7 KEY STRATEGIES TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS
7 KEY STRATEGIES TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS
Marketing is absolutely crucial to the success of your business and you avoid it at your peril! New business owners can think that marketing is quite a complicated process. However, it's not rocket science and the basics can easily be learned. It can be very helpful to reframe selling as simply building relationships and having conversations. We can do this by talking to prospects and finding out more about them and what they want before we pitch in with what we can do for them.
Learn as much as you can about marketing. For the small service business there are certain things that you can do that are low cost or even no-cost. So don't be afraid of it - learn the steps that work for your size and type of business and go for it!
2. Market the results of your service - not the processes
Beware of having a website or brochure that is too process driven. Market the results and benefits of your service or product - not the features and processes. Coaches especially can fall into this trap. We tell people all about what coaching is and how it happens. It's much more effective to actually state what changes people can expect from working with you.
Using case studies and testimonials will really help you here - then it's not just you saying "this is what you'll get out of working with me " - you'll have other people saying it for you which is so much more powerful. Get into the habit of asking your new clients for testimonials and referrals.
3. Have a follow up system
We all go to networking events and gather handfuls of business cards and we may even get as far as putting them into Outlook or some other contact system, but what do we do after that? I think it's vital to have some form of "keep in touch" marketing such as a newsletter or blog.
I really cannot overestimate the importance of follow up. By keeping in touch regularly, it means that when someone is ready to buy, your name and business is at the front of their mind because they have heard from you recently.
4. Have a written business plan
A lot of small business owners tend to be a bit reactive when it comes to marketing their business and also a bit haphazard about which thing they should do next. Life's events and distractions can take over and if we haven't got a written plan we can lose sight of our goals.
A Business Plan isn't just something you do to get a bank loan. Think of it as the map and the plan for you to grow your business. Where do you want to be in six months; in a year; in 5 years? Arguably, the most important part of your Business Plan is the Marketing Plan. Make your Business Plan a living document and update it at least quarterly, or even better, every month. Let it help you stay on track and use it to capture new ideas.
5. Be the perceived expert
It can take quite some time to build your reputation, but if you write, speak and network, then people will start to associate you with your niche.
If you hate to do public speaking, you can still build up expert status by doing a lot of writing. You can do this by writing articles for publication, having your own newsletter and by starting a blog.
There are lots of groups out there looking for guest speakers. You may not get paid but think of it as fantastic free publicity. After all - the person at the front of the room giving the talk is a lot more memorable than one of 20 business cards you picked up!
6. Have a strong clearly defined niche
Of course, in order to be perceived as an expert, you need to have a clearly defined niche. This is so important, yet many people try to be far too general in what they offer. One of the best ways to stand out in a crowded market is to be very specific about what you do and who you do it for.
Some of the key benefits to having a niche are:
• It radically simplifies your marketing
• It makes it so much easier to say what you do and who you work with
• It builds your reputation as an expert
• It also builds your confidence
• People can refer potential clients more easily because they understand what you do
• You develop a "Personal Brand"
• People prefer to work with a specialist and expert
• You can more easily identify your target market and where they congregate
And - you get to work with your ideal clients.
7. Pick a few simple marketing tasks and do them consistently
C J Hayden the best-selling author of "Get Clients Now!" calls this "The Persistence Effect" and I have seen it work time and again in my own business and in my clients' businesses.Try picking as few as five marketing tasks to concentrate on for a couple of weeks and see what happens. For instance, decide to write three articles, attend three networking events, follow up with ten people, start your newsletter or blog or arrange two speaking events. Pick your own ideas, but make it a short list.
Many people tend to try "a bit of this and a bit of that" and they often give up too soon when a bit more persistence would have paid off. A few tasks done regularly over time will work much better than occasional bursts of activity and expense.
7 KEY STRATEGIES TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS - To learn more about this author, visit Shona Partridge's Website.
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1. Learn all you can about marketing
Marketing is absolutely crucial to the success of your business and you avoid it at your peril! New business owners can think that marketing is quite a complicated process. However, it's not rocket science and the basics can easily be learned. It can be very helpful to reframe selling as simply building relationships and having conversations. We can do this by talking to prospects and finding out more about them and what they want before we pitch in with what we can do for them.
Learn as much as you can about marketing. For the small service business there are certain things that you can do that are low cost or even no-cost. So don't be afraid of it - learn the steps that work for your size and type of business and go for it!
2. Market the results of your service - not the processes
Beware of having a website or brochure that is too process driven. Market the results and benefits of your service or product - not the features and processes. Coaches especially can fall into this trap. We tell people all about what coaching is and how it happens. It's much more effective to actually state what changes people can expect from working with you.
Using case studies and testimonials will really help you here - then it's not just you saying "this is what you'll get out of working with me " - you'll have other people saying it for you which is so much more powerful. Get into the habit of asking your new clients for testimonials and referrals.
3. Have a follow up system
We all go to networking events and gather handfuls of business cards and we may even get as far as putting them into Outlook or some other contact system, but what do we do after that? I think it's vital to have some form of "keep in touch" marketing such as a newsletter or blog.
I really cannot overestimate the importance of follow up. By keeping in touch regularly, it means that when someone is ready to buy, your name and business is at the front of their mind because they have heard from you recently.
4. Have a written business plan
A lot of small business owners tend to be a bit reactive when it comes to marketing their business and also a bit haphazard about which thing they should do next. Life's events and distractions can take over and if we haven't got a written plan we can lose sight of our goals.
A Business Plan isn't just something you do to get a bank loan. Think of it as the map and the plan for you to grow your business. Where do you want to be in six months; in a year; in 5 years? Arguably, the most important part of your Business Plan is the Marketing Plan. Make your Business Plan a living document and update it at least quarterly, or even better, every month. Let it help you stay on track and use it to capture new ideas.
5. Be the perceived expert
It can take quite some time to build your reputation, but if you write, speak and network, then people will start to associate you with your niche.
If you hate to do public speaking, you can still build up expert status by doing a lot of writing. You can do this by writing articles for publication, having your own newsletter and by starting a blog.
There are lots of groups out there looking for guest speakers. You may not get paid but think of it as fantastic free publicity. After all - the person at the front of the room giving the talk is a lot more memorable than one of 20 business cards you picked up!
6. Have a strong clearly defined niche
Of course, in order to be perceived as an expert, you need to have a clearly defined niche. This is so important, yet many people try to be far too general in what they offer. One of the best ways to stand out in a crowded market is to be very specific about what you do and who you do it for.
Some of the key benefits to having a niche are:
• It radically simplifies your marketing
• It makes it so much easier to say what you do and who you work with
• It builds your reputation as an expert
• It also builds your confidence
• People can refer potential clients more easily because they understand what you do
• You develop a "Personal Brand"
• People prefer to work with a specialist and expert
• You can more easily identify your target market and where they congregate
And - you get to work with your ideal clients.
7. Pick a few simple marketing tasks and do them consistently
C J Hayden the best-selling author of "Get Clients Now!" calls this "The Persistence Effect" and I have seen it work time and again in my own business and in my clients' businesses.Try picking as few as five marketing tasks to concentrate on for a couple of weeks and see what happens. For instance, decide to write three articles, attend three networking events, follow up with ten people, start your newsletter or blog or arrange two speaking events. Pick your own ideas, but make it a short list.
Many people tend to try "a bit of this and a bit of that" and they often give up too soon when a bit more persistence would have paid off. A few tasks done regularly over time will work much better than occasional bursts of activity and expense.
7 KEY STRATEGIES TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS - To learn more about this author, visit Shona Partridge's Website.
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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