Bert Martinez

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business

Advice for small businesses on using social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, and how to integrate these tools into the marketing and recruiting efforts of your company.

By J.J. McCorvey | Inc. Magazine

Consider this: It wasn’t until 1997 that the Internet reached 50 million users in the United States. Facebook gained over 100 million users in the U.S. from January 2009 to January 2010, marking a 145 percent growth rate within one year, according to research by digital marketing agency iStrategy Labs. If you’re a business owner that hasn’t embraced social media networking as a major component of your success strategy, it’s due time to hop onboard.

“When you’ve got 300 million people on Facebook, that’s a huge business watering hole,” says Lon Safko, social media expert and co-author of The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success, of the site’s global reach. “The profile is like an index to your company.”

While Facebook has become the most popular social media site, there are plenty of others for your company to explore. LinkedIn, for example, houses 55 million professionals seeking jobs, employees, or basic business or networking opportunities. MySpace, which allows users to tinker with music, themes, and HTML code, is targeted toward youth and teens. All of these sites have one primary thing in common: the profile.

The user profile is generally what distinguishes social networking sites from other social media platforms. It helps set the stage for building relationships with people who share the same interests, activities, or personal contacts, as opposed to primarily disseminating or digesting information feeds. This also means social networks enable companies to invite audiences to get to know its brand in a way that traditional forms of marketing or advertising can’t.

But what, exactly, are the methods that businesses should use to effectively leverage the burgeoning userbase of these sites as a tool to grow their companies? The following pages will detail what to do – and what not to do – in order to maintain a viable presence in the realm of social networking.

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business: Developing a Social Networking
Strategy

Before opening an account and becoming active, it’s important to consider what each site offers and how you can benefit from their resources. “Take some time and really analyze what your existing social media strategy is,” says Safko. “Figure out which tools are best for your demographic.” Without a fully developed plan for your social networking activity, you could end up meandering throughout the sites and wasting a lot of time.

Here are a few basic questions to ask yourself when forming your social networking strategy:
1. What are the needs of my business? Hopefully, you’re not putting your company name on a social networking account just to send messages back and forth to former high school classmates, so there has to be an impetus. Figure out what your needs are. Are you short-staffed? Is your advertising budget running thin?

2. What am I using the site for? After you’ve established your needs, consider the primary goal of your social networking strategy. Do you want to recruit employees for a certain department? Do you want to market a new line of products? Do you want to connect to more people in your industry?

3. Whose attention am I trying to get? Okay, so you want to market that new line of products, for example. You still need to know your target audience for that product, and with more than 300 million users on Facebook, you’ll need to narrow your focus.

Got those answered? Good. Now, consider these questions:
1. Which sites do I want to take on? If you have enough staffing power to handle multiple social networking sites, that’s great. If not, it’s important to focus on one or two, or you could spread yourself too thin and fall victim to the “gaping void” perception, where you end up going days without activity. Your followers will notice.

2. Who’s going to manage my page? Would your social networking activity fall under a current employee’s responsibilities, or do you need to bring on new talent? If you ever find yourself without the staffing resources to manage your page, don’t stick your head in the sand, says Safko. “Find some interns,” he advises. “In most cases, they’ll do it for free.”

3. Who has access to my page? What type of trust level do you have established at your company? Will all of your employees have access to the social network account, or a select few? Take the time to assess the skills and character of those who can log into your page, or you may run into unsavory situations down the road – especially when dealing with former workers.

4. Who’s going to be the personality of my page? Does your company already have a public representative that usually handles speeches, press, etc.? It may be beneficial to rein in that person as the voice of your social networking site. “People buy from other people, not from other companies,” says Safko. “In order to solidify trust, pick someone to represent your brand.”

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business: Choosing Your Site

After you’ve answered those questions, you can choose which social networking site, or sites, would best fulfill the requirements of your strategy. Though many of the sites are similar in nature, they can all be categorized by the different purposes they serve. These are the basic types of social networking sites:

“Free for all” social sites: Some sites that fall under this category are Facebook, MySpace, Ning, and Friendster. Each of these sites primarily serve as a nexus of friends and associates who want to socialize. Ning, for example, has become popular for connecting classmates and helping to set up reunions. The profiles are usually personable, inviting, and can be customized with add-ons and apps.

Professional sites: Examples of these include LinkedIn, FastPitch, and Plaxo. The professional site can be utilized as an online professional contact database, or “rolodex,” but it’s also where people go to update employment information about themselves.

3. Industry-specific sites: These sites allow you to connect to people who are in your industry. I-Meet, for example, is specifically geared toward event planners, while ResearchGATE is a community for researchers in the science or technology field. Industry sites help you to narrow your search when looking for services, or people with skills in certain fields. You may even want a particular department of your company, such as IT or advertising, to open an account on one of these sites.

Dig Deeper: Embracing Social Networking in IT

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business: Setting Up Your Profile

Your profile is the online representation of your brand and company, so it’s important to know what to add and what to avoid. Here are a few tips to be mindful of as you create your profile:
1. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal. Facebook profiles, for example, allow you to include things like hobbies, favorite music, etc. Including tidbits like these can make your page warmer and more personable. “Some personal information is valuable, because it may create a bond with a customer,” says Safko.

2. But not too personal. Don’t be the “TMI” poster boy or girl, (i.e. “The wife and I are on our way to have dinner – kids are with the grandparents”). Create another page that’s just yours, sans company activity.

3. Share photos and videos. Adding multimedia to your page gives flair, and offers customers an exclusive look inside your company. LinkedIn even has an add-on that allows you to post presentations and slideshows.

4. But no office party snapshots. Though the atmosphere of Facebook is still relatively laid back, you want to maintain the perception that you’re serious about your product and customers. Pictures involving Santa hats and alcohol probably shouldn’t be in your albums.

5. Set privacy settings. On most of these sites, you can control what people see on your profile, such as pictures and blog posts, and you can even limit what other people post. Depending on the nature of your company, you should consider these restrictions. Are there any embarrassing pictures of you floating around that you might not want linked to your page?

6. But don’t be a blank slate. Imagine coming across the profile of one your favorite brands, and all that’s there is a picture and headquarters location. A little disheartening, right? If and when you do enact some privacy settings, try to keep the page lively.

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business: Social Network Marketing

Marketing through social networks isn’t as much about selling your product, as it is about engaging your followers. “A lot of people have started Facebook fan pages with no clue to how it can benefit them,” says Jim Tobin, president of Ignite Social Media, a social media marketing agency based in Cary, North Carolina. “You have to think above your product.” The goal of the community-based environment of social networking sites is to provide a platform for an open, honest conversation.

