How did you become an entrepreneur? Was it something you always wanted to do or did you have an ‘ah ha’ moment that propelled you into a new career path?
For Roxanne Pettipas it was her dog that inspired her to start her own business. Before that, Roxanne was working as a supply teacher and she and her partner had been splitting their time between Toronto and the Bahamas. Eventually, Roxanne grew tired of coming home to an empty apartment so she decided to get a daschund named Buddy to help keep her company.
“I used to take Buddy out for walks using this little neck collar, and after a while I thought he had developed allergies because he would gag and cough every time we were out,” she said. Roxanne admits she didn’t know much about dogs at the time, but she quickly realized that Buddy was choking from the pressure that the collar was putting on his throat. Roxanne searched far and wide for a solution to the problem, but every harness she found was bulky and awkward with too many clips and clasps. “Buddy wasn’t happy and neither was I, so that’s when I decided to make something for him.”
Perhaps it was her background as an art teacher that made her so industrious, but instead of waiting for someone else to produce an acceptable harness Roxanne decided to create one herself. “At the time I was using a soft pliable tire rubber in my art class, so I used that material to create the very first Buddy Belt.” She then consulted a shoe maker and a clothing designer to help her understand how to work with leather. “I had to learn it all,” she said, “Whether it was working with an industrial sewing machine, or learning about patterns, dies, and templates, it all stemmed from wanting to create something comfortable for Buddy.”
Like a traditional collar the Buddy Belt has one buckle that is fastened between the shoulder blades instead of around the neck. The animal’s front legs are then extended through the two holes underneath the collar that helps reduce strain on the neck.
Once Buddy starting sporting his new harness around the neighbourhood, the orders started rolling in. After spending countless hours at the library making patterns, Roxanne developed 11 different sizes of Buddy Belts to meet the needs of teacup, toy and standard size dogs. As Roxanne became heavily invested in her idea, she was offered a full time teaching job. At that point Roxanne found herself having to choose between her business and the teaching career she always wanted. In the end she decided to pursue Buddy Belts full time. “It was a hard decision, but I knew I’d regret it otherwise,” she said.
What I took away from interviewing Roxanne is that you can turn a problem into a business idea. If other people are having the same problem as you, there may be a gap in the market for a new product or service that addresses that problem.
If you want more information about Buddy Belts please visit the website.
If you’re a business owner, you may realize that managing staff and running a business aren’t the same thing. While you may be great at balancing the books and bringing in new business, you may be lacking people skills that make you a good boss. If that’s the case, here are some tips to help you out.
1. Listen. If you tend towards an “in and out” managing strategy, you may not take the time to sit down and listen to what your employees have to say. Whether it’s a complaint about another worker or a suggestion about how you might be more efficient if you changed something in your operations, you can learn a lot when you actually listen. The added benefit is that your employees will begin to trust you better if you show that you really care what they have to say.
2. Communicate. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? But make it a point to be more and more transparent in your operations. Planning to acquire another company? Let your staff know before you do, and address any concerns they may have about the purchase. Work to meet with all of your staff at least once a month or quarter. Break it down into departmental meetings if your company is big enough to warrant it. Be a man or woman of your word, and always make sure that your employees know what your word stands for.
3. Appreciate. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to show the people who work for you how much you appreciate all their hard work. Send an email or handwritten card to select employees every week or month, and pinpoint something they’ve done that goes beyond the call of the job. During the holidays (and on their birthdays too), send a handwritten card and gift or bonus. But remember that more than money or a gift, your word of praise is worth gold.
4. Learn. You can’t become a better manager in a bubble. Read blogs and web content with tips like these to improve. Attend seminars and webinars to teach you management strategies. Never assume you’re done learning how to improve your leadership skills.
5. Ask. It’s important for you to know how you’re doing in terms of managing, so ask your staff. Make sure they feel safe in giving you honest feedback. This can be difficult. Explain what you’re trying to do with a particular strategy, and ask for input on whether it’s reaching your intended goal or not.
Small business owners can be good bosses, but it takes work. Dedicate yourself to be the kind of boss you’d like to have.
Photo: Stock.xchng user arte_ram. Royalty free.
Susan Payton is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, an internet marketing firm specializing in marketing communications, copywriting and blog posts. She’s written two books: 101 Entrepreneur Tips and Internet Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs, and has blogged for several sites, including The Marketing Eggspert Blog, as well as Mashable, Small Business Trends, FutureSimple, BizLaunch andLead411. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.
Let’s face it – we love our smartphones. Whether we use them for entertainment, navigation or staying connected to friends and family, our obsession with mobile phones is here to stay. Not only are our phones great for personal use, but increasingly we are using them for business as well.
M-commerce – otherwise known as mobile payments or mobile money offers people the ability to pay and accept payments through their phones. M-commerce is not an overly new concept as for years people have been purchasing ring-tones, songs, and games through these devices. Recently a number of new merchants have entered this area, but many smaller businesses are beginning to cash in on this trend as well.
As a result, the m-commerce industry has experienced exponential growth over the past few years. Mobile payment transactions totalled $240 billion in 2011 according to a report conducted by Juniper Research, and they project that the market could grow to $670 billion by 2015. Another study conducted by Group SJR and Liz Claiborne Inc. found that 47% of smartphone owners and 56% of tablet owners who have already purchased on their mobile devices, plan to purchase more products in the near future. In my opinion, small businesses should accept mobile payments not only because the industry is growing at a rapid rate, but also because it allows them to increase their profit, expand their customer base, and create new opportunities to sell and market their products.
Though there are countless benefits of using mobile payments, there are many small business owners who still do not accept debit or credit payments in their business at all. Artists, photographers and tutors are among this group of entrepreneurs who still rely on cash as their primary method of payment. According to Moneris – Canada’s largest credit and debit card processor – there are potentially over 1 million of these small businesses in Canada alone.
Not accepting credit or debit has placed these businesses at a disadvantage in the past, however a new service from Moneris is hoping to change that. PAYD allows small business owners to capture more sales by allowing them to accept credit card payments through their smartphone or tablet. What makes the service unique is that the card reader can be plugged into the audio port of most Apple, Google and RIM devices. The mobile card reader allows the small business owner to swipe the customer’s card for a fast and secure payment.
The service will be made available later this month, but If you’re interested to learn more please visit https://getpayd.com.
Getting written about online or in print is a great way to garner some free publicity. But connecting with journalists is a tricky game; you and everyone else wants their attention, so it’s important to get it long before you’ve got a story to pitch.
Step 1: Identify the Players
Before you can get publicity, you have to focus on who is covering your industry. Spend time reading blogs, magazines, websites and newspapers, and identify the reporters who frequently cover your space or your competitors.
Step 2: Get Organized
Make a spreadsheet with each journalist’s contact information, including what publication she writes for, her email and phone, and any notes on her style (“frequently does book reviews”).
Step 3: Follow on Social Media
If the journalist is on Twitter, Facebook or G+, connect with her there. Read her updates. Retweet her posts. Answer her questions. Make her aware of your presence without having an objective. Create value through your interactions.
Step 4: Send a Letter of Introduction
Now is the time to connect via email. If you’ve already connected via social media, make reference to that connection (and try to have something more solid than simply “I follow you on Twitter.” Try instead: “I responded to your question about the future of tech last week”) Simply introduce yourself, give a brief sentence about what you do, and let her know that you would love to be a resource should she need an expert in your field.
You may not hear back from the reporter, and that’s okay. Don’t pester her for a response.
Step 5: Send a Pitch
Using your introduction email in the body of your pitch email, refresh her memory on who you are, and that you reached out to her a few weeks/months ago. Let her know that you have a story you think her readers would be interested in, and why they’d care (“with XYZ’s recent announcement of regulations for internet activity, this news is timely to your readers”). Give three bullet points of the news. That’s it. If you have an online press release, you can link to it. Do not include an attachment of your press release, nor paste it into the body. If she wants your release, she will let you know.
Step 6: Follow Up
If your contact seems pretty active on Twitter, use that first to follow up. Send her a direct message to ask if she received your email. It may have gotten lost in the sea of emails she receives, so this will alert her to look for it.
You won’t always get your news covered. In fact, most of the time, you will be ignored. But if you’re persistent in building relationships with the media, rather than simply blasting your press release to every journalist on the planet, you’ll have better success.
