Making LinkedIn work for small town pros

When I saw Shannon Ehlers talking up small towns in Chris Brogan's comment section, I had to reach out! This post is the result of our emails, and hopefully, the start of a great friendship.

Guest post by Shannon Ehlers

I use LinkedIn to expand my professional network beyond the town where I live and the narrowly defined industry where I work. This is very important when you live in a town of 1100 people and work in a field like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and dietary supplements. I am a natural products chemist, and I can safely say that there is not a single soul in my town who could answer many of my professional questions.

1. Pad Your Rolodex
This is where LinkedIn comes into play. LinkedIn is a web-based professional networking service (if you're totally unfamiliar, then visit http://www.linkedin.com for more details). LinkedIn is popular as an "online resume" service, but it is also much more than that. I have a single guiding principle for my use of LinkedIn: everything I do there should build my network, either in quality or in quantity (better connections or more connections). Having a healthy professional network is also beneficial when looking for new investors, a new job or when starting a company.

Tip - Seek out people looking for expertise that you can provide. One of the best ways to do this is to answer questions in LinkedIn's Questions and Answers. Once you have helped someone with their question, follow up with a direct message. This can be one of the most effective ways to build new relationships on LinkedIn. It also allows you to become rated as an expert on LinkedIn.

2. Gather Informational Nuggets
I use LinkedIn to do research and gather testimonials and quotes, which I then can use in presentations at work, as fodder for my blog, etc. I think of this as a virtual water cooler, where I can access the opinions of hundreds of my colleagues. A current project I'm working on has to do with the accessibility of food in small towns without grocery stores, a real issue for elderly people who can't drive. As in the tip above, again I use the Questions and Answers feature of LinkedIn, but this time I am doing the asking. The best questions that I have found on LinkedIn can be answered in either concrete or abstract terms. This is the key to finding interesting and memorable answers that will make your presentation or post more effective. Also as in the above tip, I always follow up with the person whose answer I want to use and let them know I'll be quoting them (more relationship building).

Tip - This sounds complicated, but it's actually very simple. Put your question to this simple litmus test: try to answer it using Google. If you can exhaustively answer your question using Google, then maybe the LinkedIn network isn't the best place to ask it (maybe Google is).

3. Re-establish Contact
I use LinkedIn to reconnect with friends and colleagues from college and past jobs. This is one of the most obvious uses of LinkedIn. I immediately found it useful, and I still use it daily. I usually get as many invites as I give, and it is always a pleasant little moment when I get to talk to someone I haven't heard from in years. The really neat thing that makes me so glad to have it is that LinkedIn takes care of the small talk and pleasantries for you (you already know where your old friend is living, what they are doing, and maybe even some info about their family). This allows me to quickly have a meaningful conversation when we actually finally talk on the phone or via email or in person. If the reason for reconnecting is professional, then we often can move quickly to transactional mode, and if it is personal then often we can arrange for more direct conversations quickly. While not a "social" networking application in the truest sense, LinkedIn is very suitable for most of the connections I like to make.

Tip - It may seem obvious, but make your profile somewhat personal. Don't be afraid to include some details that identify you as you. Believe it or not, there is likely someone else out there with the same name as you. I've run into several Shannon Ehlers impostors this way, so distinguishing myself in my profile assures that people contact the "real" Shannon Ehlers. Personalizing your profile (within reason - no need for incriminating details!) is also a great way to make yourself stand out from the herd, and entice people to want to meet you and make you a part of their own professional network.

4. Be Your Own Billboard
I use LinkedIn to maintain an online professional reputation which can then be used as a means to expand my network of contacts. Because of the excellent rankings that LinkedIn receives on Google, it is an extremely effective reputation management tool, acting as your own electronic billboard. Without professing to be a search engine optimization (SEO) expert, I can tell you that having a well crafted LinkedIn profile is an excellent way to make sure people find the info you most want them to find when they search for your name on Google.

Tip - A companion to your LinkedIn profile should be your own blog. If available, register your own name as your domain and then connect your LinkedIn profile to your blog (placing this in the About section is a good choice, or you can generate a button from LinkedIn that can be placed into the sidebar or footer of your blog as a widget, or shoot the moon and do both!). Likewise, be sure to list your blog URL in the "My Websites" section on your LinkedIn profile (it is amazing to me how many people don't do this).

5. Capitalize on Affinity Groups
Using LinkedIn Groups is an exceptional way to find like-minded people or, if no group exists for people like you, then you have the chance to start your own group and build something new that will serve others who share your interests. Common backgrounds, a common employer, a geographical area, or a social club - all offer reasons to connect with other people who you may not have otherwise met.

Tip - At the time of writing, the Group Directory feature on LinkedIn wasn't working. I think they are working on this, but have no idea when it will be functional. In the meantime, I have found that scanning the profiles of people I know and respect can reveal groups I'd like to join. Once you've joined a group, be sure to take a few minutes to view the members. See if anyone you already know is there - you'll be surprised how often they are, so be sure to connect with them if you haven't already. Don't forget the people you haven't met yet. For obvious reasons, these group members make excellent people to address with your Q&A from 1 & 2 above.

I hope that you have found this post useful. My thanks to Becky McCray for sharing her audience and allowing me the opportunity to write in this space. In reality, most of these will apply as well for people who don't live in small towns or work in small businesses. However, we who do face the "isolation" challenge really need tools like this. Be sure to let me know in the comments other ways that you use LinkedIn.

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Shannon Ehlers works by day as a research chemist. By night, he runs The Midnight Blogger at http://shannonehlers.com where he advocates for small town life and shares personal interests and insights.

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Two ways to build your small biz website yourself nearly for free

Not every small business can afford to hire someone to create or maintain a website. So let's go over some relatively easy do-it-yourself ways to build your site, kind of two by two. It just so happens that these are all free, or nearly so.

2 Free Website Builders

High up on the cool factor is Roxer. It's all click and drag, and easy to use. Very Web 2.0. They will let you use your own domain name, like allensretail.com.

Less "wow" but still very easy and polished is Google Pages. One neat feature is that it will automatically make a version of your pages optimized for mobile phone browsers. It will not let you use your own domain name.

To make up for that, I'll offer a bonus tool: Microsoft Office Live Small Business. One of our rural friends, Shady Hill Farm, uses this tool for their websites. A domain name is included for free your first year, but there is a small annual fee to renew it.

2 Blogging Tools

This is my favorite way to build your own do-it-yourself website!
A blog is just a special website made up of stories or articles, kind of like a newsletter. It also gives customers and readers a chance to comment on stories, building conversations. The two blog services I like are Blogger and WordPress. Both offer a platform for your own blog, and both will let you use your own domain name. The platform includes all the behind the scenes software that does the work. That lets you focus on writing stories, which works about like writing an email. Feeling brave? A blog can also include audio or video clips, not just text.

This is what I use for my liquor store's website. It provides all the basic contact info, plus I can update it with new product announcements, articles about wines, and drink recipes. You probably already teach customers about your product every day, so you could easily add that info to a blog and share it with your new potential customers.

2 Social Networks Ready to Go

Remember Yahoo! Groups and a dozen other similar group sites? Here are two new ways to do something similar for your fans and community, but in a more business like way.

Ning lets you build a complete social network, with profiles, forums, and everything else. Check out the Small Town group, part of The Society for Word of Mouth at Ning, for an example.

Google Sites are designed for group work online, and offer a bit more collaboration, though a bit less social.

2 Business Site Profiles

If you fill in your business information, your user profile on services like JumpUp or LinkedIn can serve as a website. They are designed for business, so these profiles give you room to include your contact information such as phone and email, details about your line of business, even hours or directions. You want customers to find your profile, so also check the privacy settings to make your profile public. Don't worry about people mis-using your email or phone number. The truth is that it rarely happens. If you feel more comfortable, use a secondary phone number and email address.

2 Important Tips

1. Get your own domain. Go to any registrar, and you'll probably pay less than $15 a year for your own domain name, like beckymccray.com. (Sometimes, it's way less than $15.) Then forward that domain name to the page you've created. The way you do this varies with each provider, and a few website tools (like FreeWebs) charge a fee for allowing you to use that domain name.

Two registrars: GoDaddy (which I use) and Network Solutions (which has agreed to sponsor one of our publications).

2. Be find-able. To make sure that customers searching for you can find you, you need to make sure search engines can find your page. Two techniques: keywords and links. Include the right keywords in all of your online presence. Your keywords are your name, your business name, your line of work or brands you carry, and your hometown or service area. Think of the words a customer would be thinking right before they search for a business or solution like yours. Then find other local websites to link to you, and link back to them. Submit your site to a few online directories for your industry for some additional links.

To Summarize

This was all a very basic two by two approach to free web presence tools. I tried to keep it basic, because that's my point. Keep it Simple.

Plenty more examples, techniques, and ideas can apply to creating your online presence. I'd love it if you would share your stories and links in the comments.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Handy Site on Regulatory Information

Business.gov, the official business link to the U.S. government, has new search features and content to help small business owners find information.

Business owners can now access information on starting and managing a business, including licenses, permits and regulatory information, on more than 9,000 state, territory, county, and city government Web sites.

Tool: Directions via text message

Editor's Note: Tuyen Ho emailed this comment to me. Sounds like a very useful tool for small business people. I'd love to get feedback from anyone who tries it.

Hi Becky,

I read your 1/18 blog post re: Gene Marks "can't make these technologies work" piece. You mentioned a few mobile services like Jott. I'd like to tell you about Dial Directions (www.dialdirections.com).

DIR-ECT-IONS is the first nationwide free phone service for 'directions assistance'. Any cell phone user can dial D-I-R- E-C-T-I-O-N-S (347-328-4667); tell the voice-activated service their starting address and destination (address, business, or local event); and instantly receive a driving directions by text message. The service is free and works on all cell phones - no web plan or GPS needed. Only your carrier charges apply.

Here's a demo of the service: http://www.dialdirections.com/video_demo.html

Small business owners have shared wonderful stories about how they use Dial Directions:

• Owners tell their new customers to use it to get point-to-point directions to the owner's store/business, especially when someone rings them up and wants specific directions from a particular address (e.g. one UHaul franchise asked us for our free stickers and postcards about Dial Directions for his customers who are moving into a new neighborhood and need navigation assistance when they're on the go)
• Wedding and other social event planners turn their event into a destination by plugging in the event's name and address at our website. After that, the organizers simply tell attendees to dial D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N-S, ask for the event name and provide any starting address.
• Sales, delivery and contractors without access to a computer or GPS use just call D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N-S from their cell phones for navigation assistance
• Real estate agents tell their homebuyers to use D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N-S to help see multiple open houses without the need for pre-printing maps

Hope this is useful to you and your readers.

Regards,

Tuyen

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Gene Marks can't make these technologies work, but you can

I love a small business technology challenge!

BarbaraKB on Twitter asked for someone to respond to an article in BusinessWeek, wherein Gene Marks listed off some tech 'solutions' he says small businesses "can't use." Can't? All small businesses? Marks is, I think, off the mark. Let's go through his list of 10 "overhyped and underwhelming technology" tools "that don't work" and see if we can make them work for small business!

[Photo: Three small businesswomen push forward with online technology.]

1. RSS Feeds: "an endless stream of meaningless items displayed in an overly large browser window that winds up distracting more than informing."

RSS and feeds can be an exceptionally useful tool, but only with a bit of coaching or some experience. Ask a techie friend to help you get set up, or to improve your setup, so you can avoid the stream of meaningless items. I'm helping our co-author Jeanne "OkieJ" Cole learn to use this tool right now. One key to RSS: know how to delete a feed you no longer want!

2. Spam Filters: "They all suck." "[Y]ou're going to waste money on the latest filtering technology, which does nothing more than block that key e-mail you were awaiting from a prospective customer."

If you don't get much junk email, you don't need to worry. But ask Jeanne about excessive spam. Her work email had no spam filtering. So she spent hours a day sorting and deleting, just like Marks advises. I advised her to switch to a service with built in spam filtering, like GMail. She is much more productive and much happier. Really, ask her! Reclaiming hours and reducing stress sounds like a benefit to a small business to me.

3. Anti-Virus Software: "Betsy's spent more money with her IT firm trying to work around antivirus software than she probably would've spent if she received an actual virus."

Marks laments the degraded performance and difficulty of installing new software while running AV software. I'm no fan of resource-hog AV! I have experimented with several different packages, and I recommend reading some reviews on CNet to find the best program for you.

If you think Marks is right, and it's cheaper to do without, ask what a catastrophic failure would really cost. How current are your backups? If you have any idea of going without, please, please, backup regularly, religiously, daily. And unhook from the internet and your office network.

4. Blogs: "[Y]ou'll need to set aside about 17 hours each day to keep it fresh." "If you don't have something new to say each day, no one's going to bother to stop by and check out your blog. It'll be, like, so lame."

Dude, get a grip. My liquor store blog gets updated when needed, and that's once a week on average. It brought me two major customers and about $1000 of revenue last year. Just got a phone call today from it. Word.

5. Search Engine Optimization: "SEO probably does the job for companies with oodles of money, but not for the typical small business."

Typical small business, a customer of mine, asked me to improve his site's returns from searches. OK, so I spent several hours researching and learned enough SEO to bring his site from ranking in the 100's to the top 10. What did I change? A few simple edits in the text, a bit of link-building, and a submission to the DMOZ open directory. It didn't cost him much, and I apply those lessons to every client site I do now.

I'm not a fan of add-on SEO services, like the one that stung Marks. I do like to see SEO considered from the beginning of a website design.

6. Mobile Applications: "Mobile applications will be a great thing…someday. Just like hovercrafts, telepods, and renewable energy. But for a small business on a limited budget, it's still science fiction."

Marks gives examples of entering orders or looking up inventory via cell phone. I don't see those working for tiny businesses yet, but I do see some great, valuable services available now. Twitter, Goog411, and plenty more services can make your cell phone much more productive right now. What about Jott? Jeanne and I love Jott! Call the 800 number, leave a message, and Jott will email it to you, or post it to your blog, or text it to your buddy or client! How cool is that? And free! Amazing!

7. Customer Relationship Management Software: "A CRM system can be a good thing, but it takes more than paying for the software and training. Without a substantial internal investment, CRM won't work."

I'll break the pattern and agree with Marks on this one. For most tiny and small businesses, CRM is useless. For some, though, it's priceless. Depends on your champions as Marks notes, as well as your size, your uses, and your needs.

8. AdWords: "Are you interested in a mind-numbing exercise? Give AdSense a shot. Or Yahoo SM or MSN AdCenter."

I hate to agree again, but I don't like AdWords, or other pay-per-BS ads. That's just me. I have a client who uses them, and he seems reasonably pleased. Of course, he had a friend help him set up. If you are interested, I recommend that you only consider very, very finely targeted words and phrases.

9. Online Video: "Online videos are great—if you've got the budget of Time Warner behind you."

Back to normal, I can disagree once again. Online video has great potential for small businesses, as a feature on our own site. I like Blip.tv for hosting and then embedding videos in my site.

Live video opens whole new realms. Jeanne and I also used Operator11 to create successful live video that generated new clients. Without the budget of Time Warner.

For more real-world ideas read my article How to use video to promote your small business and also Chris Punke's follow up Using video to promote your business.

10. Web 2.0: "All I really see are the same accounting, inventory, and order entry programs from the days of Reagan, albeit with new window dressing. I think we're supposed to be using Web 2.0 technologies to do more work online. But unless you're running an online business, these tools seem to have little relevance."

A quick glance at the list of web 2.0 type tools that we've reviewed might make you realize that some new ideas are out there. Here's the key to web 2.0: when it works, you won't notice it. As a small business person, you are most likely using plenty of advanced tools now, but without paying any attention. As well it should be.


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Tools: WinWeb accounting and office suite

Friend Shama Hyder passed along a tip on WinWeb.com online office solution.

The accounting modules are free, and the "online infrastructure" services start at $19.95 per month. Trying the free module paired with the 30 day trail should give you a chance to try it out before laying out any cash.

Hyder has written an excellent short review at After The Launch.

"I am thrilled about this service and want to share it with all small business owners," she said in an email.

We'd love to hear your experience with WinWeb, so we can share it with other small town small biz survivors.

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Do You Hate Your Cell Phone Contract & Want Out?

The high cost of getting out of the contract for your cell phone can be a headache.

The best way to wiggle out of your contract is, possibly, to trade it online.

Try CelltradeUSA.com or CellSwapper.com .

Need demographic information?

Here's a nifty site. It will reveal all kinds of great, useful demographic information with only the input of a 5 digit zip code.

Want to know how many folks have a high school diploma? How about the rate of unemployment? Here it is. Whatever has been reported for a zip code seems to be here.

There is more information than I knew what to do with.

Social Media for Small Business

What is social media, and why does any small business person care? Social media is a way to connect with other people. Fight small town isolation! Connect to the wider world.

• Connect with others in your industry for insight, networking and support.
• Connect with potential customers or suppliers for new business opportunities.
• Connect with inspirational and creative people for a boost, ideas and challenging questions.
  

The tools are blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and many more. (Want a bit more explanation? Try Simplified Online Marketing, about the types of online presence.)

Jon Swanson explains more about the power of connecting with people through social media in a comment on Susan Reynolds' blog.

"I think it's the immediacy and the individuals - which is what makes working in a great office or with a great team so compelling. To be able to show up at work (or whatever the relationship focal point) and chat and go back to the task at hand and to ask someone about the task and to tune out and to come back in...

"I've worked in places with that give and take...and it feels like this. But this goes wherever you go, and you get to pick who you are chatting with, and a lot of the people are very very bright and very very creative and very very caring."

AnnOhio has a Twitter PSA for Newbies

twitter is about the people... add a few more people.. interact.. connect... engage... be part of the community--laugh!

I put it this way on Michael Valiant's site:

It’s all about the people. This is true of many meaningful pursuits.

When I worked for the local newspaper, the best part was making connections with people. I’ve heard many others say on leaving a job that they won’t miss the work, but will miss the people they connected with.

When I joined a professional group, other members told me the best part was the people I would meet and become friends with. They were right.

When I ran for elected office, the best part was the wonderful people I met. I’ve heard many, many politicians say the same at the end of their own campaigns.

How has social media changed my life? It’s all about the people I have met and connected with.

Chris Brogan has written a Newbies' Guide to Twitter. It helps make sense of how Twitter and other social media instant conversations can be used.

Examples of Small Biz Twitter Uses

Mike Sansone has an example for group project management via Twitter.

"One way companies can use Twitter, especially virtual companies, is to create a page or panel with each of their team's Twitter plug-ins."

Rex Hammock used Twitter to maintain contact with his website readers.

"I've set up an "away" message on my blog that displays tweets - http://tinyurl.com/2vljch"

Susan Reynolds is getting all kinds of advice from trusted sources, her Twitter friends.

"Presto. Instant networking. Like Google but with personal insights."

Naresh found a way to support customers with Twitter.

"I used twitter with my support ticket system. Make it private, add your personal account, and get IM messages via instant messenger. Works like a charm"

He also used Twitter as a notepad.

"link for self http://tinyurl.com/3ywyer"

randelaw used Twitter to announce his commitment. Publicly stating your commitment can help make it feel real to you.

"Be it resolved: On or before 1/1 there will be a redesigned company web site up that reflects what we recommend to our clients"

Twitter is...

newmediajim telling this producer that Twitter is sort of like if LinkedIn were having a cocktail party.

vaspers Twitter feedback is immediate, public, & unpredictable (e.g. skeptical, harsh). Twitter is rushing river of brevities.

mikesansone Twitter is an RSS feed for our brain. I subscribe to smart ones

vaspers Twitter is so trivial. After spending time on more serious sites and pursuits, to come here is like going to an insane asylum.

Quotes about Social Media from Small Biz People

digitalvillages I've been social computing on several levels today. There isn't one model for Social Media. There are multiple levels and a different tools

vaspers You are a Media Venue. http://tinyurl.com/2gxg9b

digitalvillages What is the value of social interaction for the individual? Why do singers write songs? Some nobody listens. The same with Social Media.
Why do birds sing? They don't have a business plan and no plans to meet a venture capitalist. They don't even have powerpoints.

digitalvillages Social Media is all about people bringing their ideas & thoughts to a common platform.Content sounds like cement. Ideas are building bricks!

badbanana To me, socnets break down the country club doors. I don't need to kiss the rings of rich old white guys for favors. Status is destroyed.
The new marketplace of ideas is wide open to anyone with a computer and the curiosity to sign up for a free online service.
Here, we're not judged by our clothes. Our lack of monogrammed shirts. It's our humanity and our ideas and our talents that matter.

vaspers Writers club member: "Blogs are garbage." Vaspers: "90% of talking is garbage. Are you going to stop talking? How's about radio, TV, phone?"

vaspers Publisher likes my blog so much, wants me to write monthly column on computer & web topics. http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/2007/aug
Thus, a blog is a powerful tool for gaining clients, customers, writing opportunities, publicity, etc. Use blog to educate, give free info.

vaspers Remember, the Web Revolution is about Transparency and User Empowerment, Consumer Info, Peer Recommendation. Base web strategy on these.
People are expecting video virtual tours at web sites. Web 2.0 is more interactive, participatory, multi-media, and co-creative with users.

misc i reflexively reach for my "subscribe" bookmarklet when i mean to hit my "add to del.icio.us." feeds are the new bookmarks. coz i said so.

goldiekatsu I find it interesting how people believe technology will change social structures when it is the people who must make the change.

vaspers Wise woman said "if people stare at you, put on a show."

erincarter the social web is starting to feel like the apartment you live in during college. always partying, always meeting new people just next door.

