A SWOT analysis of you and your competitors help you identify these differentiators. It will help you to say the right thing to different people and help you to answer those very important questions, what makes you different and Why Should I Choose You?

What is a SWOT analysis?

SWOT stands for:-

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

Albert Humphrey is credited with first introducing SWOT analysis in the 1960’s using data from fortune 500 companies. Since then it’s used by many businesses around the world to asses various projects and business ventures.

SWOT analysis of Apple in 2013

Competitor analysis

Competitor analysis is critical for any marketing plan and SWOT analysis provides the perfect way to do this. Usually a PEST analysis is done before a SWOT analysis to provide the details for opportunities and threats section. Once you have the complete SWOT diagrams of you and your competitors you can make better decisions regarding your marketing plan.

Once you identify the weaknesses of your competitors you can highlight them in your landing pages, advertising campaigns and press releases. Look for common weaknesses in your competitors and include them in your marketing so it would be appealing for many people and also for people looking for alternatives.

PEST analysis

Opportunities comes in many forms, hence the value of doing a PEST analysis.

PEST stands for:-

• Political
• Economical
• Social
• Technological factors

A controversial example of this is Disney's trademarking of "SEAL TEAM 6". They saw the opportunity and quickly moved to make some profits. They later retracted the application bowing down to social pressure.

It'll be a bit hard to clearly identify opportunities and threats of your competitors, but listing down the known ones won't hurt. This will enable you to identify potential opportunities and seize them if they matches your strengths.

Identify your weaknesses

Probably the biggest advantage of doing a SWOT analysis is that it enables you to identify your weaknesses. Weakness is a comparative thing. For example you might have real-time collaboration in your application, but if your competitors are doing a better job it then it is a weakness. In such instance it's best not to talk about it in your marketing material.

Finally it provides a visual summary of your product or service and how it compares with the competitors. It's much easier to do a comparison this way rather than going through text manuals. The example above shows a SWOT analysis of Apple. Apple is a global brand with many high level projects, so the below SWOT diagram is a bit simplistic, but see how it quickly conveys the relevant information in an easy to understand manner.

Creating your first SWOT diagram

SWOT diagrams are sometimes referred to as SWOT matrices because they are usually presented as matrixes like the one above. But you can organize it any way that is comfortable for you. The important thing it to list down the things affecting the four critical factors.

You can get started easily using a SWOT analysis template readily available on the Internet. Since you’re likely to share and collaborate with others when doing the analysis it is always a good idea to choose software that supports collaboration. If you already have Visio as your diagramming tool it is important to remember that Microsoft does support real-time collaboration via shared point.

Now you have the templates, it’s time to fill in the details. Strengths and weaknesses are considered internal to your organization and can be filled relatively easily. Marketers might have to work with other departments to fine tune the facts and also to learn about future planned releases, branch openings etc.

Opportunities and threats are considered external and likely to change regularly. A PEST analysis – a process to analyze political, economic, social and technological factors – is usually used to fill in the details for opportunities and threats.

For example a technological factor like emergence of HTML5 can be considered as a threat to Adobe, which is responsible for developing and maintaining Flash. Similarly a political factor like turmoil in Greece can be considered a threat to any bank operating in Greece.

Why skip when it’s simple

As you can see filling a SWOT diagram is not a difficult thing to do. But it provides a good overall view of your business in a visual and concise manner, making it easy for the marketers. So definitely a must include item in your marketing plan.

Are you already including SWOT analysis in your marketing plan? If not will you do it now, after reading this article? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

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Business owners learn early on that success hinges on managing the demands of operating a small business while developing an effective and efficient strategy for dealing with communication via phone, the Internet, and email. For example, the average office worker spends two-and-a-half hours writing emails every day, according to McKinsey Global Institute, a leading global strategic management consulting firm. With a typical work week of more than 40 hours, the time employees spend on emails can add up to 81 days every single year.

Taming email with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system

Small businesses are increasingly turning to customer relationship management systems to provide effective email management. With a CRM system:-

• you can set reminders for emails,
• follow-up activities such as phone calls,
• automate emails,
• develop marketing campaigns, and more.
• Many systems can cue you on when to send an email or can be set to send an email automatically based on predefined parameters.

Not only are you able to keep up with emails, you can also keep up with opportunities in your sales pipeline. And while your sales force is on the road, they can easily document prospects and record profile information in the same CRM system—so it’s easy to segment your prospects based on specific parameters. This is particularly important when developing targeted marketing campaigns, since you might not want to send an offer intended for one group to another client in a different demographic.

Are you leaving money on the table?

“If you’re a business that sends out opportunities or identifies opportunities, and you have a few people who do some aspect of sales, you can track the total value of the opportunity pipeline with a CRM system,” said Anthony Smith, founder of Insightly, a CRM system specifically designed for small businesses. “What you want to look for in a CRM system is one that gives you some great metrics and reporting as you work through the sales pipeline. You want to be able to track communication with your prospects and see where some of your opportunities might drop off. You want to be proactive in communicating with prospects about products and services, and about the value you add to their business.”

Effective communication helps keep you from leaving money on the table. With a CRM system, maintaining that communication and strengthening client relationships is easy even when a staff member is replaced. The new team member can pick up where their predecessor left off and connect with existing contacts without losing any company information.  This reduces “catch-up” time and helps ensure your customer service commitments are honored in a timely manner.

