• Home
  • About
  • Archives
  • Authors
  • Contact
  • Polls
  • Small Biz Interviews
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

KikScore SmallBiz Interviews’ Greatest Hits & Top Strategy Tips for Entrepreneurs: Part I

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

KikScore has had the pleasure of interviewing many small business owners over the past few years, asking these entrepreneurs about all areas of their businesses and what has spurred their growth, while also throwing in light-hearted pop-culture related questions.

In Part I of this two-part Greatest Hits series, I will highlight the top five lessons learned from these interviews with regards to establishing a successful small business. Many of these innovative and impressive business owners shared related advice and acknowledged similar trends in the e-commerce field. So without further ado, here are the Top 5 Things You Should Do When Starting a Small Business:

5. Keep your website simple and easy to navigate

– “My advice to people about an online presence is to keep it simple and clean and VERY easy to navigate AND to have a Content Management System (CMS) so you can update your site yourself.” (Whitney Zimet, owner of I Am The Maven)

– “Spend the money to get a good website.  We went with a woman who did “websites for small businesses” but she really wasn’t experienced in sites with a retail/shopping cart component.  So, the site looked okay on the surface, but I later learned that she had used very amateur programming on the back end, making it enormously difficult for another web programmer to make changes.  This also limited our SEO.” (Kimberley Stewart from OnBoard Outfitters)

4. Have a flexible business model, being able to adjust quickly to a changing environment

– “Never think what you’re doing today is what you’ll be doing 10 years from today. Markets change and products evolve. Learn to adapt quickly.” (Michael Alter, President of SurePayroll)

– “Be willing to change.  Always look at your business in a new way.” (Rick Shoop, owner of Oregon Seafoods)

3. Utilize social media outlets

-“Another trend is tapping into more social media platforms and applications.  Combining sites such as Facebook with applications developed by Wildfire you are very quickly able to promote coupons, contests, and/or sweepstakes.” (Brian Esposito, CEO of Avenue You Beauty Store)

– “Take full advantage of all social network and free Internet advertising. 50% of our sales come from social networking sites, the chain reaction you can achieve from them is priceless.” (S.J. Trotter, owner of www.exclusiveclothingretail.com)

2. Establish a safe and secure online presence

– “Apart from that, customer’s satisfaction is also of utmost importance to online business. Exceptional customer service results in greater customer retention, which in turn results in higher profitability. We therefore strongly believe that customer loyalty is one of the most crucial and major contributors to sustainable profit growth. Over 60% of our profits are from customers who came back and made their purchases more than once within the 3-month period.” (Margaret Chan, owner of Cherry’s Brandname Gallery)

– “In 2010, much of our energy will be focused on improving the website and making sure our customers have confidence in shopping with us. KikScore is a great tool that helps us demonstrate that trust online.” (Madalyn Duerr, owner of Tufted Topper)

1. Keep the long-term goal in perspective and never give up

– “Most importantly: Don’t let anyone tell you no. You are your own best advocate and no one is going to do the work for you. Don’t let obstacles prevent your idea from ever being tested – you have to go out and do it.” (Andrew Shelton from Trackpack Coolers)

– “In my opinion the most important ingredient in a business’s success is the passion of the person or people running it.” (Mark Sarpa, CEO of Frecklebox)

– “Stay far from timid, Only make moves when your heart’s in it, And live the phrase ‘sky’s the limit'” (The Notorious B.I.G.)

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Shocking Results in Recent OTA Findings: Should YOU Feel Safe on the Internet?

Friday, May 27th, 2011

As cybercriminals become more advanced and efficient, all businesses must recognize and prepare for the imminent threats of online hackers. The issue of cyber-attacks has made its way to the Senate, debating the amount of power the president should have in dealing with cybercrimes (Full story here).

