Blog Category: Business Planning

What Areas of Website Marketing are the most effective?

12 July 2010

Even the Internet website novice can probably name off a dozen areas of marketing. Anyone who's ever used the Net for more than a day is well aware of all the different ways people work to get their message out to you. From annoying pop-ups in videos to carefully constructed back-links, the possible avenues of website marketing are plentiful.

There are some areas in site marketing that stand out as far more effective than others, however. That's not to say that the rest aren't important and shouldn't be tried in conjunction with the big players. It's just the way the Internet works, and anyone thinking of marketing their website should focus more on the most effective areas in order to drive traffic.

In no particular order of importance, as they're all major players, here are three of the most effective areas of website marketing.

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How to do Competitor Analysis when Starting Your own Business

30 June 2010

One of the biggest factors in failing businesses is undoubtedly the stiff competition out there. Far too often, people assume they have an original and winning idea and leap right into their businesses completely unaware of the competition. They then find themselves up against the wall, as their efforts continuously fall short of the competitors who are already established.

You can easily get around this by performing a proper analysis of your competitors before entering into the business arena. This way, if there is still competition out there, you'll know exactly how and why to tweak your ideas so that you find an untapped niche market.

Any competitor analysis you do will start and end with your willingness to do some research. This isn't something you want to outsource or trust to instinct. You need to become part of the market and find out exactly what's going on around every corner. If you miss something or choose to take something lightly, it could easily come back and bite you.

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Creating a Company Culture That Works in Today's Technology Age

23 June 2010

A lot of businesses struggle in defining their corporate culture. They either find that the culture runs contrary to the marketplace and times in which they're competing, or they fail to establish a successful culture altogether. Corporate culture is basically an unwritten set of values that sets the tone in the workplace.

Corporate culture is how a company chooses to conduct business and how it chooses to build an atmosphere. Corporate culture could be defined simply as a business's principles. In order to create a successful corporate culture in today's age of technology, some of the values must center on the technology available.

In order to set a corporate culture, it must start from the very top and trickle down. A personal value set needs to not only be established, but also adhered to by the company heads and employees alike. Integrating technology in this culture is all about using technology on the top level and letting it become a part of everyone's regular business routine.

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The Pros and Cons of a Dedicated Office Space

21 June 2010

A dedicated office space in the Internet world could be referred to as a virtual office. Simply put, a virtual office is an offsite location where a professional staff steps in and provides services for your business that a real office would. This allows you to maintain a strong sense of professionalism in the business world, even without having a large company.

Dedicated offices offer your business the advantages of telephone messaging and address services. By leasing out virtual space from a reputable company, you have the features of a real office at a price that could be merely a fraction of a real estate lease.

Like anything in business, however, there's an upside and a downside to a dedicated office space. Going over the pros and cons of a dedicated office will help you to make an informed decision before proceeding.

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How to Build the Right Team for Your Start-Up Company

18 June 2010

Finding people you can trust in business is crucial to your success. A lot of businesses fail within the first year of operation, and one of the largest factors of failure is undoubtedly the infighting and multiple directions pulling apart the company's foundation. This can be eliminated by choosing the right people before you put the rest of your plans in motion.

Even the best business ideas are irrelevant if you're not able to put your business together properly. A great team at the start-up will make a world of difference. Let's go over a few tips you can use to build the right team.

Set Clear Objectives
You will need to have a very clear idea of how you want to proceed in the market. This will enable you to find like-minded individuals heading in the same direction. The people you choose shouldn't be carbon copies, but they should have common goals of success and the drive to succeed.

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Managing Cash Flow for Company Growth

14 June 2010

In any business, cash is the lifeblood that keeps everything afloat. If your money is poorly managed, your company will not only fail to grow, but it might implode and become one of the high percentages of failed businesses. One cash flow problem in business is the time between paying suppliers and employees and the time you're collecting most from your customers.

In four relatively simple steps, you can work to keep better track of your cash flow and streamline the process to aid in company growth.

Step One: Cash Measurement
It might be tedious, but it's important to work on cash flow projections. You should not only project cash for the year, but go further into the process and project earnings by the quarter or even by the week.

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Offline Data Mining Strikes Gold

07 June 2010

You'll often hear the term "striking gold" associated with data mining. Just as gold miners received information about a patch of land and went in with their shovels hoping to strike it rich, data mining deals in relatively the same way. The process is becoming popular for businesses of all types, and if done right it can be an extremely low-risk, high-reward process.

Basically, data mining is the process of discovering and analyzing data from different perspectives. Once data is compiled and analyzed, it is then summarized into useful information for a business. The result, hopefully, will help to cut overhead costs, increase revenue and be an all-around tool for business improvement.

In a sense, you can think of data mining like election polling. With a strong sample group of voters, proper analysis can paint a picture of who's going to win the election. If you'll notice, however, there's a catch in this process. A person (statistic) would have to be present within a field in order to give a result i.e. a voter would need to be polled instead of a random person.

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Creating a Dashboard of Vital Company Statistics

04 June 2010

A dashboard of vital company statistics can provide a snapshot of growth and expenses.

In business, a dashboard is similar to a dashboard you'll find in your car or truck. The vehicle's dashboard holds vital statistics, including your fuel level, speed, GPS system, radio, and other devices that tell you where you're going and how you're doing. Creating a business dashboard for your business will supply the same data.

By creating a dashboard, you'll be able to easily view vital statistics of your company's growth, expenses, sales, marketing, human resources, and much more. The idea is to create a data-rich set of controls that allow you to view your company's crucial aspects through a snapshot view.

Any company data, however, depends solely on your ability to access, analyze and interpret. After those three steps are completed, you must then communicate the findings with your staff and/or partners, or translate your findings into results. Without the process, data is just a bunch of numbers with no real importance.

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Delegating with Direction

02 June 2010

How to Assign Tasks to the Right People, and
Let go of Doing Everything Yourself

It's certainly not an easy thing to run your own business. If the idea of keeping on top of everything on your own seems daunting, then just imagine how difficult it's going to be when you have employees and need to let go of control and assign trust. You could go out of your mind or, if done incorrectly, your business could go under.

It's certainly lonely at the top sometimes, and every major decision is going to fall on you. The trick in all of this is to make your biggest decision - hiring people - wisely.

Truthfully, you're probably going to be hiring people even if you're planning on operating the entire business by yourself. Just imagine you're setting up a website business to be an affiliate and are aiming eventually to be a super-affiliate. You still need a website, you still need marketing you still need employees.

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Going Mobile - Keep it Simple

31 May 2010

If you've already been studying up on how to create a web business or simply a website to have a presence on the Internet, then you should also consider taking your business to the mobile market. It doesn't matter what type of business you operate. Having a mobile presence is a great way to increase your advertizing and customer base.

At any given time, there are nearly 100 million mobile device users around the world. That's not just how many people own mobile devices, though; that's actually how many people are logging on and using mobile Internet technology every single day. Needless to say, the mobile market is absolutely enormous. Tapping into only a small niche will see your traffic and sales skyrocket.

Not only for customers, going mobile with your business will allow you to always be in contact with everyone and everything important to your company's livelihood employees, investors, business partners, etc. In this day and age, you really can't afford not to go mobile.

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Will Floating on the Stock Exchange Tie Your Firm Down?

26 May 2010

A lot of businesses decide to venture into other areas of potential earnings once they're established and doing well. Many men and women around the globe specialize in taking things to the next level in terms of stock market options. Many more, however, are run-of-the-mill businesspeople and are not fully aware of the stock exchange's implications.

If you're planning on floating your business on the stock exchange, what exactly are you in store for?

In simple language, floating on the stock market simply means you have sold a percentage of your business as shares. The London Stock Exchange is usually dominated by larger firms choosing to go this route, while AIM (Alternative Investment Market) and PLUS are around for smaller companies wishing to go the same route.

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How to Make Setting Deadlines a Habit for Business Success

24 May 2010

Almost everyone who's ever had a job has been on a deadline before. You know the scenario the boss gave you until next Friday to complete the project, and it's Wednesday night and you're far from done. What do you do? You kick it into overdrive and haul tail until the project is completed. Having a deadline makes it real. Your livelihood depends on that deadline.

Although it's much easier said than done, setting deadlines for yourself in your business is part of a successful recipe that will help you succeed in nearly any marketplace. Even if the deadline is only imagined for effect, you can still get in the habit of working on a tight schedule and seeing that you always finish a task on time.

The idea behind setting these deadlines for yourself is to make sure you're already ahead of the curve when it comes to business decisions and even market fluctuations. You'll never be unable to catch up, simply because you'll always be one deadline away from a project's completion.

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How Does Your Organization Define Corporate Culture?

03 May 2010

In business, there are many ways in which any organization can define corporate culture. To put it in simple terms, an organizations corporate culture can be defined by its management style, hiring practices and also the physical space the organization provides for its employees. When defining your organizations corporate culture, these aspects must be looked at closely.

Because of the many different aspects coming together to run a corporation, actions taken by upper management to shape the business, as well as employee activities and other factors, can work to either align or contradict a particular corporations goals and values. These factors may have a direct effect on how you view and subsequently define corporate culture.

Take hiring practices for instance. How does looking at this help one to define corporate culture? It has to do with the demographic/s represented by the workforce as a whole. In the business world, theres a lot of emphasis placed on the age of an employee. While young employees can usher in new and fresh ideals and an enthusiasm, older workers bring more experience.

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Taking Your Affiliate Marketing Business to the Next Level

30 April 2010

Affiliate marketing has long been a productive way to earn good money in business without investing much capital. In essence, affiliates are partnered with already established businesses for which they advertize to drive traffic and sell products. Affiliates then receive a commission based on how well they perform.

Although the premise is simple enough, its hard work to become a successful affiliate. Driving traffic to a specific target in a marketplace so packed takes time and effort. In order to take an affiliate business to the next level, you not only have to work with good merchants and become a good advertiser, youll also need to stay involved in the process and treat it as your business.

Taking things to the next level and becoming a successful affiliate can be done in three steps. First you will have to focus on doing ample market research. Next, its all about finding the right keywords to build your business around. Finally, youll start to build your affiliate site around the research youve performed and the keywords youve selected.

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How do you identify potential Business Acquisition Targets?

19 April 2010

No matter what you do in business, it should be done methodically with a lot of thought put into it. This is especially true for making acquisitions. Instead of leaping on a sudden opportunity, it's important to realize that acquiring a target is a big commitment.

In order to identify potential acquisition targets, you first need to determine the types of opportunities that exist within your market and what types of transactions are taking place. In other words, focus on other businesses first before focusing on your own.

This might sound like some seriously bad advice for business owners, but when it comes to identifying acquisition targets, you want to let the market around you speak instead of letting your own voice be heard. This will help to keep your business safe and also provide you with the chance to jump in at the opportune time.

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How Do You Keep Operational Risk To A Minimum?

14 April 2010

There are all sorts of risks associated with business. If you were to take the more commonly occurring and more potentially harmful risks and give them all a category, they would fall under operational risks. Operational risks in business are encompassing and include every risk stemming from a company's business functions.

Obviously, it's essential to avoid these operational risks. However, there is no surefire way to completely eliminate them. The idea is simply to keep them to a minimum.

Luckily, there are many ways to do that that won't really cost your business a lot of time or money. What it will take, however, is effort on your part to see that the need for risk awareness is ever present.

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Advancing Your Business - Partner, Promote and Profit

12 April 2010

Starting your business begins with an idea. Nothing has ever fallen into an entrepreneur's lap; it's all been about thinking up a unique idea and angle, and pursuing it fervently to see it through fruition. There are many ways in which you can go about starting a business. In this article, we'll cover the three Ps: Partner, promote and profit.

First up is the partner. Now, like a marriage, you're going to want trust, devotion and still an informal relationship that involves some enjoyment outside of the business arena. Although the last point isn't vitally essential, it still helps tremendously to forge a friendship with a business partner, allowing for regular dialog and a positive attitude.

Finding a business partner shouldn't be hard work if the business idea is worth pursuing. You would be surprised at how many people jump at the chance to take part in a business they think will be profitable. It's a possible life-changing venture that brings out the entrepreneur in us all.

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What are the steps to finding the right business partner?

09 February 2010

Practical Steps to Take in the Process

Finding a business partner is perhaps one of the largest steps youll take throughout the process of starting and effectively running a business. Finding any type of partner can be a difficult process, but with business, youre looking for someone to not only meet your expectations, but exceed them. Youre looking for a strong working relationship, trust, and many other attributes that will help this relationship grow stronger as time passes.

The first step is perhaps the most important, and is to do with exactly what to look for in a partner for any business.

Knowing what you want

It may seem pretty straightforward and simple, but many people simply dont know what they want in a business partner. They choose based on qualifications or monetary purposes alone and end up in a bad partnership. So approach this step by listing out the values you seek in any partner.

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Boost Your Sales by 80% with a 'Call to Action'

02 December 2009

In the world of Internet marketing, there are countless techniques people use to boost their sales. From honing their PPC bids to working through article marketing and email campaigns, there’s always a nifty little tactic you can employ to generate more traffic and earn more conversion.

However, there’s perhaps no more significant aspect of your business than the product itself. How will you sell it? Simply getting them there isn’t enough. They need to want the product. Well, with the right call to action, you can easily convince people that they need to buy what you’re selling.

No matter how well your site is laid out with text and graphics, the call to action is the most crucial aspect. This is what will drive the point home that the person visiting your site must leave with that product. If you can’t do this, then you aren’t going to sell your product.

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How do you get started in freelancing work

14 July 2009

Whether you’ve been laid off from your job or simply wish to pursue a career path with more freedom, freelancing is available for any person who wishes to participate in the gigantic marketplace. Any particular skill can be provided for freelancing and the types of buyers range from individuals to large companies.

Working for one’s self has always been a popular notion. Setting your own hours, decided what you get paid, and being free to spend more time doing the things you love are all among the many positive benefits of freelancing. Getting started in freelance work can be really simple, or incredibly difficult. It all depends on the route you take.

There are a few essential steps that everyone can employ to ensure their chances of becoming a profitable freelancer are increased exponentially. Playing things by ear may be the wrong move, as one failed attempt can permanently sully your name. On the reverse side of that, a good start practically ensures future work.

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What type of person is suited to freelance work

10 June 2009

Many people are struggling during these economic times. From the largest cities in the world to the smallest towns, millions of individuals find themselves needing extra income just to make it, or new jobs after an unexpected layoff. The 2009 world recession isn’t anything new. We see situations like these repeatedly. For many, the place to turn is the Internet. Freelance work is at an all-time high, and with a simple look, it’s easy to see why.

A “freelancer,” simply put, is a person who seeks work through their respective profession without the long-term commitments from an employer. Freelancing has historically proved to be recession-proof, thus causing an explosion of freelancers during tough times. There are no set-in-stone prerequisites for freelancing; basically, if you can perform a task, you have what it takes to succeed as a freelancer.

All types of demographics appreciate the freelancing market. One of the more popular “types” of freelancers is the stay-at-home parent. Whether it’s a busy mother who doesn’t have time for a career or a father who’s found himself out of work due to injury, or an infinite amount of other scenarios, freelancing work is available. Husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, single parents, etc; freelancing remains a popular option.

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A Guide to Writing a Business Plan: Part 4

02 April 2009

In the “Marketing Plan” section of your business plan, you will discuss how you plan to carry out your marketing. It’s important to be clear about this and present a detailed marketing plan that explains exactly how you hope you achieve each of your marketing objectives.

This plan may include:

Specific marketing methods used for each segment of “target marketing”

Specific actions you’re taking in order to reach each segment

An estimated timeframe for each of your marketing activities

List of people who are going to carry out the tasks

Estimated costs of undertaking marketing activities, i.e. budget

Information on how you will monitor and review your business’ progress

Information on how you will handle response to your marketing

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A Guide to Writing a Business Plan: Part 3

03 March 2009

The next section to be included in your business plan is the “Legal Status and Licenses” section. With this, you will illustrate what legal status your business will have, if any. These decisions affect your tax liability and determine when your taxes will be paid. Investors are concerned about this, as it concerns money. It’s up to you to choose the appropriate legal status.

If your business needs legal licensing, you need to acquire the necessary licensing before investors will lend. If your business is a work-from-home type of business, you may need to approach a landlord for permission, or something similar. Make sure you don’t fail to include any licensing details in the plan.

In the “Management Processes” section, you will carefully illustrate how you plan to manage your business. Making sure that you’re organized will make your business run more fluently, and by illustrating this on the business plan, investors will know how you plan to handle your business.

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A Guide to Writing a Business Plan: Part 2

19 February 2009

Aspects to Include in the Business Plan

Obviously, every business is a bit different, thus every business plan will be different. However, there are certain aspects that do not change with business plans - certain steps that remain the same no matter what “type” of business you’re starting.

The first set-in-stone standard of a business plan is the “Executive Summary.” In this section, you will briefly illustrate what your plan entails in no more than two pages. This is the “jump of the page” part of the business plan that most investors find either the selling point of the turning away aspect of your plan.

There are four essential sections in the executive summary that investors are looking for:

1. What makes your business idea unique and original and gives you a leg up over similar businesses.
2. What level of experience do you and your team/staff bring to the table? Also, what sort of dealings have you had with your target audience, and how do you expect to make your business succeed.
3. Have you illustrated how your business will do financially, and will or won’t your business be viable for investors involved.
4. When and how will investors receive repayment, and/or when can the investor exit with a nice return on their initial investment.

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A Guide to writing a business plan; part 1

03 February 2009

Understand the Concept of a Business Plan

Undoubtedly, putting together and implementing a proper business plan is one of the most important aspects of starting a new business. By doing this, you will be able to easily set targets and goals, formulate and implement ideals, verify realistic and functioning approaches to the business, and push towards the long-term success of your particular business. This essential tool works to attract the startup funding for your business. The document needs to be dynamic, jumping off the page at potential investors.

The document also needs to be reviewed and monitored regularly to measure the overall performance of the business. This guide will explain various aspects of what your business plan should include and how you should formulate one for yourself. Various strategies laid out in this guide will be vital to the proper formulation and implementation of a business plan. This is aimed directly at startup businesses in need of fundraising, but the message is valid to all businesses.

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How to Research Markets for Business Startups: Part 3

22 January 2009

Taking Care of Your Primary Research

After the initial research is over, i.e. library, internet, books, etc, you can begin to research through more specific avenues. This will be your original research, conducted to see where your products stack up against others the market is offering, and, more importantly, to see how your customers may take to your business idea. You can gather this information by putting together focus groups and/or conducting surveys to see what “average” individuals feel about your ideas.

While you’re working to plan this primary research, here are a few questions that you need to ask yourself before moving forward:

How will I indentify and target a small group for selection?

What is the absolute best way I can get opinions out of the selected group?

How do I go about choosing the members of the group and phrasing the questions to be asked?

How do I analyze and interpret the results from these surveys and focus groups?

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Do you need press releases?

16 December 2008

There are quite a few companies out there that always have this question to ask, ‘Do you need press releases?’ For an organization wanting to put forth any information to the public as to the happenings within their organization, the answer of course is yes. Why?

Be Professional: It is vitally important that an organization maintain a professional appearance at all times. Knowing what information to release and how to release it is a must. The company should always want to keep a standard communication method when reaching their target audience.

Solid Advertising Means: With the potential of solid coverage on a press release, whether on the events within an organization or a new product/service launch, press releases play a key role as an important advertising method. PR and advertising go hand in hand.

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Do you need to protect your intellectual property?

08 December 2008

The opinions as to whether or not one should protect their intellectual property are vast and varied. Let’s take a look at both sides of the issue, the pros and cons:

First let’s start with the pros:

If you have a business idea, one unique to the industry you choose to compete in, protection is vital. Whether it is a logo, slogan, or even a phrase, the uniqueness of a business is a key to its survival in today’s global business market. That uniqueness will help to thrust it past the competition, even better at times than a solid marketing campaign.

What would Google be without its trademark name? Critics may say to a startup, there is nothing to protect. Something so simplistic matters little to the overall picture. Well they would be wrong. As simplistic as an idea may be and look, it is the very heart of Google and has changed little since its inception.

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Where can you find funding for a New Startup Business?

25 November 2008

Wouldn’t everyone love having a T-Rex-size nest-egg under their mattress when starting a new business? A few million, a few hundred thousand, heck, even a few thousand would make a world of difference.

In today’s economy, you’ll be hard-pressed to live your dreams without any sort of tribulations, however minor or severe they may be. Potential business owners, you’re definitely not alone in the dark here; there are a few ways you can get funding for your business. All you have to do is be prepared.

Why do you need a lot of startup capital? Well, you’re going to need marketing, inventory, facilities, expenses, and money set aside for an infinite list of variables. Cash flow is very important. This isn’t to say you can’t start small or even with no budget, but for the sake of this blog we’ll talk about those ideas which do require startup funding.

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Why you Need Feasibility Studies

07 November 2008

In the realm of business, countless measures are taken to ensure success. From risk assessment to feasibility studies, people work tirelessly to implement various strategies that give any particular venture the best odds for survival. If you’re asking yourself what a feasibility study is, it’s very easily defined.

Simply put, feasibility studies are groundwork investigations into the prospective benefits correlated with undertaking a particular activity or project. A feasibility study’s main goal is to take into account all conceivable factors associated with a task, and then determine if the time and other resources invested will return a wanted result. Most feasibility studies are highly detailed and fully examine every plausible angle.

For these reasons alone, conducting a feasibility study is undoubtedly in your best interest. However, the decision to carry out a study is one that should never be taken lightly. You will have to invest a lot of time and a lot of money into your study.

Conversely, not implementing a feasibility study can prove to be infinitely more damaging due to expenses and time lost recouping a loss. It’s always in your best interest to make the best possible use of a feasibility study. You’re going to need a clearly defined course of action consisting of multiple business models or scenarios that you want to explore.

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What are the Basics of Creating a Business Plan

28 October 2008

The idea of creating a business plan can be overwhelming. Sure, you want to create that business. You have daydreams of being your own boss, spending more time with your family - living the dream. But, then again, you don’t want any of the hassle that goes with it.

Building and employing a proper business plan from the start may be a bit tricky, but it’s also the only way to ensure that your business will run a little more smoothly from conception to birth. Just remember, the worst thing you can ever do is created a halfhearted business plan. A business plan isn’t napkin fodder, nor is it something that can be accomplished with 2 sheets of paper. A proper business plan will help your business to grow. Otherwise, it will surely sink.

Start off by reminding yourself that your business plan is for you. The purpose of the business plan is to lay out a solid plan to ensure a successful start, and then properly manage and ultimately expand your company. This will force you to think thoroughly and invest in things like market research, strategy planning, operation details, financial planning, and marketing plans.

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5 good reasons why small businesses fail

27 October 2008

The term “dog eat dog” is a gross understatement when applying it to small businesses. A mind boggling fact: 80% of all small businesses will fail within the first few years of operation. This is a very sobering statistic, even if you’re not trying to run a small business.

When you open it up and examine what a small business is, you find that it’s truly the life-force driving a capitalist environment. Excessive greed aside, small business is a staple of any solid economy, and more should be done to ensure they do not fail. But, fail they do, and in no particular order, the top-5 reasons small businesses sometimes don’t make it...

One: No niche is a bad niche. Some businesses have trouble developing a customer base. These “niche” markets are essential in the success of any business, big or small, and whether you have an online business or run a land-based institution, having a customer niche is important.

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