Small Business Secret Weapons - Recently Updated Pages

Setting Up

1#brave — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:20:52 CST

Every business has started somewhere. Here are some of the pages that will help you start you business.

Online Spreadsheets

mjolnir7 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:55:04 CDT

Problem: You need help organizing your company’s infrastructure to tone your business’s body into a lean, cost-effective machine.

Solution: Try the new resources offered (free, for now) by DabbleDB. Dabble combines the best of group spreadsheets, custom databases, and intranet web applications into a new way to manage and share your information online. Track your company’s billable hours; manage your staff schedule; record expenses--everything you need to run a tighter ship.

Solution: Smartsheet is an online collaboration tool that combines a spreadsheet paradigm with the file sharing, discussion tracking, and the ability to collect survey information via forms.
Common uses cases with Smartsheet include pipeline tracking, project management, client engagement, and event planning. Information can be viewed in a spreadsheet form as well as a calendar view. In February 2009, Smartsheet expanded its offering to include the ability to manage crowdsourcing projects, powered by Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Used this service or a competing service? Add a review by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment.

Welcome to SBSW!

1#brave — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:19:27 CDT

So you've started a small business . . . now what? Welcome to SBSW, Small Business Secret Weapons. Here, you can learn all the tricks and secrets used for starting a successful business, such as marketing tips and the best office phone lines. Here at SBSW, we want your thoughts, tips, and opinions on small businesses. Did you start one? What did you do to advertise locally? We want to know it all. You can do so by posting a thread on any given page. Featured Video- How to Open a Small Business	Setting Up: The Basics: You need to start somewhere. No Marketing = no customers! no fuss faxing a snappy logo and more! Building Your Website: Find out how to: Create Your Site Find a Coder and more! Personnel Matters: Need help finding the best hires out there? Background Checks Recruiting and more! Saving Time & Money: Efficiency is crucial! Access Your Files from Anywhere Ecommerce and Online Payment Suites Online Storage and more!

So you've started a small business . . . now what?

Welcome to SBSW, Small Business Secret Weapons. Here, you can learn all the tricks and secrets used for starting a successful business, such as marketing tips and the best office phone lines.

Here at SBSW, we want your thoughts, tips, and opinions on small businesses. Did you start one? What did you do to advertise locally? We want to know it all. You can do so by posting a thread on any given page.

Featured Video- How to Open a Small Business

Setting Up: The Basics: You need to start somewhere.

No Marketing = no customers!

no fuss faxing

a snappy logo

and more!

Building Your Website: Find out how to:

Create Your Site

Find a Coder

and more!

Personnel Matters: Need help finding the best hires out there?

Background Checks

Recruiting

and more!

Saving Time & Money: Efficiency is crucial!

Access Your Files from Anywhere

Ecommerce and Online Payment Suites

Online Storage

and more!

Marketing

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:43:52 CDT

A winning marketing plan covers all the bases when it comes to meeting your company’s sales goals. If you complete a situation analysis and implement the marketing mix, you will have a basic marketing plan for your small business.

Conduct a Situation Analysis or SWOT:

Strengths - What does your company do well?
Weaknesses - What could your company improve upon or do better?
Opportunities - What potential prospects and target markets are available now or will be emerging? What differential advantage does your company have?
Threats - Who are your competitors? What factors in the business environment could pose problems, either now or in the future?

The Marketing Mix a.k.a. The Four P’s of Marketing:

Product - the item or service you are selling, product development.
Price - the rate at which your item or service sells, conduct market research to determine your strategic price point.
Place - distribution of your item or service, the when and where.
Promotion - includes advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion; craft a promotional plan that reaches your target market, then track and evaluate the results to see what works.

and a Fifth P - what is your Position in the market?

How Do You Have Successful Marketing?

Over 30 Articles on Marketing an E-Business from Entrepreneur.com
http://www.entrepreneur.com/channel/archive/0,7004,629,00.htmlx

Have some marketing tips? Click EasyEdit or post a new comment below!

File Delivery

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:41:01 CDT

Problem: You're looking for a way to get big files to and from vendors and clients without overloading your inbox.

Solution: Yousendit.com offers free, secure file transfer up to 1 Gigabyte.

