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Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Managing Sales Taxes

May 16th, 2012

Maria Helm

If you’re in the business of selling products, it’s likely you must collect a tax on each transaction. For small business owners, managing sales taxes can be a big headache.

For starters, the debate over online sales taxation is growing. Last year at least nine states pushed bills that would require online retailers to collect sales taxes in states where they do business, whether or not they have a physical presence. Discussions are also underway at the national level to have Congress close the tax loophole for online retailers.

In addition, audits are on the rise. Businesses can open themselves up to potential fines or penalties if they are not transparent and accurate in tracking collections, creating and filing returns and paying the states.

Posted in Sales

Tags: Online Sales, Small Business, Tips

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Marketing On A Budget

February 23rd, 2012

Maria Helm

You too can drive sales without furthering your expenses. Consider the following tips to marketing on a budget:

Internet sales tools - spread the word. Keep costs down by using Internet sales tools like ClickBank, Facebook or Google.
Consider commission only sales staff. If you have a proven product or service, a bold brand and a good sales pitch, a commission only sales person could be a fit.
Customers are the best advocates. Your clients know your products and services best. Identify potential customers who can help and create a benefit program to give incentive for referrals.
Testimonials will always sell. Create an area on your website or social accounts where clients can shout out about their wonderful experiences with your company.
Getting involved can open doors in your community. You are your own best spokesperson. Take time to speak at a local event to build credibility for your company.
Hold an event of your own. If you are in a position to hold an open house for your company or host an event in your area, this is a great way to build a good reputation.
Press releases spread the word. If your hosting or sponsoring an event, launching a new product or even moving offices, you can publish a press release online to get the word out. With non-profit events, you may even find newspapers that will print your story.

Find the combination that fits your business best.

Photo Credit: 401K

Posted in Marketing

Tags: Marketing, Small Business, Tips

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Leverage your website to improve your sales

November 2nd, 2011

Maria Helm

Regardless of your industry or the size of your business, you can leverage you website to find more new customers, serve your existing customers and convert more leads to sales. Here are some answers to some of our customers questions that will help you put the web to work for your business.

I’m a local automobile mechanic. My business has done fine for years based on word-of-mouth, but I keep hearing from everyone, “Why don’t you have a website?” Why do I need a website?
Consumers have adopted the Internet as a daily research tool much faster than many experts even predicted. Sure, some of your new customers will continue to find you via word-of-mouth. However, when a potential customer is trying to find mechanics in your area, many of them will turn to the Internet vs. looking in a phone book. If you don’t have a web site and a presence online, those potential customers will find your competitors that do have websites.

I want to maximize any type of e-commerce opportunities out there. Currently, I sell several locally made products on my website, and I have many repeat customers buying my products. What else could I be selling via my site?
Do you have an eye-catching logo or tag phrase for your web business? If so, there’s an easy way for you to sell more. Currently, there are several online services that give you the power to create T-shirts, coffee mugs, and many other items adorned with your logo or tag phrase and sell them on your site. And the best part of services such as Cafepress (www.cafepress.com) is that you don’t have to buy a bunch of T-shirts upfront and hope that they’ll be successful. They’ll print and ship a T-shirt or coffee mug only after you’ve received an order.

Some of my competitors have started blogs, but all they keep writing about is their business. It seems very self serving to me. What’s the value in creating a blog on my website?

Posted in Marketing, Sales

Tags: Customer Service, Entrepreneurship, Small Business, website

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Online Video For Your Small Business

September 14th, 2011

Maria Helm

Online video is a great tool for building brand awareness. It a great tool to reach new customers and increase sales. You can spend a lot of money on a sophisticated video marketing campaign, or you can pick up your camcorder and do it yourself. In fact, an unpretentious and honest-looking video may be more effective than a slickly produced commercial product.

You can place your video on YouTube free or post it on your website. The latter gives you more control and eliminates the possibility that your competitors’ videos and ads will show up next to yours.

What should your online video be about? Will it be easy to do? Businesses can promote themselves via three themes:

Showing what you do. The what-we-do video basically features your company’s elevator pitch – your “about us” page on your website. Introduce yourself, how long you have been in business and the services or types of products you offer. Keep it short – two minutes max. Finally, tell customers how to work with you: online, at your shop or both.

Testimonials: short and sweet. The secret to good testimonials is to keep them concise. Find the three most important reasons a customer loves you and shoot three separate videos. Then do the same with another customer. It is more interesting to have separate customers listing different reasons they recommend you than a series of customers all saying the same thing.

You’re the expert. How-to videos are effective for improving your search results on Google and other search engines. What are the top questions your customers ask? Those should be the subjects of your how-to videos. For example, if you sell gloves, discusss how to select the right size. If you fix washers and dryers, explain how to keep them clean.

Let videos help tell your company’s story. If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine how valuable a video could be for your business.

Photo Credit: Torley

Posted in Marketing

Tags: brand, Marketing, Online video, Small Business

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Have You Nudged Someone Lately?

August 3rd, 2011

Maria Helm

As I was getting ready for work one morning about a year or so ago, I was listening to Good Morning America. They did a segment on the book “Nudge”, co-authored by Cass R. Sunstein and Richard Thaler. The book was written in hopes of making small, little behavior changes to help benefit those who have a hard time losing weight. The idea behind the book, according to Richard Thaler, is a nudge which he describes as any small feature of the environment that captures our attention and changes our behavior – tiny and painless cues that can influence people to make better choices

Now, how does nudging relate to marketing? Nothing is more frustrating than sending out a regular email campaign only to find out through your email provider report the number of high unopened emails and low click-throughs. This may be discouraging, but not to worry. Even if your subscribers don’t open your email, its presence in their inbox leads to a solid impact on brand awareness and sales. The act of influencing your audience through the understated impact of unopened emails is called nudging. Here’s how it works:

As the recipient scans her inbox, she decides what needs attention now, what can wait and what she’ll delete without reading.
Even if your recipient doesn’t open your email, seeing your brand name in the “From” line and your pitch in the “Subject” line can influence her buying decisions. So, write powerful subject lines that encourage recipients to take action.

What types of “nudges” will you make with your marketing campaigns?

Photo Credit: mindgraph

Posted in Marketing

Tags: E-mail, Marketing, Nudging, Pitch, Tips

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