Contributed Post | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Retail Marketing 101: Creating A Good First Impression

August 23, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

For retail businesses, it’s absolutely essential that you make a good first impression. The chances are your store will be positioned somewhere with loads of other stores nearby. To ensure people enter your premises and spend money on your goods, you must draw them away from all the other places by creating a good first impression.

There are many things you should take into account here, and they all revolve around getting your store looking as amazing as possible.

Excellent signage

Signage is so crucial when it comes to creating an excellent first impression and leading people to your store. Your sign needs to be big and bold and easy for people to spot. There should be one main sign on the front of your retail store that people can see head-on. Then, you need one that sticks out, so people notice it when they’re walking down the street. Make sure the sign is of a very high-quality and that it’s tasteful as well. Work hard with your marketing team to come up with a brand logo you can use as the sign, which should attract as much attention as possible.

Keep it clean

It’s very hard to be tempted into entering a shop when it looks absolutely filthy. I’m sure you’ve all seen stores that have grimy windows, graffiti all over the front, and are just generally unkempt. You immediately walk on by without even thinking twice about going inside. Therefore, you need to ensure your store looks tidy on the outside – and mirrors this tidiness on the inside. One idea is to get your hands on some anti graffiti window films, this will stop your windows from being defaced by the local hooligans. Get rid of any litter as often as you can, and you’ll have a nice clean store that looks more appealing.

Display good offers

Your sign, and the cleanliness of your shop will only get you so far. What’s the number one reason someone will enter a store? Because they want to buy something inside it. As such, you need to work hard on your window displays to show off your best products and most appealing offers. This is what will really convince someone to come inside and spend their money. It’s a good idea to show off your best-selling products and any recent deals you have, as these will likely attract the most attention.

Don’t be forceful

The worst thing you can do is to be forceful when trying to market your retail store and get customers flooding inside. A common mistake I see is a business getting people to stand outside so they can talk to members of the public and try to get them in the store. This stinks of desperation, and reflects badly on your brand. People absolutely hate the thought of a business trying to drag them into their store. If you ever do have people standing outside, make sure they have a reason to be there – such as handing out free samples of products. This creates a great first impression, attracts plenty of attention, and isn’t forceful in the slightest.

Follow these tips, and you’ll soon market your retail business with such brilliance that your foot traffic will rise dramatically!

Creative Ideas for Your Corporate Event

August 23, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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One of the main purposes of a corporate event is that it is memorable. And choosing the right kind of entertainment is one of the best ways that you are going to take it up to the next level. But if your clients have been to corporate event after corporate event, it is likely that they are used to seeing the same things time after time. So, you need to get a little more creative with your event choices, and this is exactly what this article will be helping with.

Interactive Food and Drink Stations

Rather than your standard sit-down mass-produced meal, you could instead go for some more interactive food and drink stations. The classic choice is a chocolate fountain, but there are plenty of other creative solutions such as a live stir-fry station or a build-your-own-sundae bar. As well as feeding your guests, this type of interactive food and drink also helps to spark off communication between them.

Contests and Giveaways

Nothing livens up your corporate event more than the opportunity to win a prize. Apart from the standard raffle format, you could also start something more entertaining such as a pub quiz or a caption competition.

Caricaturist

People love anything which is hand-crafted especially for them, and this is exactly what a caricaturist will provide them with. This type of entertainment has the added advantage of your guests having something to take away with them which will specifically remind them of your event.

Breakdancers

We have all seen comedians and singers at events, but far fewer have breakdancers there to entertain the guests. Ultimately, you are giving people something that they can’t tear their eyes away from – and this has to be a good thing!

Projection Art

One of the main issues with hiring an artist is that not everyone can see what they are drawing on the canvas. You can get around this issue by opting for projection art so that everyone can see exactly what is going on. Make sure that you have the right AV Production. People love to see creations happening right before their very eyes.

Social Photo Booths

If the selfie craze of the past few years has taught us anything, it is the fact that people simply can’t get enough of taking their own picture. So, set up a photo booth, provide people with some items which they can dress up with, and watch them go! The modern ‘social booths’ give guests the opportunity to upload their pictures straight onto their social media accounts.

If you are going to host a corporate event, you need to ensure that it lives long in the memory. These are just a few of the best ways of achieving this particular feat so that your corporate event has the maximum impact on everyone in attendance.

Paper Trail: Common Business Sectors Which Need Licenses

August 22, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

When you are thinking about launching a business, it is very easy to get swept away in the excitement of it. But you also have to think about the practical implications which are involved as well. And one of the main ones is obtaining licenses, which are designed to protect those in the industry, as well as customers.

Business Licensing You can either apply for these yourself or else head to a specialist firm such as Cornerstone Support Debt Collection Licensing. Some industries are more complicated than others and require multiple licenses. It is these that we will be discussing here in this blog post so that you are aware that you will have to jump through many hoops to get your business off the ground.

Gambling

One of the most heavily regulated industries in the world, gambling is banned in some states in the US. You are typically going to be subject to some regulatory bodies along the way. Usually, the process of obtaining a license is quite invasive and requires scrutiny of your background and personal details. And since these rules and regulations are likely to change, you need to keep up with what is expected of you.

Alcohol

Alcohol is another industry which is heavily regulated, and any business which is involved in the sale, manufacture or importation of alcoholic products must obtain the relevant licenses. And even if you are going to be running a business which involves alcohol in an indirect way such as running a restaurant, you are still going to require the relevant liquor licenses. Be warned that licenses can be quite costly depending on where you are located.

Beauty

Any type of spa or salon which you run is going to require certain occupational licenses. This is mainly down to complying with sanitation and health requirements to make sure that your business is fit for operating.

Food

The food sector is another which tends to be highly regulated – largely down to sanitary concerns and the risk of disease spreading. Just a few of the type of licenses which you are likely to require include food manager certification, food handler permits, inspection certificates etc. All of these must be obtained before the moment that you start to serve your patrons.

Broadcasting

Broadcasting companies must operate in the public interest, meaning that they can’t infringe on certain rights, health, finances etc. Be warned that the application process is often long and expensive in this particular field.

No matter what business sector you are operating in, you are going to require appropriate licenses. However, there are just a few which need more than others. If you are applying in any one of these fields, you need to make sure that you are fully compliant to avoid any legal headaches further down the line.

5 Things You Need To Do To Grow Your Brand This Year… And Beyond

August 22, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

When you’re working hard to get your business up and running, it’s easy to think of your first day of trading as the finish line. After all, the journey from inception to operation is a real marathon and an emotional journey for the first time entrepreneur. They’ve taken the time to develop their idea, consulted with a business guru to help formulate a business plan that is both comprehensive and thoughtfully composed. They’ve carried out hours upon hours of market research, proving that there is quantifiable demand in the products and services they offer while also getting to know their target market so that they can tailor their business to the needs of their prospective customers. They’ve courted financiers, business angels and secured the necessary funding to build their businesses even after door upon door was shut in their faces.

But while the start of trading is the endgame, it’s really just the start of the entrepreneurial learning curve. And that learning curve can be steep and unforgiving. Let’s not forget that over 50% of startups fail within their first 4 years of trading. If you’re to hit the ground running, it’s not enough to bury yourself in the operation of your business. By all means ensure that your customers are getting the quality that they deserve and witch which you want to associate your brand, but make sure that you dedicate time to your office as well as the coalface.

In order to not just survive but thrive in an increasingly competitive and aggressive business landscape, you need to hit the brand running in terms of growing your brand. After all, what’s the point in putting so much effort into being the best that you can be if nobody knows who you are? Here are some ways in which even nascent businesses can expand their brand awareness like a seasoned veteran this year and beyond…

Get to know your SEO

Most digitally savvy entrepreneurs know the importance of search engine rankings in growing brand awareness. In an era where competition is rife, we can’t expect customers to scroll through pages and pages of search entries to get to your business. But unless you take the time to understand what influences search engine optimization, you can’t expect to master it and your business will be like an ancient society making sacrifices to a capricious God.

Let’s take a look at what influences SEO;

- Keywords- Use of words that are included in common searches. These should be specific to your enterprise while avoiding the kind of jargon that would rarely be searched for by laymen.
- Freshness- Web sites that post new content more than once a day are far more visible to search engines than those who post less frequently.
- Site architecture- User experience (UX) and the composition of your site are also contributing factors. Pages that demonstrate more comprehensive use on are of greater value to search engines.

Responsivity- In an age where most people consume content and make purchases through mobile devices, how mobile responsive your online presence is plays a large part.

Security- Google’s recent measures are particularly prohibitive when it comes to domains that are not secure. If your website doesn’t yet have a security certificate, now’s the time to invest in one.

Title tags- Just like the title of a book should hint at its contents, search engines need title tags to identify the subject matter of your digital content. Thus, your page titles need to be succinct and accurate, making use of specific keywords.

Think Big

If your business is focused solely on the local market it could be seriously missing out. In an age of global interconnectivity with so many lines of communication open to us, it’s worth considering that the most lucrative market for your business may not necessarily be the domestic market. Check out this post on the Biz Latin Hub Group about international trade deals and the importance of PEOs. If you can find ways around the complexities of international trade you may well find it extremely lucrative.

Collaborate

Your brand will always be constrained if you treat your business as though it exists in a vacuum. In order to truly grow your brand it behoves you to reach out to other non-competing businesses to whose clientele your products and services may be of interest. Consider co-branding opportunities and working together on a product that would benefit both of your target markets. Attend a guest speaking event for their employees or write a guest post for their blog. If you can establish yourself as a brand of value to their employees and customers your reach may expand exponentially and you’ll also have made valuable contacts and friends.

Don’t be afraid to invest

It’s completely understandable for those new to the game of entrepreneurship to start out with a false sense of economy. They’ll keep their overheads low and scythe down costs in the hopes of insulating their profit margins. But this mentality may be detrimental to your business. There are some areas where an overhead cost is more than justified as it will help to facilitate the building of your brand. Investing in outsourced digital marketing, link building, content creation or Pay Per Click social media advertising are all acceptable costs which are likely to offer a significant return on your investment.

Keep your content constant… But quality!

As we discussed previously, the posting of regular content is essential in maintaining good Search Engine Optimization. This means that you’ll need to dedicate the time and resources to the posting of regular content. But don’t fall into the trap of posting any old garbage just for the sake of climbing the search engine rankings. An unfortunately large amount of businesses try this to give their SEO an artificial boost and it almost never reflects well on their enterprise. Your content must be well written, engaging and factually dense… And that just isn’t possible if you outsource to cheap overseas content farms. If you can’t handle the task in-house, at least outsource to a marketing company with a sterling reputation.

If you take the steps to grow your brand now, you’ll have the inside track on your competitors for years to come.

3 Changes That Always Lead To Better Productivity

August 21, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Something that you can say for certain is that a business needs to be productive if it is to be successful. Achieving and maintaining a high level of productivity is of course always hard to do, but you will find that it is necessary in order to really make the kind of changes you want in your business. As it happens, there are a number of things you can do to ensure that you are improving the productivity of your business at every step. As long as you are focused on some of those things, you should be able to ensure that your business is going to be much more productive and get more done on the whole, and that will mean that you can expect much more from it as results as well. Let’s take a look at just three changes which always lead to better productivity.

A Cleaner Office

It is hard for most people to be truly productive if they are working in a dirty or untidy office environment. If this is true of your workplace, then you might want to make sure that you are actually keeping it as clean as possible instead of letting it get dirty and unused. The simplest way to do this is to outsource it so that you are using professional office cleaning services in order to keep it clean every day. But you should also think about trying to keep it tidy as you go along, which is something that really everyone has responsibility for. As long as you can do that, you will find that the productivity levels suddenly rise through the roof, which is exactly what you need to happen here.

Simpler Processes

In general, the more simplified you make the internal processes in the business, the more that your people will actually be able to get done. Having simpler processes like this means that you are able to actually focus on what is important, and when your employees are all doing that as well it can really make a profound difference. If you don’t know how to simplify your processes or don’t know where to begin, you might want to think about getting someone from outside to take a look. That kind of help can be invaluable, especially as they are that much more likely to know what is wrong as they are not used to seeing it every day. When you simplify your processes, you will find that you can much more effectively raise productivity levels in the organization.

Calmer Atmosphere

The atmosphere in the office is a huge determiner of how likely you are to succeed in raising productivity. The calmer it is, the easier it will be to ensure that the work is being done atr a good pace, so it’s definitely a good idea to make sure you are doing whatever you can to keep the atmosphere up. That could mean having a social gathering every now and then, or simply making sure that you yourself are happy when you work there. Hopefully that happiness will spread like wildfire.