Action to Uncover International Business Opportunities – Small Businesses Actions

Small businesses complicate their efforts in trying to uncover international business opportunities. Their own personal actions have far more impact on their success than relying on translators and looking for foreign joint venture partners.

The small actions you can take at home will have more immediate impact on your international business development than the services you can buy. Why is this? The more interaction you have in learning more about your foreign markets, the more you will be able to equate your acquired market knowledge with the products and services you sell.

Yes, you will probably end up needing the services from your target market. But the knowledge you can acquire from the countries where you would like to grow your business is priceless.

Sure translations are important. Adapting your sales materials to for a perfect cultural fit is important. But if you can start off from where you are, with what you have, you will learn a lot more in the process and you will make a better choice when seeking to get those foreign services.

Actions: If you already have some international clients or prospects:

Develop those contacts further, so that you can learn more about those clients. – Call them up.
Find the appropriate person to speak with.
Talk to him.
Ask him if he liked your products and why.
Ask how he finds your products different to what he can buy locally.
Ask him if he knows anyone else locally who could benefit from your product.

Actions: If you do not already have international clients and don’t know where to start:

Which market do you think your product might sell well in?
Or is there an international market that really attracts you?
Choose a country and start researching.
Google your competition in that country.
Use Google Advance Search to set the country.
Use automatic website translation software to read online.
Get a feel for the market.
Then pick up your phone, call your embassy in that country.
Are there any other associations in that country for professionals from your country living there?
Get on the phone and start talking to people.
If you feel you are not getting anywhere, change your conversation style.
Ask different questions.

You need to know as much as possible about each specific foreign market. Start off slowly, one country at a time. Make a concentrated effort to understand everyone’s opinion. You will begin to see a path to take.

Next Step

Once you have a basic understanding of your foreign market. Create a localized website, in your target country. Start with a mirror image of your main website.

You will need to adapt your communication to local cultures. Ask for local market feedback. Depending on your target market you may be able to do this in your own language.

You may want to set up a landing page with a survey for locals in their own language. It would probably be a mistake to translate your entire main website before getting feedback from your target market. Keep any translations to a minimum in the first stage.

Think of the actions you can take to build relationships with these foreign clients. Do not be afraid of language barriers. Simply present yourself truthfully and show your eagerness to learn how to do business in their culture.

When people see your willingness to meet them on their territory, they will notice you. The more action you take, the more you will be visible and the faster you will open your new international markets.

Are you committed to speeding up your international sales cycles?

Learn how to combine cross-cultural marketing tools and international sales strategies for faster sales.

Join us on the International Sales Road Map

Would you like to develop your international business?
Are you a beginner at international sales and marketing?
Read the Beginners Guide Discover Your International Business

Small Business Action Plan for First Time International Business Development

Adapting your business to a foreign country’s culture, is not an easy process the first time you try. You will not be able to anticipate the stumbling blocks that would not happen ‘back hone’. More importantly you will not know what you need to do to adapt yourself to the new challenges and tasks at hand. You will need to develop a Small Business Action Plan for your first effort with International Business Development.

Are you a small business and want to develop your international business?
Do you have a limited budget to develop your international sales?
Do you already have domestic clients but are just starting to reach out to international clients?

There are numerous strategies that exist to get you more international clients. A lot depends on your business and your commitment.
Here is an action plan to start your first international business development strategy:

1. Internationalize your website

It is important to make sure your website is not pushing your international visitors away from you. Bad or non-existent cross cultural communication can easily do this.

You can create a website specifically targeting an international audience, in your language. This is a business decision and will depend on the nature of your business and your clients. Companies in non-English speaking countries will often create an English language website specifically to target their international markets.

You may decide to keep your main website targeted to your domestic clients. There are still ways to tweak your website, with very small touches, to give a better experience for your international readers. Have a translation tool on your website. The online translation tools are far from perfect but they do bring your clients that one extra step closer.

2. Research your international markets

International business development is all about you learning to adapt. Adapt your business, your products, your communication, and your sales pitches, to each country you market to.

How do you start if you do not have any contact with your foreign markets? Use everything you have available to you and slowly build up your foreign market research. The beginning usually requires the most effort. It does not take as long as you expect.

