Consuelo Meux, Ph.D.

Email has become the primary means of communication among businesses.  Email is used to communicate both with clients and customers as well as coworkers and associates.  It is therefore, very important to make sure messages are understood and written in a manner which appropriately matches the situation.  Here are 5 steps to make sure your email messages are received as they’re intended.

Step One:  Who is your message to? 

Messages to coworkers or associates are different than messages to bosses or clients.  For example, you probably wouldn’t want to start a message to a customer Howdy Joe!  Rather Dear Joe or even Hello Joe would be significantly more appropriate. 

Starting your message off on the right foot is important as it sets the tone for the rest of the email.

Step Two:  Subject line. 

It may seem like an unnecessary step however including a subject line accomplishes several things.  First of all it gets your email opened.  Email messages without subject lines are often missed, ignored, or assumed to be spam. 

Secondly, it tells your recipient what your email is about which may encourage a timely response.  It also helps your recipient find your message at a later date.  For example, if you’re sending an email to an associate about a specific project then including the project name in the subject line along with the subject of the email. 

Lastly, including a subject line shows you respect your recipient.  It demonstrates your professionalism and attention to detail.

Step Three:  What’s your point? 

What is your message about?  There’s nothing worse than receiving a professional email which amounts to ten minutes of idle chit chat and forces the reader to scan the email for the point of it.  That isn’t to say that a quick, “I hope you’re well” or “How are you?”  isn’t appropriate.  It’s perfectly acceptable however diving into a long story about how your internet was down last week or how your cats aren’t getting along is a waste of time.  What is your point?  What is the email about?

Step Four:  It’s a business email, right? 

In a world of speedy text messaging, people have gotten lazy.  Email messages which use chat acronyms, for example TTBOMK – to the best of my knowledge, presume the reader knows what you’re talking about.  Save the chat acronyms for chatting with friends.

Likewise write the message as if it were a letter, that means complete sentences, proper grammar and please use your spell check.  It’s unprofessional not to.

Step Five.  Signing off. 

Many email programs make your signature quite easy.  You can create a template which appears in every single email communication.  This signature might include a valediction, your name, your email address, your business name and URL, your telephone number, and business hours.  Depending on your line of work you may also include a tag line which describes your business. 

Struggling for a valediction?  Common acceptable closings include:

- Regards,

- Best,

- Warmly,

- Thank you,

- And the old standby – Sincerely.

Emailing is here to stay and communication with customers and associates has a direct effect on the relationship, taking the time to write a professional message will only benefit you and your business.  It’s fine to be warm and friendly however it’s also important to respect your recipient. 

Business Etiquette is not the same as social etiquette.  Even though you learn manners on how to conduct yourself over a meal, business dining etiquette provides much more. 

• Learn how and when to discuss business.
• Get a method to remember names.
• Display the social manners acceptable in any business culture.
• Practice the fine and necessary art of business small talk.

Professional image will also be discussed.  Thursday, August 14, 2008 at the Paso Robles Inn, 1103 Spring Street, Paso Robles, CA.

Registration through the City of Paso Robles, Parks and Recreation http://www.prcity.com/OnlineRegistration or contact Consuelo Meux, Ph.D., 805-227-4964.  

A wiki is a tool that allows multiple users to collaborate with each other through a group website.  Each user can add or modify text as well as upload files by simply using a web browser.  While a wiki has many advantages, there are some disadvantages to this unique tool.

• A wiki is a web based document which means that what you put up into cyberspace can be found by other people.  Wiki’s can be protected by using a password, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t hack into it.  One of the people that has the password may be a little less than trustworthy and give the password out to others.  If you are working on a project that you really don’t want others to see, you may not want to use a wiki.

• Wikis do make it easy for several people to brainstorm and collaborate on projects by adding content to a group website, but if no one is keeping tabs on the content, it can get pretty confusing.  All of your great ideas may turn into one big “idea mess”.  Designating someone to organize the wiki and its content may be a solution to this problem.

• If someone in agroup is not tech-savvy, they may be very timid about using the wiki.  If one or more of the users are avoiding the wiki because they are scared of it, the whole group will lose out on those people’s ideas.

• It is not uncommon for a group member to be lazy about doing their fair share of the work.  When that person has access to everyone else’s work, it may be easy for them to steal ideas and take credit for work they didn’t really do.

• What happens when you lose your Internet connection or are traveling and cannot find a connection?  Since the wiki is web based, if you can’t get to the web, you can’t access the wiki, and therefore, you can’t access the work.

• There are many types of wikis to choose from.  Some of these can be confusing as to how to install it and back it up.

These are just a few examples of what can go wrong with a wiki. It’s important to realize that using a wiki can have many advantages as well.  You should weigh both the positive and negative aspects of a wiki before you decide on using one.  You may want to experiment with one, perhaps on a personal level first, before you implement the use of one for your business.

Social bookmarking is a system of sharing Internet bookmarks with other Internet users.  There are many websites that allow you to share your favorite web pages and network with other users. Here are 10 of the most popular social bookmarketing sites for you to use to increase your web traffic:

technorati.com – This site allows users to share their blogs, photos, videos and more and boasts almost a million and a half visitors each month.

del.icio.us – This site is a very popular and was one of the first social bookmarking sites to really take off.

digg.com – This site receives 8.7 million visitors each month.  Visitors can look up any topic and receive instant information and statistics.

stumbleupon.com – This is a relatively new site and it combines myspace with social bookmarking.  Users can make up 5 of their own pages on any topic they want.

reddit.com -This site allows users to view what’s new, what’s hot at the moment and what the weekly stats are.

fark.com – This site’s main page has categories displayed that allows the user to go directly to topics such as sports, business, politics, music and more.

mybloglog.com – This site combines social bookmarking, blogging and social networking.

blinklist.com – This website is still in beta testing and it’s mission statement is more about how people can use the service for keeping track of their own research.

ma.gnolia.com – This site isn’t quite as big as some of the others but it is very easy to use and has a lot of information to make the process of social bookmarking understandable.  This is a great site to get started with.

tailrank.com – This site keeps track of the conversations between blogs to help find what is hot on the web. The user can search on any topic they like or view randomly through categories such as politics, video, technology and entertainment.

These sites are all varied and, while they share in social bookmarking, they are all geared towards different audiences.  To get the most out of these sites you may want to combine the use of several of them.  For instance, you can list your blogs on technorati.com and ping the site when you update your blogs.
Then join a site such as stumbleupon.com and set up five web pages about various topics found on your own website.  For instance, if your website featured information on guinea pigs, one of your stumbleupon.com sites could feature information on feeding guinea pigs and another page could feature information on the type of environment they should be kept in and so forth.

Meanwhile, keep your bookmarks in del.icio.us to share with other users and visit a site such as tailrank.com to keep track of what other people are blogging about.  This can inspire new blog posts for your own blog, which would then mean you’d have more pings for technorati.com and the cycle would just start over.

All of these elements would work together to create more buzz for your website and introduce you to people with similar interests.  This could lead to more web traffic and even some future joint venture partners, which, in turn would lead to even more traffic (but that is a whole new topic for another article).

You do all you can to grab the attention of your web readers, right?  But are you being effective? The trick to writing anything whether it is a sales page or a how to article is to hook your reader’s attention immediately.  Of course you have to hold on to that attention too but that’s significantly easier once you already have it.  Here are three must do’s if you want to grab your reader’s attention right away:

1.  Headlines are the end all be all of copywriting.  Newspapers know this, advertisers know this and you must too.  What makes a compelling headline?  Several things actually:

* A promise.  A good headline can make a promise - Lose 30 pounds in 30 days-guaranteed.

* Make it newsworthy.  New diet guarantees fast, healthy weight loss.

* Ask a question.  Is the food you eat making you sick?

* Offer a benefit full of emotion.  You’re going to absolutely love your new body-guaranteed.

* Appeal to their self interest.  Know the secret to losing weight permanently?

* Offer value.  3 easy steps to losing weight naturally.

* Headlines must use strong verbs and powerful words.  Compare these two headlines:
- Lose weight with our enzyme based diet
- Weight literally falls off with enzyme based diet.

2.  Make sure your most compelling copy is above the fold.  First, let’s clarify what the ‘fold’ is.  When you look at a website, the fold is the point at which you need to start scrolling down.  This means that anything above the fold is what you see immediately on your screen.   If your good stuff is below the fold, most people won’t stick around to read it.  You must make sure that your most compelling copy, your headline and your first paragraph, are immediately viewable.

Of course everyone has a different screen size so you want to work for the least common denominator - the smaller screen sizes.

3.  Make sure your copy is scannable.  There’s an old joke about what people read on the web.  The joke is - they don’t.  What people do is scan. They spend about 20 seconds evaluating your web page, if it isn’t easy to read they’re gone.  If you want to grab your reader’s attention immediately - make your copy easy to read.  Use bold lettering for words that you want to stand out.  Space the copy well so that it is easy to read.  Use bullets and numbers to list benefits or steps.

While you can find multiple expert copywriting trick, these three give you a great start.  Remember, make your headline strong and compelling, keep your strongest copy above the fold and make sure your copy is easy to scan.  You’ll have visitors that are more than happy to spend time reading your web content.

A business card can be your first introduction of your business to someone else. Spending loads of money on that first card is not an expense you have to have. You can start with a service that provides free business cards and later, upgrade to a better busines card.

Take advantage of a good free source of business cards when you can. To do so, it’s great to know how.   Here’s how to take advantage of free business cards.

Step One:  Visit the VistaPrint website.

Step Two:  Right on the homepage you’ll see a free products area.  Click on free business cards.

Step Three:  Using the form, enter the copy that you want to see on your card.

Step Four:  Verify that the copy is correct by viewing the sample business card on the screen.  The copy should update as you enter it into the form.

Step Five:  Select your design.  This could take some time, there are many to choose from.  Look for a design that fits your business products or services.  If there isn’t a good match, then you can choose a plain business card that fits your personality best.

Step Six:  Make sure the card looks exactly like you want it too.  If you don’t want your address listed on the card then you don’t have to enter that information.  You can leave it blank or enter information that you do want on your card.  For example, some business owners have multiple websites.  You can list those instead of listing your business address.  Once your card has been carefully proofed, enter your initials in the box provided.  This signifies that you approve of the card’s appearance.

Step Seven:  You’ll need to register next.  It’s a typical registration form.  Once that’s filled out you submit the form and you’re taken to an order page.  Order your free 250 cards and click next.

Step Eight:  Choose your shipping option.  If you don’t need the business cards tomorrow, go ahead and choose the slow option.  This is the most economical option and it doesn’t really take that long.

Step Nine:  Choose your finish.  Matte finish is free and it looks good.  If you want to upgrade to a glossy finish or premium paper it will cost extra.

Step Ten:  Your next step is to choose what goes on the back of your cards.  Left blank and they’re free.  Of course the free option includes the vista print logo on the back.  To have the back completely blank it will cost a few dollars.  You can also add a message, calendar, or graphic and message to the back for an extra expense.

Step Eleven:  You’ll scroll through a couple of option pages where you can add other business supplies to your cart like note pads, stamps, return address labels etc.  Once you get through these you’ll arrive at your checkout page.

Step Twelve:  Enter your payment information and you’re done.  Choosing all of the free options, your customized business cards will come exactly as you have indicated.  Your only cost will be the shipping expense.

As a last word of advice, make sure you proof read your business card carefully.  If you don’t, you could end up with a business card that you can’t use.  Careful proofreading will result in a beautiful customized business card for free!

Of course, you don’t have to use this vendor. You can always do an Internet search for “free business cards” to research other resources. No matter what you do, just get something done and start handing out those cards.

If you are just starting your small busines, you know that it can often be an expensive undertaking.  You might get tempted to head to the bank for a business loan right off the bat.  However, before you get going on that loan request, consider some of these advantages and disadvantages of a small business loan.

Advantages:

Cash in hand: When money is tight, small business loans can give you the cash you need to get your business off the ground or to expand it.  For example, you will need funding for some basic start up equipment, marketing, office supplies, website etc. This can add up and having the cash to take care of all of your start up needs at once can be handy.

Allows a Timely Start: New small busienss owners often considering starting part time while still working at a full time job.  A business loan could help make the transition to full time independence quicker.

Stress Saver: Having adequate start up funds from a small business loand can be a way to get your energies on making profits and getting your business off the ground the right way, rather than having to focus on how you’re going to afford that new brochure and advertising campaign.

Terms.  The terms of a small business loan can be long enough that you have the confidence you will be profitable and able to repay the loan on a monthly basis.

Disadvantages:

Interest rates: A loan is a loan and you will pay back more than you borrowed by paying the interest for the loan.  You’re trading money now for money in your pocket later.  Additionally, if you get a loan with a variable interest rate, you could be paying back significantly more than you bargained for.

Credit score: Keeping a strong credit score is imperative as a business person. When you borrow money, there is always a chance that you will not be able to pay it back.  This can lead to tremendous stress and a deterioration of your business, not to mention it will affect your credit score.

Before you make the decision to apply for a small business loan, consider your options:

• Can you borrow money from family or friends to get started?
• Can you start your business part time?
• Can you finance part of it on a credit card?
• Can you cut costs in the beginning and pare down your expenses?
• Can you take some start up equipment donations?
• Can you joint venture with someone to cut costs?  For example, trading advertising or services.

Starting a business means understanding business financing and the advantages and disadvantages of business loans.  Following your dreams and starting your own business can be worth the beginning stress and hard work. Examine your small business loan options realistically and make the best decision for you and your business.