Publicity

Small businesses could always benefit from good publicity in these days, but most small business never get in the press unless something bad happens. Although, as the saying goes, any publicity is good publicity. A truly skilled business owner should be able to turn any publicity into a positive.

How can a small business act proactively to drum up good press about itself? Well, PR campaigns are expensive and small business are unlikely to have the money to burn on this. But one idea is to start online. I don't know if this works because I have not personally obtained any publicity by doing it. But I was told that starting a blog is a good way to get the attention of the press. Hence, this blog, LOL.

Otherwise? Try writing relevant articles, sending out press releases, commenting on other people's blogs, getting people to spread word of mouth information about your company, and of course, the old fashioned, getting on to radio or tv shows. I have no personal idea how to do the latter two things. You have to get to know journalists and befriend them. How? Don't look at me. But there's got to be a book at Borders that tells you how. I am sure with the right networking, you may be able to get something started.

All you need is a spark. Then the rest is up to the spin.

Comeback

Donald Trump likes to think of himself as the comeback kid. So does Bill Clinton. For that matter, so does Microsoft, IBM and even the GAP.

What is a comeback? Well, in the context of a small business, a comeback is when a small business that was left for dead, is able to reinvent itself, makeover its image, and through innovation, risk, focus and patience able to work its way back into the good graces of its customers and clients, and restore its image and reputation to the public.

Not every business can make a comeback after reaching the precipice. Donald Trump is a business onto himself and he will tell you that when things get really bad, and when he gets really low, he never loses faith that somehow he can pull through it. He is a born optimist, probably. He sees the glass half full. And when there is a shit storm of things going wrong around him, he looks beyond the storm (rather than get caught up in it) to find a solution to whatever is ailing his business. Like right now. Even his gambling outfits are in trouble. His building in Chicago is in the red the last I heard. But I am not worried about the Donald. I look to him for inspiration, and for pulling the cat out of the bag. He's inventive. He's going to come up with something.

How does a small business get beyond, say, this economic train wreck? By being futuristic in its thinking. By acting as if it is Donald Trump. And by never losing focus of the vision for the company. No matter how bad it gets, just know you can always make a comeback. And keep active. Stay busy. Do not stop to even think about this mess. Look beyond it because it, too, shall pass.

Cash

I was reading, I believe, Businessweek on a recent weekend trip to Connecticut and I highlighted an interview that Maria Bartiromo did with Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault, France and Nissan of Japan.

There was one question she asked the CEO and his answer, to me, could be applied to almost any small or large business that is having some challenges on account of this cruel economy. The question was, "What must a car maker do to survive and prosper?"

The CEO answered: "First, you need to [weather] the next two years. That's a basic condition. To get through them, you have to make sure you have a positive free cash flow. Or to put it another way, avoid burning cash that's very fundamental. You must be able to still generate cash, even with a market as treacherous as the one we'll be facing.

There is an end to any crisis and this one is no exception. There will be an end. And you want to be ready. You want to have innovative products and strong fundamentals, a team that believes in the brand and believes the company will be ready to fight again. I don't think everybody is going to make it through this period of time, but those who survive will have a boulevard in front of them because people will still need to buy cars."

I thought this answer was quite brilliant, given that all indications are that cash is still king. What do you think? Is he right? And how is your cash flow situation? Are you generating enough of it?

Thanksgiving

How do small businesses thank their customers and clients? All indicators are, that in this current climate, it is more important than ever to let your customers know that you appreciate them. One way to do it is to offer "wise and strategic" discounts to certain customers and clients. But there are other ways to say thank you that also provides incentives for the continued patronage of your business. You could offer coupons, referral/recommendation fees, freebies, and buy one get one frees.

Don't overlook the courtesy cards, such as Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Father's Day, Mother's Day and the like. For those really special customers/clients, send gift baskets, wine and even champagne. They will remember it. And their appreciation could increase your bottom line.

The trick with giving thanks is to do it to do it. Not because you expect to get something from it. That's when you reap the most rewards.

And hey, Happy Thanksgiving to you too. :)

Pricing

Small businesses, just like big multinational conglomerates, have to think about the price of their goods and services. Especially in a nasty downturn like we have seen in 2008. I have been reading up on this issue and while there are differing opinions, I think what I am walking away with is the idea, that a business owner should be wary about dropping prices too precipitously during a downturn.

It is a strange phenomenon, but many consumers tie the value of the product or service to the price. So when you drop the price, you tend to dilute the brand, and in the long run, your business suffers.

In one article I was reading in the Harvard Business Review, "Discounts can be dangerous," the authors admonish business to be "wise and strategic" in offering discounts. Said the authors, "Often, the more consumers pay, the more value they ascribe to a purchase. If you discount prices purely to boost sales, buyers may begin to question that value."

And, apparently, Starbucks in in danger of pricing itself right out of its brand image with it's $1 coffee with unlimited refills idea! (Actually I've been hearing a lot of nasty rumors about Starbucks. It's as if a lot of people think the company has about as much catchet as, say, Burger King. How did that happen?)

So, it seems the objective during a downturn such as this is, improve the quality of your service or product by all means, but think twice about fiddling with prices. In the end, if you decide to reduce prices or offer discounts, maybe you want to be selective about it, and maybe you don't want to do it too drastically.

Remember Caveat Emptor.

Innovate

According to this article in the Harvard Business Review which I skimmed on my way back from Connecticut this weekend, there are 3 types of innovation and all business may face one or all three, or none, in their life span.

But I am only going to discuss Business Model Innovation. It seems that business model innovation is not an easy concept for even large established business to understand or implement effectively.

The objective of business is to make the customers happy, right? And to do that, a business owner must give the customer what the customer wants. Innovation has to do with figuring out how to make the customers happy while at the same time, making a profit for the business.

So the question with business model innovation is, how much do you have to change what you are doing now to accomplish the objective of making the customer happy? If what you are doing now is not making the customer happy, and change is required, that change is really a change in the model you are using. It is business model innovation.

But with any type of change, you have to be careful. It has to be change that makes sense for your business. It has to make sense to the customer. You cannot leave the customer wondering, "Huh?" The customer, instead, should be nodding and saying, "yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about."

Schmoozing

The other night I got invited to a soiree in SoHo sponsored by Inc. Magazine. It was billed as a networking event for small business people. I showed up not knowing what to expect only to find myself in a room jam-packed with self-described millionaires.

These were entrepreneurs with hedge funds in Greenwich and on Wall Street, luxury real estate companies in Montreal, investment banks in California – you name it. Right away, I wanted to crawl under the buffet table. What was I doing there amongst all these uber successful people who had come to hear an expert speak on “thriving during times of adversity?” I am just a blogger for Christ’s sakes! I nursed a glass of Pinot Grigio, had a little Hor d’oeuvre, and hightailed it down to the conference hall to wait for the speech from the guest of honor. I think I may have even been shaking a little, I was so traumatized. (I have always been painfully shy, inhibited and overly sensitive. It's just one of my things.)

If you are a small business owner, never do what I did. I was never a schmoozer, or social butterfly and it is probably one of the biggest impediments I have in business. Schmoozing is seriouly anathema to who I am, I'm not kidding. But I am going to say this: Small business people need to know how to schmooze. For those like me who are so shy and intimidated by these large social gatherings, maybe it is going to mean schmoozing with a purpose on a more micro scale. I can schmooze one on one. I can schmooze with a small group. If I must. I think the purpose of schmoozing is to make contacts, to network. And the purpose of networking is to get leads that probably lead to you and the other person to making a profit somewhere down the chain due to your association and affiliation with each other.

With that in mind, a small business person who is not good at the large-group schmoozing (my hand is in the air) has to think of ways to do it on a micro scale. When you meet people in any setting, always think: How can this person and I help each other? Always exchange business cards (make sure you have nice ones made up). And follow up as soon as possible by emailing or calling the person, maybe have drinks after work, as a way of getting to know them, rather than just keeping the card in the rolodex.

Sometimes, it’s not the quantity of people you are standing in a room with. It’s the quality of the connection you actually make at the end of the meeting. That is what I think adds value to the small business at the end of the day.

Monetize

Are you a small business that has a website? Are you wondering how to monetize it? I found 28 tips for you. I got them from another blog on the Internet. Have you heard of a site called Dailyblogtips.com? Well, I got the following information from there and if a part of your small business involves running a blog, you might want to add the blog to your favorites cause it's a great resource, I think.

The 28 tips below are for small businesses that run a website. It's about monetizing your website, my friend. Did you know that? I know some of you are wondering how exactly to achieve that task. Well, I asked the woman who does my site my law firm website and she gave me this blog and so here goes:

28 Ways to Make Money with Your Website - According to dailyblogtips.com:

There are several lists with “ways to make money with a website” on the Internet, but none of them seem to be complete. That is why I decided to create this one. If you know a method that is not listed below, just let us know and we’ll update it.

Notice that ways to make money with a website are different from ways to make more money from it. Methods to increase your traffic or click-through rate will help you make more money, but they do not represent a method of making money per se.
For example, one could suggest that blending AdSense ads with the content is a way to make money from a website. In reality it’s not; it’s just a way to make more money by improving your ad click-through rate. The real monetization method behind it is a PPC ad network.

