Ideas Archives - Page 7 of 11

Guerilla Marketing Tactics For Small Business – Marketing Ideas That Stick

Guerilla marketing means maximum impact for minimum expense, often on a Do-It-Yourself basis. And while this sort of thing has always been a priority for small business marketing, in today’s tough economy, innovative, low-cost guerrilla marketing strategies have the potential to be more important than ever.

This article focuses on custom stickers-one of the cheapest, most versatile marketing materials in existence, and one often overlooked by traditional marketing campaigns.

Let’s start with the basics:

1) Understand Your Customers

First of all, this may seem like commonsense in any marketing strategy, but commonsense is often not so common. If it were, more small business owners would understand that a simple logo sticker-however great that logo may be-is probably not going to go viral, except among folks who are already ravenously loyal to their cause.

However, a sticker that people actually identify with-because of the humor, the artwork, or some other element-does have the potential to go viral, for one very important reason: it says as much about your customers as it does about your business.

A great example of this is a pizza shop in my area called Bob’s Pizza. Their logo, appropriately enough, is their name, in a curlicue type font next to a drawing of a slice of pizza. The owner of this shop (Bob) could easily have made a custom sticker of this-instead, he chose to do something different.

As the owner of an affordable downtown pizza joint, Bob understands that his target market in this area is composed primarily of families and students. So he not only provides crayons and paper for young artists and late-night doodlers, he posts these masterworks on the walls of his shop. One of these artworks happened to be by a seven-year old boy; it was a happy, blob-like person with a piece of pizza, accompanied by the words, in a childish scrawl, “I like Bob’s Pizza.”

This is the image that Bob chose to turn into an eye-catching, die-cut sticker-an image that seemed to strike a chord with both families and students, who appreciated the style and the humor. I’ve seen this sticker everywhere imaginable. I’ve also noticed a lot of people in Bob’s Pizza.

The moral of the story being: create a sticker that shows you understand your customers, and they will advertise your business far and wide-at virtually no expense to you.

2) Be Useful

Nearly everyone knows the old trick about putting a tip-calculator chart on the back of your business card, to encourage people to keep your cards in their wallets.

Depending on your business, however, there may be a better way to “stick around” in your customers’ lives-and in a way that helps to establish authority in your area of expertise. By printing a custom sticker with useful information related to your business, designed for semi-permanent mounting in important, everyday places, you can keep your name and number in front of your former and potential clients for an almost indefinite period of time.

Fix computers for a living? Design a sticker with quick-reference trouble-shooting for common computer problems, designed for mounting on a computer monitor or laptop. Yoga studio? Create a daily ‘mindfulness meditation’ designed to mount on the dashboard of a car. Heating and cooling business? Print a sticker designed for thermostats, featuring energy-saving tips.

The trick here is to be innovative, useful, and to stick around long enough so that when people need your services, you’ll be the one they call.

3) Be Outrageous

If you truly want to create some buzz in your area, you can put the “gorilla” in guerrilla marketing with some over-the-top, in-your-face marketing-that-does-not-resemble-marketing.

Case in point-a website called SprayGraphic. This online artists’ community wanted to create some buzz in different places across the US. First, they recruited creative artists to feature their graphic design work on their website. Next, they sent out eye-catching posters and custom stickers to these artists, in order to help them promote their work.

The result? Intriguing posters began to appear in coffeeshops and on community boards all over the country, accompanied by their characteristic, funny moustache, nose and eye-glasses logo, explaining who they were, what they did, and why people should join. Then a series of die-cut stickers featuring their logo started showing up everywhere, accompanied by their URL. You can rest assured this simple, affordable guerrilla marketing tactic created a huge amount of traffic for this site, almost overnight.

The trick with using custom stickers this way is not to give too much away-and to use them to create a kind of mystery, which your customers will then be compelled to solve.

Starting a Business by Getting Business Ideas

For most people, working for a company is just simply not enough. People are natural entrepreneurs who would want to start their own business and be their own boss. It is something that you, as a budding entrepreneur would really want.

Of course, to start a business, you will have to think of a business idea that will really sell. Lots of people have ideas on what kind of business they would want and a lot of them have made it into a reality. Now, the question is, what kind of business you would want to start?

Answering this question may seem easy, but a lot of people would have no idea at all on what kind of business they plan to put up or have second thoughts about it. This is why you need to assess everything before you start thinking of different businesses.

