Featured

The world of marketing is a weird place, especially in 2016. Almost every business alive turns to the most technical and new age gadgets when they want to boost their brand. After years of using tech to their advantage, they think that there is no place for simple and unpopular marketing techniques. They are wrong.

Whether you are a small business or a massive conglomerate, you can make just as many waves with simple techniques. Seriously, they are by no means dead as there is still a market for them in the twenty-first century. And, they are proven to work – they have been doing it for the past couple of decades! Okay, they might not be as sexy or as exciting as the range of techniques available today. But, that doesn’t mean that they can’t do a job. Here is a range of simple marketing techniques that will transform your company.

Give Away Your Product For Free

Businesses hate this idea because they hate giving anything away for free. After all, it is one less product you can sell for a profit. That is shortsighted because it is all about the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that you will grow your customer base with freebies. For starters, everyone loves a free product, and that instantly creates a bond between the customer and your firm. More importantly, you are promoting the strength of your product. Lots of businesses have fantastic products, yet they can’t create the buzz they need to lure in the customers. A free trial is a great method. Honestly, people will line up outside your door as long as the product is that good.

Network Like A Pro

There is no substitute for networking. The reason for that is because the world of business is still one that depends on contacts. As the saying goes, it is about whom you know, not what you know. As far as the industry goes, that is gospel. Once you realize this, you can start to build your contact list so that you can exploit their services. It might sound a little untoward, but it’s the way life works. You do them a favor, and they do you one in return. Try attending as many events as possible and talking to higher-ups face to face. There is nothing like starting a relationship by doing it face to face. The older generation also prefers this kind of interaction.

Stick With Business Cards

Speaking of the older generation, you don’t want to forget them in your marketing strategy. The one reason you need to mix your strategy is for people over the age of fifty. Yes, they still exist. In fact, many of them are in powerful positions and have a lot of money. These people don’t want to mess around with Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn as it isn’t in their wheelhouse. They might understand how it works, but you will sway them more with personal interactions. A strong handshake and a simple and effective business card will impress them more than a creative email blast. In fact, you can even try an elevator pitch if you want to go old school.

Don’t Forget The Fine Print

Marketing is as much about the small details as it is the big ones. Although the big details get all the credit, it is usually the small ones that do all the legwork. Take your website for example. Your website is the king of your marketing strategy because it brings in new customers every day. Did you ever wonder where that traffic came from, though? It comes from small marketing ploys like lanyards and promotional pens. Experts like Motivators believe that pens are as effective as any promotional tool because of their subtleness. A pen with a logo or a brand name doesn’t scream marketing, which is amazing. Instead, it creeps into the customer’s subconscious and works them from the inside. Plus, it is a constant source of advertising as people use pens in everyday life. Mix a promotional pen with a freebie and you will laugh all the way to the bank.

Sponsor A Local Event

Sponsoring a local event couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is liaise with the event manager and sign a check. And, at the event setup, you also make sure that you plaster your company name on every piece of spare space! The great thing about sponsoring an event is the exposure. People come out in force for local events because they want to do their bit for the community. The fact that they love their community will also help your brand. They will take one look at your sponsorship and relate it to the area. For the foreseeable future, they will think of you as a business that does its bit for the community. And, that is priceless.

Send A Regular Email Blast

It is one thing getting your customers on board, but it is another keeping them on board. It is a dog eat dog world, and your rivals will try and snatch them away as soon as they sign on the dotted line. As you can’t afford to let that happen, you need to keep in touch with your customers. There is nothing like forming a relationship to build brand loyalty. Some businesses like to send cards while others like to knock on doors, but an email blast is fine. An email that offers them value, like a percentage off a product, will give them an incentive to continue the relationship. Better yet, it gives you an excuse to keep in close contact.

Purchase Word Of Mouth

Word of mouth advertising is the best form of advertising because it is organic. The only problem is it is hard to create an organic buzz. So, be proactive and start the buzz yourself. Pay people to talk to strangers on the street and tell them about your awesome company. If they can engage with a handful of people, you might be able to start a fire. A metaphorical fire – not a real fire.

If you want your company to turn into a thriving, modern brand, you need to start a blog. But, before you do that, you need to understand and learn what you can about setting one up. So, here are some things to consider before you launch a blog for the business.

