OPEN Forum Articles

Small Business Owners Share Their Favorite Features of American Express

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:49:24 -0500

From Polly Schneider Traylor:

In January 2005, Rebecca Schreiber took a gamble. After a career working in a steady job at the Department of Commerce she followed her passion for financial planning, and put out a shingle as an independent financial planner after earning her certification. There was a lot at stake in this decision: she wanted to represent young professionals at reasonable hourly fees, not well-heeled clients who were interested in managing their wealth. The model wasn't typical, she says, recalling the days in her early 20s when she was looking for advice from a financial planner and was told that she needed at least $300,000 in assets to get representation.

Yet her business spread like wildfire through word-of-mouth; it was sweet vindication that the concept was sound. Once business began to roll in, Schreiber, based in Silver Springs, Maryland, decided to sign up for an American Express card. "I started my business right after buying a home, and I didn't want to carry a balance," she says. "What I really like about the card is that it is so easy to pay. I just go online, click on my account and I am done."

While choosing a card for your business may seem like a simple decision, you do want to consider how the major card companies distinguish themselves when it comes to benefits, features, and customer service. What can your card do for you? That's a question worth asking of a card company before you choose to use them to help run your business. For many small business owners, being able to extend payments by using the AMEX card is helpful for cash flow. But that's not the only financial benefit.

For Schreiber the first bonus was the $150 promotional cash rebate she received after made her first purchase. The fact that the card has no annual fees saves her money. And, she earns rebates with every $100 that she spends, which she figures has added up to around a few hundred dollars in cash back over the last couple of years.

Beyond that, a credit card should have features and services to help you be a better accountant for your business without spending much time doing it. Like many small businesses, Schreiber needs to be organized when it comes to managing cash flow. By primarily using her AMEX for business, she says she can more easily track her money because all her expenses are in one statement. While that's true for any credit card, Eric Blum, a Philadelphia-based franchise partner with1-800-GOT-JUNK, particularly likes the reporting features American Express offers through his accounts.

"Their reporting features help me find transactions quickly if I can't find it fast in (Intuit) QuickBooks," he says. "You can run reports on AMEX's site by vendor, category, across all cards that you own. These reports allow you to see where you are spending money quickly." And if you have employees using company AMEX cards like Blum does, that's even more important. Blum also likes the fact that he can have different cards for different needs: he uses the Gold card for large recurring purchases due to the no-limit feature, and the Blue card for daily purchases. "They are all connected to the rewards program which I love to use for free travel," he adds.

These days, security is also a critical feature. Schreiber, Blum, and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Web designer Ted Hessing all agree that AMEX protections are top-notch. "The best thing that my Business American Express has given me is peace of mind," says Hessing, who works for Charlotte Web Development. "Their customer service is superb and I feel that my purchases are protected."

As well, Schreiber says that if someone doesn't deliver on a product or service that she purchases using her AMEX card, she's confident that the credit card company will back her up. To be extra careful, she also keeps close tabs on her account to ensure that no one has compromised her information to make fraudulent purchases.

As an extra step in that regard, Blum uses the AMEX Credit Secure program. "It helps me track my company and personal credit reports for only $22 a month."

When selecting a credit card company, it's nice to feel good about the people that you're dealing with: managing money is stressful by nature. All three sources for this article remarked that AMEX customer service put them at ease. "When I call customer service and I get a human being it gives me a feeling of relief," Schreiber says.

At the end of the day, however, no card is a silver bullet for financial management, Schreiber warns, and, you may be putting yourself at particular risk by running your business on the card. "A lot of business owners don't realize that they are using their personal social security number, not their business ID, to open the card," she explains. "They may think that if a business closes the debt goes away, but that's not the case. It becomes a personal debt. And, if you develop a bad personal credit file you won't be able to get that line of credit that you need."

So no matter what card you choose, make sure to apply sound financial practices around collections and billing, cash flow, expenses and investments. If you play your cards right, a credit card with an excellent rewards program could be your ticket to a much-needed vacation, remarks Hessing: "Perhaps the best is yet to come, my rewards flight in first class to a new country I always wanted to visit!

4 Ways to Use Twitter Lists for Marketing

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:38:08 -0500

From Rohit Bhargava:

Ok, so maybe you have a Twitter account set up and have started checking out the site, or maybe you’re still among the ranks of small business owners who haven’t found that compelling reason to get off the sidelines and start trying to use the site. Recently, Twitter launched a new feature that allows users to create lists of people on Twitter … making the site infinitely more useful for users who need some help navigating the flood of information that comes from the site.

1. Improve your PR “hit rate.” For several years now, there have been people who you might consider “influencers” in just about any industry creating content online. In your industry, that might be online reviewers, or bloggers, or key contributors to online communities. The problem for some time has been that it is increasingly difficult to capture their attention. As more large businesses launch “blogger outreach” campaigns, the attention of these influencers (bloggers or otherwise) is becoming more and more difficult the capture. Luckily, getting “coverage” on Twitter is often a much more simple ask. As a result, if you focus on asking to be mentioned through a Twitter stream, you can make it much more likely that someone will share their experience with you, or a useful message more readily through Twitter.

2. Get listed. The way Twitter lists work is that anyone can create a grouping of people or organizations on Twitter and put them into categories. These lists can be followed in bulk, which answers one of the biggest questions about Twitter … how can anyone find new people to follow, and how you can get new followers. With a search, you can now find lists of Twitter users that relate to the category your business is in. In many cases, you can approach the creator of the list with a request to add your business to the list if it is relevant. With a few hours of effort, this means you could connect with the most visible list creators online and dramatically improve the chances that people will find and follow your Twitter account.

3. Create your own collection. If there is any lesson that social media can teach you, it is that demonstrating your business as have expertise in a particular space can have big benefits, whether it is a services based business, or you have a product to sell. One of the ways to demonstrate that expertise that doesn’t require you to write new content or create multimedia such as videos is simply using the Twitter lists feature to create a new list on any topic. For example, if you have an interior design business – go out and find the 25 best Twitter accounts talking about interior design and create a list. Then you can email this list to people in your industry, share it through Twitter. Anyone who sees the list and its creator (you and your business), will immediately begin to perceive you as a thought leader and expert … if they don’t already.

4. Monitor for moments to respond. One of the best things about Twitter is that in the stream of real time dialogue are always questions from people seeking a response. With every post having a time and date stamp, it is very easy to dip into Twitter at any time to see who is having a particular question that relates to your business and exactly when they asked it. Taking this information, you can start to answer questions directly to people and share your point of view and expertise. Doing so can not only give you a chance to connect with potential customers directly, but also to have a “viral conversation” … in other words, a conversation with an individual that could easily be shared by others and passed around the web.

Lessons Learned From AdMob: 2 Tips From a Great Deal

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:08:12 -0500

From SCOTT BELSKY:

The founder and CEO of AdMob, Omar Hamoui, recently sold his business to Google for $750 million, just three years after founding the company. But behind this great deal is a great story about maniacal focus, thoughtful negotiation, and a good perspective on life.

A recent blog entry in the Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital section shares some of the lessons learned throughout the AdMob experience by Hamoui and his first hire, Russell Buckley.

As quoted from an interview conducted by WSJ:

On the value of ideas vs. execution:
“…far too many entrepreneurs get paranoid about protecting their idea to the point of paralysis. The value of most ideas is in the execution, not in what the concept actually is. To make it reality, you need to share it – actually, with as many people as possible, counter-intuitive though this might seem. And in my view, forget about NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements) and the like. They’re pretty useless all round as far as I’m concerned, but for one man and a laptop, a total waste of time and effort, which at best just create speed breakers for your idea.”

On making a great deal:
“If your partner feels as good as you walking away from the table, you are much more likely to have a successful relationship…This is so important. Many self-proclaimed “great deal makers” focus too much on getting the best for themselves and wonder why the relationship falls apart or never achieves its potential.”

Congratulations to Hamoui and his team for a great entrepreneurial story and for their willingness to share lessons learned with the world.

***This article is based on research by Behance CEO Scott Belsky, whose book, Making Ideas Happen, will be published by Penguin in April 2010. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.

The Nightmare of Embezzlement, and How to Avoid It

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:37:16 -0500

From Jonathan Weber:

Embezzlement by an employee is among the worst nightmares of any business owner, and it’s surprisingly common. We’ve had a string of such cases in the news here in Missoula in recent weeks, including the case of a bank teller-supervisor who stole some $800,000 over a nine-year period, a bookkeeper at an architecture firm who took $240,000, a treasurer for a local ambulance service who stole $160,000, and a woman who took $227,000 from two different construction companies that employed her as a bookkeeper.

That’s a lot of embezzlement for a small place like greater Missoula - and of course those are only the cases that made the news. Many companies don’t like to report embezzlement cases because it makes them look bad, so there is undoubtedly a lot more of it happening than meets the eye.

The bank case is perhaps the most shocking, since banks are supposed to have plenty of systems for preventing this sort of thing. But the other cases show something equally shocking: how simple it can be for a trusted employee to forge checks, file phony expense reimbursements, and get away with it for a long time. On top of that, several friends of mine in the business community have told me about other cases, which involved people who had been fired from previous jobs for stealing.

There is of course no foolproof way to prevent embezzlement short of becoming the bookkeeper yourself. But I’d offer these basic precautions:

- Know your bookkeeper, or anyone else with access to the money, and treat them as a key member of the team. Too often, bookkeeping is considered a menial task, and the bookkeeper is treated as a glorified secretary. A person in that kind of position is not likely to feel a great deal of loyalty, and might even be resentful. If, on the other hand, they feel that they have a stake in the success of the business, they’re much less likely to take advantage.

The corollary to this is to know as much as possible about the person you are putting in this position. These days it is often difficult to get an honest job reference, as previous employers feel bound by privacy laws and the threat of litigation from saying too much. On the flip side, it’s much easier to get a formal background check to make sure there are no criminal convictions. If someone has flitted from job to job, that’s also a red flag, unless there is a very good explanation. And don’t be shy about prying when it comes to someone who will be handling money.

In a small town, you can also sometimes tell if a bookkeeper or other employee with access to money is suddenly flush with cash. In several of the Missoula cases, much of the money was spent on lavish gifts to friends and the like – and that something illicit was going on was obvious in hindsight.

-Require the bookkeeper to take a contiguous stretch of vacation – two weeks, say – during which time someone else will perform the functions. This is a technique routinely employed by banks to assure that no systemic fraud is underway; such frauds usually require daily upkeep, as it were, and breaking the chain on that can be revealing.

-If your business is small enough, informally review all outgoing payments on a monthly basis. Many small-business owners are probably like me in that they have something of a ledger in their head and can tell at a glance if a payment looks suspicious. If your company is too big for that, invest in an occasional outside audit; it costs money, but it’s worth it, not only for the money you’ll potentially save but for the mental anguish avoided in the event of finding out you’ve been hit with a significant theft.

Intranet and Collaboration Solutions for Small Businesses

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:07 -0500

From Christina Warren:

In the old days, an intranet -- that is, a private computer network inside an organization as opposed to the Internet which is a network between organizations -- was often reserved for large corporations with hundreds or thousands of employees. With advances in technology and the advent of virtual offices and cloud computing, that’s changing. Even very small businesses can benefit from having an intranet for sharing and collaborating with employees and clients.

Think of an intranet as your own private portal where authorized users can log in and share calendars and appointments, upload documents, make comments and changes to specific projects and access reference material or guidelines. This can greatly increase productivity and limit the hurdles of project management -- especially if you have users in many different locations.

Small businesses can create their own intranets using either hosted services through a provider or hosting the software themselves on a web server. Both options offer their own benefits depending on your business size and IT needs.

Some of my favorite intranet and collaboration toolsets include:

Google Sites -- Google Sites is both easy to set up and use. You can create specific project pages, host calendars, integrate Google Docs and easily invite new members to join specific sections on your site. As an intranet solution, Google Sites isn’t as advanced as some other options but its integration with Google’s existing services makes it worth a mention.

Box.net -- For the last 12 months, Box.net has been actively positioning itself as a lower-cost alternative to Microsoft’s SharePoint. The service offers users the ability to store documents on Box.net’s service for easy editing -- either directly from Box.net or via your favorite productivity application. You have full search access to documents and comments stored on Box.net, granular permissions for team members and there is a great mobile application for accessing and editing documents from your iPhone or BlackBerry. Business plans for three or more users cost $15 a month per user, though anyone can sign up for a free Lite account to get a feel for the system.

Open Atrium -- Open Atrium is a free open source intranet-in-a-box solution designed to run on your own web server. Open Atrium includes tools to share documents and calendars, create group blogs or wikis and have user-to-user communication. The system is extremely easy to use for end-users and very robust in its offerings.

If you frequently find yourself frustrated with the limitations of e-mail and want a way to increase productivity -- while also offering easy ways to reference past projects and information, an intranet might just be the next tool your small business needs to adopt.

iStockphoto, Warchi

Beer and Wind: But It's Not What You Think

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:40:36 -0500

From Haily Zaki:

While beer and wind may occasionally arise in the same conversation, it’s not normally in this context. The next time you’re in Brooklyn, make sure to spare a little time to visit Gutter or go exercise your thumbs over at Barcade. Why? Because you'll probably have lots of fun and that's reason enough. But besides the fun part, these twin establishments are both awesome examples of how an open energy market can make for creative alternative energy schemes. That's right. Brooklyn has two new green bars!

While both bars are entirely powered by wind, don't look for windmills atop their roofs. The owners light up their bars' stereo, vintage arcade games, and bowling alley respectively, with energy harvested by an upstate New York wind farm. Instead of buying their power from a coal burning plant, they’ve chosen to go green. Since coal power plants emit more carbon dioxide than any other source in the United States and CO2 accounts for more than 85 percent of the world’s gas emissions that cause global warming, that small choice makes a huge difference.

The bars themselves don’t scream green. Patrons enjoy local and regional craft beer not because the owners are trying to make point, but because it’s good beer. Visitors can play vintage video games at Barcade and try their hand at bowling at Gutter. On the surface, they’re low-key, fun establishments, the brainchild of 30-something Paul Kermizian and his freelance, creative, hipster partners. But their existence in NYC hints at bigger possibilities for other cities with open energy markets. Open energy markets encourage energy providers to offer alternative sources and slowly but surely demand will force changes in supply.

Imagine how many bars, bowling alleys, supermarkets or restaurants we could power here in LA if we were to better tap into alternative sources of energy? With plans announced just today for one of the largest wind farms in the Western US to be built in Utah, and its future power headed straight to LA, Burbank, and Pasadena, perhaps we’ll be talking about beer and wind in the same breath here soon too!

Opening Up With: Wayne Scarano of SGA Business Systems

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:46:39 -0500

From Steve Viuker :

The start- SGA Business Systems is a collaboration solutions provider started in 1984 by myself and two friends. We were all 25 years of age. One dropped out after a month to get his medical degree. Another stated for six years and we did software consulting and development work. From 1990 to the present, it’s been my venture. We began part-time and built the business to the point of going out on our own. HP, NCR and Lotus were the players in collaborative software back then. The other two died but we looked at Lotus Notes back in 1993. Technically, it blew me away. Ever since then, we have been dedicated to running small businesses; and helping medium and large businesses with their software development built around this software. Most people think of it as just e-mail but it’s much more.

Getting the word out- When we began, there was no internet. But even today, most of our work is still by word of mouth. It’s always tough to start a business. I’ve been through the cycles. The early 1990‘s were tough; and in 1995, we almost went out of business. 2004 and 2005 were bad years for us. The software that we used was owned by IBM and they were looking to go in a different direction. And that was hurting us. I had family members saying I should become a mortgage broker. This was at the beginning of the housing boom. I’m glad I didn’t take that advice. Do what your passion is and what you believe in. I know what I’m doing now is perhaps even more applicable than it was in 1994.

On funding- If I was starting out now, I wouldn’t look for angel or vc funding. Outside funders would have to believe in your passion and vision. In the late 90’s, investors would ask, “What’s your exit strategy?” I didn’t have an exit strategy because I enjoyed running my business. My strategy is to have satisfied customers. I don’t have a five-year plan because I can’t predict that far ahead. We get approached from other firms looking to buy us or merge. But we’re deep into our clients needs and another firm won’t understand that. One of our keys is that we make sure we’re affordable. We have a staff or five and our costs are low. I also like to find what people I hire enjoy doing. If you give someone a task to do, it helps to know if they enjoy doing that type of work.

On spending- My philosophy is to pay my staff well. And they stay. In 1995, I was doing all the accounting work. A person who was a client was laid off and came to me. I knew I had to hire her and I paid twice what I thought I should. It was a great hire and she is still with me. We’re self-sufficient financially and try to stay away from debt. We run it lean and mean. But we spend for quality. Much of our work is virtual. So we don’t spend money on travel or on a fancy office.

On Blackberries- I have a Blackberry but it gives me freedom. I’m not tied down to it but I use to keep in touch. And I don’t have it on when I’m having dinner in a restaurant. When I have meetings, I’d like all attending to focus on the meeting and not use their laptops or Blackberries until we have break. The attention of people can be really short when you’re trying to make a point.

Outlook- In business, there are circumstances you can’t control. You can’t force people to buy. You might have the greatest product on the planet but the customer needs to be ready to buy. And you have to be there when they’re ready. And don’t go crazy trying to figure out what you’re doing wrong.

