Check Your Web Site!

YOUR WEB SITE IS NOT “ONCE~AND~DONE”

As the owner of small business, you may have assigned the task of your web site to one of your employees. I recommend, as owner, you take a few minutes a day to actually scan through your web. Be it six pages or two pages, you want to make sure your intended audience is seeing precisely the quality and information you wish to convey.

All too often we get side~tracked with many other aspects of running our business and get somewhat complacent about our web site, thinking “it’s out there” and working!

I have a friend who is a very successful, domestic and international business owner. I noticed last month that his web had not been updated in months! Of course I asked him if he wanted me to freshen it up, considering that is what my business is based on: putting your best foot forward on the web!

He told me ” I have someone on my staff whom I pay to do that. Obviously it hasn’t been on their mind.” Three days later I when I viewed his web it had definitely been updated. Now this man has been in business for over 25 years and admitted to me that he never looks at his web site. NOT GOOD!!

Keep in mind it takes about 5-10 seconds for a viewer of a web site to decide if they want to continue reading or are completely confused by your web being too crowded with far too many pictures and non-related editorial.

LAYOUT IS ESSENTIAL. An aesthetically appealing home page is one of the most important aspects of your web. Worse, if there is not current information posted, your returning client or potential new client will wonder if you are actually interested in doing business!

Before you put on your coat and walk out the door to “call it a day”, make your last task be the one where you lock the door, put up the closed sign, sit with that last cup of coffee and go to your web site. The office or shop is empty, the phones are off, your employees have all gone for the day.

CAUTION: if you wait until you get home, guaranteed you will procrastinate and never look at your web.

There really is no excuse for not using your web to its’ highest potential. Understand that everyone uses the web now: from tweens to baby boomers! Keep in mind whom you are targeting and make the necessary updates or changes to your web site.

Brenda Everson~Shaw 508/789-1450 bfe1948@yahoo.com

TODAY IS SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

VISIT LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES FOR HOLIDAY SHOPPING

Be sure to visit you local merchants today for Small Business Saturday Shopping. You will find those unique gifts that eluded you when you were fighting off the crowds on Black Friday in the huge department stores!

New England is full of beautiful villages and local “downtown” areas where you will find fabulous gift ideas and some fantastic business owners. Drop by the local cafe` for a snack, that fabulous bakery for those homemade donuts and breads or grab dinner at that small seafood place you have always told yourself you would visit. Looking for that unique, one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry for someone special? Ask your local merchant not the high cost jewelry chain store who mass-produce a piece which they tell you is “made for you alone.”

How about that gorgeous scarf made from wool on a Vermont farm and not from some country you cannot spell or pronounce.

When you patronize a small business, you will find outstanding customer service from associates who know each product and who are also friendly, gracious and appreciative of your business. Plus, chances are you will find someone you actually know who works at the small business, enjoys their job and is not there “just to make a dollar”!

Can’t do it this weekend? There are many more weekends ahead before Christmas……..

Many of the New England small businesses have been family owned for generations, specializing in making certain each customer is satisfied. The small business owner is not there just to make a quick sale or fill some quota set by three managers in a huge corporation who dictate whom to sell to, how to get the sale and get them out the door!

Your neighbor, best friend’s aunt or your fellow high school graduate has worked tirelessly to make their shop the sort of place in which you want to linger, a place where you will return to again.

Statistics from the SBA:

~ The 28 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales.

~ Small businesses provide 55% of all jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970s.

~ The 600,000 plus franchised small businesses in the U.S. account for 40% of all retail sales and provide jobs for some 8 million people.

~ The small business sector in America occupies 30-50% of all commercial space, an estimated 20-34 billion square feet.

Priceless Referrals

ASK FOR THE REFERRAL

Do you have that one client who has been “surprisingly satisfied” with your work? The client who was somewhat hesitant to get involved in a new project, but has sung your praises since completion of the project? ASK FOR A REFERRAL from this individual.

Often, as business owners, we are hesitant to ask to be referred. Very rarely will someone refuse. They may say, “gee, I’m not sure whose name to give to you”. That is the time for you to make suggestions: one of their vendors, a trusted customer who continues to return for their product or service, a service provider that your client uses, even a brother-in-law or gym club partner!

But, be certain to be the business associate who also provides referrals to your clients or friends who own their business. This is one practice that I have always made certain I continue since I entered the business arena “oh, so many years ago”. I have handed out hundreds of referrals. Not all came to fruition but that never stopped me from recommending on a regular basis.

You possess a unique network of friends, business associates and acquaintances. Don’t be stingy with that network! If you can help a fellow business owner and hesitate to do so, I can almost guarantee that you will regret it one day…the day YOU are seeking referrals!

This is the premise on which social media is based. One person tells another who tells another and it snowballs. Asking once and walking away is a defeatist attitude!

When you send off that monthly email to your client, checking on how things are going, make your last line be a request for a referral. Or, you can even add it to your signature line, such as; “best regards, have a successful week and do me a favor by passing my name along!”

BE CERTAIN to immediately call, email or text the person who does send a potential client your way. A handwritten (yes people DO still write notes) thank you note is an awesome way to send your appreciation.

If the referral that has been sent your way, via an associate or client, results in a substantial project for you, send a gift to the person who gave you the referral. This is where your files of your clients’ interests definitely comes in handy. Makes notes of their interests and send along an appropriate gift that reflects that interest!

What Are You Telling People?

When you meet people, what do you tell them about your small business?

It’s always quite simple to strike up a conversation with anyone if you are confident in what you are saying.

Who in this picture do you think is actually “introducing” the small business that they own?

When you own a small business you may be the only one who can get the word out about how great a service or product you provide.

Most likely you have heard the phrase “elevator pitch”. Personally, I’m not a fan of that term, but it means having a quick definition for your business you would give someone if you were riding an elevator with them: 6-8 seconds worth! Just try out a few until you find the one that works.

Who in the elevator is actually giving their 6-8 second pitch?

The next person you meet in the proverbial elevator or in line at the store or even the great waitress at dinner, any one of them could be your next customer. Just be ready to answer any question they may have without giving an entire marketing presentation! You don’t want to scare them off. You want to make them curious.

Only a Small Business

Have you been thinking that because you are a “small business” that you really don’t need a web site? You keep playing around with the idea and are not sure what to do.

Or perhaps you are thinking “once and done”…that you get a web site done and just leave it there.

The old saying Build it and They Will Come does NOT apply to a website. As a small business owner I am not here to compete with a Fortune 500 company. Yet, if that is your goal that’s great. Baby steps though.

I love the small business community. Having worked in corporations of various sizes for most of my professional career, I took many lessons with me and have been fortunate to apply them to my “small business”.

You may have lofty goals of nabbing that big client and dreams that you will need 50 more employees to handle such a client. But you must keep in mind that it takes time to build a client base and get your name out there.