Business Community > Business Networks > 'E-commerce Solutions'

Oscar Nominations for Best Small Business Opportunities

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

We’ll know Sunday night whether it is “Avatar” or “The Hurt Locker” or a dark horse that takes home the Oscar for Best Picture. Starting a small business can feel like starring in an Oscar winning movie. By pouring your heart into your own business, you can build your own skills while influencing your supporting cast and convincing critics of your performance. But to be a winner, you’ll have to overcome the challenges presented by the market, by offering the best possible product or service to the right customers. Of course, you won’t have the luxury of dissolving away to a montage during the toughest parts of your journey.

Entrepreneurs predict five strong oscar worthy nominations for the best small business idea in 2010, along with their inspiration from the silver screen:

1. Athletic Trainer

The demand for freelance athletic trainers has grown in many cities where former gym members need help with home workouts. Retired athletes perform well in this field, where professionals often earn over $42,000 annually. With help from a web site design firm, you can create a content rich website with workout videos, exercise tips and techniques, client testmonials and even allow for your clients to login and monitor the progress of their own workouts.

Inspiration from 1976 Oscar For Best Picture: Rocky

If a parade of sequels has dulled the impact of the original Rocky, revisit 1976’s Best Picture. Of course, you might not have to work your training clients as hard as Mickey pushes Rocky. You’ll just have to help them choose to be “climbers” instead of “tomatoes.”

2. Concierge Service

Overbooked executives often need help running errands and making reservations. Stressed-out parents crave assistance with child day care scheduling and social planning. Concierge services charge between $30-$50 per hour to help both of these market segments manage their time more effectively. Credit card processing services allows concierges to charge fees to clients automatically upon the completion of each task.

Inspiration from 1956 Oscar For Best Picture:  Around the World in Eighty Days

One of the splashiest films ever to win Best Picture, this 1956 adventure features literature’s most celebrated valet: Passepartout. You may never have to fight a bull or climb the ropes of a hot air balloon for your clients. But, like Passepartout does for Phineas Fogg, you’ll frequently save the day.

3. Freelance Writer

Despite pleas from peddlers of get-rich-quick formulas, few paying markets exist for travel reviews or daily musings. However, freelance copywriters can earn $48,000 or more per year by generating quality content for clients. Office Equipment leasing can help outfit growing writing services with computers, scanners, fax machines, and other tools of the trade.

Inspiration from 1998 Oscar For Best Picture: Shakespeare in Love

Life as a writer has always had its challenges, especially if you follow the fanciful story of 1998’s Best Picture. The film projects modern writers’ biggest frustrations–from writers’ block to quarrels with clients–onto Elizabethan England’s creative community.

4. Career Counsellor

Career counsellors help clients navigate challenging professional decisions. E-commerce solutions allow clients to purchase career planning services ranging from access to executive jobs, automated tip sheets to live coaching sessions. This way, career counsellers can earn $40,000 or more per year matching job candidates with productive new careers.

Inspiration from 1970 Oscar For Best Picture: Patton

In today’s economy, it takes a commanding presence and visionary insight to get the most from people. It’s no surprise that the first few moments of 1970’s Best Picture, Patton, have become a visual cue for powerful leadership in business. Just don’t slap any of your customers–the film will show you why this could be a career-limiting move.

5. Nursing Home

More Americans than ever require at least occasional on-site assistance from trained medical professionals. Nurses, EMTs, and other graduates of medical training courses can earn $15-$20 per hour by helping patients recuperate from home. Online marketing campaigns including search engine optimization and pay per click can help you grow your small business quickly as users search for home based halthcare professionals for their ageing parents on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Inspiration from 1975 Oscar For Best Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Don’t take this particular suggestion as inspiration, exactly. Instead, review Louise Fletcher’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the vindictive Nurse Ratched as an example of how not to offer patient care. 1975’s Best Picture remains at the top of critics’ lists of all-time top films for its darkly humorous view of patient-practitioner relationships.

Finding The Best Supporting Actors and Actresses

Starting a business during a recession might sound crazy. However, many of America’s most successful companies actually launched as small businesses during economic downturns. As larger companies lay off experienced workers, you can use the current economic climate to attract skilled talent who can help you make an even bigger impact on your customers. By filling a high-demand niche in your community and by running a frugal organization, you can set up your new business to win its own oscar worthy awards.

