Author: BizSieve Team

6 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs

When you’re an entrepreneur, you know you can’t do things alone. While you may have the big ideas and the willingness to put everything on the line for them, you need some help if you really want to succeed and grow your business. And when you’re just starting out, you know how invaluable good mentors and connections are. For these reasons, social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn just won’t cut it for you as an entrepreneur. When you’re looking for a place to connect with other entrepreneurs, try one of these six social networks that are specifically for you.

PartnerUp.com
PartnerUp is an excellent community for entrepreneurs. It does exactly what the name implies – helps you find people to partner with to grow your business. It also does much more. If you’re looking to get involved with a small business already in progress, you can find listings for opportunities. You can also find commercial real estate for sale, and find vendors and service providers that you may need. It’s a great place to network with other entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Biznik.com
Biznik is a social network for independent business people. It focuses on helping you make connections with other independent business people like yourself. With Biznik, you can locate people and businesses in your area and beyond that can help support you and assist you in growing your business. Biznik is a great place to converse with like-minded people and score some great advice.

Entrepreneur Connect (EConnect.Entrepreneur.com)
Entrepreneur Connect is another place to meet other entrepreneurs like you. Membership is free, and the best way to use Entrepreneur Connect is by joining some of the rich and diverse groups. In groups, you can discuss anything with other businesspeople in your niche. You can ask and answer questions, form beneficial relationships, and learn more about your industry. There is also a Marketplace with listings for everything from legal services to logo design to real estate.

Ryze.com
Ryze is a growing social network that appeals to many different types of users. From CEOs of large companies to hopeful small business entrepreneurs, you can meet a wide range of people and professionals. Ryze focuses on allowing you to grow your contact base and meet new people. There are event listings and classifieds to explore, too.

PerfectBusiness.com
PerfectBusiness allows you to connect with others, but it also offers a lot more. There is a wealth of resources, including articles, videos, and software, that will help you with the entire entrepreneurial process. When you’re just starting out, this website is a great place to begin learning about everything from writing a business plan to finding investors. And you can form some valuable relationships that will help you along the way.

TheFunded.com
TheFunded is a growing community that focuses on the financial side of entrepreneurship. It’s a place where you can connect with other entrepreneurs to discuss things like financing and investing. It also helps you learn about venture capitalists (VCs) that can help you, and members rate their experiences with different VCs and funds.

Venture Capitalist M.P. Brown loves the thrill of the start up and the challenges of running his own business. For finding new business opportunities, he stays actively involved in business networks.

Tips for Creating a Great Business Card

Creating a business card is easy. Creating a great business card requires a little more attention to detail.

Whatever the nature of your work, a business card is a great tool for networking, advertising and reminding potential customers that you’re there for them. Thanks to the rise of digital printing, it has never been easier – or cheaper – to have a set of cards run off. However, this increase in popularity has meant that many printing companies have ended up competing on price alone – something that has led to a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of quality. And, as you’ll discover, penny pinching on your business cards is one compromise you should not make.

quality business card design

Branding 101

One of the mistakes a lot of people make with their business cards is thinking that they are simply a way of leaving their contact details with a prospective client. Whilst they certainly serve this purpose, they are far more than this. Like any piece of marketing – your website, flyers, posters and other promotional material – your business card makes a statement about you, your company, and the quality of your work. Your card gives a customer an impression about your business: perhaps their only impression. A low-quality, dog-eared, badly-designed card will not inspire confidence. A clean, sharp and professional-looking card communicates a very different impression.

For this reason, it’s worth spending a little more time and money on your cards than many others do. You don’t have to pay a fortune, as there are still plenty of digital print companies who will do good work cheaply, but you shouldn’t assume that your customers will treat all business cards the same. If you’re proud of your work, that should come across in the card you hand them.

What makes for a quality card?

One of the biggest factors is the weight of the card. Thin cards are flimsy and easily damaged; heavier cards feel more substantial and impressive, and are less likely to be thrown away. Typical printer paper is 80 gsm (grams per square metre). Postcards generally come in at around 300 gsm. A good quality business card will usually be upwards of 350 gsm. 400 is a good starting point, and plenty are heavier still.

Print quality is another major factor. This will differ markedly across companies due to the variations in printers used. Ask for samples, look at reviews and do your research. You want any logos and images to come out at photo quality, and text to be clean and crisp. Cheaper cards (you can sometimes even get freebies) tend to have low-quality print that fades quickly and looks awful.

Finally, the card’s finish will make a big difference. Although you can leave it as plain card, better business cards will have a layer of varnish on to make them more durable, help keep them clean and bring out any images. This comes in a variety of forms (matte, gloss, silk), each of which will suit different designs and feels of card. A spot-UV finish gives a brighter shine to specific images or words.

The bottom line?

All customers have to be bought in one way or another, and you get what you pay for. Clients will recognise when you’ve made an effort to reach out to them, and when you’ve cut corners.

About the Author: This article was supplied by printed.com, a supplier of quality leaflet printing and an accredited member of the Direct Marketing Association.

Image: _overanalyzer / Flickr

How to Become a PR Specialist

Public relations is an essential part of any company. Not only do PR specialists handle press releases, but they can also help keep the press at bay when the company becomes of interest. It’s easy to see that this is an important position and one that can be very successful. If this career sounds interesting to you, here are just a few tips on how to become a PR specialist.

how to be a pr specialist

Expand Your Education

Those interested in becoming a PR specialist should set their sights on an expansive education. Communications and journalism are necessary for this career. You may want to major in journalism and minor in communication. You should also consider choosing courses that are based around writing so that you can build your skills in this area.

Network

It pays to network with as many people as possible when shooting for a career in public relations. For example, if you want to work as a PR specialist for food companies, you might want to network with restaurant owners, food bloggers and other food professionals. You should also network with those in media, such as newscasters and reporters.

Create an Online Presence

In this day and time it pays for professionals to have an online presence, especially in social networking. However, this is a step that should not be overlooked by PR specialists. A strong online presence can be a great way to contect with others. Those with expansive networks will be prized among companies. Remember to include your professional network of friends in your social networks. Companies will be especially grateful of an employee that knows professionals in the field.

Be Forward

Part of the job of a PR specialist is getting a company’s voice heard. This means that companies are looking for people that aren’t afraid to approach people and refuse to back down. This means you should be forward when approaching the company about a career. Tell them why you’re best for the job, discuss your online presence and your professional network.

Write, Write and Write Again

You will never make it in public relations without great writing skills. You need to know how to get a message across, know what works to get media attention and how to make something bad actually sound good. This takes years of practice and you should never skip a chance to write a PR statement. The more practice the better. You may even want to take additional writing classes outside of your degree in order to get the best education possible. You should also take advantage of tutoring services offered by your university to help you beef up your writing skills.

A PR specialist is vital for a business. However, there are things you need to do before you can land a career in public relations. Not only do you need to be forward about your request for a career, but you need to have excellent writing skills. Last, but not least, you need a great education with a network of professional acquaintances to become a PR specialist.

About the Author: Douglass Shamel just narrowed down his short-list of cheap Dallas apartments and plans to relocate from California in March of this year. He will be working for a public relations firm and hopes to one day open his own practice.

Tips for Internet Startups

While there is a lower threshold these days for starting a business online, it still isn’t as easy as the movies make it out to be. It’s still a business – you’re going to need to consider overhead costs, who to hire, what kind of profit margin you’re looking for – and if these are all things that are over your head – if you’re an “ideas man” (or woman) you’re going to have to find someone you can work with that can translate your vague goals and ideas into actionable metrics and concrete, well-articulated goals.

Find the idea

If you’re just venturing into the world of e-business, what follows is a primer of those things that you are probably going to encounter and have to consider when starting up your internet start-up.

Think Big

There are a few different facets to this concept when applied to internet start-ups. The first angle of interpretation for “thinking big” comes with branding. Branding is an integral part of your long-term strategy and can determine what markets a company eventually enters into, and succeeds, in. Branding is not the red-headed stepchild – it’s not something that you can neglect until after your first product has launched, in fact, having the proper branding and image to project to angel investors or venture capitalists can make or break the success of your first product.

And then there is the “think big” side of the product itself. I mean, look at Google – do you think they would be as successful as they are today if they set out to “organize the information of the United States”? Nope. Their mission is nothing smaller than organizing the worlds information.

Always Innovate

Internet companies never stop innovating, never stop changing or expanding. Google is constantly innovating, adding new product lines (and cutting them out if they fail). And just in the nature of the internet, there is always a greater user base, and more features that you are able to add as you proactively respond to the customer. Look at Twitter – their offering is pretty straightforward – 140 character social status updates, but what their interface encompasses keeps expanding – from picture and video integration to new profile layouts – they always strive for a better product. 

When you’re starting an internet company, be wary of the lures of monetization and hubris. A product is never the best that it can be, and while you don’t want to fall the other direction and not release a product until it’s absolutely perfect, you never want to stop making a product better, either.

Be Social

Funny we talked about Twitter in the previous section, because probably one of the most important things that a start-up can do is get the word out – and in the internet, “word of mouth” is the social sphere – Twitter, Facebook, Google+, oh my!

While these can be a time suck, getting involved can be quite key for getting the word out about your product, and creating a loyal base of early-adopter users (and actually listening to what they have to say). 

Don’t Forget There is a World Outside of Google

While you may be an internet start-up, don’t forget about traditional marketing either! While it may be less relevant for you if you don’t also have a brick-and-mortar store, neglecting other forms of advertisements is probably just as silly. GoDaddy just had a Superbowl advertisement, and they don’t have a brick-and-mortar store – they exist entirely in the cyber sphere.

You are going to want to analyze your business model and your competition and see what arenas could be most profitable for you in terms of reach. At this point in your business life cycle it may not be practical to move beyond your internet sphere, but don’t neglect traditional marketing, either.

Stay Organized

You may be the “ideas man” with grand plans, but how are you going to execute them? Do you have some sort of integrated software, or a bunch of different software programs that will help you keep your ducks (and your money) in line? Are you always late to meetings? If you really are dedicated to making your business work, that’s going to have to change – or you’re going to have to hire someone to stay organized for you, manage all your invoices and paperwork, time clocks and facilities (even if it’s just your home office).

Sarah Stevens is a writer who works most often with a company that makes sure that your company is kept running smoothly with asset management software – and she hope that if this article inspires you to create the next big thing you’ll offer her a finder’s fee!

Start a Home-Based Business

Starting your own home-based business can be a fantastic opportunity. You have the chance to work for yourself, make all the decisions and major calls, and maybe even choose your own schedule to watch the kids while you’re working from home.

However, with the power and perks of a home-based business often comes responsibility. If this responsibility is not handled properly, it could land both you and your business in hot water. There are plenty of legal ramifications to consider with such an operation, and being prepared can help you avoid potential issues that could be costly both in time and money.

Legal Operation

One of the first things you’ll likely have to consider in a home-based business is whether your operation is indeed legal to operate. Many locales have a variety of zoning laws and restrictions. Even certain housing developments, apartment communities or condominiums may have guidelines governing the operation of a home-based business. Therefore, it is important that before you make any sort of sizeable investment to get your business up and running that you make sure you are in compliance with area zoning and business operation rules and requirements.

Insurance Needs

A home-based business can be convenient in that it allows you to work from the privacy and comfort of your own home. However, this also means that customers and clients may be coming onto or into your property on a regular basis. A simple trip and fall by a customer on your property could result in a lawsuit. By having the necessary business and liability insurance paid up and in proper coverage amounts, you could be better protecting yourself legally when it comes to the possibility of injuries or other issues that might occur upon your property.

Employees

Insurance can also be important if you are planning to have someone other than yourself working in and around your home. While many home-based businesses are sole-proprietorships and don’t have to worry about employees, should you have someone working for you on the premises, it can be critical that you take this into consideration when it comes to your policy.

It is also critical that you know and understand the state and federal laws governing employee/employer relationships in order to avoid lawsuits pertaining to discrimination, harassment, and other workplace violations. You can check with the SBA (Small Business Administration) or your state government to learn more about the rules that apply to your home-based business, ask questions or get advice.

Taxes

While you may have done your personal income taxes in the past, starting a home-based business may make tax season a bit more difficult. Not only might you have personal income taxes with which to deal, but you could have business taxes as well. If you have employees or are planning to delve into the realm of business deductions, property tax deductions for a home-based business, and similar tax areas, you may want to consider seeking the advice and assistance of a tax professional. Having your tax issues squared away can help keep you out of legal hot water when it comes to you and your home-based operation.

Billy enjoys informing his readers of their legal rights as US citizens.  He can help if you are looking for a criminal attorney in Houston that will fight for your legal rights as an individual. If you have been arrested for assault, then a Houston assault lawyer is available to protect you against any un-just accusations.