GSA Plan May Negatively Impact Small Businesses |  |
- GSA Plan May Negatively Impact Small Businesses
- Warning: Your Visual Message Is Just As Important
- Business Value: Scratching Beneath the Surface of the Cloud
- The Lost Decade of Income
- Groupon and Daily Deal Sites Faltering
| GSA Plan May Negatively Impact Small Businesses Posted: 03 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST The General Services Administration has proposed a restructuring of the Multiple Award Schedule program that could impact certain small businesses competing for government supply contracts. The GSA announced earlier this year that it would begin using a new Demand Based Model (DBM), phasing out some outdated and obsolete supply schedule contracts for products such as typewriters and non-digital photographic equipment. This reduction is supposed to save about $24 million per year and phase out more than 8,000 supply schedule contracts. However, Chairman of the House Small Business Committee Sam Graves (R-Mo) is skeptical of this new plan. In a November 29 letter to Dan Tangherlini (PDF), Acting Administrator of the GSA, he expressed concern that the restructuring may not only fail to accomplish its goals of improving efficiency and reducing expenses, but that it could also result in fewer opportunities for small businesses to compete for government contracts. Graves said in his letter:
Small businesses in the federal market that could be impacted by such changes include those that provide office supplies and similar products. Graves wrote in an earlier letter to the GSA that nearly 15,700 of the 19,000 schedule contracts are held by small businesses. He also said that there are about 350,000 total small businesses that are registered to do business with the federal government. Graves is not the first to express concern about the DBM. At a June 7 hearing before the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce, representatives from several small businesses and professional organizations, including the National Office Products Alliance and the American Institute of Architects, expressed concern about the structuring of the Multiple Award Schedule. He asked that the GSA continues to consult with the Small Business Committee before making a final decision regarding the DBM, and that it be informed once a decision is made. The post GSA Plan May Negatively Impact Small Businesses appeared first on Small Business Trends.      |
| Warning: Your Visual Message Is Just As Important Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST It's difficult to figure out the right image for your small business if you don't know what the right message is. Whether it's a blog post in need of a picture, your primary logo, a product design or an infographic to highlight a point or process. Any image you use in association with your company has to say something that matters to your target audience. In an article for Visual.ly Blog Professor Alberto Cairo, Author of The Functional Art: An Introduction To Information Graphics and Visualization, says,
Infographics, like other effective visual images, should be more than just pretty pictures or something to take up space on a website. Professor Cairo says he's not:
You can get the nail into the wall without the hammer. But the right tool makes it easier to accomplish your goal. In other words, with the hammer you can do more — faster. Likewise, you can get your point across with written text alone. But partner your text with a visual tool like a relevant picture, infographic or even video learning and you can accomplish your goal more efficiently. New Concepts Take A Minute To Digest If you rely solely on written words, then it may take 20 to 30 casual impressions or a handful of in depth reviews before your audience understands your new idea well enough to act on it. And people buy what they understand. Not that they know exactly how a television works, for example, but the buying audience is clear about how it impacts their life, “more entertainment and information in my living room.” Drive Your Point Home, Make It Visual If you want to honor the idea that "the world is visual," as David Langton and Small Business Trends Founder, Anita Campbell, state in Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways For Small Businesses To Market With Images And Designs, then you're always in the market for ideas to enhance your message. Here are 3 things to stay on top of your visual message: Collect Things That You Like Start with magazine covers and images, color combinations, photo images and videos that grab your attention and put them in a swipe file. Define And Study Your Main Message Get certain about the point that you want to drive home in your marketing. Once you're clear about this core marketing message, then it's easier to use visuals to enhance it. Do what you do best and then get help with the rest of it. As the owner you will need to be hands on in drafting a marketing strategy, but then you may need a graphic designer or photographer to help you implement your plan in a timely manner. In marketing, every word and image counts. Make sure it all says what your audience needs and wants to hear from you. Visual Photo via Shutterstock The post Warning: Your Visual Message Is Just As Important appeared first on Small Business Trends.     |
