May, 2012 | BizSieve.com

Improve Your Business with an Online Survey

Information is one of the most powerful assets that a business owner has. The more you know about your customers and their needs and wants, the better equipped you are to serve them, and keep them loyal to your company. One of the best ways to gather information is by running regular online surveys.

Persuading your customers to fill out surveys can be difficult. Taking a business survey isn’t exactly the way that most people dream of spending their time, but if you provide a good enough incentive, most people would be willing to spend a couple of minutes providing you with the feedback you need.

To set up a good survey, you will need to work with your web systems development team. Ask them to create a short, easy to use survey, and some form of advertisement that is noticeable, but not intrusive. You want to entice your customers to click on the survey, not drive them away.

Designing Quality Surveys

There’s not much point in making your web systems development team invest time and effort into putting together a survey if the survey does not give you the information that you need. Before you put together a business survey, consider the following points:

What do you want to learn through conducting this survey?
Why are you running this survey?
How will the information you gather be used?

A good survey is one that produces information that can be easily analyzed. Asking people to write paragraphs of information about what they think of your company might make for interesting reading, but it is hard to summarize all of the feedback you get into easily understandable data.

Instead of asking your customers “What do you dislike about our product?”, offer questions that have simple yes or no answers, or answers that fit into simple bullet points – for example, ask your users to rate a list of attributes (price, size, performance, extra features) from most important to least important. This way, you’ll be able to tell at-a-glance what your users think is important.

Keeping People Interested

If your business survey is too long, difficult to read, or slow to load, then you may lose people before they complete the entire survey. Get your web systems development team to test the survey to make sure that it works in all of the main browsers, and that it’s easy to answer questions, move to the next page, and generally interact with the survey. Try to keep the survey short and simple. If you have dozens of questions per page, people may lose interest.

Picking the Right Audience

There are several ways to attract people to take part in your survey. The most valuable feedback will come from your existing customers. Invite them to take part in the survey by including a link in your regular email newsletter, or by promoting the survey on order pages on your website. If you need even more participants, you could promote the survey on your home page, but try to make sure that you don’t annoy people by pushing the survey with pop-ups every time they load a new page. Discrete advertisements are best.

About the Author: This post was written by James Harper on behalf of business survey and web systems development experts Xibis.

Interviewing 101: The Importance of Writing Thank You Notes

Chances are you were taught in college to send thank you notes after an interview. Many people brush off this tip, especially during their first jobs in fast food and other smaller jobs. However, thank you notes are not something to be taken lightly when it comes to landing a career. But, why? Why is a thank you note for an interview so important? Whether it’s to remind the company of your skills or to show professionalism, you need to remember this step. Let’s take a closer look at the importance of writing thank you notes.

Thank You Notes Serve as a Gentle Reminder

In this day and time, companies see hundreds of applicants for one job. Due to the poor economy, there is much more competition than there once was. One way you can stand out is by writing thank you notes. The note should thank the interviewer for his time and and briefly mention why you’re the best option for the job, without being too obvious. For example, you might say, “Thank you for taking the time to interview me last Thursday. I look forward to hearing from you and more thoroughly discussing the career. As a freelance writer with over six years of experience, I’m deeply intrigued by your company and the experiences the career has to offer.”

Thank You Notes Show Professionalism

Companies want employees who are professional in everything they do. Writing thank you notes shows interviewers that you are truly interested in the job and professional. It also gives you a chance to prove your communication skills, which are essential to most companies. It also allows you to stand out from your peers. Many people feel that this practice is outdated, but they’re wrong. Sending thank you notes to interviewers is one of the best things you can do after an interview to help improve your chances of getting hired.

Jobs, especially careers, aren’t as plentiful as they were 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. As someone looking for a career, you need to do what it takes to make yourself stand out from the crowd and get your name in front of the interviewer. One of the easiest ways you can do that is to send thank you notes. Whether you send an actual letter or email will depend on the type of company you’re interviewing for and how quickly the job will be filled. Regardless, this is something you need to do. It is even recommended that those offered the job before having a chance to send a thank you note, still send one that thanks the company for their time and offer.

About the Author: Armand Quintyne is a career counselor who makes sure all of his students know how to write resumes and thank you notes. He loves helping people find the resources to get a better education and often recommends sites like grantsforsinglemother.com and others to those looking to get ahead.

Image: betsyweber / Flickr

How To Market Your Small Business on Facebook

In recent years, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of social networking sites. These sites are now not only being used to connect with friends, family and business contacts, but also being used to market products and services. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites and many small businesses market their products and services through it. However, these businesses are still struggling to gain expertise in this area. Here are a few things to consider when using Facebook to market your small business:

1. Share Useful And Updated Content With Potential Customers
Many small businesses set up a profile page instead of a business page, while also starting a group for their business. As a result, your fan base may get divided and you can struggle to engage with the audience. It is very important that the business shares meaningful and updated content with the people, which creates a difference in their lives. Broadcasting your message is a big turn-off for people as it sounds too pushy. You should only share updated and engaging content with the audience, and seek their feedback. You should also plan your posts well so that your content does not become too boring or predictable. The shared content should be a mix of multimedia and other useful articles. Sharing exciting and new content increases the chances that people will talk about you with their friends and family. It is also advisable that you do not publish most of your content directly from your blog or other platforms.

