Top 10 Marketing Concepts For Small Business MarketingMailchimp

Top 10 Marketing Concepts For Small Business Marketing

Over the past decade more and more people are getting fired, getting downsized, or getting fed up with their corporate jobs and embark on the journey as a small business owner. Unfortunately, most of the new small business owners fail to consider their marketing plans or strategy. There are many marketing concepts for small business marketing to consider and plan for, but here is our list of Top 10 Marketing Concepts For Small Business Marketing.

Marketing Concept # 1: Consistency

Consistency is the number one marketing concept for small business marketing only because it is left out of marketing concepts for so many businesses. I have worked with a long list of clients, big and small, that are extremely inconsistent in all areas of their marketing. Consistency helps lower the cost of marketing and increase the effectiveness of branding.

Marketing Concept # 2: Planning

Once small business owners decide to be consistent with their marketing, planning is the next major concept to engage. Planning is the most vital part of small business marketing or any level of marketing, for that matter, and so many owners, marketing managers, and even CMOs plan poorly. Put the time into planning your marketing strategy, budget, and other concepts presented here to ensure success.

Marketing Concept # 3: Strategy

Strategy immediately follows planning because your strategy is the foundation for the rest of your marketing activities. In the process of planning, you must develop your strategy: who you will target, how you will target them, and how will you keep them as a customer. These are the three key elements of growing your business.

Marketing Concept # 4: Target Market

Target market is also another key concept for small business marketing. Defining exactly who you are targeting allows small business owners to focus on specific customers and reduce marketing waste. A well-defined target market will make every other marketing concept so much easier to implement successfully.

Marketing Concept # 5: Budget

Although it is listed at number 5, budgeting is important throughout the entire process. Creating a marketing budget is usually the hardest and most inaccurate part of small business marketing. Most small businesses owners lack a great deal of experience in marketing, so their budgets usually end up skewed. The most important part of this marketing concept is to actually establish a marketing budget. From there, you can worry about how to distribute your available funds.

Marketing Concept # 6: Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is usually defined as product, pricing, place, and promotion. As a small business owner, you must specifically decide on your products (or services), the appropriate pricing, where and how you will distribute your products, and how will you let everyone know about you and your products.

Marketing Concept # 7: Website

In today’s market, a business of any size must have a website. I hate when I see businesses that have a one page website with out-dated information. Customers, be it businesses or consumers, will search the web over 60% of the time before making any purchasing decisions. This marketing concept contains a slew of additional components, but you must at least develop a small web presence of some kind and keep it updated. Download this handy free website checklist to ensure you have the most important elements covered.

Marketing Concept # 8: Branding

Many small businesses owners also neglect this concept. Small business marketing must focus on this marketing concept just as much as large corporations do. Branding consists of the pictures, logo, design scheme, layout, make up, and image of your products and even your company. Branding is how your customers perceive (please place a lot of emphasis on that word!) your products and company. Make sure to pay special attention to what kind of brand you are building through each step of your planning and implementation.

Marketing Concept # 9: Promotion and Advertising

Promotion and advertising is a very complex marketing concept, but must be considered for any type of business and its products and services. Once you engage the previous 8 marketing concepts, you must finally let your target market know about you and your products. Proper promotion and advertising will result in effective brand recognition, and, ultimately, increased sales.

Marketing Concept # 10: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The concept of customer relationship management has become a huge industry in the marketing world. There are many types of software and services offered to help businesses of any size handle their customer relationship management. Since there is so much available, usually for a large sum of money, small business owners usually look at this concept as something they are not big enough for or have enough money to implement. Don’t be fooled by the massive industry that has evolved from this concept. Maintaining proper customer relationship management is essential to creating loyal and consistent customers.

This list of marketing concepts should be examined, researched, planned, and implemented, especially by small businesses, in order to be successful. Also, your marketing doesn’t stop here. Each business is unique and will have additional components that must be considered, but this list will jump-start any marketing plan.

Article by Nate Stockard

Best Small Business Insurance Info: How to Find and Choose the Best Insurance Solution for YouPhoto by Scott Graham

Best Small Business Insurance Info: How to Find and Choose the Best Insurance Solution for You

Are you a small business owner? No matter what kind of company you run, you’ll need general liability insurance and maybe some additional coverage depending on the industry you’re involved in. How do you know how and where to apply for the best small business insurance policy?

Read reviews on various insurance companies by other businesses in your industry to learn which ones offer quality solutions. Consider whether or not you want an insurance representative or broker to help you find the right coverages. If you decide to work with a specialist, ask what kind of information he or she will need in order to determine your specific needs. Have all of the documents and information prepared. Small business owners typically need to provide details such as physical location, number of employees (if any), total payroll size, business assets, gross annual sales (if there are any to report), and so forth.

Even if you decide to apply for insurance on your own without the help of a broker, you’ll still need to have this information ready.

Best Small Business Insurance as an Investment

Think of commercial insurance as an investment. It will cost money, but it will protect your business from unexpected expenses such as lawsuits and worker’s compensation. The best small business insurance will also protect you from industry-specific problems. For instance, if you are involved in web design, you don’t want to risk financial losses associated with technological glitches, miscommunication, etc. If you are a small beauty salon owner or barber, you don’t want to risk equipment malfunctioning, allergic reactions to certain chemicals, or someone tripping and falling on your property.

