WebMomz.com annually grants $500 to a woman who would like to start her own business but does not have the funds to do so. Applicant must be a woman, live within the United States, pay a $10 application fee to have their business idea considered and must demonstrate that they have developed and researched their idea.
The deadline for application is in March, 2012, so there is plenty of time to get your idea ready.
To find out more information and to see a list of past winners, visit the grant page of the WebMomz.com site.
Have you ever wondered how to destroy your business? Here are ten easy steps to run your business into the ground – with little or no effort:
1. Once your business is up and running, make sure that you don’t continue to study market and industry trends. This boring first step of a business start-up is a total waste of time when you are actually running your business.
2. Don’t bother updating your business’s Facebook page or other social media accounts. You definitely don’t want to bore your customers with news about your business. The same goes for your website. Stale information rules!
3. Under no circumstances should you concern yourself with your customers/clients needs. Your business should focus on you, not them.
4. You deserve the best – so go ahead and charge your morning latte to the company card. And of course, you need the most expensive smartphone and a fancy leather briefcase, so get those, too! Spare no expense… you are an entrepreneur, so you must look the part.
5. Ignore the quality of your product. Don’t worry about customer complaints (see number 3 to find out how to handle them).
6. Don’t give your employees the proper training, materials, supplies or equipment. They should be able to figure things out on their own… plus, it will help them develop creativity to have to work with what you give them.
7. Don’t use an accounting program to keep track of your books. And definitely don’t hire a professional to help you with your accounting – that is for wimps!
8. Never, ever, under no circumstances, develop a process for making your product, delivering your service, providing support to your customers or addressing problems. You can figure things out as they happen.
9. Don’t have a plan for growth – this, too, should be addressed as it happens.
10. Have you ever heard that your employees will treat your customers like you treat your employees? Rubbish! You are emperor of your business and your employees should treat you with respect. You shouldn’t have to listen to them tell you what’s going wrong with your business or what customers are complaining about.
That’s it! If you follow all of these steps, your business is sure to fail. I personally guarantee the success of this plan… just joking. I would hope that you would not follow this plan!
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Most people might think that some things simply aren’t negotiable. The truth is that most things really can be negotiated – you just have to know how to go about it. What are some things that people might be surprised that you can negotiate? The price you pay for your internet subscription, your exam grade in a college course, and the terms of an apartment rental agreement can usually be negotiated. Of course, if you take “no” for an answer, your negotiations will go nowhere.
Here are nine tips for how to position yourself in a negotiation in order to achieve the best results:
1. Be willing to walk away. In a situation where you have another viable alternative, even if it isn’t your preference, you will be in a much stronger bargaining position if you are willing to stop negotiations and walk away. For me personally, this came in handy during the purchase of a new car. I was in a strong bargaining position but the dealership wouldn’t budge as much as I wanted on the price of a car. I had already left the building when the sales manager came running out to propose a new, even lower, price.
2. Don’t say too much. Many people get nervous during conversation gaps and tend to try to fill the silence with small talk. Your opponent doesn’t need to know that you have two small children or are having trouble finding clients. Any information that you give can and will be used against you in negotiation. It’s like playing poker. Keep your poker face on and no one will know that you are desperate to get this deal.
3. Make the pie bigger. This requires some creative thinking. Is there something that can be added to the “deal” for free or low cost? For example, you are trying to get a consultant to work on a project for you but they want to charge $5,000 to complete the project. Your budget is only $4,000. Maybe you can get the consultant to meet you in the middle and throw in a few additional consulting sessions to evaluate the progress of his suggestions.
4. Don’t be afraid to make the first move. This is a huge misstep that many people make. If you let the other person go first then you are letting them set the stage for the negotiations. If you are hiring a new employee, don’t be afraid to tell them what the salary range for the position is. If you choose not to and let them go first, you will end up negotiating on their terms and within their salary range. Yes, you may end up paying more than they would have accepted, but if you have done your research and know what the marketplace is paying for the position, you will be within a competitive range.
5. Mentally restrict yourself to only a few alternatives, or actually eliminate the other alternatives. This advice can be difficult to follow. If you have too many choices, it will be hard to seriously negotiate on one or two of the options. A good example here would be renewing the lease agreement on your office space. If you are thinking that maybe you can go, maybe you can stay, maybe you can sublet to make up for the increase in the rent, then you will be in a poor bargaining position. You have to decide to stay – and then once you know you are staying, you can go head on with the landlord to get the best contract. But don’t confuse this with being unwilling to walk away.
6. Don’t be fooled when your “opponent” tells you that it “is just the way it’s done”. Yes, there might be traditions, “rules” (which are meant to be broken, as the saying correctly says), and customs, but everything is negotiable in some manner. Everything. Except maybe the prices at Wal-Mart.
7. Find a solution where both sides make a compromise. If you can give your opponent the impression that you, too, will be making some sort of sacrifice in order to come to a deal, this may help when negotiations have come to a halt. Also, be willing to give in on an issue that is not as important to you if you can get them to agree to your most important points. If you are willing to go a little lower on the price but would really like more time to complete the project, make your opponent feel like you are meeting them in the middle. If you’ve followed the rules and haven’t given away too much information about your bargaining position, they won’t know the difference.
8. Get your “opponent” to accept a maximum – it might be higher than you were originally hoping for, but this way you know that you won’t go over a certain level. One way to do this is to make the first move – state the range that you are willing to work within. If the other side doesn’t walk away, you can be almost sure that the range is acceptable and then you can work on getting them to agree to the lower side of the range and you can be certain that you won’t go over the top limit.
9. Be persistent – but patient. Some people like to play the waiting game – they win by making the other side nervous and impatient. If you start negotiations as soon as possible, you can be both persistent and patient. This way, the other side might give in simply to be able to move beyond the negotiations. Being persistent is also advantageous because without persistence, you may find yourself taking “no” for an answer.
That’s it! If you remember that negotiating, no matter how serious the stakes, is a game that is being played between two or more players, you will be able to think logically and develop a winning strategy.
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If you’ve ever quit your day job to start your own business, you may have had the unfortunate pleasure of having to politely explain to your closest friends and family that you actually ARE working – that working from home is working. You may have been swamped by personal telephone calls for the first few weeks. Your mother, sister and best friend from high school probably all wanted you to take advantage of your newly acquired free time and grab some lunch or catch up on gossip.
Believe it or not, this can actually be fatal for your brand-new business. The first couple years of working for yourself are when you need to be the most focused. You always will need to focus on your business, but the beginning is the most crucial – think of it like pushing a boulder up a hill (yes, starting a business is pretty tough). If you don’t put 100% of your energy into going uphill, you won’t experience the relief once the boulder gets rolling on its own.
So how do you get your family and friends to take your new “job” seriously?
1. Let everyone know that you are going to be working from home – send all of your friends an e-mail or update your status on Facebook. Tell them what your approximate hours of work will be and explain that you won’t be available for personal calls or chat during that time.
2. Respect your own boundaries. Don’t spend your time on social networking sites responding to posts, etc. during the times that you have set for working. If people see that you are on Google+ posting funny videos, they probably won’t take you seriously when you say that you can’t make plans for the weekend right now because you are too busy.
3. Don’t answer non-urgent personal calls, text messages, or e-mails during your work hours, unless you are on a “break”. One of the benefits that working for yourself allows is that you can set your own schedule, but be warned that your personal life can begin to encroach on your professional life very easily. Without a “boss” to point it out, you have to be very careful.
4. Thank everyone for their support periodically. It’s probably very difficult for your non-entrepreneurial friends and family to understand why you are working so hard on an idea that probably isn’t making you much money. Make sure you let them know that you appreciate their understanding and support during your start-up phase.
It can be difficult at first, but you will soon find that everyone will adjust to your new lifestyle!
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There are some varying strategies when it comes to how businesses approach using Facebook. Here are some basic reasons why I think that Fan Pages are better than using the personal profile for networking:
Unlimited fans You have a limit to the number of “friends” you can add to your personal profile: 5,000 – on a Facebook page, the “fan” limit is unlimited
You can still enjoy Facebook for personal use If you keep the Facebook profile limited to personal use (this doesn’t mean you can’t still promote your business on it, then you can still enjoy using Facebook with its intended functionality)
It’s easier to get fans than friends It is much easier to get someone to simply “like” a page. When someone adds you as a friend you have access to a ton of their personal information. Many people are wary about sharing too much personal information.
You get more information You will have access to analytical data about your Facebook Fan Page. If you just have a Facebook account, you won’t get data about whether visitors are sharing your posts and other important information.
You can have Facebook apps This is a little more technical, but you can only use Facebook apps if you have a page. This is helpful if you would like to integrate Facebook commenting on your website or add other features.
You can have Facebook Ads You can run ad campaigns for Facebook pages. You cannot do this with a regular Facebook account.
You will be following the rules Most importantly, using Facebook as a business with a personal account actually violates the Facebook Terms of Service.
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After hearing about the Rupert Murdoch scandal ad nauseum, and reading an article in the New York Times about how the scandal has affected the Murdoch family and the company, I begin to wonder whether our expectations should be different for small business? Small businesses make up the vast majority of the actual number of companies, so isn’t it just as important for these organizations to behave themselves?
Some examples of unethical behavior in a small business?
1. Giving an ex-employee a bad recommendation. It’s not against the law, but it is tacky, unprofessional and makes your business look even worse than the former employee. Your business should have a strict policy that sets the type of information that you will provide to reference-seekers. It’s best to keep your opinions about people to yourself – especially in a professional environment.
2. Overcharging a big customer. You might justify it by thinking that the big company has deep pockets and won’t miss a few thousand dollars. Instead, resist the temptation and charge the big customer fairly – it will pay off in the end.
3. Ripping off a little customer. Times have changed. One little customer can cause a big giant headache for your business very easily. It’s called social media and on it bad news spreads faster than wildfire. If you get a complaint from a customer, try to handle it quickly and fairly. It’s not just good customer service, it’s the right thing to do and it’s good business.
What are some examples of unethical behavior that you have encountered in a small business? I’d love to hear from you about them and what you think the business should have done instead.
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These tips are for anyone who has launched their business, or is in the process of launching, and is struggling with the ugly de-motivation monster. We all have experience with this monster – it even sits next to some of us on the sofa.
Here are eleven ways to make sure that you don’t lose your motivation:
1. Have a clear goal. And then figure out the tiny steps that you will need to take to reach your goal. Think about your goal each day.
2. Stay positive by replacing your negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Negative thinking is a habit that can be broken.
3. Figure out your personal “why”. It will be different for everyone. Do you want freedom, extra cash or extra time? Maybe your “why” is to change the world with your revolutionary new product.
4. Surround yourself with positive, goal-oriented people. This could be a good friend, business partner, or an entrepreneur association. Online, you can join a few of the dozens of business-related forums.
5. Read success stories. Stories about all different types of people that have faced difficult circumstances and triumphed will always give you perspective on your life and situation. Also, don’t forget about the classic business success stories, biographies and auto-biographies.
6. Learn something new each day about your industry or business. Subscribe to an industry magazine or read a few of the leading blogs in your niche.
7. Help someone else achieve a goal. Try to make a habit of helping others with some of their small or large goals.
8. Get a support system and ask them for help when you need it. A support system could be a business coach or a person that you have asked to hold you responsible for meeting your business goals.
9. Make a list of your successes. When faced with obstacles, it can be difficult to remember the successes that brought you to this point. Take a few minutes and make a list of your triumphs – no matter how small.
10. Pace yourself. Don’t push yourself to exhaustion every day. Work at a steady pace. You know the old expression: “Slow and steady wins the race”.
11. Work on your business each day – even if you feel like you don’t get much done, making your business part of your routine is the key.
Is there something that you do routinely that helps you stay motivated?
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Is it really fair to say that Bill Gates just “got lucky” after he founded Microsoft along with his friend? Do you remember the British singer Susan Boyle? She’s the woman who was discovered at the Britain’s Got Talent auditions – she surprised the judges with her ordinary looks and extraordinary voice. Did she “get lucky” that day?
Gary Player, a famous South-African golfer, once said: “The harder I practiced the luckier I got.” His increasing “luck” led him to more than 165 professional wins, including the prestigious Master’s Tournament and the U.S. Open. Many sports, music and business successes often appear as if they occurred suddenly – but we don’t see the years of struggle, failure and practice that goes on behind the scenes.
In fact, only your closest family and friends will remember the ups and downs of your business success (or failure). As Mark Cuban, a very successful American businessman correctly stated: “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you… All the matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are”.
So, how can you be lucky?
1. Practice. Fail and fail again – or maybe you won’t fail? How will you know until you try?
2. Hard work. “Luck” usually doesn’t happen to lazy people. It’s not likely to come knocking on your door while you are watching television.
3. Educate yourself. Bill Gates needed more than luck to score the deal with IBM that made Microsoft a success. He knew his stuff! Information is cheaper than ever now – make use of it.
4. Good planning. You have to have a plan, even if you change the plan constantly.
5. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunity. If you put on blinders, you won’t see the opportunities around you. Learn how to evaluate opportunities quickly.
6. Take risks! Don’t go skydiving or mountain climbing… those kind of risks are only for the truly brave. What is the worst that can happen if your business deal falls through? It certainly isn’t as bad as falling off of a mountain. Put it in perspective!
Good luck to you!
Photo: Sampsyo
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Did you know that up to 25% of search terms on any given day are “brand new”? This means that no one has ever searched for those terms before. It might not seem very significant at first glance, but if you take a look at the actual number of brand-new searches done each day, it is quite staggering.
If you use a low estimate of the approximate daily Google searches (2,000,000,000), then that means that 500,000,000 new search terms are “created” each day. As the author of content on a website, there is no way that you could anticipate these new search terms.
Does this mean that SEO (search engine optimization) is not important and that you should ignore everything that you’ve learned on the subject? Of course not. Just don’t worry about SEO. Instead, consider the following:
1. Content, content, content. Would you invite people to an empty store? Would you shop at a bakery stocked with stale bread? What would you think if you walked into an antique store where everything was broken? Put most of your time into the actual content of your website.
2. Make your site attractive. What good will it do you if people click off your site immediately after they land on it? Does your site look “scammy”? If so, there is no point in using SEO “tricks” in order to get traffic. Personally, I am always suspicious of sites where there are large blocks of disorganized, multi-colored and multi-sized text.
3. Pay attention to your website’s analytics data. What’s that? You aren’t using one? You should have at least a basic service that supplies you with information about the numbers of visitors to your site, where they came from geographically, how they found your site, how long they stayed on your site, what they looked at, how many pages they visited, and what they clicked on to leave your site. This information will help you mold your content to better assist your visitors and customers. This doesn’t have to be expensive – Google Analytics offers a decent, free service.
4. Offer good customer service: Update your content regularly. If you have a blog, reply to comments. If you get questions about your site, respond promptly. The point is to retain your regular “customers” – they will refer their friends and family.
If you are really interested in creating your content specifically for SEO, keep quality of content in mind as you study the following free Google products:
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I decided not to include “market segmentation” in the title of this post, but when you decide to target a “super-specific” market, you are practicing market segmentation.
Some definitions of market segmentation assume that you have several markets in which you would like to sell your product or service. In this definition, you will craft your marketing plan to allow different strategies depending on which segment of the market. An example of this would be a company that sells computers. Many types of people use computers, so the computer company will divide their market into many different segments. They could have a youth-going-off-to-college segment, a business-user segment, a stay-at-home-parent segment, and so on. Their advertisements will be different depending on the audience.
A different way to use market segmentation is to ONLY sell your services to one part of your potential market. If we use the computer company example, they would choose one of their potential market segments. If they decided to choose the youth-going-to-college segment, then they would design their product and marketing materials to appeal to young college students. They could focus on this market segment and become leaders in this space. One important item to consider: Make sure that your potential market segment is large enough to support your business. Example? The computer company might run into trouble if they got too specific and only targeted those college students majoring in electrical engineering.
You might think that your business is very general and that you can’t really use market segmentation on your target market, but I would like you to consider this interesting example of market segmentation:
A company called NetBoots designs and provides a websites. More specifically, this company provides websites for politicians. Still more specifically, they provide websites for American Conservative politicians (and conservative political parties, etc.). By targeting a very specific segment of the market, NetBoots can provide exactly what a conservative American politician wants and needs (or at least that is what their marketing materials say). Their list of customers is somewhat impressive.
As you can see, there are creative ways that you can target your business to a sub-section of your target market. The advantages of using this strategy are real – you “eliminate” some of your competition by default and you learn how to effectively communicate with your customers.
How have you seen market segmentation effectively implemented?
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