As a direct response marketing consultant, one of the things I often get asked to advise on is logos and brands. And that's bizarre to say the least, and for three reasons.
1. I am probably the most unvisual person you will ever meet. Often my wife, Sarah, will buy, say, a new houseplant or picture, put it somewhere in full view... and I literally won't see it for weeks, sometimes months.
2. Associated with #1 above: I'm a writer not a graphic designer. I don't know what's "supposed" to look good or not. When people start telling me "yes, the sweeping lines of this piece clearly expose the hidden meanings of...", you'll hear me breathing "bullshit!" to myself.
3. Last, and most important... no one but you gives a flying cow pat about your logo. They really don't. The only three people in the entire universe who care about your logo are:
a) You.
b) Your graphic designer (and even then only up until the point you pay him).
c) Your spouse/partner/significant other (and only because they want you to be happy).
Sorry, but it's true. You have an emotional attachment to your logo, I'm sure. You worked hard on it, or at least got deeply immersed and involved in the design process. You like the colours, too.
So, what?
Let me ask you this: when was the last time you did business with a firm on the basis of their logo?
Yeah, never.
Now, at this point I have to say the concept of "logo" and "brand" start to merge. How many times have I seen small businesses paying Brylcreemed BWM-driving "consultants" megabucks for "brand consulting". Too many.
It's a very common error for business owners to be sucked in to the idea of advertising and promotion with the vague idea ther're going to benefit from some kind of "brand awareness". I don't know if the advertising reps actually working for the local papers actually believe this nonsense or not, but the fact is it's a load of old codswallop.
It's all just a waste of your time and money. Your "brand" will naturally grow from you giving great service and selling great products.
Your logo will gain "recognition" when YOU become recognised for giving great service and selling great products.
And the way to do that is with good, old fashioned direct response marketing -- the kind of marketing where you get your ad out on a Friday evening and you've got money in your pocket from it by Monday morning.
Until then, for God's sake concentrate on building the business and let the logo and the brand look after themselves.
----------------------------------------------------
Jon McCulloch is Europe's leading small business marketing consultant. Visit http://www.jonmcculloch.com now and take just three of his FREE small business marketing ideas and put them to work for you, and you'll be thrilled by the results.
They've all created substantially better results for small businesses in the last two years.
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Friday, June 1, 2012
How To Start Your Own Business Without A Lot Of Cash
Most people would love to start their own business. Being able to call all the shots while making all the money seems too good to be true. Nevertheless, there are plenty of people out there who are doing just that. And they don't really have any advanced education, or special intelligence that you don't have. All they have is an idea, and a belief that they can make it work. If you want to start a business, there's no reason why it can't be successful. Of course, this costs money, and sometimes you need a lot. But the good news is that there are several ways you can cut costs, so you can start your own business without spending a fortune. That's what you are going to learn in this article.
Advertising is a huge cost of any business. Without advertising, nobody is going to know anything about your or your product, and then you won't get any sales. However, there are some ways to advertise for free. There are plenty of social media sites where you can build a page for free. Also, YouTube, Twitter, and free blogging platforms like Wordpress and Blogger are great ways to get the word out about your business.
Any business will need supplies. Printer cartridges, paper, and all kinds of other office supplies. If you are on a limited budget, then you can obviously only afford some things. That means that you'll have to decide what's important and what isn't. This may be difficult at first, but if you've ever lived with a budget for your personal finances, then it's not so bad.
Getting the best prices will be crucial. That means you've got to shop around if you are going to get the best deals. Once you find some good, reliable sources that have the cheapest prices, you'll save time in the future.
Some things you need, but you don't exactly need them right now. It might be a hassle to do a lot of shopping instead of loading up, but you need to be careful and not eat too much capital. Try to spend your profits only. This may mean that you build up your business more slowly, but it will allow you to make a lot more money in the long run.
Make up some business cards, and give them to everybody you meet. You can make up a thousand business cards for less than fifty bucks, if you keep them relatively simple and free from expensive graphics.
So you see, it is possible to start your own business on the cheap. Just only buy what you need, stay within your budget, and you'll be fine. Good luck.
----------------------------------------------------
Some of the best business opportunities are franchises. They come with a reputable brand, and plenty of existing customers. To find out more, please visit http://www.franchiseopportunitiescanada.org today.
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Advertising is a huge cost of any business. Without advertising, nobody is going to know anything about your or your product, and then you won't get any sales. However, there are some ways to advertise for free. There are plenty of social media sites where you can build a page for free. Also, YouTube, Twitter, and free blogging platforms like Wordpress and Blogger are great ways to get the word out about your business.
