The SBAM Power Boost

Eggs in all the same social networking basket?

The Internet Strategist.

"I've been trying to find a way to use Facebook in a more professional manner and I've found it – it's called LinkedIn." Inevitably many users have an "aha" moment when, after spending a quiet afternoon digging a little deeper they stumble upon some feature of LinkedIn that they find immensely valuable. At that moment they become converts, thirsty for knowledge about how to do more. This is what happened to my friend of the quote above. But many businesses never get there. LinkedIn is a far less frenetic tool than most of the other social networking sites. As noted by blogger Sam DeReign "On LinkedIn, I am able to share the things I am most proud of – accomplishments that show what a capable person I am in the workplace. My contacts on LinkedIn aren't going to tag a photo of me attempting to do the Cha-Cha Slide after a bottle of wine." Thanks to LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman for hipping everyone to this simple but spot on blog post. It is LinkedIn's subtlety which makes it powerful.

Comment -- This post illustrates the value of social media diversification. LinkedIn is indeed powerful, but for good or bad it doesn't do everything that Facebook does -- nor does it necessarily reach all of the audiences you are trying to hit in your marketing/PR efforts. At SBAM, I try to cover all the social networking bases. We have a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. And if you check out the social sharing bar at the bottom of the news/articles on our Web site, you'll see that we provide the ability to interact with many niche social networking services, too. Michael Rogers

Yes, small business loans are out there, but...

Learn to Impress Lenders - Getting a Small Business Loan - Entrepreneur.com.

While obtaining a loan may be challenging amid the current economic climate, you can increase your viability as a loan candidate by taking steps to prepare for that initial meeting with a lender. First, be thorough when preparing documents a lender may request. These include: past financial statements and tax returns, a copy of your current note and payment schedule (if your business is already established), and a detailed business plan. (photo by TheTruthAbout)

Comment -- Prepare as thoroughly as you can but be aware (as if you aren't already) that it's a tough lending environment out there. An article in The Wall Street Journal says that the total amount of loans held by 15 large U.S. banks shrank by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. And a columnist in The Detroit Free Press reports many Michigan small businesses may not qualify for the Small Business Administration's new ARC interest-free loan program. Michael Rogers

Get in gear on your invoicing

Small Biz Survival: Why you procrastinate on invoicing and what to do about it.

We like to work on the parts of our business that are fun to us. Even the prospect of, "I have to do this to get paid" isn't usually enough to keep us from putting off our invoicing.
So what do you do about it?

• Build a system. Set up the steps that need to be taken throughout the process to make it as easy as possible to figure and send those invoices. And the first step is to create and record some standards of what you charge, whether by the hour or by the finished product or whatever method works best for your business. The second step is a system that makes it easy to record your work just as soon as you do it.
• Do it only once. Record your work in the same format as your invoices so you can copy from your work record and paste directly into the invoice form. (I use this trick, myself!)
• Use an online system like Invoice More, Fresh Books, or Greener Billing.
• Delegate. If you're bad enough about procrastinating, pay someone else create invoices from your work records. That could be an employee, a virtual assistant, or your local bookkeeping service. (photo by got mesker?)

Comment -- The operations side of a small business is often neglected by entrepreneurs. You'd rather work on the stuff that got you excited about starting the small business in the first place, right? Who gets fired up about doing the paperwork of invoicing? But it's pretty important because it's how you get paid. Sometimes it makes sense to outsource it to someone else. You can search SBAM's member directory for small business bookkeeping services. Michael Rogers

Let's talk about it (or not)

Toolkit - Dealing With Rumors in the Workplace - NYTimes.com.

A common theme in all the advice is that you need to address the rumors. You shouldn’t pretend they are not there. “In the absence of information, employees will make up their own information and that information soon snowballs into a full-blown rumor,” Zoey Day said on Helium.com, which describes itself as “a knowledge cooperative.” In other words, ignoring the rumors is simply going to increase employee concerns, distract them from doing their jobs and make the situation worse. STRAIGHTFORWARD AND SCRIPTED If the whole company is affected by the rumor — say, you are going out of business, will be acquired, will be forced to fire people, are about to undergo a radical downsizing (selling off plants, dropping product lines, closing offices) — addressing employees individually is not the way to go, the experts say. The message will quickly will spread through the company grapevine and may get distorted along the way. You want to communicate to everyone at once and prepare your remarks. Employees are going to parse everything you say. Ad libbing is not the best strategy, no matter how sincere your words. (photo by stuartpilbrow)

Comment -- Open book management can be a very effective strategy for short circuiting rumors in your small business workplace. When all your employees know what's going on all the time with your financials, there's less chance for that surprises and uncertainty will pop up and breed gossip. As this post notes, it's all about constant communications with your employees and vendors. Michael Rogers

Make your voice heard

Small Businesses, Big Opportunities: How Economic Uncertainty Has Set the Stage for New Growth : The World : Idea Hub :: American Express OPEN Forum.

