Four Ways to Improve Your Chance of Success

Four Ways to Improve Your Chance of Success

When you start a business, you no doubt take measures well in advance to maximize your chance of success. You write up a business plan, choose a location, and procure financing. Even with lots of research and preparation, it can be difficult to predict how well your business will perform.

Here are some tips on improving your chance of success.

Master your networking skills. Put simply, networking consists of building mutually beneficial working relationships. Effective networking will work wonders for your business in a variety of ways. You will be able to reach a wider customer base, exchange ideas with fellow small business owners, get advice from successful entrepreneurs, and even create professional partnerships. Start by contacting your local chamber of commerce, attending industry conventions, establishing your internet presence, and by getting involved in the community (volunteering, hosting events). You should consider networking to be a mandatory responsibility to the growth of your business.
Tune out negativity. Sometimes it is difficult to avoid hearing negative talk from others. Perhaps those around you doubt your abilities, maybe they’re trying to prepare you for failure, or it could be that they simply don’t understand your desire to be your own boss. The good news is that none of this matters. As long as you believe in yourself, you can succeed. Learn to tune out the negativity that others put out by creating positive self-talk, developing a mantra, and reminding yourself of your own strengths and accomplishments. Seek out others who share your goals and views and who will add to your self-confidence, not diminish it.
Keep taking risks. You’ve already taken the biggest risk of all by starting your business. You will be faced with a great number of decisions that carry some level of risk throughout your career as a business owner. Don’t be afraid to take risks just because there is a chance of failure or a setback. For example, a veteran small business owner decides he wants to broaden his exposure and market himself as an expert in his field. To begin, he has booked some local speaking engagements at vocational schools and community colleges. It’s risky for him to take time away from his business to try public speaking, something completely new. However, the potential for him to market himself as a brand can have positive impact on the business. The risk is definitely worth it. As long as you make educated decisions about your business and have backup plans in place in case of unforeseen events, risk-taking can lead to great success.
Hire wisely. No one is good at everything. You may be brilliant at interacting with others and face-to-face selling, but horrible with organization and accounting-type tasks. This is where it becomes extremely important to hire people who can make up for those weaknesses. If you don’t have a head for numbers, look to bring on board someone who is. You wouldn’t attempt to build a tree house if you didn’t know a hammer from a hatchet, so don’t do it with your business. Identify your weaknesses, and hire people who are good at those things so your business prospers.

Owning a business does require some trial and error, but if you are prepared with the important things and follow the above suggestions, your chances of success are greatly improved.

What else do you think should be added to this list? Please leave your ideas in the comments section below!

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How to Wow Your Customers

How to Wow Your Customers

You’ve most likely had memorable customer service experiences, both good and bad. How did your impressions of those businesses influence your decision to return?

A customer’s experience has virtually everything to do with whether or not he or she returns to your business. By providing exceptional customer service complete with the “wow” factor, you can be confident that you are creating a loyal clientele who will help you grow your business.

Here are some suggestions for how to wow your customers by going the extra mile.

Provide rush orders. This service can be especially helpful when a customer is seeking a last-minute gift or needs something in time for a business trip or vacation. If you are able, it’s a good idea to offer this service free of charge or for a discounted rate. Doing so demonstrates that your customer’s need comes first, and that person will certainly not hesitate to patronize your business again and recommend you to others.
Make special deliveries. You can do this to save a customer the shipping cost or even just to provide an extra convenience. Not many businesses make “house calls” anymore, so offering this service will definitely impress your customers. You could even promote this service when people are especially busy, like around the winter holidays or during prom/graduation/wedding season. Your competitors are probably not making door-to-door deliveries, so this will also give you a leg up on them.
Give small thank-you gifts. The best way to do this is to personalize the gifts you provide. For example, you might have a customer who regularly makes purchases from your line of all-natural moisturizers. She has recently announced she is expecting another baby, so the next time she comes in for her moisturizer, consider giving her a sample-sized bottle of your chemical-free baby shampoo. You’ll be thanking her for her loyalty and showing that she is more than just a sale because you’ve been paying attention to not only what she buys, but what is happening in her life, and how you can fill a need. She’s unlikely to forget you exceptional service.
Offer special discounts for special dates. Perhaps you take 10% off an order on a customer’s birthday, or give a voucher for a free dessert on a wedding anniversary. Again, it pays to get creative about how you can implement this service. You’ll be giving your customers an incentive to do business with you, and they’ll appreciate your desire to recognize their special day.
Get involved in their passions. If you can find a way to relate to what your customers are passionate about, you will be giving them a great reason to give you repeat business. For example, one of your customers has mentioned that he is putting together a fundraiser to get a local park renovated because he really wants his children to have a safe place to play. As a local business owner, you could donate a gift basket as a giveaway or even provide a service for the event such as free program printing. Your customers will always remember that you have something important to them in common, and will be impressed by your commitment to their interests.

How do you provide outstanding customer service? Please share your ideas below!

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Tips to Improve Your Online Site

Tips to Improve Your Online Site

Today’s technology provides a great number of conveniences that have changed the way everyday tasks are completed. For example, twenty years ago, if you needed to find the phone number or any other information about a business, you opened up the yellow pages, or perhaps you splurged and called 411 to get what you needed.

As you know, all that has changed. The first place most people go when they need information about a business is the internet. You’ve probably done it hundreds of times: Google the name of the business, scan the first couple of results, and click on the one that appears to be the business’s official site. If designed well, you are quickly able to find it from that Google search, find contact info, business hours, product info, testimonials, etc.

Because of the way consumers look for businesses today, having an effective web presence is essential. Here are some tips for improving your website so customers can easily find what they are looking for.

Keep it simple. A site that is uncluttered is much easier to navigate and takes less time to load, especially for users accessing it from a mobile device. Evaluate your current content and get rid of anything that isn’t absolutely essential. Keep your calls to action simple, based on your goals. You should even also simplify the font used to make sure it’s legible and appropriate. There’s nothing worse than having to click through an untidy site that is chock full of needless html coding or flash animation, or whose menus are not easily found. Tip: Identify five business sites that you find easy and pleasant to use, and model your own after the qualities that you feel are the most user-friendly.
Use call to action buttons to your advantage. Call to action buttons (Submit Order, Start Download, Add to Cart, etc.) are designed to get the user to act on something, so they should definitely stand out. Make the buttons larger than the font on the rest of the page, and use a bright color like orange to differentiate them from other text. Remember that your call to action buttons should “command attention without overwhelming your design.” Source
Provide testimonials with photos. Any business can say good things about itself, and consumers are often skeptical. That’s why testimonials are so important. Visitors to your site want to know how real people felt about their experiences with you. Including photos with your testimonials will make them even more relatable and real to your potential customers.
Keep it updated. All hyperlinks should be functional and relevant, any online ordering system should contain current products and pricing, contact information should be accurate, etc. Set yourself monthly reminders to visit your own site as if you were a first time viewer. Click around the entire site, testing out links and reading any copy. If something is out of date, fix it immediately.
Include a description of your business. You might have an “About” page that includes a mission statement and a brief description of the products/services you offer. Be smart about how the description is worded, as it will affect your SEO (search engine optimization). Remember how most people’s first step is usually a Google search? You can improve your website’s visibility if you use key words that someone might use in a search. For instance, if you sell all-natural cleaning products, you should include words such as: green, chemical-free, environmentally-friendly, and organic. Such terms are most likely to be used in a search, and you want your site to pop up in the first page or two of results. There is no shortage of resources for improving your SEO, such as SEOmoz for those just getting started.
Create an interesting “About” page. This portion of your site should be interesting and personable. Do this by making the copy easy to understand and written in your own unique style that feels professional, yet conversational. Also, be sure to include a call to action button on this page like “Learn More” (links to more specific product information) or “See How It Works” (links to a video demonstrating the product).
Include a blog. A blog serves the purpose of providing answers that potential customers may be searching for, while also providing the fresh content that Google loves when determining the order in which it displays search results. Write a blog at least 2-3 times per week that provides content related to what you have to offer, without being an ad. For example, if you sell jewelry, you might write about current fashion trends and how to wear jewelry with different outfits. The blog gives visitors a reason to keep coming back to your site, and to tell their friends about it.

