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3 Simple Metrics With The Power To Transform Your Business (And How To Track Them)

Today, it’s easier than ever to collect vast amounts of data in our business. There are many low-cost POS (point of sale) systems out there with some fantastic reporting features that you can take advantage of to help you grow your business and make better management decisions.

And if you think data and metrics are boring, I want to encourage you to reconsider. Because once we know what to look for, these numbers can become very exciting!

For small business owners, every dollar counts, which is why it’s so important to track our progress and keep an eye on various metrics. Of course, there are countless metrics we can measure, some more important than others depending on the type of business you are operating.

But let’s keep it simple for now with these three metrics that have the power to completely transform your business. If you know you could do better when it comes to numbers, they will provide a great starting point.

Average Transaction Value (ATV)

The average transaction value (ATV) is pretty self-explanatory. It gives you the average of how much your customers spent per transaction on average. Simply by focusing on increasing our ATV, we can change the entire course of our business. 

How to calculate Average Transaction Value

Simply divide your total sales on any given day by the total number of transactions on the same day.

Example:
$5000 turnover / 100 Transactions = $50 ATV

We can increase our ATV through:

  • Upsells (“Would you like to make that a large?”) and
  • Cross-sells (“Would you like a camera bag to protect your new camera?”

No matter what business you’re in, there is always something extra you can offer your customers. Let’s take the above example and assume we trade for 340 days per year. If we increased our ATV by just 5% (i.e. by $2.50), our daily turnover would go from $5000 to $5250.

Doesn’t sound like much, right? Well, by the end of 340 trading days, we would have increased our turnover by $85,000. Not a bad result with a few upsells. 

What upsells, cross-sells and package deals could you offer in your business?

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

The Customer Lifetime Value indicates how much the average customer is worth to our business over the course of their patronage. It’s a simple metric with big implications and one that’s often overlooked by small business owners.

Knowing the lifetime value of a customer is a crucial part of understanding how much is reasonable to spend on acquiring a new customer. Measuring CLV is also a good way to determine whether your business is taking full advantage of its customer relationships.

In many, if not most cases, it costs less money to increase revenue from existing customers than it does to acquire new ones. Still, most business owners are more focused on acquisition than retention.

How to calculate Customer Lifetime Value

CLV = Average Transaction Value * Customer Frequency * Average Customer Lifespan

Example:
$50 Average Transaction Value * 1 purchase per month * 12 months average retention = $600 CLV

Your CLV will determine how much we can afford to spend on acquiring a new customer and subsequently, which marketing channels make sense for our business.

How much is a customer worth to you? How much do they spend each time? How often do they visit? And how long do they stay your customer? Improving each of these 3 variables will have a huge impact on your bottom line.

Cost of Customer Acquisition (CAC)

What does it cost you to acquire a new customer? While the importance of knowing the cost of acquiring a new customer is obvious, surprisingly a lot of business owners don’t pay as much attention to this metric as you’d expect them to. Keeping customer acquisition costs top of mind can benefit your business in numerous ways.

For starters, many companies spend more than they estimate on customer acquisition, and in many cases, they continue to invest in marketing channels that make little sense given the lifetime value of their customers.

How to calculate Cost of Customer Acquisition

CAC = Total Ad Spend / Number of New Customers

Example:
$500 Facebook Ad Spend / 50 New Customers = $10

If our Customer Lifetime Value is $600, it makes sense to spend $10 to acquire a new customer. However, if our CLV would only be $20 we might need to look for a new strategy to acquire new customers or first focus on increasing your Average Transaction Value, Purchase Frequency and Retention Rate.

What metrics have you tracked that have helped you grow your business and make better decisions in your marketing?

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5 Audiobooks For Business & Personal Growth That Will Change Your Life Forever

If you’re anything like me, you probably love books! A great book can offer us a glimpse into the vast knowledge and experience of an expert in any field we choose to deepen our understanding, and we often learn a lot about ourselves while exploring new topics.

