Who is your target audience? Anytime a business opens its products or services to a new market, management must consider the geographic, demographic and socio-economic factors that determine how it will approach the consumer. Some offerings, such as toys, school supplies or nursing services may be targeted primarily to a specific age group.

Other products or services, like snow blowers or swimming pool supplies, could target a specific set of geographic areas. Every audience is unique, so merchants should tailor their marketing and communications in a way that connects consumers to their businesses.

How far will the business cast its net? In a global economy it’s entirely possible that a small business owner could start the morning with an e-mail from Milan, asking if he’ll accept payment in Euros. Online entrepreneurs must understand that, from day one, they are international businesses with display windows and checkout stations in every corner of the globe.

A business could tell its customers that it ships only to North American locations or accepts only U.S. dollars. But it may turn out that the overseas market is the company’s very best sales opportunity. Therefore it’s important for the online business to determine how it will work with customers in foreign nations.

How will shipping be handled? Is the company prepared to convert currencies? How will the business communicate with customers who speak different languages? Online businesses should consider not excluding an eager marketplace just because it seems difficult to serve.

There are several services that make it easier for international visitors to order from a U.S. store. PayPal, for instance, accepts payment on behalf of merchants in U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Japanese Yen, and Australian dollars. The major U.S. credit cards accept purchases from foreign countries and make the necessary monetary conversions for the buyer.

When you only have a few employees and a few customers, it’s easy to stay on top of things. As you add more customers and and employees, it gets quite a bit harder. You actually create the potential for growth at the same time you’re creating the potential for disaster.

Creating a customer service policy and sticking to it can make it easier on you.

Take these steps to help you ensure that your clients receive excellent service every step of the way.

1. Put your customer service policy in writing. These principles should come from you, but every employee should know what the rules are and be ready to live up to them. This doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, keep it as simple as you possibly can.>
2. Establish support systems that give employees clear instructions for gaining and maintaining service superiority. These systems will help you outservice any competitor by giving more to customers and anticipating problems before they arise.
3. Develop a measurement of superb customer service. Don’t forget to reward employees who practice it consistently.
4. Be certain that your passion for customer service runs rampant throughout your company. Employees should see how good service relates to your profits and to their futures with the company.
5. Be genuinely committed to providing more customer service excellence than anyone else in your industry. This commitment must be so powerful that every one of your customers can sense it.
6. Share information with people on the front lines. Meet with your employees regularly to talk about improving service. Solicit ideas from employees-they are the ones who are dealing with customers most often.
7. Act on the knowledge that what customers value most are attention, dependability, promptness and competence. They love being treated as individuals and being referred to by name.

Phrases That’ll Make Your Customers Happy

Principles of customer service are all very well, but you need to put those principles into action with everything you do and say. There are certain “magic words” customers want to hear from you and your staff. Make sure all your employees understand the importance of these key phrases:

• “How can I help?” Customers want the opportunity to explain in detail what they want and need. Too often, business owners feel the desire or the obligation to guess what customers need rather than carefully listening first. By asking how you can help, you begin the dialogue on a positive note (you are “helping,” not “selling”). And by using an open-ended question, you invite discussion.
• “I can solve that problem.” Most customers, especially business-to-business customers, are looking to buy solutions. They appreciate direct answers in a language they can understand.
• “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” When confronted with a truly difficult question that requires research on your part, admit that you don’t know the answer. Few things ruin your credibility faster than trying to answer a question when you are unsure of all the facts. Savvy buyers may test you with a question they know you can’t answer and then just sit quietly while you struggle to fake an intelligent reply. An honest answer enhances your integrity.
• “I will take responsibility.” Tell your customer you realize it’s your responsibility to ensure a satisfactory outcome to the transaction. Assure the customer you know what he or she expects and will deliver the product or service at the agreed-upon price. There will be no unexpected changes or expenses required to solve the problem.
• “I will keep you updated.” Even if your business is a cash-and-carry operation, it probably requires scheduling and coordinating numerous events. Assure your customers they will be advised of the status of these events. The longer your lead time, the more important this is. The vendors customers trust the most are those that keep them apprised of the situation, whether the news is good or bad.
• “I will deliver on time.” A due date that has been agreed upon is a promise that must be kept. “Close” doesn’t count.
• “Monday means Monday.” The first week in July means the first week in July, even though it contains a national holiday. Your clients are waiting to hear you say “I deliver on time.” The supplier who consistently does so is a rarity and will be remembered.
• “It’ll be just what you ordered.” It will not be “similar to,” and it will not be “better than” what was ordered. It will be exactly what was ordered. Even if you believe a substitute would be in the client’s best interests, that’s a topic for discussion, not something you decide on your own. Your customer may not know (or be at liberty to explain) all the ramifications of the purchase.
• “The job will be complete.” Assure the customer there will be no waiting for a final piece or a last document. Never say you are finished “except for….”
• “I appreciate your business.” This means more than a simple “Thanks for the order.” Genuine appreciation involves follow-up calls, offering to answer questions, making sure everything is performing satisfactorily, and ascertaining that the original problem has been solved.

Neglecting any of these steps conveys the impression that you were interested in the person only until the sale was made. This leaves the buyer feeling deceived and used, and creates ill will and negative advertising for your company. Sincerely proving you care about your customers leads to recommendations and repeat sales.

Never Let Your Customers Forget You

One important tool for generating repeat business is following up. Effective follow-up begins immediately after the sale when you call the customer to say “thank you” and find out if he or she is pleased with your product or service. Beyond this, there are several effective ways to follow up that ensure your business is always in the customer’s mind.

• Let customers know what you are doing for them. This can be in the form of a newsletter mailed to existing customers, or it can be more informal, such as a phone call. Whatever method you use, the key is to dramatically point out to customers the excellent service you are giving them. If you never mention all the things you are doing for them, customers may not notice.
• Write old customers personal, handwritten notes frequently. “I was just sitting at my desk and your name popped into my head. Are you still having a great time flying all over the country? Let me know if you need another set of luggage. I can stop by with our latest models any time.” Or if you run into an old customer at an event, follow up with a note: “It was great seeing you at the CDC Christmas party. I’ll call you early in the New Year to schedule a lunch.”
• Keep it personal. Voice mail and e-mail make it easy to communicate, but the personal touch is often lost. If you’re having trouble getting through to someone whose problem requires that personal touch, leave a voice-mail message that you want to talk to the person directly or will stop by his or her office at a designated time.
• Remember special occasions. Send regular customers birthday cards, anniversary cards, holiday cards…you name it. Gifts are excellent follow-up tools, too. You don’t have to spend a fortune to show you care; use your creativity to come up with interesting gift ideas that tie into your business, the customer’s business or his or her recent purchase.
• Pass on information. If you read an article, see a new book, or hear about an organization a customer might be interested in, drop a note or make a quick call to let them know.
• Consider follow-up calls as business development calls. When you talk to or visit old clients or customers, you’ll often find they have referrals to give you, which can lead to new business.

With all your existing customers can do for you, there’s simply no reason not to stay in regular contact with them. Use your imagination, and you’ll think of plenty of other ideas that can help you develop a lasting relationship.

Dealing With Unsatisfied Customers

Studies show that the vast majority of unsatisfied customers will never come right out and tell you they’re unsatisfied. They simply leave quietly, later telling everyone they know not to do business with you.

So when a customer complains, don’t think of it as a nuisance-think of it as a golden opportunity to change that customer’s mind and retain his or her business.

Even the best product or service receives complaints now and then. Here’s how to handle them for positive results:

• Let customers vent their feelings. Encourage them to get their frustrations out in the open.
• Never argue with a customer.
• Never tell a customer “You do not have a problem.” Those are fighting words.
• Share your point of view as politely as you can.
• Take responsibility for the problem. Don’t make excuses. If an employee was sick or a supplier let you down, that’s not the customer’s concern.
• Immediately take action to remedy the situation. Promising a solution and then delaying it only makes matters worse.
• Empower your front-line employees to be flexible in resolving complaints. Give employees some leeway in deciding when to bend the rules. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, make sure they have you or another manager handle the situation.

Getting the media to notice can be tough. Reporters are inundated by the minute with breaking news from different sources, all clamoring for attention. One way to cut through the noise is to offer a different type of article–one that speaks to a topic that’s of interest to a target audience but isn’t dependent on being newsworthy right at the moment it’s sent. That type of article is called a feature.

A feature is an in-depth look at a topic, product or industry–it’s a complex story designed to be read at a leisurely pace. And a feature can benefit your company by linking your brand or product to a larger trend or industry focus while also showcasing you, the entrepreneur, as a thought-leader in your field.

While a news release is designed to entice the reporter into finding out more information themselves, a feature is designed to be used as is, or merely edited to fit the space available.

Topics such as health, home improvement, travel and technology all lend themselves well to features since they can be used in special sections of newspapers–such as lifestyle, home, arts or technology–or in the weekend magazines. Trade publications also publish feature articles, usually in the form of special supplements.

Because a feature should be written from a journalistic perspective, you should emphasize information over outright promotion. Ideally, a feature editor won,t change the story at all and will use it when it,s needed as part of a theme or to fill space.

Papers like to have quality articles on hand, so come up with your feature-worthy concept, then use the following guidelines to help you write a great article.

Headlines

The headline is the most vital part of your feature. Treat the headline as if it were a summary of the article. Ask yourself, Why is this story important? What about it will it grab readers’ interest? A good headline answers those questions by telling the reader something new, different or useful–in 20 words or less. A few examples I’ve seen recently include:

• Plug-In Devices Help Save Money on Your Utility Bill
• Reinventing the “Mommy Tack”: More Women Choose Business Ownership to Gain Control, Flexibility and Family Time
• The Sleep Expert’s Advice on Creating the Right Sleep Environment for Students

To come up with a good headline, pretend you’re telling a friend what the article’s about, explaining the most interesting aspects of your story. Keep the wording simple, and avoid superlatives and emotive language. Also, avoid using a brand or client name in the headline unless it’s very well known. Instead, focus on what’s most interesting about your topic.

Leads

A strong lead paragraph offers intrigue from the start. Editors don’t have time to read through the entire article to reach your key point, and neither do your readers. Think of the lead as an extended version of the headline, even using some of the same words.

When writing a lead, try to keep the paragraph short–two to three short sentences at the most. In total, your feature should be close to 400 words. Don’t worry about your brand at this point–just introduce the interesting aspects of the story. If your lead reads like an ad, it’ll be discarded immediately.