Used this service? Add a review here.

Want to recommend another? Click EasyEdit to add it to this page. You can also post a new comment below!

Saving Time & Money

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:30:27 CDT

Looking for ways to be more efficient with your two most valuable resources (time and money)? Check out these ideas:

Access Your Files from Anywhere
Building Sales Leads
Bulk Email Options
Ecommerce and Online Payment Suites
File Delivery
Online Spreadsheets
Online Storage
Track Your Sales Pipeline

Any other services saving time and/or money worth recommending? Add them here by clicking EasyEdit or adding a comment below.

Recruiting

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:30:11 CDT

Problem: Your business is growing faster than you can keep it together. If you don’t get help, and soon, you’re going to lose money because you can’t handle all the clients. Where do you go to find good help immediately?

Solutions:

Craigslist. If your city has Craigslist, then you should take advantage of it. Powered by people, Craigslist has eliminated the middleman once occupied by recruiters, temp agencies, or the newspaper classified. Find administrative help, writers, editors, accountants, and anything else--including freaks, so be careful.

Monster. If you need that middleman to give you a sense of security that your next administrative assistant won’t be another Craigslist freak, then your best bet is Monster.com. Monster charges $1,395 for five job postings or $575 for a 2-week, 100-mile search--and their traffic is a fraction of Craigslist, which is totally free. CareerBuilder gets even less traffic than Monster.

Beeline. Beeline provides workforce solutions that allows leading healthcare organizations, companies, and government entities to effectively manage employee recruitment, development and retention. Beeline simplifies the deployment of permanent, contract and project-based labor through learning management, talent management, performance management, and eLearning.

Local Advertising
If you are not in a major city, advertising locally may be your best bet for finding good talent. Many counties have job boards that enable you to post for a lot less than Monster. And, you may be surprised at the number of responses--including highly qualified candidates--that you get from advertising in your local newspaper.

Have you used these services, or want to recommend another? Add a review by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment.

Compensation

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:28:57 CDT

Problem: You found the perfect person to fill your important position, but she’s from a different city. How do you and she determine a proper salary given her salary history and the cost-of-living differential of your two cities?

Solutions

Payscale.com Check out PayScale.com. They will give you instant access to salary data based on your location, company and positions. Single reports are $49.95. A pack of three is $99.95.

Background Checks

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:28:15 CDT

Problem: Before you make the final offer to prospective employer, it is worthwhile to spend a little money now to do a background check on the person. But most small businesses do not have the funds to hire personal investigators to look for problems in the candidate's past.

Solutions: There are a million ways to dig through court, business, and personal records online, but some are cheaper and easier to use than others.

At KnowX.com, $24.95 will give you everything you need to know about another
business: bankruptcies, lawsuits, foreclosures and liens, and other corporate information from Dunn & Bradstreet, such as a company’s corporate structure and executive officers.

If you need to look up personal information, try ZabaSearch.com--a muscular, free “white
pages” that tells you more than a phone book ever would. Using ZabaSearch, you can find every Sarah Conner in California, and narrow your search based on date of birth or address.

For an additional fee, ZabaSearch links you to Intelius. For $29.95, Intelius gives you a
20-year address history, maiden names, aliases, roommates, etc. For $30 more, you can get a full criminal and sex offender background check; personal bankruptcy, liens and small claims judgments; and home value with property details--a must these days for pre-employment screening.

Used these services, or want to recommend another? Add a review by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment.

Grow Your Content

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:27:45 CDT

Problem: Your site looks great and it’s easy to use and your advertisers and products are easy to see and click to. But what about content? Once you have your skeleton up, who’s going to build your muscles?

Solutions:

Guru.com is a clearinghouse for freelance professionals in every conceivable online field,
from coding and programming to design and photography to content writers and editors. Post your project guidelines or search Guru’s database of 520,000 freelancers. Guru could be your one-stop shop for site designers, accountants, legal advisors, and business consultants. (Price varies.)

Elance.com brings you a similar variety of professionals as Guru and claims to support 100,000
clients. At Elance, you can shop from their pre-set, price-fixed packages, like logo design packages from $295.

If your business lives and dies by its content, then you need the best writers out there. Serious
writers and professional editors swarm around Media Bistro looking for the next good job posting. The right gig for the right price will attract dozens of resumes an hour, many from the best schools with qualified experience.

Also you can get Dynamic Content using Web 2.0 Technology. Dynamic content for your website can be subscribed by linking various RSS feeds from different websites relating to the business . Eg : If your business is related to the stock market, you may subscribe the feeds from the respective exchange's RSS feeds or from any news website. This could look like a stock ticker on your site.

Also you may add video content to your website by saving the videos at Vblog sites like Youtube, Google videos, etc and add the link to your website. You may feature your video giving the benefits of your business.

Used these services, or want to recommend a new one? Add a review here by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment.

Find a Coder

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:27:01 CDT

Problem: Your web site needs an application that you can envision but can’t code yourself. Or, you want some Java apps to spruce up your home page.

Solution:

1. Go to Rent-a-Coder. Rent-A-Coder does not actually do the work for you, but puts you in touch with coders that other clients have rated. You post your job or request, and coders get back to you with price quotes and their resumes. Rent-A-Coder provides an escrow account for you to pay for your job, but without your coder running off with your deposit.

Safe. Reputable. Reliable.

Used this service or can you recommend another one? Add a review here by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment.

Create Your Site

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:25:56 CDT

Get a website—fast

Problem: Your business is growing and you need a website--fast. But you’re not a coder or programmer. How can you do it yourself without going back to college?

Solutions:

Microsoft OfficeLive is still in Beta testing mode, but its features are comprehensive enough to give
accounts, file and data transf it a shot. Microsoft offers a complete web hosting package: web design, domain hosting, e-mailer, site analysis and support. Both the basic and advanced packages are free during the Beta testing period, with the advanced package starting at $29.99 after Beta.

If you are trying to avoid Microsoft’s Evil Empire, or if you’re looking for something more reliable than a Beta version, GoDaddy.com offers similar small business packages. A 12-month website plan with e-mail marketing and traffic analysis will run you $146.32.

Enom is another service that can help you turn your site into a secure e-commerce solution. Look to
Enom for services like secure credit card and shopping cart features, although GoDaddy offers similar packages. Services start at $29.95 per year.

Do you need to know exactly who is coming to your site and for how long but don’t have the extra
cash for GoDaddy’s or OfficeLive’s advanced packages that include their advanced site analytics package? Google Analytics will do it for you for free. Help deliver more on your return of your Web site investment by targeting those elements of your site that are jiving with customer use and ditching those that don’t.

Used these services or know a better one? Add a review here.

Making Copies

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:23:15 CDT

Stop Shlepping Copies to Your Far-Flung Meetings

Problem: Getting tons of copies from here to there.

Solution 1: When FedEx and Kinko’s merged, it seemed like a perfect combination. Now, you have one-stop shopping for all your printing and shipping needs with coverage and a certain amount of reliability in any city with an airport. The blue-apron squad is still grumpy and unhelpful, especially on the graveyard shift, but take a deep breath and remind yourself that only they can make 150 copies of your full-color portfolio and have it ring-bound before your 9 a.m. meeting.

FedExKinko's also offers a free download that gives you a new print option from your word processor, “File, Print FedEx Kinkos.” This feature allows you to print directly to the most convenient storefront, whether it’s the one in your neighborhood or the one in the city you are flying to tomorrow. You can also schedule document pick-up and delivery to your home, office or home-office. (Prices vary.)

Solution 2: If you go to any large grocery store, they should be able to make very inexpensive color copies.

Used this service, or know another service that’s as good or better? Add it by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment.

Logos

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:20:44 CDT

Problem: No matter what your company is, you need a great logo to capture the imagination of your clients, whether you are a pizza delivery operation or a criminal defense attorney.

Solution 1: Give your phone number to LogoWorks at their website and someone will call you back in a few hours. LogoWorks employs about 100 designers just outside Salt Lake City, with more than 300 freelancers around the world.
LogoWorks, for the money, can't be beat. For $299, two designers will give you four to six designs and you'll get two rounds of revisions to make it how you want it. Check out the before-and-after shots on their Web site and you'll see why they’re worth it. Premium packages are also available for $1,200 that includes complete website design.

