To set a price for a new product or service, start by creating a list of competing solutions from other providers. Record the price and then, next to each product, record the advantages each offers to the customer.
Note that your competition is not limited to products that are similar to what you sell. For example, a cheap car competes with motorcycles and the bus as much as it does with other cars.
Add your product to the list and, based on...
From Doctors to Architects, from Artists to Car Mechanics, everyone who provides services for a living has friends that ask for expensive favors and members of professional and personal networks that make saying “No” awkward.
If you find that business discussions in social situations routinely end up with you giving your services away free, the following advice will be useful.
You’ll find our suggestions particularly handy if you are just starting your business and many of your customers will necessarily come from...
Long before people actually take out their wallets to buy something, they begin making their purchase decision. Through exposure to social media and mass media they become familiar with products and services that are consistent with their identity and lifestyle.
For example, someone interested in purchasing a motorcycle will become aware of brands like Kawasaki, Harley-Davidson, Suzuki and Yamaha. They will, over time, begin to choose the brand that is most consistent with their requirements. When it is time to buy...
Etsy.com is the leading sales solution for independent designers and craft-based businesses in the world. Setting up a Etsy shop takes just a few minutes, but the storefront application is sophisiticated enough to support a custom user interface hundreds of products, and several payment methods.
Designers can even connect their domain name to an Etsy store. Just buy a domain on GoDaddy.com or any other domain name provider, then “forward” that domain to the Etsy store. The...
For anyone running a startup, there’s an art in knowing where and how to look for strategic relationships, and knowing where to put your business so it can be found. For high-tech startups, being listed at www.Crunchbase.com is as important (and maybe more important) than being listed on LinkedIn.
Unlike LinkedIn, companies that list in Crunchbase tend to provide complete information about their rounds of funding, their stock price, the names of key decision makers and often the names of investors....
Jonathan Earle, a senior marketing executive for O2, is becoming an active mentor for high-tech startups in the UK. In this interview he discusses his interest in startups and small businesses.
Question: Why do you choose to support high-tech startups?
I have an extensive background in marketing leading in all aspects of the marketing mix from P&L leadership, to customer management and managing through the line advertising budgets to deliver best in class campaigns – I also lead sizeable teams of 50+...
One of the most important things an entrepreneur can do to ensure significant success in their enterprise is simply to be easy to refer business to. Given that most entrepreneurs, theoretically, are in business to make money and need customers in order to achieve that goal, you would think accepting leads would be a relatively easy to master “business development” technique.
This just isn’t so.
The following tips will dramatically increase the number of referrals you get from business and personal contacts...
Chris Dodson, Guy McConnell, Julie Cheetham and Simon Devonshire are the power behind Concept Cupboard, a new solution for getting great marketing materials made quickly and cost effectively.
We interviewed Chris about the new venture and here’s what he had to say:
You’ve launched a new project in 2011. Its called Concept Cupboard. Can you tell us more about it?
Concept Cupboard is an online creative marketplace that allows small businesses to create professional marketing materials at affordable prices, by using...
The first step in selling high value/high cost products and services to large businesses has nothing to do with actually contacting anyone. It has to do with getting your business, website and search engine marketing in place so when you have a successful meeting, these elements don’t unsell your prospects.
Make sure you know what your business promises. Make sure everything is in place to deliver on your promise. Ensure website makes it clear you know what your customers...
