Networking 101 for 2009

Happy New Year!

It's time for a new year and a new strategy to help your retail business grow. We're looking forward to sharing lots of new ideas with you over the coming year that you can use in this challenging economic time. We're starting off the year with a reminder that sometimes a new twist on basics can have wonderful results.

Networking is hotter than ever as the "NEW" way to grow your business this year.

Here's what in and OUT this year when it comes to networking courtesy of Women's DISH from the DowntownWomensClub.com (Speaking of networking, start with DWC, it's a great place to meet and network with Women)
Enjoy.

2009 2008
Networking both online AND in-person Networking exclusively online OR in-person
Boosting your Google juice Hiding from internet search engines
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter Rolodexes, mass emails, and cold-calls
Using technology to save big money Spending big money on technology
Investing in yourself Investing in your closet
Taking credit for accomplishments Living on credit to appear accomplished
Working smarterm Working longer
Peer and reverse mentoring Top-down mentoring
Helping others Helping yourself
Networking right now Putting off networking until later

Courtesy of: Women’s Dish Downtown Women’s Club
http://womensdish.typepad.com/the_womens_dish/2009/01/whats-in-and-ou.html

Holiday retail sales forecast-- Are you ready?

So, it's finally arrived. The first news about the projected Holiday season. I'm quite sure that many outlets will pick this up soon.

http://www.retailforward.com/pressroom/pressreleases/091708.asp

The Question is - -How is your business prepared for this Holiday?
Are your inventory levels in good shape to weather this projected downturn?
Do you have a well planned and comprehensive marketing program set up to engage, excite and inspire your customers to make purchases at your store this holiday season?

If the answer to any of these questions is no- I suggest you start planning right now!
And don't stop until you come up with something that will wow your customers and win the $$$ out of their wallets at your store!

Good luck.
Lynn

You Tube for Your Business?

or How to use Social Media Marketing for Small Business

As a supporter of small businesses, and one who understands the words "limited budget" I think it's imperative that small businesses use any and all ways they can to attract attention to their businesses. That is why I am so keen on including social media marketing to grow even the smallest of businesses.

To get you started, here are six ways small businesses can jump on the social marketing bandwagon with a moderate investment of time and/or money.

1 Start a blog. Blogging is old news to many (Web 1.5, perhaps?), but for many small business owners, there is a lot of uncharted water here. What is a blog? A weblog, or blog, is a great way to open up a dialogue with your customers, and that connection is the reason social marketing exists. There are many blog sites that will help format your blog- WordPress is one that comes to mind that is absolutely free. The time investment is completely up to you, but this truism applies: The more you put into it, the more you'll get out. Still, it's okay-and I'd even say it's recommended-to start slowly and increase your time investment as you get comfortable with using a blog.

2. Comment on other blogs. You can't blog into a vacuum. Blogging is about creating and joining conversations, and that includes reading what others in your industry are saying and joining the discussion on other blogs. It's free, and again, the time investment is up to you. You'll be able to supply your name and websiteURL when leaving a comment, and there's no debate that intelligent comments on other blogs helps build traffic to yours.

3. Make and share videos. Good video cameras are cheap these days, and a short video needs little editing/production. Even if you do decide to add some sizzle to a video, the required software won't break the bank. How-to videos are an obvious choice. "Tour" videos-tours of your business, restaurant, the homes you build or sell, etc. are also a good idea. In addition to using them on your own Web site or blog, YouTube is an obvious sharing destination. Local search is also embracing video: CitySearch recently announced that local video ads will be added to its listings, and YellowPages.com is also pursuing video opportunities.

4. Take and share photos. I'm a longtime believer in using Flickr as a marketing tool. The time and cost investment is minimal. And thanks to Flickr's incredibly active photo groups, you can share photos of your products with people who are interested. A pet store owner could share photos with the 2,000+ members of the pet parade group, which is one of dozens of animal-related groups. A company that makes iPod accessories could post nice product photos in the Apple group, with its ~2400 members. And a construction company that makes custom homes could post photos in the appropriate city group, like San Francisco or Chicago.

5. Try StumbleUpon. Of all the discovery-type of social sites (Digg, Reddit, Netscape, etc.), I believe StumbleUpon requires the lowest time investment. Joining groups related to your industry and adding friends from those groups can be done quickly. Once you do that, as you add pages to StumbleUpon-including your own great content-other users will "stumble upon" what you've added. As those visitors give it the "thumbs up", your content is then shown to even more users. Best of all, you won't need to spend several months building up a great user profile.

