Small Business Information

Small Business Success: Thriving During Change (And Landing On Your Feet!)

If I had $1.00 every time I heard someone say ? I don?t like change or, change makes me uncomfortable? I?d be a millionaire. Some people thrive on change ? they love it and even create more of it. Others view change with anxiety and resistance. So often, we don?t associate potential, excitement and wonder with change. Instead, we react to it; we try to control it; we create situations and problems to avoid dealing with it. We experience change daily in many forms ? the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the conversations we have, traffic patterns, the WEATHER.

Small Business Marketing Secrets: Look Like Sizzle, Be The Steak

You've heard marketing and advertising gurus quip, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak." Advertising initiatives best reach their target audience with benefits and the "wow" effect, not the value or features of their product or service. This may work well to get customers in the door. But once they're in, you better have some substance. How can you ensure you uphold the integrity of your business and still maintain the "Wow Effect"? It just takes well executed strategic steps for business AND personal development:

6 Ways Small Businesses Can Survive In A Crazy Economy

Contrary to popular belief, small businesses can survive a crazy economy by taking some proactive steps. Provide spectacular customer service -- every time. Have a friend or colleague visit your business and provide feedback from a customer?s perspective. This person should be unknown by your staff and willing to provide a candid assessment. Make sure your front and back office work like a well-oiled machine. Are the front line and the back office telling your customers the same thing? Manage your customer relationships -- return customers take the least amount of effort -- use that to your advantage. Keep in touch often. Review your strategic plan monthly (weekly is even better). Make sure you?re doing the things that will get you where you want to go. Adjust your strategic plan as necessary. Your "smallness" makes you more flexible. Communicate, communicate, communicate -- with your employees and your customers. Nurture those relationships. Ask for feedback often.

Local Search and Internet Yellow Pages - A Whole NewVocabulary for Small Businesss

Buyers want both online and local information about where to buy Most small businesses are local in nature, serving people who live nearby. Their customers found them through traditional methods like the Yellow Pages or newspaper ads. So far, the Internet hasn't figured prominently in their marketing efforts. That's about to change, as Local Search methods become more widespread. Even for buyers expecting to spend their money close to home, more and more of them go to the Internet to locate desired products and services. They rely on search engines to find suitable vendors in the fastest, easiest way. Local Search combines the search query word or phrase with specific geographic terms, like city or zip code. That way, search results only include enterprises in that local area. Instead of information about a small enterprise being lost among millions of pages of search results, it shows up in a small pool of local providers. That's good for them, as well as the person looking for what they provide. Small operations can easily be located by a whole new group of buyers Consumers don't simply go to the Yellow Pages when ready to buy - as they once did. Studies show that an astonishing 36% of online searches are conducted to find local businesses. About a quarter of all Internet users already conduct local searches. They'd do even more of it, if the desired small business data were more complete. Local enterprises need to prepare for the impact of changing customer habits. An easy first step is to include your business in Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), along with the printed Yellow Page directory. That puts your enterprise on the radar screen. Learn how your business can make the most of Local Search by visiting http://www.yellowpagesage.com. You'll find reliable advice from experts in Yellow Pages and Local Search so you can get more mileage from your promotional dollars. Start by getting comfortable with search concepts, and improve your odds of being found when people search online for what you offer. You don't even need your own Web site to benefit from Internet Yellow Pages and Local Search. Learn the Relevant Terms Search Engine - method for locating the information available on the Internet; a program that searches Web pages for requested keywords, then returns a list of documents where the query terms were found Google and Yahoo, the major general search engines, have both shifted gears to make Local Search a priority when delivering relevant results. Spider (also called "crawler" or "bot") - goes to every page on every Web site and reads the information so it can be available to searchers; to "crawl" a site it collects and indexes information from it Specialized Search Engines - narrow focus of information crawled and indexed, like medical, business, or shopping sites Keywords - word or phrases used by search engines to locate relevant Web pages; words chosen to improve a site's search engine placement and ranking Search Query - search request, which the search engine compares to the spidered entries, then returns results to the searcher Search Results - compiled list of Web pages that a search engine delivers in response to a query; the number of items returned is usually overwhelming (in the millions), so searchers only bother to view results on the first pages Relevant Results - the test of a good search is whether the results obtained relate to what the person wanted to find, without a lot of irrelevant links Local Search - combining a geographic term in a search query to locate suitable providers in a specific area Pay per Click (PPC) - method of building traffic whereby site owners bid on search terms (keywords) that link to their site Geographic Terms - specific information about the local area that can be included in a local search: zip code, town, county, geographic region, state Top Ranking - sites shown on the first page(s) of search results Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - fine-tuning keywords and page content so the Web site rates high in search engine results Tags and Titles (on Web Pages) - provide site keywords and information to search engine spiders for indexing a site Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) - directory of business phone numbers and locations in a geographic area, organized by category; searchable data base accessed on the Internet Make your business easy for searchers to find The public is embracing the convenience of searching on the Internet to find information about local businesses. However, their searches for desired information are compromised because so many local enterprises don't show up in the databases as yet. Those that do have an edge in their local market. Climb aboard! Make sure searchers can find you. For little or no money, you can expose your enterprise to the whole world. Whether or not your business has a Web site, you need to provide the information people are looking for in the places that they look for it. Local Search and Internet Yellow Pages open new avenues to buyers ready to spend. Best of all, they support and compliment your traditional methods of finding new business. So you cover all your bases. (c)2004, Lynella Grant

Why Do Most Online Small Businesses Fail?

Search Engines account for almost 90% of all web traffic!

Three Big Barriers To Small Business Marketing Success

When you feel like you?re always busy working on your business, but not getting where you want to go, it can be frustrating trying to figure out how to get your marketing on track. It can easily become a ?not seeing the forest for the trees? feeling.

Women and Small Business

In the book Women and Small Business author gives all the guidelines and tools need to start, operate and succeed in a business of their own. In the mentioned book she tried in the fist part to explain how has changed the role of women in the world along centuries. In the second part she researched all neccesary abbilities of women who like to start up their own business,make differences among women and men owners and gave advices to them.Additionaly, she made some very important questions which need answers for all prospective owners,as following:

Organizing Tips for Small Business Success

If you discovered the bottom line in your business depended on the organization in your office, your reaction could range from complete composure to sheer terror. Organization certainly has an effect on your bottom line ? and just as significantly ? on your peace of mind. For the small business or home office professional, effective organizing can mean the difference between business failure and success. For the 11.1 million workers who have their offices at home, organization skills can have a significant impact on their personal lives as well.

Small Business Marketing: Specialize or Generalize?

There have been many great points raised on both sides of this discussion. In order to make a final decision, we must look at how the business world is moving and at the purchasing patterns of the consumers who will be utilizing your services.

Small Business Survival Tips

No matter what kind of small business you have, you need read these "small business survival tips" which will help you to succeed.

Dig Deep for Small Business Ideas Before You Start the Wrong Business

If you're serious about wanting to start a business, the first thing you want to do is take the time to understand what really makes you tick. Where do you get your drive? What gets you in a "zone?"

How Small Business And Nonprofits Can Afford Multimedia For The Web

Multimedia is everywhere on the Internet, whether in the form of floating ads at major websites, streaming video or animated presentations. Of course, there is a good reason why multimedia has become such an integral part of the web experience: it?s an effective tool for capturing attention or provoking visitors to buy or contact the site owner. For these reasons, many educational institutions, businesses, and other organizations desire multimedia presentations. Unfortunately, at first glance multimedia, often appears prohibitively expensive for small businesses and non-profits. The following represent a number of ways to control the high cost that typically accompanies multimedia production without losing quality. We believe these suggestions will ensure that you save money but still feel good about your investment.

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