Recently, Circle Marketing’s founder and managing director, Louis Tanguay, was asked to appear on Lisa Steadman’s WooHoo Radio Show! Lisa’s a ball of energy and excitement, and she’s always full of such useful information about personal and professional branding. Check out her WooHoo Radio show, and also her business website as well.

In their segment together (embedded below), Lisa and Louis discussed the Top 3 Essentials for websites to be most effective, and some ways every company can up-level their brand and kick their business into a higher gear.

Don’t forget to check out Lisa’s website and radio show! She’s a blast to be around, and very fun as well as informative!

If you’re starting out with your business, or are hitting a few ruts, maybe head on over to DERRICK’s website and check out the interview.

Derrick Hayes is the Author of 1 WORD Is All It Takes, Creator of Derricknyms, Developer of the app Motivation To Your Mobile, Nominator of Today’s Honoree, and blogs as the Encouragement Speaker. Derrick Hayes, an alumnus of Tennessee State University is available for small and large meetings, church events, academic speaking engagements and workshops. For more information or to book Derrick Hayes for a meeting, conference or event  email him at info@EncouragementSpeaker.com or call (706) 615-1662.

One giant reason why most businesses don’t reach their full potential, is because there isn’t someone working for the company, or contracted by the company, who can comes up with all the out-of-the-box business development ideas and marketing ideas that maybe a seasoned and successful small business marketing consultant could.

To get you thinking about the possibilities for your own small business, here are some that were mentioned in the video above, and how they might work for you…

PODCASTS:

• Podcasts can be created for free, or you can pay a small fee to have your very own internet radio show. Assuming you get a free account, the provider will most likely place some ads (which you don’t get paid for) as their way of charging you for the service. If you pay a small amount, or broadcast the podcast yourself, then you won’t have the ads play.
• Many people want to do a podcast to help spread the word of what they are in expert in. However, most never think to get ads or sponsors for these. You can charge anywhere from $10 to $Thousands for sponsor reads, ads, etc. Sure, $10 or $20 isn’t a lot of money, but getting just one $20 sponsor for every podcast can equal $80 a month to a weekly podcast. Now you’re technically earning a profit on your podcast. Once you build up a substantial audience, you can then up your rates, sell bulk ad buy packages, and make even more. Think of it not as “making only $60, so why bother?” Think of it as “Awesome! Now there’s a tank of gas I don’t have to buy, this month,” or maybe “Awesome! I’m making $60/month now, but once I get this built up I can make $600/month or even $6,000/month and my audience won’t be upset because they would have been accustomed to ads being on the podcast!”

PRE-PAY SERVICE:

• Let’s say you’re an auto mechanic. Well, everyone needs a mechanic eventually, right? Offer your customers a loyalty discount account. This could be pre-paying for auto services. What this does is give your customers a huge discount on mechanical work on their car, and also gets you loyalty. If someone has pre-paid $100/month, or $1,2000 with your company, and they know they’re getting a 15% discount on any and all services, then they probably wouldn’t be going anywhere else.
• Insurance works on the concept that you will never need it, never use it, and then therefore never get your money back. Pre-Paying for service providers, however, enables the small business service person to gain loyalty, offer no-haggle discounts (which customers love), and give you some extra cash flow once you have a few pre-paid service contracts sold. This is why many companies offer annual rates as their best rates. They know you’re locked in, and can count on residual income after their expenses for servicing your needs.
• Figuring out how to get a win-win Pre-Paid Service Plan can create major revenue stream possibilities for the responsible small business owner. We say responsible, because if people pre-paid then they are going to eventually need to cash in on that pre-payment, and you’re trading their loyalty for full margin profit, so it’s not “free” money…it’s a loyalty win for you, and a price discount win for the customer. Equaling mutual happiness.

WEB VIDEOS:

• Web Videos help you create a personal connection with your potential customers. The internet is a very impersonal medium, since we are usually accessing the Web alone, or at least individually interacting with our content and what we’re browsing through. Web Videos help you show your personality, expertise, and help build a stronger connection with those watching.
• Monetizing Web Videos can be a way to eventually earn a little extra revenue stream into the business. For example, through becoming a YouTube partner there could be ads placed on your videos for which you’ll get paid when a viewer interacts with one of the displayed ads.
• If you’re filmmaker, production company, or musician, you can have your video, clips, or music videos have an ad play before the viewer watches, enabling you to make more money through sponsors.
• If you have a film completed which didn’t get a distributor, you can break that film up into different parts. Say you have broken a 90 minute feature into six equal 15 minute videos. Each one plays an ad before the video starts, for which you get paid. Assuming you get paid, say, $.50 for every ad played fully, then you would have made $3 for every person who watched your entire feature (all six videos). You can even have an ad-free digital download for $2. Sound like chump change? Well, without a distributor you aren’t making a penny, so get anywhere from $.50 to $3 per visitor who views your work ain’t so bad, is it?

