by www.reliable-web-hostings.com

1. Make people look good
2. Keeps promises
3. Creates an experience
4. Educates, instead of selling
5. Adds value beyond price
6. Does something talkable
7. Exceeds expectations

Focus on even one of the internal mindsets and practices above and watch how much more referable you become.

ducttapemarketing.com

What Really Generates Referrals is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Don’t worry, be crappy. Perfectionism, first of all, is an illusion. Nothing is perfect. Even worse, perfection stands in the way of revenue and truly learning what customers think because nothing is in their hands yet. When your product is “good enough” (but not “perfect”), ship it, and see what happens.

Don’t give out lofty titles. Just because a roommate was there during the drunken weekend when you came up with the idea for your company, doesn’t mean he should be CTO. Someday, you’ll need to hand out titles like director, vice-president, and chief whatever officer, so keep them in reserve. Until then refer to each other as “co-founders” and describe the area of responsibility: for example, “programming.” If your roommates aren’t cool with this, they’re doing you a favor by showing their colors now.

Don’t hire your family. The probability that your spouse or relative is the best person you can get for a job is 0%. The probability that people will hate working at company with spouses and relatives is 100%. The probability that one of you will have to go someday is also 100%. Never hire out of expediency. Always hire the best person you can get. This usually means not hiring your family unless you’re Jack or Suzy Welch.

Don’t ask people to do something you wouldn’t do. This is the Golden Rule of business. If you wouldn’t fill out ten fields of information and provide a credit card number for a free password, don’t expect your customers to. If you wouldn’t work on weekends stuffing envelopes, don’t expect your employees to. If you wouldn’t invest in your company, don’t expect venture capitalists to.

Read all twelve at openforum.com

A Dozen Don’ts for Entrepreneurs is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

And yet, hiring the right person is more important than ever. A single bad hire can cost between $60,000 and $120,000–that’s not exactly the way you want to spend precious dollars in a difficult market.

There’s no question this is a great time to hire people. But don’t make the mistake of thinking it’ll be easier. The exceptional hires are out there, but just as in the old days, you may need to do some detective work and actively seek out the people who will make your company great.

entrepreneur.com

Hiring The Right Person is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

At this point, I unsubscribe. Or ignore them because I know I’ll get ten more for that webinar that I’m not sure I want to commit to now, so why bother? They aren’t likely to let me forget about it.

Don’t you consider this spam when it’s done to you? That your tolerance is being taken advantage of? Why do it to anyone else? It’s that “do unto others” rule. There’s absolutely no urgency or need to click through right now when I know I’m going to get more of the exact same message. You’re training your leads to ignore you.

ulitzer.com

Quit Using Email to Train Your Leads to Ignore You is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Explore The Insurance Marketplace For Competitive Proposals
2. Provide Your Employees With Multiple Health Plan Options At Various Cost Levels
3. Review Alternative Contribution Strategies
4. Extend Your Plan’s Waiting Period And To Bridge The Gap, Add A Lower Cost Plan Option
5. Investigate Adding A Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)
6. Consider Utilizing A Professional Employer Organization Or Co-Employment Arrangement
7. Separate Your Prescription Plan And Investigate Self-insuring Through A Third-Party Vendor.
8. Educate Your Employees On Becoming Wise Healthcare Consumers And Healthier People
9. Shift A Portion Of The Plan Costs To The Members Through Benefit Changes

By proactively identifying ways to reduce the overall cost of your benefits program and potentially enhancing the overages offered, both you and your employees will be rewarded.

hispanicbusiness.com

9 Ways to Decrease a Company’s Employee Benefits Cost is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Co-branding also enables one brand to benefit from the “halo of affection” that belongs to another. That was the rationale behind Nike’s (NKE) original 1984 alliance with Michael Jordan, and the effort has done wonders for both.

Co-branding is not just for giant national or international brands. While a small business may have difficulty linking up with Nike or Procter & Gamble, there are an increasing number of off the shelf co-branding opportunities of which many businesses can avail themselves. Programs have been developed by credit-card companies such as Visa and MasterCard, retailers including Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, and even shipping companies—the U.S. Postal Service offers a service by which you can add your company logo to its priority mail packaging.

Beyond these, there are bound to be dozens of custom co-branding partners for just about any type of small business, whether you serve a local geographical area or a national vertical market. The key is to think creatively about products or services that complement yours in some way and that will enhance the appeal or credibility of your offering.

Develop your own guidelines
Be careful, however—co-branding is not without its risks. First, it tends to have a dilutive effect, since it spreads the credit for a positive experience across two brands where normally there’s only one. And if the experience isn’t positive—even if it’s the other brand’s fault—it may reflect negatively on you. Further, while in a well-conceived co-branding program the whole should be greater than the sum of the parts, you can’t get away from the fact that you are to some extent relying on another brand’s equity. That can, in some cases, make your brand look weak or secondary.

It’s important, therefore, to carefully consider your own co-branding principles before you enter the fray. Develop guidelines that are right for your business that will enable you to objectively assess opportunities that arise.

Create a proposal and reach out
Your criteria may differ based on what’s most appropriate for your situation, but “fit” should be a prime consideration. While many brands share similar characteristics, no two are exactly alike. Co-branding ice cream and root beer is a natural; co-branding sports cars and computers less so (though that didn’t prevent Ferrari from linking up with Acer). Ecco Shoes co-branding with the World Wide Fund for Nature makes intuitive sense; Chanel and Hello Kitty is a bit more of a head-scratcher. Look for brand fit not only from the perspective of attributes and benefits but also with respect to core values and corporate philosophies.

businessweek.com

The Pros and Cons of Co-Branding is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

TIPS:

1. Evaluate your space needs. Your lease term will likely be for many years, so plan accordingly.
2. View a lot of properties. Make sure you’re comfortable with the price of comparable spaces.
3. Ask for concessions from the landlord. Depending on the strength of the market, you can ask for things like a few months of free rent.
4. Look for hidden expenses in the agreement. Charges above your fixed or base rent, like operating expenses, can surprise novices. They may not be in the term sheet, so ask specifically for this information.
5. Don’t choose space based solely on the landlord. “There’s nothing in the lease that would prevent the landlord from selling to someone else the next day,” says Kaplan. “There’s a false element of trust.”
6. Have a lawyer review the lease.

news-press.com

Negotiating a lease is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1.Define the goal before you start.
Think about the entire project life cycle, and whether you have the resources to devote to running sweepstakes. Lastly, be sure to devise a great theme and prizes so that folks remember your company.

2. Consider your prizes carefully.
Think about how you’ll manage the fulfillment of the prizes, and the prize value. Only one state makes you register if the prizes are worth more than $600, and that’s Rhode Island. If the ARV is over $5,000 then you need to register or possibly bond the sweepstakes with NY and FL. A general rule of thumb is to always file with the states at least 30 days ahead of the sweepstakes’ start date to ensure there are no issues. If you have any doubts, you can always contact the states – they are very helpful.

3. Get the legal part right.
Make sure to draft the rules carefully so that they are clear and cover everything. Let a lawyer look over them. Be sure to post the rules beside your company’s privacy policy so any questions or concerns can be viewed.

4. Be prepared for the response.
Your traffic will spike very quickly, so make sure that your servers will be able to handle it. Test the site thoroughly before the sweepstakes starts, and fix any problems as quickly as possible. You should also make sure that your customer service department knows about the sweepstakes and can either answer questions or know who can.

5. Make prize fulfillment quick and successful.
It’s a good idea to choose the winners as soon as possible after the end of the sweepstakes, following the dates given in the rules, so that the winners remember entering the sweepstakes. If you’re notifying by email, use a clear email subject like, “Congratulations from *Sweepstakes Name*” to boost your responses.

about.com

Tips about Promoting Your Business with Sweepstakes is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Hundreds of millions of people are surfing at any given time. We in the U.S. (and other English speaking countries) have a tendency to think everyone speaks our language.

The foreign language Internet – meaning all web content not in English – is an enormous opportunity for companies to increase revenue, but one that most ignore. In doing so, they’re not only throwing away money, they’re unnecessarily increasing their competition.

Launching a web page in English instantly pits you against billions of other pages on the search engines. Launching a page in another language can make it much easier to achieve prominence.

Putting together a foreign language Internet site may sound daunting, so here are a few things to keep in mind as you begin planning your strategy.

Develop your understanding of the market. If you have customers abroad, or domestic clients with links abroad, ask them whether they think your offering might be attractive internationally. Ask for contacts that can validate your ideas and perhaps become your first customers.

Check out the competition. Google’s automatic translation tools can help you quickly determine what your competition is up to.

Evaluate the demand. Use Google and Yahoo’s tools to identify the key phrases you need to target in your foreign markets.

Have your site professionally translated. Google’s translation program is adequate for understanding content, but completely unreliable for a company website. Use a professional translation company to get the message right for your customers.

Market your site online. The principles are the same as in English. Build links through partners; use pay-per-click; and try to get mentioned on sites your potential customers frequent.

Following these steps (and repeating the process in other languages) can result in a larger, better-diversified business.

venturebeat.com

Cash in on non-English search engines and more is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

All too often the only statistics a site’s owner has on hand is a basic set of website logs from their web hosting company – logs which they rarely have analyzed or looked at in depth. Further, they often have few processes (if any) set up to track activity across the web.

That’s a critical mistake. Analytics are a window into the demographics and habits of both your customers and potential customers. Setting up analytics processes should be one of the first things you do as you launch your business.

Fortunately, this isn’t as hard as it might seem. There are several good website analytics packages available, including Google Analytics (formerly Urchin) and the Quantcast.

Initially there are two main analytics goals you should set:

1. First, you’ll want to establish a baseline of the traffic to your site. You’ll also want to be able to detect new traffic and observe how people use your site and applications.
2. Your second goal – learning how people use your site or service – could be the most valuable information you collect. Once you have traffic and users, start building up statistics on which links they follow (and which they don’t). What features of your application are they using? Where in the process of registering do they give up?

Whether the results are positive or negative is irrelevant. Either way, you’re better able to learn about your customers, their habits and what changes impact their behavior.

venturebeat.com

Harnessing the power of analytics is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Good security is a key to good productivity. CSO spoke with two home office security experts about security mistakes home office workers often make and here’s the seven deadly sins of home office security.

1. Failing to physically secure the office
2. Failing to install the most basic computer security measures
3. Forgetting Wi-Fi security
4. Failing to separate your business from your home
5. Failing to remember your office is a place of business and is held liable as such
6. Forgetting to back up data
7. Failing to consider bigger business continuity issues

If you work exclusively from home, your office is your world when it comes to your career. But many fail to consider the possibility of how to continue working if certain conditions, such as weather, or a fire, force one out of the house indefinitely.

computerworld.com

Seven Deadly Sins of Home Office Security is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. To inform and bring people up to speed.
2. To seek input from people.
3. To ask for approval.

Use this as a filter to determine why you are having a meeting and explain that purpose to your audience. Your meetings may often cut across multiple objectives but forcing yourself to clarify the agenda into these three purposes can result in more effective meetings.

Consider a meeting that sets its agenda goals along the lines of: “I want to bring you up to speed on these two things; I need input on this item; and finally I would like to seek your approval on these outstanding issues.” That it – a simple 3 purpose meeting rule that frames the goals of the meeting from the perspective of the meeting participant.

harvardbusiness.org

The Key to Shorter, Better Meetings is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Blogs are a quick and easy way to tell information about your company online (such as achievements, research, helpful tips, awards, new products and services).
2. You don’t need to know how to use HTML coding to do it. If you can write an email message, you can blog.
3. Blogs are versatile. You can share images, links, audio, and video on your blog.
4. If your competitors are blogging, you should, too. If they’re not blogging, congratulations! You’ve just differentiated your company by deciding to blog.
5. Blogs dramatically increase the search engine optimization of your web site.
6. Reporters love blogs. Blogs help the media learn more about your company.
7. Blogs are one way to obtain useful feedback and suggestions from your customers or members.
8. Blogs can help ameliorate the impact of negative online reviews or criticisms of your company or organization.

by Mary Fletcher Jones of Fletcher Prince

Ten reasons to start a blog for your business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Worse, how often do you see someone take an idea similar to yours, start a business and create their fortune? Well, the time has come for you to stop kicking yourself and to turn that million-dollar idea into a reality.

Most entrepreneurs follow similar paths to success. Sara Blakely, entrepreneur and founder of the multi-million dollar company Spanx, shared her keys to success in an interview with SUCCESS, a top magazine for budding entrepreneurs and established professionals. How can you turn your next idea into a million-dollar business? Follow Blakely’s advice:

Differentiate yourself from the crowd. “Whether it’s in the marketplace or in those first few seconds you meet somebody — whatever it is — if you don’t know how it has been done before, you’re almost guaranteed to do it differently,” says Blakely.

First impressions mean everything. “If you make someone laugh or smile in the first five to 10 seconds, you might get another 10 seconds,” she says.

Be persistent. Work hard to win over manufacturers and prospective buyers who may be unsure about your idea or product. If you display enthusiasm and desire for your idea, they will begin to believe, too.

Visualize your goals. “Take a mental snapshot of what success looks like for you,” she says. Keeping that vision of success in mind will help you through the tough times.

Pay attention to opportunities. “There are a million ways to improve everything around us,” says Blakely. Making just one improvement could result in your million-dollar idea.

Hire your weakness. Focus on your strengths, and hire well-qualified people to handle the rest.

For more on Blakely’s interview with SUCCESS magazine, pick up a copy at newsstands, or subscribe by visiting their Web site at www.SUCCESS.com.

fosterfollynews.com

Make Your Next Million-Dollar Idea a Reality is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

• It’s not in our budget.
• We’re not making any purchases now.
• We don’t have any money.
• We’re not in the market.
• Our budget has been frozen.

In other words, you may be setting yourself up to hear “no.” You may have better luck if you position your introduction over the phone as an opportunity to meet in person so you can learn more about your prospect and his or her potential future needs. After all, if your meeting is simply to learn about the prospect and the prospect’s potential needs, there won’t necessarily be an opportunity to sell that person anything–so there’s no reason for him or her to refuse a meeting.
If you still encounter “no” when asking for that first meeting, here are some tips to get the meeting anyway:

1. If you have a good sense of humor, use it! You’ll be halfway to your goal.
2. Another response to the all-too-common “It’s not in our budget” objection is: “In that case, now is the perfect time to meet! We’ve found it very beneficial to discuss future needs and our solutions early, so that if you decide to proceed, we can be of help during your decision-making process.”
3. Present yourself as a resource to the prospect, regardless of whether he or she is in the market at the moment.

A good rule of thumb is to give something of value to your prospect three times before asking for anything in return, such as an order. Providing something of value is as simple as:

Finally, sometimes the answer is “no.” But that’s OK, too. Part of learning to love hearing “no” is the knowledge that it’s only a matter of time before you hear “yes.”
womenentrepreneur.com

What to Say When Your Prospect Says ‘No’ is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

For Darren Hammond, co-owner of Chile Blossoms, a Concord, Calif., importer of peonies from Chile, the winter was particularly harsh as clients stopped paying or fell behind in payments. Sales are down 60% from last season, Mr. Hammond says.

Last year, he had to stop taking a salary so that he could continue paying business expenses.

To manage personal expenses, such as cellphone bills and car payments, Mr. Hammond found a part-time job working two to three days a week as a customer-service representative and weekend guide for All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting in Walnut Creek. “Everybody has bills to pay,” he says. “It’d be nice if I could sit back and collect money from Chile Blossoms and live a very comfortable life. At this stage, that’s not the case.”

Small-business owners like Mr. Hammond are looking for alternate sources of income to make ends meet and to fund their troubled companies. Some 18% of owners surveyed in April said they are working a second job, according to the latest findings from the American Express Open Small Business Monitor. Many of them have sacrificed their personal finances and have stopped taking a salary to deal with the current economic reality.

wsj.com

Entrepreneurs Take Second Jobs to Stay Afloat is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

It is adapt-or-die time for many of the 10,730 small businesses that are lower-tier suppliers to the auto industry, and close to 400,000 jobs may be on the line. But while the situation is daunting, it’s also a time of unprecedented opportunity for entrepreneurs willing to shake up their firms and think creatively, experts say.

• Downsizing to manage costs
• Focusing on capabilities
• Cooperative boosts purchasing power

With U.S. auto production down about a third over the past year, the spotlight has shined brightly on the extensive layoffs at large automakers, including the bankrupt General Motors and Chrysler, and on their so-called Tier One suppliers, many of which are publicly owned subsidiaries of corporations that rival the big automakers in size.

But far less attention has been paid to the struggling, family-owned machine shops, parts suppliers, and tool-and-die firms that are at risk of closure if they worked primarily for GM and Chrysler, both of which are shutting down some of their production lines this summer.

businessweek.com

Survival Advice for Auto Parts Suppliers is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Every business can find a way to extend some form of gift certificate to clients and prospects. Think about the marketing factors at play with this tool. You allow others to pass your marketing message or gain some additional benefit from the relationship they have with your firm – service and product businesses alike can benefit from that way of thinking.

No matter what your firm offers, you can create gift certificates, with real value, and offer them to your clients to buy and use as gifts.

What about as a referral tool?

Two or three times a year send a mailing to your clients and strategic partners and enclose several gift certificates for your products or services (don’t call them coupons, coupons are for yogurt.) Ask the recipients to pass these along to anyone they know who might want to take advantage of the value they offer. And, tell your client that for each one of these that comes back in the door, they will receive some amount off of their next purchase. There is a little tracking involved in this tactic, but the instant rush of new business will make it worth setting up a simple process to accomplish this.

This tool stimulates thinking about your brand and makes you easier to refer – both good marketing things.

ducttapemarketing.com

Does Your Firm Offer Referral Gift Certificates? is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
   
2. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
   
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
   
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
   
5. Let the other person save face.
   
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
   
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
   
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
   
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.
   

How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The most important thing you can do before attending a trade show is to make sure you choose the right one. Be sure to make your choice based on the potential returns.

To choose appropriate trade shows, consider the following:

• Ask your best customers (or target customers) which trade shows they attend.
• Consider cost.
• Examine the nature of the attendees.

To find potential trade shows in your industry, visit tsnn.com, where you can search by industry, show name, date or state. You should also visit the website of the industry association related to your product; most sponsor trade shows for members and buyers to come together.

msnbc.com

Taking Your Invention to a Trade Show is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Adam’s truck reminds adults of their childhood – but with a twist. Ice Cream trucks have pretty much disappeared from the suburban landscape. What Adam has done is taken a good idea that’s expired – and reinvented the concept for a different time.

How does this relate to your business? You’re probably looking at something within your environment that you take for granted. That blends into the background. That has long been forgotten, or no longer useful. Examine your business – your marketplace, and your environment, and ask, what could we reinvent? What could we do differently than anyone else in our business?

Being different allows you to capture the interest of potential customers, retain the love of your evangelists, and stand out in your marketplace. And sometimes it’s as simple as reinventing the ordinary things right in front of you.

Smart Biz Blog

How a Funky Ice Cream Truck Can Change Your Business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Each year, his company chops 1 million pounds of fresh ginger, enough to fill 28 big-rig trailers. In addition to sugared ginger candies and ice creams, he produces six ginger brews: Spiced Apple, Raspberry Ginger, Cherry Ginger, Original Ginger, Premium Ginger and Extra Ginger, the last of which packs 26 grams’ worth of the stuff.

In a business dominated by Coke and Pepsi, healthful soda sounds like a contradiction. But unusual beverage companies such as Reed’s are etching out a niche within the carbonated beverage industry, which sells about $28 billion worth of drinks annually to U.S. consumers, according to ACNielsen.

Natural sodas saw 36.5% sales growth in conventional food stores and 12.4% in natural food stores during the last year.

LA Times

Filling A Natural Niche is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

• Why even the highest priced or lowest quality products sometimes outsell their competitors’?
• Why and how your prospects buy the products or services they do, even if their choices seem irrational or impractical?
• Why some brands have a devoted cult-like following while others have zero loyalty?

Will The Real Decision Maker (In Your Brain) Please Stand Up? — According to neuroscientists, there are 3 main parts to the brain, each functioning as a brain unto itself. These “three brains” – nestled inside one another — are as follows.

• The “Human” (“New,” or outer-most) Brain: Most evolved part of the brain known as the cortex. Responsible for logic, learning, language, conscious thoughts and our personalities.
• The “Mammalian” (Middle) Brain: Also known as the limbic system. Deals with our emotions, moods, memory and hormones.
• The “Reptilian” (Old) Brain: Also known as the R Complex controls our basic survival functions, such as hunger, breathing, flight-or-fight reactions and staying out of harm’s way.

Our “old” brain often overrides our voice of logic and drives all buying decisions for reasons beyond our conscious awareness. To influence your customer’s buying decisions, you must learn how the “old” brain operates and speak its “language.” Below are 7 key insights about the old brain that can add to your bottom line.

1. The old brain is driven by emotions.
2. The old brain “decides” on the basis of the gain vs. pain tradeoff.
3. The old brain is highly influenced by beginnings and endings.
4. The old brain is visually oriented and responds rapidly to images.
5. The old brain perceives the “pain of buying” in relative, not absolute, terms.
6. The old brain understands only what is tangible, physical and concrete.
7. The old brain’s control over buying decisions varies from culture to culture.

While neuromarketing is still in its infancy, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we market our products/services. The most important point is to use it for the right reasons. That is, as a way to better understand your customers and ultimately to better serve them. When used in this way, it can have a dramatic impact on your bottom line.

Business Know How

Top 7 Insights To Unlocking Your Customer’s Brain For Instant Sales is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Dear Stephanie: “Start with a list of experts you can call on individually,” says Dorothy Adams, a board member of the Stamford chapter of the Connecticut Venture Group (cvg.org), who has served on several advisory boards.

To tackle strategic questions such as growth, someone with investment-banking expertise would be helpful. A fellow business owner whose marketing savvy you admire might be another smart choice. Explain that you’d like to ask them for advice now and then. They’ll probably be flattered.

“No payment is really expected,” she says. “It’s a nice idea to offer them payment in kind. You could thank your advisors with cookies.” You may also want to check out the Alternative Board-TAB (TABSanAntonio.com). It brings the leaders of non-competing businesses together to exchange advice.

FSB Magazine

How can I form an advisory board? is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Their book examines how recent generational shifts have impacted the buying behaviors of today’s mothers and moms-to-be.

1. Focus on networks
2. Embrace technology
3. Offer education
4. Save them time
5. Get to the point
6. Market to the individual

Want more information on marketing to moms? There’s a Marketing2Moms course offered by Moms in Business. It’s a 16-week e-mail course that’ll help you understand and market to today’s mom.

Entrepreneur

Marketing to Moms is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

But starting a business is a complicated, risky, all-consuming effort. Indeed, just two-thirds of new small businesses survive at least two years, and only 44 percent survive at least four years, according to a study by the U.S. Small Business Association.

1. Determine if you’re an entrepreneur or just a wannabe.
2. Pinpoint an opportunity.
3. Make sure there’s a market for your idea.
4. Write a business plan.
5. Determine your business structure.
6. Look for funding.

