Be Simple To Do Business With Posted on July 31, 2013 by Lindsey Stroud I shop a lot – and one of the main things I remember about a business is whether or not it was EASY to do business with them. In fact, it sets the foundation for rather or not I am a repeat customer. Large corporations really drop the ball on making life easy, am I right? Press 5 for this – 7 for this – wait for 45 minutes to talk to a live person, blah blah. Small Businesses are really in a position to pick up corporate slack. People want to do business with people who make their lives easier, their experience more pleasant, and do both in a reasonable amount of time. Being simple to do business with can drive customer loyalty and set you miles apart from your competitor. Be Simple To Do Business With Offer Free Consultations – If you are in a business where consultations or demos are useful, make them quick and painless! Not only do you want to be right for your prospects, but you want them to be the right fit for you. Make it easy for people to check out what you offer without timely, costly interaction. Make Payment Methods Hassle Free – If someone is willing to give you their money – make it easy for them! Offer various methods for people to make a payment with you both on and offline. Have a Frictionless Website – Within the research stage of buying, people will want to browse your website before they ever want to talk to you. Make your website easy to navigate, visually appealing, and with appropriate contact information. Time is valuable, so position everything within quick reach of your website visitors. Present Superior Customer Service – Good customer service goes a long way! Check out our past blog, “Provide Exceptional Customer Service and Keep Your Clients” for more on this important topic. Be Easy To Stop Doing Business With – If someone decides to stop doing business with you, is hard for them? For example, I had a membership at a fitness club that I needed to quit because I was moving out-of-state. I had to have multiple signatures, termination fees, and documents filled out. It was SO hard to stop doing business with this club, that I have not joined my new local location.
Make Your Emails Mobile Ready Posted on July 29, 2013June 5, 2017 by Nicci Troiani With such a huge proportion of our emails being read on mobile devices, you need to make sure that your emails are easy to read for mobile. Here are some things to keep in mind when designing your next e-mail: 1. Keep your e-mail width no more than 600 pixels iPhone devices will scale to fit your email to the width of the screen, but other operating systems do not do this so keep your width under 600 pixels to ensure that your email is readable. Also remember that in most email clients, the recipient will need to hit “show images” to see your pictures. Keep photos to a minimum so that your e-mail doesn’t show up as a bunch of empty boxes. 2. Keep your font large Nothing is more frustrating than trying to read tiny font on your phone. Keep your font at least at a 13 font size. 3. Keep links and calls to action a good distance apart It is hard enough to click a tiny link on your phone. How many times have you been frustrated that you hit the wrong one with your clumsy thumb? Putting links too close together makes touching the correct one harder. 4. Keep your template at one column This makes the email clean and ensures that none of your content disappears into the far right mystery section– does anyone scroll over on their phone email? 5. Keep your content short and simple This is good advice for any email. No one likes to read lengthy emails, but this is especially true for mobile. Mostly likely, when opened on a phone, your email will be scanned, not read through. So keep it short and keep the most important information on the top, above the fold.
Best of Small Business– Week of July 22, 2013 Posted on July 26, 2013June 1, 2016 by Nicci Troiani Happy Friday, Hatchbuckers! We have our weekly roundup of “best of small business” articles this week. This week’s focus is entrepreneurs and start up companies. 1. ‘What do Failed Startups Have in Common?’ by Erin Griffith Griffith points out common threads in failed start ups. Are you guilty of any of these at your small business? http://pandodaily.com/2013/07/23/what-do-failed-startups-have-in-common/ 2. ‘6 Suggestions for an Aspiring Founder’ by Joel Gascoigne Gascoigne has some great advice here for any start up company or small business. http://joel.is/post/56112942414/6-suggestions-for-an-aspiring-founder?utm_content=bufferf9a4c&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer 3. ’10 of the Most Counter-intuitive Pieces of Advice From Famous Entrepreneurs’ by Belle Beth Cooper I absolutely love this article. Just because you want to go against the grain– that doesn’t mean you will fail! Look at these successful entrepreneurs who give their advice, which is a bit different than the norm! http://blog.bufferapp.com/10-of-the-most-counterintuitive-pieces-of-advice-from-famous-entrepreneurs?utm_content=bufferd0de0&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer Do you have any thoughts or advice on start ups and what helps them succeed or causes them to fail? Leave your comments below!
Our Favorite Social Responses To The Royal Baby Posted on July 24, 2013June 1, 2016 by Lindsey Stroud Like most of you, we have been anticipating the birth of the royal baby. If you are anything like me, you were following the news on your favorite social network in real-time. Brands jumped on the opportunity to welcome the royal baby – and a lot of the responses were pretty freaking clever! Here is a list of our favorite social responses to the royal baby: Starbucks: Hostess Snacks: Domino’s Pizza: Proctor & Gamble: Honorable Mentions: Charmin: Oreo: What were your favorite social responses to the birth of the royal baby?!