Similarly, in accordance with the looming threat of online fraud and cybercrime, the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) released their annual Online Safety Honor Roll and Scorecard two weeks ago, revealing the many insecurities of the internet. Their findings were very surprising, making me question my privacy and safety on the internet. Two of the most shocking discoveries include:

  • Only 26% of the top websites and government agencies evaluated by the OTA were recognized for their adoption of the best, most efficient technologies to help protect users’ privacy and identity. This means that 74% of the top websites used by millions of people have not implemented safe measures that protect against malicious emails and rogue websites. Organizations that made the Honor Roll enacted email authentication processes, Extended Validation SSL Certificates, and testing for malware and known site vulnerabilities. More than 500 million emails originated from the organizations lacking efficient online security measures. These facts demonstrate that we are not protected on the majority of sites we visit and are members of, and therefore we must consider reevaluating websites before giving them any of our personal information.
  • Social media, e-commerce, and financial services ranked higher in securing their sites than government agencies.  About 27% of the FDIC 100 and 24% of the Fortune 500 qualified for the Honor Roll, though only 12% of government agencies made the list. It doesn’t make me feel particularly safe that government agencies’ websites are some of the most vulnerable to cybercrime attacks. The government and its various agencies should be the ones protecting us, enacting the proper online security protocols and trying to set an example, not being most susceptible to malware.

This report is extremely important for both e-commerce shoppers and small businesses. Online shoppers must realize the dangers of registering on sites that may be unsafe and prone to cyber-attacks and abuse. Therefore, they will seek out websites that have the proper preventative online security measures, and will most likely buy from the large, reputable online websites. This will in turn hurt small businesses that lack a reputation in online safety, and are trying to flourish in e-commerce.  This makes it even more important that for small businesses to succeed that they clearly demonstrate to the public their record of trustworthiness and reliability so potential customers are ensured that the small business they’re dealing with can be trusted.

The OTA’s full 2011 Online Safety Honor Roll and Scorecard can be found here: https://otalliance.org/news/releases/2011scorecard.html.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Talking Employedpreneurs & Steps to Success for Businesses with Tai Goodwin – A KikScore SmallBiz Interview

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Earlier this year I have the pleasure to meet the fabulous Tai Goodwin on Twitter.  Tai is the founder of the site Launch While Working.  We “met” each other when we were both participating in the fantastic Wednesday #smallbizchat that is organized by Melinda Emerson (@smallbizlady).  Tai and I really bonded over a unique trait that we share and that is we are launching businesses while we work full-time jobs.  Tai has an awesome and super descriptive term for this growing phenomenon and she discusses it in detail during our KikScore interview of her.

1. Tell us about Launch While Working and who you focus on serving?

Launch While Working is a resource site specifically built to service the needs of “Employedpreneurs” like myself.  Employedpreneurs are full-time employees who are also part-time entrepreneurs.

2. What prompted you to launch Launch While Working?

In my first side business, I worked as a career coach. The majority of the clients I attracted sought me out because they wanted to pursue something they were passionate about. In most cases their passion led them to starting their own business. I began helping them use on line marketing and social networking strategies to launch and grow their business. I began to see a need for a community of people who were launching while working. Many of the business coaches I worked with seem to be under the impression that “serious” entrepreneurs were those that quit their job to work full-time in their business. But there’s a huge trend of people that need to keep their day job (for benefits or as a funding source), and are still committed to the vision of launching their own business. The idea was born from there.

3. If you had 2 lessons learned from your business that you could pass on to others, what are those lessons?

Systemize and invest in professional development. Having systems in place will help keep you sane when you are running a business on half of the time that full-time business owners have. Having systems in place for follow-up, client intake, customer service, data retention, bookkeeping, etc…are key to maintaining a professional image and high quality service.

Investing in professional development like conferences, high quality mastermind groups, and coaching is one of the best ways to meet people who are on the same journey as you. In addition to the learning from these experiences, I’ve come away with some amazing connections which have led to incredible opportunities.

4. What is Launch While Working focusing most of its energy on this year?

I work from a three-legged stool approach: The first leg is launching the site, so I’ll be doing lots of promotion to create awareness of the community. The second leg is self-publishing the Employedpreneur book. And the third leg of the stool this year is running the first Launch Circle – it’s a mix between a mastermind group and group coaching for employedpreneurs.

5. Based on your experience as social media strategist, what do you see as 2 new trends for small business?

Blogging for business is becoming important as small business owners and solopreneurs realize the value of building an online customer base. Being visible on social networking platforms is important but once people find you, you need to have a content rich home base (your blog) that can establish your credibility and give prospects a chance to uncover the value you provide.

Another trend, specifically for service based businesses is creating opportunities for passive income through infoproducts. Infoproducts are basically a way to package your expertise and sell it to clients via ebooks, video, audio, etc…It’s a must have for solopreneurs who want to break free from the limitations of one-to-one business models. The one-to-many (one infoproduct many customers) model means that you can generate revenue without adding more hours to your work week.

6. If you could describe the nature or spirit of your business as any movie or movie character, what movie/movie character would it be and why?

Ultimately, Launch While Working is about ambitious professionals who believe that a) work has to be about more than money or titles, and b) working for someone else in corporate America limits their ability to live their vision. It’s about those of us who are willing to take a risk and make an investment of time, money and energy top pursue our passion on our terms. I think the movie that best captures that spirit is Jerry McGuire.

7. If the small business community could have one evangelist, advocate or spokesperson that could make a massive impact for small business, who would you pick and why?

Just one – that’s tough. I think Anita Campbell, founder of Small Biz Trends. She’s a role model for me in that I hope the Launch While Working site evolves into a resource for employedpreneurs, like her sites are a resource for small business owners. Small Biz Trends and its affiliated sites like BizSugar, offer a wealth of information for entrepreneurs. She has assembled the best and brightest small business experts as contributors who consistently provide high quality content for entrepreneurs.

8. What are the two biggest challenges that you think small business are facing today and how do you suggest that they work to overcome those challenges?

One main challenge that small businesses face is being unwilling to go beyond traditional marketing strategies when it comes to promoting their business. It’s something I call “egocentric” marketing and it sounds like this, “I don’t like Facebook (or another social media marketing tool) so I don’t see the value in having my business there.” This is the starting point for many of my customers. However, the reality is that it doesn’t matter what “they” like, if their customers are on Facebook, or Twitter, they need to find a way to engage them there proactively – or someone else will.

Another challenge that many small businesses face is not being flexible enough to adapt to the changing demands of their customers and needs of the market. While it is important to hold on to your vision, it should never be at the expense of building a sustainable business model. Your business plan whether it is one page or fifty, should be an evolving document that scales to put you in the best possible position to serve your clients and generate revenue.

9. Small businesses are always looking for good sources of information to learn from or share information to help their business. What are some good information sources that you often use?

My favorite sources are Small Biz Trends, Entrepreneur Magazine (online), Social Media Today, Social Media Examiner. In addition I use Twitter filters and Google Alerts to stay tuned into specific key words related to my niche.

10. Do you have any parting thoughts for our readers and the small business community?

I’m learning that one of the key factors to building a successful enterprise is having strategic partners. Having a solid core of online and offline partnerships opens the door for learning, growth and opportunities to reach new audiences. No business (or business owner) is an island.

____________________________________

Thanks Tai for the great interview and fantastic tips.  If anyone in our small business community has any questions or comments for Tai, please leave them in the comments.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Top Ten Reasons Why Small Business Fail, part three: Marketing

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Marketing

A handful of business cards and a no-frills website are no longer a sufficient Small Business marketing strategy.

The word “marketing” typically brings to mind expensive media campaignsbillboards and the services of highly-paid advertising firms. Clearly many Small Businesses have neither the time nor the resources (money, personnel, expertise) to take this approach to marketing, but that doesn’t let them off the hook.

Many Small Business owners and operators either have prepared a business plan, or know that they should. But many are completely unaware of the the need to prepare a marketing plan. New clients won’t find you just because you want their business, and even existing customers and clients would benefit from an understanding of your full range of goods or services, and a constant reminder that they are available.

Small Business entrepreneurs and “solopreneurs” are quite busy, especially in today’s economy. It’s easy to consider a marketing strategy a “nice-to-have”, rather than a “need-to-have” element of doing business. But consider this: why do well-known, successful corporations spend millions of dollars each year on marketing? Even though we are already familiar with the coffee shops, fast food restaurants and supermarkets we do business with, they still expend a lot of energy reminding us of their brands, their offerings and the overall “feel” of their products and establishments.

Marketing is not advertising, although advertising is a component. Advertising is about what goods or services you offerprice and availability. According to Wikipedia, “Marketing is used to identify the customer, to satisfy the customer, and to keep the customer.” While Small Businesses may not have the budgets of large corporations, they have a greater need to focus on acquiring new customers, and retaining existing ones.

