Category Archives: Small Business

Starting an Online Business on a Shoestring Budget: Advice from a Successful Woman-preneur

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Posted by admin on July 21, 2009 – 9:49 am
Filed under Business Communication, Growing Business, Small Business, grow your business

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Copy Doodle is thrilled to have Tess Taylor, owner/CEO of Taylor Resources Writing, as our guest blogger this week. If you would like to be a guest blogger, simply click the contact us link and pitch us your idea.

Have you been thinking about starting a business for a long time? Or maybe you have an idea for a great business plan, but just don’t have the funds to launch it. Now is actually a great time to start that online business of your dreams – even on a shoestring budget.

As the owner of a very busy and successful freelance writing and online content business, I can tell you from personal experience that you can easily start an online business of your own on a very limited budget, in some cases even for free. There are many helpful tools available for small business owners to get started. Everything from free websites to low cost business marketing and advertising resources is readily available with just a click of the computer mouse nowadays.

When I first started my company in 2008, Taylor Resources Writing, I was still struggling to hold down my “day job” in Corporate America. I was definitely not searching for a way to get rich quick, but I knew more than ever that I had to get out of the rat-race and be in charge of my own destiny. My website was literally formed from a blog that I had been using to journal my progress and highlight some of my work online. This blog was completely free and featured some great tools that I used to update my clients, keep in touch with contacts and market myself. When I later decided to officially launch my business, I registered my blog with a low cost domain hosting service to give my business a more professional atmosphere.

In addition to taking advantage of free blogs and practically free web hosting services, there are other cheap ways of operating a business online. You can order business cards and flyers from services that offer free products. You can also design free digital business cards and logos on many web-based applications. These can be added to your email address signature along with the link to your company website or blog. Speaking of email – this can be one of the most effective methods you can use to market your business to potential clients and to offer specials to your existing customers.

Advertising and social media marketing opportunities for your business abound on the Internet. Look for and list your blog and website with as many online directories you can. Include links to your website wherever you have community accounts set up – such as on your Linkedin profile, Facebook, and Twitter. Include a link to your website in any community forums or associations where you regularly participate. Be sure to take advantage of free classified advertising resources like Backpages and Craigslist. Remember, you want to make it as easy as possible for people to find you.

If you need help along the way, remember to seek out people who are experts in helping launch small businesses online. There are a variety of companies that can help your dreams become a reality and bring you the kind of exposure and success that you need to get noticed on the World Wide Web today.

Tess C. Taylor is the Owner/CEO of Taylor Resources Writing, and offers a wide range of writing and web content marketing services from her home office in Charleston, South Carolina. Tess is also currently authoring a series of self-help eBooks for the start-up entrepreneur as well as managing The Writer WAHM Network a community website for work at home Mom writers.

Make More Online Sales

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Posted by admin on September 27, 2008 – 2:54 pm
Filed under Small Business, online marketing, online sales, web copy, web traffic

Your website works around the clock to persuade customers to purchase your product without any personal interaction. However, many websites aren’t doing all they can to draw customers in and persuade them to act. This often occurs because companies do not know where their website falls in the sales process.

The sales process of your website is similar to the one you use in store—beginning with identifying the customer and ending with a customer relationship that will bring him or her back in the future.

The online sales process consists of . . .

·       Create a stellar first impression: First impressions are everything. Your website has to prove to your target that your products / services will satisfy their needs. The tactics you use on your site through words and design are equivalent to the store-based salesperson approach and must be executed to the highest degree of efficiency.

·       Promote features and benefits while answering customer objections: Websites must anticipate what questions a customer may have, and the copy should already have them answered. Once you’ve fully described the various features and benefits of your products / services, answer any customer fears and concerns. This allows the customer to make a better buying decision and recognize your company as thorough and knowledgeable. FAQ’s and customer testimonial pages can be used to get various answers across.

·       Close the deal: Make sure navigation to the purchase button is obvious and user-friendly. If you’ve gotten as far as getting them to purchase, it would be a shame to lose them during the actual purchasing process. To account for any skeptical customers, it would be beneficial for your website to recommend different products, utilize promotions, and reinforce benefits of the products / services.

·       Keep the relationship alive: It’s extremely important to keep past customers returning to your website / store. Thank you emails, coupons for future purchases, and excellent customer service all aid in maintaining future relations with the customer.

Not sure if your website could use a sales process facelift? Visit Michelle Salater Writing and Editorial, LLC, to learn how we can help you with our writing services. 

Time Management: The Key to a Happy and Successful Life

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Posted by admin on September 18, 2008 – 9:28 pm
Filed under Business Goals, Small Business, small business marketing, small business organization

Working hard to handle excessive work overload is a sure way to complete tasks. And increase stress. Finding ways to successfully manage your time can lead to a better work environment, happier personal life, and a more successful business.

Many of us find ourselves working late nights to finish work that we couldn’t manage during the day. Time management is about finding what to work on, when to work on it, and where. Effective time management means you need to break down and focus on what needs to be done to achieve your goals.

Time management elements consist of:

·       Eliminating Procrastination:  We all suffer from procrastination to some degree. It’s important to recognize when we’re doing it and develop a way to combat the urge. Procrastination occurs mostly from feeling as though a task is too difficult or too boring. Prioritize the important tasks you need to perform in list form, then find ways to motivate yourself to work. If you’re still having trouble getting in gear, make a list of the risks involved in not completing tasks or treat yourself to something when you finish two objectives on your list. If you’re overwhelmed by an assignment, brainstorm your thoughts and break the entire task into small pieces to work effectively on each.

·       Understanding Your Body: Throughout our daily lives, we may be more focused at certain times than others. It’s important to recognize these fluctuating levels during the day and define your tasks around them. Note when you feel most alert and focused and when you feel most tired. After a week of logging these feelings, you’ll most likely recognize a pattern. If you notice you’re usually more focused during midmorning, it would be beneficial to save your most important tasks until that time, making you more motivated to complete them.

·       Setting Goals: Having solid goals in mind will aid you in managing your time since you know where to focus your attention to gain success. Set a long-term goal to have an idea of where you’re heading, and use smaller goals to lead up to the main one. Achieving the smaller goals will build your confidence and motivate you to keep reaching for the future.

Where Does Your Website Fit into Your Sales Process?

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Posted by admin on September 2, 2008 – 4:55 pm
Filed under Copywriting, Small Business, attract clients, client attraction, increase site traffic, online marketing, small business marketing, web copy, web traffic

Your website is an around-the-clock sales tool. As your business evolves and the market changes, often you adjust sales techniques and marketing strategies accordingly. However, many companies undervalue the importance of updating the content on their website to reflect these changes.

Revamping your web copy from time to time can bring in a new source of revenue and demonstrate to clients you’re on top of your industry. You wouldn’t allow your sales rep to go stale, don’t allow your web copy to.

Web copy must execute the entire process of selling:

·       Engage and peak the interest of the client

·       Communicate clearly and effectively

·       Provide the client with the features of the products / services, and describe the benefits

·       Get the client to take action right now

The main goal of web copy is to get the client to act. The action could be bookmarking your website, making a donation, purchasing a product / service, or contacting your company. If your website can influence potential clients to take action, prepare to see your profits skyrocket.  

If you think your web copy isn’t up-to-date or was poorly written, you need to start rewriting now. If you don’t have the skills to write the content or don’t have the time, hire a professional copywriter to get you the positive results that will change the way you do business forever.

Don’t wait any longer. Dust off that old web copy, and make it pop. Visit us at www.mlsalater.com to check out our many result-driven copywriting services.

Data Research Tips for the Small Business

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Posted by admin on August 7, 2008 – 6:14 pm
Filed under Business Goals, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, marketing trends, online marketing, small business marketing

Researching the industry that your company is a part of can be extremely beneficial to the growth and long-term success of your company. Understanding the economy, as well as the demographic changes occurring in the U.S. can lead to new products and services, and changes in existing ones. When first researching data for your business, I suggest learning more about your competitors and other business owners in your industry. Research competitors’ demographics, target markets, company success, number of employees, years in business, etc. This is going to give you an idea of what your competition is like, and help you create tactics to be on top. After doing extensive research on the industry and your competitors, dive right into customer profiles and demographics.

Places to Research:

·       Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/ The Bureau is an excellent source for data on the economy and the people of the U.S. It’s a great place to get an overview on the industry your business is a part of. This website provides data on people, households, businesses, industries, geography and recent news.  This website also provides the Survey of Business Owners (SBO), which updated every five years. It’s a great place to find stats on business ownership (based on various demographics), characteristics of businesses, and characteristics of business owners. 

·       Other stores in your industry: Visit other companies’ websites and stores to get an idea of what they’re doing right when it comes to attracting customers. Once you have an idea of the positive aspects of your competitors, figure out what would make your company stand out above the others. Are their prices too high? Is their website amateur? Is the customer service good/bad?

·       ResearchWikis.com: This website provides free market research for over 250 industries and has contributors worldwide. The goal of ResearchWikis.com is to “let the global community of research and others contribute high-level core research on all major business research topics” (http://www.researchwikis.com/Main_Page).

·       Outsource: Market research can be very difficult and sometimes you may not know what to do with the information you receive. It’s about searching, sorting, and analyzing. This could get extremely time consuming and confusing. Outsourcing your market researching to a professional allows you to focus on other areas of your business, things you are more familiar with. Since market researching is an important element to the workings of your business, it’s sometimes best to leave this task up to the professionals.

Want more small business marketing advice? Subscribe to Your Business Marketing Solution, a bimonthly ezine filled with marketing tips and informative articles. 

 

 

 

When Life Gives You Lemons . . .

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Posted by admin on August 5, 2008 – 7:17 pm
Filed under Small Business, small business organization

Owning a small business is a challenge (fun and exciting) in and of itself. But when life happens, small business owners have find balance between work and personal demands.

Over the weekend, my dog ran away and was missing for eleven hours. She disappeared at 11:15 p.m. Saturday night and someone found her at 10:00 the following morning. We searched for her almost all night. When we went to pick up Mama Mia from a man who found her, we realized she’d been hit by a car.

On three hours of sleep, we rushed to the animal hospital. She was admitted and kept over night. I slept a good four hours before I had to pick her up at 6:00 a.m. and take her to the vet.

While Mama Mia is doing fine and recovering quickly, I am dragging. Lack of sleep, worry, and running all over town have worn me out. On top of that, I have customer’s with needs and promises to keep. I have blogs to post and web copy to rework. My accountant called. I need to update my QuickBooks.

This morning over a cup of coffee, I wondered what other small business owners do to balance life’s demands and customer demands. How do we make lemonade when we’re thrown a sack full of lemons?

I have no clear answer. No perfect solution. What I have learned is to take it one step at a time. One day at a time.

The Power of Organization

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Posted by admin on July 28, 2008 – 4:24 pm
Filed under Business Goals, Marketing Strategy, Small Business, small business organization

Does your small business cause you to feel stressed, moody, and overwhelmed? It could be because you have too much work to handle. More often than not, lack of organization is the problem. 

When you organize your tasks and priorities, I can guarantee you’ll feel some sense of relief. So sit down with a pen and paper, take a deep breath, and begin organizing your thoughts. Make a list of ways to organize your office. Do you need more filing space? Do you have a stack of paperwork that needs to be filed? What can you do today to organize important information? 

Ways to Organize:

·        Spreadsheets with Contact Information: Organize your contacts, clients, employees, and business partner information into a spreadsheet in alphabetical order. This eliminates the extra work of always having to look up an email address or phone number of a company by visiting their website.

·        Spreadsheets with Tasks to be Performed: Use categories such as task, date needed to be finished, cost, priority, etc.

·        Spreadsheets with your Monthly Budget: This will help you keep track of how much money you plan on using during that month, monthly pay, monthly earnings, outsourcing costs, etc. Also, focus on future projects and how much those may cost.

·        Spreadsheets with Stats: You could have a dozen different items on this spreadsheet, such as your blog stats, website traffic, number of clients (increase or decrease from the previous month), success of a product or service, etc.

Don’t overwhelm yourself with work. Figure out what you can organize today. Doing so will help you prioritize important tasks that need to be done and help you figure out where you can and should outsource. 

Want more small business marketing advice? Subscribe to Your Business Marketing Solution, a bimonthly ezine filled with marketing tips and informative articles.

Are You Sure Customers and Businesses Can Contact You?

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Posted by admin on July 25, 2008 – 11:34 pm
Filed under Business Communication, Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online marketing, small business marketing, web copy, web traffic, website, website navigation

One of my biggest pet peeves is going to a website, which contains minimal contact information.

The internet is too vital a place to neglect this important information, as virtually all people use some aspect of the internet to communicate with others. It’s crucial to give customers options for contacting your company.

Customers love options because it allows them to choose the most convenient way for them to contact your company. Many people use email everyday, and it might be easier for them to send your company an email with an inquiry, comment, or suggestion rather than picking up the phone and waiting through a recorded message and being on hold for five or ten minutes.

Items that should be on your “contact us” page:

·       STAFF: I can’t tell you how many websites don’t have a list of their most important staff members listed. This is important because it adds a personal flare to your company and allows the customer to feel as though they are contacting an actual person and not just a company. People may be discouraged from contacting your company via email if they do not have a specific name or title to use.  

·       PHONE NUMBER: Provide a phone number for those who want questions answered immediately and who want to speak directly with a person.

·       EMAIL ADDRESS: Provide an email address for general questions and staff email addresses for more specific inquiries and comments.

·       MESSAGE FORM: Provide a form so that the customer can fill in questions and comments right there and not go through the trouble of creating an email. A message form should have boxes for customers to fill in their name, company name, cell or business number, email address, and their questions or comments.

·        EMAIL AND MESSAGE FORM COMBO: Sounds like a meal at a fast-food place, doesn’t it? An email address and message form would add even more options for your customers to contact you. 

Want more small business marketing advice? Subscribe to Your Business Marketing Solution, a bimonthly ezine filled with marketing tips and informative articles.

 

How Well Are You Communicating?

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Posted by admin on July 23, 2008 – 3:02 am
Filed under Business Communication, Small Business

How many times have you had a meeting with someone who has made direct eye contact only 50 percent of the time?   

Everyone is guilty of this at some point.

Body language is a great indicator of how a person feels about a conversation. Frowns and furrowed eyebrows can make the speaker feel as though his  message isn’t getting across or is being disagreed with. This isn’t always the case. Many times the nonverbal cues could be misinterpreted by the speaker.

Avoid body language that may discourage the person speaking with you. Make direct eye contact, keep a neutral facial expression, and give nonverbal cues, conveying that you understand what the speaker is saying, such as nodding with understanding.  

Also, be aware of proper personal space. In America, a business conversation should happen about four to twelve feet apart. This space differs from country to country, so if you are planning to attend a business meeting with foreigners, it would be beneficial to observe their speaking distance before the actual meeting.

Want more small business marketing advice? Subscribe to Your Business Marketing Solution, a bimonthly ezine filled with marketing tips and informative articles.

Communication: The Key to Success

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Posted by admin on July 21, 2008 – 4:01 am
Filed under Business Communication, Small Business

The act of selling, persuading, and buying products and services is always driven by some form of communication. Most businesses would cease to exist without successful communication.

One of the most commonly used forms of communication is oral, either face-to-face or via telephone.

It’s more effective if done face-to-face because you are notice the receiver’s facial expressions, eye contact, and body language. These cues can help you understand if the receiver is picking up on the things you are saying.

Sometimes this can be deceptive.

How many times have you acted as if you were listening to someone? If your mind is somewhere else during a conversation, you may miss most of the message.

As a small business owner, it is extremely important to be an active listener and teach yourself to tune out other things going on in your mind during a conversation. And after a conversation, write down the most important details if you think you won’t remember.