Women have all the qualities needed to run a successful business and then some.

Check out this uplifting article entitled “Why women rock the Entrepreneurial World” Crystal Williams talks about .  Let’s go ladies.

The fact is women-owned companies grow twice as fast as all other companies and generate more than $3 trillion in revenue annually.  An odd fact when you consider that women still get paid less than men in corporate settings. It’s only when women become CEOs that they outpace men by 49 percent in earnings.

Maybe that’s why more and more women opt to strike out on their own, and become incredibly successful in the process!

The other day my husband and I were out running errands and he made a beeline for McDonald’s.  Lately, we have been trying to eat healthier (so I can watch my girlish figure, of course) so I asked why he was stopping.

He went on to explain that earlier in the week he used a free coupon for a McDonald’s smoothie.  The small free sample of the Berry flavored smoothie has had him hooked ever since.

Now everyday for the past week on his way home from work he has been buying this smoothie.  Notice I said “he has been buying”, the small sample brought in more money for McDonald’s.

There is much to gain from giving away freebies. When I first started out I learned about this concept by embracing the pink spoon marketing strategy.  Potential customers need a small sample of your services or product for so many reasons.

One thing I always mention to clients is that people buy from who they trust.  Part of building trust is allowing them to sample.  McDonald’s has earned at least $24 from my husband in one week from one free taste.  Imagine how many millions of people have also spent $24 from this free sample?

Now you might be thinking what’s $24 but let’s calculate for a moment.  The price point for this smoothie varies but a large is approximately $4.  If 200 people buy a $4 smoothie that totals $2800 multiply that by 5 days and it is a whopping $24,000!

I don’t know about you but the sample seems well worth the effort to me.  Now listen, I know if you are just starting out you won’t have even a quarter of the traffic McDonald’s has but, as your traffic builds your sales will increase.  Get in the habit of giving away sample now and the traffic will come.

Learn more about the Pink Spoon Marketing strategy to enhance your business sales.

Unfortunately, I do not have a link to post for the free McDonald’s smoothie. They were giving away a free peel of label on their large drink cups but I am not sure if the promotion is still going on.

Ongoing Series

We wanted to let you know about several of the blog series we have here at “She-Business.com”.  As you know She-Business is all about providing information and support to women in business.

Some of you may already have a business in place or have an idea to begin one and many of you would like to become successful entrepreneurs but don’t have a clue what  you would like to do.

While we do offer paid coaching and consulting services to help you.  We get the most satisfaction out of sharing free information and knowledge with all of you.  So we created a few business series to help you.  We currently have a few ongoing series on our blog to help you along the way.

Newbie Entrepreneur – Here we offer tips for the really new business owner.

Technology Tuesday’s – This series will be beginning again on August 9.  Here we share various computer, software and SEO tips.

UPCOMING EVENTS

NEW SERIES

We are pleased to announce a new series beginning  during the month of August  entitled  “Online Business Ideas”.  In this series we will be sharing various online business ideas you can use or tweak to jump start your online business.

LIFE COACH ACADEMY

Finally, the Life Coach Academy Kick Off!  In September look for the Grand Opening of our Life Coach Academy.  If you have considered becoming a certified life coach, this program will be great for you.  Upcoming details about the certification program will be announced here at She-Business throughout August.

HELP 500 WOMEN

Lastly, during the month of October we will be kicking off our  “Help 500 Women” campaign.  Help 500 Women is a one year campaign She-Business has started  to help 500 women become successful entrepreneurs.  Our goal is to touch 500 women entrepreneurs through coaching, training and mastermind groups .

Each week a different woman will featured on She-Business.com.  With business showcasing, networking and training these 500 women entrepreneurs will have all they need to catapult their businesses.  More information will be announced.

I need to vent and discuss an important topic at the same time so here goes.

 I had a reservation to stay at a NYC hotel in the Times Square area of Manhattan this weekend, so that I could attend a family event. I have to be honest I had a little anxiety about staying anywhere in the city due to the recent bed bug incidents all over NY. After checking in I went on a search to be sure there were no bed bugs in my room. I didn’t see anything and was just about to get a good night’s rest when I saw it…..yes a creepy bed bug.

 Imagine my horror! I called downstairs to the manager on duty and informed him that I had bed bugs in my room. The manager did not act surprised at all, in fact in a very calm voice he told me to come down to the lobby to get the key for a new room. 

 I immediately grabbed my belongings and headed to a family members room to inform them of my discovery. Bear in mind it was after midnight so everyone was sleeping. I explained my discovery to them and urged them to get up and check their room and as they turned on the light there were bugs crawling on their sleeping child’s pillow and face.

 A hotel security guard arrived and offered a new room to me and did not mind informing me that he knew the hotel had bugs but he could give me a clean room. His exact words were “yeah we have bugs but what are you gonna do? This is New York!”

 Needless to say we checked out of the hotel immediately.

 After this incident I began thinking about business ethics. I understand how important it is to continue to bring in new customers but at what cost? I wondered how a business owner could continue to rent rooms to unsuspecting people knowing that his establishment was contaminated.

 As business owners we have an obligation to put ethical business practices in place and use them! While I know the bottom line is to make money we can never be so consumed with making money that we compromise ethics. We can’t be so selfish and cruel that we are willing to jeopardize others safety or health just for a buck. If you are in business right now and utilizing unethical business practices I urge you to stop.

 Consider how you wish to be treated from other businesses, the effect that your immoral or unethical behavior will have on someone else and lastly remember “what goes around comes around”!  

 In closing I would like to say, if anyone encounters bed bugs in a public place please report the bed bug sighting so others can be aware. This is a situation that is and will affect so many other states if something is not done soon. Until unethical business and hotel owners are fined we the people will have to do the right thing by reporting these encounters. 

 Report Bed Bugs

 See you at the top.

It’s all about the buzz.

Are people buzzing about you and your business?  If they’re not you might want to reconsider how you are marketing yourself.  You have got to get your name out there and Social Media is the way to do it.  If you are not on Facebook and Twitter you are missing out on millions of opportunities daily to get the buzz going.

If you are already a Twitter and Facebook user be sure to interact with people and remember post, post, post.  You can’t expect people to buzz about your company or product if you don’t give them something to talk about.

Sean Smith of the Power of More has a great article with steps to create a buzz.

See you at the top!

If you are not on Facebook you are missing out on tons of potential business. Read this article about their growth.

http://bit.ly/bhEAm4

Welcome to the beginning of our Newbie Entrepreneur series.  I hope that you get tons of inspiration and ideas during this series.   So let’s get to it.

Many newbie entrepreneurs start off by creating blogs to generate traffic and build a reputation as an authority.  These are all great reasons for creating blogs but there are a few blog success secrets I’d like to share with you to get you started off on the right foot.

Secret #1

If you’re goal is to connect your blog to your business site (which is brilliant by the way), don’t wait until your business site is complete!  I repeat don’t wait until your business site is complete to launch your blog.  Create and launch your blog first.  You can begin to generate visitors, interest and begin building your credibility.

I know this sounds a little crazy but consider this.  If you’re blog is launched and you start to have a customer base you will already have an audience for your product or service when your site is finally launched.

Secret #2

The next secret to blog success is to enroll and begin using Google Analytics just as your site is launched.  Google analytics is an awesome tool for tracking traffic statistics on your site.  It can track page view, pages per visit, average time on site, site visits and so much more.

Don’t make the mistake of waiting until you have steady traffic on your site.  Start using it from the beginning so you will know what is generating the most traffic and where it is coming from.

Secret #3

Now this last secret is one that many don’t know about.  Are you listening?  Before you launch your blog you must write at least 20 good keyword rich titles and 5-7 great content filled articles.

As you go on continue to replenish the titles and use them to come up with great articles so you won’t get stuck without much to write about.  If you keep this list filled your blog will always have great content.

Same goes with the articles.  You can’t launch an empty blog!  Your 5-7 beginner articles will give your blog a not so empty look.  These prewritten articles will give you a head start and take the pressure off having to produce multiple articles at once.  Remember you need to write quality articles if you want people to visit and stick around.

See you at the top!

I was speaking with a client recently about an upcoming business seminar she had scheduled.  It seems that all of the people  she had scheduled to help her backed out or were suddenly unavailable at the last minute.  She was going to cancel the seminar because she did not think she could pull the seminar off herself.

As small business owners it is easy to get  overwhelmed or feel isolated at times during our tedious journey to build our business.  We  must keep in mind that when we are building our business it is “our business”.  Not every person around us will be 100% invested in our business as we are. Seriously if you are a entrepreneur you are in business by yourself.

You must keep your goal in focus at all times.  Nothing and I mean nothing must deter you from working toward that goal daily.  Yes, I know it can be scary at times, especially if you are set to meet a group of potential customers face to face as my client was. But the point is those potential clients represent potential business and money!  That is the goal right?  So nothing can stop you.

Always be prepared to roll with the punches and have a back up plan. Constantly work on your extended elevator pitch so if you have to go it alone in front of a group of people you don’t get tongue tied.

In life I have learned that at the end of the day the only person you can really count on is you. I hope I can paint a descriptive picture for you.

Here goes.

You are the rice and your business helpers are  the gravy.  No matter what happens if you (the rice) are always available to your client  (everyone eats).  If your business helpers show up too the rice tastes even better.  The point is don’t starve your clients because you don’t feel the meal is complete.  Give them something to eat or they will eat elsewhere!

Hope that makes sense.

See you at the top!

This week I will be beginning a series of weekly articles for the Newbie Entrepreneur.  This series will be ongoing indefinitely.  Now everyone knows I love to help all small business owners but, truth be told my passion lies with the Newbie!

One of the most frustrating things about being a Newbie (New Entrepreneur) is, simply not knowing.  Not knowing how to do almost everything except whatever your business is.  To be honest many of you may even still be learning your business.  So if we at She-Business.com can help lighten the stress we will.  These tips will be short bits of information to make your learning curve slightly smaller.

Our goal here at She-Business.com is to help women entrepreneurs grow and enhance their businesses.  That being said we all can be considered “Newbies” from time to time depending on what we are doing, so I believe everyone will be able to gain something from these tips.

This week’s topic will be “3 Blog Success Secrets for the New Entrepreneur”.  Be sure to check back tomorrow for the first tip of our series.

Looking for another quick profitable business idea?

Even if you are not a typical brick and mortar business you should consider placing local ads to generate leads for your customer base.   When I say local ads I don’t necessarily mean the traditional local ad route like the newspaper.  While  local newspaper ads may be slightly effective your goal should be to focus on building your customer base, utilizing technology.  There are several really great ways to generate traffic, advertise locally and be found by customers by utilizing the methods mentioned below.

Now how can we even consider a marketing campaign online without mentioning Google?  Did you know that Google is used in over 90% of all online searches?  Staggering numbers right? So we will explore this avenue first.

First off you should have a Google account set up already as you should be using it for various business productivity tools already.  Once you visit the search engine if you do not land on their maps page you will need to click on that link located in the upper right corner.  Once on the maps page find the tab located near the bottom of the page that says “put your business on Google Maps”.

The balance of the listing process is simple.  One thing to keep in mind – if you are operating your business out of your home and do not want your address advertised, be sure to click the tab that says ‘Yes this business serves”.

Be sure to complete the entire form and use keyword rich information in your descriptions!  If you are a small business owner in a heavily populated area like NY, Atlanta or LA your ad could get lost in searches so try to be descriptive.

Also keep in mind customers can give you reviews to help prospective customers decide about your business.  Encourage people to give reviews to boost your popularity.

Now all you have to do is upload a photo and YouTube videos if you have them and you are on your way to some local business!

Another great way to generate local business is Merchant Circle.  This local advertising space is great it not only allows you to advertise your business but also allows customers to add reviews.

You can connect with other local businesses in your area.  On a personal note I have found businesses using the local business advertising method.  I am also a huge business review person.  If I am looking to buy something or go somewhere I know little about, I will do a search for business reviews.  Depending on what I see I may choose to patronize or avoid a business altogether.

Recently, I had to take a trip to Detroit, MI.  Due to the not so popular media reviews about Detroit I was a little hesitant when making hotel reservations.  I searched business reviews and found that the hotel I was considering (which was considered a 4 star hotel) had a few instances of bed bugs!  Yuck!  Okay, I digress.

Last but not least the most obvious form of local advertising is…………..drum roll please!  Craigslist, now I know this site has had lots of negative publicity because of the huge amounts of scam advertisements.  But I have found some good deals and business leads on Craigslist. You just have to be cautious.  When you place your ad for business direct people to your site and be sure to make your email anonymous .  Depending on what kind of business you have you can even upload photos of your items.

Whichever method(s) you decide to try, be sure to try something.  All roads lead to more customers.  That is why we’re in business right?