Study Finds Small Business Loans Key to Startup Success |  |
- Study Finds Small Business Loans Key to Startup Success
- Email Erases 9 to 5 at Many Small to Mid-Sized Businesses
- The 5 Essential Elements of an Optimized and Useful LinkedIn Profile
- Yelp Will Allow Businesses to Sell Food, Other Services
- Email Programs: A Best Practice to End Shopping Cart Abandonment
| Study Finds Small Business Loans Key to Startup Success Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT
Last month, four researchers (and business/finance professors from the University of Texas, the University of California, Los Angeles and New York University) published a study titled, "How Much Does Credit Matter for Small Business Success in the United States?" The answer? A lot. The study found that small business loans are critical to a startup's success. These study results were not a surprise and they are consistent with lots of other market data that’s been talked about for a long time. When properly acquired and properly utilized, small business financing helps businesses grow. A Closer Look at the Small Business Loans StudyThe group reviewed five years' of startup loan applications from Accion Texas, a lender providing capital to startups across the country. (Startup is defined as a new business, open 6 months or less and the majority of applications were for retail and restaurant businesses.) The study found that:
Other key findings include:
The study illustrates the importance of access to credit and is another reminder that borrowing capital, when done correctly, can be critical for business success. Small business financing is like a lot of other things. It’s a tool that can be used wisely for great things. It can also be used poorly, in which case it will not help your business grow. The post Study Finds Small Business Loans Key to Startup Success appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Email Erases 9 to 5 at Many Small to Mid-Sized Businesses Posted: 18 Jul 2013 01:30 PM PDT
Some days it feels as though work will never end and, in some respects, it never does. A new study on email habits found that a growing number of workers at small to mid-sized businesses check their email often outside of the regular work day. In fact, the regular work day is quickly changing from the accepted 9-to-5 into something that keeps us somehow on call almost all the time. GFI Software contracted Opinion Matters to find out how often and where workers at these small to mid-sized firms check their emails. Based on the results, most check their emails routinely outside of the workplace or the regular work time. Email Use Shows Working Weekends Is Almost a RequirementOf the more than 500 workers who responded to the survey, 81 percent said they check work emails on the weekend and just more than half check their emails after 11 p.m. Even a vacation isn’t really a vacation from work these days. Nearly 6 in 10 respondents said they’ve checked emails while they’re away from work on vacation. But is there a time when it’s off limits to check email? Apparently not, according to survey results. Ten percent of respondents said they’ve checked work email at a child’s school event. About nine percent have done the same at a wedding and six percent have checked their inboxes during a funeral. Wife in labor? No matter. Six percent said they’ve checked email then, too. The rise in use of smartphones has contributed greatly to the availability of emails. And despite the fact that newer and sometimes more efficient means of communicating are available – like instant messaging or the old-fashioned telephone - email is the preferred means of business communications for small to mid-sized firms. Forty-four percent of respondents said they used email more than the phone and instant messaging combined. Bride and Groom Photo via Shutterstock The post Email Erases 9 to 5 at Many Small to Mid-Sized Businesses appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| The 5 Essential Elements of an Optimized and Useful LinkedIn Profile Posted: 18 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT
If you're in business, chances are you're on LinkedIn, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in May, 2013, and now has over 225 members worldwide. Known as the most "business-y" of social media sites, LinkedIn is considered a critical place to connect with others in business. And while it's likely that you already have a LinkedIn Profile, it's unlikely that it's optimized to provide the best business opportunities for you. An important reason to review your profile now is the fact that, in late 2012, LinkedIn began rolling out new features and functionality within LinkedIn Profiles. An Optimized, Useful LinkedIn Profile1. A Complete ProfileThe good news is that completing your profile isn't just busy work. It's actually the ONLY way you will be able to be found effectively within LinkedIn. That's because the LinkedIn search algorithm first looks for 100% completed profiles. If yours is not complete, you will probably end up at the bottom of search rankings. In addition, a completed LinkedIn Profile means that someone searching for you on Google will almost always find your LinkedIn Profile near the top of the first page. Google loves LinkedIn and LinkedIn ranks higher on Google than all other social media profiles, according to a study by Brand Yourself, in an article on Mashable. All-Star Status Your goal should be to reach "All-Star" Status or a 100% completed Profile. Your status will show on the right-hand side of your profile:
Although the graphic shows a circle not entirely filled out, in actuality, it means that your profile is complete. Here is a list of areas that must be filled in to reach All-Star status:
2. A Headline with a Call to ActionA great headline is like the subject line of an email. You need an amazing subject line to hook people in enough to read the rest of the message. The headline is the first line of text people see in a search and it's the first thing they see when they get to your profile page. Oh, and by the way, one of the new LinkedIn profile features rolled out in late 2012 is increased text size in the headline area. What Makes a Great Headline Let's start with what doesn't make a great headline: Your company name and title. Start by considering that there are only 120 characters available in your Linked profile headline. That means you'll need to great creative. Here are some tips:
Here is a headline example:
Don't be afraid to change and test different headlines to see which ones generate the best activity for you. 3. Professional PhotoDid you know that a LinkedIn Profile with a professional headshot is 7 times more likely to be viewed than a profile without one? Plus, a profile photo is required in order to obtain 100% LinkedIn profile completeness. To further emphasize its importance, one of the new features rolled out in the late 2012 profile functionality is an enlarged, more prominent area for your photo. The current specs are as follows:
4. Keywords in Certain Sections of Your ProfileThe last thing you want to do to your profile is make it annoying to viewers by keyword stuffing. That said, the strategic use of keywords in your LinkedIn profile is important. It's important to know that LinkedIn's search algorithm values keywords in certain sections more than others. Those sections include:
Here's how it works in real life: I went into a client's account and did a search for "Small Business P.R." At the moment I'm not using the term "Small Business P.R." in my headline, but I still showed up on the first page of my client's search because those words are included in some of the other five sections. Here's what showed up on my client's screen:
In addition to keywords, the LinkedIn search algorithm looks at profile completeness, connections in common, level of connection (1st and 2nd degree and groups show up before 3rd) and groups in common. 5. Terrific RecommendationsWe tend to give more credibility to a third party saying something is great than to a person or business saying that he/she or the business is great. That's why recommendations on LinkedIn are so important. When it comes to LinkedIn recommendations, you know the old adage: It's better to give than to receive. In addition to all the great karma and solidifying the relationship benefits you get from giving them, it's always easier to get a recommendation from someone after you've given one. Here are some general tips on giving great recommendations on LinkedIn:
"Margie is great at what she does" or this:
The bottom line: If you're interested in maximizing your relationships and business opportunities, make these updates to your LinkedIn profile today. Image: LinkedIn The post The 5 Essential Elements of an Optimized and Useful LinkedIn Profile appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Yelp Will Allow Businesses to Sell Food, Other Services Posted: 18 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT
Small businesses have turned to Yelp to get feedback from enthusiastic customers. They may soon turn to the site to generate sales as well. A new feature from Yelp, Yelp Platform, will allow small business owners to make sales directly from the customer review site. The company announced roll out of its Yelp Platform recently. In a post on the official Yelp Web Log, Founder Jeremy Stoppelman explained:
Yelp users were once limited to posting reviews, photos, and other information about a restaurant or some other type of service-based business. Now they’ll be able to take that a step further and actually place orders.
