Are you scratching your head with these questions, regularly, wondering which report is the right report to read at the right time.

You know reports are important. ( Well, hello?) Of course. But considering how many companies…ignore their reports eventually to their demise, it seemed important to say again. (And maybe you’ve waivered in the past.)

Here’s my suggestions for reports to review and how often.  There are books and college courses prepared to discuss each report and how to use them.

It is not the definitive list. Add your suggestions. We can create a list that could become a definitive list.  There are two categories:

1. Financial Statements
2. Operations Reports

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For these I’ll turn to Scot Justice, CPA and MBA. Scot has been in the trenches and has the war wounds every small business owner suffers.  He blogs at VirtualCFO.  His Twitter handle is VirtualCFO. His post The Financial Statements Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs Need to Use is an excellent post. He lists 4 reports. I’ll add my thoughts on how frequently you should review them and why.

Income Statement - Shows the revenue, expenses, and the profit/loss of your company for a specific period of time.

Frequency: Quarterly. Scot may disagree here. Income statements are most important for your accountant to help you with your tax filings and SEC filings. But, other reports, particularly the cash-flow statement or sources and uses of cash report, more accurately report the results of your operations, particularly those of a small business or startup.

Balance Sheet – Shows the financial position of your company on a specific date. This includes assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity. (Scot Justice)  Included in those assets is your cash balance. Included in your liabilities are your obligations and their approximate due date under the headings of Long-Term (more than one year) and Short-Term (within one year).

Frequency: Monthly – quick review to manage your cash balances and short-term liability payment schedule. Quarterly: detailed review for future financial planning needs and to insure consistent, accurate, reporting from other reports.

* Cash-Flow Statement.*  Cha-Ching! This report is the most important report for small businesses and startups. Small businesses and startups have more difficulty generating the cash needed to fund their operations from traditional resources.

Cash is king. Cash-flows make you kings or paupers.

Cash may be a very close second most important asset for a startup or small business. Second behind its human assets. Why? Human assets, your company’s talent, are the assets that deliver your brand. However, no cash and your talent is forced to focus on finding it, not growing the brand.

This report would be the one report to study if you could study only one report. It is that valuable.

Frequency: Monthly: In detail. (Daily review would not be too frequent.)  I drove my accountant crazy drilling into its details. And doing that helped us replace cash-flows from dwindling retail prices as our industry became commoditized. There’s gold in that cash-flow statement. Look very closely in your cash-flow statement. You’ll find it.

Make yourself VERY familiar with your cash-flow statement. Be its BFF and I mean forever. Do that. And you’ll remain king of your domain.

Statement of Owner’s Equity - Shows the equity you have in your company on a specific date. Equity is basically the value of the investment you have in your company. – Scot Justice

Those are your 4 financial reports.

OPERATIONAL REPORTS 

There are 5. These you should review, in detail, monthly. Compare them with the results from last month, last quarter, last year.  Why? They are the proverbial wellspring source for the numbers that show next month in your cash-flow statement.

* Conversion Rate

What percentage of leads or prospects does your team convert to paying customers? By team, I include Customer Service and Accounting, IT and Executives, along with Sales and Marketing.

Which sales person generates the highest percentage? Why? How? What can you share with others to improve their results?

Which sales person generates the lowest percentage? Why? How? Have you trained them properly, motivated them correctly, incentivized them meaningfully? Have you asked? If you answer yes to all, maybe this partnership is not productive.

* Customer Churn

See above.

Also, look to their reasons for why they left your company.  You do ask them why they left, right?

* Leads

How many? From what source? What is the result? A new customer? A recurring customer? Customers with high percentages of bad debt?

* Referrals

Sustaining businesses generate high numbers of referrals. From that perspective, your purpose is to generate referrals. Do that well and you sustain your operations. the impact of a growing number of referrals is reflected in your leads, your customer churn and your conversion rate.

It is also reflected in your employees’ motivation. Referrals serve as a tangible source of positive feedback that is very meaningful to your employees.

* Customer Service Requests

How many? What reason? How frequently do you see that reason? Why? Email or phone call? Phone calls are used when it’s urgent.  What results? How many emails and phone replies are required?

Make your customers happy and their response is reported in your Referrals report.  Make your customers unhappy, repeatedly, and their responses are included in your Customer Churn report.  Reports tell the brand’s story. Understand their language, understand your story and understand the story of everyone in your company. Understand your reports; understand the doors that are open and closed to you.

Reports tell the past, present and future for your brand. The past is told with the decisions your team and your partners make every day. The present is the snapshot tally of all those decisions, made every minute, that become a pattern. And that pattern is recognized in these reports. The future is up to you. What’s done is done. But these results in these reports point out the distance that remains to reach your goal.

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About the author: Zane Safrit’s passion is small business and the operations excellence required to deliver a product that creates word-of-mouth, customer referrals and instills pride in those whose passion created it. He previously served as CEO of a small business. Zane’s blog can be found at Zane Safrit.

From Small Business Trends

Which Report is the Important Report?

What is it? Twitter is a free service that allows anyone to say (write) anything in 140 characters or less.

How Do You Sign Up? Go to www.twitter.com and create a profile.  One tip:  create a username that brands either you or your business.  For instance, JoAnn Hines, the Packaging Diva, uses “packagingdiva” as her Twitter name.  I use “mzfisher.”

What Kind of Messages Do You Send? This is the heart of the matter, and can make or break your experience.

Top 5 Types of Twitter Messages, to Grow Your Business:

1. Thank you – make sure you include the “@” sign before the Twitter name:  For example:  “Thanks @indiebusiness for being a terrific guest on our teleseminar on ‘How to Use Video to Grow Your Business.’”   Why this works:  You are thanking someone, which always helps strengthen a relationship; you are showing others that you know and have a relationship with another person that they might think highly of; and you are subtly promoting something you offered in your business at the same time.  In addition, the person you are thanking, if you include the “@” symbol, will be able to tell that you thanked him or her (even if they aren’t on Twitter at the time, they can search on Twitter for any mention of “@” and the Twitter name to see who is talking about them).  You can also let that person know through a DM (“Direct Message”) that you mentioned him or her.

2. Useful information (non-promotional) – if you have a way people can save money, or learn something interesting, share it.  Why this works:  You are helping others, for the purpose of providing information, with no ulterior motive (such as trying to sell your products or services).

3. Kudos – one of my personal favorites.  Did you read a great article that featured someone you are following?  I do this often, with folks like Guy Kawasaki and Tony Hsieh of Zappos. A typical message:  “@zappos – Amazing idea on recruiting in Inc. Magazine.” Why this works:  You are offering sincere congratulations – always welcome – and strengthening relationships. You are also showing that you know these folks, which means that others who respect them may follow you.

4. Personal – one of my favorites, but this one is tricky. The key is to connect with others in some way. If you send personal thoughts, make sure they are meaningful. If you send messages like “Going to have a ham sandwich for lunch,” it’s a waste of people’s time.  Something like “Getting ready to walk in the Relay for Life for ACS” is a way to potentially connect with others with similar interests. Why this works:  You’re showing your human side, and people connect with people.

5. Re-tweets – this means that you are forwarding a message from someone else.  The way to do this is to put “RT” before the message.  Why this works:  This shows that you respect an idea of someone else, which strengthens your bond with that person.  It also shows that you know this person, and his/her followers might follow you because of that.

Why Didn’t I Include Promotional Messages in the Top 5? It’s really easy to include promotional messages in Twitter, and I think most of us (including myself), do this too often. An occasional “sign up for my teleseminar” or “free shipping ends today” are okay, but they usually won’t endear you to your audience. Social media is really about the relationship, not so much about the hard sell.

Quick Twitter Tips:

• Include your photo in your Twitter profile.  People want to connect with people.
• Include your business and personal interests in your profile description, so people can find ways to bond with you.
• Use the DM  (“Direct Message”) feature.  If you and another person are following each other, this is a way to connect with that person directly, outside of the public Twitter space. It’s a way to build and strengthen the relationship.
• Tweet during business hours.  I learned this from JoAnn Hines, @packagingdiva.  This is the way to make sure that the most people will see your tweets.
• Use www.tinyurl.com to save characters on Web site addresses.  You enter a Web site address or link into TinyUrl and it makes a smaller-sized link, which is important, since 140 characters for Twitter messages can make it hard to cover all of your information.
• Download a mobile application or other applications, such as TweetDeck, to make access to Twitter easier when you’re on the go or doing other things, so you can participate more easily.

Final Thoughts. Used properly, Twitter is a great way to create new and strengthen existing relationships.  And, after all, that’s how you grow a business!

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About the Author: Margie Zable Fisher is the President of Zable Fisher Public Relations, a small business public relations firm, and is the publisher of Women Business Owners Digest (www.wbodigest.com). She offers free award-winning Public Relations tips at www.zfpr.com.

From Small Business Trends

Top Five Types of Twitter Messages to Grow Your Business

What I’ve learned from these conversations is that the curiosity for CRM-related products and services is rising, seemingly in lock step with the decline in the economy. 

And while I learned a great deal from talking to these executives, I learned even more from actual small business people.  Like the 300+ small business owners who attended the Summit who transformed our panel discussion on nurturing customer loyalty into an urgent call for learning how to reach new customers.  This was echoed by the 650 people attending a recent webinar I participated in which focused on the impact CRM can have on selling in a down economy.

As we continue to get bombarded with news of mass layoffs, record foreclosures and tight credit markets on a daily basis, it’s no wonder we feel like we’re under constant attack.  And after all of this economic shock-and-awe, many of us feel like curling up into the fetal position … in the corner of a well-fortified bunker. 

Unfortunately, you can’t catch new business with your arms folded up tight while sitting in a bunker.  You can’t even hang on to your current customers in that position.

So we have to find ways to survive the perils of the economy while fighting the urge to “stop, drop and roll” ourselves into a “safe” hiding place, where the only thing we end up hiding from are our customers, and those looking for the products and services we can provide them.    Many small businesses — those willing to scratch, claw and fight their way through this recession — are looking to see how CRM can help them compete, survive and even thrive in this environment.  Here are a few trends to consider.
 
Trend #1 – Reaching Out

It’s scary out there, but now is not the time to come down with a bad case of alligator arms.  You know, like what happens in football to a wide receiver going over the middle for a catch, before deciding not to stretch out for it … when he sees a 250-pound linebacker coming at him like a runaway locomotive.  The fear of getting hit keeps him from going for the ball. 

But what if it’s fourth down with a minute left, and his team is out of timeouts? Without reaching out for the ball there’s no way he can make the catch that “moves the chains”, and keeps his team’s hopes of winning the game alive.  And since he’s going to get hit whether he catches the ball or not, he might as well give it his all and try to make the catch. 

While it’s totally understandable to fear the pain this economy can have on our businesses, we can’t let it keep us from going over the middle when we have to.  In fact it’s important to find ways to actually extend our reach, even while we defend our wallets.  

That’s why many companies are turning to Web collaboration services like Webex, GotoMeeting, iLinc and others to hold virtual conferences.  These aren’t the typical hour-long webinars.  They are daylong events with multiple speakers and sessions, just like you’d find at traditional on-site events. Attendees can check things out from the comforts of their bunkers (aka offices). Presenters can present from … wherever.  Attendees can interact with presenters via instant message.  And networking can take place online throughout the day. 

It’s not quite the same as a physical conference, but virtual conferences are also only a fraction of the cost, time and effort to put together compared to on-site conferences.  Yet they still reach a potentially large  audience.  Isn’t that worth a good stretch or two?  And you don’t even have to take a hit to do it.  

Trend #2 – Automate This!

CRM applications have been great for helping us keep track of contacts and leads, tasks and activities, and to have a better grip on deals being worked on.  But one of the lesser-used functions of CRM apps is their ability to automate important processes for turning leads into customers.  Below is an image of a basic, traditional process flow for acquiring customers:

As you can see there are a lot of moving parts here that we have to track in order to bring new customers on board.  

For instance, there are a number of time consuming tasks associated with lead generation, lead qualification, opportunity management and other CRM related areas.  Automating lead entry is incredibly important, as many leads are not followed up on because they were never entered into a system.  In this economy can we really afford to let potentially good leads go ignored? 

Automating these activities also allows us to have more time in front of people we want to do business with.  And with all the different activities we’re using to generate leads and build awareness for our companies, automating these processes will allow us to sift through the growing number of incoming leads and concentrate on the most promising ones immediately.  By finding the best leads quickly it may allow us to close them faster.

Additionally, those leads that aren’t quite ready won’t be ignored.  Instread, they will be warmed up with regularly scheduled communications, which may lead to sales down the line.  So automation in these areas can help us create more new business, in a more efficient manner. 

Trend #3 – Social CRM and Mo’ Better Content

Content makes the heart grow fonder … at least in a Web 2.0 world.  I mean, just think of all of the information we take in on a daily basis that helps us stay informed about what’s going on in our business/industry.  When you need answers to questions you’re probably turning to Google, a favorite blogger, or Twitter.  And there’s probably no shortage of conversations taking place that may lead to great answers and great business relationships. 

So if content really makes the Web 2.0 heart fonder, then conversations make its world go ’round, as the image below illustrates:

This process — creating content to generate conversations leading to new customers, and more meaningful relationships with existing ones — is referred to as social CRM.  It’s a new dimension that complements the operational, transactional aspects of traditional customer relationships management. 

Whereas traditional CRM is great for managing and sharing information internally, and for executing certain activities, it was not intended to engage people on Twitter, YouTube, blogs and podcasts.  But these are the vehicles customers are using to find solutions, share information, sell things, and to say “hello, how are you doing?”. 

The spark for these interactions is content, in one of its many forms.  And there’s plenty of it out there, thanks to easy-to-use tools that can transform us into radio show hosts, syndicated columnists and Internet television stars.  But the focus for content producers hoping to entice information seekers into conversations will have to shift from easy-to-create content to creating easy-to-captivate content that stands out from the rest.   And easy-to-captivate content should be in easy-to-consume formats that make it easy-to-engage you in a meaningful exchange or two.

Regardless of the economy, we as small business folks cannot afford to hide in the cellar or go AWOL.  We’ve got to pick our fights wisely of course, but then we’ve got to FIGHT! 

That means using what we can to get what we want.  It means finding new ways to connect with new people, as we look to further relationships with those we already know.   It means not being afraid to reach out, automate and captivate.  It means taking a long hard look at CRM … social CRM.

If you are interested in more about Social CRM, download the whitepaper:  “Social CRM – Customer Relationship Management in the Age of the Socially Empowered Customer.”

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About the Author: Brent Leary is a Partner of CRM Essentials. He is co-author of Barack 2.0: Social Media Lessons for Small Business.

From Small Business Trends

CRM Trends in 2009 – Extension, Automation and Captivation

Let us take a look at 10 key trends for using independent contractors for projects and even ongoing staffing needs, and how they shape up in 2009:

1.  The “Outsourcing Life” is hip  

Popularized by the best seller The 4-Hour Workweek, more people are realizing that they can get their work done by someone else even if they are a solo entrepreneur.  According to statistics published by US Small Business Administration, 56% of US small businesses with 100 employees or less, have fewer than 5 employees. If your business is one with no employees or a very small number of employees, you may find yourself over-stretched for time, and in need of outsourcing in both your personal and professional life.  Driven by the economy and the need to watch expenses, more businesses will opt for contracting relationships and hold off hiring new employees as long as possible.

Small businesses are also continuing to push the envelope on what can be outsourced.  They are discovering elements that can be outsourced even in previously “core” activities. For example, an Australian small business we work with specializes in online marketing, but also uses multiple telemarketing providers to cross sell their product range to customers.     

How to benefit from this trend:

• Re-examine what you consider to be activities only you or your employees can do.
• If not the entire activity, can some parts of this at least be outsourced?
• Be prepared to invest some time up front in training your outsourcing partner.

2.  Have we met? Not likely! 

Trusting people you never meet face to face is gaining acceptance.  Use of Skype conversations and social networks like Facebook and Twitter exemplify how people who have never met strike up relationships with each other.  These media are increasingly becoming the means for small businesses to reach out and establish trust based relationships with their outsourcing partners. 

A decade ago you may never have thought of outsourcing to someone outside of your local city or region.  Now it is commonplace to find vendors and independent contractors across the country or even across the world. 

How to benefit from this trend:

• If you are a vendor, establish a presence on the networking sites of your choice – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. to create an online brand presence.  Make it easy to be found and for customers to get to know you.
• Evaluate which mode of communication gives you the best results. Also take into consideration where your customers are located and how they prefer to be contacted. Sign up with Skype, or other email and Internet marketing tools.

3.  More power for the hour – new ways to price services

Payment schedules structured to incentivize success are gaining popularity.  Two common types of payment methods are “Fixed Price” (where the vendor takes much of the risk – this is often highly conflict prone) and “Time and Materials” (this gives the vendor flexibility in defining scope but is expensive and asks the buyer to micro-manage). 

We’re seeing pricing structures that combine the best of both.  For example, web page design will be fixed at a price per page.  Subsequent changes requested by the buyer are paid for using an hourly rate for the effort.  The combination pricing can save the buyer as much as 30% of the total cost and avoid conflicts. It also aligns interests of the buyer and the vendor. 

How to benefit from this trend:

• Split your project into 2 parts:  the part that is well defined and unlikely to change, and the part that needs to change as you see results of each phase.
• “Fix Price” the well defined part, while agreeing upon an hourly rate for the rest.

4.   ”We need to talk”

In real estate the mantra is “Location. Location. Location.”  In outsourcing the mantra is “Communication. Communication. Communication.”

Operational structures that clearly define responsibilities and establishing ways of communicating play an ever more important role in successful outsourcing.  Small businesses are realizing the importance of such rigor in defining operational structures. 

For instance, you might establish a regular review schedule to effectively manage a project and stay on top of progress.  This is preferred over putting a project out for hire and then going weeks without any status update.  Email, instant messaging and collaboration technologies make it easier to conduct frequent reviews.

How to benefit from this trend:

• When you outsource a project, establish a routine of daily or weekly status review calls based on project size.
• The duration of the calls again depends on the nature of your project, but typically 1 hour or less works best.
• This is important especially when you are working with a new provider.

5. Taking the relationship to the next level - outsourcing ongoing processes

Small businesses are opening up to outsourcing ongoing processes, in addition to projects.  Task (or project) outsourcing (e.g., file my taxes) is primarily a one-off activity while process outsourcing (e.g.,  manage my accounting) requires a relationship approach.  Process outsourcing also places greater responsibility on the vendor to become closely familiar with the client’s business and the client’s customers.

How to benefit from this trend:

• For the projects you are outsourcing, see if some of the activities you do before and after the project can also be done by your outsourcing partner.
• When outsourcing processes, evaluate providers for a strong understanding of the legal and regulatory issues associated with the process they would manage.

6.  Jigsaw Puzzle Outsourcing

Both clients and service providers are building the skills needed to successfully execute geographically distributed projects.  Small businesses are getting more comfortable with working remotely with the most skilled professionals, irrespective of where they are located. 

The ability to break a process into components that can be done by different individuals, but designed to all fit together for the end result, is a complex skill that is increasingly valued.

How to benefit from this trend:

• When outsourcing a project focus more on who can get the job done best.
• If other factors like location, cultural affinity, time difference etc. are concerns for you, share them with your outsourcing partner.
• Discuss how the risks that come with these factors can be mitigated and find a solution that both parties feel is fair to them. 

7. Let’s collaborate!

Tools like Basecamp, Zoho and Google Docs enable collaboration across continents cheaply.  You no longer have to worry as much about whether the client or the service provider have the same software applications installed, and in what form you are going to deliver work.  Online apps that are universally available make exchanges of information, project updates and deliverables easy and seamless. 

PayPal has changed the face of payment.  PayPal is available in 190 markets and 18 currencies around the world.  Small businesses are using PayPal to invoice, make and receive payments. 

Skype, an Internet based telecommunications and messaging system, likewise has made telephone conversations and quick message exchanges easy and inexpensive to do. 

How to benefit from this trend:

• Decide what collaboration tools you need, and pick the one that best fits your needs, and does not confuse you with too many bells and whistles.
• Coach your outsourcing partner on how to use the tool most effectively, if required.

8. Pushing the frontiers of complexity 

Services that are critical and complex like legal services, management accounting, and employment training are being increasingly outsourced globally.  In part this is due to point #2 above, where we are increasingly becoming more comfortable dealing across the web with people we have never met.

This trend will require providers, too, to become more skilled and efficient in handling greater complexity.

How to benefit from this trend:

• Take a second look at specialized services that are the most expensive in your business — these are areas you might consider outsourcing.
• Start small, and send out chunks of it to lower cost providers who can do the simpler components of the task for less.
• Expand the relationship as both sides become more confident in handling the additional complexity.

9. Offshore or Homeshore? The choice is yours! 

Small businesses are maturing to look at a variety of factors before making the outsourcing decision.  Tasks that require presence in the same time zone and a cultural awareness are being Homeshored.  Tasks that are not time sensitive or heavily influenced by culture are being Offshored.   

How to benefit from this trend:

• Evaluate if your outsourcing partners can train themselves on some of the cultural aspects if they belong to a different geography.
• Offshore only those tasks that are well defined. For tasks that need your input several times a day, choose a provider who can work in your own time zone. 

10. Just tell me when it is done!  

Small businesses appreciate vendors who can support them through the project execution process.  Small businesses are increasingly realizing that bringing clarity to tasks, defining milestones and timelines, tracking progress etc. play a pivotal role in project success.  

We’re seeing the emergence of more agencies and firms that place outsourced talent and handle all the overhead for the client.  These services are increasingly sought and valued by small businesses.  Almost every client we have tells us that the service we provide in managing their outsourcing is what they value most. 

How to benefit from this trend:

• Evaluate how much time you and your employees are ending up spending on finding providers and on assigning and tracking their tasks. This could be another service you could outsource to an outside agency.
• Look for strong communication skills and experience in setting up processes that produce results.

What are the trends you are seeing in your own business and in businesses around you when it comes to outsourcing? 

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About the Author:  Amit Mullerpattan is VP (Product) at www.p2w2.com.  Amit is responsible for the user experience with the p2w2 product and services.  He also contributes to the p2w2 blog.  P2w2 helps small businesses outsource a variety of services to achieve their business goals.

From Small Business Trends

Top 10 Outsourcing Trends by Small Businesses in 2009

• Listen to your customers
• Talk with your employees
• Read Your Reports

I’ve blogged separately about the first two.

Now, let’s talk about your employees. They’re the ones who create your brand, execute your strategy, build your business.

Listening to your employees is the number 1.1 task for CEOs.  Your company depends on this conversation.

It’s importance parallels that importance of listening to your customers.

I listed listening to your customers as number one priority and explained there why it is a slightly higher priority than listening to your employees. The operative word is slight and it’s ever-so.

The ever-so slight preference for listening with your customers over employees is only because we can only do one thing at a time. And…your customers are the final arbiter of your success. You start there and work back.

But, work back quickly to your employees. You see your employees are the ones who create your customers.

• Are your customers evangelists or vigilantes?
• Do they refer their friends or warn them off?
• Are they repeat buyers or one-hit wonders?

Your employees create, reinforce and sustain those definitions of your customers, for your customers.

And, never forget that your employees are listening to you. They’re listening to you for answers to these three questions:

• What’s in it for me?
• Why should I believe?
• Why should I care?

Those answers are delivered by you in everything you say and do to communicate your Purpose, Your Mission and Your Vision.

Those answers motivate them….to volunteer their passion, energy, solutions, patience, initiative. Mike Wagner of White Rabbit Group pointed out that employees become volunteers, now, only after they’ve been inspired them to bring their passion, energy, solutions, patience…initiative, leadership to the day.

• Employees arrive on time and leave on time.
• Volunteers arrive early, leave late.

• Employees fufill the terms of their contracts
• Volunteers build movements, create followers, innovate new products which lead to new companies which lead to more employees.

How do you listen to your employees/volunteers?

First off, honor the ears to mouth ratio. That’s a ratio of 2:1. Listen twice as much as you speak. Tough habit to learn. You’re a leader. Leaders don’t arise from their silence.

But now, you’re a leader. And you want, need, more leaders with more solutions. You want to create opportunities for others to lead. Listen twice as much as you speak.

Stop by daily and say hi.  Don’t talk about work unless they bring it up. Talk about their interests, their hobbies, their goals, their parking spot, their drive to work…and you know what these are, because you’ve listened.

It’s not all about work. This is tricky.  All work and no play make for…employees, not volunteers. Find what else interests them. Include it in your discussions. Then find ways to include those interests during the day. Creative solutions arise when the analytical side of the brain relaxes. Helping everyone find solutions, their solutions, is your number one mission.

Regular Meetings. An annual review or a bi-annual review, even a quarterly review is too infrequent to add meaning for either of you. Meet weekly, in person.  Obviously this has to be limited to direct reports, if you lead a large organization.

Document your meetings. Nothing is more destructive to a relationship than failing to remember the conversation. Nothing communicates disinterest than failing to remember the important details you discussed, agreed to, assigned.

I use the wiki Basecamp to document conversations, create follow-up to-do’s and timelines, keep everyone’s memory clear. Even mine. Even when it’s a conversation with myself.  That keeps your time and attention focused on accomplishments, not resolving misunderstandings.

Sit at their desks. There’s no better way to build a better understanding of their challenges, their day, their rewards, than to regularly sit at their desk and do their job. Nothing shows you care more than helping in this way.  Granted you can’t sit and do everyone’s job. But, there are many you can, without threatening to burn the office down.

All of these deserve discussion in greater detail.

But, the most important point is the 2:1 ratio. Listen. Listen and you’ll hear what you need to do.

You’ll lead by example, too. You’ll volunteer to listen, to hear their dreams, their needs, their ideas and solutions. Sure, you’ll hear their problems and have to  slice some cheese to offer with their whine. You’ll find out about their families, their child’s first recital or first home run, their parents health issues. You’ll volunteer to be a human. And you’ll create a movement of volunteers…who maybe, just maybe, input word-of-mouth, WOM, WOW into the DNA of their creation. And that’s when your business starts its journey towards sustainability.

Listen to your employees volunteers. They’re important.

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About the author: Zane Safrit’s passion is small business and the operations excellence required to deliver a product that creates word-of-mouth, customer referrals and instills pride in those whose passion created it. He previously served as CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited. Zane’s blog can be found at Zane Safrit.

From Small Business Trends

Listen to Your Employees

From the Australia Bureau of Statistics there are nearly 1.9 million small businesses (defined as those employing less than 20 people) which represents 95% of all businesses. Nearly 7 out of 10 of these businesses operate from home and whilst the number of women owning a small business is increasing, 69% are operated by men. Small businesses employ 3.6 million people which equates to 47% of private sector, non agricultural employment businesses. 

To put the importance of this sector into perspective, small businesses account for about 25% of GDP and said to be capitalised at $4.3 trillion which is about 4 times as big as the Australian stock exchange. 

The year 2009 is certainly going to be challenging but as always exciting for small businesses and the key trends identified are: 

1. Connecting with Customers

Lately there have been more articles, blog posts and discussion on the importance of retaining key customers. Customer service is usually a key strength for small businesses and 2009 will see more emphasis on strengthening current customer relationships. Whilst it will be a mixture of new and old tactics I think we will see more personal contact as we go through the year. 

2.  Connecting with other Businesses

Australian small businesses are moving to utilize social media to network and developed business relationships. In 2008 Australian small business forums were launched such as the Flying Solo forum and the involvement in these will accelerate in 2009 especially if the economy declines, as a way of connecting and sharing ideas in a cost effective way. It appears the percentage of Australian small business using Twitter is quite small and while this percentage will increase it will not be a dramatic increase. 

3. Working Smarter

As conditions become tougher many Australian small business owners have already started focusing on better financial management of their businesses. They will continue to place greater emphasis on getting their invoices paid, conducting credit checks on new customers and looking at ways to receive payments up front. On the cost side their will look to streamline their business to quickly take advantage of market opportunities for growth as well as actively reducing any bank debt. 

4. Start up and Exits

In previous years when unemployment increased there was a rise in the number small business start ups, especially for those who received a redundancy package. However with the losses to superannuation funds and investments it is likely that home businesses will continue to grow as the cost involved is small, but it is unlikely that people will rush to use their redundancy to buy a franchise. Another factor regarding buying a franchise is that borrowing from banks is only going to get tougher with tighter requirements. 

For those thinking of exiting, the last few months have seen a number on the market; however, there are not as many buyers and this is unlikely to change next year. 

5. Employing Others

With the introduction of the new Labor government’s employment laws and the economic climate small businesses will not rapidly increase their staffing levels. A recent MYOB Survey found only 14% of small businesses intend to increase their employee numbers with the majority of small businesses keeping their current staff levels even though there is still a skill shortage in certain areas. This actually could be one of the opportunities for other small business who provide services as small businesses investigate outsourcing to assist their business growth. 

6.  Expanding their Presence

It is estimated that only 40% of small businesses in Australia have a website, although approximately 80% have internet access. Australian small businesses have been quite slow to establish a web presence; however this could increase more quickly next year as small businesses give more attention to the opportunities that even a basic website can offer. Also it is thought as awareness increases of blogging platforms that are free such as WordPress more small businesses may use this as a first step for a web presence before outlaying cash building their own. 

7. Embracing Technology

Australian small business will continue to embrace technology, especially where there are cost or time saving and uptake of applications such as Skype, mobile technology and Google applications etc will continue next year. This will lead to more interest in web based software applications.  However, it is unlikely there will be a fundamental shift away from packaged software in the near future for the majority of small businesses. 

8. Finding their Voice

As it is well known how important the small business sector is for the country and during 2009 and the next few years lobbying will continue and increase for better considerations from the government. It has been said that the Minister for Small Business Dr Craig Emerson is quite proactive and this could lead to rethinking of certain government policies, e.g., a submission has called for the lowering of the tax rate for this sector. 

9. Bartering for Goods and Services

I was a little unsure whether to include this, however talking and listening to other small business owners the last few months there seems to be a growing interest in this area for two reasons. One is cost saving to the business and the other is to overcome a short term need that requires the skills the business owner does not have. As next year will see the need to be more creative for business growth, bartering may be one area investigated and trialed by small businesses. 

10. Continued Confidence

Small business owners in Australia as in most countries have always been quite a confident bunch of people and this trend is set to continue. In a recent small business survey, over 40% still expected their revenue to increase and an additional 28% expected revenue to remain the same. 

To put this in perspective nearly 60% of those surveyed expected the economy to perform worse over the next twelve months and many believe there will be a recession. One reason for the confidence is for the past months small businesses in Australia have had the time to start preparing themselves for a downturn in the economy and gain key insights from events that have been occurring overseas.

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About the Author: Susan Oakes is a director and cofounder of Marketing for Business Success Pty Ltd., which has developed the M4B Marketing Software.  She blogs at M4B Marketing Blog.

From Small Business Trends

Top Aussie Small Business Trends for 2009

Sure, there are landmark changes every once in a while that almost everyone hears about; Google’s introduction of “universal search”, in May 2007, is one example.

But Google says they made more than 400 changes to the ranking algorithm last year. Who can keep up with that?!

Luckily, you don’t have to keep up with every detail. But there are some important SEO trends you should know about as we go further into 2009. I’ll break the list down into two sections — Strategy and Tactics and Industry/Big Picture Trends – and then turn it over to you at the end.

Industry/Big Picture Trends

1. Increased SEO Awareness

SEO used to be something akin to voodoo; the only people who understood it were the ones doing it. But now it seems everyone knows about SEO. (Heck, even Wal-Mart offers SEO services!) As more small business owners become aware of what SEO is and why you should be doing it, competition should increase and put a premium on smart decision-making when it comes to doing SEO in-house or hiring a consultant.

2. Moving SEO In-house

On that note, in-house SEO has never been more popular than it is now, and that trend should continue into 2009. The upcoming SMX West search marketing conference even has an entire day devoted to in-house SEO. Companies big and small are recognizing the need for and value of having dedicated staff to recommend and implement SEO strategies.

3. SEO Consultants and Firms Booked Up

Many of us who don’t work in-house have never been busier than we are now. Because of trend No. 1 above, small business owners are hunting far and wide for SEO help. Purely anecdotal evidence, but something that many fellow SEO friends are experiencing: I usually get 2-3 emails a month from small business owners looking to hire an SEO. Last week alone I received five. There’s big demand and a lot of SEOs will be booked up.

4. It’s Google’s World

Google has dominated the SEO landscape for years, and their lead over Yahoo and Live Search is only getting bigger. There are several companies that try to track market share, and their numbers differ. But they all agree that between 60-70% of searches happen at Google. That doesn’t mean you should put all your SEO eggs in Google’s basket, but it does mean if you’re not being found on Google, you’re not being found.

5. SEO Tools & Automation

Hoping to take advantage of the growing interest in SEO, and the difficulty in finding the right consultant, more companies and individuals are creating online tools that automate portions of an SEO analysis. While some of these tools offer helpful data at a basic level, what matters most is how you use the data they provide.

6. SEO Scams

The downside of increased interest in SEO is that many small business owners will continue to spend money making unethical scam artists rich. $99/month for 500 directory links? $200 for search engine submission services? Don’t do it. Read what several search industry leaders had to say about SEO scams, and make sure this is one trend you avoid in 2009.

Strategy & Tactical Trends

7. Content = Authority (Still)

Links are the currency of SEO, and content is what attracts the links you need to rank well. When you rank well, you have authority. If you run a service-based business, you must be giving away your knowledge and expertise in the form of articles, blog posts, or other unique content that will attract links. If you run a retail web site, this still applies. Follow Amazon’s lead; I think they’re the SEO-smartest retailer online.

8. Content Variety …

I mentioned Google’s universal search at the start of this article, and other search engines have also been providing blended results for some time. What this means is that the Google search results page is no longer a list of 10 web page links; it now includes videos, news articles, blog posts, images, and more. In turn, this means that SEO isn’t just about tweaking your web site; it’s about creating and optimizing whatever forms of content make sense for your business and industry.

9. … Especially Video

The numbers are astonishing. YouTube gets more searches than Yahoo. About 100 million people watched videos on YouTube in October, and the average viewer watched 92 videos that month. eMarketer just reported that video is the number one tactic that US marketers will be focusing on in 2009. If you’re not doing it, chances are your competition will be.

10. Personalized Search Results

Personalization of search results has been simmering for a couple years now, but has started going mainstream recently. Google is leading the way with things like SearchWiki and Preferred Sites. Plus, things like your location, your recent searches, and which datacenter your search gets sent to can also impact the 10 search results you see at any given moment. It will continue to become more unusual to see the same 10 results when you and a friend in another state do the same search.

This renders ranking reports borderline useless. In other words, it’s no longer about whether your business is ranking for a certain search term at, say #2 in Google. Traffic and conversions are what you should be tracking, not what number you rank at for a specified term.

11. Local Search and Mobile Search

Mobile search has been on the way for years, but it never arrived. Until now. Mobile search used to be as fun as root canal, but the growth of smartphones – fueled by the iPhone – means mobile search is more enjoyable, more productive, and more popular than ever before. If your business appeals to people who might be searching on the go, local SEO should be a high priority for you in 2009.

12. Value of Your Audience and Community

Social media (sites such as Facebook and Twitter) isn’t going anywhere. And more of your potential customers are using it to make connections. You should be, too. By being active in online communities, you can develop an audience (look at the 38,000 followers Zappos has on Twitter!). When you do it right, that audience will help you push out your content (see No. 7 above), link to your content on occasion, tell their friends about you, and become your de facto marketing department.

Few small businesses will suddenly find themselves with 38,000 Twitter followers, but don’t underestimate the value of connecting with even 25, 50, or 100 people in the right online community.

What Others Say

Speaking of community: While writing this article, I asked my audience of Twitter followers to share their thoughts on SEO Trends for 2009. Here’s what they said.

@jfaris

@midnighttango

@MikeTek (read this one from the bottom up!)

@SimonHeseltine

@FrankReed

@lucasng

@Matt_Siltala

@karriflatla

They’ve had their say. I’ve had mine. Your turn: What SEO trends do you expect to see in 2009?

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About the Author: Matt McGee offers search marketing consulting and training to businesses of all sizes. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and HyperlocalBlogger.com. 

From Small Business Trends

SEO Trends for 2009

These books and their authors are your competition. Yes, some of those almost two million books have one and the same author but that doesn’t change your odds all that much. You have a task ahead of you … so, let’s look at the small picture and talk about ways you can compete. Regardless of how your book came to be published, it is up to you, the author, to create the attention that will turn into sales.

The good news is that it has never been easier to get your book noticed by the right people. In fact, before you put fingers to keyboard, before you type “Chapter One” on that pristine blank page — you should begin your marketing. You should be promoting yourself and your book, via the web, even before the book is done.

Shel Israel, co-author with Robert Scoble, of Naked Conversations, is creating his newest book online with the help of Twitter friends and blog comments. He and Scoble did a similar thing with Naked Conversations, and it reached bestseller status. The key is to talk about the book, share your writing stories, ask for input, and get your readers involved. The more involved I am in the writing of your book, the more likely I am not only to buy it when it’s done, but to help promote it to others.

Let’s talk about The Top 10 Ways to Promote Your Book in 2009: 

(1) Create a Blog Book Tour

Your book blog, named after your book — or after you, depending on what you’re branding — should be an invitation to connect with readers, other authors, and business professionals. As you visit their blogs and leave comments (linking back to your blog), also take time to build the relationship and identify possible review opportunities.

Choose blogs whose writers are consistent in their posting, who generate comments, and who are able to speak to your expertise when they write about you and your book. If you want help, tap into this Blog Book Tour site.  

(2) Create a Book Video Trailer

This is much like a movie trailer. Dr. Susan Reid, one of my authors, created an outstanding book trailer to introduce people to her book. It’s short, it outlines what the book is about and it creates the right “expression” — supporting the books’ goal to help small business owners tap into their “Inner Samaurai.”

Use a webcam or a Flip video camera, add some background music, and read from your introduction. Although Dr. Reid did not narrate her video, I recommend you narrate yours. Readers want to connect with you and hearing your voice brings you closer to being a “real person” to them. 

(3) Be Creative with Your Press Releases

Today’s press releases are more than announcements. They are Search Engine magnets. Choose a good firm that understands the value of attracting search engines, and write a killer headline. A killer headline grabs the reader’s attention.

When I wrote my book Dickless Marketing (about marketing to women online, leaving behind the old Dick and Jane world of the 20th century), I created this headline: “Look, Dick. See Jane. See Jane Dominate E-Commerce.” I got a call the same day to be on a local TV station. The headline got the reporter’s attention.  The body of the release, which revealed the title of the book, convinced her to have me on the show.

I covered two bases there – one was to be current and informative, the other was to be provocative.

(4) Find Local Sponsors to Buy Case Quantities of Your Book

With the economy forcing so many businesses to tighten their belts, this is a great time to be resourceful with your book. The price of a book (usually under $35) makes it a great giveaway for a bank or a business organization.

Banks are eager to attract more small business owners, and business organizations are always looking for qualified speakers – with books. Our local KeyBank supports women business owners and hosts a breakfast once a year, where they give away the speaker’s book after she speaks.  

(5) Connect With Your Local News – Both TV and Radio

This form of marketing is not dead, as some would have you believe. The news editor is always looking for great stories about local people.

Send a letter, with an overview of your book and your press release, and a testimonial from someone of authority. Make it easy for the editor, tell her why covering your book will make a good noon news story. Take the 6 a.m. slot if that’s offered – a lot of people are up watching or listening to the news at 6 a.m. 

(6) Speaking of Voices of Authority – Who do You Know That Can Offer a Testimonial?

Authors tend to leave this for last, thinking they need to have a preview copy of the book in hand before someone will grant them the privilege of a testimonial. This is patently untrue.

Tap into a former college professor, a CEO from a networking group, the author of a book you’ve enjoyed, or the founder of a popular website/social networking group. Let them know you’re writing the book and ask them if they would offer a testimonial. 

Tap into your LinkedIn profile. Three degrees of separation can work in your favor. You do have a LinkedIn profile, don’t you? To learn how to use LinkedIn more effectively, visit Steve Tylock’s site: The LinkedIn Personal Trainer.  

(7) Use Twitter

See what Guy Kawasaki, talking with Robert Scoble, says about Twitter in this video:   On Twitter, you can easily connect to thousands of people you might never meet otherwise. Be selective but friendly. Don’t over promote your book on Twitter – rather, be on the lookout for people who will promote you – by sharing the link to your blog or your book’s sales’ page. Make friends … friends help friends out.

(8) Be Remarkable

Marketer Seth Godin swears by this principle, and it’s true that standing out from the crowd has its benefits.

When I say be remarkable, I’m leaning more towards the Scott Ginsberg model. Scott is “that nametag guy” … he wears a nametag everywhere he goes (he even has one tattooed on his chest!). If you search online, using any search engine, for ‘that nametag guy’ you will get hundreds of thousands of hits and they are all about Scott.

What phrase will you claim in Google or Yahoo? My phrase is the name of my book, Dickless Marketing, although I often come up on the first page of a Google search for just my first name (today, I’m #9 out of 29,100,000).

(9) Become an Amazon Best Seller

Connect with experts who know how to do this. It involves a lot of work, a lot of connections, and a focus on results. Kathleen Gage has done it for others, more than once, and can do it for you, too. Invest in the tools to create the kind of attention and build the kind of mailing list that will continue to support you and your book for years to come. 

(10) Utilize as Many Facets of Social Media as You Can

Yes, create a Facebook page. Yes, join SWOM (Society for Word of Mouth).

Yes, follow Marti Lawrence’s lead and create a page on Squidoo.  Her book, 7 Way You Screw Up Your Life, (Are you FUGGDUP? Forgetting, Underestimating, Gratifying, Grieving, Deceiving, Undermining and Procrastinating are some of the most common problems that cause your life to be screwed up. Is this scenario familiar?) displays her book cover, a compelling description, and an easy link to her buy page. Squidoo is free and worth the few minutes to create a page and a link to all the places we can purchase your book. Remember to add your blog and Squidoo page to your email signature.

The book industry is changing dramatically, in response to the social networking aspect of business life today. Authors are ever more qualified to be the marketers of their book, by understanding where their market hangs out and showing up now and then; online and offline. Joe Girard, recognized as the best salesperson ever, says it best: “The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs … one step at a time.”

Part of the Small Business Trends 2009 Trends Series.

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About the Author:  Yvonne DiVita, President of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC: Books, Blogs and Beyond, is focused on consulting with businesses on how to effectively use new media tools. She blogs at LipSticking, with a focus on the women’s market.

From Small Business Trends

Top 10 Ways to Promote Your Business Book in 2009

In software publishing, as much as anywhere, the web continues to change the business landscape. Retail markets go down in a double-whammy of technology trends plus macroeconomic factors, users look to leave it all online instead of install it from a CD, the rich get less rich and the newbies keep growing. Brave new world.

Here are my guesses for the top 10 trends in software publishing in 2009.

1. Small, simple, and online. For small and simple, think iPhone applications — the most exciting new application market since web 2.0. There’s magic in small price, big numbers. Ninety-nine cents, $1.99, $4.99, even $9.99 feels a lot like free to the buyer, but when you add volume, those same prices feel like a business model to the publisher. And for online, expect less and less software installed on the computer itself, and more on the web. That’s obvious. That’s also software as a service (SAAS).
2. Micropayments. This is related to number one, and particularly what’s happening with iPhone apps. People are finding ways to make money in 99-cent increments. That’s not easy at all, with processing costs, watching for fraud, automation. It used to be impossible. Then came iPhone apps.
3. Moving up into the cloud. Lower costs, higher reliability make a game-changing idea.nbsp; Everybody wants to move up with amazon, for example. Doesn’t necessarily change looks and feels, though. the next game changer is what comes up after amazon’s cloud goes down for a significant while, like hours, and the rest of the world discovers how many of us are hanging our laundry on their clothes line.
4. Bootstrapping. In a world of rapidly lowering fixed and startup costs, while investors have migraines, bootstrapping happens. God bless the child that’s got it’s own. Slower growth, more independence. That will mean (see #7) free gets harder to find.
5. Web applications start the circle game. Web apps are obviously going up, and CPU-based applications are going down. But in the next year, some will go full-circle coming as the web applications figure out how to keep you happy when you can’t connect, like on the airplane. Normally it’s turn on, log in, there’s your stuff: Your word processor, spreadsheet, email, presentations, to-do lists, all of it. Watch Google with Gears, they’re leading the way. (Again.)
6. Goodbye retail channels. Remember those software products you used to get in the office store, all boxed and shiny? Remember browsing the software shelves? CompUSA is gone, Circuit City almost gone, Best Buy and the office stores are cutting down on software shelves. Why? Well, when did you last buy packaged software in a store? You and everybody else. Those sales are way down. Remember the term shakeout? When a market stops growing, winners squeeze out losers. Anita recently wrote “we are seeing large popular products become distribution channels for smaller ‘satellite” products.’” That’s not just expansion, though, that’s them playing defense.
7. More Mac, more Linux. This is another corollary of point #1, apps online. Applications have been the biggest pull for Windows and barrier to Mac and other systems. When they’re all moving steadily more online, that barrier goes down. It’s a lot more about Firefox vs. Chrome vs. Safari vs. Internet Explorer than Mac vs. Windows.
8. Free is getting tougher. A lot like sub-prime mortgages, the free software model gets ugly if valuations go down. The idea is to get money from investors, then get users, which makes your valuation go up, so you can get more money from investors. That’s worked well enough for some, but this year investors are hurting, and valuations aren’t going up. So how do you make payroll? Corollary: terms like “business model” and “monetize” are coming back in fashion. I should add, perhaps, that some already-there big successes like Facebook won’t suffer, but that’s because they’re already there. What worked 3-5 years ago isn’t working so well anymore; not for the newcomers.
9. Rapid development ; also called agile development. It might also be called program as you go. Software used to be designed first, at great expense of time and money and brainpower, then programmed. Now they start it, use it, change it, use it, change it again. In the background, when they had to build those disks and put them in boxes and ship them to stores they also had to live with them forever. Now the app lives on the web and you change it overnight.
10. Developers everywhere. Not just big companies in India working with big companies in the US, but individual programmers all over the world contracting with companies of every size, also all over the world. My son Paul, CTO at Huffington Post, is working with individual freelancers in half a dozen countries, makes it work as a team but spread across all the time zones. As long as they have a connection. There’s a lot more where that came from.

As I read through these 10 guesses, I notice how really mixed the picture actually is. It would be hard to generalize about how things are in the software world. Some of these segments are bursting out of the seams with opportunity. Others feel like old businesses, getting older by the minute. At least we know it’s going to be interesting.

Part of the Small Business Trends 2009 Trends Series.

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About the Author: Tim Berry is president and founder of Palo Alto Software, founder of bplans.com, and co-founder of Borland International. He is also the author of books and software on business planning including Business Plan Pro and The Plan-as-You-Go Business Plan; and a Stanford MBA. His blog is Planning Startups Stories.  He tweets as Timberry.

From Small Business Trends

Top 10 Software Publishing Trends for 2009

In looking ahead, what’s new and different from our “Resolutions to Do Business Globally in 2008” article from last year? Not much. From embracing the world to exporting like mad to doing whatever it takes to survive (and thrive) in good times and bad — everything mentioned is still relevant.

And even our colleagues at Emergent Research were spot-on when they wrote about 10 trends that would impact small businesses in 2008. One of them was right in line with our “exporting like mad” forecast:

“The declining dollar accelerates the long-term trend towards small business globalization: Several long-term trends are driving the growth of small business cross-border trade and the globalization of small business. These include increased global economic growth, reduced trade barriers and the growth of the Internet and other connective technologies. Adding to these longer term trends is the decline of the US dollar versus almost all free-floating currencies. The dollar’s decline is creating broad, new cross-border trade opportunities for small businesses and 2008 will see substantial growth in small business exports.”

As the Fed cut short-term interest rates to nearly zero, exporting continues to remain strong. I am not an economist, nor do I pretend to be, so I had to do some serious critical thinking and deep reflecting about everything I have read over the past couple of months (looking for recurring themes and patterns that become trends) that might tell us what we need to know to prepare our businesses for globalization in 2009.

Here are the top 10 global small business trends for 2009:

1. Disruptive innovation will be both the coolest and hottest new growth strategy in 2009 because it will transcend all boundaries and transform businesses.

Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor who focuses on innovation, discusses this very same topic in “How Hard Times Can Drive Innovation.” Also, a hip report by Trendwatching covers half a dozen consumer trends for 2009 and supports Christensen’s, and our theory, with prediction No. 6: Happy Ending. It states:

“At the same time, this is a great moment to innovate: shrinking budgets and diminishing revenues from existing offerings normally bring out the best and most creative in business professionals.”

Economist Joseph Schumpeter popularized a similar concept called “creative destruction” in 1942 in his book, “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy,” that describes the process of transformation that accompanies radical innovation. Look for more of this type of disruptive innovation in 2009.

2. dotMobi will take global root in 2009.

DotMobi is a top-level domain approved by ICANN (www.icann.org) and managed by the mTLD global  registry and dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices via the Mobile Web. According to Infoplease.com, there are more than 2 billion cell phones in use worldwide and that number continues to grow because many folks cannot afford a laptop. For a lot of people in emerging markets, the mobile phone will be the primary way to access the Internet. Learn more at, “Mobile Web Remains a Mystery to Most”
(http://tinyurl.com/5swua6).

And catch the real power of it here. If Coke is on to it, it’s already global.

3. Diverse global business partnerships will shine and outperform those businesses that don’t make these critical alliances.

By having a diverse range of business partnerships worldwide, we are better equipped to navigate the global marketplace. We will see more partnerships formed between big and small companies. Big companies still have money to spend, especially on disruptive innovation, and it’s the little companies that are the expert disrupters, shaking things up, making things happen and getting things done.

4. Exporting (from the USA) will prevail in the first quarter of ’09 and might start to strengthen later in the year.

Keep tabs on the global market at World Bank to see when there is a “sign” of crimp in the export boom.

5. Twitter will replace the “call me” statement with “Twitter me” due to technology, convenience and time constraints.

In case you are clueless about it, dive in here, where you can learn everything you want to know about Twitter:  Birds of a Feather Twitter Together  and Twitter Goes Mainstream.

6. Entrepreneurs and small businesses will learn, if they haven’t already, everything there is to know about how to take a business global. 

Check out these educational resources:   

U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce

International Business Center at Michigan State University (IBC) globalEDGE

U.S. Department of Commerce and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Fostering Entrepreneurship Worldwide

7. Optimism will fuel global small businesses that have the guts to press on, even in the face of insurmountable obstacles.

Seth Godin does a good job talking about this in the “Top Twelve Ways to Grow Your Business in a Down Market.”

8. Women entrepreneurs will rule the global marketplace.

Women are already starting businesses at twice the rate of men and their efforts to expand a business internationally will be a force to reckon with in the coming years due to social entrepreneurship, social media and social networking platforms that make it so much easier to do good things collaboratively –  which women are naturals at – while growing a business global.

9. Trusted crowds will become profitable clouds.

Out of necessity, smart global marketers will become possessed with customer attention in the way that Theodore Levitt was obsessed with getting and keeping customers in his important marketing paper, “Marketing Myopia.”  But this time it’s different. “Marketing in the World of the Web” touches on the power of social networks – something that did not exist in Levitt’s time – and how they will reshape and reconfigure individual behavior worldwide.

10. Green and global are a marriage made in heaven because everyone wants to save the world.

Think it’s not catching on? Wake up and smell the green roses! Green, environmentally responsible initiatives, is the new Crimson for Harvard. And then there’s Global Green USA, Green Globe International, Green River (oops, that’s legit a soft drink)! Got green? Better claim it before someone else does.

Speaking of green, just like everybody claims to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, everybody will stake their claim at being a global entrepreneur in 2009.

Part of the Small Business Trends 2009 Trends Series.

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Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com. She is also the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter and The Global Small Business Blog, both of which are well known for covering global small business.

From Small Business Trends

Top 10 Global Trends for Small Businesses for 2009