Essentially, sell-sumers literally sell what they consume in return for money. In the name of consumer participation, be it selling their opinions to corporate surveys, paddling their views to fellow consumers, sell-sumers are fast becoming a commendable marketing force employed by far sighted early adopters. This is one of the best approach for product makers solicit feedback especially during product testing stage, but this is not to say that existing products do not benefit from it. They do, in the same way that new test products do. This is probably one of the low cost forms of generating product reviews and response from the product owners’ point of view. They are going into the marketplace to generate opinions of real users from first hand accounts – indeed, the most authentic product comments a product maker can ever have.

Consumers no longer simply consume, but literally participate and contribute to the marketing and product improvement process. Consumers are quietly riding the tide of this evolving trend of endless novel ways to make money from selling personal assets, opinions, creations etc. This new trend is here for good due to the fact that Sell-sumers are fast perceived to be a growing and critical link in the entire product creation and enhancement process.

Sell-sumers will give their opinion on new and existing products in the market and the most effective way to generate constructive feedback on the products is to accord them the greatest freedom to opine on the features, benefits and drawbacks. Product makers should then incorporate the constructive feedback into their product improvement process.

Consumers have been subconsciously trained to become experts in their products they consume in terms of their needs, wants and desires. In fact, they are also well tuned in topic of business, marketing as well as advertising. It hence follows that these sell-sumers can then proceed to give their opinions to any business owners who might even trade business tips and product feedback for money.

Being able to get extra cash is always a great proposition, especially when it is nothing more than simply expressing your consumer perspectives. Indeed, an interestingly twist to the traditional small business marketing strategies that we have been executing.

Note that this is NOT a departure from your Business Plan but an essential addition to it, to be reviewed at least on a quarterly basis, if not reflected upon on a regular basis.

Clarity Is Imperative To Drive Your Business To The Next Level

Too caught up in the daily operations to sit back and reflect on where your business is right now? Are you in the Correct Business at the Correct Timing? And do you have the foresight to keep your business ahead of the game?

By being the Correct Business at the Correct Timing simply means riding on the economic tides to provide you with the greatest returns on your investment of time, effort and money. Take a simple example, if you are running a high end restaurant, you will likely be seeing diminishing patrons in times of economic downturn. So you probably need to re-strategize and reposition your branding and marketing plan, especially in terms of product offerings, pricing and promotions.

Foresight Is Key Driving Force Of Business Growth

By having the Foresight to keep ahead of the game, you need to know your trade and your competition extremely thoroughly and innovate. Should you be downsizing when your competition is at status quo? Or should you be expanding instead? Is there a need to expand your product offering or simply expand into potentially profitable markets with existing products? Sometimes you need to take a few steps back in order to make a leap forward.

Know When To Stop When Benchmarking Against Your Competition

Competitive analysis is a key component to your business survival. But overtly conscious and benchmarking of your business again competitive forces could stifle your creativity, make you a follower, not a leader in the pack. For Small businesses, your first step to dominating your top three competitors is understanding what they are doing, how to innovate and outperform them. Only then do you have the greater ability to outdo them in your continued growth strategies.

One major mistake business owners often make are engaging in price wars, which essentially shaves off almost all profits and weigh you down on your marketing costs. It does not foster well with customer loyalty and you may eventually lose the traffic in the aftermath. The worst part of the deal is that in a price war, almost always have a winner and a loser and you can get obsessive with price wars. Once you decided on this strategy, customers’ price expectations are re-benchmarked and you will have a lot of work to do in re-positioning and re-branding, unless of course you are targeting one time customers…

Can You Deliver Your Promise?

Your business competency works hand in hand with your delivery promise. Review how well your business is delivering its promise to your customers. Do you over promise and under deliver or vice versa? Is there a perception mismatch in the eyes of the consumer?

If so, run surveys, focus groups, get feedback and rectify the mis-perception. Set the Right Branding for your business and Re-launch a re-positioning campaign. Make sure this time round, you really over deliver on your promise.

Check out more good reads at Business Plans, Small Business Marketing Strategies and others.

Indeed, one of the most difficult things for an entrepreneur to master throughout the entire course of his business is the art of delegation. The sheer desire to want to ensure that all matters will end up smoothly means that you will need to attended to each and every small and large issue personally. Believing that when you do everything yourself you are in control of every detail of the execution inclusive of quality and deadlines can pose a great toil on oneself. Yet, if you pass some of the tasks onto someone else, you leave a potentially great margin of error and much uncertainty in the hands of others. This is a paradox that most entrepreneurs have to face, especially in the infancy of the business life cycle.

Sadly, it is often true that you cannot build a real business alone. You would soon see that there are such extensive amounts of things to attend, such that are beyond the means of one single person, regardless of how diligent you can be.

Understanding that delegation not only serves to lighten your load to enable more time for your higher level planning but also empower your staff with important tasks. Hence, delegation is essentially part and parcel of the growth of your business.

Classifying which type of tasks can be delegated is key to your business management success. Routine and regular tasks which are time consuming should be delegated out. However, there is an alternative which many businesses are trending towards these days, that is, outsourcing.

Unlike delegation which means that you need to have staff to delegate your tasks, outsourcing is more appropriate for those who are lone entrepreneurs and need help with routine tasks that are time consuming. Outsourcing will take more effort on you the sole owner, as you are still the person to brief the outsourcing company, confirming the tasks and results. Outsourcing is a viable approach for those who are growing the business and is in transition before employing full time employees or for those who prefer to remain a sole entrepreneur.

Hence, there are quite a few approaches you can adopt with starting your own small business and two key methods to grow it is delegation as well as outsourcing. In line with the philosophies of business planning and small business marketing strategies, there is more benefits to adopting either of the small business growth strategies than simply taking on the endless routine tasks on a daily basis. You as the boss of your business, should be planning for its growth, not betting stuck in the mundane repetitive tasks.

How Sure Are You Of The Demand?

And indeed untapped entrepreneur opportunities are always out there, but finding one without competition could literally backfire on you. It probably has not dawn upon some of us who, while enthusiastically burrowing our heads into finding the perfect niche out there, have omitted the fact that the eventually chosen niche could be one without sufficient buyer demand because of the lack of competition. Rhetorical it may be, but there is great true in the fact that it could be a niche that no one wishes to enter as most realize that there is literally no demand. And even if you manage to find or create a niche and market with little or no competition there will soon be swarms of competition jumping onto the bandwagon. So the strategy should be that if there is literally no way to avoid competition, excel above them.

How Does The First Mover Advantage Concept Measure Up?

Many businesses are still hung on the concept of first mover advantage which suggests that the first to enter into a particular market niche will be able to generate massive profit, competitive advantage as well as extensive market share. They will also be the ones who will be able to maintain their leadership position for good.

Despite the fact that there are numerous first mover advantage situations which holds true, we need to understand their characteristics from the perspective of The Porters’ Five Forces. Those who could hold on to their leadership positions are probably in the businesses which require extremely high capital outlay in areas like oil rigs and pipeline development or industries with highly professional and exclusive expertise like fund management and precision technologies. These capabilities serve as high business entry barriers to new aspiring entrants. Alternatively, businesses with low business entry barriers like the internet will continue to see new blood and new ideas swarming an already busy marketplace.

Entrepreneur opportunities will always exist. But you need to ensure that there are adequate market size, buyer demand, long term potential, good amount of target audience and the right amount of barrier to entry to help you maintain your leadership within the industry.

I read an email today and choked with surprise upon reading it. As a marketer, I felt compelled to share this with fellow marketers.

A popular job search directory hub has recently launched a membership recruitment drive coined “I Love My Job Photo Contest”…. The prize is a Nikon DSLR D80 camera and many other prizes”.

