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Category: Business Education

How Small Businesses Can Use Technology to Thrive During Economic Uncertainty

Posted on by Jeannine Lozier

SUMMARY

  • Globalization and online platforms revolutionize small businesses, enabling local reach and global growth through smart marketing.
  • Small businesses can overcome obstacles by leveraging platforms like eBay, Amazon, and Etsy to increase exposure and consumer trust.
  • Online reviews drive improved marketing strategies and customer satisfaction, saving businesses time and money.

799 words ~ 4 minute read

There’s good reason for small businesses to feel hopeful in 2023. Consumer spending is fueling a solid recovery, with post-pandemic travel and entertainment leading the way. Job growth is happening too, with 187,000 jobs added in July. Still, many small business owners continue to work hard to bounce back from the economic slowdown, with many citing hiring and supply chain issues as their top concerns. Despite the anxiety that comes with economic uncertainty, existing technologies and online platforms provide small businesses with solutions that did not exist 15 years ago during the Great Recession. Small business owners who leverage these advantages can thrive despite economic uncertainty and even get ahead of their competition. Here are four small business strategies to help fortify your business in both good and challenging economic times. 

Strategy #1: Stay Local, Go Global

In 2008, businesses who relied on in-store customers did not have much room to pivot. Likewise, geography played a huge role in which businesses survived and which businesses died during the pandemic. Many small businesses simply were not set up for online sales, much less to appeal to markets beyond their region. 

Today, globalization has helped even the playing field for small businesses. Businesses focused on growing their customer base by expanding into online channels are able to maintain their local presence while building a national, even global, reputation. Offering your products and services online is an important first step, but it’s essential to capitalize on your increased exposure through proven marketing strategies that let you communicate with potential customers directly. 

Using a lead magnet to collect email addresses is a simple and effective strategy for increasing your online sales. Rather than relying on organic traffic, social media algorithms, or ad spend, email marketing allows your business to build trust with potential customers before they buy. It’s also a fast track to sharing sales, promotions, and new offers with a warm audience.

Strategy #2: Join Forces

It can be challenging for small businesses to sell directly to consumers, when they’re first starting out. That’s why many market experts encourage small businesses to uplevel onto platforms that provide greater exposure. From Ebay to Amazon, or even Etsy for some microenterprises, global platforms also come with increased consumer confidence. 

While it takes time to get started on some online platforms, the effort spent is well worth it. Budget some additional time to learn how to optimize your products for specific platforms, including how to write SEO descriptions that match what your ideal customer is plugging into google. In “4 Ways to Use Amazon Marketplace to Fuel Business Growth,” Mark Wieczorek, entrepreneur and Amazon business owner, recommends planning for additional inventory, tailoring your product descriptions to support Amazon’s algorithm, studying your reviews, and thinking through your full marketing funnel. 

A final benefit of selling your products online is that it allows you to experiment with price points. As consumers penny pinch, even luxury brands are finding new ways to keep loyal customers by offering less expensive products that carry the high-end brand name.

Strategy #3: Tune In 

When small businesses prioritize online customer reviews, they receive many advantages. Understanding your customer’s motivations is one of the most valuable. For the savvy small business owner, these discoveries can translate into better marketing campaigns and ad spend.

Michel Falcon, hospitality entrepreneur and Entrepreneur magazine contributor, says that businesses can collect customer data without violating privacy. He prefers the term ‘customer intelligence’ to customer data because this information helps companies provide a better customer experience. He not only recommends implementing online reviews but also harnessing the power of following your customer’s online channels or themes in their social media posts. While researching your customer’s habits may seem like borderline ‘stalking,’ the information is public and can be utilized to provide a personal touch that increases consumer loyalty. Bottom line: listening to your customers will save you time and money and increase customer satisfaction.

 Strategy #4: Add a Human Touch 

Expanding into online channels, emailing your subscribers, and mining your customer reviews,  are great strategies to reach new and existing customers, even in tough economic times. But if you actually want more positive reviews and returning customers, you have to do one more thing: obsess about your customer’s online experience. 

