Do you use Video Marketing as a Marketing Strategy? Check out this video.

Videos,when part of a full marketing campaign, can add significant sales impact. Always keep that in mind.

Automation

In a day where machinery can be used to automate and eventually collapse processes, employees often fear that they will lose their jobs to machines and employers are often afraid of lowering company moral if they start using machines to automate the company. Are their fears justified?

Automation is not a bad thing, as many of the world’s largest companies will tell you. It often allows for amazing returns on investments and, more often than not, results in employees automating their way out of a job… and onto a better one.

Instead of looking at automation as one person taking on the job of three, employees and employers need to look at it as three employees able to do three times the work apiece.

Still the fear of automation remains. This article talks about more of the benefits of automating your company and how best to overcome the fear that you or employees may have.

Don't forget about our Workshop tomorrow!

Are you thinking about starting your own business anytime soon? Do you need a little guidance and help with it? Well we are here to help. Tomorrow Tuesday, January 29th we are hosting a How to Start A Small Business Workshop you do not want to miss. You still have some time to sign up - but hurry! click here to sign up.

The How to Start A Small Business Workshop will be held in the College of Business (Thurmond Building), in Room 208 on the 2nd floor. The Thurmond Building is located on the Winthrop University campus at the intersection of Park Avenue (off Cherry Road) and Memorial Circle.

The workshop touches on business basics including the development of a business plan, anticipated expense and projected income, and allows for questions.

There is a $25 charge. Materials will be provided.

After the workshop, we ask that you go home and fill out as much of our Business Plan template as you can. When you have done that, you may call our SBDC office at (803) 323-2283 to schedule an appointment with a consultant for free assistance in completing the plan, as well as discussion about preparing to apply for a business loan, if you will be trying to get your business financed.

Happy Friday!

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. – Vidal Sassoon

Yelp. How to Use It.

Have you ever thought about using Yelp to rank your business? Well many potential customers are probably already searching for your business on it if they are interested in you.

Yelp is an online search and review service where customers can read comments and reviews on several businesses. It is one of the most widely used and respected review sites, so you may want to consider getting on it. It can only help you get closer to your customer by listening to what they have to say.

What if they leave a bad review or comment? Well this is a great opportunity for you to listen to your customers and learn from it, make changes and always do what it takes to keep your customers happy and coming back.

Take a look at the link below to learn more on how you can get your business ranked on Yelp.

Yelp.

On Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013, we'll be offering our next "How to Start a Small Business" Workshop for aspiring or new entrepreneurs. Make sure you've got the basics right before jumping in both feet!  Successful businesses don't just happen .... they're planned!

Read more details about the workshop and register at this link.

Do You Remember these foods?

Here’s a quick little slide show of foods you can't buy anymore, including some of those recently departed Hostess products. Sadly, the demise of a product often also signals the beginning of the demise of a company. There's a need to blame someone, and that blame is often placed on the government for not "doing something" to stop it.

But the fact is that sometimes it is WE THE PEOPLE who bring on the downfall of a company, just through our changing tastes. Sometimes too, the blame can be shared by the company that waited too long to diversify products in response to changing tastes.

One way to take care of the health and longevity of your business is to be proactive in watching trends and researching new developments in your industry. We might still be able to treat ourselves to those Twinkies today, if Hostess had paid attention to the changing tastes of its customers years ago ….. Wonder Bread’s whole grain content could have been increased to become healthier ….. Twinkies and cupcakes could have been offered in smaller sizes better suited to calorie counters ……. And some of the products shown in this slide show should probably never have hit the market.

Purple ketchup? Really? Probably should have done a little more research on the need or desire for that product. Ask yourself, "How healthy is my business?" -- if you realize that it's not as healthy as you would like, act now to prepare for a future that includes offering what your customers want, not just what you want to sell.


Click here to see some “no longer available” products