I read up all about what in social media are calling the ultimate response ..a response that converts a user who is browsing your website to actually purchase something. This terminology is what marketers refer to as a “call to action”. A call to action is the art of getting the person that is in your target market to buy your product. Imagine that, making money from the internet! Yet when I talk to people about this concept, they look at me as if I am a mad man. I hope you as the reader knows by now what online retailing is all about, and maybe purchased a product or two.
The fact is that I see the call to action as more then selling. It’s all about the steps for small businesess to build relationships with your customer. The call to action means you want them to engage you, the business!
So, how do you do this exactly? You simply ask your customer to buy the product! And how you do that is by setting up ways where there is really good usability on your site. Then you enable the customer to have the ability to purchase quickly and efficiently.
This is not rocket science folks…. It’s just another way you as a businesses to promote your product and give your customer a chance to buy!
Wynne needs to step to the table
The dyke breachthat occurred over the weekend still has not been drained. Nor should we expect the 180 acres of land to be reclaimed overnight. Clearly, any chance of farmers planting has gone out the window,literally. Kathleen Wynne, our provincial non elected premier of Ontario, has not commented on this disaster. The premier, who declared herself the agricultural minister responsible for this portfolio has not provided her take on this issue. I am not bashing her whatsoever. What I do feel is that I wish she would comment, and if time permits, visit the farmers who lost their season. The dyke break is a on privately owned land. The high waters have battered the dyke and caused two breaches within three weeks. Should a senior politician speak up about the dyke break?
Update on Bradford dyke break
The water has not receded. In fact, when I visited the flooded farm this morning right beside the GO Train station, the water levels look visually like they have increased since yesterday. Outside here, the winds are picking up in what is now looking more and more like a lake.
The farmers need help. The town of Bradford has declared this area a disaster zone, to ask for relief. Even those who I take the train with are now calling the town “Bradford by the bay”, with good reason.
The town is also getting a lot of publicity especially the past few days. The news story made CTV news as well as 680 news.
All I know is that this disaster is real, and the need of farmers is great. Their growing season is gone, lost incomes, not to mention property damage!
I have included pictures .. have a look and let me know your thoughts.
The photo below is what this very same farm looked like on Friday.
Dyke breaks again!
Hello Everyone,
Well it happened again. Our dyke broke and now for the second time in less than a month, farmers fields have been flooded. I took these pictures for you to have a look at the damage.
The area has already been declared a disaster zone!
Is social media advertising acceptable?
In a recent post on the Bradford Social Networking Association Facebook group, a question was raised by a member of the group. The question was about if businesses advertising their businesses in the group it being spam.
Spam you say? Spam can mean different things to different people. I think advertising that shares experences with a product is not spam at all. I do believe that social media does have its limits. One business owner I talked to Yesterday (who incidently is installing a sprinkler system) says he has no need to advertise, his business is all based on word of mouth.
I think that social media, and advertising in general should at the start create awareness. From awareness, the seeds are planted in the persons mind and may consider them in the future.
An emarketing course I am undertaking at the moment speaks to stages in creating awareness to analyzing conversion techniques to the point of purchase.
Social media from a small town context I feel has value. Small businesses can use social media in an effort to tame the giant monsters .. Walmart for example. If Walmart can insert a flyer in a newspaper that actually forces you to recycle, why on earth can a small business not advertise on social media ?
What do you think ?
Company expands thanks to town!
Great story. I have to make this post short because I have a busy schedule. BTW, I really do appreciate you reading my blog, but I do have a life.
So the story. Array Bradford has announced an expansion in Bradford. They are adding 55,000 square feet to their location. So, naturally I am thinking about if this will increase jobs, and if so.what kind?
I applaud the town for offering incentives for encouraging development. But what exactly are the citizens getting out of the deal? Is the story even news worthy?
Economic development needs to come from entrepreneurs who have great ideas who obtain capital to expand their businesses. In looking at this expansion, its not clear to be that as a result of what I just explained adding jobs or not.
Not trying to be critical, I am just suggesting that while the announcement is positive, I don’t see the overt value it adds.
