Archive for October, 2009

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wed. on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with @BradfordShimp. Bradford is a small business expert and the blogger behind All Business Answers. The goal of allbizanswers.com is to answer common business questions, solve the problems that hold businesses back, and show owners how they can build amazing companies. He is actively involved in running a regular small business, as well as several online ventures. His services are available for consulting advice as well as writing content. For more information check out www.allbizanswers.com

Smallbizlady: Is cold calling dead?

Bradford Shimp: No. Many businesses still use it. However, it is losing its effectiveness. Cold calling relies on interruption. Today, people have access to info when they need it, so are less likely to put up with cold calling. People are far less likely to trust someone based on a cold call, and trust is very important.

Smallbizlady: What is the difference between cold and warm calling?

Bradford Shimp: Warm calling is making sales calls after making preliminary contact. Warm calling works best when it is tied to another form of marketing, such as educational or event marketing. Warm calling can refer back to a marketing piece, a form filled out at a trade show, or any form of previous contact.

Smallbizlady: What is permission based marketing?

Bradford Shimp: Permission marketing is when prospects sign up to receive messages from you. Instead of you interrupting their day with messages they don’t care about, you are invited to speak to them. Permission marketing is about having prospect qualify themselves.

Smallbizlady: How do you get permission from someone to market to them?

Bradford Shimp: You need a complete marketing plan to gain a constant stream of permission. The basic concept is to provide something of value in return for getting permission to market further. Permission can include signing up for a newsletter, coming to an event, or requesting more information.

Smallbizlady: Cold calling brings results, why should I stop?

Bradford Shimp: Cold calling is a numbers game. For every yes, you have 10 or more nos that are closed doors. Using permission marketing, you can keep the conversation open, even with people who aren’t buying right now. By building marketing around conversations and education, you can create a steady stream of leads that will grow virally.

Smallbizlady: Why should businesses make the extra effort to educate customers?

Bradford Shimp: By educating, you set yourself up as the expert. This allows you to set the course of the relationship. Educating allows you to “sell without selling.” Prospects thank you for the info and go to you first to buy. When you create educational marketing, you can re-purpose it in many ways.

Smallbizlady: How can Twitter help businesses avoid cold calling?

Bradford Shimp: Twitter is a great place to communicate, attract fans, and build relationships. Your followers have given you permission to talk to them. Just don’t be all sales talk, all the time. From conversations on Twitter, you can move into a sales process. Twitter opens the door to a ton of prospects. It is your job to attract qualified prospects by providing quality content.

Smallbizlady: Why is building an email list the most important thing businesses should be doing?

Bradford Shimp: An email list built on permission is a group of people who have pre-qualified themselves as real prospects. With regular email, you can build trust with prospects and up sell current customers. An email list is a database of prospects you can dip in to when you need to add sales. Put out a good newsletter and good value for signing up, and your email list will continue to grow. Unlike cold calling, you will be able to communicate 1 to many, but with a much larger trust factor.

Smallbizlady: How can we use events to bring in loads of new customers?

Bradford Shimp: Events allow you to invite prospects to something they will value, without directly selling to them. Make your event specific, and it will attract ideal, pre-qualified, prospects. You can build a huge level of trust quickly by providing a quality event. People will be inclined to buy from you.

Smallbizlady: Should a small business have a blog/email newsletter?

Bradford Shimp: Yes. Providing regular content for customers/prospects has several benefits. It will bring in more traffic to your site and provide visitors with instant value. It will educate prospects and build trust, making them inclined to buy from you and trust you. It will make you better at your business. Creating content on your niche will inevitably make you an expert.

Smallbizlady: What kind of conversations should businesses be having with their customers/prospects?

Bradford Shimp: Conversations should be about much more than making the sale. You should seek to educate, to answer questions, to ask questions. The biggest thing is to build trust and provide endless value.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. 

How to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e

For more tips on starting or growing your small biz subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog  http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com

The economy is on the rebound, but the nature of business has changed.

Is your small business repositioned for 2010? October and November is the perfect time to start planning for how you will kickoff the New Year. It’s not about making it through the recession; it’s about coming out of this recession with a stronger business.

Every Wednesday #SmallBizChat delivers training on how to start and run a profitable small business via Twitter, now for the first time we we’re delivering what you need over the phone and at your own desktop.

I’m known as @Smallbizlady on Twitter, I have developed a FREE resource to help you develop tools to compete in this new business environment. We’re calling it the SmallBizChat Live Telesummit.  To register now, visit http://bit.ly/1TxnoL.

I’ve pulled together top small business experts who are allowing me to pick their brains and share with you invaluable advice that will take your business to the next level.

The Smallbizchat Live Telesummit interviews will take place over four-days the first week of November.

Mark your calendars for Nov 3-6, 2009

Register now http://bit.ly/1TxnoL

Listen and Learn! Each day, we will do live interviews at 1pm and 7pm Eastern Time

We’re going to introduce the challenges and advantages this new business economy has created.

Live Telesummit Nov 3-6, 2009 | register for full program – http://bit.ly/1TxnoL

If you’re already an entrepreneur and you want to improve your business, or if you’re planning to take the leap and want to start out on the right foot, here’s your chance to learn from top experts who are business owners just like you.

Sheer passion and courage aren’t all you need to succeed in today’s business environment.  Listen in and you’ll be able to learn key strategies to accelerate your business success.

This is a great time for an aggressive entrepreneur, but you need an action plan for business success in 2010.

Wondering if this is for you?

The old rules of business no longer apply.  Do you know how to compete?

Are you tired of dealing with the unpredictable ups and downs of cash flow in your business?

Is the daily stress in your business draining you of the passion you have for your business?

You know you need to be utilizing social media, but don’t know where to start?

Are you ready to invest in learning how to adapt and grow your business while others struggle?

If you’ve answered “Yes” to any of the questions above, sign up today for the 1^st Annual #SmallBizChat Live Telesummit http://bit.ly/1TxnoL!

Telesummit Topics:

• Using Social Media to Brand Your Business
• Developing a Mastermind Group
• Retooling Your Business in Tough Times
• Strategic Cash Flow Management
• Growing Your Network
• Getting More Out of Each Business Day
• How to Author a Book to Grow Your Brand
• How to Be an Email-Marketing “ROCK STAR!”

MEET THE EXPERTS

Melinda Emerson “Smallbizlady” is your host for the #SmallBizChat Live TeleSummit! Melinda is a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach. Her areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media strategy.  Melinda hosts #Smallbizchat, a weekly talk show on Twitter.  #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business.  Melinda has been featured on NBC Nightly News and in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report and Black Enterprise.  Melinda publishes a resource blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com and has several special reports including 44 Things To Do Before You Go Into Business and The 12 Cardinal Sins of Small Business-and How to Avoid Them! Melinda’s first book Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to Start a Business that Works!” will be released in February 2010 by Adams Media. For more information, please visit melindaemerson.com

Mike Michalowicz is the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.  Mike Michalowicz has a driving passion for entrepreneurialism. Michalowicz wrote The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur with the sole purpose of giving first time entrepreneurs the information they need to grow their concepts into industry leaders.  Michalowicz has successfully launched three multimillion-dollar companies.  His most recent venture, Obsidian Launch LLC, partners exclusively with first-time entrepreneurs to launch their ideas into niche industry leaders.  For more information, please visit toiletpaperentrepreneur.com

Dr. Melvin Gravely, II, is the founder of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking, the leading think tank on issues related to business development.  The Institute is nationally known for providing thought leadership, and industry changing research on issues at the intersection of business and race.  The Institute is a trusted advisor to Chambers of Commerce, major corporations and community leaders across the nation.  Gravely is the author of seven books including The Lost Art of Entrepreneurship, When Black and White Make Green, and his latest Getting to the Next Level.  He has been featured in many national publications including Black Enterprise Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, and American City Business Journals.  After ten successful years working for a large corporation, he co-founded a civil engineering firm and grew it into a multimillion dollar company.  Dr. Gravely speaks and writes on various topics related to entrepreneurial thinking and business development. For more information, please visit entrethinking.com

