5 Mistakes Businesses Make in Social Media

Who wants to make the same mistake twice? No one. Wise entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others...including the wild and crazy world of social media. The following are 5 mistakes that can set your social media campaign back. We don't want that to happen to you so take a moment to "learn" from these tips (we sure wish someone would have mentioned these in the beginning).

Mistake #1 - No Plan
Imagine if you started a business without a mission or business plan. Imagine you didn't know who your potential customer was or what products you were going to sell. Do you think it could be a recipe for disaster? The same goes for your social media. Take the time to plan your strategy BEFORE you dive in to posts and status updates. It will keep you focused in the long run and allow you more success.

Mistake #2 - Picking the Wrong Platforms
You can drive yourself crazy trying to manage twenty different social media sites and the odds are - unless you have a whole social media team - you won't excel at any of them because you are spread too thin. The idea is quality vs. quantity. Part of your Plan (stated above) is to consider where do your potential customers hang out. Is it Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Pinterest, YouTube? Ask your clients  and narrow your focus down to one or two sites.

Will My Personal Credit Score Hurt My Business?

Entrepreneurs aren't born overnight - one day you have an idea and it builds until you launch your 'dream job.' Your very own start-up small business can be exciting and scary. Figuring out how to fund your business usually falls into the 'scary' category.

A successful small business requires money to sustain it and investment to grow it. Of course, securing investors is difficult so small business owners usually rely on a business loan or line of credit to supplement initial business growth.

This means a bank is going to look at YOU and your Credit to determine if you business is viable. Your credit does not have to be perfect to get a loan or line of credit to start a business but obviously - the better your history the higher your chances are to obtain financing.

Learn from the World Series and Super Bowl to Motivate Your Small Business to Win!

Millions of people tune in by radio, television and streaming feed to watch SPORTS. The 'big game' draws more attention than other events such as a politial debate, breaking international news or even a natural disaster. As a country, we're probably not ashamed to say it - we're sports obesessed. We applaud and celebrate the shot, the stop, the drive...the winning play that made history. Some even experience agony when their beloved team does the unthinkable...they lose.

There are critics who argue that sports pay hommage to inflated salaries and offer a distraction from real life but when it comes to business - sports might have a few points worth taking notice.

Goal Oriented Excellence

Every year, thirty-two NFL teams compete for the chance to be in the Super Bowl (one of the most watched televised events ever). Thirty MLB teams take aim at a shot of playing in the World Series. For Basketball, it's all about the Finals and for Hockey, the Stanley Cup reigns supreme. The winners receive praise, parades, record book titles, tons of confetti and possibly a shower from a cooler full of gatorade.

10 Tips to Public Speaking Like a Business Pro

At some point - as an entrepreneur - you will need to speak. You cannot hide in the background forever - whether it's introducing yourself at a business meet up or presenting to your staff - you will need to speak in front of a group of people. Odds are you will need to sell a product or a service or an idea and it all hinges on this one speech. After you read our 10 tips below - you'll be speaking like a pro!

Before You Speak

1. What do they want? How can you help them specifically?

Most polished public speakers will tell you that the first question you should always ask yourself before taking a speaking job is "Does this audience want what I've got?" Now, you're not exactly a professional public speaker but that doesn't mean you can't learn from the pros. Even when making a presentation to a leads group or Chamber of Commerce - know your audience. What do they need? What do you offer that will make a difference to them. Audiences are self-centered so everything you say needs to be tuned to what they need to hear.

4 Steps to Handling Negative Online Reviews

If you work with small businesses like us you start to recognize the cries for help when a usually spotless reputation shows the dark mark of an almost unspeakable villain...the unhappy customer.

"Yelp! I've Gotten a Bad Review - Now What?"

We understand your plight. Used to be that when you or your employee had a bad day that affected a customer or a product malfunctioned - you only had to worry about who that individual could tell in their circle of friends. Now with the advent of the internet and jumbo review sites like Yelp.com - you have to worry that one bad experience could haunt you for the rest of your career (or worse lead to the end of it)

So what do you do when your business gets a bad review on user sites like Yelp?

Taking a Vacation from Your Business

It's summer time! It's hot and the kids are out of school which means its prime time for a vacation right? If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, taking a vacation from your business might be well deserved but tricky...even downright near impossible. But we believe in vacations and we believe in you so here's 5 ways to get a break from your business without sending it into a downward spiral.

1. Split Week Trips
Many self employed business owners complain that taking a whole week off adds more stress to the vacation because they are constantly checking email and voicemail. The solution might be splitting your time off between two weeks. For example: Taking off Thursday and Friday of one week and then Monday and Tuesday of the next. Most business owners can manage taking two business days off in a week because you have three days to cushion the blow. Use your first set of work days to prepare to be gone and then use the next week to catch up. This 'illusion' will also look better to vendors and clients because it doesn't 'feel' like you were gone very long.

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!