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We hope you find this arcthve useful. A subscription to The Small Business Advisor Newsletter is free. Subscribe now - it's easy! The Small Business Advisor Newsletter for February, 1998 CONTENTS
++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTES/TIPS/etc CORRECTION: In last month's
newsletter we provided download information for the Service Release 1patch
for Office 97. The URL that was given is no longer functional, and thanks
to subscriber C. Susan Taylor, the CORRECT URL is http://www.microsoft.com/Office/Office97/ServiceRelease/?prev=111111
According to the House Government
Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee, the following major
federal agencies will not finish their Y2K compliant work in time. The
current estimated completion years are shown. All of these agencies will
not affect most of us, but some will. Be ready. Read my Y2K report at
http://www.isquare.com and click on YEAR 2000. ++++++++++++++++++++++++
EVERY small or home-based business should consider a website. There are certainly some businesses where a website offers nothing of value but for the vast majority a website can be a very effective sales channel and marketing tool. However, there are some "rules" to follow to ensure the success of your website. This article will list the steps we have taken that have resulted in a successful website. FIRST THE BASICS 1. Decide if you are going to develop your own website or contract with a developer. If the latter, search the web for possible candidates. If you are doing it yourself, visit a bookstore or search the web and pick up one of the many excellent references on Web Publishing and html. If you don't have the time, hire someone and ensure they have the required expertise. A child can write html code. Designing an effective website takes an expert. 2. Apply for a domain name. (You can do it yourself over the internet via the Internic, http://www.rs.internic.net, or have your ISP do it for you. Think up three names ... it is likely you will not get your first choice. Take your time ... this domain name becomes your identifier! 3. Carefully outline and organize the material you want to place on the web. Don't do it "on the fly." 4. Decide on the "look" of your pages. Browse the web for ideas. 5. Your website MUST provide a service as well as present your product or service that you are selling. In our case, we provide useful small business related information (tax advice, start-up and money saving tips, etc). We then gently steer the visitor to the books we are selling. It works! 6. Your website must be EASY to use. The design of the site must make it easy for the user to navigate and not get lost. A confused visitor will simply leave. 7. Your website will go nowhere without a sustained marketing effort. See below for what has been successful for us. WEBSITE DESIGN TIPS 1. LOADING TIME. Users will not wait. You have about 10-seconds to catch and keep a visitor. Your home page should load quickly. Ensure this by keeping graphic files small (optimize all graphics with "Gif Wizard" at http://www.gifwizard.com), backgrounds simple and by using height and width tags with every graphic. The height/width tags will force the text to load first giving the user something to read while the graphics load. It is also a good idea to use ALT tags with the graphic tag so that the graphic is identified to the user while it loads. 2. BROWSER FRIENDLINESS. There are many different browsers in use. Ensure your home page is friendly to all of them. Do this by keeping your page simple and if you are using frames, tables, image maps and other enhancements, ensure you have an alternate page available for browsers that cannot display the enhancements. For example, we use frames so we provide a "non-frame" gateway for those users with older non-frame friendly browsers. 3. ORGANIZED MESSAGE. The user should be immediately presented with a description of your site … what it's for and what's in it. Also, make it easy for the user to navigate your site. For example, make certain there is always an obvious way to return to the home page from anywhere within your site. 4. META TAGS. These html tags are used to define the name and content of you site. Proper use of META tags will ensure that some important (large) search engines can find and properly index your site. Also ensure each webpage is property "titled" within the header tags. Learn about meta statements at http://www.metatag.webpromote.com. 5. UPDATE FREQUENTLY. Ensure that visitors will return to your site by constantly updating its content. This cannot be stressed enough - a static site will not grow. 6. ASK FOR FEEDBACK. Make it easy for a visitor to e-mail you comments. MARKETING IDEAS (ATTRACTING VISITORS) We have found the following to be very effective in building and sustaining traffic to our website. I hope it goes without saying that website sales are directly proportional to traffic! 1. Get listed with the major search engines. Don't do it yourself - it is very time consuming and there are plenty of inexpensive ways to get it done. I like the folks at 1-step (http://www.1step.com). 2. Utilize traditional and internet-based news releases. 3. Engage in strategic mutual link development. This is quite important - 25% of our traffic comes to us via these links! This takes time but is worth the effort. 4. Participate in newsgroups and listservs. Don't advertise - provide useful information. Let your "signature" do the advertising. Don't become a pest. 5. Include your URL on EVERYthing: telephone answering machine, literature, business cards and stationary, traditional adverts, etc. We had some T-shirts printed with our homepage on the front and URL on the back - they are great conversation starters. 6. Develop a newsletter. (Preferably e-mail based) We did, and in about a year generated a mailing list of over 5000. This brings traffic … and sales. Got a new book? Let your list know about it - at no cost. 7. Write articles for journals and periodicals that relate to what you do. Include a byline with your URL, of course. 8. Make sure you are using a "signature" with your e-mail and include your URL. KEEPING VISITORS 1. Content, content, content. Your site must say something, teach something, provide valuable useful information. This is the most important element of any successful website. Furthermore, this information must be dynamic - kept up to date and always changing. 2. As noted earlier, website navigation is very important. It must be easy to find anything within your site and it should not be impossible to "get lost." It is amazing how many websites ignore this important element of website design. That's about it. You can build a successful website if you pay attention to what has worked for others. The ideas presented here worked for us and I bet they will work for you. All you have to lose without a website are sales! Think about it. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ COMPUTER MAINTENANCE
Okay, it's still early in the year so you plenty of time to keep that resolution. You remember, don't you? The one where you promised to properly maintain your computer - the computer with ALL your business and personal data? Here are a few items to think about. (This is for Window 95 users - they represent the majority) 1. If you don't have a ZIP drive go out and buy one immediately (around $100). With this inexpensive drive (which uses 100Mb removable cartridges) making backups is so easy and quick you will have no excuse not to do it. Both external and internal models are available. Make backups daily if possible but at least weekly. Remember a crash and loss of ALL data can happen at anytime. 2. Run the Windows Scandisk utility. Follow the on-screen instructions. It's easy. Do this once a month. 3. Defrag your hard drive using the Windows Disk Defragmenter utility. Find it by clicking in the following sequence: Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter. Do this once a month. 4. Empty the Recycle Bin. Do this by right clicking on the Recycle Bin icon and clicking on "Empty Recycle Bin." It is amazing how quickly directory fills up - empty it and gain hardisk space. Do it monthly (at least). 5. Visit the PC Magazine website at http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/ and download a little utility called "Unfrag." This program will defragment all your "compound files." (Compound files are not defragmented by the Windows defragmenter) Don't worry what they are - just know that after this defrag process you can easily free up megabytes of hard disk space. The file you are looking for is "unfrag.zip." Run "Unfrag" every couple of weeks. 6. Using a soft brush with and vacuum, clean out the keyboard (between the keys) and remove dust and lint from the various ventilation areas on the computer case. Do this with the computer off. Happy computing! ++++++++++++++++++++++++
(By far the most asked question we get is, "Should I incorporate?" This article will assist those trying to decide. As always, in matters such as this, consult your own legal advisor - ed) One of the most important decisions that needs to be made when starting a business is selecting the structure or form by which the business will operate. The basic business organizational structures include the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation (including general, close and S corporations) and the newest form of business entity -- limited liability company. The choice of a business structure depends upon many factors such as the nature of the business operation, the need for protection of personal assets from business debt, the intended division of earnings, need for capital, legal restrictions, tax advantages or disadvantages, number of owners or participants in the business and the planned life of the business venture. The general corporation is the most formalized form of business structure and is available in all fifty states. A Corporation is a legal entity that is owned by shareholders. General corporations may have an unlimited number of shareholders that, due to the separate legal nature of the corporation, are protected from creditors of the business seeking to attach personal assets. Advantages of incorporating include: 1. Owners' (shareholders)
personal assets are protected from business debt. Corporations are also able to take advantage of a type of corporation tax status known as an S corporation. Essentially, owners of a corporation with the S corporation tax status treat income or loss as though they are a "partnership." The income or loss passes through the corporation and is reported on the owners' personal tax returns thus avoiding the much higher federal corporate tax rate. In addition, S corporations are able to avoid the "double taxation" of general corporations in which profits are taxed once at the corporate level and again as personal income (i.e., dividends, etc.). To form an S corporation, you must first form a general or close corporation. Within 75 days of forming the corporation, all of the shareholders must elect the S corporation status by executing federal form 2553. S corporations are restricted to no more than 35 owners, may only have one class of stock, and all shareholders must be individuals and U.S. citizens. Before deciding upon a business structure, it would be prudent to review all options with an attorney, accountant or other business advisor. While a corporation is a very desirable and common form of business structure, it is not necessarily the best choice for everyone. (Corporate Agents, Inc., a nationwide incorporation service company, specializes in assisting entrepreneurs, accountants, and first-time incorporators. Contact them at 800-877-4224 or visit their site at www.corporate.com) ++++++++++++++++++++++++ PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
Patient entrepreneur is an oxymoron. The fire that drives us to quit our jobs, risk our finances, and invest every waking hour in a venture is also the force that makes it impossible to accept the truth about starting a business: It always takes longer than you think it will. Plan on three times the money and twice the amount of time you think you'll need. I am often asked: "What qualities does someone have to possess to be a successful entrepreneur? The obvious answers: persistence, commitment, resilience, and courage. This list should include another often-neglected consideration - patience. Without patience, an entrepreneur will burn out and give up too soon, or at the very least, be miserable in the process of trying to reach their goals. I am six months pregnant while writing this column. I'm at that stage when it feels like I have been, and will be pregnant forever. Although part of me wishes I could "get this pregnancy over with," I know that if my baby were born now, he would have little chance of living a healthy life. And so, I wait patiently for his full term development, knowing there is good reason for his extended incubation. As a mother of two other babies, I vividly remember my labor experiences as extraordinary tests of patience. Contractions seem to go on for hours and hours, and you can't push the labor process any faster than your body, and the baby are willing to go. As a self-employed professional, wife and mother, patience is one of my most fragile, and yet most cherished assets. Patience, or lack of it, is directly responsible for the quality of my emotional experience, able to create a calm, peaceful state of mind, or an agitated one. Here are six strategies you can use to increase your patience quotient. They form the acronym "PLEASE", since if there was a special tune associated with impatience, wouldn't it begin with: "PLEASE. . . " To improve your patience level, you must understand where your impatience originates: P - Passion is what drives an entrepreneur, and also what keeps us from accepting the molasses like quality of our journey. To be nonchalant about our entrepreneurial goals would threaten our ability to reach them, so we attack our work with fervor and a voracious appetite for success. It's fine to be fueled by such intensity - if you can learn to tone it down when circumstances demand that you do so. An unbridled, impatient, entrepreneur is no more likely to win than a wild untrained horse at the racetrack. L - Lack of faith in God, the universe, employees, co-workers, customers, vendors, or family members will lead an entrepreneur to try to push the process and make things happen on their predefined schedule. When you don't trust anyone or anything but yourself, impatience will be your steady companion. Complete this sentence: "I trust that, besides me, ___________is guiding this process or is instrumental to its success, and I can trust him, her or it to do their part." Also try the serenity prayer; "God grant me the willingness to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." E - Egocentricity and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. Business owners need strong, confident egos. When you are feeling impatient, your ego is insisting: "Why can't my_______ do this the right way!" If only my ______ would stop______ I wouldn't be so angry." We expect the world to revolve around our schedule, needs, and demands, and then get self righteous and impatient when others don't comply. Remind yourself that your business success relies on dozens of other people, all of whom have their own lives, schedules, and needs. Unless you're a hermit, you'll never have it your way all the time. A - Anxiety and fear are the great enemies of patience. Most impatience stems from terror that if we don't make things happen the way we think they need to, we will fail with horrendous consequences. Keep overstated self-talk and negative visualizations in check, and notice if your impatience is fueled by an exaggerated doomsday message. Pay attention to the direct relationship between fear and lack of faith. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov counsels: "Learn to wait. If despite all your determined efforts you cannot seem to reach your goals, be patient. Between acceptance and anxiety, choose acceptance." S - Shortsightedness comes from our insistence that the plan we have created is the best and only way to achieve our goals. Tied up with ego even better plan in mind for us than we have for ourselves. Surrender at times to what life is handing you, rather than what you planned on. Ask yourself; "Have I ever gotten something I didn't plan on, but was even better than I asked for?" E - Entrepreneurial vision is by its nature grandiose and impatient. When you are reaching for the stars, it's hard to watch grass grow. And yet, even the most spectacular dreams are achieved one painstakingly slow accomplishment after another. Support your long-term vision with daily goals and celebrate the progress you make along the way. Let me leave you with an analogy that applies to developing patience. One Thanksgiving, my family gathered at my brother's house for the anticipated turkey dinner. Unbeknownst to him, my brother's oven needed repair, and his broil and bake functions were reversed. After broiling a turkey for three hours, (while we thought it was baking), we ended up with a bird that was burned on the outside and raw on the inside. If we turn the heat to broil on our business, our relationships, or ourselves, when what we really need is a slow roast, the outcome will be unpleasant, if not ruined entirely. Patience is not only a virtue for your emotional well being - it may be the deciding factor in your success as well. Remember - good things are usually worth waiting for. (Azriela Jaffe is the founder of "Anchored Dreams" (www.isquare.com/crlink.htm), and author of "Honey, I Want to Start my Own Business, A Planning Guide for Couples" For a free online newsletter for entrepreneurial couples, email jaffe@lancnews.infi.net.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertise Your Biz on Low-Cost
Radio There's an old rule that when you have a LOT of something, the price goes down. That's the case with radio. You may find a handful of TV stations in your town, and a major newspaper or two, but you've likely got one, two, even three dozen radio stations to choose from. Whereas it can cost hundreds or thousands to get a single ad on TV or in major daily's, radio commercials usually go for under $100 and often much lower (under $10 in small towns). Radio combines less expensive ad rates with large, well- targeted audiences to give an excellent value. Almost everyone listens to radio. Most people claim to listen at least 2 hours each day. Young people listen to pop stations, baby boomers love softer stations and stations that play oldies. People over 55 (and increasingly--people of all ages) listen to talk and news stations. Make sure your radio commercial offers a good deal. Keep to a few basic ideas. Repeat contact info. (Reach Kevin at (801)253-4536 or DrNunley@aol.com. See his Marketing Info Supersite: http://www.DrNunley.com Ask for his FREE report.)
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