One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is, “How can I be sure my new business will succeed?” There is no crystal ball that can accurately answer that question. However, if you are serious about starting a business there are five steps you can take that will begin to give you a clearer picture. By following these steps you will gain tremendous insight into what lies ahead. Whether this reality-check convinces you to dive in, or hold back, you’ll be well served by what you learn. While we are huge proponents of founders developing a well written business plan, the steps below can be followed even before you start your small business plan.
Step 1: Write a simple elevator pitch to see if your business idea is compelling to others. If you haven’t created an elevator pitch before, you can stitch together the essentials very easily. Write a one sentence answer to each of the following questions. What problem will your company solve for its customers? Who has this problem and how large is that group? What will make your business unique so that customers will buy from you instead of a competitor? Finally, what are your qualifications to run the business? If you force yourself to write and re-write the very best one sentence answers to each of these questions, you will have the elevator pitch you need for this purpose. Now, try out your elevator pitch on 10 people you trust and respect to get their feedback and reaction to your well-formed business concept. This is the warm up for steps two and three.
Step 2: Talk to would-be customers to find out if there is a true need for your product or service. When you are thinking about starting a business, you obviously feel there is a void in the marketplace. Don’t wait until you open your business to find out if the need for another business is real or imagined. Armed with your elevator pitch, go have face-to-face discussions with future customers. You are not going to them to sell, or pre-sell. You are doing market research. After describing your business by generally following your elevator pitch, go into “ask and listen” mode. To get the information you are seeking, ask questions like, “How are you currently meeting your needs for (insert the products or services your company will provide)?” Listen carefully-this is the voice of the customer. In step one, you spoke to friends and respected colleagues. In step two, you are talking to people who currently buy products or services like those you will be selling. Select individuals who will be focused on the content of your ideas and less concerned about simply wanting to be encouraging.
Step 3: Become an expert on the competition. Identify 5 other companies that are already doing what you plan to do. Learn as much about them as you can. One of the best things to learn is if they expanding or shrinking. You want to …
Many people believe that the promise of making money with article marketing is just another get-rich-quick scheme, but they are mistaken. It is very competitive, but simple to do. Just avoid misleading gimmicks. Be Honest. In order to succeed with article marketing, you need some awesome tips to make it happen, and that’s where this article comes in.
What kinds of ads interest your audience? Adding new content and ads periodically will keep things interesting. Don’t be reluctant to show your creativity with different fonts, colors and graphics to focus attention where you want it. Trial and error is the best way for you to find out what works regarding technique.
Think about outsourcing. If you are not a talented writer or don’t have the time needed to write your own content, hiring a professional to write for you may be your best option. In the end, you will save time and help your website, so the extra cost will be worth it.
Make sure your articles reflect you as a writer. Personal touches make your articles more appealing than if they are dry and impersonal. Always be honest in your articles and allow your style to become evident. Your readers will appreciate the effort and are more likely to return.
Use social media. Using your Twitter and Facebook accounts is a good way of attracting new readers. All you have to do is post some kind of update whenever you put out a new piece of writing to get peoples’ attention. You can also ask your followers to share your articles with their friends for an even higher boost in traffic.
Maximize the benefit of your articles by including at least one keyword or keyword phrase. For the best results, try incorporating keywords into headings and the URL. You should pepper the keyword throughout the article. By placing your keyword throughout your page, you increase the chance that a search engine will find your article.
Learn all that you can about your target audience. If your target is casual blog sites, make sure your content is short and personable. If you want to look professional, aim for longer content that is well-researched.
Add bullets and numbers in your articles. Bullets and numbered lists help the reader to better understand and remember the content. Bulleted text helps the reader to categorize and retain the information, because it is viewed as more important.
The articles you write must be original and filled with unique content. People do not want to look through the same old stuff over and over again. In addition, if the topic of your article is something many people have not heard of, you will reduce your readership.
Your opener is extremely important. Make sure that you present any opening paragraph in a way that will grab your reader’s attention. Give your readers statistics or questions that will make them more attentive to what you are trying to tell them. Most visitors will form an opinion after reading …
Depending on who is defining it, there are a number of different definitions of mobile marketing. Each business sees this type of marketing in different ways, and the implementation of their marketing plans is just as different. One of the easiest ways to explain mobile marketing is utilizing popular mobile devices to market your business to a wider number of users. These tips will help you find the way forward when starting your mobile marketing campaign.
You should begin your mobile marketing efforts by constructing a database. Prevent yourself from just simply adding in cell phone numbers straight into a mobile marketing database. You really need to get their permission before starting. To obtain permission, you can create a form for downloading or a process through which users respond to a text message.
Never randomly message your customers. Be sure your message means something to the recipient and that they will welcome the message. Mobile marketing has been known to fail when businesses become too casual with their text messages. They want useful, relevant messages, not lighthearted banter as if you were their goofy friend.
Mobile content should be easy to read and to the point for the success of your campaign. Make sure they know your message and can absorb it, as quickly as possible!
Make yourself a mission statement that is more about what your purpose is more than anything else to be successful in mobile marketing. You will be less likely to stray into unproductive strategies if you give yourself a clear reminder of your principles.
