Posts Tagged products

A lot of people are totally missing the boat when it comes to marketing their business online. They seem to think that once they have the right to contact you online (maybe you followed them on Twitter or sent a friend request on Facebook) that they also have the right to shove their products and services down your throat as fast and endlessly as they can.

Somehow they seem to miss the fact that their is social etiquette online just like their is social etiquette in everyday life. If you had not seen a friend for a while, would you hit them with your sales pitch right away or would you first try to renew your acquaintance with them by having them over or lunch or dinner? I hope that you would elect to freshen up the relationship first. Now if you have the common sense to handle a friend that way, how do you think that you should handle someone that you have never met online?

I am amused that as soon as you follow someone on Twitter, that you quickly receive Direct Messages pushing their stuff repeatedly. It use to be that email spam was the big problem. Now, it’s social media spam that is rearing it’s ugly head. I think that if these people offered to genuinely help people build their businesses and help individuals achieve their personal goals, then they would have no problem selling their stuff too.

People and companies have no problems with buying. People actually love to buy, but they absolutely detest being sold to. So, if you are about to launch into social marketing, maybe it is best if you think of it as social networking. Take the time to network and help others. It will only increase your bottom line.

When customers buy your products and services, they do this in order to either feel better about themselves or solve a problem. Sometimes it is for both reasons that you choose to buy from you. They just do not buy products and services. They buy what those products and services offer them. If you sell a product that solves a problem, such as a $30 bottle of weed killer, attach a dollar figure to what the problem could cost if left untreated. For example, if weeds take over a lawn, it can cost you $2,000 to replace the lawn plus the embarrassment and aggravation that goes along with it. Now, doesn’t it make better sense to buy this $30 bottle of weed killer.

By putting a dollar value on the solution, the initial purchase looks that more attractive to the potential customer. By doing this, you are actually selling money and not the product itself. Another example of this in a service based industry is magazine advertising. A magazine may be selling $500/month magazine ads, but if they have an idea of the number of leads that each ad generates their advertisers each month, then the potential advertiser/business take the number of leads that they would get and multiply that by their conversion rates for new leads and thus, be able to determine, if purchasing the ad makes sense for them. Again, it is assumed that the potential customer knows the lifetime value of their customer. So, when it comes right down to it. The potential advertiser is purchasing the ability to earn more money. To put it simply, they are buying money.

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!

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.