Virtual Trade Shows: More Cost-Effective Way of Generating Leads?

by Melanie Lindner

Want to save a bundle generating leads? Follow these steps.

Nine Steps For Tackling A Virtual Trade Show

Trade shows are an expensive but necessary part of doing business for David Appelbaum, senior vice president of marketing for BigFix, an Emeryville, Calif.-based information-technology security software maker.

“In the tech industry, you have to participate in trade shows to generate new leads,” says Appelbaum. “The problem is the uneven playing field for small and medium businesses. Bigger firms with a lot of money can get premium booth space, podium presentation time and top advertising on event programs and lanyard name tags. With the cost of your booth rental and all of that extra promotion you could easily spend up to $100,000 per show.”

Traditional trade shows have long been a convention-center-sized hassle. “At a physical show, you have hundreds of vendors in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall with competing messages,” says Appelbaum. “It’s really hard to know who’s worth talking to.” Throw in a recession and it’s little wonder that overall trade show revenue ($12 billion at last count in the U.S.) is expected to contract nearly 7% this year.

In Pictures: Nine Steps For Tackling A Virtual Trade Show

Hence the rise of virtual trade shows, designed to look and function like the real thing but that play out in real time in cyberspace. Entry fee: just $3,000 to $8,000. Better yet, you don’t need to be a computer wizard to participate. Revenue generated by North American web events hit $156 million last year, according to Frost & Sullivan’s 2009 World Web Events Services Market Report.

These virtual events can be designed to look like a convention center (complete with lobby, exhibit hall and networking lounge), a college campus, the top of a skyscraper in Paris, or anywhere else in the world. The savvier the crowd, the more realistic  and compelling the show. “I’ve been doing this for seven years, and one of the biggest changes I’ve seen is the improvement in computer skills of the sponsors and attendees,” says the founder of  an Illinois-based virtual events design firm. “More businesspeople are comfortable navigating through virtual space.”

Show hosts (event producers) pay an event firm $20,000 to $50,000 to create the custom virtual environment; they make the money back by charging exhibitors fees to set up their booths, make presentations and even buy additional, premium advertising.

Getting Started

Before you invest a dime in showcasing at a virtual trade show, get a feel for the environment. (Most shows are free for attendees.) You can also contact the show host (producer) to arrange a demo walk-through. “Browse” the booths and listen to a few seminars to get a feel for the style and length of presentations.

Unlike in the physical world, setting up a booth eats all of 30 minutes and takes no sweat. Some virtual design companies will construct a booth free of charge; all you have to do is set up a brief phone call to lay out the general design, and send them your materials (white papers, logos and audio and video clips) for formatting. If you’d rather do it yourself, you can log onto the web design firm Web site and work within a template wizard that walks you through the process.

Generating Leads

As for placement, “It absolutely helps drive attendees if you pay for prime real estate in the virtual exhibit hall,” says the founder of a virtual design firm. Generally, attendees “enter” the exhibit hall from one main doorway, so getting near that portal is important. Prime placement could run a few thousand dollars more, but it’s still significantly cheaper than a bad spot at a physical show for $25,000.

During designated show days (some events run a single day, others go on for months), have a representative from your company logged in and prepared to engage booth visitors. When an attendee visits your booth, their name appears in a sidebar list of all the people present, and you can greet them in the form of an instant message. When you IM visitors, they immediately see your name, business affiliation and title; for more information, they can click on your name to view your profile.

“Last month I worked my booth while on a flight from Atlanta to Portland,” says Jeff Pedowitz, chief executive of Alpharetta, Ga.-based marketing firm the Pedowitz Group. Pedowitz recently set up a virtual booth at the B-to-B Magazine show, where he says he ginned up some 50 leads for his marketing services. Not a bad return for a $5,000 investment.

Even Santa and NORAD Understand the Value of Social Media Marketing

Just when you might think you’ve heard it all, now small businesses can take a lesson from Santa!A recent article describes a comprehensive social media strategy recently put in place by NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) to track Santa’s progress this holiday season.  While obviously meant to be a fun activity, closer reading of the story actually displays a well thought out and comprehensive Social Media Marketing Strategy that small business owners would do well to emulate in their own marketing efforts! So take a lesson from Santa and consider what Social  Media Marketing can do to help you grow your business.  Visit our website to learn more about Social Media Marketing, and if you need assistance developing your own Social Media Marketing Strategy, please feel free to contact the experts at Strategic Growth Concepts via email at info@StrategicGrowthConcepts.com or via our website by clicking HERE. NORAD Expands Santa Tracking Web Services by WWJ Great Lakes IT Report

And here you thought all they did was patrol the skies for the bad guys! Heck no, even the North American Aerospace Defense Command need to have some fun.The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, is now live and features fun holiday games and activities that change daily. The Web site is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese.On Dec. 24, the Web site will track Santa Claus’ annual trip, streaming videos, captured by NORAD “Santa Cams,” from numerous cities along Santa’s journey.This year, children and the young-at-heart are able to track Santa through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and TroopTube.mil. To follow Santa on any of these Web sites, type in @noradsanta into the search engine and start your tracking.Also new this year: Detroit-based OnStar is partnering with NORAD to provide OnStar subscribers with live Santa updates as they travel in their vehicles on Christmas Eve. Subscribers simply push the blue OnStar button to get status reports on Santa’s whereabouts. Also new and beginning at midnight Mountain time Dec. 24 (2 a.m. Eastern time), visitors to the Web site can watch Santa as he prepares his sleigh, checks his list, and goes through all his preparations to ensure he has a successful journey. As soon as Santa takes off from the North Pole, children can also track him with up-to-the-minute Google Maps and Google Earth reports. Santa trackers will begin answering phones and replying to email at 4 a.m. Mountain time (6 a.m. Eastern time) on Christmas Eve. Children of all ages can call the NTS toll free number (877) Hi-NORAD (446-6723) or send an email to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com.    The NTS program is carried out with the assistance of many corporate partners. Booz Allen Hamilton has designed the NTS Web site. Other sponsors helping with the event include Verizon, who donates the toll-free number, Time Warner, Avaya and PCI provide communications engineering, while OnStar, 5 Star Bank, Pepsi Distributing and First Choice Awards and Gifts keep the trackers happy with food, beverages and souvenir tracking pins.   The NTS program began on Dec. 24, 1955, after a phone call was made to the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The call was from a local youngster who dialed a misprinted telephone number in a local newspaper advertisement. The commander at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo. who answered the phone that night gave the youngster the information requested — the whereabouts of Santa. This began the tradition of tracking Santa, a tradition that was carried on by NORAD when it was formed in 1958.   The NTS program has grown immensely since first presented on the Internet in 1998. The Web site receives millions of unique visitors from hundreds of countries and territories around the world. In addition, the NTS Operations Center will be occupied for 25 hours with over 1,200 volunteers on Christmas Eve, who will be receiving hundreds of thousands phone calls and emails from families around the world.

The Most Expensive Mistakes Made by Small Business Owners

 By Kevin Hagen, Associated Content, Huffington Post

By avoiding some common costly mistakes, you can significantly improve your chances of making your business a success.

Small business owners may start out with high expectations, but according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, roughly 50 percent of them will fail within the first five years. Reasons for failure can be as varied as the risks involved in starting and managing any business. But there are some common mistakes that small business owners make that if avoided, can lead to the ultimate success and sustainability of their businesses.

Lack of planning. A great idea can be the inspiration for a small business, but the proper planning is what will get that venture off to a good start and keep it on track. As Steve Strauss, author of the “Small Business Bible,” points out, being aware of potential business problems before they arise is one way to avoid them. Every small business needs a realistic and comprehensive business plan, based on accurate and objective information. The plan should include a clear description of the business, the owner’s goals and the keys to success. It should also include an analysis of the competition, a marketing plan to position the business’ products and services, and a budget and cash flow projections.

Borrowing too much. Initial high expectations can work against small business owners when they lead to borrowing too much. It may take some time to start generating profits; large monthly debt payments in the early stages can sap critical cash flow that would be better invested in marketing and developing the business.

Spending too much. While a small business owner needs to have the necessary facilities and resources, spending too much on equipment and furniture, hiring too many employees and renting too much space can place too heavy a load on a start-up business. As pointed out by Nolo, it’s better to start on a shoestring. Then the business can be built up as it starts to generate profits and a positive cash flow.

Insufficient capital. While borrowing too much can sink a small business, insufficient capital can also derail even the best-laid plans. As indicated by Business Know-How, many small business owners underestimate how much money they will need and are forced to close before they have even had a chance to succeed. Small businesses can often take up to a year or more to really get going. It’s vital to have enough working capital to survive that period.

Inadequate pricing. Jay Goltz, writing for CNN Money, describes a home furnishings boutique that had great products and growing revenues, yet it was losing money. Goltz explains that entrepreneurs tend to concentrate on what they love. But every small business owner must also be the CFO. In the case of the home furnishings boutique, not paying sufficient attention to finances resulted in overlooking the need to raise prices.

Not seeking advice. In the Puget Sound Business Journal, Dennis and Margaret Purvine tell of a small business owner who landed a big contract, but because of an unusual pricing model and some onerous terms, the business ended up losing money on the deal. If the small business owner had consulted with an attorney to review the contract, this mistake could have been avoided. A small business owner may be an expert in a chosen field, but a small business needs help from legal, accounting, tax and other experts.

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Let the consultants at Strategic Growth Concepts help you avoid these mistakes and others so your company can continue to achieve growth.  Click HERE to be contacted for a FREE initial consultation.

What a Small Business Owner Should Know Before Laying Off Employees

Though economists are telling us the recession has come to an end and things are beginning to rebound, the unfortunate result of an economic downturn that has lasted so long and affected so many industries, countries and skillsets is that the recovery is likely to take a very long time to show itself to small businesses.  This being the case, small businesses are still finding themselves having a need to cut costs and layoff employees.  Click HERE to read an article that can help your company meet your Federal and State legal obligations with regard to laying off employees, and yet allow you to do what’s needed to protect your company and assist your soon-to-be ex-employees as much as possible.

