How to Become an Expert

How to Become an Expert

Being recognized as an expert in your field can bring many opportunities to edge out your competitors and grow your business. Once you have devoted yourself to becoming an expert, you will need to take the appropriate steps. Read on for some ways to get started.

Get focused. Even if you consider yourself an expert in several fields, especially if they are unrelated, choose one on which to focus. You may know a great deal about scrap-booking and fashion, but the two aren’t closely enough related to tie together in your search for expert status. Choose one area of your business (marketing, customer service, social media, etc.), and make it your job to know everything there is to know about it. Tip – Find a mentor or an individual you want to emulate. Copy what they did. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

Get learning. Even the most respected folks in their fields are continually seeking professional development to further their education. Read up on your subject, interview other experienced people, attend workshops, and take some classes. You might even want to get yourself a mentor. Tip – Consider taking a certificate course to add to your credentials and experience.

Get writing. After doing the appropriate amount of research required to share your expertise, publish as much quality literature on your subject as you can. Ideally, you will want to publish in several different media, such as blogs, newsletters, articles, and mailers. Having some published material will demonstrate your knowledge of the subject matter and act as a “pre-sell” of your information. Tip – Partner with bloggers and offer a weekly article/post or join their staff.

Get talking. Begin setting up speaking engagements; there’s nothing wrong with starting small. Begin by reaching out to your local library, community center, senior center, or chamber of commerce. Design your talk to highlight your accomplishments and background as well what you have to offer that makes you unique. Of course, bring some literature to distribute and use the time before and after to network and book further speaking engagements. Word of mouth can go a long way, and if you are good at what you do, people will notice and seek you out. Tip – Promote and offer your availability to do interviews.

Get promoting. You should already be used to doing this as an entrepreneur, but in order for others to recognize you as an expert, you need to promote yourself in a different way. Contact local newspapers and cable news networks to get attention put on you and your subject matter. Find some way that your expertise can benefit them as well. Tip – Present workshops, participate on internet radio, create your own YouTube videos, and submit to article websites, and present on community TV channels.

Experts in business have many doors open for them once they become established and respected. With hard work and dedication, two qualities you undoubtedly possess already, you can position yourself as an expert and reap the benefits that go along with it. What do you think it takes to become an expert? Share your ideas in the comments below!

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Four Priorities for Small Businesses

Being a small business owner often requires you to wear many different hats. However, it is important to focus on your business’s main objective, which is to turn a profit. Read on for four elements of small business that should be at the top of your priority list.

Be social. Make a list of all the possible ways you can meet and socialize with people. Start with a list of people you know and their interests. Then make a list of the people they know and finally, create a list of ways to meet new people. Becoming a social butterfly will help grow your business naturally and effectively. The benefits of being social will result in greater word of mouth for your business, increase business and increase opportunities. To optimize your social interactions utilize social media networks to stay connected and to nurture relationships with all your people.
Focus on your local market. In the past, the idea was to cast a large net and hope to catch as many as you can. But, that was expense and usually yielded poor results. The better strategy is to help customers find solutions that your products solve, keep them close by so your business can easily maintain a relationship with them, and efficiently promote return business. Here are a few ideas on how to tap your local market. Hold an open house, inviting local residents and business owners to see what your business is all about. Consider getting professionally involved in a local cause such as school fundraisers, community food banks, or places of worship.
Collaborate with others. In addition to focusing on the local market, join forces with other businesses that complement your own. Collaboration can take several other forms as well. Perhaps attending a convention or other professional development opportunity, you will meet people with similar goals and interests. Working cooperatively with them can benefit you both.
Make it snappy and easy. Most people today are always on the run and are multitasking all day long. When introducing your business either in person or online, make sure you have an informative couple of sentences that sums up what you do and how it might help that possible customer. Also make sure your business processes are efficient. Make sure your business is easy to find, make the sales process quick, make customer service engaging and quick to respond to customers/prospects needs.

What other elements of being a small business owner do you feel are important? Please add them to the list by commenting below!

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6 Strategies to Attract Customers

6 Strategies to Attract Customers

As a small business owner or direct seller, your customers are your livelihood. Attracting customers is something you’ll likely be striving to do whether you are just starting up or have been in business for years. In order to attract customers more effectively here are six strategies to help you attract customers and keep them coming back.

Host an open house and make yourself accessible. In doing so, you have an opportunity to not only bring in new customers, but also to connect with your community. Consider inviting local business owners and residents to your open house, where they can become acquainted with what you have to offer. Provide merchandise samples, product or service demonstrations, giveaways, and brochures. Supply refreshments for your guests and use the time to introduce yourself to them so they can put a face to your business name. You can begin building professional relationships by immersing yourself in the community.
Cross-promote your business. Another benefit of being active in your community is the ability to join forces with other businesses in order to reach a wider customer base. There are many ways to use cross-promotion such as: offering incentives to customers who use both your services, providing each other’s fliers to your customers, and sharing ad space in newspapers that you could not afford by yourself. Cross-promotion, when used effectively, can become an inexpensive way to expand your clientele.
Generate conversation and maintain an online presence. Let’s face it: ever since the word “Google” became a regularly used verb, most people have begun to research nearly everything online before making an actual purchase. Your website should not only be informational, but useful as well. If possible, provide specific product information and the ability to purchase online. Furthermore, many business owners are adding blogs to their sites where they can answer questions and provide tips that their customers would find useful. Beyond your business’s website, use social media to promote your business and generate conversation with your target market. Facebook and Twitter are obvious choices, but also consider Foursquare and Pinterest.
Explore and tap into unique communities. Explore your interests. Look for hobbyists, clubs/organizations, and causes that you can get involve with. This is a natural and low stress way to network. The more interest you explore the more people you network with and the more exposure for your business.
Provide a little something special. Many consumers perceive indifference from the businesses they frequent, which is why it’s extremely important that you provide the special extras. Here are some examples, when customers make a purchase, provide an inexpensive sample product and ask for their input about it. Remember to send them a birthday card, sponsor free kid workshops to give your customers who are parents a break, offer free gift wrapping, and local delivery service. This will help retain your customers, but also remember that word of mouth is very effective. By making a memorable and positive impression, your customers will want to share their experiences with their families and friends.
Make customer service the focus of your business. Create a system that rewards customers for their patronage and loyalty. Develop a clear, simple process on how to engage prospects, first time customers, repeat customers, loyal customers and doing follow ups. Your goal is to make prospects and customers feel that they are special and highly valued with their first experience with you. You want to hear that they’ll be back soon and that they’ll refer their friends to your business. Click here for some good ideas to increase your referrals.

When coming up with more ideas to attract customers, remember to be genuine, friendly, and professional. Aim for accessibility, authentic engagement, uniqueness and processes that deliver consistent excellence. What are some of your tried and true strategies for attracting customers? Please share them with us in the comments section below.

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Gamification To Increase Business

Gamification To Increase Business

Gamification is a relatively new term that refers to the integration of game dynamics into any aspect of business. Its main objectives are to drive participation, increase awareness of the business, and draw in new customers. Here a few ways to get started.

Use a service designed to track your customers’ loyalty. A great place to begin is Badgeville, a “social loyalty platform” that gives businesses the “power to drive and measure user behavior with social game mechanics.” Badgeville provides a step by step process to help you set an objective, choose which behaviors to track, and create real-time user rewards. This is similar to the way FourSquare works, except you get to create your own system. The advantage here is that you can truly tailor your game to the needs and wants of your customer base.
Gamify your team’s professional development. Big businesses, such as Google, are using this with increasing frequency. In order to motivate employees to spend less than they were allotted for business trips, they created a game in which employees could save up unused amounts to receive cash back, donate to charity, or save up towards a future trip. (Source) Small business owners and direct sellers can use this same concept to motivate teams and increase sales.
Take to Twitter and Facebook. Many companies are using gamification to increase awareness of themselves to prospective clients. A simple way to do this would be to give away a free small sample. For every 20 new Twitter “retweets” or every Facebook “like”, you draw a name from the new likes or people who retweeted for the give-away. Doing so will keep customers coming back to your site, encourage them to seek out what’s new with your business, and drive them to recommend you to their friends. Think of it as 21^st century word of mouth.
Invite participation in your blog. The fast-food chain Wendy’s recently created a short-lived game show on Twitter to promote a series of new items on its menu. The game show gained a cult following for several reasons, including the mystery surrounding who was hosting it, but also because prizes were being given away for participating in various tasks. Fellow tweeters were asked to post pictures of themselves in their funniest pair of socks, for example. Consider using this method in your blog by creating a task and giving each participant one entry into a small giveaway. Getting creative here will also draw more people to your blog and of course, your business.
Other game formats to explore. A scavenger hunt, Motto/Jingle contest, Wheel of fortune like – fill in the blank, and an old fashion riddle of the day contest. As you continue to explore using games and contests to generate engagement please check your social media site’s terms of service before installing a game. Most social media sites have rules you must follow or risk being removed from the site. For example, Facebook requires that you use a third party service like Wildfire to administer any contest on its platform.

When integrating games into your business, keep in mind your objective, audience, and reward systems. You need not spend exorbitant amounts of money to gamify; start simple with the plethora of free resources found all around the internet and build out from there. And most importantly, have fun! That is what gaming is about, after all. What ideas do you have for gamification? Share them with us in the comments section below!

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Seven Ways to Increase Friends and Build Your Network

In this digital age, it is now easier than ever to interact with people all around the globe, so a solid network is within your reach. Increasing your friends and building your network is a cost-effective marketing strategy that can lead to sales opportunities in a variety of ways. Read on for seven ways to get started.

1. Don’t just attend events, be an active participant. Deciding to attend workshops, conventions, and the like is a great start to meeting new people in your field. However, you should make the most of your time there. Speak up, be helpful and get involved. Set a goal for how many new people you will meet at an event, and be consistent. The more you do it, the easier it will become.

2. Hold off on the sales pitch. When introducing yourself to potential contacts, DO share your name, business, and other relevant information. DO NOT break into a prepared commercial in hopes of selling yourself then and there. The relationship you want to build must be based on common interests and shared goals. Save the sales pitch for a follow-up meeting or phone call.

3. Ask good questions. When talking to people you’ve just met, asking questions shows that you are interested in what they have to say and that you are truly listening. Take this strategy to the next level by asking the right types of questions that facilitate a worthwhile conversation. For example, “So how do you like the food here?” will doom you to several minutes of small talk and get you nowhere. On the other hand, “So what is your role in your business?” and “What are you hoping to get out of this convention that will help you in your business?” are more effective questions that get people talking about themselves. Not only are you learning more about them, but you are building the foundation for a professional relationship. As you perfect your conversations skills you may want start with and develop a script to help you with this process.

4. Follow up. So you’ve met several potential contacts; now what? Don’t be lax about initiating the first phone call or email. Remind the person where you met him or her, mention that it was a pleasure to meet, and set a time to discuss what you talked about earlier. Furthermore, don’t wait more than a day or two after meeting the person to make contact. Make this a weekly habit to meet with new people.

5. Incorporate your online presence with your offline presence. When you meet people at a networking event, be sure to give them what they need to find you online (your website URL, Twitter handle, etc.). It’s also a good idea to arrange for face-to-face meet-ups with some of your online business contacts. By integrating your networks, you enhance those relationships and build your business.

6. Ask friends to make introductions. When you’re at a social gathering or event, don’t be shy to ask your friends to introduce you to other people. Just like in tip one, set a goal for how many new people you want to meet.

7. Do something new. Don’t sit around and wait to be invited to a party or event. Make it happen. Find something new that peaks your interest or something that you have no concept of. Once you get there have fun, engage in conversation with others, and tag along with individuals you like. Again, set a goal for how many new people you would like to meet.

What are your ideas for building your network? Please share them with us in the comments section below.

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A Sales Pitch that Doesn’t Sound Like a Sales Pitch

In the past, sales pitches were intrusive and created to reach a wide population. Now, with the dominance of the internet, effective sales pitches cater to individual customers’ needs. They are not canned or contrived because the modern consumer can see right through it and has a wide variety of alternatives right at his or her fingertips. Here are a few ways to frame your sales pitches in such a way that it allows you to promote your products/services without sounding like a pushy sales pitch, and even encourage others to market your products/services for you.

Scavenger Hunt – This can be used to draw in new customers. Use promotional items (electronic or paper) to start a scavenger hunt for a special first-time customer gift. As an added convenience, you can create one totally online by taking your prospective clients on a guided tour of some relevant websites. Start by creating a theme that works with your business, like food, jewelry, or health & beauty products. Make sure the questions are easy to answer and that each item only takes a short time to find. At the end of the hunt, your would-be customer is rewarded with a special gift! You’ve now drawn them in to try your product, made it fun for them to share it with their friends, and you’ve promoted your business without the traditional sales pitch.
Giveaways – Many businesses offer free products or services for first-time customers, but usually some sort of purchase is necessary. Consider a giveaway that stands out from the rest: one that literally gives something away totally for free. Offer it for free for first-timers, and wow them with your quality and customer service. By doing so, you create a risk-free situation and promote your products/services through the giveaway without sounding like a sales pitch. You have now started a relationship and given them a reason to share it with their friends.
Referrals & Rewards – Not only do you want to draw in new customers, but you want to reward your loyal ones as well. Create and use a reward system for referrals that promotes your products/services. Whenever a new customer makes a purchase, all they have to do is mention the name of the person who referred them. That referrer then gets a special discount or promotional item. Word of mouth is an effective method for bringing in new customers, so motivate your current ones by showing them how much you appreciate their patronage and recommendations.

When creating a non-sales pitch sales pitch, remember to frame it in such a way that the promotion includes marketing your products/services. If done correctly, people should feel like you are talking about the promotion and not delivering a sales pitch. Make them simple and direct, but most importantly, be genuine in your interactions with prospective clients. They will appreciate your sincerity and your creative approach.

Please share your own ideas for a creative sales pitch in the comments below!

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Using Clubs to Build Your Business

We all know that networking is an essential part of growing a business. Using clubs is a fun and effective way to network, develop relationships and build your business. For example, if you sell books, it would make great sense to start or join a book club. The goal is to gather likeminded people together, nurture relationships, and help increase business by using a social setting. Consider people in your target market, in your local community and current customers. Here are some club ideas to start or join.

Book clubs – If you’re an avid reader, finding a book club will be easy and fun. You’ll be interacting with people who share your interests and also building a rapport as you gather with them on a regular basis (most book clubs meet once or twice a month).
Exercise clubs – Whether you’re into running, yoga, swimming, or the like, start an in-home or join a fitness club. Running a business is bound to pile on the stress, so decompress with some physical activity. What better way to multitask then to exercise, share your opportunity and network simultaneously?
Moms clubs and/or playgroups – If you’re a parent of young children, this will benefit both you and them. Playgroups are usually informal get-togethers either at someone’s house or a recreation center where the children have unstructured playtime; they also allow for the parents to socialize with each other. For example, if you are a stay-at-home mom, you’ll be surrounding yourself with other moms in the same situation. It’s an effective way to learn about the interests of others and share your own personal and professional interests. For those that work outside the home during the day, many areas have playgroups that meet one evening a week. Try a website like Meetup or Craigslist to find what is locally available.
Scrapbooking/craft clubs – If you enjoy arts and crafts, consider taking up scrapbooking. You undoubtedly have a box of pictures somewhere that have never quite made it into an album, or perhaps you have hundreds of pictures still taking up space on your memory card. Find a scrap-a-thon in your community where you can network while participating in a fun activity. You’ll be able to share personal interests as you work with others who are displaying pictures of family and friends. Scrapbooking can be an easy way to break the ice and introduce yourself to others.

Whatever kind of club you choose to network and build your business, it is important that you keep it social and enjoyable. Your enthusiasm for the activity will help others get to know you, while you make new friends who may be able to help you in building your business. Joining clubs not only leads you to build relationships and increase your network, but it gets you and your business involved in the community. What are some of your ideas for using clubs to build your business? Share with us in the comments section below!

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Crowdsourcing for Your Small Business

Crowdsourcing is a relatively new idea that small businesses can use to solve a problem or improve their business. This process takes a task usually done by individuals to a group of people or community for their input. Here are some benefits and ideas to implement crowdsourcing for your business.

The benefits of Crowdsourcing:

The process helps you find out exactly what your local clientele wants and/or needs.
Provides you with a list of people who may be interested in your products/services or opportunity.
Provide a formal way to gather feedback from neighbors and clients that will help you tailor your products, services, marketing, and customer care to the very people who frequent your business.
Keeps your marketing cost down. Ask people who frequent your business in person, and utilize free websites like Craigslist that let you post to one of several different categories, depending on your needs. The website is also localized by city, so you can find people close by to provide input you need. Social networks like Facebook are also an efficient way of reaching more people quickly. Keep in mind, though, that you want to engage your target market and not the whole world.

Here are some disadvantages to keep in mind:

It may take you a long time to assess the quality of each submission.
The quality may not be professional.
It will take longer to screen candidates and assess the data.

Crowdsourcing initiatives:

Provide your community/network with voting ballots they can use to vote on their favorite products/services. This will help you assess your current product/services.
Run a poster contest that asks participants to create an image that best innovates one of your products/services or highlights a new one they would like to see. Then invite the rest of your community to vote on the ideas to select a winner. This can help you develop new products/services.
Ask your community to create and vote on a motto that promotes your branding. This will help you promote your brand and improve customer care.
Invite your community to submit and vote on a “how to” video for a product/service that you offer. This is a great way to generate videos of your products/services and provide visual testimonials at the same time.

When crowdsourcing, you must offer some sort of incentive like a voucher or discount for participating or a prize to a winner(s). You’re also showing that you value your community and customer opinions and appreciate the time they are taking to help you.

What are your thoughts on crowdsourcing? What have been your experiences with it? Share with us in the comments section below!

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Small Business Easy Low Cost Marketing

Although marketing is essential to your business, it’s easy to spend too much of your hard-earned money on strategies that return very little. In order to get the most bang for your marketing buck, you should find low-cost or even free ways to reach your local demographic. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Sponsoring story time at a local library and other community workshops. Most libraries have at least one, if not several, story groups for children of varying ages. Offer to sponsor one by providing the refreshments, or even by being a guest reader. In doing so, you will be able to network with potential customers, the children’s parents. You could base your time at the library around a theme that is relevant to your business and provide samples that include your business card. For example, a private children’s instrumental music instructor would read a book about a certain instrument, bring some different mouthpieces or small instruments for children to try out, and talk about what is offered at his or her studio with parents.
Form connections to local businesses. By teaming up with local businesses, you can pool your resources together to draw in customers that would be able to use both of your services. The owner of a hair salon could team up with the dress shop down the street. Come prom season, each business could recommend the other and offer discounts if a customer uses both services. To go even further, connecting to a local business would allow you to sponsor joint marketing events, like sidewalk sales or craft fairs.
Create an e-newsletter or start a blog. To make the ever-increasing cost of postage and mailing supplies a non-issue, you may want to develop a monthly newsletter to send out via email. Collect the email addresses of your past customers, and with their permission, send out a newsletter that highlights information about products or services they have recently purchased, and introduce new products as well. You can even make it more relevant by choosing some frequently asked questions to answer in each issue. As an extra incentive for subscribing to the e-newsletter, consider offering a coupon or voucher in each issue.
Use your vehicle as a promotional tool. Decals for your car that contain your business’s name, phone number, website URL, and slogan can be found at affordable prices, especially online. Think of how many people see your vehicle, especially if you live in a congested area where there is a good deal of traffic. That level of exposure is constant after the initial cost, which doesn’t have to be much.
Ask customers how they found you. Keep track of how new customers are hearing about you. This will give you accurate information about which of your marketing tools is most effective. From here, you can decide where to focus your efforts and your money.

As a small business owner or direct seller, your marketing campaigns must reach the largest amount of potentially interested people at the lowest cost possible to you. What strategies have you used to market your business in affordable ways? Please leave a comment below!

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How To Get More Referrals

How To Get More Referrals

It’s no secret that referrals are an excellent way to boost sales; potential customers are much more comfortable doing business with people they meet via personal recommendations. Wouldn’t you be? Why is it then that they seem so difficult to come by? Pursuing referrals is a lot like any other skill; it takes commitment and practice. The first step is making the search for referrals a regular and necessary part of your business. Implement the following suggestions to start doing so.

Ask! This seems obvious, but many people shy away from asking for referrals directly from their customers. There are, of course, certain ways to ask that are more effective than others, such as being specific. For example, instead of asking, “Who do you know that would want my services?” a better question is, “Who do you know that loves to cook?” A specific question will draw more names from your customer and will also bring you relevant leads rather than a whole list of people who may not be interested in what you offer.
Help others. You may be missing an opportunity to put yourself in a mutually beneficial situation. Attending a charity event in which a friend or family member is involved can be useful in obtaining referrals. You will be helping someone out, contributing to a cause, and meeting new prospects all at the same time.
Build strong relationships. Of course you want your clients to trust you, but you also want them to be enthusiastic about doing business with you. Find out what your customers are passionate about and cater to that when interacting with them. You will be able to add a personal touch to your business dealings, which will in turn impress your customer, who will want to tell his or her friends about you. Always be professional, courteous, and caring.
Set a precise goal for yourself. Make it part of your daily work day to ask for referrals. Keep track of how many you ask for every day, and as you feel more comfortable pursuing referrals, challenge yourself by increasing that number and setting a new goal.
Send out holiday cards. It’s that time of year again, and holiday cards, if done well, can really stand out and lead to referrals. Remember that most people put their cards on display, where party guests and family members will see them. So take some time to create a unique card that is noticeable, and send it early so it will be one of the first to make it to your customer’s display.
Offer rewards. When a customer does give you a referral, let them know how much you appreciate it. A handwritten note sent through snail mail is very thoughtful in this age of emails, texts, and video chats. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to get creative. For example, whenever a customer gives you a referral, send the customer a scratch-off lottery ticket along with a quick thank you card. Because you’re showing that you are genuinely grateful, they won’t think twice about referring you to others again and again.

What are some creative methods you have used to acquire referrals? We’d love to hear from you!