Inspired by the wonderful Becky McCray, with a healthy dose of Mike Michalowicz sprinkled in, I am launching what I hope will become a regular Friday afternoon feature here at All Business Answers.

I’m calling it the Publicity Post. It is all about you, dear reader.

Here is what you do. Write a comment below. Keep it to about a paragraph, but in that paragraph talk about your business. Include links. Promote, promote, promote.

Now, there are two tactics. You might write the same info every week. That is fine. Repetition is good. Or, you may want to talk about what’s new, link to a press release or share some news. Either way, please don’t be shy. It may take awhile before this gains traction, but I think it will be a good source for publicity. Also, every week, I will try to highlight a comment from the week before. You never know where your comment might lead, but for just a hint think feature story or even podcast interview right here at All Business Answers.

Not into self-promotion?? There is a third option. You can promote someone else. Talk about why they are great. Give them a shout out that they will appreciate.

Have fun!

Do you answer the phone yourself at your business? What do you do when you are on the job, or just too busy to answer the phone when it rings? Do you just let it go to voicemail?

You may not be ready to hire a receptionist. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need one. It is very important to answer the phone promptly and professionally. If your calls go to voicemail, there are two dangers.

First, maybe the person will not leave a voice mail. If they were calling  your business trying to get a quote or information, chances are good that they are calling around. If they do not leave a message, you have no way to get back to them. And if they get a good enough answer from another business, you have lost them entirely.

The other bad thing that happens with voicemail is that you forget to return the call quickly enough. As a small business owner, it is easy to get so wrapped up in your job that days go by before you know it. When you do finally get back to the caller, it might be too late.

If you can have a human answering your phone whenever it rings, or at least during normal business hours, you should. And here’s the thing, you do not have to hire a full time receptionist to do it.

There are a couple of ways to go about it. First, you can hire a virtual assistant. This person can answer the phone from their own office. You just need to set up a system to forward calls. Good systems allow you to control when to forward calls, and may even allow you to forward them after so many rings. This means you can set it up to answer the calls yourself when you are not too busy.

The second option is to hire a receptionist company. The great thing here is that they can answer the phone 24/7.  You simply need to set up scripts for the service to use. You can even set it up so they can answer basic questions and so they know when to forward the call directly to you or to take a message. These services can be very affordable. One I used in the past started at only $80 per month then a few cents per call.

With affordable options available, you really have no excuse to let your calls just go to voicemail. Start doing some research and find an alternative that will work well for your business as you grow.

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Hello, my name is Bradford Shimp. Check out my web design services at BroadRiverCreative.com.

photo credit: mangpages

Thanks to the fine folks over at FormSpring, I got my hands on a couple of copies of Start, Run & Grow Your Business, which is produced by Palo Alto Software. I am going to give them away to you. That’s right, it is your lucky day!

What is Start, Run & Grow Your Business?

This is a neat little package that includes over 40 tools for business. This package is especially for businesses in start up, but could be a good boost to any business (thus the Run and Grow part). Here are some of the things you will have access to with your copy of Start, Run & Grow Your Business:

• Get a web ready logo from LogoWorks. If you already have a logo, LogoWorks will provide free feedback on it.
• Free guide to how you should incorporate your business, plus a discount on incorporation services from The Company Corporation.
• Free year of web site domain registration form Network Solutions.
• Business planning advice and sample plans
• Business calculators
• A guide to starting your business
• Bookkeeping software from Outright
• One year subscription to Email Center Pro
• Powerpoint templates
• OpenOffice free office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office
• Time-tracking software
• Project management software
• Payroll guide
• Business tax basics
• One year subscription to Inc.
• Email marketing with Vertical Response
• Marketing videos by Duct Tape Marketing
• Instant Press Release software
• And more …. including additional discounts

This is a comprehensive package designed to help you with all sorts of aspects of your business. There are so many great goodies in here that it would be a good fit for almost anyone in the start up phase of running their business, or who is looking for tools to help grow their business.

So, if that is you, please follow the instructions below for your chance to win. And if that is not you, please do me a favor. Promote this to your followers, friends, and blog readers. I really want these packages to go to good use helping someone with their business.

About FormSpring

Formspring was kind enough to sponsor this give-away. FormSpring offers an easy way to collect and store data via online forms for your website. Check them out at FormSpring.com

Enter the Contest

There are two ways to enter this contest. For the more adventurous, you can leave a comment below. In the comment, give a brief synopsis of your start up or even your business dreams if you haven’t started yet. Please do include a link back to your website.

The second way is to sign up for our newsletter directly. To do that, you can click here. Please note that we will also sign up any commentators to this post for our newsletter, so you do not have to do both. Just sign up here if you are too shy and don’t want the publicity. Otherwise, make a comment below.

I will be announcing the winners next week, so don’t wait.

Have you ever patted yourself on the back for being a good at multi tasking? I have, plenty of times. But I am beginning to wonder if it is truly something to be proud of.

The fact is, multi tasking is often the wrong answer to the problem. The problem, of course, is that you have way too much to do. So you try to do it all at once.

For me, this typically means simultaneously checking my email, my Twitter feed, working on an article, doing research, and maybe sprinkling in some marketing work. The problem with this approach is that everything ends up taking longer. For instance, this post would take me maybe 4 or 5 times as long to write if I spend a minute on a couple of paragraphs and then check some email and then come back for a few more paragraphs.

The answer is simple. Instead of multi tasking, you should be micro focusing. This is not really that hard to do, even for multi tasking veterans like me (and you?). Micro focusing means spending time on just one thing and focusing on just that. Revolutionary, I know.

If you have a day that is full of tasks, do yourself a favor and separate those tasks out at the beginning of the day and give each a time limit. The time limit is very important. If you do not stick to it, your tasks will start to get muddled again and you will find yourself multi tasking. The more you plan your day out, the better. If you need some wiggle room, just plan in some miscellaneous time.

One thing that I found that really helped me to stick to this is to set a timer. I might give myself a half an hour to work on a blog post, for instance. When the timer goes off, time is up. If you find yourself constantly running out of time, it is because you haven’t been realistic about how long something is going to take you. Either that or you have been sneaking a look at Twitter again.

Give yourself a break and get more done by learning the power of micro focusing. You can still get the experience of multi tasking without all the downside. Simply move between tasks quickly. But while you are on any given task, give it your full attention.

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Hello, I am Bradford Shimp. I write this blog and run a web design and marketing company call Broad River Creative. Follow me on Twitter, but be sure not to check for my updates while you are working on something else.

photo credit: daveograve@

This post is part of a series on Success.

See more posts from this series. Get a Free Report on Success for Small Business.

If you want your business to become ever more successful and you want a team around you that is loyal and trustworthy, one of the best investments you can make is to further educate for your employees.

This could include helping with college bills, but it also encompasses a wide range of education opportunities including attending conferences, listening in on webinars, reading books and blogs, and more.

To educate employees is like reinvesting in a stock that offers you a great dividend and a long term upside. Yes, there is a chance that the stock will go south, and there is a chance an employee that you invest education dollars in will move on. But the potential reward is a loyal workforce that is committed to improving themselves and your business.

Here’s the thing. The business world is changing. These changes will have a bigger and bigger impact on your business. You can keep yourself and your employees up to date, or you can just hope that you will still be able to compete.

Kathi Elster, co-author of Working for You Isn’t Working for Me, offers this advice:

“Invest in educating your people – webinars, classes, books, guest speakers – this is the time to learn what is NEW and how that will impact your industry and your company.”

If you have employees, the great news is that you do not have to stay on top of changes all by yourself. By offering up education, you can recruit your workforce to help your business grow and continue to succeed, even in an ever-changing environment. Not investing in education will leave you far behind. If your sales rep still uses a Rolodex, it is time to upgrade. And it is far better and cheaper to upgrade through education than through firing and hiring.

