Article by JULIA L. ROGERS, AOL SMALL BUSINESS, Posted: 2010-04-27
Small businesses contribute 50% of the Gross Domestic Product
Small businesses with less than 50 employees responsible for 33% of new job creation
National Federation of Independent Business Organization has a monthly small business optimism index:
Current 86.8 – 18th month below the 90 value
The trend continues down since the index fell 1.2 points last month
1981 Recession – index dipped below 90 for only 3 consecutive months
Many small businesses are builders and developers – in 2008, it was estimated that there were around 1,000,000 builders which are either out of business or have scaled back considerably. As you know, I consider the housing industry to be the leader into and out of a recession. Large companies seem to be improving but not small businesses and not home building. In the home building industry, the large national builders have been gaining market share for years.
As we bounce along the bottom of the recession, is this the start of a paradigm shift in the building industry? Especially when “too big to fail” has been the basis in which public policy is being molded. The positive economic news is good to hear.
But, what about assisting small businesses succeed since their contribution to the economic recovery is significant? Will the army of small volume builders disappear?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Charlotte, NC Real Estate Snapshot – March 2010
Source: Carolina MLS per price range
Closed Units Price Range Active Listed Units
675 < 120K 5,553
290 120K - 150K 3,192
277 150K - 190K 3,604
256 190K - 250K 3,825
184 250K - 350k 3,578
113 350K - 500K 2,717
89 500K – 1M 2,294
16 $1million+ 773
1,900 TOTAL 25,536
Remember, the federal tax credit expired at the end of April and units must close by the end of June. I will provide update statistics late this summer to appreciate differences and trends. The supply has stayed relatively constant and the absorption rate remains lackluster. How does your market compare?
Closed Units Price Range Active Listed Units
675 < 120K 5,553
290 120K - 150K 3,192
277 150K - 190K 3,604
256 190K - 250K 3,825
184 250K - 350k 3,578
113 350K - 500K 2,717
89 500K – 1M 2,294
16 $1million+ 773
1,900 TOTAL 25,536
Remember, the federal tax credit expired at the end of April and units must close by the end of June. I will provide update statistics late this summer to appreciate differences and trends. The supply has stayed relatively constant and the absorption rate remains lackluster. How does your market compare?
Friday, May 7, 2010
You may want to use these Twitter Tools?
Bird Feeder use targeted criteria to locate other users
Twello search public accounts to locate other users
Future Tweets schedule tweets to be sent at a later time
Tweepler save followers in categories
Twibs search for businesses on Twitter
Grouptweet send a message to your contact list
Tinyurl shortens long URL’s and saves for use
I have used tinyurl and it is convenient to use in social networking. I would recommend this approach and it is free. I have not used the other tools but several seem to be worth the effort to learn. If you should know of any other tools, please post for others to consider.
Twello search public accounts to locate other users
Future Tweets schedule tweets to be sent at a later time
Tweepler save followers in categories
Twibs search for businesses on Twitter
Grouptweet send a message to your contact list
Tinyurl shortens long URL’s and saves for use
I have used tinyurl and it is convenient to use in social networking. I would recommend this approach and it is free. I have not used the other tools but several seem to be worth the effort to learn. If you should know of any other tools, please post for others to consider.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business
Posted by Lacie Moore on January 31, 2010 in “How to use Facebook”
Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers. Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business.
1. Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.
2. Establish a business account if you don’t already have one.
3. Stay out of trouble by reading the Facebook rules regarding business accounts.
4. Install appropriate applications to integrate feeds from your blog and other social media accounts into your Facebook profile. (Although you should be careful before integrating your Twitter feed into your Faceboook profile, as a stream of tweets can seem overwhelming to your contacts.)
5. Keep any personal parts of your profile private through Settings.
6. Create friends lists such as “Work,” “Family” and “Limited Profile” for finer-grained control over your profile privacy.
7. Post a professional or business casual photo of yourself to reinforce your brand.
8. Limit business contacts’ access to personal photos.
9. Post your newsletter subscription information and archives somewhere in your profile.
10. Connect and share with others Obtain a Facebook vanity URL so that people can find you easily.
11. Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.
12. Post business updates on your wall. Focus on business activities, such as “Working with ABC Company on web site redesign.”
13. Share useful articles and links to presentation and valuable resources that interest customers and prospects on your wall, to establish credibility.
14. Combine Facebook with other social media tools like Twitter. For example, when someone asks question on Twitter, you can respond in detail in a blog post and link to it from Facebook.
15. Before traveling, check contacts locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.
16. Research prospects before meeting or contacting them.
17. Upload your contacts from your email client to find more connections.
18. Use Find Friends for suggestions of other people you may know to expand your network even further.
19. Look for mutual contacts on your contacts’ friends lists.
20. Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.
21. Market your products by posting discounts and package deals.
22. Share survey or research data to gain credibility.
23. Use Facebook Connect to add social networking features to your web site.
24. Suggest Friends to clients and colleagues — by helping them, you establish trust.
25. Buy Facebook ads to target your exact audience.
26. Read up on Facebook Beacon to see if it might be useful for you.
27. Use Network, Group and Fan Pages Start a group or fan page for product, brand or business. Unless you or your business is already a household name, a group is usually the better choice.
28. Add basic information to the group or fan page such as links to company site, newsletter subscription information and newsletter archives.
29. Post upcoming events including webinars, conferences and other programs where you or someone from your company will be present.
30. Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.
31. Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your business.
32. Use search to find groups and fan pages related to your business by industry, location and career.
Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers. Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business.
1. Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.
2. Establish a business account if you don’t already have one.
3. Stay out of trouble by reading the Facebook rules regarding business accounts.
4. Install appropriate applications to integrate feeds from your blog and other social media accounts into your Facebook profile. (Although you should be careful before integrating your Twitter feed into your Faceboook profile, as a stream of tweets can seem overwhelming to your contacts.)
5. Keep any personal parts of your profile private through Settings.
6. Create friends lists such as “Work,” “Family” and “Limited Profile” for finer-grained control over your profile privacy.
7. Post a professional or business casual photo of yourself to reinforce your brand.
8. Limit business contacts’ access to personal photos.
9. Post your newsletter subscription information and archives somewhere in your profile.
10. Connect and share with others Obtain a Facebook vanity URL so that people can find you easily.
11. Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.
12. Post business updates on your wall. Focus on business activities, such as “Working with ABC Company on web site redesign.”
13. Share useful articles and links to presentation and valuable resources that interest customers and prospects on your wall, to establish credibility.
14. Combine Facebook with other social media tools like Twitter. For example, when someone asks question on Twitter, you can respond in detail in a blog post and link to it from Facebook.
15. Before traveling, check contacts locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.
16. Research prospects before meeting or contacting them.
17. Upload your contacts from your email client to find more connections.
18. Use Find Friends for suggestions of other people you may know to expand your network even further.
19. Look for mutual contacts on your contacts’ friends lists.
20. Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.
21. Market your products by posting discounts and package deals.
22. Share survey or research data to gain credibility.
23. Use Facebook Connect to add social networking features to your web site.
24. Suggest Friends to clients and colleagues — by helping them, you establish trust.
25. Buy Facebook ads to target your exact audience.
26. Read up on Facebook Beacon to see if it might be useful for you.
27. Use Network, Group and Fan Pages Start a group or fan page for product, brand or business. Unless you or your business is already a household name, a group is usually the better choice.
28. Add basic information to the group or fan page such as links to company site, newsletter subscription information and newsletter archives.
29. Post upcoming events including webinars, conferences and other programs where you or someone from your company will be present.
30. Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.
31. Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your business.
32. Use search to find groups and fan pages related to your business by industry, location and career.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Start Your e-Newsletter
Steven D. Strauss is one of the country's leading small business experts. The senior USATODAY.com small business columnist and he recently interviewed Eric Groves, the senior VP of worldwide development for Constant Contact.
Constant Contact has perfected relationship marketing and assists small businesses with e-mails, e-newsletters, and other online marketing tools.
Steven Strauss cites “according to Groves, the real secret to connecting online is to create content that engages your audience, that helps them solve problems, and that is interesting and useful.
And, he says, by offering that content as part of a consistent e-newsletter, you not only get permission from your customers to check in with them regularly, but also, they often end up forwarding the e-newsletter on to their network so that you also get some free word-of-mouth advertising.
As Groves says, the important thing is to offer content that people like. Usually, the best
e-newsletter content offers ideas that help the reader.
The actual process of creating your e-newsletter is fairly straight-forward:
- Come up with a great name.
For instance, their free e-newsletter is called Small Business Success Secrets!
- Create your content: You don't have to be a great writer, but you do have to offer something of value. Draft some short articles that both shares your expertise and which you think your customers would find interesting.
- Get them to opt-in: Have a link on your homepage where people can sign up by giving you their email address.
- Create a template: The easiest way to draft and send an e-newsletter is by having a great provider. What you want is a service, i.e. Constant Contact that will give you customizable templates, easy to use tools, database management, the ability to track open rates, and the like.