SBA Loan Guarantees Revert to Pre-Stimulus Levels

The time has come to say goodbye to the 90 percent loan guarantee and reduced fees that supposedly sparked a rebound in Small Business Administration lending; though many reports have indicated small business lending has practically evaporated in spite of the stimulus package enhancements.

In a few days, the SBA will run out of the $375 million in economic stimulus funds that enabled the agency to offer these enhancements. As a result, beginning Monday, Nov. 23, borrowers will have to make a choice:  They can be put on a waiting list to receive these breaks as stimulus funds become available, or they can apply for a regular SBA loan with higher fees and a lower government guarantee for the lender.

The SBA expects additional funds to become available to make loans under the stimulus provisions since not everyone who is approved for a loan will go through with it. However, loans on the stimulus waiting list run the risk of never getting funded.

As recently as Nov. 18, SBA officials said they expected to be able to make loans under the stimulus provisions into December. But loan applications surged this past week as borrowers and lenders tried to get their applications in before the stimulus money ran out.

SBA lenders, small-business groups and the Obama administration have urged Congress to find money to extend the stimulus enhancements. But Congress has to-date failed to do so.

As a result, government guarantees on 7(a) loans will revert back to the standard 75 percent for loans of more than $150,000, and 85 percent for loans of $150,000 or less. Fees on 7(a) loans and 504 loans, which are used to finance real estate, will revert to their normal levels as well.

How the Obama Administration Can Stimulate the Economy and Job Growth Via Small Business

Below is a statement from a group called the American Small Business League with a list of suggestions for the Obama Administration that they believe will stimulate the economy and create new jobs.  After reading, we’re very interested to know what you think, and if you agree, via your comments.

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Source: American Small Business League,  Tuesday November 17, 2009

PETALUMA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:

Since President Barack Obama has said that we need to take all reasonable steps to stimulate the economy and create new jobs, the American Small Business League (ASBL) would like to propose these very reasonable steps to stimulate the economy and cut unemployment: http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/11/12/white-house-to-host-jobs-forum-in-december/

• Do not change the definition of a small business from being “independently owned” to include firms that are owned and controlled by venture capitalists. This would divert even more small business contracts away from legitimate small businesses and into the hands of wealthy investors.
• Do not attempt to close the Small Business Administration (SBA) by combining it with the U.S. Department of Commerce or any other federal agency.
• Honor your campaign promise to, “end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.” The best way to do this would be to back H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. The Obama Administration is currently awarding billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to corporate giants around the world. (e.g. Textron, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Rolls Royce, and Thales) By stopping this problem, H.R. 2568, would redirect more current federal infrastructure spending to small businesses in the middle class than any other proposal to date. http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php
• Implement the 5 percent set-aside goal for women owned firms like you promised during the campaign. http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/SmallBusinessFINAL.pdf
• Restore the SBA’s budget and staffing like you promised during the campaign. The current SBA staffing levels are at their lowest levels in 30 years. http://obama.3cdn.net/d14eb1b3649c4d6745_0evzmv02w.pdf
• Eliminate the SBA fabricated exclusionary rules that reduce contacting opportunities for small businesses.
• Abolish the Comprehensive Test Program, which allows contractors to avoid penalties for non-compliance and avoid submitting reports that are used to track compliance with their small business sub-contracting goals.
• Enforce the “Liquidated Damages” clause in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which created a penalty for prime contractor non-compliance with its small business sub-contracting plans. This law has never been enforced.
• Aggressively prosecute fraud and misrepresentation in federal small business programs. Misrepresenting the size of a firm in order to illegally receive federal contracts and subcontracts is a felony with penalties of up to 10 years in prison, a fine up to $500,000, cancellation of all contracts and debarment from selling to the government.

Please click here to watch a short clip about the ASBL’s concerns regarding the Obama Administration’s small business conference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JvT7Btd_9s

Members of the Small Business Community Are Invited to Participate in an Upcoming Live Webchat with US Small Business Administration Leader, Karen Mills

Members of the small business community are invited to participate in an upcoming live webchat with US Small Business Administration leader Karen Mills. Administrator Mills will be answering your questions via White House Live and the WH Facebook app on Monday, November 16 at 3:15pm. Read below for more information about the event or post your questions for Administrator Mills in the comments.

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From: Karen Mills

Subject: Small Business Financing Forum

Friend:

A few weeks ago, President Obama asked the U.S. Small Business Administration and Department of Treasury to convene a forum to discuss how we can best get credit flowing to small businesses to help them make it through this recessions, and put them in a position to grow and create jobs. We’re hosting the forum next week, and I want to make sure that everyone with a stake in our recovery has their voice heard. Which is why I’ll be taking your questions live in advance of the event this Monday, November 16th, at 3:15pm EST in a live video discussion through WhiteHouse.gov/live or through the White House’s live-chat application on Facebook. And whether you can make the chat or not, I’d like to invite you to submit a question ahead of time by emailing us in advance. We’ll post the full video of the chat afterwards. I’ll be able to share the concerns of small business owners I hear in the chat with the President and Secretary Geithner, at the Small Business Financing Forum and in our conversations and meetings afterwards. The President called for this forum because he knows that small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and that they’re driving our recovery. We want to open the doors and bring everyone who’s involved in this historic effort to the table — from Administration officials and Congressional leaders to lenders and small business owners like yourself – so we’ll also be streaming the conference at live WhiteHouse.gov/blog, Wednesday, November 18th, starting at 9am EST.

Warm regards,

Karen Mills, Administrator U.S. Small Business Administration

Strategic’s CEO Influences Technology Writer

Recently I had the privilege of being interviewed for an article in Small Business Computing about customer relationship management (CRM) by a freelance journalist by the name of Gerry Blackwell.

When I spoke to Gerry about CRM and how it is being used by small businesses today, I immediately knew that I wasn’t giving him the type of information he was seeking for the article he was writing; he had been contracted to focus most specifically on the technology available today to facilitate the practice, and was looking for more of a comparison.  I, however, had a different take on CRM and small business and it was tied very closely to social media, regular interaction with customers thru web 2.0 technologies, and the need to educate small business owners about its’ value in contributing toward business growth.

During the course of the interview while I shared my thoughts, I wasn’t certain that Gerry was ‘getting’ what I was telling him or understanding the potential impact on small business.  However, I am pleased to say that when doing a regular Internet search to monitor references to my name or my company’s name, I came across an article that Gerry had written on his personal blog about our conversation.  I read the article and learned he had in fact, ‘got it’!  And – he had a great ‘take’ on what I was sharing with him.  Click HERE to read Gerry’s blog article as well as to access his link to the original Small Business Computing article which I have previously referenced in this blog.  If you have an doubt about the value of customer relationship management for your business, reading his blog article and the Small Business Computing article will clarify the value for you.

The Real Value of Joining a Local Chamber of Commerce

A new national study reveals that membership in a local chamber of
commerce can significantly boost a business’s image among consumers,
as well as among other businesses. In a scientific survey of 2000 U.S.
adults, The Schapiro Group, an Atlanta-based strategic consulting firm,
found positive perceptions of chamber members in a number of areas,
including overall favorability, consumer awareness and reputation, and
likelihood of future patronage.

The study, commissioned by the American Chamber of Commerce
Executives (ACCE), IBM, Administaff, Small Business Network, Inc., and
Market Street Services, showed that when respondents were told that a
particular small business was a member of its local chamber, they were
44 percent more likely to rate it favorably than study respondents who
were not told of the chamber affiliation. Respondents were also 63 percent
more likely to want to purchase goods or services from a small business
that is a chamber member.

“We discovered that informing someone about a company’s chamber
membership opens the door to substantial increases positive perceptions
of that business,” said Alex Trouteaud, Ph.D., senior strategist for
The Schapiro Group. “There clearly is a feeling by our respondents that
chamber membership is synonymous with quality and desirability.”

To tap into this reservoir of goodwill, a small business should not only
join the local chamber of commerce and participate, but also make sure
consumers and other businesses are aware of that chamber affiliation. The
positive impact of perceived chamber membership is felt by big businesses,
too.

For example, when consumers believed that a restaurant chain was a
member of the local chamber of commerce, they were 40 percent more
likely to eat at the franchise in the future. And if a consumer believed that
one of the major automobile manufacturers was a member of its local
chamber,that consumer was 9 percent more likely to consider purchasing
his or her next car from that automaker.

“This study reinforces research done in 2005 about the perceived capacity
of chambers to lead businesses and lead communities,” said Mick Fleming,
president of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE).
“These new national findings point to even more direct benefits for
companies willing to be stakeholders in their local chamber.”

The study results had good news for chambers themselves, where
82 percent of respondents indicated that a local chamber of commerce
“creates jobs and promotes economic development.”

“The message from this national study is as simple as it is
ground-breaking,” said Jim Blasingame, small business expert and president
of Small Business Network, Inc. “Join your local chamber, be an active
participant in your chamber’s programs and be sure to let your customers
and prospects know you’re a proud chamber supporter when they come in
your business and when they see your marketing material.”

J. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street Services, an economic development
consulting firm based in Atlanta that helped create the study, said,
“It is refreshing to learn what we have suspected for years — that chamber
membership and community involvement are good investments.”

To review the report click here.

How Are You Promoting Your Business – the Old Standby Methods or Utilizing New Technology?

Expected Change in Media Use by Medium

As the economy continues to be a major factor affecting the ways in which small businesses promote themselves and go about the business of obtaining new customers, we at Strategic Growth Concepts have also found ourselves seeking new, higher impact, more cost-effective ways of promoting our business to prospective clients, as well as ways to help our clients promote their businesses. Our interactions with our clients and those in our many networks tell us that most small businesses are also interested in learning all they can to make the most of these new marketing and advertising tools.

Therefore, we thought we would conduct a brief study to determine the methods of marketing and advertising currently being used by small businesses, as well as to determine which methods are being explored. We will use this information to develop a series of articles and radio shows to help small businesses review and evaluate the marketing and advertising options available to them, and to assist in their determination of which methods will work best for their business. Click HERE to take survey.

We will share the survey results, as well as information about the various marketing methods, in upcoming articles and broadcasts. In the meantime, we would love to receive your comments in response to this article with your thoughts about the results various forms of marketing have produced for your firm.

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The author, Linda Daichendt, is Founder, CEO and Managing Consultant at Strategic Growth Concepts, a consulting and training firm specializing in start-up, small and mid-sized businesses. She is a recognized small business expert with 20+ years experience in providing Marketing, Operations, HR, and Strategic planning services to start-up, small and mid-sized businesses. Linda can be contacted at linda@strategicgrowthconcepts.com and the company website can be viewed at www.strategicgrowthconcepts.com.

Detroit Regional Chamber Hosting Small Business Conference October 28th

The Detroit Regional Chamber will hold its annual small business conference Oct. 28, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at The Henry Ford in Dearborn. The day-long event, called Business InSight, will offer speed networking, panel discussions and a town hall meeting.

Mary Ellen Sheets, founder of Two Men and a Truck; Bob Fish, co-founder and CEO of Biggby Coffee; and Jeff Spilman, managing partner of S3 Entertainment Group L.L.C. will lead a session titled “Inside the CEO Mind.” Other speakers include: Marrianne O’Brien Markowitz, Midwest regional administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration; and Chris Holman, small business advocate for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. For more information about Business InSight 2009 click HERE.

SBA Launches New Online Training Course: Winning Federal Contracts – A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs

WASHINGTON – Women who own small businesses will be able to use a new online U.S. Small Business Administration training course to learn how to identify and take advantage of federal contracting opportunities.  The new training course, Winning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs, is part of an ongoing government-wide initiative to promote opportunities for women-owned businesses in the area of government contracting. 

This free online tutorial is a practical and easy to use guide that walks a woman-owned small business through the contracting process.  SBA is committed to ensuring that women-owned businesses receive at least 5 percent of federal contracts and believes better training opportunities are central to meeting this government-wide goal. 

Click HERE to learn more, and HERE to access the SBA training.

Customer Relationship Management in the Small Business Environment

As we have become more and more technology-oriented in recent years, one of the trends I’ve noticed is that small business owners seem to assume that any task needing to be done to run their business requires a software package to facilitate it. Customer Relationship Management is no different. The multitude of CRM software packages available today, such as ACT, Outlook Contact Manager, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, FreeCRM, SalesBoom.com and many others, have encouraged this trend.  In fact, to further engage use of their systems, Salesforce.com and SugarCRM have made available FREE versions of their software for small businesses in the hope that they will eventually upgrade to a paid version of the program.

However, what frequently occurs is that small business owners assume that the programs are so complicated, or so work-intensive, that the already over-worked small business owners assume they don’t have the time or resources to utilize them; and then further assume that they can’t proceed with a CRM program since they don’t have time to manage it with the software program.  A recent article, ‘The Small Business Case for CRM’ for which I was interviewed by SmallBusinessComputing.com, further explores this trend.

In an effort to get the very important CRM process started for your firm, I would like to propose that small business owners go back to the basics as listed below:

• A database of your customers, in Excel, that can be sorted and updated and includes a comments section.
• Follow-up steps, including “Thanks for your time/business” letters or e-mails.
• An inexpensive e-mail vendor such as ConstantContact, SwiftPages or any other similar online service that can cost as little as $15 per month to manage up to 500 contacts.
• A solid communication schedule, with a customer feedback loop that captures and logs in the customer contact history.
• Buy-in from every employee in your company to execute the strategy.

The list of basic tasks above comes from a recent Forbes.com article that discussed CRM from a similar standpoint (the complete article can be found on our website), the premise being that CRM programs don’t need to be complicated to implement to be effective. Nor do they need to be costly or time-consuming. Make a plan, have a basic database to track your efforts, some simple tools, and you’re on your way to increasing business from the most cost-effective and profitable customers you can have – the ones who already know you and have done business with you.

When you’re comfortable, go to the next step and start using a free version of Salesforce.com or SugarCRM or the Outlook Contact Manager that comes with the Small Business version of Microsoft Office 2007 to see if it adds value and effectiveness to your CRM efforts.  Then, when you want maximum value, move on to a paid version of one of the software programs with all the bells and whistles.  Try this multi-step CRM strategy and see if it doesn’t have positive impact on your business!

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The author, Linda Daichendt, is Founder and Managing Consultant at Strategic Growth Concepts with over twenty years’ experience in working with small businesses. Linda can be contacted by email at strategicgrowthconcepts@earthlink.net. The company website can be viewed at www.strategicgrowthconcepts.com

Being Strategic: Live from the Inc. 500

This article was posted by Inc. 500 conference attendee, Janine Popick, the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse, a leading provider of self-service e-mail marketing, online surveys, and direct mail services for small businesses. Her company has been ranked on the Inc. 500|5000 list every year since 2006.

When I read her take on the information provided by the seminar leader, Erika Anderson, CEO of Proteus International, I couldn’t help feeling that every word of it was important for small business owners to hear.  I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did.

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Posted by Janine Popick at 4:25 PM

I’m at the Inc. 500 Conference, America’s leading conference for entrepreneurs. I’m at a seminar listening to speaker Erika Andersen who is the CEO of Proteus International. Her company helps other companies think about ways to grow through being strategic. By the size of the room and the attendance of this session (130 people and full) it sure seems like entrepreneurs are craving information for how to grow in this economy.

Erika’s session is all about how to think and be strategic when it comes to your business. Her definition of strategic is “consistently making those core directional choices that will best move you toward your hoped-for future.” She believes it’s particularly important for entrepreneurs because our businesses can be very volatile, and I couldn’t agree more.

What all companies need to start off with is a clear vision. Then strategy develops out of that. You as the leader need talk about vision so that everyone in your company knows where you’re heading. In Erika’s opinion, you need to be thinking 4 years out for your vision.

Then it comes to strategy. Erika talks of strategy being something that you think about 1+ years in the future, enough time to see your desired result. She was kind enough to hand out a template for thinking strategically and we all walked through it for our own businesses. What a great template that any business can put to work now. I’ve shared it below.

Overarching Issue: What is your challenge?

1. Ask yourself what isn’t working. One example is there might be a disconnect between what your customers are asking for and what your team is providing. Sales might think the product they sell has the features it needs. The product team also thinks the product has all the features it needs. Your customers are saying the product doesn’t meets their needs.
2. Ask yourself how can I/we fix this? For example, you might try talking to the customers and find that they just didn’t know about the features and benefits you provide.
3. Ask yourself, would this feel like success?

I wrote down that at my company VerticalResponse one of our challenges is that we need to be more customer-focused. What’s your challenge?

Through this entire process Erika outlines a common thread you need to be aware of:
Become a fair witness – You need to be neutral and objective. Ask yourself; “Am I being accurate and true to myself about my situation?”

Pull back the camera – People that don’t can be too tactical. See the situation you’re assessing from a wider lens and what effects any decisions you make would have.

Sort for Impact – Can you figure out what the impact of your decisions will be?

Once you’re clear on this, get clear on your current situation. You need to know where you’re starting from relative to the challenge.

Envision: What’s Your Hope?

1. Pick a timeframe that’s appropriate relative to the size of your challenge.
2. Imagine yourself there. Ask yourself what’s it like to be there?
3. Describe it – Pick out 5-6 key elements and describe them.

Face What’s in the Way

1. List the things that can get in the way of your vision and the challenge you want to overcome.
2. Define how you’ll overcome them.

For VerticalResponse a few hurdles included access to people resources and capital for equipment. We found that by looking at our overall budgets and seeing what we could do without, we could find the money and the resources.

Determine: What’s the Path to get there with Strategy?

1. What does the roadmap look like?
2. What do you need to accomplish to overcome your challenges?

At VerticalResponse for instance our strategies are to give even better customer service and offer a better product that is more reliable.

What’s the path to get there with Tactics or Action items?

1. Tactics need to arise from strategy
2. Tactics need to be FIT (Feasible, Have a high Impact, a bang for your buck and Timely)
3. Tactics include a Who, What, and When (Here’s where you don’t pull back the camera, you’re laser-focused)
4. Tactics take 6+ months to see any changes in your business.

At our company we’ve put more effort into our CRM tool so that our Customer Service reps will have access to the customer. We’re also developing new features for our customers in the next 6 months, and we’ve beefed up the back-end of our product to be more reliable. Of course all of these come with a ton of tactics, but I won’t bore you with them.

Being Strategic is an Ongoing Process.

You should be looking at your progress every quarter or 6 months to assess how it’s going or if things need to change. To do that assess:

1. What is Now
2. Re-confirm The Hope
3. Re-assess What’s in the Way
4. Revise the Path

One thing we do at VerticalResponse is have an executive offsite every 6 months to go over where we are, what’s happened in the industry, and where we need to focus for the next 6 months.

The great thing that Erika ended on was a quote from Michelangelo: “We’re still learning.” I think it’s something all entrepreneurs need to be aware of. I sure am.

Strategic Growth Concepts Donates Website to Non-profit Recovering from Recent Theft

Strategic Growth Concepts has joined with Detroit-based web consulting firm, Powerful Design to develop and provide  a website to a non-profit animal rescue group that was recently victimized by thieves.

