Consider this week’s post the MyCorp crystal ball to seeing the future of small business! Now that January is in full swing, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at what small business trends are currently developing. As we move full speed ahead into the rest of 2012, take a look at the trends below. Don’t let your small business fall behind!

Internet Search Boom

We all know how important it is to have an online presence. In 2012 your presence is more important than ever. According to physorg.com, the number of internet users worldwide in 2011 jumped to over 2 billion- wow! Take away two lessons from this number in hopping on the social bandwagon.

1) Make sure you have an online presence! Web solutions are easy and inexpensive. No website? No excuse! Consider working with our affiliates at Network Solutions to help you get started.

2) Even if your website is up and running, make sure people can find it! Working on your Google and Bing presence is extremely important, as there are likely a number of businesses that offer the same services as you do. Look into working with companies and websites that can help boost your search rating and always try to link back to your website and contact information whenever possible.

Mobile Marketing and Payment

Welcome to the era of the smart phone. Need directions? Download a Google app to use their maps. In what year was Martha Stewart born? Ask Siri. What’s the temperature in Antarctica? Ok, you get it. Smart phones aren’t just for personal use. They have transitioned over into the business world. Pretty much anything you can do with a computer can be done on a smart phone. Locating a business, finding user reviews and even paying bills and checking bank statements can now be done on a phone.

Make sure your business is prepared! Consider having a mobile website app created that is tailored to smart phone use. Monitor your reviews on sites like Yelp that have mobile apps making your businesses’ reviews accessible easily on the go.

Hiring

As we’ve mentioned before, hiring usually picks up in the first quarter. Many businesses create new business plans and need extra man power to implement new ideas. Consequently, unemployment rates usually drop in the first months of the year. Get on the hiring bandwagon. If you haven’t already done so, meet with leaders of your company and discuss a new business plan or brainstorm new ideas. There is a wealth of talent out there and they could be beneficial to your company! Consider hiring a social media manager to strengthen your online presence, or advertising interns to help out in your marketing department. These positions are vital in the age of social media and they won’t cost you an arm and a leg to implement. Look into part-time internships for college students. They will gain experience by helping you, and you will boost your business presence by hiring them!

2012: Year of the Female Business Owner?

Sure, we might be a little bias due to the fact that our awesome CEO is a woman. However, women owned businesses are popping up all over the place! One trend we are seeing involves former stay at home moms starting new businesses. Marketing, cake decorating and design consulting are all great examples of popular woman owned businesses that can be successful working from home.

Many resources are available to female small business owners such as the National Women’s Business Counsel and the SBA Office of Women’s Business Ownership. Once you’ve figured out your business plan, let MyCorporation help. We can help you through the entire process of incorporating your business including creating a website and printing business cards.

Keep an eye on the small business trends of 2012 to make sure you are one step ahead of the game. As we said, focus on your web presence, mobile applications and consider hiring a few extra hands. Need help? Give us a call! Happy 2012!!

This special Thursday post comes courtesy of our friends at OneMoreCustomer in prepartation for their live kickoff event tonight. Read on to find out more!

Did You Say FREE?

Yep, we said it!

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-Live weekly coaching webcasts
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-Unlimited access to consultants
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-Daily ‘What We’re Reading’ features
-Additional expert business solutions

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• what cloud email is
• benefits of cloud email for small businesses and nonprofits
• drawbacks to cloud email, such as changing providers
• cloud email providers, with particular focus on Google and Microsoft
• costs (obvious and hidden) and savings

The webinar takes place Tuesday, January 31, 2012 2-3pm ET. REGISTER HERE!

We aren’t really sure how business pundits come up with the prophecies they espouse on prime time cable news shows. Perhaps it has something to do with tracking the stars, seeking out the fortune teller at the local Roma encampment, and gazing misty-eyed into a magical crystal ball. Or maybe it has more to do with tracking current trends and hoping that they are applicable to a wider array of companies than currently being affected.

Of course, there is always the old “throw a dart at a piece of paper and read out the results” trick. While this method may not be quite as accurate, it seems to the go-to plan for some corporate prophets.

How else would we have gotten the following four failed business predictions over the years?

Groupon’s Hype

Groupon was a nice idea that got way, way, way too much publicity. Normally, marketability is something that should be striven for. The more people hear about your product or service, the more people send a nice chunk of money your way, and everyone involved is happy.

Not with Groupon. Many small retailers have quickly discovered that signing up with Groupon can cost them money. And customers. It turns out that businesses are getting absolutely swamped by these daily deals. Even GAP, a national brand, had trouble keeping up with demand. It seems that Groupon has also grown too big for its britches, rejecting seven out of eight offers that came its way back in 2010.

Analysts were calling Groupon the next big thing, and they made a strong showing when they opened themselves to public trading. Sadly for Groupon, their stock price fell below the IPO at the end of last year, and as of this post the price is hovering .89 above the twenty-dollar mark, its original offering.

Now the likes of BusinessWeek are discussing what Groupon can do to grow the industry to the level so many believed it would be. Merchants don’t seem too happy with their service, so unless something is done Groupon could be headed for an early grave.

The dot-com Bubble

While it is easy to pick on the ’90s as a failed decade, we cannot forget the disastrous effect the internet boom had on the American economy. The internet was shiny and brand new – no one knew what the dang thing was going to be used for, but they all knew it was going to be big.

And investors wanted a piece of it.

Had early Venture Capitalists realized that internet users wanted videos of cats doing funny things, the economy may not have been so badly damaged. But the early sites of the internet operated of on a maxim of Go Big or Go Home. They spent huge amounts of money trying to increase user base, and no one had any idea how to begin valuing these new entities. A lot of money was sunk into a lot of companies that had no plan beyond the initial growth stage.

As it turned out, many of these companies folded. Lavish spending, unchecked investment and a desperate attempt by American cities to secure the fledgling technology industry all spelled disaster. Amazon and Google weathered the storm fairly well, while around half of the major dot-coms were liquidated. Investing firms were given a slap on the wrist for misleading their clients, and they never stupidly invested in an over-inflated market again.

Just kidding.

Pepsi and the Cola Wars

Letters of Note just ran a very nostalgic little piece about the huge marketing gaff Coca-Cola pulled with its release of New Coke. In it then Pepsi CEO Roger Enrico declares a holiday on Friday in celebration of Coke’s newest attempt to be like Pepsi.

And he was right – New Coke was reviled. Pepsi was able to stir skepticism among journalists, and any attempt to market the soft-drink was met with ridicule and failure. It seemed that Pepsi had won.

Unfortunately for them, that was not the case. Coca-Cola, apparently hearing the anguished calls of its loving community, made the decision to re-introduce Coca-Cola Classic; it’s normal, slightly less sweet, formula. The entire scene was farcical, but Coca-Cola somehow made it seem like they were doing their customers a favor by bringing back the formula they had used for nearly a century. Plus it worked – people were buying twice as much Coca-Cola Classic as they were Pepsi Cola.

It seems that Roger Enrico spoke just a tad too soon.

BusinessWeek and the Automotive Industry

We’d like to round this post off with a blast from the past. In 1968 BusinessWeek, an otherwise excellent publication, made the not-so-excellent prediction that Japanese cars wouldn’t make a dent (figuratively) in the American car market, saying “with over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.”

Sadly for Detroit Motor City, this didn’t quite work out the way BusinessWeek predicted. The oil crisis, increase in gasoline prices, and perceived shoddiness of American cars seriously hurt the American automotive industry. Japan’s small, sporty designs rocketed past the lumbering beasts of General Motors and Toyota, the country’s top vehicle manufacturer, now holds the number one spot in the world.

Hindsight is always 20/20, so it is easy to poke fun at the failed predictions of decades past. However, we would hope that something could be learned from the business failures of yesteryear, mainly in regard to over-valuation. Business analysts love speaking in absolutes, as though the world worked in such a way; the reality is that things are never that black and white.

After all, what goes up must always come down.

What inspires big business leaders and entrepreneurs? How do the best leaders at the top, the Donald Trumps of the business world get their drive and motivation? The beginning of a new year is a great time to get your inspiration on and grow your business. How do you do it and not lose sight of what you started along the way? These 4 tried and true tips are the ultimate to keep in mind that successful entrepreneurs everywhere use to get to the top!

1. Set Football Field Goals

Picture a football field. The goal is to run the ball to into the end zone and score, right? Along the way you hit different field markers, 5 yards, 10 yards, 15 yards and so on. You can’t get to the end without passing these markers. The same rings true with goals. What about a Hail Mary you ask? The receiver must run past and the ball must fly over each yard before they reach their destination.

There really are no short cuts when creating goals. Consider making smaller goals, or check points, you can reach on the way to your bigger goal. Many successful entrepreneurs do the same. Take sales, for example. If Apple hopes to do 2 billion more dollars in sales in 2012 than in 2011, you can be sure sales numbers will be monitored by quarter. Create a sub plan for your large business plan so that you can monitor your success. This way, if things aren’t working, you can fix it quickly and stay on track to achieving your bigger goals.

2. Think Outside the Box

Sometimes doing what you love isn’t enough to be successful. Consider taking your business to the next level. Think about ice cream makers, Ben and Jerry. According to businesspundit.com, the now-legendary duo decided to open a business after taking a correspondence course on the art of ice cream making. They discovered that just about the only college town without an ice cream shop was Burlington, Vermont. With $8,000 in savings and a $4,000 loan, they leased an old gas station in Burlington, purchased equipment, and began coming up with ideas for “unique” flavors. Twenty years later, the company was taking in $237 million in annual revenue.

What is unique about your business? What information, software, or recipes do you have that could make your business even better? Take a step back and try to look at your business from a different angle. Consider asking friends or customers for ideas or feedback. Business introspection combined with thinking outside the box will help you join the ranks of successful entrepreneurs.

3. Become an Athlete-Visionary

It might sound corny, but we believe that actually picturing success can work. Sometimes we have to step away from business in order to help our business. Many successful business owners attribute mind and body focus to their success. Our own CEO, Deborah Sweeney, is a spinning queen. She believes in a healthy lifestyle which therefore transfers over into a healthy business attitude. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind, therefore giving you a clear and focused head with which to make good business decisions. Focus on your goals, visualize success and make sure your body is in line with these thoughts and goals so that you can truly achieve success!

4. Listen, Don’t Hear

We are sure you know the difference between listening and hearing. Regardless of how long your business has been around or what type of business you have, there are businesses that have been around longer and that are far more established. When you turn on the morning news and hear information about Microsoft, Kraft, or even a successful mom and pop deli in New York, listen! You never know what tips you may pick up. Keeping your ear to the ground is crucial in terms of both staying current and continuing to be successful. Remember when your parents used to tell you to listen to your elders? The same lesson applies in business!

Creating a healthy and profitable business is no easy task. Take these tips to heart when it comes to taking your business to the top!

Stand with us against this gross abuse of power.

We at MyCorporation wanted to express solidarity with the Internet-wide blackouts against the SOPA and the PIPA. Our CEO Deborah Sweeney has already written on this particular issue over at MO.COM, but we wanted to once again affirm our strong stance against this ill-advised and poorly planned legislation.

While we understand the need to curb piracy, these acts are not the answer. Rather than having the desired effect, if passed these acts would do little to actually halt the spread of content theft. But they will increase the barriers of entry for small businesses looking to open an online store front, and they will stifle high-tech entrepreneurship.

We implore everyone reading to contact your representative and senators asking that they take a good, hard look at this legislation and demand a better bill. A bill that has airtight, technically sound definitions, heavy input from the technology sector, checks and balances ensuring that due-process can be invoked before, during, and after any action is taken, and clear repercussions for entities utilizing the legislation in an abusive manner.* You can see where your senators and congressional representative stand on these bills at ProPublica.

MyCorporation will always stand on the side of the small business owner, and both the SOPA and the PIPA would do them nothing but harm. Please take the time to read these bills (SOPA and PIPA) for yourself and stand with us against this harmful legislation.

As always, we thank all of you for your support and look forward to continue helping all small businesses get a strong start.

*A special thanks to Reddit Systems Administrator Jason Harvey for both his succinct write-up on this issue and the clearly defined demands seen here.*

Remember Peter Shankman- one of our favorites from Blog World? Well now’s your chance to collect some of the copious amounts of wisdom pearls he’s sure to drop at next week’s Ventureneer Webinar, The Next Revolution is in Your Pocket.

The FREE webinar takes place Wednesday January 25, 2012 2 – 3pm ET and will cover the importance of:

• customer service, first and foremost
• branding and messaging, in second place
• marketing and social media, a distant third.
• among other points of interest

Register here!

To help ring in the New Year, and help everyone save a bit of money, we are offering one of our popular incorporation packages for free!

One of the best ways to help kickstart the economy is by starting a business, and we would love to help you get your business started right. Incorporating is one of the smartest business moves you can make as it simultaneously protects your personal assets and helps you save on taxes. Just for today, we are offering free articles of organization along with a free name search to help you on your way!

Now, to get the coupon code for our promotion you HAVE to like our Facebook page, which you can easily access by either clicking here or the image above. This promotion ends 11:59 PM PST, so be sure not to miss it!

Feel free to give us a call at 1 (877) 692-6772, a tweet @MyCorporation, or write us a message on our Facebook wall.

We look forward to helping you get started.

For many, with a new year means getting a new job. Maybe your resolution was to find a new job doing something you are truly passionate about. Alternatively, maybe you’ve been laid off and now its time to re-boot your job searching efforts. Regardless of the reason, there are a few job searching fundamentals that every job seeker must know. These fundamentals involve forming a solid cover letter and resume and how to follow up after you’ve submitted your materials.

The Cover Letter
The cover letter is your first impression. First, think of it as if you were meeting the employer in person. What kind of impression would you want to leave on the hiring manager? Your cover letter should include the date and, if you can, should be addressed to the person to whom you are sending it. The body of your email should address two main questions. First, why you want the position? Second, what qualifications do you have that make you a good candidate for the position? Your cover letter should begin with the first question, introducing yourself and outlining why you want the job. Next, write a few paragraphs outlining your past job experience. Highlight skills and talents that will make you stand out. In this job market, competition is fierce. Use your cover letter to make a good impression and help you stand out!

The Resume
Arguably the most important piece of your job-searching puzzle, your resume is extremely important. Take time to create or re-vamp your resume. Consider asking an outside source, such as an HR professional, to review your resume. There are three common mistakes that many resumes contain. First, watch out for misspellings. Nothing says “I’m lazy,” “I don’t pay attention to detail” and “I’m not qualified” like misspellings. It may sound harsh, but given the fact that you most certainly have competition, you don’t want to lose out due to misspellings! Next, watch your grammar. Words such as there, their and they’re are common mistakes. Finally, thoroughly explain your experience. When describing past jobs, have three or four bullet points that clearly and thoroughly describe your duties. Employers like to see specific tasks so that they can more fully understand your qualifications. Remember, your resume is a one page all encompassing document; it represents everything about you to employers! Invest time when making or revising your resume. It will pay off!

The Follow Up
As we mentioned, competition in todays job market is fierce. Follow up is key. Consider a few strategies. First, try following the business on Twitter or Facebook. This way you can learn more about the business and connect with them through mentions or messages. Don’t underestimate the power of special media. Use it to your advantage! Next, use LinkedIn to find current employees of the company. Consider adding them to your network. If they connect with you, send them an email stating who you are and the job for which you are applying. You never know who is involved in the hiring process. IN addition, he or she might pass along your resume to the hiring director giving you a better shot at an interview! One word of caution, don’t be a pest. Sending daily follow up emails is a no-no. Wait a week or ten days until you send a direct follow up email. In addition, after a few months, if you haven’t heard back, consider moving on. Think outside the box and use social media to get your foot further in the door!

We know job searching can be difficult, but don’t get discouraged. Hard work, motivation and the proper materials and strategy will ultimately pay off. Happy hunting!

It’s almost time for Ventureneer’s next webinar: “Time Management for Busy Business Owners,” which will be lead by President of Pro Way Development Laura Jacob and will take place Wednesday January, 18 2012 at 12 noon – 1 pm ET.

“Time Management for Busy Business Owners” will cover how to:

• assess your time management skills
• distinguish between what’s important and what’s urgent
• apply tools to determine priorities
• examine new time management strategies and techniques
• make good decisions under pressure
• choose the right time management tools and techniques for your job
• do more in less time

The cost is free, as always. Register here now!