Color has a huge impact on how customers react to a product. Understanding how colors affect consumer purchasing behavior is highly important for marketers. As the following graphic (via Kissmetrics) shows, 93% of customers place visual appearance and color above other factors when shopping. Customers are persuaded by visual cues, the strongest of which is color

So how does color affect consumer behavior? Different colors are associated with different types of products and shoppers. When designing your product, packaging and logo, make sure to consider who your customers are and what colors will have the greatest influence on them.

Now that we know color is important, what about other factors that influence consumers purchases? Overall design also plays a significant role in consumer purchase decisions, particularly for online shoppers. This graphic shows that 42% of online shoppers base their opinion of a website on overall design alone and 52% said they would not return to a site if it had bad overall aesthetics.

Whether your designing a website, product, or logo, make sure you are using colors and aesthetics that speak to your target customers.

Have more questions about color? Ask us.

Cheers,
The Ruby Porter Team

There is a difference between a personal Facebook page and a Facebook business page. It is important not to mix the two. The main difference is “business accounts are designed for individuals who only want to be the administrator for pages and their ad campaigns. For this reason, business accounts have limited access to information on the site.” -- Facebook.com.

First steps for creating the business account:

In order to create a business account you must already have a personal page on Facebook. Once you have logged into your personal account, you can create a Facebook page. Once you complete all of the required information, they will ask you to re-login to your Facebook.

After getting the business page created, you can customize it however you want. You can add information, pictures, links to your website, etc. After you have set-up everything completely, you can start building your fan base. TIP: Before you begin to build your business page, look at other business pages so you can have an idea for what your content should look like, have it spell checked, and ready to load. These easy planning steps will save you some time and embarrassment.

Remember, keeping up with a Facebook business page is not easy. It takes planning and dedication, but when handled well, it can lead to increased exposure for your brand and build customer loyalty. If you're on the fence about whether you can commit to maintaining a Facebook business page, remember that it’s more detrimental to your business to have a business page with no activity than to not have one at all. Keep up with postings and keep your page current and you'll do great! Check out our Facebook business page here.

Cheers,
The Ruby Porter Team

Many entrepreneurs and small businesses start out with a few individuals who have a great product or service idea. Despite having this, their businesses fail to get off the ground. What is a major reason for this? Most entrepreneurs or small business partners did not plan on being salespeople. However, the reality of running a small business is that you must be your own salesperson. So what can you do if you have a great business idea but don't have a knack for sales?

Tips For Being Your Own Salesperson:

1. Make selling a priority. Your business cannot operate without sales, they must be your #1 priority.
2. Go in to each conversation with a target in mind. Know what you want to sell to customers and have a game plan for what you are going to say or do to make that happen. And, be sure to have an up-sell product/service and a down-sell product/service in mind ahead of time so you can quickly and easily adjust to their needs/abilities. Make sure to close each conversation by assertively (which is different than being rude) asking for the sale.
3. Set goals and track results. This will tell you what is and is not working. Use this feedback and change your approach according to what is providing you the best results.
4. Be yourself. Be genuine in all your interactions with customers and your passion for your business will show.

If you try these tips and still find that selling is just too far out of your comfort zone, hire a salesperson. For an entrepreneur or small business this can be a huge expense, but it will begin to payoff quickly. If sales is really not your thing, hiring a salesperson will be well worth your time and money. But, if you find you enjoy sales and want to hone your skills you can also hire a sales coach - someone to help teach you the art of selling. This is also another well-worth-it investment for your business.

If you're still stymied on what to do, give us a shout. We're here to help.

Cheers,
The Ruby Porter Team