Detroit-based animal rescue group, HomeFur-ever, recently suffered the loss of thousands of dollars worth of food, medical supplies, crates, and other equipment when thieves stole their van and enclosed trailer in broad daylight (see news coverage HERE).  The van and trailer were eventually abandoned and recovered with extensive damage, but the items stored in both were either gone or destroyed.  Since HomeFur-ever does not currently have a building, the group stores all of its supplies and equipment within the vehicles, this makes the loss even more devastating and has seriously hindered their ability to care for the 90+ animals currently under their responsibility.

In order to help the group obtain donations of cash and goods to facilitate their recovery from this ordeal, Strategic Growth Concepts worked with the group’s pro-bono web consulting firm, Powerful Design to provide a comprehensive website that will meet their current needs, as well as expanding with them as their organization begins to once again achieve growth.

The website, www.HomeFurever.com was built utilizing Powerful Design’s proprietary website management system, MYCE, a user-friendly system enabling the rescue group to offer a wide array of useful tools for visitors to the site, including:

• the ability to provide one-time donations OR monthly donations in increments of $10, $25, $50, or $100
• the opportunity to ’sponsor’ on-going animal care, treatment for major animal medical issues, or gifting an adoption
• a HomeFur-ever ‘Fundraising Kit’ for individuals or groups who want to develop fundraising events on behalf of HomeFur-ever
• photo galleries of the group’s animals which enlarge significantly when clicked on to enable better views of the available animals
• a HomeFur-ever video
• links to upcoming HomeFur-ever adoption & fundraising events (including links to maps of event locations)
• videos of, and links to, the news coverage received as a result of the recent robbery the group was subjected to
• resource links for pet owners, including:  pet emergency care, trainers, veterinarians, pet insurance, and many others
• an educational page about current animal-related issues
• access to the HomeFur-ever Twitter and Facebook sites
• online forms for those interested in:  fostering, adoption, volunteering, raising funds for the group, making food or other donations to the group, etc.
• a link to the website of an artist who does custom animal paintings; HomeFur-ever will obtain 10% of the revenue generated from every painting contracted via the link from the HomeFur-ever website
• links to national animal rescue related fundraising sites.

Strategic Growth Concepts (www.StrategicGrowthConcepts.com) utilizes the powerful MYCE Website Management System for its own website, as well as in the development of websites for their client firms.

SBA Launches FREE Online Training to Help Small Businesses Get Government Contracts

The U.S. Small Business Administration today launched a new online training course to help strengthen access to contracting opportunities for small businesses, including those owned by women, minorities, disadvantaged individuals and veterans.

The training course, “Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal Contracts,” is part of a federal government-wide initiative announced last month by President Obama and being led by SBA and the Department of Commerce.

“Government contracts can play a key role in helping small businesses turn the corner in terms of expansion and job creation,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said. “But make no mistake, the benefits the government receives are equally as impressive – working with small businesses allows the federal government to work with some of the most innovative companies in America, often with direct contact with the CEO.”

“The SBA online training course can help businesses access the federal purchasing system and position themselves to compete for the commercial opportunities offered by government contracting,” Mills continued.

More about the course and a link to access it can be found HERE.

Technology Benefits for Small Business is the Theme of Upcoming Radio Appearances by Strategic Growth CEO

Two upcoming radio appearances by Strategic Growth Concepts CEO, Linda Daichendt, will focus on the latest technologies for marketing, and the benefits those technologies can provide to small businesses.  If your firm is seeking new cost-effective and efficient ways to generate leads for business growth, make sure to add these FREE online radio events to your schedule:

Virtual Events:  The New Networking Forum for Small Business

When:  Tuesday, 8/25 @ 2:30 p.m. EDT

Listen LIVE by calling:  (347) 215-6955, or download a podcast at your convenience  by accessing the ‘Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business’ show home page at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/StrategicGrowthConcepts .  Read News Release about this show and our industry experts HERE.

Mobile Marketing for Franchises

When:  Thursday, 9/3 @ 2:00 p.m. EDT

Obtain all show information on the FranchisEssentials Show home page at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FranchisEssentials .

Market Research on the Cheap

One area of importance that is often overlooked by small business owners with too much on their plate, is Market Research – to get a good grasp of their competitors, their target customers, their geographic market areas, and their industry.  As a result, many small business are operating in the dark – functioning on the ‘gut instinct’ of small business owners or their staff.  While that may work for a period of time, pretty quickly it becomes evident that you don’t know enough about what your competitors are doing, who exactly your most profitable customers are, and where exactly you can find those most profitable customers.

Having such information can help a cash-strapped small business owner specifically target potential customers that are most likely to be interested in his product or service, and to keep costs manageable since you won’t be spending money directing advertising/marketing efforts to groups that are unlikely to have interest in what you have to offer.  Knowledge of your market area allows you to know exactly where to find those highly profitable customers.  Being aware of what your competitors are doing allows you to find opportunities they may be missing and take advantage of them, and Industry knowledge allows you to insure that your company is ‘keeping up’ and that consumers needs will be met by the use of your product or service – as well as ways others in your industry are approaching their customers.

We at Strategic Growth Concepts are strong proponents of utilizing cost-effective ways to conduct Market Research to enable small businesses to gain every advantage possible.  We have developed a variety of tools to enable small businesses to capture the information they need, and are always available to assist you in this endeavor.  Should you have interest in learning ways that Market Research can help you more cost-effectively market your business, please contact us via our website or via email at info@StrategicGrowthConcepts.com.  In the meantime, please read the article below from Forbes for some excellent information and resources.

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Kern Lewis, 07.17.09, Forbes

Free data? It’s out there, if you know where to look.

Small business owners can be forgiven for shying away from projects without an immediate payoff. Cash is tight, customers are hurting and the future is uncertain.

Still, when it comes to understanding your customer base, the education process can’t stop. Tastes change, markets morph. If you rely on the same dusty old data that once anchored your business plan, you’re finished–maybe not tomorrow, or three months from now, but soon enough.

I’ll grant you that the returns on continuing market research are hard to measure, another reason that task gets pushed to the back of the line. The good news is that there’s a wealth of free information out there for those willing to pound a few hundred key strokes to find it.

This topic is so important that I will be dedicating two columns to it. This first one focuses on actionable data–the kind that you can truly put to work, as opposed to the stuff that’s merely “nice to have”–and where to find some of it for free. We’ll discuss the stuff you pay for (but not too much) in the next column.

In Pictures: 12 Innovative Marketing Tactics (That Won’t Break The Bank)

In Pictures: Seven Ways To Get The Word Out Locally

What constitutes actionable data? Here are three main categories:

Demographics. You can’t sell to people if you don’t know who they are, where they live and how much they have to spend. Demographics determine how to spend precious marketing dollars–for lists, advertising, direct mail, keyword testing (for online campaigns), and on and on.

I learned this lesson back in 2005 when I launched a new cash-flow-based loan product. I simply didn’t know which customers would be likely to leap at these loans. After a number of months and many thousands of wasted marketing dollars, we surveyed our new customer base and revised our original profile (turned out our core base were not just “wealthy households,” but more specifically, self-employed small businesspeople at least 45 years of age). Understanding those demographics honed my marketing strategy and boosted the return on those efforts.

Measurable preferences for specific product attributes. You can’t offer every bell and whistle. You have to know what matters most to customers.

When Allstate markets auto insurance, it picks one benefit to emphasize, such as “accident forgiveness.” In a separate ad it might focus on “peace of mind.” Each effort is targeted, not cluttered with a kitchen-sinkful of selling points. You need to know which benefits will resonate with your customers. Good research that answers that question is crucial to performance.

Behavioral trends. Once you know who your buyer is and what they want, you then have to know how they like to buy it.

Younger people tend to be more comfortable buying product and service online, for instance, while older folks still appreciate personal interaction with a salesperson. Conclusion: If you target Generation Y, you had better have a killer Web site, a presence on social networks, etc. If most of your customers use Twitter, you better use it too.

Now that you know what you’re looking for, how to find it for free?

Step one: Cast a wide net. Start searching the Web by name of industry and add qualifying terms like “market size” or “competition.” (Remember to put quotes around multi-word phrases.) Don’t just use Google;  tap other search engines, including outliers like www.cuil.com and Microsoft’s new www.bing.com. You’ll be surprised how different the results are.

Two research-focused sites I like are www.marketresearch.com and www.quirks.com.  Quirks has a glossary of market-research terms, lists of vendors and a library of 2,500 articles searchable by topic. I recently looked for articles on telephone interviewing and came up with over 100 worth browsing. (Some of this material was behind a free registration wall, a minor inconvenience.)

Keep your eyes open for helpful material that you may not have been expressly looking for. While sussing out my competition (by typing in “marketing consultants” and “San Francisco” in the search box), I came across an article about what the average marketing consultant makes in the Bay Area. (I am doing better than I thought!)

Step two: Check government databases. The portal www.fedstats.gov is the gateway to multiple federal data sources brimming with demographic data. The mother lode, of course, comes from the Census Bureau, which presents detailed population and housing data, such as place of birth, education, employment status, income, value and age of housing units. The full data set, compiled every 10 years, is getting a bit long in the tooth, but to find specific neighborhoods that match your desired profile, it can’t be beat.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has gobs of useful stuff, too. Thinking about selling frozen filet mignon through the mail and want to know how much the average household earning at least $150,000 spends on beef? Check out the BLS “Consumer Expenditure Survey.” (The answer is $339 a year, by the way.) Just choose the demographic category most relevant to your product or service. You can also access regional breakdowns under the “Geography” tab in the left-hand navigation bar on the main page.

Step Three: Mine the trade associations. Some associations are better data trackers than others, but be sure to browse what they do have. I’ve used information compiled by the Yellow Pages Association to advise my clients on the relative merits of advertising in print or online Yellow Pages.

The bottom line about market research: It takes time and tenacity, so get to it. And I’ll be back in a bit to tell you what information is worth paying for–and what isn’t.