How to Deal With Debt By Doing Business Marketing Smartly?

Published on: 04 June 2018 Last Updated on: 03 September 2024

Small businesses and startups often find it much easier to borrow the lion’s share of their capital. Finding an investor is never completely off the table, but it is not an easy task to do. It is much easier to find lending organizations, who are ready to test out the abilities of the new entrepreneurs to multiply their monies.

Very soon, a time arises when the creditors expect at least a part of their invested money back. Now, this is a time most entrepreneurs know will come, but none are ready to face. It is almost always “too early” or “too sudden.”

Online marking, when you are already in massive debt?

Gaining momentum for a new business not only takes time and effort, but it also takes some serious marketing skills. By marketing, we do not mean TVCs, hoardings, and pamphlets. Those are ancient forms of advertising that no one even notices anymore. If you are in such a situation, what you need is a stable dose of online marketing that will make you visible to your target audience.

Here comes the biggest conundrum in the world. When a business is already nose-deep in debt, can it afford to plunge further in by going in for online marketing? That entirely depends on your perspective of online marketing. Your contenders and contemporaries may think online marketing to be an added expense, but you know what almost 71% of the US population is already online and looking for businesses like you. So, would you deem online marketing as an added expense or a smart investment?

You need a website first :

website

The first step of online marketing is getting your own presence established online. It means an excellent site. By nice, we mean something that’s functional, professional, SEO optimized, and capable of attracting and converting traffic. It should represent your selling theme, services, and products perfectly.

Building a website is no easy feat. You may have the enthusiasm to build a website from scratch, but not all entrepreneurs can have the coding skills and analytical skills needed to construct a working business website. Building a website from scratch can take up a lot of time, and it takes a lot of algorithms to perfect the buying and payment process. Either you can opt for DIY website builders like WordPress or Joomla, or you can surely approach a professional website builder.

A professional website builder will again cost you a few bucks. If you are thinking of building a PHP based website from scratch, it will also take considerable amounts of time. Now, this is not going to be cheap for your business. Therefore, it is not uncommon for entrepreneurs to wonder if going for online marketing is the best way to a debt solution.

The inspiration you need :

So, let us tell you a real-life success story. Initially a nobody, Rank Fishkin started out with his own tech startup and went plummeting into a $500,000 personal debt. From there he is now the owner of the world’s largest SEO, social media, and content marketing website Moz that is netting about $40 million in revenue for the last seven years. That is a success story better than any fairy tale you will ever hear. Was it easy? Did it involve magic spells? No! It required endless hours of smart digital marketing strategies and intelligent investment moves.

The moral of the story is: just because you are nose deep in debt, does not mean you can invest in something new. Digital marketing and social media marketing are the new ways to reintroduce your brand to a new world of potential buyers. People are waiting out there right now to hear from you about your products and services.

How to find them?

Finding the right people at the right time is the only “magic” you need to perform. You will need a few social media listening tools like HootSuite, Buffer, and Social Sprout. These offer a few free services. Their premium services cost less than a Grande. Of course, you will need to work on your social media account before you start listening to what people are saying about your brand online! So get started. Create a professional Facebook page, Twitter account, and at least an Instagram page. You need to post daily. Sometimes twice a day. Engage in regular conversations with your customers. Stay visible and exciting.

If you ever run out of original content, do not shy away from asking your followers for some. Do it tactfully. Introduce new photo contests, quizzes, and polls with attractive rewards. That is the way to create user-generated content. It is the most efficient way to keep your page and wall filled with meaningful content every minute of staying online.

Investing is not the problem, not spending in the right places is :

Online marketing is an investment in every way possible. It is like putting a bait to catch the bigger fish. Using the right keywords in your product descriptions, doctoring your URL to suit the liking of the bots, and including image tags to become visible during Google image searches are all parts of that investment. Still, you may want to consult your personal financial advisor before you take the plunge. You need to be in touch with your financial reality before you can make new investments. Your financial advisor or your debt counselor should help you in understanding the debt program’s details. Your current debt program may have reservations about making new investments or certain kinds of investments unless you pay off a certain fraction of the amount you have borrowed.

Most businesses end up in a fiscal dead-end due to ignorance and bad decision-making, rather than investing in new marketing. We have seen companies drown because they were not adventurous enough and they have always played safe. In 2017, online marketing is not a luxury or an option. It is a compulsion you need to embrace before your competitors take away all your potential clients. Making yourself more visible on the internet will get you more sales and profit. It will help you make more money and pay off your debts faster than usual.

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Marketing Strategies to Help You Get Endorsements

Getting endorsers for your event is a great way to increase earnings, but event sponsorship provides you with more than just money. In your marketing strategies, you may sell your event to a wider audience and draw into your promoter's connections to attract event-goers you might otherwise overlook if you have the proper sponsors on board. The endorsement also provides a significant return on investment for event sponsors. Inform potential partners that this is a great opportunity to increase their exposure and generate new leads. By designing distinct sponsorship packages, you may even provide each sponsor one-of-a-kind opportunities. Continue reading to learn four marketing strategies for ensuring that your endorsers get the most out of your collaboration. 1. Sponsorships should be Highlighted in Advertising Material Sponsors should be acknowledged in all of your advertising material, both electronic and print. Contemplate including your donors in your event banner on Eventbrite or in social media graphics. Using a free and simple online editor, you can create a bespoke event banner with intriguing graphics, logos from your sponsorships, and event details. Let’s say your sponsors are flexible packaging manufacturers in the UK, you need to ensure that you include them in every advertising item of your event. Creating a good awareness for them will not only help them boost their sales through your readership but also offer you an opportunity to meet more sponsors through their referrals. Because your endorser's monetary contribution assists you in planning and executing your event, you should express your appreciation as the creator. Whenever you make your endorsers more visible, you're reaffirming the value of your collaboration, which aids in the development of a creator-sponsor connection that could go beyond your present event. So, as you make advertising banners for the event, be sure to include your sponsors in the advert. It’s a simple way to show gratitude. In addition, for your backdrop screen, you should also showcase your sponsors as well. 2. Use Digital Platforms to Cross-Promotion Marketing your endorsed event has never been simpler gratitude to social media and everyone benefits. Cross-promotion on media platforms helps you to promote both the event and the products or services of your endorsers at the same time. This could happen prior to, during, or even after your event. Spend some time talking with your sponsor about how you can create a meaningful and reciprocally beneficial social media campaign. To get your marketing strategies to be fruitful just right off the bat, make sure you're making the most of social media so you can stand out in a swarm of posts. To broaden the reach of your event, make sure your postings are posted on both your and your endorser's pages. Select a hashtag for the event that you and your endorsers can use across all of your social media platforms. To generate awareness, hold a tournament or give away a couple of tickets to the event in advance. 3. At the Event, Make a Point of Mentioning Your Endorsers Your event's sponsorship mustn't have to be a behind-the-scenes participant. You can also use their logo, products, and services to enhance your event. During their digital events, Sephora does an excellent job of presenting brand sponsors. Attendees may learn how to improve their skincare routine or create a glam beauty appearance by tuning in to Sephora's webinars, but they can also learn about items from the event's endorsers. Another way to promote sponsorship is to provide gift bags or sponsor items. If your endorsers have free samples to give away, put them in a goodie bag and give them out or mail them to attendees. Set up a booth at in-person events where attendees may get branded things from your endorsers. You might also think of virtual gifts, such as discount codes from endorsers. 4. Connect the Sponsorship with a Well-Known Name in the Industry Examine how you can connect sponsorships and highlighted speakers by holding an event featuring an expert or well-known figure in the field. If you involve your sponsors early in the planning process, they may be able to assist you in finding a high-quality presenter. They most likely already have connections with industry experts or influencers that can bring value to your event while also promoting your business. 5. Have an After Event Meeting With the Sponsors Now that you have had your event and it has succeeded as planned, you need to set up another meeting with your sponsors. This meeting should be done in a week or so after the event(preferably) so that you can give a status report for your event. You also need to inform the sponsors how their products performed, in response to the free samples that were offered to the customers. Give them both the positive and the negative reviews so that they can improve on any areas of weaknesses. You can use a poll system to gather this information for them. 6. Give an After-Event Gratitude Vote Now, as implementing perfect marketing strategies, this is an important section of the whole endorsement. While it is well known to your sponsors that you are grateful, you need to post to your readership how the event was and thank your sponsors for their contribution. The Bottom Line Finally, ensuring that the rewards of being an endorser for an event are evident is the most essential part of maintaining endorsers happy. With the implementation of proper marketing strategies, you'll be much more capable of finding endorsers willing to work with you and more individuals interested in your next event if you do it this way. Best of luck! Read Also: 5 Steps to Building an Influencer Marketing Campaign How To Execute An Effective Video Marketing Campaign Signs Your Traditional Marketing Campaign is Working Why Your Business Should Care About Social Responsibility

Avoiding Sales And Operations Planning Mistakes

When it comes to sales and operations planning, a lot of mistakes can be made throughout the process, and you won’t be successful. Planning for the sales and the operations is going to lead the organization to the peak of success. But faults and errors are going to cost more than this. For beginners, the sales mistakes chances are enormous. Take a look at the common mistakes and avoid making blunders. 5 Common Planning Mistakes In Sales And Operations The organizational structure and the profit are entirely depending upon the organization’s sales and operational system. Therefore, avoiding these sales mistakes can help you execute best practices and reap the rewards. Here are five common sales mistakes which can lead your organization to a dark and challenging state. 1. Lack Of Executive Ownership The big sales mistakes happen when the executive leadership team doesn’t fully own the sales and operations planning process. If leadership isn’t engaged, then it won’t be as successful. If the leaders aren’t involved, it’s essential to understand why. It could be you aren’t giving them the tools to run the company or consider information that is easy to understand. A good technology platform may also be the key. The best processes and people can only take you so far, and technology can help speed up the process and allow the team to shift focus from just calculations to analysis, which is more important. 2.Lack of Cross-Functional Engagement The whole point of using the sales and operations planning process is to make sure the entire organization is moving in the same, right direction. This can be hard to do if there isn’t any involvement from the key stakeholders. If you aren’t having sales, operations, or finance teams engaged in the process, you won’t be successful. Usually, this is due to a lack of a way to translate between the different views of information. To make the process work, you need to have the same information exposed to each stakeholder in the form they need and understand. You can start small and work your way up to more significant projects, but you need to extend the scope to all the different people and provide the required translation to make sure everyone is on the same page. You may go through History and How to Increase Sales in Your Confectionery Shop 3.Focusing On Just One Number For years, the mantra of sales and operations planning was to get to a one-number plan, but this can be too simplified and limits the value of planning for many executives. Executives are paid for predictability, and they are hired to manage sales mistakes risk. Planning can be a great tool to help, but only if you aren’t falling for the one-number trap. Instead, it helps plan in ranges and have a best case, worst case, and expected all in the process. The ability to know what can happen if things don’t go according to the plan is priceless information. 4.Complexity It’s essential to keep it simple when it comes to metrics. Companies can become paralyzed by making the wrong decisions when looking at hundreds of different metrics. On the other hand, having things too complex can prevent companies from asking the right questions. You should pick your big 10 to 15 metrics and then go with them. Then, track these metrics and make the performance transparent. Therefore everybody can understand why these metrics are being tracked, what they are, and how to learn from the numbers. Common sales mistakes can be avoided by knowing the metrics and analyzing the data. 5.Not Having Documentation In order to learn from past mistakes, you have to have documentation. You need to capture all the assumptions and knowledge that goes into the plan. You need to provide a tool to capture this information and make it easy for teams to contribute. For instance, if you are collaborating as a group using social media, then be sure to capture those chats and embed them into the plan, so you are able to understand the context of changes or decisions six months later. If you aren’t learning from history, you are doomed when you will repeat it and won’t succeed. Conclusion: Sales and operations planning can give you great results, but you may not achieve success if you aren’t executing the process correctly. These are the common sales mistakes that may happen at any time. If you want to avoid making these mistakes, always look at the operation and data collection before planning. What is your strategy to avoid making mistakes for the sales and operation plannings? Do not forget to share your opinion in the comment section. Read Also: This Is Why Social Media Is Essential in the B2B Sales Process Getting Help from an E-Commerce Expert to Boost Your Online Store Sales

