7 Ways to Make Your Business Love You Back

1. Show your talent

Portfolio - post your portfolio online, you will be able to show future clients that you have the right mix of skills and qualifications to do the job. When you post your portfolio online you will be visible to everyday opportunities, recent studies show that more than 1/3 of Americans go online daily and 2/3 go online at least once a month. No matter what line of work you are in, you have a potential audience of people online. Do not simply keep your portfolio on your own site. Showcasing your portfolio in different websites you will be able to reach over 215 million online visitors in the US.

In this way you will be able to show up your competition, small businesses have grown 46% faster utilizing websites than those who don't - American City Business Journals. Also, you will be able to reach more people.

2. Making your business famous

Profile/Video - your profile is the first chance to make a connection with your future clients, to really make a positive impression.

It's almost like the first meeting face to face, like the first hand shake. Studies show that the first 30 seconds in any meeting determines the future relationship. It's really important to make a great impression. Create an online profile and video to be able to show your talent to the world. Humans remember 20% of what we hear and 30% of what we see, but 50% of what we both see and hear. 85% of the information taken into the brain enters through the eyes and the largest part of the brain is set aside to process information taken in visually.

3. Customer loyalty = loyal business

Feedback, survey, web presence, customer service - satisfied customers tells 3 friends, angry customers tell 3,000.

Study of 1,000 retailers show that 43% of customers abandoned a provider because of a negative experience and 30% felt that they were not treated as valued customers - Acumen Research Group

Studies show, when you receive positive feedback on our website, you can increase sales by 15-20%. Feedback can give you credibility - you'll get positive feedback if your customers are satisfied with their product or services you provide. "in the end... there is only one point of view that matters, there is only on perspective that matters... the customers." - Jeffrey Gitomer.

4. Make a new friend

People like to do business with friends, make a friend, make more business. Build your customer base with name recognition. Becoming a recognizable name is not that easy or everyone would do it but something you can do to help your chances is to post your portfolio everywhere, go to trade shows, get involved in your industries community network.

Everyone wants referral business, yet few people understand how to get it. It always seems that our competitors are benefitting from word of mouth advertising through referrals. This all depends on making the right connections. * People will do business with people they have been told they can trust.

For example, if you are a personal shopper and you network and build a relationship with a personal trainer. When this personal trainer has a client who has lost a lot of their weight, they will need and want to buy new clothes that fit them.

Here is where the referral process kicks in. If you have a relationship with that personal trainer, you can refer customers back and forth. With our networking system you can maximize your referrals through other professionals, while building relationships and positive word of mouth advertising.

Keep connected - most clients will need to be revisited again in the future. They will probably need your services again. Take time to catch up with past clients may lead to new work. It's a good idea to organize your contact info of your past clients so that you can easily follow-up in the future.

5. Blogging and Networking

Creating a blog is a great way to reach clients who have a specific interest in your company, or share your interests, product or services. You can post opinions, create product reviews, talk about new services you offer and this will attract visitors and new clients while influencing others. Blog post will help you draw traffic to the blog itself and they will convert to clients. If you run a blog with an active readership you will benefit from hugely improved name recognition. *You have the knowledge and ability.

A blog is one of the best and cheapest methods to share your voice with others. Additionally, your credibility can be helped as well with just a profile and portfolio it's very difficult for visitors to know and understand you. With a blog you will become more transparent to your readers and that can give you added credibility that can help you attract more inquires. Networking is a great way to improve your business. Building a strong network of friends and colleagues can lead to more referral work, opportunities and sharing of clients.

Also, tapping into your network of friends and associates is an excellent way to leverage knowledge of your competition. You need to think out of the box, here is what I mean, you need to not just depend on your friend and associates, you need to talk with everyone about your network. Make your network different, talk about something that stands out and is important to people and offer new information in it. Ideas where you can increase visibility for your network - coffee shop, fitness or sports gym, car wash, malls, etc.

6. Party with your business - events, seminars, trade shows

An event will give you the advantage of meeting with your clients face to face. You'll have the chance to personally connect with your clients.

You should make all your events educations, interesting, fun and something memorable. You should offer something new and helpful for your clients and it should be about what you do to help them and what you can offer for them to improve their business.

Studies show that through event education, it will be easy for you to get connected to your future clients, also you will appear less "sales" and more helpful and caring about your clients.

7. Sell your stuff

You create it, you can sell it. You design your own stuff, you have your own brand to sell and you area proud of it but you don't know how to get it out - utilize online shopping.

In 2006 online sales were $146.4 billion and in 2007 it jumped 19% to $174.5 billion- National Retail Federation (NRF). By this option you will reach your target faster and more easily. The #1 activity on the internet by consumers today is purchasing - US Dept of Commerce.

Author Name: Oz Ahmad of Yougoz Group, an online community where people match with qualified professionals in Fitness, Health and Fashion. Visit us at: http://www.yougoz.com/.

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The 4 Basic Pillars of a Successful Online Local Marketing Plan

I recently wrote about the many challenges small and medium sized business owners face while constructing and implementing a successful internet marketing plan. The often insurmountable challenges we pointed out were 'time' and 'money'. Small business owners are consumed with what they do best; operating their business and making sure their customers are satisfied. In addition, many owner/operators also manage the marketing direction for their companies and do not have substantial budgets for advertising and outside marketing services.

There are still local businesses that have virtually no online presence, but most have tried at least a few forms of online marketing. For example many businesses have a website, built by a neighbor's son or the local web design company and may have even set up a Facebook page. Perhaps they even have one of the large PPC (Pay-Per-Click) firms running a Google campaign for their company. Most small business owners have put together their online marketing strategy over a period of months or even years and have purchased a few services along the way from outside marketing companies. As any good business person would do, they try to keep the parts that are working and get rid of the parts that are not yielding results.

The inherent problem with this type of "hit or miss" strategy is that the success or failure of an individual online marketing strategy is often interdependent on the strengths or weakness of other parts of your online presence. Let's discuss the four main components of a local online marketing plan.

The Four Pillars of Success: Marketing Plans for Local Business

Pillar One: Targeted Web Traffic

Having a business website posted on the web is not going to create traffic from prospective customers all by itself. Websites need to be marketed in order to generate a steady flow of traffic for your business. Many business owners have the common misconception that having the prettiest website is somehow going to translate into a successful website. If I had to choose between a gorgeous website not positioned to gather traffic versus a simple, perhaps even 'ugly' website, that is positioned properly to gather significant local web traffic, I would choose the latter.

What is Targeted Web Traffic?

Local business websites can receive targeted web traffic from a variety of sources and methods. Let's first discuss what the term targeted traffic means. In the most basic sense, targeted web traffic could be defined as a web user who visits your site that possesses at least one criteria or characteristic that you believe would fit within your definition of a potential customer. An example could be as simple as their location. If your business sells pizza or dental services, you might be interested in any consumers that live within 5-10 miles of your business, but you would not be interested in consumers that live 1,000 miles from your business location. Another example of a targeted web user is someone that is specifically searching for your product or service or has previously expressed an interest. The point we are making is that your goal as a local business marketer, is to position your website to receive traffic from local consumers that have (or are likely to have) interest in your products or services.

Paid versus Free Web Traffic

Local web traffic comes from a variety of sources and all of them should play a role in driving targeted traffic to your business. There are some sources that you need to pay for on a per click basis or per impression basis and others that can be free, provided that you do the necessary legwork to position your website to take advantage. Developing an efficient mix of web traffic for your business will take time but this is the first part of a local marketing plan. The purpose of this article is not to delve too deep into the benefits or pitfalls associated with any specific source of targeted web traffic but rather to demonstrate that traffic is only one part of an overall marketing plan. Web traffic is only valuable to your business if your website has the ability to effectively engage with visitors and provide a mutually beneficial experience. If your web visitors reach your site and leave within 5 seconds, there isn't much benefit to either party.

Pillar Two: Websites that Engage and Convert Your Customers

The manner in which your website presents your business to web visitors has a profound effect on how efficiently your site will help potential customers take the next step in engaging with your business. Website visitors will typically decide in a manner of seconds if they are on a page or site that can satisfy their needs. Most websites will fail this first test and lose potentially valuable traffic before 'the game' even begins. This is often referred to as 'relevancy'. Simple, if your site doesn't instantly appear to provide the information, services, products etc. that the web user is interested in, they will move on to a site that does. The second and equally important requirement for a successful local business website is 'engagement'. Visitors must be enticed to take the 'next steps' with your business. This can be accomplished with a variety of simple techniques and is also a topic that will not be covered in great depth in this article. The point we are stressing is that the quality of your website design, from a marketing perspective, plays a significant role in the success a local business will have in converting web traffic into new customers.

Pillar Three: Tracking, Analytics and Tweaking

Internet marketing is part science and part art, but the results are pure math. Your business pays real money to engage in internet and offline marketing efforts and you are expecting new customers that pay you real money as a result. The entire marketing process needs to be measured, tracked and periodically studied. This is the only way to make adjustments to your marketing plan in order to make as cost effective as possible. A few basic procedures can be implemented on your website and in your business workflow to give business owners the tools to monitor how well marketing efforts are performing and where change can and should be made. Tools can be used to help determine how well your traffic is performing, how well your website is performing and even how well your staff is performing. When you spot a weak part, you at least know where to make some tweaks. In addition, if you are using an outside marketing professional, they should be able to provide assistance with this, as opposed to just selling you one piece of the puzzle. The cost of a click or an impression may not mean that much to your business, but the value of web lead, a customer phone call or a store visit that results in new business is meaningful. The bottom line is you must have some concrete method to measure your marketing outcomes in order to determine if you are spending your money wisely.

Pillar Four: Customer Communication

The internet has made inexpensive and free tools available for even the smallest local business owner to engage in an ongoing conversation with potential and existing customers. Businesses that are not taking advantage of these tools are leaving too much money on the table and certainly not maximizing the benefit (e.g. new business) they can extract from web visitors. Direct response may be your businesses primary goal, but not every potential customer you engage with is ready to make a buying decision immediately; but they may be ready in the near future. You will want to make sure your business is on "the top of their mind' when they decide to move forward. Tools such as email, social media and even your website can be used to maintain an ongoing conversation with your prospects, so when the time comes for them to make a purchase, your business is positioned as a top choice and is easily accessible. To make this a reality, your web traffic, your website and your tracking need to be in sync with each other.

Successful local marketing plans are built over time and are not about the latest "fad" or "get rich quick" scheme. Creating a winning formula for your business and one that can have staying power can be achieved by first understanding the basic components of success. This article only covers this "tips" of the four essential "icebergs" you will need to explore, but successful business plans must be laid upon solid foundations.

Jamie Keane is a local marketing expert and one of the writers and producers of a series of instructional videos that teach local online marketing for small and medium sized businesses. Local Marketing Internet Secrets teaches local business owners how to do many internet marketing tasks in-house saving them money.

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How To Increase Your Business By 20% In 30 Days Or Less (This Method Is Offline And POWERFUL)

How can you get your small business neighbors to expand your business?

If you look at a radius around your brick and mortar business, there are probably hundreds of small businesses of different sizes, and very few are in direct competition with you. What if you could put 90% of them to work helping you grow your business. And what if you could do it for peanuts, chump change, a few bucks? Would you do it if you knew it would result in an increase of your business by 20% in the next 30 days? What is it?

What have you done for your neighbor lately?

Stroll through the strip center down the street and you'll see a lot of small business people with their arms on the counter of their business, as though gravity didn't exist and they are literally holding down that counter. Do you think they have a minute to talk to you? Sure they do. American small business people are warm and friendly and open to ideas. I know, I have recently visited over 100 small businesses.

When I walk in the door, I smile, and I say, "Hi, I would like to ask a favor." This makes them a little nervous. It wakes them up. If they seem a little too defensive I say, "I'm not selling anything," and they relax a bit. Next I say, "My son has an iPhone, iPod, and iPad repair shop near here, and I'm just helping to get it going. We have a simple referral system - we will pay you $10 for every person you send us, who ends up doing at least a $45 repair".

Now I have their attention.

I go on, "Here's how we keep track of it. We code our cards." (and I show them the cards, which have a white square where we hand write with a marker a code like 15B). "We link your name with the code in our computer. If a card comes in the shop with 15B on it, we know it's you, and we put $10 cash in an envelop with your name on it." We call you to let you know it's there, and you can pick it up when you like."

How many businesses in your area have YOUR cards on their counter?

I buy clear plastic card holders at Staples for $1.29 each. We make up "kits" with about 40 marked cards in zip lock bags. We also mark and include a magnetic card so they can stick some place. In the bag is a small letter with the rules of the referral system on it, so they know what we have agreed to, in writing.

As soon as they agree to join, I ask for their business card, write their name on it, and the code from that kit (in this example it would be 15B) and I have everything I need to enter in the Excel file we use to track the system.The last thing I do is take the cards out of the bag, put them in a holder, and I place them on their counter. This works like a charm, well over 90% of the time. Stop and think about this. We place our business cards on other businesses counters, in a holder, all day long.

Does it really work? YES!!!

I have been marketing to build small businesses of my own (and now my children) for over 30 years, and I can tell you nothing works very well without massive action. You can't expect to place your cards in 10 businesses and to get a 20% bounce in 30 days. However, if you put your card on 200 counters in the next 30 days, you probably will. You can easily get your cards on 25 counters a day, so we're only talking about 8 days of walking around strip centers in a radius out from your shop or store or office, using a variation of the above script.

What about your customers?

Customers love to refer you if they love you. You may worry about offending them with the offer of money. We sign nearly every customer up, and pay them when they refer. Some say, I'll refer you, don't pay me. We tell them we have to pay them or we can't handle the system, and we suggest they give the money away to someone who can use it.

Does it matter what business you're in?

Yes. The Apple device repair business is profitable, but it can't afford to pay more than $10. If you're writing insurance, you can probably afford a lot more. The same with cars, wedding dresses, and you name it. The higher the "thank you" money, the better it will work, and the more they'll stick with it, calling you for more cards. If you decide to do this, jump in with both feet and don't look back.

What should you do next?

We'll gladly answer any question you have about the above referral system or about any Apple device. It is our pleasure to answer it for you, for free and without any obligation of any kind. We have done thousands of repairs to iPhones, iPads, and iPods. We are a family run business with two locations in Southern California. You can contact Kort or Scott Linden at http://www.iTechRepairPlus.com.

Thanks for reading this - Scott R. Linden

P.S.

If you have an iPhone, iPod, or iPad which needs repair we offer 3 services:

A. We offer Valet service if you are within 15 miles of 91740 (Glendora, CA). We'll come get it and bring it back fixed, the next day.

B. We have a mail-in service that is really fast if you are in California.

C. Come and see us at the shop at 631 East Arrow Highway, Glendora, CA 91740. You don't need an appointment and we can complete most repairs in an hour or less. You can check us out on yelp by entering "iPhone repair plus."

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