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Who’s on #Smallbizchat March 2019

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#Smallbizchat is a weekly conversation where small business owners can get answers to their questions. The focus of #Smallbizchat is to end small business failure by helping participants succeed as your own boss. 

Please join us live on Twitter every Wednesday from 8-9 pm ET. Here’s how: follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter and follow the hashtag #Smallbizchat and click here for directions to join the weekly conversation. 

In March, we will be covering a lot of topics, including How to Identify Which Social Media Networks are Right for Your Business, How to Protect Your Small Business from Fraud, and How to Lead with Work/Life Balance. March 20th is our special #Smallbizchat LIVE, which is streamed live on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and we’ll discuss The Few Numbers That Make All the Difference in Business, Building a Business Around Your Lifestyle, and How to Sell a Unique Product to a New Market.

Here is a list of who is on #Smallbizchat in March:

March 6th – How to Identify Which Social Media Networks are Right for Your Business with Adrienne Brown, @adriennejmedia

Adrienne Brown is the Chief Digital Strategist of Adrienne J Media, a Digital Marketing agency located in Atlanta, Georgia. She has 13+ years of marketing and advertising experience and has worked with brands like African Ancestry, National Black Arts Festival and the Keisha Lance Bottoms for Mayor Campaign. Adrienne has a passion for all things digital and for helping fellow small businesses succeed. You can learn more at http://adriennejmedia.com/.

March 13th – Protecting Your Small Business from Fraud with Tiffany Couch, @TheTiffanyCouch

Tiffany Couch is CEO and founder of Acuity Forensics, a nationally recognized forensic accounting firm. Her book, “The Thief in Your Company,” explores the financial and emotional impact of fraud. You can learn more at https://acuityforensics.com/.

 

March 20th – #Smallbizchat LIVE on Facebook with Ellen Rohr, Donna Maria Coles Johnson, and David Weiss

The Few Numbers that Make All the Difference in Business with Ellen Rohr, @ellenrohr

Ellen Rohr is an owner of ZOOM DRAIN and Sewer Franchising, a Ziglar Certified Legacy trainer and the author un-fussy business books, including Where Did the Money Go? and The Weekend Biz Plan. Learn more at https://ellenrohr.com/tag/zoom-drain/

Building a Business Around Your Lifestyle, Donna Maria Coles Johnson @donnamaria

Donna Maria is an author, blogger, and the host of the popular Indie Business Podcast. Donna Maria started her professional career in a traditional job as an attorney at a Fortune 500 company in her hometown of Washington, DC. After several years practicing law, she left the legal field to pursue her passion for empowering women to maximize their potential through small business ownership. In the years since, Donna Maria founded the Indie Business Network, a trade organization providing entrepreneurial training, mentoring, and product liability services to American Makers. Learn more at www.donnamaria.com

How to Sell a Unique Product to a New Market, David Weiss @EdibleSelfie

David Weiss was born in NYC and has a passion for bringing new products into this world. He enjoys selling face to face as well as at scale. He is the co-founder of Selffee, the first to market edible photo booth. Learn more at www.selff.ee

 

March 27thHow to Lead with Work/Life Balance, Donnie Hutchinson @Donnie_Hutch

Donnie Hutchinson is the leading first responder work-life balance speaker and eLearning coach. He teaches firefighters, police, EMTs, and hospital staff how to align their day-to-day behaviors with their priorities in life in order to achieve a better work/life balance. Learn more at www.donniehutchinson.com.

Do you have what it takes to be a guest on #Smallbizchat?

You must be a small business owner, author, or subject matter expert to appear as a guest on #Smallbizchat. This chat is focused on educating our business community. Once your topic is selected, you will be required to submit 12 questions and answers in paragraph form to demonstrate your expertise. For details on how to submit your information to be a guest on #Smallbizchat click here.

The post Who’s on #Smallbizchat March 2019 appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.


Who’s on #Smallbizchat April 2019

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#Smallbizchat is a weekly conversation where small business owners can get answers to their questions. The focus of #Smallbizchat is to end small business failure by helping participants succeed as your own boss. 

Please join us live on Twitter every Wednesday from 8-9 pm ET. Here’s how: follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter and follow the hashtag #Smallbizchat and click here for directions to join the weekly conversation. 

In April, we will be covering a lot of topics, including How to Be a Successful Mompreneur in Business, 3 Categories of Business Failures and How to Deal with Them, and How to Successfully Scale Your Business. April 17th is our special #Smallbizchat LIVE, which is streamed live on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and we’ll discuss Online Marketing Secrets, How to Use a Book to Promote Your Business, and How to Drive Retail Sales.

Here is a list of who is on #Smallbizchat in April:

Ronda JacksonApril 3rd – How to Be a Successful Mompreneur in Business with Ronda Jackson, @designsby_decor

Ronda Jackson, Founder and Chief Workplace Stylist of Decor Interior Design, Inc., is a true American success story. Born in a west-side Chicago project tenement as one of fifteen children, Ronda has overcome many hurdles. The savvy entrepreneur and single mother of two has successfully grown her small business into a multi-million-dollar firm that has been named within Fortune Magazine’s Top 100. You can learn more at www.designsbydecor.com.

Matthew Neill DavisApril 10th – 3 Categories of Business Failures and How to Deal with Them with Matthew Neill Davis, @MattNeillDavis

Matthew Neill Davis is an author, speaker and attorney. He owns and manages Davis Law, PLLC, a firm dedicated to helping business owners make smart business decisions. The firm finds solutions to pressing problems and issues that business owners encounter, and runs custom legal departments for businesses and nonprofits. They use the comprehensive, proprietary systems Davis developed while serving as general counsel for a range of companies. Davis Law has made the Law Firm 500 three times as one of the fastest-growing law firms in the U.S. Davis lives in Enid, Oklahoma with his wife and five children. His new book is The Art of Preventing Stupid: How to Build a Stronger Business Strategy Through Better Risk Management (An Inc. Original, April 2, 2019). Learn more at matthewneilldavis.com.

April 17th – #Smallbizchat LIVE on Facebook with Neil Patel, Stephanie Chandler, and Romina Brown

Online Marketing Secrets with Neil Patel, @neilpatel

Neil Patel is a New York Times best selling author. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. He was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations. Learn more at neilpatel.com

How to Use a Book to Promote Your Business with Stephanie Chandler, @Steph__Chandler

Stephanie Chandler is the author of several books including The Nonfiction Book Publishing Plan: The Professional Guide to Profitable Self-Publishing and The Nonfiction Book Marketing Plan: Online and Offline Promotion Strategies to Build Your Audience and Sell More Books. Stephanie is also founder and CEO of the Nonfiction Authors Association, a vibrant educational community for writers, and the Nonfiction Writers Conference, twice-yearly events conducted entirely online. Learn more at http://stephaniechandler.com/

How to Drive Retail Sales with Romina Brown, @ssiconsults

Romina Brown is a founder and CEO with a deep background in strategic planning and integrated marketing — having worked for and with world-renowned CPG, Beauty, Apparel and Real Estate brands. Romina leads a team of executives and project managers in illuminating insights to inform, strategic development and execution of best-in-class programs for our dynamic base of clients. SSI represents some of the largest and fastest growing brands in their respective industries. Learn more at http://ssiconsults.com/

April 24thHow to Successfully Scale Your Business with Leslie Hassler, @YourBizRules

Leslie Hassler is a dynamic author, speaker, and business strategist guiding women-owned, service-based businesses into more profits, cash flow, and success using her unique Scaling Rich Method. Learn more at https://yourbizrules.com/

Do you have what it takes to be a guest on #Smallbizchat?

You must be a small business owner, author, or subject matter expert to appear as a guest on #Smallbizchat. This chat is focused on educating our business community. Once your topic is selected, you will be required to submit 12 questions and answers in paragraph form to demonstrate your expertise. For details on how to submit your information to be a guest on #Smallbizchat click here.

The post Who’s on #Smallbizchat April 2019 appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

#Smallbizchat is LIVE on Facebook May 8th for #SmallBusinessWeek

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#Smallbizchat is a weekly conversation where small business owners can get answers to their questions. The focus of #Smallbizchat is to end small business failure by helping participants succeed as your own boss. 

Please join us live on Twitter every Wednesday from 8-9 pm ET. Here’s how: follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter and follow the hashtag #Smallbizchat and click here for directions to join the weekly conversation. 

May is #SmallBusinessMonth and we celebrate national #SmallBusinessWeek from May 5th to 12th. In honor of this week dedicated to small business, we have a special Facebook Live #SmallBizChat event happening on May 8th.

We are bringing in three guests experts to help us get focused in on sales! So, if you are looking to boost your sales and marketing so you can grow your business, you won’t want to miss this LIVE event.

Here is a list of who is joining us on May 8th:

How to Hire Your First Salesperson with Suzanne Paling, @suzannepaling

Suzanne Paling is a recognized leader in sales management who has over 25 years of experience in sales management consulting and coaching. She has helped more than 55 companies improve their sales performance and processes. Clients include product and service firms in the manufacturing, software, publishing, distribution, medical, and construction industries. Docurated selected Suzanne’s blog as one of their “Top 50 Sales Management Blogs.” She writes for Entrepreneur.com and American Business Magazine, publishes a monthly newsletter and was profiled in The New York Times Small Business column. Suzanne is the author of two award-winning books The Accidental Sales Manager, (Entrepreneur Press) and The Sales Leader’s Problem Solver (Career Press). Learn more here: suzanne.paling@salesmanagementservices.com

 

How to Write Copy that Sells with SaDon Long, @LongSadon

SaDon Long is a Bestselling Author and Founder of SaDon Long Solutions. He Specializes In Developing Sales Campaigns and Copy For Small Businesses. He helps entrepreneurs develop effective strategies to choose the right ads, relationships, and promotions to compete online. www.SaDonLong.com

How to Build a Business You Can Sell with Ash Shukla, @Ashshuklabiz

Ash Shukla moved to the US from India in 1989, with just $20 in his pocket and not a word of English and today he’s become a 7-figure business success story. He is an Amazon best-selling author with his book “Sell Like Crazy.” He is a nationally recognized speaker who built a successful financial services business, which he recently sold.  Today Ash is passionate about helping small business owners build successful businesses they can sell and realize their dreams.  For more information visit https://www.ashshukla.com/

Would you like to be a guest on #Smallbizchat?

If you are a small business owner, author, or subject matter expert, we’d love to have you appear as a guest on #Smallbizchat. This chat is focused on educating our business community. Once your topic is selected, you will be required to submit 12 questions and answers in paragraph form to demonstrate your expertise. For details on how to submit your information to be a guest on #Smallbizchat click here.

The post #Smallbizchat is LIVE on Facebook May 8th for #SmallBusinessWeek appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

Who’s on #Smallbizchat June 2019

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#Smallbizchat is a weekly conversation where small business owners can get answers to their questions. The focus of #Smallbizchat is to end small business failure by helping participants succeed as your own boss. 

Please join us live on Twitter every Wednesday from 8-9 pm ET. Here’s how: follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter and follow the hashtag #Smallbizchat and click here for directions to join the weekly conversation. 

In June, we will be covering a lot of topics, including How to Be a Better Salesperson in Your Small Business, How to Use Video to Rehumanize Your Business, and How to Protect the Intellectual Property in Your Small Business. June 16th is our special #Smallbizchat LIVE, which is streamed live on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and we’ll discuss How to Grow a Product-Based Business, How to Prepare Your Business for Digital Transformations, and How to Raise Smallbiz Kids.

Here is a list of who is on #Smallbizchat in June:

June 5th – How to Be a Better Salesperson in Your Small Business with Mike Adams, @MikeAdamsSales

Sales expert, Mike Adams taught himself storytelling ‘on the job’ while selling and managing sales teams for international corporations Schlumberger, Siemens, Nokia and Halliburton. Since 2014, he has been helping companies find and develop their own stories and winning more business through his storytelling consulting practice. He is the author of Seven Stories, Every Salesperson Must Tell. Mike is based in Melbourne, Australia. Learn more at www.thestoryleader.com

June 12th – How to Use Video to Rehumanize Your Business with Ethan Beute, @EthanBeute

Ethan Beute is Vice President of Marketing at BombBomb and author of Rehumanize Your Business: How Personal Videos Accelerate Sales and Improve Customer Experience. (Wiley, April 2019) He has collected and told personal video success stories in hundreds of blog posts, webinars, podcasts, and stage presentations. Learn more at https://bombbomb.com/

April 17th – #Smallbizchat LIVE on Facebook with Amber Malcom, Andrew Au, and Tamara Zantell

Amber MalcomHow to Grow a Product-Based Business with Amber Malcom, @shabbychickcleaners

Amber Malcom, JD is CEO of Shabby Chick Natural Products. She started the company after a personal quest to find 100% natural cleaning products. Today she sells over two dozen household products made from all natural ingredients. She has a 65-hundred square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Duncan, OK where she lives with her husband and children. Her products have been featured on the Home Shopping Network, and they are sold all over the country. Learn more at www.ShabbyChickCleaners.com

Andrew AuHow to Prepare Your Business for Digital Transformation with Andrew Au, @InterceptCanada

Andrew Au is the co-founder of INTERCEPT, a strategic management consultancy based in Toronto and Boston. When companies like Microsoft, FedEx, and 3M want to accelerate their digital transformation journey, they call Andrew. Referred to by Forbes as a “millennial expert,” Andrew Au is a modern business leader who helps global blue-chip brands respond to the new culture and nature of work. Andrew offers dynamic keynotes, interactive workshops and custom research studies for a diverse set of organizations including Microsoft, Harley Davidson, Intuit and a wide variety of trade associations. Learn more at https://interceptgroup.com/

Tamara ZantellHow to Raise Smallbiz Kids with Tamara Zantell, @tamarazantell

Tamara Zantell is Founder of Raising A Mogul, LLC and the CEO of RAM Brand Management, a strategic brand management & consulting firm The mission is simple, give parents the confidence, knowledge, and tools they need to Raise Young Moguls. Learn more at raisingamogul.com

Andrea EvansJune 26th – How to Protect the Intellectual Property in Your Small Business with Andrea Evans, @evansiplaw

Andrea Evans is the owner of the IP law firm, The Law Firm of Andrea Hence Evans, LLC. She is a graduate of George Washington Law School, Spelman College and Georgia Tech. Learn more at www.evansiplaw.com/book

 

Do you have what it takes to be a guest on #Smallbizchat?

You must be a small business owner, author, or subject matter expert to appear as a guest on #Smallbizchat. This chat is focused on educating our business community. Once your topic is selected, you will be required to submit 12 questions and answers in paragraph form to demonstrate your expertise. For details on how to submit your information to be a guest on #Smallbizchat click here.

The post Who’s on #Smallbizchat June 2019 appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

How to Get Funding For Your Small Business

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mark-prosserEvery week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Mark Prosser. Marc Prosser is the co-founder and publisher of Fit Small Business, a rapidly growing website that reaches over 600,000 small business readers a month. Started in 2013, Fit Small Business serves as the “Consumer Reports” for small business owners. Prior to starting Fit Small Business, Marc was the CMO of FXCM for ten years. He joined as FXCM’s first employee and grew the company to over 700 employees.

SmallBizLady: Can I qualify for a business loan?

Marc Prosser: Small business lenders are generally looking for your business to be operating for 2 years, for your business to be generating an average revenue of $10,000 per month, and for you to have a personal credit score above 650 with no recent bankruptcies or tax liens. Essentially, they want your business to have a track record and to prove its ability to generate consistent revenue. They also want to know that you have a history of paying your bills on time. If you meet those qualifications, you’ll probably find lenders willing to work with you.

SmallBizLady: What’s a personal guarantee? And if why am I asked to personally guarantee a business loan?

Marc Prosser: A personal guarantee means you’re agreeing to pledge your personal income and assets to back a loan. When you personally guarantee a loan, you and your stuff (your home, your car, your accounts, etc.) is on the hook for the loan. If you default on the loan, the lender can collect from you personally. The reason small business lenders generally ask you to personally guarantee their loans is because it makes them safer. Small business loans are risky. If a business goes under, there typically isn’t too much of value to collect on to recoup losses on a loan. A personal guarantee does more to ensure the lender will be repaid.

SmallBizLady: Does the government loan money to small businesses?

Marc Prosser: Kind of. There are popular small business loans that people refer to as SBA loans. These are loans or lines of credit that get a guarantee from the Small Business Administration. The SBA sets rules that ensure SBA loans have very low interest rates and long repayments terms, which make them very affordable. But you still get SBA loan from a traditional small business lender, like a bank or credit union. You apply with the lender and they need to approve and underwrite your loan. You don’t interact with the SBA at all, in most cases. If the lender thinks your loan might qualify for the SBA guarantee, they will seek it from the SBA.

SmallBizLady: What are my options if I can’t qualify for a traditional small business loan?

Marc Prosser: If you haven’t been in business very long, don’t have perfect personal credit, or are unable to provide enough collateral for a traditional loan, there are plenty of options. Startups, for example, can raise money from family and friends, borrow against the equity in their home, seek angel or venture capital funding, or do a rollover for business startups. More established business can look into invoice factoring, purchase order financing, or revenue based loans. There are lots of niche financing options out there for small businesses and you can usually find a lender willing to focus their lending decision on your strengths.

SmallBizLady: What are rollovers for business startups?

Marc Prosser: A rollover for business startups, which is also called a ROBS, way for startups to invest some of their retirement savings in their startup without paying early withdrawal penalties of income taxes. It’s not a loan and it isn’t cashing out your retirement account. Essentially, you roll the funds over into an new 401k, that 401k buys shares in your startup. Your new 401k now owns shares in your business and your business has access to the capital it needs. A ROBS can fund 100% of your business or be used in combination with more traditional startup financing like a home equity loan or SBA loan. The nice thing about a ROBS is, unlike a loan, you don’t have to qualify for them and they can make funds available to your startup relatively quickly.

SmallBizLady: Let’s say I need a business loan. How do I go about finding the best small business loan for me and my business?

Marc Prosser: Finding the best loan for your small business will require you to know what you’re coming to the table with. Before you start submitting applications, you’ll want to answer a few questions to help narrow things down. How long have you been operating? How much revenue do you generate annually and how much of that is profit & owner salary? Do you have collateral? What is your credit score? How much are you looking to borrow? What will those funds be used for? How quickly do you need funding?

SmallBizLady: Why is it important to review my finances before applying for a small business loan?

Marc Prosser: Applying for small business financing can be time consuming. By carefully reviewing your finances prior to shopping for a business loan, you can eliminate a lot of possible lenders and loans.  And that will do two things for you: 1) It will save you from committing time, energy, and attention to loans you don’t want or wouldn’t qualify for. 2) It will allow you to more effectively compare similar loans and choose the best one for you.

SmallBizLady: How much do small business loans cost?

Marc Prosser: The cost of the loans vary widely and depend on your strength as a borrower, your business’s financial health, and the use of the loan. I like to think of business loans in three general groups: short term loans (usually under 18 months), medium term loans (generally up to 5 years), and long term loans (usually 7-25 years). Short term loans can have APRs that start at 40% and go to 85%+. Medium term loans will typically have APRs that range from 11% – 28%. Long term loans can have APRs from 5% – 9%. In general, most small business financing tends to fall in one of those ranges.

SmallBizLady: How much do personal finances factor into small business borrowing?

Marc Prosser: Personal finances play a significant role in the cost majority of small business borrowing, especially when you’re a startup or young business. Your credit score, personal debt to income ratio, and net worth all weigh heavily on an underwriter’s lending decision. That’s why it’s so important not to neglect your personal finances. If you expect you’ll need to borrow for your business, it makes sense to give your personal finance a check up.

SmallBizLady: Is there a common mistake that small business owners make with borrowing?

Marc Prosser: One mistake I see, especially from newer businesses and first time borrowers, is thinking (incorrectly) that banks are there to make loans. They’re not. Banks have the same goal you do: make money. The way they do that is by making safe loans that they’re confident will be repaid. What does that mean for small business owners? When you seek financing, you need to show the lender you have a specific plan for the funds you want to borrow, that those plans will increase your revenues by a specific amount, and that you’ll be able to afford all current business expenses plus the new loan payment (with room to spare). You have to come in prepared with all your necessary financials documents, a solid business plan with complete financial projections,

SmallBizLady: How much should a small business borrow?

Marc Prosser: The short answer is as much and little as necessary. You don’t want to pay interest on capital you don’t have a productive use for. You also don’t want to miss out on growth opportunities because you’re too risk averse to borrow. Small business loans come in all size, from a few hundred dollars to $20MM and more. But in most cases, a lender will limit your borrowing to some percentage of the revenue you have or the value of an asset you’re looking to buy. Many short term lenders will limit your borrowing to 10-15% of your annual revenue. If you’re borrowing to purchase a larger asset (like real estate), the lender might only let you borrow 65-90% of the value of that asset. In that way, a lender will typically set a maximum borrowing limit for you.

SmallBizLady: Is there ever a reason why a business shouldn’t borrow money?

Marc Prosser: There are countless reasons a small business should avoid borrowing money, but in the end they all come down to the same question: Will the borrowing help my business grow? If you’ve tested an idea and have high confidence that the idea can grow your business’s revenue, borrowing funds can be a great way to accelerate that growth. On the other hand, borrowing money to test an unproven idea can be very risky and, in most cases, completely unnecessary. Testing an idea can often be done affordably with existing revenue or some small amount of seed money. Once you’re ready to scale a promising idea, then you can look into borrowing.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/1hZeIlz

The post How to Get Funding For Your Small Business appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

How To Buy a Small Business That Is Right For You

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Nunzio Presta - HeadshotEvery week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Nunzio Presta, @mybizon.

Nunzio is the founder and CEO of BizON. BizON is a online marketplace where people can buy, sell and grow businesses or franchises every day. The BizON marketplace has been doing a terrific job attracting & connecting engaged buyers and sellers by providing them with a positive user experience that is seamless, resourceful and supportive. BizON maintains its belief that loving and having passion for what you do is vital and looks to their marketplace as the go-to search engine for anyone looking for the business or franchise of their dreams and the channel where members can easily promote the sale of their business for those looking to make an exit and search for qualified buyers. For more information visit: https://buyandsellabusiness.com

 

Smallbizlady: WHY WOULD SOMEONE BUY A SMALL BUSINESS?

Nunzio Presta:There are three main reasons a person becomes a business owner: Professional Independence, Financial Reward, and/or Personal Fulfillment. These all apply, but there can be other perks – including possibility of faster return on your investment (ROI) and offering a product or service that is already proven in the marketplace. Ask yourself: Do I prefer a ‘ready-made business’ versus creating something from scratch? Do I prefer working with a system to be completely independent? Do I have problems following policies built by others? The answers to these questions will guide you to determine if buying a small business is right for you.

 

Smallbizlady: HOW DO YOU KNOW BUYING AN EXISTING BUSINESS IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Nunzio PrestaIf you are energetic, tenacious, and open to pursuing opportunities in niche industries, then it’s right for you! Some of the pros for buying an existing business include:

Track Record – Existing businesses have an established customer base, employee and support team, a business plan in place and operating systems.

Income—The best acquisition targets are likely to already have solid sales and profits. So, you hit the ground running with cash flow.

Financing— It is often easier to secure financing for a small business because the assets of the company you are buying can be used as collateral and the track record demonstrates the performance you can expect.

 

Smallbizlady: WHAT ARE THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING AN EXISTING BUSINESS?

Nunzio Presta: First, the business should be established and growing slowly with recurring customers. This is the perfect recipe to grow the business and take advantage of a stable opportunity, while reducing risk. Then, I cannot stress Due Diligence enough: Examine closely the reputation and the numbers associated with the financials and projections of the business. Finally, take the time to forecast the future. The business may look attractive now, but how about 5 or 10 years from now? What are market trends or industry changes that are going to provide opportunities or create threats for your success?

Smallbizlady: IS THE ROI ON PURCHASING AN EXISTING BUSINESS GREATER THAN OTHER INVESTMENT VEHICLES?

Nunzio Presta: This depends largely on the amount you have in cash vs. the amount you need to borrow. The annual return on an existing business is often better than traditional investments which usually yield under 10%. Depending on the business, most existing business purchases within the #BizON marketplace yield an annual ROI of 25%+. However, a poor choice can cause the acquisition to become a sinkhole for your time, money and other resources. There is no substitute for doing your due diligence when it comes to answering this question.

 

Smallbizlady: HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU PAY FOR A SMALL BUSINESS?

Nunzio Presta: The purchase price of a small business is usually based on a multiplier of the most recent year’s EBITDA. The multiplier you will use depends on the industry of the business you are buying. However, it truly comes down to your budget an how much you are willing to spend! As a guideline, #BizON members rely on a benchmarking tool that shares what the average asking price is per industry. This tool will help you to compare and analyze businesses you are interested in.

 

Smallbizlady: WHAT KIND OF PROFESSIONAL TEAM DO YOU RECOMMEND WHEN CONSIDERING TO BUY AN EXISTING BUSINESS?

Nunzio Presta: First, have the financial professionals in your corner. Make sure you have a good banker who is familiar with small business and who can be flexible to your growing needs. Next, have an accountant who is familiar with your situation and can help guide the purchase and growth of your business. Then, make sure you have an attorney who is familiar with the small business marketplace and the industry you are buying into. All these professionals will cover the most vital issues and answer the most pressing questions during the acquisition.

 

Smallbizlady: WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WOULD WANT A SELLER TO EXPECT FROM A BUYER?

Nunzio Presta: The transitioning period is one of the most important things a seller should expect from a buyer. A buyer should let the seller stay onboard for at least 3-6 months in order to ensure the transition is smooth. Remember, as a new owner, you are not familiar with absolutely everything – all of the processes, policies, and financial models. Also, the reputation of the business is often critical to maintain your customer base. Sellers should be prepared to ease the transition for you.

 

Smallbizlady: WHEN NEGOTIATING THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT, WHAT IS ONE KEY TERM TO KNOW?

Nunzio Presta: The key term to know is whether you are purchasing the assets or the shares (stock) of the business. If you are purchasing assets, you will be able to want. The downside to purchasing assets is that the purchase price may be higher because of transactional considerations, including transfer of title. You may lose “carry-forward” tax benefits and other tax credits. When you purchase shares, it is easier to continue operations, and you can avoid taxes associated with transfer of title. But, you will also acquire all of the businesses existing problems, including employees you may not want to keep. Many of the problems will be disclosed, but many also are undisclosed when you purchase them.

Smallbizlady: IS BUYING AN EXISTING BUSINESS RISKY?

Nunzio Presta: It’s definitely less risky than starting your own business. When you consider that at least 50% of businesses will fail before 5 years time, a proven business can look very attractive. When you buy an existing business, it is already established – with customers, a business plan, and (usually) cash flow! This allows you to focus improvements to the business and growth. Of course, owning your own business does have risks and you should always seek the advice of your financial and legal team before you buy.

 

Smallbizlady: WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS TO BUYING A FRANCHISE VS. BUYING AN EXISTING BUSINESS?

Nunzio PrestaPart of the attraction of the franchise business model is of course, the system. However, to work well, the system must work for you!

Pros to buying a franchise include:

  • An operating system that is easily replicated, formal training programs, marketing and advertising plans.
  • Franchises are usually easier to obtain financing for – because they have a proven model, support, and track record.
  • Purchasing power with suppliers that can translate to significant discounts
  • An existing support staff who is experienced in handling issues specific to the business.

Cons to buying a franchise include:

  • You are subject to the rules of the franchise and you must follow them. For instance, if you’re a franchisee of a certain hardware store, you must carry certain items for inventory.
  • The legal documents are complex. Buyers must be presented with the FDD before they can purchase a franchise business.
  • Your local reputation is only as good as the franchisors
  • You are limited in the products and services you can offer.

Smallbizlady: WHERE WOULD YOU LOOK FOR EXISTING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES?

Nunzio Presta: On the #BizON marketplace of course! BizON has diversified opportunities from various industries from across Canada, the USA & Australia. The marketplace is doing a great job attracting and connecting engaged buyers and sellers by providing them with a positive user experience that is seamless, resourceful and supportive. Join now for free – mybizon.com/join

Smallbizlady: IF YOU HAD ONE PIECE OF IMPORTANT ADVICE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Nunzio Presta: Know if you want to purchase a small business or franchise and what the differences are. http://bit.ly/1VN6Bwf. We’ve covered much of this – buying a franchise offers built-in customer base, a proven model, training & support. Buying an independent business gives you more control, but more responsibility – so, there is more opportunity, but more risk! Also, an independent business gets to keep all of its earnings because there are no fees or royalties to pay. Don’t forget to engage your financial and legal team in your purchasing decision once you have decided the kind of business you want to buy.

 

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/1hZeIlz
For more tips on how to start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

The post How To Buy a Small Business That Is Right For You appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

How to Have a Digital Marketing Strategy in Uncertain Times

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How to Have a Digital Marketing Strategy in Uncertain Times social imageLast week, I had a great opportunity to share my latest webinar, Creating a Digital Marketing Strategy in these Uncertain Times as part of the Verizon Small Business Webinar Series. I was so inundated with questions at the end of my talk that I promised to answer the remaining questions this week on my blog. Here are 15 questions and answers on digital marketing success from the Verizon Small Business Webinar Series Q&A session with Melinda Emerson. 

Digital Marketing Strategy Q&A

Q: How do you feel the business environment will change coming out of the pandemic?

A: Digital marketing will be more important than ever. Cashless payments will be even more prevalent. Everyone is spending a lot more time online, which means your digital marketing strategy will be essential to your business success. Your powerful, unique value position is more important now than ever before. Then, focus on your website, landing pages, email list, and nurture sequences to build trust and drive sales.

Q: Are people using email more often now?

A: Yes! According to a new study just released this week by Hubspot, email use is up 50 percent across the board.

Q: I use MailChimp, and I have about 4600 emails on that list. Over the years, I had just kept adding (with their permission), but I was not segmenting them. Is there an efficient way to segment/clean this up without going through each and every one individually? 

A: This is a common issue. My best suggestion for you is to do a 5-7 question survey that helps you find out who is on your list. Offer an incentive for completion such as a free ebook or to be included in a raffle for a bigger gift such as a laptop or iPad. 

Q: We currently utilize LinkedIn Lead Generation Ads, and we see a lot of ghosting when we send emails after they fill out a lead gen form. Do you recommend a better way to reach out to them?

A: There’s a lot of aggressive lead gen activity going on using LinkedIn right now.  People are tired of it. You are probably experiencing the backlash from it. Once you make a connection on LinkedIn, you must personalize all further communication. You need to add value to consistently build trust. Only once you get them to trust you should you make a pitch for the business. If you pitch too quickly, people will run.

Q: How do I check my email Gmail metrics like open clicks, etc.? 

A: The only way I know to check your email metrics on a personal Gmail account is to use the app MixMax. It integrates seamlessly with Gmail and offers marketing automation features like 1-click scheduling, email tracking, templates, CRM sync, direct dial from Gmail, and email sequencing for drip or nurture campaigns. You could also just upgrade to G Suite Mail for Business at $15/month. 

Q: Could you explain what a lead magnet is?

A: A lead magnet is an irresistible free offer that provides a specific chunk of value to a prospect in exchange for their contact information. The goal of the lead magnet is to maximize the number of targeted leads you are getting on your email list for an offer. Here are a few examples: Ebook, Video series, Free Chapters of a Book, Resource List, Checklist.

Q: What software do you recommend for lead magnets?

A: I like Leadpages.com for the development of landing pages to promote your lead magnets on your website.  And for developing your lead magnets, try designrr.io. It’s one of the best tools to create how-to guides, checklists, and ebooks in minutes. You’ll also need email marketing software to send your lead magnet to your prospects. I suggest using constantcontact.com, MailChimp or activecampaign.com 

Q: How do you find the right person to help you with your social media campaign?

A: Talk to other business owners about who they use. Go out to social media to find a recommendation. Upwork.com, LinkedIn, and Twitter are great resources.

Q: I normally send my messages using MailChimp. What message should I send to my customers? I normally book weddings, concerts, proms, wine tasting events, corporate events, birthdays, and airport rides, etc.

A: Look for drive-through activities to share. People are going through a lot right now. Share other kinds of helpful information such as blog articles, recipes, pictures from previous events, fun activities people can still do with their kids at home. By the way, anniversary reminders and birthday greetings are still nice to receive.

Q: As a service producer, what calls-to-action do you recommend?

A: On all your landing pages on your website, you need to tell your visitors exactly what you want them to do—in big, bold, colorful text. My favorite CTAs include: “Get Started Today,” “Buy Now,” “Click to Schedule an Appointment” or “Download Your Free Marketing Guide.” Avoid vague copy like “See Plans” or “Get Pricing.”

Q: What is a good profit margin when we now have to/have to try to offer free shipping?

A: If you are offering free shipping, just make sure it’s not eating all your profit margin. Raise your price to cover the cost.   

Q: What is the best approach to continue sales marketing for an art organization?

A: Art is a luxury purchase. I think you might need to take a social good approach to drive traffic to your website. Either you can donate 10 percent of all sales to a charity to support COVID-19 testing or to support your local health care workers, or try an auction event.  I suggest that you auction off a really pricey piece of art with all of the proceeds to be donated to a pandemic cause.

Q: Do you think this strategy applies well to design consulting services or a nonprofit? 

A: Yes! No matter what you sell, whether it is products or services or even if you are a nonprofit organization, you need a new digital marketing strategy in these uncertain times. Everyone is spending more time online, and you should too. 

Q: Can you elaborate on those different email marketing automation options?

A: Here email a few email options:

  • ConstantContact: Makes its service simple for even the non-techy business owner to use. They have a no contract, 60-day free membership, and offer helpful drag and drop templates. They also have an upgrade service that offers full marketing automation services.
  • Mailchimp: They offer a free plan, with which you can send up to 10,000 emails a month to 2,000 subscribers. Their tools, templates, and built-in CRM are all accessible on this free account. This is a good all-in-one solution. They also have pay-as-you-go options, which work out to be cheaper for low-volume clients, whilst also giving you some included extras such as automation and integration options.
  • G Suite: Google Mail for Business: If you have a Gmail account for personal email, you might want to upgrade to Google’s G Suite Mail for Business. The G Suite Basic Business email accounts drop the ads and allow using a custom email address on your domain. They also offer 30 GB of storage, video, and voice conferencing, secure team messaging, shared calendars, Google Docs, 24/7 support by phone, email, and online, security, and administration options.

Q: What are the most compelling tactics you have seen in your experience for the lowest budget?

A: The most compelling social marketing tactics that I’ve seen work are these five in no particular order.

  1. Long-form blogging (1200-1500 word posts)
  2. Podcasting
  3. Focusing on no more than two social channels
  4. Intro and exit pop-ups on your site
  5. Facebook Ads

Don’t forget to grab your copy of my new Ebook, “How to Recession-Proof Your Small Business.” It will help you with your digital marketing strategy and put you on a path to a successful business post-COVID-19. If you are looking for an agency to handle your content marketing and daily social media marketing, the firm I use is Virtasktic. Tell em SmallBizLady sent you.

The post How to Have a Digital Marketing Strategy in Uncertain Times appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

Is a Recession the Time to Target the Government for Business?

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Is a Recession the Time to Target the Government for Business Social ImageI recently interviewed government contracting expert Carroll Bernard on #Smallbizchat Live, he gave so many juicy tidbits on how to leverage government contracting vehicles right now. His interview was so important I wanted to share it on this blog without edit.  Carroll Bernard is a government market coach and trainer, and the co-founder of Govology.com, an online platform dedicated to teaching small businesses how to win business in the government marketplace. Carroll draws from his experience as a former government buyer and from pursuing and winning government market opportunities for his own small business. For more informationwww.govology.com 

SmallBizLady:  Is now a good time for small businesses to do business with Government Agencies?

Carroll Bernard: Absolutely! In fact, the government market is a great place to look for opportunities at any time, but even more so during a recession. When the economy is not doing well, the government increases its spending to help stimulate economic activity, stabilize businesses, and create and retain jobs. 

In the last great recession that began in 2007, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which ultimately provided over $800 billion in stimulus funds. When a portion of those funds began hitting the contracting offices, I watched how incumbent small business contractors became overwhelmed with opportunities. We were pushing out so many projects that the contractors who frequently did business with the VA through one of our IDIQ contracts stopped bidding on contracts because they were all tapped out.  So here we are again, facing another recession – this time due to COVID-19. The federal government has already rolled out multiple stimulus packages and increased buying activity to fight this pandemic, but we’re not done yet. I’ve been paying close attention to the discussions concerning another infrastructure spending bill. Just last week, there was a proposed $494 billion stimulus bill targeting infrastructure. I don’t believe there has ever been an infrastructure bill of this magnitude. If you look at all of the spendings within ARRA, infrastructure projects accounted for $85 billion (approximately 10% of total ARRA spend). 

Get involved NOW! Don’t wait until you see the money flowing before you get your boat in the water because there is another part of the story I have not mentioned. 

carroll bernard quote


SmallBizLady: What is the danger of people waiting to pursue government contracts? 

Carroll Bernard: Back in 2010, while ARRA spending was still in full swing, I transitioned to the U.S. Small Business Administration. At the SBA, my role was to support small businesses who wanted to get involved with federal contracting. People were flocking in because they saw how much the government was spending while most of their commercial work dried up. They were hoping that government contracts would save their business, but in many cases, they were too late to get involved. It was sad to see small businesses going bankrupt and their owners losing their entire family savings. 

Ever since I’ve been preaching to small businesses to get involved in the government market. Not only does the government market offer a unique opportunity to grow through small business set-aside contracts, but it also provides a way for small businesses to sustain and even flourish during downtimes. 


SmallBizLady: Can a small business of any size sell to the government? 

Carroll Bernard: Yes!!! There is a big misconception that businesses have to be a certain size and have several years behind them before they can sell to government agencies. While that can be a requirement under some government contracts, it is not the case for many government buys. I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes. For example, the owners of one firm I assisted were living on unemployment when they launched their business, but they went on to win millions of dollars within just a couple of years.  

SmallBizLady: How can small businesses who want to get involved in the government market get started?

Carroll Bernard: This is one of the big challenges small businesses face right out of the gate because much of the information out there is misleading, inaccurate, and comes in the form of a “one-size-fits-all” answer. Even well-meaning government websites offer a “one-size-fits-all” pathway, which usually involves: 

  1. Get registered in SAM 
  2. Watch for opportunities published on beta.sam.gov, and 
  3. Get a GSA Contract.  

The problem is, this general approach may work for some small businesses but not others. When businesses look for opportunities only on beta.sam.gov, they are missing out BIG TIME because the majority of individual purchases never get posted there at all.  The first thing I would recommend to anyone considering government contracting is to get some basic understanding of how the government market works BEFORE jumping in full force. As exciting as it may be, I would encourage anyone interested to grasp the big picture of the government market first to understand the buying hierarchy, processes, and contract vehicles the government uses to buy products and services similar to what their company sells. They should also be aware of common myths and misconceptions, and where to look outside of the standard places the government tells you to look. I cover all of this information in a free webinar I offer on Govology called, “Exploring the Government Marketplace For Your Small Business” (https://govology.com/explore). Once a small business understands the big picture of the federal market, they can craft their roadmap and know precisely where to look for the type of opportunities they want to pursue.  Sometimes it’s not even a matter of where you look, but who you know, and who knows you.  By following the approach that’s right for them, businesses will feel more confident and adept at navigating the government market. Some businesses may be able to use their proven sales process outside of the government market to sell their products to the government. Others will have to adapt their existing process, and perhaps even their products or services to match the government’s standards. 

This was a great interview, hopefully, you can pivot and take advantage of a government contracting opportunity. 

Would you like to be a guest on #Smallbizchat Live?

If you are a small business owner, author, or subject matter expert, we’d love to have you appear as a guest on #Smallbizchat LIVE. Submit your name, headshot, Twitter handle, bio, website, topic, and 3 questions and answers in paragraph form to demonstrate your expertise. To submit your materials to be a guest on #Smallbizchat click here.

The post Is a Recession the Time to Target the Government for Business? appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.


How to Run a Successful Multilevel Marketing Business

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SulaimanRahmanEvery week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Sulaiman Rahman, @sulrah. Sulaiman is the founder of UrbanPhilly.com, or UPPN – Urban Philly Professional Network. He was also an African-American Chamber of Commerce Chair. Sulaiman is a Philadelphia native and Penn graduate. He is also currently a Creative Ambassador for philly360 and long-time entrepreneur.

SmallBizLady: What exactly is a Network Marketing or MLM business model?

Sulaiman Rahman: Network marketing’s business model is simply leveraging the power of one-to-one relationships to market and distribute products directly to consumers.  Network Marketing companies empower independent entrepreneurs to monetize the most viral form of marketing, which is word-of-mouth marketing.

SmallBizLady: How do you describe a network marketer?

Sulaiman Rahman: A network marketing professional is someone who leverages his or her social and professional relationships to market, sell and distribute products or services. At the same time, he or she will also be building a team of others who do the same.

SmallBizLady: What are some myths about MLM’s and network marketing?

Sulaiman Rahman:

“It’s a pyramid, where the person at the top makes all the money.”
A good network marketing company rewards leadership, just like any structured business.  Most businesses have a pyramid structure where the people at the top, ie. CEOs, SVPs, VPs, are the highest paid people in the company.  The unique opportunity you have with a Network Marketing   business is that you START at the top of your business, and your income will be dependent on how large of a team you build “below” you.

“You have to join a ground floor company to make the money.”
This is a perpetuated myth used by network marketers who build influence, and jump from company to company, and leverage this myth to recruit people from other Network Marketing companies.  No network marketing company has ever “saturated” a market; it’s just a perception of  “saturation,” not a reality.

“You have to know a lot of people, or be really good at sales to be successful.”
Many good network  marketing companies provide a system and training, so regardless of the size of your network – or ability to sell, you can be successful. Everything else is a learnable skill, and you have an abundance of people to practice networking with.

SmallBizLady: What are the top three principles to build a successful MLM business?

Sulaiman Rahman: You need to focus on helping others to get what they want, and you will get what you want.

K.I.S.S. – Keep It Super Simple!

And remember, everything will rise and fall on LEADERSHIP!

SmallBizLady: I know that successful MLM businesses need a sales force. What is the right way to recruit people to sell for you?
Sulaiman Rahman:

First: Invite people to look at your business proposition with a direct or indirect approach.  A direct approach would be to ask them to look at your business for themselves. An indirect approach is asking someone to look at your business to assist you with recommendations or referrals.  There are many different patterns of language that you can use based on the relationship you have with the prospective recruit.  The invitation process is a very important skill to learn. Your invitation has a lot to do with whether the person will join your team or support your business.

Second: Most people do not join on the first exposure, so fortune lies in the follow-up process.  You must help to advance the prospective recruits understanding of your business on each follow-up interaction.  Focus on building a stronger rapport and relationship along the way.

Third: Use third-party social proof to validate the opportunity and to increase the prospect’s belief that someone like them can be successful with your company.

Fourth: Do a game plan interview and get the person off to a fast start.  How you start a new person has a lot to do with their commitment level and how long they will build the business.  Because network marketing is a voluntary business, the retention of distributors is an important skill to learn.

Fifth: Create a winning environment for your team to grow and for them to feed off the energy and excitement of others.

SmallBizLady: What are some effective ways to cultivate a good client base?

Sulaiman Rahman: Of course the company needs to have a product that creates a valid demand in the marketplace. If that’s the case, you leverage your network, and networks of others, to gain an audience of one or more.  Share the benefits of your products or services,and share stories.  Stories sell and facts tell.

SmallBizLady: How can a network marketer effectively share their new business venture with family and close friends?

Sulaiman Rahman: In most cases, an indirect approach is best for friends and family.  Ask them to support your business and vision by simply committing to take a good look at what you are doing and why you are doing it.  Make it easy for them to say no and remain your friend. Don’t pressure anyone.

SmallBizLady: How can you avoid ending up with “No Friends Left” as you try to build your business?

Sulaiman Rahman: Don’t become weird.  People join some network marketing businesses and get so excited that they don’t separate their business from their personal lives.  Don’t redirect every conversation with your friends to try to recruit them into your business and don’t turn your social media pages into an advertising bulletin board.

SmallBizLady: How can network marketers be strategic with their time?

Sulaiman Rahman: The key is to work by a calendar.  Plan the times you will work your business.  Most Network Marketing companies have tools and events system that allow you to leverage your time by promoting the SYSTEM to do the heavily lifting.

SmallBizLady: What should you do if you hit a rough patch in your MLM business and begin to feel down?

Sulaiman Rahman: It’s important to revisit the reasons why you started the business. It’s also important to commit to personal development by listening and reading inspiring audios and books.  Most people feel down because of the negative thoughts of self-doubt that start to creep into their minds.

SmallBizLady: What is one thing about successful MLM businesses that  most people miss?

Sulaiman Rahman: I think a lot of people miss exactly how important it is to create a winning environment for your team to grow in.  Ordinary people can win in an extraordinary environment.

SmallBizLady: What are the most useful skills you’ve used to achieve the results you have achieved in your businesses?

Sulaiman Rahman:

  • Influence – John C. Maxwell says that a leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less. Everything rises and falls on leaderships, so it’s an essential attribute for success.  Influence is also used to effectively and persuasively communicate the virtues of a good product or service, and to get people to say YES!  We also know that at sales.
  • Skills – There are certain technical skills you need for whatever industry you are a part of, so it’s important to develop those skills.  Although, they are a small fraction of what your success will be predicated on.  You must eventually learn to outsource the things that make the most sense to outsource, so that you can work on the business versus in the business.
  • Focus – In today’s fast paced society, the ability to focus is becoming a rarity.  People are all over the place, and easily distracted.  Time management is a myth, because time is already well managed into 24 hours a day.  FOCUS Management is the challenge for us all.  How to stay FOCUSED, and WHAT to focus on is also a topic in itself. It helps to have mentorship to assist you in this category.
  • Work Ethic – The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.  It’s important to build up your tolerance for work.  If you are doing what you love, you work can become your play.
  • Belief – As an entrepreneur, you are a creator.  You turn intangible ideas into something tangible, and it requires belief!  Not only does belief affect your physiology, but it also has an atmospheric affect that makes the universe start to conspire to that which you believe.
  • Faith – The good book says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” It requires faith to keep working when the results are not immediate.  Entrepreneurship requires faith – the faith to believe even when it seems like believing is not working.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/1hZeIlz

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

 

The post How to Run a Successful Multilevel Marketing Business appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

Content Marketing for your Small Business

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Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET.  This is excerpted from my recent interview with Phil Gerbyshak @PhilGerb.

Phil Gerbyshak is a speaker who never holds a back and leaves it all on the stage, energizing and inspiring audiences to take action immediately.  He is a highly respected speaker, trainer and coach. Phil works with small businesses to build more leads, have more qualified sales conversations and close more business.

SmallBizLady: Does every small business really need to be content marketing?

Phil Gerbyshak: Every business IS content marketing, whether they realize it or not. Saying nothing says a lot about your business.

What does that mean? It means that customers and prospects are looking for your information and more importantly, the solutions to their problems.

You can either create content that helps them solve their problems, you can share content that helps them solve their problems, or they will go somewhere else for the answer to their problems.

SmallBizLady: What are the various types of content marketing that small businesses should do?

Phil Gerbyshak: Video – long form and short form. Longer form content could be in the form of an instructional video or information on how to use or do a product or service for themselves.

You could also interview customers or suppliers or partners in your industry or community.

Shorter form videos can be quick tips, short insights, behind the scenes looks, funny memes or other high value high entertainment clips.

Audio – audio can be podcasts, shows on location, interviews or times when you are interviewed. Anything you can do on video that doesn’t need video is good for audio.

Images – memes, employee photos, in action shots, product or location pictures, before & after or text graphics can be good images.

Text – Anything from an inspirational quote to a written testimonial to a quick tip to a short story to an ebook to an article or an encyclopedia could be effective.

Curated content from others – do you read the morning paper, blogs, listen to the radio, watch tv, read magazines, listen to or read books? Share the insights! 

SmallBizLady: What do we do if we don’t want to be in front of the camera in videos?

Phil Gerbyshak: Get over it! You are the face of your business!

If you really don’t want to be in your videos you can hire a college student or actor to “be you”

You can also take a picture or power point and talk over it.

Do your best to actually show up every now and then in your videos and let people connect with you. Even my most camera-shy clients have eventually gotten comfortable on video.

SmallBizLady: How can small businesses use video to promote their small business with a limited budget?

Phil GerbyshakUse the equipment you already have. Do you have a smart phone? You already have a terrific video camera. Use it!

You will want to get a good microphone. Investing $20 in a clip-on microphone on Amazon.com will make you sound 10 times better.

Use the PSA method to story board your video.

P= powerful point. What is the point of your video? What question will you answer? Lead with it.

S= story or specifics. Do you have a story to back up your point? Tell it! Do you have a specific example? Share it!

A= action. What do you want people to do as a result of your point or story? Tell them.

Bonus: give them hope by telling them what they accomplish as the result of them taking the action.

SmallBizLady: After a small business makes a video, how else can that be used for content marketing?

Phil Gerbyshak: First, extract the mp3 and turn it into a podcast. That means taking the audio and turning it into something people only listen to.

Second, transcribe the video into text. If it’s long it could be an ebook or series of articles. If it’s shorter it can be an article.

Cut up the answers to the questions for individual tips videos. You can use these to tease your audience to get them to download the longer video or interview to get them to opt in to your email newsletter.

Lastly, share pieces of it in text or graphic form across your social channels.

For those with physical locations, you may wish to play the video in the waiting room or other customer facing areas.

SmallBizLady: What are some of the most common content marketing mistakes small businesses make?

Phil Gerbyshak: Not reusing your content in multiple forms. See previous question and answer for suggestions.

Content focused on your needs as a business owner instead of customer’s needs.

Not responding to the content after it’s posted. Less than 1% of people take the time to comment on any content. Ignoring those 1% can make the content you created get even less to comment.

Not sharing evergreen content over and over again. Each piece of content – if you don’t pay for advertising – will get seen by less than 8% of your audience. That means it could take 12 or more shares to reach everyone.

Not paying any money to advertise your best content – if you take the time and money to create something fantastic, spend a few ($5-$50) to sponsor your best content so more see and share it.

SmallBizLady: What are some tools for do it yourself content marketing?

Phil GerbyshakVideo: Adobe Spark and Apple Clips are great video tools. YouTube has terrific video editing tools built in too.

Audio: Anchor is a free way to get your audio out there if it’s short. Use Libsyn for longer and more recurring audio insights. With some work, you can also use YouTube to host an image and your audio as a video.

Images: I like Canva.com a lot for images. There are many, many templates to choose and it is easy to use. It also is widely used so you’ll want to try other tools too.

I like WordSwag for text overlay images.

And Cropic for cropping pictures and doing a little different text editing.

Convert videos to audio using this free tool for Windows https://www.freac.org or buy Ecamm at http://ecamm.com for Mac.

Text: Get your audio and video quickly and inexpensively transcribed at http://Otter.AI (about 94% accurate) or use Rev.com for $1 per minute at 99% accuracy.

SmallBizLady: What are some tools if you don’t want to do it yourself to effectively content market?

Phil GerbyshakYou can get an article written for a fair price at http://textbroker.com or invest more at http://expresswriters.com You can also hire a writer using http://Odesk.com or even see if an intern is available at the local high school or college.

For video and image content, I recommend using http://Fiverr.com for one off content, http://DesignPickle.com for multiple images a month, and hiring a designer using http://Odesk.com, a virtual assistant or someone from your local area to keep up with many images a month.

A virtual assistant can often do many of these items for you too, but make sure you are hiring someone who has a voice aligned with your brand.

SmallBizLady: How can we measure if our content marketing efforts are effective?

Phil GerbyshakStarting from zero means measuring and revising everything. Subscribers to your newsletter, YouTube or podcast channel. Followers on various social media channels where you distribute your content.

Next, make sure you know what a “quality subscriber” means to you. What characteristics do they have (location, job title, company, other demographic info)? Start counting these to your total – and put these prospects into your CRM.

From there, it’s time to start measuring interest. You can do this by measuring interactions, email opens and direct contact with you or your business.

Finally, it’s about measuring quality appointments and conversions to business.

SmallBizLady: If small businesses were going to start with just a few things for content marketing, what would they be?

Phil Gerbyshak: Start with a website. Add an opt in form. Create as many videos as you can and create a YouTube channel. Put those videos on your website. Transcribe those to articles. Send out a monthly or bi-monthly educational newsletter.

SmallBizLady: Who are some people we should learn from to improve at content marketing for our small business?

Phil Gerbyshak: Jay Baer is my favorite content marketer. I learn a ton from everything he does.

Ann Handley is my favorite writing first human. She’s funny, she’s insightful, and her teachings don’t hurt (much).

For video first content, I recommend Owen Video Hemsath. He’s entertaining and instructive.

For audio first content, look to Jon Lee Dumas of EOFire.com and Jordan Harbinger at JordanHarbinger.com.

Neil Patel is also very helpful for content marketing and more: https://neilpatel.com/blog

SmallBizLady: What are some good resources for content marketing?

Phil Gerbyshak: For graphics and images, here’s a list of 50 sites to inspire you: https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/50-of-the-best-blogs-for-graphic-design-inspiration

No list of great content marketing is complete without the Content Marketing Institute: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/blog

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/1hZeIlz

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