Networking is a very important part of getting your business going. One of the best ways to maximize your network is to volunteer. Not only is it the right thing to do, but people who belong to organizations look out for one another. It's a congregation of people who actually care about other people. 

Right now is a great time. 'Tis the season for volunteering. But, don't make it a seasonal thing. Make sure you really get involved. Just paying yearly dues will not work. You have to actually get out and talk to those folks and spend time together. And what better way to do it than to help others.

If you're a business genius and can help other people with their businesses, then maybe you should belong to the chamber of commerce in your area or an organization to help small businesses. There are many different types of charitable organizations for human services, environmental services, animal, arts, culture, religious, educational, the list goes on.

Volunteer. It's good business.

QR Codes, also known as portals, are a tool that will change your business forever. Over 40% of adult mobile phone users have smart phones.  With all of the apps available, you can get a tremendous amount of information immediately. Information is literally at your fingertips.

Japan has used portal technology for years, but within the last few years, they have been popping up all over and I am starting to see them on marketing materials everywhere. And I will tell you why. Portals can direct interested customers to a URL, phone number or text. So they can take you to any information you can place on a web page, immediately call you or to a text. Social media pages, special offers and coupons, instructions, videos, and most importantly; your contact information are all at the click of a button. 

Portals are free to register, although there are several services that will gladly take your money to set them up. Portals are also completely trackable, so you know where your marketing dollars are best spent and where to save. You are able to create your code and log in to check your statistics and reporting, and the results post immediately.

It is much better to know the response of your advertising than it to be a guessing game. The portals can be tracked and reports can be downloaded in different formats, giving you lots of helpful information. Let's not forget, that if a person is interested enough to scan it, you already have their undivided attention to get your message across. So make it a good one.

Used as an electronic business card, they are invaluable. And electronic business cards have a 40% more response rate than a traditional paper card. That is because it is a lot easier to have the information electronically stored than to try to remember where you physically put someone's paper business card, hoping it didn't make it to the washing machine.

Designers have gotten quite creative with the portals and there have been gallery shows featuring portal design. The few I have here I threw together for the purpose of this article, but I encourage you to research other ideas. Some of them are amazing. If you have a design, please share it with us. I love to see what other people come up with.

One of the most important parts of a business is gathering your customers contact information. The more you know about your customers, the easier it will be to provide them with a product or service they need when they need it.  No matter how small your business is, gather the information. Gather it any way you can. It should be entered into a database and used regularly.

Even if you're a small boutique retail business, use creative ways to gather the information. A drawing for a gift certificate or other item is a wonderful way to get it. If you your customers are engaged in a questionaire you should take full advantage to get additional information you have always wanted to ask.

It's important to know exactly where your customers live, work, lifestyle, etc. The more information you know about your customers, the easier it is to communicate with them.

The basic information you want is:
name
address
phone
email

With this little bit of information, you will immediately know where most of your customers live, be able to do a direct mailing to them. You will be able to call specific customers when new product arrives. And finally an email marketing campaign with photos and a special offer that will remind them why they love doing business with you.

Sure you can purchase lists. But the lists are not your customers. Having your customers information is more like having the true essence of your business. That is a concentrated list of people that already trust your business. People like to use a business they trust.