Is It Worth It To Advertise In Your Local Newspaper? |  |
- Is It Worth It To Advertise In Your Local Newspaper?
- Constant Contact is More than Email Marketing
- Small Business Taxes: How Business Structure Impacts Allowable Deductions
- Surprise: Marketers Want More Google +
- How to Work Social Media Into Daily Biz
- Social Media is in and About Your Business
| Is It Worth It To Advertise In Your Local Newspaper? Posted: 03 Apr 2012 02:30 PM PDT Your small business's advertising budget represents an area of discretionary spending that can be one of the hardest to analyze for return on investment. Indiscriminate ad placement is not an effective strategy. Failing to land your message on the right audience is like throwing money into the wind.
Ad sellers will offer hosts of reasons why their print advertising venues are right for you. But where is money well spent? And is it worth it to advertise in your local paper? The answer is: it depends on what you are selling and how you define your 'local' newspaper. Sunday Used to be Prime Ad Time Sunday mornings used to be brisk affairs for newspaper advertising. The newspaper's ad inserts yielded important clues about your upcoming week's buys. Price-point shopping was led by big box sellers that did their most aggressive weekly discounting for the captive Sunday morning newspaper crowd. Consumers knew that even if they were not in the market for a door or porch railing, they still knew where to get one and how much it cost, because Lowe's, Home Depot and Menard's each kept them enlightened. And because the ads were inserted together, the mass marketing effort became tied to the couponing ritual. Looking to save a couple bucks on margarine and frozen fish dinners? Consumers were clipping coupons anyway, so they might as well save on the Sears promo for the stainless steel gas grill. The point is that businesses of all sizes could count on predictable consumer habits. Even if a small business's budget didn't allow for a multi-page advertising insert, added value could be gained just by showing up at the party. Small businesses that sell to consumers (versus to other businesses) have had by far the most options in newspaper advertising. A theater district restaurant could fill seats with an entertainment section coupon in a small ad. A travel agency might trace bookings to a well-placed travel-section ad. Even classified advertising was an effective way to bring attention to your small home improvement or other service business. Consumer and Print Media Changes But readership is down for print media, and ad sales are down even more sharply, driven by shifts in reader habits and an overload of information that hardly allows us to absorb an ad, much less clip it. In Sunday's Chicago Tribune, the SmartSource advertising insert and the P&G brandSAVER are still hawking food and toiletries alongside big box flyers. So the print-marketing paradigm is still being applied. What's fading, though, is the value for small businesses that could once attach themselves to the newspaper advertising juggernaut. What used to be a sure thing, no longer is. Small businesses, especially those catering to consumers, have compensated by shifting their ad spend to alternatives, including daily deal coupons, location-aware services like Foursquare, and hyperlocal news outlets (i.e., your small suburban newspaper or local-news website). For small businesses, positive returns are often present with hyperlocal newspapers because the papers publish community news and events. By association, your ad finds its way onto a local reader's radar screen. Smaller community newspapers may be eight to forty pages, often in a tabloid size. Some of those pages will be dedicated to local advertising, where the ad rates run on the cheap side. That's because the publication will be smaller and doesn't have the cost structure of the major-metro newspaper. Small community newspapers are actually growing, even while their larger counterparts are struggling. Recently, Street Fight, which focuses on hyperlocal content and commerce, conducted research with select local small businesses. The upshot? Small businesses are moving more of their advertising efforts to "hyperlocal opportunities" to find customers and generate business, because it meets their needs.
Street Fighting noted that they learned the following:
In addition, according to an EMarketer report, U.S. local online ad spending is also expected to grow, anywhere from 8% to 18% annually. So if the publication has a local website, that may also be a viable spot for advertising. The Answer So what's the answer to the question, “is it worth it to advertise in your local newspaper?” For many small businesses that sell to consumers, yes it is — provided you think of your local newspaper as not being the major-metro newspaper but the local community or suburban newspaper, where the audience is targeted, the ad rates lower, and the staff motivated to place your marketing message with more of a personal touch. And you may also want to consider more online hyperlocal advertising alternatives, too. Advertising Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| Constant Contact is More than Email Marketing Posted: 03 Apr 2012 11:30 AM PDT If real estate agents claim location, location, location, then business owners might have to say inbox, inbox, inbox. That’s where many of us live. This Constant Contact review is for the business owner who is “wearing too many hats” and needs a marketing lifeline with this all-in-one marketing package. They offer more than just email marketing.
First, I’ve found a big difference in the way Constant Contact approaches small business marketing. They call their approach Engagement Marketing,™ but it really boils down to growing customer relationships. I’ve used their web-based email marketing platform on client projects and the part that has always amazed me is their educational focus, including free coaching with a real live person. I don’t mean just tech support or customer service, although they have that. I mean you can get on the phone with a person who is trained in marketing and sales that can coach you on what to do and how to do it. That’s pretty cool. What I like:
What I’d like to see:
Constant Contact is working hard to be a one-stop source of tools and educational resources. From the little things, such as letting you know right upfront how long it will take to complete a specific resource to the bigger things like coaching you through an entire campaign or process. If you’ve been looking for a solution that’s friendly for small business owners on a budget of both money and time, Constant Contact is worth a serious look. Learn more about Constant Contact. From Small Business Trends |
| Small Business Taxes: How Business Structure Impacts Allowable Deductions Posted: 03 Apr 2012 08:30 AM PDT Whether they're looking to avoid that 'double taxation' conundrum or reduce self-employment and payroll taxes, business owners wonder which legal structure is right for their business, financial situation, and taxes.
The issue of double taxation and the S Corporation and LLC's pass-through tax treatment is a key factor when analyzing business structures. But there are other tax implications involved when picking a business structure. Read on to learn how business deductions and employee benefits are affected by your legal structure: Health Care Deductions It's no secret that health care costs are a major expenditure for businesses and individuals alike. A C Corporation is able to deduct 100% of the health insurance it pays for its employees, including those employees who are shareholders. A corporation can also fully deduct the costs of any medical reimbursement plan. And employees of a C Corporation are not taxed on the health benefits they receive. It's a different story for the S Corporation or LLC that has elected pass-through tax treatment. In these structures, 2% or greater shareholders are not considered employees. What's a 2% or greater shareholder? It's someone who directly or indirectly owns more than 2% of the corporation's stock or owns stock with more than 2% of the voting power, at any time during the year. The health insurance of a 2% shareholder can be deducted by the S Corporation only if it is included on the shareholder-employee's W2 form. This means that these shareholders will need to pay taxes on their medical benefits, although they may be entitled to deduct those medial expenses on their personal tax returns. If you're in this situation, it's imperative that you set up your policy and reimbursements correctly. For example, the healthcare policy should be in the name of the S Corporation and the S Corporation can pay the premiums and report the premium amounts as W2 wages. Or, if the policy is in your own name (and you pay the premiums yourself), the S Corporation must reimburse you and report the premium amount on the W2 wages. In addition, be aware that an S Corporation needs to make the same coverage benefits to all employees within the same classification. You can offer different plans to different classes of employees (i.e. full-time workers, part-time workers, salaried workers, hourly workers), but you must treat everyone within the same classification consistently. This holds true for retirement plans and other benefits as well. Retirement Plans C Corporations and S Corporations (and LLCs electing pass-through treatment) may offer retirement plans to employees, including shareholder employees. Specific plans include:
Be aware that with the S Corporation, shareholder-employees receive retirement plan benefits based on earned W2 income, and not their shares of the corporation profit. Miscellaneous Fringe Benefits Employees of S Corporations and LLCs must treat certain fringe benefits as taxable income, while employees of C Corporations may receive these benefits tax-free. Examples of these fringe benefits are:
Employee Education A C Corporation is able to deduct qualified employee education costs. The S Corp can also deduct certain education costs by considering them a 'working condition fringe benefit.' For example, if an employee would benefit from specific classes or technical schooling, the employer can pay for this education. In this case, the expense is considered a working condition fringe benefit, and the S Corp can deduct the cost and the employee is not taxed on the value of the benefit. Corporation Losses The S Corp (and LLC electing pass-through treatment) is more attractive to those individuals who want to claim business losses on their personal income returns. In the C Corporation, losses are held and aren't passed through to shareholders. Even with the S Corp, keep in mind that you can personally deduct only corporate losses that you fund. Any losses that are funded by the bank in a direct loan from the bank to the corporation are not deductible on your personal income statement. Summary When you're deciding on business structures, remember that the key reason to incorporate or form an LLC is to limit the liability of the owners and shield personal finances from that of the business. Of course, questions about incorporating eventually will focus on taxes. As with any transaction that can have significant tax and legal consequences, you should always check with a qualified tax professional or CPA before embarking. While the C Corporation does offer more advantages for deducting fringe benefits, other factors ? namely potential double taxation and more complex reporting requirements ? may counter any advantage. Your decision in business structure will ultimately depend on all the unique aspects of your business, employees, and financial needs.
From Small Business Trends |
| Surprise: Marketers Want More Google + Posted: 03 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT Despite the low turnout on Google +, marketers want to learn more about how to use the social media platform effectively, according to the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. A surprising number of those surveyed – 70% – said they want to learn more about Google +, despite the fact that only 40% are currently using it.
“I was surprised by the number of marketers who are committed to expanding their work with Google+,” said Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner, ”70% is a huge number and that means Google+ will be a big force in 2012.” For the past four years Stelzner has released an annual report on the social media marketing industry. Each year, the findings tell us what’s new in the world of social media. In general, we’ve seen a shift toward more social media adoption from brands, which is good news for the industry as a whole. In fact, this year, 94% of those surveyed are using social media. That’s up 6% from two years ago. What’s the Attraction? If Google + is a ghost town (its users spend on average three minutes a month there, compared to the 405 minutes a month spent by Facebook users), why do so many marketers want more of it? The answer, most likely, is due to the fact that Google + activity appears in search results. Its newly-rolled out Search Plus Your World displays the preferred results of a Google user’s contacts above others. For businesses angling to move up in search engine results, this is a huge boon. There are critics, of course, who feel Google is unfairly pitting Google + users’ results above more relevant content, but that’s to be expected in the grand Google debate. Where Google + Falls Google + ranked sixth most popular, among the commonly used social media tools in the report. It ranked just above photo sharing sites, forums, bookmarking sites, geolocation and daily deals. There’s a chance that could increase in the next year, as 67% of those surveyed plan to increase their use of Google +. What are We Getting Out of Social Media? Marketers are still asking how they can benefit from Google +, and there aren’t a lot of convincing answers just yet. But ROI has always been a point of contention for those on either side of the fence. Long have bosses been asking about the benefits of social media (i.e, how does it affect their bottom line). In the survey, here’s what marketers said about social media benefits:
Sadly, the report didn’t provide the magic bullet we’re all looking for: how to measure the ROI of social media. However, that was the #1 question those surveyed still want an answer to (us as well!). Areas of Growth While we know that there are newcomers in the social media world this year, there’s a surprising lack of mention of Pinterest in the survey. That’s because of Pinterest’s tremendous growth which occurred after the survey was conducted. I imagine we will see much more about it in next year’s results. Part of an Overall Marketing Strategy Smart marketers know that social media is just one piece of the entire marketing pie. The marketers surveyed also use SEO, email marketing, event marketing, online advertising, press releases, webinars, sponsorships, direct mail and offline ads to help support and counter their social media efforts. Just like I always say: be in as many places as you can to reach the maximum number of potential customers. While the verdict is still out about the effectiveness of Google + for small businesses, the fact that we’re still seeing new players means that social media will continue to evolve for the better. The 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report is available as a free download until April 19.
From Small Business Trends |
| How to Work Social Media Into Daily Biz Posted: 03 Apr 2012 06:00 AM PDT We'd all like to grow more social businesses. After hearing about the positive effects that social media can have on our business, in terms of new customers, better word of mouth and brand perception, we're sold on the idea. But that doesn't mean we know what growing a social business truly entails. Sure, there's the company Twitter account, but what does "being social" mean to every day operations? What does that look like on an internal level and what do you need to shift inside your organization to increase that sense of socialness with your customers and your employees? If you're still trying to figure out how your business or brand can "go social", below are some frameworks to think about and how to get started making it happen.
Identify what is "social" about your business: Think about your business and write down all of the actions that you or customers that you take that are inherently social. Maybe it's the content that you're always creating. Or it's the unique way you use customer feedback. Or how customers naturally share your products in their network. Every business has those organic social touch points. It's your job to identify them and look at how you can leverage them. Always start brainstorming how you can create even more social touch points by extending what you're already doing. For example, maybe it's making it easy and encouraging customers to share the reviews they're naturally leaving on your Web site. Or maybe it's turning the class you teach in your store into an interactive webinar. When social media becomes fully integrated into your business you'll see a much greater payout with everyone working to the same beat. Have a plan for it: My guess is that you wouldn't purchase a new $5,000 machine for your SMB without knowing exactly how it was going to help your business. You'd probably have metrics and charts and ways to evaluate how it all worked before you ever brought it home. So don't make a social media investment without identifying these same metrics. That Twitter or Facebook account may be free, but you pay with the time you're investing. Develop a plan.
These are just a couple of the questions you'll want to think about before jumping into the social media waters. If you don't know what you're doing there, you don't know if you've reached your goal. Or if you're just throwing away your investment. Remove barriers to social media entry: For your business to be social, your team has to be social. That means everyone from your CEO to your newest receptionist has board the social media train. How do you get them there? By removing barriers to social media entry. A barrier to social media may be a lack of education about tools available or it could be the fear that goes with learning a new platform. By creating educational resources you help calm their fears and remove that barrier. Another barrier may be that you expect employees to tweet after-hours, instead of while on the job. This may involve reassigning tasks to free up time or other things to help address those. But your business will never be social without knocking those walls down. Make social everyone's job: As powerful as we've heard social media is, it doesn't work when you lock it in a closet and make it Marketing's job. Or IT's. Or the job of that new intern you just hired. Social media is everyone's job because everyone in your organization is touching your customers in one way or another. Maybe they're answering the service line when they call. Or they're writing content to engage them on your Web site. Or they're meeting them face-to-face to perform a service. By integrating social media tasks into your employees' day you make your company more accountable to what they're providing to your customers and more aware. A company that's constantly engaging is a company today's consumer wants to be associated with. Reward the behavior: Anoint someone your company's social media ambassador and make it their job to highlight employees who are using social media well within the organization. Maybe it's a case where they were quickly able to address a customer service issue via Twitter or a neat contest idea they had for the brand's Facebook page. By shining a light on these achievements you create a culture that is based on this level of engagement. And that's something the whole organization and brand will be able to benefit from. If you're looking to become a more social media-minded company, it's not just about figuring out what sites you want you to develop a presence on. It's about understanding how to make your brand social from the inside out and putting the right procedures in place. From Small Business Trends |
| Social Media is in and About Your Business Posted: 03 Apr 2012 02:30 AM PDT Social media is pervasive. We use it to talk about our small businesses, to provide customer service and to listen to what our customers have to say. Our employees use it too. Social media is in and about our businesses. Here are some tips for running a business in a social media world. Latest TipsTrends to follow. Looking for the latest trends to follow in social media to bring greater effectiveness to your business model? It could be as simple as being yourself and learning to use the tools at hand. Fox Small Business Center Four practices to live by. If you’re not doing these four things, you may soon regret it. Not only is social media a powerful weapon in your arsenal, but using it effectively is critical to your success. Small Business Trends Best PracticesSocial media can be a drain. Don’t let it drain you of critical time you need to attend to other aspects of your business. Here are some suggestions to keep you effective while saving time in your social media efforts. Business2Community Manage your community before it manages you. Don’t start communities you can’t maintain. Social media can be a wonderful opportunity for your small business, but be sure you stay on top of the conversation. BBC News Business User’s GuideDouble or nothing. Using social media shouldn’t mean abandoning your e-mail marketing efforts. In fact, used correctly, the two approaches can help each other in your social media efforts. 5 NBC Chicago LinkedIn bigger than Twitter. Do you use Twitter or LinkedIn for your small business efforts? Would it surprise you to learn that LinkedIn is the more popular of the two with small businesses. Marketing Pilgrim OperationsRules for small business employees? Do you have rules for the things your employees post to social media? Should you? You may be surprised as some of the advice here. Washington Post Why you don’t really need a formal policy. This post puts it a bit more succinctly. While you obviously don’t want employees hurting your business online, a policy isn’t necessarily the answer. PayScale More TrendsSome small businesses still cautious. Some small businesses are still worried about getting social media wrong. As a result, many are delaying getting involved, even though they know the clear benefits. Tax Assist Accountants Things you should already be doing. Not to send you into a panic or anything, but if you’re not already doing these things, the obvious question is, why not? Here are trends your business should be aware of. Rutland Herald From Small Business Trends |
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