Referrals are a Reason to Jump Up and Down on a Monday Morning
by Kori Sanders
Account Executive
We all know that referrals are a great source of business, but many companies view referrals as hard to come by and feel lucky when one walks in the door. Referrals tend to be more profitable than any other type of lead. So, how do you get more? Do you have to just sit back and keep your fingers crossed, hoping a client will spread the good word about you? Absolutely not! There are some easy steps you can take to increase those fabulous referrals.
Step 1: First and foremost, let your existing clients know you welcome referrals. Many clients, especially those not directly involved in sales, don't think about how you get your new business. Some tend to think only about more “traditional” forms of advertising as a source of new leads. Let them know that you are always looking for new leads and appreciate their referrals. No one is going to talk about you, if they don't know you want them to talk about you.
Step 2: Once you let your existing clients know you welcome referrals, educate them on the type of referrals you are looking for. Many of your clients may take advantage of a small part of your business. Take every opportunity to educate them on everything you do. They might know of someone looking for a service they didn't even know you provide.
Step 3: When you do get a referral, make sure you thank the source. Give them a quick call or drop them a note immediately after contact with the prospective client. Follow up once the project is complete, thanking them again for their help with the referral. Everyone loves praise and will be more willing to refer you again, if they feel you appreciate them and what they say about you.
Step 4: Don't let your potential source of referrals forget about you. Keep in contract with your client base, even after their project has been closed. A quick call or email, stopping in for a brief visit or dropping a note in the mail congratulating them on a recent success is a great way to keep you on the top of their mind. Don't let more than a couple of months pass without some kind of contact.
Step 5: Be a source of referrals yourself. Building a solid network of referrals can bring you more business than you can imagine. If you have had a great experience with a supplier, pass on the word to someone who you think may benefit from it. Then, let the supplier know who you referred to them. They will appreciate it - just as you would. Become a reliable source of referrals and watch how people reciprocate.
Good qualified leads are always tough to come by, but are wonderful when they do come. Increase yours by practicing “Asking For” and “Giving Out” referrals.
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Routine Site Maintenance
by Steven Palmer
Graphic Designer
All too often websites get treated like a Ron Popeil Showtime Rotisserie, just set it and forget. Yes, the text and images that you added to your site were just fine when you put them up five years ago, but times change. Sure, that photo of you with a mullet and Zubaz was in style at one point, but is it still working for you now?
In order to draw people to your site and keep them coming back you, you need to perform routine maintenance on your site.
Well, what things would be considered routine maintenance?
- Copyright year at the bottom of the page
- Years in business
- Staff changes - have you added anyone new, are some no longer there?
- Phone number - did you get a new number?
- Email address - did you get a new email address?
- Address - has your address changed?
- Has the focus of you business changed?
Besides the items mentioned above, it is important to go through your site a couple of times a year, and take a good look at it. Does the content still speak to your visitors the way you want it to? Are the photos still good visual representations of what you do or offer? Making little changes here and there once and a while can really speak volumes toward your professionalism. So give your visitors a reason to stop by your site again and again, perform routine maintenance.
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Scam Alert: Protecting your Domain
by Theresa Reyes
IT Systems Administrator
Your domain name (Ex: www.yourbusiness.com) is a valuable asset of your company. With your domain name, you establish a presence on the web where customers, staff, and interested individuals can find you and the information you place on your website. If you lost your domain name, you could potentially lose money from purchases, future and current clients, and your very presence on the web.
Registration Scams
You may receive an official-looking letter via postal mail or email, reminding you to renew your domain name. It looks official enough; there is an Amount Due box and the domain listed is one of your domains. It's easy to fall prey to this scam, send in your money, and inadvertently transfer your domain to one of these unscrupulous companies. They now have your domain and may put up a fight before giving control back to you.
Always carefully read renewal notices, or call us to verify the validity of a notice. Verify which company it's coming from to see if that's who you registered your domain name with. If you receive a renewal notice from a registrar that you're not registered with and have never heard of, tear it up and toss it in the garbage.
Vivid Image manages domains for a number of our clients. As part of our service to you, we monitor your domain name, remind you when it's time to renew, and process the renewal for you. If you're not sure who's managing your domain or if a renewal notice is valid, please contact us to clear it up.
Imaginary Competitors
Another scam that unscrupulous companies may try to hit you with is pretending there is a third party interested in buying domain names related to your trademark, such as domains with different extensions, such as .net, .org, .us, and so forth. In reality, there is no third party looking to buy these domains and the companies are trying to scare you into buying those domains from them. Don't fall for it.
If you're interested in purchasing additional domain names, contact us or go to your current registrar. Don't automatically trust companies that contact you out of the blue.
Contact Information
Since October 2003, registrars are required to contact domain owners once a year to verify that their contact information is correct. These are valid emails.
It is important to keep your contact information up to date. Should you ever run into a problem with your domain, you will want to be able to prove that it belongs to you. Problems could be as simple as forgetting your password and no longer having the email address that's listed on the account.
If you receive a notice to verify your contact information, please take a minute to look at the information that's listed on your domain and make sure it's correct.
Conclusion
Protecting your company assets is important and that includes your domain name. Know who your domain name is registered with and who manages it. Vivid Image will purchase, renew, and manage your domain names for you, but doesn't own them. They are yours and we will not attempt to hold on to them if you decide to manage them yourself.
If you have any questions about your domain name, give us a call.
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Contributing Partner: Invoice Discounting (Spot Factoring) to Help Banks with Their Small and Medium Size Business Clients
By Ian McDonald, Principal
Interface Financial Group
Small-business banking is good for the banking business. News abounds of large-bank marketing efforts directed at building their small-business relationships: they are doing everything from knocking on doors to redesigning their websites.
