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BRANDING YOUR OFFLINE BUSINESS

One area that is often overlooked by offline business owners is their brand. They open up a new store or service location and forget about the branding aspect of it. Branding is much easier to accomplish today if you incorporate online tools and marketing methods. Let's take a quick look at how to do this.

All business owners should at the very least have a Facebook page and a Twitter account. What is important is the way in which you brand these pages.

Your goal is to create a brand or image that helps identify your business. When someone arrives on your Facebook page they should immediately be able to recognize your business. The same applies to your Twitter account.

To brand these pages you want to select a design and colors that represent your business. If you already have business cards and are happy with them, then use your logo and business cards for your social media pages.

This branding should then spill over onto your website or blog. This keeps everything uniform and neat. For a customer if they find your Facebook page and then click the link to your website, they will know, by your branding, that this is your web page. Can you start to see why branding is so important?

Is your business name memorable? Once your business name is registered there is not much you can do about it. But you could add a tag line to it, this would be the line that helps people identify what your business is. Plus it would be the tag line that becomes easy to remember. It is also very easy to add additional text on your website or blog under the main heading.

If you create flyers or use letterhead try to use the same branding as much as possible. Branding also helps create a more professional image too.

You may have a business name without a logo. In this case you can easily get a logo created. There are many designers who will design one for you, or you can use free tools and design your own.

Other online tools that you should be using are things like having a website or blog in place. You should also consider using an email service and creating a database of your customers. You can then send out electronic Christmas cards, newsletters and keep them updated of any sales you are holding.

BLOGGING FOR YOUR OFFLINE BUSINESS

Not many offline small business owners think about using a blog as a way to attract new customers to their store. Actually blogging can be much easier than trying to set up a more traditional type of website. It is a great alternative if your business doesn't really need a huge website with a shopping cart and all the trappings.

Take a look at how any online business markets their products and services. There is absolutely no reason why you can't apply these same tactics to your offline based business.

A blog is a great tool for interacting with your readers. You can share stories, tips, information, videos, podcasts and more. The only twist for you will be that you are discussing your offline business on your blog, nothing wrong with that!

Another huge benefit of adding blogging to your offline marketing business is that you can build a list of leads. These would be people who may at some point become a customer. Having a list of leads allows you to send out related information about your offline business. A great example of this is if you offered a "Customer Meet and Greet Day", or if you were offering free samples. You simply email your list and let them know to come by your store that day.

Your goal with your blog is to drive traffic back to your offline physical location. With an online business your goal is to drive your visitors to an offer or to an online store.

Using tools such as video and pod casts is another marketing method for your business. When you have a new product in your store, create a quick video of how to use it. Then write a blog post about it to share with your readers. This is a much cheaper alternative than paying for expensive radio ads.

Another idea for video is for highlighting your business. It is a fantastic way to allow your customers a look behind the scenes.

If you run a fitness club you could highlight the trainers or a portion of a fitness class. This way people can see what the fitness class is all about.

All of these videos can be posted on your blog, where your readers can ask questions and leave comments. This can also give you an insight into any problems or issues your customers are having. They may be looking for a specific type of exercise or product. Once you know this information you can update your inventory and provide them with the solution.

So look at blogging as a viable tool for your offline business and write your first blog post today.

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SYSTEMIZING YOUR MAIN BUSINESS CHALLENGES

A well run business is one that is streamlined and developed to take care of your major business challenges. All businesses at some point, have a challenge. Your business may be too big to be run alone anymore, or you may need to use new software to keep it running smoothly.
Let's look at a business model that is not systemized first.

As the business owner you are feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. You are working crazy hours and still don't manage to get everything done. You hire people to help you but don’t have time to properly train them. This results in more mistakes and errors that you now have to fix.
Next let's look at what systemizing your business means.

Systemizing your business entails you looking at what systems you currently use, what works and what needs to be improved upon. Then you have to create systems that work so that they all fit together to form one larger system.

The end result is that you have one main business system that has smaller systems which feed into it. While each component can work independently they all rely on each other in order for your business to work and function smoothly.
Now, let’s identify your challenges.

Your challenge areas are simply those that require the most time and effort from you. The ones that you may often consider to be a real pain! Or those things that give you sleepless nights. Identify these areas and make a list of them. Then start creating and using systems to improve them.
Here's a smoothly run and systemized business.

Training manuals in place for each task.

Automated tools used as much as possible.

Customers who know where to go for support and help.

Employees who understand what their job function is and how to do it.

A company that is open to ideas and suggestions.

This can all be accomplished by carefully taking the time to plan out and recognize all of your tasks. The best way to accomplish this is to keep track of every detail of your business. This includes noting down what your daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and yearly tasks are. Then working on implementing systems so no area is left out.

By doing this you will find that your biggest challenges and frustrations are now more streamlined. You have more time and effort to run your business as a business owner, and not as an overworked employee!

TIPS FOR SYSTEMIZING YOUR BUSINESS

Documenting your procedures is one of the best ways to systemize your business. These documents should be as detailed as possible, with no step left out. Over time they will be fine tuned and updated as your systems change and evolve.

Having operating or training manuals in place can help the process of training any new employee much easier. It can also help keep employees happy so that they stay with you longer. They know exactly what to do and what is expected of them.

Even a small business, or a one person business should have manuals and procedures in place. Have you ever thought of what you would do if you couldn't run your business for six weeks or more?

Training manuals allow you to handover your business operations at a moment's notice with fewer complications.

Depending upon your systems and procedures you may find that it can be helpful to create training videos. This is sometimes much faster than writing out long winded instructions.

The advantage of video training is the person can stop and restart the video as necessary. Videos are a great tool to use if you use a virtual assistant in your business.

Another great way to systemize your business is by delegating tasks. Yes, we know this can be hard for some people, but if you want your business to grow you have to let some things go. Learn to hand things over to someone else.

Once you have systems in place you must still remember to monitor them. They will need tweaking and updating regularly. Any time you make a change to one of your systems, remember to update the training manuals accordingly.

Things to monitor include seeing if the tasks are being completed correctly. If you have to constantly fix mistakes,

something in your manual is wrong. This could be the user misunderstanding your instructions, or that the instructions themselves were confusing.

You should also be open and encourage any team members to offer suggestions to help improve your processes. After all, they are the ones using them.

At the same time you should be taking advantage of technology and implementing new techniques when appropriate. Software is constantly changing and there may be a better tool for something that you have been using for years. Be willing to make changes.

If you consistently apply and use these business systemizing tips you will quickly be running an efficient business.

MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN SYSTEMIZING YOUR BUSINESS

While you may understand the importance of systemizing your business, there are some pitfalls that you want to avoid making. Read the following guidelines to ensure you don't make these common mistakes.

Jumping in with no plan - this just has to be one of the worst mistakes you can make. You are totally excited about systemizing your processes and then you go ahead full steam without any plan. Instead you need to stop, think and plan first. Then start implementing your systems one step at a time.

Looking for shortcuts - you can't copy the systems of another business. Each business is run differently and your systems need to fit your own processes to a tee. You wouldn't expect to use the McDonald's system and run a Starbucks franchise with it.

Having no manuals in place - as the business owner, you may know how each step of your business works, but nobody else does. This is why you need to create some type of operational manual for each area of your business. Start off by creating training manuals for each job or step of your business. Your end goal is to have enough manuals so that anyone could easily takeover any area of your business.

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One of the more interesting additions to the arsenal against arthritis pain is something you might have eaten for dinner at some point - capsaicin. Or, it's also commonly known as a chili pepper.

This fiery arthritis reliever works just in the way you think it would - by warming the skin and making the joints and muscles around the area relax. But that's only a part of the process.

What capsaicin does is helped to desensitize the skin as well. Within our skin are receptors to pain that cause us to feel the aches and the throbbing. But when these receptors are desensitized, you can be pain free for months at a time.

The substance P is what is associated with pain in the body. By interfering with or depleting this substance, the brain does not receive messages of pain and so you don't feel the pain.

In one University of Oxford study, it was found that 4 out of 10 arthritis patients were able to reduce their pain by almost half after using capsaicin cream for a month. This is a dramatic difference and it can certainly help arthritis sufferers as well.

In fact, capsaicin has also been recommended for those suffering from neuropathy, from muscle pain, from joint pain, from nerve pain, and from shingles, a painful condition that affects older patients.

Since capsaicin is derived from the chili pepper, there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind as you use it on your body. First of all, just like the chili pepper, it can be quite hot - often too hot for some people's sensitive skin. If you feel your skin might be too sensitive, use a very small dose on a patch of skin near your hand to see what the reaction is.

Just like other topical ointments, capsaicin is easy to find in your local drugstore, making it a favorite among those who don't want to run to their doctor each time they have an ache or a pain.

To use capsaicin, you will want to take a small amount and rub it into the skin where the pain is situated. Immediately after, you should wash your hands of the cream so that you don't feel the burning sensation there too. However, if you want to use this cream on your hands for pain or stiffness, you can - just remove it after a half an hour to ensure you're not transferring the cream to other parts of your body.

Getting the cream in your eye, for example, is quite painful and can necessitate a trip to the hospital in rare cases.

Like the other arthritis ointments, capsaicin should only be applied to clean and healthy skin which is free of cuts or open sores. Getting the cream into these types of skin openings will be painful, more painful than the arthritis itself.

That said, one of the perks of capsaicin is that it doesn't seem to have any known drug interactions. So, you can be taking oral pain medications and still use this cream.

However, it is recommended that you limit the application of capsaicin to no more than 4 times a day.

But unlike the previous sections on instant pain relief, capsaicin is not something to be used in those cases. While some people will find they feel better after the burning sensation, long term relief will still take up to 2 weeks to notice. Be patient, however, and you will find the power of chili peppers is quite effective in your fight against arthritis pain.

Over the counter capsaicin comes in a variety of strengths, so make sure to start with the lowest dosage before moving up to a strong dose. Chances are good the lower dose will be all you need.

ARNICA

While homeopathy still has some ground to gain in relation to the overall medical field, arnica seems to be one of the most respected treatments in relation to arthritis and muscle pain. Whether applied topically or taken orally, this European flower helps to ease the suffering of afflicted patients

Homeopathy is the practice of using very small amounts of herbs, flowers, and other ingredients in order to stimulate the body's own healing response. It can be likened to the idea of a vaccine in which the dead virus or bacteria is injected into the body in order to persuade the body to make the appropriate white blood cells in order to prevent the disease.

With arnica, this flower is a part of the sunflower family, and the hairy leaves are what has given it its name, derived from the Greek for 'lamb' or 'arna.'

There are several types of arnica, but the most commonly used type is arnica Montana. Within this compound is the chemical helenalin, which is actually toxic when taken in larger amounts. However, when used in very minute measurements, it helps to reduce the inflammation of joints, while also helping to prevent and to heal bruising of the skin.

It is thought too that the roots of the arnica plant contain thymol, which helps to also prevent fungal infections, which might have something to do with preventing the inflammatory reaction. Again, science is still studying how this homeopathic process works.

The main finding of the usefulness of arnica is that it seems to help stimulate the transportation of blood from one part of the body to the affected and afflicted body part. This helps to take away any accumulation of fluids in the joints and in the skin, which allows the body to be free of pain, while also helping to stimulate the natural healing process.

By helping the blood capillaries dilate, the body's blood transport system is much more efficient and a patient can move their joints more easily and without aches and pains.

The actual ingestion of arnica is not recommended, unless it has been prepared by a reputable homeopathic company or practitioner. Those who ingest arnica can have severe stomach upset and even internal bleeding as a result.