Online Business | BizSieve.com

Small Business Tips For Using Twitter

Social media sites are a vital part of marketing for all businesses today no matter the size of the company. This trend is not changing, in fact, it will become more necessary for businesses to use social media in the future so if your small business is not utilizing social media, now is the time to start. One of the top social media sites today is Twitter and if your company does not have an account then you are missing out on a great marketing opportunity. Your company’s website’s SEO ranking is dependent upon Twitter and other sites and if you are not sure how to get started, then you need to read the tips below.

It’s Not Just About Business

You always want to maintain your professionalism but you also want people to see who you are and what your company is about without being too salesy. One huge mistake that company’s make on Twitter is to only focus on the business aspect of the account without being personable in any way. The main point of being on Twitter is to get more followers and unless you only want those that you can buy online then you have to engage people and make them want to follow you and your company. So don’t be afraid to make your followers laugh with an anecdote from the workday or by posting photos of your employees doing their job well. Just make sure that you are offering your followers something that is interesting and that they want to retweet.

Follow Friends and Family Members

You can start getting more followers by simply following friends and family members to help get your numbers boosted. This can be a great strategy particularly if they are already settled into the site as they will have people they know that they can recommend for
and to you. Once you start following these other people, they will follow you back. The first rule of Twitter is if someone isn’t a spammer, they deserve a follow back if you are following them. This can build up your list of followers very quickly and can make your company’s SEO efforts take off. Just make sure that you don’t beg for followers, you can let your other followers ask for you but you should never make the request on your own or you come off as desperate.

Use Other Methods to Get Followers

Once you have become comfortable with the format of Twitter and have started following and being followed by others, it’s time use other methods to gain even more followers. Make sure you have a Twitter widget on your website so your customers can click it to easily follow you and promote your Twitter account on Facebook and other social networking sites. It may seem like the work is never ending and to be completely honest, it is never ending. You have to always be working to make sure that your Twitter account stays active and positive for your followers.

It is vital for every business to have a great social media presence and this includes having a great Twitter account with many followers.

About the Author: Shannon Fouts has been helping small businesses to build up their social media presence for three years and is now writing about all social media sites.

Four Ways To Spend Much Less On Your Small Business

An essential part of running a small business is constantly finding new ways to reduce costs, keeping spending to a minimum. Initially, you may be thinking that by spending less you will have to make sacrifices, damaging your business in the process. However, reducing spending does not always have to equate to a loss. Ultimately, removing unnecessary expenses in your small business will increase your budget, freeing up money that you can invest in other parts of your business.

Online Marketing

More often than not, marketing costs take up a huge amount of budget, particularly for small businesses that invest in offline methods such as direct mail. However, by simply switching or concentrating more on online marketing, you could save yourself a great deal of money, while targeting a much larger market. There are various ways you can market your business online, all of which are often low-cost and very effective. Essentially, you will be paying less for a more
successful method. You can start by creating a profile for your business on one of the many social media platforms. It is free and a great way of connecting to your customers while building up a strong following. Another idea to market your small business online is to start a blog that contains content related to your products or services.

Go Green, Go Paperless

Without realising it, a lot of money can be wasted away on paper through the sheer cost of ink, supplies and postage; not to mention the endless waste of paper. By eliminating the use of paper or even just minimising you can significantly reduce spending. Going digital is said to save a great deal of money, but not only that, it also creates a more organised working environment and is a lot more secure than having a paper trail. You can make the transition by opting for digital invoices, filing information on the computer and completely replace snail mail with email. As well as cutting spending you are
also helping the environment, which is always a positive thing.

Telephone and Web Conferencing

As a small business, spending large amounts of money on conferences, presentations and meetings really will make a significant dent in your budget, as there are a great deal of expenses involved, including travel and food. To reduce the costs, opting for a teleconference or web conference service is a great idea as you will spend a lot less for a good service than you ever would with face-to-face costs. Additionally, using such a service will allow you to connect to colleagues and clients globally.

IT Managed Service

As hiring an IT guy is a luxury to many small business, using managed services is proven to be a wise decision; you have access to IT expertise at a fraction of costs.

Managing Your Team

As your business develops so will your team, but it is essential that you manage this process carefully if you want to save money. Within a small business you need to ensure that you are regularly assessing your team’s productivity, making sure that most of your employees’ time is spent on value creating activities. Also, there are way
s that you can get the job done without having to hire an extra employee, including using interns and freelancers.

5 Most Important Legal Issues To Consider When Setting Up A Business

Setting up your own business will take a lot of hard work and determination. You need to ensure your finances are in order and there is a lot of paperwork to take care of as well.

To make this process easier here are five of the most important legal issues you need to consider when you are setting up a business.

1. Choosing Your Business Structure

The most important thing you decide when setting up your business involves your business structure. There are many different structures to choose from and picking out one will have legal and financial implications.

You can get to know all of your options at the comprehensive guide by the Entrepreneur. It is really important to understand the implications of each of these options and thus talking them through with a professional is a really good idea.

2. Protecting Your Ideas And Products

You also need to consider taking care of patents and copyrights. These are really important in order to keep your products and ideas safe from copycats. If you have really good and innovative products you want to make sure you will have the market advantage of not having to worry about other businesses copying your products directly.

This also means you need to look into trademarking your business name. It might not be possible in some cases but if you can, trademarking is a really viable option to consider. Make sure your business name is also not already in use to ensure you don’t get any problems later on.

3. Ensuring You Are Licenced

Depending on the area your business works in it is really important to make sure your business is appropriately licenced. This can save you from a lot of hassle later on and is also very important to keep your business up and running.

Having legal certificates can also increase your credibility among your customers and thus you should look into this area as early as possible.

4. Non-Disclosure Agreements And Contracts

When you are setting up a business you will start hiring staff as well as drawing up business contracts with other companies. Thus it is essential to take care of non-disclosure agreements to guarantee you are protected in case someone would give away important business information.

It is really important to have these ready so that whenever you are getting a new client or hiring a new person you can quickly get these issues out of the way. When you make a legal agreement and a contract it is essential to get it professionally photocopied to ensure you all have the document in multiple copies. Look at Silver Fox Legal and their colour photocopying services.

5. Getting A Solicitor

Hiring your own solicitor won’t be a viable option for small businesses but it is a good idea to get an outside company to help you out when you are setting up, as well as being available in the future. Build a good relationship with the company to ensure you have a reliable legal advisor you can turn to if you ever have any issues.

About the Author: Peter in interested in corporate law and wants to make all the legal hurdles seem a little bit easier for small business owners. When he needs to get his mind away from legal issues he likes to enjoy some time with his family and is especially keen on playing board games with them.

How To Promote Your Business With Calendar Printing

Despite the fact that we live in an age of technology, many people still like to have a calendar on their desk or wall so that they can keep track of appointments. It’s much easier to just pencil something in as it comes up than it is to boot up a computer, open a program, and make a note. So, it’s not surprising that printed calendars are still popular. If you are a business owner, you should take advantage of that popularity. So, here’s how to promote your business with calendar printing.

Pick a Printing Company:

There are many professional printing companies available. A quick search of the Internet will give you dozens, or even hundreds, of results. However, not all printing companies offer the same options, features, or prices. So, you need to pick one according to your needs and your budget.

Start by determining how many calendars you need. Some printing companies will give discounts on larger orders. So, if you are ordering your calendars in bulk, choose a company that has that sort of offer. Some companies also offer free shipping on larger orders. You should watch for those deals as well, if you want to get the most advertising for the least possible investment.

It’s also important to pick a printing company that offers the type of calendar that you want. Are you looking for a small desk calendar, or a large wall calendar? Would you like some of each? Those are all good questions to ask yourself, as you are choosing a calendar printing company.

Consider Your Calendar Images:

?You also need to consider your calendar images. You should try to customize your calendar to appeal to the majority of your clients. So, ask yourself whether your clients are business executives, or more casual. Are your calendars going to primarily wind up in offices or homes? What ages and genders are you trying to appeal to? Once you have those answers, you can choose a theme and photographs for your calendar. Your chosen printing company may offer such images, or you may have to supply them.

Make Your Calendar Handy

You should also make your calendar handy. For example, be sure that there are big enough blocks that each of your clients can write in their appointments. Clients won’t look twice at a calendar that has no room for them to write in their schedule. Large blocks will encourage use. The more your clients use the calendar, the more they will look at your company’s name, logo, and contact information.

Make Your Information Memorable:

The most important thing to remember about custom calendar printing is to make your company’s information memorable. Be sure that the company’s name, logo, and contact information are prominently displayed. You may also want to include a catchy saying that will make your clients think of you. Many people will also display their calendars in such a way that their friends, family members, and business associates will see them. So, the more memorable your calendar is, the more clients it will bring to you.

Featured images:

License: Image author owned
License: Image author owned
License: Image author owned

About the Author: Guest post by David Dobson – Using my 30 years of experience in the printing indusrty to pass on business marketing

What Does Your Domain Name Say About You

Designing and publishing a website for your business is an important way to enter the world-wide market and choosing a domain is a critical step to that process. Experts agree that choosing the right name can help the success of your business when it’s to the point and describes what your business does.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the way consumers look for a particular business by typing it into the browser. It can also lead to an individual website via your business link. This small line of text can aid users in navigating the Internet with ease. Imagine if the Internet didn’t use domain names, and you were required to utilize a string of numbers instead to search for a company. Domain names are registered daily and can cost the user between a minimal fee and thousands of dollars depending on the level and value of your search engine. There are many domain names for sale that can be purchased through a Domain Broker.

Finding and Being Found

The name that you choose is important and can help you reach your consumer base. Many businesses think up catchy names that have nothing to do with the services or products that they offer. As a business strategy, this makes zero sense and will only lead to confusion and aggravation. Setting up your domain name and website are important steps to a successful business, and you don’t want to change it later on. This could cause you to lose loyal customers and make your company look unprofessional and scattered.

Choosing the Right Name

Select something that showcases your business in the best light and tells them exactly what you do. If your company handles myriad services, focus on the one thing for your domain that you do best. You can easily add additional pages that will outline your other services or products.

Building a Solid Reputation

To ensure your business has a solid business reputation, you’ll want to choose the perfect domain name. In case your business grows and expands in the future, you may want to find something broad based. This allows you to add things down the road. It also gives you a bit more creativity with the actual name. Some well-known online retail establishments have found success with a particular domain, and the name has had nothing to do with the products that they offer. They also offer more than just books and may include DVDs, electronic gear and much more. You can also find success with something specific that targets exactly what you do or sell. Choosing something synonymous with what you do can generate greater search engine optimism and promotes the exact name in the URL window.

Selecting the right domain name is important from the beginning and can help consumers find the goods or services that you offer with ease, and the right amount of accessibility. It’s also imperative that it sends the right message to your customer base, and the image that you want to portray to them. Not only will it help your business achieve success, it will make you stand out from the rest of the competition.

Author Anthony Joseph enjoys writing about new business subjects to help offer information to start up companies. Toby Clements, a self made Domain Broker, is one of the top dealers in the world – creating millions of dollars in sales on a consistent basis. Buying and selling of these names are happening everyday, and knowing which one is best can have a significant impact on how well your business succeeds.