AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS TRENDS AND INSIGHTS

8 traits great leaders have in common

JUNE 29, 2015 Truly effective leaders possess more than drive, ambition and charisma. While those traits are important, it’s leaders who’ve reached the pinnacle of self-fulfillment and acceptance who are the most dynamic and successful. Great leaders also have a high degree of emotional intelligence, which comes from being self-actualized. Self-actualization, the final stage of noted American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, refers to the point when you realize your true potential and seek personal growth and self-fulfillment. While not all great leaders have learned to be self-aware, many of the most recognized are those who’ve achieved self-actualization, says Jill Salzman, co-host of the Breaking Down Your Business podcast and founder of The Founding Moms, a collective for entrepreneurial moms. As Salzman points out, “Self-actualizing business owners are much more successful in the long-term.”

Self-actualized small-business owners know they can accomplish just about anything.

Wondering just how self-aware you are? There’s a good chance you’re there if you possess many of the following eight attributes:

1. Accepting

Self-actualized leaders accept themselves, as well as their employees, colleagues, vendors and customers, as they are rather than hoping for something different. This approach allows them to have realistic expectations, which facilitates a positive, productive work environment and helps prevent resentment and disappointment.

2. Humble

Leaders who are self-actualized don’t announce it. “It’s easy to spot self-actualized leaders,” Salzman says. “They’re the ones who don’t act like they’re great leaders, but employees and others in their orbit look up to them as though they are. In other words, self-actualized leaders will never tell you that they’re leaders, but everyone knows they are.”

3. Willing to Seek Assistance

Self-aware leaders have no problem reaching out to their customers and clients or membership bases and asking questions that reveal their lack of knowledge or skills in certain areas. “The interesting thing is that by sharing with the business world that they’re aware of their need for help, they receive more empathy and support,” Salzman says.

4. Able to Solve Problems

“Self-actualized small-business owners know they can accomplish just about anything,” says Gregg Weisstein, co-founder and COO of BloomNation, a company that works with local artisan florists to hand deliver flowers in more than 3,000 cities nationwide. “Self-aware leaders know they can be and do anything, and they realize that no problem is too big as long as they’re willing to put in the hard work to solve it.”

5. Realistic

Self-actualized leaders are fully aware of their personal faults and the weaknesses of their businesses. “Because of this, they can address those faults far faster than leaders who choose to overlook the tough stuff,” Salzman says. “They have no problem revealing issues about their businesses, and this attitude results in creating better businesses.”

6. Spontaneous

When an interesting idea or suggestion is made, self-actualized leaders aren’t afraid to put tradition and schedules aside to try something new. They know that some of the world’s most groundbreaking discoveries came out of trying something unique and even unheard of.

7. Independent

While self-aware leaders work well with others and aren’t afraid to ask for assistance, they’re also more likely to be autonomous. This means they’ll gather the opinions and ideas of their employees and associates, then retreat in order to process and synthesize the information into a useable and workable format.

8. Grateful

Self-actualized leaders view the world with a perpetual sense of wonder and appreciation. They enjoy simple experiences and are thankful for employees and others who help them run their businesses. And they freely share their appreciation with acknowledgements, thank-yous and rewards for jobs well done. If you think you still need to work on developing some of the attributes mentioned above before you can say you’re a self-actualized leader, Salzman has some tips. “Becoming self-actualized is similar to a recovery program [for addiction],” she says. “First, you have to admit you’re in need of improving yourself as a leader and your business overall. Then, and only then, can you believe that the power to become a better leader lies in understanding that the issue is not you but that it lies within your business sphere. “Once you delegate to the appropriate people,” Salzman adds, “you can improve your awareness of which things need work and let that evolve over time into a deep understanding of the kind of businessperson you are.” If you’re hoping to become a more effective leader, examine your leadership style and see if there’s some room for self-actualization. Read more articles on leadership. This article was originally published on August 29, 2014.

The huge effect Instagram ads could have on small businesses

JUNE 05, 2015 Instagram’s recent announcement that it’ll soon open its photo feed to all advertisers has many small-business owners celebrating. Until now, Facebook, which bought Instagram in 2012, kept the social media site nearly ad-free,but that will change. Small-business owners can soon target ads to the social media platform’s 300 million users. “The onset of ads inside of the Instagram feed is an overdue and very welcome addition,” says Amanda Vega, founder and CEO of Amanda Vega Consulting Inc. and 3 Peas Baby Product Marketing. “The reality is that a brand’s audience spans multiple networks, and the ability to reach them via Instagram has been nearly impossible unless you were already a well-established brand. This recent change opens up the playing field.” Previously, the only way to get exposure on Instagram was to find individuals with a huge following to promote your product or service, adds Courtlandt McQuire, president and executive creative director of Green Advertising & Vidpop Productions.“This was a lengthy and expensive process that usually didn’t pan out. Now, however, with Facebook’s data and platform injected into the tight knit Instagram network, I think we can expect higher conversions yielding higher advertising earnings.”

Brands don’t always have the same demographics of following on Facebook as they do on Instagram, and no, they don’t necessarily align with the overall demographics of the network either.

Vega agrees. “Instagram will give small businesses an opportunity to capture market share in areas where they can’t compete in the traditional space due to budget constraints,” she says. “In Instagram, much like with all social networks, the agility that small businesses have that larger brands don’t gives them a huge advantage. For instance, whereas a large company would have to get 10 layers of approval on one photo and its message before posting it to Instagram, small-business owners can move much more quickly, because their ad creation process has less constraints.”

Big Advertising Profits Expected

Marketers and investors anticipate lucrative profits from the ads directed at Instagram’s users, who are a young group that likes to share, click and comment. “If you are a small business looking to benefit from Instagram advertising, you’re in luck,” McQuire says. “Instagram users are an ardent culture of creators and influencers. These users generate their own content, rather than propagating others. They’re individuals with opinions and key influencers in millions of micro cultures within society. This is exactly what advertisers want: people who create consumer change.” Instagram plans to launch ads later this year, including testing ones that allow viewers to click on an advertised product or app, rather than the current route they must take that involves pasting a product into a website browser or searching the site. Such click-to-buy advertising will allow small-business owners to track how ads are performing, a convenience that could increase the click-through rate.

How to Take Advantage of Instagram Ads

Considering the changes are coming soon, you should consider developing ad strategies now so you can proceed quickly once the platform is open to advertising. Keep these tips in mind.

Do a dive of your audience specific to Instagram. “Brands don’t always have the same demographics of following on Facebook as they do on Instagram, and no, they don’t necessarily align with the overall demographics of the network either. So use tools that dive deeper for real data,” Vega says. “This will help you better target you audience in your ads.”
Create varied messages that are aligned with traditional Instagram posts. “Do not take an ad you use in print or on Facebook and throw it up on Instagram,” Vega says. “The cadence and voice on Instagram is vastly different in many ways than other social outlets.”
Test multiple ads in content and imagery. And test different delivery times. Start with small campaigns of $50 to $100 to test the waters. The results you gather from such attempts will give you valuable information on how to make larger campaigns pay big dividends. “Whatever you do, don’t wait for your competitor to test it for you,” Vega says. “Be brave and be first.”
Don’t feel pressured to stay with Instagram ads if they aren’t working for you, even if they are working for a competitor. Do your due diligence, but stop if after a while you’re not seeing results.
Be patient. The rollout of ad availability on Instagram will probably be slow, so take advantage of the downtime to make sure your ad strategy is ready to attract new business.

Read more articles about social media.

Photo: iStock

5 new ways to help protect your business from cyberattacks

MAY 28, 2015 In yet another alarming cyberattack affecting more than 100,000 people, hackers recently netted nearly $50 million in fraudulent IRS refunds. The fact that a mammoth organization like the IRS could be hacked illustrates the growing danger that small businesses could fall prey to cyber intrusion. “The average small business is unaware that it’s being hit with more than 10,000 attempted intrusions a day, and the number of these attacks are growing. When a data breach does occur, it can take months to discover it,” says Erik Knight, CEO of SimpleWan, a defense system for businesses that allows for tracking real-time statistics and responding to threats immediately. “The days of small businesses not taking data breaches seriously are over. If a small business has an ‘it can’t happen to me approach,’ I guarantee they are a target for a cyberthreat.” In addition to an increase in the volume of hacking, “the scams are becoming much more sophisticated, and the landscape is changing regarding culpability,” Knight says. “Organizations and governments are starting to hold businesses responsible for protecting customer privacy.”

The average small business is unaware that it’s being hit with more than 10,000 attempted intrusions a day, and the number of these attacks are growing. When a data breach does occur, it can take months to discover it.

Without ample security resources and the finances to survive a catastrophic occurrence brought on by data theft, small businesses can be especially vulnerable, notes Robert Neivert, COO of Private.me, a secure hub of online privacy tools, including Private.me API that protects user data. Data theft can be disastrous to a small business, adds Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance. “Customers expect the businesses they patronize to protect their personal information. Cyber intrusions lead to a loss of trust in your business and can damage your brand.” How can you protect your small business from cyberattacks? It can help to follow these five security measures.

1. Be Proactive

“Prevention is the key to preventing all attacks,” Knight says. “There are technologies available that provide a monitored security product much like an alarm system for your Internet connection. If you have an alarm system for your office and don’t have one for your firewall, you’re missing your biggest wide open window.” Knight advises ensuring that your computer system is monitored, audited and tested for security holes monthly—not when there is a breach. “The small-business owners who don’t do this are easy targets and will most likely be hacked,” he says. “Hire a professional IT vendor that knows about proper procedure and threat assessment.” All businesses should take the time to do risk management evaluations to determine vulnerabilities, Kaiser adds. “Follow basic best practices, such as keeping software up-to-date, and look into new ways to make your business more secure, including adding multi-factor authentication to work networks or email accounts.” Don’t delay in updating your system, advises James Pooley, a lawyer and author of Secrets: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyber Espionage. “Always update your software as soon as patches are available. Many breaches happen because companies wait too long, and hackers know this.”

2. Follow Industry Compliance and Rules

It used to be that you could appear to be making an effort and you would be okay, but the Home Depot breach in 2014 changed all that. “A number of vendors are being named in the ongoing lawsuits, and all of them are at risk for a part of those expenses related to the breach,” says Knight. “A single event like this could be a business ender. The cost of an average breach in 2014 was $3.5 million.”

3. Purchase Data Breach Insurance

Insurance to protect your business in the case of cyberattacks is becoming a necessity. “A few years ago you couldn’t even buy such a thing, but by 2020, research by insurance groups indicates that almost 90 percent of all businesses will be required to have data breach insurance,” Knight says. “It may sound silly, but it may also save your business and is well worth the investment. Even if you’re not the cause of a breach, you may have to defend your actions in court. Many of these policies cover such a defense.”

4. Opt for Cloud Services

A stand-alone computer device you purchased even just a year ago that hasn’t been updated or monitored may already be breached, and you wouldn’t even know it. “With a cloud service, you pay a service fee, and it’s someone else’s job to keep everything current and secure,” Knight says. Consider this tactic for everything from ecommerce to computers, firewalls, phones, email systems and servers.

5. Don’t Forget the Human Element

According to Neivert, employees are a small-business owner’s biggest security threat. “We often focus on tech, but people create many of the issues,” he says. “Often passwords are shared among employees, are simple and reused. Every employee should have a unique password, and it should be of reasonable strength. Train employees to be careful about opening emails from unknown sources, have an anti-virus scanner on computers, keep access to sensitive information like banking to only a few people, and most of all, pay attention to employees that might have malicious intent. They can do a lot of damage.” Also keep an eye on individuals from outside your company allowed into your system, Pooley advises. “The big Target hack of 2014 came in through its heating contractor, who had trusted access, but whose own system was more vulnerable than Target’s,” he says. “Even a restaurant’s website can be used to hack into a company whose employees often eat there and might click on the menu, exposing their own systems to malicious software.” Cyberthreats are here to stay. Have a plan in place to thwart hacker attacks, and you should be well on your way to protecting sensitive company and customer data. Read more articles on cybersecurity.

Photo: iStock

What you should understand about mobile advertising now 4.1-mini

MAY 14, 2015 You might think we’ve turned over every possible stone when it comes to online marketing, but Verizon’s recent bid to purchase AOL in order to obtain its mobile video and advertising technology illustrates that the world of mobile advertising may still be the “Wild West” of Internet marketing. “In many ways, 2015 for mobile advertising is like 1995 for the Web itself,” says Jeff Sauro, author of Customer Analytics for Dummies and founder of MeasuringU, which measures the ease-of-use of websites and the mobile experience. “Back then, while some companies started shifting ad dollars to online advertising, others dismissed Internet advertising as a passing fad,” Sauro says. “Of course, the latter companies missed out or were late to the party.”

Good Reasons to Try Mobile Advertising

Mobile usage among millennials and consumers in general is rising, notes Terry Murphy, president of SmartLink Internet Strategies, Inc. “Reaching for a smartphone and tablet before a desktop computer to look for something online has become commonplace across all age bands,” he says. “Google recently announced that mobile search has for the first time surpassed desktop searches.”

In many ways, 2015 for mobile advertising is like 1995 for the Web itself. Back then, while some companies started shifting ad dollars to online advertising, others dismissed Internet advertising as a passing fad. Of course, the latter companies missed out or were late to the party.

Give it five more years, and “mobile search” will simply be referred to as “search,” adds Kirill Storch, CEO of Electric Web, which specializes in mobile app and website development and online revenue generation through e-commerce. “Approximately 64 percent of Americans own a smartphone, and this number is only predicted to grow,” Storch says. “The conversion rates from mobile campaigns far exceed the paltry ROIs that desktop advertisers have become accustomed to. According to a study by Google, mobile-only searches are [about six times] more likely to result in a phone call to the business than [PC-only] searches, and 73 percent of all mobile searches result in a commercially relevant action. The typical costs for running the ads are far lower and there is less competition.”

Businesses That Should Consider Mobile Advertising

Not every small-business owner needs to take the mobile advertising plunge, but if you’re targeting consumers under 50, Murphy believes you should try it. “With geofencing, an advertiser can solicit customers right out from under its competitors,” he says. “This underscores the need for most companies to have a robust mobile presence.” Any small business that has experienced even marginal success with desktop ads should jump into the mobile ad space to realize a significant increase in ROI, adds Storch. “If you are a new business that hasn’t done any online advertising, you should absolutely try it.”

Tips for Effective Mobile Advertising

Keep these tips in mind when taking the mobile ad plunge.

