StartupNation

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• StartupNation Growth Hacks #2: Establish Your Expertise With a Podcast
• For a Better Pricing Strategy, Think Like Goldilocks
• 5 Ways to Revamp Your Company’s Culture

StartupNation Growth Hacks #2: Establish Your Expertise With a Podcast Posted: 22 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST The second in a series. With more than 24 years of experience covering startups and small businesses, we’ve built up a knowledge base of what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur and we’re eager to share what we’ve learned. We’ve identified easy-to-implement, game-changing tactics to advance your business objectives. Why podcasts are important First, we're not focused on recommending that you host a podcast in the traditional sense intended as a source of entertainment and made available wherever podcasts are discovered and consumed. Rather, we're recommending that you host a podcast  specifically as a means to establish your expertise to generate more sales. Two of the proven ways small businesses can compete with big business is to forge relationships with customers as well as to provide greater value to those customers. Hosting a podcast of your own that originates from your website is a path to achieving both of these critically important objectives. Establishing your expertise builds confidence, which leads to sales. A podcast is a powerful way to demonstrate and spotlight your expertise. To establish your expertise, convey who you are and what you've achieved and showcase your passion and deep knowledge for what it is that you sell. Then make it clear how your unique knowledge delivers value to your customers, for example, by offering the optimal product or service relevant to the customer's individual needs or by offering guidance on how to best use the purchase to achieve the best results. The big box retailer is always going to win on price, but boutique, highly focused smaller businesses have the opportunity to win on value and a podcast gives you a perfect opportunity to achieve this objective. Strengthen relationships with your customers through storytelling in which you feature not only your own personal backstory and that of your business but also stories about your customers and their experiences with you and your business. Relatability is key. And while this content could be delivered in a blog, for example, hearing it in your own voice comes across as authentic and genuine and therefore the most powerful way to convey the content. Let your voice be heard. People want to do business with people – and companies – they trust. Simply hearing your voice can fortify your connection to and with your customers. Here’s how to put this week’s growth hack into action now. To start a podcast that drives results, follow these simple steps: 1. Starting a podcast is pretty simple. Our digital marketing subject matter expert Shay Berman offers an overview of how you can start your own podcast on startupnation.com. 2. Once you've started your podcast, it's crucial that you make it easy for your audience to find, whether it's in a prominent place on your website, promoted socially, or available on distribution platforms. You'll want to alert your audience to new episodes via last week's StartupNation Hack (the newsletter) as well. Get the word out and be consistent with your promotional efforts! 3. Make sure your podcast produces content regularly and clearly emphasizes who you are. Storytelling is a great way to build relationships with your customers. It'll take time to get into a rhythm, but soon you'll find it fun and easy to do. Remember: You're not trying to become the next Joe Rogan podcast success. Authenticity is more important than perfection in this context. If it helps, think of it as having a conversation with your family around the dinner table or your friends over lunch. 4. Leave room for brief (10 seconds or so) commercials. These commercials should be for your company. You're trying to make money indirectly through the podcast through ads for your business. We're talking about your own company's advertisements. These ads are most effective when executed as customer testimonials. They also allow you to promote time-sensitive deals. It's better to read these ads live rather than as prerecorded audio. It will sound more authentic and take advantage of the power of podcasting. 5. Include a text transcript alongside the audio so you can take full advantage of SEO to help you and your business be discovered, which drives new potential customers to your website. It's key to use a good transcription service to avoid nonsensical, incorrect or gobbledygook language. Put this hack to work for you now. There is no time like the present and this multimedia approach is the way to go. Sign Up: Receive the StartupNation newsletter! The post StartupNation Growth Hacks #2: Establish Your Expertise With a Podcast appeared first on StartupNation.

