1.)   What is the end goal?

You cannot plan a journey if you do not know the destination, and what many people do when they have an idea is make an attempt to start from the beginning and work their way to the end. Whilst this is possible, what is more possible is to start at the end (which is probably how your idea came to you: fully formed and alive) and then plot your way towards it once you have it written down. You can work this out in many ways, however one easy way is to take a sheet of A4 paper, and write your end goal at the top. Now, working from the bottom of the paper, plot all of the steps you need to take to get to the top of the page. Working always with your end goal in mind is a good way to start because it will help you stay focused on what you are planning which is important, otherwise you will end up modifying your idea all of the way through until part one, part three and part six of your overall plan are all about different things thanks to constant idea modification.

2.)   How will it profit?

Once you have your idea and a short plan, the next most important factor is how to make your plan into a viable business, and that means deciding how this will make money. Although before an idea is realized there is no money, it is very important to think ahead about the market place and the costs and rewards involved in the arena that you are about to enter as this will be a major framework for your planning.

3.)   How will you take your idea to market?

It doesn’t matter how wonderful the idea is if no one knows about it, and for this reason how you will market your idea will be key. This part of your planning is not really about budget, as even a massive budget can be wasted on poor marketing. This is also not about becoming the number one in your field. When you are planning your business, the most important factor is to profit and then grow and so if you can handle that part, then you are on the route to success. Planning for a global takeover is great, but not very useful when you are trying to get started.

Ben is a business expert and writes for Oracle Finance. He loves helping people get their start ups off the ground and is always happy to help.

The post Planning Your New Business Idea appeared first on Soloville: Soloists & Freelancers Thinking Big!.

When taking on a new project at your business or your home, it’s important that you know when to ask for help. Being a do-it-yourselfer is great, but there are times when it would be much more cost effective to hire someone to get the work done for you, or at the very least, to help with certain aspects. This way, every project can be done correctly the first time. High productivity and quick fixes means more time you can spend enjoying the end result.

Construction Works: Building Up to Code

When people picture construction workers, they typically think of a man or woman walking around in a hardhat, carrying large pieces of wood. While probably best known for the work they do creating buildings from the ground up, a construction worker will typically work through any type of weather, making sure your property is not only up to local code standards but that the job is done right. Their work is extremely demanding, hence why it may be best to allow them to take on those heights and heavy lifting. They are specifically trained to do those sorts of tasks and come prepared with all the tools and safety gear needed for the job, so you don’t have to stress. Need someone to build a new room in your home or add a new roof? They can get all of that, framing and drywall complete – piece of cake.

Surveyors: Getting Up Close and Personal with Specifics

Surveying is one of the world’s oldest professions, so it’s surprising to hear just how many individuals don’t know what a surveyor does. There are a wide range of different surveyors out there, but in this case, let’s focus on building surveyors. These trained professionals work directly with construction crews to help plan out a building’s structure. Surveyors specialize in calculating property lines, keeping up with safety, and many work directly with maintaining old buildings. Surveyors are specially trained in the legal aspects to jobs surrounding businesses, the government and can even be hired to help homeowners. They know information technology inside and out. Having a surveyor on the job is a great way to make sure that construction workers are keeping up to the ever-changing laws and regulations in your area. It never hurts to have a few extra eyes on the same task.

Electricians: Creating the Right Amount of Energy

Whether you’re looking to make a change in your home’s electrical wiring or on the lookout for additional solutions for your lighting needs at your new restaurant, an electrician can get the job done for you. Electricians know everything there is to know about the safety and guidelines surrounding any energy tasks you may be curious about. Sometimes it takes that trained eye to come up with a solution that is going to be most effective to your building’s unique design.

Making Sure You Have Reliable Plumbing

There are many plumbing jobs that can be taken on solo, but if you’re looking to install new pipes or having a hard time finding the source of that leak, it may be time to call a plumber. There are a large number of trained plumbers out there and many companies that offer services for problems including: increasing or lowering your water pressure, finding the cause of water back-up or replacing your outdated water heater. If opening up a new business, it never hurts to have a plumber come out and verify that everything is in tip-top shape. This way, it will be smooth sailing for you and your customers once your grand opening arrives.

Protect Yourself, Protect Your Money

If you’ve never hired anyone to work on your property or help with your business, then there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, you never want to hire the first person or company you come across. Do yourself a favor and look around for a bit. Give yourself the luxury of checking out a few different options to get the best price. Not only is price important to take into account, but so is professionalism. Can you trust the individual(s) you’re choosing to hire? How is their track record? Ask to see examples of their work and proof that they are licensed and educated to do what you’re asking them to do. It’s always better to be safe than sorry in situations like this because having the project complete the first go-’round is much nicer than needing to hire a second person to clean up a mess someone else has made.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Tedd Benson is a Surveyor in Melbourne and works for Vekta. His job is an interesting one, because he gets to meet various people and understand different point of views. He has worked on several government backed projects for his firm and has gained tremendous knowledge about myriad issues. He also shares some of these vital tips and insights on his blog.

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Social media; a quick guide

Social media may not cost you money, but it will cost your business valuable time. It’s important to ask yourself two main questions before doing anything:

1. Where do my customers hang out online?
2. Do I have the resources to create engaging content and manage a community here every day?

Here are some of the main platforms to choose from:

• LinkedIn

If you mostly sell to other businesses, set up a company profile on LinkedIn, get all your staff to set up individual profiles and participate in group discussions. It’s a great way to network and carve out your niche area of expertise.

• Twitter

Twitter is great for B2B and B2C companies and can help you reach influential people in your industry instantly and drive traffic to your website

• Facebook

Facebook lends itself better to the B2C realm. A Facebook page should never stand in for a website (Facebook owns it and could shut it down at any point for many numbers of reasons), but it can build an online community who are engaged with your brand.

• Pinterest

Pinterest is essentially an online scrapbook where you can ‘pin’ things to your board that you find online (like new product photos, for example). Other people can repin your photo or ‘like’ it, much like on Facebook.

Pinterest would suit a business that sells something that would lend itself to being photographed – the latest outfits from a clothing retailer or new dishes from a restaurant, for example.

• YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine and can be a powerful platform –  if you have the budget and resources to create the content. Setting up your account is the easy bit, but creating truly engaging video content and getting people to see it is the hard part.

• Google+

Google has been known to give websites with more +1s through Google+ a higher search engine ranking and is increasing looking at the authority of blog authors with a Google+ profile.

It’s worth setting up a Google+ profile for your chief bloggers and a Google+ business page, even if it’s only to rank highly in Google’s results.

Top tip: Even if you can’t be on all of the above, you can still add social sharing buttons to your website so people can share your content through their own profiles.

Which blogging platform?

Having a blog is crucial to drive traffic to your website by pleasing Google with quality, fresh content and engaging with your customers.

A favourite for corporate blogs, WordPress.org has customisable templates, lots of ready-made plugins and has been given the green light from Matt Cutts (Google’s premier authority) on how they rank websites.

Top tip: Be sure to go for WordPress.org, which you host through your website and is more geared up to host blogs with a commercial purpose.

Websites

If you’re just flirting with the idea of selling online, you could start off by selling your products on Etsy (which is best for handmade or vintage products) or eBay, which have limited or no set-up costs.

However, bear in mind you can’t really customise the look and feel of your page, and your customers could be lured away to other similar suppliers just as they’re about to click ‘buy’.

When you do decide to make the leap to a full website, these are the things to look for:

• A user-friendly content management system
• Built-in search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Lots of pages for your products and multiple, secure payment facilities if you’re an e-commerce business
• Easily customisable online templates so you save on professional design costs until you’ve started to make money
• Widgets to make it easy to imbed your social media content and keep your site updated

Top tip: Consider how you’re going to power your electricity needs once you’re up and running. Npower’s small business electricity team can help with quotes and advice.

Mobile considerations

By the end of 2014, more people will search for things on a smartphone than a desktop computer. So when you come to design your website, you have to consider how it will look on a smartphone or tablet.

Top tip: The biggest design trend for mobile sites is something called responsive design, which automatically loads the optimal version of a website to suit the device it’s being used on.

Are you finding it hard to decide which platform is right for you? Tell us about your experiences – good and bad.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Jakub works for a digital marketing agency and provided his best advice on different website platforms and social media for business. This guest blog has been written for npower.

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Increase Market Share by Building Better Relationships

How do you get customers of other brands to try out your products? You can start by building relationships with those clients. You can introduce your brand to them and hope that they will be impressed enough with your presentation to actually buy from you. You can also give them samples of your products to try. These are all common tricks but to really win over serious customers, you have to play the game differently.

First, you must stay on top of trends. Be the first to spot them. Innovation is your best friend. Be observant. What’s on TV? What’s the news in the local papers and in the Internet all about? What are your friends, neighbors, children talking about? And the most important thing? Technology.  What’s the latest breakthrough or invention? What’s the latest app or latest social network? What’s the latest gadget? You can gain valuable information from each of these sources that might give you the leverage to beat your competitors.

Lazy businesses will definitely lose customers and those customers will start to look for another provider. This is where you step in. You need ultra fast customer service. Getting back to your customer’s queries within 24 hours seems a bit too long in this age. If you have Twitter or Facebook, tell your customers that they can ask questions, leave comments or inquire through those social media then answer them quickly.

Observe your competitor’s response time and be faster. Customers tend to be loyal to those companies who can fix their problems right now. Being able to respond fast to your customers’ needs is one way of standing out in the industry.

Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for their ideas. Listen to their comments. You might spot the next big thing in one of those ideas. Keep an open line of communication so that they know how to reach you.

Watch out for competitors that are closing their businesses. You can buy their customer list from them. If you can, make some conversation and inquire a few things about their customers. Ask why they are closing down. You might learn a thing or two.

Be flexible. In this age, you can’t afford to say you’re on holiday anymore. If you are going on a vacation, make sure that there is someone to take over while you are gone. Customers don’t like to hear excuses no matter how valid they are. If your staff really, really, really needs to reach you, answer their call or emails. There must be something very important that needs your attention. If you’re an entrepreneur, you know that your work day does not end at 5 and weekends are non-existent.

Never stop increasing your market share. Strategize to win new customers every day.

Hi, my name is Jeremy Kho. I am a blogger interested in different topics but I mainly write about business and technology. I have different websites and one of them is about order fulfillment.

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1.    Make a good first impression. If you make a mistake with your first sale to a customer, there likely won’t be a second. For new customers, deal with even the smallest details as professionally as possible. Correspondence should be done formally, with personalized greetings and clear-spoken phone manners at all time. Keep customers informed from purchase to delivery, and contact them afterward to ensure they’re satisfied with your product.

2.    File important customer information. It sounds like common sense, but you would be shocked to see the number of firms that don’t keep accurate sales records. Create a file for each customer, to include their name, contact information and mailing address, a record of what they’ve bought and a listing of any feedback they’ve given. If you have a larger online business, consider purchasing CRM (customer relationship management) software. It can be pricey, but it will facilitate the process of creating permanent records for your customers.

3.    Keep in touch. Sending out email, phone and SMS alerts can be effective, but sending them too often can be seen as annoying or invasive. If you’re going to send sales pitches, make sure you blend them with value-added, relevant information. Ask them for their opinion of their original purchase, or simply inquire as to how they’re doing.

4.    Consider offering some specials. If you offer your current customers a 30% discount or a buy-one-get-one promotion, you’re showing them (and the entire world) that you appreciate your business. You could also consider offering a free trial of new products to your existing customer base; even if they don’t buy it, they’ll appreciate the thought.

5. Add some personal touches. There are a variety of ways you can show your customers just how much their business means to you. It can go as far as sending a small gift like chocolates or flowers, or it can be as simple as ensuring that each order is sent out with proper and sturdy packaging.

6.    Increase your online presence. Even if your website is top-tier, you should think about how you can improve it. For instance, you can create a user forum, an online newsletter, or offer customers the chance to post links to their websites.Don’t forget about social media—add customers as Facebook friends or follow them on Twitter.

Even if you have a large and loyal customer base, you should never rest on your laurels. Keep a close watch on your competition—from their pricing structure to the products they offer—because customers will always leave if they can find a better or more cost-effective product somewhere else.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source

This article was written by Crispin Jones on behalf of UK Packaging, packaging experts. Find out more about packaging on their site.

Photo: espensorvik

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Products and Services

The reason why your business may be struggling can be down to the products and services that you have on offer. If you have nothing different to offer compared to your competitors then you will find that all your customers may use your competitors instead. You should consider brainstorming a new product or service line; if you do come up with something that will work and make your business grow and be better, then you may want to consider investing in this product and begin selling it in your business.

Marketing

Your business may be failing due to the lack of customers you have. You should employ a good marketing scheme to your business so that you can get a good number of potential customers. You should make sure that you have many different offers on in your store/business so you can attract different customers to come in and buy your products and services.

Website

It is essential that no matter what your business is selling that it has a website. Everyone in this day and age uses the internet and understands how to use it and will use it to find services they need. If your business is not located on the internet, then all your potential customers are not going to know that you exist, so you will be losing a lot of business. You don’t need a big massive website with all your products on; all you need is a web page letting your potential customers know that you are here.

