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business strategy

Sarah Worsham / Feb 16, 2009

Is Free Actually Valuable?

freelimbopoetOne way to entice customers to try your product or service is by giving away a sample for free.  This tactic is quite prevalent online with free e-books, free webinars, free slideshows, etc.  But is free actually valuable?

On the one hand, putting a value of 0 on something may make it seem less valuabe to potential customers.  Why are you willing to give it away?  It must not be all that great.  On the other hand, offering a free sample has become expected, especially for companies establishing themselves.  As a new product or service, a reputation has not yet been developed and so potential customers have no where to turn to get an opinion about whether its worth buying.

I think free is a great way to give potential customers a risk-free taste of your products or services – and, as I said above, it is pretty much expected.  However, I think what is given away should actually be valuable.  Take a bit of time to provide useful information to your potential customers and instead of thinking of it as free, think of it as a trial.

(photo by Limbo Poet @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: business, business strategy, marketing, marketing strategy, strategy, internet marketing

Sarah Worsham / Feb 12, 2009

Do You Know What Your Customers Don't Know?

questionandreannaThis is the question that every business asks themselves (or should) – What do our customers not know?  It is vitally important to know the answer to this question because that is the very information you need to have on your website and in your brochures.  Potential Customers come to your website to get the answer to their questions.

The hard part is that the question is not the same for everyone.  But there are some easy ways to find out what customers want to know.  Most obvious and easy is just to ask them.  Much of this information is also already known by employees of your company.  Anyone who takes sales or support calls will have information about what customers have questions about.

Helping customers answer their questions will lead to higher customer satisfaction and an improved sales process, plus provide you with better content on your website and brochures.

(photo by Andreanna @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: business, business strategy, customer service, customer-centric, marketing, strategy

Sarah Worsham / Feb 3, 2009

Want to Reach Your Goals? Make Sure They're Attainable

goalcoxyIf you have goals like “Increase profits” or “Make Money” or even “Be Profitable”, you may have a hard time achieving those goals.  Why?  Because they are not clearly defined nor do they have a set time limit.  When setting goals, it’s important that they are short, to the point, and reachable within a certain time.

Setting goals which are actually attainable will make it easier to figure out the tactics you need to implement to reach the goal.  Most of all, these goals are actually useable for management and business purposes and will help align your company to work towards a single endpoint.  Reaching a goal is great for morale, which is important if you want to be able to focus on new goals in the future.

Sometimes businesses get caught up in setting goals which are a bit outside of their reach.  Sometimes “stretch goals”, these goals are sometimes attainable by putting in an amazing amount of effort and having a lot of luck.  Some people think that having goals that are not easily attainable makes people work harder, but usually there is little reward for working so hard and it is not sustainable without burnout – which eventually leads to less productivity.

So intead of setting big lofty goals that no one really understands how to reach, try for smaller, concise goals which have a specific timeline.  For example, “Increase profits by 5% by the end of the first quarter, 2009”.  You’ll set up both yourself and your business for success.

(photo by coxy @ Flickr CC)

Technorati Tags: goals, strategy, business, marketing

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About Sazbean


Sarah Worsham (Sazbean) is a Webgrrl = Solution Architect + Product Management (Computer Engineer * Geek * Digital Strategist)^MBA. All views are her own.

Business + Technical Product Management

My sweet spot is at the intersection between technology and business. I love to manage and develop products, market them, and deep dive into technical issues when needed. Leveraging strategic and creative thinking to problem solving is when I thrive. I have developed and marketed products for a variety of industries and companies, including manufacturing, eCommerce, retail, software, publishing, media, law, accounting, medical, construction, & marketing.

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