For a Better Pricing Strategy, Think Like Goldilocks Posted: 22 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST Being more profitable is the result of a successful campaign to cut costs and to pump up sales. But the real profit comes about through a pricing strategy that works. The most popular pricing strategy for startups and small businesses is to follow the lemmings and charge what everyone else charges or to calculate the costs and target a certain margin. Both are disasters. Following the pack leads to average profits at best. Marking up from costs leaves money on the table. Following the pack leads to average profits at best. So, is there a better way? First, you must have a value proposition that works. This value proposition must sell your story in very few words and answer the question: "Why should I buy from you?" I was on the senior management team of a leading fabrication company in Canada. We had a meeting with an enormous company for whom we wanted a lot of work. The first question from their side of the table was: “Why should we buy from you?” That was a real gut punch. Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in Their Business Journey The company owner replied, "Because we will deliver the right product to you on time." The buyers just rolled their eyes and looked bored. Why? Because every fabrication company in town said the same thing but failed to deliver the product as ordered (wrong color, bent left instead of right, wrong size holes) and always, always late. The owner, watching this happen, responded with: "Let me explain. We know that we will deliver the product as ordered 97.3% of the time and to your loading bay plus or minus 1 day of the order date." This blew them away. It made us stand head and shoulders above the crowd simply because we made an effort to quantify our competitive edge. We got the contracts. Once you have a value proposition, wee can proceed to converting that to value pricing. Build a list of all the value you can put on the table. Each item in this list should be apparently valuable to the customer but often will cost you money. Even offering a longer warranty costs you money! When you get to 25 measurable customer benefits, stop. This is your dream list and should have a Dream Price that will earn all the money you dreamed of when you started your business. What is the dream price? When you started out in business, you calculated how much you needed to break even (the Floor Price) and how much you hoped (dreamed) to take home from your efforts. These numbers form the basis for the Dream Price. Please note that the price will fluctuate over time, both up and down, as market conditions change, but that in deploying this technique you will be constantly refreshed by your customers and be able to stay current. Step 2: Start cutting features and benefits from your list of 25. Concentrate on items that cost you money, until you have 15 left. Then remove those costs from the list of 25 and recalculate your price. This is your Everyday Price. You still have profit on these jobs. And ideally, since we as people tend to choose in the middle, this price point should have the highest margin. Finally, cut that list again to only 15 benefits and subtract those costs to arrive at your Econo Price. This price still makes you money and will enable you to get contracts from customers with thin wallets. You are still profitable because you cut out items that cost you money but the customer gets less value. Why 3 and not 103? Because the well-documented Goldilocks effect tells us that having more than three choices leads to paralysis in decision-making. A single price (the usual way we offer our price) is a take it or leave it proposal. There are only two outcomes possible – Yes or NO. There is little discussion. Two choices is too close to the stark take it or leave it price. But at three choices, the bed is not too hard, not too soft, but exactly right. At four choices, the customer gets brain freeze and has to consult with a partner or superior. I once owned a renovation company. I had just taken an estimating course in Chicago and returned, freshly minted, to estimate a bathroom renovation. Measurements taken and costs penciled in, I presented a price of $5,000 to the customers at their kitchen table. When they sat there glumly, I suggested that maybe they were not comfortable with the price. They agreed, telling me that they had hoped to pay $4,000 for the job. "No problem," I responded. "I will replace the expensive pedestal sink with a more modest basin and reduce the quality (and cost) of a couple of other items.” The new total was $4,000 and I left their home with a contract signed and deposit in hand.  I did not have to discount. It would have been simpler to give a discount, but that $1,000 would have come from my pocket. Why does this approach work? First you are building a connection to the customer by letting them choose the price that suits their wallet. Not everyone has a fat wallet. Second, you get the backstory on your client that you will struggle to get elsewhere. All the sales books tell you to get to know your customer. That is almost impossible now since attention spans are shrinking. But the most important part of this way of pricing is that you get instant, measurable feedback on what matters to the potential customer, including whether they will pay for it. So, if the type of paint you offer is not important, it comes off your list of benefits. If everyone is focusing on ceramic tile floors, then tiling gets added. Does it work? In multiple consulting projects, this process compelled the seller to focus attention on what value is being offered to the customers. With this design, each of the price points is profitable. … And no one ever had to discount to get a sale. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here. The post For a Better Pricing Strategy, Think Like Goldilocks appeared first on StartupNation.

5 Ways to Revamp Your Company’s Culture Posted: 22 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST If you want your business to be a place where people would love to work, you should focus on your company's culture. A startup's culture should be something that isn't just stated; it's engrained into your vision, mission and purpose. If you've focused on outward growth and expansion, it's time to look internally. Here are five ways you can revamp your startup's culture in 2018, making employees want to work for and stay loyal to your business. Be open and honest One way you can revamp your small business culture is to open your doors and be honest with your employees. Allow employees to take a half-day or work from home if they are dealing with personal matters. Let them know that they can come to you with concerns, ideas or questions. Encourage their innovation and show your appreciation for their hard work. If big changes happen within the company, fill them in once you've ironed out all the details. It's better that they're told of the changes by you personally, rather than through the rumor mill. Related: 5 Ways to Create an Inspiring Shared Work Culture Invest in employee wellness Wellness programs have grown in popularity among larger businesses, and if you want to attract top talent, you might want to consider implementing some of your own (55 percent of job seekers will take a lower paying job if the benefits are good enough). You can offer wellness programs in a variety of ways, which can also save on your budget. Partner up with local fitness centers for discounts on classes or offer in-house workout classes. You can also focus on helping employees’ mental health by offering yoga or meditation classes. Crack down on bad behavior If you have employees who are extremely talented but who are also unkind about it, it's time to crack down on their behavior. Too often, businesses play into the idea of top performers, but that can lead to tolerating otherwise unacceptable behavior, tension and aggression between coworkers and unnecessary competition. Open your doors for employees to come forward with concerns, and address these concerns seriously. A strong team that works together and watches out for each other is better than a team with one or two top performing employees and multiple discouraged and unhappy employees. Let your employees work remotely Ninety-one percent of employees working remotely hope to continue to do so, with hybrid work being the preference, according to a Gallup poll. While you don't have to let employees work from home every day, allow them to do so if they need to (weather conditions, long commutes, not feeling well, etc.). Remote work can save your startup some money, with studies showing that businesses save an average of $20K a year for these remote employees. These businesses also saw a 22 percent increase in productivity and a 50 percent fall in employee turnover. Sign Up: Receive the StartupNation newsletter! Make your startup a place people want to work for Your employees should enjoy working at your startup, and other entrepreneurs should want to work with you. It's not probable to make every minute of every day exciting or fun. However, consider offering a variety of perks, big or small, to boost morale, productivity and efficiency in your business. You can offer outdoor workspaces, a game room, massage chairs or free snacks, casual days and every-so-often catered lunches. Your company's culture is an essential part of your employees’ happiness and productivity. While your culture may say it's collaborative, exciting and fun, it's more than just words; you need to live that culture. These five efforts can help you revamp your startup’s culture this year to help attract and keep great talent. Originally published on Jan. 26, 2018. The post 5 Ways to Revamp Your Company's Culture appeared first on StartupNation.

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