There is a vast array of ways to set the prices of your products and services for your small business.  Some of the more popular methods include the following:

• Examine competitor pricing and meet or beat them with the lowest price, or you can provide more value or perceived value to the service and charge customers more.

• Set the pricing based on net or gross profit margins.

Missing from these common methods of pricing your products or services is the whole idea of pricing to value. In other words, you charge based on what the product or service is worth to the customer in need. This pricing model works great for both service and product based businesses. An example of this with a service based business is a simple logo design. Your local florist might get charged $250 for a new logo design by their local graphic artist whereas McDonalds or Burger King can pay hundreds of thousands for the very same thing for their nationally branded company to top name advertising agencies for the same thing. What’s the difference? After all, they are both purchased the same exact service that may have taken the same amount of time to create. The difference is this. The logo seen by the local florist will be seen by thousands each year whereas the logo seen at a company such as McDonalds or Burger King would be seen by untold millions. The time to design the logo design itself is insignificant. It’s all about how many times it is viewed or exposed to the public eye. Because of this increased market exposure, the value is higher for the nationally exposed logo.

In business, we get to price our services and products based on the value of the problem that we solve. Defense attorneys tend to get paid more then janitors because they help keep people out of jail, and that sure means something to those facing criminal charges.  Their future or a part of it is at stake. Therefore, the defense attorney gets paid quite well. That same attorney may help file bankruptcies on the side, but they cannot charge near what they would as a defense attorney. Even though they are the same person, the value of each of their services differs greatly to the customer in need.

So, when it comes to pricing your services, always consider value. It may significantly increase your bottom line!

There are many forms of media that can be utilized as tools for an effective marketing campaign. There are billboards, magazines, websites, email campaigns, brochures, direct mail pieces, posters, television ads, newspapers, radio spots,  promotional items such as your company slogan on a coffee mug, and lastly, social media sites like Twitter. We will refer to these tools as forms of media. All of them can be effective when used properly. Over time the tools in our toolbox may change, but the laws of marketing do not and must be applied to every tool in our  marketer’s tool belt. When a new tool appears it does not change the laws of marketing, it just changes how we reach the customer. It is merely a channel.

Here is a quick breakdown of the 4 laws of marketing that are used without such tools as Twitter and other forms of social media:

1. Locate Your Customer

First we must create a profile of the ideal customer. We need to determine  such things as their age, race, gender, yearly income, location, and educational level to name a few. We also need to know how and where they spend their time. Whether it’s when they are online, at work, or in a store. The data that we are gathering at this stage is commonly known as demographics.

2. Create Your Campaign

Once we know who our customer is, then we must reach them with the best tool or tools in our tool belt. For example, if you know that women who go to a certain mall purchase high end purses, then a billboard closely located to the mall featuring your high end purse would be the proper tool to use to help influence the desired purchase, even if you sold solely through an 800 number, and did not have a store in the mall.

3. Track the Campaign

You need to know what your sales numbers are before and after the campaign in order to measure the results effectively. It’s obvious that if net profits increased then the campaign was a success, and if they went down, we need to analyze the campaign to determine why. Once the campaign was run, we then must make adjustments to the campaign even if we had a net profit. With just a few little tweeks, we may be able to make more money from an already successful campaign.

4. Survey Your Customers

Poll your customers to find out where they saw your ads. Continue to put the most marketing dollars into the highest performing ads while closely monitoring the lesser performing ads. Don’t cancel the weaker ads immediately. Be sure to give them a little time before you declare them a success or failure.

The most important aspect of your business is not your business plan, financing, current industry trends, ideas, employees, taxes, location, nor your health insurance plan. It’s having customers to serve. By far, this is always the number one rule of business. By having a customer, your business has now been validated. You now have someone to sell your product or services to. Rule number one is very simple, but you would be surprised how often it is overlooked.

You may not even have a business now, but don’t let that stop you from determining if you have a customer. How can I do this without a business you ask? You can achieve this by doing market research, using common sense, conducting some test marketing, and utilizing some deductive reasoning. Here are some examples that can get your brain churning. The toothpaste company that actually develops a toothpaste that whitens teeth knows that they have customers because of the number of people who spend large sums of money at dentists getting their teeth whitened. The lawyer who focuses on medical malpractice suits knows that they have a customer because of the large sums of money that can be won in a case for patients going through undue pain and suffering after being treated. The idea of ebay was brilliant because brick and mortar auction houses have been around conducting auctions forever.

To put it simply, having a customer is rule number one. Getting a customer is rule number two. Keeping the customer is rule number three. Following these three simple rules will keep you in business for as long as you want to be in business.

We all have talents and skills that we tend to devalue and under appreciate. But what comes easy to you, does not necessarily come easy for the next person. You see this type of thing all the time, especially in our school system. One child may excel in math, but can’t spell to save his or her life. Another child might be  a fantastic athlete, but they are not so gifted in music. I for one, hate fixing things. In fact, I think I am much better at breaking them. Our individual God-given abilities are here for a reason, but so often, they are left undeveloped and under appreciated by us.

It is not enough to be talented. Having talent is a great starting place, but that is all that it is. Once we recognize our talent, it is up to us to develop it and that takes work, and lots of it. This truly is what separates the men from the boys or should we say, the women from the girls? Now, we have all heard of  Michael Jordan. Many believe that he is the best basketball player ever in the history of the N.B.A.  That is pretty impressive when you consider all the other players that have played the game over the last century or so. This includes players such as Larry Bird, “Magic” Johnson, Julius Erving, Pete Maravich, Dominique Wilkins, and Wilt Chamberlain to name a few. Now Michael Jordan was not born that good, and  he did not get there overnight either. Just ask his high-school basketball coach that cut him from the high-school basketball team. Michael did not let this temporary set back affect his outcome. This would turn into yet another stepping stone in his life. To make a long story short, when teammates of the Chicago Bulls championship teams talk about what it was like to play with Jordan, they consistently bring up his practice habits. He practiced harder than anyone on the team and by doing so, he raised the bar of what was to be expected by the other players on the team. Great talent needs a great work ethic. Otherwise, it is a great waste.

When you are considering the right business for you to get into, look for the businesses that are in demand and that you have a knack for. If you are willing to do some hard work, you will clearly outperform  competitors that are not quite as good as you are. There are plenty of business owners out there that are in the wrong  business and their products, services, and customers  suffer for it.