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Archive for the ‘Websites’ Category

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Bring Extra Attention To Your Webstore

Café Handmade is a great website that acts as an online flea market for those of you that offer handmade products. It is a network that connects those who love to buy handmade goods with those who create them.

The site is set up so that each participating seller gets a virtual booth. In this space is your shop name, your artist/shop profile, 5 product pictures (they can be changed up during your subscription period), a description of your work, links to your shop, blog and twitter, and a dedicated URL for your virtual booth for the duration of your reservation. Café Handmade offers additional marketing benefits, such as contests, and they actively promote their site.

The cost for all of this is $7 for 2 weeks, or $10 for 4 weeks. This is amazingly inexpensive for the additional exposure that you’ll get. Check them out here to see if they’re a good match for your company. Café Handmade

Posted in PR/Marketing, Websites | No Comments »

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

12seconds.tv For Fun and Profit

12seconds.tv is a great site for online video status updates. You can share what you're doing with your friends or your customers using short video clips (sort of a Twitter version of video). Using your web cam or mobile phone, show everyone what you’re doing or tell them what you’re thinking. It's really easy. Here’s how it works:

1. Record your message or whatever you’re doing, using your phone, webcam or camcorder.

2. Upload your 12 sec video to 12seconds.tv. If it's longer than 12 seconds, whatever is in seconds 13+ will be cutoff, so keep that in mind.

3. Your video will then be displayed in the public stream on 12seconds.tv and in the streams of your followers (they tell you how to connect with people).

4. If you want to delete or edit a video, click on that video's title, go the video's page and you will see the edit and delete buttons below the video title/tag/location information.

There are some Twitter-esque features, such as following people and @replies, used to direct a video or message to a specific user. And you can shorten the URL for your video using the tiny12.tv link. That way it’s easier to share your videos on Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere else. If you want to post your 12 second videos on your blog, you can get the code on their widgets page.

I think this would be a fun way to let your customers connect with you as you move through your day. Or share with family and friends while you're running around building your business.

The people that created and run this site are funny (and obviously smart), so log on to read about how they got started and why they decided on only 12 second videos. Then start posting away. 12seconds.tv

Posted in PR/Marketing, Websites | No Comments »

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Tripware.com Makes Booking Business Travel A Snap

Having a small or micro business does not mean you only do business locally. With technology advancing everyday, the smallest of businesses can have customers around the country or on the other side of the world. Depending on your industry, it may be necessary to meet with your customers in person. And as your business grows, it may be the best way to cement relationships with your clients, because video conferencing will never replace face to face meetings.

Last week I learned about something that will help you to move around the state, country, or the world. Tripware, an MS Outlook plug-in, is a travel tool for small and micro businesses. It allows you to book airline, hotel, and auto rentals, all in less than 2 minutes. Then your itinerary is put in your calendar. Any travel changes will be made there, as well.

Using advanced algorithms (don’t worry if you don’t know what this means – the Tripware people do), Tripware analyzes your travel habits and recurring behavior, thus automating your business travel as much as possible. It will save you trouble and money by eliminating the need of a travel agent, executive assistant, or separate tools to book and manage travel and appointments.

Tripware's features include “one click” booking, identifying airline/hotel preferences, trip schedule preferences, tie-ins with reward programs, pre-travel reminders, ability to book multiple travelers, expense report management, sharing itineraries via email, and more. Later this year they will offer enhanced functions, including the ability to drag and drop changes to meeting and travel schedules, and the ability to book international travel. This is a lot! And it will allow you to spend less time dealing with your travel and more time running your business.

You can download the necessary software from their website. Tripware charges a nominal fee per booking, starting at $5.00 plus a small percentage of base fare. It is very affordable. You can check them out here Tripware.com

Lastly, I asked them if this could also be used for personal travel, and the answer was yes. And they are currently working on even more features for personal travel. So when you find a tiny sliver of time for yourself and your family, you can easily book that much needed vacation.

Posted in Travel, Websites | No Comments »

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Shabby Cottage Shops – Another Great Option For Selling Your Products

I learned about Debra and her online shopping mall, Shabby Cottage Shops, on the Dreamers Into Doers social network. Debra has set up her site to be pleasant for shoppers (all important) and affordable and accessible for sellers (you guys). Below is a description, in Debra’s own words (edited for space considerations).

“My dream was to have an online shopping mall, to give stay at home moms, work at home moms, and all artists and craftsmen an affordable venue to sell their creations. A lot of the online auction sites, shopping malls and marketplaces charge store fees, commissions and selling fees. Shabby Cottage Shops gives new entrepreneurs a way to showcase their product without spending a fortune.

The site was created for individually owned webstores and e-boutiques, allowing them to gain exposure, and enhance their online presence. Though this is not a new concept, it is more affordable than other similar sites.

I wanted to design something clean, fresh and pleasing to the eye to attract customers and new members. Easy navigation was also important, so I eliminated frustrating and confusing layouts. I want shoppers to enjoy their visit to Shabby Cottage Shops.

Another consideration when creating Shabby Cottage Shops was helping the members/sellers to become more familiar helpful online features, such as meta tags and meta descriptions. For those that don’t know, meta tags provide information such as who created the page, how often it is updated, and which keywords represent the page's content. Many search engines use this information when building their indices. You can have the best designed website, but if you don’t have these important elements, the search engines won’t find you.

We are advertising in National Magazines, through networking and on the internet. The most important aspect of having a website is it allows you a focul point for your advertising. If you don’t allow for advertising in your budget or join an online shopping community, you might as well be a “stand alone” store on an island with no tourists. Becoming a member of any online shopping mall enables everyone to benefit from each other‘s presence, ensuring all will receive the optimum number of hits and sales.

At Shabby Cottage Shops, there are three different levels of membership, starting at $35.00 per month, and there is a six month commitment. Each progressive level offers additional features and you can choose what works best for your product and your budget.”

I want to thank Debra for sharing her story and creating such a great online venue. Please check out the site, as a shopper and a potential vendor. If you start selling on Debra's site, please tell me about your success story so I can share it with everyone. Shabby Cottage Shops

Posted in Websites, superstar | 3 Comments »

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Use E-Businesscards To Manage And Distribute Your Info

In keeping with the “get your info out there” theme, I want to tell you about a few websites that offer e-businesscards. You can share all of your bio and contact information in one package, from your computer or your phone. The best thing is, you don’t have to worry about your info being misplaced or lost in a stack of other cards. Here are two I liked, but there are more out there if you want to search online.

The first is BusinessCard2.com. This site allows you to assemble all of your contact information into one package. You can easily manage your online brand and get it to the people that matter. You can then post your e-business card on your social network pages, blog, or company website. This service is free, I think because it is a beta version. I’m sure they’ll have an upgraded, for-fee option later. This site is very easy to use and I set up a business card with them. I have a feeling they will have very cool developments in the near future.

The second site, MyDropCard.com, has all of the basics that BusienssCard2 offers, but they have additional options. You can use your mobile phone to capture the info of people who respond to your e-card, and you can access the data of who is opening your card and what they’re looking at. As I always suggest, start with their free service. This allows you a single profile and lets you drop up to 5 cards a month. If you like how this works, you can upgrade. For $4.99/month you get 2 profiles, a customizable card, 25 drops per month and more. For $9.99/month you get 5 profiles, a customizable card, unlimited drops per month and more. Read more about them here. If you're interested, you can sign up here.

As you join more social networks and create more online properties, these services will help you to manage your online presence.

Posted in Websites | 1 Comment »

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

My Idea Was Featured On The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Check it out, and read all of the great ideas submitted by others. This is truly an awesome site, so bookmark it or subscribe to a feed. The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Posted in Article, Websites | 2 Comments »

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

FavorPals – A Great Swap Site For Services

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about delegating (check it out here), and one of the tips was to barter for services or products. I had several emails asking how to find people interested in doing an exchange of services, other than just putting the word out. I did a little research and came across a swap site that focuses on exchanging services, although I did see some product-for-service requests posted. It’s called FavorPals, and was established last October. The site currently attracts about 6,000 unique users a month.

To give you an idea of what you’ll find, here are two actual postings for California:

I am the owner of a medium size talk radio network. I am willing to barter 25-60 second time slots in exchange for your businesses products or services. Our network has 19 talk shows that air 7 days a week, in 47 different markets. We broadcast through two platforms, Internet and Satellite radio, garnering the most traffic from our XM radio shows. We currently have approximately 690,000 listeners a month. This could be a great exposure opportunity. (Only reasonable offers will be considered.) Thanks!!

***

Dental work in exchange of bookkeeping or helping setting up your bookwork for your business. I will also do bookkeeping for a side business if you are setting one up outside of your dental practice. Or if you are just going into practice and need help getting started.

You can search by a variety of fields, like region or service. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, post your own request. If you feel the products or services of your business don’t lend themselves to bartering, the site lists ideas for common services that you can offer. Of course, with anything like this, use caution and common sense, and verify the identity of whomever you talk to.

Check out FavorPals here.

FYI – there are sites where you can trade stuff for stuff. Google "swap site" with the word "music", or "clothing" – whatever you’re looking for, or looking to get rid of. Also, here’s a great article on the trend. No Cash No Problem

Posted in Approach, Websites | 2 Comments »

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

SCORE Offers Resources For Small Businesses

I’m sure many of you have at least heard about SCORE, and maybe even taken advantage of their many resources. SCORE is a nonprofit organization known as the "Counselors to America's Small Business", and they are a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

SCORE provides free mentoring services to entrepreneurs. And for a fee, you can attend business workshops and seminars. The services are provided by current and retired business executives and entrepreneurs who donate their time to assist new and established small businesses.

My favorite things they offer are the business templates. They have business plan templates and cash flow templates, for example, that just need to be filled in. The financial statement templates are downloadable in Excel format, so as you fill in your data, the calculations are done for you. It actually makes business plan preparation kind of fun. Check out the templates here.

They offer so many tools for new business owners, so please take the time to explore their entire site. http://www.score.org/index.html

Posted in Websites | No Comments »

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Why You Should Be Blogging About Your Business

Getting your company up and running is only the first stage of having your own business. Now you have to get the word out about who you are and what you do. A great way to do that is by blogging.

I can feel the collective groan from all of you, and I totally understand. With all that you have to do, it feels like there’s no more room on your plate. But as I said before, you don’t want to have the world’s best product that no one has ever heard of. You have to do something to get the word out, and blogging has a lot of upsides for brand new businesses.

1. Blogging is free It really and truly is free, always and forever, not just during a trial period. There are a lot of good blog hosts out there, and for the most part, they are pretty much the same. Of course, you can always pay a monthly fee to upgrade, but that’s not necessary for your purposes. Here are some sites to check out: www.wordpress.com, www.blogger.com, and www.typepad.com. If you want to do more research, Google “blog hosts”. There are a gazillion out there.

2. Blogging is a great way to relay info about your business You can blog about sales, new products or services, or special discount codes for your readers. The trick here is to blog on a regular basis, at least twice a week. Just like a website or a Facebook page, if there are long periods of inactivity, people will stop checking. Stale web pages are depressing. When you keep the info fresh people will make it a habit to check in, or even put your blog on an RSS feed.

3. Blogging builds relationships with customers A blog has a personal feel and the immediacy of it gives people the sense that they are a part of what you are doing. Customers will start to feel connected to you and, subsequently, your business. When people can put a face to a business they are more interested in seeing it succeed.

4. Blogging is search engine friendly Most blog sites have built in SEO (search engine optimization) tools, so keywords in your blog appear in search engines faster and at a higher rank than from a regular website. This helps bring people who are searching specifically for your products to your blog site.

4. Blogging showcases you as an expert Writing a blog can show off your knowledge of your industry. Also, as you research topics to write about, you become even more of an authority on your business. This will give your customers (and potential customers) confidence in you and your service or product.

I’ll be honest with you, blogging does require an investment of your time, but it gets easier as you go along. If you are only writing 2-3 times a week, it is completely manageable. Frequently, topics sort of fall into your lap, but sometimes you have to look around for one. That's ok, though, because then you're sure to stay on top of developments in your industry. When you start blogging you’ll be surprised how much you learn and how much you already know.

Here are a few business blogs, so you can see how different people approach the process. Enjoy reading them, and then get started on your own.

For The Body Patisserie: (PS I just received my second order of lotion. L-o-v-e it!) http://welcometothebodypatisserie.blogspot.com/

For Shabby Cottage Shops: http://www.shabbycottageshops.blogspot.com/

For Bebe Dulce Aspen: http://www.bebedulceaspen.blogspot.com/

Posted in Approach, Websites | 1 Comment »