Hiring the right person with the right attitude is absolutely critical when it comes to driving sales and increasing revenue. It is not something that I believe that can be learnt, it is something you are born with. Most people make the mistake of hiring sales people for their skill and not for their attitude; I know this because I used to be one of those people too.…
Build a Brand: The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do With Your Business
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / March 6, 2011In our consumer driven, flat and hyper-competitive world, there are plenty of companies out there supplying every possible kind of product/service to a market hungry for more. However, while it is true that most of these companies will profit accordingly, it is the ones that create a brand, and develop a loyal group of clients, that will catapult their revenues toward the upper echelon of the bell curve.…
7 Lessons the Music Industry Taught Me that Business School Didn't
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / March 5, 2011For anyone wanting to learn about marketing their business understanding the industry is vital to your success. What follows are some examples of things my time in the music business has taught me. To be honest some of them relate even in non- musical business situations. What these instances have taught me is invaluable although many are basic common sense they are good to be reminded of. These…
Get in Your Customers Shoes to Make the Sale
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / March 3, 2011The mistake that is most common throughout the sales industry is that, sale consultants think they know what their clients want rather than ask. By asking the right questions you will not only uncover your clients buying strategy but most importantly find out if you can deliver on what they are looking for.…
The Single Most Important Thing You Need to Know in Sales
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / February 17, 2011It’s surprising that there are so many sales people these days selling products without first building rapport. They are missing the first and most important step required when selling a product or service which is costing organisations heavily, with the loss of revenue and decrease in repeat business. Rapport With so many different definitions circulating around the meaning of RAPPORT, I thought it would be good if we…
8 Ways to Market Your Store with Services Like Foursquare and Facebook Places
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / February 16, 2011Question: I want to start using services such as Foursquare and Facebook Places to market my store. What types of promotions and contests would you recommend I run to get traction and results? Trevor Collins, TN The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council, a group founded by Scott Gerber to teach young people to build successful companies. A. Offer something you would like as a…
7 PR Tips for Entrepreneurs Young and Old
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / February 14, 2011For first-time entrepreneurs, or even seasoned entrepreneurs who are looking to dabble with PR themselves, here are a few important tips to note to make sure you’re heading in the right direction and that you’re not being marked as a spammer of any sort, or even getting blacklisted (that’s the last thing you want). 1. Don’t Copy and Paste Your Pitch. Personalize, Always While I won’t repeat what…
5 Ways to Harness the Power of Local Marketing
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / January 27, 2011So much of the Internet is about connecting with people but sometimes we spend so much time trying to reach people across the globe that we can forget about our own local community. There has been a big push toward local focused sites like foursquare, facebook places, and of course Groupon. These sites are all about where you live and how to bring your Internet life and connect…
How Do I Advertise Online and Find Customers?
by / ⠀Finding Customers• Startup Advice / January 25, 2011“How do I advertise online?” is the question I get all the time. If you’re starting an online company, bringing a brick and mortar operation online or looking to expand your existing online presence, I’ll try to answer that question. Every business is different but there are several ways you should approach your digital marketing campaign. There is no single solution. Advertising should be approached like an investment…
Besides providing the right tools or platform for collaboration to take place, any organization must ask what will motivate its customer network to participate. Why would anyone contribute an article to Wikipedia? News footage to CNN iReport? A T-shirt design to Threadless? In some cases, customers may be motivated by curiosity, personal interests, or deeply held social values. In other cases, they have more commercial goals or a…