This contest has all the usual membership drive tactics for membership recruitment drive purposes. And of course, you have to become a member of job search site to join the contest.

But up till here, do the above read normal to you or have you already spotted the rhetorical paradox?

What seems more like a “work life balance awareness drive”, it is rather paradoxical, don’t you think that in the 1st place, if I really love my job, would I need the services of a job search directory hub … ?

And if the marketer is trying to imply that you are happy after finding a new job though the search hub and join the contest, it defeats the purpose of the recruitment drive!

This is a true life example of an unthinking marketer, who lacks in-depth understanding of his/her potential target market’s mindset and needs.

There are other more effective and rewarding marketing tactics for instance Career Seminar Tie-Ups with participating MNCs, Large Locals Employers, Small Businesses or Job-skill -Based Contests like planning and implementing a business plan etc.

I cannot stress more that as true marketers, one needs to delve deep into the needs of one’s target markets, know them thoroughly and activate appropriate marketing tactics to garner their trust. Your small business marketing strategies should never be gimmicks but truly beneficial to your clientele.

Adhere To The S.M.A.R.T. System For Goal Setting Strategies

The S.M.A.R.T. system is one of the timeless goal setting tools which is simple, scalable and easy to apply. When you do not achieve your goal setting strategies, you probably did not adhere to the rules of S.M.A.R.T. system. Remember that your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. The key when you are prepare your goals, be them personal or work related, it is always critical to ensure that your goals are be realistic and readily achievable, with the available time and resources.

Start Small With Your Goals Setting Strategies

Ask yourself if you have broken down your goals and objectives in smaller, bit size tasks which are manageable and phase them to scale upward. Set your timeline for each milestone so that each baby step leads to completion and you can then embark upon the next with ease. Give yourself reasonable amount of time to achieve the milestones.

Have You Reviewed Your Progress Lately?

One of the key to success with goal setting strategies is to constantly monitor your progress. Set up a schedule either in Excel format or a project management schedule plan and review the progress on a daily or bi-weekly basis. Set a fixed day and time to do your review, say on Wednesdays and Friday afternoons. The middle of the week review would give you a good indication of whether you are constantly reaching your objectives and if not, you can work out alternative tactics to achieve them The end of the week review gives you a good perspective if your adjustments to new tactics worked or simply if indicates how much you have exceeded your milestone goals.

Goal Setting Tools Should Never Be Complicated And Time Consuming

It is important to note that many people tend to spend more time planning than executing what they are set to achieve and there are times when you really need to put a stop to planning and start implementing your strategies and tactics. A simple Excel spreadsheet would do fine as one of your goal setting tools and you really do not need sophisticated software to work out a simple project time line, that is, unless you are very well versed and familiar with the software. Scale up your monitoring only when you need to scale up your project. Time management is critical your success, so use it wisely.

That said, small business marketing strategies must eventually synchronize well with your goals setting strategies, and your tactics to achieve them be realistic, budget wise and execution friendly. Note that proper goal setting strategies will benefit your business in the long run, given constant review and improvements to your plans.

Today in part 2 of Customer Retention Small Business Marketing Strategies, we focus on sales tactics to foster growth in your business. The key to keeping great customer retention is to keep regular contact with your clientele and prospects via email, phone call and even twitter. Below are some tips for your reference.

Support Claims with Authentic Research and Real Examples

Making unsupported claims about your product is the fastest way to drive away your customers. You should back up your claims with research, case studies and real examples to highlight the USP or unique selling points of your products. Real examples are the most convincing testimonials to enhance sales.

Real Customer Testimonials As a Sale Lead Generation Tactic

Real Customer Testimonials is a very important tactic to lead generate for new sales. The credibility is much higher when other real customers speaks well of your product and allow you to quote them in your sales and publicity materials. Compared to making your own products claims, this is indeed more credible and convincing to the potential buyers, especially when they are return buyers who are familiar with your company and your customers. Work into your public relations and after sales feedback process to set up an easy process to generate testimonials. For every satisfied customer, request a testimonial for future use. Most will be willing to provide you with the information, especially when your public relations officer would be using them in your newsletter and giving your customers free publicity exposure. Get customers’ permission to use the testimonials in your small business marketing strategies and tactics like corporate website, sales brochures and direct mailers, email etc.

Dare To Ask … For Referrals, That Is

If you trust the company you keep and trust the customers you have, there should be no problem in asking for referrals from your existing customers. Again, work out a lead generation process to ask for referrals, preferably at the end of the sales process or together with the request for testimonials. You would be surprised how simply by asking, you will be rewarded handsomely financially.

100% Guaranteed or Your Money Back

The above phrase looks very familiar to most of us. But read it again, this time from the perspective of your customer – the buyer. Reading it from this whole new standpoint would give the phrase a whole new meaning too. Providing a money back refund guarantee is the best vouch for quality and helps to reduce buyer’s remorse, especially when you are selling high ticketed items. The key to good customer relationship is to ensure that you process refunds fast and hassle free, Remember that you build trust by standing by your words and keeping a good reputation within the industry and amongst your customers are critical to building long term relationships.

If you brainstorm deeper, you will be able to innovate even more into Small Business Marketing Strategies for customer retention. What is more critical is the implementation and follow through of your promise to deliver, exceed customer expectations, and WOW them into a long term business relationship.

During implementation, you need to keep tab on each stage or milestone and evaluate the outcome to adjust your strategy accordingly. It is however not advisable to adjust your preset targets unless you are totally convinced that external stimuli have changed to negatively impact your performance.

If you are running your own business, you should know exactly where your business stands, and be able to met out small business marketing strategies in tandem with your goal setting strategies.

When working out your goal setting strategies, you need to adhere to the rules of S.M.A.R.T. system. Your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. This is a timeless guide that most successful entrepreneurs and marketers alike follow to a tee. Corporate company staff learn them from their marketing and business management training 101 and have become a subconscious universal guide.

Although on paper, anything you plan seems viable, you have to a test and let practicality tell you whether your goal setting is realistic. The reason is probably you may have a unclear perspective of your situational analysis or lack of research into the markets. Small business marketing ideas must fully synchronize with your goal setting strategies realistically in order to be successful. Often, when your goal setting strategies fall short of your targets, you tend to feel de-motivated at the tail end of the process.

Setting realistic goals is critical to your eventual success. Take for instance, when embarking upon a new project, you start with setting bit size incremental goals like 10% on a monthly basis. Should you set goals based a lump sum amount over a given period, like an $X over a half year period, chances are you might not be able to achieve the latter or adjust the variables easily.

No business goal setting strategies can be achieved effectively without your small business marketing strategies and they must be worked out in tandem with each other.

As Trust is the Foundation and key to any sustaining relationship between two parties, and this is ever so true with business relationships. With trust comes confidence in your product and services, thereby meaning that you are more inclined to generate more future revenue from them over the long term. Below are the Customer Retention Small Business Marketing Strategies and tips on building trust for great long term customer relationships

Position Yourself and Your Business As The Must Have Resource

Information, be it generic or specific to your products and services can be critical to the final buying decision of the customer. Provide information which are accurate, timely and useful to your clients. For the less internet savvy clients, you may wish to set up a monthly newsletter to be sent to all by snail mail.

Whenever possible, include a blog section to your company and product websites and provide constant updates and useful information to clients. Email them whenever you have fresh content that you think they might be interested in. You can provide free physical or online training on how to use your products and services or conduct webinars.

Adopt A High Touch Strategy

Content can come in the form of articles, video or audio. When you write articles and publish them on your website, article directories as well as complementing product websites, you are establishing yourself as an expert who knows about the subject in depth and will to share pertinent information thereby helping you to build trust and loyalty.