Overload?

And just in case you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of this, join MMcAllen.

mmcallen I have become antisocial media. I will be over here in the corner.

By the way, MMcAllen only took a short break. He came back for the people.

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Small biz tools

Friends on Twitter frequently share tools they have found. I'm sharing some of those that small business people might use.

richhand is setting up SeeEyE2EyE as teleprompter for videos. Inexpensive and works great. http://tinyurl.com/2hoqoj Thanks Cali

springnet Amplifier - Undependent™ Distribution: THE ELEVATOR PITCH Amplifier provides a direct distribution p.. http://amplifier.com/

teli Online mind mapping. Pretty cool. Wish they had software I could download and host myself. http://www.mindmeister.com/

springnet WebSlides - Converting bookmarks to slideshows: someone had to copy our idea http://slides.diigo.com/

zemote http://tinyurl.com/2jb67y Google: Search MediaFire for Free Videos, Music, Comics, and Archives

springnet Best Video Conferencing Solution For PCs And Macs: SightSpeed - Robin Good's Latest News: I have been p.. http://tinyurl.com/rcrcg

cc_chapman Chel set up one of these http://www.chipin.com/

springnet Twittercal — tweet your google calendar: http://Twittercal.com is a free service that connects your.. http://twittercal.com/

vaspers Very impressed with the speed, efficiency, usability of TechCrunch/Conduit custom toolbar. Vaspers Toolbar: http://Vaspers.OurToolbar.com

chrisbrogan Have you guys mindmapped with bubbl.us ? I just tried it and liked it: http://bubbl.us/

pacificIT Link: Cool bots for Twitter http://retweet.com/

chrisbrogan Staring at this for days: http://reactee.com/ (T-shirts with SMS codes)

vaspers Wayfaring is a map mashup builder for non-coders: http://www.wayfaring.com/

chrisbrogan Gmail and google reader users: install gears for offline use: http://gears.google.com

What great tools are you using in your small business? Share in the comments, or tell me on Twitter!

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Social media is your new network

In today's world, it's more not what you know, it's who you know. I realize that is not news. What is different? You can know know people from all over, and use that to benefit your small town small biz.

Here are some examples and ideas.

Rob at Business Pundit contemplated how modern business requires you to network to get ahead.

Jeff Pulver friendsourced to find a web designer. If you are not present online, you will miss friendsourcing opportunities.

Network on many levels. To stay up these days, you'll have to keep up with the new networking forms.

ChrisVanPatten shared a "Neat MySpace promotion: local photographer who does senior pictures gives free wallet pics if you add her as a friend and post a comment."

Anita Campbell, smallbiztrends, used Twitter to network for writers for her site, Small Business Trends: http://tinyurl.com/267x4r


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Tool: GotVMail phone system

Rural small businesses may become big fans of GotVMail. It acts as your phone system or switchboard, handling calls as they come in and routing them to your cell, home, or office.

When a customer calls your business, GotVMail answers the call with a recorded message, giving options like extensions. The customer can choose "Sales" or "Jon" or "Billing" depending on how you set it up. GotVMail puts the caller on hold (you pick the music), and transfers the call to your cell, your partner's home, or the accountant's office that does your billing. Do you see how a small town small biz could consider this an awesome tool?

The system is hosted on GotVMail's equipment. You just sign up. Plans start at $9.95 per month, and are based on minutes. On the upside, you get a US toll free number as part of your plan.

While I haven't tried the system personally, a few things make me feel positive about it.

• They offer a 30 money back guarantee.
• Excellent testimonials are posted all over their site.
  
• Erik Arvidson offered to let me try it out.
  

All of those show confidence in the product.

The standard features are included in all price packages, with a few special features offered a la carte. You don't have to buy the big package just to get an important feature.

This sounds like a terrifically useful tool for entrepreneurs. Thanks to Erik for letting me know about it.


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Simplified Online Marketing

Intro
Online marketing feels like a moving target. Just as soon as you get a website, the experts say you need a blog. Then it's pay-per-click ads, then it's something else. How are you supposed to keep up with this? That feeling of being always behind is why I want to simplify online marketing. To fit in with my Simplified Business Plan and Simplified Marketing Plan, let's break it down into a Simplified Online Marketing Plan, and explore the tools you can use to market your business.

Here's the number one principle to simplify your online marketing. Focus on having an active online presence where customers can find you, and then engage your customers in conversations online. We are going to talk about websites, alternatives to websites, and many more tools that help your business be "present" online.

Having an active online presence is 90% of online marketing
A website is just one type of presence. Are the alternatives to having your own website any good at reaching customers? Yes! Either a blog or a site profile may better fit your business than a traditional website.

Blog
A blog is just a special website made up of stories or articles, kind of like a newsletter. It also gives customers and readers a chance to comment on stories, building conversations. Special services like Blogger and WordPress offer a platform for your own blog. The platform includes all the behind the scenes software that does the work. That lets you focus on writing stories, which works about like writing an email. Feeling brave? A blog can also be made up of audio or video clips, not just text.
This is what I use for my liquor store's website. It provides all the basic contact info, plus I can update with new product announcements, articles about wines, and drink recipes. You probably already teach customers about your product every day, so you could easily add that info to a blog and share it with your new potential customers.