Yelp is currently working with select restaurants across the country beginning with food delivery and pickup services. Check out pages for two restaurants already using the new Yelp delivery and pickup pages: Harry’s Italian Pizza Bar in New York City and Layaly Mediterranean Grill in San Francisco. The company is also working with delivery.com and Eat24 on the roll out of the new ordering and delivery features. How It WorksTo use Yelp’s new pages simply select “Enter your deliver address” and then do so. Or select “Pickup” if you plan to visit the restaurant yourself to fetch your food. Then hit “Start Order” and use the simple order page to make your selection The new Yelp feature offers the perfect combination of word of mouth and e-commerce. Browse reviews of each business by fellow customers then order from the business of your choice all on the same page. Eventually Stoppelman says customers will be able to order delivery from thousands of restaurants in the U.S. The company next plans to introduce other categories of business like dentist offices, yoga studios, spas and salons, he added. Image: Wikipedia and Yelp Official Blog The post Yelp Will Allow Businesses to Sell Food, Other Services appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Email Programs: A Best Practice to End Shopping Cart Abandonment Posted: 18 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT
Have you left something behind? Every year, millions of online shoppers add items to their shopping cart but walk away. Let’s face it, shopping cart abandonment is just like a broken promise. A website conversion service reported that shopping cart abandonment has grown immensely. For the merchants, it is a lost sale and unclaimed revenue and for the shopper, there is an unfulfilled need. Shopping cart abandonment is a significant aspect of the normal buying cycle for the majority of customers. So what is your plan of action when you see those orphaned carts floating around? How do you intend to recover the lost revenue from shopping cart abandonment? Well, there is good news for online merchants. Email programs can renew the broken promise, therefore helping both the customers and the eTailers. Research says that around 67.35% of eCommerce shopping carts are abandoned. As you know, shopping cart abandonment can happen for several reasons. The most consistent being shipping and handling costs. As a result, below are some email tactics to help you prevent shopping cart abandonment. End Shopping Cart AbandonmentPlan a Chain of EmailsMany experts recommend three series of emails to be sent at scheduled intervals:
Purchase Confirmation EmailPut a new lease on life to the system-generated email. Optimized emails are incredibly effective in getting visitors back to your site. However, make sure that your customer perceives your emails as a great service and not as an aggressive sales approach. Your service should include:
Get Your Customer’s Email Address on PriorityUnless you have a valid email, you have no chance to reclaim the lost sale. So make sure that you ask for your customer's email address or you possess a valid email to send messages. Moreover, make sure that the email address is either saved after the shopper is done with the first step in the checkout process or saved automatically in the shopping cart. Send transaction-related emails which will help to build a healthy relationship with the customers. Send Re-Marketing Emails Post PurchaseYour next crucial step to drive a repeat purchase is to send post purchase re-marketing emails to reconnect with your customers when they abandon their cart. So if you have not thought about it yet, now is the time as it can drive incremental revenue. Your re-marketing service should include the following:
With re-marketing in mind, you have to stay in-sync with your customers. This is particularly important for abandoned items, especially for those customers who come back to check on their orders or check the product details again. Nevertheless, be careful not to potentially damage your brand reputation and perform re-marketing correctly to recapture your customers back. Reactivate Email CampaignIt has been observed that the majority of new customers, despite confirming their purchase, do not return to the site. So how do you get them back to your website? The simple tactics of an email campaign work well in such a situation. Just drop your new customers into your mailing campaign. This tactic of reactivating email campaign helps to pick up from where your transaction confirmation has left off. A sequence of focused emails can bring back those customers. However, there are a few important factors you should keep in mind:
Monitor, Relate and AcclimateDoes adding images to the items in the abandoned cart help? Does modifying subject lines affect conversion? Monitor these changes and adjust accordingly. As you make these changes and adjustments, compare the outcome to see whether it has any positive impact on the abandoned cart. Email strategies can be lucrative in terms of revenue as soon as they are launched and they help to prevent shopping cart abandonment. Shopping Cart Photo via Shutterstock The post Email Programs: A Best Practice to End Shopping Cart Abandonment appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
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