Continuity Of Operations For Small Businesses: Fill & Download for Free

Small businesses have countless problems but from what I have experienced and observed, they all have one common and underpinning problem - they are so busy working IN their businesses to run them that they have no time to work ON their businesses to improve them.This problem is a self-propagating cycle in that it has a root cause in the lack of resources, which limits the ability to make improvements which leads to an inevitable outcome of financial under - performance which in turn fails to deliver an excess of resources ... and the cycle starts again. For me, all other small business problems stem from this central one.This situation creates a small business trap where the small business is not performing sufficiently well for the owner to get their investment back by selling it nor is it giving the small business owner a decent wage or an appropriate return on their assets employed. So they continue to operate but with a sense of entrapment, disillusionment and hopelessness. Sadly, the inability to generate an excess of resources is often a direct result of poor initial decisions that are now almost impossible to change. i.e. location, lease/customer/supplier agreement, ergonomic fit-out and ownership structure.Also, ownership of a small business is like driving a car at fast speeds on treacherous roads with blind corners and unseen pot holes. It's not like the owner feels they can take time out to consider an alternative 'new improved' model or risk their already wafer thin financial resources on some new idea that might improve things, sometime in the future. Small business owners only have eyes for today's confronting problems ... which is why they mostly remain 'small businesses'.Anyone who has made small businesses their target market will know of the issues I have outlined.Not sure of the intent of the question, but if your idea is to build a business that provides innovative solutions for small businesses, then I would suggest that you follow the Coke model and:have a product solution with plenty of testimonials or related known referrals or is extensively advertisedoffer an easy-entry 'turn key' solution (install a Coke owned fridge with a set assortment of products)maintain your product offer for the small business (regular Coke rep. that does the re-ordering and in-store merchandising)

A broad question.Without knowing your business, let's go through and build a workable marketing strategy that could be applied just about anywhere. As we go, I'll mention different tools and tactics that you might want to include.But…Before we get started, there are two pieces of information you NEED to know like the back of your hand.And if you're like most business owners, you only know one of them.First, you need to know what you're selling. This is where most people start. They have a great idea for the next big thing. They can't wait to get started.But they often forget about part two: your customer.Do you know who your ideal customer is? I've asked hundreds of people this question and often the answer is something like, "Well, everyone who likes x." Or, "everyone who has x problem."That's not good enough.To put together a killer marketing strategy, you need to know who your target customer is. Of that "everyone" who wants your product, what does the average customer look like?If you know this, let's continue. If not, spend some time figuring it out. I'll include some links at the end of this answer to help you do just that.But first…You've likely heard the term, "funnel" before. Let's talk about what it is, and how it leads to sales.A funnel is a structure that you build your marketing strategy around. It's like a roadmap for all your marketing efforts.Essentially, it's a way to get your target customers into your world, interested in your product, and handing you their hard-earned dollars.Here's how it works:Let's explore each segment individually. (NOTE: The Nurture phase can be broken down further and often is. But that's getting a little too crazy, a little quickly. Let's keep it simple.)To start off, I'll talk about the 'Attract' phase and how that might work for you.Don't worry, we're still going to build a marketing strategy together as promised. But it's important you understand the theory behind all this if you want to adapt it to your own business.Ready? Let's go…Remember when we talked about your ideal customer? The person most likely to purchase? Well this is where we extend a warm welcome to these individuals and attempt to bring them into your world.There are a zillion ways to do this (not a real statistic), but I'll just go over a few.With each tactic, remember that your goal is to capture the interest of your target customer. We aren't asking them to buy anything yet.Here are a few tactics that work in the Attract phase:Social media (free)Social media (paid)Writing/bloggingOutreachHave you ever followed a page on Facebook simply because you like what they post? Maybe it's a comedy page, maybe something political.Whatever it is, you've decided that you enjoy their content. They've got your attention.This is exactly how you would use social media in the Attract phase. You could use Facebook to attract potential customers. Or maybe connect with people on Twitter. Why not release videos on YouTube? You could even try writing some killer posts on Quora ;)Whatever you decide to do, don't worry about making the sale.Right now, you're just building an audience. Soon, you'll be turning that audience into cash.PROS: Free. Able to connect to huge audiences.CONS: Time consuming.Releasing new videos on YouTube can be a great way to eat up all your spare time. Posting on Facebook is less time-consuming, but can still tie you up and waste precious hours.Instead, have a look at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram ads.Sure, you'll have to pay a little cash, but it's a huge time-saver. You can even pay professionals to write, manage, and improve these ads for you— meaning you can spend your time running the rest of the business.Keep in mind though, right now you're just building your audience. Use ads in the Attract phase to get people to visit your website, read your blog, or join your Facebook page.PROS: Easy. Trackable (analytics). Hands-free.CONS: Expensive."Every business needs a blog!" Heard this before?It seems to be a common claim, but I'm quick to disagree: you only need a blog if it's part of your marketing strategy. Don't start a blog just because everyone else has one.With that said, I feel like a good, high-quality blog can be one of the best ways to build an audience. It's a way to provide massive value to the world and earn some recurring readers. Plus, if you target your blog towards your ideal customer, you'll be attracting the most likely buyers for your product.PROS: Full control of platform. Easy to monetize.CONS: Time-consuming. Hard to build momentum.Print out a brochure full of useful information and give it to 100 of your target customers. Pick up the phone and call 8 target customers every day. Contact target customers on Twitter and ask them what their challenges are.Outreach means getting front of your customers. Not by writing a blog post and waiting for readers, but by actively contacting them.In the freelancing world, this is where a lot of folks get started. They'll see a website that could use better design and then contact the owner with tips/feedback.In the Attract phase, this isn't all that popular. Most folks associate this kind of behavior with sales (cold calling). But it can work wonders if you're prepared to put the work in.PROS: Instant relationship with target customers.CONS: Super time-consuming. Hard to be consistently genuine.Ok. You've built some kind of an online presence and now you've got the attention of your target customers. Let's sell them some product!!…Eventually.Right now, we aren't going to make a sale.Instead, we're going to "nurture" our audience and push them towards a sale. This is where you would offer information that's more specific to the problems your product solves.For example, if you offer a new widget, you might put together an email series that shows your audience what kind of problems it solves.As before, there are many ways to do this. I'll go over them below.However, as we go, notice that each one requires that you collect either an email or some other piece of contact information from your audience. This is huge.This is actually what makes the Nurture phase so powerful. Not only are you using this phase to walk your audience towards a sale… you now have a way to contact them when the time is right!Exciting stuff, right? Let's look at:Email AutorespondersFacebook GroupsWebinarsAn, 'autoresponder', is sequence of emails that send themselves automatically. You write them, software sends them, your customers read them.They're great because once written, they're a hands off way to nurture your list. I suggest using them to solve a problem your customers have. For example, if you're a small law firm, you might write a five-email series titled:Free Email Course Teaches YOU How to Prepare Your WillOr, if you were a used game reseller you might write a regular newsletter advertised with:Receive Video Game News and Reviews, Right to Your Inbox!The point being, you've now taken an occasional audience, and opened a line of communication with them. This is the point of the nurture phase.Eventually, you can slide into the conversion phase by simply adding an email like, "receive 10% off your next video game." Simple.PROS: Free. Highly-targeted. Easy to monetize.CONS: Time-consuming. Hard to come up with new ideas (for newsletter). Expensive if you hire a writer (education series).Personally, I haven't explored Facebook groups as much as I'd like to. However, I've worked with several clients who swear by them.With a Facebook group, you can offer personal advice, answers, and solutions to your target customers. This is also a perfect place to get feedback about your products or ask customers what problems they're facing.Of course, you'll also know who they are and can target them with Facebook ads when they're ready to convert.PROS: Free. Very personal. Great for specialists (personal trainers, mentors, artists)CONS: Very hard to outsource: they want YOU.Webinars are a smart way to nurture your audience while still being economical with your time.Like a Facebook group, you'll be able to answer questions from your audience and respond personally. However, what I love about webinars is that once recorded, they become an asset you can use to get more leads.As in, you could offer a free download of your (previously-recorded) webinar as email bait: "Enter your email to download this webinar and join our newsletter."Now you have an email to use for further nurturing, or to push towards a sale in the conversion phase.PROS: Free. Very personal.CONS: Requires video equipment/technical knowledge.This is what you've been waiting for. This is where you make some sweet, sweet, cashola. Money, money, money.Are you ready?It's actually a lot simpler than you might think… just ask for the sale.At this point, you've given your customers all kinds of valuable information. You given them webinars to download, solved their problems over email, answered questions on Facebook. Now, all you need to do is offer a solution to their problems……A solution that just so happens to have your brand name on it.Here's how to make it happen:Sale pageFree consultationAdvertisingOk. Your audience has finished reading the last email in your autoresponder series. Now what?You could ask for the sale there. You could point to your Amazon page or the checkout page of your website. You might get some sales.But instead, why not send them to a page built specifically for making sales? A page that reads like a sales brochure?Going back to our law firm example, your last email could ask readers to "click here and get a will written for you… in just three days!"Following that link, readers then find themselves on a page that talks about your easy estate planning service. It all starts with a quick visit to the firm, schedule one today!This is my preferred way to make sales. Most of the clients I work with end up building one. They're great because you can continue to edit/improve them in order to turn the maximum number of leads into the