The list is divided into direct and indirect methods, and examples and links are provided for each point. Enjoy!

Direct Methods
1. PPC Advertising Networks
Google AdSense is the most popular option under this category, but there are also others. Basically you need to sign up with the network and paste some code snippets on your website. The network will then serve contextual ads (either text or images) relevant to your website, and you will earn a certain amount of money for every click.

The profitability of PPC advertising depends on the general traffic levels of the website and, most importantly, on the click-through rate (CTR) and cost per click (CPC). The CTR depends on the design of the website. Ads placed abode the fold or blended with content, for instance, tend to get higher CTRs. The CPC, on the other hand, depends on the nice of the website. Mortgages, financial products and college education are examples of profitable niches (clicks worth a couple of dollars are not rare), while tech-related topics tend to receive a smaller CPC (sometimes as low as a couple of cents per click).

The source of the traffic can also affect the overall CTR rate. Organic traffic (the one that comes from search engines) tends to perform well because these visitors were already looking for something, and they tend to click on ads more often. Social media traffic, on the other hand, presents terribly low CTRs because these visitors are tech-savvy and they just ignore ads.

List of popular CPC advertising networks:
• Google Adsense
• Yahoo! Publisher Network (YPN)
• BidVertiser
• Chitika
• Clicksor

2. CPM Advertising Networks
CPM advertising networks behave pretty much as PPC networks, except that you get paid according to the number of impressions (i.e., page views) that the ads displayed on your site will generate. CPM stands for Cost per Mille, and it refers to the cost for 1,000 impressions.

A blog that generates 100,000 page views monthly displaying an advertising banner with a $1 CPM, therefore, will earn $100 monthly.
CPM rates vary with the network, the position of the ad and the format. The better the network, the higher the CPM rate (because they have access to more advertisers). The closer you put the ad to the top of the page, the higher the CPM. The bigger the format (in terms of pixels), the higher the CPM.

You can get as low as $0,10 and as high as $10 per 1,000 impressions (more in some special cases). CPM advertising tends to work well on websites with a high page views per visitor ratio (e.g., online forums, magazines and so on).
List of popular CPM advertising networks:
• Casale Media
• Burst Media
• Value Click
• Advertising.com
• Tribal Fusion
• Right Media

3. Direct Banner Advertising
Selling your own advertising space is one of the most lucrative monetization methods. First and foremost because it enables you to cut out the middleman commissions and to determine your own rates. The most popular banner formats on the web are the 728×90 leaderboard, the 120×600 skyscraper, the 300×250 rectangle and the 125×125 button.

The downside of direct banner advertising is that you need to have a big audience to get qualified advertisers, and you will need to spend time managing the sales process, the banners and the payments.
Related links:
• How to Find Advertisers for Your Website
• Finding Advertisers for Your Blog
• Direct Advertising Sales for Beginners
• Openads Ad Server
• OIO Publisher Ad Platform

4. Text Link Ads
After Google declared that sites selling text links without the nofollow tag would be penalized, this monetization method became less popular.
Many website owners are still using text links to monetize their sites, though, some using the nofollow tag and some not.

The advantage of this method is that it is not intrusive. One can sell text links directly through his website or use specialized networks like Text-Link-Ads and Text-Link-Brokers to automate the process.
Text link marketplaces and networks:
• DigitalPoint Link Sales Forum
• Text-Link-Ads
• Text-Link-Brokers
• TNX
• LinkWorth

5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very popular practice on the Internet. Under this system you have a merchant that is willing to let other people (the affiliates) sell directly or indirectly its products and services, in exchange for a commission. Sometimes this type of advertising is also called CPA (cost per action) or CPL (cost per lead) based.

Affiliates can send potential customers to the merchant using several tools, from banners to text links and product reviews.
In order to find suitable affiliate programs you can turn to individual companies and publishers like Dreamhost and SEOBook, or join affiliate marketplaces and networks.

List of popular affiliate marketplaces and networks:
• Commission Junction
• ClickBank
• Azoogle Ads
• Link Share

6. Monetization Widgets
The latest trend on the web are widgets that let you monetize your website. Examples include Widgetbucks and SmartLinks. Some of these services operate under a PPC scheme, others behave like text link ads, others yet leverage affiliate links.
Their main differentiator, however, is the fact that they work as web widgets, making it easier for the user to plug and play the service on its website.

List of companies that provide monetization widgets:
• WidgetBucks
• ScratchBack
• SmartLinks

7. Sponsored Reviews
PayPerPost pioneered this model, with much controversy on the beginning (related to the fact that they did not require disclosure on paid posts). Soon other companies followed, most notably Sponsored Reviews and ReviewMe, refining the process and expanding the paid blogging model.

Joining one of these sponsored reviews marketplaces will give you the opportunity to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics. Not all bloggers are willing to get paid to write about a specific product or website (because it might compromise the editorial credibility), but the ones who do are making good money out of it.
If your blog has a big audience you could also offer sponsored reviews directly, cutting off the commissions of the middleman.

List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:
• PayPerPost
• Sponsored Reviews
• ReviewMe
• BlogVertise
• Smorty

8. RSS Feed Ads
With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet users, website owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new content distribution channel.
Feedburber already has its own publisher network, and you can sign-up to start displaying CPM based advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser recently introduced a RSS feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.
Finally, some blogs are also opting to sell banners or sponsored messages on their feed directly. John Chow and Marketing Pilgrim are two examples.
Related links:
• Feedburner
• BidVertiser
• Pheedo

9. Sponsors for Single Columns or Events
If you website has specific columns or events (e.g., a weekly podcast, an interview series, a monthly survey, a special project) you could find companies to sponsor them individually.

This method increases the monetization options for website owner, while giving advertisers the possibility to target a more specific audience and with a reduced commitment.

Mashable illustrates the case well. They have several advertising options on the site, including the possibility to sponsor specific columns and articles, including the “Daily Poll” and the “Web 2.0 Invites.”
Problogger also runs group writing projects occasionally, and before proceeding he publicly announce the project asking for sponsors.

10.Premium Content
Some websites and blogs give away part of their content for free, and charge for access to the premium content and exclusive tools.
SEOMoz is a good example. They have a very popular blog that gives advice and information on wide range of SEO related topics. On top of that visitors can decide to become premium members. It costs $48 monthly and it grants them access to guides, tools and other exclusive material.

11. Private Forums
While the Internet is populated with free forums, there is also the possibility to create a private one where members need to pay a single or recurring fee to join.

SEO Blackhat charges $100 monthly from its members, and they have thousands of them. Obviously in order to charge such a price for a forum membership you need to provide real value for the members (e.g., secret techniques, tools, and so on).
Performancing also launched a private forum recently, focused on the networking aspect. It is called The Hive, and the monthly cost is $10.
These are just two examples. There are many possibilities to create a private and profitable forum, you just need to find an appealing angle that will make it worth for the members.
List of popular forum software:
• vBulletin
• Simple Machines Forum
• phpBB
• Vanilla

12. Job Boards
All the popular blogs are trying to leverage job boards to make some extra income. Guy Kawasaki, ReadWriteWeb, Problogger… you name it.
Needless to say that in order to create an active and profitable job board you need first to have a blog focused on a specific niche, and a decent amount traffic.
The advantage of this method is that it is passive. Once you have the structure in place, the job listings will come naturally, and you can charge anywhere from $10 up to $100 for each.
List of popular job board software:
• JobThread
• Web Scribe Job Board
• SimplyHired Job-o-matic
• Jobbex

13. Marketplaces
Sitepoint is the online marketplace by excellence. Some websites and blogs, however, are trying to replicate that model on a smaller scale.
Depending on your niche, a market place that allows your visitors to buy, sell and trade products could work well. Over the time you could start charging a small fee for new product listings.
The problem with this method is that there are no standard software on the web, so you would need to hire a coder to get a marketplace integrated into your website.
You can see an example of a marketplaces being used on EasyWordpress and on Mashable.

14. Paid Surveys and Polls
There are services that will pay you money to run a small survey or poll on your website. The most popular one is called Vizu Answers.
Basically you need to sign up with them, and select the kind of polls that you want to run your site. Most of these services operate under a CPM model.

15. Selling or Renting Internal Pages
Million Dollar Wiki made this concept popular, but it was being used on the web for a long time around (check Pagerank10.co.uk for instance).
These websites sell for a single fee or rent for a recurring fee internal pages on their domain. Usually they have either high Pagerak or high traffic, so that people purchasing a page will be able to benefit in some way.
Implementing this method on a small blog would be difficult, but the concept is interesting and could be explored further.

16. Highlighted Posts from Sponsors
Techmeme probably pioneered this idea, but somehow it has not spread to other websites. The tech news aggregator displays editorial posts on the left column, and on the sidebar they have a section titled “Techmeme Sponsor Posts.”
On that section posts from the blog of the advertisers get highlighted, sending qualified traffic their way. Considering that the monthly cost for one spot is $5000 and that they have around 6 sponsors at any given time, it must be working well.

