Celebrating Black History Month: First African-American Business to Be Publicly Traded

Original post found at: http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/parks-henry-green-jr-1916-1989

   Henry Green Parks, Jr. was a successful African American businessman who founded Parks Sausage Company in Baltimore, Maryland.  Parks was born on September 29, 1916 in Atlanta, Georgia to Henry Green Parks, Sr., and Gainelle Williams.  Parks was taken to Dayton, Ohio when he was six months old and was raised by his maternal Grandmother.

Raised in Dayton, Parks attended public schools, and then enrolled in Ohio State University in Columbus, graduating with honors from University College of Commerce in 1939 with a B.S. degree in Marketing.  He also became the first African American on Ohio State University’s swim team.

After graduation, Parks began working with Pabst Brewing Company as a sales representative targeting the African American market.  He became one of the leading salesmen, but in 1942 was given the opportunity to join W.B. Graham and Associates, a New York City public relations firm.  Parks explored the ideas of many different enterprises and worked at W.B. Graham and Associates for seven years.
In 1949, Parks left W.B. Graham and Associates for Crayton’s Southern Sausage Company, which created sausages appealing to the southern taste.  Parks was unsuccessful with Crayton’s Sausage Company, but after learning from his experiences and coming across southern recipes, 35-year-old Henry Parks founded Parks Sausage Company in 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland.  Parks Sausage Company started with only two employees, but rapidly grew to 240 employees with annual sales in the mid-1960s exceeding $14 million.  Parks used his marketing and public relations background to craft a radio commercial which featured a little boy saying, “More Parks Sausage, Mom, please.” The radio ad was enormously popular and helped spur the company's growth.  By 1955 it was the largest black-owned business in Baltimore and later became a publicly traded company.  Parks Sausage was also the first African American firm to advertise in a World Series when its ads appeared at one of the seven games between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees in 1955.  His company also had the distinction of being the first publicly traded black-owned firm on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

What's in a Name: 5 Rules for Choosing a Business Name

5 Rules for Choosing a Business Name
How to Create a Winning Business Name
By Susan Ward, About.com Guide
sbinofocanada.about.com/od/startup/a/createbizname.htm

What’s a winning business name? A business name that draws business in itself. Creating a winning business name takes some thought but is one of the most important things you’ll do during the process of starting a business. Starting out with a weak business name is like trying to golf with only one club in your bag. You may sink some shots but it will be a whole lot harder.

1) A winning business name has to be memorable – but easy to spell.
Obviously, your potential customers and clients need to be able to remember your business name. But they also need to be able to find it easily if they’re looking for it in a phone book, directory or online. So choosing a business name such as “Crychalwellyn” is a bad idea. Unique is good but difficult spellings are a bad idea.

2) A winning business name needs a visual element.
What popped into your head when you read “Crychalwellyn”? Anything? Most people don’t visualize anything when they read this business name that I invented. But generally we are hard-wired to “see” images when we read or hear language, and incorporating a visual element into your business name can be a powerful aid to customers’ memory (and a powerful advertising tool).
So you want your business name to have a strong visual element to it. The catch is that...

3) A winning business name has to have positive connotation.
Many words have both denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (emotional meaning). A word’s connotation can be positive, neutral or negative, depending on the emotional associations that people generally make. The classic example is the difference between “Mom” (which has a very positive connotation) and “Mother” (which has a neutral connotation). Now you know why they called them “Dad’s” cookies, rather than “Father’s”!

What it means to you is that when you create a business name, you need to choose words that have the positive connotations that you want people to associate with your business – and make sure these connotations are suitable for your business.

If you are starting a trucking business, for instance, you don’t want it to have a weak sounding or negative name, such as “Willow Twig Trucking” or “Kitten Transport”. You want a business name that conveys strength and reliability. A choice such as “Stone Creek Trucking” would be much better. Notice how all these names have a strong visual element.

4) A winning business name needs to include information about what your business does.
Chances are good that your new business is not going to become an international brand. It certainly isn’t instantly going to become as well known as Nike. So you need to be sure that your new business name at least gives your potential customers or clients some clues about what you actually do. That’s why you see so many landscaping businesses that have the word “landscaping” in their name, and hair styling businesses that include words such as “salon” or even “hair designs” in their names.
Including information about what your business does in your business name also makes it easier for potential customers and/or clients to find your business in phone books and directories (both off and online).

