Nibletz Staff - 14/87 - Serious Startups

Don’t Be Overwhelmed When Attending Your First Trade Show

Trade shows are a vital marketing method and one that every business should take advantage of, whether they are big or small. That being said, while trade shows can be a highly effective method of increasing brand awareness, this is only when you utilize your stand to the best of your ability. Being new to trade shows, the chances are that you will find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed, especially if you have signed up to attend a large trade show. That being said, if you know what to expect from a tradeshow and are prepared to make the most of your time there, you don’t need to let being overwhelmed ruin the experience for you and impact your success. To make the most of your first trade show experience, here is what you need to know:

Know what to expect

One of the best ways to ensure that you don’t feel overwhelmed on the day of your first trade show is to make sure that you know what to expect. Attend a couple of tradeshows beforehand, to ensure that you know how busy to expect the show that you are attending to be, and to give you an idea of which stands tend to make the biggest impact. The fact is that when it comes to trade show success, the bigger impact your stand makes, the better. Also, running competitions and giveaways, as well as having goodie bags on hand to give out, can work a treat for pulling people towards your stand. You can’t go wrong with an incentive.

Be prepared

When it comes to planning to attend a trade show, it is vital that you are as prepared as possible. Because by being prepared, you can ensure that you have everything that you could possibly need to make an impact. Something that a lot of first-time trade show exhibitors find helpful is working alongside specialist exhibition companies that are able to make managing a trade show event a little easier, less stressful and less overwhelming. Plus, when it comes to making sure that your stand makes an impact, experts in trade shows are sure to have some useful tips for you to implement. So taking the time to talk to them and see what they can offer is most definitely worthwhile.

Take a team

Whatever you do, don’t attend your first trade show, or any trade show for that matter, alone. Always take a team of people with you to ensure that you have all of the help that you need to effectively manage your stand, as well as being able to talk to people who stop at it. By taking a team with you, you can ensure that when it comes to making the most of the event, you have enough people to man every station, from your stand to walking around the event with brochures to hand out.

The fact is that trade shows can be seriously overwhelming, especially the first time that you attend one. However, if you are smart about it, you can ensure that everything goes to plan, and you are able to effectively use your stand at a trade show to build your business’s exposure and customer base.

Shake Up Your Site With A Complete Content Supercharge

When it comes to creating content, you can often find yourself getting a little bit stuck. Whether you’re always running out of ideas, not reaching the traffic levels that you’d hoped, or can’t seem to engage with your audience, you may be in need of a little help. Sometimes, you don’t even know that you’re struggling until you read something like this and think, yes – that’s me! When that’s the case, you may even need to shake things up and go for a complete overhaul. But again, how do you know where to start?

It’s the nature of content to be interesting, entertaining, informative, educational, or even inspiring. When you find that your site’s content isn’t any of these things, you may need to regroup and get yourself back into a strong position once again. Whether you’re a writer and run a blog, or you’re an entrepreneur with a business site, the process is going to be largely the same. Because content is content; it needs to be engaging regardless of its purpose. So now’s the time to spice up your current content and start to head in an entirely new direction, and here’s how you’re going to do it.

Research

Read Anything & Everything

First of all, you’re really going to want to get your research in. This can often be the most important part of all. Because how are you to know where to improve, if you’re not able to find out what you should be doing. Looking at different content marketing ideas as Forbes.com tells us is just one avenue towards making this happen, but you can also read different marketing and business sites and blogs to find out some great ideas for taking your site to the next level.

See What The Industry Is Up To

But you’re also going to want to take a look at some of the sites in your particular industry too. Whether you have a blog or a business site, you should be looking at what your competitors are doing with their content, as well as other blogs and sites that are in the same niche as you. Here you will be able to see what you’re doing well, as well as where you need to improve, and even get some ideas for going forwards too.

Head To Social

Then, you’ve also got social media to scour too. Because you can often get some really great ideas from different social media platforms. In short, you need to be able to tackle your research from all kinds of different angles, and social media can often provide you with that final piece of the puzzle to pull things together.

Create

Generate Some Ideas

Okay, with your research complete (or enough for now anyway), you’re then going to want to get onto the actual creation side of the overhaul. And the first part of this is all about generating some ideas. Based on your research, your mind should be buzzing with different creative ideas you have for new content, as well as things like design and even features too. So, now, you need to get these ideas down on paper.

Spice Up Your Posts

Then, when it comes to creating some content, you’re going to want to think about making things a little more exciting. There are lots of different ways that you can spice up your content, but you’re definitely going to find that varying your post types can help too. Don’t always stick to long, lengthy posts. Go in with videos and fun imagery, even detailed infographics to make things more exciting too.

Focus On SEO

From here, you should also be sure that you’re putting enough emphasis on your SEO. If you really want your site or blog is sing, it needs to be optimized. But don’t panic, if you know nothing about SEO right now, you can learn all about it. With a few tweaks to the way you approach creating content, you’ll feel like a pro in no time.

Analyze

Analyze The Results

Then, you’re going to want to think about analyzing the results of your new efforts. Because putting content out there isn’t enough. You need to be ensuring that it works and actually engages with your audience. To do this, you need to be checking in with your site analytics on every post to see which are working and why, and which aren’t, and why.

And Your SEO

You should also think about doing this with your SEO. Again, you don’t have to panic. Because there are software services such as Botify.com that were created to specifically help you with this. You need to ensure that your SEO is not only working, but that it’s getting you the results you need, and to do that, you need to start analyzing it.

And, Finally, Your Social Too

The last area that you should look to analyze on a regular basis is your social media. Because if your want your content to be king, social plays an important part in it. Is your content shareable, or popular with your audience? You can use social to find out. So you need to get onto your platforms and look into the analytics to find out what’s working the best.

Optimize

Create New Content Based On The Results

From here, you then need to take all of that analysis that you’ve just done, and come up with some clear conclusions. The results are likely to show you what kinds of content works for you, and what doesn’t do so well. So you’re then going to be able to take this information to continue on creating new content. But this time, you should find that the content is much more of a hit.

Try New Things

As you start to move forwards with your new content, you’re also going to want to ensure that you start to try new things. Because sticking to the same old stuff is just one way to get yourself stuck in a rut again. So, to help you try out new things, you not give A/B or split testing a try? You could find out what ideas work best among your audience, to continue to optimize your content going forwards.

Ask The Audience

At this stage, you should also be asking your audience what they want. It’s easy to think that you should know what they want, but you’re only human – you can’t read minds. To find out what your readers want, you need to ask them. It’s what all successful businesses do. Because if you want your content to work, it has to be what they want.

Repeat

Re-Apply New Results

Then you’ll find that you get to the stage where you’re pretty much repeating the above processes. It’s the best way to ensure that your content stays relevant and really gets you the results you want, whether you’re a blog or a business. You should be researching, creating, analyzing, and optimizing over and over to ensure you’re putting out the best of the best.

Trial Trends

But, again, don’t be afraid to try new things. You should be thinking about the different ways to can apply new content marketing trends as sites such as Contentmarketinginstitute.com talk about, as you’re going forwards. Some might not work, but when something does, you’ll be glad you gave it a go.

Adapt To Industry Changes

And finally, you’re going to want to ensure that you move with the times. That’s why the idea of constantly repeating the steps is so important. The world of content is fast-paced, and what works for you now may not work for you in a few months time. So you need to use this repeated process to keep yourself ahead of any industry changes.

Let’s Launch! Getting Your Business To Take Off With A Launch Party

If you are an experienced entrepreneur, you might be aware of the impact a launch can have on a new enterprise. The impact of a product launch can be witnessed by the frenzy that Apple brings every time they unveil a new iPhone, but when it comes to launching a business, the stops need to be put in place. Planning an event to launch your business requires a lot of forethought. It can be a big struggle to make a success of launching a new business, especially if you aren’t an experienced entrepreneur. So let’s dive right in and get your company to make a splash.

Define Your Goals

This is the first thing you need to do, by having clearly defined goals, you can then figure out exactly who to invite. You may want to invite influencers in your industry, or you may want to get the press involved, and whether you have a PR team or not, there’s a lot that you can do with minimal resources now. The efficacy of social media and leveraging the use of sites like LinkedIn to make an impact before your business has even launched can mean you will make an impression right away.

Pick A Great Location

It’s not just the people who will make the event memorable; the location has a lot to do with it too. The right venue for your event needs to be accessible, it needs to be stylish, and it needs to convey the appropriate attitude for your business. If you are looking for inspiration, check out these event venues, and think about the best way to create a memorable experience for your guests, and make sure that your business sets off on the right foot.

Communicate Your Brand Personality

There is no point in having a posh dinner when your ideal clients are teenagers or young adults. You need to think very carefully about your audience and convey the business brand appropriately. The key to this is just to do what will make sense for your business image, and make sure that you imbue everything with your personality. The trick is not to go for what other businesses do but to follow your personality, and think outside the box, but also keep your intended audience in mind. It’s these people that will be buying your products after all.

Encourage Active Promotion

With the importance of social media at any of them now, you want to be generating a buzz out of what you’re doing. So make sure that you engage people online, and let them interact with your product and services at the events. You could also encourage people to share photos of them of the event, with the usual promotional ideas, like using hashtags, but if you want to go one step further, you may want to think about a live stream of some aspect of the event. For example, if you plan on having entertainment, and especially if the entertainment is a popular celebrity, this will be another reason to get people to come to your website, your event, and use your products.

A successful business launch in paramount to getting off on the right foot, so make it count!

Why Physical Stores MUST Accept E-Payments

It seems weird that a physical store has to accept credit cards, but the days of handling cash are over. Okay, so there people who still deal with cold, hard cash. But, these people are fewer and farther apart than ever before. It’s an irrefutable fact that the majority of customers use a thin piece of plastic to make payment. If your store isn’t on the bandwagon, there’s a healthy chance that it will miss out on lots of custom.

