Digital marketing entrepreneurs

Small entrepreneurs may use Google AdWords for their online marketing strategies.

Google says, "Over a million businesses rely on Google AdWords. Whether you're looking to attract new website visitors, grow online sales, get the phones ringing or keep customers coming back for more, Google AdWords can help. You can reach relevant customers on relevant websites across the web. People see your ad on Google. If the words people type in Google match your keywords, your ad can appear above or next to the search results. Your business gets found by people on Google precisely when they're searching for the things that you offer. A range of options let you target by website type, audience type or remarketing, when and where it matters and advertise locally or globally. Target your ads to customers in certain countries, regions or cities - or within a set distance from your business or shop. How much you invest is up to you. Just begin with a daily budget you're comfortable with, then change it at your convenience. Most businesses get off to a good start with a budget of Rs 1000 a day. You only pay when someone clicks your ad to visit your website, or calls you. In other words when your advertising is working. You can adjust, pause or end your campaign at any time without extra charge. Google AdWords lets you manage your campaign by yourself, or you can call us for free expert set up and support on 1800-4219-6331. You can pay using a regular credit or debit card ( Visa, Visa Electron or Master Card) or via a bank payment if you prefer. Signing up for Google AdWords is free. Just create an account, set your budget, write your first ad and decide where you would like it to appear. You can always fine-tune it later on. You can see how your ads are doing at any time by logging in to your Google AdWords account. With the tracking tools you can even see the actual sales your website is generating as a direct result of your ads".

Small scale entrepreneurs can also use it for the online branding of their businesses.

Entrepreneur branding

The cost of running ads on television (Doordarshan) requires many lakhs (approximately about 4 to 4.5 lakhs) for 30 seconds. The minimum time slot for ads is 10 seconds. For some social causes, there is 25% less to be paid.
The cost of  advertisements on radio (All India Radio) runs in thousands for 30 seconds. The minimum time slot for ads is 10 seconds.
The cost of running business advertisements in leading newspapers are also in thousands and requires investment of many lakhs (for example for Times of India, it is about 10 laklhs  for 12/20 cms) for giving ads in front page. There can be only single ad in the front page and the minimum size is 12/20cms.

Businesses may need to use traditional methods to advertise about their companies to build a brand but due to the very high cost to be incurred on such methods, they are usually not able to give ads on TV, radio or in newspapers.

If women entrepreneurs, micro and small businesses can give their ads on TV, radio and newspapers these companies can also build up their brand and very soon.  The government and other private broadcasting agencies can support these women entrepreneurs, micro and small businesses to air their products/ads in commercial time on TV, radio and in newspapers by providing a platform for them.

banks entrepreneurs

There are bank loans that the would be entrepreneurs can avail. Grandeur Industries at msmemart.com says about the bank loans that will help grow MSMEs.

According to Grandeur Industries at msmemart, "PMEGP is a government sponsored scheme for educated unemployed youth for setting up any manufacturing unit or service unit.

Eligibility criteria

Education: Minimum 8th pass

Age: Maximum 35 years

Manufacturing unis can avail loan up to Rupees 25 lakhs and Service unit can avail loan up to Rupees 10 lakhs respectively under PMEGP scheme. The proposal has to be routed through KVIC (Khadi & Village Industries Commission) and DIC (District Industries Centre) and KVIB (Khadi & Village Industries Board). State Level Bankers Committee can also approve the loan selection of borrowers. You can also apply online  through KVIC and DIC websites. Trading units and MSMEs already doing business are not eligible for this scheme. They can directly go to banks.

CGTSME scheme is for small and medium enterprises. The guarantee is provided by the government for loan up to one crore. The scheme is only for manufacturing and service unit. The trading units are not eligible under this scheme".

Things for entrepreneurs to know about banks:

According to Grandeur Industries at msmemart.com, "Banks do Know Your Customer (KYC) norm, presanction survey, take market opinion and utilize all the market intelligencies to know about the antecedents of the borrower and the company and its activities. According to the RBI and  guidelines of Ministry of Finance, every bank regularly organize customer and entrepreneurs meet in their own branch premises or any other comfortable place other than the premises. During customer meet the concerned bank carefully listen each query of known customers and unknown customers and they try to ratify all queries. Each bank makes a report regarding these meets and they send the customer meet report to their administrative unit, the administrative unit then sends it to the RBI, Ministry of Finance as well as the lead bank. These meets are of different kinds like msme meet, retail loan meet, meet specialized with women entrepreneurship etc".







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Exchange of business

This exchange of business is a model or a concept based on barter system. The exchange of products would be on the worth of money, the product is being exchanged for. For example, a hundred rupees product will be exchanged for another product that is of worth of rupees hundred only. There is exchange between products of micro and small businesses. Municipal corporation can give vending zones for such businesses, create a database of micro businesses and businesses for exchange. For maintaining quality of goods, government can have some quality seal/regulations. This kind of trade may allow for big thinking, retail business, production, growth of business and increase in the value of business i.e. there will be many products to sell.

Views of the various professionals from corporate retailing outlets, micro and small business owners, micro vendor federation and SME institution

According to one of the small business owner (retailer), today whatever product we buy is a licensed product. If something goes wrong then the blame should not come on us but the business who supplied it. We have business associations to protect us. Government license is a must to sell a product. Business exchange between small and small , micro and micro, and micro and small can be a feasible concept but there are things like who will ensure the quality of the products etc. If government makes some kinds of regulations to facilitate this concept, then it may be accepted by the businesses. Also small business owners wants to buy from those who may sell the product for a lower cost compared to other businesses. For example, a 50 rupees product if I can get it from someone for 40 rupees then I will buy it from him who sells it for rupees 40 and not from the one who sells it for rupees 50. So the government has to come into the picture.

Another very small business owner (retailer) says, that this exchange model will benefit small and micro businesses. The government can make rules and regulations for quality and fix the same rate for a particular commodity. For example, a 5 rupees product should sell for 5 rupees only and there should not be anyone who sells it for 3 rupees. Then and then only it will work.

According to another small business owner (mobile), this kind of exchange should be there but the product that I will choose to sell would depend on the customer's choice.

A fruit and dry fruit vendor said that this exchange model is good as because he will be able to sell clothes or mobile phones too.

Some of the micro business selling only fruits or vegetables in a particular area were of the opinion that they know only this business and they learnt the trade of selling fruits or vegetables with great difficulty and were not interested in other businesses. Few of them but wanted to see this scheme and then decide if they could get involved into this.

Some of the vegetable vendors in a different area said that they will be able to grow their business, if such things happens because they believed in looking forward and going forward. Today, they have a government place to sell and they don't have to pay anything to anybody or the Government. So they could arrange more than one place to sit in that market and sell many products. They also wanted to know the variety of products available for exchange for them to choose. One of them was interested to sell spices. They said the rate for a commodity that they would exchange would be decided by them. One of them was concerned with who will guarantee for the quality?

According to a micro vendor federation, workshop or seminars have to be organized and specialists in micro finance should be invited. Municipality gives vending zones, but who will monitor? If government makes rules and regulations for such business exchange then, this can be implemented and there may be business growth. Government organizations like National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and municipality should be involved.

Another professional from Government organization was of the view that awareness needs to be conducted for such a business. NGOs can take part in this.

According to another professional from SME institution, if this kind of business is done for a small quantity then may be it will not work . It should be done on a large scale, so that production will increase. For different types of commodities, the sale will increase, when there will be good turnover, there will be increase in profit. Many different types of customers would come. It will be convenient and comfortable for customers also. In corporate retailing business exchange offers are there. Awareness is to be provided, so that both the micro and small businesses and the bank benefit. Banks can provide capital. Government rules and regulations have to be there. Local government bodies can monitor this.

According to a corporate retailing outlet professional, nothing works in isolation. So the entire economy has to be taken in barter system. For example, for flying in a aeroplane, the barter for this service is money. In today's scenario, barter business as a whole is difficult. There are government regulations. Barter system business is o.k. for micro or small businesses and that too for only one or two products. This business exchange may fulfill only small needs. Since in barter system there was not 100% need fulfillment and that is why money was introduced. Currency is important. If there are twenty products for exchange then one is forced to take only specific things. In barter business exchange the biggest hurdle is that 100% need fulfillment is not being met.

According to another corporate retailing outlet professional, the compatibility in this has to be seen. It can become a good platform because exposure will be gained for the products of micro and small businesses and roduct awareness will occur which is very essential in today's business. It is not easy for everyone to attend trade fair.The number of product increases to sell in a shop. Khadi products will also get exposure in mass populi. If this business exchange is good and works, then policy formulation will not be far on this. There will be growth of businesses. In corporate retailing, daily need products are sold. Big corporate retailers can look into this to support such activities.

This business exchange could become a possibility if government may take some initiatives.

Keywords importance

Entrepreneurs and business owners need clicks on their ads or websites to gain customers.
Google says, "Are you a business owner, online marketer or content creator? You would definitely need to grab people's attention in order to make them click on your ads or even read your content. For that, you will have to first understand what your potential customers or readers are actually searching for. There are billions of searches each day on Google. For a typical query there are thousands if not millions of webpages with helpful information. 

Every search is an expression of people's needs, wants, interests and desires. Imagine how your business would benefit if you could analyse these search terms that are related to your business domain and customise your product to serve the actual needs of your customers.

If you want your website to get traffic from Google or other search engines, you need to make sure that your website contains content created around the right keywords. What this means is that you should be using words that your potential audience is already using while looking for similar products or services online. The best way to discover these keywords, as it was proven by thousands of thriving online businesses, is to use Google's auto suggested keywords as a base to create content for your website. By creating content around these popular keywords you are readily giving great value to your website visitors, in return Google will reward your website with higher rankings which entails traffic increase.

Keyword Tool will help you discover thousands of the new longtail keywords related to the topic that you specify by automatically generating Google's auto suggestions. Keyword Tool generates over 750+ keywords in the language of your choice. You can export the keywords and use them for content creation, search engine optimization, PPC or other marketing activities. Keyword Tool is extremely reliable as it works 99.99% of the time. It's free.

If you are looking for keywords in languages other than English, you will find keyword Tool's features really useful. It allows you to select from 192 Google domains and 83 Google language interfaces to generate keyword suggestions. The generated keywords will be relevant to the country that you are creating your content for".

Tip for entrepreneurs and business owners to try: Each and every word for the title or few words description of the product to market can be a keyword extracted from Google Keyword Tool. Use the most appropriate keyword suggestion for each word. You thus make a new long-tail keyword for your product which may help you compete with your competitors for those keywords because there is a probability that the existing keyword suggestions may already be taken up by your competitors.

Clue search engine

Freshness and events are two search engine things that entrepreneurs may know and utilize them may be for quick and successful business presence online.

According to Google, "Freshness- Shows the latest news and information. This include gathering timely results when you are searching for  specific dates".

Entrepreneurs may plan for an event online (that also says about dates) because due to the Freshness factor and also since Google filters by events, the business may become quickly visible,  attract traffic which is the entrepreneurs business brand goal  and may be attract the future customers also. Using Google FREE Keyword Tool entrepreneurs may create the name of the event and have a high quality content for the event/business to be found on the web. 

According to "Google Inside Search Tips and Tricks, (learn more about what you can ask Google):
Filters by:

• Events - Look up the date for upcoming events and holidays.
• Conversions - Convert currency, volume, weight and more.
• Songs 
• My Packages
• Reminders
• Camera - Take a picture.
• Websites - "Go to wikipedia.com."
• Local Movies
• E mails- You can also say an email address like "Email samrhorwith@gmail.com..."
• Entertainment Trivia
• Finance
• Calendar Events - "Create an event dinner with Jamie at 8 PM"
• Local Business - "Where's the nearest ice cream shop?"
• Nutrition
• My Contacts - Find phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, and addresses from your Google Contacts
• Directions
• Social
• Music
• Navigation
• TV Shows
• Famous People
• Travel Info
• Dictionary
• Menus - "Show me the menu for Los Cubanos."
• Alarms
• APPS
• Places
• Customer Service
• Images - Explore the world through pictures.
• Sports
• Radio
• My Schedule
• Time
• My Photos
• Phone calls
• Weather
• Tip Calculator
• My Trips
• Translations
• Notes
• Local Businesses - "Call Fierror's Pizza?" Call any business, like a restaurant, florist, cafe or comic bookshop
• Books
• Movies
• Texts"

 Entrepreneurs and businesses may utilize these tips and tricks i.e. look into these filters/clues and may take appropriate approach for how they want (or to enhance) their business presence online.

High school entrepreneurship

The high school students of a school can form a "student volunteer club for making young entrepreneurs". They can launch this club on a special day like Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) etc. In this club, there could be different  product/enterprise sections. All these different product/enterprise sections could be headed by the senior school students.

The school can come into collaboration with the government agencies who can provide informal education on youth entrepreneurship. This informal education on entrepreneurship may become a valuable form of imparting skills to students for their future entrepreneurial opportunities. If students of one of the product/enterprise sections for example are interested in shoe polish or detergent powder, government agencies may send their experts/mentors on those products to the school.

The technical information for shoe polish formula as well as on the raw materials and manufacturing process of shoe polish or the technical information on how to make detergent powder, the formula, what are the raw material required and manufacturing process and for other products of the club can be made available to the students by their mentors. Wherever possible, the practical development of the product may take place. There could be a free distribution of the product samples to other students of the club, teachers, school staff, parents etc to take their opinion on the quality, pricing etc.The students can also take the samples to the local shop owners to know the feedback on how the customers of the shop rated it.

For students to understand the viability of the projects, banks can give lessons in the school. Banks can help in the development of project proposals from their point of view. This may become one of the bank's initiatives.

Students can be exposed to entrepreneurs to guide them about the market, risks etc and practically see the production in the factory.

There could be visit of other government and private professionals concerned with the factory laws, registration of unit etc. There could be professionals who could talk on how to cost a product, how to price it, choosing the best packaging material, designing of the material etc.

Students may share their skills with other students in the club.They become exposed to skills of many industries (micro, small, medium enterprises). Now there is less apprehension and more risk taking abilities developed in students.

A paper on each enterprise could be submitted in the school which may be then followed by banks interviewing students on their project proposals and assigning marks on their project.

Lastly there could be high school students entrepreneurs show, where the judges could be from banks, micro small medium enterprises (MSMEs) world, entrepreneurs, students etc. The students may present their work to others in the school so that the other students, teachers, school staff etc can vote for them. The best student based on the judges marks and vote  given, may be awarded by banks with a certificate and cash that the student may in future utilize it for his/her entrepreneurial activity.

If the volunteer organizations and NGOs can take up this activity in different government, municipality and private schools, then there may be development of many future new entrepreneurs.

Handicraft questionnaire

Before you start your handicraft business, know all these to better equip yourselves with the skills in this business.

• Why people buy traditional handicrafts?
• What are the sources of handicraft items?
• What are the handicraft business opportunities?
• Which handicraft products to take up to start the business?
• Can artisans make the handicraft product as per the buyer's specifications?
• Who are the people who buy handicrafts?
• What are the different handicraft products of a particular place?
• What is the sales volume of the handicraft item in your target market?
• Which handicraft products are more in demand from others and why?
• Where would you be selling the handicraft products? 1. setting up your own shop 2. taking orders and supplying to the buyers
• What packaging is required for the handicraft product? 
• What are the uses of the handicraft products of your choice?
• Are equipment required to lift the handicraft product for transportation like for heavy stone items etc?
• How to sell the handicraft product online, offline etc?
• How is the export market for the traditional handicraft product?
• What are the purposes of handicraft product? For example: gift, decoration, souvenirs, teaching and learning (material) with the handicraft items etc
• Is the handicraft product affordable in your specific market?
• Can artisans make bulk production of the handicraft so as to meet the orders because it is handmade?
• What is the time involved in making a single product piece?
• How many artisans are required to make a single product piece?
• Can you make timely delivery to your buyers?
• what are the government and private orders the artisans have to meet? What orders of yours they can meet after supplying to them?
• Are there enough skilled manpower for production of traditional handicraft?
• How much the artisans can produce? Numbers and quantity to specify?
• Are they hiring other craftsmen? 
• Will the artisans give quality handicraft products? 
• Do artisans have sufficient raw materials?
• What price they quote to the government and what price they quote to you?
• How will you market traditional handicraft? Will you supply to government buyers, private buyers, hotels, relatives, emporiums etc?
• Will you exhibit handicrafts in trade fair or participate in international fairs? 
• Do you have sufficient money or will you need to raise money from banks?
•  Should you learn the craft before taking it up for business?
• Who are the master craftsmen?
• Who are the awardees?
• Which product and design has been selected for national award?
• What are the designing assistance being provided by the government to the artisans? Whether you can avail these benefits? 

Youth and others can leave their comments on #handicraftandHandicraftquestionnaire