More than 10 years ago, Heather Armstrong launched a blog to joke about pop culture, her job, and life as a single woman. As the years passed, she got married, had kids, suffered from extreme postpartum depression, dealt with broken washing machines, decorated her home, cleaned spit-up, changed diapers, and wrote about it all. Over time, all that blogging landed her book deals, media appearances, and $30,000 to $50,000 per month in ad revenue alone.

“She is one of the few bloggers who wield that kind of clout,” New York Times’ Lisa Belkin wrote. “Typically, there are 100,000 visitors daily to her site…where she writes about her kids, her husband, her pets, her treatment for depression and her life as a liberal ex-Mormon living in Utah. She is the only blogger on the latest Forbes list of the Most Influential Women in the Media.” Talk about impressive!

Who are they, where are they, and what do they do?

According to a recent market research study by Scarborough Research, 14 percent of American moms self-identify as bloggers or regularly read blogs. That number translates to a whopping 3.9 million women.

Mommy bloggers share core demographic and personality traits. They tend to be in their late 30s, educated, and politically active. They’re “socially conscious” and highly involved in their communities as volunteers.

And they’re influential. By writing about their personal experiences, they create trust with their audiences. With this trust, it’s no wonder a statement from a mommy blogger can heavily influence the purchasing decisions of other moms.

They’re the ultimate entrepreneurs.

Mommy bloggers often write beautiful and creative stories from even the most mundane and ordinary experiences. They build online communities of people who love their work, and they’re able to do it with minimal resources: server space, an elegant design, and social media.

Not to mention, they do it from home while raising a family!

“You don’t need a PhD, an office or a small business loan to start up a blog and this especially appeals to moms who are looking for ways to bring in extra income while they’re at home with their children,” said Michelle Mitchell of Scribbit.

Want to become influential online? Listen to mom.

Without a doubt, any marketer would love to attract an audience like Armstrong’s or any of her counterparts.

So, what makes mommy blogging so successful?

Mom bloggers engage their readers on an emotional level. They don’t invest money in fancy market research, and they don’t spend their days reading about marketing best-practices. They just focus on what they love most: their kids, family values, and great writing. It’s the passion and creativity alone that fuel their success.

They write with “an emotion and personality which connects readers in ways that other niches often can’t, and they speak about subjects that naturally carry strong emotions,” said Mitchell. “A blog about the latest techy gadgets, while interesting, doesn’t carry the emotional weight that a post about home and family does.”

As always, moms are reminders of what matters most in life, business, and everything else in between.

Who are your favorite mommy bloggers? Which ones do you follow?

Related posts:

• Top Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter
• Women in Tech: Up & Coming Female Entrepreneurs

Remember running back into the office and checking messages on the old answering machine? Push the wrong button or grab a pen that’s low on ink and — whoops! — the message was long gone. Phone systems have come a long way since then, and now virtual pbx and VoIP systems have led the way in changing everything about how both individuals and small businesses like yours manage their messages, track their phone data and even control costs.

It’s all based on storing your valuable phone data digitally in the cloud, that is, a secure server you can access via the Internet, instead of a combination of your phone bill and a little answering machine tape that knows how to erase itself. This turns messages and call data into something you can store, access and monitor to improve the way your business operates.

What’s new in cloud-based phone systems?

One recent development in cloud-based phone systems management is Phonedeck, an online desktop for your mobile phone that helps individuals collect and monitor data from every phone call. As Mike Butcher writes for TechCrunch, “The result [of tracking this data]? A sudden realization of who you call, how long for and a lot of other data that was previously invisible. I recall MG Seigler writing that the phone book remained the last mile into social networking. Well Phonedeck might be the bridge across that last mile and it launches into public beta today from Google Play for Android handsets.”

Keeping track of your personal phone data means you now have a new way of measuring time investments made in each client and each sale, as well as allowing you to track and access SMS content for future reference. Now that’s a big leap from the old handwritten call log.

How are businesses using cloud-based phone systems to save money and time?

Message management is whole new world in the cloud as well, especially for businesses. Chris Steins explains on his own business’ blog, Urban Insight, just how handy VoIP has been for him. “For example,” he writes, “you can have calls forwarded sequentially or concurrently to a computer, land line, or mobile device. We use this feature so that when a client calls into Urban Insight, the system finds an available support staff member to provide support.”

Steins also says that he appreciates the option of requiring callers to announce themselves so he can decide if he will take a call or let it go to voicemail. For small businesses that receive lots of calls — important and otherwise — message management can save a delightful amount of effort and staff time.

Phone systems in the cloud also help save small businesses money – something we can all appreciate. Paul Duvall shares how his business benefits from using a virtual phone system.

“The reality is that most of our staff at Stelligent use their cell phones to make and receive business calls on a typical day. However, they might be at our office, at a client or at home depending on the day or even the time of day.”

With a virtual phone system, Paul’s business gets the same fancy features he would if he had invested a couple grand for a high-tech, high-maintenance phone system but neither he nor his staff is tied to their desks.  Instead, they’re able to manage their extensions, call forwarding and voicemails from anywhere in the world, via a web-based dashboard and for a fraction of the cost those fortune 500 companies pay.

Everything you need in a phone system for less money? Yes, please.

The way things are headed, pretty soon everything will be in the cloud. But for a small business that’s always looking to improve, there’s no reason to wait until everybody’s doing it. Between better data management, better message management and cost savings, moving your phone system to the cloud can make your small business operate more smoothly and for a lot less.

What’s your biggest challenge with your current phone system? Could moving to the cloud help resolve it?

This week’s employee spotlight is on Gizem Gaudet.  Gizem is a business analyst on our customer development and retention team here at Grasshopper. She works with the product, design and engineering teams to gather and document business requirements for software development projects.  She also investigates the operations of different functional business areas, researches solution options and uses that information to help us create a better Grasshopper.

Let’s get to know Gizem…

What’s your favorite book?

One of my favorite books is ‘Flow‘ by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It is about the key to happiness–finding and doing things that you are passionate about, things that give you purpose, which ultimately create an optimal experience and flow.

Breakfast, lunch or dinner?

I wish I didn’t have to pick just one because I like them all for different reasons. Despite my small frame, I actually eat a lot–pretty much everything. Although I don’t get a chance to have an actual breakfast during the week days, I never miss lunch and dinner.

If you had one free day to do anything you want, what would you do?

Since I enjoy simple things I would probably start with a nice breakfast, drive to a small ocean town to explore the galleries, walk by the beach, get some sun, then come back and sit by the pool to read or paint. I would try to end the day with dinner outdoors with a glass of red wine.

If you could live anywhere for one year, all expenses paid, where would you live?

Somewhere in Europe–a sunny coastal town surrounded with welcoming and warm people along with an intriguing culture. Maybe somewhere like Tuscany.

Fun facts: have anything interesting people should know about you?

• I’ve been with the company for over 6 years now and I was one of the first employees. I’ve had the chance to grow with the company by playing many different roles at different times and by working with a variety of teams and departments. I have gained a tremendous amount of experience doing so.
• I was born and raised in Turkey so it’s been a long journey and a true transformation since my first day in America.
• Most people probably wouldn’t know this detail about me, but I am also a self-taught artist, specializing in oils.

Connect with Gizem:

• Art site:http://gizemgaudet.com/
• Blog:http://gizemgaudet.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned for next week’s employee spotlight!

While the cost of launching a startup continues to fall at an exponential rate, there’s still a cost involved — and as such, there’s still a need for funding. Investing time in employees to help build and market products, as well as on accountants and lawyers to ensure regulatory compliance, are all important costs that require many entrepreneurs to explore fundraising options.

So, where should an entrepreneur go to raise funds? Below is a breakdown of options, in order of priority:

1. Yourself.

“If you choose to bootstrap — meaning self-finance and do things very cheaply — you can retain control of the business and your personal life,” says startup lawyer Jean Sifleet (this is the route our founders here at Grasshopper took).

Indeed, the more entrepreneurs are capable of being financially independent, the lower the barrier to long-term profitability or a lucrative liquidation exit will be. Existing savings, as well as taking on freelance work, can be appealing options — and indeed may be the most preferable options for many low-cost startups.

2. Friends, Family, and Fools.

In the age of LinkedIn and Facebook we all have a social network we can pull from and draw upon. And so founders may find it worthwhile to ask: who in their social network can they tap to be investors?  Consider raising your initial capital — perhaps up to $200k — from the three F’s: friends, family and fools,” says entrepreneur-turned-venture capitalist Mark Suster. While VC money is widely desired and can lead to much in terms of publicity and connections, it is not appropriate for most startups, and overkill for those with immense potential but just getting started.

And don’t forget about crowdfunding! You can use crowdfunding sites like KickStarter or Crowdtilt to raise money from your friends, family, fools and even strangers who simply just believe in your idea!

3. Customers.

Most conversations about fundraising center around equity or debt investing — meaning getting an investor to give you a loan or buy a piece of your company. However, getting paying customers is another option — and one that does not involve startups giving up equity or dealing with complicated relationships with investors.

“Customers are a great way to finance a business,” says venture capitalist Fred Wilson. “In addition to capital, they also help you fit your product to the market and can give you credibility with other customers — in addition to possibly spending more with you if they are satisfied.”

4. Go Pro.

Finally, after exhausting your own capital, your social network, strangers and customers, entrepreneurs can look to “go pro” — meaning get investment from accredited investors. Some entrepreneurs may find it worthwhile to pursue incubators — like the highly touted YCombinator and TechStars programs, designed to give firms a small amount of capital coupled with greater mentoring from a network of seasoned operators.

Whichever option you decide to take, make sure you realize that fundraising is a time-consuming process and can be frustrating. Customers, friends, and professional investors will all require trust and a belief in the startup. Earning this trust is essential to generating capital, and it will take time to build. So, even if you’re not planning on needing to raise funds immediately, it is worth starting the process early on so that you have a solid foundation of trust when it comes time to make your pitch.

When was the last time you called your own business and listened to your voicemail greeting? If you’re like most, it’s probably not that often. Voicemail greetings are one of those things we all tend to set and forget. The thing is, your voicemail is often the first impression a new customer gets of your business.

“Leaving the generic greeting either says that you don’t care or that you don’t know how to change the greeting,” says Ivana Taylor for DIY Marketers. And if you can’t handle voicemail settings, what does that say to customers about your business?

Robotic voicemail messages can give customers the wrong impression about how you run your business. Don’t make the same mistakes you’ve heard on other businesses’ voicemail. Create a voicemail greeting that makes customers feel as welcomed and delighted as they would be by walking in your door.

Here are a few tips on how to do that:

Differentiate Your Voicemail Greeting

Duct Tape Marketing‘s John Jantsch relates his experience making business calls one day and being sent to voicemail on three phone calls in a row. “That’s not unusual these days,” he writes, “but what I found annoyingly silly was the fact that each of the would-be called had a voicemail message that said ‘Hi, this is so and so, I’m either on the phone or away from my desk.’ – word for word identical and painfully boring.”

Instead, Jantsch suggests personalizing voicemail greetings as an opportunity to make your business stand out in a crowd. Whatever the personality or brand of your business is, try to convey that in your message. “What if you used your voicemail message to send a subtle marketing hint or at least something attention getting,” he says. “In all things, you’ve got to start considering how to differentiate a bit.”

Let Callers Know What to Expect

Humans expect two-way relationships and your voicemail greeting can begin that conversation before your first words are exchanged with your callers. Letting customers know when you’ll return their call starts that two-way chat off on the right foot and can relieve any concerns customers may have regarding how responsive you’ll be to their needs.

“If you’re sunning yourself on the beaches of Tahiti and have no intention of even checking your voicemail until you return to your desk in two weeks, it would be nice to let someone know,” writes the Telecommuting Journal. “If they’re calling you they must need something. Let them know when you’ll be available.”

Give Callers Options

The best kind of voicemail greetings can answer some of the callers’ questions right then and there. That saves you time as a business owner and genuinely pleases customers who don’t have to wait for a return call.

Karen E. Spaeder explains on Entrepreneur.com how dial-by-number directories can be a handy follow-up to a polite, professional message. “From there, you can allow callers to choose from a variety of options: In addition to leaving a message, they can listen to a list of your services, obtain your address, find out how to place an order and so on,” she writes. “Basically, you want to provide them with the kind of information you think they’re looking for that can be easily and clearly conveyed in a voice-mail message.”

Nothing beats a real human on the other end of the phone but as a busy small business owner who can’t afford to field every single call, a customized, helpful and human-like voicemail greeting can be the next best thing.

Have you listened to your voicemail greeting lately? How could you improve yours?

Related Posts Worth Reading:

• The 10 Worst Types of Voicemails
• How to Set Up a Voicemail System Customers Will Actually Use
• 6 Infamous Phone & Voicemail Pranks

Growth is a good problem to have, unless of course you fail to manage it properly. Growing too fast is one of the top 10 leading problems that trips up small businesses and results in those high failure rates.

So, what’s a fast growing small business to do?

Here are a few tips for how to spot your business’ growing pains, and how outsourcing could help you overcome them without the whole business tumbling over.

The National Federation of Independent Business identifies five common signs your business is growing too quickly:

1. Your systems can’t keep up.
2. You find yourself choosing quantity over quality.
3. Your clients aren’t getting the attention they deserve.
4. You’re suppliers feel the wrath of your rapid growth and are overwhelmed.
5. You have problems with cash flow.

Other indications of over-heated growth include increasing customer complaints, under-served customer support systems, loans for expansion are too large to handle and eat up cash flow, and owners or other chief officers lose touch with the business’s core or other employees.

If you’ve hit all or most of these criteria, it’s time to take another look at your operations. Outsourcing could be a very viable solution for letting out some of that pressure that’s built up within your company as business accelerates.

Some key points to consider about outsourcing:

Don’t Outsource Your Soul.

Never hand off any part of your operations that fundamentally defines your company or your core mission. That’s for you to deal with, not someone else. However, non-strategic elements like payroll and human resources are increasingly being outsourced by entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially considering the efficiency and effectiveness of cloud computing.

Joanna L. Krotz at Microsoft Business for Small & Midsize Companies offers some key tips for how to go about picking the areas and operations that don’t need to be kept in-house.

Outsourcing is Not a Cure-All. Test.

The service that you’re planning to outsource, who you plan on working with, and what your company actually does all affect the outcome. Therefore, designate a trial project that is small and self-contained to see how you like the results, and to get the rest of your staff comfortable with the idea of outsourcing.

Pay Attention.

“Out of sight, out of mind” is not the way to go when managing your outsourced operations. You’ll still need your own managers to keep an eye on how things are going. If you decide you want to outsource the job and the monitoring of it, there are outsourcing brokers who can handle all the coordination and processing for you.

And remember: When someone else who’s not under your watch is doing your work, issues of management, quality control, and liability are important (and potentially contentious) issues.

Outsourcing can be a big advantage for small businesses, but it’s not strictly just about cutting costs. Outsourcing turns fixed costs into variable costs, releasing capital from large expenses early on, and allowing you to invest elsewhere in your business. This is one reason why many investors want to see outsourcing plans before investing.

Now, don’t just think of outsourcing for small, menial tasks. Some outsourcing firms have huge economies of scale, resources, and levels of expertise to handle big projects that would take a small business weeks or months to get off the ground. In this way small businesses can at least enjoy some of the benefits and capabilities of large corporations and level the playing field a bit.

Remember, this isn’t the only way to deal with fast growth. Your company could take on a mentor, especially if you’re a first time entrepreneur, or you could take this growth opportunity to chuck out your worst customers. It’s up to you, but whatever you do make sure you’re looking at all the options.

This week’s employee spotlight is on Gabriel Ong. Gabe is a senior systems engineer on the network operations team here at Grasshopper.  He works on and maintains the system and network infrastructure for the Grasshopper platform.

Let’s get to know Gabe…

Favorite sport?

Basketball.

Go to karaoke song?

Any songs with rap in them…I used to think I was going to be an up and coming rapper. It never happened.

Who was your favorite superhero growing up?

Iron Man.

If someone made a movie of your life, what movie star would you want to play you?

No other than, Andy DeFilippis (He’s a star here at Grasshopper.)

If given the chance to skip work for a day, what would you do?

Eat lobster rolls in Maine.

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

I’m running my first marathon in Hawaii in December and used to play competitive gaming in fighting games.

Stay tuned for next week’s employee spotlight!

Meetings. Does anybody enjoy them? Nothing is more telling than when you announce the end of meeting and everyone at the table suddenly lurches back into consciousness. Were they all asleep? Was anything really accomplished?

According to some pretty shocking statistics, the answers to those questions might sadly be “yes” and “no,” respectively. In Entrepreneur.com, Carol Tice quotes the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as having estimated that unnecessary meetings cost the U.S. economy $37 billion a year. Thirty-seven billion dollars.

How much of that was generated by your small business?

Unfortunately, meetings aren’t going anywhere. If you didn’t already know the benefits of having staff gathered in one spot to make decisions, brainstorm and get up to speed, you’d have stopped doing them a long time ago. Instead of pretending meetings can be abolished, the best way to avoid wasted time and money on unproductive meetings is simply to make them better.

Set Limits

Start by making a plan. Tice suggests setting strict limits on meeting agendas, attendees and time frames as a great way to instantly make meetings more efficient. “Don’t try to solve all your company’s problems at one meeting,” she writes. “Instead, keep it to one theme and leave other topics for another time.”

That kind of focused discussion with only the necessary number of people in the room can seriously cut down on wasted chatter and meaningless tangents. And when everyone knows the meeting will end in one hour, they know there’s no time to waste. Besides, Tice adds, ”most participants will be completely glazed at that point and won’t absorb much more.”

Shorter meetings also open the door for creative formats as well that help get juices flowing. Scott Belsky explains on WiseBread.com how the former head of Digital Media at MTV, Courtney Holt, asks meeting attendees to remain standing, which he believes results in better quality input from his staff.

“The tendency to sit back and reiterate points,” writes Belsky, “commentate rather than content-make — dwindles as people get weak in the knees. Standing meetings become more actionable.”

Here at Grasshopper, each department has what we call “stand-ups”; quick daily meetings to get everyone on the same page at the beginning of each workday.

Ask Better Questions

No matter what the agenda says or how meeting attendees are arranged, nothing makes or breaks the value of a meeting like content. Eliciting quality feedback from staff is what really makes it worth your time as a small business owner to have them stop what they’re doing and all gather ’round to chat.

Jeff Haden writes for Inc.com about Phil McKinney, the author of Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation and retired chief technology officer for Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group, who says knowing the difference between good questions and bad questions is the answer to better input.

“Good questions cause people to really think before they answer them, sometimes revealing answers that had previously eluded them,” Haden writes. “Bad questions cause people to shut down. What are the most common answers to bad questions? In my experience, ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’”

Those good questions need to be more than open-ended though; they need to encourage honest feedback. In his book, McKinney writes, “Any question that restricts people from feeling free to honestly answer is offensive; it reduces the quality of information you’re going to get and makes the person being questioned feel that they are being dismissed.”

Will asking the right questions, keeping attendees active and standing, or planning for short, efficient meetings suddenly make your staff love to attend them? Well, we can always dream the answer might be “yes” but what’s more important is that, loved or hated, these techniques will make meetings more worthwhile for you and your business.

Think about the meetings you have this week. How could you make them more efficient and productive?

Phone ringing off the hook? What a great problem for a small business have! Though you’d probably agree that too many phone calls is preferable to the sound of crickets, managing a tidal wave of customer calls is a tough job.

Is it better to have an employee field every call? If you ask anyone who’s spent an entire day fielding calls, you’ll probably decide it’s not.

After hearing how many times the same basic information was repeated and how many calls resulted in messages you or another staff member need to return anyway, all of the other things you could have had that employee working on instead of acting as a human voicemail greeting suddenly seem a lot more important.

As a business owner, we know it’s essential to make sure our customers don’t feel slighted by getting your voicemail instead of a live person but if you put the right information into your greeting, your customers still get great service while you free yourself or your employees up to do other things. It’s a win-win for all.

How can you do this? Let’s explore.

Answer Their Question

A lot of calls to small businesses are for basic information: hours, directions, event info and the like. Letting your callers know first thing that all of that information is available on your website can prevent voicemails even before the beep. Don’t forget to mention your URL! As Keri Jaehnig writes on her business’ blog, Idea Girl Media, it does another great thing too; it drives traffic to your site.

“Remember that website you spent lots of dollars getting up online?” Jaehnig writes. “Don’t you want your audience to visit it? In your voicemail greeting provide the simple website address. Put your event instructions there! Use social plug-ins, and make it easy for your contact to find the necessary information.”

Let Callers Know What You Want to Know

When a voicemail message from a caller includes only a name and number, it’s difficult to be sure the right staff member is calling them back at the right time and with the right information on hand. On the Bloomberg Businessweek blog, contributor Steve Hughes, president of Hit Your Stride in St. Louis, explains that the more explicit information requested from callers, the more efficient your response can be.

“Ask how and when callers want to be contacted,” he writes. “Office number, cell, e-mail? Available right away, during lunch, after 5 p.m.? This is crucial because it cuts down on the phone tag and helps you to be more responsive and productive.” Like we said, it’s a win-win for all.

Organize the Onslaught

Sifting through less important messages can make it tough to get back to your priority customers in a timely fashion. That’s why we love Read Your Voicemail! With Read Your Voicemail you can have your voicemails transcribed into text and emailed to you. Then you’re able to easily skim through all the voicemail messages and decide who you need to call back first.

The ability to have voicemails transcribed into text and emailed to you has became incredibly valuable for Jason Weissman, the 28-year-old founder of Boston Realty Advisors, whose commercial and residential real estate firm would receive up to 70 voicemail messages a day.

Inc.com‘s Ryan McCarthy writes that for Weissman, the importance of returning the right calls in a timely fashion means everything in the real estate business. After utilizing a voicemail-to-text technology, everything changed. Every voicemail message could be skimmed, prioritized and sifted through in a timely fashion.

“It’s definitely a paradigm shift in terms of the way I operate. I really believe this creates an efficiency for our agents and gives us an edge over the competition.” says Weissman of the technology in McCarthy’s article.

Don’t slow down your productivity fielding unnecessary calls. From using your voicemail greeting to nip questions in the bud to efficiently sorting through text versions of your messages, make your voicemail work smarter for you.

Have any other time-saving tips when it comes to voicemails? Let us know in the comments!

Social media is the new word-of-mouth and active participation is key for engaging customers and clients on the web. With so many opportunities to connect, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and stuck hiding behind the scenes or in analysis mode.

While you get focused and begin to refine your strategy, here are a few simple things you can do today to help you ramp up your social media presence:

1. Find the right consistency. There’s a fine line between engaging your audience and being obnoxious. Find a comfortable posting frequency and stick to it.
2. Interact. Don’t just publish content. Ask questions and respond to others. Check your message inbox and reply to direct messages. They reached out to you for a reason after all! People like to be valued, so ask for their opinions and feedback. Then put it to use!
3. Build a company page on all the primary social networks. Potential customers are likely to look you up on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. A presence on the most-frequently used networks will ensure your customers can find you when they’re looking for you. You should also make sure to check these sites pretty frequently.
4. Educate your consumers. Don’t stick to posting promotional information about your business. Instead, focus on offering value-added content that solves a problem, provides pleasure or reduces your customer’s pain points. Gaining pleasure and solving pain points are two primary driving forces behind purchasing decisions. So rather than sell your product or service, inform your readers on how they can accomplish their goals using your product.
5. Mix it up. Don’t post the same announcements, word-for-word, on every social network you’re on. It’s likely that your followers are following your updates on more than one network, so don’t bore them by repeating the same message. Sharing the same information is fine, but present it in a different manner (then take note of the ones people respond best to for future posts.) Remember that different platforms have different audiences. What works on LinkedIn may not work on Facebook.
6. Take advantage of multiple formats. The written word is powerful, but visual representations are appealing and can help readers understand complex concepts. Try creating an infographic, an ebook, a video or even a podcast.
7. Have a contest. You don’t have to offer an expensive prize to get followers to join in a contest. Just make it an easy, fun competition. A company called SmartyPig ran a super simple contest to promote knowledge of SmartyPig’s services.  They took to Twitter and asked their followers questions about SmartyPig’s services. Anyone who answered correctly was entered to a win a $100 gift card. What made this contest even better was how they selected their winners. They would think up cool ideas to select the winners and then film the selection process. You can see them picking winners by putting golf balls, throwing snowballs and more on their blog.
8. Be yourself. Social networking is meant to be genuine. Let your company’s personality shine through your posts and you’ll better connect with consumers. You shouldn’t be unprofessional, but you also don’t need to try to sound like a rocket scientist. (Unless, of course, you are a rocket scientist.)
9. Try a social networking management app. Apps like HootSuite and Postling allow businesses to effectively manage multiple social networks through a single dashboard, simplifying the complex task of logging in to several networks each day to interact with your audience. At Grasshopper, we use and love Argyle Social.
10. Heed your analytics. If you have access to analytics, use them. Facebook insights, for example, offers some simple analytics on posts, indicating the number of responses, views and interactions each post receives. Monitor and track these stats to determine your most successful posts, and use it as a framework for future updates.

Building a solid social presence doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to take hours and hours out of your day either. Using a few simple techniques, you can easily ramp up the effectiveness of your social campaigns and start reaping the benefits.

Have any other tips to share? Let us know in the comments!

With 74% of people using mobile at work and cell phones outnumbering landlines 5 to 1, the idea of using only your cell phone for business doesn’t seem as crazy as it once did. Phones are better, service coverage is better and the lack of a pbx system can help cut down on business costs.

While the numbers certainly indicate a large number of people use their cell phones for work, we wanted to know how many of you were actually using them. Here’s what you had to say:

While Jack preferred to call from his landline, Sarah used VoIP at her desk and Birgies.com used their iPhone.

Our Facebook friends had similar responses:

Here at Grasshopper, we have quite a few remote employees, so the idea of using a cell phone for business is pretty typical but it’s great to see so many other businesses doing the same thing.

The nice thing is there are now ways to use your cell phone like a desk phone. Docks make taking calls easy or you can use the awesome (and colorful) Pop phone.

How about you? What are you using?

Ever wish you had more time in your day? I know we do! As small business owners, we all find ourselves dreaming of having just one or two more hours in the day. Imagine how great it would be to actually check things off your to do list or start AND finish multiple projects in one day?

Turn your fantasy world into a reality with a customer of ours, Intern Profits.  Intern Profits teaches business owners and entrepreneurs how to find, hire, and manage interns to help grow and expand their business while creating educational opportunities for young adults.  An idea I think we can all get behind!

The idea behind Intern Profits

Intern Profits was started by a husband and wife team, Dreama and Justin Lee. They created Intern Profits as a way to do their part in helping to rebuild the economy, help business owners grow their businesses and give young adults the experience necessary to join the workforce.

While there are other businesses out there who help businesses find interns, Intern Profits differentiates itself by focusing on the business as a whole.  They offer online courses, webinars and video training for business owners to teach them how to create a meaningful internship program that not only benefits their business but also the intern.  To ensure this, they work with the business owners to create exciting and challenging work for the intern which eliminates the popular question, “What will my intern do?” One of the ways they do this is with their Easy Intern Assignments that essentially trains your interns for you, so you don’t have to!

Intern Profits creates a win-win opportunity for business owners and interns. As a business owner, not only are you giving back to the community but you’re also getting the help you need within the budget you have and from an intern’s perspective, they gain the real world experience they need to get out there and into the workforce.

So now that you know what Intern Profits is all about, let’s talk interns.

Picture this: more leads, more sales, more revenue and more profits for your business. Now imagine that being a reality.  It can be with an intern! Just check out all the companies using them.

Here are just a few of the benefits businesses have seen from hiring an intern:

• A fresh perspective – Interns bring in new eyes to your business and with new eyes, comes new ideas.
• Endless money savings - By hiring an intern you’ll be saving money that you couldn’t afford to be spending right now anyways and with a “try before you buy” mentality you’ll be saving even more money on recruiting and hiring if the intern is a match!
• Time savings – With an intern, you’ll be freed up to do all the things you’ve been meaning to get to and now, you’ll actually have time to focus on growing your business.
• Giving back – Giving back to the community always feels good and it feels even better when you’re also helping to rebuild the economy and giving young adults a chance!

Why we love Intern Profits

…besides everything mentioned above, there’s still some things that makes Intern Profits pretty awesome and particularly interesting to us.  They cater to the startup and entrepreneurial world that we all know well.

One of the great things about Intern Profits is they’ll help you find an intern that fits your needs.  Are you a growing IT company? They’ve got you covered.   Is your business spread out all over the U.S.? Think it’s too hard to have an intern because all your employees work remotely? Think again!  They can help you with that too.  Virtual internships are actually great because you get the help you need and the interns get real world experience (telecommuting is on the rise you know…) as well as better opportunities that wouldn’t normally be available to them.

Just because you’re a startup or small business with a limited budget, doesn’t mean you can’t get the help you need to grow your business! By providing business owners with the tools and resources necessary, they eliminate the common human resources and payroll roadblocks oftentimes faced by small businesses.  Simply put: They’ve got you covered!

To learn more about how you can hire interns to grow your business, provide educational opportunities for today’s youth and re-build the economy too, check out http://internprofits.com.

Be sure to check them out on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube too!

This week’s employee spotlight is on Domenic Tambascia.  Dom is the manager of systems operations here at Grasshopper.   He manages the team that ensures our systems achieve the highest uptime possible and he’s also responsible for leading the charge on all of our virtualization efforts.  Basically, as he says he, “hears phones ringing in his sleep.”

Let’s get to know Dom…

Dunkins or Starbucks?

Dunkins

Biggest pet peeve?

Slackers

What was your first car?

1985 Pontiac Trans Am, yes, I was that cool.

If you could visit anywhere, where would you go?

Greece, looks so beautiful and very rich in history.

What’s your favorite day of the year?

4th of July – I  love America,  fireworks and BBQ’ing.

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

• I love anything outdoors especially hunting,  fishing  and the beach.
• I grew up learning how to shoot guns at a very young age and still very much enjoy it. Great stress reliever!
• Love anything that has a motor. I have a passion for tinkering with things and resurrecting old stuff and making it useful again.
• I studied carpentry in high school and am able to do all of my own woodworking.
• I have a wife and 3 kids, a  teenage daughter and 2 boys ages 6 and 7 that are my world.

The good news is, these same bonuses that make your offers more attractive don’t have to cost thousands of dollars, or even a penny.

Here are 4 ways your business can use add-ons to make the sale:

Add relevant value

Businesses wanting to sweeten the deal on products or services should tie-in relevant bonuses to each offering. For instance, don’t offer up a free eBook on flipping houses to customers purchasing a cooking utensil. Do, however, include a free digital cookbook for those customers.

For some companies, this is an easy task. Most businesses specialize in a single industry, product category or niche, so it makes sense to keep a few similar bonuses on hand to close deals when necessary. In this case, the same product can crossover to nearly any product or service being sold. Those who are jacks-of-all-trade or operate retail stores selling various products in different categories will have a more difficult time choosing one-size-fits-all bonuses. For simplicity, these types of businesses should consider offering a discount on future orders or only tying bonuses to bigger-ticket items.

Tie bonuses to a dollar figure

Especially in the digital world, consumers want to know exactly what they’re getting for their money. Always tie a dollar amount to any bonuses, whether it’s an eBook, added service, subscription or even a tangible product. Let customers know that they’re getting $200 in bonuses without spending another penny. Think infomercials. Often, consumers don’t see the value in an added bonus unless it’s specifically laid out for them. If offering a product or service that will save them or make them money over time, provide evidence.

Watch the profit margin

The biggest pitfall companies face when attempting to add value to an offer is a deep cut in profit margins. Selling a product at a 50% markup won’t produce any profit in a buy-one-get-one-free deal. The key is to select bonuses with minimal overhead and minimal company cost outlay that still carry a high value in the mind of the consumer. Digital products are one possible way to avoid cutting into profits, because a company only lays out a single upfront cost yet can offer it to consumers over and over again without ever spending another dime.

Value-added bonuses

Here are a few examples of value-added bonuses businesses can use to sweeten the deal and close more sales.

• A free ebook or inexpensive print book
• A free month or year subscription to a members-only area or website
• A discount on future purchases
• A free consultation
• A free product (e.g., a free egg slicer with the purchase of a set of pans)
• A free training program

When it comes to adding value, the possibilities are endless. Value-added offers should be relevant and perceived as valuable by the target consumer. Further, added bonuses shouldn’t significantly cut into a company’s profit margin. Following these rules to select appropriate bonuses for products and services can drastically improve conversion rates and turn your prospects into repeat customers.

Today’s customer spotlight is on Sensible Sitters.  Sensible Sitters is a babysitter’s club turned small business, founded by Vanessa Wauchope. Vanessa started this company back in 2005 at the age of 22 when she saw an opportunity in the market to make a difference in the world of babysitting.

How’d she do it? Let’s take a look.

Where did the idea for Sensible Sitters come from?

Like most businesses, the idea for Sensible Sitters came as a result of Vanessa’s previous experience.  Vanessa grew up babysitting and as a young adult, spent her summer traveling with the families she babysat for.

In 2005, Vanessa took her nannying skills to the city.  When she moved to New York City, she started working for families who appreciated her ability to help the children with their homework, navigate her way around the city and the fact that she was certified in CPR and first aid.

Vanessa quickly realized there was an opportunity here and knew there were plenty more people out there like her.  This was a real turning point for Vanessa and Sensible Sitters.

The Launch of Sensible Sitters

They started out small working one on one with college students with the goal of being a liaison between sitters and families.  Essentially, it was a small trusted network of babysitting referrals.

As Vanessa says, “it was a babysitter’s club that turned real, very quickly.” Sensible Sitters became one of the first full service babysitting agencies.

Sensible Sitters launched at a time when there were few opportunities for parents to find great babysitters and for young adults to find babysitting jobs.  One of the very few ways to do that was through Craigslist.  Hmm…Craigslist or a full service babysitting agency? It’s pretty clear why this business turned profit in its first year!

Right now you can find them in New York City, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palm Beach, and Atlanta with plans for expansion into more cities.

What makes Sensible Sitters Different?

As mentioned above, they’re a full service babysitting agency meaning, they handle EVERYTHING for their clients.  From interviews, to background checks, scheduling and funds – they do it all and from a client’s perspective, it couldn’t be easier to get set up.  When a client decides they need a sitter, all they have to do is go online and request one. Sensible Sitters takes it from there. Awesome, right?

Also, all sitters have some sort of child education background which parents appreciate because not only are sitters familiar with children, they can educationally engage them. This was one of the key things Vanessa realized in the beginning that parents were looking for and appreciated.

Another benefit of Sensible Sitters is that their sitters come from all over the United States bringing with them a variety of skill-sets ensuring there’s a fit for every family.

What started out as a babysitting referral business is now growing by leaps and bounds through word of mouth, community outreach, connections at college career centers and of course, social media. Their very organic approach to growth has got them into their newest location in Atlanta with future plans for Denver, Seattle, and who knows, maybe somewhere near you!

Love what you’ve heard about Sensible Sitters so far? Then be sure to check out Sensisble Suggestions – The Sensible Sitters Babysitting Blog, for awesome tips, tricks, and babysitting stories, written by Vanessa.

To learn more about Sensible Sitters, check out their site, follow them on Twitter or head over to their Facebook page.

Stay tuned for next week’s customer spotlight on Intern Profits!

This week’s employee spotlight is on David Hauser.  OK, so maybe he’s not technically an employee here but he sure is a big part of Grasshopper as the co-founder and CTO. He’s also an angel investor and has launched more than five companies including Chargify, PopSurvey and PackageFox.

Let’s get to know David…

What’s the one piece of technology you can’t live without?

My iPhone because it has my email, texts, pictures and documents. When I traveled to Asia last month I used my iPhone more than my MacBook Pro. Maybe I should get with the times and put music on there too, but for now that is on an iPod Shuffle.

What’s your favorite place you’ve visited?

Would have to be Italy for sure and the country side, not Rome or Florence. Having traveled all over the world and a lot in Europe specifically, Italy is just an amazing place. From the food to the art and history, beautiful beaches and amazing country side with wineries. It is a country I will go back to many times.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

People that say they’re from New York, knowing that everyone first thinks of New York City as of Manhattan but they’re really from far outside Manhattan. A close 2nd to that is people that say they’re from New York City when they lived there for a year. Living there for a year after college is not the same as growing up there.

Describe your ideal Saturday in 7 words or less.

Hang with family, watch TV, be outdoors.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever got?

Don’t waste time looking back, all it gets you is a pain in your neck.

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

Growing up I was slow to learn how to read because of my learning disability and spent many years getting over that, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. From that I learned how to learn and what was best for me, which served me well in high school and college where I didn’t have to study for tests or take notes in class, if I listened and saw it I got it.

Connect with David:

• @DH
• http://davidhauser.com

Large multinational firms have been excited about cloud computing for years. For them, cloud computing means freeing up technology resources, software, and hardware needed to build and run parts of their businesses.

The move toward the cloud has enabled companies like Salesforce and Amazon, to turn traditional technology solutions into value-added services. By moving resources to the cloud, Fortune 500 firms have abandoned developing their own business-critical applications and instead, essentially rent them from another company whose specialty is in delivering services over the Internet. This has saved these firms big money in time and resources.

The value proposition of using cloud computing is clear for large businesses but what about us small businesses?

Here are some ways small businesses can best leverage the cloud:

• Scale when ready:  Cloud computing means non-essential business activities can be addressed using third-party solutions.  For example, online media companies are using Amazon’s Web Services (AWS), or Rackspace’s hosting platform, to stream video. With a pay-as-you-go model, firms can match the supply of their services with demand, and avoid a costly infrastructure investment. Scalability becomes almost infinite.
• Competitiveness: Cloud technology has enabled service providers to make niche offerings. Companies like SuccessFactors have put the power of HR optimization—once out of reach of smaller businesses—in the hands of companies without the internal resources to develop or buy a platform of their own.
• Work with true specialists: The move to the cloud has made service providers so good at what they do; it makes little sense for businesses to build their own. For example, Google’s got plenty of cloud services it provides to small businesses, including the very popular Gmail. Google handles the infrastructure, and businesses brand the look and feel. As for websites, why build your own and manage your own server, when in a couple of minutes, you can have a professional-looking website hosted on WordPress?
• Get real time views: Google Analytics is a free tool that gives businesses insight into what’s happening on their website. Omniture, now owned by Adobe, offers social media analytics on steroids. Other services, like Geckoboard, provide an affordable dashboard view of all the real-time activity that matters across a small business.
• Ready, automate: Cloud services take the stress off many of the ancillary parts of business management. Activities, like invoicing, can be partly or fully automated through Freshbooks, while inbound marketing management can be handled by Hubspot. By putting non-crucial activities on auto-pilot, small business owners can spend more time focusing on activities central to their business.
• Collaborate: Successful collaboration makes for successful products and services. File sharing systems like Dropbox, make it easy for teams to share and collaborate on media documents, such as presentations. Other productivity suites, like 37Signals, mimic the tools larger companies use to streamline global teams. Start-ups and entrepreneurs can now use the same tools.
• Manage cash flow: Instead of plunking thousands of dollars down to buy or develop a system, cloud computing providers offer a subscription model that turns payments into bite-size chunks. This pay-as-you-go model is essentially a layaway plan for capital investment. Small businesses can pay for these systems out of cash flow.

As important as cloud computing has been to big business, it is even more important to smaller companies. By using cloud computing, small business owners can take advantage of the tools large businesses have had access to for years, and level the playing field.

Mo’ money, mo’ problems or “Touched by an angel.”

These two pearls of wisdom signify all those financial headaches, bursts of euphoria, and days when you just feel like you’re sitting at a desk between Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute.

Either all the money in the world won’t fix your problems, or it seems like all you need is just a penny more to get it done.

And even though you need the green juice to survive, countless entrepreneurs emphasize that finding the right match between your company’s vibe and your investors’ is even more important.

So before you grab the money and run, think about these tips and ideas to help guide your search for good match investors.

Before you can decide which investors are a good fit or not, you actually need to find them. In an Inc.com post on how to do just that, Hearley Jones, a former VC, points out that while there used to just be venture capitalists, today there are angels, super angels, micro-venture capitalists, venture capitalists, and growth investors.

Jones recommends that entrepreneurs carefully figure out what kind of investors their businesses actually need before hitting the circuit asking for money.

A good way to do this is by networking in your space with successful entrepreneurs who may have already received investments from a particular angel or VC you’re looking to hit up.

Follow Your Bliss

Eric Lefkofsky, co-founder of Groupon, is particularly adamant about networking within your space, as he feels that investors are more likely to invest in areas where they have a robust level of expertise.

Once you’ve found a good few potential investors, then it’s all about weeding out the ones who don’t truly share your brand of entrepreneurial tenacity and spirit.

Don Rainey, a general partner at VC firm Grotech Ventures, says it all comes down to finding investors that “buy into the assumptions you have made about the future. If you don’t share the same common view of what’s possible, an investor won’t invest with you.” And you probably wouldn’t want to take their money, either.

Famed entrepreneur-bad boy Richard Branson is quick to point out that even though the depth of an investor’s pocket is critical to your business, “it is not the essential quality that will sustain the relationship and the business in the long term.”

One of Branson’s underlying funding strategies is to “bear in mind that a dictatorial financial partner can dim the spirit and enthusiasm of a new enterprise, muffling the spark that prompted you to launch this project — the spark that is most likely to make your venture different from your competitors.”

He’s found that his biggest successes were with investors who took a minority stake, provided capital and support, and then took a backseat to let him run the business and hire the key employees.

Stand Back

A rich investor is always nice, but an investor who will give you and your company the space, time, and freedom (and money) to develop your company is a real angel.

As the president and co-founder (and TeaEO) of Honest Tea, Seth Goldman offers his own straight-talking tips on how to manage your relationship with angel investors.

You should clearly define your expectations about shareholder rights and time frames, but also set realistic goals for your company. Make sure to be in frequent contact to keep investors updated on your spot in the industry.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t be letting any angel investor set the rules. They might have feedback, but that doesn’t mean you need to put it in writing. You shouldn’t be surprise pitching them for cash either, so plan ahead if you know you’re going to need it. As investor’s primary role is to hand over the money, so don’t expect gushing business advice at every turn.

Above all else, Goldman notes, angels can be distracting. If all your time goes into finding investors and managing the relationship, you’re going to end up forgetting to do your job.

Keep Control

The guys at Venture Hacks, Babak Nivi and Naval Ravikant, have also put together a startup-investor directory of sorts called AngelList, where both sides can learn about each other.

In answering some questions about startups looking for funding, Nivi and Ravikant advise against taking any money from an investor who wants control like a board seat or 50% of the company. They suggest that all angel funding in total should take between 5%-20% equity of the company.

They note that it’s incredibly difficult to fire investors, and you can’t just decide to up and quit one day since by taking their money, you’ve taken on a significant responsibility to them.

The main pro, of course, is money. If the investor can advise you, that’s even better, and the social proof of being funded can help you get even more money.

TechStars co-founder David Cohen is also against the idea that entrepreneurs never have the luxury of being picky about who funds them. For Cohen, the main underlying factor for any successful investment is a solid relationship built on mutual trust and understanding.

He would advise entrepreneurs to ask questions, lots of them, and not just to the investor but to past entrepreneurs whom they’ve funded as well.

And while the money is important, an investor can also wield powerful social currency in the form of introductions to other investors, customers, and partners.

In a perfect world, all entrepreneurs would have a funding coop in their backyard where chickens laid golden eggs. In a slightly less perfect world, everyone could at least be as picky as they want about what investors sign on.

In the real world however, even though startups are often strapped for cash and feel like they don’t have that luxury of choosing, they should still be vigilant against just taking whatever they can get.

After all, you’re taking an investment in your company, your livelihood, and yourself.

This week’s employee spotlight is on Eric Ayala. Eric is a network engineer here at Grasshopper and is on our network operations team.  Eric works on Grasshopper’s network infrastructure and firewalls.  If you’ve ever called into support with an issue on your account, you may have crossed paths with Eric who can also be found helping out the support team by troubleshooting issues for customers.

Let’s get to know Eric…

Favorite TV show?

None, I prefer a good book.

Favorite food?

Mofongo Puerto Rican food

What was your first car?

A lemon Mazda 626

If you could visit anywhere, where would you go?

Machu Picchu – Lima, Peru

What’s your favorite day of the year?

Every day that I wake up and I’m alive.

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

I am very “outdoorsy”.  I enjoy camping and hiking whenever I can during the good weather months.  I have a veggies and herbs garden.  I am also a certified scuba diver…

It’s what gets you up in the morning and what motivates you to meet your goals. It can also overwhelm and make even the smallest task seem impossible. Entrepreneurs know that stress is a part of the job. Unfortunately, some days it’s your greatest asset and others it’s your toughest competition.

There’s nothing worse than starting off the day feeling overwhelmed. All the things you want to do get set aside while a major issue is addressed. Once it’s taken care of, the tasks you put off become urgent and next thing you know, you’ve worked through lunch, forget about an appointment, and things just keep going downhill.

Well, we have good news; stress isn’t going anywhere. Yes, that is good news. Why? Because it’s a universal truth: Every small business owner feels stressed and feels that way a lot. You aren’t alone.

We all go through it yet some entrepreneurs always seem to be on top of their game. How do they do it? Let’s take a look:

Accept the Truth

As Rosalie Moscoe, business stress expert and owner of Health in Harmony, explains on Business News Daily, the first place to begin is with perspective. “There is little one can  do to eliminate the issues that cause stress,” the blog says. “You’ll most likely be working more hours than you were before, you’ll be overwhelmed and overworked.”

Accepting that things outside of one’s control are the cause of stress allows a business owner to instead focus on what he or she can control.

De-stress Your Body

Your body is required for every aspect of your business. Whether it’s your fingers dialing the phone or your brain making a decision, an entrepreneur’s physical being makes the business run. Yet between skipped meals and long hours in front of the computer, bodies often bear the brunt of stress. Exercise can be an entrepreneur’s best friend.

How often do you make time for exercise?

Michael Halper explains over at Young Entrepreneur how fitting in a workout even during long workdays is worth the time:

“Even though the work may seem like it never ends, we need to stop periodically and take a break,” he writes. “Not only will working out have many different positive impacts on your life long-term, but getting in some good exercise in the short-term will release endorphins and these can have a direct impact on your ability to deal with and decrease stress.”

Make a Plan

Running a business is so stressful because not only is there so much going on but everything can seem like a high priority. Although determining what to do, in what order and how much time should be dedicated to each can take up as much time as the tasks themselves, it’s worth it because planning ahead can save the day.

Knowing the concrete goals of your business on an annual, monthly and weekly basis allow those stressful prioritization questions to answer themselves.

“Small business stress can also come from not having a plan or having a loose plan but not knowing how to put it into action,” writes Alyssa Gregory for Small Business Bonfire. ”This is why it’s so important to have a plan for different aspects of your business that is more than ‘fluff.’ Your plans need to actually outline where you are right now, where you want to go, and specifically what you will do to get there.”

It’s amazing what a little change in perspective can do. While nothing will stop the torrent of requests, bills, priorities and more that pour into the front door of every small business, changing your response to that onslaught can make all the difference. With a new perspective, healthy body and clear vision of the future, stress can more often be your best businesses tool instead of your biggest challenge.

When was the last time stress got the better of you at work? How could some advance planning or a different mindset have helped you address the problem?

What do you see when you look at your business? The upcoming staff meeting? The pile of papers on your desk? The production schedule? As the owner of a small business, odds are you see your business much differently than your customers do. After all, looking out is simply much different from looking in.

We all know this first hand. As a customer, how easy is it to find room for improvement in other business’ websites, customer service processes or products? Bet there isn’t one person reading this post who hasn’t thought, “How could they not see this?”

The last thing you want is for a customer to be asking those very questions about your business. To avoid this, take the time to periodically “walk though” your business through the eyes of your customer. Here’s how:

Visit Your Website as a Customer

Your website is often the first contact a customer has with your business. You may spend all sorts of time writing copy, uploading photos and receiving orders through your website, but how often do you use it to find a product, get an answer to a question and place an order yourself? If you’re answer is not very often, now’s the time.

According Maneet Puri at DesignMoto, ”Functionality is the chief factor that decides the fate of the website. If a customer is facing any difficulties in browsing the website or locating the information he/she is seeking, then there is a possibility of losing one and many customers…Thus, a website must be enriched with intuitive navigation and must provide customers with easy accessibility.”

Witness a First Reaction to Your Business

Ask someone to interact with your product or service and shadow them carefully when they do so. As Jason Cohen writes in Small Business Trends, “Do informal usability testing with a stranger. You’re too close to your own projects!” At Grasshopper, we often do this to give our customers a say in the projects we’re working on and to make sure that what we’re designing works with how our customers use Grasshopper.

Because you spend so much time thinking about your offerings, it’s important to learn the perspectives of first-time users. You may be amazed at what you see, from how the person approaches your product to what may confuse or interest him about it.

Try and Find Yourself Online

Search Engine Optimization is a big business for a big reason. Potential customer’s first inclination isn’t to type your website address into their browsers. More likely, they will Google your business name or search for your type of service. Business owner Danny Dover describes what he learned by doing an SEO test of his business Giggly Wiggly Preschool near Seattle on SEOMoz’s blog. As it turns out, it includes more than just searching for your name.

“What words might people type into the search engines to look for your client’s company?” he writes. “For my example, I came up with ‘Issaquah Preschool,’ ‘Issaquah Daycare,’ ‘Sammamish Preschool,” (a neighboring suburb) ‘Preschool Summer Camp,’ and ‘Creative Preschool.’ Your list should be longer.”

If your business name doesn’t come up on the first page of search results, an SEO expert can help you ramp up your website.

Track Every Marketing Effort

It’s very difficult for a small business owner to know how receptive customers are to marketing initiatives. It is possible, however to track the results of each. As the National Federation of Small Businesses writes in “5 Simple Ways to Track Marketing ROI,” “Tracking your return on investment on marketing helps you determine which efforts best promote your business. If you’re not tracking ROI, you could be throwing money away on promotions that don’t work.”

To avoid this, the NFSB blog recommends: asking all of your customers how they heard about you, track and managing contacts, coding marketing materials and emails, handing out coupons, as well as tracking phone calls.

Sometimes looking at your own business from the customer’s perspective means actually looking at it differently yourself, and sometimes is just about finding the right people and tools to act as those fresh eyes.

When was the last time you took a good hard look at your business from your customers’ perspective? What did you learn?

This week’s employee spotlight is on Don Schiavone.  Don is our COO here at Grasshopper and on our management team.  Simply put, Don is responsible for making sure the vision of Grasshopper’s founders becomes a reality by ensuring that we have the right people doing the right things at the right time.  This is most often accomplished by ensuring each and every team member lives up to our core values every day.

Let’s get to know Don…

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Of course an astronaut.  I grew up watching stories about our race against Russia to the moon. Having successfully won that race, the next challenge was to fly to mars.  I dreamed of being on the mars landing team.

What was your first car?

I had a Vette.  Yup, that’s right. How cool was I to be a teenager with his own Vette. Unfortunately, it was a Chevette rather than a Corvette.  Much less cooler, believe me. It was a stick shift as well.  So, for the first 3 months learning to drive it, bystanders would swear I was riding a bucking bronco.

What’s your favorite movie?

Too cliché to go with The Godfather, with a last name of Schiavone. So, I’d have to say Goodfellas.  However, I am also a tremendous fan of Hoodwinked!.  I love anything with Patrick Warburton in it and he is hilarious as the Wolf.

If you could visit anywhere, where would you go?

I will definitely return to Italy someday, no question about that.  The food, the sights, the people, bellisimo! However, if I could truly visit ANYWHERE, I must say I would love to visit the moon or even mars.  I believe that will be within our reach in another 50 years to take a vacation to outer space.  Looks like I was born 50 years too late.

What’s your favorite day of the year?

Definitely Christmas.  There is nothing like the pure joy seeing my children sneak downstairs in the morning to see what Santa left and to have the whole day with my family enjoying time together bundled up in the house with a warm fire and enjoying a great meal.

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

I have my private pilot’s license with instrument rating.  Prior to the birth of my kids, I use to enjoy flying small planes all over the east coast. I once had to make an emergency landing flying from Charlotte, NC, to Pittsburgh, PA.  I was just about to fly over the Blue Ridge Mountains at about 10,000 feet when my engine started to sputter.  Fighting back mild panic, I was able glide to a small nearby air strip and make an emergency landing.  That really got the adrenaline pumping.

When small businesses think about communications, they typically think about the customer. And why wouldn’t they? As business owners, we know the pressure is always on to get your message out to the consumers most likely to purchase. While you’re focused on connecting with your customers, the small business next door is focused on hers, and the brand-new start-up down the street is busy doing the same. Why not help each other?

Keeping a steady communications eye on the customer is important, but if every business on the block is only speaking to consumers and not to each other, some very big opportunities are passing you by.

Ever wonder why you can’t reach that next sales goal? What about finding a solution to that nagging utility billing issue that won’t go away? Collaborating with other small businesses could be the solution.  Working with others in the same boat as you can inspire new strategies and result in better solutions for an array of issues you’re all experiencing.

Start Talking

The first step is opening the lines of communications: picking up the phone; stopping in with plate of brownies; organizing a monthly business owners meeting. These steps are so easy and small that they’re often overlooked. The potential results of these communications, however, are anything but insignificant.

Carol Tice shares one great example of businesses who banded together to reach more customers in her post, Collaboration is Beautiful. When a handful of small technology start-ups realized they shared similar potential customers and a similar challenge in reaching them, BatchBlue, Freshbooks, MailChimp, Outright and Shoeboxed created Small Business Web, a marketing tool that helped them pool their communications efforts and reach a wider audience for all of their businesses.

The collaborative website states, “The Small Business Web is a movement to bring together like-minded, customer-obsessed software companies to integrate our respective products and make life easier for small businesses.”

Tice adds, “There’s never been a better time for small businesses to stop slogging along in their separate trenches and find a way to get together. These businesses have taken the time to make their applications work with each other’s products, and now they can present them to customers as a suite of services instead of one-offs. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Indeed. And more customers and higher sales aren’t the only goal shared by similar businesses. Whether it’s a community issue or a global one, a group of businesses can find better ideas and resources to solve them.

In his new book, Simon Mainwaring explains how businesses around the world have been collaborating to address sustainability issues. “Creating a better world requires teamwork, partnerships, and collaboration,” Mainwaring writes, “as we need an entire army of companies to work together to build a better world within the next few decades.”

He includes the example of the Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy, which was jointly founded by Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss & Company, Sun Microsystems, and Timberland to reduce greenhouse gases through renewable energy and fewer coal-fired power plants. What they couldn’t do separately, they found a solution for together.

Your small business may not be involved with such global issues, but it may be that 10 other businesses on the block have also been struggling with the utility company for a year. Who knows, one visit to the utility offices with a group of troubled customers could make an impact that will save everyone hours of wasted time individually.

Every small business has its struggles, but oftentimes these struggles are shared. Finding like-minded businesses and taking the time to establish and maintain communications with them can save everyone time, grow the customer bases and give each lone small business owner the power of being part of a team.

Related posts:

• 4 Ways to Grow Your Business With Local Partnerships
• BarCamp Tour 2011: Grasshopper Group, Mailchimp & Wufoo
• Grasshopper/KISSmetrics Challenge

At Grasshopper, we love getting to know our customers and learning about their stories.  In fact, we created an entire page Tell Us Your Story page on our site so that we could better learn about our customers and their entrepreneurial journey.

If there’s one thing that always stands out to us in our customer’s stories, it’s how they got started and why they went into business for themselves.  There is one thing however that we don’t hear a lot about and that’s why you all stay in business for yourselves and what the best part about owning your own business is.  So we took to our Facebook page the other day to find out what it is you think is the best part about owning your own business.

Here’s what our Facebook fans said:

Now, we want to hear from you! Fill in the blank: The best part about owning your own business is __________.

Originally developed in Japan, QR (Quick Response) codes have just recently started to generate some buzz and make their imprint here in the United States. Even if you don’t know what they are, you’ve most likely seen them; they’re the black and white Rorschach-looking square images seen on a growing number of products and media advertisements.

In brief, a QR code is a two-dimensional (2D) barcode of pixelated squares that mobile phone users scan to retrieve website URLs, product information, music, text, videos, coupons and much more.

While QR codes are still a relatively new trend, QR code use grew by 1,200% during the second half of 2010 [tweet], and a 4,549% increase in QR scanning traffic was seen in the first quarter of 2011, according to a report from Mobio Identity Systems, an international marketing and mobile payments company.

With smart phone adoption surpassing 100 million owners (Comscore), it may be time for your small business to consider adding a QR code to your marketing mix.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Easy to use. QR codes can be adopted to just about anything, from coupons to napkins to emails.
• Myriad of uses. There are hundreds of uses for QR codes, and many of which haven’t even been thought of yet. While business cards, customer mailings, website visits, For Sale signs, and product specs are more common QR codes uses, other creative applications include T-shirts, loyalty programs, and personalized voice gift messages. 
• Inexpensive marketing. Since QR codes are rather simple to set up, they’re a cost-effective marketing tool. There are plenty of sites on the web that will set up a QR code for your business for free. 
• Appeals to consumers with high disposable income. According to Mobio, the highest demographic users are those in the 35 to 44 age group, who often have more disposable income to spend. 
• Gain a competitive edge. Small businesses who adopt QR codes while still in its early stages can develop a competitive edge. 
• Curiosity factor. The newness of the unique-looking pixelated square images cause mobile phone users to scan them to see “what they’re all about”.

Cons:

• Opens the door for malicious QR codes. Malicious QR codes can be infused with malware that not only puts a user’s computer or mobile phone at risk, but their privacy too. 
• QR code scanning can be time-consuming. Users with slow connections or a variable 3G signal may get frustrated with waiting for the code’s landing page to appear. 
• Users must download a QR code reader. In the future, smartphones will no doubt be equipped with built-in QR code readers. For now, though, users must download an app to be able to scan QR codes. 
• Lack of QR code awareness among consumers. Although roughly 14 million consumers in the U.S. are scanning QR codes, that only represents 6.2% of mobile users in the U.S. [tweet], reports comScore, a global digital marketing intelligence measurement company.

There are tons of creative ways you can use QR codes to your advantage and although they may not be right for every business, they’re certainly something to think about! So, how are other businesses using QR codes?

Let’s take a look at some of the good, bad and interesting uses of QR codes:

Good

As we mentioned above there are a lot of great ways to use QR codes for your small business. Why not use a try using a QR code to grab customer’s information and in exchange offer them a coupon like The Cure Starts Now Foundation?

Want more reviews for your business ? Just create a QR code that links to your Google places or Yelp and make it easy for your customers.  You could put this QR code on the table at your restaurant, or on the door of your store.

Make your customers lives easier when purchasing something from you by putting a QR code right next to your product so they can easily learn more about the product like Best Buy does.  You could even put a QR code next to the product and have it link to a product demo so your customers can see the product in action.

Bad

When it comes to bad QR codes, we think Scott Stratten covers this topic much better than we could. Watch this video for some examples of how NOT to use QR codes.  (This video is pretty awesome.)

Interesting

It looks like they’ve thought of everything! What about using a QR code to help farmers when their cows go to auction? Think we’re joking? T-Mobile came up with the idea to spray cows with QR codes before going to auction instead of using the expensive chips farmers currently use to identify their cows.  The QR codes can be read by any smart phone and would link to a page with all the information a buyer would need on that cow. Cool idea, right?

As you can see the possibilities are endless for QR codes.  But, before you create a QR code don’t forget to think about how people will actually use it and make sure it makes sense!

What are some ways you’re using QR codes for your business? Have you seen any creative uses of QR codes?

MAINTENANCE ALERT: On Sunday, April 1st from 1 PM to 2 PM EST we’ll be testing out our backup feature Update Mode to ensure it works as designed.

Please note that this test will only affect a small number of our customers. During this maintenance window, if your account is affected, your calls and voicemails will be forwarded to the backup phone number and email address listed in your Update Mode settings.

Check your Update Mode settings now >>

Details

• When: Sunday, April 1st
• Time: 1 PM – 2 PM EST
• Who: Only a small number of customers
• What: If someone calls your Grasshopper number while Update Mode is live, they’ll hear a ringing tone while we attempt to reach you at the backup number on your account. If you can’t be reached, your callers will hear the following voicemail message: Thanks for calling. Our normal phone system is currently being updated, so there may be a delay before we’re able to return your call. If you know another way to reach us, please do. Otherwise, please leave a message after the tone and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Any voicemails received during Update Mode will be forwarded to the backup email address on file.

Check your Update Mode settings now >>

What’s Update Mode? You can learn more about our backup feature here.

Have a question? Give us a call at 800-820-8210 or shoot us an email to support@grasshopper.com.

It’s Meet the Employees Monday here at Grasshopper.  This week’s employee spotlight is on David Janelle.  David works on the user experience team as the Interaction Designer. David designs all of our websites, banner ads and print materials for Grasshopper. It’s his job to make sure everything fits with our brand while looking as appealing as possible. He’s working on some pretty awesome stuff right now, so keep an eye out for it!

Let’s get to know David…

What’s the one item you can’t live without?

My phone or some other device with music on it. My life has changed (for the better) since I discovered Spotify.

If you were an animal, which one would you be?

A river otter, without a doubt. They’re clever, playful and can swim super-fast (though that last part might be wishful thinking).

How old would you be if you could be any age?

Probably 9 or 10. You never appreciate recess and being able to play when you get home from school until you’ve grown up.

If you could be any key on the keyboard, what one would you be?

Caps Lock. I switch between being quiet and loud pretty fluidly.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A fighter pilot. My dad was a commercial airline pilot and we went up in small planes all the time, so I always wanted to fly really fast fighter jets. Apparently you need decent vision, though.

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

I had a cheeseburger named after me when I was in high school. I was a dishwasher at a local restaurant and because I kept doing such an awesome job, they’d make me whatever I wanted. I always asked for cheeseburgers, and one day the cooks thought it would be funny to take a 16oz hamburger, a loaf of bread and a couple thick slices of cheese and make an absurd cheeseburger. They called it the Dave Janelle and put it on the menu. I don’t think they had any takers.

Connect with David:

• @DavidJanelle
• http://www.davidjanelle.com
• http://dribbble.com/davidjanelle

Thank you to everyone who submitted a startup dream team and to all those who voted! The results are in and the winner of our Take Your Dream Team to the Final Four contest is Paige Piper. Congratulations to Paige and her startup dream team, the Flyers!  Paige won two tickets to both the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four & National Championship games as well as a 4 night stay at the Omni Royal Hotel in New Orleans.

Paige’s winning startup dream team:

Team name: Flyers

CEO: Gary C. Kelly (Southwest Airlines) Location: Washington, DC Product type: Web app Funding: Angel Investment Exit strategy: Go public Pitch:

Flyers is an incredibly unique and winning business idea. Flyers will create an application for the web to store all of your media as well as sync systems so that all electronic devices that have the necessary capabilities can have the multiple forms of media on them. Up until now Apple has been one of the only successful companies to sync multiple devices with an easy interface, yet many consumers have switching costs and may prefer to use a more socially responsible company. Flyers can make this happen. With a dream team led by Gary C. Kelly of Southwest, a known successful leader who consistently strives to outperform the competitor, there will be a unique, dedicated team of workers. Flyers will set a new standard and allow consumers more freedom of choice and force companies to innovate to gain brand loyalty.

We couldn’t have held this content without voters, so thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for the startup dream teams! Anyone who voted for a team was eligible for 1 of 4 $50 Amazon gift cards.  The winners of these gift cards are:

• Tori Pierce
• Mike Krupit
• Sean Jeffries
• Paul Cryer

Congratulations to everyone who won and thank you all for participating!

A few months ago we decided to launch a newsletter for our customers. We’re always reading all sorts of interesting, inspiring and downright awesome articles about growing your small business and we thought everyone should benefit.  We started this newsletter with the intention of sharing all this great content with just our customers but since we got such a positive response we thought we’d extend the invitation!

Now, this isn’t your standard company newsletter. You know the “we did this,” “we won this,” ones. No one wants their inbox clogged up with that stuff!

Every month we compile the top 6 stories from around the web, that we think every entrepreneur should read, into 1 quick and easy to read email.  The newsletter goes out on first Monday of every month.  No more, no less. Just one email, once a month.

Want to check it out before you subscribe? Have a look at the one we sent out last month:

Interested?  Subscribe to our newsletter now to make sure you get our April 2nd newsletter. Subscribe here >>

Behind every great company is a workforce of superior employees. Hiring the best talent allows you to build your business and creates a positive work environment. But how you hire is important. Zappos hires for cultural fit, Google is known for its crazy interview questions and even Chick-fil-A makes sure the people they hire already say please and thank you.

An effective hiring strategy takes a variety of factors into consideration and it’s up to you to create that strategy.

Consider these seven tips for finding top-notch employees:

1. Develop a Detailed Job Description

Before you initiate any interviews, clearly outline your expectations of the new employee and how you see the person contributing to the company’s goals. Besides listing the obvious in the job description, such as main duties, also consider how the employee’s tasks dovetail with the company’s goals and vision.

What exactly do you hope to accomplish by hiring this individual? What sort of work style and outlook should the applicant possess? Develop a list of key skills, experience, training and traits you seek, which you can use to create an ad and explore in more depth during any resulting interviews.

2. Consider Hiring From Within

Hiring a “known quantity” has its advantages. Is there a current employee who possesses the necessary skills to fill the position, or is trainable? Someone already working for the company may have untapped talents. Or maybe your current employees know individuals who would make a good fit. Referrals are the new recruiter.

3. Carefully Review Each Candidate’s Materials

Thoroughly examine each applicant’s resume and supporting documents. Check for required skills and experience, look for any inconsistencies and gaps in employment and don’t be afraid to contact their references.

Also consider the overall appearance and impression the resume gives. Is the document well-written and free of typos? Does it open with a clear objective and highlight relevant experience? You want a prospective employee who eloquently explains his or her accomplishments and has a clear grasp of why those achievements are important.

4. Ask Telling Interview Questions

Besides asking the standard queries such as salary expectations and education and experience, take the opportunity during the interview to ask open-ended questions that encourage the interviewee to reveal as much information as possible.

Potential questions include: “Tell me about a successful project you were involved in.” “Why did you decide to join the industry?” “What are your strengths/weaknesses?” and “Where do you see yourself five years from now?” After the applicant answers each question, encourage the person to reveal even more by remaining silent for several seconds afterward. Many people will fill in the void by offering additional information.

5. Include Several Interviewers

Involving other members of the company in the first or second interview achieves a number of goals. Doing so gives you various perspectives on the potential employee, shows you how well the interviewee relates to other employees and reveals how the person performs in group situations. Including other members of the company is likely to bring out a side of the interviewee that you may not see otherwise.

It’s also important that before the interview, make sure all the interviewers are on the same page. What are you looking for in a candidate? What are you expecting from them? What questions are you going to ask? After the interviewee leaves, take a few minutes to discuss the applicant with the group and record the consensus and any thoughts or considerations.

6. Watch for Red Flags

Warning signs to look for when examining a job applicant include gaps in the resume the person can’t explain, hesitancy or a lack of information from former employers when you check references, inappropriate posts on social media sites, an unwillingness to make eye contact or answer certain questions during the interview and an inability to explain how accomplishments on the resume were achieved. If something feels off, it probably is.

7. Consider Chemistry

While skills and experience are critical, personality fit is equally important. An outstanding resume won’t change the fact that an applicant is not likely to positively contribute to the company culture. If your business requires that employees assist in the company’s social networking efforts, for instance, but the applicant expresses resistance at the notion, it’s probably best to move on to the next candidate. Never underestimate how important culture is to hiring and retaining employees.

Here at Grasshopper, we employ many of these tips and recently began practicing the A Method for hiring. The results have been great and the employees we’ve hired through this even better.

Any tips you’d like to share for hiring high-quality employees?

The results are in and we’re officially down to four startup dream teams in our Take Your Dream Team to the Final Four contest. These four teams ended last week’s Elite 8 round with the most votes.

The pressure is really on now as this week is the last round of voting! The team with the most votes as of Friday, March 23rd at 5 PM EST will win the grand prize of 2 tickets to both the NCAA Men’s Final Four and National Championship games AND a 4 night stay at the Omni Royal Hotel in New Orleans.

It’s up to YOU to decide which team wins the grand prize. You may only vote once (per IP address), so make your vote count!  Don’t forget, anyone who votes is eligible for a chance to win 1 of 4 $50 Amazon gift cards so there’s something in it for everyone!

The winners of the grand prize and 4 assists will be announced on Friday, March 23 at 6:00 PM EST on our blog.

Here are the Final Four teams:

Team 1: Uniblocker [vote for this team]

CEO: Steve Jobs (Apple) Location: Bellevue, Washington Product type: Mobile app Funding: Angel Investment Exit strategy: Go public Pitch:

So you like balls of yarn? Oh, you collect them? Perhaps you were a cat in your past life? Either way, Road Trip Detour knows the real you. Next time you decide to take that long trip out west and pass through Kansas, RTD might suggest a reroute to Cawker City to experience the largest ball of twine. Based on your interests and hobbies, RTD alerts you as you’re driving cross country of off the map attractions like that ball of twine that only you can appreciate, turning an exciting journey into a scavenger hunt. Capital is being raised in two stages, $500,000 in initial launch for Apple and then a round of expansion capital of $1-$3 million for Android rights. Our mission is to be the top app for 2012 and continue building on making those impromptu passions a realization. Go ahead, take a drive and see for yourself.

Team 2: Flyers [vote for this team]

CEO: Gary C. Kelly (Southwest Airlines) Location: Washington, DC Product type: Web app Funding: Angel Investment Exit strategy: Go public Pitch:

Flyers is incredible unique and winning business idea. Flyers will create an application for the web to store all of your media as well as sync systems so that all electronic devices that have the necessary capabilities can have the multiple forms of media on them. Up until now Apple has been one of the only successful companies to sync multiple devices with an easy interface, yet many consumers have switching costs and may prefer to use a more socially responsible company. Flyers can make this happen. With a dream team led by Gary C. Kelly of Southwest, a known successful leader who consistently strives to outperform the competitor, there will be a unique, dedicated team of workers. Flyers will set a new standard and allow consumers more freedom of choice and force companies to innovate to gain brand loyalty.

Team 3: Save on Gas [vote for this team]

CEO: Robin Chase (ZipCar) Location: Boston, MA Product type: Loyalty card Funding: Crowdsourced (Ex: Kickstarter) Exit strategy: Stay private and continue to rock Pitch:

We need to close the carbon externality, but that’s off the table in Congress. Save on Gas lets users opt into a gas tax, deducting money from their checking account when you buy gas, and transferring it into savings. We need to save more and burn less gas; Save on Gas lets you do both.

Team 4: Pitch Squared [vote for this team]

CEO: Peter Shankman Location: New York City, NY Product type: Service Funding: VC Exit strategy: Stay private and continue to rock Pitch:

With so many new startups struggling to get their word out, this will be the most accessible and effective tag-based pitching service. Wanna pitch to TechCrunch? The Washington Post? Michael Arrington? No problem, simply give us the tag techcrunch, WashigntonPost, Arrington, etc. and submit your story. As stories are received, we will invite reporters to claim their tag, and the respective stories associated with the tags.

Congratulations to the Final Four teams!  The fate of your team depends on public votes so it’s time for you to get out there and get your team some votes!

Vote for your favorite team now.

Did you know March is Women’s History month? It’s true! And with 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the U.S, accounting for more than $1.2 trillion in revenues and an estimated 15.3 million new jobs by 2018, we thought it was certainly worth celebrating.

In honor of Women’s History month, we pulled together a must-follow list of women entrepreneurs who are an inspiration to us and real movers and shakers in their industry. This list is by no means all-inclusive; in fact, we’ve purposely left people off the list!

We want you to tell us what women entrepreneurs you follow for inspiration, insight and advice. Let us know in the comments and we’ll add them to our list.

Here are 30+ top women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter:

@ariannahuff

Arianna Huffington is no stranger to these lists. She is the editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group.  She is a mother, a sister and guru of all things business.

@AliBrown

Ali Brown is a secret millionaire (well not anymore) working to mentor women across the globe. She tweets about tips and tricks on keeping up in business and in everyday  life.

@lisahufford

As CTO (chief talent officer) at Simplicity Consulting, Lisa Hufford helps people, teams and companies find the perfect consultant for every project. The mother of two and friend to many has a passion for yoga and a love for laughter.

@Jenn_RTR and @Jenny_RTR

Named to Fortune’s Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs of 2011, Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss have come up with a way to bring high fashion runway looks to everyday people with renttherunway.com. They tweet about the latest in style and fashion.

@clarashih

Clara Shih also made Fortunes’ Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs of 2011. She is the CEO and Founder of HearsaySocial, creator of the first business app on Facebook and author of The Facebook Era.

@SarahPrevette

Sarah Prevette is the founder of recently acquired Sprouter, an idea and fact sharing site designed to offer guidance to fledgling businesses. She tweets about tips and tricks for start-up businesses.

@Oprah

Oprah Winfrey is the entrepreneur of all entrepreneurs. She’s an oldie but a goodie (and we don’t necessarily mean in age!) and can’t be left off the list.

@CarrieWilkerson

Carrie Wilkerson is a mom, author and speaker, tweeting about business trends and success tips, offering strategies for self-employed professionals and small business owners.

@Brandyou

Cindy Ratzalf is an author, speaker and digital brand maker who writes a business insider column and tweets about all things digital. She was included on the Forbes 25 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow list.

@alexahirschfeld

Alexa Hirschfeld lives in New York City’s East Village and is the co-founder of Paperless Post, an online card and invitation website. She tweets about New York, life and all things invite-related.

@katrinskaya

Katrin Verclas is the founder of MobileActive which connects people together using mobile technology to promote social change. She tweets about technology, politics and social issues.

@AmyJoMartin

Amy Jo Martin is the co-founder of DigitalRoyalty. She is a self-proclaimed innovator who develops strategies for “rad” businesses.

@KairaRouda

Kaira Rouda is an author who shares her life and business strategies with her followers. She’s a believer of all things positive and real.

@nataliemacneil

Natalie MacNeil is the founder of She Takes on the World, an Emmy-award winning media producer and a contributor to the Huffington Post and Forbes. She shares her business tips for women across the globe.

@MelissaOnline

Melissa Stewart is a self-proclaimed “mavHERick”, entrepreneur and coffee addict. As the founder of She Owns It, Stewart tweets inspiration and information for entrepreneurs.

@TheSunQueen

Ja-Nae Duane is a sociologist, an entrepreneur and an investor. She wrote How to Start Your Business with $100 and How to Create a Revolution.

@smallbiztrends

Anita Campbell  is the CEO of Small Business Trends and author of Visual Marketing Book. She tweets about small business trends and strategies.

@womanzworld

Natalie Sisson is a “suitcase” entrepreneur who has a passion for travel. She works on the road, tweeting about business, social media and online tools.

@simplicityinc

A. Michelle Blakely is a “master” at growing small business and doing it with Simplicity. She was named to Black Enterprises’ Top 11 to Follow on Twitter.

@mombizcoach

Lara Galloway is a “mompreneur,” a speaker, trainer and business coach. As co-founder of MomBizRetreat she helps mom entrepreneurs find the balance between business and life.

@SarahRobinson

Sarah Robinson is working to escape mediocrity in life and business “one adventure at a time.” She has been selected by Forbes and Dun & Bradstreet as a “Top Tweeter” about entrepreneurship.

@iempoweru

Linda Hughes is founder of EntrepreneurCommunityOnline. She works to connect entrepreneurs to success “one Main Street” at a time.

@BeckyMcCray

Becky McCray is the founder of SmallBizSurvival and is a rural entrepreneur. She shares strategies for small town businesses and teaches social media tricks to help promote tourism.

@2cre8

Kathy Meyer shares her enthusiasm for eMarketing trends and technology. She believes in simplicity and balance and has a love for art, music and her iPhone.

@caterina

Caterina Fake is the co-founder of Flickr and Hunch who keeps things interesting by tweeting about a variety of things including her own projects and blog posts and she offers some great insight into the world of female entrepreneurship.

@lisastone

Lisa Stone is the co-founder and CEO of BlogHer. Lisa is a perfect example of someone who does it all. She’s an inspiration to female entrepreneurs.  Follow her for her expertise in blogging, great advice and inspiration.

@thisgirlangie

Angie Chang is the co-founder and editor-in-chief at Women 2.0.  Her Twitter stream is full of anything and everything related to women entrepreneurs. If you only follow a few, make sure Angie is on your list!

@pamslim

Pam Slim is a business coach and the author of Escape from Cubicle Nation. Thinking about starting your own business? Follow Pam for all sorts of business advice, support and encouragement.

@prsarahevans

Sarah Evans is the owner of Sevens Strategy and is a self-described “social media freak.”  She runs #Journchat, loves PR and social media, and well, she has over 71K fans. That’s got to mean something right?

@Pistachio

Laura Fitton currently works for Hubspot as an Inbound Marketing Evangelist, founded @oneforty (a Twitter tools site) AND helped write Twitter for Dummies. How could we not include her on this list?

Do you follow a cutting-edge female who’s worthy of the list? Let us know and we’ll add her to ours.

Over the past few months, we’ve received a great deal of questions about the difference between VOIP and Grasshopper. This is a common question and we figured it’d be beneficial for everyone if we explained the difference between the two here on the blog.

So, what’s the difference between Grasshopper and VOIP?

VOIP is short for “voice over Internet protocol”.  VOIP turns your standard internet connection into a phone system and allows you to place and receive phone calls using the internet.  In short, VOIP takes audio signals, turns them into digital signals and then transmits them over the internet.

One of the most important things to understand is although Grasshopper is managed entirely online, you cannot use Grasshopper to make calls online the way you would make a call using VOIP.  Of course, you can use Grasshopper with your Skype account or Google Voice account but that’s not the same thing.

Grasshopper is managed completely online and in the cloud. Meaning, you can set up and manage your account through our online portal. We should also mention, if you don’t have access to the internet, you can still access your account via phone.

Unlike VOIP, there is no hardware to purchase or software to install when using Grasshopper.  Grasshopper works on top of your current phone provider and only services your incoming calls.  Think of Grasshopper as an add-on to your current phone service.

There is also a bit of a difference in quality depending on the type of VOIP you’re using.  In general, the quality of VOIP phone calls is dependent on the quality of the software, equipment and your internet connection. Since Grasshopper uses the traditional phone network, quality isn’t an issue.

Although VOIP calls can be free or substantially cheaper than traditional phone calls, you may actually be sacrificing professionalism.  Grasshopper helps you sound professional with features like a toll-free number, a custom main greeting and unlimited extensions, making your business look and sound bigger.

Have a question about the difference between VOIP and Grasshopper that we didn’t cover in this post? Just ask!

Thanks to everyone who entered a startup dream team in our Take Your Dream Team to the Final Four contest. We got some pretty cool dream teams and have officially selected the Elite 8 teams.

Now, its up to the public to decide which teams make it through to the Final Four round.

The 4 teams with the most votes at the end of this week will move on to next week’s Final Four round.  The Final Four round is the LAST round of public voting and the team with the most votes at the end of it will win tickets to the 2 tickets to both the NCAA Men’s Final Four and National Championship games and a 4 night stay at the Omni Royal Hotel in New Orleans.

You may only vote once (per IP address) per round, so make your vote count!

Here are the Elite 8 teams:

Team 1:  Capped & Trade [vote for this team]

CEO: Tony Hsieh (Zappos) Location: Boston, MA Product type: Web app Funding: Bootstrap Exit strategy: Go public Pitch:

We will be the first and only platform that allows users to buy and sell the unused portion of their monthly smartphone data plans. With most major carriers instituting monthly caps on data usage, why shouldn’t you be able to buy from others? Just as Corporations buy and sell carbon credits for their “carbon footprint”, so too will individuals be able reduce or expand their “data footprint” with our app.

Just as Tony built Zappos on the premise of a pleasant customer experience, Capped&Trade seeks to eliminate the headaches and pain-in-the-bank-account that come with going over your data plan limit. No longer are the days of painful customer service and excessive fees, welcome back to a world of unlimited data – welcome to Capped&Trade!

Team 2: Flyers [vote for this team]

CEO: Gary C. Kelly (Southwest Airlines) Location: Washington, DC Product type: Web app Funding: Angel Investment Exit strategy: Go public Pitch:

Flyers is incredible unique and winning business idea. Flyers will create an application for the web to store all of your media as well as sync systems so that all electronic devices that have the necessary capabilities can have the multiple forms of media on them. Up until now Apple has been one of the only successful companies to sync multiple devices with an easy interface, yet many consumers have switching costs and may prefer to use a more socially responsible company. Flyers can make this happen. With a dream team led by Gary C. Kelly of Southwest, a known successful leader who consistently strives to outperform the competitor, there will be a unique, dedicated team of workers. Flyers will set a new standard and allow consumers more freedom of choice and force companies to innovate to gain brand loyalty.

Team 3: Save on Gas [vote for this team]

CEO: Robin Chase (ZipCar) Location: Boston, MA Product type: Loyalty card Funding: Crowdsourced (Ex: Kickstarter) Exit strategy: Stay private and continue to rock Pitch:

We need to close the carbon externality, but that’s off the table in Congress. Save on Gas lets users opt into a gas tax, deducting money from their checking account when you buy gas, and transferring it into savings. We need to save more and burn less gas; Save on Gas lets you do both.

Team 4: Uniblocker [vote for this team]

CEO: Steve Jobs (Apple) Location: Bellevue, Washington Product type: Mobile app Funding: Angel Investment Exit strategy: Go public Pitch:

So you like balls of yarn? Oh, you collect them? Perhaps you were a cat in your past life? Either way, Road Trip Detour knows the real you. Next time you decide to take that long trip out west and pass through Kansas, RTD might suggest a reroute to Cawker City to experience the largest ball of twine. Based on your interests and hobbies, RTD alerts you as you’re driving cross country of off the map attractions like that ball of twine that only you can appreciate, turning an exciting journey into a scavenger hunt. Capital is being raised in two stages, $500,000 in initial launch for Apple and then a round of expansion capital of $1-$3 million for Android rights. Our mission is to be the top app for 2012 and continue building on making those impromptu passions a realization. Go ahead, take a drive and see for yourself.

Team 5: Calamity Plane [vote for this team]

CEO: Tony Hsieh (Zappos) Location: Oklahoma City, OK Product type: Service Funding: Bootstrap Exit strategy: Stay private and continue to rock Pitch:

Living in the Midwest, there are no shortage of heartbreaking natural disasters that occur in this region. Based on the success of texting $10 to Red Cross, our people loving CEO Tony is helping build our start up that allows you to send tangible love to those in need. Just text “shoes” or “warm” and we’ll handle the rest. With technology, we can reach and help faster than ever before. We are financially “bootstrapped”, but heavily funded by compassion of people all over the world. Because we are huge nerds with huge hearts, we can mobilize efficiency in a way not used in this space and make every one of your dollars count.

Team 6: PicHub [vote for this team]

CEO: Kevin Systrom (Instagram) Location: Boulder, CO Product type: Web app Funding: Angel Investment Exit strategy: Sell and start another company Pitch:

Photo sharing made simple! Pichub will allow the social aspect of events and the images taken at those events to be pulled into one place. Images are able to be captured by mobile app, up loaded from photo services and shared socially. Pichub will penetrate the market through the wedding world, allowing guests to take and share images from weddings that they attend. With over 300 million wedding attendees each year, there is huge opportunity to tap this market and convert a one time user to a faithful member of Pichub.  The revenue model will be based on a freemium approach and Pichub will partner with a national lab for product revenue. Pichub, group photo sharing for the masses!

Team 7: Pitch Squared [vote for this team]

CEO: Peter Shankman Location: New York City, NY Product type: Service Funding: VC Exit strategy: Stay private and continue to rock Pitch:

With so many new startups struggling to get their word out, this will be the most accessible and effective tag-based pitching service. Wanna pitch to TechCrunch? The Washington Post? Michael Arrington? No problem, simply give us the tag techcrunch, WashigntonPost, Arrington, etc. and submit your story. As stories are received, we will invite reporters to claim their tag, and the respective stories associated with the tags.

Team 8: Quarral [vote for this team]

CEO: Jack Dorsey Location: Silicon Valley Product type: Mobile app Funding: Angel Investment Exit strategy: Stay private and continue to rock Pitch:

Quarral is a mobile platform aiming to not only make your wasted time more useful, but rewarding. Quarral’s mission is to involve more of the American public in decision making of Washington. Quarral incorporates game mechanics & social interactions to the polling industry, by rewarding users with points for answering questions, & inviting friends to join. Users can redeem points for prizes, such as an Amazon gift card.

73% of Americans say the nation would be better off if our leaders paid more attention to public opinion. However, 68% of adults disagree that 1,000 people is a good representation of society as a whole, and distrust traditional polling methods.

For politicians – it’s Google Analytics for your constituency. For users – it’s a way to feel more engaged, and be incentivized for nothing more than your opinions.

Congratulations to the Elite 8 teams! The fate of your team depends on public votes so it’s time for you to get out there and get your team some votes!

Vote for your favorite team now.

From national retailers to online sellers, small businesses have a lot of competition.  A little competition isn’t always a bad thing though. A positive byproduct of this onslaught is that it’s turned nearby businesses from neighbors into allies.

How? Attracting customers is no longer just about convincing them to buy, it’s also about convincing them to shop local and invest in their own community. When local small businesses partner with other local businesses it helps to create even more of an incentive for customers to do just that.

Business-to-business collaboration is often called “cross promotion” or “comarketing”, but the concept is too multi-faceted to describe in terms of promotions only. There are many ways in which two or more non-competing businesses can team up to promote their mutual success.

1. Product Cross Promotion

Those familiar with the idea of cross promotion think first of the classic example of two businesses with similar audiences who help to promote each other’s products. In the Inc.com article “The Secrets of Cross-Promotion,” Stephanie L. Gruner described the cross promotion between two San Francisco-based businesses. Primo’s, a small coffee shop chain, and Sweet Charlottes chocolate shop paired up because of their similar clientele.

“Now, Primo’s sells Sweet Charlottes chocolates and offers free samples with its espresso. In return, the chocolate shop gives customers coupons for espresso and sells Primo’s coffee beans in bulk. Customers have responded so well that the duo is test-marketing a potential new niche: cafes showcasing both coffee and chocolate.”

2. Collaborative Events

Cross promotion opportunities also include multiple businesses collaborating around a shared theme. In Michigan’s quaint Downtown Plymouth, a handful of businesses realized they all had something in common: they all offered some wedding-related product or service. A team that included a jeweler, baker, specialty paper shop, gift store and more created a downtown-wide outdoor event to attract brides. Rather than a traditional expo, brides were taken on a scavenger hunt throughout the city and enjoyed pampering, limo rides, dinner and drink specials and more. Not only did the wedding businesses benefit, but the entire downtown had a successful day, and the district carved out a new reputation as a one-stop-shop for brides.

3. Services Swap

Not all collaborations are promotions for the public. Two service businesses can team up and arrange to swap services, saving each of them money on necessary expenditures. A referral agreement between the businesses can make this arrangement even more beneficial as both businesses will benefit from the referrals.

4. Rewards

From banks to credit cards, nearly every national chain is offering rewards to clients. The accumulation of points through purchases entitles the customer to free gifts from partnering businesses. This system doesn’t only work for national brands. Though Blue Cross Blue Shield is a nation-wide insurance provider, each state’s division partners with local gyms, health food grocers and wellness businesses for a rewards program that promotes the local stores within the healthy lifestyle genre and gives customers extra incentive to choose Blue Cross as their insurer. Similar niche-based or location-based rewards programs work well for local businesses.

The big world of competition is a lot easier to face for local businesses when you have a team of allies on your side. Partnerships with other companies can create a cycle of mutual benefit that reaps big successes for small business owners.

Now it’s your turn.  How are you using partnerships to grow your business? Tell us in the comments below!

A small business owner who doesn’t actively engage in detailed benchmarking might answer the question, “How’s business?” by saying that it’s good, or that things are slow. If all they’re tracking is revenue each month that may be all they can say about how the business is performing. More detailed statistics give better insight into why business is slow, alerting business owners to figure out how to get things back on track, or, if business is booming, to sustain the pace.

Here are a few guidelines on how to begin and how to make the most of small business benchmarking:

• Start with a baseline. It may seem that a startup company has no numbers to record. This couldn’t be further from the truth, according The Startup Garage blog. A new company is in a unique position to record their own baseline data and use these numbers to set goals. 

  Start by looking at others in the same industry, wrote Startup Garage. ”You should first be introduced to benchmarking in the earliest stages of your business, the business plan writing process, and more specifically the competitive analysis section of your plan. It is incredible how much you can learn from studying and analyzing your competitors, and a significant amount of research should be dedicated to doing just that.”

• Determine what to track Looking at other businesses is one way to figure out what to track, but every company will have different needs. Simply put, track everything that happens in a business that could contribute to success and is quantifiable. This can include the number of customers through the door, phone calls, complaints, marketing dollars spent, investments, public relations efforts, sales, wages, etc. Determine what’s important to your specific business.

• Keep up Gaps in data can change their efficacy. Commit to tracking numbers quarterly, monthly or weekly, and stick with it.

• Spend time with the numbers Statistics don’t mean anything when they’re stored in a filing cabinet. Benchmarking truly happens during analysis. Identify relationships between the numbers: did an increase in marketing create that spike in sales? Have revenues dipped since this new employee was hired?

• Use numbers to challenge staff There’s nothing like numbers to inspire employees. Set sales or service goals for staff to meet, reward them when they meet them, and two things are bound to increase: morale and revenue. Just make sure that you are being realistic in your goal setting.

• Use numbers to share the good news Reporters are always hunting for a lead and numbers are the best tool for getting them interested in a business story. Share your 50% increase in sales over last year, a 20% increase in staff and the like with them. If you include the reason why the numbers have gone up and the reason it’s important, the reporter’s story is practically written for them.

In business, numbers are everywhere. Tracking them, analyzing them and acting on the insights they provide make benchmarking one of the most reliable ways to improve the health of a business.

Do you track your metrics? Which metrics are most important to your business?

Business owners are funny. So many of them claim to be too busy to create an annual budget, yet creating a budget could actually free up their time!

But no, they’re too busy for that. And I sit and wonder: Why wouldn’t you want to plan out what you want your business to accomplish in the next year? Why wouldn’t you want to know what you’re making in relation to what you’re spending? Why wouldn’t you make the time to invest an exercise this important?

I guess it’s easy for me to think this way since I’ve seen time and time again how a budget can transform a business. It’s a powerful, often miraculous thing – and even though I describe it as such, business owners don’t realize its power until they do their first budget and start seeing the benefits for themselves. And then … they’re sold!

Here are five things a budget can do for your business:

1. It will communicate your goals to your team.

Putting down your revenue and expense expectations down on paper helps your team to know what you’re envisioning for the company.

2. It will show you the relationship between what’s going in and what’s going out.

It’s not just about seeing the numbers; it’s about the relationship between the two. To give you an example, if you can’t make that business loan payment, maybe it’s time to stop renting that vacation home in Florida. But if you don’t want to stop sun bathing, then you have to do something about it by making sure you boost those sales this quarter.

3. It will make you more money.

Yes – I said it! It will help you decide how much you want to make for the year so you can make a plan in order to reach those goals. But your budget can also show you if those goals are realistic or not.

4. You will be able to adapt to change much better.

If your business is so predictable that you know your business revenue and expenses and they never change, well maybe you don’t need a budget (I’m being sarcastic). Business is incredibly unpredictable! If you have a budget and you lose that key client, you can see how it will affect the rest of your business so you can make the changes necessary to get back on track.

5. You will make decisions MUCH faster.

You can ask your budget questions – lots of them! What kind of questions can you ask it? Well, you know how you’ve been wondering if you can hire that new project manager but not sure if you can afford to do it? Your budget knows the answer. Or how about re-doing your website? Your budget also knows.

If this wasn’t enough reason to get you to build a budget, download our small business budget template that comes with an eBook and video series to help you build your budget. I bet by the end you’ll walk away with a working budget that you can implement and use for your small business.

About the Author

Brad Farris is a small business advisor with Anchor Advisors, Ltd. in Chicago, IL. Since 2001 Anchor Advisors has been helping creative professional firms to grow, by helping them clarify their purpose, get the most from their people, keep their eye on key performance measures, and implement consistent processes. Brad is also the author of The Business Owner’s Champion: 6 Practices to Build your Nerve and your Business and managing editor of EnMast, a community dedicated to providing small business resources for owners.

Last week we launched our Take Your Dream Team to the Final Four contest.  We asked people to submit their startup dream team for a chance to win a trip to the Final Four. A startup dream team is made up of a CEO, location, product type, funding and an exit strategy chosen from our list with the option to use a wildcard in any one category.

Unfortunately, we only received 5 team submissions, meaning we were unable to select the top 16 teams to move onto the Sweet 16 round which was supposed to take place this week.

With that said, there will be a slight change in how the contest will play out.  We are going to extend the deadline to submit a team to this Friday, March 9th at 8 PM EST. Submit your team here.

The 5 teams that were submitted by the deadline last week will automatically be moved on to week 3, the Elite 8 round.  This will be the first official round of public voting.

This means there are still 3 slots left to fill in our Elite 8 round.  Submit a team now to be entered for a chance to win a 4 night stay at the Omni Royal Hotel in New Orleans, and tickets to the Final Four games. We will pick the 3 teams for the remaining slots in the Elite 8 round and announce all 8 teams that make it to week 3 on Monday, March 12 at 9 AM EST.

You can read about the contest rules and details here.

Submit your startup dream team here and help us spread the word! Tweet this contest out to your friends.

Your business is taking off. That’s good news. But you’ve had to work 14-hour days for months on end just to get there. You’re starting to run ragged and you’re beginning to think it’s time to hire your first employee.

Hiring your first employee isn’t as simple as just posting a job ad and assigning tasks. To start, there are state and federal rules and regulations apply that you haven’t yet had to worry about. The U.S. Small Business Association provides guidance on making sure you’re complying with state and federal regulations.

Here’s a checklist of 9 things you need to do to make sure you’re compliant with state and federal regulations when hiring your first employee:

1. Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN)

In order to hire employees, you need to obtain an employment identification number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You can apply for an EIN at the IRS website.

2. Set up a payroll system to withhold taxes

Every business with employees must withhold payroll taxes from an employee’s paycheck. The typical payroll taxes withheld are state, federal and local income taxes as well as Federal Insurance Contributions Act FICA taxes (i.e. Social Security and Medicare contributions). Some states have additional withholding requirements. It’s a good idea to seek the advice of an accountant when hiring your first employee to ensure you are compliant with tax requirements.

3. Obtain a completed I-9 Form for each new hire

Federal law requires employers to obtain an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 to verify an employee’s United States work eligibility status. Employers must obtain the completed form within three days of the employee’s hire date.

4. Acquire  workers’ compensation insurance

Another requirement for a business that has employees is to obtain workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ compensation insurance provides wage and benefit replacement compensation to employees injured during work in exchange for their surrender of the employee’s right to sue for negligence.

5. Determine if you need to obtain disability insurance coverage

Certain states, such as California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico require employers to purchase disability insurance for partial wage insurance coverage in the event of a non-work related injury or sickness.

6. Register with the workforce agency of your state

Under some conditions, businesses are obliged to pay state unemployment taxes. Check with your state’s agency, found on your states taxes website, to determine if you’re required to pay state unemployment taxes.

7. Report all new hires to your state’s directory

All employers must report new hires to their state’s directory within 20 days of hire date, according to the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996.

8. Display required notices

As required by federal and state laws, employers are required to prominently post in the work area employees rights and employer obligations with respect to labor laws. State and federal labor agencies provide posters free-of-charge. Information on poster requirements can be found on the SBA’s website.

9. File Taxes Quarterly

Employers who withhold income taxes, Medicare, and Social Security taxes from their employees’ paycheck are required to file Form 941: Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. You may also need to file Form 940. Speak to your accountant to understand your particular requirements.

From obtaining an EIN to withholding payroll taxes, a new set of rules, laws, and regulations kick in when you hire your first employee. By following these steps, your new hire will come on board without a slip!

Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and startup founders wear many professional hats from product designer to chief operating officer and business development lead. Constantly shifting gears and adapting to changing situations, they are resilient, ambitious, forward-thinking, and passionate about their business.

Such a jack-of-all-trades existence requires learning new skills–lots and fast. Whether it is to explore new product directions or how to build strategic relationships, the ability to evolve is invaluable for a small business leader. Given that entrepreneurs are frequently bootstrapping their businesses or working around the clock, they may not have the time or money to pick up the skills in a traditional classroom.

As alternatives to classroom education, peer-driven resources provide community-driven learning opportunities that are accessible and cost effective. The following 5 platforms are invaluable for knowledge-hungry leaders who are seeking new skill sets to build competitive businesses:

Udemy

Based in San Francisco, Udemy is a platform that enables people to teach and take classes in any subject from business strategy to wireframes and iPhone development. Course fees range from free to several hundred dollars, and frequently, subscriber-targeted coupon codes are available to email list members. Homework assignments, community support groups, and user reviews are additional features that help to promote collaborative learning. Best of all, the classes are self-paced and accessible anywhere in the world.

Codecademy

This website teaches foundations in programming for free. Through a series of interactive lessons, Codecademy reviews fundamental concepts in JavaScript and is expected to expand to include other languages in the near future. Once a platform with a handful of simple lessons, the startup recently announced plans to become a peer-driven resource that enables anyone to write tutorials in any programming language. In the meantime, people can connect with each other on the Codecademy platform to share accomplishments and progress.

Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU)

This grassroots, community-driven project enables users to teach and learn new skills in math, web development, and social innovation. Backed by Mozilla, the School of Webcraft, for instance, allows people to teach and complete technical courses for free. The program is available as a free alternative to expensive developer certifications. Example courses include HTML 5, Python, and Django.

Quora

An alternative to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, Quora is a social network that revolves around questions and answers. Literally, anybody can ask and respond to questions about anything. Many users treat it as a supplement to in-depth conversations, courses, and study materials to add advice and information from practitioners. Attracting business leaders, startups, and venture capitalists, the network helps people find resources, talk through solutions, share knowledge and find opportunities. Driven by peer-to-peer dialogue, Quora fosters an information-based community with minimal individual commitment.

Stanford University Open Source Curriculum

The prestigious university has released a series of open source courses in topics ranging from anatomy to computer science, machine learning, human-computer interaction, algorithms, and cryptography. Originally taught in undergraduate classes for Stanford sudents, lesson materials include videos, suggested readings and homework assignments. Peer-driven study resources are also emerging to help fellow learners stay focused through these self-taught programs.

Community teachers

A variety of learning options are available for busy yet motivated entrepreneurs who need new skills to explore new business directions. Cost aside, anyone can become or find a community-driven teacher. Balancing the social benefits of a classroom with the flexibility of self-paced books, peer education creates new dimensions for learning.

What peer-to-peer learning sites have you used? Which ones did we miss? Tell us in the comments below!

**We’ve extended the deadline to submit a team until March 9th at 8 PM EST.  Read why here. Submit your team now!**

With March Madness just around the corner, we thought it’d be fun to get in on the action and host a March Madness contest of our own.  Assemble your ideal startup “team” from our list of CEOs, cities, funding strategies and more and be entered for a chance to win a trip for you and a friend to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four & National Championship games in New Orleans. Now remember, this won’t be your average team, your team will be made up of a CEO, a location and business strategies – so choose wisely!

Think you’ve got what it takes to take your startup dream team all the way to the Final Four? Then let’s see it!

Simply submit your dream team and you could be at the Final Four! At the close of this week, we’ll pick the top 16 teams based on team selections and pitch to move on to week two, where its up to the public to decide who moves on.

If your team is selected as one of the top 16 teams, you’ll need to get out there and get voters to move you into the next round. The 8 teams with the most votes at the end of week 2 will move on to the 3rd week.  At the end of the 3rd week, the 4 teams with the most votes will move onto the Final Four round. The team with the most votes in week four will win the grand prize!

There’s also something in it for teams that didn’t make it to the Sweet 16 and for our voters. At the end of the contest we’ll be giving away four $50 Amazon gift cards as assist prizes.

To be entered to win the grand prize, you MUST submit a dream team this week, February 27 from 9 AM EST to March 2 at 5 PM EST. Submit your team now!

Remember, this contest is based on public votes, so be sure to tap your network for votes! See the rest of the blog post for more details.

Contest Details:

Timeline:

Week 1:

• Submit your dream team to us here. We’ll pick the Sweet 16 teams and send them on to week two for public voting.
• February 27 at 9:00 AM EST – March 2 at 5:00 PM EST

Week 2:

• Open voting on our blog. Vote for your favorite team to make it to the Elite 8 (8 teams move on)
• March 5 at 9:00 AM EST – March 9 at 8:00 PM EST

Week 3:

• Open voting on our blog. Vote for your favorite team to make it to the Final Four (4 teams move on)
• March 12 at 9:00 AM EST – March 16 at 8:00 PM EST

Week 4:

• Open voting on our blog. Vote for your favorite team to win the Final Four hotel & ticket package- 1 team wins
• March 19 at 9:00 AM EST – March 23 at 5:00 PM EST

Prizes:

• 1 grand prize: 4 night stay at the Omni Royal Hotel and 2 tickets to both the Final Four and National Championship in New Orleans (click for details)*
• 4 assists: (4) $50 Amazon gift cards (anyone who votes at least once or submits a team is eligible for these assists)

*To be eligible for the grand prize you must be able to go to the semi-final and final March Madness games (March 30th – April 3rd) AND be able to pay for your own airfare to New Orleans for those 4 days.

Here’s how to play:

1. Draft your dream team (here)

• Select ONE CEO, ONE location, ONE product type, ONE funding type, and ONE exit strategy from the options listed on the form.
• You will have ONE wildcard that can be used in any one category you want. Remember you may only use it once, so choose wisely. Example: Don’t like the choices for CEOs? Pick your own.

2. Name your team

• Pick a good one because we’ll be using this as one of the deciding factors for what teams make it to the first round of voting.

3. Give us your pitch!

• Tell us why your team deserves to be one of the 16 teams to make it to the first round. What makes your business unique? Why is your business going to be more successful than another? What’s your business’ mission? Make sure you really sell us on your team as your pitch will also be used to help us decide what teams will make the Sweet 16 and the first official round of public voting.

NOTE: We must receive your team entry by March 2nd at 5 PM EST in order to be entered to win the grand prize and have your team eligible for public voting. Enter here.

How the contest works:

After we’ve received all the dream team entries, we (Grasshopper employees) will select the top 16 teams that we think are Sweet 16 worthy. From there, we’ll pass the ball to you. On Monday, March 5th at 9 AM we’ll announce the teams who made it to the Sweet 16 on our blog so be sure to check back to see what teams made it! We’ll also send an email to alert the teams who made it to the Sweet 16 so they can start working on their offense.

If your team is selected as one of the 16 teams, congratulations, you’re officially in the running for the grand prize! Be sure to encourage your family, friends, network and everyone you know to vote for your team as it’s up to the public to choose what teams move on each week.

Everyone can vote once per round. Each round starts on a Monday and ends on a Friday. There will be three public voting rounds total. In order to make it to the next round, you must be one of the teams with the most votes at the end of each round. You’ll need to get votes each week as votes don’t carry over (only in the case of a tie will total number of votes matter. See below for more information). Team didn’t make it to the Sweet 16? Support those who did and vote for them!

Voting will take place each week on our blog. Check back every Monday (for the duration of the contest) to see what teams made it through to the next round and be sure to vote again for who you’d like to see make it through to the following week. Remember, the teams with the most votes move onto the next round.

How to win:

To win the grand prize, your team must have enough votes to move on each week and finish the 4th week with the most votes.

• Week 2: The 8 teams with the most votes will move on to week three.
• Week 3: The 4 teams with the most votes will move on to week four.
• Week 4: The team with the most votes at the end of the week will win the grand prize.

To be eligible to win the 2 tickets to both the Final Four and National Championship and a 4 night hotel stay at Omni Royal Hotel your team must make it to the Final Four (week four) and finish the week with the most votes as of 5 PM EST on March 23rd.

To be entered to win 1 of the 4 assist prizes, you must have either submitted a dream team and/or voted at least once.

In the event of a tie in week two, all tied teams will advance. If there is a tie in week three, the team with the highest votes from all rounds will move on to the next round. If there is a tie at the end of week four, the team with the highest votes from all rounds will be selected as the winner.

The winner of the grand prize as well as the 4 assist prize winners will be announced on Friday, March 23 at 6:00 PM EST on our blog.

By submitting a team you are agreeing to our terms & conditions.

We hope you are as excited as we are for this contest & we can’t wait to see the entries! Go submit your team and let the madness begin!

With March Madness just around the corner, we thought it’d be fun to get in on the action and host a March Madness contest of our own, startup style.

On Monday we’ll be launching our Startup Dream Team contest.  To be entered to win, you’ll have to submit your ideal startup team and face off against other teams, bracket style.

The prize: Tickets for you and a friend to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four & National Championship and a 4 night stay at the Omni Royal Hotel in New Orleans.

Want in? Check back here on Monday, February 27th at 9 AM for the contest rules and to submit your team!

Grasshopper is taking over the United States! With our trip to LessConf this week and BarCamp Tour right around the corner, we have some exciting events coming up across the country.

In the next two weeks you can find us in San Jose for SMX West and Austin for SXSW. Check it out:

SMX West

Next Wednesday, Casie Gillette, our Online Marketing Manager will be one of four panelists at the Differentiate or Die session at SMX West. Learn the different things outside of traditional SEO your company can do to stand out.

Details:

When: Wednesday February 29, 2012

Where: San Jose Marriott, San Jose, CA

Website: SMX West

Connect with Casie: @casieg

SXSW

We’ll also be headed to Texas in a few weeks for SXSW.  Our Ambassador of Buzz, Stephanie Bullis, will be speaking on a panel about the BarCamp Tour alongside the rest of the BarCamp Tour brands.  The session titled, 5 Brands Travel the US Inspiring Entrepreneurship will cover everything from how the BarCamp Tour came about to what we learned and why it was so successful. Don’t miss this panel!

Details:

When: Sunday, March 11, 3:30 – 4:30 PM

Where: Omni Downtown

Website: SXSW

Connect with Stephanie: @srbullis

Will you be attending any of these events? Let us know!

Here at Grasshopper, we’ve done a LOT of marketing. We’ve run TV ads, radio commercials, pay-per-click ads, email campaigns, banner ads and so on and so forth. It’s a lot to keep track of! How do we know which ones are working and which ones aren’t?

The good news is many of these campaigns can be tracked with analytics. We can set up tracking URLs for things like email and pay-per-click, and when the person clicks through a link and purchases, we know.

But what happens when that person doesn’t click on a link and instead picks up the phone? How do we know what channel it came from? The answer is phone tracking and here’s how to do it:

Use dedicated numbers by campaign

By using a designated number for each campaign, you’ll know exactly where your calls are coming from. For example, the phone number we use in our email campaigns is not the same toll free number we use on our website. Despite the fact our emails actually drive traffic through to our website, it’s still important to capture those who are picking up the phone from the email.

800 numbers vs. Local numbers

When targeting a particular geographic area, it can make a lot of sense to offer a local number. For instance, if you’re running a television commercial on a local station in Boston, using a Boston number is probably smart. Conversely, if you are running a global PPC campaign, an 800 number is going to be your best bet.

Track your calls

The most important part of all of this is tracking. If you can’t track your calls, there isn’t a ton of benefit to using different numbers. You want to track call volume, questions or concerns arising from calls and ideally, the result. Was it a sale? Did they come back later?

For small businesses who can’t afford a big system like Salesforce, this may be a bit difficult. But with good communication and team work, you can make this happen.

Know your ROI

As a small business, it’s imperative you know where to spend your money. The better tracking you enable, the more clear your ROI becomes.

About a month and a half ago, we launched a video contest and asked you all to create a video to inspire women entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses.  We were looking for a timeless video to inspire female entrepreneurs like the Jim Beam ad or our Entrepreneurs Can Change the World video. We launched the Entrepreneurs Can Change the World video back in 2009 and still see it being talked about and shared today.

To all those who took the time to create a video and enter our contest, thank you!  We were very impressed with what you came up with. We especially loved the personal stories.  The videos were truly inspiring.

The results:

After many tough conversations here, we came to the conclusion that no one video encompassed everything we were looking for.  Unfortunately what that means is we’ve decided not to award the $10,000*.

We would however like to recognize some of our favorite videos and thank these people for their time and effort. Over the next five weeks we’d like to feature some of our top videos and their creator’s story on our blog. We’ll also be rewarding our top 5 favorite videos with a $50 gift card of their choice. The passion in the videos is contagious and we think they deserve some time in the spotlight.

We’ll also be reaching out to all other entrants individually, so expect to hear from us soon!

Here are our top 5 videos:

• Ripple Effect by Mike Madsen
• Sew Inspirational by Cynthia Smallwood
• Do What You Love by Fergus Lowrey
• Be That Difference by Jeremy Vo
• Being an Entrepreneur by David Lehre

*Not awarding a prize was certainly not our intention. This was our first ever big contest and we weren’t really sure what to expect.  We’ve certainly learned a lot about running a contest of this magnitude and appreciate your patience with us as we know a handful of people had trouble uploading their videos and that in the future, we need to be clearer about the rules and how the contest will work.

Update:

Our mission at Grasshopper is to empower entrepreneurs to succeed and our goal with this contest was to empower people to create a video that inspires other entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. The hope was that we’d find a video that fit our brand and that we could build a large campaign around.

The problem with a contest like this is, it’s extremely subjective and although we received some great videos, we didn’t find one that fit all of our wants, leading us to not pick a winner.

After listening to feedback and giving it some thought, we’ve decided to award the $10,000. While there was no one video that fit everything we were looking for, there was one video that encompassed a lot of it.

With that said, we‘d like to congratulate David Lehre for his “Being an Entrepreneur” video and will be awarding him $10,000. David’s video really showed what it means to be an entrepreneur and we thought it was very well produced.

Watch David’s video:

After reading Mark Cuban’s new ebook, How to Win at the Sport of Business, we were blown away and inspired by Mark’s story.  His unconventional approach to business offers a refreshing perspective on how to build a successful business that we can all benefit from.

In his book, he shares his wealth of experience and business savvy and covers everything from how he went from selling powdered milk and sleeping on friends’ couches to owning his own company and becoming a multi-billion dollar success story.

At Grasshopper, our mission is to empower entrepreneurs to succeed.  So that’s why we decided to buy 10,000 copies of his book for our customers.

We hope this book will not only inspire you as well but also give you some new ideas to grow your business this year.

Download your free copy here before we run out >>

We’d love to hear how this book inspires you to grow your business this year! Tweet us, share your story on our Facebook wall or leave a comment below.

This week’s employee spotlight is on Darren Rosebrugh. Darren is on our product management team and is a product manager for Grasshopper.  Some of you may already know Darren as part of his job is talking to customers and researching ways to make Grasshopper even better. Darren then takes those ideas and works with our engineering team to turn those ideas a reality for our customers.

Let’s get to know Darren…

Biggest pet peeve?

People putting non-recyclable stuff into the recycle bin. Plastic bags, pizza boxes and other food-encrusted papers can’t be recycled.

Go to karaoke song?

Kan Guo Lai by Richie Ren

Describe your ideal Saturday in 7 words or less.

Long bike ride, then lounging around exhausted

If you were pulled over for speeding, what would your excuse be?

Don’t make excuses, just be apologetic and respectful. Or cry, but not everyone can pull that off.

If someone made a movie of your life, what movie star would you want to play you?

Well I’d want the movie about my life to win lots of Oscars, so I’d go for Tom Hanks. Or Meryl Streep. She has such acting range.

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

I ran a triathlon barefoot, and I’d do it again if my wife would let me.

On Google+?  Add Darren to your circles!

We’ve ignored the warnings about the insanity that may ensue and are packing our bags and heading south for the most epic startup event ever – LessConf.

What attracts us to LessConf you ask? Tweets like this. “You should attend if you like pudding, karate chops and lasers (in that order)”and this, “you may not bring fireworks to LessConf this year.“

As you can see, LessConf isn’t your average event.  It’s recommended that you only attend if you “want to learn, grow, and challenge conventional thinking.” This is definitely our kind of event and something that we not only love to attend but we also love to support.So, what can you expect from us at LessConf?

We’ll be co-hosting the pre-party with our friends Dynamic Wear on Wednesday night.  To go along with the ridiculousness that is LessConf, this won’t be your average pre-party.  There will be:

• Food – delicious appetizers like pub wings and sliders
• Drinks – pick your poison. We’ll provide drink tickets for your first couple drinks.
• Networking – an opportunity to meet the folks you’ll be spending the next 2 days with. Make new friends and catch up with old.
• Photo Booth – What happens at LessConf stays at LessConf – unless it happens in our photo booth.

Basically, everything you could ever want in a pre-party and the chance to take awkward photos with people you just met! What’s not to love?

Pre-party details:

• Date: Wednesday, February 22nd
• Time: Party starts promptly at 8:00 PM
• Where: Ri Ra Irish Pub

Come for a drink or five and kick LessConf off the right way. Sessions don’t start on Thursday until 10 AM, so you’ve got no excuses!

Will you be there too? Be sure to find Stephanie, our Ambassador of Buzz! If you’re lucky, she’ll hook you up with a $50 gift card to give Grasshopper a try!

Some say that you can’t learn how to build a successful company, you’re either born with the right stuff or you’re not.

But if that’s the case, then why are so many successful business people pouring their own money into funding entrepreneurial programs in colleges and universities?

The entrepreneurial nature vs. nurture debate goes far back, but with entrepreneurship on the rise, perhaps it’s time to take another look.

Nature vs. nurture

A researcher and professor of entrepreneurship, Scott Shane, has been comparing the entrepreneurial activity of identical twins, who share 100% of their DNA, with that of same-sex fraternal twins, who share only 50%.

Such comparisons can potentially tell how much of entrepreneurial behavior is genetic and how much is environmental or learned. Using complex quantitative genetic modeling to compare behavior, Shane has found that the tendency for entrepreneurship is about 40% genetic. While this finding only represents one study, it does lend support to what many people feel is the truth: real entrepreneurs are just born with something different.

Well, that might be only partially true.

Other studies take the more refined and plausible theory that there are certain identifiable skills that can make anyone a successful entrepreneur.

These skills, such as risk taking and the ability to see promising new opportunities, are usually thought of as innate, but that doesn’t mean they cannot be learned. Just as there isn’t one definition of success, neither is there one type of entrepreneur.

For the same reason, some skills are much more useful for certain opportunities than others. So it’s more meaningful to measure success in terms of making the right match between opportunity and personality type, and then focus on building the necessary skill set. This is the reasoning behind teaching entrepreneurship and focusing on self-discovery and how to match opportunities to personal qualities.

Randy Komisar, a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, sees the benefit in entrepreneurship education and the possibility of teaching entrepreneurial skills. He himself teaches at Stanford and notices that his classes give students basic conceptual tools and a greater sense of confidence to take risks and challenge the status quo. However, the role of education isn’t the last word in the debate either.

Education or experience

A  report by Ernst and Young has found that out of nearly 700 business owners, most of them became entrepreneurs after a significant stint in the corporate world. When asked about their most important source of learning, the most frequent answer was experience as an employee (33%), followed by higher education (30%).

This goes to show that not every entrepreneur is a college dropout, and that higher education is in fact a good investment in one’s future. Since startups are responsible for more than a third of all new jobs in the United States, colleges and universities should put more emphasis on properly preparing students for choosing to become entrepreneurs.

The payoffs to such education reforms might be a lot larger than expected.

One of the more interesting points that came out of the Ernst and Young report is that entrepreneurship is actually addictive. Of the surveyed business owners, 60% said they had started three or more companies, 20% had started six or more, and 10% said they had founded more than 10 companies in their careers up until now.

Considering how important startups are for job creation, this should be good news for all those who are pushing for greater access to entrepreneurial opportunities and education.

What’s your take on this? Nature? Nurture? Education? Tell us below in the comments!

It’s Meet the Employees Monday here at Grasshopper.  This week’s employee spotlight is on Craig Tata. Craig is on our systems integrity team and is a systems engineer as well as our compliance manager. As a Systems Engineer, Craig works hard to ensure that our systems operate as designed and as our Compliance Manager, he’s responsible for making sure that Grasshopper is continually compliant with all regulations and laws which apply to the company.

Let’s get to know Craig…

Dogs or cats?

Fish

Most passionate about?

Music

Biggest pet peeve?

No idea

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would it be?

Chinese

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Top of Mt Everest

Fun facts – have anything interesting people should know about you?

I moonlight as a musician with a performance resume that spans three continents (music was my first career).

Stay tuned for next week’s spotlight on Darren Rosebrugh!

Over the past few months we’ve received a good amount of questions about minutes. So we decided that it might be great if we did an entire post dedicated to minutes, and put your questions in one place.

The easy answer is minutes accrue anytime you’re using your Grasshopper number. Whether you pick up or not, anytime our virtual phone system is used to handle a call, minutes are used.

When am I using my minutes?

Examples:

• As soon as Grasshopper accepts the call until the time the call is ended.
• When someone is listening to your main greeting.
• When a caller is leaving a voicemail.
• When you’re talking on the phone.
• When you access your system via phone.

How are minutes billed?

Minutes are billed starting from the time Grasshopper picks up the call to the time the call is disconnected. There is an 18 second minimum per call and we bill minutes in 6 second increments.

What happens if I go over the allotted minutes on my plan?

The per-minute overage rate is $0.06 for every minute used over the allotted minutes included in your plan.  Each time you exceed your minutes by $100 worth of minutes, we’ll charge your card to cover this amount.

Do unused minutes roll over into the next month?

No, unused minutes don’t carry over to the next month.

How are minutes charged for forwarded calls?

You’ll begin to accrue minutes from the time Grasshopper accepts the forwarded call until the call is ended.  You are charged anytime your call is using the Grasshopper system.  For example, when a call takes 12 seconds to connect and then the caller listens to your main greeting for 30 seconds and leaves a 30 second voicemail, your total minutes used will be 1 minute and 12 seconds.

What is the toll free rate per minute with Grasshopper?

The toll free rate for incoming and outgoing calls is $0.06 per minute.

Why am I using both my provider/carrier’s minutes and my Grasshopper minutes?

Grasshopper does not provide a dial tone, so you need to use your phone provider’s minutes in order to make the call.  You’re also using your Grasshopper minutes because not only do we get charged for every minute you use but you also have access to all the Grasshopper features for the entire duration of your call.

Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion around how minutes work. Have a question that we missed? Have suggestions? Just ask and we’d be happy to answer!

A new poll by Ipsos/Reuters says that one in five workers around the globe telecommutes. Even more impressive, 10% work from home every day. That’s a lot of people working away from the office!

Here are some stats from the study:

• 50% of workers in India were likely to work from home vs. less than 10% in Canada or Italy
• 34% of workers said they would be very likely to telecommute on a full-time basis if they could
• 21% of people globally said it wasn’t possible to work from home as their job requires them to be in the office
• 65% felt that telecommuting allowed them to be more productive
• 62% of people said they found working from home socially isolating

As you can see by the study, working from home is certainly on the rise but there are some mixed emotions from people. Is it beneficial to the company? How does it affect your performance?

We’ve touched on what it takes to be able to work from home and TechCrunch offers a good piece of insight on the study noting, “new services over the next few years will have to focus on repairing the natural loss that occurs when your employees are never physically near each other.”

It’ll definitely be interesting to see how telecommuting evolves over the next 10 years and what tools come out to make it easier. Where do you see it going?

It’s Meet the Employees Monday here at Grasshopper.  This week’s employee spotlight is on Chris Buchino. Chris is our Director of Systems Architecture.  He works on our engineering team creating the software that makes our phone system work.  In particular, he leads the architecture team and is responsible for the technical design and leadership.

Let’s get to know Chris…

What’s the one item you can’t live without?

I assume “item” is something inanimate? If that’s true, it’s a toss-up between my iPhone and MacBook. I still get excited every time I use them.

Favorite place to visit?

Aruba, for sure. Beautiful beaches, a constant breeze, casinos in every resort, great food options – what’s not to love really?? I hope to have a timeshare there some day.

Favorite food?

Chicken parm. Never met one I didn’t like.

If someone made a movie of your life, what movie star would you want to play you?

Robert Downey Jr.

Fun facts – got anything interesting people should know about you?

I did not know how to properly pronounce my last name until I was in my twenties.

Stay tuned for next week’s employee spotlight on Criag Tata!

A few weeks ago, BostInno had readers nominate their favorite blogs by an individual or company in the Boston area to be a part of their Insider Awards.

We’re excited to announce that out of 327 nominations, we were nominated as one of the Insiders for the Tech & Startups: Company category.  We’re proud to be nominated alongside some other really great Boston companies and we’re going to need your help to win!

So…vote for us in the Tech & Startups: Company category.  Just click the sweet button BostInno gave us to go to the voting page.

Details to vote:

• Voting period: Today – February 15th
• Category: Tech & Startups: Company

We’d also like to officially endorse David Skok in the VC & Finance category and Dharmesh Shah in the Tech & Startups Individual category. We think their blogs are pretty awesome and actually just included them both in our 10 Must Read Blogs for Entrepreneurs (2012 edition).

Almost three years ago we posted “10 Blogs Entrepreneurs Need to Be Reading” and to this day it has remained the most popular post on the Grasshopper blog. While it’s an excellent list, we feel it’s time for an update. We bring you the 2012 version, 10 Must Read Blogs for Entrepreneurs.

1. For Entrepreneurs

Link: http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/

About: Run by serial entrepreneur turned VC David Skok, For Entrepreneurs is exactly what the name implies; a place where entrepreneurs can get solid advice from someone who knows what they are talking about.

Awesome Factor: Looking for an in-depth post that will make you really think? Well, you’ve come to the right place then. Find solid advice on customer acquisition, pricing, marketing and more. Posts are pretty comprehensive so it’s easy to see why they are only added every couple weeks.

2. Forbes Entrepreneurs

Link: http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/

About: Just about everyone is familiar with Forbes Magazine. It’s been around for almost 100 years and is famous for lists like Forbes 100, Top 30 Under 30, America’s Top Colleges and the list goes on and on.

While the blog is not quite as old as the mag (by about 80 years), it’s done a great job of staying relevant, up to date and staying true to it’s audience.

Awesome Factor: The entrepreneur section of Forbes covers everything from hiring best practices to tax reform to PR and everything in between. Posts are written by people you’ve heard of and people you’ve never heard of. Plus, it updates ALL the time! I know sifting through tons of articles can be daunting but if you subscribe to it through a RSS reader, it’s a bit easier to handle.

3. Startup Lessons Learned

Link: http://www.startuplessonslearned.com

About: Run by Eric Ries, the creator of Lean Startup methodology, Startup Lessons Learned offers some invaluable startup advice from a true entrepreneur.

Awesome Factor: Posts are not updated as frequently as they are on some of these other blogs (to be expected when the author is on a book tour, doing speaking engagements, etc) but when they are, they are must-reads. Case studies, life lessons and practical advice is what you’ll find on here. The nice part; almost all posts provide you with real life examples.

4. Jason Shen: The Art of Ass-Kicking

Link: http://www.jasonshen.com/

About: Jason Shen is the founder of Ridejoy, a Y-Combinator backed startup and a national champion gymnast. The Art of Ass-Kicking is just that – a blog that talks about how you can conquer your fears and start a business.

Awesome Factor: Jason’s writing style is fun, personable and more importantly, useful. He uses a ton of visual examples and gives practical advice. One of his latest posts, How to Be Relentlessly Resourceful, offers some great insight on what it really takes to achieve something…actually doing it.

5. Entrepreneur.com

Link: http://www.entrepreneur.com

About: It’s Entrepreneur Magazine, what more do you need to know?!

Awesome Factor: While it might seem like an obvious choice, Entrepreneur.com does actually earn its spot on this list. They cover all aspects of entrepreneurship, they stay timely, they offer both fact-based and opinion-based posts and they show real life examples of people who have started businesses on their own.

6. Small Biz Trends

Link: http://smallbiztrends.com/

About: In 2009, here’s what we had to say about Small Business Trends:

“Written by a panel of small business owners, the site offers tips and advice on everything business related. Need a recommendation on finance software? They probably have it. Want to know how small businesses can use social media and search? They have that too.“

Turns out, all of that still applies and that’s why they made our list almost three years later.

Awesome Factor: Interested in the latest news? Want business tips, weekly podcasts and in-depth guides? Well you are in luck! Run by entrepreneur Anita Campbell, the site is written by professors, small business owners and authors. Great advice from people who are actually doing it.

7. Mixergy

Link: http://mixergy.com/

About: Run by one of our favorite people, Andrew Warner, Mixergy has made startup advice fun – Warner interviews smart people with smart advice and posts the videos to his blog.

Awesome Factor: A variety of people, having real conversations and offering a variety of advice that can actually help you. Sounds pretty great to me! [I should note we are a Mixergy sponsor but only because we believe the site and the people involved are amazing]

8. On Startups

Link: http://onstartups.com/

About: Run by Dharmesh Shah, founder of Hubspot, OnStartups gives you a nice introspective into the entrepreneurial community through the eyes of one of our own.

Awesome Factor: If you’ve ever read OnStartups or seen Shah speak, you know he is open and honest and says what he thinks. The same goes for the other authors who guest post on the blog. Check out the list of Best and Worst Startup Stuff in 2011.

9. Steve Blank

Link: http://steveblank.com/

About: A legend in the tech industry, professor and founder of multiple companies, Steve Blank provides startup advice, personal opinions and more on his blog.

Awesome Factor: He’s a REALLY smart guy! Seriously. Reading a post from someone who has such a vast understanding of what is happening in the world is refreshing. Not all posts are startup related but more often than not, that’s what you’ll find.

10. This Week in Startups

Link: http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/

About: Run by Mahalo CEO, and oft-newsmaker Jason Calcanis, This Week in Startups is actually a web series versus a blog but we thought that was close enough and it deserved to make the list.

Awesome Factor: CEOs, VPs, investors, authors and more join Calcanis to talk startups on this twice-weekly series. It’s entertaining and more importantly, offers some killer advice.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

It’s Meet the Employees Monday here at Grasshopper.  This week’s employee spotlight is on Casie Gillette.  Casie works on the marketing team as the Online Marketing Manager. If you’ve ever seen us in search results, clicked on a Grasshopper ad or felt stalked by one of our banners, that’s probably her fault.

Let’s get to know Casie…

Favorite food?

This is tough. I love to eat nachos and admittedly order them 50% of the time I’m out. However, if I could only eat one thing the rest of my life, it would definitely be pizza. It never gets old, you can put different toppings on it and if you’re really feeling adventurous, you can stuff the crust with cheese…what other food can you do that with!?!

Chocolate or vanilla?

If we’re talking ice cream, soft-serve vanilla with rainbow sprinkles…if we’re talking cake, still vanilla, in the form of Funfetti.

Morning person or night owl?

I’ve never been a morning person and I don’t think I ever will be. Sleeping in is one of my favorite things to do.

If you could visit anywhere, where would it be?

Too many possibilities! One of the items on my life list is to take my mom to Italy. I’ve been there before but she never has so hopefully I can do that for her someday.

Fun facts – got anything interesting people should know about you?

I don’t know why I tell this story but…I had a cow named after me. My aunt and uncle own a farm and a calf was born the same day I was…so, Casie the cow it was. I think that also led to my steak aversion

Stay tuned for next week’s employee spotlight on Chris Buchino!

If you’ve been on the internet at all over the past few weeks, you’ve probably come in contact with a Sh*t _______ Say video and let’s be honest, they’re pretty funny. There’s just something about people saying it like it is.

Today, we’re launching our own video, Sh*t Entrepreneurs Say.  Check it out and we promise it’s good for a few laughs!

Does this sound like one of your friends? Think this video was based on someone you know? Share it with them and don’t forget to tell us what you think in the comments below!

An effective hiring strategy takes a variety of factors into consideration and it’s up to you to create that strategy. Consider these seven tips for finding top-notch employees.

1. Develop a Detailed Job Description

Before you initiate any interviews, clearly outline your expectations of the new employee and how you see the person contributing to the company’s goals. Besides listing the obvious in the job description, such as main duties, also consider how the employee’s tasks dovetail with the company’s goals and vision.

What exactly do you hope to accomplish by hiring this individual? What sort of work style and outlook should the applicant possess? Develop a list of key skills, experience, training and traits you seek, which you can use to create an ad and explore in more depth during any resulting interviews.

2. Consider Hiring From Within

Hiring a “known quantity” has its advantages. Is there a current employee who possesses the necessary skills to fill the position, or is trainable? Someone already working for the company may have untapped talents. Or maybe your current employees know individuals who would make a good fit. Referrals are the new recruiter.

3. Carefully Review Each Candidate’s Materials

Thoroughly examine each applicant’s resume and supporting documents. Check for required skills and experience, look for any inconsistencies and gaps in employment and don’t be afraid to contact their references.

Also consider the overall appearance and impression the resume gives. Is the document well-written and free of typos? Does it open with a clear objective and highlight relevant experience? You want a prospective employee who eloquently explains his or her accomplishments and has a clear grasp of why those achievements are important.

4. Ask Telling Interview Questions

Besides asking the standard queries such as salary expectations and education and experience, take the opportunity during the interview to ask open-ended questions that encourage the interviewee to reveal as much information as possible.

Potential questions include: “Tell me about a successful project you were involved in.” “Why did you decide to join the industry?” “What are your strengths/weaknesses?” and “Where do you see yourself five years from now?” After the applicant answers each question, encourage the person to reveal even more by remaining silent for several seconds afterward. Many people will fill in the void by offering additional information.

5. Include Several Interviewers

Involving other members of the company in the first or second interview achieves a number of goals. Doing so gives you various perspectives on the potential employee, shows you how well the interviewee relates to other employees and reveals how the person performs in group situations. Including other members of the company is likely to bring out a side of the interviewee that you may not see otherwise.

It’s also important that before the interview, make sure all the interviewers are on the same page. What are you looking for in a candidate? What are you expecting from them? What questions are you going to ask? After the interviewee leaves, take a few minutes to discuss the applicant with the group and record the consensus and any thoughts or considerations.

6. Watch for Red Flags

Warning signs to look for when examining a job applicant include gaps in the resume the person can’t explain, hesitancy or a lack of information from former employers when you check references, inappropriate posts on social media sites, an unwillingness to make eye contact or answer certain questions during the interview and an inability to explain how accomplishments on the resume were achieved. If something feels off, it probably is.

7. Consider Chemistry

While skills and experience are critical, personality fit is equally important. An outstanding resume won’t change the fact that an applicant is not likely to positively contribute to the company culture. If your business requires that employees assist in the company’s social networking efforts, for instance, but the applicant expresses resistance at the notion, it’s probably best to move on to the next candidate. Never underestimate how important culture is to hiring and retaining employees.

Here at Grasshopper, we employ many of these tips and recently began practicing the A Method for hiring. The results have been great and the employees we’ve hired through this even better.

Any tips you’d like to share for hiring high-quality employees?

It’s Meet the Employees Monday here at Grasshopper.  This week’s employee spotlight is on Allison Canty.  Allison is on the marketing team here and is our Social Media and Community Manager. Ever sent a tweet to @Grasshopper? Left a message on our Facebook wall? Then you’ve already met her!

Let’s Get to Know Allison…

Twitter or Facebook

I can’t really pick one over the other. I literally use both of them every single day.  Let’s just say they both have their pros and cons and I love them equally.

Dunkins or Starbucks

Dunkins, out of pure convenience. Love Starbucks but Dunkins seems to be everywhere. Having a drive thru option is always a plus in my book too.

Favorite Candy

Sour patch kids. ALL. THE. WAY.  They’re known as SPK’s here at Grasshopper and I think our candy jar is at its best when it’s filled to the brim with SPK’s only.

Does that jar not look like heaven?

Most passionate about?

Deals. There is nothing I love more than getting a great bargain.

Fun facts – got anything interesting people should know about you?

Hmmm…nothing too interesting.  But a fun fact (sort of, not really…) is that my middle name is Michael.  As the youngest of three girls, I was my dad’s last chance at getting a son.  Since he didn’t get the son he wanted, my parents chose to pass his name on to me. Things could be worse, I suppose!

Stay tuned for next week’s employee spotlight on Casie Gillette!

A few key takeaways:

• Know who your customers are.
• Engage with your customers and learn from them.
• Use the information you learn to achieve “Customer ESP.”

Entrepreneurs often talk about their motivations behind starting a company and highlight their desire to work for themselves. Many entrepreneurs talk about their need to build something. At Apptentive, we feel a strong desire to create and to control our destiny. We enjoy what we do, we believe in what we’re doing, we’re building a great team and we absolutely LOVE our customers.

Do you?

Most entrepreneurs require customers in order to make ends meet. If you’re in the small group of folks who don’t require customers, well, you must not be reading this during market hours.

The rest of us are always in search of customers. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been an entrepreneur for a long while, you know the ecstasy and agony of winning and losing customers.

Your business NEEDS customers in order to exist.

Needing customers is not the same as being needy

It’s tempting to build a business based upon attracting whoever will pay you. However, in our experience, every customer is not created equal. There are customers you want to work with and customers you absolutely understand and respect. There are also those customers who do not “pay for themselves”. We believe that our business will more be more successful when we are focused on winning the RIGHT customers. (It’s not only OK to politely say no to customers who are jerks, we encourage it.)

Avoiding customer neediness requires deep thinking about a few things that get to the heart of how well you truly understand your customers:

• What your customer’s daily life is like,
• What your customers really need, and
• Who you truly want to work with.

Better products and happier customers through deep understanding of your customers is essential to move from being needy to being needed.

Don’t know who your customers really are? Dig in and find out.

In our experience, many people don’t really know who their customers are. We see this a lot with our customers. The amazing thing about today’s app marketplaces is that an app can get millions of downloads without the developer knowing anything about who’s downloading the app and why. That’s why developers use Apptentive to get better ratings and in-app feedback directly from their customers.

Learning about your customers is a constant process. If you haven’t started, we urge you to begin today. Learn more about the people you work for: your customers.

Ask yourself 2 key questions today:

• Do you have a direct method of engaging with your customers?
• Do your customers have a way of directly contacting you?

If the answer to either of these questions is, “Yes”, great news: you’ve got the most important tool at your disposal. With a direct channel between you and your customers you can ask simple questions about who your customers are, how they found out about you, what they truly value and their opinion on what it’s like to work with you. You can listen to them and respond, furthering your relationships while learning how to build a more successful organization

We see the benefits of these straightforward approaches often because app developers use us to directly engage with their app customers. They are regularly impressed by the insights they get from their users. Suggestions, praise and areas for improvement all assist in the development of better apps.

Grow with your customers. Love them. Serve them. Listen to them

We believe that our customers will constantly be growing and changing. As a result, we try to stay close to them in order to effectively understand their needs. It can be tempting to view customer research and interaction as a periodic endeavor. However, this is a mistake.

In today’s incredibly connected world the companies that win are the ones who are nimble and excellent at listening. As such, it’s important to think about how to constantly engage with your customers and learn from them. The customer’s life doesn’t stop, why should your listening, learning and communication capabilities?

The beauty of being thoughtful about the customers that you want to serve is that it should be enjoyable to stay in contact with your customers. Asking genuine and meaningful questions about their business should be interesting to you. Are you in love with solving their problems and making their lives better?

The more you communicate effectively with your customers and excel at listening, the better the relationship will grow over time.

Get deep with your customers, get smarter about their business, understand it and add value to it.

Personalized experiences win. Always.

The difference between leaders and followers in markets is that the true leaders actually uncover the real customer needs faster and more regularly. Leaders create solutions that feel personalized because they are in-line with customer behavior and needs. The better you understand your customer, the more you’ll be able to provide solutions to their problems before they even have to ask you to solve it.

What happens when you get closer to your customers and really embrace the fact that you work for them is that you’ll achieve “Customer ESP”. The better you understand and satisfy consumer needs, the more magical your product or service will appear to a consumer. Reading their minds is a lot easier when you’re just listening to what they’re saying .

Image: http://semantink.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/mind-reading.jpg

What have you found?

I’d like to practice what I preach – since Grasshopper has been kind enough to allow me to share some thoughts here, I’d like to learn about your business and customer stories. Here are a few starter questions for you:

• Have you gotten close to your customers and reaped rewards?
• Have you gotten into trouble with customers you shouldn’t have taken on?
• Do you disagree with the idea that you work for your customers?

Robi Ganguly is the co-founder and CEO of Apptentive, a company that powers in-app feedback and better app ratings for app developers on iOS, Android and Mac OS X. Robi writes about customer communication and relationship building on the Being Apptentive blog and you can find the Apptentive team on Facebook and Twitter @apptentive.

It’s Meet the Employees Monday here at Grasshopper.  This week’s employee spotlight is on Andy De Filippis.  Andy is on the HR team here and is our Culture Evangelist. As our Culture Evangelist he works in conjunction with our HR department to set up events inside and outside the office.  Andy is known to put on awesome events like cake day, grilled cheese Tuesdays, panini Thursdays and breakfast sandwich Fridays every now and then (jealous?).   As he says, “when you think of fun at the workplace you should be thinking of me.” and we think every office should have an Andy!

Let’s Get to Know Andy…

Summer or Winter?

Summer, I can finally show off my 2 piece bathing suit.

Dunkins or Starbucks?

Starbucks, I need to get my macchiato fix.

Favorite TV show?

Archer, if you haven’t watched it then you should make a plan to watch it.

Favorite food?

Pizza.

3 things you never leave home without?

Wallet, iPhone and car keys.

Fun facts – got anything interesting people should know about you?

In ’88 when I was 13, I traveled back to Brazil for the summer and hated it so much that after a few weeks my mom agreed to fly me back home.  I only lasted about 3 weeks of the 12 we were supposed to be there.

Stay tuned for next week’s employee spotlight on Allison Canty!

Friendly, Helpful Humans

Our support team is available 24/7 to help you with any and all questions you may have about Grasshopper.  You can reach them by calling 800-279-1455 or by sending them an email to Support@grasshopper.com. Whatever is easiest for you!

Online Support Center

Our online support center can be found at https://support.grasshopper.com. Hint: It might be a good idea to bookmark this page, or at least make a mental note of it as this page is jam packed with good stuff. You’ll find everything you’ll need from helpful docs, to the system status, and even a place to create a support ticket, should you need to.

FAQs

Like every other business, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions to help you get your questions answered quickly.  You can find our FAQ page at http://grasshopper.com/faq.  Didn’t find what you were looking for? Check out our Knowledgebase, which is like our FAQ page, but a little more extensive.

Twitter

Have a quick question? Want to say hi? Feel free to tweet us at @Grasshopper on Twitter and make sure to follow us for all things entrepreneurial and small business.  Also, if there’s ever an issue with Grasshopper, Twitter is a great place to go to stay informed and get status updates.

Facebook

Question won’t fit into 140 characters? No worries! We’re on Facebook too. Find us at http://www.facebook.com/grasshopper. Our Facebook page is also a great place to meet other small business owners and entrepreneurs just like you, so make sure to become a fan and don’t be shy – join the conversation!

Print this out. Bookmark it. Save it to your desktop. Whatever you want! Just make sure you keep this page handy so you’re never left in the dark about how to get in touch with us us.  And, if you take away anything at all from this post, just know that we’re here to help in any way we can, all you have to do is ask!

It’s Meet the Employees Monday here at Grasshopper.  This week’s employee spotlight is on Adam Majid.  Adam is on the UX team here and is a Senior Front End Developer. As Senior Front End Developer he works in conjunction with the designers and UX specialists to produce web experiences for our users. When one of our talented designers hands off their work to Adam, he turns that visual design into code, which then renders as a website in the browser for all to enjoy.

Let’s Get to Know Adam…

Dogs or cats?

I don’t know why but I’ve always been a cat person. While dogs are clearly the most loyal pets in the world of domesticated animals, cats have a certain sort of aloof intelligence that I find appealing. Either that or maybe cats just remind me of my ex girlfriends: they only show me love when they’re hungry.  Also, I’m pretty sure they can see ghosts.

Morning person or night owl?

Is it possible to be both? I have been known to stay out pretty late from time to time (for example, I don’t think I made it home on New Years Eve until 6am), but no matter what I’m always awake and ready to face the day before 10am. It’s a blessing and a curse.

Twitter or Facebook?

Back in the day when I was a young buck attending Syracuse University, and Facebook was strictly for college students, I could tolerate it. However, current day Facebook is incredibly unappealing to me. If you’re my friend and I want to get in touch with you and make plans or share information, there are a million ways for me to do that without Facebook (and without my aunt liking my posts).

Twitter is a different story though. I used to feel the same way about Twitter as I did with Facebook, but it really is a different experience all together. Twitter tends to keep me informed about things I really care about, as told by the people who are closest to the actual information.  And it’s not a bad way to make friends with like minded internet denizens. Feel free to follow me on there for your daily fix of irrelevant nonsense and esoteric inside jokes.

Most passionate about?

Music, food, code, and gadgets. I think that means that my ideal recreational activity would be mixing records while eating a taco and coding on a tablet.

Favorite candy?

Kookaburra Licorice.  If you’ve never had it you’re doing yourself a disservice.

3 things you never leave home without?

iPhone, sunglasses, pack of cigarettes (I should really quit).

Fun facts – got anything interesting people should know about you?

I travel a lot in order to gain a greater understanding about the world, and I used to secretly try and visit more countries in a year than one of our co-founders, David Hauser, although he didn’t know about this little game.  I think in 2011 David beat me 11 countries to 7, but I think he had the entrepreneur’s advantage in this game.

Stay tuned for next week’s employee spotlight on Adriano De Filippis!

Business owners who don’t have a blog often ask if they should start one. Others who have let theirs get dusty wonder if they should begin posting regularly again. Even those who currently have a business blog will sometimes question if the time spent creating content is going to increase their business.

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes.

Blogging has many benefits, both to the bottom line of the business and to the relationships you form with customers. Most every business, regardless of type, can benefit from having an interesting and informative blog.

Here are four awesome results a blog can reap for you:

1. Bring New Customers to Your Website:

A blog with good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps brings people to your business website when they’re searching for information on a topic related to your business. Say someone searches the Internet to figure out whether he should buy renters’ insurance. He finds your blog; he finds the information he needs on your blog. He could get this information from your competitors, but he reads some engaging content on your blog and makes a connection with your company. He decides he likes your company and the way you do business.

Abracadabra! You have a new customer.

If you notice on our blog, we don’t really write about Grasshopper too much. Why? Because a blog about a virtual phone system just isn’t that interesting. By writing about things related to our industry, like entrepreneurship and small businesses,  it’s not only more interesting to our readers but it also applies to more people other than just our customers, thus driving new visitors to our site.

2. Establish Yourself as an Expert in the Field:

When you blog about topics related to your business on a regular basis, you keep abreast of current trends and hot topics in your field. This has a double-whammy effect. When you do the research, you’ll become more knowledgeable about your field. This helps you provide better service to your clients, and by writing about your business, you establish yourself as an expert, both to your customers and to others in your industry.

3. Keep People Coming Back:

If the website for your local coffee shop stays the same every day, how often are you going to check the website? Probably only when you forget what time the shop opens on Saturday morning.

But if the website has a blog with surprise daily specials, a graphic about new trends in coffee, or information about the latest brew, odds are you’ll visit the website much more often.

Company blogs give people a reason to keep coming back to your site, especially when they need information. And when they are in the market for your type of product or service, guess who they’ll think of? You.

4. Build Relationships with Current Customers:

While online contact is no substitute for personal interaction, websites help foster relationships and spur dialogue.

Through your blog posts, your customers can get to know you and learn more about your background and thoughts on your industry. When your customers post comments or questions to your blog posts, you get a better understanding of their needs and how you can address them. Blog comments provide the perfect springboard for meaningful dialogue so make sure you respond to them!

At Grasshopper, we use our blog to further our relationships with our customers by writing customer spotlights and inviting them to guest post.  These types of posts not only allow you to establish better relationships with your customers but they’re also a great way to break up your everyday content and keep things fresh.

It’s definitely worth it to invest some time in creating a meaningful business blog. You may not see tangible results immediately, but as you grow this marketing tool, you’ll find that blogs are not only cost-effective; they are in fact beneficial to your business, and your bottom line.

Do what you’re good at and contract out the parts of your business that aren’t crucial. Simple enough right? Let’s explore…

Cloud computing has made automating non-essential parts of your business super easy. After all, these technologies are super powerful and cost just a fraction of what it would take to build them in-house.

Here are a few quick and easy ways to automate your business by using cloud tools:

Automate your Invoicing and Payments

Consultants with any history in the business can remember filling out invoices using a Word macro, printing and then mailing them.  Tedious.  Now, entrepreneurs can use tools like Freshbooks for invoicing and collecting payments.  You can set Freshbooks to automatically issue recurring invoices.  Even so, creating and sending invoices takes just a couple of minutes and a few clicks. Like most good cloud apps, Freshbooks even interfaces with other parts of your business (like Basecamp and Mailchimp) so you can cut down on data reentry.

Stop typing repetitive text

When you look at your daily work-flow, there are probably certain groups of words you find yourself typing out repeatedly — like in emails, sales letters, cells in Excel, whatever.  Consider using a text expander like TextExpander (Mac) or Phrase Express (PC).  These programs allow users to abbreviate long or tedious sections of text with just a code word.  Type a few letters and the program finishes it off for you. Used smartly, these programs can literally save you hours a week.

Monitor, Tweak, Automate

Automation works well because it frees you up to focus on what really drives your business.  Identifying your business levers isn’t as easy as it seems, though.  Tools like Geckoboard provide a dashboard look into the real time metrics of your enterprise.  By studying what’s working and what isn’t, business owners can allocate resources to revenue generating activities that move the needle for growth and profitability.

Find a More Efficient Way to Schedule

For busy professionals, it’s a drag to schedule meetings.  A lot of time is wasted in the back and forth, trying to settle upon a mutually-convenient time.  A virtual assistant can handle this type of work so you don’t have to.  The hardest part of automating scheduling is setting up your schedule ahead of time and blocking out times so your assistant can schedule meetings in the open spaces.  Odesk and Guru.com have marketplaces of assistants.  If you’re more of a do-it-yourselfer, you can use your Google Calendar or Tungle.me to allow clients or customers to schedule themselves.  If you want to completely automate scheduling and payments, Bookeo’s got a nice platform for small businesses.

Put Social Media on Autopilot

This idea sort of takes the “social” out of social media, but for a variety of purposes, automating a social media posting strategy makes a ton of sense (if you do it right).  Instead of getting sucked into reading and posting at inefficient times, write out and schedule up a pipeline of tweets using tools like Hootsuite and Timely.is. If you want to completely automate your social media postings, you can use Twitterfeed to pull tweets from your blog (or someone else’s) and auto-post them. This will help ensure you are efficient with your time and you can always dive in and provide some real time feedback love to your readers or followers when you have some spare time.

Automation tools enable a huge productivity boost by passing off inessential business tasks.  This levels the playing field by helping small business entrepreneurs to scale with the same tools the big boys use.

That’s right, never. Besides the fact that entrepreneurs and investors rarely moonlight as bards, the question of whether good friends make good business partners is a wide and dubious grey area.

Some people say you can’t go wrong starting a business with a friend. Others think you must’ve gone off the deep end to risk your friendship in such a way.

Just as with Apple vs. Android, it really depends on who you are and what you’re doing.

Here are some things to think about before making the decision to become a lot more than just friends.

Do I need a cofounder?

Before you pick which one of your lucky pals will be your partner, you should think about whether you need one at all.

The WSJ’s How-To for starting up with a partner recommends co-founding only if you find someone who will be critical to your company’s success. If that new person could add vital financial resources, connections, or skills that you don’t have, it might pay off to partner up.

Formalize the relationship

Whether you’re friends or not, formalizing the relationship between you and your potential co-founder is key. While this could definitely be an awkward moment, Tolis Dimopoulos, who provides legal and business counseling to entrepreneurs and angel investors in various tech industries, suggests before officially launching a product but after having built a viable prototype as the right moment to discuss how to structure a formal agreement.

The specific details of your agreement is a slightly trickier matter. Every company and partnership is different, and only an attorney is qualified to give specifically tailored advice. However, Stewart Townsend writes on Oracle’s Startups and Communities blog that almost every agreement should touch upon the basic issues of financing, equity, salaries, as well as disbursements, withdrawals, and dividends.

Do you share the same vision?

If you and a friend are indeed gung ho about starting something together, take a moment to think about your friend’s individual business specifics instead of just how awesome you think he or she is on the whole.

Real estate investors and best friend founding duo Mike and Rob say to size up your friend’s business personality rather than just use his or her cool factor. Consider whether they have enough business savvy, knowledge or interest in the industry, and an understanding of business ethics that matches your own.

You also want to make sure that you and your co-founder have the same ideals (and fantasy) about where you want to take the company. If one of you wants to become huge while the other wants stay in a smaller market, you might have a problem. Likewise you should be wary if your friend and co-founder starts jumping up and down (metaphorically, and literally) at the mention of selling the company if you are adamant about staying in control and in business.

The case for friends as cofounders

While all this forewarning and foreboding might make it seem like picking your friend as a co-founder only spells imminent doom, that’s not necessarily the case. Jun Loayza, an entrepreneur and member of the online business social network Brazen Careerist, loves doing business with friends.

Loayza sees it as being all about choosing the right friends and making sure that they’re filling the right roles. Your friends have known you for a long time, so they’ve already made up their minds about you. Make sure you pick a friend who respects you and trusts your judgment, but also feels comfortable enough to speak up and offer constructive feedback.

While the roles of your friendship might fall naturally into place, in a business it’s crucial that people do what they’re good at and not necessarily what they want. If your best friend and co-founder’s amateur passion for web design turns into the proverbial 2nd grader’s work of modern art, you need to step in early and suggest that they focus on using their already developed management skills instead.

While not every company can become as big as Apple, any two co-founders can be as close as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak back in the 1970s. After Jobs’ recent death, San Jose Mercury News columnist Mike Cassidy labeled Wozniak and Jobs as “Silicon Valley’s version of the tried-and-true Hollywood buddy movie.”

Although Wozniak admits that in the past few years the two were no longer close friends, he still thought that if Jobs knew he had “a very short time that was defined, he would call me.”

Picking the wrong co-founder can set you up for failure before you even start, so be sure to think long and hard about who you pick and why you’re picking them.

What are your thoughts on picking friends as co-founders? Did we miss any red flags? Share your experiences in the comments below.

They come in all shapes and sizes, from consumer-facing products like Foursquare to business-focused technology solutions like the ones we’ve created. But whatever the type of startup, there are some similarities you can expect to find across the board.

Here, we’ve chosen five of these characteristics that make startups a good career choice.

1. Casual Work Environment

Tired of wearing a suit and tie or high heels to work? Most startups don’t require formal business attire, unless you’re meeting with external clients or vendors.

Not everyone goes as far as to wear shower sandals like Mark Zuckerberg, but in general, the attire as well as the general atmosphere is more relaxed than what you’d find in a traditional corporate setting.

For people who find cubicle life stifling, a startup can be a refreshing change of pace.  Check out our new cubicle free office.

2. Potential Payout

It’s true that some larger companies offer stock options, but in general, start-ups rely more heavily on equity incentives to lure in potential hires. Early employees at Facebook, Google, and other highly successful startups can attest to the fact that if in certain situations, the payout can be big. Of course, if the company fails, your equity stake loses its value as well. But if you think the company is well-positioned to take off, owning a piece of it can be very alluring.

3. Dynamic Community

Imagine a bunch of investment bankers getting together for a weekend to try to solve a problem they’ve seen their peers face. Sounds pretty unlikely, doesn’t it?

But people in the technology world do just that at events like Startup Weekend and Lean Startup Machine. Tons of other events in hubs like Silicon Valley and New York take place every day. Joining a startup doesn’t just mean joining a company; it means joining a community.

See: 10 Startup Conferences You Don’t Want to Miss

4. Fluid Responsibilities

Since a startup’s core product or mission will often evolve greatly over time, the jobs that each of its employees take on may evolve greatly as well.

Furthermore, startups often employ small teams, meaning each person may need to take on a greater diversity of roles. For people who like to wear many hats, a startup setting could be a good fit.

5. Ability to Create Something New

Although there may be opportunities to innovate on products or services within a corporate setting, almost by definition, startups require a desire and willingness to create something new.

To many, the possibility of providing something to the world that doesn’t currently exist is exciting, and the right start-ups will provide that opportunity.

While working at a start-up often means taking on relatively more career risk and uncertainty, for certain personality types it’s a risk that’s absolutely worth taking.

If the above five things sound appealing to you, what are you waiting for?

Check out our Careers page for openings here at Grasshopper.

What other reasons can you think of to work for a startup?

In today’s employment landscape, organizations can cherry-pick the best and brightest; once they get them, great perks keep them loyal to the company and invested in its success.

1. S.C. Johnson: How can we be of service?

The trend among crazy perks these days seems to center around work-life balance. Many employees are pulling double-duty, taking responsibility for a group of tasks once shared by three people.

As such, BusinessInsider.com notes companies like S.C. Johnson are offering a concierge service, enabling their staff to get pesky household chores out of the way so they can spend more time at the office. Whether you need your dry cleaning picked up or library books returned, S.C. Johnson has you covered.

2. Google it with Fido by your side

WholeLiving.com reports that Google employees are permitted to take their dogs to work. And it’s not just for fun: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says pets offer health benefits like reduced cholesterol and triglycerides and lower blood pressure, not to mention companionship. If your beloved dog doesn’t reduce your stress levels adequately, opt for a subsidized massage.

3. No vacation days? No problem for Netflix.

Netflix, the home-delivery movie rental empire, doesn’t give its employees a set number of vacation days. In fact, the company doesn’t even track how many days employees are absent throughout the year, according to WholeLiving.com. Its theory? Treat adults like adults and they won’t abuse the system.

4. Sniffles? Head down the hall at SAS.

SAS has been voted a top place to work for the last 14 years. Why? Well, to give you an idea, CNN refers to their perks as epic.

EvolvedEmployer.com points out the many perks offered by the software company, including $410 per month for childcare expenses, on-site healthcare, a summer camp for kids and even car washes.

5. Life coaching, courtesy of Zappos

Looking for more fulfillment from your life? Get a gig at Zappos and you’ll have access to free life coaching, a perk which earned the company a spot on CNNMoney’s 100 Best Companies to Work For of 2011.

6. Get your tan on at Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy also makes it to CNNMoney’s top 100 based on numerous perks like parent/child yoga classes at its 72,000 square foot fitness center. Available to employees, the fitness center also features tanning booths and spray tans. After you’ve spent ample time in the tanning bed, head on over to the on-site medical center for complimentary cancer screenings, or perhaps Botox injections.

7. No weekday dinner rush when you work for Amgen

Biotech giant Amgen is noted for a number of perks by Mortgage Lender Report, including a cafeteria that fixes family-sized meals. By the way, if you want some fresh flowers for the table, an on-site florist is at your service. Oh, and those photos you need to have developed? Got that covered, too.

8. No stress-filled days at eBay

The ultimate in relaxing work environments, eBay offers a meditation room complete with yoga mats, pillows and tranquil music; perks earning the company recognition in Mortgage Lender Report’s roundup. So whether you want to stretch out your stress, find your inner zen or take a snooze, eBay will take care of you.

Why this works

Today’s crazy company perks are a mix of eclectic and practical. While all focus on meeting the needs of employees, often outside of the office (think dry cleaning and dinner), the majority don’t actually cost much over time.

An on-site fitness center, for example, has lower recurring costs than splurging for company-paid vacations. An added bonus to many health and wellness-focused perks: They can actually save the company money over time in terms of reduced sick time usage and health insurance costs.

Related Posts:

• The Case for Building Your Employees a Tree House
• 6 (Non Salary) Reasons Why Your Best Employees Will Leave

Happy holidays and best wishes in the New Year from all of us here at Grasshopper!

For those of you who are fans and followers of us on Facebook and Twitter, you probably know that PopSurvey is a sister company of ours that was launched back in November.

Everyone wants to get feedback from their customers and prospects, but up until a month ago you didn’t really have many options for how to get it. Now, you have PopSurvey.

PopSurvey knows that their surveys are the best on the web, so to prove it they decided to challenge their surveys head to head with SurveyMonkey surveys.

Hypothesis:

PopSurvey is so confident in their surveys that they’re willing to bet they get higher completion rates than SurveyMonkey’s surveys.

This is where you come in.  To prove this, they need your help.

The challenge:

PopSurvey is looking for Grasshopper customers with at least 1000 customers they’d like to survey.

Once selected, they’ll help you create identical surveys on both PopSurvey and SurveyMonkey.  Then, you’ll send 50% of your customers the PopSurvey version and the other 50% the SurveyMonkey version. Easy enough right?

At the end of the challenge, they’ll compare the completion rates for all participating companies to see if PopSurvey’s surveys are in fact, the best on the web!

What’s in it for you?

• $100 bucks for every company who takes the challenge.
• VIP account for life.
• More feedback than ever from your customers.

Interested?

Head over to http://popsurvey.com/challenge to apply (you only have to answer 3 questions ) and someone from PopSurvey will be in touch with more details on how to take the challenge!

Have a question? Tweet it to @PopSurvey.

We’re on the hunt for an amazing video to inspire female entrepreneurs and what better way to create it do than by allowing entrepreneurs themselves to showcase their talents, get some publicity and earn $10,000?  There are so many talented people out there and we want to see what you’ve got.

Details:

• What: Make a video to inspire women entrepreneurs to follow their passion and to start or grow their businesses.  Let them know they’re not alone and there is a community out there of other women just like them starting and growing their businesses too.
• When: December 17, 2011 at 7:48 PM EST to January 18, 2012 at 7:48 PM EST.
• How: Be creative! You can use facts (sources needed), real female entrepreneurs, inspiring images, choose amazing music, use a strong speech — whatever you think will make it awesome.
• Where to Enter: Submit your video through the Contest app on our Facebook page.
• Winner Announcement: March 1, 2012.  Note: we reserve the right to not award the prize if we don’t absolutely love the video submissions.

Think you’ve got what it takes?  Read on…

Video Requirements:

• Length: No less than 45 seconds and no more than 2.5 minutes.
• Include our logo and the phrase, “See how Grasshopper empowers women entrepreneurs at grasshopper.com” at the end of the video.

Need some examples?

• We’ve created: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MhAwQ64c0.
• We’re inspired by: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePSqOsMskWQ.
• We love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDL5yXIWs28.

We’re excited to see what you all come up with but before you begin, make sure to read our official rules here.

The holidays are a crazy time for everyone, with travel, kids home from school, vacations and more it can be hard to get things done.  A break is nice and all, but unfortunately you just can’t put your business on hold during the holidays.

Since things still have to get done, we put together a few tools we think are great for running your business when you’re on the go.

1. Gogo

For those of you who are forced to hit up the airports during one of the craziest times of the year, make sure to put Gogo on your to-do list before boarding that airplane.  Gogo has plans ranging from $4.95 for up to 1.5 hours to $12.95 for 3+ hours and will keep you connected so that you can be in the air and online, making that dreaded flight productive.

2. Dropbox

Dropbox gives you access to your documents and files wherever you are, allowing you to collaborate with your team when you’re traveling. One of the best parts about Dropbox is that it works even when you’re offline and don’t have an internet connection.  With this tool, you can easily share and send documents or large files to your co-workers and clients, so you don’t have to worry about holding up deals when you’re traveling.

3. Grasshopper

This one is a given.  Grasshopper was designed specifically for entrepreneurs on the go. With just a cell phone (or any other phone line for that matter), you can run your business from anywhere –airport, in-law’s house, hotel room, or the beach, it doesn’t matter. Grasshopper allows you to take your calls and meetings, without having to be tied down to your desk and you can even get your voicemails via email so you can decide which calls really are worth taking during that once a year vacation of yours.

4. Join.Me

Join.Me is a great free tool for when you need to collaborate on a project but just can’t seem to explain it over the phone.  Join.Me makes screen sharing super simple.  All you have to do is go to their site, click the big orange share button, and tell you’re co-worker (or client) the address at the top of your screen.  This is a fast and easy way to get things accomplished remotely with your teammates back home.

5. Evernote

Evernote’s tag line is “Remember Everything.” – With a tagline like that you know this tool is awesome (since I can’t manage to remember anything without writing it down).  It was also just nominated as company of the year by Inc. Magazine. How could this tool not be on our list?

Evernote works great as an on the go to-do list (for those of you who can’t function when you forget your notebook at home J) but it can also be used as much, much more.  You can use it to keep track of employee performance, as an electronic filing cabinet and even to remind yourself of that bottle of wine you liked while you were away.

These are just a few of the amazing tools out there that help you run your business remotely.  We took to our Twitter and Facebook pages to see how our fans and followers run their businesses when they’re travelling.

Here are a few responses:

Now, it’s your turn to add to the list! What are your must have apps or tools when you’re on the go?

Check out the transformation of our old office into our new space in these behind the scenes photos:

Related Posts:

• Designed to Encourage Mingling

We have some exciting news to share with you all today! Over the past few months our team has been working very hard to bring you all something we’re calling Update Mode.

What’s Update Mode?

First off, Update Mode is a direct result of your feedback and suggestions, so thank you! Update Mode, when live, will ensure that your business is able to take calls and voicemails, even during a maintenance window or in most cases of service interruptions. Told you it was exciting!

This is an important step for us in hardening our customer experience against downtime due to maintenance windows or unexpected service issues; rather than being out of service, you’ll be able to receive calls to the phone number of your choice, on a schedule you set, AND you’ll be able to add up to 15 email addresses to receive voicemail notifications at. Awesome, right?

What do you need to do?

It’s simple. Account administrators, if you haven’t done so already, we need you to go into your account and check to make sure we’ve filled in the right backup phone number and email address, as you will not be able to change these when the feature is in use. Once it’s in there, you’re all set.

You can do this by logging in and going into your settings.  You will see a section called “Update Mode” and will be able to update your information there.

Update mode is an important step for us in making sure your businesses stay up and running, even during unexpected downtime and we have you all to thank for that. It was extremely important to us to make sure that this feature performed up to our standards and yours before releasing it.   So, thank you again for all your suggestions, feedback and patience.

You can learn more about update mode, including what the experience will be like for you and your callers when it’s active, here.

What are your other options?

1. Your House

This is the most common office for entrepreneurs who don’t rent dedicated commercial space. The most modest setups simply use a home computer and a phone line, while a more elaborate setup scales all the way to refinishing the garage and adding a separate entrance. Need tips on setting up your home office? Check out Inc’s home office guide.

Pros: Working from home. Low expense base. Tax benefits.

Cons: Kids answering your work line (You can prevent this from happening by using Grasshopper ). No meeting space.

2. Flex (or Coworking) Space

Some professional office buildings offer meeting spaces shared between the tenants. In a similar arrangement, you can rent a cubicle, office or suite by the day, week or multi-month contract. These come furnished, usually with full connectivity. Some full-service shared offices even include a receptionist, also shared among the clients. This is a great option for those who want to give off a professional image when meeting with clients, but don’t need to meet with clients too often.

Pros: Flexibility. Dedicated workspace.

Cons: You can’t customize your space. People can tell it’s a temp space.

3. Shared or Subleased Space

If you know somebody with a professional space, or have a friend with needs similar to your own, you can rent part of an office. You can also find this kind of arrangement by looking into newer or older businesses – ones that have rented more space than they need right now, or signed a lease on space they once needed but can’t fill now in a contracting economy.

Not sure where to find this unused space? Check out Open Office Space, they allow you to post and find open office space.

Pros: Professional appearance. Shared resources.

Cons: You have a roommate, with all the accompanying hassles.

4. Anywhere You Want

With a laptop, a smart phone and a FedEx/Kinkos credit line, you can accomplish nearly all of your daily tasks from wherever you like. This is a favorite of “lifestyle design” guru Timothy Ferris, who points out that this means you can work from a coffee shop, a city park or even a cruise ship.

Pros: Flexible location. High “gadget factor.”

Cons: Risk of background noise. No meeting space. Lots of distractions.

5. Outsourcing

This non-traditional approach deals more with your personnel than the physical space, and is appropriate for any office arrangement.

Many entrepreneurs already do this by hiring a cleaning service rather than keeping a full-time janitor. Modern connectivity allows you to outsource bookkeeping, writing, payroll, nearly any task you don’t want to do yourself — without bringing anyone physically into your office or legally into your employ.

Pros: Pay only for what you need. Subcontractors need no payroll tax.

Cons: Communication can become complicated, especially when outsourcing overseas.

Many of the signs of professional entrepreneurship in the past and even most of the barriers to entry are no longer requirements. This new flexibility means you have fewer costs associated with starting up — and potentially a higher quality of life from being free to work where you are happiest. Pick the style that’s right for you.

Shameless product plug: Grasshopper is the perfect solution for entrepreneurs working out of these non-traditional workspaces because it gives you a professional image, regardless of where you’re working from.

Related Posts

• 4 Tips to Increase Your Productivity When You Work from Home
• Should Your Startup Join a Coworking Space?
• What Are The Best Countries To Outsource Your IT Requirements To?

At Grasshopper, our passion is helping entrepreneurs succeed.  Whether it’s growing your business with our virtual phone system, getting your business press or hooking your business up with some pretty cool deals; there is nothing we love more than helping our friends and customers succeed.

So, when we come across a company that shares the same values as us, we get excited and want to work with them. Enter eMinutes.  eMinutes is a law firm that has been in practice for nearly twenty years.  They’ve formed corporations and LLCs for A-list movie stars, Grammy award winning musicians and athletes.  Wow!

Now, they want to help YOU launch your business and are offering to do it for 500 first-time entrepreneurs for FREE.

Details:

• Who: 500 first-time entrepreneurs (businesses must be located in California or New York – where they practice law)
• What: You will get a consultation with one of eMinutes lawyers who will help you form your new company.
• Cost: FREE – Even the filing fee is FREE.
• How: Like our status on Facebook and mention it when you reach out to eMinutes. Get the contact details here.  It’s important to note: if you reach out now, but aren’t ready to incorporate just yet…that’s completely cool.
• Important legal stuff: https://eminutes.com/500-entrepreneurs-legal-stuff (after all, they are a law firm!)

You may be wondering: why would eMinutes do this all for free?! Well, that’s the part of the story we love most.  They’re doing it because they love what they do and are excited by the entrepreneurial spirit – so all they’re looking to do is help grow some businesses.  The best part? All they want in return is to be kept in the loop about your progress, challenges, and successes!

Love the idea, but not eligible? Spread the word and help others like you launch their businesses!

Related posts:

• Why incorporating first time entrepreneurs for free has been the most rewarding part of my law practice
• Chanelle Henry: It’s important to know who you are are marketing to, to know how to design for them.

Everyone loves a high-growth company. People want to work for it. Investors want a piece of it. The press idolizes it. However, believe it or not, there is danger in growing too big, too quickly. And this danger has brought many a company to its knees.

Krispy Kreme is a perfect example. When it attempted to expand too quickly beyond its trademark “Hot Doughnuts Now” to selling pre-boxed sinkers in gas stations in the mid 2000s, the stock market concluded it was no longer a sweet deal as stocks hit a record low of $6 per share at that time.

Finding the right level of sustainable growth is one of the first essential steps an entrepreneur needs to consider and think through before ever opening the doors for business.

Finding that sustainable pace of growth will mean something different for every startup. But every business will need to dodge these nine common pitfalls:

1. Leadership exhaustion: The more leadership is confined to one or a few people, the more those people will be sucked into the day-to-day management of the company. This means more and more hours at work and fewer hours to manage and focus on the big picture.

2. Troop exhaustion: When the workload is growing quickly, you sometimes don’t have the time to add qualified staff, and the work is piled on to the troops you have on hand. Problem is, there‘s only so much workload employees can carry before they get overwhelmed and collapse.

3. Sloppy hiring practices: As a result of the above, companies scrambling to cover the workload will often hire without taking the time to really evaluate the new hires to make sure they are getting the best people possible for the jobs at hand.

4. Outstripping financing: A well-funded startup can become an underfunded company thanks to initial success. If you have to ramp up production prior to sales, or carry a lot of accounts payable, you might find yourself short on the green stuff when you need it most.

5. Outbuilding your business: If you plan for rapid growth by buying more office space than you need, hiring more people than you need, borrowing more money than you need, you may find this becomes a burden on you if your growth is more modest than anticipated. Before you go buying more office space than you need, try a virtual office or even a coworking space.

6. Outracing your market: If you’re offering cutting-edge products, you might find that even those customers who could really use them don’t yet understand what it is you are offering. There are a lot of startups that failed because they were way ahead of their time. Think Ask Jeeves. Not planning for some catch-up time could threaten the sustainability of your growth. 7. Outpromising your investors: If you promise 20% growth to your investors, a healthy 10% isn’t going to keep them content. Knowing what pace of growth you can sustain, setting the bar at that level and hitting your goal will keep them much happier.

8. Compromising quality: When everyone is working at maximum output, yet demand keeps increasing, don’t be surprised to find that someone in the supply chain starts slacking off in the quality department to meet your delivery deadlines.

9. Losing opportunity: When you’re growing so fast that you can’t seem to find the time to take a meeting or attend a conference, you’re in danger of missing out on a grand opportunity to make your business even better. It’s important to make sure you’re never too busy to keep up with industry trends, what your competitors are doing, the technology in your field and even the latest best practices.  All of these are essential to your business’ survival and success.

We know that everyone wants to grow their business at the fastest possible sustainable pace. Recognizing and planning for these pitfalls ahead of time will go a long way toward keeping that line on the chart ever-climbing.

Back in the day, big corporations used to be the only ones who were able to afford large, complex telephone systems and an army of operators to manage them.

Today, that’s luckily not the case. As the Internet has leveled the playing field, it’s also done away with ominous looking “business only” telephones with monitors the size of your desk.

And as virtual work becomes normal work, more and more small businesses are opting for virtual PBX systems. A PBX, or private branch exchange system is just a fancier way of saying a business telephone system with extensions, rerouting options, automatic greetings and other functions you’d hear when calling a large corporation.

By making it virtual, it puts all those big corporate functionalities into the pragmatic hands of people like you, without the cost.

What are the benefits?

1. Virtually Present

A virtual PBX system requires no hardware, no trained staff, and thus no costly maintenance fees. The entire service is hosted on the provider’s system offsite, but you can still easily manage your extension system, voicemail inbox, and call rerouting options all online.

You get more time and money (and energy) to put back into your business instead of into troubleshooting a telephone that reminds you more of a lunar landing module. What’s not to love?

See: 5 Ways to Grow Your Business Using a Virtual PBX

2. You Pick Your Number

You can choose a new local or toll free number, if you don’t already have one and if you do have one, you can port your existing number, so that all the money you spent advertising your number isn’t lost.

This number will be good for receiving phone calls, voicemails, and even faxes for your entire company no matter where your employees are.

See: Does Your Business Need a Toll Free Number?

3. Get Your Calls Anywhere, Always

Virtual PBX systems are integral components for managing a virtual office. At Grasshopper, we have employees spread out all over the US, so this part is key for us.

A virtual phone system lets you take your calls anywhere and always, even if you’d prefer not to. In that case, you can also have calls screened, blocked, or ring certain extensions in a specific order.

For a small or medium sized business, these extensions will come in very handy.  You can add what seems like a nearly limitless number of extensions that can ring the office next to yours or the mobile of your traveling salesperson halfway across the world and your callers won’t even know the difference! You can also seamlessly transfer between extensions that ring on landlines, mobiles, or international numbers.

See: Is Telecommuting Right for You?

4. Fuller Integration

Your single phone number is now more than just a phone number.  You can count on it for not only taking calls and voicemails, but also for receiving faxes, which can then be converted into PDFs and emailed to your smartphone. Talk about making things easy and convenient!

Another great feature of a virtual phone is the reporting.  You could use a toll free number on your site and a different one on your marketing material to track where people are calling you from, thus giving you the ability to attribute ROI to your efforts.

See: How Grasshopper Can Help Your Marketing Efforts

5. Sound like the Suits

Even if you’re a single employee company (working out of your basement in your pajamas), your virtual PBX system still allows you to have professional sounding automatic greetings and as many extensions as you like, so you can answer a customer’s call even if you’re on another line.

A virtual PBX system gives your company-of-one the air of a big business environment (or at least an office with more than one person).

See: Choosing the Best Phone System for Your Business

Virtual PBX systems are just one of the ways smaller businesses have been able to get an edge using big business tools thanks to better, cheaper technology.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Grasshopper! We hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!

This guest post is written by Matt Winn.  Matt is the Social Media Manager atVolusion, a Grasshopper partner .

Ah, the end of the holidays. It’s a time to wind down, take down the tree and remove the lights from the front yard. Relaxing activities, right? Wrong.

For online business owners, the ordering processing party doesn’t end with the holidays, especially when customers begin returning merchandise. While returns are inevitable, you can reduce the number of customer support questions, chargebacks and overall frustration by creating a foolproof return policy.

Here’s how:

1. Prevent returns before they happen

Before you start writing your return policy, go through your previous returns to see why items were sent back to you. Most likely, the expectations your customers had after order weren’t met upon receiving their package. Thus, browse your site to ensure that all product descriptions, product photos and technical specs are accurate and fully-detailed.

2. Focus on a friendly tone

While many of us think that a return policy should be written like a Congressional bill, crafting this document with a customer mindset provides a much better experience. The overall objective of your return policy is to set proper customer expectations so there aren’t disputes when an order is sent back. Thus, avoid legal speak and focus on getting your message across in a way that even the most novice online shopper can understand.

3. Indicate any return charges

One of the biggest questions customers have when returning an online order is whether or not they have to pay for it. While Zappos and other major retailers are known for their free return shipping, not all of us have that kind of budget. So, if you do charge return shipping, be sure to explicitly state that within your return policy, otherwise you’ll face a swarm of angry customers who assumed that the procedure was free.

4. Give customers a timeline

Next, you need to state the timeframe to accept returns. In other words, do customers have 30, 60 or 90 days to return an item? Once you make this decision, prominently include this in your policy to help reduce conflicts when customers try sending their holiday gifts back in late March.

Along the same lines, you also need to inform customers of how they will be credited. Will you be providing them with a cash refund or a store credit? How will customers be notified of said credit? Again, explicitly state these terms in your policy.

5. Tell customers exactly how to send returns

Another major issue online business owners face with their return policy is a lack of clear guidelines on how packages should be returned. Thus, it’s highly recommended to list any return requirements directly within the policy.

For example:

• Do customers need to send the item back in its original packaging?
• Are they allowed to open the item before it’s returned?
• What address should the item be returned to?
• Is a receipt required when sending back an item?

By considering all of the intricacies that help you process returns faster, you’ll be able to come up with clear directions to help expedite these requests.

6. Don’t hide your return policy

Especially during the holidays, it’s important to highlight your return policy so customers can see it. Not only does this tell customers that you’re running a legitimate website, it also provides them with a quick and easy resource when returning an item.

Try displaying your return policy prominently on your website, whether it’s within your navigation or somewhere in your template. You can also provide a link to your return policy in your order confirmation emails, or even consider including a hard copy within the package itself.

The moral of the story is twofold: 1) use your ecommerce return policy to clearly set customer expectations and 2) never, ever hide behind your return policy. Even though the New Year is often ripe with return processing, it should never become a sticking point in WOWing your customers.

Happy holiday selling! -Matt Winn, Social Media Manager, Volusion

Matt Winn is a Social Media Manager at Volusion, an industry-leading ecommerce software that powers online businesses for over 30,000 clients. Serving as the chief blogger for Volusion’s Ecommerce Blog, Matt has written hundreds of articles on all things ecommerce, ranging from social media to usability. Join him each week on Volusion’s YouTube channel for Two Minute Tuesdays, where you’ll receive two minutes of ecommerce advice to bolster your online success. You can also receive ecommerce news and tips on Facebook and Twitter @volusion.

When we think about the true legends of the business world, it’s easy to put them on pedestals. Surely, we tell ourselves, the people who produce multi-billion dollar fortunes are a different breed than the rest of us. And seldom (if ever) do we picture them failing at anything. Yet when you look back on the real-life histories of iconic entrepreneurs, there is plenty of failure to go around. In fact, these early setbacks were often instrumental in shaping the careers of these storied figures.

Bill Gates & Traf-O-Data

The Failure: Bill Gates will forever be remembered for starting Microsoft, but this was actually not his first business venture. Prior to founding the software giant behind Windows, Gates headed up a company called Traf-O-Data. Its objective? As StartupGallery.org explains, Gates and his partners wanted to build a “computerized machine for processing paper tapes from traffic counters, those black hoses most of us have driven over on roads throughout the United States.” They then planned to sell this computerized data to state and local governments, but failed because the product was unacceptably buggy.

The Lesson: If anything was learned from Traf-O-Data, it’s that the first idea an entrepreneur has is rarely the best. Today, the only reason we know about this company at all is because Gates and Paul Allen started it. Fortunately for them, they were not discouraged by Traf-O-Data’s closing and went on to found one of the most successful companies in business history.

Akio Morita & Rice Cookers

The Failure: Today, you know Sony as a digital electronics powerhouse. But the company was considerably low-tech in the early days, as shown by founder Akio Morita’s foray into selling rice cookers. The problem, as SonyInsider.com explains, is that the rice cooker basically burnt more rice than it cooked. Calling it a “primitive product”, SonyInsider goes on to note that “tasty rice was a rarity” and the project became a “memorable failure” for Morito and partner Masaru Ibuka.” Ultimately, fewer than 100 units were sold to the public.

The Lesson: Morito and Ibuka’s hard-fought wisdom from the rice cooker project was to fail quick and fail cheap. Had these men stubbornly clung to a poorly executed product idea, they might never have tackled the far more lucrative task of building an electronics empire.

Today’s entrepreneurs would do well to remember this lesson. Never be afraid to cut your losses and move on from an objectively bad idea or situation.

Harland David Sanders & KFC’s Secret Recipe

The Failure: Harland David Sanders (better known as “Colonel Sanders”) endured some of the harshest early failures of all. Despite having what we now know is an undeniably popular chicken recipe, no one wanted it at first. In fact, Sanders endured over 1,000 rejections before finally finding a restaurant that was willing to work with him. Early on, KFC says, Colonel Sanders literally carried the secret spice mixture with him in his car in search of business partners.

The Lesson: Colonel Sanders’ early failures are a testament to the power of determination. It would have been all too easy (and quite understandable) to give up after being told “no” a hundred times – nevermind one thousand times. But Sanders knew his recipe had value and kept pushing until he found someone who agreed. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Y Combinator’s Paul Graham believes determination is the most important quality an entrepreneur can have.

Henry Ford & Detroit Automobile Co.

The Failure: It’s hard to think of Henry Ford as anything other than a smashing success in the automobile industry. Early on, though, he was anything but. Ford’s first company – Detroit Automobile Company – went out of business in 1901 “amid customer complaints of high prices and low quality”, according to Newsweek. Henry Ford Company (founded one year later) was abandoned due to a fight with his partner, while a third company nearly collapsed from low sales numbers.

The Lesson: What these failures said to Henry Ford, loud and clear, was “listen to your market!” Which, to Ford’s credit, he undoubtedly did. With the assistance of angel investors (and the harsh lessons of his past failures), Ford reincorporated as Ford Motor Company and focused squarely on mass-producing vehicles customers both wanted and had the ability to buy. Consequently, we all know about Ford Motor while barely anyone remembers Detroit Automobile Co.

R.H. Macy & His First Four Stores

The Failure: R.H. Macy was hardly an instant success in retail. In fact, the first four store locations that he opened were abject failures (including the first true Macy’s store in Massachusetts.) Between 1843-1855, every one of these dry goods stores died on the vine on poor consumer demand and lackluster sales totals.

The Lesson: There is a learning curve in just about every type of business you can imagine. For R.H. Macy, retail was no different. Arguably, what finally paved the way for him to be successful was opening a store in a premier location (New York City) instead of in areas with weak demand. In any case, it’s clear that Macy endured his early failures with eyes wide open, soaking up all of the lessons he could and avoiding the same mistakes later on.

There’s something about people who make new things happen in business. That is, there are some things about the people who turn new business ideas into reality — particular personality traits and behaviors that successful entrepreneurs seem to share.

Wondering what those might be? Wonder no more.

The checklist below highlights five characteristics common to the can-do innovator, and how those traits help to turn good ideas into workable new endeavors.

1. Unusual Perception

Great entrepreneurs see things that others do not. David Kay, of idea-incubator Yuenfen Flow, equates this with the mindset of an artist.  A painter looks at a landscape and sees the lines and color that will fill a canvas with art. An entrepreneur looks at a system — like a marketplace — and sees the service or product that will satisfy an under-served customer base. That’s the spark of the idea. The fire from it is fueled by the next item on this list …

2. Overriding Passion

Once the seed is planted, the farmer doesn’t hang up his hat. It’s back into the field to cultivate what’s in the ground. Similarly, entrepreneurs apply themselves to getting a good idea to grow with a relentless energy, and a kind of invulnerability to long hours and nerve-wracking risk. People around them recognize it. Brian Schwartz, author of 50 Interviews: A Biographical Journal into the Minds of Masters, puts it this way about the entrepreneurial mindset: “If I offered you $1 million today to give this up, you’d tell me to take a hike. It’s like an addiction, you can’t let it go.”

3. Teachable Leadership

A unique idea and a drive to make the idea materialize is a good start, of course. But successful entrepreneurs know that they need others, and so the third factor that defines the best of them comes into play: leadership. As the experts at the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center outline, this entrepreneurial leadership comes in the following forms: they communicate integrity, honesty, and fearlessness. Most importantly, the successful entrepreneur is able to teach their ideas and best practices to the people who want to help make them happen.

4. Team Building

Leading isn’t enough, however. One has to lead the right people. Andy Mok, who started Red Pagoda Resources to staff startups with crack team members, recently told conference attendees that great entrepreneurs are marked by the great teams they assemble.

5. Bounce-Back

Finally, it’s not enough to measure the great entrepreneurs by their constructive traits. There’s one key element to all of the best ones that counts for just about everything when a project loses ground: bounce-back. Stellar business starters can do it. They get back up, they find new support, and they generate the next idea. They move on.

Maybe you’ve been out there in the entrepreneurial world. Maybe you are one yourself. What are the characteristics of the best kinds of entrepreneurs you’ve seen?

Other cool infographics to check out:

• Who Are the Entrepreneurs Getting Funding
• How to Pick a Startup Funding Strategy
• Entrepreneurship: US & Europe

For those of you who don’t know, this week is Global Entrepreneurship Week.  In honor of Global Entrepreneurship Week, this week’s content will be focused entirely on entrepreneurship. We’re kicking the week off with the tools we, as entrepreneurs, can’t live without.

Did you know Grasshopper has over 35 full-time employees? It’s true! There are a lot of people that keep this place running and it’s their goal to give you the best product for your business.

We can’t do it on our own though. Thankfully we have a whole assortment of tools from amazing companies to help us out.  So we thought we’d share them with you.

Here are 13 tools we use every day here at Grasshopper. 1. BaseCamp

Basecamp is just one of the many awesome products put out by 37Signals and it’s one we use all the time. It helps us collaborate on design projects, manage communication with vendors and makes working with remote employees much simpler.

2. Argyle Social

Do you know who’s talking about your brand? Do you know where they are talking about your brand? After trying out multiple social media monitoring tools, we now rely on Argyle Social. It not only helps us monitor our brand but also helps us make better decisions when it comes to social media. Plus, the tool offers enterprise features without the enterprise cost which is great for small businesses.

3. Bamboo HR

As an employee, you don’t think much about your health insurance or payroll information until you need it. The next thing you know, you’re bugging your poor HR person to get these things. We found a solution.

Medical documents, 401k papers, company holiday schedules, PTO requests…Bamboo HR has it all in one place. Plus, it’s super simple to use.

4. JIRA

Like most companies, our engineering team works in iterations. New tasks are added, priorities change, and problems arise. How do we manage this? JIRA. We’ve been using JIRA for 4 years and it’s been a great asset to our company and in particular, our engineers.

5. BatchBook

Our buzz team interacts with so many different customers, potential customers and media members on a daily basis that without something to actually keep track, they’d go crazy! Batchbook helps them manager their contacts and communication history in one place. [Note: BatchBlue is also a member of BarCamp Tour]

6. SEOMoz

From rankings reports, to competitive research to on-page optimization and link analysis, SEOMoz really has it all. Along with their toolset, they have an outstanding blog that provides tips and information for everyone.

7. Visual Website Optimizer

One of the things we’re very fond of here is testing. Testing testing testing. In the past few months we’ve launched a new how it works page and are currently working on a new home page. Why? Because we want to make sure we’re giving customers and potential customers the information they need.

How do we implement and measure these tests? Visual Website Optimizer. VWO lets you create, run and analyze website tests in a very simple manner.

8. Google Analytics

As an ecommerce website it’s extremely important to know how your site is performing. Are people finding you? How are they finding you? Are they converting? And so on and so forth.

Google Analytics is a great (and free) analytics tool that can really help you learn about customers, potential customers and drive your marketing efforts.

9. Spotify

You may be wondering how a music app helps Grasshopper function. Well, if you walk around the office on any given day you’ll see a lot of people bopping their heads to music. It keeps us lively!

What music application do people use? An informal poll (and multiple invites passed out by Adam) says that it’s Spotify that powers our music and keeps us grooving here in the office.

10. Rypple

As a small business, it’s important to stay connected to your employees, allow open communication and make people excited about working for you. We do that through bi-weekly reviews, open doors, monthly celebrations and well-known core values.

We’re able to track all of this and celebrate one another through Rypple, a performance management tool. In there, managers can keep track of their one-on-ones, team members can commend other team members on accomplishments and individuals can set goals for themselves. It’s a great PM tool that allows for flexibility.

11. Jobvite

Positions are open, resumes are submitted, interviews have started and the candidate has talked to six different people. How do you keep track of all this, provide feedback, decide on next steps? For us, the answer is Jobvite.

Jobvite lets you easily track the hiring process along with providing your employees the ability to help you recruit through social tools. Want to incentivize your employees for referrals? Jobvite gives each employee their own link.

12. KissMetrics

You may have seen the challenge we were running with KISSmetrics, pitting websites with phone numbers against websites without phone numbers. We provided the number and KISSmetrics provided the ability to run the test.

Beyond your typical analytics, KISSmetrics offers amazing insights into how people interact with your site, lets you perform A/B tests and helps you make better business decisions.

13. ClickTale

You know how people got to your website, what pages they visited and when they converted. But do you know what they did in between?

ClickTale gives you heatmaps, form analytics & real-time monitoring to see just how users are interacting with your website.

These tools are all awesome and really do make running Grasshopper easier. What are we missing?

At the very end of 2009, Gartner, Inc., the world’s leading IT research and advisory company, made a rather sizable prediction about the future of open source software.

The popularity of using free rather than commercially-licensed products would grow, but one particular segment would see a dramatic increase. Gartner predicted that the deployment of open source business intelligence tools would become five times larger by the end of 2012.

Clay Loveless, founder of Jexy and co-founder of Mashery, would seem to agree with that estimate. In an interview with SourceForge.net, Loveless pointed out that he hardly comes across any SMEs which don’t leverage open source software in some significant way.

But since we are still so wedded to big name commercial software, some small business owners and entrepreneurs probably haven’t yet taken advantage of these free software tools.

If you feel like licensing fees are holding your company for ransom, here are 10 open source business tools that can help you grow your business and save you money.

1. GnuCash

GnuCash is a simple yet powerful small business financial accounting solution that lets you manage bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. It’s also based on professional accounting principles to help keep your reports accurate and in line.

2. Openbravo ERP

This enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool features an easy to use Web-based user interface, along with tools for financial management and accounting, sales and CRM, and procurement management.

3. xTuple

This ERP solution provider offers many different editions under open source and commercial licenses. The PostBook Edition is a bit easier to use than Openbravo, but it still comes with fully integrated accounting, ERP, and CRM management systems.

4. FrontAccounting

This completely open source accounting solution is especially geared toward small businesses. It’s Web-based so you can access and edit your accounting information from anywhere.

5. Rapid-I

Rapid-I provides open source software solutions for data mining, text mining, and predicative analytics. Its most famous product is RapidMiner, a powerful open source data mining program.

6. DataVision

This is the open source equivalent to SAP’s proprietary reporting tool Crystal Reports. It has a drag-and-drop graphical user interface for easy report creation, and also supports a wide variety of platforms and file formats.

7. SpagoBI

SpagoBI is “the only 100% open source, innovative, and flexible business intelligence (BI) suite.” It offers an expansive range of tools for reporting, multidimensional analysis, geographical analysis, data mining, collaboration and much more.

8. phpBMS

This Web-based, completely open source (totally free, no subscription) business management software reliably and cost effectively tracks clients and sales, monitors accounts receivable, and prints sales orders.

9. Apache OFBiz

The Apache Open For Business Project is an open source enterprise suite offering ERP, CRM, E-Commerce, supply chain, and point of sale solutions. You can also customize it to meet your own company’s needs and preferences. It’s entirely free and open source through the Apache Software Foundation.

10. LemonPOS

This completely open source point of sale software works just like what the major brand stores use, but it’s made specifically for micro to medium businesses. You can connect multiple payment terminals to a single database, and even choose a theme for your user interface to match the character of your store.

Keep in mind that some of these companies offer multiple editions of their products under open source and commercial licenses. Sometimes the software can be totally free, but you have the option to purchase extra individual features or add-ons.

It’s best to have a thorough look around each company’s Website so you know exactly what’s included in each edition. Even if it’s free, you still want to know what it does.

The growing offering of open source business tools clearly reflects how the open source movement, which goes back to the late 70s and early 60s, has become such an important part of mainstream technology culture.

As a parting shot in his interview, Loveless also pointed out that Yahoo!, Facebook, and Twitter all built their companies on the back of open source.

“It’s hard to argue,” he said, “that you really need commercial tools to make it big.”

Are you using any open source solutions for your business? Which ones do you like best?

This guest post is written by Matt Winn.  Matt is the Social Media Manager at Volusion, a Grasshopper partner .  This post is the first in our four part series on customer service during the holidays.  Be on the lookout next Wednesday for the next post in the series on the Volusion Blog.

When you think about awesome customer service, what comes to mind? Your favorite barista that goes heavy on the espresso shot? That tech support guy who didn’t laugh because your “broken” TV wasn’t plugged in? Regardless of situation, great customer service typically stems from positive personal connections.

So how do you transcend personalized customer service to a faceless ecommerce site?

It’s easier than you think – check out these simple tips:

Prominently display your contact information

Even though it’s impossible to hold a shopper’s hand while browsing through your online store, you can easily let them know that help is a click or call away. Get started by adding an interactive live chat icon in your website template, or simply list your phone number and email address on your homepage.

More times than not, customers won’t need to contact you, but letting them know that there’s someone on the other side of the screen is a great way to lay the cornerstone for a positive customer experience.

Offer real-time customer support, if possible

Like it or not, we live in a world of instant gratification. Customers expect immediate answers to their questions, and if they can’t get them, they’ll often turn somewhere else. That’s why it’s important for you to provide customer support as quickly as possible, preferably in real-time.

Fortunately there are several options to do so without building a huge call center. For example, you can download free live chat software to chat with customers while they’re on your site. You can also use Facebook and Twitter to quickly respond to inquiries in a public channel – the benefit here is that other shoppers can also see your exceptional customer service!

Promptly reply to emails

If a customer sends you an email, don’t let it sit in your inbox. Enough said.

Create an FAQ page

Instead of always responding to questions, you can proactively provide information to establish exceptional customer service on your ecommerce site. One easy method is to create an FAQ page that addresses common questions and issues.

For example, you might include instructions on how to return an item, what number to call if there is a billing question, and information on how customers can track their package as its being shipped. By deflecting common issues before they start, you’ve empowered your customers to go ahead and make a purchase.

Share some love

Truly great service takes place when you make someone feel special. That’s why it’s important for you, especially when you don’t have face-to-face interactions, to go the extra mile and truly “wow” your customers.

To get started, consider including a hand-written thank you note in the package. Or, try emailing your most loyal shoppers a gift certificate or special coupon as a “just because.” You can also send quick surveys to find out what customers think, which will help you to improve customer service in the future. There are tons of ideas you can utilize, so get creative!

When conducting business online, there’s no excuse in hiding behind your computer screen – if you truly want to grow your bottom line, you’ll make the investment in providing great customer service. Believe it or not, the simple measures listed above will help your customers consider you as someone special, even if you never sit together in the same room.

Happy selling! -Matt Winn, Volusion

About the Author: Matt Winn is a Social Media Manager at Volusion, an industry-leading ecommerce software that powers online businesses for over 30,000 clients. Serving as the chief blogger for Volusion’s Ecommerce Blog, Matt has written hundreds of articles on all things ecommerce, ranging from social media to usability. Join him each week on Volusion’s YouTube channel for Two Minute Tuesdays, where you’ll receive two minutes of ecommerce advice to bolster your online success. You can also receive ecommerce news and tips on Facebook and Twitter @volusion.

*Volusion is a partner of Grasshopper.

You’ve just closed a great deal! Now everyone needs to shake hands with each other, stand in a circle, and chant a sacred hymn of prosperity.

Then again, maybe modern business isn’t exactly like ancient rituals. Even so, no one doubts the importance of being able to have a solid meeting. That’s why doing business in person is always the best choice. But when that involves expensive flights and other travel expenses, the cost-benefit analysis might look a little different.

With today’s incredibly wide selection of video conferencing tools, it’s become a lot easier (not to mention savvier) to gather people together in a virtual meeting rather than fly them around the country.

Choosing Apps

Since there are a wide range of video conferencing tools, first you need to decide how much you want to pay.

If you always wanted your business to feel like Star Trek, you can choose to go with a high-end HD video conferencing provider like Cisco or Polycom. Just short of teleportation (and half a million dollars), these telepresence systems make you feel like you’re really all in the room together.

Otherwise, there are many other video conferencing applications that work great for small businesses.

Almost everyone’s heard of Skype and its cheap rates for international calls. Since the popular free version only allows for one-to-one video calls, you need to buy an upgrade for group video calls in order to video conference.

Instead you could try ooVoo, Yugma, or SightSpeed. These services let you video conference with multiple people at the same time, share files, and use virtual collaboration tools. Depending on which program and plan you choose, you could be video conferencing with as little as six or as many as 500 people.

Another cool app is TokBox, which actually lets you add a free video conferencing widget onto your company’s website that can increase user engagement.

Benefits

The most obvious and immediate benefit to video conferencing is reducing travel costs. Since no one gets on a plane, there are no per diem expenses or lost productivity time because of jet lagged employees.

When multiplied across your company over a year, those savings can make it easier to justify paying for a monthly service or buying new equipment.

Video conferencing can also increase productivity for working groups that are spread out or just far apart. As anybody who’s ever picked up a phone loves pointing out, communication is actually 80% nonverbal. Being able to see a colleague can make a big difference in productivity, resulting in better decision making and more cohesion.

Dos and Don’ts

One of the biggest barriers to widespread use of video conferencing actually has nothing to do with technology. People just get nervous when they’re in front of a camera. Following some guidelines can make people feel more at ease.

DO figure out if you actually even need to see each other. If everyone’s working on a common project, they might not need to see each other to collaborate.

DO make sure everyone’s OK with participating in a video conference. Even though sweaty palms aren’t virtually noticeable, make sure people are comfortable with using the technology.

DON’T eat or check your phone constantly. You were never smooth at it in real life either.

DON’T have a video conference without a moderator. People can lose focus faster than in a face to face meeting, so make sure people are quick and direct when speaking.

While video conferencing can offer many benefits, some businesses find it hard to forget the old ways.

Even Polycom, a leader in high-end video conferencing, recognizes that business trips were part of a “time-honored business ritual.”

Whether anybody misses the chanting, black robes, or dimly lit boardrooms is another issue. (Just in case, HD web cameras offer great images in the dark).

What video conferencing tools do you use at your company? Are there any benefits to video conferencing that we missed? Tell us in the comments section below!

This post was written by our Online Marketing Manager, Casie Gillette.

I attended The Successful You: Women’s Leadership Forum yesterday in Cambridge and sat in on the session “Boston. The Destination for Female Entrepreneurs”.

The panel featured four Boston-area women involved in the entrepreneurial community – Stephanie Kaplan, CEO of Her Campus Media, Jennifer Lum, Partner in Apricot Capital, Katie Rae, Managing Director of TechStars and Pam Reeve, Chair, The Commonwealth Institute. The session was excellent and each panelist really brought a unique perspective to the topic.

Here are a few key takeaways:

Boston is Great

According to the panelists, there is a true advantage to being a woman in Boston! Not only does the city have a history of women growing businesses here, but there are support systems (groups of women CEOs, CTOs, etc), competitions like MassChallenge and a community of people willing to mentor and help.

You MUST Speak Up

A common theme throughout the session was that women don’t tend to speak up when they want something. There is an innate belief that just by doing good work and doing good things, you’ll be recognized. The problem is, that’s not true, whether you’re a man or woman.

Want funding? Ask for it. According to panel moderator Pam Reeve, only 5% of venture funding in the technology sector goes to women. That’s not because women are less qualified, it’s because they just don’t ask.

Network Network Network

In order to be successful, you have to network and you have to build relationships. While this goes for everyone, Katie Rae pointed out this is especially true for women as they don’t typically run in the same social circles as venture capitalists, “We aren’t in frats or out golfing”. So, it’s important to be out there, networking and getting to know board members and the people who are actually giving the money.

What to Look For

Each panelist was asked what they look for in others, whether that person is a co-founder or an employee coming on board.

• Give them the trash test during the interview. Leave a piece of trash on the table and see what they do. People who are proactive and solve a problem tend to do well since most startups don’t have systems in place to train you. – Katie Rae
• People in your startup need to have energy and passion for what you want to get done. They don’t see it just as a job, they see it as mission. – Pam Reeves
• Being adaptive and flexible is key to working in a startup. The ability to deal with chaos in an unstructured environment. Also be persistant. You will go to war with your team members – Jennifer Lum
• You have to be the kind of person who can play multiple roles – Stephanie Kaplan

Great Advice

Each panelist was asked for their best advice, here were the answers:

• Lower your voice and make statements vs asking questions as we are taught to do. – Katie Rae
• Don’t get caught up in emotional stuff. Focus on what is best for your business and your business goals – Stephanie Kaplan
• Be more vocal or push for things to happen – Jennifer Lum

The panel offered a ton of great advice. To learn more from each of these women, check out their Twitter feeds:

• @ktrae
• @stephaniekaplan
• @jenniferlum

Also be sure to check out women’s events all over the country including SheEO, Girls in Tech and Women 2.0.

The next time you’re about to go into a competition-induced freak out, remember these tips on how to come out on top:

1. Observe the Competition

While it might seem obvious, getting to know your competition is key if you want to beat them. Keeping a regular track record of their strategy, branding, customer acquisition tactics, and numbers will actually go a long way in calming those nerves.

Obviously don’t spend more time analyzing their business than your own. You just want to get a feel for how they’re fairing in the market, and what their strengths and weakness are.

2. Learn From Your Competitors

What kind of mistakes can you see your competitor making that are definitely turning customers away? How have they managed to use online marketing and social media to attract more customers than you have?

Since competition is a key part of innovation and growth, checking out what your competition is up to can be a good learning experience for improving your product. You might even learn something new without actually needing to pay for it.

3. Don’t Trash Talk the Other Guy

While you could spend way too much on PR or marketing to try and steer people away from your competitors, that’s pretty low and probably a waste of your money (think Facebook’s Google smear campaign). Being confident and smart about your product should be more than enough. (But if you’re the victim of online business smack, learn how to defend yourself.)

4. Price is Not the Silver Bullet

Accurately pricing your product is crucial, but pricing includes way more than just underselling your competition. Make people see impeccable quality as the reason behind your product’s price. Then they’ll be satisfied regardless of how much it costs.

You don’t find those MEGA BLOW OUT SALE signs in any Apple or Williams-Sonoma store because there’s no need for them. People know that they can buy first rate, bangin’ products, which also make their friends drool, at these stores. That’s the real golden ticket (Wonka Bars weren’t cheap either, you know).

5. Know Your Customer Numbers

While you might feel that amassing a huge customer base is the best way to deal with competitors, it can also get really expensive. Make sure you actually know what it costs to attract new customers versus keeping the current ones happy.

If you add up all the expenses for one month that you put into acquiring new customers, and then divide that by the number of new customers from that month. You might be surprised how that number compares with the same month’s results for average customer spending.

If you’re spending too much on getting new customers rather than increasing sales for your current ones, then you know where to trim your budget. If you feel like you’re spending an appropriate amount, then at least from now on you’ll have an easy way to compare monthly or yearly numbers.

6. Focus!

This might be the most important part of dealing with the competition. As Mike “Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” Michalowicz says, less is more. Focus on doing less than your competitors because you’ll end up doing it better. In his presentation at Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner, Shutterfly CEO Jeff Housenbold agrees that you shouldn’t try to make every product for every person.

Have any other smart ways to deal with competitors? Share them in the comment section below!

1. Don’t Annoy

Blinking ads, flyovers, loud music. These are online marketing strategies that might have drawn attention in, say, 1995 but today they just annoy. Nobody likes a Flash rollover or a drop-down, not even your most loyal customer. Depending on whom your audience is, this could have the exact opposite effect of what you were hoping for.

In other words, bye-bye potential customer.

Also, this type of marketing has been in place since the dawn of internet marketing. People are really good at just ignoring it. Is that really how you want to spend your marketing dollar?

2. Don’t try so hard

Everyone wants to “go viral.” That means spreading your product or brand like a virus across the internet and it’s every marketer’s dream. All it takes is something clever, something funny or shocking, and people send it to each other via social media sites, the media picks it up, and before you know it, you’re getting more customers than ever.

Think Old Spice Guy.

The problem is that too many marketers get caught up in the idea of “going viral” and lose sight of the marketing itself. This ultimately makes the campaign seem too produced and hokey. Many consumers can see right through this type of attempt.

The key to “going viral” is to create marketing that is unique, interesting, and sometimes humorous. It’s as simple as that. If the marketing is good enough and you get it out to the right outlets, it will take off on its own. The whole idea is to make something that is entertaining and memorable to the audience. Rather than being a commercial, your advertising is a funny video, for example, that is sent amongst friends, re-tweeted a million times and turns into a widely-known message about your product.

That’s a really good way to win customers; if not their money at first, at the very least their attention.

3. Be your Brand

Seth Godin said it best. “We are all marketers.” Meaning that everyone in your company, even yourself, markets your product or brand, all of the time.

This is something that is so incredibly powerful because it makes you question your business and your employees at their core. If you don’t hire the right people, the people who care about your products, chances are no marketing campaign is going to do well. The better your employee involvement and drive, the better your marketing is going to be.

Think about Apple. Steve Jobs and company have a “persona” of being technology artists that are highly concerned about the fit and finish of their products. No one can say that Apple employees don’t care about their products and customers. This concept alone is the best marketing. Show your customers how much you care about them and your products will absolutely sell.

If you can create an online marketing message that you are a company that cares about your customers, that your products are best-in-show, and do it in a memorable way, you’ll gain major marketing points via word-of-mouth, interviews, blogging, and product reviews on large reputable sites.

Marketing a product online isn’t that hard if you want to do an average job of it. But creating online marketing that really matters starts with creating a product and company that really matters.

In this competitive marketplace, little details can get lost in the big picture. You and your company work hard every day to provide consumers with the best possible product and to position your organization at the front of the pack. One simple way to achieve your goal and to keep your consumers loyal, that is often overlooked, is to make it easy for your customers to contact you.

Good customer service has grown increasingly important in this aggressive business climate. No matter how perfect your product or how well marketed, if customers feel that you don’t care about them, they will look for a company that does. So take some time to reassess how reachable you are and use the following advice to take steps towards becoming more accessible to your customers.

Contact Number

This first piece of advice is, in some ways, also the most obvious one: Provide a contact number on your website, your business cards and (if applicable) on your product packaging. If you signal to your customers that you are able and willing to receive comments and suggestions, they will sense a level of confidence and credibility in you and your products. Inserting a solicitation for feedback will make you appear more accessible to your clientele and can, in turn, make them more loyal to your product and company.

Facebook

Creating a Facebook page for your company or business will not only increase awareness of your product and organization, but will serve as an online space for your customers to reach you. Encourage your customers to post questions on your Facebook page — but make sure to answer them in timely fashion!

Also, remember that anyone who logs onto your Facebook page will be able to read the queries submitted by your clientele and your answers to those submissions, so make sure you continue to put your best foot forward. That means editing your comments for grammar and spelling mistakes, always using a positive, professional tone and providing helpful responses to your customers’ comments.

Twitter

Like Facebook, Twitter allows your customers to reach you anytime from anywhere. Those who choose to follow you on Twitter will be able to tweet questions and comments at you about your products, services and company in general.  Make sure you answer the tweets speedily and succinctly.

Assign someone at your company the task of managing the Twitter account. All tweets directed at your company will go straight to them on their phone or computer. With proper training, this can be a perfect assignment for an intern, especially if he or she is already on Twitter and accustomed to the platform’s unique shorthand.

Live Chat

If you have the means (i.e. requisite IT support, personnel and budget), providing a live chat feature on your website is a perfect way to make it easier for your customers to contact you. With a live chat, customers are able to interact with customer support over the Internet, in real time, through instant messaging.

Services like live chat instill a level of comfort in your clients, as they will feel that their questions can be answered at any time.

What other things can you do to make it easy for customers to contact you?

Erica Moss is the social media outreach coordinator for the Master of Science in Nursingprogram at Georgetown University, which has one of the nation’s leading online nurse practitioner programs. Outside of work, Erica is an avid dog lover who loves photography and meeting new people.

As a business owner, you want to make sure that everyone in the office stays happy, sane, and relatively balanced. If they get fed up with each other or with their working environment, it will eventually start to effect your company’s morale and even your bottom line.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are often so busy with customer engagement that they sometimes (although never intentionally) forget about employee engagement.

Listening to employees and taking honest feedback goes a long way in making your company a better business. It can raise productivity, lower turnover, and also increase revenue.

Here are some tips for how to offer your ear while leaving the inquisitorial squad behind:

1. Make everyone play nice

As the owner of your business, you’ve got the most on the line in making sure your employees are content with their jobs. Hopefully you’ve managed to cultivate a compassionate, understanding, and motivated environment around yourself and your work.

Unfortunately, the same cannot always be said about mid-level managers who are most employees’ immediate supervisors. JetBlue Chairman and CEO David Neeleman realized this problem and implemented leadership training for all supervisors, which he sees as the most important part of the entire company.

2. Share it all

Your employees don’t want to be kept out of the loop, even if it’s a loop of bad news. These are people who work in your company, so by definition they are insiders and should be treated as such.

3. All for one, one for all

It’s no secret that some jobs are seen as more privileged than others even if they might be indispensable. Even though everyone knows the world can’t function without garbage collectors, how many people are really signing up at the Department of Sanitation?

Your employees are going to lose steam unless you really emphasize the practical value that they bring to the company. If they feel marginalized from within, productivity will begin to slacken. Make sure your employees know that their work has a purpose, and that you hold that in high esteem.

4. Keep the chill pill handy

Business is an aggressive game, no doubt, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to quash every idea that doesn’t come from your own mouth. If you’re used to being the boss, listening to others can be tough. To keep it simple, try and remember to listen twice as much as you speak, since you fortunately have twice as many ears as mouths.

In an interview with the New York Times, Alan Trefler, founder and CEO of Pegasystems, also highlights the importance of a having a culture of thought leadership. Not only should the boss let employees speak their minds, but employees are actually required to do so.

According to Inc.com, a full-scale employee survey is still the most recommended (and probably most common) way of getting feedback from your team. While a suggestion box might seem a bit tacky, setting up a Google form which sends all answers to a private administrator is a bit technologically savvier.

For the more politically spirited, town hall-style meetings are also becoming more popular office space events.

No matter how you listen to your employees, it’s important that you do. Above all else, they’re the most loyal customers you could ever have!

How do you make sure your employees’ voices are heard?

This week we have two really great events lined up.  On Wednesday, we’ll be sponsoring and attending Drinks vs. Zombies, an event that we’re beyond excited about, especially because it’s all for a good cause. What does the Drinks vs. Zombies event entail you ask?  Check out our post, Zombies? Entrepreneurs? Drinks? BREW?…What?, for all the gory details.  Let’s just say this; we wouldn’t be sponsoring it if we didn’t love everything about it!

On Thursday, we’ll be down in New Orleans at TribeCon.  According to their site, TribeCon is, “a conference in NOLA about building strong communities and leveraging online tools to create powerful movements,” awesome, right? This will be a first for us on a few levels, not only is it our first trip to TribeCon, it’s also our first outdoor conference. Will you be there too? Be on the lookout for Jonathan, our Ambassador of Buzz. He’ll be there as a speaker.

Details:

Drinks vs. Zombies

• Date: Wednesday, October, 26th
• Time: Fun will begin at 7pm sharp
• Where: Ned Devine’s (Faneuil Hall area)
• Attire: Costumes are highly encouraged. The more creative the better!
• Cost: $5 (100% of which is donated to the non-profit Interise)
• Tickets: https://www.fundraise.com/drinksvszombies
• Tweet Tweet: #ZombieBREW

TribeCon

• Date: Thursday, October, 27th
• Time: 9 AM – 5 PM CT
• Where: One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park, New Orleans, 70124
• Tickets: http://tribecon2011.eventbrite.com/

Will you be attending any of these events? Let us know, we’d love to say hello!

This post is written by our Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay.

What would you do for a dozen free homemade delicious chocolate chip cookies? Personally, I’d do a lot! But what if I told you that we’ll give you free cookies for something that you’re already doing? Too good to be true – no chance!

If you’ve followed us at all over the last three years you probably know that referrals are something that really means the world to us. We love that when people recommend Grasshopper they do it because they genuinely find value in the product, and we never want that to change. Our hope is to simply do a better job of showing our appreciation for those people who are ALREADY referring us.

The bottom line is, we get that warm and fuzzy feeling when you refer us and well, we want to reciprocate.  We thought of a few things that might do the trick – but we’re open to feedback!

So here’s the deal, for everyone you refer who signs up, you can pick one of the following (no cap):

1. 20 minutes of marketing consulting (on any one of the topics below):

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Buzz marketing / Branding / PR
• Social media

2. A $25 credit to your Grasshopper account 3. One dozen home baked delicious cookies (only available to US customers sorry!) 4. A one year subscription to INC magazine

How To Redeem:

Send us a quick email at referral@grasshopper.com with your friend’s name. Once we see that they’ve signed up, we’ll follow up with you for your free gift.

OR

When your friends sign up, ask them to select “other” in the “How Did You Hear About Us” section and simply put “Referred By [Your Name] & [Your Email address].” Once we see that you’ve been listed as a referrer, we’ll email you and hook it up – it’s that easy!

Now let me be clear, we do not want to bribe you to talk about us or pay you to sign people up – we have an affiliate program designed to do that.  We know its happening and hate that we’re missing the opportunity to say thanks to the people going out of their way for us.

Again, thanks for everything that you do.

Jonathan

We’re flattered.

This post is written by our Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay.

The Grasshopper team decided to get involved with another cool event happening in Boston.  We tend to focus all our efforts on doing events during the summer (when there is seemingly a shortage), but this event we just absolutely could not resist.  Trust me, if this was just “your typical networking event” we wouldn’t be involved.

So, what makes this event so awesome?

• Your ticket costs $5 and every single penny of that five dollars goes toward supporting a really awesome non-profit organization – Interise.  They help local and minority owned small businesses succeed. They help them stay current and continue to grow their business.  Most of these business owners could never afford an MBA. Interise helps them get the “Street Smarts MBA”.
• You get to attend a well decorated and uncommon event, at a great location (Ned Devines).  The room will be filled with entrepreneurs, VC’s, Angels and other entertaining Halloween themes surprises.
• There will be 2 ice louges with (FREE) Halloween themed Kettle-One vodka drinks.  (mmm)
• There will be at least one, real-life zombie.

The less awesome, but necessary details:

• Date: October 26th, 2011
• Time: Fun will begin at 7pm sharp
• Where: Ned Devine’s (Faneuil Hall area)
• Attire: COSTUME!  I was not told why, but I was told there will be consequences!  Dress as something scary, funny, or as an “entrepreneur of the past”!
• Cost: $5 (100% of which is donated to the non-profit Interise)
• Tickets: https://www.fundraise.com/drinksvszombies
• Tweet Tweet: #ZombieBREW

I challenge you to think of a reason you can’t dress silly, hang out with cool entrepreneurs, and give $5 to a great cause!

With companies like Google touting daily cell phone activations of 500,000, cities are running out of area codes quicker and quicker, forcing new ones to be created.

Maryland is the latest state to add a new area code and has settled on 667. While Maryland is a small state, according to the Washington Post, this isn’t the first time they’ve had to add a new area code. In 1991, the state added 410 and in 1997 the 443 code.

“My understanding is the proliferation of mobile devices is the main cause,” said Douglas Nazarian, chairman of the Public Service Commission. “Just think how many numbers you have where people can reach you. I have four or five,” he added. “There are just more devices now that require a phone number.”

With the North American Number Plan issuing 25-30 new area codes a year, it appears that Maryland isn’t alone and we will definitely be seeing more of this.

Need a Maryland number? Check out our local numbers today!

Telecommuting sounds perfect in theory: work in your pajamas, watch reruns of Arrested Development on your lunch break, skip the pesky commute. What’s not to love?

Staples Inc. published a recent survey on telecommuting which found that 80% of the telecommuting workers surveyed say they now have a better work-life balance. The benefit to employers is that it can reduce overhead and increase productivity. And now even federal agencies are offering telework opportunities.

But it’s not all long lunches and loafing around in your PJs. Here are some questions to consider before you agree to telecommute:

Am I self-disciplined enough to work without someone watching?

Some people need the structure and built-in accountability of a boss and coworkers nearby, and they’d be easily distracted without it. Some workers like to test-drive telecommuting for a couple of days before they commit to a long-term arrangement. You can also try setting up accountability measures like weekly (or daily) phone check-ins or use a project management software to monitor deadlines.

Will I miss the social interaction of an office?

Once the novelty of telecommuting wears off, it can feel lonely at times, especially if you’re someone who craves face-to-face interaction. Alleviate loneliness and stay top of mind by visiting the office on occasion or setting up lunches with your coworkers. You could also join a co-working space or spend time working from a coffee shop if you need to get out of the house. Some companies offer part-time telecommuting so employees can maintain their connections with coworkers while reducing their commute.

Do I have the space that I need?

Not all telecommuting workers have a separate room in their home that they can devote to work. You should at least have an area where you can keep important paperwork or take a phone call without kids or pets interfering. If roommates or family members make it tricky to get the quiet space that you need, consider designating office hours so they’ll know when you’re available and when you’re not.

Will I be able to unplug at the end of the day?

In contrast to people who lack the focus and discipline to work from home, others have a hard time knowing when to call it quits at the end of the day. As the Staples survey discovered, most telecommuters are willing to put in extra time on work since they’re no longer commuting, but in extreme cases, you can burn out if you don’t give yourself time to unwind and participate in non-work activities. Turn off your computer when you finish work and you’ll be less likely to log back on for that one last email that snowballs into an evening of work.

By asking yourself these important questions before you jump into telecommuting, you’ll increase the likelihood of a successful transition, both for you and your company.

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you already know that we love getting to know our customers.  Whether it’s through a guest post, customer spotlights, or simply hopping on a phone call – meeting our customers is one of the best parts about working here.

We recently took to Twitter and Facebook to find out a little bit more about our customers, their business and their favorite Grasshopper features.  As you can see below, our call forwarding and read your voicemail features really take the cake. 

Read on to learn more about a few of our customers and their favorite Grasshopper features:

Ovation Health & Life Services

Ovation Health & Live Services is a full service employee benefits firm that insures thousands of employees nationwide.  As you can imagine, they receive a great deal of calls each week.  Before Grasshopper, all calls were going to the receptionist and then being forwarded to the correct person. This meant that the receptionist was tasked with answering the phones, transferring calls, taking messages and sending emails to other staff members, for every incoming call.  Realizing this wasn’t the most efficient or best use of the receptionist’s time, Ovation Health & Services turned to Grasshopper.

Voice Studio

With voice studio, Ovation Health & Life Services was able to get professionally recorded custom messages for their main greeting and all of their extensions. This provided their business with a more sophisticated sound and feel – giving their customers and prospective clients the best possible first impression.

Call Forwarding

With call forwarding, callers are able to easily navigate to an insurance carrier, staff member, receptionist or leave a voicemail without anyone having to be involved in the process.  The call forwarding feature made it easy to also transfer the most important calls (specifically leads) directly to a cell phone so no matter where they are, they can always take the call.

Carolyn Appleton, CFRE

Carolyn Appleton is an independent, certified fundraising executive who specializes in the non-profit sector and major gift fundraising.  When Carolyn is hired for an event, she handles everything from the logistics to RSVPS, which depending on the size of the even can be a serious undertaking for one person.  After being hired for an event that would have 500+ invitees, Carolyn signed up for Grasshopper to help her better manage the RSVPs for that event as well as future events.

Toll Free Number

For special events, Carolyn gives out a toll free number for her guests to RSVP to.  The toll free number comes in very handy because oftentimes invitees are from all over the place and this makes it easy for people to RSVP at any time, from anywhere, free of charge.  Another reason this feature is one of Carolyn’s favorites is because it prevents people’s RSVPs from clogging up the organizations phone system with messages and phone calls, which saves her sanity (and everyone else’s involved).

Read Your Voicemail

The read your voicemail feature is another one of Carolyn’s favorite features.  Imagine trying to take notes on and record all of the RSVPs for an event with 500+ attendees? We can’t either.

With the read your voicemail feature, Carolyn can easily read the response of each caller and forward RSVPs that require further action to the right person, without having to set a reminder to follow up or take notes on each message and hope she remembers to pass the information along.

Freedomby2

Richard Ferris operates two businesses, one being a real estate appraisal business and the other an international coffee and tea company. Running two businesses simultaneously is a lot to manage and keep track of especially when you’re the sole proprietor. On top of that and in true entrepreneurial fashion, Richard is running his businesses out of the spare bedroom of his house, which is where Grasshopper came in for Richard.

Multiple Numbers, One Account

With Grasshopper, Richard is able to have both of his business numbers under one account.  This means one bill, one dashboard, and one thing to keep track of.  Having multiple numbers under one account also means that he only had to sign up for one plan. Richard can split the minutes between his two businesses which is much more cost effective than having a different plan for each business.

Custom Greetings

The custom main greeting feature enabled Richard to create his own MP3 file and upload it to Grasshopper as the main greeting for when his customers call.  He also took this a step further and used the informational extensions to provide his callers with an overview of his business.  “Having that kind of control over my media content within my phone system – is cool to say the least!”

Dewak

Dewak is a software company located in Envigado, Columbia that does a great deal of business in the United States.  They use Grasshopper to help make their US  based customer’s lives easier and to give them a corporate yet friendly image for their business, even if they are taking their calls through Skype and on their cell phones.

Call Forwarding

Dewak loves the call forwarding feature because it helped them create a “fail-proof system that makes it almost impossible to miss a sales call.” When a customer calls their toll free number, their calls are forwarded to their Skype number or cell phone so that no matter where they are, they can always answer the call.

Easy Online Administration

Having 20 national holidays a year, it can be a real headache for their customers who call in expecting a live person but aren’t aware of the holiday.  To uphold their professional image, and since they don’t want their customers to think they just don’t answer their phones, they use the online interface to set a holiday greeting and send all of their callers to voicemail.  “It usually takes me 2-3 minutes to configure and best of all I can do it in advance.”  With this, callers know why Dewak isn’t answering their phones and even better, the messages can be easily obtained by the on call employee.

UBlanket

As a bootstrapped business, customer service can be a challenge when there are only two employees.  Stopping to answer every phone call or customer inquiry can be cumbersome and prevent you from ever actually accomplishing anything.  UBlanket uses Grasshopper so that they can run their business from anywhere and don’t have to be physically in the office in order to take their customers calls.

Read Your Voicemail

With the read your voicemail feature, they are able to be more efficient with when and how they take their calls.  When a caller leaves a voicemail, it is automatically converted into an MP3 and emailed to them.  This way they can prioritize their calls, forward it to the appropriate person, and listen to them on the go, without having to log into their account. Much more efficient than being tied to a desk answering calls!

Call Routing Extensions

Since there are only two people working at UBlanket, the call routing extensions come in very handy.  They route calls to both phones until someone is available to answer.  This feature is great for small businesses because it allows for even call distribution and prevents their callers from always being sent to voicemail when someone is busy.

Have a favorite feature you want to share? Tell us what it is and how you use it in the comments below!

Finding the best city to base your business in is no small decision. You want affordable, of course, but you also need access to brains, talent and capital. Most importantly if you’re an entrepreneur, you want to be in the mix with other smart and dynamic people who can help you grow your business.

So where to locate? No city has it all. But some offer much more than others. We list seven of the best cities for start-ups below.

New York City

As the financial capital of the United States, New York has plenty of opportunities to offer aspiring entrepreneurs. The top of the top come here to do business and make money, so you better be on your A-game if you want to succeed. Cost of living (especially housing) isn’t cheap, but you definitely don’t need a car to get around. With the right amount of determination and patience, there is nowhere New York can’t take you.

Portland, OR

Noted for its commitment to green energy and hipster fab, Portland is a growing city with a lot of business potential catering to the young and environmentally-conscious. It has lower energy costs than the other big cities and is connected by air, rail and water to almost everywhere else in the world. As the start-up space in California begins to saturate, Portland and other cities in the northwestern region will become ever more important.

Baltimore/Washington, DC

The place to be if your business is government contracting. Baltimore also has a growing tech community due in part to incentives that attract local start-ups to the area. With Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities nearby, there’s a steady stream of well-groomed talent that is waiting to get into the game. As compared to New York City, Baltimore and DC offer a much more relaxed city scene at a more affordable price.

San Francisco

An overwhelming majority of the country’s venture capital industry is located in or near San Francisco (Sand Hill Road is just down the peninsula in Menlo Park). This city is young, hip, and bustling with high-tech and start-up companies looking to network and make connections. San Francisco is also a major tourist destination. Its proximity to U.C. Berkley, Stanford, and Silicon Valley are worth keeping in mind too.

Austin

As one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas both demographically and economically, Austin is as cool as it comes. Home to a great music scene and a vibrant downtown area, the University of Texas also produces a good number of engineering grads for the city’s high-tech industry. Much cheaper than Silicon Valley and with no personal or corporate state income tax, many start-ups have decided to settle down in Austin.

Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill

Located near Research Triangle Park, one of the most important high-tech R&D facilities in the country, these three North Carolina cities form an attractive spot for young entrepreneurs. There are three major universities nearby, no local income tax, and a tax credit program for new businesses. The low cost of living and good quality of life make this metropolitan area a great place for flexing your entrepreneurial muscle.

Atlanta

As the economic and cultural hub of the south, Atlanta is at the forefront of the economic resurgence in the entire southeastern region. Small start-ups come to Atlanta to take advantage of university-educated talent and inexpensive labor.

As always, one list is by no means exhaustive. The most start-up-friendly cities today could be the equivalent of Boca Raton in 20 years. But as the biggest cities fill up, the southeast and northwest will play a much bigger role in attracting young people and creating jobs in the future. And as an entrepreneur, that’s right where you want to be.

What other cities belong on this list?

One thing we’ve never talked about is how to use it as an emergency alert system. Fortunately with all the storms as of late, other people have.

One example involves the small town of Godfrey, Illinois, who has decided that instead of using sirens to alert the village of threatening weather, they‘ll begin using Code Red, a voicemail system set up by the National Weather Service.

According to The Telegraph, the voicemail system will cost half of what it costs to install and maintain sirens and when threatening weather is nearby, they’ll simply call the residents’ designated numbers.

“After the terrible tornado in Joplin (Mo.), we thought it would be good to revisit the tornado siren issue again,” Mayor Mike McCormick explained.

Not a bad idea!

Other places are also using voicemail and phone calls as an emergency alert system. Georgia Tech has asked students to provide a mobile number so they can be reached via text or voicemail during an emergency. Butler has DawgAlert. There is even a service “WeatherCall” that will alert you if there is a storm warning in your area (they also offer a solution for businesses).

Phone calls and voicemail are a great way to let people know if something is happening. With the Grasshopper distribution list feature, you can easily implement this for your own business. Check it out!

I’m biased. I admit it. Having written thousands of business plans for entrepreneurs over the past decade, I think every entrepreneur should have a business plan.

But does every entrepreneur need a business plan?

The answer is “no.”  Let me explain.

To begin, there are two core reasons why most entrepreneurs decide to create a business plan: 1) to raise funding, and 2) to identify and document their game plan for achieving success.

1. Business Plans for Raising Funds

When raising funding, whether or not you need a business plan depends upon the source of funding you are seeking.

SBA Loan

For example, if you are seeking a bank or SBA loan, you need to present a business plan. Period. The bank needs to check that requirement off their list, so if you don’t have it, you won’t get the loan.

Now, that’s not to say you need a colossal 50-page business plan. But, at the very least, you’ll need a 5-7 page plan and complete financials proving you’ll be able to repay the loan.

Investors

Let’s move to funding from individual or angel investors. Virtually all angel investor groups require you to complete an online application that resembles a business plan. For example, you’ll need to answer questions such as what the size of your market is, what the wants and needs of your customers are, and the key members of your management team.

For solo angel investors (angels not belonging to an angel group, which represent the vast majority of angel investors), you generally do need a formal business plan. Sure, some angels will invest based on their trust in you alone. But a formal business plan will give angels more confidence in you and your venture, and increase their chances of investing.

Venture Capitalists

So how about venture capitalists? We’ve all heard the stories of an entrepreneur writing an idea on a napkin and having a venture capitalist write a multi-million dollar check to fund it.

Does this happen? It sure does. Will it happen to you? No.

Venture capitalists rarely fund ventures in such a nonchalant manner, and when they do, it’s only in one case. And that case is when the entrepreneur presenting to them is a serial entrepreneur that has already, in a prior investment, made the venture capital (VC) firm millions upon millions of dollars.

What you must realize here is that VC firms do not invest their own money. They raise money from pension funds, corporations and others, and are charged with earning a high ROI on these dollars. As such, VCs have rigorous investment criteria to which they adhere.

Now, as I’ve told you, VCs won’t fund your idea on a napkin. But do they need a formal business plan? The answer here is sometimes yes and sometimes no.

Some VCs require a full business plan. Some don’t. At the very least, you’ll need a 3-5 page executive summary to present to VCs. This will get them interested and ideally get you a meeting. In that meeting, you’ll need to present a compelling 30 minute slide presentation that gets them excited about investing in you.

Importantly, while you may not need a full 25 page business plan, the process of creating that plan is the same process required to create the executive summary and slide presentation. It’s the same information, just presented in a more condensed form.

Mark Twain said it best when he said, “if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” The point is that it’s much easier to write the formal 25 page business plan and then whittle it down to the executive summary and slide presentation to make sure you’ve hit all the key points.

Raising Funding is Competitive

It is important to note that raising money is very challenging. For every investor (angel, investor or bank), there are hundreds if not thousands of entrepreneurs seeking their money. So, raising funding is very competitive and the odds are highly stacked against you.

As such, you need all the ammunition you can get. And the business plan is one piece of that ammunition. In this regard, you should view your business plan as a marketing document. You use it to convince a lender or investor to write you a check. It is not a stodgy 50 page document, but rather should be more like a brochure that gets the reader to turn page after page. They should be excited to get to the end, as each page should make them more and more certain that your company is a solid investment opportunity.

Finally, the earlier the stage of your business, the more important your business plan is. At the earliest stages, your business plan is key because it is one of the few factors an investor has to judge you on. They can consider your business plan, your team, and maybe a product or service prototype if you have one.

At later stages, the business plan becomes less critical, as the investor can speak to your customers, analyze your financial history, assess your team members, compare your product to competitive offerings, etc.

2. Business Plans to Document Your Game Plan For Achieving Success

As mentioned above, the second reason why entrepreneurs create a business plan is to identify and document their game plan for achieving success.

Numerous studies have found positive correlations between the success of businesses and the presence of a formal business plan. And every successful corporation I know of requires annual business planning for all key business units.

Here’s the key: the process of creating a business plan forces you to think about the key elements of your business. It forces you to look at who your competitors are; how your market landscape is changing; how your customer needs are evolving; how your products and services stack up; who your team is and what new team members are needed; etc.

If you don’t assess your business through such a business planning process, and use it to create a game plan and strategies for success, your competitors will quickly surpass you.

Likewise, it’s important to document your game plan as a formal, written business plan. Such a plan removes ambiguity. Everyone in your organization can view the plan. Everyone is clear on what the organization is striving for, and what they need to do. And the plan allows your company to stay on course, and have a yardstick against which to measure its progress.

In summary, whether you are seeking funding or seeking to grow your company, your business plan is a key tool that can give you significant competitive advantage. In many cases, it’s not required. But neither is answering the phone properly, treating your employees well, and a ton of other functions that aren’t required, but are critical if you want to build a highly successful company.

Dave Lavinsky is the President of Growthink. Since 1999, Growthink has provided its business plan development services to over 2,000 entrepreneurs. Growthink also allows entrepreneurs to quickly and easily complete their business plans on their own via its business plan template.

But being a small business owner — especially a work at home small business owner — has its challenges. Among these are distractions, isolation, burnout, inability to unplug, guilt over lack of family time, and of course, the call of the kitchen, Oprah, or FarmVille.

If you’re struggling with one or more of these challenges — or the initial excitement of being your own boss has waned, try these tips for self-motivation to keep you and your business moving forward.

1. Develop an In-the-Office Attitude

Treat your work at home business the same as you would an office job. When you’re at “work,” don’t attend to personal matters or accept personal phone calls. Keep regularly scheduled office hours where you conduct tasks vital to your business.

2. Keep a Work/Life Balance

It’s easy to make your work your life, particularly when your work is at home and you’re passionate about your business. Although working from home can be liberating, many telecommuters get drawn into a 24/7 work lifestyle. While it’s important to focus on work while at work, it’s equally important to take a break from work to spend with family, friends, or simply do things you enjoy outside of your business. Taking a break from work helps you have a clearer perspective, renewed vigor, and a fresh outlook toward business goals and obstacles.

3. Learn How to Focus

Some people who work at home find it difficult to stay on task. Distractions abound — whether it’s your pet, kids, spouse, or chores that need to be done. And if your work revolves around the computer, the distractions are practically limitless. But that’s where a concentration tool, such as Focus Booster can help. Focus Booster is a free desktop application that uses the Pomodoro time management technique to improve your focus and concentration. The Pomodoro  technique breaks work sessions down in 25-minute segments with 5 minute breaks in between to enhance focus and alertness.

4. Don’t Isolate Yourself

One of the biggest drawbacks of telecommuting from home or working on a home-based business is that it can be isolating. Some entrepreneurs admit that they don’t even get out for lunch. A change of scenery can spark creativity, improve productivity, and keep you motivated. Try working out of a coffee shop or local library a few times a month; or make an effort to interact with others through Skype and social media tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup. Getting involved in groups online and offline can also help you network and grow your business.

5. Remind Yourself of the Reasons You Chose to Work at Home

Last but not least, most small business owners and telecommuters who work from home have strong reasons for doing so. Whether it’s to avoid commuting, spend more time with the family, or create a business and watch it grow, keep your reasons for working at home in plain sight.

In the same way that launching a new business requires careful planning and overcoming obstacles, sustained motivation requires staying on track and keeping distractions at bay.

What tips for self-motivation do you have to add to the list?

On Saturday, October 8th Grasshopper will be down for maintenance from 2AM to 4AM EDT.

In order to ensure the continued reliability of our service, Grasshopper must perform some maintenance that will require two hours of downtime. We’re trying to limit this downtime as much as possible and tried to schedule it during a time when it will have the least impact on our customers.

During this time, no calls will go through. Instead, callers will hear a message indicating that your phone system is undergoing maintenance. Callers may also occasionally get a busy signal during the maintenance window.

Our websites, including the user interface, will need to be down for a longer period of time.  These sites will be down for a 4 hour window starting at 12AM, and ending at 4AM EDT. During that time, you won’t be able to access any of our online services.

Details

• What: Scheduled maintenance
• When: Saturday, October 8th
• Maintenance Window: 2AM to 4AM EDT (12AM to 4AM for our websites and user interface)
• Who is affected: All accounts

In the meantime, be sure to alert your customers of this maintenance window and if possible provide them with a backup phone number to use.

Thank you for your understanding and please plan accordingly, as your callers will not be able to get through to you during the maintenance window.

The phrase “virtual office” probably makes people think of working from home, checking email on their smartphones, and video conferences over Skype.

According to Andrew McAfee, that’s really only half the picture. When you consider how central work is to human life, and how even the idea of an “office space” is changing dramatically, you can see how there’s a more interesting story to tell.

Andrew McAfee is the principal research scientist at the Center for Digital Business at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and the person who coined the phrase “Enterprise 2.0”.

In a recent article for Technology Review, McAfee described how big productivity gains will come from broader and better use of social networks, data analytics, and smarter technologies like voice recognition and optical readers.

An overhaul of the entire idea of work is coming, and McAfee bets he has a pretty good idea of what this new office space will look — and feel — like.

In the spring of 2006, McAfee (who was then with the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School) wrote an article in the MIT Sloan Management Review about his research covering a European investment bank. The groundbreaking article was titled “Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration.”

The Virtual Office Revolution

McAfee was probably the first person to fully realize how powerful wikis, blogs, and group messaging solutions, which the bank had just started using, could be for building a truly collaborative digital platform like never before.

While McAfee was dismayed in 2006 by the poor state of collaborative enterprise technology, a great deal has changed since then.

Now knowledge-intensive organizations can depend on “industrial-strength” blogs and microblogs, social-networking software, and wiki-style tools that favor collaboration without constraining it.

As McAfee explains, these tools “give individuals a voice, allow groups and communities to form easily and spontaneously, and help knowledge both accumulate and spread.” He feels such tools will radically change the way we think of office work in the coming years.

Even with the flurry of change, he notes two particular qualities of an office that seem to be especially enduring.

First, offices are still highly hierarchical organizations. Even the young, hip tech startups, McAfee points out, retain the “organizational trappings of their industrial-age predecessors.”

Second, and more importantly, the water cooler is still a very important piece of equipment. Humans are social animals and depend on the office as a place for social interaction and collaboration.

As the virtual office revolution continues to disassemble the office space and fling digital pieces off to be tackled elsewhere, finding a robust (digital) space for collaboration will become ever more important.

But up until now, the virtual office revolution has not flung those pieces far enough, or, at least, not as far as some would have hoped to see. As McAfee observes, the IT-driven productivity gains within the office have actually been rather modest when compared to manufacturing.

However, this is likely to change, and soon. Better technologies allow for better collaboration and free up more people to do more complex tasks.

How is Technology Changing the Way We Work?

Manufacturing is the classic example, but McAfee goes much further. He considers how people deal entirely with computers when making an airline reservation, buying a product and arranging a delivery, or troubleshooting a problem for a device they own.

But up until now, machines have only been able to handle simple, predictable forms of communication.  Advancements in artificial intelligence, voice recognition, and automatic translation are poised to break that glass ceiling.

McAfee points to IBM’s Watson supercomputer’s Jeopardy! victory as only the beginning. Intelligent automation could replace even more complex human labor, possibly even doctors. (The debate over Dr. Watson and his bedside manner is still ongoing.)

Future customer service agents and doctors would be free to do more complex, knowledge-based work. Office-based productivity could potentially skyrocket to a “striking” level.

The Challenges Ahead

Of course, such huge gains are rarely acquired effortlessly, and the risks and challenges are notable.

Current smartphones and tablets let people work from anywhere, but companies fear the security risk when their devices can travel everywhere and access potentially unsecure connections. Until these device manufactures can solve the security-mobility question, McAfee sees the full potential of the distributed workforce still in the waiting.

Getting people to adapt to new technologies and new methods is another formidable task. At the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston, McAfee warned of “old-fashioned bosses and newfangled computers.” These managers don’t appreciate Enterprise 2.0 solutions at all, wanting work done the “ancient” way while throwing in a supercomputer to say it’s modern.

But in the end, no matter how many tablets or Watsons your office may have, your company will still only be as good as the people behind it.

Technology might shrink the number of people needed to run an office, but McAfee is confident that businesses will need those people more than ever.

One answer: customer service. That’s according to a recent survey of 6,000 consumers by customer-experience research firm, The Temkin Group. The online retail giant is apparently blowing away its competition when it comes to keeping people happy and feeling well cared-for.

So how does Amazon do it?  What follows are some examples of how customer service works at Amazon, according to experts — and, in some cases, here’s how it hasn’t worked so well. In all of the examples below, however, you’ll find customer-service lessons that can be learned from what TheSocialCustomer.com measures to be a $34 billion business:

1.     Catered Pitches

Sign in to Amazon.com and what do you see, right off the bat? Personalized recommendations.

Everything you look at, everything that you buy: it all feeds an algorithm that makes Amazon’s front page perform as a kind of personalized shopping assistant. Now and then these recommendations are going to translate into sales, but every time a customer sees them they suggest a personal customer-service positive.

2.     Painless Purchases

Whether you’re an Amazon Prime user, with one-click two-day free shipping, or a non-subscriber to the site’s premium service, once your payment and delivery data is in the site’s system, getting your goods is — most of the time — just a single orange-button-press away.

Not only does that kind of simplicity feel like good customer service, it adds up to more frequent impulse purchases (you’re not stopping to reconsider the sale at every credit-card/shopping-cart junction), and that’s good business.

3. Exceed Expectations

Amazon gets your stuff to you faster than the predicted delivery date. The company coordinates its in-house managed deliveries in ways that take advantage of local distributors, even freelance couriers, and that means packages often move more quickly than suggested by its online delivery information.

Happy recipients equate the experience with excellent customer service, and, according to Andy Hanselman, that’s a recipe for repeat business.

4.     The Human Touch

Writing to the top might seem like a fruitless endeavor, but when one snarky customer emailed Amazon CEO Jeffrey Bezos directly, the results were a refreshing surprise. The Consumerist captures the story, which ends with Bezos offering a personalized response through the company’s customer service office. It’s the kind of tale that gets posted on consumer websites, and it’s the kind of word-of-mouth that helps ensure Amazon’s spot at the top of lists like Temkin’s.

On the other hand, every company is still on a learning curve when it comes to customer service. Even Amazon has its arc to travel, when it comes to online business savvy. Note this apparent gap in its social-media strategy, as blogged at ComMarketing.com in April 2011.

For all the good experiences buyers might have when a site is working perfectly, an important lesson to learn from Amazon’s social media mistake is that businesses should leverage Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers when the main site is having trouble.

Have a customer service lesson of your own to share? Send it along and expand your fellow readers’ knowledge. Let us know what you see, when it comes to what you’ve seen go right — and wrong — with buyer satisfaction on the World Wide Web.

A few months ago we found out about yet another one of our customers using Grasshopper in an extremely innovative way.  Meet Carolyn Appleton.  Carolyn is an independent, certified fundraising executive. She has worked in the non-profit sector for over 25 years, and she recently decided to change the way she handled things for her fundraising events.

The Problem

If you’ve ever been involved in putting on a fundraising event, I’m sure you can relate to how much hard work and effort must go into each event in order for them to be successful. One of the most important parts of putting on a fundraising event is managing the guest list. How many people are attending? How many people aren’t attending and how many of those people that can’t come, still want to donate?  It’s a lot to keep track of, especially for one person, and that’s why Carolyn turned to Grasshopper.

The Solution

For one particular event, there were 500+ invitees. Carolyn knew handling the RSVPs for this would be no small project. So, how did Grasshopper help her handle the RSVPs? Have a look:

1. Toll-Free Number

Carolyn was able to get herself set up with a toll-free number that she then listed on the invitations as the number to RSVP to.  This was great because it enabled her guests to reply at any time, from anywhere, free of charge – this is especially important for events who have invited guests from out of town.

2.    Custom Main Greeting

With the custom main greeting feature, it was easy for invitees to RSVP.  When invitees called the toll-free number, they were given 3 options: Press 1 to RSVP yes, Press 2 to RSVP no, and Press 3 for directions, location, and description of proper attire.

Using Grasshopper’s informational extensions, Carolyn could’ve chosen to put directions, location and the proper attire description as separate options.  Of course, this would’ve made the main greeting much longer.  For simplicity purposes, combining them into one option worked just fine for her.

3.    Voice Studio

Because this event was considered high class, Carolyn wanted to ensure that the tone of the event wasn’t lost or sacrificed by using Grasshopper. Carolyn used the voice studio and chose to have her script recorded by one of our professional voice talents who had “a clear and exceptionally elegant British accent.”  This helped set and maintain the high tone for the dinner event.

4.    Voicemail to Email Transcription

The read your voicemail feature enabled Carolyn to take any voicemails that required further action or ones that others needed to be in the know about and easily forward them to the necessary people via email.

She could also keep track of what numbers people were using to call her and update her contact’s files accordingly.

Even better, when people called to RSVP no, some still wanted to donate or become members.  With the ability to forward voicemails, Carolyn just had to forward them to the correct people rather than having to create yet another task or something else for her to remember.

5.    Unlimited Call Handling

With unlimited call handling, Carolyn never had to worry that people couldn’t get through.  Grasshopper gave her peace of mind knowing that RSVPs weren’t clogging up her phone lines at work and that her callers wouldn’t ever hear a busy signal.

Why Use Grasshopper for Your Next Event?

• Ability to track your RSVPs so none go missing or slip through the cracks.
• Address RSVPs when it’s convenient for you rather than be disrupted throughout the day with RSVPs and questions.
• Easily forward along voicemails that require someone else’s attention, or set yourself a calendar reminder to follow up.
• Frees up your phone lines, so your receptionist’s or office’s phones don’t get bogged down with RSVPs.
• Gain invaluable insight about your donors and members.
• Best of all, no receptionist required!

“Grasshopper truly saved the day (and my sanity). Plus, I gained invaluable information that helped the nonprofit move forward with its major gift fundraising.” said Carolyn after successfully using Grasshopper for the first time to handle the RSVPs for a major gift fundraising event.

Are you using Grasshopper in an innovative way? We want to hear about it! Leave a comment below, tweet at us, or connect with us on our Facebook wall.

The Mission of Carolyn M. Appleton, Inc. is to enable nonprofit organizations to attain their fundraising and public relations goals in the most efficient, thoughtful, high quality manner possible.  Major gift and special project fundraising are primary interests, but Carolyn is also adept at campaign strategy development, advanced prospect research, grant writing, donor stewardship, special events, and publications (writing, editing, and graphic design).  See Carolyn’s blog for more information.

This is a guest post written by Amanda DiSilvestro of Resource Nation.

Remember when you were a kid and you played the game telephone—you’d think of a sentence, whisper it into the next kid’s ear who would then whisper it to the next all the way around a circle until the last person blurts out what they hear. The best part about this game is how funny it was when the last person says something entirely different than was intended by that first little kid who started the phrase. Believe it or not, this same concept translates into the business world through referrals.

One of the best ways to generate referrals for your business is through word of mouth. In an ideal situation, everyone will hear the right information about your business and everyone will make it to your website.  There are lots of ways to make your word-of-mouth efforts more appealing, targeted, and clear. Consider some of the ways below to make sure that your company’s message gets all the way around the circle correctly.

5 Tips for Generating Referrals for Your Business

1.    Offer a gift to those who refer your business

You want to give people an incentive to refer your business because it will not only give them some motivation to, but it will also show your appreciation. In the end, a new customer will be much more valuable than any coupons or free gifts you offer.

After all, getting a new customer can often grow into many customers if they take too take the initiative and continue to refer your company to their family, friends, and social networks they belong to. This tactic is great because it will work with family, friends, existing customers or clients, and even employees. After all, who doesn’t love free stuff?

2.    Build relationships with other businesses

Chances are your business works with others within the industry. People within your industry obviously work with your target audience, so their referrals might very well be a great way to get a lot of customers and clients quickly.

If the company you work with has a good reputation and is trusted amongst their own clients, a referral from them could be extremely powerful. The best way to make this happen is to create a partnership by offering to refer their company as well.

3.    Make sure you are easy to find, simple to contact, and approachable

This is probably the most obvious form of generating referrals, yet many companies struggle with it. Make sure that each time a customer or client leaves your office, you hand them a business card with a telephone number and an email address. Should they need to contact you, they’ll know how.

Make it easy for someone to refer you. If they have to jump through hoops to find your contact information, they’ll probably forget about the referral.

4.    Pull together testimonials

While first-hand referrals are the best way to get new clients, testimonials are also great. If you can ask customers or clients about their experiences with your company, you can get signed authorization that will allow you to use that testimonial in your advertising. The easiest way to gather testimonials is to ask a client or customer how their experience was just before they leave. If they had a good experience, many people will be more than happy to let you know. Through testimonials, some of your best customers will be able to get their opinions out there even if they don’t have any friends or family members who need your services.

5.    Don’t be afraid to ask

If your company simply cannot afford to offer an incentive or change up your advertising to include testimonials, asking for referrals from customers is completely appropriate. Many small business owners and startup companies may worry that this is rude or out of the ordinary, but asking for a referral is a very common occurrence.

If you’re friendly and appreciative, there is no reason that anyone would be upset with you asking for their help.

One of the biggest things to remember is that you shouldn’t be trying to convince people your company will do the job. Instead, focus your resources on making sure your company is worth all of these referrals. If you have a solid, quality business, there is no reason the referrals won’t start piling up. While generating more referrals is important, you must start with the product or service you are hoping will be referred. If your business plan is wishy-washy from the start, there is no way the kid at the end of the circle is going to listen to what you have to say.

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to payroll services. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including small business payroll services to small businesses and entrepreneurs at Resource Nation.

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you know that we’re doing a challenge with our friends over at KISSmetrics. Today marks the official start date of this challenge as the phone numbers have gone live on each of our contestant’s sites.

This experiment will run for the next 6 weeks.  At that point, we are going to analyze all the data we collected during this time period and evaluate it against our hypothesis of:

“People feel more comfortable with brands that they can put a face behind.  Even though you might purchase a product exclusively online, having a phone number on your site and the ability to talk to a real person (who cares) in turn makes you feel more comfortable taking out your wallet (or recommending someone else to) for this brand.”

The only requirement for this challenge was that the contestants had to put their phone number on their site somewhere above the fold.  As you can see in the screenshots below, each company took a very different approach to showcasing their number, one with a more obvious call to action than the other.

The Site Slinger

Goal:Increase the amount of site visitors who place an order on their orders page.

The Flowr

Goal: Increase the number of visitors who sign up and actively use the app in the first two weeks.

What number placement do you think will be more effective? Tell us in the comments below!

At Grasshopper, we believe that happy employees are productive employees.  So how do we keep our employees happy? Well, for starters we have a Wii room, free snacks and drinks AND some pretty sweet benefits (like 4 weeks of PTO and flexible hours).

Sound good? Take a look at our current openings.

We’re looking for people who are passionate about software engineering and take an entrepreneurial approach to problem solving.  Are you a technical leading, code reviewing, pair programming, mentor type of person? Do you have some serious C# and .NET 3.5/4 skills? We’re thinking more Obi Wan, as opposed to a young Luke on this one.  Are you a proficient and capable user of your Tech-speak to Business-speak dictionary? Then we need your talents! Have a look at our openings for software engineers below:

IVR Software Engineer [Tweet this]

• Fundamental understanding of multi-threaded systems.
• Experience with enterprise IVR application development (Dialogic, SIP, HMP)

Senior Software Engineer [Tweet this]

• Knowledge and experience working with WCF services.
• Prior experience with billing systems a plus.
• Experience analyzing, monitoring and optimizing code for high performance under load.

Senior Software Engineer- API Lead Developer [Tweet this]

• Strong experience with all aspects of creating a RESTful API, including security best practices, throttling, and user documentation.
• ASP.NET MVC2+ Guru. Clear understanding of model binding, value providers, all that jazz.
• Experience analyzing, monitoring and optimizing code for high performance under load.
• Knowledge and experience working with WCF services.

We’re also hiring for our next great Marketing Director.  Are you the type of person who is fanatical about understanding what makes a person buy a product or service? Do you dream of showing thousands of entrepreneurs each day how they can better succeed? Do you know how to grow revenue through online and offline channels? Are you an experienced leader who can manage a dynamic team? Then keep reading…

Director of Marketing [Tweet this]

• Experience developing and executing strategies for all areas of marketing and sales for a multi-product company
• Proven experience managing all aspects of online marketing and offline advertising
• Proven experience managing all aspects of an online sales funnel
• Experience managing marketing budgets effectively across multiple product lines
• At least 10 or more years of experience in marketing and sales

If you’re smart, love startups, want to make a difference, and embody our core values, we want to talk with you.   Not a fit? Know someone who’d be the perfect for the job? Help us spread the word!

The recent high profile hacking attacks by LulzSec and Anonymous have made a lot of people nervous about the state of Internet security. Thankfully our nuclear launch codes are safe as long as we have George Clooney on our side. Unfortunately, hackers are after more than just launch codes (or even George Clooney).

Attacks on government agencies and big corporations get splashed all over the news, but these guys can afford sophisticated equipment and cyber security analysts to slow or stop the assault.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are just as wired into cyberspace but without the same level of defense to safeguard their data.

It seems that hackers have found their next big target in your small business.

According to a recent online article in the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Secret Service with Verizon’s forensic analysis unit have responded to a combined 761 data breaches in 2010. That’s up from 141 in 2009. In 2010, 63% of the attacks were against companies with 100 employees or fewer.

According to Dean Kinsman, a special agent with the FBI’s cyber division, cyber-attacks against small businesses are “a prolific problem. It’s going to get much worse before it gets better.”

Visa also estimates that about 95% of the credit card breaches it uncovers are on its smallest business customers.

The government knows this is a big problem too. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has just begun a series of hearings on American cyber security and preparedness, with one of the major focuses being on economic security.

In May, the FCC held a roundtable discussion specifically on how small businesses can protect themselves from cyber attacks.

As reported online by the National Journal, FCC officials estimated that U.S. companies lose about $8 billion a year to cyber attacks. The average attack can end up costing a small business nearly $190,000.

However, there are several easy, common sense steps you can take to limit your vulnerability.

1. Antivirus, antivirus, antivirus!

Install and regularly update your antivirus software on every computer that you use in your business. Don’t forget to perform weekly scans of every system to make sure that there’s nothing lurking.

2. Make sure all employees understand the risks

Establish a general list of rules and regulations for handling important data, including how to safely transmit it. If you keep sensitive equipment onsite, make sure you have established rules for how to manage it as well. All these rules mean nothing if no one knows them, so keep all your employees up to speed with these guidelines.

3. Put up the wall

Make sure you set up a firewall to protect your internal network from outside intruders prowling the Internet for easy targets.

4. Backup, backup, backup!

Regularly schedule and perform backups on every computer, especially the ones with sensitive data.

5. Your neighbor isn’t the only one who wants to steal your WiFi

Protect your WiFi network by making it password protected and hidden. Don’t forget to change the out-of-the-box administrative password on your wireless router when it’s first installed.

6. Change is a good thing

Change your passwords at least every three months. The older a password gets, the more likely people will find out what it is and be able to crack it.

7. Attachments of doom

Never open an attachment if you don’t know who it’s from or what it is. Even if it’s from someone you trust, don’t open the file if it seems a bit random. Contact the person who sent you the email to see if it was automatically generated by a virus, or if they just genuinely wanted to share a funny PowerPoint.

8. Get rid of the junk

Remove any programs that you don’t use or that aren’t trusted by a certified cyber authority. That random PDF Converter you downloaded for that one thing six months ago might actually be a gateway that hackers have been using to access your system.

9. Low tech still works wonders

You don’t let just anyone read your email, so you shouldn’t let just anyone walk into the room where you keep your servers. Regulate and monitor who has physical access to important equipment and business computers.  Laptops usually can’t run very fast, but the thief carrying them probably can.

At Grasshopper, all our employees have keycards so that we can track who and when people enter our network operations center.  On top of that, only certain employees’ keycards will work to gain access to the room.

If you just can’t get enough cybersecurity, the FCC also has many links to private and governmental resources that can help small business owners and entrepreneurs.

In his appearance at an October 2010 Security Innovation Network showcase, Michael Chertoff, the former Homeland Security Secretary, worried that it might take a “digital 9-11” to get businesses, consumers, and governments to start thinking seriously about the international cyber threat.

When was the last time you checked the security of your systems? Is your business protected?

It’s easy to instantaneously translate text online. Just go to Google Translate and enter any sentence. Translating speech into different languages is now also easily possible on your iPhone or Android phones.

But what about instantaneously translating speech and then sending it over the phone? Current speech translation apps take your spoken words and translate them into text. Some can even speak back the translations. But you still need to physically show other people the screen of your phone or have them within earshot.

Instantaneous and conversational spoken translations have been a linguistic challenge for years, but now Google and NTT DoCoMo (the main Japanese mobile phone operator) are working on developing software for a phone that can do just that. You say something in one language into your phone, and people on the other end can hear the translated version on their phones.

Almost like magic.

Google’s initiative is based around its already popular Google Translate app, which now features a new setting called “Conversation Mode.” Currently available only in English and Spanish, one person speaks an English sentence into the phone and it is automatically translated into spoken Spanish.

This setting provides two spoken languages but no real telecommunication capabilities. You still need to be close enough to someone to have them see your phone or hear it speak. Soon, however, that may not be the case.

Franz Och, the head of Google’s translation services, is leading the project to develop new smartphone software that will capture speech, translate it, send it from one phone to another, and then speak it aloud. Och’s target is to have a reasonably well-working product in a few years, a formidable challenge since this will require much better translation and voice-recognition technologies.

News of Och’s project at Google was first reported in early 2010, but the Japanese mobile provider NTT DoCoMo might have beaten him to the final punch.

Going a few steps further than Conversation Mode, DoCoMo showcased its own take on real time speech-to-speech telecommunication translation at the Wireless Japan 2011 trade show back in May.

The Japanese app isn’t an original innovation, since DoCoMo used the best from already existing technologies. It is unique, however, in that the entire program is based in the cloud.

At the trade show, a DoCoMo staff member read a Japanese newspaper while talking on the phone to another colleague who heard an English translation. While not perfect, the end result was a clearly audible and rather coherent version of the original article.

Even though it’s certainly impressive, DoCoMo (or Google) won’t be revolutionizing Sony board meetings just yet. Both companies’ apps are based on current machine-translation and voice-recognition technologies, which are great for casual conversations but definitely have their limits.

But although it’s just the beginning, this kind of technology holds huge potential for international business and politics. One of biggest barriers to trade in the history of ancient and modern civilization would be gone, or at least somewhat flattened.

Haggling for a pair of shoes is about the most complex conversation that automated speech-to-speech translators can handle as of now. Business and political leaders will have to wait a few more years.

Economic downturns mean more people tend to pay late, or not at all. Determining how best to approach late payments can be tricky, especially if you’re worried about losing a longstanding, valuable customer. Learn how to strike the right tone with customers and identify them before they become a recurring problem.

Small businesses are particularly hard hit by the dilemma of late payments because customer loyalty is such a big factor in remaining sustainable. But is a loyal, late paying customer better than no customer at all?

A good way to keep yourself from sinking too deep into this problem is figuring out how profitable your customers really are in the first place.

How much is each customer worth?

First, you need to maintain and monitor your invoice records so you know when payments are due. There are billing systems and software out there that are good tools for this, but a spreadsheet will do as well. Once you have your records in order, look at customer histories to determine how profitable each one really is.

Are some continually late while others are not? Don’t only look at revenue generation. Net profitability is what you’re really after, since that will give you a better idea of whether you’re better off keeping this customer or not.

When trying to collect late payments, e-mail reminders and phone calls can only go so far. If your customer is another small business, arrange to meet in person. Don’t make it seem confrontational but ask to just have a chat about how things are going. Respectfully try and figure out the real source of the late payments and come up with a plan together that fits the situation.

For instance, if your customer is having cash flow problems, try different billing options, such as quarterly instead of monthly cycles or using credit cards if that’s not the norm. Sometimes accepting payment in kind instead of cash can also be a good solution.

Remember, the key is not to be threatening. Don’t throw down an ultimatum but always offer choices. On the other hand, your time is valuable too. Make sure you speak to someone in charge because late payments can pose a serious risk to your business.

Offer incentives for early payment

There are a number of tactics that you can implement in your business to head off late payments before they happen. Offering reduced rates for early payments sets a good precedent. You could also offer other incentives for paying in full and/or in cash at the time of order or delivery.

Whenever you agree to a big project, make sure you have instituted incremental payment points throughout the duration of the project.

In general, you want to set strong guidelines that are clear to all customers before any complications arise. Clearly state when you will stop doing business with a customer for slow or consistently late payments. Clearly communicate to customers that your business has decided not to grant credit, and that paying upfront is now required. Stick to your guidelines and communicate them effectively and respectfully to your customers.

As always, legal action should be a last resort. Don’t spend $10,000 in legal fees just to recoup $1,000 in late payments. You’re better off just cutting your losses–and the late paying customer. Above all, lay out your payment policy very clearly in your agreements, build relationships with your customers, and always be proactive when it comes to billing.

Have you run into this issue in your business? What worked for you?

If you are a business affected by Hurricane Irene, we’d love to provide you with a free three-month Grasshopper account to help you keep your business open and connected (for existing customers, we will credit your account for 3 months, maximum credit $150).

You can be set up in five minutes, have incoming calls forwarded to your cell phone or to other employees’ cell phones and create custom greetings letting your customers know what’s happening. You don’t even need to change phone numbers; you can port yours into Grasshopper.

Whether you are a new customer or existing customer, give us a call at 1-800-820-8210 and we will help you get set up.

Through YCombinator, the innovative investment fund designed to give entrepreneurs the mentoring they need to live the dream on a small budget, Graham has shown there is a clear path for entrepreneurship on the Web that doesn’t necessarily require millions of dollars.

For those looking for inspiration and wisdom from one of Silicon Valley’s biggest champions of entrepreneurs, here are 10 of Graham’s most memorable quotes.

1. “As long as you’re over a certain threshold of intelligence, what matters most is determination.” — “What We Look For in Founders” [tweet]
2. “It’s better to make a few people really happy than to make a lot of people semi-happy.” — “Startups in 13 Sentences” [tweet]
3. “When technology makes something dramatically cheaper, standardization always follows.” — “The Future of Web Startups” [tweet]
4. “In a sense there’s just one mistake that kills startups: not making something users want.” — “The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups” [tweet]
5. “Work and life are supposed to be separate. But that part, I’m convinced, is a mistake.” — “What Business Can Learn From Open Source” [tweet]
6. “The most important quality in a CEO is his vision for the company’s future.” — “What the Bubble Got Right” [tweet]
7. “For nearly everyone, the opinion of one’s peers is the most powerful motivator of all — more powerful even than the nominal goal of most startup founders, getting rich.” — “A Student’s Guide to Startups” [tweet]
8. “Startups live or die on morale. If you let the difficulty of raising money destroy your morale, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.” — “A Fundraising Survival Guide” [tweet]
9. “The one book we encourage startup founders to read is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.” — “Startup FAQ” [tweet]
10. “The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you.” — “Keep Your Identity Small” [tweet]

Have any of your own favorite quotes from Paul Graham? Be sure to share them with us in the comments section below.

You might not be able to read the minds of the people who visit your company’s website (don’t worry, there will be an app for that soon enough), but you can still come pretty damn close.

Web analytics lets you collect and analyze big ol’ heaps of data about how users interact with your website, see which features have increased user engagement and which ones need improvement.

Here’s a brief introduction to the (massive and complex) field of Web analytics, and how it can get you the biggest bang out of your eBuck.

A good Web analytics tool can make a real difference in how your business develops its online marketing strategies. You’ll be able to see what drives traffic to your website, and what people actually seem to like on those pages.

Why use web analytics programs?

An analytics program can show you how many people visited your website over a specific amount of time, how long they stayed, and how many pages they actually saw.

But it gets even better. Analytics programs can tell you how and from where people arrived at your website, either through a search or by clicking an ad or link. If they ran a search, you can see what terms they used that made your website appear in the results.

Analytics basically removes the guess work in developing your online marketing strategy. Since you’ll be able to see which products or services that you paid for are actually driving people to your website, you’ll know how to better spend your advertising budget in the future.

What data is important?

Making good use of your analytics data is also about making people stay longer.

Pierre DeBois of Web analytics firm Zimana has a few tricks for analyzing what people are actually doing on your website.

It’s important to see where people come from, but you also want to know where they’re leaving from. A funnel analysis can tell you which page is your leaky valve through which everyone’s getting out, and how you can fix that leak.

In the early days of the Internet, everyone was focused on getting “hits.” Today most experts agree that this number, and the term, means absolutely jack.

Instead focus on segmentation analysis, where you can figure out what kinds of people (segments) are visiting your website. This helps you better meet the needs of the different people interested in your business.

Analytics programs usually log what operating system and browser a visitor is using. When combining that with your funnel analysis and bounce rate (the number of visitors who land at your page but “bounce” away rather continue viewing), it might appear that certain mobile operating systems or browsers don’t play that well with your current website. Functionality checking can help you figure out when it might be time to finally develop a mobile website or app.

With great power comes great responsibility.

But just like Uncle Ben said, with great power comes great responsibility. The incredible volume of data can make it easy for some to run away with misleading conclusions, as Ed Freyfogle warns in a post for TechCrunch Europe.

Beware of boiling everything down into an average, especially types of people. Numbers can lie or be wrong too, so don’t put blind faith into one system of analysis.

Web analytics can provide you with a lot of insights, but it can’t tell you everything. Keeping a steady inflow of qualitative data is still important for understanding how to be successful, online or off.

Above all else, you still need humans to run machines and interpret the data. Make sure you have people who can handle the numbers and actually turn them into actions.

For more information, check out this introduction to web analytics by Avinash Kaushik, a best selling analytics author and digital marketing evangelist for Google, or the UX Booth’s Complete Beginner’s Guide to Web Analytics and Measurement.

Earlier this week Jonathan, our Ambassador of Buzz, was in Seattle to give the keynote speech at Startup Riot.  Jonathan shared our lessons learned from Grasshopper, Chargify and Spreadable.  For those of you who weren’t in attendance, we wanted to share his presentation with you.  Have a look!

Emails are an effective and easy way to communicate. Maybe they are too easy. As an entrepreneur or salesperson, you need to know when the best time is to make a call instead of sending an email.

Next time you’re considering the best way to communicate, consider these advantages of placing a call:

1.    Conversation builds relationships.

Great relationships are the key to converting prospects into customers. Building relationships through email is difficult. You have to sell yourself with your products or services, so make sure you get to know your customers on a personal level.

2.    Phone calls create urgency.

Email discussions can drag on for months. If you call your prospective client, you may be able to convince them to buy on the spot.

3.    Talking in real-time lets you cover more ground.

When you speak with your client on the phone, you are going to speak freely with them and share your thoughts much more quickly. It will be much easier to get on the same page and you don’t have to worry about forgetting key details.

4.    Your emotions are clearer.

When someone emails you it is hard to know what they are really thinking. About 80% of communication is nonverbal. Granted, you will still miss most of this on the phone, but you can at least listen to their tone and gauge awkward pauses. These will be telltale signs that something isn’t going well and that you need to change strategies.

5.    Phones force your clients to speak with you.

Some people are notoriously bad at replying to emails. It is not uncommon for some people to take a month or more to respond. Many people never respond at all. Calling a client is a much more reliable way of getting through to them.

Email is a great way to communicate, but don’t rely on it too much. Sometimes, you are just going to have to pick up the phone and reach out. You can communicate more easily and it may be all you need to close that sale.

Last week we had another new hire start here at Grasshopper.  Kevin Cormier is joining Grasshopper’s internal operations team.  He, like Steve Lorusso, got quite the welcome.  Have a look below at his meet and greet on the office’s motorized cooler.

Welcome to Grasshopper Kevin! Want to work here too? Check out our Careers page for openings here at Grasshopper.

This guest post is written by Alyssa Gregory.  Alyssa is a small business collaborator who provides small business help through the Small Business Bonfire, a social, educational and collaborative community for entrepreneurs.

Unfortunately, a magical time-creating machine that will let you expand a day on a whim doesn’t exist, despite how much we wish it did. But there are some things you can do that will help you streamline your daily processes and use the time you have more effectively.

If you find yourself often wishing you had more time, you may need to improve the way you work to make better use of the time you have. Try these productivity-boosting tips, and see if you can get more accomplished in a day, and reduce stress in the process.

Do a Daily Review

There’s nothing more overwhelming than looking at a massive list of tasks that you know you can’t accomplish in one day, or possibly even in one month. So before you start working for the day — the evening before is even better — take a few minutes to review your list, and see what’s on your plate. Doing this every day will help you stay on top of your work and prevent things from falling through the cracks.

Start with Three

Life rarely goes exactly as we expect it to, so it shouldn’t be a surprise when the three solid hours of work you had planned for the afternoon gets eaten up by a last-minute meeting or an urgent issue. This is why part of your daily review should involve prioritization. All of your tasks should be prioritized so you know where to start and what to do next. To kick your day off even more productively, pick just the top three tasks that must be completed that day and focus on completing those before you even look at the rest of your list.

Schedule Your Time

If you are someone who responds well to schedules and can estimate how long a task will take you, try scheduling specific tasks during specific time slots on your schedule. Getting pinged when it’s time to work on new tasks can help you shift your focus successfully and make sure everything on your list is getting your attention at some point during the day.

Wake Up Earlier

This will not be a popular option for many, but there is no denying that the solitude of early-morning hours can do wonders for your productivity. You don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night, but setting the alarm clock for an hour or even a half hour earlier can give you some time to get focused and prepare for the day ahead. Even if you just use the time to get a handle on your email inbox while sipping a cup of coffee, it is time well spent.

Make Your Own System

Having a system for managing your to-do’s is often a huge part of the productivity puzzle. What does it take for you to process email messages, requests, and ongoing tasks, sort by priority, and keep track of everything on an ongoing basis? This is what will drive the task and time management system you use and help you hold yourself accountable. It really doesn’t matter is you use GTD, Covey’s 7 Habits, sticky notes, or some other methodology, just find the system that works for you (or create your own) and stick with it.

Get Off Facebook

Let’s talk distractions. There are always things that pop up in front of you during the day, and the next thing you know, you’ve lost 45 minutes wasting time. You need to know where your weaknesses are and be able to limit them. It could be Facebook, Twitter, online games, television or phone calls. Know what triggers “time-wasting” mode for you, and save those activities for after you’ve accomplished your first three big priorities for the day. And make sure you set a time limit!

Take a Breather

While it may sound counter-productive, taking a break from your work can actually be a great way to restart your productivity. Go for a walk, spend some time being willingly distracted or just enjoy doing nothing for a little while to find new motivation. When you get back to work, you may be surprised how much you accomplish after a mindless break in your day.

There are hundreds of ways to boost your productivity, and finding what works for you often comes down to trial and error.

What tricks do you use to stay productive during the workday?

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online college about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5(at) gmail(dot)com.

It seems as though every few months another Twitter scandal erupts, and these scandals are usually due to an employee at a company that accidentally tweets something lewd or inappropriate from an official company Twitter account.

While these scandals can be quite funny to the general public, they do cause some damage, especially to brands and those individuals who are directly involved.

In order to avoid these kinds of scandals and keep them from affecting your own company, you should consider following these rules.

1. Don’t Save Passwords in Your Browser

One of the main reasons why people inadvertently tweet inappropriate tweets from official company accounts is that they save their passwords to accounts in the browser. Yes, this option makes life easier, but it can also lead you to be careless in recognizing which account you’re actually logged into. If you can help it, don’t save passwords to Twitter and other social media accounts. This will ensure that you never accidentally log into the wrong account.

2. Think Before You Tweet

Secondly, you should think before you tweet. If you think about the content of your social media post, then that’ll make you aware of the actual act of updating social media accounts. Ask yourself if you’d be embarrassed by what you’re about to post if it went to the wrong person. If the answer is ‘yes,’ then you probably shouldn’t press the publish button until you’ve had some time to revise your thoughts.

3. Plan Social Media Activity

If you work for a company that is active with social media, then you should do your best to plan out that company’s social media activity. This means your company should put someone who knows what they’re doing in charge of those accounts. This will make sure there aren’t any accidents. In other words, just as companies use spokespeople to manage their brand, so too do they need to use social media experts to manage their online brand. Don’t just let any random employee handle the Twitter. Put someone in charge; responsibility makes people act smarter.

4. Keep Personal Life Separate from Work Life

Another thing that will help you is if you keep your personal life completely separate from your work life. Yes, this is a tough thing to manage, as often our work blends with our personal life, in the form of company picnics and so on, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a shot. In other words, don’t update your personal social media accounts at work! It’s as simple as that.

5. Own Your Social Media Mistakes

If you do happen to make a social media mistake, then you need to recognize that and ‘own’ it. Don’t delete the offensive Tweet or try to hide it. The public will find out and they’ll know what’s up. It’s best to just apologize for the error and accept the consequences. Work with your company to come to a solution, as tough as that may be. It’s better to learn from your mistakes instead of dooming yourself to repeat them.

On Tuesday, August 2, the United States finally had a done deal when President Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011, averting a potential first ever default on American debt.

Almost no one was particularly pleased with the finished product, but nearly everyone enjoyed a quiet sigh of relief, even if for just a moment.

That moment lasted about three days. On Friday, August 5th, Standard & Poor’s downgraded American sovereign debt from AAA to AA+.

While most students would still be fairly pleased with getting an AA+, politicians in Washington felt like they were force fed a shot of Whiskey and then slapped in the face.

But since economic debates are notoriously hard to settle, there are many wide ranging opinions (which hardly try to cover up their political leanings) regarding the potential consequences of the debt deal and credit downgrade.

How does small business regard these shenanigans?

First off, when you go back and look through the last few week’s news, many people were at least thankful that there was no default and thus no danger of having our government’s credit score downgraded.

Whoops, wrong again. Even after, or because of, the debt ceiling deal, America’s credit rating was downgraded anyway.

But before jumping to the latter half, let’s look at the debt deal. Inc.com posted a brief recap of the deal just as it was finishing its tour through Congress on the way to being signed by the President. While the deal passed and averted a bigger crisis, it seems it didn’t really do much else.

According to John Arensmeyer, CEO of Small Business Majority, this wasn’t the kind of deal he wanted to see. He said it missed a big chance to really “make some reforms that could benefit small businesses and everyone else.”

Arensmeyer is most likely alluding to all the talk during the negotiations about reforming the tax code. As different bills were being proposed in Congress, small businesses demanded that any deal close offshore tax loopholes that big corporations use to swindle the U.S. government out of as much as $100 billion a year. The final deal did not include any such provision.

Ray Keating, chief economist at the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, felt that the real winners in the deal were House Republicans because they made sure no tax increases were passed at all.

The three major components of the deal included raising the debt ceiling by as much as $2.4 trillion, cutting government spending by $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years, and creating a special super committee to find more areas where spending can be cut.

The deal of massive spending cuts without any tax reform made a lot of people feel less than optimistic, especially given the already droopy state of the economy.

Steve Strauss, a USA TODAY small business columnist, points out that cutting spending most likely won’t stimulate the economy. In fact, it may actually hurt it. Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit, agrees that the spending cuts are important for cutting debt, but concedes that the cuts probably won’t help small businesses.

But, there’s always a silver lining! The downgrade of American debt has certainly seemed to throw the market even further off its game.  Luckily you have two more feet than the market does.

Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner in Economics and New York Times op-ed columnist, has come out slamming S&P’s decision not because he thought it was unwarranted, but because he thinks they’re just playing dirty.

According to Krugman, Standard & Poor’s is the “last place anyone should turn for judgments about our nation’s prospects.” The U.S.’s huge deficits were caused by the financial crisis, but the financial crisis was largely caused by Standard & Poor’s and its sister rating agency. They gave AAA ratings to mortgage-backed assets that turned out to be absolute garbage.

Insult to injury indeed!

So what’s an entrepreneur to do?

As the purported backbone of the economy, entrepreneurs and small business owners are in fact much more attuned to the real state of the economy than the boards on Wall Street.

The best advice then might just be to ignore the financial world and stick to business as usual.

It’s been a little over two months since the outage, and we’ve been working diligently to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.  We wanted to give you a quick update on the progress we’ve made and the things we are working on.  This list is by no means all inclusive; there are many things that are still on the roadmap but are only in the exploration stages right now.

What have we been working on?

1.    Customer communication system

During the outage, we lost access to our customer database which prevented us from being able to alert our customers of the outage.  We’ve since put a system in place to ensure that we’re never without access to our customer database.  In the future, should an outage occur, we’ll be able to proactively communicate this information with you.

On top of the ability to alert you of planned and unplanned downtime, we’ve also implemented a process to ensure our communications are more specific and timelier.  We‘ll continue to expand on and improve these communication systems in the future.

2.    Infrastructure Audit and Improvements

We conducted a detailed network audit and were able to identify and resolve the network and storage related issues that prevented us from recovering faster.  Over the next few months we’ll be making even more storage infrastructure and network improvements to ensure we’re in a better position to handle any problems that could arise.

As you know, we ran into issues with our disaster recovery site that contributed to our inability to recover faster from the outage.  As a result, we’re performing periodic controlled failovers to ensure our DR site is fully operational in the case of another outage or emergency.

3.    Updating our Monitoring System

We’re currently in the process of completely replacing our network monitoring system with a top of the line system.  This new monitoring system will give us greater visibility into the health of our network and the ability to identify and address issues more quickly.

4.    Application Hardening

There are several initiatives in the pipeline right now that will make our applications more fault tolerant.  So, what does this mean? In addition to the network, storage and hardware improvements we’re working on, we’ll also be making improvements to our applications to ensure they will operate even in the event of a failure.

We’re currently making our applications more aware of other backup points.  For example, we are coding our applications so that when a call hits one of our telephony servers and it can’t find a customer’s voicemail greetings, it will be smart enough to turn to other backup points instead of disconnecting the caller.

The goal of these initiatives is for our applications to be able to handle errors more gracefully, to improve the callers experience during an outage and ideally, to prevent errors from even being noticed.

All of these improvements are designed to make Grasshopper even more stable and prevent another outage. As promised, we’ll continue to update you on the progress and improvements we make to our systems.  Stay tuned for our next update!

In a recent post, we cautioned small business owners to calculate the ROI of investing in traditional phone book advertising before spending marketing dollars toward the printed material.

Jonathan Rice is a Green Plumber® and takes the impact of the natural resources consumed by printing the billions of pages seriously. However, the South Carolina plumber still advertises in his local yellow pages.

“I take full advantage of the Internet, but in my business people still look in the phone book. Searching for a plumber online may get you too many listings, not enough information or just a location without a description of services. Besides, if I didn’t list in the phone book I would have never gotten into Google Places.”

Rice’s phone company doesn’t automatically list every business in the book, so he pays to have a listing and invests additional dollars to have his small business advertised at a prominent place on the page. Jonathan even pays to place coupons in the back of the phone book. “It’s crazy, but somebody cashes one of them in three or four times each month,” he laughs.

So, are consumers still letting their fingers “do the walking?” Is it worth listing your business phone number in the yellow pages?

If Your Target Market Likes it, Do it

Jonathan Rice’s business is in an area with many older, historic southern homes with owners over the age of 60. These consumers still tend to use traditional methods of searching for service providers.

Listing your business phone number typically ensures your company has a line listing in the business white and yellow pages. Those who dial 411 for information will also be able to find your business, by either name or address. It also means your outgoing calls will have identifying information if the person you are dialing has caller ID on their landline phone.

“We are on the corner of two main streets, we run radio ads that repeat the address more than once and we have a really quirky looking building front. Sometimes people remember where we are faster than they remember our name. Without 411, we would lose a good portion of our customers,” says Stella Johnson.

Stella runs a tailoring and alteration shop in southern Virginia. According to Ms. Johnson, “Most of our new customers find us because of the phone book. We have been advertising in that book for almost 50 years. It works for us; we aren’t going to stop now. Besides, we don’t even have a web page so I’m not sure how we got on that Google.” Stella’s statement brings up another valid point in rationale behind listing in the phone book.

The Internet Likes the Yellow Pages

Internet-based sites like Merchant Circle, Yelp and Google Places still use phone listings to populate their sites. That is how Ms. Johnson’s business ended up listed without her knowledge or any investment of additional time, labor or capital.

Inclusion on business listing sites means inclusion in search engines like Yahoo, Google or Bing. Stella doesn’t have a website, but her company is still online. She is one of the few listed tailors in her area, her listing is at the top of the page in the search results; a result she could have invested thousands of dollars to achieve.

The key is in the classification. Part of the success of online marketing is identifying the niche. Similarly, phone listings have classifications and divisions.

Real Estate has many sub-classifications, ensuring your business is listed in a manner that potential clients would use to search for your company is critical. Once your listing has populated online, maintaining those listings, updating information as it changes and expanding the information available is easy and instant. Using this method can save you money, establishing an online presence with minimal to no investment of dollars.

Marketing consultant Bobby Freiler suggests several points to consider when thinking of your business phone number.

“Many virtual phone providers will list your number for as little as $10 per month. That’s less than the cost of a domain, less than hiring a professional marketer to index a domain if you have one, and in industries or locations that have low to medium competition, it can be just as effective.”

Once you have the listing, Freiler says, take the time to set up an online account with the company and update the listing yourself. “AT&T’s Yellow Book has a great site and lets you maintain and update for free as long as you do it at least annually..,” he says.

Freiler offers this money saving tip, “you can always adjust the phone book ad as the number of users change, spend less next year by shrinking the ad size.”

Usage of the printed yellow pages is in decline, notes Freiler, but it isn’t dead.

“If you’re going to list your business phone number, make the most of the listing. When it populates the online directories, update them. Use analytics to track them. Above all else, ask your customers where they found you. If they keep finding you in the yellow pages, keep putting your business in there.”

Do you think listing your business phone number is still relevant? Think its a waste? Tell us in the comment section below!

Would you believe that 40% of telecommuters would rather take a pay cut then stop telecommuting?

According to a recent survey from Staples Advantage, the B2B division of Staples, telecommuters “feel and work better” than those who work in an actual office. They’re happier, healthier and according to 86% of them, more productive.

• Telecommuters say their stress levels have dropped 25% on average since working from home
• 73% even say they eat healthier when working from home
• 76% are more willing to put in extra time on work & are more loyal to their company

While there are certainly a ton of advantages to working virtually, there are a few disadvantages:

• Staples says that only 1 in 3 telecommuters back up their data
• 2/3 of the telecommuters didn’t get security training
• 87% of companies don’t provide furniture or equipment

With telecommuting on the rise (Forrester expects it to hit 63 million by 2016) and technology making it easier, telecommuting can be a great way for companies to keep employees happy and save money. However, as Staples notes, it’s important to have the right set-up and support in order for it to be rewarding for both parties.

Related articles:

• Telecommuting: Should Companies Embrace It?
• 13 Awesome Mobile Apps for a Virtual Office
• Grasshopper as a Time Card System?

You never know what kind of day you’re in for when you show up to work at Grasshopper each morning.  For a new hire, this is no different.

Steve Lorusso started at Grasshopper last week as our Director of Systems Design.  At Grasshopper, we like to make sure our new hires feel welcome and a part of the team right off the bat. With that said, check out Steve’s first day at Grasshopper below. How do we welcome our new employees?

With a meet and greet! Steve started his day off with a hearty breakfast and the faces of 40 new co-workers greeting him.

How do new hires get to know their co-workers?

A cooler ride tour around the office is the only way we know how at Grasshopper. Steve got a tour of the office by Andy, our Culture Evangelist, stopping at each person’s cube for a visit.

So…how was Steve’s first day at Grasshopper?

Watch the video below for a recap of Steve’s first day here at Grasshopper.

We’re very excited to have Steve on board! Stay tuned for our next new hire welcome in just a few weeks. Also be sure to check out our Careers page for openings here at Grasshopper.

How does your office welcome new employees? We would love to hear.

Three weeks ago we announced an exciting (and fun) challenge with our friends over at KISSmetrics.   For this challenge, we would identify 3 start-ups who have never used KISSmetrics and who do not have a phone number on their site.  We launched this phone number challenge to test our hypothesis:

People feel more comfortable with brands that they can put a face behind.  Even though you might purchase a product exclusively online, having a phone number on your site and the ability to talk to a real person (who cares) in turn makes you feel more comfortable taking out your wallet (or recommending someone else to) for this brand.

We were overwhelmed by the response we got from our community!  We received well over 30 entries from all sorts of cool companies.  This past week we have been examining and digging a bit deeper into each company, and we have finally made our decisions!

And the contestants are…

1. DODOcase – Protecting your iPad from extinction

These guys make really awesome, unique, and durable cases for all of your valuable devices.  While their bread and butter is the iPad market, they also address the Blackberry Playbook, Kindle, and even iPhone markets.  If you were to Google “Best iPad Cases,” you would quickly see how well respected DODO has become.  I mean look at their site, they have gotten love from Forbes, New York Times, Engadget, and MacWorld.

Fun facts about DODO:

• Their products are hand made in San Francisco.
• They use traditional bookbinding techniques and are in fact helping to keep the book binding art/industry alive!
• Their most common, most popular product is $60 and comes in 7-8 different colors!

2. Flowr – Simplified collaboration at work

Our friends at Flowr enable you to share ideas, files, create tasks, and collaborate with your co-workers.  Flowr believes that email and an intranet are simply not enough (and we agree!).  If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe Mashable – “Flowr is Facebook skinned for the enterprise” or ReadWriteWeb – “Bring real-time collaboration to your company with Flowr’s amazingly simple app.”

Fun facts about Flowr:

• Over 5,000 businesses are currently collaborating with their tool.
• They have a sweet mobile app (for both iPhone and Android).
• You can use it for free for up to 5 users and 100MB (which is really sweet)…otherwise the product is $59/month for 15 users.

3. SiteSlinger – Design to code in 12 hours or less (Guaranteed)

SiteSlinger transforms your designs into quality (search engine friendly) xHTML and CSS code in 12 hours or less.  While they preach turnaround time as their differentiating factor, their top priorities are far and away quality and customer service.  Not only do they back up their words with a guarantee but they are also willing to refund your money within 24 hours if you’re not happy.  You have to respect people like this who put their money behind their work.

Fun facts about SiteSlinger:

• They used to be called “Elite CSS” and recently rebranded to Site Slinger.
• They have offices in Boston and Austin.
• They charge $69 for your first page and $40 for each subpage.
• If you call them (on their new Grasshopper number =) ) they offer bulk discounts for designers!

What happens next?

We are going to spend the next 2 weeks getting our new friends fully integrated and set up on our systems.  At that point, we will begin the actual challenge and start collecting data (a lot of it), which we plan to share with you at the end.

Once the challenge begins, we will update you and urge you to call our friends on their new numbers. Outside of that just stay tuned as we will probably give you a mid-way report once things are really in motion.

If you have any questions or are just curious about what’s going on, don’t ever hesitate to reach out to me at @jonathanckay on Twitter or shoot me an email at jkay(at)grasshopper(dot)com.

Let the games begin!

Perhaps in a few years people will stop handing out business cards and instead just wear high tech “data rings” that exchange information automatically when you shake hands.

Until that (incredibly creepy) future arrives, business cards are the easiest way for people to remember each other from conferences or networking events. Trouble is, pull out that wad of crumpled business cards in your pocket at the end of the convention and just try and remember who is who and which one you networked with and who said they’d call you … You get the idea.

You might have made a good connection in person, but now you’re just a business card. Since that card reflects you and your business, better make it really stand out from the crowd.

Here are some points to keep in mind when designing a business card:

Not too surprisingly, some of the most unconventional business cards are for designers or people working in the visual arts. And even though he’s not a designer, tech entrepreneur Neil Patel has some useful insights for what your should keep in mind when designing your own card.

• Color: An important aspect of your business card because it has the most immediate impact. But make sure the color represents you and your company. You’re an intellectual property attorney? Maybe soft pink’s not the best choice for your card. Just sayin’.
• Card Stock: Remember that scene in American Psycho? When all the bankers are trying to one up each other with the quality of their business cards? You don’t have to go that far. (Really. Please don’t, in fact.) But a quality card stock will leave a certain first impression. So it’s up to you: Something from G. Lalo or one of those 5,000 free cards from Vistaprint?
• Font: If you’ve ever spent any time with someone writing a doctoral dissertation, you know that typography matters. It’s the same with business cards. Each font has its own feel and voice. Pick something that is both easy to read and reflective of whom you are.
• Feel: Business cards aren’t only about graphic design. How they feel also reflects something about you as well. If you want to seem gentle, go with rounded corners. If you’re looking to come across as hard-edged, try hard paper with sharp corners. If you want everyone to know that you’re a bona fide badass, your card should be sharp and aerodynamic enough to throw across a room and pass through a watermelon.
• Content: The basics, please. Your name, your company, and a way to get in touch with you. Obviously your website should be on there, too. Don’t make it too cluttered or busy. Keep in mind people will often want to use the back of the card to write a note. Enable them.

How you follow these guidelines is up to you, but here are 10 pretty cool examples of business card design at work.

1. This salon really does make you feel soft around the edges. (Back)

2. A clothing company that really knows how to stitch.

3. This photographer found a clever way to showcase his work. (Back)

4. The doctor is in the house and incredibly detailed.

5. Handy as a business card and a coaster for meeting people in bars. (Side)

6. A studio that carries its sound in its pocket.

7. A warm and soft reminder of what to expect when you’re expecting.

8. A designer who can show you all the options. (Back)

9. This gallery can actually vouch for the rich quality of its interior feel.

10. Being green and making fun of other business cards everywhere.

You can find these business cards (and some 948 others) at this Flickr page. If you’re really into it, (and aren’t these fun to look at? AND safe for work…) check out a whole bunch of other creative, ridiculous and brilliant business cards here and here.

While some of them might be a bit tricky to put into a traditional business card holder (or even your pocket), they’re also so memorable you might actually want to put them on display.

What do you think? How does your business card stack up to the ones above? Have a creative one to share? Tell us in the comment section below.

Guest Post: This guest post is written by Mike Ragsdale. Mike is the co-founder of TownWizard, LLC.

Small towns are big business, which is why the Googles, Facebooks, Groupons and Living Socials of the world are all scrambling for a huge slice of the hyper-local pie. But how can your local business stand out in the increasingly noisy world of data-driven deals? By keeping it real. Here’s how:

1. Less is More

Facebook. LinkedIn. Groupon. Living Social. Twitter. YouTube. FourSquare. You just can’t do it all, nor do you need to. Pick two platforms, and embrace them unapologetically. Over time, you can always add more, but in the beginning, just adopt the platforms that most locals seem to use. Some towns are Twitter communities; others are predominantly Facebook fans.

Pick the one or two platforms that most locals seem to be using, and ignore the rest of the online chatter. It’s better to use two hyper-local marketing tools very effectively than to spread yourself too thin across a half-dozen.

2. Write Like You Talk

Stop writing like a brochure, especially when dealing with social media. The key to promoting your brand in a hyper-local community is developing an intimate relationship with your audience through the way you communicate to them. When you are genuine, your customers will notice the difference between you and the next guy trying to sell them something.

Your business is YOU. Let your personality shine through. If you don’t have a personality (or can’t spell), then empower someone on your team to manage it for you. Especially with social media channels, it’s essential to type like you talk — not like you write. So before hitting that “Share” button, ask yourself: “Would I say this, word-for-word, if I was standing at a cocktail party with all of these people?” If the answer is no, then delete it, and start again.

3. Serve Your Audience, Not Yourself!

“Please click LIKE and tell your friends about our business!” WRONG and painfully annoying. Don’t appeal to people to help promote your business for you. Instead, give consumers something of VALUE. Forget about your business’ selfish needs and think about the needs of your customer. Get to know your audience well and share something that’s relevant to them.

What can you offer or share with your audience that will improve their life, even if only a little? Maybe it’s a vintage photo of the old downtown area in your town or maybe it’s a funny quote or a video; whatever it is, make sure you are thinking about serving your audience. Every time you bring a smile to someone’s face, selflessly, it increases your brand’s mojo.

4. Shine Light on the Little Guy – Reward the Champions in Your Community

Anyone who’s ever owned a small business or managed a local charity will tell you how tough it can be, especially when you’re just starting out. To win the hearts of locals, you need to establish yourself as a champion of small business owners and local charities.

With TownWizard, I wanted to offer the easiest, fastest, and most cost-efficient way for people to start a company that can reward businesses in their local community. Whether it’s a big city, a small town, or a special interest group, TownWizard helps to build a platform for people everywhere to become involved, engaged, and have the ability to connect and promote their local community businesses.

For example, one of our TownWizard partners awards a $25 gift certificate every week to one person who makes his community a better place. You can use a gift certificate from your own business; if that doesn’t apply in your case, buy one or get one donated from a different local business each week. Feature the “winner” on your website and social media pages on the same day every week and tell people why that person helps make your community so special. Not only will you feel great, but when you shine light on deserving locals and organizations, people will ultimately remember and reward you for it. It’ll be the best $100 you spend on marketing each month.

5. A Little Huggie Goes a Long Way – Get Other People to Talk about Your Brand for You

It’s amazing what people would do to win a $5 T-shirt. People love freebies and they love talking about it to their friends. I bought 250 “huggies” (insulator sleeves for beer and soda cans) for about $150, and I give them out liberally, online and offline. People have been raving about them and about my brand.

You should find fun and appropriate items to give out to your customer. It’s even better when the items fit into standard-size envelopes, so they are also cheap and easy to ship as prizes. Give them out to people who share great testimonials about your business or upload photos to your Facebook page. And sometimes give them out “just because”. It costs you less than a buck to make someone happy. You’ll get them bragging about your generosity and talking about your brand to all of their friends in no time.

Mike Ragsdale has built several multi-million dollar businesses, including TownWizard.com, the #1 local mobile marketing platform, with over 130 partners worldwide.

Besides the opportunity to put on a spiffy outfit and walk around like you’ve got the next big thing in your pocket, conferences for entrepreneurs and small business owners can be a great resource.

Network with other cool people, get advice on your business strategies, or just walk around knocking yourself in head thinking “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

While many conferences take place in the first half of the year, it’s never too late to start thinking about attending next year’s event. Here’s a list of startup conferences that are definitely worth checking out.

1. The New York Times Small Business Summit

Now in its sixth year, this annual summit is all about examining the small business environment to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Meet top business leaders and others just launching their business to learn the tools for successful development.

2. The Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony

This annual conference is also (as the name implies) an award ceremony that brings together the country’s brightest and most successful business minds who have also been featured in Inc. magazine.

3. The Next Web (TNW) Conference

This annual conference takes place in Amsterdam during the month of April, and is known as one of Europe’s best tech startup networking events. The conference is all about bringing the (international) professional web industry together to explore how the Internet and technology can push the limits of business. You can already download info about next year’s conference and summit.

4. Startup Princess Touchpoint

As one of the premiere events for women entrepreneurs, this annual conference actually travels between several cities. This event brings women entrepreneurs together as well as with influential industry experts.

5. The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) Small Business Conference

If your startup is focused on the public sector or government contracts, then this annual conference is for you. It is specifically geared toward small businesses that already have government contracts but are looking to move to the next level, or want to partner with other larger businesses already in the sector.

6. SXSW

If Woodstock and Steve Jobs had a baby (somehow. Maybe there’s an app for that?), this would be it. The annual conference and festival bills itself as the intersection of “original music, independent films, and emerging technologies.” An intellectual and creative atmosphere for young entrepreneurs to meet industry leaders.

See how Chargify made a splash at SXSW with its first visit to this conference.

7. COSE Small Business Conference

The annual, two-day conference is a great learning experience for anyone launching a business or even a seasoned entrepreneur. It offers educational workshops, hands-on learning labs, and the chance to earn continuing education credits in accounting, law and HR.

8. Minority Enterprise Development Week Conference

As the largest federally sponsored event on minority enterprise development, it’s the premier event for minority entrepreneurs and small business owners in the public and private sectors. This conference offers a mentor protégé program, domestic and international networking opportunities, and other workshops about tools and resources to help grow your business.

9. TechWeek

This event brings together conference sessions and expo shows for one week in Chicago. TechWeek is all about showcasing the newest mobile and web technologies by bringing together thousands of entrepreneurs, business leaders, academics and artists.

10. DEMO

As the “Launchpad for Emerging Technology,” this fast paced and elite conference is every tech entrepreneur’s dream, especially considering the number of ridiculously successful technologies that launched here. You’re allowed on stage for six minutes to prove you can change the world.

If none of these conferences strike your fancy or don’t focus on what your startup is all about, don’t give up. While these conferences are great places for networking and small business resources, they aren’t the only ones out there. Ask within your entrepreneurial circle about events that other people have been to or heard of, or Google conferences in your local area. 

BarCamps are another great option if the above events just aren’t your style and if all else fails, you could always start your own conference. You’ll probably learn a lot more than by just going to one.

Did we leave any of your favorite conferences off the list? Tell us about them in the comments section below.

This month’s customer spotlight is on ClickandChat.  ClickandChat is a live chat software for your website that allows you to monitor traffic to your site, chat one-on-one with your website visitors, and track their activity in real time.

ClickandChat was launched in 2008 to provide clients with a feature rich application, at a very affordable price. The idea for ClickandChat came as a result of using another live chat application on the market that just wasn’t up to par and on top of that, cost a lot of money for what it offered.

How Did ClickandChat Come About?

Patrick Babaian comes from a strong background of startups.  At 16, he started his first business, a web hosting company and a few years later, decided to sell it when the web hosting market became over saturated. After selling the web hosting company he went on to launch several other businesses including an online data storage business, a web design business and a business consulting firm.

With a strong passion for startups and the web, Babaian launched Web Technologies in 2008 with the goal of being able to start businesses that he would be passionate enough about not to flip. He used a corporate name, Web Technologies, allowing him to constantly work on developing new ideas and web based businesses. The first “brand” is ClickAndChat.com.

Why Use Live Chat?

Live chat is a great way to interact with your website visitors and potential customers.  Not only can you jump in at the perfect moment and offer the customer help,  it also gives your customers the comfort of knowing you’re right there should they have a question.  Think of all the times you’ve had a quick question, but the thought of calling a company and waiting on hold until they could take your call was so daunting, that you didn’t bother.

Live chat is also an invaluable tool for businesses to use as a backup plan.  Last month, we experienced an outage at Grasshopper and Babian reported that he saw their live chat volume nearly triple.  During an unplanned downtime, or the unlikely event when you lose the ability to communicate with your customers, live chat gives them the ability to still get in touch with you for those questions that just can’t wait.  Live chat also protects your bottom line during unplanned events and ensures that you can still capture sales.

One thing that has remained constant throughout Babaian’s career is the importance of customer service to the success of his businesses. “ I’ve learned over the years  that customer service is the key to any successful business and most small businesses don’t put enough of an emphasis on this when launching new projects. It will literally make or break your business,” says Babaian.

Interested in giving live chat a try for your business? Patrick is offering Grasshopper customers a very generous $100 discount toward ClickandChat.  To take advantage of this offer, leave a comment below or tweet us.

Want to learn more about ClickandChat? Head over to their site or connect with them on Twitter.

In 2009, after successfully growing Grasshopper for 6 years, we launched Grasshopper Group to create additional web applications to empower entrepreneurs.

We’re happy to announce that our first product, Chargify, has received funding from Mark Cuban to accelerate its growth as the leading subscription billing and customer management tool for recurring business models.

As exciting as it is launching new products like Chargify to help entrepreneurs, there’s a tremendous opportunity in growing Grasshopper.

The Grasshopper Group team has therefore gone back to the future to focus solely on turning Grasshopper into a global communications company.

We still have the same core purpose of empowering entrepreneurs to succeed and will continue doing everything we can to fulfill this mission under the Grasshopper brand. All the great blog content and articles you’re used to can be now be found right here on the Grasshopper blog.

~ Siamak & David

We thought this chat would be a good way for our fans, who don’t always get a chance to attend our events, to learn about generating buzz for your brand and ask any questions you have about generating buzz for your company. Jonathan will be speaking at the “Building an Army of Brand Loyalists” event the night before, so this chat is a great alternative for those that can’t make the event and a place for those who do attend it, to bring any follow up questions!

On another note, we’re taking a bit of a different approach with this event; we’re letting YOU decide what time we hold our chat. Head over to our Facebook page and cast your vote (or else we’ll pick )! We’ll announce the time on Wednesday morning.

How Does this Work?

Visit our Facebook page on Thursday at 5 PM EST when Jonathan is live, and post your buzz related questions for him to answer.  Jonathan will reply to as many questions as he can get to within the hour. You can stay for the whole hour or you can just stick around for your answer, it’s up to you!

Details

• Host: Jonathan Kay, Ambassador of Buzz at Grasshopper
• When: Thursday, July 28th at 5 PM EST! (Thanks to all those who voted!)
• Where: Our Facebook wall – www.facebook.com/grasshopper

Have a topic suggestion for our next Facebook chat? Tell us in the comments below!

It’s been a while since we’ve done an event post, and that’s because during the summer, events tend to be few and far between.  Not next week!

We have a great week lined up from the What no to Web Remix on Tuesday, to Building an Army of Brand Loyalists with MassChallenge on Wednesday, and our Facebook chat with Jonathan Kay on Thursday – we’ll be pretty busy!

What not to Web Remix

Next Tuesday, Jonathan Kay, our Ambassador of Buzz will be one of four panelists at the What not to Web Remix event put on by MIT Enterprise Forum and Super Webomatic.  Learn how to leverage your website as a business tool and how to maximize your website’s value.  With other panelists from Performable, Fresh Tilled Soil and Super Webomatic, you’re sure to walk away with a lot of valuable information at this event.

Check out the makeovers from last year’s event.  Think your website could use a makeover too? Submit it here.

Tickets are $45 for non-members and $25 for members but if you tweet at JonathanCKay or Grasshopper we can hook you up with a discount code so you can go for FREE.

Details

• When: Tuesday, July 26th at 5:30 PM
• Where: MIT Stata Center – Kirsch Auditorium Building 32, RM 123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
• Website: http://www.whatnottoweb.com/

Building an Army of Brand Loyalists

Next Wednesday, we’re hosting an event with MassChallenge that you won’t want to miss.  Learn how to get people talking about your brand from Jonathan Kay, Kristin Dziadul of Backupify and Sarah Hodges of RunKeeper. You’ll leave this event with tons of actionable ideas on things you should be doing to generate word of mouth around your brand. If that doesn’t interest you, maybe the free drinks and snacks will?

Details

• When: Wednesday, July 27th at 6:30 PM
• Where: ONE Marina Park Drive at FAN PIER – 55 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210
• Website:http://grasshopperbuzzevent.eventbrite.com/

Planning to attend any of these events? Have any questions? Tweet us @Grasshopper, post on our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.

Every company wants to launch a product or advertise a service with an innovative and creative way to captivate an audience.  However, some marketing campaigns do not captivate the audience’s attention the way the company had in mind.  Here are some of the most memorable marketing flops, follies and faux pas!

1. Groupon’s Super Bowl Commercial

Company: Groupon

Year: 2011

Goal: Create a hit commercial for the ultimate advertising stage: Superbowl 2011

Link: Groupon Super Bowl Ad

Result: “Their very culture is in jeopardy, but they still whip up an amazing fish curry!” This pseudo service announcement/advertisement threw some people off while throwing others in hysterics over Goupon’s brazen attitude toward Tibetan culture. Unfortunately, the Groupon service being promoted took a back seat to post-Superbowl back-lash this advertisement created.

2. The White PSP Ads

Company: Sony

Year: 2006

Goal: Create a billboard promoting the new White PSP

Result: The setting is an advertising meeting room in the Sony offices of Holland. Someone has the idea of a white PSP versus a black PSP. Something about this advertising brainstorm session just screams public relations nightmare.

3. New Coke

Company: Coca Cola

Year: 1985

Goal: Compete for consumer’s taste-buds with soft-drink rival Pepsi by releasing research proven better tasting “New Coke”

Result: The only type of change Coke drinkers like is the kind in their pockets. This was proven when even the Jello man himself couldn’t convince old school consumers to drink the statistically tastier New Coke. Customers, like a bad episode of hoarders, were simply not ready to part with their old coke can or their old coke taste.

4. The Yesterday And Today Album

Company/Artist: The Beatles

Year: 1966

Goal: Release an album with a creative cover showing our artistic genius

Result: Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away…then I made an album cover with raw meat and naked doll babies. For the album “Yesterday and Today” The Beatles decided to break away from their bowl haircuts and try something creative.  The cover took them on a magical mystery tour of disgust from fans and critics. The Butcher cover was quickly replaced and three years later, “Here Comes the Sun” was released having absolutely nothing to do with this incident.

5. Monterey Jack In-The-Box

Company: Jack in the Box

Year: 1980-1985

Goal: Attract a more grown-up customer base targeting families by changing name to “Monterey Jack’s”

Result: For some, Jack-in-the-box triggers emotions of fear and terror while awaiting a tiny goblin/elf to explode up through a tiny box. For others, it triggers emotions of delicious hamburgers and fun.  Grown-ups didn’t care for the new grown-up name of the fast food chain “Monterey Jack’s” so execs decided to switch it back to good ol’ Jack in the Box, triggering happy emotions for all…except the guy who ordered 20,000 Monetary Jack business cards.

6. I’m Lovin’ It?

Company: McDonalds

Year: 2007

Goal: Use slang to target a young and in-tune culture of fast food eaters through online banner advertisements.

Result: Slight slang misunderstanding. I’m lovin’ it McDonalds! Then again…what exactly is it that I’m lovin’? Love’s a pretty strong word and I’m cautious to just start throwing it around. I want to take things a bit slower, which is why I’m not sure if I’m ready for your new ad campaign.

7. Underage Calvin Klein Ads

Company: Calvin Klein

Year: 1990’s

Goal: Create a provocative advertisement appearing to be amateur porn actors and actresses being interviewed.

Commercial: Calvin Klein Removed Ad

Result: The actors and actresses don’t look old enough to hold a driver’s license. Although many viewed these advertisement as strange and creepy, underwear sales among registered sex offenders spiked 15% after the launch of this campaign. Despite that last statistic being made up, the advertisements were pulled.

8. Cyanide & Tylenol

Company: Tylenol

Year: 1982

Goal: Without having anything to do with the company, one maniac’s goal was to poison people by replacing Tylenol with Cyanide tablets on store shelves.

Result: As one can imagine, the Tylenol brand was scathed. After Tylenol public relations and corporate execs were finished pinching themselves to make sure it wasn’t a horrible nightmare, the company bounced back putting on a clinic of how to react to worst case scenarios in business.

9. Woody Woodpecker The Spokesman

Company: Panasonic

Year: 90’s

Goal: Making the home computer seem awesome and entertaining to a younger demographic by choosing a cool spokesperson.

Result: Woody Woodpecker. While nearly impossible to create the Woody Woodpecker sound via onomatopoeia, equally impossible is using said 200 year old pecker to target young and hip computer users.

10. Wang Computers

Company: Wang Computers

Year: Late 1970’s and 1980’s

Goal: How do you make the word Wang not sound like a joke?

Result: Wang Cares. Really? Wang Cares? Sounds a bit like Wankers don’t you think? Soon after the release of their new advertising campaign, Wang Computers received an increase in orders from Mr. Seymore Butts, Ms. Ivana Tinkle, and Mr. Harry Armand Bach.

11. Anti-Drug Ads Increase Drug Usage

Company: National Drug Control Policy

Year: 1980’s-present

Goal: Decrease drug use among children and teens with a campaign budget of over 1 billion dollars.

Link: Anti- Drug PSA

Result: Emerging studies show children were more likely to try illicit drugs after seeing anti-drug ads than if they had never seen an ad at all. ”Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” -Coach Jim Valvano.  The War on Drugs campaign certainly listened to those all inspiring words.

-This is your brain on drugs, any questions?

-Yes, where do I get those drugs?

12. Atari Isolates Themselves

Company: Atari

Year: 1980’s

Goal: Take full control of the gaming business

Result: After accusing Nintendo of dealing and selling Donkey Kong rights to Coleco, Nintendo was forever turned off by Atari. Nintendo launched themselves through the stratosphere of gaming on without the help of Atari. It was reported Atari executives were seen smashing and rolling giant barrels of bananas down corporate headquarter steps.

13. Type 1 Sets A Dangerous Example

Company: Levi’s

Year: 2007

Goal: Create exciting and clever commercial showing durability and moveability of new Type 1 Jeans.

Super Bowl Ad Type 1 Jeans

Result: Certainly making the list for annoying songs in a commercial, on top of that, clever in this case turns out to be just plain confusing that includes a person riding on top of a moving vehicle.

-What’s the problem sir?

-Well my dome light flashes, the passenger side front wheel makes a funny sound when I turn left, and…oh, every now and then my car drives away on its own leading me, and my Type 1 Jeans, on a high speed chase through exotic cities.

14. IBM’s PCjr Launch

Company: IBM

Year: 1984

Goal: Compatibility combined with wireless keyboard and easy to add options

PCjr Commercial

Result: Commercial failure. After selling a minor 30,000 units, the product was discontinued. The advertisements didn’t help either. Charlie Chaplin playing video games? Maybe. Gray living room throw rug?  Tasteless.

15. Pepsi Slims

Company: Pepsi

Year: 2011

Goal: During New York’s Fashion Week, create buzz by unveiling the new diet Pepsi skinny can.  “Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today’s most stylish looks.”  -Jill Geraud, CMO for PepsiCo.

Result: Swift backlash from the National Eating Disorders Association.  Changing something to skinny doesn’t always work out as well as it did for jeans. Case in point: the Diet Pepsi can. While it’s still the exact same product, it was a change in packaging along with an unpopular coming out party combined for the ol’ one step forward, two steps back result.

16. Bait & Switch Phone Campaign

Company: Vespa

Year: 2006

Goal: Create a large stealth marketing campaign in which the company hired attractive actors and actresses to ride around on Vespa Scooters and hand out their phone numbers at bars and restaurants. Once dialed, the numbers lead to Vespa dealerships and customer service representatives happy to take your call!

Result: Chalk it up to another failed marketing attempt. People were upset and rightfully so. Although come on. It’s happened to the best of us. You’re out, you get a number, you wait the appropriate amount of time to call and…”Hello Vespa dealership, how can we serve your transportation needs today?”

17. Nike Gets Gory

Company: Nike

Year: 2000

Goal: Use elite runner Suzie Favor-Hamilton to show that running will make you live longer.

Link: Nike Running Commercial

Result: The idea turned into Ms. Favor-Hamilton being chased in the woods by a chainsaw wielding psycho trying to kill her. “Why Sport?  You’ll live longer.” When it came time to decide whether or not to air this frightening maniacal commercial, Nike took their own advice and just did it.  Soon after, they had to just undo it.

18. Jones Brings The Farm To Your Fluid

Company: Jones Soda

Year: 2004

Goal: Create new flavors to attract a larger audience.

Result: With new flavors such as ham, green bean casserole, and dirt, the soft drink consumers didn’t exactly drink this idea up. Rather than deciding on what their customers were thirsting for through expensive market research surveys, Jones Soda decided to find drink flavors at an unconventional location: farms.

19. Tasteless Bud Commercials Fall Flat

Company: Budweiser

Year: 2005

Goal: Fight back against negative advertising directed their way by Miller Brewing Company claiming Budweiser had no taste.

Result: Through advertisements with Budweiser referees stealing back the stolen beer Miller Light referees had taken in their own commercials, Budweiser was playing right into the hands of Miller. The ads were a failure, and for some, proved that cheap beer really must have no flavor if Budweiser was willing to spend all of this money protecting their image. Bob Uecker in the movie Major League famously pipes through the radio microphone “Juuust a bit outside” on a fastball that flies 20 feet above the catchers head. Budweiser’s idea to fire back at Miller was juuuuust a bit outside of their ultimate goal.

20. The Gullible Pear Car

Company: Renault 14

Year: 1976

Goal: Create a small family car and marketing it as being the shape of a fruit, specifically a pear!

Result: The Renault 14 was soon being called a rotten pair. The idea failed for more reasons than one, and it didn’t help that in France, “La Poire” is slang for “gullible.”

Three things I look for in a car.

1. It should have a 5 star safety ratings.

2.  I’d like it to have Consumer Report credibility, and

3.  It must be shaped like a fruit…preferably from the melon family, but if not I’ll take any fruit shape. It must also be difficult to start and easily corroded.

21. Molson’s Underage Party Picture Promo

Company:  Molson

Year: 2007

Goal: Get students on campuses around the world to send in their pictures of them partying to see which school is #1 in fun.   This would provide easy publicity through social media platforms while extending the brand into new target markets.

Result: Getting your consumers to engage in social media with your company is a valuable experience for both parties, that is unless you’re a beer company and your consumer is 17. It isn’t good for either party when you’re promoting, well, underage partying.

Moral of the story is to double and triple check as even the best intentioned marketing message can go horrible off the track if not executed properly.

This post is written by our Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay.

One of my favorite things about working at a start up is how easy and open other entrepreneurs are to collaborating.  There is no paperwork, no long drawn out process.  If you like what the other company is about, the people who work there, and there is a logical overlap then you can make magic happen.

One company we really love here at Grasshopper is KISSmetrics.  They are the go to experts when it comes to analytics and testing.  On top of that I really respect the organic and human approach Hiten Shah takes to getting their brand out there.  If you email, tweet, or even call him – he will respond and be engaged.  To me, that speaks volumes.

Either way, Hiten and I found a fun way we could work together and engage you guys at the same time. Here is what we were thinking:

Our Goal:

Conduct a fun challenge/test where we identify 3 start-ups who have never used KISSmetrics & do not have a phone number on their site. We will hook each participant up with a Grasshopper Virtual Phone System and a KISSmetrics account for A/B testing and analytics analysis.  We want to learn from the results, and then share those lessons learned with you – hoping it helps you at some point in your journey.

Our Hypothesis:

People feel more comfortable with brands that they can put a face behind.  Even though you might purchase a product exclusively online, having a phone number on your site and the ability to talk to a real person (who cares) in turn makes you feel more comfortable taking our your wallet (or recommending someone else to) for this brand.

Length of “Test”:

4-6 Weeks

Guidelines for entry:

1.    Never used KISSmetrics 2.    Do not have a phone number on your site 3.    Company is under 3 years old 4.    Have a real product or service and are charging money for it 5.    Must be comfortable sharing real numbers relating to this experiment (not revenue)

Whats in it for me?

The 3 start-ups who participate will get lifetime GH/KM accounts, as well as very good exposure to 10’s of thousands of entrepreneurs via our blogs and social networks.

Hot Damn!  How do I get involved?

Tell us a little about your self: https://ghgroup.wufoo.com/forms/grasshopper-kissmetrics-challenge/

We will get back to you in the next week or two (regardless of if you are picked or not).

Questions? Tweet me at JonathanCKay or shoot me an email.

Many website owners assume simply having traffic come to their website means sales will happen. They are often frustrated when they realize their visitors aren’t buying. One of the biggest problems entrepreneurs have with getting good conversions is using the right landing page. Making changes to your landing page can increase your conversions by 40%. Investing time building traffic is a must for any website, but traffic is useless if it’s not monetized.

If your sales aren’t as high as you were expecting, ask yourself these questions to see what you can do to improve your landing pages:

1. What conversions were you expecting?

What are you optimizing your landing pages for? Are you trying to get sales? Collecting email addresses? Have your goals laid out before you put the page together. You will likely have different goals for different sections of your site, and therefore will need multiple landing pages.

2. Use the right headline.

Readers see headlines first. Make sure they understand the purpose of the page. Then they may actually be motivated to read it.

3. Make your call to action clear and personable.

Guide your reader step-by-step. You may think it’s self-explanatory, but they may not. Use second person pronouns to engage your readers. This will help you establish a connection with your reader and make your point clearer.

4. Lead and persuade.

Make your call-to-action compelling and professional. Marketers wouldn’t exist if people didn’t need a little convincing. Know what they want and why. Then explain how you are going to deliver.

5. Structure your content strategically.

Break your paragraphs up and place your key points at the beginning. People come across many web pages every day. They have limited time and filter through the garbage. If it takes three seconds to grab their attention, then expect them to move on. Be more direct and keep their attention through the entire page. Understanding how people read and process is key. Writing to them will come more naturally when you’ve taken the time to do so.

Creating a good landing page is key to getting conversions. Know how to structure your content according to how your customers think. If you know how to persuade, then you will have an easier time reaching your goals. Know your goals, your customer and how to connect the two.

Our friends over at KISSmetrics put together a great infographic that covers all this and more.  Check out the Anatomy Of A Perfect Landing Page [Infographic].

Adding and subtracting is easy, but doing financial accounting isn’t always that simple. Small businesses often try and save money by doing their own accounting, but common sense isn’t always the best guide.

When your company’s revenue (and relationship with the IRS) is at stake, you don’t want to mess up the numbers. Here are five common small business accounting mistakes, and how to watch out for them. 1. Time Traveling Revenue

Probably the most common accounting mistake that small businesses make is counting a sale as revenue before actually delivering all the products or services. If your carpet company sells $7,000 worth of hand-stitched Turkish rugs in March, but they are meant to be delivered over the course of seven months, don’t be so quick to write down that you made $7,000 in March.

Logging the sale as one lump sum, rather than spreading it over the seven months it really covers, will give your company a false sense of its cash flow. You’ll end up making decisions on a financial situation that doesn’t actually exist. Instead, each month write down that your revenue increased by $1,000.

2. Ignoring the Golden Ratio

When small businesses are looking to grow, most of the time they will either use existing cash flows or go into debt to finance their growth. A common mistake with either strategy is not paying attention to the ratio of spending on growth and new profits coming in.

If a small business doesn’t keep a close eye on this number, it could find itself heavily in debt or having completely depleted its cash flow, even though it still looks profitable on paper. Paying attention to this ratio will help you realize when to slow down so you don’t go into debt or run out of cash.

3. Unique Procedures for Unique Personalities

Small businesses pride themselves on having employees with unique characters and qualities, but that isn’t a strength when it comes to accounting procedures. Every financial transaction that comes through your business should be handled in a consistent and standardized way.

Without a formalized system of procedures, decision-making can become inconsistent and the numbers just won’t add up. Small businesses should make sure that anyone involved in accounting manages and records all transactions in the same way.

4. Budgeting as a Game of Chance

New entrepreneurs tend to fall prey to this mistake, but any seasoned business owner can tell you that a well-checked budget is indispensable for planning out your company’s future.

You can’t expect to grow successfully if you don’t plan thoroughly and manage your finances accordingly. Setting a proper budget, rather than just estimating, will keep you focused on a smart and efficient business strategy.

5. Tax Return Surprises

When you get your tax returns, either you’re thrilled to see that you’ll be getting something back, or you’re sour the rest of the day that you still owe more. If you have to then scramble to find the cash to make up the difference, it can throw other planned expenses off as well.

Instead of being caught off guard, every time a deposit comes into your business take a little portion (either 10%-20% depending on your tax bracket) and save it in a tax reserve. This way you’ll have a cushion between any return saying you owe a little more and your business’s regular cash flow.

While trying to make it on your own in the labyrinth of accounting might be admirable, it’s not always advisable. Asking for help from a professional accountant or tax adviser always makes better sense.

If you do seek a professional’s advice, make sure you approach the right person. Find someone who specializes in small businesses and is familiar with the rules regarding your particular type of business.

If you are like most entrepreneurs, you will find that sometimes your pitches work really well and other times they fail miserably. You may find that you make twenty sales in five hours one day, but fail to make five sales after working an entire week the next. We’ve all been there.

Before chocking this up to luck, think about why some of your sales are working and others aren’t. You will probably find that many of your unsuccessful days are the result of targeting the wrong customers.

It’s important to take the time to figure out which customers are most likely to buy your products and services (for example, here at Grasshopper, we know that our best customers are small businesses in industries like technology, real estate and construction).

If you develop a successful lead scoring model early, then you can identify your prospects before you start marketing, saving you time and money. This will help ensure that you get better results.

Here are some steps that will help you improve your conversions and increase sales:

1. Collect as much information as you can about your customers.

This will help you track your customers and learn who’s most likely to buy your product or service. Ask your customers for demographic information, build profiles with web analytics, and tap other profiling resources available on the web.

Be as creative as possible to find the information you need — it’s key to helping you make informed selling decisions.

2. Create a detailed profile of your target customers.

After you’ve collected a wealth of customer information, come up with a demographic profile for your customers. Some of the things we’ve learned about our customers are that they’re typically male, 35+ years old, are just starting a business, and most of them don’t have kids.

Like us, you may have more than one customer group so be as descriptive as possible, this way you’ll know exactly who to focus your attention on.

3. Know the behavioral patterns of your buyers.

Knowing who your buyers are won’t be enough. You need to know how they think so that you can sell to them more effectively. Where are they getting information day in and day out? How are they discovering new products? What’s driving their key purchasing decisions?

At Grasshopper, we select our marketing programs based upon the information we’ve gathered about our buyers biggest pain points, where our buyers spend most of their time online and what they do in their free time.  To be sure we aren’t missing any other opportunities, we make sure to run experimental marketing programs too.

4. Create your lead scoring model.

Now you know everything you need to create your plan of attack. Using the information you’ve compiled about your target customers and their behaviors, find the common threads among them. Any leads that share those same commonalities should be given a high score.

Leads that diverge from your customer profiles should be given lower scores and pursued less aggressively.

5. Monitor your leads and update your models accordingly.

No model is perfect. It will need to evolve as your customers change. Make sure you are up to date on all relevant trends with your customers and the industry you operate in.

Fortune never favors the entrepreneur who relies on chance.

You don’t want your marketing campaign to be hit-or-miss. You can increase the success of your sales program if you have a thorough understanding of your customers and how they work. Invest some time in developing a proper lead scoring model and you will be two, five or twenty times more effective than you were in the past.

As some of you may know, we’ve been working hard on a new user interface for Grasshopper.  Our goal is to improve your user experience and to make creating and managing your account much easier.

With that said, we’re looking for a handful of our passionate customers to help us shape the look and feel of the new user interface. We need you!

Details:

Who: Grasshopper customers who are passionate about helping solve problems.

What: Participate in a short usability test via phone and live screen sharing, giving us your honest feedback along the way.

When: The usability tests will take place over the next few weeks. We will schedule the test around your schedule and we expect it to only take about 20 minutes of your time.

Where: From your desk, over the phone.

Why: To help us shape the look and feel of the new Grasshopper interface and because you love our product and want to help. Also, because we have something fun up our sleeve to show our appreciation.

This is your chance to help create something that truly benefits you. Interested? Leave a comment below, send our Ambassador of Buzz a tweet @JonathanCKay or shoot the buzz team an email at JKay(at)grasshopper(dot)com.

Social networking sites are a powerful tool for marketing your products and connecting with potential clients. However, they are also a popular tool for locating new employees. In 2010, approximately three quarters of all small and mid-sized companies used social networking sites to find new workers or contractors to help expand their business.

There are a number of ways you can go about finding employees for your business online:

1. Popular social networking sites. There are many social networking sites that will help you connect with talented workers for your startup. LinkedIn, Twitter and even Facebook have plenty of qualified people who are looking for either full-time or contractual work. These sites have hundreds of millions of users and some of them may be perfect for the job you are trying to fill.
2. Specialized social networking sites. Many social networking sites have a more specific purpose. Sites like Virtual Tourist specialize in a specific hobby or interest, and can be a great resource if you are recruiting from a related industry.
3. Online Marketplaces. There are many sites that are expressly designed to help businesses find people who can provide the services they are looking for. Freelancer, Elance and ODesk are just a few. Scriptlance is also a popular site for businesses that need IT professionals.

Recruiting employees online can be a great idea for a number of reasons. First of all, it is one of the cheapest options available to you. It will also get a lot more exposure than most ads you place. By pursuing applicants online, you aren’t limiting yourself to a specific geographic area (although you can filter your applicants if you want). You can even look overseas if you are willing to outsource to someone who can complete the work virtually.

Spread the word just like you would when you are marketing your services through Twitter or Facebook. When you have more exposure, you will have a larger pool of applicants to choose from which will drastically improve your chances of finding the right candidate.

Businesses have been using the Internet to find employees for a long time, but the recent popularity of social networking sites has made the process more effective than ever. As a startup, you should take advantage of these tools to find the right talent to grow your company. The right person for the job may be in another state or the other side of the world, waiting to be found. Utilizing social networks is a great way to find them.

We asked our Facebook fans whether or not they use social networking sites to find new employees.  Head over to our Facebook page to see what they had to say and tell us how you do your hiring!

Did you happen to catch “America’s Next Great Restaurant,” which aired on NBC a few months back? In it, people who thought they had a great restaurant concept competed in front of a panel of investors – including celebrity chef Bobby Flay and Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle – for money to open their doors.

From the beginning, it was obvious some contestants had what it takes to be an entrepreneur – the ability to innovate, an innate sense of adventure – while others clearly did not.

It got my wheels turning: Are these qualities inborn? Or can they be learned?

So when a recent Cogswell College survey found that two out of three Americans don’t think colleges are focused enough on teaching entrepreneurial skills – and only one in 20 think that college is where students become entrepreneurs – I asked Douglas Mellinger, a trustee at the Silicon Valley college and a seasoned entrepreneur, his opinion. His response was split: Clearly, certain qualities can’t be taught. Among them are passion, a willingness to take risks and curiosity.

“There is a saying that I love: ‘If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.’ So the first part is having that passion, that belief that you can climb a mountain,” says Mellinger.

But other qualities can be learned. And if you’re not going to learn them in school, you have to take matters into your own hands.

Here’s how to get the skills you need to bring to life that next great restaurant, product or invention:

Work on your resilience. This is key when it comes to achieving success. Resilience isn’t a single skill. It’s a variety of skills and coping mechanisms. To bounce back from bumps in the road as well as failures, you should focus on emphasizing the positive. Part of being resilient is being optimistic – acknowledging that if one idea didn’t pan out, the process will help you get to your next big idea and avoid future mistakes.

Learn to silence your internal critic – that constant stream of negativity that may be running through your head. To do it, challenge those thoughts with hard evidence. Try it with simple things: If you tell yourself you’re lazy for not exercising today, remind yourself that you exercised yesterday and the day before. Slowly, you’ll start to build up the ability to bounce back when a project goes off course.

Embrace your fire – even in hard times. A down economy can actually be a great time to start a business. Procter & Gamble, Costco and McDonald’s were all launched during hard times.

If you have an idea you think might be worth something, don’t stifle it because the timing isn’t right. Start cultivating it – run it past someone you trust, research the competition, even take a business course that focuses on your concept.

Network. This can’t be stressed enough. “I’ve always surrounded myself with fellow entrepreneurs who are at the same stage as me, so I can learn from them, ask questions and bounce ideas around,” says David Hauser, co-founder of Grasshopper Group, which supports entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Find a mentor (or two). Developing a relationship with someone who has been there, done that, is another key to success. So is understanding that as you grow, you don’t have to keep the same mentor forever.

And when you feel you’re ready, pay it forward by becoming a mentor to someone else.

Jean Chatzky June 22, 2011 Original Article

One way small business owners take care of their top assets (their employees) is by offering special perks during the summer. When it’s hot outside and business is slower, many companies, like the ones featured below, take time to reward their hardworking employees with little extras that boost morale, and create a more exciting work environment. If you haven’t yet planned any exciting perks for your office, it’s not too late to put a few of these cool benefits in place.

Here are 12 summer perks that employees love:

1. Summer Hours: Summer hours are a perfect fit for our company because there is a limited amount of time to take advantage of nice weather in Chicago. We know how important it is for our company to have benefits like summer hours for our whole team. We think GoHealth employees are extremely hardworking and we want to let them know it. Our goal with our new vacation and summer hours policies is to continually reward our team and hopefully use it as a way to show potential talent why GoHealth is a great place to further their career. -Erinn Springer

2. Casual Dress Code: I thought I would mention our casual dress code, which we kick into each summer. Our web writers work out of a heritage building originally built in 1913, and insulation is essentially non-existent. So in the sunny months it is like being in an oven. When we took over the office space three years ago, we removed the old, noisy air conditioners, and opted to open windows and employ an every day is casual day dress code. And the ongoing joke is whenever clients swing by the office, our writers state, “You caught on casual Thursday, or Friday, or whatever day it happens to be.” The casual attire makes us more comfortable and seems to spawn a more creative atmosphere. -Rick Sloboda

3. Team Building Adventures: We are actually in the middle of planning a sail boat race with our whole head office crew here in Victoria, BC, Canada – between 15 and 20 people. Our general manager Luticia (Tish) Hill and her husband and 8 year old daughter go out sailing quite often on their Ross 30 (30 feet long) and have offered to teach all of us in the UsedEverywhere team how to partake in a sailing race.  We will be learning how to read the instruments, some basic nautical terms, and how to work and communicate better as a team in a high-paced, pressurized and outdoor fun environment. This is crucial for us because working all day indoors during the summer can sometimes be difficult for office workers – so were trying to get the company outdoors and learning! -Charlotte Cowley

4. Ice Cream Socials: Our dress code is normally business casual but in the summer months we relax our office dress code requirements. This allows our employees to take advantage of the summer weather and feel comfortable going outside during lunch and coffee breaks. The summer policy is welcomed by all of our employees. Also, in the summer we will go to a local ice cream stand and bring back to the office various flavors of ice cream shakes which are always welcomed on a summer Friday afternoon. -Tom Hoarty

5. Extended Lunch Breaks: This summer we have decided to eliminate the dress code:  shorts, polos, flip-flops, all acceptable. This temporary change was quite popular with everyone putting a smile on every face (besides, it helps to save on electricity bills). Moreover, we have extended the lunch time breaks to allow people more time to breath fresh air in the nearby parks, eat ice-cream, and enjoy themselves outside the concrete walls. I strongly believe such things are vital for every business team regardless of the size and location. It really boosts productivity, stamina, and makes people open up, which helps in creating a strong, friendly team ready for hard work and creative ideas. -John White

6. Fresh Garden Veggies: We have an employee garden to provide staff and interns with fresh produce and herbs. It’s in the form of a 7×23 foot living wall along the edge of our parking lot, so it’s also attractive and eye catching. It’s pretty to look at, fun for us to watch the progress, and the fresh organic veggies are a nice perk for employees at our small art business. -Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese

7. Party Time: Here at SpareFoot, we celebrate when we reach major thresholds. We’re located in downtown Austin, so most of our get-togethers involve going to a nice restaurant or bar downtown for a teambuilding event. In the summer, we extend the hours of our celebrations a little and enjoy a nice day out on Lake Travis. In May, we had our most profitable month ever, so we’re renting a party barge and bringing the whole team. We’ve found that bringing the entire company encourages bonding across departments, which has sparked innovative solutions to some of our day-to-day problems. -Tony Emerson

8. Fun Fridays: As a startup, we have a super fun work environment and things only get better in the summer. In the summer we have paid half day Fridays from Memorial day to Labor day – there are always optional company sponsored events too BBQ’s, Wine Tasting, F1 Racing, Golf Course etc. Our founders wanted to create a fun work environment that makes people happy – because happy employees are more productive employees! These activities also encourage employee engagement and build company morale. -Stephanie Bullis

For the rest of the summer perks employees love, click here.

Tia Jackson June 22, 2011 Original Article

In 2010, the Grasshopper Group, a company with a proven tracker record of entrepreneurial success, launched a product that failed. Mike Arsenault, the man behind that product agreed to sit down with me and help me learn from his experience. The product is Spreadable, a word of mouth marketing tool that launched in 2010 and shut down a few months after.

The FULL program

Prefer audio? Great! “Right click” here for the MP3 format.

Watch the video interview here: Mixergy Interview with Mike Arsenault.

About Mike Arsenault

Mike Arsenault is a product manager at The Grasshopper Group, makers of Grasshopper, a virtual phone system from entrepreneurs and Chargify, which enables SaaS and Web 2.0 companies to setup recurring billing.

Previously, he headed Spreadable, which aimed to help entrepreneurs increase word of month promotion.

Andrew Warner June 6, 2011 Original Article

Why is this being done?

We’ll be performing the first of several major improvements required to correct issues we discovered during our outage earlier this month.

How will I be affected?

• Callers will hear a temporary message stating that your phone system is down for scheduled maintenance and it will ask them to try their call again later.
• You will be unable to access Grasshopper online. All undelivered email/fax/voicemail notifications will be queued up and then sent to you when the systems return online.
• Our local numbers – both 617-395-5700 and 617-279-2455 – will not function, however our toll free numbers will continue to ring thru to our 24/7 Support team.
• The Support Team will be unable to provide any real time updates during the maintenance window.

We will work to keep the work window as short as possible. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us at 800-279-1455. We’ll post to the system status support page once we are back online.

Entrepreneurs are usually eager individuals who can’t stand the thought of sitting still. One of the reasons why good entrepreneurs fail is because they jump into action without the necessary research and planning. It’s important to execute your vision as quickly as possible, but taking time to map out your plan is essential.

There are several dangers associated with not properly planning ahead of time. Here are 3 reasons planning is crucial:

1. A plan keeps you from drifting off course.

When you don’t have a plan laid out, you are going to find that you won’t have a consistent goal that you are working towards. Your vision one day, may be something else the next. That’s like trying to sail to Europe only to change course to Australia half way through the trip. Without a map, you are going to end up on the West Coast of Africa. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that it’s not where you originally wanted to go. Make sure you have a clear vision first, and then move forward with your plans.

2. Planning forces you to research.

Most businesses fail because they don’t take the time to understand their market or customers. If you write a business plan, you’ll be forced to take the time to understand the market. Your plans may change later, but at least you will be able to have an informed idea as to what they should become.

3. Learn to project your competitor’s moves.

The last thing that you want to do is to go into business with no idea of what your competitors are going to do. If you take the time to plan your business strategy, then you’ll increase your chances of outselling them exponentially.

While planning is important, it’s also important not to plan too much. You need to make sure that you have a general idea of where you are going before you dive right into your business. But one of the pitfalls of over-planning is that the industry and your competitors will change around you if you fail to take the time to notice.

The age old axiom “If you don’t know where you’re going, then you’ll probably end up somewhere else” might as well have been written for business. As an action oriented entrepreneur, one of your biggest instincts is to run directly into the line of fire. Before you do, make sure you have a plan of action carefully laid out. You will be glad you did when you realize how complex your market is.

Guest Post This guest post is written by Gerry Praysman. Gerry is the resident Buzz Marketer at Brainshark, the leading provider of on-demand video presentations anytime, anywhere.

The college graduation season is behind us and a fresh batch of wily youngsters is inundating the workforce. One of the fastest growing job opportunities today is in social management (or whatever we’re calling it this week) and as a December grad from Babson College, I was lucky to jump on the wave a little bit earlier.

My full-time position as the resident Buzz Marketer of Brainshark evolved from a successful internship in social media marketing during the previous summer. I have to admit there are some days when I think I’m crushing the world one tweet at a time, but then there are others when I stare intensely in the bathroom mirror like Eminem in 8 Mile and wonder if I won’t get booed off stage by the time I make it back to my desk. Having said that, here are five things I’ve learned to lean on to keep myself on track:

1. Spend a LOT of time researching

No matter how great of a student you were or how much initiative you took in starting your own business in college, chances are that you know pretty much nothing when you come into the workforce. I don’t mean to sound blunt or discouraging, but the second you drop whatever ego you might have and just start fresh is really the moment you can start applying your talent and aptitude. Besides, it’s good to be a sponge.

The social space is always changing so new ideas and best practices are always flowing through. I spend a handful of hours each week (sometimes each day) reading a variety of tech and media blogs, books, news, and keep an eye on credible influencers and what they have to say. Some of my favorites are oneforty, MarketingProfs, and Jeremiah Owyang but the list really goes on and on.

You need to find good content on your role, as well as your company’s role. Understand how your job plays into your employer’s business goals and make the connections. (Are you B2C? B2B? Both? What industry are you in? Who are your customers? Etc.)

It’s also really important to take the research outside of the digital and into the real world. Connect with other people that do what you do and pick their brains. Do this constantly. You’re going to get back a wide range of info and it’ll be on you to decide what to use, but commit yourself to always being that sponge. This role is new and growing around the world. There is no textbook. Be adventurous and always have an “I want to learn something new every day” mentality.

2. Learn how to disagree

I say “learn” because it’s not as simple as just disagreeing. If you truly believe in something (based on your research, experience, and gut) say it. Whoever hired you believes you’re capable of doing something that others in the organization aren’t. They expect you to have your own opinion. Social management is very subjective in many areas, so you have to be prepared to be on the opposite end of others from time to time.

Yet, don’t disagree just for the sake of doing it or because you feel it’s expected. Remember to stay true to what you believe, even if it might seem like it’s unoriginal. Sometimes everyone else is right on the money and a simple nod and smile is the way to go.  But…

This all comes with one MAJOR caveat: you have to put your money where your mouth is. If something doesn’t work for you, come up with an alternative solution or proposal. Take the lead in instigating the change or path that you’re pushing for. People respect leaders over complainers. You may not get everyone on your side, but you’ll get a lot more respect for being genuine and reliable.

3. It’s OK to not know – just do your best to figure it out

This pretty much speaks for itself. Like I said before, there’s no way you have all the answers. People who have been successful for many years don’t have all the answers. You are in a unique position where people from all levels in the company will rely on your advice and opinion because they genuinely may have no idea. This gives you a lot more wiggle room to say something that sounds right without really knowing, not necessarily because you’re lazy, but simply because you think you should know it.

As tempting and easy as it is to do – don’t – I guarantee it will come back to bite you in the ass. Since people are relying on you for advice, they’ll take it, and if it’s not based on anything, it will do nothing but blow up in your face.

There’s nothing more refreshing and admirable than hearing “I don’t know” from someone …except of course the eventual answer to the question. No one will think you’re stupid if you can’t come up with it on the spot but they would like to know. Go back, figure it out, and get back to them ASAP. Again, it’s a great way to earn respect for being genuine and reliable (two pillars of social media success, by the way).

4. Make sure your personality is actually a good fit

Being on social channels is a lot different than managing them, creating an effective internal and external strategy which aligns with marketing and sales goals, and whatever other nitty gritty things you’ll inevitably be tasked with. These are probably only a small portion of your responsibilities, anyway.

You have to be a people person. You can’t be afraid to show your personality. Your hours are never, will never, and should never be 9 to 5. You have to create a community both within your organization and for your customers as well. Once you create, you cannot abandon. There’s a lot of fact-finding, number-crunching, and smiling (both digitally and physically) involved.

Is this really you? If the answer is absolutely not, it’s totally cool, but you might want to consider looking into something else.

5. Be available both internally and externally

You absolutely need to be the MOST available person. You need to make your desk, cubicle, or closet a hub that all of your co-workers feel safe to approach and get answers or opinions. If they’re not approaching, find them yourself and make sure they’re comfortable with what’s going on.

Social strategies MUST involve the entire organization to be successful. Everyone needs to be moving in the same direction from the top down. Host training sessions, send out some of what you read, encourage and answer questions, and find out a little bit about everybody.

You actually have to be social to be good at this job. It’s a beautiful opportunity because you might not know all that much about the job environment, and yet, you may quickly take on the role of an internal leader.

Same goes for your digital community. Be timely, be courteous, and be open. Check your channels even when you’re not at work to see if a customer/partner issue pops up or for content opportunities. Some interesting stuff happens off-hours, including awesome events.

Check your local scene for some general, all-encompassing events that your customers might be attending to add a more personal touch to your interactions. Don’t stalk them, but always look for ways to add your physical presence to your digital footprint. Obviously, make time to have a life. After all, that’s what made you who you are. But don’t view your online community as just your work responsibility. View it for what it really is: your community.

Who is managing your social media presence at your business? Do you have a social media coordinator or a community manager, or are you a one man show doing it all? Would love to hear what you’ve learned along the way! Tell us in the comments section below.

Gerry is the resident Buzz Marketer at Brainshark, the leading provider of on-demand video presentations anytime, anywhere. Gerry manages the Brainshark Ideas Blog, as well as their social media strategy and content. Although Brainshark prides itself on being able to add voice to documents through the phone, computer mic, or mp3, Gerry insists on using a karaoke machine to musically narrate all of his internal video communications. You can connect with him at @gpraysman on Twitter.

In the last and final piece, we will explore some of the marketing lessons we learned and why we eventually decided to shut down Spreadable.

Marketing Learning

The Grasshopper product has gotten to a place where we get a very predictable return relative to the number of marketing dollars we spend.  With that mindset, we decided to experiment with some marketing dollars for Spreadable and see what resulted.

We experimented with various banner networks, PPC, and radio spends.  Of any channel, radio was the most effective for new customer acquisitions.  The problem was that it drove a customer that we weren’t prepared to support. The radio ads we ran were fairly high level in terms of what our offering was and focused heavily on the benefits of getting more referrals. More referrals = more business. Sounds great, right? When I reached out to these folks to see how their implementation was going, it seemed like many of them came to us without any idea of what the actual product was but bought purely on the benefits explained in the ad.

They also didn’t fit our original hypothesis for target market:  small businesses who sold online. Most of the people that radio drove had businesses that were largely offline.  In addition, they had little knowledge of HTML or how to implement our code snippet on their site.  Not that these weren’t great people, but they required a level of support that we didn’t have the resources to supply. It was almost as if we had to sell Spreadable again after they had already signed up.

We also learned there is a threshold in terms of the number of customers a business needs to have in order for a referral program to be effective.  If you’ve got a small number of customers, your business more than likely depends on less frequent, larger conversions.  Using Spreadable to encourage those kinds of transactions just didn’t work as well as it did for more frequent, smaller, online transactions.

The important takeaway here is to be specific about your target market and be honest about how you intend to sell to them.  If offline businesses were our target, it would have required us to sell and support them in a completely different way than we’re used to. Every business has strengths, and direct selling is definitely not one of ours.

Takeaways

• Don’t spend big marketing dollars until you’ve identified the channels that drive the right kind of customer
• Build low cost/no cost channels first, before spending any money on mass marketing channels. By building out a channel like content marketing, we could have pre-screened our potential customers to only those savvy enough to consume it
• The type of selling that Spreadable required is not a core strength of Grasshopper

The Decision to Shut Down

One of Grasshopper Group’s core values is “Always Entrepreneurial”. What it boils down to is that everyone in our company is always looking for innovative ways to solve problems: whether it’s in our everyday work or launching a new business like Spreadable.

In terms of man hours and marketing, it cost us well over $500K to bring Spreadable to market.  That number could have been far less if we’d built this product with a lean mentality.

Part of being an Entrepreneur is knowing when an investment, time or money, isn’t the right investment to make.  There wasn’t one standalone reason why we made the decision, but a combination of many that led us to shut Spreadable down and refocus on our other products. In summary:

Takeaways

• The market for a word of mouth marketing tool is significantly smaller than the markets our other products reside in
• Spreadable was best sold in a way that is not a core strength of Grasshopper Group
• Cost per acquisition and customer payback were too high to scale
• There was little confidence that a large investment in Spreadable would have yielded a return equal to a similar investment in our other products.

What’s Next

The Spreadable team has been shifted around to other parts of the business.  Of the core team of six, four of us are now working on Grasshopper related projects.  We’ve also got another product in the works, which we’re hoping changes the way you think about surveys. Stay tuned.

This was a team of A+ players and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have worked with them. I also feel equally lucky to have been given the opportunity to start and launch a new product from the ground up.  It was thrilling to say the least.

We’re taking what we’ve learned and are applying it to building bigger and better products for Entrepreneurs. I’m willing to bet that the next one of these I write will have a very different ending.

I’d love to answer any questions, address concerns, and hear your thoughts. Please reach out in the comments.

Read the entire series:

• Part I: Our Vision & Team
• Part II: Developing the App
• Part III: Marketing & Pricing
• Part IV: Final Decisions

Download the entire case study here.

Outsourcing IT projects to other parts of the world has become a very popular way to save money for many businesses. Over $300 billion worth of projects are outsourced abroad every year; most are IT related.

Outsourcing is becoming increasingly more popular and complex. Before you outsource your projects, you should consider which countries it makes the most sense to work with. Some have better track records than others.

The following countries are among the most commonly outsourced to in the world, while still being economically efficient:

India

India is the biggest provider of IT services in the world. They have invested significant amounts of money in IT education, and their universities now offer some of the most comprehensive curriculum available. In the past year, demand for IT services in India has increased by $76 billion. India has become the most popular country for outsourcing many IT projects including programming, networking, call centers and web design. The wages paid to Indian workers can range from 10-50% of what a U.S. worker would need to be paid

China

China is an up-and-coming player in the IT outsourcing industry. Although they may not be as popular for providing IT services as India, they are taking a substantial amount of India’s market share and growing over 30% per year. Some companies are even moving their central operations to China. However, many businesses are concerned about the current political environment in China, which makes them a little uneasy to outsource their services there.

Philippines

Like India, the Phillipines is a strong English speaking country with a detailed knowledge of Western culture. This is helping them become a leading IT provider. Demand for their IT services is growing at about 30% a year. Web design, software development and animation are some of the services that the Phillipines are best known for.

Indonesia

Indonesia is rapidly growing as a provider of IT services. Indonesia is a growing economy that is moving away from being an agricultural society. Experts believe that its IT industry will grow by 15% a year through 2014. However, some U.S. companies are still reluctant to move their IT services over to Indonesia because they have not provided these services as long. Larger companies in Indonesia have reputations for offering higher quality IT services that Americans have been impressed with.

Outsourcing your IT services is becoming more popular than ever before. You can save a lot of money by outsourcing to other countries, but you want to make sure that you outsource to a country that has a reputation for success. Currently, India is the most well-known location for outsourcing IT services, but you can consider many other countries as well. This can save you a significant amount of money and should be a strategy you take into consideration when you manage your business.

Conference calls are not exactly the most exciting thing in the world to engage in. Many meetings are boring and mind-numbing enough as it is. When you have to deal with the added confusion of not being able to speak directly to your audience, you are likely to find that conference calls will also be rather dull as well.

Fortunately, with a little preparation you can keep your conference call from falling apart. Just like improving an actual, physical meeting, the trick is to keep the call organized and everyone on top of what needs to be done.

1. Keep the noise level down.

   Noise is significantly amplified over a speaker phone. Make sure everyone is on the same page and tries to keep the sound volume down as low as possible. Tell everyone to limit multitasking and restrict the room to people who are on the conference call. What do we do at Grasshopper on conference calls? Everyone stays muted until it’s their turn to talk.

2. Speak slower than normal.

   It is important to train your voice to speak slower than usual. People will have a harder time following you when they can’t match your voice with your mouth or body language. Speaking slower will help your voice come across as a little bit clearer as well.

3. Don’t interject prematurely.

   The moment people start cutting each other off or trying to have side conversations, the meeting is going to completely fall apart. Make sure that you wait your turn to speak so that you can maintain a semblance of order.

4. Stay on cue.

   Tangents are the death of any meeting, but the moderator may feel powerless to call the meeting back to order. Everyone has stuff they need to do and nobody wants to be at on conference call all day. Stay on point so that things can move along smoothly. Here, each meeting has to have an agenda and we have to stick to it. If things start to get off topic, for the sake of time and our sanity, we simply suggest it be taken offline. It keeps meetings shorter and to the point.

5. Use your voice for emphasis.

   Remember, 80 percent of communication is non-verbal. In a virtual meeting, you lose most of that. Your voice is about the only non-verbal key that you have left, so use it to convey humor or frustration to the other members.

6. Take your call as seriously as any meeting.

   Conference calls may be more difficult to work with than other meetings, but they are every bit as important. Take them seriously and stay organized so they will run smoothly.

Conference calls can be confusing and annoying, but they can go a lot smoother if you manage them properly. The biggest headache in dealing with a conference call is the fact that participants can’t see each other. As long as you coordinate the call properly, you should be able to get a lot out of your conference call with minimal headaches.

As a company with employees spread out across the U.S., there is no shortage of conference calls here at Grasshopper. It’s important for us to make sure our conference calls are as productive and efficient as possible, so we try to stick to these 6 tips and also include video when possible.

How do you make conference calls less daunting and more productive? Share your tips in the comments section below!

This is the third part in our four-part Spreadable post mortem. In the third part, we will explore some of our marketing tactics & pricing initiatives. See Part I & Part II.

Time to Hold a Marketing Launch?

When you’re working on something new, it’s hard to resist the urge to go out into the world and tell anyone who’ll listen.  We made that mistake by focusing on a premature launch event and PR instead of continuing to learn from our customers. Everyone thought, “We need to build buzz.”

Planning and executing a marketing launch takes a ton of time and effort from people across your entire organization. If done at the wrong time in a product’s life, it ends up being more of a distraction than anything else.

Parties are a great way to get out there and meet people, but are they the right people? Are they your target customers? If you haven’t found product/market fit yet – how can you be sure? We were there pushing a demo, not learning from customers. Launching loudly had other negative side effects:

It created looming artificial deadlines for our development team.  Saying “We need this feature for the launch party!” caused our development team a lot of unwarranted stress. It didn’t have to be that way. We could have just shown people mockups or screenshots. We didn’t need the entire feature to be done. We’ll think about ways to demo cheaply next time.

We also missed a significant opportunity to get a bunch of paying customers.  When we threw the party, we weren’t even ready to accept credit cards. It sounds so crazy looking back on it.

If you’ve done your job building a small group of visionary customers, launch your product with those people first.  They are the ones who will help you hone your product and your message.

Takeaways

• Our Marketing Launch Party ended up being more of a distraction and it caused unnecessary stress for our team
• Marketing launches are for when you’re ready to scale the business – not before then.

Should We Charge?

The advent of freemium has given many of us the idea that offering our products for free will build user numbers faster and result in more feedback.  More sign ups = more feedback = better future iterations of your product, right? In my experience, that hasn’t been true.

When we initially launched Spreadable in “Beta”, we didn’t charge anything.  Though it felt good to have a whole bunch of users, we were missing the opportunity to find out if what we had built could actually generate real revenue.  Customers saying they will pay you money is very different then a customer writing you a check.  There is no better form of validation than revenue.  If you’ve got bugs, don’t worry about it. Customers who’ve paid you will be very prompt about letting you know.

When customers aren’t paying anything – they don’t feel as compelled to invest themselves in what you’re building.  If a customer has paid you, feedback becomes pointed and immediate. It’s not always pleasant feedback – but it’s feedback you need to hear.

When you don’t charge something from day one, you don’t learn how much a new customer is worth to you.  More importantly, you don’t learn if your free customers will ever feel compelled to pay you for your service.  Ours didn’t.

Takeaways

• Charge something from Day 1 and take payment information at minimum.  It validates that you’re solving a real problem and whether or not your business will be sustainable.
• Charging from Day 1 also helps you understand three key metrics:
  • CPA (How much it costs you to acquire a new customer)
  • LTV (How much a customer is worth to you over their entire lifetime)
  • Payback (How long it takes to recover the cost of acquiring that customer)

Conversion Lessons

When we started charging real dollars at the beginning of 2011, we launched with a fairly straightforward pricing model: Two plans, monthly and annual, $49 & $489, respectively. Conversion was unacceptable using this model, so began a barrage of experimentation to improve it.

From January 1-March 1, we churned through multiple marketing site mini-redesigns, a full redesign, a copywriting overhaul, seven different iterations of our sign up flow, five price changes, introduced a free trial, and produced a three minute video about the product.

We were making these changes in a relatively un-scientific way, opting for quicker iterations instead of incrementally rolling out changes in calculated tests. We chose speed over quantitative confidence and it was chaotic to say the least. The following is my best effort to highlight the key learning:

Anchor Pricing

Launching with two plans seemed like a simple way to present our product. We learned a lot about pricing strategy as our market invalidated that assumption. There were two big takeaways:

First, prominently displaying the annual plan at $489 on the first iteration of our pricing page deterred many new customers from signing up. $489 is a scary number for most folks and it wasn’t immediately clear that this was for a yearly subscription. The visual emphasis was in the wrong place.

Second, when we launched a pricing page with multiple plans, we saw a notable increase in conversion. In fact, the increase can be attributed to a theory called anchor pricing. The high level idea behind anchor pricing involves setting a potential customer’s “anchor” at a higher price point than what you actually want to charge them. In our case, we set our anchor at $199 for a monthly plan with some additional features. In reality, we didn’t expect anyone to sign up for it.

Not only did overall conversion increase, but we saw about half of customers signing up on the middle and top tier plans. Had we scaled the business and kept the same sign up mix, it would have meant a substantial increase in revenue over the old pricing model.

Throttling

Observing the change in sign up mix from the pricing model shift, I wanted to dig deeper into the thought process of people signing up on our more expensive plans. There were a couple of differentiators between each plan, but I wanted to find out what was motivating the people who signed up on the Grow or Max plans.

It turns out that the absence of certain features on the lower tier plans really wasn’t it. Instead, it was the fact that we were throttling the right key activity across the plan mix: Referrals.

By capping the number of referrals you could theoretically receive, people instinctively chose the plan where they believed they would never have to worry about missing out on receiving a referral. Since in most cases a referral was worth more than the $25 difference between Start and Grow, people felt more comfortable paying for that security.

The Power of Video (or lack thereof)

As we struggled to get conversion up to an acceptable place on the marketing site, we learned from many potential customers that it just wasn’t clear what Spreadable actually was. To remedy this, we made some significant copy changes to the site and hypothesized that a short video would go a long way in explaining our product. We looked into working with a couple of the well-known studios in the space, but quickly realized that price was going to be an issue.  So, we started hacking a solution instead.

We used Mechanical Turk to transcribe the audio of four product videos we really liked and then dissected each script to find out what made them so good. We discovered that there was a pretty consistent framework used throughout all of them and set out to develop a script of our own.

When the script was done, we worked with an extremely talented motion graphics designer to bring the video to life.  When it was done, the reaction we got from people was that they finally got Spreadable and the value it could create for their business.

Despite the reaction, the video didn’t have the effect on conversion that we expected. In fact, it had the opposite effect. After adding the video to our primary landing page, conversion went down.  There are too many potential reasons to guess at why this occurred, but the key learning here is that people had a better understanding of our product and still didn’t sign up. This served as another red flag as to why this market may not have been right for us.

Fake It

Earlier I wrote about how impactful moving to a three plan mix was on conversion. Well, guess what? We didn’t actually have any of the features advertised on the more expensive plans. We were faking it.

While we were actively working on those features, putting the new pricing page out there was really a big experiment. As I explained earlier, we had hypotheses around the effectiveness of throttling and the plan mix itself.  If we had launched the three plan pricing page and continued to see dismal conversion, we would have had a very different problem to solve in terms of our product offering. Instead, when we launched the new page conversion doubled.

I get some funny looks from people when I tell this story. In some ways, it feels a little bit dishonest to be selling something you don’t actually have. But imagine the alternative. You spend all of this time and money on a product that no one wants, when you could have simply created a pricing page to tell you if anyone would have bought it.

We didn’t actually take anyone’s money either. If a new customer signed up on either Grow or Max, I personally reached out to them and refunded their first month. I thanked for them choosing us and explained that I needed their help to shape our future offering. I enlisted them as an advisor and used their expertise to help us build a better product. I didn’t get one negative reaction from a customer.

In your experiments, you may not have such a forgiving customer base. In those cases, just apologize and make it right.  There is only one thing a customer likes better than signing up for your product and having a great experience, and that’s being apologized to and having a situation rectified.

Guarantee vs. Trial

Our first pricing model launched with a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee for customers who weren’t happy with the product. If it was within 30 days of signup, we would refund people’s initial sign up fees with no questions asked.  We heard inklings from potential customers that they would have liked to have had a free trial, but it wasn’t until we tested the change that we realized how impactful it could be.

Moving to the 30 Day Trial was our last big effort to increase conversion. It nearly tripled conversion rate on our marketing site. It’s important to note that these aren’t real conversions yet – but the number of people we were moving through the app increased significantly.  We didn’t make it long enough to see how many of those leads became real paying customers, but my guess is that it would have been a significant improvement over conversion with the 30 Day Guarantee.

Takeaways

• Anchor pricing strategy, where we set an anchor at a much higher price point than our target RPC, was a very effective means to increase conversion
• Throttling plans by the right key activity (in our case referrals) drove more new sign ups to the more expensive plans
• By faking our pricing page with features that weren’t finished yet, we were able to learn what the real demand for our product was much sooner than if we had waited until the features were done
• In our case, a 30 Day Free Trial was drastically more effective at converting site visitors than a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. (I know. You’re not technically charging on Day 1 anymore but you are taking the customer’s payment information and authorizing the card.)

The last and final Part IV will be available Wednesday, June 22nd.

• The Spreadable Story
• Part I: Our Vision & Team
• Part II: Developing the App
• Part III: Marketing & Pricing
• Part IV: Final Decisions

Download the entire case study here.

You’ve finally made the leap. You quit your day job, set up a home office and started your new life as an entrepreneur. Congratulations! But now that the initial excitement has passed, you may be feeling some trepidation. Perhaps you aren’t as productive as you’d like, or you find that you keep hitting a mental block, or maybe it’s just a matter of feeling a bit lost now that you no longer have the “office scuttlebutt” to look forward to. If this sounds familiar, you’ve likely overlooked one of the most basic components of the office – the break-room.

There’s a reason every office has a break-room or a water-cooler, and it’s not to provide a delivery system for office gossip. Scheduled breaks increase productivity and will ultimately allow you to accomplish higher quality work. In fact, a recent study at the University of Illinois, conducted by Alejandro Lleras, found that “When faced with long tasks, it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself. Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task!” Obviously, you do not need an actual physical space, but it is highly important and beneficial to schedule regular breaks throughout your workday.

Taking a pause can help in various ways:

1. Breaking down your workload into smaller “chunks” makes tasks seem less daunting.

   If you know that you only have to accomplish one or two goals before taking a break, you are more likely to cease procrastinating. The break in this case functions as a reward and may actually be the catalyst that gets you to sit down and start working in the first place.

2. Giving yourself a moment away from your work can refresh your brain.

   It’s fairly common while working to come up against a wall. You can’t find the right words for a proposal, a proper solution for a problem or you find that despite reading a contract three times you haven’t absorbed any of it. All of this can be remedied by taking a break. Get up, take a walk around the block, or grab a cup of coffee. Occupy your mind with something else, and when you return to your desk, it’ll be with ‘fresh eyes.’ Think of it as a mental re-boot.

3. Scheduling breaks means that ultimately you have to map out your workday, which means that you are more organized, and less likely to go off track.

   Organizing oneself is difficult. “The Boss” is not always loved, but his deadlines and demands keep you accountable. Being your own boss can be hard, but if you plan your workload (and break times), you end up with a map. A guide makes it easier to keep track of all you’ve accomplished, and alerts you as to what’s on the horizon. Your schedule acts as a light, and functioning without one can often feel like aimlessly rambling around in the dark.

So, give yourself a break! You deserve it, and you’ll likely be surprised by how much your business benefits. Often times it’s the simplest things that prove the most effective. No need to spend thousands of dollars on the newest computer outfitted with the latest ‘productivity software,’ when a simple cup of coffee or a phone call to mom might work just as well.

At Grasshopper, we have a quiet room filled with a leather couch, beanbag chairs, a massage chair, and books, where employees can go to take a break (or a nap if needed ).  For those who want a less laid back break, in the common area, we have a Wii and a basketball hoop where people can challenge their co-workers to a game of soccer or horse.  Do you schedule breaks into your work day?

This is the second part in our four-part Spreadable post mortem. In the second part, we will explore the development of the app along with a few mistakes we made in the midst of it. See Part I.

Version 1.0

We assumed that because Grasshopper’s referral program worked so well, it would easily port over to the businesses of our customers. Therefore, simply recreating that referral platform appeared to be the most efficient route to getting an app launched.

We spent the first three months building in a black hole known as Basecamp (37signals project management software). It was not grounded in any real customer learning – just our own judgment calls based on internal debate. We didn’t get out of the building nor did we try to learn what real problems existed in the minds of our potential customers.

At the end of the first development cycle, members of the team didn’t believe the app fulfilled even part of what its future potential could be. We were embarrassed to show it to people.

In May of 2010, we scrapped the first iteration of Spreadable and started to rebuild the entire app from scratch, reusing pieces of development work where we could.

This reset was our first crucial mistake.  Showing customers something we were embarrassed about would have been much better than not showing them anything at all. We would have learned more from people telling us the app sucked. Then at least we could have asked why.

Takeaway

• Ship the first version of your product – no matter how embarrassing. We would have saved months of development time by seeing how people interacted with that first iteration.

Version 2.0

After another three months of design & development, the app was at a point where we were ready to show it to people. Up to this point, we hadn’t shown any UI to anyone which would come back to bite us.

Informed only by the experiences we’d had when building the Grasshopper referral program, we designed a severely over-featured product.  The resulting experience was an over-complicated, feature-bloated UI that confused the heck out of our early customers.  If this is the Spreadable Post Mortem, that redesign was the Cause of Death.  The experience was bad and we ended up ripping out about 50% of the features in the end.

There are good things and bad things about the democratization of low-fidelity prototyping tools like Balsamiq and Omnigraffle.  Non-designers now have ability to communicate their ideas visually, but actual UX work should be left to those trained to do UX. I know – because I take responsibility for much of the confusing UI we ended up incorporating into the app. Engaging a real UX designer would have paid back tenfold down the road.

To start getting feedback, we reached out to friendly first contacts and built a small group of people that we believed fit the criteria for early adopters. We conducted qualitative interviews and user testing sessions in parallel. I can’t say enough about these people. Their feedback was invaluable. Finally talking to customers allowed us to make decisions based on actual data vs. our own unfounded opinions.

We learned that the real pain for a lot of people was around thanking their best customers for making referrals. What they wanted was a very lightweight system to incentivize people to make referrals on their behalf. Customers wanted to reward their customers with small tokens of appreciation like gift cards or branded t-shirts.

The alternative that most customers had experimented with already was affiliate marketing.  Our customers’ pain was that asking their best customers to sign up for an affiliate program just didn’t feel right. They also didn’t want to incentivize their best customers with cash. No value was added to their brand when they did that.  Affiliate programs were too much of a hassle and they saw Spreadable as an alternative.  Since we hadn’t learned this early on, Spreadable wasn’t equipped to solve this problem for people.

Takeaways

• We paid for not having a professional UX designer involved early. It resulted in an experience that was confusing and overly-complicated
• We ended up ripping out half of the features that were originally “must-haves” (Rodrigo & Jeff will never let me live this down)
• We re-aligned once we started learning from customers and started focusing on building things that mattered to our customers, not just internal stakeholders