How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may...

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Referrals are an invaluable source of new customers for small businesses. When a friend or colleague recommends your business, the selling is already done for you. Here's how you can encourage existing customers to give you referrals and good reviews online. Customer referrals are one of the leading sources of business for service contractors, consultants, and many other types of small businesses. When a customer is ready to hire a contractor or buy a product, they often start by asking family members, friends and business associates for recommendations. Alternately, they may have heard someone praising a product or service, or noticed a contractor working at a friend’s house or business, and ask those contacts how satisfied they were with the work. Another thing they do before they make a purchase is go online and look for ratings, reviews and comments posted on social media pages, the Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List and similar resources. As a small business owner, you probably realize that those personal recommendations, testimonials and good reviews are invaluable for your business. They help you acquire customers without having to “sell” people on hiring you. But if you’re not getting referrals and high ratings, what can you do about it? 1. Be worthy of referrals. This should be a no-brainer, but one of the reasons homeowners and businesses look for and rely on referrals to find contractors is because they’ve had bad experiences or heard stories from friends and associates about contractors that did bad work, were unreliable, untrustworthy or unprofessional. Among common customer complaints are: Not showing up when you said you would Not answering your phone or returning calls Hidden costs or extra charges that weren’t in the contract Leaving jobs partially finished when they could have been completed without delay. (For example: you pave half of a patio, then leave midday to go start another customer’s job.) Making promises you don’t keep Taking much longer than estimated to finish jobs Not fixing problems that develop. Your customers won’t have anything good to say about you if you don’t acknowledge and fix problems in a timely manner. (Worse, all the bad things they have to say may wind up on review sites and social media.) Making and leaving a mess Doing a poor job 2. Build a referral network. In many occupations, a variety of separate skills and independent contractors are often needed to complete a job. Get to know these people in your field (i.e., if you’re a carpenter, get to know the good electricians and plumbers, for instance), and then talk to them about referring business to one another. Be sure the people in your network are worthy of referral, since your customers will be unhappy if you refer them to someone who doesn’t do a good job. Main Story - Pages 1 & 2 - How to Get Referrals and Recommendations - Page 3 - Digital Marketing: What’s Working for Small Business Page 4 - Irish VAT Changes in 2019 & Solar Electricity Grant - Page 5 - Switching energy supplier could save you - Page 6 & 7 - Do PPC Ads Work for Small Business? and Health insurance renewal - Page 8 - Ways to Promote Your Business How to Get Referrals and Recommendations Q1 Newsletter 2019

Transcript of How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may...

Page 1: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

Referrals are aninvaluable source of newcustomers for smallbusinesses. When a friendor colleague recommendsyour business, the sellingis already done for you.Here's how you canencourage existingcustomers to give youreferrals and goodreviews online. Customer referrals are one of theleading sources of business forservice contractors, consultants, andmany other types of small businesses.When a customer is ready to hire acontractor or buy a product, theyoften start by asking family members,friends and business associates forrecommendations. Alternately, theymay have heard someone praising aproduct or service, or noticed acontractor working at a friend’s houseor business, and ask those contactshow satisfied they were with the work.

Another thing they do before theymake a purchase is go online and lookfor ratings, reviews and commentsposted on social media pages, theBetter Business Bureau, Angie’s Listand similar resources.

As a small business owner, youprobably realize that those personalrecommendations, testimonials andgood reviews are invaluable for yourbusiness. They help you acquirecustomers without having to “sell”people on hiring you. But if you’re notgetting referrals and high ratings,what can you do about it?

1. Be worthy of referrals.This should be a no-brainer, but oneof the reasons homeowners andbusinesses look for and rely onreferrals to find contractors is becausethey’ve had bad experiences or heardstories from friends and associatesabout contractors that did bad work,were unreliable, untrustworthy orunprofessional. Among commoncustomer complaints are:

• Not showing up when you said you would

• Not answering your phone or returning calls

• Hidden costs or extra charges that weren’t in the contract

• Leaving jobs partially finished when they could have been completed without delay. (For example: you pave half of a patio, then leave midday to go

start another customer’s job.)• Making promises you don’t keep

• Taking much longer than estimated to finish jobs

• Not fixing problems that develop. Your customers won’t have anything good to say about you if you don’t acknowledge and fix problems in a timely manner. (Worse, all the bad things they have to say may wind up on review sites and social media.)

