Business Advice

The $33,000 Small Business Raise

Posted by admin on May 9th, 2011

Copyright caltiva / stock.xchng

A recently released Gallup poll found more than three-quarters of Americans would be happier with exactly $33,000 a year more than what they currently have. After reading this information, three questions came to mind:

Why $33,000? Isn’t that an awfully precise number?
What about the other quarter? Are they perfectly happy with the money they are making now? Don’t they want even a teensy weensy bit more?
How do I keep my staff motivated, knowing that statistically most are unhappy with their current wage?

The answer to #1, most likely, is the fact that the data was statistically analyzed, and this was the median answer. I realize that, but it does seem like an awful lot to me. The answer to #2? I really don’t know. How do you feel about the money you earn as an entrepreneur? What about your staff? Do they ask for raises a lot, or have you lost staff to other higher-paying jobs? How do you deal with it? What I do know however, is that most of these small business staff members (62% to be exact), although making less than desirable, feel that they are happier in the position they are in than going elsewhere (according to the same study). Which is great news for all of us entrepreneurs – motivating factors aren’t always money, it seems. Thank goodness.

Making Money from Waste

Posted by admin on May 5th, 2011

Does your company create waste from its manufacturing, retail operations or services? Instead of throwing whatever it is away, try instead to think about how someone else may want (or need) your waste products. This one technique may just tilt the financial picture in a more positive light.

Don’t believe me? There are many examples today. One of the easiest is coffee shops. They create pounds and pounds of leftover grounds every day (a fact I distinctly remember after having managed one lovely locale in Calgary, Alberta for almost a year). I always felt guilty about throwing it all away, but I couldn’t see another use for it. Then, a customer asked me for some of our used grounds, and I welcomed her request. But why? It seems that coffee grounds are excellent compost material. And thus, our waste was reduced (and the garbage bill as well).

Larger-scale waste-recycling strategies include bat guano (sold for $2 a pound for organic fertilization purposes in Ohio), recycling ink cartridges or old cell phones for cash and using worm waste and reused plastic bottles for organic fertilizer.

Winery Offers $20,000 In Business Grant Money

Posted by admin on May 3rd, 2011

California’s Mirassou Winery is celebrating more than 150 years in business, and they want to share their success with other entrepreneurs and smart thinkers. This is the first year of their “Bright Ideas” grant program, which will honor folks who have something new and exciting to change people’s lives through a new business. Five winners will receive $3,000 each to make their dreams into a reality, with one earning $5,000 through Facebook votes.

For more details, “like” the winery’s page on Facebook.

_{Thanks to NYT’s You’re the Boss for the heads up about this exciting grant opportunity for small businesses.}

Free Business Help Now Available in Orange County

Posted by admin on May 1st, 2011

If you’re a resident of Orange County and want a bit of small business help – whether with writing a business plan, deciding if running a business is right for you, or just some support and networking opportunities – the Orange County Small Business Development Center has opened up a satellite office in Brea County to offer just that.

Hours run from 9-5pm, Monday to Friday, and you can either drop in to see what resources are available, or call 657-859-9722 to make an appointment. For more information, visit their website: http://www.ocsbdc.com/

_{Thanks to the Orange County Register for the full story.}

Conduct A Free Needs Analysis – Make Money Without Spending a Dime Challenge

Posted by admin on April 28th, 2011

If this is your first time visiting the Make Money without Spending a Dime Challenge – Welcome! If you want to start from the beginning, you’ll find the first posting here, and a list of all of the challenges to date here. Questions, comments or ideas to add? Please comment and share a link back to your business website.

Providing a free needs analysis to potential clients was something I had heard of before, but never used in my arsenal of free publicity tactics in the past. I thought it would be too complicated to do for little (or worse, no) gain. A recent review of other seo copywriters online showed me that it is an oft-used, rarely discussed technique that brings in qualified clients in droves – if done correctly. I had to investigate further. But first of all…

What is a Needs Analysis?

