Free Online Education Courses From The Small Business Administration

Free Online Education Courses From The Small Business Administration
Integrate Social Media Into Your Holiday Marketing Strategy
5 Reasons You Should Write a Book
Small Business Saturday Could Be Highlight of Holiday Shopping

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST

For small businesses entrepreneurs, continuous learning and finding new resources to help further business goals can be essential to growth and success. However, business courses can be costly and the sheer amount of information and resources available online can be overwhelming.

But now, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced a new online Small Business Learning Center aimed at simplifying the process of finding and procuring small business resources online.

free online education

The redesigned portal features a searchable catalog of educational resources including videos, web chat sessions, and self-paced courses all aimed at small businesses and entrepreneurs.

The free courses can cover anything from disaster recovery to market research. Basic topics covered include starting a business, managing a business, financing, marketing, and government contracting. Users can browse items by selecting the course topic and/or the type of media.

Once users select a course that looks interesting, they can view details about it including a brief overview, length of the course, system requirements, and a few more details.

The photo above shows what the overview page looks like for a course regarding the 8(a) Business Development Program. Users can view the course's workbook (PDF) or a text-based version (PDF) in addition to the course itself.

Once you begin the course, all of the course's topics are indexed on the left, so that you can see an outline of what is to be covered. At any time, you can stop the course, go back to a previous slide, or advance to other content within the course. Many of the slides also include links that direct you to supplementary content elsewhere.

For videos and chat sessions, you can simply view the media or transcripts directly on the overview page.

The site also gives businesses access to analysis tools and information about local resources, such as connection to SBA district offices, SCORE chapters, Small Business Development Centers and more.

The SBA already offers many resources for small business entrepreneurs, both educational and otherwise. But this new portal is a way to easily find and access the resources that can be most relevant to your business needs.

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Integrate Social Media Into Your Holiday Marketing Strategy

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST

The holidays are upon us, and if you haven’t implemented various holiday promotions, sales, and specials into your marketing strategy, it’s not too late!

I’d like to share how you can continue building your online community using social media this holiday season. Just because your customers are on vacation, doesn’t mean your social media efforts should be.

According to the Social Media Holiday Purchases graphic (PDF version also available) by Mr. Youth, 36% of social media users trust brands with a social media presence, and 80% of users who received a response on a social channel went on to make a purchase.

Social media can be integral to establishing brand awareness and reputation. The holidays serve as a perfect opportunity for to consider how you want people to think of your brand.

Here are 5 ways you can use social media this holiday season for brand awareness and recognition:

1. Talk to Your Customers

Businesses can certainly use social to media to push their products and services, it also allows for conversation. Talk to your customers and ask them about their holiday to differentiate yourself.

Perhaps this sounds too easy, but simple questions like, “What’s your favorite holiday tradition?” or “What are you thankful for this year?” Show that you care. These are the questions that add a personal touch and can help ensure your online community remembers you.

But, don’t forget to respond! Just asking the questions isn’t enough. Customers wan’t to know you’re listening, so make sure you’re acknowledging their answers.

2. Give Back

Most businesses utilize social media during the holidays for give-aways and exclusive sales. While that is a great use, you can also use social media to give back to the community.

Are your employees running a food drive? Will you have a company-wide volunteer outing? Is there a holiday charity event you sponsor? Document these holiday activities and post the photos/videos/quotes to your Facebook page or to Instagram with a unique hashtag. Run a promotion where you select a charity and match customer donations dollar for dollar.

Whatever way you choose to give back to your community this holiday season, social media can be an excellent tool to promote your efforts. Your customers will enjoy seeing that you are a business that gives back.

3. Encourage Sharing

Often, the best social media campaigns are those that involve your customers and encourage sharing. There are numerous ways you can get your customers to provide and share rich holiday content on your social media networks.

For example, have your online community share and tweet photos of their decorated Christmas tree. One photo can be selected each day to win a 10% discount.

You can also combine the “giving back” element here by asking customers to share photos of their charity efforts this holidays season. People want to feel connected, and they use social media to accomplish this.

The holidays are the perfect time to bring people together on your networks by encouraging them to share their experiences.

4. Highlight Your Culture

You should be using social media to promote your brand year-round, and you can ramp up your culture posts during the holidays. Are you having a Holiday Potluck? Hosting a holiday cookie bake-off? Did you decorate the office? Ugly Christmas sweater contest? Take photos!

Fun, silly holiday photos are excellent to post to your Facebook page, for example, and showcase your business. People like to see the personality behind the product. With all of the holiday happenings; you want to make sure you’re documenting your company culture as much as possible.

5. Be Helpful

People are dealing with a lot over the holidays. You can use social media to offer helpful advice, tips, and facts for customers. Post daily gift ideas, ideas on how to maximize a limited holiday budget, tips for stress-free entertaining. Using a branded hashtag will maintain brand awareness even when the topic may not directly align with what your ‘products or services.

Everyone appreciates useful advice and your customers will thank you for pushing content that makes their holidays slightly less stressful. Start brainstorming how you can continue to serve up useful advice beyond the holidays. The season will come to an end, but your helpfulness can continue year-round.

If you haven’t planned ahead this year, that’s ok! Your holiday social media activity doesn’t require an elaborate plan (though I do typically recommend you have a strategy in place).

These 5 simple steps will help you engage your customers with holiday posts and promotions that complement who you are as a brand and strengthen your online community.

The post Integrate Social Media Into Your Holiday Marketing Strategy appeared first on Small Business Trends.

5 Reasons You Should Write a Book

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:00 AM PST

If you’re looking to establish yourself as an expert in your field, there are few strategies that work better than writing a book. They’re a big deal to most people, and we all read them to find out about topics we’re interested in.

But don’t expect that you’ll make it to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list simply because you’ve written a book. Most authors, especially in the fiercely competitive business book field, won’t make a living writing books. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider writing one.

write a book

As a matter of fact, here are 5 reasons why you should write one:

1. People Take You More Seriously

There’s something about having a book or two on your resume that makes people sit up and pay attention. Which is surprising to me, because it’s actually pretty easy to write one (granted, I write for a living, so it might be a tad easier for me).

If you’re a small business owner, having written that book might be the one thing that sways a potential customer to buy from you.

2. You Get to Share Your Knowledge

As a business owner, you know a ton about your industry. You’re likely sharing your expertise on Twitter, Facebook and your blog, so writing a book should be a natural extension of that. Getting it all out of your head and onto paper can help you help others.

3. You’ll Get More Customers

Again, writing books makes people trust you and your brand. If you’re looking for a way to get introduced to more potential customers, a book is a great way to do it. Just make sure you’ve got a solid marketing plan in place so that people know about it.

4. You’ll Get More Speaking Opportunities

Conferences and trade shows love inviting authors to speak or participate in panels. Your book is your ticket to speaking gigs. You can pitch conference organizers on a topic that relates to your book, or participate in a discussion on a subject you know well.

5. It’s the Ultimate in Content Marketing

You know that blogging and social media are part of a content marketing strategy, but everyone can do that. Not everyone makes the effort to write a book. By being one of the select few, you can go further than you can with the lower levels of content marketing and also use social media to promote your book and your expertise.

The bonus? You’ll have plenty of fodder for your blog and social channels.

You don’t even have to write the book yourself if you’re not a prolific writer. That’s where ghost writers come in. You get the credit and you get a book that is well-written.

The conversation continues, feel free to join us in the conversation about why you should write a book.

Write A Book Photo via Shutterstock

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Small Business Saturday Could Be Highlight of Holiday Shopping

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 02:30 AM PST

This weekend will be big for businesses of all sizes. Many stores will open their doors early, some almost as soon as the holiday meal is finished this evening. Retailers will be particularly busy, but there are holiday opportunities out there no matter what business you operate. Small Business Saturday could be the highlight of the holiday season, say some reports, but if you operate an online store, there’s Cyber Monday to consider too. Here’s the buzz from the mainstream media followed by some tips on what you can do to prepare.

Winner Takes All

Start sales small. Black Friday may be falling out of fashion, with more and more customers saying the shopping day isn’t what it used to be. Despite the hoopla, deals usually sought out by shoppers may not be as great as those earlier in the season. And while projections suggest a 20 percent increase in sales volume for online merchants Cyber Monday, Internet slowdowns are expected with so many shoppers online. This leaves Small Business Saturday, which one expert says is the real opportunity for shoppers seeking unique merchandise. Forbes

Get ready to go. No matter which shopping day will be the biggest for you, there is still time to maximize your business opportunities moving into the holiday season. Even if the big shopping weekend starting with Black Friday has caught you less prepared than you’d like, blogger Cody Ward has these simple suggestions you can implement immediately to take advantage of the holiday rush. Don’t wait! Click the link above and implement these simple tips to prepare. Puzzle Marketer

Simple Strategies

Put employees first. One unconventional suggestion from retail industry journalist Joe Keenan is to think about customers and employees this holiday season. With Cyber Monday’s increasing popularity, retailers have been moving up store openings for Black Friday to Thursday evening in an effort to maximize sales. But the move has spurred complaints from employees not happy at the prospect of starting work on Thanksgiving Day. Instead, Keenan recommends redirecting shoppers online with the same deals and free shipping, improving both sales and employee morale. BuyerZone

Sell your services. There is no reason retailers should be the only ones to get in on the act this holiday shopping season. In this post and accompanying video, Brook Kreder shares tips she is giving her own clients this year, many of them service providers, about how to maximize profits in their businesses too. Kreder suggests selling information products, pre-selling programs, partnering with retailers, or offering a one-day sale on your services as some simple solutions. Experts and Empires

Get crafty with sales. Depending upon your business, holiday craft fairs and flea markets may be another opportunity to profit on the holiday shopping trend. If you sell products appropriate to these events, hopefully you’ve already mapped out a strategy that will help you capture some of the seasonal shopping dollars sure to be spent not only this weekend but over the next few weeks. Here are some suggestions for fine tuning your approach. SBA.gov

Marketing Moves

Make the most of e-mail. As the holiday season approaches, look for an increase in the amount of e-mail in your inbox and know that your customers’ inboxes will also be brimming over. If e-mail marketing is one of your top strategies, this could easily become a problem as you try to make your e-mails stand out among all the other messages your customers are receiving. Fortunately, there are a few simple tips that will lift your e-mails above the crowd and convince recipients to make them a priority. Step By Step Marketing

Market to the message. Small business owners also get a bit of a boost from Small Business Saturday itself, says content marketer Kasey Steinbrinck. It just so happens, Steinbrinck explains, that when it comes to special events now embraced by many small businesses, Small Business Saturday is the ultimate content marketing strategy. Here’s why and how this built-in marketing machine can help your business too, if you simply plug in and modulate your message accordingly. Copyjuice

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