Thoughts on Building a Business

Small Business - Technology and the Internet

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:22:00 GMT

Sensis undertakes a quarterly Questionnaire on business confidence for Small Business, called the Business Index. The June 2009 questionnaire focussed on how Small Business was utilising technology and the Internet. It had some very interesting results that I thought I would share with you.

Business Computer Ownership

97% of all businesses used a Computer
The highest usage is Communications & Business Services, Finance & Insurance and Health & Community at 100%
The lowest usage is Building & Construction at 90%

Business Internet Connections

95% of all businesses use the Internet (up from 34% in 1998)
Finance & Insurance the highest users at 100%
Building & Construction the lowest at 87%

Business Internet Usage

The main use for Internet in Small Business (97% of connected businesses) was email and communication
92% use it to look for information on Products and Services
83% use it to access Online Directories (such as Yellow Pages)
78% to place orders for Products and Services
78% to pay for Products and Services

Consumer Internet Usage

90% of Households have a Computer with 85% having Internet
78% of all Australians used the internet to research Products and Services
61% ordered Goods and Services
41% used a Social Networking Site
41% read a Blog
27% belonged to an Online Community
The biggest increase in usage for the last 12 months was the number belonging to an online community (up 7%)

So what does this all mean. Well to be blunt, it means that if you don’t have an Internet Presence, than you are not being serious about growing your business. But don’t worry if you don’t have a website, only 56% of Small Business have a website.

Now forgive me as I get onto my Soapbox, but I find this astounding. The Internet is arguably the fastest growing area in our life. More and more people are using the Internet for not only research, but connecting with other people and businesses. This is only going to grow as Gen Y becomes more influential in Society. Yet there are still a large number of businesses out there refusing to get on board.

Recently we’ve seen businesses seize opportunities with Government funding in Water tanks, Solar Panels and Insulation and develop their businesses to take advantage of these. Yet many of these same businesses are still resisting the Internet.

So as Professor Julius Sumner Miller asked – Why is it so?

This is the million dollar question, but I believe that it boils down to 3 main reasons:

Don’t really understand the Internet and what it takes to develop an Online Marketing Strategy
Believe that it’s expensive
Or just refuse to embrace technology

So if you don’t have a web Presence, I ask you – which one are you?

Download the full Sensis eBusiness Report

Is Social Media a Fad, or should you get on board?

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:52:00 GMT

I came across this amazing video on Youtube with interesting Stats on Social Media. It reinforces my opinion that any Business that is serious about growing into the future should focus on their online presence. The Internet (and Social Media) is here to stay, so don't get left behind.

If you don't have time to watch the video, some of the key points to come out of it are:

By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers
96% of Gen Y have joined a social network
Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
The years taken to Reach 50 millions Users:
- Radio - 38 Years
- TV - 13 Years
- Internet - 4 Years
- iPod - 3 Years
- Facebook - 100 million users in less than 9 months
- iPhone applications - 1 billion in 9 months.
If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services
1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
80% of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees
The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama
80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé
What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook
The 2nd largest search engine in the world is YouTube
Wikipedia has over 13 million articles. Some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica and 78% of these articles are non-English
There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily
Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them
78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
- Only 14% trust advertisements
- Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
- 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
Hulu (a TV Show Download site in the US) has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are in Downloadable format
24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
In the near future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media
More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:17:00 GMT

I’ve just started reading Stephen Coveys “8th Habit” book and must say that I am inspired. If you haven’t read (or listened) to any of Covey’s stuff then I would definitely recommend it. It’s probably the most powerful stuff I have come across (up there with napoleon Hill).

In fact, his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” was the inspiration for most of Probity Partners Values Statement. So with this inspiration in mind, I thought I would write this month about the 7 Habits and give my take on it.

So what are the 7 Habits?

The 7 Habits are:
1. Be Proactive
2. Start with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think Win/Win
5. Seek first to Understand and then to be Understood
6. Synergise
7. Sharpen the Saw

1. Be Proactive
This seems pretty obvious, but is very often forgotten in our busy business lives. I believe we are all guilty of it, just at different levels. It basically means that we should always strive to be proactive rather then reactive. That is, be proactive at making change happen rather then reacting to change when it is thrust upon you. The best current example of this would be the doom and gloom of the “Global Economic Crisis”. Many people reacted to the media portrayal of this and became negative about their business. Rather then being proactive and looking for the opportunities that they could take advantage of. A Proactive person is in charge of their destiny.

2. Start with the end in mind
Yes, you guessed it. We all need goals. A successful business needs to have an overall vision that you work towards, otherwise where you end up is left to chance. This is true for even small projects. Take the time to quickly decide what it is you hope to achieve and then set about achieving it.

