Market research focuses on understanding your customers. There are a variety of tools to help you do that. Yet one of the most overlooked tools that offers a great deal and costs very little, except for time, is conversation. Conversation is great in terms of getting to know your customers as individuals. What are their…
Some of you may remember the Ford slogan of the 1980’s, Quality is Job #1. That slogan was true then for businesses. And it remains true today. Yet, quality sometimes remains hard to find. For example in the last year, two households in my family had to purchase dishwashers. Two different brands were purchased but,…
A lot has been written about how market research will help you achieve business success, and many of these claims are true. That connection, however, is not a simple, direct link. Collecting information about your potential market is useful only if you take the next step of analyzing the data. Data analysis yields clues about who…
Do you have a dream of starting your own business? So what’s holding you back? For some, its not having an idea. For others, it is fearing the lose of hard-earned savings. Others think about what their friends might think of them. All of these and many of the other reasons given really come down…
Running your own business from home can achieve two dreams at the same time: You are in charge, and you get to do it without leaving your living quarters. Many small-business owners have found a niche for their product or service. That niche allows them to work from home, thus minimizing overhead, ending long commutes,…
A common concern among small-business owners is how to increase revenue. Often, they try to do this by finding new customers. That is an expensive way of doing it. On average, it will cost from $20 to $50 to get a new customer. Yet it only costs from $1 to $5 to expand sales to…
People form impressions in the first couple of minutes after entering a new place. Have you ever considered what your business says to them? Businesses offer many types of nonverbal communication, just like people do. It makes no difference if it is a physical place or an online location. Customers look for these same key…
Stories!! They amaze. They bring out our emotions. They stop and make us think. They help us connect. All of these, plus others you might add, are why stories are so important when you are marketing your business. Having your customers connected to your business is what branding and marketing is all about. Stories turn customers…
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