Thursday, October 18, 2012

Jigsaw Box

You’re a coach, but are you really reaching all the people who could benefit from your gifts?
Are you able to help people no matter the time of day?
Do you make money while you’re spending time with your family?
Are you still spending way too much time trading time for money

http://www.jigsawbox.com/webinar/jsb-master

Sunday, October 14, 2012

World’s Largest Technology Distributor Recognizes Kal-Blue to its Inaugural Ingram Micro SMB 500 List

Oct. 11, 2012 – Kal-Blue has been named to the Ingram Micro SMB 500. Unveiled at the Ingram Micro 2012 “Turn the Tables” Fall SMB Invitational in Rancho Mirage, Calif., the inaugural list celebrates the top 500 fastest-growing Ingram Micro U.S. channel partners focused on small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Ranked at number 26, Kal-Blue grew its business with Ingram Micro by 635 percent between June 2009 and June 2012.
Developed in collaboration with Ingram Micro’s Business Intelligence Center and U.S. SMB Business Unit, as well as channel research services firm The 2112 Group, the Ingram Micro SMB 500 list was derived from the more than 20,000 U.S. solution providers and MSPs who work with Ingram Micro’s U.S. SMB Business Unit. Those channel partners named to the list demonstrated a consistent, average three-year growth rate of more than 200 percent. The list also takes into account select criteria such as company size, overall technology category revenue growth and innovation with SMB business engagements.
“Kal-Blue is honored to be included in the inaugural Ingram Micro SMB 500 list.” says Christopher (Kip) Young, President and CEO of Kal-Blue. Key factors in accomplishing this growth have been strategic diversification of software and services for data management and building information modeling (BIM) in the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. “Kal-Blue looks forward to building on the strong relationship we have established with Ingram Micro,” says Young.
“Technology plays a critical role in the overall growth, operational scale and continued sustainability of SMBs across the U.S.,” says Kirk Robinson, vice president and general manager, Commercial Markets Division, Ingram Micro U.S. “As one of this year’s top-ranked SMB channel partners, Kal-Blue has demonstrated its business strength and sent a clear message that serving the technology business needs of SMBs is a top priority. We congratulate Kal-Blue on this accolade and look forward to enabling their continued success in 2012 and beyond.”
The complete listing of the Ingram Micro SMB 500 can be found at www.im-smb.com/smb500 and www.channelnomics.com/smb500.

http://www.kalblue.com/

Thursday, October 11, 2012

How to get Certified as a Woman Owned Business

Tamara Schweitzer

May 12, 2010

How to Become a Certified Woman-Owned Business

Becoming certified as a Women Business Enterprise can help your company pursue new business opportunities.

iStock

So, you're a woman and you run a business. In the pool of privately-held small businesses in this country, being a women business owner actually has many advantages. Most public corporations as well as local, state, and federal government purchasing agencies have programs for allotting a certain percentage of business to women-owned companies. Getting certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) can make the difference between landing that business or not. However, the certification process is not without its challenges, and often times owners get discouraged during the process because they lack the proper guidance or misunderstand how the process works. The following is what you need to know should you decide that certification is to your benefit.

How to Become a Certified Women-Owned Business: Make Sure You Meet the Criteria

Before embarking on the certification process, it is important for business owners to understand that it is a major time investment. The requirements for submitting an application are very stringent and must be met completely. "A lot of people want to scream when they are going through it, but they always end up happy that they got certified," says Janet Harris-Lange, president of The National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC), which was the first private national certifier of women business enterprises when it formed in 1995.

Read on..

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

5 Ways Startups can Create More Email Leads

Email is a fantastic way to build goodwill with current and prospective customers.
With more people using email than any social network, it is essential for all new startups to take list building very seriously.
The question is this: how can startups create more email leads without becoming overly aggressive (a big turnoff) in their tactics?
Below I discuss 5 tested (and proven!) ways that startups can capture more emails without losing customer goodwill.

1.) Integrate Email into Your Offering

Oftentimes, a startup’s homepage can be utilized to gather emails in a very natural way, such as taking the product or service for a test-drive.
One great example of this in action can be found over at BidSketch (proposal creation software), where founder Ruben Gamez collects emails on his homepage for test-proposals:

The key with these integrations is incentive and trust.
Whether you’re pitching potentially game-changing software or simply some LOLcats, you’re offering needs to speak to people’s needs enough that it warrants an email sign-up.
Additionally, you must be considered trustworthy (and actually be trustworthy!) with your potential sign-ups.
This means being completely honest and transparent about what handing over their email means for them.
If you plan to include them in your newsletter after the sign-up, notify them. Many people will not object to this at all, but if you try to “sneak” them into something when all they wanted was to sign-up, you’ll create a lot of discontent (not to mention kill your credibility).

2.) Resources, Resources, Resources!

My apologies for the overly trite headline, but providing informative resources for your readers is an absolutely essential strategy for startups (in fact, I’d say it’s one of the top list building strategies available).
What exactly is a “resource” though, and why are they needed?
A resource would be an informative guide of some sort that explains to customers some aspect about your business or your industry. This allows customers to become more familiar with your product, why they need your product, and just what headache your product can solve.
The medium is up to you, as I’ve seen resources in all of the following formats:

e-Books
Whitepapers
Slideshows & presentations
Videos & webinars
MP3s

Over at Help Scout, we’ve dedicated an entire page to resources, including guides, e-books, webinars, and more. They range from informative content on creating a better customer service experience to whitepapers that explain (in detail) how Help Scout works.
This page has easily been one of our most utilized and most successful in creating new email leads, and it’s also a great way to position what our offering is about to curious prospective customers.

3.) Promote Your Resources

This one is going to seem like a no-brainer, but when I dive in to exactly what I mean, I think you’ll start generating some great ideas.
The thing about resource-style content is that it was made for promotion: while blog posts and regular articles are a great way to reach out to people (“Hey, thought you might like this recent piece we did on…”), you can get a lot of mileage out of a good set of resources.
One way to do this is to take an already existing resource and transfer it to a new medium for promotional purposes. Slideshows are pretty much the perfect platform for this.

Read more...

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Building a Brand that is the Identity and Personality of Your Business

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Six trends that signal change in all things aging and health

Six trends that signal change in all things aging and health

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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Great Organizations for the Lady-preneur

Question: Name one organization that specifically helps female entrepreneurs find success and explain why they do such an amazing job.

Question by: Miya V.

The Crave Company

“I believe The Crave Company is great because it brings women entrepreneurs together in cities all over the world. The women who participate tend to range from work-at-home moms to small local business owners, all the way to startup founders. It’s amazing to see the cross section of ideas spreading in such a group.”
- Nathalie Lussier | Creator, The Website Checkup Tool

Friday, September 7, 2012

PR Traffic Booster – How to Safely Automate Tumblr

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Internet Marketing Training – 3 Simple Steps to Grow Your List with Blogging

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Marketing with Linked In

Have you noticed the changes to LinkedIn recently?
Although changes to LinkedIn are less frequent than on Facebook, they can have significant marketing implications.
Read further to find out how the recent changes to LinkedIn impact your social media marketing.

What’s New With LinkedIn?

Recently the LinkedIn Homepage had a significant makeover. It’s now more sleek and modern. It also feels faster with an almost instantly updated user interface.

Read on...

Your Short and Sweet Marketing Plan Strategy

Created on Wednesday, 01 August 2012 18:28

Written by Patty Cisco - MBA, President and "Creative Catalyst"

I can't tell you how many times I ask to see a client's marketing plan, and they don't have one. Typical responses are, "It takes too much time," "We don't follow it anyway, so why bother," "No one looks at it other than me, so what's the point." Sound familiar? Unfortunately, these comments carry a great deal of validity to them. Maybe in planning your strategies for 2013, it's time for a different approach to a marketing strategy - one you will actually use and others will value.
First realize it's difficult to measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategies without a plan. Rather than create a one-year marketing plan, consider a 90-day plan. Using a short-term approach you can easily:

Monitor progress
Analyze data to create a baseline for tracking and comparing results
Quickly make changes
Eliminate spontaneous decision-making and force proactive planning

To help you get started creating your 90-day plan, evaluate and answer the following questions:

Read on...

