If you're operating budget or your marketing plan looks like it five years ago, two years ago or even last year, there is a problem.
With every advance in technology, with every new social platform and with every shift from the desktop to the cloud, the ways in which people communicate, how your customers make decisions and how your employees work will continue to evolve. To stay ahead in today's marketplace, your business growth strategies and tactics must be developed right along with them.
Here are 11 decisions that you make for your business to achieve success in 2011 and beyond:
Shed your excess baggage.
You'll never get ahead as long as you are the one hindering their progress.
In today's economic climate, the efficiency is the number one rule for survival. The future of business is back, smarter and more responsive. It is time to look at your operating costs and see what can be reduced or eliminated.
Now that technology has made it possible to do business anywhere and at any time, whether you still need to maintain a large physical office and everything that goes into the support and maintenance: utilities, landline telephone systems, servers , furniture, cleaning services, etc.?
Or is it time to consider shedding the office and all its systems obsolete in favor of transitioning to a virtual business model and achieving the benefits of lower costs, increase efficiency, increased employee satisfaction and - most importantly - better profitability?
Even if you are not willing to fully devote themselves to making the virtual leap just yet, there are still many things you can do to ease the burden you carry reoccurring costs.
a great first step is to look to the clouds. Today there are excellent cloud-based solutions for everything from project management to accounting and even CRM. Google Apps alone added more than 60 new business-focused web-based applications in 2010.
These tools are lighter, more flexible and more affordable than their traditional PC-based counterparts, the business run your business more efficiently and cheaper.
from the Basecamp project management for Grasshopper virtual phone system to Skype for voice and video conferencing for Dropbox for online file sharing and synchronization, these systems are designed to promote productivity and facilitate collaboration among your employees, whether they are tethered zakabine work from home or office.
And even if you still can not throw the keys to your office, you can at least reduce their dependence on telephone systems, printers, paper, filing cabinets, on-site data storage and back-up ... The list goes on and on.
Bow to the tribe.
Just ask Digg, Toyota, Apple or the Gap: What the tribe says it can make or break you
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What is a tribe? At its core, this is a group that brings together around common goals, interests or needs.
If you want to grow in today's market, you have to identify, lead and become a member of the tribe that are relevant to your business. In addition, its products or services must be shaped around the needs of their members and making their lives better and easier.
Fortunately, the development of social media has stripped away the communication barriers that once divided the company and their tribes. Take advantage of having direct access to your customers and their opinions and include them in your business.
Keep them informed about what you are doing. Ask for honest feedback, not just what you are doing right, but also about what you are doing wrong and how you can do better. By listening and responding, you will strengthen their confidence and earn their continued loyalty.
for the proof of the power tribes, look no further than the Gap's disastrous attempt to launch a new logo in October 2010. According to the company, the logo was intended to highlight the Gap is the transition from "classical American design with modern, sexy, cool." However, in reality, it raises the wrath of their tribes, and caused a wave of embarrassing publicity.
While a simple logo redesign may seem like just a superficial cosmetic changes, when the Gap was the tribe saw his well-known brand icons fall by the wayside, they interpret this as a sign that the company in a traditional style and values will soon follow suit. In response to this violent backlash, Gap quickly scrapped a new logo and the classic blue box again, and in this way, they recovered the confidence and loyalty of his tribe.
to get out of their corporate comfort zone.
In order to engage with their tribes, and refer to them in an authentic way, your company must be a man in every respect.
What does this mean? Think about the qualities that are uniquely human. This includes passion, sincerity and humility, to name just a few.
people take the time to understand and be accessible, responsible and generous with your expertise and help.
People make mistakes, they apologize for those mistakes. Do not be afraid to show the world his shortcomings. Instead, be honest, responsible and reliable.
Taking ownership of the problem is not the same as taking the blame. Your end of the game should not be saving face at any cost, it should be shown that, despite the inevitable mistakes, you always have their clients' best interests at heart
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People want to do business with people who truly care about them and understand their needs, not a faceless corporation whose sole concern is the bottom line. When you engage in real, authentic relationships, and create fans who are not only loyal customers and brand evangelists to do your marketing for you.
Do not just be nice, be necessary.
ubiquity of Facebook has turned the act of "liking" in their own unique form of currency. Brands take part in the chase to the "loved" as if the acquisition of that status in and of itself is the culmination of the company-client relationship.
However, competing in this race war that makes it easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. In today's economic climate, customers are not easily part with their hard earned dollars - unless, that is, they simply can not live without you
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It'sis time to reconsider your value ,not only in terms of price ,but in terms of what it is that your customers come to depend on you and how you can give and more .
For example, Maytag washer initially might cost more than comparable models from GE or Whirlpool, but their customers also know they can expect a reliable, worry-free service for years to come, which ultimately will save them time, hassle and cost of repair or replacement.
What aspects of your competitive landscape, you can own? Is it service? Is it convenience? It is the reliability?
Make sure you address the needs of your tribe and make their lives better or easier in meaningful ways that nobody else can duplicate. In this way, you'll transform your products or services from a mere commodity indispensable necessities.
Stop treating your website like a brochure.
What separates a superstar from other sites?
It's not pretty pictures and flowery copy.
It's not flashy graphics -. Flash or, for that matter
This is not a video or animation or any other bells and whistles in and of itself.
It is to achieve a proper balance of form and function, design and functionality.
Stop wasting opportunities to grow your business with sites that do not actually perform. It is no longer enough for your web site as it sits on the glass, and brochures to give only the basic ABCs of your company.
Actually, the term "web design" itself is a bit misleading. While your site may be beautiful, but more importantly, it must be useful.
Perhaps there is no better case for this argument than Facebook. Facebook is hardly the best website ever built. However, it serves its purpose well, and it's easy enough to navigate to each of his 10-year-old cousin in his 80-year-old grandmother can use it with relative ease.
People like applications, and for good reason: they are intuitive to use, they are directed to serve a specific purpose
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should keep this mentality in mind with regard to the way your website functions. People come to your site for a reason, and they have specific needs that need to be addressed.
When you land on your site, they should not think too much. Instead, point them in the right direction. Your goal should be to provide useful Web-based extension of your company that is available 24 / 7 and gives the path of least resistance for your customers to resources, information and products they seek.
Go organic.
Once upon a time, it is easy to ensure that every time someone asked for types of products and services you offer, that would be in front of them. Every year you want to write a check (although large) for the Yellow Pages and then just sit back and wait for the phone to ring.
But in today's market, when people have questions, want information or need to find a product or service, you flip open the phone book, and not scour the online directories.
Instinctively, they turn to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. As a result, these pages are the gatekeepers between you and the prospects that are looking for a solution that you can provide. With more than 16 billion searches performed in November 2010 alone, it is clear how it gets from appearing in the first few results when someone enters the keywords that relate to products or services you offer.
However, unlike the days when the Yellow Pages prevailing in the world, you can not buy your way to prominence in the organic search results page. Instead, they must commit to an ongoing, dedicated to investing time and resources to work their way up through the rankings search using a legitimate, proven search engine optimization tactics.
Although there is no simple or instant way to jump from page 10 to page one, over time, your patience and perseverance will be rewarded with better rankings, more traffic coming to your site, the more potential to see what you have to offer and increased opportunities to convert visitors into buyers.
to be everywhere all the time.
to compete in today's on-demand culture, you must ensure that you have available for its clients on schedule and the platforms of their choice.
No longer people are usually sitting in front of computers, when they seek answers to their questions and problems. With the proliferation of smartphones, and tablets, mobile browsing is the rise.According data from comScore, in October 2010, about 36 percent of mobile subscribers use their devices for web browsing, while 34 percent of downloaded applications and 24 percent access to blogs or social networking sites .
It is critical to make sure that your customers when they are out there, you're in the pocket, and along for the ride. The first step is optimizing your site for mobile websites to ensure that the small screen-friendly and to review the way is pleasant and efficient process. There is nothing more frustrating for their customers than when they were in a hurry and waiting for your picture-saturated web page to load on Android or fight the move drop-down menus on your iPhone.
Simply put, mobile web development is a trend that simply can not afford to ignore any longer. Your customers will not understand or tolerate their failure to keep up and to keep browsing while to find someone who can provide what they want, when and where they want it.
break out of their social bubble.
Social media is about communication and relationships, with the ultimate goal of building and fostering community around your brand. However, to be successful, you must break out of its own brand bubble and allow others to direct the conversation.
Wherever you choose to establish presence - whether that's on your network if you are B2B, Facebook, if you B2C or on Twitter - you must understand that these sites are not just another place to leave your brochures or their personal platform for endless self-promotion.
Instead, think of your social media as an outpost during the party where people can socialize and talk about things they care about. You want an atmosphere to feel like your living room, where everyone is free to pull up a chair and join in the conversation at your leisure. people who gather there to learn about each other and to form relationships based on common interest in your brand and the values they represent.
just like any real-world social environment, the more comfortable you make it, more people will call it home, and they will no longer look forward to coming back again and again.
For example, if you're in the business of selling your own custom-made handbags, your people are the ones who care about fashion and standing out from the crowd. They are people who love to be on the cutting edge of trends and gossip.
So, no need to fuss at her Facebook page that is constantly spinning around the bags. You could just as easily talk about what Natalie Portman wore to the Golden Globes or to discuss the latest episode of America's Next Top Model. As long as the conversation is going on in your living room, this may not be about you.
In contrast, if you put up a Facebook page and do nothing but talk about it, you'll see an empty page quickly.
Stop keeping up with the digital Joneses.
Because the Internet is public domain, suddenly it's easier than ever to keep close tabs on what your competitors are doing. And with it comes the temptation constantly to make sure that you are present anywhere on the web that are.
However, just because you can see what the contestants do not necessarily mean they work well or that their tactic worth imitating.
Just because your competition is on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, and every other platform in existence, does not mean it should be, too. Just because they have 1000 followers does not mean you're a failure, because you only have a 200th Just because they have a message board on their website does not mean they necessarily should have one as well.
Although it is always good to keep out competitors in sight, do not let that be your focus away from doing what is best for your business. It is far more important to remain laser-focused on their customers and to gain an understanding of where they live and how they prefer to deal with.
to focus their efforts not to step, but the setting itself apart. Carve their own niche in the Web marketing space, create your own identity, something unique to offer their customers and nurture their community devoted followers.
Get out more.
With all the buzz surrounding social networking, do not forget the importance of face-to-face networking.
As one responsible for business growth, you belong to an expansive community of people who are in the same boat. Collectively, these represent an almost limitless pool of knowledge and experience in addressing the challenges of building and growing business. Whether it's colleagues in the related industry or a shopkeeper in the neighborhood, there is a wealth of wisdom and contacts just waiting to be shared.
All too often, however, people treat networking as a stop-gap measure when nothing else works. Networking should not be accessed as an instant fix to the sales pipeline is running dry, but as a long-term investment.
To be successful, you must apply: Be prepared to give generously of their time and expertise, rather than focus solely on what everyone else can do for you <. P>
to build its reputation as a knowledgeable resource, take a genuine interest in helping others succeed, and eventually you will find that opportunities will begin to flow his way.
Turn your resolution into reality.
It's not enough to set goals. You need to develop an action plan for their execution. Otherwise, coal-shoveling tasks required to keep your business running smoothly engine will always dominate your time and attention.
Simply put, you must schedule a time for growth, or all of your good intentions will drown in a sea of wishful thinking.
In reality, you probably can not tackle all 11 of this resolution at once, so decide what is most important for your business and set their priorities accordingly.
break down any big-picture goal in specific, manageable tasks, and establish milestones and data by which to measure its progress.
to set aside some time each week to download and apply a focused effort to achieve your goals. Treat these tasks with the same level of importance as well as meeting with a client or filing your taxes, and do not give them anything to move out ofof their schedule .
Do not fall into the trap of reactionary planning business growth and wait for a crisis of income and cash flow for a serious supporting its competitive position. In today's market, there is no place for targets du jour that the only goal off depending on how the fire burns hottest in the moment.
Establish your goals for the year now, and a firm commitment - to yourself and your employees - that other projects will not be allowed to interfere with their achievement. If things do not work out as planned, do not worry and do not give up. Just adapt and stay focused on your ultimate goal: owning the market
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