15 smart Inbound Lead generation tips for Startups and Micro businesses

Jump start tips for Inbound lead generation for Startups

1.  Pick a name that sync with your business.  Needs to be simple, memorable and unambiguous. Either a “.com” or ".biz" or ".in" domain should be available, for the name you have chosen.

2. Get a Business Email, preferably on Google Apps, on your own domain - Why Google Apps? for now, just get it done, you will surely thank for this advice later!
(Quick tip: If not opting for GApps, get a Gmail account, it helps in having G+ profile, Youtube Account, Your contacts, leads, all managed centrally via a single account)

3.  Put up a Good website.  The goal is to put enough content on the site to get your pages indexed.  Make sure to use a decent content management system (CMS) and not Dreamweaver or FrontPage, but a Joomla, Drupal, DNN, Wordpress. Wordpress would be a good choice due to sheer number of paid and free themes available. Go for Cloud hosting, it is cheap, and can grow when your business grow.

  Make sure your site is working on Mobile and all other devices, you should ideally opt for RWD+CMS+HTML5 website. For websites, you could end-up spending nothing or thousands of $$, but what you get is what you pay for. So, free website can only take you thus far.

4.  Get some links into the new startup website.  If you have a personal website or a blog, link to it from there as well. Also, ask your friends with websites and blogs, to link to your new site. Ask your close friends who participate in Answers / community / forums. Ask them clearly not to spam and instead, let them spent time and answer to queries/content if related to your site - and when they are answering via such forums, they can link it to your blog or website as a "source"

5. Create Company listing on directory portals. Look up for good b2b portals and local directories and list your company there.

6.  Setup a Twitter accounts.  Name of the Twitter account should preferably match your company's domain name.  Link to your Twitter account from your website and to your website from your Twitter account.

7.  Add a business e-mail subscription.  Allow interested people to sign-up to get an email about your product or service.  A simple email sign-up form is sufficient.

8.  Get a nice logo plus branding colors and fonts .  What looks just OK is not OK. So, please take professional help here.

9.  Setup a Facebook business page for your start-up.  You may not get many fans in the early months.  That’s just fine for now.  Just add a simple description of your startup, link back to your website, add photos of your business partners, videos if any. Do upload the logo created in step #8
 Refer the strategy to achieve Social Media Goals, refer this link  http://slidesha.re/13JGo1k
 Remember to have genuine, human touch and be yourself, share the updates about your firm, share the next big project, photos of your workforce, office etc...one share/post per week is good to start with.

10. Setup a blog. If you have a created a CMS powered website in step#3, it would have been easier to create a blog setup, but nevertheless, you can use one of the free hosting tools (like blogger.com), but not in their domain instead have it like blog.mynewsite.com but never make it mynewsite.blogspot.in.  The reasons are many, don't bother for now, i will tell you the reasons later, but you can quickly refer my other blogs (visit techbizmarketing.blogspot.in if you need the answer right away)

11. Write a blog article describing your goal and challenges you are facing as your are setting up your start-up website, twitter account, blog etc...please put it up in your own language, and DO NOT copy!
Being honest works,

12. Update your LinkedIn profile.  Mention your new Startup company's vision, and add a link to your new website. 

13. Get business cards printed. Please remember to keep the logo and branding picked in step#8 is maintained throughout.

14. Setup Google Analytics (GA) for your website and see where the traffic is coming from, and from where it is not coming.  How is it growing?  What keywords people are using to find your site?
Do spend daily at least 30mins on GA, this should become an addiction, hope you know what i mean. When you see the numbers picking up, you will get addicted for sure!

15. Device a Pull with Content Vs Push Advertisement Strategies, Content with pull works in the long term.
      You might still need Push Strategy (read Adwords PPC Ads. FB Ads, or Email Marketing in the short term to generate sudden surge of right set of audience)

For more details and for a jump start on startup incubation on web, there are plenty of trusted options like Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program and TobocBiz's Startup Starter package

Small Business Incubation on web to WOW on Cloud

From Small Business Incubation on Web to WOW on Cloud

Terms like Incubation on Web to 'WOW on Cloud' may sound like a marketing buzzword!. But, i could not find any other way to sum up the experience and process that a traditional small business CEO or a startup founder goes through.

Using a three step process, let me explain the process of getting the right incubation on web, on the social web, all the way to what i call as 'WOW on Cloud' which is the phase of 'optimum productivity' and 'optimum efficiency' resulting in increased business from web and customer delight.

This structured process provides a controlled environment for business on web from the time the first customer enters the web site until dominant rankings or thriving customer conversions happens

Why should your company go for 'Incubation on Web' than just getting started?

It is much like a curriculum for kids. For a grown up and successful adult, the curriculum might look simple and very obvious things to do. But for a kid, getting the ideal launch pad is the key to better performance in life and career ahead.
Yes many firms, may skip the 'Incubation step' or professional help, making assumptions and inputs received through their friends and colleagues. Remember, many of them have not started a company (nor they have experience running a firm)so they could be totally wrong. Here is where professional consulting will help.

A structured incubation from thorough professionals or reputed internet firms is strongly recommended to avoid wastage of precious time involved with miss-steps.

Who should get Internet Incubation?

 1. If yours is a traditional small business company, looking for the right start on web.
     Or
 2. If yours is an Internet company which is about to get launched.

   How to get your Small Business Incubated?

   To make sure, basic steps are done right, you need a certain level of consulting and due-diligence from Gurus of Web development and Web Marketing. First and fore-most is to find a right firm who can do the consulting at a reasonable cost.
   Well, here is the catch. It is very easy to fall prey to sharks on the web, who are just out there to make money. Just like in any other field, make sure the firm you choose (e.g. Company A) are able to do a due-diligence for your company at a reasonable cost without any upfront commitment for the Incubation to WOW project.
 Ask for previous sample due-diligence reports that Company A or B has prepared in the past.

 It is must be clear that at the outset that, based on the output of the due-diligence meeting or report, you might decide to get the actual action items done through another firm. So, with this model, Company A who is chosen for due-diligence, will be motivated to provide an accurate Study and Action Items + Next steps with right costing and time-line.

  Due-diligence report is the key

  Most small businesses require a 1/2 day session with Web Gurus, to understand your core business, challenges, your process. Make sure you assign the right personnel to assist the Web Guru, so that the process goes smoothly and gets concluded in a day.

   Due-diligence report prepared during incubation process, may contain a variety of action items.

   1. It could be as simple a 5 page html website that is much cheaper to setup, OR on the end the recommendation could be, a highly customized website including payment gateway supported in local currency.
   2. A business email with traditional hosting could be recommended OR on the other hand, a Google Apps or Office 365 powered may be recommended.
   3. How the hosting should be, and where to host etc, could be another item covered.
   4. It might have recommendation on what kind of SEO tuning or services are required by your firm
   5. The action item may contain how to improve the productivity using cloud bases Apps, interact real-time with your largely social customer base.
   6. Sometimes, the first action item could be signing up for particular listing directory

  

 We cannot afford a due-diligence report now, what can be done?

  Well, that is what head of most companies may feel. I strongly recommend you to get the report done, but if it is still a resounding NO, the next best strategy recommended is to go through the 3 step process to reach from Incubation on Web to Incubation on Social Web to WOW on cloud!

Internet Incubation for Small business

From Incubation on Internet to WOW on Cloud

Terms like 'Internet Incubation to WOW on Cloud' may sound like a marketing buzzword!. But, i could not find any other way to sum up the experience and process that a start-up founder or a traditional small business trying web.
Experience and process of going through the early months of getting a presence on the web - all the way to becoming an established player on web with huge business volume driven via internet is surely the crux of this blog.

  What is Internet Incubation (or Web Incubation)?

 Internet or Web Incubation is a structured process of consulting and guiding a company in the initial period on the web world.

A more detailed help on incubating your small business on Web/Internet is articulated in my next blog

   

Hands-on Review of top 5 Business Email options for Start-ups, Micro and small businesses

Most reliable business email options - A Hands-on review about Cloud based business email options

For Small business, getting a business email is clearly a right step towards achieving success online. 

Establishing an in-house email hosting infrastructure is not at all recommended for Small businesses. Managing this kind of infrastructure will be very costly, and plus it takes your focus away from your core business. Therefore, many businesses look for smarter options like cloud based email hosting. If you make the right choice, it can save you and your company a lot of money from increased likelihood of virus infection, spam, increased expenses, and regular software/hardware problems.

Below is a hands-on reviews about cloud based business email options available today for Start-ups, Micro and small businesses

1. Google Apps Business Email (A Smart Cloud ready Business Email)

    - Easy to setup, secure and have excellent uptime
    - Very powerful Gmail engine with excellent search
    - Tags instead of folders, familiar gmail interface,
    - Opens the door towards smarter Google Apps deployment
    - Excellent integration with Android smart phones with Contacts, Calendar sync and more.
    - Highly recommended for start-ups, micro and small businesses. Learn more?
    - Many times more powerful than ZOHO Email/Yahoo Email/GoDaddy Email

2. ZOHO Email Hosting

     - Works on similar model like Google Apps when it comes to pricing, i.e. /user/month pricing
     - Less powerful mailbox features compared to Google Apps/Office365
     - Woks well with other ZOHO productivity apps like ZOHO CRM and many more

3. Yahoo Small Business Email

     - Gets 100s of email addresses
     - A bit expensive, if having less than 5 business email users
     - Less powerful mailbox features compared to Google Apps
     - Unlike ZOHO and Google Apps, there are limited or NO productivity improvement integrations available if you choose Yahoo, and hence not a smart option. But if you need large number of email addressees, this option can be considered.

4. Office 365/Exchange on Cloud (A Smart Business Email)

     - Powered by MS Exchange Server
     - Excellent integrations with MS platforms, MS Office and Windows phone devices
     - Opens the door towards enterprise grade collaboration platform on cloud
     - Highly recommended for mid-size businesses to large enterprises.
     - Costlier than Google Apps, so not recommended for SMEs

5. GoDaddy
     - Lot of negative reviews on the net.
     - Not expensive, but support is not up-to the mark
     - Not recommended in general, consider only if opting for Godaddy hosting as well, and only if the cheapest price is non-negotiable.

Startups and SME's, do not think twice before adopting Google Apps

The more you learn about Google Apps, you and your business will become a bigger fan of Google Apps. Startups/SMEs need not think twice before adopting Google Apps. Yes, office 365 can still achieve some of the features as well, but the costs are higher and between the power of Google Vs power of Microsoft, currently Google is the winner at SME space.  Here are some of the top benefits of Google Apps Gmail for Business provides 30 GB of storage per user, spam and virus protection, fast, intuitive and advanced web mail, BlackBerry and Outlook interoperability and 99.9% uptime SLA - Google Business Email Inbox-es are having 2 to 10 times the Inbox Size, than other email hosting options. Employees will spend less time deleting emails. Google Apps Email Inbox has built in 'Google Search' for your emails  - Now, you will get 'that' email which you were never able to track and locate in outlook Google Apps Email Inbox Saves time by filtering out SPAM and protecting you from Virus. Hope, you won't miss those productivity killing spam mails  :) Google Calendar provides a rich web-based interface along with BlackBerry and Outlook interoperability, free/ busy searches, shared calendars, multiple calendar overlay and SMS meeting reminders Large Numbers of Apps in the Google Apps market place, that are deeply integrated with Google Apps Email Manage Organization users and their access to Emails, Documents, Sites and more.

Google Drive allows a cost-effective way to store everything and share anything. Store files on the cloud with 5 GB of free storage and access files from anywhere using PC, tablet or smartphone. It also features file version-ing and fine-grained sharing controls.

Online documents with real-time collaboration- so you can keep your team on track. Technology is supposed to make things easier, but too many attachments can get complicated. With Google Apps, there is a single online copy of each document. So, everyone knows that they are working on latest version of the document or excel or presentation

With Google powered business email, your company will be 2.8 times more productive while mobile

Access your files and emails from any place with Internet.

Google Business Email works very well on Macs, PCs, Linux. Android/iPhone/Windows Phone/BlackBerry phones and Tabs. It is compatible with Outlook too

Google+ connects your employees and their ideas. It can be used for meetings while you are traveling, and allows your administrator to set individual user controls to ensure your company's data stays safe

Keep your emails and Chats all in one browser with no extra software, not to mention all the sweet emoticon options

Voice Chat is not just from one email account to another, so cut your phone bills and keep operating your business without leaving your browser

Video Chat-So, now you can have face to face meeting, from anywhere in the world, because somethings just need to be discussed.

Save huge on data recovery services. By going with Google Apps, you pay nothing extra to deal with natural disasters and hardware crashes.

To learn more on How Google Apps Email stack upto other Email hosting options, please read this blog

Wondering, why to get a business email?

Wondering, why to get a business email? here are the top 5 reasons


1. An address like hmbakers@gmail.com looks amateurish, whereas yourname@hmbakers.com is much more professional. 

2. In today's world , not having a business email is similar to not having a phone# of your own!

3. Most of the directory portals and websites like e-bay does not allow you to mention your website address, so having a business email is a clever idea to tell your target audience about your Company's identity.

4. If you intend to do email marketing to promote your business, using a personal email is just going to make you more susceptible to spam filters of the world.


5. Also choosing business email powered by solutions like Google Apps or Office 365, allows you to effectively control the tons of spam emails you and your employee see daily.



But if you are wondering how to get a business email setup for free, please read further

How to get a Business Email?

The biggest put-off for businesses and consumers dealing with you on web/mobile, would be to find that you don't have even a 'Business Email' - Getting a working business email is quite easy and not so expensive and is the best first step towards carving your success on web or mobile. But, getting a powerful business email that increases your productivity need some research and below tips should help you.

How to get a Business Email?

 1. You need to own a domain. And for that, get an account created with domain registrar's like goDaddy and Enom or their resellers.
 2. Email is generally provided as an add-on when you buy a domain, but if you would like to have a powerful solution powered by Google or Microsoft, you might want to check out Google Apps or Office 365. Both these options provide excellent integrations with your mobile phone as well. So, if you would like to have your emails checked on the go, having a business email powered by Google Apps or Office365 makes sense.
3. Yahoo also provides Business Email for Small businesses. If you require more than 50 email addresses, choosing yahoo will be considerably cheaper than Google apps and office 365.

Learn more on how to choose best email option for small business? click here, which should help you to make the right choice.

Toboc.com is now offering powerful Cloud Jump Starter package, along with the annual TradePlus membership. Google Apps powered Business Email is just one of the many features bundled with this package.