Monday, September 24, 2007

Burning Questions: Broke Entrepreneur Q&A, #2

I'm back with another Q&A, this time from Claire, who asks:

"What is an Entrepreneur, is it just somebody out to make lots of money? Or is it a more creative thing? How would you define it?"

There are many ways to define an entrepreneur. Certainly, the financial exploits are a large part, if not always the number one desired goal of any entrepreneurial pursuit. But I tend to think that entrepreneurism conveys a much deeper meaning than just profit, because for most people it fulfills a deeper need to be in control, to be in charge of their own destiny, and/or create a change or impact the world in some manner.

Entrepreneurs share a lot of the common characteristics of trailblazers, inventors, and philanthropists, and are most often a bit of each wrapped into one. While the ultimate goal is of course financial success, the lack thereof doesn't stop the pursuit, because a person who is committed to entrepreneurism will just move on to another challenge, undaunted by any previous failures, stopping just a moment to brush off his or her shoulders and then set pen to paper to begin again.

And this is all just my take on it, I'm sure others may see it differently, and that's the whole point - I think you have the ability to define yourself as an entrepreneur if you feel so moved, and no one can legitimately dispute that because no one can argue what your plans are or what your dreams are, regardless of what you may be doing today. Personally, I'm forever off on a chase, feverishly writing down plans, drawing layouts and charts for the way things SHOULD work if I just do A, B, or C. In my mind, I'm an entrepreneur, albeit, a broke entrepreneur, but to others that have no idea what I have planned, if I was to state that I consider myself an entrepreneur, they would immediately wonder, where is the money? Where is the business and the success? Because that's what it comes down to for everybody looking in - only results speak to them. But for the entrepreneur, real results may be years away - and its the constant pursuit of those results that define the entrepreneur.

Wikipedia has a great entry on the word Entrepreneur, which lists personality characteristics as written in 1986 by John G. Burch in Business Horizons. I won't quote them all here, I encourage you to follow the link and read the list in its entirety, but the ones that most spoke to me were:

Nurturing quality: Willing to take charge of, and watch over a venture until it can stand alone.

Reward orientation: Desire to achieve, work hard, and take responsibility, but also with a commensurate desire to be rewarded handsomely for their efforts; rewards can be in forms other than money, such as recognition and respect.

Optimism: Live by the philosophy that this is the best of times, and that anything is possible.

I can identify with each of these. I'm often approached by family and friends with a business idea, and while they may only have developed the shell of the plan, I will take it and run with it, and by the time we speak again I've designed their logo, threw up a starter website, researched the market and even drafted a business plan! And I have no financial interest in their project whatsoever, I just want it to work for them, and I may be a bit of a control freak too, lol. So I hand it all over, expecting them to be as excited for themselves as I am already for them, but they've already either discarded the idea or put it on the back burner. At any rate, I've extended myself as much as I could and I'm still only a phone call away. I do it because its fun, it excites me, and I've planted the seeds they brought me - whether or not they water them, that's up to them at that point, but I've enjoyed myself being a part of it!

That's also why I do this blog. It's certainly not for profit - but I won't turn my nose up at it either! I'm no fool! But I do it because I love the whole process and I want to stretch the possibilities, even if I'm not the one in the driver's seat. If I can deliver information to you that can help you get over a hurdle and move your plans forward, then it is all worth every minute I spend on this.

Readers, what do you think defines an entrepreneur? I'd love to hear your interpretations.

Thanks so much for your question, Claire! I hope my answer was at least somewhere close to what you had in mind!

Please visit Claire's blog, A Little Piece of Me, and check out her gorgeous photography and random thoughts.

If you have any questions for me, please send them to denise@brokeentrepreneurs.com and I'll include them in a future Q&A!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Creating a (free) buzz with Yahoo Answers

Ruck at Cashtactics.net has written a fantastic, free, downloadable eBook that describes his system for using Yahoo Answers to generate traffic and sales for his business. I've read it, and I think he covers some great points overall, and I also appreciate that he cautions about using the service for spam and just mindless blanketing of your advertising. I worry about people reading his advice and taking it to the extreme and doing just that, but I'm certain that Yahoo has - or will have - a system in place to deal with such as necessary. BTW, Cashtactics is an awesome blog that I highly recommend for internet marketing advice, he definitely knows of what he speaks!