Below are four more reasons why stores have to accept e-payments in today’s day and age.

Flexibility

A business which doesn’t take credit cards forces customers to make a choice. The choice is simple: you can shop here, but you need to have cash in your pocket. Some people won’t mind this ultimatum because it won’t impact them whatsoever. But, the majority will bounce to a competitor because it makes their life harder. Consumers don’t want to bother ensuring they have pocketfuls of money before they hit the high street. Instead, customers see something they like and make a spur of the moment purchase. Without a card machine, it isn’t possible.

Competition

Even if you don’t agree with their methods, you have to be aware of how your rivals operate. Why? It’s because they may stumble on a technique which increases their market share. Simply put, more than three-quarters of your competitors will use paymentsprocessing.co to acquire a POS system. So, that means you have to mirror them or risk getting left behind in their dust. You might not think it’s an essential piece of equipment, but the figures say otherwise. Anyway, there is no harm in trying the material to see if it works. A point of sale machine isn’t expensive and is easy to resell.

Upselling

In short, to upsell is to offer extra products which customers didn’t plan on buying. It’s an excellent way to shift additional units because consumers tend to give in to temptation. However, they will only throw extra items into their basket if they have the means to pay. Say they just have enough cash to cover the essential things, they are immune to upselling. It isn’t because they are strong-willed but because you have limited their options. A credit card machine encourages regular sales and additional ones, too. The amount of money which the company can make from upselling is worth investing in a POS system.

Online

Accepting online transactions is the only way to run an eCommerce site. Frankly, it’s impossible to receive cash via the internet. Sure, you don’t have to set up a website, but the best companies have a digital presence. In fact, fourthsource.com says it’s vital in the modern day industry. Think of a site as a marketing tool which has the potential to move products and services. And, because it’s open 24/7, it’s a constant source of advertising and revenue. Without an online POS system, however, it’s pointless.

It seems strange to think that some stores don’t accept credit cards in 2017. However, they are organizations that haven’t made the switch, and it’s to their detriment.

How to Set Up the Right Pricing for Your Goods or Services

Finding the right price to charge your customers can be a decision process filled with doubt – even worse, it can be a process filled with too much confidence. It’s easy to put the wrong number on the product because there are many factors that you should keep under consideration. Price your product too low, and you miss out on a potentially much larger profit whilst possibly risking giving the impression your product is inferior. Price it too high, and you might drive customers away – into the hands of your competitors.

Correct pricing is both an art and a science. Luckily, there are plenty of professionals in the field who are willing to give their expert advice. Here’s how to set up the right pricing for your goods or services.

The break-even point

This is a basic principle of doing business – you need to be able to calculate your break-even point. In other words, you need to add all your costs and expenses (including tax and transportation or shipping), and divide this by the number of units you produce. This will give you a price which you can never go below, unless you plan to incur losses. The break-even point will set the absolute lower limit.

Cost-based pricing

Cost-based pricing is giving your product a price based on the break-even point plus a mark-up in percentage terms. For example, if your break-even point is £10, you may want to add 50% and sell it at £15.00. This is the simplest way of pricing, but not the smartest one. It should only be used as a guide – other considerations have to be made.

Considering VAT and taxation

This should be considered in your pricing strategy. If you’re not sure how exactly taxes and VAT should be calculated and incorporated, consult a professional for advice – there are many accountants Central London offers, such as those from GSM & Co., who can help you with this.

Do your research

Check your competitors and see how they price similar items. You will have to compete, so do a comparative analysis and see how your product is better or less valuable.

Value-pricing

Customer research is incredibly important in this – understand what your customer values, and see how much they are willing to pay.

Once you have a good idea of what could be the ideal price, it’s time to bring your product or service to the market. Accept the fact that you might have to make some changes. When in doubt, it’s better to price your product too high rather than too low – you can always change the price later on, but the consumer will readily accept a reduction in price rather than an increase in price.

Remember also that pricing can be a powerful market strategy, so think the process through.

Drive Online Sales By Doing This One Simple Thing

The most radiant golden nugget of truth you can discover when learning to drive online sales is that the customer is always right. It’s old wisdom for sure, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not still valid. In fact, being customer focused is the single most important way you can increase your sales and profits. Of course, to be successful, you have to learn to apply this concept to each different area of your businesses. Read the post below to find out how.

Product

To drive online sales, you must have a great and innovative product, and it may be that you are a business genius of your time. The next Branson, Gates, or Jobs, but that doesn’t mean that every product idea that your brain farts out is golden. In fact, good products are rarely devised on the first go. They take development, research, and above all a willingness to listen to what customers actually want.

OK, I know Jobs is famous for saying that he designed things that people didn’t even know they wanted yet, but really all that means is that he took the less overt clues. Then developed them into a product that filled a need.

So, do you market research, get reviews, get tests done and see how people really feel about your product. After all, it is those guys that will be putting their hands in their pocket to pay for them. So they definitely need to be your first and last though when coming up with your design.

Website

Websites are important for driving online sales, no shock there, but is super surprising is that so many people in online sales don’t really know why. They get that you have to have a virtual shop front to display your product and give customers a chance to make a purchase. However, they often remain are unaware of all of the other sales driving benefits that a great website brings to the table.

Benefits like extended customer reach allowing clients to purchase anywhere, at any time. As well as the ability to track customer habits with analytics. Something that enables you the seller to customize their experience to improve it.

A good website will also help you establish that trust relationship with your customers, especially if it’s user-friendly, reliable, and attractive. This is why many business looking for online sales, research the best website builder to use for their needs, thoroughly beforehand. Enabling them to achieve an effective and customer friendly site that looks good on the customer-facing side, helps to drive sales, and is also easy to manage on the content management side of things too.

Marketing content

Something else that is going to fall flat on its face, and drive no sales if not totally focused on your customers is your marketing. Regarding content, the focus should not be on what your company is comfortable producing, but what it is that your customers want.

After all the point of marketing content is to get your brand, and product front of the customer is a positive way. That means if your demographic isn’t responding to video, try podcasts, or if they don’t like articles much, go for infographics instead.

Luckily there is such a huge range of content types that you can use. Just make sure that you make it a priority to identify and then create the ones that your customers respond best to. As it is these that will drive the most sales.

Payments

What is a transaction? It’s when you a company sells a product (or service) to a member the public, and they pay you for it. Without the payment, you are just giving stuff away, and while that is a most noble act. It’s not going to make you much of a profit, or stop that little vein on the side of your CEO’s head from popping out in your next sales meeting. That means payment is significant and not just because it’s what you want to receive but also as it can make or break the customer’s decision on whether to go ahead with the purchase or not.

It’s all about choosing the right payment method to offer. Otherwise, you risk them not wanting to make the effort to put in their credit card details. Having to fill in all those annoying forms that have terrible habit flashing up red and saying you have made an error. When you quite clearly haven’t! No one can be bothered with this. So to help drive sale make the payment part of the transaction as easy as possible.

That means offering a payment option that is popular like PayPal, so it’s easy for your customer to click through. Yes, you will always need to have the credit card option as well, but quick-pay is what people will plump for, given a choice, and you can exploit this minimize the time your customers have to reconsider their purchase. So, closing as many sales as possible.

Delivery

People don’t like missing their packages or having to take a day off work to wait in for the delivery men. They also don’t like to have to wait five weeks for something that they want right now. In fact, this is something that can stop them purchasing altogether. Driving them to look for another vendor that can offer the product in a shorter space of time.

That is why it’s vital that you make sure your delivery process is set up to benefit your customers and not just your company. That means offering a date selection service so customers can ensure that they will be in. It also means offering tracking services, so customers can see when to expect their package. As well as being able to change the delivery options by text or email if they are unexpectedly not going to be there to receive it.

Expedited delivery is something that customers just expect now too and for a reasonable price. Thanks, Amazon Prime! So be careful to include all these focused customer elements in your delivery service to drive the most sales of your product.

Returns

They say to err is human and to forgive divine, but as most of your clients are likely to be the former you had better watch out! As they may decide that they erred when making their purchase from you, and want to return it.

This is problematic for online businesses because it can cost money to have the product picked up, checked and re-entered into stock. As well as the admin costs for refund that needs issuing. However, it is worth factoring these things into your prices in the first place, because offering returns, free ones if possible, is actually a great way to drive online sales.

This is because buying things online is a lot different than going into a shop and making a purchase. You are relying on pictures and a description to help you make your choice, without ever having seen the product in real life. That means it could well be the wrong, shape, color, size when it does arrive, and if you can’t return said item you are now the proud owner of something that is totally useless and has cost you money.

This is something that can stop people making online purchases, although by offering free returns, you can remove this block. As customers feel reassured that even if it does turn out to be not quite right, they will not be out of pocket. Something that also helps to drive more online sales.

Why A Reliable Host is a Necessity If You Want Your Project to Succeed

A reliable web host is incredibly important if you want your project to succeed for a number of reasons. There are so many different web hosts that you can get these services from that you will definitely want to make a point of exploring your options as well as finding out why it’s so important that you choose a reliable company. The more time you take to get this information, the better of a decision you will end up making on a particular hosting company.

Minimal Downtime

A truly reliable web host will keep your website’s downtime, which is important for obvious reasons. If you want people to be able to access your website at least 99% of the time, you will need a great host that is known for providing its customers with excellent services. This will make your site available when it really matters. If you decide to go cheap and choose a disreputable web host, you can probably expect your website to be offline more than it is online.

