7 Tips To Help Connect You To Other Small Businesses Via Twitter

We are all aware that Twitter makes a great tool for driving online traffic to your website, Facebook page, etc. But not many of us actually know how to leverage on what Twitter was created to do in the 1st place, i.e. to build connections, and in the case of small businesses like ourselves, connect us to other small business owners. 

If you were wondering, there are probably gonna be dozens of ways to do this, but for the purpose of this post, I'm just going to offer you 7, which I think will start you off in the right direction to building meaningful online relationships.

• When you meet a business acquaintance for the first time, you try to break the ice by sharing something personal about yourself, e.g. a hobby or how many kids you have, etc. You do not try to hard sell your business at the 1st instance, right? Do the same on Twitter. Instead of just spamming your followers with product information, consider adding a personal touch to your tweets by sharing something interesting about the organization, like the new coffee maker you just bought. This allows you to connect with others on a more personal level. In the digital world, we often fail to realize that your recipients are often (not all the time though) just another person.
• Help others to solve their problems, even if it does not get your cash register ringing immediately. People like to tweet about personal stuff, and more often than not, these have very little commercial value to your business. However, when you offer advise to someone, you portray yourself as being real, and not just a spambot behind a keyboard. Others (which may include potential clients) may see the more personable and trustworthy side of you, which could lead to strong personal and business relationships being forged.
• Share your thoughts on your industry, business and other topics of interest. This is the surest way of helping portray you as the expert in your field. And people will only want to collaborate with the best of the best. And when you tweet content that is of value, there is a strong likelihood that your reputation (or the number of Twitter followers, at least) will grow exponentially through viral word-of-mouth.
• You could also consider Tweeting pictures of yourself (appropriate pictures, if I may add), your staff, your organization, and  your business events. As the saying goes, 'a picture speaks a thousand words' - and more so when people only recognize you as a @abcde on Twitter. Doing so will at least help put a face to your tweets, and would give other small business owners visual insights into what your business does, and what opportunities there are.
• Do not refrain from sharing other people's tweets, links, or articles. As business owners, I suppose we do not see the need as to why we should be helping another entity publicize their content. I am a strong advocate of a reciprocal working relationship. By helping someone, you are in fact, taking the 1st step to building a mutually beneficial partnership that starts on Twitter, but could lead to something a lot bigger.
• Participate in industry events, seminars, and conference. This will give you the opportunity to take the 1st step in sharing content with those who may not have had the luxury to attend. Again, you may ask the question of "why would I want to do that?" My answer remains... besides being able to position yourself as the expert in your field, sharing breeds reciprocal partnerships, especially so in the small business context.
• In order to diversify the viewpoints that others can view your company through, encourage your fellow co-workers to tweet under the company’s name. But do take note though, that regardless of the number of employees who are tweeting, your business should tweet as one voice. It's extremely important to appoint the appropriate staff as official tweeters. And just to side track a little, do ensure that they say the right things using the right accounts. Do not get caught off guard like 1 major media company we know of.

Hope to see you all on Twitter soon @smallbizideasSG. 

Happy tweeting!

5 Strategies to Grow Your Small Business In The Next 12 Months

If you are focused on leading your small business into the next phase of growth, below are some strategies worth considering.

1. Explore new markets or product offerings

By this time, you would have already (I'm hoping) identified your target audience and have built a following within a designated market. So what's next? There are 2 primary approaches you could take:

1. Exploring an alternative market based on your current offerings, e.g. if you are currently selling clothes to pregnant mums, would you also be able to sell to husbands who may wish to buy gifts for their wives?

2. Exploring new product offerings based on your existing clientele, e.g. using the same above example, would you also be able to sell other pregnancy related products to pregnant mums.

However, do ensure that your current resources are maximized, not stretched. If these decisions made are going to take a toll on your production or financial resources, I would say PLAN CAREFULLY. You would want to avoid a crazy expansion phase which your business is not prepared for.

2. Sell your knowledge

For you to be entrepreneur, you must have already earned a wealth of experience, information, or contacts in your area of business. Have you also considered selling some of this knowledge online through e-books or CDs? There are many freelance writers and online publishers who will be able to get this going for you in no time.

Alternatively, how about doing some public speaking or to provide consultation related to your expertise? Even if the direct financial rewards for the above are minimal, you will be able to build credibility for your business, and to portray yourself as the expert in the field.

On a side note, I welcome all experts who would like to contribute articles to this blog.

3. Seeking out joint venture marketing opportunities

I have written about this in my previous post, but reinforcing it here again stresses how important I think the above is to sustaining a viable business. Be on the lookout for strategic alliances that can help you market your products, or provide you with competencies that your business currently does not have.

These partnerships could either be between complementary businesses, suppliers, or even with competitors. As mentioned previously, your business does not have 1 single competitor that you should be wary of. The more you can leverage on each other's advantages, the faster you will be able to build on your market share.

More about building strategic alliances on this post.

4. Networking for Opportunities

If you are a small business owner, and networking is not yet your thing, perhaps this is the time to seriously start thinking about it. Many opportunities are built around relationships, and relationships cannot be built if you do not take the initiative to find it.

There are numerous small business communities, both online and offline. Besides providing your business with strong leads (and this is true by the way), these networking sessions are rich in resources and opportunities. Here are a couple to start you off:

Offline Small Business Communities:

~ SGEntrepreneurs

~ BNI Singapore

Online Small Business Communities:

~ Singapore Startup Forum

~ Pushcart Forum SG

5. Getting Your Organization Ready For Growth

Many small business try to pursue growth without even considering if they have the capacity to take on more jobs. The general thinking is that 'hey, we'll worry about it when the time comes'. The fact of the matter is that when the time comes, it could possibly have been too late. What you will eventually get is a whole messed up system, unhappy employees, and a bunch of disgruntled clients.What you should try to do is to be transparent about your plans to your organization. If possible, do not just confine the information to your 'management team' (as a small business, I'm guessing that your management team will include your family members or a couple of friends). Let your employees have vested interest in your plans and show them how to achieve it. Motivate them and not just make them feel that more work is coming their way.

Good luck to your business growth!

1+1=3 - Building Partnerships That Add Value To Your Business

Probably one of the oldest concepts around, 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'. Interestingly though, small businesses seem hesitant about wanting to adopt this notion. As small business owners, resources and knowledge are only limited to what we ourselves know, and at most, a few members of the staff. And if outsourcing appears seemingly impossible, wouldn't collaboration then be the next most rational alternative?

In a business environment where increasingly, small businesses are being phased out by the bigger players, it's essential that we work together to build a greater share of voice. But before you start tying up that piece of cloth to your forehead in anticipation of echoing war cries, do be reminded that as in all business relations, partnerships also have to be thoroughly planned, and perfectly executed. Only then can you enjoy true cost savings and the sharing of expertise.

For those who are already sold that collaboration is key to remaining competitive, may I continue to offer some suggestions as to how this may work out? There are thousands of permutations as to how your business can work with a partner. I can't list them all, but what I hope to do is to jolt you into remembering that no business is an island.

Vertical partnerships

Relationships of such are usually forged between you and the party who provides you with a service, or vice versa. Take my blog for example. I would like to design an e-flyer but I'm horrible at doing that. Spending a couple of hundreds to hire a professional may not seem prudent at this time since I've just started out. So what I do is to find someone who is willing to work with me on barter. He helps me with the e-flyer, and in return, I offer him an ad space on my blog. Since I'll be speaking to small business owners, exposure on my blog will benefit him as much as it would for me.

Horizontal partnerships

Working with other small businesses in the same industry may sound suicidal, but always remember that unity is strength, even if you are competitors. Your combined bulk purchases could lead to a considerable amount of savings. Alternatively, a few online retailers of women's fashion could also work together to develop a loyalty program. You shouldn't worry about 'the other small players' at this point. Gather strength and launch a campaign to compete against the big boys. When trust has been built over time, there will be so many other interesting projects in which you can further collaborate on.

Diagonal partnerships

Diagonal partnerships happen when you work with businesses that do not compete in the same industry, but target the same group of customers. For example, restaurant owners may offer vouchers to customers who visit a spa, and vice versa. To promote this initiative, the 2 parties can do an email blast to their own respective databases, or put up posters at their outlets. What you have effectively done, is to double your reach versus what you would have achieved by running this promotion alone.

The key to a successful partnership is that both parties must mutually benefit from the collaboration. So, if you are planning to approach a partner, do also think about how your partner could leverage on you.

Please reply to this post if you would like to propose an oppportunity.

My Virgin Entry - The Spark That Lights The Flame

After enduring weeks of emotional turbulence, I've finally managed to settle down a little to write my first entry on this blog. Now that I've successfully managed to get you to read this post, I'm gonna have to at least try to make it worth your while yes?

This blog is definitely not a tutorial on 'how to get rich quick on the internet'. (in fact, I don't even know how to get rich). But what I really hope to do is to share with everyone my ideas and experiences on how to give your small business a little boost on the cheap.

At this point, you would either start to think that 'this guy's a marketing guru' or 'he's just an empty brag'. Happy or sad to say, I'm neither. I'm just a dreamer - a dreamer who believes that my learnings can help the small business community in Singapore. In time to come, I envision that this blog will evolve to become a 'space' for all entrepreneurs to rally so as to compete more effectively in a harsh business environment.

Apart from my personal thoughts and views, this blog will also feature a good collection of ideas, information, and insights taken from a variety of other sources. As such, I would strongly encourage contributions from readers in order to make this community beneficial to all.

I hope you will find my posts useful and do feel free to comment at any point.