Mashable interviewed some consumers and searched around the net to find out a pretty good DOs/DON’Ts list for brands on Twitter

A lot of businesses are starting to jump onto the Twitter bandwagon while others are too nervous to even give it a try for lack of time or simply not knowing how to utilize the tool.

If your business or brand is already on Twitter, is it getting you the results you were after? Are you losing more followers than gaining them? Is the voice you are giving the online presence the right voice?

The following link might help you out. It’s a great short read, and I urge all businesses, big or small, to read this and take notes. Your twitter friends will thank you for it!

CLICK HERE TO READ MASHABLE’S: 10 Dos and Don’ts for Brands on Twitter

Every day I am asked “How can I be sure SEO will work for my business?” and “Is it worth it to pay to have someone transform my copy into SEO for my blogs and websites?” Well this L I N K, or rather the blog on the other end, will explain it all. Learn exactly how the web works and what SEO means to your business.

Hope you like it, share it and learn from it!

Reza Zargari

Have a good plan for your business -Part 4

Planning for a good business location

Avoid the fatal mistake of a bad location

Some years back, when I was opening my first business, I made the near lethal error of leasing a business location without a plan. All I planed for was how much I felt I wanted to pay in rent and who would be my realtor.

Once I got in the location I had to do three times the amount of marketing necessary just to contend with the competition. I spent more on marketing than I would have spent on the extra rent of a better spot on the street I was on.

But you live and you learn so here are some things I learned that I hope you can make use of.

Understanding and matching your needs with a business location.

When planning for a new location keep in mind your business specifications.
• Will you need a warehouse, store front, office…?
• Do the clients come to your location?
• Are your clients upscale or bargain bin (rich or poor)?
• How much space will you need?
• Based on projections, how much income do you expect this location to make?
• Will you need to renovate?
• How much are you prepared to spend for renovation?

Targeting cities for your business

If the clients never come in to see your location, I think it’s ok to get a location that’s as inexpensive as possible. Cut out all extravagant expenditures to save on overhead and start up/renovation costs.

Just don’t skimp on safety, or peace of mind. Make sure you and your staff can be comfortable working there.

If you are a store front selling to the local market, the locals must make the type of income necessary to purchase your products. You’ll sell more authentic Luis Vuitton items in Beverly Hills than you might in Compton.

Some cities have areas specifically for certain types of businesses which can help cut at very least marketing costs.

Take for instance a city with a farmers market or two. A produce company will get exposure to hundreds, if not thousands, of people and for much less in rent than opening a small market near a residential area.

However you should always keep your business mission in mind. In the example of the produce company imagine they want to sell upscale food without the haggling customers associated with farmers markets. Well they’d have to get their own store, in a very specific city or part of town, to target a particular market and income level.

Note that it is always a good idea to visit any prospective locations and spend some time there. Find out if the businesses nearby are beneficial to your company. It’s also a good idea to talk to the neighbors and see what they are like. What they have to say about their experience in the area can save you time on research.

If you want to be even more sure the location gets the type of traffic you’re looking for go there at different times of the day for one week and count traffic.

Once you have decided on the area, size, and amenities of a location find out the going lease rates or property values (and interest rates) if you plan to purchase.

Try and understand what will be included or excluded in your lease agreement. Will the lease include triple net payments? If not what services (like trash or maintenance) will be covered by the Landlord and what is the tenant expected to cover.

Once you get the numbers mapped out, make your cost projections. Include projected utility and finance costs along with regular expected maintenance costs.

Now you’re ready to write out a strong plan that will land you the location your business needs. You now know the “who, what and how much” of the location. The next step is to call a good realtor or agent.

If you need help finding a good business real estate agent don’t hesitate to email us for guidance. We have some excellent resources that may help you get your dream location.

As for the rest of my lovely readers out there in blog-land, we’d love to hear from. Contact us with any questions or concerns regarding today’s topic.

Best of luck on your business endeavors.

Planning for your products, services, and Intellectual property

In our last entry we started the Organizational Plan section of your business plan. Your assignment was to develop your Business Summary.

Hopefully you now have a good grasp on what your company is, what it does well, and a basic strategy on how you are going to reach your goals.

Today we will begin discussing specific sections of your business to help you develop a strong in-depth organizational plan.

Describing your products and services for a business plan

There are three main categories your business can fall under:
• Distributor (wholesaler) / manufacturer
• Retailer / e-tailor
• Service provider

Manufacturing

As a manufacturer you will need to describe the process of creating the product and explain whether you will need to employ the work of humans, machines, or a combination. Explain the parts that will play in manufacturing your product.

Elaborate on the process including materials you will use, how many steps are involved, how long it takes to manufacture the product, and the amounts you wish to produce.

Don’t forget to describe how you will be getting the materials and machines needed for manufacturing. Find out how available those materials are to you and if the material needs to be shipped to you; figure out the costs and turnaround time.

Retailing/e-tailing

As a retailer you will most likely sell a variety of products so it is important to get organized. Make a list of the products you plan to sell. Describe their usefulness and the specific target markets they are sold to.

Decide on and list any vendors and distributors you plan to use. Once you have chosen the right vendors explain how the products will be shipped to you.

Does the company deliver the product ala drop shipping? Do you have to or want to handle picking up the product? How much will it cost to get the product to you?

Make an analysis describing the way you will handle your inventory. Decide when you plan to refill stock, and the amount of specific products you will need for your inventory.

Find out your wholesale costs for each product then decide on your mark up.

Lastly, if it is your job to ship the products, explain how the customer will buy the product. Will they buy in-store or online?

What will you charge for shipping? How long will it take to ship to the customer? Will you make overnight delivery available?

Providing services

If you provide a service or an entire selection of services, this section is extremely important because as a service provider you will use much of the information you write here in your procedures. Try to be as detailed as you can.

First, list the services you will provide to the customer. Describe how clients receive the service as well as how long these services will take to be distributed.

Second, explain the process that you and your staff must undertake to issue the service to your clients. Describe the amount of staff needed to perform these services.

Third, describe the payment process; for instance, do you offer continuous service with recurring fees? Or perhaps the client pays before or after the job has been started, half now half later, etc…

Developing intellectual property

Mo matter what type of business you are in you must develop and protect any ideas specific to your company using copyrights, patents, fictitious business names, logos, trademarks and procedures.

Unfortunately, the world will live in isn’t perfect and there are some people out there who would like to take advantage of companies through frivolous lawsuits.

Make sure you protect yourself by registering any intellectual property to the right government agencies. Another option, if you are not sure where to register your intellectual property would be to get legal advice from an attorney.

Make sure you get and keep all supporting documents in an easy to locate reference file cabinet. You never know when you might need them.

Please feel free to email us with any questions you may have on this section or contact Assurance Advertising for a consultation.

Join us next time when we talk about location, location, location.
]]> http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/01/07/make-sure-you-have-a-good-plan-for-your-business-part-3/feed/ 0 http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/01/04/five-reasons-why-businesses-fail-free-e-book-courtesy-of-assurance-advertising/ http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2010/01/04/five-reasons-why-businesses-fail-free-e-book-courtesy-of-assurance-advertising/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:26:09 +0000 admin http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/?p=293 This presentation accompanied our free 2009 classes. You can now download the entire high-quality presentation as an ebook by SAVING THE EBOOK FROM THIS LINK (right click on PCs):

Five Reasons Why Businesses Fail – CLICK HERE AND CHOOSE “SAVE AS” TO GET THIS FREE EBOOK!

———————————————

You can also watch the presentation at a lower quality without having to download anything here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxPl_xRgVOE

See previous promo video here

Fun Business Expo for Las Vegas Locals

The reason I attended this specific event was to help introduce the brand new Las Vegas branch of Assurance Advertising to some of the local businesses. I expected the usual boring business expo. You know, slow paced and millions of the same types of businesses. But I actually ended up having a blast!

The doors opened to the LV Chamber Expo at 12:00 on Wednesday the 24th of June, and as I walked into the Las Vegas Convention center I could instantly feel the energy radiating from its 200 exhibitors and thousands of attendees.

There were so many great resources to be connected with and tons of innovative new businesses to investigate. Technologies for clean power, video and radio resources, lots of food (including Gudfud’s amazing Hello Kitty-style packaging of jelly filled marshmallows!), and I even got to see the photographer Adam Shane’s breathtaking portfolio.

If there’s one thing to be said about the current day and age and our economy, it’s that we seem (at least in this instance) to be pushing ourselves to use new ideas, cutting-edge technologies and community networking to stimulate business and get sales. There is definitely a transformation happening in business right now, and it’s fantastic!

All in all, it was great to see businesses sporting “can do” attitudes and great new products. Not to mention the amazing job the Chamber did to promote for its members.

Bravo Las Vegas! I hope I get to visit again next year.

Reza Zargari

]]> http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2009/07/02/2009-lv-business-expo-review/feed/ 0