5) A winning business name has to be fairly short.
Once again this is vital because you want customers and clients to be able to remember your business’s name (and be able to tell other people what it is)! But it’s also important for promotional purposes. You want a business name, for example, that will fit well on a business card, look good displayed on a sign or in an ad, and perhaps even a business name that will serve well as a domain name and show up well in search if you have an online business. So keep it as short as possible.

See Related Links:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html

UNOLive PSA: Did You Know...?

Did you know...? What you don't know UNOLive will tell you. UNOLive can also help you grow from what you already know.

Women: A Lifetime Journey to Success

From Cancer to Courage

  Hearing that you have ‘cancer’ must be a moment one never forgets. For this woman that moment was a reality. After one month of crying and despair our Brilliant Woman of the week said to her husband: “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be ok” and she reassured her doctors and nurses: “I’m going to fight that ‘creature’”. The nurse pointed to her head and said: “This is going to cure that”.Iro Missios, an immigrant from Greece, was determined to fight for her life and to keep her family together. “I realized that my family started to fall apart so I decided to help them. I was always very positive”, she explains. She started a small business in the basement of her husband’s pharmacy with her daughter.They started to import underwear from Greece and distribute it in Canada. “Thedisease gave me the strength to open my own business. I could do anything now”, she tells me. One year later, Iro opened her own retail store.

Full article here

From Business to Beneficial

  
  Women who start their own businesses are admirable, but starting one to give back to the community is something worth celebrating. Pauline Alighieri started the business-turned-nonprofit Friends of Mel, which sells $15 bracelets to benefit breast cancer. The idea came about when her co-worker and friend Mel Simmons was diagnosed and eventually lost her life to the disease.
 “Mel was an unbelievably generous spirit,” Alighieri tells PINK. “She was constantly giving. That's just who she was.” With a goal of $5,000 she was shocked when her business raised $300,000 in six months.
Full article here


From Victim to Victory
  
   Stories about domestic violence only make headlines when they end in tragedy. But there are positive outcomes for many survivors, and Verizon Wireless is supporting those women through a program developed in consultation with the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. For the past two years, the telecommunications company has provided survivors of domestic violence seed money to start or grow their own small businesses through the Verizon Domestic Violence Entrepreneurship Grant Program. On October 23, 2004,  Ebony Fletcher's ex-boyfriend came to her home in hopes of reuniting. When she refused, he pulled out a gun and shot her in the leg. She fought to grab the gun,  but he pinned her face down to the floor, sat on her back and shot her in the head at point blank range. A basketball player she believes could have made it to the pros, Fletcher's ex had no previous history of violence toward her, not even verbal abuse, but had changed after coming home from prison.
Full article here

From Homeless to Helpful
 
  After a tough beginning, VL Fanai is now a successful cosmetologist and designer of skin care products, ans she is sharing her good fortune through her Bright Future Foundation. After her divorce from an abusive husband, she and her four daughters were left homeless.
Full article here

 From Fearful to Fortunes

  Many women are fearful to start a small business and face many obstacles to equality with men on the workplace. But should only take these obstacles of inequality as the driving force to become small business owners.

See Related Articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/05/time-management-tips-for-moms-that-work.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-for-women-entreprenuers.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and_16.html

Give Them More of You: How to Build Business Relationships on Social Networks

  As small business entreprenuers people won't buy our products and / or services until they have bought us.  So, don't be afarid to give those who are friends and / or followers on social networks an opportunity to see who you are. Give them more of you and they will give you their business.  Here are five tips on how to give them more of you.

1. Try uploading a funny, interesting, creative or weird video that reflects your personality and / or interest. Be sure to give these videos as second thought if someone may view them as offensive.

2. Try expressing an opinion about an issue or current event.

3. Try commenting on friends and / or followers post.  On Facebook sharing and on Twitter retweeting (RT) are great ways to interact with friends and / or followers.

4. Try creating a personal banner that has your picture on it and company logo @ pixlr.com, this service is FREE.  This will not only promote your business but give friends and / or followers a face to put with the company.

5. Try chatting, IM'ing, @Mentioning your friends and / or followers about general topics to build a relationship.  This is a useful method because it helps you stay away from sending information into someone inbox and be accused of spamming.

See related articles:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1730465015674633225#editor/target=post;postID=4811211814260402282
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1730465015674633225#editor/target=post;postID=1036983918022186459
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1730465015674633225#editor/target=post;postID=8412496213671939309

IT’S “B2B” NOT “B2U” HOW TO BUILD A REAL BUSINESS NETWORK

When working with other businesses it is good to build a strong and lasting relationship with them; that is great for you and your business. Sometimes, you can deal with a company or a business that only wants you to buy from them, but won’t do business with you. That’s what we called “B2U” companies they only see you as a customer and NEVER see you as a valued business connection or a "B2B".


Here are some tips on how to create a B2B network:


1. Find businesses that have products or services you can use.


2. Make sure that what you are offering is beneficial to their business.


3.Find their contact information and see if they have a need for your products or services.


4. See if they will let your business put a back link on their website or blog.


5. See if they contact you back after e-mailing them as a courtesy to you. They should at least be willing to contact you back and let you know either way on how they feel about doing business with you. It makes them personable, builds a sense of concern for your business relationship and gives them a great public image.


6. Just because a business gives you helpful blogs or videos doesn’t mean they are willing to talk to you as a business person or company. So, look to see if they will interact with you if you comment on their blogs or videos.


7. Always remember to send a business letter in your e-mail or snail mail. If you don’t know the owners name address them as madam or sir.


8. Watch out for those who only support you because you buy their products or services. The relationship is not genuine it’s purpose is to get your money. And it won’t last long if you stop buying.

See other related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html

A March for Women Entreprenuers

March is the month for women so, we are spotlighting women entreprenuers.

Comparison Between Self-Employed Women and Wage-Earning Women
Are There More Advantages For Women Who Own Their Own Businesses?

By Lahle Wolfe, About.com Guide

Are There More Advantages For Women Who Own Their Own Businesses?
In April 2008, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a summary of an analysis about business women derived from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
There were many interesting findings reported about self-employed women in business, especially when compared to wage- and salary-earning women. But perhaps one of the most unsurprising (to me) observations was offered in the following SBA statement: “Contrary to expectations, neither wage and salary-earning nor self-employed women significantly shifted industry participation over this portion of the study period.”

I am perplexed why the authors of the study would consider this “contrary to expectations,” as this should not surprise anyone familiar with the challenges of women in the workforce who have significantly greater industry-limited opportunities when compared to men. Or, that it should strike anyone as unusual given the amazing entrepreneurial spirit of women breaking barriers in the privately-held business world. In fact, the study’s summary goes on to support my own thoughts:

“However, wage and salary-earning women were somewhat more likely than self-employed women to be in industries with the greatest degree of female ownership (primarily social services and education services). Self-employed women were more likely to be in industries with a medium presence of female ownership. This suggests, according to the authors, that self-employed women were branching out of industries traditionally associated with women.”

Even prior to this study, as early as 2002 it was statistically measurable that despite gender barriers women in business are slowly branching out into male-dominated industries, and doing so with success, even if not yet in mass proportions.

Women Entreprenuers

Iman Abdulmajid

                                          Company: Iman Cosmetics

                                           Position: Founder and CEO

                                         Industry: Personal Care Products

---

Leigh Magar

A 21st-century hatmaker marries old-world techniques with fashion-forward vision.

Yolanda Owens

Losing her job led to a major career switch — and a truly fresh line of beauty products.

---

Tasia Malakasis

This former marketing exec followed her foodie dreams back home to run her own goat-cheese creamery.

See other realted articles:

http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html



10 Tips on How to Make the Most of your Time without Wasting your Time

1. Get enough rest,   eight hours is needed so that your body can handle the day.


2. Use a calendar to plan your day ahead of time.  Here is a couple google www.google.com/calendar and Cozi http://www.cozi.com/


3. Synchronize your calendar to your email and your mobile phone to send you alerts to remind you of your "to do list".


4.Put clients number in your mobile phone and put a "C" or "client" beside their name so that you will grab that important call.


5. Make symbols to prioritize your calendar for  those things that have the highest importance.


6. Keep these acronyms to stay focused. P-postpone E-eliminate R-reduce K-keep when you are planning your calendar.


7. Block off time for family, family is always important.


8.If you want your status updates and/ or blog posts to be sent out quickly to your social networks try ping.fm, www.ping.fm, they can be sent from your mobile and/or from the web.


9. If you are out and something comes across your mind as a "to do item" use your mobile phone to record it.


10.Forward your office phone to your mobile phone catch your office calls.


From: U.N.O. Uniquic Networking Online "Your Business is Our Business".