Site Profile
If you fill in your business information, you can let your user profile on services like JumpUp or LinkedIn serve as a website. They are designed for business, so these profiles give you room to include your contact information such as phone and email, details about your line of business, even hours or directions. You want customers to find your profile, so also check the privacy settings to make your profile public. Don't worry about people mis-using your email or phone number. The truth is that it rarely happens. If you feel more comfortable, use a secondary phone number and email address.

Important Tips
To make sure that customers searching for you can find you, include the right keywords in all your online presence. Your keywords are your name, your business name, your line of work or brands you carry, and your hometown or service area. Think of the words a customer would be thinking right before they search for a business or solution like yours.
Post and share information your customers want. Don't emphasize your business, when you could freely share tips, how-to's and other stuff relevant to your line of work. Avoid the sales pitch. If you make a mistake and offend someone, say you are sorry. This is just good human relations.


You can do much more than a website!
Right now, lots of your potential and current customers are online, but they aren't hanging out at your site. Going beyond a website means reaching those potential customers where they already are online. You want to go where they go and build your presence there. Then you can engage them in conversations. Meaningful conversations are the goal.
How do you find out what sites they use? Ask them! Ask about their interests related to your line of business, like maybe photography or cooking.
If they like to post photos, they may be at Flickr. Ask them. Then you can investigate those tools to decide which help you reach them and fit best for your business.

In order to do this, you will need to budget time daily or at least weekly to build your presence. The good news is that you can have some help. Right now, you have loyal customers who would gladly promote your business, link to you, write positive reviews and generally drive some awareness and traffic to you. All you have to do is ask them.

Online Presence tools:
Lots of different tools exist to build a presence online and more are created everyday. How do you keep up? By understanding the basic types of tools, and by picking only those that fit best with your business and customers.

• Local listings: Most search engines maintain a local section with business listings. Most of those will allow you to fill in your business info, including hours, directions, etc. These are easy to get set up. Local review sites like Yelp are a bit different. They allow or encourage people to review your business. Make sure you give them updated info on your business, but don't be tempted to do your own review! A smarter tactic is to encourage your loyalists to review you.
• Websites: When you create your own website, it's your job to keep it up to date and interesting. Customers now expect you to have some interactivity built in. Can you let customers upload stories, reviews, suggestions, photos? Can they interact with other users? Can they email you? Comment on your articles? Offer tips of their own? Tools exist for all of these, so choose at least a few to use.
  
• Blogs: Blogs are like an online newsletter made into a conversation. They can be stand alone or part of your website. They can also be you on your own or part of a regional or topical group blog. (Here's a bit more on blogs, from the top of this article.)
  
• Guides: These tools offer many different resources around a particular topic. Some will let you set up your own guide, like Squidoo's lenses. Some have existing guides that you can submit your info to, like About and the thousands of directory sites.
  
• Article submission sites: Sites like Ezine Articles and Go Articles allow you to distribute your articles to many different websites, for a link or even a small payment.
• Audio: On your own site, you can use audio to introduce yourself, teach about your products, share a story or testimonial, or lead an audio tour. By using a service like BlogTalkRadio, you can record audio just by phoning it in. You can also record with a simple microphone on your computer and post it to your own blog or web site.
• Video: Video is a terrific story teller! Ignore all the goofy stuff, and you can find wonderful videos on YouTube, Google Videos, AOL Video and the others produced by small businesses. You can demonstrate a product, share a passion, show solutions to problems, and share testimonials. If you want to get away from all the weird videos, use a service like Blip.tv to embed the video onto your own blog or website.
• Photos: Lots of businesses have great photo opportunities. Are your customers using Flickr and other sites right now to share photos? Start a group to let them come together. Upload your own pics. Encourage group interaction.
• Social Media Sites: MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, and their many relatives give you a chance to build networks of interested folks, mostly for social non-commercial interaction. Why bother with "non-commercial" communication? Because it is the conversation and interaction that build relationships much deeper than any ad campaign.
• Ecommerce: If you want sell products online, you enter a whole new realm of tools and learning. A few simple tools that can integrate into your small business website are affiliate programs like Chitika eMiniMalls and Amazon, or ads like Text Link Ads and AdSense. Another service, Fulfillment by Amazon, lets you sell products but have Amazon manage the warehousing and fulfillment.
• Forums: You probably have visited online forums or bulletin boards. You name a topic, and there are forums on it. You can establish an active presence on existing forums or you can even start your own, if you want to build a community around yourself. It's a lot of work to maintain a good forum, but it can pay off in lively relationships.
• Text/SMS: While not strictly an online tool, text message or mobile marketing is still an effective one. Services like Mobivity let you set up opt-in marketing to customers' cell phones for contests, prizes, coupons, or any other info. "Text for more info" is appearing on real estate signs through services like CellAHouse, or even on Tshirts via Reactee.
  

Doing 'real' online marketing is only 10%
Other than building your presence online, you can invest up to 10% of your online marketing time on some additional "behind the scenes" tools.

Online Advertising
You can buy ads on many different sites that reach your target market by going directly to the site owner or manager. If you'd rather reach more than one site at at time, consider these advertising network tools.

• Pay-per-click ads: With these ads, you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. Most search engines offer ads next to search results, like Google AdSense, Yahoo! Search Marketing, or MSN adCenter.You decide how much you are willing to pay to appear next to searches for your keywords, and you can limit your total to spend. If you want quick exposure, this may be a good tool for you.
  
