Tag: small business idea

Posted on in 6- Saturday - Try This!, Creative, Customers, marketing, Real world, Success tips

TribeologyBlog.com – Episode 554 – A Short and Sweet Post

Saturday: Try This

Create an Experience!  Look at this candy display…  It evokes the “Old School” general store feel with a little nostalgia in the middle of the fancy hotel.

Why is this important?

Look in the jars… there are Tootsie Rolls, suckers, and other “penny” candies… it looks like Jolly Ranchers…  Super ordinary candy.

BUT, the experience of the glass jar, metal tin, and wooden crate make this a memory.  Even if you are not buying candy, you slow down just a little to appreciate the display.

If you stopped in and saw a slat wall with pegs and hanging bags of tootsie rolls or jolly ranchers would you get the same “longing for yesteryear” feel?

Nope.

So… the question is, “How can you enhance the mood at your business?” and if your in person area is not a retail store, you can do this online with photos, fonts, info graphics and even music!  Look for these opportunities to dare I say, enhance the “VIBE” at your business!

Try This!

 

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Try This”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! Begin with my quick and simple guide to understanding the 5C’s of the Infinity Marketing Machine.  I call it #doinginfinity.  Click Here and I’ll email you a FREE download.

Infinitypreneur.com

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

Posted on in audio blog, Creative, marketing, Success tips, Two Minute Commute

Episode #87 – Niche Online… But Think Big in the Real World

A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.  Ayn Rand

Quit trying to beat your competitors.  You won’t win.

I’ve written other posts on the topic of competing on price.  When you compete on price you are in a race for the bottom.  You also are giving up money directly from your pocket.  The reason this is true is because when you give a discount, your employees are not working for less, your suppliers are not giving you a better deal, the only person accepting less money is you.  You will not win in a price war.

So how do you win?

Become creative. Look at your business from an entirely different angle.  We have heard recently that we all have to “niche down”.  We all need to become “laser focused”.  OK.  I’ll agree on this level, when you are advertising online it is best to have a narrow focus.  Part of that is because your customers have started to search complete sentences in Google.  Therefore, customers are focused, you need to be focused, too.

However… in the real world of business it’s not the internet. You need to look at your business in a much broader focus.  What is it you are doing right now and how do you message it?  Is there a better message?  I love the example of Playboy Magazine that I watched on a documentary.  When they changed their marketing focus from a magazine to an entertainment business it allowed the company to move into DVD’s and other formats.

Corn Mazes are another example of creativity in your business focus.  The farm that once focused on corn now welcomes guests.  I met an entrepreneur that started a corn maze at their family farm, then started designing mazes for other farmers, now sells the management programs to run a maze.  They recently started bottling wine.  They use peaches they cannot sell because of quality and would normal throw away and re-purposed into a wine and tasting room. They initially thought that visitors to the corn maze would buy the wine… but that’s not the case, it’s an entirely different market.

Again, focus your advertising and promotion online to a niche, but continue to look at your business with a large unlimited horizon.  Also… if you really want to understand the concept of competing on the creative plain, read Wallace Wattles book, “The Science of Getting Rich” – it’s outstanding.

PS: if you love, love, love my post… give it a “like”!

Action Step
1- Stop and step back from your business.  How can you capture more sales? Can you capture a different audience?  Use the farm as your guide.  Could you demonstrate your product, assemble it, package it differently and create a new profit center?
2- If you have a new use or creative angle… I want to hear about it!  Share the example on our app… it’s free! (SmallBusinessClubApp.com)

 

Two ways to get more Small Business Tips …
A- Install our Free App (SmallBusinessClubApp.com –Apple or Android )
B- Subscribe to my blog at BigFishIdeas.com

Listen to Episode #87 of the Two Minute Commute audio blog Podcast

 

Posted on in audio blog, Business owner motivation, marketing, ProfitCenterCoachShow, Two Minute Commute

Episode #41 – Choose the Voices in Your Head

You Become Like the 5 People You Spend the Most Time With… make a plan to get the influence of other business owners from networking, business clubs, and books.  it’s time to choose the voices in your head wisely!  For example, if you spend time with your clients for 8 to 10 hours a day, and you run a day care filled with 3 years olds, recognize this!  It does affect you.  Entrepreneurship can take lots of your time and soon you realize you’re isolated.  Get the right voices in your head.  Again, a powerful way to do this by joining business clubs, networking, and even through books or articles.