See other related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/05/6-tips-for-wahms-to-spring-clean-their.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/01/10-tips-on-how-to-make-most-of-your.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

How to Design A Website that brings Traffic

Developing a branded logo                   
From: WebMarketing All-In-One for Dummies

Perhaps one of the most overlooked elements of doing business in general-let alone online-is the importance of having a meaningful logo.  Many Internet marketing gurus will tell you not to waste you time or money producing a logo.  But, If you are promoting a real company on the Web, a good logo is a vital ingredient:  It helps you communicate a lot about your business to a Website visitor in a fraction of a second.  When people see your logo (or lack of one), they can immediately rate various elements of your business in their minds, this act of evaluation might even occur in their subconscious.  Some of these include your

*Level of professionalism
*Ability to create or innovate
*Enthusiasm for you product
*Level of traditionalism
*Attention to detail

Visitors will associate words to your business based on the appearance of your logo, such as funny, silly, exciting, desperate, growing, content, or curious.  So, be careful what you ask your designer to create for you.  When it comes to your website, it's more important than ever to at least have a logo to identify your business, if not a logo for each of your products too!  The following list invites you to take a look at some good logos that are memorable but also define the business and even the personality of the business.

*www.TheAccidentalLawyer.com-The Accidental Lawyer logo features a somewhat common approach to a law firm logo in that it has the roman pillar theme in the background.  What's not so common is the linking between that traditional image and the The Accidental Lawyer name with the hat on top of the letter A. This tells me, maybe only on a subconscious level, that this is a law firm that links tradition with business sense and just the right amount of personality and charisma.

*www.ContractorAccess.com- I chose to feature this logo because I didn't know that the company did until I saw their logo.  Now I understand that they offer the high-rise equipment you see window washers standing on, among other things.  So, a logo alone can sometimes bring it all together to tell a visitor what your business does.

*www.monkeybizness.com-On the other end of the spectrum, there is Monkey Bizness, with the tag line "where kids monkey around."  Everything about this logo is playful and not too serious, from the font type used to the coloring and the slight animation of the monkey jumping up and down.

The point of mentioning these three logos is that each paints a memorable picture in your mind.  And, that's what branding is all about creating something that remains in people's minds for days, weeks, or months to come.

Professional designers are you best resource for creating a logo that matches how you want your business to be perceived.  Keep in mind that logos take time to conceptualize and create.  So, be prepared that by the time you approve a logo, you might see several iterations, costing several hundreds of dollars.  The best scenario from a time standpoint is when your Website designer is also the creator of your logo.  That way you don't have to worry about the logo designer getting the right formats to your Web designers and waiting for the communication to take place.  But, many Web designers do not work with logos and require a logo to be submitted before beginning work on your Web site.  In that case, here are two low-cost methods for getting a logo created

One shortcut to logo production is to hold a contest between many designers.  At 99designs (online), you can post your logo design request for a little as $39, plus whatever you're willing to pay to winner.  Usually, you need to offer enough-say $100 or so-to give incentive for designers to jump on your projects.  but, it's often just as professional a result (and faster) than using a traditional designer for logo creation. Here's how it works:

1. Visit http:99designs.com
2. Start a free account.
3. Click Launch a Contest and describe the project
4. Post your "brief" and set a price amount $39 is required to post your contest
5. Respond to designers as they post their logo concepts and ask for refinements
Within a few days, you'll have several logos to choose from produced by different graphics experts
6.Choose the winner
The payment in the form of credits is sent to the designer, and the designer then sends the completed logo files o you by e-mail.

Part 2: A Better Way to Turning a Hobby into a Business

Finding a domain and a website

Once you have the products and or service that you want to sell and promote you need to think of a domain name. This is a domain name is a name (such as "w3.org") of a service, Web site, or computer, and so on in a hierarchical system of delegated authority- the Domain Name System. ... Why would you choose a domain name first instead of a website? When you find the website format that you like you sill need to enter a domain name for your website to be get registered

To find out what domain name you can use you will have to go to a domain register site. You can google the domain name that you want at the domain register sites or you can try Yahoo, Google, Whois. They will look to see if you can use the domain name that you want it takes a few minutes to find out if you can use the name you put in. If you can’t use the name then keep trying sometimes you can be creative. We used our name Uniquic since Unique was taken but our name still sounds the same just spelled different.

