Is Your Website Secure?
Are your on-line assets secure? While your site may not be as attractive to hackers, as Coke or Pepsi’s sites, you still need to protect your blog. Here are a few simple tips from a WordPress Resource site which apply to any blog or website.
- Protect Passwords
- Run Latest Version of Software
- Always Keep Backups!
The Top 7 Mistakes Businesses Make When Buying a Website
I have seen corporations spend thousands sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars more for a company website than they should. I have seen sites that don’t match brand, take forever to load, SEO that doesn’t matter (”I am number one on Marketing Strategy Experts Who Work On Venus”), and even navigation issues that you would think don’t exist this day and age. As a business owner or person in charge of buying a company website; If you remember these 7 mistakes you will save money, be more profitable, and have happier customers.
TOP 7 Mistakes Businesses Make When Buying A Website
- Have no idea about the technology
Read the following six mistakes
The Unintended Effects of Short Term Planning On Your Customers
Bob Hettel - of SearchlightSolutions shares some thought on the impact of short term planning on your customer’s long term satisfaction.
Short term planning almost always has long term implications. Take the cuts that many companies are currently making. Companies are looking to cut staff and improve the bottom line. Many of these cuts are being made in so called “administrative” positions. While this may look good to a company’s bottom line today what impact will this have on your customers? What impact will it have on the remaining staff? Often this impact will take months to become evident. It can show up in decreased morale, increased turnover and ultimately in decreased business.
Take Circuit City as an example, in order to cut costs they decided to let go 3,400 of their highest paid staff. This looked great on paper – these people were doing the same job as their lower paid counterparts. In reality they let go some of their most experience and best trained staff. As a result, customers did not receive the service they need. Customers began defecting to the competition who had better trained staff who could better serve their customers needs. As a result sales dropped and the financial picture got worse, not better, not to mention the PR nightmare this created.
As Circuit City has shown, the long term implications of short term planning can dramatically affect your business in many ways but none is more critical then how your customers are affected.
Mid-Year Process Check
I discovered Randy & Donny, The Marketing Twins, recently and really enjoy their blog posts. Recently they asked “how is your business going?”
The year is half over, so how is it going? Have you met your goals? Are you having the referrals, leads and profits you expected?
The Twins have shared a systematic marketing approach to put your sales on track.
How Important is a Good First Impression?
The Following is provided by KC Scope and Scribe
Before you send that brochure to the printer, before you hit ‘send’ on that e-newsletter, are you sure your spelling and grammar are correct? Are you sure you are using the correct words when you use their, they’re and there? When you communicate with your colleagues and clients, you always want to be as professional as possible. Misspellings, incorrect word usage and poor grammar all detract from the message and the messenger.
KC Scope & Scribe offers a full range of services related to written material. Scoping and proofreading for court reporters, transcription of audio files, general editing or proofreading of newsletters, brochures, Web sites and more are all offered to assist you in representing your business as proficient and knowledgeable of your product and services.
Spend Well - What Are Cost Effective Strategies to Promote Your Business
I have often told my clients it is not how much money you spend, but how well you spend what you have that will make the difference in the long run.
In a recent blog post Charlie Cook offers some practical strategies to help you spend well. His ides include:
- Use Free Publicity To Increase Sales -
This is one of my favorites. The local media here in Indy is very supportive of new business, and small business. Give them something interesting and they will run with it. And you both win!
- Collaborate to Widen Your Reach
Just because you own your own business, you don’t have to do it all on your own. Finding and collaborating with strategic partners who target the same customers, stretch your marketing dollars, helping you do more, with less.
This answer furnished by Lorraine Ball of Roundpeg - Need help? Roundpeg can help you find cost effective strategies for your business.
Networking is a Great Strategy for New Business Owners
Rainmakers founder Tony Scelzo shares is perspective on the value of networking with Dave Anderson of Pinpoint AV.
Helpful Tool for New Business Owners
New business owners with a limited budget will find networking as an effective way to grow their new venture.
Rainmakers founder Tony Scelzo shares is perspective on the value of networking with Dave Anderson of Pinpoint AV.
Loyalty equals Profits
Question: How do you improve customer loyalty?
Answer: The path to profitability is clear. Attract and retain more loyal customers and you will see revenues and profits increase at an exponentially faster rate. Loyal customers buy more often and refer more customers than non loyal customers. Increasing loyalty will not only increase revenue but can reduce operating & market expenses as well
When factoring in all marketing and promotional expenses, the acquisition cost of new first-time customers can be very high (often 5-10 times that of retaining a customer). It is far more cost-efficient to make a small investment that ensures the satisfaction & loyalty of existing customers rather than make continuous, larger investments to attract new customers to replace dissatisfied customers.
The question for many is how to earn the loyalty of more customers. Acquiring customer loyalty is a process. As with any process, it helps to have the proper tools to achieve desired results. Customer measurement tools allow you to track and better manage customer satisfaction, which is the first and most critical step in the path to increased loyalty and profitability. Implementing a good customer satisfaction program can quickly increase customer loyalty and grow your business.
Content provided by Bob Hettel at Searchlight Solutions. For more information please visit www.searchlightsolutions.com.
Business Lessons from Jack in the Beanstalk
While the Magic Beans gave Jack his start, his own ingenuity lead to his ultimate success.
While the same is often true for small biz owners, in this video, Lorraine Ball of Roundpeg shares one of her favorite “magic beans”.