According to an online insurance company, a needs analysis is “part of the fact-finding stage in the personal selling process; the process of developing a detailed personal and financial picture of a prospect in order to evaluate his or her insurance needs”. I couldn’t have said it better myself (other than the insurance part, of course). But how you would use this type of information to get customers, you ask? Simple. You tell them.

Create a Free Needs Analysis Email Contact List

I’m assuming that you’ve already done your business marketing research and are fully aware of what types of customers or businesses need or want your products/services. For a caterer that might mean contacting event planning companies, for someone who sells candles that might be a church and/or spa, and so forth. Once you’ve located a small list of people (smaller is better at first to test your theories and response rates), carefully craft an email to these key people. Focus on service, not on sales, letting the key decision makers know you are aware of their business requirements and want to help them grow. Make sure to include benefits to the reader, such as:

What will the reader get out of this free needs analysis?
What changes are expected as a result of this free needs analysis?

Eventually you’ll have to answer these questions in your free needs analysis, as well as what economic costs and benefits will occur with implementation – but let’s leave that for later. After writing your free needs analysis email, send it to a friend or colleague for review. Would they answer your email? If not, change and update it until they would. This may take a day or so, but the more time spent the better, since you don’t want to come off as a spammer.

Offering Your Free Needs Analysis

Remember those emails you collected? Now is the time to individually send each person their free needs analysis invitation. Of course, you could hire a company to send out emails to their opt-in list, but we’re making money without spending a dime, remember? Send each letter to each individual one by one to avoid spam filters. Then, leave it. Wait a week. If you get no responses, send out a couple more – up to one hundred more (again, one by one). If you don’t even get one hit from your offer, it’s time to rewrite your copy, perhaps with the help of a copywriter (like me). On average, a well-written email with a free offer should garner about 1-5 responses in 100 emails (although I’ve seen in excess of a 65% response rate so far with my offer, but your results may differ). Now what, you ask?

How Do I Create a Free Needs Analysis?

When you get a response to your free needs analysis – don’t panic. You’ve already done this a million times with your current customers. Honest! Remember when someone walked into your store and they looked lost? You asked them probing questions to see what they needed – and that’s all a free needs analysis really is. For some ideas on what types of questions to ask and how to analyze the results you receive, review this very thorough needs analysis for information developers (education or training), a sales process needs analysis questionnaire, or this extremely informative, step by step needs analysis for a radio station. If you require ideas more specific to your industry, try a search online for “needs analysis” with your general line of business for a host of results.

The Key to Generating Income from a Free Needs Analysis

The problem with offering these consultative specials for free is that oftentimes, businesses or individuals will take you up on your free needs analysis offer, but won’t knock on your door for the sale. The reason why is simple: you didn’t ask for it. Yes, there may be other reasons why a potential client doesn’t purchase their needs from you immediately – they don’t have the cash, your fees are more than they can afford, they didn’t see you as an ‘expert’ in the field, or they really have no need for your information but couldn’t help getting something for free. But we aren’t talking about those folks. The ones who DO need the consultative information you’ve provided need to know what you can offer them, and how. Many a business owner has lost a sale because they were too “shy” or self-concious with crucial information that would sway a decision-maker to their favor. Simply tell them. If you can increase the “romance quotient” in their spa because of your long-lasting, paraben-free candles – tell them. Use whatever your particular USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is, and sell it. If you can follow these tips, you’ll be shocked (as I was) with your free needs analysis results and how well this tactic helps you to make more money without spending a dime.

Best Magazines For Small Business

Posted by admin on April 26th, 2011

My friends and family know that if they want to buy me a great gift, they’ll want to purchase a magazine subscription for me. Usually quite inexpensive, I get a monthly or weekly reminder of their appreciation, while learning new things about my business, how to save money, or other informative tidbits that I can use with regards to the bottom line.

I’ve got more than a handful of subscriptions right now because of this magazine love, and wanted to share my favorites with you.

