It is my honor to have been asked to speak to the FastTrac New Venture class at the University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center tonight, March 4, 2010.

I completed this program in December 2008 at the University of Bridgeport. I simply cannot say enough about the business building teaching and guidance I received from this program. The class is made up of individuals who are either beginning to think through the process of building a business or are in the start up phase of building their business.

As Tina Forsythe always says, “Being a business owner is not for the fate of heart”.

We are video taping, along with conducting a drawing for a lucky student to receive 1 hour of free coaching on how to build their internet presence. Stay tuned and I will let you know how it went.

Posted by Craig Canning, VA Classroom
http://ow.ly/16H5jM

There’s a new kid on the block in the world of Social Networks, and if you use Gmail, he’s already living on your street! Google recently unveiled Google Buzz, a Social Network that’s built right into Gmail. If you have a Gmail account, you might have noticed a colorful balloon that showed up on the left-hand side of the page – that’s Buzz!

Google had some great ideas when they unveiled Buzz. Check out this YouTube video posted on the Official Google Blog to introduce Buzz:

Unfortunately, despite these good intentions, Buzz has caused some frustration among loyal Gmail users. For example, the blog post “Buzz off, Google: Social networks should always be opt-in, not opt-out” highlights the fact that all Gmail users were enrolled in Buzz without being asked first. Furthermore, Google automatically made a social graph of your most-emailed people and made sharing of that graph opt-out instead of opt-in. As this article explains, “it’s super easy to miss the check box, and the default should always be the safest choice.”

In Google’s defense, they listened to users’ feedback and have introduced some improvements. The Official Gmail Blog reports that the following changes have been made to Buzz:

1. There is a more visible option to not show followers/people you follow on your public profile.

2. You have the ability to block anyone who starts following you.

3. There is more clarity on which of your followers/people you follow can appear on your public profile.

Given Google’s popularity and history of creating quality products, there is definitely the possibility that Google Buzz could someday rival Facebook and Twitter.

What do you think? Are you ready to tell Google Buzz to buzz off, or do you think Google can rise to the challenge of making Buzz the best Social Network around?

Posted by Craig Canning, VA Classroom

Today, I want to share with you an excellent way to keep on top of the operations of your business.  Most small business owners have reached a level of disorganization in their business and regret it when they are under pressure to meet critical deadlines.   This state is not because they are necessarily disorganized people, but just very busy people, and perhaps think that some day they will sit down when they have time and document everything.

Do any of these situations sound familiar?  You dread performing a task because you cannot remember all the steps, so there is procrastination.  You spend precious time trying to find the log in information to get into the files.  Someone on your team is ill and they know everything there is about running your business.  You lose time and money because you are recreating documents because you cannot locate the last revised document.  You are spending money on tools that you hope will be the fix to all your problems.  By now you get the picture.   What I am leading up to is the creation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for your business.

What is an SOP?

An SOP is an operations manual that provides a business with structure and efficiency.  Many of the day-to-day administrative processes in your business are repetitive and should be reviewed regularly.  SOP’s are a set of written instructions that document a routine or repetitive activity followed by a business or organization.  The development and use of SOP’s are an integral part of a successful quality systems as it provides individuals with the information to perform a job properly and facilitates consistently in the quality and integrity of a product or end-result.   An online business manager can add value to the company by challenging the efficiency and reliability of procedures that the company has been using or not been using.

Advantages of SOP?

Many business owners and their teams resist taking the time to create an SOP because of the perception that time and money can be better spent on the most immediate tasks and projects.  Team members may be resistant to the creation of the document because of the time consuming nature of capturing a company’s procedures and turning it into a document, as well as insecurity on the part of the team member.  In reality, there is little need for the team member to feel insecure because the smoother the operation of the company the more opportunities will open up.

Are you are a business owner who is serious about your business and implementing cost cutting and time saving measures?  Are you ready to grow your business to new levels? These are some important questions to ask yourself.

1. When was the last time I took a real vacation?
2. What would happen to my business if I needed to be away from it for an extended period of time, such as sudden illness or family issues?  I can’t sell what is in my head.
3. Would the business run seamlessly in my absence?
4. Would I still have a business to return to?
5. What would happen if the people that worked for me suddenly left?  Would I know exactly what to do to keep the business running and cut down on retraining time and cost?

Finally, some essential elements to make an SOP effective would be for it to be well written, easy to understand, used regularly and accessible to everyone in the business.   Creating and sharing documents in the online world has never been easier with wiki spaces and is a perfect online collaborative tool for creating online SOP’s.  A Wikispace, in simple terms, is a group of web pages with “edit” buttons on them. You can collaborate with anyone you choose on your wikispace. You may want a place to keep information about your organization, or to easily manage your team’s schedules. Wikispaces is simple enough for anyone to use, but has enough sophistication so that you can be creative and get things done.  Please feel free to click on the quick video below for the simplest and most fun explanation of how to use wiki spaces.

Who needs a website?

If you were building your business in the offline world you would choose a physical storefront, such as a restaurant, boutique store, executive office, etc. to sell your products and services.  Businesses that are selling their products and services primarily offline still need to have an online presence and I will talk more later in a upcoming posts.

In the online world your storefront is your website.   This is the place where potential customer’s window shop to see what you are all about and have to offer them.  How does your product and services solve their problems?  The importance of having a website is extremely important if you are running an online business.  Better than a physical store front, an online store front (your website) is open 24/7, 365, and does not shut down for holidays.  Potential customers can visit your business anytime that is convenient for them.  Over the past couple of years I have heard it said many times that a website in today’s marketplace is the business owner’s business card.

What is your websites purpose?

What is the purpose of your website?  What do you want your potential customers to do when they visit your site? If you are an online business wanting to sell your products and services to your target market you will want build relationship with your target market.  You will want to offer them the ability to subscribe to your list to receive more information, you will want them to be able to contact you, you will want them to have the ability to make a referral, and most important you will want them to press the buy button.

What does your website look like?  Is it a marketing machine or just pretty?  Does it have a professional look that inspires trust in your audience? Can your audience tell immediately what it is that you are offering and how it can fix their problems? Is the next step, your call to action, immediately apparent? Just recently I heard that most internet surfers do not stay on a website more than 5 seconds.  How are you making the best of those 5 seconds?  The purpose of your website is to get business.

Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that they can do it all in their online business.  The internet has paved the way for people to learn how to perform tasks that they need to know to build an online business, but is learning those skills to save a few dollars the best use of your time and energy.  Let’s face it you have decided that you have a skill, experience, and talent that you want to share with the world and hopefully it be the path to generating income.  Why waste precious time on learning and implementing tasks that take away from your core services?  Just think when are not losing time trying to get a website up, creating social networking profiles, figuring out how you are going to sell products and services online the more you can strategically plan, network, grow in your industry and of course work with client and generate income.

Who is your target market?

It is extremely important to do your research regarding this area of your business.  I know it’s not fun, but it is critical to your business success.  Too many times business owners will think and say to others that my products and services can be for anyone.  Believe it not the more narrow your target market the more successful you will be in your business.  You will waste precious energy and marketing dollars while trying to market to the whole world.  If you have a nothing to small marketing budget you will need to spend as wisely as possible.  Some questions you will want to ask yourself:

1. What skills/knowledge/expertise do I have to offer?
2. What professions are in need of what I have to offer?  How am I solving their problems with my services?
3. What type of industry would benefit and be willing to pay for my services?  If an industry does not need your expertise or are not willing to pay for it, you may be better off finding another industry that does.
4. What kind of clients do you want to work with?
5. Do you prefer to work with men or women? What age group?  Do you work best with people that are older or younger than you?

With a clearly defined target market you can speak and market directly to those you want to attract to your business.  Then your business will begin to grow.

A business nugget that I have learned after two years as an entrepreneur running my own virtual business is how important it is to identify the challenges that business owner’s face and market to the people who really need their products and services.  I would love to hear from you to find out what are the biggest challenges you face in your business today.  You can let me know by clicking on the “Contact Me Today” button on my website answer a few questions.   You may be thinking that you would love to hire someone to help you in your business, but simply do not have the time to consider how you could utilize a online business manager or virtual assistant or online business manager to get things done.  I can help you with that process to determine how you can utilize a virtual professional to bring the growth you want to your business.

Focusing on meaningful social networking strategies is an essential aspect of generating sustainable growth and higher profits. Signing on for a membership in a social networking site such as LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook can create far reaching ripples that jump start your company or career into a new path of positive growth. Through social networking sites, you gain access to new people, reconnect with old acquaintances, discover different points of view and insights, and develop greater exposure of your business or particular set of skills.  To read the article:  Social Networking and Your Online Business

I found this great article…

Friday, 22 May 2009, 1:45 pm

Press Release: My Virtual Assistant

MEDIA RELEASE

May 2009

No Better Time To Hire A Virtual Assistant

With the recession causing many job redundancies, there has never been a better time to hire a Virtual Assistant, than right now.

Even though many small businesses and large corporations have been forced to reduce their on-site staff numbers, doesn’t mean there isn’t still work to be done. The trick is to make the most of remaining employees and to reduce costs by outsourcing wherever possible. That’s where a Virtual Assistant steps in. To read more…Hiring A Virtual Assistant