Small Office, Home Office Information

by Toni Livesey

Signs can send all the wrong messages

I bet you never looked at Under New Management in this way before.

We have a new VOIP provider here in Australia with a really good deal of customers. To use it though you need a special Netcomm attachement for your computer. The VOIP company has plenty of the attachments and they distribute them through a major computer wholesaler down in Brisbane - our state capital.

We talked about promoting them through the computer shop that we’re involved in and 10 were brought in for a trial. There were a vew hassles to work through but now everything works fine and we really like the product because it does cut down on our phone bills.

It’s especially good because businesses using the same VOIP provider can call each other without incurring any charges at all.

The wholesaler that the computer shop deals with is even connected to the system and so you would think it wouldn’t be a problem to pick up the VOIP phone and call them to place an order.

We certainly thought that but unfortunately the wholesaler doesn’t seem to think so. Instead when anyone dials the wholesaler’s VOIP number they get a recorded message directing them to call on the normal landline.

I wonder what message that sends?

Does your small business send messages like that?

I’ve always understood the power of the word ‘you’ - right from back in my days in uniform when a:

” Oi … come here you!”

bellowed from somewhere down around my diaphram would stop just about anyone in their tracks and change their course for them to bring them to stand in front of me looking nervous (if only they knew that behind that uniform I was just as nervous as what they were).

But I’ve never really understood the power of the word ‘because’ until now. However, thanks to Brian Clark, I now do understand the power of the word ‘because’.

And now you should click here to learn about the power of those two words because once you do understand that power you will be able to use it in your business.

And you will want to use those words in your small business because they will bring results.

There are times when you run a small business that you just have to wonder if anyone listens to you. If you’re dealing with a major company and have a complaint do they really care? Do they even bother to read your letter or email?

Well here is one small business that has found the key to getting heard and getting their complaints noticed and the problems fixed fast.

This guy makes ‘presidential level’ complaints and the companies listen. You will find his story here at Update II: Alexa Site Association

Small business people are usually very busy people so if you’re writing something for them that is going to appear on a web page or even in a letter you need to set it out in a way that they can read quickly. If you don’t they may not read it at all.

You’ll find some good pointers on How to Write for Busy People at the other end of the link.

Now if only someone could give me some tips on how to write while I’m busy …

Ok - so over the last week I’ve talked about the idea of your small business starting a blog and talking with the community. I’ve given you some links to look at including one that will take you to a small business that has a very successful blog even though you would think that few people would be interested in signs.

So if you want to start a discussion with your community how do you go about it if you have problems writing on a regular basis?

Obviously you look for a writer, someone who can take your thoughts, assemble them into something that people can read and do it on a regular basis.

We’re currently setting up a blog just like that for our friend who runs a computer shop. If you need help or further advice about the subject check the ads that appear alongside this entry or email me at:

copytext at gmail.com

What message does your small business logo - or the sign outside your business - send. Is it effective, does it say too little or does it say too much?

You will find some interesting thoughts about small business logos here at Duct Tape Marketing

Publicity is important for any small business and it’s even more important for home based businesses. So how do small businesses go about getting publicity for their business?

Unfortunately some small business owners seem to think that any publicity is good and they will do anything just to get the names of their businesses in front of people.

And, if you ask them, they will tell you that notoriety works … but I wonder if it really does. Would you really expect a business person who uses those techniques to really tell you the truth if their move for more publicity actually bombed?

I think not and to me, anyone who wants to work the notoriety angle is showing signs of laziness and desperation.

So what can a small business or home based business do to generate publicity?

Here is an interesting article written by Abe Cherian. He talks about what every small business needs to know regarding publicity.

Writing good copy for a small business website is not easy. It really isn’t just a matter of sitting down at the keyboard, opening up your HTML editor and pounding away on your keyboard.

Unfortunately that’s exactly what a lot of people do and then they wonder why their website isn’t attracting the business they expected it to.

If you’re one of those people then perhaps spending a few minutes reading Common Mistakes That Can Kill Your Web Copy might be helpful.

I wish I could say that the hectic pace of yesterday has settled down again but I can’t - the pressure of work continues and I’m dashing this off in a few spare moments while I grab a coffee - 4.30pm and it’s only my second of the day.

Yesterday I rambled on about instant messaging systems and small business and today I would just like to add a one or two additional thoughts.

Using an Instant Messaging system to close a business deal is no more dangerous than using email or even the phone. The safest business deal is the one that’s closed with a firm handshake and an opportunity to look the other person in the eye.

Now of course, you can’t do that with ICQ, Messenger or any other IM but nor can you do it with email, the telephone or even mail so to think that doing business via IM is filled with danger is a little silly.

However, any prudent business person will always take precautions when it comes to doing business that way. We never start a text job until we have been paid at least 50% up front. There are simply no exceptions and anyone who wants to see the work before we see the money is politely told to look elsewhere for a writer.

We always ensure that every important business message is backed up. Most IM software have a history option but sometimes it is not enabled by default. If you are going to use an IM system for business make sure that the history option is enabled and even then copy and paste important conversations into a word document for further backup.

I’d like to say that we have never been conned by anyone who wanted to use our services and came to us via IM but I can’t. We have been caught but then others have been caught when work has come to them via email, letter or phone.

The risk is always there but you work to minimise that risk because doing business via IM is just too convenient to ignore.

small business