A lot of people either aren't aware of Yahoo Answers, or maybe know of it but never spent any real time there. Let me tell you, it's very addictive and if you're not careful, you can get stuck there for hours. It's a different kind of social networking, less for the soul than for the brain. Basically, people ask questions, and people answer questions. In a nutshell. It's totally free with a Yahoo account, and the beauty in this for you, the broke entrepreneur, is that if you're smart (and I know you are!), you can easily become an authority on your industry (or any other topic you choose) and spread your knowledge throughout the Yahoo Answers community, while helping people with their concerns, and advertising your business, website or blog at the same time - totally free. It's a wonderful thing.

It's the perfect hangout for Resident Smartypants such as myself who sometimes have all of the answers - and yet other times I have nothing but questions! Ruck tells you how to take it a bit further by applying some little known SEO tricks to the process and turning it into a virtual marketing goldmine. Play it right though, and even a little bit of participation will reap big rewards.

Yahoo Answers might prove to be so habit-forming that you won't even notice that you're actually doing promotion because you're having so much fun. Download and read Cashtactics eBook, read the rules at Yahoo Answers, then jump in and make it work for you. Just remember to be helpful and focused at all times, don't spam or inject your link where its not wanted, and keep in mind that there is no need to dig for opportunities to promote, there are literally hundreds of thousands of questions waiting to be answered at all times, so you're certain to find one that requires your type of expertise!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Joining the "You Comment, I Follow" Movement

Yes, I'm joining, so that's why I have one of the cool logos!

What it is, for those unfamiliar, is that I've edited my blog layout to remove the No Follow tags, so that search engines will follow links in the comments that are left here by the readers. I highly encourage comments and I welcome linkbacks to your blogs or websites. If its relevant, it can do nothing but share more information and add to the resources I like to provide. If its spam, then I will of course remove it. I don't see it being a problem unless I get bombarded and I would have to switch to moderation, which I really don't like to do, so lets hope it leads to good things.

To learn more, and have it explained much better than I could, please click here!

Diary of an eBay Store, Part 1

I'm the type of person that has to do things RIGHT. And I don't just mean, "okay, it's good now" type of RIGHT, I mean, nitpicking analistic (is that even a word?) nearly obsessive perfectionist type of RIGHT. As a result, it takes me long to do things than it should - but when I do it, it's RIGHT. You can imagine that that has its advantages and disadvantages.

This eBay store challenge has turned into one of those RIGHT things. I've done so much research into this that I think I've earned a degree. Matter of fact, there does exist eBay University, for whatever its worth.

I wanted, first of all, to read about what real eBay store owners were thinking, doing, complaining about, so I could bring those experiences into my own process. That's important, you don't go into anything with just your own dreams and visions - you need to tap into the pulse of the current consumers and the people behind the wheel. I hung out in the eBay forums, where you can find Discussion boards on every topic from Buyer/Seller complaints to Technical issues to locating collectibles worldwide. I'd venture to say that pretty much ANY question you might have about eBay is answered in these forums, and if you don't find an answer - ask the question and you're guaranteed to get a response within minutes. In addition to the discussion boards, there's now eBay blogs, which operate somewhat similar to other blogs except you can direct link them to your auctions. So in effect, you can blog about your store and your auctions, drop articles and reviews on your own inventory, and then send them quickly to your store to make the purchase. Love. It. Very nice upgrade.

Having already been an eBay member for some seven years now, I'd used the boards in the past, but there's always something new to learn there, especially if you're running active auctions because you can be alerted about potential scammers or buyers to watch out for. It's also good to read about the most common complaints regarding eBay services such as the eBay stores, and see what the other store owners are experiencing. I noticed that people often close their stores and reopen them at later dates - and this is important, because you don't want to feel that you've gotten into something that you can't get out of. Which, if you sign up with some other ecommerce solutions, you're signing up and paying for a year in advance and you may have to haggle over refunds or discontinuing billing. The eBay store is a monthly fee, and as long as you cancel before your new billing cycle, there seems to be very few issues with closing the account. If you decide to reopen later, just return to the link, reactivate, and reopen as usual. Sellers seem to do this if sales are low and they don't want to pay the associated fees if there's no revenue, makes perfect sense, and its great that you can easily back in and out of this without feeling like you bought a car.

