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President Obama: Small Business is Part of His Reelection Strategy
Feb 7th
President Obama is urging Congress to support legislation to expand tax cuts for small businesses and free up capital for startups.
His proposed “Startup America Legislative Agenda,” would eliminate taxes on capital gains in investments in small businesses and provide a 10 percent income tax credit on for new hires or to spur job-creation, double the deductions a startup business could take from $5,000 to $10,000, and extend 100 percent first-year depreciation for qualified property. The President will offer details of his proposals in the fiscal 2013 budget that will be submitted to Congress on February 13.
In an election year in which the economy will likely be the determining factor, both Democrats and Republicans will want to be seen as supporting small business, and cutting taxes is always popular with the electorate.
The White House sees small business growth as a primary driver of the economy. In fact, my company has been providing data on loan approval rates at big banks, small banks, credit unions and other alternative lenders to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers for the past several months. While the economy has risen above the dark period in early 2009 when the country was in a tailspin, the recovery is far from complete.
Credit markets are still tight for entrepreneurs, and big banks, in particular, are making it more and more difficult for startups. For example, many ask for three years’ worth of financial data before granting loans. How can a startup provide such numbers? Therein lies the challenge.
President Obama is positioning himself as an advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation. It is a good platform for reelection. Recently, he elevated Karen Mills, head of the Small Business Administration (SBA), to be a member of his cabinet. The President called this decision:
“A symbol of how important it is for us to spur entrepreneurship, to help startups, to move aggressively so that we can assure more companies that create the most jobs in our economy.”
The SBA has been instrumental in getting funding for startups, particularly during a period when financial institutions have been reluctant to lend. The agency’s 90 percent loan guarantee program was very successful, and only a very small percentage of SBA-backed loans defaulted.
Although it is admirable that the President is trying to be innovative, I believe the government’s most effective vehicle to help small companies has been the SBA, which was created by President Eisenhower almost 50 years ago. Ironically, it has been the Republicans who have called for the scaling back of the agency. President Obama has repeatedly bolstered the SBA, and its loan programs have helped countless businesses get the funding they need for growth.
President Obama Photo via Shutterstock
President Obama: Small Business is Part of His Reelection Strategy
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Steps and Strategy: It’s About a Niche and Productivity
Jan 27th
Small business owners often shoot from the hip, do what others will not do and sometimes attempt to accomplish monumental tasks in small amounts of time with limited resources. I respect the ambition. We have things like the telephone, the car, the ipod because of this frontiersman like ambition. But there is a process to everything.
As John Mariotti says in, “You Can’t Rush The Harvest:”
“After the right steps are taken the crop grows and matures.”
While he was talking about government programs, spending and job creation, it holds true for business development. So, instead of diving in head first, take a few strategy steps first.
Here are two areas to consider: Niches and Productivity.
Niche It And Make It Stick
In “How To Find A Market Niche That Makes Money” Ivana Taylor says:
“It’s counterintuitive to think that by focusing on a smaller market you will actually make more money, but it’s true.”
Niches give you a chance to focus on a target market. That focus means you can truly know your entire market and create solutions that resonate with them. Instead of having an “every man” product, you can effectively create the “go to” solution for your niche.
Focus is powerful. The problem is small businesses are often slow to accept the power of niches and choose to serve everybody. Well, Walmart type companies have everybody covered, you can afford to niche and take care of specific markets.
Lean, Mean Productivity
We are not factories, but productivity matters to us just like any other company. Are you getting the best bang for your buck? Are you making the most of the time that you pay for? How much are you getting done?
Even if it’s a one man or one woman business, you still want to know that your tools, your independent contractors, your late night efforts are saving you time and making you money. You want to know that it’s worth it. And there’s only one way to know.
In “Pride And Productivity: A Win Win Combination,” John Mariotti says, “If you want productivity to be good—and get better—then measure it and manage it.” You have to track your efforts. And you have to manage the work.
But how?
For businesses with employees, managers are important. That’s their role. They need to understand the business, the team and the company goals. Then they are responsible for inspiring, informing and managing the outcome.
For solopreneurs you have to manage yourself. And that means tracking your efforts. I suggest a time sheet that documents how many hours you spend on each task and the end results. This way you can see if you truly save money by designing your own website, being your own bookkeeper, and developing your own marketing strategy without the support of an experienced team.
I use an app to measure my activity (so that I can track it in my phone—iTimesheet). And it has been an eye opener. This data helps me understand which activities cost the most and make the most.
Remember, the cost of time always counts.
Niche Photo via Shutterstock
Steps and Strategy: It’s About a Niche and Productivity
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Do This, Don’t Do That: A Strategy for Unique Business Building
Jan 21st
Small business leadership requires an incredible range of decisions. Your strategy is key to navigating these successfully. Having a unique strategy separates you from the pack.
Opportunities
So you think your business is unique? Better reserve judgement until you check out some of these. We all know that part of branding is that initial impact your business makes on customers. And, of course, on creating that one unique product or service no one else has. Yahoo! News
How not to handle business reputations. When looking at the way celebrities and gurus handle their small businesses, we are sometimes treated to a view of how we hope our businesses someday might be. Not in this case. Here’s a look at what can go completely wrong when managing your reputation. David Leonhardt’s SEO and Social Media Marketing
Marketing
Video tips you should ignore. There are so many tips abounding on managing your small business, including your business online, that you’d be surprised hearing someone advocate ignoring them. Work At Home Woman
What separates great entrepreneurs from all the rest? David Siteman Garland shares this simple thought after time spent interviewing some of the most successful small business leaders on the Web. There is no secret formula for success and no substitute for paying your dues. The Rise to the Top
Sales
Steps to better e-commerce success. It’s called the empty shopping cart syndrome. What happens when you set up that online store only to have nothing happen? Nothing at all! Don’t loose hope. As with any problem there is a solution. Learn more about how to turn e-commerce failure to success. Buzz Small Business Magazine
So you want to do business with China. Small businesses have better odds than ever before, even as exporters. Certainly the Web and other technology will help you if you have the products, services and marketing to be a success. But hold it! This infographic suggests some obstacles. High Street Partners
Management
What a city in Spain can teach the world about branding. Plenty. Let us tell you! Check out this post on how one city has promoted itself to incredible heights and how these techniques are things you should already be trying in your business. Bloggertone
Bring your employees into the game. You know that your employees are the key to your businesses success. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that giving them a stake in the outcome is far more likely to lead to success. But when looking at compensation, how can you find the equation that works the best? You’re the Boss
Leadership
Your mantras for success. A mantra is meant to be a short phrase repeated over and over again to reinforce an idea. This list of suggestions is clearly worth recitation by any entrepreneur wishing to find success and take it to the next level. Inc.com
How not to lead. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is just another anti-Washington rant or one more critique of SOPA and the potential damage it could have done to the world as we know it. Oh no. It is much more! It is an object lesson about the kind of leadership we desperately need…now! Seth Godin’s Blog
Do This, Don’t Do That: A Strategy for Unique Business Building
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Turning Marketing Strategy Into Action
Jan 13th
Turning Marketing Strategy Into Action
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Today I’m speaking with a group of small business owner that want to know about how to develop a marketing strategy that truly allows them to differentiate what they do from others.
Cubmundo via Flickr
I wrote recently about how to find your point of differentiation by seeking clarity and you may find that post a perfect compliment to what I am going to share today.
To me getting clear about strategy is the most important challenge business owners face and I’m going to challenge them first to look inward. I’m going to ask them to choose a marketing strategy that is infused with who they, why they do what they do and how to use that story to attract opportunities and clients.
But then I’m going to give them a very specific set of tactics to put their strategy into action and on display.
Every industry group feels that their business, their needs, their way of marketing is unique – that they are the only ones that must rely on word of mouth or referrals. While every industry has a unique set of clients, a unique language, maybe even an unusual distribution model, the way that customers come to know, like and trust them is fundamentally the same.
Today, specifically, I am going to introduce this group to a core set of practices that every business can use to communicate their simple, clear, marketing strategy.
Build and tell stories – You must develop a set of core stories that you use in your business building. The stories that help people understand how your business is different, not because of what it does so much, but because of what it cares about or doesn’t do.
These stories must radiate from you, your staff, and your community and will ultimately make up the foundation of your brand promise.
Sell by teaching – You must commit to using education as your primary means of influence. This is one of the most powerful ways to differentiate your business in the eyes of those that come to work for you as well as those that comes to experience your unique point of view through exposure to your teaching.
When you embrace teaching in everything you do, your staff begins to understand that the company is their first customer.
Become a platform – It’s no longer enough to think in terms of building a product or service. In fact, it’s no longer enough to simply build a community of prospects, users and buyers.
In order to truly differentiate you must begin to think of your business as a platform for others to get what they need. You must expand your thinking from business to marketplace.
Can you create opportunity for strategic partners? Can you teach others how to launch businesses from your business? Can you mentor employees and become a hub for their personal growth?
These are questions that will take you far beyond the typical business building mindset, but the answers may become the higher purpose for your business.
Reverse the experience – Finally, I’m going to suggest that the greatest way to deliver a remarkable marketing strategy is to deliver a remarkable marketing experience before, during and after a customer is a customer.
I’ve shared my concept of the Marketing Hourglass now with tens of thousands of small business owners, but only recently have I determined that the best way to construct any product or service experience with this tool is to do it in reverse.
To borrow from a well-worn bit of wisdom, if you want to deliver an exceptional experience you must start with the end in mind. You must begin the entire process by considering what you will do 90 or 180 days after you make a sale and then work backwards to the point where you first meet.
To some these ideas may feel foreign and not at all like a substantial way of doing business, but to others they will ring true and real and perhaps for the first time they will be able to differentiate their business with perfect clarity.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Simple Strategy, Extraordinary Profits
Dec 27th
Proven Step-by-step Strategy For Profiting In The Stock Market. Still Converts Today As High As It Did When It Was First Released.
Simple Strategy, Extraordinary Profits
M.o.b.s. – My Online Business Strategy By Gary Gregory
Dec 13th
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M.o.b.s. – My Online Business Strategy By Gary Gregory
Blackjack Sniper Software – Advanced Strategy Slaps The Casinos Silly
Dec 1st
Win At Blackjack. Make Great Money. This Is High Converting Blackjack Gambling Software That Works In The Online Casinos. Youtube Videos And Multi-language Support. Earn 75% Per Sale www.blackjacksniper.com/affiliates
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Get Outside Your Comfort Zone: Negotiation, Honesty, Strategy
Nov 28th
Getting what you want often requires you to do things that you have never done before–to step outside your comfort zone. In order to do that in a manner that consistently makes sense to you, you have to get clear about what you want. John Mariotti says,
“All of life is a negotiation.”
And if he’s correct, then it’s time to become a deal maker. In “You Don’t Get What You Deserve: You Get What You Negotiate,” John points out that making deals
“. . . is a learned skill. Some people are naturally better at it than others, but everyone benefits from learning the principles of good negotiation.”
Talk about moving outside your comfort zone: Negotiation tends to scare people. To get you over that hurdle, John refers to several tips by expert Chester Karrass, including training that incorporates role playing. Another tip that I appreciate is doing your homework.
Know what you need and want, and what the other side needs and wants, and then come up with an opportunity that serves both sides.
It’s funny how so much of our businesses (and our lives) are driven by clarity. In “7 Habits That Made Steve Jobs a Success,” Susan L. Reid says,
“Be true to yourself. Jobs succeeded by following his own ‘inner voice, heart and intuition.’”
We can do the same once we learn how to uncover the ideas. And that may require you to develop a creative process including the use of a tool like mind mapping. Anita Campbell says,
“For those times when you need or want to generate ideas on your own, mind mapping can be a great solution.”
In “To Get Innovative, Harness the Power of Mind Mapping,” Anita mentions that this tool:
“. . . essentially means representing your ideas graphically.”
I use mind mapping any time I think I’m blocked. And when I finish the exercise, I usually have more ideas than I have time to pursue. But why does it work? Anita asks,
“Why does mind mapping stimulate more creativity than simply writing lists of ideas on a whiteboard?”
According to the experts, mind mapping (called clustering in other circles) stimulates both sides of your brain and liberates your thinking. I know it works for me. Try it the next time you need to dream a bigger dream.
It’s time to get clear.
Get Outside Your Comfort Zone: Negotiation, Honesty, Strategy
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
The Confusion of Logistics and Strategy Problem
Nov 27th
So widespread, it deserves an acronym: CLASP.
You have a clasp when people criticize your new strategy because they don’t know how to execute it.
Yes, a new strategy has to be executable, or it’s merely a wish. No, the logistics behind it don’t have to be tried and true. It’s one job to dream up a strategy and another job to execute it. Whining about how hard the logistics are is just fine, but don’t conflate this with thoughtful feedback about whether your strategy makes sense.
Just about every great new project couples a brilliant strategy with impossible logistics that somehow get handled.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Income Creation Racing Strategy
Nov 13th
Experienced Racing Experts Publish New Strategy, Taking The Racing World By Storm! Brilliant Three Plan Tactical Approach Based On Misconceived Fact. High Conversions, Excellent Customer Support, Reputable Authors. Affiliate Maximum Support And Promotion!
Income Creation Racing Strategy
