Is there opportunity for SMB Owners & Entrepreneurs?

With today’s economic uncertainty, Small- and Mid-size Business (SMB) owners are tightening their belts just to survive. Employees being laid off has had a huge impact on our economy as we all know by listening to the news. The Bureau of Labor Statistics makes it sound as if things are looking up, however layoffs have a compounding effect, and not normally in an accurate direction. Government statistics are always skewed from a political point of view, regardless of who’s in office and simply are not a credible, non-biased gauge on reality. The fact is, a great many jobs have been lost and on top of reducing employees, business owners have decreased marketing and advertising.

Over 700 small businesses responded to a survey about their marketing for 2010. This survey conducted by Zoomerang in association with Growbiz Media found that 89% of businesses employed less than 25 people, 3% employed between 26 and 50, 4% between 51 and 100, and 1% for both 250 – 500 and 501 to 1,000 employees.

In November of 2011, over 1,000 SMB decision makers were surveyed. When it came to the question of hiring, 66% said they would not be hiring in 2012 as a result of the impact 2011 had on their business. It was also discovered that of those surveyed last November, the top 3 areas which SMBs plan to invest are in Marketing (35%), Sales (28%) and Technology/IT (22%).

When it came to their annual marketing budget, every business owner stated cuts were necessary. Over half of the respondents stated they had reduced their marketing budget to less than $1,000. And in 2010, less than 20% had budgets up to $9,000. The survey did not specify or go into the various markets or types of businesses. Not all businesses market the same way or even use their website for marketing however, one concept which has proven to be reality is word of mouth and social marketing.

In a little over a year a great deal has changed. Of those business owners surveyed in 2010, 54% stated they had websites however most were using their websites for informational purpose only. What is important today? It’s not about information anymore; it’s about creating “The Buzz”. The purpose of a website for Informational purpose only is so counter productive. Information is passive and extremely non productive. Smart business owners are finding how to become active with their website usage.

Here is the huge difference – a passive marketing strategy only draws traffic to the site and requires a great deal of SEO effort which is still important but could become costly depending on the SEO service. Compare that to an active marketing campaign strategy that pushes traffic to the site which is accomplished through outside sources on the web promoting the site. Social Media has become the fastest growing medium by which to push traffic to sites and SMBs are beginning to catch on.

Overall, the internet is the leading marketing media among almost all businesses, with print media coming close behind (including direct mail which is a form of print media). 35% of the surveyed are using some form of social media for marketing, and among the leading social media are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It is taking SMB owners time to realize the importance in using Social Media. When asked, 11% stated they were going to use Social Media as their primary source for getting new customers yet 25% were going to focus on Word of Mouth. It was interesting to see that 66% believe Social Media was the most affordable method and 41% saw no value.

For 2012, the top 4 areas SMB will increase their budgets will be website (17%), Direct Mail (15%), Email Marketing (15%) and Social Media (13%). Increase in SEO budget falls to only 4% for 1012.

And what was the one area SMBs will focus their attention for improving in 2012? Getting more customers; growing their customer base. Almost 60% said they plan to focus in getting new customers while only 38% would focus on retaining existing customers.

Is there a silver lining in today’s economy? Is there an opportunity for both Business Owners and Entrepreneurs? There certainly is! 
It is obvious businesses are looking for economical ways with which to improve their business. Many are beginning to see the importance in having an active rather than a passive internet marketing strategy. But it is not equally among all age groups. The younger generation of SMB owners are seen to be leaning heavily towards Social Media Channels while the older generation either do not plan on using it or just don't know but even they are looking for solutions. For those who have lost jobs may be optimistic in knowing there is an opportunity for them to help SMB owners. If one looks, there is always opportunities. The question is, how?

That is where GrowOnlineNow.com comes in. Not only do we have solutions for SMB owners, we also have opportunities for those individuals who seek out and seize opportunities. We have an Internship Program designed for individuals who have not been able to secure a job after being laid off, or those wanting to position themselves with a secondary plan of action in order to protect against having the family income totally eliminated.

The Internship Program provides a win-win solution for both individuals and SMBs:

• For the average person we provide the infrastructure through our Internship Program to start a new business. We provide tools, training, mentorship and support to get their business started including the ability to attain the necessary capital.
• Our Internship Program provides the intern tools to assist SMBs in attaining an “affordable” solution with the industry’s only “all inclusive” web site platform and services which includes high tech Web Sites, unlimited technical support, customer support, SEO support, Social Networking support, as well as Email and Domain support as well as other services.

For more information and to get details on our Internship Program, visit ExploreGrowOnlineNow.com.

