But it’s a great time for reflecting upon where you’ve been and where you want to go with your small business. Use 2011 as the year to bring your business up to speed – technology is just the thing to help propel your business to the next level.

Here are 3 ways to thrust your small business into Super Success mode in 2011:

1. Market with mobile. If you haven’t started thinking about putting a mobile marketing program together, now is the time. Mobile is definitely where the action is. But oddly very few people have caught on. Be a trail blazer in your market and watch the dollars roll in.

2. Think video. If you are not yet using video to market your company, start now. Video will get you more traffic and more prospects than you can imagine. And you don’t have to be a Hollywood producer. For Christmas, treat yourself to a Flip camera and a tripod. Put together a list of twenty frequently asked questions (you know the questions that your consumers are always asking?) For each question, make a one to two minute video you’re your ‘expert’ answer. Post each video on as many video sharing sites as you can. Including YouTube of course.

3. Claim your Google Places listing. If you’re a local business, go to Google Places and claim your business listing right now. Be sure to include your address, phone number, store hours, the credit cards you accept, photos, video and a coupon. Don’t let your neighborhood competitor beat you to the punch.

Although simple, these 3 steps will help you get your business of to a successful start in 2011. Don’t stop here – use them as building blocks to grow your small business and see more profits and leave a comment with your 2011 business resolutions.

Basic Settings

These settings are…well…basic. But, there is a pitfall to recognize here.

1. Campaign Name: The name you designate here is just simply a name you will recognize that differentiates this campaign from others in your account.
2. Will Run Until: Although this setting is quite self-explanatory, overlooking it can cause you to overspend or underspend. If you’re seasonal and your ads stop after Christmas, for example, make sure you indicate a date to stop the campaign rather than relying on your memory. If your campaign has no end date, use the new feature that allows you to indicate that. That was not around when I started with Google Adwords and I fell into the pitfall of having my campaign stopped because I didn’t push the date out far enough.

Budget Options

Your money is on the line here so pay attention to these settings.

1. Budget: This is a DAILY BUDGET number. Not monthly. Not Yearly. DAILY. If you run campaigns where you do not show ads on the weekends and only on weekdays, make sure to adjust your daily budget accordingly to coincide with the fluctuation in monthly business days. I allocate a certain amount per month to my campaigns and the daily budget changes month-to-month because the amount of actual business days is different from month-to-month.
2. View Recommended Budget: This is what Google feels you should be spending. Unfortunately, Google is not in your budget meetings and doesn’t know how much in reality you have to spend. But, check it out and see what they recommend, but remember there are other ways to maximize your spend than just loading in more money.
3. Delivery Method: You can have Google use up your budget early in the day and show your ads very quickly or you can have them space them out and try to make them last throughout the day. I typically have them space them out and even using that method I’ll notice my ads show more often in the morning. Another reason I like to try to space them out is because not everyone is going to research and buy my products in the morning. I actually find I get more quality leads later in the afternoon.

Advanced Options

Here is where you really begin to manage a campaign.

1. Keyword Bidding: With Keyword Bidding you can select how you want to handle the process for deciding the amount you’re paying per keyword bid in the campaign. Options include Maximum Bidding (max CPC you’re willing to pay), Preferred Bidding (setting average CPC you want to pay), Budget Optimizer (Google manages your bids to get most clicks), and Conversion Optimizer (Google’s new cost-per-acquisition tool). With the budget and conversion optimizer, ad scheduling is turned off so the option to not run ads during certain times is lost. Sticking with max bidding or preferred bidding at the campaign level gives you the most control over where your ads place and how much you spend for that placement.
2. Ad Scheduling: A very powerful setting that allows you to set when your ads appear. Only targeting morning searchers Monday through Thursday? Well, you can run your ads during those times using this tool. Find out when your audience is most likely to want to see your ad and have maximum exposure during that time.
3. Position Preference: Another useful utility that let’s you try to place your ad in certain positions on the SERP. If you know your ads convert the best in positions 4-6 than only put your ads in those spots. Remember, it’s not a given that your ads will perform better because they’re in the top spot. Test, Test, Test!
4. Ad Serving: I’m not a fan of letting Google decide which one of my ads is performing better so I typically choose to show my ads more evenly. This is a must if you’re doing any kind of ad copy testing. Through your copy testing you’ll be able to figure out yourself which calls to action or benefit points works best.