When should you move to a CRM system?

Small businesses of all kinds are taking advantage of the opportunities to grow their business using a CRM system. It’s time to stop leaving money on the table and find a system that spans the entire processes, from lead development right on through to project execution, while enabling process management in one, easy-to-use application.

According to this New York Times article, more small companies than ever before are making the move from managing customer relationships with spreadsheets and email to dedicated CRM solutions. If you have 10, 50 or more customers and find you're outgrowing your spreadsheet, a CRM system can help you stay organized. A CRM system will give you a centralized place for communication, customer management and detailed project updates. Making efficient and effective customer relationship management a priority will help you capture clients—and opportunities—before they slip through the cracks.

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• There are few guarantees in life but I can guarantee you that it will be far more costly to deal with these types of problems after they arise than to take some simple steps to prevent them from occurring in the first place.
• I hope you find this guide useful but please remember that everything in it is general information only and nothing in this guide is legal advice.
• One bit of advice that I will give you is that when it comes to something as important as your business, you should seek expert help in managing risks before they ever become problems.

Managing social media risks: a legal guide for your business

How is Social Media different from traditional media?

Traditional broadcast media is one to many. Social media is one to one and many to many. In social media everyone is a publisher, everything that happens online happens in public, in real time and leaves a permanent trace.  Social media is about people, the clue is in the name.

How do people use Social Media?

Some people don’t understand social media and don’t use it properly. It isn’t a form of one way broadcast: issuing press releases and news items from a Twitter account or Facebook page might get a certain amount of attention but for things to really work in social media there has to be a two way engagement:

• This is the essence of it and the beauty of it. People develop real relationships via social media which can be a very strong bond with your business.
• However this is also the riskiest aspect of it from a business owner’s perspective as it is not something that can be readily controlled as it happens in real time. And because you have real people on both sidse of the interaction, if the person representing your business doesn’t have a clear understanding of what they can and can’t do and what does and doesn’t work, there is potential for serious damage to be done in a very short time.

How not to use Social Media

Let’s looks at one example of how not to use social media: Anthony Wiener, US Congressman and an early user of social media. He had a considerable Twitter following and you would have thought he knew what he was doing on the medium.

For anyone not familiar with Twitter there are basically two ways of sending messages – public or private.

• Mr Wiener took a photo of his groin in a certain state of arousal and sent it via a message on Twitter to a female follower. He meant to send it as a private "Direct Message" but he pressed the wrong button and it went as a public Tweet. The consequences for him were catastrophic.
• His first reaction was a common one on social media, he claimed his account had been hacked. However, overwhelming evidence of the contrary was provided by a huge number of helpful Twitter users and Mr Wiener had to come clean. He ended up resigning and making a tearful apology on American TV.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is an example of someone who should have been familiar with the medium and who was in personal control of his own social media content who made a drastic error of judgement combined with a simple technical mistake – he pressed the wrong button.

I cannot think of a better example to highlight the importance of taking appropriate measures to set clear boundaries, to manage social media use when businesses consider letting others, either inside or outside their business, control social media content which impacts directly on that business’s brand and reputation.

Law is playing catch-up

Users aren’t the only ones who sometimes don’t get social media or use it appropriately. Lawyers and the courts have also been slow to really come up to speed and understand how social media works and what is the most appropriate means of dealing with matters when things go wrong.

What have been referred to as superinjunctions in the UK have shown up how the law has had difficulty in dealing with the problem presented by social media use.

• Superinjunctions in the UK have generally come to refer to the type of injunction taken out in advance of a story being published to prevent it getting out. Here the reasoning goes that if the court application for the injunction itself was reported that would defeat the effect of the injunction and therefore the superinjuction prohibits any report of the fact that it was applied for in the first place.
• But these injunctions sought by lawyers at extraordinary expense have proved, in the case of some individuals, to be a complete waste of money. The injunctions involved are extremely high powered and expensive legal devices, but in these cases were singularly ineffective in achieving the desired result. It seems to be a clear case of not understanding the medium when considering a legal course of action with a view to achieving a desired objective.
• So those familiar with the medium have come spectacularly a cropper on it and even the most well paid lawyers have failed in protecting some individuals from their own folly on social media – so does this mean that you shouldn’t use it for your business, absolutely not.

What you should do is understand the risks associated with the medium and manage those risks effectively.

What are the risks and how do you manage them:

1. Defamation.
2. Employment Law.
3. Privacy and Data Protection.
4. Third party agreements – third party postings and suppliers/outside consultants.

# 1. Defamation

It is a sign of the change in communications that I as a lawyer am writing a general guide for business owners on defamation. Just a few years ago this would have made no sense other than for those in the publishing business. However social media now means that all businesses are publishers.

So let’s take a look at what we’re talking about:- 

In simple terms defamation occurs when a false statement is made about another person that damages their reputation. However it has to be communicated to someone else.