Solution 2: Go to http://www.logomaker.com/ to create your own logo in minutes - it works great!

In any case, search the web to make sure you find the propercost/value for your money. Other sites include www.logobee.com and www.logodesignguru.com

Used these services or know one that's as good or better? Add a review by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment

How to Incorporate

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:19:32 CDT

Incorporating

Problem: You need to incorporate your business for tax benefits and to protect yourself from liability.

Solution: For 35 years, Nolo Legal Publishing has printed the best self-help legal guides on the market. Now online, Nolo.com offers more and new powerful tools to help you start your business. Do you need to organize your company as a corporation or an LLC? Both offer limited personal liability for corporate debts, but LLCs are quickly becoming the normal for business professionals. Nolo can help decipher some of the technicalities of incorporating with services that start at $29.99.

You can also find detailed information online for forming your own limited liability company. Limited Liability Company Center provides detailed listings of the LLC filing requirements, fees, forms, and filing addresses for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Using the information, it can be a simple matter to organize your own LLC.

If things get too complicated, find a local lawyer who specializes in corporate and business law. A basic corporation or LLC formation package from an attorney should cost less than $500 in legal fees, but remember that state filing fees will be added on top of any attorney fees. Most states have forms that can be filled out online. For example you can incorporate in the State of Florida for $70 directly with the State. Of course doing it yourself never replaces the advice of an attorney or accountant.

Used this service, or know one that's as good or better? Add your review by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment.

Fax Service

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:19:06 CDT

Stop Feeding the Fax Machine

Problem: You have your phone, your computer, your photocopier--do you really need one more piece of office equipment? If you could throw out your fax machine, you would…

Solution: Just go to eFax.com and type in your zip code. For $16.95 per month, eFax is all the fax machine you will ever need. No more time wasted at office supply superstores looking for your brand of fax machine toner. No more lost fax cover sheets or paper jams. Also, it's great for the environment!

Fax documents and spreadsheets straight from your computer and receive them like you would e-mail. If you need a hard copy, you can print one out. Change your business cards with your new fax number on them; eFax is worth the hassle.

Success Stories

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:13:15 CDT

Success Story #1

John Sortino is founder and past CEO of the highly successful Vermont Teddy Bear Company, which was named the first national winner of the Best of America Award sponsored by Dun and Bradstreet Services and the National Federation of Businesses. In 1983, he became known as "the teddy bear man" while selling teddy bears from a peddler cart, which he turned that into a multi-million dollar online business. ..

After 15 years as the CEO, he sold off the Vermont Teddy Bear Company and has since founded other business enterprises, such as Chicago Bicycle. He serves as a consultant for many start-up companies, and he also wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Being a Successful Entrepreneur.

Success Story #2

As featured in an article on www.entrepreneur.com, Todd Graves is the founder and CEO of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, which is a fast food restaurant focusing on chicken fingers with signature sauces and side dishes.

When trying to find funds to open his first restaurant, bankers and investors had no faith in his business concept. Todd decided to make his own start-up capital. After working 90-hour weeks for four months as a boilermaker in Los Angeles refineries, he then traveled to Alaska to work another four long months on a commercial salmon fishing boat.

When he went back home to Louisiana, the money he had earned made other investors more confident and willing to supply some capital as well. The first Raising Cane’s opened in 1996, and they now have over thirty locations.

Success Story #3

Lynn Dralle is an eBay entrepreneur who started off keeping shop at her grandmother’s antique store. In 1998, she began listing these antiques and collectibles on eBay, so that she could work from home and spend more time with her children. Now, this Power Seller’s eBay store yields about $250,000 a year in sales.

Her expert status in the field of antiques and collectibles has also led to a successful series of Internet auction guides such as iBuy, iSell, and The 100 Best Things I've Sold on eBay.

Success Story #4

Jessica Marvin is an artist who believes pottery, together with a complete lesson plan, presents a hands-on teaching method for any classroom subject. Her company, Art in History, is potentially worth millions and sells teaching kits for history, geography, and literature topics. Her idea was to teach as many school subjects as possible using art.

Art in History’s kits feature an unfinished ceramic replica of a historical artifact that the students get to paint and finish while coordinated lesson plans are included for the teachers.

For the first two years of her business, Jessica was involved in more or less everything. Now that an investor is involved, sales are phenomenal, and she has time as Vice President of Art & Design to focus on what she loves about the company.

Web-based Productivity Tools

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:35:43 CDT

Problem: You have just created a nice website. But you need more from the web than just an online "brochure" or "billboard" for your business. You want web-based tools to facilitate your company's productivity and collaboration, but you are on a limited budget.

Solutions: Small business tools like ProjectWebTools enable you to add essential productivity and collaboration capabilities to your existing website. Whether it is project scheduling or time & expense tracking, whether it's client surveys or customer portals- there is subscription based add-on tool that will fit your small business needs.

Solutions: Smartsheet is a cost effective online task management, file sharing and discussion tool that leverages tools you already use (browser, email, spreadsheets, etc.) It transforms a 'spreadsheets and inbox' method of work tracking into a better way to organize and collaborate with colleagues and clients. Free service with 30 day trial of premium features. For tips and hints follow us on twitter

Any other web-based productivity tools worth recommending? Add them here by clicking EasyEdit or adding a comment below.

Advertising

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:33:40 CDT

Advertising Ideas for your Small Business:

Cable TV ads (a less-expensive TV option with better niche targeting)

Cinema/movie theater advertising (reach a captive, local audience for sensible rates)

Classified Ads (low-cost, available in newspapers and magazines, don’t forget about online classifieds like CraigsList.org)

Coupons (use the word “FREE” in the offer; then hand them out, mail them out, or exchange coupons with other businesses)

Direct Mail (use good mailing lists, include an offer or discount)

Infomercials (TV or radio demos/testimonials can help sell complex products)

Magazine Ads (target a niche interest group)

Newspaper Ads (provides regional coverage, mostly an older demographic)

Online Internet Ads (most common form is the banner ad, send customers directly to your website)

Outdoor Billboards (along streets, freeways, and even bus stop benches)

Radio Ads (tremendous reach and frequency for reasonable rates)

Sponsorships (sponsor special segments on radio or TV, like traffic and weather updates)

Transit Ads (buses, trains, taxis, etc)

TV Ads (target your demographic for less then you think on network TV, add a call-to-action for quicker results)

http://www.ypages.in - Yellow Pages Ads (many areas have multiple yellow page books, don’t forget online yellow pages listings). A good site for the same is this business directory

Some Other Online Advertising Thoughts:

You can also create your own ads for any newspaper at www.CreateAds.com. No need for a design agency.

Find databases on the internet which you can use for mail-merging. This will allow you to send the same E-mail to thousands of people. Don't use it for useless things as that would count as spamming.

Not Free but Cheap - Yahoo Local has premium listings that are in the area of $39 per month. You can get good quality clicks from those listings. Look for specialty directories to sign up for to that are related to your industry. They make for good value advertising.

Add ideas by posting a new comment below...

Grants

1#brave — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:32:23 CDT

Almost all of us have probably seen the TV commercials featuring that hyper man in the purple question-mark-covered suit, offering “Free Money to Start a Small Business”. Just buy his book and you’ll know all the secrets of getting this free money.

The plain and simple truth is that there are NO free government grants to start or expand a small business. Grant money is available only for non-profit organizations, and is not available to individuals or for-profit businesses. So, buy the “free money” book only if you are a non-profit organization looking for money.

Watch out for emails, radio ads, TV commercials, or junk mail that offers a book, CD, or hotel seminar for small business grants. Why spend money for info the government will tell you for free, only to find out you’re not eligible unless you are a non-profit.

The U.S. Small Business Administration, or SBA, does guarantee small business loans made by SBA-certified lenders and banks. This program guarantees loans that lenders could not generally approve. You will have to meet the loan criteria, provide 15%-25% cash or equity, and have a sensible business plan.

For more on SBA's financial assistance, check out this link: http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/7a.html

Read more on federal grants here: http://www.sba.gov/financing/basics/grants.html

bussiness link http://www.http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home?domain=www.businesslink.gov.uk&target=http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/

Add info by clicking EasyEdit or posting a new comment!