Business Has Changed... Have You?

Posted October 8, 2009 - 9:25am by Jim Worrell

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/images/2007/05/31/telematics.jpgIt is important to remember that the world-wide-web became mainstream in the mid-late 1990’s. The Internet as we know it is still in its infancy, and the changes taking place, from social networking to interactive web sites is changing business forever. 

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

It’s never to late to get with the game.  Here are just a few of the many things your organization can do to become more mainstream:

  1. Make your web site more interactive.  Can visitors leave comments? Place an order? Download important information?  Request a  newsletter?  View a video?  Most web sites are “so 20th century”… begin by updating yours today. (We can help)
  1. Start a blog.  You’ll be surprised (as I was) at how many people will read your blog.
  1. Hire young people:  If you are over 40, you probably think different than the 20-somethings.  Bring fresh blood into your organization and let them bring the new world into your business.  Keep an open mind to the new ideas and new ways of doing things.
  1. Be easy to do business with:  Is it difficult to do business with you?  Ask your customers, you might be surprised.  Make information easy to get.  Maybe change your phone system giving your employees 24 / 7 access to the network and VOIP from anywhere in the world.  Put documents online.
  1. Rethink your marketing strategy:  Gone are the days of $20,000 full-page ads in magazines.  Yes, the publishers are still selling them, but their effectiveness is low, low, low.  Prospects and customers want to be treated as an individual, not as a faceless group.  Direct marketing is more effective as it can be tailored to your individual customers. 
  1. Re-train your sales force to be more consultative and to use social media.  If they don’t “get it”, then find some that do.  The other ones will just drag you down in the long  term.
  1. Interact and Read:  Success in today’s market relies more and more on who you meet and what your read.  Get out more often. Read leading edge books that keep your mind sharp and present you with new ideas.
     
  2. Innovate or die:  As the world changes around you, your organization must change to keep up.  And to get ahead, you must be even better than the competition.  How can you be better?  What new programs can you implement?  Be creative and take a risk. 

Dedicated to your success in America,

 

Jim Worrell

The American Entrepreneur