Once you get and buy the name you want then no one else can use that name because it goes into a large data base with all domain registrants so they know all names used. Also when considering a domain name try to keep it simple, that way people will be able to remember your name and get one where if your company grows the name will still be suitable. We used Uniquic so when we expand with our products they will still be unique and we can put a wide range of products on our site.

Finding a website

To find a website you can google it by putting in hosting websites or free websites some hosting sites are free and some charge. With free websites some are free for only a short period of time. And others are free for a unlimited amount of time. It’s up to you if you want a free site or a site that you pay for. Just make sure that they have 24 hour support in case you have problems with you site. and check to see that the site doesn’t go down to often.

If you decided to pay for your site and they have a trial period check out and see if they really have support 24 hours call on a saturday or sunday to see if you get help. If you don’t then you can cancel during your trial period. With websites some offer templates where you can design your website which makes it easy. If you want to design your own then getting a hosted website would be a great idea for you.

With hosting sites you can use an authoring tools there are some like Adobe Dream Weaver the cost is $399.00, Microsoft Expression cost $299.00. You can use Sea Monkey or Mozzilla Firefox these two are free. I personally have tried Sea Monkey and let’s just say template sites are my niche’. But if you like designing your own website than a hosted site would be good for you. Now you have your domain name and website you are ready to start designing your website! Next will be part 3 how to design your website that drives traffic to your site.
　
　

Part 1:A Better Way To turning a hobby into a business

onlinehomebasedbusiness.blogsome.com

There are a growing number of people who want their own business but don’t know where to start. They have a hard time figuring out what type of business to own. Some go with an MLM business (Multi-Level Marketing), roughly you pay money to get their products and in return they make you an independent contractor; or they have you to take classes for a fee to certify you to sell their services and some people like this type of business. 

But if you want to start a business on your own and buy your own supplies to make your products or items where you will have no “middle man” than you might think about turning a hobby into a business. Do you have a hobby or a interest? A hobby is an activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, often in ones spare time (Equation: an interest + pleasure and relaxation=hobby). An interest is a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something.

If you only have an interest in something and it doesn’t give you pleasure or relaxation then it’s only a interest. Knowing the difference is important, once you know what your hobby is then start making items / products or services and show / tell them to your friends. If their expressions are with excitement and they ask you questions like: You really made this? How much are you selling this for? How much does this cost? You should start thinking about making this your business.

You can take your products / items or services to some crafts shows or get into some contest, to see what the public thinks about your items / products. All of this will help you in the long run before you set up a website, it is called testing marketing your products / items or services.

In “Part 2 of A Better way to turn your hobby into a business” we will discuss finding a good name for your business and a good website that will enhance your products or services.

See other related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html

http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/part-2-better-way-to-turning-hobby-into.html

　

How to Start an Online Business 101

Welcome back everyone, I hope that everything is well with you. I wanted to post this blog not only for those who want to start their own online business and for those of us who already have businesses online. Because as an online retailer, we should never stop learning.

ONLINE BUSINESS

From: The Everything Start Your Own Business Book
Author: Rich Mintzer

Rivaling traditional retailers today are online retail businesses. For the most part, e-tail (as it’s affectionately called) has not made a significant dent in the retail world… yet. In fact, many people still research products on the Internet and then walk into a bricks-and mortar retail location to see and purchase the products. Certain products, such as books, CDs, and toys have shown tremendous results over the Internet. For someone who wants to maintain a low overhead, selling a niche market item via the Internet can also be advantageous for a small business. Specialized services such as gift items or custom-made products such as a golf clubs have also enjoyed success. The Web has also proved a marvelous way to promote and increase sales for established bricks-and-mortar businesses that do additional sales over the Internet but don’t base their entire business on e-tail sales.
One of the biggest concerns of many customers shopping over the Internet is not knowing from whom they’re buying and not feeling confident that their privacy is respected and maintained. Other than dealing with established online companies, many people are reluctant to give their credit card number to unknown and possibly unsecured source. While many source show more breaches of security with traditional credit card methods used in retail stores, consumers are still wary of cyberspace. Fraud and privacy issues as evidenced by the ever-increasing rash of unwanted spam mailings that occur whenever they sign up or put their personal information on certain Web sites. If you’re going into e-tail, be sure to make yourself as accessible as possible with a toll free number, good customer services policies, a business address, and so on. People have become quite concerned about the anonymity of many e-tial-only businesses.
Another problem of starting a Web based business is unlike hanging a sign out front-as you would do for walk-in business with a retail location-you need to find a way to draw people to your site. For many entrepreneurs, Web marketing has not been an easy venture. The glut of reported, demise of many those sites, has not been as favorable for new e-tail businesses in the new millennium. It has become increasingly difficult for Web startups to find venture capital. While this trend may change in the near future, at present most people looking to start up an Internet business are thinking small or looking to start up an adjunct business (to a bricks-and-mortar business) but not use the Web site as their primary business source.
There are plenty of Web-based success stories, and if you find a niche, a way to market yourself, and enough venture capital to survive, you can still get a Web-based e-tail business off the ground. To your advantage is that you can very likely get by without many (or possibly any) other employees. Other than possibly needing someone to help set up and run the site from a technical standpoint, it’s quite possible that you can handle the orders yourself with a fulfillment house. You also don’t need an inventory, an alarm system, a night watchman, or a shovel for clearing the snow off the sidewalk so that customers can get to your shop.To succeed with an e-tail business, you need to think like an online consumer. It helps to either be one yourself or, at the very least, talk to regular online consumers. Get to know what people look for from an e-commerce site. Browse numerous sites to get a feel for how they look and how they operate. (Visit www.gomez.com or www.sites.com for Web site reviews.) Evaluate which sites are easy to navigate and purchase what you want and which ones are not. The point of ordering is the most important juncture of the process. If customers are clicking repeatedly to get through the process, they will simply click off of the site. You need a fast dependable, foolproof server. You need to be able to handle various payment methods, not unlike a bricks-and-mortar location. Because the Web is global, you may improve your sales potential by being able to handle foreign currencies as well. Finally, you need to have very reliable methods of shipping; otherwise your reputation will diminish quickly. Web sites have gone out of business by taking more order than they could handle or ship.

Remember, you’re providing customers with the ability to shop from the comfort of their own homes or offices. Ask yourself: How can you capitalize on that? How can you gain their trust and confidence? How can you make the shopping experience easy and time efficient?
E-Fact One of the largest target audiences online is the college student. About 90 percent of U.S. college students have access to the Internet--most through their schools. College students spend an estimated $700 million online annually. Now that's buying power!

What They Don't Tell You About Sales and Social Networks (Pt.3)

Good evening everyone, we have come to the conclusion of our three part series on sales and social networks. I hope that you have enjoyed it and feel free to comment on the subject matter.

Now a social network site works better for those who are selling services and or consultation because you are selling only yourself (meaning your experience and/or expertise) so its VERY important to be sociable. However, when you are selling a product you have to sell yourself and the product so its more than being social its about getting them to buy. On the social site they can view your profile page and ge to know you and visa versa to spark conversation, view your website and any videos about your services and/or consultations.

Overall, when you are on an online network (be it social or e-Commerce), you will recieve more traffic than by just having a blog and/or website (my business partner and I have three blogs and are on multiple social networks,  an e-Commerce site and our own website).  On a network there are  more people who visit than on a typical blog or website and that is because of the content that is on networks.  The content is produced by the members, the more members the more content; content is important in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and others have "crawlers" or "spiders" that search for good content (by content I mean: blogs, videos, photos and profiles). The members also live links to any sites that they have be it professional or personal, which is searched by those "crawlers" or "spiders", where people can find and/ or follow them.

See more related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html 
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-customer-service-for-2012.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

What They Don't Tell You About Sales and Social Networks (Pt.2)

Hello everyone and welcome back...as promised I will be continuing our discussion on sales and social networking with the part two to the discussion.

Starting off, let's first define the term "social network" by breaking it down into two separate words. Webster defines the term social as being: " marked by or passed in pleaseant companionship with one's friends or associates tending to form cooperations, interdependent relationships with others of one's kind" and a network as an interconnected or interrelated group, chain or system.  Now that we know what a social network  is will it work for your business?  It will only work to a certain extent depending upon the type of busines you own.  If your business is a service than social networks will work great for you because you can network with people that have an interest in your service that you offer.  Push them to your website which (because it is a service business) probably will not a have a lot to download, this can cause you to loose a sale if you have slow or long downloads.  Your website should basically have information about your services and your contact information (general rule: K.I.S. "keep it simple").  However, if you have products to sell then an e-Commerce network website would be the best choice.  Why is that? An e-Commerce network is know for selling merchants / sellers (that is you the online small business owner / entreprenuer) products, with your products being setup to make immediate sales safely.  You can sell to members and non-members of the e-Commerce network.  Some social networks say that they have a marketplace but all that you can do is place a link for your company and a picture / image and hope that they go to your website.  Then they have to navigate to your site and find that particular item.  "Time is money", if it takes to long to find it the sale is lost.  Most people from social networking sites will only visit, they won't buy because they are just about soicializing. If they do visit your site that may be there just to see what it is that you do so that they can sell their products and/or services to you.

The atmosphere on an e-Commerce networking website is unlike that of a social network, in that it is an marketplace (a marketplace: is a place where buyers and sellers meet to exchange money for goods and/or services).  When non-sellers come to an e-Commerce network they come to buy, not to socialize (unlike on social networks), they same is true for sellers (small business owners / entreprenuers) they come on the site to sell not to socialize.  Also e-Commerce networking sites are ready to handle an order in a speady and secure manner because they know that a sale can be lost in two seconds.
* The e-Commerce website isn't to replace your existing personal website if you already have one, but can be an additional arena to sell your products.
The sellers have a secure account on the e-Commerce network with companies such as: PayPal and Charge.com to properly handle the transaction and to keep your and your customers information confidential.

Thanks everyone for reading our blog...part three is coming this Friday October 15 so be sure and read it! And please subscribe to this blog and our sister blogs: http://www.uniquic.blogspot.com/ and http://www.hwheeler06.blogspot.com/. May GOD bless and keep you in JESUS name, Amen.

See related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and_16.html  http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html 
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-customer-service-for-2012.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

What They Don't Tell You About Sales and Social Networking (Pt.1)

Welcome back! Just as I promised before we will discuss those statistics about sales and how to get the most of our social networking for your business. This blog post is a three part series, so I hope that you read all three in that each one picks up where the other left off.

So, you have a website  and now you need to bring in traffic.  You say, what must I do, hmmm network right? So you find as many people as you can and make friends with them on a large social network.  Then you tell them about your website (exposure, exposure, exposure) and sit back and watch the money roll in right...wrong.  When you join social networks you can make hundreds of friends, have your website posted with links to it, send them emails with coupons and discounts but the are catches to all those things. First of all, from all those hundreds of friends you will need a thousand people to see your site and from those thousands only 15 percent will buy from you. Secondly, make sure that your links work and that they aren't being seen as something that could be potentially harmful to the person's computer (some sites don't send people directly to the links that are posted on their site for fear that you could be viruses). Thirdly, people could get turned away from your company from the emails that you sent with coupons and discounts, seeing them as spam. I know what you are thinking, you say this is what everyone is doing, so it must be the right thing to do. But do you really know if they are making money from all "these" efforts?

Statistics state that out of every thousand visitors to your site you will only get 15 percent of those people to buy (which is 1.5 percent of those thousands of visitors). For example if you get two hundred friends in 6 months, then yu have picked up 33 people in a month and one person a day. That's not a lot of potential customers to visit your site. How many other sites do you have a membership? Do you make profiles and them leave them because of low membership on that site? All these are important factors in determining if you make sales because the more sites your on the better and inorder to generate traffic to your site you need a large number of visitors, so the site that you are on needs a large memebership base. In the political arena, they post campaign flyers everywhere from school yards to light poles and they post in areas of HIGH traffic (even if their is an abandoned building on the street, if it is a busy intersection, they are there).

See next blog for Part 2...

See related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html  http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and_16.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-customer-service-for-2012.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

Exposure...exposure...exposure!

Hello everyone, welcome to Uniquic Networking Online U.N.O. Blog. This blog will be a helpful tool to small business owners and also a means to inform everyone. We hope that you find the information that we give you to be helpful and welcome any comments or suggestions that you may have on a topic.

The old saying is "location, location, location" and location is very important but if you don't tell anyone that your business is at "that" location no one will ever know. That is where "exposure" comes into play. The definition of the word "expsoure" by Webster Dictionary is " the condition of being presented to view or made known" and that is what we MUST do as small business owners; present our businesses and/or make them known.

As an online small business owners many people may come to your site, but statistics show that it takes a thousand people to visit your site  before you will begin to see sales and you only get fifteen sales for every 1,000th person. Those are small numbers but they don't have to be...we will talk more about this statistic, sales and selling on social networking sites in our next blog entitled "WHAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT SALES AND SOCIAL NETWORKS".