The budget is getting thin, customers aren’t coming through the doors, and the bank is  looking for the payment. Small business owners think that they must always spend a lot  of money in order to make a lot of money. However, spending money doesn”t always  mean that money is being spent effectively.

 First of all, before you spend money on marketing you must know your niche. If not  you”re going to spend money on an audience that won”t be opening their wallet in your  store. Defining your niche can help you advertise to a group more likely to be returning  customers. This means more bang for your buck. 

Secondly, timing is everything. If your ad is released after a big event you have failed to bring in the big audience you have been looking for. This means you spent dollars ineffectively and lost money that could have been spent better elsewhere. Timing isn”t just about advertising a particular event; it is also about when your ad or press release will be released to the public. You want ads to drop on a day of high volume and unless you have a huge event or a big image in your community I would suggest you send press releases out on quiet news days. This thought came in mind after seeing a press conference overshadowed by bad weather and sports teams in the area making big announcements. 

Next, try thinking outside the box when marketing. Seth Godin advertised his book, Free Prize Inside, inside a cereal box. This is an innovative idea sure to grab attention in the book industry. This means you should market your ideas in a place not so sought out by the competition. For instance, I saw a gentleman put his website address on the top of his black shoes, the text was in a bold white font. Have you ever noticed how many people look at your shoes? It was the first thing I noticed and I couldn”t get my mind around his tactic. What a great idea, but I couldn”t understand a word he said after I looked at his shoes.

One more quick point to take a moment to ponder is how long your marketing tool will exist. A newspaper ad is a one day event, park benches last about 30 days, and T-shirts last long enough to be worn with holes. There is nothing wrong with spending money on ads or billboards, but why not spend a small amount of money on tote bags or T-shirts? A creative looking T-shirt that people will wear is like having a bunch of walking billboards.

Lastly, analyze your results and write down your findings. You can always learn from your mistakes. Once you fall get back on your feet and figure out what you can do better. A mistake is an opportunity to gain an education and help move you towards the prize on the horizon. 

Over $1.7 billion is expected to be lost in the workplace because of March Madness, but what have companies done to incorporate this seasonal event? There is only one industry that capitalizes on it and that is the entertainment industry. Why can”t you capitalize on this industry?

As a small business why not host a pool where your employees can be apart of a inner office pool setup by you. Offer an incentive to the employee that works the hardest to pick their team they expect to win before the tournament begins. . For instance the best sales person always gets the first pick of teams and the next best gets their choice teams. You have to divide the picks proportionately, but it would make things in the office more interesting. As the tournament progresses offer head on challenges in the workplace that correspond to who is playing in the NCAA tournament. If they win the championship they get a day off of their choice while the rest of the employees sulk. This creates a competitive environment in the workplace to work hard and have a better opportunity to get a day off they could spend with their family. 

Creating excitement in the office isn”t a bad thing. Your employees become more engaged and can socialize with customers or their colleagues a lot easier offering a better work environment. A loss in work, but better job retention can be cost effective. Also, what about their ability to connect with your customers and relate in a better fashion then the rest of the year. This alone provides a better experience for the customer offering more potential money to flow into the company.

Lastly, have the big games on during a midday siesta. Make sure you offer an opportunity for your customers to join your company in watching the big game. Your customers would have a better understanding that you share the same interest. Offering wings and watching the game at your workplace can create a new way of promoting your business. Once again this is another way to enhance your employees and customer relationships. 

If you have any questions or need advice on getting a consultant please email us at questions@businessonthemound.com.

Websites are another medium to get your name out into the world. Most people do not have $10,000.00 to spend on a website and another $5000.00 to optimize the site. You may have $1K or $2K in your budget and let me tell you that this is more than enough. I have built my most recent page for $400.00 and have received more hits through that site compared to the site that I spent $7K. Most of this can be blamed on the way I did the marketing for each with is another key point to address when trying to gain an audience over the web.

Let”s compare my two sites and we will call them Site A and Site B for simplicity.