A site that is user-friendly and full of valuable information can be a major asset to your business. Use your own experiences with both effective and ineffective sites to decide how you want yours to look. What other tips do you have for improving your site? Please share your ideas below!

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3 Effective Ways to Market Your Business

3 Effective Ways to Market Your Business

Imagine if you were planning a major celebration, such as a wedding. You’ve spent days and weeks planning the perfect theme, venue, food, music, etc. As amazing as this party could be, it simply wouldn’t happen if you didn’t send out invitations. Without invitations, no one beyond your close circle of family and friends would even know about the event. This same rule applies to your business. Marketing your business is mandatory for bringing in customers, but you should also think of it as an ongoing process instead of something you do once in awhile when sales are starting to lag. Here are three effective ways you can market your business and bring in customers.

Tap your customers’ passions. It’s no secret that successful entrepreneurs know how to educate their customers on what they need as well as how the product works. However, people aren’t usually as interested in what they need as they are in what they really want. Find out what your customer is passionate about, what motivates that person on a daily basis, what he/she really enjoys doing, etc. Your marketing materials are much more likely to bring in customers if you appeal to a customer’s lifestyle/culture rather than the product itself. For instance, if you are selling all-natural cleaning products, an advertisement stating that customers will get “10% off if you stop by all this week” will likely get overlooked. On the other hand, if your message says, “We’ll provide you with all your green cleaning needs because your family’s well-being is our #1 priority,” you’ve now tapped into your customer’s desire to eliminate harsh chemicals from the home. People respond better to messages they care about than they do to sales talk.
Get involved in your community. Being a part of your community offers wonderful opportunities for networking, service-sharing, customer service, and marketing. Even better than that though, is demonstrating your commitment to give back. By participating in community events and hosting your own events, you will be more recognizable to others, and they will be more able to relate to you because like them, you are interested in the community’s well-being. For example, a local contractor builds the central display for the town’s annual festival for free, makes himself available for free estimates for neighborhood residents, and is regularly seen his children’s baseball games and school fundraising events. Because he is a visible part of the community who frequents the same local spots as his customers, they are more likely to remember who he is and trust him to do the job well.
Make customers feel special. Word of mouth is a powerful thing, and customers are happy and excited to recommend you to others after they’ve had a memorable, positive experience patronizing your business. We live in tough economic times where getting the lowest price has become a top priority for most people, and lots of businesses that can offer competitive pricing don’t have time for superior customer service. Find ways to personalize your products and services, such as including a handwritten thank you note with your customer’s order. Being kind and attentive to customers is an effective and low-cost way to market your business.

How have you been able to use our suggestions? What are some other ways to market your business that have worked for you in the past? Please share your comments below!

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Creating Buzz For Your Business

Creating Buzz For Your Business

When starting a business, it is important to focus on the providing a quality product, and consider how best to deliver it to your customers. However, none of that will matter if no one knows about your product. You must get people talking about your business, sharing information about it on the internet, and recommending it to others. This creates a buzz that will bring customers to your door.

