Small Business Blog

In honor of Halloween, I’d like to introduce you to our new Ghostwriter in Residence, Romy Caldwell. As a ghostwriter, Romy is here to clear the cobwebs from your mind and put your expertise into words.

Romy can take written notes, scribbled notes, or recorded notes and turn your thoughts into a blog post, an article, an e-book, a e-course, or a book that will continue to pay you dividends long after it is written. Because she is a ghostwriter, your readers will never know you didn’t pen the article or book yourself.

How do you know Romy is the right person for your project? Romy has experience writing blogs, articles, books, how-to manuals, website copy, product descriptions, technical papers, speeches….well, you get the idea. Romy Caldwell is the pen name of a group of writers with extensive expertise, so no matter what type of product you need, there is a part of Romy that is right for you.

So don’t be scared to start that blog or e-book that will establish you as an expert in your field. With your brains and Romy’s talent, you can be showcasing your expertise in no time.

Want to know more? Go to Romy’s website. And yes, I am part of Romy, too.

This is a great monthly contact solution that is effective, unbelievably inexpensive, and takes no effort from you after the initial 15-minute setup. The brains behind this operation is Amber Riviere, my accountability partner and one of the savviest business people I know. I keep thinking just by knowing her some of that will rub off on me!

Email Newsletters with No Heavy-Lifting Required

Staying in touch with customers and clients can be a challenge, and finding an effective and affordable solution is even more difficult. Now, with 411 Real Estate Place, it’s never been easier to maintain contact and establish lasting relationships with your clients. This monthly email newsletter goes out automatically, no heavy-lifting required! Agents simply submit their images, contact information, and mailing list, and the editors and staff of 411 Real Estate Place take care of the rest. Prices start at just $39 per month, and for all the Web Women Giving Circle supporters out there, 100% of proceeds from character illustrations go to benefit the CARE organization!

Here’s one agent’s testimonial:

411 Real Estate Place is a terrific new tool for those of us in the real estate profession. Eye-catching graphics, informative content, and ease of use cause me to rate this one of the most effective tools I’ve ever used! The first edition was sent out this week. The newsletter was sent to approximately 100 people in my email database at 9:00 am. I’m not kidding at all - by 12:00 noon I had heard from 5 people who received the newsletter. Not only was the feedback good, but these people all needed real estate help or knew of someone else they were referring to me! In the past 3 years, I have not had such a quick and positive response to a mailing (email or snail-mail). I would highly recommend looking into this great service! Thanks for jump-starting my business!
- Chrissy, Colorado

http://www.411realestateplace.com/

If you are the creative type, you have probably developed customized systems and even products for your business. A way to protect those inventions is through the patent process, but long before you reach the application process you need to properly document your idea in an Inventor’s Notebook.

An inventor’s notebook helps to establish your “first to invent” claim. Of course, it can work against you if you have not been diligent in your record-keeping, have not made efforts to bring your product to the market, or if another claim has an earlier date, but without any documentation you really have no argument.

How is an Inventor’s Notebook different from a regular notebook?

• It must be permanently bound (no loose leaf, spiral-bound, or sticky notes)
• The pages must be consecutively numbered (you can do this yourself)
• Do not leave blank spaces in your book or erase anything. Draw a line through mistakes.
• Sign and date the bottom of every page before moving on to the next page.
• Periodically have a non-inventor colleague sign and date your work in a “Disclosed and Understood by”entry.

Many inventors keep more than one notebook: one for ideas, and one for each idea that becomes a project. The important thing to remember is to follow the guidelines appropriate to the patent process. You can consult your patent attorney for specifics.

You can buy inventor’s notebooks already formatted from several stores or online by entering “inventor’s notebook” in your favorite search engine.

If you even think you may want to apply for a patent someday, prepare yourself now by keeping properly documented notes.

Does your target market buy office supplies? If so, have I got a deal for you. Your local Staples store has a program to promote small businesses, and to take advantage of this free advertising you only need to sign up with the store manager.

What you get:

• A large easel display at the front of the store
• Business card holder
• Space for flyers
• Signs promoting your business

Each Small Business Showcase is posted for one week, and if you do not have signs or flyers ready you can always get them printed at the Staples printing and copying center. The only restriction is that your business cannot be a competitor of Staples and it must be family-appropriate.

Call or stop by your local Staples store today to sign up for the Small Business Showcase, and then post back and let us know how this free advertising impacts your business. Thanks to Becca at my local Staples for giving me the details and Tiffany McVeety from the SBA for alerting me to this program.

Do you depend on search engines and pay-per-click advertising to drive traffic to your website? Most people do. But you should not neglect some “old school” methods of getting people interested in your business. I use snail mail - actual cards! - to stay in touch with prospects and clients. And I’ve been known to print flyers for networking events as well. Both of these low-tech solutions advertise my website and blog.

Some other old-fashioned ways to advertise your completely modern self:

• Is your website or blog prominently displayed on your business cards? For 99% of you it is more important than your fax number, so why is it the same font size?
• Use the back of your business card to highlight your blog or let customers know of features available on your website.
• Do you have branded shirts? Make sure your website address is on there, too.
• I’ve said it before: Laptop Skins.
• Drive around much? Magnetic signs for your car doors are inexpensive and memorable. Think of those Geek Squad cars.

What offline methods do you have for driving traffic to your website?

Today is Blog Action Day, where bloggers unite to discuss one topic. This year it is the environment.

As a small business, we are tuned into saving money and helping the environment. The tips below help you accomplish both goals.

How can your small business become more green?

• Recycle your paper. Better yet, focus on using less paper altogether.
• Getting duplicate or unwanted catalogs? Go to Catalog Choice to unsubscribe by catalog. (thanks, Ken!)
• Recycle your printer cartridges (you can drop off at most office supply stores)
• Meet via phone or webinar when possible instead of driving or flying.
• Use ceramic mugs and glasses instead of Styrofoam cups in your break room.
• Recycle your boxes.
• Use the Styrofoam peanuts from your packages as lightweight filler for large potted plants, or take them to your local UPS store to be re-used.
• Recycle glass and aluminum cans.
• Switch from direct marketing to email marketing to save both paper and money.

What makes your office environmentally friendly?

You probably know that you need an elevator pitch to describe what you do when meeting new people. If you are a member of a networking organization like BNI you get to practice this pitch every week.

Imagine pitching yourself to a venture capitalist in hopes of landing funding for your company. To add to the stress, you have to do it in an elevator with only 27 floors between “hello” and “goodbye.” A documentary called Twenty-Seven Stories does just that - filming 27 pitches in an elevator going up 27 floors. You can check out the trailer for the movie in the link above, and hearing the very stiff presentations will reassure you that it is hard for almost everyone.

The lesson? Be passionate about what you do and convey that in your message. If it sounds like you are reading a script, you have already lost your audience.

Need help crafting your pitch? Check out www.15secondpitch.com to get started.

Thanks to my friend Dana for alerting me to the Shifting Careers blog in the NY Times, which is where I found this story.

Mirassou Winery is sponsoring the fourth Make Your Dreams Come True with Mirassou contest. The prize is $50,000 in seed money for your new woman-owned business.

The requirements:

• A 500-word personal essay describing yourself and why you would be a successful entrepreneur
• A preliminary business plan that includes
  • a description of the new business
  • the consumer appeal to the new business
  • the plan to implement the new business.

The past winners range from a nonprofit health organization to cookie company.

Don’t keep your good idea under wraps. The deadline for submission is December 15, 2007.

Sometimes you need a change of scenery to break through on a project or kick a case of writer’s block. Since I live in Seattle, a change of scene for me is a coffee shop.

Yesterday I discovered a great tool to help you find the best coffee shop for your business needs: http://wifimug.org/. The site covers Seattle, Chicago, Vancouver and Boston, with more cities to come.

The shops are listed alphabetically and by neighborhood and users comment on the essentials for the coffee shop worker: plenty of outlets, reliable Wi Fi, non-distracting music, and big tables. You can also find out the quirks of a place before you go, such as a time limit on the Wi Fi or if you need a username and password.

There are some etiquette rules to working in a coffee shop:

• Purchase something from the shop once per hour for the time you are there.
• Be courteous to the baristas and fellow patrons.
• Do not take up more space than you need.

Whether you are a frequent coffee shop worker or not, this is a great tool for finding the best spot for you. And if you want to really make the most of your time there, invest $25 in a laptop skin and advertise your business to everyone who walks in the door.

Ning much? I didn’t either until a few weeks ago. Since then I’ve joined 3 Ning networks, one social and two business-related. Ning is a social networking site that allows you to set up groups based on your interests or business. You can make it invitation-only if you want to communicate with a select group (like customers), or you can open it up to anyone interested in your particular subject (potential customers).

As a small business owner, how can you use Ning?

• If your business inspires people, what better way to cultivate that than offering a place for your customers to talk to you and each other? I like to hear how other consumers are using a product/service I use.
• Do you have a subscription-based service? Communicate with all your members (and let them communicate with each other) through a Ning group.
• Do you lead an industry-specific group? This is a great place for members to share information.
• The customizable blocks allow you to advertise specials, update customers on events, and even sell products if you want.

Ning provides a group blog (perfect if you are a little too scared to start your own just yet), a forum discussion area, and several customizable blocks on the group home page as well as the individual’s home page. I only have one login for all 3 groups, which makes it easy for me to use, and because I signed up for email notification of updates I don’t even have to remember to look at them every day if I’m busy.

Evaluate the features yourself and see if this is a service you can use. If you come up with an innovative way of using the service please post back and let us know. Now go Ning!