• If you have two people together and one says to the other “you are a liar and a cheat” there is no defamation. There may have been a punch thrown but there won’t be a legal action out of what is said.
• If someone says to someone other than the subject of the statement “that man is a liar and a cheat” now you have the start of defamation. And if someone stands up in front of a room full of 150 people and says “he is a liar and a cheat” well then you really have defamation. Although the first practical rule of defamation proceedings is that the person responsible has to be worth suing in the first place, and I’ll come back to that in a moment.

When we’re standing up in front of a room full of people we’re usually pretty careful about what we say because we feel the glare of the public place.

Posting online can feel a lot less inhibited as Mr Wiener found out to his cost. And defamation does not have to take the blatant form that I have chosen here of calling someone a liar and a cheat, it need just be a statement that is untrue and causes harm to the reputation of another. Defamation can now also be suffered by a company and not just an individual.

So where can it be an issue in social media?

• Posting by you or on your behalf on social media sites: e.g. Twitter/Facebook/blog
• Posting by you or on your behalf on review sites: e.g. Tripadvisor
• Comment posting by third parties on your Facebook page or blog.

How do you manage it?

Understand it!

Make sure everyone posting content on social media about your business understands it. You need to have clear policies in place with employees and contractors to govern content creation and appropriate usage. You also need to have clear policies to govern how postings by third parties are to be managed.

• Have a clear understanding of how to react appropriately when a potential defamation situation arises. Have access to advisers that understand the medium. The critical time in defamation is the period immediately after the statement is made or the item published. Whether the matter ends up in litigation or not may depend on how this is handled.
• The crucial documents in a defamation case are not the complicated pleadings and affidavits when the matter is winding its way through the courts, the crucial items are the statements made and letters sent in the immediate aftermath. They will in all likelihood determine the ultimate outcome.
• How this is managed in the heat of the moment is critical – no amount of lawyers afterwards are going to be able to undo that and any amount of them are going to have an interest not to. And this is not the time to start developing new relationships, this is a time at which you will need someone who you trust and who understands your business and the medium you are working on to help you to prevent this from happening in the first place and to mitigate things as much as possible if it does happen.

Launching the legal Exocet missiles may sound impressive and may be all that some have to offer but unless the objectives to be achieved and the most appropriate means of doing so are clearly understood by all involved, it may, as in the case of the superinjunctions, be utterly counterproductive. Better avoided if possible.

Consequences for business:

• Damages – the largest ever award in an Irish court in defamation was €10M and the publication concerned was merely a press release sent by a private company rather than a publication by a major news outlet.
• Costs – significant unless nipped in the bud. There can be no incentive to minimize costs if there is no long term business relationship with the adviser.
• Impecuniosity of the other side – the target in a defamation case must be a mark – but the party bringing the action need not be – therefore successful businesses are exposed to risk and they cannot hope to recover costs of unsuccessful cases brought by those unable to pay.
• Insurance – check your policy of insurance to see what you are covered for. Some business policies cover it for the more traditional situations such as shop lifting when someone may claim they were defamed when accused of a criminal offence in a public place.

# 2. Employment Law

This is the critical area in which the practical management of your social media content will occur. If this is not managed properly and proactively there really is potential for disaster, but the good news is that it can be managed effectively and relatively easily with a bit of foresight and planning.

Issues:

• Clear agreements with employees setting agreed boundaries.
• Clear policies on content and usage integrated into agreements.
• Practical management of resources.
• Policies to protect against inappropriate behaviour by employees impacting on other employees - acceptable usage.

Clear agreements with employees setting boundaries:

The employment agreement with the employee who is creating social media content needs to address this aspect of the role specifically. It needs to define clearly what is and is not acceptable and consequences that will arise for failure to observe those standards.

• You do not want to have a situation where an employee runs amok online and you are left with both damage to your business and no clear remedy against your employee.
• When a problem arises is not the time to start thinking about how you might deal with the situation. Set the ground rules in advance and incorporate them into the contractual relationship to prevent this happening in the first place.

Policies on content and usage:

Your contract of employment is only going to be able to deal with things at a general level. The internal policies which govern your content creation are really going to define the nuts and bolts of what can and can’t be done. The policies need to be in clear straightforward language and tailored for the organisation. Cutting and pasting something is only going to be of limited value because it probably is not even going to be read.

The policy document needs to be one that your organisation really takes ownership of and reflects what actually goes on. Ideally it should be prepared in-house with some guidance and advice to ensure it covers all the necessary aspects. Some piece of legal boilerplate that no one understands or ever refers to is practically pointless. If anything does ever arise you are going to want to be able to refer to something that was actually used in practice.

Practical management of resources:

This is perhaps the most important common sense aspect – make sure you have control over your own social media. This does not mean you micro manage every aspect, precisely the point of everything we are talking about here is that you can’t and you shouldn’t. But you should have control over the infrastructure.

• You need to control what accounts are opened for your business and make sure that they are associated with your profile and that you are the administrator.
• On sites like Facebook a great deal of value can reside in the profile, i.e. the number of likes to a page or friends to an individual. If the practice evolves where the employee sets up the account and then leaves, this can cause enormous problems. If they leave in acrimonious circumstances these problems can be insurmountable.

We all know how inflexible Facebook is and how difficult/impossible it is to get any satisfaction from complaints. Therefore you must make sure you’ve got a handle on this. Again it should all form part of a coherent written resources policy.

Acceptable usage policy:

One aspect of your policy document is to provide a structure on your relationship with your employees, but how your employees conduct themselves towards one another is equally important and acceptable usage is an important part of this. The classic example of what needs to be covered here is the accessing and circulation of inappropriate content in the workplace. Failure to provide the appropriate structure may leave you liable; not to the employee responsible but from others in the organisation who are exposed to that employee’s unacceptable behaviour.

# 3. Privacy/Data Protection

This area warrants its own entirely separate guide (check back here soon) but you need to have it covered. Customer contacts and other details that you may be gathering for marketing purposes are personal data and have to be handled in accordance with the strict statutory regime. You must have a clear written policy in this area and it must be understood and followed. Particular care must be taken when data is being transferred abroad.

# 4. Third party agreements/Intellectual property

Again this subject warrants a whole guide in its own right but it is one to bear in mind when dealing with outside consultants. Similar considerations to employees arise in relation to securing control of the set up so that you are not held to ransom or left high and dry if there is a parting of the ways.

In the case of external consultants there is the additional issue of ensuring that you secure the intellectual property rights (copyright etc.) in anything created by them and this should be covered by the consultancy agreement. Anything created by employees will be deemed to belong to the employer’s business unless there is agreement to the contrary but this should be covered by the employment agreement in any event.

Final Thoughts

The one big takeaway from all of this is that while there are issues associated with effective implementation of social media that is no reason not to do it. You need to identify the risks and manage them to acceptable levels with effective systems. However, if this isn’t done in advance the potential for largely avoidable problems does exist.

Don’t let the first time you take the right legal advice be when you first encounter a problem as by that time it may well be far too late.

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Here are four trends shaping the world of sales today:

# 1. Mobile technology

This includes the use of smartphones, PDAs, laptops and tablets. The overwhelming popularity of these devices continues to play a significant role in office environments. Smartphones and tablets provide sales teams an on-the-go access to communication platforms such as email, internet scheduling and calendars.

Many mobile business applications allow salespeople to make presentations, streamline social collaboration between team members and prepare invoices. In addition, mobile technologies also allow salespeople to work from anywhere and have become an extension of the office environment.

The technology enhances how salespeople interact with clients. Because most interactions between salespeople and their clients are based on visual presentations, mobile devices such smartphones and tablets allow salespeople to create multi-dimensional presentations to drive home a selling point.

# 2. Big data analysis

Many big companies conduct data analysis in order to respond and adapt to changing market conditions more quickly and make highly data driven decisions. This analysis involves identifying each step in their business processes and client attitudes towards the processes. Big data analysis allows companies to track changes in the market, serve their customers better and more efficiently and bring to the surface sales process inefficiencies so that suitable changes can be made proactively instead of retroactively.

Access to actionable data is at the forefront of business intelligence and when we are adding 2.5 quintillion bytes of data to the information age database every day, it should come as no surprise that innovators in the software industry are rushing to provide small businesses with cloud-based tools that provide access to same analytical insights and reporting as big companies have.

# 3. Cloud technology

With the invention of Cloud technology, sales teams can now access various software packages without having to install them in their desktops, laptops or tablets. The types of business applications that can be accessed through the cloud include accounting software for business, business intelligence tools and project management applications, just to name a few.

Not only has the cloud proven to be a flexible format for securely creating, managing, and sharing information across multiple platforms and devices, the technology is also proving to be a lot less carbon intensive for businesses than maintaining the same types of data services they provide in-house.

# 4. Social media

Social media has made it easier for sales teams to communicate more effectively with consumers. A company Facebook page can help your team maintain constant communication, respond to client and reader comments, assess feedback on company brand and spread awareness of new products or services as well as build trust and relationships.

Social networking has also provided an easy means of advertising and marketing. Many social networking sites provide tools that salespeople can use to keep track of the number of visitors and their demographic area allowing you and your team to easily assess the popularity of their products and services and the demographic characteristics of the consumers who use your products or services.

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There is what you want to be and then there is what you have to be. One of my clients knows he would be a great chairman but his business isn't ready yet for him to step away from actively leading his company through its current growth stage. Another client tells me he hates doing his administrative tasks but there isn't enough money to hire a much needed administrative assistant. Just these two stories are typical of so many small business owners who are using the CEO Mindset but have limitations regarding just how much they can act as the leaders and strategists they know they truly are.

Before we go any further, what is a CEO?

The role of CEO and small business owner parallel each other quite a bit. They both are responsible for:

• Setting the vision and tone of the whole company
• Designing the strategy of how the business will develop over time
• Seeking talent through hiring, outsourcing or collaborating with complementary professionals
• Keeping self and others accountable to the stated business goals
• Knowing "cash is king' and keeping revenues are stable, growing and making a profit

As we take a closer look, it is clear that a CEO and a small business owner are more synonymous than we give them credit for.

Related post: What is a "Real" Business Owner Part 2

Signs when your small business isn't ready for you to be CEO

In your head and heart, it is time for a more sophisticated role. However, there are warning signs to signal when to stay put in your current role.

You are feeling uncertain about how to be leader and manager for your business' next stage

Your company, even when you are a sole trader, depends on your ability to manage yourself -- monitoring your own emotional responses, developing confidence in your own authority, communicating effectively while integrating your work and personal life.