If you’ve met me before, you may have seen me with headphones glued to my ears. I listen to audiobooks pretty much everywhere I go, always looking for little nuggets that have the power to transform my thinking. I firmly believe, when we upgrade our thinking, we also upgrade our lives as a result.

Whatever it is you’re looking to improve – whether it’s your business skills, personal development or increasing your emotional intelligence, this list of timeless must-reads is for you.

So, here they are, my all-time favourite audiobooks (in no particular order) that I personally love and which I have recommended on many occasions. Enjoy!

5 Insanely Valuable Audiobooks For Guaranteed Business & Personal Growth

 

 

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

by Timothy Ferriss

This was one of the first-ever self-development books I read in my life. It surely has transformed my thinking and my views on life. I must say, for this particular one, I preferred the hard copy book over the audiobook. It’s got some great tools and exercises to help you redefine your life and to go outside your comfort zone and push your limits. It’s definitely at the top of my personal favourites.

iTunes Description: If your dream is escaping the rat race, high-end world travel, monthly five-figure income with zero management or just living more and working less then this audiobook is the blueprint. Forget your tired, old retirement concepts and throw out that deferred-life plan – there’s no need to wait and every reason not to. You can have it all! This audiobook is the compass for a new and revolutionary world. Start living now!

Download on iTunes

The Richest Man in Babylon & The Magic Story: Two Classic Parables about Achieving Wealth and Personal Success (Unabridged)

by Napoleon Hill Foundation

Beautifully narrated and creatively brought to life, this audiobook is both, informative and entertaining. The information herein will be life-changing if one can grasp the essence of it. I have gifted this book to many people and listen to it again every few months to remind myself about the great lessons in it. Highly recommend this version of the book, as it’s easy to listen to in about an hour without losing its essence (the original version of The Richest Man in Babylon goes for a few hours).

iTunes Description: These two parables – one ancient, one modern – contain time-tested secrets that will put you on the road to happiness and prosperity. They offer simple, yet powerful truths about the challenges we all face, and must overcome on the road to success. The Richest Man in Babylon: George Clason’s motivational classic story of Arkad, a man of humble origins who became the richest man in Babylon. In dialogue with his fellow citizens, he reveals the attitudes and behaviour that brought him wealth and happiness. The Magic Story: What turns a loser into a winner? Jay, a down-on-his-luck writer, sees his once struggling friend Sturtevant transformed into a man of supreme confidence and achievement. How did his friend do it?

Download on iTunes

 

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself

by Dr Joe Dispenza

During a time when I could barely get out of bed in the morning, this book has helped me to redefine my purpose and given me new motivation. It teaches why we feel certain emotions, the biochemical processes behind the reason for why we subconsciously decide to put ourselves into a negative state and how to break this crushing habit of self-sabotage and depression. This is a book I would recommend to everyone, as it deals with the underlying thought processes and behaviours that determine our emotional state, and ultimately our actions.

iTunes Description: You are not doomed by your genes and hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of your life. New science is emerging that empowers all human beings to create the reality they choose. In Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, renowned author, speaker, researcher, and chiropractor Dr Joe Dispenza combines the fields of quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, biology, and genetics to show you what is truly possible. Not only will you be given the necessary knowledge to change any aspect of yourself, but you will be taught the step-by-step tools to apply what you learn in order to make measurable changes in any area of your life. Dr Joe demystifies ancient understandings and bridges the gap between science and spirituality. Through his powerful workshops and lectures, thousands of people in 24 different countries have used these principles to change from the inside out. Once you break the habit of being yourself and truly change your mind, your life will never be the same! This audiobook comes with bonus downloadable content. Please go to www.drjoedispenza.com/bhby to download this material.

