If you’re a retailer or small business owner, having a presence on online review websites is a must. Social sites like Yelp, Foursquare and Google+ make it easy for potential customers to find the businesses they seek, as well as leave written praise (or criticism) about their customer experience. You could be missing out on potential customers and revenue if you’re not on these social platforms. Let’s look at the three social review sites and see how they can make the difference between profit and loss to your business. 

Yelp — The largest social online review site, Yelp sees 78 million unique visitors every month. Every business owner and manager can set up a free Yelp account to post photos and message customers. The site has become a trusted destination for customers to use when looking for a restaurant to dine at, places to shop, or businesses to frequent.

Yelp is especially useful when people are in unfamiliar cities or neighborhoods because of its emphasis on local business targeting. And while it is possible to receive negative reviews from some customers, Yelp is a great tool for business owners to reference when looking to gauge customer service.

Foursquare — This service was designed as a free app for smartphones that helps people find businesses, friends and make the most of where an individual is located. Foursquare uses a person’s location to give personalized recommendations and deals. It also allows people to leave reviews of the locations they visited. Since its inception, 25 million people have used Foursquare.

In addition to the strong customer user base, 1 million businesses use Foursquare’s free tools to help businesses grow and connect with customers. The app enables retailers and businesses list events, post updates, and customer loyalty programs. It also offers analytics to help monitor online engagements.

Google+ — This site is one of the most critical sites to have a presence on, especially if you’re a small business owner or retailer. As of December 2012, 235 million people are actively engaged on Google+. What many people do not realize is that Google+ is mined by the search engines. Anything your business promotes on Google+ will appear in search results. For business, Google+ is a great place for customers to post reviews, which also show up in search results.

In the coming weeks, spend some time making sure your business profile is up-to-date on Yelp, Foursquare and Google+. And once you’re online, be sure to check your reviews and ratings on a regular basis to monitor customer comments and feedback.

Small business owners are often seen as never slowing down or stopping work, spending quite a bit of time in the office and at work-related events. With the growing popularity of smartphones, busy executives now have an easier time keeping up with business while physically outside the office. And with the emergence of more technology and applications designed specifically for business owners and managers, it is easier than ever to telecommute or work outside the office. Lets take a look at the best ways to evaluate which of your business tasks can be completed outside the office. 

Make a list of all the tasks you do in a given month and the programs you use to complete the work. Anything that takes time should go on the list, including sales meetings, industry research, and social media activities. Regardless of whether it is a 2-minute task or a 2-hour meeting, knowing where your time goes and in what increments will help you develop a strong mobile strategy.

Begin by finding applications that you already use in your office and research mobile and cloud programs that will allow you to work from anywhere. Pay close attention to applications that serve multiple purposes, such as accounting services that connect to files with email, or content aggregation sites you can organize by subject and then link to social media sites with scheduled releases.

If your job is to consistently share information via social media, there are dozens of applications that allow you to share posts to a variety of social platforms, all with the click of a button on your smartphone or tablet.

If you find yourself staying in the office to read industry blog posts or publications, consider downloading applications and e-readers that stream your blog feed to your mobile phone. This strategy assures you catch up on business reading, but you don’t necessarily have to sit at your office desk to do it. You may find yourself taking two minutes to read a blog post while waiting in line to pay for groceries.

The ability to work outside the office has never been easier. Once you know what mobile applications to use, start using them both in and out of the office. Take the time to learn all the capabilities of the product and test all features. You will quickly learn which applications work best for your business, and you can focus your attention on getting them set up to really work for you.

What is an intranet and why does your company need one? An intranet is similar to a website but is completely internal. It can be designed countless ways but frequently companies mirror them to their external websites, creating a sense of connection within the company. 

While there are perceived downsides such as the initial investment of time and resources to build out an intranet, they are far outweighed by the benefits. Here are four reasons you should create an intranet for your small business.

1.  Get the (same) word out quickly.
No more water cooler gossip. Posting to the intranet allows you to get one uniform message out to all of your employees at the same time. Everyone gets the same information, avoiding miscommunications and misunderstandings. There is also no risk of the dangerous “reply-all” with intranet posts.

2.  Save time and save space in your inbox and on your server.
With an intranet, you can keep your email reserved for truly business-related matters. It will cut down on the number of emails people receive and save time they spend sifting through their inboxes. Plus it provides a common place to link to shared documents, saving space on your server. This also saves time by making those documents easily available to everyone, meaning you no longer have to hunt through a dozen folders looking for a specific HR form. It is right there on the HR section on the intranet.

3.  Enjoy an increased sense of community and boosted morale.
Having an internal site where employees can go to get company information increases the sense of community within the workplace. Knowing that everyone has the same information generates a sense of unity. The opportunity to post “comments” or collaborate on an employee message board is also an option with an intranet, creating a safe form of social networking you can easily control and monitor. This appeals to the younger generation, keeping them engaged with the company and their work, while also bringing the older generation into the fold through an easy to understand format.

4.  Cut costs.
By putting items like company-wide forms and benefit information on the intranet, you not only make it easily accessible, you save money by not having to constantly print out fresh copies for new hires. Plus, once it is built out, an intranet is easy to maintain and update, making it a low-cost, high-payoff investment.

No matter how much we now rely on social media and viral marketing, a company website is still one of the most critical components for a business. Perhaps you are starting a new business venture and you need to build a site from scratch. Or maybe 2013 is your year to revamp your current website. Whatever stage you’re in as a business owner, it is important to think through an entire website plan before going into building mode in order to create the best website you can. Here are five ways to build a compelling website for your business. 

1. Plan and strategize before designing
There’s no question that the design aspect of creating a website is usually the fun part of the process. That being said, many people skip the crucial planning process and go straight for the design work. Ask yourself the following questions before you start working:

• Who is my audience? (Don’t be everything to everyone!)
• What is the goal of my website: information source, gathering leads, providing content?
• How will I capture leads?
• Will I be a profitable ecommerce site?

2. Put first things first
Once you’ve decided to start your website and understand your goals, the next step is to determine your budget and decide where you want to invest your development funds. If you do heavy selling online, you may opt to spend the majority of your budget on the e-commerce side of the site. If your goal is to be found online and generate leads, then investing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services may be your best bet. Knowing from the beginning what your budget is and where you need to spend the funds will help tremendously in the long run.

3. Determine a plan for content
Whether you decide to invest time and resources in a content marketing strategy (also known as blogging), have a plan for what type of content you will provide and how often it will be delivered. Create an editorial calendar and be sure you use in your posts keywords that describe your business. It’s okay to only provide content on a weekly basis. Just select what you want, be consistent in the delivery, and maintain quality.

4. Keep resources easy to find and navigation simple
It’s easy to get lost in fancy designs and exciting navigation. But in reality, you want your website to be user-friendly for the audience. Keep navigation simple and do not make it so your customer has to click through several links and pages to find what he needs. Have contact information readily available (even if it’s a form to submit questions).

5. Use visuals and creative content
In order to keep visitors on your website, make sure the site is interesting and has great visual imagery. Use photos and break up long sections of text. Bulleted lists are also great for conveying a lot of information. The days of static websites are long gone. Make sure your site combines helpful copy with a stellar look and feel.

6. Have a launch plan
Just as you had a plan for conceptualizing and building your website, make the time to plan for a launch of the website itself. This can include items such as when you will debut the new site to internal staff and stakeholders (and how you will ask for feedback). You may also want to build in a period of testing before announcing your new website to the world. Also include if you will promote the new site via your social media channels and if you plan to ask the public for feedback. Just remember that when you ask for feedback, the worst thing you can do is ignore it. So build in a strategy to deal with website feedback too.

Congratulations, you just took the necessary steps to create a compelling website!

Every year brings new trends in business, marketing and finances. As a small business owner, it’s important you keep apprised of what consumers want from you with respect to marketing.  Here are five marketing trends small business should pay attention to in 2013.  

1.  Mobile Devices Rule
In today’s mobile-popular world, having a mobile-friendly website is a must. Consumers are expecting more from their mobile experience, such as one click ordering and easy web access via an application. Consider investing in app development as part of your marketing and budget plan for 2013.

2.   Visual Simplicity
People have more content to digest and less time to spend reading websites. Make your website easy to visually scan by using less text and more images and infographics. Infographics are a quick way to communicate your message through visual storytelling. They are quick to view, understand, and share; all good for business. One look at Pinterest will prove to you that consumers want images.

3.  The Consumer as Salesperson
Connection to your customer has never been more important. Consumers are furiously writing reviews, commenting on content, and airing their grievances (and delights!) all over the Internet. A happy customer can sell your product almost better than you can. As such, make online reputation monitoring a priority in 2013. Use social media to communicate with and educate your customers rather than simply selling to them.

4.  Content for Education and SEO
Content marketing is now essential to having a web presence. Having fresh content, often in the form of a blog, is essential to getting search engines to notice you. Think of it as a way to educate your consumers on your industry, your type of products and services, and your company. Most importantly, post great content that is relevant to your business. Poor content does nothing for your image even if you are moving up the search engines scale.

5.  Promote Your Content
Once you create great content, you want it to be seen. Content promotion is a big trend in 2013 and there are a variety of ways you can distribute your work. Start with you standard social networking avenues (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) and add content syndication sites like B2B Marketing Zone, Social Media Informer and Social Media Today. Research other syndication sites specific to your industry, as they will have the best audience for your work.

Get on track with these trends and you will be poised to have your best year yet!

Inventory is one of the top expenses for a small business and keeping that balance between overspending and overstocking is often tricky. You want to have what people want to buy the moment they walk in your store. Yet excess inventory can mean the difference between a profitable quarter and one that leaves you in the red. Inventory control is an important part of any business that must have a stock of products or items on hand. As the end of the year draws near, here are four tips to consider when planning how your business will take control of its inventory. 

Stale Inventory Costs Money
Every day a product sits on your shelf it loses value. It takes money to run a business, and everything depends on what’s being sold. The longer an item sits on the shelf, the more resources it consumes (including keeping the lights on and the register staffed).  One row of combined stale inventory is a direct reflection of wasted time and money.

Inventory (and Mark Down) Often
Retail trends change quickly. If you notice an item is slow to sell, mark it down quickly. Shoppers love a bargain. So even if Mary Customer was not willing to pay for a sweater set at full price, she may be tempted to buy two at 50 percent off.

Negotiate Your Finance Terms
If your store is purchasing items with credit, always negotiate the payment terms so you receive the money from your customer before it’s owed.  For example, if you extend a 30-day payment term to your customer, negotiate a 60-day term with your wholesaler. You can look to previous sales and seasons to guide you through the best practices that will work for your business.

Assure You Have the Right Inventory
Your customer is one of your best sources for information. Spend time understanding what she’s looking at, paying close attention to recurring items.  Another great source is your supplier as these companies are often the first to know the trends given the volume of orders they receive. Spending a few minutes with your representatives can make all the difference in the world when it comes to excess store inventory.

By staying on top of your inventory, you will have more control of your business and revenue in the long term. This ultimately helps your business grow and succeed as you can then be flexible and relevant to the customers’ changing needs.