Business Building

May
05 2020

The Collective Pause of 2020

Last week we talked about the words unprecedented and unrivaled. We acknowledged that we are living in unprecedented times; however, we have the power of unrivaled support in God. Take a look at the blog post to learn the why unprecedented is no match for unrivaled and how to choose unrivaled over unprecedented.

We spent the month of April talking about the happenings of the world during Marketing Monday. Since COVID-19 we have had to change the way we live on a daily basis. Our world was required to shelter in place which led each of us to pause our regular activity in some form. This week we will learn about the Collective Pause of 2020. Take a look at the video or read the summary below to learn more about the Collective Pause of 2020.

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Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on The Collective Pause of 2020  |  in Blog, Build, Business, Business Planning, Email Marketing, Engaging, Faith, Marketing, Purpose, Vision
March
10 2020

The ONE key question you can ASK to attract new business

Last week was all about innovation! We learned how to view innovation from a creative perspective and how to be innovative or creative to increase repeat business. Be sure to let me know how you are innovative in your business.

This week we are focusing on IMAGINATION. As we get older, we tend not to tap into our IMAGINATION as often as we did when we were younger. Take a look at the video or read the summary below to learn more about the one key question you can ask to attract new business.

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Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on The ONE key question you can ASK to attract new business  |  in Blog, Business, Business Development, Engaging, Marketing
January
15 2019

How scheduling your marketing gets you results!

Don’t forget to check out last week’s blog on how A SIMPLE Marketing Plan can help you GROW your Business. It was full of great marketing tips to create a simple marketing plan. This week we are focusing on the word SCHEDULING and how it relates to your marketing. Let’s jump in by watching the video or reading the summary below!

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Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on How scheduling your marketing gets you results!  |  in Blog, Business, Business Development, Business Planning, Marketing
October
12 2018

3 key things you should build in your business

In my last post, our focus word was IDENTIFY. I talked about 4 key things to identify in order to successfully market your business.  In this post, our focus word is BUILD. I will share 3 key things you should build in your business.

Building upon a strong foundation is necessary to have a strong result. There are several ways to build your business, but most of the ways fall into 3 key categories. To learn more about the 3 key things you need to build watch the video or read below.

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Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on 3 key things you should build in your business  |  in Blog, Build, Business Development, Business Planning, Marketing
June
09 2016

4 Stages of Growing Your Business that I learned from My 3 Yr Old Nephew

4 Stages of Growing Your Business that I learned from My 3 Yr Old Nephew

I officially started my business in January 2012, and my nephew was born a year later on January 31, 2013.  As I watch my nephew grow up, I realized that the first few years of a child’s life is similar to the first few years of the growth of a business.  In this blog post I will share the four stages of growing a business that I learned from my 3 yr old nephew.

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Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on 4 Stages of Growing Your Business that I learned from My 3 Yr Old Nephew  |  in Business, Business Development, Small Business
April
07 2014

7 Surprising Ways to Get Repeat & Referral Business

It is a fact that one of the best ways to grow your business is by building the relationship that you have with your current customers.  Most small businesses overlook this fact and concentrate on new customers and new business, but don’t neglect your existing customers because they can really help you grow your business.

In this blog post, I will cover 7 surprising ways you can get repeat and referral business from your current customers:

  1. SendOutCards-HappyBirthdaySend your customers a birthday card. Yes, I am talking the old fashioned in the snail mail birthday card.  Now a days, so few people take the time to send family, friends and customers physical cards that it would be a welcome surprise for your customer to receive a card from you.  Depending on the size of your customer database, this could be an expensive undertaking, so I suggest if you cannot send a birthday card to every customer, make sure that you send one to your most loyal and repeat customers.  It’s a great way to show that you care about your customers, and it’s a great opportunity to add a special offer for additional products or services.  I get a birthday card and a $10 off gift card from a popular women’s apparel store every year, and most of the time I go in the store to use my gift card.  I am pretty sure this strategy is working for this retail store because I continue to get a card every year.
  2. Send your customers an anniversary card.  You should have the date that your client started using your services on file, so wouldn’t it be great if you sent an anniversary card close to the anniversary date?  It is a great way to stay top of mind, and to stand out in your client’s mind.  An auto dealership used this strategy and sent out anniversary cards to all customers who had purchased a vehicle from the dealership each month.  The card included a discount to use their auto parts & service department.  It was a great way to strengthen the relationship with the customer and get them to come in for additional services.
  3. SendOutCards-ThankYouSend your customer a “Thank You for Your Business” card.  Whenever you close a deal or get a new account, it is the start of a new business relationship.  Why not show your customers how much you appreciate this new relationship and send a thank you for your business card.  You will be surprised how this can make you stand out as a business and strengthen the new business relationship.  Paying attention to the little details also makes customers more encouraged to send referral business to you because they know you will treat the person who they refer with as much care as you have treated them.
  4. Send your potential customer a “Thank You for Your Time” card. Sometimes you may not get the business on the first appointment.  That’s why it is important to follow-up with the prospect with a card thanking her for her time.  This will allow you to stand out and when the customer is ready to make a purchase because you took this additional step, your chances of being the one to get the business is much higher.
  5. SendOutCardsSend your customers holiday cards.  Whether it is one of the popular holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, Independence Day, or one of those less popular holidays like President’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, etc.  take the time to send your customers a holiday card for the holidays that you feel would be appropriate.  I know I have said this before, but people just don’t get a lot of cards anymore, so receiving a card from your company on a special holiday can really make your company shine!
  6. Send a customer a life milestone card.  Sometimes you may know of a special event that occurred in your customer’s life, like the birth of a grandchild, or the graduation of a child, or an engagement or marriage.  Whatever the special occasion may be, sending a nice card to your customer to recognize the milestone is  great way to build the business relationship and for you to stand out as someone who cares about your customers.
  7. Send your customers a special invitation to an upcoming promotional event.  Having consistent events to promote your business is always a smart thing to do, but making sure you send a special invitation to your VIPs, loyal, or repeat customers is sometimes overlooked.  Receiving an email about an event can sometimes get lost in the shuffle, so sending an invitation via the mail can help your event to stand out and will keep your company and the event top of mind for your customers.

You will notice that the common element for each one of these tips is to send a card!  A great system to use to automate the sending of cards and gifts for your clients is SendOutCards.  SendOutCards is an online system that allows you to select a card, customize the card, add the contact information for the recipient or upload a list of contacts, and hit send.  The card will then be printed, stuffed, and mailed to the recipient(s) all by the click of your mouse.  In addition, you’re able to keep track of all the cards and gifts that you send because the system keeps a record of everything for you.

For more information go to www.SendOutCards.com  If you decide that you want to use the system to send your cards and gifts, you can use id#155454 to join.

Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on 7 Surprising Ways to Get Repeat & Referral Business  |  in Business, Business Development, Business Events, Event Marketing, Marketing, Small Business, Uncategorized
July
26 2013

21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Email Marketing Results (Part 1)

If you are using email marketing to promote your business, or you are thinking about using email marketing to promote your business, then the first step to being successful in your email marketing efforts is to BUILD YOUR LIST:

The money is in your list and it is important for you to consistently build your e-mail list.  Here are 7 tips on how to successful build your e-mail list:

  1. Send an invitation to join your e-mail list to the contacts that you have e-mail addresses for.  INVITE them to opt-in to receive your e-mails, don’t just add your contacts to your e-mail list, make sure they have opted in (you don’t want to be a spammer- someone who consistently sends e-mails to individuals who did not request it).** A big pet peeve of mine is do not add individuals whom you met at a networking event to your e-mail list unless they have requested to join your list or they have opted in! **
  2. Offer a good incentive that people in your target market would be interested in receiving if they opt in to your e-mail list (i.e. FREE report, e-Book, white paper, checklist, etc.)
  3. Concentrate on QUALITY not just QUANTITY when it comes to your list size.  The size of your list doesn’t matter as much as the quality of the people on your list.** ideally you do want to grow your list into a large list with lots of quality individuals from your target market **
  4. Create an e-mail sign-up form and place it on your website, blog, social networks, etc.
  5. In order for your list to grow, you have to promote joining your list.  Promote joining your e-mail list on your social networks, e-mail, website, blog, etc.
  6. Don’t limit the promotion of joining your e-mail list to just your online activities, but also promote joining your e-mail list on your offline marketing material by including a QR Code that links to your e-mail sign up form on your business card, brochures, etc.
  7. Make it easy for people to join your email list by including easy joining methods like join via text message

What techniques and ways do you use for people to join your e-mail list?

