We are less than two weeks away from this year’s Black Friday. On this day, many wake up still full from turkey dinners the night before at the crack of dawn in search of discount merchandise madness. When we think of Black Friday discounts, we think about retail. We think of heavy traffic anywhere near malls and shopping centers. How often do we think about Black Friday deals online? Small businesses can benefit from holding these specials on their own websites.
Consider incorporating your own Black Friday deals into your small business design this holiday season. First, start by advertising your intentions. Create a newsletter or email message to be sent to your client list. Let them know what deals your website will be showcasing and let them know how long they have to act on them!
Are you unsure about what Black Friday goodies you can offer to customers? A simple discount is always a good start. Some other great ideas are:
• Discounted shipping or free shipping
• Free gift with purchases
• Coupons towards the next purchase
While these are all great ideas for your Black Friday campaign, it’s up to you to decide which promotional deal will be the best fit with your business. Make sure you get your newsletter mailed out about 3 business days before the holiday. It gives people enough time to read it, but not enough time to forget about it. Don’t overlook one of our other previous articles on newsletters and how to keep your company’s emails from winding up in the spam folder.
Have a happy Thanksgiving holiday and a prosperous Black Friday!
Last Friday 11/12 I was watching an ABC 20/20 about the Better Business Bureau (BBB). They were discussing that business owners are asked to pay a membership fee in order to get an “A” rating on their profile.
This has jogged my memory, as I was once a member of the BBB with an “A-” rating because I was a new member. The membership fee was really high around $400 a year, as I didn’t see any value in my money (no one during that year has told me that they found my business on the BBB) I decided to cancel it when the membership was up.
The following year I’ve notice that my grade has dropped to a “B”, but I didn’t have any complaints, in fact I had two positive reviews. When they called me to renew my membership I asked about the lower grade and the lady told me that after I pay my membership fee the grade would be improved. I was kind of skeptical but I was concerned about the grade and all those potential customers who would be seeing it. The lady also told me that hundred some people have viewed my BBB profile and offered me to pay the dues in two installments. Of course I wanted my grade to be improved, so I paid the first installment and the grade was improved the following day to an “A”.
When it came time for the second installment, I decided that something wasn’t right and I canceled my membership. If you look at my profile now, you’ll see that my grade is a “B+”, again I don’t have any complaints and still the two same positive reviews that I had back then. The only difference now is that I don’t really care how BBB grades me, my customer testimonials on my website are the proof of my work and reputation.
After watching 20/20 on this, I would caution anyone from taking the BBB seriously because I was scammed and I don’t think it’s fair for the public when business owners are tricked to pay for their reputation.
Have you been in a similar situation with the BBB? Leave your comments below.
Tell us your story of why and how you decided to start your own business.
I decided to start my own business because I want to be my own boss and I have all these ideas of what I want to do. I really admire Oprah’s business acumen and when I turned 30, I had an ‘aha’ moment. I said to myself, the only way something is going to happen is if I make it happen. So I looked into what I could do while I was finishing school and still working my full-time job. I found out that being a personal chef could allow me to work and go to school while fulfilling my passion in cooking. I get the chance to interact with people and prepare meals, which is what I love to do. Being a personal chef is a starting point for me until I can open my own restaurant.
How would your customers describe your business?
Great food and service that is like no other in the area.
What’s unique about your business, how do you differ from your competitors?
I will prepare any food that the customer desires as well as give them new foods to try out as well. I differ from my competitors in that I will tailor each menu to the customer’s needs and wants and provide original creations by myself as well.
What’s your most popular service?
Not only will I prepare meals for during the week, I will also prepare meals for special occasions such as wedding anniversaries and small, intimate parties. Anything that your heart desires!
How do you market your business?
I have business cards, direct mailings, word of mouth, Twitter, my blog and Facebook. I will be getting a website in the future.
What role does your website play in your business?
Currently, I’m using my blog as my website and that is helping me get the word out for my business to attract customers as well as give updates to what’s going on.
What would you say to small businesses who currently don’t have a website or have neglected it?
I would say that you need a website eventually since a number of people go online to research information. If money is an issue, which is was for me, I would say to definitely have business cards and utilize Twitter and Facebook for your business until you can get a website.
Anything additional you want to tell us about your business that we don’t know yet?
Follow me on Twitter and visit my blog to leave your feedback. I’m open to all ideas and suggestions!
The Holiday Season is quickly approaching. Countless people are turning to the internet to handle holiday shopping. With no long lines or stressful heavy traffic, many consider it the only way to buy gifts for loved ones. Get your website ready for the holidays and remember the importance of exceptional customer service. You may have a website that is selling a product or service that can be found elsewhere. If this is the case, you need to have a niche. You need to develop a small business design that will bring people to your business because you’re offering something others are not. Start with great customer care!
Remember to always be friendly when talking to clients on the phone. Train any staff members to do the same because people absorb the vibes you send out over the phone. If you deal with clients through emails, you can send good vibrations through that as well. Even if the customer is disappointed in the service or product, maintain that polite and friendly tone as you both work to resolve the situation. They’ll appreciate your honestly and may even return to your website in the future.
Be prompt with returning phone calls, emails and placing orders. It doesn’t matter how nice you are, if you don’t get back to a client within a reasonable amount of time (3 business days) you may lose the sale. Especially since people are starting their holiday shopping, they’re going to want fast and friendly service now more than ever. Make sure you’re prepared to handle the extra workload in these next hectic months!
One of the most important things you can do to provide excellent customer service is offer a no-fuss return policy. People get discouraged if they cannot find a return policy clearly listed on your website or fear that a return or exchange might be troublesome. Make sure to clearly post a return policy and make it easy for buyers to understand. With up-to-date product descriptions and high-quality photos on your small business website, you’ll make return and exchange scenarios less-likely.
The time is now to get prepared for the upcoming busy shopping season. By making sure you’re offering customers the best service possible, you’re helping your business dramatically. By adding this little touch of kindness to an impersonal website sale, you’re making your customers feel appreciated and more at ease with shopping online.
Most small businesses have competitors in their area or on the web. It is your job as the small business owner to check these businesses out to see what they’re doing right or wrong…then apply their strong points to your own business. Let’s talk about how to locate your competitors.
Use Google Places to find the competition in your location. Take a look at their website and if you can, try to make an “appointment” with them or check out their product if they have a store. You want to absorb the techniques they’re using if it makes them successful. What type of advertising campaign are they running? Can your small business design profit from borrowing a few of these ideas and applying them to your company? If your products are similar, find the differences and see if you need to make changes. Are they offering lower prices or even extras along with the product? How about their service? If it’s service competitors, consider using them and see how they go about it. How did they treat you (the customer) and how well did they do the job?
You may find out that businesses similar to yours may be doing things differently. This can be good or bad, so don’t run out and try all these different techniques all at once. If you know that a company is doing better than you, investigate and find one thing to apply to your business. If they’re taking out an ad in the newspaper and you’re not, maybe you are underestimating how much business you can get from local ad placements.
One thing to remember when you’re trying to improve your small business is the SWOT Analysis. SWOT stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Whenever you’re checking out a competitor, just ask yourself the following questions:
• What advantages does your business have?
• What can your small business improve on?
• What opportunities are up and coming in your market?
• Are changes in technology going to hurt your business?
When you answer a simple SWOT analysis, you’ll most likely uncover things about your business that you can make changes on. Once again, don’t make a bunch of changes at once. When you see something that is working well for a competitor, give it a try. When you do too many things at once, when things don’t work out it’s harder to backtrack. While trying out techniques, keep in mind that you do want to have an advantage over your competition and that is to be unique. So take the good ideas from other companies and make them your own! Offer complimentary services the other businesses don’t offer. At the end of the day you want your small business to stand out, not blend in!
Helping over 120,000+ businesses like yours raise profits and build customer relationships using AWeber's opt-in email marketing software for over 10 years.
We are less than two weeks away from this year’s Black Friday. On this day, many wake up still full from turkey dinners the night before at the crack of dawn in search of discount merchandise madness. When we think of Black Friday discounts, we think about retail. We think of heavy traffic anywhere near malls and shopping centers. How often do we think about Black Friday deals online? Small businesses can benefit from holding these specials on their own websites.
Business | Yiana Palacios | 
November 16, 2010 6:28 am | 
Comments (0) 
Subscribe