Small business
Blogging to your Target Customers
Blogging can help build your visibility online. When you write a blog post, you want to speak to your target customer and need make the content relevant for them.
If your market is attracted to your blog, as they read and follow your new posts – they will learn more about your services and products. You want to have a content guideline so that you stay focused and on target with your content.
To stay on track it’s important that you first consider your target customers before proceeding with the series of content that you would like to post. Without proper thought, you might miss the real purpose of your blog, which is to catch the attention of your prospective customers. It’s okay to have blog posts interspersed that are not fully on target with the content, but overall you want to keep the focus to keep speaking to your target customers.
Web surfers are very diverse and they have different backgrounds, preferences, and lifestyle. Therefore, market segmentation is very important. Your target market will depend much on the products or services that you are selling, and you better know your products very well. It is your products that determine the demographic profile of your customers. Before deciding on the theme of your blog, it would be better if you have a definite profile of your ideal customer in mind.
This profile will represent your target market segment. The basic demographic profile includes age, gender, and social or economic status. The categories under each profile are as follows:
- Age. Does your target market consist of children, teenagers, adults, or senior citizens?
- Gender. Are your target customers male, female, or transgender?
- Economic Status. Do they belong in low income, middle income, affluent, or rich group?
- Location or address.
These profile or sets of traits should match the characteristics or features of the products or services that you are offering. Remember, however, that these classifications are still relatively broad and apply only to basic commodities where product differentiation by consumers is still not so distinct. Examples are medicines or medical services, foods, educational services, and others. Items everyone needs regardless of demographics.
For stricter market segmentation, you can differentiate your target markets or narrow them further according to customer temperaments, needs, goals, and fears. Specifically, you can distinguish them according to:
- Needs – sense of accomplishments, sense of belonging, self actualization • Goals – productivity, efficiency, savings, safety
- Temperaments – serious, happy go lucky, complacent
- Fears – old age, poverty, ill health, rejection
There are still more categories to further narrow your market segment such as educational attainment, lifestyle, mindset, family size, political views, etc. These are relevant if the products or services that you are offering are highly specialized or customized such as travel or vacation packages, luxury cars, high tech gadgets, and other such items.
Having a clear picture of the common characteristics of your target market when blogging for business will help you decide what theme or blog design to use, the appropriate mode or tone of your article, and the right images that you need to use.
These details may overwhelm you at first. But, you should realize that your purpose for blogging is to attract web users who are more likely to use your products or services and to influence them to buy and patronize what you offer. Keep this in mind as well that customers now are more discriminating, especially if the products are quite expensive. They scrutinize details and compare them with competing brands.
So to make your blog more effective, know your products well and create a profile of your target market based on your products’ characteristics and features. Then, post blog content that will appeal to your target market.
Remember, your business blog is created to ultimately generate sales; first having gained the trust of the blog readers. Keeping your focus will help you stop reduce wasted time and effort when blogging for business.
Do you think about your target customer when you write or oplan your blog content?
Peer Support is Vital to your Success
I was recently listening to a CD on delegation for small business owners and one of the points the speaker made was one of the top reasons businesses fail. Support.
As a small business owner you are everything to your business. Sales, Marketing, Operations, Admin, bookkeeping and many other parts. Having peer support is one of the things that can help you build your business.
Connecting with people of like minds, in a similar industry can really help boost your own business. You need a sounding board, you need someone who understands where you are and what outside influences can affect how you run your business.
For the past couple of years I have met weekly with an Accountability Group. We started as two then built to four people. All Virtual Assistants, in some way or another. We met to discuss plans, goals, issues and more. Being in the same industry we never felt like competitors, but more like colleagues and collaborators. We understand the issues that affect our specific businesses and the support we provide each other actually helps each of us continue to grow and build our own businesses.
Last spring, we decided to take this group a step farther and meet in person to dig deep into our businesses and do some intense concentrated work on our businesses. A time to step away from the daily work and issues that keep us from going deep into our plans.
And this is where I am right now… locked away in a house in Ontario working hard on new plans ( and in some cases old plans that never made it to completion) with 5 other fabulous women business owners.
