[Review] The Cowshed: Memories of the Chinese Cultural Revolution

by M. Suleman, senior academic writer at Writing-Expert.com

The author of “The Cowshed: Memories of the Chinese Cultural Revolution“, Ji Xianlin (1911-2009), was an internationally renowned authority on Pali and Sanskrit languages. For almost 20 years he had been head of foreign languages department and a teacher as well. He was one of those persons who became victim of the Cultural Revolution and was made to suffer the torture even worse than from the cruel emperors of China.

The author in this book describes the painful ordeal he had been through. One such he describes was as horrible as one could imagine. He tells he was tortured onto the dais and was forced to pose like an airplane with his body bent forward and arms spread out. He then was cursed, spitted on the face, nose-punched, head-stabbed and got kicks on his back by the crowd.

Next was the toughest labor he did at the factory. At a point he was even unable to stand on his feet, and had to crawl while carrying the bricks. Further he crawled for not less than two hours to reach and came back from a clinic, where he wasn’t given the medical treatment because he was strictly told to tell that he’s one of the blackguards. At the end he was imprisoned at Cowshed centre, where he was humiliated and tortured severely. Further he describes that that Cowshed was more horrible than 18 layers of Buddhist hell. The only sigh of relief he felt was when he was asked to serve as a security guard at one of the blocks of university.

The torture did not confine to him, instead his home too was raided and one of the young guards spent nights with his mistress and his wife plus an old aunt was forced to confine themselves to a tiny room.

Mere the physical torture was not something that Xianlin couldn’t forget ever, his mental health was deteriorating as well. Frequent hunger made him a liar; and, find food whether in garbage or thrown away boxes by the privileged ones. Strictly forbidden to raise his eyes before others, he couldn’t change this habit even after rehabilitation.

Later he was rehabilitated and given back the same position at the university. Due to his goodness at heart and firm belief in future of civilization of Chinese people he was able to gain hi sanity once again, making him write for the next 20 years, making more the 70 percent of his entire literary work.

Xianlin did also explain why he wrote memoirs. He rejected peeping into the past but is of the view that his people had not done well on the Cultural Revolution. He says that during the Cultural Revolution many criminals were given forgiveness, which he thinks must not be given. As due to such amnesty the cancer cells of Socialist society grew, which has made our society ethically hollow, corrupt and incompetent.

The book also includes hi short span of life. He was born in the warlords era, got education in Kuomintang era, spent many years when his country was sunder Japanese occupation and his 10 years in Germany where did his Phd. Many readers will shocked to see that even China went through several phases of education before today.

The author has overstated his tale with quotes from his people’s vast stock of literature, including verses from 4th and 10th century poets. The sayings of Confucius that “scholars can be killed, but they cannot be humiliated” is recalled regularly in order to emphasize that during the Cultural Revolution, they did not actually kill the scholars (though quite a few preferred suicide to public humiliation) but they were disgraced.

Xianlin attributes his sufferings to his decision to go against one of the torch-bearers of the Cultural Revolution at Peking University and to a trait of stubbornness in his character, of which we come to know when we see him training himself to bear torture without compromise on his stance.

At the age of 77, in 1981, he went to Tiananmen Square to show sympathy with those specific students who had gone on a hunger strike. Later he himself went to the police station and confessed that he had visited the students in Tiananmen Square and wanted to be given punishment as he being 77 no longer desired to be alive anymore. But the resilient Chinese society had become much mature from the Cultural Revolution. The police informed university authorities who rushed into take him back.

1993 was the year when this book was published and was acclaimed as a remarkable piece of literature.

 

M. Suleman is a senior academic writer, proofreader and ghost writer at Writing-Expert.com. Being at supervisory level he’s written number of articles and reviews. He has in-depth knowledge and experience in academia, current affairs and writing on history.

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How e-Commerce Fashion Sites Can Increase Their Sales With Small Changes

Sometimes power lies in small things. And one of the areas in which this adage is completely true is ecommerce website. Ecommerce fashion sites have a lot at stake when it comes to sales and online reputation. A small lapse can not only dent their reputation but also decrease customers and sales. Conscientious designers and owners will pay a lot of attention to the principle and content while creating their websites but there is room for even more sales to come in with a few small changes.

Responsive web design.

Your website has to be device-friendly. This means that it should render perfectly on:

• Laptops.
• Tablets.
• Smartphones.
• Small and big sized screens and so on.

More and more people are turning to their handheld devices to help in purchase decisions and therefore it makes sense to invest in responsive or mobile friendly design.

Another important aspect in this space is the load time. You have to involve your website developer and server provider in this task but it is critical to make a better impact online.

Get specific.

When defining your products and creating your online catalog, get really, really specific. For instance, if you are dealing with outerwear, you may like to create different categories for:

• Jackets.
• Shrugs.
• Cardigans.
• Shawls.
• Parkas and so on.

Within each category, get even more focused. For instance, if you are talking about parkas that women can wear, then have a search filter that says so. This allows your visitors to zone in on parkas for women in a few short steps rather than making a general search and perhaps even leaving your website in frustration.

Call to action.

You have to have a prominent CTA or call to action button. The flow of content is crucial. You can write the most interesting content but it will fail if it does not spur the visitor to buy your product right away. For instance, if you have waxed eloquent about a parka that a celebrity has worn you need to have a link or content that says ‘buy this fishtail parka here’.

The second aspect to this CTA is that the link has to take a visitor to the right page. If you are talking about a ‘green fishtail parka’ then clicking on a link should take the visitor to only that product page. This speeds up the buying decision tremendously.

Here is an additional tip for you – make the ‘buy’ button a different color from the rest of your website. Whether you use words like ‘buy’, ‘checkout’, ‘add to shopping cart’ – make them a different color – something that entices your visitor to purchase the product.

Make the value proposition clear.

Spend a lot of time looking at and examining the specific value add that people get when they buy your product. This has to be thought of in the framework of your target audience and your keywords. For instance, if you sell wristwatches at a discounted rate then your value proposition would be something on the lines of “Get Brand XYZ at 50% lower than market prices”. Stay away from generalized statements like “good quality wristwatches”.

Simplify.

You have to simplify virtually every element of your website. This includes:

• The font.
• Placement of various kinds of content.
• The shopping process.
• Colors.
• Availability of important information and so on.

A website is not a place to show off – make it sublime and sophisticated instead! You need to hook the reader completely with attractive visuals and content so they are encouraged to visit your product pages to buy the latest fashion garment or accessory that you are selling.

Online chat.

If you are offering this service, then it should be available 24×7. If not, specify the times during which the customer service or online chat is available. Try and make an actual person handle the enquiries that come through here. People love to talk to other people and less to machines.

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How Can Exchange Rates Impact Small Businesses

A difference in currency can play a huge role in your company’s profits, if your local currency depreciates in value relative to a foreign currency, the exchange rate between the two will rise. This means that it would be more expensive for a domestic business to convert its funds into a foreign currency. Meanwhile, an overseas company would be able to benefit from this reduced rate.

Importing Goods from Overseas.

Since so much of our merchandise is now made overseas in countries like China, many businesses will be familiar with the process of importing goods. If you pay your overseas suppliers in your local currency, you will not be affected by any depreciation since no currency conversion is happening during the transaction. However, if you’re paying in your supplier’s native currency instead, your prices will increase due to the new rate. One of the ways businesses look to avoid this scenario is to agree a fixed rate at the beginning of any deal. This will protect you from any major market changes, but may only be possible for companies agreeing to buy in large quantities.

Exporting Goods to Other Countries.

Conversely, a depreciation in the local currency may prove to be good for business if your company is based around exporting goods elsewhere. For example, if your business requires payment in U.S. dollars for its goods, your customer will be able to purchase more of your products for the same amount since the rate favours them. Likewise, accepting a foreign currency may be in your best interests because you will have more dollars available after the conversion. You can use forex trading websites like FX Pro to keep up to date on the different currency rates from countries all over the globe.

Competition in the Marketplace.

Finally, during a period of fluctuation it’s important that you don’t focus inwards and instead react to the rest of the marketplace. Uncertainty can breed new competition, especially from foreign companies who are looking to take advantage of a more favourable exchange rate. Depending on the situation, you may even want to consider lowering the prices of your goods so that local customers can afford them. Alternatively, you could stick with your current prices and hope to ride out this bad period. Depending on your target demographic, you may even find that your goods sell just as well as normal.

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Catering Carefully For Circumstance: Building A Business Contingency Plan

It is often a great moment when the business plan and the marketing actions taken have begun to take off. The revenues increase, and the public are becoming more aware of the brand and this is reflected in a great online presence. And other companies are wanting to get into bed with you. But what happens when the opposite occurs? When you’ve spent so long implementing a marketing ploy and it doesn’t seem to take off at all? How can the business cope? Do you have a contingency plan in place? If you do, then that is great.

If you don’t, you need one. If that is the case with your business, here are a few things to think about:

Risk Management.

The first step in creating a contingency plan is to identify what are the risks involved. Make a list of what weaknesses or vulnerabilities could be in your marketing plan, and focus on items that are outside of your control. A major factor that is outside of anyone’s control is the economic market. As changes in economic conditions can impact on your customer’s decision to spend. Planning ahead and making a list of potential “what if” scenarios and risks will make you better prepared for unexpected problems that arise.

Monitor Conditions.

After understanding what can affect your business, you must then keep an eye on the conditions. So you can get an early warning if something does arise. From checking industry publications to scoping out the competition, there are methods in which you can keep your ear to the ground for prospective shifts in the market. In addition to that, examine your suppliers’ ability to meet demand to see if they can meet your standards.

Plan.

Making the plan as watertight as possible will make sure no one deviates from it. The contingency plan needs to set out action plans that occur should a certain scenario arise. Make sure that you have planned scenario responses for internal changes as well as external ones. If there are flaws in the marketing, hiring an external company such as GAE Agency to help give the marketing a makeover. For an employee leaving may be the straw to break the camel’s back. If a situation like that occurs, make sure there is a suitable replacement and training programme in place to help that person get up to speed quickly.

Manage It.

Once a plan is in place, make sure that it is maintained. Overseeing the operation, or delegating it to a staff member is an essential procedure. You need to share it with the sales team and the marketing team so that they can be aware of their role in reacting and responding to threats. Other methods include implementing a contingency fund. As this reduces the risks of not meeting marketing targets in production by developing disaster recovery plans. And also ensuring availability of trained employees with succession plans. Managing the priority of tasks will also help to maintain order in the organisation.

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How World-Class Mountain Guides Inspire Young Business Leaders

by Christopher I. Maxwell, PhD, author of “Lead Like a Guide: How World-Class Mountain Guides Inspire Us to Be Better Leaders“

A decade ago I began organizing expeditions to high peaks and trails around the world for undergraduate business students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Together with a remarkable group of expert mountain guides, we climbed Wyoming’s Grand Teton and navigated canyons in Utah, explored the wilds of Patagonia, Peru, and Mexico, learned winter survival skills in Quebec, and traversed remote glaciers in Iceland, all with the aim of building leadership and teamwork skills that would be transferrable to business. Now many of these 200 participants are fully engaged in careers on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley, and in nonprofits, and the stories they tell highlight six key leadership strengths of their guides.

First, guides demonstrate an acute sense of social intelligence: they are adept at understanding and managing emotion and are able to swiftly build, and maintain, positive relationships – relationships that don’t fracture easily under the pressure of tough conditions and adversity. Christian Hoogerheyde, now a project manager at Socrata, a cloud-based data platform, reached the summit of the highest peak in Iceland with his guide-led team. Hoogerheyde says his guide, Halldor Albertsson, “received a group of clients with experiences and backgrounds vastly different from his own. He needed to garner their trust quickly. He was skilled at establishing positive relationships with each of us and this has served as a lesson to me every time I try to earn a new client’s trust.”

Second, guides are adaptable and employ flexible leadership styles. In practice, this is often expressed through an affirming and coaching leadership style. But guides aren’t shy about switching to a more directive style when the conditions call for it. Legendary ski-mountaineer and guide Doug Coombs told me that he would teach his clients at the lodge before embarking on an adventure, coach them when on the slopes, and guide them firmly when entering dangerous territory. Seychelle Hicks, now a customer success team leader at BloomReach, a big-data marketing firm in Silicon Valley, says, “My guide displayed multiple leadership styles, leading by example and coaching me, encouraging my progress, and providing constructive feedback. At work I’m required to adapt throughout the day to our customers, resourcing demands and building an effective and self-directed team. Like a guide whose experience shows in each step they take, I rely on my reputation and credibility to lead by example and set the tone of the team.

Third, guides empower others. One of the key leadership skills of a guide is the ability to identify and build on a client’s strengths, and to provide space for growth and development, even in the most challenging of conditions. Seven Summits guide Jim Williams says, “If you want to get to the summit, my job as a guide is to provide you with a shoulder to stand on so you can get to the summit, not for me to give you a hand up from the summit so you can join me on something.” Edmund Reese, a Wharton executive MBA graduate who climbed the Grand Teton with a guide-led team and is now a VP and CFO at American Express, told me, “The guides instilled confidence in me from the moment of our first encounter. There was no doubt in my mind that under their guidance we would indeed reach the peak. The leadership lessons taught by both the guides and the mountain itself has honed my focus on embracing the front lines. If we build leadership in others, we develop a stronger line and an overall stronger organization.”

Fourth, guides are trust-builders. Guides help their charges build trust in themselves and in their teammates. International mountain guide Christian Santelices, who with two friends achieved a first ascent on Cerro Escudo, a remote rock face in Chilean Patagonia, told me, “In order to get to the top I not only had to dig deep and reveal a part of my soul to the mountain, I also had to reveal a part of my soul to my partners. I leaned about the meaning of being able to rely on those on my team – and have them rely on me.” John Sims, a partner and CFO at Snowden Lane who climbed with a guided team, says, “If you don’t trust the person who has you on belay, you are not going to get very far. You will slowly inch your way up the mountain face, the rest of your team all stuck behind you. The team will run out of daylight well short of the intended goal. And so it will be in business. Without trust in your teammates, you will only do as much as your faith in your own limited abilities will take you.”

Fifth, guides are risk-aware, and expertly manage risk in an environment of constant uncertainty. Guide Jack Tackle says, “My number one job is safety. It’s about managing acceptable risk, and making good decisions, but also being fluid in the process, not being afraid to turn around and go down. You can’t be set in a preordained style and keep pushing because ‘summit fever’ has kicked in.” Yet risk is also an essential component of business, for conditions of uncertainty hold growth opportunities, too. Lyndsey Bunting, now director of financial planning and analysis at Birchbox, spent three years at an investment bank, then left to serve in the Peace Corps in the mountains of Panama. On a guided trip she experienced the risks of climbing directly, falling ill on her first summit attempt (she successfully led her team to the summit a year later). Bunting says, “The elements of risk-taking apply to startups in particular. There is risk and uncertainty, and weighing those aspects against the potential benefits makes all the difference. The team you build is important and you have to trust those individuals to make good decisions on your behalf.”

Finally, guides see the big picture. The wisest guides say, “It’s not about the summit, it’s about the journey.” Learning to see the big picture and appreciate the journey is exemplified by one expedition participant’s words after a summit attempt that ended abruptly when a storm moved in: “As we begin our descent, I become aware of silences that hadn’t existed yesterday. Everyone is struggling with the same feelings as me but understands the harm of voicing them publicly. But as I descended I began to appreciate the beauty of the storm and the mist climbing up the glacier. I start to feel peacefully happy and I notice the effect on the other team members. In effect, we distract ourselves into a successful descent, so that I summit something entirely different than the top of the mountain.” Deborah Horn, now a marketing manager at Microsoft, says after her expedition she realized she wanted to try for a new summit at work. “I found a manager at work who could see the big picture and who put me on the path for my next adventure. He helped me figure out that I wanted to investigate a totally new function in my next position, and he introduced me to four other leaders in the company. One of those introductions led to a new job that has turned into a dream role.”

Now take a moment to visualize the impact of leading like a guide in your own workplace. Take stock of the benefits of building and maintaining positive relationships, and the advantage of being able to switch smoothly between leadership styles when conditions call for it. Consider how engaged your colleagues will feel when they are empowered to innovate, and what it would be like to actively build trusting relationships that encourage others to take that first scary step into new territory. Imagine encouraging initiative while remaining risk-aware, and keeping the big picture of your enterprise in mind while striving to reach your target – without falling victim to summit fever.

This is how world-class mountain guides help teams they work with reach for high summits – and you can too. Lead like a guide!

 

Christopher I. Maxwell, PhD, is a Senior Fellow of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His book,”Lead Like a Guide: How World-Class Mountain Guides Inspire Us to Be Better Leaders“, is published by Praeger (September 2016).

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5 Steps To Align Your Core Values With Your Daily Practices

by Michael Manning, chief relationship officer at Rocksauce Studios

No matter your age, just about everybody loves the Beatles. But can your company learn from the Fab Four’s success?

Of course, John, Paul, George, and Ringo had the swinging outfits and the screaming fans. But up until the very end, they also shared a key element that helped them stay together as a collective. It’s their core — their values, their sound, their style. Even when their tastes expanded and drifted apart, they always knew how to build a cohesive core.

It’s only when the whole team is singing in harmony that you’ve got a chance at making it big.

Core values are not buzzwords or one-size-fits-all manuals for how to run your company; they are the driving forces behind your organization. They create your culture. They fuel your goals. And if those core values — those driving forces — are different for every team member, your company will soon break apart.

Most importantly, core values are unique to every organization, so creating them should be a team effort.

Where Core Values Start.

At Rocksauce Studios, we began by sitting down with every team member and asking, “What would you say are your core values?” and “What are the values of Rocksauce?”

We then worked on cementing our mission statement by establishing a list of the core values that collectively define who we are, how we work, and what we’re trying to achieve as a team.

Once we had everyone involved, that list came pretty easily:

• Happiness: We strive to deliver excellence by following best practices and being positive.
• Honesty: We respect others through truthfulness in our actions and words.
• Empathy: We understand one another to achieve common goals.
• Loyalty: We respect our traditions and cultivate a sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves.
• Passion: We demonstrate devotion in all that we do.

Once we’d fashioned our set of core values, our biggest challenge was determining how to integrate them into our daily structure. This takes some time. It’s about forming habits around values, creating new strategies to encourage a daily routine, and making sure the routine feels natural and productive rather than forced.

How to Practice a ‘Core Value’ Culture.

Core values aren’t just for the outset of your company’s journey. Here are five simple strategies from the Fab Four that you can implement in your company’s daily life to establish a solid connection between your work and your core values:

1. Get the band together for regular jam sessions. A 2013 studylooked at workers at an Iranian steel company to see how important it is for company values to align with personal values. The study found that “better alignment increases the chance of accomplishment,” which, in turn, leads to lower costs, more engagement, and a sense of pride.

Core values need to be discussed and celebrated at regular intervals — just as your team discusses deadlines and celebrates results. So insert core values into your annual reviews, monthly check-ins, and even daily round-ups. We host community service projects, too, such as food drives and mentoring clubs for kids to learn how to code. These activities help us remember to be empathetic — one of our core values.

Take the time to ask employees how they’re prioritizing and what their values are right now. Make sure these values still align with your company’s core.

2. Celebrate your bass player. When you see that team members are practicing core values, make sure you praise them, clarifying which value has been demonstrated and how. Recognition breeds pride and morale.

Remember that value-based recognition is about celebrating the “how” of the task rather than the “what” or the “why.” Show your team members how their value-driven work is contributing to your company’s success so they can feel responsible and important.

We created an employee engagement program to help us log achievements and share recognition. The program includes categories that complement our key values so we can give shout-outs and perks to those awarded the highest in each category.

3. Bring in new members who feel the beat. Once you’ve collected your core values and have started celebrating them in daily life, it’s time to bring those values into the interview room. Consider core values when you make hiring decisions. With values and culture baked into the hiring process, you’ll start naturally selecting candidates who embody your culture.

4. Be a lead singer, not a limelight hog. The best way to encourage employees to live and work by their core values is to lead by example. Don’t be a core value overseer. Don’t peer over your employees’ shoulders to see whether their inboxes align with your core values. Instead, embody those values, and show them how it’s done.

5. Celebrate good times! Come on! All important things should be actively remembered and celebrated. Have an anniversary or a special day when you and your team celebrate those core values that define you. Ours is called “Rocktober.” We invite clients, vendors, neighbors, and a wish list of potential clients to come hang out with us at our offices and have a good time, encouraging loyalty and happiness — two of our core values.

Build your band as you build your brand. Celebrate and practice core values as a team to encourage collaboration and stay united on your way to success. And if you want to buy matching outfits for your next jam session, that couldn’t hurt.

Are there any other ways your company lives out its core values? I’d love to talk about them in the comments!

 

Michael Manning, chief relationship officer at Rocksauce Studios, joined the team to bring her considerable marketing, analytical, and relationship skills to the team. As chief relationship officer, she leads the charge on invigorating the company’s loyalty, happiness, and customer engagement from within.

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Manufacturing A Business: The Factors Involved In Becoming A Manufacturer

If you’re looking for a startup idea that’s not often done, consider becoming a manufacturer. Manufacturing is a commonly outsourced operation for businesses selling all kinds of products. If you set up a factory to handle the work for them, you could potentially make a lot of money.

It can be challenging. Making complicated parts and products requires a lot of expensive machinery and equipment. But manufacturing covers a broad range of production, so there are also simple ways to go about it. Make sure you get plenty of funding from loans and investors before starting.

Here are some pointers for those looking to manufacture a manufacturing company:

Get A Building.

Manufacturing requires a lot of space for stocking materials and equipment. Unless you’re manufacturing on a minor scale, you’ll most likely need to buy or rent an industrial building.

There are many large buildings available on industrial estates. It’s worth getting one that’s close to local businesses who you might be able to supply for.

They aren’t always the most well-maintained buildings. Older industrial properties sometimes have problems with ventilation and harmful materials. You should find services offering industrial building surveying before buying. Also, handle any maintenance work that needs to be carried out before bringing employees in.

Invest In Equipment.

Machinery and equipment will be your biggest investment. Since the source of your profits will be the products you make, you’ll need to ensure you can produce high-quality items reliably.

The kind of equipment you need depends on what kind of products you plan to make. Simple manufacturing jobs require minimal expenditure. For example, you could buy a sewing kit to make bags and accessories, or printing equipment to make custom t-shirts.

For more complicated manufacturing processes, you’ll need industrial equipment. Research OEM suppliers to find the equipment you need. For instance, companies like CSL build and install conveying systems for many manufacturing needs.

For most manufacturers, it’s worth having an industrial 3D printer. It can create all kinds of parts that can make up products.

Build Your Workforce.

If you’re all set up to start manufacturing, it’s time to hire. A lot of manufacturing jobs involve manual labour work, which is easy to find willing applicants for. You may also need some specialists to operate certain machinery.

Remember that manufacturing won’t be your only operation. You’ll also need employees for general tasks such as administrative work and customer service. Find the right employees and make sure you build a top notch team.

Find Clients.

The last step is to start generating business. You’ll want to bring your company to the attention of businesses who sell the kind of products you can create.

You’ll want to make sure you’re easy to find on the internet, as companies may search for manufacturers. You could also make the effort and reach out to businesses in your sector. You can negotiate a price for your services and become a valuable supplier for them.

The other option is to sell your manufactured products yourself. It will take some extra effort for creating a retail business on top of your manufacturing. However, e-commerce makes it easy to sell to customers worldwide, so it may be a good idea if you have the funds.

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Genius Business Secrets That Make You Better, Faster

It can take you years to learn some of the best secrets in business. But, I’ve made things easier for you today. Here are some genius business secrets you need to know:

Create Visual Reminders Of Your Goals.

Every business person has to have some goals. These can vary from business to business, but, they often follow the same trends. You’ll see people with goals of reaching certain sales figures by the end of the year. Or, thinking more long-term, they want their business to reach a certain size and turn over a certain profit after ten years. The trouble is, many businesses never reach their goals. Even successful businesses fall short of the goals they set.

I learnt there was one simple reason that contributes to this. Companies simply don’t think about their goals as much as they should. The best way to combat this is to create visual reminders and place them everywhere. One simple idea is to print out your sales figures for a particularly month, quarter, or year; it’s your choice. Stick them up around the office alongside and image of the figures you wish to achieve. This visual reminder helps get things drilled into everyone’s minds. Your business will focus on it more, and your goals will be achieved.

Speed Up Your Invoice Payments.

As a business, you may have to make invoices for some of your services. Often, it can take customers up to thirty days to pay an invoice. What this means is that you have to wait thirty days for payment. It doesn’t take long to learn that thirty days is a long time in the busy business world. Often, you need the money now, not later.

Well, there’s something called Factoring Accounts Receivable that helps do just that. You can sell your invoices, or receivables, to a company known as a factor. They’ll pay you the money you need, and you get it a lot quicker than if you wait for your customers. The factor then goes and gets the invoice money from your customers and keeps it for themselves. It’s a genius idea, and very few entrepreneurs know about this when they start out.

Don’t Be Put Off By Your Mistakes.

Too many people fail early on, and then give up on their dreams. They get disheartened by failed attempts and choose to forget about things altogether. They pursue a different career and have less success than they might have had if they’d stuck with it. The more you practice things, the better you become. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes when you’re running a business. Sure, they can be costly, but, they’re even more costly when you don’t learn from them.

Learn from your mistakes, and you get better and better. There isn’t a successful entrepreneur on this planet that experienced smooth sailing at all times. Everyone hits bumps that they struggle to get over. The best business owners will learn how to get over the bumps and work hard to ensure they achieve perfection.

Hopefully, you’ve found all of this information incredibly valuable. Use these business secrets to help plan your path to successful entrepreneurship.

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Starting A PCB Business Could Be The Right Move

With 3D printing becoming more accessible every day, you might have been considering different 3D-printing related business opportunities for your startup. Of them all, there are some strong reasons why you should consider PCB (circuit board) printing and manufacturing.

We’ll walk you through all the perks and benefits of starting a circuit board manufacturing business, covering everything from competition to potential profitability.

High Profit Margins.

Profit margins are important to any business: and most retailers and traditional services-related businesses operate on low profit margins which make it difficult to stay afloat, especially through early years. But PCB printing and manufacturing is well-known for its high profit margins in most cases, and for entrepreneurs who are productivity-oriented, it can be relatively easy to start and successfully operate a highly-profitable startup.

Large Market Size.

In 2015 alone, the market size for PCB printing as an industry in the U.S. ranged in at roughly 58 billion dollars. The broader marketing category, electronics manufacturing, totaled roughly 430 billion dollars. Compared to many industries, that’s a large market split between relatively few competitors. And according to some metrics, 2015 ended with 2.5% industry growth over 2014, with orders coming faster than months in the previous year. These metrics indicate slow but steady growth through 2016.

Making a Business Plan.

From your goals, mission, and vision, your business plan is usually a test of how strategic and realistic your goals are. And some businesses have a better ability to forecast sales than others, allowing you to hedge your bets on performance. Luckily, the PCB market has grown substantially in recent years, for all kinds of applications, making it easier than many other startup ideas to provide a straightforward and targeted business plan. If you’re looking for financing or investment capital, this is a crucial factor! Not all startup ideas will be able easily accommodate these informational needs, and are likely to be more of an investment black box.

Low Competition Markets.

Of course, all businesses have competition, and strong local competition can be a revenue killer. But it’s a straightforward task to scope your local and regional area for PCB competition, and to assess how you might be able to enter the market given their products. Providing niche services, such as PCB printing to inventors, beta-testers, and small companies can be a great way to slide into the market beside large competitors who primarily serve big businesses and large batch jobs.

Entry Options and Entrepreneurial Freedom.

With most businesses, to enter the market you can either buy an existing business or build your own from the ground up. With most business ideas, this will usually end up with needing to get staff, office spaces, and paying for a substantial amount of equipment or products. With a PCB printing business, most of these costs can be very minimal, and if you’re competent in 3D printing, at small scales it can be an owner-operator business with no need for employees until you scale up.

The Bottom Line.

There’s no substitute for persistence and good planning. No matter how much experience, intelligence, or talent you happen to have in PCB design or 3D printing, when you’re starting a new business, you’ll always come across unforeseen hurdles. But beginning a business in a field that’s trending up, and with few barriers to entry, can help mitigate your risks. For those with design or 3D printing skillsets, starting a PCB printing business could be the right move for you: the barriers to entry are low, it’s easy to identify potential clients and competitors, and there’s more than enough past performance data on the industry to help project success data.

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E-Commerce Essentials: 5 Tips For Your New Website

by Sam Wheeler, Digital Business Consultant with Inseev Interactive

With more e-commerce websites popping up on the Internet than ever before, you might be thinking it’s time for your own company to strengthen its digital presence. While there’s never been a better time to start creating the website of your dreams, it’d be wise to get informed on some industry-leading tips and recommendations your new online marketplace should employ.

These strategies will help guide your website towards gaining, holding, and retaining more customers for a higher amount of time; resulting in greater overall business for you and a higher level of satisfaction for your customers.

1. Simplicity.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Sam). An uncluttered, straight-forward website design will allow users to easily navigate through your website and utilize its full range of functionality.

Let’s face it – no one wants to have to consult an instruction book to figure out how to find and purchase a product from your website. A simple and easy experience will keep users happy and lead to repeat customers.

When wire framing your menu structure, consider the natural progression of your target audience. For a great, real life example, look to Gifts.com. Immediately as you enter their homepage, you can see how simple and easy it is to search for a gift by occasion, recipient, category, or personality.

