Mick Schumacher was furious with Haas teammate Nikita Mazepin for a piece of driving which nearly led to a collision at the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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Yes, it’s really possible to learn how to build EIN credit for your business.
But let’s start with some definitions and background on business credit.
This is credit in a business’s name. It is not tied to the owner’s creditworthiness. Instead, business credit scores depend on how well a company can pay its bills. Hence consumer and business credit scores can vary dramatically.
There are no demands for a personal guarantee. You can quickly get business credit regardless of personal credit quality. And there is no personal credit reporting of business accounts. Business credit utilization won’t affect your consumer FICO score. Plus the business owner isn’t personally liable for the debt the business incurs. This can be true for you as you build EIN credit for your business.
Another advantage is that even startup businesses can do this. Visiting a bank for a business loan can be a recipe for frustration. But building business credit, when done correctly, is a plan for success.
Consumer credit scores depend on payments but also various other factors like credit utilization percentages.
But for company credit, the scores truly just hinge on if a small business pays its invoices timely.
Being accepted for business credit is not automatic. Building business credit requires some work. Some of the steps are intuitive, and some of them are not.
Vendors are a big component of this process.
Doing the steps out of sequence results in repetitive rejections. No one can start at the top with business credit. For example, you can’t start with retail or cash credit from your bank. If you do, you’ll get a rejection 100% of the time.
A company must be fundable to lending institutions and vendors.
That is why, a small business needs a professional-looking website and email address. And it needs to have site hosting from a company such as GoDaddy.
Additionally, business phone numbers need to have a listing on 411. You can do that here: https://www.listyourself.net.
Also, the business telephone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or the equivalent).
A company also needs a bank account devoted strictly to it, and it must have every one of the licenses essential for running.
These licenses all have to be in the identical, accurate name of the company. And they must have the same company address and telephone numbers.
So keep in mind, that this means not just state licenses, but possibly also city licenses.
Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.
Visit the Internal Revenue Service website and get an EIN for the company. They’re free of charge. Select a business entity like corporation, LLC, etc.
A small business may get started as a sole proprietor. But they absolutely need to change to a form of corporation or an LLC.
This is to decrease risk. And it will make the most of tax benefits.
A business entity matters when it involves taxes and liability in the event of a lawsuit. A sole proprietorship means the business owner is it when it comes to liability and taxes. No one else is responsible.
The best thing to do is to incorporate. You should only look at a DBA as an interim step on the way to incorporation.
Start at the D&B web site and get a totally free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number is how D&B gets a small business into their system, to produce a PAYDEX score. If there is no D-U-N-S number, then there is no record and no PAYDEX score.
Once in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s web sites for the company. You can do this at www.creditsuite.com/reports. If there is a record with them, check it for correctness and completeness. If there are no records with them, go to the next step in the process.
This way, Experian and Equifax have something to report on.
First you should build tradelines that report. Then you’ll have an established credit profile, and you’ll get a business credit score.
And with an established business credit profile and score you can begin to get credit for numerous purposes, and from all sorts of places.
These kinds of accounts tend to be for things bought all the time, like marketing materials, shipping boxes, outdoor work wear, ink and toner, and office furniture.
But first of all, what is trade credit? These trade lines are credit issuers who give you starter credit when you have none now. Terms are generally Net 30, versus revolving.
Therefore, if you get an approval for $1,000 in vendor credit and use all of it, you need to pay that money back in a set term, like within 30 days on a Net 30 account.
Net 30 accounts must be paid in full within 30 days. 60 accounts must be paid completely within 60 days. Unlike revolving accounts, you have a set time when you must pay back what you borrowed or the credit you made use of.
To launch your business credit profile the proper way, you should get approval for vendor accounts that report to the business credit reporting bureaus. When that’s done, you can then use the credit.
Then pay back what you used, and the account is on report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax.
Not every vendor can help in the same way true starter credit can. These are vendors that grant approval with a minimum of effort. You also need them to be reporting to one or more of the big three CRAs: Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian.
As you get starter credit, you can also start to get credit from retailers. Here are some stellar choices from us: https://www.creditsuite.com/blog/5-vendor-accounts-that-build-your-business-credit/
Uline is a true starter vendor. You can find them online at www.uline.com. They sell shipping, packing, and industrial supplies, and they report to Dun & Bradstreet and Experian. You MUST have a D-U-N-S number and an EIN before starting with them. They will ask for your corporate bank information. Your company address must be uniform everywhere. You need for an order to be $50 or more before they’ll report it. Your first few orders may need to be prepaid initially so your business can get approval for Net 30 terms.
Check out starter vendor Marathon. Marathon Petroleum Company provides transportation fuels, asphalt, and specialty products throughout the United States. Their comprehensive product line supports commercial, industrial, and retail operations. This card reports to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. Before applying for multiple accounts with WEX Fleet cards, make sure to have enough time in between applying so they don’t red-flag your account for fraud.
To qualify, you need:
Your SSN is required for informational purposes. If concerned they will pull your personal credit talk to their credit department before applying. You can give a $500 deposit instead of using a personal guarantee, if in business less than a year. Apply online. Terms are Net 15. Get it here: https://www.marathonbrand.com/.
Grainger Industrial Supply is likewise a true starter vendor. You can find them online at www.grainger.com. They sell hardware, power tools, pumps and more. They also do fleet maintenance. And they report to D&B. You need a business license, EIN, and a D-U-N-S number.
Your business entity must be in good standing with the applicable Secretary of State. If your business doesn’t have established credit, they will require additional documents. So, these are items like accounts payable, income statement, balance sheets, and the like.
Apply online or over the phone.
Non-reporting trade accounts can also be helpful. While you do want trade accounts to report to a minimum of one of the CRAs, a trade account which does not report can still be of some value.
You can always ask non-reporting accounts for trade references. And also, credit accounts of any sort ought to help you to better even out business expenditures, thus making financial planning simpler.
Store credit comes from a variety of retail service providers.
You must use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use the company’s EIN on these credit applications.
Fleet credit is from service providers where you can purchase fuel and fix and take care of vehicles. You must use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, make certain to apply using the company’s EIN.
Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.
You must use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use your EIN instead.
These are frequently MasterCard credit cards.
Know what is happening with your credit. Make certain it is being reported and address any errors as soon as possible. Get in the practice of checking credit reports. Dig into the particulars, not just the scores.
We can help you monitor business credit at Experian, Equifax, and D&B for a lot less than it would cost you at the CRAs. See: www.creditsuite.com/monitoring.
Update the info if there are inaccuracies or the data is incomplete.
So, what’s all this monitoring for? It’s to challenge any errors in your records. Mistakes in your credit report(s) can be taken care of. But the CRAs usually want you to dispute in a particular way.
Disputing credit report mistakes typically means you send a paper letter with copies of any proof of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never send the originals. Always mail copies and keep the original copies.
Fixing credit report errors also means you specifically detail any charges you challenge. Make your dispute letter as clear as possible. Be specific about the concerns with your report. Use certified mail to have proof that you sent in your dispute.
Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.
Always use credit smartly! Never borrow more than what you can pay off. Monitor balances and deadlines for repayments. Paying on schedule and fully does more to increase business credit scores than nearly anything else.
Building small business credit pays off. Excellent business credit scores help a small business get loans. Your lender knows the small business can pay its financial obligations. They know the company is for real.
The small business’s EIN links to high scores and loan providers won’t feel the need to request a personal guarantee.
Business credit is an asset which can help your small business for years to come. Learn more here and get started toward establishing small business credit.
The post How to Build EIN Credit for Your Business appeared first on Credit Suite.
Being a marketer is an interesting job.
On the one hand, you’re expected to keep up with trends. When a new social media platform starts to take off, you’d better be there promoting your brand.
Still, you can’t just blindly follow those trends. Popular platforms become saturated with dozens of competitors, and standing out becomes nearly impossible.
Don’t get me wrong; social media ads can work wonders. I’ve just noticed there are plenty of underutilized marketing platforms right now. The most noticeable of which is YouTube ads.
YouTube ads are one of the most overlooked ad formats in digital marketing, and it’s easy to figure out why.
The massive focus on social media ads combined with the challenge of creating compelling high-quality video content makes YouTube ads a tough sell to small business owners.
Can YouTube ads be tough to grasp? Sure, at first. Luckily, once you get over that initial hurdle, YouTube ads offer some pretty unique marketing tools you can’t find anywhere else.
That’s why today, we’re taking a deep dive into the world of YouTube ads, from ad types to strategy. We’ll even walk you through creating your first one!
If you’re unfamiliar with YouTube, their primary advertising format is known as the TrueView ad. Before we can understand the value of skippable in-stream ads, we need to take a closer look at YouTube’s TrueView ad approach.
TrueView ads were created to solve a massive problem. Before TrueView ads, users lacked any meaningful way to control their advertising experience. Without a way to meaningfully interact with the content, ads ran the risk of being both frustrating and irrelevant.
YouTube was hoping to present itself as a valuable advertising platform, but its original approach to advertising severely limited the effectiveness and efficiency of brand marketing efforts. No brand wants to waste precious time and money selling to viewers who simply aren’t interested.
Here’s the simple explanation: Your brand only pays for TrueView Ads when viewers watch for at least 30 seconds, watch your entire video, or interact with your ad via call-to-action (CTA).
The first variation of the TrueView ad is the skippable in-stream ad. At a minimum of 12 seconds and a maximum of six minutes, in-stream ads play before a viewer’s video on YouTube.
These ads feature a countdown timer on screen, as well as a link to the brand website. You can also tag on a companion banner ad, but it’s worth pointing out these companion banner ads won’t be on all YouTube pages where your in-stream ads are served.
Of course, the most important part of this variant is the option to skip the video ad after five seconds. If they choose to skip and don’t interact with your ad, you don’t have to pay a dime. Assuming you uploaded the video to your YouTube channel, once the viewer watches for 30 seconds, a view is attributed to your view count.
TrueView Discovery ads are promoted throughout YouTube, appearing as an image thumbnail with up to three lines of text. These ads function as an entirely optional way for viewers to consume your brand content.
Discovery ads are visible on the YouTube homepage, at the top of a viewer’s YouTube search results, and on the suggested videos list on their video’s watch page. The best part? Your brand doesn’t spend a dime on these ads unless viewers interact with them.
That’s what makes this advertising approach so useful to brands and marketers. TrueView ads work to protect both the viewer’s time and your brand’s money.
If the TrueView approach just doesn’t interest your brand, YouTube has plenty of other options. Non-skippable ads function a bit differently on this platform. They might look just like skippable ads on the surface, but you’ll be limited to a 15-second ad window for non-skippable ads.
Beyond that, you’ll be dealing with a cost per thousand (CPM) payment structure, forcing you to pay for every thousand views.
The only scenario where you’d want to use something like this is when you’re dealing with a proven target audience or when your brand is looking to maximize its reach. Otherwise, there’s a strong chance you could waste time and money selling to the wrong prospects.
As you research YouTube ads, you’ll likely come across bumper ads and wonder what purpose they serve. What makes them different from the traditional non-skippable in-stream ad?
The most significant difference is the duration of your ad window. Instead of 20 seconds, bumper ads are expected to last less than six seconds.
Why would this distinction matter? Well, a viewer’s time and attention are valuable commodities. YouTube needs to protect their user experience, primarily by providing users with relevant information. YouTube limits these bumper ads to avoid frustrating viewers with non-skippable ads.
The key to making bumper ads work is creating something memorable. The format might not support long-form stories, but there are plenty of ways to portray your brand in five seconds.
Think of YouTube Masthead as YouTube’s premium advertising experience. Imagine your ad being the first thing viewers see whenever they use the platform. It’s a marketer’s dream come true, and with good reason.
Of course, there’s a reason you’ve never seen a small business on that masthead. That premium experience comes with a premium price tag. At about $2 million per day, masthead ads are extremely expensive and far beyond the average brand’s marketing budget.
