Do you have a question for our upcoming radio show guest?

Holding a Design Contest to get your new logo created can be very different than using a conventional design firm. Some of the one on one interaction of working with an individual designer is sometimes sacrificed for the variety you receive with a design contest.

George Ryan, Founder of GeekFace, is joining us on Small Business Trends Radio on Tuesday, August 12th at 1:30PM EST to outline the differences and explain how to run a successful design contest.

If you have a question for George, we’ll try to present it to him during the live show. The deadline for your questions is Monday, August 11th at noon Eastern time.

Ask away below in the comments section!

There are literally dozens of traps associated with small business owners entering into negotiations with “big players.” But let’s face it, these days there are many small business owners and entrepreneurs being approached by large companies. So how can you know when to decline entering into negotiations? How can you defeat the common negotiating strategies used by big players to win concessions from small business owners?

David Wanetick, Managing Director of IncreMental Advantage, is our featured guest in this Episode of The Small Business Trends Radio. David will share tips and tactics to defeat the strategies used by the “big boys” against small companies to seduce them and he will explain how to successfully enter into negotiations with them.

Here’s a sampling from the show:

• Common negotiating tactics — such as good cop, bad cop, limited authority and exploding offers will be used. One representative is agreeable while another is aggressive, the representative claims to not have the authority to make final decisions or the company begins to force tight deadline decisions to be made which is a sign of a large company in need - and also in a weak position.

• Three reasons why entrepreneurs — do not make good negotiators are 1.) they are emotionally attached to their business and easily seduced 2.) they are not available to enter into lengthy negotiations that will monopolize all of their time 3.) they have full authority and do not have the benefit of input or foresight from others. Many are also likely to entertain each and every approach by a large company while sharing confidential, valuable information which can be damaging. You must safeguard your proprietary information against competitors and big boy “fishing expeditions” for information.

• Seemingly off-hand remarks — during breaks can undermine your negotiating position or nix a deal. Such as stating that you were not able to bring necessary documentation because there was a recent incident with a roof leak.

• Put your first offer — out on the table so as to maximize getting the price you want by making the initial opening offer and using the psychological tactic of “anchoring.” The higher the number initially spoken, the closer to it the closing price will be.

Think you’re ready to run with the “big dogs?” Ever heard of the Pygmalion effect? You can use it. Learn how by listening to David’s full interview by clicking the red and yellow player below.

Brought to you by our sponsor:

Infusionsoft.com

When a business is facing a crisis and has to answer to the media, there is little time to react effectively. The stress created by a crisis often limits rational thinking and can lead to costly mistakes and missteps. This is why it is essential for both large and small businesses to have a crisis management plan in place. Minimizing the damage from a crisis can prevent an unfortunate incident from blowing up into a full-scale public relations nightmare.

Glenn Ebersole, Chief Executive of the Renaissance Group, is our featured guest in this Episode of The Small Business Trends Radio. Glenn will share examples of successful responses and unsuccessful responses to crisis when dealing with the media.

Here’s a sampling from the show:

• Some common public relations errors — that many businesses make when faced with a crisis are 1.) to not have a crisis management plan in place 2.) to not be easily accesible 3.) to fail to provide information that’s easily accesible to the media and 4.) to not maintain ongoing positive relationships with reporters, editors and target media.

• When developing a crisis management plan — be sure to select and organize a crisis management team consisting of a spokesperson, legal counsel, someone with financial and operational background and possibly outside PR counsel that are available to respond immediately. When a crisis happens, you need to know who to contact first.

• What can a small business do — to develop relationships with the media? For starters, you can develop a media kit including a one page description of your company and a contact listed. Connect with local reporters and read what they write, send them news and press releases, send them additional pieces of interest relating to topics they’ve written about previously and attend events where your local media may be present.

Following the suggestions above to develop healthy relations with the media will build credibility around you and your business and, in a sense, gives you third party endorsement. Being proactive and building a positive image with them will go a long way in the midst of a crisis for a positive public relations experience.

Do you have a crisis management plan in place? You can learn more by listening to Glenn’s full interview by clicking the red and yellow player below.

Brought to you by our sponsor:

Infusionsoft.com

We REALLY wanted to bring you July 15th’s show, featuring Tom Szaky, Founder of TerraCycle, but unfortunatley our broadcast network, BlogTalkRadio, was experiencing a network telephone outage. Gulp! Our guest couldn’t dial in nor could our co-host, Steve Rucinski. The show’s host, Anita Campbell, stalled as long as she could but . . . some things just aren’t meant to be.

We are happy to announce that we have rescheduled Tom for an appearance on Tuesday, August 26th at 1:30PM EST. So be sure to join us and tune in!

Do you have a question for our upcoming radio show guest?

When a business is facing a crisis and has to answer to the media, there is little time to react effectively. The stress created by a crisis often limits rational thinking and can lead to costly mistakes and missteps. A crisis management plan is essential to avoid a full-scale public relations nightmare.

Glenn Ebersole, Chief Executive of the Renaissance Group, is joining us on Small Business Trends Radio on Tuesday, July 22nd at 1:30PM EST to share examples of successful responses and unsuccessful responses to crisis when dealing with the media.

If you have a question for Glenn, we’ll try to present it to him during the live show. The deadline for your questions is Monday, July 21st at noon Eastern time.

Ask away below in the comments section!

Engaging a prospect to convert into a client requires you to take a deeper look at your market by understanding the motivations that drive them to convert and the doubts that hinder the conversion process. As conversion rates linger in the low single digits, a potential for greater revenue is lost everyday.

Khalid Saleh, Co-Founder and President of Invesp Consulting, is our featured guest in this Episode of The Small Business Trends Radio. Khalid provides basic practices and easy tips to implement on your site’s landing pages to significantly increase sales and conversions.

Here’s a sampling from the show:

• The element of trust and confidence — is the number one principle to consider. Does your customer feel secure enough to purchase from you or do they want to flee the scene? By showing security insignias and value proposition, in other words, by making your customer feel secure and by telling your customers why they should value your product and service more so than your competitions (i.e. discounts, affordable shipping, live customer service, etc.), you can greatly increase your conversion rates.

• Images and great design — really pays off. Khalid had a client that offered mobile fax services and the image on their landing page was a mountain scene, meant to depict the ability to fax from anywhere. Their conversion rate at that time was 4%. When the image was changed and depicted a man in an airport with a laptop, their conversion rate jumped to 9%.

Are you ready to begin converting your visitors into customers? You can learn more by listening to Khalid’s full interview by clicking the red and yellow player below.

Brought to you by our sponsors:

JumpUp.com and Infusionsoft.com