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What Can Twitter Do For Your Small Business?

by Melinda Emerson on December 5, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Grow Your Business, How to Start, SmallBizChat, Social Media

I signed up for a Twitter account three years ago, and it truly changed my life. My Twitter anniversary was on December 2nd, and I thought it might be helpful for me to explain what my goals were for the social network. Now is a perfect time to step up your game on Twitter or finally get it going with a social media strategy.

I have never had a nickname in my life, but since my name Melinda Emerson was taken when I tried to sign up for Twitter, my buddy social media strategist, Cathy Larkin @Cathywebsavvypr nicknamed me @SmallBizLady. We now know that was the best branding accident that ever happen to me. We thought it would work, since it would help people know who I was and what my expertise was as a small business start-up and business development expert. We ultimately knew it would help me raise awareness to my book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months.

When you got on Twitter did you have a plan?

When I started out on Twitter I had two goals. First, I wanted to build an author platform to demonstrate my thought leadership on all things small business. Secondly, I wanted to make friends and attract my niche target customer; professional women 30+, who want to start or grow a small business. However, Twitter provided some unintended benefits as well.

When I first when on twitter I did three things each day. I shared a helpful article on small business, I tweeted out something personal about myself, and I answered someone’s small business question. Being helpful was my intent, and it served me well. I set up Google alerts on specific business topics so that I would always have fresh things to tweet. Once I got the hang of it, I made sure that I shared other people’s content more than my own.

I am now, a well-respected social media expert as a result of how well I’ve built my brand. I also am an active member of the Twitter community with over 125K followers. I tell people that I work Twitter like a job Monday thru Friday.

Why Twitter works for me.

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform designed for people who need the bottom-line and not much else. In short, if you can’t say it in 140 characters or less, forget about it. If you do not know who you are trying to talk with or attract forget about it. You need a content strategy in order to really be successful with Twitter.

In April 2009, I launched #SmallBizChat which is a Tweetchat (or Twitter Talkshow as I like to call it.) My professional background is as a television producer, so I approached my tweetchat like a TV new program. I developed a formula. We have an open, close and new question coming out every four minutes. Every Wednesday on Twitter to help entrepreneurs get answers to their small business questions with #Smallbizchat. To date, my co-host @TaiGoodwin and I have produced over 130 shows. By the way, New York Times Small Business Blogger Jay Goltz @JaySmallBiz is my guest this Wednesday. His topic is how to run a successful small business. He’s been an entrepreneur over 33 years, with five businesses so I think he knows a little something about it.

Twitter has grown my @SmallBizLady consulting brand. I have gotten several coaching clients and hundred of business contacts. I have also been invited for at least 50 speaking engagements, countless blog talk radio interviews, and thanks to this blog, I have been requested to write for several publications including smallbiztrends.com, secondact.com, black enterprise and essence magazines and quoted in many articles for publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and Fortune. I have also had several TV appearances for NBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. These opportunities came just because of the content, resources and blog posts I tweet out regularly on Twitter.

Twitter is a great resource for a small business owners, particularly if you sell B2B or are in infopreneur. Try it you might like it.

Do you have any other suggestions for how Twitter can help a small business?

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 smallbusinessexperts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small businessfailure. As CEO of MFE Consulting LLC, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine recently named her the #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 www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also the author of the national bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. (Adams Media 2010)

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How to Build a One-Person Franchise Business

by Melinda Emerson on November 29, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Grow Your Business, How to Start, Uncategorized

The topic of equity isn’t exactly what I’d call, “top of mind,” with most of the prospective franchise owners that I work with as an advisor. Most of their energy is focused on things like potential locations for the franchises that they’re considering, or other minor details; like how much they’re going to make as franchisees. Equity? Who needs it?

Well, if you’re looking at becoming a franchise owner, I think that you need it. I’m convinced that you’re going to want something to show for all of your hard work as a small business owner, not to mention the up-front investment you made to get your business up and running. And you’ll actually have about 10 years to figure out how to come out a winner.

That’s because in the franchise world, most franchise agreements, (contracts) are 10 years in length. In most cases, you’ll have an opportunity to renew your agreement, so you can stay in business. Or, you can sell it. (You can usually sell your franchise business before the 10 year contract period is up. Make sure you know going in what your options are.)

This is Easy to Visualize

If you end up investing in a franchise that requires you to have a physical location, like a fitness franchise for example, in 10 year’s time you’ll probably have multiple locations. (That should be your goal.) So, if you kick back for a moment, put your feet up, and close your eyes, you should be able to easily visualize the 2 or 3 stores that you own. Are you with me so far?

Now let’s say that you’re getting towards the end of your franchise contract. Let’s also say that you’re approaching 60 years old, and are starting to think about other things…..like a beachfront condo somewhere, for example. Maybe you’re thinking about travelling. You’re actually having lots of interesting thoughts these days….and they all seem to have a common thread; they don’t involve you working!

Sell! Sell!

That’s all you have to do as a retiring franchise owner. Just sell your franchise business. I didn’t say that it would be easy…but, it can be done.

My friend Carol Roth shared 6 things that you’ll need to do to get your business ready to sell over at another friend of mine’s highly rated small business blog. It’s all about the preparation, and it needs to start when you first purchase your franchise. That means that you need to start thinking about your exit strategy the moment after you sign your franchise agreement, and send in your check for the franchise fee. Most franchise owners don’t do this. Go ahead; be the change.

If you go into your new venture with an “investor’s” mindset, meaning that you want to have a real return on your investment, and are able to keep that mentality front and center during the term of your agreement, you could be rewarded handsomely.

For One-Person Franchises

If you’re the owner of a franchise business that is home-based, or office based, you’ll have to do things differently though, to prepare it for sale. As John Warrillow, the author of “Built to Sell,” writes;

“The number one mistake entrepreneurs make is to build a business that relies too heavily on them.”

Now, let’s substitute “franchisee” for entrepreneur, so that I can show you what you’ll need to do if you’re a one-man or one-woman show, and you’d like to have an opportunity to create equity.

The only way that you’ll be able to sell your one-person business is to take someone on as an employee, and teach them how to be The Owner.

Let’s use a coaching-type of franchise business as an example, since they’re very popular, and have the added bonus of becoming the next bubble that’s going to burst.

(The reason that business coaching franchises are going to bubble over soon, is that there are so many of them around that will be approaching the end of their franchise contracts soon, and most of these franchisees don’t have an exit strategy.)

The Model

For around $80,000, you can become the owner of a business coaching franchise. Your role as the franchisee is to call on small businesses in your geographical area that may be interested in your consulting services. Some of the services that you offer may include business planning, sales and marketing program implementation, inventory management…basically anything related to the operation of a small business.

If you can convince enough of the people that you’re calling on to sign on for your services, you can do pretty well. But, since most of your clients engage with you on a short-term basis, you must continue to keep your sales funnel full. That means that when you’re not doing your paid consulting gigs, you’re either calling on potential new clients, or attending business networking events in order to keep your name front and center with fellow small business professionals.

You’re the business. For the most part, your clients aren’t buying your franchise’s brand. They’re buying you; you’re unique personality…your skills. They’re also buying what others are saying about you, and how well you perform. That’s a problem.

Fixing The Problem

In order to make your one-person franchise business one that can be sold someday, you’ll have to start to slowly remove yourself from the picture. That means that you’re going to have to start hiring others that can do what you do. One great thing about the franchise model is that it’s so system-oriented; it’s fairly easy to train new employees.

You can add new employees at any pace you want; just have enough of them to have the ability to start making some choices. The choices that you’ll be making have to do with finding a buyer. That’s right; as soon you start bringing employees on, try to figure out which one could potentially buy you out at some future date.

Still using the example of a coaching franchise, if you do this right, you could have 3 coaches under you who are all building a client base, which includes a revenue stream…one that doesn’t only involve what you bring in.

A business with money coming in from several different sources is a heck of lot easier to sell.

If you do this right, which includes proper planning that starts the minute you officially become a franchisee, you’ll have a real shot at building equity in your franchise business that can come in the form of an official bank check that you can use for that beachfront condo.

About the author:

The Franchise King®, Joel Libava, is provides franchise advisory services to those interested in exploring franchise ownership. He’s frequently called on by the media for his no-spin
insights on the world of franchising, and he wrote a book that puts would-be franchise owners into the driver’s seat called, Become a Franchise Owner!

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12 Things To Do Before 2012

by Melinda Emerson on November 28, 2011 in Business Inspiration, Grow Your Business, My Recommendations

Today, kicks off the last three work weeks of the year. In addition to landing those key contracts and commitments and getting those holiday cards in the mail, it’s time to get your house in order in your small business. You want to be organized and ready to do business heading to the new year. As small business owners, we do not get lots of time off. It is important for us to prioritize tasks to manage all that we juggle on a daily basis.

In order to get things started off right in the New Year; I need to add a few more things to your to do list. Here are 12 Things To Do Before 2012:

1. Update Your Bio and Resume. As you head into the new year, take the time to reflect on your accomplishments this year. Have you won any awards? Got some media attention? Landed any new Fortune 500 clients? Launched any new lines of business? Any and all of these accomplishments should be reflected in your bio, resume and your social media profiles, especially on LinkedIn.

2. Create 2012 Folders. Create new files in your computer for all of the key files that you use on a regular basis ex: contracts 2012, coaching clients 2012, blog content 2012 etc. This is also a great time to start using dropbox.com to back up all of the files that you use in your business. Start using the cloud, so that you can share files and protect your business operations.

3. Update Your Pricing. If you haven’t raised your prices in over two years due to the recession, it’s time to revisit all of your costs and make sure that your are pricing to make a profit. You do not run a charity, and I know you do not want to be a glorified hobby, so make sure there is enough profit in every sale.

4. Update Your Website. In the new year make sure your website or blog has a new look. Even adding a new header graphic can make a big difference. Create new ways to engage your target customers. Add a new giveaway, checklist or coupon offer to your website. Make sure that you at least update the copyright signature to 2012.

5. Export Your Contacts. Make sure you have all of your contacts are backed-up. Export your contacts into spreadsheet from LinkedIn, Facebook and your CRM system.

6. Clean Out Your Inbox. Start 2012 fresh with no old emails. If you haven’t read it by now, it is simply not that important. And if you subscribed to anything you haven’t been reading take this opportunity to unsubscribe.

7. Get a New Professional Headshot. If you have changed your appearance in any way, you need a new head shot. Be sure to get it professionally done, the photo from your cellphone is not appropriate. Be sure to smile and look friendly. Ladies, be sure to get your makeup professionally done.

8. Collect Updated IRS Forms. Make sure you get up-to-date W-9 forms and/or W-4 on all freelance and full-time employees. The IRS requires that W-2 and 1099 forms be mailed by Jan 31, 2011 to all workers paid over $600 this calendar year.

9. Develop a 2012 Target Customer List. You should have a list target clients I want to have. Monthly, I check my list against my sales activities. Challenge yourself by putting some big fish on the list. It’s a great way to keep your sales processes going.

10. Update Your Personal Theme Song. For years I have used Golden by Jill Scott and I have decided to make a change in 2012, I’m now using For the Love of Money by the O’Jays. Be sure to pick a theme song that makes you feel good whenever you hear it. Have it handy so you can rock your theme music whenever you need to remind yourself why you started your business.

11. Develop Signature Content. If you are going to be using content to build a social media brand in 2012, you need to spend time to develop great multimedia content. It’s the best way to firmly establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Remember, that people learn from reading, watching and listening to helpful information. I created the Emerson Planning System and the Triple ROI of social media. What will your signature content be?

12. Determine How You Will Keep In Contact With Your List. The most valuable thing in your business is your potential and existing customer lists. You should plan how and when you will communicate with your target customers. Options include email, video posts, direct mail, phone calls, special offers/ coupons.

Do you have any more tips for tasks before 2012 for small business owners?

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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Creating a Business You Can Sell – Q&A with John Warrillow

by Melinda Emerson on November 23, 2011 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 John Warrillow @JohnWarrillow. John is the author of Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You. Built to Sell was voted one of Inc. magazine’s “Best Books for Business Owners” in 2010. The book encourages business owners to build their business to sell from the start. For Thanksgiving, I’m pleased to bring you this Q&A with my colleague John, who wrote one of the best business books I’ve read in a long time. http://www.builttosell.com/

Smallbizlady: How far in advance should a business owner start to prepare his or her business to be sold?

John Warrillow: I think business owners should build their business to sell from day one. That way, they’ll have all of their options open: run the business forever without the stress of dealing with the details, install a manager and become a shareholder, or—if the price is right—sell it.

Smallbizlady: What is the most difficult part of creating a sellable company?

John Warrillow: Pulling the owner out of the center of the business. To be sellable, the company has to be able to run without the owner.

Smallbizlady: What’s the trick to pulling yourself out of the day-to-day?

John Warrillow: As ironic as it may sound, I think the secret is selling fewer things to more people. You need diversity among your customer base so your business is not overly reliant on one customer, and you need other people to do the work, which means narrowing your product and service list to a point where others can be trained to deliver.

Smallbizlady: Won’t selling fewer things reduce the size of a business and therefore its value?

John Warrillow: Not necessarily. Once you have a narrow list of products and services that don’t change from one week to the next, you can hire a sales team—or empower the one you already have—to replace you as the rainmaker. Salespeople thrive on repetition, so they struggle when business owners keep changing the product or service or agreeing to customize a solution for an individual customer. There’s an example in the book of an ad agency owner who sells everything from websites to radio ads, and he is struggling to clear $100,000 on $1,000,000 in revenue. He narrows his offering to just logos and scales up to a $5,000,000 business with more than $1,000,000 in profit. He was able to grow because he was no longer doing all the selling.

Smallbizlady: What’s the secret to getting the highest price for your business?

John Warrillow: Recurring revenue. When acquirers look into buying a business, they need to know how the company will continue to generate sales and profits after the business owner has sold the company. The best way to guarantee future revenue is through long-term contracts that include a change of ownership provision. The second best way is a recurring revenue model—like a subscription—where customers buy regularly and owners can demonstrate an annuity stream to an acquirer based on their renewal rate. There’s a list of the top six forms of recurring revenue ranked from least to most attractive in the eyes of an acquirer in the back of my book Built To Sell.

Smallbizlady: What’s the biggest mistake you see business owners make when it comes to their exit?

John Warrillow: Waiting too long. Most business owners add a lot of value in the first five years of running their company, when energy, drive, creativity and gumption are all valued at a premium. Once the business is up and running, the owner often gets bored, and the business stalls. Selling a business can give you the ultimate currency: time. Ironically, business owners often use up too much of it running a business beyond the point at which they are enjoying it.

Smallbizlady: What’s the biggest advantage to business owners make the decision that they want to sell their business?

John Warrillow: A business owner who has a company that is “built to sell” has the best range of options available: run the business without the stress of dealing with the details, install a manager and become a shareholder, or—if the price is right—sell it.

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 MFE Consulting LLC, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine recently named her one of the Top 20 women for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also the author of the national bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. (Adams Media 2010)

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5 Things Wrong With Your Business Plan

by Melinda Emerson on November 7, 2011 in Before You Start, Branding & Marketing, Cash Flow & Finance

If you’ve taken the time to develop a business plan for your start-up business, you are on the right track. You have a roadmap that will help you with decision-making in your new enterprise. Take the time to be sure your business plan doesn’t contain any of the following shortcomings that will prevent your business from being effective. If you need help, check put my three part series on how to write a business plan for even more advice.

You haven’t researched your market. Many business owners don’t have enough information about who is buying their products and why. You need to find out who your ideal customers are, what their income is, what their buying habits are, and how they make purchasing decisions, for a start. You can do this by conducting surveys or polls online, interviewing people you consider potential customers, and searching for existing data on your demographic. Organizing the results will give you a clear picture of your customers’ perspective. This is an advantage when you develop messaging and begin to “talk” to them. All public relations and customer communications should center around customer pain points.

You haven’t researched your competitors. Know who your competitors are and stay up to date on their activities not only helps you make strategy decisions, it is a learning experience as well. You should know who has the best quality product or service at what price and who has the least, what customers are saying about the company, any financials made publicly available, and what kind of marketing or advertising they do. As you follow your competitors’ movements, you will be able to observe the rewards and consequences of their decisions on many levels, and adjust your own strategy to expand, advance, or target your market in new ways.

You haven’t planned for growth. A business plan is an action plan. It’s hard to motivate yourself, your employees, and your investors with research and projections. Be sure your plan outlines an actual plan for at least one future scenario. I say at least one because you should make plans for factors beyond your control that may derail your first plan.

You don’t know your numbers. Running a business is all numbers. Sales projections, production yields, profit estimates and more can swallow the heart of a business plan: the viability of your business model. Don’t get so focused on month-to-month numbers that you lose sight of whether your business idea, operations, and strategic decisions will allow those numbers to be actualized.

Your business plan is not up-to-date. If your plan is outdated, you will not be able to use it to run your business. Most business plans are created before launch. When your new business meets the real world, however, you often need to make adjustments that aren’t incorporated or reflected in your written plans. If you haven’t looked at your business plan in a while, ask yourself why. Is it because you’ve made so many changes to daily operations, or your numbers don’t correlate with what’s on paper at all? Take the time to sit down and go over your business plan once again and decide whether you need to make changes or make a new one that will better reflect your business’s current direction.

Do you have any other common business plans mistakes for small business owner?

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 Generate Revenue for Your Small Business

by Melinda Emerson on November 1, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Cash Flow & Finance, Grow Your Business

Most people know they shouldn’t attempt to take on a mortgage without having some way to pay for it. Yet small business owners do something quite similar every day. How do they do this? Some small business owners focus on running the business before focusing on generating the leads that fund the business. Sure, every business needs money to stay open, but without building a strategy to funnel the revenue into the business, the foundation is shaky at best.

Just like some new homeowners take on more mortgage than they can afford, eventually it catches up to them. They are then forced to find more money or a smaller home. After a few years, the initial rush of the business wears off leaving a gaping hole where lead generation would have been. Small business owners may have quick sales in the beginning but without a long-term lead generation plan, they will go bankrupt. The cash flow a business needs requires a sales funnel. So how do you create that funnel? Below are a few tips to make lead generation a priority in your business without taking away from your other activities.

Create a list: Encourage people to opt in to your newsletter/free report or to a webinar/telesemiar. Developing a list of people who have opted in to your communications is quite possibly one of the best lead generation tactics you can implement. No, you shouldn’t buy lists or dump your contacts into your email newsletter program. People need to sign up by themselves. So incite them to do so. Host a free webinar or offer a free special report. Just offer them something. Taking action is better than perfecting the freebie.
Devote a set amount of time each week to lead generation. Customer needs change. Industries change. Consumer expectations change. Client budgets for your products and services may dwindle. So you need an ongoing plan for lead generation. Set aside time each week purely for lead generation activities. This could be list building activities social media marketing, warm calling, in-person networking, and many other activities. It’s easy to get caught up in your current client work, setting time aside for lead generation helps you bridge the gap between hunting for new business while producing the work you already have.
Build leads offline. Network, network, network. Have I mentioned networking? It’s a great way to build leads. Attend luncheons and business breakfasts to meet new people and expand your circle. Since your network of contacts will be in a constant state of flux, it’s important to keep adding to it. Some people will filter out, so replenishing is critical. Remember to tie your offline activities to your online activities, meaning connect to them on LinkedIn. Mention your e-report or other freebie on your business card. Direct people to a squeeze page on your website where they can sign up for your webinar.
Accepts “nos.” Getting a “no” is better than being stuck with a “maybe.” With a “no” you can move on to the next lead. Getting stuck with false hope maybes will, “bankrupt your business.” Building in registration deadlines for webinars and teleseminars encourages action. Promoting your reports and newsletters with some mystery encourages people to sign up to find out the punch-line. Demonstrating scarcity, a limited number of copies of a book to hand out, for example, encourages people to take action now. These tactics also weed out anyone who simply isn’t interested.
Make lead generation a priority. It’s easy to stop spending time each week on sales activities. But remember, quick cash creates a false sense of security. Quick cash burns out fast too (if you don’t first!). Build your business the right way even if it means saying no to work that doesn’t fit your business model. There are no shortcuts to success.

Lead generation is one of the most important things you can do to build and sustain your business. Focusing on working in your business instead of on your business will keep you from achieving the profit and longevity you seek. Focusing create quality content that will attract your target customer. Building quality leads into your sales funnel is what will make your business stand out and help you avoid sleepless nights.

Do you have any more ideas to share about lead generation and building a sales funnel?

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

By day Morgan Leu Parkhurst helps individuals put the pieces of their marketing puzzles together. By night she teaches
marketing communications to aspiring entrepreneurs. Reach her atwww.sharpmindmarketing.com or on Twitter at @Morgan_LP.

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Are You Ready To Finish the Year With a Bang?

by Melinda Emerson on October 31, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Business Inspiration, Grow Your Business, How to Start

This past weekend I conducted my last BYOB2011 Workshop in my national tour. I held the last one in Philadelphia, my hometown. The focus of the tour was on three things; How to Become Your Own Boss, How to Develop a Killer Marketing Plan and How to build a Social Media Brand. For the last year I have travelling the country teaching small business owners and would-be entrepreneurs the Emerson Planning System, How to align their marketing and sales activities and how to leverage social media to grow their businesses. I thought it would be helpful to highlight what I have been teaching. Here are 7 tips to finish the 2011 with a bang, and go into 2012 with a plan for success.

It’s Time to Update Your life plan. The cornerstone of the Emerson Planning System is to develop a life plan and a vision board. Your business goals and your personal goals must align or you could lose your business and your family. Once you have a life plan create a vision board. You can use the board as personal motivation to remind you why your work so hard. My life plan is taped on the wall near my computer monitor so that I have a daily reminder of my big picture goals.

BYOB also stands for Be Your Own Bank. Your ability to save has everything to do with your ability to start a business. The nature of business has changed and you will need to fund your own enterprise. The most you can borrow is a microloan for $25K, most people can life off that and launch a business, so the money needs to come from somewhere. I suggest you look in the right or left pocket.

90 percent of Success is Self-confidence. If you don’t believe in your business no one else will. Fake it until you make it! Look yourself in the mirror (like I do sometimes), and say Girl, you are doing IT!!! Most business problems are not so well hidden personal problems. Learn to compartmentalize your drama and stress and get your work done. You must stay focused.

Be an Agent of Convenience. Small businesses who are still getting big business in this economy are making it easy for their customers to say yes. They solve problems before the customers can say ouch. They understand industry trends. They use metrics heavily. They know the value they bring to the table. They can accept all forms of currency. They brainstorm with their clients for free because they care. What kind of agent are you?

Plan Sales in 30 day Increments. Your biggest concern should be how much money you need to make in the next 30 days. Once you breakdown your sales goals by month, you can easily breakdown how much you need to generate each week. Doing this, will help you get more aggressive about your sales process. You can also plan your marketing activities around lead generation.

Done is Good Enough. Your small business brand will evolve over time. Don’t be one of these people who have not released your new website or newsletter because you are still messing with your logo or layout. No one cares about your logo but you, and you can always revise it later. Just get it out there. Get feedback, and adjust your branded as needed. You are supposed to cringe at the original art work years later.

Harness The Power of Social Media. As a walking social media brand, trust me when I say that social media is the best thing that has happened to small business owners. You must Listen + Engage + Add Value + Promote Others in order to be an Influencer in social media. You must build trust and credibility in order for social media to really work for you. Use social media to speak directly to your target customer.

I am looking forward to teaching more entrepreneurs next year with the BYOB2012 National Tour. The schedule of cities I’ll be coming too in 2012 will be released in December. Stay Tuned. Special Thanks for Corpnet.com and ConstantContact.com for sponsoring this year’s tour.

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 Use Twitter Without Losing Your Mind

by Melinda Emerson on September 27, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Social Media

Guest Post by Tai Goodwin

I love Twitter.

Depending on which group I am speaking to, I can’t always say that too loudly. There are some crowds that get it. There are other rooms, many of them filled with small business owners and solopreneurs who don’t get it – yet.

LinkedIn makes sense. Facebook is starting to make more sense. Twitter still feels like a whole other universe to most people -it’s even got its own language (retweet s, tweetups, hashtags, etc…) right? But here’s the truth: Twitter, when used correctly, can be one of the most valuable resources for small business owners looking to expand their network, research their niche and competition, position themselves as a leader in their niche, and grow their influence.

Using Twitter to Expand Your Network

Most small business owners have a system to connect with their customers. And in most cases you know how to reach out to your current vendors. But Twitter can help you find and connect to new strategic partners you may not have known about because they were too new or too far geographically to be on your radar. Go for quality and not just quantity when it comes to who you follow – and who you follow back. Twitter makes key influencers and connectors accessible and opens the door to connections for those willing to reach out and offer value and not just brag and sell. Remember, who you know (or follow) on Twitter influences what you know and what opportunities come down the stream – literally.

Twitter is Great for Research

Talk about information overload – as of March, 2011 over 140 million tweets are sent every day. On the bright side, there are a number of search and filtering tools that allow small business owners to sift through those tweets to find articles, tips, tools, coupon codes, offers, incentives, news, and answers. There’s even a tool that will let you send a poll question through twitter and then track and report the results. The key to using Twitter for research effectively relies on two things: knowing what information you are looking for and knowing what tools to use.

Want to Know How to Get “Expert” Status?

These days, with so much information available from everyone and everywhere it seems, it is hard to define an expert as someone who knows everything. In my book – the expert is the one who knows how to find the answers and resources needed and then is wise enough to put that information where others can get to it. Twitter can help you do that. Statistics have shown that just 20% of Twitter users create 80% of the content. If that’s so – creating and sharing more content than your competitors can help you be part of that 20%. And by content, I’m not just talking about tweeting your offers and services three times a day. I’m talking about creating and sharing real valuable content for your followers and prospective clients that answers their questions. The more information you find and share (to the right audience), the more knowledgeable and valuable you appear.

Get your “SWAY” On

According to Merriam – Webster’s online dictionary, influence is “the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways: SWAY.” It’s one thing to nudge people into coming to your site because you are giving them something. It’s a completely different level when you’ve got a crowd of fans that are nudging people for you. Many small business owners understand the value of word of mouth referrals; in fact their business depends on it. Think of Twitter as online word of mouth: one retweet from the right follower or connection can put your brand or business in front of thousands. And what’s better than having someone who’s already got the relationship and credibility spread the word about what you have to offer? Without you having to pay for an endorsement?

Keep Your Sanity and Keep Using (or get started with) Twitter

So how are savvy business owners leveraging Twitter to grow their business? Here are a few practical ideas that will make your time on Twitter more profitable (or at the very least less frustrating).

Follow the right people including prospects, clients, vendors and influencers in your industry.
Create and share relevant content that your audience wants and needs to know.
Use the right tools to filter, automate, track, and manage conversations
Commit to a tactic for at least a month before saying it doesn’t work (decisions should be made on data not failure to provide immediate gratification)
Vary your content with retweets, recommendations, referrals, quotes, images (avoid spamming followers with ads and offers)
Start conversations and respond to people’s questions – don’t be a social media wall flower
Learn how to participate in TweetChats (like #smallbizchat) and use #hashtags related to your niche and target audience
Take the conversation off line when you meet VIP’s (very interested prospects)
And always, always, always start with a plan.

Tai Goodwin (www.TaiGoodwin.com) is a social media strategist and editor in chief of Launch While Working.com, an online resource center specifically for the growing population of professionals who are launching a business while working full-time or part-time jobs. She is also co-host of #SmallBizChat.

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How to Get Corporate Sponsorship for Your Small Business

by Melinda Emerson on September 22, 2011 in Cash Flow & Finance, Q & A Interviews, SmallBizChat, Telesummit

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 @anisharkeeys. Anisha Robinson Keeys is the Principal Officer of Best Practice Fundraising. With 14 years of nonprofit fundraising and marketing experience,she has raised over $52 million dollars in the areas of youth and women’s empowerment, disaster relief, arts, and health care. Learn more about Anisha at bestpracticefundraising.org.

Small Biz Lady: What does it mean for an organization, brand or person to get sponsored?

Anisha Robinson Keeys: Sponsorship is a mutual business proposition that offers something in exchange for a financial commitment from a corporation. Corporations get a return on their financial “investment,” enhance their profile, associate their brand with a cause or attract customers who support that cause. Sponsorship typically involves a contractual relationship between the non profit and the corporate sponsor

Small Biz Lady: How do you even get started pursuing sponsorship?

Anisha Robinson Keeys: Getting funding from corporations may be a great opportunity for your organization to increase your budget but– you should never haphazardly create a corporate sponsorship program for the sake of filling a budget deficit Before pursuing support from corporations, you first need to know your organizations goals, and then ask and answer these questions:

What is your organization trying to achieve?
Can you effectively tell your organizations story?
What value could your organization provide to a prospective corporate sponsor?
What impact could a corporation make by partnering with your organization?

Continue Reading →

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Simplify Your Social Media Strategy

by Melinda Emerson on September 20, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Guest Articles, Social Media

As a small business owner, it’s important to keep essential aspects of your operation in-house whenever possible, logical, and cost effective. Social media outreach is one element more and more small business owners feel comfortable handling themselves.

But whether you’re taking on the responsibilities yourself or delegating them to other members of your team, it’s important to keep your strategy simple and straight forward.

But be warned, simple doesn’t mean easy. Irregular, haphazard, or lazy social media efforts will not be rewarded. Don’t waste your own time. Take your strategy seriously, and be consistent.

Below are a few basic guidelines to help you carve out a simple and effective social media presence. Keep your strategy limited to just a few key points, so that you can maintain focus.

Tell Your Story

Telling a compelling origin story or branding story to help ground and personify your business. Letting your customers know where you’re coming from and where you’re moving to (through narrative) will make your company more approachable, more trustworthy.

Engage with Content not Product

Content creation is the easiest way to keep your Fans interest. Here are a few rules of thumb:

Quality over Quantity (no more than one Facebook post every three to four hours, use Twitter and other avenues for more rapid fire engagement)
Less sales speak, more content marketing (offer useful information to your readers and they will come back for more; you’re sharing and teaching first, selling second)
Less self-promotion, more engagement (limit half of your Facebook activity to promoting your own content and products, and focus the rest of your time and energy on facilitating discussions and responding to other people’s posts)

Be Deliberate

Whether you’re selling or engaging, your calls to action need to be purposeful. Think about this when designing your Facebook page and planning your outreach strategy.

Organize your goals: first and foremost you want to grow your Fan-base, secondly you want keep them engaged and interested with relevant content, coupons, and contests, and finally, you want to eventually make a sale.

To do all this your Facebook page needs to be simply designed (less clutter, so your brand shines through), the calls to action (Like this, read this, share this, etc) need to be apparent and easy to follow, and your content needs be consistent and compelling.

This guest post is by Brooks Hays, content creator and Customer Bliss Officer at Hy.ly. It’s a social media software company that offers its clients do-it-yourself Tab Building tools, so they can customize their own Facebook pages, get prospect, leads, and customers, all without outsourced assistance.

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How to Leverage Conference Networking

by Melinda Emerson on September 15, 2011 in 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 Mike “Ambassador” Bruny @ambassadorbruny. Mike works with entrepreneurs and those who think like one to help them build stronger relationships. He is the creator of “The New Art of Conference Networking: #Hashtags to Handshakes.” For more information http://www.ambassadorbruny.com

Smallbizlady: I notice you use a hyphen when you talk about Net-working. What is that all about?

Mike “Ambassador” Bruny: Net-working is a new way of looking at traditional networking. I ask people to think about networking as if all the people they know represents a physical “net,” just like a fishing net. They have to put it to “work” if they expect to achieve your goals. Knowing a lot of people is not enough. You have to actually put those relationships to work.

Another aspect of Net-working is understanding that you are part of someone else’s net and have to be ready and willing to be put to work. Conference networking is a sub-set of networking. In conference networking, you may find yourself surrounded by more people, for more days than you would with other networking opportunities. There may be a couple of differences between local networking events and conferences. In your local events you may feel like Norm from the TV show Cheers. You walk in and everyone knows you name. When you’re at a conference you may find yourself around more and more strangers. That can be minimized with a little bit of research and engagement before the conference begins.
Smallbizlady: When it comes to Conference Networking, where do you suggest we start?

Mike “Ambassador” Bruny: Start with focus. List your current goals and how the conference you will attend will help to move those forward. Look at what you want to accomplish by using the traditional SMART goal setting format and add an additional “S” at the end for “Sharing.” You want to share your goal with at least one person who will help to keep you accountable.

Next, consider who at this conference can help you accomplish your goals. You may not know the exact names of the people, but you can focus on the kind of people who you think would be able to help you (their title, occupation, etc.). For example, if you are looking to start a bakery, you may be looking to connect with bakery suppliers to give you a sense of what pricing is like or you may be looking for administrators from culinary institutions to provide access to future employees.

Lastly you want to consider what you need to learn to bring you closer to your goals. When you know what you want to learn, it makes selecting which workshops to attend much easier. Being in the right workshop also connects you to the right participants and the right experts (speakers).

Smallbizlady: How does technology and social media come into play in conference networking?

Mike “Ambassador” Bruny: Technology and social media can help you connect with fellow participants, speakers and the organizers before the conference begins. Once at the conference there are apps you can use to exchange information without using a business card. I’ve been going “Green” by using this cool app called, #Hashable, which allows you to send a virtual business card to someone you meet and also set-up a reminder to follow-up after the conference.

Continue Reading →

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How to Become a Successful Sales Person in this New Economic Environment

by Melinda Emerson on September 8, 2011 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 Brynne Tillman @BusDevU. Brynne is the President and COO of Business Development University and President of Linked User Group on LinkedIn. She has over 20 years in business development and sales training. She has created and taught lead generation and client acquisition programs for many companies, including Dun and Bradstreet, Progress Leasing, Kinko’s and Vantage Point Bank. Her primary focus is coaching sales teams, and working with non-selling professionals who are responsible for client acquisition. Her favorite thing is developing sales and networking plans, linkedin strategies, implementation and measuring the sales process. For more information http://www.businessdevelopmentuniversity.com/

SMALLBIZLADY: How can a sales person really become a successful in today’s environment?

BRYNNE TILLMAN: Obviously that is a broad question with many answers, but there are a few things that you can do that can make an immediate impact on your performance as a sales person. First, evaluate where your primary business has come from in the past, what activities have you done that has borne fruit and focus on doing more of that. Sounds simple, but so many sale professionals spend too much time doing activity that brings them little business. Next, be prepared, do your due diligence on everyone you meet with. Use LinkedIn to learn about their schools, previous jobs, shared groups or connections with you and so on. Building rapport is a big piece in getting the business. If the prospect’s choice on who wins the deal is apples to apples, it comes down to whom they like more. And the next and most important piece in my mind is – leverage your warm market. Cold calling just doesn’t work, no matter how many calls you make. One way is networking with Strategic Alliances, folks that work with your prospect in a non competitive nature. You can help them and they can help you with warm introductions into your respective warm markets. And the last piece I want to mention today is do a really good job at understanding your prospects wants and needs. Don’t present prematurely, get a clear picture on their reason they want to work with you and when you do offer a solution – be sure to align your message with what they told you.

SMALLBIZLADY: How do sales people overcome the “budget” objection?

BRYNNE TILLMAN: By far, in this environment, this is the objection our clients seem to be hearing the most. Believe it or not, overcoming this objection has to come pretty early in the game. When we are uncovering our client’s needs, it is critical that we understand the financial impact of the problem we are looking to solve. Even if there are no clear metrics around the problem, build it out with them. For example if you are a website designer, talk about how much more traffic the new site would bring to their business and ask them – “If we could triple the number of qualified visitors to your website, and collect their contact information for follow up, how many of those new contacts could turn into clients?” Then ask, “Approximately what is your average client worth?” Get a number on the breakeven of your solution and the amount they will bring in because they worked with you. Now, when presenting your price, present it in context with their gain. Present it as an investment not an expense. If done right, there is no reason for them not to move forward.

Continue Reading →

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How to Interview For Your First Employee

by Melinda Emerson on September 7, 2011 in Before You Start, Grow Your Business

Choosing the right person to do the job can be a challenge. It all comes down to your interview process. Once you have reviewed the resumes, its’ time to get in touch with your prospects. You should interview at least 5 people for every available position. A great candidate will have a strong match between their skill set and your position requirements. For example, if you are looking for a salesperson and your candidate does not have an engaging personality, they may not be the best candidate for that position.

The interview is one of the most important stages in hiring your first employee. As this is the first time that you’re having an interactive conversation with a potential worker there are a few tactics that may be helpful to you in the process. There are five things to keep in mind when conducting an interview:

Be a good listener
Know how to redirect a conversation to the areas you consider important
Take notes during the interview
Go with your gut instinct (if something doesn’t feel right, it’s not right)
The candidate is also interviewing you, so be ready to answer questions too.

Interviewing potential employees is a 7-step process:

The Selection Process

Phase 1: The Google Test: You should put every candidate’s name and city in a search engine to see what your candidates do online on their own time to determine if you even want to have them working for you. Judgment and discretion is important.

Phase 2. The Phone Screen: Before inviting a potential candidate to your office schedule a 30 minute phone interview. You want to see if the interviewee is worth face time. You also want to see if have chemistry with the prospect and to make sure that what you are reading on paper matches up with who you are speaking with on the phone. .

Phase 3. The Face-to-Face Interview: If the candidate passes the google test and phone screen, it’s time to meet in person. This is your chance to evaluate the prospect’s appearance, communication style and preparedness. You want them to arrive with questions for you too. It’s also your opportunity to discuss the qualifications for the job in-depth.

Phase 4. The Reference Check: This is a step many busy entrepreneurs miss, but you need to know what the person was like at their old job. Ask the relationship of the reference to the candidate. You need to make sure the best friend or brother isn’t the reference.

Phase 5. The Follow-Up: No matter how confident you are in a candidate, don’t make the job offer without conducting a follow-up. You should run a background check, credit check and if necessary a drug screening. You might not want to hire a delivery driver with a drug problem or a secretary with an un disclosed criminal record. Be safe and do not invite trouble in the door.

Phase 6. The Job Offer: Now that you’re ready to bring in your first employee you want to make a verbal offer by phone and then make the offer in writing. Be sure to outline the compensation plan and when they will become eligible for any benefits. I recommend not making employees eligible for benefits until after 90 days of employment. Once the candidate signs the offer letter, it’s official you have your first employee.

Phase 7. The Onboarding Process: Your must create an official orientation process for your new employee. No one can teach your business better than you. It’s your responsibility to get your first employee up to speed. Develop a new employee handbook and a daily check list of action items for your new worker. Be sure to delegate things you need to get off your plate too.

Do you have a process that you use to hire new employees?

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 MFE Consulting LLC, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine recently named her the #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 www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also the author of the national bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. (Adams Media 2010)

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The New SEO for Small Business Owners – QA with Chris Bennett

by Melinda Emerson on September 1, 2011 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 Chris Bennett @chrisebennett, the CEO of Central .ly. Chris and his Co-Founders created website builder http://www.Central.ly so small business owners all over the world can build their own websites that integrate with the social and business tools they are using. Chris is a Wharton graduate, a decendant from a small business owning family and is passionate about helping small business owners manage their presence online to improve business.

SmallBizLady: What is the biggest problem small business owners face when it comes to websites?

Chris Bennett: Small business owners typically are passionate about their business and love running them. With that said, they do not have strong design or technical backgrounds so creating websites is tricky for them .

You can sum their problems up with four things. Small business websites do not have the correct information for the consumer, they do not leverage social integration, they are not mobile ready, and their sites are not visually unappealing. If you are looking for a small business and you are out and about on your smart phone, if you cannot access the company’s website than you are less likely to do business with them. If you can’t find their address, you are less likely to visit. If their website is poorly designed then you are less likely to patronize because their message is that they do not care about their image, so they likely do not care about their product or service.

Also the lack of education, people do bad things because they don’t know any better.
SmallBizLady: What should a small business owner have on their website?

Chris Bennett: You need to clearly state what your business does: What service or product do you provide. If you provide a service, share your portfolio, if you provide a product, give screenshots and descriptions of the product. If you are local business, it’s imperative that you have your address and your phone number readily available. For a restaurant, a menu with store hours is very important.

Looking professional is important so you definitely want to start by having a custom domain name. The same goes for email. It looks unprofessional when your business email is name@gmail.com, what you want is name@yourbusiness.com. Continue Reading →

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