Feed for content matching tag 'small_business'

10 Dos and Don’ts for Maximizing Supply Chain Efficiency

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:38:05 GMT

Ineffectively managing your supply chain can result in serious losses for your small business. It could cause you to lose money and customers for the following reasons: poor inventory management, a missed delivery date and/or fulfillment issues (the closing of a business transaction between the business and the customer and everything that happens in between). In order to protect your small business, here are some dos and don’ts for maximizing supply chain efficiency:

Dos

Do enlist other departments outside of procurement, such as engineering, operations, quality, accounting, in major supply chain management decisions.
Do consider sourcing locally, if your small business has a global reach. This is possible not only with food-based businesses but with any business that relies on locally made products. Just be sure that you research their reliability, quality control and production schedules.
Do be flexible with your schedule if you use local artisans and you may have to pay cash up front so that they can buy materials.
Do make a contingency plan for emergencies by engaging back-up suppliers who boast a quick turn-around.
Do practice accurate and detailed sales forecasting to ensure that your inventory costs are under tight control.

Don’ts

Don’t neglect your taxes or you may cut into your profits by as much as 25 percent. Hire a consultant who can help you sort it all out.
Don’t ignore your supply chain when it comes to sustainability. You don’t want to be impacted by environmental issues or human rights violations of your suppliers.
Don’t lose touch with your middlemen or brokers, particularly if you don’t have the budget for automated supply chain technology. Try to see these contacts in person periodically throughout the year and maintain regular phone and e-mail contact.
Don’t expect to find one software vendor for supply chain planning and supply chain execution. The most well-known vendors usually fall into one or the other category.
Don’t forget to assess risk at all points in the supply chain – this includes product and service providers, governments and local communities.

Supply chain management may not be the most exciting part of your small business. However, it can have a significant and far-reaching impact on thequality of your products, the reliability of your deliveries and the ultimate success of your company.

Do you use Twitter as a marketing tool?

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:27:01 GMT

Twitter provides a wonderful opportunity to market a product or service. Do you use Twitter effectly, and how do you use it? My Twitter account is Drachsi

Drachsi

Software to manage clients, employees, invoices

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:22:13 GMT

Hi all,

I'm the director of StudyShop Tutoring, a small, but growing business in Los Angeles. As we grow, I'm hiring new tutors to handle the workload, and I'm being forced to streamline and organize better. What I really need is one piece of software (for Mac - gotta be for Mac) that will keep track of clients, billable hours to those clients, the rate for each client, the rate I'm paying tutors for that client, and things like invoices. I'm reasonable tech-saavy, but don't want to have to spend hours setting something up to work. Any idea?

Thanks,

Charles Burns

3 Ways Internet Coupons Benefit Your Business

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:32:38 GMT

Getting the word out on your business and the products you sell or services you deliver can be challenging. Getting customers' interests and getting them to visit your website or store is the backbone of any successful marketing strategy. Internet coupons can be helpful when it comes to advertising your business, and may also be a great way to lure in potential customers. Repeat offers or continual marketing could bring in repeat business and other features that offer bonuses, such as check in programs, could also entice customers to return to your business.

Cost efficiency

Internet coupons are a very cost efficient option compared to other alternatives such as print advertising and having coupons printed in the newspaper. Pay-per-click advertising is one of the most popular forms of advertising online, but it is also one of the most expensive. You could start up a campaign using internet coupons for a fraction of a pay-per-click campaign, and you only pay when a lead converts instead of when they click on your link. This means that you're not wasting a single cent of your advertising revenue on leads that visit but do not convert.

There's also the fact that a lot of online coupon sites offer businesses a low monthly fee, so the costs of getting your deals out there are much lower than they would be with other sites. Look for sites that offer reduced fees on the first few months because this gives you a chance to see how your deals convert.

Flexibility

Internet coupons can be a great form of marketing, and offers a far more flexible marketing option than print media. If you choose the right site, you'll find that you're able to change your campaign at a moment's notice, so you could alter your campaign and pull coupons or introduce new ones as you go along. The changes are instant, especially when you have access to a dashboard that gives you real-time stats and information whenever you log in.