Photo: Stock.xchng user somadjinn. Royalty free.
Susan Payton is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, an internet marketing firm specializing in marketing communications, copywriting and blog posts. She’s written two books: 101 Entrepreneur TipsandInternet Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs, and has blogged for several sites, including The Marketing Eggspert Blog, as well as Mashable, Small Business Trends, FutureSimple, BizLaunch and Lead411. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.
“You got the job!” Sweet words for the candidate to hear because they are now employed. Sweet words for the employer because they believe that their employment problems are over. The truth is, like any other relationship, the real work is just beginning. Both employer and employee must commit to a personal and professional development program that supports the individual’s first week of employment and their ongoing commitment to the organization.
As an employer, your staff looks to you to provide the information they need to be able to do their job. When they first join the organization they want to know what is expected of them. Many employers overlook the importance of new hire training. It all begins with a manual that provides a written document for reference because no new employee will ever remember everything you say and some employees may not retain much of the information if it is delivered orally and they are visual learners. Then you may provide classroom training as an overview of company policies, human resources procedures, and any other organizational information that is not job specific. Next, you can provide on the job training that allows the new employee to train directly with an existing employee. This type of training allows the new employee to see firsthand all aspects of the job. The downside of course, is that the new employee may adopt some of the bad work habits of the other employee if they have them.
Ongoing staff training is critical to keeping employees engaged, educated, and motivated. Not all training has to be classroom based. If fact, some training should not be conducted in a classroom setting because it isn’t the right venue. Depending on the training being offered, it might be better offered on the shop floor or the retail space. The key of course is to tailor the training to the needs of the employee in conjunction with the nature of the material being delivered.
One area of training that I have had the privilege of including in the work I do, is that of personal development. I often say that a person is hired based on their skills and abilities, but on the first day of work, the entire person shows up. It would be nice if you could isolate their skills and just those parts of the person show up for work, but people aren’t made like that. They bring their entire being to work, including their strengths, biases, filters, talents, and habits. Providing ongoing group or one on one soft skills development indicates to employees that you really do mean it when you say, “our employees are our most valued resource.”
If you would like more information about how to train and motivate your employees, please attend a free webinar. Or you can follow the discussion on our Facebook page
If you ask a business owner what their most valuable asset is – most will tell you it’s their employees. Though this answer is cliché and overused, people really are the most important part of any business – large or small. Employees are key drivers of customer loyalty, revenue, sales and profit and without a happy workforce, your business will surely suffer.
If you notice an increase in any of the following areas it could be an indication that there is a problem with employee morale. In particular, you should watch out for an increase in:
• Absenteeism
• Employee turnover
• Customer complaints
• Employee complaints
• Theft and/or sabotage and,
• Conflicts between departments, employees and managers.
If these problems go unaddressed they will negatively impact your bottom line. You can’t afford to have a disgruntled workforce as every customer, employee and supplier can use the internet to share their bad experience with hundreds, thousands or even millions of people (remember the Dominos pizza incident?).
This is exactly the situation that Karin Lindner tries to prevent with her business. After working in the manufacturing industry for years, Karin started KARICO Solutions to bridge the gap between disgruntled employees and the managers who desperately need to keep them motivated. “There is a lot of unused brain power in North American companies and that needs to change,” she says. Karin believes that many organizations are not using their employees to their full potential and that employers need to realize that their workforce is a good source of innovation. That’s why meeting with employees is the first thing she does when assessing a problem with employee morale.
Karin works in a six step process where she meets with groups of 9-to-16 employees to complete a two hour workshop where they share their feedback with her. “Employees almost always see different issues than management,” she adds. After meeting with employees, she will meet with management and provide them with the three most important issues that are contributing to the problem. Once that is done, she will work with managers and employees to immediately improve one or two key areas. Karin believes that one of the biggest mistakes that many businesses make is trying to change too many things at once. “People get overwhelmed when they have a large list of things to improve on,” she says. Karin also believes that every relationship is a combination of give and take and that people must focus on their own behaviour before pointing the finger at someone else. “You have to be able to take responsibility for your own actions first before you can expect the environment to change,” she says.