maximum number of sales. Cha-ching.PROS: Customizable. Great final step. Trackable (Google Analytics).CONS: Can be costly.If you'd rather make a sale over the phone, forget the sales page and offer a free consultation. You can use this opportunity to dispel any objections and make sure your product is the right fit for your customer.If your business offers an expensive product or specialized service, this is a great move.PROS: Can be more persuasive.CONS: Time-consuming. Budget-consuming (paying a sales team).Ads in the Conversion phase look much different than ads in the Attract phase. In the Attract phase, your ads were:Targeted very broadlyAimed towards getting people into your funnelIn the Conversion phase, your ads are:Targeted very specificallyAimed towards getting people to open their walletsHere, you'll try to target customers who already know what you do and how it helps them. You can do this in a number of ways. I'm a huge fan of retargeting (showing ads to people who've already visited your site). I also like using emails or Facebook IDs to create Custom Audiences to show Facebook Ads to.PROS: Easy. Trackable (analytics). Hands-free.CONS: Can be expensive.Before we build our example funnel, I just want to mention that the above is really just the basics. Smart businesses are forever fine-tuning their funnel to capture the most number of sales.There's also huge opportunity for upselling after a conversion, or otherwise throwing customers back into the funnel for more sales.If you're interested in learning more, I suggest reading through some of the links included at the end of this answer.Now, let's build an example funnel.The Company: Arturo CoffeeThe Product: High-quality coffee delivered weekly.Target Customer: Men between 25 and 45. They work in offices, not with their hands. They pride themselves on their intelligence. They like to keep up with world news and politics. They're busy all the time. They either own their home or are renting an upscale condo/apartment.Arturo Coffee has a Facebook page that shares information about brewing great coffee. They talk about the tools and equipment you can use to do so. Whenever possible, they try to share discount codes and coupons for these tools to save their audience money.Simultaneously, Arturo operates a blog that objectively reviews coffee from around the world. Arturo reviews a new coffee every week.Readers of Arturo's Facebook page are routinely prompted to join the Coffee Club newsletter— a twice-weekly newsletter that offers brewing tips, advice, and special discounts never offered to the public Facebook page.On the blog, users are met with a Welcome Mat that prompts them to join the same newsletter. Also, at the end of each review, a call-to-action box instructs users to enter their email to receive a free sample of the coffee being reviewed (this week only).After receiving seven emails from Arturo Coffee, readers are sent a discount code."Sign up today, and get 20% off a year's supply of coffee! That's a new flavor every week, a new experience, a new brew to sip from your favorite mug while you read the paper. And for the next three days, you can sign up for 20% off what the general public is paying!"Clicking on the link, readers find themselves at a sale page. This page shows them exactly how the service works, what happy customers are saying, and how bulletproof the 100% money-back guarantee is.A sale is made. And another.Arturo uses that cash to build a more robust funnel with multiple streams of customers, better monetization schemes, and fine-tuned copy.Attract customers on Facebook and through the blog.Nurture customers using an email list.Convert customers with a sale page.Yes, it's simple. And yes, if this were real life it would involve a lot more complication.But at its heart, that's all it takes.Now… how can you build something like this for your own business?FURTHER READINGTarget CustomersBuild the Perfect Buyer Persona With These 6 ResourcesThe Complete Beginner's Guide to Creating Marketing PersonasHow to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business [Free Persona Template]AttractThe Complete Guide To Building Your Blog Audience7 Tips for Building a Social Media AudienceNurtureLead Magnets | 9 Lead Magnet Ideas and ExamplesThe 5-Step System for a Perfect Autoresponder12 Tools That’ll Help You Build a High Converting Landing Page4 Elements of High-Conversion Landing Pages (with Examples!)ConvertHow to Write a Killer Sales EmailHow to Target Facebook Ads Based on Email AddressThe Ultimate Guide To Creating and Running a Kick Ass WebinarFine TuneCustomer Value OptimizationGood luck!

First thing to keep in mind is, small businesses are by-and-large more impacted by local and state regulation than they are by federal laws. This has been a common theme when surveying our professionals.Since 2012, Thumbtack has issued economic sentiment surveys that ask thousands of small business entrepreneurs about the public policies that affect their ability to start, operate and grow a business. In fact, it is now the largest continuous study of small business perceptions of government policy in the United States.While it’s still too early to tell for sure what the impact of President-elect Trump will be on the conditions in the small business economy, the top two policy issues our pros want the new administration to focus on are healthcare and access to capital. We’ve heard a lot from our pros how healthcare benefit portability was key to enabling them to start their own businesses, and we will continue to advocate for it as part of whatever reforms are to come.It also seems likely that at some point over the coming years there will be some legislation (or rulings) that clarify the employee / contractor distinction. This is often in the news in regard to large labor platforms, but it’s actually an issue that all of our small businesses face as well, so we look forward to more clarity on that front.We’re digging deeper into these topics, and we’ll continue to track how small business owners across the country are reacting to the moves the new administration makes. You can count on us to make sure that the voices of our pros are heard in these debates!