CASE I
Provide Advice to an entrepreneur about websites
It’s easy to educate prospects about your product or service once they’re on your website, but how do you get them there? One way is by getting your company’s name and URL out on the Web. You can do that by writing content for online newsletters, trading links and posting messages on chat sites. Communicating through other Web site attracts quality visitors to your site – and it can be done for free.
Content may still be king, but it’s an expensive kingdom to maintain. Many organizations can’t afford webmasters whose only job is to develop new site content. But because you’re an expert in your field, many companies will be more than thrilled if you give them content in exchange for a link to your site. Your content can be posted on Web sites or sent out in their e-mail. The “publisher” benefits by offering relevant information to their site visitors. When you teach these visitors something new, you also create a ‘soft sell’ marketing opportunity. Don’t pitch your business. Rather, share some educational information to establish trust and brand awareness.
Just what is “educational information?” its content that addresses your prospects’ problems. For example, if your company sells exercise equipment, you can provide tips, case studies or statistics about fitness. Your readers will want to know how you, the fitness expert, can help them achieve their goals. With a simple click on your URL, prospects can travel to your site and discover your company’s line of fitness products.
Of course, you aren’t limited to providing articles to Web sites. Try asking for a link to your site or a link trade. Just don’t put someone else’s link on your home page – that encourages people to leave your site as soon as they arrive! Links from sites related to yours provide another benefit: they boost your site’s position in search engines that rank sites according to “link popularity.” If you would like feedback in addition to getting free exposure, try hanging out in chat rooms. As a fitness expert, for example, you can ask people what prevents them from exercising consistently. Let people know you are doing market research. Chat room participants may happily share their thoughts with you online.
Find your target audience by starting with the industry Web sites you frequent. Also, run a key-word query in search engines. Tell Web site managers what your company does and how your information can help their visitors. You may be offered a link or a writing opportunity. In addition, try posting chat room messages that reveal valuable information. You’ll be greatly rewarded with free PR opportunities that can lead to immediate and long-term sales.
ADVICE TO AN ENTREPRENEUR
An entrepreneur, who has a website for his business, has read the above article and comes to you for advice:
1. Seems like a lot of work in writing articles and time in chat rooms. Although it might be a way of getting people to my website with only a small expense, do you think that this approach is worth the investment of time?
2. What are the other benefits of this approach over and above simple a cost saving?
3. Are there particular businesses and products more suitable for this approach?
CASE II
PROVIDE ADVICE TO AN ENTREPRENEUR ABOUT SOME LEGAL ASPECTS OF STARTING A BUSINESS
You just started your business – who has time to think about an exit strategy? If you’re committed a very common legal mistake, says Alan S. Kopit, partner at Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP in Cleveland and advisor to Lawyers.com. “Now is the time to decide those issues – not after a problem develops,” he says. Here, kopit runs down a few more common legal blunders to avoid:
- Failing to get good advice. Don’t ever go it alone. Instead, Kopit suggests entrepreneurs enlist the services and counsel of a good lawyer, an accountant and an insurance agent at the very beginning of their start-up ventures. “ Younger [entrepreneurs] particularly need people to bounce their ideas off of,” he says.
- Neglecting important employment consideration for start-ups. Consider whether you need a written non-compete contract with employees, whether you’ll use independent contractors and so on.
- Selecting the wrong business structure. Should you classify your business as a sole proprietorship, an LLC, an LLP or a corporation? “There are tax implications that go along with [each choice]” cautions Kopit. Be sure to with each option with the help of your advisors to determine which form will best serve your business plan.
Advice to an entrepreneur
An entrepreneur, who is looking to create a new business, has read the above article and comes to you for advice:
1. It is not surprising that a lawyer should say that an entrepreneur needs a lawyer to start a business. I certainly do not have money to burn on unnecessary legal fees. Which things do I need a lawyer for now, which things need a lawyer but can be delayed and finally which things can I do myself?
2. Other than the costs, are there any disadvantages to “bouncing ideas” of a lawyer?
3. I certainly don’t want to pay more taxes than I must. What the tax implications of the different legal structures for the business?
CASE III
ANALYSIS AND ADVICE ON SIMPLE IMAGES
Founded in 1990 by RichardSquire, Breckenridge Brewery began with the goal of making great beer in a Colorado town better known for skiing than anything else. Originally producing just 3,000 barrels per year, it now operates seven pubs and restaurant and produces almost 30,000 barrels. Though the brewery was nabbing top honors at microbrewery competitions in the late 1990s, competitors were entering not only its core markets, but also its hometown of only its core markets, but also its hometown of Denver “the Napa Valley of microbreweries,” according to marketing director Steve Kurowski.
During
Teaming up with design firm Barnhart/CMI, the brewery poured out its compute-generated logo and created one as handcrafted as its beer, eliminating complicated elements that were difficult to translate into packaging and merchandising, such as the drop-shadow effect on the mountain. A more colloquial voice was adopted for ads, with taglines such as “Brewed the way it is because we drinking most of it.” The new visuals debuted on materials for the brewery’s Summer Bright Ale.
After
Today, Breckenridge is ready to uncap the new packaging of its flagship brand, Avalanche Amber Ale, and its new Hefeweizen. SummerBright sales overflowed expectations, by 25 percent. And for the first time, consumers can buy promotional items such as pint glasses and T-shirts. Sometimes, the best way to show great taste is with simplicity rather than flash.
Advice to an entrepreneur
1. A cheaper way of advertising that is more effective at attracting customers – is this too good to be true? Why has the “simpler is better” approach worked for Breckenridge Brewery?
2. Assume that the CEO asked you about pricing its pint glasses and T-shirts to maximize profit from these items, or should I have a lower price to increase volume and benefit from the promotional impact the purchase these items have on the sales of my beer?”
3. Would you advise this approach to an entrepreneur whose primary products are highly technological? What about an entrepreneur whose products are sold to industrial buyers?