Growth of On Line Sales

A recent study shows that 97% of small business owners are fearful about the economy but a large part of those concerned still plan on spending more money on advertising. The report shows that most of this increase will be targeted on line.

Although some businesses will lift spending in areas, the research shows that an increasing amount of small business owners question whether mass media advertising can reach the market they want. But they all agree that advertising plays a crucial role in the future of their businesses. Broken down by specific media, 44% of respondents ranked online advertising as effective, followed by direct mail (32%), Yellow Pages (28%), and newspapers (27%).

These finding show that while same companies are cutting back others agree with the statement that, you can gain market share while marketing when your competitors are trying to save money. 74% of business owners feel their company must be one of the first two or three that come to a customer's mind when they need what the small business owner is selling.

Source: www.maketingvox.com

Tips For Hiring A Great Employee.

For a business owner, be it small or medium, when you hire that first employee, it's a day of celebration. It means you are in a position to expand and make your business a stronger place. But before you choose the new employee, there are a few things you should consider.



1.Before bringing in candidates to interview, make a list of 10 buzz words that are important to your small business. They can range from "fast-paced" to "money-making" and then be on alert for resumes that use identical or similar words.

2.Hiring is not a perfect process. It is highly subjective and based on a good deal of soft information. So, whenever possible, have at least one other person carefully interview the final candidates for a position. You may to be surprised with a fresh perspective.

3.Don't be in a rush to hire an employee. In today's world things can change quickly. Make sure you are hiring at the right time for your business. Many companies hire too soon and pay for it as time goes on. Keep in mind when you hire someone, you are taking on their income and future. That is a big responsibility.

4. List your goals for the new hire. Do you want someone who can fill in on short notice when you need to take a day off, or do you want someone who can work a regular schedule? Do you want someone who can meet with clients, set their own schedules and attend meetings and events on your behalf, or do you simply need someone who can pick up your overflow? These are things you need to make clear in the interview.

Listen to your gut; your intuition is the most powerful hiring tool there is. If some thing doesn't feel right, then it may not be. This is your business you're talking about so go with what you feel. At the end of the day you want to bring the right people into your family and you want this new member to help you in continuing to expand.

Avoid Social Media Suicide!

In the previous blog entry I spoke about image and how important your internet image is. I recently made a new contact on Twitter with Bradley Will who had some fantastic tips on social media and he hit on many of the points that I was talking about. Check it out:

Image IS Everything

There is an old campaign slogan that says “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That is a very true statement and an important rule for selling just about everything… including yourself!

You wouldn't meet a new client in ragged jeans and a sweatshirt or wear the same outfit two days later for a first date, or, at least I hope not. Your online image is just as important as meeting someone in person, probably even more so. Let me explain… when you upload an image to the internet it’s presence gets picked up by spiders that reports new content to search engines. In other words that image becomes searchable. This is just one of many issues in regards to using images. I have decided to compile a useful list of things to think about when you are posting images on the web.

1. Don’t upload any images that you would not want your boss, clients or mother to see. – Think twice before you post that crazy picture of you passed out in a dumpster after a night of partying, even though you might post this picture using an alias, if you registered your alias anywhere on the net with your real name, search engines could index both names together so your image of you in all your glory, could pop up in a search, which doesn’t exactly portray the image of someone trustworthy.

2. As I said before, first impressions are very important so consider your profile images. I am going to use a dating site as an example, with so many great digital cameras out there that are affordable and easy to use there is really no reason to upload that old Polaroid picture of you from prom in1982. Smudging out the face of the girl that you were with makes it look even worse. Taking the time and effort to put up good quality images shows that you are considerate of the image you put out and that reflects the effort that you are going to put into a personal relationship or the relationship with your clients.

3. You can make a large picture smaller but you cannot make a small picture larger – Images are usually uploaded in a JPEG format. This format is designed to compact information in your image and editing and re-editing can degrade the image. When you make an image smaller it throws information out so when you go to enlarge it again it cannot replace the information lost so it begins to pixelate and pull the image apart making it look fuzzy or distorted. Save your pictures in three’s, one original burned on a CD to preserve the image, the second in a large format (300 dpi) for printing or creating new files to edit, and third a smaller (72dpi) image for the web. This one you also want to burn on a disc because the more you work with it the more degraded it can get.

There are many free editing tools that come with most operating systems or can be downloaded from the web that are easy to use that you can adjust color, crop, and touch up or ad a little art. So with a little time and effort you will always put your best foot forward. Quality shows it what you see so regardless of whether it is working to draw in a mate or a client make sure it works in your favor.