Archive for February, 2009
What to Do After You Cut Your Employees’ 401(k) Match Benefit
As a business owner, you must make drastic decisions during tough economic times. If one of those decision is to suspend, decrease or eliminate your matching contribution to your employees’ 401(k) plans, you’re not alone. Many well-known corporations, including Motorola, Sears, Eastman Kodak and FedEx® have done the same.
Of course, learning that other businesses have taken the same course of action probably does not make you feel any better. Therefore, if you choose this path, perhaps you should also provide an information session or seminar to help your employees cope with the change. Tell them about other options, like how they can up their personal contributions if they can afford to do so or switch their investments to a Roth IRA. By educating your employees, you’re showing them that you still care, despite the difficult decision you were forced to make.
Add comment February 24, 2009
Forum Polls Are Wonderful Business Tools
We’ve said it again and again; forum participation is a great way to find the information you need. You can utilize small business forums to:
- Learn about new tools that will help you operate your business more efficiently.
- Discuss new trends that can help your business grow.
- Solicit guidance on just about any topic you choose.
Now many forums also provide polling capabilities, thus enabling forum participants to survey other participants. Members may create their own polls based on their specific goals. The best part is that sites like MySolutionSpot™ allow their members to use their polling functionalities for free!
2 comments February 23, 2009
Just Released: New MySolutionSpot™ Improvements
MySolutionSpot™ has several new updates. First and foremost, we now provide our members with the ability to create polls within our forums sections. This means, as a member, you will be able to collect valuable information that will help you make better business decisions.
We’ve also improved MySolutionSpot’s performance capabilities by speeding up the loading times for each and every page of our site. In addition, we’ve removed the green suggestion box from all our pages in order to provide additional space for more important items. Of course, users can still send us feedback using the feedback link located in our footer menu. Lastly, the entire Web site was given a slight facelift in order to enhance the overall usability of our site.
Go to: www.MySolutionSpot.com today to witness these changes for yourself.
Add comment February 20, 2009
Why Your Small Business Needs to Find Its Niche
Small business owners, whether single, married, or happily dating, can learn a thing or two from online dating sites. How? Just take a look at some of the online dating Web sites that are out there: JDate® connects Jewish singles; Trek Passions is for sci-fi fans looking for love; ScientificMatch takes the biological match-making approach by using DNA to find your perfect partner; AgeMatch caters to those seeking a May-December romance. (To see a few more unique dating sides, check out David Spark’s article “Most Unusual and Unique Online Dating Sites” over at Mashable.com.)
What do small businesses and online dating sites have in common? They both thrive when they find their niche. The “less is more” way of thinking works for online dating services because it narrows the dating field down to a group of individuals who already know they’re going to have something in common. Clients don’t have to waste their time with dates that are destined to turn out poorly, and can instead spend more time with potential Mr. or Ms. Rights. This can work for small businesses as well.
Limiting the amount of products your business offers gives you the opportunity to become more knowledgeable in your industry. Customers will be drawn to your business since they know that you’ll have both the product and the expertise they are seeking. Niche marketing is another strategy that works well for small businesses since it lowers the amount of competition they are facing, and since money isn’t being spent on marketing to the “wrong” groups, niche marketing can be very cost effective as well.
Finding a niche is a great way to improve your business’s marketing success since you can focus your efforts on your target audience, and it also allows you to become more of an authority on the products or services you offer. For more information on finding your business’s niche, marketing, and other small business topics, visit MySolutionSpot.com.
1 comment February 20, 2009
Join a Business Directory, Gain Followers
Is your business on TwitterTM? If so, there’s a great new service out there that can help your business get more followers. Twibs is a directory that lists all of the businesses on TwitterTM. Once you’re signed up, you can add links to your email address and Web site so that customers have even more ways to find your business. Each business’s page also shows your TwitterTM activity, so visitors to your Twibs page can see the current conversations you’re engaged in. Joining Twibs is easy, and best of all, this great service is completely free.
Add comment February 12, 2009
You Can Start a Business during a Recession
The economy may be struggling, but not every business is affected by the downturn and not every entrepreneur is letting it hinder his or her dream. In fact, some of the biggest names in the business world got their start during an economic downturn. This CNNMoney.com™ article lists six corporate giants that emerged during a recession: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/smallbusiness/0901/gallery.founded_in_a_recession.smb/index.html
Add comment February 9, 2009
A Little Positive Thinking Goes a Long Way
In tough times, it is good to remind yourself that things could be worse. The following article, written by Rhonda Adam, explains how small business owners can improve their business simply by showing a little appreciation: http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/abrams/2009-02-06-all-you-need-is-love_N.htm
Add comment February 6, 2009
What Are You Doing to Save Your Business?
Many small businesses are facing several obstacles as a result of the economic recession. Every business owner has his or her own method of dealing with these obstacles. See how one couple chooses to cut back in order to save their small business: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/02/05/economic.survivor3/index.html
Add comment February 5, 2009
It’s Time to Appreciate What You Have
Millions of Americans are unemployed right now, and unemployment funds are depleting quickly – too quickly, in fact.
It has been reported that the unemployment funds in at least 10 states are running dry and will fully deplete by the first half of this year. Missouri, for instance, is seeking to borrow as much as $260 million from the federal government to replenish its unemployment fund, which will most likely vanish by next week.
So what happens if your state follows suit? If Missouri is granted a federal bailout, unemployment recipients will continue to receive the same payments. The state’s businesses, however, may be forced to pay some hefty taxes and fees. Therefore, if you are a business owner, you may not appreciate such a plan.
The moral of this entry is to remain positive. Things will get better, but there may be a lot more lows before the highs re-emerge.
Add comment February 4, 2009
Want to Achieve Higher Sales Without Spending More?
There is one age-old sales strategy that you can always rely on, and that is having exceptional customer service. It costs nothing to be accommodating to your customers, and the rewards are endless. So how can you offer great customer service?
The key rule is to guarantee satisfaction. That means:
- Help your customers find exactly what they are looking for, even if you cannot provide it.
- Allow your customers to make returns and exchanges.
- Avoid any conflicts (a.k.a. accept criticism with a smile.).
Of course, different industries require different actions. For instance, if you are in the service industry, you can show your customers that you care by calling them a week or so after their transactions to make sure that they were fully satisfied with the service they received. Or, if you own an online business, you can provide an easy-access online method for your customers to send feedback or request help.
Remember, good customer service can help you make a sale, but great customer service will bring in repeat customers and thus, many, many more sales. Which would you rather have?
For additional tips on Sales & Customer Relationships, go to: http://www.mysolutionspot.com/customer-service/
Add comment February 3, 2009
