introducing Offline Crash Course – Business Foundations

1. Our Comprehensive Step-by-Step Training Series to Help You Succeed with Local Marketing - Google Places, SEO, Facebook, and much more! introducingOffline Crash Course – Business Foundations A Collaborative Effort by Two Real World Local SEO Experts Brian Anderson Mario Brown

2. Transforming Your Offline Consulting Business 1 3 2 Business Foundations Technical Expertise Identifying and Selling New Clients Quality Content and Local Marketing Training to Guide You Every Step of the Way

3. 1 Business Foundations Laying the Groundwork For Your Success

4. Getting Set-up Properly • As you prepare to start your business, we are strong believers in building a team and getting everything set-up “right” from the on-set • Interview and find a CPA you are comfortable with. • Interview and find a local attorney (generalist) you are comfortable with. • Decide on corporate structure • S-Corp, C-Corp, LLC, Sole Proprietor • Take care of all state/federal start-up paperwork/forms • Choose a bank for your business account • Choose a merchant account provider – not PayPal • Choose a domain name

5. Why Business Foundations Having the right infrastructure in place is critical to your early success with local clients. • First Impressions • Your website and business cards matter • Your appearance matters • Communication • Having a dedicated phone line is important • Be responsive – phone/fax/email to the client • Reporting • Clients want reports / feedback. More on this later.

6. US - Select Business Type • As both Mario and Brian are not a CPA or an Attorney, we will not give you advice here. Please consult your professional. • Brian is a big believer in S-Corps and LLC

7. US - Select Business Type – Sole Proprietor Pros • Easy to set-up • Very few restrictions. • As a sole proprietor, you control all of the money made by the business. • You make all business operation calls. • You are management and, thus, can respond more quickly to day-to-day changes and decisions. • You experience less government control and taxation. • You don’t have to do a separate tax return for the business and, particularly, you don’t have to prepare a balance sheet for the business. Cons • Unlimited liability - as a sole proprietor, you are responsible for 100 percent of all business debts and obligations. This liability covers all of the proprietor’s assets, including his or her house and car. Additional insurance coverage may be needed to cover personal injury or physical loss that may hamper the continuity of the business. • Fragile business existence - the death, physical impairment, or mental incapacitation of the owner can result in the termination of the business. • Difficulty raising capital and financing – it is typically more difficult for sole proprietors to raise operating cash or arrange long-term financing because they have fewer assets. • All the decision-making power rests with one individual. • Less professional appearanceA sole proprietorship appears less professional than a partnership, and certainly less so than a corporation.

8. US - Select Business Type - continued • Many people will find it very easy to do the Incorporation paperwork on their state website rather than pay a service hundreds of extra dollars. • To find the link for your state, visit the your Secretary of State homepage or this page from the Small Business Administration: • http://www.sba.gov/bgsearch/start.html • Enter your zip code and choose “General” as the business type • SCORE - http://www.score.org/index.html • There are record keeping requirements beyond just creating the company. This is a great topic to use as introduction with a local attorney. • In lieu of paying them, it is often easy to work out a barter arrangement.

9. US - Employer Identification Number (EIN) • Employers with employees, business partnerships, and corporations, must obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The EIN is also known as an Employer Tax ID and Form SS-4. • U.S. Internal Revenue Service Phone: 1-800-829-4933 • Guide to the Employer Identification Number • Apply Online • By applying online, you can get this number in just a few minutes • You need the EIN number to open your business bank account and in most cases, get your merchant account set-up.

10. Local Business Licenses • Getting your local business license is also a critical step in properly getting your business off of the ground • Cost Vary by Location • Where Brian lives in Peachtree City, GA, he pays $100 a year • Check with both your city and county to find out how much money one or both will require you to pay. • One step in getting a business license in many cities when you work from home is a zoning waiver. If your city has lots of rules, you will need to get one of these as part of your licensing process. • The business license may seem trivial, but it is required for many things: • Open bank account • Merchant account • Obtain a mortgage – most lenders want to see proof of 2+ years in business.

11. Dealing with Money - Banking / Merchant Accounts

12. Selecting the Right Bank Account • Open up a simple Business Banking account. • You will need your business license, EIN number, S-Corp or LLC papers (assuming you choose one of these routes), and your personal ID • An important comment – Big Banks are not always the best! • But…at least one large US bank has a major advantage for those of us who employ many outsourcers. • Bank of America allows you to do international wires from your PC • This is big – no more spending 25 minutes at the local bank to try to get a wire sent. • Brian sends many wires a month in addition to PayPal and Xoom payments, so…he is a big fan of this feature. • For this reason alone – Brian banks at Bank of America.

13. Online Accounts – Financial • Open up a PayPal Business Account • Verify this account if you haven’t already done so to remove any restrictions • Get set-up with Xoom • Preferred payment option for the Philippines

14. Merchant Accounts • You will ask yourself….do I need a merchant account or is PayPal fine? • PayPay has narrowed the gap, but I still find comfort in having a merchant account to process my accounts recurring payments. • I have two merchant accounts right now • Intuit Merchant Services • I got this way back through QuickBooks • OK service/fees • http://payments.intuit.com/ • Free Auth Net (Capital Merchant Solutions) • Great fees • Decent service • http://freeauthnet.com/

15. Merchant Accounts - continued • As you evaluate your merchant account options, be aware of the fees involved • Gateway • Set-up Costs for Authorize.net • License Fees for Authorize.net • Gateway Fee • Merchant Account • Discount Rate – this is the % they take out of every sale you make • Transaction Fee – this is a flat rate on every transaction • Statement fee – amazing…most of them charge you just send you a bill! • A good merchant provider will offer you extremely low transaction fee, statement fee, and Auth.NET gateway fee. Ideally, they will not charge you for the set-up and license. • Be careful in this area, there are many brokers offering inflated pricing

16. Phone lines, Faxes and other telecom issues

17. Telecommunications – Phone/Fax One of the critical elements to success in offline consulting is good communications. We are big fans of the many VOIP services that are out there, as business phone lines are quite expensive through the phone company. • Assuming you don’t have a physical office at first, you will want a few different things in this area: • Business Phone Number • Toll-free Number (if you will take calls from out of area) • Fax Number • Brian uses Phone.com and their “Virtual Office” package • Pick and choose the minutes and numbers you need • Great apps for use on Droid/iPhone/Blackberry • Mario uses Kall8.com and is very happy with it • For fax service Brian uses – MyFax. • Best combination of price/quality I’ve found. • $10 a mos.

18. Telecommunications - Skype • Get set-up with Skype • Buy a nice USB headset • Get comfortable using it • This will be your primary method of communication with your offshore team

19. Your Own Team

20. Building Your Accounting Team • Ask others that you know/trust for recommendations • Meet with 2-3 CPAs to find someone you are comfortable with • Interview them • When you meet with them, tell them about your type of business and the challenges you face • What is their experience with your type of business • Talk about fees – how will they charge you. Just for taxes, or a consulting fee • Brian recommends having them show you how to do your own entries in QuickBooks to save you $ on a bookkeeper until you get bigger in size • This will also make it easy for your CPA to do your taxes

21. Accounting Software • Keeping up with what you make and spend is often overlooked. Don’t make this mistake. • As the months drag on, it will be harder and harder to remember what you spent and what income you earned. Intuit’s Quickbooks 2011 is easy to use and probably the most popular package out there for small businesses • Don’t buy it from Intuit directly, instead purchase online • Amazon - $132 instead of $200+ at Intuit • If you are not comfortable with it already, have your CPA that you will select to set it up. Inexpensive service that is well worth paying for the help! • They are setting up your “Chart of Accounts”, which is how you organize your income/expenses

22. Finding a Local Attorney • Ask others that you know/trust for recommendations • You may find it easy to meet someone you are comfortable with through a Chamber of Commerce meeting • Interview them • When you meet with them, tell them about your type of business and the challenges you face. • Do you need them to help you with your S-Corp/LLC set-up? • What is their experience with your type of business • Talk about fees • You may think you don’t need an attorney. I thought that. In truth, my attorney refers me to all kind of lawyers I would have never met!

23. Your Online Presence

24. Going Online – Domain name • Register a domain name that fits your business • Brian uses GoDaddy – they have a nice domain management system. Mario uses Name Cheap, as they have a great price and good service without the upsells. • In terms of naming, we like names with the phrase “internet marketing”, “online marketing”, or “SEO” in them. These are commonly searched terms when combined with a specific city name. • Register it for several years – not just 1.

25. Going Online – Hosting • Brian uses GoDaddy and Rackspace for my hosting needs. • GoDaddy is cheap and easy to use • These have been resolved for the most part and you will find they offer significant services for $5-8 a mos. • We also like Host Gator as well for an inexpensive easy-to-use host • Purchase a Linux Hosting plan • If you choose GoDaddy, auto-install WordPress from the Hosting Control Panel. It’s on the far top right of the page.

26. Going Online – WordPress Theme • Mario is making available a theme in the membership area for you to use. We are also in talks to add 2-3 more high quality themesfor your use. • The WordPress install is important, as it makes it quite easy to do on-site SEO for your new website. Your SEO will be much stronger. • Suggested plug-ins to install: • All in One SEO or Headspace 2 ( both are great) • Daniel Tan’s – SEOPressor • Costs $, but worth it for most people • Cforms 7 • WP Touch • WordPress Database Backup • Google XML Site Map • Google Analyticator • DB Cache Reloaded

27. Going Online – Website Content • Lots to talk about here • Feel free to check-out my site for inspiration www.peachtreeseo.com • We will have a separate webinar to discuss this point.

28. Setting Initial Goals

29. Goal Setting – Reasonable Expectations • It’s critical to develop a 30-60-90 day strategy as you begin working your business (even if you’ve started before – do this now) • 30 Days • Get your business set-up (bank account, merchant, website, etc.) • Join 1 networking group in your town • Attend first networking group meeting • Close 1-3 clients – probably small ones. $500 upfront, $200-$250 mos. • 60 Days • Join chamber of commerce – you will meet attorneys here. • Close 2nd client from networking groups • Work on links and on-site SEO of your site as you solicit new clients • Blog posts – set a goal for 1-2 a week • Close 3-5 clients

30. Goal Setting – Reasonable Expectations • 90 Days • You need to set your own goals here • What do you want to accomplish • Think outside the box • Where do you see yourself in 90 days? • How much money do you see yourself making? • Some Ideas: • Achieve rankings on your own website for 5-7 terms • Land 1 large client

31. Questions & Answers

32. Our Comprehensive Step-by-Step Training Series to Help You Succeed with Local Marketing - Google Places, SEO, Facebook, and much more! introducingOffline Crash Course – Business Foundations A Collaborative Effort by Two Real World Local SEO Experts Brian Anderson Mario Brown