Fortune

6 Steps To Creating A Super Startup is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The Internet is the prime example. Sure, you may (or may not) have to pay to access the Internet, but once you’re there, you expect to get information, entertainment, advice all free. Good for you. Good for companies that sell technology to Internet companies. But is it good for companies that create the information, entertainment, provide the advice?

Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine and author of The Long Tail, explained the economics of giving stuff away in his keynote address. Anderson’s a proponent of the concept of giving things away free, and his next book, “Free: The Economics of Abundance and the Price of Zero,” is likely to further spread the gospel of that business model.

Moreover, people don’t value what they get free. Even Anderson recognizes this, “When the price of something falls to zero, you get waste.” People value what they pay for. A person who pays $100 for a ticket to an event is likely to show up; when they get it free, they’re just as likely to be a no-show. That’s why I advise entrepreneurs that even when you give your products or services away, especially to a prospect or current customer, you should always indicate the price, then waive it. It shows the true value.

Small companies are not in the same position to give stuff away free — whether it’s a physical product, intellectual property (content, music, art, consulting), or time. Their resources, both of money and time, are far more limited.

But the reality is that the “free” movement will continue, and small companies are going to have to grapple with this challenge. New business models are going to have to emerge for small entrepreneurial companies to survive.

By RHONDA ABRAMS @ Gannett News Service

Freebies Pose Challenge For Small Biz is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

“I always had a theory that people became a superstar because they could do one thing better than anybody else in the world,” she said. “I think there was an aria in Julius Caesar called ‘Se Pieta,’ and I used to think I sung that aria better than anybody.”

I love that notion – now think about your business. What one thing can you claim to do better than your competition, better than anyone else in the world. You’ve probably got to shed trying to be all things and strip your business down to doing just one thing better than anyone else.

Maybe you already do one thing, maybe you need to figure your one thing out – either way, narrow the focus of your communication to something you can claim to own and own it.

Duct Tape Marketing

Do Just One Thing Better Than Anyone is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

1. Schmoozing — this word makes networking seem so slimy and insincere. Networking is about teaching your contacts to believe in your character and competence so they want to work with you, send business your way or hire you
2. 30 Second Commercial — while you want to “sell yourself” you don’t want to appear as too much of a hard sell
3. Pick Your Brains — this expression makes the authors think of vultures coming in for the kill; and wish that people would instead say “I’d like to get your thoughts about something.”
4. Work a Room — this phrase sounds as if you intend to work people over and take all you can. Instead, focus on listening and showing others what they can count on you for and what kinds of opportunities to send your way.
5. Information Interview — You can make networking a way of life — at professional meetings, backyard barbeques and all kinds of professional and social venues.

All 10 expressions by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon.

powerhomebiz.com

5 Turn-Offs About Networking is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

They all center around one huge rule: You must bring the business conversation away from MySpace. As long as you are on MySpace, you have to play by its members’ rules.

1. The first thing you must have is a form to get your visitors email addresses. You will increase your sign-up five-fold if you give them some sort of incentive to give their email address. Promote this by posting bulletins.
2. Syndication code. MySpace users are Web savvy. They know how to edit basic html and add it to their MySpace page. You want to have a pre-made banner ad with a link to your Web site and supply the html code so that if one of your MySpace friends wants to post your ad on his/her page, doing so is very easy.
3. There must be an obvious link to your Web site.
4. A reason to come back. Have fun on that one.

Here’s a little wisdom so you don’t have to learn the hard way. The most important advice I can give you is to never send unsolicited messages to other MySpace users.

marketingprofs.com

Using Your MySpace Page For Business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Not all attendees are the same, and not every buyer on the floor shares these secrets. But most do, whether they’d like to admit it or not. These secrets are strong unifying factors that influence their buying decisions. If you, as a smart and savvy trade show exhibitor, know what these secrets are and tailor your exhibit appropriately, you’ll come away with higher sales numbers every time.

If you could hear your attendee’s deepest, most secret thoughts, they might go something like this:

• We’re impatient
• We’re lazy
• We’re Egotistical
• We hate math
• We liked to be pushed

businessknowhow.com

5 Things Trade Show Attendees Don’t Want You to Know is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

School lunches are big business. In public schools they often are controlled by unions and federal subsidies, primarily the $7 billion-a-year National School Lunch Program, which covers about half the 54 million public school kids. The lunches rarely include fresh fruits and veggies at a time when 17% of children ages 2 to 9 are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

With growing concern about child nutrition and obesity, more alternatives are being offered by tiny start-ups with names such as Health e-Lunch Kids, Brown Bag Naturals and Kidfresh.

Besides fresh fruit and veggies, their lunches include organic or natural foods without trans fats, additives or preservatives. At $4.50 to $7.40, they also cost up to three times the price of the typical school lunch.

“It’s time to change our children’s relationship with food,” says Ann Cooper, author of Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children. “Cheap food means sick kids.” Says nutritionist Sharron Dalton: “The system is screwed up.”

USA Today

Start-Ups Tote Healthy Lunches To School is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Bruggen may be a tiny bit biased: A former head of global marketing for KPMG, she quit that job to start and run Strelmark, a Washington, D.C., firm that conducts corporate golf-etiquette workshops for companies like Microsoft (Bill Gates is an avid golfer), Deloitte & Touche, Wachovia, and Smith Barney Citigroup.

Still, Bruggen speaks from personal experience: “I got the job as head of global marketing at KPMG in large part because top management knew me – and they knew me from the golf course,” she says.

Read the article on CNN Money.

Must I play golf to get ahead? is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

“People are likely to buy products, work for, and give money to entities that are credible, that they perceive as operational,” said Newbert. “Organizations that make their fledgling operation appear more legitimate than it might actually be are better able to access customers and recruit employees.”

Read complete article on inc.com

Want Your Start-Up to Be Successful? Appearance is Everything is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

I’m a firm believer that the road to success for small companies is through specialization. A local hardware store has a hard time competing against home improvement big-box retailers, but if you specialize in unique knobs and fixtures, you can build a national clientele. It’s tough to get started as an accountant, but if you market primarily to health care providers, you can stand out.

Having a specialty — or niche — not only enables you to distinguish yourself in your market, it provides you with a built-in marketing plan. Imagine, for instance, if you made organic pet food (something of great interest with the recent pet food health scare). You could advertise in publications reaching readers concerned about the environment, sponsor Sierra Club events, and market to health food grocers.

How do you find a niche for your own business? You can break down your specialty by:

1. Industry. Specializing in an industry gives you credibility with potential clients, an easy marketing focus (you can go to conventions and trade shows of your target market) and enables you to develop unique expertise and become familiar with that industry’s practices and lingo. I know an accountant in the South with a national clientele of optometrists.
2. Demographic group. Ever hear of hair salons just for children? How about computer classes for seniors? Financial investing for women? Selecting a specific demographic group gives you an immediately recognizable way to attract customers and make them feel welcome.
3. Geographic area. In most cases, geography isn’t enough to distinguish a company. But in some cases, there may be distinctions that make your customers want to select a geographic-specific company.
4. Type of work. Another way to specialize is to select a specific aspect of the work you do and emphasize that. A graphic design firm I know specializes in preparing annual reports for publicly traded companies.
5. Unique knowledge. If you have truly unique knowledge, focus on that as your niche. For instance, a pet cardiologist can develop a specialty serving a large region.
6. Style. Choosing a specific style of service or product is another way to specialize. You can sell only all-wood furniture, open an all-organic restaurant, or provide hand-wash-only car washing.

Finding a specialty is one of the most powerful ways to set yourself apart from the competition and focus your marketing efforts. You’ll find another benefit, too: Companies that specialize typically charge higher prices. The pet cardiologist can charge more than your local veterinarian. The graphic designer who does annual reports can charge more than the designer who does everything.

USA Today

Find, Keep That Niche is a post from: Top Business Opportunities