17. Donations
Placing a “Donate” link or button on a website can be an efficient way to earn money, especially if your blog is on a niche where readers learn and gain value from your content.
Personal development and productivity blogs, for instance, tend to perform well with donation based systems (one good example being Steve Pavlina).
A small variation of this method appeared sometime ago with the Buy Me a Beer plugin. This WordPress plugin enables you to insert a customized message at the bottom of each article, asking the readers to chip in for a beer or coffee.

18. In-text Adverting
In-text adverting networks like Kontera and Vibrant Media will place sponsored links inside your text. These links come with a double underline to differentiate them from normal links, and once the user rolls the mouse over the link the advertising will pop. Should the user click on it the site owner will make some money.
Some people make good money with this method, but others refrain from using it due to its intrusiveness. It is also interesting to note that very few mainstream websites have experimented with in-text advertising.

19. Pop-ups and Pop-unders
Pop-ups are a common yet annoying form of advertising on the Internet. If you are just trying to make a much money as possible from your website, you could experiment with them.

If you are trying to grow the traffic and generate loyal visitors, however, you probably should stay away from them. Just consider the hundreds of pop-up blockers out there: there is a reason why they are so popular.
Ad networks that use pop-ups:
• Tribal Fusion
• PayPopup
• PopupAd
• Adversal

20. Audio Ads
Also called PPP (Pay Per Play), this advertising method was introduce by Net Audio Ads. the concept is pretty simple: play a small audio advertising (usually 5 seconds) every time a visitor enters into your website. The user should not be able to stop it, creating a 100% conversion rate based on unique visitors.
The company is still rolling tests, but some users are reporting to get from a $4 to a $6 CPM. Regardless of the pay rate, though, this is a very intrusive form of advertising, so think twice before using it.

21. Selling the Website
Selling your website could be your last resource, but it has the potential to generate a big sum of money in a short period of time.
Market places on online forums like DigitalPoint and Sitepoint are always active with website buyers and sellers. Keep in mind that they most used parameter to determine the value of a website is the monthly revenue that it generates, multiplied by a certain number (the multiplier can be anything from 5 to 30, depending on the expectations of the seller, on the quality of the site, on the niche and other factors).
Some people also make money trading and flipping websites. They either create them from scratch or buy existing ones, and after some revamping they sell them for a profit.
Related links:
• How To Buy A Website And Flip It For Profit
• How To Sell A Website - How Much Is Your Website Worth?
• Where to sell a website? How to go about selling it?
Indirect Methods

22. Selling an Ebook
Perhaps one of the oldest money making strategies on the web, using a website to promote a related ebook is a very efficient way to generate revenue.
You could either structure the website around the book itself, like SEOBook.com, or launch the ebook based on the success of the website, like FreelanceSwitch did we the book How to be a Rockstar Freelancer.
Related links:
• Writing an ebook for your blog
• How to sell ebooks
• Processing payments for your ebook
• How to sell digital products online
• List of ebook selling software

23. Selling a Hardcover Book
Many authors and journalists leverage their blogs or websites to sell copies of hardcover books. Examples include Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell.
While most of these people were already renowned authors before they created their website, one could also follow the other way around. Lorelle VanFossen did exactly that with her Blogging Tips book. First she built her authority on the subject via her blog, and afterwards she published the book.
List of self publishing and publishing services:
• Lulu
• Self Publishing
• iUniverse
• WordClay

24. Selling Templates or WordPress Themes
As more and more people decide to get an online presence, website templates and WordPress themes become hotter and hotter.
On this segment you have mainstream websites like TemplateMonster, as well as individual designers who decide to promote and sell their work independently.
Brian Gardner and Unique Blog Designs are two examples of websites that make money with the sales of premium and custom WordPress themes.

25. Offering Consulting and Related Services
Depending on your niche, you could make money by offering consulting and related services. If you are also the author of your blog, the articles and information that you will share will build your profile and possibly certify your expertise on that niche, making it easier to gain customers.
Chris Garrett used a similar strategy. First he created a highly influential blog on the blogging and new media niche, and afterwards he started offering consulting services to clients with related problems and needs.

26. Creating an Email List or Newsletter
Email lists and newsletters represent one of the most powerful marketing and money making tools on the Internet. They offer incredible conversion rates, and the possibility to call people to action in a very efficient way.
Creating a big list is a difficult task though, so if you have a popular website you could leverage it to increase the number of subscribers on your list.
Yaro Starak is a famous Internet marketer, and if you visit his blog you will notice that right on top he has a section encouraging visitors to subscribe to his email newsletter. Yaro generates five figures in revenues each month from his email newsletters, proving that this method works.
List of software to manage email newsletters:
• AWeber
• SendStudio NX
• PHP Autoresponder
• Constant Contact

27. Mentoring programs
People are willing to pay for someone or something that will teach them and give them knowledge (as opposed to mere information). Education is one of the biggest industries in the world, and the online landscape behaves in a similar way.
Creating a mentoring program related to the niche of your website could be very profitable if you manage to structure and promote it adequately. There is a wide range of media and tools that you can use to deliver the information, from text articles to audio and video lessons.
Brian Clark leveraged the success of Copyblogger to launch a mentoring program teaching people how to build membership and how to sell content online. The program is titled Teaching Sells, and it costs $97 monthly. Sounds expensive, but they have over 1,000 members.

28. Creating a conference around the website
If your website takes off and becomes an authority on its niche, you could create a conference around it. Depending on the size of your audience, the event could attract thousands of people, and you could make money directly from conference passes and sponsors.
Search Engine Land, for instance, created a series of conferences that visit several cities on the United States and on other countries as well. The conferences are called Search Marketing Expo, and the tickets and passes cost thousands of dollars.
Daniel Scocco on February 12, 2008 Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Got the Internet Marketing Newsletter?
• My analysis of the industry
• The latest trends and opportunities
• Tips and tricks that I use on my sites
• It's free!

Form

What will be the form of your business? How will you operate? As a DBA (doing business as) or more formally as a corporation, partnership or limited liability company?

The form your business takes will determine many things, like how much taxes you pay, when you pay your taxes, whether you can raise capital, who can invest in your company and what your legal duties are as a member of this entity.

So you want to form a corporation? check out what the Department of State's website says about that:

Forming a Business Corporation in New York State
New York recognizes many business forms including corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, sole proprietorships, general partnerships, and other less familiar forms. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. For any particular venture, personal and business circumstances will dictate the business form of choice. The Department of State cannot offer advice about the choice of business form and strongly recommends consulting with legal and financial advisors before making the decision. Forming a corporation should only be done after careful analysis. This brochure has been developed to answer your questions regarding formation of a business corporation and to assist in the filing of a certificate of incorporation.

What is a Corporation?
A corporation is a legal entity separate and distinct from the individual(s) who compose the business. It has rights and abilities similar to those of a natural person. Principal features are perpetual duration, limited liability and easy transferability of interests.

How Do I Form a Corporation?
One or more persons, called "incorporators" may form a corporation. Incorporators are natural persons who are 18 or older. The incorporator(s) signs the Certificate of Incorporation. The completed Certificate of Incorporation is filed with the Department of State pursuant to Section 402 of the Business Corporation Law. Please see Section 102(a)(4) of the Business Corporation Law for the definition of a corporation.

What is a Professional Service Corporation?
One or more professionals may form, or cause to be formed, a professional service corporation (P.C.) for pecuniary profit for the purpose of rendering the professional service or services that the professionals are authorized to practice. A P.C. is formed by filing a Certificate of Incorporation pursuant to Section 1503 of the Business Corporation Law. "Profession," as defined in Section 1501(b) of the Business Corporation Law, includes the occupations regulated by Title VIII of the Education Law plus any practice as an attorney and counselor-at-law, or as a licensed physician.

Are There Any Special Responsibilities Associated With Forming a Corporation?
The existence of the corporation begins upon the filing of the Certificate of Incorporation with the Department of State. After the corporate existence has begun, an organization meeting of the incorporator or incorporators must be held for the purpose of adopting by-laws, electing directors and transacting any other business. (See Section 404 of the Business Corporation Law.)

The initial by-laws of a corporation are adopted by its incorporator or incorporators at the organization meeting. (See Section 601 of the Business Corporation Law.)

The corporation is required to keep correct and complete books and records of account and must keep minutes of the proceedings of its shareholders, board of directors and executive committee, if any. The corporation must also keep a record containing the names and addresses of all shareholders, the number and class of shares held by each and the dates when they respectively became the owners of record thereof. (See Section 624 of the Business Corporation Law.)

In addition, a meeting of shareholders must be held annually for the election of directors and the transaction of other business on a date fixed by or under the by-laws. (See Section 602 of the Business Corporation Law.)

Please note by-laws and corporate books and records are not filed with the Department of State or any other state agency. These are internal documents maintained by the corporation. The Department of State cannot provide legal advice regarding the preparation of these documents.

Do I Need a Lawyer?
A Certificate of Incorporation has legal effect and enforceable rights and responsibilities. The Department of State recommends that a lawyer guide the preparation of these and other legal documents. However, there is no requirement that a lawyer prepare the documents when forming a corporation.