We are now entering a period in which government intervention in business is as great as it has been since the 1930s following the Great Depression. In the same way that big businesses grab the news headlines, it is the large corporations that seem to get all the government attention. For this reason, it is probably the most important time in a least a generation, for small businesses to band together so their voice is heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. And, one of the topics to be heard the loudest on is taxes and the cost of the government compliance. Every big business started out as a small business and when the entrepreneur becomes disincentivized because he or she is handing too much back to the government, then we are killing off not only the small business of today, but also the big business of tomorrow. (photo by roland)

Comment -- There's no need to lay awake at night, worrying about what government is going to do to you next. SBAM has got your back and is looking out for your interests as a small business owner. Support our efforts by becoming a full member or by contributing to our Champion fund. And don't forget to sign up for The Small Business Champion, our free weekly e-mail newsletter. Michael Rogers

Dig dug

Seth's Blog: The law of the little shovel.

If you want to dig a big hole, you need to stay in one place. If you walk around town with a little shovel, you'll just end up digging thousands of little holes, not one big one. Call on one person ten times and you might make the sale. Call on ten people once each and you will likely get ten rejections. The important thing to remember is that separate events are often separate. If you use the same ineffective approach on one thousand people, it's not going to start working better just because you use it more often. Connected events, on the other hand, often benefit from frequency and trust. (photo by coljay72)

Comment -- Most small business owners are tempted to dig lots of little holes. It's not due to attention deficit disorder as much as it is a case of being spread thin. You've got to do lots of tasks and have little time for any one big (marketing) project. Yet that focus is precisely what's needed to get the big hole dug. Michael Rogers

Don't lay down the law with your lawyer

Top 10 Ways To Get Fired By Your Lawyer | BlawgIT.

#1. Ignore your lawyer’s advice. Lawyers are not always right. If you do not agree with your lawyer, tell him or her so. If you want to proceed along a different path, a good lawyer should be able to lay down the best strategy for this new approach. If your lawyer believes you have agreed to pursue one course, however, and you unilaterally pursue another, this is a warning sign for any attorney that large problems loom just around the corner. (photo by limaoscarjuliet)

Comment -- This post lists ten ways to mess up your relationship with your lawyer. Some small businesses have no relationship with any lawyer, partly because they are lucky enough to seldom need legal assistance. But for the times that you do, it's good to have a source of trusted information. At SBAM's Web site, members can search our archive of Frequently Asked Questions, view articles and news pertaining to small business law or even get a free fact-based answer to your legal quandary directly from Clark Hill PLC. Click here to find out more. Michael Rogers

Love your self (employment)

Small Business Labs: Are We At A Self-Employment Inflection Point?.

...has the U.S. self-employment rate hit and inflection point and are we going to see the rate trend upward in the coming years? We think the answer is yes due to a mix of shifts and structural changes. These include:
1. The lower costs and risks associated with becoming self-employed: The Internet and new, lower cost technologies have made self-employment much easier and cheaper. Also, with employer benefit packages being cut and the chances of losing a corporate job increasing, self-employment is no longer substantially more risky than traditional employment.
2. Demographic and social shifts favoring self-employment: Aging baby boomers, women, Gen Y and others are all seeing self-employment and small business as increasingly viable work options. The reasons are too long to list here, but see Intuit’s Changing Face of Entrepreneurs forecast report for more details.
3. A lack of corporate jobs: Large corporations have been battered by the recession. Even if the economic recovery is strong (which seems unlikely), these companies will not dramatically increase hiring. Instead of hiring full time staff, they will improve productivity and stay flexible through the increased use of technology, contractors, partnerships and outsourcing. Because of this, self-employment will be the best option for many. (photo by alansangma)

Comment -- Many of you SBAM members reading this are self-employed. If indeed it's true that the percentage of the self-employed workforce is going to increase in the years to come, then there are probably business-to-business opportunities in serving that market. Think virtual office products! Michael Rogers

Eye on e-mail

5 Reasons Why Your Email Marketing Is Not Working.

Email marketing can be an extremely powerful and effective way to reach your customers - if done correctly. Now, while I'm not claiming to be an email marketing expert, I can tell you why those who have marketed to me have nothing to show for their efforts. Here are the top five mistakes I see them making. (photo by dampeebe)

Comment -- Of the five mistakes listed in this post, the one that resonated with me was that there needs to be a high correlation between why the customer signed up to receive information and what they are actually sent. When you sign up as an SBAM member, you get a subscription to the Power Boost newsletter, which is a compilation of my daily small business tip blog posts. I give you ideas on how to be a better small business owner and nothing else! Likewise, our Small Business Champion is a weekly action report on how legislation is affecting small businesses -- and how you can take personal action. Michael Rogers

Clean and green equals small biz money machine?

Small Business Labs: The Clean Energy Economy = Small Business Opportunities.

We believe small businesses will play a key role in the emerging clean energy economy. Power production via environmentally friendly methods (solar and wind, for example) is often small scale and distributed. These systems require local installation, maintenance and support and small suppliers are well suited to these tasks. Conservation, mitigation and increased energy efficiency includes retrofitting existing plant and equipment - another set of tasks where small businesses will be competitive. Training and support is an industry with lots of small players and small training and support firms should do well in the clean energy area. The next decade will see substantial growth in the clean energy economy and new small business opportunities will be created. (photo by reiner.kraft)

Comment -- See this Clean Energy Economy report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. It shows Michigan clean energy jobs grew by 1.2% a year from 1998-2007. The state is #7 in the nation in total clean energy jobs, #10 in conservation and pollution mitigation jobs and #3 in clean technology patent registrations over the past decade. Michael Rogers