Inconsistent or lack of detailed knowledge of the company's financials

This topic alone could be a stand-alone blog post but, simply put, a lack of a stable foundation, a shortfall of expected earnings or poor accounting can stifle business growth and keep you from stepping into the role of managing director.

There is no clear written plan shared with others

Your small business will never be ready for you to be the CEO if the plan is in your head. Without a clearly communicated and written plan shared with your staff, it is hard for you to focus on business development, attracting investors or increasing visibility through networking, speaking engagements or conferences and trade shows.

Lack of personnel

Sole traders already know that if they don't do the work, it doesn't get done. In addition, there are microenterprises that need everyone to do the work of product/ service development, marketing, customer service, administrative tasks and more. Controlling the pace of growth and weighing the quality of current opportunities will support a positive workplace and avoid adversely affecting stress levels.

If you are noticing these signs, it is time to stop, regroup and review. There are times when a small business must focus on the basics to stay viable while, at other times, there must be careful management to avoid growing too fast without the right supports in place. The review (which could include a SWOT analysis) spells out the current state of the business and what needs attention.

Related post: 10 Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail

When what you want to be and what you have to be are at odds

For many small businesses, there can be a combination of difficult external and internal circumstances slowing or stopping business growth. It is not unusual for small business owners to find themselves chafing at the thought that "this business could be so much more if I could (fill in the blank)" instead of ploughing through the everyday must-do's. With some pragmatism, grit and perseverance, you can prepare your small business for the time when you can be CEO.

6 ways to prepare your business

# 1. Learn to manage yourself

Regardless if you are trying to stay afloat, rebuild your business or shepherd a big growth phase, the way you manage the emotional side of your business is a key factor. Not handling your stress level well can hurt your ability to analyse information, make decisions and act effectively. This also includes using good (and personalised) time management skills and avoiding procrastination.

# 2. Develop an informal or formal group of advisors

You can make yourself crazy going round and round trying to analyse choices, particularly when you don't like any of your options. A formal or informal advisory group can help expand any possible tunnel vision, refer you to other resources or keep your spirits up.

# 3. Use a living business plan

Review your business plan on a quarterly or even month-to-month basis so you see developing problems earlier, identify the strengths of the business and make more pinpoint adaptations as needed.

# 4. Keep track of finances

When things are tight or in flux, it becomes more important to review where the revenue is coming from as well as the expenses. This includes tax planning, establishing (or maintaining) reserve capital and a line of credit.

# 5. Learn from more experienced business owners/ executives and develop new skills/ knowledge

While this might refer back to my recommendation regarding advisors, advice can come from veteran business people when you least expect it. Read books, listen to podcasts, watch videos or attend free or low-cost classes to fill in your skill gaps.

# 6. Identify what staffing needs you have and what you want them to do

Before you jump into the "I need to hire someone", write down what you want this person to do, skills needed for the position and the ideal type of personality. It will help pre-qualify the type of talent that would fit in your small business. On the other hand, you might discover you already have the best candidate on staff and can delegate the work straightaway. The written exercise helps clarify what you are thinking as well as what you want.

It isn't the end if your business isn't ready for you to be CEO

As one of my clients is learning, you might be able to start separating yourself from being the number one subject matter expert but you may need to do it in stages. He gives some responsibilities to staff members, takes secondary roles on teams and advises project managers. He finds himself straddling the CEO role and the subject matter expert role as his business launches a product. He can see the projections that say this launch will be a winner but he still has to take things one day at at a time.

There are a myriad of reasons why your business may not be ready for you to be CEO.  It may even feel frustrating or worrisome but it is not forever. It is an opportunity to get those ducks in a row. Prepare yourself and your business so, when you do become CEO, it is smooth and logical.

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First, you need to find a publisher

There are two options for you to consider.

# 1. Free publishing platforms

If you have a limited budget and you’re a DIY-er who likes a challenge, this is the option for you. With these platforms, you’re in charge of every aspect of the process. You decide how big your book will be and you can also choose from a gallery of book covers. When you register your book, the website will give you an ISBN Number, which you need in order to sell your book. They will also make your book available to all types of e-readers – Kindle, Nook, Kobo etc. The most common ones are CreateSpace, Lulu and Smashwords.

# 2. Self-Publishing packages

For some people, the thought of organising every aspect of a book is daunting. It also takes a lot of time. If you want to save time and produce a book that looks slick and professional, there are lots of companies offering self-publishing packages.These companies may be local printers, or companies that specialise in offering services to self-published authors.

They will design a cover, edit the book, lay it out and make it available for e-readers. With those companies, you’ll usually have to order your own ISBNs. ISBNs are numbers assigned to books which are used to process sales. You need them to register your book with Amazon and other book retail sites. You're given 10 ISBNs' there's no option to just have one. But it does mean you'll have ISBNs to spare for future editions of your book, as well as print editions.

With both of these options, you can also produce hard-copy books for people who prefer dead trees. The free platforms offer books on a print on demand basis, while the self-publishing companies may do a limited print run.

Now to find an audience

If your book is good enough, it will gather its own momentum and gather an audience. Your job as an author is to make it as easy as possible for that audience to find you. When it comes to spreading the word about your book, social media is your friend. Here are a few ways for you to harness that tool.