Capture and Engage with Leads on your Website Posted on July 22, 2013 by Don Breckenridge If you’re a Small Business and you’ve already invested in SEO, PPC, blogging, and social media, then congrats! You’ve made it past a big hurdle that every small business faces; getting found online. But did you know that even if you are driving visitors to your site, 96% of people are not ready to buy from you the first time they visit your website? (Source Kiss Metrics) Today’s prospect loves to research and will visit your website, your Competitor’s website, industry publications, online review sites and social media. Why? To whittle down their list of potential vendors long before ever contacting your business or any sales representative. Below is a typical process that many of your prospects go through before making a buying decision from your small business: Most prospects only want to chat with a sales rep in the last third of their buying process; the decision or buying phase. So, for two-thirds of their shopping and research process, they want to remain anonymous while they research and gather information. Think about it, don’t you do the same? The last time you went to the mall to buy some new threads (That’s St. Louis for clothes) a sales associate probably asked “May I help you?” Did you say; “No thank you, I am just looking?” Chances are you did. Chances are also good that the sales associate didn’t catch your name, your info or what you were looking for in the first place. You were in the research phase of a buying decision and likely made a purchase from someone other than the nice sales associate who asked “May I help you?” Your challenge as a small business is to capture and engage with prospects as early in the buying process as possible and offer them the information they need to make an informed buying decision. This simple “How To” video will walk you through how to transform your website into a Lead Machine and turn your “Just Looking” prospects into buyers: So let’s review: How can you capture and convert prospects early in the buying process? Simple. Use these 3 keys to wrangle in more sales leads: 1.Use Lead Forms Make sure your website isn’t just a pretty brochure. Sure, you need to cover the basics like info about your product or service, why you’re different, how to contact you etc… but you also need to make it easy for a web visitor to give you their email address and contact information in exchange for something of value that can help them in their buying process. 2.Give Value When a prospect visits your website, think about what challenge they might be facing? What information could help them? What would they find valuable? It’s not about you and your products and services, it’s about your prospect and what they need. Consider offering an educational guide (like the one at the bottom of this blog), video or free webinar. People don’t mind giving up their name and e-mail address for something that’s valuable. 3. Don’t Sell…… Nurture Once you capture a lead, help and don’t sell. People don’t want to engage with a large number of pesky sales people early in the process, for good reason. They don’t want to be hounded or “sold”. So don’t do it. Instead, nurture them, until they are ready to buy. For a step by step example of how to leverage lead nurturing for your small business check out our guide below: “How To: Turn Your Website Into A Sales Machine.”
Use New Facebook Hashtags to Market Your #SmallBiz Posted on July 22, 2013June 1, 2016 by Nicci Troiani It used to be, that when your friends hashtagged words in their Facebook status, you just silently cringed and thought “that’s not how you do that.” (just me?) Well, Facebook has FINALLY made their hashtags clickable. This is really great for your small business. Why?– Because hashtags are great for marketers. They can expand your audience and enhance your messaging. Why hashtags are great: They compile a common thread of updates. So, #SmallBiz, for example, will be a thread of everyone who has used that hashtag. Using a hashtag specific to your business is an easy way to see all of your updates in one place. They increase your reach. Normally, only people who “like” your business page will ever see your updates. Now, your fans as well as people scanning through the hashtag thread can see your messaging. With new features, there are always some marketing rules. Here are our tips on what to do and not do with hashtags: What to do: Use a creative hashtag brand-specific hashtag to group all of your messaging. This will also help you track audience engagement as your update thread will also show anyone who is using that hashtag (customers and prospects). Use hashtags to reach out to a bigger group– when they make sense, use new hashtags to reach more eyes. What not to do: Post incredibly long posts with multiple hashtags – there is a reason that Twitter limits to 140 characters and that is because long, self promtion-y posts are NOT fun to read! Use popular hashtags that don’t make sense– While using a popular hashtag will increase your reach, if you use one for solely that reason and it doesn’t make sense with your messaging, people will see through that. Your audience doesn’t want to be marketed to! How are big brands using hashtags? Starbucks, (a personal favorite brand– only slightly having to do with my caffeine addiction) has jumped on board quickly. Here are a couple of examples: The coffee- giant uses the hashtag #treatreceipt to spread the word about their treat receipt promotion. Starbucks gets creative with straws and the hashtag #strawsome.
