The Internet has commoditized much of our B2C and B2B purchasing – or at least the information that guides our decisions. But it also provides business owners with opportunities to extend their reach through value-add, thereby increasing share of available market versus having to look for new markets.

So maybe that knitting store owner not only sells online, but publishes content via E-newsletters, videos or blog posts; partners with a children’s clothing store; sells items made by customers; hosts workshops, webinars and knitting circles; and offers exclusive discounts on customer birthdays. A case of community trumping commodity.

Comes down to figuring out customer buying behavior as well as what they want.

“RJMetrics measures your Customer Lifetime Value, Repurchase Rate, Average Order Value, and all the other metrics you need to grow your business.” Pretty clear.

“[GoodData] connects data with business people and processes to create powerful solutions that support a specific set of business use cases.” Huh?

I don’t know how representative this is, but the few entrepreneurs I’ve spoken to recently had difficulty describing the business value they offer, who their customers are and who the real competition is. Their websites often lack a buyer-focused design or informative content. And marketing plans amount to, “We’re setting up a Facebook page.”

Companies that from the beginning take the same systematic approach to marketing and selling as they do to product develop have a tremendous advantage. A necessary component when bootstrapping.

Nice post!

I love my Job and to be Honest at 17 no I’m not in it for the money. I do care about the customer. And sir I do honestly think you had a bad experince that I hope you can overcome by having some good experience :)and will change your experience with us an enjoyable one.

Computer people think systemically. What data do we have to work on? What transformations need to be made to that data to get the output we require. What resources do those transformations require?

That’s the essence of systemizing. For a very basic (I mean very) approach to using systems in a company read “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber.

Peter Bowen, who posted above, sells an interesting tool on his web site that provides systems for very small companies in a cookie cutter fashion which can be helpful in the right situation. http://www.nomore247.com/

My grid provides a basic list of the systems required in most businesses (at a high level) Many sub-systems are usually required but at the sub-system level they are not the same for every company. The grid can be downloaded at http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/Grid.pdf

Hope that helps. If you find a good book on the topic, shoot me an email about it.

Nick