The speed of your website

The web host that you ultimately decide on will play a very important role when it comes to the overall speed of your website. If you actually want people to keep visiting your website on a consistent basis, you will need to make sure that the site itself as well as the internal pages loads as quickly as possible. A reliable host will virtually guarantee that your site will maintain a respectable load time, which in turn will have people coming back over and over. The last thing you want is to have a slow loading website, because most people won’t have the patience to wait.

Getting the support you need

Another reason why it is so essential that you select a reliable host is that you will be able to get the technical support you need when you need it. Any respectable web host will offer 24/7 support, which means that you won’t have to be concerned with whether or not you’ll be able to get help for your problems right away. If you are having a major issue with your site, the last thing you want is to have to wait until regular business hours. The quality of the support that you receive will ultimately play an important role in determining just how successful your project is going to be overall.

Protecting your Website

You will need to find a reliable web host so you can protect your website from security threats of all kinds, including malware and other things. These days there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who can easily take down your website if it is not properly protected. The more time and effort you put into finding the right web host, the more peace of mind you are going to have. The consequences of a security breach could be massive for your site, which is all the more reason to select a reliable and reputable web host that can offer you adequate protection.

A good reputation

When you take enough time to find a good reliable web host, you will make it a lot easier to establish a solid reputation for your website. If your site is constantly going down or taking forever to load, it can be incredibly difficult to do this. If you really want your website to have an impeccable reputation, it will be necessary for you to make a point of looking for a host that you can really trust. If your website doesn’t have a solid reputation, you won’t be able to get anything out of it.

Looking at customer reviews

There are many different ways to go about finding a reliable web host that you can trust, but looking at customer reviews for each one is very effective. Take all the time you need to read these reviews so that you will be able to decide on the right host overall. These reviews can be very valuable when it comes to making such an important decision, so you will definitely need to spend a decent amount of time doing this.

Loss of files

It is important to keep in mind that selecting the wrong web host can result in a loss of files, which can be extremely devastating to your project. This is something that not enough people take into consideration when going about selecting a certain host. The last thing you want is to lose any of the files for your website; because once the damage is done it could take a very long time to undo. Choosing a reliable host will ensure that you won’t have to worry about this happening.

Search engine rankings

A reliable host can also help you boost your website’s search engine ranking, which is important because it will allow more people to find your site easily. If you want to increase the traffic going to your website as much as possible, you will definitely need a host that you can rely on every single day. There are a startling number of people who don’t realize there is in fact a connection between their search engine ranking and the web host they have chosen. The more time you spend looking for a good host, the better of a ranking your site will have.

Final Thoughts

The fact is that you will need to make a point of selecting a web host that you can really rely on, because otherwise you are taking a huge and ultimately unnecessary risk. As long as you do your homework, you shouldn’t encounter any big problems down the road. If you want your online project to be a complete success, it is crucial that you do this research first. The more time you spend reviewing your various web hosting options, the more likely it will be that you’ll get exactly what you need for your site.

How To Jumpstart Your Business When Your Batteries Are Empty

Hands holding jump start connectors with sparks between text business,

When you first start your new business, you’ll be running on a full battery. Sales will start to climb steadily, you might even think about expanding. But there will come a point when that battery will start to run down. Sales will slow and things will start to come grinding to a halt. When that battery runs out completely, your business will stagnate and if you don’t get it going again, it could fail permanently. So, how do you jumpstart a failing business?

Bring In New Staff

When you’re struggling to make sales and profits are starting to dwindle, hiring more staff is probably last on your list of priorities. Spending that extra money doesn’t seem like a sensible thing to do but hiring new staff could inject a bit of life into your business. One of the reasons that you might not be making any progress is because nobody is coming up with any new ideas. Somebody new can look at the company with fresh eyes and are more likely to pick out ways to improve things.

Get More Social Media Followers

Marketing teams are often at a loss about their social media campaigns because their posts are getting good engagement, yet they aren’t seeing that transfer into sales. The reason for that is usually that they aren’t reaching any new customers. They’re just reaching people that have already bought products from them. The key to making it work for you again is to find new followers. Luckily for you, companies like FB Bureau can help you with that. For a fee, they will find you lots of new followers for your social media accounts. They’re real people with real accounts so you still get the SEO benefits and you reach a lot more potential customers which could help you break the cycle of low sales that you’re stuck in.

Change Direction

Knowing when a business is failing is a skill that all the best business people possess. Clinging onto a sinking ship is bad business sense. If your company is failing to get anywhere, it might be time to admit defeat and accept that your business model isn’t working. There are plenty of companies that started out doing something completely different to what eventually made them their millions. Hasbro started out in 1923 as a textile company. They stayed that way until the 1940’s when they decided to release a toy doctor and nurse costume set. It was so successful that just a few years later they had morphed into the world famous toy company that is still thriving to this day. Sometimes your original plans don’t work out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change direction and build a lucrative business.

