Yahoo Looks At Why People Start A Small Business

New year brings more small business interest

Traditionally Yahoo! Small Business sees an uptick in people starting their own online business in the first quarter of the New Year. As 2011 kicks off, Yahoo! Small Business explores the New Year’s surge and the reasons and barriers to starting a new business.

A new survey, conducted by Yahoo! Small Business and Ipsos OTX MediaCT, reveals one in two have either dreamed of starting their own business or have actually started a business.

Key findings from the survey include:

*Twice as many small business owners than non-business owners say they are doing their dream job.

*79 percent say the best thing about owning their own business is a flexible work schedule.

*61 percent of non-business owners say they want to start a business so they can earn a living while fueling personal passions.

Evidence that Americans look to start the New Year by creating their own business can be found by looking at online search trends. In January 2011, Yahoo! Search saw a dramatic increase in searches on planning, funding and starting a business. Yahoo! Search data includes:

*Searches for “how to write a business plan” are up 746% on Yahoo!

*Searches for “starting a business” are up 451%

*Searches for “government small business loans” on Yahoo! are up 303% and “small business loans” up 145%

*Searches for “business ideas” are up 135%

eBay Promotes Buyer Protection For Small Businesses

eBay aims to help small businesses

eBay has launched a month long campaign to expand consumer awareness of its eBay Buyer Protection program.

Launched nationally earlier this year, eBay Buyer Protection covers the purchase price plus original shipping of most purchases on the site.

According to a study commissioned by eBay and conducted online by Harris Interactive in September:

More than half (52%) of shoppers agree they like to shop with small retailers when purchasing online 78% of shoppers said they would have an increased likelihood to purchase from a small retailer if the retailer is part of a marketplace that offers buyer protection.

Nearly half of shoppers (47%) said that buyer protection programs, like eBay’s, make small online sellers more competitive with large online retailers .

“Small business entrepreneurs are the backbone of the American economy, creating most of the jobs in our country,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe.

“eBay creates opportunity for millions of independent sellers and small-business entrepreneurs who are creating jobs through their businesses on eBay. eBay Buyer Protection helps these independent sellers and small-business entrepreneurs compete more effectively with national retailers by increasing consumer confidence and trust. Shop on eBay, and we’ve got you covered.”

Does Your Website Need a Makeover?

How to know when it does

How do you respond to change? Is it a like or dislike? With change, there isn’t usually a middle ground, because most people either love it or hate it.

Interestingly, there are obstacles to both sides of the change spectrum. For instance, if you implement too many changes to your business, consumers will not be able to keep up. On the other hand, if you shy away from change, consumers will think you are out of date.

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Although finding a balance is an important task, today we’re going to focus on businesses that need to implement change. As seen in the above video, there are multiple indicators that businesses need to watch for to see if they should make changes to their website.

The first sign is when your site doesn’t meet its current goals. This issue could be the result of several developers writing bad code on top of bad code over and over again. Instead of trying to correct a mounting problem, businesses are better off just starting from scratch if this occurs.

Secondly, if your website was built with tables, then it is time for an update. This format is both hard to read and hard for search engines to break down.

A third sign that your website is “behind the times” is if visitors are welcomed with a Flash intro. Experts always disapprove of this practice since it causes slow load times and compatibility issues, among other problems.

Another indication that your website needs a makeover is if you are not involved with social media. Now, some people will quickly object and say that social media doesn’t play a role in their industry. However, consumers are talking about everything from plumbing to retail on social media networks. Consumers like the connection and personalization that Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms give them.

Fifthly, if your website is not mobile-ready, then it could quickly cause your business to fall behind. Consumers want the ability to access everything from their mobile devices. Websites that do not offer this capability could lose business.

Also, if you need a web designer to make even the slightest change to your website, you probably need to make some adjustments. Experts highly recommend content management systems for convenience and usability.

Lastly, when the call to action is not clear or effective, changes need to be made. Visitors need a simplistic process that doesn’t require them to create an account or to search for something. If it’s not easy, it reduces the visitor’s chances of taking action.

So, are ready to take these signs seriously and make some changes?

Google Launches Site Guide For Small Businesses

Google helps businesses increase their online presence

Google launched today “Getting Started Guide for Google Sites and Google Places,” aimed at helping small business owners increase their presence online and on Google Maps.

The company says creating a Google site for a small business will help potential customers learn more about products, hours and location before they visit a store.

Google says it will help answer customer’s frequently asked questions instead of over the phone.

The Google Small Business Blog offer more details. “With Google Sites, you can easily create a free website for your business. We have site templates that you can choose from, and, within a few minutes, you can create a new website. There are also some quick tips available on how to customize it with images of your business, a map of your location, or a menu.”

“This guide will also show you how to ensure that a listing about your business appears for free when potential customers search for you on Google.com or Google Maps. The listing, which you can quickly and easily create through Google Places, includes basic information like your business name, location, and phone number. You can also edit it at any time with additional details like coupons, customized messages and more to help your business stand out.”

Take Advantage of Advertising Right Now!

Low-cost opportunities for small businesses

Advertising is expensive, especially for small businesses. However, advertising is at one of its most affordable points right now, thanks to the economic downturn. Both advertising and media companies have been forced to reduce their prices, which have opened many doors for small businesses.

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For this reason, these companies are now more willing to work with smaller businesses. As pointed out in the above video, the best part is that small businesses pay less for services. Many of these services include advertising opportunities that most small businesses could only dream of in the past.

For instance, most small businesses do not have budgets for televisions spots. Due to price decreases, it is a possibility. Before the recession, a 30-second television spot could run as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars. Fortunately today, this same ad could cost be as low as $500, according to TelevisionAdvertising.com.

Small businesses can also take advantage of billboards. This form of advertising is also seeing difficulty and has lowered its rates as well.

Fortunately, these low-cost opportunities exist online too. Advances in technology have helped businesses obtain more information regarding user demographics, habits, interests, and more. As a result, businesses can offer more customized ads, which helps them reach their target market.

Google AdWords and Facebook ad campaigns are both viable online opportunities. Each of these platforms allows users to set up their campaigns based on their budget. In addition, users can make adjustments on an as-needed basis.

Mobile advertising is another affordable area for small businesses. The Kelsey Group projects that the mobile advertising market will expand up to $3.1 billion dollars by 2013. With platforms such as Google’s AdMob and Apple’s iAd, it seems likely that this prediction will come true.

Lastly, social media provides many advertising opportunities for small businesses. Sites such as Twitter are giving some businesses better results than traditional platforms are. Foursquare and the newly introduced Facebook Places are also allow businesses reach their target through special discounts and giveaways. These location-based services have experiences tremendous growth over the last year.

So, it’s not so hopeless after all, is it? Can you think of any other areas of advertising that small businesses can take advantage of right now?