First Steps to Picking the Perfect Marketing Method For Your Home-Based Business

Part of running a successful business is making it grow. Home-based businesses are no exception. In fact, it can be even more important if you are just starting out or lack a potential client base. The key to growing a business is marketing.
Marketing is how you connect with individuals who may become customers or clients and includes methods such as affiliate programs, newsletters, trade shows, web sites, brochures, advertising, and more. The potential marketing methods available are almost limitless in scope and deciding on an approach may seem daunting, but a little preliminary effort can help you narrow down the field of options and help you make the best choices for your business.
Determine Targeted Audience
No matter what marketing method you choose, you first need to decide to whom you plan to market. Mass marketing to a general audience simply is not cost-effective for most businesses so you must decide early on which segments of society are most likely to purchase your products or services. Begin by asking yourself some simply questions:
* What needs does my product/service fulfill?
* Will businesses or consumers be more likely to need what I offer?
* Who are the clients I already have?
* Who does my competition market to?
With the answers to these questions, you can begin to decide on your targeted audience. However, you can refine it further by contacting sample populations of that audience and getting feedback from them on whether or not they would be interested in your product/service. You can use surveys, chat rooms, email questionnaires, or telephone polls to generate that feedback.
Set a Budget
Many inexperienced business owners make a major mistake when they begin their marketing efforts: they do not set a budget. Without a budget, these business owners can easily find all of their profits being funneled into marketing efforts.
Before you make a decision about what types of marketing methods to choose, you need to first establish how much you can spend in order to receive the desired results. Most businesses use the 10% rule. According to this rule, if you decided to implement a marketing program that would generate $5000 in monthly sales, then you should spend only $500 a month on marketing.
Applying the 10% rule prevents businesses from spending more on the marketing efforts than is generated by those efforts. You must also remember to be realistic. If you currently generate $200 a week in sales, do not anticipate marketing results of $10,000 a month and use that number as the basis for your marketing budget. Instead, start small at first and build on successful marketing attempts.
Evaluate Marketing Methods
There are a wide array of marketing methods available, but not all of them are appropriate for every business, audience, or product/service. Before deciding on a method, you need to carefully evaluate what will work best for your situation.
For example, if you run an online business, you may want to focus most of your marketing efforts on the Internet medium instead of mailing brochures to people who may not even own computers.
Also take into account your audience. If you are marketing to businesses, your methods will be different than if you are marketing to consumers. If you sell to parents, your methods are different than if you sell to college students. You may even need to develop more than one method in order
to meet the needs of all of your potential audiences.
Finally, remember your budget. A television commercial may be more effective than an ad in the yellow pages but it may also use your entire marketing budget. To make the most of your budget, you want to start small and test your efforts before plunging into a major investment. After all, if the
commercial flops, you won't have anything left in your budget for alternative marketing.
Once you complete these preliminary efforts, you can begin to explore marketing methods more effectively which will allow you to pick the methods which should provide the best results for your particular business.

-----------
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of Work at Home Forum, an online community of people who work from home.
-----------

Democrat or Republican: Whose Brand is Taking the Bigger Hit?

It may seem obvious that Americans are unhappy with the ongoing government shutdown, but how much has it affected their perception of the major U.S. political parties? Like consumer companies, the Democratic and Republican parties can be viewed as brands that can gain and lose strength among constituents. A new Brand Keys survey found that both parties have taken a serious brand hit since Tuesday, the first day of the government shutdown.

Brand Keys, a consumer research consultancy, combines psychology and statistical analysis to assess the emotional and rational values ("engagement drivers") of brands and measures them against consumers' perceptions and expectations.

"[Our] brand-engagement assessments, whether for pizza or political parties, measure what consumers think, and from a brand perspective, provides an accurate read as to how consumers — or, in the case of political parties and their candidates, the electorate — will behave," said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys.