Think of these like Super Bowl ads: impressive reach and traffic, but not reasonable for most marketers. YouTube’s other advertising formats are more cost-effective, easier to experiment with, and generally more valuable to your brand’s marketing journey.
With all the different variants and the added work of creating a compelling video ad, some marketers might wonder why they should use YouTube ads over social media ads. After all, that’s a ton of extra work when you could just make some simple visuals on Facebook ads.
While it’s certainly easier to make ads on social media, YouTube is a powerful tool for brands looking to promote high-quality video content to a massive audience. In fact, in a side-by-side comparison, an Agorapulse study found YouTube ads produced more views, more clicks, and higher conversions than Facebook Ads!
You’re ready to get started with your YouTube video ads. You’ve done all your audience and keyword research, and you know what the messaging should look like. Now you just need to pick an ad format.
When you’re first getting started, settling on a format to use can quickly become confusing. Should you use TrueView ads because you’re only charged per interaction? Are impressions more important or is traffic your only priority?
If you’re completely new to the world of YouTube ads, this breakdown of video ad formats by marketing objective exists to help you take that first step forward. Not to worry, your brand will start to identify what works well over time via testing and data collection.
One of the most compelling reasons to experiment with discovery ads is their potential as a brand consideration tool.
Instead of focusing on squeezing in a quick ad before someone else’s video, you can integrate your ad content into the YouTube search experience. This is where your keyword research can really shine. Create content that revolves around those low competition keywords with high volume.
When viewers click on your ad, they’ll be taken to your YouTube channel to watch that video. The goal here is less about CTAs and conversion and more about providing a closer look at your brand. If you have great instructional videos or interesting presentations, a discovery ad can work wonders for you.
For the sake of clarity, let’s define a few terms before we move on. Brand awareness is about maximizing visibility for your brand. Ideally, it lays the foundation for effective lead generation.
The main objective of lead generation is to both identify likely prospects quickly and offer properly defined metrics. Both lead generation and brand awareness are powerful tools when used correctly, but it’s vital you understand when to best use them.
Think of brand awareness as the top of the marketing funnel, leading into quality lead generation.
If your primary marketing goal is casting a wide net, non-skippable ads can effectively raise awareness for your brand. These ads can appear pre-roll, mid-roll, or even post-roll. If you’re worried about placement, YouTube serves these ads whenever they believe viewers are most likely to watch.
Maximizing brand awareness is great, but if you want to turn your traffic into interested prospects, you’ll need ad content that truly converts.
TrueView in-stream ads are perfect for this because they’re designed to be skippable. They introduce a level of reliability to the marketing experience. This potential prospect found the first five seconds of your ad compelling and was willing to stick around.
My favorite part? If a viewer doesn’t want to consume your content, they can just leave, at no cost to you. If the viewer does want to interact, they’ve now provided you with some very valuable information. They’re genuinely interested in your brand!
Let’s say you’ve already established an audience via digital media. You want to get a message out to them, maybe to announce your latest shoe release or phone launch. You need to maximize your budget, but you don’t really need to educate your target audience on the brand.
This is one of the scenarios where bumper ads perform well. The bumper ad doesn’t allow for much in terms of storytelling or education. What it can do is allow just enough time to hype up a new product or service.
We’ve already established that Masthead ads aren’t for the average small business. While they may not be a cost-effective way to market your brand, they do highlight a lesson about ad budgets in marketing: specifically, the concept of ROI.
On the surface, spending millions of dollars on a single ad can seem ridiculous. What if the messaging doesn’t land perfectly? What if you were wrong about the target audience’s pain points? It seems like such a massive risk. Still, massive brands are doing this regularly. Why?
Well, consider how these massive brands approach marketing. With millions on the line, their latest marketing campaign is composed of detailed, layered strategy with one element at its center: data, and lots of it.
This data, likely collected over several years, confirms they’ll receive a positive ROI from this investment. Where small brands see risk, massive brands see growth opportunities.
Of course, it’s not like only massive brands are entitled to that level of confidence. The commitment to making data-driven decisions is what elevates any marketing strategy.