Deliver

There are many ways that you can begin to expand your business making it more profitable, you may want to consider bringing your products and services to your customer’s front door. You can use top rated freight companies for them to deliver your products; this will open a whole new lot of potential customers.

Service

The one thing that can make your business different to your competitors is the service which you provide. Not only do your customers want a good product, they will also go shopping for a great experience. If you provide a fabulous experience then they are likely to come back and want more.

Melissa owns her own business and knows how important it is to keep her customers happy. She has started a delivery service using a top rated freight company, for more information, go to http://www.ccfreight.com

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If you look at the way that a B2B business operates you will notice that at least 90% of their communications or marketing budget is put into enhancing the business image that they already have or trying to generate sales. Only a very limited amount of the budget is then left to allow them to focus on the leads and customers that they have already secured.

Something is wrong with this dynamic. There is a simple way of increasing sales without having to spend more of the budget on it, all that they need to do is focus more of their attention on the information and leads that they have already accumulated. This should be done before any further money is spent on the generation of new leads. There is a database there already or warm leads that simple need following up and a little lead nurturing.

Increase B2B Sales Using Previous Campaigns

What is the point of throwing money away by collecting leads and letting them go cold, and then spending even more money on a follow up campaign which may very well result in some of the old leads being brought up again?

B2B businesses need to look at the information that they already have, the files that have been sat on and not processed, the leads that at one time were probably hot that have now cooled to a lukewarm simply because no one has ever had the foresight to follow them up and convert them into sales.

They need to remember the reason that they are holding this information is because at some point in the past these people expressed an interest in the company and were happy for you to follow up this interest with further communication. They may not have been willing to commit to making a purchase back then but they may very well be now. If they are ready to make a purchase and you don’t follow them up then you will more than likely lose their business to one of your competitors.

Implementing the Program into Your B2b Marketing Program

Imagine being able to increase B2B sales by upwards of 40% without having to make a huge financial outlay. Take your usual budget for communications and marketing and do what you normally do with it, only make it more target specific and less generalized. This will cover things like trade shows, PR work, direct mailing and all other forms of lead generation.

With the money that has been saved by running a targeted program rather than a generalized one, invest this money into building relationships with warm leads and existing customers in order to build more sales, this way you are working with leads that are already known prospects, it’s not like you are having to start from scratch. What you are doing is nurturing the client base that you already have so that you can work on building loyalty over time. Make sure that you maintain a line of communication with the prospects between events so that your business is always at the forefront of their minds.

Mark Adams is an expert author and speaker on the subject of B2B advertising and marketing – he regularly visits Sure2Door for more information on all aspects of B2B marketing.

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Finding Startup Employees by Using Your Staff

Current employees can be a great resource, since almost everyone knows a person who needs a job, or one who is looking to secure better employment. Your current staff will also be unlikely to give you bad advice, since they will have to work with and possibly train the new employee. Furthermore, because your employees already have a keen sense of your corporate culture, they’ll have a good idea of a potential employee’s chances of success.

Finding Employees Online Using Craigslist

When it comes to finding employees online, small, medium and even some large employers love Craigslist. Listings are inexpensive or even free in some locations, they appear almost instantaneously, and you can use a blind email address so no one will know your company name. Anyone who does post job openings online knows, however, that the volume of responses can be overwhelming. Some top executive recruiters report that a Craigslist posting will yield over 50 resumes in the first five minutes and up to even 500 responses within a few days. If you do try Craigslist, be ready to sift through lots of information.

Online Job Boards

Sites like CareerBuilder and Monster calculate your posting costs by zip code. Although many feel that these sites are more upscale than Craigslist, these job boards may present you with equal challenges, as companies often report a huge spike in resumes after the initial post. Also, since these are national services, you may see lots of applicants from far-away geographical areas.

Local Colleges, Universities and Trade Schools

Local schools are an excellent place for your posting, and their employment counselors will be happy to help you compose it. If your position requires less-experienced entry-level help, this can be a good place to start. If you’re looking for a highly specialized hire, follow the lead of executive recruiters and look to outstanding out-of-state educational institutions.

If you have tried some of the above methods and you still haven’t found the proper candidate, you should consider the professional services of a quality employment search firm. These top executive recruiters will speak with you about your needs, identify the exact qualities you’re looking for, and do a national search to find the person that best fits your criteria. Of course, you’ll have to pay for this service, but much time and effort will be saved since your only job will be to interview pre-screened and highly qualified candidates.

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Twitter is essentially a small form of blogging. It allows you to post brief updates or pictures, links to longer articles, or to communicate with other Twitter users. It’s all about building a community of “followers”. You can “follow” anyone you want and anyone can “follow” you on Twitter. It’s not just about having a lot of followers however. Company’s need to realize that in order to be successful on Twitter they need to create a distinct image and voice.

Here are some tips to keep in mind as you start using Twitter.

Profile

The Twitter profile allows for a brief bio. This is where you will essentially be pitching your company to potential customers. Because there is a very limited amount of space, don’t try to include everything about the company here. People likely aren’t interested in the minute details. Instead think of something catchy and unique that will make viewers want to learn more.

Also keep in mind the profile picture. You want something that people will remember, because it will show up next to every one of your tweets on people’s feed. The page background (which you can customize) can also send a message about who you are.

Have fun with your followers

Some of the most followed tweeters are people that simply tweet about funny ever-day experiences. Although people use Twitter for information or news updates, they also want to be entertained. Twitter users usually follow hundreds of companies, people, news sources, etc. As they are scrolling through their news feed they’ll likely skim past things that don’t grab their attention. A little use of comedy will do wonders.

Another example of how Twitter is a great tool for a business is the way many food trucks use it to tell their followers where they will be each day. By doing this, they create a demand, or even a cult following of people who will go through this Twitter treasure hunt just to find their favorite food. If you don’t have this type of business, many brick-and-mortar stores use it to tweet to their followers any special deals or discounts being offered on any given day. The key is to get creative, and wow your followers.

Dynamics

There are several other tools on Twitter that will help you reach a maximum amount of people. One is the hashtag. Including popular or trending hashtags will help people find you. Remember to not over tweet. If you are popping up on people’s news feeds every five minutes, they’re going to be annoyed. Also try to not to constantly spam people with deals. Followers don’t want to feel like they are constantly being sold something.

Try to engage in conversations with your followers. The “mention” and “reply” features of Twitter allow you to communicate. Tell people to respond or re-tweet something directly in your messages. Everyone loves to be re-tweeted. When people say something good about your company respond and thank them. It will make them feel like you care about their opinion.

Remember that to be successful in something it’s always helpful to learn from the best. Find people with a lot of followers and watch what they do. To get you started here is a list of the most followed companies on Twitter. Success on Twitter is very much about having a voice. Twitter can be a means to show people that you are human, and not just a programmed machine.

Author Bio: Rick Delgado is a freelance writer specializing in technology innovations and social media trends. Rick is currently acting as a social media consultant to companies like Vivint. You can follow their Twitter feed here.

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Communications must be effective, clear, and relevant to establishing lasting customer relationships. It is the key to branding, meeting compliance, lower customer care costs, and customer retention.

Businesses can gain market insights and business intelligence in three key areas: 1) customer loyalty, 2) customer satisfaction, and 3) market trends.

1. Customer Loyalty

Businesses need to learn about their customers’ likes and dislikes. Research and development understands what brings a customer back repeatedly. Even if a loyal customer has an occasional unpleasant experience with your service or product, because they have ties with you, they return to you.

2. Customer Satisfaction

Empathizing and listening to customers creates a foundation for customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction signifies that customers do not have outstanding negative issues because a company listens and follows through on solutions.

3. Market Trends

Regular, effective communication helps you understand what drives customer loyalty and satisfaction. Well-informed business owners use customers’ opinions and ideas to gleam pattern and trends to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Companies need to have an effective system of customer communication in place to be a collected occur useful data about their customer and market.

Customer Communication Tools

Many firms use a Web-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track customer communications.The CRM system combined with the various tools a company employs to communicate with it customers, including videos, Smartphones, tablets, email marketing, and social media.

Many businesses send out emails on a regular basis to stay in contact with their customers. Email serves as an effective and free marketing and customer relations tool that also keeps your logo and brand before in the minds of your customers.

The proliferation of social media and mobile devices has made it critical for businesses to formulate strategies specifically to take advantage of these real-time technologies to enhance customer communications. More companies understand the need to assign staff  to communicate with customers and provide solutions to customer issues.

Outsourcing Customer Communications

Many organizations outsource customer communication for sales and technical support. Increasingly, more professionals, start-up businesses, established enterprises, and large-scale corporations depend on customized outsourced personnel to manage their entire business communication operations.

The outsource company operates as an extension of your business and handles all aspects of customer communications. Outsourcing allows you to put your company customer communication function in the hands of a reliable call center service. This allows business owners to focus its resources on core business.

For more business-related writing by Jillian Johnson follow her @MissWritey.

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