The companies that are most successful at converting followers into dollars are those who interact most with the users and frequently post content related to their brand. Facebook’s Fan Page is probably the best example of how you should be marketing you company through social networking sites. The page acts as an upgraded user profile for brands, companies, and organizations to be as involved as the users, and has plenty of tools to help you do so. As users become “fans” of your page, all of your activity appears in their News Feed each time they log on. There’s also a useful feature called the Insights tool, which allows you to analyze page views, the demographics of your fans, and the number of people who view (or stop viewing) your News Feed posts.

Outdoor Technology, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of clothing and gear for skiers and snowboarders, initially sold merchandise directly to retailers. But after the company began actively using their Fan Page last September, revenue from e-commerce went from zero to $25,000 in three months, says CEO Caro Krissman. The page has now amassed over 11,000 fans. “We saw Facebook as sort of a sweet spot for where our target market is,” says Krissman. “With the ability to target users in such a focused way, we felt like there really wasn’t a better forum to go about [marketing online].”

‘Fan’ features your company should be using:

1. Comment on other users’ content or profile posts. By responding to what your followers post to your profile, you show them that you appreciate their interaction. If they know they have your attention, they’ll keep coming back.

2. Ask questions on your wall. Facebook users love to be heard. It can be surprising how many responses one question can elicit. “It starts to snowball,” says Safko. “What you’ll find is that the conversation will branch off and start another one.”

3. Posting links or threads. “One thing fan pages lets you do that Web pages don’t is encourage viral spread,” says Tobin. If you have any content that you want to circulate quickly, the fan page is the perfect tool.

4. Posting relevant events. By posting upcoming events your company may be part of or hosting, you can help drive more attendees to the function. And for those who can’t come, they get a glimpse at how active your business is within the community or industry.

Social Network Promotions
Remember, it’s called a social network, not a “business network.” Coming off as a pushy or shrewd salesperson peddling a product could scare away your Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections. Remember to be genuine and personal.

Here are the things you should do when promoting your company or product through social networking sites:

1. Make it benefit-based. Make the customer feel that they need to participate in the promotion. Is the product or feature available for a limited time? Are you offering exclusively to your followers on a particular network?

2. Talk about new or uncommon features. Even if you have a relatively popular product, there may be some things consumers don’t know about it. What are some new or different ways it can be used?

3. Include some discounts and savings. Offering discounts on products is usually a shoe-in to grab customers’ attention. Krissman, of Outdoor Technology, says he posts promotional codes that users can fill out on the company’s website and get up to 30 percent off a product. Not only does it drive more buyers to your product, but it also brings more followers to your page.

Here are the things you shouldn’t do when promoting your company or product through social networking sites:
1. Don’t continually have sales-related messages. There are other ways to promote besides selling your product. Comment or ask questions about news or topics in your industry. “They will easily ignore you or unsubscribe you if you continue to push a sale,” says Tobin.

2. Don’t set up an expectation, then cheat on it. If you announce to your followers that your purpose is to give advice, don’t turn around and start selling. “If you violate that expectation, people are going to get upset and they’re going to leave,” says Tobin. Again, make the sale subtle – how can your product help them achieve the advice you’re giving?

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business: Social Network Recruiting

Social recruiting is an effective way to utilize social networks to find the best candidate for any open positions at your company. While the past few years saw the rise of job boards like Careerbuilder.com and Monster.com, the growing prominence of social networks have transformed the way businesses build their best team. Instead of relying on the “come one, come all” approach, the detailed personal information contained in profiles, such as interests and job history, allows businesses to employ social networking sites to target the specific audience or skill set they want to pull from.

According to an annual social recruitment survey published by Jobvite, an online service that helps businesses consolidate the resources of social media sites, 80 percent of companies used or planned to use social networking to find and attract candidates in 2009, with LinkedIn being used by 95 percent of the respondents and Facebook usage growing from 36 percent in 2008 to 59 percent in 2009.

“It’s like what’s happened to the ad industry,” says Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite and former general manager of Yahoo! HotJobs. “It used to be that you would buy a big ad to get the consumer’s attention, but more and more companies are relying on online advertising software that puts that ad right in front of them based on data, like the other ads they click on. Social recruiting is analogous to that.”

The Benefits of Social Network Recruiting
Here are some of the primary advantages that social recruiting affords small businesses:

1. Empowers your employees to distribute job information. These days, most, if not all of your employees probably have a profile on a social networking site. By enabling them to post information about open positions, you multiply your searching reach by the thousands.

2. Helps you put the passive job candidate in your crosshairs. Job boards are mostly used by people who are proactively looking for positions. But what about the perfect potential employee who may not be scouring Careerbuilder.com every day?

3. A low-cost method of finding high-quality candidates. When looking for job candidates, it takes time to sift through resumes of unqualified applicants, and many job boards charge fees to post openings. Social recruiting helps you zone in on the best candidates, for free.

Tools to Help You Socially Recruit

1. Custom searches. Searching only by name and location doesn’t cut it when looking for the perfect employee. LinkedIn has one of the most thorough searches of all the sites, allowing you to sift through profiles by company, industry, college, and even how many “degrees” you are from the person.

3. Updating your status message. When you or your employees update your statuses, it pops up on your friends’ home page, and sits atop the profile until it’s changed. “My company is looking for … ,” is sure to snag replies.

4. Linking to stories and external content. Both Facebook and LinkedIn enable users to post external content to their profiles. By linking to articles and blogs that contain positive news about your business, you show potential candidates that it’s not just your social network connections that adore your company.

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business: Privacy and Legal Issues

Though social networking can certainly be a fun way to help you expand your company, there are plenty of issues surrounding privacy and legalities that you should always be aware of when searching for employees, and even after you’ve hired them. “The laws [regarding online privacy and or hiring online] generally apply the same [as existing state laws],” says Megan Erickson, an associate at Des Moines, Iowa-based Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagan law firm and author of Erickson’s Blog on Social Networking and the Law. “But now that there are all these different kinds of social media, they combine to make it a very unique environment.”

Here are some of the most important things to keep in mind to help you steer clear of legal trouble when dealing with potential or current employees and social networking sites:
1. Don’t use fake profiles. Using a fake profile when adding employees to monitor their activity can constitute as an invasion of privacy, Erickson says. “That’s just asking for lots of trouble,” she says.

2. Add a social media section to your handbook. Including language about social media in your personnel policy is paramount, especially if you plan on integrating it heavily in your company’s operations.

3. Beware of existing federal and state laws. It may help to prep yourself on the many federal and state laws regarding anti-discrimination and privacy, Erickson says, so that if you do come across an employee’s wayward photo or disparaging status message, you’ll be knowlegeable about how to proceed with disciplinary action.

Resources

To learn more about using social networking sites:

• The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success, by Lon Safko and David Brake, is a great guide for business owners and executives who want to use the power of social media to grow their companies. Visit the website, TheSocialMediaBible.com, to connect with other professionals looking to do the same.

• Megan Erickson’s blog, Erickson’s Blog on Social Networking and the Law, posts up-to-date news on legal issues surrounding social media sites.

