Anyone who works in the web hosting, cloud, or data center industries knows that network outages are unavoidable. No matter how many redundancies you have in place, “stuff” happens. No-one is immune, even Amazon has major outages. With that reality in mind, I am somewhat sympathetic to NeuLion Inc., who finds themselves in the midst of a public relations nightmare. NeuLion is a streaming video provider who works with major sports leagues like the NFL,…
Savvy business owners understand the importance of attracting and keeping customers. In today’s global marketplace, it’s not enough to offer a quality product at a fair price. Businesses must understand the preferences of their local and global prospects, and use that knowledge to build business practices that are appealing and effective. Let’s discuss three tips that will help businesses thrive internationally: Understand the nuances of how people buy around the world Assuming all buyers shop…
In part 1, we looked at what most businesses tend to focus on – growing your customer base. In part 2, we discussed the potency of increasing the frequency of purchases. In this last segment, we will look at how to get your current customers to buy more from you, also known in the marketing world as up-selling and possibly cross-selling. How this is different from increasing purchase frequency is the emphasis on getting your…
In part 1 of this series, we looked at the most common way that businesses tend to approach growth – by trying to get more customers. Today, let’s take a look at the second way that companies can boost their business profits – increasing the frequency that current customers buy from you. Contrary to the first way, which involves a huge investment of both time and money to reach these new potential customers,…
I thought it would be a good time to relook at the 3 basic strategies that can be used to grow any business and yes this includes the hosting industry. These are not so much alternatives but strategies that should be used simultaneously. The first way is to grow your business by getting more customers. The second way is to increase how frequently these customers purchase from you and the third way is when they…
Appetite for Risk Purchasing customers is certainly more risky than growing organically due to some of the areas I’ve mentioned. The upside however is growth is much faster and may give you a boost in market share and will ideally lead to economies of scale that may provide you with a boost to your bottom line. Access to Capital How do you intend to fund an acquisition? Generally it will require a significant upfront cash…
“Should I grow my business through acquisitions or organically through marketing?” Sometimes I hear variations on this question – “I would much rather grow through acquisition than through marketing – it’s much less risky”. More and more frequently I am being asked some form of this question so I thought I would share some of my insights. There are a number of considerations to evaluate. This is not a comprehensive list but a few of…
Well it seems Hostingcon has taken its toll on myself and our team in the sense that we have been very busy following up with clients since we got back hence my delayed post. I mentioned last time that I would like to explore the airline industry from both a marketing and operational angle. One of my theories, albeit I know next to nothing about the industry, is that I wonder how disappointed an airline…
Whenever the economy takes a hit, churn rates rise as companies seek ways of paring costs. It’s almost identical to what happens with mobile phone services, as subscribers seek out ever-better deals. The answer to churn, of course, is stickiness – and stickiness is built through customer service. Actually, it’s a little more than that: stickiness, or customer loyalty is built by serving your customers in ways that delight them. So, how much time do…
Who is it really all about? For several years I’ve read a blog that provides in-depth investigative reports I can’t get in the daily newspapers. I won’t name the blog, because that’s not the issue. The issue is that they are running out of money. Their annual budget is $125,000, which provides a modest income for the blog owner, money to host and update the blog, plus a budget to pay freelance reporters.