Just as equally important as growing your e-mail list is the content in your e-mail.  The next blog post in this series will discuss how to create engaging content that will make people want to open your e-mails and give you business.  Stay tuned for the next blog post or click here to download the complete checklist of 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Email Marketing!

Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  5 Comments  |  in Business, Business Development, Email Marketing, Email Results, Marketing
June
20 2013

Are You Chasing New Business or Attracting New Business? Find out 4 Steps to Attract New Business!

Have you ever wondered why despite a down turn in the economy, some businesses are still able to attract a lot of customers?  Most of the time they have mastered the art of attracting new business.  Here are four steps for you to stop chasing new business and start attracting new business:

  1. KNOW YOUR TARGET MARKET–  Too many businesses are trying to get EVERYONE as a customer.  When you focus on everyone, you are really focusing on no one, so the key here is to target a specific type of person or group who would find your product or service EXTREMELY useful.  Once you have narrowed down your target market including specific demographics and psychographics, then you are better able to attract that specific person to your business because you know WHO you are looking for.  Also, once you understand WHO your target market is, you are better able to communicate with them in a way that shows you understand their needs.
  2. OFFER SOLUTIONS SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR TARGET MARKET–  Make sure that your marketing message is specifically talking to the needs of your target market.  When a person knows that your product of service was specifically designed to alleviate a problem or situation he is having, he is more likely to pay attention to you and your product or service.  You have to be able to communicate how your product or service is the PERFECT solution for the problem your target market may be having, but you have to do this in subtle way, not necessarily just saying, “we have the solution”, but by communicating in a subtle way how your product or service provides a solution.
  3. MAKE YOUR BUSINESS ATTRACTIVE–  How does your business look to the public?  This means everything from what your business card looks like, down to the look of your website, and even how you present yourself and your business when you are at a function.  If your business comes of as unprofessional, unorganized, or confusing, then you will not be able to attract new business.  The key is to make sure that every aspect of your business is PROFESSIONAL, your product or service is ORGANIZED well, and your message about what your company offers and how your product of service will help your target market is CLEAR.
  4. MAKE YOUR BUSINESS KNOWN IN YOUR COMMUNITY–  If your target market has never heard of you, it will be hard for you to get their business, so it is important that your business shows up both online and offline in the areas where your target market is, and not only show up, but show up consistently, so people will get to know you and your business and over time will understand more about your business and how it will be beneficial to them.

So be sure that you are not CHASING new customers, but you are ATTRACTING new customers by using the steps listed above.  What other techniques do you think helps to attract new customers to your business?  Be sure to leave a comment below:

Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on Are You Chasing New Business or Attracting New Business? Find out 4 Steps to Attract New Business!  |  in Business, Business Development, Marketing, Networking
May
06 2013

5 Techniques to Convert Educating Prospects into Paying Customers

I have listened in on several webinars and tele-seminars over the last year or so, and I have noticed a trend with the format of each one.  A lot of the webinars and tele-seminars are aimed at educating you on a particular topic or subject, so you willing sign-up to learn more about this topic or subject.  Usually after about 30 minutes or so of good information, the speaker tells you that you can get more of this information by paying for a seminar, CD, book, program, etc.  Depending on the cost of the particular item, the tactic usually works because you are already talking to an active audience who signed up to learn more about this specific subject, so they are obviously interested in the topic.

When I think about the last two items that I purchased from a webinar, I feel there were five main things that enticed me to make a purchase, and as business owners, we should consider these factors when trying to sell a product or service based on an educational webinar or tele-seminar.

  1. VALUABLE INFORMATION–  Did your webinar or tele-seminar provide valuable information?  I define valuable information as information presented in a way that is DIFFERENT or NEW to most people.  When people receive information and they never really thought of that topic in that way before, you are encouraging someone to look at things differently.  This usually brings about an “Ah Ha!” moment, people love “Ah Ha” moments because it allows them to think differently and thinking differently can lead to different results.  If the information presented is information you’ve heard already or presented in a way you have seen before, you would be less likely to buy into the information.  Also, how the information is presented makes a difference.  A professional format with visuals are key!  When people not only hear what you have to say, but see it through the presentation slides or video, it makes a HUGE difference in the effectiveness of the presentation.
  2. PRICED RIGHT–  The product or service offered at the end of the webinar or tele-seminar needs to be priced right.  Now when I say priced right I don’t mean “cheap” or “inexpensive”, because if the participants believe in the value of information presented, they will pay the monetary equivalent as to what they feel it is valued to them.  However, the product or service must be priced in a way that is affordable, but also expensive enough to show its value.  For some reason most people are pricing their product or service ending with a “7” $97, $197, $297.  I am sure there is some information out there that says that pricing ending with a 7 tends to work well, why so many people are pricing their products or services that way.
  3. ADDED INCENTIVES–  I have purchased many items because of the added bonus that was included in the offer, so not only did I feel the information presented was valuable, but the bonus that they offered made it even more enticing to purchase the item, so think about adding a bonus course, a live seminar ticket, additional tips, etc.
  4. TIME SENSITIVE–  Of course the offer of the product or service is usually only available for a LIMITED TIME, so this encourages a sense of urgency for individuals to make the purchase.  It is human nature that if we know something is only available for a limited time we have to seriously consider whether we want to take advantage of the opportunity while we have the time.  People who are serious about getting the information will be sure to make the purchase before the time period runs out.
  5. OFFERED SEVERAL TIMES–  Some people require hearing or seeing an item more than three times before making a decision, so it helps to make the offer more than one time on the webinar or tele-seminar and even following up with a couple of e-mails regarding the offer.  The last purchase that I made from a webinar was after I had signed-up for the webinar twice (I missed the first one and signed up several months later for the 2nd one),  and received about six e-mails about the webinar and two follow-up e-mails about the offer, so technically it took about 8 contacts before I actually placed an order, so don’t neglect the power of following up.

If educating consumers about a subject or topic is a part of your marketing strategy, then be sure to consider the techniques listed above as a part of your formula to successful covert educating prospects into paying customers of your product or service.

Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on 5 Techniques to Convert Educating Prospects into Paying Customers  |  in Business, Business Development, Educating
April
09 2013

5 Reasons Why Your Networking Should Be Organic

Image Source:  Boston North Business Association

I recently hosted a webinar for Independent Ladies Club entitled, “Master the Art of Successful Networking”, the speaker Erika Anderson talked about how networking should be organic and not forced, and we should think of networking as building friendships.  This made me think about the top 5 ways to network organically:

1.  Treat networking like dating–  When you meet someone at a networking event you shouldn’t think of them as someone who should be ready to purchase your product or service today, tomorrow, or even next week for that matter, but someone who you would like to get to know more about and to find out if there is a possible business connection.  Just like dating, successful networking takes time and effort to get to know someone on a deeper level.

2.  Listen more than you talk–  Communication is key with any type of relationship and is especially important when learning about someone at a networking event.  Some people have a habit of talking about how great their business is and what a great product they have, and they never take the time to truly listen and learn from the other person.  When you truly listen and understand, you get to know what the needs of an individual may be and you can think about how you can help him or her.

3. Make a connection on a personal level–  No matter how different we all are, there are usually key things that we can connect on, like hobbies, places we’ve lived, places we’ve traveled to, schools, sports, music, etc.  There is always something you can find in common with someone.  Try to connect on that personal level.

4.  Always think of someone in your network that would be a good referral or referral source for the other person–  When you listen carefully, you understand the needs or target market of the other person and  you can think about who you know that would be good to introduce them to or connect them with.  This is a great way to strengthen your connection with someone by showing you’re making an effort to help them out by introducing them to other people in your network.

5.  Strengthen the connection by connecting on social media-  more and more people find it acceptable to connect online for networking purposes.  If you meet someone at a networking event follow-up with them and deepen your connection by connecting online.  I recommend connecting on professional social networking sites like LinkedIn instead of more personal social networking sites like Facebook.  It’s a great way to keep the connection going long after the networking event has ended.

Posted by Nadine Mullings  |  Comments Off on 5 Reasons Why Your Networking Should Be Organic  |  in Business, Business Development, Networking