Evan Vitale Consulting: Washington Business Report: The key to BlueMercury's growth success, the …

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Washington Business Report: The key to BlueMercury's growth success, the … – WJLA

Latest post from Evan Vitale Consulting -

WASHINGTON (WJLA) – This week on Washington Business Report with ABC7 national correspondent Rebecca Cooper, we discuss the business side of the NFL’s Ray Rice scandal, experts offer tips on marketing your small business in a smart way, and we ask the CEO of BlueMercury how she managed to grow from one small store location to a large chain with a profitable online presence as well.

Roundtable: Business of Ray Rice Scandal

Small Business Spotlight: Marketing Tips

One-on-one with BlueMercury‘s founder and CEO

In this week’s One-on-one interview, Rebecca Cooper sat down with BlueMercury founder and CEO, Marla Malcolm Beck to learn how she grew from one Georgetown store to a huge online and brick-and-mortar cosmetics retailer.

Beck, with a business background from Harvard, always had a love for cosmetics, and was savvy enough to uncover the opportunity to profit from it. She first launched an online cosmetic store back in 1999. The potential of the internet was still untapped at the time, and sales were slower than she had hoped. Beck changed her strategy and headed to D.C. to take her business to a physical location, she told Washington Business Report’s Rebecca Cooper.

BlueMercury took off. She credits her success to her method of hiring: she looks for employees who have “skill, will and fit.” In addition to expanding through new physical locations, the store has also began hitting the marks she initially had hoped for online, she says.

She has survived the cosmetic industry’s heavy competition, and says she believes BlueMercury’s speed to see trends faster than her opponents is her key to success.

Roundtable: The business of the NFL Ray Rice scandal

In response to the events surrounding the domestic abuse scandal involving Ravens runningback Ray Rice, discussion has been lively on the topic of new policy change for the NFL. Who should take action, and how? Individual teams should hold their players responsible, and league-wide regulations are unnecessary, Barbara Lang of Lang Strategies told Washington Business Report.

Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney shares similar sentiments. He told host Rebecca Cooper he believes teams will be anxious to take proper disciplinary action in order to maintain their public reputation – which, if damaged, would lead to significant financial distress.

“It’s all about the money,” Lang said during the discussion.

Small Business Spotlight: Marketing Plan

The two scarcest resources small businesses must protect are time and money.

Small businesses may not have the finances or manpower that larger companies have to grow. So how can small businesses build trust, loyalty and connection with their customers in ways that don’t break the bank, and don’t require them to work around the clock?

It’s all about their marketing strategy, according to Zemira Jones, CEO of All American Management Group. He told Washington Business Report that there are four solutions any small business can follow:

Solution #1: The ACE Model

Customers are surrounded by experts. Small businesses must cut through the noise that their customers hear every day by using

Authority: Create Star-Power and Authority with your customer. Show that you lead your area of expertise. You want them to think of you first when they have a problem you can solve. Credibility: Consistently build your Credibility with frequent communication in ways they can access. Easy Access: Be Everywhere. One communication platform is not enough. Social media, TV, audio, video, podcasting, books/products – need a multi-platform strategy.

Solution #2: The 1-99 Rule: Focus on the One Thing!

Create a “domino effect” with your content, customers, and revenues by creating one piece of content and repurposing it into many forms so that it reaches many audiences. Create a presence on one platform, do it well, and then leverage that content and presence through other channels.

Solution #3: Make the media love your business – stop renting your audience; start owning It.

Learn the three types of media: paid media, owned media and earned media.

Solution #4: Create A Powerful Story

Make your customers love your product/ service the most. Your personal brand story works because of the science behind It. Be scientific in telling it. Make it personal. Your audience will fall in love with you. Small business owners can create lasting connections with their customers through thoughtful content and through intentional multiplatform marketing strategies.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Source