Not only will a better educated workforce be able to do a better job, your business will also benefit from more engaged employees and a greater level of employee loyalty. Here is what Alan Vengel, author of 20 Minutes to a Top Performer, has to say about engaging employees to build loyalty.

“Take care of your people. These are the employees who have survived with you and helped your business stay afloat in the last 18 months. Most business owners and managers have been so focused on keeping the business going, and keeping revenue flowing, that they have forgotten to take the basic steps necessary to keep loyal employees motivated and engaged. Right now would be a great time for leaders and small business owners to begin to reengage their workforce with conversations about professional needs to improve engagement in the work and future personal development. The same people who helped sustain your business will be the people who grow your business as the economy improves. Businesses that focus on their people will be best for prepared for success in the future.”

The personal development of your employees is more important than you might think. You should seek to create a company full of specialists whose skills complement one another. By creating a culture of improvement, you will increase engagement and loyalty in current workers and be able to attract the best new hires.

Do you do anything now to encourage or help employees get further education? Training and personal development is a big key to success. You can start rather cheaply, even connecting employees with some free web resources. Pass on books that will be helpful to employees as they do their jobs. Of course, a commitment to company wide improvement means that you also need to be committed to your own self improvement and education.

What are you going to do about this?

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Hello, I’m Bradford Shimp. I am an education-junkie, and can’t begin to tell you how much my thirst for learning has helped me. You can connect with me on Facebook or Twitter.

photo credit: debaird™

Books in this article:

This is part two of a conversation with Phil Morley, of News Release Pro. In this part of the conversation, we talk about how to write a good news release and how to optimize it for search engine traffic. We also find out why news release is a better term for today’s world than press release.

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Call for Interviews: I am looking to interview business owners, authors, experts, and interesting people on a regular basis. If you would like to tell your story on this podcast, please contact me.

Credits: This podcast was recorded using Skype and Pamela. Thanks to Joe Magennis and Desiree Scales for technical advice. Music by Kevin MacLeod. Editing done with Audacity.

Bradford Shimp is the publisher of AllBizAnswers.com.

I don’t have an iPhone, but I do have the next best thing, an iPod Touch. It is a great tool that I keep by my side constantly. Well, every once in awhile the kids manage to borrow it to play some games. It is such a versatile tool that I suggest every business owner should get one (yes, even you Scott Blistein). If you are happy with your cell phone, just buy a Touch like I did.

The reason I suggest the iPhone is because it is so easy to use, and has so much versatility. One moment I can be playing Need For Speed and the next I can be writing a blog post, tracking my hours, or even viewing a spreadsheet.

If you are not familiar with how an iPhone works (and the Touch works the same exact way), everything is based around the Apps. Apple has designed a great piece of hardware with a large touch screen, but it is the Apps that really help make this a must-have tool for small businesses. That and a really easy to use touchscreen keyboard.

Apps are designed by third party software companies, and there are a ton of them. I recently reviewed BottomLine, a tracking app for cash businesses. Here are some more apps that are good for small businesses, suggested by TechStartUps.com, a website dedicated to news and information about to East Coast start-ups.

Here are some of their suggestions:

• Invoice2go. With this app you can create and email PDF invoices from customizable templates.
• Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite. The first full-featured Microsoft® Office productivity suite for iPhone or iPod touch with integrated access to multiple cloud services; MobileMe, Dropbox, Google® Docs, and Box.net directly from your iPhone or iPod touch.
• Business Card Reader. Import contact information right from a business card to your iPhone contacts.  Take a photo of the business card, check and correct the new contact info, and the new contact is added. This only works on iPhone, as the iPod Touch does not have a camera.
• SugarSync – Never be without a file when you need it. SugarSync gives you 24/7 access to all your PCs and Macs. View and share Word, Excel & PDF files, photos & more. Share entire photo albums quickly. No need to leave your computers turned on.
• HoursTracker – Track time spent on projects and view earnings, including different rates for different tasks. Clock in or out multiple times, add notes, and email reports.
• iSwipe Global Credit Card – Process major credit cards securely on your iPhone. iSwipe supports 18 currencies, with instant verification and fraud detection.
• Bento – Allows you to manage all your personal or business data in one intuitive application on iPhone. Organize your information using templates for easy tracking of contacts, projects, to-do items, customer information, and more.
• Pointer Remote for PowerPoint and Keynote – Turn your iPhone into a pointer for presentations and control PowerPoint 2008 or 2004 or Keynote ‘06/’08 presentations.

To this list, you could add a ton of great apps. Here are some of my personal favorites:

• ClockIn – A simple time tracking app with an export to Excel file option.
• Wordpress – I sometimes write posts right on my iPod. You can also check on and reply to comments.
• Gist – Gist.com is a powerful tool to manage all of your online relationships. The app brings the power of personal connection to the palm of your hand.
• Google. The Google app gives you access to all of your favorite Google tools, including Gmail, Reader, Calendar, Tasks, and News.
• Amazon Kindle – You can buy and read Kindle titles right on your iPhone. It is surprisingly easy to read on the iPhone, and you can zoom in if you need bigger words. And yes, you can take notes. Great way to read a business book when you are travelling, or in between things.

The iPhone or iPod Touch is a great tool for keeping connected, keeping track of things, and becoming more effective with your time. I know there is a big argument for some people against buying an iPhone because AT&T doesn’t offer good coverage. But this is so much more than a phone. It is a mini-computer that helps you stay on top of things, and maybe have a little fun from time to time as well. So go get yourself an iPhone or iPod Touch.

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Hello, I’m Bradford Shimp. I love my gadgets. You can learn more about me at BradfordShimp.com.

It always amazes me that, come election time, an incumbent politician can pretty much drop everything and run for re-election. It doesn’t matter if they are a senator, a govenor, or even the President of The United States of America.

What is even more interesting is that when they do drop everything to run, government doesn’t miss a beat. Everything goes on as normal.

Of course, this is possible because each politician is surrounded by teams of people who help get the job done. In fact, a politician’s job consists of shaking hands, casting vision, and making decisions.

As a small business owner, there is a lot that you can learn from a politician.

Get a Team Around You

First, form a great team. This team should be able to keep things humming without your involvement in every detail. Politicians are famous for avoiding the details. They don’t write their own speeches, they don’t do their own research. They rely on the quality of their team.

Cast the Vision

The next lesson is that it is your job to guide, not to do. Cast a vision for your business. Politicians have platforms. They bring in key people to help them develop and push their agenda. You need to set up the goals for your business and then find people who are passionate about achieving them.

Make Decisions

The third lesson is to make decisions. Politicians make a lot of decisions, some very publicly by casting a vote. As a business owner, most of your decisions are public as well. They effect employees and customers. If you are wishy-washy with your decision making, it is going to have a negative effect in your business. Look at politicians who make two contrary votes. They are ridiculed as wafflers.

In order to make good decisions that all work together to push your business in a certain direction, you simply need solid goals and a destination in mind for your business. For politicians, this is called ideology. Your business should have it’s own ideology.

Build Support

Finally, you need to know how to build support. Politicians are superstars of networking and building public support. For all the fancy new communication tools, politicians still shake a lot of hands.

For the business owner, it is important to communicate to employees, customers, and the public. Too many business owners are holed up in their offices. Get out there and interact. It will motivate employees. It will help you figure out how to better serve the customer. It will impress the public and pave the path for new customers.

We all can find some negative things to say about politicians, especially the ones we don’t agree with. But as small business owners, it turns out there is a lot you can learn from them.

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Hello, I’m Bradford Shimp. I’ve run for office (and failed miserably at it). What I love is small business. That is why I write this blog, and it is why I am building my business to help other small businesses. Follow me on Twitter.

This post is part of a series on Success. See more posts from this series. Get a Free Report on Success for Small Business.

Managing employees is one of the most difficult things for many small business owners. As owner, you have a lot of influence over their lives. One of the things that is heart-wrenching for most is to have to fire a good employee simply because there is not enough work. But it is also important to keep your business solvent so that you and everyone else keeps an income.

