Top 25 Small Business Tips from Leading Industry Experts in the U.S.
Post date: Nov 19, 2010 1:25:56 PM
Could you use a handful of helpful small business tips to
grow your company?
I'm sure you can, and what better way to help small business
owners like you then to share some of my favorite tips from
our country's top industry experts in their respective
fields.
Below you will find a personal collection of some of myfavorite golden nuggets from the country's brightest mindsin the areas of startups, small business, corporate finance,credit, internet marketing, social media marketing, blogging,working online, selling online, branding, and much more.Now, without further ado, here they are:#1. Lisa Barone of outspokenmedia.com. "If you want peopleto talk about you, you got to listen to something nine-timeGrammy-winner Bonnie Raitt told us way back in 1991. Peoplewant to talk and you gotta give 'em something to talkabout."#2. Chris Brogan of chrisbrogan.com. "I continue to believethat affiliate marketing is the best possible method of
extending your salesforce on the web. I think that finding
passionate people with applicable communities and audiences
and then enabling their ability to profit from selling a
product they support into their community is the gold
standard of marketing on the web."
#3. Tim Berry of timberry.bplans.com. "Remember that your
business plan should be only as big as what you need to run
your business. While everybody should have planning to help
run a business, not everyone needs to develop a complete
formal business plan suitable for submitting to a potential
investor, or bank, or venture contest."
#4. Jim Blasingame of smallbusinessadvocate.com. "We
sometimes get so wrapped up in our business that we risk
losing our grip on the things that really matter: health,
happiness and those who love us. Life is short! Enjoy every
sandwich!"
#5. Anita Campbell of smallbiztrends.com. "When competition
is tough as it is today, you have to have more arrows in
your quiver. What's the answer? Today it's 2 things. Search
is one. I would add social media as the other. If you don't
at least know the basics of SEO and social media, you'll
have a harder time growing your website and your business"
#6. Marco Carbajo of businesscreditblogger.com. "Avoid
putting your personal credit and personal assets at risk and
start establishing business credit under your corporate
entity. By doing so you will have the ability to obtain 10
to 100 times greater credit capacity."
#7. Brian Clark of copyblogger.com. "People want compelling
content, so compelling content is your advertising. And
using the right words in the right persuasive way determines
not only how well your site converts visitors into sales, but
also how much traffic you get and how well you rank in search
engines."
#8. Gerri Detweiler of ultimatecredit.com. "If you actually
do own a business, keeping your business and personal
purchases separate can be crucial for tax purposes."
#9. Melinda Emerson of succeedasyourownboss.com. "You must
do something every day to tell the world you are open for
business. Even if you just make one sales call a day, send
out one helpful tweet a day, write one article to promote
your expertise, or send one follow-up email a day."
#10. Tim Ferris of fourhourworkweek.com. "One of the most
valuable exercises an entrepreneur can perform is to take a
step back, not looking at what's popular, not consider what
everyone is doing or what people are expected to do, and
really ask what rules you need to set for your own business,
from a process standpoint and a cash flow standpoint, so that
it can be successful."
#11. Seth Godin of sethgodin.com. "You have to go where the
other guys can't. Take advantage of what you have so you can
beat the competition with what they don't."
#12. Brian Halligan of hubspot.com. "Change the mode of your
web site from a one-way sales message to a collaborative,
living, breathing hub for your marketplace."
#13. John Jantsch of johnjantsch.com. "Craft a strategy that
compels customers and partners to voluntarily participate in
your marketing, to create positive buzz about your products
and services to friends, neighbors, and colleagues."
#14. Guy Kawasaki of guykawasaki.com. "Don't wait to develop
the perfect product or service. Good enough is good enough.
There will be plenty of time for refinement later. It's not
how great you start—it's how great you end up."
#15. Diane Kennedy of usataxaid.com. "Each product and
product line must stand on its own merit. There is no room
for dogs in a company that is bootstrapping."
#16. Rieva Lesonsky of smallbizlady.com. "Whether your
business is just starting out, or whether you're a seasoned
veteran, marketing is a must. And during an economic
downturn, marketing matters more than ever. Smart marketing
can give you the edge you need to succeed'in any economy."
#17. Joel Libava of thefranchiseking.com. "The entire
business world is learning that transparency is really the
way to do business. Not many industries will be able to
escape this fact in the near future."
#18. Mike Michalowicz of thetoiletpaperentrepreneur.com.
"Success is not determined by your background or your cash
on hand. It is exclusively dictated by your beliefs. If you
truly, emphatically believe you will succeed, you will. If
you don't, you won't."
#19. Barry Moltz of barrymoltz.com. "Investors put their
money in people not a business. The better team you have,
the more money you will be able to attract. Get people on
your team that have industry expertise and that have been
there before. Investors want track records."
#20. Darren Rowse of problogger.net. "Aim to be unique,
remarkable, compelling, and most of all, useful, and your
blog will have success long after many other bloggers have
all given up."
#21. David Meerman Scott of davidmeermanscott.com. "On the
web you are what you publish"
#22. Brian Solis of briansolis.com. "Create a space in the
online ecosystem that truly represents your business and
cultivates your customers' loyalty and trust."
#23. Steve Strauss of mrallbiz.com. "Often untapped sources
of funding are your own suppliers, wholesales, and
distributors. These are large businesses that want your
business and may be willing to lend you some money or
inventory, provided they believe in your vision and plan."
#24. John Warrillow of builttosell.com. "So how do you know
if you have a scalable business? Here are the three
criteria: Teachable, valuable and repeatable—that's
your valuation trifecta."
#25. Ken Yancey of score.org. "Test your marketing message
on a mentor, adviser, coach or someone who you believe
represents your customer base. Ask them specific questions
about whether or not the message gets across."
Once last tip worth mentioning even though it's so simple
yet so powerful is from none other than Pete Cashmore of
mashable.com which is "Do what you love."
So there you have it: 25 of my favorite small business tips
from our country's leading industry experts, all sharing
their invaluable insights on how you can succeed in business
today.
About the Author:
About the Author
Marco Carbajo is founder of the Business Credit Insider's
Circle. Looking for help for your small business? Claim
Marco's popular FREE business credit seminar ($597 Value),
available at: => http://startbusinesscredit.com Follow Marco
on Twitter @MarcoCarbajo and read more of his insights on