Small Business Tips and Ideas - BizSieve.com

Giving Cards to Your Visitors and Customers to Get More Business

Using cards is a fantastic way to get repeat customers and to generate leads and gives your business a far more professional seeming edge as well. Despite this, handing out promotional cards is something that many companies don’t consider and is generally one of the lesser methods used for marketing. Here we will look at it in detail, and at why it is such an effective form of promotion.

What Are Promotional Cards?

Essentially promotional cards are cards that you can give to a customer or a lead in order to try and increase their interest in your business or to get them to come back. The card can literally be a flier or an advertisement, or it can offer someone money off or a special deal. Lastly it might be an ‘ID Card’, a ‘Loyalty Card’ or a card that they can buy as a gift card for someone else.

Benefits

There are many benefits to this. First of all, even if your card is simply just a promotional one for your business with no special deal or membership attached, this is still a highly effective way to market. This is because it gives your client something to remember your company buy that they are more likely to keep on them. If you give someone a flier, then this will mean that they probably simply fold it up and put it in their back pocket in order for it to ultimately be ruined in the washing machine. Likewise you might give someone a promotional flier and find they quickly bin it.

However a card is of course made from a much more high quality and sturdy piece of material. This then means that someone who has been given it is much less likely to dispose of it and far more likely to keep it permanently. Chances are with a card that they will slip it in their wallet which will mean that they see it each time they go to get out money and which will mean it avoids the bin as an eventual destination.

Because the card is high quality too, that then means that the promotional card will be seen as a high quality product – which in turn will mean that the association with your business becomes a favourable one. They will look at your card and they will think – this is a high quality business. And of course that’s what you want them to think.

Furthermore, if you then include a special deal or an offer on this card, then that means that they will likely have it to hand when they first think about using your business and this in turn means that it will actually encourage them to use your company – as of course is the intention in the first place.

Meanwhile these cards are also able to be given to other people and that will mean that someone can actually actively promote your business for you. A gift card or a discount card is a nice gift to give to someone (which a flier is not) and so it’s a perfect way for you to attract more business to your site/shop/restaurant.

And finally if the card has an ID element, such as the person’s name or a picture (if you have facilities for your own card printing) then this will enable you to make the person feel ‘involved’ in your business and even almost committed to using your services.

This guest post was written by Brian. He recently got his company to use membership cards for their customers and needless to say the loyalty points got customers coming back for more.

Sustainable Leadership

Many organisations know how to make a profit, but there is more to running a business than simply making the cash tills ring. Those at the top of a business need to recognise this, and ensure that a healthy organisation is one that builds on the principles of thinking long-term, effective leadership and communication, and nurturing relationships.

It’s easy to think about what needs to be done now to clinch a deal or grab that next lucrative contract, and many workers have the skills to negotiate this, but effective and sustainable leadership is much more than that. So, where does an organisation start?

Knowledge and awareness

Sustainable leadership can only be achieved if the leader is aware that they need to think in a long-term way. They need to know who the organisation is, what its goals are, where it’s heading and how they want to achieve success. It’s a complex process and involves engaging with managers and other members of staff to gain insight and input into how things are being run. Having the skills to manage and monitor this alone is crucial, and often requires external assistance.

Developing skills

Many managers need to develop and hone their skills to become effective leaders. They need to keep abreast of the latest ways of thinking to maintain market competitiveness. Leadership development training is critical to sustainable success and can give leaders the opportunity to inspire others to go that extra mile in their work and to connect strategy to performance. It can help develop skills to allow leaders to connect people to their organisations, see how they fit in, modify change in behaviour and create shared commitment to achieve specific goals. Leadership development enables leaders to communicate to all members of staff the wider picture of how the organisation operates, aside from the day-to-day operations and how what they do contributes to the organisation as a whole. Thinking long term about the business also helps to foster good internal and external relations, retaining both staff and customers.

Action plans and setting goals

Sustainable leadership can only thrive if a leader outlines plans and goals for the organisation, rather than just letting things happen. Recognising what these plans and goals are takes time and commitment, and is often achieved with the help of executive coaching, where professional assistance can be given to help glean out exactly what these plans and goals might be, and where the company is heading. Often, the use of executive coaching not only improves leadership development skills but also unlocks potential and ideas that may have not come to fore without outside input. Sometimes leaders are so wrapped up in the here and now, that they can’t necessarily see the finer detail and how all these pieces of details fit together like a jigsaw.

