Details

Keys to Being Faster to Market; Expand Your (Market) Reach; If U Cn Rd Ths, U Can Advrtse!; Greater “Ear Share” Means More Share of Mind; Berry Built + Design: Fueling Growth with Business Internet; How Can I Effectively Juggle My Schedule on the Go?

Keys to Being Faster to Market
Expand Your (Market) Reach
If U Cn Rd Ths, U Can Advrtse!
Greater “Ear Share” Means More Share of Mind
Berry Built + Design: Fueling Growth with Business Internet
How Can I Effectively Juggle My Schedule on the Go?
Web Hosting Built to Your Specs

Keys to Being Faster to Market

Small businesses can leverage agility to stay ahead of larger competitors

In the traditional model of business competition, larger organizations used economies of scale to outperform their smaller competitors, often driving the little guys out of business. Think mom-and-pop retailers in the age of big-box retailing. While there are undeniable advantages to scale, smaller organizations have their own advantages, especially agility and flexibility. By leveraging those advantages in reacting to changing market conditions—and even anticipating them—small businesses can get a leg up on their larger competitors by being faster to market with the new products and services their customers crave.

“Small businesses, because of their size, agility, and cost structures, are often better positioned to serve niche markets than large corporations,” notes the Intuit Corp. Future of Small Business report. Small businesses have the ability to develop deep customer knowledge and intimacy in narrow markets, which often are too small for larger competitors to serve effectively. The agility and flexibility of small businesses make it easier for them to rapidly customize products and services tailored to the specific needs of their customers—an advantage most large companies simply cannot match.

“Speed is what we small businesses have going for us, among other things,” asserts Adrian Miller, a sales consultant, trainer, speaker, and author based in Port Washington, New York. “We can be nimble because we have little or no internal politics to deal with, but many small business owners haven’t quite yet become adept at leveraging this opportunity.”

Miller counsels keying your business’s approach to responsiveness to the e-commerce model consumers have widely embraced. “We’re used to auto-responders acknowledging our purchases a nanosecond after we make them,” she says. “So isn’t it just plain wrong to make prospects and clients wait for days before replying to an email or call?”

Dan Markovitz, president of New York City-based TimeBack Management, suggests that large companies are “often sclerotic with meetings and long, complex approval chains,” which causes them to be slow in reacting to market changes. Small businesses can take advantage of that in two ways, he says.

First, get out of the conference room, because that’s not where the action is or where decisions should be make. “Small business owners and managers should go where the issue is—the customer’s store, the production line, or the location where the service is being purchased,” Markovitz says. “That’s where they can actually see the unvarnished, unfiltered facts and make better decisions.” Second: talk, don’t email. Face-to-face communication is more efficient, more effective, and it carries less risk of confusion or miscommunication, which leads to fewer mistakes and faster action. Executives at large firms, typically buried in email, don’t have this option, he notes.

For more tips on being faster to market, check out “Fast to Market: Bringing New Products and Services to the Market Faster Than Your Competitors.”

Expand Your (Market) Reach

There are many ways to enter new markets, each with its own set of considerations

The early days of many small business startups often look like a lifeboat drill, with the owners scrambling to grab enough customers and line up sufficient operating capital just to keep the doors open. Most then settle into a survival mode, generating a steady stream of income capable of supporting the owners and keeping the business afloat, but not much else. Perhaps surprisingly, most small businesses never venture beyond that stage, according to research by the U.S. Small Business Administration. For those that do, important decisions have to be made regarding growth and how to expand your market reach.

As in investing, there is an inverse relationship between risk and reward when it comes to various approaches to market expansion. Organic growth—positioning yourself to capitalize on additional opportunities within your current marketplace—is a low-risk option, but the potential reward is “exponentially smaller” than some other options, says James Sinclair, principal at Los Angeles-based OnSite Consulting. A more radical approach involving leveraged moves may result in greater exposure and risk, but it also creates opportunities for bigger rewards.

Some market expansion strategies worth considering are:

• Broad-based diversification. Expanding into multiple new product/service categories and new markets in one fell swoop increases your chances of hitting a home run with a wildly successful new product or customer segment, but this “all-in” approach is not for the faint-hearted. You’ll be dealing with multiple variables simultaneously, some of which may be completely new to you. The potential upside is big, but so is the risk.
• Focus on product or service development. Since this is a single-variable strategy, risk is reduced. If you have an established customer base that has expressed interest in buying additional products or services similar to those you already offer, this may be right for you.
• Further development of existing markets. Boosting market share by selling to more local customers or getting existing customers to buy more is a classic growth strategy, but it can be tough to implement. A competitive point of difference such as lower prices or a clearly superior product or service is usually needed.
• Expanding into new markets. Many small businesses adopt this approach because it can be cost-effective and easy to implement using online technology.

Small business owners also have different options available when it comes to executing a market expansion strategy, such as opening additional locations, setting up e-commerce operations and engaging in strategic partnerships. Shel Horowitz, a small business consultant based in Hadley, Massachusetts, suggests exploring the partnership approach before any other. “See if you can find another business already active in a market or audience segment you’d like to reach. If you can structure a deal that makes it advantageous for a partner to put your products or services in front of its customers, you both win,” he says.

To learn more about market expansion, read “How to Develop a Business Growth Strategy”, “How to Decide Whether Your Business Should Build or Buy”, and “To Grow, or To Steal”.

