Take Our Startup Challenges Poll
At MySolutionSpot™, we know that starting a small business can be a long, difficult process. We’d like to know what your biggest startup challenge was. Did you have difficulty finding the time to work on your business plan, or was your biggest issue coming up with the money needed to open your small business? Head over to MySolutionSpot.com to take our new small business poll, “Hardest Small Business Startup Challenge,” and cast your vote.
Stay tuned for the results!
2 comments June 24, 2009
Health Tips for SMB Owners
Americans, in general, lead very busy, fast-paced lifestyles. This is especially true for SMB owners, who often have to take care of a family in addition to running their small business. People in the business world are more prone to stress and exhaustion, both of which can increase health risks like high blood pressure, obesity, illness, and so forth. Taking care of your health is just as crucial to your business’s success as marketing, customer service, and other business procedures are. The better your physical and mental health, the better decisions you’ll make for your business.
Over at GrowSmartBusiness.com, the blogging team recently posted some tips on maintaining both your physical and mental health while running a small business. There are also ideas on how to inspire your employees to invest in their health. Check out “Staying Healthy While Running a Small Business” for advice on how to keep you, your employees, and your business healthy. To view this blog post, visit http://growsmartbusiness.com/2009/06/staying-healthy-while-running-a-small-business/ .
1 comment June 18, 2009
Have You Set a Good Anchor?
While reading this article earlier today, I started reflecting on my own experience with “anchors” and their power of persuasion. In the short time I’ve owned my home (a little over a year), I’ve had a fence put up around my back yard and new windows installed throughout the house. For each project, I had multiple companies give me price estimates. I gave the same “this is what I want” spiel to each company, and each installer used the same measurements. Some of the companies used the same products—exact same windows, exact same fence parts—yet there was a huge difference between the highest estimate and the lowest. In the end, for both the windows and the fence, I decided to go with one of the companies in the middle of the pricing spectrum.
I bypassed the company that gave the highest estimate (for obvious reasons), and even though I wanted to save money, I skipped over the company with the lowest offer. Why? The anchor got to me. With the mid-priced estimates, I felt like I would be getting a better deal than if I went with the high-priced installers. Regarding the companies that offered lower prices, I was concerned that they wouldn’t do as good of a job as the others, or they wouldn’t be able to offer continued care should I need it. The mid-priced estimates proved to be the anchor by which I judged the rest of the estimates.
Mental anchors do exist, as Damon Gudaitis notes in the above article, and small businesses need to be aware of this. Check out Gudaitis’ article, and then take a look at your business: Are your prices too high, causing customers to feel as if they’d be paying too much? Or are they too low, giving your business a vibe of “low price, low quality”? By becoming aware of your anchor, you can readjust it so that it better reflects your business and the quality of its offerings.
4 comments June 17, 2009
Upcoming Webcast: Tips for the 2009 Holiday Season
It may only be June, but it’s not too soon to start preparing your business for the upcoming holiday season. Customers have changed their shopping habits over the past year, so retailers need to modify their holiday business strategies as well. On Thursday, June 25, at 1pm EDT, Search Marketing Now and Performics are teaming up to host “Online Holiday Retail 2009: Tips, Tactics, and Timelines for Success.” Speakers Eli Goodman and Matt Miller will offer tips and suggestions for setting up your business’s 2009 holiday retail plan. With the economy still struggling, it’s a good idea to start planning your approach to the holidays now.
To register for this webcast, visit http://searchmarketingnow.com/webcasts/wc090625.
Add comment June 10, 2009
Is Your Business Website Trustworthy?
Lisa Barone recently posted another great article over at SmallBizTrends.com that discusses the importance of having a trustworthy business website. In “9 Essential Trust Indicators For Your SMB Site,” Barone gives tips on what to do, and what to avoid, when setting up your business site. As an SMB owner, you need to prove that your business is just as trustworthy as your larger counterparts. Some people can be leery of small businesses since they don’t have established reputations like larger corporations; however, by presenting your business as a smaller, more personal, and easier-to-work-with company that’s jut as trustworthy and professional as a large business, you can easily compete with the big boys.
The key to an honest, trustworthy site is openness and ease-of-use. Your customers should be able to find exactly what they’re looking for in a few obvious steps—nobody likes to spend time hunting through a website to find what they need. By providing all of your business’s information (business hours, contact info, company story, return policies, FAQs, etc.), you’re letting your customer know that you have nothing to hide. And consider choosing clean and simple over busy and flashy when it comes to colors, graphics, and other design elements—the “fancy stuff” can be distracting.
