Today, I spent a few moments taking deep breaths, and I am getting back on track with following my own advice to schedule, plan, and manage better.  I skipped yoga this week — shhhh (but I am back on track so that is what matters).

In the middle of my extremely frenzied week, I have been pondering a particular question….Is bartering among small business good or bad or maybe a bit of both?  Don’t ask me….I am asking you, StartUpNation.

A few months ago, I commented on a great post on bartering that I was a big fan of the idea…..After all, what better a way for up and coming small businesses to help one another out when cash is limited?  Of course, when bartering, terms have to be arranged and the barter arrangement has to be mutually beneficial.

I have a few barter arrangements set up with other small business ventures, and they seem to be doing pretty well.  BUT, what happens when the relationship outgrows the barter?  Often there comes a time when the needs of one of the parties involved are larger than the barter, and the relationship has to move towards a fee for service model.  Does the former barter relationship affect the new relationship positively or negatively?

It is one thing to work out an amazing barter business deal where I give you something that you need and you give me something in return, but at some point, one person usually needs more.  When that point happens, if you are on good terms with the other party, you would want to continue to do business with them.  After all, presumably they were involved in your business since the early stages and already know vital information.  This relieves you of an orientation period with a new vendor.

Although something strikes me at this juncture….this is where the barter could possibly come back to bite you.  What if subconsciously the person inflates their estimate or price to overcompensate for the time that they bartered with you?  On the flip side, maybe you think the estimate is too high because you are not the fee for service end of the deal?  Does resentment build from bartering?

What can keep a barter relationship on the straight and narrow?  Can a business relationship that began through bartering move on to a fee for services rendered relationship?

I admit -  I have some thoughts, but not the answers.  Let me know what your thoughts are - Rachel

Keep checking in with me at http://backngroovemom.com where I have some great changes, additions, and surprises coming (hence the frenzied week).

Here is the rest of that interview and more of David’s tips:

What kind of marketing and publicity activities have helped GTB grow quickly and why?

The Web and feet on the street. Even though we are a completely Web-based application and we market using the Internet, we have many independent resellers. That’s gives us a huge advantage to market and sell two different ways. 

That I think is the key to us having grown quickly. Having both channels of sales maximizes our exposure to potential customers. One way is they find us on the Web and by word of mouth from existing customers. The other is by personal introduction and prospecting by our independent sales people.

What tips do you have for other entrepreneurs who want to go paperless?

Research, Research, Research. And it’s pretty easy now with the Internet and Google. I recommend any entrepreneur or businessperson periodically take time to search the Internet for products and services that can all be provided via the Internet. 

Our suite of products, for the most part, helps a business go paperless with their payments, accounting, invoicing and contracts. For other products like phone systems, you can go Voice over IP and the list of things you can do completely paperless or virtual is growing as more and more companies provide you, in essence, a complete virtual office.  

Is there anything you would like to add?

I think there’s a mix of things you have to do to be successful. One is to make sure you are looking at what the competition is doing from a feature and pricing standpoint and be on good footing to compete. 

Also, you can charge more than the competition if you have a superior product or service that’s not being filled. From there it’s a bit of working on differentiating what you do and then market, market, market and keep marketing. 

Our experience is that we have the best little product that no one knows about. If we could reach every business in the U.S. this year and pitch what we have, we’d have half a million customers. 

We know it’s all about getting to your potential customers no matter how you figure out how to do it. 

If you are in business then you have to prove there’s a need for your product or service.

From there, it’s about getting exposure to more of your customers. This may seem simple, but it really boils down to that. It might take a lot of testing, trying and playing with different channels and ideas, but really, that’s it.
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Thanks David! That’s great advice! For more information about gotoBilling, please visit www.gotobilling.com.

And if you have questions about your public relations and SEO copywriting efforts, please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Here’s what David had to say…

What do you do at gotoBilling.com and how long have you been with the company?

I’ve been with the company for three years now. My official title is Director of Operations, but I do a little bit of everything. 

One of our big projects is building a new style of support modeled after another company that did wonders with the concept. It’s how our support staff will not only handle customer support and training, but will also handle the sales.

That way, when we work with customers, they never have to deal with different departments and different people from their initial call to ongoing support.

To accomplish this, I help with training, operations, and the workflow from our CRM system and how the rest of our internal systems tie together.

The concept is that from the beginning when someone calls, there’s one person that handles all the customer interaction so the customer always feels a strong connection to who’s helping them and that person never gets lost in the shuffle from one department to the next. 

I also work a fair amount on SEO on our Web site and do a little sales as well. Then, there’s also helping with the design and testing of new features as that falls into my Operations category of responsibilities.

Operations is always a broad category which I like as it really allows me to help with the overall working operations of an entire company so we are all moving in the right direction and in step with each other and each department.  

gotoBilling.com experienced a 307% volume increase during the recession. What is your secret to success?

Well, I think there are a couple of things. Number one is that every business still needs the ability to handle their payments and do it cost effectively.

Our system is much easier to use than other systems so it saves people valuable time, helps speed up their collection of funds, and since we handle multiple forms of payment many different ways for a business, then we have a real impact on helping a business streamline some of their processes. 

I think that is what has allowed us to continue growing during this downturn in the economy compared to many other companies. Also, and maybe most importantly, we didn’t make any budget cuts in marketing our services.

What do you do differently than other, similar businesses that are currently struggling due to the recession?

We kept on marketing and didn’t cut the budget. In fact, we increased our marketing and sales budget as that is the life-blood of a company. From what I hear, that might also have been a big factor in what we did compared to other businesses.

What can other e-commerce businesses do now to be more successful during these tough economic times?

Don’t stop marketing! 

To me, that’s the main thing to do. Now that the economy is tough, your competitors are cutting back on marketing and sales so it’s prime time to increase yours and grab the business. 

It’s sort of like buying property when the price is down. There are less people bidding to buy so it’s a better market. It’s the same thing when selling a product. There might be less businesses buying, but if your competitors have cut back their advertising, yours will stand out more for the ones that are still buying.�
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For more great tips from David and how his company is thriving during these tough times, check back on Thursday.

In the meantime, please feel free to send me your comments and PR questions here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Do you have the next great moneymaking idea?

StartupNation is working closely with the wonderful folks at Mark Burnett Productions/ABC to help them in their search for entrepreneurs, inventors, businesspersons, dreamers, promoters, creators, innovators, etc. We hope is to find someone – maybe you – who can be part of the soon-to-be-released show called, “Shark Tank”. If you feel you have a lucrative business idea but just can’t seem to secure the financial backing to get it off the ground, then “Shark Tank” may be just what the doctor ordered. Each episode features aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to moguls in hopes of landing investment funds.

How to apply to appear

In order to have a chance to enter the “Shark Tank” and see if your idea causes a feeding frenzy, here’s what you do: Send an email to this email address at Mark Burnett Productions: dpo.casting@gmail.com.  Address your email to Mr. David Polanzak and be sure to include the following information: Name:

• Age:
• Hometown:
• Best Phone Number:
• Photo of You:

* Be sure to put in the Subject Line of your email the name, “StartupNation”, and whether you are an Inventor, Entrepreneur or both.

There is a lot of information out there, especially on this site. And it can be difficult to figure out what activities to pursue and where to spend your time and resources.

Does this sound familiar?

If so, here are my top recommendations for boosting boost sales, credibility and awareness fast …especially on a tight budget…

1. Talk to media members directly.

Conduct some research and find the media members you want to talk about your products and services. Prepare your pitch (see http://www.startupnation.com/steps/77/steps-successful-public-relations.htm for help) and then call them on the phone.

Introduce yourself and offer your expertise for a future story. This may sound scary, but if you prepare in advance, it gets easier with each call. And it’s well worth it. After all, how are reporters going to write about your products or services if they don’t know you or your business?

2. Are You Using Search Engine Optimization?

If you are not using keywords in your Web site copy and press releases, you are missing a free marketing opportunity. Check out free resources like www.keyworddiscovery.com and www.wordtracker.com and find the words your customers are looking for online. Then, add them to your copy and press releases. (You can then post your press releases on free sites – for a list of sites, just send me a quick note.)

3. Are you Tweeting?

Have you joined Twitter, www.twitter.com? If not, give it a try. By adding followers and following others, you can build buzz quickly and talk directly to potential customers. (My client just started using it and boosted site traffic by 43% instantly!)

These are just a few, quick tips to help you start your marketing efforts right away while you continue your online research. It takes extra time and effort to pursue, but during difficult times, why not take advantage of all the free opportunities available?

Need more help with public relations and SEO copywriting efforts? Please let me know here, or check out my free information at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help! Thanks!

Carrie Fisher has an impressive background as a writer, two of her books having been made into films. After something akin to electric shock therapy, she risks losing much of her memory and past in order to move forward with the rest of her life. To many, this would be a death sentence as our history, that which binds us into routine and dictates much of our decision making, is the thing we find the most comfort in.

Fisher is an example of someone who refuses to be put in a box, who is still out there learning lessons, sharing her findings and being funny — whatever you may think of her or her talent, you just have to appreciate those qualities in a person.

She has a book: $29.00- 13.38

She has a 1-man show: $59.00-49.00

And those lovely cinnamon buns on the cover, priceless.

I was disappointed to see that there wasn’t some Hollywood intern trapped in a hamster wheel blogging for her while she’s on the road, to capture all the love and well wishes, etc. but I suspect she will get to that eventually. All Boomers have to embrace the web at some point.

To Carrie’s new life, she’s summoned her chutzpah and making some coin on skills she still has, memories she might lose and of course, looking to what the future might bring.

Altogether, a rather inspirational message.

Traditionally, companies that “do good” are generally non profits, and when people find out that a traditional small business is also “doing good” they feel like somehow the company must be taking advantage of the community it is serving if it is also turning a profit. I do not believe this to be the case and formed my consulting company based on the premise that small businesses would contribute to a triple bottom line if they knew where to find it.

Creative Capitalism has been around for a while. Formerly known as social entrepreneurism, it is a concept newly labeled by Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and other market leaders and the premise is that “we should attempt to stretch the reach of market forces so that more companies can benefit from doing work that makes more people better off.” The book is available on Amazon (unsure of where the profits go). So far, it’s a pretty foreign concept to most bottom-line discussions. Having spent time reviewing the giving trends of big tycoons in the past (land trusts, libraries, parks), there is something different about the timing of this idea: the generation that is receiving it.  

The 30 and 20-somethings have grown disillusioned with where the 1980s consumption and 1990s holding on behavior have gotten us. Those that have the means to get out and travel, see the disparity in the world, come back and want to do something about it. With technology to reflect back their experiences they are twittering, facebooking, myspacing and texting what they are seeing to one another – and a small group are doing something about it.

Why profile TOMS?

Two reasons: 1) Anyone who has seen true the true spirit of leadership in play knows it is the eagerness to lose oneself in the group for the good of the group. This quality is best exemplified in Blake Mycoskie for the simple reason: that is where the heart of his business began. One for One, from day One. 2) Any size business should learn that a social model (something that takes into account the community in which it survives) thrives 10-fold compared to businesses that have tunnel-vision on bottom line sales. There is something to be said for karma.

About the Company

TOMS Shoes promises to give to children in need a pair of shoes for each pair it sells. The company  has given over 140,000 pairs of shoes and expects to give more than 300,000 pairs this year.

TOMS Shoes launched in Venice, California and sold 10,000 pairs during the first year in business. As a result, Blake returned to Argentina in October of 2006 with family and friends and unveiled the second phase of his business plan: the Shoe Drop Tour. To meet demand, TOMS now offers Shoe Drop Tours throughout diverse regions of Argentina. These are volunteer opportunities where TOMS Shoes supporters hand-deliver shoes to children. Since its beginning, TOMS has given over 140,000 shoes to children in need around the world. 

Here is a bit of my discussion with Blake:

Why shoes?
BLAKE: Walking is the primary mode of transportation in developing countries. Children walk miles just to get food and water, to make their way to school, or to reach medical help. In some communities, children can’t even attend school unless they have proper footwear. And the leading plague in these countries is soil-transmitted parasites. Shoes are such a simple answer to these problems children face every day.

See TOMS educational videos: One Day Without Shoes and Why Ethiopia (warning on the second video for graphic images)

Technology is required in today’s job market. Is TOMS Shoes looking to attract a blended workforce, or does the average age of the workers in the company reflect a standard .com?
BLAKE: For the first few years, our staff reflected the young, evolving company that we were. But as we grow, TOMS is definitely looking to attract a diverse workforce. We’ve become much more aware of our needs, and therefore able to hire individuals with specific skill sets, relevant experience, and worthy knowledge. I am still the CEO and Chief Shoe Giver, and I continue to immerse myself in TOMS because it’s my passion. I have creative ideas and feverish curiosity, and my team is receptive to that. But I definitely have trust in those who are facilitating the every day, drafting direction, and establishing strategies.

Your company is for-profit. What sort of profit sharing model exists for the employees and how did you arrive at the decision to not do a nonprofit?
BLAKE: My earnings from other businesses I had started before TOMS are what kept us afloat in the earlier days- TOMS was not funded by an outside 3rd party. I never had to present a business plan or get approval, I just had trust in myself and the One for One concept. Of course people laughed when I said TOMS would give a pair of shoes away for every pair we sold, but now TOMS is proving One for One as a viable business model. Our customers have been amazing supporters since day 1.

I created TOMS as a for-profit business to ensure a sustainable way of giving. We’re able to give shoes weekly in Ethiopia, and monthly in Argentina. I also wanted to prove that you can build giving into your business model from day one and still be profitable. We get a lot of inquiries from all types of organizations wanting to get involved with TOMS in one way or another. It’s a blessing, really, but we have to be careful in these first critical years of building our brand.

You are an example of an individual whose actions will help define the generation they are in. Your generation is described as both the “me generation” and the “giving generation.” How do you think your generation should be characterized?
BLAKE: This generation is one that thrives off of action. We don’t dream about change, we make it happen. We don’t imagine a way to incorporate giving in to our daily lives- we do it. TOMS has so many young supporters who are passionate about the One for One movement, and who share the story and inspire others every day they wear their TOMS. Seeing them support this business model is proof that this generation is ready and able to create a better tomorrow.

People connect with TOMS beyond just owning another pair of shoes. There’s something more every time you slip on a pair, every time you share the story, every time you suggest a pair of TOMS as a gift because no matter what brought you to purchasing a pair of TOMS, you are making an impact on a child’s life. Will there be saturation of cause-based marketing? Most likely, but TOMS has paved the way for other entrepreneurs to incorporate giving in to their businesses.

The One for One mission is sticking with this generation, and causing a new way of thinking. We grew up with parents who were taking those first small steps, and now we are just charging full speed ahead towards a better tomorrow. We have to. One for One is proving that you can bring closure to an issue by incorporating a conscious decision in to the actions you already take- whether its as a consumer purchasing a product, or a business looking for ways to inspire a better tomorrow. It makes consumerism and philanthropy come together full circle.

Carpe Diem!

But the ROI for us at StartupNation is something quite different, which I realized as soon as I received this unsolicited email at 7:41pm. Beyond the financial goals we all have, a much more meaningful and motivating ROI comes in the form of creating success stories and putting people on a path of empowerment in the pursuit of their dreams.

“SK” clicked on our CONTACT option under our HOME tab. And as the email shows, the ROI is real. Just wanted to relish this publicly with our friends here in the StartupNation community. It is one little contributing factor to what we call “sweet success” at our company.

From: SK [mailto:xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 7:41 PM
To: info@startupnation.com
Subject: Inspiration and Determination

Hi Rich,

You have done it again!.  Another great article in the Costco Connection giving me the inspiration to continue with my home based business, www.sandysshimmeryshoulders.com.  Even as the economy seemed, at one point, to be in a downward spiral you continue to give me hope.  The five points that you gave in the article are giving me the determination to do more with the slow down.  Fine tuning my advertising, updating my brochures, re-stocking with the most popular items as opposed to just ordering depleted stock, converting my final carry-away packaging to “Green” to help the environment etc., has given me new life. 

I cannot express just how much www.startupnation.com has helped me.  I usually visit the site four or five times a week to acquire information, read post in the Community, and check on what others are saying / doing. 

Just want to say:  Rich, Thanks to you and Jeff for not being selfish and sharing your knowledge of business with me.  Thanks for all of the help and continued success to you and StartUp Nation.

Sincerely,

SK

 Thanks, SK, so much for your feedback and encouragement. It makes it all worthwhile and makes us feel rich in all the important ways. Glad to see you using Microsoft Office Live for your website service. They’re great folks.

Way to start it up, stick to it, and press on!

Rich (and StartupNation Team)

To survive you’ll have to make the most of your time (which you likely have more of as a result of less customer activity) and take into account the impact of your business bolstering efforts today as well as in the long term.

Here are tried and true survival strategies used by successful entrepreneurs:

1. Cozy up with Customers. They’re your lifeblood. But much like you, your customers are under duress. Take them to lunch and commiserate. Provide a giveaway recognizing their past patronage using inventory that’s collecting dust. If you take the time to listen to customers’ needs and show them you genuinely care about their welfare and success, you’ll likely uncover immediate business opportunities as well as engender future loyalty.

2. Experiment. The worst thing to do during tough times is lose your entrepreneurial spirit. Use the extra time on hand to conduct otherwise too time-consuming ideas you’ve always wanted to explore. For example, it could be a strategic alliance with a complementary business or a special buy-one-get-one-free email marketing campaign (we recommend VerticalResponse), just about anything product-, operational- or marketing-related that you’ve simply never had the time to try because you were too busy.

3. Loop in Financiers. With the overall economy in a recession, it’s likely your business is taking a hit, too. Rather than recoiling into the shadows, proactively share exactly what’s happening and what your plan is with your banker or other capital sources. Ensuring that they understand your business and are well attuned to your future plans will help you avoid financial surprises that often occur when parties aren’t well informed.

4. Trim Hours Not Staff. If lower revenue is a reality, consider cutting hours of your employees rather than firing them outright. It not only shows you care about their welfare, but strategically it also helps you retain your most valuable asset – your people – for when the economy inevitably turns around and you need 100%+ hours from them. Firing is difficult, but hiring quality people and training them is a huge burden on a business you should avoid if you can.

5. Stretch Your Spend. To make every dollar go as far as possible, review all of your vendor contracts. Where reasonable ask for breaks on pricing. Everyone’s in this together and though your heroics have made you the leader of your company, and a shining example of an American entrepreneur, don’t let your pride keep you from taking advantage of these potential savings. Every dollar saved will be critical during the down year to come.

She’s looking for a lead person to feature in her story.

If you have a story to share about this, please feel free to do so here. To be considered for the story, ASAP, click on the CONTACT US link under the HOME tab here at StartupNation and send your brief story and contact info. I’ll then provide your contact information to the reporter.

Hope this helps bring the spotlight to one of you!

Rich