Where are these articles?

We’ve made it easy on you.  You’ll now see an ‘Articles‘ tab at the top of every page on Bizplan.com.

What kind of business advice will I find there?

We’ve done our best to build out a really comprehensive library of startup business advice including topics such as  incorporating a business idea, distributing startup equity, and even tips about how to approach an angel investor.

We’re constantly adding helpful articles as a resource to our members.  If you have any topics that you’d like us to address, please leave a comment here or contact us directly and we’ll put our team on it!

Getting to the Plan Library:

You’ll see a ‘Plan Library’ button on your Dashboard when you are logged in to Bizplan.com.  The library is available to all members that have purchased the ‘Professional’ or ‘+Funding’ packages.  If you haven’t purchased one of those packages, you can always upgrade when you need to.

How to Use It:

The plan library is where we store all of our sample business plans.  You can find plans for nearly any industry or type of business in there.  If you can’t find a plan that exactly fits your industry, you can probably find one that is close enough.  Or piece together sections from several different sample plans.  The library can’t possibly have an exact plan for every business that you can dream of creating.  If it did, then your idea wouldn’t be very good…because somebody would have already written the exact plan for it!  Every business is unique.  Sure, a restaurant is a restaurant.  But, one restaurant might be in a different city than another. And, one might be a high end steakhouse that caters to a certain demographic while another might be a fast food joint in a strip mall.  You get the point!  Even similar businesses have a lot of differences.

The moral of the story is that you should only use the Plan Library as a reference point.  Don’t expect to find a plan that exactly fits every single piece of your business.

A short time back, we added a ‘Feedback’ tab that you’ll see along the right hand side of nearly every page when you are logged in to Bizplan.com.  You can also click on the ‘Feedback’ link at the very bottom of the site regardless of whether you are logged in or logged out.  This is a great way to let us know if you have any suggestions for features that we can add or any other improvements we can make to the site.  Many of you have already offered some great suggestions.  Keep them coming!

In the Feedback area, you can see suggestions that other people have added and you can vote on whether you’d like us to make those changes to the site.  If you have an idea that you don’t see, go ahead and add it.  The ideas with the most votes get built the most quickly.  Also, you’ll often see comments that the Bizplan team has made on some of the suggestions.  This is our chance to explain why a certain feature works a certain way.  We also use the Feedback area to let you know how quickly we’ll be able to build each of the top suggestions.  Remember, the majority rules in most cases (not always though).  So, if one idea gets 200 votes and another only gets 2 votes, chances are pretty good that we won’t spend much time on the less popular idea.

So, get busy in the Feedback area and let us know how to improve the site!

LinkedIn is the last of the three major social media platforms that every business should be working to establish a presence in.  Remember, the easier it is to find and connect with your business, the easier it is for community to be built around your product or service.  And make no mistake, community equals loyalty, and loyalty equals referrals and repeat customers. If you’ll remember, as I figured in my first post, the only reason someone isn’t using social media for their small business isn’t because they’ve never heard of it…it’s because they don’t see the value in it.  So I’ve set out to give five compelling reasons that you’re small business should be using at least one, if not all, of the three major social media platforms – twitter, facebook, and linkedin.

Here are my top five reasons for using LinkedIn for your small business:

1. LinkedIn is comprised of over 53 million users who are mostly there for business – which means this is a large but very focused group of people who could vastly expand your B2B contacts.

2. While you might want to check out a potential new employee’s facebook to get an idea of the type of person they are, you’re most likely NOT going to find a full resume with references.  LinkedIn however has included detailed professional information, including education, experience, recommendations, interests, honors, and awards to it’s main features.

3. Just like on Facebook, you can use LinkedIn’s search feature to find people who are connected to those you already know.  But here, you can also search for job titles and company types to target your search for new contacts or potential employees.

4. LinkedIn makes it possible to locate thought leaders in your industry and allows you to interact and maybe even join their ranks.  One effective way of doing this is by starting and/or joining a group for your industry and answering questions from others in the group.

5. Once you’ve built up a large group, using LinkedIn’s powerful “group update” tool can send a target message from you to thousands without ever having to use an email client or crm.

This Week:

Twitter started out as place to simply update your friends (in 140 characters or less) on what you were doing.  Over time this question has been ignored more often than not, to answer the question: what do you find interesting? Or, what do you think your followers should know about?

