Brands can thrive for years if associated products are reliable, the logo is instantly recognizable and the slogans are infectious. However, in a competitive marketplace where customers yield to mercurial tastes and shifting loyalties, a brand that once enjoyed devotion can be vanquished… like Brim coffee, Breck shampoo and Yugo cars. However, no brand has to die without a fight. Much like cats, brands can enjoy one, two or nine lives, depending on whether expert resuscitation is applied in time and with the right savvy.…
Whether you’re a new e-commerce business or have been operating for several years, it’s time to re-evaluate your website. Internet Retailer reports that e-commerce sales in 2012 reached $225.5 billion, a 15.8 percent increase from 2011. Get your share of this revenue stream by making your website a place where consumers want to spend their money.
Start by Selling Socks (Figuratively Speaking)
If you are a new business, Venture Beat suggests you specialize in a few items and build a reputation before you expand.…
Along with the exciting prospects that come with running a small or medium sized business there is a heavy workload, and if you don’t plan your company’s direction ahead of time, you’ll find yourself struggling to balance your time.
However, with some strategic planning into the best way of marketing your products, services and brand, you can render many business dilemmas obsolete and concentrate on running a successful company.
Here are 5 tips that any small business should follow in their bid to find long-term marketing success. …
There are seven basic plots used in storytelling. Here we look at how they are used in the world of advertising.
Overcoming the Monster
One of the all time classic story telling genres, dating as far back as Ancient Greece (if not even further). The premise is simple. Companies use their all-conquering brands to overcome something, either literally or metaphorically, monstrous. You will often see cleaning companies using this storyline – this Domestos advert being a great example – where pesky germs are vanquished once and for all by the all powerful, all dominating antibacterial cleaner.…
If you ask an entrepreneur or a business expert about useful and operative marketing strategies and ideas, you will probably get hold of plenty of them but in reality, marketing strategies and ideas largely depend on the unique situations of businesses. Growing your business can be a challenge and when all the brand new strategies seem to fail, there is no harm in going back to the basics.
There are several marketing tactics from the “old school” that have been tried but now most of them have been left out in the dust.…
The rising cost of keeping up with customer demand can be a challenge for startups or small businesses. Keeping up with supplier payments, payroll, and inventory requires a lot of attention to detail and time. Fortunately, a number of software solutions, leadership tactics, and business fundamentals will help your company manage costs.
Here are 4 cost management strategies you can adopt which can give you total control of your business costs:
1. Transparent communications
Customers and employees shouldn’t ever find themselves in the dark regarding products, services, and workflows.…
I’ve been on online business for 5 years and from all those years I learn nothing about business networking. Not until last year I finally concluded that in order to succeed, I need to connect with like-minded people.
Okay – will you believe me if I told you that I never really use Facebook until last year? Even today, I still think Facebook as a waste of time, but whether I like it or not, I need to jump on the bandwagon and start using Facebook – at least for my business purposes.…
Online ads. Whether you like it or not, they are major source of income for both web publishers and ad agencies. And whether you like it or not, businesses often need to use ads in order to reach out to their target market – and grow their sales.
Unfortunately, there are too many unrelated ads being served on various medium today. Too unrelated, in such a way that site visitors are annoyed by them and advertisers waste too much money promoting their products and services to people who don’t want to check them out, let alone buy them.…
I discovered this interesting video while looking for small business inspiration. It’s a good finding. It’s Patch’s exclusive video interview with John Puckett, the founder of Caribou Coffee and co-owner of Punch Pizza.
John and his wife co-founded Caribou Coffee in 1992 with a big plan to establish 200 stores in 5 to 10 years. Things are looking good and going as planned…
John were successfully established 100 stores in 8 US states, but then he encountered a problem, which mainly related to work-life balance.…
I’m sure you have heard this advice: Follow the best practices. I’m not a believer in that advice. For me, do things others don’t; if you can’t, just copy the best practices and be sure to make them your own. Why am I such a rebel?
The answer to that question is simple: Doing what others do kills your creativity. And if your creativity dies you are becoming a zombie of the business world: Wandering around places, clueless. You are becoming resistant to changes and you won’t notice the wind of change that will help you navigate your small business ship.…
