STAFFUnleash the Giant Within
One of the great untapped resources of small businesses is the staff itself. It’s something the owners of Urban Tails Pet Supply in Minneapolis, MN, have sought to leverage by giving their workers the “creative freedom to use any ideas/means (within reason) to make Urban Tails a great place,” says manager Megan Trombley. “We are running a window display contest. Employees submit their ideas, and whoever wins gets their display made and a $100 Visa gift card.”
HELP DESKGet on the Floor
Ever feel like your desk is caving in on you? That you have dozens of papers, reports, books and folders coming from all directions, reducing your actual workspace to the size of a Post-It Note? If so, marketing consultant Scott Ginsburg suggests going back to your student days and working on the floor. Says Ginsburg: “It works wonders for enhancing your creativity, especially from a visual standpoint. First of all, you’ll have plenty of room to spread out your materials. This will help you more effectively solve problems, come up with new ideas and brainstorm because you’ll see all of the elements involved.”
LOYALTYBuild Trust
Want to totally win the trust of your community? Promise to personally test all the products you sell on your own beloved pets. It’s a commitment that several pet businesses are already making, including Cool Dog Gear, a two-store chain in Pennsylvania. “This allows our staff to truly understand the products and honestly answer questions about it” as well as share their personal experiences about how the product worked, says co-owner Sue Hepner. Danielle Cunningham, owner of Lewis and Bark’s Outpost in Red Lodge, MT, says the approach has helped her store cut returns to fewer than five a year.
STRATEGYGood Citizens
If you refer to potential customers as “prospects” or “targets,” marketer Seth Godin urges you to stop because “marketing-centric terms” don’t reflect the way power has shifted in the marketplace, he says. Instead, call them “citizens.” “When you stop calling people ‘targets’ or ‘prospects,’ and start calling them ‘guests’ or ‘citizens,’ you can’t help but become a little more humble and a little more respectful,” he writes on his blog. “Try it, it works.”
SOCIAL MEDIAPlan Ahead for Pinterest
Most people forget that Pinterest is essentially a search engine, so if you are pinning things you want people to see right now, you’ve left it too late. A better approach is to plan and pin two months ahead of time for holiday gifts, for example. It takes time to build rank and credibility as users search.
EVALUATIONAssess Yourself
If you think you’re being productive and making progress, author Tom Peters suggests you ask yourself a question: “What have you done this year?” Answering that question succinctly puts the focus on your big achievements — or lack thereof — over the past year.
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MARKETINGGet Noticed
Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone, won’t be sending you a Christmas card this year. He concentrates his energies on birthdays. Why? Hundreds of businesses send Christmas cards to their clients. Few send birthday cards. If you’ve got a limited marketing budget, consider skipping Christmas this year. Instead, try handwriting birthday cards to your favorite customers (or even better, their pets).
INCENTIVESYour Logo Here
If you sell clothing with your store’s logo on it, give customers an incentive to wear it. A 10 percent discount on a purchase made while wearing your shirt will do the trick, says Kelly Mooney, author of The Ten Demandments.
