Tag: Business

4 Simple Ways To Promote Your Business Online

There are many ways to promote your business on the internet without having to spend tons of cash on advertising. You may not have wads of cash when you are starting out your business venture, but with a little bit of creativity you can still effectively advertise your products and services online. Before the advent of internet, small businesses had only a few ways to market their products cheaply, using methods like printing out and distributing fliers or by sponsoring local events. Now there is a big world of opportunities open for you on the world wide web – you just need to know where to look.

Let us discuss below a few ways to promote your business online without needing to spend lot of money.

1. Register with Google, Bing & Yahoo – The first step which you shouldn’t skip is to register your business with ‘Google Places’. This will allow your business to show up on Google Maps as well as be found easily on Google searches. The process is very easy – all you have to do is fill up a simple form and then verify yourself through either phone or email. Also register your business with ‘Yahoo Local’ and Bing as these 3 are the leading search engines and they have huge databases of businesses from around the world.

2. Press releases – Whenever your business does something which is newsworthy, do not hesitate to make a public announcement of it through a press release. Press releases can be very effective in generating publicity for your business. There are many news websites which allow businesses to submit free press releases. Try out sites like ‘PRLog’ or ’24/7 Press Release’. If you want added exposure you can go with paid press release distribution.

3. Participate in online communities – You can find online communities in almost every possible niche where people gather to discuss problems and other things related to that niche. Register an account at a few of these online community sites. They are usually free to join. You can get awesome amount of exposure through active participation on these community sites. You can passively promote your business through a link in the signature or by mentioning about your website whenever the context is appropriate.

4. Photo-Sharing and video sites – Sites like YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr are not just for photographers or teenagers alone. Any business can make use of these sites to generate traffic and get free exposure. You can post images or videos of your office, staff, events, products or any other newsworthy content related to your business.

Online Press Releases Create Loads of Free Publicity for Your Home Business

Online press releases are one of the fastest and easiest ways to get your home business in front of your target market.

Many times when people think of the term “press release,” what comes to mind is a major life-changing news story published by a large corporation or government agency. According to the World English Dictionary, however, a press release is simply “an official announcement or account of a news item circulated to the press.”

What does that mean for the home business entrepreneur?

You have a powerful tool for generating publicity and getting noticed — right at your fingertips.

Why Online Press Releases?

In the past, news was released in print, on television and on radio. In recent years, however, the internet has completely changed the way individuals and organizations get the word out.

The average consumer now expects to get their news immediately, especially online, so when you publish a press release about your home business on the web, it’s possible to see a major influx of traffic to your business within hours and minutes instead of the weeks and days it used to take.

Here’s why it works.

Many of the press release sites are considered important authority sites by the search engines, so if you optimize your report properly as explained in this article, your news item will appear higher in the search results for the terms your prospective customer cares about.

Moreover, the fact that they are identified as authority sites means the links from the press release sites to your website are given more weight. So from the search engine perspective, you are more of an authority and your website rank increases, making it easier for your intended audience to find you online.

Additionally, due to the relevance associated with press release sites, your perceived authority in the minds of your readers multiplies. You then have an avenue by which you can educate the consumer about your home business, build rapport and truly form a connection.

But What Would I Write a Press Release About?

As stated above, a press release doesn’t have to be about an earth-shattering event (although big news can garner a lot of attention quickly, as you’ll see below). Here are 10 ideas you can use to gain free publicity using the power of the press:

1. Announce the opening of your business. If you’ve been in business for a while and have never written a press release about it, write a piece announcing your mission statement. Tell the world who you are and what it is you have to offer.

2. Publicize a new product or service you’re launching. Share the benefits your customer can expect, and tell them how to do business with you.

3. Announce your teleseminars and webinars. A press release is a fantastic vehicle for attracting attendees, so always include enough information to ensure you’re drawing the right audience.

4. Reveal a special sale or any special offers you have going on. Tell your prospective customer exactly why they should do everything possible to seek you out.

5. Remember that major news story? Link big news with something happening in your company. As an example, about two weeks before the time of this writing, Prince William announced his engagement to Kate Middleton. The Franklin Mint then announced the production of a limited edition Kate Middleton portrait doll.

6. Start a Meetup group for home business owners in your area and promote it with a press release. You can announce the establishment of the group itself and send a news release before each event. In this way, you grow your membership and increase attendance at the meetings.

7. Publish a news piece when you launch your website and every time you make a major change to it. Be sure to include an incentive for the reader to actually visit your site.

8. Create a press release when you hire support staff. This is an implied statement that your home business is growing rapidly and your prospects need to do business with you now, while they can still work with you personally.

9. Set up a charitable event and tell the world via a press release. One of the best ways to implement this idea is to offer a product for sale and commit 100% of the proceeds to the charity of your choice. This is especially effective if the product for sale is an information product because it minimizes your cost. Don’t have an information product? Set up an interview with a well-known figure in your market (let them know it’s for charity), record the interview, and sell the mp3 download.

10. Start a contest and write a news article to announce it. Include enough information that the reader can clearly understand the rules and benefits. Contests are fantastic tools for building your list of prospects.

So What Goes In a Press Release Anyway?

One of the keys to success with online press releases is to write your news item so that it will be found when people are searching for what it is you offer.

In order to do this, spend several minutes brainstorming and writing down specific words and phrases your ideal prospect is likely to enter into the search box when they’re looking for the solution you provide. Then use a keyword research tool, such as the Google External Keyword Tool, to identify the most popular search terms in your market.

Select 4-5 of the most popular terms. One of these will be your main keyword, and the rest will serve as supporting – or secondary – keywords. These are the words you’ll focus on when writing the press release for your home business.

Now that you know your keywords, let’s look at what to put in the press release.

1. Title. A good press release title is short, starts with your main keyword, and grabs the reader’s attention immediately. Use action words and power words such as results, secret, risky, revealed, and announces. Remember the goal is to motivate the audience to want to read more.

2. Summary. The summary is one or two sentences that describe what your news item is about, and it should include 3-5 secondary keywords. The summary should entice the prospective reader to read the entire article. It’s also a good idea to place a link to your website in the summary of a press release so the reader can immediately visit your site if they so choose.

3. Dateline. The dateline must include the date and a clear, concise declaration of the news. When someone reads the dateline, they should have an immediate understanding of what you’re reporting.

4. Main Body. The body of your press release should be 300-800 words long, written from the third-person, neutral point of view. It must answer the 5 W’s — who, what, where, when, and why. The body text should focus on a single news item and must not be written like an advertisement. Instead, tell the reader what’s happening and why they should care. Be certain to include 1-3 links to your website in the body of your press release. At least one of the links should use your main keyword as the anchor text (the visible, clickable text in the hyperlink) and at least one of the links should use your actual website address as the anchor text. Take the time to be sure one of your keywords is in every paragraph of your press release.

5. About/Boilerplate. Give the reader of your press release a high-level look at your home business. Tell them about any special certifications, awards, and honors you’ve received. Convey your unique selling proposition. Then place a call to action, with a direct link to your website, as the last line.

6. Contact Information. Provide your name, the company name, your telephone number and the website address for your business so the reader and members of the media can easily contact you. Do not use a personal email address.

So I Just Write a Press Release and People Start Calling?

Well…no.

After you write your press release, you do have to submit it to the online distribution services. These services share your news items with multiple websites so your content is published all over the web, thereby increasing your exposure and the likelihood that your target audience will connect with you and learn about your home business.

While there are some paid services, there are also several that allow you to distribute your news items for no cost.

Africa Business

The most important thing to remember in order to achieve success in business is to capitalize on the news. Being always in the know goes a long way. It is because of making the right decisions concerning bold business ventures that many of today’s entrepreneurs operating in all parts of the world achieved success. If you are planning to go on business in Africa then it is best to keep up with Africa business news. If you are not armed with the most recent information, how can you expect to come up with the right decisions?

Intuition can help but surely relying on it alone is not enough. Africa business news, needless to say, helps entrepreneurs identify the things that will create business opportunities for them. Reading news related to businesses in Africa can help both novice and experienced entrepreneurs in properly evaluating the standing of their respective business pursuits. It helps them develop and implement action plans which are strategic and can very well lead to actual generation of profit.

There is no reason to hesitate on keeping up with the news; looking for news articles and clips concerning the recent goings-on in Africa’s business sector has never been this effortless. Seeing that Africa is fast becoming one of the newest business hub in the world, you will not run out of resources, particularly when you go online.

When looking for a reliable online source of Africa business news, be sure to take note of the critical things. Getting news is not enough. While it is true that many industries in Africa extend beyond the continent, it cannot be said that the global take on the economy is enough to provide Africa businesses a clear picture of the kind of path that they should take. Read Africa business news which are generated to better ascertain the true economic situation in order to make the appropriate business decisions. One cannot simply rely on the international picture of the economy because there would be local economic details that need to be taken into account to increase efficiency.

The news may or may not be in your favor, but having the right facts will prepare you for any possible problems in the local market. Take the time to read constantly-updated reports on Africa business. Bookmark sites that bring you news with substance. Having such websites as your information-gathering tool can be your ticket to success.

Social News And Bookmarking Sites – What Every Online Business Owner Needs To Know

If you run a business online then you’re probably looking for a way to increase the number of sales and the number of visitors to your site. One simple and cost effective way to do this is through social news and social bookmark sites.

Social news and bookmark sites are community driven. The community vote for the content that they want to see reach the popular pages. If your content reaches the front page then you are likely to attract tens of thousands of new visitors to your site. Imagine – all that traffic from one article!

Many website owners will spend vast sums of money on traditional advertising, yet treat social media sites almost as an afterthought. If you’re not using social bookmark and news sites then you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your business.

Understandably, most people who run a small business or website are pushed for time. There are only so many hours in a day to get things done, but not using social media sites as a marketing channel is a big mistake. Here are just some of the reasons why you need to start thinking about social media marketing:

Drive traffic – social media sites will definitely drive traffic to your site if you reach the popular pages. You can attract a large number of visitors to your page that might otherwise take months to achieve from traditional internet marketing methods.

Reach influencers – by submitting your content to social media sites you can reach key “influencers” on the web. Why does this matter? Well, since most of these influencers have their own websites, reaching the popular pages will often mean that they will link back to your website, which helps you to climb up the rankings in search engines and also helps spread your products.

Build authority – building authority in your particular niche will undoubtedly increase sales. People are more likely to buy something from someone who appears to know what they are talking about. Reaching the front pages of social news and bookmark sites will help you build trust with your audience. You’ll also come to be regarded you as an expert in your field.

Grow your brand – social media sites can also help you to grow your brand. You can almost think of it as a form of public relations. You are increasing your visibility on the web and again, this helps you to gain trust with your audience.

Understand your customers – some users will leave comments about your submitted content. While not all will be helpful, there might be some valid suggestions from users. If you listen to your users and engage in a conversation with them they are far more likely to trust you in the future and you can also get some useful feedback on your website.

Increase sales/subscriptions – this is what every business or website owner wants. Not only can you increase sales in the long-term by building up your authority, but using social news and bookmark sites to promote your business will also see an increase in sales in the short term.

If you’re not using social news and bookmark sites as part of your overall marketing strategy then you’re missing out on potentially tens of thousands of new customers. Just one piece of content can drive traffic to your website and increase sales dramatically. So what are you waiting for? Start today and watch your online business grow!

13 Winning Facebook Business Page Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Fan-Base!

OK, keep reading because we’ll share 13 simple strategies that

should be the first step you take after setting up your business page!

1. Videos are King. Post a video: This is the era of ed-u-tain-ment; your audience prefers to be ed-u-tained versus educated. Facebook users watch 1.8 billion videos per day, you may as well be one of them!

2. Contact with your Fans. Find out their likes and dislikes, what will fly and what’s a flop. Staying connected to your target audience. Staying plugged-in is another FREE way to perform market research. Research and polling are Great ways to ascertain exactly your visitor’s desires.

3. Add an effective CTA: (call-to-Action button) If your CTA is to book an appointment then you’ll want to write a post encouraging your target market to book their appointment now. Another advantage of correctly optimizing your CTA in this example, your clients can book their appointment by clicking your CTA. By clicking on the book now button this takes them directly to the Facebook Editorial calendar. This is a tremendous opportunity that saves massive time and increases conversion rates.

4. We love stores so include them on your page. Page Stories let you share pictures and short videos that bring your audience behind the scenes, giving them an intimate look into your business. Talk about your new Story in your post.

5. Let your visitors know what others think of you. Post testimonials and reviews: According to recent research consumers trust reviews just as much as personal recommendations. Ask Amazon!

6. News sells. Announce news: You can post business announcements via Facebook Messenger. You can post events, sales, or community affairs on your Page to reach your customers at scale for FREE!

7. Questions are the answer. One easy way to keep your visitors engaged is by asking questions. People don’t care about how much you know; they care about how much you know about them.

8. Inspiration is always a healthy choice. Post inspirational and motivational quotes. If they are unique and highly engaging, they will be shared throughout other social media platforms.

9. Share related news: When you share the news that is relatable and of interest to your target market, it gives them a warm and cozy feeling. They feel that you don’t just care about promoting your products or services BUT YOU HAVE A GENUINE INTEREST IN THEM.

10. Crowd-source feedback: Ask your page followers for feedback and use it to improve your business. This is a great way to create transparency and openness with your audience and build brand trust.

11. Share Holiday Greetings. Especially share those unfamiliar holidays, this gives it a fun-fact. And it induces engagement.

12.Create an Event: An event can be anything you make it. Create a stir and promote it.

13. If you post a piece of content that gets plenty of comments and shares; you should consider boosting that post! You never know when you may hit the nail squarely on the head or upload that perfect video that gets many shares; your visitors will let you know.

Keeping in mind recent research found that 78% of American consumers say they discover products on Facebook. Facebook is considered one of the top advertising channels online. 51% of the total US advertising dollars are spent on digital ads.

Another note, Facebook has over 2 million-month users, 65 million small business pages and 4 million advertisers on its platform. This makes it’s the biggest social media network in the world.

Lastly, Facebook is ever-changing. It’s a good idea to keep up-to-date and current with their rules, algorithm changes and marketing tactics.

Check out PYTalkBiz.com for more Facebook marketing tips and tactics. We stay current because we practice what we teach.

Using Google Alerts to Help Your Business

At times it seems that Google releases more new products and services than we can keep track of. From Google Calendar and Google Video, to Google Base, Google Finance, and Google Trends, it can be overwhelming just to remember what each one does. One of the oft overlooked hidden gems in Google’s enormous offering is Google Alerts. Within minutes, one can be signed up for email alerts that can give them and their business a leg up on the competition. Alerts can be used to spy on competitors, keep track of what people are saying about your business, or follow an important news story.

How Does It Work

Google Alerts sends you an email each time a new page for your chosen term makes it in the top twenty results on Google’s web search. You can also have the alert check Google News and/or Google Groups. To sign up for a Google Alert, all that you need to do is visit the Google Alerts homepage (http://www.google.com/alerts), enter the search term, type of alert (search Google News, Google Groups, or the web), frequency of emails (daily, as it happens, or weekly), and your email address. You can set up alerts for as many terms as you like using a Google Account. So why would you want an unlimited amount of alerts? Because as a business owner, you have a lot to keep track of and very limited time to do it.

Spy on Your Competitors

Every business has a competitor. More likely, you have several direct competitors and several more indirect competitors. While regularly checking out their websites is an important part of the process, it doesn’t paint the whole picture. A competitor’s website is very much crafted to the image that they want to portray to their customers. This is great if you want to know what their latest sale is or how much their new product costs, but it isn’t likely to feature a negative review in last Sunday’s newspaper.

That’s where Google Alerts comes in. By simply setting up a News, Groups, and search alert for each of your competitors, you will know what other people are saying about your competition – both the media and consumers, both good and bad.

Keep Up To Date on Your Industry

Equally as important as what people are saying about your competition is what people are saying about your industry in general. If there’s a negative PR swing against violent video games, and you just happen to run a video game store, you will probably be affected. By receiving alerts on important key words related to your industry, you can be on top of any sudden changes and react accordingly. By the time your competition realizes what’s happening they will be scrambling to catch up to you.

Track Yourself and Your Business

It goes without saying, if it’s important to know what people are saying about your competitors and about your industry, it would stand to reason that it’s important to know what people are saying about you. I have Google Alerts on both my name and my businesses name. I know that they go hand in hand – if one is getting slandered you better bet it will hurt the other. By receiving alerts, you can be on top of anything negative relating to you or your business, and hopefully nip any problem in the bud before it grows too large. On the flip side, there’s nothing better than receiving an alert where someone praises your business. Those are the types of things that you want to make sure are on the PR page of your businesses website.

Get News Stories for Your Site or Blog

I own a site where I do weekly news updates about what’s going on in the industry. Some weeks, there are tons of news items to choose from, other weeks it’s hard to find anything. In addition to the regular industry news sites that I check to get information, I have Google Alerts set up for each of the key terms. You’d be surprised how frequently a unique story from a local newspaper pops up in Google News. Many times these stories haven’t been seen by my competitors and I am able to “break” the news to the online community. This works well for blogs too – if you have a daily blog about being an entrepreneur, having an alert for the word “entrepreneur” can fetch you several quality stories each day to help inspire fresh posts.

In this increasingly competitive business world, you need each and every leg up on your competition that you can get. Used properly, Google Alerts can be an extremely efficient way to track what’s going on across the web. The alternative would be to search each term every day for new updates. Who has time for that? Spending less time researching enables you to spend more time on the things important to your business.

Great News, Business Credit Has No Impact on the Business Owner’s Personal Credit

When done properly, business credit is obtained without the SSN being supplied on the application.

This means there is no credit check from the business owner to get approved. This also means that anyone who has bad, even horrible personal credit can still be approved for business credit.

Reports to the business credit reporting agencies, not the consumer reporting agencies.

So as it has no adverse impact on the owner’s consumer credit because it’s not reported to consumer agencies.

This means utilizing the account, even over 30%, won’t have any adverse impact on the personal scores.

And there are no inquires on the personal credit when you apply for business credit as long as you don’t supply your SSN.

30% of your total consumer score is based on utilization, so if you use your personal cards for your business and if you use those cards you will lower your scores. Using more than 30% of your limit WILL result in a score decrease

So if your limit is $1,000, having a balance above $300 lowers your scores. This means 40% of your total score is damaged. With true business credit, 0% of your score is affected.

10% of your total consumer score is based on inquiries, so if you are using your personal credit to apply for business loans and credit, your scores will go down as a result of those inquiries.

Plus, those inquiries can remain on your for an extended period of time affecting your ability to borrow more money.

And some unsecured business lending sources won’t even lend you money if you have two inquiries or more on your personal credit reports within six months.

The credit doesn’t report to the consumer agencies, so neither inquiries nor utilization have any effect on your consumer scores.

How to Devalue Your Business

Anyone who has sold or bought a business will tell you of the importance.

All potential buyers can easily obtain extensive information about your business, just by obtaining your business credit report… that anyone who wants it can get.

This means they’ll quickly know details about your business including:

• Credit scores

• High credit limits

• Past payment performance

• Employees

• Revenues

And much more…

Now that you know how easy extensive credit and financial information is to get for a company, if you were a buyer wouldn’t you get it?

Based on what’s on your business credit report, would you want to buy your company?

Does your report reflect that your company is “established”, does it show that you pay your bills, do you look like a successful company from your report?

If you could choose from two companies to buy that were the same in every way except business credit, which one would you buy…

… The one with a very limited or no credit profile… or one with a credit profile that reflects good payment performance, and one with available credit.

Wholesale Video Games Business – Industry News

Looking for a profitable wholesale video games eBay business experience? There are literally thousands of re-sellers in the search of wholesale games for immediate 10-20% profit for re-sell at auction sites. A modest profit could be 10-20% at auction sites depending who is your buying source.

Now, there is a massive confusion of the realities of re-selling for consistent profits and providing a dropshipping service to your clients.

Can you really profit from video games dropshipping on the Internet? The reality is why would you want to dropship a $20-$40 game or accessories when there would be shipping and low processing fees by the dropshipping source? It does not make sense, it is not viable for investing in it and it is definitely not worth your time. What kind of profits can you expect out of the sell of ps3 consoles when buying them in bulk from a distributor?

There are still many countries that cant receive such consoles yet because of trading agreements between countries, Sony has not established distribution agreements in such countries. Adding it in better terms – many buyers are no longer interested in the shopping mall reservation race.

What kind of profit to expect? Compare your suppliers price to the Amazon store offering and you should be able to reason if it is viable to sell PlayStation 3 at any auction. Even if the PS3 is currently selling at record lows at $400, it is still sellable and profitable on eBay. Proof can easily be found for less than a 5 minute auction ending final price. I mean, there is just a wide range of people that cant buy the PS3 yet, easily.

You should be able to spot 80gb PS3 selling at $494.00 and even more with shipping and handling being in the high $60.00 range, when shipping could easily be free with UPS. There is surely a reason for that, right? Moving on.

Reality for many of us, you can make money out of the sell of video games, big period. In fact, you can make a decent living out of the sell of wholesale merchandise, it will all come to the vital point of your market positioning as there are currently too many options from point of sell. A good one to think about, what kind of experts am I getting my questions answered and what actions am I taking to fulfill customers demands?

Another one, what type of an industry are we looking at in the wholesale video games and general games industry? Well, according to the NPD group 2007 sales reached $18.85 billion in sales last year. That is yet another record year for such an ever growing industry.

That is a 28% increase in sales from 2006! Software consoles sold 153.9 million alone that adds to a handsome $6.6 billion in sales. While it is an option to enjoy selling tangible items on eBay, with an Internet mall or just out of the sell of your local flea market, the video games industry should keep growing every single year in records.

All the industry sales record where later on released by the Entertainment Software Association, the ESA. Research is available all over the net with such name. The facts are all over. Another two important points I want to remember.

What kind of traffic are you getting to your auction sites and online store? Are they targeted customer with specific wants or are you getting just getting compulsive buyers looking for price savings? eBay is just one of the great places to drive targeted potential buyers of your games.

There are many more. You should keep doing your diligence on the wholesale video games business before starting any kind of investment. Trust no one and if you do want to trust, get enough facts about him or her!

Unsecured Small Business Loans – Good News – Stimulus Bill Allows SBA 90 Percent Guarantee For Loans

Anyone remotely involved with small businesses, whether as a consultant, lender, supplier, leasing specialist, trade association, or simply as a consumer who is tired of driving by sections of town and wondering why your favorite business unceremoniously threw in the towel, would very much like to hear some good news. Not to mention the small business owner itself. After all, there are 27 million small businesses that deserve to be thriving in this nation, but too often were ignored by the Bush administration. Classically non-complainers by nature, they just want a scrap of hope thrown their way. And I’m not talking about wide-eyed idealists looking for handouts-in all due respect to Emily Dickinson, they’re not looking for the”thing with feathers that perches in the soul”. Just give us a few bucks and we will run with it. This is a continuing article (20 in all) on the subject: Help. Is anyone out there loaning to small businesses anymore?

Fortunately there is a loan program out there and SBA lenders are actually making loans currently: the Community Express Loan Program. This gives unsecured small business loans between $5,000 and $50,000 with very little paperwork, answers typically in two days, interest rates presently at 7.75%, funding and two weeks, and monies wired directly to your business account. There are still lenders participating in this program, although Congress has failed to make the program permanent and still has a 10% cap on the number of loans.

Enter the Obama stimulus bill. Let us look how it affects this program and small business lending as a whole.

If you have tried to wade through the 1,100 or so pages of the new stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), you know its like chipping through granite. But let me pull out a little gem. It now allows the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA to you) to guarantee up to 90% of loans made by private lenders under their program. Let me explain. This is great for Community Express.

When the Small Business Act was enacted in 1958, it had a very simple mission. Find a way to get loans to small businesses that couldn’t get them through traditional channels. It did this in an ingenious way. They knew banks where reluctant to loan to small businesses, especially startups, because of fear of failure. So the SBA collected a fee on each loan and used this as a fund to pay banks if there was a default. Bingo, there was invented the SBA guarantee fee. It doesn’t take a degree in rocket science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard to know this gives incentives to the banks to make more loans.

SBA loan programs have guarantees from 50% to 85%. Specifically, the SBA currently has an 85% guarantee on loans up to $150,000 and up to 75% on loans above $150,000. On the other hand, there are some programs that only go as high as 50%, including the Express Loan program (for those types of loans the new guarantee will not change). With the new stimulus bill, the SBA has the right to increase these fees to 90%.

Think about this for a moment. Simple math tells us more guarantee, the greater the likelihood of the bank making the loan. For goodness sakes, 90% is tapping on the door of a 100% guarantee! Also note the guaranteed portion is typically sold on the secondary market (which has recently shut down to almost nothing) so there is more chance for loans to be sold and more money to go back into the coffers of the banks for further lending.

Notice I said the SBA has the right to increase it to 90%. It can pick which program. And it has not occurred yet. But if I was a betting person, I would say they would be seriously looking at most of the programs because everyone is scraping for ideas to revive the economy.

For those addicted to primary source documents, this is what the new statute, in relevant part (my attorney wanted me to add that) says:

SEC. 502. ECONOMIC STIMULUS LENDING PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. (a) PURPOSE- The purpose of this section is to permit the Small Business Administration to guarantee up to 90 percent of qualifying small business loans made by eligible lenders.

(b) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this section:

(1) The term ‘Administrator’ means the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

(2) The term ‘qualifying small business loan’ means any loan to a small business concern pursuant to section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) or title V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 and following) except for such loans made under section 7(a)(31).

There is also a sunset provision under Subparagraph (f) that the guarantees are only good for one year after enactment of the bill, unless extended by Congress.

So what does it do for me now as a small business owner? Well now the not so good news. I predict the SBA will be increasing many of its programs to 90%. But to get the banks in the lending mood again, there has to be a secondary market. There is also new legislation on that, which we will discuss in another article. But once we have a secondary market, I predict that they banks will not only loan, but do so in a big way. For three reasons:

First, history tells us when there is economic inactivity due primarily to depressed conditions, when the cycle changes for the better, like a sling shot affect, it changes dramatically. Remember when people were unable to refinance or purchase their homes because of tight markets and high interest rates? The rates went down and many jumped at the chance to refinance, improve their homes, and purchase (some say too precipitously) with abundance. Although this is an overstatement and also depends upon other factors such as employment, standards of living, etc., the analogy holds that when things loosen up, there will be a substantial number of business loans.

Secondly, banks are in large part in the business of making loans and they have not been doing so for some time. They will be anxious to make profits again.

Lastly, simple economics tells us when there is a vacuum in the market; capital will rush in and take advantage of that open market and initial lack of competition. Large banks are not making business loans so small community banks are starting to rush in to take over the arena. Give them a secondary market and they will explode.

So for the small business owner, I think this news of 90 % guarantees is favorable. Why did it take them so long?

How Can A Business Use Content Marketing

Most of the time, the point of content is to spread brand awareness. However, when it comes to real-time marketing the purpose of content is to build customer loyalty by engaging in a continuous dialog.

Today this can be done rather easily with the advent of online communication, social media being one of the main real-time centric technologies available to use with real-time marketing.

Monitor Industry News

Keep abreast of everything happening in your industry in terms of news events, and how you can relate your business to the news events that are happening. Sell products related to any of the news events of the day. You can use that information to connect to your audience by (for example) creating a meme or infographic and sending it out with a specific hashtag to attract those who are reading that news event.

Monitor Social Media

On any given day there are hundreds if not thousands of comments, questions and stories that appear on social media that you could use to craft content that is sensitive to real-time events. Even if a comment is negative, you can turn it around and use the comment as a way to show the facts of your business and industry to the world.

Build a Community

One of the fastest ways to build content is to build a community of insiders. You can do this easily on Facebook with Facebook groups, or you can start a message board on your own website for your inner circle. If you are listening, your inner circle will let you know what they need and want in terms of new content.

Don’t Forget Your Audience

Don’t get lost in all the information online and forget who your audience is. When you produce any content, including real-time answers to questions, comments, and information gathered, don’t forget who your audience is. Have them in mind when you develop the real-time content.

Create Compelling Content

Real-time content isn’t the time to send out a stale and boring word salad. Instead, this is the time you want to take more effort to creating funny, entertaining, interesting content that speaks to what is happening right now that also keeps your company values and audience in mind.

Create Real Authentic Content

You want to create good content with the information that you can acquire on social media and by listening in on forums and other areas that your audience hangs out. More is not always better, but good content with an eye toward current events will garner more interest when it’s based on real stories and real information.

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