Small Business Profit Explosion

Marketing Tip of the Week- Never Take a Sale for Granted!

I’ve been looking at cars recently, and marketing is constantly running through my minds. Car dealerships spend tons of money on advertising, leads, and internet marketing, but it really comes down to the sales person. If you think about it, this is true in most sale transactions.

As I visited different dealers I met many different salespeople. Each had their own personality and style to getting you to their sales milestones (engage, test drive, and financing). There was one that stood out the most, not because he was particularly good sales man, but because once we started to talk numbers he assumed I was going to buy the car. He was so confident he even had the staff prepare the car I was looking at for the purchase. He was very surprised to see that I walked away from the deal because the numbers didn’t work out. It reminded me of the saying “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

In marketing, nothing is ever a sure thing. Never assume that your sale is done until you receive payment and your customer has left with the product. Even then, any good business person knows this is just the beginning of a long term business relationship.

 

Focus Your Time on the Work That Increases Profits, Sales and Cash Flow

(Growing Your Business Series: Part 4)

 

This is number two on my top ten ways to increase your business profits, sales and cash flow. But, I find it is almost always the hardest thing for any business owner to accomplish. Even when a business owner is highly motivated to increase sales and profits, they never seem to get around to it. Why?

Well the reason I hear most is that they are so busy running their business and putting out fires that they never seem to get around to it. I also run into this. I start off the day with great plans on getting things done and by the end of the day nothing has happened due to client and employee interruptions.

But, that is the easy answer. The truth is we all like doing things we do well. And many of us are very good at making the product and satisfying the customer. So – that’s where we spend all our time.

That is why I almost always tell a business owner that they are 100% responsible for keeping their business from growing! Please don’t think I am telling you not to produce a quality product! What I’m saying is that this may not be the best use of your time. If you had the money you could hire someone to do the technical work that is required to produce the end product for the customer.

But, like Dan Kennedy has said countless times, every business is in the business of getting and keeping as many profitable customers as possible! That is where the majority of business owner’s time should be concentrated on. That means I am not really in the CPA business – I am in the business of getting more profitable, paying customers for my CPA business. The same applies to any business. Once you start looking at your business that way it will quickly change how you allocate your time.

What I am leading to is the following: The business owner’s time is the most valuable resource in the business! You can buy everything else except more hours in the day.

In part 5 next week I will discuss some methods for increasing the amount of time the business owner has to work on their real job of increasing their sales, cash balances and profits.

Until then, thank you for your continued support and let’s make this year our most profitable year ever!

Marketing Tip of the Week – Are You Using Facebook Ads?

If you have a Facebook business page, you really should try adding a Facebook ad to your marketing. Facebook ads are an inexpensive way to reach a very targeted audience.

When you create a Facebook ad, you first set your daily budget and when you want to start your campaign. Don’t worry if you want to spend only $5 a day, you can. Then you will choose “Pay for Impressions (CPC)” or “Pay for Clicks (CPC)”. Pay for impressions means you will expose your ad to your desired audience. You will be paying for exposure and how often your ad is displayed is dependent on your daily budget. Pay for Clicks means Facebook will display your ad to your desired audience, but you will not pay for anything until people start clicking on your ad. Once your daily budget is reached you ad will no longer be shown.

After you have decided on how much you want to spend, you will choose who you want to see your ad. I feel this is the best feature of Facebook ads. Facebook acts like a database of people’s personal information. If you wanted to target a narrow group of people, you have that option. Facebook also makes this easy for you. 

Now all you have left is your message.  You will have limited words and space restraints; so, get right to the point. Make your message as alluring and eye catching as possible. This will be the hardest part of the whole process.

Now get to it! But your business’s face out there and make the most out of your social media. 

 

Marketing Tip of the Week - Successful Business Owners Don’t Follow The Herd

In fact, the most successful business owners see what other business owners are doing and do the opposite!

Why? Well consider that according to the Small Business Administration (SBA), over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% are out of business in the first five years. Of the ones that survive past five years, less than 1% reaches a level that allows the business to survive the retirement or death of the founder.

So why then do most new business owners study what other business owners are doing and then just copy them? This almost assures that they will become one of the 95% who either fail or are just getting by.

If you truly want to succeed you should instead see what the “herd” is ignoring.

• Is there a niche where your product or service can be sold that the herd is currently ignoring?
• Is there a new way to use your product or service that the herd doesn’t see?
• Is there a new product or service that you could be offering that the herd is not offering? (Think Apple iPads.)
• Is there an add-on product that you can offer that the herd isn’t offering?
• Is there a more efficient way to produce or deliver your product?
• Is there a different price (either higher or lower) that your product or service can be offered at?
• Is there a way to increase customer satisfaction when using your product or service?

Sounds like a lot of trouble and work. But, so is failure!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – We’re Expanding!

We are proud to announce or newest project, Innovative Marketing Consulting (IMC). We are offering affordable marketing options for small businesses.

We offer everything from social media set-ups, simple websites to customized marketing programs. In the near future we will also offer mobile applications and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Our goal is to help small businesses owners market their business using the newest technologies regardless of their budget or experience. IMC can give small business owners the chance to utilize internet and other marketing media and have it make them money!

Go to http://www.imcelpaso.com/ to learn what we can do for you!!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week- Make it Fun!

Customer’s like to feel like they’re a part of something special and exciting. So, when you’re planning promotions try to make them special and exciting! Use your creativity!

We have seen business owners give away prizes, give free food and drinks, or invite guest speakers or bands; anything that draws people to your location!

Just remember to sell once the crowd is there! I have heard business owner’s complain people just come for the free stuff. But, the owner only did half the job! Aside from your hosting duties, you and your staff have to take advantage of the crowd and make your sales pitch! Change the store layout, go over sales techniques with your staff and be prepared.

So make this month’s marketing fun and exciting!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – Your Logo

I have seen many good and bad logos in my day. Here are some tips on how to make sure you don’t pick a bad logo.

• Don’t use an actual picture as a logo – Pictures are hard to reproduce and resize so when you’re printing your letterhead, banners and other business documents your logo won’t print well
• Don’t use clipart- Clip art is a little bit better than a picture but unoriginal! Anyone can use that image. Your logo should be unique and allow your audience to bring your business to mind when they see it.
• Don’t rely heavily on different colors- there may be times where you have to print your logo in black and white. I have seen many logos become unrecognizable because they do not print well in black and white.
• Don’t hand draw you logo- Hand drawn logos look unprofessional. Customers may think you’re too cheap to pay for a professional logo which translates to: This company is unprofessional and may cut corners with my services. Or, This company is too cheap to get a real logo, so their products must be cheap.

When creating your logo remember,

• It should be something that is simple, unique and easy to remember so customers can instantly associate your logo with your company
• Don’t be afraid of spending a little money. There are tons of graphic designers out there that are reasonable with their fees. Remember this is your business’s identity and will be with you for a long time
• Go with what you like! Your logo doesn’t have to be a picture of a toilet if you’re a plumber. Go with something you like and looks professional.

I hope this helps you pick the right logo for your company!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – 110%-24/7- Or Don’t Even Bother!

My daughter just recently purchased salon services through one of those web deals where local companies offer discounted pricing for their products/services. She saw a deal from a salon that she remembered had a good reputation and was normally pretty expensive. So, she bought the deal.

Once she purchased the deal, she called to make an appointment. That is where things seemed to unravel. The salon’s promotion worked! Apparently, a lot of people had purchased the deal and now it was hard to schedule an appointment. After around the 4^th call the salon offered an appointment on Sunday, which she took.

When she got there with her cousin, who also purchased a deal, one stylist was at salon. The stylist takes the two girls and starts the consultations.  As the stylist starts their services, other customers start coming in. The stylist has the other customers wait and turns others away. Not good!

As the stylist is working on my daughter, my daughter feels as if the stylist is cutting corners and she didn’t even get everything that was advertised on the deal. When my daughter got home she was not happy with the service or the final product and will NEVER go back to that salon.

This is a perfect example of bad marketing. The salon owner had the right idea in offering their services at a good price but wasn’t providing what they had promised and subpar services. This promotion may have made them money in the short-term, but potentially may have signed their death sentence. Because now, the salon owner has created a scenario where they have aggravated potential new loyal customers and ruined any chances of repeat customers or referrals. Not to mention they have tainted their once good reputation.

Business and marketing is about the loyal customer. If you’re not offering your customer’s 110% of your resources all the time, don’t even bother! Without repeat business and a good reputation your business is dead before it even started. 

 

10 Surefire Ways to Make More Money and Keep it in the Bank!

Go to www.myprofitguru.com to listen to our free webinar that will show you the following 10 Surefire ways to make more money and keep it in the bank. This one hour webinar is jam packed with information that I have used over the last thirty plus years to help business owners increase their profits.

