•   I needed exposure to a new group of clients.

•   Turbo-boost over the initial start-up

•   Build my portfolio with easy sales

•   Less cash going out of business

Starting out:

•   Didn’t do anything because I didn’t really understand how to get started.

•   First Customer $1000.00 sale – Woohoo!

It was on!:

• I revamped my entire spending for personal and professional –Pharmacy, school supplies, computers, projector, ink, snow board, skateboard, shoes, gps, iPod, gifts, food, office supplies, glasses, dentist, jewelry, gutters, landscaping, mulch, VCR, DVD, guitar, Mary Kay, pampered chef, backpacks, bike, bunk beds…

How to build a successful Trade Business:

• Build relationship, don’t just make transactions

• Treat trade customer the same as cash customers – they can lead to cash customers (only if they would recommend you even if you weren’t on trade)

• Remember you should be treated like any other paying customer – just because they can’t do it right away doesn’t mean its because you are on trade. You may just have to wait your turn.

•  Realize not every trade business is the same. If you have a time service that you can offer 100% on trade it does not mean that everyone else is able to offer 100% on trade. Some businesses have up front $ charges that it just doesn’t make sense that they would be able to offer 100% on trade. Be reasonable in your expectations and you will be treated reasonable as a customer.

• Encourage Trade partners to use your other services and learn about your company. Create ambassadors and repeat business not just one-time customers.

Use tradebank as another marketing outlet for your business.

• Daily emails, classified ads, wants and haves online, run specials, attend Trade U, attend networking and social events.

•   Sponsor events, set up at tradeshows, have events and invite Trade members.

Tell other people about Tradebank:

• More members = more opportunities for sales and options for spending.

Get to know your broker and Regional manager:

•   Every transaction consists of 2 of their clients and it only benefits them if both parties are happy.

•   The more they know about you and what you offer the more they can do for you.

•   Contact them before you BUY anything!

1. Show that you Value Your Clients Time and Choice to Work with You! – Your client could have gone with any number of other contractors or consultants and they chose you. Your acknowledgment of that fact will show by how you manage your time for them. If you say you will be there – get there and be prepared – on time and without excuses.
“To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late.”

2. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. – So many times, people get contracts and dig right in and do not let the customer know of progress being made. The customer then either thinks they have been forgotten or that they hired a bad choice and start looking for ways to fix their mistake. It is YOUR job to relay to the customer what progress is being made and what timeline you are on for finishing… but do not make the mistake of over promising. Make your time goals realistic and then add a few days for the unseen circumstances that will undoubtedly arise.

3. Be Flexible, but not a Push-Over – Every client is not the same so be careful at being too tied to your personal communication preference or your timeline. Customers sometimes need to spread out a project for financial reasons or may not be comfortable with certain communication methods (i.e. – texting or email when they prefer phone calls or office visits). If you want to retain their business you must realize that you may have to give on your preference for timing and communication. It is better for you to your methods rather than to put your customer out of their comfort zone and create a stress in the relationship.

4. Avoid Surprising your Customer with Billing – You do not want the end of an otherwise good contract to be filled with any surprise about pricing or how they got their bill. In the beginning, you should make it very clear on what the billing process will look like. From down payment to final installment, they should know what to expect and when. You may think it is not a big deal to send a bill right away but for business owners and home owners, they are looking for that bill and want it off their minds and books. There should be no surprises in what the price is either. All contracts should clearly state pricing and how add-ons work so there are no questions. If something gets changed during the contract it should be in writing with pricing quoted clearly.

5. Continuously ask for Feedback – When you are starting the process of a new contract, ask the customer if there is anything you did not answer for them that they have questions about. During the process, ask them how they believe the process is going. After the job is complete, ask for feedback on your performance and if it is good – GET THE REFERRAL!