Highlight personal success stories as well as hardships. When discussing your business with others, it pays to set yourself apart from others by sharing how you got to where you are. What led you to the decision to run your business? What obstacles have you faced and overcome along the way? How have you achieved your goals thus far? What makes you passionate about this business? Answering these types of questions will show others that because your business is a personal victory, that you are dedicated to providing customers with nothing but positive shopping experiences.
Reach out to those who have inspired you. There are no doubt a number of people who have influenced your decision to start a business. These might be former teachers/professors, family members, friends, fellow business owners, etc. Don’t be afraid to contact them to share your accomplishments, thanking them for being positively influential in your life, and offering them V.I.P. customer status for inspiring you to achieve your dreams. You never know where it might lead. For example, a former dancer has started her own studio and reaches out to her childhood dance instructor to tell her the good news. Not only does the instructor offer her valuable professional advice, but she offers her services as a master class guest teacher to bring in new clientele. Those who have taught you well can likely continue passing on their wisdom and experiences.
Blog about your business. Blogging not only allows you to share information about your business, but it affords you the opportunity to interact with current and potential customers. Regularly participate in the conversation that occurs in your blog’s comments section, and do the same for others’ blogs. Tip: Add video. A humorous and unique video either on your blog or business’s website can create immediate buzz by drawing the attention of a larger population. If you really execute this well, your video has the potential to go viral; the exposure provided by a viral video can be a turning point for a startup business from which it grows to the next level.
Make a major announcement. Sometimes, business owners are successful at creating an initial buzz, but sustaining that attention is difficult. One way to keep your business at the forefront of the people’s interest is to make a major announcement, like a new product, contest or promotion, equipment upgrade, improved facilities, or competitive price cut. Create anticipation of your announcement by referring to it in marketing materials with an emphasis on the upcoming date. When you do make such an announcement, it should be done in such a way that no one is likely to miss it. For example, a local bakery announces that it will be creating an audition reel for a major reality competition show for chefs and wants to include its customers on the tape. The bakery’s owner sends out electronic and paper mailings as well as posts a large banner on its storefront offering a free cupcake to any customer who shows up to appear in the audition reel. The bakery becomes a full house on the day of shooting, and aside from drawing in so many customers, the owner walks away with plenty of quality footage to submit to the network.

Creating buzz for your business is an effective technique to attract new customers and maintain current ones. How do you create buzz? Please share your ideas below!

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Creating Useful Content Marketing

Creating Useful Content Marketing

Building an audience that is interested in your business and all it has to offer is the main objective of content marketing. Today’s technology makes it easier than ever before to distribute such relevant content to your target market. By taking advantage of these resources, you can create and share useful content to acquire an interested following, and watch your business grow.

Provide solutions to problems. Consider problems that your target market encounters that your products/services can solve. Share these solutions online.
Re-package your present content. Just because you want to broaden your audience base doesn’t mean you have to reinvent the wheel. You most likely already have content that is worth sharing, so consider re-packaging it into a different medium, such as an e-book. With the presence of smartphones and e-readers, e-books are very appealing to the general public. The same goes for podcasts. The great thing about podcasts is that they are free; another bonus is their accessibility from a variety of devices. A little market research and an inventory of the types of technology you are interested in will help you choose the best format for your content.
Update current content. Thinking more about your current content, it is definitely worth periodic review. Some of it may only need to be tweaked, but you might find that an update or re-write is in order. For example, when reviewing your blog archives, you come across a post about interacting with customers during a product demonstration. If this post was written prior to 2007-2008, it would be a good idea to update it to include new ideas about interacting through smartphone apps. You should also review your content for new information backed by current scientific research, recent user reviews, innovative product concepts, etc. If it is relevant to your business, it’s probably relevant to your audience as well.
Change your medium. Sometimes it isn’t necessary to alter your content, just the way it is presented. For example, if your blog hits have been steadily on the rise for three years, but have experienced a plateau in recent months, experiment with changing the format. Posts made up solely of text might benefit from an occasional video, for example. Try out different media to decide which ones work best for your needs and attract your audience.

Successful content marketing contains quality in both the message and its delivery. Be sure that what you are creating is valuable to your audience and easily shareable.

How do you create and share useful content? Please add a comment below!

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How to Reach Your Sales Goals

How to Reach Your Sales Goals

You can make your sales goals whatever it needs to be. If it needs to be a full-time income or if it just needs to be monthly gas money or disposable income, then it can be that as well. Whatever your reasons, you’ll need specific goals in place. Here are some suggestions that will help you achieve our objectives.

Know what makes your customers happy. Your customers’ satisfaction may come in the form of product, excellent service, convenience, a personalized shopping experience, or any combination of those things. Part of your job is to find out what you can do to make your customers happy. For example, one of your customers is placing a rather large order at a home party. You give her the subtotal, which she had already calculated in her head. However, when she hears the grand total that includes tax and shipping, she is unpleasantly surprised by the steep price of shipping, and starts to hesitate about wanting to place such a big order. You can help make her happy in any number of ways. Perhaps offer discounted or free shipping if she gives you three referrals or books her own party; another idea would be to send her home with a free gift to thank her for her business. Don’t let a customer walk away because you weren’t willing to find out how to make the person happy.
Identify customers you can make happy. A harsh reality is that not everyone is able to be satisfied by services that you can provide. Don’t waste your money or time trying to reach clients who do not have a need for your product. Focus instead on your target market; what types of people would benefit the most from your product or service? Identify them by age, marital status, lifestyle choice, personal interests, etc. For example, if your company specializes in educational books and toys, your target demographic consists of parents and/or educators of young children. For the most part, adults without children don’t have a use for your product line. Sure, there will be the occasional non-parent who wants a gift for a nephew or friend’s child, but that is not where the bulk of your sales will originate. Your business will benefit from knowing whose needs can be satisfied.
Know that each client has a unique problem to solve. You’ve already heard that a key component of direct selling success is to market your product as a solution to a problem. You should also be aware that different customers will have different problems. Your customer who works full-time and often travels on business may be looking for quick and healthy meal solutions that she can take on the go. This problem, albeit similar, would require a different solution for the stay-at-home mother of three whose demand for quick and healthy meal solutions also includes something she can make a lot of for her large family and have enough for leftovers. The more you can find out about a client, the better able you will be to personalize your services.

When setting your sales goals, keep in mind the basics of how to make a sale, but as you grow your business to meet your needs, focus on what you can do to find the best return on your efforts. What do you think should be added to this list? Please share your ideas below!

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Conversations That Help Improve Your Business

Conversations That Help Improve Your Business

Maintaining relationships are essential to the success of your business. In this era of social media, it is easy to send a Facebook message or text to a contact instead of having a face-to-face conversation. However, there are times when interacting in person is appropriate and more effective than other methods. The following situations are opportunities for you to have conversations that will improve your business.

Face-to-face conversations to have with:

Clients – Once a month, you should meet with your clients to discuss the future as you continue doing business together. Even if it is just to touch base on a recent project or transaction, regular meetings with clients demonstrate your commitment to their satisfaction. Additionally, these meetings will give you both a chance to analyze and reflect upon where you see the business relationship going. For example, the owner of a local coffeehouse should meet with his baked goods supplier about once a month to go over possible new menu options, changing dietary demands of his customers, and price points. The supplier can then use this time to suggest new recipes and delivery schedules. Tip: Meet with clients to ask for suggestions. Talking solely about matters relating to sales will only show that you are thinking of how the relationship affects you and your business.
Prospects – Connecting with prospects can have many benefits. If you’re a direct seller who has discussed your opportunity with a prospect, schedule a face-to-face follow-up meeting where your prospect will prepare any questions he or she has thought of while considering a decision. It can also be a chance for you to alleviate fears, build confidence, and share materials. Meetings conducted in person have an advantage over phone calls because they show prospects that they are high on your priority list; they also allow both parties to rely on visual cues, not just verbal ones. Prospects should feel comfortable with a possible sponsor, and face-to-face meetings help them get to know you.
Mentors – Even if you are operating a successful, profitable business, it is a good idea to meet with your mentor every now and then. Pick the person’s brain about the industry, their experience with changing economic climates, and ideas about how to grow your business even further. Most industries are always evolving, and a mentor will be able to give you useful information and help you stay on top of what is current and relevant for your business. If you get to a point where it seems your mentor cannot teach you anything new, it’s time to find a new mentor. When your business changes, your needs also change.
Other salespeople – Whether it’s someone else in your field, or just another local business owner down the block, reach out to other salespeople to brainstorm ideas about how to work together to improve business. Contacts like these are also great for motivating each other to continue despite setbacks and sharing ideas about common goals. Surround yourself with other businesspeople who strive for success, and you will be consistently motivated to strive to reach your potential.

Making time for face-to-face conversations is not always easy, but failing to do so will cause you to miss out on some wonderful opportunities for business growth. What other types of conversations do you think will improve your business? Please share your ideas below!