| Business Value: Scratching Beneath the Surface of the Cloud Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST Around a decade ago, a special few of us got invites to be beta users of a new cloud product that offered virtually unlimited storage space for our email. Even better: it was free. Years later, most of us take Gmail for granted. Many companies even use Gmail, Google documents and Google spreadsheets to do business. Google set the expectation for unlimited free storage, but a lot has changed since those early days. When it comes to free storage and unlimited megabytes, everyone signs up – private and business users, alike. This has caused some people to question the business model of the cloud – is there enough money to be made by cloud storage providers to trust them with my documents? The answer is undoubtedly yes, but the way to do it isn’t by charging for infinitely more storage space, it’s by offering users a better storage experience. In particular, small businesses are looking for quality, convenient cloud services that improve their productivity, not just a dumping place for files. The cloud becomes more valuable for small businesses when offering services beyond the current state of commoditized storage. As we saw with business software years ago, and recently with valuable apps for business, the benefits of paid services often outweigh the benefit of getting them for free. Businesses understand software as a service, and they will soon expect services on top of cloud storage. There's a lot to learn about service and value from the airline industry. Virgin America threw out the conventional approach for low-cost domestic flights and offered a superior product at competitive prices. For many smaller carriers, the focus is on the cheapest, most no-frills experience possible in order to compete with the bigger players. But Virgin has proven that customers are looking for more and will pay for added services. Similarly, it’s the cloud service experience that will add true value for consumers and prove to be the winning ingredient. The unspoken truth in the cloud storage market is that most small businesses don't come close to using all of the data offered, even in limited plans. In reality, a business owner's typical digital data – office files, PDFs and other records, maybe a few photos and scans – doesn't take up more than 10 GBs. So, as the cloud service industry matures, it will need to look for a business model beyond the "how many GBs do you get for a buck" approach. In cloud services, small business owners should be looking at what they are actually trying to accomplish and see how these services fit into their workflow. Spotify is a great example of a good introductory product with the option to pay for an enhanced experience. They have figured out how to create a valuable pay wall that goes beyond online access to a vast selection of music. They also offer paid options for better quality sound, downloadable content and no commercials, along with a potent mobile app experience. When it comes to cloud storage, just like with Virgin and Spotify, people and businesses are looking for value-added services and an effortless experience. We all want ways to make our lives easier, not more complicated. Users want a solution that is flexible and that easily integrates with the systems and services they are already using. Cloud storage solutions are beginning to realize that features beyond extra GBs are what users will pay for. Features like cloud search, easing workflow and collaboration options are the services many businesses will latch onto. Some questions to ask yourself are:
When identifying how your business will approach the cloud, take the above into consideration. Under the Cloud Photo via Shutterstock The post Business Value: Scratching Beneath the Surface of the Cloud appeared first on Small Business Trends.     |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST The terrible recovery continues. Slow economic growth and high unemployment have kept household income on a downward trajectory. A recently released Census Bureau report (PDF) reveals that real household money income fell again in 2011, marking the fourth straight annual decline. Median household real money income is now 9 percent off its 2000 peak. Moreover, the typical American household now has 11 percent less money income than if the trend in income growth present from 1967 to 2000 had persisted through 2011. Real Household Income Over Time Source: Created from U.S. Census data In the figure above, I have plotted household money income measured in inflation-adjusted terms. As you can see, from 1967 to 2000, American households experienced a positive linear trend in real income. Over the period, American households' real money incomes increased by nearly one third, rising by an average of 0.9 percent per year. From 1993 to 2000, the real rate of household income growth was particularly high – 1.9 percent per year on average – as the growth moved from below the historical trend line to above it. But in the early 2000s, real household income dropped, falling back to the long term trend by 2003. From 