For SMB owners wanting to know more information on our “All Inclusive” web site platform and services, visit us at GrowOnlineNow.com.

For details on surveys used in this article, go to SMB Bbusiness perspective for 2011 and 2012 and SMB Marketing Practices Survey for 2010.

Excellence in Service: What's in Your Shopping Cart?

Statements of fact:

1. Businesses that have a store front and sell products and/or services should know their competition is online.
2. Business that educate such as conducting class either online or in a physical location should have a professional online appearance.
3. Businesses traveling from one show to another should have an online storefront so that the person who visited their booth last week can purchase that cool necklace this week.
4. The merchant who thinks they can do without an eCommerce site is loosing to their competition.

What do all of the above have in common? They provide credibility and promote definite of purpose! Even if one isn’t planning to sell anything online, they should still have a well-crafted site; but for this edition of Excellence in Service we will focus on businesses that are selling a product or service.

All four of the above facts should be obvious however some may think why an eCommerce site for #2. What better and less expensive way is there to process registration and collect fees for classes or online courses than through a virtual registration secretary? There are three essential reasons for an eCommerce site:

1. Increase Sales: Reach a larger number of potential customers through virtual channels
2. Lower Costs: Using word-of-mouth marketing strategies greatly reduces conventional marketing costs; can replace costly promotional materials and events with virtual material and videos; online order processing not only is done 24/7 but can help reduce distribution costs; rather than handling customer calls for frequently asked questions, the information is provided by the web site; if products are already ordered and shipped to store front locations, eCommerce reduces inventories by simply forwarding the order to the supplier and have them directly ship (drop ship) to the customer.
3. Increase Profits: The magic behind all successful businesses is to increase profits which is accomplished by increasing sales volume; a quality eCommerce site greatly increases sales volume.

Here are 5 basics for a quality eCommerce site:

1. eCommerce Tools: All quality eCommerce web sites should provide access to all of the components necessary to help make money online:
1. Merchant account access
2. Fully customizable product catalog
3. A virtual shopping cart
4. Advanced pricing features
5. Shipping, handling and tax rules
6. Payment options
7. Order processing features.
2. Product Catalog Management: A quality eCommerce site should include a user friendly or intuitive Product Catalog Management tool which:
1. Provides an intuitive eCommerce Dashboard
2. Can Import/Export Products
3. Provide Product Inventory Management
4. Provide Google Base Integration
5. Includes an Invoice and Packing Slip Tool
6. Provides Product Tags
7. Includes Multiple Billing Option
3. Enhanced Customer Experience: Never forget customers. The easier and more enjoyable the shopping experience, the better the odds are they will make the purchase. A quality eCommerce site should be able to:
1. Pan and Zoom Product Images
2. Provide Wish Lists
3. Compare Products
4. Include Customer Reviews
5. Provide Easy Re-order Features
6. Provide Configurable Products
7. Purchase Virtual & Downloadable Products -- MP3s, eBooks, PDFs
8. Include Customer and Shopping Cart Discount Options
4. Multiple Billing Options: A quality eCommerce system should be versatile and designed to give a variety of online order processing options. It should be able to:
1. Process credit cards online in real time
2. Have orders automatically sent to you by e-mail
3. Provide safe and secure transactions through an SSL-encrypted network
5. Dedicated and Extraordinary Support: There is nothing more frustrating than technical support that is not sensitive to a business owners needs… and one that understands the English language. Not to be insensitive here to other countries or cultures, but in this case technical support for someone who is not tech savvy requires a bit more understanding and be more understanding. Steer away from companies that export their technical support offshore. The reason technical support is used is to resolve an issue you have… this is not the time to have to explain something several times to someone who doesn’t understand our culture. Anyone can speak English, but to understand what was meant when spoken to doesn’t always or easily translate.

Here are a couple examples of fully featured eCommerce Dashboard found in the back-end of a quality eCommerce site.

One of many Dashboard Displays

Menu Items which should be Available 

Always ask lots of questions when evaluating a company to provide a “business” eCommerce site solution.

In the Cloud Computing – Are You Secure?

Microsoft came out with an excellent “Planning” guide to Cloud Security which everyone should read either before deciding to move their IT assets into “The Cloud”, or if you have already done so. Actually, if you have moved your assets into the Cloud then most likely you did your homework and deployed the appropriate security measures. This brief overview is to help small- and mid-size business owners better understand the security issues which need to be evaluated, and the steps taken to best secure your data and infrastructure before migrating into the cloud. The planning guide looks at how advanced server technologies—in particular, Intel® technologies—can help you build trust and compliance into your data center and set the foundation for cloud security.

Moving into The Cloud is not realistic for the average small business owner.

“Cloud computing security is a broad topic with hundreds of considerations—from protecting hardware and platform technologies in the data center to enabling regulatory compliance and defending cloud access through different end-point devices.  The focus of this planning guide is to provide you with suggestions and recommendations for strengthening data and platform protection in your cloud implementations.”

The seven steps in the “Cloud Planning Guide” include:
Step 1: Start Security Planning Early
Step 2: Identify Vulnerabilities for Your Selected Service(s)
Step 3: Four Things an IT Manager Can Do To Mitigate Security Vulnerabilities
Steps 4 -7 in the guide are based on the above four areas.
Step 4: Protect Data—in Motion, in Process, and at Rest
Step 5: Secure Your Platform
Step 6: Extend Trust across Federated Clouds
Step 7: Choose the Right Cloud Service Provider

Intel provided a great service with their guide... for the full details go to Cloud Planning Guide and please share with others to help keep everyone’s data secure.

Excellence in Service: What's in Your Toolbox?

CONNECTING BUSINESSES WITH PEOPLE NEEDING THEIR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES!

How often are you asked what makes you or your business different? This question got us thinking it was about time to help answer these questions, if for no other reason than to help business owners and entrepreneurs evaluate the services and products offered by GrowOnlineNow.com.

GrowOnlineNow.com provides State-Of-The-Art Web Site Products and Services intended to support business owners across different levels of requirements and needs. Some of the more popular requirement/needs have been:

• Business owner wants total control in a do-it-yourself web site solution/platform
• Business owner wants or has family member, friend, student, etc. design and manage their site
• Business owner has no time to mess with a web site and will outsource their entire internet marketing project to a web designer/master
• Business owners have been known to want a mixture of the above however they are concerned with what happens when they are left holding the bag after their web site person leaves unexpectedly.

Our Mission Statement “Excellence in Service” guides GrowOnlineNow.com with laser like focus to identify the best solutions for business owners. This is where GrowOnlineNow.com stands heads and shoulders above “conventional” Web hosting/design companies. We identify business owner needs and requirements and then target the right solution at incredible cost savings.

This is the first of many articles to educate and inform business owners on the various products and services provided by GrowOnlineNow.com. From time to time we will highlight services which are not provided by GrowOnlineNow.com directly – rather by affiliates we have vetted to ensure they meet our stringent standards according to our mission statement.

What's in Your Toolbox?
To say Web Site statistics is important is an understatement. It is the rudder that guides business' online marketing strategy. For example, without key words how would traffic get steered to a site? And, once key words are implemented how would one monitor, measure, adjust and control their effectiveness? There has to be a way to view and analyze the effectiveness of any Web Site. This is accomplished through a set of tools that can collect and analyzes both a Web Site’s efficiency and the business’s marketing strategies.

The Statistic Tool features found on the 4.0 platform is an exclusive analysis tool kit providing accurate minute by minute stats. What is even more impressive is how business owners are empowered by a team of customer and technical support experts who help and teach owners how to analyze the data, use the data, and implement more effective marketing strategies without additional costs.

Below are a few of the features found in the 4.0 platform Statistic Toolbox:

1. Hits shown are by month, days of the month and week, as well as hourly; if a business is airing ads by radio, TV, or other mediums like the internet, this is invaluable information.
2. Who is coming to your site, and from where; this includes countries, host providers with IP address, how many pages and which pages as well as last visit, and much more.
3. Navigation provides valuable information about the visitor such as their operating system, browser they are using, as well as files and pages viewed.
4. Referrers provides the exact look into how visitors are coming to your Web Site… are they coming directly by typing in your domain name, through referring search engines or sites and what key words are being used and what is the percentage for each key word – this allows the owner to better optimize each page for more effective Search Engine Optimization.
5. Other includes identifying problems that could prove to be detrimental to search engine robots used to evaluate your website such as pages, images, and/or files not being found or broken links.

All of these tools are important in maintaining an efficient online presence. The 4.0 platform not only provides this toolbox free of charge, the platform is also one of the worlds simplest and easiest to use Web Content Management Software (WCMS) packages available and like the toolbox, comes with free and unlimited customer and technical support.

Saving time and money is important in today's competitive environment, and there are two areas that can make or break a business:

1. Spending too much time on non-productive or non-results producing activity such as trying to learn how to and/or build a Web Site without support or technical expertise.
2. Spending too much money on costly web developers/masters and/or other service providers.

The best service any business owner can possibly receive is a free, non-binding, analysis and demonstration of a Web Site platform demonstrating all of the WCMS technology, tools and resources to see if it is a fit; that the resources meets their needs, requirements and is a value to their business.