5 Tips for Getting Noticed Online

1. Get your Web site listed on major search engines, such as Google or Yahoo! Two sites, Search Engine Watch at www.searchenginewatch.com and the Web Marketing Info Center at www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket, offer guidance.

2. Join a “banner exchange,” and trade advertising banners with other Web sites. Look under “banner exchange” on search engines.

3. Visit sites similar to or related to yours and offer to exchange links with them.

4. Write useful articles for other sites and include your Web address.

5. Get more online marketing help from such sites as www.zdnet.com/eweek/, workz.com and www.bcentral.com.

Brought to you by SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business.”

5 Tips for Improving Your Web Site

1. Visit the sites of other companies to find out what you like and dislike. Do some sites seem to “work” while others don’t?

2. Decide what objectives you want your site to meet. Do you want it to be fun, funny, educational, “cool,” or all of those things?

3. Consider your corporate culture and your company image. Your site should support both.

4. Design or re-design the site to meet your objectives. Unless you have a real expert on staff, hire a consulting firm to do the job.

5. Get feedback. Ask customers how your site can be made more useful to them, and keep making improvements.

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Building Your Brand By Blogging

Ric Cox

Business: ChicagoCondosOnline.com , subscription-based website
Problem: Too few visitors a day to site
Solution: Increase traffic, brand awareness
Method: Launched ChicagoCondosOnline blog
Results: Visitors to web site up and blogging has significantly increased brand awareness and personal contacts with real-estate professionals
The Story Link

Story quoting his blog (but not linking to it) in the Sun Times on April 6, 2008.

Lesson: Get Clear on Path and To Do List

Sofia Motamedi

Business: Gala Tea
Problem: No business experience
Solution: Be clear on path and get a To Do list
Results: Successful launch
The Story Link

5 Tips on Finding Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists

1. Do some research. Identify the most likely candidates by asking your accountant, banker and lawyer.

2. Keep an open mind-potential investors may be anywhere. According to Success magazine, one entrepreneur found an angel investor among the motorcyclists he rides with on weekends.

3. Surf the Web. Good places to start are www.nvca.org., the Web site of the National Venture Capital Association and www.mavf.com., the site of Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds, a venture-capital firm in Bethlehem, PA.

4. Make presentations at venture capital forums or fairs. Your local university business school or Small Business Administration office should have information on such events.

5. Check your library or the Web for such references as Pratt’s Guide to Venture Capital Sources and The Directory of Buyout Financing Sources, both published by Thomson Financial Securities Data at www.tfsd.com.

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5 Tips to Creatively Search For Funding

1. Contact your state, county and local development departments. Many offer funding programs to foster business within a certain geographic area.

2. Take advantage of organizations aimed at helping you. The National Organization of Women Business Owners offers special funding programs for women entrepreneurs, for example, and the National Minority Supplier Development Council has an arm that works with minority entrepreneurs.

3. Call on the community banks in your area. These smaller banks pride themselves on helping small business owners.

4. Find out of there are any revolving loan fund (RLF) programs for which you might qualify. They provide “gap financing” that your bank won’t or can’t offer. Your banker should know of any RLFs available.

5. Visit www.sba.gov/financing, the finance section of U.S. Small Business Administration’s Web site. It provides details on SBA’s many funding programs. Perhaps you qualify for one.

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5 Tips to Get Great Talent for Less Money

1. Consider immigrants. Many are talented people who will accept less pay because they don’t speak English. (But pay them fairly!)

2. Keep an eye out for displaced “Mommy Trackers“-smart women who’ve left corporate executive positions to start a family or be closer to their children. They can make excellent part-time executives.

3. Investigate employee-leasing and temporary-help services.

4. Offer internships and part-time challenges to graduate students and upper-level undergrads. They want to get experience and can bring excellent knowledge and skills.

5. Get referrals from employees-and don’t be afraid to hire relatives of good workers. You can save substantially on recruiting costs this way.

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5 Tips on Financial Packages

1. Understand that loans and venture capital often come in packages-that is, each may have several sources of funds and one piece of financing may depend on another.

2. Recognize that even government programs may require several sources. Under the federal 504 loan program, funds might come from a certified development company and one or more banks.

3. Expect to come up with some cash yourself. A down payment or demonstration of willingness to risk some of your own capital may be required.

4. Be sure you understand what’s expected of you. For example, does a government program expect you to employ a certain number of workers within a certain time period?

5. Be patient. When more than one financing institution is involved, there’s more paperwork, and each institution must give its approval.

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5 Tips on Factoring

1. Know what the term means. It’s a way to turn your accounts receivable into cash by selling them to a finance company called a factor.

2. Make sure you understand the fees you will pay for this service. They typically include the cost of funds and making the collections.

3. Balance the cost against the gain. Factoring can be expensive but it may fuel your growth, improve cash flow, or enable you to take advantage of supplier discounts.

4. Ask your bank or CPA to recommend factors. Check their references.

5. Visit www.cfa.com, the Web site of the Commercial Finance Association, and the International Factoring Association at www.factoring.org for a list of factors. The CIT Group site, www.cit.com, provides information on factoring (click on “Business Financing,” then “Commercial Finance,” to access the search feature).

Brought to you by SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business.”

5 Tips on Conserving Capital

1. Determine your primary business of units sold, customers sold, average order, hours billed, etc. Know what drives your business.

2. Pricing should be determined by the sum of product costs, service costs, image of the business, direct and indirect costs and a reasonable profit.

3. Conserve capital. Do not commit cash or capital until necessary. Don’t buy services before you need them.

4. Lease instead of buy when it makes sense.

5. Look for office equipment that can do double duty, for example a fax machine that can also make copies.

Brought to you by SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business.”