2003 to 2007 real household money income growth moved almost perfectly along the long term trend line. However, after the Financial Crisis and Great Recession hit, household income began to drop, with income falling 4 percent in real terms between 2007 and 2009. The end of the economic downturn in 2009 did little to change this decline, with income dropping an additional 4 percent in inflation-adjusted terms between 2009 and 2011. The end result is the current low level, well below the long term trend. If household income had kept to 1967-to-2000 trend through 2011, household money income would have been nearly $58,000 in inflation-adjusted terms, rather than slightly over $52,000. That's nearly $5,700 less than what it would have been had the long term trend continued. To me the $5,700 in missing income at the typical household exemplifies America's lost decade. The post The Lost Decade of Income appeared first on Small Business Trends.     |
| Groupon and Daily Deal Sites Faltering Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:30 AM PST In the beginning, Groupon and other daily deal sites were seen as a way to bring in more business. But more importantly, they were seen as a kind of marketing. You know, give customers a deal to encourage them to try out your product or service and they’ll be back for more. Even if they don’t use the savings, the offer builds visibility and brand recognition for your local business in the community. The trouble, some critics say, is that Groupon and sites of its ilk end up costing you in ways you might not expect, and that ultimately there are better ways to promote what you do. Bargain BasementA strained relationship. Business owners and customers alike complain the problem with Groupon is that the site ends up souring the relationship between users and the companies that offer the deals. Some business owners feel most Groupon users are simply bargain hunters who are only there for the deals and won’t come back at regular price. Customers say this attitude tends to cause business owners to treat Groupon users poorly, creating a bad impression and discouraging them from returning. Yahoo! Finance Pros and cons. The downside of Groupon offers is no secret to small business owners, of course. For months, small business bloggers like Martina Iring have been looking at some of the negatives including potential impact on your bottom line and what she calls the “mentality” of some Groupon users. Yet, there’s no denying the power of these offers to bring in a large number of customers, something to which small business owners would ordinarily never object. Here Iring lays out the pros and cons for you to decide. Small Business Bliss On dangerous ground. In the end, whether Groupon offers are a blessing or a curse for your business is for you to decide, says Will Scott, CEO of Search Influence, an online marketing firm serving small and medium sized businesses. Properly used, Groupon offers can bring in new customers, helping you market your business. But to do this effectively, you must skirt some serious pitfalls to avoid a bad experience that could cost your business big time. Here are five mistakes you can’t afford to make. Search Engine Journal A Better ApproachSpecial delivery. In the end, no matter how many customers darken your door for free offers or any other services you plan to promote, the key to ultimate business success is to be able to serve those customers with integrity. Small business consultant Isabelle Mercier Turcotte explains the importance of creating a business that delivers on promises. She also explains how being true to yourself while looking out for your customers’ interests is the best kind of marketing. The Leaper’s Blog Get attention. There are other ways to get attention and increase your customer base organically besides the use of Groupon and other daily deal sites. If you have an online presence, this begins with an optimization strategy. When that strategy is less than successful, you may have made some simple mistakes. Anna Mackey, Director of Client Services at a California-based search engine marketing firm, gives us a look at six errors that could be hurting your online marketing efforts right now. McKremie Act locally. Though the Internet is global, there are times when local optimization is also important to your business. As an alternative to Groupon-type special offers, for example, local SEO can be one of the best options to bring customers to your door. The trick, says SEO expert Stuart McHenry, is to focus on ranking your Website for local search terms, not just for search terms related to your product or service. Consider these tips. Nikki Pilkington Welcome home. Whether your primary business is online or in a brick and mortar location, the quality of your Website and particularly your call to action pages is critical. Web designer Larry James shares a great guest post about the mistakes made after a visitor arrives on your site. These mistakes can cost your business if your site fails to convert visitors into the paying customers you need. Durham Web Designer The post Groupon and Daily Deal Sites Faltering appeared first on Small Business Trends.     |
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