These are obviously just a few ways you can start to grow your business through some different out-of-the-box possibilities. The only limit to growing your business is how limited your thinking and imagination is. So, hopefully these ideas kick-start that imagination and get you brainstorming! Please write in the comments below what your favorite tips were, and please contribute some out-of-the-box ways you have grown your small business.

MISTAKE #1:
Forgetting The Number One Rule of Business: Business is All About Relationships.

Customers want to buy from companies and people they trust, and value the products from. Customers will refer their friends, family, and acquaintances to businesses and products they have good relationships with (product works great for them, company had great customer service, sales person was there for them every step of the way, etc). The web allows companies more opportunity than ever to develop, nurture, and expand upon relationships with their customers. Focus first on the customer, and you’ll find that you’ll have better customers, better conversions, and better evangelists of past customers who go out and spread the good word about you and your services which of course leads to new customers. Keep that Circle of Marketing going and going and going…

MISTAKE #2:
Losing The Money-Making Mindset Which Help Them Become Successful In The First Place.

Most businesses start out with the money-making mindset, where the small business owner will take out a loan, take calculated risks, and invest in the future of their business. The most successful small businesses also have great products and strategies.

When a business becomes successful, or at least stable, most owners unfortunately flick a mental switch and enter what we like to call “Reverse Thinking.” Instead of focusing on how to make money, and stick to the strategies and tactics which got them there, they get complacent and comfortable and afraid. Ever see a sports team “playing not to lose” instead of “playing to win?” This is what happens to businesses who eventually fail. They plateau, get comfortable, then stay there until the business eventually starts falling off because they’re not nurturing it and growing it. Your competition new and old is staying up with things and thinking of ways to beat you. Don’t let them. Keep moving and planning and stay successful by going back to the things which got you where you are (or keep doing things which are working and getting you on your way).

MISTAKE #3:
Choosing Vendors & Services Based Solely On Price, and Not ROI.

“How Much Will This Cost?” is the LAST question you should be asking, not the first. The first question you should always be thinking and asking is “How Much Money Will This Make Me?” This way, you will know what your Return On Investment is when you do get to the pricing question. Pricing on services is usually flexible depending on what your specific needs and strategies are. Find out the level of success you want to aim for, first, then find a price program which fits into that. When you’re about to buy a car, you don’t go looking for the cheapest car you can find, because “all cars are the same.” You know what you want in a car, then look for cars in a range you can afford, and find the best car for your needs and purposes. Same with services. You can always find “cheaper.” Most of the time, though, “Cheap” is still “cheap” in many ways other than cost.

If a vendor or service provider can’t give you numbers, expectations, and strategies on how their product or service can meet your business goals, then walk away. Actually, don’t walk away…RUN AWAY! Any company that can’t address your business goals with what they’re providing is just going to be a complete waste of your money. No matter how cheap the price is, if someone can’t give you expectations of results, then any money you spend is wasted money. We believe you should never waste money.

If I gave you the option to spend $500 on something that would never work, or spend $2,000 on something that would make you $10,000, and have a strategy to get you there….which would you choose? (Hint: If you chose $500, please read this article again.)

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So there you have it! Now you can promise yourself to never make any of these 3 mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to getting the kind of success you deserve and desire. You’ll know how to stay focused, stay strategic, and keep moving in an upward direction with your small business! If you need some assistance, call us and ask what we can do to help you, or check out our online Marketing Course for Small Businesses, which can help you learn at your own very affordable pace.

Many people have paid hundreds of dollars for webinars like this, but Circle Marketing and Broadcast Louder figured putting together this free 2-hour class would help Small Business owners kick off the new year on the right foot!

Click here to watch the webinar, but get a notepad ready because there’s a TON of information to help your business grow!

For those who want to move at their own pace, and prefer to have PDF’s instead of watch videos, please feel free to download the supplemental ebook by joining our email list below: