Small Business Marketing Tip: Put the Customer First

I am a great believer in the keeping to the basics – the totally obvious things that we all learn in "Small Business Marketing 101", and then promptly forget. I often have people come up to me after a speech and say, "This is all blindingly obvious, just common sense." And they are right, but my immediate response is always to say, "So are you doing it…?"

This question is usually followed by a moment of silence before they explain they have moved on to other approaches now. You cannot forget the basics, because if you do you stop marketing. So if you find yourself by the end of this article saying "this is just common sense," do a reality check, and see if you have stopped using your common sense. I know I often do.

The most important basic to remember is that Marketing is an attitude to business that puts the customer first. If you and everyone in your business understands this then everything else about marketing falls into place. You have to make your entire business marketing oriented. It’s seems not to be a popular concept in the west, but we are here to serve our customers. If we don’t they will go elsewhere.

Let me relate a story.

Some years ago, late one Saturday afternoon my eldest daughter remembered she didn’t have any school shoes for the start of term the following Monday. Panic! We rushed to a nearby and surprisingly empty major chain store where three members of staff were wrestling with a till roll. I waited… and waited …and waited…

Eventually I said, "Can you help me please; my daughter needs some new shoes?" A girl looked up surprised and apparently irritated by my presence and pointing across the store said, "The children’s shoes are over there, if you find a style you like I’ll see if we have her size."

I left… and we raced 15 miles to another town (the stores closed at 5.30 pm) where I knew there was a small private shoe store. When I walked into this little double fronted store it was in chaos. They clearly were having a very busy day. There were empty shoe boxes and children everywhere and the owner of the store was on his knees in the middle of the store checking the fit of a pair of shoes.

As the bell on the door rang he looked up and said, "Oh hello, I’ll be with you in just a moment." And he was. I said "My daughter wants fashionable shoes for school but she can destroy a pair of Doc Martins in a week." "I know exactly what you mean," he said, "Let me see what I have." A minute later he returned with two pairs of robust fashionable shoes, one of which my daughter immediately loved.

I have never forgotten that day. This was a man who understood service and delivered it so well that he was able to undercut the chain store prices. He is still in business today 10 years later – the chain store I am pleased to say is not. You have to take this kind of attitude to everything your business does.

I walked into an office once and there was a big poster on the wall.

Rules of Our Business

Rule 1 - The customer is always right

Rule 2 - When the customer is definitely wrong – re-read Rule 1

If you constantly think "how can I make my customers feel great about doing business with me", then they will keep coming back. More importantly they will keep telling their friends and you will tap into one of the most powerful marketing technique of all, viral marketing. Doing business with you will become infectious, and your marketing will be done almost entirely by your existing customer evangelists telling their friends how great you are.
by ricky arundel

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Be Your Own Boss — Start Your Own Business

As the job market gets more and more unstable, many people are venturing into setting up their own businesses. It is definitely far more rewarding to start your own business than live with the fear of being laid off. You can be on the driver's seat and take control of your destiny rather than be at the mercy of the bosses. You can also cut out the tension involved with coworkers and office politics. There may be any number of reasons why you would want to start your own business. For instance, if you have a baby, you might want to start your own business to be able to stay at home. Or, you have to care for a spouse, sibling, or parent and need to have the flexibility in your work timings. Working from your home provides that kind of flexibility and you can fulfill other responsibilities without affecting your work life. You can choose from a whole gamut of options to start your business. You can become a retailer or put your expertise to use by becoming a consultant in that chosen area. The business gives you the freedom of choosing the kind of work you always wanted. Thus, it also gives you a chance to live out those dreams... Begin saving towards your goal of starting your own business. Many types of businesses require a monetary investment. Remember the old adage, “you must spend money in order to make money.” Check with your bank to see if you qualify for any business related loans. Furthermore, there are a variety of grants available to individuals interested into opening a home business. Depending on the type of business you wish to start depends on the investment of time and money required. For instance, individuals interested in opening a retail location, restaurant, or hospitality center will need a great investment of individuals interested in running a business from home. Instead, if you decide to run a home business like Avon, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, or Mary Kay, you can sell quality, name brand products from your own home. Such businesses prove to be quite successful for both men and women. And, there is hardly any monetary investment required. All you have to do is host a few home parties, attend shows, or sell over the Internet. You will enjoy the best of both the worlds by working from home. Use your network of friends, family members, and coworkers to build a viable base of clients. Whatever your business, make sure you are flexible enough to adapt it to meet the needs of a variety of clients. Ensuring you market your business to a wide scope of potential customers will ensure a greater potential for success. If you decide to run a business from your home, make sure you delegate a specific area of your home as a business area. Whether this is a table, corner, or entire room, this business only area will ensure you treat your home as a business. Additionally, this business only area will allow other individuals to provide you with privacy necessary to do any business related tasks. Many entrepreneurs find themselves easily distracted by children, friends, spouses, or family members who disturb them during work time.

by: vlad ehrzam

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Great Ways to Earn from Home

Some people find it impossible to leave home every day. Others simply prefer to stay at home. For example, mothers with small children may prefer to take care of them than to leave them at childcare while they are at work. Artists may prefer to stay at home and combine art and work. Writers, on the other hand, may want to isolate in the tranquility of the home in order to work uninterrupted. For all these people it will be better to earn from home than to go to work each day.