10 Businesses You Can Start During Your Government Furlough

The company's most recent study looked at four engagement drivers of political parties in order to define the ideal brand values for each. These values, which voters expect their party to uphold, are as follows:

• Action: A comprehensive, realistic plan for solving problems
• Compassion: Caring about all people in the country
• Perception: A deep understanding of the country's problems
• Resolve: The strength and leadership to guide the country

In descending order of importance, Brand Keys ranked the Democrats' values as perception, resolve, compassion and action, and the Republicans' values as resolve, perception, action and compassion. The survey asked more than 250 nongovernment registered members of each party to rate how well their party upheld these values post-shutdown, with "ideal" being 100 percent. Democrats received a rating of 77 percent, while Republicans received a rating of 65 percent. This represents a 9 percent drop for the Democratic brand (previously 83 percent) and a 16 percent drop for the Republican brand (previously 76 percent) since the 2012 election, when Brand Keys last conducted this survey.

Based on assessments of other brands, Brand Keys has observed that when a brand is stronger than its competitors, consumers are six times more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt in uncertain circumstances. The company believes this pattern will play out between Democrats and Republicans during the shutdown.

"Whether you're a political party or a consumer brand, if you are so disorganized that you are unable to meet customer expectations, you always lose in the marketplace — or, as is likely in this case, the voting booth," Passikoff said.

4 Tips for Effective Content Marketing

If your small business has a website, it's likely that you have some kind of outlet for digital content creation, such as a blog or a video channel. In order to drive traffic to your content, you probably post images and links to it on your business' social networking sites. But what do you do after those links are published?

All too often, small business owners stop their content marketing strategy after the link-sharing phase. However, a lot happens between the time a potential customer views a brand's online content and makes a purchase. David Greschler, CEO of publishing and content engagement platform PaperShare, urged business owners to have a solid marketing strategy if they're producing any kind of digital content.

"Data suggests that people are about 70 percent through their buying decision process before they reach out to a vendor," Greschler told BusinessNewsDaily. "They're consuming content before that. From a sales perspective, you need to find out how your content is performing and who's looking at it during that 70 percent so you can reach out to them first."

CMS: Content Management Systems & Software

Whether it's an infographic, a blog post or a video, you can follow these four tips from Greschler for effective content marketing:

Know your "why." When a customer views your content, he or she is showing intent to look at your company's product or service and possibly purchase it. Therefore, it's important to measure not only how your social channels are doing in terms of likes and retweets, but also how many people are viewing the content you share. Once you have that data, figure out what you're going to do with it and why. What are your key objectives? How will you turn these viewers into customers?

Be helpful instead of just informative. The content you create and share might provide a wealth of information about your company or product, but that's not necessarily going to engage or excite a viewer. People are looking for answers to bigger problems when they look up your company, so make sure your content is both informative and helpful to consumers. Instead of just giving them that hard sell and saying, "Here's how much it costs," include tips and things to look for when trying to solve these problems.

Be accountable. Especially in small companies, content marketing can really help sales. As a business owner, you need to measure your return on investment (ROI) to show your team and/or investors that you're accountable for meeting your business goals. Your content marketing strategy should tie all your efforts together, showing what you're going to do, how it's going to get to people, how many people it actually reached and how many of those people turned into sales.

Promote a variety of content. The content you've created isn't the only thing you can use to attract people. If there's a great article written about you on another site, share it. If there's a helpful piece related to the problem your company is solving, promote that, too. Your customers look to you as a trusted adviser; show that you're engaged in the community by providing a variety of content from other sources.

Holiday Shoppers Plan Small Biz Shopping Spree

With the holidays quickly approaching, small business should be preparing for a busier season than last year, new research shows.

That's because 35 percent of consumers plan to shop at local small businesses this year, up from 27 percent in 2012, a study by business products and marketing services provider Deluxe Corp. revealed.

The chance to support local businesses, find unique merchandise, get personalized service and pay cheaper prices are the driving factors in why consumers plan to increase their shopping at small businesses this year, the research found.

Small businesses should be encouraged by the study's results, said Tim Carroll, vice president of small business engagement at Deluxe.

"Since shoppers increasingly use technology to plan and fulfill their holiday shopping needs, small businesses must leverage that same technology to remain top-of-mind and drive sales," Carroll said.

The study shows getting noticed online will be critical for small businesses this year. Nearly 80 percent of the consumers surveyed will shop for holiday gifts online in 2013, with more than one-quarter preferring a small business or boutique website.

The research discovered businesses need to be prepared for the onslaught of shoppers well before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. More than 40 percent of consumers plan to buy their holiday gifts earlier in November, with only 15 percent expecting to do the majority of their holiday shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Small businesses looking for a way to entice shoppers this year should consider giving them a sort of holiday gift. Nearly half the shoppers surveyed would prefer a discount on a future product or service, with 18 percent saying they'd appreciate a simple holiday card.

The study was based on surveys of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers over age 18.

Don't Give Up: Why Sales Persistence Pays Off (Op-Ed)

Nusair Bawla is the founder at GroupTravel.org, a website that helps people planning events get hotel group rates. He contributed this article to BusinessNewsDaily's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Outside any ballgame or rock concert, you're sure to find a scalper or two hawking their wares. These folks make a living selling tickets to sold-out shows, and their method of operation is always the same: Hit up everyone that walks by, and if they're not interested, then move on to the next person.

For scalpers, this strategy is perfect. Unfortunately, there are many salespeople who use the same approach when they prospect for new business. When a call does not result in a sale, they banish the prospect, never to call again. Much like the scalper, they move on.

A study from Dartnell Corp. investigated the number of times a prospect was called before a salesperson waved the proverbial white flag. Here is their data:

• 48 percent quit after the first contact
• 72 percent stop after the second contact
• 84 percent give up on a prospect after the third contact
• 90 percent wave the white flag after the fourth contact

As you can see, almost half of all salespeople quit after the first call. And the vast majority (90 percent) quit relatively soon after.

Why Sales Is the Thing Most Entrepreneurs Get Wrong

So why do 90 percent of salespeople quit so quickly? There are many reasons, and the simplest is that they let business and life get in the way. Some get caught up in busy work because it is easier than having to follow up. Others just lack the discipline to make those follow-up calls.

The fact is that 10 percent of salespeople make the fifth call, and studies show that 80 percent of sales are made after that fifth sales call. Which leads to the conclusion that 10 percent of salespeople win 80 percent of the business. Successful salespeople use their persistence and their stick-to-it mentality to win, and win big. In the same way that air gets thinner at higher altitudes, competition wanes after the first few calls. And the key ingredient that differentiates the average salesperson from the truly great ones is persistence: The persistence to make that first call and the discipline to make a half a dozen after that (without annoying the potential client, of course).

It's persistence that increases a client's confidence in a salesperson's ability. It's what makes a salesperson stand out from everyone else. And it's how salespeople stay top of mind when the client is ready to buy.

Successful salespeople don't expect to sell anything on that first call. They know that only a small percentage (1 to 2 percent) of people are looking to buy in a first call. They tend to be the people who are already familiar with what they need, and have already done extensive research. And if you happen to call at the right time, the business is yours.

But this is not the norm. Most buyers are not going to be ready to sign that purchase order when a salesperson calls. Most will not have time to talk, or will lack the resources or the authority to make a decision.

Rather than trying to make that sale, the goal for the first call should be to implement a follow-up strategy, a strategy that allows you to build a relationship and trust by engaging in an ongoing dialogue. Much like a relationship, you can't propose the first time you meet someone. Your goal on the first date is to make it to the second one. And your goal on the second date is to interest your prospect in a third date.