Furthermore, keep in mind that it’s best practice to have the ability to search for products and items on the top right corner (red dotted box above) of every page of the site. There is little more frustrating than knowing exactly what you want but being unable to access it.

2. Trustworthiness.

No one wants to feel like they are getting scammed, so make your website as legitimate as possible! There are a variety of ways to build instant rapport and trust with your customers:

Logo recognition. Nothing screams “trust me” like a naturally recognizable logo such as Coca-Cola:

Or the FTD Mercury Man:

The power of a recognizable logo will not only lead to an increased consumer base, but can pay off in millions, if not billions, of dollars.

Design Tip: Almost most every household brand has a colorful logo over a white background, with soft edges and a simplistic design.

Include customer reviews and testimonials. Having the confidence to share thoughts and experiences with your product will help garner the trust and acceptance needed for your newer users to make their own purchase. Using 99 Designs as an example, notice how users can read or watch testimonials.

99 Designs Testimonial Page

Provide product explanations and videos. Peace of mind is important in making an online purchasing decision. By having videos that highlight the essence of your product, you can establish a trustful connection and squash any qualms about the functionality or ease of use.

These demonstration videos should not necessarily be the first thing your visitor sees, but can be an available resource to leverage during the visit on your website.

3. Security.

With increased scrutiny surrounding the safety and security of electronic consumer data, especially after such events like the Target hack of 2014 where 40 million credit card numbers were stolen, consumers are more focused now than ever about their personal and sensitive information being online.

Users prefer to see HTTPS on their browsers

You should consider implementing a secure HTTPS protocol on your server to assure potential customers that their information is safe with you.

Bonus points: It even helps with SEO!

4. Design & Feedback.

The significance of having a responsive, usable site cannot be understated. Hubspot.com’s survey of consumers proves this point:

76% of all people surveyed said that the most important characteristic of a website starts with its ease of use.

Especially for websites that must obtain private information, ease of use is essential to converting the sale. Taking TransUnion SmartMove as an example, we see a homepage with only two options for the user:

The homepage of TransUnion SmartMove provides users with two options

A usable website can make the difference between gaining a competitive advantage and owning a failing website.

As a rule of thumb, it’s always important to gather feedback from your potential and future customers. You can collect feedback by using tools such as:

• User Testing
• Avinash Kaushik’s survey questions

Both of these tools can help gather feedback from individual users so that you can understand how usable and friendly your site is. Keep in mind, however, that this is not just a onetime investment – user feedback is something that you should be constantly monitoring throughout the lifetime of your site.

Before you leverage any of the above tools, first set usability goals and success metrics. Set goals for metrics like homepage to checkout speed, user satisfaction, and cart abandonment.

5. Speed.

A recent infographic shows that nearly half of all web users expect to see a site load in 2 seconds or less. At 4 seconds of loading time, webpages have an abandonment rate of 25%.

Page Abandonment and Loading Time (Source: Kissmetrics.com)

79% of users that experienced trouble with a website say they won’t return to buy again and about 44% would tell a friend if they had a bad experience using a specific site.

Within a few seconds, your site can go from hero to zero with a multitude of potential sales falling through the cracks, ending in a soured feeling for both you and your customers.

Final Thoughts.

While building a robust website may seem like a daunting task at first, it’s important to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your website.

Set yourself a checklist and timeline to ensure progress and never stop improving. The best websites are updated and tweaked on a consistent basis.

 

Sam Wheeler is a Digital Business Consultant with Inseev Interactive. He manages digital projects for Fortune 500 companies and small business alike, focusing on public relations and website management.

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Inventory Management 101

By Lea Schneider

When it all begins at the kitchen table, it seems so simple. Fast forward just a bit and your home-based business or startup doesn’t quite contain itself to one tabletop.

There are products, samples and parts everywhere. Even if you want to keep your business at home, you’ll need to find a way to organize inventory and supplies.

As a professional organizer, it is a fun and exciting task to step into a new company that finds itself so busy that they are challenged by disorganization. At first, it’s easy to keep up with everything—no system or routine is needed. Down the road, it becomes a juggling act, which of course is a good thing because it means your business is booming. Grabbing disorganization by the horns and wrestling it into compliance is a must. It means you’ll be able to focus on generating revenue instead of hunting for things.

Keeping up with your inventory is essential. While there are tons of apps or programs designed to help you keep track of inventory, they don’t address your physical space. If your inventory program shows you have three of something but you can’t put your hands on any of them, it won’t do you much good.

Early on, you are managing everything in one spot. As you grow, take the time to separate activities to better keep track of each step and products. Keep in mind that keeping track of goods doesn’t just apply to retailers or wholesale, but also the service industry. A big cost of providing the service is the amount you spend on necessary products. Keeping track of those products and their costs is key to turning a profit.

Here are a few of my favorite tips that apply to many kinds of businesses and their physical spaces:

Incoming Goods Routine.

Since packages arrive in a steady stream, it isn’t always possible to open and process a box immediately. Set up a designated spot for incoming goods. Without a specific worktable or shelving for incoming boxes, it is easy for them to be mixed into stock before getting priced, tracked or labeled for a specific customer.

Your incoming work station should include tools for opening packages, appropriate labels for pricing and bins for recycling packaging materials.

Get Dedicated Storage.

As your business gets busier, you’ll do best if you set aside some time to organize a dedicated storage area. Having boxes, products, parts, supplies and tools stored haphazardly is sure to cost you money in the long run and will certainly cost you time as you hunt for things.

Get Organized – Clear out clutter from a spare room or the garage and create a dedicated spot for all your business goods.

Add Space – If you don’t have an extra room handy to set up as a business center, consider adding a storage shed. It can serve one of two purposes: You can use it as a dedicated business storage area that is easily locked and contained when you leave, or you can use it to hold your household items so you can free up other space for business things.

Go Vertical – Add freestanding shelving that can be moved if your needs or location changes. Shelving keeps you from stacking and unstacking piles and provides an easier way to divide items. You can also add pegboards and hooks to hang inventory.

Label Everything – The more you label, the more you’ll stay in control of money spent. Add labels to rows of shelves. Label the lip of shelving. Make sure your shelf labels match your product codes used by your inventory system.

Outgoing Goods.

If your business is filling orders, you’ll want to create a space designed to handle outgoing goods. Similar to your incoming goods station, it should contain a shelf or perhaps a rolling cart for products. Set up a work table for customizing products and packaging products to be shipped. The work table should have all of the tools and packaging materials you need to use within easy reach.

Build Routines.

Once you have set up incoming and outgoing stations as well as organized storage, it becomes much easier and faster to create a regular routine for handling goods. Develop good inventory control procedures for things like matching packing slips to orders or checking off outgoing products.

Perform a monthly check of physical items and compare it to your electronic records. Keeping track of inventory is important for theft control. In addition, it allows you to monitor low sellers and find products you need to put on sale or push. Your time spent organizing your routines and inventory will pay off for you in the long run.

 

Storage expert Lea Schneider writes on small business organizational topics for The Home Depot. For an array of physical storage solutions that might be appropriate for your business, you can visit Home Depot.

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Financial Management Guide For The Self-Employed

You may love what you do and be filled with passion for every customer you serve as a self-employed business owner, but enthusiasm does not pay the bills. For that, you need a great product and good financial management. There is very little difference between a salary and profit when you run your own business. The net income of your business is also your savings, your down payment on a home and your retirement plan for the future. Manage it well.

Create a Business Plan.

When talking about financial management, it is the word “management” that is the most important. Knowing your finances means nothing if you do not do something beneficial with them. As a management tool, develop a business plan with a five year projection and an exit strategy. Business plans are the roadmap for your company and usually include a section on operations, marketing and budgeting. The budget helps you identify variable and fixed expenses, potential burgeoning markets and ways to leverage your earnings to expand your business. The Small Business Administration has some excellent resources to help you create a solid plan for your business.

Diversify Your Income Stream.

Because you are the sole proprietor of your company, the difference between you and your business is very thin. Do not be afraid to create more than one revenue stream. Base your income around your central skill. For example, if you are a salesperson, then sell houses, cars and lifestyle products from direct sales companies like Amway. If you are a writer, then start penning magazine articles, grants and blog articles for freelance sites like Upwork. At the beginning of your business’ lifecycle, you will need to do whatever it takes to make ends meet. At the end of the day, a dollar from one revenue stream is as good as four quarters from another.

Keep Track of Your Finances.

At some point in your business, the best forms of income will float to the top and prove themselves to be the most lucrative with the highest potential. If you do not have proper accounting procedures, though, it is easy for you to miss these trends. In the United States, most organizations use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for their accounting. You do not need to be an expert at GAAP, but you should consult an accountant to help you set up your bookkeeping. This ensures that it is accurate and, most importantly, useful to your financial decision making process.

Know Your Ratios.

One of the reasons to do all of this tracking is to identify the health of your company and compare it to others in your industry. This is done with financial ratios. One of the best ratios for small businesses is the current ratio, which is your current assets divided by your current liabilities. Your current assets generally are the money you have in the bank and your liabilities are your bills. A current ratio that is more than the number one means that you can cover your bills. Less than one is a problem.

Ratios also are a good way to compare your business to others in the same sector. Morningstar.com calculates the ratios for most of the nation’s largest companies. Use ratios to flag potential issues before they have a chance to destroy your business.

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Top Money Making Investmets You Should Make While You’re Young

Many experts will say that your twenties are the best time to start investing. It’s a good age as you’ve had time to build up your finances, and, you have plenty of life ahead of you for investments to grow.

If you’re looking to make some extra money, check out these three investment options:

Gold & Silver.

It may seem like a strange thing to invest in, but, gold & silver can make you a lot of money. They’re good to invest in while you’re young, as their value can grow over time. Plus, they’re safe investments as they’ll always have a value. Gold and silver always have a value, so, you’ll get some money back no matter what.

Making money with gold and silver requires patience and knowledge. If you want to make a business trading these items, you have to get educated. Learn about the markets and check them for trends and spikes in value. Selling gold & silver at the right time is key to making as much money as possible from your investment.

Real Estate.

Investing in real estate is a great idea when you’re young. This is because there’s every chance the price will increase over time. If you look at the property market over the last decade or two, you see houses are far more expensive than they used to be. So, if you invest now, you can sit on that investment for decades.

The best thing is, you can get a lot out of your investment before you decide to sell it. With property, you could always live in it for as long as you want. When you want to move on, you sell it for profit. Also, you could rent out your investment too. This gives you a regular income while you wait for the property to increase in value. You can find real estate marketing materials to help you find leads and rent out a property you’ve invested in. Give it a go if you have the money available.

Future Technologies.

When you first hear about investments, I bet it’s to do with the stock market. This is how most young people first learn what investing is all about. They see the stock market in films with people buying and selling shares like crazy. The truth is, stock market trading is a very risky business. But, there are ways to make investments in your twenties, and reap the rewards later on.

My idea is to invest in future technologies. Buy shares in companies that look like they’ll be big in the years to come. I’m talking about companies that make 3D printers, wearable tech, virtual reality, etc. All of these future technologies are just starting to take off. Share prices may be reasonable right now, as they’re hardly booming at the moment. But, give it a few years, and these things will be so popular. As a result, share prices will increase, and you can make a load of money.

Investing is a fantastic idea for everyone. But, it’s even better for business owners that make a lot of profit. Invest your profits into these things, and you can make even more money.

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Thinking About Starting A Creative Agency? Here’s What You Need To Know.

by Claudia Elliott, head of content creation at internet marketing consulting agency Deep End

The life of a creative freelancer is challenging. You have no choice but to do everything yourself. And unfortunately, this can often have a negative impact on your business. When you are a one-man show,  you are responsible for doing administrative work, sales, design, development and so much more. Doing all of this on your own can take a toll on your mind, body, and  business. Worst of all, it can even keep you stagnant and limit your growth potential. But fortunately, things don’t have to be this way.

You’ve probably daydreamed at times about how to start your own creative agency. If you’ve ever had more work than you can handle, this concept sounds like a dream come true. And it’s natural for you to feel this way. That’s because the next logical step from being a design freelancer is to become an entrepreneur. If your current projects are limited to what you can execute upon, it’s time to dream a little bit bigger and start your own web design business.

While it’s not easy, this transition can be fulfilling. This is an opportunity for you to focus on what you do best (or the most) and hire other people to do what they excel at. This is what will allow you to increase your productivity, work with bigger companies, and offer your services to a wider audience.

5 Benefits.

It’s comfortable to stay small. You can easily control your own projects, and keep working with the clients you’re used to. But let’s face it: there’s no growth in that.

A design agency model offers many advantages over being a freelancer:

1. You can concentrate on what you like to do. Do you like to design landing pages, but hate the boredom of building a corporate website? Then you can hire (or sub-contract) someone else to do it for you. Hate selling? Hire a superstar salesman. Starting a business will allow you to focus on your strengths and outsource your weaknesses to industry experts.

2. There is tremendous growth potential. When you’re a freelancer, you don’t even have time to think about expanding. But when you hire other people, you will have more free time to come up with growth strategies for your business.

3. You can increase your billable hours. As a solopreneur, your time is limited. There are only so many hours you can work in a week. So when you start hiring salespeople, assistants, designers, and developers, you can bill their work hours too and increase your income.

4. The increase in productivity will allow you to get your work done faster, which will then leave room for more projects and billable hours.

5. You’ll learn something new. Being close to experts in other areas will open up your mind to aspects of your project that you never thought were possible. Over time, you’ll start to acquire some new skills..

Should you specialize or generalize?

The creative marketplace is extremely crowded. That’s why, we are often advised to niche-down. As a freelancer you may already cater to a specific field (or maybe not). If you do, it would be best if you continued within your area of expertise at your new agency. After all, you already have the work to showcase to your new and potential clients.

If not, that’s fine. It’s not mandatory to narrow your focus. But, ideally, you’ll want to choose a niche over time.

Generally, there are two ways this can happen:

1. You can research and pick a niche you’d like.
2. You’ll gradually move towards a niche, and this will start attracting more work within that specific field.

There are generally several types of niches you can go into:

1. Industry (i.e. construction, medical, restaurant)
2. Type of project (i.e. specializing only in web design, specifically, conversion rate optimized landing pages)

No matter which niche you get into, start marketing to that niche as soon as possible.

Developing a Creative Team.

When you start your own agency, you can either hire employees right away or you can  hire contractors as needed. For those that are just starting out and have low capital, I recommend contracting. This will allow you to grow at a slower pace, and will allow you to test waters with different people until you’ve assembled your very own dream team.

There are many contractors you may want to bring on board, including:

• Copywriters
• Sales/marketing person
• Accountant
• Project manager
• Web developer
• Other designers

Remember: don’t limit yourself. You may choose to work with local folks, however,  you can also find great talent in other parts of the country or the world, thanks to the internet.

