Grow Your Business

At AR & Company, we used to do a lot more than write copy, graphic design and websites, we also looked at the big picture and helped our businesses grow. This page is dedicated to providing helpful tips for business owners who wish to learn more. We hope you find these helpful.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING UP ON EMAILS:

Most business owners have gravitated towards using email as a form of communication with their clients and colleagues. Therefore upon receiving an email from anyone, whether business or personal, it is important to follow up. Often emails are overlooked and put on the backburner, left to respond to at a later time. Emails should be treated no different than a phone call. Proper etiquette would be to return an email within the same day it was received.

  • Responses don’t have to be lengthy. Keep them short and sweet. If you can’t respond in a paragraph or two consider making a telephone phone call.
  • Be sure to include your name, company name and company information at the bottom of every email sent.
  • If you are too busy to respond, acknowledge the sender by sending a short reply saying that you received their email and letting them know when they can expect to hear back from you.

Part of doing good business is maintaining a professional image at all times. This includes responding to emails promptly.

 

IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE:

Have you ever gone to the grocery store without a list? You wind up wandering aimlessly through the aisles throwing a hodge-podge of items in your cart, no real meal plan in mind. Advertising without having identified your target market is similar. If you do not know who you want to market to then often you wind up wasting advertising dollars in all the wrong places.

  • WHO do you want to sell your product or services to?
  • WHAT does your company sell or what service do they provide?
  • WHERE do you want to sell your products or services?
  • WHEN do you offer your services or products?
  • WHY are you marketing to a particular audience?

The above questions must be answered prior to putting a marketing plan together.

 

TRACKING YOUR ADVERTISING:

Often we are asked at AR & Company what the best form of advertising is for a particular business. As a company specializing in marketing we have several suggestions to best represent your business. We can get you started working with various forms of advertising including radio, newspaper and even online advertising. Unfortunately we can not determine what is working best for you if you aren’t tracking your advertising. Here are a few pointers to tracking your advertising.

  • When a new client calls ask how they heard about you.
  • Keep a list for each type of advertising you are using i.e. radio, newspaper, etc.
  • Be specific in recording your results. What radio station did your new client hear you on, at what time?

Tracking your advertising not only helps you determine where potential clients are seeing you but it also helps you to determine where to best spend your advertising dollars.