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Should Your Family Fund Your Business?

March 20, 2013

As families gather for the holidays, entrepreneurs might consider approaching family members for money to help fund and grow their business.

But is family funding a good idea?

Maybe.

Considerations include the amount of money involved, how involved the family members will be in the business, and the personal relationships between the borrowers and lenders.

Advantages of Family Investors

– They are not likely to conduct background checks or review credit scores.
– Relatives will do you a favor, banks and other professional lenders will not.
– Loans are often made at no interest. (more…)

Why Having (and Growing) an Email Contact List Matters

March 13, 2013

One of the most daunting tasks for small businesses getting started with email marketing is often tied to creating and growing a contact list  After all, getting started with email marketing is about a lot more than just creating and sending marketing emails.

It’s about a fundamental shift in the way a business approaches its marketing. It’s about taking control of your message and delivering it to an audience of people who can make a measurable impact on your business’ bottom line.

By creating and growing an email contact list, you’ll be able to take control of your message and communicate with your audience on your own terms. You’ll be giving the people who are actually interested in attending your events, buying your products, or signing up for services the ability to opt-in to receive information that’s relevant to them. (more…)

When To Transition To AdWords Enhanced Campaigns

March 13, 2013

In early February, Google announced a major change to how AdWords works with the the introduction of Enhanced Campaigns. I have gotten many questions about this so I’ll share my take on the change.

If you’re just starting with your own search ads in AdWords, you’ll now create just a single campaign and it will show your ads to users regardless of whether they’re using a tablet, mobile phone, or desktop computer. In Enhanced Campaigns you can make a few simple tweaks to ensure your ads are successful on all these devices:

  • You can specify a bid multiplier so that bids for ads shown on mobile devices can be changed automatically across an entire campaign.
  • You can specify that some of your ads are intended for mobile devices, for example ads that have a mobile landing page URL.

(more…)

‘Unretirement’ Fuels Growth of Small Business, Creates Jobs

February 27, 2013

Baby Boomers — nearly 80 million of them in the U.S. – will redefine traditional retirement. The first boomers turned 65 in 2011, and year after year for the next 18 years, masses of them will choose to work beyond the ages of 62 to 65, the range long thought of as retirement time.

There’s been a lot of conversation lately about boomers and the ‘unretirement’ movement. In fact, AARP predicts that a whopping 80% of boomers will have to work into their retirement years. The vast majority of them will move away from high-pressure corporate positions to reshape their professional lives as small business owners, consultants, part-time workers or “giving back” careers such as teaching or non-profit management.

And what we’re seeing right now is the tip of the iceberg. The baby boomers are fueling the movement as many live longer, fuller, happier lives — and are seeking ways to make their investments last with them. Armed with a career’s worth of business experience, one of the options some boomers are turning to is self-employment through business ownership. That’s not only good for the boomers, but also good for a still-struggling economy. (more…)

5 Online Legal Mistakes You’ve Probably Already Made

February 26, 2013

Eric Spellmann continues to be one of the highest rated speakers at our national ASBDC conferences. His unique view that small business websites should “do” something pushes against the standard “online pamphlet” view of most web design companies. He believes your customer’s websites should be driving qualified leads and sales on a weekly basis. Eric speaks at a number of other national and state conferences nationwide, but enjoys running one of the most successful web design companies in the country. He truly believes in the SBDC mission as it helped him start his own company many years ago. To contact him, visit his website at EricSpellmann.com.