• Making and leaving a mess• Doing a poor job

2. Build a referral network.In many occupations, a variety ofseparate skills and independentcontractors are often needed tocomplete a job. Get to know thesepeople in your field (i.e., if you’re acarpenter, get to know the goodelectricians and plumbers, forinstance), and then talk to them aboutreferring business to one another. Besure the people in your network areworthy of referral, since yourcustomers will be unhappy if you referthem to someone who doesn’t do agood job.

Main Story - Pages 1 & 2 - How to Get Referrals and Recommendations - Page 3 - Digital Marketing: What’s Working for Small Business

Page 4 - Irish VAT Changes in 2019 & Solar Electricity Grant - Page 5 - Switching energy supplier could save you - Page 6 & 7 - Do PPC Ads Work

for Small Business? and Health insurance renewal - Page 8 - Ways to Promote Your Business

How to Get Referrals and Recommendations

Q1Newsletter

2019

Page 2: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

3. Go that “extra mile” for customers.While it doesn’t make sense to spenda lot of time or money doing non-billable work for customers, if you’redoing a major project for a client,doing a small, extra task at no chargecan get you some great referrals. Forexample, a home improvementcontractor was finishing a basementfor a family and noticed that there wasno handrail on the two steps leadingto the front door of the home. One ofthe homeowners had trouble climbingstairs, so the contractor built thecustomer a railing for the front stepsat no charge out of materials he hadleft over from another job. Thehomeowner was so pleased with theway the basement came out and thefact this contractor added the outdoorrailing at no charge that he mentionedthe contractor’s name to severalfriends, and the contractor wound upgetting several new jobs as a result.

4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals.Your customers may love what theybought from you, but they may notthink about referring you to anyone, ifyou don’t ask them to. The time to askis right after you’ve finished their job,or completed a sale. Be specific whenyou ask. Don’t just ask the customerto tell their friends about you. Ask ifthey know anyone who’s looking foryour services, and if they say yes, askif they’ll give you the person’s name.

5. Give a few business cards to customers when you’ve finished their job.That way they won’t have to write outyour business name and phonenumber if friends ask forrecommendations. They can just handthem a card. Include a magnetizedbusiness card or two, particularly ifyou perform services for consumers.Those may get used to tack up noteson the fridge, making your name andphone number easy to find.

6. Ask customers if they’ll review your business online.If they say “Yes,” help them to takeaction by sending them an email thatincludes a link they can click on torate your site on your Google or onother social media sites on whichyou’d like reviews.

7. Turn verbal testimonials into published ones.If a customer praises your work to youin person, ask them if they wouldpost the comment on your socialmedia page. If they agree, write downthe comment and send it to them inemail along with the link to post it.That way they just have to copy andpaste – they don’t have to try toremember what they told you or thinkof anything new. Another option: askthe person for permission to post thecomment they made as a testimonialon your website.

8. Use your vehicle to get referrals.One way to get referrals is to haveyour business name and logo seen ina lot of places. One way ofaccomplishing that – particularly insmall towns – is to be sure the nameand phone number are prominentlydisplayed on your vehicle. If you’reusing a vehicle that you don’t want tohave painted with your business name(your family car or van, for instance)get magnetic signs and attach thoseto your vehicle.

9. Use yard signs on jobsites to get referrals.If the nature of your business is suchthat the work you do at job sitesspans several days or weeks, set upyard signs on the properties you’reworking at. The signs should be largeenough so your name and phonenumber can be read from the road.That way curious passersby (and inmost neighborhoods, that will bepretty much everyone who passes by)can see who is doing the workwithout contacting the propertyowners.

10. Reward customers who refer new customers to you.The type and size of the reward woulddepend on the types of jobs (andtheir cost) that you normally do. Acompany that installs air conditionersand heat pumps in homes gave acustomer a €100 gift card after theygot an €18,000 job as a result of thecustomer’s recommendation.