Family-Owned Businesses: The Challenge of Succession Planning

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:04:06 -0500

From Polly Schneider Traylor:

You've got a thriving small business that you started with your own grit and pennies, and now you have children who are reaching the age of adulthood. It's time, like it or not, to think about who will run your business when you no longer can. "Many times, a business that is financially sound suffers because the owner did not plan for what’s going to happen upon his or her disability or death," says Jeffrey Asher, an estate planning attorney and partner with New York City-based Eaton & Van Winkle LLP.

No one wants to think about the inevitable, but when it comes to succession planning for a family business, there are a lot of sensitive details to consider. Do your kids even want to run the business and are they capable of doing so? What if neither kid wants the business, or what if the kids want to run it together but you're worried they will fight and ruin it? It's critical to make sure that everyone is clear on the objectives of the succession plan, writes Don Schwerzler of the Family Business Institute: “The family succession plan should include strategies to put the business interests ahead of the family interests and should emphasize merit over family position."

Here are a few scenarios for family succession planning, and how Asher handles the issues with his clients:

One child wants the business and is capable of running it, but the other siblings do not. Asher advises that the business owner equalize his assets as best as possible. For instance, if the child receiving the business will inherit a $5 million asset in terms of business value at the time of your death, then, consider giving the other child a $5 million life policy. But here's a caveat: cash (a.k.a. the life insurance policy) has no potential to increase in value unless you do something with it, such as invest it. Whereas, the business will likely increase in value over time. "If you want to focus on value, then you have to admit that giving a business to one child and life insurance to another will not be equitable after 10 years."
All children get equal assets in the business. You will need to determine with your kids how the management of the business is going to happen. Will they all be involved in the business or will one child only have a financial interest? That will have to go in to writing, if so. If the kids decide they want to run the business together, count on conflicts happening. "So many times I have seen siblings at each other’s throats after the parents are gone," Asher says. He advises assigning a board member or other third party to serve as a co-trustee to help mitigate conflicts between siblings. Alternatively, if you deem the risk too high for the kids to run the business together, you can place the business into a trust which is managed by a bank or lawyer or team of people. "That way the younger generation gets the economic interest without governing interest.”
You sell the business when you're ready to retire, or make provisions to allow your kids to sell it. Deciding when and if the business can be sold is very important. Some business owners will make provisions in their will that the children cannot legally sell the business until a period of time has passed, such as five years. Regardless, there's no guarantee that your kids will be able to find a solid buyer for your business while it still holds value.

Of course, if none of your kids want the business you will need to determine if you have a trusted friend, colleague, or cousin who can take over the business. Beyond the basic succession options, there are a host of variables that can come into play when you're no longer in the picture. In some industries, especially retail, Asher warns that vendors and buyers may resist dealing with anyone but you because they associate the business strictly with you, the original founder and owner and their friend. “And then the business suffers and that is the parent’s failure for not setting up a transition and bringing Junior around to all the partners and customers and vendors."

Here's another tricky situation: What if the spouse of one of your kids wants to get involved in the business later, against the wishes of the other siblings? The earlier you can plan and the more conversations you have with your family, the more prepared your kids will be to mitigate such conflicts.

Consult with your accountant and attorney to help you work through the process: a third-party can make the planning process more objective, less stressful, and more thorough. The aim of business successful planning? "You want to make sure that the business goes down to your loved ones at the lowest cost and for the highest value," Asher says.

However you go about it, don't wait to start planning. "The reality is that most of us will have some sort of disability before we die, and the longer you wait the more you will increase the chances of not being involved in the decisions. Too often, business owners leave a legacy of conflicts because they never plan this out."

Effective Word-of-Mouth is Made Not Born

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:32:12 -0500

From Yvonne DiVita:

If you’re shaking your head back and forth, wondering what that title means – because, everyone knows that word-of-mouth is organic, not manufactured – let me share a secret with you: word-of-mouth is as much a creation by you and your brand, as it is an organic component of your fabulous marketing plan.

Anyone not aware of the studies proving that consumers trust is placed in “people like me,” may leave the room. Personally, I didn’t need a study to tell me that my family and friends value my opinion more than the local TV critic, or the latest press release from Big Brand Box. As I value theirs. People being people, they will talk and discuss and share with each other and the resulting word-of-mouth is stronger and more powerful than talking lizards, fancy swooshes, or come-hither glances bathed in pink lingerie.

Here are 5 effective ways you can create positive, actionable word-of-mouth for your company, product, or brand.

1. Be where your customers are. Hang out where they hang out. Bring your best smile and something “free” for them to take away. If you’re mainly online, be on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and sites like Ezine.com, where you can offer educational content which directs people back to your site to see your “stuff.” Case studies and PDF Top Tips articles show expertise and give people something to talk about.

2. Have a twitter party. Engage a group of tweeps (people who twitter), establish a host (the tweep who will be in charge of the event), and have at it. Use a tool such as Tweetchat to keep the party focused. The goal is to have the tweeps talk about you (or a product launch or a new service), while using a hashtag (the # symbol) to identify the twitter party and its topic. The bigger the party, the more likely it will become a trend on the Twitter tending list. Visit these links to learn how some others are doing this, and don’t forget the prize. (Awarding prizes can be a random drawing or by number of tweets, or any other criteria you establish – but make sure you are obvious about how the prize will be awarded.)

3. Create a Facebook Fan Page that engages your fans. Don’t create a page just to have a page. Make it worth their while – add content daily (more than once a day, if you can), host contests, invite fans to discuss their company or blog, and have a reason for them to visit regularly. This Blogger’s Guide to Facebook explains fan pages in more detail.

4. Support a charitable event. This week was National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week and bloggers all over the net covered it. They covered it by visiting shelters and blogging/twittering about them. They covered it by donating time or money or supplies. They got news coverage in their hometown by showing support for abandoned animals. When you actively support a charitable event, you create attention to the cause and the fact that you’re looking out for others. The key is to be vocal about it, online and offline. And the key to that is to keep the focus on the event, not on you. The resultant word-of-mouth is worth more than your weight in gold.

5. Be notable. Be like Scott Ginsberg, who wears a nametag on his chest, everywhere he goes. In fact, he can honestly and openly announce that he wears a nametag everywhere he goes because he had a nametag, with his name in it, tattooed on his chest. Scott lives word-of-mouth. In his blog post “How to Show Up Without Showing Off” he says, “Don’t just DO differently – BE differently.”

I have this quote on my desk and read it daily, “We are remembered not by what we take with us, but by what we leave behind.” Leave behind tangible when you can, but when you can’t – leave behind the memory of your personality, your bright red tie or blouse, your fantastic advice on how to get ahead in a down economy, and your invitation to pass out other people’s business cards at your next networking event. When you show people it’s about them, not about you, they start telling the world how smart and talented you are. (After all, you gushed over them, so you must be terribly talented and smart, right?)

* * * * *

About the Author: Yvonne DiVita, President of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC: Books, Blogs and Beyond, is focused on consulting with businesses on how to effectively use new media tools. She blogs at LipSticking, with a focus on the women’s market.

Think Green This Holiday and Look For 'Made in the USA'

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:11:45 -0500

From Jill Fehrenbacher:

It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but the holiday shopping season seems to have begun, and many people are already starting to scope out the latest and greatest bargains on holiday gifts. But if you are looking for a deal, beware of deals that are too good to be true in terms of quality and safety. Bargain-hunters need to be careful to avoid items that are so cheap that they may compromise the health and safety of family and friends. "Made in China" are three words that should make every consumer concerned -- especially parents shopping for their children. China has been in the news repeatedly over the last few years, for multiple heinous manufacturing practices including the poison infant formula recall and for coating Mattel toys in lead paint. The Made in China label is so ubiquitous these days because a staggering 80% of the world's toys are made in Chinese factories. That means that it is actually a challenge to find safe, well-made toys that are NOT manufactured in Chinese sweatshops.

The good news is that there are plenty of responsibly crafted, eco-friendly toys and gifts to be found that are made right here in the United States. These types of goods are usually more expensive than toys made in China, but they are safer and have the added bonus of putting money back into our own economy, and rewarding small business owners who run their companies ethically and with regard for their customers and the environment. And when you consider the big picture costs of a poor economy and healthcare -- not to mention the health and safety of your loved ones -- isn't the investment worth it in the long run?

I founded green parenting website Inhabitots when I was pregnant with my son, because I felt it was vital to really start researching the materials and production involved in all items that would closely touch our lives as a family. Inhabitots was created as a resource for parents, families, and anyone else interested in cute sustainable design for children.

Pulled straight from the pages of Inhabitots, here are some green toy suggestions for this holiday season, all of which are made in the USA and will help pave the path to a safe and happy holiday season for your family and loved ones:

KIDDO Cabana, Prefab Playhouse

Miss Brittany's Organic Preschool Fun Dough

Wooden Camera

Maple Wood 10 Pin Bowling Set

Recycled Cardboard Toys by designer Ben Blanc

Roebuck Bunny Scooter

There's truly no greater gift we can give the next generation than the mindfulness and awareness that go along with being a responsible consumer and advocate of fair labor and eco-friendly practices. Buying green toys that are made in the USA will infuse the sentiment of home for the holidays with a noble new meaning.

A New Approach to Receivables Financing

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:41:22 -0500

From Anne Field:

Early last winter, Joe Reini had an experience that’s become more and more common among small business owners. Reini, president and founder of 15-employee Mason/Grey, an IT systems integration firm, approached the bank he’d worked with for the seven years he’d been in business for a line of credit to help with payroll—and got turned down.

What to do? Not long after, while chatting over a breakfast meeting near Reini’s Atlanta offices, his insurance broker made a suggestion. Reini should look into The Receivables Exchange (TRE), an up-and-coming online auction site based in New Orleans with an unusual service: giving small and medium-sized businesses a way to sell their receivables quickly, easily, and anonymously to the highest bidder.

Reini investigated the site and, in May, decided to get his feet wet with a small pilot. Now, he participates in an auction every week, picking and choosing which receivables to sell and usually getting the money, sent to him via TRE, by the next day. It’s meant the difference between staying put and growing, according to Reini, who is following through on plans to move the company away from project work to service contracts providing more predictable income. He expects fourth quarter revenues to rise by 20% to 25% and to double in size by next year. “Growing in this market would have been impossible without this,” he says.

Receivables financing, or factoring, through which a company buys receivables from a client, advancing them the money and charging a hefty fee, isn’t anything new. (For more about factoring, read Anita Campbell’s article). But, while TRE’s service is like factoring, it also offers significant differences. And, as such, it appeals to a potentially larger population of small businesses. “We’ve broadened the ability to use receivables financing to companies who would have never used factoring under other circumstances,” says Laurie Azzano, TRE’s senior vice president for marketing. In fact, Reini hadn’t even considered turning to a factor before this.

Why? With TRE, Reini selects invoices from only the best, most reliable customers—those he knows won’t have trouble paying—instead of handing over the whole ball of wax, as he would have to do with a traditional factor. Also, because there’s a bidding process, he can get better terms than he would otherwise. According to Azzano, rates generally are from .5% to 3% compared to the 3% to 15% typical of most factors. Reini also decides on the length of the bidding process and sets a reserve price below which bidding can’t go. And TRE transfers the money to him from the seller in 24 hours. Since many of his receivables are “millions of dollars”, he says, that’s a big boost to cash flow.

There’s also an anonymity you don’t get with a factor. Buyers and sellers, who generally are such institutional investors as commercial banks, hedge funds, and even traditional factors, are unaware of each others’ identities. But probably more important for small businesses, clients never know that the company is using the system, because payment goes to a lock box at a bank in the seller’s name. That’s a big plus, since many firms are reluctant to inform customers they have to turn to a factor for help.

TRE, which gets a small commission from each sale for its efforts, takes care of all the due diligence for both sellers and buyers. Companies upload their financial statements and TRE then spends several weeks checking into such areas as credit rating and history of unpaid debts. That’s also a plus for small businesses. “Historically, finding a factor has been a tedious process involving talking to many potential finance partners and then negotiating to get the best rate—a very inefficient process,” says Ken Gaebler, a small business consultant with Gaebler Ventures in Chicago. “This approach alleviates those headaches.”

Still, TRE might not be for everyone. Most important, companies that don’t have invoices of a quality likely to attract interest from bidders, might not find the site useful. Many of Reini’s clients, for example, are Fortune 500 companies. “If you don’t have the right type of receivable, no one’s going to be too excited,” says Joe Abraham, founder of En Corpus, a small business consulting firm in Hoffman Estates, Ill. “But, for everyone else, this site is a no-brainer.”

Image Credit: avenueslimited

5 Ways to Use Social Media Activity Offline

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:24:53 -0500

From John Jantsch:

Social media participation has proven a great way to cast a wider net, create exposure for your expertise and initiate relationships with partners, supplies, prospects and customers.

But, few things build the trust necessary to take a surface relationship made in a LinkedIn Group or Facebook Fan Page to the deeper levels often required for someone to whip out the checkbook, like face-to-face interaction.

The buzz right now is all about social media. Most small businesses, however, will get the greatest bang for their social media buck when they think in terms of merging their online and offline networking and marketing.

Here are five ways to maximize what your doing online to make it pay offline.

1) Build local networks

Cruise the social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn to find people to connect with and follow locally. The chances of you having the opportunity to meet for coffee or at a Chamber event are far greater if the distance is smaller.

Tools like Twellow and Tweepsearch can help locate locals that might share your interest in social media.

2) Create and attend social media aided events

Sites like Biznik and MeetUp allow you to create and promote local, in person events. This is a great way to start putting together local workshops and mastermind groups and tap into the network and resources these sites make available. In some communities the membership in these kinds of networks is so strong they can fill your events for you through their promotion tools.

The flip side is to use these tools to locate events that other locals are putting on and attend appropriate ones as networking events.

3) Let offline folks know how to connect

Plaster your social media participation and connecting profiles on business cards and stationary, phone directory ads, print ads, marketing materials and email signature.

You can probably do a better job of spreading this kind of thing to your online assets and profiles as well.

4) Network offline, connect online

If you attend trade shows, Chamber mixers and referral groups, collect those business cards and do your normal “great to meet you at last night’s event” email or handwritten note, but then track your new contacts down and connect with them on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as well.

You will find it much easier to communicate and build trust when you are connected on and offline.

Check out ACT! 2010 and BatchBook CRM software too. These two offerings make it very easy to add the social media activity for your prospects into their contact record. This way, the next time to plan to reach out to them you can easily scan what they’ve been up to.

5) Teach your offline networks

If you’ve got even the tiniest handle on this social media stuff you’re probably ahead of many of your customers, suppliers and strategic partners.

Why not offer some free social media training sessions. It doesn’t matter if you’re an attorney or a contractor, social media education is one of the hottest topics going at the moment. Even if you approach it as a way for you and your customers to learn together, the bonds you can build while you learn will be invaluable.

Imagine getting a group of current and potential strategic partners together to teach them a confusing and changing topic? Who do you think they’re going to think of next time they make a referral?

Image credit: BAIA

John Jantsch is a marketing and digital technology coach, award winning social media publisher and author of Duct Tape Marketing.

Making Social Media a Tool, Not a Distraction

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:04:26 -0500

From Ben Parr:

It’s becoming clearer and clearer that social media can be an incredible tool for everything from enterprise research to customer service. And as many companies are finding out, social media can help improve your bottom line too.

However, there is a flip side, especially for employees sitting in front of computers at their desks or cubicles: it can also become a distraction. For some entrepreneurs, it’s tough to see how interrupting coding sessions with tweets or browsing the Facebook News Feed can be productive to business.

The reality of the situation though is that social media is just like any other tool: it can make a major impact in the right situations, and it can do harm as a time sink. Therefore, your goal should not be to discard social media, but to figure out how to make it a powerful tool, rather than a useless distraction.

Making a Plan, Setting Goals, and Executing

The key to making social media a useful tool is to have a specific plan and a goal for how you want to use it. Many small companies don't enter the social media realm with a plan, but instead expect tweets and YouTube videos to equate to more traffic and more sales. That just isn't how social media works.

Instead, understand your needs. Do you need more traffic to your website, or are you looking for more brand awareness? Do you want to prevent bad press before it happens, or are you more interested in creating a community that will generate good press? Always pick your goal first.

Once you have a goal, set a plan, just like you would for any other business objective. Make sure you set up metrics to measure success and implement tools that will help you measure ROI. That means tracking clicks with a tool like bit.ly or checking your Facebook Page's analytics every week.

Finally, just execute. Don't be afraid to reach out, make mistakes, and be vulnerable. Even if you make a mistake, customers will forgive you if you're transparent. Just ask Facebook, which has made many blunders, but has overcome them and continues to grow.

Tips for Avoiding Social Media as a Distraction

Social media doesn't have to be a distraction, but you should adhere to some rules to avoid it becoming a time sink:

-When you need to concentrate on an intensive task like coding or writing, close up the social media tabs and apps (and email if you can).

-Many times employees turn to social media when they're bored, so constantly give them work that challenges and inspires them.

-Have a clearly defined social media policy so employees aren't left wondering what's acceptable and what is not. Here are some tips on building a social media policy.

-Prioritize. Sometimes social media outreach has to take a backseat to more pressing needs. know when that occurs.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Madmaxer

Government Contracting Resources – An Overview

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:22:35 -0500

From American Express OPEN: For more information that can help guide your business in researching and securing government contracts, visit OPEN for Government Contracts.

Trying to apply for a government contract can be a daunting task. There are many requirements that need to be met from business size to socio-economic status. While the task may seem daunting, there are a multitude of resources available to small business owners mentioned during this panel discussion from our Teaming USA launch. The following is an overview of those resources.

PTAC’s – Procurement Technical Assistance Centers
PTAC’s are local offices administered directly by state governments or partners such as universities, community colleges, local economic development corporations or other local institutions. Each local PTAC office is tailored to the needs of the area and community it serves. Each PTAC is staffed with government contracting counselors who provide a wide range of services including individual counseling, seminars and access to a wide range of contract information such as bid opportunities, contract specifications and procurement histories.

Small Business Association
The SBA’s Office of Government Contracting provides resources for SBO’s as aids to help win government contracts as well as advocate on behalf of small businesses for federal procurement. Several resources the SBA offers small businesses that are attempting to be either prime or sub contractors include the Certificate of Competency, the Non-Manufacturer Rule Waiver, and the Size Determination programs. In addition, the office manages procurement programs for women and veterans as the as the Procurement Awards Program and the Annual Joint Industry/SBA Procurement Conference.

SCORE
SCORE’s mission is to “provides resources and expertise to maximize the success of existing and emerging small businesses.” SCORE is a non-profit organization geared towards educating entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses. SCORE has 364 chapters and 12,400 volunteers who provide free advice and counseling to millions of small businesses nationwide. SCORE provides its services online via workshops, mentoring, articles and business templates. SCORE also provides face-to-face counseling at any of its 364 locations.

How to Be More Resilient: Try Recharging

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:48:09 -0500

From Marcy Shinder:

Nell Merlino is the Founder, President and CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, a national not-for-profit that provides resources to help women grow their businesses into million-dollar enterprises. She was also the creative force behind Take Our Daughters to Work Day, the founder and President of Strategy Communication Action, Ltd. (SCA), and the author of Stepping Out of Line: Lessons for Women Who Want It Their Way in Life, in Love, and at Work. And she is probably the last person I’d expect to say that what’s helped her be more resilient in this economy is taking more time off.

“This past year, for the first time, I took two vacations – one week off in the beginning and one at the end of summer, and it helped to take the pressure off,” she told me. “It also helped me to refocus. I tell the business owners we work with that you need to keep your eye on your strategic vision and your health. We tend to let both go during difficult times. So it’s good to take some time off to refocus and relax.”

Through Count Me In, Nell leads a global movement to help empower women entrepreneurs to help grow their businesses. Count Me In’s Make Mine a Million $ Business program reaches women entrepreneurs around the country with a goal to inspire one million women entrepreneurs to reach annual revenues of $1 million in the next decade.

When I asked how these business owners are faring, she said, “I think more people are realizing that hunkering down is not the right way to go. You have to be out there growing your business. And, I’ve seen a lot of people who are going to have a better year than they’ve expected.”

Nell said that for her own organization, “Things are starting to look better. May and June were tough, so we took on both a strategic growth consultant and a business coach to help us deal with growth issues. Some people think this is the opposite of what to do, but this makes sure you have the energy and confidence to keep moving forward. You have to be ready to seize opportunities.”

They changed staffing roles to respond to what clients needed, and during a lapse in live event attendance, they turned their focus to online events and social media. “The limitations, though, are that people are less likely to discuss their fears online where anyone can read it. So we were excited by the turn-out we saw at an event in Florida last month. We went from very low attendance to now seeing numbers much closer to normal. It’s really encouraging.”

Nell had invited the attendees to share “What keeps you up at night?” and found that many questioned whether or not they should close their businesses, or how what’s going on with larger corporations will trickle down. “What we see in the media can be very confusing. There’s this notion that there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way, but the same answer simply does not apply to every company.”

What she advises business owners is to:

Go back to basics: “Remember why you’re in business, why you started – what problem did you set out to solve? Is there a way to do it better?”
Stay in touch with your customers. “Is there a way you can help them more?”
Learn more about collections. “Learn how to deal with your customers on this. Have the collections conversation early on so you’re less likely to be in a bad situation.”

And, take a vacation. “You have to recognize that there are limits to what you can do to control what’s going on around you. You should recharge, relax and refocus. Take a break; spend time with your family. It can help your business and set an example for your customers and employees. We need to remember that life drives the economy; not the other way around.”

You can learn more about Count Me In and Make Mine a Million $ Business at www.makemineamillion.org, and you can find Nell Merlino on Twitter @nellmerlino.

If you have a story on what has helped your company in this economic environment, please e-mail me at marcy@openforum.com or follow me on Twitter @marcyshinder.

For additional opportunities that can help you grow your business, I invite you to visit OPEN’s new Web resource for practical information on government contracting: OPEN For Government Contracts.

Photo credit: Linda Russell

How to Save Money on Shipping Costs

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:33:52 -0500

From Anne Field:

While the price of oil isn’t at the wallet- busting levels it reached more than a year ago, fuel prices are still pretty high. And the hikes in the price of first-class, Priority and Express Mail, along with increases at FedEx and United Parcel Service, all add up to one thing: The costs of shipping your product, ordering supplies and sending out mail can add a bundle to your expenses.

But there are a great many ways to slash your shipping costs - some obvious, others less so. “Small businesses are trying to squeeze every dime from everything they can,“ says Paul Rauseo, managing director of George S. May International, a small business management consulting firm in Park Ridge, Ill . “And shipping is one area where you can find a lot of efficiencies you might not think about in a better economy.“

Try these strategies:

Go online. Rule of thumb: Use the web anytime you can. “Small business owners should be emailing invoices instead of sending them out at 45 cents a pop,” says Rauseo. “Yet across America I see stacks of envelopes with costly stamps on them.” Send everything from rfps to architectural designs. For invoices, consider such online services as Billing Manager, with which you have access to unlimited invoicing for $4.99 a month and up, and Freshbooks, which charges $14 a month to send invoices to 25 or fewer clients.

If appropriate, you can also encourage customers to download your product, instead of having it shipped. Tim Berry, president and founder of Palo Alto Software, a 40-employee company in Eugene, Or., recently started taking steps to promote downloading of his programs from the company web site. He calls it the “Eco Friendly Option” and notes that customers can both save money and do something good for the planet. Also, the company’s sales team mentions the benefits of downloading to anyone who buys the product over the phone and in an online chat service. Combined with other measures, the company has reduced shipping costs from $260,000 in 2008 to $175,000 this year.

For those mass mailings you want to send via snail mail, you can save money by buying postage online. For example, through such companies as Pitney Bowes and Stamps.com, Express Mail users get a 3% price reduction; Priority Mail customers save 3.5%. The approach is most cost-efficient if you regularly send out big mailings, since these services generally charge a monthly fee.

Use fulfillment services. If you have customers around the world but lack a distribution partner, these services, such as Shipwire and eFulfillment, can be lifesavers, by providing you with a place to store your products in a location near your customers. You’ll save on many international shipping and customs brokerage fees.

You can also try other approaches. Take John Olson, CEO of 13-employee Graystone Industries, a Cleveland, Ga., distributor and retailer of pond and fountain supplies. Four years ago, after Hurricane Wilma destroyed the company’s Florida warehouse, he decided to outsource fulfillment to another company. But, when he couldn’t find a provider with the terms and service he wanted, he took a different tack: He signed an agreement with a company in North Carolina to ship his products, also giving it the right to open a retail store at that facility and buy items wholesale. According to Olson, the discounted rates he receives, along with other factors, have helped him reduce shipping expenses. Also, because he doesn’t take care of fulfillment anymore, his company can concentrate more on customer service.

Check out your trade association. A growing number of associations are offering their members shipping discounts. For example, recently the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association started giving members enrolled in their program a 10% to 20% discount on packages sent via FedEx Ground. The Environmental Industry Associations offers members discounts of up to 70% on UPS LTL (less than truckload) shipments within the United States and between the U.S. and Canada. And, through the National Association of Manufacturers, members receive a variety of lower rates, including a 45% discount for UPS air freight services.

Pay with credit cards. For example, if you use business rewards cards you might receive a discount on shipping, in addition to frequent flier miles or cash back. “We recommend using plastic to get the most out of whatever rewards programs your card offers,” says Rauseo.

Look for cheaper services from your regular shippers. That’s particularly useful if you can get by with slower delivery times. Consider Michael Epstein. The CEO of eDimensional, a 10- employee, Jupiter, Fla., manufacturer and distributor of gaming and computer accessories, recently started using a service called Smartpost from FedEx, While it takes two to three days longer than FedEx ground delivery, according to Epstein, the cost is also around $2 less per package. “The vast majority of the time, customers are perfectly fine with the cheaper option,” says Epstein.

Try smaller boxes. Shipping costs are generally calculated by the dimensional weight of packaging. For that reason, eDimensional now uses the smallest and least expensive boxes it can. It also recently incorporated a feature into its web site allowing the company to calculate the optimal size for each order. As a result, the larger number of box sizes doesn’t slow down shipping operations.

5 Steps to Turning a Service Into a Product - So You Can Sell Your Business

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:46:15 -0500

From Anita Campbell:

If you run a service business and have plans to sell your business someday and cash out, you may be in for a rude shock. The value you thought you were building in your business may not be there.

Why not? A number of reasons. Here are a few:

First, buyers may view you as being too personally tied to the business. They worry that the business is too highly dependent on your personal relationships -- that when you leave, your clients eventually will leave, too.

Second, in a service business it is not uncommon to rely heavily on one large client – and that’s risky. John Warrillow writes on his blog:

When you go to sell your company, an acquirer is going to try and understand how predictable your revenue stream is. One swing factor will be how exposed you are to any one client. If you rely on one customer for 25% + of your revenue, an acquirer is going to take a steep discount on your market price at best, or walk away at worst. Your goal should be to ensure none of your clients make up more than 5% – 10% of your revenue. That way the impact of losing any one customer is minimized.

Third, service businesses often have trouble scaling to grow. You’re constrained by the number of billable hours in a day, month or year. It’s difficult to ramp up growth without adding people – and that can get expensive. Plus, services involve so many intangible factors, and require such a wide range of skills, that finding qualified staff can be tough. You may end up going through lots of trial and error hires (mostly error).

Of course, if you have no plans of ever selling your business, this whole discussion is moot for you.

But -- if you dream of cashing out someday to fund your retirement, or achieve financial independence, or just try something new – listen up. Start working now to transform your business by “productizing” your services. To productize a service means to turn your services into product offerings. In other words, you position your services to resemble products as much as possible. That will build value that an acquirer might be willing to pay for.

Here are 5 steps to turn services into products:

1. Identify something you can replicate repeatedly – The idea behind a product is that you want to be able to get paid for selling a “thing” and not selling your time. Also, you want to sell the “same” thing over and over if you are to achieve operational efficiencies and decent profits. Look around at what you do. Chances are, if you’ve been in business for a while, you have developed a process you follow closely for at least one service. You may not even realize you have a distinct process until you set out to identify it – but you have something. If that something is in reasonable demand, you have the start of a “product.”

2. Document it – Turn your process into a manufacturing-like assembly line. Break it down into steps that can be performed over and over, by people you can train for the job. Document those steps in detail so that you can calculate the costs involved, and so that your knowledge is transferable.

3. Put limits around your offering – Many services are “squishy” and open ended. For a product you need the opposite -- an offering that is well-defined. Set limits to your offering: time limitations; the deliverables included; a flat fee price; a name you can refer to your product by.

About Small Business Canada notes:

“You give it a defined scope, fit it into a limited time period, assign it a definite price tag, and attach a distinctive name. Let's say you are an image consultant, and you've been selling your time for $75 per hour. Instead, you offer a ‘One-Day Makeover’ at a price of $495, and include a wardrobe assessment, color consultation, and shopping trip.”

4. Incorporate technology – A technology component for processing sales or delivering your service further establishes the impression that it is a product. For example, look at how companies such as LegalZoom have put a website front-end on what are still basically services – cementing the perception of a product offering. The website streamlines and automates functions to a large degree, too, with the potential to drive out costs. But the key is that with the help of technology, it looks like a tangible thing, and so customers perceive it as a product.

5. Build an organization – Even if it’s just you today, over time you will need to involve others in producing, selling and distributing your product. No one wants to buy a business that is a one-man or one-woman show – they want to buy a company. Besides, it can’t be just YOU because YOU are not scalable. Add “labor” to “manufacture” your product, sales reps to sell it, and management to run daily operations. Build a team that is skilled and knowledgeable, and able to operate without your daily intervention.

Follow these five steps and you may just have something that grows bigger than you ever imagined – and one day you can sell.

3 Creative Ways SMBs Can Use Social Media for Holiday Discounts

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:47:14 -0500

From Jennifer Van Grove:

Every year consumers turn to the web to scour for the best holiday shopping deals. Black Friday has practically become a holiday of its own, with retailers jumping on the bandwagon earlier than ever to satisfy deal-hungry consumers.

This holiday season you have an opportunity to leverage social media channels for trackable giveaways and discounts that can not only boost your holiday sales but improve your social media presence.

1. Direct Message Discounts

If you're looking for fun and innovative ways to drum up your follower count on Twitter, or create more engagement between you and your customers, consider offering direct message-only holiday discounts.

Here's how this could work. Come up with a holiday deal that is significantly better than any of your existing promotions and make sure to share it with your entire team. Then use your social media channels to send out shareable clues about the promotion. You could tweet something like, "exclusive holiday Twitter deals on X,Y,Z, DM us for details."

For this type of promotion to work, it's all about the details. First, make sure you follow new followers back so that they can send you a direct message. Also, determine whether or not you want this to stay underground, or whether you're open to having the deal spread online. The benefit of the former approach is that select customers feel privileged, but the downside is that you'll need to generate a new discount/offer code or "password" for each person.

On the flip side, if you have one password/coupon/discount code, then anyone can get it via direct message and share it with their friends, which means you could get more mileage and buzz, but fewer followers. Figure out what your goal is and go with it, full steam ahead.

You might even get more mileage out of the deal if you offer a double deal (double whatever the original deal was) when you hit X amount of followers before a certain date. That could give deal-seeking customers the incentive to promote you in the hopes of saving even more.

2. Facebook Freebies

We're seeing more and more brands use their Facebook Fan Pages for fan-only deals, discounts, and coupons, and there's no reason why you can't use the holiday season to do the same for your small business.

This works for both online and offline retailers, but should you have a physical store, using your Facebook Fan Page to create a holiday coupon for an extra X% off already discounted merchandise would be an instant way to gain more fans and please holiday shoppers on the hunt for a bargain.

Since Facebook is so ubiquitous, if you go this route, make sure to inform your team members to tell customers about the deal while they're shopping. You can even teach employees how to show customers how to become your fan on Facebook from their mobile phones, thereby making them eligible for the extra savings instantly as well as getting a new fan on the spot.

3. Social Media Sharing

Whatever your sales goals are this holiday season, chances are you want to sell more of your products and services, but usually it's your customers and super fans who do all the real selling for you. Here's where social media can help.

Use your email newsletter, Twitter account, Facebook Fan Page, and website to encourage your customers to share what they love most about your small business online. Encourage them to upload a photo, create a video, or pen a blog post about the products or services they love most. Also make sure to instruct them to tag the content with a predetermined tag. You can make the incentive whatever you want it to be, but offering each participant an X% discount off existing sale prices would be well received.

This approach works best if you make the announcement on your own blog and request that participants include a link to their shared media in the comments section of the post. Also, remember that due to new FTC guidelines, you should encourage participants to disclose the deal or discount.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, YinYang

Begin Your Economic Recovery. Lower Your Prices Now!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:04:01 -0500

From Susan L. Reid:

What?

Is she nuts?

For those of you who have been reading the articles I've written during our current economic recession, you indeed may be wondering if I've lost my marbles. After all, throughout the recession, I've been telling you not to lower prices on your products and services.

Why the change in tune?

Because, during a recession, it's better to keep your prices consistent rather than lower them and appear as if you are chasing the buck. However, during a recovery (which we are now in), you do want to lower your prices as money starts flowing and people ease into spending again. As consumer confidence grows, so should your business. And what better way to attract new customers than by offering them a smoking economic recovery deal by lowering your prices temporarily?

Standing on the Cusp of Recovery

Today, we stand on the threshold of economic recovery. According to the September 16th issue of The Wall Street Journal, "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the recession was 'very likely over,' as consumers showed some of the first tangible signs of spending again." As small business owners, it's now time to move out from under the cloud of fear and stand beside the banner of recovery.

Do you remember the 1983 film Mr. Mom, starring Teri Garr and Michael Keaton? In the film, Jack (Keaton) and Caroline (Garr) are married with three kids and living in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, during the 1980s recession. As the movie opens, Jack has just lost his job in the auto industry and Caroline has been hired by an ad agency, forcing Jack to trade roles and become a stay-at-home Mr. Mom.

In the movie, Schooner Tuna has hired the ad agency Caroline works for to help them with their image and sales slump. To do so, Caroline comes up with the unique idea of temporarily lowering the price of Schooner Tuna until after the economic crisis is over. In the movie, you see Howard Humphrey, President of Schooner Tuna, telling the American public:

"All of us here at Schooner Tuna sympathize with all of you hit so hard by these trying economic times. In order to help you, we are reducing the price of Schooner Tuna by 50 cents a can. When this crisis is over, we will go back to our regular prices. Until then, remember, we’re all in this together. Schooner Tuna. The tuna with a heart."

How to Lower Your Prices with Dignity and Strength:

Create an esprit de corps.

Don't set yourself apart from your target market. Find a way to connect with them emotionally and show them you are all in the same boat.

Example: We've all been through a lot during this recession and have gone through some tough times.

Make sure you use strong wording when lowering your prices.
Don't be namby-pamby. Let folks know exactly what you are doing in bold, strong language.

Example: We're slashing the price of our services in half!

Be entirely transparent and upfront about why you are lowing your prices.
Don't let there be a whiff of anything slightly off about your offer. Let people know exactly why you are lowering prices.

Example: We know that many of you have wanted to use our services but found our prices were out of your budget.

Be entirely clear in your call to action.
Don't apologize for asking them to take action. Tell them exactly what you want them to do and why.

Example: Check us out again! We've dramatically lowered the price on most of our products.

Tell folks when you will be going back to your regular prices.
Don't waffle around about when you will return to regular pricing. Tell them what you'll be doing and when.

Example: In six months, when the economic crisis is over, we'll go back to our regular prices.

Today, you are standing on the launch pad of success. The recession is over. The pendulum has just started its swing toward economic recovery. That means that things are about to take off for you as a small business owner and for the world as a whole. Now is the time to lower your prices—not six months from now. The moves you make while on the cusp of recovery will determine where you'll be standing one year from today when our economy is stronger and job security higher.

* * * * *

About the Author: Dr. Susan L. Reid is a business coach and consultant for entrepreneurial women starting businesses. She is the award-winning author of “Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Journey to Business Success,” and has a free chapter PDF of her most popular chapter: “Doing What You Love: Multiple Streams of Passion” for those who want see how persistence, patience and practice can really pay off.

Cardmember Profile: Bonnie Marcus Collection

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:22:48 -0500

From OPEN Forum Connectodex:

Bonnie Marcus is the President of the Bonnie Marcus Collection – a stationary company in Westport, Connecticut with a unique story.

The Bonnie Marcus Collection “where fashion meets paper” was founded in 2002 by Bonnie Marcus, a Special Event Planner at the prestigious 92nd Street Y in New York. Bonnie had worked with many individual clients and brides on invitations for their special events and always found that something was lacking in the invitation market. While her clients were usually fashion-forward, most of what was available at retail at the time was very traditional, and she commonly custom-designed invitations for her clients. Bonnie’s strong background in fashion, having worked with Diane Von Furstenberg and Liz Claiborne, helped her to instill her passion for fashion in each custom order.

In 2002, while pregnant with her first child, instead of putting her feet up and relaxing, Bonnie ambitiously launched her stylish stationery company, the Bonnie Marcus Collection “where fashion meets paper” from her kitchen table in Westport, Connecticut.

The company was an instant success, with features in “O” The Oprah Magazine, New York Magazine as a “Best Bet”, and Daily Candy shortly after the launch.

Today, 3 children, 1000 retailers, and over 500 designs later, the fresh designs from the Bonnie Marcus Collection can be found world-wide in upscale retailers including Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue and Harrods of London.

Launch profile for Bonnie Marcus Collection in the Connectodex.

Expert Advice for Winning Government Contracts

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

From OPEN Book: Government Contracts:

For more information that can help guide your business in researching and securing government contracts, visit OPEN for Government Contracts.

The secret of making government contracts a key part of your business is gaining a thorough understanding of their specific demands. While the art of building a relationship with a government agency is essentially the same as with any other client, you must conduct your operations in a certain way to maximize your chance of winning the contracts, of fulfilling them to the satisfaction of the agency, then of consistently having them renewed.

In this sector, perhaps more than any other, you must be able to draw on deep reserves of perseverance and patience to deal with the circumstances that arise from working in such an accountable domain. Above all, the following five areas need particular attention when it comes to meeting the unique demands of the government market:

Know the Rules

To succeed in contracting, it helps to be intimate with the rules and regulations that govern the process. Otherwise, you may be at risk of doing something illegal that can put a contract in jeopardy. These rules are published in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, aka “the FAR ,” the bible of federal contracting.

When you meet with agency purchasing officers, you may find them referring to the FAR , particularly in terms of what they’re able and not able to do. The must-read sections are Part 19 (Small Business Programs) and Part 52, which details the standard terms and conditions of government contracts. Click here to view the FAR online.

Build Personal Relationships

The networking skills that benefit a business in the commercial world can be used in the government sector as well. Cultivate relationships with procurement officers to learn about bid opportunities and familiarize them with your skills. Get to know the client, so that you are fully aware of their needs. Take advantage of government outreach events, such as agency procurement fairs, contractor matchmaking sessions and conferences to cement relationships with buyers and suppliers. Finally, by attending sessions where your contracting contacts may be speaking, you can find out some more about them.

Promote Yourself

The government market is competitive, and to grow your business you will need to develop a solid marketing campaign that helps procurement officials understand the benefits of working with your company. Past contracting success can lead to future contracts, so leverage your accomplishments in your marketing efforts, using case studies that show how you solved an agency’s problem. Testimonials and referrals from successful government projects can also be invaluable. One caveat, however: Always get permission from the agency first – you need to make sure that your marketing collateral does not disclose any part of a contract that could be deemed sensitive.

Talk the Talk

Communication breakdowns are one of the most common obstacles that come between aspiring or inexperienced contractors and federal buyers. Contractors do not always understand what they’re being told by government purchasers, or they’re unable to read the purchasers’ messages as to whether or not their performance is considered satisfactory. The problem lies in the fact that governmental organizations often use language that can seem opaque to the uninitiated – so it’s not your fault if you don’t understand everything at first. But you have to get used to it, so learn government speak by attending as many information sessions as you can and perhaps even getting help from a contracting consultant.

Keep Your House in Order

The quality of your documentation can be the difference between keeping and losing government contracts. Develop a rock-solid paper trail by maintaining accurate records related to all facets of your contracts, such as important transactions and meetings – you may need to refer to such information during project debriefings. Above all ensure you have a Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) plan in place. Consider also using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to keep track of key factors such as bid status, award data and profiles of decision makers.

Download the full PDF.

Number Crunching 2.0

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:50:25 -0500

From Michelle V. Rafter:

If you’ve been waiting to ditch your desktop accounting software for a Web-based application, Microsoft may have given you a good reason to do it sooner rather than later.

The software giant disclosed last week that after November 16 it will stop selling its Microsoft Office Accountant software line, including both desktop and online versions – thus ending its long battle to compete effectively with Intuit’s QuickBooks programs.

For soon-to-be-former Office Accountant users, or anyone who’s in the market for a new way to send invoices, track expenses and create profit and loss reports, a Web-based app may be the way to go.

The past few years has seen an influx of Web-based accounting and bookkeeping apps from established players -including Intuit, which sells a Web-based version of QuickBooks called Quickbooks Online. They’ve been joined by online-only start ups such as Clarity Accounting, Less Accounting and Numia.biz, and open source or shareware programs such as GnuCash and LedgerSMB.

On the plus side, Web-based programs live “in the cloud,” meaning program and data files live on a server connected to the Internet and can be accessed through a browser from a PC or smartphone anywhere there’s an Internet connection. Most are subscription-based, with users paying either a flat annual fee or monthly subscription.

Some desktop software fans remain unswayed by the online innovation. Kathleen Schneibel, a Minneapolis CPA who providing accounting services for small businesses, says she’s not comfortable putting that much of her clients’ financial information on someone else’s servers. Schneibel, who worked as a company controller before hanging out a shingle three years ago, says if someone wants 24/7 access to financial records, why not just keep the program on a laptop? “And if you’re paying someone each month you’ll end up paying way more than if you just bought it yourself,” she says.

But Jeff Nicol, a contract chief privacy officer in Hood River, Oregon, affirmed his belief that Web-based is the way to go after using both types of programs over the past year. Nicol has used QuickBooks Online for his own business, Privacy Ready LLC, for some years. He likes the convenience of being able to share information with his accountant without needing to burn the files onto a CD. “It makes it really easy to interface with her when it’s tax time,” Nicol says. What’s more, upgrades happen without him having to do anything, and he doesn’t have to worry about backing up his computer to protect data from being lost. “You just turn it on and it’s there,” he says.

Then Nicol took over as secretary and treasurer of a Hood River-based non-profit business group, the Columbia River Gorge Technology Alliance, and assumed the responsibility for their financial records, which had been created on QuickBooks’ desktop version. That meant Nicol had to buy the software, install it on his computer, import and set up the files.

For general peace of mind, he subscribed to an online back-up service to run regular saves on the data. “It’s definitely more work for me,” he says. Sharing information is harder too, since he has to email it to fellow board members rather than letting them to look at it online. Says Nicol: “If I were on vacation or got hit by a truck, I’d be a bottleneck, not because I want to be, but by the nature of having the software sitting on my machine.”

Meanwhile, if you’re currently a Microsoft Accountant customers, a FAQ posted on the Microsoft website suggests that free Excel templates packaged with Microsoft Office are “a better option” for small businesses. Microsoft will stop supporting add-on services for the program from eBay and Equifax on Dec. 15, but will continue offering users phone help for five years, though exactly how long depends on what version of the software they use and how long ago they bought it. Anyone who bought the program within in the past 30 days can get a refund.

Photo Credit: itsjere

Six Alternatives to a Bank Loan

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:16 -0500

From Anne Field:

In the current environment of tight credit, even successful small businesses are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to get a bank loan. CIT’s recent bankruptcy filing only spells more trouble for companies looking for financing—and underscores the need to look for alternative sources of capital. Here are six possibilities to consider:

Peer-to-peer lending. Online sites such as Prosper.com and LendingClub.com match small business owners seeking money with potential lenders. In general, businesses will post a profile with background information and what they need the money for. Potential lenders then scour the profiles for possible investments. And the site handles such back-end functions as disbursement and recordkeeping, charging a percentage of the loan or a flat fee.

In 2008, several sites shut down while they waited for permission from the Securities and Exchange Commission to register their loans as securities. Now, most have received approval and opened for business again. As a result, the industry could grow from about $500 million in annual loans to more than $100 billion in 2012, according to Forrester Research, a market research firm in Cambridge, Mass.

Micro-lending. These mostly non-profit organizations provide loans of up to $150,000 to small businesses. Generally, the groups are community development corporations, which are partially sponsored by the Small Business Administration. Probably the best known is ACCION, but there are many others across the U.S.

The good part is their flexibility. Micro-lenders usually look for a good credit score, industry experience and collateral. But, “that can even be a television or a car,” says Jim Olp, senior business consultant at the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center. “They’ve been the major source of all the loans we’ve gotten for our clients this year.”

Factoring. Otherwise known as receivables financing, a factor advances businesses 70% to 90% of the value of their receivables and then assumes responsibility for collecting the money. While CIT has been a big player in this arena, there are others, like Wells Fargo, that also do factoring. (For more about factoring, check out Anita Campbell's story here).

But there are definite plusses and minuses to this approach. For example, factors get a fee and it can be steep, anywhere from 3% to 15% of the invoice. And, if the customer doesn't pay, "The small business eats it," says Olp. On the other hand, you can often get your money in just 24 to 48 hours.

Take Yesenia Loya. Earlier this year, Loya, vice president and co-founder of Loya Construction, a 10-employee, Denver-based construction company, was turned down by four banks for a loan. So, she found a factoring company that paid her $20,0000 for a 3% fee; she got it in about two days. She’s using the money for payroll and operations.

Purchase order/merchant cash advance financing. With this tack, companies advance cash before a sale has happened, generally for a signed purchase order for goods or services. Or they provide cash upfront in exchange for collecting part of a merchant’s future credit-card receivables.

As with factoring, “The financing depends on the customer’s, not the small business owner’s. credit, so your credit rating doesn’t matter,” says Olp. But, also like factoring, cash-advance companies get a steep percentage of the purchase order.

Credit and charge cards. They’re the first source of funding for many small businesses. It’s an easy way to fund operations, of course, as long as you pay off the balance in 30 days. While many companies have been tightening the amount of credit they allow, successful businesses can still negotiate expanded lines, according to Ken Gaebler. A small-business consultant in Chicago, he also runs Walter Sands, a 15-employee marketing company. Recently, Gaebler was able to extend his line of credit to $30,000 from $20,000. “It took about two seconds,” he says.

In addition, Gaebler notes other benefits, as well. For example, most credit card companies give business owners checks that can be used as cash equivalents, so long as they don’t go over their credit limit. “If, for example, you’re short on cash, you can write one of these checks out to your business and make your payroll,” says Gaebler. And some charge cards, like the American Express Plum, will let you defer payment for limited periods of time.

Supplier credit. This involves negotiates payment terms that, in effect, provide you with more money. An approach long used by small businesses, it’s on the increase, according to Joe Abraham, a small-business consultant in Hoffman Estates, Ill., who says he’s seen a significant increase in activity among his clients since about March.

Abraham points to a 21-employee nutritional supplements company in Houston that recently asked a supplier to renegotiate their 90-day payment terms. The supplier agreed to what amounted to a $1 million line of credit to buy any product needed, with a minimum monthly payment for 48 months.

But be forewarned: To negotiate such terms, you usually need long-standing relationships with a supplier. “Trust is critical,” says Abraham.

Will Cory Doctorow Save the Book?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:11:56 -0500

From Elizabeth Walker:

I’ll always remember a lunch meeting several years ago with a colleague who was the media maven for several major international music brands (and a great contributor to my home CD collection.) She said, “Well, I won’t have a job in six months, because we won’t have an industry.”

CD sales were tanking – about 20 million fewer buyers from 2006 to 2008. Aha! said music companies. People are downloading singles versus albums, so they’ll buy more as the price comes down, right? Wrong. Per capita spending is down about 10 percent since 2007, and free music site use is up. Now the model is more like a magazine – targeted content supported by ads. Converting free listeners into paying customers is an uphill battle. (Source: Digital Music Forum West, Oct. 7 2009)

One bright note is the rise of firms specializing in helping artists create a strong relationship with fans, using social media and other on-line tools. Sites like are helping new artists grow a fan base independently of a label.

Which brings me to books. If you are a sci-fi fan, you know that Cory Doctorow is a blogger, best-selling author and on-line maven at his own site and BoingBoing . He’s also on a rant called, “Media-Morphosis: How the Internet Will Devour, Transform, or Destroy Your Favourite Medium.” He talks about “delaminating” the publishing industry, separating printing, distribution, sales, marketing, PR and retailing into component bits and allowing each bit to be independently managed.

He’s just written a new book called “Makers” and he’s selling it as a free, Creative Commons download, a deluxe hand-bound limited edition and a $15 paper copy from Lulu.

Doctorow is emphatically not the author equivalent of a garage band; he’s earned a ton of dough from BoingBoing, and he’s got an in-depth understanding of the web’s ecology and the changing values and habits of users.

He’s also a passionate defender of readers and a champion of embedding a reading culture against what he calls the “farcical” licensing agreements now in place. For example, he’s said that the penalties in place for book sharing are like “redesigning tank mines to blow the legs of children.”

He’s someone we might want to pay attention to.

Elizabeth Walker is a partner in Marketing Masters and a Duct Tape Marketing Coach located near Toronto Ontario. Find more information online.

Image Credit: Aleksi Aaltonen

Looking Ahead to the 2009 Year-End Shopping Season

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:55:46 -0500

From Dawn Rivers Baker:

Now that Halloween is safely behind us and the government has been so good as to flirt with declaring the recession to be over, the rest of us can briefly turn our attention to the all-important year-end holiday shopping season.

You retailers have been preparing for it for weeks now, if you're smart.

The National Retail Federation is forecasting a one percent dip in this year's holiday retail receipts, with consumers spending, on average, 3.2% less this year than they did last year. In other words, the 2009 holiday retail pie will be smaller this year and everybody is figuring out how best to carve out a piece if it for their business.

The big story in retail this year, as it was last year, will be the economy. The government might be gleefully noting the 3.5% growth in the economy during the third quarter of this year but don't tell that to Joe and Jane Consumer. They are still nervous about continued job losses and making ends meet, and few of them will be ready to splash out on gift buying this year.

Under the circumstances, anything small business retailers can do to save people a bit of money will help both consumer and business owner.

As a general rule, these sorts of economic times are bad news for small businesses in retail because they are not often in a position to compete on price in this industry sector. On the other hand, if there are other ways in which those small retailers and e-tailers can add value without having to increase their prices, that will be the way to go.

Offer plenty of payment options, including layaway, to accommodate your customers' jittery nerves and reluctant spending. Roll out as many extra gift-giving services as are already in your arsenal and be willing to make up a few more. And make ‘customer service' your middle name; friendly, personalized service is where small businesses can really outshine the big boys. Make the most of your competitive advantage!

Having said all that, even if you can't necessarily compete on price, don't hold back on the sales and promotions this year. Everybody is still keyed to those monthly jobs numbers and, unless the labor market unexpectedly turns around within the next few weeks, everybody will be looking for a bargain.

That goes for the Main Street merchants, the multi-channel retailers and the Internet pure-plays, as well. For online merchants, free shipping remains at the top of the heap again this year, with offers including with conditions, without conditions and starting earlier than last year.

Online merchants anticipate making lots of use of social media as a low-cost marketing strategy this holiday season, adding or improving their Facebook pages (66%) or their Twitter accounts (59%) and beefing up their blogs and RSS feeds (66%).

In addition, according to a recent Shop.org survey of online merchants, many will be using available technologies to enhance the customer experience in order to stand out from the crowd. Respondents say they have revamped shopping carts (45%), on-site search (44%), suggested items (43%), customer ratings and reviews (40%), and featured sale pages (37%).

Smart merchants will work to match their site enhancements with what customers say they want and why they say they will shop online. For many customers, the reason is the simple convenience of the 24/7-shop-when-you-want Internet retail. Others find it easier to compare prices or even to find the item they're looking for. And, as has been found previously, online shoppers simply love that free shipping.

A lot of those site enhancements and holiday promotions are expected to work, too, as many are expecting online retail to be the lone bright spot in the holiday retail season. Forrester Research predicts that 2009 online holiday retail sales will increase by 8% over 2008 levels, although success is expected to vary depending on retailer type, size and product mix.

For small retail businesses, online and off, the key for a successful holiday season will be a combination of smart inventory management, smart operational choices that enhance profitability, and top-notch customer service.

The good news for all you retailers out there is this: the 2009 holidays shopping season is certainly expected to be better than last year. How much better will depend, in part, on how well you can anticipate what appeals to your customers and give them what they want.

* * * * *

About the Author: Dawn Rivers Baker, an award-winning small business journalist, regularly reports and analyzes small business policy and research as the Publisher of the MicroEnterprise Journal, where the nation’s business meets microbusiness. She also publishes the Journal Blog.

Women Entrepreneurs: Fight the Urge to "Do It All"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:38:48 -0500

From J. K. Glei:

In a recent 99% session with an all-female group of entrepreneurs, we were discussing the challenges faced by very small business owners, and particularly those in the creative sector. Many of the women in attendance were the sole proprietor and employee of their business.

During the workshop, the question arose as to what issues, specifically, female entrepreneurs struggled with the most. As 50% of the workforce is now female (though not yet 50% of the entrepreneurial workforce), it’s a question that increasingly demands attention. So what’s the most common problem of women in small business? From an anecdotal survey I took for this post, the universal reply was: women feel that they must be able to “do it all.”

As Adelaide Lancaster, co-founder of In Good Company, an all-women co-working space in New York says, “Since the vast majority of women business owners run companies that do not have employees and do not take on startup capital, they must be very comfortable juggling multiple roles and wearing the various hats that it takes to do business. While this stretch is often necessary in the beginning there is a risk getting too comfortable with the idea that you should be able to ‘do it all.’ Not only will you get burned out by spending too much time on tasks you don’t like, there is also an opportunity cost associated with spreading yourself too thin.”

Of course, feeling the need to be a jack or jane of all trades is a common affliction among all entrepreneurs – it comes with the territory. But it may be magnified for women because of the additional demands of family as well as a heightened sensitivity to gender bias, or the fear of being seen as weak. “I've often seen women being afraid of asking for help because there's this sense that we need to be able to handle it all – or else we'll be seen as incapable of handling anything,” says Rachel Brune, a project manager and defacto den mother at Adaptive Path, a strategic design firm in San Francisco.

So, how then to shift this ingrained impetus toward hoarding responsibility? It starts with building a trusted support network. Rather than going it alone, Adelaide advises women not to underestimate the importance of relationship-building and to “talk with everyone they can to exchange ideas, news, information, best practices, clients, resources, feedback, etc.”

How do you balance the multi-tasking required to run your own business and be a leader with the necessity of working within your core competencies? I’d love to hear more thoughts in the comments.

*** This article is based on the research and writing of J.K. Glei. She regularly collaborates with Scott Belsky and the Behance Team, who run the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.

What Twitter's New List Feature Means for SMBs

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:27:11 -0500

From Josh Catone:

Recently, Twitter rolled out a brand new feature called Twitter Lists. The feature allows you to group together other Twitter users into lists and keep track of them more easily. Twitter Lists have been a big hit with many users and thousands of them have been created, with the most popular gathering thousands or tens of thousands of followers. Here's how you, as a small business owner, can take advantage of Twitter Lists.

What Are Lists?

Essentially, Lists allow you to do three main things:

Better organize those you follow
Recommend people for others to follow
Keep an eye on users you're not following

With Twitter Lists, you can group together users -- including users you don't actually follow -- into lists that are either public (anyone can see them) or private (only you can see them). You can also follow other people's lists. When you follow a list, you don't follow every individual user on that list -- their tweets will not be added to your real-time stream. Instead, you follow that list as a whole and a link to the list's page is added to your main Twitter screen. Clicking on that link will load up the tweets of everyone on the list, meaning that you can keep up with their tweets by checking the list page any time you want to.

Mashable's guide, "HOW TO: Use Twitter Lists" provides an excellent and concise overview of how Twitter lists actually work and how you can use them.

3 Ways to Use Lists to Your Advantage

Keep track of competitors - When you add someone to a private Twitter List, that person won't ever be alerted that they're on that list and won't have any way to find out. That means you can keep track of your competitors without following them or without them knowing that you're keeping an eye on how they're using Twitter.

Recognize your peers - One of the key uses of Twitter Lists is to recommend other users to follow by creating lists about specific topics. Creating a list of peers in your industry has two major benefits. First, it makes it easier for you to organize and read the tweets of people in your industry that share good information, and second, topical Twitter Lists can be helpful for your customers. For example, if you own a photography studio, your customers might appreciate a list of great photographers on Twitter. Or, if you own a restaurant, your clientele might be keen to find out, via a Twitter List, where else you like to eat. By helping your customers find information they seek, you'll build trust that will translate into future sales.

Make employees easier to find - Twitter Lists can also be used as a way to group together all of your employees. The New York Times, for example, has a staff list allowing readers to follow their staff all in one go. Even though you may only have a couple of employees, your customers may enjoy being able to keep track of everyone who works for you in one place. Your customers will likely feel more personally connected to your business as a result and be more apt to do business with you in the future. But be aware of the type of content your employees put on Twitter before you recommend that your customers follow them.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mattjeacock

How to Generate Product Sales Without Inventory

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:11:44 -0500

From Julie Rains:

Having the right inventory at the right time in the right place at the right price is the mantra of large-scale retailers with deep pockets for forecasting systems, planning analysts, and inventory purchases. But, for the small- to medium-sized players, getting inventory right on a lower-volume scale in a local or regional market is tricky. Miscalculations of customer demand can be costly as tying up dollars in slow-moving inventory chokes cash flow.

Finding ways to generate sales without heavily investing in inventory, then, can be a tremendous benefit to positive cash flow and profitability. Eliminating or reducing inventory risk is certainly not a new idea but definitely one that could be pursued aggressively in credit-tight times.

Consider vendor programs that allow your company to expand its product offerings in either well-established merchandise categories or new categories that complement your current lines:

Grow sales with special-order items, such as custom products (e.g., kitchen cabinets cut to customer specifications) and SKUs at higher-than-usual price points (e.g., designer gowns) that you may not want to carry in stores or distribution sites on a routine basis.
Find vendors who handle drop shipments. Product lines that are especially suited for direct shipment to customers are oversized items (e.g., furniture) and products that require specialized storage, packaging, and handling (e.g., delicate glassware or freshly cut flowers).
Look at online programs that link your storefront with a vendor’s inventory. Omaha-based wireless communications company Offwire, for example, offers an online catalog that enables its retail partners to sell a myriad of accessories without bulking up inventory.

Do your homework before launching new sales initiatives:

Investigate programs with reputable vendors among your current list of suppliers as well as those in your industry with solid service records.
Make sure you understand vendor procedures for processing and fulfilling orders as well as policies relating to inventory availability, lead times, payments, and returns.
Create in-house policies and procedures for handling orders fulfilled with vendor inventory. Cover matters such as how to document customer requests and communicate specifications to vendors as well as when to collect payments from customers.
Place a test order to make sure that your processes yield results in sync with your expectations; then, work out any deficiencies in your (or your vendor’s) methods.

To generate sales on products that can build brand awareness but may not be part of your core merchandise categories, consider

offering apparel, gift, and home decor items embellished with your company’s logo by using print-on-demand vendors; and
creating, packaging, and delivering digital products, such as e-books, subscription newsletters, and webinars.

Choose product offerings aligned with your company’s mission. You and your staff can still provide expertise to customers by educating them on product offerings, benefits, and applications; making recommendations; defining and conveying specifications; resolving any problems and assuring customer satisfaction with purchases.

Small Business Grant Programs Worth a Look

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:27:29 -0500

From Polly Schneider Traylor: Grant funding is not what most entrepreneurs consider when they think of raising capital, but government and private-funded grants can at times be a lifeline for small businesses or a way to finance your expansion into promising new markets.

Despite the new money made available by the federal stimulus program, grant funding is not easy to nail down.

"Grants are extremely hard to win even with a great business model," remarks Christine Harmel, a principal at CleanTech PR, based in Austin. The competition is tough. Lead-times can be long. Even knowing when the right grant is available can be challenging.

But companies are getting money, and in certain industries funding opportunities are better than ever: healthcare, education, science, and environment are the top categories for federal grants currently based on the number of grants available, says Elaina Farnsworth, also a principal with CleanTech PR, who helps clients with grant-writing. In healthcare alone, 939 grants are currently up for grabs.

Recently, a client of Gregory Burkart, Detroit-based managing director of financial advisory and investment banking firm Duff & Phelps, received a $150 million grant from the US Department of Energy to support the development of lithium ion batter cells.

Here are a few tips on how to get started and how to maximize your success:

1. Determine your viability
Once you determine grants that you want to target (even a Google search can yield many opportunities if you can't afford to hire a consultant to advise you), you and your management team need to do the necessary research to determine how closely you will be able to match the requirements of the grant. Tasks include interviewing people within the company, talking with investors and partners, and doing research on the competition in your market, Farnsworth advises. If you've never applied for a grant before, this process could take up to a month.

It's also a good idea to make friends with the grant administrators, who will be happy to give you some feedback on your viability for their particular award. "Get to know your grant officer and their constraints, budget, and concerns with approving your grant," says Darrell Zahorsky, a small business consultant and expert with About.com.

2. have a watertight business plan
While that may seem obvious, companies don't often update these documents and sometimes never have a good one from the beginning. "Pay very close attention to your financial plan," says Gregory Burkart. If you are dealing with the federal government, you have to address a number of audiences -the agency administering the grant, the Treasury Department, any financial institutions that will be your intermediary, credit agencies, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and more.

3. Commit the time and be patient.
"You'll need at least two weeks to prepare for an application but most of them take about a month," Farnsworth says. And then, if you get into the final selection, you may have to redo the paperwork again and then wait another two or three months to find out if you won, she adds.

4. Follow the requirements to the letter
Read the application carefully and make sure that you clearly understand exactly what technology/product/service/expertise the grant is seeking. "Don't come into the competition with something different than what they are asking for and make sure that your technology scales to what they need," Burkhart says. As a final check, Farnsworth typically e-mails the grant administrator to make sure that there have been no last-minute changes or additions to the grant application.

5. Find a partner
Applying for a grant with a partner, such as a nonprofit or university, can increase your chances of not only winning the award but getting more money, says Farnsworth. This is particularly important for government grants, since their focus is often on research. And some grants require that you partner with a non-commercial entity. Farnsworth says that she often will contact the business developer directors at universities to promote her clients as potential partnering candidates.

6. Consider outsourcing
Unless you have a lot of time on your hands and/or a grant expert on your staff, there's a considerable benefit from having someone else research, apply for, and manage the grant process on your behalf. Fees will range from upfront fees to contingency arrangements to commission percentages if you win an award. CleanTech PR typically charges anywhere from $1000 on up, depending on the complexity of the grant application.

Applying for grants is no trivial matter. It requires research, time, patience, and the possibilities of nothing in return-just like bidding on a new project or trying to win over a significant new customer. But even if you don't win, the process can be an excellent exercise in fine-tuning your strategy and messaging.

Should You Build a Facebook App...Or a Twitter App?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:57:49 -0500

From Ben Parr:

If you’re a business owner, you know that gaining exposure is a key to success. If you’re the creator of a great web product, you know that adding new and social functionality is essential.

Two of the hottest viral channels out there are Facebook and Twitter. Building an app on either platform can quickly spread your message across the web in ways never before possible. But many businesses don’t know whether it’s better to start with a Twitter app, a Facebook app, or if they should even build one at all.

Facebook apps and Twitter apps are different monsters, each with huge advantages for small businesses. But you have to understand how each works and what they can best accomplish first. Here’s a short overview of Facebook vs. Twitter apps:

Building a Facebook App: The Advantages

Facebook apps come in two primary shapes: either they live on the Facebook platform (Facebook.com) or they are web apps integrated with Facebook Connect, the social network’s tool for logging into external websites via Facebook.

Facebook Apps are huge for one big reason: Facebook has over 325 million users. It means that Facebook can generate huge exposure, especially when you can have the actions your users take on Facebook sent through their news feeds.

When considering an app for Facebook, think about whether your product will spread farther due to personal recommendations, because personal connections are how people discover new apps and products.

Twitter Apps: What They Can Do for Your Business

On the other hand, there are Twitter apps. You have more control and they can go viral faster due to Twitter’s public nature, although the user base is much smaller. They also tend to receive a lot of media attention and publicity, due to Twitter being the red-hot platform of the web.

When you’re focused on virality and trying to gain attention and buzz quickly, a Twitter app is the way to go. When you’re looking to give users an easy way to promote your product (especially something the user has created or done using your product), a Twitter app is the way to go.

In the End…

Twitter and Facebook apps are products designed to leverage each platform to make your app more social, more viral, and more useful. You have to first ask yourself whether your product will benefit from having integrated social elements. If so, then build an app, and start with the social network that better matches your goals with growth.

If you’re looking to build a loyal and close community, Facebook is more adept at that task. If you’re looking for a stronger and more viral promotional tool, Twitter is the best choice. In the end though, you should consider building for both platforms, because together you cover all of the bases.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, GeoPaul

Minding the Petty Cash Drawer?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:18:46 -0500

From Michelle V. Rafter:

Petty cash is anything but. Lack of strict controls over which employees have access to it, what it’s used for and how those expenses are recorded can get your small business into big trouble when it comes time to reconcile your books.

If you’re petty cash system needs an overhaul, here are some tips from CPAs, bookkeeping services and trade groups that work with small businesses:

* Do the math. As the name implies, petty cash is a small amount of money kept on hand for incidentals too minor to write a check for, or for occasions when whoever’s in charge of writing checks or using a credit card isn’t around. The exact amount depends on how much a company spends on deliveries, office supplies or other small purchases in a given week or month. Generally speaking, a business of a couple dozen employees shouldn’t need a petty cash fund of more than $50 or $100, says Kathleen Schneibel, a Minneapolis CPA and former company controller who now does accounting work for sole practitioners and other small businesses. Ken Lewellyn, owner of a Nashville, Tennessee, bookkeeping service for small businesses, says the purchasing department at a small manufacturing company he once owned kept $200 in petty cash because “they bought a lot of small items locally and needed cash” to pay.

* Safety first. Keep petty cash locked in the kind of metal strong box you can find online or at an office supply store. You may trust everyone in your office implicitly, but be careful anyway. Even honest people can be tempted by the prospect of cash that’s kept out in the open, or need to borrow a few dollars for a personal emergency then forget to give it back, Schneibel says. Nip temptation in the bud by keeping the petty cash box locked at all times. After hours stow it inside a locked supply cabinet or safe so it’s doubly secure.

* Two heads are better than one. To minimize risk, put two people in charge: one to mind the box and keep track of money going out and expense receipts coming in, and the other to replenish funds when they get low. At Schneibel’s old office, she put an accounts payable clerk in charge of petty cash disbursements and made someone else responsible for transferring funds from the company’s main bank account into petty cash when funds got low.

* Count on it. Reconcile petty cash funds on a regular basis – daily, weekly or monthly depending on how often you use it. At any given time, cash and receipts in the fund should equal the total you started out with. “Make a list of everything that was spent and give it to the boss to make sure it adds up,” Schneibel says. The reality is busy business owners don’t always do this, but they should, she says. “The fact that they’re looking keeps an honest person honest.”

* Use Excel. If whoever’s maintaining the petty cash box isn’t a computer person they can create a simple tally sheet on paper. But if they are, they can create a simple Excel or Microsoft Works spreadsheet to track cash in and cash out. Lewellyn, the Nashville bookkeeping service owner, says at the manufacturing company he formerly owned, the purchasing department logged expenditures into Excel until their entire $200 petty cash fund was gone, and then submitted the spreadsheets and receipts to collect another allotment.

* Retailers can treat petty cash differently. If you operate a retail store, you can use your cash register instead of a lock box for petty cash fund. “Have a button that records it and put receipts in a slot like you would checks,” Schneibel says.

One more thing: if you find your company paying small amounts out of petty cash week after week to the same places for the same items – shipping, printing, supplies, etc. – “That’s a whole other problem,” Schneider says. It probably means you’re overpaying for those services and should set those vendors up as regular suppliers to take advantage of any kind of volume discounts they offer.

Want more help? Here’s where to learn more about setting up a petty cash system:

Getting control of petty cash – Article on setting up a petty cash system from the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers’ Bookkeeping Tips newsletter.
Petty cash fund – Step-by-step instructions for setting up a petty cash fund from the Business Owner's Toolkit website.
Microsoft Excel petty cash template – Downloadable petty cash form that works with Excel 97 or later.

You Can Laugh at Your Unemployment Worries If You Follow These Guidelines

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:46:04 -0500

From Scott Ginsberg:

Action is the engine of credibility. Nobody cares what you believe. Or intend. Or say. Believing is overrated, intending is useless and talking is worthless. The word “credibility” comes from the Latin creditum, which means, “a loan, thing entrusted to another.” That’s interesting. Credibility is on loan. Which mean your stoppage in action will make the engine sputter. Which means it might take years to assemble, but only seconds to annihilate. What is your credibility-strengthening plan.
Attitude is the nucleus of achievement. Rabbit’s feet don’t work and they hurt the rabbit. Your attitude is your good luck charm. And it’s time to rub it. Now, while I’m not sure that “attitude is everything” – I do think it undergirds everything. It does alter efficacy. And as long as your attitude just a little healthier than it was yesterday, it’s is the asset that will earn you a fortune. So, here are my suggestions. First, take some time to appraise the current market value of your attitude. Ask: If you had to put a price tag on it, how much money would your attitude be worth? Second, take some time to evaluate the future market value of your attitude. Ask: What are the giants you need to slay to make your attitude what it needs to be? Finally, learn to detect dangerous attitudes in others quickly so you can distance yourself from their blast range. Ask: Whose mental shitstorm is negatively infiltrating your reality? Remember: Attitude is the soil in which success flourishes. What level of achievement will become possible when you realize that brainstuff determines bankstuff?
Conformity is the stop sign of genius. Screw the herd. Tell the status quo to go to hell. Give yourself permission to NOT need permission. And beware of the five most dangerous words in the world: “Yeah, but I can’t just…” Really? You can’t? Says who? Can you google that rule? Because if you can’t, it’s not a rule – it’s a self-imposed limitation that’s squelching the dream out of you. What could you do – in this moment – that would be the exact opposite of everyone else?
Consistency is the curriculum of greatness. Success isn’t a function of intelligence, networking, good looks or charm. You know what really counts? A calculator. Just kidding. In reality: Only consistency counts. Only the way you structure your day counts. And only the predictable pattern of valued-added behavior – as perceived by your customers – counts. How much money is your company losing because inconsistency runs rampant?
Discomfort is the oxygen of growth. Comfortable people rarely take action. Comfortable people rarely learn lessons. And comfortable people rarely stretch their souls. If you truly want to stimulate the greatest growth possible, you’ve GOT to stick yourself out there. There is a direction correlation between how uncomfortable you’re willing to make yourself and how exquisitely you make a name FOR yourself. How vulnerable are you willing to make yourself?

Word of Mouth Today

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:01:53 -0500

From Steve Strauss:

One of the advantages I have in writing a question and answer small business column for USA TODAY for the past dozen years is that I continuously hear from a lot of entrepreneurs – what is working, what is not, what is old and what is new. Of course, the ideas, question and advice has changed a bit since 1997. Back then “Should I have a website?” was a hot topic. This year of course, it is “Should I tweet?”

That last question was posed to me in a column that became rather famous, err, infamous, because when I answered it I was not yet convinced that tweeting was the best use of time for some small businesses. But what happened next was illustrative of the power of social media generally and Twitter specifically: The column went viral and attracted a lot of attention.

So that was a valuable lesson. Tweeting in particular can be an invaluable way to get attention and build relationships. But let me suggest that, while the new conventional wisdom is that social media is a powerful brand-building tool, that misses the mark a bit.

Here’s the real deal: Social media is the word of mouth advertising for the 21^st century.

It used to be that if someone liked your business they would tell a few friends and those friends would tell a few friends. But today, it is far more likely that someone happy with your business will

Blog about it
Post their experience on a forum
Write a review on Yelp or some similar site
Update their Facebook status with the news
Tweet about it

The result is that 10 people won’t hear the word of mouth about your business, 10 times that, nay, 100 times that will.

For the small business owner, this presents a game-shifting opportunity. The chance to convert positive word of mouth into a viral experience is something that has never happened ever before in the eons-long history of business save for about the last two years.

You simply must take advantage of this historical, transformative opportunity. Here is how:

1. Ask for it: I have a pal who wrote a book and has far more reader reviews for it on Amazon than any book of a similar type. When I asked him how that happened, he said “Whenever people e-mail me about the book, I ask them for a review, good or bad.” Now that is what I am talking about.

It’s so simple, it’s brilliant.

Ask your customers to go online and review your business. Give them some links – to your site, your blog, a forum, wherever, and make sure to give them an incentive – a discount coupon or something. The more you are reviewed, the more you will be reviewed.

2. Engage in the conversation: Set up some Google alerts for your business and respond to whatever is being said, wherever it is being said. Engage in Twitter discussions, LinkedIn requests, Facebook fan pages and the rest.

3. Most important, give them a reason to rave about you: You can have the most creative, thorough social media strategy in the world, but if you are not offering a superior product or service in the real world, if you are not somehow exceptional, you give no one a reason to say anything about you at all.

These days, aside from my great USA TODAY gig, I have been asked to join this exceptional community at OPEN Forum, so let me know what you think. You can email me at OPEN@MrAllBiz.com, visit me at MrAllBiz.com, and, you bet, follow me on Twitter @SteveStrauss.

The 5 Deadly Signs of Business Decay

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:27:05 -0500

From Laurel Delaney: While running your business this year, how many times have you been told, "It's not working"? Really. Think about it.

Here are a couple of specific examples: You created a whole new way to pitch clients but haven't landed one new piece of business. You launched a new line of shoes and no one is buying them. You developed a brilliant method of allowing everyone in the world who has access to the Internet to connect on a platform to change the world, and only eleven people signed up.

What should all this tell you? You don't need a $600/hour consultant or rocket scientist to raise their hands in the air and shout at the top of their lungs: Your business is in decay! Here are five signs that serve as early detectors of total business decay.

1. Focus on the past. We've always done it that way and it worked in the past. If you are constantly dwelling on the past instead of the future, your business is in decay. Let's face it, if your business model is not working now, it means your future is doomed.

2. The word 'new' has been eliminated from everyone's vocabulary. If you haven't launched one new "something" - project, product, service, technology or talent, for example - in well over a year (nowadays, with technology, it's more like every week!), you're in a downward spiral toward not just mediocrity but "Dullsville," and no one will pay attention to you, let alone buy from or consult with you. Experimentation or calculated risk-taking is essential, and if it dries up, so does the business.

3. People are tired. Especially you, and things are so dismal that the malaise has become contagious and spread to your outside world, too. Where once key influencers grabbed a quick bite, or returned a call or e-mail, they no longer respond to any of your overtures. Everybody is tired because business is flat or has run out of steam. There is also constant chatter that revenues are drying up and no one knows what to do about it.

4. The last straw breaks the business. Your star employee leaves for a competitor; your single biggest client takes its business elsewhere; your spouse gets hit by a car; a water pipe breaks in your central computer room. All of these unfortunate incidents can be handled, provided they occur individually and over a prolonged period of time. But should they occur all at once, the straw that's been propping up the business will break. Is a Band-Aid holding your business together? If it went through a stress test, would it pass?

5. The business owner wins every award imaginable and goes to great lengths to let everyone know that he/she won the award. Don't get me wrong. Awards are great, especially ones that are long overdue and seen as the "best in its class" because they give widespread recognition to the recipient and his/her achievement that may otherwise never have gotten any notice (e.g., recent Nobel prizes). But it's possible to get carried away with awards. I recall one instance when a business owner was trying desperately to get attention for his new business. To do so, he dreamt up an award - If there is no award to win, create one! - and won it. How coincidental! He thought this was a great way to achieve media attention. It was soon discovered that his company inaugurated the honor!

Winning a couple of stellar awards in a year distinguishes you as a serious player in your industry and certainly can boost your credibility in the marketplace; but receiving more than a handful, particularly unheard of honors, and tooting your horn all over about it looks more like you have nothing better to do with your time. The question that begs to be asked: How is business?

If you see one or all of the signs above, approach a trusted savvy business owner - one who faced a situation similar to yours and overcame it - who will listen, talk straight with you and offer advice on how to manage a course correction, spice things up a bit and make some big bets.

Put yourself back in the driver's seat and you will discover that the road to recovery and perpetual renewal for your business is only a short distance away.

Now, it's your turn. What are the signs of business decay you notice most? I welcome your comments.

*****

About the Author: Global business expert Laurel Delany is the founder of GlobeTrade.com (a Global TradeSource Ltd. company). She also is the creator of "Borderbuster," an e-newsletter, and The Global Small Business Blog, all highly regarded for their global small business coverage. You can reach Delaney at ldelaney@globetrade.com or follow her on Twitter @LaurelDelaney.

Worry Only About the Problems in Your Circle of Influence

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:01:30 -0500

From Scott Belsky:

The author and leadership guru Stephen Covey encourages us to only focus on concerns that we have control over. He outlines the “circle of concerns” as all of the stuff that worries us – and then a smaller “circle of influence” (within the larger “circle of concerns”) that only contains the stuff that we can actually control.

His point, of course, is that we should only spend our energy on concerns that we can do something about. Focus only on problems that lie within your “circle of influence.”

Easy to say, HARD TO DO! As dedicated entrepreneurs, our passion for our work makes it more difficult to worry selectively. Why? The more passionate you are, the more protective and perfection-driven you become. Any concern becomes exaggerated just based on your beautiful vision being obstructed. Regardless of whether or not you have influence, you will want to tackle every problem as it emerges.

This tendency is dangerous. Your energy becomes fractured as you start to obsess over details and situations that are beyond your control. Ultimately, your projects and your business suffer.

When faced with a problem, here are a few questions that all small business leaders should ask themselves:

Is this REALLY within your circle of influence?
Many designers will argue with printers over an error that was made during production. Most of the time, the error can be fixed. But sometimes, due to a hard deadline, resources, and the limitations of the machinery, ink, and paper, the right answer is to work around the error. Rather than obsess, time is better spent on changes that can still be made. Nevertheless, many projects suffer because a concern OUTSIDE of the circle of influence becomes the center of attention. The best practice here is to ask yourself, “what is the percentage likelihood that that this problem can be reversed with further discussion?” If the chance of resolution is less than 10% then you need to cut your losses! Yes, attaining your perfect vision is nice, but not at the expense of a maintaining momentum in your business.

Is this even WORTH your influence?
If you can focus on just the “circle of influence,” then you’re in good shape! But this doesn’t necessarily mean solving every problem. You have limited energy. Challenge your judgments on whether or not these concerns are really worthy of your time. Perhaps it is a concern about a competitor. While you could spend time and advertising dollars to quell your anxiety, perhaps the right answer is to focus on your own customers instead? Just because you can fix something doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

If you can’t delineate your “circle of influence,” get help.
Often times you’ll find yourself unsure of whether or not an item is under your control. A number of internet entrepreneurs I know lament when they find another site copying their design or marketing. The new entrepreneurs become angry and retaliatory, firing off multiple emails and discussing to no end. In contrast, the more experienced entrepreneurs understand that the back-and-forth that will ensue will simply waste their energy without much to show for it. If you’re too immersed in a problem to be objective, get some perspective from those around you!

In his bestselling book The Power of Now, spiritual teacher Eckart Tolle writes, "Ultimately... there are no problems. Only situations - to be dealt with now, or to be left alone and accepted as part of the present moment until they change or can be dealt with." Great creative leaders are passionate about their work without allowing their perfectionism and/or anxiety to compromise their judgment. Challenge yourself to only worry about problems that you can solve.

***This article is based on research by Behance CEO Scott Belsky, whose book, Making Ideas Happen, will be published by Penguin in April 2010. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.

Sustainability Requires Everyone in the Trenches

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:12:19 -0500

From Mitch Jackson, Staff Director, Environmental Affairs and Sustainability, FedEx Corporation: Delivered by FedEx.

History shows us that we only achieve meaningful, lasting change through teamwork -- everyone in the trenches working together for transformation. That kind of joint effort is required to address the vexing problems of economy, energy security and the environment. Sustainability is larger than the business community and cannot be achieved with an “us versus them” mentality.

What do I mean by this? Sustainability is not just about business having to take actions to reduce their own environmental footprint. It goes beyond a “Not in my backyard” attitude when renewable energy projects are proposed, sited and, more often than not, opposed. Nor is it about government overlaying multiple regulations that, in essence, do the same things in different ways – but with significant complexity, impacts and costs.

Sustainability requires governments, businesses and citizens to work collaboratively to become more efficient, develop new, “greener” technologies that are economically viable, and use these new innovations across our society.

In March, I spoke at a summit for The Economist magazine, titled The 2009 Sustainability Summit – The New Climate: Global Warming and Its Implications for Corporate Strategy. This is a big title for a big societal challenge. I was particularly struck by the idea of identifying an innovation that could result in big environmental benefits.

Among its many sustainability efforts, Procter & Gamble has conducted life-cycle analyses on their products. They found their biggest environmental impact from energy usage was not related to their product manufacturing, materials, transportation of materials or products, or material disposal. The biggest impact was from the use of their laundry products in homes, primarily from the energy used to heat water. So, in an effort to address this problem, they developed a new product, Tide Cold Water. P&G calculated that washing laundry in cold water in every U.S. household would save 70 to 90 billion kilowatt-hours of energy every year – that’s 3% of the nation’s total household energy consumption, equating to a reduction of 34 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

They also calculated the average consumer would save $63 a year on their utility bills. All of these numbers add up to a significant savings. And, importantly, they’re all trending the right way – reduced energy usage and environmental impact, reduced costs for consumers, and increased product sales potential for P&G. A “win-win-win” – which is invariably better than “win-lose” scenarios that inevitably result from “us versus them” strategies.

At FedEx, we’ve implemented many solar-energy systems to reduce energy consumption at our facilities. We’re proud of that. But we know sustainability depends on teamwork, so we’ve also developed projects and alliances with other businesses, governments, and organizations to promote sustainability based on a “win-win” philosophy. Here are just a few examples:

In 2005, FedEx Express teamed up with the Environmental Defense Fund to pioneer commercial hybrid electric vehicles. More than 50 companies have followed our lead.
We’re founding members of The Green Power Market Development Group — a collaboration of 12 leading corporations and the World Resources Institute -- dedicated to building corporate markets for 1,000 megawatts of new, cost-competitive green power by 2010.
We provide shipping services that make it easier for customers to recycle. For example, FedEx Ground provides a service to fluorescent lamp recyclers to help keep mercury out of our nation’s waste streams. At numerous FedEx Office locations, we collect printer cartridges from work and homes. We then donate the rebate for the recycled cartridges to Keystone Science School, which runs environmental education classes for children and adults.

That’s a win-win-win. And that’s the kind of joint efforts we need to keep the economy strong and the environment safe. “Passing the buck” to others on economic, energy security and environmental considerations will result in pain for some. But, here’s the “not-so-secret” secret of a democracy: pain for some effects all. So, it’s going to take everyone – governments, businesses (large and small) and citizens – to implement those solutions that involve shared action like the examples above – and those that are responsible, both environmentally and economically. It’s time for our republic to prosper in the long term with everyone in the trenches, working together – and winning together.

For more insights on sustainability, visit the FedEx Citizenship blog at blog.fedex.com.

American Express OPEN and FedEx have teamed up to provide discounts and a comprehensive resource for shipping, office products and print services. To learn more visit http://www.fedex.com/opensavings.

OPEN Savings®: Payment must be made with an American Express® Business Card at the time of purchase; savings will be credited to your account. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. Subject to offer terms and conditions located at opensavings.com. Merchant participation and offers are subject to change without notice.

Forget RSS Feeds, Inc. Magazine Says Just Read These

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:00:31 -0500

From Haily Zaki:

There are literally millions of blogs out there that cover the topic of business, and more are created by the minute. So if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by your morning RSS feed (or these days, Twitter feed), Inc. magazine was nice enough to curate a list of the top 19 Blogs You Should Bookmark Right Now. Huge thanks to Max Chafkin for sifting through the millions to find these gems. Read these regularly, and hopefully some of the authors' business smarts will rub off and help you reshape your business.

OPEN Forum's featured expert bloggers Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki made the list, as did Wordpress Co-Founder and blogger with the coolest url ever Matt Mullenweg. (A blogger without Wordpress is like a scribe without a quill.) And while he’s more of an anti-blogger who once tried to write abbreviated posts and has since abandoned that to self-publish more lengthy essays, Paul Graham’s mini-tomes are how-tos for entrepreneur, offering priceless insight on the ins and outs of getting started. It’s also great to followCraig Newmark, the founder of one of the largest websites in the world, his eponymously named list.

Contrary to business books, which also offer up useful advice, bloggers provide up-to-the-minute insight making them more timely. From the mundane to the profound, their blogs cover it all and can help make the harried, newbie entrepreneurs not feel as lonely, clueless and stressed out. Reading their blogs won’t answer all your questions, but it will probably make you feel just a tad smarter.

3 Qualities to Look for When Hiring a Community Manager

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:34:16 -0500

From Jennifer Van Grove:

With the prevalence and growing importance of using social media to connect with customer communities, the community or social media manager is fast becoming a commonplace and much-needed position at companies around the world.

Determining whether or not you need a community manager for your small business is a question in and of itself (though this post is not without some guidance on that front). But once you do make the decision to hire someone to be the online and offline face of your company, as well as the go-between for internal resources and external voices, then you need to focus on finding that right person.  

The best way to start your search for a community or social media manager is to talk to and learn from those already succeeding in the role. I tracked down three recognizable staffers in customer-facing community positions, each with their own creative approach to community building, and asked them to identify one nonnegotiable quality that you should look for during the hiring process. Here's what they had to say:

1. Intellectual Curiosity

George G Smith Jr. [@GeorgeGSmithJr] is Crocs' rock star resident social media specialist. He believes that all businesses, regardless of their size, "already have a community manager in some form or another," but that if "a businesses' community is growing to the point where they start to question whether they should have an in house Community Manager, then they probably do."  

His advice for small businesses looking to hire a community manager is to seek out individuals with intellectual curiosity.  

Smith Jr. says, "I think a quality that almost all Community Managers have is intellectual curiosity. That trait is pervasive throughout their entire job description. You need to have that intellectual curiosity to learn everything you can about the company/brand that you are working for. Whether it’s customer service procedures, specifics about products, or just corporate culture – a successful community manager will have the curiosity to learn it all. On the flip side, they will also take that trait into the community. They will want to engage the members of their community because the curiosity is really a form of passion which will allow them to integrate seamlessly into their targeted community. It won’t be a one way relationship but a true two way relationship."  

Speaking from my own prior experience as a community manager, I agree with Smith Jr. wholeheartedly. A great community manager is one who has an unquenchable hunger for knowledge.  

Of course, intellectual curiosity is hard to find from bullet points listed in a resume, so Smith recommends that you, "ask questions about a person’s passions and hobbies in life. I think you’ll find that the intellectually curious will always be discovering new things that they can feel passionate about. Listening to someone talk about the things that they do for fun will reveal a lot about their methodology behind the things that they work on professionally."

2. Passion

Brad Nelson has become the poster boy for how to use Twitter to build and support a massive online and offline community. He's been Starbuck's "Official Tweeter" [@Starbucks], and has been their product manager on a social media front since before it was trendy to tweet. In fact, Nelson's role, and the visibility of the Starbucks Twitter account, has no doubt influenced countless other big brands to take the Twitter leap.  

As to whether or not you need a community manager for your small business, Nelson says, "The community manager is the voice for the company externally, and the voice for the customer internally. All types of business have found success in the online space, so don’t think it’s not for you. More than ever, customers turn online to find your company or leave good and bad comments about your company. If you’re approachable, they will turn to you and ask questions. Every company should embrace this role, in some way or capacity. It comes down to being an approachable and friendly company online."  

The one quality that Nelson says you can't live without in a good community manager is passion. "The most important aspect of any community or social media manager is passion for the company, the product and the people. Every great community manager I’ve ever met loves all of these things. Yes, you need to have someone who is savvy online, but passion is more important. I worked as a barista at Starbucks during high school and college. I really came to love the customers, the coffeehouse and the coffee, so I try to take the type of conversations I had in stores and apply them online."

3. Knowledge of Your Business

As JetBlue Airways’ Manager of Corporate Communication, one of Morgan Johnston's tasks is to manage the company’s very popular Twitter account, putting him on the front lines for fielding costumer and media inquiries and attacks.  

His take is that, "Every company should at least be monitoring social media. As for those that should take the step of hiring a social media manager? Any company where a large number of their target customers are online; any company where there is a lack of available information online; any company where the customers could benefit from having a community."

Morgan advises those small businesses looking to fill a community or social media manager position to pay less attention to social media prowess, and instead put someone in the position with "an intimate knowledge of your business, or the immediate resources to access and apply that knowledge."

Morgan also asserts that, "Social media acumen can be learned - and your customers will be more than happy to teach what they want, but what they need is someone with the knowledge and expertise in the subject that only you can provide."

Image courtesy of iStockphotoKogal

How to Find Similar Sites

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:16:50 -0500

From Guy Kawasaki:

Have you ever wanted to find a site that is similar to another site? For example, perhaps you want to share a video that’s too long for YouTube. Your first impulse is to use Google, but this can yield a bunch of sites that aren’t useful unless you use the right search terms. Here are two sites that are designed to find you similar sites—interestingly, with similar names:

Similar-Site. It yields this result for its search for sites that are similar to YouTube. (Firefox plugin)
Similar Sites. It yields this result for sites that are similar to YouTube. (Firefox plugin)

By the way, here are the results of both sites for substitutions for Google: Similar-Site and Similar Sites.

As a small business owner, you can use these sites to find alternate suppliers of products and services as well as your competition. As a venture capitalist, you can use them when entrepreneurs tell you that they that have a “unique product that no one else is making.” As a consumer, you can use them when you’re fed up with the site that you currently use.

Business Hiring Plans Are Still Very Weak

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:59:28 -0500

From Henry Blodget: The number of businesses expecting to hire new employees in the following three months began falling in summer 2007, a few months before the recession began. This makes sense, as it's a leading indicator. Fortunately, the measure recovered somewhat this summer, although it's still a negative territory.

Hiring is all about confidence, and right now, confidence is still flimsy. Business owners are worried that the recent uptick in business is just temporary -- and understandably so. Lots of economists still believe that the recovery we've seen so far is largely a "relief rally," as consumers breathed a sigh of relief that we didn't plunge into a second Great Depression.

The next six months, therefore, will be critical. Optimists believe that by the first quarter of 2010, the economy will start to show real organic growth (ex stimulus spending). If so, this will likely lead to a gradual increase in confidence -- and, with it, a boost in hiring plans.

Additional reporting by Rory Maher.

Marketing and Baking Through the Recession

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:57:05 -0500

From Joseph Friedrichs:

BEND - If small business owners are indeed the backbone of the U.S. economy, then consider the Sparrow Bakery the spinal column of success in Central Oregon.

“We’ve been working hard for three years to mean something to the community,” said Whitney Blackman, a co-owner of the small bakery and coffee shop on Bend’s west side. “It’s not just about making money to us. We want to be something the community participates in. We want to be involved in our customer’s lives.”

As many restaurants, factories and retails stores continue to lay off employees or simply shut down operations, a variety of small businesses in Bend are progressing through the economic downturn.

“We’re not a chain,” Blackman said. “We don’t take the Starbucks approach of customer service. It’s not come in , go out and then asking, ‘who’s next in line?’”

According to a recent study commissioned by the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute, during the next 12 to 24 months small business owners will emerge from the recession strong and well positioned for growth during the next decade, leading the U.S. to economic recovery. There are three specific reasons why small businesses will succeed: their customers, their employees and their own self dependence, according to the report.

Scott McLean, the owner of Bend’s Riverside Market, said his business has been steadily growing every year since he and his wife Patty took over operations in March 2006.

“It is a market and we do serve food, sure,” he said. “But we also think of it almost as a community center. It’s a place for people to drop in or stay and talk about the events of daily life.”

Not only is the Riverside Market having success through the recession, the business continues to expand. Within the last 18 months the market has added an extensive food line, including home cooked-style meals twice a week. The McLeans have added tap beer to their business, serve daily breakfasts and now offer a small dining area and outdoor seating for their customers.

“We really haven’t done too much advertising,” McLean said. “We’ve found that word-of-mouth is the most effective tool.”

Both the Sparrow Bakery and Riverside Market employee about ten people, with those numbers fluctuating slightly based on the season.

“Labor is our number one cost,” Blackman said. “So we have to be responsive to that.”

Each business is about the size of school classroom. Local artwork hangs on the walls. Most often music is playing during business hours at each establishment, with tunes from the likes of Bob Dylan accompanying customers during their morning cup of coffee or afternoon pint of ale.

“We’re comfortable when we’re here,” McLean said. “And we try to share that.”

The owners of the Sparrow Bakery and Riverside Market both admit profits from their respective businesses will not make them rich anytime soon. However, profits are there to be had, and both McLean and Blackman stated customer satisfaction and owning a healthy business are equally as important.

The Sparrow has recently opened a second location, serving primarily as the baking headquarters for the business. Family loans got the dough rolling for the bakery, and Blackman said she and her business partner are hoping to get a line of credit from a bank at some point in the future. The same can be said for Riverside Market, as the McLeans plan to continue expanding the business while maintaining a strong local feel.

“It’s not to say we didn’t feel the impact of the poor economy,” McLean said,” because we did. But we think our regular clientele and openness to the community are why we’re continuing to be successful.”

Seven Savvy & Affordable Holiday Gifts to Impress Clients and Bosses

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:02:23 -0500

From Shira Levine:

When money and job security are precarious topics, the last thing anyone wants to deal with is the stress from holiday gifting. All that money and time spent on obligatory gift giving is about as joyous as eating last year’s fruitcake. Still, there is the need to warm the relationships we already have, along with the ones we eagerly want to acquire for our businesses.

Thinking in a two-for-one, kill-two-birds-with-one-stone mentality is a great way to show costumers that you appreciate them. The right gift gives you the opportunity to show that you’re astute and detail-oriented, but also not over-the-top with your spending when most companies are cutting back. It’s the art of the subtle quid pro quo. Giving something actually useful shows your client that you’re a savvy and bankable person to do business. Here are seven gift ideas that don’t break the bank and but totally impress the bankers.

In-office golf. You’re not admitting to taking time away from all that hard work, you’re just encouraging others to work on their swing for when they meet you on the green next Spring. Golf Launchpad is a golf simulator that works on the PC and Mac using a USB port. The launchpad works with EA Sport Tiger Woods PGA Tour so you get to play the best golf courses on the chilliest days of the year. This is your most expensive purchase but probably gets you the most mileage. $199.99.

Talking coffee pot. Sounds a bit cheesy, yes, but it’s much more affordable than a personal assistant and you can throw things at it without worrying about a lawsuit. The chrome metal design is slick and more attractive than those plastic ones. You won’t be accused of being the crazy on in the office either once everyone hears the coffee maker speak. Tell your grounded coffee beans when to percolate and Primula Speak n’ Brew will kindly let you know when the brewing begins. Primula Speak n' Brew retails for $79.99.

A discrete, low maintenance travel case. Traveling heavy is a tremendous hassle and a real pain in the neck. I’m a fan of using only a carry-on, so packing toiletries is an art form. The ballistic nylon shelled Ace Excursion Bag packs some impressive storage space with two compartments to separate the necessities and unmentionables, along with a mesh pocket for the little random items. The shell keeps its shape but it also collapses if you end up with more in your suitcase on your return home. $15.99.

Some carbon offsetting. Show the other CEOs how globally conscious you are and purchase carbon offsets for them to balance a bit of that fuel inefficient jet setting they do. Belgrave Trust has a fancy algorithm that calculates a person’s carbon footprint and guides them on how to work toward a carbon neutral life through a portfolio of climate change-focused companies. Prices vary depending on that algorithm but can be as lows $14 and go up in the hundreds.

A protective case for the most sacred technology. The iWood cobra by Miniot steps iPhone protection and accessorization up a few notches with their Padouk/Maple and Wenge/Maple wood-blended casing. While you’re contributing to deforestation (Miniot states the wood is taken from “well managed forests”), why not show your clients that you care too. iWoods can be monogrammed and logoed. Inscribe a company motto onto it too. These cost 120 euro or roughly $180.

All-in-one moisturizer. All that work and not enough sleep is not so good on the aging process. Belacrema’s One moisturizer is good for people who need a day and night skin lift. It’s perfect for those on the move who don’t want to be bogged down by carrying multiple products. One is true to its name. The cream can be used on the face, neck, and all over the body. Belacrema also claims to help repair sun damage for those who work hard, play harder and forget to put on their sun block. $100.

A personal assistant for the day. Perhaps the nicest gift of all is making the workday easier for a client. Hire a personal assistant for a few hours of much needed administrative work and you’re sure to get a winning thank you note at the very least. Lambent Services, a personal assistant boutique offers sessions four hours or longer at $40 an hour in New York and $35 an hour in LA for members of their service. A la carte services average $75 an hour. Those who are really thoughtful and clever will hire a personal assistant to do the entire holiday gift brainstorming, shopping, wrapping and sending for themselves and for their clients.

4 Ways to Boost Productivity by Slowing Down

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:28:33 -0500

From Behance Team:

As our ability to instantaneously access everything from a bank account balance to a DVD rental to friends from high school, it’s easy to be lulled into the assumption that faster is always better. But when it comes to workplace productivity, there’s much to be said for a more deliberate, well-paced approach with ample accommodation for breaks to share knowledge or just to share lunch. We break down the four simple – but oft-overlooked – ways to elevate your productivity.

Eat lunch.
Recent surveys show that proper lunch breaks on are on the decline due to increasing workloads. But eating less so that you can get more done is a false proposition when it comes to productivity. As a recent Web Worker Daily article points out, “Skipping meals leads to poor cognitive functioning, including loss of memory, concentration, the ability to learn, hand-eye coordination and catching mistakes.” Like any engine, our brains need fuel to keep going. By building lunch breaks into your company culture, and personal routine, you can actually improve productivity and focus.

Exercise.
It has been proven that people who take breaks to exercise during work hours are happier, calmer, and more productive. In a 2008 study in England, 72% of participants reported that working out improved their time management, in addition to having other positive impacts, such as making them more pleasant to work with. Often, we feel so busy and overwhelmed that finding the time to exercise seems impossible, but the improved productivity and focus that it yields makes the time spent a worthy investment.

Encourage.
Behance has always advocated the notion of utilizing appreciations rather than criticism to motivate team members, and a recent study spotlighted in the Harvard Business Review reiterates the case for positivity. While anger works well for motivating army recruits, leaders who govern teams working on tight deadlines have more success when they transmit their objectives with enthusiasm and encouragement.

Explain.
A key part of any management role is being a good teacher, but it’s easy to forget the importance of passing along knowledge when we’re overworked and pressed for time. More often than not, we opt for just “doing it ourselves” when someone asks a question or does an inadequate job with a task. In the short-run, it’s faster. But in the long run, such behavior just paves the way for having to do the task yourself again in the future. Or as RISD president John Maeda recently put it, “Leading by doing ceases to be leading when you are doing more than leading.” A good work culture emphasizes the importance of taking the time to explain everything from a best practice for dealing with clients on down to a basic Photoshop technique. Once the knowledge is passed on, you can delegate.

***This post by J.K. Glei is based on research by the Behance team. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.

Interview: You Don't Need VC to Succeed

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:12:32 -0500

From Polly Schneider Traylor:

Small business finance expert Dileep Rao explains why some of the greatest companies never had a dime of investors’ money to get off the ground and grow -- and how hard work, integrity, creativity, and an open mind can make up the difference.

Depending on your point of view, this might be the worst time to start a small business. On the other hand, with creative business and financing strategies, it's possible to be successful without one dime from Wall Street or Silicon Valley. At least that's the viewpoint of Dileep Rao, a consultant and small business finance expert who teaches financing courses at the Carlson School of Management (University of Minnesota). To prove the fact that you don't need VC funds to be successful, in his forthcoming book, Bootstrap to Billions, Rao chronicled the stories of several Minnesota entrepreneurs who started with nothing to build successful companies such as Best Buy, Aveda, Digital River, United Health Group, and Medtronics. He calls the companies in his book a "third category" of business: not small business, and not built through VC financing.

What's so special about Minnesota in terms of business-building?

Minnesota has the highest per capita number of Fortune 500 companies in the country. I wanted to find out how it happened, and could it be replicated? I tried to find every Minnesotan entrepreneur who had built their company from scratch to $100 million in sales or larger. Only .07 percent of companies in this country have done this. I think a great deal of the reason behind this phenomenon in Minnesota is the quality of public education. People can come from any place in society and succeed here. None of the entrepreneurs I profiled went to private schools, and they all had had hunger.

Explain more what you mean about the "third category" of businesses and their emphasis on capital-efficient strategies?

One is Best Buy. Richard Schulze started the company (originally named Sound of Music) on his own, through re-mortgaging his house. He knew a lot about pricing, merchandising, and training people but he had very little outside financing. Later on, he went to his vendors and told them that he needed some inventory financing to grow from a small to big store concept, and they funded him.

Another guy whom I profiled started a business selling Macintosh products through the mail. His strategy was to set up operations next to his main vendor, a big manufacturer, and he was able to take orders every day and ship products out the same day, and his customers had to pay before he would ship. He made sure he always had enough cash to pay his vendors on time -- and that was something that I found in common among many of the companies in this book. This particular guy started his business on a $40,000 credit card loan, and ultimately grew to $40 million in sales annually. He later went on to found Digital River.

So is there a common thread here about smart financial strategies in today's world?

Yes, you don’t need VC and angel money to make it. It does involve hardship at the start in terms of the work involved and not making a lot of money. If you are willing to be more creative when you fund your business and pay vendors on time, you can grow. What these people did is to find ways to have someone other than a financier fund their growth, and when financiers don’t dictate how you grow or who controls your company, it’s a whole new ballgame. You are in charge and you can grow as fast as is prudent. Also, understand accounting. What I find often, when I work with entrepreneurs, is they say that they aren't numbers people. That's nuts. You have to know this stuff.

How realistic is it in today's economy, that a small company can bootstrap itself to millions, much less billions in sales?

That is the $64 million question. The reality is, if we [in the United States] don't try, someone else will. And the world is hungry. We have to start exporting again. But bootstrapping is painful, to get used to earning very little for a few years. Silicon Valley has done well because of some unique factors of that region, yet other places in the country have not been able to duplicate that. This book shows that there are other ways to succeed. For the rest of the country between Wall Street and Silicon Valley, the heartland, it's not just how to make money in 15 minutes. It takes patience.

Is there a "secret sauce" for bootstrapping to billions or is it a combination of luck, timing, and smart decisions?

Well, you need to understand the world around you, the key opportunities and where you can succeed. Also humility comes into play. The world controls itself, you don't control it. Also, there is no substitute for hard work. Finally what I found most interesting in these profiles was the commitment to integrity. These leaders needed to ensure that the people they worked with were honest. They laid out the ground rules and got a commitment from their people on the plan.

Note:

Bootstrap to Billions will be available by the end of 2009 at Dileep’s website.

He is also the author of the following small business finance books: Finance Any Business Intelligently(TM) and Handbook of Business Finance.

Before You Go Online: Talk to Your Customers Offline

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:28:18 -0500

From Josh Catone:

Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. MySpace. Foursquare. Brightkite. Posterous. Tumblr. The list of social networks and social media tools goes on and on, and as a small business owner, the biggest limitation you'll run up against when planning to use social media is not likely going to be cost, but time. Utilizing social networks and web tools properly requires a significant time investment, both for learning how to use the networks and setting them up, as well as maintaining an active presence and building a community. Unlike corporations, most small business owners do not have the ability to hire a dedicated social media or online community manager.

How does a small business owner know where to invest their time and resources?

Talk to People

It may seem simplistic, but the best way to figure out where to put your social media energy is to talk to your customers. You probably already have a good relationship with many of your customers, so just ask them: "Do you use social media? Which sites do you use? Would it be useful for you if we started using those sites too?"

Asking these sorts of questions of your customers can be invaluable. You'll learn which sites the people who buy from you use, and what uses of those social media products and services would be most useful to them. By spending a couple of weeks talking to your customers and getting their feedback, you'll be able to hit the ground running and dive into social media already knowing that your time and resources will be well spent.

Do Some Preliminary Searches

Even after talking to customers, before you commit to putting a lot of time and effort into building your presence on a specific social media network, you should do some searches to see what's out there. It's possible that your customers are already on the network and talking about your business. And it's probable that your competitors already have a presence there. Spend some time searching around the network or tool to see what's there.

Start by searching for your company name. Are your customers already talking about you? What are they saying? The types of things they're talking about might inform how you should utilize that platform. Next search for your competitors and evaluate how they're using the platform. What seems to be effective for them? Is it something you can emulate? Finally, do some more general searches for keywords related to the product, service, or industry you're in. You might be able to attract new customers through social media, but only if the people in your key demographic are using that social network.

Keep Communications Channels Open

Once you've committed to the social networks and social media tools you plan to use, you should keep the channels of communication open. Social media is all about conversation, so you should take advantage of that by continually striving to keep a finger on the pulse of your customers. Don't stop talking to them, and make it easy for them to let you know when you're doing something wrong, or if they have a suggestion of something new that you should be doing. By constantly reevaluating your use of social media, you'll make sure that you're never wasting your valuable time and resources on a network or strategy that won't bring you an optimal return on investment.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Kronick1

Do Payment Plans Give You Street Creds?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:04:55 -0500

From Elizabeth Walker:

Many of us use PayPal to make personal purchases on line, and we all have a debit card. We have a credit card, maybe several, and we don’t usually pay with cash. Our bank wants to stop sending us hard copy statements, and if we write cheques, we don’t get them back any more, we get scans of them, front and back.

At the same time, we still send out paper invoices for our business (even if we send them by email), our accountant still needs paper files to keep the tax man happy and we get paid with paper checks that take up to a week to get to us in the mail.

Ever since we got a credit card for the business, though, we ask, “Can we put this on our card?” when we buy printing, photography, copywriting or indeed any other kind of supplier service. Oh and of course that’s where are the three martini lunches go (that’s a joke folks; it only happens on Mad Men.)

We’ve had a couple of receivables problems lately, and a card, even with the discount, would have been a boon.

What really got us thinking was the growth of on-line payment in ecommerce sites. So we wondered, as more of us think of paying on-line with a card as normal, how many people see getting a business invoice they have to pay with a check as outdated and silly? And how much more credibility would we have with the kinds of clients we want to attract if we offered a variety of payment options?

After all, we use our card to pay for SaaS, our web support and subscriptions. Our clients wouldn’t think of using cash at Staples, so why would they expect to write a check to us?

Ali Asaria runs well.ca and is a speaker on the art of e-commerce. In a recent interview, she cautioned that it can be tough for small business to get on board with payment options.

There are two issues: simply understanding how merchant accounts work, and once you are over that hurdle, getting approved. This is where your Chamber can do you a big favor and negotiate great rates and easier approval for members.

If we want to attract younger, more technologically hip clients, getting on-line billing systems and payment seems obvious. Sure we’ll have to get smarter about security, but if we want street creds, then trading in eighteenth century banking technology for twenty-first century ease of use seems pretty obvious.

Elizabeth Walker is a partner in Marketing Masters and a Duct Tape Marketing Coach located near Toronto Ontario. Find more information online.

Poll Defines a New Nation of Penny Pinchers

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:08:26 -0500

From Haily Zaki:

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times’Brand X posted the results of a recent Harris Poll that found Americans to be a new nation of penny pinchers. Sometimes criticized for being a rather gluttonous and wasteful nation, we all seem to be cutting out the little luxuries and trying to live within our means this year.

According to Harris Poll’s, the following percentages of Americans are adopting spendthrift new lifestyle changes:

64% purchase more generic brands
47% brown-bag lunch instead of buying it
43% go to hairdressers or barbers less often
36% switched to tap water and refillable bottles instead of bottled water
34% canceled one or more magazine subscriptions

Additionally, these changes were noted by the pollsters:

22% cut back on dry cleaning
21% canceled or cut back their cable TV service
20% stopped buying coffee in the morning
15% changed or canceled their cellphone service
14% carpool or use mass transit
12% cancelled their telephone land line service and are only using their cellphones

Just exercising one of these penny-pinching techniques could probably save a pretty penny this month and don’t necessarily mean that one has to sacrifice one’s lifestyle too much.

From PlayStation to Y Combinator: The Reddit Origin Story, Part 1

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:09:54 -0500

From Alexis Ohanian: An OPEN Forum exclusive provided by Reddit.

Law School or Waffles?
It started innocently enough, move-in day at the University of Virginia. I found a young Steve Huffman playing Gran Turismo 2 on his PS2.

We became fast friends after exchanging childhood stories of video games, Star Wars, and other geekery. As I worked through three years of history and business majors, fretting over my GPA as I looked toward law school, I realized I was having more fun doing independent research on Soviet propaganda techniques than doing practice LSATs. The epiphany would finally come at a Waffle House after my friend Jack and I walked out of a Kaplan review class mid-exam to get waffles. We didn't want to be lawyers. We wanted waffles.

No, I Think I’ll Start a Business
The only logical next step was to start a company. Independence was appealing, as well as owning every success and failure, but I wasn't going to be able to start reddit -- let alone any software company -- by myself (unless reddit was to be a static website where users emailed me links and votes that I'd update by hand).

That's where Steve, a Computer Science major, came in. He'd always been fond of ideas for technical solutions to everyday problems that we'd bullshit about over pizza or beer, or pizza and beer. And in my typical exuberance, I'd riff about ways we could make them into businesses. The one we liked the most was a way to order takeout food from your phone (it's worth noting that this was 2004).

An Idea is Born and Reborn
Steve was inspired by a routine frustration he had at a local gas station called Sheetz. They had the foresight to install touchscreen ordering at their deli (no human to interact with, just construct your, say, veggie sub with extra hots, and swipe a credit card), but you still couldn't order it until after you filled your tank and went inside. All that time spent pumping gas was time an order could have been placed and made in time for you to deftly pick it up while going in to pay.

Of course, this could be applied to any business where you've been stuck waiting in line for an order -- especially frustrating if you know exactly what you want, ordered it many times before, and that person in front of you has instructions that come with a table of contents, but I digress. Imagine if you could have placed that mocha frappuchino order five blocks away from your Starbucks so that it's waiting when you arrive. You tell them your username, last name, or maybe the last 4 digits of your phone number, and they hand you the drink, you leave. And it won't be long after your less savvy fellow customers learn from those customers who effortlessly walk in and pickup their orders.

This is the idea I had in my head on the way to Singapore the summer before our senior year. I'd had an NYC internship lined up with Ogilvy PR, when Professor Mark White invited me to compete in a "technopreneurship" symposium in Singapore as a member of the University of Virginia team. And it'd be all expenses paid. The decision wasn't too hard to make, but it couldn't have been more fortunate. Here's the email I sent Steve on July 11, 2004.

Excuse all the ellipses, typos, and the lack of punctuation; my well-ingrained US touch typing wasn't playing well with the keyboard layouts in Singapore, so I got lazy.

hey bro, i'm in singapore at this technepreneurial seminar, and am basically spending a week learning how to create a tech start-up.

i spoke to Mark White (a professor in the comm school, the guy who took me to South Africa, and who recruited me to come here, as well as a generally good guy and technophile) over some drinks last nite, and pitched him on our idea...

from his feedback -- and let me remind you that he gets pitches every couple of months from students, and was very candid and honest with his thoughts, but basically said it was one of the best he's heard, period. Not only that, but he wants to be on the board of directors, and already knows some people to hit up for starting capital... I've got plenty of more details, but I am seriously considering putting off law school for this, but i need you, and we'll both need to be doing this full time for about a year to get it off the ground....

but the potential he saw was in the millions my friend...

we need to talk

seriously.

i am coming back the 20th so if we could have lunch around 1pm i could meet you whereever you'd like... let me know.

honestly, this is the kind of thing that could change our lives - and his motivation has really spurred me.

but i need you and the same kind of commitment.

For the next year, I'd research competitors, speak with restaurateurs, and even incorporate our company - redbrick solutions, LLC. But we made a fateful change thanks to something Steve's girlfriend (now wife) found while she was browsing the web... (Dramatic ellipses; more to come next week.)

The "Iterate Fast and Release Often" Philosophy of Entrepreneurship

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:39 -0500

From Ben Parr:

The world of entrepreneurship is well-known for being fast-paced. First movers have an advantage, but so do those who simply build a better product. Entrepreneurs constantly struggle between taking more time to improve their product for the customer and launching new features out before the competition beats them to the punch.

There is a famous quote by Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, which really resonates with some entrepreneurs:

If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.

Reid’s words reflect a growing movement within the entrepreneurial community, one that I call the “Iterate Fast and Release Often” philosophy of entrepreneurship. The core tenet of this philosophy is that it’s more important to launch a product and new features and iterate rather than take the extra time necessary to “perfect” a product or feature before launch.

The debate on this philosophy has been rising rapidly recently, so I thought it was time to really take a look at the pros and cons of the “Iterate Fast and Release Often” mantra and see just why many entrepreneurs (including me) so highly recommend it.

The perfect product is shaped by the users

Pretend you are the founder of a startup company building a web app (if this isn’t you already). You know that your upstart rival is building a similar product. However, you don’t know what features it is going to launch with, nor do you know when. What should you do?

In the Iterate Fast line of thought, the answer is easy: get the thing launched with minimal features. As long as you have the core basis, you can iterate with new features along the way. If you are beaten to the market by another company, it can quickly amass market share, attention, and most importantly data.

There is something to be said about making the product right the first time, though. Launching a very buggy product can lead to a disastrous night of damage control. But that still is a point in favor of the Iterate Fast camp: the damage can be controlled and bugs can be fixed. Most of all, users will forgive you as long as the core product is useable.

Here’s the biggest reason I am in favor of the Iterate Fast philosophy, however: the user knows best. You may believe that your research says that this set of 13 features is what users want, but you don’t really know that until the product is launched. Users interact with web products in surprising ways. By launching quickly, getting instant feedback from sources such as Twitter, and tracking user behavior on-site, you will have a far clearer direction for your product. The worst thing you can do is build a feature that nobody wants. Time needs to be treated as a limited resource.

So this serial entrepreneur recommends that you worry less about launching with everything you want and simply launching and seeing how users behave. Build new features and products based on how they behave and you will end up with a killer product.

Finally, don’t worry about the users being upset with your launch: they will forgive you for your errors as long as you are open and transparent about what you are doing.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, CMCDerm1

Forget the Phonebook: 3 Local Marketing Initiatives with Higher ROIs

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:21:27 -0500

From Gregory Go:

The phonebook is so 1998. Few people use it anymore, and yet in an ironic twist, advertising in the phonebook has become more expensive as telcos try to boost revenues. Don’t play their game.

Boost the ROI of your advertising budget by switching your local marketing focus to the following 3 websites.

The basic strategy for each of the following options is two-fold:

The first step — making sure you are listed and have accurate info — is free for all three of the following sites. It’s equivalent to making sure your phone number and address is accurate in the free, basic listing in the phonebook. 
The second step — buying advertising — is equivalent to buying an ad in the phonebook. Versus the phonebook, you'll get more reach and better tracking data, which helps ensure you maximize your local advertising ROI.

1. Yelp!

Yelp is the premier review site for local businesses. Consumers love it because it lets them easily share their thoughts on local service providers and retail outlets, and in return, get honest reviews of local businesses from their peers. Businesses love Yelp — honest, reputable businesses, at least — because businesses that receive positive reviews see dramatic increases in referral customers.

Start here.

Step 1: Control Your Listing (and Get Stats)

Yelp provides business owners that have “unlocked” their pages with lots of value-added features including messaging options (eg., post offers and announcements, reply to reviewers) and stats on how many people have viewed your business page. Check out this page for a screenshot of the business dashboard you'll have access to as the owner of the business.

The biggest benefit of taking control of your Yelp page is being able to highlight positive reviews of your business and/or responding to reviewers privately. However, don't think that just because Yelp is willing to take your money that it means they will take down negative reviews of your business. They won't, unless it violates review guidelines (eg., contains racial slurs or is second-hand information). As a good business owner, you should take comfort in this policy, because it means your less scrupulous competitors won't be able to hide their shady practices for long.

Step 2: Buy Advertising

Yelp offers two advertising options for increasing your exposure:

Top placement in search results.
Showcasing your business on a similar business' page.

You can see screenshots of both options here. Pricing varies based on your city, business category, and number of impressions you want to buy. You can talk details and pricing with a Yelp sales representative by filling out this form and waiting for a callback.

2. Google Local

Start here.

When consumers search for a local business or a local service (eg., “thai food”, “dry cleaner”) on Google, a small map and some business results appear at the top of the search results (screenshot). Additionally, you get a business details page that can contain information like your phone number, email address, store hours, accepted payment types, photos and videos, and service or product categories (screenshot).

Step 1: Take Control of Your Listing (and Get Stats)

Adding business details and creating coupons is completely free on Google. Start by claiming your business at Google's Local Business Center. Once you’ve verified your ownership, you can start adding details and creating coupons that will appear on your business details page.

Here’s where Google Local become more exciting than the phonebook. On your Google local business dashboard (screenshot), you can see what search phrases people are typing in to find your business and where those searchers are located on a map (abstracted to a zip code level to protect searchers' privacy).

Click here for more information on Google's Local Business Center features.

Step 2A: Buy AdWords Ads

AdWords is the program where advertisers bid on search keywords and have their links appear next to or on top of search results. While the AdWords program is not specifically geared towards a local market, as an advertiser, you can limit where your ad appears based on the searcher's location.

You buy AdWords ads by bidding on how much you're willing to pay for clicks on your ad. Your ads appear on search results for your targeted keywords (ie., phrases people type into the search box). The more popular keywords (eg., "thai food") will cost more per click than more obscure keywords (eg., "pad thai").

Balancing the cost per click versus the popularity (reach) of keywords is what makes AdWords advertising a bit tricky. It does take quite a bit of management to maximize your ROI. Fortunately, Google allows you to set spending limits so you don't blow your monthly budget, and offers plenty of tools and resources to help you manage your AdWords campaigns.

Managing an AdWords campaign is beyond the scope of this article, but here are some resources to get you started:

AdWords homepage - for getting started information
AdWords official blog - for the latest news and tips
AdWords for Dummies book

Step 2B: Buy Local Ad Listings

These are a new type of ads Google is selling specifically for local businesses. They are currently available only in San Fransisco and San Diego. To get a notice when they are rolled out to your area, fill out this form.

The difference between Local Ad Listings and AdWords is that you don't have to bid for keywords or do any fancy campaign management. Google charges a flat monthly rate for these ads, and shows them on local searches at the top of search results (screenshot) and in Google Maps (screenshot).

The rate depends on your city and business category. Rates are offered after you've claimed your small business listing in step 1. Once you've claimed your local business and Google has rolled out these ads to your city, you will see a new "Ads" tab in your business dashboard.

An advantage of the Local Ad Listing — in addition to having your business appear prominently on related searches — is the call tracking. When someone calls the phone number listed on your Local Ad Listing, the call is forwarded to regular phone number, and when you pick up, you will hear a short "this call is from Google" message. Counting up the number of calls you receive from your local Google ad, you can then determine if the monthly fee is worth the number of new leads you receive.

3. Yahoo Local

Start here.

Step 1: Claim or create your Yahoo Local listing

Just like Yelp and Google Local, you can claim your Yahoo Local business listing for free. Claiming or creating the listing will allow you to enter additional information and keep your business details up-to-date.

The first step is to create a Yahoo login. If you already have a Yahoo email address, you can use that login account to manage your local business listing. If you already have a Yahoo account, login to your account. If you don't already have one, you can sign up for a Yahoo account here (it's free).

Start by doing a search for your business at Yahoo Local. If your business already has a listing, click on the "edit info" link on the details page. Your business will then be linked to your Yahoo account, and when you go to listings.local.yahoo.com, you can click on the "Local Listings Account Center" link in the upper right hand corner to see all your business listings.

If your business is not yet listed, go to listings.local.yahoo.com and click on the "Sign Up" button. You will be presented with a form to fill out your business details like address, phone number, service description, and hours of operation.

For more information about Yahoo Local Listings, check out the help page for Yahoo Local Listings or visit the start page for Yahoo Local Listings.

Step 2: Upgrade to an Enhanced or Featured Listing

And just like the other options, Yahoo offers premium listings that you can purchase to give your business more prominence. Yahoo Local offers two levels of premium listings: Enhanced or Featured.

An Enhanced Listing costs $9.95 per month. You get to add up to 10 photos, a longer description of your business, and stats on how often people see and click on your listing.

A Featured Listing puts your business in the sponsored results section of Yahoo search results. Pricing ranges from $15-$300 per month depending on the size of your city and demand for your service. Click here to view current pricing details.

Check out this page for a comparison of features for the Basic, Enhanced, and Featured Listings.