Business Plus Baby

October 14, 2015

How to keep people thinking about your company

Every company owner should want the most substantial exposure possible. If people aren’t thinking about your business, they aren’t spending money either. That means you need to work hard to ensure your brand stays in the forefront of their minds. There are lots of techniques you could try. The ones listed on this page tend to work well.

Use remarketing tools

Google Adwords and other online banner services now offer remarketing tools. It’s a fantastic concept that could work wonders for your brand. The tool waits until users view your website or search for similar topics. Your banners then follow them around from domain to domain. It’s a great way to ensure relevant people frequently encounter your brand.

Hand out business cards

We hate to say it, but technology will only get you so far. Sometimes the oldest concepts are still the best. All company bosses should carry business cards all the time. You never know when you might bump into a potential client or customer. Giving them a car will often mean it gets placed in their wallet. So, they will think about your brand whenever they spend money.

Build a mailing list

Mailing lists are the best way to keep in touch with previous customers and clients. Make sure you send emails at least once every week. You can update people on company news, or present them with your best deals and offers.

Now you know how to keep people thinking about your company, you just have to create your plan. Those three ideas should be enough to help you make a start. However, you need to think outside of the box and come up with original concepts for the best results.

Infographic Designed By http://www.allbusinesscards.com/

October 13, 2015

The truth about running a small business

As any seasoned small business owner will tell you, it can be a tough life running your own business. Having to take full responsibility for every aspect of the business, day in day out, requires a huge amount of hard work, patience and determination.

I have nothing but admiration for the many small businesses that serve us so well, producing a quality of products and services that match and often exceed that of many of their much larger competitors.

There is a tendency however to assume that most small businesses are financially successful and that their owners enjoy high incomes and a better lifestyle – but this is far from the truth.

I constantly hear of businesses struggling with low incomes and poor cash flow, where their owners are working long hours, feeling under constant pressure, with little time to relax and spend time with their family.

I found it interesting how so many books have been written on how to become an entrepreneur or how to get rich quick but the fact is that most small-business owners are not that ambitious – rather they are just looking for a better deal.

Most people who start out in business have very little, if any, formal training. It’s therefore perhaps not so surprising that many small business owners struggle as they do. In fact most business owners learn the hard way, by trial and error. A great deal of trial and a lot of errors and sometimes those errors can be very painful and costly.

It’s small wonder then that a very high proportion of all business start-ups will fail within the first few years. This is because the owners have to learn quickly what they need to do to survive and if they don’t they pay the ultimate price.

Those that do survive the early years often find themselves constantly struggling to keep going and feel a deep despair as nothing ever seems to improve.

Please believe me when I tell you there truly is a better way! It really is possible to get a better deal for you and your business and you can do this by taking a series of gentle bite-size steps. This easy-to-apply approach means that it doesn’t matter how busy you are, you can start making progress with your business right now.

Be in no doubt that it is possible for you to strengthen your business, improve your earnings and, perhaps most important of all, get a life!

You don’t need to be a financial whizz or a marketing Guru to take your business on to another level. Just getting the basics right can make a huge difference. We’re not talking about working harder or longer hours here – this is about working more effectively, focusing on getting what you want from your business and avoiding distractions.

Before you begin working on your business though you must give yourself a little breathing space and in order to do this you need to start by working on yourself. If you can develop just a few basic skills for improving the way you do what you do, you can then start moving gently towards that better deal.

By Ian Marshall, author of The Savvy Guide to Kick-Starting Your Small Business

October 7, 2015

Essential tips for targeting your website properly

All new website owners need to learn vital information about their target market. That is the only way they can tailor their website to the right audience. You need to perform a lot of market research to find out the age, sex, and location of the people who want to buy your products. You should also try to discover facts relating to their interests, other websites they use, and more. Ideally, you want as much information as possible. That should help you to target your domain accordingly. The tips and tricks on this page should offer assistance.

Run surveys

Unless your target audience lives in a certain location, you should start to run online surveys. Ask people who use your website to answer a series of questions for a small discount. People love saving money, and so they are likely to take part. You can also send the same surveys out to addresses on your mailing list. Again, offer them a discount for taking part for the best results. You should ask questions like “how much have you spent on ___ products this year?” You can also ask about the nature of their buying habits. What percentage of their money is spent online? Which other websites do they use?

Tailor your site

From the information you gather, it should be easy to tailor your website accordingly. That is especially the case if you are starting an online shop. Presuming a high percentage of your target market use the same websites, you should take a look. Work out which elements of those domains attract people. You will then identify what encourages them to make purchases. You can then try to replicate those elements to push your website forward. With a bit of luck, your conversion rate should increase. Of course, you can A/B test everything to work out the exact impact of the alterations.

Use specialist tools

There are lots of tools available that should help you to target your website. I use many of them to run my domain, and they seem to work very well. Those of you who provide products and services that aren’t designed for children are in luck. You can use age verification systems to ensure nobody under the age of eighteen can access your site. That means only those from within your target market will discover your pages. You can also block certain countries if you want to go a step further. Those selling in the US alone have no need to market their site to people living in other countries.

Now you know how to target your website properly, there should be nothing standing in the way of success. The only other thing you might need to consider relates to social media. It is possible to target your ads on Facebook and Twitter, so they only reach a certain audience. You should make sure people under the age of eighteen are blocked if they are not within your target market. Most younger people don’t have bank accounts, and so they are unlikely to make a purchase.

Image source

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015

6 things to remember when buying a franchise

Setting up as a franchise is almost a no-brainer for the budding entrepreneur who wants returns without the risk. Some of the biggest names on the high street operate under the franchise model, and if you were running one yourself, that’d mean a ready-made customer base that recognises and actively looks for the brand.

Out goes the uncertainty associated with starting a business from the ground up, and in comes the assurance of a business model that has already been proven many times over. From established enterprises like McDonald’s and Subway to up-and-coming opportunities such as a Phoenix e-cig franchise, there’s an operation to suit your particular corner of the market.

But before you hand over your start-up cash, make sure you ask the right questions. All too often wannabe tycoons rush into business on a whim, often only on the basis of liking a particular brand. That’s not going to help you hit the ground running, so make sure you get compelling answers to these six questions.

1 How much capital is required?
Some franchise prices cover everything from premises to initial stock to refitting a store.
Yet others will only get you the right to trade under a particular name, with all other costs footed by you. Make sure you know what your first outlay will include so there aren’t any bank account-collapsing surprises two weeks before opening day.

Take care when assessing how best to raise your capital. While you may think that re-mortgaging your home is the best way to a raise large lump sum, bank-lending packages, worth up to 70 per cent of the franchise cost, could be a more secure option (see ThisisMoney.co.uk for more). You don’t want the security of your home riding on the success or failure of your new venture.

2 Is there demand for this business?
Along with your financial position, this should be the first point to consider. When weighing up whether to go into business (and not just as a franchisee), you need to make sure that business is wanted by consumers – and that demand will continue. When researching a franchise’s viability, a detailed SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis should be carried out. If you require a business loan, it’ll be among the first things a bank asks for.

3 What are you signing up to?
Just because you recognise the name, you shouldn’t assume the company you’re buying into plays fair. Run your contract past a solicitor with experience of small business start-ups before signing.

4 What support is on offer?
As well as a good grounding in the product or service you’re signing up to sell, you should also get access to detailed market information and sales data compiled by the franchisor. This will help you develop your business plan. Find out what sort of marketing and training support will be available.

5 Is there a selection criteria?
Are you the right fit for the franchisor? Some companies will ask that any new franchisee has experience of their sector, or has a certain level of training beforehand.

6 What are your chances of success?
This is where your investigative abilities should come to the fore. If you’re looking to take over an already established franchise, find out how it’s doing. Is the existing franchisee still happy? How’s the rest of the team? What do customers think of the place? Have any competitors recently appeared? If you’re starting afresh, see if you can speak with an existing franchisee to get the lay of the land.

Business advice site StartUpDonut.co.uk has more tips for budding franchisees here.

September 30, 2015

The best blogging concepts you should be using

There are lots of good ways to identify popular blogging concepts. The infographic offers some key information that might be of use. We’re also going to offer some advice within this short post. You’ll never become a professional blogger if you don’t write about the right subjects. Hopefully, the information on this page will point you in the right direction.

Reviews

Reviews are always popular blogging concepts. Maybe you use a certain type of product and manufacturers have released something new? Perhaps you run a music site, and you want to promote original bands? Either way, publishing reviews will help your blog to get noticed.

Breaking News

Breaking news usually works well if you can publish a post quickly. You just have to remember that lots of other people are doing the same thing. If you can publish a post and share it on Facebook before other bloggers, it could drive a lot of traffic to your website.

Interviews

Interviewing a famous person for your blog is a fantastic move. Publishing a video alongside your article is even better. People will visit your blog because they are familiar with the celebrity. So, you can use their fame to promote your interests.

All bloggers should use those concepts on a weekly basis. You should fit those articles in alongside the other topics on your website. At the end of the day, you need a lot of traffic if you want to make a living from advertising. So, you should aim to write articles people want to read.

Infographic Produced By http://www.setupablogtoday.com/