RESOURCE CENTRE

Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 12 January 2005

In this week's issue:

• how small businesses can compete in a big business world
• increase your sales with affiliate marketing
• making copyright protection work for you
• finding the news with RSS
  

Weekly stir

How small businesses can compete in a big business world

One of the biggest worries facing the new business owner, or anyone thinking of starting up their own venture, is that they just won't be able to compete with all the big companies that are already out there. After all, they think, the business world is dominated by big corporations and we won't stand a chance of surviving, never mind competing.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, small firms are inherently more competitive than their larger counterparts and have many qualities and advantages that big businesses often try to copy to improve their own performance.

Here are five reasons why small firms can beat much larger ones.

1) Small businesses are so much closer to their customers. In fact, the proprietor of a small business will very often meet and speak directly to customers every day. In large firms the owners or decision makers often don't get exposure to their market at all. The advantage to the small firm is they can spot opportunities and have the "nose" to be much more need-oriented.

2) Small firms are more responsive and can change things in their operation quicker than large businesses. This is mainly down to size and scale. So in this respect small firms usually find it easier to innovate or introduce something new at very short notice.

3) Small businesses can be fanatical. They allow their owners to be obsessive about their business and products, and as a result never give up in their attempts to make their service, new development or project a success, no matter how many times they can't quite get it right. Big firms on the other hand are often too inflexible to allow this.

4) Small businesses can keep their costs lower. They don't have any choice. They haven't got the overheads of their larger counterparts, and as a result the cost of innovating or developing something new doesn't have to be a competitive barrier.

5) Small firms are inherently more flexible. They can turn orders around fast, they can try several ideas at once, and they can have more informal business plans which allow them to react and adapt to market or customer needs almost at will.

It's sometimes easier for the smaller firm to concentrate on quality and service, maintain individuality and gain real advantage by simply trying to be better than everyone else in the eyes of their customers.

And it's worth remembering the old business maxim that people prefer to buy better products, not just the cheapest. So even though small firms may not be able to beat their larger competitors on price, they can certainly try to beat them on quality.

Here is a list of non-price factors that are proven to affect the decision making process of purchasers.

• Product or service superiority - potential buyers will compare quality standards and performance levels between similar offerings.
• Specification - how close it is to meeting their exact needs.
• Convenience - of ordering, delivery, payment terms and so on.
• Customer service - before, during and after the sale.

All of these "quality" factors come into play in a purchaser's mind, and they're all factors that a small business can do something about in a competitive marketplace.

So yes, small firms can compete very effectively indeed, and fear of larger firms should certainly not put the budding entrepreneur off starting their own venture. Indeed, many large companies study small businesses very closely and will very often go out of their way to emulate their success.

Marketing tip

Increase your sales with affiliate marketing

One of the cheapest and easiest ways of promoting your product or service on the Internet is through an affiliate marketing programme.

This means you pay other businesses a referral fee whenever a visitor from their website completes a transaction on yours. Your affiliates provide a link to your service, and you pay them an agreed fee when a visitor either clicks through to your website, signs up to your newsletter, or buys your product online.

Plenty of big businesses have affiliate programmes - for example, Amazon - and more small businesses are using the strategy to increase traffic to, and sales from, their websites.

Here are four practical tips to help you put an affiliate marketing strategy into action:

1) Choose the right software. There are plenty of programs available to help you manage your affiliate marketing - some are expensive, but the pricier options offer benefits such as real-time traffic statistic analysis. You can read reviews and prices at the Review Centre.

2) Pick quality affiliates. Your first port of call should be an affiliate network, where you can get more information about how different affiliate programmes work, and find some potential partners.

3) Consider hiding your affiliate links. Your ad can appear less credible to online shoppers if it's obviously part of an affiliate programme. And affiliate links can be easy to spot, as they often link directly back to you and have the word 'affiliate' included in the URL. See this practical tutorial to find out how you can remove the relevant code from view.

4) Give your affiliates a good deal. There are a number of options for paying commission to your affiliates - you can do this per click, per lead, or per sale. This useful guide explains how each payment system works. Meanwhile, directories such as Affiliate Seeking and Best Affiliate Programs will tell you how much commission your competitors are splashing out on their affiliates.

In the UK Small Business Marketing Bible you can find more tips on promoting your business online, as well as techniques and tactics that will help increase sales for any small business in any sector.

Legal tip

Making copyright protection work for you

We explained how trade marks work a couple of weeks ago, and this week we're looking at copyright, which can affect all sorts of small businesses and freelancers.

• Copyright is much simpler than the trade mark system (although there's no denying that it can get complicated when disputes happen).
  
  
• Copyright differs from a trade mark in that it gives your work automatic protection - you don't have to register anything.
  
  
• The Government's Patent Office gives a list of things copyright protects, including books and articles, works of art, computer programs, film and music. So it's particularly important for creative businesses, or those working in publishing, translation, the arts or the media.

Small businesses are more vulnerable to copyright infringement than others - enforcing your rights is expensive when you think somebody might have used your work without permission. But there are several ways you can improve the way your work is protected and hopefully avoid problems in future.

• One way that's particularly useful with written or recorded material is to date your work, seal it in an envelope, send it to yourself by special delivery post, and keep the envelope sealed when it arrives. This can be opened and used later, if you believe somebody has infringed your copyright.
  
  
• A second way is to send the work to your solicitor or bank, and ask them to store it. This will involve a fee, but it will help you prove when you created the work if a dispute should arise.
  
  
• Copyright exists automatically in the UK, which means your main problem is proving you own it. But you can use your free rights by simply making it clear on the work itself who created it and when. The traditional way is to include a copyright notice, which looks like this:
  
  © [name of your business or your own name] [date] All rights reserved.
  
  
• Remember that in some countries, copyright doesn't automatically apply in the same way as it does in the UK. If you export to places such as the US, you need to register your copyright three months before it comes into effect.
  
  
• This is something that's worth getting expert advice on - so speak to a copyright lawyer, or have a look at the UK Copyright Service's website for some general advice.
  
  
• You can also find practical help and advice at The Key, a Government site that manages to explain copyright, design and patent law in an easy to understand language.

Our Red Tape BUSTER has more information about copyright as well as hundreds of legal tips, FAQs, scenarios and legal checklists essential for small businesses.

IT tip

Finding the news with RSS

The letters RSS are popping up all over the Internet these days. You may have read an article about this news system, or you may have seen the little orange button on websites that offers something called an RSS feed.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, and it's worth finding out a little about it since it can save you time and help you keep up to date with the latest developments in your business sector and with the news in general.

Leaving aside all the technical coding that goes on in the background, it's simply a way of gathering together all the news sources you're interested in, putting them in one place, and updating them whenever you need. It isn't yet used by all news websites, but it's likely it will be in the coming months and years, because it makes life easier for the average Internet user - such as yourself.

The BBC has RSS feeds, and so does the Government's Office for National Statistics. There are feeds for the Welsh Tourist Board, for the Guardian, and the British Library. The really useful thing about them is it saves having to surf endlessly from website to website to keep up with important news.

There are several ways of getting hold of the feeds that interest you.

• The first is by downloading something called an RSS reader (or aggregator). RSS reader programs typically display the content in much the same way as an e-mail inbox. Check out this list of free readers.
  
  
• Once you've installed the RSS reader on your computer, you can search for the news feeds that are important for your business sector.
  
  
• You can also subscribe to any of the free services available on news feed websites. Two of the best are My Yahoo and Bloglines.
  
  
• The third way is a little more complex, but useful if you're familiar with Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. You can download a tool to your desktop that will convert your e-mail program so that it can receive RSS feeds as well as your usual e-mails. One of the most popular is NewsGator.

So, what are the benefits of all this?

• Once you're set up with the tools to receive RSS, you'll find subscribing to the various news feeds quite simple. Government departments, newspapers and businesses are adding new services every day, so in a short time you can get the latest on what's happening in your field.
  
  
• RSS is also very useful for alerting customers to news, events, or new products without them having to remember to go to your website or scroll through a long newsletter. Your customers can scan the headlines, and quickly decide if they want to find out more information.
  
  
• Unlike e-mail newsletters, RSS content doesn't run the risk of being blocked by spam filters.

Finally, you should check out the Internet Guide to Engineering, Mathematics and Computing's comprehensive RSS tutorial, which provides FAQs and case studies to help you understand RSS in practical terms.

New business idea

Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK.

Here is this week's idea:

• Stag and hen night organiser

Just one word

Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.

Do you know what a 'link farm' is?

a) an online repository of expired domain names for sale
b) a random directory of links with no connection to one another
c) a website that allows people to exchange business cards online
d) a directory of available online joint ventures

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

Did you know?

Directory of National Occupational Standards

The people responsible for funding and supporting our network of Sector Skills Councils, the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), is piloting a directory of National Occupational Standards (NOS) that will ultimately let anyone find information about the accredited training for every business sector that has developed NOS. SSDA is asking for feedback on the pilot from interested parties up until 25 January.

The pilot, which contains a limited number of NOS, can be viewed at:
http://www.ukstandards.co.uk

Worth a visit

Your IT problems solved

These useful web troubleshooting tools are mostly free, and aim to help non-techies who are suffering problems such as their website going down, a virus attack or their domain name not working. It explains what might have gone wrong in a number of different scenarios, and takes you step by step through the process you need to follow to rectify the problem. Some of the info is still fairly technical, but there are some good links and the help section has a jargon buster with some concise explanations of techy-speak.

Check out:
http://www.network-tools.com

Search the future

PubSub matches your requests for information against new information as it is published on the web, in real time. If you want to make sure you're up to speed with blog posts and press releases for your sector as they appear, PubSub is a valuable tool for helping you keep your finger on the pulse - and best of all, it lets you choose how, when and where you want to receive your own tailored information.

PubSub is at:
http://www.pubsub.com

Worth a read

We've recommended this new book's bestselling prequel, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, before for its practical advice on improving your personal and professional effectiveness. Published last November, the latest in the series focuses on how to achieve your full potential and how to meet today's challenges. Check out:

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Good luck

The EnterQuest Team

This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate.