Small Business Trends

There are basic things every small business needs. Some version of a business plan can be helpful as well as some sort of marketing. (Yes, this would include the social Web.) But how about good branding and operations including managing and leading your employees to achieve desired results? Today on the Small Business Trends roundup, we look at the latest on all these issues…and more. Come along and uncover the basics from the business blogosphere. Learn the basics of small business today.

Business Plans

Why do you need a business plan? Tim Berry, an expert on business plans through his software business, posted these results to a survey his company completed recently of about 3,000 businesses. It should be noted that the businesses surveyed all use Berry’s particular brand of business planning software so the results aren’t comprehensive covering all businesses everywhere. Still, the numbers pretty much show that most businesses that had done some kind of business planning reported advantages in growth, as well as securing capital and loans. Have business plans been helpful to you? Bplan.com

Don’t just plan your business. Plan your life. In this post we look at a life plan that goes beyond the usual business description, projections and market analysis associated with the traditional business plan. Instead, focus on defining your skills, vision and ideal work situation. Have you planned your life? Blogtrepreneur

Operations

Winning incentives for small business employees. The success of your small business really does depend on the quality and performance of your people. With few exceptions and despite the automation of many functions, businesses still require employees or a team, no matter what size, to make them function. Here are five incentives that should bring out the best in them. Business.Gov

How important is transparency? This great post from David Siteman Garland looks at the changes resulting in the evolution of social media and other factors that affect reputation. Be aware you are creating your brand daily online with Tweets, posts to your Facebook account, blog articles and more. It’s true that reputation has always been important in business, especially small business. However, rarely in the past has your reputation and expertise been as much of a tool for marketing or as much of a potential stumbling block to success. The Rise To The Top

Social Media

How to loose your Twitter following. If you’re using Twitter to market your small business, this would, of course, be the opposite of what you want to accomplish. So be aware of these missteps when it comes to building and sustaining your following in social media. Really, many of Niall’s suggestions here also apply to other social media across the board. MyVenturePad

Gain backlinks through guest blogging. Guest post on your expertise and gain the best kind of backlinks to improve your site’s search engine placement. Chantielle MacFarlane explains how not all links are created equal. Signing up for a directory, for example, does not attract the same quality of traffic or create the same weight with search engines as, say, creating quality content people will want to link to. Chantielle also recommends one of the easiest ways to gain quality links to your site and shares an offer you should consider. CIK Marketing

Can social media sell your service or product? Todd Youngblood believes so and offers this podcast forum as an example. The forum features Marty Michael vice president of Avanceon, a Philadelphia area software company specializing in implementing control systems for the manufacturing industry. The target audience, according to Youngblood, includes manufacturers in need of control systems integration to improve their productivity. Notice how the conversation helps Michaels position his company as an expert in the field. Todd Youngblood’s “SPE” Blog

Resources

Top 10 forums for small business owners. Places to learn new things and build relationships abound on the World Wide Web. But with time at a premium (let’s face it, every minute is precious when operating a small business) who has time to sort through them all for the best and most useful? Enter Amelia Champion, who, in this post, has taken time to share a list of the most useful for you to try. Thanks Amelia! Small Business Marketing Ideas

Marketing

The truth in marketing. Marketing guru Seth Godin once wrote a book entitled All Marketers Are Liars. But here in the real world, small business owners know that lying in your marketing or claims about your product or service won’t get you far. Here are four things that will. Cloud Marketing Labs

Does your brand have a unique voice? If it doesn’t, it should. Without a unique aspect to your business, product or service, how can you expect to differentiate yourself from the competition? Why should someone want your brand over others? If you don’t have the answer to this question, better read the above link on 14 tips to giving your brand a unique voice. Sociatic