Hubspot inbound marketing software is a collection of tools to help build, manage, promote and monitor websites. The section in Hubspot called Sources measures traffic, leads, and customers your website generates, and it can be filtered in many ways including timeframes and by source. It shows what’s working and what isn’t.

Google Analytics helps understand the performance of websites, and many people use both Hubspot and Google since Hubspot Analytics is a free tool. They provide complimentary information.

One of the main variations between the software’s is Hubspot can measure both web traffic in general and leads / customers. Using cookies, when someone views a website Hubspot follows the web visitor’s history tracking the visitor, the forms the visitor fills out, to when the same visitor converts into a lead. Using this technology users of Hubspot can establish how many leads are generated by the website and what channel are most effective in attracting leads and converting them to customers. Also, with the use of separate customer relationship management and Hubspot you can monitor the leads and customers the website has generated.

Anyone familiar with Google Analytics will know amongst its many features is one called Goals. This can be used to track leads by having landing pages on the website which send leads to a specific page after filling out a form – the goal is you want to attract visitors and fill out the form, if this happens then the fact that the reach the page after competing the form mean the goal has been met and Google will record this. This is similar to Hubspot but Google only provides an aggregate number of conversions, it can’t be used to monitor each specific visitor’s path or record their details within the system once they’ve completed a form.

Hubspot software helps you understand where visitors are coming from – Twitter, Blog, Email, etc and which source is most successful in converting visitors to customers.

Most people use Google Analytics because it’s good and it’s free, and as mentioned above many people use both Google and HubSpot for complimentary information – Google can be used for measuring “bounce rate” (visitors who find your website then leave straight away without looking at more than one page), or for tracking repeat visitors vs. unique visitors. Hubspot can offer information about tracking visitors, sources, which sources convert the most leads to customers etc

Outbound marketing is traditional activities that businesses did before the Internet e.g trade shows, seminar series, emailing purchased lists, cold calling and telemarketing, and advertising.  This kind of marketing pushes messages to customers and prospects and can often be annoying to the recipient, who often don’t want the products or services or may not be ready to purchase. These methods are still used, and probably always will be part of the marketing mix, but people are preferring to find what they want when they want, instead of being interupted by outbound marketing.

Outbound marketing is getting less effective because research has shown that consumers are getting swamped by 2000+ marketing messages per day,  and we are getting better at blocking these marketing messages.

The emergence of the Internet has given consumers a new way of researching and buying what they want, when they want. Inbound marketing is an approach to getting found by prospects that are at that very moment researching your products and services and looking to buy.  Inbound marketing includes having a website optimised for the keywords your customers and prospects are looking for, internet marketing, blogging, social media etc.

The Hubspot presentation above gives many interesting facts about the Internet and Inbound Marketing. For example:

• 10.3 billion searches are done using Google every month
• 46% decline in spending on tech trade shows in 2009 (which can be used as an indicator for trade shows in general)
• Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors
• Inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional outbound marketing

]]> http://strong-uk.com/blog/inbound-marketing-blog/inbound-marketing-vs-outbound-marketing/feed/ 0 http://strong-uk.com/blog/pricing-strategy-blog/tesco-price-cutting-strategy-doesnt-work/ http://strong-uk.com/blog/pricing-strategy-blog/tesco-price-cutting-strategy-doesnt-work/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:02:16 +0000 admin http://strong-uk.com/?p=3392

Tesco’s share price plunged by 15% on Thursday 12 January 2012 after the company released a trading statement reporting its worst Christmas sales performance for many years. Tesco ran a £500 million price cutting campaign in the hope that it would attract customers, but it said the amount of customers attracted had not been enough to offset its lower prices.

Cutting prices is easier to implement compared to many other strategies used to try and grow businesses e.g. raise prices, improve customer services etc, and perhaps for that reason it is a strategy often employed. However it does come with dangers, as can be seen with the Tesco example. It cut prices, which will have attracted customers, but not enough to compensate for the price cut.

Many business owners don’t realise the dangers of cutting prices, and just how much revenue they need generate to offset a price cut, they are just happy to see customers buying, losing sight that at the end of the day it is profit that counts. The same company with lower sales and higher margin can be more profitable than the company with higher sales and lower margin.

