Bizbuzz by BizCard.com

A lot of entrepreneurs start their business with a grand idea and the goal to create a global empire. This is mostly true for founders of web companies. Most “Startupreneurs” want to build the next Google or Amazon. The web gives anyone access to a wide audience, and technology makes it easy to go from concept to product with very little upfront investment. So when companies like Facebook go from dorm room to a 10 Billion dollar valuation in less than 5 years, it is easy to see why founders believe they, too, can do it.

Rarely do you come across a mechanic who talks about how he is going to build the next Ford or Bentley Motors. They understand the metrics are different and building a large scale automobile manufacturing company requires a significant amount of upfront investment. Meanwhile they usually start their own repair shops, and go from there. Only a low startup capital is required and reaching profitability is not as hard. Some shops only change tires/oil and are able to grow their business steadily without requiring additional investments.

If the same model was applied to web companies, more enterprises would be able to generate money and quickly become profitable. A good example is the new wave of, what we could call, Affiliates 2.0. These are websites that harness the inventory of much larger companies and offer internauts a user friendly interface to find and purchase goods. They usually take a small transaction fee. Although tiny, the referral stipends quickly add up and could mean the difference between shutting down a business, or being able to work on it full time and not have to worry about making rent.

Take TicketStumbler, the event ticket comparison engine, for instance. It scans databases from distributors such as Razogator and Stubhub and lets users compare prices for the perfect seat at sport games, concerts and other local events. Another company is FrugalMechanic. They allow users to compare used or new auto parts prices from different suppliers. Instead of calling 40 vendors or junk yards, users let FrugalMechanic do it instantly, hence saving them time and money. Both companies are profitable. These are just 2 random examples, there are several more. These companies may not necessarily turn into a Google or a Yahoo, but they do not envy those with 600 employees and 4 international offices.

Not every company needs to become the next Big Thing. While waiting for the next game changing concept to magically happen upon us, we can build profitable web enterprises by serving niche markets. Affiliates 2.0 are not necessarily disruptive companies, but their founders are 1)providing services others are willing to pay, 2)doing what they love, and 3) building profitable businesses in the process.

Freelancing can be a dream job. You probably work from home, set your own hours, work on different interesting projects etc…. But when it comes to Income, this dream job is not always all gravy. One month you have way more gigs than you can handle, and next month you are struggling to close the tiniest client. To prevent the latter issue, there are a few steps you can take that will help you better market your services and increase your deal flow.

1- Focus on your skills. We all know great developers who are also great designers, and exceptional designers who are terrific content writers. But those polyvalent professionals are the exception rather than the rule. If you are no exception to the rule, please focus on your core skill set. Not only will you be able to do a better job for you clients, but you can now focus your marketing efforts and get new deals faster.

2- Frequently update your website. Most people think SEO is just for content websites and ecommerces. Every one who wants to be found online should optimize their website. One easy way is to add a blog and start sharing resourceful information about your work. If helpful your posts can drive traffic, rank your website for targeted keywords and give visitors an in-depth look at what you do.

2- Create online profiles. The world does not stop at your website/blog. There are several places such as Linkedin, Elance, Odesk where you can add your profile as a provider and allow companies and individuals to find you. Craigslist is also a good place to add your resume. Businesses must pay to list their openings, but it does not cost a penny to post resumes. Just ensure you “pepper” your profile with targeted keywords.

3- Use Search tricks. Searching for contracting gigs can be extremely time consuming. There is a lot of emailing back and forth and that will leave you very little time to do any actual work. To ease your search and avoid going city after city on Craigslist, Elance or any other site simply Google your ” search term + needed + site:website.com”. For example: ” social network developer needed site:craigslist.org“. Bamm!! You just saved yourself half an hour.

4- Pick up the phone and dial. Emails are great, but sometimes you need to get on the phone and talk to prospects. Cold calling is annoying, but if you send an email a couple of days prior to it, you will have a better chance at being listen to.

5- Offer referral fees. You can use your existing network to get more business by sending a well crafted email to all your contacts and ask for help. You may be surprised to see how many people love to lend a hand if given the opportunity to. It would not hurt to mention the couple of hundreds you will send anyone who brings you business as a way to show your appreciation.

Bonus- Offer your professional advise for free. Do not hesitate to share information and tools that others can use for themselves or their businesses. Send them helpful advises they can actually use without having to pay you. If your tips are useful, they will definitely want to know more and perhaps turn into paying customers.

Finding new deals is not easy when you have a team of dedicated sales people, let alone when you are operating solo. Nevertheless there are several tiny steps you can take that will ease this process and help you stay cash flow positive and hopefully grow your practice. Be persistent and Be creative.

When the economy starts going south, many businesses start to look towards the old-fashioned concept of do-it-yourself. DIY tasks that once seemed impractical are quickly making their way to the top of the agenda, even for the people on the top rungs of the ladder.

People all across the industrial spectrum (medical, dental, pharmaceutical, beauty stores, landscapers, etc) are increasingly trying to micro manage every small task. This has led many key individuals in the companies to be bogged down with a multitude of tasks, which invariably causes them to disregard the top-level system view of their business.

Here at Bizcard.com we notice this do-it-yourself attitude among many of our North American clients. One could presume that this mentality is what made America great in the first place — however one might also contend that this attitude is hurting the economy far more than it is helping, even at the micro – or individual business level.

Most high-level executives would agree that creating business cards, post cards and fliers on office computers should not be a top priority for the managing individuals in a company. These companies perform best when executives are focusing on its products and customers. Yet today people still print these products on their home or office computers, with low quality paper and inferior inks.

Your best bet is to keep letting the pros (who have half a million dollar printers) print your marketing materials. Let them make your company shine, with custom items such as embossing, foiling, specialized and industry specific designs. While you’re focusing on getting more clients, improving your business and getting our economy going, we’ll focus on creating the professional quality print marketing that will help make it happen.

Visit www.bizcard.com on how we can handle your marketing for you.