Project Management.

Once you have your team in place, you need to develop a process in order to manage people and their workflow. Although you may not have a physical work environment where everybody can come together and collaborate, you can recreate this experience through the right software.

There are many online apps that can help you keep track of what needs to be done. They allow you to share files, make lists, and delegate work to your team (the same way you would in a physical location.) Although most of these programs aren’t free, it’s way cheaper than renting out office-space, so the cost is well worth it.

Having the Price Conversation With Current Clients.

Once you have decided to start your own creative agency, you’ll want to break this news to your current clients and advise them on any changes that will come into effect here-on-out (especially in prices). Agencies usually charge more than freelancers. And frankly, they should. They have higher overhead costs.

Initially, you’ll need all the extra money to pay your employees (or contractors). And although you may lose some of your clients due to an increase in price, be sure to look on the bright side. Now is your chance to go after bigger clients, with bigger projects, and bigger budgets.

Final Words.

We know that switching from freelancing to agency owner may sound scary, but if you want to grow, there’s no way around it. I guarantee that you will be in awe after seeing the things you can accomplish with the right people and systems in place.

 

Claudia Elliott is the head of content creation at internet marketing consulting agency Deep End. When she is not helping businesses succeed online, Claudia can be found blogging about all the latest trends in internet marketing, usability and interface design.

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5 Easy, Free Ways To Get The Word Out About Your Company

By Pamela Webber, Chief Marketing Officer at 99designs

You’ve got your name, you’ve got your logo. Hopefully you’ve given some thought to your brand: what makes you different and memorable, your product/market fit and your audience.

Now it’s all about getting your brand in front of the right customers. We know you’re busy getting your business off the ground and perfecting your product. We’re all about removing obstacles for busy entrepreneurs.  That’s why we’ve created this list specifically for small business owners with tight budgets and precious little time.

Here are five easy, cheap (or completely free) ways to start getting the word out about your awesome product:

1. Put your name, logo, and contact information on every single touchpoint with the outside world.

It’s not enough to put your logo on your website, especially when you’re first starting out. You have to make it incredibly easy for people to remember you and find you on the world wide web, and that means being one click away when interacting with your audience.

It sounds so simple, yet it’s often an overlooked step.  Here are four free (or at least very cheap) places you can put your information.

○      Your email signature (with a link to your website and your phone #)

○      Your business cards

○      Your social media profiles (see tip #3)

○      Your packaging (pro tip: stickers can be an affordable stop gap)

Note: This won’t be the marketing tactic that catapults your business into the stratosphere (unless you’re incredibly lucky, or you have some very influential friends), but when you’re first starting out, it’s an important first step.  Not only does it establish your business as “real” to your contacts in the outside world, but it helps people remember your name and spread the word.  Without this, your next steps may go to waste.

2. Start a blog and write about what you know (as it relates to your business).

Content marketing and search engine optimization. Those are things only big fancy companies with big fancy marketing departments do, right? We’ve got good news for you. You can create ablogthat will help improve your search engine ranking for free. No coding wizardry needed. And better search engine rankings means more visitors and more customers. Here’s a super simple guide to get you started.

Not sure what to write about? Put yourself in your customer’s shoes.

●      What sorts of things are they searching for? Create a list of questions your customer might be asking that you can use your expertise to answer.

●      Then go ahead and Google the questions on your list. If you can’t find any articles right away, you’ve found your opportunity.

●      Ready to take this to the next level? Our friends at Shopifywrote a great guide for beginners on conducting keyword research.

3. Start communicating on social.

Approximately three-quarters of shoppers today will research a company online before making a purchase. Companies can no longer expect their target customer to simply take them at their word. One of the easiest ways for your customer to determine your credibility is to check you out on social.  Need more proof? Currently, one in every ten online purchases around the world originates from social media channels. The good news is, you can get started for free.

○      Managing several social media channels as a small business owner can seem daunting. We don’t recommend being on every channel right away, since it can quickly become a lot to manage. Start with the channel that’s most relevant to your business and expand from there once you feel ready. Here’s a helpful guide by industry.

○      Once you have your channels, it’s time to start posting. Here are a few reallyhelpful tips to get you started, no matter which channel you’re focusing on.

○      Have a wellspring of patience, and a knack for navigating websites that some may find maddening? You might be uniquely qualified to tackle Reddit as a marketer, which puts you ahead of the game (because many of us aren’t there yet). Here’s a great beginners guide to Reddit, when you’re ready.

Are you a local business? Check out Alignable, the free network where business owners meet, increase word of mouth marketing and generate referrals.

4. Start building your email list.

Email remains one of the most cost-effective channels for marketing departments all around the world. Don’t believe us? According to the Direct Marketing Association, Email marketing yields an average 4,300% return on investment for businesses in the United States. And companies using email to nurture leads generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. And nurtured leads, on average, produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities compared to non-nurtured leads, according to Hubspot.

Not sure what to send? Here are a few types of emails you can send, depending on your audience and offering:

1.     A weekly newsletter with top posts from your blog, or most relevant to your email audience

2.     A promotional email with discounts or special offerings on your product

3.     Product updates or announcements

Just like your blog, email marketing is most effective when you put yourself in your customer’s shoes and focus on their wants, needs, concerns, and questions when it comes to your business. Pay attention to your favorite brands and your competitors. What emails are you most likely to read? What makes you take action? And like the rest of your branded materials, emails to your customers and prospects should always look professional. Here are some free templates to get you started.

We suggest subscribing to some software to help you manage your email list and automate distribution.  Here are some useful email tools for small businesses that can help you.

5. Get Creative.

When ridesharing app Lyft first got started, they printed their logo and a coupon code on coasters. They sent their small staff to bars in the few cities they were operating, and sat back as they watched their app downloads soar.

Airbnb got their site free distribution by coding a set of tools that made it possible for every user to cross-post their Airbnb listing on Craigslist.  These specific examples of guerrilla marketing won’t necessarily work for your business or industry, but if you put your own creative thinking cap on, you might find your own ingenious way of growing word of mouth for your business for next to nothing.

Remember, you don’t necessarily have to tackle all of these tips at once. Do one thing thoughtfully every day, and watch your business grow bit by bit.  Don’t expect overnight success, but if something you’re doing isn’t working, tweak it or try something new.  Take every failure and apply the learnings. Good luck!

 

Pamela Webber is Chief Marketing Officer at 99designs where heads up the global marketing team responsible for driving customer acquisition and increasing lifetime value of customers. She is passionate about using data to derive customer insights and to find “aha moments” that impact strategic direction.

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How To Improve Your Leadership And Management Skills

In the past, we’ve talked about how hiring the best and focusing on the things that matter are among the 7 leadership keys to startup survival. Having good leadership and management skills can really help you navigate through the challenges on the market as well as help your startup grow at a steady rate.

Gaining the right leadership and management skills is not a difficult thing to do too. There are several things you can do to be the best leader for your team and we are going to review them in this article:

Get Everyone Involved.

Instead of maintaining a one-way, top-to-bottom communication, one of the best ways to improve your management skills is by getting everyone involved. Before you make critical decisions, let employees and members of the team pitch their ideas.

Employees have insights and knowledge you don’t always get as a manager or CEO. They are involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. They also deal with customers and often have knowledge on how customers interact with your products.

All you have to do to tap into these insights is provide the environment for employees to contribute more ideas. You’ll be surprised by how much you can learn from them; you’ll be a much better manager at the end of this process. Let them tell their side of the story and learn from them.

