If your company sells online, shipping costs are a very real factor in your revenue equation. Is it worth footing the bill? Should You Offer Free Shipping? If your company sells online, you have one significant disadvantage to your brick-and-mortar competitors: shipping costs. Most consumers don’t like the idea of having to pay extra fees after they already agreed to a certain price. But the obvious need to move product from point A to point B comes at a cost. This cost is explicit in online … [Read more...]
Grow Your Sales Without Selling
Do you hate selling but are looking for ways to grow sales? Keep reading. Not every business owner is a natural born sales person. For some people, selling is only marginally more enjoyable than a root canal. I believe that selling is a skill that can be learned. For the most part though, the people that need to learn it prefer not to do so. They find excuses to do something other than selling. So how can you grow your business without selling? At first glance this seems to defy common sense. … [Read more...]
Capture Someone’s Attention In 10 Seconds
Networking with bigwigs is never easy. Refocus your strategy to get results at your next conference. How To Capture Someone's Attention In 10 Seconds Meeting the right people at a conference isn’t easy. Anyone that has tried to connect with a potential sales prospect or strategic partner can relate. It's infinitely more challenging if the person of interest is speaking at the conference. As soon as she utters her last word, a mob of attendees rushes the speaker, waving business cards and vying … [Read more...]
What Is Driving Your Growth Strategy?
Not all growth is created equal--the ideal type is accelerated, high-margin, manageable growth. How can you achieve this? What Is Driving Your Growth Strategy? When it comes to growing your business, remember that not all growth is created equal—some types of growth are far superior. The ideal type is accelerated, high-margin, manageable growth. But for many companies, the type of growth they experience only has one or two of these three characteristics: Accelerated, high-margin but … [Read more...]
Use Customer Referral Programs To Grow Sales
Customer referral programs are one of the most effective marketing tactics--and it's free, too. Here's how to take advantage. The most effective types of marketing programs that exist are those that cost nothing, or next to nothing, and are proven to work. It’s almost as good as having a cash printing machine. While most marketing techniques don't fall into this category, there is one which does: customer referrals. The term referral is sometimes used interchangeably with viral marketing, … [Read more...]
Benchmark Your Business To The Startup Genome
Does your startup have what it takes? Benchmark Your Business. Mike Periu takes a look at a report indicating key levels of growth for startups. One of the most difficult tasks for any businesses owner to perform is benchmarking. Through this process, you compare your company against similar companies and industry averages to determine performance. This is difficult because most relevant information isn’t easily available. Publicly-traded companies are required by law to disclose certain … [Read more...]
4 Ways To Manage The Financial Risk Of A Sweepstakes
If your business wants to offer a billion dollar sweepstakes to attract customers, you better know the right way to manage it. In 2003, Pepsi ran a sweepstakes competition that was mind-boggling in scale. The grand prize was nothing less than $1 billion. Yes billion. The publicity associated with this astronomical prize generated tremendous value for the company. Have you ever wondered how a company can offer such a prize? It doesn’t have to be that extreme for you to raise an eyebrow. What … [Read more...]