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Why Businesses Fail

Why Businesses Fail

When you start a new business, you’re naturally optimistic. You’ve got a great concept and have high expectations. But in order to succeed for the long term, you need more than that. 80 percent of new businesses fail within the first 5 years (source: NBIA). Why is this? Here are some of the reasons that businesses fail:

Lack of patience – Like with any endeavor, you have to put work into it, but for many new entrepreneurs they want instant results and that seldom happens. It’s more like gardening. It will take a longer than you think. There will be some trial and error, a little luck and a lot of effort before seeing growth. For most new entrepreneurs they often simply quit too early before seeing results. But if you’re willing to wait for it, your garden will bloom.

Wrong focus – People don’t really care about your business; they care about how your products/services will enhance and enrich their lives. Focusing on making your customers happy, giving them great value and acting on their feedback will keep your business on target.

Not developing relationships – Investing for quick returns, rather than building genuine relationships with customers, will set you up to fail. Relationships are based on honesty, caring, communication and doing the right thing for your people.

Not seeking excellence – If you don’t care enough to strive for excellence, your customers will go away. You must consistently want to do your best for your customers.

Personal weakness – We all have our weaknesses, but in business those weaknesses will keep us from success. You must be honest with yourself, surround yourself with a strong support group and/or partner with people who will help you overcome your weaknesses.

Most small businesses fail because entrepreneurs are not prepared, focus on the wrong thing and/or have personal shortcomings that will doom their business from the start. To avoid these pitfalls, keep a constant focus on delighting your customer, invest for the long term in your business, and always be willing to grow. This will help you ensure that your business will last for the long term.

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Creating Great Ideas For Your Business

Have you ever felt unable to come up with a new idea? It can be frustrating when you feel that everything has already been done before. Creating great ideas doesn’t have to feel this way, and it can be done by tapping to your own experiences and previous ideas. Read on for some ways to get started.

Break down your niche market even further and fill in those needs. Niche marketing is an effective way to stand out from your competitors. With some research and preparation, you can find a smaller segment of your market to focus on and provide solutions to those customers’ needs. For example, one direct seller of travel packages decided to create a niche out of her love of homeschooling by tapping into her family’s experiences combining travel and learning. This is a great niche since there are many families throughout the country who home-school their children, but at the same time, it is a very specific market and need that is being fulfilled. Start with what you know, do some research online and in person (customer surveys, interviews), and segment your target market.
Improve upon old ideas. Perhaps there is something you have tried in the past that didn’t work as well as you had hoped. Instead of scrapping the idea altogether, go back and evaluate exactly how or why it went wrong. Maybe you tested out a new activity at your home party designed to spark interest in your opportunity, but it fell flat. Consider your audience, your presentation, the level of difficulty, the fun factor, etc. How could you make it better? By improving upon old ideas, you may be able to come up with something completely new and much more effective.
Combine ideas. Sometimes our ideas don’t work well on their own, but combined with each other, can help some aspect of the business tremendously. Many direct sales companies ship all the products ordered at a home show directly to the hostess. From a guest’s perspective, it all becomes a waiting game about when the hostess gets around to contacting you that your order is in, or when she is available for the guest to pick it up or drop it off to her. In a lot of instances, the process of getting the product to the guest can be complicated and time-consuming. One consultant had an idea for the hostess to send a text message to her guests when the order arrives in the hopes that it would speed up the process. However, this idea relied too heavily on the hostess actually sending the text. Instead, the consultant combined this idea with another idea for a contest; she contacts the hostess around the time of the expected shipment to make sure it arrived, and then the consultant sends out a text to the guests that the first one to get her order receives 10% off the next purchase. Get creative by recycling and combining past ideas.
Collaborate with others. There is a multitude of ways to collaborate with others for a mutually beneficial outcome. Consider direct sellers from other companies as well as local businesses related to yours for a starting point. For example, a local weight loss center opened their doors to an independent makeup consultant to set up her table in their lobby once a week. Every time someone came in for a weigh-in appointment, the consultant had an opportunity to demonstrate some products and offer a “total makeover” to celebrate the customer’s weight loss. This helped the consultant reach a new and more populated customer base, and it helped the weight-loss center stand out from its competitor down the street by offering an extra service. Use your networking skills to join forces with others and brainstorm ideas that will benefit both parties involved.

How have you generated some great ideas? Please share with us in the comments section below!