Visit http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/06/site-trust-indicators.html to view Lisa Barone’s article, and then think about how you can apply her advice to your SMb website. Also check out MySolutionSpot™ for more tips on how to improve your business website.
Add comment June 5, 2009
Interview With Bob London: Gain Valuable Marketing Tips
Marketing can be a tricky area for small businesses: A lot of small biz owners haven’t been through any formal training, making marketing a learn-as-you-go process. If you need some marketing advice—and let’s face it, most of us do—check out this interview with Bob London. Bob is the mastermind behind London, Ink, a firm that helps businesses set up successful marketing campaigns. Shashi from GrowSmartBusiness.com recently caught up with Bob at a networking event, and lucky for us, he took the opportunity to capture some of Bob’s business advice on video.
To watch the full interview with Bob London and gain great marketing insight, visit http://growsmartbusiness.com/2009/06/great-marketing-tips-from-bob-london-of-london-ink/.
1 comment June 1, 2009
Should Your Business Diversify?
Is your small business struggling because of today’s poor economy? If so, how have you changed your business strategy to help overcome this challenge? According to Diane Helbig, one way to keep your business thriving is to diversify. In “Diversify or Die,” Helbig gives examples of SMBs that were able to expand their customer base and keep their business’s profitability alive. How’d they do it? Some found ways to adapt their products to fit a new demographic, while others added new products that appeal to a new group of customers. While this may not work for all small businesses, diversifying is definitely a strategy to consider.
To read Helbig’s article, visit http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/05/diversify-or-die.html.
1 comment May 28, 2009
Need Some Encouragement? Check Out Some Promising Startups.
I was recently browsing the Small Biz section of BusinessWeek.com, and I found this page. While this isn’t exactly new, “America’s Most Promising Startups” is regularly updated with new profiles of today’s small businesses. This collection of startups is encouraging; not only does it prove that just about anyone can become a successful business owner (take a look at the biz owners’ backgrounds—you’ll find a lot of diversity), it shows how far an inspired idea can go. Most featured business owners didn’t start their business because they were just looking for a way to make money—their experiences that led them down the path to their eventual business idea. Some started because there was a need for a certain product, and others started because someone wanted to make a change in a particular industry.
If you’re in need of a little inspiration or encouragement, check out “America’s Most Promising Startups.”
1 comment May 22, 2009
A Few Tips for Creating Better Web Site Content
While reading this article today, I started thinking about some of the SMB Web sites I’ve seen in the past. There are many things that separate the good from the bad, but as a copywriter, the first thing I tend to notice is content. Here are a few tips on writing successful content for your business’s Web site:
*Keep home page content short. The main reason customers come to your site is to find information on your business and/or purchase your products. The easier it is for your visitors to do this, the better. If the first thing your site’s visitors face is lengthy content, they might be deterred from looking any farther.
*Get to the point. Right away your site’s visitors should be able to learn the name of your business, what it offers, and your business’s contact information. It is also a good idea to include this information in an area of your site that will be visible from each page.
*Utilize key words. Search engines aren’t the only entities affected by key words—your visitors notice them as well. Using keywords will help your page’s rank in search results, and keywords also grab the attention of potential customers. Take advantage of the opportunity to include them where you can. If customers see mention of products that they’re interested in right away, like in your home page content, there’s a good chance they’ll check out the rest of your Web site as well.
*Answer the important questions. Your Web site can be your best salesperson if you just give it the right stuff. Try to provide answer for questions like the following: Why should customers choose your business over the competition? Why are your products and services better than those offered by your competitors? Why should customers trust you? Are your customers going to receive the best value for their money? What kind of customer service can be expected from your business?
Your site’s content can either draw customers in or send them away, all within a few lines of text. Next time you update your Web site, keep your customers in mind. Focus on content that is short, to the point, persuasive, and rich in keywords. Your business will reap the benefits.
Add comment May 13, 2009
State of Small Business Webinar Follow-Up
We hope you had a chance to check out last week’s Grow Smart Business webinar. If not, you can view the recorded webinar here. According to the speakers and Network Solutions® CEO Roy Dunbar, most small business owners have a positive outlook on the current and future state of small businesses. Lisa Barone recently posted an article at Small Business Trends™ that does a great job of summarizing the discussions that occurred during the webinar. Check out “Webinar: State of Small Businesses in the United States” for highlights.
For more information on the state of small businesses, head over to GrowSmartBusiness.com. To share your opinions on the future of small businesses, visit MySolutionSpot.com.
2 comments May 8, 2009
