Successful Blog

What Every Small Business Needs In Their Toolkit

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The Lifeblood of American Economy

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Statistics provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration organization indicate that small businesses in the U.S. make up a staggering 99.7% of all employer firms. The almost 30 million companies of this size provide employment to half of all private sector employees, generating 44% of the total U.S. private payroll in the process. With statistics like these, it’s clear why small businesses are said to be the lifeblood of the American economy.

Despite their contributions to the economy, the sad truth is that a high percentage of small businesses will fail in the first five years of trading, if not the first. Industry professionals have long since speculated on the reasons why this happens with suggestions like insufficient capital, poor credit arrangements and unexpected growth commonplace. If you are just starting out, you’ll be keen to ensure that your venture doesn’t become a statistic. Let’s take a look at three tools the small business owner can call upon to bolster chances of success.

1. Social Networking

A social media presence is of utmost importance to business. A third of respondents to a survey of SMB owners conducted by Zoomerang and GrowBizMedia plan to use social media as a primary means of attracting new customers in 2012. Business Insider puts that figure at more like 75%. Whichever statistic you think is closer to the truth, there’s no getting away from the fact that 98% of the U.S. online audience use social networking. That’s a considerable audience for any small business owner. If you’re wondering where to start, consider these:

Facebook is undoubtedly the leader of the social network pack. With a user base that is rapidly approaching one billion members worldwide, it represents an excellent place to start your venture into social networking for business. It’s free to join and the new Timeline style pages make it easier than ever for businesses to connect directly to customers. Once a user likes your page, any content you post will appear directly in their newsfeed, where they are between 40 and 150 times more likely to consume your targeted branded content.

LinkedIn boasts over 50 million members in the U.S alone. A social networking platform aimed at promoting networks and connections, it is an excellent resource for business. The site also represents an excellent opportunity to find new talent. The Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2011 found that 94% who recruit through social networking have successfully hired via the LinkedIn platform. It’s an interesting and viable alternative to using costly recruitment agencies.

Twitter should also be considered. Don’t be put off by the 140 character limit of tweets. Think of it as an opportunity to show your creative side. Blackbox Social Media reports that 67% of people on Twitter follow a brand in comparison to just over 50% on Facebook. If nothing else, Twitter represents a chance for you to promote your business by linking to your other more detailed content.

Cyberlawcentre image: Licensed under Creative Commons for commercial reuse.

2. Cloud Computing

Cloud computing essentially refers to services such as office applications that are delivered over the Internet. In a report commissioned in February 2012, Microsoft reported that a quarter of companies with between two and ten employees are currently using paid cloud services. This figure is expected to triple to 76% within the next three years.

Cloud computing presents a number of attractive benefits to small businesses:

  1. Cost savings on business applications: traditional technology applications and platforms can be costly and complicated for small businesses to adopt and maintain. With cloud computing, there is no need to allocate capital to expenditure to business applications. Services such as Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps are sold on demand, typically by user. Prices do vary but a few dollars per user per month are typical. Google Apps affords organizations with less than ten users with access to their services for free.
  2. Cost savings on IT infrastructure: the very concept of cloud services mean that business is conducted in the cloud. There is no need for the small business owner to invest in costly dedicated servers, since all of your data will be stored securely on the cloud network. The removal of the need to store employee email in-house can alone represent significant savings in terms of disk storage space on a server.
  3. Collaboration: data stored using this technology remains in the cloud. All of your employees access the same documents and have visibility of any changes immediately. This can significantly reduce mistakes brought about by outdated information and, in turn, improve the service you are able to offer to your customers.

3. Professional Membership

Last, but by no means least, comes membership to a professional organization aimed at helping small business weather the economic climate and succeed. In the U.S. there are many of these organizations so it’s worth devoting some time into researching which of them are best suited to your business. The following organizations are worth checking out.

– U.S. Small Business Administration (http://www.sba.gov)

– National Small Business Association (http://www.nsba.biz/)

– U.S. Chamber of Commerce (http://www.uschamber.com/)

– U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (http://usasbe.org/)

– National Association for the Self-Employed (http://www.nase.org/BenefitsHome.aspx)

– Small Business Benefit Association (http://www.sbba.com/)

– America’s Best Companies (http://www.americasbestcompanies.com/)

Adopting these various tools may not serve as a guarantee that your small business will succeed, but they will certainly go a long way towards helping you avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

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Author’s Bio:
Linda Forshaw is a Business Information Systems graduate from Liverpool in the United Kingdom. She is a full-time writer and published author who writes for several sites including Degree Jungle (http://www.degreejungle.com/rankings/best-online-colleges) specializes in social media, technology and entrepreneurship. You can find her on Twitter @seelindaplay

Thank you, Linda!

You’re irresistible!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Reasons I like Successful-blog.com and what Other Bloggers need to learn from Liz

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It may look like that I am trying to butter up Liz, but honestly, that’s not the reason I am writing this post. I felt like writing on this topic yesterday; when I was doing some research for one of my clients that required surfing through the blogosphere. After some hours of surfing, I felt utterly and totally aghast by the amount of SE optimization and monetization going on at these blogs. There was an insane focus on the keywords, and some evidently desperate attempts at cashing in on each and every visitor who lands at the blog. The thing is, I’ve always preferred blogs over any other type of websites when it comes to reading, mainly because the quality of content, the variety, and most importantly the personal touch even if it is biased, but sadly, all of these characteristics are vanishing, and blogosphere is getting tainted by all sorts of malpractices.

Thankfully, there are some veteran bloggers like Liz who have managed to avoid being a part of this frenzy. Their blogs continue to educate and at times entertain the readers, instead of serving as bait for people searching at Google, to lure them into clicking on one of those ads.

Following are some reasons why I like Liz blog. Remember that I might be an average writer, but I am a hell of a reader, and if this blog has managed to make me come back and go through the posts every once in a while, there must be something right about this blog and its content. In other words, this post is not just a flatter; I am writing this while hoping that some other bloggers will also go through these points and opt to change their priorities.

Posts are not influenced and drenched with keywords:

One of the worst outcomes of bloggers getting aware of the SE optimization is the obsession with the keywords. I have seen reasonable bloggers turning their blog into a spam fest by trying to write posts targeting some keywords or key phrase. That’s certainly not the case with successful-blog, where the posts are not heavily infused with keywords. A big majority of posts were jotted down solely because the writers (Liz, in particular) felt like writing on the topic, and that is what a blogger should be doing.

Something to take home:

When the bloggers write on a topic that’s close to their heart, chances are that the readers will be able to relate, and there will find many points to take home. A big majority of bloggers are writing on topics which are in demand, even if they don’t know jack about it, or even when they have nothing to add. As a result, the readers can’t help but feel dismayed after reading the posts, which are more like a hodgepodge.

Lessons for All and Sundry:

The blog doesn’t cater to a particular niche, the lessons in most of these posts at successful-blog.com are meant for everybody, from students to Internet Marketers, and small business owners to social media experts. If you are looking to be more successful, and a little more productive, in almost any walk of life, you will surely find a lot of doable advice that actually works. The

No emphasis on Making Money:

How many popular blogs do you see nowadays with the posts having no ads whatsoever? I have seen many bloggers starting with a good intention, developing a thriving community and then losing the plot altogether, and deciding that helping out others is not enough. What follows is a drastic makeover, with the blog transforming from a helpful resource to a money-making machine. It’s quite the opposite at successful-blog.com, so much that sometimes I feel that Liz is letting go some easy bucks by not monetizing it sufficiently well, but maybe that’s the reason this Blog continues to stay unpolluted, serving as one of the very few resorts for a quality-content starved readers like me.

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Is Your Business Pinched at the Pumps?

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It isn’t just the everyday consumer that still gets anxious when they pull up to the gas pump these days.

Since reaching $3.94 a gallon in early April, the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas has dropped to $3.75 as of early May, according to the AAA national motorists club. Despite prices heading in the right direction, many motorists are still bleeding at the pumps each time they fill up.

That issue also holds true for many small businesses that rely on one mode of transportation or another to remain in business. Whether it is transporting goods, going out on service calls, or having employees like salespeople meet in person with current and potential clients, a large number of companies are seeking ways to trim their gas expenses.

Businesses That Have to Deliver the Goods Feeling the Pain

Some small business owners most feeling the pinch are those such as florists, eateries, cleaning services and more that have to deliver products and services in order to remain profitable. While it might have cost $100 or so for weekly deliveries only a few months back, that expense has easily increased to double or triple that for many businesses across the country.

If high gas prices seem to be more common than rare, that is because both consumers and businesses have had to deal with them more often the last couple of decades.

It was just as recent as 2008, when the cost for a gallon of regular gas ballooned to a national average of $4.11. Even though the recent AAA report indicates prices have been dropping, the summer driving season is right around the corner, meaning they could just as easily rise as quickly as the summer heat.

If your small business has been feeling the pain of the prices at the pump, there are ways to bring the costs down and still meet the needs of your customers. Practices to think about for your business plans include:

  • Trimming delivery services for a period of time;
  • Requiring employees operating company vehicles to not take them home for the remainder of the day once their shift has ended. Installing GPS systems on the vehicles if they do not already have them is a great way to track how far the vehicle has been driven;
  • Making additional deliveries during a stretch of time in concentrated areas instead of several trips out;
  • Shopping around where your business is located for the best prices at the pump. A number of Web sites provide weekly and even daily information on which gas stations have the best deals available;
  • Taking some time to rethink how you do business. Do you really need to make all those deliveries and service calls or can more things be done online in order to cut fuel costs;
  • Consider providing your customers with deals in return for not having to make deliveries. If you run a floral shop as an example, instead of having to make a large amount of deliveries, provide customers willing to come to the shop to pick up flowers with coupons that they can redeem during an upcoming purchase.

As politicians and the oil companies blame one another for high oil prices, it is the consumer, including the business owner that gets caught in the middle.

Photo credit: app.com

Dave Thomas, who writes on subjects such as office equipment and supplies, writes extensively for San Diego-based Business.com.

5 Ways to Promote Your Blog Offline

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by Jen Thames

Marketing and Communication

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Between tweeting and booking and blogging and pinning who has time to think about offline marketing? Offline what?:)

People at the end of the day are people. According to psychologists nonverbal communication makes up nearly 2/3 of the communications that build relationships between people. At the end of the day we are humans and things like posture, dress, voice quality and eye contact build trust and clout.

Simply put, these are the things that build 2/3 of the difference between friends, acquaintances and strangers. Now, some of us are stranger than others, and blogging is just such a great place to hide! However, getting the body beautiful out into public and cementing those online relationships in person is something most “successful” bloggers have done. Why not try it?

Wonderful, so where is the best place to market a blog offline? All those expensive “social media” conferences come to mind but actually some of the most successful offline marketing starts right in your own back yard (maybe not literally).

Traditional brand marketing can have some distinct advantages for bloggers and it’s a marketing area that is too often ignored by the web-connected. Here are 5 ways and reasons to promote your blog offline.

  1. Come up with a locals list, then sponsor a picnic, coffee break meeting or some other fun, low key, low cost, no commitment needed, drop by and meet humans event for all your local online contacts. A surprising amount of people will show up. They will likely bring other people with them too. Your online connections already like and “know” you. This is just an opportunity to deepen those relationships and build new ones. A prize drawing for a Doc Martin bobble head doll never hurts to boost attendance.While getting acquainted with people ask about what else they do online and then offer to follow their blog or online business. Make the most out of the event by linking up with smart phones in hand. Above all have a good time.
  2. Look into promotional advertising products. Promotional gifts for businesses have been around for a long time and with good reason. These are items that can carry your logo and message to the grocery store on a shopping bag or around the office on a coffee mug for years. These days there are some amazingly innovative promotional items like the trolley token key chains in the UK that take your logo or message and spread it far and wide. The cost of promotional items can be very small compared to the longevity and advertising value of the items. Even more importantly, unlike online marketing, promotional marketing is not time intensive. This makes it an excellent advertising medium for bloggers.
  3. Search out “captive audiences” and then teach them. The heart of blogging is sharing a passion or an expertise with others. Taking that expertise to a captive live audience is one of the best offline marketing tactics. What is a captive audience? An audience that already meets with a group of people on a regular basis anyway. For example, PTA meetings at local schools meet on a regular basis. Lets assume you have a blog about parenting. Ask to give a 5-minute talk at the beginning of the meeting. Something like: “10 Useful Tips to Communicate with Your Teen.” Captive audiences exist in clubs, groups and all sorts of local places and they can present an excellent marketing opportunity.
  4. Look into local public radio and TV advertising. Non-profit blogs can usually advertise for a nominal cost or for free through PBS stations. Small businesses and large businesses also pay different advertising rates. Simply working the phones as volunteers wearing promotional T-shirts can bring an online blog exposure. In addition, philanthropic donations to local institutions such as museums, hospitals, sports teams and community organizations can almost immediately establish brand clout and recognition. Moreover, donations are usually tax deductible and they present fabulous opportunities for online press releases before and after the event.
  5. Collaborate with a local brick and mortar business and sponsor an event. For example, a fishing blog could partner with a local fishing store and give away free bait and donuts one morning. Both the store and the blog can increase their business and bring value to their customers.

