Businesses are struggling these days and my business was no exception. I have a custom gifting company as many who read my posts do know. My company is not a new idea in the world of gifting. We create gift baskets and designs for our customer. There are a multitude of gift basket companies on the internet and many retail shops in my area that do gift baskets with their food and wine and gift items. So how am I surviving with all of this competition? I think outside the box! I am a die hard when it comes to being a cut above the rest. With my product designs, the ways I can help my clients look good. And as of recent with ways I can help my clients make more money and drive in customers to their establishments.
So here was my to do list to survive during this down time. You can follow these strategies, you just have to stop, take a look, make a list, and THINK!
1. Word of Mouth is HUGE! I belong to BNI, I am a Chamber of Commerce Member and above all I donate allot of my designs to functions in the area and allot of my TIME to a few fundraisers that I believe in wholeheartedly!
2. Social Media is where it is at to keep your name and product buzzing in the minds of others. It is not easy and it takes work but it you carve out TIME each day you can do it! I am on facebook, I have a personal page and fan page, Twitter, Linkedin, Digg, I have two blogs, one for gifting and this one for inspiration.
I post every morning, something new and exciting that keeps me in your mind all day. Something intriguing, something that will cause interaction. A question, A quiz etc. Check out my fan page and get ideas it is Expressions Gift Baskets on Facebook.
3. You need a website! The web is huge! When I started my business I had zero dollars for a website. I looked into many many options. I chose Yahoo Sitebuilder. Yes, I did it myself. I talked with web builders and actually found the most advice and information from a wonderful web designer at Sitemechanix.com
of which is my brother in law. There are many facets to a good website. It took me three years and I am continuing to learn. I am no expert. But I do see websites that have been built by what is said a professional web designer. They seem to not have titles on their pages, no descriptions, meta tags, optimization, google indexing. This sounds Greek to most but these things are vital if you are paying thousands of dollars for a website. Your ranking and how the crawlers search your site is huge too. So I invested TIME in knowledge and I love technology. I have now built four websites. Just for fun and to help other businesses have a presence on the web. Take a look if you like. www.expressionsbaskets.net, www.withthisringllc.net, www.partiesplus.org, www.wausaupodiatrycenterltd.com
4. HELP OTHERS GROW... We all get so caught up in trying to make ourselves successful that what really matters in giving and giving and then giving some more. No.... I don't mean money. I mean TIME, good words, help with their business or family or car. If you have a talent or knowledge it will be to your benefit to help others grow. You never know how this will all come around to help you in the end. Helping others is so gratifying to me. I enjoy helping them grow and find presence in the community. If we all would just stop a moment and lend a hand to someone new or someone struggling, this community and world would be much more successful and HAPPY!
6. TIME MANAGEMENT AND BALANCE
Oh gosh how do we find the time and balance. When I first started Expressions I worked full time and worked the business part time. I worked 7 days a week and all day and all night and my family suffered. I needed to find TIME and BALANCE. I had a vision for Expressions and needed to make a decision as to which direction I wanted to go. I reduced my hours at my job. I put more quality time during the day into Expressions. I had TIME at night for my family. After two years I quit my job and made the jump to a more visible retail space with more production space as well. I actually am sharing a building with another higher visibility Bridal and Formal business.
The traffic from this business with be great exposure for my business and I will find clients from those viewing our products that were not expecting to see gifts.
I work 10am to 6pm 6 days a week in the retail space. I work 5am to 630am every morning on social media, blogging and internet work, emails, constant contact enews. Etc. I go to the gym. Please exercise! It helps. For the stress! I leave at 6pm and I am home with my family. I do my BNI and chamber networking early in the morning so it does not interfere with my business day. I take TIME for my children if they need me for events or school or illness. Family is top priority. So I must organize my schedule to include those unforeseen things. Without my supportive business partner and spouse I would fail. If you don't have the support of your family and significant other please try to help them understand how vital it is to your success and sanity to have their support.
TIP:
If you have a mailing list do a E-NEWSLETTER. Take the TIME to build one and send it out once a month to your customer base and to potential customers. Talk with your business associates and try to obtain mailing lists, go onto company websites and get email addresses and send your newsletter to everyone you think would benefit. You think this is spamming? Not really. They have an option to opt out, they may even flag the email as spam but that is the end of sending them emails. I have done this for three years and I have had a total of about 8 people click on spam and delete me. If you create something they find interesting they read what you have to say. INTERESTING is the key. Not necessarily business related but INTERESTING. Talk about going green. Family. Stress. Customer service etc. Yes this is marketing your business. You may think how can this be marketing my business when it has almost nothing to do with my business? Include links to your business website, blog, social media areas, testimonials, links to your partners and such. In the body of the newsletter include something educational or a coupon for your business. If you peak their interest and they learn something or are inspired by you they will remember you. They will use you or refer you when they have a need. I have experienced this. I use constant contact. I like their format and tracking. They are not the cheapest out there. But, they take good care of me and my customer database. Check them out FREE for thirty days www.constantcontact.com
That is all for today. I will continue to blog about how we can survive and OUT OF THE BOX techniques I use with my company to get noticed and sell more.
Finding time and making a balance is difficult. If you need help making a structure or finding time email me. jenn@expressionsbaskets.net Title your email. I NEED TIME! I will personally try to help you with advice for finding time in your schedule. If you need a website I can help you. If you need social media tips I can help.
Blessings!
Jenn
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