Getting Your New Business Funded

We have a new article that provides tips on how you can increase the chances of getting financing for your business. Getting capital for any new business is always a difficult challenge, more so if you have no adequate credit history or your credit is poor.

Written by the author of the new book Zero to One Million, Ryan Allis, CEO of iContact, offers some very practical suggestions on what you need to do in order to secure financing your business -- e.g. how choosing the right legal entity can increase your chances of getting approved for funding requests; or how getting SBA guarantees can increase your chances of getting a bank loan

Read the article "Getting Your New Business Funded"

Public Relation (PR) Tools for Your Business

When you think of public relations, the first thing that comes to mind is a press release. A press release is, and will always remain to be an important tool for reaching the media and getting the word out about your business.

But there are other ways to tap the media, and here are some strategies you can use for your business:

• Bullet articles = readers and editors love articles with numbered tips -- e.g. 10 Ways to Save on Taxes; 6 Steps to Losing 10 Pounds; or 81 Tips to Market Your Business on the Web. Editors love this type of article because they can easily be used, especially if a space needs to be filled up quick. However, the articles should really be useful and not a veiled advertisement about your business.
  
• Market Studies = one type of press release that never fails to get a lot of usage from the media are results of quantitative or qualitative surveys. Editors as well as bloggers (myself included) love publishing survey results because of the unique perspective and information they provide. Think of your market and what would others find interesting. Then come up with a possible survey. You can enlist the help of market research professionals or use do-it-yourself tools such as SurveyMonkey.com.
  
• Talk radio = Radio shows are always searching for interesting guests. If you have an expertise that you can share, and you can speak well (no long pauses or aaahhhs punctuating every sentence), radio shows can be a great tool to reach a wide variety of audiences. For detailed tips on how to use talk radio, read the article "Using Talk Radio To Market Your Small and Home-Based Business"
  
• Article Reprints = If you or your business has been previously featured in a print publication, make sure you get reprints of that article. Not only can you use it to include in your press kits, but you can send those reprints to editors of other publications to see if they would be interested to feature your products or service, or about your success.

Learning from Big Boys

PowerHomeBiz.com has a new blog called "Learning from Big Boys" at http://www.learningfrombigboys.com/ .

This new blog focuses on what small and home-based entrepreneurs can learn from big businesses -- both the great things that make them successful, as well as the mistakes that make them stumble (yes, they make lots of mistakes, too!). Big businesses may need 100,000 employees to run their business, but the process that a 1-person business owner goes through remains the same: determine the needs of the market, provide the product or service that market needs, and reach that market (albeit using simplier operations and processes).

There are so many things we can learn from how other companies operate their businesses-- from finding opportunities in the marketplace, using innovative strategies to tap online users, developing products or raising capital for their businesses. This new blog will distill those lessons.

Please check out our new blog Learning from Big Boys. Comments and suggestions for topics are most welcome.

How to Market a Graphic Design Business

One of my closest friends is a freelance graphic artist. She specializes in designing book covers, and has designed the covers of several publications. But right now, she is branching out to web design given the myriad opportunities of the Web.

Seeing her navigate the difficulties of self employment gave me some perspective that I am able to share with a subscriber who asked how she can find clients for a graphic design startup. Sheryl used our Consult Your Guides free service to post her question on how she can market and promote her new graphic design business in Atlanta.

Read the tips I gave on how to market a graphic design business and let me know any other strategies that have worked for others

Lessons on Paid Search Marketing

With more websites competing for eyeballs and sales, paid search has become a critical marketing strategy for online businesses.

Whether your ad budget is $100 or $10,000 per month, here are useful lessons in paid search marketing from ChannelAdvisor's "Top 12 Paid Search New Years Resolutions"

• Spend as much money as it takes to yield your desired Return on Ad Spend or Cost per Acquisition (an advice that may be better suited to deeper pocketed big businesses rather an a home-based operation)
• Manage more keywords on MSN and Yahoo Search Marketing
• Extensively test variations of ad creative
• Target specific campaigns and ad groups
• Apply successful generalizations: knowing which keywords sell which products and when to bid is crucial
• Target international markets
• Leverage the lessons of 2007
• Know your search seasonality
• Implement landing page improvements
• Monitor affiliates
• Know what your competition is doing
• Consider outsourcing

Home-Based Franchises

If you want to start a business that has proven to be viable and less risky, then franchising is the route for you.

But don't think that all franchises are as expensive as your local McDonald's. In fact, there is a growing segment of franchises that can be operated from home. These home-based franchises combine the convenience of working from home with the added benefit of low startup costs.

To check out what franchises can be operated from home, PowerHomeBiz has prepared a Directory of Home-Based Franchises categorized by the following sectors:

• Automotive Home-Based Franchises
• Business and Professional Home-Based Franchises
• Child Related Home-Based Franchises
• Cleaning and Maintenance Home-Based Franchises
• Computer and Tech Home-Based Franchises
• Educational Home-Based Franchises
• Food and Restaurant Home-Based Franchises
• Healthcare Home-Based Franchises
• Home Services Home-Based Franchises
• Pet Home-Based Franchises
• Service Home-Based Franchises

Or if a home-based franchise is not your cup of tea, you can search for other franchise opportunities in our Directory of Franchises for the Small & Home Based Entrepreneurs

How the Big Boys Do It: Web Site Features for Online Retailing

Internet Retailer magazine made a list of the top tools used by the Top 500 retailers on the Web. It's an interesting look at how the top guns of online retailing are doing it, and can give the small online retailers on the features they need to consider for their websites (if they are not yet doing them).

These features are as follows, ranked according to the number of top 500 retailers that are using them:

1. keyword search
2. daily/seasonal specials
3. enlarged product view
4. what's new
5. affiliate program
6. advanced search
7. online gift certificates
8. rich media
9. outlet center
10. email a friend
11. coupons/rebates
12. top sellers
13. site personalization
14. alternative payments
15. store locator
16. wish list
17. customer reviews
18. catalog quick order
19. mapping
20. product customization

Unleashing Your Entrepreneurial Spirit

I love this quote from Brian Kurth, author of the book "Test Drive Your Dream Job" as it rings true for many of us:

"It’s romantic to think the heavens will offer up a sign letting you know when the time is right to unleash your entrepreneurial spirit and start your dream business. Unfortunately, reality often doesn’t work that way. Launching a business is risky, and those risks can easily overwhelm your senses and weaken your confidence. The fear of failure pervades your psyche, and when the safety and security of your family is on the line, happiness seems like a selfish luxury you can’t afford to indulge."

I'm sure many of us have experienced these feelings. It's one thing to say "Follow your dreams" and launch the business you've always wanted -- and another thing to actually face the reality of needing to provide food on the table for your family. Not many of us have the luxury of simply waking up one day and deciding to start a business.

To successfully launch a business, you need to plan, to know what you are going to do and expect, and know where to look for help when things get challenging or simply overwhelming.

Kurth's article "Unleash Your Entrepreneurial Spirit" offers some tips on what you need to do when you start your business.

Word of Mouth & Client Referrals: Top Sources of New Customers

The folks at SalesConx.com sent me the results of the survey they conducted last year. They surveyed 700 small business owners to see how entrepreneurs look at client relationships, to determine the lead generation strategies and how to grow the business using the Internet’s networking features.

Some of the findings of their survey are:

• Referral and word of mouth account for nearly 50% of all new business for surveyed small business owners, however, only 9% are using online lead generation.
• While Facebook has 50 million users and LinkedIn has 14 million users, only 11% of survey respondents noted that they belong to either of these communities. 79% of the participants belong to no social or professional network.
• While 22% of respondents note that they are adding 1 to 3 new clients annually, it is surprising that 11% of small business owners are adding more than 100 new clients per year. This statistic indicates that while lead generation and new client acquisition is NOT a priority of almost one third of small business owners, it is very much a factor for approximately 20% of small business owners who add at least 50 new clients annually.

The main finding of the survey is that "most small business owners rely on new business to drive revenue, but shy away from trying new marketing tactics." I'm not surprised about the finding as I see it all the time. Many small business owners are reticient in shaking up their marketing strategies, even if they see that the strategy is not working as well.

You can read the study's press release with summary of the findings at SalesConx.com

Doing Business with the Government

I few years ago, I chatted with a Maryland entrepreneur after he won the Small Business Administration Entrepreneur of the Year award. He runs a highly successful translation business whose main clientele is the government. He provides translation services to the Department of State and Department of Defense, among others.

But he struggled during the early days of his business. According to him, it was not easy to get a single contract from the government. He went door to door in the offices of the State Dept talking to every possible official he could talk to about his services. He had to exhaust all his contacts and referrals to be able to get his foot in the door. But once he got in, things became easier.

The government is a huge market, and many small businesses focus on this market. However, navigating the bureaucracy is not easy. There's the problem of finding the right party to contact regarding your proposal. There's the set rules that governs the process of how government issues contracts.

A new book entitled "Seven Secrets for Negotiating with Government" by Jeswald W. Salacuse aims to provide anyone dealing with the government the knowledge, skills, understanding and practical advice on how to get favorable response from the government. The book doesn't focus solely on businesses, but to anyone who is dealing with the government -- from those applying for a building permit for the local zoning board to trying to sell software to the Department of Defense.

According to the author, the 7 secrets for negotiating with government are these following principles:

• Governments DO negotiate with private parties about anything.
• Governments are NOT all-powerful in their dealing with private parties.
• Governments are NOT united monoliths in those dealings.
• Governments DO NOT seek only to advance the public interest in their negotiations.
• Governments ARE susceptible to influence techniques by private parties.
• Governments DO accept third party interventions in their negotiation with individuals.
• Government decisions, once made, ARE open to renegotiation

The article "How Small Businesses can Successfully Do Business with the Government" lists some of the tips from the book.

Rachel Ray: Finding the Needs of Your Target Market

In my last post, I raised the question of how do you determine the needs of your target market.

In the November 2007 issue of Business 2.0, they featured four "One Man Brands" -- or entrepreneurs who have become business icons whose names have become huge brands. One of those featured is Rachel Ray, the only female cook in the Food Network that my husband loves to watch.

What strike me in the article was the description of how Rachel Ray started her cooking empire. From the Business 2.0 article :

As an eager young buyer for gourmet market Cowan & Lobel in Albany, N.Y., Rachael Ray spent hours spying on customers, looking for tipoffs to new trends. One odd pattern she noticed again and again: Many well-to-do shoppers would
bypass the produce section and head straight for the prepared-foods counter. That gave her an idea: Why not run a cooking class for harried consumers, showing them how to make gourmet meals in 30 minutes flat?

And her observation proved to be a gold mine. There indeed is a huge market of people looking for quick recipes. Of course, Rachel Ray wouldn't be a success without hard work, lots of perseverance and good lucks, but the key to all her success is stumbling upon this cooking niche on which she built her business.