The following are the items I cover that I know can help you double or triple your profits this year:

1. See what the crowd is doing and do the opposite.
2. Focus your time on the work that increases profits, sales and cash flow.
3. Manage & improve every step of the sales cycle.
4. Increase sales to current customers.
5. Create a marketing system to get the big customer.
6. Speedup and improve all areas of the business transaction cycle.
7. Understanding & utilizing the most important rule of business.
8. Using 5 critical accounting numbers to increase profits, sales & cash flow.
9. Never totally trust your bookkeeper.
10. Be a lifetime learner.

At www.myprofitguru.com you will also receive a list with all legal business tax deductions (So you don’t ever miss a legal deduction again!), 65 tax cutting tips and a list of QuickBooks keyboard shortcuts.

Please let me know what you think of this free webinar.

Thank you for your continued support and let’s make this year our most profitable year ever!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – You Are Your #1 Salesperson!

I’m constantly telling business owners they need to be out on the field selling. The reason being, that they are the number one sales person!

You are the person that knows your business the best. You’re the one with the experience and know your business’s strengths and limitations.  On top of that, customers know when they are dealing with someone who knows what they are talking about.  Once you have gained the customer’s trust, you’re almost always guaranteed to close the sale.

You went into business because you have a skill, product and/or service that you know the in’s and out’s. You also know that you provide a better value to your customers than your competitors. You have also taken the initiative in starting your business and have made sales! Now that you have grown your business, you have backed away from making sales, losing the best resource both for customer satisfaction and employee’s role model.  I have seen this time and time again.

There is no reason for you to be stuck behind a desk! Get out there and make contact with your current and prospective customers and make that sale! Your bottom line will reflect you!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – How Are We Doing?

Conducting surveys to evaluate your company’s image is always good idea. Finding out what customers think of your products, services, staff, and facility(s) is a part of running a successful business.

Getting your customers’ feedback is essential in improving your business. Who better than your customers to tell you if you need to change something? You can also discover what your customers’ value. You may find out it is different than what you think is important.

Most of the time managers and owners only hear of the bad instances that occur in the business. Conducting a survey allows you to gain information about the positive aspects as well.

You can make the survey as detailed or as simple as you like. Include questions that you want to know about. I always suggest including a few open ended questions like: What did you purchase on your last visit? Would you like us to offer any other products or services? These types of questions will help you make more money and learn more about what drive your customers to make a purchase.

Offer a free gift or coupons to your customers for taking the time to fill out your survey. You can conduct these surveys at your business, through email or even mail them to their house. The cost of conducting the survey will surely be worth it once you get your customers feedback.

Take the step in improving your business. Create your survey today!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – What is Good Marketing?

The other day someone asked me, “What is good marketing?”  I thought that is a really good question and it can be answered in many different ways.

Many people may say good marketing is anything that gets people in the doors. That’s true to some extent but there is more to just getting people to your door, it’s also getting them to buy. Getting them to buy is the hardest part of marketing.

In my opinion, that’s just one of the elements of good marketing.

I think good marketing starts with a plan. The plan should at least consist of:

• a list of all of your products and services
• a list of possible add-on and cross selling products
• a description of each with a summary of what type of customer will need them
• what makes your business different
• how will you get your uniqueness across
• a thought-out and realistic budget
• a target market  
• a description of how you plan on getting their attention
• a filled out promotions calendar  
• a training calendar
• a plan of attack

Once your plan is done, good marketing has to start. A plan is nothing if it’s not implemented!

And the last part to good marketing is, keeping it going. Don’t get side tracked. Marketing isn’t something that happens overnight, it will take time.

I hope this gives you a good starting point in creating your own good marketing. 

 

The top 25 causes of small business failure

(Growing Your Business Series: Part 2)

One of the big advantages a CPA has working with small business owners is that we get to learn what makes them profitable and what makes them fail – without losing any of our own funds. On top of that, we too are business owners who face many of the same kind of opportunities and challenges that all small business owner’s face.

So what have I learned? Well for starters, launching a small business is risky and the chances of building a successful business are small. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% are out of business in the first five years. Of the ones that survive past five years, less than 1% reaches a level that allows the business to survive the retirement or death of the founder.

The following are the top 25 reasons I have seen for small business failure:

1. Choosing a business in an industry that just isn’t very profitable.
2. Not having actual hands on experience in the industry before opening the new business.
3. Unwillingness by the owner to take responsibility for everything that is not working in their business.
4. Poor management skills by the owner.
5. Lack of necessary effort by the owner. They often don’t understand that they are not in a 9-5 job anymore.
6. Unwillingness of the owner to be a continuous, lifetime learner.
7. Failure to have a business and marketing plan.
8. Inadequate cash reserves.
9. Failure to truly understand their customers wants and needs. This also includes not understanding what triggers a customer to buy.
10. Lack of marketing & sales skills.
11. Failing to price your product or service correctly.
12. Failure to anticipate or react to changes in the marketplace, competition or technology.
13. An overdependence on a single (or a few) customers.
14. Uncontrolled growth.
15. The owner believing they can do everything themselves.
16. Poor customer service.
17. Unqualified or untrained employees.
18. Failure to seek outside professional help.
19. Employee fraud.
20. Poor location.
21. Poor inventory management.
22. Poor credit arrangements.
23. Absence of performance monitoring.
24. Over borrowing.
25. Failing to innovate and introduce new products or services.

A review of the list shows that the key reason for business failure is the inexperience and lack of business knowledge by the owner. We will be launching a series of free and low cost webinars to help the business owner acquire the business knowledge they need to succeed. Keep an eye out for future emails from me introducing these webinars.  

Thank you for your continued support and let’s make this year our most profitable year ever!

 

Marketing & Sales Tip of the Week – Marketing 5 P’s

Marketers try to simplify marketing down to the 4P’s.

In case you didn’t know the 4P’s they are Price, Place, Product and Promotion.  Every business owner has or should have all of these things when in business:

• A product to sell, at a certain price
• A place where they sell their product 
• And some type of promotion to get the customer’s attention.

Sounds easy, right?

I have always felt that marketers have left out a P – Psychology! Understanding your customer’s thought process when purchasing can really help you put a successful marketing plan together. The trick is to have all these P’s work together and communicate this with your customer.

I have seen business owner focus on just some of the P’s and expect to make tons of money. Marketing doesn’t work like that. Marketing is something that has to be researched, tested and modified in order to see results. Marketing also has to be consistent. You can’t expect to run ONE ad and expect customers to flood your store and phones; it takes time.

Once a business owner knows which products to offer, what to price their products, where to sell, what their customers want to hear and how to reach them; they will have very success marketing plans

Anyone can start a business; but, it takes a special type of person to understand how to run a successful business, and marketing plays a big role in success. 

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – Controlling What You Say

Just recently I’ve come to the realization that most businesses don’t create their own marketing material or copy. They rely on ad agencies or the mediums production department to create their ads.

In my opinion that is a big mistake. Don’t get me wrong, you can let them put the images and content together; but, you should be writing the content in your advertising. You are the one that knows your customers and what they want to hear. Just provide your account representative a few key phrases and focus points, and that should give them a good start in the right direction.

Many businesses make the mistake of creating ads that just concentrate on a sale item or the price. The customer needs to know why they need the item and why you’re the best place to buy it.

So take control of your ads! Make sure they don’t just sell the SALE and that they fit with your company’s goals.

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – Creating Emotions

You’ll be surprised on how much people’s emotions influence them when they are buying things. I have mentioned numerous times before, people are not just buying product they’re buying a solution or something that touches their emotional needs.

So, what I propose you do is explore your creative side and position your top selling items.  Write a sales pitch that gives your customer an emotional and visual sell. Show them how your product or service will make their lives just that much better.

I’ll even give you some examples:

Product: a Minivan

Pitch: Imagine you’ll finally have a family safe, reliable car that will fit everyone and keep all the kids entertained with the Blu-ray player in the back. All your kids can have their own personal space, which will eliminate a lot of arguments, you will have room to store your groceries and it can just make traveling a whole lot easier. Plus if you look at the numbers this minivan is more economical than an SUV. You can use that extra money to go out, plan a trip, and not having to worry about a high car payment. All of the features are designed to make your life easier. With the push of the remote you can open the sliding door so when your hands are full with a sleeping kid you won’t have to wake them up to put them into the car. We are even having great financing deals right now. If you like, after the test drive I can go over them with you.

Product: Cell Phone Case

Pitch: I was noticing that you don’t have a cell phone case for your phone. Right now we’re having a sale on our case for $9.99. It’s a lot cheaper than replacing your phone. We have heard so many horror stories from customers that have dropped their phones or have spilled drinks on them. They end up having to pay full price on a new phone or look on Craigslist or eBay to find an affordable phone.  And even then they spend a lot of money and the phone is used. They always buy a case now. What kind of phone do you have and I can check to see what we have.

