The Value In Sales Reports |  |
- The Value In Sales Reports
- Check Out A Small Biz Event: Network and Learn!
- Facebook Testing Non Social Ad Units for Mobile Apps
- Read Social Marketology to Create Profitable Social Media Marketing
| Posted: 11 Aug 2012 01:30 PM PDT When you are a sales rep who works for a large company, you have a sales manager. That sales manager most likely has you filling out reports on your activity. And if you are like most sales reps, you probably dislike this process and think it is busy work.
If you are a business owner who also wears the sales hat, you probably don't have a reporting system. After all, you'd be reporting to yourself. Have you ever looked at this reporting differently? The other day I spoke to a Chamber of Commerce group. After the talk one of the attendees brought up the sales reporting issue. As we talked about it, she realized that those reports can be a valuable tool if used properly. Yep, that's right, a tool. Here's what I mean. You can use a sales report to identify what is working and what isn't. You can gather data on prospects who turn into clients and those who don't. This information can help you refine your sales system moving forward. For example, you decide to conduct a direct mail campaign. You determine the target market and send out oversized postcards. These postcards have a call to action. How do you determine whether the campaign worked? Without sales reports you have to rely on anecdotal evidence. While interesting, anecdotal evidence isn't really enough information to build decisions around. In every phase of the sales cycle you want to be able to divine information you can use to improve your results. Filling out sales reports and then reviewing them is a great way to do this. To make sure the reports are valuable, decide what information you'd like to gain from them. What do you want to know? If it were me, I'd want to know:
This is just a start. Depending on your business and where you are in its life cycle will determine what you want to know. The point is to start from the end. Decide what you want to know and then craft the sales reporting system to provide you with that information. Implement the sales reporting system and decide how often you will review it. Put that schedule on the calendar. This way it will really become a process that you stick to. It's one thing to fill out the report. It's a whole other thing to create a system for reviewing the report to learn what it's telling you. Making it part of your routine is the best way to gain the most value from it. Robin Morgan once said:
That is so true. When you have solid information you can make better decisions. So, consider setting up a sales reporting system in your business today. The things you'll learn will be invaluable to your future. Sales Report Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| Check Out A Small Biz Event: Network and Learn! Posted: 11 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT You can find plenty of events for small businesses and startups this summer and fall, to educate yourself and your staff, and to network with your peers. Here is our hand-picked list of conferences, seminars and events. Don’t miss out on these excellent opportunities to help you start a business, grow it and run it like a pro! * * * * *
Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, Startup Weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations. Participants create working startups during the event and are able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks. All teams hear talks by industry leaders and receive valuable feedback from local entrepreneurials. The weekend is centered around action, innovation, and education. Whether you are looking for feedback on a idea, a co-founder, specific skill sets, or a team to help you execute, Startup Weekends are the perfect environment in which to test your idea and take the first steps towards launching your own startup.
Led by Tory Johnson, the jam-packed, high-energy day enables you to experience big breakthroughs in your business and yourself. Meet great people who can help with product development and packaging; manufacturing and distribution; multiple revenue streams and collaborations; mental preparedness for monumental success; and so much more.
This series features a full day of strategies, tips and marketing best practices from the experts at Infusionsoft. You’ll receive hands-on instructions on how to develop a highly effective sales and marketing plan you can start implementing right away. You’ll learn to: Drive higher customer referral traffic tomorrow
Sage Summit is the premier conference for Sage customers and partners. It's the destination for learning better ways to leverage the software you already own and know and discovering new technologies. Plus you'll hear what's working for other people in your industry and gain insight on how to overcome the challenges your organization faces. Small Business Trends CEO Anita Campbell will be moderating a panel about social media by small businesses, on Wednesday August 15, from 10:30 am to noon. Look for Session ID C-0128 – hurry, limited slots left.
Kansas Business Matchmaker 2012 brings buyers and small business suppliers together for pre-matched one-on-one meetings in a 1 day conference. Small Business Suppliers pre-register for the event, using their company NAICS codes, and are pre-matched with registered buyers for 10 minute meetings.
