« Older Entries

The Fate of Small Businesses on the Arrival of Big Brands

Running away when you find yourself in a competitive environment without a single effort or even a failed trial to see if you can make it can be termed the worst form of failure.

What defines you as a success story, are those efforts you made on your way to success and not the success itself. Your ability to take the bull by the horn and make concerted efforts to make a mark when everything seems blurry is what the definition of yourself should be.

Small and growing businesses tend to run into hiding when the “Big bull” (the big business) comes to town.

Some go as far as closing up even before the arrival of these big businesses. They surrender at the mention of the arrival of big businesses not minding the fact that they (the small businesses) have existed for a very long time.

This is as a result of the self-inflicting pain and fear that they bring upon themselves due to poor orientation and insufficient grooming. As a small business owner, you should be able to adapt and change with changing market conditions. When the market is shaky and unstable, your agility and stance must be firm and resolute.

A proper mindset, a proper thinking pattern and a good success orientation and grounding would help you to adjust and face the competitive business world confidently and bravely too.

It would not be much difficult for any small business that has been doing well in the past to retain its market despite the presence of big brands/businesses.

All you need to do is believe that you can make it and retain your company’s image along with your value driven products and services.

Nevertheless, a small business that have not been living up to expectation can still put up measures to weather the storm at the emergence of big businesses.

You as the owner of a small and growing business should possess a reasonable certainty and resolution devoid of relying on weak hopes to take your business to the next level as you aim at achieving success. You do this by putting in place, a good marketing system that directs and helps you to achieve reasonable amounts of profits and success.

The big mistake that most small and growing businesses make is that they are unsure of themselves and end up using excuses to cover up. They fail to realize that their business is meant for some people and those potential consumers would come looking for them if only they can distinguish themselves and offer something substantial and valuable.

You have people that believe in you and in what you have to offer. Remind yourself of this always and you will conceive that driving force you need to propel you further for more profitable actions.

When your mindset is constructed and built up with the thought that, “if anyone can do it, so can I”, all your actions and strategies would be based on energy and hard work aimed at hitting your target and reaching your goal.

It is therefore left for you as a small business owner to decide to stay put even if you are surrounded by the big businesses and create products and services that would help you sustain and grow your business.

Your products and services have to possess greater value to the customers.

As a small business owner, you have an edge over big businesses because;

Your operational costs are low.

You have direct contacts with your customers.

Due to your closeness to your customers, you can get to know what they think about your products and services and how you can serve them better.

You can come up with a very dynamic and targeted marketing plans and systems that cut across your target audience.

Some of these advantages are not always available to big businesses due to their administrative bottlenecks and wide (sometimes unnecessary) market coverage.

A Simple Product Creation and Product Launching Formula

If you tried to think of people involved in product creation, who would come to mind? You may think of Edison, Franklin, or maybe Henry Ford. Would you ever think of yourself as someone who can create a quality product? Product creation is actually relatively easy and product launching is not that tough either! If you follow a few easy to understand steps, you could be starting the product creation and product launching process sooner than you think.

The first step in creating your information product is to know and understand your market. This can be very time-consuming, especially if you are unsure of what to do or where to look to know your market. Studying your niche market and understanding the buzz words and buying patterns can ease the process dramatically. Personally, I would recommend networking with someone who has had success in the niche market you are considering and learn from their results. If they are into product creation and not very business savvy expect some hesitation. If they only sell products and have nothing to do with product launching or product creation you may your first affiliate (sales person)! Something else you can use to find hot trends is with the Google Trends tool.

The second step is the product creation process. Take your niche market and brainstorm ideas and topics relating to it. There are a lot of product launching contests going on recently relating to a newly created internet marketing tool. There are so many aspects to the mentioned niche that literally, and unfortunately, anything can be considered an Internet Marketing tool. The reason that anyone can basically create an Internet Marketing tool is because of something called Private Label Rights products.

What I use private label rights products for, and highly recommend them in this specific manner, is to cure writer’s block especially when it is lingering. Many people base their entire product creation and product launching on a private label rights product. This is where you can start to shine and build a strong brand for yourself. If you set goals for yourself, short-term goals to be exact, you can see your product creation come into being much faster and there is a good chance with less revision needed. If you keep hitting time restraint road blocks; however there is nothing wrong with a slow and steady approach, you can consider outsourcing portions of your project. Outsourcing can be an extremely huge benefit or just as great of a disaster.

You can find someone to outsource work to at a freelance site such as Guru.com or eLance.com. When reviewing proposals it is almost mandatory you perform a background check on them as you are in essence hiring them. Doing a background check on freelancers is as easy as asking for samples of their work and reviewing feedback on the freelance site from previous customers. Depending on the size and requirements of your project this can add up to a decent sized investment, so caution is very important. One tip I always recommend to people looking to hire an individual is to ask them what they can provide you that no one else can. This simple question gives them a chance to “toot their own horn” and acknowledge where they feel most competent as far as their skill set.

The final portion of the product creation and product launching formula is the launch. This can literally make or break the effort, time, and maybe (if you invested) money you put in to your project. There are numerous aspects to product launching and although their relevance is debated in terms to their effect, experts agree all must be followed. The person in your field who you asked for product advice from can help you substantially if you have kept in touch. If not, the first thing you need to do is to create a visually appealing website with flawless design work.

I also mentioned outsourcing before, this is one aspect of product launching I have little strength in and I always outsource this portion. The website does not have to be large however the content (ad copy in Internet Marketing) must be stellar and as perfect as possible. This is where advertising knowledge or experience is beneficial. When the site is set up you now put a lead capture form on your website.

I put two lead capture pages on all products I create on the internet and is one of the best methods of getting a solid start when you are in the product launching stage. When you gain information from a prospect or someone looking to get paid for referring sales you are able to provide them updates or specials. Many people abuse their prospect or affiliate lists by in turn emailing them with a new product daily and I find the recommendations to be totally unrelated to their original need, problem, or interest.

Another stage in the product launching stage is creating a free report or demo version of your product to entice the product to sign up to your email list. Using proper follow up with this can help generate numerous sales for you. One thing you need to ensure is that your free product completely relates to your main product that you are looking to sell.

You are now ready to advertise your product launching to customers as well as the opportunity to sell for affiliates. This is the single aspect that many product creations and launches fail on. It is actually not entirely difficult. One thing you can do is write articles (and a good amount of them) on topics relating to your product. I am a huge advocate of giving a solution in forums. When you join a forum you are normally offered the opportunity to create a signature. In your signature, you should enter the link to your opt-in or lead capture page. When you respond to posts, you are advertising your opportunity.

It is not impossible to create a product and it does not have to take a long time. You need to setup a plan and stick to it. If you get stuck, look at similar and successful products to your own and try and see how they did it. When you sit down and brainstorm you will be surprised with what you can imagine.

Tags:

How To Succeed At Online Product Creation The Easy Way

Product creation could be a frightening subject for a lot of Internet marketers to face. Some folks who get in the game with the intention of making a full time income are completely ignorant as to how an online business operates. One of the most profitable ways to create online cash is by creating a product that others are happy to pay for.

Product creation is legitimate method of generating money through internet marketing but many entrepreneurs get it wrong. They start by imitating their Internet marketing gurus by creating information products on Internet marketing in hopes of getting rich the way their heroes did. The problem is that they usually don’t know what they are doing and enter a highly competitive niche with very little marketing experience or connections.

Here are a few tips for effective product creation that may help you get on the right track:
Start by finding a profitable niche with low to moderate competition. If you conduct some rudimentary market research and keyword research, you’ll find many opportunities in areas that will surprise you. Amazon and eBay are two great places to brainstorm for product ideas.

Developing Your Product does not have to be a difficult project. You can find experts in the right field for your niche and pay them to write the material while an artist designs the packaging and website or blog. You can outsource the entire product creation part of the project after you conduct the research and testing to ensure profitability.

Sales and marketing strategies should be created while developing the product and learning about the market. Some experienced marketers use pay per click to drive traffic to their offer page; some folks outsource the entire marketing campaign to affiliates through ClickBank or other affiliate programs.

Product creation does not need to be hard, particularly when the merchandise is electronic. E-books, videos, audio and multi-media products sell very well. They are distributed immediately to customers electronically. Once you have a good feel for a niche market, try to service your customers with associated products and upgrades. If you want to earn money online through product creation, you must understand supply and demand. The majority of new online marketers fail miserably because they go after highly competitive markets or forget to research their chosen niche properly. You have to create your products according to the needs, wants and desires of the prospective customers.

Tags: