Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

Creating a small business website or blog and publishing a few articles is only the beginning of the job. While the completion of a great-looking website is worthy of a celebration, there is plenty more to do in order to ensure your website or blog attracts and keeps your desired online audience.

To help website owners make more sense of the visits they get, a list of statistical information is available. But the collected statistics and data are meaningless if you don't know what they mean. These statistics can easily be presented using web analytics tools found either from your web host or from a third-party web analytics company. The data presented on web analytical tools can help you make more sense of your website visitors by learning how and what to keep track of, and make better decisions of the content you post.

Making Sense of Web Analytics Terms

If you don't know what the terms presented in your web analytics tool mean, you can't make decisions on how to improve. Here are the most common and helpful terms you'll find.

Hits vs. Visits
Probably the most often-asked question is "how many people see my small business website?" There is statistical data to help answer this question, but the terms and data vary significantly.

• Hits - Many website owners like to advertise how many "hits" a website gets. However, a 'hit' is counted whenever a file is downloaded from the viewer. A single page may have multiple files, including the HTML coding file, a css file, photos, graphics, and other images that make up the entire content of the webpage. Each one of these files counts as a 'hit'. You can see how a single page view can register several hits, making this data unreliable in evaluating true page view counts.
• Visits - Any time a webpage is accessed, it registers a 'visit'. However, the same individual can access the same web page multiple times, and it can be counted again and again.

• Unique Visitors - This data tells a more reliable story of how many different individuals access a specific webpage. A web counter tool will store a cookie file on the computer of each individual who visits a website. That way, whenever the individual returns to the site, the counter knows it has already been logged.

  However, be aware that many savvy internet surfers will at times clear their cookie files from their browser, or even use multiple browsers to access your site. That means the cookie has no effect on counting the visitor as unique, and can skew the results.

• Return Visitors - Along with the importance of counting Unique Visitors, you should also keep track of Return Visitors. That cookie will help your counter let you know how many visitors come back more than once.

Page Views
This data is helpful particularly for blogs. It will tell you which specific blog pages get the most views, and lets you know what kind of content is more likely to elicit views and responses.

Entry Pages
The data found here tells you where your visitors enter your site. Do most come in right at your home page? Or do they find content based on searches? (See Referrers below)

Exit Pages
Likewise, you may want to know where your visitors leave your website. Do you have a lot of exits on your checkout page? Perhaps that is an indicator that it needs to be revamped.

Referrers
You may want to know where your visitors come from. This will let you know what specific website and page a visitor came from, usually by following a link. This may tell you how many visitors come from search engine results, or from your link sharing strategy. If you market your website on other sites, this can be invaluable as to how effective your paid online marketing is doing.

Keywords/Phrases
This data is usually presented when the referrer is a search engine. You may have agonized over choosing the keywords and phrases for your website's SEO. However, this helpful data will let you know what exact and specific words and phrases your visitors used to find your website and its content.

The brochure is one of the basic pieces of advertising and is part of any marketing mix for any business, large and small. While some corporations have taken the brochure to the extreme by creating "booklets" and calling them brochures, a single, double-sided folded paper form is still the most common brochure.

But how do you create the most effective brochure? It is easy enough to fiddle with Word templates and cheap graphics programs, but do these really create the best professional-looking brochure for your company?

Questions to Ask Before You Begin

Before ever beginning a new brochure you should ask yourself the following questions:

Who is the target audience?
This will help you determine the direction and scope of the brochure. Will it be read by other salespeople? Executives? Creative types? Techno-nerds? Stay-at-home parents wandering by a bulletin board?

Say for instance your target recipient is an IT professional to whom you are marketing your software. You will want to include more technical specifics and features of your product in your brochure. By contrast, a toy company may create a brochure with more bright, colorful images, and show the benefits of your product to moms and dads.

What is my brochure budget?
It is impossible to state an average price for a brochure. It really depends on what elements you wish to include, and who will help you create it. You can help gather budget data by contacting writers, graphic designers, printers, photographers, etc., and get estimates on how much they charge for their services.

How will the brochure be used?
Ask yourself what role the brochure will play in your business. Will it be a pickup at local community centers? Will it be mailed to your target customers? Will it be left to executives or managers after sales meetings? The answer to this questions is a must in order for you to create the format and design.

Elements of a Brochure

What should be included on your small business brochure? You have creative license to make your brochure match your company style and tone, but some of the most often used elements include:

• Intro - A brief intro will help your reader know who you are and what to expect from the brochure. It will usually also determine whether a reader will read any further, so make it count!
• Services/Products - This is important for your target reader to know exactly what they can get from your business.
• Price List - If you have a set price list, listing your products and/or services along with their prices is one of the most helpful elements to make buying decisions.
• Bio - Particularly if you are a service business, include a short bio of the owner. If you sell products and have been in business for years, a short bio and history of the company is customary.
• Contact - Don't forget to tell your audience how to order your services/products. Include name, address, phone, fax, email, and web address.
• Images - Will you use graphics, photographs, or other images? Consider this as an inclusion to aid in the brochure design and impact.

Writing and Developing the Brochure

Hire a Pro
We recommend using professionals whenever possible.

A professional copywriter has the experience and know-how to develop the most convincing, informative, and sales-influencing language.

A graphic designer can best be used to for the creative layout of your brochure.

A printing company will be the best resource to get your brochure from concept to reality using the best paper and ink.

A photographer may be desired if you want to include professional images of you product.

A design agency might be your answer to help coordinate all of the above.

If you create it yourself...
Saving money is what a small business is all about. If you do write your own brochure, be sure to be brief and concise, and use the common elements for influential sales copy. And if you do the layout and printing, avoid cutting corners. Don't go overboard with too many images, keeping in mind that it's easy to overuse clip art. And if you do print on your own printer, use the best possible ink and printer. A laser printer creates much better results than an ink-jet printer.

There was a time when using visual aids during a presentation meant large print illustrations tacked onto cardboard and set upon a tripod. These bulky extras were a pain to create and lug around, but were a necessary evil when it came to making a punch with an important presentation to investors, clients, customers, etc.

However, then the magic of computer software came along, and Microsoft developed the saving grace to any presentation: PowerPoint. With PowerPoint, anyone can create stunning slides to give a striking visual element while making a speech by simply projecting it onto a screen or blank wall. Using written statements, bullet point outlines, colorful images, and even animation between slide elements, PowerPoint is your friend when it comes to making an effective presentation.

However, not everyone knows the practical secrets of utilizing PowerPoint to make the best impression. That is why we bring to you the six most dynamic tips and secrets to help you be the best PowerPoint presenter you can be.

1. Avoid Slide Clutter

   One big mistake most presenters make is simply including too much information on a single slide. If you must use text to emphasize your statements, use brief bullet points. The best guide for each slide is to have a header, subject title of slide, and 3 or 4 short bullet points.

   Use illustrations and photos when you think they will help drive the point home. However, if you do, avoid shrinking a complex image and including it with all the other points. Use a separate slide if necessary so the image gets the most effect, then get back to the text.

2. Make the Most of Charts and Graphs

   A plethora of numbers on a slide does not make a lot of sense to viewers. For instance, if you are trying to show the history of your yearly revenues, a slew of side-by-side numbers has little impact.

   Instead, use charts and graphs to help crunch those numbers into helpful visual images. A bar graph showing the steady increase in sales and revenue is the best way to display that kind of information.

3. Go Easy on the Creativity

   The creative tools that come with PowerPoint software makes it very tempting to go crazy with transitions, animation, sounds, video, etc. However, be sure the transitions you use remain simple. Don't let them distract from the points you are trying to make. A simple guide is to show your points one by one as you make them, but don't have them fly, spin, or twirl in.

4. Brand Your Business

   Your presentation is likely to support your small business in some way. Whether you are pitching to investors, or describing the benefits of your product to customers, you want your company name branded all over the presentation.

   For starters, make sure that each slide template has your company name and logo. Don't make it too crowded, but just at the top or the corner of each slide. And if possible, always show photos of customers enjoying your product, your product on the store shelf, etc.

5. Limit Your Slides and Your Time

   A presentation is not a marathon sales pitch. A shorter presentation is a better presentation. Keep it under 20 minutes. 10 to 15 minutes is more preferable. You want more time for interaction with the attendees, especially if they have questions.

   Your slides should be kept to a minimum too. Don't try to include dozens of slides and try to race through them just so you can show more images, photos, or slide tricks. 20 is a good target for the number of slides. Remember, you want your personality and presentation to shine, rather than get lost behind digital slides.

6. Practice, Practice, Practice

   Never try to "wing it" on your presentation. You should rehearse your presentation not just once, but again and again. While you can use notes if necessary to keep you on track, you should never fully write your speech and read from it.

   A presentation should be extemporaneous, and when practiced can be free-flowing, yet professional.

   Make your business presentations count. Use these helpful tips to ensure that your presentation gets you that next deal!