Small Office, Home Office Information

Just got back to the office after three hours of meetings and dropping in on clients to make sure that what we’ve done for them is still working.

So when was the last time you dropped in on a client? Obviously there are plenty of small businesses where calling to see a past client just doesn’t quite work but in the are that Toni and I work in it works very well. Not only does it give you a chance to upsell your client to something new or some additional services but it also tells the client that you’re confident that what you’ve done for him in the past has worked.

So don’t hide away in your office … get out there and talk to your satisfied customers and make some extra money from the people that it’s easiest to sell to.  

by Stuart Livesey

It’s so easy when you’re running a small business and times are tough to really start worrying about your competition but a little competition can be a very positive thing for your business. If you provide the best product, the best in customer service and the best value for money then all your competition is going to do is make your business look even better.

Of course if you’re not providing the best product etc. … if all you’re doing is making some other small business look even better … then the only way to compete is by lifting your game … if you know how.

It’s another early start to the day for Toni and me. We picked up several a new client last week and now we’ve got to work them into our schedule.

Even a basic website can generate leads and sales for a small business

About six weeks ago one of the partners in a small business that was just starting up in our town came to us for a quote on developing a website for them. We gave them three different proposals for three very different websites and suggested that two of those options - the less expensive options - would basically be a waste of money. Neither of the cheap options would really produce a website that would do what they wanted their site to do.

They agreed and understood that if they chose one of the cheaper options the work that they paid for would basically have to be scrapped when they wanted to move to the third option. Unfortunately, like most small businesses that are just starting up, their funds were limited so, after some discussion, they asked us to do nothing more than put up a very simple home page which we did.

We optimised it for the search engines and we also added in a link to a PDF of their products that people could download. Then we published a link to their site on a local news blog that we run and that was it. You can see their basic site at Hearty Foods. It was basic but at least it was getting the cleint’s name out there on the Web.

Last week we called in on the way home from the office to buy something for dinner and was amazed at what the partners in the business had to tell us. In the four weeks that they had been open their small business had grown so much that they were taking on new staff and increasing their product lines … and much of the business had come directly and indirectly from their very limited website.

Our server stats showed that only 240 people had visited their site since it went live but those 240 people had told others then those people went on to tell even more. A member of one social group in town had printed off that PDF and handed it out to every other member in the group and many of those people had come in to buy … and then come back to buy even more when they discovered how great the products were.

In a few weeks work will start on developing that small website into something a whole lot bigger than what it is now. There will be photos of every product this small business sells and customers will be able to order and pay for their purchases online and the site will become a vital part of the business … but even now, in it’s very limited form, it’s working for them.

So don’t be put off having a website developed for your business by the cost. Instead look at some cheap interim options that will still generate leads until you can afford something better. And definitely don’t settle for a home page that shows nothing but an ad for the web designer you’re using.

Another client’s website went live this morning. Nothing flash or involved … just simple with information for potential clients and the ability to rank well in the search engines. This client wants his work to speak for itself.

There’s little doubt that we’re heading into some troubled economic times and if you’re running a small business you could be thinking that these times are going to be really tough on you simply because your business is small.

Perhaps Seth Godin has a different perspective that you should consider.

I got up this morning feeling totally yuck … not physically ill, just weary and drained … but I’ve got a list of things to do that seems to be as long as my arm.

Solution - if your schedule allows it, work on some of the quick and easy jobs and make sure you cross them off your list as soon as you’ve finished the job. Soon the list doesn’t look quite so bad and the psychological effect of seeing a shortened list can encourage you to push on.

When times get tough for small business we small business owners often have to make some hard decisions about which accounts we’ll pay this month and which accounts we’ll let slide into next month as well as which accounts we’ll close and which accounts we’ll keep active.

At times like this you really do need to know all the facts so that you can make an informed decision because you could so very easily close something like an advertising account that happens to be generating a large number of very targeted leads.

So before you make a decision that could have an adverse decision on your small business do your homework and remember, the most expensive form of marketing is not always the most effective. A $19.90 website hosting bill each month could keep your phones ringing while a very expensive newspaper advertisment might produce nothing but a deathly silence.

Every person who starts a small business starts with a dream … but life as a small business person is tough and it’s easy to lose the dream and just fight for survival.

If you’ve lost your small business dream then here’s a guy who might be able to help you get it back.

A hat tip to Rick Segal and his The Post Money Value blog for the link to the video

Avoiding the carpetbaggers

These days search engine optimisation for business websites is booming. More and more small business owners are beginning to realise that just having a website isn’t enough, it has to rank well for the terms people are using to search for the products a business is selling.

For people like us that’s good news, we’re busier than ever getting good rankings for an ever-increasing number of clients but the demand for search engine optimisation has brought a lot of carpetbaggers into the industry who will take your money and basically run.

So it can be hard for a small business owner to avoid falling into the trap of paying for SEO that’s not worth a cent. However one expert in the field suggested that “If the SEO calls you first, chances are the service isn’t a good idea.”

I might also add to that - if they email you it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll waste your money if you decide to deal with them - and - if they promise to submit your site to all the major search engines then they’re definitely to be avoided - submission became irrelevant years ago.