by Chris Hunter | Feb 2, 2016 | Web Sites & E-Marketing - Part 2
by Chris Hunter | Jan 4, 2016 | Advertising & Advertisements
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Marketing Strategies
It’s generally accepted that word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising. If someone whose opinion you value recommends a product to you chances are pretty good that you’ll be inclined to give it a try. Other forms of promotion don’t have nearly the same level of...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Marketing Strategies
The arrival of a big conglomerate often serves as a kiss of death to small businesses. Forhow can you compete with these giants in the face of the vast technological resources, deep pockets, seasoned management, and the powerful brands of, say, a Wal-Mart, Kmart,...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Pricing
Most Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) undervalue themselves and consequently have prices that aren’t genuinely high enough. The prices may cover the costs of the product and maybe even the marketing costs plus a small profit, but they could still be...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Pricing
Costs go up in a seemingly never-ceasing process. Suppliers raise their prices so the businesses that purchase from them raise their prices. Those businesses that purchase from the businesses that have just raised their prices have to raise their own prices. And so it...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Networking
by Chris Hunter | Jan 4, 2016 | Advertising & Advertisements
by Chris Hunter | Jan 31, 2016 | Sponsorships
The growing cost of advertising has forced many smaller enterprises to look towards sponsorships as a means of getting their brand across, especially for local businesses who view sponsorship as a contribution to their community as well as an avenue of promotion. The...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 19, 2016 | Marketing Plans
by Chris Hunter | Jan 23, 2016 | General - Marketing, Market Research
Very few businesses have a monopoly, as almost any product that is worth buying or selling will generate competition. But you need to have a detailed understanding of the products and services offered by your competitors, given that strong competitors could poach some...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 30, 2016 | Management & Motivation, Selling Skills, Selling Skills
Leads aren’t terribly hard to get. They can be purchased or bartered for. They can come from inquiries or from prospecting. Regardless of how they’re obtained, bulk quantities of leads are out there, waiting to be acquired. But that doesn’t mean...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 8, 2015 | Listening Skills, Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Marketing Strategies
Small firms are often penalized for their size. They don’t get as much attention from governmental authorities as bigger firms, nor are they likely to be considered as important when it comes to matters like making capital equipment purchases or tendering for...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Pricing
Pricing is something that most small businesses do in a way that’s less than scientific. Usually the owner makes an estimate of what the costs are of providing a product or service, then adds a fixed percentage and calls it “profit”. The result is a...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 17, 2016 | Direct Mail
Direct mail is a powerful marketing tool, and when it’s used creatively it can be extremely cost effective. The biggest mistake to make when planning a direct mail effort is to allow it be uninteresting. Direct mail pieces that are big on product features and...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 14, 2016 | General - Marketing
Many businesses decide to host an event of some kind — it could be a dinner for clients or perhaps a picnic for team members and their families. Whatever the reason for your big event might be, it pays to plan ahead and make sure it achieves its objectives....