When customers come into your store, you have multiple ways to customize their experience. But in an online setting, the customer experience encompasses everything from product descriptions to the checkout and thank you pages. Small businesses familiar with providing a personal touch can really stand out by considering each stage of the customer journey. To set your business up for success, make sure to think through how you want your customers to feel from beginning to end, then design your technology to provide a unique and human experience.

Email Marketing Trends to Grow Your Business

Posted on by Chamber of Business & Industry Centre County

SUMMARY

  • Email marketing remains a crucial tool for businesses due to its direct reach to subscribers, bypassing algorithms of social platforms.
  • Businesses should focus on nurturing relationships through emails by providing value-added content, including insider tips, trending news, and solutions to customer problems.
  • Pairing email marketing with regular website content updates can increase traffic significantly. 

681 Words ~ 3 minute read

Every day four billion people open email. While social media posting and paid advertising can play a significant role in small business marketing campaigns, experts agree that emailing subscribers remains one of the best marketing tools available. Why? Emails go directly into your subscriber’s inbox and bypass the mysterious algorithms associated with social platforms and paid traffic. And if your business knows how to leverage the latest email marketing trends, you have an instant advantage over your competition. 

Here’s what you need to know about using email to grow your business. 

Nurture Audience Relationships through Email 

Beyond sales and promotions, email marketing is a great way to demonstrate your value to subscribers. Avoid sending too many emails just for the sake of ‘staying in touch.’ Instead, obsess about your customer’s problems and create email content that includes insider tips, trending news and ways to help your audience get ahead. Also, a smart website strategy should also include email. Whenever you add new content to your website, make sure to nudge subscribers with highlights and direct them to read more online. 

How often should you post new content to your website? According to the content marketing experts at HubSpot, it depends. They recommend first running a website audit to determine how often you should post. Then, it’s all about your goals. If your goal is to drive more traffic to your site, then you might need to post 3-4 times a week. If your strategy is to raise brand awareness, then publishing less frequently may work just fine. By pairing email marketing with website publishing you naturally increase traffic to your website without paid advertising.

Find Your Next Content Idea with AI

You’ve probably heard by now that AI is equipped to help you do everything from compose mysteries to finish your kid’s homework. But the truth is AI is only as smart as its user. Many businesses are finding that the best use of tools like Open AI’s ChatGPT and Jasper isn’t to do your work for you, but to do some thinking for you. Rather than starting with a blank page, try utilizing AI as a ‘content assistant’ that can pitch email subject lines or outline email content. 

Know How Privacy Changes Affect Deliverability 

Measuring the success of email marketing used to be a lot easier. However, a side effect of tech giants like Apple creating Mail Privacy Protection (MMP) to help users guard their personal information is that traditional metrics like open rates and click-to-open rates have become less reliable. As of June 2022, 89% of iPhone users adopted iOS 15 which gives users this option.

These updates don’t change the reality that email remains a highly effective marketing strategy. The difference is that you’ll want to look at other metrics such as ROI, list growth, email forwards, and unsubscribe rates to help determine what’s working and when to adjust. 

Turn Subscribers into Fans 

The reason people subscribe to your list varies, but we know that most subscribers are motivated by access to deals, shortcuts, rewards, discounts and hot tips. In other words, they love special treatment. 

You can nurture customer loyalty and repeat sales when you treat your email subscribers differently than everyone else. Rather than making special offers to everyone, reward email opens with exclusive opportunities. This strategy will also help you determine which sales are coming from email versus promotions running on your website, ads or social media posts. 

Are you growing your list? 

Your email marketing efforts are only as good as the health of your email list. To keep your list growing, make sure you have a variety of lead magnets designed to trade exclusive content or discounts for a person’s email address. After you have new subscribers added to your list, your email marketing strategy begins. Far more than a trend, you can kickstart your new email relationship with a series that both initiates and rewards new subscribers. Connect it all to automation, and you have a simple, reliable email marketing campaign to help you make more sales and grow your business. 

