Consider the 4 P's when you attack this important business problem: Product, Price, Promotion, and Position.

• Product: You need to have what your customers want, when they want it. For instance, get your gardening books on the shelf in February when customers are planning their garden, not late summer.
• Price: Are you a discount bookstore, or a premium bookstore. Price and promote accordingly.
• Promotion: Do people know where to find you and the kinds of services that you offer? Why should they come to your store versus the other choices they have? There are inexpensive ways to promote your business, such as direct mail and fliers. For some the Internet is a viable way to promote your business.
• Position: When people think of your store, what is the first thing that comes to mind (ex: high quality, best selection, etc.)? Is it what you would like them to be thinking? Conduct customer surveys (get customers to participate for a discount on a future purchase) which can be a useful tool in understanding your market position.

I'm developing my customer database. What should I do with this database to make it pay off?

Marketing databases provide great rewards to companies that use them correctly. The first step is to develop a means for exchanging information with your customers. Use every opportunity to collect information about your customers.

Find out how they view and use your products or services. With this information, you can identify your best customers. Build their loyalty through programs such as membership clubs, discounts, and free services. For example, a jewelry store may use its database to send anniversary cards to customers. The card entitles the recipient to a free ring cleaning. At the very least, the card builds the relationship between customer and merchant. It may even lead to an opportunity to sell another diamond commemorating the event.

For more information from Microsoft see Attract Customers Through Targeted Communication
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We submit sales proposals and bids every day to clients, just like our competitors. How can we make these proposals more interesting to get the business?

Customized proposals are always more effective than generic ones. This requires extra work of the sales staff. But it will certainly pay off. Research the customer, its competition, the customer's industry, and even your competition. You probably already have the resources needed to do the research. Industry publications and newsletters published by trade organizations are a good place to start. Your local public library has many resources. And don't forget about the Web -- a free resource. Many companies, including research companies, maintain their own Web sites. And news organizations publish information about companies and markets on the Web. For an access fee, most commercial online services such as MSN and CompuServe make their on-line research resources available.

For more information from Microsoft see Create A Professional Image With Microsoft Publisher
For more information from magazine.

I'm interested in doing business only in the US, can I still put my business on the Web and not cause problems?

The World Wide Web, as its name suggests, is accessible by surfers throughout the world. Most people view the international scope of the Web as an asset. It is an inexpensive means for businesses to market and sell their goods or services in the global marketplace. If you put your business on the Web, it is accessible by international customers. A good example is the Vermont Teddy Bear company, which started receiving orders on their Web site from Germany in German. They had to rethink their order policy to account for the international nature of the Net. But this does not mean that you must conduct business internationally. You can make clear on your site that you will ship your goods only to domestic locations or your service is available only in the U.S..

There is also a more sophisticated alternative. An adept Web programmer can write programming code to determine the domain (network location) from which the user is coming. If it is a non-U.S. domain, the user can receive a different set of Web pages, which are designed for international users.

For more information from Microsoft about how to do business on the Web see Leverage The Internet
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