11. Thank people who refer new clients or patients.If the nature of your business doesn’tlend itself to rewarding people for

referrals (or if doing so is prohibitedby law or industry standards), send ahandwritten note thanking the personfor their referral. Doing soaccomplished two things. It shows theperson who made the referral that youappreciate them. And, it shows theperson who made the referral thattheir customer, client, or patientfollowed up on their suggestion.

12. Be active in community groups and projects.The owner of a landscaping and lawnservice sponsors a communitybeautification program each year thatplants flowers along a main road inthe town. A woman who creates andsells gift baskets gives gift baskets toseveral community groups to raffle offat fund raising events. The eventsinclude her business name in thepromotions for the auctions. Justshowing up regularly and talking withother members of local groups willhelp you get known andrecommended, too.

13. Deal proactively with complaints.Even though you strive to do beexcellent at what you do, you may stillget an occasional complaint from acustomer. Sometimes things just gowrong. When they do, fix the problemas quickly as possible. If you’redealing with an irate customer whosecomplaint you think is unfounded, youshould still politely try to resolve thedispute (and keep a record of thethings you offered to do, and theirresponse.) The reason: Unhappycustomers don’t just complain abouttheir experience to friends and family,they go online and post negativereviews on your social media pages,social media review sites, the BetterBusiness Bureau, and other places,effectively spreading a negative reviewabout you to thousands of possiblecustomers. If you make a good-faitheffort to solve their grievance, it maykeep them from posting negativereviews.

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Page 3: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

Marketing and staying ontop of the latest marketingtrends have always been achallenge for smallbusinesses, but thoseactivities have becomeparticularly difficult inrecent years. The Internet, smartphones and othertechnological advances continue tocreate a plethora of new tactics formarketing a business. Meanwhile, theyhave reduced the effectiveness of somemarketing methods small businesseshave traditionally used.

Those facts have created a conundrumfor many of the country’s small andmicro-sized businesses. With few or noemployees, small business owners andindependent contractors are taskedwith both running the day-to-dayoperations of their business andfiguring out what digital marketing is allabout, or which digital media marketingtactics are working for small businessesnow. Should they be writing blogs,posting in social media, using emailmarketing? What about search engineoptimisation (SEO), paying for ads insearch or on social media sites or otherdigital outreaches to develop anaudience and customers? Or why notignore it all and keep doing businessthe way they always have?

Digital Marketing – A Must forToday’s Small BusinessesDigital marketing isn’t really a “trend”anymore. Instead, it has become acritical way of reaching, interacting withand bringing in business in today’sworld. Avoiding digital marketing

tactics, or making random stabs atusing different techniques is a bigmistake no matter how small yourbusiness is.

That’s because your customers andclients are online – and they are onlinefrequently. Digital media usage spansall age groups, too.

The activities they are pursuing on theirdigital devices encompasses everythingfrom reading emails (the most frequentuse) and using social media, toresearching and buying what you sell.While they are online, they are leaving

digital data breadcrumbs that currentlyallow businesses to laser-focusmarketing on likely prospects in mostgeographic locations. Additionally, theyoften volunteer email addresses orphone numbers so they can receiveinformation, vouchers, and othernotices from companies they may wantto do business with. If they don’t findyou online, their business will go tosomeone else.

Relationship Building Matters More than EverSmall and local businesses havetraditionally found that relationshipbuilding and word of mouth marketingare what brings in business. That hasn’tchanged. But what has changed is theimportance of combining offlineactivities with online communications tobuild those relationships and spreadword of mouth. Providing useful buyinginformation and staying in touch withclients and prospects online havebecome an important part of theprocess.

An online social and businessconnection network used by threemillion SMBs, recently polled more than30,000 marketing experts in itsnetwork to see what marketing tacticsthey recommend for most smallbusinesses. The poll showed, The topthree marketing efforts that should givesmall businesses the best results thisyear are: Social Media Marketing (18%),Content Marketing (15%), and EmailMarketing (14%). They also found acombination of these three approachesto be most effective for marketing oursmall business, as well.

Small business marketers favouredSocial Media Marketing because it canbe laser-targeted to reach keyaudiences and it's generally affordablefor most small business owners.Content Marketing was praised as oneof the best ways to generate leads andnew business by showcasing an owner'sexpertise and energizing inboundmarketing. And finally, updated EmailMarketing is still very popular, becauseit remains a very cost-effectiveoutbound marketing option."

The Key to Evaluating MarketingTrends and TacticsA “trend” is the general tendency,behavior or direction something istaking. In other words, it’s something alot of people seem to be doing ortalking about. To figure out what’sgoing to work for your business, thinkabout who your customers are, whichcustomers you might be missing, andhow they want to discover and shop forthe things they need. Then choose thedigital marketing strategies that arelikely to get your business seen whenyour customers are looking for you.

One last tip: don’t let all the digitalmarketing options overwhelm you. Formaximum effectiveness, you may needto combine several tactics, but the wayto get started is one step at a time.Learn about and try one tactic, test it,and measure your results and see whatyou can do to improve results, then dothe same with other internet marketingtechniques.

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Digital Marketing: What’s Working for Small Business

Page 4: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

Value Added Tax (VAT)is a tax charged on thesale of most goodsand services inIreland. There were some changesto VAT rates announced in Budget2019 – and these changes started fromJanuary 1st 2019. The main changewas the withdrawal of the special 9%rate for most tourism related activities –(raised to 13.5%).

Listed below are the VATrates that will apply fromJanuary 1st 2019

• 23% is the standard rate of VATand all goods and services that do not fall into the reduced ratecategories are charged at this rate. See below for reduced VATrates.

• 13.5% This lower rate of VAT is charged on items including: • fuel (coal, heating oil, gas),

electricity,• vet fees,

• building and building services,• agricultural contracting services,• short-term car hire,• cleaning and maintenance

services.• Catering and restaurant

supplies, including vending machines and take-away food (excluding alcohol and soft drinks sold as part of the meal)

• Hotel lettings, including guesthouses, caravan parks, camping sites etc

• Cinemas, theatres, certain musical performances, museums, art gallery exhibitions

• Fairgrounds or amusement park services

• Hairdressing services.

• 9% is a special reduced rate of VAT for:• newspapers• Facilities for taking part in

sporting activities including green fees charged for golf andsubscriptions charged by non-member-owned golf clubs.

• electronically supplied publications

• 4.8% is a rate of VAT specifically for agriculture. It applies to livestock (excluding chickens), greyhounds and the hire of horses.• 0% (Zero) VAT on:• all exports• tea, coffee, milk, bread• books• children’s clothes and

children’s shoes,• oral medicine for humans

and animals,• vegetable seeds and fruit trees,

fertilisers, large animal feed,• disability aids such as

wheelchairs, crutches and hearing aids.

• Exempt There is no VAT on:• financial, medical or

educational services.• You should also not be charged

VAT for live theatrical and musical performances (except those where food or drink is served during all or part of the performance)

Irish VAT Changes in 2019

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Solar Electricity GrantTurn your home into a renewablepower station! SEAI are now offering a grant for SolarPhotovoltaic panels to generateelectricity for homeowners. Generatingelectricity from solar.

The term ‘solar panel’ is often usedinterchangeably to describe the panelsthat generate electricity and those thatgenerate hot water. Solar panels thatproduce hot water are known as solarthermal collectors or solar hot watercollectors. Solar panels that produceelectricity are known as solarphotovoltaic (PV) modules. Thesepanels generate DC electricity whenexposed to light. Solar PV is therooftop solar you see on homes andbusinesses. PV or photovoltaic solarpanels turn daylight into electricity andprovide you with energy and electricityto power your TV, kettle, toaster, phonecharger, radio, oven and so on.

Installation of domestic solar PV systemA domestic solar PV system consists ofa number of solar panels mounted toyour roof (or in your garden) andconnected into the electrical loadswithin your building. The solar panelsgenerate DC (direct current – like abattery) electricity, which is thenconverted in an inverter to AC(alternating current – like the electricityin your domestic socket). Solar PVsystems are rated in kilowatts (kW). A1kW solar PV system would require 3or 4 solar panels on your roof. Anyexcess electricity produced can bestored in a battery, or other storagesolution like your hot water immersiontank. It can also be exported from yourhouse into the electrical network onyour street.