Through her experience Karin has found that it’s usually the simple things that have the biggest impact on employee morale. For example, if employees have been complaining about a clogged sink, you should take the time and resources to fix it. Acknowledging these simple problems shows employees that you care and they really are your most valued asset.
If you’re looking for more information, stay tuned for the release of Karin’s upcoming book called, “How can we make Manufacturing Sexy – A Mindset of Passion and Purpose.” You can also attend a free webinar or follow us on Facebook for even more information on this subject.
If you’ve heard about Google’s newest social media platform, Google +, and wonder if it’s worth the hype, let me give you an overview so you can decide for yourself.
What It Is
Google + is a little like Facebook in that you can post updates (with no limit on characters), photos, videos and links. How it differs is that you can better target your contacts through Circles. Essentially, you can group people together (Co-Workers, People I Know Through Social Media) and target your updates to specific groups. You can also create Hangouts, which are video chats with up to 10 participants.
What It Offers Businesses
Just recently, G+ rolled out its Business Pages, which are pretty similar to their counterpart on Facebook. You can interact with the people in your Circles as your business, which can be good for branding. But as far as I can tell, there’s no extraordinary benefit of G+’s Business Pages over Facebook’s.
What’s Happening Right Now
Understandably, as a new platform, it’s a bit quiet on G+ right now. It’s only got just over 25 million users, to Facebook’s 800 million, so understandably there’s not as much activity there…yet. It can be frustrating if you’re trying to embrace the platform, but there’s no one really saying much or listening to your updates.
Is It Worth Your Time?
I’ve been on both sides of this answer. At first I said G+ was a waste of time. Who needs yet another social media site to have to post to? But I realize I might change my tune. I check in about once a week (whereas I am on Facebook daily) and try to update my status and read other updates. If adoption picks up speed, there may be more value for business owners to dedicate more time on the site.
One big benefit to having your business present on G+, if only nominally, is that Google (naturally) seems to rate G+ pages higher in search results. Google says that if you follow its instructions to set up your company through its Direct Connect program, anyone who searches for “+” and your company name on Google (as listed on your G+ Page), they’ll be taken directly to your G+ Business Page. Unfortunately, I can’t get this feature to work for my business. And having them go there versus my company website? I’m not sure there’s much benefit for me.
My suggestion is to set up a G+ account and spend a week or two playing around with it. Feel free to add me to your Circles. Set up a Page for your business. See which of your contacts and customers are actually using Google +. Then you can decide if it’s worth the time investment to have a strong presence on the site.
Susan Payton is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, an internet marketing firm specializing in marketing communications, copywriting and blog posts. She’s written two books: 101 Entrepreneur TipsandInternet Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs, and has blogged for several sites, including The Marketing Eggspert Blog, as well as Mashable, Small Business Trends, FutureSimple, BizLaunch and Lead411. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.
So, here we are in the first month of 2012. How many of you whose business year corresponds with the calendar year have your plan written? Better yet, how many have taken action on the plan?
In my fifteen years in business, many of them spent assisting other business owners develop robust goals and action plans, I continue to be amazed at how many individuals think that drafting goals and action plans is nothing but a paper and pen exercise; that they are nothing more than stacks of paper to join the already ceiling high stacks of paper. All the planning in the world won’t help you run your business if all you do with the documentation is file it away until you get into trouble. Then, it will be too late to pull it out and dust it off. The famine will be upon you.
Often, business owners tell me that they are too busy running their businesses to take the time to review their plans, or develop the systems to sustain the actions that will deliver on the goals they set. All business owners who want long term success have to pause periodically and reflect on their goals and actions. Are you doing the right things in the right order at the right time? The small amount of time required to review your actions and systems can save you both time and resources in the long run. There may be things you can stop doing, things that require refinement, and things which are making the strongest contribution to your company.
When you are in action and building systems you have to know what it takes to run your business and how systematizing those operations will benefit you. Start with looking at your lead generation. What is your system to ensure your marketing and sales funnels remain full? Do you use advertising to generate leads? A website? Referrals? And do you have a process to follow in each case?
