What Problem Can You Solve For Your Customers?

Businesses have problems and they’re always looking for ways to solve them.

When’s the last time you asked one of your customers, “What problems or hurdles are you facing right now?”

By posing this simple question, you will likely discover something new and strengthen your relationship with your customers, especially if you can find a way to solve that problem. And just by asking this question you will open up a whole new relationship with your clients. 

How Business Owners Can Leverage Hot, Growing Industries

When you own a privately held business, it helps the bottom line to be in a growing industry. Not only does make it easier to improve profits, but it also helps your company become more attractive to potential buyers of your business.

Ibis World issued a report back in February that identified the best industries in which to start a business in the U.S. Today we’ll reveal the eight growing industries and how current private business owners can take advantage of their anticipated growth.

Who Are The Brand Managers on Your Staff?

You might be looking at this headline and say, “Duh, the marketing team.”

Well, yes and no.

Yes, your marketing team has the specific responsibility of managing your company’s brand and marketing messages.

No, your marketing division is not the only group of people that represent your brand to the outside world.

Let me explain.

How To Be A Great Salesperson

Many people liken a great salesman – a man or woman who can quickly adapt to any situation – to chameleons, a class of lizards of which some have the ability to change their coloring for camouflage purposes.

A more fascinating and impressive creature that is stellar at adapting is the octopus, which can change not only its color but its texture as well. Watch the video below for this phenomenon.

Just as octopi have to adapt to their surroundings to survive, salespeople must adapt not only to different personalities but also to a variety of situations in order to thrive.

In honor of the remarkable octopus and its eight arms, here are eight other types of professions/traits that a great salesperson must channel to be the best at their jobs.

Increase Your Facebook Audience Engagement With These Effective Strategies [Infographic]

In 2004 Facebook reached 1 million users. By the end of 2012, Facebook had more than 1 billion monthly active users.

As the social media platform has grown, so too have the number of businesses on the site.  After exploring proven tips for increasing engagement on Twitter last week, it’s time to look at strategies that increase engagement on Facebook, another social media giant.

Study Reveals Proven Tips for Increasing Engagement on Twitter [Infographic]

Twitter has been around for seven years now, and the majority of businesses – estimates range from 50 percent to 80 percent – have taken to the social media platform. But many marketers are still searching for the “perfect tweet formula.”

In order to stay relevant, businesses will have to continue developing their social media marketing strategies as the Internet evolves – making the hunt for that perfect formula an ongoing one. But don’t let that get you down or overwhelm you.

Regardless of what new features are rolled out tomorrow or what new networks emerge, there is something that social media marketing teams can do today – analyze information that we have and add new best practices to our arsenals.

One study that helps us get closer to the perfect formula comes from Buddy Media. Nine months ago the company published an analysis that examined what was driving user engagement on more than 300 of the top brands on Twitter.

Why Getting Involved With Google+ Will Help Your Business and How To Start [Infographic]

If Google+ is not included in your company’s marketing strategy, it’s time to add it. The social media platform is here to stay and can give your business’ marketing strategy a refreshing boost with easy-to-implement steps.

Cut the Clutter From Your Business’ Marketing Message

“Simplicity has never been more powerful,” reads a subhead on Jeff Hoffman’s Inc. article.

Boy, is he right.

Market research firms estimate that we see about 5,000 ads daily. That doesn’t even include the real-time updates from our friends on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google+.

With all these instant updates and thousands of ads we take in daily, it’s easy to agree with Hoffman: Simplicity has never been more powerful, especially when it comes to your marketing strategy.

The No. 1 Rule for Company Blogs

It seems that nearly every organization has a company blog today. If your company doesn’t have one and you are planning to create one, at the outset you need to be realistic about why you are setting one up.

So what’s the point of creating a company blog? You might tell me that the blog’s goal is to “strengthen your brand” or “act as a lead generator.”

Those are common objectives, but how do you accomplish those things with a corporate blog? It all starts by following one simple rule.

And I guarantee that if you’re not following this rule, your blog won’t achieve its goals.

Make Marketing A Priority, Especially When Business Is Booming

When business is good, it’s easy to let your own marketing efforts slip. After all, you’re making plenty of money right now – what could go wrong?

As we all know, plenty of things could go wrong. Your largest client’s budget could shrink, or your point person with a major customer could find another job. There are plenty of things out of your control that could cause your company to slow down.

And that’s why your own marketing efforts should always be a priority, even if things are going great. If we’re honest with ourselves, we know it’s not possible to always have a booming business. Just like the economy has fluctuations, so too does a company.