McDonald’s or Walmart can survive a considerable decrease in clientele (not that they would enjoy it). For a Small Business, losing even a few clients can spell disaster. Since they don’t enjoy the regional or national visibility of major firms, they cannot depend on product or brand recognition that brings in customers at random.

Look to as many free or low-cost resources as possible to promote your business and market your offerings. Social media, such as twitterFacebookLinkedIn and such are not just for kids: they can provide a range of exposure once available only via television or radio advertisements. Low-cost “real world” techniques, such as focused flyer distributionbulletin boards and well-designed business cards are not to be overlooked.

Email marketing sites such as ConstantContact.com and  MailChimp.com are a hidden treasure: MailChimp allows you to create mailing lists of up to 2,000 addresses, and send up to 6,000 messages each month. With templates, autoresponders and video tutorials available, it’s a secret weapon I recommend as an indispensable Small Business marketing resource.

You still need a strategy, which requires more detail than can be provided in a blog post. These tips, however, can help point you in the right direction:

  1. Determine the focus of your offering
  2. Identify the value proposition to the customer
  3. Maintain a consistent message
  4. Develop a memorable catchphrase or tagline

Remember: marketing is about the impression you make in the mind of the existing or potential client or customer. Business is about relationships – marketing is the conversation.


Series inspired by “Top Ten Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail” by: Connie Holt, E.A. cholt@henssler.com
The Henssler Financial Group Position Paper
© 2004 The Henssler Financial Group | www.henssler.com



Cornell Green is Your Open Source CIO,  guest blogger for KikScore. Visit him at https://opensourcecio.blogspot.com

Related articles

Enhanced by Zemanta

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Top Ten Reasons Small Businesses Fail, part two: Competition

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Competition

Are you the best at what you do? Among the best? Anywhere close to the best?

Wherever you rank in comparison to your competition, are your existing or potential customers or clients aware of how you compare? As importantly, how accurate an assessment do you have of where you rank amongst your competitors? Remember: our ideas are like our children – we love them because they are our own.

But as any honest parent will tell you, sometimes we must face some brutal truths about ourselves. Before you can match or exceed the competition, you have to understand who the competion is.

How many competitors do you have?  This is not an abstract question about hypothetical competitors “out there, somewhere”  in your chosen field: this is about who your potential clients might consider in addition to, or instead of, you? More importantly, it’s about who your existing customer or client might consider doing business with instead of you.

To remain competitive, you have to assess the competition: the “business school” term for this is “competitor (or competitive) analysis“. Who else is doing what you’re doing? How saturated is your market? Even if you don’t operate from a physical (brick and mortaroffice location, most of your customers/clients are probably local.

Examining the competition is also helpful in determining whether your pricing is too high or low for your market, and is a good source of ideas for new goods or services to offer.

You have probably heard the phrase “there’s no loyalty in business anymore“. This is usually said in reference to employer loyalty – gone are the days that “noone gets laid off at IBM”, and such. There’s no such thing as a guaranteed steady job, regardless of trade.

There’s also no such thing as automatic customer loyalty. Just because they’ve “always done business with you” doesn’t mean that they’ll be back tomorrow, to replace the product or renew the contract.

Business, especially in today’s economy, is about relationships. Just as apathy and ignorance of other potential suitors can lose your sweetheart’s affection, inattention and unawareness of competitors can lose business. Make no assumptions, and court your clients, existing and potential, as if you were a newlywed on honeymoon.

In many ways, the stakes are even higher


Series inspired by “Top Ten Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail” by: Connie Holt, E.A. cholt@henssler.com
The Henssler Financial Group Position Paper
© 2004 The Henssler Financial Group | www.henssler.com



Cornell Green is Your Open Source CIO,  guest blogger for KikScore. Visit him at https://opensourcecio.blogspot.com

Related articles

Enhanced by Zemanta

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Top Ten Reasons Small Businesses Fail, part one: Procrastination

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Procrastination

You’re only as good as your wordMissing deadlines, arriving late for meetings, forgetting to follow up or follow through – these are all symptoms of procrastination, and key factors of Small Business failure.