New rebate for Solar PVWe are delighted to offer homeownersa rebate to support the installation ofSolar PV panels and battery energy

storage systems. This will reduce theelectricity you currently purchase fromyour supplier and save you money.Support is available to all owners ofdwellings built and occupied before2011 and where SEAI have notpreviously provided support for solarPV system at that address. This isavailable for all new Solar PVinstallations from Tuesday 31st July2018. You can get €700 for each kWof solar PV installed up to 2kW. This“kW” is the power output of the panel.Each manufacturer has a differentoutput for their panel. Most homestypically install 1.5 to 2kW solar systemwhich is equal to about 6 panels.Taking the example of a 6 panel systemwith an output of 1.8kW, this would beeligible for 1.8 x €700 = €1,260. Youcan install any size of solar PV thatsuits your needs. If you install a batterystorage system we will support up to4kW of solar PV plus the batterystorage system.

Page 5: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

Switching energy supplier could save you

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SWITCHING energy supplieris extremely quick andeasy and it can all be doneonline in the space of afew minutes. There's no need forany messy paperwork or to give 30days' notice to your current providerbefore cancelling. In fact you don't evenhave to contact your current supplier tolet them know you're leaving.

Out of all the household bills, this is byfar the most simple to switch and couldsave you €267, on average, a year. Thissavings are despite many energysuppliers raising their prices twice inthe last 12 months. However, if you livein a large home with three or morebedrooms, or live in a poorly insulatedbuilding, the savings will be evenhigher.

Recent research commissioned by theenergy regulator found mosthouseholders do not realise that theymust be told when their electricity orgas contract comes to an end.

People who have signed up for adiscount offer have to be informed bytheir supplier that the deal has endedand they will return to much higherstandard energy tariffs, according to theCommission for the Regulation ofUtilities (CRU).

How to switchBefore switching you need to make surethat you're not in contract with yourcurrent energy supplier, otherwise youwill be charged an early exit fee of €50per fuel. Most contracts last 12 months,so if you have been with your currentsupplier for over a year, you should befree to switch without penalty,according to Daragh Cassidy of pricecomparison and switching siteBonkers.ie. Before switching you willneed four key pieces of information tohand, as follows:

You will need your meter pointreference number (MPRN) for electricity,and the gas point reference number(GPRN) number for gas. Both these

numbers can be found on the top ofthe opening page of any recent bill.You will also need a recent meterreading. Required too is a goodestimate of how much energy you useeach year, in kilowatt hours (kWh). Thisinformation can be obtained by lookingat a recent bill. Before switching youwill need the name of the price planthat you are on with your currentsupplier. This will be on any recent bill.If you can't find it, just give yoursupplier a quick call to enquire. If youhave a night-saver meter, it is also

handy to know how much energy youuse at night as this will help you get themost accurate results based on yourindividual energy usage.

Once you have all this information tohand, input the above information intoa comparison site and you will get allthe offers available from all 10suppliers in the market.

Then switch to the best deal for you.

Tips for getting the best dealsThe first thing to consider is choosingonline billing. Most electricity suppliershave online billing and offer discounts ifyou choose it instead of getting yourbills in the post. Online billing is simple,your bills are archived, you can seecharts of your consumption, and youcan enter meter readings online.

It is easy, less hassle, and the discounts

save you money. Another way to save isto consider choosing paying by directdebit. Consumers have been advisednot to automatically accept retentiondeals offered by their current supplier.Most suppliers will offer you a retentiondeal at the end of your contract toencourage you not to switch and tosign up with them for another year.Although competitive, these deals arerarely the best on the market and youwill usually save more by shoppingaround and switching to the lowest rateon the market, Mr Cassidy warned.

How to switch... electricity and gasSTEP 1 You will need your meter pointreference number (MPRN) for electricity,and the gas point reference number(GPRN) number for gas.

STEP 2 You'll need to provide meterreadings when you switch.

STEP 3 It takes around two weeks for aswitch to complete and once it does,your old supplier will send you aclosing statement, which will be basedon your own meter reading. You'll needto pay that and then all your bills willcome from your new supplier.

STEP 4 To find the best deals, you canuse an accredited gas and electricitycomparison and switching service likeBonkers.ie or Switcher.ie.

