customers
Learn to fire undesirable customers
Successful business owners learn to differentiate between those customers that are profitable and those that are not. They also need to understand the importance of identifying and getting rid of customers that may be costing you more money or time than they are worth. Doing so will allow business owners to focus marketing and sales efforts on attracting and retaining your most desirable customers. Full article.
Stores find success by focusing on the hunt
At a time when families are watching dollars and the Web makes discount-hunting easy, unexpected treasures are an increasingly important strategy for stores. Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi:"It's the wow factor that's getting people to buy…You walk into Costco for tuna and end up getting a Marc Jacobs coat." Full article.
How to lure potential customers to your site
It's not uncommon for a new business to have a tough time finding the right marketing category. Things to think about include advertising and marketing that will help you create awareness about your product or service, followed by ways to build a demand for your particular product or service. Full article.
AT&T Localizing Smartphone Ads
AT&T plans on reaching out and touching some of its customers with localized ads sent to smartphones in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco will get "Shopalerts by AT&T." whenever they are near a store. Full article.
The Hyperlocal Opportunity
These days, small businesses are sharpening their focus on hyperlocal advertising and marketing, an tool which allows them to engage with customers at the optimum time and place. Simply put, hyperlocal advertising focuses on a specific, local area. There are, however, several things businesses need to consider when choosing to use hyperlocal tools, such as is it a good fit for your business, and do you, the business owner, fully understand how hyperlocal works? Full article.
How to Make a Great Business Great
The only way to survive and thrive is to build a great business that can withstand the economic shocks of any market. It's now more important than ever to develop sustainable strategies for attracting good customers and recruiting better leaders to serve them. Full article.
Drive web and foot traffic
Having a strong online presence and a strategy for driving traffic to your brick-and-mortar store is an affordable and effective way to stay competitive. First, start with a strong, professional website you can manage. Recent study by Pew Research indicates that 44% of U.S. consumers research businesses online before purchasing items, making a strong online presence more important than ever. Full article.
Restaurants using iPad menus
Some restaurants are padding their profits by adding ipads for their patrons. Eateries are now showing off their offers on the tablet computers that list menus, wine lists, and food orders. Some restaurants allow customers to enter their credit card information and pay as well. Full article.
Cell phone carriers pitch texting to seniors
As growth in voice revenue slows, carriers are pushing data services including texting. And—with texting the highest-margin product sold by carriers, mobile operators are trying to persuade more people 50 and over to use the data service. Full article.
Judge finds Entergy overcharged customers
A federal judge recently ruled that utility Entergy Corp. overcharged customers in four states by selling higher priced electricity to its own subsidiaries. The investigation covered subsidiaries with about 2.7 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Full article.