As a Small Business owner, operator or employee, you cannot afford to slide down procrastination’s slippery slope. Since word of mouth is the most effective low cost marketing strategy (and a rich source of revenue and referrals), you must be perceived as someone who:

  1. Keeps their word
  2. Honors their commitments
  3. Values their customers’ and clients’ time


You may be familiar with the expression “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail“. Here is its procrastination-related corrolary: “If you fail to show, you show to fail“. Free yourself of the voice in your head, which is telling you some variation of the following: “I work for myself, therefore:

  1. Noone is the boss of me
  2. I set my own schedule
  3. My time is my own
  4. Why must they nag me – I’ll get it done (eventually)”


The phrase “it’s only time” is a complete falsehood: time, to a great extent, is all there is. As an independent entrepreneur, or as an employee, you either bill for time directly, or the time required to perform your task (or make your goods) is a major factor in your compensationTime is, in many ways, your most valuable asset.

Timeliness is also an aspect of quality, which is a perception in the client’s or customer’s (or employer’s) mind, NOT an objective quality of the work performed or goods created. As a computer service professional, a hard-won lesson is that the job isn’t done until the client perceives it as done. I could have fixed it weeks ago, but if I wait for weeks to tell the client, only at that moment is it done as far as they’re concerned.

And let’s face it — the person paying for the job, not the one performing it, is the one who must be satisfied. Don’t take too long to understand that, if you want to stay in business…


Series inspired by “Top Ten Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail” by: Connie Holt, E.A. cholt@henssler.com
The Henssler Financial Group Position Paper
© 2004 The Henssler Financial Group | www.henssler.com



Cornell Green is Your Open Source CIO,  guest blogger for KikScore. Visit him at https://opensourcecio.blogspot.com


Related articles

Enhanced by Zemanta

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Facebook and Twitter: Parallels and What Can SmallBiz Learn From Them?

Monday, April 18th, 2011

According to Cnet, Twitter is disorganized. Now I’m not entirely sure the article is true, but I figured that I could trust Cnet and since they included a link to a Fortune article it looks like it checks out. So, what’s going on with Twitter? Some claim they don’t, exactly, know what they’re doing. There’s a lot of speculation going on, such as some higher-ups spying. Cnet seems to speculate that Twitter is trying to emulate  The Social Network. That’s probably not the case. So, what’s really going on with Twitter?

So, Twitter has trouble amongst the higher ups. That’s not surprising. Many startups seem to have that happen especially during a meteoric rise. Remember Facebook? There was some serious chaos going on at Facebook a couple of years ago and Facebook was about the same age as Twitter is now.

However, the difference between Facebook and Twitter is that some argue that Twitter lacks a powerful visionary heading the company. Facebook has Zuckerberg, who, practically, built Facebook according to his vision.  Observers claim that Twitter does not have that. Facebook has apparently learned from it’s mistakes and has become a stronger company. Twitter is trying to get there, but some may be fearing that it doesn’t look like anyone wants to take charge.  In some ways, Twitter’s investors seem to have more influence over what the company does.

Twitter’s problem seems to be that there are too many men (they’re all male) in positions of power and from the outside at least not a single one of them has been willing to take charge. There are other issues that Twitter has to deal with too, such as the need to sustain growth, prove themselves as a sustainable revenue generating company etc. However, these issues are common for nearly every young company.

Is Twitter a service that is being kept afloat by a trend?  From the outside some say it looks pretty unstable and this management issue could distract it further. Like any company, Twitter needs practical and strong leadership. However, whoever takes that position will have to deal with another problem: balancing Twitter’s malleability, where it’s users decide what they want to do with it and what Twitter’s users want out of Twitter.  That will ultimately prove whether Twitter can succeed.

So, what can a small business learn from all of this?

First, that it’s important to have a clear plan and vision of where your company is going.

Second, make sure that there is someone who is clearly in charge and providing leadership as we discussed in a previous post about 10 leadership traits in a startup or small business.

Third, know that problems will happen. Almost nothing goes smoothly when running a business. Factor that in when making plans.

Lastly, in tough times work to pull teams together to focus on the future rather than start finger pointing about what happened in the past.  Here is a prior post we did on building the right team at a startup that discusses the importance of having a good team at your business.

What do you think about all of this?

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

The Magic Behind the Thin Mints: What We Can Learn from the Business of Girl Scout Cookies

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

It’s a familiar scene: a group of elementary-aged little girls set up a card table in front of the local Giant with every intention of guilting you into buying a box (or three) of Tagalongs or Samoas.  Okay, we might as well admit to ourselves that we wanted those cookies anyways.  But what is it about those Girl Scout cookies that keep us coming back for more?  What may seem like a couple of innocent girls selling door to door is actually a hugely successful $700 million cookie empire.

