Calculate This! 100 Financial Calculators Every Entrepreneur Needs

By Christina Laun

Many entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of having a separate accounting department, instead doing their own number crunching. It’s not always easy, but you can make it less difficult by making use of the huge number of free financial tools for businesses that are available on the Internet. Here are 100 calculators that can help you get and keep your finances in order.

Business Operations

Don’t get caught off guard by the unexpected financial pitfalls of owning a business. Keep one step ahead with these useful business calculators.

  1. Break Even Analysis: Figure out how much you’re going to need to sell with your business just to break even. This can be helpful in creating a starting point for your sales goals.
  2. Business Valuation: Whether you are just curious, or want to sell your business, this calculator can help you determine the value. Just enter your cash flow and your expenses to get an estimate.
  3. Working Capital Needs: Find out what your business will need to keep going with this helpful calculator. It will take into account your short-term monetary obligations and figure out how much capital you’ll need so you won’t fall short.
  4. Financial Ratio: Sometimes there are areas of your business that will need special attention relative to others. Figure out what those are with this financial ratio calculator.
  5. Cash Flow: No matter what type of business you are in, keeping your cash flow in check is essential to a healthy business. See how much your business is generating with this calculator.
  6. Buying vs. Leasing: Sometimes it can be tough to figure out whether simply buying equipment you need will leave you better off in the long run than leasing. Put your costs into this calculator to find out which would suit your business’ needs best.
  7. Profit Margin: This calculator can help you determine how much you should be selling your products or services for to achieve a desired profit margin.
  8. Inventory Analysis: Keeping a not-too-little, but not-too-much balance of inventory can be tricky business. This calculator will help you figure out how to time your orders and how much to keep on hand.
  9. Sales Per Employee: Figure out what your salespeople are averaging with this simple calculator.
  10. Operating Profit Percentage: This calculator will help you compare your sales with what is left after the cost of your goods and operating costs.
  11. Return on Assets: See how well you’re managing your company with this calculator that compares net income to total assets. You’ll be able to find out how much you’re getting for every dollar.
  12. Debt to Assets: This calculator can help you determine to what extent your company is financed by loans and other sources of debt. The lower the number, the better your chances are of staying afloat financially.
  13. Starting Costs: Figure out the starting costs for your business idea before you start so there won’t be any surprises and you’ll know how much you’ll need to get things off the ground.
  14. Conversion Rate: Unsure how updating or changing your website will or did impact your business? Use this calculator to see how improving your online sales can affect your business.
  15. Pay Per Click ROI: Are your pay per click ad campaigns really paying off? See if your advertising is worth the investment with this calculator.
  16. Email ROI: The same goes for your email ad campaigns. This calculator will let you know if you’re generating enough sales or if you need to find another marketing strategy.
  17. Business Location, to Rent or Buy: Use this calculator to find out if your business would profit more from renting a location or buying one outright.
  18. SAP Value Calculator: The SAP Value Calculator for midsize business reveals how strong your business is today and how much additional value you can gain by improving your infrastructure.
  19. Double Your Money: Determine how long it will take you to double your money with this simple calculator.

Loans

Unless you’re bootstrapping it, or you’ve come into quite a financial windfall, it’s likely that your business will need a few loans to get up and running. Here are some calculators that can help you figure out how much you can borrow and what your payments will be.

  1. Commercial Loan: This calculator can help you determine your debt service coverage with a new loan, which can in turn help you determine if you’ll be approved.
  2. Alternative Payment Frequencies: If you’re not sure what payment method will work out best for your loan, try out different combinations with this calculator.
  3. Amortizing Loan: Use this calculator to determine how much money you can borrow based on the monthly payment you can afford.
  4. Balloon Loan: This calculator can help you determine if a balloon loan (short term but payments are based over 15 year period) might be better for you than a standard loan.
  5. Credit Line: Not sure how much money you can qualify for? Your line of credit
    is based on the value or your business or home and this calculator can do the math for you.
  6. Enhanced Loan Calculator: This calculator makes it easy to change all the elements involved with getting a loan (monthly payment, amount of loan, interest rate) to find the best combination for your business.
  7. Existing Loan: If your business already has an outstanding loan, you can use this calculator to determine how much longer you’ll be paying on them based on your balance and the amount of your monthly payments.
  8. Loan Comparison: Don’t let loans confuse you with different rates and terms. Compare loans directly with this calculator.
  9. Loan Prequalification: Use this calculator as an initial step in determining what kind of loans you can qualify for.
  10. Loan or Line of Credit: Use this calculator from Bank of America to find out if you should get a loan or a line of credit for your business start up or expansion.
  11. Term of Loan: Determine what length of loan you should apply for using this simple calculator.
  12. Blended Rate Calculator: Calculate the effective interest rate on multiple loans.
  13. Loan and Line Payment: Use this calculator to determine the amount of money you’ll be making as payments on your loan or line of credit.

Debt Management

Don’t let your loans get out of hand. Use these calculators to figure out the best way to pay back your loans and other debts.

  1. Business Debt Consolidation: Have multiple business credit cards or loans holding debt for your company? Use this calculator to find out if you’d be better off consolidating your debts into one monthly payment.
  2. Credit Assessment: Get a quick credit assessment with this easy-to-use calculator.
  3. Accelerated Debt Payoff: Get rid of your debt even faster using this calculator which will help you create a debt payment plan that can potentially save you money in interest fees.
  4. Credit Card Minimum Payment Calculator: While it might seem easier to just pay the minimum on your credit card balance, it can end up potentially costing your business thousands more. This calculator can help you determine the true cost of minimum payments.
  5. Credit Card Optimizer: This calculator helps you create the best distribution of your credit card debt to minimize how much you’ll pay out.
  6. Credit Card Payoff: Want to eliminate your credit card debt? This calculator will show you what it will take to pay off those cards.
  7. How much do you owe?: Not sure how much debt you actually have? Use this calculator to figure out where to begin paying off your debts by finding out where you stand.
  8. Credit Card Debt Roll-Down: You can get your debt under control and keep your business afloat. Here you’ll find a calculator that will help you determine what debts to pay off first to get you on the road to financial freedom.
  9. Credit Card Calculator: Choosing the right business credit card can make a big difference in the financial future of your business. Use this calculator to make the decision a little easier.

Investment

Make your business and personal investment tracking easy with these investment calculators.

  1. Asset Allocator: Whether you’re investing for your business or handling your personal finances, this calculator can help you determine the best way to spread out your money.
  2. Compare Investment Fees: Investing can pay off in the long run, but it often comse with some fees that can add up over time. Use this calculator to see what you’ll be paying over the lifetime of your investments.
  3. Investment Loan: Thinking of making a substantial business investment? Use this calculator to help you figure out if it’s a smart move.
  4. Investment Returns: See the big picture with this calculator that shows the impact of inflation, taxes and time horizon on your investments.
  5. Taxable vs. Tax Advantaged Investments: If you’re not sure what kind of investment is best for you, use this calculator to see the different between taxed, tax deferred and tax-free investments.
  6. Investment Savings and Distributions: Whether you’re designing retirement plans for yourself, clients or employees, use this calculator to determine how long your investment will last once you start cashing in.
  7. Interest Rate Converter: Compare the dividends from several interest rates at once with this calculator.
  8. Investment Offering: Use this tool to see both sides of the investment coin. You can calculate what investors in your company will get and what your company will have to give up to accommodate them.
  9. Landlord Calculator: Real estate can be a good investment, but is it the right one for you? Use this calculator to find out if being a landlord could be a moneymaker for you.
  10. Self Employed Retirement Calculator: This calculator will let you determine the maximum contribution you can make to your self employed 401(k).
  11. Risk Tolerance: Determine what kind of investments will be best for you based on how much of a risk you’re willing to take with this online calculator.
  12. Investment Goal Calculator: Make sure your investments are on track with this calculator.
  13. IRA Stretch Calculator: Stretch your retirement savings as far as they will go with this calculator.

Taxes

Unfortunately, taxes are an inevitable part of any business’ day to day life. These online tools will help make paying them just a little more painless.

  1. 1040 Tax Calculator: Keep up with your personal taxes using this calculator.
  2. 457 Payroll Deductions: Not sure how much of a difference changing your withholding will make? Use this calculator to figure out the difference before you make the change.
  3. Estate Tax Planning: Don’t let your children or grandchildren get burned by the estate tax. Determine what you’ll be liable for long before it becomes an issue.
  4. Net to Gross Paycheck Calculator: This calculator will help you learn what you need to earn each paycheck to meet a net amount.
  5. Self-Employment Taxes: Self-employed individuals are subject to different taxes, so use this calculator to figure out what you can expect to pay.
  6. Home Office Deduction: For those running a business from home, this calculator can help you determine if you can use your home or business costs as deductions on your taxes.
  7. Marginal and Effective Tax Rate Calculator: Estimating what percentage of your income old Uncle Sam is going to demand at the end of the year is essential to avoiding that end of the year tax surprise. Instead, this calculator will allow you to estimate the amount which will give you time to sock the necessary amount away.
  8. Gross Up Calculator: Use this calculator to determine the payroll taxes that should be deducted from bonuses and taxable benefits given to employees.

Personnel

Make the business of doing your payroll easier with these free calculators.

  1. Paycheck Calculator: Help calculate your or your employees’ take home pay after taxes and other deductions.
  2. Wage Conversion: Save yourself the mental acrobatics when converting wages from one periodic term into another (weeks, days, months, etc), making comparison and rates easy to calculate.
  3. Aggregate Bonus Calculator: Figure out an employee’s annual bonus with this calculator.
  4. Flat Percentage Bonus Calculator: Another bonus calculator, this one is based on a flat percentage instead.
  5. 401(k) Planner: Get your financial future on track with this 401k planning calculator.
  6. Salary Wizard: Find out if you’re earning what you’re worth as a freelancer or if you’re paying your employees enough with this salary calculator.
  7. Office Space Calculator: Not sure how much space you’ll need? This calculator will let you know how many square feet you’ll need for your business based on the number of employees you have.
  8. Annual Stock Option Grants: Use this calculator to see how your and your employees stock options might improve over time.

Personal Finance

Don’t lose track of your personal finances because you’re too busy with your business finances. Make use of these simple tools to manage your finances at home.

  1. Checkbook Balancer: Keep your personal budget balanced with this quick and easy calculator.
  2. Home Budget Analysis: Keeping track of where your money goes can be hard as it often goes out as fast as it comes in. Use this budget analysis tool to get a handle on your spending.
  3. Life Expectancy: Get an idea of how much you’ll need to plan for with this life expectancy calculator. Based on your health and lifestyle it will give you an estimate of your life expectancy.
  4. Net Worth: Determine your net value and how it can change with this calculator.
  5. Should my spouse work?: For many couples, especially those with children, the decision for one spouse to stay at home can be a hard one. See if your spouse can afford to stay home or should go to work with this calculator.
  6. Social Security Benefits: Get an estimate of your potential social security benefits with this calculator.
  7. Roth IRA Calculator: See how investing in an Roth IRA compares with taxable investments.
  8. Retirement Planner: Keep your retirement plan on track with this easy-to-use calculator.
  9. Retirement Income: How much will you have to live on when you retire? Use this calculator to figure out what your retirement savings will provide you with.
  10. 457 Savings Calculator: Use this calculator to figure out if a 457 savings plan can help you create a better retirement.
  11. Cost of Living Calculator: Compare the cost of living between different cities in the United States.
  12. Earning Potential: This calculator can help you estimate how much you can expect to earn over the course of your lifetime and what you can do to make the most of that money.
  13. Human Life Calculator: Use this calculator to determine how much life insurance you should be carrying.

Miscellaneous

It seems like there’s a calculator out there for everything, and here are a few more that can help you with your business.

  1. Basic Calculator: Meet your most basic calculator needs anywhere you have internet access with this online calculator.
  2. Basic Financial Calculator: This financial calculator can do all kinds of simple financial calculations.
  3. Compound Interest: Determine the compound interest on your holdings in a savings or investment account.
  4. Future Value: This calculator is used to determine what a sum of money deposited today will be worth at some point in the future based on a specific discount interest rate.
  5. Present Value: This calculator is used to determine what a sum of money to be received in a future year is worth in today’s dollars based on a specific discount interest rate.
  6. Music Business Profit/Loss Calculator: For those trying to make a music business or band the sole source of income, here’s a calculator that will help you determine which gigs are worth it and which you should pass up.
  7. Postage Calculator: Figure out how much you’ll need to spend on postage for bulk mailings or to send products to customers with this calculator from the US Postal Service.
  8. Carbon Dioxide Calculator: Environmentally conscious businesses can use this calculator to figure out the amount of carbon dioxide released by business operations and take measures to offset it.
  9. Best Workplace for Commuters Calculator: Also for the green business, this calculator will give you an estimate of the financial, environment, and traffic benefits of joining the Best Workplace for Commuters program.
  10. Small Business Safety Calculator: Workplace related injuries can be costly. This calculator can help you understand just how much you’ll owe even with accident insurance in place.
  11. Calculator.com: Find all kinds of calculators on this one convenient site, everything from lease calculators to feet into inches.
  12. Currency Converter: Doing business overseas is easy with this currency conversion calculator.
  13. How long til you become a millionaire? Use this calculator to find out how long it will take you to make the millions you’ve been working so hard for.
  14. Time Value Calculator: Figure out what your time is worth with this calculator that takes into account your spending habits and taxes.
  15. Gas Guzzling Calculator: Commuting to the office or to meet with clients? Find out how much the price of gas is hurting your bottom line with this calculator.
  16. Movie Star Comparison Calculator: See how your business revenues compare to the salaries of the biggest celebs with this just for fun calculator.
  17. Coffee Habit: See how much that morning Starbucks is really costing you with this calculator; money you could be putting in your business or your savings account.

18 Simple Marketing Tips

I made a list a while back that was meant to serve as reminders when marketing. I came across it today and I thought I’d share it with ya’ll:

* Include Testimonials
* Awareness is 60% of TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness.)
* Be OVERT about benefits.
* Be relevant.
* Be clear about what you’re selling.
* Be personal.
* Be spicey.
* Be timely with communication.
* Build a customer and prospect database.
* Call to Action!
* Go where your prospects go.
* Grab attention.
* Laser Target Your Audience.
* Marketing is Investing. Demand ROI.
* Presentation matters.
* Relationships & sales is one-to-one.
* Speak to a targeted audience.
* Track, monitor & adjust.

7 Simple Marketing Tips

Here are 7 simple marketing tips to help you boost your sales and profits quickly. All are easy to use and work for any business.

Tip 1:

You can constantly improve the effectiveness of your advertising by allocating 80 percent of your advertising budget to proven promotions and 20 percent to testing new things. When something new works better than your proven promotions, move it to the 80 percent group and start testing something else in the 20 percent category.

Tip 2:

Customers are usually receptive to more offers from you immediately after they buy. Follow up every sale with another offer for a product or service related to the one they just bought. Many will accept your offer ...producing an easy sale for you.

Tip 3:

Make your sales presentation more believable (and more effective) by converting general statements into specific descriptions. Instead of "quick and easy", explain exactly how quick and how easy. Also, reduce round numbers like "15 pounds" into specific odd numbers like "13.7 pounds". It sounds more authentic.

Tip 4:

Most people are more interested in getting value for their money than in getting a bargain. Find some low-cost ways to enhance the perceived value of your product or service. Then test raising your price. Don't be surprised if both your sales and your profit margin go up.

Tip 5:

Search for and test some alternative marketing methods you may be overlooking. That's how one internet marketer discovered direct mail postcards. They proved to be a highly effective and very low-cost way to generate traffic to her web site. Plus they conceal her marketing efforts from competitors who can see (and copy) what she does online.

Tip 6:

You can make your sales message more effective by presenting everything in terms of the benefit it provides to customers. For example, don't just list testimonials from satisfied customers. Point out that those testimonials prove you have an established history of delivering what you promise.

Tip 7:

Include a Questions and Answers page on your web site with the answers to frequently asked questions. It enables prospective customers to get instant answers to their questions ...and reduces the number of questions you have to answer yourself.

One More ...A Bonus Tip:

Avoid making any sales claim that sounds exaggerated ...even if it is true. A bold claim creates doubt in your prospect's mind and jeopardizes the sale. Reduce any bold claims to a more believable level. Each of these marketing tips reveals a simple, proven tactic you can use to boost your sales and profits quickly. All 7 are easy to use ...and have proven highly effective for any type of business.

Nine Simple Marketing Tips for New Business Owners

Marketing is all about building a presence, name recognition and credibility through various methods. Here are nine things you can do to get a new business off the ground.

Just as investments are only a part of a financial plan, a marketing plan is only part of your business plan. Marketing is the means and methods that get your name out to the public; advertising is only a part of marketing. Initially, you should have a plan for at least the first year of operations on a month-by-month basis. With a new business, your marketing is about building a presence, name recognition, and credibility through various methods.

1. Have a logo, business cards, letterhead, and a brochure designed and professionally printed. Steer clear of perforated, self-printed business cards. Image is important and you don't want clients thinking you were up late the night before printing your business cards.

2. Send a press release to all newspapers (local dailies and weeklies) in your area announcing the opening of your new business. If you've got a niche, stress it. Keep the press release short, double-space it, and make sure it's grammatically correct. A typo in a press release is like cutting your own throat.

3. Get a Web site. Have it professionally done and make it an extension of your advertising and print materials. Prospective clients should be able to go to your site for more information than what they see in your print ads or get from your brochure. Revisit your website regularly to update and improve it. You don't need a counter on a website, but make sure your web hosting company provides a means for you to check traffic so you can monitor your marketing efforts.

4. Get your name in the paper. Write letters to the editor and send out regular press releases that include a professional press photo (readers love to associate a face with the name they're reading about). If you are do something new, such as publish a newsletter for clients, join a board or professional organization or volunteer, use it as a tool to communicate with the press.

5. Advertise in your local or regional newspapers. Here's the key to successful advertising: size isn't everything--frequency is. Don't place the biggest ad you can afford if you can only afford to run it for two months. That won't do it. While in real estate, it's location, location, location, in advertising, it's repeat, repeat, repeat. Of course, your message has to solve a problem for the consumer or invite them to call you, but it should be regular. Always use your web address in your newspaper ads and remember point three above: your website is there to give more information. Advertising doesn't have to be display ads; simple classified ads are also effective as long as they are repetitive.

6. Join the Chamber of Commerce and go to meetings, luncheons, and fundraisers. Meet the business community and let them know what you do. Networking is your best advertising.

7. Volunteer to join the library board, the arts council, or the school board. Get involved and get your name out there. It's the best way to meet people.

8. Compile a list of centers of influence and send them quarterly newsletters or problem-solving tools.

9. Write articles and send them to business editors. Business journals are often looking for usable articles. If you can write, do it. You'll get your name in the paper as a credible source, which is a lot more beneficial than any size ad you can pay for. Even with an aggressive and comprehensive marketing strategy, it will probably take two to three years to build a business from scratch, but it will be worth it!

Top 5 Tips to Creating an Effective Blog

Blogs have made a grand entrance into the marketing realm. Why? They can be a successful marketing tool if done rights.

Blogs have core components that increase their success such as content, distribution, and frequency, but you need more than that to get people to read it.

Popular blogs have one thing in common; an individual voice. A voice will not only gain readers, but it keeps them. Learn how to create your voice using these 5 blogging tips:

1. Create a Blog Personality
Don't formulate your posts. Let your voice shine through. Give your blog a personality.

2. Be Consistent in Your Posts
Be consistent, when starting out try to post at least 3 times a week.
Preferably every other day.

3. Keep It Simple
Don't get caught up in length of your posts. Your posts don't have to be long. They can be random thoughts or tidbits of news regarding your industry. The key is make them interesting.

4. Allow Comments
Allow comments. You can moderate comments, but comments create the viral effect by allowing your readers to interact with you. You will also want to research and comment on relevant industry related blogs.

5. Focus on Your Title
Titles draw traffic. Be creative. Not only do they capture the attention of potential readers, but those search engines love blog titles. A rule of thumb is to keep your title under ten words.

How to Market Your Business on a Shoestring

By Andrew Neitlich


Many Web developers are small or one-person shops with limited resources for marketing campaigns. Large mailings, advertisements, and expensive marketing brochures may not be an option for you. At the same time, many have recently jumped into their own business, and have to preserve their savings for basic needs like food and rent.


This article will walk you through a step-by-step process to launch or grow a Web development business on a shoestring. In fact, let's make it a real challenge. We'll assume you have less than $100 to spend on marketing.

The good news is that limited resources can be an advantage for you. Many IT professionals hide behind expensive mailings, phonebook advertisements, and brochures. They also rely on fancy search engine optimization schemes, as well as Google and Overture advertising. Then they wait for prospects to call or email, and get no response.

You don't have that luxury. You have to think about marketing wisely, and can't afford to throw away your money. You have to be smarter, leaner, and meaner than the competition. While your competitors hide behind their marketing, you have no choice but to find creative, low-cost, high-impact ways to get visible and become attractive to your prospects.

Your marketing plan is simple and efficient:

  1. Identify a target market.

  2. Develop a strong marketing message and hook.

  3. Create one piece of marketing collateral that will attract prospects and set you apart.

  4. Get visible in your target market -- the manual way.

  5. Keep following up to build relationships and credibility.
Before You Begin

Before you get going, there are a few assumptions that we'll make about you:

  1. You're good at what you do, and can deliver results. If you don't have the technical skills to delight your clients, you won't last long in this market.

  2. You're willing to take action to be successful, even if it means going outside your comfort zone. You don't have money for marketing, so you need to invest time. You also need to approach potential clients and referral sources, and give them a reason to talk to you. For those who are new to marketing and sales, this may be uncomfortable.

  3. You're willing to make marketing your top priority. Many IT Professionals think that technology is their top priority. That's not true -- there are lots of brilliant but starving IT Professionals out there. A mediocre IT Professional who's an excellent marketer will make more money than a technical genius who can't or won't market. Ideally, you have both skill sets. But if you have to pick one priority, choose marketing.

  4. You're committed to success. Whether you want to be a freelancer or build a company, you need to be totally committed to doing whatever it will take to succeed. Starting your own business is not for dabblers. When the going gets tough, and it will (especially at the beginning), only your commitment to success will keep you slogging forward.

  5. You have enough reserves to eat and pay rent/mortgage for at least a while. It is hard to sell anything when you're desperate. Prospects sense the desperation and pull away. Also, there is a difference between having little or no money for marketing, and having little or no money to live. If you have no reserves to cover basic expenses for six months or more, consider getting a salaried job instead.

Do you meet these five conditions? If so, read on…

Step 1: Identify a Target Market

The SitePoint article World Domination for Small Web Businesses explains the importance of choosing a target market, preferably by industry. Many start-up enterprises resist this advice. They don't want to focus, for fear of missing out on any opportunity to generate business and bring in money. They also like the comfortable illusion of having an unlimited number of prospects.

Of course, as the article notes, focusing your marketing efforts on a specific industry ends up being less expensive and more productive. You reach your market at a lower cost, because people in the same industry read similar publications and go to similar association meetings. People in the same industry talk, and word about you will spread more quickly. Also, you build credibility more easily than a generalist, because you can speak your prospect's language and because you understand their specific industry issues. Finally, there's an opportunity cost involved in chasing business outside a target market, because you could use that same time to build your name and reputation within your niche.

Having said all that, I understand the constraints and pressures of starting a business. Practically speaking, why would someone with no visible source of income and limited reserves turn down business?

Here's a suggestion for those who are just starting out:

Spend 70% of your time pursuing business in a focused target market (using the criteria in the article mentioned above), and 30% of your time pursuing business based on your existing network and sphere of influence. That way, you build a competitive edge in a focused niche, without suffering the pain of missing out on too many "slam dunk" opportunities from people you know.

Cost of Step 1: $0. You can choose a target market without spending a dime, based on your own experience. One of the key criteria for choosing a target market is that you already have a good story to tell those prospects. Also, it costs nothing to research an industry on the Internet or by calling trade associations and people you know who are in it.

Step 2: Develop a Strong Marketing Message and Hook.

Once you've identified your target market, you need a good story to tell. You can't just tell prospects that you are a new Web developer or designer. They don't care about that, and you'll sound generic.

Instead, you need a solid marketing message. The article Why Small Web Design Firms Should Think Big describes the standard elements of a good marketing message that will attract prospects (see Step Three in that article):

  • a problem statement
  • your solution
  • the business and emotional benefits your solution provides
  • how you get results (e.g. your methodology)
  • why you are unique
  • proof (in the form of testimonials and case studies)

Of the above elements, new business owners often have the hardest time explaining why they are unique and then offering proof.

The way to explain why you are unique is by completing the following statement: "Unlike other Web companies, we…"

Examples include:

  • We offer a money-back satisfaction guarantee that no one else can match.
  • We won't charge for quality assurance for two months after we finish the project, so that you can improve your Web presence with live customer data.
  • We will host your Web presence at cost, and can guarantee 99.9% uptime.
  • We have a 5-part methodology that ensures a faster, more reliable application.
  • We have a unique technology that we developed to rapidly implement ecommerce solutions.
  • We have worked with the largest firm in your industry.

The way to get proof, in the form of testimonials, is to go to classmates, former employers, former colleagues, and former professors, and ask them to write a couple of sentences attesting to your knowledge, skills, results, and credibility. At the same time, you should have a number of examples of your work ready to go (or create them on spec).

You will use your marketing message to tell people about what you do. To do that, you need an opening line, or hook, that gets them interested. This hook should tell the listener about the problem you solve and the benefits you provide. That way, you set yourself apart from the usual IT professional who gives the generic answer, "I'm a Web designer."

For instance:

  • "I help lawyers who struggle to attract clients build a Web presence that makes them look more professional than the competition, and gets clients to call."
  • "I develop ecommerce solutions for retailers who want to double sales online and attract new customers."
  • "I help insurance agents stand out from the crowd."

With a strong hook, people will be interested in learning more. Then you can tell them more about your solution, the additional benefits you provide, and why you are unique. You can also tell them about relevant projects you may have done.

Cost of Step 2: $0.

Step 3: Create One Piece of Marketing Collateral that will Attract Prospects and Set You Apart.

A solid marketing message and hook will take you far, but may not be enough. It is also a great idea to develop one piece of marketing collateral to set yourself apart from your many competitors. This collateral goes beyond your Web presence and online portfolio (which I take for granted as required).

Prospects don't want a pitch. They want value. So your marketing piece should educate them, give them important information, and leave them wanting more. Here are some examples that have worked for other IT professionals starting out:

  • A focused, 3-page executive brief about the elements of an effective Web presence. These days, a general piece about Web sites will come across as generic. It's important that you focus your content on a specific target market. "Five Things Every Business Website Needs to Have" is not nearly as effective as, "What Every Lawyer Needs to Have On Their Website – That Most of Your Competitors Don't Even Know About."
  • A benchmarking study of Web presences in your target market. Identify a set of criteria that make a Web presence effective. Then compare a sample of Websites along those criteria, and make recommendations for improvement. Show that you are a visionary who understands how the industry needs to evolve.
  • A report of best practices from other industries that you can apply to your target market. I recently sold a $20,000 engagement by showing a client how I could apply lessons learned from the online publishing industry to their IT services business. I did that by identifying the elements and navigation scheme that represented best practices in one field, and showed how the prospect could apply it to their field.
  • Create a report of Websites you have designed, and explain the "secret sauce" about the elements you created, why they work, and how they apply to your target market. That way, you show your portfolio in terms that non-technical prospects will understand and value.