Action Step:
-Develop a plan to connect with other small business owners, whether in person, through mastermind groups, business clubs or even books you read.  You need to continue to get the entrepreneurial inspiration in your head!

Click Here to listen to Episode #41 of the Two Minute Commute

Posted on in audio blog, Customers, marketing, ProfitCenterCoachShow, Real world, Success tips

Ask Better Questions

Did you fall?  Clearly the person is on the ground…

What happens when you start to ask better questions?  Earlier this week I had the opportunity to listen to a customer on the phone with his credit card company.  He spent over 10 minutes, calm as can be, until the problem was resolved.  When he was finished I asked, “what job are you professionally trained at… you never got mad”.  His answer surprised me.  He didn’t say psychology, police officer or clergy.  He instead told me a story.

His mother raised him with the belief that he only has so many “get mads” in life. Each time a situation arises he asks himself “do I want to use a ‘get mad’ on this?”

I asked a different question and received a beautiful story.

Action step
-Start asking better questions.  You already know the person fell…

CLICK HERE to Listen to my podcast about this topic

Posted on in Content, Creative, Images, marketing, Real world, Success tips

Success Tip – Digital Photo Frames!

I grew up with dogs.  They always just kind of hung out in the house.  We’d let them outside, play with them, and that was about it.  Prior to adopting Mr. Pancake, a Teddybear Goldendoodle from Mobile, Alabama, I’d drive by doggy day care facilities and really wonder what their business model was all about. After all, my childhood just had the dog hanging out in the house all day.  That’s where Mr. Pancake started until he started eating everything.  From shoes to carpeting he devoured everything.  Something had to change, and that’s when doggy day care entered my life.

Now I think it’s one of the most incredible concepts on the planet.  I bring Mr. Pancake to see his buddies (dogs) and friends (employees) and he plays and plays.  He gets really worn out, then I pick him up.  He now eats dog food instead of the curtains!  (haha)

Today when I stopped in to pick up Mr. Pancake I was surprised by his photo!  He was on the digital photo frame at the entrance.  What a cool way to build community among your customers.  People love to see photos of their _______ (fill in the blank).  BTW:  “The Caker” is the handsome white doodle in the photo above.    What was neat about the photo was seeing Mr. Pancake getting along with other dogs.  I always imagine him having a good time… but seeing a photo of him enjoying his visit is pretty cool AND it makes me want to bring him back again and again…

Try this marketing process at your business!  Get a frame and snap some photos.  It’s a pretty inexpensive way to build loyalty and trust among your customers.  It doesn’t take up much room.  And it’s a nice way to highlight your services.  There are even “fancy” frames that work over your wireless network – this way your customers can email the frame and the photos display automatically!  Really, these frames are cool.    Imagine if you rented RV’s and people emailed photos of their adventures from the road!

Action Step

  • Take photos for future use
  • Find a place in your check out area to add a digital frame
  • Buy the digital frame and implement #1 and #2!

If you’ve got a success tip to share – email me!  If you love these small business success tips “Like and Follow” ProfitCenterCoach.com!

Posted on in Creative, marketing, Real world, Success tips

Bright Idea!

I went to the hardware store yesterday. I love going to our local hardware store because they have a popcorn maker.  Free bags of popcorn, rock!  But that’s now why I’m writing.

I found the garbage bags that I needed to buy and I headed for the check out counter.  That’s when I noticed a cool product sitting next to the cash register.  It’s a light switch.  It is not an electrical unit, it’s a battery operated flip style switch plate.  You peel off the sticker and presto magic you have a light anywhere you want.

The store associate noticed I was admiring them.  Well, actually I turned on the super bright light and saw spots… then I turned it on a again and once again saw spots.  I guess I just don’t learn, haha.  Anyway, when I said, “this is a really cool product” she started to tell me all about how many have sold!  She explained that when she came in the day before two cartons of 12 had been sitting on the bottom shelf.  She noticed them and thought they needed to be in a prime area, like right next to the counter.

Once she changed the location, she sold out of an entire case in one hour!  She went on to say she often changes the items by the cash register to keep her regular customers buying impulse items.  I thought that was pretty cool.  It’s always fun for me to visit stores, notice something, and find out the back stories like this.

If you have a story to share – email me, at Big Fish Ideas and don’t forget to include a photo.

Action Step:
1-Explore the area next you your cash register.  Have you rotated the merchandise lately?  If it’s been a while, find something new to put in this prime spot!