Many entrepreneurs, new and established, are using YouTube to create awareness of the business.

Dr Vikram Singh Yadav

Is this a platform you have considered?

According to The Economic Times, one of the fastest growing phenomena in business is communicating to otherwise untapped potential customers, opening the doors to expanding your customer base.

In the article, it features a case study of an Indian Dr who by day practices his profession of medicine in a New Delhi hospital but at night he hosts his own show for medical and surgical education.  A total of over 800 videos have been uploaded to YouTube by the Dr, Vikram Singh Yadav. (Video may contain graphic content of a surgical nature – Please view with caution)

He is not alone, many of the successful entrepreneurs I follow myself have all used YouTube to add to their portfolio of income streams to enhance and reach out to their audiences.

Fancy investigating further, get yourself a video camera, create and upload your company message.  Check out others who are doing just that, it’s not rocket science and you don’t need a degree, just do it, see the results from your efforts roll in.

Business Growth

In order to successfully grow your business, you’ll need to attract and then work to retain a large base of satisfied customers. Marketing emphasises the value of the customer to the business, and has two guiding principles:

Ideas are ‘ten a penny’ but the real value is to move them forwards into a product.  This is when true business can start.  But wait, we have a product but no customers, a business is not viable without paying customers.

Moving from an Idea to a Prouct to Finding Customers

So how do we move forwards…..well in my opinion we need to move backwards first to move forwards.  Sound deluded, not really.  Moving from idea to product will involve some kind of research, how do you test if the product serves the ‘needs, desires or must-have’ criteria for customers?  Things now days could not be simpler with the world wide web at our disposal, especially for local and international business, the tools are at our fingertips.

Tapping into keyword tools gives us a real eye opener in to the scale of potential customers and doubly important the search language they use to find their desired products or service.  This keyword search potential should not be underestimated in value to the business owner or entrepreneur.  For me I use google keyword tool, which is free and serves my needs.

The step from creating a product or service to finding customers should all tie in with research carried out already.  Searching for your customers should be carried out with the same vigorous research, who are they?  where are they? what are there buying habits? how often do they buy? How do you find your potential customers?  My suggestion is to bring the product or service into the arena where your customers are gathered.  That arena could be forums, specific interest related groups or by enhancing the capability of social media.  Again the opportunities to find customers who want or need your product or service are boundless.

Onwards and upwards

According to Phineas Taylor Barnum, most famously know for his founding of the Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum (P. T. Barnum)

Circus he declared in his book The Art of Money Getting or The Golden Rules For Making Money

There is no such thing in the world as luck

There never was a man who could go out in the morning and find a purse full of gold in the street to-day, and another to-morrow, and so on, day after day: He may do so once in his life; but so far as mere luck is concerned, he is as liable to lose it as to find it. “Like causes produce like effects.” If a man adopts the proper methods to be successful, “luck” will not prevent him. If he does not succeed, there are reasons for it, although, perhaps, he may not be able to see them.

One of my passions is embracing lifelong learning opportunities, generally through my prolific reading of business related books.

Entrepreneur Business Books

Not having had the opportunity to experience college or university following my secondary education I have always sought to make the most of any and all types of learning.

Adult education college has been part of my ‘grown up’ life and I am very fortunate to live in a town with fantastic facilities to tap into further education.

Reading though is my biggest passion and this week alone I have made it through 2 fascinating books by author Chris Guillebeau, The $100 Dollar Start Up (reinvent the way you make a living) and the Art of Non-Conformity (set your own rules and live the life you want).  Brilliantly written in plain and simple english, this guy is not one for ‘pulling the wool’ over your eyes.

Once I had finished the books I emailed the author, he encourages you to, I got an instant and personally written reply from him thanking me for taking the time to email him and for my positive comments.

Throughout you entrepreneurial journey take any opportunity presenting itself to you to learn and absorb as much as you can, one day the information will come in handy.

(I am not an affiliate of Chris Guillebeau and will receive no commission for recommending hisbooks)

As a solepreneur brainstorming by yourself is never an easy task or one that will deliver the ultimate benefit.

Business Networking

How can you overcome this problem of just the 1 employee, you, to brainstorm with and bounce problems and solutions around.  Network with other entrepreneurs, invite them over to your gaff, put out some nibbles, offer some refreshment and take it in turns to try to solutionise a problem.

Seeing things from a completely different perspective often helps, sometimes you can be too close to the problem to see the solution needed.

Supply large sheets of paper, a cheap roll of wallpaper will do, plenty of pens and pencils and let the creativity juices flow.  It is helpful to have the starting point and end point on display as well, so, for example a problem might be “we want to attract more customers but how can we achieve that”  It is amazing how many methods of tapping in to more customers knowing about your products there are than you may have considered.

I recently was at a party with a business owner and she posed a question about how to get her business ‘out there’ so that more people were aware of it.  I suggested a press release created by herself inviting the local media to come and take a look at the new venture.  Bingo, she took immediate action.

Networking with other businesses really does pay dividends and benefits.  Take action today, call local businesses and see if they are interested in meeting up to discuss solutions.

Moment of rant here.

How good is your customer service?

Last weekend it was a milestone birthday for my partner and as a special treat a relaxing massage was booked as a surprise.

On arrival at the SPA, which I can only assume was at a quiet time in the day, 3 of the beauty technicians were all gathered around the till area talking about their last weekend antics.

In came a customer ready to spend her money, on items that are extortionately priced, and looking for guidance.  Over came the youngest of the technicians and listening to her speak to the customer made the hair on my head stand up.  She was about as much use as a ‘chocolate teapot’.  What she should have done if in doubt about her product knowledge was to call for the assistance of a more knowledgeable colleague.  No, she whittled on in that Essex drool, I am too an Essex immigrant’ but I hate the ‘TOWIE’ sound.

Getting to the point of my post how do you respond to your customers’ needs and requirements?

Do you and your staff really know your products and services well enough to give the customer the knowledge they need?

How does your business add value for customers?

Rant over, remember though without new and returning customers your business is nothing.  Your staff should also be part of the equation, do you know how well they are projecting your business?

Time to do a customer audit

I doubt the fiery and at times blatantly arrogant entrepreneur stars of the Dragon Dens show will be kicking themselves after the massive success of one of their frequent pitch rejections, they have been their before.

Guy Jeremiah's Aquatina Bottle

Guy Jeremiah has gone on to create a successful business out of his idea, the Aquatina, a concertina style water bottle.  The idea, a simple concept, but with huge eco value has now been snapped up by one of the UK’s flagship stores, Marks and Spencer.  M & S are selling it as part of their ‘food on the move’ range.

The chain is selling the bottle, called Aquatina, near checkouts and in its takeaway food sections.

Manufactured in Sheffield, the  ‘collapsabottle’ is sold as a cheap and environmentally friendly alternative to buying bottled water.

The product is also being sold in 15 other countries around the world.

Entirely a British product, the bottle, when not in use, reduces to a third of its original size making it lightweight, compact and transportable.

Guy didn’t try to invent the wheel but has adapted the concept of a plastic bottle into a much-improved solution to carrying a drinking vessel around without impacting on available pocket or bag space.

The moral of this story, don’t think the supposed experts always get it right.  This is not the first ‘brilliant’ product the Dragons have dismissed only to be proven wrong.

Well done Guy you slayed the Dragons and survived to thrive

To read more on Sean Poulter’s article featured in the Daily Mail, Click Here>>>>

You have a fantastic idea, you are sure it will work, you have done the research and BINGO, it’s a dead cert….Oh, but wait a minute, what if I fail……what if…..what if…..what if.  The

But what if I fail

list can go on, the doubting voice in side of your head takes over.  Sound familiar, this is a common ‘confidence sapping’ trait that would-be entrepreneurs suffer from and some times/most times it can be paralysing.

Innovative life and business coach Marla Tabaka addresses the issue of turning big ideas into reality with a ‘top 5′ guide.  In her words…..

Fool the gremlins and step onto the entrepreneurial playing field with these simple steps

if you recognise your own behaviour with taking the big step, don’t feel alone, it happens, the magic is to deal with it head on and overcome the things that are holding you back

Final quote from Marla’s article…..

If more people like you would bring your ideas to fruition, wouldn’t the world be a better place?

I couldn’t agree more

When attracting customers, price may not the main reason your prospects will buy from you.  Advertisers are very clever at giving us the message of the benefits that products will give us, tapping into our lifestyle or health benefit needs and wants.

Benefits versus Costs

A typical example of this can be seen in the huge array of toothpaste available in our supermarket stores.  Read the labels and packaging and you will find a staggering variety of toothpastes each stating the benefits of using their product.  There are toothpastes for smokers, breath freshness, tartar control, sensitive teeth, children’s teeth and many, many more.

Do you find yourself being price conscious or perceived benefit conscious when choosing your toothpaste?  The same principal applies to many of our products we purchase and product brand creators are aware of our sway with perceived benefits.

Discount grocery stores offer their price conscious customers value for money, hence why many choose this option before product benefits.  Having said that, many foods on offer in the discount food stores offer quality as well as cost cutting.

When you next shop for groceries take a look at the message the advertisers are trying to get across using the benefits of the products….you will find it amazing.

How can you get across the message of your product or service benefits to your customers?  Are your customers’ price driven or benefits driven when buying from you?  How are you competitors pitching their products or service, by benefits or cost?