To get an idea on what kind of business you want and what kind of business that you will likely be good at is by first figuring out what your interests are. Your interests will play an important role when starting your own business. This is because you have an idea on how you want your business to be and will be much easier for you to make it grow.

For example, if you like cooking and think you have enough talent for it where people will really like what you cook, then why not start a business in the food industry? You can put up your own restaurant or you can even sell packaged food.

Now that you have an idea on what kind of business you like, the next thing you have to consider is the location on where you want your business to be. First of all, make sure that the product or services you plan on selling are in an area where it is needed. Besides, if you plan on selling winter coats, you don’t want to sell it in a tropical location where it doesn’t even snow. An ideal location would be in areas where it snows.

Another example is that if you plan on selling ice creams, you would want your business to be in hot locations, like in southern Florida beaches or maybe in California. Sell your ice cream where people would want to buy ice cream.

Thinking of the location on where you plan on putting up your business and relating it to the products and services you sell. If you do this, your business will really be a success.

The next and perhaps the most important thing you have to consider when starting a business or when thinking of a business idea is by determining if you have the money for it to make your business idea a reality. Getting the capital is probably one of the most common problems of people wanting to start their own business.

Try to consider a loan. There are financial institutions that can help you secure a loan. You can also try to convince a venture capitalist to provide you with the capital you need to start your business.

In every kind of business, there is a risk. If you don’t take this risk, you will end up not turning your business ideas into a reality. So, when starting a business, you need to consider all of the factors in order to make your business ideas turn into reality.

Home Based Business Ideas For Retired People

For a variety of reasons, retirement may not be an attractive option once you have entered that world. With medical advances, most people live longer and healthier lives. As a result, many retirees have too much energy and passion for life to simply do nothing. If you have spent the majority of your life in the work place, retirement can result in boredom, loss of enthusiasm or loneliness. You may find yourself missing that job you dreaded. Other retired people immediately realize their retirement savings just won’t be enough, especially with an uncertain world economy. So, what next?

Have you ever dreamed of having your own business? Believe it or not, there are definite advantages for retirees that want to start a home based business. In fact, home based businesses in general are increasing and proving to be very successful. If you structure the business correctly and remain in compliance with the Internal Revenue Service guidelines, you will qualify for numerous tax benefits.

As you think about ideas for a home based business, consider your options and do your research. There are, unfortunately, numerous scams and dishonest people that prey on senior citizens. Exercise caution but do not let the fear of a scam keep you from launching your own business.

Start by making a list of your hobbies, your work experience, special skills, talents and passions. Often hobbies can be easily converted to a profitable home based business. A few ideas to get your brainstorming started: photography, accounting, handyman service, crafts, pet grooming, cake design and decoration, web design, selling products on eBay, online tutoring. Once you start brainstorming and as you review your list of specific talents and skills, your list of possibilities will expand.

After you have selected two or three home based business ideas, do your research. Research can be done at the public library, online and discussing your ideas with trusted friends or family. Make a list of your goals before your start researching. Do you want to or need to supplement your income? Are you simply interested in staying active, feeling useful and maintaining contact with the world outside your home? Will you need help with the business? If you have a partner, this may influence your final selection.

What about startup money? You may already have the equipment needed to get started. For example, if you select photography, you may own the necessary equipment. A word of caution at this point is necessary. Be sure you possess the skills and talents required for the business; owning an expensive digital camera and being the family photographer is probably not enough. On the other hand, if you have a passion for photography, consider taking a class at the local community college and learn the skills and techniques needed. Or, find a part time job with a local photographer and learn from a professional. This word of caution applies to any business idea you may choose.

Keep in mind that the Small Business Administration can be very helpful. The SBA funds loans for home based businesses as well as brick and mortar businesses. As long as you meet the established requirements, you may qualify for a loan.

Another huge advantage for retired people starting a home based business is your maturity and years of experience. Our current economy has often been compared to the Great Depression; it is interesting to note that many profitable businesses were started during the Great Depression. Do your brainstorming, complete your research and get started!

Stay at Home Moms Looking For Home Based Business Ideas

As the internet grows and small businesses need for good content increases, so grows the need for freelance writing services. The important thing to consider when getting your content for your website is that it be quality content. Some of the content will end up on a website, but most of the writing will be used in article distribution. Because these articles can literally be written about tens of thousands of topics, who better to cover the stories than you guessed it: moms. I have a mom and am married to a person who is a mom. They know a lot of stuff and tapping into that expertise about every topic from “the best way to clean a knee abrasion” to “how often to baste the turkey” while it’s in the oven is something that small businesses should be doing. The vast life experience of moms keeps them busy since their time at home usually has them running from appointment to appointment, recital to recital, and all before anyone even touches homework.

In the past some moms have excelled at running a tight ship at home and given nary a second thought to the opportunities right in front of them. They fail to realize that by using their experience they can write content to make some money on the side. The need in the marketplace for “blogger moms” and other content developers has become so great now because of their valuable life experience. For example, if I have a website that needs content and articles written for something dealing with financial services or credit repair, and I know of a SAHM (stay at home mom) who handles her family’s finances like a champ, I might use that experience for my own benefit when it comes time to get a lot of information out there on the web about a niche topic like “credit repair” or “improving my credit score”. These instances are a lot more common than you think. I could probably sit down with any of the super moms in my life (wife, mom, sisters, aunts, etc.) and find enough documented life experience to make your head spin. Maybe it’s just me, but these are just a couple of home based business ideas that I have in mind for stay at home moms.

New Energy Future – We Need to Turn More Green Business Ideas Into Action

The way forward lies in green investment. No, I’m not talking about dollars, though that too will follow inevitably. I’m talking about greening your small business. And the many successful entrepreneurs who have managed to build sustainable businesses without sacrificing ethics or the environment.

The Obama government has set apart billions of dollars to encourage green business ideas and initiatives. Various finance sources such as tax credits, loans and grants are available to fund green buildings and energy efficient ventures at national, state and local levels. Homeowners, businesses, non-profit organizations and government organizations can take advantage of these opportunities to convert their green ideas into action.

Alternative renewable energy sources harness natural resources. Solar energy, wind farms, biogas digestion, rain water, biomass briquettes, helioculture are some examples of alternative renewable energy. Solar panels and installers are being used by many businesses, schools and homes to generate heat and electricity.

Top companies of various industries are taking responsibility to reduce their ecological footprint by slashing greenhouse gas emissions. Though saving money and reducing risks are the main incentives driving these initiatives, every effort is crucial in combating climate change. Green consulting agencies help businesses green their premises and inculcate green business practices amongst its employees. Energy efficient products conserve energy and reduce bills for consumers.

Businesses should support green initiatives with the necessary infrastructure and processes. Energy-efficient computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, scanners, copiers and multi-function devices that automatically power down during extended inactivity save 50% energy or more. Laptops are much more energy efficient than desktops. Consider upgrading your employees to laptops.

Taking business operations online reduces usage of paper and printing ink. Sending customers online receipts of sales instead of paper is another step. Online operations also improve business efficiency as data can be managed in a better way. Businesses should use recycled products wherever possible – paper, packages, toilet paper, etc. Wastage of water should be minimized by installing water saving devices in bathrooms and cafeteria. Energy efficient vending machines are equipped with refrigeration and lighting controls and save up to 30% energy. The key is to save wherever and whenever possible.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Nothing rings truer when one sees the amazingly innovative small green businesses sprouting across the globe. Typical examples are BTTRventures – a 100% sustainable urban mushroom farm that utilizes recycled coffee grounds from Peet’s Coffee & Tea, founded in Berkeley, CA by two 2009 grads; Turning Point Brewery – Canada’s first sustainable brewery; GRID Alternatives – provides renewable energy and energy efficiency services to low-income homeowners and community members.

There is never a better time than now. While businesses are doing their part to conserve the ecological system, it is also every individual’s moral responsibility to build a safe and healthy future for the next generation. By respecting our environment and following green practices at home and office, we pass on the right education to our children. Reduce, reuse and recycle – this is the mantra we all need to incorporate into our lifestyles.

5 Ideas to Use Social Media Marketing for Small Business

According to the statistics published by Nielson, a leading company facilitating global view of market trends in specific industries, social networking and blogging are the 4th popular online activity. In fact, the Nielson reports claim that these are better liked than emailing. In the present competitive world, online presence is a must for any business. Social media marketing for small business is a new revolutionary concept that takes advantage of online advertising campaigns to promote a brand name. All you need to succeed in this campaign is the knowledge about the right kind of marketing strategies and tactics.

How to Leverage Social Media Marketing for Small Business Promotion

An entrepreneur can get a large number of visitors by leveraging social media marketing for small business. In order to convert these visitors into sales, you can do the following:

Create videos: People often search YouTube for quick information on products. Create interesting video clips demonstrating your products, their usage and customer testimonials. Post these videos on YouTube with a link to your original website. If people find your videos interesting, they are sure to follow the link. These people might end up getting converted to your customers.

Use Facebook profile: Whenever you launch a new product or undertake a specific business activity, make a relevant wall post on your Facebook profile. For instance, you own a business of energy boost drinks and you have recently launched a new product in the same category for people aged above 50. Catch the attention of your target audience with a crisp wall post, such as, ‘Feel like 30 with our new Re-vital 50+ health drink!’ Do not forget to add your website link for driving interested audience to the product page.

Use Twitter: Tweet links of your product videos, articles, blogs and press releases on Twitter. A large follower base on Twitter is likely to click the links and visit your website. If a customer posts feedback regarding a product, make sure you retweet. This will engage more followers into your business.

Get involved in online discussions: Online forums are a great place to spread your brand name. Get involved in online discussions and tell people about your products. This is also a platform where you can get to hear about your customers’ likings, grievances, appreciations and rejections. Whether positive or negative, you should handle every customer reaction wisely as it may affect the mindset of other people on the forum.

Post search engine optimized content: Driving traffic to your website is all about employing the right keywords. So, never undermine the importance of SEO techniques and employ highly searched keywords. However, never misuse the power of optimization while doing this

Best Startup Business Ideas: Some Suggestions

Are you looking for the best startup business ideas? Everyone dreams of starting his own business someday. As a child, you probably have dreams of creating your own toy factory, or creating your own boutique someday. As we grow older, those dreams don’t fade away. Sometimes, they just stay untouched and unthought-of at the back of our heads because we got too tied with other things, like managing other people’s business. We all want to be our own boss and be able to generate enough or even more money to live the life we desire.

The desire to own your own business is sometimes fuelled by your yearning to have more money to buy your dream house, drive your dream car, travel to different places, or to save up for your kid’s college education. Everything is fuelled by your dreams of having a better and comfortable life.

Many successful entrepreneurs say that one of the best startup business ideas is an online business. With the power of the Internet, there are tons of business ideas that you can have. You can create a virtual assistant service, a small call center facility, a Public Relations business or a web design and development business if you have the right skills and knowledge. A lot of people nowadays shop online. You can start selling various products online like clothes, shoes, toys, bags and accessories to a huge market with a great buying potential. Because you can sell almost anything online, all you have to do now is to be creative with the products which you plan to market. Online business also involves life coaching. You can offer to help other people deal with their stress and problems. You can help them become better persons and help them manage their life as positively as possible.

Other best startup business ideas include candle-making business, cake decorating, real estate agency, customized jewellery shop, events planning, toy cleaning service, personal shopper or flower arrangement. You can start an accounting service, payroll administrative service, travel agency, be an interior designer or farmer and sell crops. You can grow your garden of flowers and start your own flower shop. There are so many business ideas out there, you just have to pick out the right one for you.

There are several things that you have to consider when choosing the best startup business ideas. You need to consider your budget, your knowledge, skills, and the amount of time that you can give to your startup business. Remember, for a business to succeed, you should have the skills and the time to make it successful.

10 Profitable Business Ideas

There are some universal 10 profitable business ideas which have been proved to work all over provided they are done in a professional way.

1. If your business is small, you must be thinking on how to make it grow bigger in terms of size, assets, revenues and profits. To do this you must develop excellent small business ideas which are aimed at ensuring frugal financial management, excellent customer service and innovation of new products.

2. Conduct frequent customer reviews on your products and act accordingly.

3. If you are doing business over the internet, you must develop online business ideas to survive the online competition. This may include affiliate, email or blog marketing; they should however be properly designed to look different from the may others online.

4. You should not always aim at applying the already existing business ideas because all the other entrepreneurs also want to utilize or have already utilized them. You should instead device profitable home based business ideas which suit the present state of your local market. The profitable business ideas developed elsewhere may not entirely work as such at your local market.

5. Be vigilant enough to see opportunities where others do not and utilize them for the success of your business.

6. Always aim to set up a profitable franchise: the internet is full of information on some of the most profitable franchises available at the moment. What you need is to do a lot of research online and you will be equipped with profitable business ideas on the same.

7. Always be vigilant to take advantage in any profitable business opportunities which may open up in the future. You should ensure that you have capital or assets which you can use as security to take advantage of any opportunity for investment in the future.

New investment opportunities are usually more profitable and rewarding but that may be for a short moment.

8. Redesign or brand your existing products and innovate new ones.

9. If you are operating online, ensure that your website has sufficient bandwidth and disk space to support a reasonable traffic of visitors at any given time. You should in addition top this develop profitable website ideas like setting a space for online Ads and affiliate marketing since you will be paid by those who want to use these services on your website and this is extra income for you and your business.

10. Study the past market trends, compare them with the present and use those findings to prepare for the future.

New Ideas For Small Business Holiday Marketing

2 seconds after Halloween it seems that all the retail stores put up their Christmas decorations – trying to capture as much of the Holiday market as possible. Typical ways that retail stores use to capitalize on the holidays include extended hours and sales. This is all well and good. Today I want to give you an early present by giving you some novel ways to think about holiday promotions.

Many people are fed up with holiday crowds, which is reflected in the growth of online sales and the decline of some traditional retailer’s sales. There also seems to be a trend towards buying fewer gifts, but those gifts tend to be higher-ticket luxury items.

In the type of marketing we all should be doing ,we start with the customer in mind. What do we know about people this time of year?

– Time is a commodity – there’s too much to do and too little time. – People have more shopping to do than they usually do. – People are under a tremendous amount of stress. – People tend to clean and decorate their houses.

These are just some of the factors affecting people during the holiday season. I’m sure you can think of many more. Take these things into consideration, and take the stance of being a giver.

Here’s an idea I’ve never seen (so I want credit if you use it). If you own a store, offer free gift wrap – nothing new there. While people are getting their gifts wrapped, they get a free chair massage? You could partner up with a local spa, or even a massage school who could also give every customer a promotional coupon. You save your customers time, take away their stress, and create a fusion marketing partnership with the spa.

If you are in a household service business, offer to do additional winterizing services for your customers to save them time. Offer a free holiday housecleaning. If you aren’t in the cleaning business – again team up with a cleaning service.

Give-aways are great. Give away free Christmas trees – depending on where you are you could buy a couple hundred for $10 a piece. The deal could be – spend $100 and take home a free tree. Give away turkeys, or complete turkey dinners – a lot of grocery stores have this promotion.

Everybody gives away calendars, aim for something different but still useful. How about ice-scrapers if you live in the north? Blankets, sweatshirts, caps – are all good promotional items when the weather turns cold.

Holiday cards are great. People enjoy getting them and displaying them. Hardly anybody sends Thanksgiving cards, definitely consider it. In this politically correct age (gasp) you have to be sensitive to people’s religious sensibilities. Send Happy Holidays cards and not Merry Christmas Cards – unless you are absolutely sure your customer celebrates Christmas.

If you have any kind of retail business, think about add-on gifts that might be used as a second gift. A florist might include a free gift-wrapped ornament with a certain level of purchase that can be sent to a different address. Two gifts for the price of one. Buy one get one free offers are great at holiday times.

Use your creativity this holiday season and think about how you can solve your customers’ problems.

Business Ideas For a Shrinking Economy

Even though there may be hopes of recovery on the horizon, we are still living in a shrinking economy. Here are some business ideas that have proven to work during good times or bad. Take time make adjustments in your business to reflect these principals and you can grow despite the economy.

Increase your marketing and your promotional budgets. If you stop advertising, you will stop growing. You must keep your brand constantly in front of the audience that is your target.

Continue to make your established customer feel like they are important. The do not want to be treated like a number. They need to feel appreciated and valued. Make a personal contact with each client every week. You need to initiate the call and it should not be about a sales pitch or getting an order.

Remember that customers change vendors daily. This means you should work to keep your brand in front of the competition’s clients daily. Woo the competition’s clients with your caring attention. Remember that the competition is doing this with your clients also.

Remember that no business relationship is permanent. Business deals are based on relationships, so if your company changes staff or if the customer’s company changes staff, you could lose business. Work constantly to add value to the current customer in order to keep the business they bring your way. At the same time, constantly promote your company through PR, advertising and making presentations.

Market your business so that clients feel that you can do what they need done. Forget the this is what I can do for you mentality. Focus on what needs to be done. First meetings should be about your listening to what your potential client wants, feels or thinks. Second meetings should tie what your client wants to what you can do.

Always seek what new opportunities are available. What if IBM had said we make the best typewriters available, there is no need to change? If you do not incorporate the latest and greatest into your business, you can bet that the competition will.

A shrinking economy forces businesses to evaluate their underlying ideas. As you evaluate those ideas you are also forced to change how things are done and the tactics to reach more clients. If you learn to reach more clients even during a time of a shrinking economy, then you will be able to grow even more as the economy rebounds.