Develop an eye-catching, highly functional website. “Gone are the days when you could set up a cheap mobile template and expect high ROIs,” Storch says. “Think of a new customer walking into your front office. You want the person to see an elegant, visually impressive landing page. In addition to looking incredible, the landing page should also be highly mobile optimized.” Also make your mobile site easy to read, adds Murphy: “Think of it as a mini-billboard where an economy of words is of the utmost importance. Use a clean, legible font.”
Don’t be flashy. People also use their phones to call and text, so avoid being intrusive. “While you want to present your message at the right time in their decision process, you don’t want to interfere with their tasks and goals,” Sauro says. “If ads take over the screen and get in the way of finding information or making a reservation, you’ll gain detractors rather than customers.”
Make the process frictionless and seamless. “Ensure you have prominent clicks to call, email, map and purchase,” Murphy says. “Nothing is more annoying than scrolling and clicking all over a website to find the Contact Us page. Millennials expect a certain level of interactive functionality and user experience and will move on to your competitor if they don’t get connectivity.”
Engage and personalize the experience. Jaanuu, Inc., which creates fashionable medical apparel, is “laser focused on mobile advertising that is not only engaging but personalized,” says Shaan Sethi, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “This type of mobile advertising has become a critical enabler in achieving top of the funnel awareness while driving attractive order level economics.”
Try to test ads regularly. “For text-based ads, such as those on Google’s mobile search, write the ads fairly restrictively so you don’t run into the problem of getting too many clicks from folks who are not interested in actually purchasing your product or service,” Storch says. “On a more complex ad platform, test numerous ‘creatives’ or image-based ads. Generally, animated GIFs convert better, but even this is not a cardinal rule. Retest ads often. Even experienced marketers can take up to a year to unlock the perfect combination that maximizes ROI.” Sethi agrees: “Use a portfolio of tactics to reach the customer via multiple touch points; test and learn with sophisticated analytics and never ignore data.”

Don’t Wait

Customers aren’t yet making a great number of purchases online, but they do a lot of pre-shopping on their smartphones, so you want to be there to make a good first impression when they browse while standing in line at the supermarket. Once they hit their desktop to make a purchase, it’s often too late. “Mobile is an exciting new area of advertising, and ad revenues are practically doubling year-over-year,” Storch says. “The uptrend won’t last forever, though. The smartphone market already shows signs of cooling in mature markets like Europe and North America. The next few years represent a massive opportunity for small businesses to advertise in this space, but the opportunity is time limited. Once mobile search becomes more accepted as the norm, ad ROIs will stabilize and begin to look like their desktop predecessors, so take the chance while it’s available.” Read more articles about digital tools.

Photo: iStock

How to keep employees happy in the age of longer workweeks

MAY 07, 2015 As a small-business owner, you’re probably no stranger to longer workweeks. According to a recent study by the consulting and tax firm EY, the rest of the world may be just as overworked. The global survey found that almost half of managers around the world work more than 40 hours a week, and their workweeks have lengthened over the last five years.“The workweek has continued to lengthen in the same way the cheeseburger has continued to get bigger,” says Scott L. Girard, Jr. of Expert Business Advice and co-author of the Crash Course for Entrepreneurs series. “Competition drives everything, and when one person works 40 hours a week, the next guy works 41 hours a week to get ahead of the first guy. Then another guy works 42 hours a week to get ahead of that guy, and so on. The extra work clearly drives results, and getting results is what earns business and wins industries.”

At a certain point, even with overtime, people just want to go home. This is where the science of management meets the art of leadership. Foster a positive environment where your employees want to stay, or find some way to cross-train or develop rotational schedules.

Extended workweeks might be common and produce results, but they can also stress and strain employees, notes Jeff Wolf, president of Wolf Management Consultants and author of Seven Disciplines of a Leader. “Employees exposed to excessive hours make mistakes on the job that can be potentially dangerous in manual labor settings. Longer hours also take their toll on owners. It’s difficult to devise plans, analyze opportunities and solve problems when you’re walking around in a fog.”So how can you strike a balance and stay competitive without burning out your employees? Consider these tactics.

1. Be Clear About Your Expectations

You may be motivated to push your own hours because the returns are going into your pocket, but the quickest way to foster a miserable team is to push them as hard as you push yourself, Girard notes. “At a certain point, even with overtime, people just want to go home. This is where the science of management meets the art of leadership. Foster a positive environment where your employees want to stay, or find some way to cross-train or develop rotational schedules.” Be clear about how much you expect employees to work, advises Nancy D. O’Reilly, a clinical psychologist, founder of Women Connect4Good Inc. and author of Leading Women: 20 Influential Women Share Their Secrets to Leadership, Business, and Life. “Make sure employees realize you don’t expect them to put in the kind of hours that you put in,” she says. “If you don’t spell this out, they might assume you do expect it. They may comply resentfully—which will harm their happiness and thus their productivity—or more likely just quit.”

2. Minimize Stress When Longer Workweeks Are Necessary

Burnout from extended hours may not come so much from the work itself as from the stressful environment in which your employees find themselves working. “Long work hours can be energizing and exciting, if you and your employees like what you’re doing,” O’Reilly says. “If those hours are unnecessarily stressful, however, burnout and high turnover are likely.” To decrease stress, O’Reilly suggests holding an end-of-the-week debriefing. “Ask employees what stressful problems came up that could have been avoided, and put systems in place to prevent those problems from happening again,” she says. Flexibility can be equally important. “As a small business, you may not be able to offer the same kinds of benefits a big corporation can provide, but you can offer flexibility, and that is worth a lot to employees,” O’Reilly says. “Most likely, the work ebbs and flows at your business, so use that to your advantage. Take time off when it makes sense for you to do so and urge your employees to do the same. Look for opportunities to say, ‘You worked really hard last week finishing up that big project, so why don’t you take this Friday off?’” Flexibility can be one of the greatest mitigators of fatigue and burnout, Pound agrees. “People have lives and they need to have the time to go to doctors’ appointments and make time for their families,” he says. “The best team members will enjoy that flexibility without impacting their output or letting other team members or clients down.”

3. Be Fair and Appreciative

If you want to keep talented employees, you should treat and pay them fairly, Wolf warns. “Overworked employees are understandably sensitive to an imbalanced workload where some employees work longer hours or on more complex tasks than others. This is a surefire way to upset your best workers, so be sensitive to this issue.” When employees do an exceptional job, acknowledge that, Girard urges. “The appreciation may come in the form of a monetary bonus or simply stopping by the employee’s desk to say, ‘I know things haven’t been easy lately, but I just want to tell you that I really appreciate the hard work you’ve been doing.’” Read more articles on productivity.

Photos: iStock

How recent Twitter changes can benefit your business

APRIL 23, 2015 Twitter recently revamped some features and policies that may help you improve your social media strategy. Those changes include the ability to direct message anyone, even without following one another, and the prohibition of any posts that promote violence.

Here are some of the most sweeping recent Twitter changes that could affect how you use this social media platform to build business and beef up customer service, with tips for making the most of these changes.

Direct Message Anyone on Twitter

It used to be that you needed to follow Twitter users if you wanted to direct message them. That method may have proved cumbersome and confusing and discouraged communication in the past, notes Tyler Sminkey, social media specialist and account executive for Insider Media Management.

It’s important to monitor your Twitter account and hop on engagement opportunities ASAP. Answer questions and react to comments and complaints within 20 minutes of the initial posting. If someone was in your store, you wouldn’t wait to answer a question. Virtual customer service is no different.

“Now you can direct message anyone on Twitter, and that’s good news for small-business owners,” Sminkey says. “This change will encourage a more open form of direct communication for small-business owners. Direct messaging also enables small-business owners to connect and communicate with customers without sharing that information with the public. For example, we often request to obtain contact information from customers if they felt they could have had a better experience.” Though private direct messaging could provide benefits, for the sake of managing your company’s reputation in the face of complaints, it may be a good idea to do that managing on Twitter where everyone can see, suggests J.P. Hervis, president of Insider Media Management. “In most cases, management of an upset client on Twitter is still best done in front of everyone so other followers can see you are reacting to a potential issue and care about making it right,” Hervis says. “Those conversations can get into heavy detail and fill up a feed, though, so many times there is a point where moving to direct messaging is ideal—especially when obtaining the client’s personal information for a ‘make-good.’”

Retweet With a Comment

Click the retweet icon when you spot a tweet you want to broadcast, and you’ll notice a new “add a comment” link. Also known as quote tweet, this feature can make retweeting easier and offers the potential to share your insights about a tweet in a more meaningful manner. Prior to this change, you could either simply hit retweet, which essentially reposted the tweet for your followers, or if you wanted to make a comment, you had to do a manual retweet that required you to cram your information in with the original tweet, with a 140-character limit. Now the original tweet is embedded and your comment can be up to 116 characters. The new feature encourages you to add your own insight and voice to the tweet, which can be ideal for increasing customer engagement. By personalizing the tweet, you can also help build your reputation as a thought leader on certain topics.

Ban on Tweets that Promote Violence

This new policy, suspending any users that promote violence against others, may create a less contentious Twitter landscape for conducting business. And while you probably haven’t threatened anyone on Twitter, it can still be a good idea to protect your company’s reputation by reviewing your Twitter behavior protocol on a regular basis and making sure all employees abide by certain standards, Sminkey claims. He suggests asking the following questions before tweeting:

Does this tweet fit your brand?
Is it appropriate for your audience and the date/time it will be sent?
Have you left any questions unanswered?
Does the tweet negatively affect a customer or another business? “The first thought when sharing something on social media should be that you aren’t harming anyone or saying something that could be thought of as mean or negative,” Sminkey says. “This is a public forum, and your posts can live forever online.”
Are you abiding by Twitter’s best practices? Have you used shortened links and/or hashtags and tagged other profiles appropriately?

“For many small-business customers, Twitter is the fastest and best form to ask simple questions,” Hervis says. “That being said, it’s important to monitor your Twitter account and hop on engagement opportunities ASAP. Answer questions and react to comments and complaints within 20 minutes of the initial posting. If someone was in your store, you wouldn’t wait to answer a question. Virtual customer service is no different.” Read more articles about social media. Photo: Getty Images

Dragonfly Shops & Gardens: Making Customer Service Personal

A former recruiter trained in the art of networking, this small-business owner harnesses the power of personal. Find out how she built her business on relationships. FEBRUARY 02, 2015 When Beth Davidson becomes friends with her customers, she knows she’s succeeded at her No. 1 goal: making customer service top priority. “If I’m on a first name basis with my customers, I’ve humanized my business,” says the owner of The Dragonfly Shops & Gardens in Orange, California. “In order to be successful, you have to be personal.” Davidson’s brick-and-mortar lifestyle shop carries a wide variety of home and garden goods, including housewares, jewelry, clothing, and plants and garden art; offers classes; and provides a venue for birthday parties, weekend retreats and weddings. Whatever the small-business owner cooks up at the bustling shop focuses on people connecting with people.

From Recruiter to Shop Owner

Davidson is no stranger to networking. A former executive recruiter for 20 years, she decided to leave the recruiting business in March 2007 to open up Dragonfly Shops & Gardens in order to “feed a need to bead.” After beading for 30 years, Davidson wanted a place to showcase and sell her jewelry, so she opened the Dragonfly.

The shop is located in a 1924 former house that consists of 1,500 square feet, including a yard where she carries garden products. In July 2013, after weathering the recession and continuing to grow, she doubled her space by setting up the Dragonfly Studio in another historic house next door. While the first building holds the merchandise, the second serves as an indoor and outdoor art studio and classroom space. “The studio has the same welcoming vibe as the shop—with lots of character,” says Davidson. “The space features incredible artists and instructors who are known throughout the community.”

The studio harkens back to Davidson’s original intent with the shop. “When I first opened the business, my primary emphasis was holding beading classes, so I reserved one room as a classroom,” she says. “In the retail world, they might have called that move ‘Beth’s Folly,’ because it would be considered sacrilegious to use retail space for a classroom.” The tactic increased customer engagement and business, though. “Those who came to bead were introduced to the shop and vice versa,” Davidson says. “Best of all, many customers have taken my beading class for several years and have become great friends.”

Hang Out at the Cash Register

Davidson also bucks tradition when it comes to advice regarding working more efficiently. “I’ve gone to business building seminars where they advise small-business owners to work smarter and not tend the cash register, but that’s where all of your customers wind up,” Davidson says. “I’m the face and voice of the Dragonfly, and I need to be present and accounted for,” she adds. “Recently, I went into the shop on a Saturday planning to get a lot done, but I spent 95 percent of the day chatting with customers. Though I had a long to-do list, I realized that engaging with customers and encouraging the personalized culture we’ve created at the Dragonfly was what I needed to do that day.”

Make it Personal Online

When it comes to her virtual presence, Davidson keeps it just as personal. “I’m so tied into the Dragonfly that I don’t ever post on my personal Facebook page,” she says. “If anyone wants to see what’s going on with me, they’ll find it on my fan page. Just recently someone came in to remind me that I hadn’t sent out an email for a few weeks. Her comment showed me that customers are looking for a sense of belonging and community, even online, and those business owners who provide it will reap the rewards of increased business.”

It Takes a Village to Build a Small Business

Davidson will be the first tell you that she couldn’t have grown her business alone. Those she enlists to help, such as her two employees and 15 instructors, have done a great deal to spread the Dragonfly vision. “The studio is instructor inspired,” she says. “I knew I wanted to expand and that I couldn’t possibly fill up the studio space on my own, so I reached out to a group of fabulous instructors who also bring in students. All of this connecting has resulted in the Dragonfly becoming a hub with an exponential reach.” Once a month, the Dragonfly also hosts the Marketplace, where 20 to 25 local artisans sell their products. Davidson started the event six years ago as a way to give the many artisans coming into the shop a venue. “People would come in with great products, but I didn’t have any space available, so we started holding the Marketplace, and it’s a big hit. We don’t make money on the event itself, but it brings people in and keeps us current and relevant,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to share your resources—doing so will pay you back ten-fold.”

