We are not alone in your search for customers. You aren't the only option for consumers and Google makes it easy for your competitors to lure them away. You need a marketing and business plan that includes strategies to increase traffic on website, get the phone ringing and your employees busy. These 8 tips can help with many areas of your business including employee development, evaluating your competition, website design, online marketing, package design and building a customer base of raving fans.

Nearly every business includes social media in their marketing mix. Larger companies have the man power or budgets to allocate to their SMC. As a business owner your goal is to find where your prospects are online so you can be in front of them. A social media consultant can assist with targeting your efforts to get the most from your SMC investment. Every ones customers are active on some social platform even if their age demographic is 55-64. That age group is the fastest growing segment on Twitter.

You have a product that needs packaging. Whether this is your first time packaging a product or you're adding to your product line, it's wise to know that all package designers are not created equal. If they work for a manufacturer they typically are limited to the solutions of the company the work for. A corrugate printer will only offer corrugate boxes. That material is appropriate for large products and ones that need better packing to reduce damage during transport. But should your product be visible to the consumer?

Do you need help determining the package types and costs?

You need a designer or design firm that can advise what package style is appropriate for your product, budget and brand impression as well as provide custom design service. It may feel daunting asking about something outside of your experience.

Direct mail has been bashed by many and they claim survey results prove their position. And most that claim direct mail doesn't work are trying to convert your direct response marketing budget to all on-line and email efforts because that is all they do. Don't listen to the nay Sayers because direct mail can be as effective as it was 15 years ago when it is done correctly.

Are you using social media to promote your business successfully? Or are you still watching unsure of the advantage your company will gain? I only advise social media when a company has their other advertising plans working well. That includes that their website is built well and has optimized SEO and PPC marketing efforts.

I am going to make a statement you rarely, if ever, will hear. Social media may not be right for you, for your business, because you can get greater ROI elsewhere and/or you aren’t prepared to execute it regularly.

Social media success depends on regularly posting to the networks that your customers are on and developing a loyal following. In all honesty, it is not quick or easy though in theory it is simple. Determine which social media has the biggest audience of your customers and engage them there. Sounds easy but it can use a lot of time with difficulty in measuring results. Measuring results is more than how many people saw your post.

Coca Cola was one of the first brands to embrace and use Facebook and other social platforms to market their brands. 2 years ago they evaluated their efforts and Ad Age published that Coca Cola found the social media attributed to “0” sales. That’s correct. Their big efforts on Facebook did not achieve any sales of their product. They were ok with that because their efforts on Facebook and other social media sites is to increase brand visibility and engagement.

Please continue reading because you have to define the results you want from social media before interviewing consultants. If they tell you they can show results quickly it may not be the results you expect.

It's not a choice or something to be left on the future to do list. Your website has to function on a mobile devise. Not only will your visibility and sales be affected but you can expect Google to impart penalties. The growth of mobile activity has trended up steadily and over the last year we have seen certain industries cross the line where mobile visits exceed traditional computer traffic numbers.

I believe you need to continually evaluate marketing results and be willing to change on the fly when results are clearly indicating that need. We all do an annual review at the end of our fiscal year. For many that is at the end of the calendar year.