Rebrand

You might not need to change direction completely if you’re still convinced that the product is strong. There might just be an issue with your branding. In the past, stagnating companies have completely reinvented themselves and turned everything around. The Burberry clothes brand used to be associated with gangs because they adopted it and it seriously affected their sales. But they’re still going strong because they decided to rebrand. They introduced whole new lines that were separate from their old stuff and managed to paint themselves as a clothing company for the upper classes. A clever rebrand is one of the most effective ways to get your sales going again.

When your batteries are empty don’t give up just yet, try these methods to jumpstart things first.

Online Advantages You Can’t Let Your Competitors Have Over You

Everyone and anyone running a successful business today will tell you how important it is to get yours online. Without that website presence, you might as well be invisible to hundreds and thousands, if not millions, of potential customers. But it’s not enough to get online anymore. You have to keep up. These are a few of the advantages that your competitors might already have over you if you’re not careful.

The race to the top

Google has been a giant since the earliest stage of the internet, but there are few who could have guessed it was so important to having a successful online marketing presence. As https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224785 states, however, your competitors may already be
doing everything they can to make sure they’re as close to the top of relevant Google searches as possible When most people look online for a service, search engines are exactly where they start. SEO is your means of grabbing their attention first. Having first place makes you not only a more convenient trust. It’s also how many consumers measure trustworthiness. Google is a business authority now, so make friends with it.

The other internet

Mobile phones on the internet haven’t been a new thing for over a decade, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth keeping up with. As many people browse and even do business on mobile devices as they do on laptops and desktops. What’s more, your regular internet presence might not be enough for mobile devices, either. Sites have to be made specifically responsive to smaller screens for one. You also have to consider the different ways that people use smartphones compared to computers. For one, social media has a much more powerful presence for smartphone users, just another reason you can’t half-bake your presence there.

Their own platform

There is a way to steal the show and deliver more value directly to your customer without having to share space with your competition, too. As http://www.androidguys.com/2017/09/12/ditch-the-coupons-try-the-dealdash-android-app/ shows, creating your own app can lead to brand new levels of success and an entirely new revenue stream. Whether it’s a new ecommerce store, an omnichannel to work with your physical store, or just a way to offer quotes and support, it’s another way to create a fully branded space, often with more flexibility and function in design than a website.

Find your king

As big of a multimedia engine that the internet is and the breadth of experiences that it offers, it’s simple content marketing that still reigns as king. If your business doesn’t already have one, start a content creation process. Offer tips, news, or just interesting insights that your audience is likely to not only enjoy but share. Even if it isn’t directly promoting your services, it gets the brand spread around and, more importantly, it makes it a trusted authority.

Online marketing isn’t something that you can get started and then drop. It’s a constantly moving side of the business, one that requires you to keep up with it. Fail to do so, and it could be as if you never took the business online to begin with.

3 Missed Opportunities to Improve Customer Satisfaction

The Customer Service Target Market Support Assistance Concept

Businesses must continually work to attract consumers and convert them into happy customers. The business that fails to make a lasting impression is the business that increases its chances of being put on the chopping block. Sometimes that’s figurative and sometimes it’s very literal. Unhappy investors may try to force a sale of the business for lack of sufficient customer growth and venture capitalists may try to encourage the founders of the business to consider what’s called in the entrepreneurial or startup world “pivoting,” that is, switching directions and going in a new product or service direction, one hopefully more profitable. While conventional means of drawing interest from customers, such as providing good customer service, a knowledgeable technical support team and good deals, are used time and time again, these features aren’t what always keep customers around, or create “stickiness.” There are more surefire ways to improve customer satisfaction that most businesses, no matter what the size, miss on a routine basis.

Here are three missed opportunities to improve overall customer satisfaction.

Frequently Asked Questions

When visitors drop by a website, they may find entire sections on the business’s services and products. For retail sites, there will be information about return policies and tons of product images to seduce visitors into parting with their debit or credit cards and buying some merchandise. What visitors may not find, however, is an FAQ section. Some sites have one, but the vast majority do not. That’s a huge missed opportunity. Here’s why: Everyone in business will agree that listening to the customers is arguably the most paramount way to improve customer satisfaction. What better way to show that a business is really listening to its customers than to post a section where their pertinent questions are addressed. The section is a vehicle for not only demonstrating that the business is listening, but more important, that it’s responding, something that’s even more valued. An FAQ section also enables the business to save time and costs; there’s no need for the support team to field routine questions on products and services if there’s a central location where consumers and customers can have these questions answered.

Credit Card Processing

Today, fewer people are using cash for transactions. Technologies are being put into place to make society as cashless as possible, it seems. Witness Android Pay and Apple Pay and a host of other payment “wallets” that enable customers to buy without ever having to whip out either a greenback or even a piece of plastic for that matter. If a business lacks a way for customers to pay with a debit or credit card, it’s money down the drain. It’s imperative to meet people where they are, not where the business is, so if customers are reaching for debit or credit cards more and more these days, then businesses should be accommodating them with sufficient means to accept both cash and credit cards. In line with that, a business would do well to make sure it works with a good credit card processing company to ensure frictionless transactions and, therefore, a seamless customer experience.

