Tag Archives: Entrepreneurship

Lifehacks

Why Your Marketing Strategies Suck (And How to Fix Them)

EntrepreneurFinesse.com - Good To Great Marketing Strategies

Who likes to be proven wrong?

Nobody wants to fail, especially not enthusiastic start-up entrepreneurs.

Often the best way to find out what works in marketing is to analyze what does not work.  In my business consulting firm I have helped many successful companies and some failures too. While there are many reasons for business failure, these marketing blunders are an all too common factor in startup demise. A great startup knows how to utilize technology in the best interests of the people in their company and their bottom line. For example, a local chiropractor would do well by positioning themselves on Google search with SEO (Get found online with Hari Menon Digital).

These are the worst marketing tactics I have observed small businesses use most often which result in money loss, weak sales, and most critically the loss of the entrepreneur’s confidence and drive.

Learn from other entrepreneurs’ marketing mistakes and spare yourself a business failure.

EntrepreneurFinesse.com - Good To Great Marketing Strategies

Failing Marketing Strategies and How To Correct

More Is Better

Often called the “spray and pray” marketing program. The premise is that if you make ten sales presentations and nobody buys then you should make a hundred more of the same flawed sales presentation.  The concept is if you work extra hard success will naturally follow. However, doing more of the same failing activities will only bring you more business failure. People fall into this trap because working super hard gives them the perception of progress, but it is only an illusion.

How to Correct

Instead, after those ten bad sales presentations, take a step back, and review the why’s of your failure. Be humble and open to learning the truth. Ask yourself these fact-finding questions:

  • Are these the wrong type of target customers for your product or service?
  • Is your presentation compelling enough demonstrating the benefits of purchase?
  • Do you need additional sales training,? Are you selling in the right manner, i.e., in person or online?

Time spent in this manner will yield valuable information to adjust your marketing strategy for greater success – while ultimately spending less time and energy for better results.

Word-of-Mouth

Some entrepreneurs wrongly think that because they are so excited about their product that the world will be too. Immediately when the world hears about their new product, they will beat a path to their door with money.  You think that if your Facebook followers, friends and family spread the word about your product, your cash register will start ringing. Word-of-Mouth may work in a service-based business like garage door repair, but don’t expect it to work as well for a product launch. Wishful thinking that almost never happens.

Today, everybody is so saturated with information and busy with their lives and activities that they will hardly notice that your new product has arrived in the marketplace. Also, your loving family and friends may not be your target customer, nor are influencers in your industry. Thus their support will generate no buzz.

How to Correct

Before your product launches, spend time creating a community of people, both online and off-line, which are your target customers and industry influencers that have active lines of communication with the public.

Then at launch time hire marketing professionals and graphic artists to create compelling, funny, and share-worthy graphics, videos, and audio about your product. Share those interesting items with your newly-created community, and your influencer contacts to get the buzz started and make sales.

All I Need Are Ads

Many new entrepreneurs take this easy, but expensive, route of advertising online, on Facebook or Google, without any other marketing strategies to launch their products. After they had spent thousands of dollars and got little results, many are so discouraged and broke that they quit and close their company. Don’t let this happen to you.

Because major sites such as Facebook and Google have made it easy to set up ad campaigns, new entrepreneurs are led to believe that they have set it up correctly. That is very far from the truth. Many of the most sophisticated and knowledgeable online entrepreneurs that I know hire dedicated specialists to set up their advertising campaigns on these sites. Unless you are an online advertising professional, you will overspend and underachieve with these types of ad campaigns.

How to Correct

A far more effective marketing strategy is to connect via social media, search engines, forums, and your website with your target customers groups, called “tribes.”  A great way to get started is with PlacementSEO. Your tribe is a group of your target customers with common interests and a desire for your new product. A particularly effective way to tap into your tribe is through Groups on Facebook and Linkedin.com. Make sure you optimize the performance, security, and SEO efficiency of your website by moving to a strong web host such as SiteGround (see video).

Certainly, this process will take more time, legwork, and effort, but less cash than clicking a few buttons and advertising. Beginning entrepreneurs need to conserve their cash as much as possible for those expenses that no amount of legwork will buy. For more information on how to find and connect with your Tribe, read, or listen to the MP3, the marketing guru Seth Godin’s book, Tribes – We need you to lead us.  

Entrepreneurs have some fun and get great startup ideas with this cool Business Idea Generator.

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Lifehacks

Supercharge Your Local Business with These 3 Strategies

Incorporate Social Media into your business strategy

Customers are more demanding than ever. As a small business owner, you need to be able to provide them with an exceedingly satisfying experience in every transaction. Add that to the fact that while they engage with you more frequently, they do so using multiple channels, which makes every single interaction as important as the last one. Every phone call, email, or any message becomes, in marketing jargon, a moment of truth, and this why you need to be reached easily regardless of time and location. If someone is performing a Google search and wants to find a specific product or service they can utilize the power of search engines to find exactly what they need (get found with Simple Tree). 

