If you are launching a new startup business you have undoubtedly been advised to write a business plan. Most consultants and coaches will convince you to write a business plan before you even think about starting a business. Well we all know that Facebook has been the most successful startup in the world over the past 5 years, so it only makes sense to look at Facebook’s business plan. Wait… did Facebook have a business plan? I think it is clear that Mark Zuckerberg didn’t sit down and write a 50 page document, it probably looked more like this:

1. Be Cool – Facebook wanted to be cool. In fact, according to the movie “The Social Network” Mark Zuckerberg was afraid that advertisements early on in the life of Facebook might squash the cool factor and effectively kill their momentum as one of the world’s fastest growing companies. So for as long as possible Zuckerberg refused to include advertisements on the website in order to keep the cool factor that attracted millions of college and high school students during the early years.

2. Gain Eyeballs – Step number two in the Facebook strategy was simply to gain as many eyeballs for as long as possible. The team focused on building an infrastructure that kept users on the website for minutes even hours at a time. They made the website so addictive in a sly way that users don’t realize that they were playing right into the hands of Facebook. The more time you spend stalking your friends on Facebook the more opportunity for advertisers to catch your attention and get you to click on an ad. So be cool, and gain eyeballs.

3. Innovate – The last piece of the Facebook business plan is simply to innovate. Facebook changed the way that friends and family connected, but they became truly innovative when they changed the way that businesses connected with each other. Mark Zuckerberg has been known to tell his team to Fail Big. You have to fail big if you want to create innovation that can change the world.

That is the Facebook Business Plan in a nutshell. In 2011, many innovative web-based startups have the exact same strategy. If you are a web-based startup and you don’t have a written plan, do not despair, you might be able to simply borrow from Facebook. Good luck in your startup ventures!

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adam_Hoeksema

If you were to gather a room full of small to medium sized business owners and ask them what task they least like and understand, payroll would be at the top of the list for almost everyone in the room.

Because most business owners are not accountants and were not math majors in college, the responsibility to pay your employees while being compliant with government regulations is generally confusing and cumbersome. All of the current state and federal regulations can give you a real headache.

Thankfully, for small to medium sized businesses, there are services that offer outsourced small business payroll solutions. Businesses can choose to outsource just their payroll accounting, and payroll processing, to firms who specialize only in this field.

Payroll service companies can easily handle small business payroll tasks with ease and accuracy, allowing small and medium sized business owners to better utilize their administrative time growing their businesses and making more sales.

Payroll accounting is one area where you, as a small business owner, can really benefit from the outsourcing trends of today. Payroll processing, through outsourcing, insures that the job is done correctly with all of the latest rules and regulations taken into account.

Payroll accounting companies devote their time and care to keeping up to date on all of the latest requirements. Because this is their area of expertise performed daily, they do it very well.

While many of us think of payroll as simply a paycheck, there is so much more to the task. Payroll accounting includes: payroll checks, direct deposit, debit cards, federal and state withholdings, tax liability registers, check registers, unemployment taxes, tax forms, and so much more.

By outsourcing this responsibility, you can free up your time and still stay on top of all of your reporting and filing deadlines. The payroll service company will keep you apprised of everything you need to know and make sure that you stay in compliance. That is what you pay them to do for you.

In the online age, no matter your location, from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Juneau, Alaska, an experienced small business payroll service company can serve you wherever they are based.

Another wonderful benefit to contracting this job out is that you can have a bookkeeper to process your accounts payable and accounts receivable, while at the same time they do not have to have the specialized knowledge required to process and file your payroll.

This means your bookkeeper can be paid substantially less, and this is an efficient savings for your bottom line. Payroll service companies charge very reasonable rates and are well worth you considering.

No matter what industry you are in, if you have employees then you have a need for payroll to be processed. By attempting to do your own in-house you might find that your bookkeeping staff will be expensive and still will miss something that they were simply not aware of.

By outsourcing your payroll services you can insure that the job is done correctly and in a timely manner. Your payroll accounting company will insure that you meet all guidelines and timelines as well.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Stratton

According to Andre Ferris of Parmasters Canada 12 cents of every corporate dollar should be set aside for marketing. “This is an area that many businesses neglect. The old approach of shouting your message using a ‘megaphone’ just isn’t as effective. Marketers have to be more savvy. Today’s successful marketing campaigns invite potential customers to become more involved. Engagement is key and giving your customers a voice is powerful.” Here are some tips on how to hit a marketing homerun and to generate new business in today’s business culture.

1) Revamp your website. Make sure you website is not simply a static online brochure. Nothing will have customers fleeing your brand quicker than the perception of being stuck in the past. Your website must be both interactive and informative. Having white papers and free downloads about information and facts regarding your industry is an excellent start. Content-rich material will engage your visitors and keep them coming back for more. Remember, in this day in age, you are not just selling products, you are contributing to a marketplace of ideas. And consumers will reward your innovative approach.

2) Get blogging. The blogsphere is a vast and wonderful place. You and your brand need to be apart of this. Setting up a corporate blog, or individual blogs for your employees, is a valuable asset to your marketing strategy. This is where your customers, or more importantly potential customers, can interact directly with you and find out exactly what you are all about. ‘Friends’ are more likely to buy from you than complete strangers.

3) Press Release it. Press releases used to be the sole domain of the press. Not so anymore. There are many press release sites out there like Prolog that are valuable assets to getting your message out. Press releases should be professionally written and polished before being submitted. It use to be that you would only send out press releases for big news. With these online press release sites becoming more and more of an online factor, press releases can be more frequent, detailing news about your company or brand that consumers will find engaging.

4) Go Viral. With over 2 billion videos being streamed daily on YouTube, having a channel on there is a must. Simply put, people love watching videos. With a little creativity and patience, you can build a nice little marketing campaign on YouTube and watch it go viral. For example, when two guys first filmed the ‘Mentos in Diet Coke’ experiment, the video went viral and was viewed by millions in a matter of days. Can you imagine the impact this had on the sale of Mentos and Diet Coke?

5) Be Sociable. Social media is a powerful marketing tool. Facebook and Twitter are vast platforms for your company and brand. The trick is to know how to use these tools, and others, to get your message out there. Books like ‘The New Rules of Marketing and PR’, authored by David Meerman Scott, can give you guidance on how social media campaigns can help you not only get your brand out there to billions, but to also monitor the social media channels available to see what consumers are saying about your brand. Monitoring and responding to consumers is almost as important as your brand. There are social media consulting companies out there than will not only set you up on social media platforms, they will create content-rich articles, monitor the social media universe and track your brand, and also keep you current with social media trends and best practices. A very valuable service indeed.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_James_Ferris