What I really should have done, ideally, was spend 3-6 months collecting the Hot items files and analyzing them for obvious trends, so I would really be able to target my best potential for sales. You can't come to any conclusions off of one report, or two, and three will only get you close to the truth. Just because something is selling big in July, doesn't mean it will still be hot in August. And if you look at the reports during the Christmas season, you will see totally different products at the top of the list, as well as if you look during the summer months as opposed to the winter. So if you want to do this RIGHT, I suggest you take your time, pull the Hot Items reports for at least 2-3 months and take a look at how the top sellers fluctuate. You will notice some things may always be in the Hot list, such as children's clothing, designer clothing in particular, and certain electronics will always be steady sellers, such as computer peripherals and portable audio players. Collectibles climb higher on the list as you near the holiday season, as well as jewelry, and arts and craft supplies. This is only what I've discerned from past experience, the discussions in the forum, and old reports. My idea of, 'let's just open an eBay store' would have been fine if all you wanted was an eBay store, but if you want an eBay store that actually makes a profit, then you'll want to do the research first.

I see so many stores selling the SAME products, at nearly the SAME prices, and some of the items they have for sale, you have to wonder - what gave them the idea that this would sell? Of course, there's always a buyer for something that most other people wouldn't look twice at, but when you're putting your time and energy into a storefront, you want to turn a regular profit, not just move one or two items a month. If you spend some time looking at what other sellers are having success with, and what they're losing money and time on, you can avoid those problems with your own store.

I should note that there are a few requirements that you need to meet in order to qualify for an eBay store, but they are rather simple. You need to be an eBay Seller, with a feedback score of at least 20. This requires that you verify your identity by providing your home address and phone number, as well as credit card and banking information. This goes a long way to protect your buyers and help establish your credibility as a seller, but, as you know, on the internet, there's always people who find a way around the system. You also need to open a Paypal account, if you haven't already, and that account must be verified and in good standing, meaning, Paypal has ran the necessary checks to ensure your account is legitimate and you are qualified to accept payments.

In Part 2, I will wrap up the process of opening the store, but also cover inventory, deciding whether to dropship or resale wholesale products, and how to determine true wholesale suppliers.

Coming up, I have a personal profile of a real live Broke Entrepreneur! This is my first of several profiles of people who successfully built their businesses using their own resources and funding, while living paycheck to paycheck! First up is a woman who turned her passion for unique handbags into a small creative business of handmade fashionable bags and accessories, and sells them both through her website and other offline methods.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Always Be Selling!

Promoting Your Online Business - Offline

Often, I'm asked what can people do to market their business BESIDES the internet? After I pick my jaw up off the floor - because we know there's nothing besides the internet, right? :) But really, you can't be online all the time (I know, I've tried), and a lot of people don't have access to broadband or high speed internet, so their marketing activities may be curtailed a bit by such limitations. However, to be successful in any type of business, you have to Always Be Selling - whether you're pushing a product, or offering a service - Always Be Selling, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your online banner ads and link campaigns may work for you while you sleep, but there's another component of marketing that you shouldn't miss out on - the offline promotion of online businesses.

Recently, a local dating website launched and placed little white signs at nearly every street corner in this area. You couldn't miss them and you couldn't help your eyes being drawn to them as you sat at the traffic lights waiting to proceed. They were really simple signs with just their web address printed in black ink on bright white card stock, but their URL was burned into my brain for weeks after. At one point, they all disappeared, and then they would pop up again - I'm guessing that they violated an ordinance about public displays and they were ordered to remove them. But in true guerilla marketing fashion, it was worth the risk in their minds, because the impact that the signs made in that short time outweighed whatever fees they may have had to pay, and the fees were most certainly less than that same amount of exposure would have cost them in the traditional methods of advertising. I'm certainly not advocating that anyone break the law, but as a Marketing major, I admit to being impressed at how quickly they covered and concentrated their market, and that likely translated into hundreds of new customers.