Keeping constantly at the top of mind is very important to your business. Successful businesses often adopt a high touch strategy which embraces the concept of regular and consistent contact with potential and existing customers to facilitate interest and high mindshare. Your tools of communication include email, snail mail, phone, newsletters etc. You can even do surveys, polls, online or paper based focus groups to generate feedback for product and service enhancements.

To build trust and long term relationships with customers literally means that you whole heartedly avail yourself and your business to their needs, being accessible at most times and always listening to feedback for product and service improvements. This is essentially one of the key success factors of Customer Retention Small Business Marketing Strategies.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series.

Check here for more information on Small Business Marketing Strategies

Measurable goals help to guide you along the right track, allowing you tweak your campaigns and marketing plan along the way as you phase your campaigns. Measurable goals not only help you to track your spending, profit and loss but also operational efficiencies such as lead generation rates, leads-to-sales conversion rates etc.

The Business ROI or Return on Investment is the measurement of your business’ success or failure. There is need to benchmark your direct marketing campaign with your respective industry standards and then set internal benchmarks as measurements.

A general rule of thumb is that for traditional mode of postal direct mailer to new potential databases, a 3% – 5% response rate & 30% leads-to-sales conversion rate is considered above average achievements. That said, it is not uncommon to find conversion rates of as high as 10% in very successful new campaigns. And of course, direct mailers to existing databases could yield greater conversion, with the assumption that you have loyal customers and products that continuously meet their needs.

The BusinessFast4ward Direct Marketing Campaign ROI Guide & Checklist

We have put together a simple guide to help you measure your ROI specific to your physical Direct Mailing campaigns. Let us explore the list of guiding questions below:

How many Postal Direct Mailers/ emails/ text ad messages (sms) have you sent out?

How much is the per unit cost and hence the total cost of your direct mailer?

Note that for emails you should still factor in your production cost, and manpower cost if applicable.

How much business revenue is generated from this campaign?

This is assuming that you have set a monitoring system for incoming revenues. Note that it is critical to set up an easy to manage revenue monitoring system which enables you to have timely and real=time information on specific campaigns as this gives you’re the nimbleness to make changes to your marketing strategies and tactics during the campaign period.

What is my ROI of this campaign?

The ROI of any campaign or marketing activity is calculated as [Total Revenue to date – Total Cost to date]/Total Cost to Date.

Note that the ROI is represented in a decimal form of which you may convert to percentages for easier reference.

How does my ROI compare to my Industry ROI? Or my greatest competitor’s ROI?

Now that you have your ROI on hand, you should first compare that to the industry ROI. If you are above it, do not let off and keep up the push for better improvements.

How does my ROI compare to my competitor’s ROI?

More importantly, should you be privy to your greatest competitor’s ROI, compare and make adjustments to exceed that of your competitor. This should serve as a continuous activity whenever you are doing your marketing campaigns. That said, when comparing your competitor’s campaign ROI, take note of the similarities and differences in their direct marketing mix and channels adopted. You should compare “apples to apples”. Too many diverging factors would make your competitor comparison meaningless.

What variable components in my ROI can I tweak to improve my returns?

This is the million dollar question. Timing is of essence, and having access to real time campaign results gives you the edge to start making adjustments to your direct marketing mix.

The key components you can tweak are your promotional mix in terms of the push factors. These are namely creating additional personal selling or telemarketing in support of your direct mailers, distribution of flyers at critical locations applicable to your business.

If you are strapped of funds, you could consider free press write ups, or subtly market your business via social networking sites. You might also forge alliance with other renown internet marketers in joint ventures to market your product over the internet, provided of course that your product offerings are suitable for the internet in terms of target audiences as well as delivery channels. And should you have excess funds, you may consider leveraging on TV ads or sponsor a radio talk show.

Check out the BusinessFast4ward Marketing Plan Template here for more details.