BrightCite

By: Curt Conrad
President, BrightCite Inc.

Warning.  Slight rant below…

Is Your Business Web Friendly?

Is your small business prepared for the arrival of the virtual marketplace?  For years I’ve been telling all who would listen how strategic use of the web is a critical small business asset.  I’ve been met with many glazed eyes and blank stares from small business people who just don’t get it. 

Too bad - because the clock is ticking for the small business person who is web-illiterate and who still thinks about and uses a website as only an online brochure. 

It’s going to be a rough road ahead for small businesses not actively seeking to build online assets and who lack a basic understanding of how business works on the web.

On the flip side, proactive small business owners who see the Internet as an opportunity for a business building investment will be rewarded with an exceptional rate of return on time, money and resources. 

Are you actively educating, positioning and preparing yourself and business to profit from the power of the Internet?  Where do you stand?

Quick Audit
Answering yes to the questions below indicates you are positioning yourself to build online assets that will serve you and your business well in the years ahead:

1. You have a dedicated domain name for your website and e-mail (www.yourbusiness.comyourbusiness.com) skills.
2. You have a strategic plan for your website that ends with tangible results.  These results are based on visitors taking specific actions like calling, e-mailing, registering and downloading information from you.
3. You see  analytics information at least weekly, that tracks how many people visited your site, what they clicked on and how they found you.  You use this information to improve the strategic results of your website over time.
4. You understand the basics of Search Engine Optimization and have identified the keywords potential customers are likely to type into a search engine to find you.
5. You understand what a blog is and how it works for business (just as you understand the news media and PR).  You have left a comment on a blog.
6. You have a basic understanding of what RSS is and have used a feed reader before.  You know how it’s used to subscribe to and organize video, audio, blogs and other web content.
7. You have visited MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr and SecondLife to familiarize yourself with social networking, Web 2.0 and network effects that govern an emerging virtual marketplace.
8. You know what a Podcast is and have listened to one.
9. You know what a widget is.
10. You have given thought to how the web is changing the rules of your business and assessed how it complements your business strengths and exploits your weaknesses.  You are actively exploring the online opportunities and threats to your business.

The more questions you answered "no" to, the less prepared you are for the rapidly approaching future.  On the other hand - there has never been a better time to start increasing your online business knowledge and skills. 

By: Curt Conrad
President, BrightCite Inc.

Ideas, Vendors, Opportunities, Hiring…  Small business is filled with decisions large and small.  We make most of those decisions by comparing pro’s and cons, risks and rewards, plus numerous other variables to determine the best. 

It’s really about  competition - survival of the fittest.  Our options compete and what we feel is the best solution wins the decision and survives.

A Powerful Business Tool For Making Decisions
There is a simple, powerful tool that distills logic, weeds out the weak options and narrows a field of contenders to a best choice.  

It allows you to harness the collective intelligence of others on your behalf.  And you are probably familiar with this powerful tool and it’s elegant, simple solution - The Bracket.

Sure you’ve seen them used to measure the results and winners of sporting events and college basketball.  But have you applied their power to your business?

Slate - offers an interesting application of brackets based on what authors Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir call Braketology the title of their book.  According to the Slate essay:

Bracketology—the practice of parsing people, places, and things into discrete one-on-one matchups to determine which of the two is superior or preferable—works because it is simple. It is a system that helps us make clearer and cleaner decisions about what is good, better, best in our world. What could be simpler than breaking down a choice into either/or, black or white, this one or that one?

Apply The Power For Yourself
Let’s say you are looking for a new Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for your business.  You write down numerous tag-line ideas, looking for the ultimate slogan.  You arrange your list in brackets and have potential slogans compete with each other.  Round after round you narrow the group, harnessing the collective brainpower of your company and customers, who choose their favorites.  Ultimately, one tag-line is left standing - the best decision has been made.

See It In Action
Slate has set up Ad Slogans bracket competition to determine the best slogans of all time.  Check it out and you’ll not only get some great marketing inspiration for your company - you might just discover a way to solve that business problem that’s been holding you back.

May the best solution win!