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Susan Mercandetti: The Secret to a Successful Life
Can You Afford to Run a Cash-Only Business?
High credit-card fees and other hassles make it tempting to pocket all your company's money, but there are also a number of downsides to only accepting cash. A look at the pros and cons. Continue Reading
Stories by Julia L Rogers
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Managing Online Customer Feedback: 5 Things You Need to Know
Getting slammed on Twitter, Yelp or even your own website? How to use online customer feedback -- good or bad -- to help benefit your business. Continue Reading
Ask Your Customers What They Want Before You Sell
Have you asked your customers what they want to buy? Interview or poll them and ask. Trying to come up with great company promo items? Before you go printing up a batch of XL white T-shirts, ask! Your customers may want coffee mugs or yoga mats, and unless you ask, you will never know. To find out what your customers might like to buy, you can use services like Survey Monkey to send a survey to those on your newsletter list. To ask your Twitter followers, you can use services like Twtpoll, or for Facebook fans or friends, something like Poll Daddy Poll. Continue Reading
Play to Win
We have all seen the professional golfer miss the 5-foot putt to lose a major, the field goal kicker miss wide right as the clock hits zero and the hoop star miss the front end of a 1 and 1 at the end of a game. These same situations resonate in business as well. We have all choked at work, whether it’s an internal presentation or sales pitch to a prospective client. As you start to feel the nerves before a big presentation, remember nerves are temporary, but regretting the way you handle yourself in front of others can have a lasting impression. Be excited for every business opportunity. Act like you want to win as though it’s the last shot or kick in a game and you will see winning results, but more importantly you will have no regrets! Continue Reading
Pay Attention to Niche Markets
What exactly is a niche market and how do you profit from it? HJMews.com is one of the internet’s only high-end cat boutiques. It sells only the best products and it does it in a way that is completely unique: each item comes with a hand-made thank you card and they only advertise the very best products for your feline. HJMews is a concrete example of a business that targets a niche market -- frankly, there aren’t that many people out there looking for fashionable or high-end products for their cat. There are, however, enough to warrant a fairly profitable online shop. HJMews takes a niche market -- the high-end cat owner-- and capitalizes on it by emphasizing the quality of their items and the hand-made care that often can’t be found in other online shops. What does paying attention to “niche markets” really mean? It means putting an emphasis on smaller audiences for bigger profits. Continue Reading
Increase Exposure Using Social Media
It’s easy to convince ourselves that a single ad on Google, Facebook, or otherwise will suffice for our marketing needs, especially when we are bombarded by options like tweeting, tumbling, blogging and gawking (and lets not forget the almighty ‘Like’ button). But social media sites like Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook hold a special ingredient that ads do not -- the potential of exponential exposure. A magazine or internet ad might look pretty and work seemingly well, but your efforts end there. A tweet, wall post, or blog post on the other hand may not bring as many immediate customers, but the ones it does reach will share what they’ve found with their friends and followers, and those people will also share it, and so on. Offer rewards like rebates and discounts to customers who share your products through these outlets, and you will reap even larger exposure. Continue Reading
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Hiring Your First Employee: 5 Things You Need to Know
A successful startup eventually needs more people to keep growing. How to hire your first employee. Continue Reading
Don't Let Prospects Pick Your Brain For Free
Often, prospective clients ask what seem like intelligent and innocent questions, but are really disguised attempts at soliciting free advice. While it is important to show value and industry expertise to potential customers, it is very important to show that part of the value is that you don't work for free. Here are some standard and polite responses I give when I feel as though my brain is about to be picked for free: 1. Yes, I can surely solve your problem. When would you like to schedule a a client meeting? 2. That's a great question. I'd be more than happy to answer it, but I don't know if I already gave you my hourly rate or not. In either case it is $___/hr. 3. I'd love to help you out right now, but it wouldn't be fair to take time away from my paying clients right now. Would you like to engage us for services? 4. I can be of help, but I assume you that know this is how I support my family. Should we compare schedules? Continue Reading
Send a Handwritten 'Thank You' Note
Online stores should consider sending handwritten thank you notes with the orders they ship. One of our favorite Shopify stores, The Big Blue Hug (www.thebigbluehug.com), sends out a gorgeous handwritten card with every order. In a world of discount superstores and self-checkouts at the grocery store, seeing this level of friendly customer service is rare. It’s a step further than most stores are willing to go, and it sets them apart. Continue Reading
Treat Every Customer like a Real Person
As the Christmas shipping deadline approached, we received an email from a customer (let's call her Jane) who had not received her order yet. We checked our records and the item was shipped the day we received the order. It wasn't our fault we thought, we don't control the postal system. We sent a friendly email asking Jane to be patient, it was in the mail and it would be there soon. After a few days, we thought about it more and more. Jane had ordered our product to give as a gift, if the product didn't arrive in time, there would be at least two disappointed people. We sent an email to Jane saying that if she didn't get anything by the end of the week, we would send a replacement package at no cost. We ended up sending out another package which cost us $2 in shipping plus about $2 in material costs. Jane emailed us when she received the new package about how much she loved the product. Since then, Jane had been our top customer, ordering from us five times since last Christmas and recommending us to her friends. These orders have more than made up for the $4 we ate sending out the extra package. Continue Reading
KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid)
I think the most important thing that we have learned is to make things as simple as possible. I keep up with technology extremely closely, and therefore find some of the cutting edge high-tech more intuitive than others would. In addition, because we put together our store and understand it so deeply – it is easy for us to simply assume that others will do the same. As we (my partner and I) build our business, we continue to look for ways to simplify our layout and user experience, while making everything clear and easy to understand. We are in the midst or really proving to ourselves that the easier we make it to buy our products, the more products we will sell. Continue Reading
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Getting Media Coverage: 5 Things You Need to Know
A few media mentions can put you on the map and boost sales. How to craft a pitch, contact reporters and get coverage for your company. Continue Reading
Share Your History
The ever-curious customer is drawn to those who go beyond the Bio and include a 'History' of their business - the Where, When and most importantly, the Why of your company and products. They want the real deal. It’s in your 'History' section/page that you ultimately create your greatest evangelists, those who relate to you on a personal level and feel like they have shaken your hand before doing business with you. Yes, we are creating online stores, but I can guarantee that in our heart, each of us still likes the idea of doing business the good old-fashioned way - with some relationship to the store owner. I had to learn that the only thing I do better than anyone in the world is tell my company’s story and hope it speaks loud and clear to some visitors, creating passionate repeat customers who tell two friends that tell four friends and so forth. Continue Reading
Have Stories to Tell
I believe this is and always should be the cornerstone of one’s business: You must have stories to tell and they must be dynamic and captivating. They need to speak to your audience on how your product is going to make them feel like a complete rock star, whether through personal use of your products or the 'wow' factor they produce when gifted to others. The 'About' page is often the first place visitors gravitate to when they find your site. If you don’t have your own compelling story to tell about the genesis of your business, you leave customers to fill in the blanks, inevitably leading them to believe you threw up a storefront to sell them something. Note to business owners: No one likes to be sold. Continue Reading
Let Customers See Who's Behind the Business
I am taking a 3rd generation brick-and-mortar butcher shop online. My storefront has been successful because of our quality and service, which is what I am constantly trying to replicate online. Letting the consumer see me cut meat with my son, pictures of the interior of my store and using my cooking videos allows them to be more comfortable with me (or at least that is the goal) and helps let my customers see who is behind the business. I sign every email to customers personally, so they know this is not a big box store but rather a custom butcher shop with real people running the show. If you care about your work, it will shine through when they get a glimpse of you. Continue Reading
