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The New Year – Time to Get in Shape

January 7, 2014

Another holiday season has come and gone and hopefully all of your best wishes came true.  Most of us are now focused on the New Year with high expectations and new commitments for success.  And in many cases that includes those high minded New Year’s resolutions that probably include losing a few pounds or maybe just striving to get in shape.

Committing to better health is a great way to start the year whether that includes a better diet, a daily walk or short jog, or maybe even just one less dessert each week. The key is to just pick something and then stick to it long enough to build a habit that leads to the result you want.

The same process should apply to your business.  The New Year is a great time to stop and evaluate your business activity… to get your business in shape.

Take the time to actually write this stuff down.  What are you doing this week to get one more customer?  Set up a call program or a networking event that fits with your industry to contact potential new relationships. Set a goal that matches your time availability and then stick to it.  Make a habit of keeping that schedule.

Don’t stop with just new customers.  Take some time to review your banking relationships, your key vendors, and even your process for ordering office supplies.  How much are you paying for rent, for internet access, for bank charges and even overnight deliveries?  Take some time to review your overall business procedures and processes.  Consider new technologies for efficiency and cost savings. (more…)

Introducing Friday 15: Small Business Tips

January 2, 2014

Looking for ways to grow your business online? Meet Friday 15.

In 15 minutes, you could check email, take a nap, dance to your favorite song…three times, or you could learn some new tips to help your business succeed on the web. Friday 15: Small Business Tips is a series from Google’s Get Your Business Online program designed to help small businesses like yours make the most of their online presence.

Friday 15 answers questions like: How should I choose the pictures on my website?  How can I monitor my business online? How should I handle a bad review?  And more.  Check out highlights from two Friday 15 lessons below. Enjoy!

Attract customers with clear page names and descriptions

One quick and easy way to help Google and other search engines understand your website is to add names and descriptions to your webpages. A page name, or page title, describes the content and context of the page. The more specific and informative the title, the better chance that page has to be displayed on a related search.  For example, use “Hours and Location,” instead of “About Us.” (more…)

Small Businesses Need To Be Aware Of Cyber Criminals

December 23, 2013

The risk for cyber espionage continues to evolve as perpetrators are targeting small businesses at an alarming rate. Symantec, a bellwether in the web-security space, recently announced that attacks surged almost three-fold for small businesses or those with less than 250 employees.

Small businesses now account for more than 31% of all web attacks or greater than 300 million incidents annually. Given this backdrop, should your business consider investing in greater security measures and cyber liability insurance?

Why are small businesses being targeted?

Attackers are recognizing now that it’s more effective to go after the weakest link than to focus on the largest companies in the world. If they can attack a million different websites with ease versus one large website, it’s more strategic for them to go after the small players. The data that these cyber criminals are targeting include bank account information, customer data and intellectual property. (more…)

SBDC Success Story: Idaho

December 16, 2013

State: Idaho
Center: Idaho SBDC, Region IV
Client Name: Dr. Jill’s Chiropractic Treatment Center

Dr. Jill Adepoju knew from the time she was 16 that she wanted to be a chiropractor. Her father and brother were in the profession and she grew up working in her father’s office. She witnessed all of the people he was able to help and knew it was the profession she wanted to pursue.

While in college, Jill began writing a business plan. Jill first became a client of the College of Southern Idaho Small Business Development Center (SBDC) as a workshop enrollee in the Center’s Small Business Boot Camp.

With the help of the SBDC, she received a small loan from an SBDC partner, Region IV Development Corporation, to fund start-up costs, leasehold improvements and purchase equipment. The Idaho SBDC also assisted Dr. Adepoju in enhancing her business plan with market research centered around her treatment specialization in family health.

Does Email Marketing Increase Sales?

December 16, 2013

Email marketing provides businesses with a cost-effective way to stay connected to their customers. In addition, companies can easily launch a program to meet many different objectives. Learn the best ways to increase sales with email marketing.

Email marketing programs

There are many different ways to use email marketing to connect to customers. Companies can launch campaigns with the objective of being promotional, informative, or to provide a company specific announcement. The type of campaign and frequency of emails will typically depend on the customer, company, and industry. For instance, a business targeting a previous retail customer may send promotional emails based on historical purchases and the time of day the open-rates perform best.

Important email marketing metrics

The open-rate measures the number of recipients that opened the email as ratio of the total email send list. Most marketers should expect an open-rate of 25% to 30% according to the recent 2013 industry statistics provided by marketing firm Epsilon. In addition, to open rates, marketers will want to pay attention to click through and bounce rates. Click through rates are typically shown as the number of links in the email that were clicked in relation to the total number of recipients that opened the email. (more…)