Here is a list of other business activities that may lend themselves to systemization:
• Social networking system for Twitter, Facebook, Linked In
• Invoicing system
• Accounting system
• Product creation system
• Customer support system
• Client retention system
Any of these systems will take time to develop and you will always be looking to improve them. But the documented step-by-step processes you develop will free you to engage in productive, profitable work, not just busy work that yields nothing. It’s still early in the year, so ready, set… take planned action.
The number of people who actively use Facebook has reached epic proportions. Last year the site had approximately 500 million active users and over this past year it has grown to over 800 million users. As the number of users continues to grow, so too does the amount of time we spend on Facebook. According to one article, Facebook accounts for about 16% of our total time spent online.
Perhaps one reason people are spending more time on Facebook is because they’re enthralled with games that can be played on the site. If you’ve ever played a game on Facebook – you know how addicting these games can be. One game I’ve been obsessed with recently is called Mousehunt. Founded by a social gaming company called HitGrab, Mousehunt has been attracting hundreds of thousands of players since its inception in 2008.
This week I sat down with HitGrab’s Co-Founder Bryan Freeman to hear about how he started the company. “I used to work at a dotcom,” he said, “but then I started doing some marketing work on the side to make a few extra dollars.” After earning seed money, Bryan and his Co-Founder Joel Auge decided to start a new venture. “Originally, we started out doing some web-based experiments to see what stuck,” said Bryan. After dabbling in a few different areas, the duo started working on Facebook development and noticed there was a bigger opportunity in creating games for the popular website.“One night we came up with a concept about catching mice, and when we shared it with everyone at the office they thought we were mad,” laughs Bryan. But after the initial shock, the team saw the potential for the game and then they spent the next couple of years developing it.
The game’s revenue model is similar to many online games. The game is completely free for people to play, but players can buy additional features if they want an enhanced gaming experience. I was shocked when I heard who the paying audience was made up of. “In Singapore we have an audience that’s really young, in the UK we have an audience of middle aged women, and in the US it’s completely mixed,” he said.
The widespread appeal of the game is a big part of HitGrab’s success. As HitGrab employees shared the game with their friends and family members, the game went viral and more people started joining all over the world. “It really was amazing to see how fast the game caught on, and we were shocked to see our players come from all over the world” said Bryan. To reward their success, Facebook gave the company 1 of 5 coveted grants for $250,000.
“The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. As a practice, it consists in coordination of four elements called 4P’s: (1) identification, selection, and development of a product, (2) determination of its price, (3) selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer’s place, and (4) development and implementation of a promotional strategy.
As a philosophy, marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. Marketing differs from selling because (in the words of Harvard Business School’s emeritus professor of marketing Theodore C. Levitt) ‘Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariably does, view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer needs.’”1
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing.html
The essence of marketing is to understand your customers’ needs and develop a plan that meets those needs. There are four goals of marketing: acquiring more customers, persuading each customer to buy more products, persuading each customer to buy more expensive products or up selling each customer, and/or persuading each customer to buy more profitable products. All four of these areas can increase your revenue and profit, but it depends on your own business model and budget which you pursue.
There are only so many marketing resources
When it comes to your marketing strategy, keep in mind the importance of knowing your target. By taking time pitch your sales and marketing efforts to the correct niche market you will be more productive and not waste your efforts or time.
Perhaps it would be most effective for you to market by creating a well rounded program that combines sales activities with your marketing tactics. Your sales activities will not only decrease your out-of-pocket marketing expense but it also adds the value of interacting with your prospective customers and clients. This interaction will provide you with information that is priceless.
Here are a few other marketing tactics to consider:
• Participate in co-op advertising.
• Take some time to send your existing customers referrals and buying incentives.
• Tell memorable stories that provide specific and practical examples of what you have done for clients. Use real projects you completed or problems you solved. If you are new business owner, create realistic scenarios about how you would help your ideal client.
• Create a short (2-3 minutes only) and compelling video that succinctly explains your product or service. This video not only informs, but entertains and/or personalizes you and your company. This can be done quickly and easily using a camera like a flip video. Then post the video to your site and as many video sharing sites as possible. The internet is a powerful marketing leveller!
By being diligent and consistent in your marketing and by creating real value for customers your business can grow, even during challenging economic times.