Product Demonstrations

Seeing is believing. There’s no better way to show potential customers what a product or service can do than with an actual demonstration. You see this sometimes online on sites that are trying to sell you some kind of technology product or maybe it’s a course you’re being invited to take. Demos are given in-store, as well. Think of grocery stores like Costco that have become now known for its tasty samples that it provides to customers completely free in the hopes that customers will purchase the item. A demo gives customers valuable hands-on experience, which they may need to make up their minds about whether to buy. Nothing really compares to this sales tool. It should be said though that not every demo is a good demo. The best demos emphasize the benefits to consumers and don’t bombard them with every feature or functionality of the product. Demos that fail to connect with potential customers’ real needs won’t produce sales.

Wrap-up

There may be countless ways for businesses to attract potential customers. However, there are fundamental ways that they miss out on opportunities that could produce meaningful connections with consumers. Employing an FAQ section on its website shows the public that the business is listening and responding to them. By accepting other forms of payment beyond cash, and more specifically, by accepting credit cards, a business can significantly increase its sales opportunities. Sales can be further enhanced by using strategic demos to help eliminate any concerns that the public may have about the product being offered.

Become The Most Confident In Your Business Environment

Business environments usually run on their own terms. The social dynamics in the office or place of work and the responsibilities which must be carried out all contribute to a culture which can either make or break the best business hopefuls. However, if you’re involved in any culture at all, getting to the top may not be as difficult or as easy as you’d originally predict. Every person must chart a path to their successful career themselves. However, applying many tips and tricks can help imbue your business arsenal with the tools it deserves. Doing so will also increase your confidence, and that will provide the fuel for all of your other business insights when trying to apply them in the real world.

Sharpening and cultivating your confidence is no superfluous matter in the business environment. Doing so can give you an incredible grounding to follow your dreams, make those business connections you truly need, but most importantly helping you enjoy your career in relative peace. Being confident helps you manage stress better. It also helps you create more of a lasting impact with the operational objectives you may have set for yourself in the first place.

Become An Effortless Communicator

Communication is key when it comes to forthrightly expressing your ideas and making them seem attractive or interesting. Make sure that you’re effective in your speech, able to convey points across using the least amount of superfluous phrasing. If you’re speaking a language unfamiliar to you, check out the best language coaching website and continue to learn the parameters of its ruleset the best you can. Also, be sure to go out of your way to expose yourself to social situations which you may feel uncomfortable in. This will all inform your ability to take those risks and present your ideas in places which may not be so welcoming to new insight.

Competency

There is no way around hard work. This is the central tenet of living life well. Constantly refine and expand your knowledge about the area you’re involved in from a variety of sources – documentaries, books, podcasts and academic journals. Also be sure to read around your subject and attempt to provide yourself with this knowledge in an expanded capacity. You never know when a little tidbit of knowledge, or the study of a business case can provide you with that little extra piece of insight you truly need for the success you crave.

Take Risks

Calm seas never make skilled sailors. For this reason, taking risks and overcoming your biggest business fears can help you really identify what works on a much more significant level than someone averse to these kind of pursuits. You will fail, and potentially fail often in some of your goals, but what you’ll take from the experience is often of more value than what you put in. Over time, you will become a better, more sculpted and happier business leader capable of navigating the world of business better.

Dos & Don’ts Of Starting A Healthcare Business

Business experts will tell you to start a business in a growing industry. This brings us onto the topic of today’s article; starting a business in the healthcare industry. It may be an industry that’s been around for ages, but healthcare is certainly growing by the day.

A lot of the most successful businesses in the world operate in this industry, which makes it a great option for you. However, there are certain things you should and shouldn’t do when starting a healthcare business. Have a read of these points to find out more:

Do Everything You Can To Put The Customer First

Customer service is of paramount importance in the healthcare industry. If someone feels they haven’t been serviced well, then they can leave your business and never return. More often than not, they’ll write an angry review too. Plus, in some healthcare businesses, you may be held accountable for poor customer service, so bear that in mind too. Put your customers above everything else as they’re the most important aspect of your business.

Don’t Hire Under Qualified Staff

There are some business ideas where you can get away with hiring under-qualified staff. A typical office business where you need some admin staff, or maybe a retail store where you require retail workers. But, a healthcare business isn’t the place for under-qualified staff, even in the admin department. Your staff will have big responsibilities and may have to handle sensitive customer information. Make sure they’re experienced and qualified so they can handle all the tasks and keep your business running.

Do Your Market Research

Research is everything when starting a healthcare business. No matter what you’re selling, you have to understand the market for your product/service. This means look at real world data to figure out what the demands are and how much your product/service might be worth, etc. Not only that, but the research helps you market your product/services better too. You get to know your target market, which makes it easier to devise a strategy.

Don’t Make It Inaccessible

Healthcare is a very serious thing, and you have to look at things with half a business hat on, and half a human hat on. It’s not advisable to start a healthcare business that’s inaccessible to large groups of people. What this means is that lots of people can’t use your business, mainly because it’s too expensive and you don’t offer alternative payment options or insurance coverage. Healthcare should be accessible, and your business will gain more customers if it is.

Pay attention to everything in this article as it will help you start a successful healthcare business. Regardless of what you sell, all the points are highly relevant. As mentioned at the start, it’s a great industry to get into, but only if you do things properly. There’s a lot of competition about too as everyone knows the profits are here. Use this advice, and things will move in the right direction for you.

The Little Things That Lead To Big Customer Satisfaction

As a startup; your primary concern should be your customers, and attracting potential new patrons along the way. With so much competition out there; it’s vital that you do all you can to stand out from the rest so that you can make an impact on the market, and become an appealing option for consumers. As a fresh, new business; you likely have strength in your brand identity, and beginning to build followers across your social media. Therefore, you now need to focus on those little extras that make all the difference to the customer experience with your company, and ensure you get return consumers who’d happily recommend you to others.

Set yourself apart from the average high street store; people have seen it all before and know what to expect. You need to make sure that you’re giving people what they want from a business, and exceed expectations whenever possible. The following are some ideas and tips for those who want to give their startup a boost and need a helping hand in the process.

Ensure Everything Is Straightforward

The easier the experience your visitors have when they shop with you, the more they’ll appreciate it, and will return to invest in your brand. Therefore, you need to keep on top of all the processes that customers have to complete when shopping in person, or online in your store. Take a look at sites like merchants.services to ensure that you have the best merchant service for your brand, and your patrons can pay on their credit or debit card with ease.

Keep your contact details clear and present at all times; people will become aggravated if it’s a challenge to get in touch, so ensure it’s a simple process. Whatever the call to actions are within your website; they need to be straightforward and quick to complete. A frustrated visitor won’t hesitate to leave your site and shop elsewhere if they find things difficult, so bear that in mind.

Excel in Customer Care And Service

If your contact details are clear, and customers can contact you with ease; you’ll need to impress them once you hear from them. Go above and beyond to assist, advise, and help each patron, and make sure they understand how much you value their custom and investment. Many people communicate through social media; so stay true to your friendly demeanor, and engage with questions, answers, and responses on each of your platforms. Take a look at sites like altitude.com and discover what people expect from brands through social media. You want to be an approachable, people-led startup, so make sure you keep the conversation going and focus on service and care.

Surprise With Deals And Offers

There’s nothing more tempting than a great deal or special offer to tempt new and existing customers through your virtual door. Therefore, you need to figure out some feasible marketing tactics for your startup and implement surprising and fresh ideas on a regular basis. Keep impressing your consumers with the little things for customer loyalty and growth in your brand.

Surviving As A Freelancer

Quitting your day job and setting yourself up as a freelancer is deceptively easy. In fact, you have to wonder if many people would consider this as a viable income option if they new how difficult it was to make a living as a freelancer compared to the ease of setting it up. Newbie freelancers soon learn the pitfalls of not having a steady job. If you don’t secure any work, you don’t get paid. If you take a sick day or go on holiday, you don’t get paid. If you don’t earn enough to pay all your expenses each month, you’re in serious trouble. That said, nobody would be a freelancer at all if the hard work didn’t eventually pay off. It’s just a matter of surviving the transition, so here are a few survival tips to get you through your first year.

Understand that you are a business

All businesses have brands, the employees dress appropriately, and there are always deadlines to be met. It should be no different when you’re a freelancer. Although it might be tempting to burn all your work outfits and just go about your business in your pajamas, this will kill your motivation and productivity dead. No one wants to hire someone who works in their pajamas, because they give them impression that they don’t take their job seriously. As a freelancer, you are a business, and only you represent your brand. Set yourself some work hours, get dressed, and don’t stop working until office hours are over.

You need protection

When you first become a freelancer, you’ll sign a lot of contracts with new clients; these are designed to protect your client’s interests, but as you are your own business, you also need protection in case a client forgets to pay you for your work. Therefore, there are two things you need to protect your fledgling business (i.e. yourself); you need a PI insurance quote and a lawyer. PI or Professional Indemnity insurance protects you when a client accuses you of providing inadequate services or designs; it covers the legal costs and expenses in defending the claim, as well as compensation payable to your client to rectify the mistake. A lawyer will not only defend you from these accusations, but they can also read over contracts before you sign them, and chase clients who don’t pay you for completed work.

You won’t be an overnight millionaire

The truth is, you might start losing a lot of money before you start making money, which is why it’s best not to quit your day job until you’re sure you have a sizeable safety net in place. It will take a lot of time and marketing of your services before you’ve secured enough clients to earn your previous annual salary. If you’re lucky, eventually you could be earning more than ever, or at least you’ll earn a decent income with fewer hours.