Learn New Skills Formally.

Another great way to improve your management skills is by going back to school. Sometimes, the best skills are learnt from formal education. Fortunately, you don’t have to leave your business and be a fulltime student to be able to pursue a master’s degree in business administration.

You can now apply for an MBA course online. Thanks to the best online courses available, you can get an online MBA in Portland – from Concordia University nonetheless – from the comfort of your office. The course will help you learn new skills on general business management, risk management, financial management and various other critical subjects.

Finish the course, get the MBA degree and you’ll be ready to tackle more challenges. The MBA means you have what it takes to be more efficient with project management as well as be a better leader in general.

Jump Right In.

One last thing to keep in mind when you want to improve your leadership and management skills is your level of involvement. Most startups owners and CEOs are too busy with meetings and trying to make the right deals; they often forget about the thrills of actually running a startup and getting involved in the day-to-day operations of the business.

To be a great leader, you need to start doing the opposite. Spend a few days a week at the office and get involved with the projects your business is handling. You don’t even have to lead the projects or take big responsibilities. You can simply tag along and observe, provide ideas whenever you have them and be a team member.

The more you know your projects and operations, the more you will understand the essentials. Once you do, becoming a better leader and management will be very easy to do.

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Why Are So Many Entrepreneurs Attracted To The eCommerce Sector?

When it comes to starting a business, there are so many options and ideas that you have to consider. What kind of business do you want to start? Who are you are going to target? All of these considerations are important, and more entrepreneurs are now turning to the ecommerce sector.

But why are so many entrepreneurs doing this?

Affordable Startup Costs.

To begin with, the startup costs associated with the ecommerce sector are very low. This is something that understandably attracts many people to the sector. When startup costs are kept low, entrepreneurs have a much more accessible way into the world of business. It breaks down barriers and makes it possible to start a business for people who would never have thought it possible. When you don’t need a physical store or even a dedicated office, overheads are low. Of course, you still need a top website, a marketing strategy and products to sell. So there are costs, but not as many as in other sectors.

A Huge Pool of Potential Customers.

When you are selling products online, there are so many people out there to target. These days, it’s true that 80% of people buy products online. It’s the present and the future of shopping. When people buy products, they buy them online in greater numbers than they do on the high street. Having this kind of access to such a large pool of potential customers attracts so many people to the sector. There are not many sectors in the world of business that allow for this level of access to customers. Of course, things like an ecommerce SEO company support can be used to increase traffic too. So, if you get the right approach, you can always improve the number of people your website can reach.

The Sector is Growing.

If you’re going to start a business, it makes sense to start a business in a sector that’s on the rise. That’s just a matter of common sense. Your business will always be more successful if it exists in a sector that is growing steadily. And that’s something that the ecommerce sector is certainly doing. So, this means that there are plenty of positive opportunities for businesses to grow and find success in this sector. There is no sign that the growth of the ecommerce sector is going to slow down anytime soon. It’s the future of shopping, so growth will continue.

Global Sales.

In the past, it was only the very biggest companies that could afford to sell on a global scale. These days, that’s not longer the case. Even small ecommerce businesses are now able to sell to people all over the world. It’s something that many entrepreneurs find appealing. That’s because it allows for huge growth potential if people in different regions can be targeted successfully. Of course, it’s not easy to achieve that, but it certainly can be done. People recognise this and jump at the chance to aim for global success when they start their own small ecommerce business.

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Some Top Shopping Cart Best Practices

Building customer loyalty can be greatly enhanced through shopping cart systems. You want to minimize distractions, enhance the demonstration of value and convince customers your inventory is the solution they need.

While it’s going to require significant due diligence, including researching top ecommerce cart software and support, here are a few practices you can use to keep customers coming back.

Cross-Sells and Up-Sells.

Up- and cross-selling can do wonders for conversions if they are implemented effectively. Use of carousels, mouse-overs and interstitial pages to promote products in line with customer behavior (searches, clicking, current items in cart) will promote the idea you are the authority to turn to.

Clean Layouts.

Make sure layouts do not lead to confusion. Merchants can overcrowd pages with irrelevant and distracting information. Secure Net Shop recommends focusing on CTAs, product images and only product related information such as “Other Customers Also Looked At” or “Bought.” Take advantage of white space design so that customers will be drawn to what matters.

Guest Checkout Shoppers are weary of opening yet another account.

Any online shopping cart software should accommodate guest services. By giving customers the opportunity to check out without leaving any personal information, you offer them the opportunity to sample your services and products. Once they have found those admirable, not only will they be more likely to come back, they will open accounts.

By utilizing the best practices, you empower your customers. Their comfort will be influential in revisits and conversions.

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Grow Your Business By Improving The Workflow Of Your Sales Team

by Kevin Faber, founder of Silver Summit Capital

Sales is often a numbers game. The more prospective customers you are able to reach out to and the more efficiently you are able to move each customer through your sales funnel, the more sales you will be able to make even with many sales failing to fall through.

To sell more efficiently, you will need to take a look at your sales workflow for ways that it can be improved.

Develop A Fixed Sales Process.

The majority of companies do not have a fixed sales process. As a result, how a company executes a sale comes down to the individual style of the sales representative and the sales representative’s memory. If there is no fixed sales process, how can a company know if the sales process is more effective than any other process? How can you ensure that new sales representatives will not lose sales as a result of rookie mistakes?

Start Using A Calendar.

Begin using a calendar if you aren’t already. It is helpful to immediately know what you will need to be doing as you start off your day. Also, use automated reminder software you can remember all of the important details such as that meeting you were supposed to have with a client.

Chart Out Your Sales Process.

Lay out your current sales process as a flowchart. Doing so will allow you to understand how an average sale is completed and where your business is suffering from a bottleneck. Each time an arrow is drawn from one point in the sales process to another, that arrow represents a conversion point. Then, track each time a client made his or her way out of each particular conversion point.

For instance, you may notice that most customers will make it through most of your sales funnel until you reach the point where the customer is provided with the price, which leads to a sudden drop-off in the number of conversions. This could indicate that the price or some other aspect of that part of the sales funnel is turning away potential conversions. Regardless, brainstorm improvements that can be made to this process that will increase the number of conversions.

Streamline Prospecting.

One area to streamline is prospecting. Determine how many prospects from various sources have lead to conversions. For instance, how many cold calls have lead to conversions vs. direct marketing sales letters? If there is a method that is overwhelmingly more effective in converting customers, it would make sense to spend more time using that approach and less time using approaches that lead to fewer conversions.

Have The Appropriate Tools.

Make sure that you are using tools that can keep your company highly efficient. For instance, there are many free extensions such as Signals email tracking that can make email prospecting more efficient. Also, look at all of the tools you are currently using and determine whether there are more efficient tools that you can replace them with.

If you frequently receive prospects through email, you must look for ways to streamline how you work through your pile of emails. Organize your email into folders and immediately place emails in the appropriate folders so you can more quickly find emails.

Know How Your Customers Find You.

Get to know your customers. Understand the process that your customers are most likely to take to purchase a product in your industry. Are they more likely to search online or thumb through a phone book? One way to find out is to conduct surveys of your existing customers and inquire where they learned about your company. By knowing where your customers are coming from, you will better know where you direct your prospecting efforts.

 

Kevin Faber has been in the commercial finance and banking industry for most of his professional life. He graduated at UC Davis with a B.A. in Business/Managerial Economics. His experience in credit analysis, finance, and management led him to be the founder of Silver Summit Capital. He enjoys working in the financing industry and building connections with industry leaders.

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