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How to Choose the Right SEO Tactics for Your Small Business
May 9th
When it comes to SEO, many business owners are overwhelmed. There’s so much information out there, much of it conflicting, making it nearly impossible to drill down to the right strategies you should be employing. In this post I’ll try to walk through several of the considerations you should be taking into account in determining which SEO tactics to prioritize for your business.
Different people often describe different SEO tactics in different ways, but at a high level we can think about SEO in two basic categories:
- On-site SEO: This is basically anything that you’d do to your own site to generate more relevant search engine traffic. This includes specific on-page elements such as title tags, image ALT tags, meta descriptions, internal linking strategies, as well as technical SEO (i.e. duplicate content issues, etc.). On-site SEO is important for any Website, but may be more or less valuable depending on the type of site you have – for instance this should often be the primary focus for larger websites that have a lot of robust content, broad distribution “built in,” and already have a lot of authority and trust with search engines (such as news sites).
- Off-site SEO: This is essentially a variety of things that would be classified as “link building” such as guest blogging, link outreach and producing share-worthy content. If your site has a relatively small amount of content and is targeting a smaller basket of keywords that are highly relevant to your business, after you get the basics in place with regards to on-page SEO your focus will likely be on building links to help rank for your core terms.
Choosing the right SEO strategies – those that make the most sense for your business — is the first step to a successful campaign. This is followed by the decision between managing these tasks in-house and outsourcing to an SEO agency. Here’s a breakdown of the main strategies falling under each category and how to determine what tactics will make the most senseyou’re your business.
On-Site SEO
On-site content: The content appearing on your Website is the foundation on which you can build the rest of your SEO strategy. Without a solid base of content, traffic-building efforts will produce lackluster results. If your business involves highly technical information, and you have someone on staff with both the bandwidth and the skills to produce quality content, it makes more sense to retain content production in-house.
On the other hand, if your content needs exceed the capabilities of your staff, options include outsourcing to a content provider or hiring a dedicated staff writer. It’s also possible to maintain production in-house and outsource to an editor to refine content before publishing.
Blogs: Blogs alone can require a significant time commitment. But the nice thing about blogs is that having multiple voices is encouraged. In this case, multiple staff members can often contribute content, at least initially. But as your audience grows you may find that you need more frequent updates, so you may choose to outsource to an agency. Like on-site content, if the blog content is highly specialized, it’s probably better to keep it in-house.
Keywords, site structure, & technical SEO: Formatting the navigation and code of a website is one of the most technical aspects of SEO. This is one task not easily managed in-house, unless you’re already employing an SEO specialist or developer knowledgeable in SEO best practices. That said, for many smaller content sites a periodic SEO audit can be effective in keeping your site up to date with best practices without having to retain an SEO on an on-going basis.
Off-site SEO
Overall link building strategy: There are a variety of methods that can be used to drive traffic and links. One of the most effective that is also highly useful for branding and thought leadership is content marketing. You’ll want to spend some time thinking about the different types of content creation and promotion that will be the most efficient and effective for your business, and consider how best to use your resources to execute a content marketing strategy. This could be as simple as periodically publishing well-thought out articles and infographics, or it could be as complex as publishing multiple posts a day and adhering to a strict editorial calendar.
Guest blogging: Guest blogging is a widely-used strategy for both networking and linkbuilding. The process involves outreach, pitching and producing content appropriate for placement on related websites. Guest blogs are often used as a way to establish thought leadership and brand awareness, so informative posts coming from a CEO or other high-level executive have a bigger impact. Still, it’s possible to have posts ghostwritten if you don’t have the capabilities to produce it in-house.
Content creation and linkbait: This category includes case studies, white papers, list posts, edgy blog posts, infographics, webinars, and all the content pieces that can be used to grab attention and encourage social sharing. Infographics should almost always be outsourced unless you employ a skilled graphic designer, while the other tasks can be managed either in-house or via outsourcing depending on the skill level required and the technical level of the content.
Before you determine whether your focus will be on on-page SEO or more on content creation think about some of the following questions:
- Do you have a large site that targets a number of different keywords on a variety of different pages? If so your focus should likely be on technical SEO issues and internal linking and information architecture.
- Do you have a smaller site focusing on a shorter list of keywords? If so you’ll want to find a way to build links into specific pages, likely spending more of your efforts – particularly your ongoing efforts – on content marketing and link building.
- What types of content resources do you have available (who has the ability and bandwidth to write a blog post, an in-depth article, etc.)?
- What types of outreach resources would you have available (in the event that you need to identify a list of sites to promote a contest/piece of content/etc. to who could carry out contacting those sites, if anyone)?
- Do you have any graphic resources available internally?
- Do you have any programming resources available internally (someone who could potentially build a simple widget designed to attract links or make updates to the site that would benefit SEO)?
Obviously in areas that are logical for you to focus on where you have adequate resources you can get those internal resources to work for you. If you’re lacking in the areas that you’ll want to dedicate the most attention to, however, (if your focus should be on technical SEO but you lack technical resources, for instance) those would be areas where you’d want to consider outsourcing.
SEO Photo via Shutterstock
How to Choose the Right SEO Tactics for Your Small Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Small Biz Web Hosting: Recent Developments and Options
May 8th
It goes without saying: your small business needs an online presence. But figuring out where to host it and how to choose hosting is easier said than done. Web hosting options are often described in highly technical terms. Figuring out the best choice can feel like making your way through a maze. Services that provide free and low cost Web hosting for small businesses change periodically. Here are some recent developments in the world of Web hosting:
Changing Your Hosting
Microsoft’s Office Live Small Business is closed. While many small business owners have no doubt relocated their Office Live Small Business accounts to Microsoft’s newest product Office 365, the change clearly leaves some small businesses without a home. It’s a good time to carefully consider your next hosting choice. PC World Business Center
A hosting horror story. This is the reason you want to make the right hosting choice. Here’s one small business owner’s harrowing experience only a few weeks ago that should be enough to make your hair stand on end. What will picking the wrong hosting service mean to your business? Computerworld
Choosing Your Service
A checklist for your Web hosting needs. Choosing a Web host is no small decision and could affect your small business for quite some time. Here’s a checklist that should help you find the right option. Bloggers Passion
Who’s on your shortlist of top hosting companies? There are many hosting companies to choose from and, of course, not all are created equal. Fortunately, helpful lists like this one separate the wheat from the chaff. Site Prebuilder
Exploring New Alternatives
Hosting a Website on Blogger or WordPress. The two blog platforms offer their own free hosting too, and though most business advisers would stress the importance of having your own, these are simple solutions for getting something online fast. TC Times
Some hosting solutions offer extras. For example, Yahoo!, which has for some time offered a small business Web hosting option, has just rolled out a marketing dashboard to add to its other online business features. Do these extras appeal to you? Marketing Land
Taking Security Measures
What if the worst happens? One of the problems we never think about, though we certainly should, is the possibility of that catastrophic day when your hosting company shuts down, making all of your lovely content disappear. Don’t think it can’t happen. Fortunately, these guys can help. PC World
How to keep your e-commerce site safe. It’s a popular online business model, but there are also risks. Sometimes mastering online security is the most challenging part of Web hosting for your small business. Here’s an overview to simplify the challenges. Noobpreneur
Getting Started on a Budget
Shopping for great hosting bargains. As in most other areas in business these days, cost is a huge consideration when it comes to Web hosting. It’s important to get the services you need most without paying more than necessary. Host Review
Initiative aims at providing Web hosting and more. Google and Intuit are teaming up to offer small businesses across the country Web hosting and other tools to get online for free. Other partners in the program include the Association of Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, and Meetup. Has your small business gotten online yet? Small Business Trends
Small Biz Web Hosting: Recent Developments and Options
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
3 Common Small Business Pricing Mistakes
May 7th
You’re rocking the sales funnel, bringing in new business and delivering to your clients like a super star. So why aren’t your profits growing too?
You may be an unwitting victim of common pricing mistakes. These drive-by villains can kill your bottom line. Read on to learn if your profit margin is a target.
Small Business Pricing Mistake #1 – Everybody’s Doing It
You’re almost ready to launch a new product, but still haven’t set the price. To save time, and let’s be frank (or Betty or Joe… ) , to avoid the number crunching, you set your price based on your competitors’ prices. Although the lowest is $99, and the highest is $875, most are in a tight range between $425 and $475. Hmm… how about $462? $462.15? Perfect!
Does this scenario sound familiar to you?
There are two basic problems with this approach. The first is the assumption that your competitors are making a profit with that price. Even big corporations can have the wrong price and take a bottom line beating. While I hated hearing it as a kid, this type of pricing has me quoting my mom:
“If all your friends jumped off a bridge would you jump off too?”
The second problem with this approach is apples, or perhaps I should say apples to oranges. How does their expense structure stack up against yours? Is this truly an apples to apples comparison? Or did some Florida oranges sneak in? Even if, and that is one BIG if, their product is priced correctly, your expenses may be higher which would result in a price that is too low for your business.
In fact, if a direct competitor is an exact clone of you, how do you stand out? You can’t be a leader if you’re following someone else.
Small Business Pricing Mistake #2 – Death by 1,000 Cuts
When working with clients on their pricing I invariably hear, “Why are you asking about that? It’s such a small amount?” This profit killer isn’t a drive-by, it’s death by 1,000 cuts (yes that was really a form of execution). Small doesn’t mean harmless.
Consider a weekly expense that is $5. Seems like peanuts in the grand scheme of things. Now multiply that number by 52 weeks, at $260 it doesn’t seem quite so small. What if you were ignoring five different $5 expenses every week? That’s $1,300!
Small things add up, ignore them at your own peril.
Small Business Pricing Mistake #3 – Why Are You Working for Free?
Many entrepreneurs assume that their pay is in the profit margin. Wrong. Profit margin is what your company earns. What about your time? If you did that same work for another company wouldn’t you bill them? Any product or service you sell involved some of your time, shouldn’t you be paid for it?
Look at it another way. What if someone else had done the work? Wouldn’t you have to pay them? Calculate the cost of your time (if it helps, imagine you’re the employee) and include that in the price. And don’t forget to actually pay yourself.
If you still want to work for free give me a call – I have plenty of projects on my desk!
Final Thoughts
Have you made these pricing mistakes? Are there others you struggle with? What would be the easiest for you to fix today to grow your bottom line?
Oops Photo via Shutterstock
3 Common Small Business Pricing Mistakes
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Small Business Awards and Contests You Should Check Out
May 6th
Apply for a contest or award today — there are good business reasons to do so. First, you get recognition and publicity for your business — and that’s just good marketing. On top of that, it’s good for employees. You give your team something to excite them and to rally around. Finally, awards are good strategy: being nominated and winning can set your business apart from competitors.
But remember, YOU must make it happen, by applying for awards. Don’t be shy — nominate your company. Or nominate a customer or client for an award and show them you care about THEIR success and want to honor them.
The list of awards and competitions below is brought to you by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.
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National Small Business Week Video Contest
Enter by May 11, 2012
In celebration of National Small Business Week 2012, the U.S. Small Business Administration is looking for creative videos from small businesses that show how they have been assisted by an SBA program or service (counseling, training, guaranteed loans, government contracts, disaster recovery, etc.). The video contest will help showcase small businesses across the country that SBA works with on a regular basis. Winning videos will be shown on May 23, 2012 in a Google+ Hangout with the SBA and the White House.
Win FREE Business Cards From MOO
Enter by May 12, 2012
If you have a business with 10 or more employees, you are eligible to enter the random drawing for a chance to win $1,000 in free businesses cards, from Moo.com. The details are here. It runs through May 12, 2012 — so don’t wait. And if you have clients or business partners with 10 or employees in their companies, please let them know about this terrific opportunity. Enter the giveaway here.
The New York Enterprise Report 2012 Small Business Awards
Enter by May 21, 2012
The New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards is the annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of the 500,000+ small businesses throughout the tri-state area. The Small Business Awards will recognize 5 small businesses for their best practices and 3 businesses under the “Best of the Year Awards” categories.
A panel of experts in the related fields will judge all award packages. Awards will be presented to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages, revenue profits and/or long-term value. Please note the criteria and requirements listed on the awards website.
Small Business Influencer Awards 2012
Enter by July 15, 2012
The 2012 Small Business Influencer Awards are now open for nominations! The Influencer Awards honor companies, organizations, apps and people who have made a meaningful and lasting impact on the North American small business market. Impact may mean (i) providing products widely used by significant numbers of small businesses, or (ii) influencing significant numbers of small businesses by being a thought leader, or (iii) providing information or services of note to significant numbers of small businesses. Nominate here.
Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition
Enter by August 8, 2012
The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an annual international business plan competition in Michigan. The event is the world’s largest business plan competition with more than $1 million in prizes. The goals of the competition are to promote Michigan as a venue for innovation and opportunity and stimulate job creation.
The New York Times Make Your Pitch Contest
Enter by August 29, 2012
Submit your pitch on video, telling about your product or service, your marketing plans, your customer base. Tell what makes your business different — why it is one to watch? Do you need capital? If so, how much and what for? Most important, how are you going to make money?
All video pitches that meet the submission guidelines will be featured on The New York Times small-business Facebook page and selected pitches will be featured on the New York Times You’re the Boss Blog.
To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.
If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Small Business Event and Contests Form (it’s free).
Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.
Small Business Awards and Contests You Should Check Out
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Are You Hiring For Your Small Business?
May 6th
Are you hiring for your small business? If you’re like other small business owners, your hiring may have slowed a bit last month. Here are some of the reasons and some additional information on the state of small business hiring.
Hiring Slows
Majority of small businesses aren’t hiring anytime soon. It seems that, despite positive signs in the economy, small businesses will be staying cautious. Is your business being careful about moving forward with new hires? Sacramento Bee
Putting small business hiring within a bigger context. Hiring in general is slower than it has been in seven months across the job creation spectrum. The small business slowdown is part of that larger picture. Los Angeles Times
Inside the Issue
What April’s slow down is all about. Check this report from the National Federation of Independent Business about small business hiring numbers for April. Why has hiring slowed among smaller firms? Reuters
Why are owners so reluctant? We know hiring numbers are not what some were expecting last month. So what’s behind all this timidness? Is there a reason entrepreneurs aren’t priming this particular pump? Mercury News
The Real Deal
Small businesses are creating jobs. Don’t be fooled. While a hiring slow down is cause for concern, there is some context that should be added. Small businesses haven’t stopped creating jobs, but the numbers must be seen from a broader perspective. The Street
Data behind bad hiring numbers. There’s no one reason why small business hiring is in a slump. But all these factors together are taking their toll. Do you see your own business’s story here? The Washington Post
The Broader Perspective
Still hiring faster than the big boys. It’s important to remember that while small businesses aren’t creating jobs as quickly as some might like, they’re still filling more positions than their big business rivals. Entrepreneur
Hiring is down, but not everywhere. Though both small business hiring and size of payroll suffered a drop in April, it turns out that result was not seen everywhere. Are some communities and some businesses bucking the trend? Phoenix Business Journal
Where We Are
Nobody’s given up yet. The good news is that slower hiring rates have nothing to do with small business optimism or stability. Small companies are bouncing back, even if they aren’t hiring as fast as some had hoped. Inc.com
Hiring halted by real concerns. Lack of access to credit heads the list of reasons small businesses aren’t hiring as much as might have been expected. What factors are holding back your hiring and job creation plans? eWeek
Are You Hiring For Your Small Business?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Founder of Radius Intelligence, Darian Shirazi: Sales Intelligence Comes to Small Business
May 4th
If you’ve ever attempted to acquire contact information or background data about a specific company or small business for sales prospecting and were unable to do so, there’s finally some good news for you. Darian Shirazi, Founder of Radius Intelligence, joins Brent Leary to share his solution and break down those obstacles.
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Small Business Trends: Can you give us a little bit of your background first?
Darian Shirazi: I have been in the internet business for quite some time. I have worked with eBay, Facebook and a bunch of different startups. My interests are really around big data and technology solutions.
Small Business Trends: How difficult is it to get good quality information on small businesses?
Darian Shirazi: The challenges that a lot of companies have had in the past is that they don’t really understand or are not able to predict how difficult it is to acquire data about small businesses. You really notice that of the data sources out there, the ones about small businesses are not really complete, and they don’t have a lot of useful data. They don’t have a lot of social data or data on how well the business is doing, who the owner is, who works there and basically the presences across various sites like Yelp, CitySearch, OpenTable, etc.
To get this data you really have to build technology that can do something called named resolutions. What that means is you can basically identify business names in text. So if a news article gets written about a specific business, the technology is able to identify when the news article mentions the business name. Same goes for views, tweets, social data or any piece of content. The program automatically identifies business names in free form text.
This is something that we spent a couple of years on. It is really tough to do well and is something that most companies spend most of their time researching. The only companies that really do it well are Google, a few small startups and us.
Small Business Trends: So just how much information do you have on small businesses?
Darian Shirazi: We track 15 million small business in the United States in real time and we have more than half a billion pieces of data right now. We are adding about 10 to 30 million of pieces of data per month, depending on the month and the amount of new data we can find. The data types are social data, government data, people data, business listing metadata, daily deals, news articles and reviews. We have hundreds of thousands of sources that we track on real time. We do our best to make sure that everything is always fresh.
Small Business Trends: You also stated you have a lot of localized information?
Darian Shirazi: We have targeted a lot of really interesting local data sources and the reason why is because businesses get mentioned in articles that are on local blogs. Whether someone really likes a specific dog grooming company or dog grooming business. Or does not like the specific dog grooming business that might be written in the local blog more so than any other sources.
Small Business Trends: You mentioned in a previous conversation there are around 10 millions sales people that are actively trying to do business with very small businesses? What is the biggest challenge you hear from them?
Darian Shirazi: The biggest challenge is really just prioritizing leads and knowing which leads to go after. They are trying to get more intelligent about certain things but, all in all, they are having trouble prioritizing leads for local sales forces. In our situation, we really are trying to help these local sales forces identify, understand and prioritize small business leads.
Small Business Trends: So how do those kinds of people use your services? How easy is it for them to find and then follow that information?
Darian Shirazi: It is very easy. You literally go into Salesforce.com and find our ad and immediately start generating new leads off of our service. You can prioritize leads and import data directly into Salesforce, which is particularly useful. Being able to import data is a big deal and you can use it inside of other CRM applications.
For sales people who don’t use CRM, which there are a lot of small business sellers that don’t use the typical “bells and whistles” in systems like Salesforce.com or Microsoft Dynamics, they can use the product as a standalone. They can go to Radius.com and get an account.
Small Business Trends: You are able to get contact level information on these folks that work at small businesses?
Darian Shirazi: For some businesses, yes. We are working on getting it for every business. The government data that we have acquired has all of the owner names, mailing addresses and those kinds of things that we have for a good number of businesses. We have phone numbers and other contact info for most of the other businesses. Actually, phone numbers for every business. But other contact information depends on the business itself.
Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about your service?
Darian Shirazi: Check out the product and sign up for a free trial at RadiusIntel.com or RadiusIntelligence.com.
Brent shares a few of his impressions of Radius’ offering on his blog as well.
This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.
Whether you’re growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]
Founder of Radius Intelligence, Darian Shirazi: Sales Intelligence Comes to Small Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Heightened Awareness: Small Businesses Address Today’s Worker Vulnerabilities
May 2nd
May is full of important health and wellness awareness dates, including Employee Health & Fitness Month, Disability Awareness Month and Women’s Health Week (May 13-19).
However, whether or not small businesses recognize these and other official declarations, there are two critical observations decision-makers need to make about their employees today, and consider year-round, because of their potential to directly impact business productivity and turnover costs.
First, U.S. workers are in denial about the likelihood of accidents and serious illnesses. In addition, they are not prepared to handle the financial consequences of unexpected health issues.
Workers’ Unrealistic Health Optimism
When it comes to anticipating a serious illness or accident, Americans may be overly optimistic. According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures 2012, one in three women and one in two men will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. The American Heart Association’s Heart Disease & Stroke Statistics 2012 shows that one in six U.S. deaths in 2008, was caused by coronary heart disease.
Despite these findings, the 2012 Aflac WorkForces Report revealed six out of 10 workers (62 percent) think it’s not very or not at all likely they or a family member will be diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer, and more than half (55 percent) said they were not very or not at all likely to be diagnosed with a chronic illness, such as heart disease or diabetes.
In addition, despite optimism about their physical health, the study reveals that American workers also are concerned about their financial health, and many admit they are unprepared to handle the financial consequences of a serious illness or accident in their family.
Financial Strain & Productivity Drain
Half of American workers (51 percent) are trying to reduce debt, according to the Aflac study, and nearly six in 10 (58 percent) don’t have a financial plan to handle the unexpected. In addition, only eight percent of U.S. workers strongly agree their family will be financially prepared in the event of an unexpected emergency, and 28 percent have less than $500 (51 percent have less than $1,000) in savings for emergency expenses.
These are among the personal challenges weighing on workers’ minds daily and impacting individual productivity through absenteeism and distracted work. Decision-makers are keenly aware. In fact, 63 percent of leaders at small businesses believe that productivity is lost because employees are concerned about personal issues, according to the study.
The fact that American workers aren’t aware of their medical risks and the potential financial impact of those risks is a very real concern that is only compounded when workers don’t take full advantage of available benefits options or adjust their savings strategies to be more prepared.
For example, when asked how they would pay for out-of-pocket expenses due to an unexpected illness, the study found that more than half (57 percent) of respondents said they would have to tap into savings, 30 percent would use a credit card and 19 percent—nearly one out of five people—would have to withdraw funds from their 401(k) plans to cover the costs.
Now, more than ever, American workers need to understand that well-being means more than just good health—it’s being prepared for the reality of whatever life may bring and taking the necessary measures to protect themselves and their families. A very real connection exists between health and finances—a worker’s financial stability and employment security can be threatened by an unexpected illness or accident, and conversely, the ability to obtain adequate medical care can be influenced by finances.
Many Benefits of Employer Action
Most individuals are looking to their employers to educate them about all available benefits options, not just traditional benefits changes or choices, to better understand how they can have a more secure safety net.
The Aflac study revealed that 58 percent of employees at small businesses would be likely to purchase voluntary health insurance plans if offered by their employer. Yet, small businesses are least likely to offer voluntary insurance policies (just 19 percent, compared to 41 percent of medium-sized and large companies) for various reasons, including the common misconception that these policies will increase their health care costs. Workers’ perceived lack of benefits understanding also is a limiting factor.
For example, only 19 percent of HR decision-makers at small businesses believe their employees are extremely/very knowledgeable about voluntary benefits.
However, despite these low figures, small businesses excel at putting employees’ benefits interests first. The study found that small businesses are more likely than medium-sized and large businesses to rank taking care of employees as their top objective, with 23 percent ranking it first. More small businesses are realizing that making group voluntary insurance policies available to employees has no direct cost and may reduce corporate taxes by cutting FICA tax contributions.
Additionally, savvy decision-makers are seeing the value of voluntary plans to not only enhance a company’s benefits package and competitive status versus larger organizations’ benefits programs, but they can demonstrate to employees that they matter and ultimately help avoid the high cost of turnover.
Conclusion
Once benefit options are added or expanded, it’s critical for employers to effectively communicate year-round about how new benefit options like voluntary insurance can help with high out-of-pocket expenses associated with a serious illness or accident. By doing so, businesses can not only help their workers have a better understanding of the options that are right for them, but also help reduce common mistakes made during the enrollment process, generate stronger retention, and build greater appreciation for their total compensation packages.
Health Photo via Shutterstock
Heightened Awareness: Small Businesses Address Today’s Worker Vulnerabilities
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
The Truth About Pinterest for Your Small Business
May 2nd
The new social media site Pinterest has some definite benefits for small business, but be aware there are some negative aspects too. Like many other tools, it has pros and cons you should understand before getting started.
New Frontier
Tips for new tools. Here’s an introductory look at how Pinterest can be used as a small business tool. There are also some helpful tips on how to get started using the site with small business in mind. SeaCoastOnline.com
Hurt by social media? You’ve probably heard the advice by now that Pinterest can have a positive affect on your business. But one business owner had quite the opposite experience with spammers on the site who actually did her business harm. Mashable
Business Opportunities
Affiliate marketing opportunities. Pinterest has had a shaky history where affiliate marketing is concerned. Initially, the site’s own Skimlinks affiliate program caused an outcry among users. Currently, an independent affiliate marking program called PinDollars is being treated as spam by the social network. Small Business Trends
A new home for crafting businesses. It wasn’t so long ago that Etsy was dominating the news as a place for crafting small business owners to market their products. Today, Pinterest is appealing to this group in a different way. ReporterNews
Big Success
Pinterest’s founder speaks. If you want to know how this innovative social network changed the game in social media completely, there’s no better place to start than with the story of the company’s rise and no better place to hear that story than from the company’s founder. Business Insider
Big brands discovered it. How about you? If some of these companies are using the features of the world’s most talked about social media network, why not your small business brand? How can Pinterest boost your company’s visibility? InvestorPlace
Digging Deeper
A new era in marketing. In April, business coach Stephanie Ward participated in a live chat with the BizSugar community on Facebook about marketing small business using Pinterest. Here is a brief overview of that session with a link to the archived chat. BizSugar Blog
Some fatal flaws. Despite its increased user base and growing popularity, some critics say Pinterest presents some problems not easy to ignore. Are these issues bigger than those troubling other social networks? CreateHype
Reality Check
The legal deal. One of the biggest concerns raised about Pinterest again and again is one of copyright infringement. Before starting to use Pinterest for your small business, explore the legal ramifications possible for this new tool. JD Supra
The big appeal. Before you start using Pinterest, maybe it would help to better understand the appeal the site has with its rapidly expanding fan base. Here are some important things to consider about why we love love Pinterest. Los Angeles Times
The Truth About Pinterest for Your Small Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Small Business No Longer Plagued By Recession Pessimism
May 1st
According to the spring 2012 release of the twice-a-year PNC Economic Outlook Survey, small business owners are no longer as pessimistic about the economy as they were during the economic downturn and the early part of the recovery. However, they aren’t exactly back to their pre-recession optimism either.
The nationally representative survey of approximately 500 business owners and managers of companies with sales of between $100,000 and $250 million per year shows that the net percentage of respondents who were pessimistic (percentage pessimistic minus percentage optimistic) about the local economy was 22 percent in the spring of 2012.
This was the lowest level since the fall of 2007, when the net percentage pessimistic was 1 percent. But back in the fall of 2004, 9 percent of small and medium sized business owners were more optimistic about their local economy than pessimistic about it.
A similar pattern can be seen in the business owners’ optimism about their own companies. A net 11 percent were optimistic this spring, the most positive level since the fall of 2007. But again, these numbers are low in comparison to before the recession. In the spring of 2007, for instance, a net 30 percent of respondents were optimistic.
Moreover, decision makers at small and medium-sized businesses remain profoundly pessimistic about the national economy. A net 38 percent were pessimistic about that in the spring of 2012. In comparison to the net 15 percent who were optimistic in the fall of 2004, that’s not very positive at all.
Then again it’s not the horrific net 69 percent pessimistic about the national economy recorded in the spring of 2009.
Optimistic Photo via Shutterstock
Small Business No Longer Plagued By Recession Pessimism
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Concur Small Business Aims for Zero Keystrokes in Travel Expense Reports
Apr 30th
Concur has given a new name and new features to its travel expense management reporting software. Formerly called Concur Breeze, the online software application is now Concur Small Business edition.
What I found interesting is the company’s philosophy for the product. They’ve taken a set of activities – – reporting on travel expenses — and want to make those activities as fast and easy as possible by reducing keystrokes and duplicate data entry. According to Thomas Marks, Director of Small Business for Concur, the company’s is driving toward zero keystrokes for small businesses. ”Time equals money in small businesses,” he says.
Concur wants to help save time for business owners and company employees who travel on business, by automatically capturing expense and travel data that already exists in other places, such as receipts and credit card statements, and pulling it into Concur’s expense management application. In other words, instead of your employees rekeying the same data into different applications, the technology does the heavy lifting to capture and move data.
The product lets you:
- Capture expense receipts with a smartphone
- Upload or email receipts
- Sync credit card charges automatically
- File or submit expenses using a mobile device and Concur’s mobile app
Concur also owns TripIt. If you use TripIt for travel itineraries, the Concur software will extract expense information automatically out of the itinerary and sync it up with credit card statements, so that you don’t have to do all that grunt work. Then, when the expense report is ready, it automatically syncs data with QuickBooks (desktop edition), so that your accounting records are immediately updated.
Concur Small Business has been redesigned to be more intuitive to use in this latest update, with a streamlined dashboard and “smart tips” providing onscreen guidance. That’s important, because today software has to be “learnable” on your own, without sending people through time-consuming training.
According to Marks, the core market for this product is businesses with 50 employees and under, although larger companies can use Concur Small Business, as can solo entrepreneurs. It is available for companies located in the United States and the U.K.
Concur was founded about 20 years ago as QuickExpense. Twelve years ago the company began migrating to a cloud based platform, and now all their apps are completely in the form of Web-based or mobile applications. Concur acquired TripIt in late January 2011. Concur serves the enterprise market as well as the small business market, with 18 million end users in 100 countries around the world.
Concur Small Business Aims for Zero Keystrokes in Travel Expense Reports
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