Share |

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Search Marketing | 6 Comments »

Get A FREE Search Marketing Quote

Using Your Tax Refund To Start A Small Business

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Tax refund can be sufficient capital to start a business on a shoestring budget, especially with cost-saving techniques like e-commerce solutions, payroll outsourcing, web hosting and equipment leasing.

Capital is tight these days, but a check may already be on its way to you–your tax refund. For a number of reasons, this might be a good time to put that tax refund into starting a new business.

Modern business techniques make entrepreneurship more affordable than in the past. E-commerce solutions with credit card processing capabilities have lowered the barrier to starting a new business; web hosting and office equipment leasing can help minimize fixed costs; online marketing  such as search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click can reduce the ongoing cost of promoting a business. With the job market not looking very bright, your best option may be to create your own job.

The Economic Power of Tax Refunds

Even with these cost-saving techniques, are tax refunds really enough to make a dent in the cost of starting a new business? Consider that a total of $261 billion in tax refunds were paid out in 2008–that’s enough to be thought of as something of a small business stimulus package.

In 2009, with incomes and investment returns down over the past year, many people will be looking at a lower tax liability, and therefore a bigger refund. This cash can be used to start a new business, or pump a little extra life to one that is struggling to get off the ground.

Examples of Low-Cost Businesses: Daycare to Web Design

The following are examples of businesses that can be started at relatively low cost, promoted via e-commerce solutions, and might be especially timely for today’s economy:

  1. Daycare. With many parents having to work longer hours to make ends meet, demand for daycare is a natural result. Thirty-five percent of daycare workers are self-employed, and most of these provide the service in their homes, so daycare is a natural for a low-cost start-up business. Licensing requirements vary from state-to-state, but in many cases, looking after small numbers of children does not require licensure.
  2. Home repair. If you are handy with a set of tools, you can translate this talent into a paying business. In a soft economy, people are looking to put off new purchases by making their existing equipment last longer. From cars to lawn mowers, or from furnaces to swimming pools, anything you can do to substitute an affordable repair bill for an expensive replacement can be a win-win situation. If you have the skills and the tools, this can be a low-cost business you can promote with SEO techniques such as linking advertisements to articles about repairs to specific items.
  3. Pet care. Sometimes, it isn’t children who need looking after as people pursue additional jobs, but rather their pets. From supervising and exercising pets during the workday to providing grooming services, helping people keep up with the responsibility of owning a pet can often be a welcome alternative to giving up the pet.
  4. Computer maintenance and repair. With so many job losses, people who relied on workplace help desks for laptop support are now on their own and need a technical lifeline. Providing this type of support requires expertise but little in the way of overhead.
  5. Gardening & landscaping. With an aging population, more and more people are finding it a challenge to look after their yards. If you are in good health and have something of a green thumb, this type of work can be good for your physical and mental health while also rewarding you financially.
  6. Tax preparation. Since this article is based on the power of tax refunds, it makes sense to point out that tax preparation can be a low-overhead business. If you have accounting expertise, you can help other people squeeze a little more out of their government refunds.
  7. Web design. Once you’ve mastered the art of setting up a business based on web and e-commerce solutions, you can use what you’ve learned to help others do the same thing. While job losses are painfully disruptive, one of their long-term benefits is that they do spark a new wave of business formations. Whether it is helping with general consulting on business formation, or tackling specific projects such as Web design you can position your small business to ride the general wave of new start-ups.

With all the news of government bailouts, many individuals have been left wondering where is their bailout from the government. A tax refund is no bailout–it’s money you have coming to you–but it can be an opportunity to make investments in a new or existing small business that could help you earn more in the future.

Share |

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Tax Preparation | 4 Comments »

Get A FREE Tax Preparation Quote

Web Design Meets Social Networking

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

The Web may be the most powerful tool that technology has ever created. Were it just a database of information, it would still be really neat, but it wouldn’t be as popular as it is today. After all, libraries are full of static information, but how many people go to the library every day? It’s the social elements and constantly changing information that has made the world wide web an integral part of our lives and created a huge market opportunity for web design companies.

You’ve got your friends, family, acquaintances, neighbors, classmates, coworkers, clients, and all manner of other peers. These people make up your social network, and you are part of theirs. This seems pretty straightforward, and from one person’s perspective, it is. When we take a step back and start trying to really map out how every single person is connected to everyone else, it can get mind-numbingly complex. Don’t worry–you don’t have to have a complete understanding of social networking to navigate the world wide web.

But using social networking elements in your web site design can help you grow your business online. For example, when you start a new business. Who knows about it? Your friends and family know, so you talk to them about spreading the word. Imagine how much faster this process would go on the Web, especially if you just started an e-commerce business with online credit card processing capabilities you can very quickly disseminate your website via social bookmarking to thousands of people that frequently visit social networking sites like facebook, twitter, tradeseam, myspace etc. If your web site is designed for the social web, you can easily reach your target audience, which means higher profits and revenue streams for your business.

Some things to keep in mind while designing your website for the social web:

  1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) : This, like chess, takes a little while to learn and years to master. Unlike chess, the rules change every so often because of evolving search engines. You want to design all of your company’s website and content to pop up when someone searches for it by including various keywords in the text. If you sell towels, for example, you might want to feature words such as “towel” and “terry cloth”.
  2. Demographics: Figure out who wants your product, and distill that list into characteristics. Millions of people have posted their interests online, right out in the open for all to see; take advantage of this. It’s called free market research!
  3. Web Design: You don’t have to rely on social networking sites that have already been developed. Many Web sites have built -in social networking capabilities such as social blogs, walls, feeds, photos etc. Answers, profiles and blogs bring  people with similar interests together. Thes tools can be integrated to support a thriving e-commerce business. Customers can see what others have purchased, product reviews and recommendations, ask questions and get suggestions for similar items or gifts etc.
  4. Viral Marketing: This is exactly what it sounds like: news about your company spreads like a virus. Social media marketing lets you easily reach customers, recruit employees and spread the word about your company across the world wide web. Various forums and groups on social networking sites make it easy for customers to find you through word of mouth, greatly reducing the push marketing efforts required such as pay per click, direct mail or telemarketing campaigns.

Website Design with social networking capabilities is changing the way we do business. It’s the twenty-first century; welcome to the social web.

Share |

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Web Site Design & Development | 20 Comments »

Get A FREE Web Site Design & Development Quote

Turn a Layoff into an Opportunity

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Getting laid off is never easy. Finding yourself suddenly unemployed rather than heading off to work in the morning is a big change in anyone’s life.

  1. Don’t Panic. It’s going to be hard for the first day or two, but keep it under control. Now is the time for real, measured action, not an explosion of self pity and unchecked spending.
  2. Tighten Your Belt. The perfect blend of keeping your mind off of things and preparing for this little hiccup, making up a new household budget lets you identify what can be cut and what has to stay.
  3. Keep Your Chin Up. People often underestimate the psychological effect that being laid off has had on them. Stay focused on what’s to come. This is an opportunity for you to become your own boss, and negative thinking isn’t going to get your new business off the ground.
  4. Assess Your Strengths. You need a business plan–now. The money you’ve got saved may be the capital you need to start your own business, not just a safety buffer. Figure out exactly what you’re going to do and who’s going to pay you for it.
  5. Leverage Your Network. Obviously you can’t start going after your company’s clients, but chances are you’ve made some other contacts in your field. Get the word out that you’re starting up your own business; get on the web; and get your new business going.

Now that you’ve figured out what you’re going to do, it’s time to figure out how. The Web is most powerful tool at your disposal, for everything from business networking to internet marketing solutions that can get you earning money as quickly as possible.

You can think of ecommerce solutions as a fancy term for doing business on the Web. If you need help getting this set up, don’t hesitate to hire a web design firm to get things going. Credit card processing capabilities can take the sting out of waiting for those checks to roll in because your customers can pay you instantly. In a world where most start-ups fail because of uncollected bills, you can’t afford not to set up some sort of credit card processing or instant POS systems.

Attractive website design is a like having a storefront that makes people stop in their tracks and wander inside. You’ve got two options: hire someone or do it yourself. Doing it yourself could lead you to develop a new, highly marketable skill. It could also lead to wasted time, effort, and patience. Hiring web design firms to do it for you may be a safer bet.

In the likely event that you don’t have all of the office equipment you need to get going, seek out an office equipment leasing company. Instead of buying discounted or outdated supplies at high personal cost, you can lease any equipment you need to get started. Prices vary considerably in this industry, so be sure to check around with several equipment leasing companies before settling on one.

Whatever business you choose to start up, it’s vital that you stay motivated. Through internet marketing solutions such as pay per click and SEO, you can start to see results almost immediately. Make these tangible results the apple of your eye, but don’t settle for a trickle. The more work you put into pushing your new web site and company, the more customers you are likely to attract.

Once your initial web site is up, think of it as your jumping-off point. You can easily add features that allow more user-generated content, such as forums and blogs, which may  help with search engine optimization to bring even more people in.

Even if you have to dress in full business attire to get motivated, you need to act like a business. Set your hours, and stick to them. When you don’t have clients, your job is to get them. Increase your knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) and learn how to get more traffic to your Web site. If you can hire SEO companies, even for a defined project or duration, you may be able to get a big jump in traffic more rapidly than you would on your own. When you do have clients, act professionally and give them the best you’ve got. They’ll pass your name on and you may soon find your business is growing.

Share |

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in E-commerce Solutions | 2 Comments »

Get A FREE E-commerce Solutions Quote

Top Ten US Cities for Starting a New Business

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Where some people see obstacles, others see opportunities. That’s certainly the case with starting a small business during a recession. While most people naturally focus on soft demand and the scarcity of capital, those with a contrarian eye see weakened competition, reasonable real estate costs, and a large pool of potential talent available.

One important factor is that the recession has not hit all parts of the country equally. Therefore, if you pick your spot correctly, you can still find a good place to start a small business.

Top Ten US Cities for Starting a New Business

There are many factors which make a particular city a good location for a new business, including general economic conditions, size and skill set of the employment pool, supply and demand, infrastructure (both physical and technological), and population growth.

Here are a list of 10 US cities where you can find many of these above favorable factors:

  1. Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh benefits from an economy that is more skewed towards technology than manufacturing, so it has fewer industries suffering from long-term, non-cyclical declines. The IT base plus a strong presence of higher education helps to create a skilled pool of potential workers. Also, Raleigh is helped by the fact that some other North Carolina cities are also thriving, making businesses in Raleigh well situated to broaden out their markets. Outsource where possible.  Basic business support needs such as direct mail, call centers and telemarketing can all be readily outsourced to reduce your upfront investment and help you focus on the unique value proposition of your business.
  2. Fort Collins, Colorado. Like North Carolina, Colorado benefits from having multiple areas which are maintaining economic growth despite the recession, which certainly helps a business gain momentum. Fort Collins in particular benefits from a combination of a relatively high median income level and a high level of educational attainment among its populace.
  3. Houston, Texas. Already a major metropolitan area with over 5 million people, Houston still enjoys a below-average cost of living.
  4. Lincoln, Nebraska. This is a good choice for a cost-conscious start-up, because Lincoln features both a low cost of living and a low cost of doing business.
  5. Sacramento, California. Like most of California, Sacramento has seen dramatic price declines due to the real estate slump. However, while these create potential bargains, the city still benefits from a growing cultural and entertainment scene plus easy access to numerous outdoor recreational attractions.
  6. Austin, Texas. Austin has enjoyed strong job growth, which is a fundamental sign of a thriving economy. A business contemplating e-commerce solutions may also be interested to know that Austin made Forbes magazine’s list of the 30 most-wired cities in the country. Use an attractive website design, internet  marketing and credit card processing solutions to lower promotional costs and increase sales via online channels. Internet marketing solutions like pay-per-click and SEO can be cost-effective ways to sell your products and services online.
  7. Boise, Idaho. While still relatively small, Boise has enjoyed strong net migration, which suggests a growing pool of potential talent.
  8. New York, New York. It’s not cheap, but it remains the world’s greatest city in the eyes of many, as evidenced by the fact that it still ranks near the top nationally in population growth. With businesses closing up shop and both retail and office space sitting idle, you should have plenty of leverage in rent negotiations.
  9. Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is projected to have one of the fastest-growing job markets in the country, which should translate into a fast-growing retail base.
  10. New Orleans, Louisiana. Last year, the U.S.Census Bureau named New Orleans the fastest-growing city in the United States. While this is largely a bounce-back from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans offers new business start-ups a chance to be part of that comeback story. The Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program is providing low-interest, long-term loans administered directly through the federal government. Another quick way to raise cash is to forgo the credit market altogether and leverage future profit instead. Business cash advance also referred to as merchant cash advance offers businesses a “cash jumpstart” based on their credit card receipts. Available through credit card processing companies and independent business cash advance companies provide immediate access to operating funds between $2,500 and $250,000. In exchange, the merchant agrees to remit a portion of future credit card receivables to the merhant cash advance provider. The credit card processors handle the transaction, automatically deducting a fixed percentage of each month’s credit card revenue. Revenue-based “repayment” allows businesses to manage their cash flow, paying more in flush times and less when resources are tight.

Obviously, location isn’t the only factor that determines the success or failure of a new business venture, but it can make a big difference when the economic wind is at your back.

Share |

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Cash Advance | Comments Off

Get A FREE Business Cash Advance Quote

Winter Olympians Do It For The Love Of The Sport

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

For many Winter Olympians, the road to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver has been paved with extra sweat. Their reward is a shot at a gold medal. They have no illusions about striking it rich in their chosen sports. After a few weeks of permanent vacation, some of us might feel the need to get back into the sports business. Other Winter Olympians, feeling the pinch of slumping economy, may simply want to generate some extra income. Either way, the small business market is ripe for Winter Olympians who want to launch new careers or simply convert their life experience into a lucrative, new business.

A thirty-year-old Winter Olympian usually doesn’t have the same tolerance for risk as the typical young founders of start-up companies. Even famous winter Olympians with substantial sponsorships should learn to bootstrap their companies with minimal investments, according to experienced small business advisers. An ideal small business for a Winter Olympian to launch should:

  • connect passion with profits by involving an activity you already love,
  • launch with under $10,000 of working capital,
  • operate from home or from flexible, short-term office space, and
  • either be a small business that you can run on your own or a larger business that can quickly begin operating without your daily presence.

Although these conditions might constrain typical entrepreneurs, you can leverage your fame, your connections, and your passion to build a small business with just a small amount of investment or time at risk. This way, if your small business fails, you can move on to a new one, take a part-time job or simply retire with no fears for the future. Small business experts highlight five success stories that represent the types of business that Winter Olympians can stat after retiring from the sport:

Skiing and Hobby Businesses

In a recent Miami Herald article, Shannon Bahrke, Michelle Roark and Noelle Pikus-Pace shared the story of how their individual passions evolved into a fully-fledged small business. Bahrke started her own coffee company called Silver Bean Coffee, which has six blends, including her signature D-Spin blend. The 2002 silver medalist employs other skiers in Salt Lake City and donates a portion of the sales revenues to U.S. Winter Olympic athletes. Pikus-Pace, a skeleton racer, is hopeful that her passion for hats will translate into more sales revenues. She designs the knit beanies lined with fleece and distinguished by the spiky “hair” growing out of them. She makes a red and blue USA model and summer hats. Roark’s perfume business has enabled her to stay in the sport through six knee surgeries. Michelle Roark owns a perfume shop in Denver called Voila where she sells her handmade perfume. She has six blends: For Real, For Ever, For Balance, For Focus, For Imagination and For Confidence. Roark no longer has any sponsors but wants to continue the lifestyle she loves. Many of them have taken their passion for the sport and launched sports training programs, apparel stores and equipment leasing outfits in snow resort towns such as Tahoe, Whistler, Aspen, Salt Lake, Denver, Breckenridge etc.

While websites such as Etsy offer online sales tools to beginners, more advanced e-commerce solutions can help hobbies businesses sell everything from finished goods to equipment rentals. Website design firms can help you post event schedules or showcase videos, while credit card processing systems remove the burden of accepting customer payments.

Real Estate Sales and Brokerages

Today’s economy might not seem ideal to launch a full-time real estate business. However, retirees such as Ed Judy have discovered that selling property part time can keep you active in the community while generating extra income. Although working full time as a real estate professional during a market slump can be challenging, a Winter Olympian retiree with less pressure for regular income can often provide higher quality customer service than the typical agent.

Recently profiled by his hometown newspaper, Judy combined the communication skills he developed as a law enforcement officer with the practical knowledge he learned during real estate training courses. As an independent sales executive, he can set his own schedule. Under the umbrella of a regional agency, he can trade a portion of his commission for sales leads.

Online Information Service

After more than three decades in the publishing industry, Ric Cox asked SCORE advisors for help combining his passion for real estate with his experience as a researcher. Instead of working as a broker, Cox decided to launch a subscription-based website for Chicago area real estate investors. An e-commerce solution deposits subscriber payments directly to Cox’s account, allowing him to pay staff members and freelancers that help generate high value content for the site.

While some writers test the waters with ad-supported blogs, Cox’s targeting of high-value information led to faster profits. Professional web design often means the difference between a site that looks like someone’s hobby and a strong online presence that generates income. Adding individual coaching, live webcasts, social networking capabilities to an online information portal can create more revenue streams for people that enjoy personal interactions.

Successful Athlete-Run Small Businesses Thrive on Low Overhead

Small business advisors often caution athletes to avoid franchises and other association programs that require hefty upfront fees. Free advice from other winter Olympian run businesses can prevent you from falling victim to investment schemes and fly-by-night operations. By limiting start-up business ideas to small businesses that can be launched with minimal training and low overhead, you can focus on the kinds of activities you enjoy doing without putting your entire savings at risk.

Share |

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Sports Training | 15 Comments »

Get A FREE Sports Training Quote

Making Customers Your Valentine

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Showing up to your first meeting with a customer carrying a dozen roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates might send the wrong signal. Although you may be looking to enter a long-term relationship, traditional romance needs to take a backseat to best practices when courting customers.

Here are a few tips to avoid the slings and arrows of cupidity, and tie the knot with new customers.

Romancing the Tone

Much like with any other relationship, setting the tone from the get-go is key. You want your customers to think of your company as a perfect fit for their needs, present and future, not just as a one-night stand. This means establishing trust early on.

The just-good-friends pitfall exists in business, too. Finding that happy medium between friend and financial windfall involves a carefully considered approach to up selling your alluring traits (business ethics, quality assurance, secure credit card processing and so on) while also showing your commitment to customer satisfaction. 

We Need to Talk

In love, this has dire connotations. In business, it’s a best practice. Keeping a finger on the pulse of your client’s happiness with regard to the services you’re providing lets you get right to the heart of any issues before they arise.

To accomplish this, you need to speak with your clients frequently about how things are going for them. Let the conversation flow naturally, and be yourself, not just your company. Spending a little extra time to take interest in a customer’s life is always a good investment, and it helps you avoid coming off like a cookie-cutter customer service survey. Supplement your face to face conversations with a Website design that communicates the right message to your customers.

In any good business relationship, both you and your customer should have absolute faith in your company’s ability; don’t undermine this by asking too many what-can-we-do-better questions. Keep it professional; keep it positive; keep your customers.

Tying the Knot

It’s time to get married to the idea that a good rapport helps business. For better or worse, you and your clients are in this together.

Many business relationships start off almost adversarial in nature because of haggling over price, contracts, and delivery. As trust and understanding grows, the us-versus-them thinking needs to stop. You are working for them, not against them.

Keep in mind that customers have different comfort levels when it comes to letting their guard down. Just as discussing wedding plans on a first date can put the kibosh on a romance, opening up those initial negotiations with an attempt at a long-term contract before your company has proven itself makes customers wary. Wait until you’ve wowed them, then pop the question.

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Loving your work shows. Your clients can see whether or not you are actually committed. If you only want clients interested in wham-bam-thank-you-business-transactions, then it may not be all that important. If you want to keep them coming back for more, you’ve got to show them you’re committed.

In business, it’s taken for granted that all parties involved are interested in gorwing their business and making money. What’s not quite as common is genuine interest in customer service. Please  take note: these two things are directly related. The better you treat your customers, the more likely they are to keep giving their business to you and passing your name along to others as well.

Consistent high quality service is absolutely critical when there’s a slip up. Mistakes are more likely to be forgiven when you’ve got a great relationship with your customers. If you’re just another faceless supplier, vendor or service provider, what’s stopping them from jumping ship?

Make It Smooth and  Easy

Streamlining customer interaction, money handling, and all of the other little issues that trip up an otherwise smooth relationship, has never been easier. Ecommerce solutions and call centers can make customers feel more comfortable dealing with your company.

Whether the Web is your primary or secondary storefront (if it isn’t either yet, it’s time to call web design companies and dive head first into the wonderful world of online) your web design is another face your customers see. Make it attractive! The easier it is for customers and clients to interact with you, the easier it is for them to keep coming back for more…

Share |

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Call Center Services | 2 Comments »

Get A FREE Call Center Services Quote

Performance to Move Forward

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Businesses are adopting various cost cutting measures to stop the bleeding as we emerge from this deep recession, while staying focused on customers who have some buying power in this tough economic climate. Is this even possible?

It sure looks like a tough balancing act. But, that’s where business leaders and entrepreneurs show their mettle. Innovative and savvy enterpreneurs make sure their business ventures continue to serve customers profitably. Take a look at how e-commerce solutions and outsourced call centers have helped businesses flourish despite the recession. 

Many businesses have closed down their physical locations while still keeping an online presence. A professional website design firm can help you get started. SEO companies can make sure that the website content is optimized for tier 1 search engines so that your business website appears higher in organic search engines and attracts the relevant traffic. Internet marketing firms can get you additional qualified visitors by placing pay-per-click ads in paid search and rich content websites.

With an e-commerce solution, businesses can expect to achieve higher profit margins while selling the same products and services as they don’t have any fixed costs. As maintenance costs of an e-commerce website are negligible compared to a brick-and-mortar store, businesses can focus on streamlining the order fulfillment process. Here, logistics companies can save your business time and money by taking care of your warehousing, packaging, and distribution needs.

Collaboration and sharing of ideas is integral part of every business. However, it no long requires for people to travel from remote offices  to a common location. Unified communications such as VOIP and web conferencing technologies are making it easier  for employees to teleport instead of all of them having to be present in the same location. These technologies are providing small business with huge cost savings by cutting and in some cases eliminating travel expenses.

Customers will always expect higher performance and better quality from their suppliers, vendors and service providers. Anything less would be expecting charitable donations from your customers. Advances in technologies are allowing small businesses to still serve these customers profitably while continuing to reduce expenses.

Share |

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in VOIP Services | 4 Comments »

Get A FREE VOIP Services Quote

The Road to Entrepreneurial Success

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Every business is the brain child of an entrepreneur. The recession may have put a cap on spending limits and risky initiatives, but it is still a good time for entrepreneurs to thrive. Entrepreneurs with a finger on the pulse of latest trends in the market can leverage technological advancements to their advantage.

The internet is a power-packed tool that enables businesses to sustain profit streams with minimal upfront investments. Small and Large businesses can acquire and reach customers in new markets from their living rooms or office or from their mobile RV as did Philip May who left a middle-management job at Hewlett-Packard (HP), moved his wife and two kids out of their Silicon Valley home, loaded them into a 37-foot RV and hit the road. The plan?  Tracey and Philip started a mobile, RV-based business. (OK, they’re on their third business, but this one, Philip says, has legs.)

The Mays have been to the 48 contiguous states while discovering the freedom and terror of running their own business — TechnoRV, which sells gadgets to the RV community on the web and at number of RV shows held nationwide. Their income is substantially less than it once was, but the Mays’ new gig has its perks.

E-commerce

E-commerce websites are ideal storefronts. Without incurring the overhead of sales people, real estate, equipment and utilities, businesses can offer their customers better deals while making sizeable profit streams. E-commerce solutions companies can help you offer your products and services online by launching your online storefront within hours instead of weeks or months. Customer friendly features such as live chat and online product recommendations can be incorporated to improve customer experience, move products and encourage repeat visitors.

E-commerce solution companies make sure the technology behind the website is robust and can perform with thousands of visitors a day. They also make sure the website design looks appealing and attractive to the target audience. Website designers can also help develop the right look for the business.

Internet Marketing

However appealing and high performing an e-commerce solution  may be, it will not deliver the expected profits without internet marketing. The website’s presence, products and services need visibility to attract the target audience. Search engine marketing and pay-per-click qualify customers and direct them to the website. Businesses can also use social media to spread brand awareness. Customer issues can be handled in forums and discussions. Social media marketing is an effective way to reach your target customers on the internet. Internet marketing firms take advantage of these latest internet trends such as social media, viral videos, seo to acquire and reach customers for small businesses that are on a tight budget.

E-commerce solutions and internet marketing are two of the most important  areas that small business owners can implement to get ahead in 2010. Research from surveys conducted by interviweing small business owners and partners  indicate  internet marketing firms are set to thrive in 2010.

Share |

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Internet Marketing | 2 Comments »

Get A FREE Internet Marketing Quote
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »