03.04.08
SBOC = Small Business Online Community
We’ve said it before, networking is an essential part of marketing your business services or product. As many of us are aware, there are many avenues which we can network. Networking groups such as Chamber of Commerce & Business Network International to name a couple. There’s also MySpace, LinkedIn and FaceBook for online networking. About a week ago, I stumbled across another networking community and I have to share it. Small Business Online Community is a community of business people who can get in touch with other business people through online forums, stories and connections. Free to join and just another way of getting your name out into the many caverns of the internet business community.
I invite you to check it out at: http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/index.jspa
02.23.08
Show me the money!
Hidden money that is. Many small businesses miss available monies which can be taken as credits on their tax return. Fortune Small Business writes that as a business you might be eligible to take additional credits “if your business innovates in areas such as Products, Improving Processes, Better Energy Efficiency and/or Environmental Improvements”.
Products: If your company develops a new product or significant improvement to an old one.
Improving Processes: If your business creates a way to boost their operating efficiency or quality.
Better Energy Efficiency: Designing a better solar cell, boosting a battery’s life, reducing computer energy consumption. (Many companies are jumping on the “green” bandwagon and are getting paid for making their location more energy efficient).
Environmental Improvements: Reducing carbon emissions (on certain levels).
Some companies are able to earn money just by taking the necessary steps to conserve energy during certain parts of the day. Any business owner should check with their local energy conservation council to see how they can “go green”. Check out this website: www.neep.org FMI.
Read the entire article posted by Fortune Small Business at: http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/22/smbusiness/found_money.fsb/index.htm
02.15.08
Trademark vs. Copyright
I came across an article on CNN’s Business site this morning that struck my interest and had actually been a topic of conversation with a client a few months back. What would you do if you found out that your business domain name and the url to your business website had been sold to another company (worse, a competitor) who was now legally using it? I know I’d be irritated as heck trying to figure out what my next step was going to be.
The article is sparked by a man who writes to ask what recourse, if any, his company has toward the registration company who sold the domain name and URL to his company’s website. According to Christine Johnson who is the general counsel for GoDaddy.com, unless your company has a trademark on the domain name, there’s little that can be done. She further states that it is important to first distinguish the difference between copyright and trademark. A copyright protects the originator or author of a particular piece of work whereas a registered trademark is a word, symbol or device used to distinguish a specific product or good from others in the market. A servicemark can be used to protect a name or logo associated with a service offered by a company.
According to the article, if the business name is a registered trademark then a dispute can be filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Policy which is governed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). If the business name has been trademarked and registered and proof can be shown that the company who acquired the name (your competitor) acted in bad faith by achieving the name to compete with you directly, then you may have luck getting the name back. However, if the domain name has not been trademarked and/or the business has let the domain expire, then you are more likely “out of luck”. Once the name has expired, it’s anyone’s game as to who can pick up the name to use for their own business. This is not to say that you shouldn’t try to fight the company who bought the name, because if you are willing to put in the leg-work it might just pay off in your benefit, but it won’t be easy. There will be a lot of work to prove that you have had the business in effect and that the domain name uniquely identifies you and your company, prior to the competitor taking ownership of the name.
Obviously, the key is to remain aware of your domain expiration dates and do not let them expire if the business name and website is still active. Depending on the registration company, there may be allowances or a grace period between the actual expiration date of a domain name and the release date of a “dead” domain name. It is best to make yourself aware of your registration company’s guidelines and policies regarding domain renewals.
The costs associated with a Registered Trademark and a Copyright can be found at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and their 2008 Fee Schedule has been added.
REFERENCE: Lawinski, Jennifer; A Trademark can help corporate identity; Fortune Small Business; Feb. 12, 2008, retrieved from website at: http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/11/smbusiness/copyright_URL.fsb/index.htm?postversion=2008021211
United States Patent and Trademark office
01.15.08
Couples in business, good practice or not?
I’m not sure that I understand the recent hype over couples going into business with one another. Speaking purely as one half of a couple owned business, we enjoy being able to work together and feel each individual outlook on the business structure makes it a stronger business. CNN posted a story on January 14, 2008 “Unlimited Partnership: Couples in Business” which states that couples going into business are one of the ‘dynamic and unexpected forces in small business today.’ Personally, I consider this to be a compliment. The number of women owned (at least 50% ownership) businesses are rising, counting 10.4 million in 2006 alone! Twenty six percent of businesses owned are partnerships, however the report states it is unknown how many of that 26% are spouses. In the year 2000, 3 million out of 22 million small businesses, were couple owned.
The report also states that most of the (what they call) mom and pop shops are professional rather than retail, global more than local and likely that “mom” derived the business idea solely. This is a definite turn of events from older generation businesses owned by husband and wife. The trends also show that the days of the man starting the business and bringing the wife in to run the office and/or handle the billing are gone. Most couple owned businesses are 50/50 across the board with as many men running the office as women.