Potential savings: €267

Page 6: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

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Do PPC ads work? Is thecost of advertising onGoogle and other pay-per-click networks too high foryour small business? Maybe not. Here are factors that willhelp you determine if advertising onsearch engines could be cost-effectivefor your company.

One of the problems small businessesstruggle with when they use GoogleAds (formerly called Google AdWords)is how much it costs to bid onkeywords and phrases that areassociated with what they sell. Butdespite the cost, many businesses findthat advertising on Google Ads isbeneficial. Here’s what you need toknow to decide if your business mightbenefit, too.

What are keywords and why are they important?The key to making online advertising(and for that matter, search engineoptimisation, too) work is having agood understanding of keywords.

Keywords and keyword phrases are thewords people type into the searchengine when they are searching forsomething. A person who wants pizzafor supper might search for “pizza,” or“pizza delivery,” for instance. Whilesomeone who wants to look for a newchandelier might use the search term“lighting store” if they want to find alocal store to look at chandeliers. Andsomeone who wants to do a mailing fortheir business might search for “directmail service.”

Each time someone searches Google (orany search engine) for a term or phrase,the search engine displays pages ofresults called SERPs (an acronym forSearch Engine Result Pages). Forpopular queries on Google, the SERPscontain some mixture of advertising,answer boxes or featured snippets,related questions (“People Also Ask”),images, and listings of web pages thatGoogle found in its index that relate towhat the searcher was looking for. Theadvertisements are marked as ads. Theweb page listings (free listings) arecalled “organic listings.”

One of the factors Google uses todetermine if a page relates to a searchis whether it contains keyword and/orsynonyms that match or answer whatthe searcher was trying to find.

The paid ads that match the searchterm are usually placed at the top ofthe SERP pages and sometimes at thebottom of the page as well. The AnswerBox and any related questions boxesusually appear below the ads. Theorganic listings start below the answerboxes, arranged in order of relevanceto the search term.

Because of all those items that Googledisplays before the first organic listing,even top-ranking organic listings areoften pushed far down the searchresults page. Good web pages thataren’t ranked at the very top getpushed to page 2, 3, or subsequentsearch result pages. (Other searchengines work in a similar way).

Most people using a search enginedon’t look much beyond page one ofsearch results. In fact, research showsthat the 9th and 10th organic listingson page one of Google have aclickthrough rate of only 2%. Thebottom line: if your site doesn’t showup on the first page of search results,few people will find it.

How Do PPC Ads Work?Pay per click ads give businesses theopportunity to pay to get listed onpage 1 of search. In very basic terms,PPC advertising works like this: Whenyour small business buys PPC ads onGoogle and other search engines, youare participating in a type of auction.You create a short ad for what you selland specify a list of keywords for whichyou would like that ad to appear. Thesekeywords should be the words yourcustomers are most likely to search forwhen they want to buy what you sell.

Since there are usually many companiesthat want to show up for the samekeywords, you have to bid on yourkeywords. The bids indicate themaximum amount you are willing to payfor each click on your ad when itappears for the keyword.

Google chooses which ad appears inwhich spot on the results page basedon a combination of factors. The bidprice for each keyword is one of themost important, but other factorsincluding the relevancy of the ad to thesearch query, which ad spot your ad isplaced in, the click-through rate on thead, and the landing page for the ad (ie,what page people reach when they clickon the ad), come into play as well.

If you bid high enough to make your adshow up, you will be charged each timesomeone clicks on your ad. Themaximum you might be charged perclick is the amount you bid for thekeyword, but you could be charged less.If your keyword bid is too low, your admay never show up.

How Much Do Keywords Cost?A WordStream Benchmark report for2018 shows that the average cost perclick (CPC) across all industries for thesearch network is €2.69. But the actualcost varies a lot by industry and bykeywords within the industry. TheWordStream Benchmark report shows,for instance, that keywords in the legalindustry average more than €6 a click,while e-commerce clicks average€1.16. In general, keywords that areassociated with expensive products orservices can be quite pricey. Forinstance, the keyword tool, KeywordsEverywhere showed that a businessbidding on the term “kitchenremodeling” might have to bid close to€10 a click at the time this article waswritten. Meanwhile, a local bakery thatwants to show up for the term “bakery”and their city might have to bid €1 orless.