If you are just starting out check out all of the associations, official groups for all international data you can find. Use the phone extensively. Do some online research. The goal is to simply become familiar, and feel comfortable, with your market. This is the time to eliminate all culturally inappropriate businesses.
The research that you do at the same time as you are marketing to your audience gives you the best results, but don’t get stuck spending too much time here.

3. Track visitors and results; adjust your communication

This step is very important. The better your analysis is, the stronger your international business potential will be.

Tracking and testing are key marketing tools. Your international communication is a process of testing, adjusting, inciting feedback and learning more about your audience. You have to be sure that you establish measurable goals before you begin testing. You must have a tracking system in place for your goals. And you must also track the responses your communication is having on your international readers. Remember, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.

International business development is all about your capacity to adjust your business to the needs of people in another country. In order to make these adjustments and improvement you must know where you start and how to interpret results. You need precise things to measure.

4. Create a newsletter in English targeted for your international clients and distribute by email and on your website.

Internet marketing today is all about creating an online presence through content. Internet readers actively search for content. Your international readers are the same. One major benefit of publishing a newsletter is it provides a platform for consistency.

A newsletter helps you to stimulate market feedback, with links back to your website and other content provided through different media. Links to audio and video files, quizzes, surveys, free reports and other feedback generating tools published or advertised in your newsletter create reader interaction.

A regular newsletter targeted to a broad international audience will not be as powerful as content marketing targeted to one specific culture. But it is an easy and inexpensive way to start if you have no real idea where you want to market to.

5. Include tools to stimulate feedback

There are tools you can use to stimulate feedback. Quizzes, surveys, polls, questions, homework assignments, and contests are some tools you can use to stimulate feedback.

The key is to find out what your target readers want and need the most. As you learn more about your international prospects you will adjust your feedback tools and enticements.

You can grab hold of your readers by offering free or discounting items that are not information products, discounts available only to your readers. You will have a better response rate if you can identify what your readers really want.

You can encourage readers to participate with you feedback generating tools by offering them free white papers, case studies, reports, guides and other information useful to your readers. If your feedback enticements are information products, you have another platform to use in your internet marketing strategy.

A wise use of different media touches linked to your feedback stimulation tools strengthens your internet marketing. These tools will take some planning and strategy to put in place.

6. Track results and adjust your communication

This is a repetition of step 3. Tracking your results and analyzing your international responses is an ongoing process. International marketing is all about taking things one step and a time and making adjustments along the way.

The two processes of internet marketing and international marketing can be combined right here in the tracking and adjustment. This is also how you can learn about your foreign markets even if you live thousands of miles away and you don’t speak the language. This combination can be powerful at very first phase of your international business development.

Internet marketing is all about adjusting your message real time. It is about being present online in real time. If your communication is outdated no one will listen to you. You need to adapt to your foreign markets. When you start out, you do not know much about them. You must continually check and adjust your communication.

7. Identify a country to target specifically

You will get better results from your international communication if it is targeted to very specific markets.

This means you need to identify a country as a target to market specifically to; and there is no real way to choose which country you should start with other than saying the country with the best potential for real sales. There is no magical formula for choosing the first international target market that works across all industries. Find a country where you can reasonably expect a good client base.

There are obvious cultural obstacles for certain types of businesses. So check with all of the appropriate domestic authorities. They will have good insights into what goes on in other countries. Check with your countries embassy in the country concerned.

You can also base your decision solely on data: export data, industry revenue. You can also base your decision on where your competition is located or not located or if
they are considering entering into a market.

International business is all about changing your mindset. Choose a country and get started. The first learning curve is the hardest. So don’t be afraid, jump in and focus on the learning experience of getting to know your market in one foreign country.

8. Create either a blog or a country specific newsletter for that target country depending on your foreign market.

Now, once you have identified a specific country you want to target, you will need communication targeted to that culture. Custom content for one particular country, not old content repackaged.

A blog may be the easiest tool to get to know your target country. You can also do this with a newsletter published for one cultural audience. The important thing is to have customized content written for one cultural market.

There may be translation costs involved. A blog will probably cost you more than a simple monthly newsletter. But a newsletter can be repurposed into several different forms of customized content such as articles, emails.

