Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Is Newspaper Advertising Still Relevant for My Business?

As a small business owner, you must give great consideration to the best ways to promote your business and newspaper advertising needs to be a key element in your media mix.

Newspapers are one of the oldest forms of mass media and they continue to be one of the largest sources of communication between the advertiser and the consumer. Over 50% of adults read a daily paper with readership in the Sunday paper nearly 65%. Importantly, they spend valuable time reading and processing the content, illustrating the importance the reader gives to the material.

Yes, newspapers play an important role in our daily lives but how does this translate to building your business and making your advertising budget work harder?

 Newspapers allow you to easily reach a large number of your target audience within a specified geographic area thereby reducing media waste and increasing your advertising plans efficiency.

 Newspapers offer immediacy. You can judge results quickly, and since you are working with short deadlines, you can adjust the advertising quickly depending on market conditions.

 Consumers can take their time examining your advertising unlike other media where they are limited by the length of the commercial.

 Newspaper advertising is relatively inexpensive to produce compared to other media. They are also easy to switch if you need to promote a new service, special offer, or a seasonal event.

 Newspapers give you the opportunity to better pinpoint your ad depending on your target audience or business profile. If you’re promoting an accounting firm, you would use the business section or, if your target is only men, you might place your ad in the sports section.

The bottom line is that you have many advertising options to choose from and limited funds to work with. To reach and persuade your target market, newspaper advertising remains one of oldest, affordable, and reliable ways to advertise your product.


Richard Strug
Greater Princeton Area SCORE (Chapter 631)
Serving Mercer and Middlesex Counties

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

How do I deal with unexpected rapid growth?

Rapid Growth Can Be Exciting…And Overwhelming

Strong demand for your product or service is a sure sign of success. But it’s also possible to be too successful—that is, having more orders and requests than you’re able to fulfill.

At first, that might sound like a good problem to have. But if you don’t act quickly, this dream-come-true can quickly deteriorate into a nightmare of frayed nerves, broken promises, lost clients, and irreparable damage to your reputation.

Here are some tips for dealing with over-demand:

Get a status check. You can’t make good decisions unless you have an accurate picture of where everything stands. If you manufacture a product, see what might be needed to incorporate the new orders into your processes. Can your existing suppliers provide the needed materials? Are alternate sources available? If you’re a service business, can you rearrange your schedule and still meet your existing commitments? Plan wisely, as measures to meet short-term demand can also disrupt your long-term plans and operations.

Assess the costs. Whether it’s a temporary up-tick or sustained upward trend, responding to high demand may require an immediate investment of capital. Weigh your options against your cash flow and other resources. Hiring temporary workers may or may not be as affordable as overtime for your current staff. You may also have to pay a premium for rush orders of materials, or by using other suppliers.

Be honest with your customers. Explain that you’re short on time or inventory, and specify how long they may have to wait before you can fill the order or take on the assignment. Remember that you can’t please everyone. Some people will be willing to wait, others will look elsewhere.

Be honest with yourself. While it may be tempting to take on new orders and assignments in the name of growing your business, it’s still up to you to manage everything. Don’t overtax yourself or your resources. And certainly, don’t let increased demand compromise your health or personal responsibilities.

Refer customers to others. Nobody likes turning away business, but it’s better than the consequences of missing deadlines or producing poor quality work. Refer opportunities you can’t handle to other vendors or contractors who you trust will do a good job. Customers will appreciate your candor, and remember you as a problem-solver and information resource. That increases the likelihood that they’ll come back.

Richard Strug
Greater Princeton Area SCORE (Chapter 631)
Serving Mercer and Middlesex Counties

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

What are my chances of success in a small business?

Fear of failure is an understandable concern that can give even the ablest of prospective entrepreneurs cold feet about starting a new venture. Those doubts are amplified with every news story heralding the number of failed or closed small businesses

But a look behind the numbers reveals that small business entrepreneurs have a better chance at success than they may realize. In fact, a review of business closings by the Wall Street Journal’s Small Business editors shows that the number of outright failures is highly exaggerated.

Nearly a third of business closures that government statistics assume to be failures are not really failures at all. These businesses were considered a success by their owners who simply sold off the pieces or closed them to retire or pursue other activities.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Tracking Series show that about 65 percent of new businesses are still operating after four years. That means new ventures actually succeed more often than not.

But the more resources a new business has to start with, the better its chances. That includes money, of course, but other assets such as market savvy and the right people. Here are four factors that improve the odds of new business survival:

1) People. If you can afford to hire employees, do it. Well-staffed businesses have better survival rates than solo operations.
2) Startup capital of at least $50,000. Not easy, perhaps, but businesses that start with less have higher failure rates.
3) A college degree for the owner. Better yet, enroll in a college-based entrepreneurship program.
4) Home beginnings. To keep costs low, start initial stages of your business from a home office.

So why do small businesses fail in the first few years? The most common reasons include failure to have a comprehensive business plan, competition, mismanagement, high rent and insurance costs, high debt, inability to get financing, loss of clients and difficulty with collections. Most of these factors can be addressed early on through good research and planning, having a thorough business plan, and getting advice from trusted, objective sources. Unforeseen and uncontrollable factors that lead to business failure may still arise, but doing your homework will definitely put the odds of success in your favor.


Richard Strug
Greater Princeton Area SCORE (Chapter 631)
Servingf Mercer and Middlesex Counties

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

As a retailer, how can I make the most our of my promotion spending?

Alan Yarnoff, SCORE counselor and former advertising executive, provides us with his expertise on cost effective ways to promote your business.

“An effective and well planned out promotion approach is an essential survival tool for any retail business in today’s harsh business environment. You need to be creative in finding ways to promote your business and stay at least one step ahead of the competition, while staying within your preset budget perimeters.

Every retailer has at one time used the “tried and true” promotional approaches of flyers, mailers, value packs and newspaper and radio ads all of which are expensive and over time they lose their market value. But, there are other ways to reach your target audience without incurring the high costs of traditional media. Here are some ideas that may be helpful in promoting your business with virtually no costs.

You can write how to articles for newspapers and news letters published by groups in your area focused on your business expertise. If you own a jewelry store you can do stories about buying and selling gold; if you have a gallery, write about buying art as an investment. Just make sure you end the story with your store name and location.

You can contact the promotion manager at the local radio station and offer to donate prizes for their various promotions in return for promoting your store name every time they the event is mentioned.

Try partnering with a local charity by designating a special day to donate a percentage of the profits to the charity. They would promote the event and you would get added traffic to the store and build excellent goodwill in the community.

Get involved in the local community by sponsoring a town event, or parade, or the cleanup of the school playground. You could have a window decorating contest with the neighborhood schools, and, if you get the mayor to be the judge, it will certainly make the local paper.

Remember the key here is to always look for events or promotions that will get your business in front of the public in a positive manner. Be aggressive in what you are doing and once you commit to something make sure it maintains the same high standards you used to build your business.

Richard Strug
Greater Princeton Area SCORE (Chapter 631)
Serving Mercer and Middlesex Counties