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The Advertising Budget

If your company provides a product or service, you want to get the word out.  You want everybody knowing the name of your product or service.  You want your product or service to be the first one they think of when it is needed.  So does every other company providing the same product or service.  Keeping your name out there is important to the success of your company.

There are ways to do this.  You can have your company logo placed on something as little as a pen, to something as large as a blanket.  In prosperous times, you could hand out pens by the dozens with your company name and logo on them.  This has been proven to be a very effective marketing tool.  You can expand that into computer wrist rests, coffee mugs, backpacks, key chains, flashlights, anything that people might need to use on a regular basis.  The point is to have your name being seen over and over and over again.

Choosing catchy slogans has been proven to be invaluable in having people remember the name of your company.  Running commercials continuously throughout the day on television and radio is another effective way to get your company’s name out there.  There is advertising space to be bought all over the Internet.  There are pop ups that will literally put your company’s name in someone’s face even if they are not looking for it.  Advertising is expensive and some companies are finding that this is not in their budget at this time.

Businesses have to advertise.  Without letting the consumer know that you have a better product or service at a better price, your product will sit on the shelves, your service will go unnoticed.  Be as creative as possible.  Find lots of ways to get your name out there, without having to put too much money into it.

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The Good Manager

Every employee in your company is an important part of making your company successful.  If you did not have a mail sorter, a lot of communication would not be happening.  Without a computer tech on hand your computers can spend days not producing work.  Without a team of competent people, who are well versed in your business and its practices, your business would not run well, and would not be profitable.  To that end, without a good management team, the rest of the team would fall apart.  There has to be someone at the forefront directing the flow of creativity.

Good managers are worth keeping.  A good manager works well not only with the employee, but with the boss as well.  While the manager knows exactly what the boss wants and how to get it, he also is very hands on with the employees, so he knows what they are capable of.  He knows how to dole out the responsibilities, and because he works closely with the employees, who knows exactly which employee would be the best for that particular job he needs completed.

A good manager has a great rapport with the employees.  He is easily accessible and more than willing to listen.  He is stern, making everyone work to their potential.  If an employee has an issue and has a manager he feels he can bring this issue to, the problem can be solved, without it having to fester and turn into something more than it need be.  A good manager is a good negotiator.  He can bring issues to the boss, offer solutions that will please both parties, and resolve small problems on his own.  A good manager can strengthen the relationship between boss and employee, boss and customer, employee and customer.

A good employee listens to a good manager, a good boss places his trust in a good manager and a good manager keeps the whole business running smoothly.

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Knowing The HR Department

Most employees know that the Human Resources department of any company handles benefits.  What most employees do not know, or do not bother to look into, is that the Human Resources department handles much more than just the health insurance.  Most employees need the Human Resources department when their insurance card is declined or they need to file a claim for reimbursement.  The HR department would certainly be able to help you with that problem.   However, there are many other duties of the HR department.  If you know that you are going to be out of work due to an injury, surgery or maternity leave, you need to check with the HR department.  They will be able to inform you of your exact benefits, as well as have the proper paper work that needs to be filed.

The Human Resources department also oversees the company pension plan.  While the company you work for probably has a contract with a pension plan, and that plan may have separate contact information, if you have a problem getting information, the HR department will have the names of people they can contact to help you out.  Your HR department also keeps track of your PTO balances, the amount of time you have accrued for vacation, your sick days, as well as any other benefit offered to you through your benefit package at the time you were hired, such as stock options, etc.

Some companies have their Human Resource department right at their facility, others contract that service out, but the Human Resource people can be reached by telephone or via e-mail.  When you receive your benefit package, take note of the Human Resource representative, keep his or her phone number handy.  If you keep any eye on your time off, and use of benefits, you can keep a checks and balance system with your HR representative.

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A Great Time For The Entrepreneur

You have a product or service that the public needs, or wants, or you can make them want it.  You have worked on this concept for as long as you can remember.  You have looked under every rock and researched every avenue that this business can take you.  You are now ready to take that ever so frightening leap into the business world.  You are going to start your business.  Now?  Is this really the best time to start up a business, or change or expand an existing one?  Money is tighter than ever.  The ordinary guy is not spending his money on anything but absolute essentials.  His budget is stretched to its limit.  He does not have any extra money to spend.  How do you get his business?

