Minding Your SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) Business

Business Resource: Webcafe

2011-07-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

While looking for brochure paper online at Office Depot, I ran across a great resource for business owners. It's called WebCafe. Currently on hiatus until September, the archives are still available for use. The site offers free web-based seminars, covering a variety of topics relevant to business owners. The 40-minute session, presented by business experts, includes an interactive question and answer section.

You can check out the archives here.

Civic Marketing

2011-07-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

I consider myself pretty civic-minded. Since I don't have a lot of discretionary funds to dole out to worthy causes, I instead have given countless hours of my time. As a business owner you should align yourself with a complimentary worthy cause. In the process you not only help others in the community but you can garner publicity for your business.

There are many worthy causes to choose from. The problem might be how to pick just one. In their book, Off-the Wall Marketing Ideas, Nancy Michaels and Debbi Karpowicz have a great section on creating a civic marketing plan. When deciding what type of organization to align your business with, again, think complimentary. Here are a few suggestions from the book:

Family-oriented businesses can support youth sports or literacy campaigns.
Food-oriented businesses can support food banks or shelters.
Businesses that appeal to women, like beauty parlors, can support shelters or spousal abuse programs.
Pet stores or other animal-themed businesses can support animal shelters and rescue organizations.
An accounting firm can volunteer to offer free tax return assistance.
Clothing stores can support agencies like Goodwill and the Salvation Army.

And so on. No matter what type of business you run, there is a worthy cause you can support.

SBA Offers APP for Small Businesses

2011-07-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

If you are starting a new business or need help with an existing business, the SBA has a app for that. The app allows you to find an advisor near you and allows you to get free one-on-one help startin or growing your business. You can download the app here.

Free E-book- Creating a Small Business Website Your Customers Can Trust

2011-07-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Here's free downloadable e-book on creating small business websites. Topics covered include behavior behavior, how to create a website your customers will trust and more. Get it here.

Business Resource: Talkbiznow.com

2011-06-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

Talkbiznow is both a networking site and productivity solution for small businesses. Members can choose from an array of services including networking, collaboration and business promotion. It takes just a few minutes to sign up and best of all the service is free.

You can blog from the site, create voice conferences or a contact list You can even send a nudge! A nudge is simply a gentle reminder you send to a contact. It might be a reminder about an email, conference call or meeting. You can even create your own store and start selling your goods and services. I literally signed up as I was typing this blog (talk about multi-tasking!). So head over and check it out for yourself.

Bye-bye now, I'm going to do some more poking around!

Tax Help for Small Businesses

2011-03-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

Have you filed your taxes yet? April is fast approaching. If you haven't filed because you're confused about the tax credits available to small businesses as it relates to the Affordable Health Care Act, The SBA has put out a memo that explains it all. You can read the full memo here.

Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

2011-03-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

Free. Nothing gets me more excited than this one simple, four-letter word. Okay, maybe two words- free and useful. Enter Paint. net , a Windows-based imaging software program that has been compared to powerful and expensive programs like Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. You can check out all the features and download your own copy to try out for yourself. Just click here to get started.

Free Tool: Wakerupper

2011-02-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

Since most of us can't afford the luxury of a personal assistant, we have to remember to remember important events in our busy lives. I ran across this free useful tool that can help you stay on track. Click over to Wakerupper , fill out a simple form and you'll received a wake up call. It's just that simple. It can send free messages from their website or sign up for premimum service for a modest price.

8 Ways to Advertise Your Small Business on A Shoestring Budget

2011-02-25T12:39:00.000-08:00

Word of mouth- This is one of the best and cheapest forms of advertising. Let's face it, many of us buy goods and services on the recommendation of family, friends and co-workers. When someone buys from you, don't be ashamed to ask them to recommend you to others who may have similar needs.

Networking- Do you have to network in order to be successful in business? Not necessarily but it certainly won't hurt. Making yourself known and the goods and services you provide is tantamount to the success of your venture. A good place to start is business to business events sponsored by your local Chamber of Commerce or other business organizations. Attend them as often as possible. Get out there and mingle. You'll want to make sure you have a supply of business cards and/or brochures to take along with you. But please don't just go to these event s and shove your business card into as many hands as possible and keep moving like you're in some kind of marathon. Talk to people. I mean really talk to people. When you find ones who are good prospects for your goods or services make them aware of how you can help them solve a particular problem they may have (in other words, why they need your product or service).

Cold Calling- Some people prefer to do mass mailings. Personally, I think it's a better idea to qualify your prospects first. In the long run you'll save on postage and printing costs by not sending your material to every Tom, Dick, and Harry you think might want to buy your products or use your services. And although some people may tell you to go ahead and send the information just to get you off the phone, you'll still fair better than mass mailings. Make sure you get the information in the mail as soon as possible, the next business day, is ideal. This way when the mail arrives you're still fresh in the prospects mind.

Speaking Engagements, seminars, demonstrations and teaching classes- If you're not afraid to speak in public, then you may want to consider giving a seminar or demonstration. You can also arrange speaking engagements. Most associations and clubs welcome speakers. Many facilities will offer space free of charge as a community service. Check around in your area, you may be surprised at what you may find. Finally, you may be able to teach a class in your area of expertise. Check with your local college or university to see what adult education classes they offer. With just the right proposal you may find yourself on the roster. As an added bonus, you'll make money from teaching the class, either a flat fee or a percentage of the tuition from each student. Although you can charge for seminars, you'll get more participants if you'll able to offer the seminar for free. Demonstrations are often done in conjunction with other businesses. For instance, if you're written a cookbook, you may be able to arrange demonstrations at your local bookstore.

Cooperative advertising- This is another excellent cost-effective way to advertise your business. In cooperative advertising you and other non-competing businesses advertise the products or services of the other. You've probably witnessed this form of advertising. Many big businesses, for instance, inserts ads for products and services with their monthly billing statement. If the big companies can do it why shouldn't you? And there's no need to spend money on four-color mini brochures. You can be just as effective using your business card or a flyer or coupon you create on your computer.

Share advertising space- Have you checked the price of advertising lately? If you haven't believe me when I tell you it can be extremely costly. An alternative to the high cost of advertising is to share space with other businesses. This is generally done with businesses in the same area, in a strip mall, for example. Here's how it works. The group purchases a full page ad and then divides the space by the number of participants. This can be a better solution to small space ads which often are overlooked.

Joining a professional organization- Professional organizations offer many benefits including networking opportunities, seminars and training. Invariably most will have a members only directory and newsletter. These two tools can be your ticket to getting more business to business sales as well as referrals. Newsletters especially are on the look out for copy to fill each issue. If you, as a member, have an announcement they will certainly be happy to trumpet it for you, at no cost. You can also use the directory to contact members either by cold calling or if you prefer, direct mail. Either way, the fact that you belong to the same organization will establish that you have something in common and you won't be viewed as making just another sales pitch.

Unsold advertising space- Earlier I mentioned the skyrocketing price of advertising space. Sharing the cost with other businesses is one way to get your message out to the masses but there are other ways. First, publications want to sell advertising space at the rate specified on their rate card. However, if at publication time they have unused advertising space they will sell it to you at a fraction of the cost. And you probably won't have to do too much haggling to get a good deal. Before you make the call be sure you have your ad ready to go. The best time to call? Close to the publication's ad deadline. You'll be in a far better position to bargain for a good rate. After all, the publication would rather have an ad sale at a cheaper rate than no sale at all.

And there you have it; eight simple but cost effective ways to advertise your small business. But don't stop there, many other opportunities exist if you use your imagination.

Working From Home? Consider these 6 Time Management Tips

2011-02-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

(1) Keep all files relating to current projects in a separate file holder on your desk.

(2) Organize your office so that everything you need is within easy reach.

(3) As much as possible, group errands together so that you leave your office only once a day.

(4) Try to do most of your work by telephone, mail, email or fax.

(5) Don’t waste time on trivial or unnecessary tasks when you have important projects to complete.

(6) If you feel your energy draining, try taking a short walk around the block to rejuvenate.

Customer Complaints Can Be Good News for Your Business

2011-02-19T15:12:00.000-08:00

How many dissatisfied customers do you have? You may not know the answer because many dissatisfied customers never complain directly to you. Customer complaints are good for business. Research has shown that only 1 in 50 customers take the time to complain, while the other 49 simply take their business elsewhere.

In a perfect world a customer would buy a product or service and everything would be A- OK. But we don’t live in a perfect world and sometimes customers are less than satisfied with the product they purchased or the service they received.

When customers complain you have an opportunity to solve the problem and retain those customers and their business. You probably know that word- of mouth referrals is one of the most effective ways to get new business. The same is true when customers are dissatisfied. They may not complain to you but they will certainly complain to others resulting in loss of potential business.

When a dissatisfied customer takes the time to complain to you they are helping you to grow your business. You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken. If the issue is of concern to one customer then perhaps others feel the same way.

Make it easy for customers to complain. You can set up a separate line where customers can call and voice their complaints (or kudos). Try one of the inexpensive Internet answering machines like eVoice (www.evoice.com) which allows you to check your messages from your email inbox.

Other ways to encourage customer satisfaction include:

Developing a comments form to include with products you ship or with any correspondence you send to customers.

A week or so after completing any transaction, send a postcard seeking feedback about your product or service.

Create a page on your website for customers to leave comments.

Don’t let customer complaints fall on deaf ears. Larger companies often feel they have enough business that they don’t need to worry about complainers. As SOHO warriors you may not have that luxury so you want to keep all of your customers happy. A satisfied customer equals a repeat customer.
When a customer complains, deal with the complaint quickly. Follow up with the customer and let them know what was done. Many times a business will say they will handle the problem and then simply ignore it. Ways you can solve the complaint include a refund, an exchange or providing a service free of charge. One way to make sure the customer returns is to offer a reduced price on future products or services.

You are probably going to lose some customers through no fault of your own but you want to keep that turnover to a minimum. It takes much more time and money attracting new customers than retaining the customers you have. Providing prompt , fair and courteous response to customer complaints will improve your chances that a complaining customer will still remain loyal to your business.

Welcome To Minding Your SOHO Business

2011-02-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, the dreaded customary first blog post. Since this blog is dedicated to helping small businesses run their business more efficiently, I won't waste your precious time with a lot of baloney about what I plan to write in the coming months. I know you're busy and don't have time for all of that. Let's just say I hope you will find this blog useful and if you do, come back often (and don't forget to tell all your friends to stop by) to see what I've posted.

Coming Soon!

2011-02-01T20:35:00.001-08:00