There are key elements that every business plan requires (or at least, every good one). There are tens of thousands of businesses starting every day. Unfortunately, the majority of those fail. Chances are these said businesses missed one or more crucial parts during the planning phases.

Here’s a brief outline of the different aspects you should incorporate into your plan:

Executive Summary
This should actually be the last thing you complete, but it will be the first thing potential lenders see.  Like the name says, it’s  a one to two page summary of your plans. Use this to draw in a reader enough to make him/her continue to the rest of the plan.  The idea here is to get the reader excited about the potential success of your venture – so don’t bore them to death.  Use a clear, easy to understand writing style.  Don’t think that you have to impress them with fancy industry-specific language, this will just confuse them.

Business Description
In this section you will want to provide a brief description of your business. Your reader should know the answer to the following questions by the time they are through:
1. What is the name of the business?
2. Is this a corporation, sole proprietorship, or partnership?
3. Who are the owners of said business?
4. How long has this been in the works?

Explanation of Products/Services
You are going to want this to be addressed in simple terms with a clear painted picture of what you will provide. You should be able to answer what you will be selling, the benefits of your service, and the pricing.

Marketing Plan
This section should provide your reader with a target market, current conditions within the prospective industry, a brief analysis of competitors within your market, and your plans to promote your business.  This is another section designed to get the reader excited about the potential success of your venture.  Think it through and share your marketing strategy as clearly and colorfully as possible.

Industry and Competition
Here you will want to have a detailed explanation of the status of your current industry along with how you plan on entering the industry. Make sure to acknowledge the positives and negatives of this type of business.  One word of warning.  When you get to the competitive analysis DO NOT say that there is NO OTHER company doing what you are doing.  While there may not be another company just like yours, your audience IS currently meeting their needs somehow.  Talk about that and talk about how you will set yourself apart and how you will get them to choose YOU.

Promotion/Advertising
Use this space to define how you plan on reaching your target market through PR, promotions, and advertising. Be as detailed as possible without sounding entirely too redundant.

Ownership and Management
Here you will want to provide the key members of your team. This should include the legal structure of your business.

Location
1. Where is the ideal location to reach your desired demographic?
2. How important is location?
3. What types of special permits will you need for your location?

Risk Management
This is a tricky area, as risks are hard to predict. Try to define areas where you think your business has the highest risks involved and potential solutions for these problems. This is more of a constant and systematic process that will require regular analysis and updating.

Funds Needed
How much will you need to get you started? Include rent or lease payments, utilities, and your salary for at least the first year. Also include the salary of any of your staff for at least 6 months.

All of these areas need to go into as much detail as possible without creating an overwhelming effect. You want your readers or potential lenders to have a clear picture of what you are trying to do. Over or under explaining your plans will either leave them underwhelmed or confused. Try to avoid being too technical, keep your plans in simple terms that the average Joe can understand.

The post Start Your Business off Right: Build a Solid Plan appeared first on DIY Marketers.

So what is SEO?

SEO is a way of marketing yourself by using search algorithms and keywords. Each search result uses keywords while search algorithms calculate relevancy through the way you position the words in your content. If you are more relevant to a search engine when certain keywords are typed in, you become one of the first results a visitor will encounter – the primary goal when optimizing your website.

SEO is profitable because it works on constant growing traffic rather than something static with a small possibility of change. SEO helps your brand – after all, a growing website will receive a different degree of trust and credibility from fellow visitors compared to one that doesn’t. Trust and visibility are two important components when discussing about branding – and when doing SEO, you’re doing proper branding and marketing at the same time.

What is the meaning of trust in SEO? Trust is made online by gathering recurrent visitors that will spread the word and gather even more recurrent visitors. RSS readers, Twitter followers and Facebookers will become part of your community and spread the word even further about your services and information. So let’s recap for a moment there, what’s so wonderful about SEO traffic?

1.) It Rolls The Money In

When paired with PPC campaigns and affiliate programs, SEO strategies simply push them over the top and show a significant difference in revenue. It’s far more likely that your visitors consider your other website links than if they come via any other source of traffic.

2.) A Better And Stronger Community

The beauty of SEO is that it creates a community that’s simply less probable to breakdown easily. It has this tendency of growing and keeping together most of its previous members – not to mention that it spreads incredibly fast.

3.) It Improves Social Media Levels

If you’re looking for a strategy that will include your social media plans, SEO is for you. As discussed before – it creates that recurrent visitor pattern that will happily follow your Twitter or Facebook page and read your RSS stream.

So, now that you know how effective SEO can be, what are the three most important pointers about search engine optimization? Well, the first one employs quality – in other words, if you plan on publishing content on your website, you can’t hope to get away with whatever you can get your hands on.

Quality copyrighted content is the first rule behind a powerful SEO campaign. Google frowns on the heavy use of keywords, so you should focus on the right thing to do. Copied content won’t do it either. Your content needs to be not only top-notch but 100% unique from everything else on the internet.

Lastly, you need to be and stay relevant – as previously mentioned, SEO doesn’t work with just writing random content. For years, websites such as Ezinearticles and Articlesbase focused on publishing tons and tons of articles for a lot of their members but had no quality control – so it ended up being one of the worst article farms in history that got their members absolutely nowhere.

SEO is taking the world wide web by storm. Why is SEO important to you?

The post Understanding SEO Basics And How It Can Improve Your Online Business appeared first on DIY Marketers.

Enhance your brand and reputation online with these tips:

Branded Communication

On social-media sites, the rate at which information travels is speedy. No longer do customers have to wait days for a response after filling out an online contact as a form. Now, a disgruntled or satisfied customer can post on Facebook or Twitter and have a company representative reply within minutes.

Real-time communication on Facebook is equivalent to customer support software from LivePerson.com. It’s quick, effective, reliable and resourceful. Make sure to maintain the same identity and company values, such as a “customer comes first” mentality. For example, retailers should communicate with followers as if they’re sales associates helping customers shopping in the store. You don’t want to destroy your company’s image by upsetting a customer on the Internet. Craft proper, polite responses to complaints and remain genteel. Express gratitude with positive feedback. With proper brand management, your business can expand and secure successful brand awareness in the digital landscape.

Digital Branding

Remember anything you post on social-networking sites brands your business. Fans, followers, loyal customers and new prospects see what you’re posting and form opinions about your products and services based on those observations. Be consistent with the style and voice of your content, from the graphic you posted to the sweepstakes you’re promoting.

Also, as a small business or entrepreneur, you may not have the funds or resources to dedicate a skilled expert to your networking activity. If you’re managing your own social content, always make sure to separate your personal perspectives from a company persona. For example, tread carefully with provocative or edgy content. In most industries, customers trust firms that are branded with directness, stability and reliability. A little personality can attract attention but strike a balance.

Brand Investment and Customer Loyalty

As with offline branding, consistent online branding provides customers with a secure feeling of confidence and familiarity with the company. Once consumers make a connection with your brand, they also start to form an investment with your brand, including your products and services. Loyal customer investment will undoubtedly lead to increased sales and referrals. Good branding can even catapult a small company into the global arena, explains Entrepreneur. Social-networking sites in particular are full of opportunities for work-of-mouth marketing and brand awareness. A photo or update that resonates with a follower can be re-posted and shared. As a result, you’re reaching a whole new audience. So interact with your audience, and you’ll boost your business.

The post Brand Your Social Media Presence — Grow Your Business appeared first on DIY Marketers.

For those of you nodding your head as you read this, it’s time to start using video scribing to get your visual messages across to your audience. What is video scribing? Good question! Lets look at all you need to know about video scribing.

1. What is video scribing?

Video scribing is essentially video-based storytelling. Through the use of whiteboard animation, the video is a combination of an artist’s illustration, a written script with a voiceover, and stop-motion photography. All these techniques are combined to create an experience that leaves the viewer engaged and wondering what will happen next in what they’re watching on screen.

2. How is video scribing different from a video?

Video scribing keeps the viewers’ attention longer than simply watching a video because they are watching the actual content unfold in front of their eyes. It’s a visual stimulation that involves both the audience and the author. And when you combine audio and video messages, retention jumps to 65%, almost twice as effective than video alone.

3. Why do I need video on my website?

Most people learn by watching, with 83% of learning occurring visually. To complement that, 11% of people learn by hearing. We all know that combining words and pictures make for a more compelling visual image. Through the use of storytelling, that concept is taken a step further and helps the brain process information in a way it will retain the knowledge.

4. How do I find a video scribing company?

Since video scribing is a fairly new avenue of online video marketing, it’s important to find a company that has experience in the scribing arena. You can start with a simple web search using the terms “video scribing” or “whiteboard animation.”

Once you’ve completed a video, the sky’s the limit as to what you can do with it. You can place the video on your website, social media channels, YouTube, and send it out in your email newsletter.

You do not need a huge budget allocated for video scribing creation these days, especially with companies that can help you through the entire creative process. However, it’s important to make sure you do have funds available so you can compete in the field you want. Start reviewing your line items to see where you can allocate funding to video.

What do you think of video scribing? Would you be willing to try it for your business?

The post Have You Heard About Video Scribing? appeared first on DIY Marketers.

Too many businesses make the mistake of treating their social media marketing assets as a strategy themselves instead of just channels to connect. Think of your businesses social media channels as a empty field on a farm. If you scatter handfuls of seeds around and hope for rain, you might grow some gnarled bramble, but the odds aren’t in your favor. If you plant too many seeds and over-water them, you’ll destroy them with rot. To maintain a farm that flourishes, you must plan accordingly, organize the seeds and tend to them consistently. Crops don’t grow in straight rows by themselves, just like social media success isn’t an accident.

Plan Your Crops

When you’re planning your social media marketing campaign, you’ll need the tools of the trade. In addition to your primary PC or Mac, you’ll need an a portable way to stay connected. Although iPads and other tablets are becoming more popular for business people on the go, smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S3 can handle almost anything a tablet can. This will allow you to jot down and test strategies anytime, anywhere.

Once you have your tools, you can begin planning. In a Forbes article, reputation expert Davia Temin, highlights the importance of knowing your audience. She reminds us that the digital economy thrives on ideas, and social media is the place where you, your insights and your audience can become cohesive.

Sow Your Seeds, Tend Consistently

Many new businesses hit the ground running. They try out all kinds of social media strategies and then quickly burn out when they don’t work. Businesses and brands that succeed know that social media campaigns seldom catch like a wildfire, and there’s a lot of work behind going viral.

AdvertisingPittsburgh.com reminds us that social media and SEO campaigns don’t have many shortcuts. Even the best campaigns can take up to a year or more to generate results or even be evaluated. Like planting a garden, you can’t force your social media to grow instantaneously, but you can take good care of it— tailor it as you learn, and fertilize with creativity and interaction. If you put forth hard work and consistent effort, your social media campaign can add visibility, loyalty and revenue to your company. If you cross your fingers and haphazardly toss seeds, you’ll be lucky if anything grows at all.

The post Marketing Mindsets: Plant a Digital Harvest That Flourishes appeared first on DIY Marketers.

1. Offer an incentive. More companies are offering a free downloadable “tip sheet” or ebooks to entice readers to sign up. Free gifts are a great way to motivate a person to action.

2. Keep it simple. Make sure you keep the signup form as simple as possible. In fact, just asking for an email address will guarantee you more subscriptions than requesting additional information like name, zip code, and demographics. Save that for an “update your profile” message once the person is subscribed.

3. Make the email easy to forward. Take advantage of the “forward to a friend” option that comes with so many email platforms. This is a great way for your customer to send the information to other networks and attract potential subscribers.

4. Make it easy at tradeshows and conferences. Attending a conference or being a tradeshow vendor means you will meet dozens of prospective customers. Make it easy for those individuals to subscribe to your email newsletter by asking them to simply scan a QR code with their smartphone.

5. Use social media. Don’t limit your email subscription form to your website or blog. Be sure to include an email sign-up form on all your social media platforms. It’s very possible a prospective customers will go to your Facebook page before she ever reaches your website.

6. Watch the frequency by which you send out messages. It’s tempting to schedule several messages to go out each week. But is that what your customers want? If you are sending more than two message each week and you see your unsubscribe count increasing, consider sending fewer messages.

7. Make the subject line compelling. So many people only read an email subject line before deleting or opening a message. Write your subject lines so the words inspire curiosity and engage the reader. Consider using a question or call-to-action phrase.

8. Include valuable content in your email. More than anything, give your reader a reason to subscribe and keep reading your messages by including information that is of value.

Do you have tips and sure-fire tricks you’ve used to gain new email subscribers? Share with me and your fellow DIY Marketers readers. 

The post 8 Tips for Increasing Email Subscribers appeared first on DIY Marketers.

You’re not alone! Based on a September 2012 Intuit Small Business Survey, 87 percent of small businesses said their businesses are struggling to survive and forty-seven percent of respondents said a $5,000 infusion would significantly help or even save their businesses.

Based on these findings, Intuit is helping small businesses blossom through the Small Business Growing Strong campaign. Between April 2 and May 12, you can submit a wish for your business at http://intuit.me/XFxOUV for a chance to win $5,000! To date, Intuit has given away over $1.2 million to small businesses, and this season they’re doing it again by making 15 small business wishes (worth up to $5,000 each) come true.

What would help your business grow? Is it a new sign, new equipment, a long awaited upgrade or more marketing?

Learn more, submit a wish, and vote at http://intuit.me/XFxOUV.

The post Want to Win $5,000 for Your Small Business? appeared first on DIY Marketers.

Before I get into this I want to make sure I say that THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE.  I’m a marketer and not a lawyer, so please just consider that and be sure to review any contract decisions with a qualified attorney.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way — let’s get to it.

No matter what industry you are in or what your marketing strategy is you need to be able to handle contracts efficiently and effectively.  There are several things that DIY marketers need to know when it comes to contracts and contract management and with the proper knowledge and tools anyone can learn to handle contracts quickly and easily.

What is a Contract?

Put simply, a business contract is a legally binding agreement between two parties.  Contracts can be verbal or written; however for most contracts to be enforceable they should be in writing.  The specific information included in your contracts will vary depending on your needs, however all contacts have the same purpose.

Contracts are meant to clearly and expressly state exactly what each party intends to do, their obligations, any compensation, and information regarding dispute resolution or default.  Each party to a contract will acquire rights and duties that are relative to the rights and duties of the other parties.

Contracts do not need to be elaborate or lengthy.  They simply need to serve their purpose.  However in order for any contract to be legally enforceable it must include four main parts:

1. Offer & Acceptance: This is where all parties agree to the terms and conditions of the contract.
2. Mutual Consideration: All parties are exchanging something of value such as the exchange of goods or services for money.
3. Agreement to Bind: All parties agree that the contract is binding and cannot be altered without a new contract.
4. Legal Competence:  All parties must be competent under the law.  This means that all parties must be of sound mind and fully aware of what they are agreeing to and that all parties can legally enter into the agreement.  Contracts with minors are generally non-binding and unenforceable.

When Do You Need a Contract?

In business there are various circumstances when contracts are needed including: sales or purchases, partnership agreements, leases or purchases of property or equipment, employment agreements, and outsourcing agreements.

Depending on where your business is located you may have local laws regarding specific circumstances where contracts are required or what information must be included in them so take the time to do some research and make sure your contracts comply with your local laws.

You can choose to either write your contract completely yourself, use a premade template, or combine the two methods.  Entrepreneur offers hundreds of business forms and contracts available to download for free.

Contract Management

Entering into a contract is only the beginning; once a contract has been executed you must continue to manage that contract until all parties have fulfilled their obligations.  Contract management, or contract administration, includes monitoring relationships, addressing problems, handling changes or modifications, ensuring all parties meet or exceed expectations, and actively interacting with all parties to achieve the contract objectives.

Contract management can be a daunting task and most large businesses usually employ someone to specifically handle these responsibilities.  However, for the smaller business there are a number of resources available at various price points to help with contract management and administration.  These can range from online software services such as Contract Logix, up to full service agencies capable of performing all aspects of contract administration for a fee.  Take some time to evaluate your needs and research your options to select the solution that will fit your needs and your budget.

By learning about contracts, your local requirements, and contract administration, you will be better equipped to handle any situation that will require a business contract in the future.

The post Contract Agreement Basics for Small Business Owners appeared first on DIY Marketers.

Host/Create an Event

You already know that a great way to endear yourself to your audience and build your business brand is to create and put on an event of some sort. If your business is big enough and your reach is wide enough you might even think about putting on a convention. No matter how big you make it, the idea is to create a shared cultural experience that attendees will mentally tether to your brand.

Of course, events can be complicated things. Not only are you going to need help keeping track of the details, your attendees are going to want something that helps them have a better experience. One way to facilitate this is to experiment with different forms of multimedia, technology and networking tools. The best event apps can also help you to organize the event from the ground up.

Teach a Class

Teaching a class accomplishes a couple of things. It brings in revenue—students must pay admission to the class after all. It also helps you promote yourself (and, by extension, your business) as an expert in a particular field or industry. This helps bolster whatever blog or online presence you have too. Classes also work well to create a bond between you and your students. When people feel bonded to you, they are more likely to buy the things you make and sell. They are also more likely to talk you up to their own friends and colleagues.

It’s kind of like you’re building your own street team!

Even better, thanks to the evolution of online learning and technology, you can run the entire class through the Internet!

Some people also require that students buy the products or services that they sell through their businesses. This is really up to you. If you are already charging admission, though, it might make you look bad.

Hold a Contest

Not just a contest for a free product or a discount off of a future purchase. Hold a contest for a major prize. Make the requirements for the contest separate from your business. For example: hold a contest encouraging people to help the community.

For example, hold a school supply drive for a local school that you know has had financial difficulty. Have people drop off their donations at your place of business and enter their name into a pool to win—something big, like a vacation package or tickets to a highly popular (and expensive) event or maybe even a car if you can afford it!

You might even simply use a contest app to help you manage the entries. There are a lot of good ones out there now.

People will appreciate the altruism and will reward you for it—not just by purchasing your products themselves but by promoting you to everybody they know. The entity benefiting from your altruism is also likely to promote the contest so you’ll likely get more traffic and potential buyers that way as well!

Plus you get to do something good for someone else, which always feels amazing.

These are just a few things that you can do to raise your own marketing bar and bring in more business for your products and services. Pick the one that sounds the most feasible, beneficial, and fun and go with that!

The post Fun and Creative Ways to Promote Your Business appeared first on DIY Marketers.

Or maybe you just became a confirmed bookworm.

Why is it that the very idea of hobbies seems antiquated these days? It may very well have something to do with all the time we spend online. What with updating Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more, to say nothing of keeping up with e-mail, blogs, and websites, sometimes it hardly seems possible to get any actual work done; never mind time for personal or recreational activities. With all the time it takes to keep up with social media outlets, who has time for pastimes?

Interestingly, it seems that there is a rise in participation in do-it-yourself (DIY) projects that coincides with the rising prominence of social media. Whether or not there’s a quantifiable connection may be difficult to establish, but the proliferation of sites like Etsy, “your place to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage, and supplies”, points to a growing appreciation for — and by — DIY types.

Why? Perhaps it is the inherent urge for balance in our lives; spending 8 hours a day (or more) sitting in front of a computer screen certainly may be productive, but doesn’t working in a virtual world sometimes give you the urge to do something more real, more tangible? Cooking, for example, provides plenty of visceral satisfaction (especially when you eat the results).

Or maybe something like making your own clothes would give you that creative rush; you could start with a simple project like making your own t-shirt. This is not only an easy way to enhance your wardrobe and make personalized gifts, creating customized t-shirts can also be profitable! Here are 3 ways to get started.

1. Set a goal. Whether you want to design a custom t-shirt for a gift or create an entire line to sell, be sure before you start what it is you want to accomplish. This will save you time in the long run, not to mention reduce frustration and, ultimately, costs.

2. Go make something. Is your inner artist begging to get out? Maybe you’ve already got hand-painted works that you think would look great on t-shirts, but how do you make that happen? Here are some suggestions, with detailed information about options like screen printing and heat transfers.

3. Start from scratch. For the ultimate DIY t-shirt, find a simple sewing pattern (try McCall’s 6566); you could dress up this classic t-shirt shape with a beautiful floral print (or cool camo), create color-blocking with several different fabrics, or choose a basic solid-color fabric that could be embellished with anything from lace trim to a sequinned applique, or even paint your own design directly onto your shirt. It really is that simple to make your own t shirt.

And in their newly-discovered hobbies, more and more do-it-yourselfers are finding that there’s a potential market for their creations. Guess what? They’re turning to social media for sales assistance. Ironically, even television shows are providing marketing insights, as described in this DIY Marketers article; the popularity of programs like AMC’s Mad Men and ABC’s Shark Tank hints at an audience seeking the crucial edge to boost their sales above those of their competitors.

Even in this day and age of social-media marketing, maybe there’s something to be said for that old-fashioned TV technology after all.

The post The Not-so-odd Couple: Social Media and DIY appeared first on DIY Marketers.