The economy’s been down for so long many, many local businesses are now looking for that silver bullet that is going to finally pull them up and out and back to the promised land.  In 2010, it seems the pull is towards social media – primarily Facebook and Twitter.

And the rush in this direction, combined with how short handed many small businesses are, has resulted in a lack of attention to other advertising methods.  There may even be a short term benefit, exacerbating the problem.

Head down this path, though, and your brand will suffer in the long term.  Think about the brands that you are most loyal to for a moment.  Do they reach out to you beyond your Twitter account.  Without knowing you or the company you are currently thinking of, I know the answer is “yes.”

While the jet-setting lifestyle in this article may not be relatable for you, the underlying principals should be.  The whole article is a good read, but since you are busy, here is the high point: (more…)

So how much spare time do you have these days?  None right?  Me too.  And most importantly, neither do your customers.

What does that mean to your business?  A lot.  The point is, the people who come into your store don’t want to be “shoppers” any more.  They have better things to do with their time.  They want to be “buyers” instead.  They are in a hurry and so want to know before they get in your store what it is – exactly – they are there to purchase so they can get in and then get right back out.  How are you helping them to do this? 

Meeting your customers’ time crunch is a whole new service you can offer them.  And the best way to do that these days is through an effective website.

Take my wife for example.  Like most wives, she makes the bulk of the spending decisions for our family - only this is about 33^rd on her list of priorities.  So, like most of us, she dreads having to run these errands.  Load up the kids, fight traffic, find a parking spot, keep the kids focused long enough to allow her to shop, stand in line to pay – and then its off to the next stop.  Yep, it’s a whole lot of fun.

So what does she rather do instead?  She heads to (more…)

OK, so the recession isn’t over yet.  And even when it finally ends, things won’t be “like they used to be” ever again.  So how is your business going to respond?

The businesses that are carving out market share right now have embraced this question in developing their strategies for 2011.  Is your business doing the same, or are you still trying to do business like you did in 2007?

I know running a business is hard, but running it without checking in with your customers and finding out  how they expect you to treat them is beyond hard.  It may even be a death sentence for your business if your competition figures it out before you do.

Jeffrey Gitomer has some interesting research on the topic.  Here are (more…)