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p2w2-SBL: How twitter can help your small business

twitter logoWelcome to this week’s p2w2 Small Business Links (p2w2-SBL) post. In p2w2-SBL we bring you the best resources available on the Internet on this topic. Today, I focus on how twitter can help your business.

Create unbelievably valuable network, meet potential collaborators and find extraordinary business leads

“Just by way of writing, reading and responding to each other’s tweets, unbelievably valuable networking contacts have become familiar workday presences. I’ve met and hired 3 subcontractors for my business, met numerous potential collaborators and even found extraordinary new business leads. I’ve been to numerous networking and social events (lifesavers for a WAHM in a new city!). Interesting, creative, challenging, thoughtful and very deeply caring people have come into my life. New ones seem to appear every week. Twitter has served up answers, opinions and inspiration.” (Laura Fitton: Ode to twitter)
“Do you have a brick and mortar business? Connect with your local clientele by using TwitterMap.com or TwitterLocal.net. These sites will show you all the Twitter updates happening in any given geographic area. Sign into your Twitter account and enter “L: city, state” and then visit TwitterMap or TwitterLocal to find “Twits” near you.”(Carrie Hill: Small Business Owners Need Twitter and LinkedIn)

“How could I hire a stranger to work on an important project? Simple. I knew enough about her from Twitter to be confident she could do the work. Her authentic behavior in the [Internet] told me she was intelligent and articulate. When we briefly stepped into the real world, I quickly confirmed this. And her work was outstanding.
The most valuable social networks, and the most valuable contacts within those networks, are based on trust. Most of my Twitter friends are people I have never met in person and with whom I had no connection prior to twitter. Twitter provides exactly the right environment in which to build trust.”(Joel Postman: twitter is the new anti-metaverse)

twitter is the new discovery channel

“Twitter has become my best way to discover. Discover cool websites….discover blogs, podcasts, even breaking news… It has been an amazing and inspiring

resource.” (twitter is new discovery channel)

“We also combine the power of our collective news/intellectual interests. I get the “best of” ideas that various Twitter friends read or create, any given day. This magnifies the depth and breadth of information I consume.” (Laura Fitton: Ode to twitter)

Twitter is a sounding board. Get advice, directions and support

“Twitter is a sounding board. CEOs of large companies ask questions about products and strategy. Small businesses can do the same.” Joel Postman

“I use Twitter to ask for advice, directions, support, and to ask others for their open-ended interpretations to general questions.” (Chris Brogan: Newbies guide to twitter)

Build traffic; Engage your customers and get insights into your business

Martin Bowling

Twitter helps engage your customers by offering them valuable information and insights. By talking to your customers in a high trust environment, you can get insights into your own business with unmatched depth and volume.

“Building links to a small business Web site? Follow people who can help you out, engage in the community and when they call for help/suggestions, offer yours” (Carrie Hill: Small Business Owners Need Twitter and LinkedIn)

Twitter is Answers (like Yahoo! Answers), a chat room, a water cooler, an advertising tool and more rolled into one.

If you realized twitter’s potential the first time you saw it, you may be a genius. Because, not even Evan Williams, its founder, could have guessed how useful twitter was going to be. Lots of people, including me, can’t figure out the first time why they should use twitter.

“Frankly, twitter went from “what the heck” to “how the heck did I live without this?” very quickly.”

“I began to see how creative/productive Twitterers can inspire. I used it to surround myself with role models. I started getting to know people, and to enjoy the company, humor, conversation and great links.” (Laura Fitton: Ode to twitter)

Twitter is Answers (like Yahoo! Answers), a chat room, a water cooler, an advertising tool and more rolled into one. You can derive value out of it by spending time and connecting with people on it.

Twitter - What are you doing?

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p2w2 SBL: Small Business Secrets to Hiring

A month after a young lad had been hired, he was called into the manager’s office.
“What’s this?” the manager asked. “When you interviewed with us, you told us you had five years experience. Now we found out this is your first job!”

“Well,” the young man explained, “in your ad you said you wanted someone with imagination.”

Small business hiring - make them jump into your company

Get to the right advice. Small business hiring is not that difficult

Hiring in startups and small businesses is not easy either. You have no brand, no money, no perks, nothing.
What’s in it for the new recruit? Why should she join you? Even if she wants to should you hire her? There are many questions that a small business faces. But there are few implementable answers out there.
“Hire great talent,” does not tell you how to do it.
Excuse me. I certainly want to. But how do I ‘hire great talent’? Where will I find them? How do I tell if THAT person is “great talent” or not?
Sadly, there are very few good answers. Very few. That’s why I thought I will do a post on this topic. This is a p2w2 Small Business Links (p2w2 SBL) post that brings the power of great articles to you.

Offer responsibility, access to management and flexibility

Employees of large companies crave for what small businesses can offer. “By offering prospective employees real responsibility, access to management, and work schedule flexibility, your small business can compete in today’s competitive hiring market.”

Tap your network, attend conferences, and post on your website

For a start up or small business, the best way to reach out is through your own personal network. Ask friends and relatives who might know the person or who may have friends in the target network (like if you want a software developer, then a community of software developers) you are looking for.
Second, attend conferences and meetings where your target recruits network. Posting in social networking websites where your target recruits network is also a good idea.
Third, something that most overlook, post the job description of the jobs you are trying to hire for on your website. Those who want to join your company, look at your website. Are you there to pick it up?

Realize that hiring is all about probabilities

“Hiring is all about probabilities. When we evaluate a candidate, we are basically just trying to predict whether that candidate will be a success in the position being filled. We’re trying to know the future, but we have no prophets and no Oracle. So, we use various indicators that we believe will be correlated with future success. But there are no certainties. Sometimes all our indicators are positive, but the employee just doesn’t work out.” Eric Sink

If you own a butcher shop, don’t hire vegetarians. Hire people with passion for your mission

“Hire people with a passion for

your mission,” says Robert Kiyosaki
“One of the reasons Steve Jobs is the entrepreneur of the era is because he has missionaries inside his company as well as outside–Apple Computer’s customers are missionaries, too. Jobs is successful because he is true to his personal mission and demands the same from his staff. Jobs’ mission is at the core of Apple Computer.”

Hire better than yourself. Hire infected people

Guy Kawasaki says:

Hire better than yourself
“I have come to believe that we were wrong–A players hire A+ players, not merely A players. It takes self-confidence and self-awarness, but it’s the only way to build a great team.”
Hire infected people
“Is the candidate infected with a love of your product? Because all the education and work experience in the world doesn’t matter if the candidate doesn’t “get it” and love it.”
Apply the Shopping Center Test
“Suppose you’re at a shopping center, and you see the candidate. He is fifty feet away and has not seen you. You have three choices: (1) beeline it over to him and say hello; (2) say to yourself, “This shopping center isn’t that big; if I bump into him, then I’ll say hello, if not, that’s okay too;” (3) get in your car and go to another shopping center. My contention is that unless the candidate elicits the first response, you shouldn’t hire him.”

Date before you marry

“Try before you buy” says Dharmesh Shah. “You should make it a practice to have people work for the company before you hire them. Though hiring an employee you don’t know is not quite as big a commitment as getting married, it can often be almost as risky from a startup’s perspective. (Apologies for the metaphor, it is almost 2:00 a.m. here in Boston and I can’t think of anything better). In this model, potential employees (especially those in the technical ranks) are considered to be in a “probationary” period (what I would call the “dating” period) for some length of time. During this period (which was usually 60-90 days in my case), either party has the ability to declare that the relationship is just not working out and move on – with no misgivings on either side. This is made clear very early in the process.”
There are implementation issues but the concept makes sense. You can use ‘probationary’ period more effectively. I suggest you read not only the article but also the comments below it because they give you a perspective of differing views on this topic.
There’s enough juice in all these articles to think about. Do think about it and pen your thoughts in the comments.
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No kidding! Your accountant is your wife in office. Choose her carefully.

Choosing the right accountantHave you heard about an accountant who visited the Natural History museum, where, when he spotted a dinosaur he said: “This is exactly two billion years, and ten months old.”

“How did you figure that out?” gushed an incredulous neighbor.

“I was here ten months ago, and the guide told me that the dinosaur is two billion years old.” he declared.

Now if that sounds like the accountant you hired, you are in big trouble.

Your relationship with your accountant is like that between a husband and wife; it matters a lot and what happens between them is private and confidential.

Your Accountant must be intimately informed of your financial affairs and you must be able to trust her. If she is not trustworthy, don’t touch her with a barge pole!

Accountant is more than just a bean-counter

The right accountant can do much more than prepare your yearly taxes. Are you planning to invest in new options but want a second opinion? Cash-flow crisis? or inventory pricing problem? Your accountant is the person you must turn to for advice. He or she can advise on management decisions, business growth strategy, payroll management, and investments.

I, for instance, sounded off my accountant on capital structuring and tax issues and keep him aware of important developments in the company. Over time, we have worked on our relationship, where I trust him enough to actively analyze, interpret and convert data into actionable business intelligence inputs.

The wrong person on the other hand can cost you money, can cause trouble with tax and other government agencies and can cost you many missed opportunities.

A relationship with an Accountant is about compatibility and long-term

Just like a husband-wife relationship, this too boils down to compatibility. Check out all the facets of compatibility with your accountant as well. Here’s a good to-do.

 

  • Conduct a careful search. Seek referrals from professionals you already use and trust, such as bankers, insurance agents, or lawyers, or from companies in similar lines of business.
  • Verify credentials. Experience has taught me that some prospects claiming to be working as bookkeepers or accountants have no formal license or education in the business. Ask for references from his top three clients. If they happen to be in the same business as you, it’s a good sign.
  • Double check references. He or she must be listed somewhere. Perhaps she’s a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the state CPA society, and/or the National Association of Black Accountants. Verify.
  • Look for the right chemistry. Make sure you are comfortable with your accountant. It is important that the two of you are generally on the same page. How do you determine whether you have an ideal ‘values’ fit with your accountant?
    Bear in mind the following issues when you quiz your prospect:

    • Does she understand you, your business goals and your long-term objectives?
    • Is she the kind who will be proactive in looking out for newer opportunities for you?
    • Are you more important to her than her fee?
    • Is she transparent with you about her work? Will she add value to your business? And
    • Do you trust his/her judgment?

    By all means be choosy and selective. You can make a good decision only after you have tested the market and spoken to a few hopefuls. Pick the one who best aligns with your work style and values.

  • Factor in your special needs. If you have unusual accounting problems, you should look for someone specialized in that field. For instance, if you need an audit for your company, additional designations such as CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) could be helpful.
  • Best is not necessarily the most

    suitable. No point in hiring the best consultant in town; if he/she has no time for you. In such a case, it’s better to go for someone with a small and sound practice, who has adequate time and interest to help your business.

  • Seasoned is good. Keeping in mind the changing tax laws and complex accounting rules, a minimum of five years in an industry is a good benchmark to go by.
  • Finally, Don’t be afraid to switch. There is no point suffering a bad marriage. The problem could range from simple incompetence to a case of bad chemistry. Whatever it is, don’t hesitate to look for a replacement. An accountant is important to your success for you to compromise.

Take your time, get the right Accountant
If you are in a hurry to choose an accountant, you might be making a mistake. This is not one of those activities that can be done in a hurry. You have to take your time. Getting references, talking to them, talking to multiple prospects, and figuring out who suits you, all these activities take time. Give the time it needs so you can get benefited from the long-term relationship.

Remember the old adage? “No pain, no gain.” Happy hunting!

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Link Building to create massive traffic to your website:

 

Link Building to create massive traffic to your website:Link Building

  1. Cutting Edge Link Building Tactics
    “Persuading other web sites to link to your own could be one of the cleverest pieces of marketing you do – it’s low cost, highly effective at driving traffic and it can have a dramatic effect on your search engine ranking. Links are one of the most popular ways for people to find new sites and so the more quality sites that link to you the better.”
    I Prefer the PowerPoint that came along with the article.
  2. How to Get Piles of Links, Subscribers and Comments
    Skellie discusses 18 good ways to get links.

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