The trick is to not grow too fast when times are good, and to maximize your staff so they stay busy, even during the growing pains of your business.

In our free report, The Number One Thing You Can Do To Make Your Small Business More Successful in 2010, Randy Morris of Middlebury Inn offers this advice:

“Flexible staffing is a must. If you can cross-train your staff to perform multiple duties, you can alleviate costly overtime and retain employees. While many companies are reducing hours or laying off employees due to reduced workload, we are cross-training employees which helps to create a full work week for some while giving others the ability to take time away from work for illness related incidents while avoiding overtime to those who are filling in. The other reason we have found cross-training to work well is that business is booking at the last minute and it is critical to pull help from multiple sources and make scheduling adjustments on the fly. Only flexibility of staff can accomplish this.”

This is one of the strengths of a small business, where every employee knows each other and the owner can communicate the stakes. Cross-training not only helps you fill in holes, but it also makes employee (rightly) feel more essential. For the most part, people are okay with variety at work, and even welcome it.

Of course, this is easier for some businesses than for others. It might not work very well in a hospital, for instance. But for most small businesses with a small staff, cross-training can be the answer for handling growth wisely. The alternative is to hire help when you are in a pinch and flush with cash, only to have to let them go when the growth stops.

By investing your time into your current employees and finding ways to keep them busy, and thus keep them essential, you can save money and save jobs. And that is an idea everyone can get behind.

If you do it right, you will also build a stronger culture at your company, one where everyone is happy to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. No longer will one employee have to stay late because she is the only one who is trained on a certain task. Employees can better help each other, fill in for one another, and keep your business going strong when they have a broader base of skills to work from.

So, instead of hiring a part time employee, see if you can pull from your current resources. If you can, you will be taking steps toward a more sound company, even when times get tough.

What are some ways you can cross-train your current staff?

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Hello, I’m Bradford Shimp. I am a big fan of Johnny Cash. So is my wife, which is pretty cool since she didn’t listen to any Cash before we were married. Some things just work out like that. I also have a passion for helping small businesses succeed. I do it here by providing my best advice and over at BroadRiverCreative.com where I build websites specifically designed to work for small businesses. The best place to interact with me is on Twitter, or in the comments section below.

Since I quit my job and started working from home, my life has been a blur. Each and every day is filled with interesting things, and I am always able to keep busy.

But I am finding that is not good enough. I am trying to build a business, and in a lot of ways busy is my enemy.

Things are usually a blur because there is a lack of focus. Early on, I wasn’t even sure of what business I wanted to start. When I decided to focus on web design and marketing, everything became more clear. But not clear enough.

Even though I now knew how I wanted to make my money, I still spent way too much time in my day pursuing other interests. If I was really going to build a business, I was going to have to make a change.

Here is what I have come up with, with the help of my business coach. Every day, I am scheduling my precious morning time to work on the business. Right now that means prospecting and marketing. Then I’ll devote the afternoon to client work, with a little time in between to work on personal development.

Here is what I won’t be doing. I won’t spend time exploring new things. I won’t be playing at the edges of new projects. For the next three months anyway, I will be focusing on building Broad River Creative and will push off things that don’t meet that goal until a later time.

And what about the blog? Well, this blog is an important part of my strategy for growing my network and business. Plus I just plain love it! So I will keep this going strong.

I used to spend a couple hours every morning working on the day’s post. I have made a change there. I am now writing articles at different times of the day, on weekends, and often in batches.

Since I have started to focus on the business, I am actually finding more time to write. Before I would fill up time with being busy in a frantic effort to improve my business or research different ways I could make money. Now that I have focus, I have more time to do the things that I consider essential. I have to say no to a lot of things, but that is okay.

Now each day is going to be about accomplishing specific goals. I’m sure that I haven’t completely defeated blur, but I am well on my way to being more focused and more effective.

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Hello, I’m Bradford Shimp, and this is my story. I am an entrepreneur who has made the leap from job to starting my own business. Join me in my journey as I learn how to run my own business and find that place where theory meets application.

photo credit: steepways