If your communication is directly targeting one specific culture, you will get better results than with you broad international targeting. Having custom content in either a blog or a newsletter reaching out to one foreign country is your first real presence in a foreign market. And you do not have to have offices there.

9. Track results and adjust your communication.

OK. So now you have a real presence in your target country. Guess what you next step is?
Stimulate and entice feedback. Track results. Adjust your communication to what you learn from your readers. Give them what they want to know. Test and start over again. You need to adjust your communication to the culture and market you want to create a business relationship with.
This is a learning process. It is critical to your international success.

Your Action Plan Continues

Identifying which products and services you want to sell to your foreign markets is yet another action plan. Use good internet marketing practices based on providing information in the above plan. This gives you the possibility of creating other information products as front end sales for your foreign market.

Once you can recognize the international expertise you have acquired through this process, you are well on your way to developing your business internationally. Use this action plan to continue to expand into other countries.

After you have adapted your business to one country’s culture, the process usually gets easier. You will be able to anticipate stumbling blocks more easily. But more importantly you will know how to adapt yourself much faster than the first time around.

Are you committed to speeding up your international sales cycles?

Learn how to combine cross-cultural marketing tools and international sales strategies for faster sales.

Join us on the International Sales Road Map

Would you like to develop your international business?
Are you a beginner at international sales and marketing?
Read the Beginners Guide Discover Your International Business

Small Business VOIP Phone Systems in Tampa

A small business company, whether in Tampa or anywhere else in the United States, will always need a small business VOIP phone system at the core of its operations. This is necessary not only to remain competitive but also to continue to grow and even expand. If the business is in Tampa, it would be best to also find a suitable supplier and service provider in Tampa.

A reputable supplier and service provider should be able to maintain the client’s current phone systems and provide local and long distance phone service; IP/VoIP telecommunications solutions; digital phone systems with IP/VoIP capabilities; SIP trunking; Voice T1; ISDN PRI T1; new and used phone systems with voice mail and warranties; computer networking; internet access; recording of phone calls, emails, screen shots and instant messaging; recorded promotions played while on hold; loudspeaker paging and music for offices or plants; and voice and data cabling.

The best choices in phone systems these days are the NEC phone system, BCM phone system and Vertical phone system. It would be good to find a supplier and service provider that offers these.

Having a VoIP phone system is a basic need of any small business. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. While the old phone system used the Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN, the VoIP phone system sends voice communications through the internet and other IP networks. This is why the digital phone system is also called as IP Telephony or the IP Telephone System. It transforms the analog voice signal a digital format which are transmitted online as internet protocol packets.

For the VoIP phone system to be functional, the use of SIP / VOIP phones is required. The three different kinds of SIP / VOIP phones are software based SIP / VOIP phones, USB SIP / VOIP phones and hardware SIP / VOIP phones.

The software based SIP / VOIP phone, also referred to as the soft phone, is not a physical telephone but a computer program or software. When installed in the computer it enables the caller to use the computer’s built in microphone and speakers or an attached headset to make a call through the internet.

The USB SIP / VOIP phone combines the software or computer program of the soft phone with an actual physical telephone. The physical telephone is plugged into a computer through a USB port in order to be able to use the software while functioning as the microphone and speaker or as a headset.

The hardware SIP / VOIP phone is almost exactly like any normal telephone except for the fact that it shares a network connection with a computer by being connected to the same mini hub.

Any small business VOIP phone system requires a wide range of voice and data cabling products and installation services for its full operations. A supplier and service provider should, therefore, be an expert in all these. It is always best to work with a supplier and service provider that has a long established reputation. One such company is Digital South Communications which has been serving over 3,000 clients satisfactorily since 1991. Although based in Tampa, it serves clients throughout the country with its network of affiliated dealers.

Sourcing Small Business VOIP Phone Systems in Tampa

A small business VOIP phone system is a must as one of the core equipment of any small business company in Tampa, or in any part of the country for that matter. This is needed for the company to maintain its competitive edge and therefore to continue its growth and expansion. It is, therefore, crucial for any small business company to be able to source out a reputable and reliable supplier and service provider in Tampa.

Among the expected services to be offered by a reputable supplier and service provider are maintenance of the client’s current phone systems and provision of local and long distance phone service; IP/VoIP telecommunications solutions; digital phone systems with IP/VoIP capabilities; SIP trunking; Voice T1; ISDN PRI T1; new and used phone systems with voice mail and warranties; computer networking; internet access; recording of phone calls, emails, screen shots and instant messaging; recorded promotions played while on hold; loudspeaker paging and music for offices or plants; and voice and data cabling. It should also be able to offer the top brands in phone systems such as the NEC phone system, BCM phone system and Vertical phone system.

A VoIP phone system, meaning Voice over Internet Protocol, is basic for every business concern nowadays. The VoIP phone system, also known as the digital phone system, IP Telephony and IP Telephone System, sends out voice communications via the internet and other IP networks. This modern phone system changes the analog voice signal into digital format and transmits it online as internet protocol packets.

There are three kinds of SIP / VOIP phones used in the VoIP phone system.

The software based SIP / VOIP phone is also called the soft phone. It is actually a computer program or software and not a physical telephone. The program or software is installed in the computer upon which a call can already be made through the internet using the built in microphone and speakers or an attached headset.

The USB SIP / VOIP phone is made up of both the computer program of the soft phone and a physical telephone which also has to be plugged into the computer through a USB port. The physical telephone is then used to make the online call.

The hardware SIP / VOIP phone is a physical telephone that makes a call through the internet by sharing a network connection with a computer. The telephone and the computer will have to share the same mini hub.

For a small business VOIP phone system to be able to be operated fully, it requires a wide range of voice and data cabling products and installation services. The company’s supplier and service provider should provide all the necessary expertise for all of these. It should also have a solid reputation in this field, based on experience and client satisfaction. Digital South Communications in Tampa, for example, has been satisfying more than 3,000 clients since 1991, reaching even clients in other parts of the United states through a network of affiliated dealers.

Small Business Management

Business management refers to one’s ability to manage a business effectively and efficiently while retaining profitability. But what does that mean? Anyone can ‘manage’ a business, right?

But do we really know how to manage a business? And if we do, what does that entail? Do you just run around your company telling people what to do or run to the bank and make deposits at the end of the each week? Is that business management?

If that is all it takes to run a business, why isn’t everyone a business owner? If managing a business is so easy, why are there consultants? Simple answer: business management is more daunting a task than we may think.

I have always said that no matter how large or small a company is, it is an overwhelming task to manage the everyday issues. We could all use a little bit of help.

Traditional business management, which is what I have studied and is the methodology I use when discussing business issues with clients, takes into account all aspects of running a business, large or small.

Whether it is a million-dollar company or a billion-dollar company, all companies run the same.

Traditional business management is pretty much self-explanatory; it is managing business through traditional methods that have been used for many years.

Those traditional methods incorporate three aspects: sales and marketing strategies, efficient operation and productions methods, and finance and accounting (SG&A). I believe all business owners should have some understanding of these areas of business and try to manage them as best they can. Most large companies focus on these areas in that they have the resources to pay employees who specialize in these particular areas.

For example, consider some of the largest companies in the United States like Home Depot, Starbucks and Dell. These companies require precise and expert management of their business operations at all times while maintaining a positive financial position for investors. These businesses pay full-time employees to function in the company in particular capacities.

When we look at small businesses in the United States, we have to ask, “Do small businesses have the financial resources to pay for similar resources such as a chief financial officer, or a qualified VP of Sales”? Quick answer: no! Actually, no is the only answer.

When we look at larger companies and how they manage their sales and marketing efforts, we find that larger companies have the financial resources to hire employees on a full-time basis who are experts in sales and marketing.

We can say the same for the third aspect of traditional business management, operations and productions. Once again, large businesses have the revenue available to have full-time positions for a general manager, a production manager, and sometimes, a Vice-President of Operations.

Again, small businesses rarely have the opportunity to pay experts full-time salaries, which could cost a business thousands of dollars annually.

So, now we know that traditional business requires the expertise of individuals in particular areas, such as finance, marketing, sales, production, operations, and management.

As a small business owner, can you pay the full-time wages of each of these employees? Do you have to hire all these employees in order for you to spend less time in the office worrying about business issues?

I have seen many million-dollar companies and I have seen a few billion-dollar companies; the only difference is that one pays for expert full-time employees and the other doesn’t. Obviously, the larger companies have the money to pay for expert employees, and small businesses don’t.

So how does the small business owner learn the basics of business management without paying for an MBA or spending thousands of dollars in annual salaries for experts?

Recently traditional business management had to make room for a new aspect of business: technology.

Through the years traditional business management has had to marry its strategies with the proliferation of technology where every business owner from Starbuck’s to Jim’s Auto has had to incorporate technology into its everyday operations.

The problem is that business believed that technology was going to be the solution for every problem, but it wasn’t until recently that business management thinkers realized that technology will fail if it is not implemented properly. That is, traditional business management must seamlessly marry itself with technology.

So, now you have this traditional business model to think of, and you also have to think that the model has incorporated technology. You see, managing a business is not as easy as it sounds. When you look at this business model I know for sure that you have never looked at your business in this way before. Believe it or not, graduate schools teach this stuff and larger companies obviously have the money to pay someone to think of this stuff, but what about the small business owner?

Small business owners do not have the financial resources to pay for this thinking and consulting companies for some reason; do not necessarily speak to the small business owner. Why not? Most consulting companies are always looking to fry the “big fish”, the 1% of businesses in the United States that can afford the phenomenal fees they charge.

Larger consulting companies do not have the time or the desire to speak to small businesses, nor will they change their fees which range over 0.00 per hour.

One of the comments I hear often in small businesses is, “Great idea, I wish I could get my people to do that, but I can’t expect them to change their ways.” I say, “You’d better get them to change their ways or you could be out of a job”!

Oddly enough, small business owners are reluctant if not skeptical in getting help for their business. To this day, I have yet to figure that one out. Why don’t small business owners look for help?

I firmly believe that business is business regardless of the size of the company, the annual revenues, or the number of employees. Keep in mind that the largest businesses in the world were once small businesses and today they are worth a great deal of money. All businesses “managed” their way to the top, regardless of the industry.

I have seen numerous multi-million dollar businesses in every industry, to include contractors, restaurants, service companies, and manufacturing companies. And I have also worked for companies that are worth billions and billions of dollars. They all have one thing in common: They all run the same some just have more revenue than the other.

I have always said that no matter what you produce to sell, HOW you produce it is what is of paramount importance to the growth of your business.

Your business is not too small or too large for a review of its current business processes. I have not met a business owner, a president or CEO of a company who can tell me that their business is running so smoothly that they don’t need to change. That is simply not true.

The natural stirring of the U.S. economy is what causes the need for change in all businesses of all sizes and I guarantee that if you are not constantly rethinking your business strategies, your competition is.

Can you say that your business is flexible enough to manage your competition and stay ahead of the curve, or that your business can handle the daily economic fluctuations in the U.S.?

Ask yourself some of the following questions.

1.Have your total revenues gone up or down from last year?

2.Has your profitability gone up or down from last year?

3.Where is the next dollar coming from?

4.Are you tired of going to work?

5.Do you have adequate inventory levels?

6.How many employees report to you on a daily basis?

7.Do your employees actually do what you ask and expect of them?

8.Do you have a management team in place?

9.Is there business expenses you wish you didn’t have?

10.Does every employee in your company have a specific job function that justifies their labor burden?

11.Do you remember when owning your business was fun for you and your family?

12.Do you believe your company operates as smoothly and efficiently as it could?

13.Do you have a long-range plan?

14.Do your employees share your vision of the business?

15.Who do your employees go to when there is a problem?

16.If you actually met me, would you be able to tell me that your business doesn’t need to change, or that it is truly profitable?

If you are ready to move your business forward, get some help. Believe it not, the success of your business is important to this great Nation.

What you Need to Know About ? Small Business Marketing on Line

I’m going to share with you a few important tips to Small Business Marketing on line and making it a success. You have your business idea and you have a business plan, now you want to know the best way to marketing an on line.

If you follow these beginning tools, you will have built a foundation in which you can triple the income you are now making. If you’re in the category of zero income then these tools can start producing income for you soon after you implement them.