So why should your business be using this service to connect with your customers and business partners?

1. Current stats put twitter users at 13-18 million, with the data generated per tweet reaching an exponentially larger audience through various services that pipe in twitter feeds.  That’s a pretty big audience…and it’s growing rapidly.

2. It’s real time.  Why is that a big deal?  What other service allows you to simultaneously send a link to your website (or pay-wall) to thousands – potentially millions – at the same time?  Answer?  No one.

3. Twitter allows you to monitor and manage customer issues and feedback in real time.

4. The immediate access and drastic transparency of twitter makes it easy to send messages and helpful content to your followers  that gains trust and loyalty before problems arise.

5. And finally, influence. If you’re a start-up or small business, twitter just gave you a huge step towards leveling the playing field.  What your company may lack in size or spend, it can make up in influence.  Social media (and particularly twitter) gives you the opportunity to rapidly share ideas, which in turn, could result in you – out-teaching your competition.

There are a number of different platforms you can use to make the most of your social media efforts.  Rather than give you a run-down of all your options, I’m just going to recommend one.  It’s free, and it’s the best client I’ve used so far.  Hootsuit.com

For more resources I recommend heading over to Mashable.  They have a number of great lists, tips, and guides.  For a more in-depth experience, try catching some webinars via Hubspot, BrightTalk, or Marketing123.

NEXT WEEK: LINKEDIN

photo found here.

Marketing and customer interaction have long been areas of focus and deliberate action for large and small businesses alike.  The larger companies having bigger budgets, tend to dominate and take advantage of the bigger mediums – television, radio, national magazines, etc.  However, the landscape is changing and has been changing for the past several years.  The small business has been given a very powerful tool that levels the playing field and gives them opportunities to reach new clients and form new partnerships that they never could have hoped for ten years ago.  Hell, even five years go!  We call this thing Social Media, and it’s no big mystery that those who are able to use it well, are seeing huge profit margins in their businesses.  The web is “all-a-twitter” with social media tips, guides, and strategies.  Everywhere you look it seems to be smacking you in the face.  In fact, to be ignorant of this cultural phenomenon would mean you’ve probably been in a coma the last 5 years.  Which is why most businesses KNOW they SHOULD be using social media to their advantage…but many of them are not.  Particularly in the small business and startup world where the benefits are most notable…

Why?

Well, a few reasons come to mind:

1) Return On Investment. Everyone wants to know - where is my return on investment?  I’m a small business owner and it’s just me and myself here…how do I have time for this stuff?! Answer: first you earn trust dollars, then you earn real dollars. It’s worth it to make time. And it’s worth it to read brian solis’ Trust Economy blog post to understand why.  And to check out Gary Vaynerchuck’s site and book Crush It! to see how he used social media to take his family’s local liquor store and turn it into a $60 Million wine business.

2) I don’t understand it.  And that’s valid.  Technology and the way we communicate is changing so drastically, it can be difficult to keep up.  Especially when you’re neck deep into turning your passion into a business!  Which is why if you fall into this category you’re going to want to click on the highlighted blue letters above reading “tips, guides, and strategies” – for a start.  You’ve got some more reading ahead!  Please stay tuned to this series as well

3) Where do I start? The third, final, and lamest excuse reason I often hear is, I get it, I can do it, but with so many social outlets online, it can be daunting just to begin! So the question many are getting hung up on is simply…where do I start?

Well, I’m glad you asked!  Because over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting what I think are 5 compelling reasons your business should be using at least one, if not all, of the three most popular B2B and B2C social platforms…as well as some useful examples and resources on each.

This week, I’d like to take some time to talk about what might be the MOST popular way for businesses to connect with their customers and other businesses:

5 Compelling Reasons Your Business Should be on Facebook:

1) 350 Million users to connect with

2) A built-in ad system that allows you to do very effective, targeted marketing

3) Powerful features that lend themselves to TONS of free promotion

4) An easy way to monitor the way customers and other businesses are reacting to your brand

5) A simple way to communicate with customers and put a face to your business

“Examples please!” you say?

A few quick keys to Ikea’s success using facebook:

1) Clever use of existing features

2) Customer interaction with real employees

3) Free stuff!

And that does it for this post!  If you found this article helpful, most likely others will too.  Feel free to pass it on via the share links below.  And if you have any comments I’d love to hear your feedback!  And now, to sign off, I leave you with some useful facebook resources to get you started.  Happy friending!

The Roles of Facebook and Twitter in Social Media Marketing

The Socialization of Small Business

HOW TO: Create and Distribute Online Coupons

NEXT WEEK: TWITTER

1. DuctTapeMarketing.com – Founded by John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing delivers an extensive weekly marketing newsletter choc-full of small business marketing tips, strategies, and resources.

2. WebsiteGrader.com – “A free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website.” This is a pretty straight-forward tool:  You type in your website, your competitors’ websites, and your email address, and then it sends you a report.  You’re then able to view your report, see where you need improvement, and start making changes.

3. HubSpot.com – Host to a number of different “grader” services (including the above).  Their paid software focuses on maximizing SEO, Blogging, and Social Media to drive traffic to your website and then uses analytics to improve sales.

4. WebMarketing123.com – Among other services they provide quality webinars with leading thinkers in the online marketing community.

5. Seth’s Blog – When you don’t want or need a new system, new software, or new tool – but rather a daily dose of sage advice – Seth Godin’s blog might be just what you’re looking for. Oh, and it’s free…

Option 1: I already know some potential investors, but want to share my plan with them
If you fall into this bucket, count your blessings.  You’re much luckier than most of us.  Bizplan can help you share your plan with these investors.  You can invite them via the ‘Share’ tab in your Bizplan.com account.  Once they join, you can view the date that they last logged in and read any comments that they leave.  This is a great way to see if they’ve even looked at your plan and whether or not they’re interested.

Option 2:  I have no clue where to find funding, but I know that I need it
This pretty much covers most of us.  Don’t get overwhelmed, Bizplan can still help you.  We’ve partnered with GoBigNetwork.com, the largest site that connects businesses with funding.

Here’s how it works:  If you purchased the ‘+Funding’ package when you signed up on Bizplan.com, you can post a ‘Funding Request’ that reaches 20,000+ investors and lenders on GoBigNetwork.com at no extra charge.  You can get all of the instructions and post your funding request right on your Dashboard page on Bizplan.com.  If you didn’t purchase the ‘+Funding’ package, you can always upgrade on your Dashboard and get the ability to post a funding request on GoBigNetwork.com.

One last word about funding…..
The funding process can take quite a bit of time and depends on a number of factors including the amount of money you need, the type of funding you’re seeking, the strength of your business plan, and your management team.  With that said, we recommend that you get started on your search for funding right away.  If you know you’re going to post your funding request, do it now.  You can work on finishing your business plan while you’re searching for an investor that is the perfect match for your company.  It’s a bit like dating.  You’re going to talk to a lot of investors before you find ‘the one’.  In the mean time, you’ll have plenty of time to finish your plan.

1) Sales
2) Income Statement (P&L)
3) Balance Sheet
4) Cash Flow

Under each of these subsections, you’ll see a ‘Download Template Here’ link.  You can simply download the template for each section, fill in the blanks, and upload it in the same spot when you’re ready.  Once you’ve uploaded a document for any given topic (ex. Sales), we automatically attach it to your plan.  So, if you’ve shared your plan with anybody, they’ll be able to open any financial documents that you’ve uploaded.

If you don’t like our templates, you don’t have to use them.  Simply upload any financial documents that you already have.

Each time you create a new plan, you’ll be given the option to import one of our sample plans from the Plan Library or start with a blank template.  A lot of people choose to import a sample plan that is closely related to the business that they’re creating (ex. Restaurant Business Plan).  Then, make changes to the plan to customize it to fit their exact business.  Ultimately, this is a super easy way to quickly write a plan.

Once you’ve already started a plan, you’ll no longer be able to import one of the sample plans.  At this point, you’ll still be able to view the sample plans in the Plan Library….you just can’t import one.  You can only import a plan when you first create each new plan.  We made it this way so that you don’t accidentally write over your existing business plan.  Don’t worry, you can still copy and paste anything you like from the sample plans.

We’re constantly adding more plans to the Plan Library.  So, let us know if there is an industry or specific type of plan that you’d like to see in there.