It’s been a full 8 years since I filed my first LLC documents with the Secretary of State’s office forming my first limited liability company.

Wow, a lot has changed, but then again maybe not that much. You see, about 2002, when I was getting my first business underway, America was recovering from the burst of the dot com bubble and the tragedy of 9-11. Companies weren’t really hiring the skills that I had – at least not unless one had loads of prior experience.

Turns out, that “bad economy” propelled me to start my own business a little sooner than I had planned. I started what is now Fox Web co in 2002. Eight solid years, 3 kids and thousands of miles traveled later, I’m a thriving small business dad.

There are hundreds of articles and perspectives on work-life balance, but after just spending five days swinging the balance a bit more towards the “life” side of things during a Spring Break vacation in Point Clear, Alabama, I’m going to throw my 2 cents in the ring, too.

For me, there are a few of non-negotiables that afford me the lifestyle flexibility I enjoy:

1. Priorities. Everything has to be kept in perspective. I struggle to keep an eternal perspective at all times. I may lose a sale here and there, miss some networking events, or fail to line up every appointment I’d like, but I want to NEVER miss the important things. I’m hardly perfect in this realm, but taking a real break on Sunday from all work stuff has been huge for my sanity. It’s easy to run out the door every day without spending time on the REALLY important things, but hopefully I’m getting progressively better at that. Time with my wife and kids are a priority, too. If I lose a sale or an opportunity because I didn’t miss an opportunity to spend time with my kids, I’d have to say that I did the right thing. I’m 31 years old, and there will be plenty of time to build the business, but “daddy dates” and enjoying activities with the kids like hunting, fishing, museums, the zoo, cooking together and dancing in our living room are really important investments of time. Much more so the time spent with God, that I often neglect.

2. Breadwinning. All of that said, keeping food on the table is REALLY important. Sometimes that means that I’m up working at 11:30 p.m. after the kids are asleep, moving project forward, answering emails and checking things off the list. Sometimes I’ll drive six hours to spend time with my daughter in one day, but I have to purpose to redeem the time while I can in the car, using technology when I can to keep my business moving.

3. Unplugging. I’m often the guy you see in the airport or restaurant with the cell phone in my hands nonstop. I look like an ADD kid, pulling it out in between ordering my food and fixing my drink at a restaurant. Or I can be seen frantically texting while I wait for the waiter to bring me my lunch. Am I just a geek? Maybe. But I use the tools that I’ve been able to acquire to keep my business moving, my employees connected, and my customers informed. Sometimes though, it’s hard to really unplug because there’s always something going on that comes directly to my queue. E-mails don’t filter themselves out or categorize themselves for the different priority levels. For me, it’s been important to create a system so that when I do unplug, customers know where to get an immediate response, even if that response doesn’t come from me. I’ve set up auto-responders, changed voicemail messages, or just forwarded messages on to my associates to help me have those moments of unplugged sanity for myself and my family. Everything doesn’t constitute an emergency, and clients who consistently call me on a Friday night needing help with something probably need to come up with a different plan. I’ve had to part ways with a few of those sorts of clients over the years, and because of that, my sanity and quality of life has increased greatly.

4. Technology. Specifically, mobile technology, has been a key to my lifestyle and mobility. My phone allows me to manage my calendar, multiple e-mail accounts, to-do lists, project management and much more. Apps for Iphone and Android allow all small business owners the freedom to take care of financial matters including bank transfers and bill pay from the convenience of our phone. Voicemail transcribed to text messages lets me know what a message says at a glance without having to step out of my kids’ events or playtime, because I can learn quickly that it isn’t an emergency. Would you rather work two hours later at the office, or be interrupted a couple of times to text or email during a baseball game outing with your family? For me, I know where the real value is. Staying connected but not tied down is easier to do than ever before with the new smart phones. The advertisements that say “There’s an app for that” is really true. Regardless of who your phone carrier is, you can probably increase your productivity a great deal, simply by going into their store and finding a HELPFUL representative who will spend a few minutes helping you find ways to help you and your business be more productive – and flexible.

Andy Chapman is co-founder of the Results Revolution, social media expert and business advisor at HALO Business Advisors and President of Fox Web co. He is husband to Marianna. They have three kids, a Springer Spaniel and a marathon training habit.

Whether you are a startup business owner, a seasoned veteran, a designer, a wedding planner, or a theatre director, chances are you have the occasional basic spreadsheet that needs to be put together or sometimes a more technical analysis that you may need done as well.

In this economy and with a lean small biz budget, we do not always have the necessary funds to purchase or license fancy software. The bottom line is that most people have Microsoft Excel on their home and/or work computer and much of the analytical work that needs to be done for your business can be accomplished in Excel!

The 411 on Excel

Some of the valuable tasks a business owner can accomplish with Excel include:

• Perform basic and/or complex formulas
• Place to create and store a database
• Cleanse and organize information
• Create charts & graphs
• Create company reports: Excel is often used for Monthly reporting. Whether your data dump comes from another system and is exported into an Excel File (xls or csv), users can create standardized professional reports that merely need to be updated with the new data as it becomes available (weekly, monthly, quarterly etc). These reports can serve as a great template for reporting and ensuring consistency.

Excel and then SUM

In addition to some of the fundamental tasks that can be done in Excel, Excel can also be used to house some more advanced items. Below are listed some sample cases of companies who have used Excel to house some fancy spreadsheets.

Wage Performance/Tracking and Reports: Many small businesses do not have the budget for a fancy payroll system like ADP, or their needs are too specific to use a generalized system solution. That being said, everyone needs to monitor employee pay. Custom databases can be created to track employee payroll that will allow small businesses to easily calculate and keep track of employee hours, payroll and benefits.

Data Management/CRM: Lots of small businesses have databases full of useful data, like customer lists, inventory items, or sales leads, but they don’t always have ways to effectively utilize that data. Often times, it is hard to organize this data in a useful and productive manner. By creating a clean database in Excel, that will house all of this info, you can:

• track each customer call made
• use simple filtering techniques that will allow you to see quick lists of customers based on criteria like Location, Customer Rating and past purchases
• get rid of all of the paper cluttering your home office
• create fancy (well kind of… we are still just talking about a spreadsheet) reports

Financial Analysis: Plenty of business owners, from finance novices to econ experts, use Excel as their go-to place for financial forecasting or budget planning.

Get your spreadsheet on!

So check out Excel, it can be simple and fun. Store your data here… maybe you will become obsessed and use Excel forever. Maybe Excel is just a band-aid till you can afford something else. If this is the case, you will easily be able to import your Excel Spreadsheets to other software when the time comes.

Happy Spreadsheeting!

This guest post was written by Jen Portland. Around the Results Revolution, we also love spreadsheets as a dashboard for keeping up with small business marketing metrics. We export our stats from Google Analytics or our e-mail marketing software and manipulate them to help us reach our customers better and to learn how to market smarter from our data. Excel is definitely a friend to small business owners, so if you want to get more from your spreadsheets, chat with Jen Portland, founder & spreadsheeter at Excel Rain Man, an Excel outsourcing and training service. Check them out at www.excelrainman.com.

This isn’t a post about what to do with the traffic once it gets there. Nor is it an advanced tutorial on Search Engine Optimization – that will be left to someone far smarter than myself, like maybe our friend Will Scott down in New Orleans, who specializes in local search optimization or another friend Ryan Kelly out in San Antonio that is behind one of the smartest, most user-friendly SEO tools I’ve seen in a long time.

For now, I just want to remind you that your small business web site needs attention in order to bring you a return on investment. Andy often says it this way: “A web site truly begins when it’s finished.”

Here are a few basics that you absolutely must address with your small business web site, no matter how local or “mom and pop” you are.

1. Update your site often. Often equals no less than once per week. If you do not have a web site that you can easily and quickly update yourself or train a teenager to update without need for any additional software, you might want to get a site update done. In 2010, there is no reason that a complete novice can’t update his/her own web site in a basic way in about ten minutes. Updates mean a lot to the search engines and to your customers. Regular updates mean there is a REASON for me to visit your web site repeatedly – and visiting reminds me to buy.
2. Create a strong collection of inbound links. Inbound links are simply links on the web that point to a page on your web site. It is much more complicated than this, but when boiled down you simply must have an increasing number of inbound links pointing to various pages of your web site. How do you get inbound links? Here are a few ideas:If you’re a locally owned and operated, independently owned small business, take advantage of the free listing in our Shop Main Street Business Directory. It provides you with an inbound link to your web site and your blog (as well as your social media if you use those). Both huge wins for you in this department.

• Make a list of all of the major brands that you carry in your store. Contact your rep and ask to be listed as a dealer on their web site along with a link to your web site.
• Contact every organization of which you are a member. This includes Chambers of Commerce, civic clubs, etc. Ask them to post a membership directory with links to business owners’ web sites. Make sure you are there with a link back to your web site.
• Submit press releases to the local newspaper when you have events or announcements, including new hires, new product lines, new or altered services, etc. Make sure they post on their web site with a link back to your business. Most will accommodate this request gladly if you write the article for them.
• Offer to write guest blog posts for related web sites and get links back to your web site through the attribution of these posts. This is a double whammy because it lets you show off your expertise, has relevant keywords that match your web site (hopefully) and gets you the inbound link(s). We love guest bloggers here… just ask me.
• Post articles in article directories.

3. Drive traffic to your web site. Inbound links certainly help with that. However, you can do a lot OFF-line and through online marketing that can increase traffic.
4. Traffic tends to beget traffic. Simply put, search engines often follow the crowd, so the more traffic you drive to your web site, the more traffic you will get through search. Here are some additional ideas for driving traffic to your web site.

• Send out regular e-mail messages with multiple links back to specific pages of interest on your web site.
• Include your URL on all store signage, advertising and other outreach efforts.
• Create a bag stuffer or bag tag that gives your customer a new reason to buy or increase their shopping frequency. Point them to the web site to learn more.
• Create on-line exclusives, coupons, and contests that can only be accessed at your web site. Promote these offers off-line.

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

The most important thing to remember is that social media is still a media. Which means it is still a marketing TOOL – not an end to itself. However, in contrast to both traditional media and new media tools, such as web sites and e-mail, social media is used differently. By name and nature, it is SOCIAL which dictates a relationship. At the very least, this demands a TWO-SIDED conversation/interaction format.

More specifically, social media differs from traditional media in that anyone can create, comment and add to social media. Social media can take the form of text, audio, video, images and communities. Traditional media doesn’t let you PROVE how many visitors or engaged customers you really have (Yes, I know all about Neilson ratings and circulation numbers – How many of you really believe all of that?). Social media shows you REAL numbers for your audience – or at least a more “real” number than any other media that’s ever existed for small business marketing purposes. Social media also allows you to track and know information about your audience – not just know that they’re there.

WHO USES SOCIAL MEDIA & NEW MEDIA?

1. Practically everyone uses Google and other search engines regularly, and the searches frequently return blog posts, YouTube videos or other social media content high in the search ranks. So even people who say they don’t use social media are actually consuming social media content without knowing it.
2. 63% of consumers turn to the Internet FIRST to find a local business. (Yet a whopping 80% of business owners reported spending LESS THAN 10% of their marketing budget on web-based marketing.) – Source USA Today Snapshots, March 5, 2009 – cited Neilson Online/Web Visible survey of small business owners.
3. When people who are NOT social media users ask their non-social media networks for advice (usually via e-mail or phone call), the answers come back include URLs to blog posts and other social media content.
4. There are more than now 400 million active users of Facebook (up 150 million from one year ago). More use Facebook than any other existing media (including television). The fastest growing demographic are those 35 and older. More than 2/3 of the users are outside of college age. By nature of the beast, those users are also at least semi-educated, literate and computer literate – making them far more likely than average radio or television listeners to have a decent income.
5. YouTube statistics – Recently, I got to inform a client that 74% of his target audience visited YouTube at least once every two weeks and often multiple times a day. They were shocked. They where even more surprised when I told them that a significant number of those visitors used YouTube on a daily basis to research products and services, view product demonstrations, and find information for work purposes. But, when I told them that visitors to YouTube actually based their buying decisions on what they saw on YouTube, well, they were shocked and couldn’t wait to hear more.
6. On October 9, 2009, the third anniversary of the acquisition by Google, Chad Hurley announced in a blog posting that YouTube was serving “well over a billion views a day” worldwide. comScore had previously reported that the number was actually over 10 billion per month. In September 2009, and the average video viewer watched more than 10 hours of video during that month. That’s pretty significant.

Those are just a few reasons why social media is critical to your business. This doesn’t tell you how or when or how often to use social media. (Strategically is a good start – it’s not a waste of time play tool anymore! And it’s getting crowded, so you have to stand out in the crowd by doing it smartly.) But hopefully, if you’re a business owner or community leader trying to convince yourself or your fellow locally owned, independent small business owner friends and colleagues to network with you, promote your business and your community using social media tools, this will give you some ammunition to open some eyes during that conversation.

Here are a few quick tips and reminders about how NOT to use social media (that is Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube and the like) when promoting your locally owned, independent small business. If you want to upset customers in your store – ignore them. The same goes for the web. Your customers REALLY don’t see a huge difference in the reality of the web and the brick and mortar… maybe you still do, but I promise – they don’t. So, use the web to leverage your time and your customer relationships. And by all means – don’t turn your back on anyone at the party. It’s not nice…

Here are some specific tips. Let me know what you think and add your own in the comments section!

Do NOT Use Social Media as…

• An outlet for traditional media – For example, don’t post the graphic from your recent direct mail campaign blindly and expect that people will care.
• An online billboard – Don’t constantly announce and scream promotions and push an offer or even a subtle marketing message towards your fans/followers exclusively. This is not a billboard for you to spit out information and no one to talk back to you.
• A 100% free tool – While New Media TOOLS are often free to use, the time, strategy development, and even some elements of advanced use cost money. The point is that $100 goes a long way on New Media—web sites are cheaper and more social; strategy development is more straightforward; and the results are all but immediate. For FAR less investment, you can gain impressive and quick returns.
• A magic wand – It’s not a “build it and they will come” sort of media any more than a web site is. You must promote your social media presence elsewhere and engage in its use strategically or your use of the tools will fail. It’s more about HOW you use it – just being “on” social media doesn’t mean you will improve your results.
• A place to ignore other humans – Rude is no more popular or socially acceptable online than off. It’s still rude to ignore someone standing in the same room with you or to slam a door in someone’s face. The same applies on social media. Whether you know them or not, kindness and respect for other humans is always in good taste.
• A platform to be distasteful – Don’t post or allow employees to post anything negative towards other humans or anything that is distasteful. If your grandmother would have so much as given you a sideways glance, don’t post it. Big personalities are welcome – as long as they’re clean personalities.

Editor’s Note: This post was submitted by Mike Ingalls, FOX 40 News Director in Jackson, Mississippi. They are great supporters of small businesses, especially through their social media engagement and web site.

It is tradition that good magicians don’t reveal their secrets.  News people do not live up to the same strict standards as magicians.  Hopefully, that will help your small business. In fact, I’m going to reveal how you can get FREE advertising, by getting your store in a local news story.  You don’t have to spend money to get your message on local television news programs, but you will need to spend some time making relationships.  Right now, you should look up the telephone number for all of your local newsrooms.  Don’t just call your favorite station!  That would limit your chances of getting air time.  Call and ask to talk to the assignment manager (one tip, call around 10am, 1pm, or 3pm; those are usually slower times of the day, but if the person sounds busy, call back at another time).  Tell the assignment manager what type of business you run, what topics you can speak about on camera, and ask them to put you on their list of contacts.  Leave your name and cell phone and tell them you would be willing to be a source for any future stories.

So, what happens when they take you up on the offer?  You must understand that news people are fighting the clock and several deadlines every day.  If you get a call at 10:00 a.m., the reporter needs to get you on camera as soon as possible.  To get this free advertising, YOU need to find a way to make yourself available.  One quick story; we were doing a story about Ole Miss potentially replacing the plantation owner mascot.  Our reporter called a local business that sells Ole Miss paraphernalia and he was told by the owner that she couldn’t talk because she was stocking shelves.  For the purpose of this lesson, we heard “No, I don’t want more than a minute of free advertising.”  Instead, we ended up at a local mall.  “I’m not wearing make-up, I didn’t do my hair this morning, and the store is a mess” are other reasons interview requests have been turned down by small business owners.  If you take one thing away from this article make it this; if you say no to an interview that will get you free publicity, your competitor may say yes.  Make some phones calls, and when they pay off with an interview request, make the excuses for why you can’t do the interview disappear.

Tomorrow, we’ll learn from the e-mail marketing master of our local market – Jeff Good. As I’m prepping for our visit tomorrow, I am reminded that all great marketing campaigns start with DOING SOMETHING. I can promise you that 11 years ago when I started HALO, I had NO IDEA that I would get to this place where we are creating a completely FREE marketing and shop local resource for small, independently owned businesses.

Often, when we START something, we have NO idea where it will lead. We can’t fathom the end results – but we can envision something greater than where we are today. I can’t say for certain, but I bet Jeff Good could never have imagined the impact that collecting e-mail addresses would ultimately have on his business as it is today. It’s HUGE for his three amazing restaurants and catering company. Jeff can move the needle by sending an e-mail.

But what if he’d waited to collect e-mails until he had a purpose for them? You can probably imagine a purpose for a great e-mail list – but what if you only have 50? Or less?

DO SOMETHING. Everything great started somewhere. Nothing good ever happened from waiting.

Start today. Collect e-mail addresses from every customer, prospect, vendor, and friend that you have. Have your employees do the same. Find creative ways to collect the e-mails. The time is now. Waiting until you have an important message to send is TOO LATE.

If you’re already collecting e-mail addresses, find ways to do it more efficiently and more consistently. Like anything else, there is always room for improvement, and it is a rare case where every single possible e-mail address is collected.

E-mail is still a very powerful and effective marketing tool for small, locally owned businesses. Do not let even a single opportunity to communicate so affordably and directly pass you by. Make e-mail address collection a bold, priority initiative for your business starting today. It’s the first step in getting ready to do REALLY big things (and getting really big results for your marketing).