6. Join groups & mailing lists. Social marketing is about finding your customers where they are. There's a good chance at least some of your customers are using Yahoo Groups or Google Groups to share interests. Much like the Flickr examples above, there are probably groups/lists that are highly related to the products or services you offer. And much like the Yahoo Answers suggestion, being able to help others in this community setting can be a great marketing tool.

Every social marketing opportunity will have its own rules to follow, and you should make sure you know those rules. But here's one general rule for using these sites as marketing tools: Don't spam the system. Flickr doesn't want your entire product inventory posted, and they have rules against doing so. But a few high-quality photo submissions that add to the community are fine.

Whatever social marketing you do, ONE KEY RULE APPLIES-- Be An Active Contributor. Add to the signal, not the noise. When you do that, you're on the road to social marketing success and to driving both sales and awareness for your business- no matter what size it is.

Learn the Fatal Flaws That Can Lead to Fabulous Failures at Retail

5 Fatal Mistakes for Small Retailing


In today's fast-moving and ever-changing business environment, mistakes can be fatal. Even at best, statistics show that about half of small businesses last less than two years. Even though the list of potential mistakes that retailers can make is long, with the help of our friends at http://www.entrepreneur.com/ we offer five of the key areas to watch for where a mistake can be costly- and devastating for your business.

1. Failure to plan effectively and objectively: Many new retailers plunge into business with little more than a prayer and a lot of optimism. In today’s challenging economy, prayers won’t even be enough! It takes time and discipline to prepare a business plan and estimate your financial needs. Nothing kills a retail business quicker than being underfunded to whether slow times, or to cover unexpected start up costs. Planning should also include location research, target market definition and appropriate product selection to meet your target markets needs.


2. Focusing on products and not the market: Too many small businesses hang on to products well beyond their optimum selling lifetime. True, key items provide sales and profits that are hard to give up however the law of diminishing returns says too much of a good thing can be a bad thing for your business. Don't become married to your products. Look for signs that the selling is slowing down, and plan for the end of one good item by constantly testing new items and finding new products that can fill the sales revenue you once had!


3. Failure to change with the market environment: Where customer’s shop, how much time they spend shopping and what they will pay for products has dramatically changed since the advent of the internet as a viable shopping destination. Don’t let your store get caught in a sales slowdown by not anticipating the changes you need to make to keep current- and relevant- for ALL your customers. For some of you, this will mean an inevitable crash course in marketing online and using technology as a business tool, but trust me, if you don’t study, you will eventually lose out to more updated and sophisticated competition!.
   


4. Underestimating the demands of retailing: Those of us in the retail industry are some of the most passionate people in the world, however, passion doesn’t always translate to profits. The constant demands of operating a successful retail store are all consuming and many times, retailers mistakenly underestimate their abilities to service all the needs of their business. For instance, many retailers don’t carve out enough time for marketing their businesses. They assume that because they have a good eye for choosing product, customers will come. Trust me, if you can’t create effective marketing campaigns to tell your potential customers that you carry those products, your store is a candidate for failure. If you're not prepared to commit a large portion of your life, at least in the beginning, perhaps owning your own store should wait a while longer.
   


5. Neglecting customer service: This may be the single biggest cause of failure for retailers today because so many of them take it for granted. Customers are not there for retailer convenience, in fact, it's quite the opposite. Retail businesses can succeed or fail because of their locations, but wherever you are located, not having business hours to accomodate your customers needs will hasten the process of failure for sure. The other major sin in this category is failing to treat all customers with courtesy and respect. I'm constantly amazed at the treatment customers receive from retail employees. Things as basic as not greeting customers when they enter the store, offering help in merchandise selection, and ignorance about the store policies and stock are commonplace occurrences. Key lesson: Train your employees--and yourself--on the basics of customer courtesy and service.
   

Although avoiding these five fatal mistakes won't ensure retailing success, committing them will surely bring you closer to the brink of failure. There are so many risks and pitfalls in today's rapidly changing marketplace, it makes sense to increase your odds of success by avoiding them.

For other great tips on small business, CBCG recommends visiting http://www.entrepreneur.com/.