I've been contributing over the last few months to the content of a vibrant and growing site that points toward the future of the Internet and has profound potential for users interested in small business. The site is NetworkingForPros.com.

When I look across the web at the moment, it's clear that the Internet of yesterday (static pages where you could find information and news) has been replaced by an interactive, social Internet that is about people instead of facts and figures.

One of those people is you. Today the Internet is about you, and about me.

Who are you? The old model of the early Internet allowed a handful of writers and bloggers to publish information about people. Most of those people that info got published on were the stars - the Madonna, Mel Gibson, Mylie Cyrus, and the like. Who where you in that mix? Probably nobody, because they didn't write about you at all.

NetworkingForPros.com is part of a trend that is changing what the Internet is about. It's helping to make the Internet more about you and less about Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey. And the best part is that you can even help control what gets said about you. Using a wiki format, NetworkingForPros.com lets you enter your own information. You can write about yourself and about your friends or colleagues. Like with any wiki, you can comment on and contribute to the pages that other people have started. It's an interactive space focused on providing information about real people. People like you. After all, just because you're not Madonna or A-Rod, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be on the Web.

NetworkingForPros.com is where the professional relationships of tomorrow start: a place where you can find out about real people, a place where you can contribute to what knowledge is available on the web, a place where you can find and connect to people who share your interests.

Find yourself and find your friends at NetworkingForPros.com. And if they're not there already, put them there…

Noobpreneur has a useful discussion available on how to get more exposure for your website and turn website visitors into paying clients.

Noobpreneur's owner, Ivan Widjaya, speaks from experience. He looks at content and design for a website, moves on to the question of how to get traffic, and ends with a discussion of how to convert that traffic into customers.

Content and traffic generation are kings, but traffic conversion is the king of kings. Traffic conversion is essentially turning traffic of prospects into product or service buyers.

Here's a simple math: Getting 10,000 visitors to your website with 1 percent conversion rate will generate 100 sales. However, getting 1,000 visitors with 10 percent conversion rate will generate the same 100 sales. The 9,000-visitor difference is suddenly not that important anymore.

This is just one of several articles he has on the topic.

Karin Price Mueller had a piece not long ago on how to get a handle on your expenses that should be required reading if you manage a business.

This is not the kind of economy in which you should be spending unnecessarily. Some expenses are obvious areas to pare back, but others-those vampire expenses-can be less obvious.

She looks at how to inventory your expenses in some detail and then goes on to point out seven areas you can consider amking cuts in. In this economy, her piece is worth reading.


© zzzack

Every business needs publicity. Whether it's the business pages of a phone book, an ad on television, or some other platform, growing new customers involves getting the word out. More than ever before, the Internet is becoming an affordable and effective way to meet that need.

If you're looking for a convenient way to get your business noticed on the Web (or to publicize your experience with a local business), you're probably looking for Yescalate, a site were local business information is built by users.

Yescalate is a wiki, a site where users collaborate to create content and built knowledge for the Internet. On the one hand, Yescalate works like the business pages of an online phone book. You can put basic information (street address, products and services, phone numbers, prices, website, even pictures) on a Yescalate entry about your business. On the other hand, your customers can add to the site, creating comments or adding to the content about your business.

Best of all, you don't have to deal with sales people or pay some fee the way you world with a newspaper or phonebook ad. The site is free to use, and free to build.

Times are tough. In the midst of tough times, sometimes a business manage has to do something. But deciding to do something is different than deciding how to do something...

Entrepreneur.com had a good piece recently on creating an action plan.

This is the number one secret to effective goal setting; regardless of what your goal is, the key to reaching it is always the same. The best, perhaps the only, way to turn an abstract goal into an attainable reality is to create an action plan; a nitty-gritty, no-nonsense action plan.

Ray Silverstein goes on to give you four basic steps to writing (and carrying out) and action plan.


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 3892069

Late last month BusinessWeek ran two stories on cutting salaries: Does It Pay to Reduce Pay? and Cutting Salaries Instead of Jobs.

Does it make sense?

Once considered off limits for salaried managers and professionals, base pay reductions are becoming increasingly common in today's brutal recession. Many human resources experts believe the recent moves by major companies-household names such as FedEx (FDX), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Saks Fifth Avenue are all trimming salaries-could present perils when the economy turns back up again. They argue that star performers could bolt to other companies and that morale and productivity could suffer.

But others see an upside to reducing pay rather than making more layoffs. One of them is Dan Ariely, the author of the popular behavioral economics book Predictably Irrational, and a professor at Duke University. He believes that in the right environment, pay cuts can even boost morale and loyalty.

Ah, the key... "in the right environment." Suddenly all those workshops on team building and webinars on corporate climate take on new meaning. Have you built an environment where cutting pay and keeping everyone will improve moral? Or will it demoralize your staff? And will your people feel more loyal because of your efforts to "keep the team together?" Or will the best ones bolt to the competition for a few extra dollars?

These two BusinessWeek articles are insightful...


© jenn_jenn

Seth Godin had a nice succinct piece recently on business models at his blog. Probably a refresher course, for most of us. But refresher courses help. And Seth brings his unique perspective to business.

Seth starts with four questions that any business model has to address, and I liked the way he phrased the first one: What compelling reason exists for people to give you money? That is what you need - a compelling reason. Seth makes the point that that first question is becoming increasingly important to a business model.

The other questions you need to answer? Read the piece here.

Women Entrepreneurs had a fun "how to" piece earlier this month on "selling ice to Eskimos."

This is not rocket science, really. Whether you are running an online business or a local pizzeria, selling is about doing four things better than your competitors: 1. Tangibly communicating your value/benefits 2. Spreading the word in a bunch of smart connection portals 3. Making it personal and 4. Avoiding one-night stands.

They give a couple of examples of sales pitches that work. It's worth reading.

© DeeJayTee23

We talked recently about how well franchises do during a recession. To balance that I thought I'd point out this piece by Jeff Elgin on buying a franchise. Elgin looks at some things you should know about a franchise contract.

One of the things he points out is that strong franchises usually have a take-it-or-leave-it approach. Their terms are non-negotiatable.

Strong franchise companies have learned that the easiest way to administer their system with maximum benefit is to have each franchisee on the same program; this begins with a uniform contract. Don't be surprised if you're told the franchise agreement "is what it is," and that you have to sign the same contract as every other franchisee if you want to become one yourself.

He offers a number of other things to consider. You can read them here.


© soundman1024

© chego101

I noticed a couple of articles recently (Small Business Trends, Noobpreneur) on the fate of franchises during the recession - and it's a pretty good fate.

Ivan Widjaya sums up the situation:

I won't say franchising is recession-proof, but I do say that franchising is recession-resistant. Can you fail with franchising? Of course. How likely you will succeed with franchising? More likely than other business types. These days, there are no better business opportunities than low cost franchise opportunities.

Joel Libava points out that franchises have five great strengths. They usually rest on a proven business model. They provide start-up investors with formal training. They have marketing systems in place for you. They usually are tech savvy. And they make you part of a network.

If you're looking for a business opportunity in the midst of the recession, botht he pieces citesd at the top of this post should give you food for thought.