Laser-targeted marketing

Internet coupons sites often gather information about consumers that use their services, and this means that you can get access to laser-targeted leads. Your product or deal will be displayed to members within a certain geographical area, and you may be able to specify other criteria as well. Geographical targeting is a relatively new concept because most sites are focused on making deals available nationally. Using a site that displays deals based on a user's location can draw in a lot of business and interest, and it can do it almost instantly.

Doing business means keeping up to date with and using modern technology and, Internet coupons are about as 'cutting edge' as it gets. The number of smart phone and Internet users are growing exponentially, and taking advantage of this could help you increase the reach of your advertising and coupon campaigns. It's not only an effective form of marketing, but is affordable, flexible, and targeted. You'll be able to see exactly where your advertising revenue goes, and every cent spent will be on a viable lead.

5 Ways to Find a Mentor

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:33:07 GMT

I would venture to say that we have all had an influential mentor at one time or another. It might have been a teacher who inspired you or a colleague who guided you, but whatever the case, you were fortunate to have the right someone at the right time.

Yes, mentors can make a difference but the funny thing about them is that, typically, they show up when they show up. You don’t normally get to choose when a mentor relationship becomes available. All too often, finding a mentor when you actually want one is not so easy.

But it can be done. And it should be done.

Having a business mentor is one of the best ways to get ahead. He or she can open doors, teach skills and give valuable feedback. There’s no doubt that is a good deal for you. But it is often equally, if not more, satisfying for the mentor as he or she can watch his or her guidance make a difference. It is a chance to give back.

So how do you actually go about finding a mentor when you want one? Here are a few ways:

Ask: Finding a mentor is sometimes the result of simply having the chutzpah to ask someone whom you admire if they would be willing to mentor and work with you. Or, just tell people that you are looking for a mentor. You may be surprised at how willing people are to help. Speak with business associates, friends, relatives, other entrepreneurs, your place of worship or even with online communities.

Look: These days, there are all sorts of organizations to help you hook up with a mentor. Many of these are government sponsored. Here are your best bets:

SCORE: SCORE
SBDCs: Small Business Development Centers
Women Centers: Women’s Business Centers NAWBO) is another smart place to look.
Minority Business Development Agencies Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
If you are looking for government contracting opportunities, the GSA has a good mentor/protégé program

Call: Your trade organization may have a mentor-mentee program that you can tap.

Pay: If you know someone who knows what you want to learn but who probably would be disinclined to be your mentor, for whatever reason, consider buying their time. Is it ideal? No, but it may still work. For instance, what about approaching that person and offering a fee for a few days of consultation and six months of telephone follow up? Explain that you think he or she could help you get your business of the ground that you respect his/her time and are therefore willing to pay for it. You may be surprised by the response. Especially if you are not in a competing business, you may suddenly find yourself with the best mentor that money can buy.

Discover: Just what are you looking for in a mentor? Here are a few things to consider:

You want someone who shares your vision for your business: It would be a frustrating experience to be mentored by someone who is not on the same page as you.

You want someone who has time: Landing that big fish mentor is worthless if the mentor does not really have the time to help you.

You want someone whom you respect: This means that they have values similar to yours and a track record of success.

You want someone who has connections: A mentor can provide many things and one of them should be the ability to open some new business doors.

The Power of the Crowd: Is crowdsourcing right for your small business?

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:17:25 GMT

You may think you know the definition of crowdsourcing, but there are a lot of interpretations to its meaning.

In the words of Northwestern University professor Jeff Howe, who coined the term, crowdsourcing is “the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.”

Regardless of how you define it, there is an argument to be made that crowdsourcing is a particularly good match for small businesses. Here’s why:

Venture capital firms are generally supportive of the concept as it allows the companies they fund to lower operating expenses.
It provides access to a pool of experienced and creative talent that might otherwise be inaccessible to a small business.
The concept of user feedback on product design and branding is already an accepted dynamic in the social media-driven world currently embraced by many small businesses and their customers.
Small businesses may have smaller tasks that need to be solved and they will get a broader spectrum of crowd-sourced solutions.

If you’ve never considered crowdsourcing, there are a multiple of websites dedicated to it and particularly useful to small businesses. Innocentive is a forum where “solvers” compete to devise a solution to a small business’s problem, usually a technical one. Ideaken is a software platform that facilitates collaboration between enterprises and individuals. Whinot is a consulting firm dedicated to providing crowd-sourced technical solutions to small businesses. crowdSPRING is a crowd-sourced marketplace for graphic design and writing services. There are many more crowdsourcing websites including: GeniusRocket, 99 designs, LogoTournament, Minted and Poptent, just to name a few.

If you are considering venturing into crowdsourcing, there are few rules of engagement to consider:

Don’t skimp on information. Describe the project and target audience in detail.
If you have specific pet peeves or favorite colors, spell them out in your project description.
If you’re crowdsourcing creative work, such as a logo design, take steps to ensure the design is original before contracting to use it.
If you’re running a contest, think carefully about the dollar amount of the reward. You’re already saving significantly so let the reward fit the effort.
Don’t forget that, in addition to the financial incentive, many participants in crowdsourcing are motivated by constructive feedback and publicity.

You can start with a non-strategic project, such as how to configure your phone system. Or, you can get input from the “crowd” on something as significant as your company name. Whether you’ve thought about crowdsourcing for a while or are considering it now for the first time, there are very few barriers to jumping into the mix. Have you ever used crowdsourcing? Share your experiences or recommendations with the SBOC community below.

The Discipline Story: How to handle difficult employees

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:53:37 GMT

It is normal for workplace issues to arise amongst colleagues – after all most Americans spend more time at work than any place else. When employees are having difficulty getting along with each other, or when they are having performance problems, small business owners may question how to handle the issues at hand.

Companies of all sizes must manage employees that turn out to have difficult personality traits, are a poor fit for their current role or have trouble working with others. Unless the employee has broken the law, behaved unethically or is grossly incompetent, the goal in most cases should be to help them stay with the company. Terminating employees can often be a long process and often a painful one.

Driven to Distraction

If you have an employee who has suddenly changed from being a valued, trusted worker to disengaged or disgruntled, there may be something going on in the employee’s personal life. When you sit down to talk with the employee, remember that the goal is not to get him or her to confess personal problems. You want to make the employee aware that you have noticed the change in his or her behavior and that you’d like to help the employee get back on track.

Prior to this conversation, you want to garner as much information as you can that showcases the contrast between the employee’s historical job performance and their current one. For example, you may want to speak to his or her direct supervisor, review quality and error rates, look at attendance records and gather recent e-mail correspondence that may speak to a change in attitude. Hopefully, with your help and support, the employee can work on shifting their behavior and mindset in a more positive direction.

The Attitude Problem

Some employees just don’t realize how they come across to others when they are condescending, blunt, offensive or self-aggrandizing. Working with this type of personality can cause a decline in team morale, derail a project or make everyone else’s job more difficult.

If you are faced with disciplining an employee for a negative attitude, there are several steps you can take. One option is to present the problem to the employee using the SBI model – this is a way that sheds light on the situation at hand – what the situation is, how different behaviors factor into the outcome and its impact on fellow employees. Be sure to criticize the behavior, not the person. Make it clear that the offending behavior is a problem because of its impact on company productivity. If the employee wasn’t aware of the impact of his or her behavior on workmates, he or she just might make a change.

The Bad Fit

Sometimes you will find that you’ve hired a bright, hard-working employee who just isn’t in the right job. Remember that a performance deficiency is not the same thing as insubordination or misconduct. Therefore, the right solution might be coaching. Keep in mind, this approach will likely require patience by the small business owner, and other employees.

If you’re unsure about whether the employee can gain competence in his or her role, you may have to make the tougher decision to terminate employment. However, before you do that, conduct a formal performance review and analyze the employee’s strengths and weaknesses to determine if there might be a better fit elsewhere in the company.

If an employee has been valuable to your small business, don’t ignore the difficult behavior or immediately write them off. Look for a way to resolve the issues. At the end of the day, it’s usually better to find a way to work with an employee – even a difficult one – than to go through the time- and cost-intensive process of recruiting and training a new one.

New Years Resolutions: What are yours?

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:58:01 GMT

Hello SBOC Community and welcome to 2012! It is a bright, brand -spanking-new year and I'm happy to be here in it with all of you! I wanted to start a very common discussion today but when I logged in today and saw the new Steve Strauss article 6 New Year’s Business Resolutions, my common discussion topic was given a new twist. No, it wasn't lemon or lime ... but a little something I like to call "innovation".

I personally gave up new years resolutions several years ago. In a last ditch effort to stop being a failure at keeping my new years resolutions, I resolved to simply not make any more resolutions. Problem solved! That was one resolution I have actually kept for about 7 years now! This year, I almost had the urge to begin blogging every day for the entire year but the flu bug that hit me new years even and took me out for 36 hours quickly killed that urge, so I continue my winning streak with my resolution to not make resolutions.

However, because of my lack of desire to make personal resolutions, it never really crossed my mind to make resolutions for my business. Making a new years resolution is really no different than setting new goals. Reviewing your business, updating it and adapting to accommodate new trends and changes should be something you are doing the beginning of each year anyway so making business resolutions can easily be a part of that process without causing much disruption or leaving much, if any, room for failure. Business resolutions should be much easier to implement, execute and maintain than our own personal resolutions.

So please visit Steve's first community article of 2012! Give it a read and maybe even leave him a comment! After all, he does take time out of his busy schedule to provide us with great tips and advice so let's take a moment to say thanks and show some love, shall we?

Then pop back over here and let's talk resolutions! Personal, business, family ... whatever your resolution, share them with us and maybe together we can provide the support and camaraderie to help each other be successful and prosperous in 2012!

Happy New Year everyone and may 2012 be our year to shine!

~Moni

Advertising on the cheap - How to sell to businesses

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:24:16 GMT

I write for a site - LimerenceMag.com - and we've been growing very quickly as of late with one problem - we don't have anyone doing ad sales! Our issues are downloaded thousands of times by readers and we're really missing out on all that unfilled ad space. We keep the issues free to encourage our subscribers, among others, to download the issues. We're going to keep publishing the monthly issues whether or not the ad space fills just based on the fact that our readers want it, but the site can't grow nearly as quickly when we're not selling that ad space. We're still just a little group, so we can't offer all of the attractive appeal for the ad sales position that other companies can. The writers do pitch in their efforts (including myself), but the reach we have isn't quite as good as if someone were to be doing it regularly. My question is this - how do you reach potential clients when you can't fill a full time sales position? This piece of the website is critical to our growth as a group and we really want to make it work, but as I'm really not a sales/marketing person I'm not sure what I need to do to get results. Thank you in advance for your advice!

8 Ways to Market on a Shoestring

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:16:59 GMT

The dirty little secret about entrepreneurship is that most people who start a business had no idea what they were doing when they began – myself included. Oh sure, they may have read some books and articles, gone to seminars, or maybe have even written a business plan. But actually knowing what to expect, what slings and arrows would come their way – no.

The good news about that, as one intrepid entrepreneur once told me, is that you don’t know what you don’t know. That is – you don’t know enough to be scared or timid. The bad news is that there inevitably will be a steep learning curve as mistakes are made.

One mistake I see often has to do with marketing. People usually start a business because they find something they love and want to do that every day, for example a gardener buying a nursery. But because someone knows how to grow orchids does not mean that they know how to grow a business.

Indeed, most small businesses discover one or two marketing ideas, use them, then beat them to death, and wonder why they are not getting any new customers. The reason it doesn’t work is simple: By doing the same old thing again and again, the same people see your business. If you mix it up and try something new, different people will discover you are out there and your business will grow. Here are some inexpensive and easy ways to implement marketing ideas that you can use. Let me suggest that you test several (maybe four or five) and then roll out two or three of the most promising:

Click here to read more articles from small business expert Steve Strauss.

1. Email marketing: The idea is not to send out spam, but rather, individualized email offers to targeted individuals. Email marketing is the 21st century equivalent of direct mail. Create a list via a search or other means, create a snappy email offer and send it out. Maybe you will send it to members of your local chamber of commerce, or all the lawyers in town. It doesn't matter; what matters is that you can get in front of new potential customers at almost no cost.

2. Create an e-newsletter: If you don’t have an e-newsletter, then it’s time to hop on the bandwagon. E-newsletters are popular for a reason – they work. By offering interesting content (and a few specials) you can get people to agree to let you regularly contact them. Best of all, it costs nothing but your time.

3. E-newsletter advertising: What about this cool, affordable trick – find some e-newsletters that you like, and think would appeal to your type of customer, and advertise in them. It won’t cost much because the circulation numbers, especially in comparison to traditional advertising, will be small, but it will be highly targeted to your target market. Even better, as with any e-newsletter, the recipients want to receive the periodical.

4. Pay-per-click: As with e-newsletter advertising, the beauty of PPC ads is that you only pay for qualified leads – people who like your ad enough to click on it. Use PPC on Google, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN, etc.

5. Search Engine Optimization: Why even pay for a click when you can get one for free? SEO is the way. Yes, SEO takes a bit of time to learn, but it pays enormous dividends.

6. Overnight radio: Drive-time radio spots on a big station can cost upwards of $500 a minute. However, if you advertise on that same station overnight, while the numbers are of course much smaller, the costs are likely to be significantly less, potentially as low as $10 a spot.

7. Co-op advertising: My dad used to have a giant billboard on the San Diego freeway in Los Angeles that said “Carpet World . . . Elegance Underfoot.” In the corner it also said “featuring Ban-Lon Carpets.” Ban-Lon paid for about 80 percent of that advertisement. This is a perfect example of co-op advertising. If you have a wholesaler or distributor with whom you work, see if they offer co-op funds. Mention their product in your advertisement (online, in print, or over the air) and they will pick up a good portion of the costs.

8. Social media: Engaging in social media, if done right, can create new relationships and extend your brand and again, requires little of your time.

Okay, you get the idea. By expanding your options and marketing more with inexpensive, shoestring options, you can grow your business in any economy. If you want to learn even more about different ways to market your small business, you can watch this video.

About Steve Strauss

Steve Strauss is one of the world’s leading small business experts. The senior small business columnist for USA Today, his Ask an Expert column is one of the most highly-syndicated business columns in the country. Steve is also the author of the Small Business Bible and his latest book is Get Your Business Funded: Creative Methods for Getting the Money You Need. A popular media guest, Steve is a regular contributor to ABC News Now and frequently appears on television and radio. His business, The Strauss Group, creates unique, actionable, entertaining, and informative multi-media small business content.

5 tips for a Successful Small Business Blog

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:12:03 GMT

Many small business owners are already well versed in writing and managing a blog. Others are just getting started. No matter your level of experience, it’s important to remember blogs can be more informal than traditional business correspondence. Here are some key guidelines to writing a blog post:

Be concise. Once you’ve written your first draft, start cutting words. After you’re done, continue to edit your post. Eliminate extra adjectives or explanatory clauses. Blogs are often as short as 250 words, and they should rarely be more than 700 words. Most readers will skip an article that long.

Use keywords in your post. One of the most important aspects of your blog post is the headline –it should contain some key search terms that your customers may enter into a web browser. And, without a doubt, it should have something to do with the content that follows. You should also include key search terms throughout the post. Questions, or intriguing statements, can also be very effective in attracting readers.

Subsequent paragraphs should only be three or four sentences. Use subheads and photographs to break up the text.

Write like you speak. The voice you use within your blog should be similar to the way you speak. You’re trying to engage your audience, so there’s no reason you can’t be lighthearted and creative in your topic, just as you would be in person or on the phone. Avoid copying another well-known blogger.

Be courageous in the opinions you state. Don’t use “I think” or “it might be true” or “one could argue.” Such phrases are not powerful and lack authority. Take a stand and support your argument. Don’t be afraid to shake things up a little.

Stay engaged with your readers. Finally, your writing responsibilities do not end once you post your blog, pay careful attention to the “comments" section. Communicate openly with your readers, to encourage dialogue. Bee receptive to any feedback they may provide.

At the end of the day, a well-written, engaging blog will keep your readers coming back. And readers can easily turn into customers. Share your thoughts and best practices on blogging with the SBOC community below.

You’ve hired interns. Now what do you do with them?

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:31:02 GMT

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), nearly 50% of employers would like to see an internship on a student’s resume. Following up on a previous article about identifying an intern for your small business, here are some guidelines on how to manage interns once you’ve brought them on board.

If you’ve found an intern who has some background in your industry, there’s no reason to pigeonhole them into the most obvious position based on their work or college experience. For example, if the intern is a marketing major, you might want to give them some exposure to operations. Or, if the intern is a writer who works best independently, it could be educational to have them participate in meetings and brainstorming sessions. Either way, try to give your interns a variety of experiences.

Whether the intern is working in or out of his or her comfort zone, it’s important to allot enough time to train and advise them. In fact, assigning a point person or a mentor can strengthen your intern’s first professional experience. To further enrich the internship, spend some time planning projects for the interns before they come on board, rather than throwing ad hoc assignments at them.

When it comes to aspects of your business related to social media, you may find that your interns bring fresh insights that you may not have considered. Many young people are well versed in the subtleties of social networks ranging from mainstream outlets like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to lesser-known ones such as Pinterest and Tumblr. Some Internet-savvy interns may even be able to take it a step farther and handle tasks such as writing for your company blog or e-newsletter.

You might also want to consider creating a special project for the intern, such as a marketing campaign for a new service or a rollout plan for a new product. If you have any pro bono clients, assigning interns to spearhead the project can give them valuable leadership skills and more “real world” experience.

Finally, don’t feel like you have to reinvent your internship program year after year. You can have current interns play a role in training new ones, either by writing up guidelines, videotaping a procedure or contributing to an intern manual. Also, ask for feedback on the intern program during and at the conclusion of their time with your company.

Fortunately, as a small business owner, you may be better equipped to manage interns than a large company would be. Your agility can allow you to offer your interns a wide variety of experiences while also providing more guidance and structure in comparison in a larger company. What types of programs/work do you typically assign interns? Share your recommendations with the SBOC community below.

Five Secrets to Making Great Sales Presentations

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:40:50 GMT

Small business and sales go hand in hand. Indeed, it is impossible to be a small business owner without learning a thing or two about sales in the process. But that said, it doesn’t always follow that making sales comes easy, because for some people it most certainly does not.

The good news is that sales is one of those things that, even if it doesn’t come naturally, can be learned with a bit of effort. This is especially true for those all-important presentations. Small business folks make sales presentations all of the time, whether it is a pitch to a prospective client, a sales call, a speech, or a PowerPoint and/or Prezi presentation with all the bells and whistles, all of which begs the question:

Are there secrets to giving a great sales presentation?

You bet. This is something I study a lot – not only is giving speeches one of my own profit centers but in my line of work I am fortunate enough to get to meet and interview some of the top speakers and presenters out there.

Here are some top tips from the pros:

Peter Handal is the president, CEO and chairman of Dale Carnegie Training. You probably have heard the name Dale Carnegie from the bestselling book How to Win Friends and Influence People (over five million copies sold!). Carnegie was one of the best public speakers ever and today the company that carries his name trains millions of people across the globe. According to Handal, there are several things that go into making a great presentation:

Get to the Point: “Right from the start, state your main points in a direct way in order to best express your message.”
Be Confident: “Whether presenting a proposal or speech, by simply being confident in your convictions you can ensure to make a positive impact on your audience,” he told me. (And I will add, if you lack confidence, fake it till you make it).
Listen: “In order to become a great public speaker, one half of the battle is talking while the other half is being a good listener.”
Know Your Audience: “When giving a speech, I always wander around the audience before a talk, or do research on them before I present, so that I know who they are and what they’re interested in.”
Be Overly Prepared: “By doing your research and knowing the audience’s expectations, you will always be prepared to answer any questions they may have.”

And finally, here is a Carnegie tip that is worth its weight in gold: “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Click here to read more articles from small business expert Steve Strauss.

