Does Your Branding & Marketing Align with your Business Figure? December 31, 2011

Most small and medium enterprises especially the growing ones and start-ups, seem to spend a large amount of their time trying to figure out how to position their business in the crowded & competitive business world, who is the target audience, what messages are to be conveyed to their target audience, how the messages would be carried across and so on.

However, how many SMEs have really tried to take a break, sit back & figure out that – How your message is going to be heard? How will it be interpreted by your target audience? Whether or not your audience will be able to understand exactly what you are trying to convey? What would it mean to the person who is listening?

The main point of interest behind such elaborate question and answer is to make you realize the fact that, it is not always what you say or do that necessarily counts but mostly the way it is received, understood and interpreted by your target audience that matters more. Unless and until your message sent = message received + interpreted, you cannot say for sure that you have hit the bull’s eye.

A good way to ensure that whether or not your message is getting conveyed & interpreted the way you want it to be is, to get a feedback from your customers as well as from your network. Customers because, their perspective of your business as well as you is very important & significant. They are mostly the ones to carry forward your message. And network because, this normally includes people you have always known but have never worked with.

While most SMEs may find doing this sort of an exercise on a regular basis a little scary and time consuming, you can be assured that the exercise is definitely worth every minute and penny spent. Not only will this initiate and strengthen your relation with both your customers as well as network, but also make you clear on your marketing strategies & business goals. You will simultaneously have a clear understanding of what you are conveying through your strategies and also your target audience’s perspective over the same. You also get to know how the business world is looking at your business and is it in line with your marketing and branding strategies.

Most importantly, this exercise is the simplest answer to the question that “Are your business and marketing strategies talking about the same thing to your target audience as well as to those around you?”

For any help on branding and marketing , pls email us on media@smejoinup.com and we shall try to help you out !

7 Easy Steps for SMEs to Make Their Trade Shows Pay Off December 27, 2011

With the business world & foreign & domestic markets gaining stability, trade shows have once again started to pick up, with the number of attendees and booth sales growing each year.

In the recent past there had come a time when many businesses decided to dial down participation in such trade fairs & conferences. If you too are one of those businesses, then this is the right time to make a comeback & re-engage.

Here are few essential steps SMEs may follow, to ensure that your money & time invested in trade shows pays off into profitable leads and stronger customer bonds.

1. While most SMEs begin preparing for their shows only days beforehand, there is instead a need for long-term strategy that aligns with your company marketing.
2. The basic motive behind attending such conferences & trade shows is to be able to connect with your prospective & current customers and also to get updated on the latest technologies & products that can benefit your business. The key here is to ensure whether or not you accomplish these tasks well & how wisely you spend your time. Thus, the catch here is to first evaluate which trade shows can be of maximum profit for you. Your aim is to generate a lead for your products & marketing. A good way to do this is to become a panellist or speaker that brings for your some instant recognition & thereby generate leads.
3. Start contacting your target audience well in advance by means of attractive mailers that can tempt ample traffic to your booth.
4. Referring exhibition handbooks that are often neglected, is a cheap & useful resource for identifying key activities you may want to attend & delegates who can prove instrumental for your business. You may also call the PR of the show to get updates on high profile speakers & product launches. Think of the show as a golden opportunity to get immense recognition within an intense timeframe.
5. It would be too much of an expectation to assume the attendees to find you. Experts indicate that it is for you to devise ways & means of standing out of crowd. While some experts are of the opinion that large & bold displays are visible from across all corners of the hall, others advice to have counter-programming presentation with a personal touch for more effective results.
6. Skilled & well trained staff is a key consideration in trade shows. Remember that each & every staff member who will man a booth acts as your business ambassador. Thus, it is important for you to pen down a pitch well in advance & have it practiced with each of your staffer so that the messaging is consistent. Evaluate the results of the pitch by measuring the sales leads or script the pitch accordingly.
7. Pushing your products at your customers is not the smartest way. A better way is to instead ask questions that can help you judge the needs & temperament of your customers & then pitch your products. This ensures a longer customer relationship.

SMEs to enhance productivity & profitability at SME India Outlook 2011 January 4, 2011

Enhancing productivity has always been the prime concern for SMEs in the manufacturing industry that primarily run on minimum costs and minimum resources. Among several technologies that have been developed to aid SMEs meet their demands in this regard, IT & Automation technologies are believed to be at the forefront in terms of increasing both productivity and profitability for SMEs in manufacturing.

In this backdrop, INK Business Media Pvt Ltd (one of the leading conference management companies in India), recently announced ‘SME India Outlook 2011’, a National Conference focused on SMEs in manufacturing industry with a theme on “Capitalizing IT & Automation for Manufacturing Excellence.” The conference would be held at Hotel Novotel  Juhu Beach, Mumbai, on 10^th February 2011.

The target sectors for SME India Outlook 2011 include Chemicals & process equipment, Food processing, Pharmaceuticals, Plastics & Packaging, Engineered products, and Machine Tools & Metalworking. The estimated planned attendance for this event is more than 150 delegates.

The conference aims to provide the delegates a unique opportunity to get updated on the latest technologies in IT & Automation focused specifically at SMEs, while keeping an eye on keeping costs at the optimum. Further, apart from knowledge sharing, there would be abundant networking opportunities to meet the stalwarts from IT & Automation industry and leverage the customized solutions in offer, specifically to suit business demands of this sector. This forum would also provide an opportunity for the SMEs to meet various funding agencies, banks & venture capital firms, which provide customized packages for the SMEs to adopt modern technologies.

Supported by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Automation Industry Association (AIA) and several other leading associations in the country, the highlight of this event would be its esteemed list of speakers which includes Mr Udaykumar Varma, Secretary, Ministry of MSME; Dr. HP Kumar, CMD, NSIC; Mr Anup Wadhwa, Director, Automation Industry Association (AIA); Mr. Vijay Srinivasan, Managing Director, Invensys India Pvt Ltd & Vice President, AIA; Mr. Raj Singh Rathee, Managing Director, Kuka Robotics India and Mr. Milind Kulkarni, Head-Business Development (factory automation), Siemens India Pvt. Ltd, among others.

Prominent topics to be discussed during the conference include overcoming automation complexity & protecting RoI, adopting energy efficient & sustainable IT solutions, affordable robotic solutions for SMEs in manufacturing, integrating IT & Automation solutions in manufacturing operations, future of cloud computing, data security in cloud & exploring the concept of private cloud in manufacturing business; leveraging virtualization technology for optimum cost reduction, etc.

The conference would conclude with a Visionary Panel Discussion on “Challenges faced by SMEs in leveraging IT & Automation, and how to overcome them.”
For participation or query please email us on contact@smejoinup.com