No business, no matter how small, is 100% immune to possible lawsuits. People will sue over literally everything these days, and only the best small business insurance will protect your assets. If you want to stay in business for a long time, and hope for the ability to expand it someday, then you should be prepared to handle any kind of accident. It will be very difficult to survive if you suddenly owe a lot of money in compensation, or find yourself dealing with damage caused to your place of business due to extreme weather. The only real solution is to have good insurance from a reliable company that has a lot of positive reviews.

So, where can you get the best small business insurance online? Check with Hiscox Inc. to see what they have to offer for business owners in your industry. You can either get a quote through the website or call and speak to a licensed agent.

Article by George Botwin

Save Your Small Business - 10 Crucial Strategies to Survive Hard Times Or Close Down & Move On

Save Your Small Business – 10 Crucial Strategies to Survive Hard Times Or Close Down & Move On

If there were ever a timely business book, “Save Your Small Business: 10 Crucial Strategies To Survive Hard Times or Close Down & Move On” by Ralph Warner and Bethany K. Laurence is certainly it. Promoted as a road map to small business survival, Warner and Laurence provide simple, no-nonsense, steps that can make a huge difference in running, saving, or if needed closing, your small business. Running a small business has always been hard, but currently it can be brutally agonizing, if not downright scary. This guide may just provide you with the information to make today’s bad economy, or bad economies in the future, opportunities so that in good times your business will be poised to thrive.

The book starts out saying it will be your small business companion, and recommends you create a business survival plan, prepare a current profit-and-loss statement and cash flow analysis, and establish an advisory board. It the delves into chapters that will provide the tools to help you decide whether it makes sense to continue, hibernate, close, or sell your business and offers some strategies you can implement to get your business back on track.

Chapter One: Can You Save Your Business?

This chapter discusses topics such as planning for short and long term, selling your business, putting your business in hibernation, and saving your business. It also looks at some special considerations for retailers, services, construction, restaurants, wholesalers and importers, and franchises.

Chapter Two: Don’t Ignore Bad News.

Why you can’t wait, cutting costs, changing direction, quitting and selling are addressed. There are also strategies on determining how much to cut expenses and acing slowly to reverse cutbacks.

Chapter Three: Control Your Cash Flow.

This area can be one of the most important, especially for the small business. Topics include: Keeping paying your bills on time, how to create more cash, and what not to do, such as using merchant cash advances, maxing out credit cards, and borrowing against your house.

Chapter Four: Minimize Liability for Your Debts.

Are you personally liable for business debts? Liability for jointly owned debt. What can creditors do if you don’t pay? Prioritizing debt payments, including payroll, taxes, utilities, and many more.

Chapter Five: Concentrate on What’s Really Profitable.

Face it, the goal of a business is to make a profit. This chapter looks at getting a quick profits plan on paper, making money in a service business, and making money in retail or manufacturing. It is a short chapter, but if it gets you thinking about making a profit, it has done its job.

Chapter Six: Innovate on a Shoestring. Invention, Copying, Serendipity, and Making Innovation a Continuous Process are addressed in this chapter.

This chapter may inspire you to brainstorm the next wonder gadget that every household must have. Depending on your business, this may be what you need.

Chapter Seven: Identify Your Customers.

Before you can create an effective marketing plan, you need to know who your likely customers are. This chapter discusses aiming at the bull’s eye and filling in your target. Topics include current customers, need, price, access, and experience.

Chapter Eight: Don’t Waste Money on Ineffective Marketing.

If we only knew which of our marketing efforts were producing the best results. This chapter helps you determine things about your marketing such as: Marketing the right products or services to the right people, not spending big dollars on advertising, asking long-term customers for support, encouraging customers to recommend your business, using paid listing effectively, marketing on your own website, and holding a “trying to stay in business” sale.

Chapter Nine: Handle Layoffs Fairly – And Keep Your Best People.

Laying people off is often one of a business owners most dreaded tasks. This chapter provides guidance in this area by looking at: Making a wise layoff plan, the logistics of a layoff, and keeping the great people you hire. Some very good advice for this unfortunate part of business.

Chapter Ten: Don’t Work Too Much.

What? If your business is floundering, you must work more, right? This chapter tackles the subjects of the importance of a sane schedule and how to work less and make more. Priorities and delegation are the keys the authors discuss.

Chapter Eleven: Work With Your Best Competitors.

The four areas this chapter covers include: Treating competitors with respect, getting business from competitors, working for competitors, and working with competitors.

Chapter Twelve: How to Close Down Your Business.

Most people don’t ever want this to happen, but the reality is that it does. This chapter offers some good strategies if you decide it is time to close the business and do something else. Topics include things like creating a closing team, looking at contractual obligations, dealing with landlords, collecting bills and selling off inventory, notifying and paying employees, liquidating assets, notifying creditors and customers, paying your debts, paying taxes, and dissolving your business entity. This is not a pleasant topic, but unfortunately an important one if you find yourself having to go this direction. The book provides guidance in the process.

Chapter Thirteen: Dealing With Debt: Bankruptcy and Its Alternatives.

Introductory chapter on these topics with some good advice, but you will need more resources if you choose to go down the bankruptcy path, or better yet, seek counsel from a qualified professional.

Appendix A provides guidance on preparing a profit and loss forecast and a cash flow analysis. There are more complete references on these out there for sure, but this short bare bone basics on them will get you started and at least help you determine where you are at.

“Save Your Small Business” is a good guide for the struggling small business owner, and also provides information for the small business owner who doesn’t want to fall into hard times. Educating oneself regarding business is crucial for small business success. This is one more Nolo title that will help small business owners hopefully survive, but also liquidate and close with less pain if that is the course that must be taken.

Article by Alain Burrese

Small Business Management Consulting - A Wise Investment in Any Company

Small Business Management Consulting – A Wise Investment in Any Company

Small Business Management Consulting Can Solve Problems

What is small business management consulting? Technically, there is more than one answer to this question. There are many things that a company can achieve by using a small business management consultant. If a company has numerous issues that need to be addressed, a consultant may be needed long-term. If there are minor problems that need to be focused on, the consultant may only be needed for a short time.

It may be a wise choice for a new business owner to have help by having a consultant help with small business management consulting. There are many behind the scene actions that take place before a company opens up. There needs to be proper accounting, inventory, and merchandising, to name a few. There are a lot of things that need to be covered and a consultant can ensure everything is in place prior to the business opening.

Small business management consulting could also consist of leadership assistance. It is very important that a company has employees who are reliable and trustworthy. In order for a company to be productive, the employees have to perform their duties correctly and efficiently. A consultant can help by providing leadership training. This will ensure that each employee know what their job is and how to do it correctly. They can also help the employees with time management. This will keep production running smoothly, with few complications.

Problems that arise in a company that are left unattended can get worse, practically overnight. When an issue occurs, it should be handled as quickly as possible. It is easier to fix a problem when it first occurs rather than waiting until it gets out of control. One area of the company may be affected at first, but if the problems are ignored, they can begin to have a negative impact on different areas. This only creates more issues for the business owner to handle. Small business management consulting can address current problems and try to prevent future problems.

Oftentimes problems are ignored or put on the back burner simply because the person in command doesn’t have enough time to handle everything. When a person is responsible for many aspects of a business, it is hard to be in numerous places at once. A small business management consulting firm can send a consultant to come aboard and help get things under control. The consultant can work side by side with the owner or management, or they can work alone in fixing the problems.

If the consultant works on the problems at hand alone, this gives the owner the time to focus their attention on other areas of the company. Consultants are problem solvers, it is what they do best. They can look at an issue from all sides, come up with a plan on how to fix the issue and then put that plan into action. For example, if one of the company’s issues is with loss of revenue, the consultant will look at all areas where money is coming in and going out. If a vendor is charging too much for supplying the company with its product, the consultant can look for another vendor. They will look for one that can provide top quality products for a reasonable price. Another thing the consultant may look at is the time it takes the vendor to get the item to the company. If a customer is wanting a specific item that the company doesn’t currently have, and the company tells them they can order it, it doesn’t need to take weeks for that to happen.

It is a known fact that problems can occur at anytime and sometimes the problem is too big for one person to take care of. With small business management consulting, the owner of the business doesn’t have to be alone. They can get the help they need in a timely manner so the business is affected as little as possible. Sometimes with a problem, there is an easy fix and some problems take a little longer to find a solution. A consultant can work with the owner or management until the problem is resolved and come up with a plan of action to prevent that same problem from occurring again in the future. Sometimes the best method of problem solving is as simple as prevention.

If you are looking forward to starting your own business, you may want to consider contacting a small business management consulting firm. They can partner you up with a consultant that can help you from the very beginning. If your business is already open, but you are having some issues, a consultant can help you come in, locate the problem and come up with a proper course of action and implement it. If you think that the use of a small business management consultant could benefit your company, feel free to click the link below to find out more.

Article by Roger Bryan

7 Exit Strategies For Virtual Business & Small Business OwnersPhoto by Carlos Muza

7 Exit Strategies For Virtual Business And Small Business Owners

So you decided to start a business… now what? Before you get caught up in the daily routine of growing your company, take a step back and think what you will do with your business AFTER you spent all those thousands of hours building it. Or, if a tragedy strikes, ask yourself, what will happen to your business then?

Don’t have a clue?

Don’t worry, you are not alone. Most virtual business or small business owners do not plan that far out, they are just trying to make it through the day. So I thought I’d give you a few ideas on the best way to transfer or sell a virtual business when the times comes, this way you will have a clearer idea of where you are heading even before you start.

Remember though, the key to building a business ready to be sold at any time, is to remove yourself from the daily operations. This is the reason why, it is imperative to build a process driven, instead of an owner driven company. If you eventually do not make this transition, your business will be worth less and you will most likely receive less for your company!
Here is an overview of the best 7 virtual business (or small business) exit strategies:

  1. Employees: A few methods to selling a virtual business to your employees are the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), an MBO (Management Buyouts) and MBI (Management Buyins)
  2. Charitable Trusts: This is a great strategy for those virtual business owners who want to benefit from charitable giving. A few methods are CRTs (Charitable Reminder Trust) and CLT (Charitable Load Trust)
  3. Family: This is when you want to transfer your virtual business to your children or a family member. A few methods are gifting stock, GRATs (grantor retained annuity trust), FLPs (Family Limited Partnerships), SCINs (self-canceling installment notes), IDGTs (intentionally defective grantor trusts) and private annuities.
  4. Co-owners: When buying out a partner the co-owner transfer channel is a good method. It includes buy/sell agreements, rights of first refusal provisions and other transfer techniques.
  5. Retire and Sell to an Outsider: When retiring, numerous of the previous mentioned methods can be used. Such as charitable trusts, private annuities or grantor retained annuity trusts.
  6. Continue in the Business but Sell to an Outsider: This strategy is usually implemented when an owner needs growth funds but does not want to invest personal assets. It can be sold to a private entity or to a public one.
  7. Going Public: This is the process of offering securities (common or preferred stock) of a private company for sale to the general public.

Article by Jacqueline Burgoa

No More Excuses for Small Business Owners for Not Growing Their Businesses

No More Excuses for Small Business Owners for Not Growing Their Businesses

When talking about business related issues, solutions, and technologies, you will almost always group businesses as small and large. While the separation is there, it won’t be wrong to say that in a modern where digital technologies prevail, it should not be a problem for small businesses to compete with large ones. The large corporations have the advantage of having more resources without a doubt. However, there was not a time in the past when growing and expanding was as easy for small businesses as it is today.

Digital Marketing for Everyone

Digital marketing starts with a website today. When it comes to website designs, more money does not always mean a better design. If you are working with the right people and are clear about your requirements, your website can be just as impressive as the website of a large business. In fact, internet users today are more in favor of simplistic websites with a focus on the information they are looking for rather than the glitter and sparkle.

As for social media marketing, there is no difference in the size of the market that small and large businesses have to target. They are both targeting global audiences and how good they are at it is not defined by how much money they put in their marketing efforts. Social media marketing is free marketing, so there is no excuse as to who has more resources.

And if you believe that the large corporations make it to the top of the search engine results, you always have a better and more effective niche to compete within – local. With local search engine optimization, small businesses can compete with the medium and large businesses head to head. In simple words, regardless of the size of the business, everyone has access to the same market and same people today. What matters is who does it better.

Digital Solutions Are Available Specifically for Small Businesses

When it comes to software solutions for businesses, the focus is not on large corporations anymore. Today, all types of software solutions have their versions built specifically for small businesses. These digital solutions allow small businesses to cut down their costs and make use of the same technologies that large companies are using.

Take the example of CRMs. At one point, there was a notion that customer relationship management software are only for large businesses, but the things have changed quite a bit today. Web-based CRM are a revelation for small businesses. First, these CRMs provide great marketing, database, customer service and sales solutions to the businesses. Second, they are unbelievably affordable. If you own a small business, you don’t even have to worry about software integration, hardware compatibility, updates, and upgrades, etc. Keep in mind that with in-house solutions, these are the costs that make it difficult for small businesses to grow financially.

With web-based solutions designed for small businesses, you can now have access to a world-class CRM at a fractional monthly or yearly cost. Other affordable digital solutions available include invoicing software, bookkeeping software, payroll software, etc.

Customers Have the Power in Hands

The Internet has empowered customers like never before. You can’t say that just because a business is in multiple countries, it will be impressive enough for people to buy its products. The amazing thing about today’s economy is the power that customers have in their hands. Online reviewing websites, YouTube videos, blogs, etc. are among many platforms that allow customers to know more about businesses. In fact, even Google now puts business ratings and customer reviews right within its search results.

What this means is that when a customer searches for a business today, he/she is already able to see the reputation of the product they are going to buy. Furthermore, negative reviews from customers can greatly affect the sales of business, giving other businesses a chance to make their name.

Furthermore, it’s not just the quality of products that matters today. In the modern world, businesses are competing for better customer experience. If your business can give customers the experience they are looking for, your growth is inevitable despite the small size of your business.

Funding Is No Issue for Startups

It is always the starting days that matter the most for business. When you are a startup, you are looking for ways to fund your business so you can materialize your idea and polish your product/service according to the requirements of the customers. Finding a platform where you could connect with investors was a challenge in the past. This is not an issue anymore.

With like our websites, it is easier than ever for small businesses to get in touch with investors and get the right amount of investment that sets them on the path of growth. These are websites that act as a bridge between investors from all around the world and startups. With traditional banks and lenders, you are only limited to a local audience of investors. When you can’t find an investor in your local market, your hopes are almost dead.

With online funding websites, all you have to do is create a convincing pitch that explains the viability of your startup to the investors and its scope. Your pitch along with all the necessary information that you think investors should see goes on the website where it is visible to hundreds and thousands of investors. If you have done your homework and have a team of right professionals on board, getting the right investment is just a matter of hours or days.

Final Words

You can see that a small business can overcome almost all of their challenges much more efficiently today. Starting a business has become so easy that even students can be entrepreneurs today. They can lay the foundation for a business using just their pocket money. From connecting with the right investors to cutting down operational costs, all can be done from the comfort of a person’s home. The only thing that makes the difference today is if you are confident enough to take the first step.

Article by Pierre Jean-Claude

How To Grow Your Small Business Using Social Media

How To Grow Your Small Business Using Social Media

Are you a small business owner looking for ways to grow your business? Are you looking to attract more leads to your business, or have heard about Social Media Marketing, and now want to try it?

As a small business owner you face many challenges – limited capital, minimal support staff and having too much to do in what seems like very little time. So, how do you grow your small business without heavy investment in marketing and advertising? Answer – through the use of technology. Web 2.0 provides you with various tools and techniques that help you to generate leads and increase the exposure of your home-based business. Social media is one such tool. Here’s all you need to know as a small business owner to begin increasing revenues using social media.

What is Social Media?

Social Media is a category of online media where people are talking, participating, sharing, networking, and bookmarking online. Examples include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, GooglePlus, and MySpace.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is using the above mentioned platforms to reach a new audience of consumers and create product brand awareness. By spreading word of a product from user to user, Social Media Marketing strives to gain greater legitimacy for a message because it is shared between trusted “friends.”

Which Social Media Channels are most popular?

Studies show that Facebook & Twitter are most popular social media channels followed closely by YouTube and LinkedIn, GooglePlus.

Why should Social Media Marketing Interest me?

If you think this kind of Marketing is not for you, think again. These platforms offer a large bundle of benefits to small business owners. Here are some reasons why you should consider using Social Media for your business.

Exposure: As a small business owner you rely largely on network marketing to channel leads to your business – which, in turn relies on your interaction with people. This is the core notion of what Social Media is! But Social Media offers virtually unlimited opportunities to interact with people – millions of them! With this interesting form of marketing, your business is no longer limited to local leads; you will find leads coming in from a diversified geographic market!

Zero-cost: While other marketing media would be expensive, this type of marketing is relatively free, or requires negligible monetary investment. It’s a great low-cost way to get your message across.

Improved web presence: Being on popular social media platforms strengthens your web presence. The more people talk about you on Facebook or Twitter, the greater are the chances of your business being found on relevant web searches such as Google, Yahoo!, or Bing.

Direct contact with prospects: These platforms put you in touch with your customers directly. You can have one-on-one contact with them, know what they really want.

Go viral: Such marketing offers you the opportunity to go viral with your marketing. Think about this. You put up a video about your business on YouTube. 10 people like it, and five of them share it with their friends, who in-turn share it with 20 more people. This is known as “viral marketing,” and it can be a very effective method to increase your lead generation.

What is a Social Media “game plan” and why should you have one?

A social media game plan is a process consisting of a few simple steps that can help you achieve your social media marketing objectives. The social media arena is large and you can get lost in it if you don’t play by the rules. There’s a lot of competition and you have to have a clear plan if you want to stand out of the crowd and get noticed.

Your ideal Social Media game plan

A typical game plan for your business should consist of these four steps

  • Build your network
  • Propagate your presence
  • Stay connected
  • Monitor

Step 1 – build your network

The first step is to search for and add those users to your network whom you think fall into your target audience segment. When placing a request to add users to your network, it is always better to accompany such requests with a personalized message. You can also look for and join groups that pertain to your line of business. For example, if you are a business selling Health drinks and other health-related products, you could join groups where topics such as nutrition, diet or health are discussed. Such groups provide you audience for the products you have to offer. However, when in a group, do remember to ADD VALUE. Answer questions that you are equipped to answer, actively participate in discussions, be subtle and don’t aggressively “push” your products.

Step 2 – propagate

The next step is to announce your Social Media presence. You can do this by adding links to your social media pages on your website, e-mail signature line or newsletter, if you have one. You are out there with your business-announce it!

Step 3 – stay connected

The third step is to stay connected with your fans and group members. Social media marketing initiative is easy to start, but requires effort to maintain. And like many networking efforts, results are usually not immediate. Acquire permission from group members and others on your network to send e-mails. You can then e-mail relevant content to people on your network. The key here is to send RELEVANT, VALUE ADDING content-not an advertisement of your products/services. If you are a health-drink selling company who is also a part of the diet and nutrition group, you can send links such as ’10 Best Anti-Oxidant Rich Fruits’ and then perhaps add an image and some information about your product, encouraging people to get in touch with you if they’re interested. This approach will be better-received than just sending the prospects an e-mail flyer totally dedicated to your product.

Dos and Don’ts

While social networking is all about human interaction and cannot be strait-jacketed, here are some tips that will come in handy.

What you should do?

Add value to your contacts: Always add value to your contacts. Always! Provide them useful information, tips and other interesting facts that they can use. For example, Jane, a home-based business owner sells health drinks and weight loss products. So, it makes sense for her to provide her audience with interesting articles on the topic of weight loss.

Be consistent in your online participation: It is not a one-time effort. It is about building a relationship… and relationships take time. Be consistent in your social media communication. Have an interesting tweet/post/update at least every day. In some few cases, multiple postings a day are even better-but don’t forget rule#1-add value. Your posts shouldn’t sound like pointless ramblings or advertisements of your product/service.

Pay attention to what’s being discussed: If you have joined a forum or a group, actively participate in relevant discussions. Use your specific, professional knowledge to help others. Contribute to add depth and dimension to a discussion.

Conversation is the key: As mentioned before, social media marketing thrives on relationships. To build a strong relationship with your prospects, you need to engage in a conversation with them. Maintain a 2-way communication between you and your audience. Take genuine interest in what they have to say and follow up on comments or observations that are made.

Thoroughly know the subject you are talking about: Position yourself as an expert on these platforms. But be sure that you know what you’re talking about. Research if you aren’t sure of something. Mistakes on these platforms spread quickly and damage the reputation of your business.

Personalize your interaction: It’s advisable to personalize your interaction with your audience. Inquire about an event or occasion posted on a Wall, such as a recent trip, or “like” their vacation pictures on Facebook.

Portray your individuality: The biggest advantage small business owners have over large corporations is the fact that they are much smaller and haven’t lost that real-person feel. Let your audience know the person behind the business. Make sure your interactions include a personal side!

Respond to your customers’ grievances ASAP: Did you know that 88% of customers say unanswered complaints on social media sites deter them from doing repeat business? And deleting customer complaints is even worse! So make sure you resolve your customer’s complaints on social media platforms immediately. Even if you can’t resolve them, at least respond so that they know they’re being heard. Acknowledge everything.

Mention your Social Media presence: Advertise your profiles. Always provide links to your social media profile in your website, blog, e-mails and even print materials. For websites and blogs, it’s best to add Facebook and twitter widgets which provide a live feed of what’s happening on your Facebook/twitter page, right there on your website or blog. Provide incentives or value adding information such as whitepapers or articles in order to encourage people to follow you on social media sites!

Monitor & moderate: Monitor your social media presence. Find out where your name’s coming up online and in what context it has been used. A Google alert is the simplest way to do this, though there are many free tools available online to monitor your web presence. Also stay in-control of your social media pages. Read what others are putting up on your page and respond promptly.

Syndicate your Social Media content: Content creation takes time. So why not make the most of the content you have? Post your content on all popular social media sites and don’t hesitate to re-use them. Turn a blog post into a link and put it on Facebook. Convert it into a video and add to YouTube and Facebook or turn it into a presentation and put it up on SlideShare. The aim is to get maximum exposure for your content.

What you should not do?

DON’T overtly push your products/services: Social media is a platform

where you build relationships, to create value. It’s NOT an advertising venue. Your audience

will shun you if all you talk about is the stuff you sell. Think about it, would you talk to your family

and friends about the products you sell all the time? Of course not! Then don’t treat your

social media audience any differently.

DON’T spam your contacts with pointless updates: OK, so now you added two new products to your line-up. While it’s great to share the news, don’t spam your contacts with ads. Put up a link to the new range of products; monitor who is interested and share information on a need-to-know basis.

DON’T have grammar and spelling errors in your posts: You are a small business out to create an impression. Don’t spoil it through spelling and grammatical errors. Use spelling/grammar checking tools, but never rely solely on them. Proofread your posts before putting them up online. If spelling or grammar is not your strong suit, have someone else proofread your work before it goes out

DON’T fail to respond to requests for help in your area of expertise: If you are a part of a group or forum, seize every opportunity to display your expertise. Don’t be a wallflower-actively participate in discussions.

DON’T let your profile get stale: Make sure your profile is frequently updated and that you offer something new. One mistake many small business owners make is creating social media profiles and then forgetting about them. Your social media efforts have to be on-going to bear results.

DON’T get distracted: There’s a lot of distraction available online-especially on social media channels that can make you lose track of your productive hours online. Games, quizzes, forums and live-chats-while these can be interesting tools to attract prospect interest, focus on your goals. Otherwise you’ll find yourself investing too much time and energy into activities that offer no returns to your business.

Article by Vardharaj Kawde

Time Management Tips For Small Business OwnersPhoto by Carl Heyerdahl

Time Management Tips For Small Business Owners

Most business owners probably already know that 20 percent of their product comprises 80 percent of their sales. Save time in the long run by discovering exactly which products or services are driving the business. Focus the majority of your energy on the important things and cut back on the time you devote on the other 80 percent.

Learn to prioritize

Just as 20 percent of your product drives your business, some of your activities are more productive than others. It is an old but good time management tip to tackle your most important projects first. Teach this strategy to your employees so that you will all find the time to complete the important projects. Once you rank your activities based on order of importance, give yourself a set amount of time to complete them. For example, give yourself a time limit to return phone calls and reply to emails, and try not to go over it. Sticking to some sort of a schedule will help you stay focused on important projects rather than get lost in the mundane activities that do not really drive your business forward.