Masthead ads aren’t impressive because they’re expensive. They’re impressive because they show that with enough data, even the biggest risks become manageable.
Let’s say you’ve never created a video ad before. All this video ad strategy sounds great, but it won’t make you a master visual content creator overnight. Fortunately, you don’t need to spend months learning how to edit to make compelling videos. When in doubt, a little external guidance goes a long way.
Google is hard at work getting YouTube Video Builder, their accessible video creation software, ready for the public. In the meantime, tools like Promo and Animoto walk you through the process of building strong video ads in minutes.
YouTube ads track plenty of metrics for you automatically, everything from watch time to engaged-views data is available, if you’re interested.
Unfortunately, that much information can be overwhelming when you’re new to the platform. When you’re first getting started, focus on view rate for skippable ads. This is essentially your true engagement rate, determining how well you can turn viewers into interested prospects.
If your view rate is low, there are a few possibilities. Maybe your headline doesn’t draw people in. Maybe your video doesn’t capture the viewer’s attention quickly enough. Remember those first five seconds need to be compelling.
For non-skippable ads, the focus is still on engagement. The only difference is that you’ll use click-through rate (CTR) to determine whether your ad connects your target audience.
If your CTR is unusually low, there are two possibilities. Either the video is being delivered to the wrong audience or the video itself is not connecting with your target audience. I advise testing for both by experimenting with different target audiences and creating multiple videos.
Ready to get started? Here’s how to create your first YouTube ad.
Log into your brand’s YouTube account and click on the camcorder icon on the top-right of YouTube. Then, click “Upload Video.”
From there, you’ll be taken to the upload window where you can now upload your video. Make sure you fill in title, description, and tag information.
Sign in to your Google Ads Account and select “New Campaign.”
You’ll see an option to choose a campaign goal, but just click on “create a campaign without a goal’s guidance” for now. You can now select a campaign type, so select “Video” or “Display,” based on your goals.
For our purposes, we’re going to focus on the “Video” option. At this point, you’ll be asked to select a campaign subtype. Select the most appropriate option and click “Continue.”
Now that you’ve created your campaign, it’s time to configure it properly. Start by giving your campaign a name for easy data collection.
Then, confirm your bid strategy, ad budget, and campaign duration. From there, also confirm your networks, locations, and languages.
Content exclusions are in this section as well. This determines where your ads are shown. If your brand is typically family-friendly, you’ll likely want to choose limited inventory. If your brand is more mature, expanded inventory could be a good fit. You can also exclude certain types of content and labels here.
When targeting your audience, start by defining their demographic information including age, gender, parental status, and household income. Google also lets you experiment with some more specific audiences like “bachelor’s degree” or “health care industry.”
Use keywords, topics, and placements to further narrow down your targeting.
Set your maximum bid. In the “Create your video ad” section, find your YouTube video and choose the appropriate video ad format (as listed in the above sections.)
Once your video ad format is selected, fill in the “Final URL” and “Display URL” sections. You can also include your call-to-action and your headline here.
You can auto-generate a companion banner, or upload your own below.
Once you’re ready, click “Create Campaign” and you’re all set!
Listen, I get it. Wrapping your head around YouTube ad creation can be a bit of a challenge at first.
The idea behind this guide is to arm you with a strong foundational understanding of how YouTube ads function, and how you can make your own.
Feel free to bookmark this guide if you ever need a refresher course, especially when it comes to campaign and video creation.
Fortunately, YouTube ads function just like any other digital marketing platform. Focus on your key metrics, test regularly, and above all else, respect the data. The path to consistent growth might not be glamorous, but it certainly gets results.
What digital marketing platform do you think is underutilized right now?
Focsec | Python Software Engineer | Full-Time | Remote | Europe (within +/- 2 hours of central european time) | https://focsec.com/
We are building the most advanced threat intelligence API and platform. We help businesses and public agencies reduce fraud, detect suspicious logins and signups, block spam and bots. Our core technologies are Python, Django, Flask, Celery, PostgreSQL and Redis.
