Depending on the industry, the beginning of a new year can be incredibly busy or the slowest time of the year. Wherever the start of a new year finds your business, January marks a good time to begin thinking of baseline business strategies. Here are six things that should be reviewed in order to keep your business running smoothly and moving ahead of the competition.

1. Update your website.
   Begin by updating photos. Many businesses use the same photos and graphics for the About Us section or Products/Services section. With new images, viewers realize your website is active. Additionally, add to any blogs or newsletters and revise menus, staffing, or other items. These revisions immediately give your website an inexpensive facelift.
2. Review pricing.
   Costs on shipping, fuel surcharges, supplies, utilities and other day-to-day items can slowly creep up during the year. Review all costs to make sure that pricing is maintained to produce a comfortable profit margin.
3. Mystery shop your own business.
   Have a friend do an internet search for your business, call in to ask a question or schedule an appointment, and visit your location. Ask your friend to give a detailed account of your business so that you can determine how to improve customer service. This is important to get an honest view point that a customer might not be able to give you.
4. Evaluate employee compensation.
   Every business person knows that great employees are hard to find. Keep employees loyal by evaluating compensation in your industry and being competitive in wages and benefits. It is widely written that employee turnover is one of the most expensive costs of business. Avoid these costs by keeping the talent in-house.
5. Re-visit your competition.
   When starting your company, visiting competition was a main activity. Although there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day, keeping track of the competition is a key ingredient to success. Knowing what bargains key players in the industry are offering, and what events they are participating in, are important to keeping pace. Anticipating growth opportunities that your competitors are pursuing are important to keeping ahead of the game.
6. Get one new thing.
   Strive to add one new item to your business this year. This new item could be a big new client, an addition to your product line or service offering, or a new location or outlet for your services or goods. Adding one new thing to your business stimulates growth by creating fresh interest in your business and increases your client list.

Whether you are updating your web presence or evaluating yourself or your competition, this information is useful in growing a business. Each of these to-do items increases knowledge of the industry and gives a head-start to the new year.

Some of the most telling numbers are that nearly half of students and young employees consider the internet to be close in importance to water, food, air and shelter in their lives. Additionally, more than two-thirds of students would prefer to have access to the internet than a car. This report by Cisco shows a shift in what young consumers consider necessities of daily life and where their attitudes are with regards to technology.

For the full report, visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns1120/CCWTR-Chapter1-Report.pdf

Contributor: Jennifer Ott

With the rise of social media as a viable communication and advertising tool, companies have changed their marketing campaigns to include (and sometimes rely upon) social media and interactive blog websites. This paradigm shift in advertising and communication takes advantage of nearly free advertising tools and, perhaps more importantly, does well to satisfy the two biggest “recommenders” out there – Google and your friends.

We survive on recommendations

We trust Google to recommend the right websites. We tell them what we’re looking for and (after a few milliseconds of complicated algorithms) they serve up what they think we’ll like, and they do a good job. Remember they’re a business too, and if they didn’t do it well we’d all have switched to another search engine. Thus it’s important that we make Google happy with the information on our websites so that Google will choose to present our site to a searcher when related search terms are used.

Making Google happy is simple, but it takes work. Because Google knows that what people want is valuable information, your site better have that. There are techniques to do this, but providing consistent value is the essence of “organic” search engine optimization (rather than artificially increasing your search result rank by playing with keywords and meta tags).

Apart from Google, we trust our peers (especially our friends but even people we don’t know) to give us personal insight into the value of a product based on their thoughts and experiences. In fact, we trust peer reviews much more than traditional advertising. Social media allows for this desired exchange of information by providing everyone who signs up with the ability to connect, chat, comment and recommend.

Theory in practice

So while all the tools are there, the understanding required to use and run a website and social media profiles comes with practice. We felt like while we could continue just talking to our clients about how to use a program, we didn’t get traction if they weren’t physically doing it themselves.

So we developed a Digital Marketing Workshop to teach the basics and give people hands-on experience. The class is two hours per week for four weeks, and we walk our students through the entire process of purchasing a domain name, hosting, and building a WordPress driven blog-capable website. We show them how to integrate their social media profiles to drive traffic to their sites, and then how to satisfy visitors once they get there.

It has worked really well (we’ve taught four series over the last year), and many of our students are actively using their websites and social media profiles for their businesses. And while you can’t expect to be an expert after eight hours of class time, you can understand the basics and run your own site to achieve significant improvement in consumer awareness and communication. Additionally, we’ve given our students insight into the web-building process so that if they choose to deal with web designers they can have a better chance to not only get the website they want (with the features and style they prefer) but save money as well.

Here’s the link to the workshop.

If you have any questions, feel free to call the NSBDC (784-1717) and ask for Ben or Chuck.

The “Tools for Online Success” site (http://www.google.com/help/sba) features tutorials, video testimonials, and tips from savvy small business people who have leveraged the web to become more efficient, more cost-effective, and more successful.

“The SBA is pleased to partner with Google to put these important tools in the hands of small businesses across the country,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills.  “As the web evolves and consumers adapt accordingly, we know that more customers are finding traditional ‘Main Street’ businesses online. With these tools for online success, we can ensure these small businesses reach new markets and customers so they can continue to create jobs.”

“One fifth of searches on Google are related to location, which shows that people are looking to the Internet to make decisions about where to go and what to do in their daily lives,” said John Hanke, Vice President of Product Management, Google. “We want to connect our users with the businesses that provide the goods and services they need, but the first step is for those businesses to have an online presence. We’re excited to team up with the SBA to make that process easier for business owners across the country.”

Google and the SBA unveiled the partnership during a forum held today at the SBA’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C., and broadcast live online to press and small business owners across the country.  Susan Holt, Principal and Owner of CulinAerie, a recreational cooking school in downtown D.C., shared her experiences working with the SBA and explained how she has used online tools like Google Places and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to attract more aspiring cooks.

Holt is just one of the many small business owners from across the country who are sharing how they’ve used online tools to reach new customers. Many are featured in the video testimonials found at the “Tools for Online Success” site.  Each video documents the unique success stories that these small businesses have created using online technology:

• Masha Hleap-Hershkovitz, Owner of Fuego Mundo in Sandy Springs, Georgia, uses social media to request feedback from restaurant customers for improvement. Ms. Hleap-Hershkovitz even used social media to name her restaurant.  “We bounced back and forth with a potential name for months, and we were kind of bottle-necked,” she says.  “We put it out there [on social media], and it came back 70 percent ‘Fuego Mundo.’”  Visit http://www.fuegomundo.com.

• Sean Vahey, Owner of Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream in San Francisco launches new menu items and cultivates a worldwide following for his company’s unique ice cream flavors using social media and Google Places. I don’t have a lot of time do marketing,” Mr. Vahey says.  “I don’t have a lot of time to sit down and reach out to people.  I’m able to get on the computer and two minutes later, I’ve gotten the word out…Our Google Places page is important, because it’s got all of our information in one spot – our website, our phone number, you can see where we are on a map, and you can even get directions.” Visit http://www.humphryslocombe.com.

• Sumul Shah, Owner of Lumus Construction in Woburn, Massachusetts, uses its website and online maps to research projects all over the United States and show potential customers examples of its past work.  According to Mr. Shah, “Customers can see and visualize the types of projects and the complexity of the work we do…In the future, our website will not only talk about how much renewable energy we’re building, but we’ll actually quantify it.  We’ll be able to take live data coming from all the wind turbines and solar panels that we’ve installed, simulate it, and be able to report not only how much energy we’re producing, but also what the environmental benefits are.” Visit http://www.lumusinc.com.

• Aliyyah Baylor, Owner of Make My Cake in Harlem, New York City, redesigned her website to display vivid imagery of its baked goods.  Make My Cake is family-owned and operated, and Ms. Baylor says, “Our website is an extension of our business when it’s too busy for someone to answer the phone. It’s our virtual salesperson, and that is very key.”  Visit http://www.makemycake.com.

• Mandy Scott, Owner of Mandy Scott Flowers in San Francisco uses highly targeted online advertising to help her premium flower boutique compete with national brands on a small marketing budget.  She says, “We are tiny compared to the big players.  I can’t hope to compete with them on any kind of national scale, but I feel locally we do very well.  Showing up in both natural and paid search results is important for us because we want to be on a level playing field with the big guns.”  Visit http://www.mandyscottflowers.com.

• Jessica Soler, Owner of Salon Red in Decatur, Georgia, uses a website and local online listings to help her customers find salon locations and book appointments.  She says, “A great example of how the web helps Salon Red is we were nominated with one of the local papers to be a ‘Best Of’ salon in Atlanta, and tons of people went online to vote for all of our locations.  We just were flooded with business, and it all came from online.”  Visit http://www.salonred.com.

• Christopher Bartlett, Owner of Skaters Landing in West Hartford, Connecticut, uses online videos to teach customers from all over the world how to properly shop for and use ice skating products.  “We really were able to reach out to new markets,” says Mr. Bartlett.  “I don’t look at [our online efforts] as a place to go to and hard sell, but to really talk with people and answer some of the questions that people might have.”  Visit http://www.skaterslanding.com.

• Louis Rossetto, CEO of TCHO in San Francisco brings a start-up mentality to his company’s premium chocolate production.  TCHO uses web analytics to constantly improve its website’s layout, ensuring consumers are engaging with its products in the most effective way possible.  “You can’t be a modern company without using modern tools, and online is just fundamental to being in business today,” says Rossetto.  “Our website represents our direct link to our customers.  We use it to explain who we are, engage our community, and it’s certainly a storefront for us.  You’re inviting the whole world into your store if you do that online.”  Visit http://www.tcho.com.

Continued success stories like these are the goal of the Google/SBA partnership.  Visit the “Tools for Online Success” website for a full run-down, but here are a few easy tips all small business owners should be using:

• Establish your online presence. One out of five searches on Google are related to location.  Most local online listings such as Google Places are free, and if your business doesn’t have a website, there are ready-made site templates and free hosting services that make establishing an online presence easy.
• Use free marketing to reach customers. You can build a fan base with free services like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter that keep your customers in-the-know about new products or specials and aware of promotions. These services are great “word of mouth” platforms – where a customer following you might tell their friends about your business.
• Know your customers.  Easy to use web analytics tools can tell you a lot about your customers by analyzing what search term brought them to your website or what they look at while they are there. This information can help you make smart decisions about what you feature and what search terms you should run search ads on.
• Keep an eye on the latest trends.  The growing popularity of smartphones means that more and more customers are searching for local information on the go.  This makes it all the more important that a business’s online presence be accurate and up-to-date. You can link to your menu, give users driving directions, and even post digital coupons.

Blog or use it as a Content Management System, WordPress is the next best cost effective web solution.

No need to purchase additional software, your site is accessible wherever there’s internet connectivity and most importantly, you own it. No monthly leasing payments.

There are also hundreds of Free and inexpensive WordPress Themes available to choose from that represent several business styles such as: Magazine Editorial, Corporate, and Creative, Retail, Technology, Nonprofit, entertainment and more. You can make simple changes to represent your brand and brand messaging without having a fully custom built website. Example: http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress/

The WordPress administrative area is easy to use to make updates to both your posts and pages. Posts are listed in reverse chronological order and are also displayed in RSS feeds. Pages are static and not listed by date. Your navigation is typically referencing a static page; whereas your posts reference the latest information sorted by date.

WordPress also keeps costs of having a dynamic website minimal because of the long lists of plugins that are available to customize your needs. There are ecommerce plugins, fundraising plugins, social media plugins, All-in-One SEO plugins, sitemap plugins, gallery plugins, calendar plugins, event plugins and more. Example: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/browse/popular/.

Take a look at WordPress as a solution for your business or non-profit. View their Showcase and the many businesses and non-profits that are currently using WordPress as their choice for a publishing platform.

Non-profit Examples

• Walk to Washington
• Joint Use
• American Red Cross Online Disaster News Portal
• Philadelphia Neighborhoods
• Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands
• BigGovHealth
• More Examples

Business Examples

• Great Basin Arts & Entertainment
• Susan Hill Pr
• Westward Strategy & Design Group
• Cardinal Law
• Bartlett Architecture

You can download WordPress for free http://wordpress.org/download/.

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If you would like to learn more about WordPress as a solution for your Reno Business or Reno Non-profit, please give Kristy Crabtree a call at (775) 626-8330.

You will be asked to create a business profile allowing you to add a brief description of your business, a link to your website, your contact phone numbers, a contact person, your business logo, photographs highlighting your business, hours of operation as well as a few other business specifics.

8 Free Business Listing Websites

1. Google
Local Business Listings
http://www.google.com/local/add

2. Yahoo
Local Business Listings
http://listings.local.yahoo.com

3. Bing
Local Business Listings
https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

4. Yelp
Real People. Real Reviews.
http://www.yelp.com

5. City Search
Local Business Listings
http://www.citysearch.com

6. Merchant Circle
Free Online Advertising
http://www.merchantcircle.com

7. Trip Advisor
Local Business Listings
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners

8. DMOZ
Open Directory Project
http://www.dmoz.org/add.html

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By Kristy Crabtree
Westward Strategy & Design Group

Are you ready to build a website for your small business or for yourself? There are simple search engine optimization steps you should consider during the development process.

The following 12 step optimization checklist will bring you one step closer to maximizing your revenues with smart web design.

1.) Choose a domain name, that is a URL, that is descriptive of what your website will represent:

• Your business name (ex. WestwardStrategy.com)
• Your first and last name (ex. KristyCrabtree.com) or
• Keyword specific phrase (ex. WestwardDesignGroup.com)

2.) Decide what keywords and/or phrase targets the visitors you are looking for, and that best describes what your business offers.

3.) Sub directory names using keywords or phrases should use hyphens in the url: http://url.com/descriptive-keyword/

4.) Title tags are the words that appear on site visitor’s browser tabs as they navigate through your site. Clearly define your title tags for each individual web page making sure that it is accurate and descriptive of the page’s content. Keep it 70 characters or less.

• (Example 1) Primary Keyword – Secondary Keyword | Brand Name
• (Example 2) Brand Name | Primary Keyword and Secondary Keyword

5.) The meta description is the primary source of information search engines review, and this is also the information that appears along with your site name in the search engine results. Clearly define your meta descriptions for each individual web page making sure that it too is accurate and descriptive of the page’s content. Keep it 155 characters or less

EXAMPLE: Keyword/Phrase Search Results

6.) Develop keyword rich content on all pages including the keyword and/or phrase within the content

7.) Use descriptive words for your navigation when it makes sense

8.) Name all images on website with descriptive image names:

• (Example) chocolate-lab-running.jpg vs. img0893.jpg

9.) The title tags are the words that visitor’s click to reach the hyperlinks behind them. Add descriptive title tags to anchor links

• (Example) title=” Descriptive Title Tag” vs. title=”Click Here”

10.) Setup Google Analytics and see who’s visiting your website and who’s giving you referral’s: http://www.google.com/analytics

11.) Create a sitemap and submit to Google Webmaster Tools and other search engines. The free tools give you a look under the hood at your website performance: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools

12.) Add new website to local free business listings and other free directory sites

__________________________________________

Contributed by Kristy Crabtree
Westward Strategy & Design Group

SBIR National Conference
Reno – November 2009

Time is running out for early registration for the 2009 National SBIR Conference. For high technology, start-up companies this is an ideal opportunity to obtain the information needed on how to access $2.3B available from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs -  the largest source of funding for pioneering business ideas.

This exciting conference brings a national audience of dynamic, R&D-focused small businesses and entrepreneurs, university faculty, primary and medium sized contractors and potential collaborators into direct contact with the representatives of 11 federal agencies providing SBIR/STTR funding.

The conference takes place in John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada from November 2 – 5, 2009. It is the only such conference in 2009 and is the first such conference in the West for many years.

The conference agenda provides:

• Access to over 40 presenters including SBIR/STTR Program Managers from 11 participating federal agencies, proposal preparation experts, business and commercialization specialists, follow-on investors and contracting companies that have achieved success in SBIR/STTR funding.

• Interaction with at least 30 sponsors and exhibitors.

• Optional pre-and post-conference sessions and speed networking sessions extend the value of this conference.

• One-on-session opportunities to find out if your innovations fit into federal needs.

• Opportunities to speed network with companies in your area of interest.

• An inexpensive poster showcase enabling you to promote your special services and products.

• Contact with cutting edge companies with strong upside potential.

Attend! Exhibit! Sponsor!

For more information visit the conference website.

or contact:

Dr. Fritz Grupe

Nevada Small Business Development Center

University of Nevada, Reno

Phone: (775) 813-7407 (Pacific Standard Time)

Email: fhgrupe@gmail.com

The answer may very well be, “no.” Certainly for many, the answer is, “What’s a blog?” Fair enough. It’s quite normal for most business owners (especially these days) to be so busy working to keep their businesses running, they don’t have the time to keep up with the latest techniques for reaching out to new customers and clients. If you’re like many of our clients, however, you may have been saying to yourself, “I have to find a new way to develop more business, because the old ways don’t seem to be working as well these days.” Well, blogging is one of those “new” ways.

If the concept intrigues you even just a little bit, spend just two more minutes of your very precious time reading the list below to see if blogging is for you.

The 10 top reasons you should consider blogging for your business are:

1. Your business is in need of an extremely inexpensive, professional online presence that can be easily found by potential clients and customers searching for your goods and/or services on the Internet.
2. Your business has a product or service that is new to the market, that might need some explanation on what it’s for or how best to use it.
3. Your business offers a knowledge-based service.
4. Your business requires educating the customer in some way.
5. Your business desires to receive feedback from others for the purpose of improving the company’s products and services.
6. Your business offers a product or service that serves a special niche market that includes like-minded people with similar special interests.
7. Your business could use some good press or needs to counteract bad press.
8. Your website is more than five years old and/or has not been optimized for search engines.
9. You desire to create loyal trusted relationships with current and future clients and customers.
10. Your business has competitors that it needs to differentiate itself from.

If you would like to learn more about blogging, you can Google search blogs and learn more than you ever wanted to know about blogging.

Visit our website and check out the information on a Build Your Own Blog Site Workshop , or call me, Debra Deming at the NSBDC Reno office at (775) 784-1717 and make a counseling appointment to talk about your business. All our business counseling services are offered free so it can’t hurt.

I’m creating this post to take it for a spin the first time.

Josh works over at Twelve Horses, the folks that built our website. He is a very cleaver guy.

So if your business or organization is using a blog powered by Word Press you are gonna want one of these.