Networking Out of the Cloud


Something a lot of new business owners overlook is networking, especially if their business operates primarily online. Forging relationships and making contacts is crucial to growing awareness of your company, and getting your name out there. You can't skip this step or fake your way through it, you have to put in the time.

There are lots of ways you can do this. Most cities have small business support groups and government-sponsored programs for small business aid. It's a great way to meet other new business owners just getting started and work together. You can volunteer for local charities or municipal organizations, or join the local chamber of commerce. Getting involved locally can really help boost your reputation and your contact list.

It's important to show that you are providing value to people, not just trying to take advantage of them or get what you can. You have to benefit others in order to benefit yourself. The businesses that understand that and embrace it early are ultimately going to be more successful than the ones that are only concerned with slinging products and making profit. Obviously you need to be a viable business and able to support yourself, but making a genuine effort to be an active part of the community around you will pay far more dividends in the end than just being a drain on it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Identifying and Managing Stakeholders: Tools of the Trade

Image
This week in Tools of the Trade, we will be discussing project stakeholders - the key people in your company that will help you implement changes or fixes to your processes, programs, or business practices. If you're not sure how to identify the problems that require changes or fixes, be sure to check out our previous Tools of the Trade article, Process Mapping . What is a stakeholder? A stakeholder is, simply put, anyone at your company who has a role or a stake in the process you are working on improving or adding. They can be the employees who perform the actual work, employees who are affected by the work once it's done, employees who depend on the results of the work to do their own work, managers who are responsible for the department the work gets done in, and so forth. The stakeholders of your project will be your key allies in figuring out what is causing your problems, deciding how to fix it, and helping you get the job done. Why are stakeholders important?
Continue reading »

Make Better Decisions with Process Mapping: Tools of the Trade

Image
When I came up with the idea for Tools of the Trade, the very first thought that came into my head was Process Mapping. It's pretty much the first thing any business analyst or project manager whips out of their bag of tricks whenever they start a new project. It's ubiquitous in the industry, because it's so powerful and diverse. Despite this, it's not something that has really made its way outside of the project management toolbox. I think that's a real shame, because it's so useful. With a bit of work, it can easily be adapted to almost any industry or small business, and help them to identify problems, make better decisions, and track their progress. So for my first Tools of the Trade article, we're taking an in-depth look at Process Mapping. What is process mapping? On the surface, process mapping is exactly what it sounds like. It is a visual representation of all the steps in a process from start to finish. To create one, you map out all the st
Continue reading »

5 Tips to Improve Your Contact Page: Design in Detail

Image
Today, in the fourth installment of Design in Detail, we're talking about the Contact page of your website. While it's true that the Contact page is probably the most straightforward page on the site for most businesses, there are still some key pieces of information and best practices we should use to make sure we're getting the most out of the page, and that it's providing our customers with the tools and information they need to connect with us and conduct business. So, with that in mind, here are 5 tips to improve your website's Contact page: 1. Be Accessible You want people to get in touch with you. That's the whole point of the contact page. So be sure to include as many ways for them to reach you as possible. Some people are turned off by contact forms, since they don't know what happens with the info after they submit it. So include a phone number or email address as well. Also include your hours of operation - people shouldn't have to con
Continue reading »