Make a “to do list” every day

You may think that you do not have the time to write a list every morning. However, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of chores that face a small business owner each day. Last minute interruptions and distractions can make the most focused business owner forget to finish a task. A brief but thoughtfully prepared “to do list” will remind you of what you need to do that day. This will prevent you from forgetting to call back your important client. Do not go beyond the day’s work when writing the list, and set reasonable goals. Getting ahead is great, but you can work on that when the list is finished.

There comes a point in every business when the owner must learn to say “no”

Whether you are dealing with a needy employee or a difficult customer, spreading yourself too thin is not good for your business. Yes, you need to make customers happy, but sometimes they will ask for the near impossible. Consider whether or not doing something is good for your business before saying yes, and learn to delegate.

It is tempting for small business owners to waste their time micromanaging ever aspect of their company. However, there are tasks that do not require the presence of the owner. Teach employees to take action and make decisions within the boundaries of their positions. This is extremely difficult for the micromanager, but it does provide you with time and energy to focus on other activities that are more important, such as bringing in more customers. Should an employee call you about purchasing equipment? Yes. Should an employee call you because someone was two minutes late to work? Probably not. Creating parameters that define the extent of each employee’s decision-making authority will keep a small business owner from having to put out minor fires. Having clear boundaries will also build up employee morale. In all honesty, people generally hate being micromanaged. You hired your employees for their talent, so why not put it to good use?

Communicate with your employees and be aware of your business’ deadlines.

Small business owners are still in charge, and they need to communicate with their employees in order to ensure that they are on the same page. Discuss the deadlines with them each week and make sure that they contact you with any new developments. Stay connected to your clients and try to prevent any miscommunication that will affect projects late in the game.

Be sure to take some time for yourself.

This feels counterproductive. Many company executives and small business owners are guilty of confusing busy with productive. However, human beings need time to rest and decompress. Numerous studies have shown that taking short breaks actually improves overall productivity. The brain is not wired to work nonstop. People who take breaks make fewer mistakes and work faster. A study by Dr. Coker explains that people who take short breaks online are nine percent more productive than their overly stressed colleagues. So relax a minute for the good of the company.

Stay focused on your goals.

What do you want from your business? Set aside some time each month to examine your goals and how you are getting there. Look at what strategies are moving you forward and identify which ones are dragging you back. This might sound easy, but many small business owners are so focused on the day-to-day activities that they put off examining their goals regularly. However, constant evaluation can save you time and money as you discover which methods work for you.

It is tempting to try to save money by doing everything in-house. However, outsourcing is often more cost effective than doing everything yourself. For example, the time that you take working as an accountant could be better spent following up leads and building relationships. When 35 percent of small business owners lament not having the time to really grow their businesses, it is clear that small business owners are taking on too many mundane tasks.

Outsourcing specialized projects not only frees business owners to work more effectively, it can also benefit the company’s image and profitability. For example, hiring a graphic designer to create a brochure will probably yield better results than simply typing something into a Word document. If you really cannot afford to outsource a project to a professional, look inside the business. Chances are that you have a multitalented staff. Someone with an interest in graphic design might to a better job than you could, and this individual just might be willing to work a little cheaper than a professional would, for the experience.

Staying busy is not growing a business. Every business owner needs to evaluate his or her schedule. Yes, a responsible owner knows what is going on and will have to put in quite a few hours. But are the hours being spent in the most productive manner? How much time do you spend putting out fires and running in place? Your time is valuable, and you must use it wisely to move forward. Some of the time management tips explained above might seem counterintuitive or expensive, but consider the loss your business faces when you cannot find the time to be with your customers. A business owner is the face of his or her company. People buy from owners they trust. But, if the owner is never seen, how can customers get to know him or her? Landing a sale will probably more than compensate for the $10 an hour you pay for an outsourced employee. Learn to use your time wisely and expand your business while you improve your quality of life.

Article by Fallon J Rechnitz

Signs of a Successful Small Business OwnerPhoto by Brooke Lark

Signs of a Successful Small Business Owner

When starting a new business, there are numerous signs that can indicate whether you’re succeeding as an entrepreneur or aren’t. A small business can be risky. This is particularly true if you specialize in a niche that bigger companies already excel in. However, if you display some particular qualities, it’s a sign that you’re doing a good job to stay afloat.

That’s because small business owner who have a positive attitude towards success are the most likely to get a taste of it than his counterparts. Their counterparts focus only on stability and nothing more. While business success has a lot to do with your initial idea and how you build upon that idea, it still depends on your personality and capabilities. Here are the few signs of a successful small business owner that you should develop as part of your personality.

You Like To Form Collaborations

Most successful entrepreneurs display this common trait. They understand the importance of having a well-connected network in the business world. Nevertheless, just like in every other change, collaboration needs to start from within your business. This means you’ll need to start delegating tasks effectively. Another crucial part of this is building good relationships with everyone on your team. This includes your employees and suppliers.

Of course, you also need to establish a position in the network of small businesses. It’s unwise to act alone without any partners. You needn’t form friendly relationships with your competitors. However, at the least, you should be on good terms with other small businesses that complement yours. By obtaining a position in the community of other businesses, you’ll be able to create new opportunities that can benefit others. Moreover, others can do the same for you. What results is a beneficial support system that allows all members to rely on one another.

You Have Your Eyes Set on the Future

You never know what the future holds, especially if it’s for something as volatile as a new startup business. That’s why successful entrepreneurs share a common characteristic of looking towards long-term future goals.

Some struggle to stay afloat amidst a rocky economic climate, and such desperate conditions can lead to business owners not looking farther than the near future. Such thoughts are understandable, but think of it this way; acting upon well-structured long-term goals at the same time as day-to-day tasks can ensure far more than financial stability and simple peace of mind.

You Leverage the Benefit of Technology

Nowadays, when it comes to operating a small business, it all comes down to incorporating the use of technology, whether in marketing, management, or everything else. Technology and software have made it easier for entrepreneurs and small business owner to meet their goals, and now with services like Google AdWords and personal assistants, functions have become much more streamlined than ever before.

Take websites, for instance, they’re a business’ online identity and that’s where most potential customers will go to check whether your brand is legitimate or not. Then comes social media, which is a useful marketing tactic that produces results without requiring you to spend too much of your ad revenue. Then there are other business-related applications like customer support live chat software, fixed responses for keywords and budgeting tools that boost your productivity so you can focus on product quality.

You Love to Learn

You’re never ready to run a business until you’re prepared to improve yourself by learning from others. You may be determined to make it through with a method involving trial and error, but that costs precious resources; you need to start learning from others’ success and failures. Data is the most powerful weapon that a business can possess because it helps you discover trends and important details.

If you aim to learn about what strategies lead to profitable ideas and which ones are just downright terrible, you’ll be able to devise a solution of your own. The best way to fulfill your curiosity is to read and look into insights regarding management, marketing, customer satisfaction, and product quality. Archives can provide you with numerous researches and surveys conducted by different companies. While it isn’t necessary that the results apply to your business, you’re still bound to learn something.

You Don’t Just Think; You Act

While we’re at it, we might as well establish that being a smart business owner doesn’t mean that you’ll never have to take risks; it’s merely the ability to take risks with confidence. One sign that your business will soon see the light of success is that you don’t just think, you also act when the time is right. This sign is associated with the confident ability to make good decisions, even if they’re risky.

It’s true that before you put any plan into action, you need to examine it carefully all the way through. However, if you become stuck on the evaluating stage, you’ll miss your chance to implement your idea. That’s why you should have some faith in yourself and build confidence in your abilities to make a good decision.

You Seek Fulfillment

There are many small businesses operating in the market, but very few businesses owner seek fulfillment. The rest of them, however, only look at it as a means to make ends meet. Success-oriented entrepreneurs always chase after their goal of doing something fulfilling for a living. Your ability to see value in everything you create is contributory to success because you’ll want to build upon ideas to increase that value.

If you realize these traits in yourself, then congratulations; you have what it takes to turn your small business into a success! However, even if you don’t, do not fear! Owning a small business can change you as a person. But, it depends on you whether you take something positive from the experience. All these above-mentioned aspects will greatly improve not just the quality of business, but your life as well. If you can learn to find a hint of success-oriented personality within yourself, then you’ve hit the jackpot.

Article by Pierre Jean-Claude

Securing a Small Business Loan

Securing a Small Business Loan

Insufficient funding is one of the top reasons why 80% of businesses fail within the first year and a half. As a business owner, not only do you have to cover all operating expenses, but the time and effort needed to succeed means you will almost certainly have to bid farewell to your day job and regular pay checks. Unless you’ve saved up enough to pay for everything for at least 18 months, you will probably have to find other sources of funding.

However, here we encounter another problem. A recent survey cited by the Credit Union Times showed that only about one-fifth of small business owners – incidentally about the same rate of successful businesses – rely on a small business loan. The survey showed that 62% were fearful of taking on a loan and almost one-fourth of respondents think they would not be approved for one. A Harvard Business School working paper by Karen Mills (Administrator of the US Small Business Administration until 2013) showed even more discouraging statistics. Banks continue to apply measures that restrict small business lending since the financial crisis hit, since such loans are generally always riskier than those to large businesses. Loans amounting to $1 million or less – the domain of small businesses – have gone down 21% since 2008. These loans made up half of all bank loans in 1995, but only 30% in 2012.

So what can you do to have a better chance at securing a loan?

As the saying goes, “The devil is in the details.” Given the stricter requirements of banks, you will need to come up with a very convincing plan that shows your business will truly make a profit. Each number presented has to be supported by hard evidence or at least some realistic projections backed by in-depth research. There must also be a clear plan as to where the money will go and how it will influence your business’s success.

Aside from this, your entire personal finances will also be scrutinized, so make sure your taxes, mortgages, credit cards, assets and liabilities, and even your credentials are all spotless and in order.

The bottom line is, if you believe in your business idea and do the necessary due diligence in coming up with a sound budget and business plan, there should be no reason to be denied a small business loan. Otherwise, you may want to reconsider quitting your day job.

Article by Kate Teng