In my opinion, Facebook is worth the investment because it allows you to use the platform such as groups or pages to send people to you. Then you also have the option to communicate with them and continue branding them. When using craigslist, you’re most likely sending them to a place such as your website that will have to convince them to stay and communicate with you. Now if you’re selling a used piece of furniture…craigslist knows how to get that thing sold in about 2 minutes. How do you attract your clients?

24-7PressRelease.com – Free release distribution with ad-support

1888PressRelease.com – Free distribution, paid services gives you better placement and permanent archiving.

ClickPress.com – Distributs to sites like Google News and Topix.net, Gold level will also get you to sites like LexisNexis.

EcommWire.com – Focuses on ecommerece and requires you include an image, 3 keywords and links.

Express-Press-Release.com – Free distribution company with offices in 12 states.

Free-Press-Release.com – Easy press release distribution for free, more features for paid accounts.

Free-Press-Release-Center.info – Distributes your release, offers a web page with one keyword link to your site. Pro upgrade will give you three links, permanent archiving and more.

I-Newswire.com – Allows for free distribution to sites and search engines, premium membership differs only slightly in adding in graphics.

NewswireToday.com – All the usual free distribution tools, premium service includes logo, product picture and more.

PR.com – Not only will they distribute your press releases, but you can also set up a full company profile.

PR9.net – Ad supported press distribution site.

PR-Inside.com – European-based free press release distribution site.

This information came from here.

PRBuzz.com – Completely free distribution to search engines, news sites, and blogs.

PRCompass.com – Distribute your press release with a free or paid version, others can vote it up ala Digg () style.

PRUrgent.com – Not only distributes your release, but attempts to teach you how to write one, and even offers downloadbale samples for you to work with.

Press-Base.com – Submit your release for free and get on their front page and the category of your choice.

PressAbout.com – A free press release service formatted as a blog.

PressMethod.com – Free press release distribution no matter what, but extra services based on the size of your contribution.

PRLeap.com – Free distribution to search engines, newswires, and RSS feeds. Fee based bumps get you better placement.

PRLog.org – Free distribution to Google News and other other search engines.

TheOpenPress.com – Gives free distribution for plain formatted releases, fees for HTML-coded releases.

Bob Bernabucci says, To be successful at cash flow management is to make sure all three flows of commerce–goods, information and funds–are working together to accelerate the movement of money through your supply chain. In all my years in business, I’ve learned that cash flow can be–and must be–managed wisely, and that better cash flow management goes hand-in-glove with better supply chain management. This will help you create a healthy, strong business.

This myth is the major cause of failure for underfunded startup brands. I’ve heard many new business owners say that they don’t spend a penny on advertising or any other branding method because they’re waiting for “word-of-mouth” to kick in and build their brand. Years ago this was possible; in a small industry without a lot of brand competition or mass messaging, it didn’t take long for word to spread. Those days are over, though. With a different customer attitude and the many options available to the consumer, waiting for word-of-mouth to build their brands leads many businesses to shuttered doors. It’s a great way to increase business over time, but it isn’t something to base your business plan and success on. It isn’t proactive, and it simply doesn’t work in today’s competitive climate. It’s wishful thinking, not a realistic business plan.
Solution: A great way to build a list and incorporate word-of-mouth into your marketing is to launch a blog. They’re free to set up and, if used correctly, you’ll not only engage your potential customer, but you’ll also build loyalty and word-of-mouth. Blogs provide valuable content for your customer in your area of expertise. They’re excellent education and relationship-building tools.

I find this to be true on many levels. My dad (Tom Price) has always encouraged me to build a good customer base and use word of mouth as our marketing campaign. My dad owns an accounting firm in Nashville, TN called Price CPA’s and has built a very strong brand for his services, which has allowed for his company to find success in this way of marketing. For me, it was a struggle to find success in producing word of mouth sales without some incentives. We set up the blog, sent out Starbucks cards, had referral programs, etc – but never saw a huge reaction with our clientele. So what worked? Well what we had to do was find the people in the industry that were more experienced in the field we are in and picked their brains. We discovered that our brand was changing and first we needed to establish what our brand would be. After this we jumped into a few different campaigns and set up a network of people with our referral program, we began to find what worked for us.

My main points:
1.    Discover who you are and the product you sell
2.    Find the customers that would be most attracted to your services
3.    Test the market; find the medium you should be marketing
4.    Make the experience for the customer unforgettable

Thanks to Starr Hall specializes in PR, co-branding and licensing, online branding and building businesses worldwide through the power of social networking for the first part of this post.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/branding/webbrandingcolumniststarrhall/article201918.html

In his book Small Business Management, Michael Ames gives the following reasons for small business failure:

1. Lack of experience

2. Insufficient capital (money)

3. Poor location

4. Poor inventory management

5. Over-investment in fixed assets

6. Poor credit arrangements

7. Personal use of business funds

8. Unexpected growth

All of these factors are what make up a business and without proper management, your business might not work. I think a major point to be made here is when you are preparing the business for launch, give the business model a few different options. The tendency for entrepreneurs and thier ideas is to assume success or think about the hockey stick approach – It is an exciting time when you’re launching a new venture and they smartest factor to address is to find the weakness first.

So I’m 22-years-old and I’ve launched four successful businesses and created a name for myself. Here’s my point, I’ve always known that if there is a goal set then you are able to accomplish it (keep in mind that failure is never a mistake). My first year in business was so awful that I can hardly even talk about it. My business partner and I never set goals, spent lots of money on item in which we never had fund in the first place to pay for and thus getting into debt right at first. Well this was my first lesson – -  I now had a company at 20-years-old, dropped out of college and on my own, and successfully pulled my company 5 figures in the hole….nice. I began brainstorming how we were going to get back into the black and this is where my story of my life begins.

Why are there people that focus so much on the future that they miss the opportunities that place themselves right in front of their face?  I find it difficult to talk with these individuals that keep telling me that they’ll catch a break at some point. Rich Dad Poor Dad anyone? The rat race analogy. When we are faced in tight situations it is a great time to begin brainstorming and creating those ideas into realities. It’s about seeing those opportunities like I did and run with them –

Remember that failing is taking one step down a road that you’ll never go down again! It’s going to happen; get used to it.

This recession is earning a pretty reputable name. Let’s not let it get too cocky.

Now I understand that this time in our lives is something to look back on and say, “Remember that time when we thought it would never get better?” It’s so easy to get discouraged in a time when no one wants to throw around money. Trust me, I know. My company sells a high-end product to families and I can guarantee we’ve had to adjust our business model for the economic situation.

How do we see those opportunities that I was talking about in my last past? I strongly believe that this is the best time to launch a business if you’ve got a solid business model. At this time, there are so many great opportunities around every corner that are waiting to get launched by people like us. There is no age limit for success to happen for someone. We’ve all heard those stories of comfortable businessmen that hold great positions with firms deciding that there might be something better out in the world for them. They see that light of hope and opportunity and grab control of life and jump into the great world of entrepreneurialism…not quite a word but lets roll with it for a bit.

There is a long list of businesses that were started during  a recession and among them include; IHOP, Jim Henson Company, FedEx, Microsoft, Sports Illustrated, MTV, CNN, GE, and Trader Joes.

A Belfast newspaper wrote, “One of the ironies of a recession is that it has proven over previous historical periods to be a good time to launch a new business – both Microsoft and Oracle were launched and excelled as the world was in the midst of significant economic downturns,” a statement from Belfast City Council said.

This is a worldwide occasion that is placed in front of us. I’m writing this blog to get some recent thoughts so let me get through these topics before thinking I challenging everyone to go out and do something about it because I’m not. I’ve recently written a paper for a class where I argue that the time is better than ever to launch into a new venture.