When I File a Certificate of Incorporation, What Will I Receive From the Department of State?

The Department of State issues an official filing receipt to the filer of the Certificate of Incorporation. The filing receipt reflects the date of filing, the name of the corporation, an extract of information provided in the Certificate of Incorporation and an accounting of fees paid. Filers should verify that this information is correct.

The filing receipt is your proof of filing. The Department of State does not issue duplicate filing receipts to replace those lost or destroyed.

Where Do I Get a Seal and Corporate Kit?
Corporate kits may be purchased from a legal stationery store. A corporate kit usually contains a corporate seal, blank stock certificates and forms for the adoption of by-laws and recording the minutes of meetings. Rather than composing their own forms, some may find it easier to use the preprinted forms provided in a corporate kit. Please note that New York State law does not require a corporation to have a seal.

How is a Corporation Taxed?
The New York State Tax Law requires a corporation to file franchise tax reports and pay franchise taxes annually even if the corporation does not conduct business or loses money. Franchise tax requirements begin the date the corporate existence begins. Tax responsibilities continue until the corporation is legally dissolved by the Secretary of State.

The corporation will need a taxpayer identification number, obtainable from the federal Internal Revenue Service (http://www.irs.gov/). The IRS can answer questions about paying or withholding federal income tax, social security taxes and other federal taxes.

Questions concerning New York State taxes should be directed to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (http://www.tax.state.ny.us/), Taxpayer Assistance Bureau, W.A. Harriman Campus, Albany, NY 12227. You may contact The Business Tax Information Center at the following toll free numbers: from the continental United States at 1-800-972-1233 or from within New York State at 1-800 CALL TAX (1-800-225-5829).

Does a Corporation Need Licenses and Permits?
Some business activities require licenses or permits from state or local governments, or both. For assistance in identifying whether your business requires any New York State licenses or permits, contact the Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform (http://www.gorr.state.ny.us/gorr/), P.O. Box 2017, Albany, New York 12220-0107. You may call the Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform at (518) 474-8275 or (800) 342-3464.

Contact the county clerk and the clerk of the city, town or village in which the business will operate with questions regarding local licenses or permits.
Other agencies with useful information include the New York State Department of Labor (http://www.labor.state.ny.us/) and the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (http://www.wcb.state.ny.us/).

Instructions for Completing the Certificate of Incorporation
A Certificate of Incorporation form has been developed to meet the basic requirements of the Business Corporation Law. The form does not include any optional provisions permitted by law. A Certificate of Incorporation may include other provisions consistent with law. You are not required to use this form. You may draft your own form or use forms available from legal stationery stores.

The Department of State must make an official record of the completed Certificate of Incorporation presented for filing. The Department will not accept papers incompatible with its recording technology. All entries and signatures should be typewritten or legibly printed in black ink on white paper. Avoid dark paper, small or light type, outline or condensed fonts, colored inks, etc.

Paragraph First - Corporation Name
Enter the name of the corporation on the line in the certificate’s title. Also enter the name of the corporation in Paragraph First and in the title of the certificate on the last page of the form. The name of the corporation must be exactly the same in all three places, including spacing and punctuation.

Choosing the Name of the Corporation
First, Section 301(a)(1) of the Business Corporation Law requires that the name of the corporation contain one of the following words: Incorporated, Corporation or Limited, or one of the following abbreviations: Inc., Corp. or Ltd.
Second, the name of the corporation must be distinguishable from the names of other corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships already on file with the Department of State.

Third, Section 301 of the Business Corporation Law prohibits or restricts the use of certain words and phrases in the name of the corporation. Generally, the name of a corporation may not include a word or phrase restricted by another statute unless the conditions of the restriction have been complied with. In addition, certain words and phrases in the name of a corporation require consent or approval from another agency prior to filing the Certificate of Incorporation with the Department of State.

Prior to submitting the Certificate of Incorporation for filing, the proposed name of the corporation can be searched for availability by writing to the Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231. The written inquiry should state that you wish to determine the availability of a corporate name (or names) and list the name (or names) to be searched. There is a $5 fee for each corporate name to be searched for availability, which must accompany the request. Searching the availability of a corporate name does not reserve the name.

Some filers may wish to reserve the corporate name prior to filing the Certificate of Incorporation. To reserve a corporate name, file an Application for Reservation of Name. A form for that purpose is part of this brochure. The fee for filing an Application for Reservation of Name is $20. The filing of an Application for Reservation of Name is optional. An Application for Reservation of Name holds the name for 60 days and may be extended twice for additional periods of 60 days. The fee to extend the reservation of name is also $20. The filing receipt issued by the Department of State for the Application for Reservation of Name must accompany the Certificate of Incorporation when presented to the Department of State for filing. The filing receipt issued by the Department of State for an Application for Reservation of Name must also accompany any request to extend the name reservation.

Paragraph Second - Purposes
The Certificate of Incorporation form developed by the Department of State contains an all-purpose clause which is sufficient for filing in most cases and nothing more needs to be added.

Certain corporate purposes, however, such as the establishment or maintenance of a hospital or facility providing health related services, and the establishment or operation of a substance abuse, substance dependence, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, chemical abuse or dependence program require the consent or approval of another state agency. In addition, a corporate purpose that promotes education in any way requires prior consent. A document indicating the consent or approval of the relevant state agency must be attached to the Certificate of Incorporation when the certificate is submitted to the Department of State for filing. Before issuing its consent or approval, the regulatory agency may require that specific purposes be stated in the Certificate of Incorporation.

The following is a partial list of agencies that must consent to, or approve, the filing of certain Certificates of Incorporation prior to filing with the Department of State. If you have any questions concerning any consent or approval that may be required, please contact the agency at the address or telephone number listed:
Purpose Requiring Consent or Approval Applicable Section of Law Agency Consent or Approval Required From

The establishment or operation of institutions for the care of destitute, delinquent, abandoned, neglected or dependent children. See Business Corporation Law Section 405-a. Office of Children and Family Services
52 Washington Street
Rensselaer, NY 12144
(518) 473-8351

The promotion of science, literature, art, history or other department of knowledge, or of education in any way, associations of teachers, students, graduates of educational institutions, and other associations whose approved purposes are, in whole or in part, of educational or cultural value deemed worthy of recognition and encouragement by the university. See Education Law Section 216. Department of Education
Office of Counsel
State Education Building, Room 148
Albany, NY 12234
(518) 473-8296

Note: The Department of Education requires a $20 fee to obtain consent.
Establishment or maintenance of a hospital or facility providing health related services. See Business Corporation Law Section 202(e). Public Health Council
Department of Health
Division of Legal Affairs
Corning Tower, Room 2482
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12237
(518) 473-3233

Establishment or operation of a substance abuse, substance dependence, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, chemical abuse or dependence program. See Business Corporation Law Section 406. Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
Bureau of Certification
1450 Western Avenue
Albany, NY 12203-3526
(518) 485-2251
Paragraph Third - County Location

Paragraph Third must indicate the county within New York State where the office of the corporation will be located. Enter only the name of a county in New York State. Do not include the street address. In New York City, the borough of Manhattan is New York County, the borough of Brooklyn is Kings County, and the borough of Staten Island is Richmond County. Bronx and Queens denote both the borough and the county.
Paragraph Fourth - Stock Structure

Every business corporation must designate in its certificate of incorporation the number of shares which the corporation shall have the authority to issue and must state whether the shares are with par value or without par value. Shares without par value may be issued or sold at any price. Shares with a stated par value cannot be issued or sold at a price less than the stated par value.

The form developed by the Department of State contains an authorized stock structure of 200 shares with no par value. Most corporations are formed with 200 shares no par value. Nothing more needs to be added unless you wish to have a different stock structure. If this is the case, delete the present statement and insert the desired number of shares and a statement of their par value or a statement that they are without par value.

There is a minimum tax of $10 on shares that the corporation is authorized to issue which must be paid at the time of formation of the corporation. The $10 tax authorizes the corporation to issue a maximum of 200 shares no par value or a par value of all authorized shares up to $20,000. Corporations wishing to be authorized to issue more than 200 shares no par value or par value shares totaling more than $20,000 will incur a tax of more than $10. The tax rate is 5 cents per share of no par value stock and 1/20 of one percent (.05%) of the par value of the shares that have a stated par value. (Please see Section 180 of the Tax Law.)
Paragraph Fifth - Designation for Service of Process

The corporation must designate the Secretary of State as its agent for service of process. Complete Paragraph Fifth by providing an address within the United States to which the Secretary of State may mail a copy of any process received. "Process" means the papers that acquire jurisdiction of the corporation in a legal action. To avoid a default judgment, the corporation should keep the address for service of process current by filing its Biennial Statement, or a Certificate of Change or Certificate of Amendment, as appropriate.

Signing the Certificate of Incorporation
The incorporator or incorporators, if there is more than one, must sign the Certificate of Incorporation. The incorporator(s) must type or print their name and address.
Filer

Provide the name and address of the filer of the Certificate of Incorporation. The Department of State issues the official filing receipt to the filer of the Certificate of Incorporation.

Filing Fee
The fee for filing the Certificate of Incorporation is $125 plus the applicable tax on shares required by Section 180 of the Tax Law. The minimum tax on shares is $10. The tax on 200 no par value shares is $10 for a total of $135. The fee may be paid by cash, check, money order, MasterCard, Visa or American Express. Checks and money orders should be made payable to the "Department of State." Please do not send cash through the mail.

The Department of State’s Division of Corporations accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Diners Club for the payment of fees. Complete and sign the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form and submit it to the Division of Corporations with your Certificate of Incorporation. The Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form and instructions are available from the Department of State’s website at http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/nfpfaq.htm#creditcrd or by calling (518) 473-2492.

Filing the Certificate of Incorporation
By mail - Send the completed Certificate of Incorporation with any consents and approvals you have obtained and the filing fee (or a Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form) to the Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12231.

In person - Deliver the completed Certificate of Incorporation, with any consents and approvals you have obtained and the filing fee to the Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, 6th Floor, Albany, NY 12231. The Division of Corporations is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
By fax - Fax the completed Certificate of Incorporation with any consents and approvals you have obtained and a Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form to the Division of Corporations at (518) 474-1418.

Expedited Filing
The Division of Corporations offers optional expedited processing of documents. For an additional, non-refundable fee, the Division of Corporations will ensure that a document is processed within the following time frames: (1) within 2 hours for an additional fee of $150; (2) the same day for an additional fee of $75; and (3) within 24 hours for an additional fee of $25. The additional, non-refundable fee for expedited processing must be paid by a separate check or money order or indicated in the appropriate space on the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/nfpfaq.htm#creditcrd. Processing of your document begins when the document is received by the appropriate unit of the Division of Corporations. The fee for expedited processing is charged to the filer regardless of whether or not the document is accepted for filing by the Department of State.
A written request for the expedited processing desired must be submitted with the Certificate of Incorporation and must indicate the level of expedited processing requested. Certificates of Incorporation submitted through the mail should be marked with the notation "Expedited Handling" on the envelope and in your cover letter. Certificates of Incorporation submitted via fax with the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form must specifically indicate the level of expedited processing requested.

Certified Copies
A certified copy of the filed Certificate of Incorporation may be obtained from the Department of State. A certified copy may be obtained by submitting a written request along with the Certificate of Incorporation, or at any time after the filing of the Certificate of Incorporation with the Department of State. The fee for each certified copy is $10.

Filing Receipt
The Department of State issues an official filing receipt to the filer of the Certificate of Incorporation. The filing receipt is mailed two business days after the Certificate of Incorporation is filed by the Department of State.
You may check on the status of a filed Certificate of Incorporation by accessing our Corporation and Business Entity Database on the Department of State’s website at www.dos.state.ny.us. The Corporation and Business Entity Database is normally current through the previous business day.

Please note that the filing receipt and certified copy, if requested, are sent by first class mail. The filing receipt and certified copy, if requested, are mailed separately. We do not provide these documents by fax. You may request that your filing receipt be returned to you by overnight delivery service by: (1) completing a shipping label from your overnight delivery service provider and mailing it to the Department of State with your Certificate of Incorporation; or (2) including a written request to return your filing receipt by overnight delivery service and providing your account number with the overnight delivery service provider; or (3) including a written request to return your filing receipt by overnight delivery service and a request to charge your credit card with the shipper for these charges. A separate request may be made for overnight delivery service for certified copies.
Contacting the Division of Corporations

If you require technical advice or have any questions regarding the filing of your Certificate of Incorporation, please contact the Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231. The telephone number of the Division of Corporations is (518) 473-2492. The Department of State’s website address is www.dos.state.ny.us. The email address is corporations@dos.state.ny.us.
1/07

PDF Download Information | Return to Corporations Homepage |
Contact and Ordering Info | Site Search | Services/Programs | DOS Accessibility Statement | Disclaimer
Corporate Fee Schedule NYS Department of State
Division of Corporations, State Records and UCC
Albany, NY 12231
(518) 473-2492
________________________________________
FILING UNDER THE BUSINESS CORPORATION LAW
(Organization tax on shares pursuant to Section 180 of the Tax Law, if applicable, not included)*
Incorporation (all corporations) $125*
Amendment or Restated 60*
Consolidation or Merger 60
Change §805-A(a) or §1309-A(b) 30
Change §805-A(b) or §1309-A(c) 5
Resignation for Receipt of Process 60
Dissolution 60
Reservation of Name or Extension or Cancellation of Reservation 20
Application for Authority (Foreign) 225
Application for Authority (Foreign Professional) 200
Surrender of Authority or Termination of Foreign Corporation 60
Resignation of Registered Agent 60
Biennial Statement/Biennial Statement Amendment 9
FILING UNDER THE NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION LAW
Incorporation 75
Amendment or Restated 30
Consolidation or Merger 30
Change 20
Dissolution 30
Reservation of Name or Extension or Cancellation of Reservation 10
Application for Authority 135
Surrender of Authority or Termination of Foreign Corporation 30
Resignation of Registered Agent 30
Type 30
Annulment of Dissolution, Reinstatement and Report of Corporate Existence 30
EXPEDITED HANDLING
All filings except Biennial Statement – per document
For processing within 2 hours 150
For processing the same day 75
For processing within 24 hours 25
All certificates under seal or all copies – per entity requested
For processing within 2 hours 150
For processing the same day 75
For processing within 24 hours 25
SERVING PROCESS
Corporation, Joint Stock Association, or Business Trust 40
Motor Vehicles, Boats, or Aircraft 10
Certificate as to Service of Process 25
CERTIFICATES ISSUED, ETC.
Certificates as to Documents on File, Status of Corporation, Etc. 25
Affixing the Great Seal of the State 10
Certified Copy 10
Uncertified Photocopy of Filed Document 5
AVAILABILITY OF NAME
Fee for each name submitted 5
________________________________________
Revised, June 2003

PDF Download Information | Return to Corporations Homepage |
Contact and Ordering Info | Site Search | Services/Programs | DOS Accessibility Statement | Disclaimer
Limited Liability Company
Fee Schedule NYS Department of State
Division of Corporations, State Records and UCC
Albany, NY 12231
: (518) 473-2492
FILING LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY CERTIFICATES
DOMESTIC
Articles of Organization $200
Reservation of Name 20
Certificate of Publication 50
Amendment to Articles of Organization 60
Certificate of Correction 60
Restated Articles of Organization 60
Certificate of Change §211-A(a) 30
Certificate of Change §211-A(b) 5
Biennial Statement 9
Resignation of Registered Agent 20
Judicial Dissolution 60
Articles of Dissolution 60
Certificate of Merger or Consolidation 60
Certificate of Conversion 200
Articles of Organization — Prof. Service 200
Resignation for Receipt of Process 10

FOREIGN
Application for Authority 250
Certificate of Publication 50
Amendment to Application for Authority 60
Certificate of Change §804-A(a) 30
Certificate of Change §804-A(b) 5
Surrender of Authority 60
Termination of Existence 60
Certificate of Merger or Consolidation 60
Application for Authority For. Prof. 200
Resignation for Receipt of Process 10
Biennial Statement 9
EXPEDITED HANDLING
All Filings Except Biennial Statement – Per Document
For Processing Within 2 Hours
150
For Processing the Same Day
75
For Processing Within 24 Hours
25
All Certificates Under Seal – Per Entity Requested
All Copies – Per Entity Requested
For Processing Within 2 Hours
150
For Processing the Same Day
75
For Processing Within 24 Hours
25
SERVING PROCESS
Limited Liability Company 40
Certificate as to Service of Process 25
CERTIFICATES ISSUED, ETC.
Certificates as to Documents on File, Status of Limited Liability Company 25
Affixing the Great Seal of the State 10
Certified Copy 10
Uncertified Photocopy of Filed Document 5
AVAILABILITY OF NAME
Fee for Each Name Submitted 5

PDF Download Information

Pitch

So you have a great idea for a start up and you want to try to get funding from an established venture capital firm. You have hired the private equity attorney who was referred to you by a trusted mentor as the go to private equity attorney on the Street, or Silicon Valley. And you think your mentor may be right, because low and behold, you have gotten the impossible hour long meeting with the private equity group.

Now you are a tangle of nerves. What are you going to do? The best advice I can give you is to spend some quality time working on your pitch. The way you pitch your idea to the venture capitalists, the more likely you will achieve success in getting them to fund your project.

Venture capitalists want to fund projects. They are looking for good deals. So know your product inside out. Ask all the what ifs before you go in for the pitch. Play devil's advocate with yourself and your partners. If you do have partners make sure everybody is on the same page and that they understand the product, market, channels of distribution, trouble shooting, etc.

The idea is to impress the venture capitalists so much that their enthusiam for your project gets the better of them. If you can't pitch the idea, you won't be able to convince and persuade the venture capitalist to take you on.

And the art of the pitch is applicable to scenarios that do not necessarily involve vc's. It could be a bank you are trying to persuade to give you a small business loan, or the SBA, or your uncle Mitch.

Or maybe you are pitching a potential client or customer. The rules are the same. Persuade, impress, and know your stuff inside and out. Make it so that their enthusiam for you and your project/product/services, gets the better of them and they have no other choice but to say YES.

Bootstrapping

You better believe you have to become a bootstrapping artist if your small business is going to survive. You have to learn to improvise, make things up as you go along, innovate, create and adapt.

One of the areas that will require the most bootstrapping is money (currency, capital, revenues, whatever you want to call it). For some small business people, raising money is as simple as getting a venture capitalist to fund their initial start up (and maybe even continue to pump money into the business as it progresses). But the trouble with venture capitalists is that they often own a big piece of the business and you can’t get rid of them. They often want to sit on the board, dictate business strategy, and otherwise tell you how to run the show. There is nothing wrong with this. It is just that for some small business people, it is not how they want to run their business. They want to call the shots.

Calling the shots, therefore, will mean bootstrapping. How can you raise money without a venture capitalist? Strong marketing, more sales, higher revenues? Tapping personal assets like retirement accounts and real estate? Leveraging? Selling the family jewelry? Getting a loan from the SBA (Small Business Association)? Operating in the red till it turns green? Whatever the plan, it’s called bootstrapping. Small businesses will have to do at least some of this, if not a lot, given the situation right now in the economy and with the banks.

Do you know that many entrepreneurs consider themselves bootstrappers? Look at Google. Sergey Brin and Larry Page did not use venture capitalists to fund Google. They bootstrapped. They economized, used equipment they already owned, tapped their credit cards for funds. They did not go to venture captitalists. Now look at them?

Other entrepreneurs bootstrapped by offering equity stakes in the company in lieu of having to come up with cash for products and services they needed in the start up phase of the business. But sometimes, when you are starting with "nothing," you don't have a choice. You either get a venture capitalist, or you find ways to bootrap.

The great thing about today's reality, is that you can start a business from any Starbucks. You don't need a fixed office for most types of businesses, so you can save a ton of money right there on overhead costs (one of the biggest expenses for startups). If you have a laptop and a cell phone, that is literally all you need. You can literally be sitting in the sculpture wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art while communicating with customers in Tel Aviv or Mumbai. That is bootstrapping right there at it's most glorious.

Action

Do. Don’t just sit there thinking. Don’t just sit there panicking. Do. Do something. Act. Take action. Many people think of starting a business. Or if they are in business they think of different ideas they want to implement to make their businesses better. But they never go beyond the initial thinking stage. They never take action. Therefore they never achieve the objectives they dream about achieving.

Success comes from doing. It comes from work. No one has ever achieved “success” by doing nothing. They achieve success from doing something. Therefore, as a small business owner, an entrepreneur, if you want to achieve something, the first thing you have to do is, do it. Just do it.

Ask whatever questions you need to. Go where you must. Be who are want to be. Just so long as in the final analysis you do. it.

Time

What time is it? If you could save time in a bottle, what’s the first thing you’d want to do?

As a small business owner, you may be thinking – and not totally unreasonably – that given the situation with the economy, it is time to make lemonade. And that if you could save time in a bottle, the first thing you’d want to do is take out the time when the economy was strong and small businesses were thriving, and you were making, hopefully, a truck load of cash.

But the times we live in these days, are posing a tremendous strain on most people’s pockets, no matter what the industry. We don’t even have to turn on the TV or log in to our P.C. to know it anymore. We can sense it in our REM sleep that something is terribly amiss.

What do we do, as small business owners, to, if not turn back time, use the time we have now and the resources we have now to our best advantage, and in such a way that when the tides turn, we will be well situated to capitalize on new opportunities? It’s hard to say. I think this will come down to the individual business owner and what his or her particular needs, strengths and weaknesses are, and his or her vision, mission and goals.

There is no question that it is time to live frugally. Like China,’s Mao Ze Dong advocated, it is time for guerilla warfare, time to live close to the land, and to capture the villages before the cities and really take things in smaller rather than larger chunks. It is time to “stretch our resources,” to saddle up and fight for our very existence not only as business people but as citizens of the world. It is time to reflect to see how we may have contributed to our own personal circumstances on a micro level, and to those of the world on a more macro level. It is time to assess whether we are using best practices, or whether the way we go about our every day – including our personal lives and of course, our business, is the best way to do things.

The one thing that is certain, is that time keeps moving on. It does not wait. It cannot be contained. Not in a bottle, not in anything. The current challenges that we face will either move with time, or remain with us in some capacity. But time will change. Time will surely change. This time that is now, will surely pass.

In the meantime, when life gives you lemons, what do you do? You make lemonade. Whether you are in the auto industry, the film industry, the legal profession, journalism, retail or art – whatever your industry as a small business owner, it is definitely time to cut those lemons and make yourself some lemonade. And may God be with you that there's a bit of sugar to neutralize the sour when you lift that chalice to your lips.

SEO

I was at a networking event tonight and I happened to bump into a guy who was talking with another guy. It turns out we had met sometime before. We got to talking about our little companies and in the course of the conversation, we started to talk about websites. "Do you have a website?" I asked. "No" he answered. I was actually surprised. "Why not?" I asked. "Because I don't want to promise more than I can deliver," he said. Now I was astounded. I couldn't believe he had such a lame reason for not having a website. But I did not press the issue. I said, "I hear you. Makes sense," and I smiled.

I don't see how any business person today can afford to not have a website. Especially since it is so inexpensive to set one up at places like register.com. Your website is literally your virtual office and business card. How can any serious business person not have one and use the excuse that they don't want to promise more than they can deliver as the reason for not having one?

It is probably a lot smarter to invest the money in the beginning in the site and have a professional design the site because you want it to serve your purposes, including getting indexed by the Google search engines. For that to happen, you need to have someone who is SEO literate and can competently handle the job of creating the site. If you need a recommendation, email me and I will give you a couple of places.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is really rocket science that only seriously smart technocrats can understand and master. It has something to do with scripts and meta tags and source codes and semantics and all kinds of obscure stuff that when put together, can manhandle Google's "algorithms" and get your top ranking in search results. You really need to get someone who knows what they are doing with this, because one wrong move and you and your website can find yourselves de-indexed by Google, and this obviously defeats the purpsose of having a site to begin with.

One key to SEO seems to be having fresh content on the site at all times. That means you have to go in an update the site on a daily basis, and make sure not to duplicate any entries, as Google's algorithms seems to frown upon this rather deeply.

And, obviousy, you don't want to promise what you can't deliver with your site. But better do that than not having a site at all. I don't see how any small business can be without one in this day and age.

Mao

What is this? Ask Peter Levenda, author of The Mao of Business. According to him, small businesses can learn a lot from China and Chinese business men who follow Mao Ze Dong's philosophies.

Mao Ze Dong was a guerilla leader in China who lead the Chinese people through the Chinese Revolution using guerilla warfare tactics such as:

1) Start in the villages before you go on to the cities. In other words, take problems in small chunks and after you master these little nuggets, then you can move on to bigger bites of the Snicker's Bar.

2)"Stay closer to the local environment." That is to say "focus on strengthening the home base." And value connections you have to those you are trying to convince of your project, services, business and ideas. Begin with the tribe you know, then expand your points of reference as you gain strength, experience and influence. That way you "avoid the pitfall of remaining an irregular/foreigner/outsider in a land that highly values insider connections." (This is called guanxi in Chinese culture.)

And there are a few more theories advocated by the author:

3)Be open-minded

4)Ask for advice when you need it.

5)Remember that people and not things are decisive.

6)Be respectful of the differences in others.

7)Treat equally situated people equally; try not to create a triage without good reason.

8) Set smaller attainable goals (don't try to be in too many markets too soon.)

9)Be courageous, and resourceful; and practice clear pragmatic thinking

10)Avoid ego, making stupid mistakes and believing your own propaganda

11) always think: hit and run when marketing your ideas

12) live off the land (don't waste or be greedy)

13)Have movable headquarters (be flexible)

Buzz

What’s buzzing? As a small biz today you have to know not only what’s buzzing (trends) but also how to generate buzz about their business, product, services or themselves. But how does a business owner even begin? It is a good question.

Maybe you can start by spending a day in Borders pouring through all of Seth Godin’s books. Then you might get online and start to dig deep into the belly of the internet, to see what the trends are and what the “young people” are doing to get themselves known, and sometimes rich.

Why do you need buzz? Because it is the way you "attract clients and customers, keep existing ones and recapture those who have gone elsewhere, generate leads, cultivate referrals, develop your image, promote name recognition, grow and expand your network anddate base, and increase bottom line."

The key to buzz these days seems to be figuring out the quickest and fastest way to go “viral.” Going viral means getting others to spread the word about you. Obviously, the fastest way to do that is to get online. It is the fastest and the cheapest (often free) and there are no boundaries as far as how far you can reach. The sky is literally the limit.

Specifically, social media is definitely the way to go. For starters, have you heard of the new trend called Twitter? Twitter and twit ads are the new hot way to create buzz for yourself and your company. You join up and upload your contact list and pretty soon, everybody can know exactly where you are at all times and exactly what you are doing at all times. So if you are running a business, and you just started a 25% off sale from products or services, giving your contacts a heads up on Twitter via email or text message is a way to generate buzz.

There are all these other social networks such as LinkedIn, Meetup, Flickr, Facebook, Youtube, Bebo, and a whole slew of others which you can find on Wikipedia.(If this link doesn't work just google wikipedia list of social networking websites.)

The thing is, these new technologies are not for the tech-illiterate. And unfortunately, most people north of 25 tend to be tech-challenged at least, if not downright tech-illiterate. This is a great disadvantage in terms of creating buzz for your company, product, services and business. I, too, am north of 25. So I can totally relate and commiserate. But you have to find a way to overcome that. You may never be a tech genius. But you have to have some level of competence with the new internet technologies if you and your business are going to be competitive.

Another way to generate buzz is to start a blog that answers and solves problems for others. But since there are millions if not billions of blogs out there, the small business owner will have to figure out a way to get traffic to their blog. This takes time, patience, and knowledge. So it is prudent to stay informed, keep content fresh, and to be accurate. Then as one person visits the blog and is happy with it, by word of mouth you may find that your audience grows. With some ingenuity, you can turn that into an even bigger audience if you combine it with the social media networks discussed above, and if you are really lucky, you can even start to monetize it too. (People have been known to sell their blogs, and to make a full time income just from blogging! All you have to do is familiarize yourself with Google Adsense, and other affiliates for sources of income such as - Kontera, PepperJam Network, Text Link Ads, Bidvertisers, private ad sales, Shoemoneytools and RSS ads. Don't ask me to elaborate on any of these because I'm still trying to figure them out. But I'm just saying the information is out there.)

Other ways to generate buzz is to give free seminars, write a newsletter, write a newspaper column, start a radio station (possible for about $40.00!) start an email list and get known by the media. There is no substitute for being the best in your field. That goes a long way to generating buzz too. Especially if the price is right.

Customers

Last night I met with a former client and his wife for dinner in the West Village. They had just gotten back from a wedding in Berlin, and were absolutely aglow with the self-satisfaction of jet-setters. We used the opportunity to not only chit chat and look at pictures, but also to discuss some possible business ventures too. He suggested that I might take a trip to Sotheby’s or Christies to observe how an art auction is conducted. (He is an antiques map dealer (check out his store) and both his wife and I are lawyers so there was a lot to talk about.) He feels that with the art industry tanking on account of the bad global economy it might not be a bad time to make a deal. He was being silly of course and is totally making fun of me. He knows fully well that paintings by Picasso, Degas and Gustave Caillebotte are not anywhere near within my conversational budget, never mind my fiscal one. But we had fun. It was a great evening.

I say all that to say that as a small business owner, you will find that many of your friends become clients and many of your clients become friends and with enough of these, you will find yourself creating a Tribe (see book by Seth Godin) of your own that could keep you in business for a very long time to come. Through referrals and recommendations, your tribe of clients, customers, friends and advisors will continue to grow and expand.

Initially with any startup business, finding a niche market and building a “tribe” is daunting. But recognizing that one of the ways to short circuit the job is to make friends of customers and customers of friends, will go a long way.

Goals

After work today, I decided to walk from Wall Street to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, all in the hope that by literally killing my feet, I could drop a couple of undesirable pounds. It was a big goal, a lofty ambition, especially given the fact that I was wearing rain boots that hugged my heels a little too tightly thus making long walks nothing short of torture.

I set out to accomplish my goal by dividing the trek into measurable chunks. I figured it this way: Wall Street to Canal: 30 minutes. Canal to Houston: 15 minutes. Houston to Union Square: 30 minutes. Union Square to the Barnes and Noble at 45th Street and 5th Avenue: 30 minutes. Barnes and Noble to Trump Tower: 15 minutes. Trump Tower to the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 82nd Street: 30 minutes. Grand total minutes to accomplish my goal: 2.5 hours. Amount of fat melted, 2 pounds. How hard could that be?

And, I would have made it if I hadn’t decided to stop in at Barnes and Noble to use the loo. By the time I walked back out two hours later, having sat down to read a couple of magazines and books, and eat two slices of coffee cake, and drink a tall chai, it was pitch black outside, and already 9:00 p.m. I wasn’t about to walk to 86th and Lexington via Central Park West, to catch the IRT back downtown now. I mean, it's a good neighborhood and everything, peopled by doormen opening and closing doors for their Christmas bonus, but I wuddn't gonna do it. My common sense told me it was time to head home.

But the coffee cake weighed heavily in my stomach. So that even if I could not fulfill my goal of walking to the Upper East Side, I had to work off the sugar. So I turned around and headed back downtown to Union Square where I caught the “L” train back to Brooklyn. It was probably the same amount of time, yet, I was quite bombed. How could I have allowed myself to fall so short of my goals? My goal was to walk to 86th and Lex!

Now that I am home tapping away on my computer (and hoping I can get this entry in before today turns into tomorrow), I realize that sometimes, even though we set goals, we have to allow ourselves some flexibility. As small business owners, the path to success is not necessarily linear. There are going to be curves and turns and start-overs. There are going to be lapses, and failures and disappointments and falls off the wagon too. The important thing is to not to let temporary set backs turn into permanent blocks.

Sure, the experts tell you that one of the first steps in achieving success is to write it down as a goal, and to write out your “flight plan” so that you can make sure that you know exactly where you are going and how long it is going to take you to get there. But many experts will also tell you that, every flight goes off course at some point during the trip, yet most flights arrive quite safely to their destination. So it is not about necessarily staying on the exact charted course that results in success. It is not about sticking to the goal without veering off from time to time to read a book or have a slice of chocolate cake, necessarily. It’s about the bigger picture really.

The goal is the end destination. How you get there is beside the point. Because if you think about it, I probably walked about the same distance by walking from 45th Street, to Union Square, as if I had walked from 45th Street to the Met.

And I lost exactly the same amout of weight, which is pretty much zero pounds.

So the point is, I shouldn't be feeling bombed that I did not accomplish my goal. What was the ultimate goal? To lose 2 pounds. Did I accomplish it? I might have if I hadn't eaten the coffee cake. But the fact that I veered off my path is not the reason I did not accomplish my goal. It was the darn cake. I did not accomplish my goal because I ate the darn cake.

Well, I can always get back on the wagon tomorrow.

Crisis

The housing crisis shows signs of slowing down, but it is still very much a huge crisis that is spreading around the globe. Even China is experiencing a housing crisis of its own.

What does the economic crisis mean for small businesses exactly? It appears that for many small businesses, it means tough times. For others, it could be a bonanza. Donald Trump is hardly a small business owner, but he seems to think that the crisis is full of opportunity for entrepreneurs. He gives seminars all over the country, including right here in New York (at swanky hotels like the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown)where super-energized real estate salesmen/investors try to sell small business owners and entrepreneurs on the idea in investing in distressed real estate. But it appears that exploiting these foreclosure deals is a very complicated scheme. No matter what Donald Trump's "professors" say. So investor beware.

At a time when many small business are finding it more difficult to obtain financing from traditional banks, it may strike some as counterintuitive, if not suicidal to get in on some of these schemes. And it could very well be. And obviously, if a small business is not in the business of real estate, but, rather, is a health food store, for example, the likelihood that such a person or entity could be persuaded to invest in distressed real estate is slim.

However, for those adventersome types, this crisis could be chock full of chocolate nuggets and opportunities to turn lemons into lemonade. You may want to sign up for one of Trump's classes - and maybe if you haven't yet formed your small business, this could be it - investing in distressed real estate. (By the way, when Trump purchsed 40 Wall Street, it was a foreclosure. He got it for $1 million. It is now worth over $400 million!)

At about $1,500.00 for a 3 day course, Trump's seminar sounds like a bargain - for what you could reportedly gain.

Obama

Obama pulled off a stunning and emotional win tonight to become the 44th President (elect) of the United States of America. The historical significance of his win cannot be over-stated. Many are jubilant in the streets of America, regardless of their color, national origin, orientation, religion or gender.

What will Obama mean for small business? Only time will tell, but if what he said during the campaign holds up, small business can expect less taxes (this will please Joe the Plumber), assistance with health care (this will please Hillary Clinton), and possibly increased funding opportunities. According to the Wall Street Journal, "SBA-Backed Loans have dried up and the substantial decline in Small Business Administration-backed lending is fueling criticism that the federal government isn't doing enough to help small businesses that are in dire need of cash." Surely, this will change with an Obama adminstration.

The President Elect has made it clear that if a business makes less than $250,000 that business will not get a tax increase. So small businesses should like that since only about 5% of small business generate revenues anywhere close to $250,000 per year.

The Obama administration will probably have one of the most developed green strategies of any president in recent memory. Big on his agenda seems to be the issue of alternative energies and reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil. This will also impact small businesses just like it will impact multinational corporations with global geopolitical influence.

Obama's style has been a conciliatory one throughout this campaign. If that continues, that is going to be very good for America and for America's small businesses. By working in a non-partisan way with the Congress, Obama will surely get more of his agendas (including those that pertain to small businesses) across than if he doesn't.

