Our Solutions News Blog was envisioned to gather and share information from the very best to help you and your business to become more effective.
Are your processes and B2B and B2C content, promotion-ready for sales to flourish this spring?...
It’s finally time to spring forward. You are more than ready to shed both the Covid and winter doldrums and get your business fired up for the warmer months ahead. But how exactly do you spring ahead for the best results?
#1 Review Current Processes
It’s time for some spring cleaning. Review all of your marketing and sales processes, and see what is working and what isn’t. If you have no idea, it’s time to put some monitoring processes in place so you can actually track results.
Once you have this information, you can focus more time and effort on the tactics that are actually working… and get rid of those that don’t.
#2 Prepare Your B2B and B2C Content Strategy
What are your sales goals and what kind of content are you going to produce to reach those goals? Who are the audience members you want to reach and how are you going to get your targeted content to them?
Ask yourself these questions, and write down your plan. Then, create an editorial calendar of the content you need, when it will be posted, how it will be distributed and tracked, and who is responsible for each element.
People want valuable information. Give them what they want!
#3 Talk To Your Team
How are things going with the people who help you run your business? Are your employees happy? Reach out to all of your associates, partners, clients, employees, and more to get their feedback. How can you make their lives easier?
Now is the perfect time to fix potential issues from becoming big problems, improving processes so your business runs as smoothly as possible, motivating others to do their best work, and thanking people for their help.
#4 Be Creative
The best way to get out of the “same old routine” is to make changes happen. Set aside some time to develop new ideas for your business… on your own and with others.
Hold “creative” brainstorming-sessions with your team members, have a business “field trip” or party at a fun, outside location, or just reserve some quiet time to think about resolutions to key issues.
By focusing on creativity, you may be surprised at how you can improve your business and jumpstart marketing, sales and more!
#5 Enjoy the New Season
Spring is a time for new beginnings. Why not give your business a fresh start?
Review current processes, develop a content strategy for the months ahead, and spend some fun time with your employees and associates to improve processes and develop new ideas.
You’ll have fun being creative, get organized and help boost sales… just in time to do more of the things you like to do outside in the warmer temperatures!
Want more help to boost sales with your Print and Signage?
Please contact us for free information, tips and assistance!
Source: StartupNation
Running A Small Business? Find The Benefits Of Signage...
Running a small business is already complex enough and it never seems that you have enough time to get the work done. One of the major things that can help to take down on the amount of time that you will spend answering questions at the business is by getting the right signs in place. By knowing about the benefits of getting the proper signage it will be very easy for you to see this is a great way for you to run your business and start to get the return on your business investment that you want to have.
#1 Helps People Find The Business
This is one of the things you should realize this can do without being spoken about. However, sometimes people will forget the signs that are up at the road will help people start to find the business. So you will want to make sure you have a sign at the road, but also on the building. This way people are able to find the business and know which building it is located in. If you are in an office building, then you will want to make sure your business has a label on the board by the elevators that can help to guide the customers or clients to the office that you are going to be working with.
#2 Guides People Around The Business
This is one aspect that a lot of major retail stores have started to take advantage of and that is the hanging signs are going to help guide people to the different sections of the store. However, even in a small business, this will help people in getting to start to learn their way around the location. So you will not have to be concerned about the customers coming up every five seconds to ask where something in the business is located at.
When you are using these signs to help guide the customers around the business, you need to make sure they are in a location that is easily visible. When it is easy to find the items, you will notice that people are going to be able to get from the back of the store or the entrance way to the area they want to be at without going to the desk and asking the employees who may already be busy taking care of other customers.
#3 Can Provide A Catchy Logo Or Color Pattern
A sign that you are having installed can start to provide you with the information that can help in getting a logo or color that can stand out from the rest. This is going to allow you to have a great time because people will start to see your name and logo, but also the colors and know exactly what they are talking about. What else is nice about the signs is some of them will allow you to add some characters onto the signs as well, which is going to help out in getting the great look you want to have and have an item that will set you off from everyone else.
#4 Helps With Branding Of The Company
We mentioned briefly on the logo and image of the business that you can have on the signs. What you will really like is this is going to help you start to build your brand. This will make it easier for you to have the right feedback for your business and know that people will start to recognize it and the name that you have for your business will often start to become associated with the logo and colors.
#5 Helps Announce Specials or Sales
When you are properly using the signs, you will notice that some of the uses can be to help you announce a special sale or a special you have going on in the store. So this will help you in getting the extra draw of customers that you never would have thought about reaching before for your business. So, this is going to be a great thing for your company and it will help you out in making more money than what you normally would.
A good example of this would be the sidewalk sales you see some stores doing. These sales are fairly obvious when you are walking up to the store, but not all the stores are located where you would be walking up to the store. So you will want to make sure you look at this because it can help you draw in crowds from the road if you have signs that are announcing the sales properly placed by the road.
#6 Provides A Warning To What Is Going On
When you think about the safety of your customers you need to realize one of the major concerns will be a wet floor. When your customers are on a wet floor and slip and fall, then you will be at fault normally. However, if you have the proper notification out about the wet floors and to use caution or even a watch your head type of sign you will be able to alert your customers about the hazards that are here in the business. You will not have to be concerned about the customers not being aware of the hazards that are in the area.
With a new year upon us and no sign of the pandemic slowing down anytime soon, now is the perfect time to refresh and replace the signage in your business... We have the Physical Distancing Signage you need! No job is to big or small.
Source: BusinessBlogshub.com
There are three trends which we believe will be very important in the coming twelve months. Let’s have a look at each of these.
#1 Homeworking
It's not just big business, it's all sizes and types and it could be permanent. For example, major UK banks have mothballed 60% of their back office buildings. They haven’t been mothballed until the end of Coronavirus, they are permanently out of use. Homeworking has become essential for many and it not only raises challenges of connectivity, but also for adopting new systems that are accessible by your entire team 24/7 via the Internet.
To help address this with our Dominion Blue clients, we've significantly improved and enhanced our web-to-print products with customization options that match your individual specific needs. Doing more with less people and resources has become a key challenge for us all and we are here to help you.
#2 Complete solutions
Customers are looking for efficiencies and so the more complete your solution is the more likely they are to embrace your products and service. The same is true for us, with more and more new customers seeing the need for print and signage. We don't just stop there however, we work with your team to carefully review each idea. Once we are all clear on the end-goal, we can coordinate everything from the design and print thru to fulfilment. This can include professional installations involving signage and custom projects like real estate presentation centres, in-store wall decor, point of purchase displays and more.
#3 Continued change
What’s going to happen over the next few months. No-one knows! We are all in a situation where we have to adapt to changes that we cannot predict. It is a scary time.
With hundreds of years of accumulative experience our team can help you with your pivoting and adapting to this ever-changing social and business climate. You don't have to go it alone. find out more »
In the face of a crisis or economic slowdown, resilient organizations ride out uncertainty instead of being overpowered by it...
How Did Business Create Resilience During & After The 2008 Recession?
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In 2008 we went through a worldwide recession and companies that implemented the strategy of resilience came back faster and even leaped ahead of their competition. Now Covid has thrust us into an equally challenging time. Find out how adopting resilience can help you though these unprecedented times.quickly. access the resilience resource centre »
Source: McKinsey & Company
Companies can structure their organizations and decision processes for resilience by embracing six principles of long-lasting systems:
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Source: Harvard Business Review / Written By: Martin Reeves & Kevin Whitaker
The essence of resilient leadership: Business recovery from COVID
Resilient leaders shift organizational mindsets, navigate uncertainties, and invest in building trust in order to develop a recovery playbook that serves as a solid foundation for the post-COVID future.
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Whereas organizations used to describe agile change as “fixing the plane while it flies,” the COVID-19 pandemic has rewritten the rules of upheaval in modern times. Those of us leading any organization—from corporations to institutions to our own families—are not fixing the plane in midair, we’re building it. Times like these need leaders who are resilient in the face of such dramatic uncertainties.
The first article in this series described the essential foundations leaders need in order to effectively navigate through the crisis.1 Resilient leaders are defined first by five essential qualities of who they are, and then by what they do across three critical time frames: Respond, Recover, and Thrive.
As we progress into the Recover phase of the crisis, resilient leaders recognize and reinforce critical shifts from a “today” to a “tomorrow” mindset for their teams. They perceive how major COVID-19-related market and societal shifts have caused substantial uncertainties that need to be navigated—and seized as an opportunity to grow and change. Amid these uncertainties, resilient leadership requires even greater followership, which must be nurtured and catalyzed by building greater trust. And resilient leaders start by anticipating what success looks like at the end of recovery—how their business will thrive in the long term—and then guide their teams to develop an outcomes-based set of agile sprints to get there.
Resilience is not a destination; it is a way of being. A “resilient organization” is not one that is simply able to return to where it left off before the crisis. Rather, the truly resilient organization is one that has transformed, having built the attitudes, beliefs, agility, and structures into its DNA that enable it to not just recover to where it was, but catapult forward—quickly. read on »
Source: Deloitte Insights / Written By: Bill Marquard
No one can do business with you if they don’t know you exist. In order for you to start making some traction in your business or to level up, you must invest in your personal branding, and work hard to get the word out...
When Chic CEO was in its first year of business, I remember getting to a networking event after just leaving another and met a woman in the bar line - because #wine. We introduced ourselves and she said, “I see you everywhere.” It was the first time we had chatted, but she already knew Chic CEO. My business partner and I were on a mission, bound and determined to be seen.
Obscurity can be one of the biggest business killers to any venture. Here are some ways to step out and get known.
Niche Down, Down, Down And Find The “That’s me!” Response
Homing in on your target market is one of the very best things you can do for yourself and your business. When you can get super clear on who you work with, marketing becomes exponentially easier. I recently met a woman who is a hair stylist and she said she specializes in blonds with short hair. “That’s me!” I squeaked. Brilliant. I rarely hear of a stylist getting that specific when describing what they do. Cut, color, style, what else is there? Turns out, a lot. I didn’t realize that stylists niche down too, until that moment. She actually made me say, “that’s me!” and that’s marketing gold. The more specific you can get on who you serve, the easier it is to break out of obscurity and the internet noise.
Pick One Social Channel And Hit It Hard
Watering down your presence isn’t a smart strategy. Your audience might hang out in a few places, but chances are, the majority of them prefer one social platform over another. Focus your time in being ever present on that channel. Melyssa Griffin, a prominent blogger who teaches others to create profitable blogs, doubles down on Pinterest. Larry Kim, founder of Mobile Monkey, puts a lot of his effort into Medium. It’s not that they aren’t present on other social channels or platforms, but you can see they have found where their audience hangs out and they show up to that party. If you are working solo, your best bet is to stick to one social channel and hit it hard - so you can maximize effort with the little time you have.
Post Content Where Your People Are Hanging Out
To piggy back off of the previous point, you may notice that there are more people hanging out on platforms like Medium, than they are on your blog. When you are posting non-stop to your own blog with little traction, start posting where people might actually see it. There are many media outlets that allow you to write for them, or places you can post your content. Start pushing your message, ideas and value to platforms that already have an audience, rather than your blog where only a handful of people might see it.
Create Strategic Partnerships
Linking up with another business who has the same audience but an ancillary product or service can only help the both of you. Get creative on how you can promote each other to gain more awareness and value for the customers and clients you serve. Related: How To Create Strategic Partnerships. Find ways to create cross promotions, team up on events, help each other achieve the peak end experience or simply do some email swaps. Leverage each other to bring more value to your customers and benefit from the awareness it brings.
Become The Local News Expert
One of the fastest ways to get seen is through press. Press can be tricky, but the key is to provide value. Always provide value. When you are someone that the local press knows can give great tips on how to keep the kids busy for summer, or the proper way to stretch before a marathon - they will call you first. Be their trusted expert in your subject matter and they’ll think of you when something comes up.
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Worried there’s too much noise in the market for your business to cut through? In this clip, Seth Godin explains why the traditional idea of differentiation is selfish and shares his much more generous approach to market positioning that won’t make you want to stab your eyes out with a fork. Watch the full interview with Seth Godin here:
Sources: Forbes / Written By: Stephanie Burns ... YouTube / Seth Godin