If you have truly done your research, you know where your service or product is needed.  You would absolutely start there.  Your marketing department needs to find the best way to convey the fact that the consumer needs your product.  Your ad campaigns and sales pitches will be extremely important during this time.  People are more skeptical than ever.  They are not willing to just try and see how it goes.  They need to really believe in what they are spending their money on.  They need to know that they are not just throwing away money.  You will need to convey to them how well their money is spent on your product or service.

This is the time that you need your employees, everyone, working as a team.  Your production people need to be giving 100%, your management needs to be giving 100%, and your marketing people need to be giving 200%.  If your product or service is worth selling, you will make it happen.  If you believe in your product or service, and you believe in yourself, you are the entrepreneur who will flourish during the recession.

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Attractive Benefits

Everyone is looking to cut corners.  Survival in a recession that has lasted this long, is so important.  Bosses are looking to trim the budget at every turn.  Employees are looking to prospective employers to carry more of the burden for them as well.  Caught in the middle of that struggle is the benefit package.  Your Human Resource teams are working overtime to try and find decent benefits in the most economical way.  With health care being in the condition it is, the costs skyrocketing as they have been, it is a profound challenge for all companies to be able to provide quality health care without too much of a financial hardship.

Your employees might not even mind that some of the extras are being taken away.  They don’t mind that the company lunches are no longer available for free, or that break time is now on the clock.  They will however, have a huge problem with cutting the benefits.  Most employees are paying for their own benefits, with money being taken out of their weekly paychecks.  In a time where we are paying more money for less benefits, your HR department must work overtime just to compensate for the recurring losses in benefits.

The good side of this phenomenon is that the insurance companies themselves are businesses too and they are all fighting for your insurance dollar.  If your HR team is doing their homework, they are constantly seeking out the best overall benefit package for your hard-working employees.  They may be able to negotiate a better medical benefit contract from another insurance company, with most insurance companies offering additional benefits for switching.  Everything in this economy is a work in process.  Keeping your employees happy will insure that your business is able to weather the recession and come out back on top.

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Your Marketing Dollars

Deciding how to get your business known, how to get the word out to the consumer is a very important part of making your business successful.  Most large businesses have huge advertising budgets so that at all times someone is coming up with new ways to let people know about their product or service.  Advertising, and the experts who come up with the catchy jingles and slogans that we remember for life, is very expensive.  It is a highly specialized skill and anytime you are dealing with a special area of skill you know that the big money will be demanded.

In a recession, it is more important than ever to make sure every dollar is being spent in the proper way.  You may have been in a position to hire advertising teams to promote your business, but now find yourself in the position if most, having to stretch the dollars to their limit.  You may not be in a position to keep a large advertising budget and you need to trim this aspect of your business.

There are creative ways to do this.  For every big money advertising genius there are ten just like him or her, undiscovered somewhere and not demanding the high salary.  Perhaps you could find a technical school that teaches courses in advertising.  You could contact the head of that department and run a contest for students in the advertising program.  The winner would get a prize and the school would get a donation or something you have worked out with them.  You could offer the student some public recognition, which is what he is looking for, and you might just get the next catch phrase campaign of the decade, from an untapped source of talent.  Remember, the guys that are in the executive washrooms of the advertising companies were once a student, at a desk, with a pencil and an idea.

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The Most Effective Training Session

You need to train your employees.  If you want your employees to perform their duties properly, a good solid training session is the best way to let them know what is expected of them.  If your management team is training a group of individuals, it is a good idea to have the boss address the group, thanking them for the interest in your company and assuring then that you have prepared a management team that will get them ready to represent the company in the best way, and that you and the management team are there if they need assistance.  Building a solid employee-boss relationship from the very start is a sure way to guarantee a complacent work place.  The easier the environment, the more the production.

Your management team should start out with the basic requirements for each job, with a brief description reiterated.   A basic overview of the company, the benefits and the general working of the company is a good next step.  Having their basic benefit questions answered can field a lot of questions to Human Resources later down the road.  A good video can accomplish this, along with the hand outs on how to apply for benefits, with applications supplied to those who qualify.  Make sure all explanations are clear and concise.  The new employee is taking in a lot of new information, so handing out folders with everything written down as well is a good way to help the employees keep all the information organized.

The actual training for the position should obviously be job specific.  Each new hire may not be doing the same job, so having new employees shadow, or follow a person around who is knowledgeable of their position is a very effective way to train the new guy.  Keeping the training clear and the job descriptions precise, you can insure that your employees have the best start to their new career.

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Managing The Purse Strings

You may have had a successful business for years.  You provide a quality product or service and the general public is more than willing to pay for such product or service.  You have cultivated good customer service relationships and your business is reliable and trustworthy.  You have given the people what they want, in a better way than anyone else in your business.  This is a solid foundation for a business that can weather even the toughest of times.  Our current recession is proving to be one of those toughest of times.

In these difficult financial times you obviously want to keep your service and/or product accessible to the general public in the most economical way possible.  Your business obviously has to spend money to do that, to keep things running smoothly.  However, with cash flow at an all time low, even for the best run businesses, decisions need to be made on where and how to spend the money.

Managing the budget is an art.  You have to take every little cost into consideration when deciding how much money to spend on your business, to keep your employees with a paycheck and still deliver the quality that your customers are expecting.  Maybe you can trim the budget on advertising just a bit, for a little while.  This is one place that you can trim a little without compromising the quality of your product.  Having all your employees aware of the lean times ahead will keep them part of the team.

Do your research.  You may have been using a particular part for your product that can be found for a more economical price, or part of your services can be trimmed to weather the recession.  If you have to make a compromise, let your customers know that you are a part of this recession with them, and when it is over, you will be right back on top.

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Training The New Guy

Everyone who starts a new job, even if they are trained in the expertise needed for that position, needs to be trained.  Training is the best way for a new boss to show a new employee how things are done at their particular business.  There are different ways of keeping track of your work hours, there are different ways to log onto computers, and there are protocols that must be followed for each individual business.  Training is an added expense for management.  They either have to pay someone who already works there more money or have them stay and pay them overtime to train the new employees.  You may have budgeted into your business plan a training staff, if you are in a business that has a large turn around and employees are being hired on a frequent basis.

Training can range anywhere from simply learning how to run a register in a retail business, to learning an entire new system or way of doing things in a corporate position.  Obviously the best way to train someone is to have them observe the person who is doing their type of job now.  A good period of observation, with a chance to ask questions when needed is invaluable in showing someone the way things are done.  They get to see first hand exactly what is going to be expected of them.  Before they even have a chance to work with the company, they can get a feel for how things are done.  You may have training videos that need to be viewed.  These are also a good way to let newly hired employees know what is expected of them.  If your employee will be working on a computer, having desktop downloads available to them is a wonderful way to have their questions answered as they come up. Training an employee properly will save you time and money, and keep your business running smoothly.

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Marketing During A Recession

Good marketing strategies are an important part of you business in the best of times.  Having a cracker jack marketing team can make your business more successful.  When the economy is not so good, as in times of recession, marketing plays an even more important role in keeping your business successful.  There would not be billions of dollars spent each year on advertising if it were not so important.

Fortunately for each business there are so many ways to market your product or service.  Of course there is always the celebrity spokesperson.  If you business is flourishing this might be just what you want to do.  A celebrity is going to require a large fee and if you are not prepared to pay this, there are many other strategies.  Careful planning of where your marketing dollars will be spent can mean the difference in wasted money and increased profits.

First and foremost, know your target audience and know them well.  For example you may be marketing a product or service for men, however in your research you find that mostly women are the ones who purchase said product or service.  Your marketing campaign must then be tailored to appeal to that group of women.  If you are marketing a children’s product, it is not necessarily only parents you are trying to reach.  More than ever households full of children are living with grandparents and that may be where you need to focus.

Whatever the case may be, your best strategy is to be prepared.  Have your marketing team do the research.  Take surveys of your sample audience, incorporate something that would appeal to a lesser targeted audience, as there are other groups out there that might be interested.  Reaching as many people as possible will obviously ensure that your marketing budget has been well spent.  Always keep track of what works, and more importantly, what does not work.

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