Sustainable leadership requires expertise to communicate long-term thinking to all members of staff, dispelling the notion that business success is only about the profit share. Long-term market growth and maintaining competitiveness are all vital ingredients for a sustainable, successful business.

About the Author: This post was written by James Harper on behalf of Performance1 experts in leadership development and executive coaching. Please follow this link to find out more about executive coaching and leadership development.

How Waste Management Jobs Can Help Redesign the Energy Use of a Business

How companies manage waste is a core element of their entitlement to the ISO 14001 mark, which signifies a commitment to the development and maintenance of sustainable working processes. Waste management jobs are therefore a key part of the business’ ability to become consistently environmentally aware – a fact that bleeds over both into that business’ CSR and overall sustainability quotient.

The management of waste is a far more pressing problem than most readers would probably believe. Landfill sites, never much vaunted in the first place thanks to their unsightly nature, their ability to harbour serious diseases, and their potential production of noxious or toxic gases, are running out – and so with nowhere left to put the refuse we accrete, we’re having to start thinking of other means of dealing with the issue.

Waste management jobs are largely focused on getting as much of a company’s rubbish as possible either reused, recycled or turned into energy. Where none of these options are possible, the waste must be compacted to the smallest possible size – which is either done through incineration or through physical compaction.

Incineration must be properly managed in order for it to be both effective and environmentally sound. Obviously a by-product of waste management jobs in which incineration is a common practice, gas and ash both present pollution hazards – though properly managed they may also be used to provide various forms of energy, for example through heat or pressure.

Waste management where incineration is a legal requirement (crematoria, for example) comes with a whole load of subsidiary concerns. High temperature gas management is a skilled activity in its own right, requiring the design of a system capable of filtering hot gas to remove all contaminants before it finally passes into the air.

Waste management jobs require highly qualified and experienced candidates, who are able to determine the particular waste management needs of their industries and businesses. Every sector has its own materials and waste producing processes – so every waste manager must be capable of approaching the waste problem from a practical as well as a theoretical standpoint. It’s only by creating waste management procedures that answer the needs of the business as well as those of the law that any real progress can be made.

Waste management jobs are therefore carried out in concert with other environmental professionals – particularly ecologists, who are able to advise about the environmental impacts of different kinds of waste managing.

Part of the waste manager’s job, in concert with these other professionals, is to understand the potentials of the waste itself – both good and bad. Good waste potential includes the possibility that it may be turned into energy, or that it may be recycled and used in future manufacturing. Bad potential includes the possibility of lasting damage through “hard to kill” substances – like some aggressive dioxins, for instance, which can have serious consequences of the environment and which may be created as a by-product of trying to manage the waste in the first place.

About the Author: Lisa jane is a freelance copywriter and environmentalist. He’s currently working with Ends Job Search promoting a variety of jobs including waste management jobs and specialist jobs in the conservation sector.

The Different Types of Advertising Mediums

Advertising is the promotion of a business service, product or event carried out primarily to increase brand awareness, improve sales or raise awareness about certain products and events. Advertising is an essential part of any company or business, and is usually allotted considerable support, resources, strategy and funding. There are many different advertising mediums, all of which serve a variety of different purposes in different locations.

Advertising is mainly centred around achieving the following aims and goals for the majority of businesses:

Increasing the buzz-value of the brand or the company.
Increasing the sales of the product/service.
Introduction of a new product, service or event.
Creating and maintaining a brand identity or brand image.
Communicating a change in the existing product line.

The main forms of advertising used to achieve these are print, broadcast and outdoor advertising.

Print Advertising (Magazines, Brochures, Newspapers, Fliers)

Print media advertising has always been one of the most popular advertising options, mainly due to its audience reaching capability and proven history. Newspapers and magazines sell advertising spaces in various parts of the publication to businesses who wish to promote products, events or make announcements. The cost of print media advertising can vary considerably depending on the location of the advertisement in the publication (front page, above or below the fold, full page/half page etc), the quality of the materials that wish to be used (glossy ad or plain paper and colours) and the amount of times the advertisement is to be featured over time.

Broadcast Advertising (Internet, Radio, Television)

Broadcast advertising has risen in popularity with the expansion and improvement of audio/visual technology over the decades. Television and radio advertising has been popular since it was first available, and the internet is now one of the most used forms of advertising. Broadcast advertising can rely on eye catching images, videos and audio to gain attention and popularity, but is often the most expensive form of advertising available.

