Can Video / Podcasting Help Market Your Small Business?

This is an easy one … the short answer is yes.

Video is great for marketing and driving traffic to your business website.

Video, only if done right, can help with:

1 - Raising awareness about your business/product
2 - Getting your website on the first page of Google (based on keywords selected)
3 - Increasing customer retention

Video offers a more personal strategy for prospective clients to feel familiar with you. It also helps your website get a better search engine ranking.

Video Podcasting is an underused and powerful tool that can pay for itself and market products at the same time. The revenue from podcasting is doubling every year while the costs are staying the same. 100 million people are d27nloading podcasts from iTunes every year.

Perhaps most interestingly, advertisers are starting to fall over themselves to sponsor podcasts. Although they realize podcasts’ audiences are small, they also realize they are niche and very loyal.

If someone has bothered to go to iTunes, download the podcast, transferred it to their iPhone, and then watch it …. they are pretty likely to be interested in whatever the podcast is about, and therefore also interested in related products.

In one very successful podcaster’s words …. why spend a fortune on advertising on a TV show with an audience of 5million when you really only want to reach the 100,000 people interested in your product? With podcasting you are spending a fraction of the money on a show that reaches your targeted 100,000 people in a much more measurable way.

If businesses create a regular show around their brand that isn’t the traditional business podcast (i.e. what has our company been doing this year) ….. but is a piece of entertainment based around their brand …. they will get a wider audience riveted. Once you get them drawn in … you can strengthen the relationship via a mailing list (have a way for them to opt-in). You can also link directly to some specific product or service related to the podcast. They’re interested in the “subject” after watching your “show” … and are now primed to take the action you want. Buy.

Basic SEO Tips For Small Business Websites

The three most basic SEO tips are: (a) write to and for your customer because (b) if you write interesting content people will voluntarily link to you--Google loves that--and (c) if you don't write to and for your customer, you may be first on Google but you'll be last on closed business. Reciprocal links that are established with any and all comers, regardless of their business relationship to you, are discouraged by Google.

Keep these 3 tenets as the basic focus of your SEO efforts ….

1. Keyword Research is Critical - choose keyword phrases for each page of the site, each page should focus on different content, so therefore have different keywords.

2. Develop Ongoing Content Strategy (blog is easy) - create content around the keywords you are trying to rank for, and be consistent with publishing content, tag this content, and write it using the keywords (naturally though, don't try to hard with this).

3. Focus on Relevance in Your Content - you can optimize your site all you want, but in the end it's a matter of how relevant you are to the searchers queries. Blogging will contribute to your site being indexed more frequently, so if you stay relevant, you have a greater opportunity to rank higher.

At a very high level, SEO is comprised of linking, on page/meta data content, and other website mechanics (e.g. redirects, trusted URL, etc.). IMHO the page content aspect of SEO is the most crucial.

Start by examining your keywords. Most companies underestimate the importance of this exercise. From a marketing standpoint, nailing your keywords and phrases is the foundation for your online marketing communications and content strategy.

Here’s a link to a newsletter on keyword selection where you can download a worksheet to help you decide on the right keywords …..

Keyword Selection

Then make sure your website pages are optimized for the keywords and phrases—and not all on one page. Group your keywords and phrases so that any given page is optimized for 3-5 keywords. Make sure that your meta title tags and description especially included the 3-5 keywords/phrases for which you’re optimizing a given page.

For more about page content, see this article on boosting natural page rank ….

Boosting Page Rank

Finally, connect with the SEO experts. Follow them on Twitter and subscribe to their blog posts. There’s a Twitter list of SEO folks already set up at @copywriter4u/B2B-SEO-pros …. go follow the list.

Below are a few links with information on good SEO content.

High Rankings

Interleado

SEOMOZ

Search Engine Land

SEO Traffic Spider

Is Twitter Part Of Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

The interesting thing (to me) is even though there are so many Twitter users, less than 10% are active on a regular basis. In fact, I read most users have less than 10 posts and same for followers.

Even if Twitter is included in your marketing strategy, without commitment and regular contribution to build a following it isn't really a strategy. Twitter should be included in your marketing mix, but not how I see many people using it.

So many times, I see people using Twitter to send automatic direct messages (DMs) when someone follows them promoting their product, or they have automatic tweets set up to go out at the same time, everyday, that say the same thing.

This is not how Twitter is used effectively and to most, these methods are seen as spam.

While tweets can be set up to automatically post, there is a way to set them up so that they aren't seen at the same time day after day. You can stagger your messages throughout the day and at different times on different days.

But you can't just use automatic tweets and believe that Twitter will be a successful medium for you. Twitter is a part of social networking. The key word is networking. Twitter is a means to connect and build relationships from all walks of life and from around the county. For a business owner, or company, it's a way to branch out from Chamber Mixers or BNI meetings on a local level. Don't just tweet or read. Reply. Retweet. Talk.

In my opinion, and based on the experiences that I've had with Twitter, the strategy that you come up with and implement includes finding followers and following people who you can connect with ….. and then after striking up a relationship on Twitter, moving the conversation to email, phone, or in person.

Social media is all the buzz. I encounter many small businesses who are allured by the fact it is 'free'. They think they can ditch all other marketing and focus exclusively on Twitter and Facebook. (Most will be very disappointed.)

I think Twitter can work to support a sound marketing plan. (That means actually having a well-planned, diverse marketing plan.) However, too many just tweet silly things without thinking about relevant keywords that may lure new followers.

It's important to think about your customer/prospect base. It's not what YOU think is important, but what your customer/prospects do.

The bottom line is to figure out what will build loyalty and increase sales.

How To Find A Reliable Supplier For Your Small Business

SupplierEvaluations.com is a web-based, business-to-business community of buying professionals dedicated to collecting and disseminating supplier performance evaluations based on the peer input from their community members. They mainly focus on the overseas suppliers in Asian, Eastern European, and Latin American countries ..... and their small and medium size business customers in the countries such as the US, Canada, countries of the European Union, and other developed countries.

In today’s competitive global economic environment, the pressures of lowering costs throughout the supply chain are enormous. But access to supplier performance information about overseas suppliers remains limited. At SupplierEvaluations.com, they want to close this performance information gap by collecting the supplier performance information from the businesses with actual experience.

By doing so, they believe that SupplierEvaluations.com promotes excellence in suppliers ..... and enables better visibility for the members in their supplier selection, sourcing, and buying processes, as well as in partnering with potential suppliers.

How Do You Start A New Small Business ....

This is not meant to be all inclusive advice for how to start a new small business .... but it will definitely get you pointed in the right direction with a practical roadmap to follow.

To illustrate the actions you need to commit to I'm going to use opening a new restaurant as an example. It's easier to relate to a real life tangible example than just a bunch of esoteric thoughts and "tips". You can glean the basic ideas from this real life example and adjust as necessary to fit your chosen specific business .......

First, understand how much money you have to invest .... and assume you are going to need twice as much or more--so aim lower in your initial investment expectations.

As you probably know, the restaurant business is in severe recession right now. Restaurants are closing their doors all over because dining out is considered a luxury and we are in a back-to-basics economy.

That said, how do you get started? Here's what I recommend.

1. With restaurants withering all over, there are many for sale right now. You can get a already running operation with all the equipment on the cheap right now. You might even get landlords to renegotiate rent rather than losing a tenant for 6 months to a year or more. Buying an existing operation gives the advantage of being able to get revenue right away and not spending 3-6+ months on build out, getting permits and licenses, etc. Also, there is existing staff. The downside? If they're failing, you need to fix stuff and grow. If you are buying an existing operation, it's a buyer's market--you are in the drivers seat; don't overpay.

2. Talk to a business broker about what's available in your area. Check businessesforsale.com or bizbuysell.com for listings. Commercial realtors may also have some listings. You might want to check the local classified section too.

3. Spend time with a commercial realtor checking out real estate locations to understand traffic, rent tiers, physical locations, structural design issues, etc.

4. Talk to your local city about licensing and permitting requirements. You may get quite an adventure if you intend to serve alcohol. I have seen restaurants take 6+ months to get occupational or health licenses before opening. That's a lot of rent to pay while waiting for the government.

5. Talk to your bankers and local restaurant supply store management. They can probably tell you who has restaurants with good potential/track record of success but are experiencing difficulty in the current economy.

6. As with any small business, controlling costs is vital to survival. Avoid fixed expenses as much as possible. Negotiate for deals on everything. There is plenty of used restaurant equipment and supplies out there--no need to buy new when you can get stuff for 10/20 cents on the dollar.

7. Read everything you can about marketing and promotion. When you are ready to open, you need to drag people in and let everyone know you're open. Read the articles "How to Advertise Your Small Business on the Internet," "How to Build a Really Good Website for Under $100," and "How to Write and Issue Press Releases for FREE" on smallbiz123.com.

You will also need to establish a compelling brand for your restaurant. Great Name, Logo, signage, business cards, menues, promotional flyers/ ads, website and markeking plan.

The most crucial part of starting a new business is creating an appropriate brand Identity that represents the desired attributes of your company's services .... and puts in play creative initiatives that will attract your target market.

Unfortunately, too many new business owners try to save money and make the mistake of trying to create their own brand ..... which in the end doesn't pay off.

Brand Identity is the foundation of any business or product, and it should always project a highly professional image. I strongly suggest you hire a professional to do it. This will ensure that your business is started the right way with a strong foundation.

Free Marketing Ideas For Small Business

Startups and small businesses face the ultimate chicken and egg situation, they need to grow their businesses but don't have any cash to spend on marketing. The solution is mastering free marketing such as search engine optimisation (SEO), public relations (PR), email marketing, affiliate marketing, guerilla marketing and partnership marketing.

Marketing doesn't need to cost thousands when you can do it yourself .... and freemarketingexperts.com provides a wealth of resources in how to wield the power of free marketing.

Written by marketing experts who have worked for leading brands such as Sainsburys, Halifax, The Sun and Thomson Holidays, you can learn everything you need to drive sales for your new business and even have telephone access to your very own marketing director if you need further advice.

If you want to get your business off to the right start without spending any money on marketing, start with these 10 free marketing ideas that won't cost you a penny...

Free Marketing Ideas For Small Business

Time and Expense Management Solutions For Small Business

Replicon is a market leading provider of SaaS based time and expense management solutions. Currently, Replicon has more than 6700 companies (totaling over 1.2 million users), and the client list ranges from <5 user companies to 30,000+ user companies.

