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Do Small Business Get More Sales On The Web?

I have gone on to assist small businesses to create an online presence by utilizing wordpress. Having been in the retail industry for 20 years, I can tell you that business success depends on your reach. Whether it is through print media, word of mouth or the internet. Businesses today need to interact and connect to their target audience, and most of all, be relevant to their target market.

The first thing I recommend to my clients is to use their websites as an advertising channel. As an advertising channel, a website beats other advertising media on cost, reach and duration. Sure, a news ad can reach the mass market in a hurry, but unless your advertisement, product or service serves a need at the right time, it has no staying power. Many adverts today gets lost in the noise, and the noise is getting louder. Equally loud is the message customers are giving to businesses, what’s in it for me?

Having a website allows you to communicate the benefits you bring to your customers, and it allows them to provide feedback or make their complaints known. So by having a business website, you are opening a channel of communication between your customers and you. In any business, this is the key to your success. You cannot meet your customers’ needs without a channel of communication. Why do you think corporations have such huge advertising budgets?

A study posted on eMarketer last week declared Small-Biz Success From Deeper Online Interaction which, in turn, leads to more sales for their businesses. The study was conducted by the American City Business Journals. The American City Business Journal used this data to show that ‘those on the Web the most reap the greatest benefits’.

Increased Relationships = Increased Sales: The survey proves what we already know – establishing a social Web presence allows SMB owners to reach out, engage and connect with customers more easily than ever before. When you’re on hand to answer questions, provide new levels of support and entice customers with new deals, you create relationships that naturally lower the barrier needed for someone to do business with you. People buy from people. It makes sense that customers feel more comfortable buying from SMBs with whom they have a relationship with online.

- Lisa Barone is Co-Founder and Chief Branding Officer at Outspoken Media, Inc., an Internet marketing company that specializes in providing clients with online reputation management, social media services, and other Internet services.-

7 Simple Motivational Tips

7 motivational tips to get you in the game.

Motivational Tip No.1 : Stay Positive At All Times
Keep a positive outlook at all times, make a conscious effort to be upbeat about your work, your life and anything else that matters. Don’t let yourself focus on the doubts or the negative emotions of having a bad day. With the right mindset you can overcome anything. Being in a positive state of mind helps you get more done, and with better results. Being positive can also motivate others around you.

Motivational Tip No.2 : Use Prep Talk To Get You Going
Never ever think that you cannot do something, or say that it is too tough. Keep reminding yourself that you can accomplish whatever it is you are doing. Face yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you are capable of more than you ever dream off. Focus on the positive, and keep reminding yourself whenever the going gets tough. You can do it, one step at a time.

Motivational Tip No.3 : Get Involved
Get stuck in. That is how you progress in this game. The hardest part is always the first step, once you build momentum you can get through anything. It might be tough in the beginning, you might find it hard to keep your mind on what it is you are doing. But once you get past the first hurdle, rest assured the second hurdle is a doodle. By getting involved, you also play off each other’s energy and focus on the job at hand. Start contributing and other people will help you stay the course.

Motivational Tip No.4 : Grow Your Confidence
Confidence comes from knowing you can do the job, it is part knowledge, learning, experience and personality. Confidence comes from a positive outlook in life, it comes from being involved in the organization. Knowing the people in the organization can help you out, they can be your back-up or safety net when something big comes up. You can focus on your job better when you know you have a group of people who will help you out when a curve ball comes out of nowhere. The more you do, the more experience you will have, and it is experience that builds up your confidence.

Motivational Tip No.5 : Always Finish What You Start
You will never get anything done unless you finish what you start. You need to be focused on the job at hand, or the issue on the table. Don’t let yourself be distracted, or wander off to do something else that isn’t essential. Develop this trait of always getting the job finished. It is about effectiveness at what you do and delivering consistent results. You don’t have to be brilliant or a superstar, you just need to finish what you start. You will be surprised how this simple trait is valued in all organizations. Do this and you will out-perform all the “superstars”.

Motivational Tip No.6 : Get Organized
Make sure you set goals and targets for yourself, and your goals should have a dateline. This will keep you focused. Plan your days and your work-flow, have a weekly and daily organizer at hand. Understand that you cannot finish everything at once. You will need a team of people who will work with you. The more effective you are at organizing your resources and assets, the more efficient you will be. Be realistic about what you can achieve, and accept the fact that nothing worthwhile comes without hardwork.

Motivational Tip No.7 : Reward Yourself
Give yourself a reward for your success. By rewarding yourself, you are also motivating yourself to do even better. Give yourself some time off, go somewhere to unwind. Have a good time. Then get back into the game and do it all over again.

Why People Fail To Achieve Their Goals

Tony Robbins needs no introduction. Have you heard of Tony Robbins? Sure. Have you seen or studied his videos? No. But if you take some time to watch this video, there are some lessons to pick up. You can learn a lot just by watching how people get things done, or in this case get the message across.

Why do people fail to achieve their goals?
I have been in managerial positions for most of my professional career, and whether in business or in life, this question and the answer which you give will define the success you can achieve. When asked, many people will say they did not have the resources they need, or the timing, or the economic environment was not right. While these factors might play a apart, these are not the defining factors, in Tony Robbins own words. It is resourcefulness. If we have the passion, the belief in what you are doing, you will find a way to get through to people. In business, we never have sufficient resources, or the perfect economic situation and even the best laid plans can go South. But what it comes down to is how we can achieve results despite the challenges in our way.

I am sure many of you have people in your organization that gets things done, the movers and shakers. No matter what the job is, they just get on with it. They live it, think it, dream it and they just do it. What it boils down to is Resources versus Resourcefulness. Which one do you think is going to carry the day?

Determination, creativity, passion and resolve are some examples of Resourcefulness. Ultimately, it is about you. If you are passionate enough, you find a way. If you are passionate about your goals, people respond to that. You touch them on a emotional level and people cannot help but respond to that.

The Takeaway From This

  1. What Am I Going To Focus On?
  2. What Does It Mean?
  3. What Are You Going To Do?

Watch The Video For More.

Store Identity and Concept

Every retailer must have their own identity, their own concept of retail marketing. It has to make sense to the customer the moment he or she walks into your store. The store identity you create for your store should span across the board. From your signage, lighting, brochures and posters, uniforms, customer service, products should speak very clearly to your customers; this is who we are, this is how we serve you. With integrity, with our attention to details, our outstanding customer service, our fair price, our unfailing value for money products.

If your retail store has been around for some time, and the business growth has reached a plateau, it is time to freshen up or do a re-launch. The retail concept is based on trends and consumer choice. Change is inevitable, and after some time in business, your store identity might start to look out-dated. While making a change in your store identity or a relaunch can eat into your operating profits, it is unavoidable. Retailers must move with the times and be relevant to the consumers. Change doesn’t guarantee you will win, but standing still is a sure way to lose.

We have to continuously evolve to serve our customers better. It means being market savvy and knowing the trends and directions of our customers. This allows us to develop effective and innovative solutions that will fulfill our customers’ demand. Without thorough research and planning, we wouldn’t know where to start. In our efforts to further improve and increase profitability and customer satisfaction, the simple solution is the best. This should be the fastest, most cost-effective change that our associates can implement. It’s has to be real, not a gimmick. Our customers have to be able to feel the difference. Equally important, the management has to commit and provide the leadership to ensure that the change is sustained.

Retailing Is About People

You see it all in the world of retailing. You see the world as it is, and what it can be.

Retailing is about people; the most important people are your customers. The second most important people are the ones serving the customer. Retailing is about getting the right product at the right price to your stores, in the right quantity at the right time.

Nowadays, retailing has evolved into entertaining the customers with new concepts of shopping environment, exciting new lifestyle products and brands, and the most attractive prices. In addition to providing everyday low prices, the retailer provides shopping convenience for the customers, by expanding his product lines, by creating activities that involves the customer, and by creating membership clubs to induce their loyalty.

In today’s world of rising fuel prices and increasingly high cost of living, retailers has to overcome these challenges of changing market conditions and their competitors’ actions. Today’s retailing is about looking for innovative ways to improve their operations in every way possible. To gain a competitive edge, technology is increasingly been utilized.

At the end of the day though, retailing is all about the customer. It’s about the human touch in a competitive world. Whatever innovations we use, the end game is to ensure we can serve our customers the way they want to be served.

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