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10 end-of-the-month small business activities

February 8th, 2010 · Bit of a Rant, Inspiration

“End of the month” – the words conjure up a sense of completion. We usually think of the end of the month in terms of sales (money in, mostly) but of course the end of the month is a regular chance to look at what has happened, and to confirm the next steps.

1. Sales made.

How much did you sell and invoice this month? And the all-important cashflow question about the cash received? Who still owes what? What is the lifetime value of your customer?

It is also important to look at where the money was made. Which products / services are selling best? Which are bringing you in most profit? How did those customers find you? What words were put into the search engines to find your website? Time and money are never in sufficient supply, so go with what is working best, and do more of it.

2. Money spent

Each end of the month is an opportunity to complete the month in terms of expenses, and I am far more interested in doing this if the information is fresh and new. (In fact if it is old I get very bored!). So I go through credit card payments, bank statements, and my diary to make sure nothing is forgotten. As a general principle I try to file away receipts as they occur, and enter the information on the spreadsheets. Doesn’t always work of course, but there is nothing worse than having to go through ancient receipts a year later. It is also an opportunity to question the value of where the money has gone.

3. On track / off track?

Are you meeting your targets? Are you heading in the right direction even if more slowly than you hoped? Sometimes opportunities are too good to turn down, and sometimes they are the entrepreneur’s curse, where the new is more interesting than the current idea. In addition to sales targets it is good to be clear about the type of business you operate which makes decision-making much easier.

Facing the truth of the situation helps to keep the business in touch with reality.

4. New brilliant ideas.

Entrepreneurs have more brilliant ideas than most people! Write them down so you don’t lose them, and get them expressed as much as possible. Half completed ideas can absorb energy so either do them, or record them. Once a month look through the ideas for inspiration and remind yourself who is boss.

Whether it is more entry level products, more high end services or a completely different way of looking at your business, get the ideas on to paper or out in the open.

5. New contacts made.

New contacts are the lifeblood of next month or next year. In addition to prospective customers, and new customers, your existing contacts may have a new relationship with you. A good customer may become a referrer, a “competitor” may become a business partner, you may have found a mentor, a board member, a preferred supplier. Tracking what has happened helps with what you want to happen.

6. What did we learn?

Market research never stops. Who is buying, why they buy, what’s new, how we are changing. You can do SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technical changes) analysis, but keeping current and articulating the changes is one step closer to being in touch with your market and your business. You change, too,

7. Destroy something.

Yes, it is good for you! Paperwork, emails in the inbox, partnerships, customers, businesses,advertisements that are not working, products, all have shelf life. Gardeners have to cut and prune to get the right stuff to grow. As the business owners the only job is see the wood for the trees. Removing some trees will help others to grow.

8. Choose what to grow

Focus on a definite project or projects to help accountability, and makes success more likely. You might decide to grow your email list, or your Pay per Click account before holding the workshop. You might decide to spend the month looking for a certain number of speaking engagements, or meeting important clients. Whether you do the work yourself or outsource it will have to be managed. Having a definite target and monitoring helps keep a sense of purpose, and a business you want to work in. Weeds will grow by themselves, but an apple orchard or rose garden will have to be nurtured!

9. The end of / the start of..

Campaigns and projects are a useful way to make the most of end of/ start of energy. The campaign is likely to run for more than a month but there will be different activities to monitor as it develops.

The end of the day, the week, the month, the end of the quarter, the end of the year, of the decade are all opportunities to take stock and learn, even though the end of the month doesn’t always happen at the end of the month.

Each new month, quarter, year or decade brings new opportunities and a fresh start which gives you the energy to go out and do something amazing!

10. Celebrate every success.

If the figures on the white board add up, if you receive a fantastic compliment, if your visitors comment on your blog – whatever it is – celebrate. It builds the “can do” muscle and gets you in the habit of achieving and thinking positively. Then the sky is the limit.

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Marks and Spencer anniversary goes on

January 31st, 2010 · Uncategorized

Marks and Spencer have celebrated their anniversary most notably by re-creating a Penny Bazaar which honoured Marks first penny bazaar when the company started.

125 year anniversary for Marks and Spencer

I happened to see this bag left on a seat at Paddington station in London. Somebody forgot their shopping but it looked like a good advertisement. I immediately thought ” Oh is there a Marks and Spencer here”, and went to find the shop.

Good to see the anniversary celebrations not simply staying within one calendar year.

You don’t have to be as big as Mand S or as long established to have your own anniversary which could encourage real footfall within premises or virtual visitors on the web. What anniversary have you got to celebrate in your small or medium sized business?

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Small business marketing ideas to spark your business progress

January 26th, 2010 · Inspiration, Marketing

Small business marketing ideas come at you at all times of the day and night. While many small business owners may not have hearts that beat faster at the thought of a marketing plan, a marketing idea can be like the spark of a firework and energise you.

Marketing ideas can be big or small, short term or long term. They may lead to a marketing plan or to the trial of an idea but either way they take you forward. Going forward is essential to business life. To mis-quote Bob Dylan if your business is not getting ideas and busy being born it is busy dying..

But creative ideas tend not to come to us in an orderly way. It is important to be constantly alert for them, and write them down. As entrepreneurs we tend to have more ideas per moment than most, and one way of combating any sense of overwhelm or frustration is to record all ideas without judgement, and then process them afterwards. The ideas will be a treasure trove for ways to improve customer service, (or your life), develop new products and ranges, as well as find new clients.

The spark and the energy of the new idea is nurtured. New ideas often meet resistance – whether from your work or home team – so give them some breathing space before they get out into the world.

What is the point of marketing ideas?

Marketing ideas help your small business to communicate what is special your offer (and you) so that the right people buy more easily more often. The right marketing ideas help the buying decision to happen more effortlessly. You have more fun being you, and you make more money so you can make more difference. Pretty good, huh?

When do you find marketing ideas?

When you are more relaxed. The shower or the bath is one of the best places – think of Archimedes shouting Eureka ( I have found it) when he was in the bath, or Newton – not slaving away but sitting under an apple tree – when the idea of gravity occurred to him. It is important to have periods of relaxation during the day. They give your subconscious a chance to get to work, and you stop getting in your own way.

How do you find marketing ideas?

Go out and about and keep your eyes open. Watch how people behave when they are buying stuff even if it has nothing to do with your business. Ideas from other markets can easily work in your own. Note down anything that seems interesting. then give yourself a period of time to reflect. Sit in a cafe on your own, read the paper, listen and watch.

If you have a marketing problem get clear first on the problem. Maybe you want more customers, perhaps you sense that you are not presenting your business as a benefit to your customer, perhaps you need some new product ideas. The worst way to solve it is by getting desperate – ideas and solutions seem to disappear.

Write out the situation as clearly as you can. There may be some emotion behind what you are saying to yourself, and it is good to get clear on that, too. Sometimes we can be simply unaware of what voices are talking in our heads! Write down the exact words you are saying to yourself and notice the tone of voice you are using. Simply looking at those words and getting a sense of the emotion will help. It could be anger, frustration, or sadness, fear or excitement…your emotion will affect the response.

Then write the problem out again as briefly and unemotionally as possible. Reduce it almost to a formula. See if you agree with it when it is written out, and if not, do it again to reduce it to its simplest form. Then shut your notebook and go out and lhave a great day.

Ideas will start to come to you. By recording them (no matter how crazy) you tell your subconscious to carry on working for you, and you will soon be an organic ideas farm and more and more ideas will flow and later you can choose from the best ones.

When do the marketing ideas come to you?

When you least expect it! Your subconscious (and the reticular activation part of your brain) can do far more work for you when not constantly interrupted by your conscious mind interfering. So, as we have said, a relaxed state of mind is the best. You could be driving back from seeing a client, feeling relaxed when suddently you get a brilliant idea about how to structure the website better. It may surprise you that is is so simple, and you could wonder why you have not thought of it before. Be grateful you have had the idea, and write it down.When I have reached my destination I often have a quick refresh of my mind to see what I have been thinking about, and discover all kinds of good marketing ideas. .. and yes, note them down on paper, otherwise I will forget them. Drawings and doodles are good, too, as they come from the more imaginative side of the brain.

The simple act of clearing ideas out of your mind helps enormously to remind you that you have good ideas, and helps you to act on them, too.

You could be cooking a meal and not thinking about anything when suddenly the question you really need to ask your clients jumps fully formed into your mind. Or you could be on the point of waking up and you realise that the words for your strap line have arrived! Walking and other forms of physical exercise are good especially if there is an element of rhythm as it seems to soothe the brain and get you into that relaxed state.

Marketing ideas achieved through this process usually have more vitality and are more sustainable than ideas generated simply through will-power.

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20 year anniversary for The Simpsons

January 12th, 2010 · Branding

: Image via Wikipedia

The Simpson are 20 years old! When the programme first started it was rebellious and iconoclastic. It was not aired here in the UK for some time. I remember neighbours who had gone to live in the States saying how they loved it, but many of their new friends didn’t feel comfortable with the humour.

From rebellious child to national treasure.

Homer has been extolled as an example of fatherly virtue, (by George Bush if I remember correctly) and the programme has included the names /voices / voice alikes of many mainstream celebrities . After a while a new contender arrived who was more ground-breaking than the original (in this case it was “Family Guy” ) and The Simpsons became perceived as the old friend we were all comfortable with.

Expectations of a product or service change as it becomes better known and liked. Customer loyalty can become fanatical. Star Trek fans come to mind… and I am sure there are adults in their thirties who know most of the words to the Simpons programmes!

If you have a well-loved service or product in your arsenal make sure you take the loyal fans with you when you update it. The brand they love may need to be tweaked for changing conditions, but it should still be easily recogniseable. Customer loyalty means opportunity.

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Marketing idea: customer loyalty or new customer?

January 11th, 2010 · Branding, Marketing

Customer loyalty is what all business owners want to achieve. Loyal customers keep on coming back and help your business to be more profitable.

Every small business owner knows that customers who know like and trust you are more likely to stay with you.

Provided you can keep on pleasing the customer they are unlikely to want to go off into the big bad world on their own, and take the risk of disconnecting with you. After a while the familiar seems safe, and resistance to change becomes the motivating force. As a small business you have the added potential for a more personal relationship with your customer, and they will genuinely not want to leave.

In the old days we all stayed loyal. Loyal to our bank, loyal to our mortgage company, loyal to our insurance provider, and loyal to our utilities provider. But we are not in the old days any longer, and in the new world it seems that the new customer hits more targets more quickly, and helps to grow market share.

I have just had a conversation with a friend of mine who noticed that her home central hearing / servicing /electricity contract had increased by 25% over the previous year. She got an alternative quote from another supplier which was 50% cheaper, and then rang the original provider to tell them she was leaving. Within a blink of an eye her quote had reduced from £ 40 per month to £ 10 per month. Her first response was outrage. Why was the price inflated for a loyal customer, and then dropped when she said she was going to leave? If there had been no price increase, she would have been happy to pay as before. That was her first thought. Her second thought was to follow the money, and make the saving.

She has been retained as a customer. But at some cost. She now no longer feels loyal to them, and when the contract is renewed again next year will fight to the death (make a phone call) to keep the price as low as possible. She has become a savvy customer, motivated by price, and is no longer a natural customer. She is going to write and complain, and will expect a convincing response.

Banks, insurance companies, and mobile phone companies are notorious for giving preferential treatment to their new customers. The net result is that existing customers feel aggrieved, and loyalty is lost.

Price is part of the reason why consumers buy. The other parts consist of branding, values, and customer service. Treat customers well and natural inertia will help them to stay with you. Treat customers badly and they shop around for price. Small businesses have a natural advantage for staying in the warm pool of customer loyalty and avoid being caught in the cold ocean of price alone.

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Blue moon at the start of the new year

December 31st, 2009 · Inspiration

: Image by sroemerm via Flickr

Once in a blue moon there is a blue moon.

The moon is not actually blue but there are two full moons in a single month.

This rare and special event is happening tonight, December 31st, as we say goodbye to 2009.

This is a special beginning of a new decade!

Wishing you all the most wonderful new year that you could wish for yourself

and fantastic relations with clients who adore you!

With very best wishes for 2010

Jean

More stuff about Blue Moons

Blue moon to shine on New Year’s Eve (cnn.com)

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12 days of Christmas small business marketing ideas

December 23rd, 2009 · Inspiration

The 12 days of Christmas is an opportunity to think again about your marketing and get ready for the new year. Be your own true love and give yourself some marketing presents!

The best gift you could give your business is some inspired marketing.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

12 Twelve months of the year to plan newsletters, special national days, anniversaries and to establish the rhythmn of your business. Finding an anniversary can be a good way to smooth out any seasonal imbalances. .. and break down any assumptions you may have aboutyour customers buying patterns.

On the eleventh day of christmas my true love gave to me :

11 pipers piping out my marketing messages. There are so many pipers available and together they makes more music. Face to face networking, writing white papers, email newsletters, email courses, PR ( on line and in your vertical markets) advertising: local, pay per click, or in your sector, SEO and on page web optimisation, Web 2.0, blogging and interacting in the blogosphere, directories, videos, teleseminars, webinars, not forgetting direct mail – which has more impact these days – and of course referrals from satisfied customers.

10 lords or satisfied customers leaping around saying how good your work is. More than that, how much you understand what they think and give them the solutions they want. Who are your top ten customers and what do they want? Ask them!

9 ladies dancing. Cars and boats always used to be called “she” and the man who fixed my roof recently referred to my house as “her” and it sounded really friendly! What do your customers think of your car, your office, your desk, your comfortable chair? Everything you have is part of your brand and could be dancing for you. What about your laptop or notebook, the pen you sign the contract with, your shoes, your bag, your jacket, handkerchief?

8 headlines milking the conversation in your customer’s mind. Headlines on webpages, brochures and emails do a lot of the hard work and work their cash cow thing. Write 8 during this holiday period so you are ready.

7 steps that take your customers they want to be. Identify the magical seven steps for one of your headlines and let it out into the world.

6 eggs that have been laid since last year. You will be increasing the asset value of your business year on year. What are the top six assets that you have developed in your business over the past 12 months? It doesn’t have to be technical equipment which is how we often think of assets. Your contact list, products, improved systems, new website, better metrics are all assets, too.

5 go-o-ld things that save your business money and time. New technology means you can do more with less better and faster. From low-cost email marketing so you know who is opening your emails, to easier websites, IT offered as a service for a lower monthly cost, outsourcing rather than taking on new employees, as well as all the talent available to help you grow your business. There are many ways to make the recession irrelevant.

4 Quarterly plans (to stay on track). Of course planning doesn’t mean you will automatically achieve everything you want, but I am surprised how often it happens. Getting clear is the first step. It can be a lonely as an entrepreneur and planning improves your ability to make the most of a team.

3 values that say it all. The sub-text, the hallmark, the special aroma, the spark that you bring to the world that is uniquely you, and communicate powerfully. It is why people choose to be with you, work with you, like you and trust you. When we are confident it all happens naturally, but by thinking about it consciously you can generate consistency and be more memorable. (And make more money more easily)

2 keyword phrases. When explorers first went to remote parts of the world they often planted their national flag to claim the land. What part of the internet are you claiming? You may have more than two phrases what are the top two?

Finally: on the first day of Christmas my true love (me) turned up to give to me (my way of creating money and value in the world/ my business) one partridge plus pear tree.

What is this gift? One thing that can fly around, and one that stays still and grows and bears fruit. They have been delivered to your snow covered doorstep as a package. All businesses need the running around and the staying still. Active and passive, doing and thinking, yin and yang, extravert and introvert.