Download on iTunes

The Miracle Morning Audiobook

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life – Before 8 AM (Unabridged)

by Hal Elrod

Hal Elrod’s philosophy is simple. The way you start your morning, determines how your day pans out, and ultimately, your life. This might sound overly simplistic, but this book has the power to transform your life into a miracle. It clearly shows how important it is to proactively design your life and create habits and rituals that support us in our journey to fulfilling our true potential. The Miracle Morning gives you a clear road map, as well as the specific tools to do just that.

iTunes Description: What if you could miraculously wake up tomorrow and any – or every area of your life was transformed? What would be different? Would you be happier? Healthier? More successful? In better shape? Would you have more energy? Less Stress? More Money? Better relationships? Which of your problems would be solved? What if I told you that there is a “not-so-obvious” secret that is guaranteed to transform any – or literally every area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible? What if I told you it would only take 6 minutes a day? Enter The Miracle Morning. What’s now being practised by thousands of people around the world could perhaps be the simplest approach to creating the life you’ve always wanted. It’s been right there in front of us, but this audiobook has finally brought it to life. Are you ready? The next chapter of your life – the most extraordinary life you’ve ever imagined – is about to begin. You deserve an extraordinary life. It’s time to wake up to your full potential.

Download on iTunes

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People & The 8th Habit (Special 3-Hour Abridgement)

by Stephen R. Covey

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is one of those books that you can read again and again, and each time learns new things you didn’t pick up previously.  This book is full of incredible life lessons that are guaranteed to enrich your personal relationships, in business and personal life. I have read this book four times and will be reading it many more. Highly recommended. This version of the book is a condensed one and also includes the sequel by the same author, The 8th Habit.

iTunes Description: This new audio set is a very special abridgement of two of Stephen R. Covey’s best-selling business books, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit, read by Dr Covey himself. We’ve condensed the content of two entire books into just three hours of audio, but you’ll still enjoy Dr Covey’s lessons on powerful personal change and how to incorporate his ideas into your life to fulfil your ultimate potential.

Download on iTunes

What are some of your favourite books when it comes to business and personal development? Let me know in the comments below!

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3 Great Examples of Small Business Websites Designed For BIG Impact

Website Design for Turtle Town Scuba - David Lee-Schneider Marketing

No matter the size of your business, I believe we can all agree that not having a website in this day and age is no longer an option. However, not all websites are created equal. A well-designed website will not only look great but should help you capture leads, increase sales and help leverage your time and other resources.

Many small business owners treat their website somewhat like an online brochure with a contact form attached. But it’s the ability to capture leads and predictably turn them into customers that sets a great website apart. And in order to achieve this, we require three things:

Great Content

The content on your website is a crucial element. Providing your visitors with engaging content that captivates, educates and encourages them to take action is a vital part of any good business website. Make the content about your readers, not your business and ensure the jargon and tone of voice you use are consistent and in line with your brand. The goal is not to brag about your business but to truly connect with potential buyers and understand their needs and wants.

Great Design

The “look and feel” of your website says a lot about your business and leaves a lasting impression. It’s also often the first contact your customers have with your business. A lack of consistency and poor layout will result in visitors leaving your website before you even had a chance to tell them what your business is all about. Great design means, your customers can easily navigate your website and find what they’re looking for without getting lost (or frustrated). Again, make sure the colours and fonts you use are in line with your branding. A well-designed website will help you build trust with potential customers and convert better as a result.

A Great Offer

This might be the most important part of any website that most business owners (and even web designers) often overlook. I’m not speaking about your actual product or service offering. What I mean is an offer targeted at your IDEAL CUSTOMERS with the aim to collect their contact details and/or other relevant data. In marketing, we refer to this as “Lead Magnet“. Not everyone who comes across your website for the first time is ready to buy from you. By giving them an opportunity to opt-in for a free download or trial of some sort you can reach out to them multiple times (using email marketing or retargeting ads, for instance) which will significantly increase your chances of making a sale further down the line.

The main goal of every good website should be to build your list.

3 Websites of Local Small Businesses Designed for Growth

Here are three small business websites I designed for local businesses where we have incorporated all three aspects mentioned above. They also make some great examples for when you are ready to give your business’ website a facelift or need help designing one from scratch.

1. Turtle Town Scuba

Turtle Town Scuba is a local scuba diving school in Bundaberg that has built its following using a great online strategy. The website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. The home page is laid out in a way that allows visitors to easily find what they’re looking for, see the range of diving courses, learn about the instructors and learn more about diving in the Bundaberg Region through featured blog posts. Without being intrusive, the $25 gift card offer makes it easy for new visitors to leave their details and stay connected to the business before leaving the website.

Visit Live Site

 

2. Bundaberg Health Foods

Website Design for Bundaberg Health Foods - David Lee-Schneider Marketing

The website of Bundaberg Health Foods conveys a clear message, both in terms of content and branding. Users can easily navigate through the different sections of the website, finding what they are looking for quickly and without getting lost or overwhelmed. The website is designed to be completely mobile friendly and displays beautifully across all devices and browsers. A  popup captures visitors’ attention and offers them a $10 health food voucher in return for their email address – a fast way to build a loyal following. As an e-commerce business with over 4000 products, we needed to find a way to make product management easy. We integrated with the in-store POS Vend, so that product descriptions and stock levels are always in sync.

Visit Live Site

 

3. Holistic Therapies

Website Design for Holistic Therapies Bundaberg - David Lee-Schneider Marketing

One of the biggest mistakes most business owners make is that they ask for the sale too early. The website of Holistic Therapies is designed to educate visitors and offer locals a massage voucher as an incentive to trial the service. I have found that this strategy combined with a good follow-up email sequence can consistently deliver fantastic conversion rates and drive sales. The various articles on the blog assist in answering questions customers have and educate them about the many benefits of massage therapy.

Visit Live Site

 

If you would like help with the development and implementation of a sound marketing strategy for your business, let’s have a chat! Book a free strategy call to discuss your business and marketing goals.

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Seven Marketing Assumptions That Can Hurt Your Business

In order for your business to succeed, you need a clever marketing strategy. Unfortunately, most companies hold some marketing assumptions that can restrict their ability to promote their services and products in a cutthroat marketplace. The idea of marketing is quite obscure because marketing is the base for various methods of business promotion. Therefore, it is easy to confuse the real purpose of marketing with the concept of it. There are many reasons why companies seem to think marketing is not the right move for them. If you do not work in the profession, marketing can seem expensive and exotic, with creatives whose aim seems to be to throw money at different projects. Marketing is actually crucial to a number of strategic initiatives. If you have growth goals for your business, be it for market expansion, an extension of your product line, or diversification, then you need to have a proper understanding of what marketing can do for you.

7  Common Marketing Assumptions:

Listed below are the assumptions that can restrict the efficiency of your market plan causing you to miss out on sales opportunities.

1. Small Businesses Do Not Require a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan gives you a master plan for how you will introduce your business to the market. It helps you outline your target audience, budget, offers, tactics, channels, and messages. If you do not have a cohesive, integrated plan, you may be wasting your prospects money if not confusing them. Any business, no matter how big or small, should plan its marketing to ensure the best return on investment.

2. Running Ads is the Only Marketing Plan You Need

Even though an advertising campaign can be relevant as a marketing tactic, it is only but a tactic. Ads are just one of the various ways you can convey your message to your target audience. You should have an integrated plan spelling out different tactics and how they will work harmoniously to help you achieve, sales, lead generation, and awareness.

3. You Already Know What Your Customers Think

People similar to your current customers are your ideal prospects so you need to understand the customer completely. You can gain insight on your customers by conducting customer research courtesy of a professional, independent resource.

4. There is No Need to Market to Your Customers

You should never assume that just because you have customers they are yours for the keeping. Your customers need to be reminded constantly of why they should keep buying from you and not your competitors. Promote to your customers and your prospects too.

5. That Marketing Channel is Too Costly for You

Marketers usually make wrong assumptions about the cost of marketing avenues like direct mail or advertising. You should not cross out a channel because you assume it is too costly. Explore all your options intensively and you might discover that you can access channels that you thought were unaffordable.

6. You Do Not Need Social Media

Regardless of what you sell, the one thing you can be sure of is that your competitors, prospects, and customers are using social media actively. If you do not participate, you will be left out of conversations that could be shaping your marketplace.

7. You Need to Cut Your Marketing Budget because Sales are Down

This is one of the marketing assumptions business owners usually do. They say tough times call for tough decisions but cutting your marketing budget should not be one of these tough decisions. Effective marketing may actually help you come out of a slump with your sales so if you do not continue engaging with prospects and customers, one of your competitors will be ready to take your place.

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Five Things That Your Business is Overspending on (and How to Fix It)

Every coin you waste in your business is precious and can be directed towards improving services and products, or reaching more customers. Most companies face the problem of funneling their money towards irrelevant expenses and often it is because they do not take time to reassess their way of “doing things”. If you keep doing the same things over time simply because you have been doing them this way, you could be wasting a significant amount of money. Here are some of the areas in which businesses spend too much money and how you can fix it.

1.  Hiring More Employees than Necessary

Today’s era is one of independent contractors and virtual assistants, so businesses do not need to hire salaried full-time staff to deal with daily tasks. Businesses can outsource these duties to freelancers who can work on a per-project or hourly basis. Your business needs to monitor their salaried workers constantly to make sure their positions genuinely require a full-time employee and only add new positions when the workload calls for it.

2. Indirect Marketing Campaigns

Data analytics have come to play a significant role in everything that businesses do and any company that fails to measure its marketing efforts can find itself left behind. Before purchasing paid advertising or posting on social media, ensure you monitor how your efforts are faring on first. The results of your current email blast could affect your decisions on future marketing campaigns for a long time so it may be worth it. Each dollar you spend could bring in more money for your business.

3. Failing to Monitor Business Expenses

Wining and dining your prospects or clients can be essential for a growing business but you should watch out for those fancy eateries (yep, I know). You could be spending more money than you need to in this area if you do not pay close attention to things. There are various expense- monitoring apps available to help you keep track of your business expenditure. If you are using professional accounting software, like Xero, you can also pull reports at different intervals to show you where exactly your money goes.

4. Is Your Business Overpaying?

If you do not hone your negotiation skills, you may end up spending more money than is required on equipment, supplies, office space leases, manufacturing, and other resources you use to run your business. Learn how to negotiate with your vendors so that you can save money which can be directed toward business growth. You probably spend a lot of time negotiating with your clients to make sure you get the best prices for your services or products, so why not use the same skills on your budget expenditure? Use the 80/20 rule to identify which 20% of your business expenses have the biggest impact on your overall expenditure.

5. New Technology

Businesses usually feel that they should invest in the most up-to-date technology, be it operation management software or devices to help them utilize this software. In addition to spending too much money on software and devices, you could also be investing in building a better marketing foundation and building systems that will allow you to scale your business.

As an independent marketing consultant, I help business owners to design and implement cost-effective marketing strategies that more than pay for themselves. If you are looking for a way to scale your business reliably, using proven strategies, I look forward to having a chat.

To your success,

 

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5 Common Reasons Why Your Marketing isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)

Some common reasons why your marketing isn’t working are probably less obvious than you might think. Marketing, when not done right, can easily fail to produce the desired results. Many times, I have seen business owners sit down to come up with their own marketing strategy, only to end up with great disappointment. However, this is all part of being in business. When we fail, we pick ourselves up and go again.

Nevertheless, I have identified a few common mistakes when it comes to marketing and outlined some strategies for how to fix these problems.

Here are 5 common reasons why your marketing isn’t working

 

1. Trying to be everything to everyone

Many businesses fail to send out a clear message that is targeted at their ideal customer (Avatar). Instead they try to keep their message as broad as possible. This approach results in generic messaging that doesn’t work. Instead, be very clear about your purpose, what your product or service is about and who exactly it is for. Identify who your ideal customers are and craft copy that speaks directly to them. The clearer your message and targeting, the better your sales will be.

2. Competing on price

One approach many businesses take when competition moves in is to lower their price. In some industries, this has led to a war on price between competitors leaving little to none for anyone. Rather than lowering your prices, try to find ways to add more value to your customers. This won’t just leave you better off financially, but also position you as the expert amongst your competitors. Ever seen Apple run a sale?

3. Limiting Marketing to Just One Platform

Businesses have to consider more than one marketing platform. Digital marketing offers countless tools to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your campaigns and proactively increase your sales when you choose to. Social media is just one platform. Email marketing is another. Traditional forms of marketing are also worth testing, especially when targeting customers who are yet to embrace the digital era. Muti-channel marketing also allows you to identify where your best customers are coming from and where to spend most of your budget in order to get the best return.

4. Lack of Strategy

Without a strategy, marketing fails. This is one of the most common reasons why your marketing isn’t working. In marketing, strategy is everything. In fact, the right strategy produces stunning, hitherto unimagined results. Develop a marketing plan and stick to it. Test what’s working, repeat what does, discard what doesn’t. Numbers don’t lie.

5. Dead Techniques

Dead marketing techniques kill businesses faster than ever before. Don’t get stuck in the old ways. If it’s not working, change it. Replace it with something that works. Tweak it if necessary. There’s no need of staying loyal to ideas that cost a lot of money yet have nothing to show for all that investment. Even if it once was your best strategy.

Do you currently have a strategy that allows you to get new customers “on tap”? If not, I might be able to help. As an independent marketing consultant, I help business owners in the retail and hospitality industries to design and implement automated marketing strategies that take their business to a whole new level. When you’re ready, let’s have a chat about your business.

 

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6 TED Talks Every Business Owner Should Watch

Best TED Talks for Business Owners

TED Talks are geared towards spreading ideas using short, powerful talks. The talks last no more than 18 minutes each, are factual and entertaining. Initially, they revolved around Technology, Entertainment, and Design (hence the name TED) when they started out in 1984. Today, the talks touch on almost all areas of life and business. As business owners, we can learn a lot from watching many of these talks and gain valuable insights. The good news is, the talks are freely available on TED.com.

Here are our top TED Talks every business owner should watch. Enjoy!

1. Cameron Herold: Let’s Raise Kids To Be Entrepreneurs

Cameron Herold, who founded COO Alliance, gave a TED Talk entitled, “Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs.” In his words, the traditional system of education does not encourage kids to be entrepreneurs. He believes that we should change the system to produce more entrepreneurs.

2. Nirmalya Kumar: India’s Invisible Innovation

Nirmalya Kumar’s TED Talk focuses on the link between business and innovation. As most business owners know, running a business successfully requires a good dose of innovation. A business that constantly develops new products and processes has a higher chance of success.

3. Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Eight years ago, Simon Sinek gave a TED Talk on the role great leaders play in inspiring action. The lessons from that talk are still relevant today. Company leaders call the shots. CEOs determine the direction a company takes.

A leader determines how successful a company’s digital marketing campaign shall be.

4. Regina Hartley: Why The Best Hire Might Not Have The Perfect Resume

What makes Regina Hartley’s TED Talk a must watch for entrepreneurs is the advice she gives on the role of a resume in hiring or not hiring a new employee. Entrepreneurs put too much focus on what is on the resumes.

They forget that the resumes never capture all the important details of a prospective employee.

For example, the resume may not tell an entrepreneur everything the prospective employee did in creating a marketing automation software. A perfect resume may keep us away from one who has overcome great difficulties and challenges to get here.

5. Philip Evans: How Data Will Transform Business

The TED Talk Philip Evans gave in 2014 was designed to help businesses understand the role of data. We have to understand the transformational ability that data has in any business. We can no longer ignore analysing the importance of technology and data for running a business.

After all, marketing automation, like all types of technology, depends on data.

6. Seth Godin: How To Get Your Ideas To Spread

Seth Godin’s TED Talk was titled “How to get your ideas to spread”. In that talk, we understand the importance of using bizarre ideas in marketing. Good and boring ideas are not always productive. Bizarre ones, on the other hand, capture and retain customer’s attention.

These must-watch business TED Talks are a great start for any entrepreneur or business owner who is wanting to learn and grow, both on a personal and business level.

Do you have a favourite TED talk? Share the link in the comments below!

 

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6 Lessons About Growing Your Business You’ll Learn From Superheroes

Can superheroes really teach you any valuable lessons about growing your business?

The world has been blessed with a stream of several top superheroes over the years. From Wonder Woman to Iron Man, Firestorm, Superman, Spiderman, and Thor, there is a long list of superheroes to choose from. There are many lessons we can learn from your childhood idols

They entertain us. They also help us to understand more about ourselves. They remind us of some wonderful lessons regarding humanity that we may have forgotten due to the pressures of life.

However, superheroes can also teach us some valuable lessons about growing our businesses.

Here are 6 lessons about growing your business you can learn from superheroes

 

1. Staying true to our aspirations and beliefs

We are likely to forget or abandon our aspirations and beliefs from time to time. However, a close look at these superheroes shows us that we don’t have to go down that route. Pursue what is right for the business until the end, even if nobody else has the same belief in it.

2. Take your power seriously

Superheroes have a lot of power. They also have a lot of responsibilities hanging over their shoulders. Remarkably, they show an uncanny ability to use their power well. They take what they do seriously and so should we while running and growing our businesses.

3. Be ready to make difficult decisions

A close look at any superhero shows that they struggle to make decisions. The weigh each decision’s pros and cons. Sometimes they fail and other times they succeed. What they are very good at though is the ability and willingness to make difficult decisions.

Any person who desires to run a business needs to be prepared to make some uncomfortable decisions, too.

More importantly, making difficult decisions helps us to know our values better! We can all learn from this Harvard Business Review article about making tough decisions.

4. Never be afraid of asking for what you want

Anyone who runs a business also does a lot of asking. We ask for information. We ask for data. We ask clients to give us feedback. We ask clients to buy our products and services. Superheroes are never afraid of asking.

Never be afraid to use marketing automation apps to help the business expand.

We can’t grow any business if we are afraid of asking for help or stating what we want.

5. Stay focused on the most important tasks

Superheroes assume a new aura when pursuing specific goals. They allow nothing to distract them. Entrepreneurs also have to develop such an attitude. It’s important that we stay focused on the areas of our businesses that perform exceedingly well while ignoring distractions. This is just one of the lessons about growing your business you can learn from them.

6. Don’t wait until you feel ready, start now

It’s normal for us to wait until we feel ready to do what we ought to do. That may not be an effective way of growing a business. Superheroes never wait until all conditions are perfect to do something. They get up and do whatever is required now.

There’s no perfect time. Do whatever has to be done NOW!

If it’s digital marketing, embark on it right away! I’ll help you. Let’s have a chat to find out where you’re at and what you need to transform your marketing.

What lessons about growing your business have you learned? Let me know in the comments below.

To your success,

References

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Four Tragic Mistakes You’re Making with Digital Marketing

You might or might not be aware of the mistakes you’re making with digital marketing. It takes a lot of effort and time to make digital marketing produce the desired results. It is not limited to marketing automation software or apps. Digital marketing comes with a unique set of technologies and, most importantly, a great strategy. When you are lacking the right strategy, however, it has several pitfalls and it’s easy to make fatal mistakes that can cost you your business.

Here are four of the most common mistakes business owners are making with digital marketing.

1. Failure to identify a target audience

My business cannot prosper if I fail to identify the customers I wish to target with my products and services. Marketing must always take place with the customer in mind. I must identify and define my customers. I must know who they are. The advice I give to my fellow business owners is to put all digital marketing campaigns on hold until we have a clear idea of the type of customer we want to serve.

Start by studying the audience before formulating a campaign based on their behavior.

2. Lack of marketing strategy

Nothing ever happens consistently and successfully without a strategy in place. Marketing, whether digital or traditional, needs good strategies in place to produce the results the business owner or marketer envisions. In my time, I have seen several tactics and techniques used instead of the solid and reliable strategies. A strategy should come before any tactic or technique. Strategy always shines the light on the path threatened by “darkness” and “uncertainties.”

3. Ignoring mobile

Any form of marketing carried out in the 21st Century that doesn’t consider mobile is set to be a massive flop. Marketing that does not take a mobile-first strategy cannot go far. Ignoring mobile means discriminating against possibly 50% of the customers who keep the business running. Mobile optimization is essential for marketing. Ignore mobile and forget about conversions. Neglect mobile and even great content will not help.

Use this guide to develop a mobile digital marketing campaign.

4. Saying No to SEO

One of the mistakes you’re making with digital marketing is saying no to SEO.It is here to stay. Search engines still believe in SEO and so should we. Digital marketing requires the use of tools such as websites. E-commerce would not happen without websites. A business needs a solid and competitive online presence to be successful. That presence is impossible to create while ignoring SEO and thinking that it is dead. SEO is essential for building and maintaining a healthy presence online.

Avoid ignoring conversion optimisation either.

Avoid implementing too many tactics. Instead, use 1-2 tactics at a time and ensure you can track your results.

Know what your target audience wants.

Know where you can find you target audience.

Adopt strategies for reaching your ideal customers by delivering value.

I hope these points will help you avoid some of the mistakes you’re making with your digital marketing. Have you learned any other valuable lessons in the process of running your business? Let me know in the comments below.

To your success,

 

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6 Common Misconceptions about Digital Marketing

Digital marketing has helped entrepreneurs and business owners to take their business to the next level. It offers more advantages than other forms of marketing. Digital marketing doesn’t remain dormant for any length of time. It constantly changes and evolves. Along with that rapid change come a number of misconceptions about digital marketing that many believe to be true.

Not enough business owners have a broad enough understanding of what digital marketing can and cannot do and how to harness its true power.

Here are six of the most common misconceptions about digital marketing that I often here when talking to business owners in Australia.

6 Misconceptions about Digital Marketing

1. Digital marketing is for small businesses only

Digital marketing enables all businesses – whether small or large – to identify ways of communicating and engaging with their ideal customers or clients. It offers businesses several benefits, including faster turnaround time when testing campaigns, low cost and much more targeted advertising. It works for small and large businesses alike. No matter your budget or size of your company.

2. Digital marketing doesn’t contribute significantly to any company’s business strategy

This represents yet another misconception that mostly emanates from marketers who believe in traditional forms of marketing alone. Today’s customers are more likely to search for whatever they need on the Internet first thus making digital marketing essential to them.

Modern businesses and companies need websites.

3. It only succeeds with extremely large website traffic

The effectiveness of digital marketing is tied down to quality rather than quantity. For this reason, heavy or tiny traffic doesn’t matter! In our experience, quality will always attract and bring in the numbers that any business needs.

4. A website is all that a business needs for digital marketing

A website plays a crucial part in any successful digital marketing campaign. However, by no means is it the only requirement or ingredient! The website needs fresh content. The content has to be a mix of texts and videos.

Static content will not help the website.

Forbes offers a few ideas on what to do when content grows static and stale.

Static content harms digital marketing even if it’s posted on the most beautiful website.

5. Only worthwhile if my competition use it

Businesses need all the advantages they can get to stay ahead. In my line of work, I’ve realized that I don’t have to embrace digital marketing only because my competition uses it. If I take that path, I will always be behind and that would probably kill my business.

6. It’s not the answer for my industry

One of the misconceptions of digital marketing is that it doesn’t work well in all industries. The truth is it basically works well for all types of industries. It is not limited to a few industries. Any business that applies the principles of digital marketing will reap its fruits the industry notwithstanding. Digital marketing works for all industries whose clients search for products and services online.

Lastly, remember that SEO isn’t dead.

Embrace digital marketing as its results benefit all businesses in all industries.

 

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