Of course, a big concern is the overall cost of the upgrade. The software will cost between $600-1,800 depending on which version, how many terminals are being set up, and where it is being purchased. The hardware will add roughly another $1,000-2,500 depending on what peripherals are required (assuming a touch screen monitor), number of stations, and will vary according to manufacture. HP and Dell both offer hardware packages that can be customized. New and used hardware/software packages can also be found at third party websites like eBay and craigslist or other independent resellers. 

 

Point-of-sale can be quite beneficial to small business owners, but it is easy to go above and beyond the actual needs.  As with any upgrade, a careful examination of the current and future business needs and capabilities of current staff should be undertaken before transitioning.

Google currently leads the pack when it comes to search engine usage. And it is becoming an even more powerful tool for businesses and prospective business owners. Three of these tools are Google Insights, Google Patents and Google Checkout.

 

Google Insights is a search tool for searches. In other words, Insights will tell you how many searches relative to total searches were done on a particular word or topic. This data can be filtered down by time period, location, or compared to similar search terms. For example, suppose you want to sell chocolate oranges. From the information Insights provides, you would be able to tell that their peak season is at the end of the calendar year with the majority of interest being in the United States and the United Kingdom. Or a more local example, suppose you want to open a take and bake pizza restaurant. Insight shows you that interest in take and pizza has been steady over the last couple of years, though not as stable as the Food and Drink category. You also learn the Papa Murphy’s and Nick & Willy’s are two potential strong competitors. So while Insights doesn’t replace in-depth research and analysis, it can point an individual in the correct direction.

 

The second tool is Google Patents. Google Patents is a search engine dedicated to patents. This is a quick and painless (free) way to see if someone else has already patented an idea similar to yours before a lot of time and money is invested in an idea. It is structured the same way as traditional Google searches, but will only return results for existing patents or applications.

 

Google Checkout is the Google answer to PayPal. It is an intermediary between your online customer and your bank account. It provides a gateway for funds to be transacted. The customer goes to your website and makes a purchase. Then the customer is transferred to Google Checkout where the transaction is completed. The information at this point may be filled in if the customer has a Google account and has saved their payment information. The customer is then transferred back to your site. Unlike the first two tools, this one does cost. A percentage of the transaction is charged as a transaction fee in addition to a small per transaction fee. If the seller subscribes to a certain level of Adwords, then those fees are waived. The incentive to using Google Checkout is that when Google searches are done from the Shopping tab, items that offer Google Checkout will be listed first. However, as with any business decision, a comparison of competing products should be performed to determine the best fit for that business’s needs.

Earlier posts on this blog have discussed a variety of ways of financing your business. Most of these have been around for many years. With the advent of the Internet and particularly social networking, a new form of financing has arisen. 

 

Person to person (P-P) lending had a small, modest start several years ago. It has quickly grown to include multiple firms actively involved in the lending market. Approximately, $100 million in new P-P loans was initiated last year. The Online Banking Report forecasts this number to increase tenfold over the next two years. It is becoming so viable that major corporations like Virgin Group PLC and the Wall Street Journal and venture capitalists are taking notice. The Wall Street Journal’s Jane J. Kim wrote an article about this new form of financing this past March.

 

P-P lending works like shopping, dating, or other websites that gather like-minded individuals together. Instead of swapping wares or developing social relationships, P-P lending users are lending to and borrowing money from each other. Usually a small group desiring to be lenders will pool together to aid one borrower. Typically, the borrower will have posted a short bio that provides details about themselves, why they want the loan, how much they are seeking, and what interest rate they are willing to pay. From this point there are varying methods for finalizing the financial terms. Some are structured by the host (Virgin Money USA), some loans are bid on by potential lenders in terms of interest rate (Prosper.com), and others are chosen by the lenders, but the transaction is carried by an insured credit union. (Zopa.com)

 

The realm of person-to-person lending provides incentives to lenders and borrowers alike, regardless of the health of the economy. Lenders can often earn a better return with less risk than they would in the stock or bonds market. They also have the intrinsic reward of helping someone else. Borrowers of all credit ratings can obtain a loan easier with lower interest rates than from a traditional bank. Granted as the economy tightens, higher credit scores are more likely to find funds. Check out this NPR report for additional perspective on person-to-person lending. Or visit some of the lending sites, most have tutorials that explain their process in detail. 

There are two broad areas of marketing, offensive and defensive. Offensive marketing efforts are aimed at attracting new customers or market share. Defensive marketing efforts are aimed at retaining existing customers or market share. Defensive marketing is often seen has secondary or has a white flag compared to offensive marketing strategies. This is not necessarily the case. Many areas of defensive marketing are appropriate throughout the product life cycle and will even support and minimize the cost of offensive marketing. (Fornell, C., & Wernerfelt, B., 1988).

 

One such area is customer complaint management (CCM). It is important to distinguish between complaint retribution and warranties or guarantees. A warranty or guarantee will replace or repair the problem. Complaint retribution may or may not. Complaints are not always immediately fixable. For example, if an individual complains to Apple that their new computer is too slow, then Apple is not going to custom build a computer for that individual. Apple can, however, log the information for later projects or offer to exchange the computer for a different model that does meet the customer’s criteria. Historically, managers have looked at customer complaints in a negative light. Some were even financially punished if the number of complaints reached a certain level.   Research has been done across a variety of industries, including e-commerce, and has found that customers should be encouraged to complain. The basic premise is simple. If a customer can be retained, this will almost always be less expensive than attracting a new one. The cost of the CCM system does need to be accounted for, but many options exist that are quite cost effective.

 

One of the most popular methods is a toll free telephone number. The toll free number allows the customer to complain without incurring additional cost, which would even further diminish the value derived from the product or service acquired. As long as the complaint line has not been delegated to a machine, this method provides quick attention to the customer and knowledge to the firm. The firm can then act to retain the customer, if feasible. This format is quickly being replaced with email or blogs. This technology allows for a quick response time and less cost. The important thing is to listen and then act. To learn more about customer complaint management by Fornell and Wernerfelt, read A Model for Customer Complaint Management or Defensive Marketing Strategy by Customer Complaint Management: A Theoretical Analysis .

At some point in your business pursuits you may need to make a presentation. The quality of the presentation will be seen as a reflection of the quality of the idea and your commitment to it. The style and method of delivery can be as important as the material itself. 

 

Presentation guru Tom Peters has outlined 56 do’s and don’ts for giving presentations. The theme throughout seems to be keeping your audience engaged in the presentation. This is done through effective “storytelling”, understandable and visually pleasing aids, and the delivery style and attitude of the presenter. Garr Reynolds, marketing and presentation buff, outlines his top 11 and provides a link to the full list on his blog.

 

One of the easiest ways to showcase your idea is with PowerPoint. But PowerPoint can kill your prospects just as surely as it can help you hit the proverbial home run. Venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki offers this simple rule of thumb for creating winning slides:

10-20-30

Following this rule of thumb will bring the most salient points to surface, force the presenter to know their material, and keep the audience interested.

 

Even more important than what the audience sees is what they hear. If the speaker is boorish or merely dumping data, the audience will quickly zone out. Even if they continue to look at your presentation, they will not be getting the full picture and even worse, will not be connecting emotionally into what you are presenting. Garr Reynolds’ website, and blog, Presentation Zen, are filled with helpful tips and resources, including links to other presentation experts.

There are literally millions of active blogs on the Internet. Most are of personal interest, but a growing number, like this one, have been developed to serve their clientele and business. As of 2006, 10% of small businesses were using blogs as part of their marketing strategy. The size or available resources are not the defining factors for a business to create and maintain a blog. The question has become, is the blog appropriate for their business. The New York Times examined this question for an article in their Small Business section last month.

 

Small businesses can use a blog to promote an event or give their customers an inside look at their business. But for it to be effective, clientele must already be going to the Internet to learn about the business. For example, the local Wendy’s probably wouldn’t have too much use for a blog. But the local entrepreneur selling her fitness video/program through her website could benefit from a blog. If she posts about new diet ideas, alternative exercises, or other fitness information that would be of interest to website visitors, then the blog could help drive sales and awareness. One such blogger is Mark Seigel of GolfAsian.com who blogs at Thailand Golf Zone. After a year of blogging, he estimates that his web site traffic has increased by 50% and an additional $250,000 in new business was a direct result of his blogging efforts. His blog is an extension of the website and promotes his travel services as well as his firm. 

 

Another advantage to blogging over other forms of medium is the variety of ways to track how many people are reading your blog, how they are finding it, and, to a degree, what they are doing with the information. This means you can begin to customize your postings and content to the desires of your readers. This will reinforce and create new traffic. The trick is to not get lost in the numbers. To read more on this topic from self-proclaimed business blogging coach, Shonnie Lavender, click here . Or visit the Blog Squad at Better Business Blogging.

Throughout my academic career, when a professor wanted to illustrate a math problem or transaction example, the product of choice was the widget. The widget could represent anything and was completely arbitrary and fictitious. The widget’s days of anonymity are over.

 

Web 2.0 technology has brought us an actual widget. The widget is a small application that is downloaded to a user’s desktop. It then provides a constant link to the provider’s website while also providing some other useful information or service to the user. For example, clothing merchant Due Maternity fashioned a widget that is a countdown clock for the mom-to-be and a link to DueMaternity.com for special promotions, pregnancy advice and products. Retailer JCPenney’s widget is a calendar that also showcases daily and weekly specials and will remind the user of upcoming gift giving events. The items showcased are linked to the appropriate pages at JCP.com.

 

Given the widget’s newness and relatively quick take off, research firms are only now starting to track their effectiveness. In the above example, Due Maternity recognized an initial expense of $600 and click through sales of $7500 after the first 45 days. They forecasted $75,000 by the end of 2007. The widget can be an inexpensive method of creating value for and a relationship with your customer base. To read more about the widget, visit InternetRetailer.com and search 'desktop widget' or click here.