What this means for you, is that you should do it the legal way - find out what your local ordinances are regarding posting signs and if possible, go to a print shop and have a batch of weatherproof flyers and durable yard signs made up that announce your website. (If you print the flyers yourself, purchase clear plastic covers to encase them in before you post them outside, they'll last longer!) Make sure the words are clear and visible to a person passing by in a car, so that they don't have to squint to read it and risk an accident. I've spotted a number of signs on telephone poles as I'm driving by, and they look interesting, but the print is too small for me to read, so I miss the message. Take both walkers and drivers into consideration when putting together this type of marketing blitz.

Business cards are still a valuable marketing tool because you have the opportunity to market to everyone, not just those with a computer. Not only can you hand them to people you encounter throughout the day, but you can stick them on store bulletin boards (I'm one of those that actually read those), include them in mailers, and even drop them at restaurants and diners to win free meals AND have your card prominently displayed for a week or two. Strive to move beyond the plain, static black and white cards. There are so many options for business cards that will really WOW your audience by presentation alone, so be creative and go for high impact color, designs, and even humor, where appropriate - and be sure to put your URL and email on the card. Don't let your card get tossed in a purse or a desk drawer, make it a card that people want to look at, keep around and share with others.

Think about how many hours per day you spend in your car - how many people do you think read your license plate in one day? It's a natural habit of both drivers and passengers to read the back of your car when they're behind you on the road, that's how bumper stickers were born, but that information likely doesn't stick, its just their eyes automatically scanning the back of your car and taking in that little bit of useless data. I think one of the coolest products to take advantage of that advertising space on the back of your car is the I.D. It! Plate. These sleek gold or chrome letters spell out your company name and/or website, and they are very classy and sophisticated looking, much less gaudy than those magnetic vinyl signs that look like you're driving a fleet car. I love the mystery of these because they emblazon your website in the viewer's mind and then they've got to get to a computer to see who and what it all means. Check out I.D. It! Plates - they're under $50 and delivery is FREE.

Another tip for offline promotions is to be aware of opportunities to donate within your community - its a great way to give back and at the same time, get a little bit of publicity for your business. Be on the alert for schools or churches seeking donations for projects - usually they will ask for either money or items purchased in the form of gift cards, or toy drives, etc. They usually publish the names of the donors and there you have achieved a double bonus of goodwill and exposure, at very little cost.

If you sell a hands-on product and your town has trade centers, otherwise known as flea markets or swap meets, inquire about pricing for booths, tables or tents. Often, the space on the parking lot is free or deeply discounted if you supply and set up your own tent. Rates for booths will vary, but locally, one of the trade centers rents booths inside the air conditioned building for as low as $15 per day, and they are only open Friday through Sunday. This is ideal if you know you will sell enough product to justify the cost. With thousands of visitors daily, you are almost guaranteed to find it worth your while. I know a lot of people that sell Stuff a Friend kits or candles, and they get a very good return on their small investment in the booth. Even if you don't have an actual product, consider setting up an Information Booth to distribute promotional materials that advertise your services. Set your booth up to be appealing and offer something that will attract the passerbys so you can get your materials in their hands - refreshments are generally a good bet!

Along those same lines, check out citywide or school sponsored craft shows or Mom2Mom sales, if you have a product that will interest that audience. Table rentals for these events is always very reasonable, somewhere around $20-30, and again, you've got a steady stream of people whose eyes will land on your product or information. Be sure to have an adequate supply of advertising materials and handouts so you don't have to close your station early because of a lack of supplies.

One note here though - I've seen in a few forums where people suggest that if you don't want to sit in the booth or tent all day, toss yours or a neighbor's kid a few dollars and have them babysit the operation. I can't express to you strongly enough what a BAD idea this is. If I stop at your booth and some kid tells me they're just sitting in for you and they know nothing about the business, I won't come back. Ever. You don't want to lose customers by not having enough respect for your business to provide a knowledgeable representative. Put up an "Out to Lunch" or "Back In a Minute" sign, if necessary to take a break, but represent your company properly at all times.

These are just a few of the ways you can create buzz for your online business by working it offline. I'm sure you will be able to pinpoint many more once you are tuned into looking for opportunities when you step away from your computer. Remember, Always Be Selling!

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Coming Soon: The Diary of an eBay Store

Just a quick update - I'm almost ready to start putting up the posts on my experience with opening and building an eBay store. I had planned to put up the first one today, but I haven't edited it yet and I need to make sure it's correct before I publish it. Then a colleague of mine passed me a tip on yet another online store possibility, so now I have to review that one and include it in the series. I had no idea that so many of these opportunities existed!

In the meantime, you can now sign up to get updates delivered to your email! Use the Subscribe Now button on the lower right, its quick and easy, and no spam, just feeds directly from Really, Really, Broke Entrepreneurs.

And thanks to everyone for the terrific feedback and suggestions for how I can improve the site. I read everything, positive or negative, and I appreciate your interest in taking the time to contact me. It helps me develop topics for future entries, so keep it coming! To reach me, use denise@brokeentrepreneurs.com, or simply leave a comment.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Burning Questions: Broke Entrepreneur Q&A

This is the first of several Q&A entries I'm going to post, based on questions I've received on the topic of being a broke entrepreneur.

Up first is a question from Broke Entrepreneur reader, Brian:

It's been brought up before, but what's the best/most effective sort of free advertising around? I mean really free: $0.00 USD!

Of course there are many ways to market your business, but as a broke entrepreneur, you have to think both creatively and efficiently, so you maximize your efforts while minimizing your cost. Traditional advertising outlets, such as newspaper, radio and television, are very expensive yet still do the best job of reaching segments of your core audience, but they do not have the reach of the internet. Whether your business is an online store or a lawn service company, you can widen your market - or deepen your customer base with today's free internet tools.

Right now - and I say that because things are always changing, evolving - but right now, the best marketing tool for a broke entrepreneur is a blog, much like this one. Unlike websites that require a professional designer and/or knowledge of coding, a domain name and website, and then a marketing campaign on top of it - most blogs are free, take only minutes to create, and some portion of your marketing is already built in. The current climate is such that audiences are very receptive to blogs and savvy business owners are using their blogs as entry points to the total package, such as the company website or an online store.

A blog is perfect to introduce your product or service first, and then use regular entries to highlight and discuss specific topics to which you want to draw attention. Cleverly written articles and product profiles will keep your readers visiting often; ensuring it is fresh and dynamic will give you favor with the search engines, and later you can link off from your blog to a professional website and/or ecommerce store.

For instance, a colleague of mine makes dolls as a hobby, and a while back she had an active website but never found the type of traffic that she needed to keep it viable. If she were to try it again with a blog, she could write articles about locating the best deals on dollmaking supplies, or using environmentally-friendly products in dollmaking, and she could upload videos of herself in the work room creating a doll, and also include a link to her online store. In addition to building an audience of regular readers who will grow to respect and actively seek out her advice, many of them will naturally click to visit her eBay store and make a purchase. Her cost for marketing and promotion? ZERO.

The unique thing about blogs when compared to websites is also the proliferation of blog directories, social bookmarking sites and RSS data feed services. You will still need to submit to the search engines (or use one of many free submission services), and you have literally hundreds of blog listing sites at your disposal, where you can list your blog and connect with new readers and potential clients. Registration with social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us, StumbleUpon and Technorati allow your readers to easily share your blog with thousands of others with just a click, which give you an even bigger audience as your articles become "favorited" and acquire high ratings.

Two of the most popular free blogs are Blogger and Wordpress, but a quick Google search will yield hundreds more that offer various features and degrees of affordability. If you're thinking of starting a blog, visit a few of them and look around to see which one will fit your needs.

So that's my choice for the best marketing tool for any business. That is, until something better comes along!

Thank you for your question, Brian.

Please visit Brian's blogs, Starting a Small Business Without Losing My Mind , and Apathetic Lemming of the North, a blog about, well, blogging!

If you have any questions for me, please send them to denise@brokeentrepreneurs.com and I'll include them in a future Q&A!

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Freebies (and cheapies)!

I searched for and compiled a short list of freebies - useful things that could help you with business marketing and development. There's a lot of free "junk" out there, so I tried to only list things that were really, truly, free, or the cost was negligible, for instance, a small shipping fee. Be aware though, that anything free, will likely want your email or home address for future advertisements - they have to get SOMETHING out of the deal.

Don't forget to download the totally free eBooks listed in the right column, including the Really, Really Broke Entrepreneurs ebook which contains detailed information on the basics of starting a business. In addition, the other books cover everything from search engine optimization to personal motivation strategies that help you stay focused on your goals.

Books & Magazines
Home Business - Free one year subscription to this dynamic publication covering all of the important facets of running a home business, including franchising opportunities, startup and financing advice, and much, much more.

Black Enterprise Magazine - Complimentary one year subscription to the premier publication of industry profiles, success strategies and the keys to entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneur Business Book Bundles - Entrepreneur magazine is offering free business book bundles, you pay only S&H. There are two bundles of 10 books each, one is Start & Run Your Business, and the other is Manage & Grow Your Business. Shipping is $39, but for 10 books with a retail value of nearly $200, that's less than $4 each for such titles as Writing Killer Sales Proposals, Stay Out of Court, and Powertools for Women in Business. Order a bundle and share it with a fellow entrepreneur.

Marketing
PR.com - Big businesses send out press releases - why don't you? A great way to get the word out about your company, special promotions, position changes and more. PR.com offers free press releases for your business promotions, and they do all of the work to distribute the information throughout media outlets.

Free Business Ads - This classified ads site is totally free for any business ad for up to 14 days. They do a high amount of traffic and even their rates for extended and upgraded ads are extremely reasonable starting at $6.95 for 14 days.

Promotional Products
Business Cards - I am asked about these free business cards all the time, they're high quality and look just like any other set of business cards - until you flip them over and see the Vista Print logo on the back. To their credit, their ad on the free cards is very lightly colored and not very gaudy, so its not as bad as one might think. I would pay the additional cost to have their line removed, BUT if you really can't afford it but still need business cards right away, then these will do just fine. You can store your information and return later for reorders without the ads on back.

Magnets - While not free, I included these because of the option to order such a small quantity, as low as 25. Most promotional items require you to order at least 50-100, and Vista Print offers 25 magnets for only $12.99, plus an additional $5 to upload your own logo. That's a small price to pay for something you can give to your valued clients that will keep your company name in full view for a long time.

Software
Remote Link Checker - a free, downloadable application that will scan your html pages and verify the links are valid. While Dreamweaver has this feature built in, if you use another program, you may not have the same capability. Very handy.

Agreement Builder - This free software download contains a huge vault of contract templates that you may require to execute with your clients. Simply edit the contracts as needed, and print.

Logo Creator - Another great free application that enables you to design a logo for your business.

Fonts - I'm always surprised that more people I run into, aren't aware of Coffeecup's vault of free fonts. They literally have everything here, and its all free. The only annoying part is that you have to enter your email address because each one is delivered by email. But I've had an account with them for years and I can tell you that they don't spam you or bother you with unnecessary emails. While you're at the site, take a look at their other free software - not trial software, but free, scaled down versions of the full featured applications. Still worth a try.

Web Development
Domain Names - I'm a GoDaddy regular but I found this company that beats their price. For only $2.99, you can get a .info domain, and .com domains are only $5.95, that's $3 less than most places, including GoDaddy. You don't get the free email, but I do like their control panel and their quick customer service. It's an option to save a few dollars, no biggie, but it all adds up!

Website Hosting - I never recommend free hosting packaging, in fact, I'd encourage you to just wait until you could afford a good business host rather than go with a free site. However, if both time and cost are an issue, I choose this company for a free website, because there are NO ads on your site and you get FTP access, which is uncommon for a free site. You won't get any advanced features but it will work until you can upgrade later to a full featured web host.