With the job market being competitive it is important to have clarity about who you are and what you have to offer to know which new work options are attainable for you. Finding a new career and then embarking the journey requires research. Explore the industry and role that interest you by:
• Make connections –
o Person to Person – Networking/Conferences/Political Luncheons/etc.
o LinkedIn – Twitter if it fits. (business black box, GSA
• Read Articles online and off –
o World View – Twitter, Inc.com, Success, Forbes, Harvard Business, Business.gov
o Local – Business Black Box, Greenville Talk, Greenville Business, GSA Today, Behind the Counter, etc
• Take Action -
You can actively pursue your desired career with the wisdom of people who are already in it. You only need three steps to become a resource in your field.

1. Connect Your Interest to Your Field Activists –
Training yourself to be confident in talking to your potential peers is not an easy step. Start by talking to people you meet about things you have in common – such as non-profits, hobbies, interests, location or local interest stories. Practicing finding common ground with strangers and talking easily with new people will help build you confidence. Try to find where your industry peers are going to be to mingle with them – Be creative in tracking your industry peers.

2. Learn the Skills and Connect with those who Have them -
When you find people in similar positions that you desire to have ask them if they could meet for coffee. Do not ask for work or tell them that is your motive for wanting to meet. Be there to learn and not to take advantage! Always be prepared to find out more if the opportunity for work comes up but be sure that you know what you are looking for and that you are not going to be asked to deliver outside of your real knowledge and skill level. Always ask if they know of others in the field that may be a valuable resource for you to find out more about the industry. Most people love being asked to share their knowledge and will be flattered that you thought of them as a mentor. Always send a thank you note and reiterate the value you found in them personally and professionally – don’t forget your contact information – Just in case!

3. Employment -
If you have taken adequate time to really make the first two steps, then you are ready to make yourself the walking resource you set out to be. Ideally, after you have mingled with potential co-workers and interview those already in the industry, you have found a place where you see yourself joining that world. If not, start over with a different industry – it may be that through this process you have realized the initial industry you desired is not really for you at all. You should plan a good 4 – 6 months of transition time if you are switching industries. If you have indeed found your niche in your desired industry, start pursuing interviews with your new-found knowledge and connections. Contact those that you have connected with over the past few months and let them know what you have done. Whether you have taken a class or two or self-taught – if you have really done your work – you can approach the interviewing process you’re your new industry knowing that you can be valuable to that company and showing them what you have done to make good use of your transition time. Be prepared to prove it and do not embellish!

• Hoover’s: comprehensive directory to company and industry information; in-depth coverage of companies; basic search information available for free: for example, find company overviews showing company subsidiaries or units, company address, phone, and Web site URL as well as key numbers such as yearly sales, number of employees, and key people; subscribers can get more detail
• CNNMoney: Web presence of Fortune, Money, Business 2.0, and Fortune Small Business paper magazine about business; news, markets, technology, jobs, personal finance, real estate; rankings such as lists like the Fortune 500 and the best cities for business
• Inc: for entrepreneurs and small business owners; outgrowth of the paper Inc. magazine; resource centers, Inc. 500 list, columns, technology, startups, events, Inc. TV videos
• AllBusiness: business questions and practical solutions; how-to articles, contracts and agreements, expert advice, blogs, business news, business directory listings, product comparisons, business guides, a small business association; geared to small, growing businesses
• Business.gov: US Government-related business information; businesses involved in US federal government services, information, and transactions; covers doing business with the government, international trade, labor, laws, the latest news, and finance; if you are doing business with the U.S. government or own a business in the United States, this site is a must-see; strength: authoritative, deep, and comprehensive coverage
• Others with good articles – inc.com, forbes.com, success.com, allbusiness.com, entrepreneur.com, CEO Express.com

Caron Beesley has over 15 years of experience working in marketing, with a particular focus on the government sector. Caron is also a small business owner and works with the Business.gov team to promote essential government resources for small business owners.

Business.gov -
• Start a Business
• Register a Business
• Loans & Grants
• Run a Business
• Business Law
• Business Opportunities
• Business Types & Industries
• State & Local
• Doing Business in your State

Revisit your business model—regularly.
Worldwide, more respondents identify new business models as a greater source of competitive advantage than new products and services. Products matter, of course, but as a source of lasting competitive advantage, they are vulnerable to replication. Pure product advantage—at best—is short-term.

Rethinking—at regular intervals—how products and services are created, delivered and maintained will make the bigger difference. You have to continually review business models.

Be flexible; often.
Instilling an adaptability to change and achieving the requisite speed of innovation are regarded as the greatest management challenges that organizations face. As companies push further into new markets and seek to deepen ties with existing customers, a focus on innovation, although trained on existing areas of strength, will be the hallmark of success. Having the right products and services will not be enough: the ability to continually innovate your business model is equally, if not more, important. If everything around you is changing, you better be too!

Know Your Customers – Make a Call to Action!
Executives say that the way their organizations interact with customers will be the area of greatest change in their operations between now and the end of 2010. Focus on customer retention is not new, but firms will seek to gain much greater knowledge of customer behavior in order to better anticipate changes in demand. In this context, they will seek to involve customers more closely in many parts of the business, with implications for corporate networks and security. At all points of the business, from customer service to product design, from sales orders to distribution, personalization will have become more important to the customer of 2010.

Do what you do best.
Most business owners view their major competitive threat as coming from the consolidation of existing players (bigger companies meeting small needs); the rest worry primarily about new entrants from emerging markets. Faced with pressure from above and below, the majority of companies plan to survive by specializing in their existing or modified products / niche markets. To succeed, characteristics of flexibility, openness, collaboration and speed will be increasingly critical. Niche markets or being able to offer the very best in your one area is also coming to be seen as more of a competitive tool than simple cost efficiency. The culture, management and structure of the 2010 business will also need to become more responsive and adaptable. In other words, the organization of the future will reflect the characteristics of the greatest innovation of the recent past—the Internet.

In conclusion, the dot-com revolution isn’t even half-way done. The Internet will continue to drive or influence many more changes in business in the coming years. It will no longer be an option to bypass modern technology in the name of simplicity. While you may consider having options for elderly and non-technical savvy clients, over 75% of your clientele will be looking for you to keep up and guide them through the changes. Updating your consumers and clients will be the key to making IT changes successful and as painless as possible. This may mean you getting guidance in how to best take advantage of what the internet has to offer but regardless of the investment, it is crucial for your success in 2010 and beyond.

Social Media finally went from building up steam to becoming mainstream practice for most professionals and networkers. So much so that topics such as Facebook and Twitter are almost becoming exhausting to hear about.

As the hype settles, more business professionals are beginning to understand and integrate these new platforms. Because of those practices, business communication and structure is also changing for 2010.

The groundwork for some of these trends has been in place for years, but I think we will see small business owners finally start to embrace the following significant expansions in the New Year.

What is Coming in 2010

At some point in 2010, all search results will consist of real-time information, scores, reviews, tweets and all, right there and up to the minute. We’re addicted to up to the minute connection and we want more.

Will desktop applications and computing become a thing of the past? While not completely, 2010 looks like the year that small businesses will truly embrace applications that exist online only.
Entire software suites such as Google Apps and Microsoft Office Live will finally allow document, spreadsheet, database, and presentation software to function as Internet applications at greatly reduced costs and ultimate real time collaboration. File sharing and storage such as Google Docs, including total file backup from tools like Dropbox and Mozy, will become standard in the small business toolbox. Project, tasks, scheduling and collaboration of all manners have made a dramatic move to the web. Look for these kinds of tools to be routinely used as client service tools that eliminate the need to drive a few blocks to consult. If you have not yet jumped on board, now is the time before you become the dinosaur in your industry. Your website and all social media can also be neatly and easily tied to these online applications as necessary.
Online meeting tools like GoToMeeting, WebEx and even Skype, with video, will continue to allow people to connect in richer ways online. This will also dramatically decrease the time necessary for companies and remotely located employees need to dedicate to board meetings and intra-sponsored facilitated events.

The sacred desktop financial data will finally move online completely as QuickBooks Online becomes the new mainstream way of small business bookkeeping.

Balancing Offline and Online

No matter how wired we get as a society and business, there will always be a need for face to face trust, building engagement. Now that small businesses have moved more online, the smart play will be to find the best ways to fuse the online and offline activates in ways that make the return on both even greater.

While LinkedIn and Facebook may be great places to find prospects and create awareness, they are not always the best platforms to build relationships deep enough to create a sale. Using these platforms to create awareness for content that resides on your web site or to drive people to events where they can learn and network in person, will become an essential part of the marketing process.

In addition, using online tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn to further facilitate existing personal relationships will become another tool that small businesses will add to their competitive arsenal. Now when a member of your sales team meets a prospect at a Chamber of Commerce function, they may follow them on Twitter and invite them to connect on LinkedIn as a matter of process and as a way to more easily communicate, refer and connect, all a part of the trust building cycle.
However, these systems should be used only as your launching point for true relationship building. Networking, phone calls, hand written correspondence and one on one meeting is still and will always be the best way to building lasting business relationships.

Elements of these trends have been brewing for some time and adoption of any trend generally happens over time and almost immeasurably. However, now is the time to analyze the impact these ideas may have on your business this year and into the future.

http://getlisted.org – This is a one-stop for 4 different services. It will show your percentage of current set-up. Accuracy varies – Zip code and listing must be exact to show real listing report. This will assist you in getting listed on Yahoo, Google, Best of the Web and Live Search.

www.yellowpages.com
Hit the “Advertise Now” tab on the right side of the screen. Fill out a new profile

www.google.com
Log In or create a “new account”. Once inside account Click on upper right hand corner “my account”. Scroll halfway down page to “local business center”. Fill out profile. They will ask you to verify by phone or mail. Phone is much quicker. They call you immediately with a pin code. Enter in space provided and you are done! Mail takes 2-3 weeks then you must go back to the “local business center” and enter in Pin.

www.googlemaps.com
Click on “put your listing on Google maps”

www.superpages.com
Click on “sign in” in upper right hand corner. Create an account. Then add a new business and fill in your details.

www.manta.com
Login/Create account. Set up profile.

www.yahoo.com
Login or Create an account. Scroll all the way down to bottom and click on “suggest a site”. Click on “submit a site to list.” Type in your web address (this will add it to their database).

Visible On Page SEO are parts of your site to optimize that you can see. These can be put in by you if you built your site, if you have access to a content management software by your developer or you can tell the person developing your site to do this for you.

THE PAGE TITLE is the very top bar of your web browser right next to the browser logo. This should say exactly what your site is. You can make it a phrase or a complete sentence. Just make sure it is stating exactly what your site is about.

URL or your web address should be very clear as to what type of company or site you are.

Headings with H1, H2, H3 HTML tags are seen by search engines as more important than the other content.

HTML tags are seen by search engines as the most important thing on your site. Make sure whoever builds your site enters them in so that the search engine can pick them up.

Page text is somewhat important, make it relevant and be careful which words you italicize or bold – be choosy.

Even if your website looks good the eye, search engines may see it differently. You need to plug certain clues into your site to make it stand out to the search enging and help them understand the main point and type of site you have. People can then find you site based on what you really want them to find rather than being misguided. You need to make sure you use the right keywords in the page content. Your page title needs to be short and use the right keywords. You need to use the same keywords in the H1, H2 and H3 tags on the page as well, and if you can, put the keywords into the URL or your web address name.

Invisible On Page SEO are parts of your site to optimize that you can’t see, but search engines can.

Description – When building your site you should include a brief description what your company is about or what your site is used for.

Keywords -These are designated in your site’s HTML code, keywords give search engines a general idea about the content of your site.

Any one of these tips if done alone will not really have much affect on your searchability, but if done correctly the combination of them will make all the difference.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Velocity Design Group is focused on Helping Small Businesses Think BIG. Our customers needs come first and we work with them one on one to make sure their sites are meeting their specific needs and not just another nice looking website. We optimize their sites for search engines as much as possible during the design process so they can be found easier online. Small businesses are the backbone of the economic strength of any local industry and without them everything suffers.

We use a public server through Homestead Technologies, where a user can either build their site through provided templates or custom build it from scratch. Homestead is an Intuit Company which is the maker of QuickBooks and other reputable business software. Homestead does not use paid advertisers or have any offensive marketing so we feel it is a very safe and business-focused company to deal with. They also offer a comprehensive content management software with their hosting which provides our small to medium business owners with control of their own website once it has been built. Using a public server also cuts down our overhead and our customers hosting charges, this is just one way we are able to keep prices affordable.

The process of walking through a marketing strategy and design process with a customer for their online and offline marketing is very intense but rewarding. Small business owners have their dreams and futures built into their companies and are excited to watch it come to life and be implemented into the business world. Velocity will continue to meet this need in our local community and reap the financial and personal rewards that accompany knowing we are helping people and businesses thrive in a competitive market. We will also continue to offer affordable prices in spite of the backlash we get from our competitors. As we build Velocity, we will be sure we can always say we are Helping Small Businesses Think BIG.

Velocity Design Group exists to provide growing businesses affordable marketing and web design solutions. We have a service-driven mentality and strive to be an ongoing, trusted resource to our new and current customers while continuing to grow their business and ours.

How do you differentiate your service business from those of your rivals? If you operate in a competitive market selling much the same services as everyone else consider these options:

• Either offer, or at least appear to offer, better services than your competitors. This may be measured either by the price or quality of your services.
• Or, offer different services from your competition. This may mean carefully considering how you work, and how you can adapt your business to offer something that is valuable and unique.

Points to consider

Innovate continually. Aim to review and improve your own techniques periodically. This will keep your approach fresh.  Rather than finding a market to fit your product, turn the problem on its head. So find what your customers need, and then find solutions to those problems.

How do you make this happen? Talk to existing customers. Ring around and conduct a rough survey of current major issues they face. This will give you a starting point around which you can construct new ideas. Do this regularly and you will build up an ever-growing pool of new ideas. You will also stay at the cutting edge of your industry because you will be tackling current problems.

Talk to experts in other fields and find what they see as people’s main problems. For example, an office furniture consultant once told a time management training consultancy that the two things most people wanted in an office were bigger desks and more space to put everything. Realistically, this is often an impractical wish.

However, here was a clue for a new product for the time management trainer. The time management experts designed a course to teach their clients to manage their space and paperwork more effectively and so gain valuable extra hours a day.

Personalize your service

Treat each client as an individual. If you give the same advice to all your customers, it is time to rethink your approach. Every company or industry thinks it is – or its needs are – unique. Usually, however, they are variations on a theme. So even if you have seen the same problem many times before, try to adjust your standard solution a little to make it seem unique. Then your client will believe that you specialize in their industry – and specialists are always in demand.

Pitch your sales to different industries with different headings to enhance this specialist feel. For example: ‘Alarm systems for offices’, ‘Negotiating skills for chemical engineers’, or ‘Time management for accountants’.

“Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, and no trust.” – Zig Ziglar

P.O.G.O. Person, Organization, Goals, Obstacles

We use a process called POGO to structure the call. You ask questions about the Person, the Organization, the Goals and Obstacles to those goals. This is called “sell by design, not by chance.” It gives you a direction on the call. You can modify the sequence of the questions depending on the personality of the prospect.

Your opening may go like this: “Mr. Samson – thanks for meeting with me today. In order to gain the best results from this meeting, I’d like to ask you a few questions about yourself, your organization, some of the goals you’ve established in the area of paint and coatings. This will help determine the best way to serve you. Is twenty minutes still a good time frame?”

Catch their attention

When selling your services to prospects, a picture is worth a thousand words. So if you are selling accountancy services, say, ‘demonstrate’ your service and the benefits you offer.

First think about what your customers want from you. Issues might include help with budgeting, minimal dealings with the taxman, cutting bank charges and so on. Then prepare a specimen set of year-end accounts, printed in double the usual size, and annotate these making clear all the benefits you offer. Put these in a binder so you can talk through – and show prospects – the advantages of working with you.

Fuel people’s imaginations. Demonstrate graphically how much you will change people’s lives. For example, you can make a dramatic point in a sales presentation by tearing up a dollar to demonstrate how much money the prospect is wasting every ten seconds, or whatever.

Add-ons

Offer extra services at an increased price. Provided that you do indeed deliver ‘that bit extra’, then it will do you credit, as well as making you a bit more profit.

Fast food chains do it all the time: ‘Do you want to make that a large fries?’ Do we feel cheated because of that extra outlay? Not at all! So offer clients a ‘no-frills’ service or package, and an enhanced service for a bit extra. This might consist of one-to-one consultancies or tutorials, or a subscription to your fact-filled newsletter.

Liven up talks

If you have to present lectures, then make yours different. Make them interactive and liven things up. Run through real-life scenarios explaining how to handle problems as they arise. For example, if you’re teaching better sales techniques, make live calls to their customers to showcase your suggestions.

Set delegates a scenario or problem, or ask for the best disaster anecdote at the beginning of the day, and offer a small prize to the winner. The delegates get to process the information you’ve been giving them, and you get a new idea to help your next clients.

Let your imagination fly and you will soon devise ways to set your business apart from those of your competitors.

Step 1:  Networking-only groups. There are active professional networking associations in every city, and they’re remarkably easy to find. Your local chamber of commerce is one of them, and chambers usually have networking events at least once a month. If you’re a professional, you probably hear about these groups at work all the time but may have dismissed them as a waste of your time or, even worse, intimidating. But these groups are a solid jumping off point for you to develop your network of associates.

Step 2:  Targeted networking groups. If you’re a woman or minority, there may be a business networking group in your area whose sole purpose is to promote your interests. Women’s professional organizations and groups based on ethnic or religious commonalities are set up specifically to help members showcase their companies and encourage associates to use each others’ services when possible.

Step 3:  A local or regional business-to-business magazine. Most of them are remarkably well done and are not only full of helpful business tips, but also plenty of advertisements for networking opportunities. A subscription is well worth the price and may even be a tax write-off.

Step 4:  Online sources. Today, most people conduct at least a portion of their business online. And for some professionals, a majority of their business comes from online sources. Many people cultivate their own online social network, but there are also sites such as LinkedIn and SkillWho set up exclusively to facilitate online networking.

Step 5:  The social scene. Everywhere you go is a networking opportunity. In social situations, one of the first questions people ask is, “So, how’s work going?” And most people say “fine,” and leave it at that. But this is a perfect chance to network. You can slip in a little plug for yourself or your company (“We were just named the best company in the city to work for!”) and then follow it up with food for thought (“It’s really rewarding to help people get their finances in order. My clients are just regular people like you and me, but they’re all beginning to envision wealth now.”). You don’t want this to become so obvious that people start to avoid you for fear that you’ll try to hard sell them every time they see you. But used with good judgment, networking in social settings can lead to new opportunities and increased business for you.

Networking for Success

Step 6:  Leave your anxiety at the door. Confidence is essential in networking because people can’t tell what you’re nervous about—the situation at hand or your products and services. Either way, obvious nervousness isn’t attractive. Keep reminding yourself what a great service you’re doing for others by introducing them to your company.

Step 7:  Be specific. Especially when networking with people you don’t know, it’s best to be clear in your intent. Too many people are vague about their company and their goals because they don’t want to come off as rude or aggressive. But it’s impossible for a contact to help you if he doesn’t know what you’re after. Do you want information about a company? An introduction to his associate? To be kept in mind for a job opening? Just say it!

Step 8:  Keep in touch. If you only talk to or correspond with people when you need something, your contacts will disregard your attempts. Be sure to keep track of important dates (such as birthdays), and get in touch then. Or set up a lunch meeting once in a while with nothing on your agenda except saying hi.

Step 9:  It’s a two-way street. One of the most common mistakes people make in networking is forgetting that you have to scratch other people’s backs if you want them to scratch yours. The best relationships are ongoing ones, and if you take without giving, you’ll soon find yourself without contacts. Really pay attention to what people are saying about their own business and, when possible, give their services a try. You can bet they’ll remember and use your company’s services as well.