4 Step Simple Marketing Plan

by Barbra Sundquist

business-plan-chalkboardby guest author Rich Gee

Many business clients ask me how they can review their business and develop a simple marketing plan. There are many great books and gurus out there who will help you do this – unfortunately it takes a lot of time and effort.

If things aren’t working or you’re not getting the same penetration you did a few years ago, you probably need to modify something in your business mix. As I’ve always said, “The best businesses are the ones who are nimble and flexible. When it’s time to change, make that change.”

I’ve developed a simple 4-step exercise to help you get a better handle on your business. So here goes:

1. Look at your PRODUCT (or service)

What are your best selling products? What are your most profitable products? Why?
What products are growing? What ones are shrinking? Why?
What new products can you add? What products can you modify?
What products can you kill?
Can you change your product pricing/packaging to reflect market shifts?
Who’s buying what, when, where, and why?

2. Survey the MARKETPLACE

What’s happening out there? Is the market growing? Shrinking? Moving?
Are there new competitors out there? What are they doing? Offering?
Are there new opportunities out there to develop partnerships?
If the marketplace has changed, you need to modify your efforts.

3. Analyze your CUSTOMERS

Who were they and why did they buy your products? Where did they go?
Who are they now? Are they in a different area to access?
Have their lives changed? More money to spend? Less money?
When was the last time your reached out to your current clients?
When have you talked to your past clients?
When have you re-approached the prospects who got away?
You can always plan to retain and extend your clients. And get new ones too.

4. Review your COMMUNICATION

Did your access routes (advertising) to your customers change?
Has your media changed? Newspaper/Magazine/Radio into Web/Groupon/Patch?
Are you varying your messages? Different packages/price points?
How do you talk personally with your customers/prospects?

How would this simple 4-step process work for your business?

About the author: Rich Gee is a certified business and career coach, based locally in Connecticut. His web site is Rich Gee Group, and you can submit your business and career questions to Rich at richgee@richgee.com.

{ 0 comments }

List of Question and Answer Websites (For Backlinks)

by Barbra Sundquist

{ 0 comments }

How to Hyperlink Signature in Windows Live Mail

by Barbra Sundquist

Windows Live Mail does not automatically hyperlink a web address when you create a signature. What you can do is create your signature in HTML format and upload it in Windows Live Mail. Here’s how to do that:

1. Open a new message window.
2. Create your signature in the normal way (i.e. not in html).
3. Alt, F, F, change the file type to html, name and save the file.
4. Click on the File tab (Alt + F), click Options then select Mail
5. On the selection tabs select Signatures
6. Under Signature, click New
7. Under Edit Signature, select file then click browse.
9. Locate the folder where you saved the signature that you created through HTML editor. Then click Apply and Ok.

{ 0 comments }

What Does It Cost For a Business to Use Paypal?

by Barbra Sundquist

Recently I was asked by a small businessperson: “Does Paypal get profit from my income?” I took that to mean “what does it cost to use a Paypal business account?” 

Paypal does takes a small transaction fee each time you get paid through them. The exact amount varies depending on a couple of different factors, but generally it’s about 3%. So if your client paid you $100 you would get about $97.

The transaction fee is the only cost (there are no setup or monthly fees to have a Paypal Business account).

Yes, it’s a drag to have to pay a transaction fee, but I find it’s worth it for the convenience. For my business, I like being able to send a Paypal invoice to someone and all they have to do is click a link to pay. They can pay either with the funds in their own Paypal account or using any major credit card.

I find that I get paid faster using Paypal than if I have to wait for a client to send a cheque in the mail. Not only is mail slower, but clients have to find the time to write out the cheque, address the envelope, find a stamp, and mail the envelope. Paypal is so much faster and easier for clients, and it also gives them the option of using a credit card.

Note that once you have more than $3000 a month coming in to your Paypal account you can apply to have a lower fee.

Go here if you want to set up a Paypal business account.

{ 0 comments }

Free Home Business Ebook

by Barbra Sundquist

work at home ebookCharlene Kingston from Social Media DIY provides a great little ebook called 5 Truths About Working From Home. It’s a free download that covers these points:

* How to create a healthy and effective workspace.
* Building a success team to support you.
* Health tips for using a laptop computer.
* Overcoming the isolation of working from home.
* How social media helps you to stay visible professionally.
* Finding people to help you with challenging tasks.
* Why your daily schedule and routine are important.
* Coping with the downside of a zero commute.

In addition, Charlene interviewed four successful home-office workers who share their stories, their challenges, their tips, and their insights into making your home office situation work for you.

{ 1 comment }

How to Send Money with Paypal

by Barbra Sundquist

Do I need to sign up for a PayPal account to send money?

Yes. To sign up and send money:

  1. Go to the PayPal website and click Send Money at the top of the page.
  2. Enter your information and click Continue.
  3. Create your PayPal account.
  4. Review your payment and click Send Money.

And that’s it! The recipient will receive an email telling them that you have sent them money using Paypal.

What information is required to open a Personal PayPal account?

To open a personal PayPal account, you’ll need to provide your name, address, phone number, and email address. You’ll also asked to create a password for your PayPal account and choose two different security questions to answer.

{ 3 comments }

Rewriting is Still Plagiarizing

by Barbra Sundquist

It never ceases to amaze me how ill-informed people are about what constitutes plagiarism. Were these people away sick the day their eighth grade (or sixth grade, or fourth grade?) English teacher explained in no uncertain terms:

Plagiary is using someone else’s words or ideas without citation and passing them off as your own.

As an example, here’s an email I received today.

From: (name deleted to protect privacy)
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 2:51 PM
To: contact@writeabio.com
Subject: Plagiarizing your website

Dear Barbra,

You’ve just send me a tweet telling me I plagiarized your website. I must say this article has been written by a ghostwriter. I compared both the article with the text on your site and I must admit that it seems as if the ghostwriter has looked at your site. But I also find that, although the six points are the same, the article to me seems completely rewritten and is not a copy of your site. I’m not sure if you could call this plagiary.

However I will remove the text from ezine and contact the ghostwriter for advice. Should I disagree with your claim of plagiary I will first contact you before replacing the article.

Best regards,

(name deleted to protect privacy)

———————————————————————————–

Hello Michel,
Rewriting is plagiarism. Plagiarism is widely defined as “using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own”.http://www.plagiarism.org/
If you doubt what I am saying, just google it. A google search will give you more accurate information on this than your writer will: obviously he or she either does not understand, or chooses to overlook, this basic concept.
Regards,
Barbra Sundquist
————————————————————————————

{ 1 comment }

Key to Successful Link Building

by Barbra Sundquist

What can you do to effectively compete in link popularity? The WebCEO site sums it up by stating the obvious:  get as many site backlinks as you can. They then go on to point out that the mere number of links is not enough – link quality is an even more important signal. The following six points from WebCEO.com are a good summary of points to remember for link building:

  • your link partners should highlight the related theme
  • your link partners should not use link spamming methods
  • it’s good for the page that links to you to have high Google PageRank
  • you should not get too many inbound links too quickly
  • you should get both reciprocal and one-way links pointing to you
  • you should take care about the diversity of your link profile: obtain many single links from different sites rather than the same number of links from one site

{ 0 comments }

How to Remain Friends When a Friend Works for You

by Barbra Sundquist

I’ve been working on a business plan for a new venture for about 9 months and asked a friend for advice on it. He’s now quite keen to come on board with the venture and I think his experience could be really useful. However, I don’t want him to be a co-founder. How can I spell this out to him and what steps can I take to make sure I keep control in the long-term?

There are a number of areas to consider here. Poor decisions taken now could be extremely costly to unravel in the future. It’s therefore critical once you’ve decided on your path, you ensure any agreements are properly prepared by a solicitor who fully understands your intentions.

It’s considerably easier for a start-up business to be successful if there’s one ‘controlling mind’ capable of driving vision in the early days. As a result, I would advise against your friend becoming a part-owner, at least in the short term.

Continue reading this article here.

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries