We were live on the radio with Frank Cameron Presents on Seaside FM 105.9
Listen to the interview using the play button below. (16 minutes in total)
Say ‘No’ to your customers to improve business!
At first glance, it seems to be an odd proposition. How can saying ‘No’ to customers improve a small business? Several weeks ago I attended Podcamp Halifax, which is a conference for small business owners discussing various ways to improve their business. One presenter explained the premise that saying no to customers can really help a business grow. Most business owners understand this principle, but it is interesting to take a more in-depth view. Note that the examples below are most relevant to consulting or project-based businesses, but it is applicable to most other businesses as well, with some tweaking of course.
Reasons to Say ‘No’ to Customers
- Increased Focus – Saying no to more customers allows you to focus on the projects and services which you are best at.
- Increased Happiness – Saying no to more customers allows you to focus on the projects and services which you enjoy the most.
- Increased Referrals – Performing more of your best and most enjoyable work increases the odds that clients will be impressed by your services, increasing the likelihood of a referral. Additionally, your referrals will become more and more focused toward the work you do best, since people will eventually stop referring the type of work which you continuously turn down.
- Increased Profitability – Focusing on the projects and services which you are best at means that you are more efficient, thereby taking less time to complete projects. In essence, you effectively give yourself a raise. Consider two projects. Project A produces $2 000 worth of profit taking 100 hours to complete. Project B produces $1 000 worth of profit and takes 20 hours to complete. Which project is more desirable? The table below outlines how Project B is more than twice as profitable per hour worked!
Recently, I made a business decision to turn down a project worth $3 500. My reasoning for turning the project down was because it was too far outside my business strategy. I was capable of performing the work, but it was not my specialty. I would have taken a long time to stumble through the project resulting in a very low profit per hour. I reasoned that it was not worth taking the time to learn these skills since it was not the direction I wanted to take my business.
Now it’s time to tell your story. Have you said no to a project in order to remain profitable? Or maybe in hindsight, you should have said no to a project because it turned out not to be profitable? Either way, we’d like to hear about it. Leave your comments below!
A STEP in the right direction
“A visionary group of volunteers, businesses and community leaders are taking innovative steps to promote the tourism potential of the Bay of Islands area along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia—one of Nova Scotia’s best kept secrets. Destination Eastern and Northumberland Shores Association (DEANS) is kicking off mainland Nova Scotia’s first Strategic Tourism Expansion Program (STEP), thanks to support from the Government of Canada…”
More information can be found at the links below.
http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/eng/Agency/MediaRoom/NewsReleases/Pages/4484.aspx
What is SEO worth to your business?
What’s the big deal about SEO? By now, you’ve probably heard of search engine optimization and know that it will help your website rise within search engine results pages and therefore attract more visitors, but what does this mean for your small business? After all, who really cares if you can attract more visitors to your website? Will this increase in traffic translate to more sales?
I’ve performed a case study which analyzed the impact of performing SEO. For one client of ours, search engine optimization led to an increase in web traffic of more than 70% and increased revenue by more than $30 000 over a three year period.
You can read the full case study here: SEO Case Study
The small business guide to Google Analytics
Featured Article (Author: Lucjan Zaborowski, Original Article)
More and more business owners realize the importance of having online presence. A website can be a powerful medium for client acquisition and for many businesses, it is indeed the primary source for getting new customers. Knowing what kind of users visit your website and what pages they visit can help improve your business’ conversions. Google Analytics is a free tool that provides in-depth data on user behaviour and site performance. In order to help you get started with “GA”, we developed an easy to follow visual guide with links to related resources.
Our guide enables you to first learn what Google Analytics is and how it can benefit your business. It takes you step by step through the process of setting up a Google account, connecting your website to Analytics and analyzing wide range of data. We make sure to address the basics as well as the most sophisticated features of GA. To use the guide, simply click on the image below and start answering the question we came up with. For every question you answer “no” to, you can review related content, which is an article, a video or an image.
Click image to open interactive version (via Simply Business).
Want to make more money? Try Google AdWords
Have you ever wished you could turn on a faucet which immediately brings more customers to your business? Let me introduce you to Google AdWords.
I recently performed a case study for one of our AdWords clients and the results are truly incredible! Over a three year period, the client received a return on investment (ROI) of more than 250%. That is, for each dollar spent, $3.50 is returned. One dollar covers costs, leaving $2.50 of profit.
Google AdWords is a highly effective form of advertising. In fact, AdWords out-performs most investments, period.
Read the full case study about the profitability of Google AdWords
10 ways to improve your small business website
Featured Article (Author: Mark Tempest, Original article)
How well is your website performing? Many small business owners do well with their website through word of mouth and referrals, however, as we all know, Google can be picky about what it displays in its search results, and that’s key to helping new customers discover your business. Below are 10 quick tips of how you can improve your website for both search and your potential customers.
- Make sure every webpage on your site has a unique page title that contains the keywords that you would expect someone to use when searching for the page or product. If you need some ideas about which words people might use to search for your business, use Google’s Keyword tool to give you suggestions.
- If you have an About Us page – make sure that the page title includes your company name e.g. About Small Business BC.
- Include your company’s full business name and address on every page in the footer of the website to increase your chance of being included in local search engine results and on Google Maps.
- Make sure you have installed Google Analytics and use it. Track a couple of key metrics about your website each month, such as how many people from your local area have visited and how many visits did the website receive from search engines?
- If you want to be found locally for a specific service, make sure you put your location in the page title of the very front page of your website. For example rather than “Acme Plumbers inc” consider “Vancouver Plumber: Acme Plumbers Inc” as potential clients will be searching for Vancouver Plumber, not your company name.
- Start a company blog and talk about not just company news, but also industry trends, case studies and even promote other local non-competing companies; they might return the favour!
- Include your company phone number in a prominent position at the top right of every page. This not only instills confidence that you are a real company and you are local, but it also saves people from having to search your site for ways to get in touch.
- Contact your five best customers and ask them if they would write you a testimonial for your website.
- If you sell products online, take time to write your own review of the product rather than cutting and pasting a manufacturer description.
- Consider using videos to review products or explain about your services – a video can provide a level of understanding quickly and help to convert visitors into customers.
“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail”
What is a business plan, and why do you need one?
A business plan is a written statement that describes the nature of a business, target market, advantages the business will have in relation to competition, and the resources & qualifications of the owner(s). (Nickels, McHugh, McHugh, & Cossa, 2007) While the business plan details past and present ventures, its primary focus should be the future plans of the business.
A business plan should ideally be developed as the business transitions from an idea to reality. Alas, many companies are already operating without a documented business plan. That’s ok! The business creator has likely undergone some form of mental business planning, or even performed some analysis to help with their business decisions. This leads us to the second question you might be asking yourself, “If businesses can be successful without a business plan, why go through the hassle of creating one?”
Well, those ‘successful’ businesses would probably be even more successful had they developed a business plan. There are several reasons why all businesses should develop a business plan, whether they are in start-up or have been operating for 50 years.
Four reasons why every business should have a business plan
- Business plans are necessary for talking with bankers and other investors.
- Business plans help you to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risks.
- Business plans help you focus, in a logical and organized manner, on the strategy for future growth of your company.
- Developing a business plan ensures that both market research and financial analysis be performed.
By reviewing the above list, it is clear that some preliminary work be performed prior to completing a business plan. This is critical. While the final document does have some value, it is the thinking process that is undergone while creating a business plan that is most valuable. While business plans are not a be all and end all solution to a business’s problems, they will certainly help a great deal. As Harvey Mackay once said, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail”. I couldn’t agree more.
You should now be convinced that developing a business plan is probably a good idea. However, you may still be hesitant because you are unsure how to go about starting. Let me briefly explain how to get started, what the process involves, and where to find additional resources.
To start, there is no such thing as the perfect business plan. People may be intimidated to start a business plan for fear that it may take too long or they may not ‘do it right’. Remember that a great final document is not the final goal here. A business plan can be considered a formal process that ensures that each main factor affecting your business is considered with sufficient depth so as to gain more knowledge of the company.
So, what does the business plan need to cover?
Every business plan should include the following sections (if applicable)
- Executive Summary
- Business strategy
- Marketing Strategy
- Operational plan
- Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis
- Human resources plan
- Social responsibility strategy
- E-business strategy
- Financial forecasts and other information
- Additional Resources
For detailed explanations of the above sections and other information about creating a business plan, visit How to Prepare Your Business Plan.
Nickels, McHugh, McHugh, & Cossa. (2007). Understanding Canadian Business: Change In A Dynamic Work Environment. McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
Google AdWords Case Study (Jan 12, 2015)
Privacy Notice: In order to protect the privacy of the client, their name has been omitted from this study but the numbers used are real and have not been adjusted.
Problem
A client approached us in late 2011 wishing to increase profits, and more specifically, they wished to increase the number of leads coming from the website. Upon inspection, it was clear that traffic to their website had been flat over a period of 3 years with no signs of growth.
Solution
We recommended that their website be overhauled and optimized for search engines and that Google AdWords Search Advertising be implemented. This study focuses on the latter. Google AdWords search campaigns show advertisements on Google’s search engine results pages. For example, when a user performs a Google search, advertisements are shown along with the organic search results. AdWords Search campaigns were implemented and optimized during late 2011.
Results
The table below shows the results achieved over a 3-year period from January 2012 to December 2014. A few strategies have been tried over the 3-year period causing AdWords spend to vary from year to year. This has led to varying quantities of clicks and conversions, but the return on investment (ROI) for the client has consistently been more than 250%. That is, for each dollar spent, $3.50 is returned. One dollar covers costs, leaving $2.50 of profit.
Conclusion
Google AdWords has performed very well for this client, earning an incredible 255% return on investment and boosting profits by $4 000 to $6 000 each year. Google AdWords is a highly effective form of advertising. In fact, AdWords out-performs most investments, period.
Additional Benefits of Google AdWords
There are some additional benefits of Google AdWords aside from being a very profitable investment. Firstly, since there are no commitment periods with Google AdWords, it is safe to be experimental when writing ad text. New advertising slogans and wording can be used without fear of negative impact.
Secondly, and related to the previous point, Google AdWords provides an exceptionally high level of traceability. It is easy to tell exactly which ad text is most compelling to your target customers, and therefore which ad is most effective. Once proven, this marketing text can be used safely in other marketing materials. Think of this as market research for small business. This has huge potential! After all, there is an old saying which says that half of your marketing budget is wasted, but the trouble is you never know which half. Not so with Google AdWords.
Search Engine Optimization Case Study (Nov 14, 2014)
Background
Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean is a small family operated campground located 80 km east of Halifax on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. In operation since 1960, Murphy’s Camping has become a vacation retreat for families and friends, providing a rustic camping experience. It offers 25 unserviced tent sites, 12 serviced RV sites, 10 seasonal sites, and 5 rental units.
Problem
Website traffic for Murphy’s Camping had flat lined at approximately 10 000 visits per year from 2009 to 2011. This is shown in the chart below.
The website consistently ranked on the 2nd page of Google Search Results in position 12 to 20 for relevant search terms, such as “campgrounds in nova scotia” and “nova scotia camping”. This was far from ideal, and action was needed to increase website traffic.
Solution
One solution which was implemented was a website redesign with a strong focus on search engine optimization (SEO). The website was rebuilt from the ground up, using best practices in search engine optimization.
Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools were implemented with the website so that website traffic could be easily monitored and statistics could be retrieved. The website was built with these tools in mind so that desired measures could be retrieved, such as conversions. A conversion is any desired action that is useful to your business. In the case of Murphy’s Camping, reservation requests are the most important conversion. A user visiting the website and completing the online submission form to reserve a campsite is considered a highly valuable interaction with the website, resulting in direct revenue which can be easily tracked using Google Analytics.
Improvement
The website for Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean now consistently ranks on the 1st page of Google Search Results in position 4 to 7 for relevant search terms, such as “campgrounds in nova scotia” and “nova scotia camping”.
Results
The results are very evident as shown in the table below. Organic website traffic is on target to exceed 18 000 visits by the end of 2014.
*Conversion data was not available for 2011. Therefore, conversions for 2011 were extrapolated using the average conversion rate from 2012 to 2014. The formulas used for this calculation are shown in the appendix. Since the conversion rate has held nearly constant at roughly 1.7% from 2012 to 2014, I am confident the estimation for 2011 is reasonably accurate.
The average conversion value for Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean has been previously calculated to be $117.60. Using this average conversion value, it is easy to calculate the total conversion value. That is, how much revenue organic website traffic has provided.
Conclusion
As you can see from the table above, revenue has increased as a direct result of increased organic website traffic. The increased revenue over the 3 year period since the website redesign totals more than $30 000! For a small business with only two full time staff, $30 000 is not chump change. Search engine optimization works!
Appendix
- Organic website traffic includes only website visits which are non-paid.
- Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools are available for free from Google.
- Formulas used for extrapolating 2011 conversions
Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean
Website Design, Online Advertising, Software Integration, Financial Analysis
Telder Home Heating & Excavating
Website Design
Online Advertising
Uprooted Market & Cafe
Website Design
Optimize your small business processes
Save thousands of dollars each year by properly setting your inventory levels and optimizing your business processes.
Drive traffic to your website
Be seen by customers at the very moment that they’re searching on Google for the things you offer. And only pay when they click to visit your website or call.
Build a professional small business website
Convert website visitors into customers with a well optimized, responsive website design.
