About Melinda Emerson

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.
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Managing The Stress In Your Small Business

By on May 15, 2012 in Guest Articles, Your Small Business

Manage Small Business StressWhen you put out your shingle that says open for business, you immediately take on 10-14 jobs all at once. Even the best multi-tasker, can become a spaghetti brain at times, especially when everything happens all at once. How you handling stress is a key ingredient in your long-term success in business. Here is a list of techniques that a small business person can use to help manage their daily stress.

Take a deep breath:  If your to do list is out of hand, take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get your mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things.  Stress and anxiety are very common when you work in business.

Break it down: When facing a current or upcoming task at your job that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, divide the task into a series of smaller steps and then complete each of the smaller tasks one at a time. Completing these smaller tasks will make the stress more manageable and increases your chances of success.

Challenge your thinking:  Challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make you fearful or depressed, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense. For example, you are afraid that you will not get that contract you’ve been working on for over a year –do not give into the fear. This will depresses you. The fact of the matter is that there all are kinds of opportunities available and just because you don’t get this contract doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. It just wasn’t meant for you.

Practice stress relief:  Do something regularly to help you manage your stress.  Try starting an exercise routine or running.  Some people enjoy yoga and team sports. Do not just sit in your office and worry all day. Surround yourself with mentors and others who can give you good advice. Running a business is all about making the hard decisions, but you can’t let the stress get to you or drive your decision making.

Take it one day at a time in your business. Remember, that you want to make decisions based on facts and not your emotions. There are usually other factors that cannot be anticipated and can affect the results of any situation. Get all of the facts of the situation and use them to your advantage. The more control you have over how you handle stress, the better off you will be in the long run.

Managing stress in your small businessManaging your stress takes practice.  The more you practice, the better you will become.

About the author: Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com

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Should You Have Good Pricing or Great Pricing?

By on May 14, 2012 in Cash Flow & Finance, Grow Your Business

Should you have good pricing or great pricing? Our first instinct is to have great prices that will permit us to crush the competition, gain market share and fuel fast growth. The usual problem is that great prices typically provide slim profit margins. Good pricing, however, over the long term, should create enough profitability to make your enterprise a business rather than a glorified hobby. The challenge is developing a pricing strategy that is simple in concept and execution. How you create your best pricing will depend on your type of business, your sales objectives, competition, marketing strategy and/or cost structure.

Let’s look at several different types of businesses and their different approaches to pricing:  Brick and mortar retail/wholesale enterprises which depend on inventory to sell, typically price the goods on arrival and the pricing can be manufacturer’s suggested retail (with or without discounts), or a standard markup of 50 to 100% depending on the item. Commonly competitive items, like a gallon of milk for example, should be shopped to be sure your price is close to that in stores like yours. It is important to feature the occasional “loss leader”, an item you sell at minimal markup, to stimulate traffic. The overall objective, however, is to have an inventory mix that will give you solid profit margins at the sharpest price points possible (considering your competitors pricing), especially on high-turnover items). 

There are some factors, however, that can allow you to build generous margins with minimal competitive penalties. For example, my local convenience store has a 15 to 20% premium on much of what they sell compared to similar items in the local supermarket. The candy, soda, dairy products, and other grocery items are limited in variety and customers typically pay without complaint especially when the purchase must be made when the supermarket is closed or farther away. You can also charge more if your service is unique, for example you repair certain luxury cars, or you are in industrial air conditioning repair, or a doctor with a specialty practice, or a lawyer who deals only with tax litigation. Typically, the more specialized and unique the service the more you can usually charge.

So what should you be thinking about when you are considering your pricing strategy?

  1. Whatever you charge, make sure you cover your costs. A good price should do it; too many great prices might put you out of business.
  2. If competitive conditions are good for you, that is you have few competitors and solid demand, don’t be afraid to squeeze out a few additional profit dollars in your pricing. You can always lower them later if competition heats up.
  3. Focus on cost controls. Work diligently to drive your costs down because it will let you make more money without raising your prices.

Finally, don’t be emotional about creating your pricing program. Let your numbers, e.g. overhead, material costs, sales costs, and whatever else goes into you getting your product sold drive your pricing. It is the only way you are going to be successful. Good luck!  

Do you have any good pricing advice?

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is America’s #1 small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.

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How to Get Over Your Fear of Sales

By on May 10, 2012 in Grow Your Business, Q & A Interviews, SmallBizChat

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Amy Palmer @Fearbustinsales http://twitter.com/fearbustinsales. Amy is a nationally recognized salesperson who helps business owners find a selling style that fits their personality and values. As head of a worldwide online virtual coaching and consulting business, Amy has been featured in the Woman’s Advantage Calendar for 2008 – 2012, Washington Business Journal, Washington Woman Magazine, Success for Women magazine, and Success magazine. Access her free teleseries here: www.demolishyourdreadofselling.com

SmallBizLady: What is “Sales Sabotage?”

Amy Palmer: It is when you have great ideas, a great product or service, even a great plan, and yet SOMETHING keeps getting in the way of taking your business to the NEXT LEVEL of REVENUE SUCCESS! It is when we get in our own way when it comes to selling.  We set ourselves up for failure before we even begin.

SmallBizLady: What causes “Sales Sabotage”?

Amy Palmer: Fear, reluctance, insecurity.  Past experiences (either as a consumer or as a salesperson).  Preconceived notions.  Fear of rejection.  The desire to be liked, and the fear of not being liked.

SmallBizLady: Why is it important to overcome sales sabotage?

Amy Palmer: If you don’t face your fear and reluctance, and find a way to become comfortable with selling, it will prevent you from achieving the goals you set for yourself, and it will prevent you from helping all those people are you meant to serve.  Also, look at it this way- by overcoming sales sabotage, you will generate more revenue and continue to grow to the point where you can afford to hire a sales team to sell FOR you!  Then you can spend even more of your time doing the things you love most.

SmallBizLady Can you share the steps to your “Fear-Bustin’ Process” to help overcome sales fear?

Amy Palmer: Step 1: Identify Roadblocks- what is REALLY getting in your way.

Step 2: Reconnect with Your Passion- why do you do what you do, how does it benefit others.

Step Three: Reprogram Your Thinking- don’t think of it as selling, think of it as “Promoting Your Passion.”

Step Four: Determine Your Personal Style- what are your strengths when it comes to communication, incorporate that into your process.

Step Five: Customize a Process- the more control you have over the process, the more comfortable you will feel.

Step Six: Put your Process In Action! It’s all about implementation- get an accountability partner or coach to assist you.

SmallBizLady: If someone is really uncomfortable with the sales role, how can they be successful in owning a business?

Amy Palmer: The BAD NEWS is, they can’t. The GOOD NEWS is that it isn’t difficult to become comfortable with selling. You don’t have to love it, you don’t have to become a super-expert or master sales guru. To develop a level of comfort, you simply must find a way to connect with your audience in a way that fits you, your personality, and your strengths. Once you combine this with the passion you have for what you do/what you offer, there will be no stopping you. And here’s even BETTER news- once you figure this piece out, develop a successful sales plan, and learn how to implement it, someday you will generate enough money to hire someone to do some of the sales activities for you!

SmallBizLady: How long does it take to truly overcome sales sabotage?

Amy Palmer: The process I designed uses the steps I followed myself early in my career.  It took me years to figure it out.  Sharing the steps with my clients saves them a lot of time.  However- fear and reluctance does come back.  Each time you reach a new height or you are in a new situation, it can resurface.  The key is having strategies in your toolbox to release the fear in a timely manner.

SmallBizLady: What sales effectiveness tips do you have for those who are doing well and/or already enjoy selling?

Amy Palmer: My number #1 tip in these circumstances is TRACK YOUR PROGRESS. Keep track of each opportunity, each sales conversation, phone calls, etc. along with results. This is the way to go from “good” to “great”. You can hone in on where you can tweak to get even better. Number #2 tip is DOCUMENT YOUR PROCESS. Someday you may hit a sales slump and be clueless as to why. You need to go back to your exact step-by-step process and find out if you have been taking short cuts or have gone off on tangents in your sales process. Another reason to document your sales process is because by having continued great results, you will one day want to scale your business and bring on salespeople. Having a proven process in place will accelerate the results of your team.

SmallBizLady: What is the role of a really good salesperson?

Amy Palmer: Your role as a salesperson is to INSPIRE that potential client to TAKE ACTION whether or not it includes doing business with you.

It all comes down to three necessary elements:
1. Letting go of your attachment to the results.
2. Stop focusing on yourself and truly focus on that other person.
3. The ability to step up and do what it takes to motivate another person.

SmallBizLady: How can you be an effective, top-performing salesperson without being perceived as “pushy” or aggressive?

Amy Palmer: Your relationship with that potential customer is a partnership- AND you are in the role of mentor.  Build Credibility, Empathy and Trust with the potential customer and they will see you as both a partner and advisor.  Sometimes you will have to tell them something they don’t want to hear. Sometimes you will need to be firm. Sometimes you will need to follow-up repeatedly. That’s your job. That’s what it takes to INSPRIRE someone to take ACTION. I never said it was easy- I only said it was authentic. And it truly follows the concept of selling = serving

SmallBizLady: What is the difference between “Attraction Marketing (Pull Marketing)” and having a sales plan?

Amy Palmer: Attraction Marketing will address those who are unaware of you and what you have to offer. By using your knowledge and content and offering it up freely to the mass public, you are providing value AND you are attracting those who are interested in your area of expertise.  The steps it takes between someone saying “I’m interested in your topic” and “I want to do business with you” are considered your SALES PLAN.

SmallBizLady: What does a Sales Process look like?

Amy Palmer: In a nutshell it is broken into the following steps:
1. Attraction Strategy- How do you bring people to you? How will your ideal client learn who you are and what you have to offer?
2. Connection Strategy- Once someone knows about you, what steps will you take to create a relationship? How does that relationship continuing in the form of follow up?
3. Conversation Strategy- How is your Sales Conversation structured? How do you present your product/service?
4. Service Strategy- How do you ensure happy customers? What is your process for asking for referrals?

SmallBizLady: How can you use attraction marketing in your sales plan?

Amy Palmer: Through social media and other online methods, it is now easier than ever to build a relationship with your audience. Attraction marketing is used heavily in your “Connection Strategy”- you need to have a campaign of value added items to share with your audience that enables them to get to know you and your offering. Blogging, ezines, teleclasses, webinars, livecasts, tweetchats, are all about building relationships. Where many people go wrong is that they fail to ever ask the audience to take the next step.  95% of your connection strategy is about giving and offering, 5% should include a request to take the next step if they are interested.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.  Here’s how to participate in #Smallbizchat http://bit.ly/S797e 

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. 

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How to Avoid Facebook Group Disasters

By on May 8, 2012 in Guest Articles, Melinda Emerson @SmallBizLady, Social Media

With Facebook reaching the 900 million mark, there should be no surprise that it is a terrific tool to use in the quest for business exposure. Joining a Facebook group seems to make sense; it’s a great way to expose your brand and/or find a new business opportunities. With countless groups on the social network giant, you’ll want to use groups to virtually shake hands or exchange business cards with peers and prospects.

How do you join a Facebook group? To join a group, click Ask to Join Group at the upper right side of the group’s page. You can also be added to a group by a friend who is already a member.  Since groups require admin approval for you to join, you may have to wait for an admin to confirm your request.  Certain groups on Facebook are secret and will not appear in search results. You cannot request to join these; only being added by an existing member will give you access to these groups. 

Now once you get into a group, there are certain things you should and should not do.  You do not want to go about things the wrong way. Before you accept another group add-on, (or even launch a group of your very own) make sure you avoid the following Facebook group gaffes:

Don’t forget to read the rules. Well-run groups usually have house rules posted in the document section of groups, and for good reason. Rules help to ensure that the group is serving its intended purposes and prevents chaos. Reading (and adhering to) the group rules is about respecting your fellow group members, the admins and your own brand.

Don’t you dare post an ad. Would you attend a networking event, interrupt conversations and speeches to blurt out one of the following?

 Like my page!

 (Shoe) size 10 no longer available!

 Vote for my neighbor’s baby!

Of course you wouldn’t. Yet, this form of shameless promotion is the norm in many groups. You’re not likely to receive the feedback you’re looking for with random posts like these.

Don’t harass group members.Just because someone “liked” your posted business advice, doesn’t mean you have the green light to post on their profile wall or send them a private message. These methods are considered spam, and as a business owner that’s not where you’d want your brand to be.

Don’t be a group bully. You know the type. The bully wants to do nothing more online than to take over a discussion, start a pointless debate or poke fun at ideas. There is no room for bullying in school and not in social media, either.

Don’t be a lurker.Join Facebook groups for a reason. If you bring nothing to the proverbial table, don’t take advantage of the information shared throughout the group. What is the point of joining a networking group on a “social“ network if you cannot bother typing a ‘hello’ once in a while?

Joining a Facebook group should lead to the right connections and customers. By avoiding these wrong moves, you’ll help to make these gathering places more welcoming for all.

Tyjuana Wilson is a freelance writer and consultant who provides to small business owners: articles, press releases, website/blog content, newsletter copy, and more. More importantly, she is also watching her 14-year-old diva, Tyra, grow before her eyes. Find Tyjuana online at
http://tyjuana-wilson.com and on LinkedIn.

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Presentation Communication – Your Quest to Impress

By on May 7, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, My Recommendations, Technology

Sponsored Post

All businesses depend on sending the right messages to their customers. Whether it is a brick and mortar office, retail store, online enterprise, a direct sales business or some type of consulting firm, you have one chance to make a first impression, and your business message must be clear. Customers will focus on what they see, what you say, and how you say it.

Look at what your customer sees

Your advertising collateral says a lot about your business.  Do you have a color sign out front with the business phone number? Do you have color flyers and quality direct mail pieces? Do you have color packaging that implies quality? Are you effectively using your display space to attract customers to walk-in and then buy once they are inside?  Do you have a helpful business website with great photos and customer testimonials?

Just as most customers would have reservations about eating in a dirty restaurant, buying upscale goods from a poorly-organized, junky store, purchasing from a customer-unfriendly website, or obtaining consulting services from a person with poor communications skills – your printed and digital materials have to help convince a prospective customer that what you are selling will definitely solve their problem.  As a small- or medium-sized business person, your sales window is usually very small. Fundamentally, on that first impression, they need to believe that you can deliver the goods or services they want. Every customer wants to feel good about a purchase decision. Your job is to use your marketing collateral to reinforce the point that your company will meet their requirements without a problem.

Show it and say it

If you are a retail store, it should be clean and well organized, with all of your merchandise clearly priced. Advertised and featured items should be readily visible and there should be some real “wow” factor when customers come through the doors. Do you have POPs or point of purchase displays in your store? Whether you are selling goods, have a cleaning service, a restaurant, a hair salon or a karate studio, your premise presentation should make a potential customer smile. You want them to want to do business with you. Even if you are opening a real estate or insurance agency or other type of office, make sure it is brightly lit, looks professional and exudes professionalism. Customers like to feel that they have come to the right place; your premise presentation should reinforce that perception.

If you provide services that take you on the road, like consulting, sales, or public speaking, you will need some additional materials for your customers to see that will tell them what you are selling and why they should buy it from you. We are now in the arena of sales collateral, which can include everything from glossy brochures to full-fledged media kits. The short version of your presentation is your business card and a brochure about your product or service and the reasons you should be on your customer’s list as a potential vendor. You want to have plenty of cards and brochures because these are initial customer contact items. Hire a professional to design them, and get them printed at the best possible quality.

Have a Clear Message

Most of all have a clear message as to why the customer should do business with you. If you get more interest from the customer, follow-up with a full-fledged media kit with customer testimonials, media clips, product samples, corporate bios, certifications, etc. As a general rule, the higher the cost of the product or service the longer the sales cycle, excellent marketing materials will reinforce that you are the right choice. Customers only want to make good decisions. Your sales materials need to support your brand promise.

Now you’ve said it, how do you get the prospect to respond?

A few tips:

  1. Use color printing to increase response. A recent study shows that 69% of people understand new ideas better when presented in color.
  2. Offer an incentive to drive a response, something that ties to your business will be more memorable.
  3. Provide multiple response methods such as phone number, website address, social media site.
  4. Set a deadline for the special offer you’re providing.

If you are thinking about a new copier/printer/scanner/email and fax machine, how about the Xerox ColorQube 8700?

Disclosure:  Melinda Emerson produced this content as a paid contributor to Xerox. The content is the author’s opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of Xerox.

Do you have more great ways to have the best presentation to your customer?

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.

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How to Build a Social Media Brand

By on May 4, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, Melinda Emerson @SmallBizLady, Social Media

Sponsored Post

Social media has leveled the playing field for small business owners in today’s marketing environment. It’s all about two-way communication with customers. Building a social media brand is a major factor in small business success, but the key is being niche focused. Beyond having a website, you need to make sure that you are out there demonstrating your expertise and dominating your niche at every opportunity. No one is calling 411 or looking in the yellow pages for vendors, it’s all about what comes up in the search engines. Don’t forget about LinkedIn, too.  Many experts, consultants and professional service providers are sourced through LinkedIn.  Here are the answers to the top 10 questions on how to build a social media brand.

How important is an online brand to a small business owner? 

Once a month people should Google themselves to see what is out there on the internet about their business. If nothing comes up in the search engines, that is a problem too. Start building online credibility with a LinkedIn profile and a helpful website. I would also add a Twitter account, Google+ profile, and Facebook Fan page as well. Retailers and service businesses should have a Yelp profile too.

What is the biggest mistake small businesses make when building an online brand?

You must consistently talk to the same customer online every time you share content and understand that it takes 7 contacts to make an impression. Many people think it’s going to start raining money in their small business as soon as they start using social media.  Not so! It’s like building any other relationship. It took me 2 years of tweeting, blogging and sharing other people’s information to be recognized nationally.

How does one go about developing a strategy to build a brand online? 

Start with three C’s of social media Content + Community = Commerce. Your content is currency in social media. Once you pick a target audience, you must listen first to find out where they are spending time online. Then you must use your content to become part of the conversation on that social networking site. When you start to engage with people by sharing their content and commenting on blogs, that’s when you starting building community. Once you have established trust within your online community that’s when you can sell to them. If you try to sell too quickly, you will torch the relationship.  Think of social networking as “Give to Get.”

Can you explain what you call “The Triple ROI of Social Media”?

  • Return on Investment: All social media accounts are free. Your investment is your time. A smart social media program returns the time you put in, in terms of engagement with customers and prospects as well as word-of-mouth referrals.
  • Return on Influence: By sharing quality content, small business owners build influence, which they can eventually monetize online and offline.
  • Return on identity:  Everything in social media is about building your brand identity.

What is the HELP mantra?

The HELP mantra is how I think small business owners should approach social media: Help Others, Engage People, Listen Carefully and Promote Yourself With Care. Traditional selling is dead.  Use a 4:1 ratio of sharing other people’s content over your own. Your content will do the selling for you. No one will engage you if you lead with “Buy my stuff, buy my stuff.” They will always respond to great stories about how you can solve their painful business issues.

What is your best advice for a business owner trying to build their brand online?

Before you do anything, clearly identify your niche target customer. Research the keywords people use most to search for your topic, service or product. Then develop your content strategy to stand out amongst your competition. If you are planning to use blogging as your strategy, start working on an archive of blog posts at least 3 months in advance so writing does not feel stressful to you.

How important is it to choose the right social networks? Which ones work best for what, ie. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr etc.? 

Everyone does not have to be doing everything. Twitter is a terrific listening device and is great for driving traffic to a blog. I convene my #Smallbizchat community live each week on Twitter, which has been a major factor in growing my online audience. LinkedIn is the most formal social network. It’s perfect for people who need to network with key decision makers.  Facebook groups and fan pages are great for engaging with retail customers. Google+ is also becoming a major factor in communicating with your entire social rolodex. Don’t forget about Pinterest too. If you have lots of great visuals Pinterest is perfect for target customers with that interest. Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. You can post text messages, photos, quotes, links, music and video from email and from any devices. If you use blogging as a key strategy, any of these accounts will help you spread the word.

Should a small business owner stay on message at all times? Is it ever okay to go off message?

It is critical to stay on message in social media. It should be obvious who your customer is by what you share online or what you write on your blog.  If you change your message too often, you will confuse people.  It’s ok to share personal things about yourself, so that people know that you are a real person, but be strategic.

Are there any special tools or apps on any social media sites that you would recommend? why?

I like www.Hootsuite.com to manage all my social media accounts. You can have up to 5 social accounts with the free version, but if someone is helping you with social media you may want to invest in a pro account.

How does one go about earning a community of subscribers, followers, friends, etc?  

Engagement is key. If someone leaves a comment on your blog, respond back quickly. In order to attract subscribers, followers, likes and connections you need to give them what they want – valuable content. Then, engage the people who like your content. Highlight a fan each week on your Facebook fan page, run a contest on Twitter. Be first to answer questions on LinkedIn to highlight your expertise.

On Tuesday May 8th 1-2pm ET I will speak with @FedExOffice during a live Tweet Chat #FedExOffice about how to build a social media brand as part of the Our Office Is Your Office Tweet Chat series.

Do you have any more ideas on how to build a social media brand? Your idea could be worth $50 bucks.

@SmallBizlady will offer two $50 gift cards for two more great ideas about building a social media brand.  To be considered, post your comment on this blog post until 10pm ET Friday, May 11, 2012. Winners will be announced on Twitter on Monday, May 14, 2012. FedEx Office has no involvement in the selection of winners.   This is sponsored by @SmallBizlady.

Disclosure:  FedEx Office compensated me to write this post and participate as a small business expert during the FedEx Office Our Office Is Your Office Tweet Chat series.  FedEx Office also provided the $50 gift cards. The ideas in this blog post are mine and are not ideas or advice from FedEx Office.

About FedEx Office: FedEx Office, an operating company of FedEx Corp., has more than 1,900 stores and locations in the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East, providing convenient access to printing and shipping expertise with reliable service. The company’s network features retail stores, centralized production centers, corporate on-site print centers, and on-site business centers at hotels, convention centers and universities. Services include copying and digital printing, professional finishing, document creation, direct mail, signs and graphics, computer rental, free Wi-Fi, corporate print solutions, packing services, FedEx Express and FedEx Ground shipping, Hold at FedEx Location and more. In addition, InformationWeek 500 recognized FedEx Office® Print Online and FedEx Office® Print & Go solutions with the 2011 Most Innovative Products award. Products, services and hours vary by location. For more information, please visit www.fedex.com/office.

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is America’s #1 small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.

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5 Things You Could Do Today to Generate a Sale

By on May 1, 2012 in Business Inspiration, Cash Flow & Finance, Grow Your Business, Melinda Emerson @SmallBizLady

Sales GrowthIt’s May.  That means it’s National Small Business Month and it’s time for you to get serious about your business.

Answer these questions about your business: Have you updated your business plan?  Are you using your business plan to run your small business?  Do you have monthly/weekly sales goals?  Do you know by the 15th of the month how well or poorly your business did last month? Are you doing 5 things before 11am each day to jump-start sales and revenue in your business? If your answer is no or not really try these:

Here are 5 things you could do today to generate a sale:

1)    Send an email to a recent customer (within the last two weeks) and ask for a LinkedIn or Yelp recommendation. Be sure to send the link in the email to make it easy for them.

2)    Call a contact that you met at a recent networking event to schedule coffee or a lunch appointment.

3)    Send a personal note to an old customer to check in on them.  Include an article of interest to them, too.

4)    Write a 300-500 word blog post for your business blog.

5)    Evaluate your accounts receivable to see if anyone is 30 days behind in paying you, and give them a call to find out payment status. While you’re on the phone with them, inquire about another order.

May is the busiest time of the year for me, and I have some great free resources for you from some of my corporate customers that will help you as you run your small business.

May 1:  Take a business course for free: I’m the lead instructor for Black Enterprise’s Small Business University: Register for the Small Business University NOW and learn how to build and grow your business! Plus enter for a chance to win more than $50,000 in prizes. It’s not too late to sign up today http://www.blackenterprise.com/sbu/

May 2: 7th annual New York XPO for Business at The Javits Center in NYC. I will be delivering a keynote speech: “Using Social Media to Engage Customers & Drive B2B Success!” My speech is from 4:00 – 5:00 PM. I will teach small business owners how to create a winning online marketing strategy. Register today before it’s sold out.  Here’s a BONUS! FREE 1-DAY XPO PASS REGISTER NOW = http://bit.ly/ubMH61 Promo Code = SPEAKER15

May 8: Live Tweetchat on Twitter Learn How to Build a Social Media Brand to Grow Your Small Business. Stay tuned for details.

May is going to be a great month for being in business. Check back at this blog daily for tools and resources to succeed as your own boss.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady www.twitter.com/smallbizlady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing.  Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. http://succeedasyourownboss.com/products/purchase-the-book/

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7 Businesses to Start For Under $500

By on April 30, 2012 in Business Inspiration, How to Start

Start a Small Business for Under $500When you see a friend’s kitchen clutter, do you dive right in to bring order it?  Are you the go-to girl for hair and makeup advice? Are you “that guy” who can fix anything technical or mechanical? If you’ve ever considered becoming your own boss, this could be the right time to turn your talent into a thriving side hustle business — even if you don’t have a lot of money to get started.

Starting a business on the side is a smart way to get your feet wet as an entrepreneur. Look first at the services and goods you already provide for free to friends and family. “The best way to start a business for less than $500 is to figure out how to get paid for what you love to do,” says Clyde Anderson, a financial lifestyle coach and CNN contributor in Atlanta. “It’s crucial for anyone who’s looking to start a business to determine what gifts and talents they already have and to convert them into an actual business.”

Here are 7 great businesses to Start For $500

1. Baker Cakes and cupcakes are the highlight of any party, and reality foodie shows such as Cupcake Wars have made baking a popular new business idea. Brooklyn blogger and cupcake expert Nichelle Stephens says you can start a cupcake business for $500 or less, as long as you aren’t trying to open a storefront. “You spend more time than money when starting a baking business,” says Stephens, who shares baking and business tips on her blog. “You need to find a neighborhood where there is a limited number of baked goods available and identify your niche.” Once you get your mixer, the next expense is quality baking pans and cooling racks. Use your co-workers as your test market and promote your business in the groups you belong to, especially if you have children. Other parents are a great potential customer base. Keep in mind it’s illegal in most jurisdictions to bake and sell food from your home. Here’s a website where you can research commercial kitchens in your area.

2. Mobile Notary Public  Despite technological advances, documents such as property deeds, wills and loan papers still require an official signature and stamp by a notary. Some banks and real estate agents have a notary license, but the current trend is using notaries who come to your home or business on call. Setting up this kind of business has strict rules: Most states require you to take a course to learn the notary business and pass an exam, and all require a state license. Check with your state for regulations and costs, and visit the National Notary Association for materials and more information. It’s important to put out the word to friends, family and co-workers about your new notary business. Set up a professional website with search engine optimization so that your business can be found locally. “Pick a niche,” says Dany Victory, owner of mobilenotarypublic.com in Southern California. “I specialize in loan documents, and it’s helped me earn referral customers such as realtors and title companies.” As a mobile notary, your costs are low and there are fringe benefits: You can drive around, meet interesting people and charge a premium for providing door-to-door service. “My income is higher because I charge travel fees on top of the standard notary charge of $10 per signature,” says Victory.

3. Personal Trainer  Many people’s New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, and many of these same individuals are looking for professional help to shed those unwanted pounds. If you are a fitness buff or avid runner, you may be able to make a living by teaching others what you’ve learned. You can be a general fitness instructor or specialize in marathon prep, yoga or Zumba. The first step in launching a fitness business is to become certified as a personal trainer. You also may need some basic equipment such as a portable CD player, exercise ball, stair step and mats. To launch your training business, start by telling your own weight loss story. Don’t be afraid to share your before and after pictures on your website and Facebook page. To find clients, try to build relationships at the gym you already attend. Inquire about becoming a trainer on staff to learn the business. Reach out to friends and colleagues who either don’t have time to go to a gym or feel embarrassed in a room full of people running on treadmills. Fitness enthusiast John Leber of Paramus, N.J., became a trainer in retirement. Leber studied, took a workshop and an exam, and within months got his personal trainer certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). “I worked for a large fitness chain gym for 18 months, and it was like your first job out of college, but after I left that company, my old clients started calling me for services,” says Leber, who is 63.” He specializes in working with clients 50+ and with people recovering from injuries. Here’s more on how to become a personal trainer.

4. Personal Organizer  Clutter is stressful for everyone, and you can make a living helping people get their homes, offices and lives in order. Professional organizing is a perfect business for people with a knack for neatness and developing systems. You can charge hourly or set half-day and full-day flat rates for your time. Not all clutter is the same, so it’s a good idea to choose an area of specialization, such as cleaning out garages, helping people plan for moving or downsizing, or assisting professional women with busy lives. Devise a system for how you will approach new client projects. Some organizers interview prospects; others ask for a tour of the space that needs organizing; some just throw everything on the floor and start from there. Philadelphia-based professional organizer Debbie Lillard, author of Absolutely Organized, wanted to work part time after years as a stay-at-home mom. She launched her business by contacting old friends who were stressed by the disorganization in their lives. She created business cards and flyers and distributed them in grocery stores in affluent neighborhoods. “I wrote a sales letter explaining who might need an organizer and sent it to everyone I knew, which landed me my first clients; from there, it was all word-of-mouth referrals,” Lillard says. Within a few months, she also launched a do-it-yourself website. Lillard went on to write two books about getting organized and shared organizational tips during media appearances, which helped her business grow. Collecting before and after pictures and client testimonials are good ways to promote a business as a professional organizer. For people interested in this business, consider joining the National Association of Professional Organizers, which provides education and training for new business owners in the field.

5. Social Media Marketing Assistant  The social media world is growing, and most business owners don’t have time to keep up. You can create a business as a social media marketing assistant or strategist if you have strong writing skills and a working knowledge of the major social media networking sites. Copy editing skills also are in demand for customers with blogs. Prior experience in public relations and marketing can also set you apart from those who just know social media tools. This business involves helping clients develop a social media strategy, build blogs, and set up Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter accounts, LinkedIn profiles and Google+ accounts. lf you know how to set up and maintain WordPress websites (they’re free), you can specialize in that service and charge a higher hourly rate. Cathy Larkin of Web Savvy PR in Aston, Pa., shows her small-business clients how to make social media marketing less intimidating. She provides strategies and shortcuts to keep her clients up to date online. “The first thing I did was learn the tools; then I picked a niche for the kind of customers I wanted,” Larkin says, “Be willing to work for free at first, just to prove you know what you are doing and get some references.” A low-cost way to quickly sharpen your social media skills is to attend a social media conference such as a PodCamp, which are held all over the country. The key to being successful as a social media marketing assistant is keeping your skills updated and making sure you stay on top of the constantly changing features on the social networking sites.

6. Jewelry Designer  People like handmade, one-of-a-kind jewelry, and this hobby is a good choice for a home-based business. Settle on your signature style or specialty — whether you’ll create pieces with bead design or design molds for silver and goldsmithing or stainless-steel items. Then you need to name your business, create samples, produce high-quality photos and start developing marketing materials. Patricia Miller, owner of the Velvet Box in Flint, Mich., got hooked on the craft while helping a friend with her holiday jewelry orders. Miller launched her own business with small orders for bracelets, and then she began doing home shows. Later she created an online shop at Etsy.com, which makes it simple for crafters to display and sell handmade goods. “Ninety-eight percent of my business has come from repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals,” says Miller. Jewelry sellers also should look into setting up booths at craft fairs, flea markets and community events. Try partnering with local art galleries, hospitals and boutiques to sell higher-end pieces in your catalog. Don’t forget to wear your own jewelry everywhere you go — you are your best advertisement.

7. Image Consultant  Are you the person everyone stops and says, “Wow, you look great! Can you go shopping with me?” You are not just a trendsetter; you also may have the skills to be an image consultant or visual branding specialist. “Both women and men need to present their very best to the world. I help people reinvent and update their look,” says Tracey Reed, who runs a Philadelphia image consulting firm, Tracey Evelyn Beautiful You. “I do everything from color analysis to make-up lessons and personal shopping.” If you want to start a business as an image consultant, you need to have an understanding of color basics, textiles and clothing silhouettes. Reed, who has a master’s degree in theater make-up and costume design, suggests taking courses in color theory and retail merchandising to sharpen your skills. She started out in the beauty business as a licensed aesthetician and later expanded her services to include wardrobe and image consulting. Potential clients include professional women too busy to shop, brides-to-be who want makeovers, and men who want to sharpen their images to get ahead at work. Having a personal network is key to building your initial clientele. Set up a blog to share style tips, and then use Facebook and other social media to attract new customers. You also can use your website to post special packages, share testimonials and feature before and after photos of clients. It could be your best sales tool.

All of these are great businesses ideas, but keep in mind that you still need a marketing plan  and business plan to get your fledgling enterprise on track. Start with free business plan software at enloop.com to get rolling and later invest in a business plan course at a small business development center or local community college. Business plans help you think through your business operations, target customers, budget and sales projections, so you can measure success in your new business.

Do you have other great business ideas for under $500? Please share your comments.

This article was originally posted on http://www.secondact.com/ and the copyright is held by Entrepreneur Media.

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing.  Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.

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Smallbizchat Celebrates 3 Years of Helping Thousands of Entrepreneurs

By on April 25, 2012 in Business Inspiration, Melinda Emerson @SmallBizLady, SmallBizChat

Today marks the third anniversary of my Twitter talk show #Smallbizchat.

We launched the weekly #Smallbizchat, in April of 2009, as a peer-to-peer mentoring program to help early stage entrepreneurs get answers to their small business questions. The goal was to provide information to help end small business failure.  With 82% of small businesses going out of business in five years, we wanted to do something that would really be impactful by giving people information that, in many cases, they had no idea was critical to their business success.

Nearly 150 shows and over 150K followers later, #SmallBizChat has become an institution on Twitter as one of the longest running tweetchats. @SmallBizChat’s third anniversary show is tonight Wednesday April 25, 2012 from 8-9 pm ET, with guest Alexis Maybank, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of The Gilt Groupe www.gilt.com, one of the top online members-only shopping websites. Maybank is also the co-author of the new book for entrepreneurs “By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop.

My inspiration to launch the #Smallbizchat community happened after I wrote my bestselling book “Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works” (now in its third printing). Even before the book came out, I wanted to reduce the learning curve as individuals attempted to start and grow their small businesses. My message now reaches 1.5 million entrepreneurs online weekly and has created an additional career for me as social media marketing expert.  In fact, more people know me as @SmallBizLady than my real name.

My blog SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com, which is syndicated by the Huffington Post, has become a valuable resource to small business owners worldwide and Forbes Magazine named me #1 Woman for Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter.

It has also afforded me the opportunity to be featured in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, USA Today, and Black Enterprise; a regular contributor to OpenForum.com, SecondAct.com and Entrepreneur.com, BlackEnterprise.com and Essence Magazine. And a featured a speaker for such organizations as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, INC Magazine, Bloomberg, #140 Conference, New York Expo, National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship and The Pennsylvania Governor’s Conference for Women.

My weekly interactive Twitter talk show #Smallbizchat, has given me the platform to help millions of small business owners. Doing a live show every week is a major commitment, but I love seeing chat participants “get it” – that charges me up every time. Tonight’s third anniversary show #Smallbizchat will feature Alexis Maybank Co-Founder of Gilt.com on the topic: “How to have a million dollar membership site. To celebrate the anniversary, we’ll give away copies of my book, Maybank’s book and limited edition #SmallBizChat t-shirts.

How does the #Smallbizchat work? Every Wednesday, Twitter users log onto tweetchat.com or tweetgrid.com to follow the interviews I conduct with noted small business experts, live at 8 pm ET. The expert guest types answers to questions using the using their Twitter account and the hashtag #Smallbizchat.  Expert guests have included best-selling authors and small business experts Michael Gerber, Anita Campbell, Alan Weiss, David Allen and Peter Shankman many others. Each week, hundreds of participants join in to learn from Emerson and the guest, plus share what’s going on in their small businesses as well.  Here’s more information on how to participate: http://bit.ly/S797e

About #SmallBizChat @Smallbizchat hosted by Melinda Emerson, @SmallBizLady, is an online community for emerging small business owners whose reach exceeds 1.5 million readers weekly. Committed to creating and sustaining a supportive network where all business owners can find answers and inspiration in their business endeavors. Melinda Emerson is regarded as America’s #1 Small Business Expert, with a fast-growing online brand providing resources for emerging and existing small business owners. Emerson’s corporate clients include Pitney Bowes, Deluxe, FedEx, American Family Insurance, Bloomberg, Walmart.com, Wells Fargo and Xerox. Emerson is a proud graduate of Virginia Tech.

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How To Game Google to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

By on April 24, 2012 in Guest Articles, Melinda Emerson @SmallBizLady, Technology

Online, it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times. Google seems to be a great partner one moment, and the next it makes a change that turns it into your worst enemy.

That’s the challenge facing today’s online marketers. bloggers, webmasters…whatever you call us. While we all want to be at the top of Google search results and for Google to be our BFF, we have to remember, it is a giant, for profit corporation, beholden to the almighty dollar and shareholder. We are at their mercy and there is really nothing you can do about that. Or is there?

Let’s back up 12 months or so. Prior to Google’s “Panda” update to its search algorithm, if you searched for almost any company, you were often presented with review and complaint sites. Companies struggled to deal with the negative publicity and, for most, the real problem was that minor complaints were ranking higher than their own site. Many companies went head to head with these sites by creating review sites of their own or by writing fake reviews that painted a more positive, and possibly more accurate, picture of their customers’ experiences. Reputation management was certainly a hot topic.

Then Google’s Panda update fixed many of those issues by degrading the PageRank of those sites. Now Google is reportedly making a new set of changes to how they rank sites. These would penalize companies for being “over optimized.” So while you put in tireless hours of refining titles, perfecting meta data and working on back link strategies…apparently now you can overdo it. Remember, it is Google itself that tells us how to optimize sites in its Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.

So the real question is: what works? And, will it keep working next week, next month, next year?

The simple answer and the “Golden Rule of SEO” is to be authentic.

Google’s goal has always been to give you the most relevant recommendations but since day one everyone has been jockeying for the lead position, trying to game results. (see Googlebombing for a great example). Individuals and companies will do almost anything to gain an advantage over their competitors, at any cost. Google’s actions have been toward combating this type of activity.

Be authentic, be personal, be local and get others who like you to link to your site.  This is the best way to gain organic search referrals for your company. This not only puts you in line with Google’s own goal of providing relevant site recommendations, it also improves the overall economics of your site. How?

Think through the alternative. Imagine you sell specialized gold pencils and you optimize your site to bring all pencil traffic to your site. Seems logical right? Wrong! All pencil buyers are not your target. If a #2 pencil buyer finds your site, at best they are only costing you money as they utilize computing and bandwidth resources navigating through your site for good ‘ole #2s. At worst, they convert to a lead and you immediately have your top sales person call them up and spend time trying to sell them that coveted specialized gold pencil. No sale.

Authentic content will optimize your site and bring you the prospects searching for your product. Be an expert and highlight that expertise through your site content, social networks, videos and blog posts. Rally behind the specialized nature of your business to target the right buyers so your sales process is efficient.

So how can you increase exposure without being penalized? As mentioned before, Google is a for profit corporation and right now it is trying to combat Facebook, Twitter and others who are taking traffic away from Google properties. Your marketing methods should be in line with Google’s own corporate goals. Right now social is king at Google. So much so that its own  employee bonuses are geared toward success in social. So by all means use Google products, especially Google+ and YouTube. Help them move traffic back to Google properties by actively using and engaging in discussion on these sites. Do a Google search for almost anything these days and you’ll find results from Google + and YouTube at or near the top of the page.

About Russ Fordyce:  Russ is managing director of the BIG Awards, a business awards program, and a B2B marketing veteran with over 15 years of experience helping companies connect with buyers. As a veteran of the dot com boom and bust, Russ has learned first-hand how technology can improve the connections between business buyers and sellers. Follow him on Twitter @russfordyce or on LinkedIn.

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Are You Doing Your #1 Job as an Entrepreneur

By on April 23, 2012 in Business Inspiration, Grow Your Business, Melinda Emerson @SmallBizLady

Your skills as an entrepreneur can make the difference between a booming enterprise and closing your doors far too soon. Your #1 job as a small business owner is to sell. Your job is to motivate, inspire and convince customers, potential investors, and often family that your business idea is worthwhile. It typically requires passion for your project, a coherent message, and most importantly, a confident delivery of that message. This can be a tall order if you don’t have a sales mindset. Do you have discomfort speaking to strangers? Are you unable to convey enthusiasm about your business? If you have a tough time getting into the sales mode, your solution might be to hire or partner with someone and let them do the selling, but then you can get into a mine-field of issues around control of your message.

How do you build your sales confidence? First, you need to understand where you are today. If your venture is a side-hustle in addition to a main job, and your business passion is on “low” and you just want to keep working your flea market stand, or selling cosmetic products to friends, you probably are where you want to be from a sales energy standpoint. The stakes grow considerably, however, if your venture is a full-time effort. The pressure to generate enough revenue to support yourself and your family will make you become laser focused on selling. Not to mention, if you have goals to grow your enterprise, this means a stepped up selling effort, too.

The Flawless Pitch – First you want to create a “flawless pitch”, telling your company’s story in one minute or less – what you do or sell, who you specialize doing it for and what makes your business special. For example “My name is Bob and I own Bob’s garage. We specialize in the repair and maintenance of luxury car transmissions at far less than dealer prices and all work is guaranteed”. You have a story to tell both potential customers and prospective investors which will get them to ask “Tell me more”.

Give it a Test Run – Practice is not just for baseball and dance class. You need to practice your pitch in the mirror, with your family and friends, and with anybody else who will listen. Ask for hard questions and honest feedback.  This will keep you from looking foolish later. If you open a dry cleaning store, and a customer asks you about the chemicals you use for cleaning, you should be informative and give that customer good reason to do business with you. In the restaurant business it is about tasty, quality food, well presented in a clean environment. As proprietor, you and your staff will be touting signature dishes, great service, and satisfying portions giving customers great reasons to return by delivering on what you promised. People need and want to be convinced to buy stuff. You must be able to tell them why they should buy from you.

People should be able to feel your passion – Your enthusiasm and positive spirit are absolutely essential to selling. Whether you are selling to customers, selling your business concept to potential investors or ­­­­trying to borrow money from your local bank, don’t minimize the excitement of your passion for your business and your absolute belief in its success. If you are short on enthusiasm for your enterprise, you need to take a hard look at whether being in that business is for you. Your ability to sell is key.  Introspection today should set your expectations for tomorrow.  Once you get the hang of power selling, closing a sale will be thrilling and more fun than work.

Do you have more ideas to get over the fear of selling?

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.

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5 Steps to Take Online Before Launching Your Small Business

By on April 17, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, Guest Articles, Social Media, Technology

The fast-moving flow of information in social media  can be intimidating to even the most computer-savvy among us. To a budding small business owner, it can be daunting. Yet if you want your business to succeed, you can’t afford to ignore that world. Fortunately, there is a way to conquer that world and make it work for you—and the way to do it is to be proactive. That means thinking out your social media marketing strategy before you launch your business and then taking the preliminary steps to make it all work. Here are a few things you can do ahead of time to see to it that your launch will go smoothly.

  1. Stake your claim in the social media frontier.  Don’t be afraid. Hop right in! Getting connected may be new to you but it represents your golden opportunity to show your company’s value to the world. Create accounts on all the major social networking sites— Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn. Then to make things a little more manageable for yourself, consider signing up for a social media manager such as SproutSocial.com, HootSuite, or CoTweet.
  2. Be visual! A picture is worth a thousand words. So why use words when images are so much more effective? Take time to create an effective logo that communicates you, your business, and its value to your customers. Then follow up with photos, videos, infographics, and other forms of visual imagery that tell the tale of your company. If any of your products require instruction, create video tutorials to explain them. If your products are unique, use visuals to play up their distinctions! People are always looking for ways to be the coolest guys on their block, so make sure you show them how your products can help them become trend setters.
  3. Monitor your industry online. Do searches for mentions of your products or your industry on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. Become aware of your competition—not only what they are doing but also how they are using social media. There are numerous social media tracking applications available (for example, Trackur and monitter), many of which are free, that can help you keep track of chatter going on around the Web.
  4. Make yourself known. One of the most important things you can do in the social media world is forging relationships. Communication is not very effective if it only goes one way. So it’s of utmost importance to find a legion of fans and followers and begin an ongoing dialogue with them. You can start on Facebook with real friends and family. But then expand your reach. A quick keyword search can help you identify prospective customers who could be ideal fits for your product or service. Seek out key players in your industry and also target local media outlets and city officials. Then be diligent about establishing and maintaining communication with your new contacts. On Facebook, you can share their links on your wall and comment on them. On Twitter, you should always try to reply to as many messages as possible. If one of your contacts has a story, re-tweet it. On LinkedIn, join industry groups and start new group discussions or actively participate in ongoing ones. Most importantly, be careful to nurture these new relationships by avoiding asking for favors or help. Instead, offer your help to your contacts without asking for anything in return. This will build trust and elevate your relationships to the point where your online friends will ultimately be doing favors for you.
  5. Interlink One advantage to having multiple accounts on social media sites is to establish as many sources of user feedback as possible. People are seldom shy about sharing their opinions, and you can begin improving your products and services immediately as a result of their feedback. Another advantage is your ability to interlink within your own online network. One of the first things you will want to do after establishing your accounts is to link your company’s website, your Facebook page, your Twitter account, and your YouTube videos to each other. This is free advertising and is a neat way to showcase as many aspects of your business to as wide an audience as possible.

Today’s marketing climate is more diverse than ever, but there is no component that is as fast-growing or as effective as social networking. Your business can sell itself when you have the mechanisms in place to easily put it on display for the right audience to see. Those mechanisms are abundant in the social media world. So do your homework. Prepare to launch your business by preparing before the launch.

About the author:

Christopher Wallace is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing, a leading provider of personalized pens, promotional pens, and other personalized items such as imprinted apparel and mugs and customized calendars.

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Developing a Mobile Marketing Strategy with Kent Lewis

By on April 12, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, Q & A Interviews, SmallBizChat

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Kent Lewis @KentLewis is President and Founder of Anvil Media and Formic Media, sister search engine and social media marketing agencies based in Portland, Ore. For more information visit www.anvilmediainc.com.

SmallBizLady: What exactly does the term “mobile marketing” mean?

Kent Lewis: Mobile marketing technically refers to any form of messaging or advertising targeted at portable devices, which typically means cell phones, but may also include iPads and tablet-style devices. For our clients, we typically focus on developing strategic plans around mobile-friendly websites, local SEO, mobile advertising, QR codes, location-based services, email & SMS messaging and mobile applications or “apps.”

 SmallBizLady: What does a small business owner need to know about the mobile web?

Kent Lewis: Small businesses have a few options when it comes to “mobilizing” a website. The easiest and most cost-effective approach is to develop a mobile-friendly website, designed in CSS, with small screens as a consideration factor. The site renders nearly as well on a phone screen as a monitor, if designed correctly. The drawback is that mobile browsers are not as robust and does not typically support Flash or Javascript elements, but HTML 5 provides a viable alternative for interactivity. The alternative approach would be to build your corporate website on a mobile-friendly CMS platform – one that automatically generates a mobile version of your website. The benefit of this approach is that you don’t have to design the website specifically for mobile, as that will be handled by the CMS platform. The downside is that there are compromises and limitations of such platforms. If mobile is a core strategy for 2011, the ideal approach is to create a dedicated mobile website (m.companyname.com) with unique content and features your mobile audience will need or appreciate (i.e. contact information, driving directions for starters).

SmallBizLady: How does local search engine optimization play into mobile marketing strategies for small business?

Kent Lewis: While your website should do the heavy lifting in terms of providing a resource for mobile-enabled audiences, there are third party local directories that are playing a larger role in mobile search, particularly for small businesses. The content typically seen on a computer screen in local search results is going to power mobile search and other mobile applications in the future.  For starters, be sure to claim & optimize local listings on Google Places/Maps, Bing & Yahoo! Local and related local directories. Specifically, Google Places pages now offer click-to-call capability, which will be appealing to mobile users who are more likely to convert.

 SmallBizLady: Can you explain the various mobile advertising opportunities available to small businesses?

Kent Lewis: While mobile advertising is in its infancy as an industry, it is growing quickly. The good news is that you can get started relatively quickly and easily with mobile advertising campaigns. For those of you with existing Google AdWords accounts, adding mobile is as easy as clicking a button. Beyond expanding your text and display ads to mobile searches, you can incorporate mobile-friendly capabilities like click-to-call and call tracking (via Google Voice) to measure effectiveness of mobile marketing efforts, without the need for third party technology.  If you’re looking for additional mobile advertising opportunities, consider testing mobile ad platforms like AdMob and mobile social advertising like 140 Proof for Twitter mobile applications. With a bit more time and resources, you can explore sponsorship opportunities within existing SMS, MMS and mobile apps. Last but not least, don’t forget to incorporate QR codes (customizable bar codes that embed a URL) into your print, and other display, advertising.

SmallBizLady: What are QR codes and how can a small business use them?

Kent Lewis: Quick Response or “QR” codes are essentially customizable bar codes that are read by mobile phones through the camera and an application. Most frequently, QR codes include an embedded URL, which offers small businesses an opportunity to incorporate a unique, trackable web page into offline/print marketing materials like business cards, newsletters, print, broadcast and outdoor advertising. Free QR code generators are available online and are easy to use, after which you can simply paste the new square code into your marketing materials and wait for the phone or inbox to light up!

SmallBizLady: What are Location-based Services and why should we care?

Kent Lewis: Location-based services (LBS) are generating buzz and ridiculous valuations, but can also be powerful tools for engendering loyalty from your customers. Getting started is relatively simple: create and optimize business profiles on Foursquare, GoWalla, Yelp Mobile, Google and Facebook Places. Don’t forget that these platforms are essentially virtual loyalty programs, which means they require a dedicated effort to maximize your marketing opportunities.

SmallBizLady: What do we need to know about email and SMS text messaging?

Kent Lewis: SMS messaging is going to be the “new email” – in that your focus will be to collect phone numbers instead of (or in addition to) email addresses. As such, make sure your email platform is mobile-friendly. Confirm your outbound emails render well in mobile browsers and that you are collecting opt-in SMS information and developing an outbound marketing strategy specifically for text messaging. To take full advantage of SMS, consider investing in your own dedicated mobile platform.  Leverage existing mobile texting platforms (like MooText or MobileStorm) to create, manage and track mobile marketing campaigns. These platforms typically incorporate a mobile CRM (MCRM) to expand your customer insights and data into the mobile realm.

SmallBizLady: When should small businesses consider developing an application?

Kent Lewis: While mobile applications or “apps” are all the rage thanks to big consumer brands, Google and Apple, they may not be a good fit for small business. Before investing in development or licensing of an app, conduct thorough research into your target audiences’ usage of mobile. If you have critical mass, then ask pointed questions of your target audience about their needs and wants in regards to a mobile app. From there, you can get a bid against your specification from qualified vendors. Incidentally, research indicates mobile users prefer games, music and access to social networks as core elements of mobile apps.

SmallBizLady: Any parting thoughts about mobile marketing for business owners to consider?

Kent Lewis: Regardless of your marketing objectives, target audiences, budgets and available resources, there are at least seven core strategies to consider when developing a mobile marketing strategy for small business. Conduct the necessary research up front to minimize your investment and maximize your ROI. Don’t forget to develop measurable goals, embed necessary analytics and start small with limited testing before committing significant resources. Like any marketing program, mobile requires a dedicated effort to be effective over the long haul.

 

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.

 

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