Casual Articles - Business

Marketing Tools for the Small Business
One of the essential small business marketing tools lies in a marketing plan, although most small business owners do not relish planning. They would rather spend their time in trying to bring in a few more customers by doing much simpler things than planning big. In any case, most of them do not think that drawing up a plan for their small business will be of any use. The plan need not be elaborate, however. It involves taking just a few simple steps. Proactive small business owners focus on understanding what their customers need most by interacting with them and then they gear themselves to fulfill such needs. They notice changes in the market trends and recreate their marketing materials as well as website content periodically. They put emphasis on the core areas of their business that bring the most benefits. A lot many customers come in to buy when they know that they get the best value for their money. Small business marketing is also about establishing individual contacts with your prospects as well as existing customers.Email marketingThis can best be done through email, which has now become a very important means of promoting the small business. Emails reach the target audience directly. Small b

three-volume set ($505) is the motherload of associations - showing detailed information on more than 23,000 local, state, national, and international associations. Gale says that seven out of every ten Americans belong to an association, and now I believe it: they all show up here in this extensive directory set.

Referenced and cross-referenced in every which-way possible, you can reach the 30,000 members of Retinitis Pigmentosa International, the 200 members of the 1954 Buick Skylark Club, the 20 members of the Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturers Association (VCMA), or the 10 members of the Holy Innocents Reparation Committee with equal ease.

Another great resource of associations is The Associations Yellow Book from Leadership Directories. While it doesn’t have the number of associations found in Gale’s Encyclopedia of Associations, it has an exceptional depth of information about the top thousand or so associations, arranged and presented in an attractive and logical manner. So if you’re looking for the top players in the association field, this resource tool may be just what your doctor ordered.

The Associations Yellow Book is 1,400 plus pages, and profiles 1,045 of the leading U.S. trade and profession

Ban the Internal Customer
Internal Customer’ is a phrase often heard in business. Usually this refers to one department (the internal customer) receiving work from another department (the internal supplier).But this phrase has become widespread and is now applied to branch offices, field officers, repair centers, distributors, night shifts, contract workers, parking lot attendants, bosses, employees, job applicants and even retirees.Motorola has more than one thousand service agents in China repairing and upgrading consumers’ mobile phones. Motorola provides spare parts to the service agents, making the agents ‘internal customers’ of Motorola. But Motorola pays labor fees charged by the service agents under maintenance contracts. So Motorola is also an internal customer of the agents. This could be confusing.It gets worse when more than two parties are involved, or when people say ‘The Customer is King’ and then argue over who should be treated more ‘royally’!I think the phrase itself is out-of-date and problematic. Rather than one side taking the ‘customer’ position and casting the other as ‘supplier’, both parties could – and should – embrace to become ‘Internal Service Partners’ working together to delight the ‘external customer’.

If you’re in direct marketing, you’re continually looking for new list sources — everybody’s tired of mailing to the same lists. If you’re not in direct marketing and thinking about putting a mailing together, here’s something a little different: take a look at marketing through associations.

Why would anyone ever market to associations? They’re great targets: try sending a press release to an association’s publication - whether it’s a newsletter or a magazine. Why, you can alert an entire industry of your products or services with one or two well-placed news releases.

Since the magazines and newsletters of associations are not the mainstream prospecting tools of most marketers who market through more traditional channels association publications receive just a fraction of the press releases and promotional articles that go to major publishers. Yet the comprehensive lists of over 23,000 associations go astonishingly deep in most major and minor markets. In addition, association publications are usually well regarded and lend excellent credibility to the firms that get ink in their house publications.

Why else would you market through associations? Maybe you’re an affinity marketer - and you’d like to have the 96,000 members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association apply for the special trial rate of your new credit card. Or, maybe you’d like the National Electrical Contractors Association - with 80 people on staff, and a budget of $10 to $25 million to support their 4,000 member firms that comprise 118 local chapters (along with the entire personnel of each member firm) - to apply for your new phone service. Associations can deliver thousands of their members - new customers for you - with a just a few contacts and a modest budget.

You’d definitely market through associations if you’re part of the hospitality industry and would like to arrange a convention - complete with hotel rooms, ballrooms, and services for the complete screaming regime of whoever shows up - of the 2,300,000 members of the National Education Association of the United States. Or go for a smaller piece of their $100,000,000 budget - give or take a few million - get hired as a speaker or on-site entertainment, or snag some of the the association’s printing business. Association lists work for all the above. Associations are key targets for the entire hospitality industry sales force: hotels, convention space, caterers, promotional products, printed material, ballrooms, ground services, and on-site entertainment, to name a few.

Quite frankly, I realize the big organizations are not for everyone. Not everyone is looking for the big numbers, even in lists. Some people are just looking for a short cut - an entry wedge into an industry at the top level. For this purpose, association lists are also useful in marketing to the elite leaders of select industries.

For example: If you wanted to get in bed with all of the 53 companies who belong to the Biscuit and Cracker Distributors Association, a reference book showing detailed information about their association may be just your cup of tea. You’ll find their address - along with their association size, annual budget, history, newsletter and publication detail, meeting and convention dates, website, email address, and their executive director’s name - on page 179 of the National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States directory.

The 828-page National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States ($99) reference tool lists 7,600 associations, and is published annually by Columbia Books, Inc. (www.columbiabooks.com; 888-265-0600, fax 410-810-0911) along with its companion, the State and Regional Associations of the U.S. directory ($79). The state and regional association guide is particularly useful if you are targeting specific geographic areas and want access to top local association contacts not included in the national book. The State and Regional Associations of the U.S. directory also has a higher percentage of association managers who, while managing multiple associations, cross many industry lines when sourcing vendors or affinity marketers.

Information in both Columbia Books directories is cross-referenced by association index, subject index (500 subjects/alpha), also by budget index, geographic index, executive index, and acronym name index. Association management companies are also shown. All of their data is available on disk. These two reference tools fit in your briefcase, and make surprisingly great reading, if - like me - you’re a marketer and have no other life outside of marketing and occasionally watching cat- dog on TV (ask your kids!).

Association lists and data are also available in the Encyclopedia of Associations by The Gale Group (800-877-GALE) on disk, CD, and on- line through Lexis-Nexis. This hardbound, three-volume set ($505) is the motherload of associations - showing detailed information on more than 23,000 local, state, national, and international associations. Gale says that seven out of every ten Americans belong to an association, and now I believe it: they all show up here in this extensive directory set.

The Associations Yellow Book is 1,400 plus pages, and profiles 1,045 of the leading U.S. trade and professiona

What is a Franchise? Information on the Franchise Business
Franchise businesses are everywhere, but what are they exactly? The most famous franchise today is the McDonald’s corporation. This company has established itself all over the globe and is one of the leading companies in the world.What exactly is a franchise? Take a look deeper into the heart of the business world and discover the information about the business of franchising.The Root Information on the Franchise BusinessA franchise is an imitator of an original business concept. When someone is interested in purchasing a franchise opportunity, what they are actually purchasing is the right to repeat the original business operations in another area. A franchisee receives complete instructions to the success of the original business and they get the benefit of having the business plan and marketing done in advance.By definition, a franchise is being granted the authorization to sell or distribute a company’s goods or services in a certain geographical area. For example, because a restaurant’s marketing area is limited, usually to people in the local vicinity, creating a similarly run restaurant in a different area would be considered a franchise.A business figures out a formula for producing the same

keter - and you’d like to have the 96,000 members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association apply for the special trial rate of your new credit card. Or, maybe you’d like the National Electrical Contractors Association - with 80 people on staff, and a budget of $10 to $25 million to support their 4,000 member firms that comprise 118 local chapters (along with the entire personnel of each member firm) - to apply for your new phone service. Associations can deliver thousands of their members - new customers for you - with a just a few contacts and a modest budget.

The Associations Yellow Book is 1,400 plus pages, and profiles 1,045 of the leading U.S. trade and profession

Can You Market Effectively Without Purpose and Vision?
I went to lunch with a friend the other day to ask him about his company's marketing journey.You see, I knew that he and his partner had hired a marketing coach a couple of years back. I wanted to find out what their experience was like and where they had challenges and successes along the way.This particular company is very typical of the small, service-based businesses that I focus on in my own marketing practice. They would tell you that they're a couple of accountants who are really good at what they do and enjoy the clients they work with. They would also tell you that they weren't marketing people who knew how to attract a steady stream of new business.I asked my friend if there was a particular point in time or event that finally triggered their marketing breakthrough. I wanted to understand what they learned through their own trial and error. I wanted to see if there was something specific that helped them finally crack the code on marketing.At first he thought the answer was when they finally narrowed down their target market. They finally defined a niche that was a very good fit for them, made sense to them, and helped them stay laser beam focused. We agreed that this was a huge break

ion space, caterers, promotional products, printed material, ballrooms, ground services, and on-site entertainment, to name a few.

The Associations Yellow Book is 1,400 plus pages, and profiles 1,045 of the leading U.S. trade and profession

Warming to Global Competition: Why We Think Too Much About China
Talk of China's economic impact on the global economy is all the rage at most business meetings and in media articles focused on improving North American competitiveness. The barrage of news and numbers coming out of China seems relentless. It makes even the strongest quiver. Growing technological expertise - 360,000 new engineers per year join China's workforce Low wages for both skilled and unskilled labor - Fortune Magazine (Dec. 6/04) cites 39 cents per hour for industry laborers, $2,000 per month for design engineers, and $20 per month for general laborers China is experiencing more than 10% growth per year At the same time, hundreds of thousands of jobs are disappearing in North America Fortune 1000 companies are being bought up or heavily invested in by Chinese companies Natural resource and energy prices are skyrocketing, in part because of increased global demand China seems to have become a world economic power practically overnight. As we woke up to the new environment, market pressures had increased at a phenomenal rate and our margins were spiraling downwards out of sight.As with any change we think is outside of our control, our nat

, fax 410-810-0911) along with its companion, the State and Regional Associations of the U.S. directory ($79). The state and regional association guide is particularly useful if you are targeting specific geographic areas and want access to top local association contacts not included in the national book. The State and Regional Associations of the U.S. directory also has a higher percentage of association managers who, while managing multiple associations, cross many industry lines when sourcing vendors or affinity marketers.

The Associations Yellow Book is 1,400 plus pages, and profiles 1,045 of the leading U.S. trade and profession

Growing Your Employees
The importance of reinvesting in your business is no secret. If you want to remain competitive, you need to ensure you are using the latest technology, the newest equipment, and are applying the most current methods in your operations. You are also quite aware of the importance of a highly skilled and capable workforce that can utilize these assets and effectively strive to outperform your competition. Investing in capital is a priority of nearly every company, but what about investing in your employees?Hiring quality employees has always been the goal of every organization. The methodology has been well defined from the development of detailed job descriptions to rigorous interviewing procedures. Much effort and money has been spent in an attempt to attract and mete out the highest caliber recruits. Thorough background checks, scrupulous reference reviews, meticulous investigation into criminal records and past performance as well as comprehensive assessments of the representative skills are the mainstay of every successful human resource manager. A considerable amount of energy is expended in the process of finding that capable employee, but what about your current workforce?There are companies out there that hav

The Associations Yellow Book is 1,400 plus pages, and profiles 1,045 of the leading U.S. trade and professional associations. Included within these profiles are 42,159 officers, staff and board members, 263 political action committees, 437 foundations, and 725 branch offices. 1,036 associations with Internet sites are included.

To be listed in The Associations Yellow Book, associations must operate on a national level and have annual operating budgets of at least $2 million. Each listing is broken down into 10 logical sections: 1. Name and communications information 2. Description (association mission, number of members, number of full-time employees, operating budget) 3. Chief Staff Executive - which uniquely enough provides a photo of the executive director printed in the directory along with his or her background information 4. Officers and Management - including direct-dial phone and fax numbers and e-mail addresses 5. Government affairs office and phone 6. Committees 7. Foundations - research, education, fundraising and contacts 8. Branches 9.Publications including editors, frequency, and content 10. Board 11. Meetings - conferences, seminars, dates and locations and 12. Mailing list availability and contact.

The listings in The Associations Yellow Book are supplemented by eight indexes: Industry; Geographical—alphabetically by state; Budget—alphabetically within five budget classifications; Political Action Committee; Foundation; Personnel—all names are listed alphabetically; Acronym; and Master Index of Associations.

One of the most outstanding features of this easy to use directory is the quality and depth of information about each association. For example: the full page and one-quarter listing for the International Association for Management Education shows not only the 18 officers and management personnel with their individual direct dial phone numbers and extensions, their affiliations, education and email addresses, but the listing also contains the names and affiliation of each of their 23 board members. Even the receptionist gets her name mentioned with her phone number. So if you’re looking for the person who just handles the conventions, or the publications, you can write or call directly to him.

The clean layout and extensive coverage in each listing (plus all those photos that we think are a nice visual touch) make this excellent reference tool one of the favorites around our offices. I can assure you it’s heavily used, and we recommend it.

The Associations Yellow Book is available from Leadership Directories, Inc., 104 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. 10011; Telephone 212/627-4140, Fax 212/645-0931; web address: www.leadershipdirectories.com. Published semi-annually, the subscription cost is $245 for two issues. Additional subscriptions to the same address are $172. Subscriptions include access to their Internet association database which is updated daily.

Marketing to - or through - associations may turn out to be a key component of your campaign; don’t overlook these great resources for their membership lists or for opportunities for joint ventures in affinity marketing.

Association directors represent key players who are in charge and in tune with virtually any industry, so they make great resources if you need information. Sometimes mailing or faxing a few simple questions to an association headquarters may produce more information faster than an entire year of researching books or reading trade periodicals. The foremost goal of most associations is to educate their members - might as well have them educate their members about your products and services.

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When people find themselves complaining in an office about the boring every day work, the stress, the traffic, the vain conversations, the noise, the faxes and the annoying reminder of Memos, notices, emails, etc... a few people wonder what If I could do something different with my life?

Marketing has never been an exact science. In fact, it's often more about learning from mistakes and things 'not to do' than creating a great new ad campaign or promotion. Here's 5 marketing sins that we've committed and learned from - you'll save you both time and money if you can avoid them.

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