3. Put first things first
This goes hand in hand with Habit 2. Once you know what you want to achieve, you need to plan out how you are going to get there. Otherwise, you might get ahead of yourself. This doesn’t always mean a formal plan, but may simply be a to do list you keep in your head.

4. Think Win/Win
This is one of my favourites. Whenever you are negotiating with someone else, always aim to get a solution where both parties win. Never set out to rip people off and take advantage of them. This may work a few times, but will ultimately catch up with you. I’m sure we’ve all seen great ideas get destroyed by somebodies greed.

5. Seek first to understand and then to be understood
This is similar to the saying “you have 2 ears and one mouth, so use them in that proportion”. Most people want to put their side forward first (this includes sales meetings) and leave little opportunity for the other party to put forward theirs. A great way to get the best possible outcome is to really understand the other party’s issues first, before trying to fix them. This is especially true in a heated exchange. You will be amazed at how much people calm down when you simply listen.

6. Synergise
This replaces compromise. Often when dealing with people you may not get consensus (think price in a sales meeting). In these circumstances, we generally compromise to get an agreement. However, the very definition of compromise means that one party must lose out and what they really want (think habit 4). Synergise means to brainstorm to come up with a solution that is better than the first. One that means that both parties win. In a Sales Meeting you may not budge on price, but throw in an additional product or service. These may cost you very little, but mean a lot to the customer, leading to a Win/Win situation.

7. Sharpen the saw
This is probably my favourite and one that I can struggle with at times. It’s best explained by something that happened to me recently. When we build an online shop website, we need to organise the products into a spreadsheet ready for importing into the site. The price field needs to have “AU/” put in front of the price to signify that it is in Australian Dollars. Every time I set up one of these spreadsheets I start by trying to work out an easy way to add this to the 100+ products, but after a few minutes decide I’m wasting time and add it individually. This can take hours. The last time I had to do one, I decided to take the time needed to find the solution (Sharpen the Saw). After 30-45 minutes I had found it and it took me 10 minutes to complete the job. Now if I had done this the first time, I believe I would have saved close to a week of my time. So the moral of the story is, don’t let yourself get that busy doing stuff (sawing), that you don’t have time to work out a way to make it easier (sharpening the saw).

I hope you have enjoyed my take on these Habits. I believe that these are powerful and am just now starting to teach them to my 2 young sons, as I believe it will make them better people. I would love to hear your thoughts.

But what’s the 8th Habit?

As I mentioned, I’ve only just started the book, but fully intend to talk about it in the near future. But from what I’ve read, it is “To find your voice and inspire others to find theirs”.

The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing and SCRIBD!

Fri, 29 May 2009 07:55:00 GMT

For sometime I have been a fan of David Blain and have probably referred him to some of you. He is Scottish (we won't hold that against him) and has a really good take on Internet marketing.

Anyway, he has just released his latest version of "The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing". This covers what he considers are 13 key strategies to maximise your internet marketing and is a really easy read as well as being incredibly informative. He has released it on a site called scribd.com, which is a really interesting site. It is essentially a Youtube site for Articles.

So I thought the best way to show you both, would be to embed David's article in my blog and you can then see both. So here it is - enjoy!

The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing David Bain A comprehensive introduction to internet marketing and search engine optimization for marketing managers, business owners and entrepreneurs

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Marketing Business & Law tips seo

Check out our NEW Web Solutions!!

Tue, 12 May 2009 02:59:00 GMT

Previously at Probity Web & Print, we have focused solely on our Online Business Websites (using the GoodBarry Platform) as I believed that you'd be mad to want anything else. However, we have still from time to time, met people who really just want a simple 5 page Brochure site with a Contact Us Form. In these cases, we have referred them onto other Web Businesses that do these Brochure Sites. With Dan becoming a Partner, we have reviewed our current offerings and have added the following solutions:

Online Brochure Site

This is simply a Brochure Site with 5 Pages and a Contact Us Webform. It is a cheap way to get your business a Web Presence with low ongoing costs (hosting is only $10/month). We are offering these sites for only $550 including GST, but have a special introductory offer of only $440 inc GST for the month of May only.

Build your Own "GoodBarry Powered" Online Business Solution

This is the platform that we used on all of our previous sites. It is incredibly powerful and allows you to have pretty much any functionality a Small Business would want on the Internet. This includes Email Marketing, Online Shops, Secure Zones, Online Database, Easy Build Webforms, Blogs, Forums and much more. You can now build your own GoodBarry site by choosing from our Templated options. Unlike our usual Custom Designed sites, these are templated sites and you are responsible for building them. The good news is that you can sign up for a FREE 30 day trial to check it out and then when you want to go live, simply pay us $120 inc GST. For this, we will help you redelegate your Domain to your new site, submit your site to Google etc and set up your Email Accounts and auto responder addresses. To get started go to our Online Business Builder.

Domain and Email Solution

Our Reseller Agreement with TPP Internet means that we can now offer Domain Registrations (or Renewals) at $30 for a 2 year licence. If you have a Domain already with another Reseller, we can easily transfer it over to our system for Renewal (don't get caught paying more, they are all the same). We can then combine this Domain with an Email Hosting Package for a further $30. This includes 5 Email Accounts, 2 GB Disk Space, 10 GB Data Transfer, Webmail, Anti-Spam and more. That means for only $60 inc GST you can have your own email accounts. So if you currently use a Bigpond, Yahoo, Optusnet or similar email address - STOP promoting their business and start promoting your own.

FREE Website Support

We have always prided ourselves on our ongoing support to our Clients. In fact, many of our Clients have come across from other Web Businesses, because they were frustrated with no support (or if it was available, it was charged at exhorbitant prices). Our clients can simply contact us and we'll help them make changes at usually no charge. However, we have decided to formalise this a bit so that it is fair for all parties and so that we can promote it to our Clients who aren't taking advantage of it. So from now on, we will provide up to 1 hour of FREE support a month as part of your monthly hosting. This may be simply talking you through how to do something, or even doing it ourselves. To access this simply email support@probity-web-print.com.au and we guarantee to get back to you with a response within 3 Business Hours.

Additional Website Maintenance

What we have found is that our Clients that work their websites do well and those that just leave them do no better then a Brochure Site. So if you are going to take advantage of our GoodBarry websites, then you need to work it. For those clients that either don't have the time, or struggle with technology, we now offer a Maintenance Solution. We have modelled this on Bookkeepers, so you simply pay us for any time that we spend maintaining your website. This could include updating your content, changing your designs, adding new Products, setting up your Email Newsletter Campaigns, Optimising your site, updating your Blog or managing your Social Media Integration to name a few. We will simply discuss with you at the start of each month what needs to be done and expected hours and then charge you at $55/hour for general maintenance and $88/hour for Graphic Design changes. We truly believe that you will recoup these costs through the increased effectiveness of your website.

So if you've been thinking about improving your Internet Marketing, give us a call and we will help you get the option that suits you best.

Where does your Website fit into your overall Marketing Strategy?

Tue, 12 May 2009 02:56:00 GMT

Your website isn't your be all and end all of Marketing. As much as I stress the growing importance of the Internet in your Marketing Strategies, it is still only a part of it. This month I wanted to discuss where your website fits in and what are the advantages.

Lead Generation

This is generally what people think a website is all about. They think that if they get a website, people will find it and then contact them to buy their Product or Service. This does happen, but probably not as much as you'd like to think. To achieve this, you really need to take Search Engine and Website Optimisation seriously (can be expensive) and consider Google Adwords etc to drive traffic to your website.

Credibility

Websites are becoming more and more important for your Business's Credibility. The majority of people will research your business on the Internet to decide if they trust you enough to buy from. A recent builder client of ours lost a sale because the prospect couldn't find out anything about him on the internet.

Support other Marketing Strategies

Websites can improve on your other marketing strategies. A good example of this is Yellow Pages Online. You and your competitor ads all look similar, but if yours has a link to your website, then you have more chance of converting the sale. Our clients with Yellow Online ads, get a lot of visitors to their sites from these ads. Similarly, Google sponsored research showed a large number of prospects viewing a newspaper ad, will conduct further research online before purchasing from that business. See the full report here.

Customer Support

We all know that your easiest sale comes from existing customers, so make sure that you look after them. Your website can be used for such a thing, with Support Forums, Feedback Forms, Downloadable Forms & Info Sheets, Secure Zones and Customer Support Ticketing to name a few. Use you website as a way for your customers to communicate with you.

Email Marketing

I've saved the best for last. I truly believe that email marketing is the one must have in any business. Research shows that if you don't contact your customers and prospects every 90 days, they will start forgetting about you. And if they forget about you, they may buy from someone else. Email Marketing allows you to easily (and virtually for free) send out regular Newsletters with useful info (and maybe some buy triggers) to your database. It is even more effective if you use it in conjunction with your website.