Outdoor Advertising (Flags, Banners, Building/Fence Wraps, Billboards, Events)

Perhaps one of the most effective and cheapest options, outdoor advertising is a popular and reliable form of advertising. Outdoor advertising has the advantage of being constantly on display, allowing for greater reach to a wider audience who might pass its location every day. Outdoor advertising can be used in a variety of different ways to raise brand awareness, promote new services and products, or provide information about upcoming or current events. Outdoor advertising utilises creative and eye catching designs of various logos, colours, images and sizes to gain attention.

Outdoor advertising can be tailored to specific purposes, and be used over a wide area to promote a business to a greater audience of potential customers. Particular types of outdoor advertising include event signage, building wraps, construction signage, fence wraps, vehicle signage, banners and flags. Outdoor advertising is also effectively used to promote events that are up and coming, or provide information and attract attention to specific amenities and services during the event itself.

Advertising in these mediums is a great way to improve and expand your business, and each variety can provide different results to different audiences and locations.

When, What And How To Outsource

If you’re running an expanding small business it can be difficult to know what you can do in-house, and what you should outsource. There are special circumstances for both – what your company actually does, how reliant you are on the service, and what resources and money are available to you – but there are also general rules that can and should be applied when the decision to outsource is made.

When to Outsource

You need to evaluate what you can do effectively and economically in-house first, naturally.

Running a small business eats up a lot of your time. If you find that you’re cutting time and resources from the jobs integral to your business, just so you can do tasks such as bookkeeping and payroll – it’s worth considering outsourcing.

However, when judging the relative value-for-investment returns offered by outsourcing versus in-house work, don’t just include the cost.

The skills your staff have built up while working for you, their familiarity with your business and your needs, and their greater reliability can all be hidden advantages to using in-house services. So even if it works out more expensive to do everything in-house, you might decide that paying a premium for reliability and known quantities is well worth it.

Conversely, you might decide that your staff’s skills make their time more valuable in real terms than the amount you are paying them – so even if a freelancer costs more, your in-house staff could spend their time better.

Finally, make sure that no editing is required. Editing of outsourced writing or coding might take no more than 15 minutes a pop, but it still adds costs on top of costs. Your time, and the time of your employees, is valuable. Be absolutely sure that you factor in the time-cost of editing outsourced work.

outsourcing dilemma
Image by: Robbert van der Steeg.

What to Outsource

The benefits of outsourcing are that you get to shift tasks that may have been sapping a lot of time and a great deal of money from your company simply because your workforce doesn’t have the skills or motivation to perform these tasks quickly and effectively.

Don’t ever outsource something just because it’s not an enjoyable task. You need to consider whether that task is one of the important things that people come to your business for – give that up, and you’ll compromise your standing as a company.

Do, however, consider whether a task is taking longer because your skilled and professional staff are given no motivation to complete it quickly – that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should outsource the task in any case like this, just that it is an option to be looked at.

Outsourcing data entry tasks might be worth it, for instance, if your company’s paid staff are mostly writers, and thus aren’t interested enough in the task to complete it quickly. If there are opportunities within the company related to data entry, however (being in charge of Content Management Systems, for example), you might find that the work gets completed very quickly and efficiently indeed.

There’s little point in punishing staff for completing boring work slowly, though – it’s easier and creates less ill-will to outsource the work to somebody who gets paid more if they work faster and harder!

There are a lot of tasks that make sense for most businesses to outsource because teaching someone the skills required doesn’t make sense given the limited time they’ll be spending on the task.

Bookkeeping and payroll only generally take half a day a week, so there’s little point in training someone in-house specifically to do that. Similarly, there’s hardly any point in hiring an IT guy if your company consists of relatively few computers – it makes more sense to bring in freelancers.

How to Outsource

When you’ve decided what you need to outsource, shop around for the best deal. Think about what packages are on offer, and whether you need to choose someone local or not. Anything where you might need an on-site visit (for example, IT management or office interiors) will need to be local, with say, an hour of where you are based, whereas tasks that only involve digital communication are fine to be based further afield.

It’s not necessarily a good idea to outsource overseas – even though the costs might be compelling, often you get what you pay for, and your service may suffer.

Think of how comprehensive the service needs to be, and don’t be afraid to negotiate on prices and what you think should be included. Many companies offer flexible rates, depending on both the service and the business.

Outsourcing should be utilised to complement your key business objectives. Ideally it should be implemented to allow your skilled workforce to concentrate on their primary role. If this is done correctly, you will see your business grow and achieve success.

Any outsourcing horror stories to share? Great successes? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author: James Duval is an IT-for-business specialist who is addicted to his Xbox. He writes blog posts for Interaction UK London.