Build a list of targeted prospects

You want to start to build a list of targeted people that are interested in your business. All you need is their e-mail address and first name. Growing this list is priceless. Once you have this list you have gathered interested people who have an attraction in your online business.

Here are a few ways to gain this information.

1.Offer a free newsletter

2.Offer a survey that takes their name and e-mail address

3.An opt-in box when they arrive on your site that gives them access to something free if they register their e-mail.

Small Business Marketing on Line … with a Newsletter

Offering a newsletter can be a wonderful way to gather prospects and keep in touch with them on a regular basis. People may go to your web site once like it, not have time to really go through it and have the best of intentions to return and they most likely forget.

With a monthly or weekly newsletter you can remind your visitors of your web site along with letting them know what is new this month. If you have a new product to launch you can include links back to your web site where your products are.

My recommendation is to offer something of value in each newsletter so people will open it and share it with their friends as well. This will also help you to build confidence with your new prospects. They will see what you have to offer by giving them a sample every month or week of your knowledge and information about your topic of expertise.

Make sure your newsletter is offered on your homepage as well as your secondary pages. Give away a free e-book if they sign up. It will pay off in the end to have a large targeted list of customers that you continue to market to on a regular basis.

Small Business Marketing on Line… The Survey Says…

They are many types of surveys that you can generate that will help you gather significant information about your prospects, this way you know what they like and what their needs are. Questions your survey can ask; what is your biggest problem? What would you like more of? What would you like less of? Gather as much information as you can so you know what to market and how. This way you know what to deliver because they told you what they need.

This is a valuable tool that you will want to put to use. It takes all the guess work out of what your prospects want to see from you.

Small Business Marketing on line … with Free Take-A ways

Offering something of value for free to collect a targeted prospects e-mail will be one of the best things you ever did. If you give away some wonderful information you put together in a e-book and include it as a down load when they sign up for your newsletter, you have only taken the time to write the e-book after that your work is done and you have gathered many valuable contacts you may not have had otherwise.

If E-books aren’t your thing then give away a free MP3. You can have an informational MP3 that may offer tips ideas or teach something along the lines of the theme of your web site.

If you offer a service you can give a free day or an extra day or so for signing up for your newsletter. You can offer a 20% discount for signing up. This way you get a new client and their e-mail address.

For more information on small business marketing sign up for my FREE newsletter! I give free tips and information like these that you will love! ?

What we think about expands

Small Business Marketing: What Puts you Closest to the Money?

Do you know what most women entrepreneurs bring with them when they start their own business?

The notion that being busy means being productive.

Nothing could be farther from the truth!

As I warn my business coaching clients, this faulty (and even dangerous) notion is a hold-over from the days of working at a j-o-b.

You see, at a job, you’re paid to show up and stay busy. What people do at their jobs is rarely connected with actually bringing in new clients or making money.

But when you work for yourself, EVERYTHING you do MUST be tightly connected to getting and keeping new clients. Period.

Which means handling things like most emails, filing, problem solving (unless it’s solving your clients’ problems), administrative trivia, surfing the ‘net, sorting your Outlook files, paying bills, fiddling with your website, creating brochures… are a waste of time. These tasks don’t put women entrepreneurs closest to the money; they pull them away from it!

Here are my top favorite tasks that I do nearly every day to put me closest to the money:

Small Business Marketing Strategy #1: Write an article.

Not crazy about writing or not sure what to write about? One of the tips I shared in a recent Success Circle Marketing Makeover call is to write like you are having a conversation. Pretend you are chatting with a good friend about a very specific topic.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #2: Send a “thinking about you” card…or two!

Why not surprise a client, referral source, another woman entrepreneur or prospective client with a friendly “keep in touch” card? They will feel special…and think you are too!

Small Business Marketing Strategy #3: Send a press release written as a mini-article.

Think a press release is only to announce an important event? Nope! Take one of your articles, trim it down to 250 words and add your author’s bio. You can use this strategy to send one a week.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #4: Record a free audio tip for your website.

Even better, transcribe it and post it on your website as a viewable option. Google will love your site for adding fresh content.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #5: Make your first (or next) information product.