Is your business unbalanced? Do both sides of you get representation at your (very) senior management meetings? Have you got someone who is on your wave length who naturally contributes what is less natural for you?

In modern times retail Christmas seems to last from Hallowe’en at the end of October till December 24th. But traditionally the twelve days went from Christmas Day till January 6th. So once Christmas Day is past you are still in holiday mood right through the New Year and into the first week.

Thinking is probably the most valuable gift you can give your business. If you want some help with the foundation thinking about getting the spark into your marketing check out this ecourse.

Enjoy your precious twelve days of Christmas!

→ 1 CommentTags:Internet Marketing·Marketing·small business·spark

Strictly Come Dancing marketing idea – be authentic

December 20th, 2009 · Branding, Inspiration

A really superb dancer failed to win a reality-show dance competition. The winner of Strictly Come Dancing had more personality which was preferred by the audience to dancing ability.

The judges gave higher marks to Ricky Whittle, who had more talent, but Chris Hollins was the winner voted by the public. And the public had the final say.

Marketing a small business is also a talent contest: authenticity is easy as a small business, and talent is only part of the mix.

You can be known for who you are. You don’t have to make up cute personas because people buy from people they know like and trust. Part of the knowing, liking and trusting comes from the fact that being authentic could even be better than being perfect.
Chris was always the underdog and Ricky was always the most talented all the way through the competition. Because Ricky was so good, people may have taken his talent for granted, and failed to get on his side.
While Ricky was “cool” Chris had a sense of humour that was expressed more both in his conversation and his dance. The Charleston was an entertainment tour de force with wit and fun as well as excellent dance steps.
Ricky was warm and friendly but Chris was more open, and threw himself into the dancing with a refreshing exuberance and passion.
Chris and his partner were happy to make fun of each othe. They seemed very fond of each other but did not take their relationship too seriously, so we the audience could become part of it.
Their partnership had strogner branding. They were referred to as “Hobbits” and as a couple as “Cola” – Ricky and his partner Natalie were not so easy to identify and know.

The people who buy your products and service may prefer a warm open personality to breathtaking talent, too. What a relief – we can be ourselves!

Underdog Chris Hollins beats Ricky Whittle to take Strictly Come Dancing crown (telegraph.co.uk)
Strictly final is watched by 11m (news.bbc.co.uk)

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Simon Cowell or audience – who wins X Factor?

December 11th, 2009 · Inspiration, Marketing

: Image via Wikipedia

Comments by Simon Cowell in the semi-finals of X Factor last weekend suggested to me that he thought Danyl was the best contender to win the competition. Evidence? He said that his was the best first audition ever, and seemed a little warmer in his approval of him than the other three contestants.

My personal view was that the only person with a chance of winning was Danyl. But what did the audience think?

They voted him out.

That means 2 “experts” are wrong ( I include myself) and the audience is right.

The audience has the power. They can vote and will – at a later stage – buy the CD’s, DVD’s go to the live shows…and effectively create success.

You can say that the voting audience is mostly young girls which is why there are more boys in the final, and could explain why JedWard stayed in the competition so long. Who is the buying audience for pop music? Young girls.

As the expert in our own business it is as well to remember that it is the audience who decides. They decide to give you money, and if they like you and want to see you next week. Whatever you are selling – therapy sessions, gigs at the O2 arena, consultancy services or books and CD’s – it is the audience who decides.

And the message is:

Know your audience (demographics will help)

Find out what they want (X Factor showed us week after week)

Be good at something (singing) but also be appealing

Test with different choices (Stacey Solomon, Olly Murs or Joe McElderry)

Know you can be wrong

Throw in some excitement by associating with bigger names – (George Michael, Michael Buble and Robbie Williams)(which could alter the voting demographics)

Then make the record and hope that it sells as well as Susan Boyle’s 4.5 million copies shipped to the US – breaking all records.

Let the X Factor inspire you in your marketing!

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Small business marketing ideas and inspiration

10 end-of-the-month small business activities

February 8th, 2010 · Bit of a Rant, Inspiration