We are intense into our Mastermind Retreat weekend and have been working hard every day. We scheduled time and specific As a small group we have been able to take time and listen to each others issues; sharing ideas to help, techniques, tools and in some cases confirming beliefs that have been sitting in the back of our minds and needed reassurance that yes it is time to change. 
(one of my contributions was the lobster dinner – direct from Nova Scotia! An experience for two of the group who had never tasted lobster before)
Peer Support is soooo helpful to entrepreneurs and small business owners. The inspiration and information you will receive and share in a group like this should (and will) propel your business forward. And networking is how you will find your own support group.
Whether networking in person or online (as I do a lot of mine), you can look for and discover people that you connect with, you resonate with and ones who will also have a different opinion to share with you. They do not have to be clones of yourself – that won’t always be helpful… eyes that have a different view on your business are more helpful to you than a clone.
Take a look around your business world and circle of contacts – who there do you see that appeals to you as a peer? Can you bring something to the table to help them? These are a couple questions to help you find and start your own Accountability / Peer Group. Get out there and be the instigator and create your own group. It may take some time to grow and find the right people; but it really will be a help to your business. Having the extra eyes and ears will become something you enjoy and look forward to with your regular meetings.
My peer group support this week has been invaluable! Thanks to all the Gals who committed to themselves and each other to make this happen!
Missing appointments? This Tool can Help
Last week I scheduled an appointment with a renovation company to go over possible work, get an estimate and get it started. I am asking this of someone who I have worked with before, so the odds are good I will hire them again, and home renovations is not chump change.
But they ‘forgot’ about me and never showed up. When I called because I wanted to check on when they were going to be there, I was told “Oh I completely forgot, sorry. How about Friday morning?” This could be enough for some people to say forget it, you missed this appointment, how will you be when it comes to doing the work? Your presence for consults or estimate say a lot about how you work – making them appointments you should never miss, never forget. I will give them one chance, and frankly if they are not here when noted; I will be writing them off.
As a small business owner working in a any business but even more so a business like home renos or other work where you get calls for estimates and have to followup on these you need an easy reminder / appointment calendar system. This is a must if you don’t want to miss out on business.
Most likely you have it already and just do not use it. Few people working in the trades these days go without a cell phone or smartphone, they are on the go and do not want to miss call or be unreachable. That phone is the answer. Almost everyone of these devices has a calendar system of some sort. USE IT! Make this calendar your friend.
- Learn how to enter appointments in your calendar and set reminders as well.
- Have reminder times that make sense. If it takes you on average 30 min to get to an appointment (if in person) then set your reminders 1 hour ahead. Give yourself reminder time to be on time, if you forget a lot.
- Use it immediately. If someone emails, then move that email to your calendar and setup the appointment. Or once you hang up the phone then enter the name / info into your calendar right there. DO NOT do one other thing until this has been done.
It’s all about keeping yourself organized no matter what line of business you are in. I have even started getting my 12 year old son to start using his phone for his homework / assignments. It’s the one device he always has on his person, so we’re using it to make certain he stays on track.
What tools are you using to stay on track? Please post a comment here with other tips you have to share.
Customer Service Response Time – What’s Yours?
Response time is one of the most important parts of the job for First Responders – Paramedics, Firefighters, and Police. These divisions of services for cities all over the world focus on their response time as a large part of their business planning. They have goals around it, they review it often and also analyze it looking for ways to improve. The improvement and focus is needed because for First Responders; 30 seconds can actually be the difference between life or death for their ‘clients’.
Small business owners sometimes do not realize how important response time is as well. Response time? As a Small business owner?
Your response time to inquiries for business and to service requests is vital to your success. Especially, (ESPECIALLY!!!) as a small business. You need to be certain you have a system in place to respond to customers, potential or current, if you want to grow your business. If you don’t you may simply be letting business walk out your door!
I bring this up, because over the past two weeks I have personally experienced very bad response times to two different requests. By sharing them, and one is really amazing, I hope to open your eyes to how important your own response time is.
