From the WHY Vault*

10 Ways to Revitalize Your Business in 2009

1. Take a Client Out for Coffee. The first step to revitalizing your business has to be figuring out what area you want to work on. But handing out a stack of surveys to your customers isn’t really going to get a lot of answers: you’ll be lucky if you get any response at all. Sitting down with a customer and chatting about what he likes and dislikes in your product can provide plenty of information, especially if the client feels that he or she is getting something out of it. So rather than struggling through some mass emailing asking how you did on a scale of 1 to 10, pick a client or two to take out. Which clients? You might consider the client that you’ve had the hardest time with over the past year. Find out where the problem was, from the client’s point of view, and why he stuck with you. You just might be able to avoid a repeat next year.
2. Read Up On SEO. You probably (or should) have a website to support your business. But so do your competitors, and they might just be appearing above you in a Google search. Search engine optimization is the key to making sure that you’re the top result for a given set of keywords. You can hire a professional to optimize your website, but you should still learn about SEO so you understand the terms of the trade. You can start learning at sites like SEOmoz and Search Engine Roundtable.
3. Take a Break. If you’re feeling the spark that convinced you to start your business has disappeared, you may need a little revitalization yourself. Taking a break when you’re the boss feels impossible, but it’s necessary: successful business owners experience just as much burn out as corporate employees spending eight hours a day in a cubicle. Start small, if you aren’t sure how your business will handle your absence. If you’re the type to take phone calls during dinner or have a Blackberry on your hip all weekend, just try disconnecting during non-business hours. Do something enjoyable or relaxing, and see if you’re at least a little more prepared to tackle Monday.
4. Offer a Social Media Giveaway. With a traditional giveaway, every entrant gets one chance to win. But you can offer an online giveaway with a few more opportunities to pick up a prize: if you post your giveaway on your website or blog, tell participants that if they mention your contest in a blog post of their own, in a note on Facebook, in a message on Twitter, in a newsletter to their email contacts or elsewhere online, they can pick up additional entries. If you’re offering a cool prize, your contest can get mentions on hundreds of websites. To confirm that a participant has really posted about your contest, you will want to require URLs of those posts as a condition of entry.
5. Ask for a Recommendation on LinkedIn. Google your name. If you have an account on LinkedIn or another major social networking site, links to those accounts are probably among the most highly ranked results for your name. People looking for you will find those accounts right off the bat, so you want them looking the best. One of the easiest ways to make sure your LinkedIn account looks good is to make sure that you have at least one recommendation. LinkedIn has even made it easy to request that members of your network recommend you: if you take a look at your recommendations page, you’ll see a “Get Recommended” button. If you don’t already have an account on LinkedIn and other sites, like Facebook or Twitter, you can set one up easily and improve your Google results almost immediately.
6. Put Your Press Releases Online. There’s only so much a press release can do, sitting on your company’s website. You might email it out to a few different bloggers or news sites, but it’s only going out to people you already know about. You can reach a wider audience with your press release by submitting it to sites like PR Leap and PRWeb. Both of these sites do charge fees to post your press release, but they also reach tens of thousands of readers. Those readers include numerous bloggers who are looking for easy stories, as well as members of the traditional media looking for a hot topic.
7. Send Out an Email Newsletter. Email newsletters may seem like they’re behind the technological times on the surface, but they remain one of the most effective methods of staying in touch with existing clients online. If your newsletter includes information that your recipients feel is worth forwarding, you can even pick up new customers surprisingly quickly — newsletter recipients will forward an email because it’s easy. Web surfers are less likely to pass along a website or other information because they have to copy and paste it into an email and complete several more steps.
8. Attend A BarCamp. You probably already attend a conference or two within your professional niche each year. Those conferences may be pretty expensive and require quite a bit of travel. You can get the conference experience, cheaply and locally, by attending a BarCamp. BarCamps are usually focused on technical topics — PodCamps, for instance, focus on podcasting while WordCamps focus on WordPress. These technical topics can provide the introductory level material you’ll need for a number of online marketing techniques, as well as provide networking opportunities. Most BarCamps are listed on the BarCamp wiki.
9. Outsource One Task You Dislike. Enjoying your work is just as important as increasing your sales. If you’re like most business owners, there is one task that you absolutely hate — for some it’s invoicing, for others it’s finding advertising opportunities. But you can get that task off your plate, and get back to the work that really is important to bringing in more income. You can outsource it to a specialized professional or to a virtual assistant. VAs have a range of skills, perfect for a small business, and are more affordable for most businesses than hiring new employees or going to a specialist who handles only a limited variety of tasks.
10. Quit Advertising in Print. While print advertising can bring in some customers, placing a newspaper ad isn’t much different than firing a shotgun blast: you’re sending out an ad to thousands of readers, but most of them have minimal interest in your product or service. But with online advertising, you can often target your ideal customers specifically. With contextual advertising, for instance, you can advertise to potential customers who are specifically searching for information on your keywords. You can also advertise on blogs and websites that cater to the specific niche you are targeting. Therefore, you can slash your advertising budget by moving online, without losing new sales.

--This article was written by Thursday Bram and ran in the nov/dec 2008 issue of WHY, sponsored by Summit Publication Design.

*From time to time, I'll present info from past WHY magazine articles or WHY Xtras in case you missed them the first time around. :)

WHY Xtra: 5 Ways to Create Buzz

1. Lead the social media charge. Go at 'em with your guns blazing: Use posts, tweets, videos, links -- everything in your arsenal -- to get your information out there. Remember, friends let friends drive traffic to their website.
2. Be a traditional media maven too. Stay in regular contact with those publications/websites that cover your industry or community. While social media is the hot place to chat up journalists, a solid press release -- emailed or snail-mailed -- still goes a long way.
3. Milk industry events. Conferences, meetings, seminars -- go to as many as you can and talk to as many people as you can.
4. Develop key opinion leader relationships. Opinion leaders are considered credible sources of information, and they can be found in virtually ever field. Know who yours are, and keep them well informed, making sure they know who you are as well.
5. Try something wacky. Invent a new buzzword. Host contests for your customers. Have giveaways. Get that Jason dude of I Wear Your Shirt to wear your logo for a day. You never know what can get the viral marketing ball rolling.

Need Input!

I am currently finishing up two stories for the next issue of WHY magazine and would love to have some input. The first story is for our "telecommuters" story about how to get promoted when you telecommute -- how do you get onto your boss' radar, and stay there, when you work out of the office regularly. The second story is for our "you feature" about online writing ethics -- what's okay and not okay to do when you write for the web. Just today, I found a website that reprinted a post from this blog, and while I was flattered by the mention and the reference (w/o a link, though), I was upset that the owner of the website/blog was obviously oblivious to the fact that she had done something unethical. Should bloggers be held to the same standards are journalists? Is what this blogger did illegal as well as unethical? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Only 28 Days in February? Are You Sure?

Man, if there was ever a time I was hoping for a Leap Year, this is it. Can anyone loan me a few extra days?

Just about a week to go until the new issue of WHY magazine goes live, and I'm freaking out as usual. Articles to write, edit. Pages to proof. A business partner to calm.

Wasn't it just yesterday that it was February 1? Where did the time go? How did February get the short end of the stick anyway?

Those Romans...

BTW, if you really want to know why February was the black sheep of the Roman calendar, here's the straight dope. Personally, I would have picked on January.

WHY Xtra: 5 Secrets of Great Presidents (of Countries & Companies)

1. Strength: The ability to withstand adversity and motivate yourself in the face of it.
2. Self-confidence: The ability to surround yourself with diverse perspectives and still believe in your own vision.
3. Flexibility: The ability to change course when things don't go as planned.
4. Integrity: The ability to adhere to a strict ethical code, particularly when it's the least popular option.
5. Humility: The ability to remain humble in the face of great power.

A Social Media Birthday

It's my birthday!

And this year, I've gotten birthday wishes from more folks than I can count. In addition to the usual suspects who are stuck seeing me every day -- my immediate friends and family -- lots of friends from Facebook were kind enough to extend birthday wishes. (And there were wishes from the Facebook application itself, as well as Borders and Wii Fit too. It's a brave new world!)

Would all of these people have remembered it was my birthday if Facebook hadn't prompted them with a reminder? Probably not. Even so, it's a lovely gesture and nice to know that someone has taken a moment out of his or her busy day to send me a greeting.

Peter Shankman (@skydiver) mentioned this recently at one of his speaking engagements, but if you're on Facebook, you can easily use the birthday notifications as a daily marketing tool. Take a few moments each morning to send a birthday greeting to a client or colleague. You'd be surprised at how far something so easy and thoughtful -- and free -- can go toward generating goodwill.

WHY Xtra: A Perfect Match? 5 Clues to Finding the Right Business Partner*

1. You share the same business goals. If one partner is looking to get rich quick and the other wants slow growth, it’s not going to work. You need to agree – in writing – on both the short- and long-term goals of the company.
2. You both plan to make the same level of commitment. Not only in terms of financial investment, but of time and dedication. Again, put it in writing.
3. You don’t share the same skills. Your business partner should be “smarter” than you in her respective area of expertise. Complementing one another will provide a firmer foundation for the company.
4. You have a good sense of each other’s business track record. Even though your potential partner is a “great guy” that you know and trust, you also should know how he functions in a business setting and seek out references on past performance.
5. You both communicate well. There are ups and downs to any business, and partners rely on each other for support. It’s important to pick someone who will be available and accessible. Remember, the wrong partner can be worse than having no partner at all.

*Remember, you can join the WHY magazine mailing list and have each week's Xtra emailed to you every Monday in pretty colors -- and with a photo!

Google Alerts

I realized I should have talked a little bit about Google Alerts when mentioning Twilert in my previous post. Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results for whatever topic or keyword you input. Every morning, I receive a Google Alert for "Dina Santorelli," "WHY magazine" and "work at home." This way, I'm aware of ANYTHING that has been mentioned about me or my business or my field of business in the previous 24 hours. (I have my alerts set for 24-hour intervals, but you can choose whatever time frame works for you.)

As a writer, I'm able to see where my stories are running and who is linking to them, and as editor/publisher of WHY, I can monitor mentions of our magazine. If you like, you can also set Google Alerts for competitors in your industry or, on a personal level, for your favorite sports teams or celebs.

So Twilert takes care of Twitter mentions, and Google all the rest. Both are really invaluable -- and FREE -- tools, particularly for shoestring marketers (aren't we all?).

Track Your Tweet Mentions

Do you know about Twilert?

Twilert is a Twitter application that lets you receive regular email updates of tweets containing your brand, product, service or any keyword you like. (Think Google Alerts for Twitter.) If people are talking about you or your company or retweeting your tweets, it's good to know.

No School 4 Her, No Work 4 Me!

My daughter is home sick today.

As I write this, she is sitting across from me trying to remove barbecue sauce from the bread of a Quiznos sandwich that I picked up for her on the way home from running errands. Actually, at this point, she has removed everything from the sandwich and is just eating the bread.

It's weird having one of the kids home during the day -- a throwback to the years when they weren't in school and working from home was extremely difficult. But back then, I figured out how to work in spurts, during naps and viewings of Blue's Clues. Now, I feel a bit rusty, having been spoiled by the vastness that is the six-hour school day. So when Helena stops by my desk to see me, as she often does, to say, "Whatcha dooooin'?" it takes me a few minutes to recapture my train of thought and get back into the groove of work.

In other words, my productivity is taking a nosedive today, especially now that Helena has abandoned her sandwich and has decided to sharpen all the pencils we have in the house. Is it any surprise that the pencil sharpener is right next to my laptop?

WHY Xtra: 5 Business Plan Ground Rules

1. Know your market. Thoroughly investigate everything there is to know about your product/service, including target customers and competitors. Whether or not you plan to secure investors, you can’t know too much about your business.
2. Be realistic. We’d all like forecast ourselves as millionaires in five years, but it’s important to carefully assess your operating costs and growth potential.
3. Be accurate. Make a list of one-time and recurring costs. If you have to, get input from suppliers, advisors, partners and others who are knowledgeable about your business. You also should ask them for assistance with projecting future cash flows.
4. Get a second opinion. There are organizations that can provide valuable – and free – assistance, such as SCORE and the Small Business Administration.
5. Don’t just file your business plan away. Your business plan is a dynamic document and should reflect any changes that take place within the course of operating your company. Changing it doesn’t make it unsuccessful; it keeps it relevant.

Going Face-to-Face

I recently had a lunch with my business partner, Lucille.

You might not think that's a big deal, but for two people who have been working together on WHY for two years -- and another year or so before that -- we RARELY see one another. Although we talk constantly on the phone and chat via email and, now, Facebook, it always seems near to impossible to get our schedules to intersect for a live, in-person one-on-one.

Finally, we made it happen, as part of our new year's resolutions for 2009. And it was great. There's nothing quite like looking across a table over a BLT and seeing the reaction in someone's eyes when you suggest an idea.

Scott Monty, the social media guy for Ford, said the same thing in the social media story in our current issue of WHY: “It’s not just about online presence. Get out there and meet people face to face. That's where some of the best brainstorming and true relationship building occurs.” We agree, so we've resolved to have in-person meetings regularly -- hopefully every month -- to make sure that we're on the same page as we go forward with our little magazine.

Plus, I like seeing her and hearing her laugh. LOLs just don't cut it.