Friday, January 27, 2012

Understanding Facebook @Tags for Business

Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter play a large part in what we read and see online.  People find that they get their information about what is going on faster by seeing what their friends post and tweet about rather than conventional news sources.  As a small business - it's important to understand how you can make these two 'tricks' work for you as well....don't worry - it's easy

@Tags in Facebook

What is a @Tag?
A tag links a person, page, or place to something you post, like a status update or a photo. For example, you can tag a photo which will link to the people in the photo or post a status update and say who you’re referencing.

What do they do?
  • Tagging people, pages and places in your posts lets others know more about who you’re with, what’s on your mind and where you are. turn on Profile (Timeline) Review to review and approve each tagged post before it goes on your profile (timeline) or exclude some people from seeing tagged posts of you on your Wall (timeline).
  • When you tag someone, they'll be notified. Also, if you or a friend tags someone in your post and it's set to Friends or more, the post is visible to the audience you selected plus friends of the tagged person.
  • When someone tags you in a post, your friends may see what you’re tagged in on Facebook. The tagged post also goes on your profile (timeline). If you’d like, you can

How do I use @Tags?
  • To tag a person - Before you begin to type a person's name, type the "@" symbol and then begin typing their name.  Facebook will automatically begin suggesting friends you might be referencing. (see image below)
  • To tag a business or page - Follow the same process as when tagging a person but instead type the business name and select it from the suggestions that Facebook provides.
  • Once you have selected the person, place or page you want to tag it will appear blue and be a live link.
  • Everytime someone tags your Business page on Facebook - your stats will increase (# of people talking about this).

 
To learn more, check out Facebook's guide to tagging.
It might be a little confusing or awkward at first but tagging is vital at spreading your message and spreading the love on Facebook - a good thing for small business in the social media world.

Understanding Twitter #Hashtags for Business

It is not far from the truth to say that Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter play a large part in what we read and see online.  Whether it is a celebrity scandal or breaking news from around the world, people find that they get their information about what is going on faster by seeing what their friends post and tweet about rather than conventional news sources.  As a small business - it's important to understand how you can make these two 'tricks' work for you as well....don't worry - it's easy!

#Hashtags in Twitter

What is a hashtag?
According to Twitter: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

What do they do?
  • People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets which are more easily displayed in Twitter Search
  • Clicking on a hash-tagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category
  • Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet
  • Hashtagged words that become very popular are often labeled as 'Trending Topics'
Example: In the Tweet below, this person added the hashtag before the phrase "thankyousteve". The word is now a link to search results for all Tweets containing "#thankyousteve" in the message.

 

How do I use hashtags?

  • If you Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet (obviously this means that people looking for your type of business could find you)
  • Don't #spam #with #hashtags. Don't over-tag a single Tweet. (See Twitter's Best practices which recommend using no more than 3 hashtags per Tweet.)
  • Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic
  • Don't use spaces between words. The hashtag will only attach to the word attached to it so if you want to tag "landscape design" - use #landscapedesign or if you want to tag your business name "ABC Fitness" - use #abcfitness.

Further Discovery and Reading

  • The third party site hashtags.org offers an overview of popular hashtags used on Twitter. Find out about trends, look at small, pretty graphs, and search to see which hashtags related to your business or industry exist.
  • You may also want to read this article about hashtags, which appeared in The New Yorker Magazine
While it may feel foreign at first to include hashtags in your business tweets - you'll soon find that it is quick and easy to type these short tags which can mean big things for your business in the social media world.

Check out our Blog on http://qlixite.blogspot.com/2012/01/understanding-facebook-tags-for.html

Friday, January 20, 2012

Make a Good Coupon that Increases Profits

Huge companies spend millions of dollars on focus groups and marketing afficionados to create promotion campaigns and coupons that will bring buyers in the door. As small to medium business owners - we don't have that luxury...or do we? Small business owners need to start employing their observation skills and with a little homework - you'll come up with coupons and promotions that rock!

Definition of a Good Coupon (and a Bad one!)
Some people spend their whole marketing careers creating the definitive "Good Coupon" (ie: a coupon that brings the customer to you and yet doesn't cost too much in profit) and avoiding a bad coupon (usually a coupon that gets no response). Small business owners can see a dramatic improvement in their profits by offering a good coupon. To make a good coupon, you need to think like your customers. That bears repeating and emphasis - THINK LIKE YOUR CUSTOMER! What would make you clip that coupon and go use it? What kind of coupon calls you to check out a business if you've never used them before? What coupons do you skip?

Be Specific About What You Want
Its amazing how many small businesses don't think about what they want their coupons to do. If you don't know exactly the response your want your coupon to generate - I can guarantee...it doesn't either! You have to be specific with the goal of EACH coupon you offer. Do you want new customers? Do you want your regular customers to come in more? Do you want to move a specific product? Do you want people to refer you? Make sure you focus and build your coupon to answer one specific goal. If you are offering several coupons be sure to define each one with dotted/hashed lines or with colors so it's easy for the customer to identify which ones might interest him or her.

Discount Something that your Customer is Actually Interested InA coupon advertises a discount for a limited period of time on a product or service. You may have an low cost/high profit item that you WANT people to purchase however if that's not the item that is currently bringing customers in the door, your coupon (unless it is a very deep discount) is not going to be as effective. An example of this is a hair salon that only gives coupons on their products - not the hair services themselves! My Advice...Get me in the door with a coupon on a hair cut or color (probably the reason I'm coming in the first place) and when I see how fabulous I look - THEN I might actually buy the products. 

Be Careful When Limiting Who Can Use the Coupon
People dislike fine print. There's nothing I despise more than when I take a coupon and try to use it only to learn that my coupon does not apply to me because I am an existing customer. Why would you not want to reward your current customers for shopping with you? If you only offer an incentive for new clients - then why should they become a reoccuring one? If you are discounting a service that only a very limited number of people can use, make sure you are offering a variety of coupons at the same time that together will include everyone.  If you are requiring a minimum purchase amount for the discount to be viable - make sure it's just above or at the average price point people buy from you.

Create Urgency with An Expiration Date
Expiration dates create an sense of urgency that your customer will need to act quickly to use and benefit from the coupon. Experiment with expiration dates. A date that is too close can be disastrous if your marketing strategy doesn't get the coupon out in time. Plus it doesn't give people enough time to redeem it. A date too far away will be forgotten. Depending on your advertising, what your discount is and the nature of your business, 2 weeks to 1 month can be a good time frame for a coupon expiration date. Online deals can expire more quickly than ones that require in-store purchase.


Offer a Discount not just a 'Coupon'
Statistics show that people don't respond if a coupon's face value is too small. I recently saw a coupon for a medical office that offered $1.00 off an office visit. Their visit costs, on average, $35.00 so their coupon gave me less than 3% off. That doesn't make me want to respond to that coupon at all. In fact I was almost turned off to the business itself for offering such a bad coupon. This is where you need to put your customer hat back on. If you see 10% off, 15% off or 20% off coupons - which do you respond to? You may cringe at the idea of offering a 20% off coupon but think about successful chains like Macy's which focus millions of dollars on this
marketing strategy that people come shop with them more if they believe they'll save with their coupon.

Create a Coupon Strategy and Go For It!
If you want to do a semi annual or annual deep discount coupon then plan it out and market accordingly. If you want people to consistently check your website or store for coupons then offer a variety and consistently market them. Look at what larger companies in your industry or ones like yours are doing. If it works for them - it might work for you! Whatever you decide - plan it out and execute it. That doesn't mean you can't modify your plan as you find coupons that work or fail. It means you are taking an active role in this side of your marketing strategy.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Carbonite Review for Business File Backup

As a company that likes to help small businesses experience more success, Qlixite is now incorporating reviews of products and services.

This review will discuss how Carbonite can help you protect your Small Business files in a secure offsite location in case of computer failure.

Carbonite is a comprehensive and robust online backup service that will keep your important files backed up with a minimum of fuss and virtually no interference. It's all controlled by a simple program that runs invisibly in the background. In fact, the recent release of Carbonite 4.0, makes the whole process even easier. They've simplified the setup and given you more options for restoring your files. But before we get much more into restoring files, let's talk about backing things up.

Backup:
As with all online backup services, the initial backup will take a while. Depending on your Internet connection speed and the amount of data on your hard drive, it could take a day or more. Your computer is completely usable during this time, but you'll need to keep it on and connected. Subsequent backups will take less time as Carbonite will only need to save new files and previously backed-up files that have changed.

By default, Carbonite backs up your documents, email, photos, and music. We like that Carbonite takes care of emails automatically, since many online backup services don't, requiring the user to manually locate these files and add them to a backup schedule. However, it won't back up files larger than 4GB unless you tell it to.

Restore & Remote File Access:
In the event of a crash or any other data loss, you simply use the downloadable Carbonite InfoCenter to restore your lost data. But Carbonite's usefulness goes beyond disaster recovery. While we generally talk about an online backup service as a remedy for catastrophic data loss, there's another feature users will love and use much more often, and that's versioning. Carbonite will automatically save up to twelve versions of every file you back up. This allows you to roll back to a previous iteration of any file to recover lost changes. It's like the ultimate "undo" option. Anyone who's ever made unalterable changes to a large text or graphics file will recognize the value in this feature.

Carbonite can also migrate files to a brand new PC. That functionality is now standard with Carbonite 4.0; a new restore option promises to put all your files in just the right place on your new system.

Carbonite can also be used to access your files from any computer that has an Internet connection. Simply log in to the remote access section of carbonite.com and you'll see all your files, just as you would if you were looking at your hard drive (minus the programs). It's a good feature, and it's one you'll find with many online backup services, although it's not as evolved as it is in a product like SugarSync. You can't, for instance, use it to securely share files with others. They're for your eyes only. A small knock against an otherwise great service.

Pricing:
Carbonite does offer a free 15 day trial version of their product so you can see if you will like and use the service. We wish it was a 30 day option but at least they offer a trial.

Carbonite offers unlimited storage for a single computer in the form of three plans.
Click here to see their online comparison.

• Home $59 per computer per year for Mac and Windows.
  • File and folder backup
  • Web and mobile access
  • Phone, chat and email support
  • Manual video backup
• HomePlus $99 per computer per year for Windows only.
  • File and folder backup
  • Web and mobile access
  • Phone, chat and email support
  • External hard drive backup
  • Mirror Image backup
  • Manual video backup
• HomePremier $149 per computer per year for Windows only.
  • File and folder backup
  • Web and mobile access
  • Phone, chat and email support
  • External hard drive backup
  • Mirror Image backup
  • Courier Recovery service
  • Automatic video backup
Unlimited backup is a great deal, but note that Carbonite limits you to backing up a single computer. If you'd like to backup multiple computers, you need to purchase a subscription for every computer you need to backup.

Conclusion:
For pure online backup for a single home or business computer, Carbonite is a good bargain. While it may not have all the fancy features other online backup providers have, the setup is simple, fuss free, and comprehensive. The user interface simple and easy to use. You'll just set it and forget it—until the day you need to restore your files

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Business Email Signatures are Effective Marketing

When you're a small business, you live by the mantra that EVERYTHING YOU DO IS SALES. Keeping that in mind, email Signatures are easy to do and can help represent your business with personality and professionalism....but it can be easy to get it wrong! Let's get it right with Qlixite!

Why do I need an email signature?

It may seem menial that you need to re-state who you are to the person you are sending an email to but your business email signature will affect the tone of every email you write. Think of it as virtual professional letterhead from your company. Here are some tips to making a professional signtaure that sets your business apart.


Our Qlixite Email Signature through Email Ideas.com
Start Off on the Right Foot

Is your email address professional?
First and foremost, the sender’s header (the “From” field) should have a name, and you should use a company email address if you can. If someone sees stinker747@gmail.com, they’ll suspect it’s spam or a personal email. If the sender’s header reads, “Susan Jones - ABC Enterprises” <susan@abcenterprises.com>, they’ll know it’s a professional email from a business person.

Is your website a link?
Make it as easy as possible for people to get to your website. Many email clients convert email addresses and websites into links automatically, but not always. You may need to make sure 'http://' or 'www.' appears to ensure the link will work properly. Instead of linking text like “My website,” type out the URL, which will be useful for those who want to copy and paste the address.

Is you signature longer than your thumb?
Okay it doesn't need to be an exact measure of your finger but an email signature should be clear an concise (three to four lines is usually enough). Don’t get into your life story here. The purpose of a signature is to let them see who you are and how to get in touch with you - you don't need to give every phone, fax, cell or email you own - give your preferred method of contact.

The Meat of Your Email Signature

Include...
• Your Name
• Your Company Name and Position
• How to get in touch with you

Do NOT include...
• Personal links to Twitter, Facebook, IM or Skype sites
• Your home phone number or address
• Random quotes at the bottom
• Your entire skill set or resume in bullet form

Random quotes are fun for friends, but you risk offending business associates with whom you don’t have a personal relationship. Unless you want clients contacting you while you’re watching Lost, don’t share your home details. Also, don’t share your personal contact information with your business partners. They certainly won’t be interested in it, and you may not want them to know certain details about you. However, mentioning your business Twitter account or alternative means of contact in your signature might be useful, in case your correspondent is not able to get in touch with you by regular email.

Example of an Unprofessional Email Signature


Steve Stevenson, Web Designer
web: http://www.misterstevenson.com/
blog: blogspot.celebritiesneedhelp.com
email: steve@misterstevenson.com

home: 613.555.2654
home (wife): 613.555.3369
work: 613.555.9876
cell: 613.555.1234

55 Drury Lane
Apartment 22
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada

twitter: @stevie_liverpool_fan
skype: stevie_the_man
messenger: stevie_mrstevenson

I specialize in:
Website design
Graphic design
Logo design
Front-end development
UI design


“Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is
worth the price.” -Amelia Aerheart


Images and Logos
As much as you may want to get fancy with your email signature, there are downsides. Your entire signature should not be an image. Sure, it will look exactly how you want, but it is completely impractical. Not only does an image increase the email’s file size, but it could be blocked before being opened.Plus it's impossible to copy information from an image. Any images should be used with care and attention. If you do use one, make it small in both dimensions and size, and make it fit in aesthetically with the rest of the signature. 50 x 50 pixels should be plenty big for any logo. If you want to be taken seriously as a business person, do not make it an animated picture, dancing dog or shooting rainbow!

Most email clients store images as attachments or block them by default. So, if you present your signature as an image, your correspondents will have a hard time guessing when you’ve sent a genuine attachment.

The best way to include an image is to host it on a server somewhere and then use your email client to display the html at the bottom of all of your messages. This can also allow you to make the image linked with a website. Qlixite uses a third party company called EmailIdeas.com which creates easy to use and clickable email signatures. We'll will be reviewing this company very soon as part of our new review series.

Use vCards with Caution

While vCards are useful and convenient way to share contact information, they add bytes and appear as attachments in emails . Using a vCard for your email signature can be helpful the first time you correspond with someone but receiving it every time after that gets annoying. Besides, the average email user won’t know what it is. Look at the example below. Would an average user know what that is?


Personality is OK!
While your signature should be useful and straightforward, it's okay to make your email signature reflect your business. This can also help seperate your email signature from your email content. Whether you use a line, color or spaces - your email signature should be easy to identify.

Nicola

design informer
Working with Your Email Client
Here's a great set of links from Smashing Mag which offers resources to help implement email signatures in Outlook, Gmail or Yahoo etc.

Outlook
Changing Outlook’s signature is a real pain, but
here‘s a guide that teaches you a few things. If you use Outlook 2003, here‘s another tutorial on custom signatures.
Entourage
Microsoft’s mail for mac works differently.
Here’s a tutorial on how to set it up.
Gmail
Want just one basic signature?
Here‘s how to change the text. You’d think Google would allow you multiple signatures, links and a bit of formatting. If you’re looking for something a little more designed or wish to choose between multiple signatures, here are five ways to do it in Firefox.
Hotmail
Tips on custom images and more for Hotmail can be found
here. If you use Windows Live, here is a tutorial on adding images and HTML. The detail is helpful, even if the images are awful.
YahooHere‘s how to change your signature using rich text.
Apple MailHere is a pretty decent tutorial, with some inline HTML for formatting. It then explains how to implement it in the application. You even get some hints on how it will look on the iPhone.
Palm Pre
Learn how to customize your message on your Palm Pre 
here.
iPhone
Customize your “Sent from my iPhone” message 
here.
BlackBerry
Some information on how to change your message on BlackBerry smartphones 
here.

---
Steve Stevenson, Web Designer
www.misterstevenson.com | steve@misterstevenson.com

vcard
If you do want to provide a vCard, just include a link to a remote copy.

Confidentiality Clauses

If your emails include confidential information, you may need to include a non-disclosure agreement to prevent information leaks. However, good practice is never to send sensitive information as plain text in emails because the information could be extracted by third parties or forwarded by recipients to other people. Thus, including a non-disclosure agreement doesn’t make much sense if you do not send sensitive information anyway.

Keep in mind, too, that the longer a confidentiality clause is, the more unlikely someone will actually read it. Again, check your country’s privacy laws. Some big companies require a disclosure with every email, but if you’re at a small company or are a freelancer and don’t really require it, then don’t put it in. The length of such clauses can be annoying, especially in short emails.

Conclusion
Your email signature is important! Even as I have been writing this article I am recalling all of the times my signature was incomplete, sparse or missing entirely. If you need help or would like some feedback on your business email signature - we're here for you! Let's start 2012 off right by making your business more successful! Call or visit Qlixite 800-596-6218

Thursday, January 5, 2012

PayPal Review for Small Business Credit Card Processing

As a company that likes to help small businesses experience more success, Qlixite is now incorporating reviews of products and services.

This Review overviews how using PayPal can take your Small Business Credit Processing to the next level.

Who would find PayPal useful?
This review will cover merchant services offered through PayPal useful for physical and online transactions. If you are interested in providing options for your cutomers in regards to paying by credit card or instant transfer...this is for you!

■ Getting a traditional credit card processing system involved
■ applying for and obtaining a merchant account,
■ leasing hardware,
■ getting something called a gateway, and
■ then there were all the fees.


Is PayPal easier?
Yes! When you visit PayPal’s site, you can learn about all of the details of their merchant account (Honestly - the website can be a little difficult to navigate) but suffice it to say - it's easy to set up and operate with a low monthly fixed fee.  Their only disadvantage was the percentage on transactions was slightly higher than traditional credit card payment processing options.

What is not so great about PayPal?
• Be sure to compare the fees and percentages. Depending on your type of business of sales volume, you might be better served by a different company like PayJunction.
• If you offer more than 25 products, you may want to use a third party shopping cart that will automatically generate and organize your online store. We like Quick Shopping Cart from ThisIsMyDomainUSA or GoDaddy. Making each button individually can get a little tedious.
• If you like to offer coupon codes, you will find that PayPal is not equipped for that. Again, we suggest a third party shopping cart.
• Customers might not like PayPal - make sure you say on your website that customers can use their credit card because there are people who do not like PayPal.
• Their customer service by phone can be great one minute and then you can get someone who doesn't know what their talking about.
• Their website has a ton of info but can be a little confusing.

PayPal offers many solutions and packages for businesses.  Here is a basic overview of their two major products:

Website Payments Standard

Process credit cards directly on your website with Website Payments Pro, our merchant account and gateway in one.
  • Accept VISA MASTERCARD AMEX DISCOVER PAYPAL
  • Clear pricing, no hidden fees (See Pricing)
  • No long-term commitments or monthly minimums
  • Works with most popular shopping carts
  • Lower total payment processing costs
  • Buyers paying by credit card never leave your site
  • One account for everything - No need to maintain separate relationships with a merchant account bank, a gateway, or credit card companies. PayPal handles all your payment processing as well as your reports, statements, billing information, and account support. It works with most major shopping.
  • Easy to read reports and downloadable logs into Excel, Quickbooks and Quicken.
  • Get your Money fast! (Transfer to bank account, spend it via PayPal or withdraw cash at an ATM)
  • Open your business to international sales - US dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, Australian dollars, GB pounds and Japanese Yen

Website Payments Pro
With Website Payments Standard, you can add a payment button to your site and accept credit card orders securely. Here are the basic features...
  • Accept VISA MASTERCARD AMEX DISCOVER PAYPAL
  • Your customers don't even need a PayPal account
  • Easy button setup, no programming skills required - (choose from Buy Now, Add to Cart, Subscribe and Donate Buttons)
  • No setup, monthly or cancellation charges (See Pricing)
  • No credit application
  • Need to accept recurring payments of varying amounts? There is an optional program that costs $19.99/month. (Includes automatic billing and installment plans)
  • Compatible with most major shopping carts.
  • Easy to read reports and downloadable logs into Excel, Quickbooks and Quicken.
  • Get your Money fast! (Transfer to bank account, spend it via PayPal or withdraw cash at an ATM)
Paypal also offers more online and virtual terminal solutions if you are interested in operating your business solely via online sales. Review all of their products by clicking Here.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Create An Easy & Fast Small Business Plan

Every business needs a business plan - no matter how small!

What information needs to be in your business plan? What is the order of information that will make the most sense to lenders and investors? You can answer these questions with the business plan outlines provided below.

What are the standard elements of a business plan? If you do need a standard business plan to seek funding — as opposed to a plan-as-you-go approach for running your business, which I describe below — there are predictable contents of a standard business plan outline.

For example, a business plan normally starts with an Executive Summary, which should be concise and interesting. People almost always expect to see sections covering the Company, the Market, the Product, the Management Team, Strategy, Implementation, and Financial Analysis. The precise business plan format can vary.

Is the order important? If you have the main components, the order doesn’t matter that much, but here’s the sequence I suggest for a business plan. I have provided two outlines, one simple and the other more detailed.

Simple Business Plan Outline
  1. Executive Summary: Write this last. It’s just a page or two of highlights.
  2. Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.
  3. Product or Service: Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
  4. Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.
  5. Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budgets. Make sure you can track results.
  6. Web Plan Summary: For e-commerce, include discussion of website, development costs, operations, sales and marketing strategies.
  7. Management Team: Describe the organization and the key management team members.
  8. Financial Analysis: Make sure to include at the very least your projected Profit and Loss and Cash Flow tables.

Build your plan, then organize it. I don’t recommend developing the plan in the same order you present it as a finished document. For example, although the Executive Summary obviously comes as the first section of a business plan, I recommend writing it after everything else is done. It will appear first, but you write it last.

Standard tables and charts


There are also some business tables and charts that are normally expected in a standard business plan.

Cash flow is the single most important numerical analysis in a plan, and should never be missing. Most plans will also have Sales Forecast and Profit and Loss statements. I believe they should also have separate Personnel listings, projected Balance Sheet, projected Business Ratios, and Market Analysis tables.

I also believe that every plan should include bar charts and pie charts to illustrate the numbers.

Expanded business plan outline

Here’s an expanded full business plan outline, with details you might want to include in your own business plan.

1.0 Executive Summary
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Mission
1.3 Keys to Success


2.0 Company Summary
2.1 Company Ownership
2.2 Company History (for ongoing companies) or Start-up Plan (for new companies)
2.3 Company Locations and Facilities


3.0 Products and Services
3.1 Product and Service Description
3.2 Competitive Comparison
3.3 Sales Literature
3.4 Sourcing and Fulfillment
3.5 Technology
3.6 Future Products and Services


4.0 Market Analysis Summary
4.1 Market Segmentation
4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy
4.2.1 Market Needs
4.2.2 Market Trends
4.2.3 Market Growth
4.3 Industry Analysis
4.3.1 Industry Participants
4.3.2 Distribution Patterns
4.3.3 Competition and Buying Patterns
4.3.4 Main Competitors


5.0 Strategy and Implementation Summary
5.1 Strategy Pyramids
5.2 Value Proposition
5.3 Competitive Edge
5.4 Marketing Strategy
5.4.1 Positioning Statements
5.4.2 Pricing Strategy
5.4.3 Promotion Strategy
5.4.4 Distribution Patterns
5.4.5 Marketing Programs
5.5 Sales Strategy
5.5.1 Sales Forecast
5.5.2 Sales Programs
5.6 Strategic Alliances
5.7 Milestones


6.0 Web Plan Summary
6.1 Website Marketing Strategy
6.2 Development Requirements


7.0 Management Summary
7.1 Organizational Structure
7.2 Management Team
7.3 Management Team Gaps
7.4 Personnel Plan


8.0 Financial Plan
8.1 Important Assumptions
8.2 Key Financial Indicators
8.3 Break-even Analysis
8.4 Projected Profit and Loss
8.5 Projected Cash Flow
8.6 Projected Balance Sheet
8.7 Business Ratios
8.8 Long-term Plan


Business plan outline advice

Size your business plan to fit your business. Remember that your business plan should be only as big as what you need to run your business. While everybody should have planning to help run a business, not everyone needs to develop a complete formal business plan suitable for submitting to a potential investor, or bank, or venture contest. So don’t include outline points just because they are on a big list somewhere, or on this list, unless you’re developing a standard business plan that you’ll be showing to somebody else who expects a standard business plan.

If you need help with your Website Design, Social Media Marketing and Business Strategy - give us a call (800) 596-6218!