Networks

Where will your ad be appearing? Decide that here.

Network settings is where you indicate on what Google mediums you want your ads to appear. Your options are the Search network which are Google.com and search engines in their network like Ask.com and/or Google’s Content Network. The Content Network is where Publishers place contextual advertising (Google AdSense) next to relevant content. In theory your ads appear next to content that closely matches the content of your ad.

This could be the topic of one (or two) future articles, but if you’re just starting out I would recommend putting a campaign on the Search Network then making a copy of that campaign and launching it on the Content Network. I typically have different ad, bidding, and placement strategies for my Content Network campaigns and choose to set them up separately. You’ll be able to get a good idea of how well your ads and landing pages convert on the Content Network versus the Search Network. Keep in mind also that your Content Network click-through-rates (CTR) will be much lower, but this will not negatively affect your Quality Score.

Target Audience

Now it’s time to indicate who will see your ads.

1. Location: Do you have a local business that serves only a small geographical area in your town? No problem. With these selections, you can select either a country/territory, region/city, or a custom location that is within a specified distance from a location you choose. The more specific you are in your geographical selection, the more targeted your ads will be – and in some cases cost less per click. A big pitfall here would be to select the whole US when you serve a much smaller area. You’ll wind up with many unqualified clicks. Remember, even in the US, it might make sense to launch separate campaigns by region as more localized reference or text might appeal more to each individual region.
2. Languages: This is fairly self-explanatory, but I mention it here because I think it’s important to point out that you can launch a campaign in Japan and actually use the Japanese language in your text. I would NOT try to launch a global campaign and only use English in your ads.

So, dig in and create your ads, do your keyword research and then make sure you’ve covered your bases by selecting the setting options that are right for you and your campaign. Neglecting that step can cost you and your small business some valuable budget pounds.

If you found this post useful please let me know and I’ll do some more.

1. Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.
2. Ask yourself what your goals are in participating in networking meetings so that you will pick groups that will help you get what you are looking for. Some meetings are based more on learning, making contacts, and/or volunteering rather than on strictly making business connections.
3. Visit as many groups as possible that spark your interest. Notice the tone and attitude of the group. Do the people sound supportive of one another? Does the leadership appear competent? Many groups will allow you to visit two times before joining.
4. Hold volunteer positions in organizations. This is a great way to stay visible and give back to groups that have helped you.
5. Ask open-ended questions in networking conversations. This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them.
6. Become known as a powerful resource for others. When you are known as a strong resource, people remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you visible to them.
7. Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes your doing it special or different from others doing the same thing. In order to get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.
8. Be able to articulate what you are looking for and how others may help you. Too often people in conversations ask, “How may I help you?” and no immediate answer comes to mind.
9. Follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given. When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.
10. Call those you meet who may benefit from what you do and vice versa. Express that you enjoyed meeting them, and ask if you could get together and share ideas.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is trying to market their product or service to a large general market instead of focusing on a small niche market. As a marketing advisor, getting clients to focus on a niche market is the most difficult part of the job. Whenever I tell a client that they must start off small and focus on a specialised niche market, my client almost always says, “But I think everybody could use my product and if I limit my market, I will get fewer sales.” Then my response is, “Okay, if you want to market your product to the world, how many millions of pounds do you have to invest in regional, national and international advertising campaigns?” Then I get a blank stare or the phone goes quiet.

To be successful in today’s hyper-competitive, over-advertised marketplace, you absolutely must focus your business and marketing on serving a specialised and preferably small niche market. This is especially true and a matter of survival if you have a small marketing budget. If you ignore this advice and try to market to a large general market before first becoming successful in at least one small niche market, I can guarantee you that you will soon go broke and be out of business. However, if you do decide to focus on serving a small niche market, you greatly increase your odds for business success with much less risk.

So what is a niche market? A niche market is group of consumers or businesses that all have a very specific need or want. For example, let’s say you sell fancy and fairly expensive parrot cages. Your niche market consists of people who own parrots, and particularly people who own parrots and earn an income large enough that they can afford to buy your fancy parrot cages.

