Real-World Trials of a Small Business Owner

by Britt on October 6, 2009

Sigh. My goal of getting this blog up and running to help small business owners has been waylaid by the necessity of helping my real-world clients. To get caught up, I thought it might prove helpful to cover a few of the issues that have filled up my days and weeks.

Who Am I?

I think this question, almost more than any other, trips up my clients and small business owners in general. When you start your business, you’re often so busy wearing all the hats (e.g., bookkeeper, owner, employee, janitor, etc.) that come with a small business you don’t have time to define your identity.

As I’ve discovered, you don’t have to do it all at once in order to have an impact. To make the process manageable, I suggest setting the goal of making a decision a week, based on priority. For instance, it’s probably more valuable to clearly define your service and/or product before you stress about what colors to include in your logo.

My Budget is Small

Going small can lead to big results. Unlimited budgets (not that they really exist) can result in missteps and wasted energy because they remove the impetus to focus. Working with a small budget can lead to options that you might otherwise overlook. For example, a client’s small budget for web design led to customizing an existing template, which meant the website went live much faster than if we had gone the custom route.

I Don’t Know Where to Start

You’ve created a list of projects, but how do you decide which one to do first? The desire to do everything all at once can paralyze the small business owner into accomplishing nothing. Recognizing this reality can go a long way towards helping you check some things off the list. Think of your projects in terms of hours. What can you accomplish in one hour?

Make the Choice to Act

As a small business owner, you have a choice between acting and freezing. There will always be a reason to not do something. You can’t afford to wait for perfect circumstances. While not every small business has the same problems, they do have the same goal: success. Often the difference between success and failure is choosing to act. What will you choose?

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Nudging Customers with Products

by Britt on June 3, 2009

No matter how great you are, sometimes you need to nudge customers to come back for more. The catch to nudging? You can’t become an interrupter. You have to stick with the rules of permission marketing.

In order to get permission, you make a promise. You say, “I will do x, y and z, I hope you will give me permission by listening.” And then, this is the hard part, that’s all you do. You don’t assume you can do more.

So what are your options for permission-based nudging?

Product Nudging

Today, I’m focusing on product nudges. Purchased products already have permission to be in a customer’s home. Use this implicit permission to your advantage. Bubble and Bee Organic figured out a way to give a nudge while providing customers with useful information.

Few things are more frustrating than running out of favorite products in the shower. Bubble and Bee Squeezed Body Wash alleviates that worry. Instead of sending an email after a set amount of time, Bubble and Bee marks their bottles with a cheeky, “You Buy More Now!” By taking advantage of their packaging (clear vs. opaque), Bubble and Bee makes it easier for you to judge when you need to buy more.

Bubble and Bee then goes one more step and includes a second prompt on their packaging. Conveying a sense of urgency we might otherwise ignore in a static email, your bottle tells you, “Ok…Now You Need Overnight Shipping!”

bubblebee

Nudging doesn’t have to be heavy handed. If you have a good product, most customers just need a reminder to come back for more. If you’re smart product marketer, you’ll let the package nudge for you.

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Why Another Blog?

by Britt03.11.2009

Thanks for subscribing. I know there’s a lot of content to choose from, so I appreciate that you’ve chosen to share your eyeballs with me.
As the principal of Britt Raybould Consulting, I work with SMBs (that’s small and medium businesses) to help them work out the marketing kinks. Some of my clients start from scratch [...]

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