Site A cost $7K and 4 months for all the bells and whistles and received about 40 hits a week for the first 2 months then bombed. Content was not updated regularly, but links were sent to numerous places. All desired steps were accomplished through the development.

Site B cost $400 and one night with Jack Daniel’s. The site is legible, to the point, updated regularly, and discussed throughout the web on a daily basis. The site has been up for one month and received 450 hits in one month with 300 + unique hits. The site is still treading upward at the moment. Stage one is now complete and stage two is underway once I get another bottle of Jack.

I recommend looking into the power of three when creating a website. Three stages will allow you to focus your ideas on what outcome you would like to see in a span of time. Always know that you will have another stage to the back-end after you have finished a stage. I recommend this because you should always be thinking forward and never slowing down. In this world slowing down will only help your site fall behind. Here is a quick overview of a three-stage example for a small town shop website.

Stage 1: Create a brief website with contact information, our services or products, office hours, a daily blog, and a few customer comments.

(Once traffic and momentum is building move to stage 2, whatever fits your budget)

Stage 2: Include a page with products and prices that allow the person to call in or email an order. (Orders start to come in and explode, then move on to stage 3)

Stage 3: Add E-commerce page to the site to help relieve phone traffic and help manage inventory. (After this step be looking for a redesign or places to update content.)

And so on…….

Lastly, if you are working with a programmer make them aware of your future goals with your website and make he or she aware that you are testing the waters to see if you have a viable website. This will allow them to keep the programming open for what maybe coming in the future. This is why I also suggested planning another step on the back-end, so they know what to look forward to. Keeping them informed will help them help you!

As a small business owner or a person trying to get a business off the ground should always remember that the customer always comes first. Keeping this in mind why not take suggestions from your customers? Every idea for your business doesn”t need to come from you and you alone. A lot of customers also have experience in business and be able to share many words of wisdom. Not only may they have some words of wisdom they maybe able to broaden the scope of your market. 

First thing is to obtain customer comments. The way to do this is asking for customers to fill out a survey. How do you get them to fill out a survey? Have a customer appreciation day. Offer snacks, free food, or a complementary gift to anyone that maybe willing to write their thoughts down. Not only should you have events in your store for customers, but also at different locations throughout your community. Host a special event that maybe related to your store. A blood drive or maybe a food drive for the needy sponsored by your business.

More ways to grab ideas from customers is to look at your competitors customers. What is it that drives that customer to your competitor? The only way to know is to ask. Ask as if you are merely another layman looking for a good store to shop at. Ask about the service and the products and key in on items that maybe above and beyond normal. These details are exactly what your competitor has done to differentiate themselves from your business. Now think of how you can counteract these differences. Maybe you need to better define your niche or add a service to bring in more of these customers. 

Also, price differences can make a world of a difference. If your price is higher and your service is pretty much the same you will not be able to compete for much longer. People are more price conscious in the market than ever before. Customers go online to see who has the best price on Amazon, who ships faster and cheaper, and who has a warranty. Are you researching this data? If not you need to be. Technology is only going to make it easier for the consumer to get the most bang for their buck. 

Lastly, if you do have a website there are some special things you can do to gain your customers feedback. By the way if you don”t have a website you need to get one for your business. A website will allow you to reach more customers. Anyway, gaining customer feedback can come from pop up surveys offered by Opinion Matters or Survey Monkey. Both I have used and from a design look Opinion Matters seems to be the better of the two. Also, after a customer has ordered their product or has asked a question follow up through an email with that customer to see if they were satisfied with their experience. If you really want to be savvy like Enterprise call the customer a day after the product was delivered to make sure everything is okay and make sure to ask if there is anything else you can do for them. This will leave the door open for more sales and shows how much you care about the customer. If you can stay on top of these task you will be sure to see an improvement in your customer base. Customers like feeling as if they are a part of your business operations. In case you didn”t realize they are your business!

If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions please email us at questions@businessonthemound.com.