Throughout the month of November we will be running our “SMB blog series.” While SMB traditionally refers to “Small/Medium Business,” here at Volusion it has come to mean something else: “Small Made Big.” This month we will be sharing resources, tips, stats, and inspirations to help you turn your small ecommerce endeavor into something greater- something BIG!

Developing a marketing plan is vital to the direction of your company. Without a properly formed marketing plan it’s easy to waste resources and get sidetracked with your goals. Small business counselors SCORE outline 7 important steps in developing a marketing plan:

1. Develop Specific Goals and Timeframes
   The very first step should be to nail down specific goals. Get as detailed as you can! When you developed your business plan you didn’t use generalizations like “I want to grow.” Think of your marketing plan in the same way in terms of specifics
   Once you know what you want to get out of your marketing efforts- set challenging but not impossible time frames for completion. Without planning for when goals should be met, it’s easy to misallocate time and resources and under accomplish on your goals.
2. Communicate Goals Internally
   Having more collaborators on your marketing plans means a bigger pool of ideas to pull from and more help along the way. Make sure all of your employees know where you’re going and how you’re planning on getting there. In the beginning when you just have a few employees that’s easy, but the breakdown in communication can start when the company begins to grow. (more…)
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Throughout the month of November we will be running our “SMB blog series.” While SMB traditionally refers to “Small/Medium Business,” here at Volusion it has come to mean something else: “Small Made Big.” This month we will be sharing resources, tips, stats, and inspirations to help you turn your small ecommerce endeavor into something greater- something BIG!

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)- Office of Advocacy released a working paper in August detailing some business start-up statistics:

• 92% of start-ups are new independent businesses
• 50% of start-ups are home-based and 40% rent or lease
• 91% have fewer than 10 employees

So, in general it can be said that the average start-up is probably a home-based independent business with just a handful of employees. These statistics are reassuring for many small business owners who worry that their business won’t be taken seriously because they haven’t left home, or don’t have a large team of employees.

We’re All in the Same Boat

The reason so many other small business owners are in the same position as you is because that’s what works! When you’re first getting started it makes sense to start fresh (instead of trying to negotiate the legal waters of buying a business) and to use your home as a base of operations (rather than spending money you haven’t yet earned to get yourself a separate location for your business) and get by with as few personnel as possible to keep business operations running (in order to save money).

The Importance of a Co-Captain

There was one surprising statistic that the SBA paper revealed: Businesses with multiple owners have a higher rate of growth than those with single owners. (more…)

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Throughout the month of November we will be running our “SMB blog series.” While SMB traditionally refers to “Small/Medium Business,” here at Volusion it has come to mean something else: “Small Made Big.” This month we will be sharing resources, tips, stats, and inspirations to help you turn your small ecommerce endeavor into something greater- something BIG!

Wine entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, did an interview with BusinessWeek to discuss ideas on how to start a successful ecommerce business from his recent book “Crush It! Why Now Is the Time to Cash in On Your Passion.” I suggest you watch the interview for yourself, but if you’re pressed for time here are the key takeaways:

• Follow your passion
  “It’s insane to me to ask anybody to be what they’re not… Do what you know the best, love the most. That’s always going to be the answer to the thing that you have the best shot at winning at… Without the passion you’re not going to put in the 18 hours a day it costs to build a real business.”
• There’s a market for everything
  “I think there’s a market for everything… The debate that there’s not a business around it isn’t true because if you start really understanding how niche passions become, you can get down to very minute things.” (more…)
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Brands are a part of our lives and social networks are where we express our lives online; therefore, it’s logical to conclude that these spaces are hungry for brand conversations. Consider the following facts:

• 19% of young adults have added branded content to their social network profiles and 24% have recently added advertising clips*
• 60% of social media users interact with a company more than once per week*
• 93% of social media users think a company should have social media presence*
• 20% of tweets provide product or brand information**

Why Should You Care?

It was once assumed that there was no room for businesses in social media- that users would become disinterested in social networks if brands barged in, pandering to consumers like they do in other forms of media. While this may be true in some instances, the above statistics are evidence of the extent to which brand conversations are being adopted into social media spaces.

Social media users these days are starving for brand conversations- they want to compare brands and products, they want to share their stories, and they expect brands to be engaging them as well. With this in mind, there are a few things you should remember:

1. If social media users aren’t already talking about you, they will be soon!
   Social networks have made it easy to generate online buzz about any brand- big or small. If your brand isn’t being talked about yet online, give it time- it will be.
2. You’ll need to get comfortable seeing your name online.
   When your brand first starts appearing online in conversations, it can be easy to let it distract you. This sort of distraction can also happen if all of the feedback about your brand has been generally positive and all of a sudden you are seeing negative press spreading. Whether the opinions being expressed are positive or negative, keep one thing in mind: that is just a small subset of opinions. Only the most extreme ends of the spectrum are the ones that are going to be talking about you. No one is going to take the time to say something neutral like “Just received my order from Company.com It was fine- just as expected.” (more…)
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Throughout the month of November we will be running our “SMB blog series.” While SMB traditionally refers to “Small/Medium Business,” here at Volusion it has come to mean something else: “Small Made Big.” This month we will be sharing resources, tips, stats, and inspirations to help you turn your small ecommerce endeavor into something greater- something BIG!

It’s important for all business owners to stay on top of industry information, but as a small business owner, it’s even more important to understand the business landscape! Running a small business, you have less room for error so you’ll want to make sure you have as much information as possible when making decisions that will affect the future of your business.

Blogs are an excellent way to get the essential news, tips, resources, and advice you need to run your small online business! Here are some great business blogs to follow on a regular basis:

• Duct Tape Marketing
  Duct tape is an absolute essential, and so is this blog. Just look at the Duct Tape Marketing blog’s  extensive left-hand navigation of blog topics and you’ll know why it’s a must-read for small business owners.
• All Business- The Small Business Blog
  Small Business expert Reiva Lesonsky updates The Small Business Blog weekly with straightforward and passionate entrepreneur insight.
• Small Business Trends
  Like their name would imply, Small Business Trends keeps tabs on all of the breaking trends that impact every aspect of your business. They also maintain an extensive list of ongoing business events. (more…)
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