September 17, 2009

How Getting People Talking Could Help You Cash in...
Growth Can Help You Create Wealth... How to Hone Your
Moneymaking Skills... The Money Equation; No Math
Involved... and More.

As a small or home-based business owner, you may be familiar with the challenge of adding a few more names to your client or customer lists.

And while effective advertising can certainly help your business draw some new attention, there is no saying whether these new faces will just window-shop or become new customers.

When you are in a position to expand your reach, but don't have the budget to spend on lots of advertising, you have to find other ways to catch the attention of new customers in your business.

Think back to the last major purchase you made. You probably considered the options you had based on price, brand name or reliability from your past experiences. You may have also asked a friend or family member for their advice.

And, most likely, a negative opinion from someone you trust will make you steer clear of a purchase you may have made based on all other factors.

For your business, not only do you want to leave your customers with a great experience, but you also want to leave them thinking you are the best possible option for their or any of their friends' needs.

This way, you increase your potential of reaching out to new customers through each and every transaction you make with your current customers.

Here are 3 ways to promote word-of-mouth excitement for your business or product:

1. Ask for feedback at every available opportunity: Learn about your strengths and possible weaknesses from the people who mean the most: your customers. No matter what service you provide, you can always include a survey, whether it's through a reply card or even e-mail correspondence. Following up with your customers encourages a positive relationship and can help build more for your business than just a sale.
   
   
2. Create exclusive incentive for referrals: This is an excellent way to really motivate current customers to help you attract more business. You could offer percentage discounts on future purchases or create a reward points plan. Tailor these to suit your own needs and your customers' needs, too.
   
   
3. Offer excellent customer service: Above and beyond all else, if you're not able to provide a memorable and worthwhile customer experience, you are missing out on opportunities for referrals. This could include personalizing correspondence with clients, offering quick and easy refunds for displeased customers, or simply delivering on every promise you make.

And once you get positive words flowing from the mouths of your customers or your clients, success could be right around the corner.

The great thing about having a business is that there truly isn't a right or wrong way to do things. You always have many choices to find success, and growth might be a great way to get more from your business.

If you're making good money right now, then there is the possibility that you could potentially make even more money. You could go from doing well to doing phenomenally well, if you choose to make changes and grow your business.

Business growth is the best way to make that transition from modest profits to huge money. There is also a variety of ways that you can grow your business. Of course, there is the old favorite of opening a second location. This is certainly a great way of growing a business, but it's not the only way.

You can also choose to bring in a new product line. That's business growth. You can start to carry products or offer services that the consumer has not seen from you before and create a new division within your company.

Bringing your business into a new market is another great way to grow. You can choose to start selling in other parts of the country, which carries the least amount of risk; or you can choose to take your business international, which has the potential of really putting your small business on the map. International success can come with huge profits.

However, if you're looking for a way to grow and you're not a big risk-taker, one of the least risky ways to grow your business is by creating an Internet presence for yourself. Putting together a web site with e-commerce capabilities is a pretty easy way to reach new markets, expose your business to more people, and create more business for yourself.

Make sure that you have the market for this growth. This doesn't have to be as risky as you think. It's just like when you started your business originally. There is risk, sure, but calculated risks don't have to be stressful.

Take a look at your sales over the past year, or however long you've been in business. How well have you really been doing? Why have you been doing so well? Is it solely because you have kept your costs exceptionally low? If this is the case, you have to think carefully, because growth means increased costs.

Have you needed to hire on more people because you can't keep up with sales? Have you had to increase your supply because the demand has been so high?

Determine who your market is now. Take a look at your business plan and marketing plan. Determine who your target customer is and if the demand for your product has been a lot higher than you had originally thought. If so, find out why. Is there a bigger market than you thought there was going to be?

If your business has potential, then you owe it to yourself to see just how much potential there could be.

As the job market in America continues to be relatively limited, more and more Americans have decided to take control of their moneymaking capabilities by going into business for themselves.

This is great news, as it gives more people the ability to become successful entrepreneurs and live out the American Dream the old-fashioned way.

Of course, running your own business is no easy task. There are all kinds of responsibilities that arise that you've likely never encountered while working for someone else. You're also going to have a different mentality when approaching your work, because there is more at stake. But either way, when you run your own business, the sky's the limit.

Everyone has a different experience as an entrepreneur and no two stories are alike. There are, however, some things new entrepreneurs should keep in mind as they venture forward. Today and tomorrow, I'll cover some of the most important things you should think about as you begin your trek as a successful entrepreneur. Here are the first few tips:

• Keep Your Eyes on the Prize — It's important as a new
  entrepreneur to stay focused on what you're good at, and what you can handle. You may notice as you're starting out that various opportunities may arise for you to branch out and do new things. However, by doing this and spreading yourself too thin, you can hurt your business. You want to stay focused on the things you do well and be known for them. You don't want to be a jack-of-all trades, master of none.
  
  
• Stick to What You Know — There are a lot of trendy businesses that come and go that provide an opportunity to provide a hefty income. However, if your heart is not in it, it's unlikely you will be successful. Stick to the things you know and that you love. This way, you'll stay motivated and willing to work the long hours required during a start-up. Not only that, but if you stick to what you know, the learning curve is limited.
  
  
• Have an Elevator Speech Prepared — Your whole business plan should be able to be summed up in 30 seconds. This way, you have a clear purpose and service that can be easily understood by anybody. It's important to keep in mind that investors and customers don't want you to talk their ear off about the business. That's why you have a business plan for them to look at. You should limit your words and prepare a quick elevator speech that you can recite without even thinking about it.

Next week, I'll be back with a few more tips to help new entrepreneurs make the adjustment to being successful business owners.

** The Money Equation; No Math Involved
By John Hurd, Chief Wealth Researcher

Friends and colleagues often ask me about how they could determine if their idea will be a big moneymaker.

Unfortunately, there isn't a mathematical equation that will quickly answer that question. However, there is one common factor that all winning ideas have. This common factor could help you decide if your idea could be the next huge success story.

You see, the best big ideas turn into financial winners because they solve a very specific problem.

Rarely do new ideas solve a problem no one knew needed fixing, although that can happen. What usually happens is that big ideas solve existing problems and focus first on just that one problem.

For proof, you can just take a quick look around your home. There are probably plenty of items that you use every single day that might not have existed until recently. Brooms have been around for centuries, but static-cling cleaning sheets, such as the "Swiffer" brand, have only been around for a few years. Brooms work just fine, but there was a need for something that worked faster, and static-cling sheets satisfied that need.

Your solution to a problem should also be unique. However, it doesn't have to be completely original. It's rare to come up with something that no one has ever thought of before. So your idea should be something that uniquely and creatively solves a problem.

For example, consider the often-used adage, "the best thing since sliced bread." The inventor of packaged, sliced bread didn't invent bread, nor did he invent knives and slicing. He simply brought these two existing ideas together and the end result created something people wanted. This goes to show you that there is probably an unlimited number of big ideas just waiting to be discovered.

Finally, you want to evaluate whether your solution to this problem has longevity. Are you solving a fad problem that may not even exist in a year or two? Fads and trends can be tricky to determine. Some may turn into lasting products that replace the standard in their industry. Others may disappear as quickly as they appeared, as they lose their relevance or their cool.

By thinking ahead and learning everything you can about the problem your idea may solve, you'll be in a position that could help you identify whether or not it will be a success.