Tag small business advice


Stand out from your competitors and make 2014 the year that you start harnessing the power of blogging

Recently, I was trawling through my Evernote store of articles when I came across a Social Media Examiner article from a few months ago called: Blogging a Top Focus for Marketers and Other Trends Shown in New Research. Before I go on, I must say that I use Evernote to ‘clip’ and store articles that,…

Are incentives the missing piece of your customer review picture?

Have you considered making a special offer or discounting your prices to try and drive extra sales? If you have, or are considering doing so in the future, let me ask you to pause for a second and consider something….. Imagine you are researching, browsing or shopping for something new. Also, let’s say you are…

A simple approach to generating marketing content that will also help you deliver better customer service

Research released earlier this year by Sabio and the Customer Contact Association that showed that anywhere between 25% and 40% of the calls made to UK contact centers are unnecessary or avoidable. The research highlighted that the most common causes of calls to businesses were to do with: Customers chasing information about deliveries, how to…

Think ‘Small’ first- It’s more palatable!

Think ‘Small’ first- It’s more palatable!

Not a week seems to go by without some sort of nonsense being reported going on in the corporate world. A few years back we saw the banks implode and need bailing out, many reported this was due to greed to make bonuses and the desire to make money at any cost. Often, it is…

Feisty Enterprise Tip #2: Get a Support Network Behind You, Say ‘I’ll Get Back To You’ and Then Phone a Friend

The scariest words to a prospective or existing small business owner are ‘I’m from the government (or bank) and I’m here to help you’. If the schemes and websites of free support for starting a business are primarily run and sponsored by government and financial services companies then B-E-W-A-R-E. My opinion is that they are…

Feisty Enterprise Tip #1: Suck It and See – Find Out If This Is Your Right Time

If you have other ways of earning a living and you feel that you haven’t enough know-how, or enough available time and money, to get through the first eighteen months of your own business – don’t do it. In my opinion there is no better way to earn a living than being your own boss…

Breaking the marketing inertia that may exist in your business

Recently, a new study on SME marketing conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) – reported here – was released. In the study, they found that the average SME is only achieving 39 per cent of its planned marketing activity. According to the study, whilst 77 per cent of SMEs recognise that…

We’ve all got to do more to retain great people

We’ve all heard it before. Try and keep the best people, and surround yourself with people better than you. This is the secret of success, and apparently people like Branson are masters at it. However, many people have reported that small businesses suffer from ‘resource poverty’ when it comes to people management and business owners…

Drop the adjectives and the froth

Marketing, telling the story, decking out your online shop window for Christmas or any season, is essential and can be a real buzz for your business and your feelgood factor. Be sure to do it, to keep it alive and interesting, but keep your feet on the ground. With all the techno wizardry at our…

What you think about your customers and how you serve them will define and drive what you receive from them

Following on from my previous post (You cannot improve one thing by 1000% but you can improve 1000 little things by 1%), I’d like to share with you another quote: A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an…

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