Your Questions About Business Online Services Group

Jere answers:

The best free advertising online.

A while back I wrote an article titled, The Top 10 Free Websites to Advertise. This laid out the 10 best websites where it was completely free to advertise on them. They included:

1. Craigslist.com
2. Blogger.com
3. MySpace.com
4. Reference.com
5. EzineArticles.com
6. GoArticles.com
7. Backpage.com
8. Dmoz.org
9. Yahoo Answers
10. FAQfarm.com

Each of these sites are unique in their own way but effective in providing an outlet to advertise your business free. This is perfect for those who need to advertise on a budget, their products and services. Small business for the most part doesn’t lend itself to have big advertising budgets, so finding a place to “get your name out there” without paying for it is important.

To advertise on a budget effectively you must have a web presence, and preferably a website. If you don’t your small business is only treading water before it goes under. A website is the door that can open your small business to a phenomenal growth track because of the power of search engine optimization (SEO). There is a reason why Google® and Yahoo® have been some of the fastest growing companies of all time, its because search engines work. I personally use Google so much a day I lose track of how many times, and this goes for a majority of its users. For more information about SEO and how powerful a high ranking can be in Google read, How Important is a High Google Ranking to Your Small Business

Now that we have the understanding that SEO is the number one way to get free advertising by a very wide margin lets focus on one of the other ways to work at making free advertising more effective for your small business.

Social networking as a whole are becoming as popular as search engines such as Google and Yahoo. In fact Google bought Youtube® and started their own Myspace® type website called Orkut® and Yahoo attempted to buy Facebook®. Social networking is such a bonanza that doesn’t even know their own limits of how large they will grow. Where does your small business fit in? Since they are free there is no money investment to make, but you will have to invest your time, especially in the beginning. You will need to take time to learn the site, set up your profile, and make friends. Remember, you are looking for ways to make the time you spend using this website as an advertising tool as fruitful as possible. Of course set up your profile with the focus of your business objectives and reaching your goals, and always abide within the rules set by the websites. Your investment of time is your efforts to build your network, because it will take trial and error to learn what is best for your business in social networking. Taking the time to build your network is the number one emphasis when it comes to social networking for your small business.

There are other emphasis which I will list below in no particular order:

* Try an individual profile as a representative of your business before you try a group profile for your business to give an idea of the time it will require to build a network
* Don’t sign up for too many social networks, you risk diluting your message and emphasis.
* Share the networking responsibility with other employees or business owners once you have a business profile
* Don’t be distracted easily, remained focus on what your business objective and building your network to reach your goals. If needed, set goals for building your network.
* Don’t be afraid to get a little personable, people do enjoy talking to other people when networking, not just a profile on a website.
* Don’t be random when searching for friends for your network. Its a waste of time, choose your friends carefully, and then extend invitations to their friends and their friends and so on.
* Alter your preferences on your profile to reduce spam and unsolicited offers. This will save you time as well.

Remember social networks can be people who are very passionate in one way or another about their cause so you need to be the same way concerning your small business on social networks. If you are its a very easy way to advertise and grow your small business on a budget.

Jere answers:

Starting a small business takes a lot of courage. But, as they say, courage does not pay the bills. To be successful – to stay in business – you need more than courage. You need a combination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and lots of luck.

Some things you need to consider:
– “How can I support my family while I build up by business?”
– “What are my abilities?”
– “Is there a market for the product or service I have chosen?”
– “How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have?”

You may want to read the article “How to Start a New Business Successfully” http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol51/launch.htm , which lists six steps to launch a new business successfully:

1. Provide a benefit.
2. Determine the fit with your market.
3. Right timing is everything
4. Be ready to support your business
5. Develop a blueprint for success
6. Market, market, market

I recommend that you read the following books:

– What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business : Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs
– Starting From Scratch: How To Start A Business When You Don’t Have Money
– If You’re Clueless About Starting Your Own Business and Want to Know More
– On the Move : How to Succeed and Survive As an Entrepreneur
– How to Make 1000 Mistakes in Business and Still Succeed

As for grants, it is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business. And yes, grants mean PAPERWORK – lots and lots of it, that is why a cottage industry of grant writers was born.

Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same – hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.

Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html

“The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments.”

Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business — THERE’S NONE.
Http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show

Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. Minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center’s Foundation Grants for Individuals Online. It’s a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for “students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices.” Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don’t have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.

Http://www.cfda.gov
http://www.grants.gov
http://gtionline.fdncenter.org
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol66/grants.htm
http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html

Jere answers:

Building your company DNB Paydex Score is a very important step that most business owner miss out. At our office we see small business owner obtain $35,000 and more in business credit lines through the use of their Paydex Score (typically 75 and higher). A business can grow the Paydex Score and obtain credit lines along the way simply by hiring a professional mentoring service.

Begin your search online via google or yahoo. Search for “strong business credit” (just like that in quotes) through the search engines and you will see that the Trade Line List (otherwise known as a Vendor List) is available for $400-$900.

Good luck.

Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting Group

Jere answers:

Before you can start your own cell-phone business, you need to make a few important decisions. You need to decide if you want to start an online store, a retail store or both. The good news that it’s relatively simple to start your own cell-phone business, but you have to decide which storefront works best for you.

Retail vs. Online : A brick-and-mortar store costs much more than an online store. The planning process takes more time because there is a broader spectrum of things to consider. Setting up an online store is less legwork but has its fair share of tasks. The advantage is that you work from home and have to deal with less business planning. For an online store, you would be more focused on building relationships and finding people to purchase your product. The difference is that in a storefront location, people will come to you, whereas at an online store you would have to go find your contacts.

Legal Considerations : Look at all the details of a business. Find out how to go about licensing and insurance for your business needs. The size of the building also would vary your licensing requirements. A major component to any street business is location; and don’t forget that the size and location of your store would set your insurance rates.
A starting point for your business is establishing contact with a phone distribution company and a reputable service company that wants to establish a relationship with an independent reseller. You need to get merchandise according to your budget and enough of it to satisfy your clientele.
A few additional things to consider when opening a retail outlet is the cost of employees, utilities and keeping proper stock levels. You also have limited product line due to corporate regulations that may limit the number of in-store products.
These restrictions help the Internet business thrive with online specials for phones and accessories.

Marketing and Advertising : Online business thrives on advertising market availability. It also assists in optimizing your budgets so that you do not have to buy all products such as wireless headsets, car chargers and other extras at once. One of two ways to start an online store would be to decide to open up third-party reseller it would be of best interest to get into marketing groups and making yourself well known as a business person in your community. As a retailer you would want to establish as many relationships as possible, and it would be beneficial to be known as an honest person. A retailer would want to retain business by doing good business as possible. You would also want to direct these people to go to your online store. Remember that you need to build relationships so people will come to you rather than someone else. You are promoting yourself along with your online business.

Important Relationships : Some important relationships are online distributors and other online resellers. The second way to distribute is through Sonopia, which is a new cell phone distributor in which you can offer your online customers several wireless packages based on personal situations or budgets. This allows a more user- friendly service in which you can set your own rate plans, and there is no charge to the seller when starting out. Basically, all you are doing is referring your friends, family, personal and online contacts. It only takes minutes to be come a carrier to the company. Another advantage of going with Sonopia is the fact that it is funded by nonprofit organizations offers 3 to 8 percent to the seller based on performance. This allows the seller to focus mainly on selling, rather than the leg work of setting people up with their service. These are various ways to pursue a cell phone business that will work to your advantage and help you to optimize your income.

Jere answers:

A true business credit card is a line of credit that is taken in the name of the business, under the business’ credit. Activity, whether good or bad, is reflected on your business’ credit report through D&B and other financial institutions, and the liability for any debts incurred and bills owed is with the business.However, some companies out there offer “business” credit cards which they require a person guarantee for. These institutions will often ask for a personal guarantee, and will almost always ask for a social security number from the person applying for the card. If this is the case, the credit card is not a business credit card, but is simply a personal credit card which is used for the business. The business is not liable for bills and debts – you are.When applying for a credit card for your business, watch out for areas asking for your SSN (and not your TaxID or EIN) and be wary of any credit card that asks for a personal guarantee. By ensuring that your credit card is in the name of your business, you can help to build your business’ credit, while avoiding creating problems with your own.

Many companies offer a list of credit cards that are issued under the business name only. Those lists typically run $300-$900, depending on the quality of the information inquiring. I would suggest starting your search online via google or yahoo. Search for “strong business credit” (just like that in quotes) to find services that sell the information.

Good luck,

Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting Group