Marketing Solutions for Small Business

May 2006 Issue:

Gas Prices Got You Down? Try These Tips...
TV Shows are Showing Up Online
The Afternoon Slump - Five Tips to Revive Your Day

Welcome to the May issue of Five Sparrows Biz Talk! This publication is a free, subscription-based resource sent to our clients, friends, and associates interested in tips and techniques for helping small businesses make the most of their web sites and marketing efforts without spending a lot of money. We hope that you find this publication helpful, and we welcome your comments at editor@fivesparrows.com. Enjoy!

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- The Five Sparrows Staff

Feature Article

Gas Prices Got You Down? Try These Tips…

It seems like everyone is feeling the pain at the pump these days, and small businesses are no exception. Trucking companies, delivery services, and moving companies are obvious examples, but increased gas prices also affect the everyday activities of many other small businesses. Normal activities like client meetings, sales calls, site visits, and even conferences or training seminars become more expensive than usual when gas is so expensive. But with a little planning, there are ways you can stretch your budget and get a few more miles to the gallon.

Try these tips:

Consider using a video conferencing service or an internet online meeting service such as WebEx to conduct meetings or training sessions online, rather than traveling to off-site locations.
Sign up for online training courses and conferences that can be completed at your office. This may also give you some great ideas on holding your own online training sessions that you could then offer to your customers.
Before you visit a client site or run errands, visit a web site like Mapquest or Yahoo! Maps to make sure you have the right directions, and call ahead to verify appointments just to make sure you don’t make any unnecessary trips. Take the freeway whenever possible; city starts and stops can be very costly.
Run errands on the way to or from work while you’re already out on the road. Also, take advantage of this "think time" to think about your company's product offerings and marketing strategies - it can pay back huge dividends later on. Consider using a hand-held voice recorder to capture your ideas.
Gas prices tend to rise right before the weekend, so try to fill up on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays when demand is a little lower.
Adjust your driving style with these strategies:
- Slow down! Easier said than done, but it’s a definite gas-saver.
- Use the cruise control when you’re driving on the highway. It helps stop “speed creep,” and helps eliminate unnecessary speed changes.
- Accelerate slowly away from a green light, don’t “floor it.”
- Take your foot off the gas and “coast” when approaching a red light or stop sign.

Maybe we don’t think too much about our day-to-day driving, but with the price of gas climbing each week, it’s probably worth a second thought. The extra effort you invest today can really add up over time, and may also save you money down the road.

Biz Trends

TV Shows are Showing Up Online

Television advertising will always be with us, but the growth of the internet and other communication technologies has certainly changed it. Many feel that prime time commercials are not as effective as they once were, and viewers often “tune them out” or zip past them on TiVo. As a result, television networks are looking for new, creative ways to generate ad dollars, including selling some of their best shows to online outlets for people to enjoy on their computers, cell phones, or iPods.

The good news is that these new forms of online and internet programming offer a great advertising opportunity for small businesses. Although online programming contains fewer commercial breaks than television programming, these breaks can feature multiple commercials from the same advertiser, allowing the message to have a better chance of “sinking in.” Marketers also hope that having fewer commercials will be very popular with audiences, and that the ads shown will then have a stronger impact.

Although television networks depend on commercials, viewers are often frustrated with the number of ads they must view during a program. An average half-hour show contains about eight minutes of commercials, making it seem “cluttered” to both audiences and advertisers. With online programming, fewer commercials can feel like less of an interruption to viewers, and feel like less competition for advertisers, too. And since the audience for online programming is typically smaller than for television, the cost can be less expensive, yet reach a more targeted market segment.

As the networks continue their efforts to sell ads across various platforms (the internet, mobile phones, iPods, web sites, etc.), small businesses should watch for opportunities to reach their markets through these new methods. Television advertising isn’t what it used to be, which may turn out to be good news for small businesses. Stay tuned.

News You Can Use

The Afternoon Slump – Five Tips to Revive Your Day

We all know the feeling, right? About 3:00 p.m. during the workday, something happens to our energy levels and all of a sudden, we feel tired, sluggish, or sleepy - and a nap seems like a really great idea! Well, if that’s ever happened to you, here are some tips that may help keep those energy levels up and revive your day!

Try Some Minty-Freshness
A simple trick for a quick pick-me-up is to pop in a piece of peppermint gum or a breath mint (sugarless, of course). Peppermint is thought to boost both mood and energy, making it a great afternoon re-charger. Another great peppermint pick-me-up is peppermint tea, which is available in both caffeinated and decaf varieties.

Take a Breath, and a Drink
Try taking a few deep breaths to get the oxygen moving through your system again and help you become more alert. Afternoon dehydration can be another energy-zapper, so drink some water (or peppermint tea!) to address this often overlooked cause of fatigue.

Perfect Your Posture
Sitting up straight can improve your alertness and relieve muscle tension, so be aware of how you sit at your desk. Slouching can cause your brain to get up to 30% less blood and oxygen, and also compresses your internal organs so your body doesn’t function as efficiently as it should. Try not to sit in the same position for more than half an hour at a time.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h
Try some simple stretching exercises at your desk, or take a quick walk around the office to stretch your legs. Moving around a bit will help perk you up and restore your energy.

Eat a Healthy Snack
Of course, a healthy snack will give your body the boost it needs to get through the rest of the day. Avoid sugary snacks, since these will actually make you feel more tired. Make sure your snack has real nutrition, preferably protein, so you get food-energy instead of food-coma.

Do you have a question about your web site? Are you curious about marketing and what you could or should be doing for your business? We'd love to hear from you! Just send us your ideas, questions, or topics, and we will be glad to feature them in upcoming issues of Five Sparrows Biz Talk. Simply email us at editor@fivesparrows.com and we will do our best to answer your questions or give you some helpful tips about your topics.


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