One of the best presenters I have ever met is super nice guy Tony Little. If you have ever been surfing TV at night and come across a pony-tailed, highly-enthusiastic man selling exercise equipment, that is Tony Little. How good is he? Little’s infomercials and stints on HSN have generated over $3 billion in sales (yes, that’s with a B.) So when he speaks about how to make a good presentation, we should listen.

Here is what he says: “Enthusiasm sells!” By watching Little on TV, you know he lives by this advice. He’s highly enthusiastic, and while that is of course a big part of his personality, Little says it is also a big part of his success. He suggests that being highly enthusiastic is infectious and that it infuses people with the confidence to buy from you.

Another one of the top presenters of our time was the late, great Steve Jobs. Jobs did all sorts of things well, and one of those was making presentations. In fact, one of the best books you can pick up on this subject is The

Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. It is chock-full of all sorts of good ideas, but two in particular warrant your attention right now:

Don’t stuff your deck with words: A Jobs keynote was conspicuous by the lack of words and bullet points in his PowerPoint presentations. What you saw instead where pictures, and even then, just a few. This forced people to pay attention to what he said and not be reading the slide.
Keep them in suspense: Jobs would always tease the audience and then say, “just one more thing” and then make the big pitch. Remember, a great presentation, like a great story, has a beginning, middle and end.

Which brings me to,

Tony Robbins. Somehow, some way, I ended up at a Tony Robbins event in the mid-80’s. At that event, he made me believe that I could walk on hot coals. And I did. To this day, I still don’t know how that happened.

But what I do know is that Robbins is a gifted presenter and salesman. Robbins says that a key ingredient to any great sales pitch is the story. “People love to hear stories,” he says, and if the story has a point relevant to the point you are trying to make, they will hang on your every word to hear the outcome.

And after that, they will end up buying from you (or maybe walking on 20 feet of burning embers) but either way, you will have made a great impression.

What your secrets to a successful presentation? Share them with the SBOC community below.

About Steve Strauss

Six Ways to Make Your Small Business Brainstorms Better

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:20:42 GMT

Compare these two definitions of “brainstorming”:

Merriam Webster defines brainstorming as a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group.

By contrast, the Oxford Dictionary defines brainstorming as a moment in which one is suddenly unable to think clearly or act sensibly.

Note the difference. While brainstorming can spark innovative business ideas or solutions – that does not always happen. In some cases, a group setting can make employees feel intimated or hesitant to share their thoughts with their colleagues. In other cases, employees may view these group think tanks as boring and a waste of time.

Regardless of how you view brainstorms, here are some common reasons they fail:

The facilitator leading the session is unable to foster a positive, energetic atmosphere.
Participants spend more time trying to one-up each other than building on each other’s ideas.
The meeting organizer has not laid the (important) ground rule that criticism and negative commentary on others’ ideas should be banned.
Employees feel compelled to talk even when they do not have any contributions to make.
The person leading the meeting is intent with participants agreeing with his or her ideas rather than coming up with their own.

So how do you get a brainstorm to work? Here are some simple steps:

Prior to the session, send out an invitation stating the focus of the brainstorm, usually including more information is better so that participants can prepare in advance.
Invite a diverse group, such as a mix of junior and senior staff; people from multiple disciplines with a common concern; and, perhaps, a “wild card” – someone who can add a fresh, unbiased perspective, preferably somebody who is a lower-level employee or even an intern.
Remember that the main goal of a brainstorming session is to generate as many ideas as possible. Better yet, have the brainstorm facilitator keep the momentum going by pushing for more ideas, similar to the way an auctioneer would push for a higher bid.
Getting a large number of ideas requires that the leader keep up the pace and actively push people to share their ideas without self- or group-imposed censorship.
Don’t be afraid of occasional silence – especially when brainstorming with a smaller group. If people spend part of the meeting gathering their ideas and providing thoughtful suggestions, you may end up with more sophisticated ideas.
If you are able to choose an idea to pursue by the end of the meeting, assign someone to spearhead the effort and schedule a follow-up meeting.

In addition to what’s listed above, there are also more sophisticated approaches to brainstorming that might be useful for your small business. These include:

“Brainwriting” involves employees building on each other’s ideas. One way to implement it is to have group members write their ideas on paper and then exchange their lists with others on the team for idea expansion. Another possibility is to create a bulletin board – on a wall or online – where a basic topic is posted and participants can add suggestions and comment on each other’s posts.
Add a “what if” scenario to your problem-solving session, for example, what if a new competitor entered our market; what if we lost a key member of our leadership team; what if we no longer had our main revenue driver, etc.? Thinking this way may allow you to look at your company in a new light.
Solo brainstorming is often used in companies with a culture that encourages brainstorming on a daily basis. A person can write one idea each day on an index card and, at the end of the month, shuffle them around and combine ideas.

When done right, brainstorming can be applied to any number of issues a company encounters, including – saving money, increasing profits, inventing innovative new products and services, creating marketing campaigns, retaining staff and more. However, if you want employees to continue to be enthusiastic about participating in this process, be sure that you are committed to putting some of the ideas into action. This way, they know they are making meaningful contributions to your company.

Business Coaching – Not Just for Big Businesses

updates@sbcommunity.bankofamerica.com — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:50:31 GMT

Broadly speaking, business coaches provide expert guidance and advice to help businesses and employees achieve their goals, but there are many types of coaches who have specific areas of expertise, ranging from small business coaches to executive coaches to career coaches to work-life balance coaches. For business-specific coaches, there is an exclusive 1,000 member Worldwide Association of Business Coaches that has set certification standards and exists solely for business-related coaching. If you’re considering hiring a coach for your small business, the first thing you need to ask yourself is who within your organization should be coached? Is it your sales team, a high-impact senior executive, or even yourself? To help determine this, check out the three different types of executive coaching options below:

Sales Team

Sales coaching typically focuses on communication style and goal setting for people in sales roles. This type of coaching can also focus on maximizing contact management tools, creating attention getting sales presentations, evaluating potential markets and understanding team dynamics. Further, companies that provide coaching to less experienced salespeople can expect to see an average of a 17 percent increase in sales revenue and productivity, according to a study from the Sales Executive Council (SEC).

Senior Managers

Senior managers may need a boost in areas such as leadership skills, strategic planning, marketing and career pathing. When determining which senior managers need to be coached, small business owners may first want to assess which key employees are most receptive to the idea. In fact, an AON consulting survey showed that 58 percent of all organizations feel they are faced with leadership shortages.

The Boss

As a business owner, you may consider yourself the unofficial coach of the office. While this may be true, it doesn’t mean you can necessarily be objective about yourself. An executive coach can be a refreshing alternative to employees providing reviews on their boss, especially if they feel they need to soft-pedal constructive feedback. By contrast, a coach knows he or she has been hired to tell you the good, the bad and the ugly.

For example, you may be a micromanager who gets so caught up in the smallest daily details that you’ve lost sight of the big picture. A coach can help by providing advanced time management skills and analyzing your delegation alternatives. Or, perhaps your goals are grandiose, like spinning off your expertise into a book or a television show. A coach can help you create a step-by-step strategic plan to achieve these goals.

As the owner of your small business, you may be very aware of your strengths but not your weaknesses. Working with a coach may help you maximize your strengths and get some balance into your life so that you’re always able to maximize your time and energy spent on running your small business.

Finding a coach

If you decide to look into using into a business coach, bear in mind that a coach’s knowledge of organizational behavior and management may be more important than specialized expertise in your industry. In fact, coaching experience in a diverse variety of industries, company sizes and markets may be ideal. He or she will be able to share best practices that are applicable to your company and industry. You should look for a coach with certification in specific assessment tools and knowledge of executive job functions.

Coaches’ billing rates may vary, according to a Harvard Business Review report, executives coaches charge $200 to $3,500 per hour for their services. You should expect a typical engagement to last six months to several years and have weekly or biweekly meetings.

Whether you’re seeking to increase sales, groom managers for company leadership or refine your own vision for the company, coaches can do more than give you a few pointers. They can help you devise and execute a winning strategy for your company’s future. Have you ever used an executive coach? How was your experience? Share your thoughts with the SBOC community below.