Does It Pay to Advertise When theCost Per Click is High?What small businesses forget whenlooking at the cost of their PPC ads, isthat the way to benefit from advertising(in any form) isn't by selling oneproduct one time to each customer. It'sby winning the customer and gettingrepeat sales over a period of time.Those repeat sales may be additionalpurchases of the original product oradditional products you sell to the samecustomer.

Do PPC Ads Work for Small Business?

Page 7: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

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That’s why the cost per click doesn’t, byitself, determine the likely profitabilityof PPC advertising. Other criteria haveto be considered. For starters, noteveryone who clicks on an ad becomesa customer. In fact, the percent ofpeople who make a purchase afterclicking on an ad is usually quite low.The WordStream Benchmark reportshows that average conversion ratesvary by industry from a low of about1.96% a high of 9.6%, but that theaverage conversion rate across allindustries is only 3.75%

If 500 people click on your ad, and youhave a conversion rate of 3.75%, thatmeans you’ll have between 18 and 19people make a purchase. Whether ornot that ad is profitable will depend on

the dollar amount of those sales, howmuch profit you make on the sale afteryou account for your product cost,labor, and other expenses, andultimately, how many more purchasesthe customer makes in the future (thelifetime value of the customer.)

If you’re paying €2.69 a click and 500people click, your ad cost will be€1345. If you have 19 people make apurchase (ie, you have 19 conversions),your cost per conversion will be€1345/19 = €70. If you are sellingjust one €30 product and people don’tneed to buy more than one of the item,you lose money on the ad.

However, if the average customer buysfive of those €30 items at a time

(making your average order price€150), and if your product cost andrelated expenses aren’t too high, you’relikely to make money on the ad. You’llmake even more if the people whobought the item in quantity return inthe future to make repeat purchases.

The bottom line here: If you only haveone product and can only sell that oneproduct once to each customer, pay-per-click may not work for you unlessthe product or service commands apremium price. But if your customerscome back to buy from you multipletimes, you need to consider what thevalue of those repeat sales are to beable to make good decisions about howmuch to spend on pay-per-click andother advertising.

Health Insurance Renewal

An estimated Onemillion people are dueto renew their healthinsurance cover in thenext three months

This is the peak time for health-insurance renewals. Nearly400,000 customers are due torenew this month and almost onemillion are renewing by the end ofMarch. The healthcare market hasstabilised compared with previousyears.

How do you know if you're over-insured or paying too much?

You are paying too much if youhave been on the same plan forthree years or more. Another signyou are over-paying is if you haveall the family on the same plan.

Not being on a corporate planwith guaranteed refunds on out-patient expenses could be a signyou are paying too much, as is afailure to consider taking on asmall excess when you make aprivate hospital claim.

Not being aware of any of thediscounted offers for childrenunder 18, and paying the fulladult rate for dependants agedbetween 18 and 24 are othersigns of paying too much. Andyou are likely to be over-paying ifyour annual premium is more than€1,800 per adult for your cover.

People should not be afraid toswitch insurer. Consumers are fullyprotected by the healthcarelegislation when it comes toswitching.

This means insurers must take youon regardless of your medicalhistory or pending surgeries.

And you get full credit for timeserved with previous insurers. Inother words, if you have alreadyserved your pre-existing waitingperiods, these do not have to bere-served.

How to switch... health insurance

STEP 1 Find out what the nameof your current plan is and howmuch your renewal premium is(e.g. VHI Family Plan Level 1; Laya

Flex 125 Explore). Decide whatyour budget is this year.

STEP 2 Visit the HealthInformation Authority's website,hia.ie, and use its comparisonfacility to compare this plan withothers on the market, side by side.

STEP 3 Talk to your insurer or abroker. Ask them: "What is yourvery best plan for my budget andplease include all your corporateplans." If you are consideringupgrading or downgrading yourplan, it will be well worth talkingto them about this, too. Theycould also advise on any discountsthat might be available, anypremium reductions possible by,for example, increasing yourexcess, or alternative plans thatmay give you more benefits for thesame premium.

STEP 4 Alternatively, ring yourhealth insurer and ask for theclosest equivalent plan to the oneyou are on at the moment. Stressyou want them to consider allplans, including corporate options.