On the other hand, if you decide to market your fancy parrot cages to everybody in the Britian who owns a bird, you are marketing to a fairly large general market and the money you spend on marketing will be wasted because nearly all of the people who will see your marketing will NOT have a need or interest in buying an expensive parrot cage. Yes, that sound you just heard is the sound of your money being flushed down the toilet because you ignored niche marketing.

Here is another example. Let’s say you invent a new kind of ergonomic chair. This chair is very comfortable and really helps people who suffer from lower back pain. Now, what most inventors would do when they come to me to market their product is they would say, “Everybody will want my ergonomic chair. I want to first market it nationally and then to the world.” Then I ask my famous question of how much money do they have for marketing, and I am told it is a couple thousand dollars. So, my client wants me to launch a national marketing campaign for a brand new product nobody has ever heard of and I am supposed to do this with a few thousand dollars. Not going to happen.

My advice for how to market this new ergonomic chair product is to market it to a very specialised niche market and there are several to choose from. The key is finding the market that most needs this product as well as can afford this product. One niche market to consider would be to market the chair to assisted living centers for the elderly. Another niche market is Chiropractors who could sell this chair directly to their patients who suffer from lower back pain. There are many other niche markets that could considered too. The key is to determine who has the most desperate need for your product or service and then focus your marketing on that niche market. If you are still confused, do this exercise. Find the people who stay up at night worrying about the problem your product or service solves and you have just found your niche market.

Theoretical aspect of the niche market

According to competitive advantage theory there are three main types of business strategies they are: cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies. Of these three main types of strategy what concerns small business most is the focus strategy. Marketing niche strategy is a special type of focus strategy.

There are two types of focus strategies cost focus and differentiation focus. It is most advisable to the small business owner to concentrate on a differentiation focus strategy, since a cost focus strategy might be difficult to maintain without achieving very large volume of production. On what type of differentiation focus can the small business achieve marketing niche strategy?

The following are a few examples:

1. Marketing niche strategy based on customer needs and wants are the most sustainable – this usually arises when the mass-market product does not produce the item required. For example some products may not be customised to the individuals particular needs.
2. Marketing niche strategy can also be created if there are social and cultural differences within a single community that may require that changes may be required to be made to a product or service. This regularly gives rise to a niche market.
3. Marketing niche strategy is also created through exclusive rights – such as brands, trademarks, patents etc For example under the main brand a niche brand can be created to serve special customer needs e.g. milk high in calcium, certain type of collectors items.
4. Marketing niche strategy is also achieved through adopting particular delivery channels.

How to develop marketing niche strategy sustain nichecompetitive advantage?

1. Select a segment of the market that has a special need.
2. Carry out market research to identify if the market size makes the idea feasible.
3. Ensure that exclusivity through branding, patents or trademarks can be obtained.
4. Prepare inventory and delivery channels.
5. Prepare a promotion plan to reach the particular market.
6. Implement the plan.
7. Monitor market continuously to ensure that ‘niche’ characteristics and market continue to be feasible.

If you need help marketing your product or service, contact us on +44 (0)20 7060 1415 or go to our contact us page.

Not sure why the first picture on the iPhone table was a chiseled man in red bikini shorts, but other than that, pretty cool video.

Daniel Pink visits the RSA to expose this common mistake and describe how people and corporations can embrace his innovative approach to the science of motivation.

This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.

In time for the holiday season, we now support rich snippets for shopping (e-commerce) sites. As many of you know, rich snippets are search results that have been enhanced using structured data from your web pages. Our new format shows price, availability, and product reviews on pages offering a product for sale. Here’s a result for [office lava lamp]:

As a webmaster, there are two ways that you can provide the information needed for product rich snippets to show up for your site, both described on the Product rich snippets help page:

Option 1: Provide a Merchant Center feed.

Many sites already provide Merchant Center feeds for use in Google Product Search, which means that most of the work needed for rich snippets is already done. For Google to make use of Merchant Center feeds for rich snippets, you should also use the rel=”canonical” link element on your product pages. By adding rel=”canonical” to your pages, Google can match the URLs in your feed to the pages found by our crawler.