Any business will need supplies. Printer cartridges, paper, and all kinds of other office supplies. If you are on a limited budget, then you can obviously only afford some things. That means that you'll have to decide what's important and what isn't. This may be difficult at first, but if you've ever lived with a budget for your personal finances, then it's not so bad.
Getting the best prices will be crucial. That means you've got to shop around if you are going to get the best deals. Once you find some good, reliable sources that have the cheapest prices, you'll save time in the future.
Some things you need, but you don't exactly need them right now. It might be a hassle to do a lot of shopping instead of loading up, but you need to be careful and not eat too much capital. Try to spend your profits only. This may mean that you build up your business more slowly, but it will allow you to make a lot more money in the long run.
Make up some business cards, and give them to everybody you meet. You can make up a thousand business cards for less than fifty bucks, if you keep them relatively simple and free from expensive graphics.
So you see, it is possible to start your own business on the cheap. Just only buy what you need, stay within your budget, and you'll be fine. Good luck.
----------------------------------------------------
Some of the best business opportunities are franchises. They come with a reputable brand, and plenty of existing customers. To find out more, please visit http://www.franchiseopportunitiescanada.org today.
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=267360
Effective Meetings - Top 8 Items
Does anybody enjoy meetings?
Meetings - you either enjoy them or despise them. They seem a basic misery to most. Whether meetings of the board or any other business meetings. If you question if they are essential the reply is likely to be, 'of course'. Are they beneficial - most would say, 'Never'. This attitude would appear to infer that it's not the purpose but the composition of effective meetings and how they are managed which tends to grate on people.
Do you recognize someone that complains regarding meetings? Finds them a total waste of time? Maybe, if it is your duty to arrange and run a meeting you might even approach this with a degree of nervousness and a rise in anxiety.
What is your meeting strategy?
It is rare for a meeting to have no agenda in the slightest. The initial item on the agenda, especially the very first in a series of meetings, ought to be a rundown of your meeting policy. This will identify what you hope to secure from the meeting, how you want to operate it and your hopes of people at the meeting. Therefore, in summary you may prefer to address:
Do you have a goal:
What is the aim of the meeting? Clearness here will save a lot of agony when controlling the meeting.
How frequent do you want meetings?
State how often you wish to hold a sequence of meetings and assess suggestions from those attending. Bear in mind, meetings use up time.
What will be the output?
Determine what you hope to be the end products from the meeting. For instance, what will be the style of the minutes of meetings and any kind of actions that they may include? This is an excellent time to mention to people that they will be accountable for actions that they acquire. If these are not done in a prompt way it could impinge upon other people at the meeting.
The chairperson:
Who will it be and precisely how will that individual conduct the meeting? This might well be a Project Manager, but, others will hold effective meetings beyond formal projects.
The secretary:
Who will it be? Don't ask for volunteers at the meeting. People don't like being engineered into a job they may not choose and may not actually be fit for it. They may also be experienced at saying, 'no'. Invite a person to become the secretary in advance of the meeting and explain the responsibilities.
Distribution of minutes of the meeting:
This is very crucial. It's typically a good idea for the secretary to distribute a copy of the draft minutes to those in the meeting and suggest suggestions on factual content and the ownership of actions. Stipulate an end date for the feedback and an end date to finalize and circulate the minutes and stick to it.
Management and Control
The primary reason for convening a meeting will be for the management of some aspect of a task or string of activities. They develop into a forum for bringing up problems, identifying project progression versus any plans and the achievement of certain actions. It's a chance for communicating over departments that may not always be available.
Ideally, some form of decision making will arise. There will have been achievements and this gives the chairperson a chance to compliment the group and specific individuals affording motivation.
----------------------------------------------------
We provide simple, jargon free, suggestions over a broad field for business and personal use. If you wish for more information and facts don't miss Project management at http://www.project-management-basics.com, or pay a visit to our training store at http://www.marchltd.co.uk
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=270931
Meetings - you either enjoy them or despise them. They seem a basic misery to most. Whether meetings of the board or any other business meetings. If you question if they are essential the reply is likely to be, 'of course'. Are they beneficial - most would say, 'Never'. This attitude would appear to infer that it's not the purpose but the composition of effective meetings and how they are managed which tends to grate on people.
Do you recognize someone that complains regarding meetings? Finds them a total waste of time? Maybe, if it is your duty to arrange and run a meeting you might even approach this with a degree of nervousness and a rise in anxiety.
What is your meeting strategy?
