Growing Your Successful Business

Growing Your Successful Business

Here we will review what is available to get your business off the ground with the traction it needs to become sustainable.

Marketing

For some, promoting a business can be a huge challenge. Sharing what is so much a representation of who you are – your passion – can be scary. Take a deep breath and just start. This guide will make it easier, more fun and certainly cheaper.

I always found public relations (PR) to not only be more effective than advertising, but much less expensive. With the Internet, your potential to spread the word is exponential. This viral marketing as it is called, relies on Web 2.0 or the social media phenomenon to spread the word for you. The premise is that you have a hot product or service and the gossip of the Internet quickly shares the news. The flip side is that if your service or product is poor, the word will spread even quicker so you need to make sure the quality is present before you start promoting

As simple as the premise might be, it usually takes work to create it. The work might be getting known through having your own network or following before you introduce the world to your business. It might be connecting up with someone else’s network, such as a friend who has a large list of “friends” on Facebook. If you’re going for the Internet buzz, you need a web site or blog where people can find you.

Many of the resources at the end of this book will give you specific directions on how to market your business. My suggestion is to start with what excites you. Find a way to share your passion, and then keep expanding your venues.

Websites

Today having a website is as necessary as having a business card. But unlike business cards, they can be free...

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... friendly web-based accounting program. If you invoice customers, it integrates with FreshBooks, an online invoicing service. What made Intuit’s products so popular is the basis of Outright. They all use check register interfaces; you enter in transaction details and get quick and simple access to the general health of your business.

Some people are concerned about using the Internet to hold and manage financial data. Over the years, the security of these services has been proven. For others, there is a trade-off of not having the full range of options or control offered by purchased programs.

It’s almost fun to use these programs. You’re just relegated to imputing data; the programs do the rest. One caveat – make sure you set up your accounts correctly. You may want your CPA to guide you with this, as you don’t want to enter your data in the wrong accounts.