From the category archives:
One of the questions I get a lot from small business owners is “What key performance indicators are most important for my business?” While there is no set of “universal” key performance indicators (KPI’s) that will be 100% aligned to your unique business, I’ve developed ten KPI’s that you can use as a starting point. [...]
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There are so many small business marketing and growth blogs out there, and it can be difficult to find the ones that reward your time with articles and information that will affect your bottom line. Check out the Top 50 Blogs for Small Business Owners. It’s a great resource for valuable information to help you [...]
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Whether cold calling is a small or large part of your marketing efforts to bring in new prospects, stop it!! Cold calling is probably the number one most inefficient marketing effort you can make. In fact, I don’t even consider it a real marketing tatic. Why? Because it is a form of “Interruption Marketing.” Sure, [...]
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Search It! is simply the best all-in-one search tool I’ve come across. And the best thing is that it is completely free to use. Below is the basic search interface. There are four steps or less to any search query. Step 1 involves choosing a basic search function from a drop-down menu. There are [...]
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As a business owner, you’re part of an elite group. Many people dream of starting their own business, either to follow their passion, or just to get out of someone else’s cubicle. The fact is, most small businesses don’t last very long, and few people ever act on their desire to run a business in [...]
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LinkedIn is a professional networking site whereby business people can connect with other associates, friends and potential clients. LinkedIn is sometimes referred to as Facebook for professionals. As a small business owner, you really need to be on this service. Creating a profile is a simple process. Once done, you can start connecting with other [...]
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So how much should you spend each year on your marketing program? Some companies take a percentage of the past year’s revenue and use that as the budget for the upcoming year. I don’t like this as it assumes that a fixed amount of money must be spent irrespective of business conditions. Your marketing expenses [...]
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I strongly encourage you to find ways of tying your marketing goals to revenue. After all, it’s your marketing program that will be driving your yearly profits. You can do this by being very specific in the creation of your goals and defining numbers that are directly tied to revenue. Examples include: Number of unique [...]
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Most small business owners have a lot of goals they want to accomplish. This can lead to a problem where you are focused on so many different goals, none of them get accomplished very well. Pick 3-5 major goals for your business per year. Don’t overdo it. It’s much better to focus on three critical [...]
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If you are a new business or simply don’t have a large product line, think about selling other people’s products for a commission. Research products that would complement your current offering and call the company to see if they are interested in having you advertise and sell the product for a commission. You might even [...]
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