Are you finding many of your best prospects already working with competitors? When you pursue a new opportunity, is someone else capturing the prize? Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your positioning. Your market position is the place you occupy in the mind of your prospective clients. It’s how they think of you as compared to your competitors. Adjectives like established or cutting-edge; high-quality or inexpensive; convenient or full-service are all relative terms. When applied to you and your business, they distinguish you from the competition. Read full story

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None of us have enough time in the day to get everything done, but small business owners and entrepreneurs like you are particularly pressed. You wear so many hats; there is a seemingly infinite list of tasks to accomplish each day, from providing services to clients, managing product distribution and delivery, to keeping accounting in order. You try to fit in some marketing when you can, but you’re not sure which activities are essential to do each week or each month to build a steady stream of clients. You make some calls, send out a mailing or put up a

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Doing business with federal government agencies can be very lucrative for the people who lean how to maneuver through the maze of registrations, certifications and regulations. But if you are ready to start, these are the first steps you need to take to open the door to federal business opportunities. Read full story

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The advent of spam, phishing scams, and tightened legislations on combatting these email menaces have put the effectiveness of email marketing on the line. Marketers began to have questions whether emails can still bring the level of response it did a few years ago. Are customers even receiving the emails? Or are the marketing emails being filtered alongside spam? Are customers so inundated with emails that they no longer welcome emails from marketers? Internet Retailer magazine sought to find out how marketers are viewing and using email to promote their businesses. The magazine sent out a survey to 32,000 subscribers

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People enjoy eating ice cream, so why shouldn’t dogs enjoy ice cream, too? Sounds preposterous for some but the lack of frozen delights specifically made for pet dogs gave Becky Marshall of Chicago, Illinois this bright and unique idea to start a business offering all natural frozen treats for canine pets. As Becky said, “Like many pet parents, I will do anything for my big furry child, Hailey. She is my main inspiration. While out for ice cream one evening with Hailey and my family, I wondered aloud why ice cream stores didn’t serve frozen treats for dogs. Many people

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J.C. Williams Group recently conducted a study on the state of e-commerce in the Canadian market. The study, which was based on a survey of 1,014 individuals, found a number of interesting results such as: Gender profile of the Canadian market has shifted from 60% women and 40% men to 55% women and 45% men. Female buyers have a higher tendency to become an impulse buyer. Women are also more likely to become “search and destroy” shoppers, or those who know what they want and where to get it. Online buyers are younger with 58% between the ages of 18

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The April 2005 issue of the Internet Retailer magazine published several interesting graphs based on the AffStat Report conducted by Shawn Collins Consulting, an annual survey of marketers who use affiliates. The survey shows the variety of approaches that marketers take to make effective use of their affiliates. Some of the interesting data of the study are: Most effective method for recruiting affiliates. Email is considered the best way to recruit affiliates (25%) followed by phone (18%) and advertising in affiliate program directories (14%). Percent of total transactions affiliates generate. According to survey respondents, 28% of affiliates generate only less

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Nope, this is not about Match.com or any other dating sites! But if you are a small business looking to get into the business contracting action, then this site is for you. SBA Business Matchmaking http://businessmatchmaking.com/about.shtml matches “small companies with federal, state, and local government agencies and large corporations that have actual contract opportunities for products and services offered by smaller companies.” How does it work? Two modalities are used: one is through regional face-to-face events and the other is through the more limited online network (currently available only in Phoenix, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Tampa, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri;

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An important component of the success of an Internet business hinges on its credibility, defined as the perceived trustworthiness, expertise and security of the Web site. It is how a person judges the site and the level of overall assessment they arrive at — and whether they will continue to patronize the site or dismiss it. A recent article in ProductMarketing.com magazine discusses the ways a web site can improve their credibility. The article defines credibility as ” believability; it is a perceived quality like beauty… Credible sources have the ability to change opinions, attitudes and behaviors, to motivate and

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Global Insight, a leading economic and financial forecasting company, (formerly DRI-WEFA), states that all levels of government (federal, state, and local) should see steady increases in the purchases of goods and services through the year 2009. Vendors willing to make the commitment to sell to government can reap the benefits of this projected government spending. By the same token, government agencies able to expand and modernize their procurement programs can reap the rewards of increased productivity, and a reduction in the costs of goods and services. If you are a company looking to efficiently market your goods or services, increase

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Studies commonly find lack of capital as one of the persistent reasons for the failure of many small businesses. Small and home-based business owners simply do not have the resources and capital needed to keep their businesses alive and grow. So what can a small business owner do? According to the latest book in the popular Rich Dad’s Advisors® series, the solution is to use OPM! Entitled “Rich Dad’s Advisors®: OPM (Other People’s Money): How to Attract Other People’s Money for Your Investments-the Ultimate Leverage”, the book is an interesting read on how to use OPM or Other People’s Money

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I am currently reading this very interesting book “Everybody Wins: The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX” by Phil Harkins and Keith Holligan. The book is a very absorbing read, as it recounts how RE/MAX was started with all the ups and downs that the company and everybody involved in it experienced — from threats of bankruptcies, internal turmoil (revolt of its managers), and the strategies that propelled this business to the top. I am not familiar with the dynamics of the real estate industry, but this retelling of how the vision of Dave Liniger, RE/MAX chairman and co-founder revolutionized the

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