Blog tours

A blog tour is a virtual book tour. Over a period of one or two weeks, you get your fellow bloggers to feature your book. They can interview you or review the book; it’s their choice. There are two options for finding bloggers. Some bloggers dedicate themselves to reviewing books and you make a submission to them if you want them to review you, much like traditional media reviewers. Or you can get people in our network who you know have an interest in your book to join your blog tour.

Social media for book lovers

There are websites that allow you to post up a small sample of your work to when the reader’s appetite. The most reputable of these is Scribd. People can comment and share the work using Facebook, Twitter etc. Goodreads is a haven for book lovers. Get your book listed on that and your followers can review the books and pass the word around among their friends.

Social media profiles

Create a profile for your book on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, just as you would for your business. Use them to give away copies of your book, or just give tantalising hints of what to come. Share the process you used for creating the book. Let people know what you’re doing to promote it. And last but not least, put up pictures of the cover and of events that you’ve organised to promote the book.

Now all that’s left to say is good luck.

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Being an avid reader and writer myself I feel the contradiction that I still love reading good, old fashioned paperbacks but writing for sites online. Plus with a book inside me (as they say) just waiting to be written I, of course, am really interested in the way book publishing is going these days as I'm sure my first book will be an eBook. So I wanted to find out more about the background behind ePubdirect.com and the way it works plus learn more about Patrick Crowley himself.

Can you tell me simply what ePubDirect.com actually does?

In two words: Ebook distribution. ePubDirect is an award-winning eBook Distribution service providing global digital publishing solutions direct to publishers. Our powerful business intelligence tools and outstanding customer service deliver real results for our customers.

What was your background before joining ePubDirect.com?

Spent a year in an Irish IT firm after college and then did my year out travelling. Went to Korea, teaching English (of all the things to do) – which was a very strange experience. When I came back I spent 7 years in an Irish trade publishing company, working my way up to Sales & Marketing Manager. During that time I completed my Masters in Marketing, studying 2 years part time, and achieved significant growth in the areas of brand development, business development, strategic planning and online marketing.

Tell me what your average week involves as the Digital Content Marketing Manager?

I am responsible for managing the relationships between eBook retailers and ePubDirect’s client publishers. Spending most of my time on metadata, discoverability and inbound marketing, I collaborate with supply chain partners (mostly publishers and retailers) to maximise commercial opportunities. My focus is working with our client publishers to help them grow their sales and I spend most of my week dealing with people, which I enjoy.

We tend to have regular meetings every week and these are usually front loaded towards the start of the week, so everyone is clear on the immediate priorities. We are smallish team and it’s important everyone is aware of what other departments are working on.

Lately I have been spending a lot of time working with onboarding new sales channels like eChristian, Chegg, Valobox, EBSCO, Zola and eBrary. We have a vast distribution network of over 1,000 retailers and 25,000 libraries and we are constantly looking to expand this to help our publishers grow their sales.

However, we recognise that it’s not just about reach any more, and we understand that what has become crucial for publishers is maximising sales through each channel and providing visibility on eBook performance. This enables them to make business decisions around inventory, pricing, sales channels and ROI – delivering real return for the publisher. So, I spend a lot of time working with publishers on ‘eBook Insights’, our eBook analytics platform, which helps publishers increase their sales.

What do you think stands out about ePubDirect.com compared to any competitors?

Cheaper, Faster, Better. Leveraging the best technology will give publishers significant competitive advantage in the eBook market, which is why publishers choose ePubDirect. Our platform and suite of solutions was built from the ground up to maximise the online opportunities. This is exclusively what we do.

We love books, we are passionate about what we do and we listen closely to the needs of our customers. Unlike our competitors, we work in partnership with our customers, using our expertise and digital savvy to give our customers real return that will ultimately increase their bottom line. Our success is based on our customers’ success!

What is the export strategy for ePubDirect.com – presuming technology makes it simple to work worldwide?

ePubDirect was set up to connect publishers to a global community of readers, driven by our own passion for books and technology. A mission, we decided, that would depend on simplicity to succeed. Our culture is rooted in the belief that technology is an enabler, not an end in itself.

Our business is managing eBook distribution and sales, making it as easy for publishers as possible, enabling the pursuit of global opportunities that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. We were recently awarded a Supply Chain Excellence award for being best in class for business efficiency, customer service, environmental concern and innovation in supply chain management, but all publishers need to know about the sophistication of our systems is that they will take their titles to the world, simply, quickly and cost-effectively.

You’ve partnered with Random House – how did that come about and what does it mean for ePubDirect.com?

Well, the growing challenges around visibility in global digital asset distribution is pushing publishers of all sizes to seek out a partner to enable greater control in this capability and the Random House deal demonstrates the companies shared view of the importance of a fast and flexible digital supply chain, facilitating consistent and up-to-date information. We were absolutely delighted to be selected by The Random House Group for this partnership and it is a real endorsement of our service offering.

Do you still see a future for the good, old fashioned paperbacks?

