Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 169
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| Thought for the week: "Consider the postage stamp, my son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there." Josh Billings |
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In this week's issue:
If
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in your local area, then send an e-mail with your query to the EnterQuest
information team and we'll do our best to help.
Send
your question to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
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to www.scavenger.net. |
How not to be a direct mail half-wit
Too often these days you hear people complaining about junk mail. And too often you hear business owners saying: "Nobody opens that stuff anymore".
Well, they're wrong.
Why do you think you still get mail in the post every day from businesses trying to sell you something?
Because it works.
The term 'junk mail' is a misnomer, because actually this is the mail that has been sent to the wrong list of people, who have no interest in it, and who will never have any inclination or intention of buying what is being offered.
The offer inside junk mail has nothing to do with the person receiving it. However, one person's junk mail is another person's solution to a problem, and could well be precisely what they've been waiting for or dreaming about.
To put it bluntly, if you've been ignorant enough to send a marketing mailing to someone that your offer didn't match, then hang your head in shame, because yes, you just sent junk mail.
How do you know if you're sending junk mail? Well, think about how you sort your own mail in the morning, which you probably do right next to the bin. You'll put the mail you don't want or have no interest in with the rest of your trash, and the rest you'll put to one side to open.
The challenge as a business owner running a direct mail marketing campaign, either to consumers or to business prospects, is for your mail not to end up in the bin.
To achieve this, the crucial thing you must do is to be sure you're sending your mail to the right list of people. If you don't, you're just wasting your precious marketing budget, and will not only fail to make money, but will also be throwing it away in the process.
In direct mail, the three most important factors for success are the list, the offer and the letter.
However, having an irresistible offer, written in a compelling and convincing sales letter, that's then sent to a list of people who couldn't give a stuff about what you're offering will produce just one result.
Niente. Nada. Nothing.
Sending mail to the wrong people is the number one reason for direct mail failure.
So what's the best of way of getting a list of prospects who are the right people to mail your offer to?
You can choose to buy a mailing list, and there are two types of these, known as 'compiled lists' and 'response lists'. A response list is a list of people who have already bought a similar or related product or service to what you're selling.
A compiled list is one that has been 'put together' using demographic, psychographic or geographic data. The closer your direct mail list is to the people who have already responded to a similar offer, the higher your chances of success.
Another way to build a list, and probably the best possible way, is to develop your own list using names, addresses and e-mails you have gathered from people who have bought from you or made an enquiry about your products and services in the past. This is something that every small business can do, so that you can continually remind, educate, cross-sell and up-sell your customers with related, new or higher-value products and services that you offer.
Just about any small business can use some form of direct mail in their marketing mix. But rather than unwittingly or just plain witlessly sending junk mail, direct mailing campaigns sent to the right list of people can be one of the most powerful ways to get the undivided attention of your prospects.
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The UK Small Business Marketing Bible includes a special report covering the secrets of direct mail success, and is packed with hundreds of practical tips and techniques about finding new customers, increasing sales and growing your business. |
Choosing a business bank account
When starting up a new business, it's important to keep your personal and business finances separate, and the best way to do this is by setting up a business bank account. The major high street banks all offer current account facilities for businesses, along with varying levels of additional support such as a 'starting up' pack.
You will need to consider the following issues when choosing a bank:
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Is there a dedicated small business team or manager?
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What is the rate of interest payable on your credit balance?
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Does it offer free banking services for an initial period following the opening of your account?
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Does it offer an online banking service?
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What charges are incurred for using the account - are there fees for every transaction or a monthly account maintenance charge?
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What additional account administration charges are there?
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What is the cost of using any additional services?
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Will you have a lot of cash transactions, and how will the bank help you to deal with them?
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Will you be able to accept credit or debit card payments?
When choosing an account, you should be looking for:
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A current account for your day-to-day payments and receipts.
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An interest-bearing deposit account for any cash not needed for day-to-day operations.
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A business chequebook and/or credit card.
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A loan account for major business purchases.
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An agreed overdraft limit.
You should also make sure that you fully understand any charges that could be incurred when operating your account.