Fast Company
Entrepreneur (or try one free edition via TradePub)
Home Business Magazine
Inc. Magazine
Small Business Opportunities
Selling Power
strategy+business
The Economist
Talent Management (free subscription via TradePub)

Have I missed any, or do you think some aren’t as crucial as others? Do you subscribe to business magazines, or do you take them out of the library for free instead?

Popular Business Books and Gear

Posted by admin on April 22nd, 2011

After reading a few other bloggers’ work, I realized that I find it incredibly helpful to see what other folks read and find useful when working on their business. With this in mind, I’d like to create a bestsellers list of business-related books and gear as chosen by you, the readers of this blog, every few months or so. So for the first few months of 2011, here’s what other readers of this blog and small business owners/aspiring entrepreneurs are reading, buying and finding helpful, according to Amazon.com.

Popular General Business Books

Some great finds in this category with an interesting mix of topics. The Instant MBA is must-read material for anyone running their own business, and the 4-Hour Workweek changed how I run my business.

Popular Small Business Books

You folks seem to have caught the making money out of hobbies bug – which is great, because that means I’ll find more amazing, one-of-a-kind things at the farmer’s markets this summer. And with Guerrilla Marketing on not one, but two lists this time around, I’m truly thrilled: it was one of the first books I ever read about business, and for years I didn’t do a lot of marketing without referencing one of the series, first.

Popular Saving Money While Running A Business Books

This section was a toughy for me, because there are a lot of books that kinda, sorta fit into the category, but not quite. A lot focused on investing, and another schwack for moms trying to save cash while running their homes. Now, there’s something to be said for parents trying to keep their costs down and running their homes similarly to how a business might, but it’s just not the same thing in my opinion. And thus, I created this unusual list of books – one you probably won’t find anywhere else.

Popular Social Media Books

When I first started writing about making money without spending a dime, social media didn’t exist. Today however it’s one of the best and easiest ways to gain new customers, learn what’s hot in the marketplace, stay on top of research and news in your business field, and stay connected with the people who pay your bills. The first book on this list found itself on my to-read list the other day, but there are a few here definitely worth reading.

Popular Small Business Software & Accessories

No surprise here that accounting and business software tops this list. What did surprise me was the Kensington laptop case – since I own this exact same one and purchased it about six years ago, I can vouch for it personally as being solid and well constructed. Plus when the shoulder strap disintegrated after heavy use, Kensington replaced it quickly and painlessly with their lifetime guarantee.

Study Says Your Desk Dirtier Than The Restroom

Posted by admin on April 20th, 2011

Women have three to four times the number of bacteria in, on and around their desks, phones, computers, keyboards, drawers and personal items as men do, the study by University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba showed. Gerba, a professor of soil, water and environmental sciences, tested more than 100 offices on the UA campus and in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon and Washington, D.C. The $40,000 study was commissioned by the Clorox Co.

“I thought for sure men would be germier,” Gerba said. “But women have more interactions with small children and keep food in their desks. The other problem is makeup.” Don’t get Gerba wrong: Women’s desks typically looked cleaner. But the knickknacks are more abundant, and cosmetics and hand lotions make prime germ-transfer agents, Gerba said. Makeup cases also make for fine germ homes, along with phones, purses and desk drawers. Food in desk drawers also harbors lots of microorganisms, and it is more abundant among female office workers. Gerba found 75 percent of women had munchies in their desks. “I was really surprised how much food there was in a woman’s desk,” he said. “If there’s ever a famine, that’s the first place I’ll look for food.”

The news isn’t all negative for the fairer sex. Gerba found the worst overall office germ offender is men’s wallets. “It’s in your back pocket where it’s nice and warm, it’s a great incubator for bacteria,” Gerba said. Another hot spot for bacteria in men’s offices: the personal digital assistant. “Men tend to play with their Palm Pilots more,” Gerba said. “I think they’re playing video games or something.”

