AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS TRENDS AND INSIGHTS

15 Insights Into the State of Women in Business

Times have changed for women in business. Find out what several successful women business owners have to say about gender parity and today’s business climate.

MARCH 08, 2016 On International Women’s Day, March 8, what do women in business think about the state of women entrepreneurship? Thanks to technological advances that have increased the ability to work remotely and an increased access to capital, it may be easier for women to make their dreams a reality. In fact, as women continue to define and create their own careers and set off on their own courses, there has never been a better time to be a woman entrepreneur, believes Darnyelle A. Jervey, owner of Incredible One Enterprises.“Women are traditionally known as the head decision-makers in a family, so as more women leverage their gifts in the form of entrepreneurship, the more value will be added to the marketplace,” Jervey says. “I see women becoming more business savvy, confident and focused on leveraging their business platform to usher true change into business.” I spoke to several female small-business owners and thought leaders to hear their views on the state of women in business and issues like gender parity, as well as the changes they see in store for women entrepreneurs.

As a young female founder, it was hard to find a group of like-minded women to mentor and support me—the competition was fierce and the successful female founders were few. I’ve seen that change dramatically in the last decade.

Increased Resources

“It is becoming the norm to see women owning their own businesses in America, and the opportunities are growing. There are many more resources to help women get started in business and stay in business for a long time. In recent years, gender inequality in the workplace has changed, and women have proven themselves to be just as qualified and can be easily as successful as their male counterparts.”—Gabrielle Edwards, owner and head buyer, Mixology Clothing Company

“There have always been women starting small businesses in their communities. Now, however, even more women are founding businesses, and those companies are growing faster than ever before. This is partly due to the fact that technology has lowered the cost of starting many types of high-growth businesses. It is also due to more women deciding to pursue their visions and leading teams to execute them. Access to capital for women entrepreneurs seeking to build businesses is more readily available in the U.S. than elsewhere, though progress still needs to be made. As businesses founded by and run by women continue to demonstrate success, access to capital will improve and more women will start companies nationally and internationally.”—Sara Schaer, co-founder and CEO of Kango

Growing Sense of Community

“What is very exciting is that there is a strong sense of community surrounding women entrepreneurs. There are growing resources geared toward women starting their own businesses and investors that specifically seek to support women-owned and operated companies. As a recent entrepreneur, I have been welcomed into a network of strong women supporting one another and sharing their experiences so we can all learn, provide feedback and grow our businesses together. The number of women small-business owners will only continue to grow over the coming years. As the resources and funding for women continue to expand, there will be fewer barriers to entry, and more women will be able to start up their own companies.”—Jane Wu Brower, CEO and founder of Goalposte

“I’m encouraged by how many more female founders I meet every year in every industry, from design to fintech to biotech. As a young female founder, it was hard to find a group of like-minded women to mentor and support me—the competition was fierce and the successful female founders were few. I’ve seen that change dramatically in the last decade and believe it’s a trend we can expect to continue. I’m also energized by the peer support and camaraderie that seems to have accelerated as the number of female founders continues to grow.”—Lauren Perkins, CEO and founder of Perks Consulting

“I am convinced that mentoring and sponsoring are the keys to promoting women entrepreneurs. We, women and men together, must act. It’s important to remember that when women succeed, we all win.”—Martine Liautaud, founding partner of Liautaud & Cie, founder of the Women Business Mentoring Initiative in France and the recently formed Women Initiative Foundation and author of BREAKING THROUGH: Stories and Best Practices From Companies That Help Women Succeed

“I think the biggest thing that has changed for women business owners is that they support one another. They realize that success doesn’t happen in isolation and that support and collaboration are key. Women are sharing contacts, resources, knowledge, introductions and money, and there is a flow around creating business in a way that I haven’t experienced in my previous work history. To keep the flow open, we need to reach down to the younger women and even girls and pull them up the ladder as we go along, through mentoring, coaching and encouragement.”—Jacquie Jordan, Emmy nominated TV producer and author of Get on TV!

“It’s important to have a strong female base that is supportive and understanding of what it takes to be a #BossBabe. Our firm is part of a great female-run social club [RIOT Social Club] that inspires women entrepreneurs to ‘Connect, Create and Collaborate’ with each other.”—Vickie Brett, founding partner of Selogie and Brett, LLP

More Internal and External Acceptance

“As a female entrepreneur and small-business owner for 25 years, it has become easier to be accepted in my profession. In the beginning, I was one of a few women professional speakers, coaches and thought leaders in business, so it was difficult. Now I find the less I focus on the gender issue, the less of an issue it is. When I see a conference where the speaker roster is male-centric, rather than see it as an exclusion of a talented female speaker, I see it as an opportunity to put my name into the mix, and they typically welcome me to join the lineup. The biggest change I see is women developing new patterns of thought and belief systems around their capabilities—rather than their gender. In my teaching, success is an inside job. We experience what we believe about ourselves, because we project those beliefs into our experiences.”—Deborah Peters, business coach with Neuro Engineering Institute “To close the gender gap faster, women must make it a priority to become aware of their mental obstacles and then work to tirelessly eradicate them. We tend to just believe what we believe without ever challenging that belief. And beliefs aren’t logical. Of course a woman should be paid the same amount for same work. But women still have a hard time pushing back and drawing the line. Why? That is the question. Why do we still have a hard time feeling good about demanding what we deserve? Because on some level, we have a belief about what is right, accepted and moral behavior for the female species. And no matter how much we talk about the gender gap, nothing will change very fast until we identify and remove the belief that says we can’t or we shouldn’t.”—DeDe Murcer Moffett, international speaker and author of SNAP Yes! The Art of Seeing New Achievable Possibilities in Business and Life

Women Bring Something Different

“It’s no surprise that women think differently and communicate differently than men. In many ways, this can be an advantage for women entrepreneurs. In the financial services industry, for example, women entrepreneurs are still the minority. The industry is changing, and there is a need for relationships and interpersonal communication that extends beyond the traditional scope of financial planning. With the increasing presence of robo-advisors in the financial services industry, being competitive means doing the things that the low-cost robo-advisor can’t do, which includes high levels of customer service, understanding the hopes and dreams of the clients and being able to add value through education and family interaction. Women are good at creating and maintaining relationships, and in my industry, that gives women entrepreneurs advantage and ongoing opportunity.”—Jennifer Landon, Southeast Idaho’s founder and president of Journey Financial Services

“Women have a statistically higher emotional intelligence quotient. If we use this to our advantage in the boardroom as we do at home, we’re unstoppable. Ever tried to get something past your mom? Exactly. There is nothing like a woman’s intuition.”—Nina Ojeda, CEO and founder of The Avenue West

“Women not only bring a feminine view, but a minority view to occupations such as in STEM, which are in very high demand. Having this kind of foundation—the brainpower and her own financial base—can lead to opportunities to break out and start a business based on solving a problem and/or providing a service around her passion.”—Sofia Milan, consultant, author and speaker

Success Breeds Success

“I spent most of my young adult life in the entertainment industry and started on the path at a young age. I thought what I was experiencing was ageism, but it wasn’t until I hit my mid to late 30s that I realized it had never been ageism, but was always sexism. There are more and more empowered women who have no fears of jumping in and starting their own business. The more of these we see, the more successes there are.”—Shawn Simons, owner of Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats

“According to Mercer’s 2016 ‘When Women Thrive‘ study, Latin America is the only region on track to closing gender parity at the professional level by 2025. Organizations recognize that women offer a different skill set that is needed, yet only 22 percent of North American organizations report equal representation of women in functional jobs. In many instances, this is a training issue and will take many years to turn around. If you’re a woman and don’t want to wait around for organizational change, take action yourself. Start your own business. It’s a huge amount of work, but you will be 100 percent in the driver’s seat, and the rewards are exceptional. I have owned my own consulting firm for almost 35 years. I have always been respected and treated as an equal with men in similar businesses.”—Elaine Biech, president of ebb associates

Read more articles about women in business. Photo: iStock

How to make a business video that tells your brand’s story

MARCH 03, 2016 Take a look at social media pages, and you’re likely to see an increasing amount of video. While many of those videos are for enjoyment, business videos can often do double duty by sharing brand messages throughout cyberspace. Thanks to increased accessibility and usability in terms of video platforms and technology, it may now be easier than ever for small-business owners to take advantage of the business video trend. “Social media has revolutionized the way online users communicate with each other, and video is an integral part of that shift,” says Kim Levine, head of production for Wasabi Publicity, Inc. “Quite simply, visual storytelling is the most powerful tool available to spread your message and tell your story in the digital age—even more powerful than print and text.”

Business Video Increasing on Social Media

Business video continues to gain ground, particularly on social media sites, believes Erica Allison, CEO and PR strategist for theAllison Development Group. “The obvious is YouTube, which according to the company, has more than a billion users, and the number of hours people spend watching videos on the site is up 60 percent per year. In addition, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat have placed their proverbial flags in the video sandbox within the last year.”

Visual storytelling is the most powerful tool available to spread your message and tell your story in the digital age—even more powerful than print and text.

An increasing number of people are searching for solutions online delivered through the medium of video, and many millennials consume more online videos versus television, believes Pamela Herrmann, co-founder with Patty Dominguez of the business consulting firm Create Buzz and author of The Customer Manifesto. “If your target audience is in the millennial age range, this approach is what we would classify as ‘low hanging fruit’ that allows your company to deliver content via video and engage with your target audience.” The increased business video trend is likely to continue, Dominguez adds. “A great way to monitor trends is to look at what kind of social media apps are being developed and how quickly they are being popularized. If you think Snapchat, Periscope, Meerkat and Blab are only for 16-year-old girls, you’re missing out on some of the most powerful organic growth strategies for your business. Major national brands are already on platforms such as Snapchat, creating engagement and brand loyalty. Small businesses have a big opportunity to leverage these types of video platforms to spread their message, highlight their value proposition and create customer engagement.”

Benefits of Business Video

Digital marketers V. Michael Santoro and John S. Rizzo are co-founders of InVidz, LLC. They developed Vaetas, an interactive video marketing system that helps businesses gain a competitive advantage using the power of video. They point out the following benefits of business video:

Provides an Ideal way to connect with your target market and make your business stand out.
Is effective for brand awareness, lead generation and online engagement.
Builds authority online, which builds trust with potential customers.
Has SEO value and can generate organic traffic long term.
Allows brands and small business to identify new ways to establish meaningful emotional connections with their audiences.

Ease of Entry Into Business Video

It used to be that you needed a production crew to shoot a professional business video, but that may no longer be the case, Allison notes. “Today, it’s as easy as grabbing an iPhone, recording and sharing. With that level of user-friendliness and removal of barriers to entry, video popularity and use will naturally increase.” Many free apps, including Vyclone, are available that may help make it easier to create a business video, adds Allen Shayanfekr, CEO and co-founder of Sharestates. “These apps enable small-business owners to film a simple video from multiple angles.” He created a 90-second video that explains everything about investing in his platform for the novice investor. “We were able to quickly explain the concept of real estate crowdfunding in simple, clear and engaging ways,” he says. Almost any business can leverage video, advises Dominguez. “We’ve seen some amazing videos from landscapers, plumbers, mechanics, attorneys and even CPAs that net results. Some are recorded on a smartphone and edited in iMovie and uploaded to YouTube, while others are recorded by videographers for a fee. No matter how it’s done, the videos allow small businesses to tell their stories and share brand personality.”

Making the Most of Business Video

Taking advantage of the popularity of business video and using it to further your small business may be possible, if you keep a few tips in mind.

Brand yourself as an authority. Business videos that offer helpful expert content can help make you stand out in your field. “Each video should be about a single topic, state the problem, how the problem can be solved and share a call to action that can turn the video viewer into a lead,” says Rizzoof of InVidz. “Businesses that leverage video are doing a few things really well,” adds Herrmann. “They have created a small library of brief how-to videos within their subject areas of expertise that are designed to educate and inform.”
Take advantage of all your hard work. Use business videos to their utmost. Post them to your social media platforms, put them on your website’s homepage and use them in email campaigns.
Upload business videos for proper SEO. Reverse engineer what your ideal customer would be looking for online and create a title for your business video based on those key search words.
Use basic marketing principles. “Before recording a video, ask who is your target audience?” Allison says. “Where do they go for information? Where are they hanging out in social media? What is the best way to deliver a message that provides value, engages and generates a desired outcome?”
Evaluate the payoff. Determine how much time, effort and energy you and your team can devote to business video and how much time is needed to generate a call, click or lead, advises Allison. “If you can quantify those questions with an answer and you’re ready to dig in to video, the benefits will be increased brand recognition, a shortened sales cycle, as well as low cost, far reaching marketing that traditional paid advertising may not accomplish.”

Read more articles about digital tools.

Photo: iStock

Is there a right way to tweak your customer loyalty program?

FEBRUARY 26, 2016 As a business owner, you most likely know that it can cost a lot more in time and revenue to attract new customers than it does to keep the ones you already have. One method of satisfying your existing clients may be to reward them for their loyalty. An effective rewards program can help ensure that clients keep coming back for more. Rewarding customers’ purchasing behavior by offering store credit or gifts can help encourage loyalty and increase business. Though a rewards program can help make customers happy, trouble can arise. Some companies discover that when they make changes to loyalty programs that appear to benefit the company and penalize the customer, such moves are bad for business. “When your customers get used to one way of doing things in terms of rewards—especially if it is a perceived or real discount of some kind—changes that seem like they benefit the company rather than the customer can feel like a slap in the face and will make some people angry,” says Donna Cutting, founder and CEO of Red Carpet Learning Systems. “When an airline I use regularly changed their rewards program and I had to spend more to earn status, I wasn’t happy. Your customers could have the same reaction.”

In addition to making your customers feel special, having a rewards program gives you the ability to collect data on your most loyal customers in order to know them better and build better relationships with them.

Other challenges of rewards programs include the fact that they can be difficult to manage and expensive to run, Cutting believes. “If you’re building loyalty on discounts, you’re also possibly cheapening your brand. Are you really building loyal customers? Or are they just customers who are spending more because they want something for free? There’s a difference.”

Benefits of Customer Loyalty Programs

Despite their potential risks, customer rewards programs may bring a lot of benefits to your business. “In addition to making your customers feel special, having a rewards program gives you the ability to collect data on your most loyal customers in order to know them better and build better relationships with them,” Cutting says. Loyalty rewards programs can help provide you with information about your customers’ buying habits and likes and dislikes. That way you can attach rewards to those products you want to sell. When you implement a loyalty rewards program, you also may be communicating to your clients that you’re interested in making your relationship with them mutually beneficial and that you want to make them happy. “The fact is that customers enjoy incentives, and as a result actually spend more,” says Cutting, author of 501 Ways to Roll Out the Red Carpet for Your Customers: Easy-to-Implement Ideas to Inspire Loyalty, Get New Customers, and Leave a Lasting Impression. Rewards programs may also help boost business by incentivizing customers to purchase more goods and services, and make it more likely that clients will share the program with their friends and family.

Tips for Tweaking Loyalty Programs

If you do find that your rewards program needs to be adjusted, Cutting suggests keeping your clients as happy as possible by considering the following tips.

Involve customers in the solution. Explain to customers that the current rewards program requires adjustment and explain why. Then ask for their help in coming up with a solution that creates a win-win for everyone.
Communicate early and often. People tend to swallow potentially unpleasant news a lot more easily if you apprise them of the changes ahead of time. The fact that you’re being courteous and giving them a heads up also shows you respect their business. Rather than sending out a mass email and website announcement saying you’ll be making changes immediately or in a day or two, give them a month to adjust. Communicate about the change several times. The first email message is likely to be missed by a portion of your customers. If you have a brick-and-mortar location, also plan on announcing it at the checkout counter and via employees.
Explain the why. Customers may want to know why you’re making a change in your rewards program. When you do explain why, try to also clarify how you have devised a solution that will continue to reward their loyal patronage.
Train staff to react appropriately to complaints. Have a clear script available for dealing with disgruntled customers and try to make sure that all your employees adhere to this “party line.” This can help ensure there’s no confusion regarding the change, while also giving clients a chance to vent.

Read more articles about customer engagement.

Photo: iStock

Is the internet bubble about to burst?

FEBRUARY 11, 2016 Not all small businesses today existed when the historic dotcom bubble burst from 1999 to 2001, but that colossal failure of many early Internet-based companies is remembered as a testament to what can happen in the wake of overvaluation. In light of recent stock plunges, some of which are affecting Internet giants, it’s not surprising that some market forecasters are predicting we may be headed for another busted Internet bubble. Reasons for this include a decrease in private startup funding rounds and more startups finding it necessary to raise money overseas, because big investors no longer seem to trust Internet valuations.

Internet Bubble Bursting?

Despite recent setbacks in the stock market, some small-business owners in the trenches don’t feel that the Internet bubble is bursting.

“I do not think the tech bubble is ending. True innovation always has a place in the market,” says Nicole McMackin, president of Irvine Technology Corporation. “Many of the companies experiencing lower stock valuation have become stagnant to the users and/or investors, but people will always invest in new and creative devices and concepts. Small and large firms alike are busy working on the ‘next greatest thing’ that will change the way we work, communicate and live. Those companies that demonstrate a true value to society will receive proper financial backing.”

Rich Pleeth, founder of Sup App, a free mobile app that notifies users when friends are nearby, sees investors becoming increasingly cautious, given the current state of the stock market. “Looking at this from an early startup’s perspective that is raising funds, we can see that investors are becoming increasingly cautious. The stock market is going through a period of adjustment, which means investors and high net worth individuals are not seeing the huge returns that they have seen in recent years,” Pleeth says. “In the past five years, we’ve seen stocks increase dramatically, which results in more capital to put into startups, but now many public companies’ stock prices are decreasing, as they cannot prove those prices.”

Future Outlook for Small Tech-Related Companies

Investor caution in general may have an effect on how growing companies obtain funding. “It’s going to be increasingly hard to raise funds, as high net worth investors will have less funds available than in previous years, because their public stocks will not be doing as well,” Pleeth says. “There is always going to be investments available for great startups that are solving a problem, but what we’ve seen in recent years is that when it comes to startups, investors have become increasingly less interested in investing in very early stage companies.” This can make the funding landscape especially difficult for small companies that thrive on innovation, as they can often require a vast amount of funding for research and development. That may continue to be an issue, McMackin adds. “Small firms typically need to procure a hired gun to get them through funding and angel investing. If these firms lack the knowledge to gather funding, they normally do not succeed, regardless of the ingenuity of the business idea or product. Smaller firms need to be cognizant of their bottom line while enhancing development of their products,” she says. “We’re entering a period where it is even harder to raise funds,” Pleeth adds. “It’s important to realize that if startups were easy, everyone would be doing them and everyone would be raising crazy amounts of capital. The truth is it’s hard. Ensure you have a great product, a great team and you’re solving a problem, and you should be able to raise the funds you need to succeed.” Read more articles about raising capital.

Photo: iStock

Protecting your genius: how to apply for a patent

Vinay Tannan, a registered U.S. patent agent and innovation strategy consultant with Taan Consulting who works with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies, answers those questions and more for OPEN Forum.

What will a patent do for me and my invention?

“Broadly speaking, a patent is an agreement between you and the government,” Tannan says. “In exchange for disclosing the details of your invention to the public, the government grants you a limited period of time to exclude others from practicing that invention, which protects your invention or your inventive idea.”

To protect their investment and get the best outcome, small-business owners should take great care in having a well thought out patent strategy to ensure that they are investing wisely.

How important is it to protect my invention?

“Patents are an important contributor to intellectual growth and economic development, because they play a key role in supporting businesses bringing new products and services to the marketplace,” Tannan explains. “Imagine a medical device company seeking to bring a new product to market, which may require thousands or even millions of dollars in investment. How can they take that risk knowing a competing company could make and sell the exact same product? Patents enable you to justify the investment with some assurance that you’ll have an exclusive period of time to monetize the product.”

Does my patent apply worldwide, and will it last long enough for me to see financial gains from my invention?

“You can only exclude others from using your invention and selling the resulting products in the U.S.,” Tannan says, noting that patent protection obtained in the U.S. applies only to within the country. “If you only have a U.S. patent, you can’t exclude the product from being made overseas, but you can prevent it from being imported and sold in the U.S.” If you wish to patent your product in other countries, that must be done on a country-by-country basis, Tannan adds. “Patents in the United States last either 14 or 20 years, depending on what is being patented,” he notes.

How can I tell if my product or idea is patentable?

“In order to qualify for a patent, an invention must be conceived and reduced to practice; then meet certain criteria as dictated by law,” Tannan says. “In brief, the invention must be useful, novel and non-obvious to a person skilled in the art. Inventions of all sorts from various industries might be eligible for patent coverage. It’s best to consult a legal expert such as a patent agent or attorney regarding patentability.”

Are there any drawbacks to acquiring a patent?

“A notable drawback to patents, particularly for startups and small businesses, is the fact that they require a sizable investment of money in filing fees and legal expertise,” Tannan says. “For example, taking an application from filing through prosecution [the latter refers to negotiating the patent] and eventually to issuance can easily run a bill in the six figures.”

Is it worth the expense?

“Patents are by no means necessary to have a successful product, but don’t ignore them as a value-add or from a defensive standpoint,” Tannan says. “The return on investment could be tremendous. A business could dramatically increase its value with a robust patent portfolio, given the asset value and the competitive advantage it may provide. To protect their investment and get the best outcome, small-business owners should take great care in having a well thought out patent strategy to ensure that they are investing wisely.”

What steps would I take to make sure it’s the right choice for my business?

If you want to explore patent protection for an invention, typically the first step is to evaluate the invention for patentability, Tannan advises. “A keyword search of Google Patents, Lens or another one of the many free online patent databases can shed light on what prior art already exists. Reviewing prior art is no trivial exercise, however, so consider speaking to a legal expert who can provide you with a more accurate opinion,” he says. “Any past public disclosure, such as a scientific publication, PowerPoint presentation, webpage or product flyer can be used by a patent examiner as prior art that would bar you from obtaining a patent.” The second step in evaluating your invention involves its commercial viability. “A patent isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on if the claimed invention isn’t desirable in the marketplace,” Tannan says. “This type of evaluation might be easy for an established business that understands its industry well, but it can be a significant challenge for startups or individual entrepreneurs. I advise researching the market landscape for existing products and determining if there would be work-arounds to your invention that competitors could use. Also be sure to explore the broadest possible applicability for your invention before filing, as it may have other uses outside of your original product idea or industry.”

If I decide a patent is right for my invention, what steps should I take next?

“The steps to acquiring a patent can vary, but typically the process involves filing a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO] and within 12 months converting it to a non-provisional patent application, which usually comes in the form of a patent cooperation treaty [PCT] application,” Tannan says. “At that point, you generally have 18 months to decide in which countries to pursue patent rights. Or you can skip this step and file directly in the countries of choice.” Next, you argue the merits of your invention in a back-and-forth with patent examiners, which is known as prosecution, Tannan explains. When this is complete, you receive allowances of certain claims that you agree to, which results in issuance of the patent. “The claims you agree to constitute what you can exclude others from practicing with your patent,” Tannan says.

Anything else I should keep in mind to ensure the patent process goes as smoothly as possible?

“Avoid preparing applications on your own,” Tannan warns. “A poorly crafted application that contains an insufficient description of your invention or too narrow of language could result in a weak patent that allows for loopholes and provides insufficient protections. I advise protecting your investment by seeking legal assistance to facilitate the patent process.” Read more articles about licensing. This article was originally published on January 28, 2015.

Photo: iStock

6 valuable resources for minority business owners

FEBRUARY 05, 2016 Small-business owners know that the road to success is often a bumpy one, especially if you’re seeking specialized advice or financial assistance as a minority business owner. We asked the OPEN Forum community: What resources can minority business owners turn to for business advice or financing assistance? Are there any resources you’ve used that have been particularly helpful?

It turns out there are a surprising number of opportunities for minority business owners to seek financing assistance and helpful advice. Consider these six resources.

U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)

Established in 1969 by Richard Nixon, the MBDA is exclusively dedicated to furthering the success of minority businesses. In fiscal year 2012, the agency helped minority-owned businesses obtain more than $3.6 billion in capital awards and contracts.

The MBDA offers extensive information on grants and loans and government contracts, including current opportunities. The organization also provides a plethora of business advice on its website. You can be inspired by success stories or learn about how to apply for various minority certifications, which helps you earn contracts.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

OPEN Forum community member Raymond A. Los, president and CEO of The Hamptons Corporation, suggests trying the SBA’s extensive services, which include management and technical assistance, training and education as well as help accessing markets and capital, and more specifically the special programs geared toward minority and women-owned businesses. The SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program was specifically created to assist small, disadvantaged businesses in competing in the marketplace. According to the SBA, 8(a) participants can earn in sole-source contracts up to $4 million for goods and services and $6.5 million for manufacturing.

City Minority Business Assistance Programs

Some cities have their own minority business assistance programs, so it pays to call your local economic development department and ask. In Ohio, for instance, the Akron Urban League’s Minority Entrepreneur Empowerment Center offers programs for new entrepreneurs, a minority business acceleration program and financial assistance. The Cambridge, Massachusetts Economic Development Department assists minority-owned businesses as well as including each in a minority-owned business directory.

Minority Chamber of Commerce

Affiliated with the National Business Association, the Minority Chamber of Commerce (MCC) is a nonprofit that provides its members with educational opportunities, as well as financing information and assistance with contract bids.

Many local chambers of commerce, like the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, also have their own programs for minorities that offer advice and financial assistance, so it’s a good idea to give your local chamber a call and inquire.

SCORE

A nonprofit organization, SCORE is composed of volunteer business mentors who offer mentorship and educational opportunities, often working one-on-one or in small groups with entrepreneurs seeking assistance. The organization serves all small-business owners, but they do have a focus on minority entrepreneurs, including offering classes, seminars and resources that provide assistance in setting up and operating your minority business. Consult with your local SCORE office to find a program near you.

Affinity Groups

Community member Lani Gholston is project coordinator for the nonprofit organization the Yavapai Reentry Project. She has found success gaining valuable business information and assistance by participating in a variety of affinity groups.

“A socially based women’s group, for instance, may be packed with professionals who can connect you with business partners or with valuable information,” she says. “I currently work in a small community, and the best way to find resources for the nonprofit I work for has been networking indirectly within affinity groups.” Gholston recently joined an affinity group, and in just one meeting, she connected with a major media outlet and met a representative from a firm that is now considering a sponsorship position for one of their upcoming fundraisers.

Helena Reich is a Korean American, who runs the business Swoon Luxe, which features 100 percent handcrafted, luxury exotic-skin handbags, backpacks and accessories. She has had recent luck networking with affinity groups in her industry, including involvement in a forum run by an established clothing designer open to emerging designers who have a prototype.

“The founder of the company has answered my questions about the industry via email, which has been really helpful,” Reich says. “Ask around in your particular industry. You’re bound to find help.”

Read more articles on growth opportunities.

This article was originally published on February 28, 2014.

Photo: Thinkstock

Going public? What you should know about the IPO freeze

FEBRUARY 04, 2016 For the first time in five years, no companies went public in the U.S. in January. This lack of initial public offerings (IPOs) may be a symptom of the stock market’s volatility in recent months. To engage in a successful IPO, a business counts on a strong demand for its stock, and the market lately seems to have been too unstable to guarantee such a return. “The stock market has overpriced IPOs unrealistically over the past couple of years, and as a result the market is very cautious right now,” believes Jordan Edwards, president of Mixology Clothing Company. “It’s time for business 101 again—valuations based on profits and long-term forecasting for emerging businesses.”

If this trend toward a limited number of IPOs continues, this could mean potentially less competition and noise on the way in for small businesses that do go public, but once public, your business can change markedly. “Shareholders own your company, holding it to performance and treating the value and the interest in the company purely on the delivery of business,” Edwards says. This can have business altering consequences.

Benefits of Going Public

An IPO can offer several advantages for the small-business owner—one of the biggest may be the potential to raise large amounts of capital for your company. This can be a boon if you require funding and prefer not to secure loans, and it may also lead to a very big payday for company owners. Providing there’s a market demand for your stock, as a public company, you can also issue more stock in the future to raise funds. In addition, mergers and acquisitions may be easier to facilitate, because stock can be a part of a deal. Going public may also enable you to create a stock ownership plan that can help attract top talent, and prestige may come with becoming a publicly traded company.

Going Public Is Not for Everyone

Going public may not be for every small business. You would likely have to operate in an industry that’s in the public eye and has a significant amount of public interest, so your stock will sell. Your small business may also require an established record of steadily increasing earnings and sales amounting to an annual growth rate of about 20 percent. Prior to an IPO, it’s mandatory to have several years of audited financials by a major accounting firm, and you’ll need outside directors on your board. When it comes to going public, it can take money to make money. “Having the opportunity to raise more money in the public markets is a valuable tool in the arsenal of a growing business, but it does not come cheaply,” Edwards says. “Your senior management team better be talented, or you face losing everything you’ve built in the lead up to the offering if your company doesn’t perform.”

Having the opportunity to raise more money in the public markets is a valuable tool in the arsenal of a growing business, but it does not come cheaply.

In reality, an IPO may be the most expensive way to raise money, because of the upfront investment in specialists like accountants and lawyers. And the expenses may not stop once you go public, thanks to a wide variety of regulations and resulting fees. Going public can also profoundly alter the personality of your small business. You will no longer be a private firm where financial details are kept behind closed doors. Launching an IPO can create a fishbowl existence. Going public requires that you issue a public prospectus containing financial details, including executive salaries. You can also expect to answer to investors at mandatory meetings.

When an IPO Makes Sense

“The bottom line is that timing is everything when it comes to an IPO. Going out too early usually leads to poor performance that does not meet the public’s expectations,” Edwards says. “This results in your company becoming a publicly held business with your hands tied to quarterly returns and the inability to run the business the way a growing company needs to be operated.” The ideal time for a small business to go public may be when it has a good use for the funds it will raise from the offering, and its financial house is in order, Edwards believes. “For your company to thrive after an IPO, beforehand report its financial conditions as if it was a public entity and get internal controls in place with very clear plans for both top and bottom line performance,” he says. “Once you’re ready, an IPO could be just what your small business needs to take your company to the next level.”

_{The information contained in this article is for generalized informational and educational purposes only and is not designed to substitute for, or replace, a professional opinion about any particular business or situation or judgment about the risks or appropriateness of any financial or business strategy or approach for any specific business or situation. THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. The views and opinions expressed in authored articles on OPEN Forum represent the opinion of their author and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions and/or judgments of American Express Company or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions (including, without limitation, American Express OPEN). American Express makes no representation as to, and is not responsible for, the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made in this article.}

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How small businesses can help prepare for storm shutdowns

JANUARY 27, 2016 With storm season ravaging many parts of the country and extreme weather events like Blizzard Jonas disrupting daily life, running a small business can become even more challenging than usual during the winter months. How your small business navigates stormy weather and comes back from the inevitable shutdowns may have a direct impact on the bottom line. The domino effect caused by extreme weather conditions can profoundly influence business, notes Sandy Schwartz, a partner at SLK Law Firm. “Mondays are typically our busiest, with new client intakes for real estate deals put together during the prior weekend,” Schwartz says. “The recent storm hitting on a Saturday essentially crippled the real estate market for the weekend, which, in turn, resulted in minimal new transactions coming into the office.”

Small businesses inevitably can lose sales opportunities when storms strike, agrees Joseph Michelli, CEO of The Michelli Experience and author of seven books, including Driven to Delight: Delivering World-Class Customer Experience the Mercedes-Benz Way and The Zappos Experience: 5 Principles to Inspire, Engage, and WOW. “All businesses are challenged by simply getting staff to the workplace. Even if employees can circumnavigate the weather hazards, they often face other challenges, like closed child-care facilities,” he says. “And virtual employees are at the mercy of downed power lines and even Internet outages.”

Preparing for Inevitable Interruptions

Winter storms can likely disrupt your small business in one way or another. Severe weather may lead to property damage and risk for employees and customers. Even if you’re not caught in the eye of the storm, your company can experience the collateral effects, resulting in a slowdown.

People who retain electrical power in their homes [during storms] often hunker down in front of television and computer screens. This gives your company great opportunities for exposure to brand messages and online purchasing.

Here are some steps you can take to help minimize damage in the event of a severe storm, so your business has a better chance of recovering quickly.

Stockpile emergency supplies. Have on hand items that you may need in case a storm hits, including flashlights, blankets, food and water, first aid kit, battery powered radio, shovels, sandbags and road salt.
Establish backup power. You may determine that your business would be best equipped with a generator in case of a power outage. This could be used for equipment that requires continual electricity, as well as a backup heating source.
Determine an emergency plan of action. Pinpoint where on the business premises employees and customers should gather if a storm hits. Discuss ways to minimize safety risks. Regularly review this plan with your workforce.
Financially plan for downtime. During the recent storm, Martha Johnson, leadership coach and co-author of Navigating an Organizational Crisis: When Leadership Matters Most, had to reschedule clients and saw a “hiccup in revenue. Schools set master schedules that accommodate a number of snow days, so it’s always a good idea to do the same thing in projecting revenue,” she says.

“Effective small-business owners reinvest and create reserves in the ‘boom’ times to ensure they get through the downtimes,” Michelli says. “If you are profitable but don’t reinvest or save a portion of that profit for the inevitable ebbs and flows of business, you likely won’t be around for the long haul—storms or no storms.” Michelle Tennant Nicholson, chief creative officer of Wasabi Publicity, agrees. “All small businesses only survive if they save their ‘nuts.’ Just like a squirrel saves for hard times during winter, so must small-business owners. Determine how much payroll money you require to survive lean months and save that during prosperous times for rainy or snowy days.”

Business During and After Stormy Weather

Your response to your customers during and after a shutdown can be critical and may determine how well you spring back. “People who retain electrical power in their homes often hunker down in front of television and computer screens,” Michelli says. “This gives your company great opportunities for exposure to brand messages and online purchasing.” A storm gives you the opportunity to ramp up your online sales, adds Tennant Nicholson. “If you have an online business, think about leveraging people’s indoor cabin fever during a storm by advertising and marketing around search terms about blizzards and similar terms,” she says. “For example, blizzard blowout prices.” Whenever possible, keep in contact with your customers, Michelli advises. “Customers understand,” he says. “They look out their windows or see the affected area in the news. Some may be annoyed about being inconvenienced by your unavailability, but most simply want you to communicate with them about resumption of operations and demonstrate an eagerness to serve them. They don’t want excuses, false promises or explanations. They just want you poised and ready to care for them as soon as safely possible.” Communication is critical, Johnson agrees. “Let people know where/when/how you are doing. If you are going to be late on a delivery, let your customers know immediately.”

Show Gratitude

After the storm, consider thanking all who stood by you, including your customers. “Storms and other acts of nature often bring out the best in people,” says Michelli. “It’s as if we are all reminded of our individual vulnerability when a storm disrupts so many of our daily rituals. Storms also remind us of those people and businesses that we value and miss. The aftermath of a storm is a great time for small-business owners to let their customers know they were missed and how grateful the business owners are to be entrusted to care for and about them.” Do thank your loyal customers, agrees Tennant Nicholson. “Small-business owners get to write their own stories, much like creating their own snowmen. Are you going to make hot chocolate and snowballs, or are you going to be left dripping wet from complaints? Clients like successful businesses, so tell a story of gratitude, success and happiness, no matter the weather outside.” Read more articles about operational analysis.

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Choosing the right color for maximum brand impact

JANUARY 19, 2016 At President Obama’s final State of the Union address, Michelle Obama commanded attention with her marigold-colored dress. The positive reactions she received wearing the dress, which sold out online before the president finished speaking, helps illustrate the often overlooked power of color to make an impact. “Most of us learn about the color wheel as children, but color theory goes deeper than knowing how to mix finger-paints to get the right shade of purple,” says Pamela Webber, chief marketing officer for the online graphic design marketplace, 99designs, which recently completed a comprehensive research project on the power and psychology of color as used by small businesses in their branding and marketing. “Color theory is the collision of science, art and culture,” Webber says. “How your customers respond to colors and color combinations is influenced by aesthetics, learned cultural associations and evolutionary programing.”

Color Affects Mood

For decades, business professionals have found anecdotally that colors do affect mood, claims Donna Hamilton, chief wellness officer of Manifest Excellence, LLC and author of Wellness Your Way. “Early landmark studies found that the color red, considered a warm color, was associated with the increased emotional responses of love, fear and anger, and if already energized, those who experienced red found it disturbing,” Hamilton says. “Blue, on the other hand, is considered a cool color and was found to have a calming effect. Business research shows that colors can have a strong effect on how customers perceive and react to your brand.”

Color theory is the collision of science, art and culture. How your customers respond to colors and color combinations is influenced by aesthetics, learned cultural associations and evolutionary programing.

—Pamela Webber, chief marketing officer, 99designs

Color can be a powerful tool, agrees Mona Patel, founder and CEO of Motivate Design and author of Reframe: Shift the Way You Work, Innovate, and Think. “Different colors can make us feel different emotions,” she says. “Warm colors [reds, oranges, yellows] make us think of the sun, so they can be used to create a cozy feel and bring people together, whereas cool colors [blues, greens, purples] remind us of the sky and ocean, so they calm us. Motivate Design’s primary brand color is bright orange, which is sharp and alive. The color creates a welcoming, collaborative office environment and portrays our employees as creative, friendly, focused and standing out from the crowd.”

Choosing Company Colors

“Because color can affect psychological and emotional response, it’s wise for small-business owners who offer in-person services to pay attention to the colors they expose their clients to, such as in their office decor and clothing, like staff uniforms,” Hamilton says. “For example, companies offering stress management or relaxation products and services might want to use a more soothing palate in their office, for their logo and on their website, whereas businesses that promote services based on speed might want to use more stimulating colors.” “Choosing the color of your company’s logo or brand identity is not as simple as liking green and wanting a dark forest logo,” Webber agrees. “Consider the traits and attributes associated with the primary colors used in your brands and logos and whether those are traits you want your business to communicate. The ideal colors enable you to share your brand’s true personality with customers.” When selecting your brand colors, you may also consider the choices of others in your industry. “Many food and beverage companies use reds, blacks and yellows. And Internet, software and social media companies have a tendency to use blues,” says Patel. “When it comes to color choice, it can be advantageous to position your brand within the norms of your industry, or you might want to deliberately set yourself apart.” “Consider your specific industry and the most popular colors used in that sector,” Webber adds. “Maybe it would be best to stand apart and be memorable by choosing a more original color scheme. Can you benefit from being the exciting, fun company in a more traditional field? Sometimes zagging is far better than following everyone else’s zigging.” Also consider the effect office colors can have on you and your employees. “You can’t work well if you don’t feel well, so use colors that have a positive emotional effect on you and your staff,” Hamilton says. “Depending on the sensitivity of your office team, some people could feel overly stimulated, especially by warmer colors, or overly sedated by cooler colors.”

Color and Company Image

Color can be most important in defining your company’s brand identity, believes Patel, who suggests creating a color palette with primary and secondary colors that are harmonious, yet contrast. “After deciding on a color palette, use it to design all visual touch points of your brand, such as the logo, website, promotional materials, signage and social media assets,” she says. “You want to create a cohesive experience for your customers.” Once you’ve decided on a color palette, stick with it, advises Patel. “Don’t add colors haphazardly. The use of color should always be considered and intentional. By adhering to a defined set of colors for your brand in a consistent way, you can create brand recognition and trust with your customers, and that can set your company up for success.” Read more articles about branding.

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How the stock market plunge could affect your small business

JANUARY 13, 2016 With the stock market experiencing the worst beginning of the year trading on record, you may be wondering what the losses mean for your small business. There may be some reason for concern, believes ER Wolf, a business technology expert and founder and CEO of Elify. “The stock market plunge negatively impacts the mindset of the entire country and can make people more cautious about spending money,” he says.

David Weliver, publisher of MoneyUnder30.com, agrees. “I think market volatility shakes consumer confidence, which can cause people to spend less on larger purchases or put them off altogether. Although the stock market shouldn’t have the same impact as rising unemployment or a prolonged recession and it shouldn’t affect a business’s ability to grow in the long run, when people see their retirement balances going down, they may tighten their belts in the short term.” There may be morale issues with employees if they’re invested in the company retirement plan, agrees Andy Martin, president of 7Twelve Advisors, LLC, which creates and manages diversified investment products for the public markets, and a registered securities principal with Girard Securities, Inc. “It’s important to keep in mind that though we have come out of the worst week beginning for the market in history, the market is only down 10.4 percent from its May 19, 2015, peak. A 20 percent drop without a corresponding increase is considered a ‘correction,’ and even a correction is not a ‘crash.’”

Upside to Stock Market Fluctuations

In a prolonged down market, businesses might have a unique opportunity to woo angel investors who are looking for investment opportunities outside of Wall Street, believes Weliver. “On a lighter note, a business might seize an opportunity for a clever promotion, such as giving customers a ‘consolation’ discount on days or weeks the stock market drops,” he explains. Whenever there is change, there may also be opportunity, adds Joshua Mellberg, founder and CEO of J.D. Mellberg Financial. “Opportunities can arise when there is a need for a product or service and there was no need before,” Mellberg says. “Smart small-business owners will be looking for the opportunities arising out of those new needs.”

It’s important to focus on where the opportunities are and not on what was lost.

Stock market troubles can open up avenues for people needing extra income, adds Wolf. “Oftentimes after major stock market adjustments, we see an increase in side business startups. This country was built on small businesses growing into large businesses. When there is a crash, large companies may be impacted, which opens the opportunity for small businesses to come in with new goods and services, so it’s important to focus on where the opportunities are and not on what was lost.”

Patience Is a Virtue

Whether you’re managing your own investments or working on your business strategy, it can be critical to take a long-term view. “The stock market has wild swings from month to month and even year to year, but it has grown consistently over decades,” Weliver says. “For the most part, changing an otherwise sound strategy based on what the stock market’s doing doesn’t make sense. The exception might be business owners planning to retire in the next couple of years—in that case they might choose to delay retirement until the market recovers a bit.” While Martin doesn’t advise small-business owners to give investment advice to employees, he does suggest using the stock market fluctuations as teaching moments. “Remind employees about the benefits of dollar cost averaging—as prices drop they have the opportunity to buy more shares,” Martin says. “And for those workers who still have 20 years or so left in the workforce, the good news is that there has never been a 20-year period when an investor would have lost money in a diverse portfolio of U.S. Large Cap stocks—such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or S&P 500. Investors who diversify and are patient outperform investors who are temperamental. Patience beats impatience every time.”

_{The information contained in this article is for generalized informational and educational purposes only and is not designed to substitute for, or replace, a professional opinion about any particular business or situation or judgment about the risks or appropriateness of any financial or business strategy or approach for any specific business or situation. THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. The views and opinions expressed in authored articles on OPEN Forum represent the opinion of their author and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions and/or judgments of American Express Company or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions (including, without limitation, American Express OPEN). American Express makes no representation as to, and is not responsible for, the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made in this article.}

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CES report: new tech that may help improve your business

JANUARY 07, 2016

At this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, tech companies are rolling out a number of innovations and sharing new information that could help make running your small business easier and more effective. Here are a few of the highlights that may be worth looking into for your company.

Cybersecurity

Discussing new technologies, the first annual Cybersecurity Forum at CES is presenting information from security experts and technology developers that enable businesses to better protect themselves from cyberattack. “The threat of cyberattack is looming, and it’s going to continue to be a growing problem,” says Greg Davis, owner of South Coast Computers, who attended the forum to glean information on new technologies that can enable him to further protect his clients from the threat of security breaches.

Those companies that act rather than react to protect their products, data, employees and customers are the ones that will be most likely to circumvent the potentially disastrous effects of security breaches.

“Developers are continually coming up with new technologies, such as antivirus software, that helps small businesses stay ahead of the growing cyberattack trend,” he says. “Those companies that act rather than react to protect their products, data, employees and customers are the ones that will be most likely to circumvent the potentially disastrous effects of security breaches.”

Affordable Cellphone Options

If you provide your employees with cellphones, doing so may become more affordable. At CES, cellphone manufacturers, including those from overseas, are making a big push, as many cellphone carriers seem to be getting rid of their contracts. That means many customers are now responsible for getting their own smartphones. Chinese smartphone companies operating in the U.S., such as ZTE and Alcatel One Touch, have unveiled a variety of products at CES, including Alcatel OneTouch’s new Watch that works with iOS and Android devices and ZTE’s new 6-inch jumbo smartphone.

4K Display Technology

Also known as UHD (Ultra High Definition), 4K display technology for televisions offers nearly digital cinema quality in resolution and color. If you regularly give presentations for your small business, this revolutionary technology could help make those presentations even more impressive. The closer you are to the screen, the more crystal clear the display, which means that this technology may be especially useful for small group presentations.

Improved Projectors

If you use projectors for demonstration or instructional purposes, the technology in this area is also much improved. For instance, you can find projectors that are more lightweight and portable than ever and offer features like wireless and Bluetooth connectivity and better overall viewing.

Wider, Higher Resolution Monitors

Curved monitors, such as new, wide models from LG and HP that measure 34 inches, are creating extra screen viewing capabilities and a higher resolution experience. The larger screens and enhanced picture quality means that you and your employees can likely work more efficiently at the computer.

Smart Home/Smart Office

A wide variety of smart home technologies are being unveiled at CES, and many of those technologies could be transferred to the office environment. Features such as thermostats with environmental sensors that adjust the thermostat automatically, improved security systems and monitoring devices and smart smoke detectors can help make running an office more efficient and lead to an even safer environment. There are even door locks that can be locked and unlocked remotely, and codes can be given out that allow access—which makes handing out keys or exchanging them unnecessary.

Wearable Payment Devices

Although the technology is new and the kinks are still being worked out, the wave of the future seems to be in wearable devices like smart watches, jewelry and clothing that can be embedded with a NFC chip that will enable consumers to use such devices to pay for items. Small-business owners know that some sales are spur of the moment—so the more customers who have the ability to pay readily accessible, the better the chances for potential sales. Read more articles about digital tools.

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How the climate accord could affect small businesses

DECEMBER 16, 2015 In a landmark agreement on December 12, 196 nations agreed to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the intention of curbing global warming. Countries from around the globe, including the United States, made history by adopting the Paris Climate Agreement at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “The agreement comprises 29 articles and has been reported as signaling a massive shift toward low-and zero-carbon emissions technologies and services that governments and businesses will voluntarily undertake,” says Anilla Cherian, author of Energy and Global Climate Change: Bridging the Sustainable Development Divide. A major collaborative breakthrough on an issue that has stymied world governments for decades, the deal not only has the potential for impacting the state of the environment, it may also significantly affect business, according to Paula DiPerna, special advisor to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and former vice president for International Affairs for the Cousteau Society. “The Climate Accord is the most important and beneficial action to reach the U.S. economy in a long time, because it offers an opportunity for the economy to refresh, rebuild, redesign and re-envision almost all of our economic processes and infrastructure,” says DiPerna, who attended the event in Paris. “This means small businesses that understand the demands for a low carbon economy stand to gain as the economy shifts to a carbon diet,” she adds. “As a result, green thinking enterprises will be much in demand, particularly those that can offer new pathways to energy efficiencies. Those small businesses that can market themselves as part of the solution and then deliver those solutions in an affordable, timely manner [may] be successful.”

Unprecedented Business Opportunities

Small businesses focused on offering sustainable energy in developing countries may have significant opportunities, Cherian believes. “Small businesses focused on wide ranging, clean energy solutions, innovative services and tools that enable universal access to sustainable energy in developing countries are at the forefront of harnessing new opportunities. Businesses that are well-positioned and oriented to take advantage of the enhanced promotion and use of renewable energy technologies, services and systems in [locations such as] Africa are advised to get a head start.” Whereas the required energy changes may prove challenging for large companies dependent on producing high levels of carbon dioxide, small businesses like tech startups have the potential to thrive, suggests Karin Miller, author of Global Values: A New Paradigm For A New World. “The energy industry will attract new innovators and startups, which makes for great small-business opportunities,” she says.

Green thinking enterprises will be much in demand, particularly those that can offer new pathways to energy efficiencies. Those small businesses that can market themselves as part of the solution and then deliver those solutions in an affordable, timely manner [may] be successful.

All businesses have the potential for benefiting from the focus on reducing carbon emissions, DiPerna claims. “Industrial designers, architects, engineers, accountants and project managers stand to profit, as well as carpenters, plumbers and solar panel installers,” she says. “Also, wealth advisors and managers who understand the green economy will be in an ideal position to attract and advise clients on how to minimize risks and maximize benefits of the shift toward the carbon diet.”

Climate Accord Drawbacks for Small Business

Due to the ramifications of not complying with carbon emission rules, many large companies that use small-business suppliers may begin scrutinizing supply chains to ensure energy efficiency, DiPerna notes. “It is likely that procurement departments for cities and large companies will move away from suppliers who do not contribute to the overall carbon diet. Procurement departments are likely to ask more questions about how a given supplier can help buyers meet low carbon requirements.” Effectively handling the climate accord ramifications takes preparation, claims Scott Brennan, president of BOLDbreak, Inc. and author of The Surging Team: 10 BOLDskills for Accelerated Team Success. “Wise business owners prepare an annual business plan that includes a SWOT [strengths, weakness, opportunities and marketplace threats] analysis. This challenges company leadership to understand their company’s current strengths and weaknesses and also any outside or marketplace factors which could pose a threat to the company,” Brennan says. “New EPA regulations can significantly increase costs and may even push a product out of the market. Companies that develop what I call a surging team culture can engage their employees at all levels, including business plan development, and will be in the best position to not only survive but to thrive with the new energy requirements.” Read more articles about innovation.

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What you should know about the movement toward online ads

NOVEMBER 20, 2015 Recently, Hallmark, which traditionally airs heartfelt TV ads during the holidays, announced its intentions to move advertising online this season. Whereas small businesses have navigated online advertising as a viable, cost-effective way to promote, giants like Hallmark and BMW that once relied heavily on TV commercials as their advertising base seem to also be moving online. With many consumers skipping TV ads, those companies seem to be making a strategic move, believes Eric Lofholm, president and CEO of Eric Lofholm International, Inc. and author of How To Sell In The New Economy. “There are a couple of reasons for this shift,” he says. “First, millennials don’t watch TV anymore. Instead, they’re moving to online streaming services, and advertisers are losing out on this young audience, 18 to 34, in the television format.” Broad marketing efforts may not be as efficient as the targeted ones online, adds Brett Glass, founder and CEO of Gift Card Impressions. “The generational differences of today’s consumers require different messaging, and they view these messages through different means in today’s digital world. Hallmark’s move makes sense as they attempt to make a larger impact on the fastest growing consumer segment, the millennials, who are less traditional than the baby boomers.” Kirill Storch, Internet marketing strategist and CEO of Electric Web, agrees. “Hallmark’s recent move to 100 percent digital is significant in the sense that it is a venerable company and the ritual of watching tear-jerking Hallmark commercials on TV has become a rite of passage in many American homes. The fact is that Hallmark has had a robust digital strategy for a number of years now and this latest step was consistent with the trends. Anyone who has their finger on the pulse of digital advertising knows it’s growing quickly.” Moving from TV to online ads makes financial sense, adds Richard Krevolin of Power Story Consulting Inc. and author of THE HOOK: How to Share Your Brand’s Unique Story to Engage Customers, Boost Sales, and Achieve Heartfelt Success. “Online allows companies to target their demographic more carefully with cheaper buys, and it also allows them to produce longer videos online that will outlive their 30-second TV counterparts. They can create a 60- or 120-second ad that can be shared over and over free of charge.”

Inevitable Shift

As consumers spend an increasing number of hours online, brands should get in front of them in the places they’re actually spending time, believes Nicole Kroese, vice president of marketing and partnerships at Likeable Local. “Failing to adopt an online ad strategy means missed opportunities to convert new business. And with online marketing comes huge advances in tracking and reporting, agility and, in many cases, cost-optimizing, which create new efficiencies for advertisers.” As advertisers see a downtrend in the return on investment through traditional marketing forms such as TV, print and radio, they’re finding it necessary to spend their marketing dollars on Internet marketing, but many advertisers are scrambling to play catch up while entering the space, believes Joshua Keller, cofounder and president of Union Square Media. “The only reason why online marketing is being ignored by some is that advertisers do not understand how to optimize it. There’s been a push and pull trying to fend off Internet marketing, while now it’s undeniable that they have to adapt.”

Help or Hurt Small Business?

There’s concern whether big companies’ move toward digital advertising could cause more noise online for consumers, possibly raising prices for small businesses or even making it tough for them to get impressions in front of their consumers, notes Kevin Layton, CEO of Data-Dynamix and author of Building your Digital Marketing Machine.

Small businesses are able to pick and choose ad space and ad formats via programmatic ad buying, lowering their costs and narrowing in on the audience they want to reach.

Lofholm believes that this trend can actually give small businesses a leg up. “No longer is advertising as expensive of a proposition as it was 10 years ago,” he says. “Small businesses are able to pick and choose ad space and ad formats via programmatic ad buying, lowering their costs and narrowing in on the audience they want to reach.” Big business in the mix online could raise costs, but online, a small company can do just as good a job as a major corporation, notes Krevolin. “So, the small business has to be better at telling their story and targeting their market,” he says. “However, online consumers tend to accept lower quality videos than TV consumers, so small businesses need not rely on huge productions to create their content.” And the number of opportunities to deliver ads online are much greater than in traditional TV advertising, which may have between three and four commercial segments per show, points out Jay York, senior digital marketing strategist for EMSI Public Relations. “This means there is room for both the big retailers and the small businesses that are both seeking the same market,” he says. “It may actually encourage more small businesses to use these mediums for ad delivery.” Read more articles about advertising.

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Could El Nino damage your small business?

NOVEMBER 05, 2015 Shaping up to be one of the strongest El Nino seasons on record, this year’s fall and winter weather has the potential to not only alter outdoor conditions, it could also affect your small business in a big way. “Small-business owners should take this El Nino season very seriously,” says Margot Dorfman, CEO of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, which frequently hears from small businesses during and after climate events. “The current El Nino pattern and intensity will certainly impact small businesses, both through direct climate regional changes and through supply and demand disruptions,” Dorfman says. “The issues stemming from the effects of El Nino can be very challenging for small businesses, because they frequently have less financial cushions and other resources to withstand sudden shifts.”

The issues stemming from the effects of El Nino can be very challenging for small businesses, because they frequently have less financial cushions and other resources to withstand sudden shifts.

Trickle Down Effects of El Nino

The effects of inclement and unpredictable weather on small business can run the gamut and affect entire regions. “Most firms are reliant upon the Internet for connectivity to customers and suppliers,” Dorfman says. “Prolonged outage of electricity and Internet access can incapacitate basic communications and business activity. Supplies and services may also be delayed, or there may be sudden price spikes. And, if a small business is a vital supplier of goods and services in a region, the entire community may be impacted. These issues can snowball, causing small businesses to lay off personnel and slow their own supply orders.” The potential repercussions of El Nino are a concern, agrees Susan Schlapkohl, vice president and co-founder of InterVac Design Corp, which manufactures compact central vacuum systems for recreational vehicles, boats and condos. When weather events like hurricanes and snow and ice storms hit, they disrupt business, Schlapkohl notes. “Businesses can experience a loss of power and trucking comes to a halt, because most gas stations do not have generators, which makes refueling impossible,” she says. “Snow and ice storms also make roads impassable for trucking. The resulting missed deliveries for both incoming raw materials and outgoing finished products create the potential to, at a minimum, increase shipping cost as goods have to be air freighted and, at its worst, cause a loss of customers due to missed deliveries. Loss of crops because of flooding and drought also can drive up food prices and creates headaches for resellers.”

How to Prepare for El Nino

Of course, nature can be difficult to predict, but there are certain tactics you can take to help mitigate problems should weather conditions become disagreeable and disrupt your business:

Plan ahead for communication interruptions. “Prepare and communicate plans in case of electrical interruptions, Internet interruptions and even evacuation,” Dorfman says. “Back up computer information and have alternative locations from which communications can be made.”
Build up inventory. Ensure that you have enough key supplies to get the business through a disruption in receiving supplies. Also prepare excess finished goods, in case of a loss of power.
Talk with suppliers. “We recommend business owners talk with their suppliers now to control costs and leverage their relationships during these times to keep supplies and costs as stable as possible,” Dorfman says. “It can’t hurt to also talk with alternative suppliers now to get an understanding of costs and requirements should your business be forced to secure supplies from another vendor.”
Come up with a shipping plan. This may be a good time to plan backup shipping routes in case El Nino causes delays with your regular means of transport. Or you could consider shipping early, as you may be able to mitigate delivery delays by sending out product earlier than required due dates.
Familiarize with assistance sources. The Small Business Administration and FEMA provide assistance during times of trouble, Dorfman advises. “Reach out now to make connections and understand the resources available from these government agencies in the event that you need assistance,” she says. “We also recommend reaching out to Congressional representatives, as these offices frequently have lists of all resources available in a region.”

Read more articles about strategic planning.

Photo: iStock

Should your small business consider skipping Black Friday?

OCTOBER 30, 2015 aWith Black Friday on the horizon and small businesses ramping up for expected sales, it came as a surprise when sporting goods and outdoor retailer REI recently announced its plan to remain closed on what has become one of the biggest shopping days of the year. The company is instead launching a campaign to encourage people to get outside the day after Thanksgiving. Though the idea of skipping such a big sales day may seem contradictory to good business, the move could gain customer respect, believes Rod Robertson, managing partner of Briggs Capital, which assists businesses in financial matters, and author of Winning at Entrepreneurship. “Retail is about taking bold stands, be it new product lines or on social issues,” says Robertson. “By shutting down on Black Friday, which is now an over baked sale-a-thon, small-business owners may be able to battle the hydra of big boxes and online competitors. This boycott of Black Friday could be a blessing if the small-business owner can take a stand and give shoppers an alternative solution.”

By not running with the thundering herd and instead taking the high road, a retailer with a carefully planned marketing initiative can be seen as bold and contributing to a paradigm shift.

PR Potential

“For a small business, any news is good news,” Robertson says. “Taking on the giants and standing tall as entrepreneurs could attract a new admiring client base tired of rampant commercialism. By not running with the thundering herd and instead taking the high road, a retailer with a carefully planned marketing initiative can be seen as bold and contributing to a paradigm shift.” Taking a values stand as REI has done can appeal to certain groups of consumers, notes Stacy DeBroff, founder & CEO of Influence Central. “REI’s decision to remain closed on Black Friday focuses on the company’s values of getting outdoors and staying active. Increasingly, consumers, especially millennials, are aligning themselves with brands that remain closer to their personal values. We recently conducted a study of more than 1,000 millennial women and moms, as well as boomer and Gen X women, and found that millennial moms in particular look to connect with brands that they feel reflect their own lifestyle values—ones they see as honest, transparent and authentic.”

Making the Most of Bold Moves

If you decide to close down your business on Black Friday, you’ll want to make the most of the tactic, advises Olga Mizrahi, CEO of ohso! design and author of Sell Local, Think Global. “First, explain to your customers and the community why you are closing for the day and to what greater purpose. Think a lot about how your company defines success, and then be really clear about your success markers and what you’re doing to hit them. Also, capitalize on the PR that comes with doing something different. Have a hashtag for the occasion, create a buzz, take a stand and weave your ‘stunt’ into your company’s story.” Mizrahi also suggests featuring a “thank you” wall at your place of business with dry erase markers where customers and employees can leave public thanks to echo the sentiment of the closing. “Maybe they’ll tout their spending time with family or giving thanks to the community by participating in charitable events happening that day,” she says.

Aim for Lost Sales Recovery

“Taking a stand against Black Friday should not entail losing revenue,” Robertson says. Mizrahi agrees. “Distribute branded thank-you notes to customers in-store and online that invite them in for a big sale on [Saturday],” she says. Of course, Black Friday is so crucial to holiday sales that skipping it may be unlikely to catch on in a big way. “While brands’ core values increasingly resonate with consumers, it remains to be seen if other retailers will follow REI’s lead and make similar moves,” Debroff says. If it works for your small business to close up on Black Friday, it might be worth a try. If nothing else, doing so may give you and your employees some much needed downtime before the holiday season rush. Read more articles about customer engagement.

Photo: iStock

Is your company’s mobile shopping experience effective?

OCTOBER 23, 2015 With Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping on the horizon and busy shoppers glued to their phones, it may be more important than ever that your small-business’s mobile shopping experience is stellar. “In this era where almost everyone has smartphones and many have tablets and wearable technology, the world is increasingly connected to online commerce,” says Benjamin Hordell, founding partner of DXagency. “An entire retail ecosystem is at customers’ fingertips with plenty of deals to be had.” The line between online and offline is permanently blurred, believes Haresh Kumar, vice president of marketing for Moovweb, which specializes in powering engaging mobile experiences. “Customers are omni-channel, meaning the discovery to purchase journey happens on all channels—TV, mobile, desktop, in-store, etc.—but mobile is the only channel that complements all these channels. It’s the second screen and often the first screen for buyers.”

It’s amazing how convenient and pleasant you can make the buying experience if you approach it from the viewpoint of the consumer.

The increasing shift toward mobile means the playing field may now be much more level for small-business owners than it’s ever been, Hordell adds. “All these small businesses are now in the same ‘malls’ as the big brands.” André Walters, founder and CEO of Yuno, a social shopping e-commerce site, agrees. “Small-business owners are no longer limited to brick-and-mortar traffic—the Internet allows them a global reach.” Despite the potential for hefty online sales, shopping cart abandonment may be one of the biggest hurdles small-business owners must overcome to experience successful sales. “A recent study by Statista shows that 56 percent of people abandon their shopping carts online due to encountering unexpected costs at checkout,” Walters says. “If you can cut the cost for shoppers, with free shipping and extended return periods, this can help prevent abandonment.” Given the potentially lucrative sales your small business can make through mobile sales, it makes sense to try to ensure your mobile experience is the best it can be for your customers. Here’s how to encourage shoppers to finish purchasing and return for more.

Streamline the Experience

If you had a physical store, you’d want your customers to have an incident-free, seamless experience. The same goes for their online shopping. “It’s important to take their hands and lead them to the top items you’d love for them to buy and then make it as easy as possible to checkout,” says Jen Hansard, co-founder of Simple Green Smoothies. “It’s amazing how convenient and pleasant you can make the buying experience if you approach it from the viewpoint of the consumer. The key is a responsive platform that includes ‘add to cart’ buttons that save customers from even having to visit your online shop first.”

Have an Easy-to-Navigate Checkout

The secret to avoiding shopping cart abandonment and closing mobile sales is providing a frictionless checkout flow that isn’t cumbersome, according to Kumar. “Make it easy for consumers to go from browsing to selection to purchase. The number of checkout steps isn’t important—it’s what you ask your customers to do at each step. Use prefilling fields for information like addresses.” Also make sure to give full shipping costs before the last page, suggests Jeff Sauro, owner of MeasuringU, a research firm that focuses on measuring and improving the website and mobile experience for retailers. “Not providing the full shipping cost until the checkout page is a major cause of shopping cart abandonment.”

Use Promo Codes

Consider having promo codes available, as customers expect them, Hordell advises. “A key component of online shopping is the experience of shopping and then finding a coupon/offer to apply and see the cost drop. If people can’t find a coupon, they often will not check out. Make sure there is a coupon or offer code accessible on every page and factor these discounts into your pricing.” Also be cognizant of where you place the coupon code. “Consumers often abandon the cart at the ‘promo code’ field because the customer leaves the checkout flow hunting for the promo code and never comes back,” Kumar says. “Instead, make the coupon field collapsed so that it’s available to users but not part of the direct checkout flow.”

Be Responsive

One of the advantages of being a small business with a mobile presence is the ability to be available to the consumer during the buying cycle, notes Samantha Fein, vice president of marketing for Totspot, a peer-to-peer mobile marketplace for buying and selling children’s used clothing. “For example, our sellers receive alerts when an item is liked,” she says. “Clever shop owners reply or comment on the item and ask if they can offer assistance or answer questions about the ‘liked’ product, which brings the small-business sentiment into the mobile shopping environment. The best thing a small-business owner on a shopping platform can do is be human and speak with your customers.” Hansard reports that her business is built around a community experience and thrives because of it. “We moved our commerce site to the mobile responsive platform, Shopify. It was a lot of work to move our products over and learn a whole new system, but we believe it was worth it for our community, as more than 70 percent of our clients are getting to use the platform through mobile devices or tablets.”

Make It Enjoyable

“As people spend more time on mobile devices, they’re using some of that time to interact with shopping sites that give them an experience,” Walters says. “We’re finding that the discovery of products is an entertaining experience in and of itself, and our platform entices conversations around products. If small-business owners can make customer interactions with their products an experience and not just another sale, then they will increase their potential for converting visitors into paying customers.” Read more articles about digital tools.

Photo: iStock

Is Your Business Making Too Much Money?

OCTOBER 16, 2015 While the primary objective for most small businesses is to make as much money as possible, just because you’re busy and seem to be pulling in a profit doesn’t mean you’re headed in the right direction. “A rapid accumulation of cash can be a sign that a business is performing well,” says Patrick Byrne, CEO of Balboa Capital. “However, it can also signal that a company is under-investing in its future. “Sitting on cash reserves and not making the necessary investments in your company can inhibit its growth and success in the long term,” Byrne says. “You can have a ‘cash cow’ now, but if you don’t invest those profits back into the business, you may find that increased competition, changes in customer expectations and economic cycles turn your cash cow into a sunken ship.” Dave Kurrasch, vice president and general manager of Small Business Payments Company, agrees with that line of thought. You might have a problem if you don’t use positive cash flow to exploit market, expansion and product opportunities, he says.

Sitting on cash reserves and not making the necessary investments in your company can inhibit its growth and success in the long term.

“Firms can be very successful in the short run, and profits and cash flow can be very rewarding to owners and shareholders,” Kurrasch says, “but if a company relies on products and services that are gradually becoming irrelevant or unpopular, the business will certainly face a crisis at some time in the future.”

Signs You’re Headed in the Wrong Direction

Having plenty of cash looks great on your balance sheet and offers protection during difficult times, but when a company is growing too rapidly and making outsized profits, it can experience financial and other operational problems, including mismanaged profits and uncontrolled growth. Some of the warning signs:

Decreased productivity due to long hours and low employee morale
Failure to properly train new employees or plan for succession in management
Hiring too many employees without a firm plan for their function or placement within the company
Diminished quality of products and/or services
Trouble with inventory management
Increase in customer complaints
Business owner(s) assuming responsibility for an overabundance of daily operational functions, causing a loss in focus of the company’s core objectives and growth goals
Cash-rich mindset that leads to spending based on impulse rather than long-term planning, such as moving into expensive offices or overspending on office equipment and technology

Backed by a solid plan, however, you can take advantage of the profitable times when they come. Doing so requires that you manage your cash flow and continue to proactively improve upon your products and services. “Having the right systems in place to effectively manage cash flow can help business owners make investments based on sound financial evaluation,” Byrne says. “A positive cash flow keeps a small business moving forward and helps it weather unexpected slow sales periods. It also prepares small-business owners for success when seeking additional capital for opportunities like expansion initiatives and equipment acquisition.”

Effectively Managing Your Money

Effective cash flow management begins with analyzing future cash flow requirements in order to predict potential trouble ahead of time, Kurrasch says: “All companies, and in particular small businesses, should create a rigorous cash forecast that looks out three to six months at a minimum, if not longer. This is particularly true for very capital-intensive businesses that must continually invest in inventory, plant and equipment.” Strong strategies for improving cash flow, according to Byrne, include:

reviewing sales and expenses daily
sending invoices on time
paying bills promptly
creating sales forecasts
reducing expenses
continually investing in the company

“Rather than taking out every dollar earned by the business in the form of a salary or dividend, you must balance your own cash needs with those that will maximize the long-term success of your business,” Byrne says. Read more articles on cash flow. This article originally ran on October 7, 2014.

Photo: Getty Images

Create a Culture of Cybersecurity at Your Small Business

OCTOBER 15, 2015 October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which can mean paying extra attention to keeping intruders from breaching your company’s data. While tools such as firewalls and virus protection software can be critical ingredients of a secure system, employees may often be overlooked as a key to your system’s safety. “Cybersecurity is not just about IT. The best detection tools only do part of the job,” says James Pooley, an IP and legal security consultant and author of Secrets: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyberespionage. “Hacks come from the outside, but they usually succeed only with help from the inside,” he says. “It’s usually accidental, like what happened with the Sony hack. Someone saw an email that looked legitimate and clicked on an attachment that opened a door, letting malicious software enter the system. It sat there like a sleeper cell, gathering data and waiting for the perfect time to strike.” While external hacks make headlines, the most common data breaches stem from employee negligence, agrees Michael Bruemmer, vice president of consumer protection at Experian. “Cyber-attacks exploiting human mistakes are extremely common. It only takes an employee surfing the Web and accidentally allowing viruses on his or her computer or receiving an email from an unknown source and clicking on a phishing scam link to put the company at risk.”

Cybersecurity starts with employee awareness, so the more you teach them about the threats, such as phishing scams, adware, malware and viruses, the better.

Social Media a Culprit

Many people reveal a great deal about themselves on social media, believes Pooley, and that can allow hackers to “scrape” those sites for information and use it to craft messages that look like they’re coming from friends or coworkers. “The message might have an attachment or a link to a fake website that hosts the invasive software. Everyone in a company has the potential to become an unwitting accomplice for hackers,” he says. “Some of the biggest hacks are what we call social hacks,” agrees Erik Knight, CEO of SimpleWan. “Most of the time the computer systems are not what fail. It’s the people problem. The quickest way to gain access to a system is to talk your way into it.”

Action Necessary

Cyber-breaches will likely continue to get worse, so it can be critical for small-business owners to get a handle on the situation, Knight believes. “As Fortune 500 companies toughen up their security, hackers are going to start targeting smaller organizations, because they lack the procedures and technology to protect themselves. Technology is important, but the people factor can circumvent almost any of those technologies if not properly addressed early on,” he says. “For every high-profile retail breach you’ve heard about, you can bet there were at least a dozen cyber-attacks on small and medium-sized businesses,” Bruemmer adds. “Small businesses are often preyed upon by cyber-criminals, who view the category as having fewer resources to manage cyber-security.” Whether hackers succeed may depend on how careful you and your employees are. To help develop a culture of cybersecurity for your company, keep the following tips in mind.

Train Employees

“The single most important and cost-effective action any company can do to raise its game on information security is training, but it can’t be a one-time orientation video for new hires,” Pooley says. “To be really effective, training has to be continuous; varied, so it’s interesting; world class, which means hiring experts, and inclusive, [which means] executives have to join in.” According to Pooley, the best training should include real-world examples that enable employees to see how cybersecurity leads to job security. “When an employee does detect something and report it, publicly thank the staff member—people notice that,” he says. “Frequently remind employees about security procedures and conduct trainings every year,” Bruemmer says. “There are many other best practices to follow, including requiring mobile devices to be tested for security prior to connecting to networks or enterprise systems, improving access and authentication practices to make sure that only the appropriate employees and contractors have access to its information systems, and encrypting sensitive or confidential personal and business information stored on computers.”

Teach Red Flags

“Cybersecurity starts with employee awareness, so the more you teach them about the threats, such as phishing scams, adware, malware and viruses, the better,” says Kevin Layton, CEO of Data-Dynamix, which specializes in demographic data and marketing strategies. “Giving guidance about what to look for in emails and computer performance is very important to minimize the threat. Strong and changing passwords are also key, as well as policies that discourage sharing them.” For the best protection, staff should be kept up-to-date on the latest cyber threats, believes John Canfield, vice president of risk management at WePay, where the company regularly does training to update employees. “For example, spear phishing is an email that comes from a cyber-thief but appears to be from someone within your operations or from another company you do business with in an attempt to obtain data. Staff aware of such threats can then double check to make sure the request is coming from a legitimate source rather than unknowingly releasing sensitive information.”

Have a Plan

Once cyber-threats are detected, employees should know what to do with the information, which is why having an incident response plan can be crucial. “A plan can help your company act quickly if a data breach occurs and acting quickly can help to prevent further data loss, significant fines and costly customer backlash,” Bruemmer says. Read more articles about cybersecurity.

Photo: iStock

Can a celebrity spokesperson give your small business a big voice?

OCTOBER 14, 2015 It’s not just large companies that can benefit from hiring a celebrity spokesperson. Small businesses can, too. In fact, hiring a celebrity spokesperson can get your small business noticed in a big way. “Taking advantage of a celebrity spokesperson can be a game changer for a small business,” says Shawn Prez, president and CEO of Power Moves Inc., an alternative marketing agency that serves both small businesses and music industry personalities. When appropriate, Prez enthusiastically recommends that his small-business clients hire a spokesperson. If the idea of having someone well known be your business’s cheerleader sounds too pricy, it might be helpful to know it doesn’t have to cost a lot. “Many small businesses have seen great returns on their investments by using the celebrity of local influencers in their market niches, such as clergymen, DJs or radio personalities,” Prez says. “More times than not, such local celebrities won’t break your budget, and they’re often accessible and easy to work with.”

We believe that having a knowledgeable, likeable personality who relates to the target audience gives our product and organization a personality people can relate to.

Before making a celebrity spokesperson part of your marketing strategy, it may help to keep the following tips in mind:

Find a Good Fit

Bringing in a celebrity spokesperson is no different from establishing any new business relationship, Prez explains. “The spokesperson should have direct synergies with your business. Far too often, companies make the mistake of hiring celebrities with huge names and popularity but don’t give a thought to how the person’s notable achievements correlate with their business. …The best spokespeople appear organic, authentic and a natural fit.” For example, if you’re in the business of selling high-end merchandise, you should consider hiring a celebrity who’s known for living an aspirational lifestyle, Prez suggests. Milorganite is a company that creates fertilizer through a sustainable process, so hiring a gardening expert and TV/radio host made perfect sense for the company. “Our goal in utilizing a spokesperson is to create a human connection between our product and the consumer,” says Milorganite’s sales and marketing manager Tisa Overman. “We believe that having a knowledgeable, likeable personality who relates to the target audience gives our product and organization a personality people can relate to.”

Seek a Shared Vision

Jordan Fliegel, CEO and founder of CoachUp, recently struck up partnerships with well-known basketball and football players. “As a company that’s created a service where athletes can find sport-specific private coaches and personal trainers, it was natural for us to connect with well-known athletes that share our company’s vision,” Fleigel says. The athletes that Fliegel chose to represent his company are committed to his mission, which is to help kids change the trajectory of their lives through sports. “We talk a lot at CoachUp about athlete development, achieving your goals and the positive outcomes of private coaching, including gaining confidence,” says Fliegel, who’s also the author of Reaching Another Level. When seeking a company spokesperson, consider individuals who’ve already benefited from your type of service. That will help make their marketing efforts authentic and resonate more powerfully with your customers. Fliegel’s other spokesperson is an excellent example of a celebrity who’s benefited from the service he’s representing. “He was told that he was too small,” Fliegel says of the now-star wide receiver. “He decided to outwork everyone and seek the help and guidance of private coaches and personal trainers to push him beyond normal limits.” That drive meshes well with CoachUp’s goals.

Hiring Tips

When hiring your own company spokesperson, keep these additional pointers in mind:

Aim for authenticity. Align your business with someone who truly believes in your product or service and ideally patronizes your business. Such an individual has knowledge about what you do and is tied in some way to your business.
Look for enthusiasm. It’s important that the spokesperson is excited about what you’re doing and proud to represent your brand.
Insist on impeccable conduct. Remember that your spokesperson reflects on your business, so it’s important to know your consumer base and not hire someone who might offend their beliefs or lifestyle. For instance, Fliegel choose spokespeople who conduct themselves well both on and off the field and court.
Never hire someone just so you can say you have a spokesperson. “If the spokesperson doesn’t believe in your brand, goals, vision and mission and just wants the gig as a means to a paycheck,” Prez explains, “he or she will sound fake, and the messages will come across as unauthentic.”
Take full advantage of your spokespeople. Since you’ve gone to the expense and work of securing a spokesperson, get the most you can out of the arrangement. “Shoot viral videos that capture your spokesperson interacting with the product or business,” Prez suggests. “Viral platforms such as Twitter and Instagram are great outlets to post these videos. Local cable stations also provide an inexpensive way to run low-cost commercials starring your spokesperson.”

Read more articles on marketing and sales. This article was originally published on October 9, 2014.

Photo: Shutterstock

6 ways to prepare your business for a government contract

OCTOBER 02, 2015 Making a deal with Uncle Sam can be a lucrative endeavor that can help boost your bottom line. While many big businesses do get contracts, 80 percent of Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts are given to small businesses. If you can survive the immense amount of paperwork required as part of the government contractapplication and have the good fortune to secure a contract, before breaking out the champagne, you should line up all your proverbial ducks and prepare yourself, your employees and your suppliers for the project, advises former Air Force contracting officer Eldonna Lewis-Fernandez, CEO of Dynamic Vision International. “It’s imperative that you prepare for the inevitable demand for increased manpower—which may be substantial,” says Lewis-Fernandez, who is also a negotiation expert and author of Think Like A Negotiator.

It’s important to have a strategy for how you’ll handle those requirements that seemingly come out of the blue once you receive the contract.

Ask Plenty of Questions about Your Government Contract

Once you’ve received a government contract, you should discover as soon as possible exactly what’s required according to the demands of the contract so you can calculate the necessary manpower and other resources you’ll need. “It’s important to understand that the people awarding the contracts are government contracting personnel,” Lewis-Fernandez explains. “They are not the end user and [may] not understand for the most part much about what they are buying. Their job is to award the contracts and get them off their desks. They also generally have never been in business and [may] not understand anything about costs, overhead, labor, etc., from the perspective of the small-business owner. This is why it’s so important that you take the responsibility to ask these questions yourself—because they [may not] come up otherwise.”

Inquire About Hidden Requirements

According to Lewis-Fernandez, it’s the hidden requirements that come out after the contract award that can cause trouble. “It’s important to have a strategy for how you’ll handle those requirements that seemingly come out of the blue once you receive the contract,” Lewis-Fernandez says. “Often, bids are low price driven and many bidders leave out some of those extra man hours from their proposals,” she says. “You have to read between the lines and ask questions about extra requirements. If they want a monthly report, for instance, what is going to be required in that report? How much manpower will that process take? The statement of work usually isn’t completely clear regarding what the government wants. Asking questions in advance is the key to discovering the hidden requirements that will be necessary in order to honor the contract.”

Consult With Small-Business Contractors

You may be able to get useful tips for staffing your business in the event of winning a government contract by consulting with other companies that have received contracts and fulfilled them. Hearing straight from another small-business owner what it was like to get a contract in terms of the demands and any possible constraints on their business goes a long way toward giving you useful guidelines for what to do and not do as you proceed.

Meet With Your Employees

Once you have a good indication of the extra work and hours you’ll require of employees, you should have a meeting to outline how the contract will benefit the company and your employees. Be fair in your assessment. Cover the fact that they will see an increased workload, yet also emphasize the many ways the increased capital can be good for the company and them. Allow employees to voice concerns, and relay any plans to hire more personnel. Your employees may even know of good candidates.

Alert Your Suppliers

Speak with those vendors that provide the goods and services you require to run your company. Now is the time to discuss having sufficient inventory to meet demand. If a supplier says they may not be able to handle the uptick, this can give you some time to find additional support.

Remember Your Regular Customers

At some point, the contract will end. During the process, you should continue to provide excellent service to your regular customers, who have stood by you and helped get your business to where it is today. True, you may secure another government contract, but you can’t be sure of this. Consider dedicating an employee to oversee regular clients to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks and that your company continues to place a premium on excellent customer service for everyone. Read more articles about government contracting.

_{The information contained in this article is for generalized informational and educational purposes only and is not designed to substitute for, or replace, a professional opinion about any particular business or situation or judgment about the risks or appropriateness of any government contracting strategy or approach for any specific business or situation. THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING ADVICE. The views and opinions expressed in authored articles on OPEN Forum represent the opinion of their author and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions and/or judgments of American Express Company or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions (including, without limitation, American Express OPEN). American Express makes no representation as to, and is not responsible for, the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made in this article.}

Photo: iStock

New Siri tricks to help you be more productive

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 Doing more in less time seems to be a running theme for many of today’s small-business owners. That means embracing innovations that can make your business more productive is more than a good idea—it may be a necessity. Fortunately, intelligent personal assistants, such as theiPhone’s Siri, can help make it easier than ever to increase productivity and run your business successfully. This built-in feature that allows you to make voice commands for things like directions and reminders has become even more powerful in the all new iOS 9. “Today’s business owners have to do more per unit of time, and everyone is looking for ways to improve productivity and maximize the time we spend on our business and personal relationships,” says Ken Moll, founder of the business advisory firm Blue Elevator™. “The Siri enhancements are again moving the proverbial needle. As more of our life transitions into the electronic or virtual realm, these improved Siri features with iOS 9 look to bring us back to the balance we all need to live a more ‘present’ life while still remaining ‘plugged in.’”

One of the most powerful aspects of Siri in iOS 9 is the ability to set tasks by location and not just by a specific time period.

Siri for iOS 9 can complete literally hundreds of tasks activated by your voice, adds Rob Nelson, founder and CEO of Grow. “It allows you to read messages, launch apps, set reminders, find notes, manage social media accounts, solve math equations, schedule or reschedule meetings and much more. Any tool such as this that allows you to access the data you need quickly and easily should be in your business arsenal.”Here are the highlights of the new Siri for iOS 9 upgrades that have the potential for making the running of your business more smooth and productive.

Set tasks by location. “One of the most powerful aspects of Siri in iOS 9 is the ability to set tasks by location and not just by a specific time period,” Nelson says. “This allows you to be reminded about not leaving important documents before stepping outside your home or to grab the company credit card before leaving to wine and dine a client.”
Voice activation. Rather than having to search out your phone and touch the screen home button, you can now call out to Siri and give your virtual assistant instructions. Your phone could be across the room; you need only shout to get it to do what you want.
Updated photo search functions. If you think of a great photo you took and want to use in a blog post or for social media, Siri for iOS 9 allows you to search by location or time. For instance, you can tell it to show you photos taken at a specific tradeshow and the dates. Or you can simply tell the device to display photos from a certain date.
Intuitive. The new Siri doesn’t just answer your questions. Your intelligent virtual assistant is so good that it can predict what you want to do and with whom you want to talk. For instance, it will make suggestions for who you might like to contact and the apps you may want to use. There is even a suggestion screen that directs you to restaurants, which can make choosing a place to meet a potential client quick and easy.

Read more articles about productivity tools.

Photo: iStock

Be brief, be bright, be gone: building a killer email list

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 It may not be as flashy as social media, but savvy small-business owners know that a carefully curated email list can be priceless. “When it comes to ROI, email is still king,” says Jon Clark, owner of Fuze SEO. “Growing your email list should still be one of your top goals.” Customers on your email list tend to be the most loyal, adds Eric Groves, CEO and co-founder of Alignable, a free online social network for local businesses and author of The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing.

Anywhere you’re engaging with people, take the opportunity to let them know about your email list. If you’re at a conference or social mixer and people give you their business cards, put a star on the cards of those individuals who want on the list.

An important part of creating an effective email marketing channel is building your list, says Lance Brown, vice president of product development for Huzzah Media. “You want highly interested and engaged customers on your list who appreciate the type of email that you’re sending and will act when the time is right,” he says.If you’d like to build an email list that hits all the right points, try using these five proven methods:

1. Let Customers Know

To encourage people to sign up for emails from you, broadcast the fact that you have an email list at every customer contact point. “Anywhere you’re engaging with people, take the opportunity to let them know about your email list,” Groves says. “If you’re at a conference or social mixer and people give you their business cards, put a star on the cards of those individuals who want on the list.” Promote your email signup form on every page of your website, social media channel and email signature, adds Clark. “The more options users have to sign up, the more likely they’ll do so,” he says. You should also remind your employees to let customers know about your email list.

2. Make It Easy and Accessible

People are more likely to sign up for your email list if doing so is a simple task. Place a sign-up sheet next to the point of sale in a restaurant or retail establishment. When people visit your website, rather than jumping all over them with popups, put an easy-to-see signup link on all the pages. “Keep it simple and short,” Clark advises. “Remember that each field in a sign-up form represents a roadblock to getting that user to sign up. Don’t ask for all their information upfront, such as an address. That’s a big put-off, because it takes too much time to fill out. Get the person’s name and email address in a form that takes five seconds to fill out, and capture additional information through your re-marketing efforts.”

3. Give Customers a Reason to Sign Up

Incentives are a good way to encourage those who might be on the fence to sign up. “As a thank you for signing up, give an awesome, valuable and free gift, whether it be a white paper, e-book, discount or T-shirt,” Clark suggests. At the same time, don’t force people to join, Brown adds. “The size of your list doesn’t matter,” he says. “You want quality people who want to be on your list. Never include people who didn’t ask or agree.”

4. Alleviate Fears

The two main reasons people hesitate about signing up for an email list are that it won’t contain relevant information and they won’t be able to get off the list if they want to, Groves says. “Assure them they can easily unsubscribe at any time,” he says. To show people the value of signing up, Groves suggests giving them examples of the kind of emails they can expect. Provide a link on the homepage of your website that takes them to a sample email, or, if you have a brick-and-mortar location, display a sample email at the point of sale, right next to the email sign-up sheet.

5. Attract, Don’t Promote

Don’t oversell on your email list. “When it’s all about me, me, me, recipients tune you out and eventually ask to be taken off of your list,” Groves says. “They already know what you’re selling; you don’t have to hit them over the head with it. And don’t send too many emails, as this can easily be considered spam.” Instead, Groves suggests, “be brief, be bright and be gone, which makes ripples in the brains of your customers. To do this, offer 30 percent promotion and 70 percent education. People feel like you’re talking directly to them when you share your knowledge, and that will keep them opening your emails.” Remember, the quality and effectiveness of your email communication and resulting engagement with customers is only as good as the strength of your list. These strategies will help you build a list that works. For more tips on how to connect with customers through great emails, access this exclusive video course, Rethink Your Emails to Customers. Read more articles on email marketing. This article was originally published on September 3, 2014.

Photo: iStockphoto

Should you switch your retail operation from offline to online?

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 With Internet sales rising each year, the face of retail seems to be steadily morphing. According to the research and advisory firm, Forrester Research, U.S. online retail sales are expected to reach $334 billion this year and $480 billion by 2019. To stay competitive, small businesses should make adjustments to help increase their online presence and sales, believes Caleb Garrett, a partner and angel investor for Hawkers Co. “It’s inevitable for small business brick-and-mortar retail to move toward online digital sales, because the buying power has changed and continues to evolve,” Garrett says. “We have social media, cellphones and tablets thrown in the retail mix, and to not have an online presence is detrimental to a small business.”

Online Retail Benefits

The shift from offline to online sales has its benefits, including in the area of overhead costs. “With online sales, you are able to offer more discounts, sales, free shipping and other benefits that are not possible with brick and mortar,” Garrett says. “As technology advances, the convenience of saving time and not having to drive trumps buying items in person. Online is even changing the way we search for items. We see something we want and then go find it online first, rather than look for it in the store.”

It’s inevitable for small business brick-and-mortar retail to move toward online digital sales, because the buying power has changed and continues to evolve.

To be a viable business in today’s marketplace, you should have both an offline (brick-and-mortar) presence as well as an online presence, adds Darnyelle A. Jervey, CEO of Incredible One Enterprises, a business consulting and coaching firm. “Some of your clients will prefer the face-to-face power of touching and feeling what they desire to purchase and interfacing with your sales team. But as the consumer base, which includes millennials, becomes more comfortable with the ease and convenience of buying online and security and privacy measures increase, convenience shoppers will opt for ease over experience.” Thanks to improved online marketplace technology, you don’t even have to worry about losing the high-touch feel that customers want, Jervey notes. “If you own a high-touch retail business, consider ways to provide customers with a personal touch. It’s possible to offer add-ons and upgrades, even online,” she says. “For instance, you can create a preferences list and keep track of what customers buy so you can suggest ways to enhance their experience on your website.”

Tips for Making the Shift to Digital

To help successfully transition to a stronger e-commerce platform, you should keep a few things in mind. “The most important thing to do is to put in place the foundations of digital marketing, regardless of whether you’re currently selling online or not,” says Kevin Layton, CEO of Data-Dynamix, which offers demographic data, marketing strategies and training and experienced a 343 percent 3-year growth rate. “A website, map listings, local search with optimization, solid landing pages, social media and valuable content that helps your customers solve problems are all paramount to bring people online who are not in your backyard,” explains Layton, author of The Digital Marketing Machine. “Once you have your online presence in place, direct your current customers to your site and give them the option to buy from you online.” When it comes to your offerings, start small, Garrett suggests. “Begin offering your bestselling items and keep your content clean, streamlined and shop friendly; don’t overwhelm customers. Also understand your audience and add benefits that cater to that audience. Then use your social media accounts to create your voice and post content.” Keep up to date with the latest technology to help you deliver the best e-commerce experience possible, and use analytics to track how the site is doing so you can make improvements. Most important, don’t give up, advises Layton: “Building your online presence and driving digital sales takes time and investment, just like it does with your brick-and-mortar location.” Read more articles about websites.

Photo: iStock

Back to school for employees: calculating the benefits and challenges

AUGUST 21, 2015 As students across the nation make their way back to school, some of them may be your employees. If anyone in your company is hitting the books this fall, consider that a positive—homework and all. “In many businesses today, it’s important that employees continue going to school and learning their trade,” says Greg Davis, owner ofSouth Coast Computers, a full-service, external IT firm. “There are always new certificates and certifications needed—no matter your business. We usually have a few employees in school each semester.”

Back-to-School Benefits for Small Businesses

The advantages of continuing education for your employees are many. “For most businesses today, the hardware and software changes so fast that it’s imperative your employees keep up,” Davis says. “Trends and new ways of conducting business also constantly appear, especially as we continue to globalize. Any new information that your employees absorb helps your company become more knowledgeable, innovative and proactive.”

You and your employees must actively work to find better ways to solve new problems that arise. Those employees who go back to school can learn new techniques and broaden their horizons.

In addition to providing employees nuts-and-bolts information needed to do their jobs efficiently and effectively, continuing education can offer valuable lessons in problem solving.

“To be competitive as a small business today, you and your employees must actively work to find better ways to solve new problems that arise,” Davis says. “Those employees who go back to school can learn new techniques and broaden their horizons by learning from instructors and the coursework and by working with other students, who often have different ideas and solutions than their coworkers.” Offering your employees the opportunity to go back to school can also make them feel valued, which leads to more job satisfaction and a desire to use their newfound knowledge to better their work environment and improve their performance.

Back-to-School Challenges

Of course, having employees hit the books isn’t without challenges for small-business owners. Whether yours is a service- or product-based business, the time employees are away from the office or client site can strain your infrastructure, which for many small businesses is already limited. “Like many small businesses, we provide service, and as such our clients require their problems solved quickly,” says Davis. “A customer generally can’t wait for IT assistance from an employee who needs to go to class, or if the employee is onsite, he or she can’t leave to attend school until the customer’s IT problem is solved. Our clients also generally require our services during extended business hours, so unless employees can find classes they need at night, the schooling cuts into their working hours, which can lead to reduced paychecks and affect the company’s productivity.” Davis has also found that going back to school can stretch some employees a bit thin—especially if they have substantial priorities in addition to work. This can negatively affect work performance.

Making School Work

If your employees have expressed the desire to go back to school, or you wish to encourage continuing education, keep the following tips in mind.

Be flexible. “Look at the big picture, and you will realize that having trained, A-level employees is better for any company,” Davis says. “Spend extra time being creative with work schedules to give those employees who go back to school first priority on weekend or after-hours work to keep them busy. Make sure the employees understand that you are being flexible in order to benefit them and the company.”
Guide coursework. If possible, sit down with your employees and assist them in choosing courses that are mutually beneficial for them and the company.
Offer educational expense reimbursement. Pay for a portion of books, supplies and even tuition, which can encourage employees to pursue continuing education and may make it more likely that they continue working for you once they finish the classes or graduate with degrees.
Keep an eye on performance and priorities. While you want to encourage employees to improve themselves and thrive in their positions, it’s not feasible or advisable to let their absence from the company affect your bottom line. If it becomes apparent that an employee’s performance is slipping, it may be necessary for him or her to cut back on the number of classes being taken, or if that isn’t possible, you may need to hire someone to pick up the slack.
Consider online learning. Depending on your business and the classes required, it may be possible for employees to obtain some or all of their educational training online. Many virtual classroom programs allow employees to complete coursework during off hours. Even if your employees do need to attend class during work time, it will most likely only require taking an hour or so out of the day to log on, rather than having to leave the premises.

Read more articles about motivating employees.

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The ABCs of an effective business pivot

AUGUST 13, 2015 This week, Google did some major restructuring. While the company is known for making changes—its constantly shifting algorithm being one of them—this current structural shift represents a major pivot. Company founders decided to turn Google into a subsidiary of a parent company known as Alphabet. Of course, Google’s not the first company to pivot, notes Zach Szukala, the executive creative director of the digital design firm A Hundred Years. “Alphabet feels a dash too childish, yet in-tune with clever pivots of the moment like European telecom Orange shifting to Salt, and the recent evolution of Airbnb from house-sharing tech startup to a community-driven lifestyle brand.” Other effective business pivots include PayPal, which started as a payment system through Palm Pilots; Starbucks, which once only sold coffee machines and beans; and Twitter, which actually began as the site Odeo, a podcast network the owners felt would fail because of iTunes, so they made the switch to what is now a social media giant.

Take a close look at that core story that deep down embodies you, your organization and your product or service. That core story is your differentiator.

These big-company pivots raise the question: Should you consider making a major pivot with your small business? There can definitely be benefits to making major changes, according to Szukala. “A well-timed pivot can be the precise move necessary to capture market attention for a product, service or personality that has been waiting for attitudes, technology or a generational shift to be fully realized and embraced,” he says. In other words, if your company is in the right place at the right time with a new and/or improved way of doing business or presenting itself, you could end up with increased recognition and a substantial jump in business.

Time for a Pivot?

So how do you know when it’s time for a change? “When the time comes, you’ll know it,” Szukala says. “The essence of your work will no longer match your name or identity, or your business will be fulfilling goals that are now different from when you started. Pay careful attention when you constantly find yourself having to explain your name in some fledgling effort to substantiate it with the obvious mismatch between your work and its status quo.” Other signs it might be time for a change:

You find yourself clinging to the way you’ve always done things and are getting sick of hearing yourself say, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Just because your business isn’t failing or even faltering now doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make some changes.
You’ve discovered a better way of doing things, and these superior methods could potentially make your company more successful.
Your customers let you know that they’re in the mood for changes. If you begin to hear the same or similar suggestions for changes from clients, sit up and listen.

Mastering Pivots While Maintaining Your Brand

Pivots are a normal part of doing business, so don’t think you’ve done anything wrong if you find it’s time to do a 180. The key is to not be afraid to make changes that can eventually lead to more success. Here are some additional steps to mastering pivots, suggested by Szukala.

Focus on your business. “Take a close look at that core story that deep down embodies you, your organization and your product or service,” he says. “That core story is your differentiator.” It’s embracing that differentiator that can mean the difference between wild success and dismal failure.
Don’t mistake a new logo for a new brand. A logo and a brand must work together, but they are completely different entities. Whereas a logo is an easily recognizable design element, such as a symbol or your name written in a certain script, it’s only a tool that can enable you to communicate your brand. Your brand encompasses your message and mission and is essentially how the public perceives and interacts with your company. Without the brand behind it, the logo is simply a design. Together, a good brand and logo can drive a company’s success.
How your brand speaks is as important as how it looks. “You’ll get an initial reaction with the visuals, but longevity in voice, tone and, more importantly, experience are the keys,” Szukala says.
Strong opinions in both directions can point toward a more vibrant brand. “Gut check your updated approach with trusted partners, clients and new business acquaintances,” Szukala says. “If you don’t find folks riled up in both directions, you may need to alter your approach.”

Read more articles about pivoting.

Photo: iStock

Christmas in August? ‘Tis the season to plan for holiday sales

AUGUST 07, 2015 Despite the summer weather, this week, Selfridges, a major department store in London, transformed 3,000 square feet of its fourth floor into a Winter Wonderland. While its Yuletide sales approach may seem like the epitome of the “holiday creep” that has over time pushed the season from post-Thanksgiving to post-Halloween, it does bring up a valid question for small-business owners: Is it already time to plan for the holiday season? Though it might seem early to start thinking about the holidays when the weather is hot enough to melt Frosty in five minutes, the fact is that “U.S. consumers have shown interest in early holiday shopping, and this has resulted in early holiday advertising campaigns being launched by a number of large companies and small businesses,” says Jake Dacillo, marketing director for Balboa Capital. “It is not uncommon to see pre-holiday advertising in late August or early September,” Dacillo says. “This is done to meet consumer demand and gain a competitive advantage.”

Small-business owners should start planning their holiday marketing efforts several months in advance so they can remain focused on their day-to-day responsibilities when their holiday campaigns roll out.

Time to Plan for the Holiday Sales

You might not want to pull out your Santa decor just yet, but it is a good idea to prepare for fourth quarter sales as soon as possible. “Small-business owners should start planning their holiday marketing efforts several months in advance so they can remain focused on their day-to-day responsibilities when their holiday campaigns roll out,” Dacillo says. “Savvy business owners who do this understand that the final months of the year are extremely busy and often involve extended work hours to meet the needs of shoppers.” Early planning is best, agrees business optimization strategist Darnyelle Jervey, CEO of Incredible One Enterprises and author of Market Like a R.O.C.K. Star. “Using a seasonal approach to marketing and advertising can be a very sound strategy,” she says. “Start planning in August/September and then launch just after Halloween. Sometimes a soft launch earlier in October also works, because most holiday clubs pay out the savings the first weekend in October, and people start spending right away.”

Benefits to Early Holiday Season Marketing

“Although December is the most lucrative time of the year for many small businesses, the months leading up to it can be great for the bottom line,” Dacillo says. “Small businesses that begin their holiday efforts early, perhaps in late summer, can get a jumpstart on their holiday sale’s revenue and begin the final months of the year on a positive note. In addition, acting early can positively affect a company’s bottom line if they are inventory-driven. They might be able to secure inventory at a discounted cost by buying early.” Of course, it’s essential that you’re completely ready before you start offering holiday sales around Labor Day. “An ill-prepared early holiday campaign can spell disaster for small-business owners who end up running out of inventory or marketing dollars before the holidays are in full swing,” Dacillo says. “Watch your competition to see when they start their holiday marketing campaigns and what they offer, but don’t rush to launch a last-minute campaign. It’s easier and more beneficial to modify already prepared and well-designed holiday marketing efforts.” When developing your early holiday campaign, ask these questions:

What products and/or services will you offer discounts on?
Will you have enough inventory to meet shopper demand?
Will you advertise a loss leader to help drive sales of more profitable products and/or services?
What are your holiday revenue goals, and do they differ from last year’s results?
What is your holiday advertising budget, and what marketing channels will you be using to maximize sales?
If your company can’t compete on pricing during the holidays, can you develop a winning strategy that focuses on quality and highly personalized customer service?

Unsure About Customer Reaction to Early Holiday Marketing?

If you’re not convinced that your customers want to start holiday shopping early, then ask. Use an in-store, online or email survey or social media outreach to ask your clients about their holiday shopping needs and expectations. “Asking customers when they usually begin holiday shopping and how early they’d like to be able to get started gives you valuable insight into their holiday buying habits,” Dacillo says. “Even better, asking makes your customers feel honored to take part in a holiday survey from a small business they trust.” Read more articles about customer feedback.

Photo: iStock

How your business can benefit from Google+ changes

JULY 31, 2015 If you’ve used Google+ for your marketing but have had some difficulty with the platform, changes are currently brewing that may alter how you use the social media network. Google recently announced that users will no longer be required to have a Google+ profile in order to use all the connected features run by Google, including YouTube. Until now, it was necessary to have a Google+ profile to take advantage of all Google services. With the new changes, you now only need a Google account. The only reason you would need Google+ is to use the platform to share with other Google+ users. Google’s original intention had been to streamline things and give Google+ users the opportunity to have one identity for all its services. Many users balked at this mandatory integration, so Google’s launch into social didn’t seem to catch on as planned.

Google+ also offers a pretty easy place to post content, and that helps with search. Those posts tend to make their way to the top of the search engine pages.

YouTube and Google+

Separating things at Google will start with YouTube. When Google set it up so YouTube users had to have a Google+ account, many users protested—in particular because it removed the ability to be anonymous when commenting on videos and sharing content. The new changes should make it easier to share videos with your customers and to encourage them to also share them.

Other Notable Google+ Changes

Google+ users tend to gather and engage around specific shared interests. For this reason, Google will continue to develop the new Google+ Collections, which allows you to share posts organized by topics. The site’s photo sharing capability has been moved onto the Google Photos app.

Benefits of Google+ Changes

Although there may be a lot of rejoicing going on about the detachment of Google+ from YouTube, it doesn’t mean the network is being “dismantled,” as has been indicated, believes Bonnie Harris of Wax Marketing, Inc

“You’ve got a focused network of people who are really active and engaged,” Harris says. “That’s hard to find with so many mature social networks out there. Google+ also offers a pretty easy place to post content, and that helps with search. Those posts tend to make their way to the top of the search engine pages.”

An upcoming change that may be useful for small-business owners is the addition of location services to Google Hangouts. Hangouts are communication platforms developed by Google that include video chat, VoIP, SMS and instant messaging. The hangouts tend to be focused on various areas of interest and include live streams and live conversations. “This change to Google Hangouts could be really, really helpful for hyper local marketing,” Harris says.

Using Google+ Effectively

To make the most of Google+ for your business marketing efforts, in addition to checking out the new changes, keep the following in mind:

Pay attention to your profile and cover photo. Make sure your Google+ profile page reflects your company accurately. Include eye-catching and recognizable photos for your profile and cover photos, such as your company logo.
Write an engaging “About” section. This is your chance to shine and show the world what your business is all about and why people would want to check out your offerings.
Create circles. Consider the main goal of having your company Google+ profile, such as enticing new customers, and then build your circles based on your goal. You should build relationships with people who are regularly engaging with you, as they’ll be the ones to share with others about your company. Take advantage of the fact that you can add anyone to your circles.
Share. Click share to public when posting, which will maximize your exposure and fuel engagement. When you share a post from your blog or website, comment on the post and why you’re sharing it. Avoid always sharing your own products. When possible, do some cross promoting.
Comment. Click on the “Explore” tab and see what everyone is talking about and also add your own comments. This shows you’re engaged and may entice people to go to your profile page.
Try hangouts. Put your personality behind your brand by hosting hangouts for events like product demonstrations and to answer customer questions.
Join communities. Find other hangouts to join and then participate and comment regularly. Share your expertise when possible, which can increase your exposure.

Read more articles about social media.

Photo: Getty Images

A small-business guide to HSAs: is high-deductible health insurance right for you?

JULY 16, 2015 Despite their advantages, Health Savings Accounts are underused, according to a recent study by employee benefits consulting firm HelloWallet. Informally known as HSAs, these tax-advantaged savings accounts tied to high-deductible health insurance plans (HDHPs) are increasing in popularity among employers attempting to provide affordable healthcare coverage to employees. HSAs allow holders to save tax-free money for medical expenses not covered by insurance. Contributions are made into such accounts by employees and/or employers, and unused funds roll over from year to year. The contributions are invested, earning returns over time, thanks to the power of compound interest. Funds can be removed tax-free to pay for qualified medical expenses, including vision and dental.

Despite the fact that HSA accounts are tax deductible for employers and employees, grow tax-free and feature tax-free withdrawals, they aren’t as widely used as you might think. Part of the reason for that is “due to the market driving premiums up on HSA qualified plans,” says health insurance agent and registered employee benefits consultant Paula Wilson. “It used to be a great idea for every small-business owner to offer HDHPs/HSAs, but now knowing whether to do so requires examining on a case-by case-basis. Sometimes it’s an excellent idea, and sometimes it’s not.”

If you want to attract high-caliber employees, an HSA offers a way to do so without busting your budget.

When an HSA Makes Sense

For small-business owners wishing to lure specialized, in-demand employees, an HSA plan can be a big draw. “If you want to attract high-caliber employees, an HSA offers a way to do so without busting your budget,” says Wilson, a former board member of the National Association of Health Underwriters. “If you fully fund your employee’s healthcare premiums and contribute to their health savings accounts, you provide them with affordable healthcare that is also a tax deduction for your company.” The perks are many for the employees and small-business owners themselves, who can use the tax-free money in the HSA account for a wide variety of health-related expenses, including co-pays, dental and orthodontic care, prescriptions, eyeglasses, contacts, corrective vision surgery, acupuncture, chiropractic, smoking cessation, hearing aids, physical therapy, mental health, nursing home care and COBRA payments. If a person remains fairly healthy and doesn’t need to withdraw money, it rolls over from year to year and can grow into a substantial tax-free, medical care nest egg, Wilson adds: “The original idea of HSAs was for people to continue to contribute to them tax-free so that they would have funds later on for more serious health conditions or long-term care expenses.” If a person remains well into advanced age and doesn’t use the funds, the money can be removed and taxed at his or her income level after age 65 without penalty.

HSA Requirements

For your small business to qualify for a high-deductible health insurance plan, you must have at least two employees, including yourself and someone who’s not a spouse. Your company must also pay at least 50 percent of the health insurance premium. (An 80/20 split between the employer and employee is common.) As an added perk for your employees, you can choose to contribute to their health savings accounts, but that’s not a requirement. There’s an annual out-of-pocket deductible for HSAs that must be met each year before insurance begins to pay. For 2015, it’s $1,300 for individuals and $2,600 for families. The annual maximum out-of-pocket liability is $6,450 for individuals and $12,900 for families—at which point insurance pays 100 percent of costs. And annual contributions are up to $3,350 for singles and $6,650 for families, with individuals 55 and older allowed to make an extra $1,000 catch-up contribution.

Educate Your Employees About HSA Benefits

Vivian Ciampi, a professional certified coach who worked for a large employer for 20 years prior to opening her own business two years ago, believes that HSAs/HDHPs are underused because of a lack of awareness about their many benefits. “Health Savings Accounts were offered by my former employer, but you typically had to sift through manuals to really understand the benefits,” says Ciampi, who has an HSA plan for her company. “It behooves employers to hold seminars on this subject so that employees truly understand the benefits of what they could be saving by opening and optimizing an account like this. In today’s age of information overload, benefits such as these really need to be highlighted and made easy for people to understand and use.” To see if a HSA plan is right for your company and employees, consult with a health insurance agent for an assessment. Read more articles about healthcare.

Photo: iStock

Boost Ssales by Creating a Company Holiday

JULY 09, 2015 In a marketplace overflowing with constant sales and deals, it takes something special—like a holiday—to get the attention of today’s customers. But you don’t have to necessarily wait for Black Friday or Christmas to attract holiday shoppers. You can rev up sales by staking your claim to a company holiday all your own. For example, Amazon recently announced Amazon Prime Day, to occur on July 15, when it plans to offer discounts to customers who hold Prime memberships. Likewise, in 2009, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba created a big shopping holiday on China’s Singles’ Day, November 11. In 2014, Alibaba recorded more than $9 billion in sales on Singles’ Day. “Creating a company holiday offers you an ideal marketing opportunity to stay one step ahead of your competition,” says Ted Mayeda, co-owner ofM & M Nursery/Fairy Garden Expert. The home and garden center, which specializes in miniature (fairy) gardens popular among gardening hobbyists, holds an annual day that celebrates its gardening techniques and features a free seminar open to customers.

Creating a company holiday offers you an ideal marketing opportunity to stay one step ahead of your competition.

“The day encourages customer loyalty, and all of the attention to miniature gardens helps with sales,” Mayeda says. “Customers come to the free seminar and purchase a lot of plants and supplies.” Creating a company holiday is a great way to increase business, agrees Olga Mizrahi, owner of ohso! Design and author of Sell Local, Think Global: 50 Innovative Ways to Make a Chunk of Change and Grow Your Business. “Your first annual ‘Lemonade Holiday’ can be a hit if you wrap it in a festive atmosphere, give doorbuster savings to the first X number of customers and free lemonade on a hot day for all.” Mizrahi and Mayeda offer these tips for creating your own company holiday.

Consider Your Customers

“Creating your own successful promotion takes a true identification with the wants and needs of your customers, loosely tied to your company’s culture or an anniversary of your own,” Mizrahi says. Think about what theme for your holiday would best serve your clients and fit nicely with your company offerings. Since Mayeda’s customers tend to want to build their own miniature gardens, it was a natural to create a day just for that. “Customers look forward to the event, which we hold every spring, and many come every year for the seminar and day of special sales,” he says.

Look to Your Community

To come up with a holiday that means something to your target audience, take a look at what’s going on in your city or, if you run a virtual company, in the larger marketplace, advises Mizrahi. “Is your town celebrating its founding or is there a new trend out there buzzing around online?” she says. “Take advantage of the euphoria of a season or general consensus and package it up into your business’s annual ‘Hoopla Day.’” Make sure whatever holiday you come up with in some way supports and promotes one or more aspects of your business.

Hold Live Events When Possible

“Local storefront businesses have the advantage of putting on live events, which supplements the party atmosphere of holidays,” Mizrahi says. Personal interaction with your customers can generate even more interest in your products and build loyalty. Having face-to-face interaction beats virtual communication any day.

Make It Meaningful

Use your holiday as an opportunity to highlight what makes your business unique and relevant to your community, suggests Mizrahi. “Also make sure that the holiday is equally meaningful to you, because you are committing to an annual day, or possibly weekend at the same time each year.”

Be Clear About Benefits and Create a Call to Action

Clearly spell out the advantages of the holiday to customers, such as discounts, freebies and festive fun being offered. Customers should know that if they come to a local event or check in online that they will receive certain perks for participating in your company holiday. Read more articles about events.

Photo Courtesy of M & M Nursery

How Obama’s proposed overtime changes could affect your business

JULY 02, 2015 In a landmark executive order, President Obama recently proposed substantially increasing the number of salaried workers who receive overtime pay. Currently, only salaried workers who earn $23,660 or less receive overtime pay, but Obama’s plan would require employers to pay salaried workers earning less than $50,440 time-and-a-half pay when they work more than 40 hours per week, according to the White House Office of the Press Secretary. This order, which would affect nearly 50 million workers, follows on the heels of the president’s recent executive order that raised the minimum wage. As a small-business owner doing your best to pay your employees fairly, the proposed overtime changes may bring some concern—and it should, claims communications strategist Sheila Stewart, CEO of Sonic Seven Communications. “Incentivizing more than 5 million workers with overtime is going to have a broader and more far reaching impact than many may understand,” Stewart says.

A mentorship program allows for more of a hands-on approach to managing and identifying potential inefficiencies and ways to reduce overall overtime while increasing overall camaraderie.

“Like the minimum wage hike, the bottom line impact of the overtime pay will be on consumers and businesses, who will end up paying more for services and products, because no business can afford to cut profit margins in an already competitive market and economic recession,” says Stewart, who offers an example. “A manager making $50,000 calculated at a 40-hour week is making $39.66 per hour. That means for every extra hour over 40 hours, there will be almost an extra $18 per hour paid to the employee.” While many small-business owners strive to pay their employees fairly, there can be a lot of gray areas and special circumstances. “I don’t believe that anyone will dispute the fact that employees should be paid adequately,” Stewart says. “Rather, the issue is when an emergency happens, such as a late night email or the need for a red-eye flight, such instances will be considered overtime and subject to the additional hourly rate, the cost of which has to be passed along.”

Unintended Consequences

As with any sweeping change, the overtime pay decision may bring unplanned consequences that can affect employees and owners, according to Stewart. “In regards to company culture and internal morale, the change creates a divide between those making less than $50,400 and those making more,” Stewart says. “This divide could cause those making less to actually make more. Businesses may also raise the pay of existing salaried employees to more than the threshold in order to avoid paying overtime, which could cause employees to leave and work for competitors that pay the overtime.” Other possible results of Obama’s decision announced by Randy Johnson, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President of Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, include reclassified employees potentially losing opportunities for advancement, benefits, status and flexibility. Johnson feels it’s possible that small-business owners may find it necessary to cut workers to part time and hire more independent contractors. The consequences can be far reaching, Stewart agrees. “With this new law, every hour and every minute will need to be tracked, documented and then compensated for by the business,” she explains. “This means the person is not really salary anymore, but technically hourly. Most businesses will likely reduce the ‘hourly’ rates of employees from what they were making in their salary in order to compensate for the additional monies that will need to be spent tracking hours, monitoring emails, cell phones, etc.” Another wrinkle may occur in the area of training. Currently, when an employee is getting up to speed on new information, extra work hours are involved. “This new system actually punishes business owners by having them pay to educate and provide experience to workers,” Stewart says.

Portfolio Categories: AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS TRENDS AND INSIGHTS

Increased Resources

Growing Sense of Community

More Internal and External Acceptance

Women Bring Something Different

Success Breeds Success

Business Video Increasing on Social Media

Benefits of Business Video

Ease of Entry Into Business Video

Making the Most of Business Video

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Benefits of Customer Loyalty Programs

Tips for Tweaking Loyalty Programs

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Internet Bubble Bursting?

Future Outlook for Small Tech-Related Companies

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What will a patent do for me and my invention?

How important is it to protect my invention?

Does my patent apply worldwide, and will it last long enough for me to see financial gains from my invention?

How can I tell if my product or idea is patentable?

Are there any drawbacks to acquiring a patent?

Is it worth the expense?

What steps would I take to make sure it’s the right choice for my business?

If I decide a patent is right for my invention, what steps should I take next?

Anything else I should keep in mind to ensure the patent process goes as smoothly as possible?

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U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

City Minority Business Assistance Programs

Minority Chamber of Commerce

SCORE

Affinity Groups

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Benefits of Going Public

Going Public Is Not for Everyone

When an IPO Makes Sense

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Preparing for Inevitable Interruptions

Business During and After Stormy Weather

Show Gratitude

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Color Affects Mood

—Pamela Webber, chief marketing officer, 99designs

Choosing Company Colors

Color and Company Image

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Upside to Stock Market Fluctuations

Patience Is a Virtue

Cybersecurity

Affordable Cellphone Options

4K Display Technology

Improved Projectors

Wider, Higher Resolution Monitors

Smart Home/Smart Office

Wearable Payment Devices

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Unprecedented Business Opportunities

Climate Accord Drawbacks for Small Business

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Inevitable Shift

Help or Hurt Small Business?

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Trickle Down Effects of El Nino

How to Prepare for El Nino

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PR Potential

Making the Most of Bold Moves

Aim for Lost Sales Recovery

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Streamline the Experience

Have an Easy-to-Navigate Checkout

Use Promo Codes

Be Responsive

Make It Enjoyable

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Signs You’re Headed in the Wrong Direction

Effectively Managing Your Money

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Social Media a Culprit