Research

Before you start your own business blog, you will need to do some research. You’ve got to understand exactly what a business blog is, and why your company needs to have one. It’s also useful to discover exactly what the process is when you want to set up a blog. There is a great deal of information online about these sorts of things. So you need to get online and do plenty of research before you do anything else. Once you understand what is involved, you are going to be well placed to launch a brilliant blog.

Contribute to Existing Blogs

As well as doing the right research into setting up blogs you might want to get involved. Blogs are an excellent place to share comments and opinions. To get a feel for what to expect you need to get involved with other blogs. So think about things that might interest you, like health blogs. Visit https://www.guestposttracker.com/blogs.php?cat=2&name=Health to have a look sites where you can guest post. This is an important part of the blogging experienced, and one that you need to have.

Come up With Topics

The big challenge when it comes to creating and launching a blog is coming up with content. You need to find topics to blog about, and they don’t always have to relate to your business. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to have a bit of variety. So, you need to come up with topics, and you need to understand how to generate titles and topics yourself. Social media is a great resource to use to help you with that. You can use sites like Twitter to have a look at topics that are trending, and you can use these to generate blog titles for your business blog.

Visit Other Blogs

The best way to understand how the process works is to visit other blogs. The blogosphere is so vast and expansive, and there are blogs on almost anything these days. Of course, business blogs are going to be more relevant and pertinent to your case. So, it might be a good idea to visit rival businesses and find out if they have blogs. You could have a look at the blogs and see how they are laid out. This is a really helpful thing when it comes to gathering information and helping the company grow. It will give you important pointers that you can apply to your town blog, and you’ll know what you need to avoid.

Setting up a business blog is something you need to action as soon as you can. It’s a wonderful way of staying current and modern. It will breathe new life into the brand, and make things a lot more interesting. But, before you actually launch your business blog you should probably learn more about it. So use the points made on this guide to help you set up the perfect business blog to promote your company.

Unfortunately, you can’t always beat the taxman no matter how hard you try. From time to time, the taxman will come calling asking awkward questions. That isn’t to say that you are guilty by any stretch, but it still isn’t nice. It isn’t nice because your response could determine how they treat you in the future. If they feel you aren’t cooperative, they will push even harder. As a result, it’s vital that you respond in the right manner. If you don’t know how to respond, take a look at the tips below.

Always Be Polite

Regardless of how they are on the other side of the phone, you need to be polite. On the whole, nothing good comes from arguing with anyone, especially a government official. Plus, it may make them more sympathetic to your cause. They deal with so many angry people that your polite approach may put them on the back foot. One thing’s for sure – it can’t hurt your chances.

Don’t Admit The Debt

The call is certainly going to be recorded, which means they can use it as evidence. If you admit to the debt, they win and you lose. In all honesty, it is almost impossible to come back from a confession, especially one they have on tape. After all, why would you confess if you didn’t mean to confess? No matter how hard they push, don’t wilt under the pressure. Answer them in generalities to avoid committing to anything and get off the phone as quickly as possible.

But Don’t Deny it Either

You shouldn’t confirm or deny the allegations – how does that work? It works because it doesn’t commit you to anything. If you do deny it and it proves to be true, they could use it against you at a future date. Or, they could use it to say that you are a liar and have been trying to dodge tax, which is illegal. Obviously, both of these scenarios are not good for you or your business. So, whatever you do, don’t commit to any of their statements even if you think you are right.

Direct Them To Your Legal Counsel

There is no better way to respond to the call than to tell them to contact your tax attorney or enrolled agent. Tax officials hate this because they know that they are going to have to go through a long and arduous process. After all, lawyers are experts in the field and aren’t intimidated. Use this to your advantage so that you don’t get caught out in the act. Plus, it’s a great way to get off the phone!

Don’t Ignore The Situation

After the phone goes down, you need to respond. Now is the time to show emotion because they can’t see or hear you anymore. The best thing to do is to call your attorney yourself to tell them about the call. Then, they can give you the advice on how best to act next. As long as you are proactive, you have a good chance of coming out the other end.

There are plenty of ways a business can obtain success, but they all revolve around your staff. The simple fact is that your staff is the lifeblood of your organization. And, without them, you can’t reach the levels of success that every company wants to reach. The problem with employees is that they don’t always work to their maximum. Some are lazy and only want to do the minimum amount while others lack leadership. Regardless, it costs you money.

Obviously, you want your firm to be as productive and efficient as possible, which means they need the same traits. To hit your goal, you need to extract every ounce of talent and skill that your workforce possesses. Only then can your business begin to reach astronomical heights.

Here are a few tips that will get the job done.

Tip 1: Believe In Them

The great thing about this first tip is that you don’t have to communicate outwardly with your staff. All you have to do is believe that they will do the job that you need them to do for your business to benefit. It might sound like new age mumbo jumbo, but it does work. Your belief in them will affect your body language and the way you communicate, as www.forbes.com illustrates. Instead of giving off a distant vibe that screams failure, you will give off an accepting vibe that screams success. Everything from looking them in the eye to your body position will fill them with confidence. Quite simply, your belief will transfer to them.

Tip 2: Demonstrate Your Belief

Now that you believe, it is time to show them that you believe. Some of your perceptive employees will pick up on the fact that you are a more open and caring boss. But, others won’t even blink. For their sake, you need to show them that you care. Otherwise, they will carry on as normal and not make any changes to their work habits. One awesome way to show that they are important to you is to listen to their thoughts and feelings. The fact that you are listening to them means you are taking the time to set aside your issues for their sake. Plus, it makes them feel more valuable if you don’t dismiss their ideas out of hand. Listening is a great tool because hardly anyone converses or listens anymore.

Tip 3: Be Honest

You are not a divine being, and you are not infallible. Yet, there are plenty of bosses that act that way, like they are a descendant of God. Just because you are in a position of power doesn’t mean that you are always right. Let your employees see that you understand this and that you are willing to be open and honest. Tell them about your strengths and your weaknesses and they will adopt the same strategy. For starters, it gives them the green light to admit that they have limitations because their boss has readily admitted the same. But, more importantly, it makes them think. The best employees among your staff should think, ‘my boss has limitations, so what are mine?’ If they take the bull by the horns, they can work out how to be better.

Tip 4: Understand Their Strengths And Weaknesses

Once they open up to you, listen to what they have to say. Every boss has some form of bias that they can’t fix. It is an occupational hazard of being a part of the human race as your past experiences mold the person you are today. The problem with this is that they can affect the way you treat your subordinates. For example, if you are a planner you might look down on someone that doesn’t plan. If you go one step further, you might even pressure them into changing their way of working. The result won’t work out in your favor because they won’t adapt. Instead, you need to understand that is how they work, and that it works for that individual. The more you change people, the less you will benefit.

Tip 5: Clear Communication

Businesses deal in specialist areas and use a lot of jargon. As such, your work might be complex and hard to understand. It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that your employees don’t understand their job. When that happens, productivity falls by a large amount. You have to be able to tell them what you expect of them on any given day to make the company tick. The best option is to talk to them in a simple and clear manner. Forget about using strange terms and abstract phrases, and break it down to its bare bones. That doesn’t mean you have to treat them as idiots because they are far from stupid. But, it does mean that you shouldn’t complicate the issue if possible.

Tip 6: Inspire Them

Inspiration can appear in many different forms, but fear tends not to work. The culture of fear in most businesses is apparent: the boss is the big cheese, and you can’t disappoint them. However, the problem with this culture is that it limits your staff’s ability to work creatively. As they don’t want a dressing down from their boss, they do whatever is required to get by. Another term for this is doing the bare minimum. Instead of putting them under pressure, out an arm around their shoulder. Use kindness and positive messages to inspire your team to bigger and better achievements. When you have to, you need to be firm. But, as long as you are fair, they should understand.

Tip 7: Praise Effort

Ability is not the be all and end all with employees. Yes, you need them to be able to do their jobs. Still, some people have the ability, but they need to unlock it first. Again, if they are working under intense pressure, they will fail. But, if you praise their effort as well as their ability, they will shine. Most employees recognize that they need time to improve. If you give them that time, you will be the one that benefits.

Tip 8: Give Them The Right Tools

It is plausible that they have all the ability in the world, but they don’t have the right tools. Your employees are nothing if they don’t have the equipment to do their job. It’s like asking a doctor to perform surgery without a scalpel – it’s stupid! Your duty as the boss is to make sure they have all the equipment they need, from infrastructure and tech to uniform. Don’t underestimate the importance of a uniform by the way. To use the medical analogy once more, uniform like scrubs is essential to basic tasks. For more on uniforms, visit http://www.uniformsandscrubs.com/landau.html.

Tip 9: Invest In Training

Training is essential if you want your staff to be better at their jobs. Firstly, training is a form of education. When they go on courses, they learn information that they can use to perform their role in the company to a higher standard. No training course, no information. And if there is no information, there is no increase in quality. Just as importantly, it is a gesture. The fact that you are willing to pay money to make them better is a sign that you value them as workers. You are trying to not only enhance the business but the business’s personal. Any intelligent person will see this and work harder. At the least, they should understand that training is good for them and their career, even if they don’t care about the company.

More and more people are turning to the world of business than ever before. This is likely to be due to a number of different factors. One of the main contributing factors is likely to be the fact that it is now much easier to set up a business than it ever has been before. While in times past, it was a huge undertaking, today that is not necessarily the case. With the advent of the Internet, not to mention all sorts of new whacky means of marketing, setting up shop is easier than ever. The flipside to this, of course, is that there is more competition than ever before. What does this mean for the budding entrepreneur? Well, setting up business is probably quicker and simpler than you might think. It is also more difficult to become the best than you might hope. However, if you merely want something that will make you a little cash on the side – then you’re in luck. There has never been a better time to start up a business. If you have decided that you would like to try running your own business, then read through this guide before you do anything else. We will take you, step-by-step, through the process of setting up your startup in 2016.

Make A Detailed Plan

An absolute vital, unmissable first step is to make a detailed business plan. A lot of people start out in business without drawing up a blueprint first – and they almost always regret it. The truth is, the reason that a lot of people don’t bother with the plan is because they have the wrong idea about what it means. In truth, writing up your business plan is not a very difficult thing to do. Not only that, but it will also save you a massive headache in the long run. It is a simple matter of sitting down and working out, as methodically as you can, what it is you intend to do and achieve with your company. Start with the basics. What will the name be? Who is the target market? How will you operate? In other words, will it be a solely online business, or will you have an office with actual employees? You would do well to consider as many details as you possibly can. The more you get your ideas down on paper at the beginning, you better off your business will be in the long run.

Set Yourself Goals

As well as knowing, in detail, how your business will operate, you also want to set yourself some goals. Without specific, business-orientated goals, there isn’t much point to doing business at all. Having specific goals work well, because it means you know when you are succeeding and when you are lagging behind. And the most important thing of all in business is to be honest with where you currently are. If things aren’t going so well, be honest about it. Don’t try to cover it up. Ask yourself: what can we do differently to reverse this process? This is much more beneficial, in the long run, than sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problems will go away.

Hire The Right People (And The Right Number Of People)

It is perfectly possible that your business will be a venture of one – yourself. There are plenty of businesses out there which are modelled in this way, and there is no reason that it cannot be a successful way of doing business. But you do need to ask yourself whether this is the case for your individual situation. It might be the case that you need to recruit helping hands, even if only in the early days. If that is so, then ensure that you hire only the best people you can find. The philosophy to follow is that it is better to spend money on the right person than none at all. Consider your employees – or potential employees – as an investment, rather than a cost. Don’t shy away from hiring people just because you don’t want to spend the money. That is what business is all about. However, don’t needlessly hire too many people, either. Ensure that you get the balance just right. This can be difficult to achieve, but it is worth the effort.

Marketing – Far & Wide

You should start marketing your business as early as possible. There are countless different options when it comes to marketing, but the key is to approach as many people as possible. Start within your identified target market, and then continue to expand. Some methods of marketing are particularly effective in the early days of running a business. Exhibits are a great place to start, as they offer the opportunity to explain your vision in-depth. If this interests you, browse exhibit design ideas here. It is also wise to remember that social media is one of the most effective means of getting any message across. The main benefit there, of course, is that it is free of charge!

Partner Up

This, again, is something which is commonly overlooked by new business owners. However, it is a valuable piece of advice which is always worth sharing. You should endeavour to partner up with an established company as early on as possible. Partnerships are a fantastic, useful way of using co-operation to inspire success within your own company. With a decent partnership, you have the benefit of the more experienced company’s contacts and wisdom. In return, you can offer them some new blood. In today’s marketplace, partnership is the key to long, sustained success.

Take It Slow – Prepare For Growth

One of the main mistakes people often make is that they rush into things too quickly. When this happens, the business usually suffers as a result. If you are like most people, you are probably very excited about your new idea. That is a fantastic place to start from! But you must also remember to take it slow. Too often, businesses fail because someone gets over-excited and makes a couple of poor decisions. The truth is, it can happen to the best of us. So take it slow. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hope for success! You should be hoping for the very best success possible. That is the best advice I can give you – take it slow, but prepare for a huge amount of growth. With any luck, that growth will come before you know it.