We’re looking for a Python Software Engineer (mid to senior level) who enjoys building backend systems, understands software architecture and loves to automate things.
Your qualifications:
* 2+ years of Python development (preferably using Django or Flask)
* strong understanding of HTTP and a broad understanding of networking in general
* working with SQL and No-SQL databases, processing large datasets
* strong linux server and command line skills, you should feel comfortable in a SSH session
Additionally, any of the following is considered a plus:
* experience with e-commerce software
* basic AI/ML experience
* open source contributions
To apply, send your CV to hackernews@focsec.com and also tell us what your favorite Python library is.
Hello! Location: St. Louis MO, USA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Not this year Technologies: C, C++, Assembly, Haskell, Javascript, Linux, OpenGL, React Résumé/CV: https://pastebin.com/raw/rXaxSbdz Email: patrickjordanbene [at] gmail [dot] com I’m a skilled hobbyist making their jump into the professional scene. Send me your problems.
How to Stop Wasting Company Funds – It’s Like Free Money Is it really free money? It may not be as glamorous as winning the lottery or venture capital money. It’s not as sexy as your content going viral. And it’s not as exciting as getting a shout out from major market influencers like Oprah … Continue reading It’s Like Free Money When You Stop Wasting Company Cash
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SEEKING WORK | EUROPE | REMOTE
We are Mondd, a team of designers and developers looking for remote projects.
Our four-member team has extensive experience in branding, UI/UX, frontend and backend development. The diverse skill set of our members ensures that the product we deliver will look and perform as it was intended.
If you need a custom webapp, static website or looking to talk to someone about your product idea, please visit our website or send us an email!
Website: https://www.mondd.io/
Email: hello@mondd.io
Technologies: React, Redux, Next, JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS/SCSS, Tailwind CSS, Chakra UI, .Net Core, Azure Functions, Azure, Netlify, Docker, Kubernetes, Adobe Creative Cloud, Axure, Sketch, Figma.The post New comment by mondd in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (June 2021)" appeared first on WE TEACH MONEY LIFE SELF DEFENSE WITH FINANCIAL GOALS IN MIND.
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Full-stack software engineer and DevOps, 20+ years of professional experience (often in a founding team member role)
Location: St. Petersburg, Russia (GMT+3)
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: Yes
Technologies: GraphQL, React/Relay, Node.js/JavaScript/TypeScript, Webpack/Rollup/Babel, Material UI, Draft.js/SlateJS, .NET/C#, PostgreSQL, Redis, Google Cloud Platform, Cloudflare
Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/koistya
Email: hello@tarkus.me, Skype/Telegram/Twitter: koistya, Discord: koistya#2673
I can help you developing a (GraphQL API) server for your web and/or mobile app as well as CI/CD workflows, optimized for serverless infrastructure in Google Cloud Platform. The initial version (first iteration) will be ready and live in under three days! I’m also open for a technical co-founder role in your startup or interested in you as a business co-founder in one of my side projects.
Code examples:
https://github.com/kriasoft/node-starter-kit
https://github.com/kriasoft/react-starter-kit
https://github.com/kriasoft/graphql-starter-kit
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If you work with sales, knowing about the Product Life Cycle model is almost mandatory.
The model describes the stages a product goes through in its journey from creation to discontinuation.
Why do you need to know this?
Because products in different stages demand different strategies, be that for physical products or for services.
Do you think you can attract customers to a new product using the same actions used for products that have been on the market for years?
Best case scenario, it will be a wasted opportunity. At worst, a total failure.
To get to know the stages of the Product Life Cycle, examples, and how to employ this concept, don’t forget to read this article until the end!
The Product Life Cycle is a management tool that makes it possible to analyze how a product behaves from its development to its withdrawal from the market, also considering its launch, growth, and sales maturity.
It is like a product journey, or to refer to a more well-known example in marketing, the customer journey.
The mind behind this concept is Theodore Levitt, a German economist who lived in the United States and worked in the celebrated Harvard Business School.
Levitt proposed a five-stage model that he named the Product Life Cycle.
