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How to Be Successful in Business #SmallBizChat QA

by Melinda Emerson, #SmallBizChat on February 2, 2012 in Grow Your Business, How to Start, SmallBizChat, Uncategorized

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 retail and fashion pioneer Liz Lange @lizlange. In 1997, out of a one-room office, she created Liz Lange Maternity, changing forever the face of maternity fashions. A decade later in 2007, after dressing every major pregnant celebrity, forging licensing deals with Nike and Target (today, Liz Lange for Target is the exclusive maternity department at all Target locations), and opening three flagship Liz Lange boutiques, Lange sold her business though she continues on as the face of that brand. In 2010, her first ever non-maternity clothing collection, Completely Me by Liz Lange, debuted exclusively on HSN. She is the co-founder of the popular woman’s shopping site, Shopafrolic.com.

Smallbizlady: How and when did you have the ‘Ah ha’ moment that led you to launch your first business?

Liz Lange: My Ah ha moment came back in 1997. I was newly married and although I hadn’t yet had my children – pregnancy was definitely on my mind (today my son is 13 and my daughter is 11). After having worked at Vogue, I had left to apprentice for a struggling fashion designer. My friends starting getting pregnant and they would come to our offices to buy clothing. I would say to them, why come here, you should shop at maternity clothing stores but they all said that they could find nothing at traditional maternity clothing stores. Instead, I noticed that they were buying “regular” clothing in big sizes and altering it to make it work. And in our offices they were squeezing themselves into anything that had a bit of stretch in it.

This led to my double Ah ha moment: one) pregnant woman looked better, sexier, more stylish and ironically smaller when squeezed into something stretchy and fitted instead of the tent-like maternity dresses that were typical at that time and two) pregnant women were spending and shopping (they needed to – after all nothing in their closet fit them anymore) but they didn’t like the maternity clothing being offered. I didn’t consider myself a fashion designer so I went to the designer I was apprenticing for and told him that he needed to do a maternity line and that it would turn his business around. But he hated the idea. I found that I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind. I finally realized that if I didn’t create the maternity clothing that I was envisioning and someone else did that I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. And so I launched Liz Lange Maternity.

Smallbizlady: How did you land your very first big customer?

Liz Lange: My first customers were my pregnant friends. But dressing celebrities really put me on the map. Whenever I heard a celebrity was pregnant I would reach out to them through their assistant, publicist, manager. My first big customers were Cindy Crawford, Terri Hatcher and Bobbie Brown.

Smallbizlady: What kind of money did you need and how did you get it to start your business ventures?

Liz Lange: I started very small. At the beginning I did everything made to order so that I didn’t have to invest in inventory that I may or may not have been able to sell. I borrowed about $10,000 from my parents. I had a phone so that people could make appointments with me to see my designs and a fax machine to fax the factory that was filling orders for me, one at a time.

Smallbizlady: You became a mom while running your business, how did you handle being a pregnant entrepreneur? (other than being a great model for your maternity clothing line LOL)

Liz Lange: Pregnancy did NOT slow me down. I worked until the day before I gave birth to each of my children and was back within a few weeks. After all, my business was my baby too!

Smallbizlady: Pricing is always a challenge for business owners. What’s your advice on getting it right?

Liz Lange: It’s hard to give general advice about pricing. You need to make money and get your margins right. You need to have a feel for what the market place will allow.

Smallbizlady: What’s the biggest struggle you’ve encountered and how did you overcome it?

Liz Lange: Running your own business is filled with highs and lows and to me that is exhilarating. Definitely post 9/11 was challenging. The world was not interested in buying high end maternity clothing anymore! I signed a licensing deal with Target and together we produced Liz Lange for Target which has become the exclusive maternity clothing offered at all Target locations and Target.com. Its success helped bring success back to my high end business too

Smallbizlady: You are a self-made millionaire entrepreneur. How do you stay grounded and humble?

Liz Lange: I think being self-made is what keeps one humble and grounded. I am so lucky to do what I do and I love my customers and my life, my family and friends. They definitely all keep me grounded!

Smallbizlady: How do you measure success?

Liz Lange: Well there are so many ways to measure success. The most obvious in business is financial. I felt successful when I was able to open 3 flagship retail stores (when I sold the business the new owners chose not to keep the stores) but for many years I had boutiques on Madison avenue, Beverly hills and Long island. And signing licensing deals with Nike and Target, dressing tons of A-list celebrities, that all made me feel successful. But maybe what has made me feel most successful is the letters I get from women telling me that I made them feel pretty or sexy or confident during a time that they didn’t think that was possible.

Smallbizlady: What’s your must-read resource for small business owners and Why?

Liz Lange: I love reading books by entrepreneurs whom I admire. Some of my favorites: Phil Knight’s Just Do It, Howard Schultz’ Pour Your Heart Into It, Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness, Mary Wells Lawrence’s A Big Life in Advertising.

Smallbizlady: What’s your biggest business goal over the next 12 months?

Liz Lange: I honestly never set goals, I just do the best I can every day but…I launched a new line, my first ever NON maternity line of women’s clothing a little over a year ago. It is exclusive to HSN and it’s called Completely Me by Liz Lange – I want to see that line really take off. I want to see my fashion/shopping e-newsletter, shopafrolic.com grow and I am working on a book about being an entrepreneur.

Smallbizlady: Complete these sentence: If standing on a rooftop facing crowds of aspiring or struggling small business owners, I would shout:

Liz Lange: “Shut out the naysayers! The truth is until someone does something new NO ONE thinks it’s a good idea. Just do 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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How To Use Trends Data To Grow Your Small Business

by Melinda Emerson, #SmallBizChat on January 26, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, 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 Rieva Lesonsky @Rieva is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company specializing in covering small businesses and entrepreneurship. Before co-founding GrowBiz Media, Lesonsky was Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine. A nationally known speaker and authority on entrepreneurship, Rieva has been covering America’s entrepreneurs for more than 26 years. www.growbizmedia.com

SmallBizLady: Why is it important for small business owners to pay attention to trends?

Rieva Lesonsky: If you don’t keep up on what’s going on (what’s trending), then it’s all too easy for your business to stagnate. Trends often end up taking businesses in new directions, which can scare business owners who aren’t comfortable pushing the envelope. Following trends doesn’t necessarily mean changing your business every time you hear about a new trend, but you need to educate yourself enough to know when you should—and should not react.

SmallBizLady: Are trends the same as fads? How do you differentiate?

Rieva Lesonsky: At first glance it might seem that trends and fads are the same thing. They’re not, though trends can start out as fads (that doesn’t happen all that often). Fads have short shelf lives. They’re in, everyone buzzes about them, and then they’re out. You can make a lot of money from capitalizing on fads, but it’s quite risky. Timing is key—you not only need to know when to get in—but more important, you have to know when to get out. If you don’t time it right, you can easily be stuck with a lot of expensive excess inventory.

SmallBizLady: What insights can a small business owner get from trends?

Rieva Lesonsky: If you pay attention, you can take advantage of a trend and add a lot of money to your bottom line. Trends take many forms: they can be about business practices, new technology, consumer behaviors, new demographics with buying power, or brand new business opportunities.

SmallBizLady: Is learning about trends the same as conducting market research?

Rieva Lesonsky: Not really, though the results may be the same. Market research is a more formal process, grounded in science. There are some hard costs involved, and you usually have to get other people involved. Trendwatching is more about seeing and adapting, and depending on what your particular situation is, it can all come down to your gut feelings.

SmallBizLady: Doesn’t market research cost a lot of money to conduct?

Rieva Lesonsky: While there usually are some costs involved with market research, it’s a lot easier today to conduct research on a budget. It all depends on what you’re trying to find out. But a smart first move is to ask your customers. You can do this in-store if you have a physical location, or using an online survey tool. Survey Monkey, which just bought my favorite survey company Zoomerang, is cheap—and easy to use.

If you live near a university or college, and need more formal and/or extensive market research, consider approaching a professor at the business school and ask if the class can conduct your research for you as a class project. You’ll likely have to pay some reimbursement costs, but you’ll still save a fortune.

SmallBizLady: Is it expensive to keep up with trends?

Rieva Lesonsky: It sure can, but it doesn’t have to. For some industries, there are companies that specialize in observing and reporting on trends. It can be quite expensive to subscribe to these services, but many businesses swear by them. Other research firms create extensive research reports which can be purchased for several thousand dollars.

On the other hand there are lots of places to get trends info free—or for a relatively low cost. Many websites, magazines, newspapers and blogs can deliver a lot of trend information at a relatively low cost—or even for free.

There’s a lot of free information available from the government as well.

Really, it’s about paying attention. You need to be a participant. Know what people are watching on TV, what books they’re reading, what movies they’re going to?

SmallBizLady: What are some good places to find out about trends?

Rieva Lesonsky: Here are some of my favorite trend sites, and places to get info:

www.springwise.com, www.trendwatching.com, http://www.jwtintelligence.com/, http://www.npdinsights.com/, http://oxygen.mintel.com/index.html, http://www.hartman-group.com/, www.ibisworld.com, and you can sign up for my free weekly trends e-newsletter, TrendCast at www.smallbizdaily.com

I also get a lot of trends info from BloombergBusinessweek magazine, The NY Times and The Wall Street Journal.

One of my favorite sources is Census data and other government reports. It’s amazing what you can learn from perusing this data. For instance from looking at Census data several years ago I discovered we’re on the leading edge of a wedding boom, that will likely last for more than 20 years (and leading to yet another Baby Boom).

SmallBizLady: What are some trends that are going on right now that I should be aware of?

Rieva Lesonsky: In customer behavior, the trend is towards wanting value. Consumers aren’t necessarily looking for the lowest prices, but they want to make sure they are getting a good deal for their money.

In the world of technology we’re seeing several dominant trends, both which can result in increased productivity for us, and our employees. One is the continuing march towards cloud computing, which decreases costs, increases productivity and communication. I know some businesses that were able to go all virtual, because of cloud-based servers, saving the owner a lot of overhead.

Another is consumerization, which is the merging of our digital personal and professional lives. I’d also keep my eyes on gamification, which is increasingly being incorporated into business practices.

And mobile marketing is quickly becoming very important. Most businesses not only need a website, but they need one that is optimized for mobile devices.

SmallBizLady: We’re always hearing about how young people set the trends. Does that have influence on other demographics?

Rieva Lesonsky: Actually trends can start in any demographic, and affect (or should I say infect) other generations. Right now there are major trends going on in many demos. The over 50 crowd is acting younger, and many are not planning to retire anytime soon. They working, spending and are a great market to target. They’ve embraced technology more than people give them credit for.

Gen Y is having an impact, just by its size. They’re early tech adopters, and demand that workplaces offer better technology—and have had a lot to do with the consumerization and gamification trends.

The lines between the generations have blended to some degree, which is good news for business owners, giving us broader markets to target.

SmallBizLady: Are there some business niches that are particularly trendy right now?

Rieva Lesonsky: The senior market is quite hot. The oldest baby boomers turn 66 this year, but the youngest turn 48, so there’s a lot of years left to serve this market. There’s a growing need for services to address parents of these Baby Boomers as well, like adult day care, senior relocation services, and home health non-medical care.

Another market that’s trending is the beauty and health industry. We’ve seen significant growth in things like Pilates and yoga studios, and clothing, and in men’s grooming products. And there’s a ton of money spent by teens, tweens and even young girls on makeup.

SmallBizLady: There always seems to be a food trend in the US. What’s hot right now?

Rieva Lesonsky: So many—too many to mention actually. If you own a restaurant, even non-vegetarians are demanding more veggie choices. Hamburgers are going upscale, some burger joints have rebranded as burger pubs or burger bars, offering more exotic toppings, and meat, leading to more prices.

Mobile food is still hot—almost anything can be served from a truck these days, and the overheads costs are reduced. Many entrepreneurs who started in trucks, graduated into sit-down restaurants.

And of course the battle to rule the dessert realm continues. Many have tried, gourmet macaroons, donuts, pies in many forms—but cupcakes still rule.

SmallBizLady: What’s the one thing all small business owners need to keep in mind as they grow their businesses?

Rieva Lesonsky: Trends are important because they provide fodder for change. And that’s essential for the health of every growing business. You cannot, should not fear change. Embracing change will keep you ahead of your competitors, and in a better position to attract and satisfy customers.

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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How to Have Smarter E-Mail Management

by Melinda Emerson on January 17, 2012 in Grow Your Business

E-mail is here to stay. And the amount of the e-mail we all receive is steadily increasing. With the average professional receiving between 80 and 100 e-mails every day, it can be a real challenge to not only manage all those e-mails, but to stay current. It is an even bigger challenge to be able to do these things in what we used to define as the normal work day.

Unfortunately, many people have gotten into the habit of “saving” their e-mail for their quiet time — before work, during lunch, after the office closes, or weekends. While this practice may be appropriate in exceptional circumstances, too many people have incorporated these personal times into their regular workdays. Now people are finding that they are spending more and more time each day working as e-mail is extending their workload by as much as two hours.

If you find yourself suffering from e-mail overload and staying at the office later than intended, here are some time-saving tips.

Reduce the number of times you check for new e-mail. Constantly checking for new e-mails and responding to them immediately actually results in decreased productivity. Therefore, we recommend checking no more than five times daily. Morning, midmorning, after lunch, mid afternoon, and before the end of the workday. Tell people that if they need you urgently, to please call.

Incorporate e-mail sorting into your day. You cannot avoid e-mail but by sorting, prioritizing, and planning specific times in your day (not after work or on the weekends) to conquer the e-mailed tasks, you will set the stage for getting out of the office earlier.

Differentiate between “sorting” and “handling” e-mail. Too many people confuse these two actions. It is important that you go into your e-mail a few times daily and sort the newly received items. Note: sort does not mean work.

The two-minute limit: One exception to the sort versus work rule is if you can accomplish the task in the e-mail within two minutes, do it! If not, file it in an appropriate folder to be viewed when you are planning your priorities for the day.

Set a regular time, once daily, to plan your work for the day. This allotted time is when you go into your sorted e-mail to determine its priority in relation to other projects, telephone calls, meetings, and assigned work. Most people do this in the morning. By setting a regular time daily you will be assured of working the e-mails you receive in the proper priority.

Control your e-mail, don’t let it control you: Turn off automatic send and receive and check your e-mail on your own time. Don’t let the e-mail “ding” pull you away from the work you are already doing.

By taking ownership of your e-mail, reducing the number of times you check your e-mail daily, separating the sort and work functions of your e-mail, and incorporating the work delivered by e-mail into the planning of your workday, you will be able to reclaim that extra time, and get out of the office earlier — every day!

Do you have a trick or rule that you use to control your email?

Marsha Egan, CPCU, PCC, is CEO of the Egan Group, Inc. An ICF Certified Professional Coach, she is a leading authority on email productivity. She works with companies who want to recover lost time and money due to wasteful email practices. Assess your emailing habits and find great tips on how to manage your email at http://InboxDetox.com.

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How to Be a Small Business Success Q&A interview with Jay Goltz

by Melinda Emerson, #SmallBizChat on December 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 Jay Goltz @Jaysmallbiz Jay has started five “old school” businesses over the last 33 years, and wrote “The Street Smart Entrepreneur”. He is the lead blogger for the New York Times You’re the Boss blog. http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/author/jay-goltz/

SmallBizLady: Many people are looking for that new big idea. Any tips?

Jay Goltz: Most successful businesses are not new ideas at all. They are better execution of an existing concept. Did Starbucks invent coffee? For every Facebook, there are 100,000 old school businesses.

SmallBizLady: With all of the resources available today, why is the failure rate for new businesses still as high as 75% or so?

Jay Goltz: To be successful in business requires a basic skill set in marketing, finances and management. Most people are great at one, maybe good at the second, and are incompetent at the third. It is like a three-legged stool with one short leg. You fall on your butt. Additionally, some businesses just don’t work for reasons that at not apparent when you are in the exciting start up phase.

SmallBizLady: Do you think it is safer to start a business with a partner so you can share responsibility?

Jay Goltz: That is probably mistake number one, before you even open for business. People go into business with their friend or relative because it is more fun, more comfortable, and less scary. But it is not necessarily safer. A strategic partnership makes sense when both parties bring complimentary skill sets. When they don’t, one person usually works harder than the other, or one is just more critical to the success of the company, if things go well. If things don’t go well, it can create a hostile environment.

SmallBizLady: What are common mistakes you have seen that have ruined what might have been a successful business?

Jay Goltz: One of the bigger ones is the idea that you can just hire a bookkeeper or accountant to “take care of all of that number stuff”. Every entrepreneur should have a basic understanding of accounting. Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and the difference between cash flow and profit.

SmallBizLady: Now that you have over 100 employees, what do you now know about management that you didn’t know when you started?

Jay Goltz: I believe that 75% of management is hiring the right people in the first place. Most entrepreneurs do what I call “accidental hiring” when they start. They hire their friends, their friend’s cousin, the neighbor’s kid… Great companies have great hiring protocols.

SmallBizLady: Do you have any tips on hiring?

Jay Goltz: Sure. First of all, make sure that the person doing the interviewing is a good listener. That is frequently NOT the entrepreneur. Ask compelling questions that get the person to talk. Check references. Think “guilty until proven innocent”. Many people looking for jobs will be a horrible fit for your company. Probably only one in ten “decent” resumes will be a great fit.

SmallBizLady: What is the hardest part about building a staff?

Jay Goltz: “Unhiring” the wrong people. Firing. Many bosses avoid confrontation and hope that an under performing employee will get better. Sometimes they do, but many times they won’t, or can’t. It is a harsh reality, but the one of the boss’s many jobs is to make sure that the right people are in every position. It isn’t always pretty.

SmallBizLady: What is the best way a new company can market themselves?

Jay Goltz: Marketing is about figuring out who your best potential customers are and figuring out what advertising vehicles to use to reach them. It is also about determining what the best message is.

SmallBizLady: What do you tell people who say that “All I need is to find new customers to get profitable!”

Jay Goltz: Keeping old customers should be the first order of business. The next thing I always look at, and frequently find problems with, is the pricing of their products or service. It is a common and costly mistake that many businesspeople make. They don’t understand their costs, and they are undercharging. As a result, they are busy but unprofitable. They assume that more business will fix the problem, but in reality they will just get busier and still not make money.

SmallBizLady: How did you go from working in the business to working on the business?

Jay Goltz: It is all about having the right people, good training, and then delegating. You also have to understand the income statement enough to figure out how to pay all of these people. It really involves everything I have just talked about.

SmallBizLady: You always hear the mantra “never, never, never quit”. Do you think that is true?

Jay Goltz: Yes and no. That is a very misquoted piece of a speech that Winston Churchill gave during WWII. The rest of the sentence includes “unless in good judgment”. Besides the five businesses I own are another five that I started and closed. Sometimes things are not well thought out, can’t work because of some unforeseen problems, or maybe you are just miserable. With that being said, being successful does require tenacity to weather all of the storms that are sure to come. Going down with the ship is not being tenacious, it can be delusional.

SmallBizLady: How do you keep balance as an entrepreneur?

Jay Goltz: You mean try to keep balance! It is hard, especially in the early stages. In most cases, it is a case of tolerable sacrifice. Did I go to all of my kid’s baseball games? No. But many of them. Was I at home every night for dinner? No, not even close. Did I pay a price for building a successful business? Absolutely did. Do I have any regrets? Yes, but too few to mention. (My Way-Frank Sinatra) There is an old saying that there is no old man laying on his deathbed wishing that he would have spent more time at his business. They got it wrong. It is the day that you hopefully drop them off at college. In some ways it worse. Instead of dying you get to spend years feeling guilty! Here is what I have figured out. It is not the income that matters, but the outcome.

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 the #1 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 Tips to Create a Successful 2012 Marketing Budget

by Melinda Emerson on December 6, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Grow Your Business, Women in Business, Your Small Business

It isn’t 2012 just yet. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be planning for it. For any business to be successful, it’s necessary to have a marketing budget. And while next year seems like a far off notion today, there is no better time to start establishing how you’ll invest your marketing dollars. Below are five tips to create an effective marketing budget (whether budgeting is your thing or not).

Start planning now. Waiting until the start of next year to do a 2012 marketing budget is a great way to have a disorganized budget that leads to mishaps. You need time to walk away from your initial budgeting ideas so you can come back to them with a clear head. And when the numbers don’t add up (and often they don’t) you need time to develop a solution.
Assess this year’s budget. One way to get started with next year’s budget is to have a grasp of what was hot and what was not during 2011. Were there areas you went well over budget? Were there categories in which you never spent a dime? Although this year’s activity isn’t an exact prediction of next year’s results, looking at your current expenses let’s you know where to make adjustments.
Include an income column. Not all marketing is an expense. When you host a webinar or luncheon and charge people to attend, you are not only marketing your business but also deriving income from that activity. Knowing what efforts bring in money is a great way to assess their impact on your business. It also shows what is worth continuing and what needs to be scrapped. If none of your marketing activities include income, it’s time to strategize a few income-producing endeavors.
Expect the unexpected. Keep in mind your marketing budget has many of the same characteristics as your personal budget. No matter how well you plan for every eventuality, something will come up without notice. Leaving a little wiggle room in your marketing budget for unexpected expenses lets you make sound decisions. Label a special column for emergencies so the wiggle money doesn’t get needlessly spent on something frivolous for the office.
Know the difference between a sound marketing strategy and a fad. You may have your heart set on a marketing tactic, but if it doesn’t support your overall business or the numbers just aren’t showing, it’s time to let go. If it seems that this tactic is being used by everyone else, keep in mind your business is different. What works for one business might not work so well for another. Know what your business needs so you can develop a unique, hard-to-copy marketing approach.

Creating a marketing budget (or any kind of budget, for that matter) is often NOT at the top of someone’s “favorites” to-do list. But with persistence and a willingness to get started early, the process can help you build a solid foundation for the upcoming year.

By day Morgan Leu Parkhurst helps individuals put the pieces of their marketing puzzles together. By night she teaches marketing to entrepreneurs. Morgan is also producer of the Magnetic Biz-Building Online Summit. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

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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.

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How to optimize search engine traffic on a time budget

by Melinda Emerson on November 22, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Grow Your Business

Websites can require a considerable amount of time to be optimized. The inclusion of social media into search results means a website will probably go unnoticed without a marketing or social media campaign. Creating a marketing effort is easy if you have a team. It can be daunting for small business owners that do not have a lot of time. But with patience, a small business can gather some keyword ideas quickly, then decide how to implement them over time.

Audit and compare your keyword terms

Go into your web analytics account and examine visits and time-on-site data of your keywords. You are gaining a sense for what has (and hasn’t) attracted visits. Note trends for increasing visits, a reasonable time on page/site (1-2 minutes is pretty good for a page), or a repeated appearance of a keyword. Trends are preferable to sudden spikes. Download the keywords you have gained over a past period. 90 days of data is a great starting point (but not an absolute). If you are not sure how to get started using Google Analytics, here’s an interview I did with Melinda Emerson earlier this year.

Now go into Google Adwords Manager or Microsoft Adcenter Manager. Both platforms can scan your site and return a query list of words based on the site content.

Next compare this generated list to the keyword report you have examined – you are now looking for scanned words that appear on your analytic list but really did not generate significant search traffic. These identified words are now the keywords on which you can focus your improvement efforts. A keyword density check can give further refinement, useful for a very long list.

An additional check is a site search, applicable if your site has a search window. Site search reports differ from search engine reports. The keywords in a search report are the content phrases used in a search engine; In short, a visitor saw the phrase and arrived on the site.

A site search report differs by showing keywords searched by visitors in the search box on your site. A site search analysis can reveal terms repeatedly sought but never found, leading to visitor loss. Site search reports are particularly useful for blogs, e-commerce, and sites with a considerable amount of content.

You can compare the site search reports against your search keywords results. Are there words or phrases that draw people initially the exit the site? Do these words appear consistently month after month? Repeated appearance means that your site is overlooking a topic or time that visitors expect. In short you are leaving money on the table.

Make a plan to put those words to work

With these overviews compiled into one list, you now have a set of words on which to focus your traffic building strategy. This makes the effort a bit daunting if the list is long. But the good news compared to years past is that social media has added to the ways you can go about increasing the discovery of your site. Here are a few ideas:

Create a paid search campaign (or PPC) that includes your target words. You can review competitiveness and plan a trial budget in your ad manager. Using paid campaigns can increase click through in many cases when a word appears on a search result in the organic and paid search results.

Are some words beyond your paid search budget? See if any of the words are used as a Twitter hashtag, then use these words in a Twitter strategy. You can try a specialty search engine such as 48ers to see Twitter-related query results. If the target word is a broad topic, consider joining a twitterchat based on that word.

Does the list spark a few ideas for new articles? Try writing new blog posts that incorporate these words in the title and text (Note: make sure your blog is hosted at the same service as your website to gain search benefits).

Consider if the title, meta description, H1 tags, and anchor text in your webpage code can be updated with the words you have selected. You can use the word in image descriptions as well.

Optimization takes time, but using a working plan, you can keep your website up to date until the next redesign.

Pierre DeBois is the founder of Zimana (www.zimana.com), a consultancy providing strategic analysis to small and midsize businesses that rely on Web analytics data.

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Are You on the Path to Reinventing Your Small Business?

by Melinda Emerson on November 15, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Business Inspiration, Grow Your Business, Women in Business

Small biz owners are reinventing their businesses all the time, especially in this economy. Old ways of doing business just aren’t working anymore. I’d love to be able to tell you that there are set of linear phases that every small business owner goes through while you’re reinventing your business and marketing models…

…but if I told you that, it would be a lie.

But there are some well-known phases that you might go through, sometimes circling back to one you thought you already finished, and skipping others completely. All these phases require you to put on your CEO hat and take a step back from daily busyness to look at the big picture.

Here is a short list of some of the signposts you’ll encounter on the road to reinvention:

I know/feel/sense/think something needs to change – You find yourself pausing in the middle of the day and asking, “What’s next for me and my business?” People report feeling restless or frustrated, knowing deep in their heart and mind that the business needs a fresh new approach.

Finding clarity on goals – If you spend time tapping into your goals for your business (and for yourself personally), you’ll find that it’s easier in the next phases to explore and choose the right business model for you. Is there a particular problem you need to solve? A particular dream you’d like to achieve? Values you’d like to express into the world?

Exploring the possibilities – In this idea-generation phase you explore every aspect of your existing business model, looking for places to add, modify and discard. Since there are 9 areas to explore, you’ll have plenty of space to be creative. Even the craziest of ideas can be a springboard to a new business and marketing model.

Making a road map – This is where you design your new business and marketing model, keeping what still fits from your old model and mixing in the new ideas you’ve generated. This is also where you create your transition plan and map out where and when changes will take place, and what resources you’ll need to make it happen. Now you’re thinking like a business owner and not just a worker-bee!

Taking the journey – Implementing your business model changes can happen in a week or it can be a two-year process, depending on how complex the changes are and how many resources you have at your disposal. This is often a journey through the weeds and can be rough going. Why? Because you have to continue to run your existing business (unless you’re independently wealthy!) while creating your new business at the same time. Managing change can feel like a juggling act.

You’ll know when it’s time to start thinking about transforming your business. And now you know you’re not alone in thinking that way: people before you have been down this path and emerged victorious!

Where are you on the path to reinventing your business?

Karyn Greenstreet is a self-employment expert and business reinvention strategist. She shares techniques, skills and strategies about the 9 areas in your business where you can reinvent and transform. Visit her business reinvention website at www.RoadmapToReinvention.com

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3 New Ways to Network Your Small Business

by Melinda Emerson on November 8, 2011 in Branding & Marketing, Grow Your Business, Social Media

Recently, I’ve noticed a couple of interesting details about the e-mails I receive inviting me to connect online.

First off, I’ve been receiving more invitations than usual. Don’t get be wrong; this is just fine by me, but I started to get curious about why the number was growing at such a fast rate.

It was the second detail however, that really caught my eye: I was receiving invitations to connect on 3 sites that I had never heard about before the e-mails arrived.

This may not seem like a big deal, but it’s part of my job to keep up on all the ways a business can use the web. Because of that, I’m always looking at new solutions, tools and methods for marketing and managing a business online.

Given that, this upsurge in new business networking sites made me very curious about the new ways businesses are networking using the web so I decided to spend some time digging into the 3 new sites.

Not LinkedIn

When it comes to business networking online, LinkedIn is at the top of the heap. I am an avid LinkedIn user and have enjoyed seeing how the site has evolved from launch up to now.

Often, new online business networking solutions are “LinkedIn Wannabees”; sites that offer the same functionality and features. Sure some of them focus on smaller regions, specific industries and even other countries, but at the core they are the same solution in a different package.

In this case however, it became immediately clear that each of the 3 new business networking sites were not “LinkedIn Wannabees”. Each one brought something unique and different to the table and below, I’m going to dish on the details.

3 New Business Networking Sites to Try

Branch Out

Out of all three sites, BranchOut is the most like LinkedIn. The primary difference is that BranchOut is actually an app built on top of the Facebook platform and that means it’s completely integrated with everything Facebook.

That integration offers some handy features such as the ability to:

Invite and connect with Facebook friends on a professional level as well;
Post jobs to your company’s Facebook page; and
Easier that LinkedIn search capabilities that allow you to find folks in your network who work at specific companies (handy if you’d like to learn more about, or get a job at, that company).

Bottom-line: BranchOut allows you to leverage your personal connections in a professional way, opening up a huge world of opportunities.

Referral Key

With Referral Key, you get just what the name promises: a platform for sending and receiving referrals to and from your professional network.

One of the cooler features on this site is the ability to reward referrers for successful referrals. You set up your reward in your profile and then, when a successful referral occurs, you click the “Reward” button. After that, your referrer can select a reward from the options you choose to offer. Best of all, it’s all hands-off once it’s set up.

There’s also a handy search feature here that allows you to find professionals with many types of expertise. You can even use this to grow your local network by searching locally and connecting online.

Bottom-line: Referral Key is a focused system that greatly facilitates the time-honored tradition of giving, and receiving, referrals.

Commonred

Commonred is a young offering with a very interesting take on, and some really cool ideas for, business networking.

To start with, they take “common” to heart, offering you tons of data points you can enter in order to find people with whom you have something in common. Nothing is off the plate here with spots to record things such as companies where you’ve worked, places where you’ve lived, your favorite sports teams and even your hobbies and personal preferences.

With all that data, it’s easy, and fun, to search for other like-minded professionals. However, the data they collect is more than just functional; it forms the basis for starting conversations and building relationships both on and offline. In other words, it’s an “ice-breaker” and a pretty powerful one at that.

Two other interesting features of Commonred are:

Board of Directors – you can create a board of directors out of those people who “have your back”. These are folks who advise you, refer business to you and more. You can also be a member of a board for someone else. Though loosely structured right now, this can become a solid system for the mentoring that many business folks crave.
“Get a Meeting With” Contests – on a regular basis, Commonred holds a contest where the winner gets a meeting with industry bigwigs. To win, you need to enter the reasons why you specifically should get that meeting and then all members can vote on the entries. The entry with the most votes wins.

Bottom-line: Commonred is just ramping-up, but there is a lot of potential there for robust community building, practical mentoring and business networking. It needs to grow so give it a shot and invite your friends.

Matt Mansfield is the Head Tour Guide at Matt About Business where he helps entrepreneurs and Fortune 500

companies figure out what their business SHOULD be doing online. From providing global leadership as the head of e-business for a $1 billion manufacturer to designing the functionality and look-and-feel of an award-winning online student-learning environment, Matt has mastered the art of using the web to manage and market a business by connecting online strategies and tactics with real-world results.

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How To Go from Idea to Store Shelves QA Interview with Jen Groover

by Melinda Emerson, #SmallBizChat on November 3, 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 @Jengroover. She’s a top business expert and has been tagged by Success Magazine as a “One-Woman Brand” and named a leading “Serial Entrepreneur” by Entrepreneur Magazine. Jen Groover’s signature product the butler bag has revolutionized the handbag industry. www.butlerbag.com Her has quickly become synonymous with innovation, entrepreneurship and evolution. She has gone from guest-hosting spots on QVC to linking deals with some of the industry’s biggest heavyweights. For more information www.jengroover.com

Smallbizlady: Once I have a product idea what are the first things I need to do?

Jen Groover: Once you have an idea you need to check a few things:

Analyze the market and see if you see the idea already out there?
If so, why is yours different, or how can you push yourself to make it more unique than your original concept
If it was tried before was it successful? If not, when? And why?

Smallbizlady: What is intellectual property and why is it important in product development?

Jen Groover: Once you have answers for those questions, you will need to find an Intellectual Property attorney to verify legally what is already out there. Even if you don’t see something “in the market” it may be something in development and you don’t want to risk getting in trouble for patent or trademark infringement.

Intellectual Property is basically creative ideas that can be protected so that you can “own a space” in a category of business or develop enough brand equity that you can license your idea, which basically gives someone the right to use your patent and possibly trademarks to increase supply of your products and distribution channels while paying you’re a royalty to do so. You need to consult with an Intellectual Property attorney (very specific niche of training) in order to get proper representation.

Once an attorney verifies it is safe to move ahead, you can conserve costs by filing a provisional patent (if it is a patentable item) which buys you a year to begin product development and we as brand development.

Smallbizlady: Once I file for protection what do I do next?

Jen Groover: Once you file for protection whether it be a patent, trademark, copyright, etc, you will need something to be protecting the brand equity you are about to build. You begin product development by making a prototype. A prototype is an example of what your product should look like. You may need several iterations of the in order to perfect how you want your product to look and function. While you are clarifying that, you should also be devising your plan on what type of brand you want; for example is it a high-end luxury brand of a daily household affordable type brand. This will help you identify more closely the type of materials used to finalize your prototype. Because more often than not, many different grades of materials can be used but the type of brand you want will dictate that.

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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.