• Text ads: Various companies, including Text Link Ads, will help you purchase a simple text link on many different sites. The costs are generally based on the number of days and the quality of the site, rather than on the number of clicks on your ad. If you don't like big flashy graphic ads, text ads may fit your style best.
• Affiliate ads: Networks like Linkshare and Commission Junction make it possible for you to pay based on an action, like a completed sale, rather than on a click. So if a website refers a customer to your site, and that customer buys something, then you pay the affiliate commission. This tool may suit you best if you don't want to pay for people who click on your ad, but don't buy.
  

Search Engine Optimization
Because being found in search results is so important to reaching potential customers, many people focus their entire effort on changing every possible detail that can optimize their site for the search engines. From the vast field of search engine optimization, we're going to discuss two easy-to-use tools: keywords and links. You want to include the words your customers will use when they search, and you want to use them prominently, in titles, headings, and throughout the text on your site. That should be easy; it's what your site is about! What can make it seem tough is that some words are so obvious that they are only implied, not stated very often, like your town name, state or brand names. You have to make certain you've included them more than once. Links from relevant websites help potential customers to find you. Search engines consider these incoming links as an important sign of popularity. So look for chances to build links from interesting, relevant sites. One successful tactic is to guest author an article on the other site, in exchange for an incoming link.

Conclusion
The simplified approach to online marketing is to select a few tools that fit your business and your customers, build your online presence, and develop relationships with current and potential customers through conversation. Contribute useful information to the online communities. Like the best in-person networking, online relationships will connect you to new business opportunities. Don't try to do it all. What will customers think when they find that you have dozens of profiles, but they are mostly inactive and un-updated? Better to focus on just a few tools and use them well.


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How to do simple videos for your business

Video can be a terrific small business communication tool. It is best for sending visual information, building a relationship with the viewers, and yet most entrepreneurs don't take advantage of it. You've asked me how I do simple videos, so here's my tips.

Camera

I don't have a fancy video camera. I do have a terrific older Olympus C-765 still camera with a movie mode. Any camera with a movie feature will work.

Preparation

Prepare your outline or script before you start. The more you prepare, the better you'll do. For easy editing later, stick to one or just a few different shots. I usually start with an idea, work it out in my head, and rehearse a few times before taping. Also, go take a look in the mirror. You may need a bit of personal preparation to look your best.

Pick the Right Spot

Start by getting into great light. Natural light works very well. In my store, I like to get by the big windows for some bright and even lighting. Turn on all your lights, and bring in some extra lamps.

Pay attention to your background. Look for a relatively uncluttered background, and make sure you don't have a lamp or plant that appears to grow out of your head. You can check easily by snapping a sample photo first.

Tripod or Handheld

Either way, stay about an arm's length from the camera. That will give you better sound from the built in mic. Not great sound, mind you, but better sound.

If you have a tripod, use it! No tripod? Improvise! Set the camera up on a bookshelf, or stack up something flat for it to rest on. You can just hold the camera in one hand, at arm's length. It's hard to be steady that way, but it works OK for impromptu filming.

Film It

Make sure the camera is on movie mode and sound is turned on. Press the shutter button to start, pause just a moment then begin. You want to pause to make sure the camera starts filming and then to give yourself a bit of extra space when you edit.

Feel free to record two or three different times. In fact, it's digital, so feel free to retry as many times as you want. And pause a few seconds after you finish before you trip the shutter again.

Copy It

Now hook up your camera and copy the movie file or files to your computer. My Olympus makes .MOV files and I use Windows Movie Maker, so I need to convert the files to edit them. I use MP4Cam2AVI to do the conversions. It's very simple.

Edit It

The best way to learn to edit, for me, was to practice some editing. Simple one shot films are easier than multi-scene pieces. Even cutting to a close up takes a bit of finesse to keep the audio correctly in sync. Trust me, though. If I can figure it out, so can you! Start simple, and learn as you go.

Post It

I use Blip.tv, and I have had good luck. I had trouble with sound quality on Google and You Tube. Blip was easy to use. If you'll tell them about your blog, they'll automatically cross-post for you. Otherwise, they'll let you have a simple HTML code to copy and paste to your blog.

So, go try it! Make a video, and share a link with us!

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Tool: Government 90 Day Temperature Outlooks

Wondering what kind of temperatures to expect this summer?

If you are involved with tourists or amusement parks, if you are a supplier for a local farmer's market, if you are a grain/animal farmer, if you are planning your own vacation, or for any other reason, you can seek 90-day temperature outlooks from the National Weather Service.

Like all meteorologists, the government hedges its bets, offering only rough odds on how the next three months will compare with historical averages. Even that can be interesting.

Go to Weather.gov's climate section, plug in your ZIP code where it asks "Would you like to look at your local information?", then scroll down for temperature forecasts.

Startup: Resources to get from Idea to In Business

So you have this great business idea rolling around in your head. How do you get it into the real world?

(What? You don't have an idea yet? You can use the four tactics in Resource: Small Business Ideas for Small Towns and check out our previous ideas posts to get started. Oh, and look at Nairobi Paul's Biz Idea, the inspiration for this article. I'll wait here.)

Online Resource Sites

From idea to a real business is the big jump. Luckily, we are internet age entrepreneurs. Even if you are in a rural area or small town, you can use online tools. Here are five no-cost sites from my favorites list.

• Entrepreneur.com: Starting a Business. This is a huge resource site. The best tools are Countdown to Startup, Stop Procrastinating!, and 75 Secrets to Startup.
  
  
• SBA: Small Business Planner: Get Ready. The interactive Checklist and the Starting a Business FAQs are the best. The Startup Guide opens a huge new list of resources by topic.
  
  
• JumpUp: Steps to Start a Business. Each step includes a How and Why, plus Tools and Services. I especially recommend Business Planning, because they pared a business plan down to five questions for business and four questions for finance.
  
  
• Startup Nation: 10 Steps to Open for Business. Articles, audio intros, templates, and resource links. The first step here is to create your life plan, then build the business to fit within it. That's better than trying to force your life around the business.
  
  

A few of our articles that will help are Simplified business plans for the real world, Simplified marketing plans for the real world, and Turn on the lights!

Pick the tool, checklist, or article that best suits your style and where you are in the process. Get started by taking some concrete action.

[Photo: Sage and Saddle B&B, a business that fits the owner's life. Jeanne helped them get from idea to in-business.]

Live, In-Person Help

What if you just want someone to talk it over with? Let's find some real people who can help you. No matter where you are, odds are that you are in the territory of some free business consulting sources.

These first two are more or less consistent nationwide in the US. No matter where you are, you can call on the nearest of these services.

• Small Business Development Centers. Our Co-Author Jeanne (OkieJ) works for the SBDC based in Alva, Oklahoma. Her job, along with all SBDC counselors, is to provide free business counseling to anyone who asks. She helps guide people from idea to startup and beyond, and she drives halfway across the state to meet with people on their own turf. Trust me, there is a SBDC and the local equivalent of Jeanne near you waiting to help, probably based on a college campus.
  
  
• SCORE. Through SCORE, volunteers with real business experience can help you develop your idea. SCORE has lots of chapters in the US, but they are pretty far apart in my corner of the state. That's why they also offer to answer questions by email.
  

This second group of resources is more general. The names and programs will vary from place to place, so you have to do more research to find them in your area. The best place to start is:

• Chamber of Commerce. The local chamber of commerce may have their own business counseling program, or may point you to other local resources. They should know all the other players in your local market. If you local town chamber is too small to help much, try the next bigger neighboring city.
  
  
• Economic Development Associations. This could be a city agency, a county group, or a regional or state organization, but many offer help directly to prospective business owners.
  
  
• Universities, Colleges, Technical Centers. Many educational institutions have some program or center dedicated to small business. The services available vary widely. You'll just have to call and find out what's available to you. Even if you are not near the campus, you are probably still in the service area of some help.
  
  
• Business Incubators. All incubators provide services to the businesses that they house. Some also provide assistance to start-ups that might locate with them or even to people looking to do something with their idea. It never hurts to ask. Some incubators worldwide are listed at the NBIA.
  
  
• State Business, Commerce, or Economic Development Department. This is usually an agency of the state government, so start looking on your state's government website. In order to get in-person help from the state, you may need to be planning a pretty large business. More likely, they may help you find a more local resource person.
  
  
• Trade Associations. Depending on the type of business you are considering, you may get some help from a trade group or business alliance. Some are semi-governmental groups, and you can connect to them through the state business agency. Some are private membership associations, and you'll have to find them through research.
  

I've given you several options, because I know that personal help is only as good as the person offering it. If you don't get the help you need from one source, keep looking.

Have an Addition? or a Fee-based Resource?

This is far from a comprehensive list; it's just some of my personal favorites that don't cost any cash. If you have another lead you'd like to see mentioned, drop it in a comment.

For example, one of our readers, CapForge Founder Matt Remuzzi, let us know about the publications and services at CapForge, some free and some members-only. One members-only item is Starting a business step by step broken down into 35 steps, starting with researching your options and ending with launching the business.

Tell me about your favorites, and I'll look them over.

Get Going!

Now you are armed. You have four free online sites, two no-cost national groups, and untold numbers of local resources to help you. Yes, it takes work to turn that idea into action, but you don't have to do it all by yourself. Tap into these resources and get going!


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Rural Answers to the Top 5 Questions and Trends

Our friend Chris Brogan is passing around a list of questions from Jeff Pulver about web sites and trends. Here are the questions:

1. Most Useful application
   
2. Best Web site
   
3. Worst Web site
   
4. Hottest Trend
   
5. Favorite Gadget

Here are the rural/small town business answers:

1. Most useful application - Not a hot new trend, but the most useful applications are Open Source and free applications. Need office software? Try Open Office. Browse the web with Firefox. Reading PDF files? Use FoxIt. You won't pay a nickel for any of them. It's a far different world from the early PC software days when everything you wanted cost hundreds of dollars. Now you may still want the $300 image editor, but you can use GIMP for free. I'm still looking for the free/open source Publisher. Any ideas?
   Why not the slew of Web 2.0, online, interactive tools and applications? Because many rural and small town businesses still use dial-up and many have unreliable internet connections. It's true!
   
2. Best web site - Will It Fly? If you have a question about business, it will guide you to an answer. An excellent tool for small businesses located far from traditional business resources.
3. Worst web site - I still dislike My Space. I use lots and lots of online community sites, but find My Space to have the absolute worst interface of any. Did the programmers go out of their way to make basic tasks difficult? I finally deleted my account. (This of course brands me as an out of touch, aging nerd.) Since I'm not looking for everyone on earth, I'll use Linked In, Jump Up, Flickr,