How to Turn Your Business Expertise Into Thought Leadership

Posted on by Chamber of Business & Industry Centre County

Does your organization place due emphasis on brand building? If not, it’s high time you reconsidered. Elevating your brand’s visibility and perception by establishing your organization as a thought leader can create an immense impact. In this age of digitization, even the smallest businesses in our community have the potential to reach vast audiences. Utilizing the internet to solidify your thought leadership can be one of the most effective strategies for cultivating a robust audience and enhancing conversions.

What is Thought Leadership?

Thought leaders demonstrate expertise in their field by expressing ideas in unique ways that will keep visitors coming back to their website, blog, or social media feed. Business leaders often strive to achieve the status of thought leaders, but it takes hard work, patience, education and a well-developed strategy. Fortunately, many small business owners and managers already have “education” as experienced business people in your respective fields. So how do you go about becoming a thought leader?

How to Become a Thought Leader

The first step in becoming a thought leader is determining what you want to be an expert in. As a business owner, you might think this is simple—it’s your area of business, right? To a point, this is true, but you might want to narrow it down a little. For example, if you run a shoe shop, you can’t necessarily be an expert on all areas of the shoe business, but you might know what shoes suit particular people or what the upcoming trends in shoes are.

Use Your Own Voice

Once you’ve figured out your niche, you need to create content. However, using an authentic voice that comes over naturally to your readers is essential. The best way to do this is by using your own voice. Your passion for the subject will go over naturally and keep your readers interested. Trying to be too “sales” or fake is obvious to most readers, and they will quickly lose interest.

Don’t Self-Promote

Using your own voice does not mean talking about yourself or your products all the time. Over-promotion is another big turn-off—79% of editors of online publications say that over-promotion is the biggest problem with contributed content. A better way to connect with your readers is by educating them, providing thoughtful insights, and sharing new ideas.

Produce Content Consistently

As a thought leader, you need people to remember you. If you don’t publish new content regularly, they will forget you; a few strong articles won’t establish you as a thought leader. Remember, it takes perseverance and dedication.

Publish Widely

Only publishing posts and articles on your website or LinkedIn profile might gain a small, dedicated readership, but you will need to be more widely recognized. So instead, submit guest posts to other people’s blogs within your field, find out what websites are popular with people in your area, and submit articles to those too. Of course, not everyone will want your articles and guest posts, but you must persevere.

Use Your Team

Thought leaders rarely work alone. People in your business will undoubtedly have ideas and knowledge that will help. Make sure they understand what you’re trying to accomplish, and everyone in the company will benefit from their endeavors. If you’re too busy at times, there will always be someone to take up the slack—always ensuring that the business comes across at all times with the same authentic voice.

Becoming a thought leader can bring tangible benefits to you and your business. As we said earlier, it’s all about dedication, strategy, and perseverance, but it will be worth the effort in the long run.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Sounds Alarm on Civics-Education Crisis

Posted on by Chamber of Business & Industry Centre County

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) just handed out the Nation’s Report Card on Civics and U.S. History for eighth graders. The results are an alarming wakeup call.

Nearly 80 percent of 8th-graders are NOT proficient in civics – the largest decline in scores since 1998.

In addition, public trust in government is at an all-time low of 18 percent. Forty-seven percent of Americans can’t name the three branches of government, and 52 percent of young people think democracy has failed or is in trouble.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation President Carolyn Cawley issued a statement on the release of the 2022 NAEP U.S. history and civics results, also known as the Nation’s Report Card.

Read the full statement here.

Key takeaways of results from the Nation’s Report Card include:

  • A larger percentage of students (79 percent) perform below proficient in civics, compared to 2018 (76 percent).
  • Only 49 percent of students report taking a class mainly focused on civics. Those who do take a civics-focused class in eighth grade score higher than those who do not.
  • The results underscore the need for immediate action: Civics education must become a national priority, both inside and outside the classroom.

The Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County is teaming with the U.S Chamber of Commerce Foundation to elevate civics as a national priority and educate Americans about the critical link between democracy and capitalism. We know informed and active citizens make for a strong country, a strong economy and a strong workforce.

Our vision is for every American to have the knowledge, skills and disposition to ensure our continued prosperity and long-term competitiveness.

Our first major initiative is the National Civics Bee – a competition to encourage young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. Participating middle schoolers flex their civics knowledge for a chance to earn recognition, win prizes and educate others along the way.

The Chamber recently hosted the Centre County 2023 National Civics Bee – one of 50 competitions across nine states.

Meet the winners and see photos of the Bee here.

Businesses of all sizes in the Centre region can help bridge the civics gap and support our schools through civics-learning initiatives like the Centre County National Civics Bee, which the Chamber will host again in 2024.

Be sure to keep up to date by visiting our website at www.cbicc.org and take the quiz to test your own civics knowledge.

How to Best Communicate Your Ideas in Meetings for Maximum Impact

Posted on by Chamber of Business & Industry Centre County

Communication is a vital cornerstone of any business meeting. As the CEO or team manager, you have to use the best skills to keep your employees motivated towards achieving personal and professional goals. To succeed at this job, you’ll have to possess the right communicating skills so that your meetings are smooth, effective, and pleasant for everyone.

Unfortunately, a considerable number of people don’t know how to communicate effectively while holding meetings. Ineffective meetings can make you and your employees feel misunderstood, unacknowledged, discouraged, and frustrated. Strong communication will make you feel heard and understood, which leads to positive company culture and a successful business. Therefore, understanding how to run effective meetings is an important part of business gatherings. Continue reading as we outline some vital communication ideas to implement in your meetings.

Pay Attention to Your Body Language
When holding a meeting, communicating to your audience involves more than just the usual speech or written mode of communication. Body language also plays a significant part in the way we communicate with other people. Research shows that 55% of your communication is through body language. As a result, you need to pay close attention to your body language. Note that your audience is always keen on your body language, and they make snap judgments based on them. Therefore, before any meeting, think about how you will stand and sit. Adopt a good posture, maintain eye contact with many people in the meeting, and avoid cross body language.

Keep Unnecessary Distractions to a Minimum
Keeping distractions to a bare minimum is essential in improving the quality of your communications in meetings. Try to keep the room soundproofed or choose a location that is far away from background noise and eliminate any possible distractions such as mobile phones. In fact, one study found that up to 80% of employees know that mobile phones can be a significant distraction in meetings. However, approximately 50% of workers still use these gadgets anyway. Before starting any meeting, politely remind your audience to keep their electronic devices like laptops and phones away. This ensures that they pay attention to the messages you convey. If it’s necessary to use any devices, restrict them to only those who need them.

Enhance Communication With the Best Technology
You can take advantage of technology to help you organize your thoughts and say the right things. This is primarily applicable in instances where the meeting involves participants in different locations under varying time zones. You will need a software or intelligent device that supports hybrid and remote meetings. Look for a device that provides multimedia and other visual details for clearer communication and incorporates solutions such as Zoom to communicate with remote participants more effectively.

Ask Questions to Bring Others into the Conversation
Although it might not always be possible to involve questions in a meeting, bringing your attendees into the discussion works better than listening to long speeches. However, note that some of your audience may be reluctant to volunteer or answer your questions. You can try asking intelligent questions to push them into offering specific ideas. You can ask random questions aimed at particular individuals or groups, allowing your audience to volunteer in giving answers. This keeps people engaged, and it ensures that everyone understands your message.

Conclusion
Good communication is crucial in ensuring that you have an effective meeting. By implementing the above ideas, you will have productive meetings that deliver the intended objective. The key thing is to pay attention to your body language and also bring attendees into the discussion.