Is 2010 the year you will start the business you have always wanted?

Economic realities have prompted many of you to re-think the future.

For many of you, 2010 means the future is now.

The Good News is: Starting a new business does not have to be expensive.

Here are 7 Basic Necessities for those of you embarking on a new entrepreneurial journey:

1. A Library Card.

I work with a lot of people with extremely limited marketing budgets. Many conversations begin with: “I don’t really have the money for…”

So I suggest a library card. If you are seriously cash-strapped, a library card can equip you with free knowledge you will need to start and run your new business. You can also use a library card for…

2. Computer w/Broadband Internet Access and Office Suite

Guess what? It’s time to stop complaining about computers – they are here to stay.

Broadband access (your library card is handy for this) and an Office Suite are essential.

Computers and printers are available at your local Library.

For a free full-featured Office Suite for your home computer – visit: www.openoffice.org

3. Inkjet Printer

Inkjet printers are cheap these days. I’ve seen “combos” that include a scanner, printer, fax, and copier for less than $70.

You can buy remanufactured inkjet cartridges online for a fraction of what your local office supply store carries.

4. Email Address

You can get a free email address with Yahoo or you can open a Gmail account with Google. Your choice – both are free.

5. Website or Blog

No need to spend gobs of money on a Website or Blog.

A professional 5-page website will be enough to get you started. If you don’t have the money for website design right now, then head over to wordpress.com and set-up a free WordPress Blog.

6. Cell Phone

With so many cell phones on the market, it’s a chore trying to figure out which one you need to run a small business.

iPhone frenzy begone!

If it is just you and your Business – you simply a need a cell phone that can send and receive phone calls!

(Though if you do not have a computer at home with broadband internet access or you are a “mobile” entrepreneur, then you may want to splurge on a cell phone with Wi-Fi and 3G support).

Beware the additional “data plans” required for full-featured “smartphones”.

7. Business License

It pays to be legal to begin with, rather than incurring fines for being an outlaw.

Put on your business duds, and head down to your local City Hall and apply for a business license. (The duds are to make you feel like a Business Owner!)

Yes, you will forever have yearly business license fees – so call ahead to find out what your local license fees are.

But walking out of City Hall with a License to run your own business will feel well worth it!

Success to you in 2010 and Beyond!

What’s going on here?

The printer I have is not a greedy ink gulper; in fact that’s one of the reasons I bought it.

It does the job and doesn’t ask for much.

The problem is that inkjet printer ink is one of the most expensive fluids on the planet!

This week I thought I’d look into ways to save money on inkjet cartridges.

1. Print in Draft Mode

It’s not always necessary to print documents at your printer’s highest setting – is it? I save the quality settings for presentations, etc.

2. Print Only What You Need

I’ve gotten into the habit of printing to PDF first, and then deciding if I need a hard copy from my printer. Many times, I do not need a printed hard copy at all!

3. Buy Non-Branded/Remanufactured Inkjet Cartridges.

Who says you have to buy the branded ink that is “specifically” for your printer? The manufacturer of your printer?

While this type of arrangement works fine for the printer manufacturer – you will likely cringe each time you reach for that ridiculously expensive branded cartridge.

I’ve decided to stop the insanity – and head online to buy cheap non-branded and remanufactured ink cartridges.

4. Shut Down The Printer Properly

Sometimes I’m in a hurry and don’t properly shut down my printer.

Then when the printer comes back up, I can hear the print heads spinning.

Hmm. I’ll bet those print heads are spewing a bit of ink making all that racket.

So now I make sure to shut down my printer properly.

5. Try Inkjet Refill Kits.

If you are the adventurous type, you can purchase an inkjet refill kit.

Simply follow the step-by-step instructions included with the kit, and fill your own – for less!

If you do, then I would suppose it’s because you want prospective customers to CALL you.

But how do you handle your incoming calls?

The truth is, the way you answer your phone will form either a negative or positive impression of your Business.

Consider These 5 Essential Phone Answering Tips for your Small Business:

1. Answer your phone in a friendly manner – identifying you and your Business.

For instance a great way to start is, “Good Morning. ABC Business. Mary speaking. How may I help you”?

This way, it will be clear from the beginning that the caller is speaking to someone who is pleasant and ready to assist him/her – you!

2. If you are very busy and must route some of your calls to voice-mail, then make sure you return those calls as quickly as possible – and always within the same business day.

3. Make sure your Voice Mail Greeting is clear, professional, and to the point.

For instance, “Thank you for calling ABC Company. Please leave us your name, area code, and phone number – and we’ll phone you back as quickly as possible. Thank You!”

Call yourself. Listen to your message. Based on what you hear – would you do business with you?

4. If you think you might have to put someone on hold – ask them if it’s alright to do so. Many people welcome the offer of a return call rather than waiting endlessly on hold.

5. If you can’t always answer your phone during your regular business hours, then think about using an answering service – with human customer service reps.

Dealing with complicated computerized auto-attendants where you have to “press 1 for sales, press 2 for customer service”… is annoying for many people.

Help them out by letting them speak to a friendly human representative of your company.

Tip of the Day: Answer your Phone. Someone important is calling!

What is an Email Signature?

An email signature is a block of text appended to the end of an email message often containing the sender’s name, address, phone number, disclaimer or other contact information.—Wikipedia

With most email clients, it is a piece of cake to automatically include your Email Signature at the end of each Email you send.

The trick is to make your “Siggy” informative and concise – instead of useless and lengthy!

Check out these 5 tips that can help you create a Professional Email Signature for your Small Business Email communications:

1. KISS.  Keep it simple.

Email works best when you stay away from HTML, colors, and special fonts. Believe it or not, plain old text is best.

2. Drop the multiple phone numbers and gazillion email addresses in your signature. Try one phone number, one fax number, and one email address. Simple!

3. It’s an email signature, so there is no need to write a novel to recipients of your emails.

The following three or four line Email Signature Format  is considered standard:

• First Line: Your Name | Your Title | Your Company Name
• Second Line: Your Phone Number | Your Fax Number
• Third Line: Your Website URL | Your Blog URL
• Fourth Line: Your Email Address | Twitter and/or Facebook Info (only if appropriate)

4. Make one Email Signature for initial emails and one for email replies.

In other words, make a short version, and a shorter version.

5. Instead of using hyperlinks to your Website, Blog, and Email, type out the full URLs.

Why? Sometimes links don’t go through as expected! (Ask me how I know!)

I’ve heard lots of similar stories this year – about absolutely abysmal customer service at restaurants, department stores, dry cleaners, movie theaters, and more.

So now I’ve begun to wonder if the economic downturn will continue to mostly affect Customer Service in a negative way, or if it’s possible that Customer Service can be affected in a more positive way…

After all, if one person is now expected to do the work of 3 or 4 people, should consumers still expect quality, dignity and/or respect from an overworked employee?

But, if a business is competing for less and less customers overall, shouldn’t that business be concerned with providing exceptional Customer Service?

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. – Wikipedia

I don’t know about you, but I prefer to give my money to people who provide a high level of Customer Service.

So if you are really interested in standing out from the crowd – why not start with first things FIRST.

Here are 5 Customer Service Tips to help keep you ahead of your competition:

1. Know What You Are Talking About -- And Smile At People.

Being friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable will go a long way in a world where many salespersons and customer service reps act as if you are an annoyance and/or intrusion, or ignore you altogether.

Consumers do have choices after all, and if word gets around that your salespeople are morons and act as if they couldn’t care less about your customers – your customers will eventually begin examining those other choices, and start choosing to take their business elsewhere.

2. Be Willing To Go The Extra Mile.

I’m going to wager (I live in Las Vegas, after all) that your business, no matter what you offer – is NOT the only game in town. Chances are quite good that there is another business just like yours, just around the corner – or at least a click or a phone call away.

Offering discounts, maintenance tips, or maybe a toll-free support line will mean a lot to people who have so many other things on their mind already.

Show people how grateful you are for their Business by offering something a bit extra.

Believe me, if the gesture is genuine, your customers will remember you for it – and reward you by referring you to family, friends, and associates.

3. Keep Your Promises.

This one is easy because you have the power to monitor what you say to people.

You can think before you say words, and you can think about how you say them.

So promising someone a service at a specific time and not delivering it, or saying that you’ll special order a product that you already know is no longer available from the manufacturer is just stupid.

If you are going to go to the trouble of making promises to your customers, then don’t you think you should bother to keep them?

And if you don’t keep your promises – can you see that this will negatively impact your Business?

Mean what you say when you say it, and your customers will value you.

4. Handle Complaints And Problems Quickly (and Apologetically).

No business owner likes to hear complaints about their products or services.

But one day, something will go wrong – and then you’ll have to figure out how you will respond.

It seems logical to me that you would want to respond in a manner that would ensure your customers RETURN.

In the case of the bike shop, once it became clear that they had rented us a defective bicycle, the best move would have been to offer us a refund or voucher for a return visit.

Instead, they charged us for renting a broken bike, and they didn’t even bother to cough up an apology.

So now, being a return customer is out of the question. And what’s more, I am telling lots more people about my unpleasant experience.

In the World of Wide Web, how could this possibly be beneficial to them?

5. Answer Your Phone.

You and I both know you are carrying around a fancy, expensive cell phone that is almost always on. So when your phone rings – answer it!

I do.

Unless you are speaking to a customer already, there is nothing more important than a chance to engage with a new customer, or to answer the concerns of an existing customer.

Answer your phone (professionally) or hire someone to answer it for you.

Stop depending on computerized call attendants, email and autoresponders to do what the human voice is so good at:  being HUMAN!

For more thoughts, check out this video about Customer Service.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Pj7yu74oU