3 Easy Ways to Grow Your Email List

The email marketing industry is expanding and there is growing competition between brands: they all want to get people’s attention. Sometimes, acquiring more subscribers seems hard. If you are looking to grow your email list, we have three easy ways maybe you never thought of. Whether you offer a service, product or content is the product, use these tips to add more subscribers to your database and become more successful at email marketing. Why you should grow your email list There are good reasons to build your email database. It can be an instantaneous way to reach the people who want to hear from you. Also, it’s cheaper than advertising or mass mailings. Every marketer wants a large email list which is understandable. In general, the more people you reach, the better results and this has never been more true than with emails. The typical ROI for email is $42 for every $1 spent. However, before you try any email list growth strategy, remember it’s not always about the numbers. You want true engagement and a long-term relationship with your audience. To build that, focus on adding real subscribers to your list – people who genuinely want to connect with your brand. How do you do that? Let’s get into three ways to grow your email list without much effort. Is it easy for someone to sign up? Many organizations and freelancers have only one sign-up form and you’d be surprised how much you have to search the website to find that form. So, the first tip: make your email sign-up visible and easy to find. For instance, you could place it at the top of your website and not buried down by the copyright notice. Also, avoid making the text so small that someone can’t read it. Instead, let your signup form be the first thing people see when they land on your platform. Are you promoting your email list on your social media channels? Maybe you’ve been working hard to gain followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. There’s certainly inherent value in this, but a lot of marketers make the mistake of not cross-promoting channels. Who’s to say that someone can’t follow you on Facebook and be a subscriber to your email list? Just remember that people will frequently leave social media channels for one reason or another. You don’t want them forgetting about your brand and what you offer, so do your best to get them on your list. Post periodically on social media and invite people to subscribe to your emails. Your newsletters’ content should have real value and be unique from your website or social media content. This is a great incentive to gain an email audience. Plus, you can think outside the box to gain new followers. Maybe you can run a contest or offer a freebie, such as an e-book to anyone who signs up – whatever you think would entice your audience. Do you include an email subscribe button in every email you send? Word of mouth is the best marketing. If someone on your list really likes your email and forwards it on to a friend, they need an easy way to subscribe. A “subscribe” button makes it simple by saving them the trouble of looking you up, going to your website, and finding your form. So, at the end of every email you send, include a call-to-action. It could be as simple as: “Did you get this email from a friend? Get yours” + “Subscribe” button. The more convenient you make it for people to subscribe, the faster your email list will grow! Also, it doesn’t hurt to encourage your subscribers to forward your email. Some of them will do that and that’s a great way to grow your audience. It’s not all about numbers Now that we’ve gone over a few easy ways to grow your email list, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not all about numbers. There is another aspect to growing your campaign: email list quality. Gathering lots of subscribers is great for email marketing, but you have to make sure those subscribers are real. You may be asking, “Well, why wouldn’t they be?” In the world of email marketing, there are quite a few types of emails that degrade your sender reputation. A sender reputation is a score that every email sender has. It’s the rating Internet Service Providers use to determine your behavior as an email sender. Some of the factors that influence your sender score are: your bounce rate your overall engagement: open and click-through rates are vital metrics the number of spam complaints and unsubscribes you get Bad email addresses you could have in your list All these factors are in direct connection with the quality of your email list. Unfortunately, every organization or marketer will acquire some bad email addresses over time. Some of the most damaging yet prevalent ones include: Fake email addresses: for a number of reasons, people sometimes provide fake email addresses. Sometimes they just want to take advantage of a freebie and have no intention of being a subscriber. Abuse emails: some people are malicious and others just careless. Abuse email owners have a habit of marking emails as spam, even those they signed up for. You don’t want these people on your list because they will hurt your sender reputation. Temporary email addresses: would you believe there are websites that exist for the sole purpose of generating temporary emails? These email addresses are sometimes called disposable because the person uses them for a day or two and never again. Then, they only cause your bounce rate to go up. On top of these, we can’t forget there’s always natural decay of the list. People simply change email addresses. Some people use their school or work email and they graduate or quit. You must get those email addresses off of your list. Use an email verifier to keep your database clean Thankfully, there is a healthy way to grow and maintain your list. The first thing is to never buy or trade email addresses to add to your list. First of all, it’s illegal to email people without their consent. Furthermore, a purchased list isn’t likely to result in anything positive and most likely the people you add will mark you as spam. The simplest way to keep your list healthy is to: The first clean it in bulk using an email verifier then, install an email verification API on your sign-up forms. Clean your list in bulk If you already have a substantial number of contacts in your list, but are not sure about their validity, run your list through a bulk email verifier. The process is simple and doesn’t take much time: you upload your list into the system and get it back clean within hours or even minutes. Install an email verification API This simple piece of software checks every new email address in real-time. It grants permission to good emailers and keeps out any of the problematic accounts mentioned above. Once your list is clean, consider adding the API to all your sign-up forms to ensure it stays in good shape. The sky’s the limit You would be surprised what a difference email marketing makes. It’s the most personal way to reach people and is an incredible tool to communicate the story of your brand and service. Using careful planning, creativity and email verification tools you are on the right path to growing your email list and getting good results. Read Also: How to Integrate Email Marketing With SEO Why Email Marketing is the BEST Digital Marketing Outreach in Singapore

How to Deal With Debt By Doing Business Marketing Smartly?