Best of Small Business – Week of July 15, 2013 Posted on July 19, 2013June 1, 2016 by Lindsey Stroud Like many of you, I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. It’s a great place to reconnect and make new connections. Every now and then I stumble upon a suggested article at the top of my page that I will read and enjoy. I’ve been commenting on articles and saving them for my own files, but wanted to share them with all of you. Here are my 3 Favorite LinkedIn Articles This Week 10 Ways That Small Businesses Can Enchant Their Customers – Need I say more? A Small Business must read! My favorite tip in the article – “If you trust me, I’ll trust you, and we can build a relationship.” – http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130719120914-2484700-10-ways-that-small-businesses-can-enchant-their-customers?trk=cha-feed-art-title What I Learned From A Sex-Crazed Short Order Cook – How fun (or not so fun) is it to relive your first job? Chances are you have relived that job over the years with a new fond appreciation of the life lessons you have carried throughout the years. – http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130313143038-5434591-best-advice-what-i-learned-from-a-sex-crazed-short-order-cook?trk=cha-feed-art-title Treasure The Ride – “Remembering to stay thankful is also critical for keeping perspective in a business where the lows are so deep and the highs so stratospheric.” – http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130226120818-2223090-best-advice-treasure-the-ride?trk=cha-feed-art-title
Everyone In Your Business Should Be A Marketing Expert Posted on July 17, 2013 by Lindsey Stroud Just recently I had a flat tire (ugh!). On a whim, I stopped by a shop that I had a coupon for and had used several times in the past. After a couple of hours of waiting for the repair, I presented them with my 10% off coupon – basically enough to offset the tax of the service. When I handed over the coupon, they made a huge deal about honoring it because I didn’t tell mention up front I had it (I figured give it to them when I’m checking out, right?) The person who answered the phone told me it was fine, the person who worked on my car was oblivious to the situation, and the person who checked me out was enforcing a random policy to the highest degree. It ended up where I had to talk to the bad attitude manager, who said he would only make this exception ONE TIME (BTW: I had been to this auto shop and spent upwards of 500.00 within a few months in repairs). I – the customer giving money, was so frustrated with their lack of communication and customer service, that I made sure to let them know I would tell others in my position not to use them and would migrate elsewhere for all future repairs. We’ve all been in the position where a business and employees make a bad impression on us. So much that we can’t wait to tell everyone about our horrible experience and encounters. Fact of the matter is, everyone was on a different page within the business and it was apparent they didn’t work well as a team – leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth for their business. Everyone IN your business is marketing FOR your business in some way. From the person answering the phone, to a sales rep – every action dealing with prospects and customers is either increasing opportunities or decreasing opportunities. Here are my 5 Tips for Creating Marketing Experts In Your Business 1) Reward Good Employee Customer Service – Make sure everyone on your team is a customer service expert! Incentives often drive success, so putting some reward system in place can keep employees motivated and enforcing good customer service. 2) Educate Your Employees – Every employee from the lowest position to the highest should know what you do, why you do it, and who you do it for. Educating every employee up front and continuing that education over time can be crucial for creating a team with the same goals. 3) Keep Everyone Updated On Business Changes – Chances are your business is changing every day, and it’s important that everyone internally knows and understands these changes as they occur to prevent communication errors. 4) Allow Everyone To Help Solve Problems – As with car shop situation, going through every employee at the shop to get a solution was frustrating. Empower your team to know how to solve problems so you are able to tackle them quickly and efficiently. 5) Offer An Easy Way For Prospects/Customers To Leave Feedback – Again with the car shop situation, to give a suggestion I have to go through some corporate loophole. Make it easy and convenient for others to offer suggestions so your business is able to grow and learn from others experiences.
Optimize Current Site Traffic Before Focusing on SEO Posted on July 15, 2013August 5, 2022 by Nicci Troiani Many small businesses want to drive more traffic to their sites to ultimately get more leads. Is that wrong? No– of course not. However, a mistake that a lot of small businesses make is focusing on SEO and traffic generation and not focusing enough on the traffic that is already going to your company’s site. So how do you get the most out of what you are currently working with? Here’s our checklist: 1. Contact Capture Forms You should have at least one contact capture form on your website. If you don’t have a way for visitors to submit their information, you are definitely losing leads! Here is an example from Baby Sleep Whisperer: 2. Calls to Action You should offer “lead bait” for your contact capture forms– ask visitors to fill out the form but offer something of value in return– a discount, a whitepaper or a free demo are great examples. You should have calls to action on multiple pages each with different offers to optimize your forms submissions. 3. Automated Email Campaigns Use a small business marketing automation software to create automated drip nurturing campaigns. With e-mails going out automatically, you don’t need to follow up with every single lead– the software will do it for you! This way, you know that you are reaching out to all of your leads. 4. Sales Rep Follow Up Again, if you are using a small business CRM or marketing automation software (not sure if marketing automation is right for your small business? Read about it here) then you should be able to trigger automatic tasks to sales reps that are activated when someone’s behavior had indicated that they are interested (clicking on links, opening emails). By using all of these channels to get in touch and follow up with current site visitors, you know that you are not wasting any leads. Contacts who are visiting your site now are people who are already interested. Once you are sure that you have these processes in place, then focus on driving more traffic to your site— now it is optimized for all of those new visitors!