The fact that you have chosen to earn from home does not give you an unconditional freedom. Veterans in earning from home admit that there are some basic principles and some requirements, which must be followed. Here are given some of these requirements:

Make up a professional agenda. Make an effective personal schedule and be sure you keep it. No matter if, it is rainy outside or whether you feel sleepy, you should not be able to afford yourself to take a rest day. A day off will make you lose momentum. As the saying goes, it is much easier to keep going than to get going. I also remember a physical law which says that “a body in motion stays in motion; a body at rest stays at rest”. If you want to earn from home, you will have to work hard as well. Earning from home does not mean working less....

Put on some clothes. The daily care for your external appearance is very important even if you are earning from home. A well-groomed person is much more productive. You have to do the everyday things like shaving, showering and brushing your teeth in order to feel in your normal state while you are earning from home. Never mind that nobody can see you working in pajamas, this is just the opposite of your proper behavior. The pajamas predispose you to sleep not to work.

Try not to be interrupted. May be this is the most difficult to accomplish tasks of all. Ask everyone who is the house to leave you alone in order to be able to work. Each earn from home worker finds this very hard. The spouse, roommate, or other comes to tell you something, somebody calls you on the phone to remind you of something, the children are constantly getting into a mischief and so on. Ask everybody to imagine that you are at a job you had to drive to and treat you the same way, as you do not exist in the house. Ask them whether they will visit you the same way at your workplace. Ask them whether they will call to ask you something about the TV channels for example.

If your efforts appear to be ineffective, try a signal system. Each earn from home worker should try with some kind of signal system. I took a hanging sign “Do Not Disturb” from a hotel and I usually place it on my door. Moreover, I do not pay attention to any knockings, throat-clearings or crocodile tears. Earning from home requires full concentration of mind.

Finally, I feel myself obliged to warn those who are new to earn from home. While searching for “earn from home”, always try to make sure that the job offer you found is not a fraudulent business scheme. Once I read something on a homeworking.com forum – employers are never begging people to work for them. They always offer a particular job and look for a particular person with the needed skills. If a job offer gives no details, have in mind that this may be something wrong. Such type of “jobs” often requires you send money or to invest money. No job should require any money from you. After all, you want to earn from home, not to spend from home!

By: Morgan Hamilton

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Keeping and Bringing Customers to Your Business

Business greeting cards are a clever way to introduce and keep contact with your potential customers. It is a perfect sales tool to open door with a prospective customer. There are times when you feel unappreciated. Ask yourself, how often do you feel taken for granted? Now think about your customers and ask yourself, how much are they worth to you? When you send well-presented greeting cards to your customers they feel that they matter to you.

Most businesses focus on quality but remember that relationships make the difference. Keep in mind that people come back when they feel special. So get personal with your customers and they will reward you with more repeat sales and referrals than you can ever imagine.

One of the good things about business greeting cards is that they last. When people receive cards from someone they don’t expect their curiosity is aroused. And after opening your card, chances are they would display it in their offices or living rooms.


There are other reasons why business greeting cards are important in businesses.

1. Oftentimes, they are more effective than initial phone calls. By sending a greeting card you have a reason to make a follow up call a few days after the recipient receives it.
2. It is a good way to keep in touch without being too pushy.
3. The greeting card lets your customers know that you are always there when needed.
4. Your unique or humorous card will be too valuable to toss; thus, they will be a constant reminder that you sent them.

For customers, business greeting cards also have advantages:

1. Your existing clients will think that you take time to think of them.
2. Greeting cards are a non-aggressive way of communicating. A greeting card will not interrupt their activities.
3. Your current and prospective clients will appreciate your effort to stay in touch with them.

The idea is to keep your card short and to the point. Save the lengthy conversation for initial phone contact or meeting.

Really, your greeting card can make your customers feel that you remember them and care about them. These little things are priceless. Just remember how much more difficult and time-consuming it is to find a new client rather than to keep a current one. In the end, taking time to contact your existing and potential customers will pay a lifetime dividend both personally and professionally.

by viojieley

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