Several advances in technology have allowed businesses to deliver consistent and seamless experiences to customers. Find out how you can supercharge your business through proven strategies involving both emerging and matured technological solutions by reading further.

1. Incorporate Social Media into Your Business Process

Incorporate Social Media into your business strategy

There’s no denying that social media has come a long way. Average users can now make or break businesses by giving positive or scathing reviews, depending on their experience, wherever they may be around the globe. This is why including social media into your organizational processes can give you an edge. By knowing how to interact with your customers and target audience online, you can manage your reputation and avoid social media fiascos.

You can start by using social media listening tools like Hootsuite to get ideas about your audience and their pain points. Once you have a holistic understanding of your market and what their needs are, you can then start engaging with them more proactively.

2. Be Willing to Adopt the Cloud to Save Money

Why you should adopt the cloud to save money

The world has seen an increase in cloud computing adoption over the past few years. The technology has brought tremendous benefits especially for small businesses that are extremely particular about how they allocate their monetary resources in their operations due to limited funds. With the cloud, businesses can now store, manage, and process data in provider-maintained warehouses rather than invest in expensive premises-based IT infrastructure.

Growing companies and enterprises alike have taken advantage of cloud products and services from providers such as Salesforce, RingCentral, Lanair, and Dropbox for CRM, communications, and storage, respectively, in their business processes. The cloud computing boom has helped reduce costs and improve operational scalability and flexibility.

Even security is no longer a major concern these days because the more known cloud companies have improved upon their technology to reduce security incidents even further.

3. Take Advantage of the Increasingly Mobile Environment

We are living in an increasingly mobile environment

The mobile phone has brought perhaps the greatest cultural and economic impact among all technological advancements in the last few decades. Mobile phones have enabled individuals to connect to their contacts almost 24/7, and the same goes for businesses. For example, a barbershop in New Jersey can get found and reach their customers with ease through the use of business directories. Thanks to mobile phones and the power of search engines, apps and communication tools, business owners are able to reach out to their target market and existing customers with ease.

As such, small businesses should use the mobile revolution to their advantage. Incorporating mobility into one’s business can be done even with limited resources. One way is to communicate directly to customers using business SMS solutions or a general messaging platform that customers can have easy access to. Another way is to offer personalized mobile content such as apps to improve engagement. For example, if you are a Riverside garage door repair service you can provide local services with a business SMS solution and reach customers more quickly. 

Moreover, even employees can benefit from this increasingly mobile environment. With mobile devices, they no longer have to confine themselves to the office cubicle nor the eight-hour work shift. They can work anytime from any location (most likely subject to internal arrangements) and even choose the device they want to use for work. The employees at the Dental Oasis are a great example. When they have these freedoms, they are empowered to work and become more productive.

Happy customers and happy employees can be good indicators that you’re on the right track.

Have anything to add to the discussion? Share your thoughts about supercharging your business via social media, the cloud, and mobile below.

Klaris Chua is a digital content marketer who has written many pieces on startups and small business communications. She used to be a reporter for a business newspaper but the conventional path of a writer didn’t appeal to her. You can connect with her on Twitter.

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Lifehacks

Are You Psychologically Prepared To Be An Entrepreneur?

Are You Psychologically Prepared To Be An Entrepreneur

Are You Psychologically Prepared To Be An Entrepreneur?

Now, the field of entrepreneurship is quite fascinating and comes with loads of objectives. If you know the business rules and if that runs in your blood, then establishing a successful business is an easy piece of cake. EntrepreneurHowever, the rules may seem easy, but in reality, they are not. As an entrepreneur, it is always mandatory for you to build the right team that is happy to present you with interesting ideas. And collaborating with them will help you to start your business venture. But, the most important question which you need to ask is, “Are you prepared to take up this work?”

Preparation is key:

Everyone thinks to be ready, but the reality is far from what you have thought it to be. So, you have to be mentally prepared and physically capable of taking up the huge responsibility, which comes with being an entrepreneur. You have figured out a business plan, and congrats for that. But, implementing those points will take up a lot of hard work and dedication. Are you prepared for that? If yes, then being an entrepreneur is perfect for you.

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Courses

Tai Lopez Social Media Marketing Agency Program Review

Entrepreneur Lifestyle

How awesome would it be to start your own social agency and be your own boss?

Welcome to my full in-depth review of Tai Lopez’s Social Media Marketing Agency Program. Imagine, instead of being stuck in a boring, grey cubicle you were free and able to travel to distant locales like the beaches of Bahamas or the pyramids in Egypt. Instead of taking orders from a boss, you are the boss. You could travel the world, enjoy experiences you have never seen before and even discover exciting ideas from other countries. All of this would not be possible if you were stuck in a normal 9 to 5 job.

Entrepreneur Lifestyle

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