The stages are development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
Before I explain each of them, it’s interesting to understand why Levitt thought defining this model would be useful.
During his research, he discovered something that seems obvious but hadn’t been mapped until then: the characteristics of a product change a lot during its life cycle.
All the strategies around it need to consider the specific issues and characteristics of each of these stages.
This applies to sales and marketing, but also to product development and decision-making in the management sphere.
For example, when is the right moment to invest so a product explodes in the market?
When is time to step on the brakes and maybe even replace an item that was very successful on another occasion?
These are the questions you can answer with a Product Life Cycle analysis.
It’s time to explore more deeply the Product Life Cycle model.
Now that we know the stages, we will see what are the characteristics of each of them, and also the best practices to achieve your marketing goals.
Product development is always a very sensitive stage.
The project is still able to be iterated. You can have great expectations for it, but before the product starts generating revenue, you still need to improve your proposal, carry out tests, validate the hypotheses, and make necessary changes.
This stage is naturally integrated into the process of startup companies but is not restricted to them.
For example, an automobile manufacturer does not launch a new car without first having a consistent project and studying its insertion and acceptance in the market.
To present a real example, you might have seen the collection of leggings for dogs the Walkee Paws brand released at the end of 2018.
We can imagine that this launch was preceded by careful planning, which resulted in the shape of the pieces, the material used, and the patterns selected.
When a product is in development, it doesn’t require sales efforts, but promotion should already have begun.
Imagine the success potential of a marketing campaign from Walkee Paws announcing this novelty to dedicated dog lovers.
It could involve fun posts on social networks, generating curiosity and encouraging engagement.
There may also be press releases, billboards, or even interactive actions on the streets, among other types of marketing.
The fact is that the company must consider all this even during the development stage.
The Walkee Paws example is about the introduction.
That’s when the product goes through all development stages and is considered ready to be launched in the market.
Every day we are introduced to new items in this stage of the cycle.
For big brands, TV is a choice for promotion.
Proof: you only need to turn on the TV for a few minutes to see ads for a new flavor of soda, a different motorcycle model, a smartphone that promises new and superior features, etc.
It is no accident that this stage of the Product Life Cycle is the one that demands the most marketing investment from the company.
In fact, it is not uncommon to get negative financial results at this stage, even if sales have already started.
This is also a result of the production costs related to product distribution.
To reduce the damage, it is imperative to define the target audience and persona that represents the ideal customer profile for your products.
This exercise makes it possible to optimize your marketing investments, using the right platforms to convey the best message and reach the exact audience you want.
A good practice is to bet on inbound marketing and, by means of relevant content, ensure the user discovers the company and what it offers
This strategy is also how potential consumers are persuaded to confirm sales.
If the Product Life Cycle works as it should, the next step is the growth stage.
The main characteristics of this stage are scalable sales and the maintenance of the amounts invested in marketing.
It is not possible to predict precisely when it happens, because that depends a lot on the details of the product and the market it’s in.
But it is worth repeating: if you follow the plan correctly, you are likely to reach your goals even if it takes a while.
So don’t get discouraged before you get to the growth stage.
Your investments must continue, either because of expanding your participation in the market or keeping production/output up with your sales rates.
This applies to sales of anything from marketing services, to salespeople training, to physical products.
Many companies fail at this stage and their products’ sales decline without having ever experienced maturity.
You might remember a beer brand that made fun tv ads with a short and chubby actor with a mustache as the protagonist.
For a long time, it was one of the leading brands, and the advertisements generated comments in the only social network in existence back then: word-of-mouth.
The product is still in the market, and there is no news of changes to its formula, but it was swallowed by the strong competition that is peculiar to the industry.
Lower investment in marketing would certainly be high in a list of possible reasons for this change.
So the lesson is clear: if a product is in the growth stage, it is important to have a strategy to keep it there even as new competitors start fighting for its audience.
Maturity is the peak, the highest point of the Product Life Cycle.
It’s when the product reaches its maximum potential and sales stabilize.
Once the summit is reached, it is no longer possible to grow, but the company can act to avoid significant setbacks.
The challenge at this stage is to maintain good results over time.
There isn’t a simple way to make this happen.
All the famous brands that come to mind now are where they are today because they invested in this stage.
For example, Coca-Cola doesn’t leave the media even though it “doesn’t depend on marketing.” The company understands that brands are not forever, being subject to market instabilities and behavioral changes in the audience.
Imagine if a competitor developed a new soft drink and people discover that that flavor is essential for their weekend family lunches.
With no visibility, Coca-Cola would lose space in the market, and in that situation, possibly even its place as the leading brand.
It’s interesting to even imagine the end of Coca-Cola, a company with over 100 years of existence and so much financial success.
But even Coca-Cola will end one day. Maybe not the company, but its main product.
This might take 100, 200, or even 1000 years. It’s impossible to predict.
But every product reaches the end and concludes its life cycle.
When that happens, the company must recognize the painful truth shown in its performance indicators and prepare a replacement product.
If everything contributes to the idea of discontinuing the product, investing heavily in marketing to try to revert the situation tends to be too dangerous.
It might work, of course. But what if it doesn’t?
The company as a whole, and not just the product, may be endangered.
If you’ve made it this far, you hopefully understand the concept of Product Life Cycle and the characteristics of each of its stages.
You should also understand why it’s important to apply this model to your business.
To eliminate any questions, here are the main advantages and benefits of what adherence to the Product Life Cycle model can do:
This is an interesting question about this tool.
If it were restricted to products, the audience who would be able to make use of it would be much smaller.
On one hand, the idea that the Product Life Cycle works better for physical products is correct considering its characteristics.
On the other hand, it’s possible to be creative and think about adaptations of the model.
Let’s take a large company with subsidiaries in different towns as an example.
Each one of these units may be considered a product when applying this Product Life Cycle model; all you have to do is analyze each one’s performance individually.
Another example is a company with many brands, each with their own products.
To understand this better, take a look at the Procter & Gamble website, where you will see that the company has several active brands in the USA market.
In which stage of the cycle is each of these brands?
Are they planning new brands that are currently in the development stage?
To conclude, let’s look at another example.
Could services replace products in the model proposed by Theodore Levitt?
Depending on the activity the company performs, this is perfectly possible.
Let’s think about a home renovation company, for example.
It may offer a great variety of construction services, such as installing floors and tiles, painting, plastering, providing electric and hydraulic works, masonry, and more.
When using the Product Life Cycle method, you can observe the life cycle of each of these services to assess the type of investment each of them requires and the possibilities for returns in each case.
How does the Product Life Cycle work in practice, in real cases?
We are going to take a look at two cool examples: Havaianas and Coca-Cola.
A product is born, grows, declines, and dies.
Isn’t this model the same as that of the BCG Matrix?
If you thought of that, you were very astute.
The BCG Matrix is another amazing management tool, created by the Boston Consulting Group (the model is named after their initials).
The BCG Matrix is very similar to the Product Life Cycle, though there are some differences.
First, there are four instead of five stages: Question Mark, Star, Cash Cow, and Dog.
Second: these curious names relate to specific characteristics of the stage in which the product is, not necessarily analyzing the entire life cycle.
Are you confused? I’ll explain.
Take a look at the table below:
Question marks are new products that don’t have a market yet but have great potential for growth.
Stars, as the name indicates, are at the top: they generate good revenue.
Cash cows are the future of stars: their performance has peaked, but their decline is expected.
And dogs are a problem: products at the end of the line, that no longer sell well and are unlikely to recover their space.
In general, question marks and stars demand marketing investment, cash cows no longer need investment and dogs will not recover even with investment.
By now you should understand the Product Life Cycle and the characteristics of each of its five stages. You also learned tips for creating an appropriate strategy for each of them, even if you’re a digital marketer and you aren’t selling physical goods.
If you need digital marketing help throughout any of the stages of Product Life Cycle model, let our agency know.
Now it’s time to dedicate yourself to reach maturity and extend it for as long as possible.
Speaking of which, in what stage is your main product? Leave a comment and share the article!