Sales, Marketing

In just over a week, a flurry of customers will be looking to support small businesses online and in stores on Small Business Saturday. Merchants can capitalize on the influx of customers by properly preparing for them and their purchases.

For small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) the holiday season really is the most wonderful time of the year. Checkout lines get a little longer, website traffic increases and sales are expected to soar sky high. In fact, holiday sales could increase anywhere from 4 to 4.5 percent over last year with online sales jumping almost 20 percent.

Social media can be an effective promotional tool for any small business.
The secret is finding the right combination of internal resources and external talent.
Few companies are equipped to drive social media efforts alone. Those that try often run up against a wall of mounting experience and limited internal resources. That is not to say having an internal leader driving the social media efforts can’t work.

Besides the changes being forced by Amazon, other food trends emerged from the Summer Fancy Food Show.
“Overall, consumers are seeking out better-for-you foods and beverages made with quality ingredients. They want to make a good choice, even when indulging,” said Denise Purcell, head of content for the Specialty Food Association.

Social media can be an effective promotional tool for any small business.
The secret is finding the right combination of internal resources and external talent.
Few companies are equipped to drive social media efforts alone.  Those that try often run up against a wall of mounting experience required and limited internal resources available.  That is not to say having an internal leader driving the social media efforts can’t work.

Email marketing is a successful tool for many small businesses in every industry.
It is a personalized way to reach any audience’s inbox connecting them directly on a personal level.
According to Jessa Barron of NextAdvisor, “But no matter how great your email campaigns and your content are, email marketing doesn’t do much good if you don’t have many subscribers to share your campaigns and content with.”

A store is a place you go to buy stuff, usually out of convenience or habit.
In contrast, brands inspire irrational loyalty and yes, even love.
How does a company build itself into a brand that people can fall deeply, madly in love with?
The old model says segmentation is the key to business success. This involves strategically dividing potential customers into groups based on who they are and why/how they’re buying.

The best business advice I’ve ever received is to measure the metrics that matter. You can collect a lot of data on your business, but not all of it will be useful.
Simon Slade, CEO of SaleHoo of offers these three metrics he believes to be the most important for growing  his businesses.

SCORE launched the fourth annual American Small Business Championship — a national competition to celebrate small business owners and entrepreneurs from across the nation, made possible with a grant from Sam’s Club. The open call for applications begins today, and will award two small businesses from every state and the District of Columbia with a $1,000 Sam’s Club gift card, an all-expense paid trip to a training and networking event in Dallas, and mentoring from small business experts at SCORE.

By focusing on creating opportunities for others, Becky Robison has built two successful companies.

The mother of three daughters works with authors and others to promote books and products online. 

“In all I do, my focus is on creating opportunities,”Robinson explained.