Social Network Marketing

I’m not a marketing expert. I’m not an expert in social media such as Facebook and Twitter. I’m learning as I go.

While talking to some friends, I asked if any of them used Twitter or Facebook.

My friend told me about Bettie’s Cakes. Bettie’s Cakes has a store in Saratoga Springs, NY and they have a double decker bus that drives around the Capitol District selling cupcakes. They use Twitter to tell people where the bus will be and when. Usually, when they pull up in a parking lot in a mall, there are already dozens of cars waiting for them. They apparently sell about 12,000 cupcakes a week with the bus. At about $2.00 each, that’s about $24,000 per week. Not bad.

The story got me interested in the power of social network marketing.

Remote Check Deposit

Tired of driving to the bank to deposit checks? Want to be “green” and use less gas? Want to squeeze more time out of your day?

You can now put one of those check reading machines in your own office and deposit your own checks.

The new service is called “Remote Check Deposit” and it’s…grrrrrrrrrrrreat!

Build a Website – Now

Ten years ago, having a website was optional. Not anymore.

Put up at least one page with basic information about your company, such as name, products or services offered, where to buy, address, phone, fax and email information. You can find web hosting services for as little as a few dollars per month.

Because honesty and integrity are essential ingredients of business success, you want to convey that on your website without saying so directly.  Nothing appears more dishonest than a business proclaiming that it is honest.

What to do? Provide all the relevant information visitors are looking for in plain, direct ways on your website.

Net 30 – Yes or No?

Deciding on whether or not to extend credit to customers is a life or death decision for any business.

You can’t pay your employees, your suppliers, your landlord, or the government if your customers don’t pay you.

You can pay for credit reports from companies such as Dun & Bradstreet, and their fees are reasonable.

However, I have found a “one strike you’re out” strategy to be very effective, and better yet, free.

Do Payroll in 20 Seconds

I can enter timecards and print checks for my employees in 20 seconds.

How? By using a scriptable database management system we designed ourselves using Filemaker. I’m running my business on a 13 year old computer running an 11 year old copy of Filemaker. It’s so fast customers are impressed at how quickly we pull up their records.

Filemaker is an extremely easy-to-use database program. You write scripts by replicating the operations you would do manually. For example, you can script “File: Print” instead of using the mouse and pulldown menus.

With a Filemaker-based system, you can eliminate a payroll service, save thousands of dollars on specialized software programs, and save countless hours of tedious data entry.

Filemaker is so easy to use, non-programmers can use it to run a complete business. You just have to think of everything in terms of a database.

Photoshop-like Program for Free

The Gimp is an outstanding image editing program available for free. You not only save hundreds of dollars in software costs, but can save potentially thousands of dollars by doing your own product and marketing photography.

I’ve been using the Gimp for over 10 years. My most common application for it is reducing the size of digital images to make them easy to email.

Bridging Fax and Email

The business world is sloooowly transitioning from fax to email. However, we still have to use both technologies if that’s what our customers want us to do.

I found a low-cost fax machine that can scan to email as well as transmit normal faxes. The machine is the Sharp FO-IS125N. The best price I found was at Amazon. Here’s a link to the product page (no commissions are earned via this link).

Save 90% on Phone Bills

I switched to VoIP, or internet phone service last year and saved 90 percent on my phone bills.

I used to pay $50-60 per phone line each month. Now I spend about $5-6 per month, per line.

I chose CallCentric VoIP service. Their low prices, quality of service and outstanding technical support have made me a very happy customer.

Best Hardware Store in the World

My first and best vendor is McMaster-Carr Supply Company.

McMaster’s big yellow catalog has been a staple for industrial businesses for decades.

LL Bean is the gold standard for mail order service for consumers. McMaster leaves them in the dust.

McMaster offers enormous selection, fair prices, high quality products from large and small companies all over the world, outstanding service, fast shipping, easy returns, etc. etc. etc.