Women: Pay it Forward

Inspire Young Women to Succeed as Entrepreneurs

As women business owners, we’ve come a long way—but we still have quite a way to go. Despite the astounding growth of businesses owned by women, a recent study by the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, Self-Employed Women and Time Use, found that women are 57 percent less likely than men to start their own companies.

What can you do to change these figures? If there are girls or young women in your life (daughters, nieces, family friends), help plant the seeds of entrepreneurship early and often by talking to them about business ownership. Wherever your life touches the life of a younger woman—whether that’s a Girl Scout meeting, your child’s elementary school or at your own business—find ways to encourage young women to consider entrepreneurship as an option.

Start your own version of “take your daughter to work day”, offer to speak to girls’ and young women’s organizations, take a young intern under your wing. Most of all, don’t just tell them, but show them, the joy, excitement and pride of building your own business. When you love what you do, it can’t help but rub off on others.

Rieva Lesonsky, Guest Blogger
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Manage: Professional Phone Tips

When answering the telephone:

The person who answers the telephone in the business represents the company’s image. Anyone who answers the phone should always do so in the most professional mannar. If a message is taken, make sure to get the full name of the caller, his/her phone number, the reason for calling and the best time to return the call. An example of what can be said:

“Thank you for calling (name of company) this is (name of employee) how may I help you?”

When leaving a message:

• Always speak slowly and clearly when leaving a message
• Say the phone number with pause between the numbers
• Speak loud enough so the message can be heard
• Always leave your name, phone number, a brief reason why you called and the time you called and the best time to call back
• Always make it easy for people to reach you or the best time to call.
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After playing telephone tag a few times and when you finally have the person on the phone, take notes about what the conversation is about so that you can follow up in the future. Get an email address, as well, to put in your data base. Oftentimes, email is an easier way to communicate as people today are so busy.

Julie Brander, New Haven SCORE
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Manage: Give Thanks, Give Back

Support Your Community & Boost Your Biz

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, businesses can show their appreciation to their communities by giving back and garnering free publicity in the process. Big corporations have long recognized the advantages of giving back.  Business like Target, Tom’s Shoes, Harpo and Microsoft are very vocal about their contributions to the local and international community. It shows their committment to the people and community that supports them. It also helps to build a brand associated with altruism and philantropy.

Small Biz Guide to Giving Back

• Find out what matters most to your customers and focus your efforts.
  For example, Target donates a part of their profits to schools because a large percentage of their target market are families with school-aged children. To make the best impact, focus on the issues that matter to your client base.
• Decide what method works best for your business.
  There are many ways to contribute. Pizza Hut offers free pizzas to students who read a certain number of books. Disney offers a free pass to indivuals who volunteer with an affiliated organization. Apple offers product discounts to students and teachers. These are just a few examples of how your business might give back.
• Spread the word.
  Once your program is up and running, let the public know. Put up information on your web site, place flyers in your store and update your online networks (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter). Most importantly, pitch the story to your local media outlets. Reporters are always looking for human interest stories. Also, contact organizations that would benefit directly from your program. Ask them to include your info in their publications and on their web sites. This is a great way to get free PR and boost your business. 
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Here are a few articles from SCORE to jump start the process.

• 5 Tips on Establishing a Presence in Your Community 
• How to Get Free Publicity for Your Small Business
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Christine Banning, SCORE
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Marketing: Social Media

Twitter Emoticons and Questions For Business Intelligence & Prospects

Identify negative tweets about your company and questions in your niche on Twitter to beef up your business intelligence and find new prospects.

This is the third of a three-part Twitter research tutorial, in pictures. I’ve created screen shots that relate to my nonprofit, SCORE Chicago, to use as examples.  SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business,” offers free business counseling and inexpensive business workshops to entrepreneurs and small business owners.  One of our most important keyword phrases is “business plan Chicago.”

Tracking Emotion and Opinion on Twitter

Emoticons like    and   have moved from email and texting to Twitter. If users add them to their tweets about your brand or business, you can narrow your search to tweets with positive or negative feelings. Here are people unhappy about their business plan….

Of course, you can also locate tweets with a question mark, which might be a prospect in need of your product or service…

Manage: ‘Tis the Season to Get the Help You Need

Don’t Go It Alone. Ask SCORE for Advice.

With the holiday rush upon us, the new year a few weeks away and tax season immediately following, there’s a lot for a small business owner to do.

This time of year can cause stress and burnout for many entrepreneurs, but it doesn’t have to. The business mentors at SCORE are here to help you not only survive, but thrive.

• Find SCORE to search for an office near you.
• Ask SCORE online to get quick answers to your business question.
• SCORE’s online community also provides help from out business mentors.
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SCORE Association, SCORE
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Women: Got a “Wife”?

Outsource Time Wasting Tasks

My partners and I were recently musing over the seemingly boundless energy of a male entrepreneur we know. We were in awe of his packed travel schedule, endless slew of new projects and responsiveness to email. How did he do it? Suddenly, one of my partners cried, “He’s got a wife!” Bingo.

While running a business is never easy, it’s got to be lots easier if you’ve got someone at home to pick up the dry cleaning, get dinner on the table and run the schedule. Do you have a “wife”? If so, congratulations. If not, you need to find one.

Think about your business’s key goals (both short- and long-term) and the nagging daily duties (both at work and at home) that suck up your valuable time and keep you from reaching those goals. Then figure out how you can delegate, outsource or otherwise get these tedious tasks off your plate. Yes, you may have to spend some money to do this—but if you put the time you gain back into your business, I promise you it will be money well spent.

Rieva Lesonsky, Guest Blogger
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Manage: Set Goals, Establish Purpose

Ways to Define Business Goals

Setting goals can be critical in giving you more focus in the direction you want your business to go.  Consider these tips which can give you a better sense of direction and purpose.

• Use your mind and talents fully and efficiently
• Make decisions that have positive results
• Get more organized
• Plan each day with a list of tasks that need to be completed
• Do more for yourself and others
• Feel more fulfilled by doing things you enjoy doing
• Be more enthusiastic and positive about everything you do
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Consider what motivates you to get things done and achieve your objectives in business and in your personal life.  It is not hard to accomplish something meaningful when there is a direction and a will.  If you commit to a goal and visualize it, it can be done.

The key steps in getting things done:

• Write your goals down
• Set a date to complete them
• List any obstacles that you may have to overcome
• Identify people and resources that can help
• Develop a plan of action on how it will get done
• When completed you will feel that sense of accomplishment
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Often times we get caught up in our day-to-day activities and fail to feel any sense of accomplishment or purpose.  Take a few minutes to rethink and set some meaningful goals that you wish to achieve…it can only improve your focus and the benefits you will reap can be abundant.

Julie Brander, New Haven SCORE
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Got a Business Idea? Then, Plan Ahead

Make a Smart Start with Your Business Idea

Small businesses start with great ideas. If you have a great idea and 2010 is your year to start a small business, then plan ahead.

Now is the time to jot down your vision of where you want to be in five years. Starting a business? What kind of sales, profits, market niche and employees do you see ahead. Paint a picture of the future.

To get started, meet with a SCORE mentor and talk about your ideas for a business. In person, ask for a copy of the workbook “How To Really Start and Structure Your Business.” This free workbook by SCORE and The Company Corporation is a great resource to help you think through a small business start.

Free for Your Business

Find SCORE and make an appointment to meet a mentor in person.
Try the online workshop on putting together your Business Plan.
Take the entrepreneur readiness quiz.

If this is the beginning of your journey, don’t go it alone. Start out by surrounding yourself with trusted advisors. SCORE advice is free and confidential. Take this opportunity to make an appointment to meet with a mentor in person. Find SCORE near you.

Christine Banning, SCORE
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Marketing: Twitter

Use Twitter Hashtags for Business Intelligence and Prospects

Discover how you can use Twitter hashtags to find prospects and get business intelligence.

This is the second of a three-part Twitter research tutorial, in pictures.  I’ve created screen shots that relate to my nonprofit, SCORE Chicago, to use as examples.  SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business,” offers free business counseling and inexpensive business workshops to entrepreneurs and small business owners.  One of our most important keyword phrases is business plan Chicago.

Hashtags for Twitter

A Twitter hashtag looks like this: #.  On Twitter, these are used as keywords.  They connect tweets and make it easy to find related tweets.

I can search for our main keyword phrase, business plans, using a hashtag.  But it’s two words, not one.  I check hashtags.org to see what formats people are using, and which is the most popular.  You can do a search to identify the most popular hashtag version of your keyword or keyword phrase, or use their directory.

SEO: Do’s & Don’ts to Boost Web Traffic

Web Tips for Your Business

Your web site is an intregal part of your small business. There are many things you can do to increase the number of people that visit your site. One key strategy is optimizing your site so that it will appear on the first few pages of a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo!. This is known as search engine optimization (SEO). Below are a few SEO do’s and don’ts. Click on the articles below to view more information on each topic.

Search Engine Optimization Do’s

From, ”Marketing Your Business on Search Engines.”

• Use the right keywords: Knowing the terms customers use when
  they search is the starting point for any SEO effort.
• Put keywords in the right places: Your site is full of hotspots that
  search engines check regularly for keywords. Make sure they
  show up in context in headlines, subheads and the body text of
  your pages.
• Keep keywords in context: Integrate keywords as naturally as possible into your copy. A simple list of keywords won’t work–they have to be in context.
• Keep your content fresh: Frequently updated, relevant content
  can have a positive impact on your site ranking.
• Build links: Reputable, relevant sites.
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Search Engine Optimization Don’ts

From, “SEO Tricks: What Not to Do.“

• Cloaking: This refers to code changes that indicate one thing to search engines, but provide totally different content to users. Even if your business is legitimate, this can get you banned.
• Keyword stuffing and hiding copy: Don’t stuff your site full of irrelevant keywords–the search engines catch on fast if copy isn’t written in natural language or if totally unrelated keywords are used.
• Using a competitor’s name:
  Don’t overload your site with the names of major companies or competitors in order to divert some of their traffic to your site.
• Snaking content: It’s never a good idea to “borrow” text or copy from another site. Not only does this often violate copyright laws, it will also get you kicked out of search engine rankings.
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What SEO tips have you found that work well for your business?

SCORE Association, SCORE
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