Cost of Step 3: $25 in printing costs, and a decent amount of time.

Step 4: Get Visible in Your Target Market – the Manual Way.

You have no money, and yet have to get visible in your target market, fast. That means you have to roll up your sleeves and take massive action.

The primary way to do this is by working your network. Write down the name of every person you know, and contact him or her. If you jog your memory the right way, you should be able to identify 100-250 people you know. If you doubt this, go through your local phone book and identify everyone you know in each of the categories they list. Then think of your friends, classmates, neighbors, family, members of your religious organization, fellow volunteers, people who like dogs, and so on.

Contact each of these people and explain that you are starting a business. Tell them your hook. Suggest ways you can help them succeed or grow their business, and make sure you understand what kinds of referrals they seek.

At the same time, ask them who they know that might benefit from your services. Help them jog their memory by asking specific questions (e.g. "Who else do you play tennis with that might be interested?"). Ask for advice about your marketing piece.

Your goal is to get at least two leads for each person you know, so that you always have an action step. Never let the chain end. Keep building your sphere of influence.

As you meet with leads, don't make a hard sell. Tell them who told you to contact them, tell them why the person thought it might make sense to talk, show them your marketing piece, and ask about their Web presence. If it seems like they have a need, ask them if they would like to talk more.

Thank the people who give you referrals, and keep them informed.

Meanwhile, there are other ways to get visible in your market:

  • Speak about Web development and how it can help businesses. There are plenty of trade associations looking for good, informative speakers.
  • Participate in community service. Join the board of a non-profit organization. Become active at your Chamber of Commerce (as an Ambassador or committee member). Take a leadership role in planning a fundraiser or visible community event. Volunteer your skills. All these activities will get you in front of influential people, improve your reputation, and get you more work. For instance, I can trace $100,000 of revenues from people I met while volunteering my consulting services to non-profit organizations.
  • Write articles. Many trade publications accept articles from outsiders -- but only if they don't make a blatant sales pitch. Develop an article that shows how your target market can solve a problem that is in your domain of expertise.
  • Contact business leaders and ask for advice. Successful people like giving advice (mostly), especially to people just starting out. I've had excellent luck contacting local business leaders, politicians, and other prominent people in my community and asking for advice. Tell them you are starting a business and wanted to learn more about how they got started. You might end up with a mentor who helps you more than you can imagine right now.
  • Offer to conduct a free research study for a local trade association. Trade associations want to keep their members happy. One way you can help them do that is by offering to complete a benchmarking study of members' Web presences. When I have used this tactic in the past, the association has made appointments for me, invited me to present my findings in front of members, published an abstract of my findings in their newsletter, and even asked me to present my findings to their board.
  • Develop an enewsletter about online marketing and send it to people you meet – with their permission. That way, you stay in touch and they continue to remember you.

There are other creative techniques you can use to get visible in low- or no-cost ways. The key is to take action and be visible.

Cost of Step 4: From $0 to the cost of a few lunches.

Step 5: Keep Following up to Build Relationships and Credibility.

Once you begin the process, don't stop. Starting and growing a business initially feels like pushing a rock up a hill. It takes ten units of energy to get one unit of result. At times you will want to give up (don't!). Other times, you will imagine that there is some sort of magic formula that you are missing (there isn't and you aren't!).

Over time, if you keep following up and building relationships, people will begin to remember you. They will know that you are not another one of those contractors who is in between jobs, but a serious businessperson. They will benefit from your articles, research, advice, referrals, and speeches.

But you have to follow up. Research shows that it takes 4 or 5 positive interactions before a prospect is willing to consider you for a project and hire you. So stay in touch with the people you meet. Find out their interests and professional aspirations, and support those, for instance by sending them articles or inviting them to seminars of interest. Keep up your newsletter. Stick with your community service efforts. Send referrals to people in your network.

If you keep following up, you will jump ahead of your competitors, most of whom tend to meet with a prospect once and then give up on them forever.

Cost of Step 5: From $0 to the cost of a few lunches.

Conclusion: Money is No Object

The above plan takes hard work and hustle. Essentially, you're using your time and creativity in place of money. There's no way around this if you don't have a budget and want to grow your business.

At the same time, many firms with huge marketing budgets might be better served using this same strategy. The professionals in these firms have a tendency to hide behind expensive mail and telephone campaigns, or expensive salespeople. They wait for the phones to ring, instead of actively chasing business.

If you start your business with the plan described above, you will become more connected, more disciplined, and more successful than the employees at any of those larger firms. Good luck!

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10 Tips for Creating Professional Brochure Designs

The key to making a professional brochure is to stick to the basics. These ten tips will provide the crucial elements for creating a professional brochure design:

1. What’s out there. Collect and study brochures from around the community. What makes one design more appealing than another? You can develop your sense of good design by carefully studying other designs.

2. Voice / Audience. Who are you trying to reach with your information, and how do you want to come across to them? Choose a font that will express the voice you desire (professional, humorous, casual…) and still keep your message clear. Avoid using more than two or three font styles, so as not to distract the reader from your message. Vary the font size of individual parts of the design according to their importance. Avoid excessive underlining, which can cause clutter and make text harder to read.

3. Less is more. What is the purpose of your brochure? Use the 'Brochure Checklist' to decide what information is necessary, and arrange the components of your brochure in order of importance. The clearer you are about the order of importance within your information, the better your brochure will be. Make sketches and move the various elements around. Try repositioning one or more elements to see how your design is affected.

4. Bars and boxes. Use bars and boxes sparingly. Boxes, borders and bars work well for directing one’s attention and separating busy areas--but too many can make your brochure design look cluttered or confusing. Explore other options for grouping and separating.

5. Negative space. Use 'empty' space to create a relationship between the contents and the page. Bring the specific information into focus on the page by adjusting the space around it. The amount of negative space in a design affects its overall tone of lightness or heaviness. As a person shouting in a noisy room stands out when the room suddenly becomes quiet, so does a word stand out on a busy page where the busyness suddenly stops.

6. Keep it simple. Keep your message in mind and include only those ingredients necessary to communicate the message. If you choose graphic elements to ornament your brochure, ask yourself whether they help to direct the reader’s attention, or simply create distraction.

7. Bigger, bolder and brighter. Once you have determined the relative importance and sequence of the particular components in your message, you will be ready to consider how to treat each of them. The most important items should obviously receive more of your reader’s attention. They should be larger, bolder, brighter, or in some other way made to stand out from the rest of your message.

8. Color. Color can be applied as ink on paper or as the paper itself. There are hundreds of paper colors available, yet some of the most effective brochures are done in only one or two colors. Black and white brochures can often be more dramatic than color. The cost of printing should be considered before making a color decision.

9. Paper selection. Paper comes in all sizes, colors, and textures. Ask your teacher about paper options. Using recycled paper can add an interesting flair to your brochure design, and it helps reduce the impact we make on our natural resources. However, using recycled paper can increase the cost of your brochure, because it is generally more expensive than regular paper.

10. Proofread! You should proofread your final design several times before having it printed. Once printed, it’s too late to fix an error that you didn't spot. Read lines backwards to check for errors. Step back and look critically at the overall layout.

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Basic USPS Guidelines for Mail Sizes


The USPS has minimum and maximum sizes for the various classes of mail.The following information will enable you to stay within the allowable size ranges for the mail type you desire.

1st Class Letter Standards:
Postcard Standards:
Aspect Ratios

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Marketing Tricks for the Frugal Budget

Small start-up businesses don’t usually have the resources to launch huge advertising blitzes in multiple media formats. In fact, even if you are already in business, chances are you don’t have an extensive cash allocation earmarked for promotion, or you’ve tried many different advertising approaches and vehicles and haven’t hit on a really successful campaign yet. You aren’t alone!

Advertising is extremely expensive. Despite adequate funding, even large national companies often find it difficult to develop successful advertising campaigns. And, with an increasing number of companies advertising through every imaginable communication avenue, it is becoming increasingly hard to attract the attention of consumers.

However, there are non-advertising approaches to promotion. They generally require less money to implement and are often more effective. The only catch is that they require time and creativity to develop.

Coupons
You don’t have to distribute coupons in print advertising or in big direct mail campaigns. You can hand them out on the street corner, at trade shows, or just about anyplace else. You can send a few to your best customers, or you can include “next purchase” coupons in customer orders.

Coupons can be “quick and dirty” to design and print because their selling point is price, not image. To assure your chances of getting an additional sale or establishing an ongoing relationship with your customers, make your coupon offer exceedingly generous.

Contests
People love contests. They even love to see other people win! Just witness the phenomenal success of game shows on television. If you choose to develop a promotional contest, in-fuse it with fun, make it silly, and don’t forget to really talk it up. If your contest is wacky and crazy enough, you should be able to get good media coverage—and remember, this is essentially free advertising!

Gifts
People love to receive something for free, even if they have to pay a premium price for a more expensive item to get the freebie. Don’t ask why! It may not make sense, but it doesn’t have to, as long as you make money. While this technique has been used most successfully in the beauty and cosmetics industry, it can be used in almost any business endeavor. It isn’t unheard of to see deals such as a free computer desktop with the purchase of a higher-priced notebook computer or, even a free subcompact car with the purchase of a full-price luxury sedan!

Frequent buyers
Frequent-buyer programs can be very powerful tools for building loyal clientele for both retail and service businesses. The more common approach is to give customers a card that is marked after each purchase and results in a free or reduced-price product or service offering after a specified number of regular-priced purchases. For example, ten haircuts may net one free haircut. Another approach is to give regular customers a discount on purchases upon presentation of their “Frequent Buyer” discount card.

Some businesses charge a small fee for their frequent-buyer cards. Others tie freebies or discount levels to purchase volume. For example, after spending $100 at a computer store you might receive a free subscription to their newsletter or 5 percent off your next purchase of $25 or more. After spending $250 you might receive a free storage disk or 10 percent off your next purchase of $25 or more.

Frequent buyer programs are also often implemented by independent retailers trying to survive the onslaught of superstores that offer their customers super-low prices.

Exclusive offerings
Offering exclusive purchases or previews of new merchandise to existing customers is a great way to inspire a feeling of excitement and loyalty. To enhance participation, you may wish to offer a discount. If the exclusive offering is in itself extremely attractive, the discount can be small.

Events
Hosting a special event in your business establishment, such as a celebrity appearance or a charity fundraiser, is a terrific way to introduce people to your business or maintain contact with existing customers. It also will create an aura of excitement and goodwill. You may even obtain media coverage!

Cross-promotions
You don’t have to be a movie producer or own an international fast-food chain to cross-promote your product with another business. You might consider offering free tickets to the local theater with each purchase of a particular item or price level. Another great business-to-business cross-promotion might be to offer free tickets to a ball game to any business willing to invest fifteen minutes of time just to listen to your sales pitch.