Absolutely! eBooks are thought to be about 20-30% of the book market at the moment and some can see it climbing towards 50% in some cases, but I believe there will always be a place for the ‘good, old fashioned paperbacks’ as you call them. Some people still really love the look and feel of a book, the smell of it and the way it looks on a bookshelf, so I don’t see it disappearing, but eBooks will become an increasingly significant part of the publishing business as consumers attitudes and behaviours change.

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• Is this company legit?
• Does it work as advertised?
• Will I get my money’s worth?
• What if I am unhappy with my purchase?

These and others oftentimes prevent a client from buying, or at least delay the decision-making. The good news is that there are a number of simple but proven risk removal techniques that, when implemented correctly, may have an immediate and dramatic effect on your online sales.

Five risk removal strategies that apply to almost any web-based business:

# 1. Try before you buy (shareware model)

Shareware, as the Wikipedia definition goes, is proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis.  By letting people download and try the software before buying it, the shareware industry was able to successfully compete with large companies who already had recognized distribution networks, sizable marketing budgets and established reputation. Even one-man operations, like Eugene Roshal’s WinRar, were able to reach the audience of hundreds of millions of end-users by employing this simple strategy.

# 2. Use the freemium model

As SaaS (software-as-a-service) grew more and more popular, the freemium model became what shareware used to be. In some ways, both models are similar – you get to try the software before committing to a purchase.

However, with freemium services, the basic plan is free for life. It is an important distinction because this lets free clients get “addicted” to the service, which eventually increases conversion rate. Typically, 2% - 4% of those who sign up for free plans end up becoming paying clients.

Second, if your basic (free) plan is as good, if not better, as most paid options available in the market, you can become a leader even in a mature market as quickly as a single year. See Bitrix24, Asana or Hootsuite for inspiration.

# 3. Let customers pay only if they like your work

If you need a new business name, domain or slogan, services like PickyDomains.com offer a convenient solution. You place your order, start getting suggestions and pay (anywhere from $50 to $150 depending on the service you need) only if you decide to use one of them.

99Designs offers similar terms for design projects. Of course, neither money-back guarantees nor spec works are new inventions. However, in “creative” niches like naming and design where the risk to pay a lot of money but end up with work you don’t like and can’t use is quite high, this risk removal approach allows you to stand out in the crowd.

# 4. Guarantee results where others can’t

There are several business niches where there is simply no way to guarantee results, like public relations, for example. 99% of PR agencies will be happy to take your money, but the first thing they’ll tell you is that results aren’t guaranteed. This is what makes companies like PublicityGuaranteed.com or LondonPRAgency.com stand out. They bill their clients only for articles that come out in the press or are published online.

By doing this, they are taking the risks from their clients onto themselves, which in itself is quite risky as they might end up doing lots of work for no pay. If this is the path you choose, make sure to take only clients you are 100% sure are worthy of your time.

# 5. Let the client set the price

When the writing load became too much to effectively accomplish alone, a good friend of mine tried two services to find freelance writers – Elance and oDesk. The sites are pretty much identical, except for one thing: Elance has a $25 assignment minimum. With oDesk, however, he could set his price to as low as $5. As a result, he created a lot of small $5 writing assignments, and from those that submitted paid trial articles, he selected those writers whose work he liked best.

To this day, he has spent over $3,000 on various projects via oDesk. His Elance total stands at $50 even though the site’s writers are probably as good as oDesk’s.

There are a number of web businesses where the “name your own price” model plays a big role in their success, like Priceline, for example. A big part of the popularity of AdWords lies in the fact that each client decides how much to bid on a particular word for the sole reason that they alone know how much it’s worth for their businesses.

Conclusion

There are other risk removal techniques out there. Some may better fit your business than others. If you think it’s worth your time, Google “prospect theory,” “loss aversion” or “Daniel Kahnemann” to get scientific explanations to why avoiding risks is hardwired in the human psyche, and to get more ideas on how to integrate risk removal into your marketing campaigns.

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One of the reasons that goes down in the favour of banning adjectives in copyrighting is that they may often sound misleading. Rather than picking up the right form of adjectives that will go on to make your copy a more persuasive one, a wrong choice in adjectives not only makes your copy sound misleading but it can also go against you with disappointed readers losing attention and tuning out.

Now the question is how do you actually decide when you’re using the right adjectives or the wrong ones? Also, if you don’t know how many should you be using, how can you improve? In this article, we shall explore the techniques that help you get hold of perfect adjectives and how you can use them with confidence.

How to use Adjectives in your Marketing Copy

Before we begin, it’s important to say that no dictionary in this world can tell you the most ideal adjectives to be used. They cannot tell you how to choose the most promising adjectives. However, there are a few rules that can help you find out the secret behind writing an engaging and persuasive sales copy – minus the annoying adjectives!

Why aim at an adjectives-free copy?

You can leave adjectives out of your copy and that is going to make your copy shorter and easier to read. This means people can read it faster, get the highlights and grab the idea easily. However, if you’re trying to paint a beautiful picture with words (words being your only forté) then use of ‘logical’ adjectives only, seems justified. When it comes to writing down vital instructions, you must ensure that the guidance in the form of text is simple, clear, to-the-point and also far more easy to follow.

So, what should you do? Here are a few useful guidelines to help you prepare copy that incorporates the best use of adjectives.

