|
Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 346
In this week's issue:
How focused is your marketing? When faced with the challenge of getting sales in a new market or finding new prospects and leads for your business, you won't go far wrong if you follow the 80/20 rule when you plan your marketing campaigns. Focus 80% of your marketing effort on getting to know as much as possible about the 20% of customers or prospects who genuinely represent the greatest sales potential for your business. Select a target niche that you believe, or you can prove, is most likely to buy from you. You can identify this niche by analysing who already spends the most money with you, or on your type of product or service. It will be even more useful to find out and define the unique characteristics that people in this group share. The following list of questions about your prospects and customers is broken into two tiers, which aim to show the different levels on which you can get to know your customers and prospects. For example, if you can answer all the questions in the first section, you'll have enough useful information about the customers and prospects in your market, with information on where they are located and their demographic profile in terms of age, gender and ethnicity. This can help you decide where they're most likely to see your marketing messages. But if you can find and analyse the more detailed information in section two, you'll really get to understand what motivates your target market, and what makes it tick. Basic information:
More detailed information:
This list is not exhaustive, but if you can compile this level of detail about your ideal customers or prospects, you'll be able to focus your marketing message and medium like a laser on the target niche that you've defined.
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations. Do you know the meaning of the word 'militate'? a) influence adversely Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up? 1) Interest charges are expected to increase by a third for businesses that have taken out Government-backed loans under which of the following schemes? a) the Enterprise Finance Guarantee 2) The British Insurance Brokers Association is calling on the Government to help small firms do more to protect themselves against major incidents such as fire or flood, after it discovered that 45% of owners it surveyed don't have which of the following? a) key man insurance 3) Recent research from Specsavers has revealed that employers are unaware of new legislation coming into force in 2011, which requires them to ensure that staff employed as drivers do which of the following? a) go for medical checkups every six months Answers at the end of the Bulletin. Free factsheet on health and safety for small firms The Institute of Directors (IoD) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have jointly produced a health and safety factsheet aimed at owner-managers of small firms. It covers legal responsibilities for employers and contains a checklist to help owners better address health and safety in their business. Tool generates sitemaps for free The XML Sitemaps Generator provides you with a sitemap of your website for free. Sitemaps are useful tools that allow search engines spiders to index each page on a website, and may help to improve search engine rankings. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to generate your sitemap. Essential market research workshop The British Library is holding an Essential Market Research workshop on 8 February. Aimed at inventors, entrepreneurs and small firms, it covers reasons why competitors are successful, what customers really want, and product pricing. The event is free of charge. Promotional methods for freelancers This website contains hints and tips to help freelancers get more from their online promotional methods. Topics discussed include referrals, new clients, mailing lists, online efficiency and more. There's also an RSS feed on the site, so users can get regular updates and news. You can get access to hundreds more online business tools, how-to articles, checklists, standard forms and business development resources by subscribing to the Better Business Adviser.
Win a Bluetooth mobile printer worth £199 The PrintStik from mobile working solutions firm PlanOn is the world's smallest full-page printer that makes it possible for users to print documents anywhere, any time, while on the road. PrintStik offers full-feature printing capabilities on a self-contained, 20-page roll of A4 paper. It is extremely user-friendly and syncs easily with a variety of devices including laptops, PDAs and smart phones, transferring images and documents clearly with no smudging or bleeding. EnterQuest has teamed up with PlanOn to offer readers the chance to win this really useful device, worth £199. To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, just answer the following question: Q: What percentage of businesses don't have a business continuity plan, according to the British Insurance Brokers Association? a) 25% E-mail your answer, together with your name, address and daytime phone number, using 'PlanOn PrintStik competition' in the subject line, to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com. All entries must be received by 31 January. Full competition rules are available on request.
This book is ideal for anyone thinking of starting a business but doesn't have the capital or funding to do so. It features free start up resources and contains hints and tips on where to source business essentials such as office equipment and stationery, as well as signposts to free banking, advice and support. Check out:
Visit www.enterprisequest.com to access all back issues of the EnterQuest bulletin. If you have any feedback or suggestions for us to make this service more relevant please e-mail your comments to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com. If you wish to discontinue your subscription to EnterQuest please click on the 'SafeUnsubscribe' link at the bottom of the bulletin. Remember that we guarantee never to sell or give your e-mail address to anyone else. Good luck The EnterQuest Team This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate. |
© 2009 Cobweb Information Limited
Reproduction or copying of information in this Bulletin is strictly forbidden without prior written permission.
