PayCycle - America's #1 online payroll service

David Plouffe, Small Business and How You Can Market More Effectively

For anyone who followed the Presidential primaries last year, the name David Plouffe took on iconic status as the brains behind President Obama successful presidential campaign.  As a political junky, I followed closely not only Obama’s campaign’s use of social media and technology to reach the electorate, but also those of McCain and Palin.  Whether you are happy or not with the outcome of the election, you have to appreciate the innovation developed by David Plouffe to get Barack Obama elected President.

Next week, I will be attending the Warrillow Summit for small business marketers in Las Vegas.  This summit is an excellent place to learn best practices for marketing to small business and to network with other companies who serve small business.  This year’s keynote speaker is David Plouffe.  He will be sharing how he used the Internet, text, and mobile technologies to help Barack Obama win the election.  In this context, David will be sharing how other marketers can use some of the same tools to mobilize and energize their customers the same way the Obama campaign has.

As I wrote about earlier (See PayCycle blog), these social networks are very powerful tools for big and small businesses alike.  A recent article published by AdAge highlighted a local pizza restaurant that was able to get more business through Twitter and utilized strong tracking and measurement to clearly measure the results.  With the decline in traditional media (newspapers, TV, Yellow Pages etc), we will see more innovation in the use of social networks to drive real business results.

I will be sure to share what I learn next week.  If you have any good questions you would like me to ask David, pass them along.

Celebrating Small Businesses!

It is Small Business Week!  If you are a small business owner, or an employee of a small business, congratulations!  There are over 24 million small businesses in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau, and small business represents both the heart and the wallet of the US economy.  You have a lot of power, and here are some tips for maximizing and leveraging these strengths in the economy of 2009.  

Acquire New Talent

1)    For many small businesses, employees are their biggest asset.  It is an employer’s market right now, and because of large company downsizing, many capable people are available and in many cases, for a lower price.  Taking advantage of some of this top talent in either an employee or consultant role for your business can help you to grow in the long run.

Cut Costs

2)    Similarly, many firms that provide services to your business are probably looking for new customers.   This means that you can often negotiate a lower price for services you are already using by calling your vendors and speaking with them.  If you’ve been holding off on purchasing a needed item for your business, now may be the time.  You should also approach your landlord and your telephone company, to see whether you can reduce your rents and fees.

Get Involved

3)    Become involved in your local chapter of the Small Business Administration.  It provides excellent networking opportunities, resources, and assistance, much of it for free.  If you can, support small business by ordering your supplies and services from one.  This will help keep the community vibrant and connected.  You can find their website at www.sba.gov. 

 

Social Networking

 

4)    Social networking online is a thrifty way to market your business.  It is not just for teenagers.  You can reach a whole different market for your goods and services and you aren’t just limited to your geographical location for tips and advice.  Best of all, it is either cheap or free to set up an account and start connecting.  Some good places to start are LinkedIn, Twitter and FaceBook.  Be sure to add your customers as friends and seek testimonials from the ones who love you. 

 

Customer Service Excellence

 

5)    Customer service is critical.  In times of economic stress, people bond together and spend more time interacting with one another.  This high value on social relationships extends into the business space, as well, and people expect to be treated with friendliness, compassion and competency.  Evaluate your customer service by monitoring the service you provide, surveying or interviewing customers, and making it a company core value to serve your customers well.  This is one thing small businesses can really do better than the big boys, and it is an excellent way to distinguish your business. 

Stay tuned!  All this week, PayCycle will continue to post blogs that pursue the ideas above in more detail.  We are committed to small business success and we encourage you to take a few moments this week to celebrate your business and yourself.

What Twitter has to say about your company?

Today, I checked my Twitter account to see who I was following and who was following me.  I tweeted about an interesting article I read.   I used Tweet Deck to scan tweets from across Twitter, and finally, the Twittlelator on my iPhone notified me of some new tweet material that was very interesting.

Conversations like this are becoming common place.  But what value does all this Twitter noise mean for a consumer much less a small business owner?  Let me share with a few ways I have found Twitter to be valuable.

First, Twitter has a great search function.  I love the search function of Twitter.  Unlike Google where search delivers you paid advertisements or the best built web pages through organic search, Twitter delivers you the conversations people are having.  Since I am in the payroll business, I search on payroll and look what I get:

"I hate ADP, and so as i can change payroll companies, I am switching ugh" or "I hate the federal Gov't! My QB payroll service not working, had to manually find withholding tables on IRS site, it sucks!" 

Like a conversation at a party, I get to listen in and if I choose, engage in the conversation.  I am seeing more and more large and small companies inserting themselves into conversations like these to try and acquire customers.  With Twitter, you can engage a potential customer at the most relevant moment and potentially acquire a new customer.  If you find someone tweeting something you are not proud of about your brand, company, or product, you can instantly engage the person to address it and possibly save the customer from leaving and going to your competitor.

Twitter also enables you to create word of mouth with your customers.  By getting many people to follow you, you are creating a group of followers for your company to message.  Let your followers know about the latest product or feature you are selling.  If you have a recent press release, post it and provide the link so people can read more about your company.  Since many companies cannot afford to develop and post press releases, Twitter enables you to create your own and let people know about them.

At PayCycle we are fortunate to have great customers who are very satisfied with our service.  If that ever changes, with Twitter, I may be the first know. 

I think I will go post a Tweet via Tweet Deck about this blog.

Is your payroll service really online?

PayCycle is real online payroll, unlike most other payroll services which collect your data from a data entry form, re-enter it, and pretend they’re online.

Real online payroll means that no one else makes mistakes re-keying your data. Real online payroll means that your changes are immediately updated, and when you run a payroll seconds later those changes are already in place.

Real online payroll means that your paycheck calculations are done instantly. Real online payroll means you can always see the most up to date reports in your account, including the precise total cost of your last payday, which you did seconds ago.

Real online payroll means you don't have to call back 4 hours later for confirmation about "what happened" with your payroll.

Do you have real online payroll? You do if you're using PayCycle. Probably not if you're using someone else.

The Bicycle Commuter, Part III:

Stuff that can really improve your ride

The first post in this series discussed your brain and exercise, and how bicycle commuting makes for a smarter you and a more successful small business.

The second post looked at some simple steps that will help guarantee a fun, successful commuting experience.

This third post is about gear and gadgets that will help you stick with bicycle commuting over the long run. Keep in mind that a commuter bike is not about style points, the fastest speed and the lightest possible weight. It’s about functionality and safety in all kinds of weather.

Eighteen months ago, I climbed on an old mountain bike and rode it to work. I decided that I liked the experience, and I started doing it several times a week.  But pretty soon I began to feel the need for extra gear to accommodate night riding and adverse weather conditions.

Once you get into riding at dusk or night, you need lights for safety, to protect yourself from cars and other cyclists.  There are a lot of cheap headlights available, most of them junk that fail to illuminate the road in front of you and do little to make you visible to oncoming traffic (the number one job of a headlight). My advice is to spend a little more for a good light that will do a much better job of protecting you and last a long time.

For the front light, if you’re on a tight budget, go with the Planet Bike Beamer series (one example: http://www.rei.com/product/756359); it can be set to flash or project a steady beam, and you can pop it off and take it with you when you lock your bike. It does a better job of warning others of your arrival than it does of lighting up the road, but you will be able to see where you are going. If you can afford to spend more for a truly fantastic headlight that will transform your night riding experience, buy a Nite Rider MiNewt 2X LED Light (http://www.rei.com/product/758645) with its monster beam and plug-in rechargeable battery pack. No one will fail to see you coming, and it’s also easy to remove for protection.

For the rear light, the only way to go is the Planet Bike Super Flash Rear Bike Light (http://www.rei.com/product/756360). It’s awesome. It flashes “blip, blip, KA-BOOM!” over and over again, and it’s sure to get the attention of any drivers approaching from behind. It also slips right on and off for protection against theft.

Learn how to patch a tube, and carry tire irons, a small wrench if you don’t have quick release wheels, a patch kit, and an extra tube in a bag that attaches under your seat.  The Topeak Aero Wedge series includes 3 sizes of beautiful seat bags (http://www.rei.com/product/710406). Add a tiny multi-tool (http://www.rei.com/product/718804) to your seat bag so you can tighten anything that gets loose. Get a small pump that attaches to your frame; my favorite is the Topeak Pocket Master Blaster (http://www.rei.com/product/693421). Some day you’ll have a flat, and you can rescue yourself in 15 minutes or less if you can patch or replace a tube. Or you can walk home, or wait an hour for a friend to pick you up, and then you still have to fix your tire. I prefer self-rescue.

Next time: Some surprisingly useful additional gear, including my favorite (undiscovered) gadget of all time.