By N.L. Hohns
After spending what seems like an eternity on life support, the American economy is beginning to breathe on its own. For the first time in eighteen months, the Dow Jones industrial average hit 11,000, employers are starting to add to their payrolls and consumers are beginning to buy clothes, jewelry and even cars again. While it’s no time to toss confetti into the air, we can celebrate that the United States is on its way to a fiscal recovery and will soon be back in business.
Let’s look at some of the ways you can simplify your business, streamline your operations, accommodate changing customer interests and keep the focus on your bottom line. Here are a few excerpts from this month’s marketing brief.
Marketing
1. Do Your Own Customer Research. Building a brand in this day and age is a collaborative effort between you and your customers.
2. Make Sure Your Message is Clear and Concise. In person, over the phone, online and in print – with so many different channels of communication, it’s easy to lose brand focus.
3. Web It Up. Your website is the first point of contact a potential client or consumer will have with your business.
4. Power To The Point. Power Point presentations are springboards for major points, not security blankets for unprepared speakers.
5. Develop Strategic Partnerships. Strategic partnerships with like-minded companies, organizations or individuals will strengthen your market position and expand your marketing spend.
MANAGEMENT
1. Schedule Less Staff Meetings. Staff meetings are an opportunity to bring people together for important information. If you have too many of them for no particular reason, you’ll lessen the impact and dilute the importance of the gathering.
2. Work Smarter Not Harder. There’s nothing new here. Simplicity in business does not depend on having an abundance of complex tools and strategies, but rather the right tools and the right strategies.
3. Make Simplicity An Indispensable Business Goal. In the words of revered business leader Jack Welsh “Simple messages travel faster, simpler designs reach the market faster and the elimination of clutter allows faster decision making.”
Keep it simple, keep it focused. This is the no-frills formula for business success.
Visit our website to read the entire brief, which includes a comprehensive overview of this no-frills formula for business success.