You see, it can be that simple. Just create future scenarios that your customer will possibly face and show how your product will help them. You’re more likely to close a sale if there is that emotional link to the product and your customer.

 

Lessons Learned – Profits are all that matter!

The myth most business owners believe: The most important thing is to get the sale!

Why this myth causes a problem: It focuses on the wrong thing! The only thing that counts in a business is to make a profit. You didn’t start a business to make a sale and turn around and send all the cash out to vendors and employees. Most business owner’s started their business in order to at least be reasonably prosperous (some even wanted to be unreasonably prosperous).

Most business owners who have rapid increases in sales for the first time almost always run into cash flow problems. They have spent so much time focusing on increasing sales that they failed to have the financing and systems in place to support the increased costs in inventory and employees to deliver the product to the customer. The result is usually serious financial trouble and sometimes even bankruptcy.

The truth successful business owners learn the hard way! Successful business owners have learned that, in business, the only thing that matters is profits! A profitable business provides the means to support the business owner and their employees while also paying all vendors, bank loans, tax liabilities and investors.

 

Profits allow the company to have the strength to survive the tough times and to take advantage of good business opportunities when they appear.

 

The successful business owner starts every year by creating a profit plan. A sales and marketing plan that focuses on profitable sales is obviously a large part of that profit plan.

Lesson learned: Start each year by making a profit plan that maps out exactly how the business will hit the profit goal that the business owner has set. By focusing on what is really important in running a business you will greatly increases your odds of truly becoming successful.   

Thank you for your continued support and let’s make this year our most profitable year ever!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – A Little Appreciation Goes a Long Way

I have met with different business owners and they always mention that they don’t know how to motivate their sales staff. They have trained their staff, but, their staff just doesn’t seem motivated to go the extra mile.

If you don’t have a structured commission plan (money is always a great motivator), there are other ways to motivate a sales staff.  One option is rewarding your sales staff for increased monthly sales. Take your staff out for dinner or have a party to congratulate them for their work. A little friendly competition also works well. Track each sales staff member and give prizes to your top sales person. Something as little as a $40 gift certificate and bragging rights can really boost your staff’s motivation. I have seen other business owners have daily and/or weekly sales meetings that go over sales strategies and praising of employees for on specific cases that they went above and beyond the call of duty.

Acts of gratitude shows your sales team that you appreciate their efforts and acknowledge their hard work. You will have to be consistent when it comes to these types of rewards; because as soon as you drop the ball, so will your staff! Also, you want to be clear on what you’re rewarding and how you will be measuring sales.  And remember, not everyone is meant for sales. If you see that someone is just not able to make the sales goals, you may want to talk to them and see if a sales job is the right fit for them. They may do better in another position in your company.

Be creative and think of things that would motivate you if you were in your staff’s shoes. 

 

Marketing Tip of the Week – In an Ideal World

In an ideal world all you would have to do to generate profits is open a business and have an overflow of eager customer banging on your door. In an even more ideal world you would have someone on staff that could handle all of your marketing and had an in-depth understanding of consumer behavior. In the real world business owners have to work on luring customers to their business and most small businesses can’t afford marketing magicians to be on staff.

So what are you left to do? Educate yourself! Ideally, if you were able to take one day a week to just focus on marketing, learning new concepts, implementing marketing strategies, and anything else related to marketing your business, you would undoubtedly increase your profits! If you can’t devote a whole day, a few hours a week will still do wonders.  That is still more time than what you are currently spending.

If you are really interested in Jump Starting your marketing, I am launching a new webinar in 2012 focusing on Jump Starting your marketing. It is a 2 hour long webinar that goes over 15 steps that you can use to GURANTEE an increase in profits! It is only $97, a small price to pay for knowledge that will generate thousands in increased monthly profits. So start the year off with a spike in sales! Call us at 915-857-8158 to save your spot!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week- The Power of Customer Testimonials

Dan Kennedy’s #7 No B.S. Truth about selling says it best, “What others say about you and your product, service or business is at least 1,000 times more convincing than what you say, even if you are 2,000 times more eloquent.” (From his book No B.S. Sales Success in the New Economy.)

90% of sales professionals and business users fail to use testimonials even though there is nothing more valuable in “proving their case” to their prospects and closing the sale.

By failing to utilize emotional connection with testimonials, you’re left of trying to link your company, product and service to your customer’s feelings, while sitting on the sidelines, silent, are your current customers who are able to tell the prospect exactly how they feel thanks to using your product.

Aren’t their stories certain to connect better than your promises?