• Mashable is a great resource for news, advice, and jobs concerning all things social media.

• John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing – The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide, also runs a marketing blog for small businesses called Duct Tape Marketing. Check out what he says about the 7 Truths of Social Media Marketing.

Some sites to consider joining for social networking:

• Facebook: The most popular social networking site, it allows you keep up with friends, colleagues, and classmates and features a stream-lined, easy-to-use interface.

• MySpace: Geared toward the younger crowd, this interactive site lets you connect with friends and tweak your profile with extras like themes and music playlists.

• LinkedIn: This site is strictly professional, and for good reason. You can keep up with colleagues, find employees, and network with others in your field.

• Bebo: Another primarily social site for friends that allows users to express themselves through media and interactive environments.

• FastPitch: This professional site serves as a great platform for growing companies to market themselves, allowing you to post events, press, and submit keywords to increase your profile’s SEO strength.

• Friendster: A social networking site for friends that promotes connections between international users and also boasts “Fan Profiles” similar to Facebook’s.

• I-Meet : A professional site where you can establish valuable contacts and potentially save money on event planning.

How to Use Multimedia for Business Marketing

Your guide to using photo sharing, video, podcasts, mobile marketing, and other types of multimedia to broaden your company’s reach and introduce new marketing techniques.

By Lauren Folino, Michelle V. Rafter and Ryan McCarthy | Jan 25, 2010

Multimedia, such as mobile marketing, livecasting and podcasting, photo, video and file sharing, can spread the word about your company and help build brand awareness in a very unique and powerful way. These particular types of social media marketing services also has the ability to go viral quickly. Hottrix, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based iPhone app creator, became one example of a breakthrough success story when their iBeer app, which simulates chugging a mug of beer on the iPhone, became one of the most-downloaded apps in 2008, and again in 2009.

However, your company’s chances of going viral are left more to fate than skill, but that’s no reason to discount the importance of multimedia for your business. The ability of these technologies to facilitate communication between your small business and employees, your customers and potential customers, is tremendous, says Keith Nissen, principle analyst at the Scottsdale, Arizona-based market intelligence firm, In-Stat.

“When you think about [multimedia platforms] and what that’s all about, it’s about being able to communicate mass marketing messages to the device of choice on demand,” says Nissen. “I think what’s more interesting is how these tools can be used in conjunction with other multimedia tools to support the business–the marketing, the sales and promotion of their products and services. To me, that, for a small business, is probably more important than internal communication.”

Here’s a look at some of the most effective ways to leverage media, such as photos, podcasts, videos, and other types of mobile marketing.

How to Use Multimedia For Business Marketing: Sharing Photos With Your Online Community.

Several online communities exist for the purpose of uploading and sharing photos over the Web, and many small businesses have learned to take advantage of these services to market their products. Here are the most common photo sharing marketing strategies.

1. Offer real-time incentives. Twitter’s TweetPhoto will automatically enable you to publish photos to your Twitter and Facebook accounts for free via mobile and Web platforms. Who needs 140 characters to describe your business when a picture is worth 1,000 words? Tweet pictures of discounted and new items or offer exclusive incentives.

2. Join like-minded communities. At no cost, Yahoo!-operated Flickr provides a useful platform for photo management and sharing. “The first thing that I tell people is that Flickr is not just a photo storage place,” says Matt McGee, independent online marketing consultant of the Tri-Cities, Washington-based, Small Business Search Marketing. “It’s a very active community centered around Flickr groups.” For example, a pet-lovers group may get a kick out of the clothing and toys created by a boutique pet store.

3. Drive traffic to your website. Pink Cake Box, a gourmet cake shop located in Denville, New Jersey, began using Flickr in 2006 to build brand identity. Co-owner Jesse Heap says that Pink Cake Box’s website receives about 300,000 unique users each month, and roughly 10 percent of those visitors are from Flickr, where the company posts photos of interesting or extreme cakes.

How to Use Multimedia For Business Marketing: Hosting Videos and Webcasting.

Sharing videos over the Web is another great resource for small businesses in establishing a social media presence, particularly because of how many people are tuning in. According to a November 2009 survey released by comScore, a digital marketing research firm headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Google’s many video sites accounted for 12.2 billion videos viewed that month, including YouTube, which accounted for nearly 99 percent of the total.

Webcasting is essentially broadcasting a video or media file over the Internet using streaming media technology, which can be distributed to many simultaneous viewers at once. Done the right way, webcasts, also called video podcasts, vblogs, videocasting or Web shows, can be effective promotional tools. “It’s a cool opportunity to take people behind the scenes of a business,” says Dina Kaplan, co-founder and COO of blip.tv, a four-year-old Internet TV network. Her network airs video podcasts from hundreds of companies as diverse as the New York City Ballet to the crafter website Etsy, which broadcasts online classes. “It’s been interesting to watch, especially in the last year, how many businesses have created Web shows to promote their product or gain exposure for principals,” Kaplan says.

Shooting a video for YouTube or starting a more elaborate webcast essentially takes four basic ingredients: equipment, a theme, an online home and marketing.

1. The equipment. Very small businesses can buy a webcam or camcorder, wireless microphone and simple video editing equipment such as Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio or Final Cut Pro 7. However, a webcam limits you to filming yourself sitting in front of a computer, and that’s not very exciting, says Peter Brusso, an Anaheim, California, podcasting producer and technology marketing consultant. Instead, invest in a camcorder, preferably a “three-chip” camera that uses three computer chips to separate colors, which results in a higher quality picture, Brusso says.

2. Hire someone. If you have a bigger budget, hire a professional. Prices run from $1,000 to $15,000, according to podcast industry sources. Employment attorney Helene Wasserman created a video podcast called Employer Helpcast two years ago to market her work as a partner with Ford & Harrison LLP, a Los Angeles law firm. Wasserman uses Brusso’s company to produce video podcasts and pays $2,500 for segments that run anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. It’s worth the money, she says. “If you’re trying to market yourself as having a very professional business, you want to put your best foot forward,” she says.

3. The show. You could have the best-looking video around, but it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t do something that was interesting and consistent, says blip.tv’s Kaplan. For webcasts, stick to a regular broadcast schedule, whether that’s once a day, week or month. And keep shows short. “Your aptitude for sitting in your uncomfortable office chair atrophies after about six minutes,” she says. Be personable, says Kaplan, who advises podcasters to stick to the old news adage to show, not tell. If you run a retail business, walk around the store, and talk about new merchandise. “Talk to a customer. If you have a hardware store, show them the new hammer on sale,” she says.

4. Hosting and marketing. Once you’ve got a video in the can, upload it for free on YouTube where it can be viewed by anyone. Webcasts can also be uploaded to free or paid hosting sites such as blip.tv, iTunes or Libsyn. Where a podcast is hosted isn’t as important as spreading the word that it’s there. Wasserman’s podcasts appear on blip.tv and iTunes and cover workplace issues such as job sharing, corporate culture and managing a multi-generational workforce. Wasserman points prospective viewers to the podcast from her website and blog and by including a tagline promoting the show in her email signature. Wasserman also uses a free service that puts word-for-word transcripts of her video podcasts on the Web, where they can be searched by Google and other search engines. More people find her podcast through search engines than by visiting blip.tv or her website, and the traffic had led to speaking engagements and new work, she says. “It’s the wave of the future. For anyone who wants to use 21st century technologies, this is the way to go.”

How to Use Multimedia For Business Marketing: 4 Good Reasons to Go Through the Trouble of Creating a Video.

1. Show how to use your product. With a slogan as simple as “Broadcast Yourself,” many YouTube users are doing just that, especially when it comes to showing how their products or services can be used. “There are countless small business owners posting how-to videos on YouTube,” says McGee. “[For instance,] here’s how to use the product; here’s how to interact with people in our service industry.”

2. Extend your client base. In December 2007, John Tuggle, a slide and blues guitar instructor based in Decatur, Georgia, began posting videos on YouTube teaching people how to play guitar because he wasn’t generating enough interest in his hometown. By February 2008, interest in his lessens grew so much that he created LearningGuitarNow.com where visitors contacted him regularly for private lessons via Skype at the rate of $25 for 30 minutes. “I just kept [talking to people] and kept putting more out, and figuring out what people wanted. Last year I pulled in almost $100,000 from the website,” said Tuggle.

3. Entertain your customers. It is quite easy to post a video simply for visitors’ enjoyment. For instance, Vimeo, a video hosting site that aims to be a “community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make,” features a ‘Videos we like’ tab. For a small business owner, posting a video for entertainment purposes stands to generate many views, which in turn may spark interest in the company and possibly lead to the purchase of products or services.

4. Provide a unique service. LiveCast, with headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, enables live video streaming directly from a cell phone, mobile Internet device, or Mac or PC, to anyone connected to the Web. For Gordon Cooper, photographer and founder of Perfect Wedding magazine, live broadcasting gives his business a unique capability. “I can have all the guests at the wedding even if they’re not at the wedding,” says Cooper. “Guest can still experience the live ceremony [from wherever they are].” Cooper is able to charge an additional $250 for this service.

Dig Deeper: Marketing Your Business on YouTube

How to Use Multimedia For Business Marketing: Podcasting

Podcasts have become such a popular marketing tool for sole proprietors and small businesses that a small army of professional producers is out there waiting to help. Here are 9 essential steps a company needs to get started:

1. Do some homework. The best way to learn about podcasting is to listen to podcasts, says Peter Brusso, an Anaheim, California, podcasting producer and technology marketing consultant. Visit directories such as RSS Player or Libsyn and look for podcasts with a similar style or subject to you want to create, Brusso says.

2. Decide on a topic. Podcasts could focus on a company’s products or services, an industry or on management or professional issues. Whatever the topic, make sure it’s related to a company’s business in some way, says Sallie Goetsch, proprietor of The Podcast Asylum, a northern California podcast producer and consultant.

3. Gather your tools. Producing a podcast requires:
• A microphone, digital audio recorder or USB headset to record podcast episodes
• Computer with sound card and high-speed Internet connection
• Audio recording and editing software, either licensed software or free open-source programs such as Audacity.

4. Be natural. When it’s time to record a podcast, organize talking points, but don’t use a script. “People don’t like being sold. The more from the heart the better,” Brusso says.

5. Build a backlog. Before going live, build up a catalog of a dozen or more episodes. Coming up with ideas is easy, Brusso says. They can spring from talking to customers, going to conventions, reading trade magazines, or following current events.

6. Be consistent. Length, professional quality, and subject matter of a company’s podcast are important but not as much as on-air consistency. Whether it’s once a day, once a week or once a month, pick a schedule and stick to it. Podcasts are like radio or TV shows: audiences expect a schedule. Disappoint them and they might not come around again, Brusso says.

7. Not a D-I-Y type? Hire a pro. Professional producers can handle the technical aspects of starting or creating a podcast. Goetsch and partners Priscilla Rice and Michele Molitor, for example, offer a small-business podcast starter package for $1,100 that covers scripting and recording three to four podcasts plus lots of extras, including finding a hosting service, setting up a podcast blog and submitting broadcasts to podcast directories. Brusso, who works with lawyers and other sole proprietors, charges $1,000 for an hour-long podcast with similar extras. But it doesn’t have to be expensive. According to Goetsch, a small businessperson could do everything themselves with an existing computer, $20 headset, free software for audio editing and creating a podcast, and host it on their existing website.

8. Find your podcast a home. Companies can physically host a podcast anywhere, including with the service they use for their website. What really matters is getting the word out that it’s there. For maximum exposure, list podcasts on directories such as PodcastAlley.com, Podcast411, Podanza or TalkShoe.

9. Forget about making money, at least not directly. Some podcasts collect revenue from advertising that podcast directories put on their sites. But that shouldn’t be why a company does it. Podcasts should be part of a company’s overall marketing strategy, Brusso says. “To get yourself known, you have to blog, optimize your Website for search engines and podcast,” he says. “If you do all three the results are phenomenal.”

How to Use Multimedia For Business Marketing: Mobile Marketing

There are 4.1 billion cellular connections worldwide, and with the prevalence of smart phones, the concept of browsing the Web from a mobile phone has gone mainstream. Consider this: Mobile phone carriers are sitting atop a trove of data – not just your name, address, and, of course, phone number but also credit card information, who your friends are, and where you’re located at this very moment. Even with privacy regulations, more of this information will become available to marketers as phones are used more like little PCs, creating opportunities for highly targeted ads and other marketing breakthroughs.

Here’s what you need to know to get started.

• How exactly do I advertise on a mobile phone? The most common type of mobile ad is a display ad served on a Web page called up on a cell phone’s screen. The ads are created for the site’s mobile format and may not be the same as the ads you would see if you were browsing the site on a PC. Ads are priced on a Cost Per Mille, or CPM, basis – the price you pay for the ad to be seen 1,000 times.

• How do I buy mobile ads? Most advertisers work with mobile-ad networks, which bring together advertisers and websites that are frequently viewed by phone. Some of the larger players, which are owned by the likes of Google (AdMob), AOL (Third Screen Media) and Apple (Quattro Wireless), will act as full-service marketing shops. They handle the entire process, including technology, the creative content of mobile ads, and the ads’ placement.

• What do mobile ads cost? The cost of mobile ads varies due to the different types of ads, and different cell phone platforms. For instance, AdMob, one of the main mobile-ad networks, currently charges CPMs of $12 to $14 for iPhone banner ads.

• What about text messaging? One option is to buy or rent a short code, a five- or six-digit phone number from which you can send and receive text messages. One common way to use a short code is to publish it on a billboard or in a print ad (“Text 51234 for more information”) that encourages customers to enter a contest or participate in a poll.

