|
Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 21 December 2005
| Thought for the week: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." Les Brown |
In this week's issue:
The EnterQuest team would like to wish all our subscribers a very merry Christmas and a successful and prosperous New Year.
Small business answers
If
you have any questions about your business idea or target market,
or need help tracking down a grant, subsidy or business support
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.
To
access over 800 factsheets, guides and small business reports, go
to www.scavenger.net.
Weekly stir 
Why direct mail works well for small businesses
At this time of year, sending personal messages in the post is something that just about every single person does - Christmas cards and seasonal best wishes to friends, family, colleagues and occasionally foes as well.
In fact, posting personal messages to customers is something that most small businesses will find to be one of the most powerful, relevant and effective marketing methods at their disposal, at any time of year.
When properly used, there are few other marketing tools that can deliver your message with such exact precision and at such a low cost.
Here are seven reasons why direct mail is so powerful for small businesses, when properly deployed of course:
1) |
It's personal and intimate. There is no better way to communicate with your customers and prospects than with the intimacy of a personal letter. |
2) |
It lets you target with precision. Successful direct marketing is all about targeting. Instead of 'spraying and praying' you can target campaigns to prospects who have already demonstrated an interest in your type of product or service. You can also pinpoint the people who fit the psychographic, demographic and geographic profile of your ideal target customers. |
3) |
It allows you to test. One of the biggest advantages of direct mailing is that you can test your proposition or marketing offer on a small group of targeted customers first, and then analyse the results before refining your sales copy, your prices or your offer and rolling out your campaign to a wider mailing list of prospects. |
4) |
You can get an immediate response. Once you send out your direct mailshot or promotional leaflet it usually doesn't take long to get a response - or even orders! With most direct mailings, within one to two weeks you'll receive about 80-90% of replies from all the people who are going to respond. |
5) |
It's easy to track and measure effectiveness. As we've already mentioned, you can test the results of a mailing campaign very quickly, and as a small business owner you need to be able to measure how well you are spending every single penny of your marketing budget. With direct mail you can code your mailings to determine the exact number of responses you received from each campaign. |
6) |
It's relatively inexpensive. With it currently costing only 21p for a second-class stamp, and bearing in mind what you can get into an average-sized envelope if you keep it under the weight limit (letter, leaflet, photos etc), with careful planning you can send out your full marketing message to each prospect for a very low cost indeed. |
7) |
It gets one-on-one attention. Unlike online banner ads or radio and TV commercials, the great thing about direct mail is that it gets personal attention from your target prospect. Direct mail is opened one piece at a time, and it gives you an excellent chance of catching your prospects' attention and keeping it there for a period of time. |
For all the reasons we've just listed, you can see that direct mail is a very powerful marketing method that, if properly planned and thought out, can produce a high return on your marketing budget.
So when you're sending out those Christmas cards or opening the ones you've received, just think about your next mailing campaign and the opportunity you have to get personal one-on-one marketing messages opened by every single one of your prospects.
Marketing
tip
Generating goodwill among customers and employees
Last week we looked at the importance of remaining calm, professional and polite when dealing with customers, even during the busy festive period.
It's also essential to let your customers know if your business is going to be closed over the Christmas and New Year break.
Here's a checklist of how to do this, along with some other things you need to think about when looking ahead to 2006:
- Set up an e-mail auto response. Most e-mail programs have an 'out of office' setting which you can use to state when your business will be closed, so that any customer or contact who gets in touch will get an automatic reply telling them how soon their query will be dealt with. It's worth saying that calls and premises will be monitored to ensure that you don't encourage thieves or vandals to target an empty building.
- Break the news to customers personally. If you're going to be unavailable, tell customers that call you or visit you in person that your business will be closed. They will appreciate being kept informed.
- Update your website. If you have included festive-themed content or comments on your site in the run-up to Christmas, make sure these sentiments are removed before you close for business so that the site doesn't look stale and out of date.
- Revise your marketing plan. Set aside some time to reread your marketing plan and assess the success of the campaigns you carried out during 2005. Set your goals and targets for 2006, and draft some notes to help you put these into action.
- Say thank you to employees and suppliers. You may have missed the last posting date for Christmas cards (which happens to be today for first-class post!) but it's not too late to let your employees know that you appreciate their efforts - even through something simple like having a drink and a mince pie with them.
You can read more about planning your marketing strategy for 2006 in our practical factsheet. And to read hundreds more tips, ideas, techniques and tactics for increasing sales and finding new customers, check out the UK Small Business Marketing Bible.
Legal
tip
A quick guide to public liability insurance
The number of compensation claims against businesses is increasing every year, and although many complaints are directed against big companies, even small businesses and sole traders must think about ways to protect themselves.
Public liability insurance (PLI) protects you against claims made by the public for any loss or injury they suffer as a result of your negligence (or negligence by your employees). This might mean financial loss, damage to property or even physical injury.
- For example, a food business should take out this type of insurance in case a customer suffers from food poisoning.
- A shopkeeper should take it out to protect against a claim from somebody who slips on their floor and injures themselves.
PLI isn't always compulsory, but some regulatory bodies and local authorities insist on it, and membership of certain trade associations depends on it. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has a useful guide to PLI, what it covers and who needs it. You can also check out our practical introduction to business insurance for an overview of the key issues involved.
As more businesses take out insurance, the insurance companies tend to put their prices up (of course they'll tell you that life is so difficult at the moment and they have to meet so many more claims). But many businesses are unaware that membership of a trade association can automatically reduce the cost of insurance. Check out www.taforum.org for a huge list of trade associations and their contact details.
And the UK Red Tape BUSTER has hundreds of factsheets, checklists, scenarios and frequently asked questions covering almost every small business legal dilemma.
IT
tip
Get online now to file tax returns early
Although the deadline for filing self-assessment tax returns online is not until 31 January 2006, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is encouraging taxpayers to get the annual task done as early as possible. A quarter of a million people filed their returns in the last week of January this year, and HMRC is keen to spread demand for the service over a longer period.
HMRC is offering tips and guidance on getting your paperwork done early. Here's a quick guide to getting the most out of the online filing system:
- Get all the information you will need together before you start.
- Use previous copies of the paper forms to familiarise yourself with the content and layout - you could even use these as a template.
- Use the online help and FAQ areas of the site for guidance as you go.
- Don't submit the form until you've checked through everything thoroughly - if you need to stop and check a piece of information, you can always save the document and come back to it later.
- If you make a mistake, notify HMRC well before the deadline. For self-assessment returns, any corrections need to be made manually.
You need to register to access the wealth of FAQs and guidance information about online self-assessment on the HMRC website, but this is a free process and once you've signed up you can view all the information you'll need to get going.
Finally, you could check out our factsheet on self-assessment for tax for a step-by-step guide to the process.
New business idea
Each
week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business
ideas in the UK.
Here
is this week's idea:
Just one word
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 the word 'cogent' means?
a) comprehensive or thorough
b) in compliance or agreement
c) logical or coherent
d) adjacent to
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
Website review
Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk)
Amid the usual festive criticisms that it has missed its targets for despatching the goods people have ordered for Christmas, we thought we'd have a look at the Amazon.co.uk site to see what businesses might be able to learn from it in terms of usability and navigation.
The clarity of navigation and the innovative approach to promoting, listing and selling goods online can certainly provide some interesting lessons for small businesses.
Our rating - 15/20
Did
you know?
Small companies unaware of audit exemption rules
New research from the Small Enterprise Research Team (SERT) shows that many small companies exempt from the requirement to file audited accounts at Companies House do so anyway as a result of low awareness of the rules. A poll of over 600 companies found that a quarter of those with turnover below £1 million didn't know they were exempt. More than 70% of firms below the audit threshold of £5.6 million turnover had no accountancy expertise in-house, relying instead on accountants to organise their financial affairs.
Microsoft patches finally released
A number of fixes for serious flaws in Microsoft's Windows operating system have been released as part of the software company's monthly security update. One patch in particular, addressing problems within the Internet Explorer (IE) browser, has been anxiously awaited for some weeks after it was discovered that hackers could exploit a 'critical' flaw and potentially gain access to users' systems.
Worth
a visit
Web consultancy gives away guide to accessibility
Web design firm Webcredible is making a 101-page guide to web usability and accessibility available at its website free of charge until 23 December. The guide, which normally costs £170, covers numerous topics of interest to business owners and web designers, including search engine optimisation, accessibility for disabled visitors, and usability tips to help attract more visitors.
Civil partnerships - guidance for firms
Acas has released guidance explaining how to comply with the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which came into force in the UK on 5 December. The Act gives same-sex couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples in terms of employment rights like pensions, parental leave and health insurance options. If you employ staff, you should review your current policies, forms and guidance to ensure they are up to date. Acas reckons the changes are easy to implement but highlights the need for sensitivity and discretion when dealing with such matters.
Worth
a read
Written by one of the most successful private equity investors in high technology start ups, this book reveals the underlying principles governing business investment. It's written in refreshingly easy to understand language, steering clear of the financial jargon present in many other books on this subject. It's useful for investors, but it's also an important read for any small business thinking of seeking this type of funding. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is c).
Cogent means something that is logical or coherent. It usually refers to a document - for example, your business plan should provide a cogent summary of your business idea and target market. |
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. |
