Small Business Action

How Much Is Too Much?

Sylvain Girard — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:15:34 +0000

Lack of trust is probably the biggest obstacle between your company and a sale. It’s rarely price. The reason more of your customers or prospects don’t buy from you is that you haven’t done enough to build your customers’ trust … Continue reading →

Example of building a list with a target audience in mind first and then develop a product to monetize it later

Sylvain Girard — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:17:21 +0000

Ree Drummond, known to many as the Pioneer Woman, is a mom with an amazing family on a ranch who decided to start a blog detailing their adventures. She didn’t spend tons of money to set up a website, and she didn’t have a major plan, except to share with others about her everyday life on the ranch, as a pioneer woman. She knew who her target audience would be, and she built an audience because she’s real.

Ree Drummond can relate to many women, and people trust her. She has developed a large following from her website and blog. She was able to launch a cookbook, and this opens the door to reach even more people. She is now known all over the place, as a respected cook, a writer, a standout mom, and now has her own cooking show on theFood Network. She found her niche and went for it.

Full article at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2011/10/06/women-entrepreneurs-succeeding-in-a-mans-world/

3 Tips For Raising Start Up Financing (video)

Sylvain Girard — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:19:47 +0000

Focus on a single product or service
Differentiate yourself from the competition
Make an emotional connection with the people you are presenting to

How to test your product ideas before investing too much money (video)

Sylvain Girard — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:17:22 +0000

Here is a great website where you can get potential customers to commit to your idea/event by opening their wallet first, as opposed to simply getting a product to market, invest a lot of money, and hope for the best.

One of the features I like the most is that you can offer different packages for a certain amount of pledge which means you can find out what pricing/package potential customers like the most and will be the most profitable while, at the same time, raising the money you need. What a great idea!

The website is kickstarter.com and the link below is to a video showing two artists/entrepreneurs who have successfully used the service.

http://mollycrabapple.com/2011/08/10/talking-kickstarter-on-cnn/

Why people fail online, by Carrie Wilkerson (video)

Sylvain Girard — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:39:49 +0000

1- Lack of commitment to a market.

2- Pursuing a market just because it’s hot or trendy and not knowing enough about it to resonate with it for the long term. Prevents you from being your authentic self and therefore differentiate yourself from the pack.

3- Purchasing products that promise instant solutions.

Reverse e-commerce, affiliate marketing, social media, QR Codes (video)

Sylvain Girard — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:55:41 +0000

Here is an interesting interview between Chris Brogan (www.chrisbrogan.com) and Marc Ostrofsky author of Get Rich Click!

Takeaways:

- From a business standpoint, social media is just another way to build a list

- Some examples of how to use QR Codes

- 2 ways to start a business when you don’t have your own product: reverse e-commerce (sell a product, collect payment, buy it, and then ship it) and good old affiliate marketing (get a code to sell other people’s products for a commission)

Are you reluctant to learn Google+? Not another social media tool… Funny 2 min video

Sylvain Girard — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:28:36 +0000

If you’re like me, you were probably resisting learning yet another social media tool. I think I’b better rethink that! This short video made me change my mind…

7 Traits All Successful Entrepreneurs Have

Sylvain Girard — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:53:41 +0000

They think big
They believe in themselves
They have a vision
They are action oriented
They are focused
They make no excuses and never give up
They are product and customer focused – Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Ray Kroc, Sam Walton etc.

How many do you have?

Are you waiting for the economy to change? (video)

Sylvain Girard — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:24:57 +0000

Here are a few nuggets of wisdom from the great Jim Rohn included in this short 7 min. video:

Profits are better than wages
Success is something you attract by the person you become
Your income is directly related to your philosophy, not the economy
Don’t search for the exotics until you discover the basics
Can you reach the high shelves? Or, are they out of reach?

7 characteristics of an ideal business opportunity

Sylvain Girard — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:52:31 +0000

Something you are passionate about and you know there is a market for.
Focuses on a specific niche that is small enough for you to become known in and where you can have a clear and distinct position in the marketplace. Once you’ve mastered it, you can expand around it.
Low start-up cost, so that you can self-fund it.
Low fixed costs i.e, costs that you have to pay even if you don’t have any sales such as rent, salaried employees and vehicles.
Offers a product or service that regularly needs to be purchased.
Don’t need to offer credit (accounts receivable) or maintain an inventory
Something that gives you full control over every aspect of the business such as product offering, pricing, promotion etc.

Which side are you on? (video)

Sylvain Girard — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:12:55 +0000

This is one of my favorite YouTube videos. Which side are you on? Central planning (Keynes) or market freedom (Hayek)? More from the top or from the ground?

8 common startup mistakes

Sylvain Girard — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:32:51 +0000

Choosing a bad business opportunity
Choosing the wrong customers
Having the wrong product
Pricing product or services improperly
Not selling to enough customers fast enough
Not executing well
Improperly selecting and managing people
Mismanaging growth

Source: So, You Want To Start A Business, By Edward D. Hess and Charles F. Goetz

Be Absolutely Determined To Love What You Do

Sylvain Girard — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 12:19:18 +0000

That way you won’t have to worry about, and look forward to, retirement so much…

Great Idea: Groupon in Reverse (video)

Sylvain Girard — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:36:18 +0000

http://www.fastcompany.com/1772325/obaz-launches-to-haggle-your-daily-deals-for-you?partner=rss

How To Find Business Ideas (Link to video)

Sylvain Girard — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:26:17 +0000

Looking for business ideas?Look at your own frustrations first. Angela Horevitz was frustrated that she couldn’t layer bakeries without ruining them…

http://www.bakersstongo.com/

Being Useful Doesn’t Need Funding (Video)

Sylvain Girard — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:18:22 +0000

You don’t need a lot of money to get a business going. But you do need to find a way to be useful to others.