Tag Archives: Business

Facebook’s mini-tracking software

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Good news for you social networkers out there, Facebook has launched the newest in socialbiz features.For business owners that have a Facebook site for their company, you can now get to know your fans better…for free! This makes it that much easier to know who your target audience is. Page admins with at least 30 fans now have access to information that lets you know where your fans are located, and what their demographics are without getting too specific.

Admins can also view PPI *per post impression” dating back to June, 25th, 2010. You can find the PPI either directly under a post on your wall or under the Interactions segment of the Insights page.

FYI: PPI is only visible to admins, so don’t worry about your fans judging you if your post didn’t get the most “impressions” that day.

Here’s what our demographics look like:

demographics Facebooks mini tracking software

So, why should you care? Customers are any business’s biggest priority, and this is a free way to learn more about them. Facebook is now a bridge between you and your customers in more ways than one. Now, not only is it a means of communication but now this new feature makes it more personal. Understanding little pieces of data such as this can lead to some great things for business.

Why Kitting Your Items Will Increase Your Bottom Line

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As a store owner, the bottom line is always important. Its this number that you are constantly thinking about. When we see it go up, we smile; and when it goes down, so does our attitude. A big part of business is coming up with strategies that increase this number, and one simple way to do this is by creating Product Kits.

What is a product kit?

kittingitems newegg 300x143 Why Kitting Your Items Will Increase Your Bottom LineA product kit is when you take similar items and place them together to be sold, also called “combo deals” or something of that fashion. Newegg does this when ordering some of their products. They create combo deals where if you buy a group of products together you receive a discounted price. When you order a mouse, they’ll also sell you a keyboard with it. Because of the discounted price, a buyer feels more inclined to buy the extra item.

Amazon utilizes combo deals to their advantage.

Amazon does this by putting products together that are “frequently bought together.” You are given the option to buy several products together at a reduced price. To the customer, they are paying less per book, which if they were getting the price on the book individually, Amazon would have a lower profit margin. However, because they are purchasing all three books together, depending on how much Amazon has reduced the price, they are retaining a better profit margin, and more than likely more than if the customer bought the book individually.kittingitems amazon 300x123 Why Kitting Your Items Will Increase Your Bottom Line

How do I figure out my profit margin?

The best way to do this is by busting out a calculator and some pen & paper. Let’s say I’m selling a pair of earrings for $12. It costs me$5 to have them made/get them from whomever so that I can sell them. My profit from selling the pair would be $7. Now let’s also assume I sell necklaces at my store. There is one necklace that matches perfectly with these earrings. It sells for $20 and costs me $8, so I make a profit of $12.

So when I sell the items by themselves I make a pretty good amount, but the necklace isn’t selling as frequently as the earrings because of its price. Instead of just discounting the necklace alone and reducing your profit margin you can pair it with the earrings and sell them together for $28 ($4 off). You would make $13 on every sale of this kit. Sure its $6 less than what you would make selling the items individually, but if you weren’t selling any of the necklaces, you’re making more than expected off the item.

Should I be kitting all my items?

This is really up to you, as the store owner. You need to know how much you are making on all your items and based off that information come up with what you’re comfortable with. I would say that its a good way of moving product that you no longer want to have without directly discounting the individual item. Its also a great way to move more product in general. If customers are buying more items per order, you’re getting more money in your pocket then if they only bought one.

What do you think? Do you like stores that have kits? Does this tactic work on you?

How To Make the Perfect Resolution, and to Accomplish It.

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I personally do not like the idea of resolutions. They’re pretty much empty promises we make to ourselves. And I always wonder how many people actually accomplish their resolutions? For those that last the first few weeks of the year, they tend to give up by mid March or even sooner.

But I will admit, I sometimes like the idea of resolutions. I, myself, have made them before, but I change the title to “goals” instead. Its a way to trick my mind into accomplishing them. A resolution is just a yearly goal. Not only do I have yearly goals, but I also make t hem measurable. So instead of “lose weight” its “I will lose 3-5 lbs per month.” This gives me a smaller time frame (waiting a year to accomplish a goal leads to procrastination I’ve found.) and something I can quantify and track. This makes following my “resolution” much easier.

Three easy steps to make and keep your resolution:

  1. Make the resolution. Define it and ensure that it is quantifiable and has a due date (Plus be reasonable with your goals).
  2. Plan. Make action points that you can easily follow.
  3. Measure and track. Check on your progress often.

Step 1: Establish your goals.

So as a business person, this is the best time to establish what goals you would like to accomplish in the next year. Again, keep in mind that we want to be able to measure results. So instead of “increase traffic,” your resolution should be “increase traffic by 5% by the Summer.” We have something to measure now, and then we also have a deadline. We also made the goal reasonable enough that its possible to accomplish (I’ve also found that this is key to keeping your resolution).

Step 2: Plan, Plan, Plan!

So now that we have our 2010 resolution! YAY! New Year tradition is completed! But wait! We want to keep the resolution! Having a plan will help ensure we follow through. So for instance:

Resolution: Increase traffic by 5% by summer.

Plan of Action: Begin Twitter & Facebook. Focus blog. List bloggers & sites to garner exposure. Test Google Adwords, Test Facebook Ads. Contact People on list to do guest posts and vice versa. Etc, etc, etc.

By breaking the resolution into plan of action, you now can see what you have to do to accomplish it. You can break it down into weekly goals to do one action point, or you can just do them as time permits. Whatever works best for you is what you really ought to do.

Step 3: Measure for results

The plan was made and you acted accordingly. Its summer now, therefore its time to measure the results of your efforts. If you made it, then you have the rest of the year to bask in your own glory. If you end up just shy of your goal, there’s still six more months to try and get it done!

Time for them resolutions!

We’ll be posting a follow up of our company’s 2009 resolutions later this week and we’re in the process of creating next year’s now! So next week you’ll get to see what we have planned. What are some of your resolutions? Do you usually follow through with them? Or do they tend to fall on the way side?