I’d like to start out this Monday morning by recommending a great book that I had the pleasure of reading this past weekend. Those who know me personally can attest to the fact that I am rarely without some sort of business book or entrepreneurial reference. With that said, it’s refreshing when you hit upon that rare gem that’s packed full of useful insights, interesting real-life entrepreneurial experiences, and business advice that you can actually put into motion.  Small Business, Big Vision by Adam Toren and Matthew Toren was one of these rare gems.  I couldn’t bring myself to put it down all weekend, and this Monday morning I’m better off.

I’m a fan of the quick tips I find in Inc and Entrepreneur Magazine.  I also find an immense amount of value in the real-life stories and business advice I find on websites like YoungEntrepreneur.com. However, there’s nothing like a great book that helps to support your business vision and alter your perspective for the better. When I happen upon something so valuable, I want to tell all of my other business friends about it too.

The Best Business Books Stay With You

In recent memory, a few books stand out to me as game- changers.  I’m in the marketing and social media business, so it’s no surprise that Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It had a positive impact on the way I thought about social media for business in a time when even my clients weren’t really sure what to think about it.  I remember that during the beginning stages of building my business I would call on prospective clients and they would say, “What’s Twitter?”  Gary believed in the power of social media for businesses from the very start, and it was very motivating in the beginning to know that even one other person in the world shared my vision.

Another game-changing book for me was REWORK by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37 Signals, and the developers of the popular Project Management System, Basecamp. I could not begin to express all of the helpful insights that I took away from this book. I constantly find myself considering, “What would 37 Signals Do?” when faced with decisions to hire new employees, approach clients, adjust sales strategy, alter pricing structure and so on.

If you enjoyed Rework and Crush It, you’ll love Small Business, Big Vision.

Well, this weekend, I get to add another book to my recommendation list: Small Business, Big Vision by brothers, Adam Toren and Matthew Toren.  The Toren brothers have had a long line of entrepreneurial ventures, but I personally became familiar with them through their online community for entrepreneurs, YoungEntrepreneur.com. What I love about this book is that it’s not like so many of the run of the mill business books out there.  The Toren’s have a history of starting businesses from the ground up as well as taking failing businesses and turning them around. They’ve admittedly collected great advice from mentors along the way and have networked with some of the most successful and inspiring entrepreneurs that are captivating the business world today.

Small Business, Big Vision focuses on exactly that, the Big Vision.

All entrepreneurs weigh the high risk and high work of entrepreneurship with a vision for their goal.  That vision is what motivates we entrepreneurs to take yet another step when it feels like nothing is going the way we want it to. This book is full of amazing stories from successful business men and women who have set themselves apart in their industries.  It also gives insight on everything from writing a business plan to hiring employees, and using social media for business.

If you’re an entrepreneur (with a vision), this is the type of book that you won’t want to put down once you start reading it. The information is organized in a way that it will be continually useful to reference down the road as I need some insight on each particular topic.

In the spirit of giving back, this recommendation is my gift to all of my entrepreneur friends and readers.

Small Business, Big Vision, Great Book

Buy the Book: Small Business, Big Vision
Join the Facebook Page: Small Business, Big Vision

Lastly, thanks to Adam and Matthew Toren for taking the time to publish this book.

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An article on Mashable.com shared a couple of apps:

Lutron Home Control iPad app ($19.99) Lutron’s RadioRA 2 or HomeWorks QS control systems installed can monitor their systems while away from home, control multiple systems, adjust energy-saving preferences, modify time clock functionalities and edit presets. The app is basically a remote control for a user’s lights, window shades, temperature thermostats and appliances.

SmartNotes ($11.99) enables the company to import and notate scanned documents; capture data (over 50 pages of handwritten notes for an average audit); create charts, tables and diagrams; highlight important notes with the highlighter feature; tag data needing further clarification and export notes for e-mailing to clients as one handy file.

Mashable.com also mentions that you can use your iPad for presentations and sharing portfolios, articles, and images.  Instead of using handouts and brochures, companies can use iPads to showcase presentations, designs, maps and portfolios to clients.

I did a little research of my own and found a few apps:

• Off Remote ($2.99) gives you access from your iPad to shut your computer off, or put it onto sleep mode. There shouldn’t be a reason to waste energy by leaving them on overnight – simply reboot when you get in the office in the morning!

• Control4 (Free app with a $99 activation fee) is a business, and home, package that will monitor and automate electricity usage. From lighting, to air conditioning, Control4 will decrease energy use and maximize efficiency. The Control4 app gives the user access to every light, thermostat and appliance in the home or office.

There are also many newspaper and magazine apps (too many to list them all). You can use these apps on your iPad to get your daily dose of local or worldly news without wasting paper. You can read the newspaper via your iPad and even bookmark articles to come back to later!

• NY Times: Free
• USA Today: Free
• Digital Post: $2.99

With all that said, I am certainly not saying that you should run out and buy an iPad to be an environmentally friendly business, but it you have one, these apps may be worth checking out.

Are there any iPad apps not mentioned that your company uses to be lessen your carbon footprint?

What is a Sponsored Story?

For example (taken from Involver story by Tyler Willis):

Let’s say you check in at a Starbucks; some of your 130 friends will see that. In most cases, the ones who see it will be the people who interact with you most frequently. If the update is popular and generates a large number of likes and comments, a higher percentage of your friends will see it.

Facebook’s new ad product allows Starbucks to pay for that same message being distributed inside of an ad unit to all of your 130 friends. The goal is to provide wider distribution and visibility to the updates and actions that you’ve taken, and allow that to hopefully influence your friends.

Some will definitely argue this treads on the line of privacy. However, sponsored stores are only status updates that would have shown up in the status feed already.  If someone has not been confirmed as a friend by you, they will not see your featured story.   At this point there is no way to opt-out of Sponsored Stories. One thing to remember about Facebook privacy and the new ads; the user posted the information publicly in the first place. The company paying for the ad is simply redistributing the thread in advertisement form.

We all know that word-of-mouth marketing is most effective, so this type of ad should encourage a higher click-through ratio (CTR) than the standard ads.  Personally, I think this new feature will add a little more personality to the Facebook landscape. The Sponsored Stories ads will give more credibility to the brands using them.  I would be more likely to visit a company’s Facebook page and get engaged if I saw my friends generating that sort of buzz.

What are your thoughts on this new Facebook feature?

Showcase Your Latest Photos

The most recent photos that you post to your Wall or photos that you tag your Page in will appear here. This area will not include any photos posted by your fans.

Navigation Where People Expect It

Navigation links are now on the left, just like on people’s profiles.

Show the Top Posts on Your Wall

You now have two Wall filters. You can show posts by your page and top posts from Everyone, a new way for people to see the most interesting stories first. As an admin, you’ll have additional filters for viewing posts on your page.

To set a default filter for your Wall, go to Edit Page.

Use Facebook as Your Page

• You now have the flexibility to interact with the other areas of Facebook as a page.
• Get notifications when fans interact with your page or posts
• See activity from the pages you like in your news feed
• Like other pages and feature them on your page
• Make comments as your page on other pages
• To try this new feature, you can click the link here or go to Account above and select Use Facebook as Page.

New settings

You can set defaults for your email notifications and how you post to your page – as yourself or your page. You can also select which featured pages appear in the left column.

To manage your settings for email and posting preferences, go to Edit Page and Your Settings. To select which pages appear in Favorite Pages, go to Edit Page and Featured.

There was an article on Inc.com last week that explains “How to Best Utilize the New Foursquare for Business.” Here is an overview:

• New Foursquare for business is very user friendly (easy for businesses to set up and includes new step by step instructions).

• Businesses have access to who’s checking in (male vs female, age range, time of day, etc).

• Businesses can not only claim their page, they can create their own badges (To create a badge, there is a nominal fee depending on your business, otherwise Foursquare is a free service).

• It costs more to acquire a new customer than to keep your current customers loyal.  By remembering your customers, their favorite drink, their name, they are more likely to return – which is why it may be beneficial for the majority of businesses to use Foursquare regularly.

Tristan Walker, Foursquare’s director of business development says, “For merchants, there are two things that really matter: acquisition and retention,” he says. ” And really I think the goal for us, and we’ve said this from the beginning, is to bring back the nostalgic, remember-your-name kind of loyalty that consumers still want. We want to redefine what loyalty means at a retailer, merchant, or even to a brand, because that makes a difference.”

• Foursquare is experimenting with their badge system to be able to track the time of day customers are visiting their establishment.

For example, Walker says, “if you workout in the morning you might get orange juice and oatmeal [badge], or in the afternoon a Gatorade [badge]“.

• Businesses without a physical location can claim a page and allow customers to check-in; many have already done this (for example, MTV and Bravo TV).

Overall Foursquare hasn’t changed much but is working on more updates.  The two main changes, which I mentioned above:

• More user friendly for businesses to setup.
• Businesses can create their own badges.

Check out Inc’s full analysis of the new Foursquare system, check it out here:
How To Use The New Foursquare For Business.

Start a Facebook Page!!!!

Sidenote: if this was on your list for 2009 or 2010, congrats for being on top of your game.

Why is Facebook a worthwhile time investment?

• As of January 2010, Facebook has 600 million+ active users.
• Facebook topped Google as the most visited site in the U.S. in 2010.
• Facebook is the #1 place where consumers learn about daily news.
• Facebook accounts for about 10% of the time American’s spend online.
• If Goldman Sacks estimates Facebook’s worth at 50 Billion, it’s probably worth checking out – wouldn’t you say?

If you’d seen what I’ve been seeing with my clients for the past year or two, you probably would have already taken the plunge.  One of our JSN clients tracked 90% of her sales back to Facebook status updates alone.  Let that sink in… 90%.  That’s a true story.

Setting up a Facebook Page for your Business

You need a personal profile:

If you don’t already have a personal profile, set that up first with your real name and basic info.  Go to www.facebook.com and fill out the quick sign-up form.  All business pages are attached to a person, just like all businesses have actual employees.  Your personal profile will not be apparent on your business page.

Set up your Facebook business page:

Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/, and fill out your business information.  Now, anytime you’re logged into your personal profile, you can either update your personal status or navigate to your business page and update your business status.  It’s pretty simple, but if you run into any issues, shoot me an email or post a comment at the bottom of this article.

Q&A

Ok, so now it’s time for Q&A.  If you have more questions, comment below.  I spend way to much time online, and I’m quick to respond.

What if I want one of my employees to take care of the updates?

If you have employees, friends or family who would like to help out with the business page management, you can give them admin access to your account – as many as you’d like. Within your business page, just below your graphic or logo, click on “edit page,” and you’ll see where you can “manage admins.”

Do I need Facebook ads?

Whether or not you’re interested in utilizing Facebook ads is up to you.  You can create ads to target only people in your community, based on keyword, age, etc. You can run them for 1 day or 1 month, and you only have to pay if someone clicks on your ad.  This is called PPC or Pay-Per-Click.

How much time is this going to cost me?

Some companies update their status once per week and others update 10 times per day.  It’s really up to you how much time you spend.  You get what you put in, but some companies are turning to Facebook pages before they build websites these days.  It’s that powerful.

What should I post as a status update?

The first one is always the most difficult, but don’t over think it.  Post a link to a relevant article you found online or maybe a note about how you’re launching your Facebook page for the first time.  One thing we’ve learned for sure is that authenticity works!!  The Facebook community likes to see little blurbs about what you’re working on and photos, photos, photos.  If you have the capability of uploading photos of projects you’re working on or candid photos of your staff, workspace, products you have for sale – we love that!

How do I get more people to “like” my company?

Outside of Facebook ads, this is really a game of word of mouth. The more time you spend updating your status, the more people could potentially see your status and comment.  When they comment, their community sees that and could potentially find your page as well.  Confused?  You’ll see how it works once you get in there and try it out.  Here are a few quick tips to get you started.

• Suggest your page to your friends and family.  Any page you come to will have a “Suggest to Friends” link.
• Post great content that people love to see.
• Run contests or post coupon codes, sales, incentives.
• Comment on other pages with tags (see below)

What is a tag, and how do I do it?

If you take a look at some of the other business pages on Facebook, you’ll probably see where some status updates include links to names/other pages.  Here’s how to do it.  When you tag someone in your status update, many times your comment will show up on their page.  This can be great exposure.

You can test it out on our JSN page since we allow public comments.  Here’s an exercise to show you how:

• You need to be a fan of the page or person you want to tag. In this case: www.facebook.com/JavaSocialNetworking
• Navigate to your business page, and begin to type out your status update. When you get to the tag, enter an “@” sign before it.  Once you do, a dropdown should come up and you can select the page you’d like to tag.

Ex: “Checking out an article on Facebook Pages @Java Social Networking

Note: Copy and pasting this line will not work, you have to manually type the “@” and the first letter of the next word in order for the dropdown to appear.

• After you’ve successfully tagged and submitted, your message will show up on our Facebook wall: www.facebook.com/JavaSocialNetworking

How do I set up my vanity URL or Username?

By default, Facebook gives every page a link that looks something like this:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/whatever-name-you-give-to-your-facebook-page/125972234134370

That can be a little cumbersome, don’t you think?  You probably want it to look more like this: www.facebook.com/yourbusiness.

Pages that have more than 25 likes (aka fans) are eligible for a vanity URL. Most of the time, you can find enough friends and family to meet that mark fairly quickly.  Once you do, click here to set up your Facebook username: www.facebook.com/username.

Is there a maximum size for my graphic/logo upload?

Yes, Facebook allows for a maximum 540 pixels tall (height) and 540 pixels wide (width.)

JSN is a woman-owned and woman-run business, and we have several talented women who make up an incredible team of co-workers.  It is because of the opportunities given to us by our mentors, colleagues and clients that allow us to be a successful team and run a successful business.

Cheers to all of the American women in business!  Have a wonderful day!

While as individuals, we had previous experience with other project management and CRM tools (Salesforce being one that was consistent across our employees), we needed to research other options that catered to a small business, was able to grow with us, and one that was Smartphone friendly.  What we didn’t want was something too bulky, with features that we would rarely use.

Enter, 37Signals.

We decided to introduce the 37Signals products to our team, beginning with Basecamp and following with Highrise and Backpack.  After reading several reviews, and chatting with other small business owners who also were engaged in the Basecamp project management system, it was an easy decision for us to make.

We chose Basecamp because it was designed with virtual offices and simplicity in mind.  In addition, Basecamp provided a cost-effective and user-friendly system that did not come with a heavy, up-front financial investment.   We were quickly able to take our Google Doc spreadsheets, pen and paper notes and client contact information and integrate into the Basecamp system.

In addition to its ease of use, the complete 37 Signals suite is Smartphone-compatible.  Since Social Media is our business, our iPhones, Droids or Blackberrys serve as extended computers for us.

While we were sold with Basecamp, it was also important to look at the client side.  JSN provides a collaborative system for our clients to follow along and weigh in on projects.  Our clients love Basecamp because it is easy for them to be 100% integrated into their project with JSN.  They can send us messages and upload and attach files for design projects.  If a client is also using Basecamp as a project management tool, we can easily link the accounts together to manage all projects within the one screen, securely.

Aside from its ease of use, simple interface and expert recommendations, Basecamp provides some of the best technical and customer support we have seen.  Their tutorial videos are easy to follow.  This makes it easy for our team, contractors and clients to learn the system quickly and to use it efficiently.  Many competing systems seem better in theory than in practice.

The 37signals products are also easily integrated with other 3^rd party applications that can take managing your projects through Basecamp even further.  For instance, accounting & billing tools like Freshbooks allow us to accurately and timely bill our clients, based on time entered in the Basecamp time tracking feature for each project.  Considering Freshbooks?  We love it!

Although we’re a young company, we have already been highly successful utilizing Basecamp and partnering with other companies that use Basecamp, as well.  With so many new features and add-ons available almost weekly, we have created a networking group on Linkedin called Basecamp Connect.  We enjoy learning how others use Basecamp.  This provides a space, not affiliated with 37 signals, where users can share new ideas and discuss the different ways we use the Basecamp system.  We hope you’ll join us too!

During the week of our company “birthday”, we had come across this great article on Mashable, talking about how easy and inexpensive it is to start your business online.  Obviously if you’re looking to one day have a brick and mortar business (restaurant, clothing store, bakery, doctor’s office) that will cost more than a few dollars.  But just because you’re dreaming big doesn’t mean you have to start off big.  Slow, steady and smart is what will make you grow into a success.

As JSN was able to start out with the help of our friends, our mentors and a lot of research, we want to share a few tips on how to take your passion and ‘bright ideas’ and turn them into a profitable business.

1.  Make a plan. Proper planning and strategy is absolutely essential when developing your business.  What do you want to do, who is your target audience, and how do you plan to deliver your product?  Having a solid plan in place will ensure that you stay on the right track.  It will be easy to bring in other people to assist with the growth of your business if you have a clear mission and strategy in place.

2.  Do your homework. Have you researched other businesses in your industry?  In your area?  Are you the only company in your local area that provides your service?  Find what sets you apart from your competition.  Maybe you are the only registered Green business in your state that provides the type of services your company does.  Those small differentiators often make the biggest difference!

3.  Get connected. Create an email address using free resources such as Google, Hotmail or Yahoo.  Our personal favorite is Google’s Gmail because of all of the extra features we use for our business, especially Google Docs.  Create Facebook and Twitter pages, and begin to network on Linkedin (a basic account on Linkedin is free!).  Start making friends and getting the word out there about your business.

4.  Build a website. Start off by utilizing some of the free resources available like Blogger, WordPress, Typepad and Tumblr (just to name a few of the dozens!).  If you don’t know how to use them, read their websites and their blogs for how-to tips.  If you don’t know which one is best for YOUR business, visit sites like Mashable or one we found today called Speckyboy (a design site) and see what the pros recommend.  The article we referenced earlier in this post has additional information how to register your .com domain name.  Very easy and inexpensive using a service such as GoDaddy.

5.   Find your first client! Whether you are starting a small catering company, or a resume-writing service, you need to sell your services to someone, right?  Free resources such as Craigslist, oDesk and Guru allow you to find either one-time or ongoing projects for your company to take on.  Maybe it’s catering a birthday party, or finding a company who is looking for assistance with a project, these sites often lead to on-going work, and the very valuable, professional referral to others also seeking your service.

We are always looking to share tips, hints and best practices with others.  Reach out to us on Twitter @jsncafe, Facebook at facebook.com/jsncafe and of course, the JSN Blog.