Did you know there are an estimated 21.5 million small businesses in the United States? Those same small businesses contribute 44% of all business in the United States. This is phenomenal. One would think it would be less than that simply because of the large corporations. It just goes to show you that small businesses are favored among the citizens of the United States.
It would be nice if banks would favor small businesses over large corporations when it comes to lending money. The recent economic crisis has made it harder for small businesses to operate when the credit card companies have lowered limits on some without notifying them.
A lot of small businesses operate by using a credit card to pay off all expenses at the end of each month. Some credit card companies have lowered limits, which is causing some small businesses’ credit scores to go down. This in spite of having payments on time. This has caused a snowball effect. Now their credit score is lowered and they can’t get banks to help with any lending issues they have in order to purchase new equipment and the like.
This is a direct result of why some businesses go out of business. They can’t get any cooperation. Since small businesses represent 44% of all business, then maybe shoppers can try to be a little more loyal to their local businesses.
It used to be that everyone shopped locally, which in turn kept dollars in the local market. Now, with a lot of things being shipped from overseas, the local dollars don’t stay locally much.
Try to keep your customers by offering a little extra for the holiday season. It gets awfully tiring having to shop for gifts so why not offer free drinks and/or a place to sit and rest? This way, they are in your store and while they are resting their tired feet, they are looking over your merchandise. They may very well see something they want and will get it there before traveling on.
All it takes is a little customer service and going out of your way for the customers. Don’t be a scrooge, take your customers back from the big corporations. You will be surprised at how well this works. Then, you might not need to speak with a lender.
What is the definition of an online business? Any business, whether it is a physical location or just a website, you need to advertise everywhere you can. Because people are on the go so much these days, they prefer to see a website address that they can jot down and go to the site later, when they have time.
Online advertising is a great way to advertise. But for those who never think of searching for items online, when they see a poster or a business card with a website address, they will be more likely to go to the website when they are relaxing at home.
The traditional ways of advertising can be increased by adding your website to the ad, whether it is newspaper, radio or television. You could conceivably pull customers in from everywhere.
Be sure to also include your email address so customers can email you with any questions they have. You can also do an email marketing campaign. If you regularly stay in contact with your customers, you will be able to bring your online business and you physical business together.
One of the best ways of advertising off line is to take a walk around your local town. Meet and greet people, hand them a business card, let them know what your business is all about. Mention the website and email address. You would be surprised at how well this works, even in today’s technology.
When you think of doing business online, do you first think about those big businesses with million dollar budgets? You don’t have to. Small businesses are alive and well on the internet.
So, where do you fit in? What’s up with all that talk of keywords, SEO, social media, and such? There are three basic elements that will drive your business online. They are:
On-Page Content – If possible, have mixed content on your site. Take advantage of articles, videos, etc. and provide your site visitors with a wide range of content to match their interests. Optimize your content to help it rank better in the search engines for your most profitable keywords.
Off-Page Content – Content you create for marketing off of your website is good for building links back to your site and delivering new visitors to the site.
Behind The Scenes Content – This is the code that makes your website visible to search engines and web browsers. You can have too much and you can have the wrong kind. Make sure your code is optimized for better results in the search engines.
Since the internet is growing by leaps and bounds, it is very important to have these elements successfully optimized on your website. It sounds complicated, but it really is not.
With the right guide and a good web marketing strategy you can build a great website with excellent on-page content, a wide variety of off-page content that drives traffic to your site, and great code that gets you well deserved rankings in the search engines.
It’s wonderful to have small mom and pop stores in local towns. That is what defines the town. Most people will stay loyal to their local shops because that is what helps the community stay alive.
Sadly, a lot of those same mom and pop stores are closing simply because they don’t have enough business in today’s world. This is due to more people using the internet for their purchases. For some, it is much easier to sit at home, in front of a computer, and purchase whatever you want and have it shipped, instead of visiting the local stores.
This is why it is more important than ever for those same stores to get a website and add a few products to the site and let people purchase from the site. It not only boosts the business owner’s revenue, but it puts that same business owner in the driver’s seat as far as keeping their doors open.
No one wants to see the quaint little corner market or antique store close. These businesses have been the mainstay for many small communities to stay alive and there is a bit of history and nostalgia associated with local business.
A challenge to all small business owners. Start a website, build your presence on the internet and get your business rolling again. The internet is here to stay and you should just hop right on and take your piece of the pie too.
You don’t even have to be computer savvy to do it. Hire a web designer. That person will get a domain name for you and design you a website according to your specifications. You will be surprised at how easy it is. You can then still retain the old world charm in the store itself, but your pocketbook will thank you.
According to Mark W. Smith of Detroit Free Press, it’s all a sham. You’ve been had. Just as Hallmark created days for greeting card sales, the candy makers created days to make more candy sales, and the Easter Bunny is in cahoots with Santa Claus and the credit card companies to keep you busy twice a year. We all love a good conspiracy theory.
Who knows? Maybe it’s true. Maybe today isn’t the biggest shopping day of the year. Or maybe if it is it’s because the e-tailers have convinced you to pull out your credit card on this day.
Even if it is true, I still believe this will be a record-breaking year. Today will likely pass all records for single-day sales online. And this Christmas season is poised to become the highest sales season online in history. Not because online retailers have conspired against you, but because consumers have become more comfortable buying online. OK, and partly because online retailers want your money.
If you have to establish an Internet presence, or if you have and Internet presence but haven’t taken advantage of your online promotional opportunities, don’t you think it’s time to get your piece of the online shopping pie?
First there was Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year for most brick and mortar stores.
Then there was Cyber Monday, which turned out to be the biggest shopping day of the year for online merchants.
Now, small businesses can relish in the day that is their’s. Small Business Saturday. Today, of all days.
Small Business Saturday is a way for small businesses to get in on the action and you can do this whether your business is an online-only business, a brick and mortar business, or a business that enjoys a dual virtual + brick-and-mortar presence. The hub of the Small Business Saturday is the Small Business Saturday Facebook page.
I probably should have shared this with you sooner, and I would have had I known about it sooner, but they’ve got some pretty cool resources on this page – not to mention a beautiful design. On this page you can get your own in-store signage, e-marketing resources, create an offer, create your own Facebook page, create a video, do some LinkedIn and Twitter marketing, and more.
It may be a tad late to take advantage of some of these resources, but there’s always next year. Look forward to Small Business Saturday and make it work for your small business.
I think there’s an interesting study here. Why is Facebook so effective for small businesses? 36% say it’s very effective and 47% say it’s moderately so. That’s 83% who say that Facebook has any level of effectiveness. Is it just because there are 800 million users? Or maybe there’s something more.
By contrast, 70% of the respondents said they don’t use Google+. But the really interesting aspect to this survey is the muddle in the middle.
Only 14% of respondents consider Twitter very effective and 32% say it’s moderately effective. But look at the numbers for other social media services:
Video sharing - 14% and 23%, respectively
LinkedIn – 10% and 24%, respectively
Review sites – 7% and 12%, respectively
Local/daily deals – 5% and 6%, respectively
What’s interesting is that more small businesses are using Google+ than are using the local deals sites. As Frank Reed, with the hype surrounding the Groupon IPO, you’d think more small businesses were using those websites. But I guess that’s not the case.
And of course, I don’t think anyone is surprised that 81% of surveyed small businesses don’t use MySpace (does anyone still use MySpace?). Evidently so. 3% of respondents claim that it is either very effective or moderately effective.
If you own a small business and you are ready for social media, your best bet is probably Facebook.
Skype is one of the leaders in voice over internet technology, if not THE leader in VOIP. They have some awesome services for businesses who are ready to enter the 21st century. Consider these:
Free Skype to Skype calling
You can have your own online phone number
Anyone from anywhere can call you and it’s local
Conference calls through Skype
Skype To Go allows you to use Skype on your mobile phone
I realize not every business in the world can benefit from this technology, but many can. In addition, you can use Skype for group calling, video calling, and screen sharing. That makes Skype a useful videoconferencing solution for small businesses. I know some small business owners who have ditched their land lines and have gone completely wireless using Skype and their mobile phones.
Skype is an affordable business solution if you find yourself wanting to ditch that old 20th century mainstay, the land line. Tired of the add-on charges your phone company keeps giving you? Tired of the disconnected service whenever you experience a storm? Skype could be a tool you’ll enjoy having around.
I think it’s just a matter of time before the whole world is connected via VOIP. Skype could be the leader for homes and small businesses when that happens.
This is no joke. Funny man Louis CK has decided to abandon traditional media and deliver his own comedy routines via his website. He’s going to charge $5 per download. Is that really a good idea?
There have been similar experiments before. About ten years ago Stephen King conducted his own experiment on a book download that didn’t turn out so well. No quite that long ago Radiohead performed a more successful experiment with music downloads. And it seems that in the last couple of years artists of various stripes are being more bold to go out on their own without the safety net of corporate sponsors and agents.
I applaud their efforts. The world needs these kinds of risk takers. And I really hope Louis CK succeeds.
If he does succeed, maybe small business owners can learn from that success. What can you do on your own website that you now do through traditional media? Or social media? What do you do in other ways – ways that maybe you’ve always used – that you can re-think and take a risk on, maybe even pave a new trail? Are you ready to take the risk?
Maybe Louis CKs little bit about Twitter and social media on Conan can be a source of inspiration. Be prepared to laugh.
Copyblogger podcast radio host Robert Bruce interviews Copyblogger CEO Sonia Simone about privacy and other content matters. So the question is, is privacy important for marketers and small business owners?
I think it is.
Here’s the best way to think about this. Your clients don’t want you to sell their private information. They’d rather you protect it at all costs. So it’s in your best interests to protect and safeguard that private information. But online privacy goes beyond your ability or willingness to share your clients’ information.
Real privacy is also about protecting that information from all sources.
In other words, NOT selling your clients’ private information doesn’t make you a good guy if your website ends up getting hacked or you don’t use encryption data to protect private information during transit. So, as a small business owner doing business online, it’s just as important for you to put time and energy into thinking about your website’s security. That’s the deepest level of privacy protection.
So how do you protect your clients’ privacy information? Have you thought about it?
There are two aspects to thinking about your website’s security: Data encryption and firewalls. Put effort into making those two things happen on your website for your clients’ sake. Otherwise, you might find yourself without clients.