- Blast it!”
The above was copied from the article by Steven Stauss. You may want to consider an
e-newsletter blasted to your sphere of influence on a regular basis. This would be especially effective with your LinkedIn contact list. Although Constant Contact is selling a service, an e-newsletter idea has merit which can easily be managed once the template has been created. Using current software, this networking tool can be managed without the need for a service group.
Constant Contact has perfected relationship marketing and assists small businesses with e-mails, e-newsletters, and other online marketing tools.
Steven Strauss cites “according to Groves, the real secret to connecting online is to create content that engages your audience, that helps them solve problems, and that is interesting and useful.
And, he says, by offering that content as part of a consistent e-newsletter, you not only get permission from your customers to check in with them regularly, but also, they often end up forwarding the e-newsletter on to their network so that you also get some free word-of-mouth advertising.
As Groves says, the important thing is to offer content that people like. Usually, the best
e-newsletter content offers ideas that help the reader.
The actual process of creating your e-newsletter is fairly straight-forward:
- Come up with a great name.
For instance, their free e-newsletter is called Small Business Success Secrets!
- Create your content: You don't have to be a great writer, but you do have to offer something of value. Draft some short articles that both shares your expertise and which you think your customers would find interesting.
- Get them to opt-in: Have a link on your homepage where people can sign up by giving you their email address.
- Create a template: The easiest way to draft and send an e-newsletter is by having a great provider. What you want is a service, i.e. Constant Contact that will give you customizable templates, easy to use tools, database management, the ability to track open rates, and the like.
- Blast it!”
The above was copied from the article by Steven Stauss. You may want to consider an
e-newsletter blasted to your sphere of influence on a regular basis. This would be especially effective with your LinkedIn contact list. Although Constant Contact is selling a service, an e-newsletter idea has merit which can easily be managed once the template has been created. Using current software, this networking tool can be managed without the need for a service group.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Another Alarming Housing Statistic
Real Time Economics is a Wall Street journal blog on economic insight and analysis. On April 24th, the WSJ Blog outlined housing an inventory problem which is very alarming when combined with other factors. Their insight identifies a serious concern compounded by high unemployment. In my opinion, “bubble” prices only become a problem if someone has to sell their home.
In the article written by Mark Whitehouse, the following statistics were highlighted:
As of March 2010, banks had an inventory of approx. 1,100,000 foreclosed homes.
About 4,800,000 mortgage holders were at least 60 days behind on their payments or in the foreclosure process
Based upon the sales pace of foreclosed homes, it would take 103 months for banks to work through the inventory.
Without new jobs being created, an increase in foreclosures could be expected. Also, banks may increase the sales rate of foreclosed homes by lowering prices which will impact appraisals. For those families with jobs but have decided to move, the appraisals will affect the sales price of their home – the vicious cycle continues.
A legitimate question would be “how to you stop this vicious cycle?” The answer is JOBS. However, I would not expect the housing sector adding jobs anytime soon.
In the article written by Mark Whitehouse, the following statistics were highlighted:
As of March 2010, banks had an inventory of approx. 1,100,000 foreclosed homes.
About 4,800,000 mortgage holders were at least 60 days behind on their payments or in the foreclosure process
Based upon the sales pace of foreclosed homes, it would take 103 months for banks to work through the inventory.
Without new jobs being created, an increase in foreclosures could be expected. Also, banks may increase the sales rate of foreclosed homes by lowering prices which will impact appraisals. For those families with jobs but have decided to move, the appraisals will affect the sales price of their home – the vicious cycle continues.
A legitimate question would be “how to you stop this vicious cycle?” The answer is JOBS. However, I would not expect the housing sector adding jobs anytime soon.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Bernanke: Budget Deficits May Push Interest Rates Higher
Posted May 1st 2010 4:40PM by Connie Madon
Filed under: Market Matters, Economic Data, Federal Reserve
“It's an age-old dilemma. Congress loves to spend taxpayer money. The problem is that Congress is spending money that they don't have, racking up huge budget deficits.
Chairman Bernanke warned that high budget deficits could cause interest rates to rise and derail the economic recovery. The White House estimates that the U.S. budget deficit could reach $5.1 trillion over the next five years. This year, the deficit could set a record of $1.6 trillion.”
My editorial comments:
How could interest rates NOT go up? And, Why NOT stop spending?
The real estate industry will be further impacted – this is a vicious cycle only to be broken by constrained government spending. I think investing in hard hats is a good move because it will be a bumpy ride in 2010. Plan accordingly.
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