It is rare for a meeting to have no agenda in the slightest. The initial item on the agenda, especially the very first in a series of meetings, ought to be a rundown of your meeting policy. This will identify what you hope to secure from the meeting, how you want to operate it and your hopes of people at the meeting. Therefore, in summary you may prefer to address:
Do you have a goal:
What is the aim of the meeting? Clearness here will save a lot of agony when controlling the meeting.
How frequent do you want meetings?
State how often you wish to hold a sequence of meetings and assess suggestions from those attending. Bear in mind, meetings use up time.
What will be the output?
Determine what you hope to be the end products from the meeting. For instance, what will be the style of the minutes of meetings and any kind of actions that they may include? This is an excellent time to mention to people that they will be accountable for actions that they acquire. If these are not done in a prompt way it could impinge upon other people at the meeting.
The chairperson:
Who will it be and precisely how will that individual conduct the meeting? This might well be a Project Manager, but, others will hold effective meetings beyond formal projects.
The secretary:
Who will it be? Don't ask for volunteers at the meeting. People don't like being engineered into a job they may not choose and may not actually be fit for it. They may also be experienced at saying, 'no'. Invite a person to become the secretary in advance of the meeting and explain the responsibilities.
Distribution of minutes of the meeting:
This is very crucial. It's typically a good idea for the secretary to distribute a copy of the draft minutes to those in the meeting and suggest suggestions on factual content and the ownership of actions. Stipulate an end date for the feedback and an end date to finalize and circulate the minutes and stick to it.
Management and Control
The primary reason for convening a meeting will be for the management of some aspect of a task or string of activities. They develop into a forum for bringing up problems, identifying project progression versus any plans and the achievement of certain actions. It's a chance for communicating over departments that may not always be available.
Ideally, some form of decision making will arise. There will have been achievements and this gives the chairperson a chance to compliment the group and specific individuals affording motivation.
----------------------------------------------------
We provide simple, jargon free, suggestions over a broad field for business and personal use. If you wish for more information and facts don't miss Project management at http://www.project-management-basics.com, or pay a visit to our training store at http://www.marchltd.co.uk
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=270931
Post Cards And Your Shipments
We believe that you should never stop selling, even after you've just drained the wallets of your customers! Surely there must be something else they might want to get from your company. The point is simply that you never can tell how much your customer really needs until you make sure she has had every opportunity to buy. One principle that many marketers fail to capitalize on is that people are creatures of habit, and once you have established a bond of trust with them they will keep coming back.
Let's say that you have a shipment going out to Mrs. Jones. She's just bought a very nice lamp from your store. You may include an invoice in the shipment, or a statement, and we recommend also including a small catalog which contains new items that may not be in the latest general catalog. We also recommend a post card. On it, she can comment on the timeliness of the shipment, whether the order was complete, and whether it was the exact item she was expecting. Now if your manufacturing processes are well controlled, you probably already know the answer to all of these questions: the order was correct and complete and it was packed well. Still, it's the little touch of allowing the customer to confirm all of those points of consideration which invariably leaves a good impression. Customers like to feel that their opinions matter, and that their feedback is taken seriously. These things can be done effectively at little cost.
We also recommend using a post card to try to get the customer to respond to a special offer of some type. For example, you may have a supply of end tables which you want to move, and someone who just bought a lamp may well be in the market for a small table as well. It's a natural fit. A post card with a specific offer of this type with a special deal included may get a quick and positive response. What you are doing -what you should always be doing - is anticipating. Learning to anticipate the needs of the customer is as much an art as a science. If my customer bought X, perhaps she is in the market for Y. Let's see if we have a Y, and if so we'll offer her a deal.
This is true customization of sales marketing and many will be a bit surprised to know that customers do not resent this level of follow up service. More than anything else, customers like to feel as though their suppliers know them as individuals. It builds trust and strengthens the relationship over a long period of time.
----------------------------------------------------
Contact Conquest Graphics today for a discussion about using postcards to enhance your marketing efforts. Check out http://www.conquestgraphics.com/Products/Postcard-Printing-Services
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=272586
Let's say that you have a shipment going out to Mrs. Jones. She's just bought a very nice lamp from your store. You may include an invoice in the shipment, or a statement, and we recommend also including a small catalog which contains new items that may not be in the latest general catalog. We also recommend a post card. On it, she can comment on the timeliness of the shipment, whether the order was complete, and whether it was the exact item she was expecting. Now if your manufacturing processes are well controlled, you probably already know the answer to all of these questions: the order was correct and complete and it was packed well. Still, it's the little touch of allowing the customer to confirm all of those points of consideration which invariably leaves a good impression. Customers like to feel that their opinions matter, and that their feedback is taken seriously. These things can be done effectively at little cost.
We also recommend using a post card to try to get the customer to respond to a special offer of some type. For example, you may have a supply of end tables which you want to move, and someone who just bought a lamp may well be in the market for a small table as well. It's a natural fit. A post card with a specific offer of this type with a special deal included may get a quick and positive response. What you are doing -what you should always be doing - is anticipating. Learning to anticipate the needs of the customer is as much an art as a science. If my customer bought X, perhaps she is in the market for Y. Let's see if we have a Y, and if so we'll offer her a deal.
This is true customization of sales marketing and many will be a bit surprised to know that customers do not resent this level of follow up service. More than anything else, customers like to feel as though their suppliers know them as individuals. It builds trust and strengthens the relationship over a long period of time.
----------------------------------------------------
Contact Conquest Graphics today for a discussion about using postcards to enhance your marketing efforts. Check out http://www.conquestgraphics.com/Products/Postcard-Printing-Services
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=272586
How to Leverage the Profit and Loss Statement
The profit and loss statement has a number of important uses for businesses of all sizes. But many small business owners are guilty of underutilizing their profit and loss information. They double check the income statement to see what business bookkeeping can tell them about whether or not their perception of the business is accurate, and then ignore it until the next time they think to print and check it. But this essential accounting tool can do many other things for a small business when used correctly.
The biggest point that financial experts make is that a P&L is not the same thing as a cash flow statement. Trying to run a business without both is like walking in the dark. You have no idea where you're going or even what you've just passed. You need to manage profit and loss as separate from cash flow so you can keep track of income and expenses when they are incurred and earned, not just paid, so you have a clearer idea of exactly how the business is doing week to week and month to month. The biggest mistake small businesses make is keeping inaccurate books that ignore this distinction, which leads to suboptimal decisions.
The second thing you need to do is use the P&L to understand what is and isn't succeeding with your business. It's easy enough to look at the bottom line, decide if it is or isn't where you want it to be, and maybe circle the biggest expense for further attention. But if one doesn't examine the details and breaking them down by time period to see which expenses are over- or underperforming vis-à-vis their intended income effect, it's impossible to get the most valuable information out of the statement.
The other common mistake is to only use profit and loss information for backward-looking evaluations. After a few months, the data in a P&L statement is sufficient for conservative projections at least a few months into the future. Expenses aren't static, so having some idea of your financial position in three months makes it easier to decide when is the right time to invest in that new piece of capital you need for your business. Without projections, that choice is just a guess or a random gamble.
There's a reason the Profit and Loss statement is one of the most essential and highly-valued financial documents for accountants and businesses of all sizes; it provides clear, powerful, relevant information when used correctly. If you're underutilizing your accounting information, you should consider looking more deeply into your P&L statement.
----------------------------------------------------
The Profit and Loss Statement Is an Essential Accounting Tool. But It Is Only Useful If You Know How to Interpret and Apply It. Learn More about P&L at http://www.outright.com
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The biggest point that financial experts make is that a P&L is not the same thing as a cash flow statement. Trying to run a business without both is like walking in the dark. You have no idea where you're going or even what you've just passed. You need to manage profit and loss as separate from cash flow so you can keep track of income and expenses when they are incurred and earned, not just paid, so you have a clearer idea of exactly how the business is doing week to week and month to month. The biggest mistake small businesses make is keeping inaccurate books that ignore this distinction, which leads to suboptimal decisions.
The second thing you need to do is use the P&L to understand what is and isn't succeeding with your business. It's easy enough to look at the bottom line, decide if it is or isn't where you want it to be, and maybe circle the biggest expense for further attention. But if one doesn't examine the details and breaking them down by time period to see which expenses are over- or underperforming vis-à-vis their intended income effect, it's impossible to get the most valuable information out of the statement.
The other common mistake is to only use profit and loss information for backward-looking evaluations. After a few months, the data in a P&L statement is sufficient for conservative projections at least a few months into the future. Expenses aren't static, so having some idea of your financial position in three months makes it easier to decide when is the right time to invest in that new piece of capital you need for your business. Without projections, that choice is just a guess or a random gamble.
There's a reason the Profit and Loss statement is one of the most essential and highly-valued financial documents for accountants and businesses of all sizes; it provides clear, powerful, relevant information when used correctly. If you're underutilizing your accounting information, you should consider looking more deeply into your P&L statement.
----------------------------------------------------
The Profit and Loss Statement Is an Essential Accounting Tool. But It Is Only Useful If You Know How to Interpret and Apply It. Learn More about P&L at http://www.outright.com
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=272812
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