EXAMPLE 1: Coaching Services offered via a website
After I returned from a conference in July, I made the decision to hire a business coach. I had some names in mind and set up two interviews and then a friend recommended another person; so I went to her website and did some research. It looked promising and I filled out the online coaching application form that asked for specific info from me and promised a response within 48 hours. (I was a little concerned by the mentions over and over to white list her email to make certain I got her reply).
Two days later, still no response. So back to the site I went, (after checking my spam folders) and sent an email via the online contact form. I asked how long the coaching application takes as I had sent it in 2 days earlier. Again I wondered about the excessive warnings to whitelist the email.
By the next day I had completed the other two interviews and was mulling over my choices to make a decision.
One week to the day from when I filled out the application, I received a response. And in my opinion, a sad response for what I was considering. It came from a colleague who apparently helps with the coaching, but did not really explain the relationship and why it was not the actual coach responding.
My response was very simple:
I had sent my original application and then a followup email a week ago as I had not heard back on anything sent to XXX via her website.
I already interviewed with two others and have made a decision on which coach to sign with and we have started the process.
Sorry, but your followup, or lack thereof, put XXX out of the running after 48 hours.
And that last line was true – She was absolutely out of the running when she did not respond to me by her promised time. My thoughts?
If she can’t even answer something like that in a timely way – how is her coaching process?? I also let the referrer know about this and you can bet she won’t be passing her name around anymore.
EXAMPLE 2: Local Service to fix our driveway and repair the stone wall beside it.
We wanted to make our driveway wider, which meant tearing our part of a stone wall, replacing some and also the driveway repaving and a new set of stair to the house. A BIG Job.
I had been given two names from a neighbour in a related industry. So, in early July I called them for quotes and booked appointments. “Mike” showed up exactly on time, “John” was not close to his window of time, a day late.
Both got the idea of what we wanted and said they would work up an estimate and get back to me.
Mike called to book a time and drop his off, on Monday. His estimate was done with the two additional options I asked about and was very detailed.
John never showed.
Mike got the job and we are in the process of getting permits etc to move ahead.
Response Time!
Do you see how important it was in both of these examples? 
As a follow up (and my inspiration for this post today) Yesterday, that is August 10th… Yesterday ‘John’ showed up at my door. His truck was outside the house for about 15 minutes before he knocked on the door.
He smiled and said, “I bet you thought I forgot about you?”
I honestly was dumbstruck… was he actually here to deliver his estimate??? 40 days later. That’s forty!
Indeed he was.
He handed me a piece of paper as he finished writing on it (hence the 15 minutes parked outside!!!) And there I had it in my hand. It was 3 lines, not detailed at all and missing parts of what we asked to be included.
I took the paper and said thanks. He took me by such surprise that I did not tell him what I should have, I did that by phone call today.
I let him know that I had hired and chosen someone 5 days after I saw him. Telling him that when I look to someone for business, once I am told you will send me an an estimate, I wait and don’t chase them down. You didn’t give me one.
His response was simply : “Oh…”
I took that to be a good reality check!
Response time is VERY important
This will be how your customers view you and your actions will be a determining factor in their opinion on your service. You might not be a First Responder, but your response time dictates many things to a customer.
I have a system in place on my website. The contact email goes to a special email account, and they get placed in a special folder automatically on my email system. I KNOW when I see one there that someone has contacted me via my website. My response time has a goal of 24 hours maximum, and sooner if possible. It is important to be aware of how long it takes you to respond.
Today, in fact I spoke with a business owner who was getting lost in these very emails. She was not able to respond in a timely manner to website inquiries and had realized her time management issues were costing her money and clients. She has now hired us to take care of her email and calendar management. Her forte is making beautiful cakes for weddings and special events; and making time to get to emails was difficult. So… we now are setting up a system to make it more efficient for her, and we will monitor and help her with contacts, inquiries and appointment bookings. What will she do? Simple.
Serve more clients and grow her business.
What goals do you have in place for your response time to business inquiries? Have you ever really thought about how important it is before, if not I hope this post inspires you to do so. And please, any other response time tips are most welcome in the comments section. Share your systems!
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