I often ask my clients how they follow up with their prospects and customers. “Follow up with my prospects and customers?” they ask with a puzzeled look on their face. I would’ve gotten the same response if I asked them how to split an atom.

Most small business owners are struggling right now. The economy sucks, gas prices are skyrocketing and everyone is tightening their belt. Companies are laying off workers and getting rid of their consultants. It’s tough out there and everyone is scared to death.

Now is the best time to get in touch with your current and past customers. You need to remind them frequently that you’re still available to solve their problems. Send them a note or give them a quick call every couple of months to check in and keep your name fresh in their mind. Their problems are still their in spite of the bad economy and they probably need your help more than ever.

My friend Jennifer LeBrett has a great post on her blog today about keeping in touch with your customers. Check it out at http://topmindmarketing.com/how-do-you-follow-up/

To your online success!

Ted

Blogging to one of the hottest trends on the internet. In case you don’t know what blogging is click here for the definition from wikipedia. Writing a blog for your business is a tremendous way to build a lasting relationship with your customers and prospects. A blog lets you demonstrate your expertise in your niche in addition to letting you express your opinions about current trends in your industry. By commenting on other people’s blog you can expand your potential client base exponentially as well as driving tons of free traffic to your blog.

I’ve been teaching a lot of classes on blogging and the biggest complaint I hear is “I don’t have time to write a blog and to find other blogs to comment on” Here’s a typical conversation in one of my classes:

Ted: You should write at least 3 blog posts a week and comment on other blogs at least 3 times a week
Student: I’m already working 60 hours a week and I don’t have time to write a blog
Ted: Is your practice currently full or do you have more clients than you can handle?
Student: No
Ted: Is your business making a profit or are you just getting by?
Student: Just getting by, barely
Ted: How many hours a week do you spend marketing your business?
Student: I don’t have time to market. I’m too busy running my business.
Ted: So you’re working 60 hours a week, just getting by and you don’t have time to market. Are you working with the right clients and are your charging enough for your services?
Student: I guess not.
Ted: You need to be spending at least 10% of your time marketing your business to your ideal clients. Your ideal clients will understand your value and pay you what your worth. By working with the right clients you will be able to work with fewer clients that will pay you more so you’ll be able to work less than 40 hours a week and make a lot more money. Blogging ss a free way to market your business and reach an unlimited audience. By reading and commenting on blogs that are read by your ideal clients you can build a deep relationship with them and demonstrate your expertise. New clients will find you instead of you chasing the wrong clients. By spending as little as 4 hours a week, you can reach thousands of potential clients via the internet. As your popularity on the internet increases and more people start commenting on your blog posts, you’ll forget that you’re actually marketing your business just by interacting with others.

Recession, the R word, is everywhere. The sky is falling and every business is dying and we’re all going bankrupt. Run for cover because this may be the end for all of us!

People hear the word recession and they panic. The press gets ahold of something and makes it seem a thousand times worse than it really is.  There’s so much conflicting news out there and the press just tries to scare the crap out of us. The bottom line is that if you provide a high quality service that solves your customers problems you’ll thrive in any economic environment. Many businesses thrive during recessions by providing products and services absolutely need and can’t live without. Business owners should look at what products and services they provide and add some recession proof items to their menu of offerings.

I found a great list of 107 free or low cost things you can do to market your business. Check out http://netbizexpert.com/r/107 to see this great list compiled by Walt Goshert. It’s a great list that should stimulate some ideas how you can thrive in any economic environment.

Technorati Tags: recession, recession proof your business, small business marketing, marketing

[tag-tec]Apple[/tag-tec] is a media darling. For some reason they can do no wrong in the media. Everyone loves Apple’s commmercials and advertising. Everyone loves Apple’s products. Everyone loves Steve Jobs, who is God to all Mac users. Everyone loves the cool look of every Apple product. What isn’t there to love about Apple?

Well, the quality of their first generation of products gives everyone reason to hate them. Look at the awful track record of the [tag-ice]iPod[/tag-ice] when it was released. My kids had so many hardware problems with their iPod. I sent my daughter’s back for repair at least 3 times. The battery died, the screen died and the hard drive died. When it broke the 4th time the warranty was expired so we moved on to the newest generation.

Look at the [tag-tec]iPhone[/tag-tec] which had an estimated return rate of 29% by some experts (the real number will never be released by Apple) The battery failed over and over. The screens failed over and over. The first generation of the [tag-self]iPhone[/tag-self] would be considered a failure by any other company.

And finally the [tag-ice]Mac[/tag-ice]. Users are passionate about their Macs even though they cost 2 to 3 times more than a PC and have a very limited selection of software. They are the coolest looking computers but what good is sleek hardware if you can’t buy the software for it. This probably explains why Apple has only 5% of the personal computer market according to IDC. With the fantastic advertising and marketing plus the most passionate users in history you would expect a 95% market share.

So with all of these failures why does everyone love Apple? I own an [tag-tec]iPod[/tag-tec] (very old one I must say) but no other Apple products. I like their advertising and their computers are far superior to Dell’s but they don’t run the software I need for my business. Actually the new Mac’s will run Windows-based programs but I don’t want to shell out $2500 for a computer when a $600 Dell will do the same for me. But for some reason I like [tag-ice]Apple and Steve Jobs[/tag-ice]. In spite of their awful track record of first generation failures, i still consider Apple a high quality company.

Apple has built a reputation of creating innovative products that meet the consumers desires. People don’t need Apple products, they want them. The very best customer to have!! Apple sees a need and fills it. MP3 music became all the rage in the 90′s but it could only be played on a computer. Apple filled the need by creating the iPod which is one of the most success products in history. Nobody needs an iPod but everyone wants one.

Nobody needs an iPhone but everyone wants one. Who wants to surf the internet on that tiny screen? Or check email on that tiny screen? My neck and eyes hurt thinking about it. But I want an iPhone because it’s cool. It’s a status symbol.

How can you create a trust level for your business as deep as Apple has created? It’s pretty simple actually. Find a need and fill it. Give your customers what they want and charge at least double what you think it should cost and they’ll be begging for more.

Until next time,

Ted

Blogging has been around for some time now but most people still think blogs are just personal diaries written by lonely people that ramble aimlessly. Blogs have come of age and today there are many really cool blogs that contain very useful and entertaining information. In fact, many businesses now use blogs to carry on extended conversations with their customers.

If you’re in business for yourself and you’re not blogging then you need to read this article I found in the New York Times. Read this article to see how you can make a huge impact with a very small investment of time and money. Check out the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/business/smallbusiness/27sbiz.html

Feel free to comment on this post to let me know if you’re blogging and if it’s working for you. If you’re not blogging leave a comment and tell me why you’re not blogging.

Until next time.

Ted