bizthreads.net: Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

What’s one of the best ways to demonstrate your knowledge on a particular topic and make money at the same time? I’ve got the answer — write an E-Book! E-Books, or electronic books, are full books on any topic that can be downloaded from the Internet by your customers. They don’t need to be shipped, are easy to create and can generate good revenue.

There are several ways to market your E-Book:

Online Shopping Search Engine

Make use of the free shopping search engines on the Internet to list your E-book.
Either you or your publisher can submit a data feed. This way your complete product catalog will be included.

Newsletters

Create an opt-in newsletter with a single theme to build a community, and interact with associates, clients, club members and fellow hobbyists. You can sell your E-book in the newsletter.

Sales Page

Make sure that you create an electronic sales page for your E-book; it’s a form of instant advertising, and when finished, customers can download the E-book right from the page!

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs can bring revenue, and they allow other webmasters to advertise and sell your E-book for a portion of the profit, say, 15% of the sales price.

E- Marketing Resources

You can also get help from several websites that specialize in e-marketing services. Additionally, you can obtain access to a directory of marketing sites on the Internet that can help you market your E-book to a wide network of buyers interested in your product or service.

Writing and selling an E-book is a great way to establish yourself as a topic expert and make money at the same time! Another little-known secret of E-books is that there is little to no overhead costs involved, other than the time you spend to create it.

Did you know that one of the best ways to get business promotion is by writing articles? I took up article writing a long time ago, when I realized that people prefer doing business with professionals on any particular topic.

If you have substantial knowledge in a certain field, you can also establish yourself as an expert in that field by writing articles. It can be done, and here are some of the ways to do it:

The Key to Writing Online Business Articles

1. Choose appropriate topics related to your field of expertise.
2. Select a suitable title for your article, a title that gives a brief overview of the subject matter.
3. Stick to writing short articles within 500 words each. However, if you do exceed the 500-word mark, try and split the article into 2 or 3 shorter articles.
4. If you are not familiar with writing business articles, create a short outline before you start or at least jot down the most important points. Make sure that you use these points as you proceed.
5. Try not to include a lot of assumptions. Readers prefer facts to assumptions.
6. Conclude your article with a catchy phrase that would grab your readers' attention immediately.

These are just a few suggestions to help you design a good business article. By publishing your article on various article directories and private sites, you can ensure good, effective (and FREE!) promotion of your business.

Almost anyone can write a direct mail piece. I'm often asked, though, what actually makes a direct mail piece convert. After all, you're not sending a mailing just for the sake of sending it - the point is to actually make money doing it! Below is my 3-point attack for making your direct mail campaign a success!

What is a Direct Mail Campaign?

Direct mail campaigns are one of the best ways to acquire new customers. The first key to success is a well-written mailing piece. You need to be able to write an effective message that gets customers to respond. The costs involved in printing and postage are also not cheap. The best part is that through a well-written message, the mail campaign has the power to bring in customers in droves, meaning the writing is what will make or break your campaign.

The Benefits of Well-Written Mail

A well-written message helps create an image in the mind of a prospective customer. He can visualize an enhancement in his life by purchasing the product or service that is advertised through the direct mail. This is the very reason for your direct mail campaign in the first place - to allow the customer to see the advantages of what you have to offer through your product. You win when you are able to do this.

Ways to Make Direct Mail Truly Effective

The appearance of the direct mail envelope (or postcard) is the starting point of the whole process. If the customer finds it interesting enough to open it and read, then the opening lines of the letter should be able to grab the attention of the reader and make him read further. You should provide reasons for your customer to keep reading by offering product benefits.

Frame them by placing yourself in the customer's shoes. Would you buy it if you were in his place? If you have testimonials of third parties to support your product, include them. Construct your mail in a simple and easy to understand way. Give explicit instructions and provide a toll free number or a postage paid card to enable the customer to easily get in touch with you.

Direct mail campaigns are very effective in generating fresh business. The key is to write an appropriately worded message that is clear, precise, polite and attractive to the customer and offers good benefits in service and costs.

There's just no way around it - in today's competitive business atmosphere, a sound marketing strategy is the key to the survival and growth of a business, of any size. It is essential to have a well-formulated marketing plan that has provisions for intelligently allocating funds for marketing. You should be able to maintain the equilibrium between the income and what the marketing department spends. The amount allocated should cover all the costs involved in the various marketing activities. These may be related to advertising, promotion or other expenses.

