Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing

By George Cloutier with
Samantha Marshall
Hardcover, 192 pages, $24.99
HarperCollins

www.harpercollins.com

George Cloutier is tough. Really tough. As the founder of American Management Services, a firm specializing in financial turnarounds and profit development for small companies, he knows what he is talking about. In his first book, Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing: No-Nonsense Rules from the Ultimate Contrarian and Small Business Guru, he doesn’t sugarcoat a small business’s options when it comes to financial success.

Each chapter in the book is a proven profit rule. With ideas like “Love Your Business More than Your Family” and “It’s Not the Economy, Stupid, It’s You!,” Cloutier outlines how to get the most (i.e. make the most) out of your company. He uses his own personal business experiences—both successes and failures—and the experiences of his clients as examples of how his theories work.

Just Listen

By Mark Goulston
Hardcover, 234 pages, $24.95
Amacom

www.amacombooks.org

It’s hard out there. With customers’ wallets tightening, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get potential consumers to listen to sales opportunities. That’s where Mark Goulston, author of Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone, comes in. A psychiatrist, business consultant and former FBI hostage negotiation trainer, Goulston uses his experiences to present skills on how to reach others through the power of listening.

The book lays out nine basic rules and 12 quick techniques to encourage others to do what you want them to do. With Goulston’s advice, you’ll learn how to engage employees, customers, artists and salespeople, and turn complainers into allies.

Just Listen is not only helpful for any kind of business, it teaches a skill that will aid you outside of the office too.

The Social Media Marketing Book

By Dan Zarrella
Paperback, 232 pages, $19.99
O’Reilly

http://oreilly.com

According to Dan Zarrella, author of The Social Media Marketing Book and proclaimed “Social Media and Marketing Scientist,” traditional advertising doesn’t work anymore. Consumers can now fast-forward commercials, read newspapers online and listen to ad-free radio. How can small businesses compete? Easy—make a name for yourself online.

This handy and engaging book offers business owners advice on how to use social media, including blogs, forums, review sites and social networking, to their advantage. Split into 11 sections, it helps the reader understand features, functions and protocols of each social marketing tool. It also includes clear-cut explanations of how to trigger viral marketing success and evaluate your progress.

With more than 250 million active users on Facebook, 14 million on Twitter and claims of 100 million YouTube viewers per month, The Social Media Marketing Book is a must-have for your small business. As Zarella says, “Every second your company is not engaging [consumers] in social media is a wasted opportunity. So, get on board.”

Discounts are the biggest draw, with 68% of consumers reporting that they sign up for retail e-mails to get a deal. Half of consumers said that they subscribe simply because they like the retailer or brand, and 49% said that they want to get a heads up about sales.

The key is determining which of your subscribers fall into each of these categories, so you can tailor your messages. Improving your online preference center will help you gather more information about each subscriber.

For consumers who are after discounts, try putting language in the subject line about special offers. Consumers who subscribe because they like your gallery will be drawn to e-mails focusing on in-store events. If you learn which mediums particular subscribers collect, you can notify them of specific sales and shows.

Also important? Advertise the benefits of subscribing to your e-mails, and not just on your website. Display information at the counter to get customers online once they leave your store.

Forrester’s online survey questioned 5,400 adults in the U.S. and Canada last August.

Guest blogging is a great way to earn free exposure, increase your own site traffic and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. But there are so many blogs out there that it can be difficult to figure out which ones might offer good guest blogging opportunities.

To ease your way into it, try doing a search for user-generated blogs. Thanks to the social media craze, many blogs now have user-generated content (UGC) sections where members of the community can create their own posts. Posting on these forums is a great way to start building relationships.

When in doubt, contact bloggers you already know. If one of your favorite artists is planning a vacation, ask if he or she would be open to you posting a guest blog about displaying and lighting artwork. Or maybe your chamber of commerce would be interested in a blog post about the local arts community.

You want to have a presence on the blogs with the most impact, so try searching on a site like Technorati for well-respected blogs in your area. Technorati lets you search by keyword, then ranks blogs by authority. There are endless possibilities out there if you just know where to look.

They say ignorance is bliss, but when it comes to cash-flow management, knowing is half the battle. Green Sherpa, a new online cash-flow management and budgeting system, allows you to access all of your accounts at once, from any computer at any time, and communicate the information to your partner or accountant.

Created in 2007 by Masen Yaffee and Erin Lozano, a husband-and-wife team that has managed cash flow for Pepsi and Wells Fargo, Green Sherpa is designed for big businesses and personal households alike.

Green Sherpa allows you to automatically sync your checking, savings and credit card accounts, saving hours of data entry. If you have a question about a particular expense, flag it and leave a note for your colleague.

Green Sherpa’s Cash Flow Projection feature lets you forecast future cash flow based on historical spending and projected income and expenses.

Seeing your entire financial picture makes it easier to set goals and realize them; the Goalkeeper function helps you monitor your progress each month. An alert feature lets you know when you have overspent your budgeted amount in a certain area, then allows you to adjust amounts to get back on track.

Green Sherpa won’t break the bank, either. Sign up for a plan at $7.95 a month, or get a yearly subscription for $71.40. Go to www.greensherpa.com for more information.