Option 2: Add markup to your site.

If prices for your products tend to change only infrequently, then adding markup is an alternative method to provide product data for rich snippets. We’ve updated our product markup format to allow a variety of different types of shopping sites to participate. In addition to the Google format, we support two other standards: the hProduct microformat and GoodRelations. You can use therich snippets testing tool to test your markup and make sure it’s being parsed correctly.

This feature is currently available to merchants located in the US, but we will be rolling it out in more markets soon. Additionally, there are a number of rich snippets formats that can be used world-wide in various languages—make your snippets compelling and useful! Should you have any questions about the use of rich snippets, check out our FAQs and feel free to post in our Webmaster Help Forum.

Q&A

Which should I provide — a Merchant Center feed or markup?

For most merchants, providing a Merchant Center feed is the best bet. That way your product prices and availability are updated quickly, and the data can be shown in rich snippets as well as in other applications like Google Shopping and Product Ads. If prices and availability change only infrequently, and you don’t want to set up a feed, then adding markup is also a valid option.

If I add markup to my site, will Google show product rich snippets for my pages?

We can’t guarantee that providing a feed or adding markup will result in rich snippets being shown. Note also that it may take a few weeks after providing data for rich snippets to be shown. If you mark up your pages, we encourage you to make sure that the data is parsed correctly by Google by using the rich snippets testing tool. The testing tool updates are rolling out over the next few days, so in this interim period the testing tool may not show previews for some types of markup.

I’ve already done reviews markup for my product offer pages. Should I add product/offer markup as well?

Yes, absolutely. Rich snippets are shown if the information provided accurately represents the main focus of the page. Therefore, for product pages you should add markup using the relevant offer/product fields which can include nested reviews.

With a first shop just opened in Kent’s Bluewater shopping centre, Cadbury Cocoa Houses are slated to spread to Wales next year, according to a report in WalesOnline. Each venue will feature hot and chilled chocolate drinks and a rotating menu created with the help of Welsh restaurateur and food critic Simon Wright; featured items include traditional afternoon tea, bacon butties and knickerbocker glories. “Wherever possible we’ve insisted on using local producers to keep the concept British,” said David Morris, one of the co-founders behind the idea. “You won’t find French, Italian or American items on the menu.” Up next will be another eight to 10 stores opening next year in Wales.

There’s something inspiring about seeing an older brand like Cadbury tapping into concepts like the being space and the (still) made here trend. Will Cadbury Cocoa Houses be able to take on Starbucks and its ilk? Only time will tell. In the meantime, it’s another bit of proof that what’s old really can be made new again. One to watch!

Website: www.cadburycocoahouse.com

I will gladly buy you a lovely hot mug of your favourite hot chocolate, just drop me a line or comment below and we can arrange to have a chat.

Here are 4 tips to help you do just that.

1. Offer Return Shopping Discounts.

One way to give people an incentive to keep shopping with you is to offer discounts to help get them back in the store. That may mean throwing a coupon in with their order or sending them a targeted mailing two weeks after their first purchase. Either way, the coupon gives them a reason to seek you out again and gives them something branded to hold on to and associate you with. Leaving customers with something tangible they can use helps to build your brand and keeps their experience with you fresh in their minds. If you’re going to use discount coupons as a way to target repeat customers, make sure the discount is sizable or unique enough that it will stand out from more generic offers. You need to give someone a reason to use the coupon. Otherwise it (and your brand) will get stuck in their junk drawer.

2. Start a mailing list.

One of my favorite ways to re-target people time and time again is via e-mail lists. E-mail lists give small business owners a more personal way to stay in touch with past customers. You can use your e-mail list to keep customers updated on what you’re up to, share personal business stories, and include information about promotions or special events to help people get back in the store. E-mail marketing is great from a customer retention standpoint, not only because it enables a business owner to include promotional information, but because it helps you develop a more intimate relationship with your customer. E-mail is personal. When you show up in the customer’s inbox, it’s a sign that the customer trusts you and your brand and that they want to further the relationship.

