News & Information:

MAKING WAVES: Pure Talent Graphic Design's monthly e-newsletter with tips on marketing and promotion for small businesses and organizations. 

Marketing:

• "15 Sites for Promoting Your Local Business" by Kristin Edelhauser, Entrepreneur.com
   
• LocallyType.com - Guide on "How to Get Your Business Listed on Major Local Search Engines, Yellow Pages Sites and Social Local Networks"

DMOZ Open Directory Project - List your web site free in largest Internet source directory.

 

 

GoDaddy.com - Complete web site services: domain names, hosting, email, e-commerce, etc.

 Online Business Networks:

• BizNik.com
• Ecademy.com
• FastPitchNetworking.com
• iZania.com
• LinkedIn.com
• Ryze.com
• Spoke.com
• StartUpNation.com

Business Links:

• AllBusiness.com – Online advice and information for small business owners.
• SCORE Organization – Counselors to America's Small Businesses
• Microsoft Office Template Gallery – business forms, business plans and sample letters.
• Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) - provides management assistance to current and prospective small business owners.
• My Biz for Women - Valuable tips for women entrepreneurs
• Womenbiz.gov - For women-owned businesses interested in bidding on government contracts.
• Federal Business Opportunities - View current federal contract opportunities

Business Management Links:

 

Photography/Graphic

 

iStockphotos.com – Need quality photographs or graphics for your do-it-yourself projects, iStockphoto.com is the place for you. Purchase photos from just $1.30 each.

 

 

 

Dreamstime.com- Another wonderful resource for quality and affordable royalty free photography.

Definitions:

• Branding: A brand image is an intangible emotional response (a “feeling”) that consumers have when they think about or come in contact with anything that represents a company or product – logo, jingle, corporate colors, customer service, personal experience, product attributes, slogan, etc.  It is how a business is perceived by others. Branding is the practice of strategically developing and cultivating that perception into a desired one through consistent design, image building, advertising, marketing and interaction with consumers.  A positive, strong brand identity helps companies build recognition and influence consumer reaction.

• Marketing:  What the experts say:  “Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, services, organizations, and events to create and maintain relationships that will satisfy individual and organizational objectives.” -Contemporary Marketing Wired (1998) by Boone and Kurtz. Dryden Press.  What it really means:  Marketing is all the things you must do in order to develop a product, service, event or organization, make potential customers aware of it; get those prospects to want it; turning those prospects into paying customers; and keeping those customers coming back for more.

Membership Organizations:

• National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) – Small business advocacy group with a membership of 600,000 small business owners.  Dues: $200/year or $20/month. Benefits: Insurance and risk management, product and service discounts, health care and employee benefits.
• National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) – “The nation’s leading resource for micro-businesses.”  Dues: $96 or $420/year. Benefits: product and service discounts, including health insurance and other benefits.
• National Small Business Association (NSBA) – An advocacy group promoting equity and fairness for small businesses. Dues: $250-$5500 depending on number of employees. Benefits: product and service discounts, networking and advertising opportunities.
• The Better Business Bureau – A discriminating membership organization that works to direct market dollars away from scams and toward legitimate businesses. Only members that meet standards for honest and integrity in their business practices qualify for a BBB membership. Dues: Average $400 per year. Benefits: Increase credibility and enhance image, File reports, industry lists, service discounts.