Hey, small business owners! Today’s guest post by Ken Howard is just for you! He has a few tips that will help you structure your social media efforts and put your brand on the map.

If you’re a small business owner, you know that running a business is a lot of work. The fact is you just don’t have the time to do everything unless you put in a 15-hour+ days. Do you ever feel like no matter how much you get done, there’s always more to do? I’m going to give you some tips that will help to simplify part of your day.

In the past few years social media has grown to the juggernaut of Internet Marketing. Facebook has nearly 8.4 million users and continues to grow. As a small business owner, you want to capitalize on that market as well as those on Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

The first suggestion I give my clients is to be active. But you must not be spammy, which leads in to my second suggestion. Share expert information frequently. By providing expert information, you are informing your audience and gaining their trust. Here are a few tools that will make these two suggestions easy to manage:

• Buffer – Buffer is available for multiple platforms (Web, Chrome, Firefox, Android & iOS). Connect your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. With it, you can spread out your updates to keep your account active. You can also share links to articles you have read.

• Google Reader – Finding relevant news to share with your audience doesn’t have to take hours. With Google Reader you can scan through the headlines of the day for the blogs and news sources in your industry.

• ifttt – “If this, then that” is a your digital assistant. This tool looks for signals in your social media accounts and performs an action based on the rules you configure. Do you want to backup your Instagram photos to Evernote? Ifttt’s best “recipe” is to add starred Google Reader articles to your Twitter or Facebook Buffer queue.

Now that you have a few tools to help your social media efforts, you need to think about what you’re going to share. It’s important that your professional profile stays professional. However tempting it may be, don’t share the daily internet memes. You don’t want to attract the wrong audience.

Let’s say you own a bike shop and want to connect with cyclists. Obviously, you’ll want to share any specials you’re offering or articles you have written. But, you also want to share news stories from around the world, race results, lightweight bike frames, mountain biking YouTube videos, strengthening tips, apparel, tire technology… anything that can establish you or your brand as an expert in bikes.

There’s nothing easy about social media marketing. It takes a lot of work to be successful and is extremely competitive. If you use these simple tips, you can take control and start to develop your own social media strategy. After some time you can identify what type of content works based on how many likes, retweets and comments you receive. Use this newfound knowledge to write your own articles and start your own blog.

What social media challenges have you overcome and what kind of strategy did you employ to achieve your goals? Share your story in the comments.

About the Author

Ken is the Interactive Manager at Turtledove Clemens, an Integrated Marketing Communications firm in Portland, Oregon. He is passionate about Social Media, Search Engine Optimization and intuitive, user friendly web design.

Connect With Ken: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn| Blog | Web | E-Mail

“The decision to hire or outsource a function often is a necessary step for any maxed-out entrepreneur or business owner seeking to expand. The inability to recognize the need to make a hire or waiting too long to get around to doing it often stymies growth and profit.”

Read More:

Learning when to call for help | MiamiHerald.com | 7.5.11

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Business plans are fun, aren’t they? Such interesting reading. Engaging. And, the best part is, they never need updating. The preceding statement is, of course, completely slathered in sarcasm.

…but…

“Sixty percent of small businesses that lose their data go bankrupt because of that data loss. To recreate this data from scratch would cost anywhere from $2000 to $8000 per megabyte.”

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Are You Backing Up Your Data? Here’s Why You Should | SmallBizTechnology.com | 7.14.11

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“The best ideas most often come when you are away from the office. Without the pressure of responding to “every crisis,” the small business owner has time to reflect, which often leads to innovative approaches and solutions. Intuit reports vacationers experienced an 82-percent increase in productivity.”

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‘Independence’ away from business leads to innovation | InsideTusconBusiness.com | 7.8.11

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Certified Professional Organizer® and Family Manager Coach,  Ellen Delap, is back today to share tips for new small business owners.

I often meet with clients who are just starting their new small business.  Their business is something they are passionate about and have excellent client connections. However they need a boost and some basic organizing ideas to keep them on track administratively speaking.

1. Consolidate your contacts all in one place.

This can be the biggest challenge for my clients since their information might be on a business card, a post it note or in their phone. Choose a contact base that will you know well and can easily access. For most people this would be Outlook in the Office Suite or Gmail Contacts.  The biggest reason to consolidate this information is peace of mind. You will be able to look in one place and connect easily with your client.

2. Get control of your calendar.

When you start a business, the adage “time is money” is so true. How you spend your time is all about income in the beginning. Having a calendar that really works for you means that you can plan your week, see where you have time for “opportunities” and where you need to put more push into your week.  Be sure to be diligent about a weekly planning time to review your calendar too.

3.Get control of your task list.

Keeping tabs on tasks and ideas makes for great use of your time and customer relationships. Task managers on Outlook help you keep up to date. Or, if you are paper person, a simple spiral that you carry with you all the time can work, too.    Use technology with digital clouds like Dropbox and Evernote to help you capture ideas, ”carry” documents with you, and save space.

4. Keep track of your papers.

Creating a paper management system customized to your business needs will help you stay on top! Create a command center for your desk area with categories for action, pay, projects, and filing. For your car, create a system with the papers you need to meet clients. Have with you the papers you need to sign up a new client, sell a property or cosmetic, and take money to the bank. Be sure there is a spot for every paper you have.

5. Think about customer service.

Put processes in place to create consistency and great customer service. Think about the sequence of part of your business, write it out as a step by step plan, and then commit to it with a checklist. Once the process becomes routine, you are ready to go.

6. Other things to think about.

· Start off planning for an emergency. Use Carbonite to back up your computer!  Using Carbonite prevents the ultimate fail, loss of important data.

· Cultivate resources who can help you and you can help too. Being a team player can be the best of all, with help in areas that you are most challenged.  You can barter as well to get jobs done.

· Disorganization is costly and distracting.  Get started right off with a great plan and make it work for you.

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About the Author

Certified Professional Organizer ® and Family Manager Coach, Ellen Delap, is the owner of Professional-Organizer.com.  Since 2000, she has worked one-on-one with her clients in their home and offices, streamlining their environments, creating effective strategies for an organized lifestyle, and helping them to prioritize organization in their daily routines.  She holds ADD and Chronic Disorganization certificates and specializes in working with ADD and ADHD adults and students.  Ellen has been featured at The Woodlands (Texas) Home and Garden Show, on ABC13 Houston, in the Houston Chronicle, and is an Expert on The Clutter Diet, an online organizing resource.

Connect With Ellen: Twitter | Facebook | Web | E-Mail

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Jack of All Tech, Terrance Gaines, is back with his top tech picks that every business owner must have.

Before, a large portion of a business budget went to operating expenses and hiring outside help just to handle the tedious (and boring) day-to-day business operations. Although it’s still a good idea to consult with specialists to make sure the ship is running smoothly; today, technology makes starting and operating a business actually attainable…and fun with the right tech tools. So, below is a list of must-have tech for businesses.

Online Accounting

In addition to working with a bookkeeper/accountant, online accounting tools like Quickbooks, Outright and Indinero, make managing your income, expenses, budget and taxes simple and accessible from any computer with internet access. Many of these services, connect to your current online business banking/credit accounts to make categorizing transactions automated.

No matter how big or small your business is, once you create a profile, enter your business information and link your accounts, these services help you get your finances in order within minutes. They can even generate end-of-year reports that you can hand to your tax specialist that will help you get you in and out of your tax appointment and on your way.

Cloud Storage

If you’re already using online accounting/banking services (or using email for that matter) then guess what? You’re cloud computing, my friend. So, you might as well stop worrying about your data being safe and step up to housing some of your documents online as well.

Again, the major takeaway from cloud storage is the fact that you have access to your files anywhere you can find a computer with internet access. Depending on the size of online storage you choose, you can backup important documents, or work solely in the cloud.  Services like Dropbox, SugarSync, and Google Docs give users the ability to not only store files online; but to also edit, collaborate, and share your documents with other users or other devices.

Online Backup

The rule of thumb is that you should have the content on your computer backed up regularly and in multiple places.  I would suggest you back up your files up on a separate computer/hard drive, and somewhere in the cloud. The above services could work as backup services; but there are other services like Mozy and Carbonite that can handle the heavy lifting of backing up one or multiple computers/files in one shot.

Once you sign up and link your files or computers, these services will back up ALL of your documents, emails, videos, pictures either on request or automatically based on a schedule of your choosing.

Smartphone

I chose to list the above as must have tech for businesses because there is essentially no hardware involved. All you need is internet access, and you can manage your business from anywhere. So, to bring it home, any business owner needs access to their operations even if they are nowhere near a computer.

That’s why I suggest a smart phone as the only hardware that ANY business needs (Well, besides a regular computer…and a blue and black pen). All of the services listed above give users the ability to access its services via smart phone. Whether it be a mobile-friendly website, or native mobile app, with a high-powered smart phone, no emergency has to wait until you get in front of a computer.

You can open documents sent in their native format from an email, edit and share them via email using a combination of smart phone and mobile apps.  You can also access and share files stored/backed up in the cloud, and access your financial accounts, create and send invoices, and track time spent on projects. These little things can even swipe credit cards with the right gear.

So, there you have it. You don’t need to hire (and pay) a team of professionals to handle the many day-to-day activities of your business. With just internet access, the right online services, and your trusty, never-leave-home-without-it smart phone, you can run your business your way.

Check out Terrance’s other OTR article, Top 5 Reasons Your Company Should Embrace Technology.

About the Author

Terrance Gaines is a technology evangelist who empowers the lives of people through technology via my expertise with gadgets and consumer electronics. He’s a “Jack of All Tech” with his own technology consultant business (Tech Life Coach). He also posts daily technology commentary, tools, tips, news and reviews on his website, BrothaTech.com, in addition to writing for several tech-related online publications. He has also appeared on several tech radio shows and has presented at local technology events.

Connect With Terrance: Web | About.me | Twitter | LinkedIn | E-Mail

Our Thursday article is usually reserved for a guest blogger, and today we’re sharing a post from OTR friend, Rajeev Edmonds, from a year ago. Enjoy!

What makes a good business blog that brings more sales and authoritatively asserts your dominance in your domain? Well, here are some of the essential components that can make a successful business blog, provided they are followed and implemented in a correct manner.

Purpose : Why Blog?

Business blogs are made with a purpose that clearly underlines the primary goal for which they are made. They are governed by company policies that define their scope and objective. Depending on the requirements, a business blog can take any shape that may or may not look like a regular blog.

1. News and Announcements Outpost -A good percentage of business blogs falls under this category. They start as a normal blog and gradually mutates into a news and announcements platform with virtually no interaction with visitors. What a waste of time and money.

2. Hardcore Selling Counter - Blogs have the power to influence and change human minds. It’s a powerful tool if cleverly used, can help boost your sales exponentially. Some businesses use their official blog to aggressively promote and sell their products. They do it through extensive reviews and sales pitches driving prospects to the main website product’s sales landing pages.

Read the Entire Article

About the Author

Rajeev Edmonds is a Social Media Enthusiast who blogs about how to blog. A developer by profession, he started blogging in 2008. Rajeev is also a technical reviewer of books with subjects ranging from Web Developement, WordPress and Social Media.

Connect With Rajeev: Web | Twitter

OTR friend and  co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk, Nick Friedman, explains several ways entrepreneurs can hang on to their sanity.

As an entrepreneur, maintaining balance and sanity while setting, meeting and exceeding personal and professional goals can be astruggle. I have been fortunate enough to pick up a few simple rules and techniques that allow me to avoid fatigue and maintain my focus. Co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk, Omar Soliman and I recently published our first book, Effortless Entrepreneur, in which we illustrate the path we took to reach entrepreneurial success.

Entrepreneurship is an adventure that requires discipline, willpower and intelligence.  In our book, we describe 10 business commandments we followed that guided us during the 5 years we have spent developing College Hunks Hauling Junk.

Here are what I consider to be the top 5 keys  to maintaining my entrepreneurial sanity:

1.  Never sacrifice health, family or friendships for business reasons. Everyone should sign off on this before embarking on the wild voyage of entrepreneurship.  Entrepreneurs tend to stay “on the clock.”  Most stress comes from what we call “small business-itis”– feeling overwhelmed and inferior to other businesses — usually triggered by financial or operational issues.

2.  Mistakes are problems only if you don’t learn from them. Don’t set mistakes aside and hope they won’t happen again.  When something fails, we try to discover why, how we can prevent the mistake from being repeated, and anticipate similar issues that could arise.  Thomas Edison said of his failures, “I have not failed.  I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.”

“You can’t do it alone. Find exceptional people and put them in a position to succeed.”

3.  Create effective systems to keep your business on track and enable individuals to succeed. Many small-business owners don’t understand that people don’t fail.  It’s the system, or lack of a system, that causes failure.  The ideal business can take the least qualified employees and put them in positions to do the most productive work.

4.  Work ON the business from the outside, not IN it. A great entrepreneur builds systems to run the business as if it were a machine, and stands over it instead of being ground up in it’s gears.  A business owner grows the business.  A self-employed person works in the business to generate income.

5.  Develop staff, client, and community loyalty. To generate any sort of employee loyalty, a company culture must be created where employees feel smart, valued, and important.  A company culture is the heartbeat of any organization.  At College Hunks Hauling Junk, we believe our employees come first.  In addition, we believe in wowing clients.  You want to leave them marveling about the level of service your company delivered from start to finish.

I believe that habitually following even just one of these practices will radically transform your abillity to maintain balance and focus in your life, both personally and professionally.  Keep in mind that you can’t do it alone.  Find exceptional, intelligent and passionate people to fill your organization and put them in the position to succeed.

Then, you won’t have to barely keep your head above water, you’ll just float.

About the Author

Nick Friedman is the Founder and President College Hunks Hauling Junk.  He grew up in Potomac, MD  and attended Sidwell Friends High School. Nick, along with classmate and friend (now co-founder and CEO) Omar Soliman, had the idea for College Hunks Hauling Junk.  After college, Nick took a job as a research analyst with the International Monetary Fund.  Although he worked the business evenings and weekends, he soon found the office job mundane and within three months emailed Omar ready to pursue College Hunks Hauling Junk full-time.  What began as one beat up cargo van has turned into over 33 franchises across the US, a fleet of over 50 trucks, 30 corporate employees and over 100 employees system-wide.

Connect with Nick: Effortless Entrepreneur | Web | Twitter | Facebook | E-Mail

If you’re a business owner and feeling a bit intimidated by technology, you shouldn’t. Tech consultant, Terrance Gaines, explains why you should make nice with technology.

There is no way around it, technology is everywhere. You are affected by it in more ways than you can count on a daily basis. So instead of looking for reasons why you want to stay “off the grid”; you might as well accept all that technology has to offer. If you are looking to take your business to the next level, here are my top 5 reasons your business should embrace technology.

1.  Organization. I have a Google Apps account for my business because that gives me access to all of the Google Apps Marketplace services (Document management, Invoicing & Finances, Task/Project Management, Marketing, etc.) in one account. No longer do I need to switch back and forth from browser window to window, entering login after login just to create an invoice and send to a client. Google Apps enables me to utilize current online technology to organize just about every aspect of my business affairs…and as a result, make them less of a hassle.

2.  Efficiency. We all want to get things done fast but with quality. Adopting solid technology practices will allow you to cross tasks off your to-do list in an effective manner. Products like Producteev (web-based task management) allows you to not only create, view, assign roles and due dates and complete tasks as a person, but offers collaborative options that let you do all of the above with your group, team, or client for increased efficiency among all of the entities involved with your business.

3.  Flexibility. Multitasking using technology allows you to take on multiple tasks without being an expert at each and every task. With Financial software/services like Freshbooks, Outright, Expensify, etc. you can get a handle on your accounting tasks without being a registered C.P.A. That in turn could empower you to take on other tasks yourself, like using WordPress to create a professional website without being a web developer…a task that you would have delegated to a professional in the blink of an eye.

4.  Cost. The ability to take on tasks yourself can possibly add to your bottom-line as well. Additionally, there are many low-cost and even free services that enable small businesses to operate like a fortune 500 companies without all of the overhead. For example, most of the applications/services I list throughout this post have free services if you are a one-man (or woman) operation – Click the links if you don’t believe me. As your operation grows, most of these services allow users to gradually step into paid, but still very cost-effective plans without any long-term contracts.

5.  Awesomeness. Sometimes technology is just so cool. The ability to:

» Access your email, calendar, documents

»  Manage Projects & Track you time

» Collaborate with your team – Organize Expenses

» Pay for goods/services (and invoice clients to make your money back)

» Network with colleagues and market to potential customers/clients

…from your smartphone just plain ‘ol rocks! Mobile apps allow business owners to do just about ALL of the tasks I’ve listed above in minutes from a smartphone. The ability to manage your business on the go with missing a beat is the ultimate in ‘tech sexiness’ (Remind me file to trademark that phrase).

As with anything, technology should also be used in moderation. Try one gadget, application, or service. If it works, try to adopt something else. Don’t jump face first into the shallow end of technology. Ask for help, confer with your colleagues (shameless plug), and do the research beforehand. If embraced right, technology can only aid you and your business.

*Be sure to back up your data…’cause data loss can happen to you too!*

About the Author

Terrance Gaines is a technology evangelist who empowers the lives of people through technology via my expertise with gadgets and consumer electronics. He’s a “Jack of All Tech” with his own technology consultant business (Tech Life Coach). He also posts daily technology commentary, tools, tips, news and reviews on his website, BrothaTech.com, in addition to writing for several tech-related online publications. He has also appeared on several tech radio shows and has presented at local technology events.

Connect With Terrance: Web | About.me | Twitter | LinkedIn | E-Mail