Grow Customer Loyalty » Bonsai For Your Business

50% of All Businesses Give Below Average Customer Service
You may not want to believe it, but its simply the law of averages coming into play here. Yet when I ask most people what separates their business from the competition, the overwhelming majority say “We give better service than they do.” Well, these people can’t all be right, can they? More importantly, is better [...]
Your Brand Online
Your company has a story to tell. In days gone by, you’d tell it is small ways, with individual interactions with each of your customers, or in slow ways, such as your weekly newspaper ad. Business rose and fell with the times, but most businesses could follow some well-worn paths to success. Fast forward to [...]
How to Get Free Online Advertising
So unless you’ve been living under the same rock that allowed me to miss the whole Book of Eli thing – what a great movie, why didn’t someone tell me – you’ve by now seen the Old Spice Man commercials. The buzz around them is how much “free” exposure this campaign has received. But here’s [...]
Why Search Marketing is Like Dating
When I was a teenager, I learned a valuable lesson about dating from one of the Wise Men in my life. He told me if my goal was to get a girl to go on a date with me (I know quaint, huh? Oh for simpler times), I had two options. Strategy Number One involved [...]
Teaching Your People to Say “No” (Maybe Learning it Yourself)
Believe it or not, having the option to say no, and even better giving this option to your employees, is one of the quickest ways to a lot of yes in your business. Popular opinion is that you always, always, always want to be able to say yes to your customers. The problem with that [...]
Steps Your Competition is Taking with Email (& Facebook) in 2010
2010 seems to be the year when most businesses here in southern Oregon are really starting to understand that their customers actually do want to hear from them. The thing is, starting the process may actually damage your customer relationship. Chances are you will make the mistakes that the wider industry have already stumbled over, learned from, [...]
Email – It’s Higher Better Use
Everyone knows what email is for in small businesses – its to blast out random emails to random customers and prospects at random intervals in hopes of consistant revenue. You’ve experienced enough examples of this strategy to know that it is more commonplace than we would hope. Or worse even, businesses that are afraid of [...]
Your Customers Have Smart Phones. Now What?
The last year has really been fun to be in marketing hasn’t it? Think of all the “shiny new toys” that have come of age in the last year. Facebook, Twitter, and of course the iPhone, Droid, Blackberry and numerous other smart phones. All these new and exciting ways to reach out to your customers. Of [...]
Management by Firehose
Most managers’ time is actually spent putting out fires. In fact, many of managers actually look forward to these emergencies – its when they can really shine. Only that’s not the highest, best use of their time.
Creating Effective Website Content
Let’s start at square one on this topic. Before we even talk about what you want to write about in your website, we need to understand what it is your customers will search for. The question to ask yourself is, “What will my customer type into the search box in the search engine?” Be careful, [...]

Your Customer is More Than an @

Apr 092010

The economy’s been down for so long many, many local businesses are now looking for that silver bullet that is going to finally pull them up and out and back to the promised land. In 2010, it seems the pull is towards social media – primarily Facebook and Twitter.

And the rush in this direction, combined with how short handed many small businesses are, has resulted in a lack of attention to other advertising methods. There may even be a short term benefit, exacerbating the problem.

Head down this path, though, and your brand will suffer in the long term. Think about the brands that you are most loyal to for a moment. Do they reach out to you beyond your Twitter account. Without knowing you or the company you are currently thinking of, I know the answer is “yes.”

While the jet-setting lifestyle in this article may not be relatable for you, the underlying principals should be. The whole article is a good read, but since you are busy, here is the high point: Continue reading »

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