The Second Paragraph

The second paragraph serves to support and expand on the ideas set out in the lead. It’s also a good place to let people know who’s behind the feature so there’s no confusion about who provided the copy. Also, if the article has to be shortened due to space limitations, having the name of the company or spokesperson and your web address near the beginning will be vitally important.

If written well, the first two paragraphs can serve as a brief column item or filler if a newspaper or magazine has only limited space.

Using Quotes

A quote can lend authority to an article, introduce an expert and further advance the story. Most important, quotes can introduce personal feelings, comments and opinion, so this is where you want to use superlatives and emotive language (without sounding false!).

Be sure quotes are in a conversational style, and don’t merely cite facts or figures–no real person speaks only in data. Also avoid repeating information or using jargon; speak as if you were explaining your product or service to your grandmother.

Ideally, the person you quote should be someone who’d be available for interviews should a journalist want to ask additional questions. So he or she should be knowledgeable on the topic and open to working with the media. Use your strongest quote first, and be sure to provide information on the speaker and his or her relation to the company in a contact section at the end of your article.

Getting Into Detail

After the third paragraph, any information you add should develop the story further and hold the interest of the reader. Now’s the time to go into detail about the benefits of a product, or the mechanisms of how it works. However, for ease of reading, use bullet points or top tips if you’re listing information.

Another thing to remember–and one way a feature differs from a news release–is that a feature story will almost never include corporate identity or forward-looking statements.

When to Send a Feature

Generally, newspaper feature sections are planned at least three weeks in advance, so you’ll need to plan ahead. E-mail the features editor to determine their interest before you start writing–just a simple outline will do. If you’re trying to get into a trade publication, do your research and check the deadlines–they could be working as much as three months in advance.

Most news wires offer feature services and media databases, and they’ll often offer a feature calendar that corresponds with publications’ due dates. Consider distributing your feature via news wire and, if possible, choose one that has a list of when and where your feature could be placed and advises on crafting your feature for the different audiences.

Also, don’t forget your web audience. Search engines are used millions of times each day by people looking for how-to, where-to and when-to articles. Your news wire can help you reach these audiences by providing search engine optimization to help get your story placed highly in searches.

Images and Multimedia

A photo can often mean difference between your feature being chosen for publication vs. them choosing your competitor’s. A photo helps explain the story and can draw the eye of those scanning the page. It also gives editors more options when filling space.

Make sure your photos are high-quality: Always provide digital photos in high resolution (300 dpi) and, if possible, have them shot by a professional. A bad photo will reflect on the quality of your feature.

Other multimedia options include a video or audio version of your story, or additional expert quotes and interviews. A feature podcast or multimedia news release can include all these assets to transform your story into an online experience for your audience, complete with links and reference materials to let them experience more for themselves.

Finally

When sending your feature to reporters for editorial consideration, don’t be afraid to call them to offer more information; however, don’t call to check that the article has arrived. Reporters are busy and don’t like being called without good reason. And be patient–since your feature isn’t breaking news, the reporter may file it for use next week, next month or during the next holiday season.

Once your feature’s been accepted, look out for follow-up opportunities: Keep tabs on industry trends, or consider doing a “What happened a year later” story or a biography of someone quoted in the article. With luck, your feature could be the next topic of discussion around the water cooler.

How many times have you tried so hard to match the skills of a candidate to the demands of the open position that the most important characteristics of a person have been relegated to lesser importance or forgotten entirely?

Finding the “Right Stuff”

The key to a person’s worth (the “right stuff”) is integrity, honesty, intelligence, the ability to communicate, and the ability and willingness to learn. Technical skills are important, but without the key ingredients, the technical skills of the applicant may be irrelevant.

Finding the candidate with the “right stuff” is not an easy task, but then my grandmother, after several years of urging, finally convinced me that anything that is worthwhile is difficult and requires considerable effort.

There are several roads to successful hiring:

Personal knowledge of a candidate.The best candidates are usually not hunting for a job. They may be people employed by one of your customers, people in competing companies, people in the same industry but not in the same line of business, or people in other industries who have exhibited the talents necessary for the job. More important, do you or one of your key associates personally know the candidates? If so, you may begin to pursue them, but with a few admonitions.

If the selected candidate works for a customer, it’s a good plan to contact the customer and let him know that his employee is a candidate for your position. I once hired one of my best customer’s top men, believing that I would lose the customer. I decided it was worth the risk. I did lose the customer, but not forever. The man I hired is now successfully running the business from which I retired. It was well worth it!

People with the “right stuff” are absolutely essential to the future success of your business! A compromise in this area has come back to hurt many businesses: it typically involves terminating the “compromise” and repeating the hiring process. What’s worse is that these “compromises” do poor work, cause internal problems, and end up costing the company in many ways.

Depending upon your relationship with a competitor who has a potential candidate, you may wish to treat that competitor much the same as recommended for your customer. The same may be said for candidates working for one of your suppliers.

A valued friend knows the candidate personally.

This is the next best thing to knowing the candidate yourself. A referral from a friend, a business associate or a present employee whose judgment you respect is a valid basis for pursuing a candidate. Note that your friend must be more than a golfing buddy; you must respect his judgment as you would a trusted associate.

Pay the price.

If the first two approaches don’t provide a candidate, the next best avenue to the “right stuff” is a toll road. A search firm or a highly reputed employment agency is a good but expensive route (often in the area of 30 percent of the employee’s starting annual compensation). Keep in mind, however, the value of an outstanding employee. It far surpasses the fee you may have to pay.

Your agreement with the search firm or agency should include the right to reimbursement if the hired candidate doesn’t work out within a reasonable time period, perhaps six months and sometimes longer. This may be negotiable with each individual firm. This avenue is most often appropriate for higher-level positions and not entry-level jobs.

The search firm or agency should do all preliminary screening, which often includes intelligence, personality, aptitude and skills testing, the cost of which should be included in their fee. (Note: These efforts do not test judgment; you must do this yourself.) In addition, you should expect the firm to provide you with at least three good, qualified candidates who meet the requirements you specify when you contract with the firm.

Hire a temporary employee from an agency.

It’s quite common to contract for a temporary employee only to find that the temp is the right person for the job on a permanent basis and may be available. In this case, you should be prepared to pay a fee to the temp agency. This is a reasonably good way to hire clerical and lower-level technical personnel and it keeps your business moving while you’re continuing your search.

Advertise in the right places.

Although we have not found many “right places to advertise,” they may include trade or industry magazines that you’re reasonably sure are read by the candidates you’re seeking. Sometimes the local newspaper can be a good source for candidates, but be prepared to kiss a lot of toads to find the prince. Likewise, some have reported success with national publications such as The Wall Street Journal and the National Employment Weekly, and others report good results by advertising on the internet. Choose the outlets best for you. Remember: If you hire an out-of-town candidate, you will be expected to pay for moving expenses!

The hiring of a candidate assumes that you have carefully and thoroughly considered your own employees as a source. You must not overlook current employee candidates! Study the background and work history of those who might qualify. You may not be aware or have forgotten that one of them has all of the qualities that you are hunting for in the new position.

Many businesses post job openings on the employee bulletin boards. I believe this is a good practice.

The interview process and application forms, in today’s arena, are landmines waiting to be stepped on! There are more employment laws today than ever before and questions you used to be able to ask are now grounds for discrimination lawsuits. If you aren’t familiar with these laws, you must become so–and the sooner the better.

Contact your legal counsel. Most law firms either have an expert on employee relations or can refer you to a source where appropriate literature can be found. One good document is the SBA’s An Equal Opportunity Guide for Small Business Employers.

There are questions you cannot ask during the interview process. Topics to steer clear of include age, disabilities, pregnancy, marital status, religion, sexual preference, race, ancestry, children and prior arrests. Everyone in your organization who may be in a position to conduct an interview must be aware of these and other limitations. We recommend that you develop a list of questions that are acceptable and provide the interviewers with some guidance that is meaningful.

A typical list of questions that can be asked is presented below. Obviously, if you have found a candidate because of your personal knowledge (or the knowledge of a business associate), you will already know the answers to many of the “illegal” questions. Even so, don’t document such knowledge, even if the candidate is for the number-two position in the company. Have as many key people as possible interview the prospect. More opinions will make for a better hiring decision and the other interviewers may uncover something vital that you overlooked.

Interview Questionnaire
1. What do you like most about your present job?
2. What do you like least about your present job?
3. Describe your responsibilities in detail.
4. Describe your relationship with your supervisor.
5. What do you like most about your supervisor?
6. Why are you considering a different job?
7. Why did you leave the job prior to this one?
8. Do you like most of your fellow employees?
9. Are you aware of the responsibilities of the job for which you are a candidate?
10. Do you have any physical limitations that would prevent you from fulfilling those responsibilities?
11. What do you consider your greatest strength as a candidate for this position?
12. What do you consider your greatest challenge as a candidate for this position?
13. What is your present compensation and benefits package?
14. What was your beginning compensation in your job?
15. What specific training have you had that might increase your ability to perform our job?
16. In which school subjects were you most successful?
17. Which subjects in school did you find the most difficult?
18. Can you provide some references for your technical abilities? What are their positions?
19. What do you know about our company that you find appealing?
20. Are working overtime and travel acceptable to you?
21. Are you willing to receive additional training to improve your ability to perform our job?
22. What is the most important factor to consider about becoming an employee of our company? For example: compensation, benefits, working hours, opportunity to progress.
23. What are the least important factors in your consideration?

Employment Preferences

Another aid in hiring is a listing of employment preferences. The answers can be quite enlightening when studied with the responses to interview questions and a review of an application form. The answers to these questions are important regardless of the level of the position that you are seeking to fill.

Here is a sample employment preferences questionnaire:

Rank the factors listed below, on a scale of 1 through 10, with 10 being the most important and 1 being the least important to you in considering a position with our company.
___ 401(k) plan
___ Health and dental insurance
___ Incentive bonus plan
___ Initial base compensation
___ Job security
___ Opportunity for advancement
___ Retirement plan
___ Vacation time
___ Working conditions
___ Working hours

The Employment Application

Once you have identified legitimate candidates for the position, you must have them complete an employment application. Failure to do so may result in your inability to defend your decision to hire or not hire an individual. There are a number of sources available for securing a sample form that complies with all government regulations and laws. Or, you can develop one of your own and have your legal counsel review and revise it to ensure that it is acceptable in the eyes of the law.

