Posts Tagged ‘big’

Small Business Marketing: 4 Major Reasons to Use Viral Marketing

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Viral Marketing is one technique in small business marketing that gets the word out about your business or website. It involves getting other people to willingly spread the message about your product or service. It is people telling people about what you do, or what you have done, and results in spreading such message like a virus – thus the word “viral” marketing.

You might think that viral marketing is for big companies with big budgets and that it cannot work for small businesses with small budgets. The truth is: big companies do have the budget to pay for highly polished ads and small businesses that have small budget can very well use viral marketing for their campaign because it has little or no cost.

There are 4 major reasons to use this interesting technique. As with other campaigns, you simply have to know how to effectively use this to build your business and attract potential customers.

1.) It is a fast and effective way to talk about your business.

Once the word starts to spread, there is no limit as to how many people can hear or read about your business. Because the message often comes to people from someone who they already know, it has more credibility than when the message comes up uninvited in an email from someone they do not know.

As soon as the message starts to spread, it picks up size and speed as it goes – like a snowball rolling down a hill. You might think that your efforts were not effective, but when people notice how good your business is, they can spread the word for you. When it works, it can work really well.

2.) It can be inexpensive.

Viral technique is actually more applicable for small business marketing because it does not require payment to people who spread the word. People do it out of mere satisfaction and recommendation. The only major cost you will incur is paying for all the additional orders or sales. More than likely, the biggest expense will be the upfront set up or production costs.

3.) It can help shield you from negative comments

Unfortunately, a negative message can go viral too as you cannot please everybody. However, it can be stopped and can be controlled. What you need to do is to really be open and responsive to the customers’ need. Meaning, if there is a negative message, you can always counter it. Have enough buffers in place so that the negative messages do not overpower the positive ones. Once you start a positive impression with customers, the negative comments or feedback can be overpowered. When you learn how to give good customer service, those negative comments will not be given much attention as the positive ones.

4.) It can find hidden customers.

Despite the time and money you spend trying to define your customers – figuring out who they are, and more importantly, where they are, there will always be people who you can miss. Once your message goes viral, there is no telling where it will end up, or who will respond to what you are offering. Because of the widespread words about your business, people that you have not even considered to be your customers can become your potential customers.

As words about what you offer continues to spread through this small business marketing technique, you do not have to worry about finding customers. People will just be the one to search and find you.

Lorenzo Cicetti is a Personal Development Coach and an Internet Marketing Trainer that shares his knowledge to empower people in achieving their dreams and goals. Please visit Please visit Small Business Marketing for more advice.

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Facebook Business Plan

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

If you are launching a new startup business you have undoubtedly been advised to write a business plan. Most consultants and coaches will convince you to write a business plan before you even think about starting a business. Well we all know that Facebook has been the most successful startup in the world over the past 5 years, so it only makes sense to look at Facebook’s business plan. Wait… did Facebook have a business plan? I think it is clear that Mark Zuckerberg didn’t sit down and write a 50 page document, it probably looked more like this:

1. Be Cool – Facebook wanted to be cool. In fact, according to the movie “The Social Network” Mark Zuckerberg was afraid that advertisements early on in the life of Facebook might squash the cool factor and effectively kill their momentum as one of the world’s fastest growing companies. So for as long as possible Zuckerberg refused to include advertisements on the website in order to keep the cool factor that attracted millions of college and high school students during the early years.

2. Gain Eyeballs – Step number two in the Facebook strategy was simply to gain as many eyeballs for as long as possible. The team focused on building an infrastructure that kept users on the website for minutes even hours at a time. They made the website so addictive in a sly way that users don’t realize that they were playing right into the hands of Facebook. The more time you spend stalking your friends on Facebook the more opportunity for advertisers to catch your attention and get you to click on an ad. So be cool, and gain eyeballs.

3. Innovate – The last piece of the Facebook business plan is simply to innovate. Facebook changed the way that friends and family connected, but they became truly innovative when they changed the way that businesses connected with each other. Mark Zuckerberg has been known to tell his team to Fail Big. You have to fail big if you want to create innovation that can change the world.

That is the Facebook Business Plan in a nutshell. In 2011, many innovative web-based startups have the exact same strategy. If you are a web-based startup and you don’t have a written plan, do not despair, you might be able to simply borrow from Facebook. Good luck in your startup ventures!

I am the Founder and CEO of ExecutivePlan. We help startup entrepreneurs write more powerful business plan executive summaries in order to raise capital. If you think your startup is the next Facebook, make sure to visit us at http://www.businessplanexecutivesummary.com and take our free quiz titled, “Is Your Startup the Next Facebook?”

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adam_Hoeksema

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Tendering For New Business The Easier Way

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Every RFP (Request For Proposal) and PQQ (Pre Qualification Questionnaire) is different. business proposal writing is time consuming, complex and expensive. It takes up your staff’s time and your company’s resources. So why do company’s write proposals? Unfortunately for many it is the major method of winning new business. If you are in the recruitment, facilities management and IT environment, you are probably obtaining the majority of your new clients via tendering for work.

So how can a small to medium company keep up with the bigger companies without bankrupting themselves in the process? Well the big companies have dedicated members of staff who do nothing else but write bids and proposals. Smaller companies can hire tender writing companies that will write their proposals for them on an ad hoc or retained basis.

A tender writing company will have one or more experienced bid managers who will either have experience in a prescribed field or will be generalist and able to handle most types of proposals.

When you decide to prepare a proposal, you can contact your chosen tender writing company and discuss your opportunity with them. They will ask to see your RFP or ITT and ask you some detailed questions about your company. They will then wish to know how much of the tender you want them to write and which parts they will be responsible for completing. They will usually leave the financial pricing to you as this is very personal to each company. They will also encourage you come up with your own solution – after all this is your strong point!

Your chosen tender writing company will often interview you and your specialist staff to garner information that can be presented within your bid. They will also gather information from your web site, your brochures and marketing material as well as your product information. A good tender writing consultant will provide you with a project plan as well as a list of information that they require from you. They will also be in contact with you – but do not forget to leave them time to write the tender, so do not expect them to be constantly on the phone or at the end of an email!

A tender writing professional will send you parts of the proposal as they are completed so you are able to relax in the knowledge that your tender is being written well.

So if you are a smaller company and want to compete with the big companies, then level the playing field a little and get yourself a tender writing company to write your winning proposal.

CrankyGeeks Episode 147

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Today’s Guests:
Sebastian Rupley, Co-Crank, Editorial Director, PCMagCast.com
Garnett Lee,
Executive Editor, 1UP.com
David Spark,
Host, The Spark Minute

The Topics:

 Corrupted Youth

The Josephson Institute’s Center for Youth Ethics released a survey saying that American youth are becoming completely unethical in all possible ways. Fully 40 percent thought that you cannot succeed in the U.S.A. without lying, cheating, or stealing. A lot of stealing goes on on the Internet. I say that kids should be allowed to take information from the Net, but include proper citations..

Cybe-Bullying Can’t Stop Net Anonymity

Lori Drew was recently convicted of computer fraud in a cyber-bullying case. The Missouri mother used Myspace to make a fake persona for a teenage boy, leading a teenage girl to believe that persona, and ultimately engaging in cruel behavior that led to the girl’s suicide. “The reality is that many, many people lie about their identities online,” says PCMag editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff. This will not change, and whether Drew committed “computer fraud” is questionable..

The Netbook Hype Machine
“I get a big kick out of the way everyone is falling all over themselves to anoint “netbooks” as the next big thing,” says Lance Ulanoff in another recent column. Ulanoff agrees that the economic downturn is good news for these $350 stripped down portable computers, but thinks their success is largely coming from marketing. Is a slightly more expensive laptop a better choice?

Sex v. Internet
According to a study commissioned and released by Intel, close to half of the women questioned by Harris Interactive said they’d be willing to give up sex for two weeks rather than give up their Internet access. Only 30 percent of the men surveyed were willing to do the same. For women 35 to 44 years old, the figure jumped to 52 percent. Are these numbers believable?

 

Cranky Geeks Promos

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CrankyGeeks Episode 148

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Show Guests:
Sebastian Rupley , Co-Crank, Editorial Director, PCMagCast.com
Demian Entrekin , Founder and CTO, Innotas
Dave Mathews , Inventor, Tech Journalist

The Topics:

Apple’s Biggest Macworld Surprise Isn’t a Product
With a single quick press release, Apple was able to stop the steady stream of rumors about its Macworld 2009 product announcements. January’s Macworld Expo will be Apple’s last; and, perhaps more consequently, it will no long have Steve Jobs as CEO. Why such extreme moves?

$99 Netbooks at Radio Shack?
Acer, AT&T and RadioShack have collaborated to offer a deal that brings the Acer Aspire One netbook to sell for only $99. The Acer Aspire, with integrated 3G wireless technology, usually sells for $500. AT&T is subsidizing the cost of the device, however customers must agree to a two-year AT&T DataConnect mobile-broadband service, which start at $60 a month.

Beware the Netbook Hype
 In a new column, Lance Ulanoff  says, “I get a big kick out of the way everyone is falling all over themselves to anoint ‘netbooks’ as the next big thing,” . Ulanoff agrees that the economic downturn is positive news for these $350 stripped down portable computers, but thinks their success is largely coming from  good marketing. Is a pricier laptop a wiser choice?

Will Microsoft Buy RIM?
Even though Tim Bajarin dubs the prediction outrageous, the notable analyst is predicting that Microsoft may make a bid for RIM in 2009. “BlackBerry customers are almost as fanatical as Apple users,” he argues, and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile strategy is growing unstable.

 

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Is the Tech Market Turning Around? – Episode 176: H.264 Version

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Today’s Guests:
Sebastian Rupley, Co-Crank, Editorial Director, PCMagCast.com
Matt Sarrel, Founder, Sarrel Group & PCMag.com Contributing Editor
Sam Levin, Brand Evangelist

The Topics:
Is the Tech Market Turning Around?
Will Twitter Sue TechCrunch?
Man Commits Suicide Over Lost iPhone Prototype
Should Google’s Eric Schmidt Be On Apple’s Board?
Amazon Plays Big Brother

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The Big Idea (Donny Deutsch) Business Opportunity

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

To order Products please go to: www.PurchaseMaxGXL.com To Join Max International and become an Associate, Please go to (818)222-8714 www.vipsearch.us I have been watching The Big Idea on CNBC. It inspired me to start my own successful home based business, Donny Deutsch is wonderful.

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