Here are some simple tips for applying the strategies behind Girl Scout cookies to your own businesses:

  1. Make your brand recognizable and familiar. There are hundreds of thousands of independent Girl Scout troops across the nation.  Yet, customers know exactly what to expect when they open a box of Girl Scout cookies.  The packaging, the pricing, and ultimately, the quality of all Girl Scout cookies are uniform across the nation.
  2. Keep up with the times. The organization has recently unveiled the Girl Scout cookie app for the iPhone.  An organization that is so historic gets bonus points for embracing a society where customers automatically assume that “There’s an app for that.”  The Cookie Finder app makes it easy to locate places where customers can purchase Girl Scout cookies.  Which brings me to my next point….
  3. It’s all about the convenience. Even though concerns for the safety of young children have slowly eradicated a door-to-door selling culture, people don’t typically have to look too hard for another box of thin mints.  Girl Scout cookies still tend to find you, whether it’s at a local grocery store, or through an order form at a Girl Scout parent’s office.
  4. …Except for when it’s not convenient at all. Girl Scout cookies are not available in stores.  Nor are they available all year round.  The only place to buy them is directly from a Girl Scout (or her parent, when he or she inevitably brings that form into the office).  When customers know that they can’t just stop by the store for another box, they will inevitably start stocking up for the year.
  5. Appeal to the goodwill and emotions of the public. The Girl Scouts of America is an organization that is widely recognized for its part in empowering girls across the country.  The mission statement cites goals to build girls of “courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”  People are more likely to support a business that they believe is doing good deeds.  Of course, there’s also the fact that sometimes it’s just hard to refuse that little girl.  And that might just be the Girl Scouts’ greatest advantage.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Put the web to WORK

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

In a down economy, Small Businesses need to exploit every possible advantage available to them.

An often overlook and underutilized Small Business asset is the good ol’ company website. Websites are nothing new, and nearly everyone has one by now (there are by far more registered websites than human beings on the planet). Most Small Businesses easily have multiple ways to launch a website for free. How many of these websites are effective business assets?

To truly assist Your Small Business, a website must, at a minimum, do three things:

  1. Burnish your brand
  2. Generate leads
  3. Increase revenue

Burnish your brand: in today’s economy, a website has to be more than a digital business card. Business cards are cheaper than dirt, and you hand them out like toothpicks. Not much ROI there. Your website is your first, best chance to:

  1. Introduce yourself
  2. Promote your business
  3. Establish your qualifications
  4. Create your online identity
  5. Build a reputation

The old saying “you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” is especially true of websites: the “Back” button is just a click away, and you have about five seconds to convince the site visitor not to… click away.

Generate leads: Does your website have a form for customers to contact Your Small Business? Don’t assume the site visitor will actually take the time to pick up the phone, or open their email tool and compose a message. Visiting a website is like an impulse purchase – if you site does capture their attention, you must make it as easy as possible for the potential customer or client to move to the next step, and contact you right NOW!

Increase revenue: Many of your existing clients may not have discovered you by an Internet search, but that doesn’t mean you can afford to ignore the power of the web to find new business with old customers. It’s a well know fact that it costs more in time and money to acquire a client than to retain one — what are we doing about it?

Does your website cross-promote goods or services, especially to those currently doing business with you? Do you offer special deals or discounts to favored customers? You could have special content for registered visitors to your website, and create login accounts for your existing clientele – again, don’t assume that they will take it upon themselves to sign up on their own. They are just as busy as you are, so you’ve got to make it almost effortless for them to do more business with you.

This is not the same as spamming them with unwanted messages – they already do business with you. Everyone likes to feel special, and be treated with special regard. Make sure your focus is the added value to their lives and businesses, not your desire for more of their money.

Review your records and invoices — what goods or services have they already purchased in the past? What else do they want, or need, and how can you let them know that you can provide these quickly, conveniently and affordably?

Remember that a “down” economy is always an opportunity to invent new possibilities – use Your Small Business website to create as many new opportunities as possible, and you’ll find undiscovered wealth right inside your web browser.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark
 
 

Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category

Guest Post: Web Design Contracts – Protect Yourself & Your New Business

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Well, how did you celebrate National Start a Business Month? Did you finally drag yourself off the couch and put those long mulled-over dreams of running your own business into motion?  Good for you! And like all businesses today, you are planning to stake a claim to your own piece of cyberspace with your business’s website, right? Of course you are. In fact, you’ve finally found the right web designer, who has offered you a great price on setting up your website, and you simply can’t wait to get started.

Hold the phone, Jack. To protect you, your brand new business venture and even your website designer, get your website design agreement in writing. Make sure it clearly states what the responsibilities are for both parties and what happens should problems arise. But you’ve never had a website before, so how are you supposed to know should be included? Here is a brief summary of ten points your agreement should cover:

1. Description of Work

This is the most important aspect of the entire project. – exactly what is the website developer going to do for you? Think about a 5-sentence summary of the scope of service, including such things as number of pages, programs, or scripts to be built, graphics to be created, content to be written. How will the website be updated? Who will host the website when the project is done?

2. How Much Will it Cost and When are Payments Due?

State the exact price payment and terms of the payment if split up into installments. Is the project quoted at a fixed rate, or is it an hourly rate, and how is this tracked? Will there be a down payment and a monthly billing cycle, or will it be a milestone-related payment system? And how will payment be made – electronically, by check – and what happens if payments are late?

3. Length of Contract and Ending the Contract

How long will this contract be enforceable and what happens if either party wants out? What are the penalties and notice that must be given before they can exit the contract? For an unfinished project, who gets to keep the work that has been done?

4. Who Owns the Website?

Who gets to keep the intellectual property to the project? Typically, in this work-for-hire situation, the client retains all intellectual property, such as the source code, all digital files, documentation, images, multimedia, programs, website design, and the like.

5. Keeping Secrets

You may want to treat all information that you provide to the developer as highly confidential that cannot be disclosed. If so, make sure the agreement is specific as to what information can and cannot be publicly disclosed. Many website developers use their portfolio of clients as sales tools for other clients – will you allow the developer to mention that they are working for the client during the course of the project to other prospects or potential clients? Specify how the developer will be credited on your site.

6. Providing a Warranty and Possible Disclaimers

Having a warranty on the developed website is standard in most website projects. Typically, website developers give a 30-90 day warranty on all work to be functional and bug free. However, if you have access to the site during development and screw something up, that may void the warranty.

7. Limit the Liability

This states that the website developer is not responsible for damages or money losses that occur outside of the consequences of his direct actions in developing the website.

8. Relation of Parties

Make sure that you and the developer understand what your relationship is. Is the relationship a development partnership? Is it strictly a work-for-hire type relationship? Is it a client and vendor relationship? If not a partnership, make sure that you specify that the developer is an independent contractor and no employment relationship is created.

9. Website Maintenance and Changes

Most developers want to post a site and be done with it, but most businesses want to have a continuing relationship with you. Include in the contract how long the developer will be available to assist with learning to maintain the new site and what types of things he will fix. Specify whether the developer will maintain the domain, set up e-mail, maintain the site, etc.

10. How to Handle Disputes

Make sure the contract defines how disputes will be handled, whether by litigation or arbitration. Arbitration avoids court costs and many legal fees and the parties can agree what law will apply, where the arbitration will take place and who will pay for it (generally the loser).

These ten points should lead to a successful web design and development contract and will give a peace of mind to both the client and website developer and will pave the way to a trusting business relationship. It’s a good idea to get your contract looked over by a lawyer to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.

_________

Gregg Hand is the principal attorney at Hand Law Offices LLC, focusing on helping companies solve their business problems with suppliers, vendors, customers or competitors, offering counseling, advice, contract drafting and review, or litigation expertise. He also authors Briefs in a Bunch, a blog on legal advice for small companies.

Want to know more? Be sure to check out “The ‘Absolute Truth’ About Web Site Projects,” an informative seminar on May 14, 2011, led by Mayra Ruiz-McPherson, Principal & Founder of Ruiz McPherson Communications (@mayraruiz), and Gregg Hand, Esq., of Hand Law Offices LLC (@GreggHand). For information and registration, click here.

_________

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

  • Share/Bookmark