How you approach hiring the right person for a job depends upon the level and type of job. It goes without saying that hiring an entry-level person is substantially different than securing the services of a high-level technical person or a number two or three in the chain of command. In every case, however, reference checking is mandatory.

Despite your prior knowledge (assumed) of a key manager-level applicant, you may be surprised at what you find when checking references and credit. Remember: Some of the biggest names in industry (and in our federal government) have been embezzlers, bankrupts, accused of sexual misconduct and harassment, felons, and convicted of lesser crimes. Check out their education, call prior supervisors, check for felony convictions and verify prior employment. In short, do your homework!

Assuming you’ve identified a good candidate and completed all of the homework with positive results, how do you convince him or her to become a part of your company? There are several employment selling points that you should emphasize.

1. Stress the positive factors that have influenced the candidate to favorably consider the position. They may include your company’s reputation, a positive environment in which to work, an equity opportunity, the possibility of advancement, the prospect of securing improved monetary rewards for outstanding performance, or simply a “great challenge.” Remember that compensation is not the key incentive for people with the “right stuff.”
2. Do not “buy” their services. Any person who is primarily motivated by an immediate increase in base pay is not looking for the strong, long-term relationship that will contribute to the company’s success. Why wouldn’t he leave your company six months from now for another immediate increase in base pay? This is quite different from a candidate’s desire to be properly rewarded for an outstanding contribution to the company’s objectives. Although you shouldn’t “buy” the candidate, you should be willing to “pay for what you get.” Good people cost more! More about incentive compensation later.
3. Assure the candidate that his contribution to the company’s objective is meaningful. What is more discouraging than being pursued by a company and, once employed, becoming an unnoticed number on the employee roster?
4. Consider involving more than one key manager in the hiring process to reinforce the positive factors. It’s fine to discuss prospective employment with the key manager who is involved; however, if other managers are present, it will give the candidate a stronger feeling of being wanted. If you are hiring your number-two man or prospective successor, the group approach is not appropriate, unless that group involves other owners or directors of the company.
5. Consider an employment contract or offer letter. There may be occasions when a candidate for a high-level management position will be more comfortable seeing all of the conditions of employment in writing. The written document is a permanent record of the covenants between the candidate and the company and lessens the possibility for misunderstanding between the parties.

Getting Acquainted

One of the most common mistakes made by small businesses in the human resources area is believing that a new hire will perform exactly as expected. At the very least, there is an indoctrination phase that should be provided to every new employee. In addition to learning his way around the facility, the new employee must be provided information that will improve his chances of contributing immediately to the company’s performance. This indoctrination phase should consist of the following, at a minimum.

• Presenting the company’s personnel policies. Although the new employee will have learned a good bit about the company’s personnel policies during the hiring process, he should now be provided a personnel handbook (assuming one is available) that explains the more important policies. These policies should include the hiring process just completed, a definition of salaried and hourly personnel (and their differences), salary administration, incentive bonus plan, profit sharing, retirement plan (if any), pay grade structure, time reporting, working hours, overtime pay, shift premium, pay for attending funerals and jury duty, and performance appraisals. Employee benefits should be explained, including vacation time, health and dental insurance, disability compensation and other benefits, such as awards and company automobiles.
• Teaching the company’s safety programs. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued standards and regulations designed to protect employees from safety and health hazards. These standards and regulations involve the communication of information about hazardous or toxic materials, infectious materials, respiratory hazards and safety procedures for the operation of equipment.
• Understanding the company’s business. This may be the most important part of the indoctrination program. The new employee needs to learn about the company’s operations, its objectives and, in broad terms, the plan for achieving the objectives. The new employee should understand product information, competitive position, marketing strategy, manufacturing or service process, and personnel organization.

In some cases, you may have hired a person who has all of the character attributes that you desire but may not be well-versed in some technical area of his responsibility. He may be a good machine operator but not have adequate training in computer numerical controlled (CNC) equipment.

He may be a great salesperson but not understand the required data entry functions required of sales personnel, e.g., use of a point-of-sale device, cash register and so forth. Many times a person with responsibilities in operations may have no background at all in accounting and financial controls. In all of these cases, a training program may be appropriate. There are several ways to provide the needed training.

1. Vocational technical school. Vo-tech schools are quite good in training people in industrial arts, such as machine tool operation, engineering design, computer-assisted design (CAD), computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM), and similar skills. You or the person who is responsible for human resources matters should be well acquainted with any vo-tech schools in your company’s area and the types of skills for which they offer training.
2. Business schools, colleges and universities. These institutions offer excellent training and education in traditional areas of marketing, sales, accounting, computer operation, clerical skills and others. If the school is of sufficient size, it will offer these subjects at night, interfering less with the normal workday.
3. Industry schools and seminars. Depending upon the background of the instructor and his or her teaching skill, industry-sponsored seminars or workshops can be an excellent way to provide “brush-up” training to new employees. The sessions are usually not lengthy and the value of meeting their peers from other companies may be even more valuable than the training itself.
4. In-house training. Many small companies don’t have the facilities or time to offer formal in-house training. However, one-on-one or on-the-job training, focusing on the critical needs of the new employee, is an excellent way to make sure the needed information is learned. Keep in mind that such training may detract from the efficiency of the trainer but the new hire will learn “our preferred methods,” enabling him to contribute more rapidly to the company’s performance.

Motivation and Involvement

Do you really know what motivates your people? Have you thought about what motivates you? We believe the answer can be expressed in this way:

Something or someone you respect has told you, in some way, “You have done well!”

The “some way” may be a silent nod, a communication from someone you respect, or your own knowledge (based on parameters you know and honor) that you have “done well.” The more clearly this acknowledgment is perceived, the more effective the motivation.

The premise that “nothing succeeds like success” is illustrated by a research study involving ten adults who were given a puzzle to solve. The puzzle was the same for all ten participants. After they were completed, five of the adults were told that they did quite well, getting seven or more correct out of 10 possibilities (which wasn’t true). The other five (who may have done well) were told that they had done poorly, seven out of 10 wrong (which wasn’t true either).

Then all 10 were given another puzzle, the same for each person. The five who’d been told they had done well on the first puzzle really did do well on the second puzzle. The five who’d been told they had done poorly on the first puzzle did poorly on the second puzzle.

Having coached little league baseball (ages 9 to 18) for 16 years, I can absolutely corroborate the results of the puzzle experiment. We created good teams out of players who were average in technical skills by reinforcing the good things that each player accomplished. We pointed out that poor performances were the result of some technical miscue of which the players simply weren’t aware and we were sure that they would do better now that they were aware. This confidence that we expressed in the players was rewarded!

In my own business, we often hired young people who had just graduated from high school and were known to some of our proven employees. Our on-the-job training program was essential to the success of these new recruits; however, positive recognition of their successful accomplishments played an immense role in their becoming valued and competent employees. We dealt with their mistakes as a learning process as long as their attitude remained good and they did not often repeat the same mistakes. Positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator!

Obviously, motivation is not as simple as a pat on the back or a person knowing that they’ve done well. You must understand the normal desires of people relative to their employment, regardless of the level of their responsibility. Most people desire the following:

• Recognition for their good work
• Meaningful participation in the company’s efforts
• A feeling of belonging in a successful organization
• Opportunities for growth and advancement in their competence and responsibility
• Security in their job if they perform to expectation
• Monetary reward for an expected level of performance
• Benefits that protect them and their families from significant monetary loss

Even top-level management personnel, who are typically self-motivated, desire the same things as those in positions of lesser responsibility. A mutual recognition by their peers for a job well done or a project successfully completed may be sufficient. A brief recognition of their success by the top executive goes even further as a motivator!

Keep Your Employees Happy

There have been many such surveys published, but none that I have found have ever identified what I believe is the most important factor in successful employment:

Enjoying the job . . . enjoying going to work!

How many people do you know that sincerely like to go to work in the morning? How many people do you know who would say they honestly like their job? We all know people who have worked all their lives at jobs that they have not enjoyed. Considering that many men and women spend 35 percent to 50 percent of their waking moments at work, not enjoying that time would be very depressing.

So, how do you make an employee’s work something that he or she enjoys? It is called involvement! Keep your people involved. Consider the following:

1. Communicate with them. Make them aware of company business that might affect them, either directly or indirectly. Make sure they know about new products or services, give them copies of new company brochures, and tell them about negotiations for new health insurance. They have a need to know.
2. Reinforce their contributions to the company’s objective. Informal discussions are needed to bring the employees up to date on their role in the business. Annual performance appraisals offer an excellent chance to involve the employees in company affairs in addition to letting them know how effectively they have been working.
3. Solicit suggestions for positive changes, whether in customer service, new products, manufacturing processes or administration. Often, the employees who are closest to a problem will come up with the best solution. Involve them in problem solving and operational improvements. A lot of good ideas have come from a suggestion box and those ideas should be rewarded with recognition and monetary rewards.
4. Encourage a sense of belonging, a sense of being a part of a successful effort. This is much like being a part of a winning sports team, an experience that is never forgotten.

Your website isn’t getting any traffic. What’s worse is you’re not generating any sales. Plus, without traffic, you can’t test the key components of your sales process. In other words, you’re in a pickle.

And if you roll out a large traffic campaign before you’ve tested your site to make sure it converts maximum visitors into buyers, you risk losing sales and looking unprofessional to potential business partners and affiliates.

So you’re caught in a vicious cycle: Before ramping up a big traffic campaign, you need to test your sales process, but without any traffic, testing is difficult–if not impossible!

Here’s an eight-step action plan that will show you:

• How to get cheap, instant traffic to your website so you can test key components of your sales process–your sales copy, order form, navigation and opt-in offer–before rolling out a large-scale traffic campaign.
• How to ensure that every element of your sales process is optimized to convert maximum traffic into maximum sales.
• The most effective strategies for attracting thousands of highly qualified potential buyers to your site right away.
• The secret to putting your entire traffic campaign on autopilot.

So even if your site is getting no traffic right now, you can be testing the key elements of your sales process tomorrow–and as soon as two weeks from now, you can be rolling out your traffic campaign in full.

1. Get the traffic you need to test your website fast! But, you may be asking yourself:
   • How do I test my site?
   • What do I test on my site?

   As you may already know, there are an infinite number of things you can test on your site to help you increase sales. From layout to copy to design, there are limitless combinations of changes that may improve your visitor-to-sale conversion rate. But what’s “enough” when you’re just starting out? What elements should you focus on testing before rolling out your traffic campaign?

   Stick to the basics. Focus on testing your:

   • Salescopy: especially your headline, benefits, guarantee and call to action
   • Order process: which needs to be simple enough for a novice web user to place an order
   • Opt-in offer: so you can determine if you’re successfully capturing your visitors’ contact information
   • Site navigation: so you can figure out how many clicks it takes to buy. Ideally it should take less than three.

   These are the four critical aspects of your sales process that need to be tested before you start driving traffic. Later on, once you’ve generated sales and have some steady traffic, you can move on to testing other parts of your site.

   Of course, all this talk of testing your new site raises one big question: How can you test without traffic? Because if you’re just getting started, chances are good that your website doesn’t get much traffic yet.

   The solution is simple: Buy traffic through PPC search engines. Pay-per-click search engines are a lot like auctions–they allow you to bid for top-ranking positions under keywords of your choice. For each visitor who searches the keyword(s) you bid on and then clicks through to your site, you pay whatever you bid. Prices typically range from five cents to a few dollars per click-through for popular keywords. There are a ton of PPC search engines out there.

   With PPC search engines, you get cheap, instant, qualified traffic–provided you bid on targeted keywords. Not only that, but bidding on traffic in the PPC search engines can help your site get ranked in the free search engines, too!

   Here are a few tips to help you start bidding for traffic without breaking the bank:

   • In Yahoo Search Marketing, bid to appear in the top three listings whenever possible, since these results are also “pushed” to appear in many other search results–reaching a large percentage of all internet users.
   • Bid on targeted, descriptive keywords. So don’t just bid on “sock;” bid on “red wool sock.” Not only are targeted keywords and phrases usually cheaper to bid on–they’ll also attract more qualified potential buyers. Use a keyword selection tool like Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool to research targeted keywords that attract maximum traffic for minimal cost-per-click.
   • After you’ve tested and tweaked your site with a limited amount of purchased traffic, it’s time to start generating qualified traffic for your site on a larger scale. But how do you go from some traffic to a ton of traffic?
2. Get cheap traffic quickly with PPC advertising. Once you’ve tested your site with limited PPC traffic, the fastest way to ramp up traffic to your site is to roll out a PPC campaign on a larger scale.

   This is also a great time to get started with Google AdWords –Google’s own PPC contender. With Google AdWords, you get instant traffic with no waiting. Because as soon as you put the money down on your keywords, your ad goes up and starts working for you.

3. Get free traffic from search engines like Google. Now that you’ve bid on keywords for a strong showing in the PPC search engines, it’s time to tackle the organic search engines and directories. Search engines like Google and directories like Yahoo! can still be a great source of free traffic for your website. The trick is getting a competitive ranking for your best keywords.
4. Give away irresistible free content for priceless publicity. Believe it or not, a really easy, frequently undervalued strategy for getting traffic is giving away free content to other websites. Even just two or three well-written articles can generate truckloads of traffic, as long as they don’t contain a sales pitch.

   You want to include rare, hard-to-get information that’ll lend your articles automatic value–the kind of information that establishes you as an expert in your field.

   Once you’ve finished an article, write a short bio paragraph about you and your business and place it at the end of your article along with–and this is the most important part–a link to your site.

   To locate sites that might be interested in your content, e-mail other website owners in your industry–be sure to choose sites that receive attention and visits from your target market–and invite them to use your article on their site or in their newsletter at absolutely no cost.

   Many site owners need fresh content, so they’ll be more than happy to post your articles–and it won’t be long before those articles start driving traffic back to your site.

   Another option is to give away your articles through free content websites like these:

   • www.ezinearticles.com
   • www.freesticky.com

   Your articles will automatically be made available to thousands of websites seeking free, quality content–and all you have to do is submit your articles once.

   Don’t underestimate the power of giving away free content. And as your articles gain more exposure, don’t be surprised if you’re contacted by high-profile magazine and portal sites related to your industry looking for free articles to include on their sites, too.

5. Get free word of mouth publicity using viral marketing. Simply defined, viral marketing is a way for you to spread your marketing message like a virus. You encourage people to pass on information about your site to others, and you use that word-of-mouth publicity to advertise your business. Once you start the “virus,” it spreads without you lifting a finger.

   Need an example? Try Hotmail.com, the free web-based e-mail service provider. At the bottom of every single Hotmail e-mail sent by Hotmail members, there’s a simple one-line message:

   “Get your free, private email from MSN at http://www.hotmail.com”

   How much time do you think it took Hotmail to include that signature line as part of their e-mail service? Not much at all–but look at the impact this simple strategy had on the growth of their business. In my personal experience, more than 35 percent of all e-mail users have Hotmail accounts!

   You can easily duplicate this strategy by doing something as simple as including a “pass it on link” at the end of a free newsletter, something as simple as:

   “If you’ve enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend!”

   By simply asking readers to take action and forward your newsletter, you’ll prompt free word of mouth exposure for your business without any extra cost or hassle.

   How else can you put viral marketing to work for you? Here are a few simple ideas:

   1. Give away free articles (like the ones I describe in Step 4) that include a “pass it on” link.
   2. Give away free demos of your product.
   3. Offer a free trial of your service with a “share this great resource” button on the page.
   4. Hold a contest on your site, and give participants an extra entry for every friend they refer.
   5. Start an affiliate program (see Step 7 below).

