

A very interesting post by Steve Blank, explaining the difference between your business plan and business models, no plan survives first contact customers.

bus-model“I was catching up with an ex-graduate student at Café Borrone, my favorite coffee place in Menlo Park. This was the second of three “office hours” I was holding that morning for ex students. He and his co-founder were both PhD’s in applied math who believe they can make some serious inroads on next generation search. Over coffee he said, “I need some cheering up.  I think my startup is going to fail even before I get funded.” Now he had my attention. I thought his technology was was potentially a killer app. I put down my coffee and listened.

He said, “After we graduated we took our great idea, holed up in my apartment and spent months researching and writing a business plan. We even entered it in the business plan competition. When were done we followed your advice and got out of the building and started talking to potential users and customers.” Ok, I said, “What’s the problem?” He replied, “Well the customers are not acting like we predicted in our plan!  There must be something really wrong with our business. We thought we’d take our plan and go raise seed money. We can’t raise money knowing our plan is wrong.”

I said, “Congratulations, you’re not failing, you just took a three and a half month detour.”

Here’s why…”

See full post here

8 secrets of success

In: Business Basics| Presentations

1 Apr 2010

Why do people succeed? Is it because they’re smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

Best career advice for a graduate

In: Job & Career Tips

26 Mar 2010

I came across this interview with Guy Kawasaki.  Questions to him:guy

Q. What’s your best career advice for somebody who’s just graduating from college?

A. Most people who graduate from college think they have to make a perfect choice. Is it Goldman Sachs? Is it Google? Is it Apple? They think that their first job is going to determine their career, if not their life.

Looking back, that’s absolutely incorrect. By definition you cannot make a mistake in your first job other than becoming a consultant or an investment banker.

Let’s say you land in a start-up, and it becomes the next Google. Now you’re 25 years old, and you’re worth $50 million. Anybody would call that a success.

But let’s say you join a start-up, and it implodes. You would learn more about leadership inside a company that crashes than you would inside the next Google.

Specifically, you will learn what not to do. You can’t make a mistake as a college graduate.

Q. Why did you carve out investment banking and consulting?

A. With investment banking, you make a lot of money, and you get a distorted feeling of how wonderful you are. You’ll be flying around in corporate jets and you’ll be attending board meetings, but you don’t really add value.

The issue with consulting is that if you go straight to work for a consultant, you develop this perspective that the hard part is the analysis and the decision. In reality, that’s not the hard part. The hard part is implementing the decision, not making it.

So the problem with consulting is you get paid $400 an hour, you do your beautiful charts, you make your PowerPoint presentation, you tell the client what they should do, and you go on to the next project. Meanwhile, you’re building up this belief that you’re a genius: you know how to analyze; you know how to make a decision; and, worst of all, you know how to implement — but all without implementing.

You can develop an absolutely incorrect perception of yourself as a great manager when, in fact, you haven’t implemented anything. You haven’t fired anybody. You haven’t introduced a product. You haven’t supported a customer. All you’ve done is make spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.

You can also throw venture capital into this pile. Going into venture capital straight out of school is a big mistake because entrepreneurs start sucking up to you and ask you stuff you know nothing about — like how to run a company.

Jobs for college graduates should make them gain knowledge in at least one of these three areas: how to make something, how to sell something or how to support something.

See full interview here! :)

50 worst job interview mistakes

In: Job & Career Tips

21 Mar 2010

You may have heard the horror stories–job hunters who take phone calls or text during an interview, or bring out a sandwich and start chomping, or brush their hair, or worse. You wouldn’t do any of those things, would you? Of course not.

[See the best careers for 2010.]

But there are tons of other job interview no-no’s you may not have thought of. Or that you’ve forgotten. The job hunting trail is long and arduous, and a little refresher course can’t hurt. So for your edification and enjoyment, here are 50 (yes, 50!) of the worst and most common job interview mistakes:

[See how to answer 10 tricky interview questions.]

1. Arriving late.

2. Arriving too early.

3. Lighting up a cigarette, or smelling like a cigarette.

4. Bad-mouthing your last boss.

5. Lying about your skills/experience/knowledge.

6. Wearing the wrong (for this workplace!) clothes.

7. Forgetting the name of the person you’re interviewing with.

8. Wearing a ton of perfume or aftershave.

9. Wearing sunglasses.

10. Wearing a Bluetooth earpiece.

11. Failing to research the employer in advance.

12. Failing to demonstrate enthusiasm.

13. Inquiring about benefits too soon.

14. Talking about salary requirements too soon.

15. Being unable to explain how your strengths and abilities apply to the job in question.

16. Failing to make a strong case for why you are the best person for this job.

17. Forgetting to bring a copy of your resume and/or portfolio.

18. Failing to remember what you wrote on your own resume.

19. Asking too many questions.

20. Asking no questions at all.

21. Being unprepared to answer the standard questions.

22. Failing to listen carefully to what the interviewer is saying.

23. Talking more than half the time.

24. Interrupting your interviewer.

25. Neglecting to match the communication style of your interviewer.

26. Yawning.

27. Slouching.

28. Bringing along a friend, or your mother.

29. Chewing gum, tobacco, your pen, your hair.

30. Laughing, giggling, whistling, humming, lip-smacking.

31. Saying “you know,” “like,” “I guess,” and “um.”

32. Name-dropping or bragging or sounding like a know-it-all.

33. Asking to use the bathroom.

34. Being falsely or exaggeratedly modest.

35. Shaking hands too weakly, or too firmly.

36. Failing to make eye contact (or making continuous eye contact).

37. Taking a seat before your interviewer does.

38. Becoming angry or defensive.

39. Complaining that you were kept waiting.

40. Complaining about anything!

41. Speaking rudely to the receptionist.

42. Letting your nervousness show.

43. Overexplaining why you lost your last job.

44. Being too familiar and jokey.

45. Sounding desperate.

46. Checking the time.

47. Oversharing.

48. Sounding rehearsed.

49. Leaving your cell phone on.

50. Failing to ask for the job.

Karen Burns is the author of the illustrated career advice book The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use, recently released by Running Press. She blogs at www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com.

Job seeker: give the people what they want

In: Tim's Strategy

19 Mar 2010

search

If you are looking for work there are 5 types of people you need to please.  And the bummer is they all want something different from you.  Here they are and here’s what you need to give them:

Recruiters

Recruiters want to know a little something about you.  That little something?  Are you a fit or not?  If not, might you be a fit for next time?  While the good ones look to build a few long term relationships, most have their eyes fully on the here and now.  Looking to solve a problem for a client.  If you are a good fit, you will be offered a warm blanket.  If you are not a fit, you will be offered a spot in the file cabinet for later use.  Don’t get me wrong, recruiters are an important part of the job search process.  But beyond becoming known, being accessible and being a good source for referrals, don’t try to do much more here.

The Fellow Unemployed

Others looking for work can be an incredible resource and a source of friendship (short or long term).  But what do they want?  First, they want a few minutes of your time.  To share their situation with you and perhaps get a follow-up coffee with you.  Second, they want leads.  To companies and to jobs.  And you should give them whatever you can.  Third, they want new relationships.  With recruiters or people you know.  Anyone who may have a lead to a job.  Your good relations with others in the market will bring good fortune to you.

The Employed

When out networking you always want to include the employed.  They have knowledge (about jobs at their company) and credibility (internally and externally).  They can provide leads, references and market insight.  What do they want?  First, to be used appropriately by you and to not have their leads shared with your entire network without their permission.  To have their time respected.  They are busier than you.  To not be taken advantage of during their time with you.  For example, a bait and switch informational interview.  One where you break the rules and ask for a job.  They want to help – but usually on their terms.

The Folks in HR

The good people in HR have a tough job.  They have to sift through hundreds maybe thousands of resumes each week looking for ten or fifteen who might be worth a phone call.  For each job available.  They are swamped.  They want your resume when it qualifies you for a job.  Not when it sounds good.  They want short, well written cover letters that quickly fit you to the job at hand.  They want a resume that clearly identifies your related experience without trying too hard.  They want, just like us all, to work efficiently and bring back good results.  And if they don’t offer you an interview, they want to be left alone.

The Hiring Manager

This one’s pretty simple.  The hiring manager wants 4-5 qualified candidates to review and 2-3 great ones to interview.  In today’s market, they want low risk.  That means few if any people out of the industry or out of the function will get a shot.  Today, very few hiring managers are looking for the best athlete.  Although they should be considering that.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of great athletes out there.  With budgets tight, a hiring manager wants to make a great decision.  Not just for themselves.  But also for their boss.  Who is likely judging them on their recommended hire.

If you are not giving these people want they want, you will end up as an extra in a movie that never gets filmed.  The rose that never gets picked from the garden.  So think about your approach, your materials, your tone and your talents.  Be a good fit.

And be a giver.  Give the people what they want.

By: http://timsstrategy.com

Finding balance in your job search

In: Job & Career Tips

15 Mar 2010

The following is a guest post from Jim Horrell.  Jim is an active member of the LinkedIn group, a current job seeker and a blogger on his way up.

This weekend I went for a walk.  Although there was snow on the ground, the sun was shining and there was a light wind.  It was cold outside but I knew the fresh air would do me some good.

There is a park not far from where I live and a path which runs alongside a river.  I have visited this park several times and have found walking to be a beneficial way to clear my head, get back to nature, and enjoy some peace and quiet.

As I started the walk, I felt good because exercise brings energy to my body.  At the south end of the park is a small waterfall.  A short distance away from the waterfall I observed a large group of ducks.  As I walked over the bridge to the other side of the river, I noticed that although the ducks were close to the edge of the waterfall, not a single duck was swept away by the rushing water.

I began to wonder, why?  The current of the river was strong, yet the ducks look perfectly calm.  Not a single duck appeared to be struggling to avoid being swept away.

After thinking about the ducks for a short time, I figured it out.  The ducks have balance.  Each duck knew exactly how much energy it must use to tread the proper amount of water so it does not get swept down the river and over the waterfall.

Job seekers are like the ducks.  We need to find the right combination of networking events, interviews, face to face meetings, number of hours we spend online, and time spent in other ways to keep our employment search balanced and on track.  If too much time is spent on one activity, potential opportunities are missed from the other techniques of finding and pursuing employment possibilities.  There is no precise formula which will work for each person.  Each individual needs to find the right mixture of activities for themselves.

Although job seekers will not be swept down the river like the ducks at the park if our employment search activities are not in balance, we can easily slip over our own mental waterfalls and become frustrated or burned-out with the stressful activity of the employment search process.

You can read Jim’s blog here and follow him on Twitter here.

Use Facebook to sign up!

In: Salam Business Club

10 Mar 2010

salambc_facebook

This month we just made it more easy for you to create an account on Salam Business Club. Before it would have taken you less than 1 minute to sign-up. Now it’s even easier :)

If you have a Facebook account, you can now just sign-up or log in using Facebook. It takes less than 20 seconds. In the past couple of days more than 400 members signed up.

Click here to log-in or sign-up via Facebook!

Just our small way of making things easy for you to connect with other professionals around the world. Enjoy!

Learn to ask better questions

In: Business Basics

22 Feb 2010

A great article by Harvard Business Review:

“Whether they are talking to customers, interviewing job candidates, talking to their bosses, or even questioning staff, executives need to draw people out. And so often, it is not a matter of what you ask, it is how you ask it.

Here are some suggestions:

Be curious. Executives who do all the talking are those who are deaf to the needs of others. Sadly, some managers feel that being the first and last person to speak is a sign of strength. In reality, though, it’s the opposite. Such behavior is closer to that of a blowhard who may be insecure in his own abilities, but is certain of one thing — his own brilliance. Such an attitude cuts off information at its source, from the very people — employees, customers, vendors — whom you should trust the most. Being curious is essential to asking good questions.”

See full post here!

10 reasons why you still haven’t added your photo

In: Business Basics| Salam Business Club

1 Feb 2010

Tim Tyrell-Smith works full time as a marketing exec and part-time as a blogger, creator and idea generator. He discovered a passion for helping others after a 2007 job search. This is what Tim says about adding your photo:

Adding your photo is a vital way to introduce yourself to the business world.  And to remind people (you worked with ten years ago) who you are . . .

So I tried to think about some reasons why, in this modern age, people would leave a photo off of their profile.  Are you saying any of these things?

1. I am a private person. I don’t like sharing my personal data with people.  I just don’t.  Especially complete strangers.

2. I don’t take good pictures. Really, I don’t.  So I’d rather have no picture than give people a poor first impression.

3.  I am worried about some kind of employer bias. Worried that someone will decide not to contact me because of who I am.  Based on my age, skin color, gender, etc.

4.  I don’t want to be recognized. No, I’m not in a witness protection program.  I just feel like I lose control when someone else knows me before I know them.

5.  A good picture will cost money. I’ll have to hire a photographer.  And I really don’t want to spend money on something like this . . .

6.  I’m on Facebook. And the people that I know and trust can see me there.  Everyone else can do without.

7.  I don’t know how to upload a picture. Sorry, but I’m not good at this technology stuff.  And I keep forgetting to ask for help.

8.  I want people to know me based on my accomplishments not my “looks”. I’m worried people will get the wrong impression about me.

9.  I don’t know whether I should be smiling or serious. I put off taking a picture until I figure this part out.

10.  I don’t know why. It just feels wrong.  I can’t explain it.

Whatever your reason, I’m going to tell you that it is not a good one.  Because we all evaluate each other in this world.  We expect to get enough data to do so from the very beginning or else we make assumptions.  And I’d rather my information be out there from the start.

How do you begin to build a personal brand without a photo?  One that visually stimulates the eyes of your visitor and burns that important first impression.

And while I see how each of the above reasons can seem like a logical reason to hold back, I’m saying that doing so will hamper your networking.  There is a trust factor here.  People wonder “why no photo?”

Because having a photo.  One that represents you well.  Well, it helps:

  • Helps people find you at the next networking event.  And you want to be found.
  • Helps create a positive impression of you.  Assuming you choose a professional and smiling photo.
  • Helps people trust you.  And gives people comfort when they think about accepting your connection request.

If one of the reasons above is keeping you from maximizing your profile’s reach and impact, decide today and add your photo to your profile now!

By: Tim’s Strategy

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