Yes, Virginia, there is a small business Santa Claus. “Santa” comes in the form of customers with money burning a hole in their pockets. They have funds they want to, or need to, spend before midnight December 31. These customers are ripe for the picking, so hurry and make those all-important, highly lucrative, sales calls …
Nine Secrets to Small Business Holiday Success
Starting Thanksgiving weekend, holiday shoppers get serious, really serious. There’s Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. And that’s just one weekend. Consumers are expected to spend $655 billion shopping in November and December. That’s a lot of money. How will you make sure your small business gets your piece of the pie during …
Neighborhoods Rally for Small Business Saturday
Since its founding in 2010, Small Business Saturday has become an American institution. Falling on the Saturday after Thanksgiving – this year it’s November 26 – the day has been embraced by shoppers, small businesses, and neighborhoods nation-wide. Even the President shops locally on Small Business Saturday. Last year, 95 million shoppers spent a whopping …
8 Things Scarier than Zombies for Small Business
Embezzlement. Losing your biggest customer. Unending debt. For a small business owner, lots of things are scarier than zombies (reappearing October 23 when AMC’s popular series The Walking Dead resumes) or goblins knocking on your door on Halloween. If you’re checking under your bed–or desk–for monsters, here are fearsome things that might threaten your small …
Want a Perfect Small Business? Think Again.
When Apple released the new operating system for its iPhone earlier this month, some things went wrong. For a few hours, thousands of the first people who downloaded iOS10 had their iPhones “bricked”—or rendered useless. Apple’s stock price dropped. Whoops. Seems like a big mistake, right? Sure, but Apple did something right, something small business …
Facebook Help for Small Business
Has this ever happened to you in your small business? You want to get the word out about a sale or a new product, and you’ve heard Facebook is a good way to reach customers. You create what you think is a good post and then pay to “boost” it. Then, nothing. No sales. No …
7 Secrets of Surviving Online Sellers
Here’s a scene that’s all too familiar to small business retailers. A shopper comes to your store, checks out your products. Perhaps they try something on, or ask you questions about a product. Then they turn to their phone and order that product from an online seller because they can save a buck or two. …
Bookstores Show Small Biz How It’s Done
Independent bookstores are a dying breed, right? Amazon and ebooks killed them, correct? And aren’t all independent small businesses similarly doomed? Well, as Mark Twain might have said, “reports of their death are greatly exaggerated.” Here’s news that’s almost certain to surprise you: independent bookstores are thriving. April 30, Independent Bookstore Day, is right around …
5 Keys to Surviving in Retail
If you own a retail small business, you know all about tough competition. First, you had the chains in the mall. Then the big box stores, now online retailers, some who sell below your cost. (How do they do that?) Some customers use your store as a showroom, checking out your products, then ordering online. …