Obama supports young people and he supports education. Young people are one of the most experimental, innovative and business-minded demographic in the U.S. today. They are the computer geeks, the IT gods, the next Sergey and Larry. And Obama owes a big debt to young people in America. They voted for him resoundingly in this election. So Obama is likely to support more grants to assist these youthful friends, to support bills that are geared to assisting small businesses, to support educational and financial assistance for not only college bound students, but those young people who are involved in a trade as well.

As a community organizer, Obama is sure to know the power of transforming neighborhoods, and revitalizing towns by bringing new businesses to these areas. New businesses can mean jobs for the young, and the elderly too. New businesses can simply restore a sense of community to areas that are hit by the recession. An Obama administration is likely to do all in its power to support these community initiatives.

There are more ways in which an Obama Administration will impact small businesses. Overall, I would say he will be a net gain for small businesses in America.

Green

There’s all this “green” talk. But there has been no clarification or standardization of the term. The talk twitters across geopolitical borders, with even China trying to make the Green Leap Forward, a feat infinitely more difficult than it sounds. Many multi-national corporations across the globe have actually been busted for "greenwashing" - saying their products are green when they are not.

Everybody wants to be green but nobody seems to agree on exactly what that means. However, most in the business sector agree that there is such as thing as a “green strategy” for a business. Joel Makower, an author who stops at calling himself the authority on the science of carbon footprints, wrote a book called, Strategies for a Green Economy. He strongly advises all businesses to formulate and implement a green strategy into their best practices.

But first, what is “green”? What does that really mean? And then, why should a small business care about having a green strategy? If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that green is a “mash up” of climate change, global warming, renewable energy, pollution, toxic chemicals, food, the environment, the earth, toys, safe products, air, water, biodegradable recyclable ingredients, plastics, carbon foot prints, deodorant and everything to do with life, business, culture, and prosperity… Yes, I know. That was a lame answer.

The truth is, I don’t exactly know what the term “green” means. But I do know that all the experts like Markower seems to agree that a green business, including a green small business, is a less wasteful and polluting entity that, based on their business practices, “can reduce costs, risks, and liabilities by cleaning up their act” and as a result of these business practices, routinely experiences higher profits and enjoys an enhanced reputation, and higher customer satisfaction.

Even car makers are on the green planet. Honda and Toyota are competing to see who can make the most eco-friendly cars in the marketplace – cars that are smaller in size, guzzle less gas and curtails emissions. Homemakers are constantly on the look out for safer products to use in their homes, safer toys for their children, safer food to feed to their families.

So it is not just about cutting costs, but greening up opens up new highways for small businesses to travel as they search for innovative ideas to not only curb the harm that has already been done to the environment, but to create products and services that could possibly turn back time. Within this challenge, obviously, is the opportunity for heightened profitability with these economies of scale from cars, to bespoke, to eco friendly building materials, to light bulbs, to literally the engineering of devices that can stop the caps from melting, to non-toxic toys for our babies.

The Federal Trade Commission is very much aware and awake and involved with the green movement. As a small business owner, you better believe that the Federal Government will eventually standardize the term and lay out the ground rules for how businesses must conduct themselves in a new green world and economy.

Until then, a small business owner should understand fundamentally that his/her ability to sustain innovation as far as the quality and distribution of products and services that are perceived by consumers as sufficiently “green,” will, in the long run, determine the sustainability of that business.

But companies need to be careful as consumers are very savvy and are fully aware that they have often been duped by various industries such as the food industry and others who claim to be selling green products when in fact they are guilty of “greenwashing” – pretending that products are greener than they really are.

In the final analysis, whatever green is, be assured that this trend is not going away anytime soon, the federal government will eventually standardize the term, and force all businesses to comply to these standards. So make this eventuality a part of your planning from the start.

Ideas

Ideas are like belly buttons. Every body has them. The question is, what do you do with your ideas? As a small business owner, hopefully you find a way to take your ideas and turn them into a lucrative franchise, or, maybe even, the next Google. Think about it: Sergey Brin and Larry Page were a couple of geeks till they took their brilliant idea (I believe it started with them writing a thesis at Standford) for organizing the world’s information, and ran all the way to the billionaires club with it. Now they own their own boeing 767 and are both listed on the Forbes List of Billionaires.

What is the price of an idea? The beauty about it is that ideas are priceless. They cost you zero dollars but could make you a gazillion. All you have to do is think them up. How hard can that be?

Ideas can come to you from all sources, places and people. Ideas can come in your dreams, from your soap lather as you shower in the morning, from the glass of wine that loosened you up over dinner, from the clouds. You don’t have to be in any special place to get really good ideas. Ideas have no sense of timing. They pop up all the time, sometimes even when you are busy doing really important things, wink wink.

Different people, including quantum physicists have different ideas of where ideas come from. Jack Foster, author of How to Get Ideas suggests that each person can actually program themselves to be more “idea prone.” He seems to think there is a science to getting ideas to flow. Whether his theory is right or wrong, it is probably true that every body has at least one brilliant idea in their lifetime. Those who become millionaires or, in Bill Gates’ case, billionaires, just seem to know when and how and what to do with it.

There is not one small business or big business that did not start with an idea. Nothing in the entire universe – even the creation of the universe itself – started without an idea. The Big Bang was an idea. Something, somewhere, thought it up. Kentucky Fried Chicken was an idea. The P.C. was an idea, so was the light bulb, jogging shoes and Victoria's Secret underwear. Every book that was ever written and published began with an idea. Microsoft was an idea. So was Starbucks. Every fashion show in Milan and Paris starts with an idea. Vogue Magazine was somebody’s idea and it wasn’t Anna Wintour’s. The International Monetary Fund was somebody’s idea. Video games were somebody’s idea. New York Sports Club, Disney and Liposuction – all ideas.

Probably no other business is more filled with ideas than Hollywood. Hollywood is literally an idea tank. People with ideas gravitate to Hollywood more than they do to Silicon Valley. Hey, Steve Jobs would be lucky if he got half the ideas that floats around Hollywood in a given day. Putting Brad Pitt and Angelina in a movie together. Who’s idea was that? The movie industry has spawned many derivative industries and companies, from production companies, to PR outfits, Studios to Cinemas, to MTV - all of which depends on other people's ideas to keep going.

If you are stomped about what kind of business you want to start, or how to take your business to the next level, maybe you need to get in touch with your idea lobe, that side of the brain that does the thinking. The trick seems to be not to censor yourself and your ideas. It seems to be that the more you can allow yourself to become like a kid, the more likely you are to come up with something brilliant.

Politics

What, or who, is not impacted by politics? Arguably, even the wine you drink is a decanter of politics going down your throat, gulp by gulp. In his book, Wine Politics, Tyler Colman makes the argument that “government, environmentalists, mobsters and critics influence the wine we drink.” It should not come as a big surprise that the wine business is mired in politics. Wine making in the U.S. alone is a $25 billion dollar industry. Globally, the wine industry is in the region of $240 billion dollars with the Chinese market rallying hard for global dominance in a decade or so. That is why there are so many stakeholders. With the kind of cash flow involved, how could it ever be free from the influences of “politicians?”

Small businesses are not free from the influences of politicians either. Small business owners have to be very mindful of their politics, as a matter of fact. In making the argument that small businesses have to mind their politics, I am not really talking about who you will vote for in the next presidential elections, although, that is a part of it. After all, both Barack Obama and John McCain indicate that they have strong ideas of the roll small businesses will play in the economy, the extent to which they will be taxed, and the amount of federal aid they can expect in the years to come. In this context, a small business owner’s politics might be influenced by a candidate’s take on such things as taxes, immigration, healthcare, funding and other matters such as job creation and recession. So it is important to be active in that process, as to do so is a small business owner's way of protecting their interests.

But what I am really talking about with this blog entry is the politics of doing business – and the extent to which a small business practices good politics with customers/clients and prospects as a part of their strategy for growth and profitability.

What is meant by "practice good politics." Well, for one thing, a small business has to have good PR with clients and competitors. There is such a thing as bad publicity and bad PR when you are a small business. Depending on what the issue is, negative PR can actually destroy your business. That is why the small business owner may want to think about their political strategy as it relates to not only their customers, but also to the competitors, the media, and their environment.

A small business must understand how to attract and keep customers, what to say, how to present their products and services to optimize the number of positive responses and ultimately, the small business owner must understand the sheer dollars and cents that are generated by their politics. Is it a game? Yes.

Good politics involves leadership, likeability, customer service, product proliferation and availability, quality of services and products, strong social and economic networks, crisis management, cost benefit analysis, knowledge and information, sharing values, work ethic, pricing, proper exercise of power, accountability and transparency.

In a sense, every small business, even if it is a vineyard in Napa or Bordeaux that distributes 500 bottles per year, should think of itself as a spa. That's right. A spa. It should think of itself as the Ananda Spa in the Himalyas. Or better yet, the Pezula Spa in Knysna, South Africa. Have you been there? Me neither. But I hear it is a thesis in "business politics." Pezula is situated on the coast of the Indian Ocean between soaring cliffs and the Knysna Lagoon. I am told that it will surely demonstrate rather than explicate how small businesses practices good politics, why it is important to do so, and how profitable it can be.