Trustworthy - Presenting Your Small Business Online

Would you feel confident buying a high-performance car from a street-corner vendor?
If you are like most people, you would much rather buy the car from a dealership that sells other cars, has a good reputation and employs many people. This is the same logic your online customers follow.

The web has empowered individual entrepreneurs to provide professional services and products that match those of large corporations - but most potential clients would still rather do business with a large company than a sole-proprietorship. People who are searching for products and services online constantly look for indicators of reliability, quality and trust in vendors' websites. Visitors will examine your website for these indicators beause it is a substitute for examining your wares and visiting your offices. You can dramatically increase the number of casual browsers that you turn into clients by incorporating those indicators into your site. This article will show you how to achieve this.

Reliability

You can convey reliability through your site by giving the impression that your company has good customer service, a bureaucratic hierarchy and that it's large in size. Showing these qualities can be done by doing the following:

For one-person companies, classify the owner as a "General Manager" or a "Chief Technician". This will explain to clients why their inquiries are handled by a single contact, and will imply that there is another person in the company who is the "Owner". This already increases the perceived number of people involved in the company twofold.

All companies should have their telephone, email and mailing address proudly displayed. Lacking a mailing address or a phone shows visitors that you are not a legitimate company, nor reachable when needed. Many contractors and owner-operators who work from home are reluctant to post their address online, but the chances of being visited in person (without prior contact) are slim compared to the benefit your address gives to the "tangibility" of the company. One approach to decreasing the chance of someone actually visiting is to classify the address as a "mailing address only".

Providing a guarantee gives another boost to your company's perceived reliability. This guarantee does not have to be substantial, though, and may be as vague as "we guarantee the most professional customer service treatment".

Finally, a mistake that many small business owners make is using a free email (Yahoo! or Hotmail) as the company email. This sets the alarm bells ringing in visitors' minds - real companies have email addresses at their domain. There is no reason why your company should not have its own email addresses, as even $7/month hosting plans provide this capability.

Trust

Encouraging visitors' trust mainly involves showing to them that your company is "real" and "tangible", not a fly-by-night operation. Regardless of whether this is exactly what your company is, there are several ways to make it seem otherwise:

Do not use generic stock images. Customers are constantly bombarded with generic pictures of smiling people, computer racks and skyscrapers - why should they trust someone who's pictures they've seen on another site? Create your own pictures, or take the time to choose unique and appropriate stock images.

Give visitors a glimpse into the "guts" of your company: post short employee or manager profiles, with their pictures. Show pictures of your offices or worksites - and ensure that they look authentic. When they see these two things, visitors know that a) your employees are real b) you have an actual location. If you have neither employees nor an office, post a good picture of yourself working at a computer or answering a phone (but make sure that your workplace is tidy and does not look like a home office).

A great way to make visitors feel secure about giving you their contact information is to have seals of approval posted next to your contact form. This has been researched and proven to decrease "abandonment" of your online forms. The best way to acquire seals of approval is to get them from organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, TRUSTe, and other approval organizations. A less expensive substitute is to be certified by a smaller niche-agency or post a membership seal from a professional association.

The final element of building trust is to have a privacy policy, and to address visitors' concerns openly. In the text of your site, openly state that you value clients' confidentiality, understand their needs and hold each employee accountable for their ethical conduct.

Quality

Showing the quality of your products and services is related to showing that you are serious about your business. Because your site visitors cannot touch your product or experience your service, they have to resort to evaluating your website itself as an indication of the care you take in your craft. This makes it very important that you take care in the way your site is built.

First of all, the look of your site matters greatly when it comes to showing quality. If your website looks like it was made in 1997 (big and blocky, misaligned, flashing animated GIFs) then you will not impress any web surfers - regardless of whether you are the best company in the offline world. Invest in bringing your site design up to date visually. This does not mean being on the cutting edge, just having tasteful design.

Also, you should ask a third party to review your website for spelling mistakes. As we do more business online without seeing our counterparty, we rely more on things such as spelling and grammar to assess intelligence, intentions and background. For a client, shoddy copywriting means shoddy workmanship on your end.

The final indicator of quality - testimonials - comes from the realm of Sales. Having testimonials indicates to potential clients that others have successfully used your services, and were satisfied. Place testimonials in areas of your website where visitors will start doubting your product or service's quality - such as in "product showcase" pages or on sign-up forms. The more authentic your testimonials feel, the better. It is always better to place a scanned image of a written testimonial than to retype it into a webpage.

Honesty

Something that you should remember as you integrate these indicators of reliability, trust and quality into your site is to never lie. You should never place pictures of nonexistent employees, locations or testimonials. You should never misrepresent the quality of your wares, exaggerate your achievements or provide a fake address instead of your home office address.

Your ultimate goal is to turn visitors into inquiries, and inquiries into customers. If you initially misrepresent your company, the truth will always come to light once you begin a business relationship with the customer. There is nothing more embarrassing than having your clients find out that you lied about yourself mid-project, withdraw the project and complain about you to the local business chamber.

Most of the approaches outlined here put your existing business in a better light. Once website visitors begin inquiring through email or phone, you should frankly and openly discuss your company with them. You should explain that "your location" is your home office, your "team" is actually made up of subcontractors and professionals to whom you outsource on occasion and that you are the Owner as well as the "Manager". Honesty is very attractive. And once a potential client hears that you are honest and knowledgeable, they will feel that there is a real person interacting with them. There will no longer exist a cyber-chasm that you need to bridge with your website, and you can begin selling your product or service on its own merits.

Conclusion

Potential clients who visit your company's website feel that your site reflects on your company. Because visitors cannot touch your products, hear your voice or visit your office online, they have to rely on certain factors in your website to decide whether to do business with you. Through better design, better communication and genuine imagery, your website can show that your company is reliable, trustworthy and provides a quality product. If your website can convey those qualities, then it's clear that your company is worth doing business with.

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About the Author: Jacob Filipp is the owner of the Toronto-based Powerspirit SEO company. Jacob draws on 7 years of experience as a programmer and web developer.

Small business accounting simplifies handling of business

It is not about the size of the business, rather it is about the efficiency with which you manage your business that counts in the end. Now if one starts a business venture whether it is a small sized business, mid sized business or a large scale business undertaking you want to earn profit and earn lots of it. The crucial element that determines the success of any business is the manner in which the accounting and other financial transaction of the business are dealt with. So if you are running a small business, you need to handle the accounting work of your business efficiently. Small business accounting may seem to be easy to handle initially, but gradually you will realize that the task is not so easy. Ultimately you will have to resort to either hiring a professional accountant to handle your small business accounting work or buy software that make the whole process easy.

Any business irrespective of their size has different requirement and all business strategy are designed on those lines. Small business accounting must also be tailor made to suit your business needs and if you happen to be one of those business owners who have perfect knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping, rest easy your business can grow by leaps and bounds. Running a small business can become overwhelming at times and this is why it will be better for you in the long run if you get small business accounting software installed to ease up the whole process. However we also know that most of the small business owners or for that matter any other business owner are not qualified accountants, and that is why they need to hire the services of a professional to handle this.

There are accounting professionals and CPAs who specialize in providing small business accounting services to clients. The only thing you need to do here is find out a CPA or an accounting firm that provides this service to clients and hire their services for your business. The accountant will handle the small business accounting work of your business; just make sure that from time to time you oversee things. As the business owner, you will like to be informed about all the work that is being done with regard to accounting and bookkeeping of your business, so that you know where your business is heading and if you are making any profits or not.

The importance of having well maintained accounts increases all the more when you approach the tax paying season. Everyone has to pay taxes and you must make sure that you have all the calculations done properly before the season approaches. Surely you do not want to hurry things in the last moment and in the process end up doing major blunders. The whole purpose of having a professional handle the small business accounting of your business is to make things easier for you, so that you pay your tax on time. Besides taxes, the accountant also keeps a transparent record of all the financial transactions that has been undertaken for your business, so that you can implement newer business strategies.

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About the Author: Alvis Brazma gives advice to business owners about how to manage their business efficiently without any hassles. To know more about Accounting outsourcing services,Small business accounting,Real estate accounting,Retail accounting, Small business accounting visit this leading internet source: www.impacctusa.com

Incorporating Your Small Business

Having a self-sufficient business is probably one of the most common of dreams. Even more so incorporating small businesses into big businesses with larger perspectives and larger visions.

If you have a small business there comes a point in time when you will need to make a decision on whether or not you need to incorporate.

Almost every small business starts as a proprietorship or a partnership and as they grow they ponder over the idea of incorporating.

One of the primary advantages of incorporating your business is that it offers limited liability. If a business is under a sole proprietorship the liability of the business is the responsibility of the proprietor. When the same business is incorporated, the responsibility will depend on the amount of stake or share in the company.

Another salient feature of incorporation is that if you have a debt under the name of the corporation you as an individual will not be held responsible for it. With a proprietorship or partnership, a similar debt would have resulted in the seizing of your assets.

The second most important advantage of incorporating your small business is continuance. In comparison to a sole proprietorship a corporation has a larger life span. In fact legally it has an infinite life span.

If the company shareholders leave the company, die or if the ownership changes. A corporation will always exist.


Business is driven by capital and as a corporation it is easier to raise capital. Influx of capital or funds will help the business to develop, grow and bring in more funds. When you incorporate your small business, you are not only able to borrow as a corporation, but you can also sell shares and raise equity capital.

If the key benefits of incorporating are in line with your companies goals you can begin the process of incorporation.

• The first step to incorporation is to choose a corporate name and have a proper business address. You can not run corporation out of home unlike with a sole proprietorship.

• Secondly, you need to select the state in which you will be incorporating. Your home state may not be the best state for incorporation. You should Chose the state that will derive maximum benefit.

• Thirdly, you need to select the type of corporation that will most benefit your company. Speak with your accountant, business consultant and/or legal consultant to determine what type of entity will be the best for your business. It may be a LLC, an S corporation or maybe a C corporation.

• The next process is to choose the type of share. As a corporation, you can issue common stock as well as preferred stock.

• Next, you will need to obtain a Certificate of Incorporation, which is normally available with the Secretary of State’s office.

• Lastly, you need to process and file your incorporation documents. This process can be taken care of by a registered agent or an attorney.

Once you are incorporated make periodic appointments with your resident agent to ensure your corporation is in compliance with the secretary of state.

For more information on incorporation and how you can qualify for loans, lines of credit and business credit cards in as little as ninety days without affecting your personal assets visit http://www.businesscreditbook.com.

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About the Author: Chris Howard is a business credit coach and co-author of The Business Credit Book: The Blueprint Guide to Building Business Credit.

Referrals and Small Businesses - Your Best Salespeople Are Not On Your Payroll, But They Should Be

No matter how well you perform as the main salesperson for your business, there will always be certain key salespeople available who can communicate the benefits of your products or services better than anyone.

Are you recognizing and rewarding these important people?

Are you encouraging them to reach out to as many prospects as possible?

Are these key salespeople loyal to you and your business?

Do you even know who these critical salespeople are?

You should. They are your customers.

Customers are the most overlooked and underappreciated marketing assets a business has. And just like regular sales employees, your customers need to be motivated to sell on your behalf.

Aside from answering a specific question from a friend or family member, people rarely start up a conversation about a positive experience they had with a business. It just doesn’t often happen.
Customers will tell an average of nine people about a bad experience with a business and no one about a good experience.

If you sit for an hour in the waiting room at the doctor’s office you will tell people about it. If the waitress brings you a roast beef sandwich and you’re a vegetarian you will be sure to mention it when you go home. But when the doctor sees you right away and the waitress brings you your salad it doesn’t cross your mind to say a word about the experiences to anyone.

So if good service and reliable products don’t motivate your customers to spread the good word about your business, what does? Have you tried asking your customers to sell on your behalf?

It’s like asking someone to dance. Take a deep breath, work up the nerve and just ask your customers to mention your business to their friends and family. Ask your customers to share with you their friends and family members who could benefit from your services. If your customers are pleased with their experience then they may be willing to share some names and numbers with you.

There are more organized ways to request the assistance of your customers as well. Implement a formal referral program. Every time someone comes in and mentions that a current customer referred them, reward that current customer. Keep track of referrals in your customer database and enable customers to accumulate significant discounts. Provide the business-generating customers with free services as a sincere thank you. Recognize them with a hand written thank you note. Heck, reward them with cash.

Present each customer with an offer to meet with, give guidance to, or advise anyone important to them who might have a need for your services or products. Mention that there is no expectation of purchase, but a desire to offer the value that your customer appreciates to his or her friends, family, and coworkers.

A loyal customer who brings in new customers is incredibly valuable to your business. You are spending a specific amount of marketing money to bring in one customer, except now with referrals you are acquiring more than one customer. With a successful referral program you are slashing your marketing costs per customer.

Implementing a successful referral program is the highest leverage marketing tactic that you can carry out.

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About the Author: Shawn McGee Marketing is a recommended marketing consulting resource for small businesses. Aggressive entrepreneurs with limited time and budgets find Shawn's Leverage Marketing strategies powerful and easy to implement. Fast-track your profits with Leverage Marketing techniques at www.leveragemarketer.com