Effect of the Company's Position on Allocation Amount

The market standing of your company will have a direct bearing on the amount allocated. An established company generally does not need to spend more than ten percent, to cover all its marketing activities. On the other hand, if your company is new, you may have to spend more - up to 25% in some cases. This should not be viewed negatively. It is a well-proven fact that the amount you spend on marketing will pay rich dividends and the return is a multifold increase in income, which more that justifies the amount you spend.

Allocation Methods

There can be different approaches to allocate the funds for marketing, but no approach can have perpetual validity. One approach is allocating a fixed percentage of the revenue for the marketing activities. However, a fixed percentage fund allocation is advisable only if the product(s) falls within a market segment, for which easy prediction of the change in trend is possible. This could prevent becoming a part of the ‘advertising wars' that may affect profitability. If a reduction in sales is detected, it is probably time to reconsider the allocation of a bigger amount, a deviation from the earlier strategy.

Among other possible approaches would be the task approach. Here, instead of a comprehensive marketing strategy, you simply concentrate on the immediate task at hand. Another would be the residual approach, which involves spending only that which can be spared, which of course is against standard principles.

Allocation of funds for marketing is an essential part of the growth and sustainability of any business concern. A well-formulated marketing strategy adopts an approach that matches the requirements of the business and is not necessarily similar to the strategies adopted by your competition.

Workplace Safety is in Everyone's Interest!

I know, I know — you're probably saying, “What does workplace safety have to do with starting a business?” The answer is — a lot! The fact is that fortunes can be lost over lack of workplace safety. Once you have a bad safety record, it's hard to shed that image, and everything, including insurance (which is absolutely necessary) becomes more expensive! Not to mention the fact that you could get sued, losing your business entirely.

Tips to Maintain Workplace Safety

• Ensure that the work area is clean and free from hazardous material. The productivity of employees working in a clean area is much greater.
• Take steps to ensure that modern engineering solutions and safety guards are deployed for the protection of employees, instead of stressing entirely on personal protection. It is important to update your knowledge about innovative safety products and devices being introduced in the market.
• Work instructions to employees should be clear, precise and unambiguous. Make sure that they understand the correct operations pattern, instead of simply furnishing them with a list of instructions. All written communication and procedures should include detailed safety instructions.
• Be genuinely concerned about the welfare of your employees. Monitor and check machine maintenance and condition them regularly. If you ever become aware of a machine posing a safety hazard, have it shut down at once. If a machine needs to be replaced on account of excessive wear, make sure that it is replaced immediately.
• It is important for you to know about the work procedures of your employees. You may have worked in a similar position, but there could be changes in the way the work is done now. Check the procedures and the practicality of the approach. If you find that work being done differently from correct procedure and instructions, it is imperative to find out the reasons and either correct the anomaly or formalize the changes. Safety guidelines should be modified accordingly.
• Keep unnecessary hazards at bay by adhering to the safety guidelines of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA.

In today's fast paced business environment, it is important for us to pay attention to new and innovative products, services and brands. In the past, brand management focused on achieving preference on the basis of benefits, differentiation and customer satisfaction, within a set of brands. However, today this scenario has changed considerably.

How to Go About It

In order to advertise your brand, you need to be very definite about how you exactly want it to be. Enlist the key points of your business operations that you would like to be recognized by. You should establish whether you are selling products or services. There needs to be certain distinct operation procedures that will distinguish you from your competitors.

Identify the Unique Selling Point

Study the market and observe what the customers are looking for. Customers always look for originality and authenticity. They will choose your products instead of others if it fulfills their specific needs. Selling involves feedback and hence you should find out how your customers feel and what more they want. Identify your USP and work towards improving it. You can even commission an expert to create a market ‘persona' for you. This involves creating the profile of a customer that you would sell to, in general. This profile is very important in the process of defining and establishing your brand. It should have all aspects of the customer's lifestyle. Make a variety of personas if required.

Identify the Overlap

Your USP is the point where the product or service meets the specific quality demand of the customers. You could have many selling points; however, you should try to recognize the major USP and center the marketing campaign and strategy adopted around it.

An effective brand strategy can give you immense credibility. The strategy will not only make you known to customers, but you can also beat your competitors with minimum effort!

I don't think that I could live without my autoresponder! An autoresponder is a computer program that automatically answers any emails sent to a preset address. These programs can either be simple or very complex. Autoresponders are used as email marketing tools. The program provides instant information to customers and follows up at preset intervals, without you having to do anything!

Why Do I Need an Autoresponder?

