|
|
|
7 ways to choose your own home business for maximum success
Deciding to work from home can be a good decision or a bad one. It depends of your attitude and your love for business. If you really make the decision to start a home business you have made the first step to succeed. But now the question is: "...
A Small Business Consultant Can Help in Many Ways…But One Thing He Can’t Provide
An owner must realise that the 'oomph' must come from the owner. It is no benefit if all the passion and drive to improve the business comes from the consultant. It will not work that way.
Owners must be excited and driven to succeed. If they...
Applying The Daffodil Theory into Business Practice
At times all of us need a bit of inspiration to add to our day. When I first read this article, I had started my own home based business and was in a bit of a slump. This inspirational story was exactly what helped spring me into action and keep on...
Are your Guilty of Driving your Business without a Roadmap?
For any business to succeed it must know what it is about. It must be able to explain what it is there to achieve, and where it ultimately wants to end up. Unfortunately the majority of businesses can’t describe, or don’t have a picture of what they...
Blogging for Business
Business blogs are primarily used to improve a company's communication both internally and externally. Business blogs are a type of communication channel that could be used effectively in product launches, team interaction internally within the...
Guidelines For The Ideal Home Business
There is bad news and good news in starting a home business. The bad news is 95 % of all new businesses fail within a short time. The good news is the home business industry has reached $427 Billion annually, and is growing at an amazing rate....
How to Keep Your Focus on Your Home Business Goals
As you begin your new home business you will find there will be hundreds of distractions that will fight for your time and attention. If you are new to working from home you will have to deal with such issues as family interruptions, friends,...
Multiple Streams of Income: Internet Myth or Vital Business Strategy?
So often we, as online business owners, fall victim to the hype surrounding the latest buzzword or idea. It’s a truly pitiful state of Internet affairs when we can’t distinguish sound truth from blurred theory. So what is the truth surrounding...
Small Business Success - It’s a Matter of Confidence
I was floored! I couldn’t believe what they were saying! But there they sat -- three of the biggest film stars of our age -- telling the world they had issues with confidence. I was watching an interview where Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and...
What's your Business Online Attitude?
This article was prompted by some customer support work I was involved in for a private members site. One of the paid subscription members wanted someone to look over his website and give an opinion of what we thought of its design. It was clear...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Ways to Generate New Business
Three ways to generate new business
One of the biggest challenges for small business owners is finding a fast, effective way to bring in new customers. That’s because most owners must wear several hats – bookkeeper, technical support representative, human resources manager and marketer. And, of course, owners must provide quality goods or services. Finding the time to market can be especially difficult if you are a one- or two-person operation.
The reality is that spending the time to market is essential to maintaining or growing a business. It helps you avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in small business: relying on a big client or two for the lion’s share of your company’s revenue.
Two things often happen in this scenario. First, business tend to provide preferential treatment to the older, bigger client rather than to smaller, new client, which may cost some business. Secondly, businesses find themselves in a tenuous position by putting most of their eggs in one basket. If the primary client leaves, the company could be economically devastated.
A healthy company always has new clients coming in the door as well as happy existing clients. You can rely on word of mouth to get those new clients on board, but usually it’s not enough. Here are three tips to help you stay on top of marketing efforts.
Get organized. Hire someone to create a database of that huge stack of business cards that you’ve been keeping in your top desk drawer. Make sure it’s a database you can easily use for emails or mailings – like your Microsoft Outlook contacts or ACT! Having all your potential customers at your fingertips is money well spent.
Once you have all your contacts input, you can send targeted e-mails or letters to your potential clients. Make the messages short and sweet, as well as informative. People look forward to getting valuable information, so give it to them. Follow up with a phone call to find out if the information was helpful and if your company can provide goods or services.
Even the busiest
entrepreneur can send 20 e-mails each month and follow up with them. Schedule the time on your calendar to do it.
Create an “elevator pitch.” Try to pare down your company’s products and services to a sentence or two. Start by writing down what you do and then edit. This is a great exercise, especially if you offer a wide variety of goods and services, to help you clarify your top priorities.
Most people want to try to throw in everything they do. For example, if you’re a landscape designer, you may be tempted to talk about turf, bedding plants and terracing. Instead, tell people “I’m a landscape designer. I help people create their own backyard oasis.”
If at all possible, get specific. If you are a graphic designer, be sure to add your specialties. Don’t just say, “I’m a graphic designer.” Do say, “I’m a graphic designer specializing in e-newsletters and interactive web sites.”
Cultivate your current clients. It’s much easier and cost-effective to sell an existing customer additional services than to go out looking for new ones. That’s what makes the pitfall of having one big client so insidious – the smaller clients that you are tempted to shove to the side may actually bring in more business than your current big client if you give them the same stellar products and services.
Schedule monthly meetings with your clients to find out how you are doing and to learn what they see on the horizon for their own business. Show them how you can help fill their goals and dreams. You’ll be amazed at how much a couple of hours of your time will pay off.
Contact is the most important element of marketing. If you don’t have time to do anything else, make sure you contact at least 10-20 potential or current clients each month. Doing so will help keep that business coming in and your company healthy.
About the Author
Copyright, Kate Smalley
Connecticut Secretary
Freelance Secretarial and Administrative Support Services
kms@connecticutsecretary.com
http://www.connecticutsecretary.com
|
|
|
|
|
|