Reginald Chan

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  • Small Business Advantage: The Ultimate Guide

    Small Business Advantage: The Ultimate Guide

    There are numerous tips out there for small businesses and it can be quite confusing with all of these ideas floating around, most of the time contradicting each other. However, there are some recurring ideas that they all have in common. Small businesses have inherent advantages and disadvantages that you’ll need to recognize. Here is an ultimate guide to help you bolster those advantages and convert those gaps into opportunities:

    1. Sort Things Out

    In order to be successful in every business, you’ll have to stay organized. That is why large corporations have teams, departments, divisions, and whatnot, it is to keep things in its proper place and promotes collaboration among the different groups. Small businesses must also have that outlook, although you don’t have (or need) a lot of people, the tasks are almost the same, just smaller in scale. You don’t have to be hands-on on everything, learn to delegate but always keep track of all the tasks needed to be done in a day or weeks even. Keeping yourself abreast with every essential item in your business is crucial for your survival and growth.

    2. Stay Focused

    Diversifying can sometimes be a trap that many entrepreneurs fall into early on. It can be tempting to get away from your niche and be all what your clients want you to be. However, it is important that you focus on your niche a little longer until you’re one of the best in your category. In the services industry, how to start a cleaning business should not stop at setting it up. A good businessman should conduct research, identify strengths and weaknesses, and develop their best practices. If you’re focused on one business, it can be easier to replicate the things that work well to other ventures and you’ll be able to expand relatively faster.

    3. Marketing Strategy

    Marketing is an essential component in every business. It doesn’t only refer to sales and numbers, rather it is an understanding of how your business can bring value to targeted customers and maximize your efforts into them. Use various online platforms to inform people and promote your brand, customize your approach to speak to different people to match their needs. Focus on keeping customers happy and keep them coming back rather than always looking for new ones. A good marketing strategy will not only help your small business but it can also help your brand as you look to expand your territory. Today, digital marketing is the way to go if you want to make yourself known faster, so make sure you focus on coming up with a strategy using the different online tools to help you get the word out.

    4. Study The Competition

    Competition in business always benefits the customers and in a way makes everything better. Studying your competition will force you to come up with creative ways to implement them in your own business. Small businesses tend to look at big corporations and say “they have the manpower, that’s why they can afford it” but that defeatist mindset will not help you in your cause. Rather, you should take a look at their practices and determine the principles involved as to why they are doing it. You don’t have to copy the entire practice, rather emulate the strategy and come up with your method to get similar results for yourself.

    5. Risk and Rewards

    Shrew businessmen won’t get on a deal without understanding all of the risks involved as well as the rewards. The key here is calculated risks, it is knowing what are the possible downside of the action and if the risk is outweighed by the rewards it promises. Knowing these will help you make better decisions at crucial times i.e. timing. One example is the increased need for sanitation and cleaning services brought about by the pandemic of the coronavirus. Great timing and recognition will tell you that even with the increased cost in PPEs and cleaning materials, the market for these services continues to grow and would possibly help you sustain growth for your business. 

    6. Build A Network

    It is common for business owners to feel isolated sometimes, especially if they are solo owners. It is important to connect with different people and build a network to help you get in touch with different people. Having a strong supportive network can help you get through different situations, come up with solutions to problems, and maintain a healthy social life. With the internet, it is now easy for different groups to connect and discuss business solutions over a conference line. Building a network is an investment that will pay its dividends in the future, no business owner becomes successful without the help of like-minded people.

    7. Keep Overhead Low

    It is important, at this stage, to keep your overhead costs low. It allows you some cushion whenever economic problems arise. You won’t panic because your margin is healthy enough that a cut in the revenue won’t take too much toll. More than ten years ago, one small business owner moved his operation from an office to his home to cut costs. And when the recession hit, they were able to stay afloat because cashflow never went negative and that helped him keep his peace of mind. If you can create a virtual workstation and ditch other costs for more affordable options, it will help you set a stage for further growth and maintain a healthy revenue stream.

    8. Don’t Quit Your Day Job – yet

    When people see that their small business venture is doing well, they immediately think of quitting their day job. However, it can be a critical mistake if you don’t consider all the factors involved. The founder of Spanx, Sara Blakely, did not quit her job until she had enough knowledge and did everything to make sure her business would become a success. It will take a chunk of your sleeping time but if you’re able to hold out just a little more to study and sort out your business, it will pay off big time. Also, it’s risky to leave a steady paycheck for a business that you haven’t really had enough time to work on.

    These practical tips will not make you an overnight success, but it will guide you to where your focus should be. Give yourself time and don’t stop learning from your mistakes and success. You will also learn important lessons along the way that you can share with people who are thinking of success as you are now.

  • What You Should Know About Marketing Funnels?

    Whether you’re working in digital marketing or you’ve just brushed shoulders with it, you’ve certainly come across the term “marketing funnels”. It’s an essential part that every marketing plan should include to deliver the desired goals. So, if you’re wondering how you can make good use of marketing funnels, you’ve come to the right place. Without further ado, here’s everything you should know about marketing funnels. 

    Why Are They Called Funnels?

    In short, you can think of marketing funnels as a system you can follow to attract customers. If you want the longer version, then marketing funnels allow you to implement the best strategies through which you can guide customers throughout their customer journey. It helps you start by attracting prospects, turning them into leads, and gradually building your relationship with them until they become loyal and paying customers. That’s why marketing funnels are also referred to as sales funnels, lead funnels, conversion funnels, and purchase funnels. 

    So, what’s up with the whole “funnel” term? If you turn the insights you get from the customer journey, it will look like a funnel. Once you measure the size of the audience you have at every stage of the journey, it gets smaller. So the visual data representation should start with the widest segment (potential customers), and then, gradually, it starts getting smaller the more you advance toward loyal customers. 

    What Are Different Types of Marketing Funnels?

    It stands to reason that the kind of marketing funnel will vary according to your marketing strategy. For instance, the funnel strategy you use for an e-commerce platform will have to differ from that for social media platforms. To learn more about different marketing funnel strategies and tools, you can visit this site and get expert advice from the professional blogger, Calvin Lim. You’ll come across various types of funnels, like lead magnet funnels, webinar funnels, video sales funnels, email funnels, and more. You’ll also realize how every kind of funnel requires its own tools for the best results. At the end of the day, the kind of funnel and the tools you use will depend on your goals: whether you want to sell products or services, promote an event, or build a list of contacts.

    Why Are Marketing Funnels Importance?

    The most obvious reason why marketers use marketing funnels is to generate leads, all while having the right tool that helps them keep track of the analytics. Instead of waiting until a user makes the purchase, marketing funnels allow marketers to spot interested customers miles away and nurture them along their journey. That significantly improves the odds of turning them into loyal customers. 

    However, there are more benefits to using marketing funnels. Here are the top three benefits:

    Simplifying Customer Journey

    If you’re aware of the stage that each customer or prospect is at, you’ll have a better knowledge of how to customize your marketing efforts to suit their interests. For instance, using a sales pitch or direct advertising to a user who has just stumbled across your website may prove futile. On the other hand, if you’ve spent some time gaining their trust, then a customer who’s been following you long enough to trust your reputation will be more willing to make the purchase. 

    Connecting With Customers

    Funnels help you connect with any kind of customer, thanks to the wide variety of tools and tactics available for every marketing niche. You’ll rest assured knowing that you’ll have direct and adequate connections with your customers by using marketing funnels, regardless of whether your goal is to generate traffic, drive sales, or build a customer list. 

    Better Planning

    Marketing funnels give you insights into how your marketing campaigns are performing. Using these insights, you’ll be able to tweak your current and following campaigns to be more effective, which results in better planning for a more optimized workflow. 

    Phases of Marketing Funnels

    We’ve been talking about the customer journey for a while, so it’s about time we get into deeper detail. Marketing funnels, in accordance with the customer journey, are divided into phases. While some divide it into four phases and others go as far as including seven phases, it’s common to divide marketing funnels into the following five phases:

    Awareness Phase

    They might have stumbled across an intriguing ad of yours or the search engine results pointed them toward your website, but the visitors at the point still have no idea about you. Something attracted them to your online presence, so you need to exploit this opportunity to position your brand by showcasing all the important aspects of your business. In other words, you want to leave the best impression on visitors in this phase. 

    Consideration Phase

    In this phase, the visitors have already gotten an idea about your business and what it has to offer. They’re willing to consider your business, but they still can’t trust you enough -or aren’t interested enough- to buy your products or services. That’s when you need to create content that helps them choose you over the competition. 

    Conversion

    By now, your leads know what you have to offer and trust your credibility. They’re just waiting for the final push to make their purchase, and that’s when you can start advertising your products and services. 

    Loyalty

    In this phase, you’re following up with the current customers to nurture your relationship with them further. Your goal is to turn them into recurring fans who keep coming back to you for more. 

    Advocacy

    Commonly referred to as the referral phase, the advocacy phase is where your customers have turned into loyal fans. They trust your credibility and like your services to the extent of being willing to refer you to their acquaintances. 

    When it comes to customer tracking and acquisition, there’s no better system to use than marketing funnels. These funnels will vary depending on your marketing strategy and goals, but they’ll always be effective in giving you the result you’re looking for. By using marketing funnels, you’ll be able to guide your customers through their journey and turn them into returning customers and loyal fans.