Michelle Villalobos is a Business turnaround expert who teaches busy entrepreneurs how to improve their sales approach through networking skills, personal branding and word-of-mouth marketing. As a 14-year sales & marketing veteran, she first made her mark in the publishing industry.  Michelle is known for never turning down a sales challenge, she has helped numerous small businesses significantly increase their revenues. She conducts seminars, brainstorming sessions, strategic planning workshops, roundtables and other programs that “educate, entertain and engage” by helping businesses learn to build revenues, through effective sales, networking and word-of-mouth techniques  Michelle holds an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, and an MBA from the University of Miami and is a life-long devotee of Sharpies. You’ll have to listen in to find out the deal with that. For more information, please visit MichelleVillalobos.com

Paul B. Brown is a long-time contributor to the New York Times.  Paul is the author of more than two dozen books, including the international best-seller Customers for Life.  A former writer and editor of Business Week, Financial World, Forbes, and Inc., Brown has “ghosted” books for several of the nation’s most success business executives. The latest example: Obstacles Welcome: How to Turn Adversity into Advantage in Business and in Life, written with Ralph de la Vega, president of AT&T.  Even more relevant for our purposes he is the author of Publishing Confidential: What it really takes to land a non-fiction book deal.  Brown was trained as a lawyer, but he asks that you do not hold that against him.

Lisa D. Sparks is a marketing expert with nine years of experience developing and implementing marketing communications solutions for small and medium sized businesses. A small business owner herself, Lisa uses her expertise to teach small organizations in South Florida how to use technology to maximize the power of relationship marketing. She is experienced in providing guidance, instruction, and comprehensive planning advice for the development, growth, and expansion of new and existing businesses. In 2007, Lisa won the Florida State Star Award as the top small business analyst in Florida.

Karyn Greenstreet is a small business coach and a mastermind group facilitator, and the owner of The Success Alliance, a website devoted to helping mastermind group facilitators start and grow their own mastermind groups. She has been creating and running these groups since 1994 and is the author of How to Create a For-Profit Mastermind Group. She also teaches a series of classes on starting and running mastermind groups.  Karyn holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Management, and is a certified Adult Education Trainer.  She has postgraduate work in Business Administration and Computer Systems, and is graduate of CoachU.  She has spoken at numerous national on business-building topics and action planning.  Visit her website TheSuccessAlliance.com

Tim Berry, is president and founder of Palo Alto Software, founder of bplans.com, and a co-founder of Borland International. He built Palo Alto Software from zero to 40 employees and 70% market share without outside investment. He is a Stanford MBA and taught starting a business at the University of Oregon. He’s the conceptual author of Business Plan Pro, author of The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan, Entrepreneur Press. Find Tim on twitter at @TimBerry. “I’ve seen startups and small business from multiple views. I’ve had the good years and bad years. My wife and I had three mortgages and $65,000 of credit card debt at one very low point, which we survived, but I really don’t recommend. I’ve consulted with startups on bringing in venture capital, and angel investors, and business loans, and friends and family.” He’ll be talking about Cash Flow in a Tough Economy.

Allyson Lewis is a renowned motivational speaker and business coach who focuses on productivity, specifically developing systems to change your life.  Allyson has spent the last 22 years teaching concrete yet actionable ideas to business leaders all over the country. Her book, The Seven Minute Difference, grew out of the workshops she has been teaching for the last five years.  Author of The Million Dollar Car and $250,000 Pizza (Kaplan Publishing, 2000), Allyson is frequently asked to host motivational and educational public workshops throughout the country. She has been a guest on CNN, CNNfn, Bloomberg Information Television, and many other regional radio and television programs.  For more information, please visit Seven Minutes Inc.

The nature of business had changed, if you register for this Telesummit you will be equipped to handle anything the economy will throw at you.  Don’t delay! Register now Smallbizchat Live TeleSummit  http://bit.ly/1TxnoL