With mobile devices being so ubiquitous these days, shoowrooming–the consumer practice of price-checking on their phones or viewing products in-store only to purchase them online–is more prevalent than ever. According to a survey by Vibes, 44% of consumers say that “they frequently use their smartphone in-store to comparison shop/buy from a competitor.”
As a result, some retailers have resorted to slashing their prices to match whatever’s the lowest price online. This isn’t an ideal strategy, though, because it would likely kill your profits and attract not-so-loyal customers.…
We’ve already talked before about basic things you can do to save money in your household living budget (here for example). So now let’s cover a similar idea that you can also apply to your business while at the same time doing your bit to save the environment.
The following are several very easy to implement and low cost green office tips that you can start practicing right now.
1. Go Paperless (Or get as close as you can)
Creating a paperless office is not only an excellent green solution for nearly any business, it’s also a great money saver, and especially with the kinds of low technologies now available to just about anybody.…
Marketing is a sneaky business. It involves tapping into people’s primal urges and making them want products or services that they don’t need. It’s manipulative. But it’s also clever. We look at five marketing tricks that we know shouldn’t work, yet they always do.
1. Scarcity
This really taps into two basic needs: our need for something we can’t have – if something is scarce there is the chance that we might not be able to get it; and our need to belong to the elite – if only a limited number of special editions are available, then how super awesome are we that we got one (or two or three)?…
In market research, bias is a dirty word. It’s OK to be selective about participants in your research, but if the skew affects your results and jeopardises the validity of your conclusions, it could have serious consequences for profitability.
So how do you avoid bias, and how do you learn to recognise it? Below, we’ll look at some easy ways to flag up loaded questions and recognise your own influence on market research.
Removing Yourself From the Research
No matter what your market research experience, you’ll need to follow some set rules about the way you collect results.…
Selling is a very challenging job and it is easy for your team of sales staff to get discouraged. If you have found that your employees are struggling to make targets and are uninspired on the job, it’s important to get their inspiration flowing again. But how can you motivate your sales staff to do their best?
You don’t want to encourage your employees to just do the minimum that it takes to get by, as this will not lead into better results and new levels of success for them and for your company.…
I remember when I first started working from home, and loved the idea of freedom and flexibility. I still do love those perks, but I’ve learned a lot since my first day. What I soon discovered, is that without discipline, it can be more of a detriment than a perk.
As a writer, it’s hard to have complete concentration all day, every day. This is especially true when creativity is important, which is most of the time as a writer, marketer, or even a web designer.…
Managing up is a leadership tactic that employees are using in today’s workplace as a means of influencing the top decision makers within the company. Expert leadership consultant, Peter Drucker, dubbed this strategy, “The Art of Influencing Up,” in his highly acclaimed blog. This strategy is one that employees at all levels can use to directly influence decision makers.
Self-Focused Employees
The discouraging fact is that numerous workers only maintain a downward management mentality. This downward focus will only permit the employee to retain the decision-making power they have already been granted over their subordinates.…
The chances are that the vast majority of the businesses functioning in the world today started from a light bulb moment. That fleeting second in time when an idea hits you and you instantly know it’s more important than any other idea that’s ever popped into your mind. A spark of creativity that bounces around in your mind until you finally figure out a way to turn it into a viable business, but how? And what next?
Many light bulb moments will be followed by endless procrastination or self-doubt, but if you really want to turn them into fully fledged neon signs of business success then you need a plan of action.…
When social media marketing first came on the scene there were concerns raised that it might not yield a return on the investment. Now, we know that those early adopters of this marketing strategy actually managed to convert friends and followers into customers. In the meantime, traditional channels of media marketing (i.e. television and newspapers) took a hit. In the ever-evolving platform of social media marketing, one thing is certain: There are always new ways to get an edge on your competition, if you act fast.…
Black hat SEO isn’t something you’ll want to boast about on the average resume, but that’s not to say that we shouldn’t have respect for those who indulge in it. Black hat SEO techniques are inherently extremely successful, so there must be something marketing professionals can learn from the dark side of optimisation. In this article, we’ll zone in on four of the key principles that can help marketers improve their skills and career prospects.
1. Making Money
Black hat tactics tend to be fast and furious: find something that works, exploit it and take the money while the going is good.…
