Tag Archives: employees

2012: Email Marketing is Dead; 2013 Email Marketing is King – HUH?

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All through 2012, the buzz was “E-Mail Marketing is Dead!”

Now in 2013, most articles are about why Email Marketing is Supreme for Small Business!

HUH?

Actually, the latter is really true. Email is perfect for small business.

But let’s discuss the why of the mixed messaging and why you as a small business owner need to pay attention.

1. Social Media platforms grew exponentially over the last few years.

Soooo, “they” assumed, that because the growth was so rapid, social media platforms would soon replace email and all other traditional forms of marketing and communications.

While that might be true in major metropolitan areas and college campuses, there is still a huge population out there that doesn’t own a SmartPhone or that  only accesses internet through a desktop.

But, email is universal.

Everyone sits down at home and work and checks their email…

Another assumption was that because Social Media platforms are “Free,” that it would be nonsense for anyone to ignore it as a marketing avenue. Again, you can pick up a hammer, but that ain’t gonna make ya a carpenter!

Sure you can create an account for free, but time is money, and it takes time to maintain a social media business page, not to mention at least basic marketing skills. Nothing wrong with that, – all marketing comes with a cost – but that has to be considered.

Then, when it comes to attracting fans, many of those fans are laggers in social media who only use it for sharing funny cat pictures and playing application games. So, getting fans to pursue your page is another form of investment – a good offer to like a page, the giveaway, someone to manage the comments and likes, someone to engage to grow fans… And don’t believe those hucksters claiming to bring you from 0 to 40,000 fans! Fake profiles = fake fans = no rise in insights or revenue.

Now, why was email getting badmouthed:

2. “Free” Email services were springing up all over the place.

Why pay for email service when you can get it for free? Again, because FREE is never really free! You pay a price eventually – think of the hidden cost to you when your email goes to a spam folder and never reaches your intended recipient?

So, if you were judging the effectiveness of free email vs free social media… neither one will bring results so that comparison is probably moot.

They are both an investment in Time and time costs money.

OK, so now what should you invest your time in? Social Media or Email Marketing?

If you are asking this question, it tells me you don’t know your customers or clients. Face it, most of you small business owners have poo-poo-ed SoMe and Email.

Why don’t you let your customers tell you where you should invest your time?

  • Have you noted whether your customer is tapping away on a mobile while they are waiting in line?
  • Have you asked them what platforms they use?
  • Have you invited them to join your email subscriber list?

Stop being an employee of your own business and market your business. How?

  • Find out which Social Media platforms are appropriate for your business and demographic – Start with one and do well, then move on to others.
  • Invest in an email service that fulfills your needs for marketing and has integrated social media tools for efficiency and broader distribution that will attract new subscribers. (want to play around with one for free for 60 days? Click here!
  • And pay Freaking attention to where your customers live online! ASK THEM. SURVEY THEM. TALK TO THEM.
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3 Small Business Technology Resolutions for 2013 or How to Do Better Next Year! (pt.2)

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In my previous post, I tried to drive home the notion that if you didn’t collaborate in your business in 2012, then you didn’t see growth. And 2013 isn’t going to be any better if you don’t change something.

Labor of Sisyphus

Labor of Sisyphus

I also promised a list of tools to help you make real world productive changes that are also HUGE time savers…

So without further ado…

1.USE a Shared Calendar:

Having an item posted on a calendar makes it REAL for all involved. It also eliminates the need to send out notices, reminders, make calls, etc.

Google calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and others can create a separate or existing calendar for shared use. You can also configure them to send a notice and reminders to all invitees.

It’s a one time task of entering meetings/events with all accessory tasks automated – notes, additional information, agenda, etc. can be included in details and everyone has all the information instantly accessible in one location without having to print or search the inbox. Even telecommuters, out-of-state hires, … anyone can have access without a separate function to be performed.

2. Save Everyone’s Time via Teleconferencing:

You don’t have to have an on-site meeting every time to be productive (although I would suggest an occasional face to face helps with bonding). Giving your people the freedom to call in to the meeting from the comfort of their home or office is a huge win-win. And this may sound crazy but, record, but do not share the option for your attendees to listen later. If people know they can listen to a recorded version, they will have an excuse not to attend and therefore won’t be participating or providing valuable input. Furthermore, they may never get the time to listen to it later or they will get time sensitive material too late. Have well-planned mandatory monthly meetings with an agenda that include anyone who “touches” a customer.