In building a relationship, you'll develop a much better understanding of the client's needs and wants. You'll get to understand their underlying problems, not just the superficial ones that appear obvious. And once the client knows that you understand them, they are yours. They won't go anywhere else anytime soon because the chances that another salesperson will come along that will be as committed is slim.

As a general rule, the more difficult a client is to get, the harder they are to lose, because stealing these kinds of clients requires persistence and discipline. And, remember: 90 percent of all salespeople don't have that.

The key to converting your pipeline into actual sales is the ability to hang in there when others have given up. It means being persistent with phone calls, emails or even a personal visit over several months. Because the longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that your competition has given up. Just remember to make that fifth, sixth and seventh call.

Anything less, and you're better off scalping tickets.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

Shutdown Won't Shut Down 2013 Holiday Spending

'Tis the season…to predict holiday spending. Despite the economic loss following the 16-day U.S. government shutdown, Americans expect to spend an average of nearly $800 on Christmas gifts in 2013, which is similar to predictions for the past two years of holiday spending.

A recent Gallup poll found that, on average, Americans think that they will personally spend $786 this holiday season, up slightly from $770 last year and $764 in 2011. This modest increase, though not particularly promising for retailers, could be good news for an economy that just took a $24 billion hit, if the prediction holds true.

This annual poll was conducted in early October, just a few days after the shutdown began. According to the accompanying report, other Gallup polls conducted at this time indicated a lack of consumer confidence in the economy and a decrease in self-reported daily spending. However, holiday spending plans may change now that the government has been reinstated.

5 Ways Social Media Will Impact Holiday Buying

"Now that the shutdown is over, consumers' Christmas spending intentions could change, and perhaps swell further, resulting in an even more robust holiday retail season than the October data indicate," said the Gallup article about the poll. "Gallup's November measure will provide an important post-shutdown update on these spending projections."

Anticipated holiday spending has been on the rise since 2009, when the economic recession caused a dramatic drop from $866 in expected spending in 2008 to $616. About one-third of survey respondents reported that they planned to spend $1,000 or more this year, the same percentage as in 2012. Overall, 80 percent of Americans estimate that they will spend at least $100 on gifts in 2013.

Based on these results, Gallup says retailers should be cautiously optimistic about this holiday season and plan for modest sales growth.

Sales Reps Constantly Working on the Run

Waiting until the last minute to prepare and doing so on the go are both challenges facing sales representatives, a new study finds.

Research from cloud-based business presentation company Brainshark, Inc., revealed that prepping for meetings comes down to the wire for most sales reps, with 40 percent not starting their prep work until the day before a meeting and 12 percent waiting until the day of the meeting.

With such little time for preparation, most sales reps find places other than an office to do it. More than 60 percent of those surveyed prepare for their sales meetings in the car, while 58 percent do so on a plane. Other popular places include the bathroom, the parking lot, a coffee shop and the gym.

The study shows that even when they do have time and a place to prepare, sales reps have trouble finding the materials they need most. More than one-third are frustrated by their inability to quickly locate sales materials, while 41 percent say the materials they do have are often out of date.

"Our survey shows there are very real challenges that sales reps face when preparing for and presenting at meetings,” said Brainshark Chief Marketing Officer, Andy Zimmerman.

In addition preparing for meetings outside the office, many sales reps hold those presentations in non-office locations, too. In addition to formal business settings, those surveyed report giving sales presentations in a wide range of places, such as social events, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, the airport, the gym, at a sporting event and while on vacation.

Because they regularly make presentations on the run, sales reps rely more and more on technology to help them close deals. The study discovered that laptops, tablets, whiteboards, smartphones and Web conferencing are the tools and technologies reps now use most often when making presentations.

"In addition to working toward greater sales and marketing alignment, particularly in terms of content creation and delivery, companies should also gear strategies around today's fast-paced and mobile-oriented landscape," Zimmerman said. "Reps need access to up-to-date, relevant materials no matter where they are and which device they're on."

Overall, sales reps and their managers don't see eye to eye on how well-prepared these sales professionals are, how effective their presentations are or how thorough their follow-ups are. While more than three-quarters of sales reps graded themselves a "B" or better for their prep work, just 58 percent of managers thought the reps deserved such high grades.

Additionally, only 14 percent of reps thought their presentation skills deserved a "C" or lower, compared to 43 percent of managers who felt reps deserved those low grades. When it came to following up after a presentation, reps were twice as likely as managers to think they earned an "A."

The study was based on surveys of 416 sales professionals at companies of various sizes and across different industries.

The Best Email Marketing Services

While direct mail or television and radio advertising used to be the best way to reach consumers, it is quickly being replaced by email marketing. With more than 1 billion email users worldwide, businesses are realizing that targeting inboxes is a great way to share news and promotional information with their customers.

From newsletters and promotional coupons to catalogs and surveys, businesses are using email marketing in a variety of ways to connect with their customers. Email marketing works in essentially the same way as direct marketing does. However, instead of sending fliers and coupons to a customer's home, businesses send emails to them instead. The benefit to email marketing over direct mail advertising is that businesses are better able to track who is opening their mail and who is actually using and reading what's sent out.

To help with this form of marketing, many businesses employ email marketing services, which provide all the tools and software needed to create a campaign. Specifically, these services provide businesses with templates to design and create a variety of email marketing campaigns, as well as the ability to send out a large number of emails at one time.

When choosing an email marketing service, there are a number of factors business owners should take into consideration, including how easy it is to create a campaign and track its results, the features that are available and the support that is offered. BusinessNewsDaily's sister site, TopTenREVIEWS, does extensive in-depth reviews to help businesses find the email marketing service that best suits their needs.  Here are TopTenREVIEWS' top three recommendations for the best email marketing services:

iContact

This year's TopTenREVIEWS' Gold Award winner is iContact for its arsenal of tools that business owners can use when creating and managing email marketing campaigns that are designed to boost sales and customer engagement. The iContact software offers a variety of templates for emails, and walks business owners through the step-by-step process of tailoring a campaign for their own needs.

Features: iContact offers several options for organizing contact information, which is generally the first step in creating an email marketing campaign. Users can upload an existing list from any XLS, VCF or CSV files, or use iContact's online form to add them one by one. The software also gives users the ability to segment contacts in a variety of ways in order to target emails to specific audiences, such as by geographical location. In addition, iContact has a variety of social media tools to help further reach consumers. For example, the service can help businesses tweet about their current campaigns or publish messages on the company's Facebook wall.

Email Campaign Creation and Reporting: When creating email marketing campaigns, iContact offers options for both beginners and those with advanced skills in programming or design. For beginners, the service walks them through a step-by-step process that starts with a selection of more than 600 pre-established templates. For those with more advanced skills, the service allows them to work with their own HTML code or template. Once the emails have been sent out, the iContact Reports tab helps users see the results that their efforts are generating with pie charts and statistics about each mailing. iContact also tracks tweets, likes, shares and other helpful social media statistics.

Help and Support: iContact provides support for its customers through video tutorials, FAQs and webinars. In addition, users can contact customer support representatives via live chat, email and phone.

Benchmark Email

Benchmark Email marketing software, this year's TopTenREVIEWS' Silver Award winner, gets high marks for making it extremely simple to start from scratch and craft an entire campaign. The service also does an excellent job of integrating social networking, personalized colors and logos, surveys, newsletters and coupons with its straightforward interface.

Features: To start a campaign, businesses can add contacts by inputting them one at a time with copy and paste, importing address books or downloading a file with XLS, CSV or TXT extensions. Benchmark also offers a number of social media tools, including drop-down menus that make it easy to add Twitter, LinkedIn,Facebook, Flickr, Yelp, Pinterest and other social media buttons that are connected with the business's brand.

Email Campaign Creation and Reporting: Benchmark offers a wide range of eye-catching templates that are easy to adapt to each business's needs. There are drop-down menus that let users change background colors, insert images and add surveys, among other things. The service offers a number of reports about each email marketing campaign, including statistics regarding the number of people who opened the messages, their click rate, forwards and how many unsubscribed from the list.

Help and Support: For those that run into problems, the company's customer service representatives are quick to respond by live chat, email and telephone. In addition, the Benchmark website is packed with FAQs and other helpful information.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact took home this year's TopTenREVIEWS' Bronze Award for its software that assists businesses in growing by helping them create spam-free, engaging content that generates interest in the company's products or services.

Features: To get going, Constant Contact lets businesses cut and paste contact lists, or import them from a compatible program or a compatible file type, such as those with XLS, XLSX, CSV and TXT extensions. The service also offers tools to help businesses not only create emails, but polls and surveys as well. In addition, Constant Contact makes it easy to incorporate social networking elements into any campaign.

Email Campaign Creation and Reporting: The choices and quality of Constant Contact's campaign templates is impressive. The service makes it easy to adjust and personalize templates with users' own text, video, images and links. Businesses also have the option to use their own HTML coding if they are experienced in that area. Constant Contact offers comprehensive reporting tools that let businesses know how many customers are opening the emails and how many are forwarding them on to others.

Help and Support: Should businesses have any trouble with their campaigns, Constant Contact has helpful representatives available by live chat, phone and email. They also provide informative articles, tutorials, FAQs, tips and other materials on their website.

Is Advertising Dead? (Op-Ed)

Janet Kyle Altman is the marketing partner at Kaufman Rossin, the fastest-growing accounting firm in the country, according to INSIDE Public Accounting. She contributed this article to BusinessNewsDaily's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Did you see the guy with the mattress-store sandwich board along U.S. Route 1 last weekend? Did you get your town's art-fair insert in your Sunday New York Times? Have promotions for Alaska cruises been showing up on your computer screen ever since you did your vacation research last weekend?

Since the 1700s, when Ben Franklin started including advertisements in his Pennsylvania Gazette, America's companies have been trying to get people's attention. They've been trying to connect with potential customers in big cities and small towns by advertising — paying to put stories of their products and services in places where the businesses hope their target buyers will see them. 

But that hope may be a thing of the past, because now, advertisers are more knowledgeable than ever before about where to reach their targets, what stories to tell them and when they are ready to listen.

Advertising is far from dead

Advertising is living, breathing and evolving like never before. I would dare to suggest that today is a new golden age of advertising,for two reasons.

Targeting is better than ever. Ideally, the best, most cost-effective advertising would only go to the people who would be happy — even delighted — to see just what they were looking for at exactly the right moment. Advertisers are closer to achieving that now than they've ever been, because advertisers know more about audiences than ever before. Now, you can segment viewers, readers or listeners so you reach more of the right people.

If you're an Amazon customer, you've seen a perfect example of this. The books Amazon recommends for me, based on what its system knows about my past purchases, are pretty well on target. Sometimes, I delete them — but often, I see new books I didn't know about, and appreciate the insight.

Storytelling options are more varied than ever. My father, who incorporated William Altman Advertising in 1968 and sold it when he retired 20 years ago, produced the iconic Edward Gorey poster for the New York City Ballet. When we talk about marketing today, he often reminds me of the importance of storytelling. One example is the ad campaign he produced by taping the ballet's dancers telling their own engaging stories.

Just think of the new ways we can tell stories today. Print, radio and television are still excellent media, but the story can begin there and send you to a landing page that shows the advertiser how you got there, a Facebook contest that lets you write the next chapter or a website where you can watch video that extends the tale.

Should your company advertise?

Like so many marketing mix decisions, the answer is — that depends.

By definition, advertising means you are paying to put the stories of your products or services in places where the right buyers will see them. So a free Facebook post about your company's exhibit at the boat show isn't advertising, but a Facebook ad targeting boaters in your town is. Which method is right for your business? How about a remarketing campaign that tracks people who have been to your website and shows them the boat they were looking at — with a special boat-show discount?

Ask yourself about these three key elements of successful advertising: audience, media and message.

1. Define your audience.
   Who uses your product or service? What do they look like — race, gender, age, interests? If you are not sure, you are not ready to advertise.
2. Identify the right media.
   Where are the eyes and ears of your customers? That's where your next customer may be as well. And maybe the better question is: where are the target audience's eyes or ears that no one has thought of capturing? They may be at a roadside stand. They may drive to work and listen to the radio. The best media can sometimes be the ones that seem quiet and old-fashioned, where other companies haven't saturated your specific market. Is your target audience watching, reading, playing or socializing somewhere where you can reach them — cost-effectively — and tell your story?
3. Determine your message.
   What is the story you can tell? Is it compelling? Is it intriguing? Is it sad or funny or dramatic? Is it engaging? Your story needs to grab viewers and leave them wanting more.

If you don't have really good answers to those questions, then the answer is no, you shouldn't waste money on advertising.

Let's look at a law firm, with one goal and three strategies. Does advertising apply?

Use this chart to assess whether advertising can help you meet your goals. 

Advertising is healthy and strong. It might be a nice addition to your marketing mix. But if it's not right for you today, don't worry — by the time you're ready, it will probably be even more effective.

Altman's most recent Op-Ed was "Getting Social About Your Business." She can be reached at jaltman@kaufmanrossin.com. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This article was originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

Cyber Monday Is Coming! Get Your E-Commerce Biz Ready

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, which means the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season is almost here. For retail stores, Black Friday brings in hordes of shoppers who battle the crowds (and one another) to get the best deals. In the e-commerce world, business owners need to be ready for Cyber Monday.

Entrepreneur Philip Masiello has been through Cyber Monday with multiple e-commerce businesses. His latest startup, 800Razors, was launched in early 2013 to provide high-quality men and women's razor blades at a fraction of the cost of big name brands. Though this is the first holiday season for 800Razors, Masiello knows the key to Cyber Monday success is to make the shopping process as easy as possible for your customers.

"The No. 1 reason people shop online is convenience," he told BusinessNewsDaily. "Anyone who wants to be successful in this has to figure out how to be responsive, especially in mobile shopping. This is where e-commerce is going to grow more rapidly: ease of use for mobile."

[How to Start an Online Business]  

Regardless of how many Cyber Mondays your business has been through, all e-commerce startups could use a little refresher course to make sure 2013 is their best holiday season yet. Masiello shared these four tips to get your business ready for the virtual rush:

Expand your bandwidth. Cyber Monday will bring a lot of traffic to your site, and there's nothing that annoys customers more than a website that doesn't have enough bandwidth to handle all the requests. If you're expecting a lot more traffic than you usually receive, make sure your server host is able to temporarily expand your bandwidth.

Monitor your email and social media accounts. Be ready to man the customer-service fort leading up to and during Cyber Monday. If customers have problems or questions while shopping on your site, they tend to send an email or social media post and expect a response quickly. Someone should be monitoring those accounts at all times and responding as soon as possible, since that's when the customer is actively on your site.

Stay stocked. You need to make sure you can fill all the Cyber Monday orders you receive. Masiello said that 800Razors always carries more inventory than it needs to ensure it doesn't short-change any customers.

Constantly check your website. If you make any changes to your site for the holidays, especially for special Cyber Monday promotions, you should always check and double check to make sure all of those changes are functional. Sometimes, links get broken or something goes wrong, and customers have a low tolerance when their shopping plans don't work during the busy holiday season.

6 Steps to Promoting your Small Business on Facebook

Small business owners can’t afford to ignore Facebook.