Keep it simple and get your information product done now! The credibility and leverage you gain will tremendously boost your business. Example: one of my Platinum Inner Circle clients created a .95 eBook on a popular topic. The result? This woman entrepreneur received dozens of sales and several new clients worth many thousands of dollars. Nice!

Small Business Marketing Strategy #6: Ask to be interviewed or to interview an expert.

Interviews are easy to set up. They increase your credibility, widen your exposure and raise your expert status, whether you’re the expert giving the interview or conducting the interview. Choose someone you respect. Call to ask for the interview (you’ll be surprised how often you’ll hear “yes”.) Then record the interview and offer it as a mp3 file on your website.

My business coaching challenge: make a stand for doing ONE small business marketing strategy each day, and then integrate your action into your daily routine.

This is how you’ll go from being busy to becoming successful… with a lot more time to enjoy!

Small Business Marketing and the US Census: Economic Trends, Market Research and More

What would you say if I told you there were an online tool that could provide detailed information about the size of your market including trends in your industry and other important information concerning the economy as a whole?

What if I told you that this tool could help take the hit-and-miss out of small business marketing?

And what if I told you it was free? 

The US Census site—www.census.gov—is all that and more. That’s why it’s such an essential data destination for market researchers, entrepreneurs, government agencies and anyone who needs accurate information about social and economic trends in the US.  The economic portion of the site offers a wide variety of reports—usually in the form of a downloadable .pdf document—covering topics ranging from basic economic indicators to employment statistics and more.

There is, of course, one major drawback to US census data, and that’s how often it’s collected. There are areas of the website’s economic data still based on the 2002 Economic Census, and even the economic indicators updated on a monthly basis do so based on information obtained two months previous.

Even so, there are numerous ways that US Census economic data can be essential to making informed small business marketing decisions, and having a sense of the scope of resources available will get you started in putting that data to work for you.

Does the number of households with children in your county, region or state make a difference in terms of the size of your potential market? How about the number of retirees, or individuals representing a certain minority group? If so, you’ll want to check out the People & Households section of the website which also contains important information concerning household incomes. 

These numbers could help to influence how much of your marketing budget you dedicate to reaching certain sectors of your target demographic, and where, geographically, you choose to concentrate your advertising dollars. It may also help you determine baselines for products and pricing.

If your target market is tied to a certain business or industry—the housing market, for example, or the entertainment industry—you’ll want to explore the Business & Industry section of the US Census website. This is where you’ll find general economic indicators for major areas of the economy, as well as more specific information through the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS.) This type of industry-specific info is also good for surveying exactly how your own business is doing relative to your industry as whole.

There are a number of different ways to use the information available through the Business & Industry section.  If you’re wondering, for example, what types of online businesses and e-commerce websites are making the most money—and what areas of online sales appear to be growing the quickest—you might go to the E-Stats section.  If your market includes small business owners, you might gain some useful information from the Survey of Business Owners. And, if the local economy is important to the growth and development of your business, the section marked County Business Patterns, under the heading of Economic Indicators, is a great place to start.

By taking US Census information into account, you’ll be able to “look before you leap” when it comes to major business decisions, and develop key strategies to keep pace in a changing world. 

For more information about how to put US Census data to work for your business, visit http://www.census.gov/epcd/ec02/uses.htm.

Small Business Marketing Strategies: How to Create a Powerful and Motivating Bold Money Goal

Most women entrepreneurs would love to double their income, but when they think about going from where they are now to their new goal they either think too small, panic or go blank.

It’s as if the gap between their current reality and their goal number is just too big of a leap to make all in one jump. These women entrepreneurs quickly become discouraged, and time goes by without seeing any real change in how much they’re making.

I, too, used to struggle with this until I created a simple solution that has resulted in helping nearly triple my income into the high six-figures in just one year (and be on track to reach seven-figures this year).

The small business marketing system I created is called your “Bold Money Goal.” The concept is simple and has worked for hundreds of women entrepreneurs who happily see their monthly income skyrocket!

Here are four marketing strategies you can use right now to leverage this powerful tool:

Small Business Marketing Strategy #1: Choose a short time frame.
Short time frames give you focus and create momentum. Plus, they’re fun and exciting! I prefer a 30 – 90 day Bold Money Goal time frame to get you to stretch your thinking and spark your creativity as to how you’re going to reach your Bold Money Goal. Short time frames are also powerful because they cause you to take big, measurable action rather than procrastinating because your small business marketing goal seems fuzzy or out of reach.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #2: Pick the right new amount to bring in.
Aim too low and you’re unlikely to make any significant changes or progress with your woman-owned business. But aim too high and the amount can feel so far out of reach that it doesn’t feel “real”. I recommend that women entrepreneurs choose an amount they want to make that is anywhere from 40 – 50 percent more than they currently bring in.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #3: Go for the low-hanging fruit.
You don’t have to suddenly add entirely new services or products to your woman-owned business to reach your Bold Money Goal. In fact, I advise to look for the low-hanging fruit that’s just waiting for you to pluck it off of the ‘Money Tree’.

Low-hanging fruit are typically services and products you already have that can be dusted off, re-launched, re-titled or expanded. Try also offering a teleseminar, program, a group or a private service focused on a single topic with which your clients commonly struggle. One of my Platinum clients did this and within a few short days had nearly 400 people signed up for one teleseminar!

Small Business Marketing Strategy #4: Be open to new approaches for achieving your goal.
The power of the Bold Money Goal isn’t just to bring in the bucks – although that IS important! It’s to help you make a big leap forward in expanding what’s possible for you and your woman-owned business. Be open to doing something in a new way, a bigger way and certainly, in a bolder way so that the rewards of achieving your Bold Money Goal continue to grow.

Creating and achieving a Bold Money Goal every 30 – 90 days will help you “chunk down” your ideal income in a way that will help you reach it faster and easier than you’ve every thought possible!

Small Business Marketing and the US Census: Economic Trends, Market Research and More

What would you say if I told you there were an online tool that could provide detailed information about the size of your market including trends in your industry and other important information concerning the economy as a whole?

What if I told you that this tool could help take the hit-and-miss out of small business marketing?

And what if I told you it was free?

The US Census site – www.census.gov – is all that and more. That’s why it’s such an essential data destination for market researchers, entrepreneurs, government agencies and anyone who needs accurate information about social and economic trends in the US. The economic portion of the site offers a wide variety of reports – usually in the form of a downloadable .pdf document – covering topics ranging from basic economic indicators to employment statistics and more.

There is, of course, one major drawback to US census data, and that’s how often it’s collected. There are areas of the website’s economic data still based on the 2002 Economic Census, and even the economic indicators updated on a monthly basis do so based on information obtained two months previous.

Even so, there are numerous ways that US Census economic data can be essential to making informed small business marketing decisions, and having a sense of the scope of resources available will get you started in putting that data to work for you.

Does the number of households with children in your county, region or state make a difference in terms of the size of your potential market? How about the number of retirees, or individuals representing a certain minority group? If so, you’ll want to check out the People & Households section of the website which also contains important information concerning household incomes.

These numbers could help to influence how much of your marketing budget you dedicate to reaching certain sectors of your target demographic, and where, geographically, you choose to concentrate your advertising dollars. It may also help you determine baselines for products and pricing.

If your target market is tied to a certain business or industry – the housing market, for example, or the entertainment industry – you’ll want to explore the Business & Industry section of the US Census website. This is where you’ll find general economic indicators for major areas of the economy, as well as more specific information through the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS.) This type of industry-specific info is also good for surveying exactly how your own business is doing relative to your industry as whole.

There are a number of different ways to use the information available through the Business & Industry section. If you’re wondering, for example, what types of online businesses and e-commerce websites are making the most money – and what areas of online sales appear to be growing the quickest – you might go to the E-Stats section. If your market includes small business owners, you might gain some useful information from the Survey of Business Owners. And, if the local economy is important to the growth and development of your business, the section marked County Business Patterns, under the heading of Economic Indicators, is a great place to start.

By taking US Census information into account, you’ll be able to “look before you leap” when it comes to major business decisions, and develop key strategies to keep pace in a changing world.

For more information about how to put US Census data to work for your business, visit http://www.census.gov/epcd/ec02/uses.htm.