Small Business

Every year without fail I make a donation to the Red Cross. This is a small thing that I do, and I don't kid myself about it, but I love it when I see a business doing something similar, and better than that, actually spending some money to promote the fact they're doing it.

Take this Yorkshire based Land Rover dealership for example. They've made the decision to support the British Red Cross this week for the Annual appeal. I like that.

Years ago I was a member of a Red Cross Response team and we used Land Rovers exclusively because of their reliability and fantastic off-road capabilities, and the fact they can be used as a complete workhorse. Very few SUV's would be able to compete with the Land Rover Defender on that front.

Ripon Land Rover is my business of the day for supporting the Red Cross and I think other motor dealerships could take a leaf out of their book, find a cause, then actually get your web designer to add it to your homepage and do a write-up.

You see in business I believe its not just about selling Range Rovers, or having a service centre, or even offering books on Land Rover's history. No, its also about being seen to part of your community, and to support the community that supports you.

I've taken a bit of an interest in the subject of big bold Outdoor Advertising just recently, mostly because I think the same principles can be used online and I'm trying to learn how the experts do things.

Have a look at the 'Wear a Seat Belt' billboard, now this is clever. As for the guerilla marketing image on the mini, I've seen those when I've been driving around, now I know who's responsible Hah! Read More

I don't often link directly to another blog but today I'm going to. If you want to see the power of subliminal advertising at work, and understand just how much you are affected by it in your day to day activities then do yourself a favour and watch the video the Marketing Blagger's entry the power of subliminal advertising.

Now imagine how you can use these techniques in your own business. I think the trick for any small business owner would be to take a good hard look at their business surroundings, see what your customers are being exposed to as they approach your business, and see if you can find some way of incorporating these ideas into your brand campaign.

In previous entries I've talked about home entrepreneurs needing to get a domain name and some hosting for their website. Today I'm going to talk about ecommerce software, in particular ashop commerce. I've used this software when I was selling scrapbooking supplies a few years ago, and a friend used it for selling health supplements.

Basically if you're a home entrepreneur, and you have a relationship with a company to resell their products, you don't want to be going from door to door looking for business. Chances are your product is good enough to sell itself, so let it, instead put more of your energies into promoting your online store. Read More