Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

More and more people are becoming entrepreneurs and starting their own business. Whether it is due to corporate layoffs or just wanting to venture out on one's own, many are finding that starting their own small business is better than re-entering the 'rat race.'

However, most new entrepreneurs are not experienced business owners, nor do they have access to a lot of startup capital. Bootstrapping, or saving on as many expenses as possible, is the way to go for many new business owners.

But how do you know if your bootstrapping strategy will work? Here are five tips to help assure that you get the most from your tight budget.

1. Your First Day Is Not Your Dream Business

   Some entrepreneurs have dreams of grandeur starting on the first day they open their doors for business. If you have access to a virtually unlimited supply of capital, then yes, go redecorate a class A office or retail space and build your dream business. However, if your budget is limited, don't expect to have thousands of customers, employees, and a custom interior designed office.

2. Work From Home

   Bootstrapping means saving cash, but office or retail space requires rent. You already pay for your home, so why not turn a portion of it over to your business? You save money on rent expense and get a great tax deduction for a home office. Consider using a spare bedroom, or converting your garage into a small home office.

   When you need to meet with clients, you can rent a "pay as you go" office space by the hour. Or if you want to delve into retail, start with an ecommerce store first so you don't have overhead rent plaguing your bottom line.

3. Barter for Services

   Sure, you want your cash flow to improve. However, you also want to save expenses to reduce spending. Why not barter for essential services? For instance, offer your web design skills to a bookkeeping service. You can redesign and optimize their website, and in turn, you get accounting services.

4. Offer 'Introductory' Prices

   You want to get cash flow moving, so why not offer your first customers a reduced introductory price, say 25% off? You can get a number of new loyal customers and get money in the door right away.

5. Start with a Simple Website

   You don't need a website with all the bells and whistles right off the bat. If you are not a web or graphic designer, simply use free web building tools and templates provided by your web host to get a great-looking site off the ground. You can always improve and customize the look later when your cash flow grows.

Content is king. You've heard that over and over, and not just from us. If you want your small business website to be successful with your SEO strategy, you must regularly update your website with content.

However, what kind of content do you need? How do you get ideas for writing new content? And where does that content come from?

Here are six great ideas for getting you the fresh content you need to keep your small business website updated on a regular basis.

1. Blog

   A company blog is one of the best ways to publish regular content on your website. However, in order to get the SEO advantage, you can't use a free blog hosted by Blogger or WordPress. You must get your blog "plugged in" on your website. Most web host companies work with blog platforms like WordPress so you can actually get your WordPress blog on your domain.

2. Product Comparisons

   Why not post product comparisons on your website? You may want to give a biased opinion about how your product stacks up next to your competition. Or you could consider offering a free product to a reputable neutral third party who does product comparisons.

3. Product Guides

   On your small business website, you can also post content that helps customers either purchase a product with a purchase guide or help troubleshoot issues with a helpful FAQ guide.

4. Knowledge Base

   Rather than a simple FAQ page or 1-page guide, why not post a full knowledgebase of helpful articles filled with potential topics your customers are interested in?

5. White Papers

   Consider hiring a professional content writer to compose one or more white papers. A white paper is simply an expanded brochure, but provides more marketing value for your business. Rather than posting brief bullet points about a product, a white paper delves into much more detail, even demonstrating actual case studies to encourage potential customers to see the value in your service.

6. Check Industry News

   If you write your own content or blog posts, consider checking industry news. You can easily get notifications from Google about specific keywords or phrases to alert you regarding relevant news. Then use the information to write your own opinions for your small business website.

A small business owner has an abundance of hats to manage, and oftentimes the business' website gets put on the metaphorical back burner in order of priority.

Unfortunately, that can be a dire mistake. Simply putting up a 1 or 2 page website to get "something" on the internet for your business can be more detrimental than it is good publicity. If you are one of those business owners who has neglected your website, read these four tips that can improve your simple little spot on the World Wide Web.

1. Keep it Fast

   Despite the fact that high-speed internet allows customers to surf the web at breakneck speeds, that doesn't mean you should bog down your website with 'heavy' files. Be sure that each page of your website is easy and fast to load. That means:

   • Reduce the size and compress your graphics and other images.
   • Avoid using 'flashy' scripting like Macromedia Flash that takes time to load before executing.
   • Use cascading style sheets (CSS) to reduce the amount of html programming of each web page (and to keep your web pages consistent in theme, style, color, etc.).

2. Optimize for Search Engines

   You will continually hear from us about search engine optimization (SEO). This is essential for keeping your website in the radar of major search engines, which in turn generates free, relevant traffic to you.

   At the very least, you should be including prominent keywords on each page, using META description and keyword tags. You should also publish content regularly that not only infuses keywords, but encourages outside links on other websites that point to you.

3. Keep it Updated

   A static website is a stale website, and it will lose interest of both viewers and search engines. Be sure you continually update your site with content such as new articles or blog posts so you have fresh material at least 2-3 times a week.

4. Keep it Engaging

   Your website visitors want an experience when they visit your site. A page full of text-only is dull and drab. Include graphics, photos, and other images. Of course, be sure to point out to your visitors how to get to the next level - which is your sales, checkout, or contact us page.