One of the most effective ways to raise profits is to do mobile marketing. Increasing numbers of people are going mobile and using devices like smartphones to access social networks and buy apps. These are both excellent places that you could be marketing your business. You need to bring your marketing to where the customers are.
Learn how mobile devices work so that you can design your site and ads accordingly to be an effective mobile marketer. You should use numerous mobile devices. This will allow you to learn how they work and set up a site that is customized for navigation by someone who is using any device.
Remember that the people you are reaching out to with mobile marketing are people out and about, living their lives. Use common courtesy.
A successful mobile marketer does not stand still. They are continually looking for new ways to get their message out there. To be successful, you should follow their lead. Start with texting, then go to calling, then to videos and so on. This helps expand your network. Take advantage of everything possible.
Allow message recipients to leave feedback about your mobile marketing communications. This offers an excellent opportunity to connect more effectively and interact with your customers. Even if the feedback is negative, it can be used to enhance your mobile marketing tactics.
In conclusion, mobile marketing can mean many things. There is no accepted common definition when it …
Assembling a plan for mobile marketing may seem mysterious at first with so many options available, and you may not be certain where to start. This article will take some of the guesswork out of the process of promoting your business in the mobile realm.
Don’t send random messages to your customers. Every message you send them should be relevant and useful. Nothing will crash your marketing campaign faster than annoying your customers with random things. Customers like relevance, not jokes or other nonsense.
Short and sweet is an important key when it comes to appealing to all of your consumers. Your message must come across loud and clear to your customers. This allows them to understand, relate to and absorb it much faster.
If you are not an expert on designing for a mobile audience, then by all means, hire one. Giving a website a mobile device design can involve sophisticated skills. If you want the best results, spend the money on a professional with the appropriate expertise.
If you want to see your profits go up, try some mobile marketing. More and more people everyday are using their mobile phones to use social networking websites and download apps. Both of these are good ways to advertise and market your business. Make sure that you are bringing what you have to offer to the people, don’t make them have to find you.
When you get involved in mobile marketing, it is quite helpful for you to be somewhat familiar with the design and operation of mobile devices, so that you create user-friendly sites and advertisements. Start by getting different mobile phones and experimenting with them.
You always have the option of sharing apps with your customers, but were you aware that you can create the majority of these applications yourself? Your mobile marketing campaigns could be greatly enhanced by embracing this new piece of technology. Create an app that is unique to your business and offer it out. There are a lot of features to choose from; tailor your app to the kind of customers you are addressing.
You will get the best results from dedicated short code. While the price is higher, it can help your brand stay protected. You may also derive a bit of legal coverage from its use.
Make it simple for your customers to forward your mobile marketing ads to their friends. Ease of forwarding as well as incentives for doing so are great ways to ensure that your ad is packing all of the punch that it is capable of.
No matter how advanced smartphones get, remember that mobile web browsing is just not as easy as going online with a computer. If you are going to engage in mobile marketing, then your ads and other marketing materials need to be totally accessible on mobile devices. Sometimes this means that users on a computer may view a more simple page.
There are many different variations of mobile marketing methods, but they all share …
Have you been using email marketing, only to be disappointed by the results you are seeing? Do you find email marketing to be an interesting idea, but do not know how to begin? This article is here to help you. In the paragraphs below, you’ll find advice for mass appeal email marketing strategies.
Know your audience and be focused. Why would your readers want to sign up for your email list? Once you have the answer, use it to your advantage. At the end of every email, provide a “subscribe” button and a “share” button so readers can pass along your information to friends. This is a great method to use to organically grow your base.
Each email should only contain a single topic. It is important that your audience does not grow bored or bogged down by an excessive amount of facts within a single message. Formulate one text only, and make sure it is brief and concise. Audiences are sure to appreciate your willingness to limit the message to just the most relevant material.
Refrain from bombarding the inbox of your recipients with “Buy now!” the way you go about it. This will make you look like you are spamming them, which will in turn affect your business. Your customers understand that you’re a company and therefore you have to sell your product, but they will respect you more if you do so in a professional way. They will like this and will likely purchase from you.
Before you send out emails, make sure to proofread them. Accuracy is important in all forms of correspondence, including emails and newsletters. Prior to message distribution, test email layouts so you know for sure that all the text and elements show up in your preferred way. Also, check any links you include in the email to ensure they work.
Make sure that people actually want to receive emails from you by using a double opt-in strategy. This helps to ensure that the customer is legitimately interested in receiving your emails. It also helps to keep your business emails from being viewed as spam.
Do not send any more than a single email message a week. Most likely, your subscribers receive dozens of emails every day. If your emails arrive more than once weekly, subscribers are more likely to trash them without ever reading the content that you put so much time into.
Avoid sending your email marketing near holidays. People are normally not at work and are not spending time at their computers, so most likely they will not see your emails. Keep in mind that there could be exceptions to this. Emails about special promotions like Black Friday are exceptions to this.
Do not depend upon graphics-heavy emails in your campaign. Because so many popular email clients block graphics, including ads and logos, your audience probably will not be able to view emails that contain lots of pictures or other graphics. Also, email programs may send image-heavy emails to your …