Recently, I spoke to the CEO of Your Dollar Matters, Inc., http://www.theformtool.com, Bob Christensen. As a successful, small business owner who deals with other entrepreneurs in accounting, case management and HR on a regular basis, he is getting the word out about his business and increasing sales via public relations efforts. Here are his insights…

Why did you start Your Dollar Matters?

As a significant purchaser of professional services, particularly from lawyers and accountants, I was often disappointed by the agreements and documents that constituted their final product, which were usually just cut-and-paste hatchet jobs in Word, regurgitations of documents created 20 years ago and reused 1000 times since.

By now, You have probably heard that you NEED a blog.  Blogging for business is not only crucial to keep your website fresh, but to show your customers and potential audience who you are, what you do, and what you know BEST. Right now, you may be saying that sounds easier than it really is.  It is actually not that hard once you find your inner groove.

At first, blogging and finding your writing voice can be hard at points, but it is crucial.  Whether you write for your own blog on your site and/or publish guest posts, blogging helps grow your pipeline, it promotes your business, and creates curiosity in YOUR own brand.

The first step is accepting the invitation to the party and actually show up to blog!

As a small business owner, you are probably inundated with news about the latest, social media trends. There is facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and more.

Do you have this feeling that you should get involved with it but just aren’t sure? Well, here are…

3 Ways to Know Whether or Not You Should Get Into Social Media

1.    Are your customers using it?

First and foremost, you have to think about your target market and your goals. You should not get involved with social media just to “jump on the bandwagon.”

You just spent a lot of time, effort and money creating an e-mail campaign. But when you sent it out, a ton of people unsubscribed, you received complaints and no one purchased your new product. It was a failure.

But don’t despair! Use this opportunity to learn from your mistakes, and to create a more successful campaign next time, ask yourself these questions:

•    Did you give your customers what they were expecting?

If your customers signed up for your e-mails to receive valuable information, news and insights from your company, they probably do not want to hear your sales pitch. Take a look at your e-mail campaign again.

Another business myth that often rears his head is to do with business start-up finance. People say it’s hard to get a bank loan to start a business. This myth is reinforced by recent research carried out by the IoD which suggests that 60% of directors have been rejected by banks when seeking finance yet clearly this is not always the case. Many people rejected by bank lenders have no form of guarantee or little equity. Shoddy business plans might well be to blame also.

With the current state of the economic climate, the new coalition Government are keen to encourage the banking sector to lend more freely to SMEs and business start-ups. Pressure is mounting to give financial support to the small businesses in the UK which are the life blood of the economy.

Bank loans for business start-up

Getting a bank loan for a new business start-up might not be a difficult as you imagine. With a well drawn up business plan and the proper company documents, as well as some form of equity, banks will be far more willing to lend to new businesses. More often than not, new limited companies find it far easier to gain finance than any other form of business as lenders are far more willing to invest in this legal structure. Consider carrying out a company formation to start your new business to make the most of this and other advantages of limited companies.

Overly confident new business owners are often under the impression that simply because they have a superior product they will be more successful. Of course, product (or service) superiority is a matter of several factors including consumer opinion. Just because something is technically better in terms of technical specification, does not mean that it will be seen as such by the general public.

Effective marketing

In certain circumstances in the past, a number of companies have suffered from falling sales or smaller profit margins than expected when their “superior” product was outsold by another product in the market. Most recent example being the battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Although some agreed that HD-DVD was superior (and had a name which would more easily appeal to the public), Blu-ray won the battle and tore ahead in the sales charts. The companies behind HD-DVD may well have underestimated the marketing powers of those behind Blu-ray. After all, an excellent product is no good if no one knows about it. Something simple like the inclusion of a Blu-ray player in every Playstation 3 gaming console may well have also been a deciding factor in the battle. As another example, the iPhone 4 has apparently outsold every other phone in the market despite the numerous problems with signal loss. Clearly this is down to both brand loyalty and clever marketing.

Overly confident business owners

There is also danger that a confident business owner will become complacent. If a product or products has done well in the past, it does not necessarily follow that the same will continue in the future. This is clearly evident from recent news where mobile phone giant Nokia felt a large pinch in sales caused by the surge in new smart phones from other companies entering the market.

2012 has just started and we’ve all made New Year’s resolutions, perhaps you’ve been thinking about starting your own business, but for whatever reason that didn’t make it onto the list. There’s no need for it to just be a dream. You could own and run your own limited company and you could get started today. Here are 5 reasons why you should!

Be Your Own Boss

You’re stuck in a dead end job, unappreciated and undervalued. Perhaps you’re just working to make ends meet. Starting your own business, you could do so much more. Being your own boss would give you the freedom to follow your dream, do what you really love and do things your way.

Starting a limited company would protect you from unwanted liability and allow you to take advantage of the tax free benefits offered by the limited company form – cutting down costs and increasing the money you could potentially earn through your business.

My very first blog post was written in 2004 on the now defunct AOL Journals. (I know, right?) Back then I was known as the Mad Secretary, and I wrote a lot of ranty, angsty crap about how much I hated clerical work. Since then I’ve had 3 different Blogger blogs, 1 WordPress.org blog and 1 Typepad blog.

Then about a year ago I bought www.emilysuess.com and started Suess’s Pieces. And you know what, guys? I think this could  be my blog’s forever home.

Anyway, doing this blogging thing for seven years has taught me a lot, and I’m going to share what I’ve learned with all you noobies out there.