• What does a short code cost? Cellit Mobile Marketing, in Chicago, and Movo, in Florida, sell short codes for $500 to $1,000 per month, plus a one-time setup fee of a few thousand dollars and a charge of 4 cents to 7 cents for each text message. You can also rent a code for as little as $225 per month. Keep in mind that technological standards vary. Nearly every phone on the market is equipped to send and receive texts, but some systems won’t let you embed complex graphics or photographs.

• How do I go after my best customers on a mobile phone? Google has expanded into the mobile world in several ways. Now, it allows companies to buy display ads – ads related to content – on the mobile Web. AdMob claims click-through rates on this type of ad of up to 3 percent, which is quite high. The company charges a cost-per-click (CPC) fee of 25 cents to 30 cents.

How to Use Multimedia For Business Marketing: 3 Tips for Making Your Mobile Campaign Successful

1. Determine your goals. Who is your target audience? How will they benefit from your message? Do you hope to generate revenue, generate interest, generate traffic to your website, or all three? Define your goals and set benchmarks for what a successful campaign would look like.

2. Choose your message. Your message should have a clear call to action. According to mobile marketing firm Punchkick Interactive, “over 90 percent of texts from SMS messaging campaigns are read by recipients, generating average response rates of 15 to 30 percent or more.” With the potential for that kind of penetration, it would help to make sure your campaign is simple, memorable, and factual. One thing every local business should be doing, says James Citron, CEO of mobile video marketing firm Mogreet, is attach keywords to their mobile campaigns that will resonate with customers in order to create brand awareness.

3. Pair your mobile marketing campaign with other social media marketing services. When Casa Del Mar, a luxury beach hotel located in Santa Monica, California, wanted to get the word out about drink specials, they doubled up on social media marketing services. The hotel posted messages on Twitter and Facebook saying, “Text CASA to 21534 and enjoy unlimited champagne or Bloodys. FREE.” Customers who texted received videos of the weekend brunch spread on their phone and received the beverage of their choice at the hotel. The end result was highly viral, with 250 redemptions.

15 Things You Should Know About Caffeine

As the most potent chemical component in coffee or tea, we are all very aware of caffeine. Next time you’re sitting around the coffee shop, enjoying a latte and perhaps talking about coffee in general, you can appear quite learned by tossing around these caffeine facts.

Via: Homeowners Insurance

Most Common Press Release Mistakes: Avoid These Costly Press Release Errors

Common Press Release Mistakes: Avoid These Costly Press Release Errors

As one of the Internet’s largest news release distribution services, we have seen some of the best press releases on the Web. We’ve also seen some of the worst. Since your news release is competing with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of other companies and organizations that are all vying for a reader’s attention, it’s best to make sure that your release is strong and free of mistakes. Remember, you won’t get a second chance to correct the negative impressions left by a poorly written release.

Here are some of the top mistakes we see in press releases:

Use of ALL CAPS – Using ALL CAPS to create emphasis and draw attention to keywords and phrases is not well used in news releases. Your press release should be written professionally and utilize proper grammatical and spelling guidelines. Let the facts and the information in your press release do the talking to excite and interest readers.

Grammatical Errors – It’s very important to proofread, edit, and proofread again so that when you submit your release you are confident that it is well-written, correctly formatted and error-free.

Lack of Content: While short is sweet, when it comes to news releases, content is king. It’s a good idea to keep things concise but not at the expense of the important details that will define your news. PRWeb recommends writing your press release between 300 and 800 words. Be sure to answer all of the “W” questions (who, what, where, when, why and how) to ensure a complete release.

Advertisements: While news releases are promotional, they definitely are not advertisements. A good news release informs in an objective voice. An advertisement tries to sell. If your news release screams “BUY ME!” then you should consider reworking it.

Hype Flags: Hype flags include an abundance of exclamation points, wild product and service claims and overabundant use of words like “best,” “FREE,” and “amazing.” Not only do you risk tripping spam filters by including these hype flags in your release, you also risk turning off readers who are looking for facts, not hype.

Direct Address: Many press release writers desire to bring the reader in by using a lot of direct address and making statements directly to the reader using words like “you,” “your” and “we.” Direct address can be a flag that a release is actually an advertisement. In addition, you lose the chance to use important keywords and phrases instead of direct address. Use a term that defines your audience such as “marketers” or “accountants” rather than “you.”

Video Marketing in 5 Easy Steps

After Google purchased Youtube.com Videos became all the rage. It used to be that only a handful of corporate websites had videos and now they are on more and more websites. The Kodak Zi8 and Flip HD allow anyone to look pretty professional with out the big expense. Videos allow you and your company an excellent way to connect with prospects and clients on a personal level.

It’s one thing to write compelling web copy that works, but it’s quite another to show a movie of yourself speaking. Personally, I was afraid of sounding stupid, looking weird or actually hurting my marketing rather than helping it. I generally think I am un-photogenic. But the more I worked with videos and spoke to professional I realized those feelings are pretty natural.

We encourage all clients to use videos and we currently recommending the Kodak Zi8 because of it’s external mic jack. We use videos on our facebook page and with our business and sales training.

Here are a few tips we would recommend from our experience.

1. Make sure you have your core message crystal clear. You need to connect empathetically with your customers and speak right to their need and the benefits you offer. If you are unclear of your focus, get help with that before doing your video.

2. If you are using a small digital camera like the Flip HD or Kodak Zi8 like I do, make sure you use good lighting it is fairly easy too, but you’ll definitely need some practice.

3. Keep it well under a minute or less. People will watch a video if it is short and quick. If it goes too long people won’t watch all the way to the end. This means you don’t have to say a lot but what you do say needs to be clear and compelling. Even 15 seconds can be good. We been on national TV and Radio where you only have 2-3 minutes to speak.

4. Make sure you smile, as this makes a huge difference in terms of connecting with people. No one can resist a good smile. Smiling is a skill so again you may need some practice.

5. Make sure you have a call to action at the end. Something that you want people to do. Buy a book; take a class; sign-up for a newsletter or whatever. Don’t lose the opportunity to let people know what to do next, but always bring in the benefits to them.

Go for it and have fun!!

When your video is done you can upload it in on YouTube.Com get the code so you can paste it on your website. Take note add your web address on the first line of the description, so people will see it.

Also I high recommend an expensive lavalier microphone for any Kodak Zi8 it ads a huge level of professionalism.

You Were Created to Succeed!
Bert Martinez

Overcoming Fears in Business

“Your greatest obstacle to success is yourself, it’s fear of failure”.
~Bert Martinez

Every new or struggling business owner wants to know how to manage their fears, particularly nowadays. Check out this list of easy ways to overcome your fears:
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You have to keep in mind that a large number of successful business were started during economic downturns, it drives out your competition and forces business owners to concentrate on keeping cost down and creating a leaner, meaner, more efficient business.
Thank you,
Justin Pesta
Vanguard Financial LLC
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As a recovering alcoholic, I have found that most fear is unfounded and grounded in my brain from childhood. Let me prove a point. Picture yourself hanging from a branch and I ask you to look down. Now I ask you, “How far off the ground are you?” Most people would say anywhere from 20 feet to miles. The point is that you are probably only 2-3 feet off the ground as an adult but your brain still recalls your childhood experiences. Getting over fear requires a strong belief in faith and that no one wants us to fail. Even the odds are against succeeding, who cares? Someone has to win. It might as well as be you.

Jeffrey Taylor
4844 E Andora Dr
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
http://booksbyjeffreytaylor.com
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I have started several high tech businesses in both Atlanta and Silicon Valley. Each time, there was fear and doubt. No amount of education, training, preparation or research will remove the lingering doubt…real entrepreneurs know and come to respect fear of failure. However, fear has to be used wisely and not left to run amok.

Here is the process I have used that seemed to help me overcome fear – I am also counseled other entrepreneurs on this over the years. First, when I am conceiving an idea for a business, I try to see if I can become emotionally involved in the idea – does it excite me, do I think it is something that will benefit people – do some good. This is very important and is the fuel for many entrepreneurs. Second, as I move into the data gathering mode, I attempt to remain completely neutral on the concept – really trying to listen as I do my research (both primary and secondary). I attempt to hear all points of view, get as much hard data as I can and apply as much rigor to the process as possible. Finally, in the final phase, before any commitment is taken on my part, I try to KILL THE IDEA. I spend quite a bit of time in this phase – asking people hard questions, going back over all of my data, seeking counsel from wise friends and business associates – asking them to please help me STOP NOW before I waste money and time. If at the end of this process (and there is no time limit – but as quickly as possible), I am still excited about the idea (or some variety thereof), I will proceed to the strategy development/development/implementation modes. I will also proceed without fear. My experience has taught me that fear has its place in the entrepreneurial process but not once the entrepreneur has made the commitment to move forward – fear at this point is a drag on the effort and hinders the chances of success. Fear is always “in the room”, so to speak but it is not “invited to the table”, once the decision to move forward has been made. Mental discipline and really understanding the entrepreneurial process is required.

Thank You and God Bless.

James D. Grady (Jim)
President/CEO
The Monticello Corporation
makers of The Paper Tiger software
Atlanta, GA
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“Once we drop from fear’s influence, a world of new possibilities emerges.”
Gayle A. Gregory – Author,
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Worry does not affect the outcome. And… nothing happens until you move. So, get a grip on your concerns, conduct the due diligence to determine whether your action is warranted, then take the initiative and move forward. The depression spawned many new movements in this country. Each entrepreneur needs to plan out his/her steps, then work the plan. This may be that person’s distinct contribution, so it is essential that they move.

www.Thrival.com

Paul O. Radde. Ph.D.
Thrival Systems(R)
DrPaul@Thrival.com
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I’m a small business owner, speaker, and author based in Conyers, Georgia. I started my business in 2004 after resigning from a full-time job as a web database developer. I didn’t know the first thing about starting a business or marketing it for that matter. I was very fearful but I didnt let the fear stop me. Instead, I let the fear drive me toward my goal by embracing it. Whenever I wanted to give up, I would read inspirational stories about other successful entrepreneurs who started with nothing and went on to be something such as Fred DeLuca, Truett Cathy, Michael Dell, and others. I also prayed to God a lot and built up my spiritual inner man so that I could not only have confidence in God but also in myself and my abilities. Lastly, I began associating with successful people which made me begin to visualize myself as successful. I began to develop the failure is not an option mantra.

Fear is a good thing but can become bad when we let it paralyze us and stop us from moving in the right direction. I hope that this can help other entrepreneurs as they battle with fear.
–
Lisa Sims
Author, Stretching A Dollar To Save And Make Thousands: An Entrepreneurs Guide To Doing More With Less
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“Do the thing you fear and the fear will disappear.”
David J. Schwartz, American Trainer Author of The Magic of Thinking Big
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During that time I have found ways to turn fear into my finest friend. My current best understanding, since this too is constantly evolving, comes in three parts.

1. Stop and pay attention to your thoughts and fearful thinking. This is called thought awareness. Slow down long enough to see what is really going on inside.

2. Let curiosity guide you. Get excited about learning everything you can about your fears. They stop you. They determine your success. They can be your friend and will teach you everything you need to know in order to engage life in a healthy and successful way.

3. Once seen, acknowledge your fears and limiting thoughts as aspects of who you are. Yes, the fears are present. Yes, they feel uncomfortable. Welcome them without agenda. Don’t play nice in order to get them to leave. Allow yourself to accept that they might stick around forever. Ugh! Yes, even that. Anything less than full acceptance of the fearful thoughts and beliefs empowers the fear and keeps it firmly in control.

We can distract ourselves with visions of a better life. We can envision letting go of the fear in innumerable ways. We can attempt to think only positive thoughts (great idea but impossible to put into practice). All of these tactics appear to work – and then the fear reappears in the same form or another. Or we can meet our fear once and for all, get to know it, and understand its real message. Fear is a gift that will help us heal all the ways we hold each other and ourselves as small. It has a lot to offer.

Gayle A. Gregory
Workplace Evolution, Common Sense for Uncommon Times
www.workplaceevolution.com

Seven Strategies for Sales Success

Two common questions that I hear all the time, what do I need to learn to succeed in sales and what do I need to do to succeed sales? Here are a few strategies of sale success.

Succeeding in sales is a learnable skill. Being poor in sales is a learnable skill. You may need some sales team training, but whatever you choose sales is a learnable skill.

Number one; grow your people skills – remember the customer buys you first. Sell yourself before you even try to sell your company or your product. The client looks to you for assurances and trust.

Number two; sell the benefits – make a list of your benefits that your competition does not have. Use questions that your competition does not ask is good strategy.

Number three; master the objections – there are no new objections so get rid of the existing ones. Make a list of the objections that you hear over and over again. Not interested. Happy with present provider. No budget. Better offer from your competition, etc. And role play the answers.

Number four; target your ideal customer – Make a list of your ideal customer’s traits, B credit, 5-10 employees, 5 plus years in business, 3 plus locations. Make a list of the prospects that match those traits, contact only those “ideal” prospects. It’s a smaller but better list.

Number five; be, do, have –BE a student of sales team training, never stop learning. This is how I mastered sales. After you learned a new technique, DO it – role play it with friends and associates, teaching is a great to role play it too. Then use it that day. Doing leads to HAVING and the more skills you HAVE the faster you be come a master of your craft. Remember to adapt what you’ve learn to your personality style.

Number six; how you feel is more important than what you know – you heard it before “ attitude is everything” learn how YOU keep a positive attitude, what triggers attitude changes in YOU. Study emotional strategies every morning. The secret to attaining sales success is how you feel about money, yourself, sales, and success. Rich sales people are rich because how the feel, broke sales people are broke because how the feel.

Number seven; save money – this was a big turning point for me, when I started to save just 10% of my income. The savings created peace and confidence that comes with knowing that you have thousands of dollars in the bank. I’ve met hundreds of good and broke sales people, they spend everything they make. Begin with saving 10% of your income and get to the point that you can save 20% or more.

Here’s a final thought. Succeeding in sales is a learnable skill. Losing at sales is a learnable skill. You may need some sales team training, but whatever you choose sales is a learnable skill. Getting ahead is a result of doing certain things over and over again. And you are in charge. You decide how much you want to succeed by remembering 6 words. “Repetition is the mother of skill.”

Let me ask you – if I blind-folded you and placed you in a dark room and asked you to tie your shoes could you do it? Why? Because you repeated the shoe-tying process a zillion times, right? Again mastering sales takes repetition to master the skills.

Time Management real or a hoax? Why Time Management doesn’t Work

Hey guys, Bert Martinez here. Time management tools are really useful, right? Or are they? They show you how to organize your things. The problem is, that these systems are only as good as you FEEL. I’ve always said how you feel is more important than what you. How you feel determines your follow through or follow up – your success.

Consider this. Have you been using time management techniques but still, you feel overwhelmed, unfocused, like you’re not accomplishing some major things? If so, your lack of emotional management may be the reason why your time management approaches may not have worked so well for you.

Stephen Covey, he summed it up best when he said time management is a misnomer. The real challenge is to manage ourselves. So take a pause for a moment. How well do you manage your self?

Let me give you three examples. Let’s say you have an exciting message and you really want to get it out to the media. So you schedule a block of time from 3:00 to 4:00 this afternoon. This is a typical time management technique. But here’s what might take place. Three o’clock rolls around, you sit down at your desk and you start thinking to your self, “What if I send this out and nobody responds? I’m really going to feel dumb,” or, “Oh worst, what if they think this is a stupid idea?” or, “Who am I to write about this subject. I should do some research before I send the message.” Four o’clock rolls around. What do you think is going to determine whether you send that email or not? Was it whether you scheduled it in your calendar or how you feel about you?

Example #2. Let’s say that you decided to lose weight. So you schedule yourself in the gym 3 times a week at 6 am. But what if on the first day it’s really cold and raining. Okay. What’s your reaction? Do you go back to bed? Your level of commitment (feelings) will now take over and decide your actions.

Example #3. Here’s another example. Let’s say that you had an interaction one morning with your spouse and it ended on a pretty tense note. Okay. So as you’re going throughout your day, you’re kind of thinking about it. It’s nawing at you in the back of your mind. Later that day you scheduled planning meeting. Again that’s an excellent time management technique, right? Making time for the things that are most important to you, being proactive. But during that meeting, what do you do? You obsess and you replay what happened that morning. What is that interaction going to mean for my our future?

You’ve scheduled your time for meeting. But were you really present? And also, did you schedule in the time you probably lost thinking about it? Real “time management” is a two-part process. It’s how you schedule your time on the outside but it’s also about how you manage your emotions, the self on the inside. And one without the other is not going to get you the results that you need.

So consider this, instead of focusing on managing your time, start by managing how you feel, developing emotional skills like determination and confidence. Emotional skills will serve your time and your life better.

To summed it up “How You Feel is more Important that What You Know.”

Boosting Holiday Sales – 5 Mistakes to Avoid

The new holiday season has arrived, and you still don’t have a marketing plan to reach out to new or existing customers. Wondering why the same holidays seem to sneak up on us every single year? As we try to prepare ourselves for own family, shopping, gift giving and travel, it’s no wonder we often forget about our businesses marketing during all the holiday chaos.

It’s quite common for business owners to freeze their marketing efforts over the holiday season with the notion that they’re going to start strong in the new year; little do they know, however, just how many opportunities have passed them by.

The holidays can be the best time to bring in new business and reconnect with current clients and customers. The holidays are not just for brick-and-mortar stores; it can also help your business by boosting revenue and customer loyalty before the end of the year.

Here are the top five holiday marketing mistakes businesses make:

1. No Plans. Your holiday marketing plan should have been planned at the beginning of the year, but now it’s the holiday season, so what do you do? Take some time today to decide what you are going to do and offer for the rest of the holiday season. If it’s just too late, then start planning now for the next holiday. Also establish the habit in 2010 to set a marketing calendar at the beginning of the year that can serve as a blueprint for your marketing plans year round.

2. No Communications. Although the Christmas holiday season is frantic for most, for some businesses it’s actually the slowest and the best time to pick up the phone and make a call for their business. Many business owners mistakenly think that offices are closed or people are too distracted or busy to be bothered. If you choose not to follow up with leads or customers because it’s a busy time of year, you’re making excuses. If it’s not this holiday, it’ll be the New Year, or Valentine’s Day or Spring break, then summer. Now is the best time to market precisely because so many of your competitors don’t.

3. Zero Holiday Offers. Remember any product or service can be repackaged with a holiday offer or theme. Search online to see what other companies are offering; it might spark an idea or two for your business. People, for the most part, love the holiday season; they like to focus on gift giving, vacations and family time. So if you don’t provide a holiday special or offer that helps them with their needs, you are missing a great opportunity.

4. Not Sending Holiday Greetings. Take a few hours out of your day and hand write a holiday greeting card. There are automated systems such as SendOutCards.com where you can design your own card (to add a personal touch) and you can even send a gift with the card, this service will put the postage on the card and send it for you, saving you a trip to the post office. AT the very least send out an email card. Your customers have been loyal, bought from you and supported your business year round; you need to let them know that you are not only thinking about them over the holidays but that you are grateful for their business.

5. Customer Surveys. How are you going to know what worked and didn’t if you don’t ask? Find out what worked and what didn’t, look at your systems and your marketing, and then make improvements and enhance your current offerings. Aweber.com has great online survey templates. Offer a free gifts or discounts to customers who take the time to complete your survey. If you keep doing what you have always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

Bert Martinez is an International Sales and Business trainer. Martinez specializes in building businesses worldwide using the power of proven marketing and business strategies.

W.O.M.A.N to Avoid Illness and Fatigue?

Water   Hydration is essential. Drink lots and lots of water – a good rule of thumb is drink half your body weight in water. So lets say you weigh 140 pounds you would drink 70 ounces in water, soda, coffee, and juice doesn’t count. Remember this during winter people tend to drink more hot drinks that dehydrate the body.

Oxygen   Cells need oxygen to produce energy. If you don’t have time to workout take 7 minutes to do some deep breathing.

Minerals   The body uses vitamins and minerals to perform many different functions – from building strong bones to transmitting nerve impulses and fight infections – your body needs vitamin C, calcium, potassium, magnesium, just to name a few.

Alkalinity   Eating high-alkaline foods help maintain the acid/base balance of your system. An ideal diet should consist of dark green and yellow vegetables, soybeans, sprouted grains and nuts, and essential fatty acids. Coffee, Hot Chocolate, and alcohol increase acid in your body which affects how you function.

Nutrients   There are seven groups of nutrients which your body needs to stay healthy – Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals, Roughage (Dietary Fiber), and Fluid (water).

Simply put,  to maintain the cycle of balance within your body, everyone needs a good W.O.M.A.N.

10.5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Starting A Business

The following list is derived from my experience. Based on my actions and results I retired from corporate America at the age of 28. Filed bankruptcy at 30. I’ve been involved in several successful businesses and many unsuccessful ones too.

#1 – Never let your expenses exceed your sales. Yeah, I know that’s easy to say, because you say “Jeez, that makes perfect sense, if my expenses never exceed my sales then quite honestly I’m always going to have positive revenue. I’m always going to be in the profit. Wow. That’s fundamentally smart. But c’mon Bert, it doesn’t work that way in the world. Why? When we start out we don’t have any sales yet, and so our expenses have to exceed our sales on day one.” And you’re correct. That’s true, so I want you to have a concept, a goal or even a burning desire. That you will make those days the fewest number of days absolutely possible that your expenses are exceeding your sales.

#2 – Failing to collect the money or the receivables. Question – Should you really be extending credit to people? I don’t care what business your in retail, wholesale, hospitality, legal, or whatever. Selling is what you about not carrying receivables. Don’t extend credit, get paid now! Look fewer customers that have paid you 100% are way better than having more customers when some of them didn’t pay you at all. More cash, less stress – you don’t have to be real smart to do the math.

# 3 – Failing to take care of your employees. People have say that the customer is number 1 – right? Maybe not. Well who is taking care of your customers? Your employees handle quality and service and delivery? Well if you haven’t taken care of your employees, they’re probably not going to take care of your customers very well. It’s just that simple. It’s goes without saying that if you do take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers.

#4- Failing to take care of your customers. Real simple the easiest customer to get are existing customers. There is usually more profit in repeat customers than in new customers. A happy customer is a good customer a good customer refers more customers. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you.

#5 – Underestimating your competition. We can, no matter what business we’re in, we think of our competitor as dim-witted, we think of our competitor as incompetent. Remember this -our battle isn’t against them. It’s for the customer, not against our competitor. We don’t win by doing damage to the competitor. We’re not in a battle with him really. We’re in a battle for someone else. So quit thinking about the competitor and start thinking about your competitor’s customers.

#6 Inadequate capital – Now I’ve started business with no money because I had to but then you quickly come to realize that you do need money to operate. You do need capital to grow the company and get to the next level. And here are 2 rules you should remember about capital. And, just in case your not clear, capital is the money we need to fund the organization, to buy the inventory, to hire employees, to do all those things that we’re going to need to do. Well here’s are 2 rules you need to appreciate. Is that your expenses are going to be hirer than you anticipated and your revenue is going to be slower than you anticipated. Those two statements are true in 99.99% of every single business that has ever started. Well that’s what happens. It happens almost all the time. Because we are optimistic, if we weren’t optimist we wouldn’t have started a business. We over-projected what our revenues are. What I’m telling you as a practical, experienced businessman lower that number. Now if you beat, if you excel… wonderful! Find a place to spend it. But if you have shrunk it down, conservative in your projection then you might be safe.

#7 Underestimate the length of time to break even. The break even is a magic moment in the making of a business and if you don’t understand let me try to explain the concept to you. Break even is that magic point when you quit putting money into a company and the company is finally sufficient enough that it starts to pay for itself or is finally starts to pay you for having been there first.

# 8 Focusing on profits instead of on cash flow. Business people, when they first start out, they focus on profits instead of on cash flow. And I know this is going to sound like sacrilege to some people saying well,” aren’t we supposed to be all about profits? absolutely, and yes! And we want to get there as fast as we possibly can! But before we get there we have to make sure something else happens first, and that is that we always have positive cash flow. We always have enough money to pay the rent. We always have enough money to pay out employees. We always have enough money to buy more supplies, to do more marketing, that’s really crucial. That’s called cash flow. Profits will follow the cash flow I guarantee it. Now there’s a different in being profitable and having positive cash flow, you can be unprofitable where you’re actually losing a little bit of money but still have positive cash flow. I’m telling you when your first starting a business, if you have to pick between the two, now if you could have both of them, great go get both of them and that would be wonderful, but I also will tell you from experience getting both of them when your first starting out is really going to be complicated. You’re going to have to make a decision between the two. Pick cash flow when you’re first starting your business.

#9 Over estimating size of your market. Entrepreneurs are optimists and we tend to have this attitude that everyone is going to want to buy what we have – that just doesn’t sell. Get over it. Just come to understand that it’s not going to happen. So what you need to be able to do is think about Bottom Up Marketing. It isn’t how many potential, how many people are out there, it’s about what you can you really do. Bottom Up Marketing looks at your capacity. So if you’ve got 1 employee, 3 employees, 7 employees, that’s all you can handle. It doesn’t matter how many people might want your widget. You can’t handle it! So think coolly about the real size of your market and don’t ever estimate it because you can’t handle it right now. You only need enough market to handle the capacity you presently have, and if you can do that efficiently you will be profitable, and if your profitable you’ll be successful and if your successful you can grow the company again, and again, and again. Do a little research on “Bottom Up Marketing” and you have a better understanding of the concept

#10 No Advertising/Marketing plan. So how are you going to drive your sales through advertising or through sales people. You need to develop your marketing plan, you need to have enough capital to drive sales. I’ve seen to many times were entrepreneurs will invest all this money in equipment or to get the doors open only to discover they have no way to adequately drive sales.

#10.5 – Exit strategy. At one point, P.T. Barnum noticed that people were lingering too long at his exhibits. He posted signs indicating ” “This Way to the Egress”. Not knowing that “Egress” was another word for “Exit”, people followed the signs to what they assumed was a fascinating exhibit…and ended up outside. So what am I talking about? We should start a business that we can create and build something that we can sell, transfer, dispose of, or hand off to someone else. That should be a goal maybe the first goal as you begin to vision your successful business.

Remember . . . You Were Created to Succeed!

More Featured Content

• How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business
• How to Use Multimedia for Business Marketing
• 15 Things You Should Know About Caffeine
• Most Common Press Release Mistakes: Avoid These Costly Press Release Errors
• Video Marketing in 5 Easy Steps
• Overcoming Fears in Business
• Seven Strategies for Sales Success
• Time Management real or a hoax? Why Time Management doesn’t Work
• Boosting Holiday Sales – 5 Mistakes to Avoid
• W.O.M.A.N to Avoid Illness and Fatigue?
• 10.5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Starting A Business