July 12th, 2011
One of the most popular and innovate trends in e-commerce in 2010 was the proliferation and increased popularity of local/group-buying and flash sales websites. These websites, such as Groupon, allow groups of customers to purchase coupons which can then be used to purchase goods from local businesses.
Groupon, the company that pioneered the market, attracted 10.7 million unique visitors in December, an astonishing 712 percent increase versus one year ago. Its main competitor, LivingSocial, jumped 438 percent to 5.7 million unique visitors.
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in General Accounts Receivable Factoring Information, General Business | No Comments »
July 8th, 2011
Our professional funding firm, United Capital Funding has been a pioneer in marketing our services on the Internet since formation in 1997. In addition, we are currently beginning to harness Social Media as an effective marketing platform for our services.
We are constantly looking at key trends and developments that will impact how we utilize digital media in marketing our services as cost effectively as possible. This is a nearly overwhelming task; given the sheer volume of information [both good and bad] that one can read about digital marketing strategies, Social Media, the Internet and small business application for these tools.
One of the most comprehensive and educational resources we use in this education process is the work of comScore, Inc. comScore, Inc. [NASDAQ: SCOR] is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred sources of business analytics. comScore helps its clients better understand, leverage and profit from the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape by providing data, analytics, and on demand software solutions for the measurement of online ads and audiences, media planning, website analytics, social media and other emerging forms of marketing strategies. For more information, check out their website @ www.comScore.com.
Annually, comScore publishes a review and recap of key trends in digital media, by country or regional/global basis. The source for this article [including tables and other data] is from the 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review. The source document is 31 pages and can be found online at their website.
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in General Accounts Receivable Factoring Information, General Business | 111 Comments »
June 16th, 2011
Quick Recap
In the prior article, I briefly discussed that to ensure your business gets off and stays on the right path, you need to go back and look at the steps we discussed in many of the prior articles in this series. It is critical that you step back and assess you planning efforts first. Look at your people, skills, process and actions steps before focusing on technology and infrastructure. Ensure that you have people and skills that are qualified, client focused, champions of change management and that they embrace incentives for performance based results.
Information Focused Firm
This statement brings us full circle back to one of the earlier articles in this series where we discussed the needs for all businesses to shift from a product focused approach, past the channel focused approach, to an information focused approach.
In my next entry I will discuss features of each of the 3 approaches,
Best,
Mark Paul
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in General Accounts Receivable Factoring Information | 63 Comments »
May 4th, 2011
This is the next in a series of articles designed to provide your entrepreneurial business some observations from the viewpoint of a specialized financial services provider of capital to successful businesses nationally. Our firm United Capital funding provides Accounts Receivable funding via factoring to clients in 34 states. I have tried to identify the common denominators of what our most successful clients have done to not just survive, but succeed in today’s brutal economic environment. After you have had a chance to read my comments, always feel free to contact me with questions, observations, comments or if you need any additional information on the discussed topics. I can be most easily reached via email at mark@ucfunding.com
I will discuss being an Information Focused Firm in my next entry.
Best,
Mark Paul
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in General Business | 97 Comments »
April 27th, 2011
The Correct Starting Point
To ensure that your business gets off and stays on the right path, you need to go back and look at the steps we discussed in many of the prior articles in this series. It is critical that you step back and assess if you have started out planning first. Look at your people and skills and process and actions steps before focusing on technology and infrastructure. Ensure that you have in the “people and skills” area:
- Qualified, client focused staff
- Training and knowledge in place
- Champions of change management, including incentives for performance based results
In the process and action areas, make sure you structure is client facing and that you are using proven practices with timing and momentum that exceeds your clients needs.
As noted on the Small Business Administration website, www.sba.gov, “the most important small business resource is no longer labor, capital or land, but knowledge.” The client driven firm is marketing solutions to their clients that are constantly being updated by well trained, well compensated professionals as employees. The client driven organization is also the one that is using client and business intelligence; brand strategy; online, interactive development and integration; and integrated communications to anticipate the needs of their clients. I believe that the ability to craft and execute an effective Internet / social media / technology campaign is a critical tool for success.
This statement brings us “full circle” back to one of the earlier articles in this series, where we discussed the need for all specialized financial service firms to shift from a product focused approach, past the channel focused approach, to an information focused marketing effort.
Quickly, what are the features of each of these 3 approaches, and why is it so important to be an information focused firm? This will be the basis of the next article in this series.
Best,
Mark Paul
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in Uncategorized | 174 Comments »
April 26th, 2011
Quick Recap
In the prior article, I briefly discussed the incredible impact that technology has had on the way we operate, manage and run our businesses. Today, many of tools that we take for granted [from searching the Internet, email, etc.] didn’t even exist 10 or 5 years ago. I also mentioned that however, all of the technological tools in the world cannot and must not replace the true foundation of a great company; a culture of disciplined thoughts, actions and execution.
In my next post, I will provide greater detail
Best Mark Pual
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
April 18th, 2011
So let’s talk about how to use the Internet as a Marketing Tool.
One caveat before we get started; as was recently noted so eloquently in Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great, “When we stand back to look at the rise and fall of great corporations over the long course of history, we find that technology is an accelerator of greatness already in place, never the principal cause of greatness or decline. Great companies first build a culture of discipline; disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and who take disciplined action; and create a business model that fits squarely in the intersection of three circles: what they can be the best in the world at, a deep understanding of their economic engine and the core values they hold with deep passion. They then use technology to enhance these pre-existing variables, never as a replacement.”
Simply stated, throwing money at technology will not create a great or even good organization if the underlying foundation is weak. This is why it is imperative to complete all of the steps that we discussed in the nearly 50 prior articles in this series before you embark on a mission to add new clients on the Internet, social network tools or other electronic media. Without a comprehensive written plan in place, adding tremendous amounts of volume via an effective Internet marketing approach is truly a recipe for disaster.
We will discuss a well executed plan in my next entry.
Best,
Mark Paul
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in General Business | 1 Comment »
April 14th, 2011
Quick Recap
In the prior series of these Articles, I presented several very important ideas on how to seek and retain clients on a long term basis. I discussed our Operational Philosophy, [quality, not quantity]; the need to include the concept of Integrity in every facet of our business, and the need to ask a simple but very important question about each of your clients/prospects: Do you really know who they are?
The last article in this series focused on how to utilize the QOS [Quality of Service] process, similar to the one we have used in our Accounts Receivable factoring firm. This article will begin the discussion on how to use the rapidly changing Online/Internet/Social Media as a key component of your written marketing plan/strategy.
How to Harness the Power of the Internet as a Marketing Tool; What Technology Can’t Do
Where can I begin to describe the profound impact that the growth of the Internet has had on our lives? Our businesses? The way that we seek, search for and find information? There are not enough days in the week to do this topic justice; so we will assume that we are agree that the ability to harness the power of technology and the “Internet” will separate the winners from the survivors in the future in whatever business you operate.
In my next entry, I will jump in deep about how the internet can help your business.
Best,
Mark Paul
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in General Business | 55 Comments »
April 8th, 2011
Not all comments that we receive, however, are glowingly positive. I believe that these suggestions on how to better serve our clients may actually be more important than the positive comments utilized in the marketing process. All feedback is valuable and can be used to strengthen the relationship we have with our excellent group of clients.
Continuing on with what to do with customer comments. As you recall from my last entry, we discussed howq unsolicited client testimonials are excellent marketing tools. However we take it a step further.
Let me mention that we also have a separate survey process for all new clients. The goal of this survey is to assess our Accounts Receivables factoring firm marketing process and ensure that we provided our prospect [now client] a straight forward and clear understanding of our services, pricing and product menu. In the next article, I will cover this interesting process and present another form that we use in the New Client survey process for your review and future use.
Also, in the next series of articles, I will begin to cover how to harness the power of the Internet as a marketing tool, including ideas on how to maximize your website traffic and lead generation process.
Until Next Time.
Mark Paul
Posted in General Business | No Comments »
March 9th, 2011
Quick Recap
In the prior article in this series, I presented some of the actual comments we have recently received about our Accounts Receivable factoring firm, and how we use them in our professional marketing efforts. This article will provide some example of how we incorporate this feedback into our various marketing campaigns.
How we use them
As I mentioned in the previous article, the feedback you may get in the “other comment” section of the Survey is also very important. We utilized these comments [after we secure client approval] in our marketing materials and website presentation. These client testimonials are among the most powerful marketing tools you have in your arsenal.
Perhaps needless to say, these unsolicited client testimonials are excellent marketing tools. We have listed many more on our website, and I always encourage prospective clients to review these as part of their Due Diligence process. As an aside, we proactively provide all potential clients a complete set of references, including client, legal, accounting, funding and banking references as part of our Accounts Receivable factoring marketing materials.
I will provide more information on how we use customer comments in my next entry
Best,
Mark Paul
Tags: account receivable, account receivable collections, account receivable factoring, accounts receivable, accounts receivable factoring
Posted in General Business | 217 Comments »