Options: These are just a few that have both free and priced options:

freeconferencecall.com/

join.me

skype.com

webex.com

3. VIDEO onsite meetings:

Yes, make a video of your meetings. Give a friend or family member a perk to do the job – or hire a college intern or fix a mount or tripod.  If attendees desire, you can conveniently post the video to a DropBox or SugarSync shared account for all who attend these meetings (too large a file to email). All can use it to self-critique performance, review feedback, and monitor success.

Keep your meetings short – 30-45 minutes max – and stick to that time frame for every meeting. You’ll have better attendance and better attention. (Videos will help you see why meetings run amuck!)

Options:

For file sharing – yes, Virginia, this is the cloud…:

dropbox.com

sugarsync.com

For Video:

Your SmartPhone

Countless new inexpensive palm-size video devices (that can be placed on a tripod).

YouTube Capture

Vimeo

YouTube Channel

OBVIOUSLY, there are many other options out there and many more to come. But those above and many like them have the benefit of being accessible with most any device you (and anyone else) may already own – and often free!

Now go hit some of these links and make 2013 better!

 

Imho – What is the #1 reason for business failure among small business owners?

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I ran across this question by www.linkedin.com/in/davetteharvey in LinkedIn Answers

English: Findlay, Ohio, September 20, 2007 -- ...

English: Findlay, Ohio, September 20, 2007 — Gilbert Yingling, a representative with Small Business Administration (SBA) makes calls to local business owners from a local chamber of commerce business directory as part of an SBA outreach program. He then follows up with person to person meetings with the business owners. John Ficara/FEMA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Although there has been an increase in support services for entrepreneurs and small business owners, the percentage of business failures in America is still pretty high. Across industries it is averaged that 56% of businesses will fail within the first four years. In some industries, it is estimated to be as high as 86%. All of these businesses may not have had outdated products or underperforming services. Again, what do you think is the number reason for entrepreneur and small business failure?”

As I work exclusively with small businesses, I chipped in with my own answer because I see how many of these failures could have been stories of success. 9 to 5 has done a lot of harm to those of us with entrepreneurial potential. Being an employee for someone else can push you to forgo your own ideas for someone else’s in many cases. You may get used to letting go of responsibility in many ways, as in some companies, you are actually penalized for thinking outside the box, and are asked to settle into the status quo of the management mentality.

What does that mean in regard to these failure rates? In my opinion (I have a lot of those!), many a creative, entrepreneurial minds have been dumbed down by the “Peter Principle” experience of corporate work. So even when those same minds finally break loose and go on their own, they have ingrained habits that keep them in an employee mentality. That is why I wrote this answer to Davette Harvey’s question in LinkedIn Answers and hope that by sharing it with you, it will help one less SMB from failing.

Here is my response to Davette’s question. I’d love to hear what you think as well.

“If you own a small business, and don’t think beyond today, then you are nothing but an employee of your own business.

I used to train new retail franchisees as part of my corporate job with a franchisor and so many of them stunned me in regard to the lack of due diligence they executed before purchasing the franchise. In addition, very few of them had retail experience. Coming from a desk job, no matter how high the level, is not immediate qualification for running your own business.

Now I consult for them – and often they call me in far too late.

Yes, passion can take you far, but if you are like many small business owners, the inability to delegate the details is where you begin to lose the passion that drove you there to begin with.

Start out of the gate with lining up the right people for the various jobs and it will be the best ROI you can imaging. If a business owner tries to do it all, they lose the momentum of the opening due to being sucked into the daily operations that should be handled by those best suited. You need to have continued vision, oversee those who work for you, and market your business through networking and planning. If you are working in your store full time, you cannot do any of that.

The perceived lack of funding to delegate to employees is a result of waiting until business slows to recognize the errors. Customer service suffers, control over inventory suffers, marketing suffers… it all suffers including the owner who, by that time, is burned out.

Think of your well chosen staff as an investment in your business just the same as the brick and mortar building and the inventory or tools you placed in it. Then you will be free to oversee and grow it, you will prosper.

All too often I see the staff is the first to go when things slow down. They should be the last tier of the business to be let go. Check your operations, customer service, inventory, scheduling, etc.

And most of all, ask the staff, they know more than you oftentimes. Most common observation I hear from staff? “if the boss would just get out of the way and let us do our jobs…”

Please feel free to share your opinions….

Social Media Changes Mean Never Put all Your Marketing Eggs in Just One Basket

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Don't put all your eggs in one basket

So you finally got comfortable in social media, but the recent changes and demands are making you a little more than nuts. You spend a lot of time learning how to stay up in edge rank, but they keep changing the rules. Facebook’s recent stock decline forces scrambling with monetization strategies to keep stockholders happy, Twitter is playing with ads and tweet promoting, and LinkedIn is knocking at that door. (related post – Facebook – Stop Charging the Cows for Providing the Milk …)

Just like the presidential debate last night, it’s hard to know what’s in store for us tomorrow!

It’s case by case with some generalities and your online presence must have a firm foundation. But as so many small businesses focus primarily on Facebook, it’s important to consider that the Facebook you are using today may be nothing like the Facebook we use next year.

Never, never put all your marketing eggs in one basket!

So what IS your foundation? What can you rely on for marketing your business? No one knows what’s coming down the pike, but two things you should be thinking more about are your website and your blog.

Your website and blog are the online presence(s) you have (almost) total control over.  In the scurry over social media, have you neglected both?

Is your website up to date with current promotions, pictures and captivating information about your business?

When is the last time you took an objective look at your website content? Does it still look the same as the day it was uploaded?

Does it have flash? Get rid of that. It messes with your search engine rank and flash is NOT mobile friendly. Yes, both very important considerations.

Is the About information still correct? Pictures of staff current?

Do you have link buttons for your social media and newsletter?

Do you blog and is your blog linked to your website?

Blogging is not a specific social media platform, but no other social media platform is as effective in generating new content for search engines as blogs. And the beauty of blogging is the ability to re-purpose the content to your social media. And when is the last time you posted? No excuses about not knowing what to write. If you can converse with your customers and clients, you can put a version of those conversations online. Those customer queries on your product or service are gold for content. If they have the question, so do many others! Share your knowledge, tips, anecdotes, experiences….

But what about your social media?

No, I’m not saying to dump Social Media. But make the time to blog and keep website content fresh! That content can be virtually duplicated across all social media platforms,  so tweak and tailor your content to the medium and you’ll have plenty to post. Think of your blog content as evergreen content to post when you get stumped on what to post.

Don’t stay at the mercy of the whims and bumps of dealing with the unknown controls of the various platforms.

Now get to work.

Retail and Small Business A.D.D. – Are distractions costing you busine$$?

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Some people think I have A.D.D.

Image by Peter Vidrine via Flickr

OBSESSING about your business – or lack of it?

As a business owner or sales person watching the sales volume graph rise up and fall down, you obsess over potential sales.

BUT … did you lose business because:

Maybe, … but most likely, if truth be told, it’s because you are losing the business you already have.
We can’t see the forest for the trees and we don’t recognize a bird in the hand –  pardon the overuse of overused expressions, but they fit perfectly!
Time and again, we walk into work with honorable intentions to focus on our customers. Instead, we encounter “RETAIL A.D.D.” (horror music in background)

What is Retail Attention Deficit Disorder?

I’ve never heard of it either, but I see it all the time. Hell, I lived it as a retail manager myself! What are the symptoms? Keep reading…
As I mentioned, you walk into your store with honorable intentions, but as you enter:
  • Your eye catches an unruly display and before you know it, you are completely changing it instead of just straightening it…
  • The phone rings before the store is open and a fellow retailer bends your ear until opening…
  • You spot a new delivery and instead of letting designated staff members handle it, you open it and start checking it in…
  • You count in your cash drawer and decide to reorganize the cash wrap desk…
Need I give more examples…? I think not. You know this happens almost daily. And yet you wonder where the day went and how you “didn’t get anything planned done!”

Make a *@%$#  plan!

Before you leave each day, I don’t care how tired you are, write down at least 1 thing you must do to cultivate your existing business when you arrive the next day.
And most important, have you posted daily on the latest store happenings on your Facebook business page and Twitter account and are you sending out a monthly / bimonthly email newsletter? Are you responding to customers who Tweet and post?

Slip Sliding Away…

Don’t let daily housekeeping and distractions keep you from protecting your best asset – existing customers. They are your best marketing tool. If they’re happy, they tell everyone they know how you make them feel noticed as a human. And don’t forget to value your staff. If they aren’t happy, your customers aren’t happy.
Protect your brick and mortar investment through attention to the human factor of your existing customers! Isn’t that what YOU seek from the businesses you patronize?
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