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Adobe has updated its Web-based forms and survey builder, FormsCentral. The update makes it even easier for users to create, distribute and collect and analyze data using fillable Portable Document Format (PDF) forms, whether online or offline. The PDF recipient can choose from a Web form or a fillable PDF document. Also, form authors now have more options for collecting information online or offline. Users can post results directly to FormsCentral or distribute a fillable PDF form to respondents and have the data returned via a basic PDF. If you want to make the form available for collaboration, respondents can post to a Response table where you can see the results in real time.
For more information and charts about Small Business Mobile:
and See Key Highlights from the Web.com Small Business Mobile Survey
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Small Business Articles
How to Cross-Train Your Employees
May 10th, 2012 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichBy Maria Valdez Haubrich
You may have heard of cross-training in regard to fitness, but do you know what cross-training can do for your business? When it comes to employees, cross-training simply means training your team to do more than one job. Cross-training has many benefits, both for you and your employees. Here are a few:
- Employees gain new skills and feel a sense of accomplishment
- Employees get better at their jobs when they have to train others to do them
- You have better coverage when employees are absent or ill
- Your workforce becomes nimbler and more flexible
- Your company can provide better service to clients and customers
All of these sound like pretty good things, right? So how do you effectively cross-train employees and where do you start?
Begin by choosing the proper time to implement cross-training. This isn’t something you’ll want to throw at your team during their busy season or most frantic time of the day. Choose an opportunity when there is some downtime so the team can focus on cross-training without worrying about their regular duties. Depending on your business, this might mean cross-training for an hour a day, or doing an intensive cross-training week during the slow season.
Decide who learns what. Employees in the same departments are naturals to learn each others’ jobs. Or you may want employees in different departments, but with related duties, to learn each others’ jobs.
Explain the concept and its value. Some employees may be less than enthusiastic about cross-training because they’ll feel like you’re giving them more work without commensurate pay. Others will feel like it’s an excuse to slack off because someone else will be able to handle their jobs. Explain that this is an opportunity to learn new skills and become more valuable to the company. You want employees to be excited about the concept, so explain how it will benefit them.
Put systems in place and oversee the process. Not all employees are naturals at training, so give everyone a basic system to follow, such as showing them how to create a written “cheat sheet” for key tasks. You’ll also want to observe the training and step in where necessary. Make sure employees get plenty of time to practice their new roles, and give lots of feedback.
Make it ongoing. Hold regular refreshers so employees keep their skills up to date. Also do new cross-trainings when procedures change. Emphasize that learning is continuous and you’ll get more from your staff.
Image by Flickr user aflcio (Creative Commons)
BodeTree, Financial Web-Based Application: Small Business Resource
May 9th, 2012 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichHate doing your company’s finances? Promising to awaken your “inner CFO,” BodeTree provides business owners with a real-time dashboard of all their financials with access to detailed reporting and analysis. Designed to create a Zen-like atmosphere for financial recording, the dashboard is simple to read, which takes the stress out of the work. BodeTree works with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Accountant and Enterprise desktop 2009 and later. For $250 a year or $24.99 per month, the information you gather can help you size up your business against the competition, value your business and more.
How to Keep Your Ecommerce Customers From Abandoning Their Shopping Carts
May 9th, 2012 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
Do you despair over the high percentage of ecommerce shopping carts that go abandoned on your site? You might be worrying unnecessarily. Website conversion company SeeWhy reported that the shopping cart abandonment rate rose in 2011 (as it has for the past three years) and predicts this trend will continue in 2012. Why? SeeWhy says consumers are simply becoming more sophisticated about shopping online, meaning they’re more likely to fill carts, seek deals and leave their carts for prolonged periods either as “wish lists” or because they can’t find acceptable discounts for the items.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about abandoned carts. In fact, smart marketers look at them as an opportunity to convert to a sale. Here are some of the strategies you can try:
Remind them. You can send reminders via email to alert customers about an empty cart. Provide links consumers can use to follow up with you if the cart was abandoned due to a technical difficulty with your site, or because they had questions about a product. Season the pot with a discounted offer, if you like. Time is of the essence; aim to send the reminder within 4 hours of cart abandonment.
Advertise. If you use online advertising such as Google AdWords, you can “remarket” by using a conversion code so that remarketing ads (featuring the products customers were looking at) show up on the AdWords network. This keeps the products top-of-mind so consumers don’t forget their carts.
Don’t empty carts too soon. It’s a good idea to keep abandoned carts active for at least 60 days. With customers spending more time shopping online these days, you may need to be patient to grab the sale.
Consider the big picture. If you have a high percentage of abandoned carts that never get checked out, assess whether your checkout process is too complex, confusing or time-consuming. Make sure customers can easily get answers to questions about tax, shipping costs and delivery times without going through several steps of the checkout process. Make FAQs, customer service phone numbers and instant chat options easy to find.
Abandoned shopping carts don’t necessarily represent a lost sale. Treated correctly, they can represent opportunity for your business—as long as you know how to handle them.
Image by Flickr user Adele Prince (Creative Commons)
Bill Losey Retirement Solutions: Retirement Solutions Advisory: Small Business Resource
May 8th, 2012 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichBill Losey Retirement Solutions
It’s never a bad idea to hear financial advice from more than one source so you can know all your options. And if you’re looking for advice to help you plan for your financial future after retirement, you might want to check out the Bill Losey Retirement Solutions website. Bill Losey is the author of several financial books, and his website contains articles and a blog full of useful information, such as 15 Prudent Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund. Sign up for his free weekly newsletter to get advice delivered directly to your inbox.
Small Businesses Seeking Fast Cash Turn Away From Traditional Lending
May 8th, 2012 :: Karen AxeltonBy Karen Axelton
Small business owners in a hurry for funding are increasingly reluctant to apply to banks for financing for their small businesses, the Merchant Cash and Capital Small Business Finance Survey found. According to the study, many small businesses are not bothering to apply for financing from traditional lenders because they didn’t think they’d be able to qualify. Others were reluctant to apply again after having been turned down for financing in the past.
The study polled entrepreneurs who had applied for a merchant cash advance from Merchant Cash and Capital, a merchant cash advance provider, and found that 42 percent of respondents who had applied for their first merchant cash advance did so because they didn’t think they could qualify for a traditional bank loan.
More than half (57 percent) of those surveyed said they had applied for a small business loan in the past. However, a whopping 76 percent described the process of getting a small business loan from a traditional lender as either “difficult” or “extremely difficult.” And of the 57 percent who had previously applied for a small business loan, 80 percent said they were either declined or had withdrawn their application.
Merchant cash advance companies such as Merchant Cash and Capital provide unsecured financing for businesses including restaurants, retail, service, legal, medical, franchises or ecommerce businesses. The money can be used to cover needs such as inventory, cash flow, expansion, overdue payments and more.
The survey found that small business owners typically use merchant cash advances for short-term needs, including purchasing inventory, payroll, paying taxes or bills, and marketing. Financing expansion was another popular use for the funds.
Clearly, when small business owners are seeking sources of capital quickly, they aren’t looking to traditional lenders as often as they used to. “It’s no surprise that small businesses are suffering from an extreme lack of available financing from traditional lenders and their tight qualifications,” said MCC President and CEO Stephen Sheinbaum in announcing the survey results, “but the depth to which the problem has gone should be of great concern.”
Image by Flickr user myphotosshare blogspot (Creative Commons)
HealthCare.gov: Health Insurance Finder Tool: Small Business Resource
May 7th, 2012 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichHealthCare.gov’s Health Insurance Finder
Created in response to the health insurance reform law, the Affordable Care Act, the HealthCare.gov Health Insurance Finder tool will make it easier for businesses, individuals and families to find affordable health care options. The site is super user-friendly and gives the user a wide variety of options to compare. Watch the Small Business Health Finder video for visual help on how to find the right insurance for your business. Enter in how many employees you have, your ZIP code, what you want the copay to be and some other specifics, and the site narrows your choices for public or private insurance options.
How and Why to Use Mobile Marketing to Reach Your BtoB Customers
May 7th, 2012 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
We’re hearing a lot about mobile marketing these days, with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets. But while most of the talk is about consumers and their changing shopping habits, it’s equally important for BtoB marketers to realize their customers’ behavior is changing, too.
For years, business decision-makers have relied on smartphones to get stuff done on the go. The advent of tablets, and their increasing adoption with the introduction of the latest iPad over the holiday season, has only accelerated the trend. Enterprises are adding tablets for their teams or, if they aren’t, a growing number of employees and executives are just showing up with their tablets and expecting to use them for work purposes (BYOD, or “bring your own device”).
Busy execs, in particular, are taking to tablets and using them for all types of purposes, from catching up on their industry reading to giving presentations to watching videos to taking notes during meetings. How can you take advantage of the fact that decision-makers are spending more time on their tablets?
Make sure your website is optimized for mobile viewing. You’d be surprised how few entrepreneurs do this. According to Web.com‘s recent Small Business Mobile Survey, only 26 percent of small business owners have a mobile-friendly website ( the same layout/content as standard site adjusted to suit a smartphone screen), and just 14 percent have a stand-alone mobile site. Of those who do have a stand-alone mobile site, however, a whopping 84 percent saw an increase in sales as a result. Consider both tablets and smartphones, and be sure to include all platforms. Although the iPad is by far the dominant tablet, when it comes to smartphones, the market is less clear-cut and, especially in big business, many execs still rely on BlackBerry smartphones.
Consider adding a mobile app. BtoB apps need to be useful and solve a problem your customers have by making a process more fun, easier or faster. Think about how typical activities your customers engage in could translate into apps, or how apps can make it simpler to communicate with your business.
Look into mobile advertising. With more execs reading and researching on the go, you may want to move part of your ad budget into mobile. True, you might not be able to afford an ad in the mobile version of The Wall Street Journal, but think about running ads in the mobile versions of your industry’s key trade publications or in their mobile apps.
Get visual. The popularity of video online is skyrocketing, and today’s tablets with their crystal-clear displays are ideal for video viewing. Think about creating short videos demonstrating your product or service, providing customer testimonials or talking about a key issue in your industry.
Whatever tactic you choose, keep in mind that when it comes to BtoB marketing, it’s all about relationships. How can mobile marketing improve your relationship with customers and prospects? How can you provide answers to their questions or solutions to their problems? Make yourself a mobile resource, and your relationship can continue wherever the customer is.
Image by Flickr user Siddartha Thota (Creative Commons)
RunRev: App Creator for Non-Techies: Small Business Resource
May 4th, 2012 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichIf you’ve ever wished there was an app for your specific business need, your wait is over. RunRev has created an easy way for the no-way-am-I-a-developer people to quickly make their own mobile app. The Small Business App Academy teaches small business owners to create a mobile app in 30 days, or whatever you need, with no stress and no degree in computer science needed. The Academy just kicked off May 1, 2012, and the courses are free. Simply sign up and get instructional videos delivered directly to your inbox daily on such topics as database and cloud access, working with rich media, deployment devices and creating user interfaces.
Move Over, Social Media: Consumers Prefer to Get Marketing Messages by Email
May 4th, 2012 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
When it comes to small business marketing, social media seems to get all the attention these days, but that old workhorse email marketing may actually be better at getting the job done. So says a new survey from ExactTarget reported in Small Business Trends.
The survey of consumers found that a whopping 77 percent prefer to get permission-based marketing messages via email. The next most preferred method, direct mail, didn’t even come close, with a mere 9 percent of the overall respondents ranking it their top method for receiving marketing messages. And text messaging and social media barely made the running, preferred by just 5 percent and 6 percent of users, respectively.
Now, you might think that this percentage is skewed toward older users—but you’d be wrong. Even among the 15-17 age group, 66 percent preferred email marketing messages, while just 10 percent preferred text messages and 8 percent Facebook.
While you may have heard that use of email is dropping, ExactTarget found that the decline in email use refers to personal communications. But consumers’ preference for getting permission-based marketing through email has actually increased 5 percent since 2008.
What’s happening? It seems that while fewer people are using email to communicate with friends and family (texting and social media are becoming more popular for this purpose), email is becoming the primary way that consumers like to manage their interactions with businesses. “Email is the top channel in terms of acceptability across all types of marketing message we asked about….from travel alerts and purchase receipts to promotional messages and polls,” ExactTarget reports. (The one exception was spam emails.)
No matter what age range you’re targeting—from 15 up to 65-plus—email is still the way to go. But generic email blasts are not, ExactTarget reports. For companies finding their email efforts are getting less response than they used to, consider:
- Is it timely?
- Is it targeted?
- Is it relevant to the user?
- Does it have a compelling subject line, headline and benefit?
Today’s subscribers are more sophisticated when it comes to email. Keep these four factors in mind, and your open rates will increase.
Image by Flickr user Sean MacEntee (Creative Commons)
