Small Business Guide - Small Business Resources
    (Add to Favorites  |  View All Articles  |  Resource Directory)

To Buy A Fat Pig


What does buying a fat pig have to do with your business? Stick with me and all will be revealed.

Does your business have a tactical and a strategic way to go to market? Let's go down to Mr. Hoover's butcher shop to see how it's done.

Mr. Hoover has been selling bacon and other pig products for years. That's pretty tactical, but can result in a good continuing income stream. A lot of customers come in week after week to buy their bacon and ham and pork loin, after all.

But Mr. Hoover wants to develop another income stream. What, he wonders, if he could get people to buy the whole pig ahead of time.

And, maybe, he also could get customers to pay for a pig on the installment plan.

Then, Mr. Hoover could afford to buy more pigs basically for nothing. Customers would be paying for the upkeep. And, Mr. Hoover could even own a stud pig that he "rents" to other pig farmers. Yet another income stream. Sweet!

My tactical tool - or bacon - is email newsletters and marketing programs aimed at customer retention and loyalty. Once I'm in the door with email, I can develop a client relationship that later allows me to sell the whole pig.

I designed my business this way from the start so I'd have a continuing income stream. Then, I could concentrate on what I really like to do: selling myself as a strategic partner who can help a business develop its positioning statement, fully define its audiences and develop and implement a more comprehensive communications program that has bottom line impact. That's my fat pig.

Have you thought about your business that way? What's your fat pig?

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.


MORE RESOURCES:

News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News

New Wells Fargo Survey: Small Business Owners Expect Increased Revenues, More Hiring for 2012
America’s small business owners are the most optimistic since July 2008, according to the latest findings from the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey for the period Jan.

Small biz loan demand up, Federal Reserve says - CNNMoney

Small biz loan demand up, Federal Reserve says
CNNMoney
By Jose Pagliery @CNNMoney February 1, 2012: 9:18 AM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A growing portion of the nation's banks saw a spike in demand for loans to smaller firms late last year, according to the latest Federal Reserve figures.

and more »

Bill Aims to Simplify 1099-Ks for Small Biz - Reuters

Bill Aims to Simplify 1099-Ks for Small Biz
Reuters
By Andrew Chow, JD at FindLaw.com The IRS' new 1099-K form is seen by some as so burdensome for small businesses, two lawmakers are pushing for a new federal law to scale it back. The 1099-K Overreach Protection Act would prohibit the IRS from fully ...

and more »

5 tax tips for small biz - El Paso Inc.

5 tax tips for small biz
El Paso Inc.
It's that time again. As Jan. 31 passed, I'm sure your employees were asking you or your accountant when they could expect their W2s. CPAs nationwide have gone into lockdown, and coffee will be in short supply as we gear up for another tax season.

and more »

Oh baby! Small biz scores huge Angry Birds deal - CNN

Cleveland News - Fox 8

Oh baby! Small biz scores huge Angry Birds deal
CNN
By Parija Kavilanz @CNNMoney February 2, 2012: 6:09 PM ET SwaddleDesigns, a Seattle-based small business, scored first-ever license to make baby products for the mega-popular Angry Birds brand. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A small Seattle-based company hit ...
Small Biz Scores Huge Angry Birds DealCleveland News - Fox 8

all 103 news articles »

Small-Business Owners More Optimistic About Growth -Survey
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Head of U.S. Small Business Administration in Jacksonville to talk 'microlending'
The head of the U.S. Small Business Administration said today she wants to establish a "microlending" program in Jacksonville where small business owners can get loans for up to $50,000.

#1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, Content Is Cash, Nominated For 2012 Small ... - PR Web (press release)

#1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, Content Is Cash, Nominated For 2012 Small ...
PR Web (press release)
Content Is Cash, which hit #1 on the Amazon web marketing bestseller list in Sept. of 2011, was recently nominated for the 2012 Small Business Book Awards, by Small Biz Trends, celebrating the best books that small business people and entrepreneurs ...

Small biz and targeted tax breaks moving in Fla. House - Bizjournals.com

Small biz and targeted tax breaks moving in Fla. House
Bizjournals.com
TALLAHASSEE—A House committee Wednesday approved a series of tax breaks that would save millions of dollars for small businesses --- while also helping specific taxpayers ranging from agricultural packing houses to real-estate salespeople. Gov.

and more »

Home | Site Map | Privacy Statement | More Articles
© 2006