#1 . Avoid use of hollow adjectives

Placement of long and not-so-fitting adjectives is going to make your copy look cumbersome. Since they also make your sentences look longer than they should actually be, readers are forced to put in more effort – it doesn’t go in your favour. Use of flowery words will also make your copy appear less genuine and more insincere. Use of redundant adjectives is never useful for reading.

# 2. Consider using specific adjectives to persuade readers

Use of specific or concrete adjectives is a far safer choice to make. They do not just improve your marketing copy in terms of it's credibility but they also help you address technical details in the most effective way. Use of these type of adjectives is also going to avoid any confusion with the ‘idea’ that a typical sentence in your marketing copy shall carry.

Remember, your sales copy should focus on explaining the ‘real benefits’ of the details mentioned. For example, your customer will be more interested in reading about the pain that your product can heal and how they can use it, rather than the handful of "feelings" they may possibly have. Be simple and straightforward which means use of fewer adjectives, placed only wherever required.

# 3. Engage readers with your emotion-rich adjectives

Emotion-rich adjectives are a better choice when it comes to making your marketing copy sound sincere and genuine. Such adjectives can appeal to anger, nostalgia, enjoyment, fear and so on. For example, when you come across phrases like ‘contact us for an instant courteous refund’ you’re actually indicating that customers are important. Now even if the word refund doesn’t go well with the adjective courteous, it still lets you sound like a brand that cares! Your company gives your customers an assurance and a warm feeling with respect to your brand.

Lastly, use of sensory adjectives like ‘fizzy’, ‘refreshing’ and ‘stuffy’ in your marketing copy will let your customers feel the way you are suggesting.  Those adjectives ensure that the abstract ideas you’re trying to place are far more impactful, effective and remain intact in the memories of your readers (or rather the customers).

So, we mean you CAN use adjectives in your copy but with a little care!

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More than half of the Fortune 500 companies are using offshore companies to their advantage. Unfortunately, a lot of press around this topic is related to government authorities fighting tax evasion practices but this shouldn’t discourage someone from thinking big – going global.

Going Global: Why would you want to register an offshore company?

The benefits of going offshore are simple:

• legitimately lower tax burden
• better asset protection
• and/or greater confidentiality

Keep in mind that tax savings strategies can come entirely from legal methods of reducing one’s tax burden. The illegal methods, known as ‘tax evasion’, have become ineffective in recent years, as tax authorities around the world and the OECD have worked to crack down on evaders.

Using an experienced corporate service firm can help avoid any issues as they will know the procedures and due diligence requirements to ensure that all legal obligations are met in your home country and the offshore jurisdiction.

What about 'tax havens'?

‘Tax haven’ has never been a legal term. It’s a colloquial term referring to jurisdictions that have gained a reputation as top destinations for setting up an offshore company and international bank accounts.

The labeling of jurisdictions as ‘tax havens’ almost seems arbitrary, as the Cayman Islands and Switzerland are repeatedly slandered with the term, while equally favorable jurisdictions like Dubai don’t receive the same attention. The term is falling out of favour, but in general, the term is used to refer to jurisdictions that offer low, or no tax.

Which country offers the best benefits for registering an offshore company?

This question has multiple answers and really depends on an individual’s situation and company’s business objectives. However, the most appealing destinations tend to be in Asia/Middle East, with Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong being some of the most popular choices for entrepreneurs who are going global to expand their business.

Great business environments, competitive tax rates, startup incentives, and top-notch infrastructure all contribute to these three jurisdictions being an excellent choice for someone wishing to go global with their business.

Why do governments allow offshore companies to be incorporated in their jurisdiction?

Short answer: it’s good for business and their economy.

• Offshore companies are a great source of foreign investment, bringing large amounts of foreign income into the country. The capital brought in allows for improved infrastructure, which stimulates the economy and creates jobs.
• It’s for these reasons that governments work to implement double taxation treaties to directly support offshore company registration. Even the US government, which has stated a desire to curb offshore investment, has over 60 double taxation treaties in place.

Are offshore companies used for illegal purposes?

If an entrepreneur was intent on lowering their tax burden by illegal means (hiding assets), it is definitely possible. However, the majority of offshore companies are used for legal purposes as they can still be beneficial without the risk or hassle.

Is owning an offshore company illegal?

There is nothing illegal about owning an offshore company. Owning shares in a local company is no different than owning shares in an offshore company. While some governments tax transfer of capital to offshore locations, effective tax planning can make this negligible compared to the benefits of the offshore investment.

Is there more than one type of offshore company?

Several jurisdictions have their own names for this type of company.

For example, they are called International Business Companies (IBC) in the Seychelles. Non-resident companies, special license companies and business companies are all commonly used names as well. They all share the same key qualities: they are their own entities, capable of having assets and receiving income.

Going global is not a decision to be taken lightly.  Registering a company in an overseas jurisdiction and opening an international bank account can be done easy enough but it should be researched to determine if it is the ideal strategy to meet business objectives such as expanding to foreign jurisdictions, improving efficiency of international operations, asset protection and more.

Engaging the services of an experienced agent has the advantage of using their knowledge and experience of offshore markets, international tax and company laws to help prevent issues arising. It also helps make the process of going global a smooth one and ultimately a long-term one.

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