WELCOME

The Golden List

If you’re a small business owner in business for 20 years or 20 minutes, you may be aware of the similarity between pure gold and a nice, long list of e-mail addresses (all with the required permissions, of course). E-mail marketing plays a major role in how businesses communicate with their customers, instantly and effectively. Sending notices of new products and services, soliciting customer interests and keeping in touch are all major reasons for making sure your list is “gold.”

Here are a couple tips for beginning your pure gold e-mail list:

• Whether you are hosting a networking event, listening to a business seminar or showing a dog take an e-mail newsletter signup sheet along with you. As you network with potential clients and colleagues during these events, introduce your e-mail newsletter by discussing the benefits of receiving it. Invite interested attendees to fill out a subscription card or add their names to your signup sheet to start receiving e-mail communications from you.

• Maybe it’s time to offer a little “sweetener.” Perhaps your company has an online book or white paper you can offer. Be creative!

Hopefully, this has begun the creation of the “gold” type of e-mail address list. And after this is finished, you must explain that in order to continue receiving these amazing bits of knowledge, you must get permission to send it to them.

Libby Beatty, Chair
MBA Board of Directors

INSURANCE

The Administrators, Inc., Midlantic Business Alliance’s endorsed insurance administrator, has supplied the following article:

Caring for Teeth and Gums Can Help Promote
Heart Health

During American Heart Month in February, United Concordia Dental, one of the nation’s largest dental insurers, wants to remind adults that taking care of their teeth and gums is an important part of promoting heart health.

“There’s plenty of research out there that links the oral health of your mouth to other medical conditions such as heart disease and stroke,” said Jerome Blum, D.D.S., corporate dental director of United Concordia Dental. “In fact, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that the risk for heart disease among people with gum disease is nearly three times higher than those without it.”

More than 75 percent of American adults suffer from periodontal disease, a chronic inflammatory condition that destroys bone and gum tissues that support the teeth, according to the American Academy of Periodontology.

“This number is staggering,” said Dr. Blum. “In light of these findings, it’s more important than ever to understand the connection between gum disease and other chronic conditions.”

For this reason, United Concordia has partnered with its parent company, Highmark, Inc., and the University of Pennsylvania, to fund a two-year study that looks at the effect of dental treatment on medical costs.

The goal is to determine if dental cleanings and/or treatment of gum disease can decrease the cost of medical care in patients who have certain medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke. The data will come from unidentified subjects who have been enrolled with United Concordia Dental and Highmark for at least
three years.

“The study will provide our company with additional evidence of the link between a person’s overall and oral health,” said Dr. Blum. “We expect to see the first round of results later this year.”

Source: United Concordia

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MARKETING

Marketing your Return Policy

A strong return policy does more than create a solid customer service experience - if done right, it also represents a powerful and low-cost marketing opportunity. Here’s how to craft a return policy that whets your customers' appetites and bolster your relationship with them:

Your Policy: Create a positive return experience for customers, but beyond the specifics of your products/services, customers generally want a procedure that is fast and hassle free – so ditch the twenty questions. Even if your most accommodating policy costs you money, does it cost as much as losing the customer and the expense of replacing them?

Promote the Policy: The policy should be expressed with simplicity and placed strategically: on your website, your receipts, your register and signs in your retail space. A creative slogan can be used on fliers and price lists to promote the speed and ease of your “no-hassle return policy.”

Policy Execution: Train all of your sales staff to handle returns at any time and for any reason. Also, make sure that your staff refers to the return policy as they close each sale which serves as an incentive for the customer to continue buying from you.

The Season of Savings

Combine the winter season and slow economic conditions and what you’ll find are sales and discounts on items you could use to expand your business. Here are some leads:

Office Space & Furnishings: Property owners and brokers are eager to move warehouse and retail spaces – many with lease-to-own options. Be sure that you have a legal consultant look over any lease before you sign it. Craigslist, going-out-of-business sales and local auctions are great places to find office furniture, shop fittings and filing systems for little or nothing.

Equipment: Equipment like trucks and large kitchen items are also being sold and leased at rates lower than usual. Bank auctions and failing businesses are great places to look for these bargains.

Advertising: The advertising and media industry is selling ad space at their lowest rates in decades. If your ad campaigns were limited in the past, now’s the time to expand to radio, magazines and possibly local/cable TV.

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YOUR FINANCES

Raise Rates without Raising Tempers

Raising your rates can be tricky, but if done with tact you can increase your bottom line, appeal to customers in higher budget brackets and reinforce current customer relationships:

New Testimonials: You need to be able to show the value of your services/products with a new batch of strong testimonials on your websites, brochures, e-mails, etc. Seek new testimonials by sending customers a survey asking what they needed and how your business gave it to them.