Be Real

Davidson’s most important advice regarding effective customer service is probably the simplest. “Customers aren’t looking for perfect,” she says. “It’s okay to let them see you make a mistake—that shows you’re human. Do your absolute best, but don’t let paralysis from analysis stop you. I had a customer tell me the other day that my shop is the antithesis of the mall. That made me feel great and showed me that the Dragonfly is as personalized as you can get.” Read more articles on customer engagement. Photos: iStockphoto; Courtesy of Dragonfly Shop & Garden (2)

Changing your body language to help you score sales

DECEMBER 01, 2014 When he opened his own business, Jordan Sayler discovered that his mother wasn’t trying to annoy him when she told him to stand up straight as a kid. She knew the secret: People tend to read body language rather than listen to what’s being said. “I learned quickly I was not only merchandising my store; I was selling myself,” says the owner of the men’s apparel and footwear store Winn Perry & Co. “I used to put my hands in my pockets or hold them down in front of me so I wouldn’t be viewed as pushy or overbearing, but I found that people often didn’t take me seriously. So I started striking a confident pose by putting my hands directly at my sides or on my hips.” Several years ago, Cecilia Lynch also discovered just how important body language can be when she met with a senior sales executive at a large international financial services company. “I didn’t think much about my body language when engaging with her. As a result, the meeting didn’t go as well as I would have liked,” says Lynch, principal and founder of the consulting company Focused Momentum. “She still hired me, but gave clear instructions that I was not to be put in front of their clients, which was a wakeup call for me.”Today Lynch makes good use of her body language. “I conduct strategy sessions of up to 60 people at a time. I often literally need to hold the energy of the room and move it along in a productive manner, which I do through body language,” she says. When it comes to inspiring and influencing others, you can say all the right words, but if your nonverbal postures send a different message, that is what others will take away from your interaction, explains Sharon Sayler, an executive coach specializing in verbal and nonverbal communication (and Jordan’s mother). She owns Competitive Edge Communications and is author of What Your Body Says (and how to master the message): Inspire, Influence, Build Trust, and Create Lasting Business Relationships. “Nonverbal communication happens whether we want it to or not, and it’s all too easy to send the wrong message,” Sayler says. The good news is that with a little direction, any small-business owner can appear comfortable, in control and successful.

Breathe Naturally

One of the first nonverbal actions you’re judged on by others is your breathing, Sayler notes. “How you breathe unconsciously alerts the other person’s as well as your own fight or flight response,” she says. “If you are breathing naturally and comfortably, the other person assumes he or she is safe. Low, steady breathing always calms the mind and body and is the most powerful nonverbal [action] to give the impression that you’re confident and in control.”

Display Effective Eye Contact

Direct eye contact can be a signal of confidence, yet it is one of the most overrated and misunderstood of the nonverbal behaviors. “Much advice suggests that if you don’t make constant direct eye contact, you’re untrustworthy. I’ve even heard a recommendation to have ‘sticky eyes,’ which is nonsense,” Sayler says. “Eye contact works best when both parties feel it’s ‘just right,’ so take your cue from the other person regarding how much eye contact to use. Too much or too little eye contact is not only disrespectful, it can be downright creepy. Breaking eye contact happens naturally during conversations, and it makes it easier to process what you’re hearing.”

Be Strategic With Your Chin

Although eyes get a lot of attention when it comes to nonverbal cues, it’s the chin you should be paying more attention to. “What you do with your chin tells others a lot about what’s going on inside you,” Sayler says. “For example, if your chin is off to the side, your head is tipped or tilted. That is a submissive move that can make it seem like you’re hoping to be liked or you’re confused.” Your chin up in the air makes you appear snooty, and a tucked in chin communicates that you are shy and don’t wish to talk. To exude confidence, stand up straight and keep your chin parallel to the floor.

Lean in to Show Interest

Displaying interest in what a client has to say increases the level of commitment in the business relationship. The best way to show you care is to slightly lean toward the person or the object of interest. “The more you lean, the more interest you show, but be careful not to overdo it,” Sayler says. “The lean is slight; it should not be a lunge. You always want to respect comfort zones and personal space.”

Exude Expertise With Your Arms and Stance

Showing that you’re an expert on your subject is important to selling your products and services. To show you know what you’re talking about, Sayler suggests standing with your forearms waist-high in front of your body and your wrists at the same height as the elbows so the forearms are parallel to the ground. Your hands can be gently clasped, but don’t move your fingers. To exude even more confidence, touch your thumb-tips and fingertips together, so when you look down at your hands it looks like they’ve formed a triangle with your fingers pointed away from you. Variations on this include standing with your arms hanging at your sides or leaving one hand hanging at your side and the other parallel to the ground grasping a notebook or similar item.

Smile

A smile communicates that you are confident and content with yourself and your business, and approachable, notes Tsutomu Carton, owner of Sielian’s Vintage Apparel. “Smiling is just as important in person as on the phone,” Carton says. “I always make sure that the person I’m talking to can ‘feel’ my smile.”Use these tips to strike a confident pose, and you’ll soon find yourself giving a high-five to increased business. Read more articles on productivity. Photo: Getty Images

Wow Your Customers With Killer Customer Service

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Successful small-business owners know that their “secret weapon” for winning the race against larger competitors is stellar customer service. The up-close-and-personal approach just can’t be replicated by most big businesses.

“In an increasingly disconnected world, the small-business owner has the competitive advantage of delivering one-on-one connections,” says small-business consultant Olga Mizrahi, author of Sell Local, Think Global: 50 Innovative Ways to Make a Chunk of Change and Grow Your Business.

“By having meaningful interactions with customers, small businesses engender the kind of loyalty that’s not price-dependent. There’s a magic to the Main Street retailer who knows your daughter’s name, the local pizza joint that remembers your gluten-free preference and the independent bookseller who recommends the perfect beach read.”

As a small-business owner, you generally can’t compete with big advertising budgets or numerous employees and locations, but you can “out service” larger companies, says Scott Stratten, author of UnSelling: The New Customer Experience and president of UnMarketing. “As a small business, you can easily make customers ecstatic by turning on a dime and making requested changes much more quickly than large businesses can ever do.”

If you’re trying to harness the power of customer service, put these 10 tips to work for you:

1. Look to online reviews.

“It’s no longer ‘The customer is always right,’ ” Mizrahi says. “While it may be hard to digest, the new adage is ‘The critic is always right.’ Online reviews are the number-one way small businesses get noticed. There’s a real power in responding to your online reviews, both positive and negative. Treat each review as an external communication tool and internal suggestion box, rife with ideas about how to improve.”

2. Hire with attitude in mind.

You want talented employees with an aptitude for the tasks you give them, but it’s equally important they have a positive, welcoming, can-I-help-you attitude. Anything less is insufficient and even dangerous to your business.

3. Offer customers multiple ways to get in touch.

“Don’t miss opportunities to connect with customers where, when and how they want,” Mizrahi says. “Let people choose to hear from you through ‘new offerings’ emails, special sales text alerts, Instagrams of new items, curated content on Facebook and helpful article links on Twitter.”

4. Lose your inferiority complex.

“Just because you [run] a small business doesn’t give you an excuse to give subpar customer service,” Stratten says. “Even if it’s a business out of your home, you have to act like a business.” For instance, telling a client you can’t meet a deadline because of a personal problem is terrible customer service.

5. Stay pleasant.

“Always have the attitude that everyone matters and that it’s a pleasure to work with any customer who walks into your business, calls or checks in online,” says Sherry Agee, owner of Fort Knox Flowers and Crafted Gifts. “It’s easy to dismiss people because you may not like their attitude, but recognizing everyone and offering patience and a relaxed communication could be the key to a customer’s acceptance of your suggestions. Make sure to leave a lasting impression that sways people to want to do business with you.”

6. Make it easy and simple to do business with you.

If you own a retail business, as soon as you see a customer pick up an item or look for a price, give a little bit of information about the product and then step back, Agee suggests. “Be ready to engage with the customer and follow up when the person is ready, but don’t be pushy. If the customer is holding several items, offer to take some to the counter. That causes the customer to relax and engage in conversation and that builds trust.”

7. Recreate in-store attention online.

On your website, recreate the face-to-face “Can I help you?” moment that happens when a customer walks through the door, Mizrahi advises. “Engage website visitors as soon as they log on via proactive live chat.”

Agee agrees. “It’s important to reach out directly to online customers to show them that even if you’re not meeting face to face,” she says, “you still care and recognize them just as much as people who walk into your store.”

8. Limit your offerings.

As a small business, you’re not equipped to be all things to all people, and because of that, you’re likely to do a poor job if you try, Mizrahi notes. “Limit what you offer to choice offerings curated by your unique lens of expertise,” she says. “It’s overwhelming out there, especially online. By narrowing down the options, you can create a convenience model where customers ‘get’ your taste and trust your picks.”

9. Be truly active on social media.

“Don’t join a social media site and only check it once a month,” Stratten advises. “Many customers use social media as a customer service communication line. And avoid automating social media as a customer service tool. That’s like sending a mannequin to a networking event. You’re ‘there,’ but you’re just not there.”

10. Learn from every customer service opportunity.

Realize that every customer service issue is a learning experience. “Interactions with customers are only truly a problem if a customer doesn’t alert you to a problem but just leaves without telling you,” Stratten says. When people see that you truly care about their satisfaction and are willing to make changes to fulfill their expectations, you’re likely to inspire loyal customers who wouldn’t think of going anywhere else.

Read more articles on customer service.

Photo: Getty Images

What really defines an entrepreneur?

Published: November 12, 2014 Ask many small-business owners why they risk job security and what may be their life savings to start a business, and the answer isn’t always money. After all, there are easier, more predictable roads to building a nest egg that include a steady paycheck and a matching 401(k) plan. By their very nature, entrepreneurs have a different mindset than lifetime employees—a mindset that causes them to jump in headfirst. While each entrepreneur’s story is unique, a common thread is the desire to steer their own course and drive change themselves.

“I’m driven to change the things I can’t accept. Entrepreneurs take risks, because the alternative is unacceptable.” — Melanie St. James, founder of Empowerment WORKS

St. James founded Empowerment WORKS, a global sustainability think tank that organizes biennial Global Summits to connect resource-poor but culturally rich communities around the world.

Early Interest in Entrepreneurship

Many entrepreneurs start young:

Melanie St. James sold her father’s invention—an electrically heated ice-cream scooper—door-to-door in high school. Her passion for global change began after studying abroad in China and pursuing international development studies.
Marcy Hogan credits her entrepreneurial spirit to her mother. Today, she wears many hats—musician, music teacher, fitness pro, and co-owner of Send Out Cards with her husband.

Desire to Control Their Destiny

Entrepreneurs value freedom and accountability:

Hogan: “Having your own business gives you the ability to create the life you want… When your business flourishes, you have a real sense of accomplishment.”
Matt Richter-Sand: Left a Fortune 500 job because he could “see the next 20 years” of his life and wanted more excitement and innovation.

Richter-Sand started building websites in high school and now teaches entrepreneurship at Loyola Marymount University. He also authored The Agile Startup based on research into successful entrepreneurs.

Willingness to Venture Into the Unknown

Risk and uncertainty are part of the process. Entrepreneurs must:

Turn uncertainty into certainty by validating ideas and acquiring customers.
Test assumptions and prove hypotheses to reduce risk.

Richter-Sand: “Entrepreneurs must be willing to venture into the unknown, to make leaps of faith and move forward without full information.”

Ability to Face Reality

Great entrepreneurs accept harsh truths:

They recognize when their original idea isn’t working and pivot based on market feedback.
They don’t let pride interfere with progress.

Example: PayPal’s original idea was transferring money via Palm Pilots—after negative feedback, they pivoted to web-based transfers, which led to massive success.

Sticking to Their Vision

Entrepreneurs face setbacks but stay committed to their goals. For instance, during the 2012 Summit, St. James lost the venue days before the event:

“I was strongly advised to cancel it, but I kept moving forward and ended up finding the perfect venue at the last minute.”

Despite challenges, successful entrepreneurs are resilient and stay true to their mission—driven by passion, purpose, and an unwavering belief in their vision.

5 signs your company is thriving

OCTOBER 03, 2014 Sales and a positive cash flow are obviously good signs for your business, but don’t take out the champagne just yet. Indications that your small business is built to last are a bit more complicated than a healthy balance sheet, says Donna Novitsky, CEO of employee rewards company Yiftee and a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at Stanford University. “There are a lot of factors that go into building a successful company besides growing the top line,” she says. True, every small-business owner has his or her own barometers of success, but thriving enterprises have a few common denominators.

1. Positive Workforce Climate

Thriving companies have employees who enjoy going to work each day. And those employees feel as if they are making an impact with their contributions to the company, says Novitsky. “If you want to know if your employees are satisfied, ask questions such as ‘Is the development team innovating in creative ways to differentiate our products?’, ‘Does the marketing team love finding the sweet spot in messaging to connect with prospective customers?’ and ‘Is the customer service team building great relationships with customers so that they become true advocates?’” The bottom line is that your team must believe in the mission and goals of your company, says Novitsky. “An employee who gets discouraged and loses faith has to go.” A healthy company has optimal team play, agrees Frances Moreno, managing partner of Vaco Los Angeles. (Her company was recently named the “#1 Best Place to Work in Los Angeles” small employer category, for the fourth time.) “Five signs of great team play include commitment, trust, resolving conflicts quickly, results and accountability. This goes for everyone in the business.”

2. Clearly Defined Market

Early on, it’s not about sales and profitability at all, says Novitsky. “The first stage of success is about proving a product-market fit. From the very beginning, you must define a market need and a solution that has clear benefits to customers and is a big enough opportunity to be worth your dedication for several years,” she says. “Then you have to build the solution and cultivate relationships with your initial customers.” This is a process successful companies repeat as needed in order to grow.

3. Adherence to Values and Objectives

Thriving companies have a transparent set of objectives and values to which they adhere at all times. A clear set of company goals allows everyone to understand the purpose of the company and their roles within the company, which results in a healthy business. “Successful companies have a purpose and a future plan and make sure the company is unified in moving towards a common goal,” Moreno says. “This results in an overall healthy corporate culture.”

4. Ability to Scale

The ability to scale allows your company the bandwidth to comfortably and effectively handle an increasing amount of work. This includes hiring capable employees to ensure that you keep up with demand. If you create a product for sale, this means building it at a cost that the market will bear and getting customers interested and invested enough to buy the product and offer repeat business—all of which helps ensure that you make a profit.

5. Expert Status

Those small-business owners who cement their status as leaders in their fields help ensure that their companies thrive, says social media expert and LinkedIn specialist Karen Yankovich. “The owner of a thriving company finds the time to give back,” she says. “When you’re generous with your products, services and expertise and are able to leverage that to establish your company as an expert in the industry, your expert status leads to greater profits and higher margins and that allows the entire cycle to continue to thrive upwards.” If you have achieved success and your company is thriving, then by all means bring out the champagne. “There are plenty of challenges in running a small business and success requires many leaps of faith,” Novitsky says. “Acknowledge the wins, large and small. Remind yourself that you’re going places where no one has been and doing things that have not been done. When it works, celebrate!”

