Archives for the 'Finance & Accounting' Category
Marketing: Use your loaf not your bread!
In these days of ever-tightening belts is always good to know of ways we can get our businesses to known to a wider audience without having to spend our hard-earned money.
Many, of course, look and are too good to be true.
This one isn’t and it’s from what you may think an unlikely source: BT
BT Tradespace is a free forum where anyone based in, or doing business in the UK is actively encouraged to set up their stall. Not only is it free, it staffed by a bunch of people who couldn’t be more helpful.
If anyone knows of any other good low- or no-cost places we can promote our businesses, please share them here!
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
Poverty and Plenty: Don’t Panic!
Sally’s comment on the original Poverty and Plenty blog was so insightful I wanted to give it more exposure:
“How do small businesses figure out what are the best things to invest in during the financial downturn if they can’t afford all of the things they want to do.
How do they measure the potential ROI before embarking on judicious investing?”
The first thing that springs to mind, Sally, is Douglas Adams’ “Don’t Panic!” and that’s not being facetious.
We do panic and feel we have to take action: we must do something to stop the rot. And that’s where we can make the BIG mistake of ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’.
So, have a quick panic by all means and get it out of the way then just stop, take a few deep breaths and think before acting:
- Why am I in business?
- What is this business supposed to support in my life?
- Chances are many of my customers and suppliers are hurting just as much as me - how can we help each other?
- What is it that my customers/ potential market want that I can provide better than anybody else?
- What are my assets and resources?
- How can I trade them?
- How can I improve them?
We invest in three ways, not just one:
Emotion
Time
Money
And, whilst we many of us may be perilously short of the third , we’re not bankrupt on the first two, so we need to invest them wisely. The above questions do help.
Thanks for taking this deeper, Sally.
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
How to sell in a recession: 1
How can you grow your business when the economy takes a nose dive?
… and your traditional market’s sinking without trace?
Anybody seen to be “selling” today is probably going to get short shrift, so how about making it easier for your market to buy from you instead?
Firstly think about what your company does for your customers.
Not what you THINK you do (keep their telecoms, IT, delivery, fleet running smoothly) but what they value about what you do enables THEM to do (communicate, run their business optimally, deliver last minute items, keep their employees safe on the roads).
Oh and how do you help them do this on time, on budget and protect and advance their company brand and reputation)?
Isn’t that a little bit different to: “I’m gonna sell you something because I need the business/ need to reach my targets”?
The key here is being able to demonstrate that you understand the worries, cares and hassles of your customers and that you’re here to help them.
You can’t fake this: If you try your prospects and see through you in seconds
It’s worth working on, though, and it isn’t just an ‘elevator pitch’!
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
