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With SCORE, you have lots of support. Browse these tools and find resources to help you make decisions on starting or growing your enterprise. Your SCORE mentor can assist in putting your ideas into action.
Tips from SCORE
Small business advice from SCORE Cape Cod & the Islands published every Sunday in the Cape Cod Times
According to Hubspot, 65% of businesses say that generating traffic and leads is their biggest marketing challenge.
Small businesses have two ways of creating awareness of their brand to generate leads. One is termed outbound marketing and the other is inbound marketing. Inbound is defined by use of your website, social media, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and blogging.
There are three key objectives when implementing inbound strategies: (1) Convert website visitors into sales leads with effective lead capture forms and content offers, (2) Nurture those leads with automated email
Are you paying attention to your employees? One of the most important skills in owning, managing, and leading a small business is LISTENING. Empathic listening. Being present, engaged, and aware of both verbal and nonverbal communication is key to having an engaged workforce.
When we listen we learn. We become aware of issues, situations, and activities that are shielded from us merely because we are not involved in all the engagements in our businesses.
I recently became aware of the “Iceberg of Ignorance.” It is the reason that we need to be engaged listeners. Why? Above the water is
Small businesses on Cape Cod and the Islands have two methods for driving awareness and thus sales – inbound and outbound marketing.
Outbound marketing includes digital and print newspaper ads, TV ads, billboards, cold calling, and display ads in local magazines like Cape Cod Life or Cape & Plymouth Business media, while inbound relies on slow-burn content marketing, such as blogs, opt-in email nurture flows, and native recommendations. Inbound marketing is a unified strategy for generating traffic, converting leads, and analyzing marketing initiatives. It is the opposite of flooding
Customer acquisition is a very expensive part of the small business equation. It doesn’t make sense to close a sale, service a customer, lose the customer, and then start over again with another prospect.
Carl Sewell, an incredibly successful automobile dealer in Dallas, Texas, learned about hospitality from the Japanese culture, cleanliness from Disney, and politeness from his mother. He penned these “10 Commandments of Customer Service”: Bring ’em back alive. Ask customers what they want and give it to them again and again.
Systems, not smiles. Saying please and thank you doesn’t
According to CNBC’s 2022 study of the gig economy, 36% of U.S. workers play a part in this $57 billion industry. The Brookings Institute study in 2022 reported that 52% of workers who plan to quit their jobs admit they are considering a freelance career instead of their more stable, secure corporate life. This same study reported that the gig economy has grown by 15% in the past decade.
What kinds of work is defined as “gig”? Caterers, videographers, business consultants. life coaches, web designers, graphic designers, brand marketing specialists, writers, editors and proofreaders
The Japanese word “kaizen” means change for the better with an emphasis on continuous improvement. Who could not want that? If you have a satisfied customer today, would you not want an even more satisfied customer tomorrow who will buy more and tell more people to frequent your business and buy?
The improvement doesn’t have to be large. It can be a tiny step, but one that makes a difference. In recent history, the concept was adopted and improved by Toyota. In Japan, kaizen typically refers to small steps in improvement, but in the U.S. the concept has been adopted to mean driven by
Many people think that successful businesses, especially small businesses, have great managers. But the reality is that really successful businesses have great leaders.
Leaders achieve the goals and objectives of an enterprise through their teams. Leaders are people-focused and managers tend to be structure focused. Many professionals think that you have to be an effective manager first before you become an outstanding leader.
Effective leadership is manifest in a number of qualities.
Leaders know themselves. They know their strengths and their weaknesses. They are able to assess
Leadership is often interpreted as being tough, mission-focused and taking a leave-no-prisoners approach; much like George Patton’s style of leading his troops in WWII and Jack Welch at GE. But today as leadership in business evolves we need to design empathy into the formula of best practices. Why? To retain, cultivate and motivate the best talent we have taken so much time and so many resources to recruit, bring on board, and train.
According to Davianne Harris, empathy is more of a mindset than a skill. And, Tara Van Bommel defines empathy as: the skill of (1) connecting with others
When you think of quality control, you probably think of manufacturing businesses inspecting products for flaws. In reality, quality control processes can be used in all types of businesses, whether they are product-based, service-based, B2B, or B2C.
Quality control is a key component of a well-run business. A quality control/quality assurance program helps to ensure your small business is delivering a consistent product, service, and customer experience. Developing quality assurance processes allows your business to operate without you, making it easier to expand into new locations