The average office desktop has 400 times more bacteria than the average office toilet seat, Gerba said. Gerba said using a hand sanitizer and using a disinfectant on office surfaces helps, with 25 percent fewer bacteria found on surfaces that were regularly disinfected. Once-a-day use should be sufficient. “You don’t have to go crazy with it, but with the key areas, desktops, phones and keyboards probably need to be disinfected once in a while,” he said.

Business Contests

Posted by admin on April 14th, 2011

Winning an business contest provides your small business with many benefits: free publicity and advertising, cash, and prizes related to running your own business. Some contests are a one-click type of event (enter your name and address here), others are more in-depth (with essays, interviews or months-long elimination processes). This is the most complete list of business contests I could find to assist you in building, growing or creating your own business. If you feel I’ve missed one, please post it here. All business contests are arranged by deadline date for entry.

Ongoing Deadlines

Inc’s Entrepreneur of the Year
Make Mine a Million US-based women entrepreneurs looking to make a million dollars with their small business idea. Similar to the Apprentice.

January Business Contests

Visa Business Contest, for Visa business card holders. One-click entry.
ideaWins: The Ultimate Challenge, from Microsoft. Retail US establishments only, entry gives you a free download of Microsoft Accounting. Warning: choose the low bandwidth option, as the high one seems to crash a lot of people’s computers.
Federation of Small Businesses’ Champions, for UK-based businesses with no more than 50 employees who have been trading for a minimum of five years.

February Business Contests

Great Ideas for Chattanooga high school students (homeschooled or otherwise).
High School Business Contest, Nebraska, Iowa, Mississippi and Kansas only.
My Own Business Contest, US resident, 18 years or older. $100 application fee. Today is the ‘early registration’ deadline – if the winner registers before this date, they will win an extra $5,000.
Ace Hardware for US citizens over the age of 21.
Wildfire, for UK-based youth 14-18 only.

March Business Contests

Make Mine a $Million for U.S.-based female entrepreneurs.
Southeast BIO “designed and developed to help promote the creation of new, venture-attractive life science companies based in the Southeast.”
Dell Smart Business Award
Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for business owners in the Carolinas.

April Business Contests

Bronze Quill Business Communications Contest, for all South Texas businesses.
HP Responsible Business Contest, young entrepreneurs 15-18 years old in participating countries.

May Business Contests

My Own Business Contest, US resident, 18 years or older. $100 application fee.

June Business Contests

Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund

July Business Contests

Planet Out’s Entrepreneur of the Year, for gay, lesbian, transgendered or bisexual (LGBT) entrepreneurs in Canada or the US.

August Business Contests

No listings at this time.

September Business Contests

No listings at this time.

October Business Contests

No listings at this time.

November Business Contests

SBA Small Business of the Year

December Business Contests

No listings at this time.

Alliance of Online Entrepreneurs

Posted by admin on April 12th, 2011

Launched by Sheri McConnell, the Founder and President of the National Association of Women Writers (NAWW), the Alliance of Online Entrepreneurs has one goal in mind: to mentor web entrepreneurs. When asked why Sheri chose to form an organization for web entrepreneurs, she said: “I love bringing the top experts together to teach people how to leverage their knowledge on the Internet and take back their lives!”

The Alliance teamed up with some big industry names such as Christina Merkley of Shift-It-Coach; Melanie Benson Strick of Success Connections; Penny Sansevieri of A Marketing Expert; Dan Poynter of Para Publishing; Michael Port of Book Yourself Solid; Adam Urbanski of The Marketing Mentors; Vickie Sullivan of Sullivan Speaker; Peter Bowerman, author of “The Well Fed Writer“; Kim Fulcher of Compass Life Designs; Alexandria Brown, The E-zine Queen; Andrea Lee of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income; and Raleigh Pinskey of Promote Yourself.

AWE offers free memberships which include access to monthly teleseminar events, audio transcripts, educational products, advertising, networking, and access to the AWE’s global network and discounts on other web-related products and services.