As an example, suppose a business has been losing customers and wants to increase sales, so the business owner or manager chooses to cut prices. If the business has a Gross Margin of 40% and cut prices by 10%, this would mean sales would need to increase by 33% to offset the price cut. So a company with sales of say £1m, which could have taken years to reach that level of sales volume, would need to increase sales to £1.33m just to stand still in profit terms. First of all the level of sales might never be reached meaning the exercise leaves the company worse off, as in Tesco’s case they didn’t manage to increase sales enough to offset the price cuts, and secondly everyone employed would need to work harder, more stock would possibly be needed to serve the extra sales, and cash flow might be tighter, just to the company can stand still. Of course the company could be better off it is does offset the price cuts, but it has a lot of work to do in order to get there.

If you are in the position of considering a price cut, just think of the above, and also if you are thinking of the price cut because you are losing customers then consider which customers you are losing. Are they high or low profit customers? If low profit then maybe you are best without them. If high profit then find out why they are leaving you, it might not be about prices – again think about Tesco…

After Tesco released the trading statement causing the share price to plunge, in an interview with the BBC the message from Philip Clarke, who took over as Tesco’s chief executive in March 2011, was that the UK’s biggest retailer made a short-term mistake and has a longer-term problem – Tesco has under invested in the UK stores as it concentrated on expansion overseas and in areas like banking and the internet, and in his view there are too few employees in stores leading to long checkout queues and shelves not stocked as well as they should be. He is planning to solve this with a big investment in what he describes as the “experience” for British shoppers, thousands more employees with be hired and store layouts changed.

So the lesson from this is although prices are important, a price cut may not be, and probably is not, the answer. There might be better strategies, like improve customer service, or in Tesco chief executive’s case the customer “experience”.

If you want to learn more about the impact of price cuts for your business, what sales you would need to offset the price cuts, or indeed if price cutting is the right strategy and what are the alternatives, then get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!

A locally based company based in Liverpool, the client is a specialist training and consulting practice that operates nationally. They join our existing consulting clients as valued customers who will benefit from our high levels of customer service and ability to help their businesses go from strength to strength.

Bookkeeping & Accountants in Liverpool – A Superior Service

The client was looking for bookkeepers and accountants Liverpool to help them with financial management as they had been let down by the previous provider. How had they been let down? You guessed it, the same old culprits – poor communication, continually having to chase them, slow work, leaving everything until the last minute, lack of information, etc.

When the client got in touch, we not only explained how we work with our clients, but we invited them to speak to existing clients so they could properly research our work and what to expect.

Bookkeeping Liverpool

The bookkeeping services include:

• Install Sage Accounts
• Ongoing Sage Accounts Bookkeeping
• Vat Returns
• Payroll

Accountants Liverpool

Accounting services include:

• Director Self Assessment Tax Returns
• Limited company accounts
• Tax advice and planning

Financial Management

Along with the bookkeeping and accounting services:

• Financial planning
• Budgets & forecasts
• Cost analysis & procurement

Accountants Liverpool

We look forward to working with the client, assisting them with their business and helping it to succeed. That is what we do!

Own or manage a small business and need a bookkeeper or accountants in Liverpool? Give us a call today, you won’t be sorry!

In the “good old days” there was less red tape and less competition, but that was 10+ years ago, things have changed. Of course there are exceptions and particular niches, but the consensus amongst most experienced business people is that in general people are finding it tougher to own and manage a business. This is true for all size of businesses, but owning and managing a small or medium sized business is especially challenging.

There is the cost and complications of employing people, the challenge of promoting products and services in competitive markets, ensuring the operations and projects are running smoothly, making sure the financial side of the business is taken care of, ensuring all the legal obligations of running a business are adhered to etc.

Often small business owners take on this challenge on their own, without support or people to share problems with and air ideas. This is admirable, but in most cases it is counter productive as it only serves to stunt grown and limit profits, and employing people in an uncertain world can be risky for businesses small and large so this often isn’t the best solution.

Our small business consultants have experience within a wide range of industries and specialise in providing business support to owners and managers of small businesses so they can concentrate on what they do best.

Business people are sometimes reluctant to get outside help from small business consultants for fear of costs, but once they’ve looked into it the costs of business support are very affordable. Not only are rates affordable, they only apply to work done, whereas compared to employing people companies usually have to pay set hours which leads to large amounts of downtime, and using outsourced business support there is no sick pay, holiday pay, NI etc to pay for, which is obviously a cost saving. Then there is the fact that the business owner and or internal staff time is freed up by having support, which allows them to focus on what they do best, which makes them more money…the list of benefits goes on.

Small Business Consultants

As small business consultants we provide a range of business support services which help our clients grow sales, cut costs and increase profits. Services include Business Development and Marketing to grow leads and sales, Financial Management to take the stress out of the bookkeeping and accounting side of the business, IT Solutions including Sage Accounts and Hubspot Internet Marketing Software, and back office support to look after the time-consuming paperwork. We also support some companies by acting as a sounding board, offering a important critical friend service that helps business owners stand back and look at their business from other perspectives and gives them a platform to think through their business which is often highly valued.

Don’t struggle alone, contact us today and explore how we can help you and your business in the future.

Accountants & Bookkeeping website launched for small businesses in Liverpool

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Bookkeeping and Accounting website for small businesses in the Liverpool, Wirral, Merseyside and surrounding areas.

As Bookkeepers and Accountants Liverpool, the new website will give focus to our financial management, bookkeeping and accounts work for self employed sole traders and small businesses in the area.

Having owned and managed small businesses ourselves, we understand the challenges they face and what support is need in terms of bookkeeping and accounting – good customer service, flexible, communication skills, supportive, along with the all important knowledge to save them tax!

Our team includes Chartered Accountants, Tax Specialists and MBA qualified business advisers, all of which enables us to offer higher service levels than other Accountants in Liverpool and Accountants in Merseyside.

Our bookkeeping and accounting services in Liverpool include Sage Accounts Bookkeeping, Management Accounts, Year End Accounts, Self Assessments, Tax Advice and much much more.

Our bookkeeping and accounting services can not only help with usual day-to-day bookkeeping and year end accounting, but also help maximise the performance of clients’ businesses by helping them look for areas to improve profits. This can also prove to be valuable in helping to focus the company on what it does best and which service and customers are a best fit and product the best returns.

If you need proactive financial management for your business and you’re looking for a good accountant in Liverpool or on the Wirral, then give us a call today as we’ll explore ways we can help you and your business in the future.

Don’t forget to check out testimonials and we hope you get in touch!

New Accountants website for Southport

As Bookkeepers and Accountants in Southport, our new website for our small business accounting services gives well deserved focus for the work we do in this area. 

With many years experience of owning and supporting small businesses, our team of Chartered Accountants and MBA qualified support specialists work closely with sole traders and small business in the Southport and surrounding areas of Ainsdale, Formby, Scarisbrick, Banks and towards Tarleton, Burscough and Ormskirk.

Accountants Southport

• Bookkeeping
• Sage Accounts
• Payroll Services
• Management Accounts
• Year End Accounts
• Self Assessment Tax Returns

Having owned and managed small businesses ourselves, we understand what support small businesses want but often don’t get, this is the gap we fill. We work in partnership with our clients and enjoy delivering high levels of customer service which results in good working relationships and strong business results.

Accountants Southport

We work with a wide range of clients including:

• Training Companies
• Marketing Agencies
• Event Companies
• Project Management
• Architects
• HR Consultants
• And many more

If you need proactive accountants Southport for your small business, or in the surrounding areas including Formby, Ainsdale, Tartleton and Ormskirk, then contact us today!

Don’t forget to check out our testimonials !

Visit Strong Financials

There are two important rules when it comes to annual events like Christmas lunch or a summer barbecue. One is the cost per head and the second is who is invited, and no that doesn’t mean you have to invite the tax man!