Replicon’s solution would fall under your Business Software and/or Project Management categories as our flagship program, "Web TimeSheet" comes in both a time tracking oriented version (Time & Attendance edition) and a project-oriented version (Project & Billing edition).

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Web TimeSheet Project & Billing edition is designed to track hours against projects and tasks for the purpose of managing project timelines, and monitoring project costs and billing:

* Track time against clients, projects, tasks
* Compare actual vs. estimated hours/costs
* Remind users when timesheets are due
* Set up multi-level approvals
* Get real-time reports on project hours/costs/billing

The Web TimeSheet Time & Attendance edition allows you to track your employees' work and time off hours, monitor employee attendance, and collect the data you need for payroll:

* Log time with the easy-to-use timesheet
* Book/approve time off in a calendar view
* Remind users when timesheets are due
* Set up multi-level approvals
* Get real-time reports on time/attendance

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As previously mentioned, companies using Web TimeSheet range in size from < 5 users and up. It is a very scalable solution and does not require an "enterprise" or "professional" package. It has proven ideal for start-ups as it's a solution that can grow as the company grows.

It also doesn't require a company to purchase a "packaged deal" and pay for features they will not use. Each software product from Replicon can be used separately as a standalone solution, or can be seamlessly integrated into a full software suite.

For more information go to ..... Time Tracking Software

Small Business Development Resource

The Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) represents America's Small Business Development Center Network -- the most comprehensive small business assistance network in the United States and its territories.

The mission of the network is to help new entrepreneurs realize their dream of business ownership, and to assist existing businesses to remain competitive in the complex marketplace of an ever-changing global economy.

Hosted by leading universities, colleges, and state economic development agencies, and funded in part through a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, approximately 1,000 service centers are available to provide no-cost consulting and low-cost training.

To find your local SBDC visit Small Business Development Resource

Small Business Tools For Basic Project Management and Accounting

SME business owners should have access to basic project management and accounting tools that allow them to easily manage their projects and automate their team's data entry for things like time on activities, expenses, distance traveled, and products sold on the road or at the job site.

BillZone is a product that allows small business owners to automate all these activities so that more time can be spent on their business. Employees and contractors simply enter their information using computers or PDA devices, and the employer or the bookkeeper can run all the customer invoices in a single day instead of managing hundreds of timesheets.
One of its strengths is that it is designed to work with Windows, Mac, and Linux, and with most browsers available on those platforms. All financial reports are in PDF format, delivered right to the desktop. Since it is Software as a Service (SaaS), there is no setup or expertise required by the business owner.

The software was also designed to deliver simple project management tools, so that owners can set up projects and then run reports to see project statuses in real-time (how much has been burned vs estimated as of today) and see how well they have done over time.

For more information look over these sites .....

* Bill Zone

* Why Basic Project Management Tools Are Good

Functional Visibility Branding .... Real Life Example

In one pet grooming and boarding business, they use large soft plastic key tags (advertising specialties) imprinted with their business name and their telephone number. The tags are large and bright yellow, and they use them as dog tags.

Customers are told that, while they are away, if the dog gets out (although they haven't had an escape in 20 years!), the regular dog tag with owner's phone number is useless (because the owner is away from home). And even when the owner is home and *they* lose the dog, their phone number is still uselss because they will be out trying to find the dog. In either case, they need to keep the businesses number (sic dog tag) on the dog at all times.

Also, these tags are large and bright and the grooming and boarding business tells the owner that people may not stop to pick up a stray dog without a tag. But will stop for a dog wth a tag - and their tag is easy to see.

They give these keytag/dogtags away free and leave them on the dog's collar when it goes home. At the dog park or on walks, other owners see the tags, enquire and they get a constant stream of new business, both for grooming and for boarding.

It's easy to see why this works. This business gives something away that is useful for dog owners to ensure they use it .... and while it helps them it also helps promote the dog grooming and boarding bsuiness at the same time.

This is a perfect example of how creativity is an important marketing skill.

So ... what creative ideas can you come up with for YOUR business?

Small Business Advice .... Add That Personal Touch

Every small business should heed this advice .... add that 'personal touch' and a sense of genuine caring from you so that your customers feel important.

This type of 'personal caring' hasn't changed in centuries, and I doubt it ever will. People will always want to feel listened to and expect top quality for their dollar. Your customers/clients are no different.

Keeping them on the radar...and making them FEEL as if they are still on your radar is of utmost importance.

With regard to your business, you could ......

* Send out postcard reminders. A great site for this is SendCards.com. They actually send out some really cool cards in direct mail based on what you've written. I really like their service after testing them a few times.

* Make a quick phone call or send an email shortly after your engagement .... just to confirm that you are interested in this client and that you care about their needs.

* Start getting involved in social media marketing. Since you want to promote your goods/services, I recommend that you start tweeting on Twitter and have a profile on LinkedIn and/or a 'page' or 'group' on Facebook. In these venues, you could have special coupons or giveaways solely for your followers that would give them a heads-up preview and make them feel special.

You also have the opportunity to answer specific questions and establish the concept that you are the go-to person for your specific goods/services.

These social media sites will also help you develop a more personal relationship with your prospects and/or clients.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I am still a big fan of the thank you card , with a few business cards in the envelope and a discount offer, or free "something" with a referral.

Actually I like (1) business card refridgerator magnet, and (10) business cards.

I just think that, especially in an age when many people may have clients that you will never meet, or are in another city, that people will carry your card to pass along if they are happy with your service.

I know it sounds "old school", but how else do you get people in another city to remember you at a moments notice when their peers say, "Hey, you wouldn't know anyone that does_____, would you ?"

Tip For A New Small Business .... Free (or Low Cost) Marketing Ideas

I don't believe it is impossible to succeed in business without an advertising and marketing budget. How much you need to spend will depend on your business and your industry. If you are a retail shop then a certain amount of advertising will be necessary, perhaps. If you are a service business, you may need to spend some money on marketing.

In the construction industry, for example, you are likely to know people in the industry before you start your own business, and a few telephone calls to a few acquaintances may be all that is necessary to get the ball rolling. After that maintaining contact with as many industry people as possible could get you all you the business you want.

In fact, I would encourage a small business, regardless of the amount of money they have available, to leverage their friends, family and acquaintances. Make a list of everyone you know (or, more importantly, who knows you), call these people and ask for their help - tell them briefly about your business (in no more than 20 seconds) and ask them who they know who could help you get started or expand. Ask your friend to speak to their friend and tell them something about you, then call your friend's friend and ask *them* if they know someone who could help you.

As long as you are asking for help, you are likely to get help. Start selling and trying to get an order and people clam up. That sort of thing makes it a cold call and people don't like cold calls these days. But ask for their help and people are less likely to blow you off. If they can help you, they wll pass you on. If they want what you have to offerf, they will tell you, "Hey! I need some of that. Come and see me!"

I guess you could call it networking - I call it leveraging.

Here's some other simple ideas ..........

* Good Base Materials (business cards, brochures, flyers, website) are the first thing I would invest in.

* Then Public Relations (Press Releases & Other Media Marketing, local Chamber of Commerce, community events/activities)

* Establishing great lead generation (special reports, listbuilding, customer referral programs)

For most small businesses these activities can be done for relatively low cost .... and can create enough of a return to start costlier marketing efforts.

For example ......

1. Business Cards - To get 250 or 500 business cards, even if they are just black and white with your name and address and business details, should cost less then $50. Give them to everyone you meet. If you think that someone you meet may know someone who needs your services .... then give them two and ask that they pass it on to someone else who they think may need your services.

2. Flyers - If this seems like a suitable means of advertising for your business it can be done for very little. Copies can be had for about 6cents a page or less, in black and white. So for 500 A4 flyers this is $30. Or do A5 and get twice as many for half the price. Getting them into mailboxes or hung on doors is another thing. But sometimes you need to invest a little time to get some return. Later on it may be smarter to pay someone else to drop them off. But if you are really scrapping for dollars .... doing it yourself is low cost.

3. Public Notice boards - Many shopping center's have public notice boards. Some require that you use provided cards to write your message on. Others allow whatever to be put up. While sometimes they start to look messy, it can be a way to get your name out a little more.

4. Classifieds - Often it can be quite expensive to buy display ad space in newspapers. However placing a classified add can be relatively cheap. Most papers have a section that has business categories, and you can advertise in the most relevant category. It is lower cost, and you may be advertising alongside other people in the same type of business, but I think the response to a lot of classifieds are pot luck mostly anyway.

5. Adwords - While many people do send hundreds or thousands of dollars per day on adwords marketing, It is by far the lowest cost way to get into search results (admittedly to the side and not always at the top) and take advnatage of online markets. But if you have a fairly low competition market, spending $1 per day at 9cents a click is hardly going to kill you. That is just $30 per month, assuming that you use the full $1 budget each day.

6. Joint Ventures (partnering) - A small business could also partner with other small businesses. For example, a retail store could partner with two of their business neighbors. They could promote a special event together in the local newspaper. Say a 1/4 page ad costs $300 and they want to run the ad for three days prior to the big event. If one business were to do this it would cost them $900 but by partnering with the other two businesses it only costs each business $300. This would get them three days worth of ads at the cost of just one day .... and their event becomes even bigger by being part of a multi-store event potentially drawing in the other stores customers as well as their own.

7. Creative Marketing - Take full advantage of YouTube and start your own very free and very noticeable viral marketing campaign. All you need is the default Windows Movie Maker, perhaps a few sound clips of yourself (or video clips) talking about your business and images that give the viewer a proper and clear visual as to what you are trying to sell, promote, etc. Having a few of your blogging friends add your logo or banner to their website wouldn't hurt, either, that way two or three keywords pertaining to your business could be added to their site header making their blog show up in more results, meaning your ad would be given a wider audience. Everyone wins. Search the web for radio stations that only broadcast online, and check out how much they charge for advertising plugs on-air.

8. Give-Aways - T-shirts, buttons, magnets, mugs, bumper stickers, car door magnets and anything that the average person uses daily is another great way to promote. Spend a small part of your budget on any of the above and hand them out for free. You'll be remembered for it, and gain profits.

What's the best free or low cost marketing approach (OK ... in my opinion)?

The best and cheapest way to market a business is to use ones existing customers fully .... simply give them a “How’s things?” call every other month or two and you’ll be surprised at how much extra business this generates.

You should also ask all customers .... once you have fulfilled your promises to them .... for a couple of referrals. Ensure that they are good referrals and you’re closing average will be above average.

Here is a real world example of one small businnesses experience ......

My wife needed some work done on her car but didn't want to pay the high price quoted at the local dealer or garage. She was out running some errands and happened to pick up one of those "Thrifty Nickle" weeklys at the mall. You know those publications that advertise local businesses.

She found an ad in there for "JB's Auto Services". She called him up and "JB" came right to the house and fixed her car ... at a price she did somersaults over. JB has even found me broken down on the freeway and got me back on "my wheels". He's come to our house many times, found me on the freeway, gone to my daughter's college campus, caught up with my son's car in the parking lot at his work, and lots of other "going out of his way to take care of us". I could tell you a ton of stories where JB saved the day. Service, service, service ... caring about us and the situation. Doing whatever it takes to get things right ... at a cost much less than what it was really worth (in both quality and customer service).

JB now has his own garage and still will come to wherever we are with his "mechanic on wheels van". If he can't fix it onsite ... he now takes it to his very own garage. He gets the parts at best price, arranges for state inspections, works with insurance companies (if necessary ... do you have kids? LOL), and basically does everything soup to nuts ... at all hours of the day and night. Plus ... with a smile, a chuckle, a hug, and a "God Bless".

Needless to say we've referred probably 15-20 "new customers" to JB ourselves. Plus each of our friends has probably referred 5-10 apiece. That's just us and our experience too.

So from that one little ad in the Thrifty Nickle (which we found out later JB ran for only 1 day) ... we found our own personal "mechanic with a heart". Now JB has his own shop and a ton of referal clients just from us and our friends. We also have a good friend who is more than just "our car guy". He's become very popular in our community and his business is booming. More than enough work to keep him VERY busy..

Moral of the story ... from little acorns grow big trees. You can start small ... and no telling what you'll grow into.

Why Do Start-Up Small Businesses Fail?

Below will give you an idea of why Start-ups fail a lot of times.

However, the first few points will also give you an idea of what VCs look for in a start-up venture before they consider investing. Apart from the below pointers, VCs also look out for the amount of skin the "owners" have in the start-up.

1. The Idea .... The foremost thing is the idea behind starting the venture (business). The foundation of this idea is of primary importance. If it's not given a comprehensive thought and planning .... then it will only see DOOM's DAY.

2. Execution of this plan .... Execution is critical. If done well then one can sail through with a little less money as well. However, this is where most start-ups are blown off.

3. Management .... Amateurs with lack of experience on planning both actions and money, lose out in the race. Most of the time they are at the losing end simply because they are too early in the business ... often because of ROSY pictures painted in their minds (unrealistic and unsupported expectations). This is still better than another worse condition. That being that too often some management of start-up companies have double standards. The idea shown is different from what they actually want to gain. It could be a short term loss making venture that is planned only for quick personal gains. This is the worst scenario.

4. Run-out of Money ..... It depends where the funding is coming from obviously. Venture capitalists today are known to take more than a year to go through the analysis of profitability of an idea. At the same time they are looking at an investment period of a max of 4-5 years and expect aggressive profits. This is a situation that puts pressures on the very vision and forces of the core management team to look for short term gains.

The consequence is, they lose long term vision and slip into "money drains". If the money is coming from conventional HNI investors, then they start looking for early results since there is no understanding of life cycle and the business both. The situation boils down to .... "You said, this would happen. So why has this not happened?" It generally comes within 3-4 months. Lack of patience and fading trust, stops the committed funds that were needed to survive.

5. Run-out of Commitment .... Usually, markets don't perceive new players as genuine long term players because there is so much generalization. This can be thoroughly demotivating. Pressures mount up and investors ratchet up more pressures. This makes the Management Team lose focus completely. So it also looks like they have lost commitment. However, this is not the case many times. It is just that the conducive environment for SUCCESS is snatched away.

6. Investors are those people who invest money for medium/long term gains. These gains have to be spread over time. The better the support system for any business, the better it performs. But, it is strange that no one understands this when it comes to investing in new ventures.

WHY do people not look at long term investment, when it comes to start-ups? All Fortune companies were also start-ups when they began. It is only over a long period of time that they have become so BIG. People will easily play safe by investing money for 25 years in a Govt. company / Fortune company but not start-ups.

There is lack of a belief system. This is one of the big reasons for dooming start-ups. A full fledged support system should be created to ensure success and over a longer time, not just 3-4 years. If the idea is right, SUCCESS is certain. Usually most ideas are good, if implemented properly and are need based. No doubt the risk is high, but gains are even higher.

7. Due to all these factors and a few others, start-up companies have a huge problem in attracting talent. So a big compromise needs to be made on this account. Also, technology may be a cause of concern since it costs a lot of money and returns are not as quick as one would demand.

So start-ups are constrained by these and several other factors, to ensure FAILURE. That may sound like a pessemisstic view .... but not really. I wanted to hit you between the eyes with some reality so you'll wake-up .... and put in the effort necessary to avoid the above pitfalls. Do that ... and you won't be a failure. You'll be one of the success we celebarte and point to.

What Do Venture Capitalists Look For In A Start-Up Small Business .... Before Seriously Considering Offering Funding?

First, make sure you talk to venture capitalists who are focused on the area that you are in:. Understand their investment criteria including geographic and industry specialization, stage of company development, and size of investment preferences, return horizon, etc.

It is also important whether a fund will act as a lead investor .... and whether it has complementary or competing companies in its portfolio.

Then deliver on what they all typically require (you can ask them for any specific format they would like to see) ....

1. An innovative, differentiated business proposal, well spelt out in a brief and clear summary document and include .....

- what stage of development you are in, e.g. from 'no revenues/initial product development' to 'no revenues/product ready for launch' to 'product launched/some revenues.

- how you intend to protect and build your intellectual property from competitors .

- what is the specific purpose of raising funds, e.g. marketing, research, manufacturing, distribution, etc.

2. A clearly defined client group or market (and possibly hot client leads or research showing demand).

3. A first class, experienced and committed management team to make it happen (provide as much details as possible about past successes - having a great team is THE key requirement).

4. Financial commitment by the team members (skin in the game is very important).

5. A financial plan that shows exceptional growth potential and is based on realistic, justifiable assumptions (as this is your input into the valuation process).

A lot depends on the type of business and the situation however the first step is to ensure that you have a good proposition for any prospective financier.

OK… So what is a “good” application..?

1) You absolutely need to have a business plan. Without one of these you pretty much have no chance and as first impressions count, I wouldn’t suggest trying your hand without a business plan .... expecting that you’ll get a second shot by producing one and making another appointment!

2) You need to be able to demonstrate a knowledge of the business (or proposed business), your target market and the industry that you will be operating in.

3) The cash…. How much you need, why, how long will you need it for, and what you’ll be spending it on. It is important to state quite clearly how much you actually need.

For example if you ask for 100k when you actually need 150k .... but expect that the bank won’t go that high – the chances are that a savvy commercial lending manager will see through this. You’ll look as if you don’t have a true understanding of the finance requirements of your own business – and the answer won’t be the one you’re wanting to hear!

If you’re wanting the cash for use as working capital – ask yourself “Do I need all the money in one lump sum”? If the answer is no, then you can negotiate with the lender to release it in stages .... provided that you meet certain pre-defined milestones. This can be a more compelling business case for the lender as their risk is reduced in this instance.

In addition ....

Do you have anything that you can offer as security? This reduces the risk and makes the proposition appear more appealing.

Are you contributing any of your own funds to the venture? If so – again, this makes the proposition appear more appealing because it demonstrates your own belief in your venture. In short you are prepared to put your own assets on the line.

* Venture Capital – With VC’s they will want to acquire some equity in the venture in return for their cash (and may want to place someone on the board). However on the upside often they come with significant experience and contacts which can help to propel your business forward. They generally are less risk averse than the banks .... however their costs are higher. VC’s tend to want to keep the investment in the business for a relatively short time before harvest so they will want to have a clear exit strategy agreed at the outset.

Another option is Business Angels. They are similar to VC’s however they tend to want to assist new business ventures for more philanthropic reasons.

Finally, I’d suggest locating one of the government run business support agencies in your area. They are likely to have the latest information regarding grants and other funding that may be available ..... and may also be able to assist with developing a business plan and marketing strategy if you do not already have these in place.

Small Business Needs To Get Serious About Websites As A Marketing Channel

It appears to me that small businesses aren't taking online marketing and having their own websites serious enough. What a shame .... plain stupid if you allow me to be blunt.

I wonder if it is because of a lack of awareness .... or the technology tag ( admittedly sometimes scary for traditional businesses).

Personally I don't think it's really about technology awareness. Or at least it shouldn't be. If you don't embrace technology today you aren't going to survive. Period. If you refuse to "be aware" ... you're either stubborn or brain dead.

Rather, I believe many Small Businesses have websites but can't .... or more often than not don't .... rely upon them as a marketing channel to generate significant sales.

In these instances their marketing activities tend to be very tactical and personal. Such as relationship building, trade show participation, e-mail campaigns, distribution of product samples, proposal generation, cold calling, and traditional face-to-face sales calls.

All of these aren't bad and I don't mean to say they are. But a well done business website can compliment each of those activities IF it's done well. Plus, a quality business website opens up a whole new world of marketing potential .... that is actually more cost effective with a potentially much higher ROI. In other words reach more of your target market for less cost and result in more sales than "traditional" approaches.

We are seeing an almost explosive interest from small to very small companies looking to get their online marketing footprint in place.

Most are overwhelmed and don't know *how* to get started.

The web marketing firms I know that are doing extremely well landing small businesses as clients are spending time educating their prospects while dispelling the myths about online marketing.

Small business owners are typically street-smart individuals who frown on the pie-in-the-sky pitch from most online marketers. "Pay me $10k and I'll get you to page 1 of google" or "I can get you 10,000 twitter followers" or "I'll manage your PPC campaigns and drive you tons of traffic". Most of the people making these claims are not delivering so small business owners have tuned them out.

They are looking to do business with someone who can give them the facts, charge a fair fee and perform as agreed. If you can do that, you'll make a killing with the small business audience.

Now .... one resource I know that can meet that expectation is SBI.

I've friends and clients who are very pleased with their experience using SBI for web development and support of their small business website(s). The business websites they create for you are very reasonably priced, feature rich, and have SEO-SEM principles embedded directly into the design. SBI is also well known for their great customer support.

For more info go to: SBI Small Business Websites

Hosting Nation ..... Web Hosting Especially For Small Business

Hosting Nation is a phenominal service offering web hosting, domain names, and even web development. All for a very reasonable monthly or yearly cost. More than competitive with other available hosting services. I've even moved a couple of my websites to them recently.

Out of Parksville, British Columbia, Canada .... their portfolio of services includes web hosting, continuos data protection, web development, SEO, SEM (search engine marketing), web marketing, and domains to name just a few. Their web hosting and development services include over 80 tools and applications available for your use.

You should most definitely check out the Hosting Nation blog too (accessed through their main website). Sean Enns writes very informative pieces on Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Web Development, Web Marketing, Web Programming, Graphic Design, and more. You can get quite an eye opening education from Sean's insights and suggestions .... applied to your online efforts you'll see a definite postive impact too.

They have monthly and yearly hosting packages much cheaper than you'll find most anywhere else. I've shopped around ... and Hosting Nation's prices are more than competetive in an admittedly dog eat dog industry.

What follows is directly from the Hosting Nation website .... and will give you an idea of what is available as far as hosting accounts go. For you true technogeeks it has all the technospeak buzzwords you'd be looking for ;) ....

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Our shared web hosting packages each come with a ton of tools and applications for only *$6.95 per month as well as plenty of space and bandwidth. Each shared hosting account comes with the following:

* 5 Gb of disk space
* 50 databases
* 50 Gb of bandwidth
* 50 FTP accounts
* 50 email addresses
* 10 mailing lists
* 50 parked domains
* 50 subdomains

Our server technology is modern and fast, we lease quad core Xeon 5430 servers from the SoftLayer datacenter in Seattle. The servers run CentOS Linux 5 and Apache version 2.2 and supports PHP 5, Perl and up to 50 MySQL databases.

Each hosting account also includes cPanel version 11 and the RVSkin theme. You will have access to over 80 applications, frameworks and libraries through Fantastico and Installatron including the popular Magento, Joomla and Wordpress platforms. You'll also receive real time log analysis with AwStats and our robust backup and data recovery system. Backups can be done manually every day, or you can use the R1Soft continuous data protection console to select from 15 different snapshots of your site to restore a database, a single piece of data or your entire site.

Uptime monitoring is provided in real time by Hyperspin and each account comes with both SpamAssassin and ClamAV virus protection.

Switching hosting is very simple, when you transfer your site to Hosting Nation, we'll move your site for you. We'll also give you a credit towards any hosting remaining on your current plan up to one year.

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Now that you've heard about it ... go look for yourself at Hosting Nation

How To Get Your Small Business Listed High In The Top Major Search Engines .... Custom SEO With A Guarantee

Getting a high search engine ranking for your business website can be time consuming, frustrating, expensive, and often with results no better than taking a shot in the dark.

What if you could have it all done for you ... with a guarantee of results at a price that'll have you doing backflips?

WebBizClicks.com will help you get your business listed in the major local search results. Get listed locally with Google, Yahoo, MSN, Yellowpages and other top search engines with their monthly data feed.

They create a profile for you that tells the search engines who you are, where you are located and what you offer. Your results appear based on keywords and phrases typed in by consumers. You can update your business profile once a month in one location and they will make the change in over 180 locations in your local area.

They also offer a guarantee ... you pay only when and while you are listed 1st page top 10 in searches for the key words you choose.

If you are interested in learning more ... I suggest you first use their Quick Contact form (on their website) to talk it over with a marketing professional. Then they'll know exactly what you need from them .... and you'll know exactly what they can do for you. This will enable you to move ahead with confidence and a complete understanding of how the process will work for you.

You can see all this for yourself here: WebBizClicks

News For Business Women ..... Women of Today Goes Global!

Women of Today Inc., a professional group for women in business that focuses on supporting their members market their business has just announced they are now open to International members.

Women of Today was started by Sherry Simoes in 2005 in her small town of 1900 people as an attempt to connect the local business women. It went over so well that word spread and they quickly grew to 5 area chapters and over 100 local members.

Marketing comes natural to Sherry and it is her passion to help women connect and grow in business. She also started Women of Today Magazine, co-op magazines (online and in print) as one way to give the members a professional and affordable way to promote their businesses.

The group offers marketing support, co-op advertising, educational workshops and tools and resources to help the members succeed in their marketing efforts.

Now women across the globe can enjoy the same benefits as the members who join a physical chapter. Although currently the majority of the members are Canadian, women are beginning to join form the Us and the other areas across the globe.

Sherry has experienced the power of networking globally and feels that it is a valuable aspect that has been added. She has plans to guide the members through the process so they can learn the art of social networking.

Women of Today also coaches the international members on how to start a networking group in their area and has a system set up for success. The first group will be getting started in California very soon.

They have just implemented a 30 day free trial so you can experience what they have to offer. You can start your free trial today at Women Of Today Inc.

Open Source Software Applications For Small Business

For small business, business process and access to information is critical. The ability to respond to a customer and solve their problem in a timely professional matter is why they're in business.

I am writing with regards to the technology of today that will enable a small business to do just that. I want to make you aware of open source software applications and why it should be what all businesses small and large should be migrating to.

