Tag: small business

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advertising business internet

A List Of 5 Popular Tools Small Business Should NOT Use And Why

Everybody’s raving (if I still can use this expression in ’09) about online tools: social media, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and getting on the front page of Digg. While not even remotely contesting the overall usefulness of each of these tools I’d like to take a step back and look at them from a different perspective.

Many small business owners (my direct clients and their peers) are asking me whether they should get a blog. Or if they should be on the Digg (it’s not the question of how – these things are up for sale and that’s the reality of the market). Should they go for promoting themselves on PRWeb or YouTube? Should they hire people to sparkle discussions on forums or start getting a gathering on MySpace?

There is, obviously, no single answer. There is, however, a good chance you will be able to make a decision based on the list below.

Twitter: if you don’t have a dedicated person who is willing to update the twitter stream constantly – DON’T use it. If you have a few large clients or if your clients are using your services once in a blue moon (like limo company) – DON’T waste your time for Twitter, use other means of getting your point across.

Blogs: if there is no one to keep up with posting to your blog – DON’T. It damages your image much more significantly if your prospective clients spot a blog that hasn’t been updated since last year and the only posts there are either obviously professionally crafted PR pitches, SEO texts or updates like “We moved to new address”. You don’t need a separate blog for content that would perfectly fit into your main web site structure. Discounts, promotions, case studies – they all belong to the main site.

Digg: if your company isn’t selling nationwide (or worldwide) – don’t waste your efforts on Digg. For the time, effort and money you spend getting on a frontpage of Digg and receiving that huge traffic bump you better off with more reasonable ways to advertise. Besides the fact that your web host may not be adeqate to support such a spike in visitors, most of them are not your target audience. Put your money where your clients are, and if it’s not Digg – DON’T waste your resources on that.

MySpace/Facebook: it’s hard to say what goes and what doesn’t for these two social platforms, but the same rule as with Twitter applies here. If your services or goods are one-time deal – DON’T waste your effort on building a significant presense on MySpace/Facebook. While it may look like it makes sense – chances are that once your service is consumed your clients would rarely come back to post their feedback. So unless you have a teenage kid who spends his time on MySpace and Facebook anyway and you can talk him into doing this stuff for you – DON’T waste your time, it’s not worth it. Abandoned two-year old profile with your old address and disconnected phone number is the last thing you want your potential clients to see before they try to contact you.

YouTube: converting traffic from YouTube is one of the hardest tasks so far. Aside from that – creating a good video takes time, posting it takes time, keeping tabs on what’s going on with it takes time – and you don’t even know who’s watching it. So unless you’re absolutely know what you are doing – DON’T spend your money and time on video. Spend it on AdWords, local ads or something that gets you better conversion.

As you can see – the list is not definitive and is stuffed with ifs and whens. As a general rule – try to estimate how many actual clients you will get for what price. Compare it with existing ways of advertising, see if you get a better deal there. With all the latest hype about online tools business owners forget about simple old-fashion advertising. It still works – stay tuned to find out how.

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business

Bad Economy? Hire! Now!

Supply and Demand As people ask themselves what is the best place they can invest money, when it comes to small business owners the answer is simple. In fact, it’s so simple that I always get puzzled when fellow small business owners ask me how to invest.

For eons the most expensive thing on small business rosters was the workforce. Hiring someone else for small business was always the hardest decision to make, and we never hire the candidate we wanted – often because we just can’t pay that much. These days, when economy is taking a nosedive, the best investment you can probably make is a new hire.

Just think – you probably would never be able to lure that worker into getting a job at your place if corporate sector would be doing so well. Think of all the perks and the stability of the paycheck and all that. Now you can change the tide and use it to your advantage.

Lure them with flexible schedules and casual attire. Allow working from home if possible – you can’t do that with a receptionist, but a bookkeeper or accountant or phone sales/customer service person is definitely not needed on the premises constantly. Think how you can let them cut costs on travel. Let them spend more time with their families then their corporate bosses who demand 60 to 70 hours work week in order just to keep their jobs. Think family atmosphere. Think thinking outside of the cubicle, box or even outside of the game rules. All that – without being reprimanded for not conforming to corporate culture that imposed by some CEO who’s already have been paid a year more then you will make per life.

Your advantage is speed and flexibility. Large corporations are like large trucks – they speed up slow. While they will be recovering from the current crisis you will have plenty of time to interview candidates and find that person who will become your next star. Wait a little longer and corporate world will start snatching these people back with their bonuses, corporate gym discounts and tuition payment. Your small business can’t compete there. Start earlier, so you won’t have to.

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business

Small Business Will Step Up… Later

There was an article in Sunday NYTimes – Economy to Entrepreneurs: Turn Back (link) discussing how small business owners and entrepreneurs seek refuge in corporate life at the harsh economic times. Given the high fuel cost and tight budgets it is no wonder the profits are shrinking. For small businesses, that operate on much thinner margins now the suffering could be fatal.

However, once the economy will hit the bottom and start getting back up, there will be plenty of opportunity to shine. Seeing successful startups emerging here and there, recently converted corporate types with get back into their entrepreneural mood. Sure, many will decide to remain attached to the safety net and many who did not venture into entrepreneurship before will decide to do so. That’s a whole new market opening.

For years there have been coaches and consultants who suggested how you should run your business. It was, however, a pretty daunting task, since any entrepreneur (especially a newcomer to the scene) is mostly a one man show. Accounting, operation management, general management, sales – everything falls on a single pair of shoulders. That is exactly where the new opportunities arise.

Advising new businesses on tools, techniques and methods, assisting in research and helping with promotion have been around for a while. With internet, web sites, blogs, social networks, various advertising models and ways to reach and serve the customer the ways to do business have changed dramatically. Whoever will catch this ball at the earliest and will run with it will probably reap the biggest reward.