Who is invited…

Directors and employees of the company are each charged a share of the expense of the event except where exempts the charge to tax apply. The exemption applies to annual parties which are available to all employees or employees at one location if the company has multiple offices. The important thing to remember is that all staff need to be invited, not just Directors for example.

Spend limit…

If a company has one annual event for all employees then it will be except from tax arises so long as the cost per head is no more than £150. If the cost exceeds £150 per head then all of the cost will attract tax not just the portion above £150.

If the company has more than one event in the year, again for all staff, no tax charge arises if the average cost per head of all the parties added together don’t exceed £150 per employee. If the amount for all the events goes higher than the £150 limit then whichever event best utilises the £150 allowance will be exempt.

It is important to remember that the £150 per person limit for annual staff parties and functions is not an allowance to be set against an amount higher than that figure. For example, is the cost of the party, or say 2 parties together, totals £200 per head, the £150 can’t be set against the £200. If one party then employees will be taxed on the full £200, if say two parties say one was £150 and one was £50 per head then the £150 is exempt as long as all staff are invited, but the staff will be charged tax on the remaining £50.

We hope that helps, but if you need an accountant in Liverpool or an accountant in Southport to help then give us a call, and don’t forget to invite us to your party!

Looking for a Good Accountant in Liverpool?

We’ve been doing some research and it seems sole traders and small businesses in the Liverpool, Wirral Merseyside area are not getting the support they need from their bookkeeper or accountants in Liverpool.

Having spoken to many small business owners, the feedback isn’t good! There doesn’t seem to be many good bookkeepers in Liverpool offering flexible and informative services for small businesses, and reports about small business accountants in Liverpool is – they are too distant, not good at communicating, only see them once a year, difficult to get hold of, lack of advice – all of which are commonly reported problem with accountants.  Whether it be got general day-to-day bookkeeping, management accounts, Vat returns, computerised accounting software or year end accounts and tax, business support off their accountant in seen to be very important.

A client informed me when he was looking for help with bookkeeping and year end accounts that he did a search on the Internet and phoned a few bookkeepers and accountant Liverpool, none of them seemed very good, they were all very rigid, telling him how he had to work to fit in with them, not interested in how his business worked and how they could fit in with him. He also told me that is was so refreshing having me work the opposite to all other bookkeepers and accountants. With all our clients, we find out about clients businesses and fit in with them rather than the other way around. Makes for a happy relationship!

Accountant Liverpool

Having owned and managed small businesses ourselves, we understand how they work and what support they need. Most accountants have only been accountants and know no other. So that is probably why there is a difference in the way we operate. So if you’re looking for a good bookkeeper in Liverpool, or a good accountant in Liverpool, be sure to look us up and you can speak to some of our clients to give you confidence that you are making the right decision.

Their findings include facts like 20% of business owners do not have a business plan, 47 per cent are baffled with accountants jargon and do not know the correct definition of gross profit, and 23% do not know the correct definition of VAT taxable turnover.

In my experience their findings that entrepreneurs and business owners struggle with the financials and accounting is definitely true. Excuses for this lack of knowledge could be several and perhaps include – people are in business to run their business not to be accountants, the finance and compliance parts are seen as boring, they haven’t got the time to gain an understanding, and probably many more reasons.

This lack of knowledge is sometimes the reasons why businesses fail. However some entrepreneurs succeed without knowledge. You could say that business owners need to get knowledge of these issues, but is it a case of red tape is making it too complicated for small businesses? Red tape isn’t going to go away, so it’s really up to small business owners to gain an understanding of these issues. It doesn’t help either that Bookkeepers and Accountants in Liverpool seem to want to keep Accountancy jargon to themselves and often only confuse business people more.  This is exactly the reason why Strong Business Services was established, to help entrepreneurs with Planning, Accounting and Compliance issues at rates flexible enough for even the smallest of businesses, and to make what are often too complicated issues a lot simpler. We also have a Bookkeeping and Accounting division specifically for providing Bookkeeping and Accounting support – Accountants Liverpool and Accountants Southport

Do you run a small business in Liverpool Preston or Southport and need help with the Financial and Accounting side of your business? Are team of Chartered Accountants and MBA qualified business support specialists are here to help you.