GDiesel®, a clean and efficient domestically produced alternative fuel, is now available at several retail locations throughout Reno and Sparks. For more info on the benefits of GDiesel, visit ClearRefining.com.
Last month the Nielsen market research firm, known best for its attempts at capturing media viewership, published a report that claimed:
· “… people spend one in every four and a half minutes of their online time on a social network or blog.”
· “Web users spend a total of 110 billion minutes on social Web sites and blogs each month.”
· “… social networks or blogs are visited by three-quarters of global consumers who go online.”
Now, we may not need a report to prove to us how prevalent social media sites have become. However, statistics like the ones above should encourage us all, as business owners, to reevaluate how we are reaching this mass of potential consumers. Therefore, what is a best practice you can share in relation to using social media sites such as Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter to attract new business? Please post below:
Share the best advertising/marketing idea you’ve used to promote your business. Did it work? The best answer wins the prize. Be sure to include contact info.
Small businesses constantly compare themselves to their competition as a way to differentiate themselves in the eyes of their potential customers. Being able to clearly communicate this in one sentence improves your chances of being able to convince potential customers that your business is the right choice.
Can you sum up in one sentence what truly sets your business (or the business you work for) apart from similar companies? Share below…
The Sparks Costco in Sparks, Nevada is pleased to release the third Business-to-Business Value Book. Costco originally created the Value Book to offer business members an inexpensive advertising solution to reach Costco members. Because of the book’s success, a wide variety of businesses have contributed to the book’s value.
The books are Costco’s way of supporting local business members that have been the cornerstone of its success. Stop by the Sparks Costco to pick up a copy and enjoy hundreds of values offered by participating local businesses.
As discussed in last week’s blog posting, The Buzz Behind Branding, we discussed how your business’ brand communicates to your customers the differences between you and your competition. Your brand is what attracts customers to your business even though similar products or services exist in the marketplace.
Over time there have been businesses with such iconic branding that they cease to be thought of as businesses as they transform into integral parts of culture. For this week’s posting we ask you to identify the brands you are loyal to beyond reason. What are they? And why?
Properly identifying your business’ brand is one of the most important steps in running a profitable venture. Successful branding can play a large part in multiplying your repeat customers and filling your cash register. Lame branding will limit business. Mediocre branding will make for mediocre business. But, with great branding your business has the weapon it needs to sidestep costly obstacles while also keeping you busy with new and repeat business.
As with anything that contains the word “great” as a modifier, great branding is tough to define (the Supreme Court would probably say they “know it when they see it”). Finding your identity can be difficult because you are so close to your business. You know it inside and out, but when it comes time to talk about it in terms that express its niche and define what clients can expect, you may feel handcuffed.
Your brand is more than your logo. It’s bigger than the copy on your website or the font on your billboards. Identifying a strong brand will help guide your business. It defines how your employees act and how your company reacts when disturbances arise. Your brand helps you answer the questions that are yet to surface. It makes a promise to your clients and guarantees them your consistency. Branding establishes reputation.
Hiring a professional to put in the time and effort to identify and communicate your business’ brand gives your customers expectation. If you follow your brand, treat it as law, then you will meet and exceed your customers’ expectations. But, for as powerful as devoting your business to your brand can be, veering away from it can put doubt in the minds of your customers and be equally as deadly.
Many small business owners often complain that their Web sites are not generating the number of leads they hoped for when they paid to create their dotcoms. Below is a list of “don’ts” you can avoid to ensure your site works as hard for your company as it can.
1. Don’t hide your site from the world.
Whether you build the site yourself or hire a professional, the process takes time and money. Many business owners never touch their Web site once it goes live and this limits is functionality. Investing in some simple Search Engine Optimization can dramatically improve the number of views on your site. Not doing so is like creating a work of art, hiding it in the basement of the Guggenheim and blindly wishing that someone sees it.
2. Don’t be an egomaniac.
Potential customers are not visiting your website to read about you. They found their way to your site in order to fill one of their needs. Therefore, your homepage copy should clearly explain how you could help your customers. Put your business’ stats deeper into the sight. If customers are interested in how long you’ve been in business or where you came up with the idea behind Fred’s Fungus Fighter, they’ll find it.
3. Don’t keep it all to yourself, let others play.
Devising ways to keep visitors active on your site will increase your chances of turning potential customers into customers. Encourage visitors to download, click, sign-up, play, comment and enter-to-win on your site and you will have a better chance of seeing them as a repeat visitor again in the future.
