By James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer

The social media age has brought attention to the various Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok accounts of countless well-known influencers. Such influencers can range from celebrities to smaller-scale social media personalities. 

Some of these influencers have great recipes, some design beautiful clothes, and some developed a following through their own inertia. Endorsements from these personalities can bring huge profits. However, many ask for high prices in return. Smaller business owners can find their own niche partnering with users with their own localized networks in their own industries.    Below are a few suggestions:

(1) Consider your strengths, interests, and motives for becoming a small business owner:

Most small businesses start with special expertise, interest, or hobby. These days, fellow travelers are often online. Joining a community is the best strategy. Within your interest group, you may find communities. Within one of these communities, someone may happily promote your product on their YouTube channel, Facebook community, or other localized sites. The trick? Find people with a genuine understanding and interest in what you have to offer.

(2) Always respect micro-influencers, especially those who operate within your own niche:

Kim Kardashian charges a fortune to promote a product on her Instagram and other social media sites. Small business owners need not look for endorsements from a Kim Kardashian or a Paris Hilton. Small businesses tend to work through their own specialized niches. Obviously, paying Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton a fortune to advertise your brand-new transmission generator would increase sales short term. 

However, a more cost-effective strategy would zero in on the local industry, as well as local hobbyists and business people who might have used it for such a contraption. These localized groups may even have distribution networks that can place your new product or service in front of the right interested parties.

(3) Remember the power of free stuff:

After zeroing in on the right community, business owners with a new concept may benefit from distributing samples of a new product itself. Free samples have long promoted new recipes, inventions, and contraptions. Innovations like YouTube can spread the word throughout your interest group or industry. 

As a first step, a business owner should find the right group of people. Luckily for our generation, the Internet can help to foster that process. Next, an independent businessperson can share their innovations with the relevant community. Next, hopefully, a satisfied well-wisher may provide an online demonstration! 

(4) Try to develop a long-term plan:

Baby steps can grow your concept further. Business owners with a new idea can slowly reach their tendrils outward by reaching out to fellow travelers. Depending on your goals, profits should come first, and profits come from you and your partners doing what you best. Perhaps your plans entail only a small business that can keep you personally fulfilled while keeping you comfortable economically. Perhaps you have wider ambitions. Either way, never underestimate the strategic use of social media micro-influencers. 

Remember, though, practicality is key. Extravagant use of widely visible personalities can only waste time and misdirect efforts towards people who will roll their eyes at a promotion of the product that neither they nor the influencer has any genuine interest in. However, in the age of the Internet, plenty of lucrative micro-influencers may give you a foothold right in the industry where you mean to take root.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association hope that this article has not only been valuable but provided some unique perspective.  We work hard to bring you important, positive, helpful, and timely information and are the “go-to” online venue for Veteran and Military Business Owners.  VAMBOA is a non-profit trade association.   We do not charge members any dues or fees and members can also use our seal on their collateral and website.   If you are not yet a member, you can register here:  

https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

We also invite you to check us out on social media too.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/vamboa

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VAMBOA

Do not forget that VAMBOA members receive significant discounts on technology needs.   Check them out here: https://vamboa.org/dell-technologies/ 

By James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer

Within this blog, we have emphasized the trend toward online marketing. However, remember that in-store marketing still exists. Brick-and-mortar stores continue to prosper far and wide. No virus can demolish the brick-and-mortar of a boutique store that can offer in-person interaction. 

Make no mistake: no one can deny the importance of the shift toward an Internet economy. The online marketplace gives us impulse checkout, but brick-and-mortar entrepreneurs can always rely on the homeliness, comfort factor, and practicality of traditional shopping.

Within a brick-and-mortar store, many strategies can showcase an exciting new product. A kiosk with a live person can display pamphlets and distribute coupons. Live product demos can give samples and demonstrate the uses of a product that has made its way into your store’s supply line. Also consider the store layout, the checkout experience, and product packaging.

Tiny, physical stores are far from endangered. Especially in smaller communities far from expensive downtown districts, actual physical “shopping districts” are very much alive.

First, packaging multiple, related products together can provide suggestions about ways to use products. For example, packaging different kitchen ingredients together might provide a cooking tip as well as an introduction to the local culinary scene. Similarly, marketing a product with a service could build enough consumer confidence to wipe that gadget off the shelves.

Also, good product packaging may speak to the whims of an outsider who might not have seen the product in the past. Even many larger companies are novelties outside certain locales. Try purchasing fresh cheese curds in Arizona rather than Wisconsin, or Cincinnati-style chili in Texas. Creative packaging can attract curious visitors who simply even have not seen that kind of product in the past. 

Second, loyalty programs are not just for chain stores. Such programs can reward loyal customers with discounts while building a database of consumer information. Many stores even use QR codes to provide benefits to loyal customers. Other institutions may experiment with different methods. Small stores may be well advised to learn effective strategies to strengthen relations with their customer base, technical or otherwise.

Third, free samples of new products along with coupons can open a floodgate of curious customers. Smaller physical stores may have access to local supply chains. These establishments may have inexpensive links to fresh produce, local goods, or even toys or technical products. Distributing small amounts of inexpensively obtained local merchandise can win good favor with customers as well as the suppliers themselves.

Fourth, business owners should remember that the digital age is upon us despite the charm of the physical storefront. Even the most technologically inept should maintain at least the basics of a digital presence, including on social media. That website can give a sense of stability and legitimacy, as well as provide a seed for the creation of a wider fanbase.

Physical stores have the advantage of face-to-face interaction. Owners of small physical businesses should avail themselves of modern strategies to reach their customers. Small institutions are not “selling out” by learning simple methods to strengthen their marketing efforts. Your workplace should not only be a home-away-from-home for yourself, but for your customers, and Veteran Business Owners should use every means at their disposal to build that special place.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association hope that this article has not only been valuable but provided some unique perspective.  We work hard to bring you important, positive, helpful, and timely information and are the “go-to” online venue for Veteran and Military Business Owners.  VAMBOA is a non-profit trade association.   We do not charge members any dues or fees and members can also use our seal on their collateral and website.   If you are not yet a member, you can register here:  

https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

We also invite you to check us out on social media too.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/vamboa

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VAMBOA

Do not forget that VAMBOA members receive significant discounts on technology needs.   Check them out here:https://vamboa.org/dell-technologies/ 

By James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer

The blog format can provide a standardized template for beginners in web design. In a professional context, the sales functions of a blog can engage viewers and possibly start the slide through the sales funnel.

A blog can inform in a manner that can speak to shared interests with the reader. A blog can facilitate a meeting of the minds. SEO (search engine optimization) can even lead common travelers into your line of thinking and lead to fruitful business arrangements.

The best advertisers know their audience. That connection can travel for miles when shared needs raise the prospect of a business relationship. Bloggers blog to people they understand, with shared hobbies or backgrounds or struggles. This shared connection may coax the writer and their audience into a synergy that can propel them through their tightest economic needs.

Should bloggers try to trap visitors into the sales funnel, and send them slipping into what has become a rabbit hole? Of course not. The point is to establish a mind-meld that can open a hatch into a prospect’s economic, business, and personal life.

First, bloggers can blog about ways to use their products. Perhaps your widget has more than one function in varieties of contexts. The shared connection between the blogger and the reader might, for example, be hiking, or electronics, or gardening, or cooking. Perhaps some hiking device can be used for both warmth and as an emergency flare. Maybe some electrical components can fit into various devices. Maybe that fertilizer can be used for several kinds of plants, and maybe that cooking device is good for both frying and baking.

Bloggers should demonstrate their familiarity not only with their products but with the uses of their products. New small business owners should establish themselves as members of a community. Hence, they can establish collegiality with other members of that community and show they are marketing to peers with whom they relate and respect.

Second, bloggers should use discretion with calls to action and refrain from “hard-sell” tactics. For the most part, blogs should provide information. 

Sales pitches should arise where and when appropriate. Consumers are smart and can distinguish between an informative discussion and a crass attempt to shove a pitch down their throat. Assuming a new entrepreneur starts their small business adventure within your community of shared interests, you should not fall out of character. Blogs should come from a place of sincerity, as should the resulting sales pitch, in order to ring true.

Third, remember to iron out technical issues. Blogs should work equally well on desktops, tablets, and phones. In some cases, that vacation trip is just when your potential clients realize the need for that special portable gadget. Also, on a technical note, remember the importance of themes when using website-building applications. A good choice in themes, along with associated plugins, can prevent a scrambled online display in any one type of device.

In short, blogs can help draw customers through the sales funnel, but the customer’s journey should remain a fun slide rather than a trip through a rabbit hole. Entrepreneurs who become bloggers should remember the origins of their ideas and remain members of a community rather than stalkers of hapless prey.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association hope that this article has not only been valuable but provided some unique perspective.  We work hard to bring you important, positive, helpful, and timely information and are the “go-to” online venue for Veteran and Military Business Owners.  VAMBOA is a non-profit trade association.   We do not charge members any dues or fees and members can also use our seal on their collateral and website.   If you are not yet a member, you can register here:  

https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

We also invite you to check us out on social media too.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/vamboa

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VAMBOA

Do not forget that VAMBOA members receive significant discounts on technology needs.   Check them out here: https://vamboa.org/dell-technologies/ 

By James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer

As a new business owner, creating a website for yourself can be a challenge. Sometimes, learning applications like WordPress can facilitate the process. The basic codes behind website construction, HTML, CSS, and Javascript, can certainly help. The nuts and bolts can provide the foundation. Creating an inspiring website comes from the design itself.

Novelty in a new website keeps eyes wide and attentive. New plugins can maintain engagement. During the age of the web, novelties come from far and wide. Perhaps the latest Squid Game reference can perk up the ears of even the most jaded member of Generation Z.

Your website should make visitors react. Think in terms of a “call to action.” The website itself, or its online store, should get visitors excited. The marketing process should convey, “This is something new!” Colorful yet tasteful displays should distinguish your product or service in such a way as to convince the user that they are “in on” something exciting and new that will change their lives.

“Calls to action” in many cases can be mottos or phrases that convey the mission of the company or website. In others, these “calls” may invite subscriptions to websites, newsletters, or YouTube videos. Remember that these days, as in the early days of radio and television, some of the best content piggybacks onto paid content.

Each of these two strategies can provide benefits for your new business as you try to get your prospects excited. A good motto could get its own good feedback. A newsletter or YouTube video can provide a different approach. Only a few decades ago, most television contents was provided by advertisers. Perhaps these days, your new business can provide support for whatever amateur entertainer you yourself deem worthy of representing your new business idea. Whatever makes your brand more colorful and likely to rope in customers, do it!

Some websites are too colorful. These sites try too hard to attract attention. Many websites are busy and dense with unnecessary features. The better website “calls to action” reserve their most interesting features as special “guests” on otherwise calming, tasteful backgrounds. 

Consider a tastefully planned garden. The right “call to action” places the brightest flower in a tranquil setting that will draw the user while leaving the most utilitarian features in a soothing background tone. These everyday features hopefully will not be screaming at you relentlessly and stealing the spotlight.

Rarely does a business have so many exciting things going for it that it should blind a user with an overactive website. The link to an online store should not have blinking lights, dancing skeletons, and unsolicited music. However, a little bling never hurts the absolute most exciting messages in a business’s website. Consider a sports game. Everything may be low-key up to the final goal or touchdown. The same goes for marketing. Consumers can see right through an onslaught of melodrama. However, a moment of excitement provides the right moment to deliver that message that will make you and your customers happy.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association hope that this article has not only been valuable but provided some unique perspective.  We work hard to bring you important, positive, helpful, and timely information and are the “go-to” online venue for Veteran and Military Business Owners.  VAMBOA is a non-profit trade association.   We do not charge members any dues or fees and members can also use our seal on their collateral and website.   If you are not yet a member, you can register here:  

https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

We also invite you to check us out on social media too.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/vamboa

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VAMBOA

Do not forget that VAMBOA members receive significant discounts on technology needs.   Check them out here: https://vamboa.org/dell-technologies/ 

By James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer

The last two posts described walking the tightrope between spam and genuine engagement. After an initial engagement with an email list, the discussion of further automated conversations continues this discussion. 

Generally, automated emails direct email traffic to a known audience. This audience has already demonstrated an interest in the mission of the business owner. The path has been paved. The rest of the journey should include proper enticements for your already engaged user base. 

Automating an email marketing plan may include four considerations. (1) An engaged audience should direct your goals. (2) The right automation software, (3) Using this software to generate enticing auto-responses, (4) Welcoming new subscribers.

First, engagement with the audience is key to successful email marketing. Remember that once emails become automated, proper routing becomes especially crucial. No one likes robocalls, as we all know. Emails are certainly less obtrusive but still should not cross the fine line into spam. 

Marketers should segment customers to ensure relevance. Recipients should be split into groups based on qualities such as gender, age, or location to ensure that offers stay relevant to each segment within the target audience. Other segments could include classes of customers based on their stage in the sales funnel, whether as a prospect or an ongoing customer. Each segment should stay relevant to the marketing effort. 

Remember that cold leads also have value and can reveal information that may result in an eventual sale. Segmenting cold leads can provide insights about alternate directions for future correspondence.

Even on an individual level, fictitious buyer personas can illustrate the personal characteristics of buyers from a market research standpoint. Construction of relevant buyer personas can inform the construction of emails and help design effective offers. The construction of such personas can humanize the potential target and allow a more detailed construction of marketing content. In other words, the creator engages a human being they have come to understand rather than a cold demographic.

Second, good automation software facilitates the process.  Automation software should not only be usable but also flexible and integral with other platforms. Also consider the potential for client support, as well as simple procedures to optimize email lists. For example, software should make it easy to remove bad addresses and redundant users. 

Third, the auto-responses should continue to engage, and not bother, the subscribers. Auto-responses continue the conversation after the customer has engaged with the initial email. These responses should add humanity to the content of the interactions, and not provide mere cold confirmation of the initial encounter. Consider different classes of auto-responses for different situations and types of customers. For example, post-appointment emails may comprise one list, and post-purchase emails can go into another category. Auto-responses may ask for feedback, further information, or provide deals or continuing information such as jokes, quizzes, or inspirational quotes. 

Fourth, always consider the expansion of the pool of brand enthusiasts moving forward. When plausible, recipients should be encouraged to forward messages and share information with others in their brand segment. However, always ensure that your brand leaves a positive impression. Blasting potential customers with frivolous communications leave the impression of a cheap company desperate for any kind of response. These bad practices may annoy the recipient as well as get you blocked as a spammer. Remember to maintain dignity and professionalism, keeping directed marketing relevant and interesting. In this fashion, customers will look upon the company as a partner rather than a pest.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association hope that this article has not only been valuable but provided some unique perspective.  We work hard to bring you important, positive, helpful, and timely information and are the “go-to” online venue for Veteran and Military Business Owners.  VAMBOA is a non-profit trade association.   We do not charge members any dues or fees and members can also use our seal on their collateral and website.   If you are not yet a member, you can register here:  

https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

We also invite you to check us out on social media too.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/vamboa

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VAMBOA

Do not forget that VAMBOA members receive significant discounts on technology needs.   Check them out here: https://vamboa.org/dell-technologies/