These are not all the ways you can use your website, but is hopefully enough to help you stop thinking about websites as purely a lead generating tool. With the growth of the internet, you need to start thinking of ways to use the internet to improve all that you do. If you haven't talked to someone who is up to date with the latest technology in the last 2 years, then you should.

Download the Website Strategies info sheet for a more info.

Poking fun at Twitter

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:13:00 GMT

In a previous blog post about how Twitter can help market your business, I mentioned that it was originally designed to keep Gen Y up to date with their friends. Now I personally find this concept incredibly strange and way over the top. Which is why I loved the video below when I stumbled onto it on Youtube. Now as much as I laugh at the original concept of Twitter, I do believe that it has potential in a business sense (see my previous post).

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Afterall, Business isn't always about being serious.

What is the relationship between advertising in Newspapers and Online?

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:42:00 GMT

I recently came across an interesting Research report that was conducted in October 2007. It was commissioned by Google and they wanted to see what the relationship was between Newspaper Advertising and Internet searches. What they found was that 44% of respondents stated that they head performed further research on Businesses or Products that they saw advertised in a Newspaper. Of that 44% who researched, 67% conducted the research online (Internet). Furthermore, of those that researched further, approximately 70% went on to use that Business or purchase that Product.

Now admittedly, this is a US research and it is over 18 months old. But I would suggest that Australia isn't that much different to the US and if anything, the last 18 months would probably see an increase to this as Internet Usage grows overall.

So do you have a Website?

If not, don't you think it's time you stopped resisting and caught up with the way of the future. More and more people are using the internet to not only research Businesses, but to also purchase products. If you don't get on board, you will be left behind.

Download the Newspaper/Online Marketing research summary.

Can you help a great cause?

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:18:00 GMT

Why not book into the 2009 "Camp Quality - Supper Club"?

The Chandon Supper Club has become one of Camp Quality’s most successful and exclusive fundraising events and is one of the hottest tickets on the social calendar.

The Chandon Supper Club is a unique fundraising experience marrying fine wines, intimate dinners, secret destinations, glamour, a big party and a generous serving of pure fun and energy.

Through the generosity of restaurants, caterers, venues and hosts in each city we aim to raise $1 million nationally in 2009. This money will help send up to 2,000 children with cancer on a camp where they will have the opportunity to have the time of their lives, forget about their illness and concentrate on being a child again.

To learn more, or to book, download the Brochure including a booking form. Similarly, check out which Restaurants are participating and are still available to book.

I appreciate that times may be tough and that you may already have given to the fund raising appeals for the Fire and Flood victims. But if you can afford to, this is a very worthwhile cause as well as a great way to really have a great time.

What are the requirements of a Champion Team?

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:15:00 GMT

This is an oldie but a goodie. If you've been receiving my Newsletters for a while, you would have received this before. But I thought, given the previous article, it was worth repeating. Afterall, if you downloaded the previous article, you would have read that one of the keys to the Cashflow Quadrant was to surround yourself with a great team of people who will run your business for you.

But how do you get that great team?

There are 6 key requirements to developing a Champion Team. These are:

A Good Leader
Common Goals
Rules of the Game
Code of Honour
100% Participation
Support for Risk Takers

To learn more about what each of these entail, simply download the info sheet on Building Champion Teams.

What is the Cashflow Quadrant?

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:09:00 GMT

With our busy lives (particularly in running a Small Business), we quite often forget about key concepts or strategies that we know are important to our business. It just takes someone or something to remind us of it, to get us refocussed again.

This happened to me recently at a Networking Event when the Guest Speaker very quickly brushed over the Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki (Author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"). For those of you not familiar, the Cashflow Quadrant is:

This essentially shows you the normal stages of someone starting their business and growing it to its full potential. It is also a powerful concept when you think about what you want to acheive with your business.

Now this is something that I used continually as a Business Advisor to help explain the importance of growing your business beyond yourself. It shows how by doing this you can open up unlimited streams of income from your business as well as improve your overall lifestyle. On top of this, it also explains why growing a business beyond you is not easy and can lead to a lot of pain before you get there. But the journey is well worth it, because the destination can be so good.

If you would like to hear my take, simply download my Cashflow Quadrant info sheet.

What is Twitter and how can it help my business?

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:07:00 GMT

Twitter is the latest thing in the Online Social Media Networking field. In the Neilson’s Media Service in October 2008, Twitter was the fastest growing Social Media Application and grew a staggering 343%. It was also heavily used by Barack Obama in his Election Campaign.

But what is Twitter?

Twitter is often known as "micro-blogging". In other words, it is like a BLOG, except the posts have to be under 140 characters. This means that you can't be long winded (like some of my Posts can be). It was originally set up for Gen-Y so that they could keep each other informed of what they were up to throughout the day. Now why you would want to do that is beyond me, but then I'm only just starting to try and use SMS more.

So what does that have to do with Business?

As I mentioned earlier, Twitter was used extensively by Barack Obama in the recent US elections. In fact, at this point in time, he has 279 521 people following his Twitter Posts. Now Barack wasn't using this to let his mates know what he was up to throughout the day. He was using this to keep prospective voters informed of where he was and what he was working on.

This is how you use Twitter in your business. You build yourself a list of Followers (think database) and then keep them informed of what's happening in your business. You might let them know when you have a particular special or workshop date. Or maybe you use it purely to help build loyalty by providing them with useful information and links to useful information.

The key thing here is that this is relatively new (it's been going for 2 years). Now is the time to get on board and start working on building that following. That way, as it grows (and all indications are that it will), you will be in at the beginning. Some of the improvements that I see coming our way, will be the ability for your followers to get your posts on their Mobile Phones. So forget about signing up for that SMS package that allows you to SMS your database.

The best bit is it's FREE!

If you would like to view a good video on how to set up Twitter and start building a following, go to http://www.becomeablogger.com/blog/x-factor-twitter/.

So get twittering by tweeting to your tweople! (Sad I know).

The addiction of Facebook

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:55:00 GMT

I recently joined Facebook, purely as a Business Marketing exercise. With Social Media becoming such an important part of an Internet Marketing Strategy, I thought I should start to seriously look into it. Afterall, I can't sell Online Business Websites and promote the use of the Internet to grow your business, if I'm not doing it myself.

From what I can see, Facebook is no different then going to Networking Breakfasts, except it's easier, cheaper and better for your Waistline. Basically once you have signed up, you can then join the various Networking Groups that are already set up. These have titles such as "The Brisbane Small Business Group" or "Brisbane Networking Group". Or perhaps you might like to join an International Group.

Once you have joined a Group, you can then post messages to that group, but more importantly, you can approach other members to see if they would like to become a friend. Now I know many of you will cringe at the whole "become a friend" thing, but in business terms, it basically means that they are willing to go onto your Database so that you can communicate direct with them. Better yet, many of the members of the group will contact you to see if you want to become a "their friend". Whenever this happens, it's reciprocal. So you start building your database of contacts.

Now the rules of Networking on Facebook is the same as Networking face to face. That is, you don't go in there and start flogging your Products and Services. You go into there to build relationships. Once you have developed that relationship, you can then start promoting your products.

Now if you are like me and much prefer to meet face to face with someone, then this is possible too. Many of these groups will organise get togethers, so that the Members can meet.

If you want to be really pro-active, why not start your own group. This can be based around anything, as long as there are other Facebook users with a similar interest.

Lastly, the other advantage of joining Facebook is a personal one. This is something that I never contemplated when I joined. Since joining 2 months ago, I have been contacted by at least four people that I haven't heard from for over 20 years. Simply by putting my education info on my profile, I am getting contacted by my old class mates. Some of these were great friends that I just lost touch with after School (the problem with growing up in a small town and moving away).

So why not take a punt and join up. At the very least, you might connect with someone from your past that you'd forgotten all about.

What is your New Year's Resolution?

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:40:00 GMT

The start of the year is a great time to take some time out to review your business and set some goals for the year ahead. Even though my business operates on the Financial Year, I find that the first week of January is a great time to do my Budget and Cashflow Forecasts for the year ahead. The trouble with trying to do this at the start of the Financial Year is that we are normally flat out. For this reason, I simply use this time to review and correct what I put in place in January.

So how do I do this?

Firstly, I take some time to revisit my overall Business Vision. This helps me get re-inspired and reminds me why I got into business in the first place. In some years, I may even rejig it a bit, depending on where I am at.

Secondly, now that I am inspired, I start to set some overall goals for the year. These might be Sales, Profit, Staff Numbers, Markets, Products or maybe even how many hours I want to be working. Just remember to make these goals, Smart Goals.

If you want to know more about Vision, Mission and SMART Goals, download here.

Thirdly, I now fill out my Budget/Cashflow Forecast spreadsheet to set clear monthly Financial Targets that I can then measure on a monthly basis. It also helps me make sure that my Goals are realistic.

Lastly, I compile my first 90 day plan for the year. This sets out the Actions I will be taking for the first quarter to ensure that I reach my Goals.

So what have you done to make sure that 2009 is a great year for you and your business?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:40:00 GMT

Just a quick Post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Remember:

"Everything will be Fine in '09"