There are lots of reasons why you would want to have an autoresponder, besides answering your emails. This program can also be used to advertise your company products and services. It can answer the FAQ's about the products or services efficiently. Autoresponders can also provide advice and relevant articles for reference to your website visitors. You can advertise your business and build a long-lasting relationship with customers, all with the help of this little automated program!

There are autoresponder programs that operate with your email program or in the form of a specialized script that features on the server of your web hosting company. This specialized script could possibly make use of a web page format or manage within your email account. The script is programmed to dispatch a standardized message whenever you get an email. The message is sent to the specified email address or script. Some autoresponders are equipped to send an unlimited number of follow-up messages at a predetermined time or day.

You should attach a signature to every email sent. Your signature acts as a reminder of your business. There may be instances where customers may erase your mail by accident or forget your email address. The signature works as a reinforcement.

Autoresponders are great when it comes to establishing contact with thousands of potential customers! You should automate part of your marketing campaign - because time is money and you save a lot of time for other business activities that are equally important.

I'm often asked what I would do if my business were to hit a crisis. Now, my question to them is which crisis they would be referring to (just joking!). But seriously, folks, every business will have a crisis sooner or later; it's just a matter of when. But what matters more is how you will handle it.

You know that I love to make lists, so I've compiled a list of steps of how to deal with a crisis when your business inevitably has one.

1. Identifying the Crisis: Proper identification of the crisis is an important initial step. The crisis could be of a financial or strategic nature. A communication crisis, due to negative publicity of your company, may also affect your company's success.
2. Searching for Possible Solutions to the Crisis: Critical assessment of the probable causes of the crisis will help you to resolve the problem better and quicker. A short-term financial crisis may be due to cash flow problems, whereas a long-term financial crisis may be the result of bankruptcy. Reach out to professionals, companies, banks and other sources for immediate relief.
3. Breaking Down the Problem: It is ideal for you to be able to identify a bad situation and deal with it efficiently.
4. Resolving the Problem: The crisis management team of your business (even if it is just you!) should strive to resolve a problem as fast as possible. This involves sincere commitment, active participation and a professional approach. You should update employees, clients, investors and customers about the situation on a need-to-know basis.
5. Investigation of the Root Cause and Incorporation of Corrective Measures: This means that you need to identify the root cause of the problem and the possibility of recurrence in the future. Equally important is to carefully and methodically incorporate the crisis management approach.

By knowing what steps to take in the event a crisis occurs in your business, you'll be better prepared to deal with it and keep your business afloat.

We all get customer complaints sometime! If customers express dissatisfaction, it doesn't mean they will never come back to you. A little courtesy and respect can turn even the most vociferous customers into the most loyal.

Customer Essentials

Remember that customers appreciate respect and attention. You need to understand, appreciate and recognize their potential. There are a number of reasons why customers change suppliers or vendors. Some of the reasons include expensive products, poor service and the attitude of the supplier.

You need to realize the fact that customers are the bottom-line essentials of any business. You can't win until you nurture your existing customers and make an effort to minimize their inconveniences and problems. Do this by making regular calls or visits, to deal with issues at an early stage. Reply to their calls and questions as soon as possible. Keep them informed about any new service or product. Conducting regular reviews of your company's performance can also be helpful.

Today, customers are more demanding. They have higher expectations and are less tolerant. Customers are more aware of their rights and they demand more for their money, time and effort. As a business owner you need to make sure that you value the opinion of your customers and act upon them in a positive manner, to benefit from their loyalty. A customer retained is a business opportunity of a lifetime!

We all know that customer management is vital to keeping our businesses alive. I've identified 3 areas of customer management that have helped my business grow over the years:

1. Reputation: A satisfied customer is capable of advertising and increasing your business network, by publicizing the strength of your company. Your company's reputation is built on trust with your customers. This reputation comes from your ability to deliver on time, quality products. While many companies have adopted ‘the customer is always right' motto, I've adopted the more practical ‘the customer isn't always right, but the customer is still the customer.' Makes much more sense, I think!
2. Distribution: If you always provide quality products to your customers, your business will get a good reputation. By narrowing your product range and associating yourself with a smaller distributor, your distribution network will be more reliable.The smaller the distributors, the better your chances of surviving stiff competition and the competitive market. Smaller distributors try hard to give quality services. This in turn earns profit for the distributors and huge returns for your company.
3. Global marketing through the Internet: You can also earn a good reputation via a mass marketing strategy adopted for online business. Marketing is all about attracting potential customers and creating an interest in your product. By paying attention to these 3 areas of customer management, you'll ensure loyal customers that will stick with you even through bad times.