9 Tips for Running Successful Facebook Contests

Have you considered using a Facebook contest?
These days, it seems like just about everyone is giving away something on Facebook.
iPad or $100 gift certificate, anyone?
Keep reading to learn nine tips for making Facebook contests more successful.

Do Contests Really Work?

Some business owners recognize that contests can increase the number of people who Like their business, and even more importantly, they realize that contests can provide valuable customer information. Then there are the business owners who complain that Facebook contests “just don’t work.”
So do contests work or not?
They do—but only if you do them the right way, with a reason for your fans to want to interact, a good prize and a clean design like Pocono Mountains features in their latest contest.

Read on...

Grand Spirit of the Entrepreneur

“I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon – if I can.
I seek opportunity – not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, - humbled
and dulled by having the State look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk, to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for the dole:

I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment
to the stale calm of Utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my
dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any
threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid, to think and act for myself,
to enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say:

This, with God’s help, I have done.

All this is what I means to be an Entrepeneur.”

Richard Branson's Tips for Growing Your Small Business

Over the years we’ve started many Virgin businesses out of frustration at the way things were done in established sectors. Whether it was airlines, mobile telephones or financial services, we’ve stood out by focusing on ways to improve people’s lives through better service, innovation and value.

Sometimes a small detail, such as more transparent pricing or a friendlier staff, gave us our edge. Our humor and tone also helped attract and keep customers. I try to keep bureaucracy to a minimum and remind my teams that business, as well as life, should be fun.

When you’re starting out with a small business and an enthusiastic team, it’s relatively easy to keep the focus on details and high-quality service, with a light touch. But how can you retain the passion and attention to detail after your business becomes established, successful and larger?
In past columns, I’ve mentioned how we grew our music businesses by splitting them, creating smaller units so we could maintain that vibe and hunger. By the time we sold to EMI, Virgin Records was made up of several small independent labels, which fostered healthy competition among them for new bands.

Read on...

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Awesome Image by Virtual Business Coach- lead on...

Aug 20

Entrepreneur Value Chain™: Turning Activities Into a Competitive Advantage for Entrepreneurs

Every morning I arrive at work I have the pleasure of walking into a room full of aspiring entrepreneurs. The possibility in the room is palpable. The energy in the room is intense. Some strive to develop their entrepreneurial skill set. Some focus on conquering their next venture milestone. Most are struggling to turn a profit for the first time in their life. Entrepreneurs are an interesting bunch; they are refreshing to be around because they’re doers - my kind of people.

When I tell people I teach entrepreneurship, the majority respond with some variation of “how do you do that?” While I am still not convinced that entrepreneurship can be taught, I do know that success in an entrepreneurial endeavor requires interconnectedness between two critical forces. In entrepreneurship, it is the entrepreneur and the venture. These are not opposing forces, but complementary opposites, working together to create value. How do they do this? What does it take?

Most of my students drink the Michael Porter juice and get value chains. I like value chains too – really I like anything that uses visual representation to simplify something complex. So when the 1VBC team set out to create entrepreneur superstars – I naturally suggested a visual representation of what it takes to be a superstar. What it takes is the Entrepreneur Value Chain.

Becoming a superstar entrepreneur is a process with multiple moving parts that often occur in unison, so it lends itself perfectly to a value chain. Starting at the bottom, the primary activities are segmented into two main cycles: the Entrepreneur Cycle and the Venture Cycle. Working our way up the diagram, each cycle is sustained by a core group of characteristics. Then, the entire process is supported by critical activities. Taken together, the Entrepreneur Value Chain is the visual representation of the activities and characteristics that create a competitive advantage for entrepreneurial superstars.

Read on...

Saturday, August 25, 2012

What you need to Know to Prevent Embezzlement

by Suzanne Kearns on August 20, 2012

If you’ve ever talked to business owners who’ve dealt with embezzlement, you likely detected their astonishment that the perpetrator was someone they trusted. That’s what makes the crime so heinous. Yet it’s a real threat that few entrepreneurs know much about — until it happens to them.
What do you need to know about this crime?
First: Embezzlement is on the rise. In a report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, “Occupational Fraud: A Study of the Impact of an Economic Recession” (PDF), 54 percent of the certified fraud examiners surveyed said that fraud has increased in the past year (and about half of this group believe it’s due to increased financial pressure). Some 48 percent of survey participants said that embezzlement in particular was on the rise. Ninety percent expect that fraud, especially embezzlement, will continue to increase.
Embezzlement doesn’t just happen at large corporations. A separate report conducted by the ACFE, “2012 Report to the Nations,” states that smaller organizations suffered the largest median losses between 2010 and 2012, mainly because they had fewer anti-fraud controls in place. The report concluded that occupational fraud is a “significant threat to small businesses.”

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Growing with Instagram

5 Ways to Grow Your Exposure With Instagram

By Jim Tobin
Published August 22, 2012

Wondering if the rapidly growing Instagram photo sharing community could benefit your business?
As teens quickly migrate to Instagram, could their photo sharing addictions include your pictures?
Instagram was the smartphone photo sharing tool of choice long before its acquisition by Facebook and the release of an Android version. And it’s growing faster than ever.

What Is Instagram?

Instagram makes sharing pictures easy.

Instagram is a free application for iPhone or Android that lets people take photos, apply filters to change the look of the photos and then share them. Users can share them on Instagram while also choosing to share them to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare.

Instagram photos (from left to right) on Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare and Facebook.

Like most social networks, users can accrue followers who will see their photos. The use of hashtags is encouraged as a method of photo discovery.
Instagram is unusual in that users review their photos via the app only, not online. However, several websites, including Pinstagram, Webstagram and Statigram, provide that ability.
In the last year, photo sharing has become an increasingly popular method of social sharing.
Facebook has made photos a bigger part of their experience, Pinterest has exploded in part because of their simple photo-based interface and brands are seeing increased engagement from sharing visual updates online.
This represents a great opportunity for businesses to participate in this thriving community. Like all communities, however, you need to do it right to be accepted.
Here are 5 ways to grow your presence on Instagram.

Read on...

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Should You Create Your Business Plan on Pinterest?

Lots of people are loving Pinterest, the fabulously successful new social platform for sharing pictures. People are posting not only personal pictures, but increasingly business pictures, as well. And Pinterest business-success stories are popping up everywhere on the Web.

But can you do a business plan with Pinterest? My answer starts with the question: Why not? And it continues with a picture: My Pinterest sample business-plan board shown here.The original is available on Pinterest, click here to see it on the site.
The Pinterest business plan shown here is based on a sample bicycle-shop business plan developed with the online Web application at www.liveplan.com, which is the source of the business charts. I added random public domain images, some of them from another of my boards on Pinterest, to illustrate hypothetical strategy, target market, ownership and so forth. The images don’t really tie together, but if this were an actual business plan, they would.

Read on...

Facebook Scheduled Posts

8 Tips for Using Facebook Scheduled Posts

By Andrea Vahl
Published August 14, 2012

Are you crunched for time?
Could you use a little Facebook automation in your life? Well, help is here.
Facebook allows you to schedule your page posts.

Read more...

Google Ranking Factors -
SEO Checklist

Google Ranking Factor Checklist

  1. Positive ON-Page SEO Factors

  2. Negative ON-Page SEO Factors

  3. Positive OFF-Page SEO Factors

  4. Negative OFF-Page SEO Factors

Notes for the Above Factors
Brief Google Update List - Panda
The Sand Box
Sources

There are "over 200 SEO factors" that Google uses to rank pages in the Google search results (SERPs). What are the search engine optimization rules?
Here is the speculation - educated guesses by SEO webmasters on top webmaster forums. Should you wish to achieve a high ranking, the various confirmed and suspected Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Rules are listed below.

The SEO Rules listed below are NOT listed by weight, and not by any presumed relevance - THAT exercise is left up to the reader!

SEO Tips Vaughns

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The SEO Trick You Keep Forgetting About

by Jessica Ann Mitchell
Search Engine Optimization is highly important for every website. We often focus on the words within our articles, meta tags, site descriptions and etc. However, as I work with different clients, I’ve come to see many companies that continue to forget about one keep aspect of every website…images. As we work towards optimizing websites for search engines to pick up, do not forget to search engine optimize your pictures.
Every picture that you upload to a website has a name. Make sure that the name saved to the image is specific to your company and industry. Search engines, such as Google, pick up on the key words in the names of images. Images are also becoming more vital for websites due to the advancement of Instagram and Pinterest. Before you upload an image to your website, check to see what the image name is and change it according to your needs.
Image Name Examples
Right: Entrepreneur-Resources-EntrepreneurOpps.jpg
Wrong: Phone-57689.jpg
Note the difference between the two names. If someone is searching for entrepreneur resources online, this name will add to key word strength amongst search engines. Be sure not to forget about this key SEO factor.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Making Money With Clickbank Explained

How To Really Make Money with Clickbank

written by John Chow on March 15, 2010

The following is the business model I use to make thousands of dollars every week with Clickbank. This is going to be long and detail post (over 2,300 words). I encourage you to read though the whole thing because this model works and has been proven over and over by myself and other affiliate marketers. While this model shows how to make money with Clickbank, the model can be applied to any other affiliate network or product (even a blog). I just happen to like Clickbank because information is one of the easiest products to promote and sell on the Internet.

Hit And Run Marketing Doesn’t Work
Most new affiliate marketers getting into the business do what I call hit and run affiliate marketing. It’s the model they’re all familiar with because it’s the one they hear about the most. The hit and run marketing steps goes something like this.

Select a Clickbank (or any affiliate) product to promote
Send traffic to the landing page with PPC/PPV
PROFIT!

I’m sure you’ve all heard stories of affiliate marketers spending $10K a day to make $20K? It sounds great doesn’t it? The only problem is there are not many affiliate marketers who can do that. Also, those who are making a profit using the hit and run model are leaving a ton of money on the table.
Spending money on advertising to get one customer that you will never see again is one of the dumbest business move you can make. That’s like Best Buy spending $50K on a front page ad on the Wall Street Journal to have those customers buy one item and then never visit the store again. They’re go under in less than six months if that’s the case!
Another problem with the hit and run model is it’s not very stable. You have to keep spending money on advertising or the sales stop. You risk the chance of Google slapping your landing page because of a low quality score, you may run out of money tweaking the ads/keywords/landing pages, competition can drive up bids to the point where you can’t make a profit, the advertiser may pull the offer, etc.

Read more...

15 Ways to Making Money Online

20 Scam-Free Ways to Make Money Online Fast

Make money online fast —
20 REAL ways people make money online.Cathy is in need of a legitimate way to make money online fast. She writes in: “I was a nurse for almost 30 years when I became disabled from a car wreck. I am a very tough person (I’m a redhead!) I went out last October and bought a new PC to try and make money online, but all I have succeeded in doing is getting further in debt. I know you know what I mean by all the scams that I fell into.
I have been reading A LOT and trying to learn as much as I can. I have run into conflicting stories, though. I just don’t know where to start. I am not a computer tech, nor that knowledgeable about how to start. I am NOT asking for a handout; just a helping hand in the right direction.
I’m not expecting to make tons of money today, but ANYTHING to help me get started in the right direction. I have saved thousands of lives and now I can’t even get through the month without running out of food!”
Cathy has the right attitude — she’s not looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, but instead a legitimate way to make some extra money online.
Having been sucked into some scams myself in the past, I know how difficult it can be to find real ways to make money online fast. Thus, I’ve compiled this list. Some ways require knowledge of certain skills, but all these skills can be learned. If you don’t know where to start, I suggest picking one of these ways and learning more about it, then trying it out!
Note: None of the 20 ways listed below contain affiliate links (that is, links that make me money if you click on them.) This list is for your benefit, not mine. Enjoy!

1. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.

Mechanical Turk is a great way to make some extra cash. You probably won’t make much more than a few dollars an hour, but it’s also dead simple to complete many of the tasks. Most tasks take less than a minute to complete and pay a few pennies. If you do a lot of MTurk, it could add up to at least some fun spending money. Sign up for free, then complete qualifications to earn access to higher-paying tasks.

2. Sell stock photos.

iStockPhoto is just one site that allows you to sell stock photos; there are others. Before you decide to go crazy and upload your whole album, take note of what’s selling well and try your hand at doing something similar. iStockPhoto also works for those who know how to render images; some of their most popular images were created on a computer! Have three killer stock photos ready for iStockPhoto’s inspection; they will want them when you sign up.

3. Sell stuff on eBay.

Start by selling your own extra stuff. Then, once you get a feel for selling your extra stuff, go door-to-door in nicer neighborhoods in your town. Develop an eye for what will sell and what won’t (old laptops, for instance, could be a gold mine–if you know how to format them to get rid of the previous owner’s personal data.) Sign a contract where you take 25-30% (or more) of the gross sale. Your customers will be happy to get cash for their old junk, and you’ll make some good money selling other people’s stuff. eBay

4. Become a freelance article writer.

It may not pay well, but there is a growing demand for this. Write 200-300 word articles and submit them to article directories. Potential clients include bloggers, marketers, and small businesses. You can write articles in a niche in batches and sell them as a package to one or more clients, or you can offer your services for hire per word or article and let your client give you direction. A foundation of keyword research is important to succeed at this job (unless you’re just taking direction from a client), but keyword research is learnable.

5. Write articles for magazines or other publications.

If you have a background in journalism, or just a passion for it, you can try your hand at submitting articles to publications. Don’t just randomly fire off articles, however; have a plan and, preferably, a contact at the publication you wish to submit to. The good news is that there are publications in pretty much any niche you can think of. To see some publications that are hiring, visit Online Writing Jobs, PoeWar Freelance Jobs, and Writing.com.

6. Transcribe audio files.

An easy job; doesn’t pay well, but also a quick way to make some money. Sign up on eLance or oDesk to start, and/or advertise your services in entrepreneur forums. Requires good hearing and a good command of the English language. You may also want to invest in a foot pedal if you plan to transcribe often. Make sure you know how to transcribe interviews before you start your first job.

7. Become a virtual assistant (VA).

There are entire books written on how to become a virtual assistant, so this job is definitely worthy of more research. My advice: Focus on one niche (I just hired Lisa Morosky of VA for Bloggers, for instance.) Also, reach out to potential customers directly and let them know what you can do for them instead of hitting up freelance web sites. Finally, you may want to consider resources such as AssistU, which provides training for up-and-coming virtual assistants.

8. Write articles on eHow.com.

If you understand the basics of keyword research, you can make a good monthly income from eHow. eHow pays you a percentage of the ad revenue they make from each “How to” article you create. You can crank out a few articles a day with relative ease. Try this for a month; assuming your article titles match up with what people are searching for in Google, you can make a significant income. The great news is that you write your articles once and get paid month after month. I’ve seen figures of $100-$150/month for 30 articles. Make money writing for eHow.com.

Read more....

Work from No Home

Click bank marketing- Very interesting..

http://www.workfromnohome.com/?hop=umababai

Best Answering Services Review Portal

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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Linked In Business Building

“If you can’t make money on LinkedIn, you’re deaf, dumb and blind,” says James Filbird of JMF International Trade Group.
It’s 6 pm on the west coast of the United States, but it’s already 9 am tomorrow at James Filbird’s apartment in Shenzhen, China.
Filbird is the proprietor of JMF International Trade Group Ltd., a company he built to $5 million in revenue largely through his efforts on LinkedIn, the only major social media platform that is not blocked by the Chinese government.
His beginnings in China, however, were less than auspicious.

An American in China

When Filbird moved to China in early 2006, he spent nine months working on a manufacturing venture that eventually fell through. He had planned to stay at least a year, so when the deal went sour, he did some soul-searching.
“I had very little money in my pocket. Usually it’s the Chinese coming to America with little money for their dream, but I did it the other way around.”
He decided to stay in China as a business consultant and contract manufacturer, the “feet on the ground” for inventors looking to source products there, and gravitated to LinkedIn as a way to connect with potential business.

Finding Business Mentor You Can Trust

QUESTION is around business advisers. I am a very small start-up and I have so many questions around managing my business, cash flow issues and planning. Unfortunately I just don't feel like I can afford to find someone to help me. Between my accountant, my solicitor and my small staff, I'm just about tapped out. What do you think I should do?

BUSINESS isn't just about the end result. It's about the process, the successes and the failures, and most importantly, the lessons learnt.
That's why you as the business owner have to have someone who's going to ask the tough questions - someone who will give you a shake when things aren't going to plan.
You need a person who's going to dig deep, challenge your decisions and make you think as much about the possible setbacks as you will about the potential wins.

Online Surveys

Here’s what Chrisman recommends to businesses intent on conducting surveys:

Don't put a survey on your homepage. Move it inside your website. Don't spring pop-ups on unsuspecting site visitors. Instead, introduce them in a promo that explains what they're about.
Offer an incentive. Offer a reward for taking a survey, something people actually want. Suggestions include drawings for iPods and $100 Visa gift cards. Don't offer things that cheapen the effort, like a free subscription to your site or $5 off a purchase of $500 or more.
Be selective with your “friends.” You’ll get better responses from motivated and interested customers, people who have demonstrated interest in your brand by opting in to receive your enewsletter or who have "liked" you or followed you on social utilities like Facebook or Twitter. Asking those people for feedback, instead of random strangers who visit your site once, is bound to produce more useful results.
Keep it social: They don’t call it survey fatigue for nothing, so if you insist on having a pop-up survey, tell your customers how it will help them, not just you. Consider making it humorous. And keep it short with three to five questions so visitors can get back to why they came to your website in the first place.

Facebook Edgerank Algorithm

1. How the Algorithm works: According to Facebook, Edgerank is determined by three key factors:

The closeness of the user to the brand -- or person, if the content is posted by a friend rather than a business. This involves an analysis of the relationship based on such factors as the time spent on a particular brand page and the number of shared messages or comments. The more your audience interacts with you, the higher their affinity score for you will be.
The weight of the content. This factor ranks comments and sharing higher than "likes" because they require more action on the user's part.
The time decay factor. This measures the age of your content. If it's older than other content, it doesn't get as high a score.

2. The more engagement the better: How many of your posts on Facebook contain an instruction or call-to-action? If not many do, start asking your fans to share or "like" the content. You also can pose questions to spur comments that will help your Edgerank score.
Coca-Cola, for example, often posts pictures with a product on a beach or similar setting and asks, "Coke Check-In: Where are you?" A recent post like this garnered 7,700+ "likes" and more than 1,000 comments.
3. 'Heavy-lifting' interactions help a lot: Based on the algorithm, driving your fans to upload pictures, videos and engage in lengthy discussions can help you rank better in their News Feed than other sources. Most Facebook users want to engage with friends and family, so your challenge is to make them want to do the same with you.
Video and photo contests can spark more interaction, as can simple calls for content. The Straz Center in Tampa once promoted the musical Cats by simply asking fans to post pictures of their cats on its Facebook page. Several dozen people did just that.
Related: 3 Little-Known Metrics That Can Help Optimize Your Facebook Page
4. Consistency is imperative: The algorithm's time-decay factor means that if your last Facebook post, compelling or not, was a week ago, it's likely not being seen by anyone now. Successful brands on Facebook are posting content that drives the audience to react on a daily basis -- maybe even several times each day. You'll need to test to see if your audience will respond to more than one post a day, but posting content once daily is one way to start.
5. Content is king: The one sure-fire way to get attention and interaction is to write and publish great content. When your fans find the content so good they have to share it, you win and your Edgerank rises.