Trades
Ever notice the ads for car washes on taxi roofs? Car washes don’t pay cash for these advertisements! They get the exposure in exchange for cleaning the taxis periodically. If you are absolutely sold on developing an advertising campaign, remember that smaller media outfits will sometimes accept products in lieu of payment.

Giveaways
You’re probably wondering how you can make money if you give away product! Well, it’s a lot easier and less expensive than advertising. In fact, giveaways have their place in just about any type of business.

Selling business-to-business, you can generate goodwill with the people you choose—your best customers or a select roster of potential clientele—by occasionally giving them a small gift when you call on them. The giveaway should not be so expensive that a feeling of bribery is conveyed, but nice enough that it doesn’t end up trashed the minute you leave.

For consumer service businesses, you may want to offer your product for free trial periods, or offer free estimates if you are in a service-oriented business.

Retail businesses may hand out balloons or other novelty items to build traffic or retain customer interest.

New customer offers
Attracting new customers is one of the most difficult marketing challenges to achieve even with powerful advertising or a dedicated sales force. That’s why different businesses—national greeting card manufacturers to local oil delivery services—offer incentive pricing, freebies, or extra advertising allowances for new customers. Even lawyers customarily offer a free first consultation.

3 Reasons Why Email is Hotter than Ever

BrightWave Marketing's founder provides evidence that email marketing has hit its stride.

By G. Simms Jenkins

Email gets it fair share of abuse, whether doled out by the press or senior management (that is, if they even know if their company is running email programs). However, for those of us in the business, we know better; much better. I can't think back of a time when email marketing was gaining as much momentum as it has in the early months of 2007. I sense and hear it talking to industry colleagues, to clients and at conferences I have attended in the past few months. Optimism abounds like never before.

Those in the email vendor space are rejoicing because of increasing needs and budgets. Client-side email teams are finding out that more relevant messaging means more ROI. The major email analysts from Jupiter and Forrester back the claim that email, when done right, is as strong of a targeted channel as any marketers could hope for.

So let's take a step back from the stacks of data, campaign calendars and deliverability issues and collectively take a deep breath. Email is doing very well as a marketing channel. It is moving away from a niche marketing platform and becoming something that any forward-thinking company and its marketing team now use.

So forgive me as I head to the front of the cheerleading line and pat us all on the back as it can be a healthy exercise for those who are used to being beaten down on the job.

Numbers back email up as a premier marketing channel

• The DMA found that email delivers the highest ROI: $57.25 for every dollar spent on it in 2005, compared against $7.08 for every dollar spent on print catalogs, and $22.52 for every dollar spent on non-email internet marketing. (I use this stat in every speaking engagement and presentation. It is that good and powerful.)
• Forrester Research reports that email has reached almost universal penetration, with 97 percent of consumers and 94 percent of marketers using the channel.
• In fact, Forrester found that people who buy products advertised in emails spend 138 percent more than those who don't buy through email.
• Internet Retailer's recent survey on email marketing found 94.5 percent of retailers surveyed are building bigger opt-in lists and 64.7 percent are conducting more email campaigns than a year ago.

Industry leadership is growing in a significant way

• The Email Experience Council (eec) is an organization of global professionals driving email marketing and communications practices. This is, quite frankly, what the email world has been waiting for, an industry specific group run by email marketers aiming to solve email's problems while championing the channel. The creation and subsequent progress of the group has advanced email from the dark ages to a modern, thriving industry that can now fend for itself.

• Email Measurement Accuracy Coalition (EMAC): The mission of the EMAC is to establish a consistent methodology and framework for the accurate calculation of email delivery, in order to inform the computation of critical email marketing metrics such as open, clickthrough and conversion rates. With most email service providers offering different standards, this is the right group at the right time that should help the way we look at our campaign results in a more cohesive fashion.

• Relevant and insightful research studies: We have moved away from self serving industry reports to meaningful analysis that most email marketers can use for their own betterment regardless of whether they are a client of the vendor or member of the group issuing the study.

Powerful email information is readily available and usually, free.
Great blogs and websites are out there to make your life as an advanced email marketer easier. So use them.

EmailStatCenter.com: This site has garnered much interest and traffic in the first six weeks but the takeaway is interactive marketing professionals now have a one-stop portal for anything related to email metrics. Featuring hundreds of stats in more than 40 categories ranging from frequency to subject lines, the site is a goldmine for those email-related budget presentations or client requests. (Full disclosure: My company, BrightWave Marketing, owns the site and is partners with the aforementioned Email Experience Council for this venture.)

RetailEmail.Blogspot: Anyone in the retail business should deem this a must read. Consider its author, Chad White, a former journalist, your very own retail email industry analyst as he dishes out daily thoughts on various retail email campaigns and trends. Did I mention he is publishing this free of charge?

Tamara's Email Marketing Best Practices Blog: I love this blog because it is written by an actual client side email marketing pro. She offers up regular blog posts with an international perspective and has her finger on the pulse of real email issues and opportunities.

EmailMarketingReports.com: This is one of the most authoritative email websites in existence, written by a PhD with no services or products to sell. The site provides practical email advice, insight on industry developments and aggregated email-related articles.

There are countless other great blogs and industry sources of research and opinions. Do yourself a favor and set aside an hour or six and find some others to bookmark. I have added some of my favorites for great insider email knowledge.

Campaign Monitor Blog
Email Marketing Strategies
The Email Wars
MailChimp Blog
MineThatData
WhiteNoise

G. Simms Jenkins is founder and principal of BrightWave Marketing, an Atlanta-based Email Marketing and Customer Relationship Services firm. Read full bio.

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