2. Take Facebook Seriously
While many small business owners realize that social media, particularly Facebook, has changed the marketing landscape, they are simply not investing enough time to leverage its power. By not investing adequate time in social media campaigns, the business is losing out on marketing opportunities. Facebook should be central to any social media campaign and, therefore, engaging content should be regularly shared with the audience. You should use Facebook to establish strong relationships with your customers and ensure a timely response to their queries.

3. Explore Facebook’s Tools
Businesses can do a lot more than merely setting up fan pages and groups on Facebook. To maximize the marketing potential offered by Facebook, you should explore all of its functionalities and tools. This will help you in creating a great online experience to engage your audience. As a small business owner, you may utilize the info tab and also create a custom welcome page to create better awareness about your business. By using Facebook Insights, you can benefit from the medium’s built-in analytics system and analyze what type of content caused the greatest stir among your audience. This can be of great value when publishing content in future.

4. Follow Rules of The Game
When using Facebook to market your business, you should be careful not to violate the terms and conditions set by the site. By violating these terms, you may risk your reputation and remain ineffective at building a helpful community. Some of these common violations include setting up a personal page instead of a business page, tagging people in images without seeking their permission and sharing abusive content.

By keeping in mind these simple Facebook marketing tips, you can develop strong personal connections with your audience and grow your business.

About the Author: Donna Hays works full-time as a marketing consultant for an online advertising company. She writes for several sites including Degree Jungle a resource for college students. She takes keen interest in social media marketing and is a regular contributor on social media marketing topics.

Image: GOIABA (Goiabarea) / Flickr

Launching Your Own Digital Start-Up

Digital businesses are the buzzword today. These are not brick-and-mortar businesses; in fact, these are computers and Internet entities. The creation of a digital business is not very difficult, and requires far less money than a land-based or traditional business. However, like everything new, it requires careful planning and preparation.

Good Idea

Begin with a good idea, and then expand upon it. There should be clarity on what the business is all about, what is it going to sell or do, and what are the aims and goals of the business. The conceptual process is probably the most important part of any business; since, it lays the groundwork for all that shall come later.

Domain Name

Register a domain name which represents the name of the business. It should be easy to remember and easy to access. Registration of a domain name also gives email ID’s and, in some cases, websites are also part of the package. As in a traditional start-up business, the name should reflect the aim or purpose of the company.

digital business tips

Website

The most important aspect of a digital business is its website. It is the face and the office of the company and it is the first point of contact for the clients. An error-free and well-designed website is the biggest asset a digital business can have. It is equivalent to having the best manufacturing facility a company can afford. Navigation through the website should be easy, the content should be clear and crisp, and all contact information should be clearly marked. The images should reflect exactly what the company is selling, or offering to the clients. In a traditional start-up, the office or factory is the productive space; and in a digital start-up, the computer replaces the factory or the office. A digital start-up is not limited by the location; it can be conducted from anywhere defying geographical boundaries.

Financial Software

The second most important part of a digital start-up firm is the quality of the financial software being used. All transactions should be securely routed, and the client should be able to make payments easily with a single click of the mouse. Credit card processors and payment platforms should be an inherent part of the financial software. This should be arranged much before the first sale goes through. Any glitches can lead to the loss of good customers, and also monetary losses.

Communication Strategy

Keeping in touch with customers has now become very easy due to the various online platforms. Social media, email newsletters, and websites – all these have made the world move closer, but it has also enhanced the need for excellent communication strategies. Attention spans have become shorter; hence, information needs to be condensed into fewer words and presented in a crisp manner. There has to be quick interaction with the clients, the response times need to be much shorter than they would be for traditional businesses and since there is no personal interaction, the written words should be satisfactory.

About the Author: This article is written by James Bentham.

Image: renjith krishnan

Why Your Business Should Try Online Accounting

The push for businesses to get online has never been stronger. With so many free social sharing platforms popping up, it seems an essential part of the marketing plan needs to be online activity. For some business owners getting online can be a daunting experience, especially if there isn’t a website already in place. There’s a lot to think about when using online technology for marketing including graphics, copywriting and maintenance which can be overwhelming. But marketing isn’t the only benefit for business when it comes to using the internet.

Using online software applications for management tasks is much less daunting than social media marketing and graphic design. It’s quick, easy and most of the time free to tree or use to a basic level, and most of all will save you time rather than taking up even more of your precious time.

Online Accounting Plus Points

The best time saver in online software, and one that all businesses will be able to find a use for is online accounting software for day to day book keeping and month on month reporting.

Instant Reports

Online accounting software is programmed to provide all the reports that a business owner could ask for. After inputting the month’s income and expenses, a report can be run to show profit and loss, a breakdown of expenses categories, an overview of the month and even a glimpse into the financial future of the business. All of this would have taken hours for one person to work through just using a calculator or complicated spread sheet, but now sophisticated reports are ready in just seconds.

Storage Saver

By moving all of your accounting online, you can save space when it comes to storing files and paper statements. Existing paperwork can be scanned in to the online account, and documents and files received by email can be uploaded quickly and easy without the need to print these off. The cost savings here are storage space and printing costs for paper and ink.

Safe and Sound

Keeping your account online is one of the safest and most secure ways to store them. The online accounting software provider will back up all of your data as soon as it’s entered online. It will be safe from accidental deletion, and can’t get damaged or lost like paper files can. It’s also secure from any break ins.

Getting online and making the most of the free business helping tools might sound scary, but once you’ve started using such simple and effective software, you’ll be wondering why you didn’t get online sooner.

About the Author: Katie Sykes is a small business advisor who set up her Brighton SEO company from home in 2010. Katie now supports young entrepreneurs looking to make the move in to self-employment.