Inbound Online Marketing

A 5-Step Guide to Creating a Successful Inbound Marketing Plan

Online business owners have two primary choices for building a customer base. You can invest your time and money in attracting new customers one-by-one, using techniques such as cold calling, pay-per-click advertising and media buys. These techniques are referred to as "outbound marketing" because you must push out your message and hope it falls on receptive ears and generates new customers.
But outbound marketing is becoming less effective due to the growing number of sales messages prospects are exposed to every day. For this reason, more online marketers are turning to "inbound marketing." This is a process by which you build and distribute valuable content that enables new customers to find out about your business without direct involvement on your part.
For example, producing YouTube videos, releasing white papers and participating on social media websites can all be considered inbound marketing tactics. They help new users discover your brand and your website on their own.

Building a Massive Community

Entrepreneur: What sets apart successful startups that attract millions of consumers from those that never really get off the ground?
Crowley: Whether it's Google or Twitter or Facebook, they all add something to the way that I share content or solve problems in my everyday life.
We built Foursquare literally for ourselves and for our group of 10 friends. And it turns out that when you build things that 10 of your friends like, their friends like them and their friends like them -- and then you suddenly get to millions of users.
Entrepreneur: How do you generate ideas and figure out which ones to pursue?
Crowley: I've worked at companies where the ideas come from the top down, and you build what you're told to build. That probably works for some companies.
We're different because we've hired so many rock stars. No one wants to be the guy that just sits there and is executing on someone else's ideas. We have to think up these different ways of allowing people to get their ideas out there.
Entrepreneur: How does an entrepreneur know when to sell? Did you make the right call by not selling to Facebook or Yahoo?
Crowley: I got some advice a while ago that, if you can't see where the ride is going to end, then you don't want to get off of it. We have our own vision of what the finish line looks like and what the product looks like a year from now. That idea is different from what Google is chasing and different from what Facebook is chasing.
That's the thing that we can do better than anyone else: execute on our ideas. That's the focus that we need to have to be successful.
Related: From $200 Million to $500K: Lessons from Digg's Slow Demise
Entrepreneur: What's your advice for tech entrepreneurs who want to build something big?
Crowley: For a long time, we had these ideas for things we wanted to build, and we listened to people tell us that the ideas were silly or stupid or weren't going to work.
You can't listen to them, and you really have to build this stuff on your own. Prove to yourself that it's either a good idea or it's not. …You have to be totally fine with throwing things away and realizing you might have to throw away five before you find one good thing.

Read more...

5 Rules for Good Business

If you have the right idea and execute properly, your startup’s launch date does not matter. While the business environment has changed, the basic rules remain the same. Rather than getting nostalgic about how things used to be, embrace the new opportunities and challenges available to you now.

1. If you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. You must love what you do.
2. Be innovative: Create something different that will stand out.
3. Your employees are your best asset. Happy employees make for happy customers.
4. Lead by listening: Get feedback from your staff and customers on a regular basis.
5. Be visible: Market the company and its offers by putting yourself or a senior person in front of the cameras.

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Monday, July 30, 2012

How do we get engaged prospects to buy using social media.

"How do we get customers engaged on our blog and other social media to buy or transact with us? How do we make that leap?"

It's a common question and you're not alone in asking it. Here's my answer: Getting engaged sales prospects to consider a purchase or actually transact is easy if you return to trusty, time-tested, proven basic direct response practices.

Solving customers' problems
Designing to sell (planning social experiences to provoke customer responses that connect to the sales funnel)
Translating (discovering customer need as it evolves and using this knowledge to improve response and conversion rate)

Advance confidently in the direction of your dreams.