Boost Perceived Value: Talk up the most valuable parts of your services/products. This may simply mean highlighting benefits that are otherwise overlooked – or undersold. Potential clients with big budgets are often attracted to higher prices because of the perceived value. Labels like “premium” and “gold service” let your customer know they’re getting your best.

Choices Galore: The more choices you offer, the more chances you have of making a sale. Offering packaged services/products with tiered pricing gives customers the option of choosing how much to spend, so they don’t feel forced to decide whether or not to spend with you, only how to spend with you. It’s also good way to engage them in the slow courting of up selling.

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FOR THE HOME-BASED BIZ

Is Your Home Business Insured?

Working from home may allow you to cut certain expenses, but depending on the type of service you provide, business insurance should not be one of them. Some plans cover the loss of business equipment, liability for visitors and business income loss. Typically, service-based businesses are at greatest risk. Here are some policies to look into if your business falls into that category:

Homeowners Policy Endorsement: If you have basic homeowners insurance, you can add more extensive coverage for your business. This is one of the least expensive methods, but it usually won’t cover expensive equipment, home liability or business income.

In-Home Business Policy: This policy offers more coverage than the homeowners policy add-on, meaning that it will cover equipment and liabilities. However, it is contingent upon the type of safety features your business requires and if you have any employees.

Home Business Growth Techniques

These low and no-cost tips will help you reach out into the business and local community in hopes of making a name for your company:

Trade Show Shuffle: You may not be able to afford a booth but you can find someone who is willing to share theirs in exchange for splitting the cost or helping them manage their space. You could even become their liaison/guide if they are from out-of-town.

Competition: Any of your competition worth looking into will have a website that will show you their promotions and prices. Also, take the time to enter their name into a search to find out what they are doing to promote themselves online.

Help/Samples: Get involved with local nonprofits to see how the face of your business will quickly end up in the face of your community and other participating businesses. Also, consider offering samples to local businesses, organizations or potential clients. By doing a small job for free you can show your value, start a relationship and instill a sense of trust.

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HUMAN RESOURCES

How to Keep Workers’ Comp under Control

The cost of workers’ compensation insurance continues to rise and put many small businesses in jeopardy. Although the premiums are mostly based on things businesses can’t control, there are aspects of your business, like your payments and your employees’ history of workers’ compensation used that can keep your costs down:

Discuss Benefits of Safety: Often times, employee safety discussions become a point of contention, but it’s important to explain how the cost of claims affects the ability of the business to compensate its employees.

Higher Standards: Creating a safety program isn’t just about making a plan, it is about implementing it. Rotating schedules mean employees change tasks which helps keep them actively engaged, reducing the amount of risk. Insurance underwriters also take company safety programs into account, and that could decrease the impact of past occurrences. Visit osha.gov for ideas on safety initiatives.

Don’t Mis-categorize: Some businesses think they are clever by misrepresenting the actual tasks of their employees in an effort to reduce the workers’ comp rate. If you get audited by your insurance company, they are likely to drop your policy. Finding another insurer will then be extremely difficult.

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IT

Low & No-Cost Storage Providers

The following services give small businesses the ability to upload, store and share data for nothing or close to it:

4Shared: This online storage provider is an exciting option with up to 10 gigabytes of free storage. To top that, 4Shared has programs for sharing music, photos and videos. The premium program offers users 100GB + of storage. You can even use 4Shared’s service to rent space for short periods of time. For example, you can rent 100GB of storage for five days for five dollars. A year of storage will cost only $78 – still a good price compared to buying more disk space.

UpRight: This tiny piece of software allows you to right-click on any file(s) and instantly upload them to your Website FTP address, to Amazon S3 storage or any network that you use. There is a free trial on the site, but the software is $20 to download outright. The only catch is that the files need to come from Windows Explorer.

Tech Tools for Tight Budgets

The following products are ideal to help small businesses deal with customers and crooks without breaking the bank:

Rate Point: Offered are testimonial management, e-mail newsletter, surveys and social media sharing for free for up to 125 users. If you find the service useful, plans start for under $9 per month.

Socialibrium: This tool helps you to manage your social relationships with an easy-to-use platform showing who you have connected to and who still requires your attention. The software is still in beta testing but you can request a download or invite on their site.

USB Notify Service: This nifty little download helps to protect your business data from would-be thieves. The service can alert you to a USB download and also restrict users from downloading data without permission.

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Get to know MBA members!

This section will highlight several member small businesses, what they do and how to contact them. Consider these companies if you're interested in their market, and please call us if you would like to be listed here too!

Call Libby at (610) 604-4994, ext. 131or send an email.

Click here to see this month's member spotlight.

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Unless specifically indicated, MBA does not intend mention of companies, products or services discussed in this publication to be construed to be endorsements. The information in this publication is offered as examples that may be useful to our small business readers. Please consult with an industry professional before implementing any of the tips or subscribing to any of the services described above.