Oct 13 2008
Time To Jumpstart Your Business!
TIME TO JUMPSTART YOUR BUSINESS!
Who hasn’t read the paper lately or listened to the news? We’re in tough economic waters. As if they need to tell the listening business owners who have been paring inventory, marketing plans and people for months weathering the storm-and it’s not over. And then we get to look forward to winter, not typically a robust time of year for most businesses.
So here we are, in a challenging business environment we haven’t felt for years-didn’t feel good then, certainly doesn’t feel good now. Time to put the paper down, turn off the doom and gloom news, take action, and get back to basics.
Time to Implement Plan B (not to be confused with bailout)
Yesterday isn’t soon enough. There is still a pulse in the market; commerce is still happening every day. Look out your window, down the street. People are still buying services and products, many of those could be yours, from equipment to services.
Now is the time to promote your company-not only to bring new awareness to your existing customers of your widgets and bring in new customers but distinguish you from your competitors. We need to get on our toes, get that forward lean we had growing the business and get off our heels.
Most of you own or work for a small business. Small business used to boast 85% off all jobs. Small is a benefit, you can act quickly, no series of meetings to make decisions as business is passing you by. Take action now!
If you are a large company, sure you need to hunker down, cut the cloth on expenses to be in line with operating costs and revenues. But, no time to pull in your horns. Let the competition cut marketing; the pie is smaller-time to increase sales at their expense. Your challenge is to appear nimble and small to relate to your customers. Great product, quick response, excellent customer service always wins in the long run.
Tool Kit
Go back to the well, use what worked before:
Direct mail
Sales calls
The dreaded “cold calls”
Update the website with products, specials, etc
Advertise but only in the proven mediums
And here’s our plug:
Signs, banners, decals, vehicle graphics, window graphics and lettering to promote your business. It’s relatively inexpensive, paid for TV lately? Promote new products, specials; bring new life to tired signs and your image in the market place. It can start next week; lead time is days, not weeks, to help bolster sales.
Take action and take control of your business, NOW! Show your customers the benefits of using your company.
But they need to know that you exist, who you are and what you offer. Make it happen, you may actually have fun getting the juices going again.
And of course, Good Luck! We all could use a little of that but it just doesn’t happen on its own!