The Money Facts website provides a practical online comparison of the business bank account services offered by various banks, and outlines their charges. And for more tips on choosing the right account, see our factsheet on choosing a small business bank account.
Registering with the Telephone Preference Services
The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) are registers of individuals and businesses that don't want to receive unsolicited sales and marketing telephone calls.
Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, it's illegal to telephone any person or business that has registered with the TPS or CTPS. The maximum penalty for any breach of the Regulations is a fine of £5,000.
Check out our practical guide to the Telephone and Fax Preference Services for more information.
Is VoIP ready for the mainstream?
If you've been planning to make the most of free online phone calls, don't ditch your landline or your mobile just yet.
A recent report by Computing Which? compared six of the most popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems, and concluded that none of the systems are good enough for the mainstream yet.
The six VoIP services reviewed for the report were:
The report found that audio levels differ depending on the service. Skype, which is probably the best-known VoIP service, came out top for sound quality. Software glitches and poor 'help' options were also seen as problems on some of the systems, as was the fact that none of those tested could contact the UK emergency services.
Most systems sell themselves on the fact that calls are free, but this only applies to calls made between VoIP users. When calling people using different networks or on landlines, you will still have to pay for the call.
But VoIP is evolving - mobile phone operators Orange and O2 are also entering the market. And despite its criticism, Which? reckons VoIP will be the communication system of the future.
Find out more about VoIP, how it works, what it can do and what it can't do at this VoIP information portal.
Each
week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business
ideas in the UK.
Here
is this week's idea:
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 what 'impute' means?
a) communicate or share with
b) attribute or accredit to
c) imply or suggest
d) agree with
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
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Supply2Gov
www.supply2.gov.uk
This portal features listings of public sector contracts worth under £100,000, and is specifically aimed at small businesses. But how user-friendly and accessible is the site? |
Navigation
and presentation - closely resembling the look and feel of the Business Link website, the homepage is simply designed and easy to navigate, if a little soulless. However, it's kept refreshingly free of pop-up, flashing images or other distractions.
 
Accessibility - the site conforms to basic W3C standards, but doesn't provide any foreign language options, and doesn't offer the opportunity to view the pages in text-only format.
Content
and usefulness - the section for suppliers includes comprehensive FAQs that explain how to use the site, but the sections looking at how to tender and explaining the benefits of tendering for Government contracts are sparse and not especially practical. More useful tips, checklists and tools would add value here.
Relevance - the site features no news or press releases, although it does keep members updated with new contract opportunities in their chosen areas. However, a rolling list of contract opportunities, or even some relevant news, would be a useful addition.
A useful service for small firms keen to work with the public sector, but the site does not go far enough to provide practical, genuinely helpful guidance and information to would-be tenderers.
Our rating - 9/20
Minimum wage investigation urged
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is urging the Government to look closely at the effects that the rise in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will have on small business owners. The FPB says that the rate of increase is higher than inflation, and that the impact should be properly assessed. The minimum wage will rise to £5.35 an hour from 1 October this year - it's gone up by 34% in just five years.
Tax deadline won't be so tight
The deadline for filing self-assessment tax forms will not be as tight as many firms had feared. Lord Carter, who has been reviewing HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) online services, had recommended bringing the date forward from 31 January to 30 November for forms submitted online, and to 30 September for paper returns. This had been met with plenty of opposition from business owners. However, after consultation with the accountancy industry, Lord Carter is now recommending that returns filed online have a deadline of 31 January, with 31 October the deadline for paper returns.
Finding out about click fraud
Click Forensics provides a wealth of news stories, debate and discussion about the phenomenon of 'click fraud' - which happens when your competitors repeatedly click on your sponsored search engine ads to use up your budget more quickly. The site features candid articles about click fraud and other aspects of paid search engine listings, with a refreshing tone tailored at small businesses.
This excellent, insightful book offers an explanation of the 'long tail' business model - the combined value offered by millions of items that sell in only small quantities, as opposed to the value of a handful of bestsellers. The term 'the long tail' was coined in an article in Wired magazine, and has since become a widely used business term. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
Impute means to attribute or accredit to.
If you use statistical data in your market research, it is important to impute it to the correct source. |
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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. |
