The conundrum continues for many of us business owners. We want to increase our marketing but need to make sure those efforts align with our company philosophies and goals. Unfortunately, that usually means spending more money on creative ads and photography- which leads us to the cheap fix of stock photography.
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Starting a Business? A Blog of Free Plans and Ideas
BookFresh.com's blog about starting and running your own business
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Happy Earth Day!
April 22, 2010, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 4 commentsIn honor of Earth Day, we wanted to share a few tips to make your business as “green” as it can be.
Change the lightbulbs
We’ve almost all seen those light bulbs that look like a curly straw. Did you know that they use 66% less energy that regular bulbs? A bit pricier than their regular counterparts, they will save you more money in the long-run because they last 10 times longer and use less energy.
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Is the Web Killing Survey Research?
March 24, 2010, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 1 commentsYou are in for a treat today! Today, one of our good friends at Survey Monkey, Phillip Garland, Ph.D., VP of Methodology is guest blogging at BookFresh on the hot topic of survey research on the web. Survey Monkey is a revolutionary questionnaire tool to create and publish custom surveys in minutes, and then view results graphically and in real time.
Is the Web Killing Survey Research?
By Philip Garland, Ph.D., VP, Methodology, SurveyMonkey
A growing number of researchers are becoming enamored with opinion hubs afforded by the Internet—facebook, twitter, blogs, and proprietary user communities, to name a few. These researchers may be distracted by flashes in a pan.
Questions about “Web 2.0 methods” are seemingly more often of the “how?” variety, rather than “why?” let alone the “are you sure?” type. In short, it seems that “old timer” researchers are excited to play with a new toy without first determining whether it is safe to do so.
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Lower Your Prices?
January 21, 2010, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 0 commentsMany small business owners have spent a lot of time debating whether they should lower their prices during the recession or keep them consistent. While lowering prices may be a quick fix, it may make your business seem desperate-at least during the recession.
Susan Reid of Small Biz Trends discusses that this may be the best time to lower your prices. As we slowly start to recover from the recession, consumers will begin to spend more money. As Reid puts it, “As consumer confidence grows, so should your business. And what better way to attract new customers than by offering them a smoking economic recovery deal by lowering your prices temporarily?”
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Go Green in 2010
January 06, 2010, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 0 commentsTurning your business “eco-friendly” is not just a nice thing to do anymore but a financial opportunity. The good people at Small Business Trends recently wrote about their “7 Green Business Resolutions”. Here are a few of their suggestions.
Write a Sustainability Plan
Write down your eco-friendly goals so you have a roadmap to refer to throughout the year. Before you spend thousands of dollars installing solar panels, look into the small cost-effective things you can be doing. Printing less, using energy-saving modes on computers and other electronics and turning off the lights during the day (if you have ample sunlight!)
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2010-The Year of Social Media
December 23, 2009, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 0 commentsHappy Holidays! For many of us, this week marks the end of business in 2009. As we set our goals and strategies for 2010, social media is going to be a big part of any small business next year. AdWeek recently wrote about “5 Social Media Implications for Brands in 2010”. I wanted to share a few of their findings with you.
A Must-Have Marketing Tool
It is hard to believe but there are still some brands that have not fully embraced social media marketing. 2010 will be the year that brands realize that social media marketing is a must have make-or-break tool.
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Cyber Monday WEEK: Last Minute Tips For Your Site
November 30, 2009, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 0 commentsFirst it was Black Friday, then Cyber Monday. Now many online retailers are taking part in Cyber Monday Week, which includes a week of online savings and discounts. To take advantage of the increased e-commerce traffic this week, make sure you keep these tricks in mind!
The National Retail Federation reports that 87% of all e-commerce sites will be participating in some sort of promotion or deal for Cyber Monday. The NRF also reports that 61% of consumer will be researching products before they actually make a purchase this holiday season. To help convert these consumer "researchers" to customers:
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Where Will Your Small Business Spend Money in 2010?
November 20, 2009, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 0 commentsYesterday, Small Business Trends discussed a study about where small business owners plan to spend their money in 2010. More than 25% said they would not cancel their health care if given a public option. On the marketing side was some interesting data worth taking a look at.
- 74.1% will increase their email marketing budget
- 68.3% will increase their social media spending
- 23.8% will avoid search engine marketing
- 54.2% will not spend any money for banner advertisements
- 79.6% will not run TV ads
- 72.7% will be invest in radio advertising
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Cyber Monday: Accept Payments Online
November 20, 2009, by Staff WriterPosted in Tips and Tricks | 1 commentsHave you thought about accepting online payments for your small business? Especially this holiday season when any extra revenue can help, offering payments online will provide convenient and easy way for you customers to do their holiday shopping.
BookFresh has partnered with PayPal to make it easy for your customers and clients to pay online when they schedule a service at your business. They'll be able to pay with a credit card, a debit card, or directly from a bank account. It is immediate and secure.
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Small Business Guide to Facebook
November 13, 2009, by Staff WriterUnless you live under a rock, you are probably familiar with Facebook, the online social networking site. Many of us use the popular site to connect with old friends, acquaintances, and family, but what about for business? Facebook can be a great marketing and sales tool for small to medium businesses. For many, it helps find new customers, build relationships with current customers, and provides insight into demographics. The New York Times provides a small business guide for using Facebook to market your business. Below are a few tips from the guide:Posted in Tips and Tricks | 0 comments - << Older Entries