This week in small business: Secret weapons, 20 questions, and talking to Alexa…
This week we have a secret weapon for business success, how to tell the real digital marketing pros, tax tips for the gig economy worker, and much more to enhance your competitive edge. Leadership, management, and productivity Matt Hunckler makes a strong case that emotional intelligence could be the “secret weapon” for your success in business. (I guess it’s not a secret any more…) First “smart homes,” now “smart businesses.” In this PC Magazine article, Rob Marvin goes over 23 must-have Alexa skills for your small business. Running a tech startup? Megan Totka says you should invest in women. We agree. Marketing and sales This article was overdue: How to spot real experts in the online marketing industry. Along those same lines, Eric Samson relays five tips for finding the best digital marketing agency for your business. Creating lifelong customers should always be the goal. Kerry Anderson gives us an example from her life that offers insights. Anna Fitzgerald goes over five basic ways to market your small business in this article. Convincing a roomful of men that there’s money to be made in women’s hygiene products is a tough row to hoe. Ellen Huet tells the tale. Forget flying by the seat of your pants. Becca Wilson insists that measurable results are a must for advertising and marketing spends. Entrepreneurship, startups, and innovation Dan Bova gives us the story of entrepreneur Jon Snyder who run Contenders, the official licensees of MGM for the Rocky and Creed films, and for the WWE. In this edition of Entrepreneur’s “20 Questions” series, Nina Zipkin puts Harper Reed in the hot seat. Reed was in charge of technology for Barack Obama’s second presidential campaign and the creator of what is now PayPal Commerce. Sally McGraw does a good job making the case that you should pay yourself a salary as an entrepreneur. No argument here. Politics, government, and the economy Tom Taulli, founder of Pathway Tax, offer three tax tips for those working in the sharing economy. Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching? – Bruce Van...
read moreDon’t pay the psychological price of being the ‘low-price leader’
I’ve stressed the importance of finding and exploiting niche markets many times in this space. One of the biggest reasons operating in a niche market is preferred is because you can enjoy higher prices and the higher margins that accompany these higher prices. Usually, when we discuss niche marketing and pricing pressures, we think about products. When market conditions for your product force you into being the “low-price leader,” you find yourself in a difficult position to manage over the long term. Pricing for services Today I want to consider pricing pressure on small business service providers. I’m going to relate a story that an acquaintance shared with me the other day that I believe many small business owners will be able to relate to in varying degrees. This family needed some cement work done in their yard so they went to Craig’s List and started searching for contractors or handymen who would be right for the job. They found a guy who had a great price, got an estimate, and scheduled the work. He wanted a significant up-front payment and the homeowner was hesitant. Instead, they agreed that the homeowner would pay in advance for materials. Before the cement contractor was scheduled to do the work, the homeowner got an early morning call from him. The contractor cussed him out for not wanting to meet his request for an up-front payment and then bitterly lit into the customer for wanting to get the work done for “half” of what others would charge. My friend told me how upset he was after the call. He figured he would have to find someone else to do the work. Later that day, however, the contractor’s wife called, said her husband wasn’t feeling well and apologized. The work got done and the results are certainly acceptable. Two costs of being inexpensive This incident highlights some dangers for service providers when they recklessly compete on cost. This “professional” marketed his services as the least expensive in the area. None of his clients can be blamed for how he bids projects or prices his services. However, the situation – including expectations on both sides – sets the table for trouble in the business relationship. First, if you’re perceived as the “cheapest” service provider, you’ll attract clients whose primary concern is cost. You need to expect them to be tight with their money. In my example, we see this with when the family resisted an up-front payment. It will also lead to problems if unforeseen circumstances cause increased costs for the service provider. Second – and this is the point I really want you to grasp – if the main way you sell your service is by undercutting all your competitors, you pay a big psychological price. Mentally, you are undervaluing yourself and this will eventually embitter you. You’ll start to see your clients as a bunch of cheapskates who are only doing business with you because they think they are getting a steal. I believe this is what was happening with the concrete contractor. His clients are loyal only as long as he keeps working for pennies and he knows it. If he were to raise his prices, his clients would look elsewhere. He has painted, or cemented, himself into a corner. He’s in...
read more5 tips for effective communication in your small business
In business, if you fail to communicate, you fail. And the special difficulty in small business is that you’re required to be an effective communicator in a wide variety of settings to a diverse group of people. For these reasons, it’s always wise to be on the lookout for practical tips for effective communication. At the very least you need to communicate with your employees, your customers, and your vendors. Further, you may sometimes be communicating to a group and other times communicating to an individual. Your goals within these settings will be different, but some principles remain the same. You want to 1) understand what others are saying to you and 2) be certain that they understand what you are saying. Keeping those overarching truths in mind will serve you well. Consider them the foundation, on top of which you build your communication skills: Understand and be understood. If we start from there, we can begin to add some additional tips for effective communication that will serve you well in a wide range of settings. 1. Understand what your body language is saying. Have you noticed that some people are “approachable” while others aren’t? We have all probably worked for a business owner or manager who was difficult to talk to. Don’t let that be you. A smiling, pleasant manner is fundamental to opening up the lines of communication. Further, not only will this kind of body language make you more approachable, it’s contagious. Those around you will be more open. They will feel less threatened and be more likely to bring up important issues that might be “swept under the carpet” if you cultivate a less open culture. Avoid postures that tell others you’re closed, such as folding your arms, being half turned away when you’re talking to someone out on the floor, or leaning away when you’re seated at your desk; these postures tell people that you would really like to be somewhere else. And don’t forget to make eye contact. 2. Let people finish their thoughts. You’ve probably seen some of those 24-hour cable news channel shows where they bring in people to represent both sides of an issue. Often those turn into to shouting contests where everyone is talking over one another. Here’s a simple question: Does any communication go on when this happens? Of course not. Let people finish their sentences. Don’t finish them for them. Sometimes this requires you to take mental notes, so you can come back to a point made earlier. Paraphrase what people tell you and say it back to them to reassure everyone that you have understood what is being communicated. 3. Be an active listener. My previous thoughts lead to this effective communication tip: Your effectiveness will depend on your ability to be an active and proficient listener. I know a former high school teacher who always started the school year teaching these three pillars of success: Show up Pay attention Do the work He told his students that if they did those three things they would pass any class they ever took. Being an active listener is the “pay attention” pillar. Unfortunately, most people are thinking about what they are going to say next, rather than what the person they are talking to is saying now....
read moreThe incredible recent growth of Facebook and what it means for small business
Hold on to your figurative hats: more than 50 percent of all Americans check Facebook every day. Here’s how I got that number. According to the most recent Pew Research Center Social Media Update, 68 percent of all Americans use Facebook, and of those, 76 percent are on the popular social media platform at least once every day. Diffusion vs concentration Why is this important? It’s important because “diffusion” is the general trend in media today. With alternate sources of news, television and print media are losing eyeballs. With online streaming, broadcast and cable TV channels are hemorrhaging viewers. That makes this concentration of viewership on Facebook very noteworthy. There’s one more aspect to the growth of Facebook that flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Virtually always, as an entity becomes bigger, growth becomes more difficult. When you’re a small player, notching an impressive percentage growth number is easy. In 2016, the opposite was true among the social media platforms. When Goliath beats David Check out the growth for these sites between 2015 and 2016: Facebook grew from 72 percent to 79 percent of adult Internet users. Instagram grew from 28 percent to 32 percent of adult Internet users. Instagram grew from 25 percent to 29 percent of adult Internet users. Twitter grew from 23 percent to 24 percent of adult Internet users. Pinterest was flat with 31 percent of adult Internet users in both 2015 and 2016. Facebook added an additional 7 percent of the adult Internet using population to its user base, while the best any of the (much) smaller social media platforms could do was increase by 4 percent. The Pew update says that much of Facebook’s growth has come from older Americans jumping on board. Hey, if you want to see what the grandkids are up to, you have to be active on social media! The one-stop social media platform I’d like to make a comparison. I’m now seeing Facebook as the Amazon of social media, and by that, I mean that it is trying like crazy to diversify. Facebook wants to be all social media things to all people. It is making an incredibly strong play with its video service (watch out Periscope) and I just heard that it is going to somehow incorporate job listings. If you’re looking for work, you’ll be able to find opportunities as you browse your news feed (watch out LinkedIn). I’m just waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to start his own space program. We’ll see… Facebook ad revenue grows Let me couple one more fact with what I’ve outlined so far: During the most recent reporting period, Facebook revenue was up significantly, which means that advertising is catching on. Add all of this up and it points to the fact that you need to be seriously exploring how you can best leverage Facebook in your sales and marketing strategy. Don’t expect to hit it out of the park when you take your first swing. Take it slowly – and that’s easy to do with Facebook ads. Emily Coop and Mike Aynsley recently updated Hootsuite’s article on Facebook advertising for beginners. It will get you started. Finally, if you struggle with Facebook advertising, head over to one of the freelance sites and find a highly rated freelancer who specializes...
read moreThis week in small business: Snap to it! Snapchat marketing tips and more
My crystal ball is a little foggy on where the Snapchat stock price will be in the coming years after its impressive IPO. But, I do know that whether it’s up or down, many small businesses should be investing a concerted marketing effort on Snapchat. This week’s collection of curated content has a great article to get you started. Marketing and sales Since Snapchat (due to its IPO) has been in the news so much lately, this Brian Peters piece on Snapchat marketing is nicely timed indeed. Okay, I’m thinking that your website is mobile friendly by now, but how about your marketing? Ben Cogburn goes over the important points here. (And if you haven’t made your site mobile friendly, Sohail Abbas has seven tips for you.) If you’ve ever wondered what’s the point of content marketing, Adam Fout has your answers. Chris Gomersall offers a lot of insights into visual marketing in 2017, among them is that you should be “looking out the windshield instead of down at the dashboard.” The best things in life are free, but the best things in business are scalable. Kyle Gray offers five steps to a scalable content marketing campaign. Anyone just getting into email marketing will benefit from this article by Miranda Paquet: How to Make Your Website Profitable With Email Marketing. If you want to conquer social media, steal the ideas of those who are super successful. That’s exactly what this article posted by Jane Danes does. Leadership, management, and productivity Sujan Patel shares 10 tools that help him stay productive and connected to his team when he’s out on the road. Wegmans grocery stories are number four on Forbe’s list of the country’s best employers. Marcia Layton Turner outlines what small business owners can learn from Wegmans. Believe it or not, it’s time to mark your tax calendars for 2017 and Barbara Weltman delivers the info we need to get ’er done. Here are eight ways to improve productivity and reduce stress without much effort, by Isaac Lien. You have to love the “without much effort” part! “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power.” – Anon Entrepreneurship, startups, and innovation It may be hard to do, but Per Bylund says entrepreneurs should ignore the success of Facebook and Uber. David K. Williams chronicles how Amy Regenstrief is using her own experience battling cancer to influence health care innovation in this Forbes article. Need to dump your day gig and get going with your entrepreneurial vision? Jonathan Chan has some ideas for you. Denise Restauri tells the story of Kimra Luna, a Millennial who went from food stamps to millions. “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.” – Maya...
read more