Nearly all consumers use the Web to search for local businesses – and most of them are on Facebook. The website is the biggest social networking platform in the world by far, with more than a billion active users.

Meanwhile, the social media giant is steadily rolling out features to help users find small businesses, while helping small businesses connect with potential new customers.

A good Facebook presence can help you engage your fans and grow your business. But with so many ways to promote your business on Facebook, it’s hard to know where to start.

Read on for six easy steps you can take to make social media work for you.

 

1. Create your Page

 

Your Facebook Page is your business’ home base on the social networking site. A Page is a lot like a regular Facebook profile, but for brands and businesses.

You will interact with Facebook users through your business’ page, so make sure it truly reflects your brand. Use your business logo as the primary photo for your Page, and pick a cover photo that is attractive and showcases what your business does.

Type up a few snappy sentences to describe your brand, and choose a memorable Web address. Facebook Page URLs appear in the form of www.facebook.com/(yourbrand).

2. Share!

It’s not enough simply to have a Facebook Page. To rack up followers you’ll need to create worthwhile, interesting content for your fans.

Users who like your page will see your posts show up in their main Facebook news feed, so get cracking. You can share updates, photos, videos, promotions and a lot more.

The most successful Facebook posts – the ones that drive the most people to comment, share and like – are short and visual. Look for ways to add a visual element to your posts, whether it’s a short video clip, a photo from inside your store, or just stock art.

Facebook’s Page Insights tool helps take the guesswork out of sharing. The tool, accessible from your Facebook Page’s Admin menu, provides valuable information on follower activity. For example, it can tell you what time most people view your content so you can plan your promotions.

3. Start making connections

What good is sharing content if nobody sees it? Fortunately, Facebook has built-in tools to help you build an online following.

First, check out the “Build Audience” tools found in your Page’s Admin menu. You’ll find options to invite both your Facebook friends and email contacts to follow your Page.

Traditional marketing techniques can help you grow your audience beyond your existing following. That means advertising your Facebook Page’s Web address on signs in your store, on your business card, in emails you send, and on any other marketing materials you produce for your business.

If you took the time to create a simple and memorable URL for your Page from the start, it will be easier to promote it in the future.

4. Engage your followers

Meanwhile, you can grow your audience organically by creating content that your followers want to share, like and comment on.

The key is to post quality content regularly. That means sharing updates that are relevant to your audience at least once or twice per week. For best results, try taking a friendly, conversational tone, and remember to be succinct.

Keep your updates timely, and respond directly to comments and private messages. Creating a dialogue with your followers will encourage them to engage with your posts in the future.

Facebook also offers a few direct marketing tools for business users.

Facebook Offers is a tool that allows you to create coupons that can be redeemed in your store or online. For a fee you can also have Facebook push your offer onto the news feeds of users who don’t already follow your business. By establishing a budget you determine how many users will see your offer.

Promoted Posts allow you to boost the visibility of any Page update. For a fee, your post will appear near the top of news feeds belonging to potential customers.

5. Leverage friends of fans

New customers are more likely to try your business if their friends already use it. Facebook lets you leverage word-of-mouth to promote your product or service.

Keep in mind that when a fan interacts with your Page, their friends will see the activity in their news feed.

You can foster more interaction in a variety of ways. Set up polls and ask questions on your Facebook Page that fans can’t resist responding to.

Encourage customers to “check in” to your business on Facebook when they visit by offering a small discount for anyone who does. Checking in is a feature that allows users to notify their friends of where they are.

You can also create special events and limited-time promotions and invite your followers, who can invite their friends in turn.

6. Consider Facebook ads

Facebook also offers traditional advertising options that let you position your custom ads in users’ news feeds. The ads appear as promotional posts and direct anyone who clicks straight to your website.

Because Facebook collects heaps of user data, it can target your advertisement to users who are most likely to be interested in your product or service.

The platform also features an analytics tool to help you understand which ads drive interest and sales.