4. Don’t take shots in the dark.
If you’re not receiving analytics from your Web host, then sign up. If you are, then read them. Your site’s traffic reports include vital information including who is visiting your site and how they are getting there. Knowing your week-to-week analytics can help you improve upon the positive and reverse the negative.
5. Don’t lead customers on a wild goose chase.
Be clear about what you want. If you want customers to buy your product, then make the shopping cart visible, attractive and easy to navigate. If you want visitors to visit your office, then make it clear where they are going and what they will get out of the trip. Make it easy for visitors on your site to give you what you want.
As the April 15th tax deadline creeps closer, many of us are too wrapped in IRS worries to clearly consider this year’s budget specifics for our businesses. While some business owners have already coordinated their 2010 budget, many are playing catch up as they struggle to outline the details. Below, is a simple four-step process to help get one of the sticky specifics off your shoulders: The advertising budget.
Many businesses make the costly, and sometimes fatal, mistake of committing too little to advertising, or not planning for wise distribution of the funds throughout the year. The first step in establishing an annual advertising plan is to take the time to sit down, pencil in hand, and identify your annual advertising budget. A quick and effective exercise is to take your business’ gross income from the past year and multiply it by 5 percent. This is the minimum your business should be spending on all marketing and advertising. This number will give you a barebones look at the bottom line required for 2010. From here it will be easier to decide if your business can, or should, be allotting more. If this number seems overwhelming, divide it by 12 to calculate how much your business will be spending per month—this figure should be easier to stomach.
(2009 Gross Income x 5%) 12 = Monthly Advertising Budget for 2010
For the second step you should commit to this budget. Make an internal commitment that the figure from step one is the amount you will allot to advertising for your business. This step appears to be the easiest of the four, and it can be. However, this step often requires the commitment to be agreed upon by more than one person within the company to ensure it is carried through.
The third step is to meet with a specialist to identify your specific needs and help customize a advertising campaign. A specialist will analyze your goals, design a compelling plan to reach them, and enable your advertising to remain consistent and effective throughout 2010.
The last step is to execute. By establishing a dynamic plan for your advertising dollars, you have given your business a chance to boost ahead of its competition. With a detailed annual plan you can get the most exposure while staying within your budget. Plus, many media outlets are apt to give valuable discounts to customers who show commitment to annual advertising.
Creating an annual advertising plan is a highly beneficial asset to both the near and distant future of your company. It is not too late in the year to plan and make the most of your advertising dollars for the remainder of 2010.
When our team at OCG Creative is shopping for a service we use clearly defined criteria to help make a sound buying decision. For example, if we are shopping for printing services, we ask our vendor(s):
• What is your standard turn-around time?
• When can I expect my estimate?
• What are your limitations if any? (press size, digital and/or offset options, large format, direct to print, etc.)
• If we require a project more quickly than your standard turnaround, will we be charged a rush fee?
• Will you provide a written estimate?
• Will someone on your staff proof our art prior to printing?
• Will we receive an electronic proof or hard proof?
• Do you stand behind your work? Does your company offer a No Risk Guarantee?
• Will you protect our brand?
• Will you ensure our color(s) match the previous work we’ve printed?
• Do you archive our files? If so, what is the cost to dearchive those files in the future? For what time period are they kept before purging?
Criteria you might add to your list:
• Will you offer creative solutions to help us meet a specific budget?
• Do you provide a low or no cost printing analysis?
• Do you provide education you on the print process? Paper, ink, quantities, alternative solutions
• Do you provide a discount for “gang running” projects
We have been buying printing and asking these questions for 16 years. We have put our vendors to the test. What we have found is that when we clearly define our client’s need, we then have the key criteria to determining our vendor.
Implementing this type of practice into all buying decisions will help you make better buying decisions in the future.
For example: If you absolutely need it in one day, that must be the number one question to ask your vendor(s). “Can they promise to deliver your project tomorrow.” If the answer is “no” you won’t waste anymore time with them. If they promise to make it happen, ask them if you will be charged if they are unable to deliver. We can quickly weed out a lot of vendors with that question.
If your brand color is critical and must be matched perfectly, that would be the first question to ask your vendor(s). “Can you guarantee my color will match my previous project?”
If you shop for the lowest price, but your brand is a close second, be sure to stress the importance of both of these criteria to the vendor in advance. It makes their job a lot easier as well. If a specific vendor is not the low price leader, they may inform you before they submit an estimate and will have the opportunity to decline a bid. Knowing the criteria in advance will save people a lot of time.
This may seem like a lot to ask of a vendor, but it really helps narrow the playing field. We have had incredible success buying printing. We don’t necessarily buy lowest price. Knowing our objective for each project is invaluable.
Happy Shopping