September is Small Business Month. Are you ready for the market recovery?

The NSW State Government is sponsoring Small Business September

“Small Business September is the best time to get back to basics and rejuvenate your business. This is why the NSW Government has put together a comprehensive program to offer up-to-date information for the State’s 650,000 small businesses. The NSW Government is spending $20 million on support and programs to ensure small businesses are well positioned for growth in the improving economic climate.”
Steve Whan
NSW Minister for Small Business   www.smallbusinessmonth.nsw.gov.au

It’s time business got back to basics. Stop focusing on the doom and gloom.

I spend a lot time study marketing, what’s working and what’s a waste of time.

It’s tragic watching businesses survive this financial crisis, only to go broke because they don’t have any customers left.

Walking around Parramatta’s CBD, its sad seeing business closing their doors.

business closing down

Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger

For years, small businesses have been battling shrinking margins and tightening financial constraints. And the greedy corporates choke the life out of you as they stripe your carcass bare.

You’re like slaves working long hours to keep your heads above water.

You’ve slashed your costs. If you paid, your workers like you pay yourselves then you’ll be charged with slave labour.

One of the biggest losers seems to have been the marketing budget.

The smart business kept investing in their marketing, buying market share. If your competition chopped their marketing budget, then you should be investing in luring their customers away.

Stop marketing and your business will probably die.

It’s not a choice, either you get marketing or you’ll be closing your doors.

So what should you be doing?

Small Business Marketing ideas

The first step should be contacting all your existing clients.

If you haven’t been in touch with them in the last 3 months, then it’s likely your competition marketing them.

Here an ad Citibank used to lure new customers

It cost 8 times more to get a new clients, than servicing your existing client base.

Help them to buy more from your company.

Send them a letter or email, letting them know of new ways they can use your product or services.

Better still get them to answer a survey

Ok, I know you’re asking “What should I ask them?” and “How do I go about this?”

These questions would be a good place to start, ask them….

• What are their biggest pains and frustrations are?
• What products or service are they looking for to solve their products?
• What do they like about your product and services?
• How would they improve your products and service?

If you want your clients to fill in your survey, then it would help if the survey looked professional.

I use a web 2.0 site for my surveys. http://www.surveymonkey.com/ “Intelligent survey software for primates of all species. SurveyMonkey has a single purpose: to enable anyone to create professional online surveys quickly and easily.” SurveyMonkey

Offer your clients a reason to help with your survey, like a bottle of wine.

In the next post, I show you how to set up and use SurveyMonkey.

SurveyMonkey - A step by Step guide to creating your first survey