Will this company pay increased property taxes so the residents pay less? link to article
Learn about Search Engine Optimization
Yesterday, I learned all about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO works by optimizing your web site so search engines can catalog your web site accurately. Search engines like Google or Bing need help to find you, however. One thing the search engine needs is an accurate title in your html code. It then searches for the quality of links to and from your site. If many people are clicking your page as a referral, your search results will increase!
For example, you may decide as part of your social media strategy that you want a Facebook page and a web site. The links you get from Facebook to your web site improves your rankings!
I also found out the search engines do not like pictures, because there is basically no data to obtain.
SEO is a non paid method to try and get your web site at the top of search results. If you prefer, you can pay Google as a sponsor of related results if SEO isn’t for you.
Making capital investment decisions
This topic is about the world of making capital investment decisions. A capital investment decision involves how the purchase of an asset can affect your business in a positive or negative manner. It also involves deciding what information is needed to be included in your decision, especially those that are financially related.
Investopedia defines capital investment as “Funds invested in a firm or enterprise for the purposes of furthering its business objectives. Capital investment may also refer to a firm’s acquisition of capital assets or fixed assets such as manufacturing plants and machinery that is expected to be productive over many years”.
The point of making a capital investment decision is to make a positive contribution to your cash flows today, and also in the future. Once you perform your calculations, you must decide if the asset acquisition is good or not so good for your business. To do this, the cash flows should be relevant to your business. By this I mean the change in your cash flows that does not produce a positive result should not be considered. You must consider the difference of cash flows generated with and without proceeding with your project. This basically means evaluating what the change in your incremental cash flows will be.
Without overly getting into the technical aspect of corporate finance, this means looking at the changes in your company’s cash flows as a direct consequence of taking on the project, on a stand-alone basis. These incremental cash flows means examining what your opportunity costs will be and excluding any sunk costs out of your calculations.
You must also look into additions to net working capital as well. For example, will you need more inventory as part of the project? If so, then networking capital should be part of the project costs as well.
Don’t forget to include financing costs and the impact of inflation as well!
Any questions on capital investment decisions?
Odds and Ends!
Sunday here in town and all over the world for that matter!! Well, things have been just crazy here over the past while. On Friday night, the adminis of our facebook group, the Bradford Social Networking Association hosted a get together at La MexiCanada Restaurant in downtown Bradford. It was a lot of fun, and met so many wonderful people!
In addition, I am realizing this blog is a lot of work in keeping up to date. I was investigating selling amazon products related to my posts, but WordPress makes this very difficult for us to do. I’m evaluating how much longer I want to keep this blog open. The blog will stay open until the end of July, and after that I will see what happens. It’s very time consuming!!
Don’t “cave in”pricing your products lower online!
<
Don’t “cave in”pricing your products lower online!
Lately I have been writing about how online marketing can help businesses in various aspects. I hope you are finding this information useful!
Today, I would like to talk about pricing your products on the internet. As you know, customers are accessing the internet more than ever. They are also on the go – with their mobile devices in hand, as they walk down streets, getting onto streetcars and trains, as they sip coffee in a shop… you get the point!
There are two views to pricing your products on the internet. I’m here to explain this to you.
Price Pressures
The first view is that pricing your products and make them viewable to customers (and your competition as a result) will eventually force you to lower your prices to remain competitive. This means your pricing in translucent in the marketplace and you’re helping your customers gain knowledge about products and services available with your company. Because of this, you hold the view that prices will decrease, and that your product could become a commodity.
Loyalty
The second view is that you don’t feel you should be reducing pricing. The reason is because of brand loyalty. You feel your customer will become loyal to you and that you develop a positive relationship with them. For example, there are many booksellers on the internet, yet most still go to Amazon. Why? Because customers have already established accounts and they are familiar and love other value adds like their streamlined ways on shipping the product to your customers very quickly. Because the customer is comfortable, they are less likely to seek ways on how to bargain hunt to drive lower prices.
Applying what you have learned
If you want your customers to be loyal, treat them well. Take care of them. Call them on their birthday. Offer them incentives so they keep coming back. Tell them about what you are up to using social media, and give them insight as to who you are as a person.
What is your opinion in regards to pricing your products or services on the internet?