7 excellent ways to attract new customers

As a business owner, you’re no doubt keenly aware that your client base is the lifeblood of your company. A steady stream of new customers allows you to grow your business and fulfill your company vision. OPEN Forum community member Farzana Irani realizes the importance of a strong client base for all small businesses, including virtual ones. That’s why the Web consultant with iAdControl.com/Fuzzworks UK recently asked: What’s your best approach in creating a client base for your online business? It turns out that a seven-step approach works best for attracting new clients.

1. Identify Your Ideal Client

It’s easier to look for customers if you know the type of consumer you’re seeking. Without a clear image of your ideal customer, it’s difficult to know where to start. Tip: “Have a crystal clear picture in your head of exactly who you’re targeting,” says Nicole Beckett, president of Premier Content Source. “Think about what makes those types of people happy, sad, scared, relieved, and how you can make their lives a little easier.”

Avoid overly broad statements like “every man or woman.”
Focus on realistic, specific audience segments.

2. Discover Where Your Customer Lives

With your ideal customer in mind, locate where they spend time—online and offline. Suggestions:

Social media groups and forums related to your industry
Your competitors’ pages or complementary businesses’ communities
Industry events, conferences, and networking meetups

Craft messaging tailored to these platforms and locations.

3. Know Your Business Inside and Out

Deep knowledge of your product or service builds credibility. The more fluent you are, the more clients will trust and seek your expertise.

4. Position Yourself as the Answer

Give people a compelling reason to engage with you. Help solve their problems and they’ll keep coming back. Tip: Jason Reis, owner of Flehx Corp, recommends:

Creating helpful content (webinars, blog posts, guest posts)
Networking both online and in person
Building a structured sales funnel to convert fans into customers

5. Try Direct Response Marketing

Encourage specific actions from potential customers, such as subscribing to your list or downloading a resource. Advice from Jeff Motter:

Use targeted ads offering something valuable for free
Focus on solving pain points quickly and affordably
Craft compelling, benefit-driven messages

6. Build Partnerships

Partner with complementary businesses to expand your reach. For example, an SEO firm might collaborate with a web design company. Nicole Beckett’s tip: “Focus on building human relationships. Strong relationships increase word-of-mouth and repeat customers.”

7. Follow Up

Don’t let leads slip through the cracks. Consistent follow-up is essential for growth. Josh Sprague, CEO of Orange Mud, says: “Remember to set follow-up tasks and execute your plan. Many leads are lost simply due to forgetfulness.”

What do you do to attract new customers? Share your advice with the community. Read more articles on marketing. Photo: iStockphoto

Here’s how small businesses can provide stellar customer support

As a small-business owner, you likely went into business to provide customers with a stellar product or service. Somewhere along the line you realized you also had to provide customer support, too—but didn’t know where to start. This topic was broached recently when OPEN Forum community member T.S. Praveen Kumar, CEO and founder of Animonks Animation Pvt. Ltd., asked: “How do you guys handle customer support for your startups/companies? You may get a lot of email support tickets, calls from clients and on-site live chat support—how are you handling it? Even if you want to hire a support person, how much can you pay per month to handle your support emails, calls and on-site live chat? I`m facing the same problem with my product, so help me please.” Community member responses to this common challenge varied depending on the size and type of the business.

Opt for Email

Some community members report that they’ve found the most expedient way to deal with customer support is to solely use email and not provide phone support. “Speaking from an e-commerce perspective, we offer no phone support,” says Sean Dawes, co-founder of Rocket Dove. “We decided to ditch phone calls to increase efficiency and accuracy in our responses to customers. We have a blog post explaining that decision to customers and reference it when asked why we can’t get on the phone. We have yet to have a complaint. Emails are answered very quickly, and we use olark live chat, which helps us document every single customer issue, which we can reference when customers follow up.” Josh Sprague CEO of Orange Mud, agrees. “Ditch phone for email early on until it’s truly necessary,” he says. “You might be surprised how few calls you get, as most prefer to chat or email.”

When Phone Calls Matter

Other small-business owners, such as Ben Baldwin, co-founder and CEO of ClearFit, believe that customer service via phone support is key to the success of hia company. “At ClearFit, we believe that support (we call it customer success) is integral to everything that we do,” he says. Rather than delegate the task of customer service to one employee, Baldwin reports that all employees take turns answering customer questions and responding to requests. If your office is too small, or you simply don’t have the resources to allocate to customer service, you might need to hire someone to answer calls. A benefit to this solution is that you can train the employee to deal with concerns just as you would. Prior to hiring anyone to do customer service for you, Jason Reis, owner and lead programmer for Flehx Corp, suggests that you look at your pricing. “You want to ensure that it’s at a level that enables you to hire a virtual assistant or other person who can help with support chats,” he says. If your business isn’t bringing in sufficient income to sustain a full- or part-time employee to answer the phone, you might need to try a less expensive solution, such as a call center, Sprague suggests. “Do your best to make sure that you find a call center that knows your industry, and get some referrals,” he says. “I’ve had some colleagues with bad experiences in the industry with call centers.” Talk to business owners who have successfully used call centers, and test out a center personally prior to signing on, to make sure that its service is up to par and a good fit for your company.

Try Instructional Videos

Reis offers a time-saving suggestion regarding providing customer service: “Customer support can consume a lot of time, and when you are a startup, you may not have all the people in place to be able to handle the volume. I would suggest if you are generating a lot of support requests that you look at some of the types of requests and make a few support videos to answer some of the more generic questions people have.”

Aim for Excellence

If your company is heavy on customer support, you will get requests for assistance, whether they come via phone, live chat or email. As a small-business owner focused on customer service, it’s your job to come up with a system for dealing with the requests that works best for your type of business and customer service style. And as your business grows, be open to changing tactics when necessary. Read more articles on customer service. Photo: iStockphoto

6 Ways To Boost Your Business Relationship IQ

SEPTEMBER 05, 2013 Like many small-business owners, Ashish Rangnekar, CEO and cofounder of BenchPrep, started his company on a shoestring.“I didn’t have a sales force or a million-dollar budget in the beginning,” says Rangnekar, whose company provides personalized, interactive educational courses on portable devices. “What I possessed was the ability to tell my story to potential customers and build those relationships.”

A small-business owner’s relational IQ—the ability to get along well with others, manage conflict and problem-solve—can be more important than his or her actual IQ, according to Van Moody, author of the The People Factor and professional speaker. “Lasting success in the workplace depends on your ability to relate effectively with people,” Moody says. “Research shows that 60 to 80 percent of all difficulties in organizations stem from strained relationships between employees, not from deficits in skill or motivation. Small-business success often has little to do with acumen or product quality, but everything to do with the ability to successfully navigate relationships.” Raise your relational IQ and increase business by keeping the following six tips in mind.

Make Working With You Easy

“Your customers and partners should never feel like maintaining a relationship with you is painful for them,” says Michael Weissman, founder and CEO of SYNQY, a company that specializes in growing new small-businesses and turning around brands with Internet marketing techniques. “People immediately turn away from friction,” Weissman says. “Do everything you can to lower the emotional, logistical and financial costs of working with you. If you don’t, your relationship might not be strong enough to withstand challenges from competitors. The truth is if a customer has two companies that both provide excellent service but one company is easier to work with, that company will get the job every single time.”

Increase Your Capacity for Empathy

The ability to understand where others are coming from goes a long way toward creating good business relationships. “When I put out verbal or written communication, I consider what I have to say from a recipient’s point of view and ask myself if I’m speaking to his or her needs,” says Phrantceena Halres, chairman and CEO of Total Protection Services, a certified security services company that protects infrastructure assets for businesses. “I’ll inquire about the person’s situation, including what he or she has already tried that hasn’t been effective and why I’m being contacted,” Halres says. “Taking an interest in the person sends a positive message and gives me important information as to what to do and what to avoid.”

Have A Trustworthy Online Presence

Now that an increasing number of relationships are established digitally before you meet in person, it’s critical that you establish trust online instantaneously, Weissman says. “Ask yourself if your online presence is building relationships or is it just transactional?” he says. “It’s important for businesses to also be relational digitally.”

Make It Reciprocal

Don’t be a “taker,” says Moody. “It’s important to recognize when a relationship could use more of a giving spirit. When we think about what we can do for others instead of what we can do for ourselves, we get to the very heart of healthy, successful interactions. In a strong relationship, both people willingly give far more than they take.” The strongest relationships are mutual and synergistic, Rangnekar agrees. “People are much more interested in what you have to say when they realize that you truly understand what they need and want, and that you care.”

Have Patience

It took Rangnekar six months of relationship building before he secured his first educational publisher. “Don’t expect to be best friends overnight,” he says. “Relationships take time. We worked for several months before securing that first publisher. Because we so patiently cultivated that relationship, not only did we land that company’s business, they referred us to more publishers.”

Maintain The Relationship

When it comes to business relationships, a lot of emphasis is put on starting relationships, but not a lot focuses on building those relationships for the long term, Rangnekar says. “I can’t emphasize enough the importance of maintaining your business relationships so they stay healthy and profitable for everyone.” Keep these relationship-building tips in mind, and you’ll soon find yourself with increased business and happy customers. Read more articles on customer service. A freelancer since 1985, Julie Bawden-Davis has written for many publications, including Entrepreneur, Better Homes & Gardens and Family Circle. Photo: iStockphoto

3 ways to become the go-to expert in your field

AUGUST 20, 2014 One of the fastest ways to increase business and attract attention is to become a go-to authority in your field. When potential clients seek the help or products you provide and your name pops up, you’re bound to reap the benefits of the exposure. “Expert positioning aligns you with the best-of-the-best in your industry,” says business and brand specialist Debbie Allen, author of The Highly Paid Expert: Turn Your Passion, Skills, and Talents Into a Lucrative Career by Becoming the Go-To Authority in Your Industry. “An expert is recognized as an authority who knows in-depth knowledge about a specific subject. Such individuals solve problems, and when they offer invaluable solutions to make pain go away, people pay top dollar for their advice, wisdom and expertise.” When you establish yourself or your business as a leading authority in your industry, clients reflexively seek your assistance, which drives repeat business and recommendations, says Kristi Marsh, founder of Choose Wiserand author of Little Changes. Thanks to cementing her status as a leader in environmental health and its effects on personal health and the home, Marsh is now the featured educational video blogger for Seventh Generation, which manufactures eco-friendly health and home products. It’s surprisingly easy to become a go-to expert today. “There’s never been a better time to launch yourself as an authority,” Allen says. “The Internet, social media, video marketing and the print-on-demand industry have made it entirely doable.”

Welcome to the New Marketing Model

If you want to become an authority in your field, it’s important to embrace a new marketing model. “Expert marketing that positions a business owner or entrepreneur as the go-to authority focuses on offering valuable, free information in the form of videos, articles and media, rather than the push of advertising and selling one-on-one,” Allen says. The bottom line? You must give before you can receive. “Becoming an expert means taking on a level of responsibility to support others with your knowledge,” says Allen, who notes that this doesn’t mean offering people a cookie cutter get-rich-quick scheme. “True experts are those who offer personalized, proven solutions and give people lasting results,” she explains. “Authorities offer valuable assistance, not only from their heads but from their hearts. They share their wisdom freely, and in the process they get paid well in return.” To excel at becoming a highly paid expert, it’s important to lay the groundwork, which all stems from education-based marketing. Try these three tactics for becoming a household name in your industry.

1. Establish Yourself As an Author

Publishing is an excellent way to claim authority in your field, says Linda Scott, owner of eFrog Press, a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs who want to self-publish. “Blog what you know,” Scott suggests. “Writing original, regular posts on subjects in your area of expertise showcases what you know and gives you an opportunity to find your writer’s voice. Comments to your posts help you understand where you need to clarify your message and, even more importantly, what works.” Create categories for your blogs and keep adding detailed posts, and you’ll soon have enough chapters to put together a book. “When you can say you have literally ‘written the book’ on a subject in your field, you immediately gain expert status,” Scott says. “Forevermore, ‘author’ will be added to your introductions at conferences and speaking engagements. Reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble will further increase your credibility and exposure, and posting your book cover on your website is a subtle reminder to all who visit that you know what you’re talking about.”

2. Become a Communicator

Speaking is another opportunity to establish yourself as an expert—so accept every chance you’re given to present. Also, host your own live events, both online and off-line. It’s ideal if clients and customers actually hear you speak, but it’s just as nearly beneficial if people know you regularly speak on your chosen topic. In addition to public speaking, Marsh advises, “share educational tidbits, tips or lessons through video blogs or vlogs. The combination of your storytelling or speaking style, along with value-added tips, can solidify your image as an expert. It used to be that this opportunity only came through being interviewed on television, but sharing through video messaging is now affordable, easy and under your control. The result is educational, informative tips that are shareable by consumers.” When you present, always take your book with you, Scott adds. “Bookmark a short, interesting passage to read aloud. If your book is a work-in-progress, or even if it’s still in the conceptual stage, remind audiences of your expert status by saying ‘In my upcoming book on … ’ “

3. Rebrand and Refocus When Necessary

It’s possible that the current setup of your business may not lend itself to you becoming an expert, which means you’ll need to shake things up a bit by rebranding or refocusing your business. For example, if you’ve spent 20 years in the carpet cleaning business and want to launch yourself as an authority, you could reposition yourself as a carpet cleaning expert who teaches other carpet cleaners how to run a successful business, Allen explains. “Essentially,” she says, “you take off one hat—running a carpet cleaning business day to day—and put on another hat as a thought leader and expert.” Read more articles on branding. Photo: iStockphoto

How you can become a thought leader

Making yourself known as a thought leader who offers unique, forward-thinking ideas can be great for business, provided you have sufficient outlets for expressing those ideas. Obvious choices are quality websites and blogs that welcome your insight, but OPEN Forum community member Dan Stelter knows that first you have to find these sites. With that in mind, the freelance copywriter and SEO/inbound marketing consultant recently asked the community: “So how do you find quality websites to contribute your content to in order to build and grow your business? Tricky, but getting easier with the sites Google is putting at the top of the SERPs these days.” Several OPEN Forum community members offered their ideas for finding the appropriate sites for content contribution.

Determine Your Target Audience

Identify who your target audience is, and you’re bound to discover where they hang out online, says OPEN Forum community member Elizabeth Tan, a digital marketing consultant with the company Affluential. “By identifying your target market, you would be able to find forums, blogs and social media where you can contribute to and build your thought leadership.” Knowing, for instance, that your target audience is antique car enthusiasts or individuals into holistic health gives you clear indicators as to what sorts of blogs, forums, websites and social media to search for content contribution opportunities.

Examine Your Own Thought Leadership Interests

Emerald Bixby, founder of Clarity Health Centers, recommends comparing your target audience to your own content source interests. “I suggest starting by examining where you hang out online and writing down a few notes about what you value in blogs and other content sources that feed your interests,” Bixby says. “Try to focus less on topics and more on accessibility—think about how you search for things, and what sort of media you like to experience. (For example, how did you find this site?) Then compare and contrast this to the Web-searching habits of your target market,” she says. “I think you might find this helps you creatively and realistically target good places to establish your name as a contributor.”

Try Keyword Searches

An especially effective way to find sites where people are talking about what you wish to comment on is to Google your own keywords or the more generic versions of them. The top results are apt to offer excellent outlets for guest blogging. Another surefire way to easily locate conversations regarding your thought topic is to take those same keywords and sign up for Google Alerts, says OPEN Forum community member Jason Kanigan, owner and founder of Sales On Fire, Inc. “Go to Google Alerts and sign up for emails about articles on your keywords,” he says. “It’s as simple as that. I have four key phrases that Google Alerts sends me emails on every day, and that is more than enough to find content to write about. Another source is to go to Twitter search. The term ‘inbound marketing blog,’ for instance, got me many useful results.”

Remember Your Inbound Marketing

While offering your expertise on other websites and blogs is an effective marketing technique to establish yourself as a thought leader, Ken Marmer, vice president of CLERITI, suggests that you don’t forget about showcasing your thought leadership ideas on your own website. “The best way to build your own thought leadership is through inbound marketing,” he says. “By creating and providing valuable content for your target persona, promoting your remarkable content, building customer relationships and overall pulling the customer towards you, you will create thought leadership,” he says. “At the same time, you will have brand awareness, improve SEO and establish credibility.” Being seen as a thought leader doesn’t happen overnight. Follow these tips to get started building your foundation and broadcasting your expertise. Read more articles on marketing. Photo: Getty Images

How to get customers to write awesome reviews for you

JULY 14, 2014 Thanks to the Internet, word-of-mouth advertising for the small-business owner is powerful and long-lasting. When an infinite number of reviewers can share their opinions online, the potential for exposure and increased business becomes exponential. According to the Harvard Business Review, online peer-to-peer reviews are powerful because they give customers a good sense of what it’s like to use your goods or services. Small-business owners can tout their services, but customers are more likely to believe other customers. OPEN Forum community member Robert Chamul understands the game-changing results of reviews, which is why the owner of Mr. Sewer Rooter recently asked the community:

The best way to get reviews is to ask for them. And the best time to ask is when you finish the job and are with them.

“What’s a great way to get customers to write reviews for you? I just started my plumbing and sewer contracting company and wanted to get feedback from our customers of our service.” Based on their experiences, several OPEN Forum community members chimed in to answer Chamul’s question.

Just Ask

“The best way to get reviews is to ask for them,” says Jeff Motter, CEO and chief marketing officer of East Bay Marketing Group. “And the best time to ask is when you finish the job and are with them.” “While excitement and satisfaction is still in the air about your service, ask for some feedback,” agrees Bret Bonnet, chief marketing officer of Quality Logo Products. “Don’t be afraid to say to clients, ‘Hey, if we helped you, we’d be grateful if you let people know.’ They might take to Yelp themselves.”

Make It Easy

A certain percentage of satisfied customers will take the time and make the effort to review your company on sites like MerchantCircle and Yelp, but an even larger percentage are more likely to do so if you pave the way and make the process as easy and convenient as possible. “Create some sample testimonials that they can use as a model, and give them a form to fill out,” Motter says. If you meet with customers in person, give out business cards that list your URL on various review sites so that it’s easy for them to locate places to leave a review, and include your email so they can send the review directly to you if they prefer, says Bonnet. “A line that reads, ‘Send us your feedback or questions’ works well,” he says. Or send such information out via email right after the job is complete. Include a brief questionnaire or survey. Bonnet also suggests placing a feedback form on your website and posting a status update on your company Facebook page that asks how you’ve been doing. Existing and new fans will see the post and hear about how pleased your customers are.

Offer Incentives

“Don’t be afraid to offer some sort of minor incentive for submission,” suggests Michael Korolishin, an intern with Media Wizardz. Give out incentives that make sense and relate to your business, such as percentage off coupons for future services or products, free gifts and promotional pieces. If you want to build up reviews quickly, try holding a contest. For a specified period of time, enter anyone who gives a review into a drawing for a more expensive and impressive item, such as an iPad or a gift card.

Spotlight the Customer

Most people like to be the center of attention. When you do receive referrals, highlight those customers who took the time to provide them. Ask if you can share their testimonials on your website and social media, and make the mention even more of an event by including a picture of the person with the testimonial. Or go a step further and create a short video of you interviewing the satisfied customer, suggests Jason Reis, owner and lead programmer of Flehx Corp. “After a service call is complete, you (as the owner) can make a video personally thanking the customer for giving you the opportunity to work for him or her,” Reis says. “The video would be 30 seconds or less. Make sure to mention the customer’s name at least twice in the video. Then post the video to YouTube and send the customer a personal email with the link to the video. This is sure to get your customers talking about you in a very positive way.”

Follow a Routine

Not everyone will get around to giving you reviews, even when you ask. But if you incorporate the task of making the request into your regular business routine, you will begin to accumulate an impressive amount of reviews. “Create a process that you and all of your people will follow on each and every job,” Motter says. “This will guarantee that you will have testimonials and referrals. The best part is that if you do this, you will have designed a real business system that will always produce results.” Read more articles on marketing. Photo: iStockphoto

Can a small website compete with the big guys?

JUNE 26, 2014 Compare the website of a giant, well-known brand against your own, and as a small-business owner, you might feel like a minnow in the company of a whale. Considering the size and resources differential, a small-business owner can’t help but wonder if competing is even feasible. OPEN Forum community member David Trounce, co-founder of Mallee Blue Media, asks: “Is it still possible for a small website to compete with larger sites in the same niche? Can you give examples of the kinds of strategies a small site can use to be seen in the SERPS ahead of larger brands or companies? What other strategies do you use as a small website owner to compete online?” Size really doesn’t matter in the world of websites, says Terry M. Isner, managing director of Jaffe, a PR and marketing agency for the legal industry. “If they follow a few best practices, small sites can be just as successful, if not even more successful, than large sites. One primary advantage is the fact that small sites get to the point, and in most cases you can experience the company at-a-glance, whereas on a large site, overly complex navigation and menus that make you drill down further and further to find a nugget of information is a time-consuming turnoff.”

The Key to SEO Strategy

Done right, SEO evens things out between big and small sites, and all sites can find success in online search results. “Every website must have basic SEO elements in place and a solid content marketing strategy to succeed in today’s digital revolution, and this applies to all digital marketing and communications, including blogs and social media,” Isner says. SEO best practices are important no matter what the size of the website. Isner adds, “Large sites can easily rank poorly. More content doesn’t improve rankings if it doesn’t follow a keyword and SEO strategy. If a large site has a bunch of duplicate content, for instance, search bots have a hard time crawling the site and finding all the [relevant] pages among the duplication—so size becomes a negative.” A keyword strategy involves understanding the market and that means understanding keyword competition. “Knowing how difficult it will be to rank certain keywords is important to ranking success. The easiest way to test keyword competition is to push some content out and test it,” Isner says. “Try something simple and quick to get an understanding of how difficult it might be to rank certain keywords and phrases. If you have good success, then carry on. If not, then try a longer-tail variation of the keywords, or do more research and find less used (competitive) keywords.” In terms of “showing up” in search engine results for terms that large brands and companies are also competing for, it is possible for small companies to compete, says OPEN Forum community member Catherine Juon, chief entrepreneur of Beyond Startup. “For uber-competitive terms, it takes some savvy strategy to figure out what phrases you can most easily gain traction with that will still generate business, while building the infrastructure (and budget) to compete on the most competitive terms.” Juon suggests optimizing for “universal search” results, including images, maps, videos, news articles, books and anything else that is available. Big brands often don’t bother optimizing these, which offers you multiple opportunities to compete for page one positioning. Isner agrees. “Maps, images, videos all tell your story, so use them to broaden your entry points and search options.”

Be Open to New Technology

Small businesses have the advantage of being nimble enough to try out brand new marketing strategies or technologies on their websites, whereas large corporations move much more slowly and, because of that, tend to stick with mainstream technology, says OPEN Forum community member Emil Consuelo, director of e-commerce and digital marketing at Altatac. He suggests taking the time to experiment and see what works best for your company.

Focus on Excellent Customer Service

Smaller companies are able to move quickly, and react faster online, says OPEN Forum community member Elizabeth Tan, digital marketing consultant with Affluential. “This means they tend to be more relational and personal when interacting with their clients. Even in the same industry, and the same niche, every business should have their own unique selling point. So you have to outplay that and communicate that to your clients.” Larger companies may offer better pricing than your company, but you have better customer relationships as a small-business owner, says Consuelo. “Compete by working on the customer’s experience on your website,” he says. “Build good relationships with your customers, and they will visit your site.” The same approach is needed for a website as any other aspect of your business, says OPEN Forum community member Michael Trow, owner of Trow Enterprises. “In the early stages of business growth, it is difficult to try and be everything to everyone or even something to everyone,” he says. “It typically makes more sense to be focused on the target market and provide a solution to their needs. Depending on your business and model, there are most likely different priorities to focus on for driving traffic to your site.”

Be Consistent and Persistent

Nothing is built in a day, including a website that drives traffic, so it’s important to be willing to patiently wait for results, says OPEN Forum community member Lauren Simon, president of Lauren Simon Consulting: “Make your brand different, consistent and better, and you will see your website stand out.” Read more articles on marketing. Photo: Getty Images

The power of constructive conflict

JUNE 11, 2014 Savvy small-business owners know that real change and the benefits that come with it seldom occurs without challenging the status quo. Thriving on constructive conflict, entrepreneurs looking to improve their company encourage debate between themselves and their employees, a process that often leads to new ideas and positive change. “Whereas conflict is a power struggle or disagreement between ideas, constructive conflict occurs when there’s a disagreement between individuals or groups that is handled in a professional manner, creating a win-win resolution,” says consultant and speaker Eldonna Lewis Fernandez, author of Think Like A Negotiator: 50 Ways to Create Win-Win Results by Understanding the Pitfalls to Avoid. “Negotiation typically includes constructive conflict, and it’s necessary in order to spark new ideas or iron out and promote healthy exchange and connection between employees and business owners.” Constructive conflict can best be described as intelligent, well-thought-out differences in opinions and ideas between co-workers and employers, adds Shawn Prez, president and CEO of Power Moves Inc., a grassroots and alternative marketing agency that serves small businesses and music industry personalities. “Successful small-business owners invite and welcome constructive conflict amongst staff,” Prez says. “They realize that though they’re tasked with providing leadership and vision to their employees, no one knows everything. Rather than being content surrounded by robot ‘yes’ men, they encourage opinions and solutions that challenge common thought processes.”

Conflict’s Discomfort

Despite the benefits of constructive conflict, many small-business owners are wary, Fernandez says. “People are uncomfortable with the discomfort of conflict, which is why many don’t ask for what they want,” she explains. “New ways of doing things often make people anxious, even when the change would improve the current situation.” While she agrees that encouraging debate can lead to positive change, Linda D. Henman, Ph.D., owner of the Henman Performance Group, finds that many successful small-business owners tend to hold a dangerously myopic view, relying solely on their own ideas and seeking only those views that support their ideas. “Some small-business owners don’t encourage debate and conflict, because they don’t want it,” says Henman, author of Challenge the Ordinary: Why Revolutionary Companies Abandon Conventional Mindsets, Question Long-Held Assumptions, and Kill Their Sacred Cows. “If the business owner happens to be very smart and informed about the industry, the company can enjoy success while he or she is at the helm, but when that person isn’t available, the company usually experiences decline.”

The Upside of Conflict

Given the many advantages constructive conflict can generate, it pays to jump in and reap its benefits. Try these six steps for encouraging constructive conflict at your company: 1. Create a culture of acceptance. Before constructive conflict can be used for the greater good, it’s necessary to develop a company culture where attempts, not just successes, are rewarded, Henman says. “When problems occur, leaders [should] strive to understand cause, not assign blame. Such small-business leaders also deconstruct success in order to replicate it. This type of analysis pours a strong foundation for both learning and change.” 2. Call for conflict. Business owners won’t hear any kind of conflict unless they demand it, but instead of looking for differing opinions that can propel them forward, they encourage group-think instead. The result? “A room full of people eagerly wanting to know what the boss thinks so they can provide echoes,” Henman says. “Business leaders who challenge the ordinary do better. They frame issues and questions, withhold their own opinions and require every person to express an opinion. If they think they’re hearing too many of their own ideas in the room, they can even assign someone the role of devil’s advocate.” 3. Organize brainstorming sessions. Prez holds regular meetings with his entire staff in attendance and encourages employees to voice their ideas. “Our motto is: ‘No idea is a bad idea,’ ” he says. “The team typically builds on the ideas of other staff members, creating an avalanche effect. Some of our most creative campaigns were inspired by one person offering a nontraditional thought or idea.” 4. Trust your employees. “You hire people based on given skill sets that will bring value to your company,” Prez says. “If you thought enough of them to hire them, trust their potentially constructive ideas.” 5. Stick to the issues. “When the group attacks each other instead of the issue, destruction of both relationships and the decision-making process occurs,” Henman says. If things get off track, keep steering people back to the primary topic. 6. Practice makes perfect. “People are often uncomfortable with conflict due to a lack of confidence within themselves, but conflict arises each and every day of our lives.” Fernandez says. “Confidence comes through experience, and experience comes from asking for exactly what you want and not taking rejection personally.” If constructive conflict isn’t something you’re encouraging now, it may feel strange at first. But once it’s embedded in your company’s culture, the benefits you’ll get from it will be well worth the effort. Read more articles on productivity. Photo: iStockphoto

The 7 financial numbers every business owner should know

JUNE 09, 2014 As a small-business owner, your days are packed with an endless number of tasks that keep your business on track. When you do finally flop down exhausted on the couch after work, it’s probably not to pour over your financial statements. But that’s a big mistake. While it might not be your favorite post-work activity, it’s important to keep a close eye on the critical numbers that can help you predict the success of your business.

“Without tracking a few key financial figures, you don’t know how much is being spent and what can be trimmed, and as a result, you can’t lower overhead costs or expenses,” says Jessie Seaman, a licensed tax professional and a senior associate staff attorney at Tax Defense Network. “There’s always time to increase net profit, so every month, you should input your transactions and use the resulting figures to make smart business decisions moving forward.” To help ensure that your business stays in the black, take the time to familiarize yourself with these seven key financial numbers.

1. Cash Flow

Operating cash flow offers a bird’s-eye view of the economic state of your business. This figure is computed by subtracting your operating expenses from the money your company generates during normal business activities. It includes depreciation to your net income and adjusts for working capital like receivables and inventory. When your operating cash inflow exceeds your cash outflow, this is a sign that you’re operating in the black. If the reverse is true, it’s time to take a closer look at your income and expenses. “Sufficient cash flow in your business checking accounts, especially payroll accounts, is critical,” says tax lawyer Daniel Petri, a tax analyst with the Tax Defense Network. “Small-business owners should always make sure they have the necessary cash flow to meet all monthly business expenses.”

2. Net Income

Closely related to cash flow is your net income, which is also known as your net earnings and net profit. This figure constitutes the result of subtracting all your expenses, including taxes, from your income. It’s not adjusted for items like depreciation. Like cash flow, your net profit is a good indicator of whether you’re earning or losing money.

3. Profit and Loss

This figure is found on what’s commonly known as your P&L statement, which is a snapshot of your company’s income (sales and revenue) minus expenses during a specific period of time, which is generally quarterly, every six months or yearly. Knowing your company’s profit and loss over time allows you to project earnings and make realistic plans for the future, both short term and long term.

4. Sales

Given that generating sales is the reason most entrepreneurs operate small businesses, this figure is a given on the critical number’s list. Keeping a close eye on sales is important, as a dip could be a warning sign of trouble. In the same respect, it’s important to pay attention when sales are up. Determining why business is good at the time your company’s on an upward trajectory is easier than trying to figure it out later. Reacting quickly to an increase in sales also allows you to determine what you need to keep doing to sustain that growth.

5. Price Point

“Small-business owners should know exactly how much it will cost them to purchase their goods and then what they’ll need to sell those goods or services in order to make a profit,” says Petri, who notes that this is an especially critical number for restaurants and other retailers. “When you determine price point,” he adds, “make sure to take into account all overhead expenses, such as utilities, payroll and sales tax.”

6. Gross Margin

Also known as your gross profit—and related to price point—this figure reflects how much money remains after the actual cost of your merchandise is subtracted from the selling price. If this figure is low and not sufficient to cover your operating costs, such as salaries, rent, marketing and utilities, then you’re likely not charging enough for your products and services.

7. Total Inventory

Monitor your inventory numbers on a weekly basis to ensure that the amount of inventory isn’t gradually increasing, as this could be a sign of sales trouble. By tracking inventory on a regular basis, you can spot problems early enough to avoid the negative effects of excess inventory, which include storage costs, reduced profits and potential waste. Understanding your critical financial numbers may not be as exciting as making a big sale, but keeping an eye on these must-know figures will give you precious peace of mind—and a glimpse of what the future holds for your business. Read more articles and see exclusive videos in OPEN Forum’s special section on Managing Your Money. Photo: Getty Images

The power of online reviews: how bloggers can help you get your brand noticed

JUNE 05, 2014 Not too long ago, when potential customers wanted to know about the quality of your product or service, they relied on the opinions of friends and family. Word-of-mouth is still alive in today’s connected world—it’s just become exponentially amplified with the use of online reviews. One good (or bad) review of your business can echo through cyberspace indefinitely. Online reviews drive sales in a big way, says Lisa Gordon, founder and CEO of Pollen-8, a company that brings together small businesses, marketers and online reviewers to promote products and services. “According to Yahoo Small Business Advisor, 70 percent of consumers consult reviews before making a purchase. “For large brands, using devoted online product bloggers and social media has become part of the marketing mix, and it’s something small-business owners can also do,” adds Gordon, who created Pollen-8 after working as a mobile app creator and discovering the value of having bloggers review the apps. “Today’s customers seek opinions from a wide variety of reviewers—from those with a large following to niche reviewers with a small but passionate following.” Until the recent surge of online reviews, the brand itself created its own testimonial through marketing—but not always convincingly. “Every coffee shop on every corner in New York City claims it has the world’s best coffee,” Gordon says, “so which one are we to believe? Now that consumers have a tool and a voice, they can weigh in and advocate for products and brands on the world’s stage, and through blogs and social media, the reach is nearly endless.”

Driving Sales

Online reviews have such a strong impact on potential customers because they come straight from the consumer, says Christine Oyama, assistant designer of Gratitude-Heart-Garden Florist and a florist on BloomNation. “In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven culture, everything’s available in the palm of your hand, and the fact that a consumer can find a review in minutes—that translates into a powerful thing for small businesses.” Oyama has found that online reviews drive sales in a big way. “We have great reviews online, and that’s given our customers and potential customers the confidence that they’ll receive a great service and product. We’ve found, for instance, that positive reviews from brides have helped with booking weddings.” Consumers increasingly look to reviewers when trying a new product, and reviews play a big role in the sales and overall awareness of a product, agrees Joanna Davis, publicity coordinator at ZinePak, which creates custom, interactive content for targeted super fans of music, movies, sports, events and brands. “Everything we do at ZinePak is designed to elevate the experience of super fans. What better way to do this than to partner with bloggers and reviewers who have an audience of the most dedicated fans? For one of our latest ZinePak releases, we partnered with some amazing bloggers who reached a ton of fans and even got the ZinePak in the hands of some of the cast members of Orange Is the New Black.” Online reviews are especially critical to building an e-commerce business, says Thomas Kelly, founder of the Chili Lab. “More than anything else, reviews have helped build our social media presence,” he says, “and stirred up a lot of conversation about our brand and products.”

Getting a Hand From Bloggers

If you’d like to start working with bloggers to obtain reviews of your products, Davis and Gordon suggest the following tips: 1. Do your homework to locate influential bloggers and reviewers in your product category. “While it’s ideal for the review to reach the greatest amount of people possible,” Davis says, “it’s more important for the review to reach the right people who’ll be genuinely engaged in the conversation about the product with people who’ve used it firsthand.” 2. Decide on your goals for the review, and be specific when you express them in your pitch. 3. Provide all necessary information, such as links to social media accounts and websites where the product can be bought, as well as any additional information that may be helpful to the reviewers and their audiences. 4. Be cooperative and accommodating, and try to build lasting relationships with the reviewers. They’ll likely be more valuable than you initially realize. 5. Be generous with product samples. Send only full-sized samples and products that best represent your business. Never ask reviewers to return products once they’ve been reviewed. And offer a second sample to be used as a promotional giveaway to the blogger’s readers. 6. Ensure that the product is a good match with the blog. Do your homework to make sure the blogger’s audience is the target audience you’re trying to reach. 7. Know that bloggers occasionally request payment in exchange for reviews. Decide in advance what you’re willing to do. 8. Remember to thank reviewers for their reviews. You want them to understand how much you appreciate the time they took to use and discuss your product. 9. If you get a bad review, don’t defend yourself and your product. If you feel the review may have some validity, try to understand what changes your product might need and make adjustments. Read more articles on marketing. Photo: iStockphoto

Have your social media posts become boring?

MAY 29, 2014 With the world continuing to change at an ever-increasing pace, small-business owners must be fast on their feet and able to respond to constant uncertainty. That often means being comfortable navigating an ambiguous course, which, for many business owners, is an extremely uncomfortable notion. “All small-business owners today must exhibit the ability to be comfortable with ambiguity,” says leadership coach Robert C. McMillan, author of The Next Gen Leader: Cutting Edge Strategies to Make You the Leader You Were Born to Be. “Embracing ambiguity is especially critical for your company’s chief security officer (CSO), whose role tends to evolve rapidly and requires an extraordinary ability to embrace an uncertain future.”

Areas of Ambiguity

What’s the most ambiguous area of business for many small-business owners? It’s technology, by far, says Patrick Stroh, a principal at Mercury Business Advisors and the author of Business Strategy: Plan, Execute, Win! “The changes in the area of technology continue to be exponential, and this is especially true when it comes to social media,” Stroh says. “Think how we’ve gone from annual client satisfaction surveys to daily customer input via social media.” Seems just when you figure out how to navigate a social media site and how to best market your business there, along comes a a new platform to learn and a new way of doing things. Product sourcing is another task that’s no longer cut and dried. Long gone are the days of automatically sourcing and procuring products and services from known entities across town. As Stroh says, “Anyone can go to China and get low-cost manufacturing done today. Likewise, just about anyone can put up a website and sell all over the world. Not too long ago, global options weren’t as accessible as they are now, and that shift in the landscape has created competitive ambiguity.” When the entire world is your oyster, it’s hard to know where to procure your products and even where to sell. And when you do decide where to buy your products and which target markets you’d like to sell them to, any initial uncertainties you may have had can linger. Gone also are the days of the traditional business model that consisted of a predictable status quo when it came to leadership, McMillan says. “Leadership is no longer hierarchical titles or control and command,” he explains. “Those are ‘old age,’ traditional definitions that, while once predictable and stable, are now virtually nonexistent. Instead, today’s small-business owners must evolve as swiftly as the business world and constantly changing market conditions, and that means as leaders, getting comfortable being uncomfortable.”

A Tool for Innovation

Not surprisingly, it’s the small-business owners who learn to navigate and even embrace ambiguity that are thriving in today’s constantly evolving business climate. “Every business owner needs to be comfortable with a fast-paced environment where they’ll have to make decisions with imperfect information to stay on top of, or even ahead of the game,” Stroh says. “If they wait for perfect information, they’ll be left behind. One of the main advantages of ambiguity is the fact that it pushes you to innovate and experiment.” Savvy small-business owners recognize that uncertainty is a friend, not a foe, agrees McMillan. “As small-business owners change with the times, these next generation leaders thrive because of ambiguity, because they know that it harbors clues as to what the future holds.” Small-business owners who can decipher the ambiguity code and transform it into a formula for success will excel in today’s business climate, McMillan asserts. And the good news is, he adds, “The higher the ambiguity, generally the greater the market opportunity.” So how can you make the most of ambiguity? Here are five things to take to heart: Accept that there’s only one certainty. Change is the only certainty in today’s business climate. When you take this fact to heart, you become more comfortable with the inevitable and are better able to confront each day’s changing landscape. Avoid over-controlling. While keeping things in line is definitely necessary, try not to micromanage every aspect of your business. That way, when ambiguity appears—as it always does—you won’t find yourself stressed out but instead, you’ll be prepared for the uncertainty. Know you’re in good company. The world’s best minds welcome ambiguity. Without uncertainty and the resulting questions, innovation and discovery would be impossible, and we wouldn’t have all the insightful inventions that we have now. Challenge conventional wisdom. If you’re doing something a certain way “just because” and there’s no clear-cut reason why, this should be your cue that the practice is most likely outdated and ineffective. Explore all the possibilities, then decide for yourself which route to take, realizing that you may come to a completely different conclusion next time. Manage your stress. No matter how open you are to ambiguity, uncertainty causes stress. It helps to strike a healthy work-life balance so you have the inner reserves to draw from when constant change throws you off balance. Read more articles on leadership. Photo: Getty Images

Have your social media posts become boring?

MAY 09, 2014To engage with customers and start conversations that can lead to business, there’s no doubt that social media is a key component. But connecting virtually can be a challenge, which is why Erin Cowley of Maceys Grocery Store, asked the OPEN Forum community for advice about her social media activity. “I’m worried about my social media posts becoming repetitive and boring,” Cowley says. “How do I keep the content I share new and interesting? I’ve been working for a brand new, small company as their online marketing/social media help and would love any advice on gaining and keeping interest in the company through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and/or Pinterest.”

Take Advantage of Available Resources

Just as there is a social media outlet for just about everything, there are corresponding tools to help keep your content fresh and current. “Try Google Trends and Most Emailed News,” suggests small-business strategist and entrepreneur coach Bennett Johnson, an OPEN Forum member, who owns Arete Business Methods. Johnson advises browsing what is trending and selecting, sharing and commenting on a few hot topics in order to connect to your target audience. “Write blog posts using those stories as examples,” he says. “Place the keywords of the news stories within your social media tags.” OPEN Forum member Timi Garai is a client marketing manager for Antavo Viral Contests. She recommends using Post Planner: “This resource has features that help you find the most engaging content on Facebook and offers creative ideas for posting, such as questions, text-based status updates, trending content from your niche and the most viral images and quotes,” Garai says.

Involve Your Customers

Starting conversations on social media with customers whenever possible is ideal. Collect materials from them, such as photos, videos and essays, that you can share later on your social media channels, Garai suggests. “Fans love to see their content again, so collect it and use it in posts.”

Observe the 80/20 Rule

In order to create enjoyable and engaging content, stay on the topic of your expert subject matter 80 percent of the time and let them know you are a real human the other 20 percent, says OPEN Forum member Wayne Cichanski, co-founder and managing partner of Digital Blitz SEO. “Some of the most viewed items we see are silly things that you would never guess people would view,” he says. Remember to keep it social by adding some fun content along the way that may not be directly related but matters to your local and online communities, agrees OPEN Forum member Gina Storr, social media manager and online business consultant for Cyber GMS. “For example, one of my clients caters to families, so I share articles about young people in the community.” For clients with content niches, Storr takes advantage of Google Alerts and the iPad app SkyGrid to get a stream of interesting content moving. She also uses Buffer to schedule posts, Facebook Insights to find the best times to post there, and tracks Twitter content on Tweetreach.

Educate

Those on social media will take the time to read and engage if they feel like you’re offering valuable information, says OPEN Forum member Russ Waddill, partner with Neos Marketing. “Subscribe to and regularly read items relevant to your customers that can educate them, even if it is not your original content,” he suggests. “There are a lot of really smart people you can learn from in the social media community. Use this information to help your customers learn something, and they will reward you.” OPEN Forum member Doug Bintzler, laboratory director of DNA Analysis, agrees. “Since my company is in a scientific field, I look for articles and research relevant to our business and post a summary with a link on both Twitter and Facebook.” He suggests looking for current issues that revolve around your small business and sharing them.

Understand the Various Platforms

Keep in mind that Facebook is a paid media platform, says Matt Plavoukos, head cook of BeBrite Diner. “You need to promote posts with Facebook to reach and engage. Google+ is critical to support good SEO, but your consumers may not be active, so while publishing content there is important, set your expectations accordingly. Pinterest is a great driver for e-commerce and retail.” Achieve even more impact and mix things up by sharing Instagram pictures with Twitter and Facebook, and do polls with Twitter, suggests OPEN Forum member Ryan Clark, founder of Luxury Branded, which helps luxury brands go viral. The wide variety of suggestions on creating engaging social media from the OPEN Forum community makes it clear that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Analyze your business and try these tactics, and you’re likely to see a marked increase in engaging social media posts and resulting business. Read more articles on social media. Photo: Getty Images

Does your business embrace conscious capitalism?

APRIL 25, 2014 For many small-business owners, the idea of making the world a better place while earning a profit holds a definite appeal. And if you can ensure that your customers and employees are happy while also leaving the world a better place and turning a profit, than you have hit the trifecta so many of today’s entrepreneurs strive for. We recently asked the OPEN Forum community about their views on conscious capitalism, and for those operating under this model to share their insights. For OPEN Forum community member Jeff Motter, CEO and chief marketing officer of East Bay Marketing Group, using the conscious capitalism approach is the only way to conduct business. “We operate under the conscious capitalism model every day,” Motter says. “Our employees all know why we exist and that our purpose is to serve others. We are aware that we can and do make differences in people’s lives and that people are important. Conscious capitalism is simply a matter of doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”

A Growing Trend

Communication coach Roshini Rajkumar of the Roshini Performance Group has found that the primary motivation for business has moved beyond the profit-at-all-costs model.

“Nearly every small-business owner with whom I work has a passion for making the world a better place,” Rajkumar says. “People really want their lives to mean something today, and conscious capitalism provides the platform for business owners to create something authentic that not only generates money but contributes to the greater good.”

“People like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have led the way in showing that doing things that are good for the community contribute to the bottom line as well. We started seeing a real move toward this type of business model in the ’90s with companies like Patagonia, and when CEOs talked about the social bottom line or the triple bottom line.”

Given the fact that this business model has been around for more than two decades, the younger generation of consumers and workers now coming of age generally demand that brands asking for their loyalty feature a philanthropic bent, Rajkumar says. “Millennials in particular want to see that a business contributes to the greater good and is grounded in a higher purpose.”

Fundamentals of Conscious Capitalism

If you want to make the world a better place, it helps to understand what consciousness means. “Being conscious is not an esoteric excuse for not earning profits,” Motter says. “Business leaders have a responsibility to stakeholders to earn a good profit, because profits are the lifeblood of a successful company. Without profits, a company is unable to serve.”

Profits alone are not the end result with the conscious capitalism model, though. “It’s what profits enable businesses to do that really matters,” Motter adds. “Successful companies can have greater impact on people’s lives and conscious companies are able to make meaningful differences every day. This is accomplished by realizing that everyone is important and should benefit—from customers to employees to vendors.”

Conscious business means ensuring that workers are well paid and, as a result, motivated, providing customers with valuable and superior goods and services, and treating vendors with respect. “Companies that treat their vendors as long-term partners develop relationships that are based on trust and an understanding that both sides must receive value from the relationship,” Motter explains. “With this approach, everyone wins.”

Benefits of This Business Model

When you embrace the conscious capitalism model, the benefits of doing so are exponential.

Organizations that have a strong, authentic purpose thrive, says Rajkumar. “People can get behind the company, from the employees to the stakeholders to the consumers,” she says. “The conscious capitalism movement really puts those ideas of social responsibility that have always been around into a framework that even the smallest business can adopt. But it’s not enough to just do it. You have to communicate it as well.”

Doing good socially is really good for business, because at the end of the day there will be more profits, Motter adds. “Conscious companies earn profits and are better able to attract capital when needed, and oftentimes at better rates. Investors trust them and are willing to fund their growth. Conscious capitalism actually reduces challenges by creating clarity and purpose for everyone. There’s no confusion about whether we should earn a better profit or serve our clients, vendors, employees and our communities better. The answer is always yes to both.”

Read more articles on company culture.

Photo: Thinkstock

Keep your business afloat during a crisis

APRIL 17, 2014 Small-business owners aren’t immune to life’s ups and downs. A sudden health diagnosis, a divorce or an unforeseen financial stress can make an entrepreneur feel isolated and desperate. When a small-business owner comes to such a critical crossroads, the decisions made can have profound and lasting effects on the company. “There is almost always hope for business owners—even when they think there is nothing left to do,” says David Wimer, co-author of INSIGHT: Business Advice in an Age of Complexity, which addresses this topic. “Owners need to know there are many options for obtaining advice and assistance and how to prevent crisis situations from occurring when at all possible.”

Inevitable Crises

There is no doubt that problems will arise, and given the fact that the small-business owner is in charge of so many critical pieces of the company, it can be a stressful time. “A lot can go wrong,” says Wimer, who is also founder and managing principal of David Wimer Advisors. He works with privately held, family businesses to navigate business transitions and prevent financial crisis.“Many owners casually accept the risks of business ownership while discounting the potential impacts of those risks, such as loss of intellectual property, loss of customer relationships, loss of legacy information, loss of entrepreneurial spirit, loss of business value, loss of cash flow, and even more,” he says. “Whether any of these problems become crises is usually within the control of the business owner.”

Be Prepared

The surest way to weather a setback is to anticipate potential disaster before it has a chance to strike. “When key executives and managers know exactly what to do if you’re not there, they can respond accordingly, and knowing there is a plan in place is comforting,” Wimer says. “Planning helps to keep everyone oriented, especially when they are emotionally stressed. Otherwise, the situation becomes highly reactive and hyper-stressful.” Not having a preparedness plan in place could even mean losing your business, says Wimer, who tells the story of a business owner who appeared to be in perfect health and elected not to take out a key man life insurance policy suggested by his financial advisors. “A year later, he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, ” he says. “His wife and son were active in his thriving five-year-old home health-care business, but because he didn’t have a plan in place, they lost their option to run it, so the company had to be sold while he was undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. Had the owner elected to secure the insurance, there would have been the funds to hire in a key executive to run the business while the owner recovered.”

Share the Burden

Seek help from trusted advisors during a crisis. While this may take some humility and courage, discussing the problem and getting it out in the open is critical. “Avoid denying there is an issue, and don’t convince yourself you can solve your problems better than others who can be objective,” Wimer warns. “Relay your troubles to those who have been in a scrape or two themselves and can provide you with viable options. And whatever you do, don’t go it alone or wallow in pity.”

Respond Positively

By their very nature, crises are negative, says Karen Zeigler, a life strategist for women in leadership, who provides business coaching and is author of Freedom from Worry: Prayer of Peace for an Anxious Mind. “Avoid letting your mind go totally negative, because the negativity will permeate every area of your life, including your health,” she says. “Respond in positive and empowering ways by celebrating the good in your life, as well as the lessons learned and opportunities that inevitably result from a crisis.”

Reconnect Spiritually

Life gets busy, and when things are going well, we tend to run past those activities that fill our spirit and bring us peace, Zeigler says. “Often it isn’t until the shock of a crisis hits that we realize we have lost sight of those things. It is often the anxiety of the crisis that drives people to their knees. Reconnecting spiritually helps get you back on your feet. You can do this by spending time alone in nature, in prayer, journaling and meditation.”

Reinvent if Necessary

If circumstances occur that slow down or stop business, such as a financial downturn, consider reinventing your business and yourself, Zeigler suggests. “If the money is no longer coming in, look to see where it’s going, and then consider changing gears so that you are in the right market.” “Crises tend to shake things up, and almost always there is some portion of your business that needs a shaking,” she adds. “Take this opportunity to make sure your business comes out not only having survived the crisis but better because of it.” Read more articles on leadership. Photo: Getty Images

4 ways to make your home page sticky

APRIL 15, 2014 Running a website means you’ve got to keep your eye on a variety of elements, including attracting as many visitors as possible. But having a lot of hits doesn’t mean much if your bounce rate—the percentage of visitors who only visited your home page before leaving your site—is high. Enticing visitors to stay around can be challenging, but it’s key to website success, notes OPEN Forum community member Jackson Powell, a graphic designer and website applications developer and designer with Little Red Truck Idea Co.

“We all spend hours agonizing about how our website does at converting sales, attracting customers and other aspects, but oftentimes, we lose sight of one key element—how long are people staying on our website?” Powell says. “As you keep guests on the site longer and have key features they are attracted to, you’re more likely to gain repeat visits and referrals, as well as sales.” Powell recently asked the OPEN Forum community: “In your experience, what is the stickiest feature of your website? What are the key elements on your site that draw people in and that people would refer others to use or look at?”

Simple Navigation

Not surprisingly, users want an easy ride when it comes to navigating websites, says OPEN Forum community member Jonathan Devine, a user interface designer with KeepVault Online Backup. “In our testing, users simply follow the path of least resistance. So as long as it’s above the fold, it doesn’t matter where it is. If it’s big, loud and easy, people will click on it. Hence why our current site has a one-step trial sign-up right on top of our hero image.” Surprisingly, Devine feels that too much time spent on a site can indicate a website’s ineffectiveness. “Many of our users who spend a lot of time on the site are doing so because they’re having difficulty finding what they’re looking for,” he says. “We try to figure out what they want and streamline their experience.”

Clear Calls to Action

If potential customers arrive at your home page and are confused about what you do, this uncomfortable feeling will result in their bouncing right off your site. While it might seem like you’re hitting them over the head too hard by explaining what you do, you want to make it crystal clear exactly what products and/or services your company provides. A website’s home page is no place to use clever phrases and images that don’t clearly relate your purpose. Your aim is to ensure your visitors that they’ve landed in just the right place, which means immediately and clearly spelling out what you do and how your products and services can help them.

Free Useful Resources

Free stuff keeps visitors engaged and coming back for more, especially if the information you’re offering helps them improve their businesses or lives. OPEN Forum community member Meredith Wood is director of community relations for Funding Gates. She says that her company’s free tools and templates make for an especially sticky website experience. “We are a collection software, so we provide financial calculators, letter templates, etc.,” Wood says . “Doing this gets people coming back to our site all the time [and] allows us to capture leads and helps prove our thought leadership.” Offering visitors trial versions and sample products builds trust and bolsters your brand name. A willingness to show visitors what you have to offer proves your credibility and the quality of your products, which often leads to sales.

Engaging Blog

Well-written blog posts that cover topics of interest to your visitors provide one of the best ways to increase the stickiness of your website, says OPEN Forum community member Torrey Gage, co-owner and executive vice president of Think Big Go Local. “Our company blog receives a majority of our traffic and has the lowest bounce rate of any of our pages,” he says. “The average visit length on the blog is four times the rest of our pages.” Jason Reis, owner and lead programmer for Flehx Corp, agrees. “On our sister sites, we have a blog, and the blog [generates] the longest time spent on a page by our visitors,” he says. According to Reis, blogs allow customers to develop personal connections with your products and services. “Customers get a better glimpse into your company culture and learn about any upcoming features or local events in which your business is involved,” Reis says. “Help them form such a relationship with your company via a blog, and you’ll find your site being visited frequently by both new and existing customers.”

High Conversion Rate

Most small-business owners would agree that when all is said and done, stickiness should result in sales. “Ease of purchase is key,” says Josh Sprague, CEO of Orange Mud LLC. “Time on your site is great, but noting your conversion rate from it is obviously critical.” Keeping customers on your site longer will help them get to know you and what you do, and help turn looky-loos into shoppers. Try adding a few sticky features to your site to encourage people to “come in and stay awhile.” Read more articles on design and development. Photo: iStockphoto

7 steps to a successful rebrand

APRIL 09, 2014 When Frances Moreno noticed that her company seemed to be getting lost in the shuffle of the vast and competitive Southern California staffing industry, the founder and managing partner of Vaco Los Angeles decided to rebrand and make her company stand out.

“Since rebranding, our company now resonates with our customers and prospects, as well as our candidates and the consultants we place,” Moreno says. “We’ve experienced growth in our revenue and customer base, attracted attention and even won a wide range of awards.”

What Is a Brand?

Before you embark on a rebrand, it’s important to understand what constitutes branding, says Tara Stoutenborough, principal at Strategies, a marketing communications corporation with 30 years of experience in brand development, positioning, messaging and content creation. “Branding is not a company name, logo, tagline or the newest marketing campaign,” Stoutenborough says. “A brand is a company’s or product’s identity, and to understand what that means you must go to the customers and prospective customers of the company or product and ask them what they think, feel and expect when they see the company or product, because those thoughts, feelings and expectations are the brand. A company does not own its brand—its customers and prospects do.”

Time to Rebrand?

Just because it’s been X number of years since you’ve rebranded doesn’t mean it’s time to rebrand, says Chris Wechner, director of marketing for The Ultimate Analyst, an online marketing company that generates leads for emergency-based businesses. “Before rebranding, analyze if you’re failing to reach your target market and why. Is your target market ignoring you or unaware of what you’re offering? In that case, you may have a perception problem, and rebranding can help.” Don’t fix what’s not broken, adds Steve Blue, CEO of Miller Ingenuity, a 60-year-old company that successfully implemented a corporate rebranding effort. He points to Coca-Cola’s attempt to rebrand with “New Coke” in 1985. “The public was outraged and let Coca-Cola know they wanted their old Coke, so the company responded within a few months and brought back ‘Classic Coke.’“

Steps to Rebranding

1. Influence and shape the brand with a series of brand promises.

In order to arrive at those promises, Stoutenborough suggests gathering key employees who have contact with customers in any way and ask the following questions:

What qualities and characteristics do you want people to think of when they hear your name or see your product?
What feelings do you want them to have?
What do you want them to expect?
Can you support all those ideas in fact? If not, what do you have to do to make it true?
What can you honestly say sets you apart? Look at everything.

“Discover what your company stands for first, before you decide on a brand,” Blue adds. “If you don’t like what you stand for, change that first.”

2. Obtain customer feedback.

“Use whatever means you have—phone calls, online surveys, an email survey, your blog—to ask your customers and prospects what they think, feel and expect when they see your name or products,” Stoutenborough says. “Doing this will help you get a feel for how uphill your job at instilling your brand promises will be.”

3. Find out what’s not working.

“Identify the part of your brand that’s failing to connect to your target market,” Wechner suggests. “You aren’t going to know what you really need to change until you figure out what is failing to connect the target market you covet so much with the brand you want them to notice emotionally.”

4. Develop your story.

“Your brand’s look, feel and message should tell one story, and that story should be heroic and memorable,” Blue says. “Consider what is at stake for customers in terms of their problems and how you solve those for them. The story should be one that your employees and your customers can get behind, believe in and admire.”

5. Permeate all your company communications with the new brand.

That includes website, social media, sales tools and signage. Make certain that every employee understands them and can communicate them effectively.

6. Never stop supporting and promoting your brand.

Successful brands are a living presence in the marketplace with a tangible, ongoing relationship with customers, Blue says. “It’s easy to support a brand in boom times, but much tougher in down times; however, study after study shows that brands consistently supported during a down cycle gain the greatest sales and market share when the economy turns up.”

7. Be consistent and persistent.

“Don’t decide you’re rebranding yourself today, but next week refer to things that point to your old brand,” Wechner says. “Commit to building your rebrand. If you’re rebranding for the right reasons, don’t second-guess yourself. Become that new brand, and eventually people will follow.” Stoutenborough agrees. “Once you have established who and what you want to be, do not change it except for tweaks and slight adjustments. It takes 10 to 12 ‘touches’ for a customer to even notice you. Keep going long after you think everyone must have seen the new brand. Trust me—they haven’t.” Read more articles on marketing. Photo: Getty Images

How to start developing a successful app today

APRIL 08, 2014 If you look at the many new apps coming out and think to yourself, “We could do that,” it might be time to take the plunge. Apps are becoming a vital part of how businesses deliver goods and services to consumers, and that’s a trend that promises to continue. “Apps are an increasingly essential part of smart business marketing. They provide small businesses with a way to engage customers beyond the corporate website or blog,” says mobile marketing expert Scott Hirsch, founder and CEO of Appsbar, a cost-free tool for developing professional and personalized apps. By 2017, apps will earn more than $77 billion and be downloaded more than 268 billion times, according to Gartner, an information technology research and advisory company. Considering a sizable chunk of those downloads are likely to be driven by entrepreneurs, it makes sense to consider creating your own app. But, where to start?

Is There Demand for Your App?

Whether you develop an app to sell or to drive traffic to your business, your first course of action is determining if there is a demand for your app. “Speak with your customers and trusted associates and visit online marketplaces to determine if there is an existing app like what you have in mind,” Hirsch says. “If you find a similar app, note the following: how many downloads it has, how people use the app, and what they say about it in the comments. Are there any pitfalls or gaps in the existing apps that can be exploited? Take all these cues and more into consideration when determining whether you should pursue the development of your app.” Considering the many excellent apps already available on the market, it’s important to come up with an idea that stands out from the rest, agrees Marjon Wemerman, PR and marketing manager for Anita Maternity. The company’s MUM2B Anita Maternity App, on iOS and Android, contains a diary where expectant moms can add text and pictures during their pregnancy and save and share them on social media. Women also receive weekly tips during the 40 weeks of gestation and for 10 weeks after the baby’s birth. “There are many pregnancy apps that focus on the baby, so we developed an app that caters to pregnant women and helping them through pregnancy,” Wemerman says.

iOS or Android?

Choosing a mobile operating system will most likely be your first step in building an app. “What’s important to think about is who your audience is,” Hirsch says. “When you check your Web analytics, are there more visitors from Android or iOS devices? Talk to your customers. What are some of their favorite apps and why? Once you do some of your own market research, you’ll feel more comfortable making this important decision.” You may also find that it makes sense to make your app available on both platforms.

Free or Paid?

Although it depends on your marketing budget, Hirsch suggests offering your app for free if at all possible. “There are plenty of avenues for monetizing your app, like in-app purchases and iAds/AdMob,” he says. “The most important element when launching your app will be engagement, and if you’re working with a limited marketing budget, it will be easier to engage users with a free app.”

How Should You Market Your App?

It’s not enough to simply create your app and make it available in the marketplace, says Balaji Sriraghavan, director of project development at RJT Compuquest. He has developed more than 80 apps for clients, as well as himself. “You must promote your app, or no one will know that it exists.” Keep your finger on the pulse of how your app is being used and what your customers are saying about it. Respond to their comments and tweak the app as necessary. “An app is just like any other marketing tool,” Wemerman says. “The creation of the app itself doesn’t increase product sales or exposure. You have to tell the audience that it’s there. Once they start to use it, it can be a great help to increase your brand name.”

Play by the Rules

Though it’s tempting, stacking the deck in your favor and making your app appear more popular than it truly is can have profoundly negative consequences. “Never attempt to break Apple or Android’s rules and pay for downloads to inflate your numbers,” Hirsch warns. “This could lead to any number of damaging outcomes that do long-term harm to your brand’s reputation, including getting your app yanked from the marketplace.” Follow the rules and respond to the needs of the market, and you’ll soon find yourself telling customers those six magic words: “We have an app for that.” Read more articles on technology for small business. Photo: Thinkstock

4 common tax mistakes small businesses make

MARCH 28, 2014With the myriad responsibilities that come with running a company, it’s not surprising that business taxes aren’t at the top of the list for many small-business owners. As a result, some tax requirements get overlooked—resulting in nasty, often costly surprises. Avoid making common tax mistakes and suffering the consequences by keeping the following expert tax advice in mind.

Understand All the Tax Authorities You Owe

When you’re new to business, the sheer number of taxing authorities and the resulting time and expense can be overwhelming, but it’s important to educate yourself about what’s required, says Janet Lee Krochman, CPA, whose firm works with small businesses on tax planning and compliance. “Besides the obvious IRS and related state agency, there are sales taxes, property taxes, payroll taxes, local taxes, excise taxes, self-employment taxes and other specialty taxes.” It’s not uncommon to be stunned by the many different types of taxes that must be paid, especially if you have employees, agrees Jessie Seaman, a licensed tax professional and senior associate staff attorney at Tax Defense Network. “In addition to IRS taxing requirements like unemployment, each state, county, locality and district has its own filing and paying requirements,” Seaman says. “In just one year, a small business with three employees could end up with more than 10 to 30 tax returns that need to be filed with federal and state revenue agencies.” The many tax returns also tend to be complicated, which often means that when small-business owners without a tax background go DIY to keep costs low, errors occur, which can cost hundreds or thousands in penalties and interest for errors, Seaman says.

Don’t Ignore Self-Employment Taxes

Self-employment taxes and the estimated tax payments that come with them are often overlooked, Krochman says. Generally, you must pay self-employment tax if you net more than $400 from your business, and most of that money earned is subject to self-employment tax. “For a non-corporate business, the amount of self-employment taxes can double the overall impact of taxes on the income of the individual owner[s],” Krochman says. “You must also make quarterly estimated tax payments in order to avoid tax penalties and interest.” Making estimated tax payments also prevents you from having a walloping tax bill come April, says Robert Skrob, a CPA who specializes in customer generation through associations. “It’s best to pay the government throughout the year, or to save the money,” he says.

Outsource Your Payroll

One area of small-business taxes that’s especially complicated and potentially costly when you make a mistake is payroll. “Having employees is a huge responsibility that comes with many filing and tax-payment requirements and hefty penalties even when you are just a day late or have paid the incorrect amount,” Seaman warns. “It doesn’t take long for a new business to go belly up because payroll taxes were not properly paid. Even if you choose a corporate structure or LLC for the personal liability protection, this is not a blanket safety net; the IRS can hold officers liable for nonpayment of payroll taxes. Hire a payroll company. The fee is nominal for the benefit, and they are experts.” It’s also more secure for your company to get the payroll function out of the office and into the hands of a professional payroll company, Skrob notes. “Payroll checks and payroll tax returns are a common way for bookkeepers to defraud their employers,” he says.

Keep Your Records Up to Date

Tax time will go smoothly if you keep your annual accounting up-to-date, Krochman says. “No small-business owner wants to spend the time to recap an entire year’s worth of receipts, checks, credit card payments, etc.,” she says. “The project can become overwhelming and is usually done in a panic, which means items are missed and the stress level is higher than it needs to be.” By taking a half hour a week to enter transactions, tax time runs more smoothly and estimated taxes can be quickly and easily calculated. If you require financials for a bank loan or insurance coverage, the numbers will also be at your fingertips. Keeping your financial records up-to-date also helps you monitor the progress of your business, Seaman adds. “Many small-business owners do an annual accounting to prepare their tax returns, but that doesn’t enable them to know how much money they’re making throughout the year. In order to maximize profits, you need to have a clear idea of how the revenue is being spent and what can be cut back,” Seaman says. “There’s always time to increase net profits—having your financial records up-to-date makes that possible.” Read more articles on small business taxes. Photo: Getty Images

What’s the biggest obstacle for small businesses?

MARCH 21, 2014In many ways, the moniker small business is a misnomer. When you consider that the average entrepreneur takes on the tasks that a big business parcels out to hundreds if not thousands of employees, a small business doesn’t feel so small. As your own boss, you’re tasked with completing a wide assortment of duties required to keep your company thriving, from purchasing and finances to research and development and marketing. Considering the weighty responsibilities inherent in running your own business, we recently asked some small-business owners the following question: What’s the biggest obstacle for small businesses in their communities? Is it support from local governments? Big-box competition? And how can small businesses work better with their local government and get more support? The consensus is that big-box competition is a real threat to the small-business owner, but the good news is that what makes the small-business owner unique is what makes winning the big-box battle possible. Working with local government can also have a positive impact on the big-box threat.

Competing with the Big Guys

Behemoth retailers with their ability to monopolize distribution channels, spend more on marketing than you make in a year, offer loss leaders at will and enjoy volume discounts do make it hard for the small business to thrive, especially when the business is a startup, says Sam Androus, owner and CEO of Love+Grace, a lounge-wear brand that launched its first collection last September.

“Big box competition can be a real problem when you’re first starting out, because as a new brand it takes some time to be recognized and accepted in the marketplace,” Androus says. The good news is that a small business is the antithesis of a big-box company, says Mike Escobedo, owner and publisher of The Old Towne Orange Plaza Review, a regional publication he founded in 2001 that focuses on a historic district in Southern California that contains a high concentration of small businesses. “Small businesses are everything that big businesses aren’t,” Escobedo says. “Generally, when you shop in a big-box store, you’re lucky to find help, and when you do and ask where something is, the employee often doesn’t even know if the store has the item or what shelf it’s on. Chances are the product may also be inferior. Go into a small retailer, however, and you can enjoy speedy, personalized service and most likely better products.”

Relationships Matter

Escobedo and other small-business owners feel that the key to keeping a small business thriving is relationships. “I’ve watched many businesses over the years, and those that survive are the ones where the owners and employees develop relationships with customers,” he says. “The business owners share their insights on products and perhaps most importantly, their passion, which is contagious and builds loyal customers.” Relationships are paramount, agrees Karen Yankovich, a business coach and social media marketing expert. “Developing a bond with customers is critical in this big-box age, especially when customers are using services like Groupon. Small-business owners must engage customers, or those customers will quickly jump on the big-box bandwagon to shop price without even a glance back.”

Making Local Government Work for You

Take the idea of relationships to the next level and use those skills to help make local government work for you as well. “In my experience, the small businesses that get the most support from the local government are the ones that reach out and become a staple in the community,” Yankovich says. “Join the Chamber of Commerce. Be a fixture at community events. Local governments do try to support their businesses, but it’s not monetary support, it’s PR support. If small businesses want more support from local government, it needs to be a team effort.” You can’t just take from local government, Escobedo agrees. “Make an investment in your local community, which is bound to positively affect your business,” he says. “Volunteer to work on events or serve on local boards, which will get you out in the community networking and building valuable customer relationships.” Read more articles on leadership. Photos: iStockphoto, Love+Grace

Portfolio Categories: AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS TRENDS AND INSIGHTS

1. Accepting

2. Humble

3. Willing to Seek Assistance

4. Able to Solve Problems

5. Realistic

6. Spontaneous

7. Independent

8. Grateful

Big Advertising Profits Expected

How to Take Advantage of Instagram Ads

Photo: iStock

1. Be Proactive

2. Follow Industry Compliance and Rules

3. Purchase Data Breach Insurance

4. Opt for Cloud Services

5. Don’t Forget the Human Element

Photo: iStock

Good Reasons to Try Mobile Advertising

Businesses That Should Consider Mobile Advertising

Tips for Effective Mobile Advertising

Don’t Wait

Photo: iStock

1. Be Clear About Your Expectations

2. Minimize Stress When Longer Workweeks Are Necessary

3. Be Fair and Appreciative

Photos: iStock

Direct Message Anyone on Twitter

Retweet With a Comment

Ban on Tweets that Promote Violence

From Recruiter to Shop Owner

Hang Out at the Cash Register

Make it Personal Online

It Takes a Village to Build a Small Business

Be Real

Breathe Naturally

Display Effective Eye Contact

Be Strategic With Your Chin

Lean in to Show Interest

Exude Expertise With Your Arms and Stance

Smile

1. Look to online reviews.

2. Hire with attitude in mind.

3. Offer customers multiple ways to get in touch.

4. Lose your inferiority complex.

5. Stay pleasant.

6. Make it easy and simple to do business with you.

7. Recreate in-store attention online.

8. Limit your offerings.

9. Be truly active on social media.

10. Learn from every customer service opportunity.

Early Interest in Entrepreneurship

Desire to Control Their Destiny

Willingness to Venture Into the Unknown

Ability to Face Reality

Sticking to Their Vision

1. Positive Workforce Climate

2. Clearly Defined Market

3. Adherence to Values and Objectives

4. Ability to Scale

5. Expert Status

Building a healthy client list can seem like an overwhelming task. Try these 7 steps to attract new customers.

1. Identify Your Ideal Client

2. Discover Where Your Customer Lives

3. Know Your Business Inside and Out

4. Position Yourself as the Answer

5. Try Direct Response Marketing

6. Build Partnerships

7. Follow Up

Opt for Email

When Phone Calls Matter

Try Instructional Videos

Aim for Excellence

Make Working With You Easy

Increase Your Capacity for Empathy

Have A Trustworthy Online Presence

Make It Reciprocal

Have Patience

Maintain The Relationship

Welcome to the New Marketing Model