Get creative with offline advertising and have fun. Online and offline communities start and end with people!

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Author’s Bio: Jen Thames writes about marketing and business at SixSigmaOnline. You can find her on Twitter as @SixSigmaAveta

Thank you, Jen! You’re irresistible! 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Influence: How to Attract Maximum Support for Your Business Idea

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IRRESISTIBLE BUSINESS: Network Building

Ask Everybody

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I had THAT conversation again. You might be surprised how often it happens. It’s basically the same conversation with entrepreneurs, small businesses, and career professionals who have a new idea they want to present to their corporate team. The conversation goes something like this one.

I ask someone what he or she is working on.
I hear about a new product, service, or idea that has that someone truly interested, invested. and intrigued by possibilities.
I ask few questions and get some answers such as:

  • Why are you the best person / team / business to make it real?
  • Who do you know needs this idea?
  • What core group of people will find your idea absolutely irresistible?

Whenever I have this conversation, it’s rare that people answering these questions offer much detail. They seem to know far more of the intricacies and inner workings of their brain child than they do about the people who will actually use it.

That’s not good.

If you’re going to solve a problem, the better you know the people who have that problem the more likely you are to be able to attract those people to you.

Influence: How to Attract Maximum Support for Your Business Idea

Attraction is the power of evoking interest or drawing something to another. Mere exposure can build familiarity, but it takes some compelling similarity — something that reaffirms ourselves and our values — to build a true and lasting attraction.

Start with your existing network. Don’t ignore the people who love you to chase the people who are ignoring you. Find your first support in your existing network. Look at the people right next to you, they’re the people you have already attracted.

To build the deepest influence build out your business idea, product, or service by starting with start with what has attracted other people to you on the deepest levels — your core competencies and values — to what you want to see happen — your business idea, product or service.

Use the first question to qualify your business idea.

Why are you the best person / team / business to make it real?

  • Know your value. Who are you with respect to your business idea? What competencies, skills, and talents qualify you?
  • Know what attracts you. What about this idea attracts you emotionally? Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
  • Be invested. Why would you choose this idea over all others as where you invest your time?
  • Identify your unique attractiveness. What unique value and values will you bring to making it real?

Use the second question to qualify your core community.

Who do you know needs this idea?

  • Know who already values your competencies, skills, and talents. Who in that group will be most interested in what you’re doing? Who knows others who would be interested? How does your idea solve an important problem for them? How will you get their best thinking?
  • Know what attracts them. What about this idea will attract them emotionally? How seamlessly does it fit what they’re already doing?
  • Be worth investing in. What unique value and values will they see? How much time / money / resources are you asking? What’s their payoff for participating — what makes their work / life easier, faster, more meaningful?
  • Identify their unique attractiveness. Who in your network will increase the attractiveness of your idea by participating? How will you identify them?

Use the third question to combine the first two and refine them into an irresistible offer.

What core group of people will find your idea absolutely irresistible?

  • Name and claim your core group. Maximum support stand on deep relationships. 12 apostles can do more than 1200 subscribers. Who are the 20% who will give you the 80% of your support always? Who will spend the most time / money / resources on this idea? Focus there. Build your first offer to show you know them deeply.
  • Raise the value in your value proposition. What does your core community love most about your idea? How can you enhance that, refine that, and deliver it more seamlessly?
  • Lower or remove the irrelevant details. What does your community not care about or find irritating? How can you limit that, lower that, or remove it completely?
  • Be uniquely satisfying. What would delight and surprise your core community? How can you introduce something only you might add to the idea that would uniquely satisfy the community because you know them so intimately?

Keep the community in the process. Constantly talk to people about what you’re thinking and seeing. Ask them if they’re having the same experience. Whenever community members offer valuable insight, think of ways to bring them closer to what you’re doing. Encourage your fans to ask their friends what you’re wondering. Tell them how you’d like people to think of you and ask if that’s what they’re saying about you. Solicit their suggestions, insights, and corrections.

None of us can be inside and outside a system at the same time. As you stay inside the thinking on your idea, product, or service, find ways to share what you’re doing. Invite your influence network or community bring you news of what they’re seeing. That outside point of view will raise their investment and prove your assumptions.

The closer you get to your community, the closer they’ll be to you.

And that’s irresistible.

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Thanks to Week 342 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss