Small Business Center

Social media remains one of the most hotly debated ideas in the business world today. While proponents argue that use of social media ranging from Facebook to Twitter to blogs and beyond gives small businesses an outsized advantage allowing them both to market and to leverage resources on an equal par with larger competitors, detractors say that social media can be a terrible “time sink” taking resources from more important aspects of running a business and that its impact is overstated. In this Small Business Trends roundup, we look at the challenges and rewards of using social media effectively in your small business:

Tips

Who’s got the time? Small business owner and blogger Pat Henry is spent. After business classes, work, a small business he runs on the side and some time for rest and recreation, he’s finding that what started as a commitment to blogging has become a chore. The same with the rest of his social media efforts. Like anything, social media takes time. Make sure the investment is worth it and be sure you are measuring what you are getting in return. Small Business Community

When the honeymoon is over. Just like a marriage or good long-term customer service, using social media to engage your readers, including potential customers, clients and partners, is about being in it for the long haul. Margaret Durand, development director at Passion for Creative, has just returned from her own honeymoon, (Congratulations, Margaret!) and has some tips for keeping the zest alive in any relationship. Why not apply them to your social media efforts? Bloggertone

Parenthood and social media marketing. And, hey, while we’re comparing various life experiences to the properties of social media, here’s another more direct tie from Tamar Weinberg (six ties actually), all of them also drawn from a very recent life experience, specifically becoming a mother. No need to wonder how to deal with this alien thing called social media. Like many other aspects of your business, it’s really about who you are already. Techipedia

Strategy

Social media marketing is a lead generator. For any who doubt the value of social media beyond the rather touchy feely and difficult to qualify function of “building relationships” and “building community”, entrepreneur Bill Rice argues there is a hard value to social media as a lead generator. In fact, he lists it among the five important online lead generators including Pay Per Click and other techniques. Lead Buying

Using social media for your next hire. Remember that social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t simply a good tool for marketing your company, product or service to potential customers and clients. They can also be a great place to locate potential talent for your small business, so great in fact, that experts suggest your next hire may be located through a social media site. Here are some points to consider. National Federation of Independent Business

How to build a brand with social media.Whether you are a small to medium sized business with a full staff of employees, a mom and pop with some part-timers and a small but loyal pool of customers or a one-person business operating on a shoestring from your kitchen table, Aliza Sherman insists social media is a great way to establish who you are, what you do and what you stand for. The key is knowing how to set the right tone. Creative Freelancer Conference Blog

Tools

A whole new kind of social media for your small business. If you haven’t yet heard of or used Foursquare for your small business, you will soon. Consultant Ryan Taft is a HUGE advocate of this new platform which lets customers tell friends what favorite local business they are patronizing and offers many other interesting ways for restaurants, bars and cafes to interact with their regulars. Read more from Ryan at the link above. Catalyst Marketers

Not using Twitter yet? There are plenty of reasons you should start. Don’t listen to the crowd insisting it won’t have an impact on your business. The audience on Twitter is large and growing and the service is free to use. More importantly, there are some potential negatives to not “Tweeting.” Want more proof? Check out these five reasons you should get started with Twitter for your small business today. National Federation of Independent Business

Trends

So how exactly does this social media thing work? Brian Rice attended a social media summit recently focused on marketing and was kind enough to share this overview. But frankly, the presentations suggest there are still more questions than answers. And most likely using social media effectively for your business will be something you’ll need to work out for yourself. B2C Marketing Insider

Want to know how to master social media? Heidi’s got the idea. Heidi is a self-proclaimed “groupie” at BizSugar.com. A sister site to Small Business Trends, BizSugar is also a social media platform where small business owners can network and share important tips and information. The site also has a system allowing members to vote on each others’ submissions, and Heidi wrote this detailed post to her fellow members about what it will take to get her attention. Heidimeister’s Blog

Popularity: 9% [?]

I’m beginning to understand where this has to go. There’s an obvious progression. We – business users in general, in developed economies — started with desktop computers, then added a laptop. Quickly, it became multiple desktops, one in the office, and another at home. Then we had multiple laptops, as we accumulated one and another. Then new devices, as phones became Internet devices. The future is leading us to connection – the same thing on all of our devices.

Say you have Windows desktop and laptop, Mac Desktop and laptop, and an iPhone. We’ve come to assume being able to transfer files and use them on the different computers, using dropbox or briefcase and others. But what about just having your stuff wherever you are? That’s the next big wave.

First example: Amazon Kindle software.

You don’t even have to own a Kindle. Just set up a Kindle account. Buy a Kindle book and you can read it on your Windows or Mac desktop, Windows or Mac laptop, your iPhone, your iPad, your iPod touch. Furthermore, when you go from one device to another, if you have any kind of a connection, the Kindle will automatically synchronize to your furthest read page.

For example, last Sunday when I woke up in New York, facing a cross-country trip back home to Eugene, I checked into the Kindle software on my iPad and remembered I wanted to read Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense by Robert Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer. So I bought it with a single click, sent it to my iPad, and sent it to my iPhone. In the airport, I started it on the iPad. In the plane, I switched to the iPhone when they served the meal. Later, at home, I switched it to a Windows laptop I keep by my bedside, for reading before going to sleep. Later, writing a blog post, I’ll send the book to my office Windows desktop to take some quotes from it as I review it. No problem. I can get it on any device.

Second example: Evernote

Take a note while you’re on the phone at your desktop computer in the office, access it later from your phone when you need it, on the road. Addresses, shopping lists, reminders … having Evernote on all of my devices means I’m likely to be able to take the note wherever I am, and use the note wherever I am.

A notepad just for your computer? Just on your desktop in the office, or just on the desktop at home? No, thanks, not as useful.

TweetDeck and Wordpress:

Wordpress is now available on every computer and every device. So is TweetDeck, which I use for twitter. And I find myself leaning towards Google Docs for word processing, instead of the older word processors, because the files are just there, when I open it.

But still, far from perfect …

• Most of the use-everywhere apps still depend on being able to get online. Tough luck with Evernote if you get to the grocery store with the list you made and the phone doesn’t connect. Tough luck with tweetdeck or Google Docs while you’re on that plane without wireless. The Kindle app is a notable exception. It breaks that problem, though, as long as you download and synchronize before you leave the connection. And Google Gears offers some decent options too.
• Screen size is an obvious issue. Not all apps lend themselves to all devices. For example, I like Mindmeister, mind mapping online, and I’ve paid for an annual subscription and I use it on both Mac and Windows. But the iPhone option, reasonably priced at $6.00, isn’t that interesting. The iPhone is too small.

And more examples:

Please help me with this list. I’m just scratching the surface. You’ll think of more examples because so many of us are starting to find and use these device-independence applications, and once we discover them, we like them. Please share them.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Recently I presented a webinar for the Verizon Small Business Center on the topic of SEO (search engine optimization)  strategies for your small business.   I am not an SEO professional myself, so I called upon a panel of experts for small business SEO tips which I related during the webinar.

Along with giving some great SEO tips, the expert panel also recommended a reading list with resources and additional articles.

Here is the resource list they recommended so that you can study and learn more about how SEO can improve your online presence:

• SEO Tools – An outstanding set of tools by Aaron Wall of SEOBook.com.  I happen to know that Aaron has invested a lot of capital and effort into developing these sophisticated tools for the community.  Highly recommended!

• Bloggers Guide to SEO –  If you have a blog and want to understand enough about search engine optimization to increase your blog’s reach, read this helpful guide. ( It may take a couple of read-throughs if you’re a complete newbie about SEO, but stick with it.  You’ll absorb a little more each time you read it. )  Also by Aaron Wall.

• Why Trust Matters and How to Earn It – In recent years, as the Web has grown larger, the concept of “trust” in your site has become more important — trust from human readers and trust from search engines.  This article by Matt McGee of Small Business SEM explains what trust means in the context of a website.  More importantly, it explains how to make YOUR site a trusted site.

• SEO Success Pyramid graphic – Also from Matt McGee, this graphic is a companion to the article on trust.  It describes  visually the many components it takes to develop a trusted site.  I recommend you print this graphic out, distribute it to your marketing and tech teams, discuss it in team meetings, and refer back to it from time to time.

• Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2009 – At the end of each year, social media guru Tamar Weinberg pulls together a gigantic “best of” list of blog posts about Internet marketing.  Her roundup contains well over 100 articles.  A must read!

• Local Business Listing Optimization Guide – If yours is one of the majority of small businesses that gets its customers locally (i.e., within a 50-mile radius), you need to be aware of some special techniques. This Guide is from Vedran Tomic, who happens to be one of our Small Business Trends experts and who goes by the screen handle “SEO Rabbit.”

• List Of Linking Tools — Getting links to our sites from other quality sites is crucial to search engine position.  Widely acknowledged as an expert in the field of link-building, Debra Mastaler suggests this list.  Even if you think you know a little bit about building links, I guarantee you’ll see at least one tool you’ve never heard of before but will want to try out. See also Debra’s related article with link building tools.

• 5 Quick Ways to Improve Facebook SEO – With so many of us spending so much time on Facebook, don’t forget about increasing your company’s (and personal brand) Facebook presence for search purposes.  This is a post from here at Small Business Trends that I recommend.

Do you have any articles, tools or resources about SEO that you’d like to recommend?  Leave them in a comment below.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I’ve always thought the basics of business were pretty simple. Create a good product, get out the word, sell it at a fair price, and be nice.

But I’ve sat through enough graph loaded, jargon jammed, longwinded meetings to know that not everyone is satisfied with the basics.

So one day, after mocking an overly complicated PowerPoint, I got the above idea for breaking it down as simply as possible:  money = happy.

It took a little longer to find just the right caption to go along with it, but judging by the almost constant sales of this cartoon, I suspect I found it.

Popularity: 8% [?]

In a recent webinar titled, “Small Business, Big Wins: Innovative Tools to Drive Your Business Forward,” Anita Campbell joined webinar host and Co-Founder of StartupNation, Rich Sloan, and Barbara Corcoran, real estate mogul and Founder of multi-media company Barbara Corcoran, Inc. (Barbara also happened to have a key role in the ABC reality show for aspiring entrepreneurs, Shark Tank.)

Together they participated in a roundtable discussion on how to leverage the opportunities that this economy is providing (Yes, I said “opportunities” . . . many exist during an economic downturn).  The panel discussed  how you can take the challenges and obstacles standing in your way and use them to propel your business forward through innovation, quick thinking – and maybe even a bit of risk taking.

So how on earth do you begin to do that, you ask? Well, here are just a few examples of success strategy tips that you can start with from the webinar discussion:

“Wise use of technology can give you expansion capacity without increasing your expense burden greatly.” ~ Anita Campbell

Experiment with technology.  The cost of technology has come down, and there’s a lot of it out there that can help you to increase productivity.  You can expand the number of new customers you bring on, without necessarily adding employees right away — keeping your costs low.   Your goal – a lot of experimentation and then mastery of only the technology that is most useful to you.

“When the big companies are cutting back and lying low, that’s the best time for the little guy to move ahead.” ~ Barbara Corcoran

Big companies have “pecking orders” to approve change and this takes time.  Timing is crucial and the little guy doesn’t have the hierarchy and red tape that large corporations and big businesses do.  This is your advantage as an entrepreneur or small business owner.  Free yourself to take a risk, be nimble, move quickly – and then take a deep breath and a giant leap forward.

Think you and your small business can’t do it?  Think again and remember, as Barbara says, “The big guy might have the corner on money, but the little guy always has the corner on creativity.” Use that creativity of yours and don’t be afraid to take a risk every now and then.  Experimentation is key.  Some risks may not pay, but some may . . . and when a risk pays, it usually pays BIG.  Just ask Barbara – she landed a front page article in the real estate section of the New York Times when she took a risk and filled a “silence” with something that caused a commotion. Barbara took yet another risk a little further on down the line – and landed Richard Gere as a client.

You can catch the archived webinar even if you couldn’t participate in the event live.

Many thanks to DYMO and DYMO Endicia, the sponsors of this webinar.  They’ve kindly made available these discounts for readers:

• Visit Dymo and enter promotion code SBWTwinTurbo to receive 25% off a DYMO LabelWriter 450 Twin Turbo or code SBWTurbo to receive 15% off a DYMO LabelWriter 450 Turbo.  (Expires June 5, 2010)
• Visit Endicia and sign up for a DYMO Stamps account to receive $5 off Endicia internet postage with promotion code WSP1. (Expires June 30, 2010)

Popularity: 9% [?]

New regulation out of Washington D.C., or any government around the world for that matter, is usually bad news for small business. That’s not because small business owners prefer to be unaccountable for the decisions they make each day regarding their customers. In fact, small businesses unlike their massive “too big to fail” corporate cousins are often more dependent on fewer customers for their very survival thus the need to treat each one with courtesy and respect. This said, perhaps the most important considerations when viewing a newly passed Senate financial reform legislation designed to regulate banks and other potential sources of funding is how all of this may impact access to capital including credit upon which small businesses must sometimes depend. Today’s Small Business Trends roundup looks at some of the takeaways from the new legislation along with other issues impacting small business today.

Finance

Financial red tape won’t entangle investment resources for entrepreneurs. Though blogger and serial entrepreneur Jeff Bussgang made his trip to Washington in early May before the passing of the historic Restoring American Financial Stability Act, even then he was assured the law would not impact the VC and angel investor community. The New Entrepreneur

So, what does all of this mean to you? Well, there are two ways for small business people to look at the new financial reform which has yet to be signed into law. One way is to look at it from the standpoint of a business and the other is from the standpoint of a consumer. Obviously, as this breakdown suggests, features like a provision allowing potential borrowers to see the credit score that led to a loan rejection could be a valuable tool for small business. WalletPop.com

Less capital or smaller banks? A look at this initial breakdown of the mammoth new financial regulation passed recently by the U.S. Senate raises some obvious questions. Will discouragement of “risk-taking” by large financial institutions mean less money for small businesses and entrepreneurs? Or, will less regulation on smaller banks bring growth in that sector, a welcome development for small business? MarketWatch

What we need isn’t more regulation. It’s more investors. Specifically, Chris Farrell argues that what the U.S. economy really needs are more angel investors ready and willing to pump more money into the small business and entrepreneurial sector. Entrepreneurship not regulation the key to economic growth? We couldn’t agree more Chris! Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Investment

How to become an angel. And hey, if you’ve got experience in small business and entrepreneurship and a fervent desire to help it survive, let us inspire you. Brad Feld, who knows a thing or two about investing in startups, offers some suggestions above with links to more about how to become part of that economic solution. If you’ve ever thought about becoming involved in the investment side of small business, please check it out. Feld Thoughts

Credit

Sweet deals and tight credit. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are facing a unique dilemma as the economy begins to recover. Investing in commercial property, manufacturing facilities or other needed real estate has never been more affordable. The trouble is that between nervous lenders and new regulations getting a loan to make these capital investments has probably never been tougher. WSJ

Policy

Small business group reports some victories in new legislation. Meanwhile, no matter how the new regulations shake out, one small business group reports some victories for small businesses including one provision that should prevent interference with small companies who offer flexible payment options and other specialized financial services to their customers. National Federation of Independent Business

Healthcare

Time for another red alert on healthcare! Turns out the new legislation has another nasty surprise in store and it could be particularly hard on small businesses. Increased reporting requirements to meet compliance could be a menace to every small business without an army of accountants to keep track of things. Want to learn more? Read on. Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Have you tried the healthcare tax credit calculator? On the positive side, as you’ve no doubt heard, there may be some tax credits out there if you’re a small business and already providing healthcare for your employees. How much and does your small business qualify? Ah, well, those are the big questions. Though you probably won’t see enough of a credit to change what you’re doing now, if you already do offer healthcare, it may pay to have a look. National Federation of Independent Business

Operations

How to grow your business on a budget. Regardless what the outcome of regulatory changes or their effect on capital for investment in new startups, once you’ve gained funding, it’s crucial to use it wisely. As a high powered VC who’s also spent time on plenty of startup boards of directors, Fred Wilson has seen this from a couple of different perspectives. Here’s his advice. A VC

Popularity: 10% [?]