   As you can see, you don’t need to be the next Hotmail to get started with viral marketing. By simply encouraging people to “share this resource with friends,” you can attract some great word-of-mouth traffic.

6. Get free links on other high-traffic websites. Link requests require minimal effort from you, but they can absolutely explode your traffic numbers overnight. How? If your site is a featured link on a major site in your industry–one that receives a ton of attention–your site immediately benefits from all the exposure their site receives.

   Getting started with this strategy is simple, but you should follow a standard process every time you request a link. Let’s break it down into a few easy steps:

   1. Do a Google search for your standard keywords–the ones that people generally use to find your site.
   2. Make detailed notes about the sites that appear regularly in the top ten listings for your major keywords.
   3. Use the Alexa Toolbar, LinkPopularity or Technorati to find out what other sites these sites are linking to, whose linking to them and how much traffic they’re receiving, then look up their contact information.
   4. Before making contact, make sure you know the correct URL for the site, the URL of the sub-page on which you want your link to appear, the name of the site owner or webmaster, the date you last visited their site, and a brief description of the contents of the site.

   When you’re ready to contact the owners of these website and request a link, write a personal e-mail–don’t use form letters. Be sure to include some positive comments about their site, information about you and your site (along with your URL), an explanation of why a link to you would benefit them, and instructions for contacting you to get started.

   You want your request to be thorough and professional. If you can present a persuasive argument for why the link request benefits both of you, you stand a better chance of forging a connection. And if you’re really eager to get your link on their site, be prepared to up the ante by offering them a commission or a link on your site in return. The investment could be well worth the extra exposure your marketing message receives.

   When other businesses request links on your site, my advice is, be stingy. Just as links on others’ sites serve as a personal recommendation of your site, links on your site are recommendations for their businesses. Only recommend the best!

7. Get thousands of websites to promote your business for free. Imagine hundreds, even thousands, of websites promoting your product or service without spending a dime until someone refers a paying customer. You can do this with what’s called an affiliate program.

   Affiliate programs–also referred to as “reseller” or “associate” programs–are a great way to get other people (called “affiliates”) to promote your product or service for you. For every paying customer your affiliates refer to your site, you pay them a commission. And since you only pay when you make money, it’s an extremely low-risk option.

   Here’s how it works: Your affiliates send visitors to your site using banner ads, text links, letters of referral and so on, while you track these referrals using special software. It’s an extremely powerful way to grow your business because it automates your traffic generation. To get started with your own affiliate program, you need to:

   1. Establish your commissions. To keep your affiliates motivated, you should pay them 40 to 50 percent of your profits per sale.
   2. Get software to track the traffic and sales of your affiliates so you know what to pay them.
   3. Provide your affiliates with tools they can use to promote your products, such as e-mails, banners and so on.
   4. Recruit more affiliates. Look for sites that target your market, and invite them to become affiliates.

   Affiliate programs are an ideal way to automate your traffic generation because other people are marketing your site for you. Your sales increase on a daily basis–but your affiliates do all the selling for you, and it doesn’t cost you a dime until they send you paying customers.

8. Use e-mail marketing to attract repeat visitors. Getting lots of traffic to your site is great, but if you aren’t collecting the contact information–the names and e-mail addresses–of visitors, you’re wasting every single click. If visitors leave your site without buying your product, there’s a good chance they won’t ever be back–and you’ll have absolutely no way of following up with them. It can take up to seven points of contact to make a single sale.

   You’ll want to begin collecting visitors’ contact information from day one using an opt-in form on your home page. Then send them e-mail messages to follow up and keep them thinking about your site. Need some ideas for e-mails you could send to follow up with your opt-in subscribers? Try these ideas:

   1. Monthly or bi-weekly newsletters that include tons of tips and information
   2. Free reports on topics your market would appreciate
   3. Answers to common questions people ask about your product
   4. Offers for products similar or complementary to ones you may have already offered them
   5. Free product trials that give potential customers a taste of what you have to offer
   6. A “downgrade” offer for a product that’s less expensive or robust than your featured offer

   Following up with the addresses you gather is quick, easy and simple with e-mail management and automation software. You can create e-mail messages called “autoresponders” that potential customers receive automatically as soon as they opt-in on your site–within seconds–no matter what time of day it is or whether you’re even at your desk!

   That’s right: As soon as your visitors opt in, they’ll start hearing from you on a regular basis without you having to deal with the stress of writing a ton of e-mails to individual addresses. This is a process you can put on autopilot from the very beginning.

Final Thoughts

Obviously, we’ve covered a lot of ground in this article, before you dive into any of these strategies, you’ll need to do a bit more reading and research on each of these topics in order to understand these tactics in depth.

This article was meant to be a clear road map of exactly what you need to do first, second and third to test your website to maximize conversion rates and then roll out an effective traffic campaign that attracts swarms of potential buyers–automatically–for years to come. But reading more on each topic will help figure out exactly what you need to do for your site to make it a success.

Over the years, I’ve noticed a common thread that links all our most successful clients who have internet businesses: They have all focused on implementing one or two marketing strategies really well.

Don’t feel like you need to become an expert in all the strategies covered here. Focus on becoming really proficient at one or two–because this may be all you need to dramatically increase your traffic–and sales.