“Changing the Face of Business One Woman at a Time” is the theme of the taking place Aug. 17 and Aug. 18 at Sugar Land Marriott Town Square. The two-day conference will give business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate employees the chance to network with like-minded decision makers.The conference also features a trade show exhibiting products, services and business opportunities. Speakers will discuss industry trends and business growth strategies. Supplier diversity officers will talk about how to better serve the small business community and meet new potential suppliers.There will also be a "Youth Explosion” program for young entrepreneurs. One Woman is an annual women’s business promotion, advocacy and development forum.
Vendor Outreach Sessions are a series of pre-arranged 15-minute appointments with Small Business Specialists from various components of the Homeland Security Procurement offices. These sessions provide the small business community an opportunity to discuss their capabilities and learn of potential procurement opportunities. Also in attendance will be Prime Contractor Small Business Liaisons from several of the large businesses who have contracts with DHS. Sign up for the August 23rd VOS will be on August 16th 2012 beginning at 12:00 noon Eastern Time. Please read the instructions carefully as the sessions fill up quickly. Instructions can be found at http://www.dhs.gov/xopnbiz/smallbusiness/gc_1297786003006.shtm.
MacTech Boot Camp is a one day event for those that support the home user, and small business market held around the country. MacTech Boot Camp is a single-track, hotel based seminar that is specifically geared to serve the needs of consultants and techs wanting to serve their base better. This event is geared toward those that already support the home and SMB communities, or that want to become a consultant supporting these areas.
For women entrepreneurs, tech knowledge is freedom…freedom from fear, freedom to pursue their dreams of venturing out on their own. No longer will they be out of the loop from their tech team, no longer will they be held hostage by their consultants who “know more”. At TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs, you will learn: Early bird pricing expires July 30th.
B2B Forum isn’t just another event. It’s the event for B2B marketers who don’t just follow yesterday’s best practices; they create the next practices needed to move their businesses—and industries—forward. Five programming tracks covering the modern marketing mix: lead gen, content, social media, mobile, and marketing essentials.
Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is the must-attend event for the nation's leading entrepreneurs. Join your colleagues and peers for three days of unparalleled networking and learning from the leaders of America's fastest-growing companies. This year’s speakers include Captain Mark Kelly, Commander of the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s final mission, Guy Kawasaki, Founding Partner of Garage Technology Ventures, and Marie Tillman, Founder of the Pat Tillman Foundation.
This year's theme celebrates the entrepreneurial, innovative and adventurous spirit of women business owners. They are starting businesses at record rates and running these businesses on their own terms. They refuse to sit idle, waiting and watching. They have confidence and power to shake things up, take smart risks and do things differently to move forward. They are impacting positive change at every turn, speaking out on issues of public policy, lightening their environmental footprint and creating jobs that fuel the economy. They are part of something much greater than themselves—a grassroots movement of women business owners and their community of supporters all dedicated to helping one another grow, thrive, give back and leave a legacy.
The New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards is the annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of the 500,000+ small businesses throughout the tri-state area. Now in its 7th year, the Awards gala attracts more than 400 business owners and executives and is often referred to as "the networking event of the year." Don't miss the chance to do business with the "who's who" of the New York small business community.
Supported by the industry’s leading businesses, exhibitors and sponsors involved in social media, Internet marketing, search engines, and online advertising, Pubcon Las Vegas 2012 will offer a week-long look at the future of technology presented by over 200 of the world’s best speakers in more than 100 bold cutting-edge sessions.
Small Business Influencer Awards Gala The Small Business Influencer Awards will honor the Top 100 small business influencer champions at a festive Awards Gala on the evening of October 17, 2012 at the Javits Convention Center. Last year’s event had a capacity crowd at a smaller venue. This year it will be bigger than ever — with the Awards Gala as the evening event at the New York XPO Small Business Conference. Don’t miss this exciting event! See last year’s recap. Early bird pricing $49 until September 28th!
Small Business Expo is a full day networking event, trade show & conference of the year for business owners, C-Level Executives & company decision-makers. Network with other business professionals & check out the exciting exhibitor hall
Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world's largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.
NMX, formerly Blog World & New Media Expo, is the first and only industry-wide conference, tradeshow and media event dedicated to providing valuable content for Bloggers, Podcasters and Web TV producers. Pre-register now and receive Super Early Bird rates.
To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit the Small Business Events Calendar. If you are putting on a small business event or contest, and want to get the word out, please submit it through our Events & Contests Submission Form (it’s free). Only events of interest to small business people, freelancers and entrepreneurs will be included. Brought to you as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com. From Small Business Trends |
| Facebook Testing Non Social Ad Units for Mobile Apps Posted: 11 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT In the spirit of embracing more mobile technology for advertising, Facebook has announced a new mobile ad feature for app developers that would allow them to purchase mobile news feed ads that open directly to the iOS App Store or Google Play when clicked. Facebook is currently testing the new ad unit with a limited set of beta partners.
The app ads appear in a panel between traditional news stories, so users will see them as they scroll through their news feed. The panel displays a small thumbnail image, app name, and number of friends who use the app, if any. The example shared by Facebook in a blog post showed a panel with a selection of three different game apps. Mobile users who click the ads and don't already have the app installed will be directed to the page where the app can be purchased or installed in the App Store or Google Play. Business users and developers looking to promote their apps can select their budget and the audience they'd like to reach by using demographic and geographical information along with the mobile devices where the app can be used. Then they can track their progress and reach. The app ads are pay-per-click, but Facebook hopes to be able to measure the rate of installations per click in the future. And unlike sponsored stories and other types of Facebook ads, where advertisers can just target friends of existing users or those who've mentioned their product or brand, Mobile Ads for Apps is non-social. So the apps don't need an existing user base to show up on a user's news feed. This means that advertisers will finally be allowed to choose their own target market instead of letting Facebook's social graph decide which ads will be relevant for which news feeds. From Small Business Trends |
| Read Social Marketology to Create Profitable Social Media Marketing Posted: 11 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT
The results of this study didn't surprise me – call me cynical, but that's been my experience in the corporate environment; CEOs not understanding the marketing process, and marketers who were more enamored with fancy creative campaigns than the fundamentals of differentiation, positioning and conversions. Social Marketology Brings Marketers and CEOs Together When I received my review copy of Social Marketology: Improve your Social Media Processes and Get Customers to Stay Forever by Ric Dragon, CEO of DragonSearch, I didn't know what to expect. Would this be a book that would take our understanding and management of social media to a more functional and practical level? After spending a Saturday morning highlighting text and dog-earring pages, I would say, "Yes!" Marketing savvy small business owners, marketing managers, product managers and social media managers in larger organizations will appreciate this book because it bridges the gap between the profit-oriented C-Suite and the brand building, social-centered marketing teams. Social Marketology will give each side of the organization a playing field where they can come together to use social media to achieve both their marketing and financial goals. Social Media Gets a Process One of the fundamental ways the Social Marketology bridges the perceived profitability gap between marketers and CEOs is by harnessing the history of social media, the measurement and analytical tools that are available and then building a process around these so that marketers can achieve their goals and CEOs can see the connection between social media campaigns and activities and profitability. Ric Dragon introduces a social media process that businesses and brands of any size can use to achieve their marketing goals. Here is just a summary of the process as it's introduced at the beginning of the book:
One of the key drivers of the book and the process is to help businesses and social media managers adapt to whatever new social media channels come up. So instead of simply focusing on a specific channel such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, by learning to use this process, you will be prepared for any new channel that's likely to come up in the future and quickly evaluate it and add it to your strategy. Ric Dragon Creates a Roadmap for Social Media Management I wonder if this book could only have been written by anyone other than a CEO, who has experience on both the executive and the marketing social media side of the spectrum? Ric Dragon has extensive experience on both sides. He has 16 years of experience in online marketing and software development. He is co-founder of the software and web development company Oxclove Workshop. Dragon is the cofounder and CEO of DragonSearch, where he has led social media strategy for brands such as Steuben, The Grammy Foundation and Raritan as well as several others. It's his balanced experience that allows him to create a social media strategy and process that anyone will be able to create and use inside their business. Social Marketology is a Keeper This is a book that is ideal for any business owner who is looking for ways to tie their social media marketing to ROI (return-on-investment). Inside, you'll find examples of spreadsheets and project management checklists that will help you overcome the overwhelm that comes with trying to figure out how to focus your social media marketing. From Small Business Trends |
I ran across this study released in July that said that about | You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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