If U Cn Rd Ths, U Can Advrtse!

Text messaging can be an inexpensive and effective advertising tool

Almost 90% of Americans own mobile phones. They send and receive about 3.5 billion text messages a day, and about 70 million people use their mobile phones to go online every month, according to a report by Opus Research. In some respects, mobile is a medium that is already bigger than the Internet. So why aren’t more businesses using it as a marketing tool?

Good question, says Greg Sterling, author of the report, since SMS (“short messaging system,” the technical term for texting) is more versatile and effective than traditional Internet advertising, generating response rates that can run two to 10 times higher. The number of Americans who are regular SMS users is double the number who access the mobile Internet, and consumers—especially younger ones—exhibit growing levels of acceptance to SMS advertising because of its opt-in nature.

Market researcher eMarketing projects that all U.S. mobile advertising spending will almost triple, to $1.56 billion, between 2010 and 2013, with the vast majority of that growth coming from messaging-based advertising (as opposed to display and search). Keys to successful SMS marketing include keeping messages short and carefully targeted and sending them only to recipients who opt to receive them, experts say. SMS is versatile and can be used for branding, customer acquisition, customer loyalty, and direct marketing.

You don’t have to be a techno-whiz to get started in SMS marketing, either. A number of companies offer turnkey and/or customized programs, including ChaCha, HipCricket, 4Info, and SmartReply. And the Interactive Advertising Bureau offers a comprehensive Mobile Buyers Guide you can download for free here.

Greater “Ear Share” Means More Share of Mind

Smart marketers are reaching prospects through their MP3 players

Next time you’re on a bus, subway, or commuter train, count the number of people listening to MP3 players. Many of them are likely listening to Green Day or Lady GaGa, but a substantial number are probably listening to podcasts. Podcasting is a subtle marketing channel that can be particularly effective for companies with a long sales cycle, and just about any small business can use podcasts as a way to engage customers and prospects without a hard-sell approach.

There’s lots of help available with the nuts and bolts of podcasting’s technological aspects at sites like podcastFAQ, Everything with Podcasting, and How to Start Your Own Podcast. And a cottage industry of podcast consultants and coaches has sprung up for those who need a higher level of hand-holding. What’s most important about using podcasting as a marketing channel, however, is getting the message right.

“Yes, podcasts can be a great tool for small businesses to reach their target customers, build relationships, increase credibility, and generate more revenues,” says Scott Fox, a successful author, podcaster, and entrepreneur. “But the podcast must be engaging enough to get them to listen to it in the first place.”

Keep in mind that an MP3 player is primarily an entertainment device for most people, so podcasts have to be interesting and engaging at least—and entertaining at best—in order to win many listeners. There are many different formats you can use, including Q&As, thought leadership pieces and amusing slice-of-life anecdotes, but whatever topic you choose, make sure it relates back to your business in some way.

To make it easy for your intended targets to find your podcasts, consider listing them in a directory such as Podcast Alley or Digital Podcast, and of course post links to them on your website.

Berry Built + Design: Fueling Growth with Business Internet

Berry Built + Design is a family owned and operated business in Spokane, Wash., that specializes in designing and building custom kitchens and baths. Like many firms in the building trades, it has seen growth slow as a result of retrenchment in the housing market recently. But company president Matt Berry is looking to the future and making plans to expand the firm’s market reach when economic conditions improve, and he’s counting on his Comcast Business Internet service to help achieve his goals.

“Our plan is to resume expansion when customer demand starts to pick up again,” Berry says. “We hope to expand our reach, attract more customers and capture a larger share of the market, and we have all the tools in place to make that happen. Our innovative and intimate approach to design and planning, our products and materials, and our highly skilled people set us apart.”

Berry Built + Design already relies heavily on the speed of Comcast Business Internet to share large design files and photos with clients, to conduct research, and to stay abreast of the latest innovations in its industry through continuing education and interaction with fellow members of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. As it refocuses on growth and expansion, that service will become even more important.

“‘Crucial’ is the word I would use to describe it,” Berry says. “The speed, reliability and excellent customer service we get with Comcast Business Internet are vital to our market research, product knowledge and client communication efforts. It plays an important role in much of what we do and are trying to achieve. It’s a wonderful way to stay connected to the rest of the world and an economical alternative to traveling to trade shows.”

How Can I Effectively Juggle My Schedule on the Go?

With back-to-school time approaching, it can be even tougher to juggle a busy schedule. Between client and supplier meetings and the kids’ school and after-school activities, you might need help linking to your packed schedule when you’re on the move. Connecting to Microsoft® Office Outlook Full Access—available free of charge to Comcast Business Internet customers—allows you to link your Outlook features to your Windows-enabled and iPhone mobile devices. With the service, wherever you or your employees roam, you can:

• wirelessly view and edit your calendar and contacts,
• send and receive e-mails that automatically synchronize with your office and
• synchronize and update your calendar data, tasks and contact information.

Learn more about how Microsoft® Office Outlook Full Access can keep you connected to your busy schedule, anywhere you go.

Web Hosting Built to Your Specs

What do you need in a website? Are you looking for a custom domain name, static IP address, VPN, FTP access, e-commerce support, merchant services, or any of a wide range of other productivity features? Comcast Business Web Hosting offers a flexible package that offers the services you need most.

Compare Comcast Business Web Hosting services side-by-side

• Tags: