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Why Integrated Marketing Communications is Essential for Small Businesses

How can Integrated Marketing Communications help me, the small business owner?

Integrated Marketing Communication is essential to small business owners because they, even more so than large corporations can not afford to misspend or waste money on a single isolated marketing effort.

For instance, as a small business owner, it may be tempting to focus on one aspect of marketing – a new website, a direct mail campaign, radio ads or as a manufacturer, simply letting your partners market for you. However, what happens if that one piece of marketing doesn’t work?

ANSWER: Your entire marketing effort fails.

Instead, wouldn’t it be great to have an integrated marketing plan that takes the best parts of online marketing such as websites, email newsletters, search engine optimization, and pay-per-click advertising and use that to make your traditional, offline efforts such as direct mail, advertising and public relations even more effective.

For instance, this may be as simple as making sure that your website has the same key words as your radio advertising and that your banners at the little league games also have the same message. To internalize a message, a person must be exposed to it several times. If you hit them three times with three different messages it is nearly the same as being exposed only once. Even worse, it could be confusing and disorienting, resulting in a negative experience with your brand.

Integrated Marketing Communications addresses this issue by creating a plan with a consistent message and then delivering it through as many media as possible, online and offline.

What are the components of an integrated marketing plan?

An Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) plan should draw from all communications disciplines available, including online, offline, and interpersonal.

Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, RSS, podcast, and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relation, billboard, radio, and television. Interpersonal marketing includes participating in community groups, networking organizations, your handshake, how you dress, and even how you answer the phone or return calls.

While not every communication discipline needs to be included for each campaign, it is important for any integrated marketing practitioner to be well versed in the various components so that he or she can select the ones most appropriate for a specific client’s budget and demands.

Is it better to go with an agency, or shop for individual services myself?

While both have benefits, an agency can be a benefit if you don’t already have a network of trusted service providers including printers, promotional products companies, tradeshow planners etc. who are familiar with your business. Often times, an agency can get things done for a client faster, more efficiantly and with better quality for the same or lower price. Plus, as a business owner you have to factor in the time you may spend shopping for the best price and reading reviews to make sure that the best price doesn’t give you the worst services.

However, the cost of each component shouldn’t be your primary concern when evaluating an integrated marketing plan. Instead, look at the expense and benefits of the entire plan working together. For instance, a website might cost $2,000 to build and then you might spend $10,000 in pay-per-click advertising over the next year, but if the content on the website doesn’t match the message on your direct mail, or your customer service people aren’t able to answer questions about the website then you wasted a lot of money.

Instead, don’t look at the website as a single entity. Make sure that it is perfectly integrated into your marketing strategy:

* Promote it at all opportunities. This includes not just pay-per-click ads, but also on business cards, in radio ads, even place a sticker on your products letting customers know they can download copies of the product manuals there, and print it on your receipts telling customers to download coupons on the website.

* Develop an email newsletter to offer your customers and prospective customers news and information they can use – not just a brochure to sell your products.

* Create a blog and allow people to subscribe to it. This will build trust and familiarity between your customers and your company. Don’t limit blog posts to just the president, sometimes a post from a project manager or even the receptionist can keep the blog interesting and attention grabbing.

* Create a contest – but make sure the message is consistent with your integrated marketing strategy. Have people visit your website to enter.

* If you run an advertisement promoting a specific service, make sure that that your customers can find more information about it quickly and easily. Perhaps even put a graphic at the top of your page saying “Attention 99.5 listeners, Click Here to Learn More about Gutter Cleaning”

Those are just some examples for how you can integrate your marketing plan and maximize the initial investment you made by building a website.

Isn’t an an integrated marketing communication just like any other marketing plan?

A marketing plan can be just a marketing plan for a website, or a marketing plan for an advertising campaign, but an Integrated Marketing Communications plan involves all aspects of marketing, across the entire company. This means that you are integrated all aspects of the company into a single cohesive plan.

After all you could have a great website marketing plan, an awesome advertising campaign and an award winning PR agency, but if a customer reads a press release or hears your ad and decides to visit your website where he can’t find more info about your PR or advertising message what’s the point of spending the money in the first place?

Useful Lead Generation Tips For Small Businesses

Owners of small businesses will always try to find ways to save money on various processes. They would often try to do or handle key business aspects or operations and when they see that they are not capable of doing these, only then would they consider the option of hiring new employees or outsourcing their requirements.

One of the business processes that small business owners can handle or manage is lead generation. This marketing process refers to the practice of getting more queries from potential customers or clients. This can be done by employing different strategies and following useful tips.

If you are the owner of a small business, below are some tips you can follow to achieve success with your lead generation campaign:

Group or divide your market. If you have a business, you would assume that everyone can be a client or customer. This is true. However, you need to know how to gauge the interest and communicate with each group of potential consumers. As such, you need to segment your market into target groups of prospects who share the same qualities and habits and determine what communication will work best with each group. Business experts say that B2B telemarketing is an effective segmentation tool. You can consider outsourcing this job if you want to properly segment your market.

Optimize lead nurturing. One of the most common reasons why many of your leads never convert into paying customers or clients is because you did not do enough to guide prospects through the sales cycle. Lead nurturing is therefore important in turning more leads into clients or customers. Prospects may not convert since there may not be enough contact or communication during the critical decision-making phase of the sales cycle. One popular lead nurturing strategy that is still effective today is sending your leads personalized follow-up emails.

Post only quality content. Lead generation also depends greatly on social media and other online campaigns. As such, it is important to always have outstanding content since this is helpful in capturing sales leads. In addition, in online lead generation, having interesting content on your website, landing pages, and social media sites can spell the difference between a quick glance and a double take or an ignore and subscription.

Lastly, don’t disregard your existing customers or clients. Happy, satisfied customers are always excellent sources of referrals. Business experts say that prospects that are referred to a company by a friend or colleague are four times more likely to make a purchase than those who encounter your business on their own. As such, your existing customers or clients are a valuable pool of leads that you should never neglect or overlook.

20 Rainy Season Businesses You Can Start Now

Let’s take advantage of these seasonal needs and offer the appropriate business services. You will find below a list of 20 profitable rainy season business ideas.

Cold Weather Apparels and Accessories: Starting a cold-weather apparel store can be a great option for those looking for a seasonal business. You can buy products in large quantities and start selling to retail fashion shops and corporate offices. You can even hire sales canvassers and pay them on a commission basis.
Lawn care business: Contrary to popular beliefs, the rainy season is a great time to start a lawn care business. Lots of individuals and large companies seek for services of lawn care maintainers to help them take care and beautify their environment. You will need to advertise your services in local newspapers, or write an introductory letter to the ministry of environment either at local or state level. You can also write to property managers. Who says you can’t go out and knock on doors of commercial businesses and property managements? They have a long list of clients that will need the services of lawn care service providers. You can start with two or three staff.
Roadside snacks: In this rainy season, snacks like roasted corn, cooked corn and cooked groundnuts are in demand. Passersby, pedestrians and drivers alike would always want to buy hot snacks to heat up their body and quell their hunger. Your target market should be in densely populated areas of streets with big pot holes that could delay traffic. As drivers slow down, they notice you and buy your snacks. Herbs and Flower Farming/Gardening: Flowers survive better during the rainy season. Plants are the basis for all landscapes, homes, gardens and even for brightening offices. You will pay small amounts for packets of seeds and make way more when selling starter plants. The more space you have, the better you will be at it. If you have the space in your landscape and outdoor garden, you can create gardens where you will grow the plants and dry them out after. This will add much to your inventory and you can make lots of money selling dried flowers to retailers, wholesalers, and even flower shops.
Make Mosquito Nets: Mosquito nets are simple to make and easy to use. They eliminate the need for repeated use of dangerous chemicals. Mosquito nets can be institutional and attractive. By using pretty flowing fabric and a few household objects, it is possible to make a beautiful yet functional mosquito net. Things you will for construction of a mosquito net are; stud finger, 4-inch metal “O” ring, cup hook, 2-feet diameter embroidery hoop, 20 yards of tight weave chiffon fabric, 4 feet of stain cord or ribbon, hot melt glue and clear hot melt glue sticks.
Tea Café: This market is not likely to be saturated if you decide to start this business. What innovations do you need to do this business? Simply make your tea joint look neat and attractive. Guys will park their cars, jeeps; roll up their sleeves and squat for a cup of steaming tea. You can entertain them with music. Your major target will include bachelors and spinsters, and also from the married groups and workers in general. Most of these people leave their homes early enough for work without having breakfast. Make sure your shop is situated where there is high concentration of people. Also make sure your customers have varieties of beverages to choose from e.g. beverages like bournvita, Milo, ovaltine, top tea etc. Other add-on for your tea café can include bread, canned fish, sardine, noodles, soft drinks and water. As a starter you require fire heating gadgets, tables and chairs, cups, plates, spoons, knives, forks and so on. You may require a small accommodation or a table space in a busy area, which wont be difficult to get if you meet the right authorities. You just need to part with a few cash to get this space. As you start operation, set aside some specified amount that the government may require as levies. Never mind the levies because you can record over 40 clients per day especially when you start very early in the morning and evenings. If you are innovative, entrepreneurial and exceptional, you will discover that there is no limit to what you can earn.
Catch and Sell Snail Meat: Snail meat has been severally affirmed as a safe and nutritious delicacy. If you place a blanched piece of romaine lettuce, zucchini or cucumber into a small tank, in no time snails will gather around it. You have to be patient though, because it will take a while to catch a whole bunch of them. The best period to commence snail farming is the raining season. You can start with about 50 – 60 snails to have a good knowledge of how snail breeding works. Snails are sold in bunches of 20 pieces each and the price depends on the size. The bigger sizes are sold between N2, 500 and N3, 000 per bunch. It is better to buy the big ones so you can expect to produce more after about 35 days on location. As a starter, you can start with as low as N10, 000 in this business. You can sell your products to hotels, restaurants, individuals and market women. You can even export them if you have large quantities in stock.
Umbrella Stocks and Sales: Since there is no notable umbrella manufacturer in Nigeria, prospective investors are advised to buy in wholesale and start selling branded umbrellas to corporate organizations. Don’t forget companies will like choose the colors that match their company. Modern rain umbrellas are made with fabrics (commonly nylon) that can withstand a drenching rain and one that can dry quickly and fold easily. They are available in varieties of colors and designs. You can get it in large quantities for retail at Idumota in Lagos and the prices ranges from N150 to N250 depending on the size.
Tarpaulin Hire Business: Many people organizing outdoor parties are most likely to hire tarpaulin to shield them from the rain. You can make money by engaging in the tarpaulin hire business. If you don’t have enough money to buy a brand new one, you can lease it from sellers and hire out to those who need it, taking the commission as your gain.
Pest Control: A pest control home based business can provide you an healthy income. There are various types of pest controls such as insect or rodent control, or the business can specialize in providing all pest control services. There are also various methods now being used to control pests, such as chemical-based sprays and organic-based sprays. This will also have to be a consideration in terms of the types of methods your business will utilize. Overall, a pest control service can be very profitable business venture during the rainy season and can generate profits of N5million per year. You can write a proposal to big corporate organizations stressing the advantage of pest control and healthy living can have for them.
Yam planting and Sales: Turning yam into an exportable product is considered a remarkable achievement in Nigeria. Although the country is rated as the largest producer of yams in the world, it didn’t find the means to take advantage of this huge potential for export until the formal launch of the Nigerian Yam Export to U.K in July 2009. You can take advantage of the rainy season, which is best for yam planting and sales. You can buy yam in large quantities and sell to exporters, and you can also sell to local manufacturers who process yam to pounded yam and flour.
Maize Cultivation and Processing: Investors have the opportunity to capitalize on the current high demand for staple foods by investing in the cultivation and processing of maize and corn. Maize is commonly grown in the middle and southern part of the country where heavier rainfall permits two corn crop seasons per year. A well drained loamy soil can be used for maize plantation.
Gutter Cleaning: A lot of gutters are blocked during the rainy season preventing the free flow of water. You can start making money by offering the service of Cleaning Gutters. Don’t shy away from this business because it’s a money earner in the rainy season. You can employ two to three people to leverage on. You will need to assemble items such as large wooden spoon, a simple garden trowel, and a sturdy pair of garden gloves. You can find work with landlords or landlords associations. Some will prefer you clear it for them weekly while some will want their gutters to be cleared once or twice in a month. You can charge between N5, 000 to N20, 000 depending on the clients and the intensity of the work to be done.
Hire Water Pumping Machines: A lot of houses will get flooded during the rainy season. This will create a business opportunity for you to own a water pumping machine and hire out to these houses to clear the flooded area and pour the water to the gutters. Some water pumping machine owners charge as much as N5, 000 per day. During emergencies when there is no entrance to a whole street a water pumping machine owner can charge more. All you need to do is to identify such flooded areas, move in with your pumping machines and charge appropriately.
Sell Rain Coats: Modern raincoats are often constructed of breathable, waterproof fabrics such as gore-tex and coated nylons. These fabrics allow some air to pass through, thereby allowing the garment to “breathe” so that sweat vapor can escape. You can commission a tailor to sew in different sizes and designs to meet the demand of different customers; you can also buy in some retail stores and sell directly to individual and corporate organizations. Or you can recruit sales canvassers who can help you get it to the markets, especially when it rains.
Start a Car Wash Business: A lot of cars will get dirty in the rainy season because of splashes by mud. You are going to make cool money in the rainy season with this business. There is some equipment you need to start this business. Most importantly you need a pressure washer, if you want a proper washing to make your customer appreciate your service and always come back. The pressure washer brings out the water with pressure. It removes all the dirt and makes the cars to glitter. The pressure washer is also used to wash the car radiators, no matter the amount of dirt that blocks the vent of your radiator, the pressure washer removes all and opens up the vent again. The pressure washer consumes less water. The amount you can charge to wash cars and trucks will vary with location and to how dirty the car or truck is. Normal car wash costs N300, but for interior wash, it can cost up to N800. Washing of engines cost up to N1, 000 which is also the cost for normal washing of Jeep. The cost for washing a truck can be around N3, 000 and a very dirty trucked can be charged N5, 000. If the engine is extremely dirty, you will have to apply chemicals which are a mixture of diesel, detergent, kerosene, petrol and acid, which should be mixed very well. Sprinkle on the engine and leave for about five minutes. Now when you use a pressure washer to rinse, the engine would look as clean as new. You can get to major car parks, negotiate with car owners and get their cars washed before they get back to the car park
Repair Pot-holes: You can start a mini-road-construction business repairing pot holes. A lot of pot holes will continue to increase in size during the rainy season. Some products make potholes repair easier than others. Asphalt makes the process significantly easier. No special equipment is needed with asphalt. You can start making money with the local government area in your locality. You can even negotiate with the unit or National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in your area or discuss with the landlords association or the local government chairman. You can charge as much as N20, 000 to N100, 000 or more, depending on the intensity of the project.
Own a Warehouse: A lot of retailers have been keeping goods in shops before now but during the rainy season, most of them will be forced to take their goods to warehouses to protect their goods from unexpected rainfall. Prior to opening a warehouse business in your area, it is paramount to find out how many competitors you have. Gain knowledge of how existing firms have positioned themselves in the market place and then design your business in a way that sets you apart from others. You can charge daily, weekly or monthly. However, make sure you inform your retailers in your areas that don’t have a shop before now that you can provide them a secured place for their goods in your warehouse. They would be ready to pay for your services
Produce Shower Caps for Women: This business can be started with very low capital. Purchase some yards of plastic materials which are clear, opaque or semi-transparent or can have pretty designs on them. Measure the distance around the head where the shower cap is expected to end. Add one inch to this figure for overlapping purposes. This will be the shower cap circumference. Purchase elastic, less than one inch wide, and cut to the shower cap circumference. The elastic can be sewn on the outside or inside of the shower cap edge, or the elastic can be pinned down, sewn, and then one or two folds (or rolls) made, then sewn again to “case in” the elastic inside the edge of the plastic cap. You can sell for N50 or more depending on the quality of the nylon you are using.
Set Up an NGO for Climate Change Disaster and Relief Services: This type of NGO is going to be busy in the rainy season, providing supportive services for Nigerians who live in flood prone areas. The NGOs in this sector will be responsible for educating Nigerians in these areas on how to avoid flood disasters and also provide weather report and analysis so that they will prevent flood occurrences in their regions. Such an NGO will receive regular funds from foreign donors. You can make money from this by affiliating with already existing NGOs abroad. They have regular source of funding and they will be happy to have an affiliate agency here in Nigeria or Africa.
Make Mosquito Repellant Lotions: Earlier on we talked about Making Mosquito nets for sale. But you can also produce mosquito repellant lotions so repell mosquitoes which are in abundance in the rainy season. There a couple of different formulations you can make for your natural mosquito repellant. In general, what you are doing is diluting an essential oil that the mosquitoes find distasteful or which confuses them so they can’t bite you. The oil doesn’t mix with water, so you need to add them to other oils or to alcohol. It is important to use an oil or alcohol that is safe for your skin. You can sell in a small bottle after production for N100 to N300 depending on the size.
Produce Agro Products for Local and Foreign Consumption: Local products like cocoa, kola nut, banana, chili pepper, shea nut, okro, melon are products that you can start selling during this rainy season. All you need to do is to locate the exporters and start earning finders fee. If you have a small farmland, you can sell to retailers and start making money that exceeds your imagination.

The rainy season is an all year round event, so if you have the time and some money to invest in a business idea then check above the one that best describes your dream business or starting point. Discover the money making possibilities of each one and use them as your keys to success.

Women Owned Businesses

They want to own their own business and move from their jobs and be self-employed. The main reasons for this is control and flexibility, opportunity, and independence.

The tea industry lends itself to women-owned businesses. There are many opportunities in the tea industry where a woman can own a business and still have control and flexibility. Women want to gain control of their time, their futures, and their finances.

Since women are generally the caregivers they need flexibility over their varied responsibilities. Owning their own business gives then this flexibility over their hours and schedules even though it often requires longer work hours.

Opportunities in the tea industry include tea party catering, in-home parties, retailing tea and tea accouterments from your home, web sites, and tea lectures and education. Women can create their business from home via fax and computers and ship products directly to their customers.

Owning your own business gives a woman independence. With all the down-sizing going on in corporate America, the tea industry lends itself to women who want to turn to self-employment. A woman can run a business as she sees fit and can control the course the business will run. There is no “glass ceiling” and talented women can become entrepreneurs.

One of the biggest challenges for women to own her own tea business is financing. The National Women’s Business Council found that the most significant barrier to the success of woman-owned firms is the lack of capital. Having a service oriented tea business (tea party catering, etc.) does not require a huge amount of capital.

Women usually have little to offer as collateral to a bank for a loan. Many have limited credit history because they have never had credit in their name only. Many have little financial skills.

Each of these can be overcome. A woman needs to establish a record in dealing with money. Experience can be gained by handling the family’s household budget. Keeping books for PTA or other school related organization, or for a church, or any other organization will give a woman experience in handling money.

Another step is to establish a credit history. Take out a small loan and pay it back with regular payments. Get a credit card in your own name, either from a bank or a retail store. Use it and pay it on a regular basis. Also, make sure to understand your credit rights. If denied credit, a woman has the right to a written reason why she was denied credit.

Find the right bank. There are many woman-friendly banks that will lend money to women to start a business. If the first one turns you down, don’t get discouraged, go to another one.

Before going to a bank you need to understand a few requirements. Your need to provide necessary collateral. In other words what assets do you have that you are willing to put up as security for your loan? This could include a second mortgage on your home or stocks and bonds or life insurance policy.

You may have to find someone to co-sign your loan. This may not be to your liking but look at it as a meaningful to get you business started. Ask the bank for a loan application package so you know what you need to provide to receive your loan and fully complete all the necessary requirements.

To be successful you need motivation, sound business practices, organization, flexibility, problem solving ability, communication skills, ability to work toward goals, and, above all, a sense of humor. You also need to stay balanced. Don’t over commit yourself. Know what time you have to devote to your business, your family, and any other area of your life. Remember, you don’t have to do everything perfectly–the super mom syndrome.

Have a support network. There are many organizations in communities that you can belong to that will give you the moral and professional support you will need along the way. They will have good suggestions too. This is called networking and should not be neglected. Support from peers further along the line are invaluable.

Starting your own tea business is hard work, but well worth the effort.

SEO Keyword Research Tips For Yoga Studio Businesses

SEO can be broken down into 2 main categories – on-page and off-page, also called on-site and off-site SEO. This article focuses on on-page SEO for a yoga business such as a yoga studio to improve a yoga business marketing campaign.

What is on-page SEO?

It’s researching and properly placing key search terms in each page of your website. Key search terms are also called keywords.

It’s critical that your yoga studio website use the very keywords that your prospective students will use to search for the yoga services they want. If your website is found by people who aren’t interested in your site, then you don’t have the optimal search terms.

Keyword research is a refining process. It’s never perfect; it’s a constant work in progress. You measure success by results. Results are the number of visitors to your website and the percentage of visitors who contact your yoga studio.

What are good keywords for a yoga business?

A good starting point for keyword research for a yoga studio is thinking of the required keywords in 2 categories:

Your location: your town, the nearest large city, surrounding towns, your county, your state, and any other commonly referred to geographic names in your area.
The yoga styles you teach: yin yoga, hatha yoga, kundalini, Bikram, etc.
General benefits: yoga, meditation, wellness, health, fitness, yogi, yoga teacher training, etc.

Keep in mind that the term “keyword” refers to a single work and phrases.

Where to research the best keywords?

Google AdWords is a free keyword research resource. I use it all the time. It’s simple, fast, and free. Be sure under “match type” at the top of the right column (in a search results page) to select the “exact” option for more precise results. The results will show you how many searches are performed for many related keywords and keyword phrases.

You want to try a variety of searches; some with your geographic terms, and some without. Don’t be discouraged if phrases with geographic terms have very few monthly searches (i.e. 50); if it shows a number that’s great. Remember that specific geographic search phrases (i.e. “Bellingham Yin Yoga”) with your yoga style will likely rank very well. That means those 50 searches in the future will list your site.

Where to place keywords in your site?

Your keywords, including phrases, must be placed the meta titles, headings, and used in the written content of a web page. Every page in your website is an optimization opportunity. Do not solely optimize your home page. For any yoga studio, you should be able to create a list of 50 to 100 keywords / phrases.

Here’s the thing, each web page in your site should have no more than 2 to 3 keywords. 1 if your keyword phrase is 5 or more words. This means you must methodically plan out on which pages you will place which keyword phrases.

Now you can see why a blog is so valuable; you can create as many new posts as you want and each post can be optimized for a new keyword phrase. Take for example a 15 page website with a blog that has 50 posts. This site has a total of 65 web pages. If each page (a post is a page) has 2 keyword phrases, that site is optimized for 130 keyword phrases. Without the blog, the site could only be optimized for 30 keyword phrases.

That is an overview of on-page, aka on-site SEO for a yoga business. Remember, on-page SEO is only part of the SEO equation; off-page SEO is equally, if not more important than on-page SEO for building tons of quality traffic to your site and blog.

Online Jobs Versus Online Businesses

It’s Your Online Business, Not Your Online Hobby

An online business versus an online job has a different mentality for the individual. A job is something you do for someone else. It’s something that dominates your day and your time with a prearranged schedule.

The job is your master, not the other way around. You work for someone else. Even if this is online the truth remains the same… you are still an employee. You have heard that you can make money online through working online for a company or a third party (this is not as an affiliate or a salesperson). You do jobs for someone else and complete a W4.

This to me is literally the lifestyle I intended to avoid when I got into online business. This model could not and would not do.

I know you see the ads. “We are looking to give stay at home mom jobs”, but you may find that some of these places not only do not offer you a good job but will stick you with a horrible schedule. Not all of them are like this, though some are.

Why I like the online business model

For me it’s about control. I like to control my day. If I want to work in the morning, I can do this. If I want to work late into the wee hours of the night… it’s my right. Why? Because I decide how successful (or unsuccessful) my business is and this is through my effort.

It can be the highest paid hard work I ever done or the easiest, lowest paid work I have ever done. This lies squarely on my shoulders. You see the problem with a lot of online companies you may work for is stability.

Many of them catch people unawares stating grandiose claims making things look easy. For example, you may read something like “Earn Money Online Today, $55-$65 hour, no experience required”.

What happens is that unsuspecting folks who trust these people invest time, money, and effort into a business that might not last the rest of the year. I have seen this with my own eyes. I always advocate starting your own online business. Why you ask? Who can you trust better than you? I will tell you, if I am going to invest in anything it will be me, period.

You Won’t Let You Down

When you succeed those you love succeed. Those you care about succeed. It’s about grabbing your dream and never letting it go. Working for someone else is helping them promote their dream through your effort. Working for yourself helps you to bring your dreams to fruition.

I know where the difficulty comes in. It is at the point of the beginning. How do you get started? Where do you start? Can I startup my online business quickly and with a minimal amount of investment?

No More Excuses for Small Business Owners for Not Growing Their Businesses

When talking about business related issues, solutions, and technologies, you will almost always group businesses as small and large. While the separation is there, it won’t be wrong to say that in a modern where digital technologies prevail, it should not be a problem for small businesses to compete with large ones. The large corporations have the advantage of having more resources without a doubt. However, there was not a time in the past when growing and expanding was as easy for small businesses as it is today.

Digital Marketing for Everyone

Digital marketing starts with a website today. When it comes to website designs, more money does not always mean a better design. If you are working with the right people and are clear about your requirements, your website can be just as impressive as the website of a large business. In fact, internet users today are more in favor of simplistic websites with a focus on the information they are looking for rather than the glitter and sparkle.

As for social media marketing, there is no difference in the size of the market that small and large businesses have to target. They are both targeting global audiences and how good they are at it is not defined by how much money they put in their marketing efforts. Social media marketing is free marketing, so there is no excuse as to who has more resources.

And if you believe that the large corporations make it to the top of the search engine results, you always have a better and more effective niche to compete within – local. With local search engine optimization, small businesses can compete with the medium and large businesses head to head. In simple words, regardless of the size of the business, everyone has access to the same market and same people today. What matters is who does it better.

Digital Solutions Are Available Specifically for Small Businesses

When it comes to software solutions for businesses, the focus is not on large corporations anymore. Today, all types of software solutions have their versions built specifically for small businesses. These digital solutions allow small businesses to cut down their costs and make use of the same technologies that large companies are using.

Take the example of CRMs. At one point, there was a notion that customer relationship management software are only for large businesses, but the things have changed quite a bit today. Web-based CRM are a revelation for small businesses. First, these CRMs provide great marketing, database, customer service and sales solutions to the businesses. Second, they are unbelievably affordable. If you own a small business, you don’t even have to worry about software integration, hardware compatibility, updates, and upgrades, etc. Keep in mind that with in-house solutions, these are the costs that make it difficult for small businesses to grow financially.

With web-based solutions designed for small businesses, you can now have access to a world-class CRM at a fractional monthly or yearly cost. Other affordable digital solutions available include invoicing software, bookkeeping software, payroll software, etc.

Customers Have the Power in Hands

The Internet has empowered customers like never before. You can’t say that just because a business is in multiple countries, it will be impressive enough for people to buy its products. The amazing thing about today’s economy is the power that customers have in their hands. Online reviewing websites, YouTube videos, blogs, etc. are among many platforms that allow customers to know more about businesses. In fact, even Google now puts business ratings and customer reviews right within its search results.

What this means is that when a customer searches for a business today, he/she is already able to see the reputation of the product they are going to buy. Furthermore, negative reviews from customers can greatly affect the sales of business, giving other businesses a chance to make their name.

Furthermore, it’s not just the quality of products that matters today. In the modern world, businesses are competing for better customer experience. If your business can give customers the experience they are looking for, your growth is inevitable despite the small size of your business.

Funding Is No Issue for Startups

It is always the starting days that matter the most for business. When you are a startup, you are looking for ways to fund your business so you can materialize your idea and polish your product/service according to the requirements of the customers. Finding a platform where you could connect with investors was a challenge in the past. This is not an issue anymore.

With like our websites, it is easier than ever for small businesses to get in touch with investors and get the right amount of investment that sets them on the path of growth. These are websites that act as a bridge between investors from all around the world and startups. With traditional banks and lenders, you are only limited to a local audience of investors. When you can’t find an investor in your local market, your hopes are almost dead.

With online funding websites, all you have to do is create a convincing pitch that explains the viability of your startup to the investors and its scope. Your pitch along with all the necessary information that you think investors should see goes on the website where it is visible to hundreds and thousands of investors. If you have done your homework and have a team of right professionals on board, getting the right investment is just a matter of hours or days.

Final Words

You can see that a small business can overcome almost all of their challenges much more efficiently today. Starting a business has become so easy that even students can be entrepreneurs today. They can lay the foundation for a business using just their pocket money. From connecting with the right investors to cutting down operational costs, all can be done from the comfort of a person’s home. The only thing that makes the difference today is if you are confident enough to take the first step.

An Insight Into the Emergence of Women-Owned Businesses As an Economic Force in India

1. Introduction

During the last two decades, Indian women have entered the field of entrepreneurship in greatly increasing numbers. With the emergence and growth of their businesses, they have contributed to the global economy and to their surrounding communities. The routes women have followed to take leadership roles in business are varied. Yet, most women business owners have overcome or worked to avoid obstacles and challenges in creating their businesses. The presence of women in the workplace driving small and entrepreneurial organizations creates a tremendous impact on employment and business environments.

Indian women business owners are changing the face of businesses of today, both literally and figuratively. The dynamic growth and expansion of women-owned businesses is one of the defining trends of the past decade, and all indications are that it will continue unabated. For more than a decade, the number of women-owned businesses have grown at one-and-a-half to two times the rate of all businesses. Even more important, the expansion in revenues and employment has far exceeded the growth in numbers.

The result of these trends is that women-owned businesses span the entire range of business life cycle and business success, whether the measuring stick is revenue, employment or longevity. This strengthens the view that all governmental programs and policies should target at strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in their native lands.

Although, many of the earlier obstacles to women’s business success have been removed, yet some still remain. This has initiated the scholars of entrepreneurship and small businesses to study the influences of and the impact on business ownership by women. The number of these research studies are growing steadily.

2. What Are The Characteristics Of Women Entrepreneurs In India?

Indian women of today have taken many strides towards business ownership. The broad classification of women business owners include women who establish, inherit, or acquire a business; women who start businesses with spouses or business partners but are either at the forefront or behind the scenes; and finally, women who start fast-growing or part-time or slow-growing firms. Although earlier researches on women entrepreneurs have suggested that significant differences existed between female and male entrepreneurs. However, more recent studies have shown that there are far more similarities than differences between women and men entrepreneurs in terms of psychological and demographic characteristics. The dominant predictors of success in case of women entrepreneurs are work experience and years of self-employment.

Generally, women view their businesses as a cooperative network of relationships rather than as a distinct profit-generating entity. This network extends beyond the business into the entrepreneur’s relationships with her family and the community. Certain cross-cultural studies on women entrepreneurs have reported that their management styles emphasizes open communication and participative decision-making, and their business goals reflect a concern for the community in which the business operates.

The majority of women business owners operate enterprises in the service sectors, whereas the majority of male business owners operate enterprises in non service sectors, particularly manufacturing. Women are not only achieving economic independence and wealth creation for themselves, but through job creation, they are also providing opportunities for others, particularly for other women.

A series of researches have shown that the workforce of women-owned businesses tend to be more gender balanced than the workforce of men-owned businesses, although women business owners are more likely to hire women. Put simply, an investment in women’s entrepreneurship is an investment in the economic independence and well-being of all women.

In comparison to their women counterparts who established their businesses two decades earlier, women who have started their businesses sometime during the past decade are more likely to have the following:

o a higher level of education, previous professional and managerial experience, as well as executive level experience

o a greater appetite for capital, both credit and equity

o a strong motivation for autonomy and achievement

o a dynamic personality

o a passion for what they do

o creativity to innovate and implement

o independence and self reliance

o high self confidence

o willingness & ability to take risks

o alertness to opportunities

o ability to marshal resources

o ability to respond to market & environment signals

Thus, from the above discussion, we can conclude the following traits of personality of women entrepreneurs:

Risk taker Proactive Opportunist Visionary Inventor Tolerance of ambiguity Commercialiser Desire for independence Trader High energy Innovator Ability to bounce back Flexible Results oriented Need for achievement All rounder Internal control Decisive Self confident Self Motivated Pragmatic Flair

3. Why Do Indian Women Undertake Entrepreneurship?

In spite of the growing number of female entrepreneurs, the share of female entrepreneurs is still significantly low when compared to their participation rate. However, there are several factors responsible for increasing the level of female entrepreneurship in India:

1. Nature of Entrepreneurship: Women enter into entrepreneurial activity because regular employment does not provide them with the flexibility, control or challenge offered by business ownership.

2. Motivation : Several evidences suggest that women do not lack the motivation to enter into business ownership. They are often highly motivated than their male counterparts to overcome the barriers to business start-up.

3. Empowerment : Indian women are becoming more empowered now-a-days. Legislation is being progressively drafted to offer them more opportunities at various levels.

4. Social Conditions : Population growth results in a strong positive relationship on entrepreneurial activity. Across genders, the increase in demand and competition for jobs pushes more people into necessary entrepreneurship. For women, in particular, the relatively high involvement in necessary entrepreneurship indicates that self-employment is used as a way to circumvent institutional and cultural constraints with respect to female employment, as well as a way to provide supplemental family income.

5. Economic Conditions : Auspicious economic conditions favour the participation of women in entrepreneurial activity. The smaller amount of financial capital requirement and higher proportion of available bank loans positively correlates the level of female entrepreneurship to economic conditions. In fact, in a country like India, the relationship between the size of unofficial economy and entrepreneurial activity is positive.

6. Literacy & Education: Increased levels of education has played a crucial role in initiating the process of entrepreneurship. It is not only the illiterate that are starting the businesses but those with education & skills are also exploiting profit opportunities.

4. What Are The Needs Of Women Entrepreneurs In India?

1) More and better access to finance/credit is mentioned very frequently. Give a woman 1000 rupees and she can start a business. Give her another 1000 rupees and she will be able to feed not only for her family, but for her employees as well.

2) Access to business support and information, including better integration of business services.

3) Training on business issues and related issues

4) Better access to local and foreign markets.

5) Day care centres & nurseries for children, and also for the elderly;

6) Positive image-building and change in mentality amongst women, whereby women see themselves as capable achievers and build up confidence.

7) Breaking through traditional patrons and structures that inhibit women’s advancement.

8) Role modelling of women in non-traditional business sectors to break through traditional views on men’s and women’s sectors.

9) More involvement and participation in legislation and decision-making processes.

10) Removing of any legislation which impedes women’s free engagement.

11) Awareness-raising at the governmental as well as private level to truly and really create entrepreneurial opportunities and not just programs that stay on paper.

5. Which Important Problems Are Faced By Women Entrepreneurs In India?

1. Women hardly interact with other women who are successful entrepreneurs. This results in a negative impact on their networking skills.

2. The areas, where one can see women acting as entrepreneurs, is in the very typical women’s sectors of 3Ps. This is also the area, where women are accepted in society to be experts in and thus have the capacity for entrepreneurial activities.

3. It is clear, that women have the responsibility of getting children and taking care of them. Very few societies accept fathers taking over the role of staying home and taking care of the children. Once these children are old enough to take care for themselves, they have to bear an additional responsibility of taking care of elder parents. If they want to become entrepreneurs, the society expects them to be able to do both: take care of family and home and do business.

4. Women are very critical when it comes to themselves – can I really do this, am I good enough, maybe I have to learn more, others can do it better. It is quite interesting that many successful women have been educated in only girls colleges and schools, which often deliver a safe environment to try out ones personal strengths, learn to overcome weaknesses and be proud of oneself.

5. Discrimination – it is hard to believe but women are still treated differently in our society. Women do get lower salaries compared to men doing the same job, women do not have access to men dominated networks who take their decisions about successors in the company during golf plays or sauna meetings….

6. Missing networks – through centuries business men have build up their networks but women still have to learn to catch up.

7. A lot of women tell stories about not being taken serious by bankers, when they wanted to get a loan for their business. Often enough, they have to bring their husbands or fathers to be able to be heard and receive financing. So, the domination of men in the banking world is a problem.

6. What Are The Challenges Faced By Women Entrepreneurs In India?

One of the major obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs has been that they are not taken seriously. Even though women have achieved credibility as competent entrepreneurs in areas such as retail, personal services and business services, perceptions that women-owned businesses are less successful, credit worthy & innovative continues to be a barrier.

Besides this, there are several other challenges being faced by Women Entrepreneurs:

1. Lack of Visibility as Strategic Leaders: Changing the perceptions about the likely success of women-owned businesses depends on increasing women’s visibility in leadership positions within the greater business community. In an assessment of women’s presence as CEOs or Directors of large business enterprises, it has been anticipated that the exodus of women to entrepreneurial growth firms might be because women believe that have greater representation in strategic leadership positions in privately-held or family-owned firms as they provide better opportunities for leadership than available to women in publicly-traded companies.

2. Differential Information and Assistance Needs: Another significant need of many women business owners is obtaining the appropriate assistance and information needed to take the business to the next level of growth. In a study conducted to gather information needs of women entrepreneurs, those who were just starting their ventures, requested assistance and training in implementing the business idea, identifying initial sources of financing, and advertising/promotion. The entrepreneurs who were already established, had a somewhat different set of needs including financing for expansion and increasing sales. Another conducted study had identified ten most desired needs of fast growth entrepreneurs:

(a) using cash flow to make operational decisions

(b) financing growth

(c) increasing the value of the business

(d) compensation for self and associates

(e) hiring, training and motivating for growth

(f) succeeding in a rapidly changing world

(g) successful selling

(h) sales force management

(i) management success

(j) problems and pitfalls of growth.

Unfortunately, this differences in information and assistance needs can be found across cultures as well.

3. Family Influences on Women Entrepreneurs : The overlapping of the family and the firm is not significant for women business owners. Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on the dynamics of family-owned firms headed by women. As the boundaries between the firm and the family tend to be indistinct, women operating family businesses face a unique set of issues related to personal identity, role conflict, loyalties, family relationships, and attitudes towards authority. Additionally, family businesses owned by women are at a disadvantage financially and are forced to rely on internal resources of funding rather than outside sources. The critical role of family in business, also emerges in cross-cultural studies which show a women relying heavily on the family for start-up capital.

7. What Steps Need To Be Initiated For Women Entrepreneurial Development In India?

A possible set of three inter-linked and inter-dependent clusters of recommendations can be aimed at “pushing” a larger number of women entrepreneurs towards growth opportunities, unlocking their potential as creators of wealth and jobs, and providing a more conducive legal and regulatory framework. These recommendations can also ensure the proper positioning of “pull mechanisms” to enable the growth-oriented women entrepreneurs to expand and grow in terms of investments, markets and profits.

1. Prioritizing and Pushing at the micro-level : There is a large and seemingly ever-increasing number of women entrepreneurs operating in micro-enterprises and in the informal economy. They can be facilitated to grow into sustainable, formally registered & large enterprises with the help of following actions:-

o Conducting gender analysis for all entrepreneurial support programmes

o Gathering data on women and men entrepreneurs

o Applying “target group segmentation” to women entrepreneurs

o Using targeted approaches for priority categories in order to provide additional “push” to women entrepreneurs to the next level of growth

o Promoting mobilization and organization of representative associations

o Examining differential impacts of governmental policies, programmes and actions

o Promoting development of demand-led supports for women entrepreneurs

o Promoting more flexible and innovative financial products by banks

2. Unlocking and Unfettering Institutional Framework: Policies, laws and overall regulatory environment are frequently seen as barriers and disincentives to expansion and growth. However, they need to be promoted in such a way that women entrepreneurs see the advantages of and benefits that come with compliance.

o Reviewing impact of existing and new instruments on women entrepreneurs

o Identifying those instruments that act as barriers to expansion and growth

o Modifying or dismantling these instruments

o Taking account of the social and cultural contexts affecting policy implementation and redress inequalities and abnormalities

o Making use of IT and associations so as to minimize the administrative burdens on women entrepreneurs

o Holding regular consultations with key factors like women entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs’ associations, financial institutions, etc, to review progress and identify new bottlenecks.

3. Projecting and Pulling to Grow and Support the Winners : The first two sets of recommendations are aimed at trying to “push” more women entrepreneurs into growth situations as well as ensuring that laws & regulations do not stand in their way. The third possible recommendation relates to facilitating and “pulling” the women entrepreneurs into situations where they can actively pursue growth strategies.

o Providing incentives for expansion and growth after removing barriers and disincentives

o Encouraging and rewarding dynamic representative associations of women entrepreneurs

o Promoting strong links and synergies with existing major economic players

o Profiling the economic and social contributors among women entrepreneurs to the national economy

o Promoting and rewarding programmes that serve women entrepreneurs

o Making full use of data gathered to inform new policies, programmes and supportive actions

o Ensuring synergies between (a) women related ministry (b) economic ministry (c) welfare & social development ministry in the government.

8. Conclusion

With relevant education, work experience, improving economic conditions and financial opportunities, more women around the world are creating and sustaining successful business ventures. This will not only have an impact on the economies of the countries in which women own their businesses but also will change the status of women in those societies. It is likely that, as we begin this millennium, this will be the century of the entrepreneur in general and of the women entrepreneur in particular.

Internet Home Business Ideas – 5 Important Steps Towards Starting Your Internet Businesses

You must consider the following as you start in search of internet home business ideas:

Having read articles and watched videos on online marketing, I’m sure you are excited about how the internet has become the fastest business model in history to make so many people millionaires.

When entering into the world of internet marketing you need to remember that you own a business. You must consider the following prior starting your internet business:

Finding Your Niche – Anyone on the internet for anytime, soon realize the importance of establishing a niche. A niche can be defined as a highly targeted segment of a market.

Let me give you an example: A person searches for weight loss on Google and it comes up with 75,200,000 references available. To help narrow down their search to his exact need he could type into the search engine the word “fat burning exercises” (34,100 references), “weight loss exercise programs”, or “weight loss supplements”…

For a person to find exactly what he wants he needs to type in his desire outcome.

So to find or develop a niche you need to target your audiences desired outcome as close as possible to the product or service that you offer.

Those new to internet marketing will find it important to start in a niche that they find most interesting. Look around your house and see what you have amassed over the years. Check out your bookshelf or even your magazine subscriptions and you will zero in on what interest to you. Budget – At all cost try not to go broke just to get rich quick. Make sure to keep track of all your expense and how much you earn each month. Before you begin any business make sure that you can survive financially for a period of 6 to 18 months. Most businesses take about 18 months to truly get off the ground and begin returning a profit from their investment of time and money.

Keeping track of your expenses will save you many headaches when it comes to tax time. If you have expenses related to your business you can use these to lower the amount of tax expenses that you must pay at the end of the year.

Taxes and Legal Protection – OK, I want to give you fair warning, I am not a legal or tax professional nor do I play one on television. Now that I have gotten that out the way let me tell you about what I do know.

PROTECT YOUR ASSESTS! Please heed this call to protect yourself. If you do not, you will find yourself in a world of trouble when some unscrupulous individual decides that he does not like the fair way in which you practice your business.

Make your lawyer and account your best friends when it comes to development and protection of your business. Believe me this will save you from many late nights of worry.

In fact my friend Jose the Economist, says “You should tip your lawyer and accountant before your waiter because they save you the most money.”

I agree your accountant will show you how to legally cut corners to keep your hard earned money and your attorney will show you how to protect it.

Developing your website(s) – I will keep this short and sweet because I will go into details about this important component of your internet business in a later article. When developing websites for your business you have several options.

Learn HTML – This is highly recommend because when you want to make a change you don’t have to wait for your webmaster to do so.

There are several options to choose from when it comes to developing your own sites.

Community college class on HTML

Search You Tube for lessons on HTML

Purchase a webpage creation program

Hire a webmaster – By searching websites like Elance.com, you can hire a webmaster for little out of pocket expense.

Marketing Plan – How would you like to approach your marketing? With so many choices you can’t go wrong? My recommendation is to pick one and get really good at it. The following list is by no means an exhaustive:

Affiliate Driven – Create a product that can be sold to others and allow them to also market the product giving them a commission for sells made.

Viral Marketing – You can create a product such as an ebook give it away to others to freely distribute. This particular ebook should have links driving traffic back to your website allowing for more opportunities to sell your product.