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We hope you find this arcthve useful. A subscription to The Small Business Advisor Newsletter is free. Subscribe now - it's easy! The Small Business Advisor Newsletter for December, 2002 ======================== ======================== On October 31, 2002, the SBA’s Procurement Marketing and Access Network PRO-Net was integrated with the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) Central Contractor Registration (CCR). So what you say? If you are doing business with the government or are planning to you need to be aware that all vendor payments will be made on the basis of electronic funds transfer (EFT) information contained in CCR. Firms doing business with the Federal government will have to be registered in CCR in order to receive payment for performance. You can register by visiting http://www.ccr.gov. To register you will need to input your DUNS number. What’s DUNS? The Data Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) is a unique nine-character identification
number provided by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). Call D&B
at 1-800-333-0505 if you do not have a DUNS number. The process
to request a DUNS number takes about 10 minutes and is free. You
can also register for your DUNS number at D&B's web site: ======================== A great easy-to-read guide for starting and operating your home-based business. Written with women in mind but excellent information for anyone starting a business. Well organized with information ranging from initial considerations (should I start a business?) through the details of starting the business (research, planning, startup basics, legal and financing matters) and finally to operating the business (management, marketing, networking, using the internet, etc). Each chapter has an informative listing of additional resources. Finally there are useful appendices including State specific information; details for those in Canada, and a complete Glossary. Highly recommended. $14.95. ======================== 1. Start a "Side Service" for Better Profits Looking for ways to increase sales? Try starting a side service to go with your main offer. Your side service can be something that takes a little time, but doesn't really cost you anything. When your auto mechanic offers to fix your car AND change your oil, he's offering a low-cost side service. The side service should be related to your main product or service. One of my biggest profit producers started off as a simple side service.I used to write classified ads for customers. I would write the ad, then send the customer on his way to place it in a newspaper or newsletter. Eventually I learned very few got around to placing the ad. They meant to, but there just wasn't time or they didn't know how. I started offering to write the ad AND place it in newsletters. Customers loved it. Because I was bundling two services in one package, I could charge a higher price.
Most businesses look for customers in the same places their competitors do. If your competitor advertises in the newspaper, you do too. If the market leader in your field does TV infomercials, you probably feel a lot of pressure to spend your ad dollars in the same way. You can save a lot of money AND find plenty of customers you competitors are missing by looking for prospects in different places. Sure, your prospective customers watch TV and read the newspaper, but they also probably get ezines, read trade publications, pick up magazines in the grocery store, and take the bus or train. Also think of alternative places to sell your product or service. You may not need a stall in the mall or a Main Street retail location. How about selling on the Internet, or in a part of town where not many stores are located, or through direct mail? Can you display your product in stores that draw the same kinds of customers you are after?
Marketing works better if it tells us who the product or service is intended for. Most advertising has a target audience. Unfortunately, ads usually don't tell us what kind of person they are after. Your marketing could start "Are you running a business from home, but don't have a low-cost way to pull in new customers?" People with the problem you can solve immediately understand your marketing is directed at them. If you sell a high-priced product to corporate bosses, your ad can begin "For the CEO too busy putting out fires to take care of business." You can bet lots of corporate chiefs would sit up and take notice. I have often wondered why radio stations, who carefully define the ages and lifestyle of their target audience, don't tell us up-front who should be listening to them. "Soft Hits for People At Work" would tell me who should be listening and who would really benefit. It doesn't leave customers wondering if it is for them.
If someone buys your product or service, how will it improve their life? Customers always want to know what is in it for them. In fact, their insistence on knowing how you can help them is so strong they'll quickly turn away if you don't tell them FAST. Make a list of the core benefits your product or service gives to customers. * You save the customer time so she can live her life. * You help the customer save money so he can afford something special. * You make the customer feel safe, sexy, or important. * You help the customer relax, understand their potential, and reach goals. Don't just tell people you can make their car get 20 more miles to the tank. Also give them the benefits: they save $3 per tank and have to fill up less often. Include one or two of your core benefits in your headline. List more, connecting features with benefits, in the first third of your marketing copy.
Many of your customers would buy more if they had a wider view of their industry. For example, a lot more people would want me to write a press release for them if they understood just how MUCH news editors need and how OFTEN they get it from press releases. You can give customers this wider, deeper perspective by sending them a free magazine subscription. Check the leading magazines that cover your industry. Call or email to find out if they can give you a discount for multiple gift subscriptions. Most do. Once you get your best or biggest customers signed up, watch the magazine for a story that relates to what you sell. Zip off a note or email telling the customer to watch for the article. Point out why you think the information is important. While magazines work well for this, a specialty newspaper or trade publication can work just as well. Publicity Hound puts out a great newsletter of success stories that would work perfectly in the example above.
Quality Control originally meant keeping your product or service from having too MUCH quality. In the old days, a worker might spend all day building a chair. It would have refinements, features, and a high price most customers didn't care to pay for. By limiting the quality to just what the customer demanded, many companies soared forward. But how do you know the tipping point at which customers either think your product is a good value or a tad too cheap? You will have to do a little experimenting. Something you think is very important may not even register with customers. The fine furniture you put in your office might not impress customers any more than cheaper, good-looking furniture that costs two-thirds less. On the other hand, saving money by replacing your human receptionist with a voice mail maze may be a HUGE difference to customers. Return to top of page - Back to Home Page - Back to Archive Index |