3. Offer Exclusive Discounts.

Another way to encourage repeat business is to offer special discounts to your best customers – whether that means your most profitable customers or the ones that have a history of being loyal. By showing that you recognise the value that they bring to your customers, you make them feel appreciated and encourage them to keep doing business with you. The exclusive offers you give them may include higher discounts, more attention in some way, or early access to sale prices. Make it something that sets them apart and lets them see how much you value their loyalty. Many business owners do this by creating a “private list” or branded “membership program” to help people feel acknowledged and valued.

4. Create a Compelling Experience.

People buy based on brand, but they also buy based on experience. If you want people to come back and keep doing business with you, then you need to focus on the experience that you’re building with them. Some small business owners send handwritten notes to thank customers for making a purchase. Others include small gifts in their orders. Others focus on creating the best experience they can while someone is still in the store. As customers start to feel more and more empowered thanks to social media, I believe it’s this “experience factor” that will be most influential in whether or not customers choose to spend money with your company.

Those are some areas small business owners should focus on when trying to encourage repeat business from customers. What has been key for your business? What do you focus on?

1. Stand in Your Marketers Shoes For a Day

You may think closing a cold call prospect is hard; imagine pulling leads out of thin air. Take a day or even a couple of hours to shadow your marketing department to really understand what it takes to generate those leads you get. Go to your marketing department and ask if you can help them with an upcoming project. Make sure you have an agenda on what you are looking to observe or learn. You will have a new found appreciation for your marketing department, trust me.

2. Provide Positive and Negative Feedback to Your Marketing Team

Marketers thrive off of data. If you as a sales person can provide quality feedback, both positive and negative, your marketing team will not only love you but be able to provide you with better leads. Ask your marketing team what data they would like to see both positive and negative. Once you have the type of data they would like to see use your CRM system to religiously record the information in each prospect profile.

3. Spread the Word Using Your Own Social Media Network

Every sales person should be involved in social media, at the bare minimum Linkedin. If you’re not, do it now- really, GO. Take the content your marketing department makes and share it with your network. This will not only allow you to attract more potential leads to your own pipeline but it will also make your existing customer base happy to see that you are involved and interested in your product.

4. Help Out with Content Creation

I don’t want excuses from sales reps about why they cannot create content. You can pick up the phone right? Imagine not picking up the phone for an hour but still somehow generating leads, that’s content. Sales people should be flocking at the opportunity to create content. There are so many benefits: leads, getting your name out there, leads, using your knowledge of the product in a way your customers will understand, oh did I mention leads?

5. Make a List of Top Questions Asked During Calls & Share it with Marketing Teams

Create a word document or a notepad with questions you get during your prospecting calls. Every couple of weeks send it over to your marketing department. With feedback from the front lines your marketing department can create content that will answer those questions which will resonate with your customers, allowing for a more informed more qualified lead.

6. Be Willing to Experiment and Try Something New

That says it all. Be willing to try new things and keep an open mind. Your marketing department looks at the successes of other companies and does research on new marketing efforts before they turn them over to the sales team. If your marketing department asks you to do something, do it as instructed, don’t gripe until after the fact. Keep in mind they’re testing something, the time to gripe comes when the test is complete and feedback is due.

7. Agree on Expectations and Help Both Teams Holding Their End of the Bargain (SLA)

Because Sales and Marketing should be a team you need to have goals that make sense for both parties. For example a Service Level Agreement that assures all efforts are matched equally on both sides. It works like this: if Marketing promises to provide each sales person with 75 leads a month than the sales reps are required to touch those leads a calculated amount of times to best utilize those leads and maximize the amount of feedback available.

8. Touch Every Lead

If you get a lead you should place at least one call and send at least one email no matter how bad it may be. Only then do you have the right to give negative feedback – cherry picking is not always effective and doesn’t provide accurate data for use in improving target leads.

9. Sell Happy Customers

This one comes from Inbound Marketing Guru and Mike Volpe and I could not have said it better: “Make happy customers who will refer others and say good things online, don’t trick customers and sign people up that will end up being unhappy only to post bad reviews and things about the company.” Selling happy customers leads to referrals and who doesn’t like referrals?

The sales and marketing take away here is work together. You cannot row a canoe up stream unless you are both rowing in the same direction.

What have been your experiences, I’d be interested to know….Leave a Comment below.

Thanks,

Neil