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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 287
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| Thought for the week: "It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages." Henry Ford |
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In this week's issue:
Your business' greatest treasure
By Jonathan Jay
A database that contains the names and details of your existing customers and your prospective customers is the great treasure trove of your business - use it wisely and you'll be able to generate massive sales and retain the loyalty of your clients and customers for years to come.
If you don't have a customer and prospect database already, set it up immediately. Why? If you don't have information on your customers, you can't look after them properly and you can't return to them with new products and services as you develop them.
A database of potential customers is also crucial. Why? If you don’t have information on your prospects then you have to constantly spend money to generate new leads. With a prospect database, you can actually go back to your old leads, your old enquiries and reactivate them.
The more information you have on people interested in your business, the more you can return to them with additional offers, even when they don't buy the first time.
You can categorise your customer database into:
The easiest way to segment your database is through the age of the data. By that I mean: did this person enquire in the past four weeks or did they enquire four years ago? Once you've segmented your database, you can tailor your marketing appropriately, targeting the right message and the right offering to the right kind of people.
The more information you collect about the preferences of your prospects and your customers, the more efficient and the more tailor-made you can make the offer that you're proposing to that person.
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Jonathan Jay is the founder of SuccessTrack - Success Strategies for Business Owners, and author of The Marketing Secrets of a Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneur. Go to www.freemarketingbook.org for your free copy. |
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
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Pushbike cafés. The Bikecaffe has evolved from its predecessor the mobile coffee cart. It's a pedal-powered tricycle that can dispense a small range of hot drinks and appeals to eco-supporters because, unlike other mobile coffee machines, there are no exhaust emissions.
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Design-your-own baby shoes. The design-your-own trend shows no signs of petering out - this time it's design-your-own baby shoes. US firm Preschoolians enables parents to choose the shoe soles and the colours of the shoes, laces and ankle collars. Parents can see the finished shoes on-screen before buying.
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 'unstinting'?
a) extremely generous
b) unwilling, immoveable
c) selfish, mean
d) relentless, extreme
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) Business rescue firm Begbies Traynor has revealed a dramatic increase in the number of businesses with 'critical problems' in the third quarter of this year, compared with the same period last year. Which sector has been worst hit, according to its report?
a) professional services
b) automotive
c) hire and rental
d) property
2) The economic slowdown brought on by the credit crunch is not all doom and gloom for some high street businesses. In particular, which traditional type of business has benefited from consumers adopting a thrifty approach, according to reports in various newspapers?
a) bakers
b) cobblers
c) hardware stores
d) butchers
3) Statistics from voucher codes website MyVoucherCodes have revealed that electronic and gadget related online sales have been surpassed by other online sales. What takes the top spot, according to the voucher website?
a) online grocery sales
b) online holiday sales
c) online clothing and fashion sales
d) online sales of DVDs and CDs
Answers at the end of the Bulletin.
Co-operative for creatives
KithKin bills itself as a creative co-operative and a virtual studio. Its members collaborate on their work, and the website provides a platform for designers and other creatives to showcase their work.
Proofing and work processes simplified
ProofHQ is a web-based application that allows agencies, designers, printers, and writers to move the whole process - from agreeing specifications to final approval - online. The service is free for individual users with occasional needs, and rises in price for larger businesses.
Create a retail website with a free e-commerce application
Magento is a free and open source application for creating e-commerce sites. It has all the features of expensive software, connects to dozens of payment services like PayPal and WorldPay, and has an extensive support library and lively community of users.
Design interactive presentations with Flowgram
A Flowgram is an interactive presentation that goes a long way beyond PowerPoint. By combining images, video, voice and web content, it aims to give viewers a better understanding of the topics presented while staying easy and quick to use.
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For more useful resources, tips and practical how-to articles you can request a free copy of EnterQuest's sister publication, BETTER business magazine. |
To receive a free copy of BETTER business magazine simply send us your name and address to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com, putting 'EQ magazine offer' in the subject box.
Win one of 33 uni-ball Jetstream high-tech pens
EnterQuest has teamed up with JetStream, the hi-tech pen people, to give away 33 superb uni-ball pens.
Jetstream boasts smooth, dependable qualities which uni-ball believes will prove popular with busy executives who need to write as much as possible in a short amount of time. It's ideal for signatures, too - the script will not blur and is guaranteed to stay bold.
The pen also features an ergonomically-designed rubber grip which supports the fingers and absorbs the pressure of a tight grip, making the pen ideal throughout long meetings or conferences.
Uni-ball has 33 Jetstream pens to give away, with three first-prize winners receiving an exclusive accessory set including a briefcase or handbag, plus stylish files to ensure their work life is as orderly and precise as their handwriting! Just answer the following question:
Q. Sales statistics from which website have revealed that electronic items and gadgets no longer sit at the top of the online shopping sector?
E-mail your answer, together with your name, address and daytime telephone number, using 'uni-ball competition' as the e-mail subject line, to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
All entries must be received by 31 October. EnterQuest and uni-ball will use the information you provide for their own marketing purposes only and your details will never be shared with any third parties (except to arrange delivery of the prize). Competition rules are available on request.
This book explores the marketing messages behind advertisements and how they influence consumers' buying decisions. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is a).
Unstinting means extremely generous.
The customer was unstinting in her praise of the business owner's staff when they helped her resolve a problem. |
How's your business radar? The answers
1) The answer is c) - The number of hire and rental service businesses that are experiencing critical problems has shot up from 7 the third quarter of 2007, to 52 in the third quarter of 2008 - an increase of 643%. Begbies Traynor classes firms as 'critical' if they have County Court Judgements totalling £5,000 or over or are facing Winding-Up petitions.
2) The answer is b) - According to reports in the Scotsman and on This Is Staffordshire, cobblers are experiencing a boom during the economic downturn. More people are choosing to mend old pairs of shoes rather than fork out for replacements.
3) The answer is a) - Shoppers are looking for bargain buys on their bread, milk and other groceries. MyVoucherCode says online grocery sales have pipped online sales of electronic items and gadgets for the first time since Internet retail was established. |
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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. |