While small businesses make great bank customers and are often more profitable to the bank than are large businesses, they present unique challenges for bankers. One issue many small businesses face is maintaining cash flow. This is especially problematic for firms with large customers. It is now common practice for large companies to employ sophisticated cash management strategies that stretch the time span for invoice payments as long as possible. That is great for the large firm, but it can put the vendor, the bank's client, in an insurmountable cash crunch. Meeting operating expenses, or even financing the next job from a client, becomes a challenge.
Cash flow problems that extend over several months can add a difficult situation to small firms, even those with excellent business prospects and great customers. To make matters worse, these small companies frequently do not meet the credit requirements of their own banks. Therefore, their bankers (who know the client and the problems best) often cannot come to their assistance when these smaller clients need them the most. To their frustration, small business bankers often find themselves with their hands tied and unable to help a good customer. This is the main reason that those of us in the alternative financing business are getting more and more small business clients referred to us by banking institutions.
As the push to build the small business segment continues, banks are recognizing that “accounts receivable financing,” or factoring, as it is commonly known, can be a good option for their clients.
The way factoring (and invoice discounting) works is straightforward. Factors purchase outstanding invoices and give the client an immediate cash advance for a portion of the value of the invoices. Then, at the appropriate time, the factor collects on the invoice from the client's customer.
The cost of factoring is determined by a number of variables – including the volume of the transactions, length of contract, bank's customers creditworthiness and most important, the creditworthiness of the client's customer who will be paying the invoice. Small to mid-sized business clients make excellent candidates for factoring and invoice discounting, as do clients with slow paying customers who are generally creditworthy.
Bankers who want to help their small business clients with some of their more difficult situations should familiarize themselves with the process of factoring and invoice discounting. Factoring and invoice discounting are highly specialized businesses – it is important that banks be familiar with the potential outcomes and costs of engaging a specialty finance partner, like a factor or invoice discounter.
Much as it probably pains some bank small-business relationship managers to refer clients to another financing source, the results speak for themselves. Many of these small businesses are just not in a condition that makes them bankable. By making a referral to a spot factor, like Interface Financial Group, banks can be an asset to their clients without putting the bank at further risk. You can retain an enhanced depository relationship for the time needed to help the small business client. This can be a process to help the small business work through the cash flow obstacles, and return to the bank in a better, more bankable condition.
Portions of this article taken from “Factors to Help Your Bank Help Small Business Clients”, as written by Lewis Y. Faber, Chairman of Yale Capital, Inc., as it appeared in MCC Financial Notes, Feb, 2005.
Ian McDonald can be contacted at i.ian.mcdonald@gmail.com or 320-266-4155.
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Community Connection: Hutchinson Theatre Company's “Crimes of the Heart”
By Barnette Lloyd
How do you do? I'm Barnette Lloyd. What? You haven't heard of me, well obviously you've never been to Hazlehurst, Mississippi. Feel free to stop by my office anytime for some legal advice. Hmmm, a little too far of a drive for you? Well then, come see the Hutchinson Theatre Company's production of “Crimes of the Heart” November 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10. It's much closer, and you'll get a good meal out of the deal.
Appearing in the production will be my good friend Steven Palmer. You may know him as a Graphic Designer at Vivid Image. This is the third production that he has been a part of with the Hutchinson Theatre Company.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the newsletter, you are correct. It's that time of the year again for another Hutchinson Theatre Company dinner theatre production. This year they are performing Beth Henley's “Crimes of the Heart”. It centers around three very different sisters coming together awaiting the fate of their dying grandfather. Lenny, the grand father's caregiver. Meg, back from the West Coast after a less than successful singing career. Finally Babe, whom I am representing, is currently convicted of shooting her husband Zachery F. Botrelle. Due to client confidentiality, I can't say any more about this matter, other than it's better than all nine seasons of Matlock combined*. The trial and tribulations of this family are worth the price of admission.
CRIMES OF THE HEART
A Dinner Theatre Production of the Hutchinson Theatre Company
November 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10
Peace Center - Peace Lutheran Church
400 Glen Street, Hutchinson, MN
5:30 doors open - 6:00 Dinner - 7:00 Show
Reserved seating tickets on sale now.
Cost: $28 for dinner and show
Tickets can be purchased at the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce.
For more information, call Betsy Price at (320) 587-2599.
*This is merely this writer's opinion; there is no good way to measure the greatness of Matlock.
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Client Spotlight: Vivid Image Wins Award for Thimbleberries Website
Client: Thimbleberries
Website: www.thimbleberries.com
 Vivid Image is pleased to announce that we have been selected for the W3 2007 Silver Award for the outstanding design and development of the website for Thimbleberries. The W3 Awards honor creative excellence on the web, as well as the creative professionals behind the award. The W3 Award is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts. Other recognizable winners in the Silver Award category, sharing the excitement with Vivid Image are: HGTV.com, Yahoo!, Golf Channel, Newsweek, and Abercrombie and Fitch. Thimbleberries is owned by Lynette Jensen of Hutchinson. For more examples of Vivid Image designs, visit our portfolio.
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In the News
Congratulations to New Discoveries Montessori Academy and New Century Charter School on the groundbreaking for their building on Friday, October 12th. Thanks to some private investors willing to help, the charter schools will have a facility to transition to (hopefully) by Fall of 2008. Vivid Image celebrates with these two clients, as well as Vivid Image client, Raske Building, Inc. who was selected for the construction portion of the project.
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Check out some of the new web sites done by Vivid Image!
www.keyagency.com
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