Potential savings: €300

Page 8: How to Get Referrals and Recommendations4. Ask satisfied customers for referrals. Your customers may love what they bought from you, but they may not think about referring you to anyone,

What's the best way to promote yourbusiness? How can you advertise yourbusiness and get your name in front ofpotential prospects when money istight or you're just starting up? Howcan you get the word out about yourbusiness in the most affordable way?

Plan your marketing.You'll waste precious time and money ifyour marketing activities are randomand unstructured. The key to success –it doesn’t matter how big or small yourbudget is, define your marketingstrategy before doing anything else.Start by identifying who your bestprospects are, and then determine thebest way to reach them. Be as specificas possible. Is the decision maker theCEO of the company, the director ofhuman resources? Will you find them onTwitter, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube orInstagram? What about in-personnetworking at local business meetings?Will you find people at those meetingwho are likely prospects or who knowand could recommend you to likelyprospects? What about advertising?Will customers be searching for yourtype of product on Google? Do youwant to start promoting your businessto them at the start of their buyingcycle, or when they're about ready topull out their credit card and make thepurchase? Write your answers downand refer to them before you start anynew marketing tactic.

If you don't have a website, get one set up. Having a website is important formarketing a business. Depending whatyou sell, your website serves as a leadgeneration tool, online brochure,catalogue, and information source foryour potential customers.

Include a blog. A blog serves two functions. It informsyour customers and prospects, and thecontent, in turn, improves your chancesof being found in search engines. Youdon’t have to be a professional writerto add a blog. Just write informationyour customers will find helpful atdifferent stages of the buying cycle orprovide tips and hints on using whatyou sell.

Business ProfileSet up your business profile or page onsocial media sites such as LinkedIn,Facebook, Instagram, Twitter andPinterest. Be sure your business profileincludes a good description, keywordsand a link to your website. Look forgroups or conversations that talk aboutyour type of products or services andparticipate in the conversations, butdon't spam them with constant promosfor what you sell.

BrandingIf you're just starting out and don'thave a business card and businessstationery, have them made up -immediately. Your business card,letterhead and envelope tell prospectivecustomers you are a professional whotakes your business seriously. Be sureto list your website address on yourbusiness card, letterhead and anyhandouts you create. Include your mainsocial media profile link, too, ifpossible.

Business CardsGive several business cards to yourcustomers if you are a service provider.That way, when their friends andneighbours ask them for arecommendation, they have an easyway to pass on your business name andcontact information.

SuppliersTalk to all the suppliers from whom youbuy products or services. Give themyour business card, and ask if they canuse your products or service, or if theyknow anyone who can. If they have

bulletin boards where business cardsare displayed (printers often do, and sodo some supermarkets, hairdressers,etc.), ask if yours can be added to theboard.

MembershipsPay for membership in those groupsthat attract your target customers. Ifthe group has a website and publishesa list members on the site, make sureyour name and website link get added.Once it is added double check to besure your contact information is correctand your website link isn't broken.

GroupsBecome actively involved in 2 or 3 ofthese groups. That will give you moreopportunity to meet possible prospects.But remember: opportunists are quicklyspotted for what they are, and get littlebusiness. While you won't want tobecome involved in many organisationsthat require a lot of your time in, youcan -and should- make realcontributions to all of them by offeringuseful ideas and helping with projectswhen possible.

Social mediaPost Interesting information andpictures regularly to your social mediaaccounts. The information or photosshould be interesting to your audience.Tips on how they can improve their lifeor business or special offers are likelyto get the most likes and shares.

BoostPay to boost your most popular postson social media sites. Target theboosted posts at groups of people whoare most like your customers. This canbe an inexpensive way of getting yourbusiness in front of potential customersin very targeted locations or who haveinterests that match what you sell.

ReviewsAsk Customers to Review YourBusiness. When someone is ready tochoose a product or a service provider,they want to be assured that they aremaking a good choice. One way theygain that assurance is by looking at thereviews. To increase the chance thatcustomers will leave a review, sendthem a note thanking them for theirbusiness, and ask them to review yoursite online. Include a link to a placeyou’d like them to post their review

Ways to Promote Your Business

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