by Chris Hunter | Dec 25, 2015 | Financial Ratios & Formulas, Pricing
by Chris Hunter | Dec 25, 2015 | Financial Ratios & Formulas, Pricing
by Chris Hunter | Jan 19, 2016 | Marketing Plans
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Marketing Strategies
An eBook is just what it sounds like – A book that’s published online and exists in an electronic format that can be downloaded from a website. Anyone can write an eBook, including you, and use it to market their business and its products. An eBook can be...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 14, 2016 | General - Marketing
There’s a lot of confusion about just what constitutes marketing. Is it advertising? Yes. Is it pricing? Yes. Is it selling? Not often enough. A lot has been said about all the new ways of marketing and how businesses have to change to reflect a new focus on...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Marketing Strategies
Did you ever buy something advertised on TV or in a magazine and end up disappointed with the quality or the performance of the product? Does it matter that you didn’t get what you thought you would? Surely it is the buyer’s responsibility to know what...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 14, 2016 | General - Marketing
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Marketing Plans, Marketing Strategies
Marketing a professional services firm to identified prospects can be daunting. It’s even more of a challenge to get the firm’s name out to the world at large. But it can be done, and it’s not really that difficult. If you need a reason why you...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 14, 2016 | General - Marketing
The members of the “twentysomethings” of today were born sometime between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s. As a marketing target they’re unlike any previous generation and so geared to new ideas that just getting their attention can be a real...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 19, 2016 | Marketing Plans
The baby boomers have been setting consumer trends for half a century now, and as they move through their 50s and into retirement, they will continue to do so. We are likely to see a significant change in consumer behavior for this demographic – consumption patterns...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 25, 2016 | Media Relations
When the news media come knocking on your company’s door, it often represents a golden opportunity to get your message across in a very credible way to your customers, your investors, your employees and your potential partners. Are you ready to seize the moment?...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Market Research, Marketing Plans, Marketing Strategies
Metrics are an essential element of modern marketing. The numbers related to the processes of a business can be useful in a variety of ways, and one of their most important uses is measuring the success or otherwise of a marketing plan. Even small businesses can now...
by Chris Hunter | Apr 3, 2016 | Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Networking
Owners of all kinds of small businesses are learning the value of networking. There’s a growing realization that doing well in business is often a matter of looking around and seeing what others are doing right and wrong – and doing the right things as often as...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Networking
Every time we attend a business function such as a training course, a trade show or an annual conference we have the opportunity to network. In fact, most of us network frequently, although we may not think of it exactly that way. Networking is the social part of...
by Chris Hunter | Feb 24, 2016 | Internet Searching, Market Research
To try and attract just the information you want means appreciating 4 broad areas: 1. How to construct a question 2. How search engines work 3. How to evaluate what you find 4. When to call it quits, (or not even bother starting!) and look for an alternative source...
by Chris Hunter | Apr 3, 2016 | Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Feb 20, 2016 | Internet Searching, Market Research
by Chris Hunter | Apr 3, 2016 | Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Feb 2, 2016 | Web Sites & E-Marketing - Part 2
by Chris Hunter | Jan 17, 2016 | Direct Mail
by Chris Hunter | Jan 9, 2016 | Branding
Business names are features of our urban landscape. We see them in lights on top of buildings, on billboards and over franchise outlets. Any time we pay attention to a particular business name, we trigger a set of memories and associations. If we have had good or bad...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 22, 2015 | Branding, Image, Marketing Plans
Business names are features of our urban landscape. We see them in lights on top of buildings, on billboards and over franchise outlets. Any time we pay attention to a particular business name, we trigger a set of memories and associations. If we have had good or bad...
by Chris Hunter | Dec 25, 2015 | Financial Ratios & Formulas, Pricing
by Chris Hunter | Jan 19, 2016 | Marketing Plans
Professional services firms have awakened to the need to market themselves as a means of acquiring new clients. However, once the client’s added to the list they’re too often simply “communicated with” rather than “marketed to”, and...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 19, 2016 | Marketing Plans
Things are going well for your business. You and the team are busy taking orders and delivering services and no one has time for marketing. Then it happens – quietly, almost imperceptibly – sales slow and continue slowing for a month. Of course you’re concerned. ...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Networking
by Chris Hunter | Jan 30, 2016 | Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Jan 24, 2016 | Marketing Strategies, Networking
Once you have customers you need to keep up the selling process to retain them and grow their business. One of the most effective ways to do this is to focus on the needs of customers through a process that is generally called “relationship marketing”. The...
by Chris Hunter | Apr 3, 2016 | Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Apr 3, 2016 | Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Jan 26, 2016 | Pricing
by Chris Hunter | Feb 2, 2016 | Web Sites & E-Marketing - Part 2
Very informative presentation on how to make sure you’re getting the return from your company’s effort in social media outreach. Click the picture to view the slidedeck . . .
Chris’ combination of academic credentials, career experience and temperament ideally suit his calling as a business development advisor. Clients say he has a mind for business and a heart for service.