America’s SBDC Blog

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Write an Epic Site: Tell Your Story to Make Sales

May 15, 2014

Writing website content is something everyone can do, but a story is something your visitors and customers can connect with—and nobody can tell it better than you. Your customers are on your website for a reason, they want to know more about you.

Take your visitors on a journey by sharing values that were shaped through personal experiences—a struggle, breakthrough, or success story. Dig deep and show them the passion, dedication, and experience that make your business stand out from the rest.

Be a Storyteller
Everyone has a story, and every story has a beginning, middle and end – a journey from where you started and what you’ve been through, to where you are now. Think about how your business got started or why you do what you do. By adding a personal touch to your website and by giving it a friendly vibe, your customers will feel welcome.  (more…)

SBDC Client Grows 1,400% in Two Years

May 14, 2014

Ryan Rickert, founder and president of Clean Slate Group, was vacationing in Canada when he noticed an opportunity. While waiting at a crosswalk, he saw that unwanted graffiti and adolescent “tagging” blighted the street corner. At the same time, Rickert noticed a crosswalk box wrapped with a vinyl map of the city. The clever use of a utility box made him wonder, “Why not use wraps to stop unwanted tagging?”
When Rickert returned to Bozeman, he called a friend at 3M™ to pitch his idea. Coincidentally, 3M™ had just finished developing a graffiti-resistant vinyl and the company was looking for someone to put it to use. As one of the only people with access to the exclusive product, Rickert founded Clean Slate Group. Ryan’s company now employs the only team of vinyl installers in the region who are fully endorsed and certified by 3M™.

Mr. Rickert founded his company three years ago and due to the quality of his management and innovative products it has experienced phenomenal growth. The company designs and manufactures vinyl wraps used to prevent graffiti and beautify commonly overlooked community assets such as garbage cans and power boxes. Ryan is a passionate and principled business owner who measures the success of his company with the double bottom line approach. In other words, Ryan is equally concerned with the profitability of the business and the impact it has on others. (more…)

What Small Businesses Need to Know about Twitter’s New Profile Design

May 13, 2014

Twitter recently announced a major redesign for profile pages. This includes a new look and feel, and a number of new features for users to sort and find content. While the new profile is only available to a select audience of Twitter users right now, the redesign will be rolling out to all users soon, so it is time for small businesses to take a few moments to understand the changes, and make sure that they are making the most with their profile pages moving forward.

Here is a list of the changes:

· New Header Image: One of the most noticeable changes is the introduction of a header image. It spreads across the top of your profile page similar to the cover photo on Facebook or Google+.

· Bigger Profile Picture: Twitter is also increasing the size of the Twitter profile picture. Twitter will resize your current photo automatically, but users may want to consider uploading a higher quality photo after the change.

· More visible profile information: Twitter names, handles, descriptions, and links are all bigger and more prominent with the profile change. It would be a good idea to review this information to make sure they’re updated and accurate. Unlike other social networks, Twitter users are likely to view other users profile often to learn more about them. Having an informative and accurate bio is essential. (more…)

Cash Flow Optimization To Purchase Capital Equipment

May 12, 2014

You’re facing a common problem for businesses that need to invest in capital equipment to grow. You know your business will grow if you purchase additional equipment to meet demand, but you simply can’t afford it because you don’t have enough cash flow. Most businesses in this situation should explore these three options: 1) Optimize revenue opportunities, 2) Streamline costs and/or 3) Seek outside financing/capital.

Optimize revenue opportunities

New equipment may certainly add to your revenue over time. However, there may also be ways to increase revenue using your existing equipment. Specifically, evaluate your clients and list them in order of profitability to your business. Those at the bottom or the least profitable clients, should be replaced with better clients. This strategy will increase the revenue per client or profitability for the business and thus you’ll have more cash flow for future capital equipment purchases.

Streamline costs

This would mean reducing non-essential expenses such as certain administrative and redundant costs. You’ll need to review all of the costs in your business to complete this process. Please note though that this cost-cutting strategy may not provide enough cash flow to purchase new equipment right away. Usually, cost cutting programs take time to provide substantial savings. (more…)

3 Common Copyright Mistakes Creatives & Freelancers Make

May 9, 2014

We all make mistakes.

So let me refer you to number seven of the Dali Lama of Tibet’s “Eighteen Rules of Living,” where he gives us the following advice, “When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. And do not let your pride get in the way of taking those steps.”

The main idea is that trying to hide a mistake, once you have become aware of it, by pretending it didn’t happen only perpetuates the goof up and inevitably leads to sinking deeper and deep into the quicksand of oops. There has to be a more than a million zillion possible copyright related snags and unintentional misunderstandings that lurk within the professional shadows just waiting to trip up even the most seasoned of freelancers.

This article seeks to aid freelancers in avoiding a nasty stumble by illuminating the wiles of three of the more common snares that imperil the footsteps of the unwary.

Mistake No. 1: Making Incorrect Assumptions as to Who Owns a Copyright

There are all sorts of scenarios that will work to blur the lines of copyright ownership. The relative or neighbor that asks a student for a logo design for a business, the group of college classmates that all work on a project which later turns out to be a financial goldmine or the employer that misclassifies a job as an independent contractor situation in order to avoid paying high employee payroll taxes all present situations where copyright ownership rights may become muddled. (more…)