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Rhonda Abrams, Travel Blog Series: Smart Small Business Travel

September 3, 2014
Increase Your Return-on-Travel on Your Very Next Trip

This blog post first appeared on 06/30/14 on Visa Business

To increase orders from your current customers and find new clients, plan a business trip. Travel, an important tool in your small-business tool kit, is an investment in growing and sustaining your business. And as with any investment, you want to get the highest return—in this case, your return on travel.

Businesses get an average return of $9.50 for every travel dollar they spend, according to a study the U.S. Travel Association sponsored, which Oxford Economics conducted. And it’s clear why business travel makes sense.

In-person interactions close sales and deepen relationships.  (more…)

3 Things You Need to Do When Choosing Technology for Your Business

September 2, 2014

As an SMB owner, you want to maximize the investments you’ve made in your business. You want to get more done in less time. And you want to ensure you’re communicating effectively with customers and employees. The right technology can help you do both. Here are three ways you can ensure you’re making the right technology decisions for your business.

1. Know that “free” often comes at a cost. The old saying is true: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Saving money in any way possible is a top priority for most small business owners, but when it comes to choosing technology, it pays to think through the downsides of free solutions before they end up costing your business in the form of frustration and lost productivity. A free software program may have some of the features you need, but getting it to integrate with separate business applications can be a huge challenge.

“Free” also often means you won’t have access to tech support when something does go wrong, and you’ll be on your own to learn the ins and outs of the technology as well. If you want to learn how to use a solution, and get professional help integrating it with other applications and fixing issues when they arise, a sound alternative to free is to pay a reasonable monthly or annual subscription for cloud solutions.  (more…)

Success Story: Iowa

September 1, 2014

Dina Stroud Faith owns The Best of Floyd County Hometown Value Magazine, an advertising magazine coming out in August 2014 that focuses on local businesses and activities in Floyd County, Indiana. The local publication will be sent to higher income Floyd County residents only.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Dina started her direct mail career 25 years ago,spending the first 10 years selling advertising for Val-Pak.  Dina has also sold advertising for a couple of local direct mail coupon magazines and has spent eight years selling database-driven and targeted solo direct mail products to businesses on a national level.

When asked why she chose this business to get involved in, Dina answered, “I’ve enjoyed all of the products I’ve sold, but there was always “something I would fix” about each program, so I decided I would take the best that each product had to offer, include some added value aspects, and create what I think is the best possible product for local businesses to reach the consumers in the local area.”

Dina’s mission for her business is to provide a high quality, affordable direct mail magazine for local businesses to market their brand, products and services to residents of the local community while apportioning proceeds back to a community development, educational or charitable organization.  (more…)

Success Story: Alaska

August 27, 2014

“Although I’ve been a small business owner for 20 years, since I began working with the SBDC my confidence and knowledge as an informed owner has increased” – Cover Ups owner, Teresa Roy.

Roy began Cover Ups out of her home twenty years ago as a custom drapery fabricator. Her business grew and in 2000 she opened a retail location in Palmer and expanded her offerings to include unique refurbished furniture.

In 2012, Cover Ups was awarded “Small Business of the Year” by the Alaska Chamber of Commerce. Last year, Roy was accepted by Costco as a window coverings vendor which has caused business to increase exponentially. (more…)

3 Ideas to Help Turn Social Media Engagement Into Profit

August 26, 2014

If you are like many small businesses, then you’ve already begun to integrate social media activities into your marketing efforts. But marketing on social media and driving results through social media do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. It’s entirely possible to grow an active following online- with lots of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, email subscribers, and even good reviews on Yelp- without seeing an increase in your businesses’ profits. When this happens, I often advise businesses to take a step back to make sure they are adhering to the most important elements turning social engagement into action:

Focus your messages

You may offer a lot of products and services, but if you focus on your differentiation you’ll be able to demonstrate your expertise and dominate a market segment. For example, a retailer specializing in tennis gear can show customers how to use the latest equipment, offer tennis classes, and write about topics such as “what to look for when buying new tennis sneakers.” These actions will draw in customers looking for specific equipment and, while they’re shopping, they’ll discover other products and services offered by the retailer.  (more…)