So, what is the appeal? Isn’t it difficult to be around your significant other 24/7? Don’t difficult business decisions get in the way of friendly and casual conversation? Not if the limits are set from the beginning. As with anything you do, there need to be limits and boundaries with which things happen. For us, we rarely talk about business outside of the business. I mean, sure a subject might come up now and then which needs prompt attention or discussion, but when we leave the office, everything stays there. Most couples state the boundaries are what keeps everything in order without thinking about it. Does it always work? Not always. In fact, some couples need to break themselves away from the business in order to salvage their relationship. We believe that it can be as successful as you both want it to be and it adds another dimension to the relationship.
So, what the answer? If you are a couple wanting to go into business together, speaking from experience – set the ground rules ahead of time. Factor in all the “what ifs” so that there are no false expectations or surprises along the way. Sure there is bound to be things that come up that you hadn’t thought of beforehand, but you are both less likely to get stressed or frustrated if there’s an occasional thing or two that you need to figure out over time. Be yourself. Your relationship is probably something you are very proud of and that will shine through in EVERYTHING you do, whether personally or professionally. My husband and I get complimented all the time on how well we appear to work together and respect one another. We set our boundaries such that I don’t tell him how he should perform his part of the business and he doesn’t tell me how I should perform mine. We set up bi-monthly meetings to go over status and updates and business issues and when we are done – that’s it. For us it works.
Resources:
CNN Report: http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/08/smbusiness/entrepreneurial_couples.fsb/index.htm?postversion=2008011414
01.07.08
Career Fair
On Friday January 4th, Mainely Technology was a presenter at the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce Career Fair held at Central Maine Community College in Auburn Maine. It was the first time presenting at such an event and it was very interesting. Sophomore students from the area high schools attended, which was nice that it wasn’t just students from any one particular school, and were invited to sit in on presentations of careers they were interested in pursuing. As a presenter, we were to provide the students with an insight as to what the career entails, education needed to get there and any other information we deemed pertinent in their decision-making. We encouraged the students to ask questions as we held our presentation extremely informal. We presented in two separate sessions, the first session had three students in attendance and the second session had eight. I must state that these kids for the most part, had a good idea what they wanted to do AFTER high school with a couple of the students in attendance stating they chose our profession because they didn’t really see anything else interesting to them (and they already knew what they would be doing after graduation.)
There was one student in particular who had already been designing websites and earning money for it. He also won a website development contest. It was good to talk with him and gather information on his approach and try to stress the importance of diversity in the field. Diversity in the workforce will reward in many different ways. I tried to stress that when I am looking at a prospective employee, I am not only looking at how well I think he/she will fit into the scope of the organization, but how much value is he/she able to bring to my organization. We tried to stress that especially in this field of work, learning never stops. We stressed the value of continuing to learn new things and stay up to date on the new techniques and applications coming into the technological field, because they will be your friend when you least expect them to be.
Never brush aside the opportunity to be a mentor to today’s youth. Even though you may not see that twinkle in the eye or the spark of interest when you carry on the conversation – but you will generate an added value they didn’t have before they walked through your door or sat down at your table. Out of the three or four students that were there “just because”, we received some excellent questions related to the different types of development that can be done as well as the different types of graphic arts that can be incorporated into a design. Oh yes, we also received the question on everyone teenager’s mind …. “how much does it pay?”
01.02.08
Small businesses need websites too
If you are like me a lot of your time is spent on the computer. When I hear of a new company or a new product, I instantly go to the computer to conduct a search to find out more about them. Now, what happens when you find nothing on this company? Most consumers when searching for a company to provide services or product, will contact the company which resides closest to their local area. As a business owner, I don’t want to lose any potential new customers to my competition. I can’t afford to! What’s the solution to the problem you ask? Get your business a website.
Let’s look at what happens when someone searches for your business. Suppose as a business owner you’ve paid “big bucks” for a radio ad campaign. Your hope is to reach a targeted audience in a wide network area. Your goal is to draw in prospective clients with whom you can sell your product and close a few sales. Right? So your ad plays on the radio station I’m listening to while I’m in the car running errands. I’ve got a thousand things going through my mind when I hear (in part) your business ad. In all my thoughts and ideas, your business name and product/service is what sticks. Since I’m driving and can’t safely write the name/product/service down, I think to myself “I’ll just look them up when I get back to the office.” When I search for your business, what do I find … ? A listing from the phone book with an address and phone number and no website listed.
Folks, today’s consumers want to “check you out” prior to contacting your business. It affords a level of credibility and assurance that you are indeed a legit business. Having a website developed for your business (big or small) does not have to be an outrageous expense, in order to gain your business a credible presence on the web. As with advertising or marketing agencies, researching your options for web development will work in your favor and give you many different scenarios from which to choose. There are two ways to look at this situation. On one hand you can design a website yourself for a fairly reasonable cost or you can hire a professional web developer to develop a professional site for you that will reflect you and your business in the way it should be. Now, there’s definite truth in the saying “you get what you pay for” in that creating a website yourself might be cost effective, but it requires a lot of time maintaining it and updating.
Notice that I used the term “design” when I mentioned the do-it-yourself option and “develop” when I mentioned hiring a professional. I will discuss the difference between the two in an upcoming blog, so watch for that. The mission of our business, Mainely Technology, is that no business is too small to have a presence on the web and that even a basic one or two page website will give your business an added credibility which is a great compliment to the money you just spent on the advertising campaign for your business.