Open source application's code is available to the entire community and are free to all users, "bugs" are identified and corrected by the community of users, enhancements can be made by anyone in the community and then returned to the community for everyone's use. The codes is never "not supported" anymore by the MFG (such as a Microsoft) requiring you to purchase a new version of it. And best of all, it is free to all users.

A small business needs an IT infrastructure, but normally does not have the resources to procure this need, such as an SAP, Oracle or other ERP solution. Which again, versions can be deemed no longer supported and code cannot be changed or updated by the users, only the MFG of the software.

One resource small business owners should take advantage of are the folks at CyberOptic Group who are business partners of OpenBravo, an open source ERP software application. CyOp provides enterprise-class commerce solutions to small to mid-sized businesses featuring: NO Capital Expenses, NO Licensing Fees, NO Technical Administrator Needed, NO Proprietary Vendor "Lock-In', Multi-Platform Web-Based Architecture, Highly Secure & Fault Tolerant Infrastructure & Rapid Deployment.

CyOp also provides a free business process assessment of how the small business processes their information and gives them advice of streamlining and integrating a fully automated system, enabling them to reduce costs, improve productivity thereby increasing revenue.

CyOp offers their service to help you drive your client's business into the future .... and would be happy to do a conference call with their technical staff to discuss this new technology with you. In these economic times, we need to change the way we do business and understand the future of technology.

For more information go to: CyOp

Federal Assistance For Small Businesses

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are two competitively awarded, highly specialized forms of federal funding for small firms (less than 500 employees) to perform cutting-edge R&D that addresses the nation's (government and industry) most critical scientific and engineering needs. These needs span the technology spectrum -- from aviation and agriculture to medicine and manufacturing. Annually over $2.4 billion in contracts and grants are awarded to small businesses by the 11 federal agencies participating in these programs.

For small business and startups engaged in research and development of innovative technology applications and seeking information on the federal SBIR/STTR programs, the University of Southern Mississippi’s Business & Innovation Assistance Center has developed and placed online a series of useful presentations describing these federal programs and how to better compete in them.

These presentations cover:

* the differences between contract and grant agencies and what this means to the company and the development of the proposal;

* tutorials and basic framework for writing the Phase 1 proposal;

* elements of developing a cost/budget proposal;

* Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) and their role in the SBIR proposal/project;

* development of partnerships and contracting with universities, consultants and other companies to support the Phase 1 project;

* SBIR and related federally funded R&D efforts and their role in the company and its business plan; and,

* The commercialization plan and Phase 3 commercialization

The presentations are available at: USM/BIAC

Don't Just Advertise...PR Optimize.

Lamar Morgan of CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing can take any size display ad bigger than a business card and turn it into a mini marketing campaign...for just double the price of the display ad. (That cost includes posting your ad in any publication for you.)

How is that possible? Answer: PR optimization. Lamar can link your display ad to an SMR (Social Media Press Release) that gets promoted through numerous social media resources - including Twitter, Facebook, and Squidoo, among others. With this effort viewership tracking is included. Plus, this online innovation makes it possible for the public to subscribe to future press releases concerning your business.

Want to see some SMR's? Just click My SMR's. Believe it or not, every display ad you run could easily become its own Social Media Release link.

Also, if you have ever needed to get an answer to an important question in a hurry, but did not know who to ask, I encourage to ask Aardvark. Here is a way to get answers to important questions from REAL PEOPLE around the world, usually in just FIVE MINUTES. Check it out at Aardvark

Remember, don't just advertise. Create more "buzz" for your business. PR optimize.

The Fractional Marketing Department .... Help For Small Business Marketing Efforts

Today's small- to medium-sized business owner is slammed from all sides: The economy is in the tank, banks are not lending, customers are drying up, it's harder to get good peole to do their jobs. Running their business has become all they do.

Most understand the need for marketing, but it isn't a priority. Most would agree they could benefit from having a marketing manager running the marketing for their company, brands and products, but who has the cash flow to support them?

The answer may be in a new concept developed last year: The Fractional Marketing Department. Based on the concept first used by NetJets, the idea is this ..... The small businessman can't afford a full-time marketing manager, but they can afford a piece of one. Like NetJets spreads the cost of ownership of corporate jets among many buyers, this new company does the same for the cost of marketing talent.

The key is to actually take on the responsibility of managing the marketing plan for the company, not just consulting with the owner. The second part is to have a network of resources you can call on at the appropriate time to do the job that needs done. Need a new website? Got a website designer. The difference is that TFMD actually manages the design proejct for the small business owner. You pay the designer for the work done, but only for the work done. You know in advance what your website will look like, and what it will cost to produce it, so you can control your expenses. Having TFMD manage the project means you can spend more time doing what you does best: Running your business.

TFMD works on a project by project basis on most things, though they can also be put on a retainer to handle the day to day marketing needs of the client, such as maintaining website content, managing advertising placement and media buys, writing and distributing press releases, etc. They often tell their clients and prospects that their company is like a maid service for marketing. They only come in once or twice a month, but when they do, they make sure what needs to be done to promote the company's brands and products is being handled. They're also there when there's special jobs that need to be done, like a fall or Christmas campaign, or adding functionality to the website.

For more information go to: DMZ Marketing Network