Small and Medium Business Blog articles

Who will win Round 1? Do you want to take the Officejet Pro Challenge -- Laser Edition?

Angela_LoSasso — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:18:00 GMT

As you can see from the leaderboard, the first round of the Officejet Pro Challenge is too close to call in this final fourth week of feedback from our five small businesses. Who do you think has delivered the most useful insight into how the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless can help small businesses get professional quality color printing with significant cost and energy savings?

If you haven't voted, be sure to head on over and check out this week's collection of blog posts. We asked the five companies to test-drive the HP Creative Studio for Business and use the free customizable templates to make some simple marketing materials for their own business. From business cards and flyers to trifold brochures, I think you may be pleasantly surprised by what these business owners were able to create within a short amount of time using the HP Creative Studio -- and by their feedback on the quality of the printouts.

So make your opinion count and vote for your favorite posts. The winning small business will receive a prize package that includes keeping the printer, 1 year's worth of Original HP ink and paper, and a professional design package from Logoworks by HP.

Wish you could take the HP OfficejetPro Challenge? The call for entries for Round 2: The Laser Edition is now open. Go here to learn more and enter.

HP Officejet Pro Challenge Week 1 Leaderboard

Angela_LoSasso — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:12:00 GMT

If you own a small business, I think you'll be interested to hear how you can save up to 50% off color printing cost per page and save up to 50% energy, too. You're just not gonna hear about it from me.

In the HP Officejet Pro Challenge, 5 small business owners have agreed to set aside their old printers to test drive the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One and blog about their experiences.

HP thought it would useful for small businesses to hear firsthand what other small businesses think about printing everyday documents and marketing materials using the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 in comparison with their old printer. So useful, in fact, that we're asking entrepreneurs and small business owners to vote for the feedback they like most.

The small business who receives the most votes for the best posts will get to keep the Officejet Pro 8500 printer, plus they'll receive 1 year's worth of Original HP ink and paper and a custom design package from Logoworks by HP.

According to the votes for Week 1, the small business who provided the most useful feedback about opening the box and setting up their Officejet Pro 8500: Rheinart Marketing.

Up this week: See what the businesses think about printing costs and supplies -- and vote for the best post!

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Small Business Wiki and writes for the Small Business Marketing Guide. You can also find her on Twitter.

Take the HP Officejet Pro Challenge for Small Business

Angela_LoSasso — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:52:00 GMT

As a small business owner, odds are good you keep a keen eye on expenses. You think technology has its place: It should work for you and improve your bottom line. If this sounds like you, then read on...

HP is inviting all U.S. small businesses with 20 or fewer employees to check out the HP Officejet Pro Challenge. We want five small business owners to swap out their current non-HP printer and test drive the award-winning HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One for 4 weeks. We want you to learn firsthand how you can get professional quality color printing while saving up to 50% cost per page and up to 50% less energy than comparably priced laser printers.

Simply share your experience online with other small business owners via HP's Small Business Community. Members of the community will review and rate your feedback. The participant who receives the most votes for "useful" feedback will be the grand prize winner.

The grand prize winner will keep the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One and will also receive a year's worth of free HP ink cartridges and paper plus a design package from Logoworks by HP.

Interested? Then hurry: You need to enter by Friday, July 10, 2009 to be considered for the challenge. See the details here.

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Small Business Wiki and writes for the Small Business Marketing Guide . You can also find her on Twitter.

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DIY Marketing: How to successfully launch your brand with no money, no agency and no expertise

Angela_LoSasso — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:19:00 GMT

I've owned my own business. I've helped launch and manage two successful dot-coms (Netflix and CNET).
And I currently work for HP (which is ranked
#9 in the most recent Fortune 500
listing). So I've seen my share of marketing and brand-building efforts - both
good and bad.

Here's one marketing secret I want
to share: You don't need a dime in your marketing budget to successfully launch
and build your brand. You simply need the right resources, a bit of time, and
the commitment to learn, improve, and share.

Free DIY Marketing Resources

The adoption and acceptance of
social media is very good news for small business owners. The quality of
marketing expertise that's available via blogs, communities and online
conversations is staggering and could cost you thousands of dollars were you to
actually pay for it out of pocket (I did when I had a business). But why would you, if you can get the same
expertise for free (or at incredibly affordable rates)?

Your brand's "story" (the mission statement, logo, brochure, web site) is
often the reason customers decide to spend money with you. Start building the brand story for your
business by checking out these free resources:

Small Business Marketing Guide:

Top small business marketing experts such as Guy Kawasaki,
Anita
Campbell of Small Business Trends, and Duct Tape Marketing's John Jantsch share their expertise,
strategy
and tips
to help you develop and evolve the compelling story of your business . (As
of this writing, the Small
Business Marketing Guide also offers free marketing webinars, too.
HP
Creative Studio:

This 2009
Webby-Award winning site offers dozens of free, professionally designed templates that you can download,
customize, and print for your business within minutes, including:

The HP
Creative Studio is also a great asset to find tools, access to discounts,
and other DIY and affordable design services (such as Logoworks
and Stock
Layouts) that professional marketing
agencies use every day.

Twitter:

Get expert advice, get
opinions and share your expertise with world (or just your neighborhood) -
in real time. Any marketing expert worth
their salt is on Twitter, and you get their sage advice for free. Better
still, many experts will follow you back and respond to your questions.
Even better still, when you're ready to test drive your new marketing
materials, the Twitter universe is a great place to ask for feedback and
opinions. (Author and marketer Tara
Hunt asked her Twitter followers to rate the jacket design of her new
book "The Whuffie Factor", and she got hundreds of opinions plus free
designs in response.)

Use the following resources to get started and put
Twitter to work for you (I've also included links to the resources'
Twitter account):

How to Use Twitter to
Grow Your Business (via @Copyblogger)
50
Ideas on using Twitter for Business (by @ChrisBrogan)
We Follow (@wefollow): This is a user-powered
Twitter directory that makes it extremely easy to find people by topic, company
or interest. (You'll find me in WeFollow's
HP category.)

Take the first few steps to launch
your brand - there's a world online ready and willing to help. Including me.

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Small Business Wiki
and writes for the Small Business
Marketing Guide . You can also find her on Twitter.

DIY Marketing in 3 Easy Steps and 15 minutes or less (plus, get a 20% off coupon)

Angela_LoSasso — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:18:00 GMT

I've said this before
but I'll say it again: Whether your business is just launching or has been in
the black for years, your brand is -- or should be -- as unique as you are. Your
"story" is often the reason customers decide to spend money with you.

The expertise,
strategy
and tips
shared in the Small Business Marketing Guide (brought to you by HP) will help you develop the compelling and unique story
of your business -- whether that brand story is a logo, a brochure, your company
letterhead, a website, or all of these
and more. I want to help you start
sharing that story -- without breaking the bank. And it starts with three easy
steps.

Visit the HP
Creative Studio and select a free template.
Download the
template and customize it with your information.
Print it,
share it, and start building your business.

It's really that easy. But I'm
betting you'll be more likely to give it a try -- and succeed -- if I show you
how.

Follow these steps to get
customized, professionally designed letterhead and envelopes for your business in 15
minutes or less.

Step 1: Visit the HP
Creative Studio and select a free template.

I selected the "Stationery
and Envelopes" category.

Then I selected the FREE "Circles" Letterhead
Template. (You can choose from more than 25 FREE
professionally designed letterhead templates by using the arrows to scroll
through the thumbnail menu.)

Then I downloaded the matching
"Circles" envelope
template.

Step 2: Customize and Save your new Marketing Materials

Tip: In Microsoft Word, I first do a "Save As" to rename the files and save
them to my notebook. (I find it's better to have a locally stored copy to edit,
tweak, and have available for future use and printing.)

Get started by selecting the text
and replacing it with your company name. I'll show you what it looks like
before and after I change the text.

Here's what it looks like after inserting my own text:

Be sure to customize the contact and address information in the footer of the page, too:

Then do the same for matching envelope by editing the placeholder text to insert your company name and address. The before and after...

Step 3: Print it, share it, and start growing your
business. (And get a 20% off coupon!)

You now have professionally
designed, customized letterhead you can print yourself. But I'd be remiss if I
didn't share one more piece of advice: If you want professional quality color
marketing materials that you can print yourself (at up to 50% less cost per
page and energy costs than laser), I highly recommend the HP
Officejet Pro 8500 and Original HP
Officejet Ink and Supplies.

Through May 5, 2009, you can save
20% ($80) on the new HP
Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One. Get the
coupon and terms here and see
the All-in-One (print, scan, copy, fax).

Related articles from the Small Business Marketing Guide,
brought to you by HP:

From John Jantsch: Incredible,
Credible Marketing Materials

From Anita Campbell: What
Google Can Teach Us about Printed Marketing Materials

From Guy Kawasaki: The Art of Branding

From Dane Carlson: Make
your marketing market you

More from Angela LoSasso: Top
5 reasons Small Business Can Hit Print Affordably

Got a question or comment? I invite you to send it my way.

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Small Business Wiki and HP's Creative Wiki. You'll also find her on Twitter.

See The Truth about Print and Prosper Cost of Ink Claims

Angela_LoSasso — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:53:00 GMT

(Update: In the time since this post was first published, HP delivered an official response. Go here to see what HP thinks about the Printing Costs of HP Printers.)

I hope you'll check out my .02 on The Truth about Print and Prosper Cost of Ink Claims over on the HP Inkjet Printing Blog.

Got a question or comment? I invite you to send it my way.

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Creative Wiki and HP's Small Business Wiki. You'll also find her on Twitter.

Top 5 reasons small business can hit print -- affordably

Angela_LoSasso — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:03:00 GMT

Just because your company is classified as a small business, it doesn't mean your marketing can't rival that of a Fortune 500 company.

You want and need impact, yet you need to save money while your technology works to make you money. We get it. And we want to help.

Here are my Top 5 reasons small businesses can hit print -- affordably -- with HP and the Wireless HP Officejet Pro 8500 system.

1. Look big. Save big time.

The Wireless HP Officejet Pro 8500 delivers professional quality
COLOR printing for up to 50% less cost per page than laser.
It's easy to economize because the Officejet Pro
has four individual ink cartridges, which means you only need to replace cartridges
that run out. The water-resistant HP 940 Officejet Inks also offer premium durability (so they hold up to weather and heavy handling -- why do I think of realtors and pizza delivery menus?)
With the HP Creative Studio for Business, Marketsplash and other key HP partners, you can affordably create, customize, and print agency-quality marketing materials yourself.

2. Be kind to the Environment (and your
wallet).

The Wireless HP Officejet Pro 8500 can save up to 50% energy vs.
lasers.
With its auto-duplex feature (geek-speak for
double-sided printing), you can print on both sides of the page, saving paper
and cost, and avoid print-shop minimum charges.

3. No
messy cords + get bonus points for sharing.

When you have an Wireless HP Officejet Pro 8500, you are now officially untethered from your desk
so you can print from anywhere in the house or office within range of your
wireless network.
Anyone on your wireless network can share a
single printer. (It supports Ethernet, too.)

4.
You
wear a lot of hats. Your printer should, too.

Print. Scan. Copy. Fax. The Wireless HP Officejet Pro 8500 is a versatile HP
All-in-One. No more need to buy and supply separate machines.
Print photos without a PC. Insert your camera's
memory card, use the color display, select and print your photos. Yes, it's
that easy.

5.
Peace
of mind: It's HP. It's reliable.

Get first-class support 24x7 toll-free or via
email in as little as an hour through HP's renowned Total Care support.
Get exclusive offers and discounts on supplies,
plus get free next-business day shipping with My Print Rewards.

For more info, check out these related links:

Computer Shopper Reviews gives the Wireless HP Officejet Pro 8500 an Editors' Choice award
Check out the specs, features, fine print and more in the HP store and find an authorized reseller near you.
See my colleague Bret Bottger's post in the HP Inkjet Blog for more expert tips and info.

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Creative Wiki and HP's Small Business Wiki. Inbetween creative projects, you'll find her on Twitter.

Five free eBooks to help build your business today

Angela_LoSasso — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:49:00 GMT

Best advice I ever received from a mentor: There's a wealth
of business expertise out there. Always be willing to ask questions, listen and
learn.

Luckily, people much smarter than me are willing to answer
and share. Download, print, and curl up on the sofa with these eBooks written
by leading small business experts:

9 Steps to Outstanding Market
Success, by Oliver Fritsch and Ines Bitsch
PR for Startups (I also recommend The Essential
Guide to Social Media), by Brian Solis
100 Best-Kept Marketing Secrets, by the Readers of Small Business Trends
Lose Control of Your Marketing, by
David Meerman Scott
Unleashing the Ideavirus, by Seth
Godin

Ready
to launch your own DIY marketing?

Get
professional color printing for up to 50% lower cost per page and use up to 50%
less energy than laser.
-- Learn more
about Officejet printers and ink
Visit the HP Creative Studio for
marketing materials, tools and resources you can start using today.
-- Grow your
business with the HP Creative Studio
Check out cool DIY and
affordable custom designs from MarketSplash by HP
-- Get 100 free business cards from MarketSplash

Angela LoSasso manages HP's Creative Wiki and HP's Small Business Wiki. Inbetween creative projects, you'll find her on Twitter.

Choosing Fearlessly

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:56:00 GMT

Anneliese Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Choosing
Fearlessly? Is that something you do in
your business every day? I have talked
to a lot of customers who take risks in their businesses every day but do not
want to touch their technology decisions with a ten-foot pole. When you’re in business, you usually want to
be focused on running your business, not worried about the technology that runs
it.

Take a look
at this
latest video dialogue HP is having with our customers (click the video on
the right-hand side). Have a listen to
testimonials with other small and medium business customers like you.

What
do you think? Let us know by using the comment link below this post. The team is
testing some new waters with this approach.

Technorati tags: hp, Hewlett Packard, printers, laser printers, laserjet, inkjet printers, small business, medium business

HP Blogs are migrating to a new platform

BlogArchive — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:16:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

I wanted to let you know that HP
blogs will be migrating to a new platform over the next week. As of
Friday, May 23, I won't be posting to my blog and won't be able to
receive any comments submitted. Please hold your comments until June 1
when our new site will be live.

New HP eBook: “Nine Steps to Outstanding Market Success”. HP talks with author Oliver Fritsch

BlogArchive — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:58:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Have you
wondered what eBooks
are? Do you ever wonder what next step
you should take to catapult your business to the next level? I had a conversation recently that should
help answer both questions for you.

I sat down
with marketing expert Oliver Fritsch, the creative mind behind HP’s eBook “Nine
Steps to Outstanding Market Success”. Oliver is the CEO of Cendesic, a full service search and digital
marketing agency. “Nine
Steps to Outstanding Market Success” is a new book for small business
owners that’s geared at providing actionable marketing and sales advice. The
advice is practical, a breeze to read, and each chapter is full of checklists,
worksheets and tips.

You can download this book free from HP.com
for the six months before its official publishing date (a $39.95 value). The
first three chapters are available for download now, and a new chapter is
available for download each month. This
month’s topic is “Prospecting.” It
really focuses you in on thinking about who your customers are and how you
approach and manage them in the best way.

During our
interview, Oliver talked about why he started a small business and the
freedom he feels due to owning his own business. Oliver shared some great thoughts during our
conversation about how to get started with your business. Have
a listen to Oliver’s insights and advice now.

To listen
to our entire SMB Community Podcast series, go
here.

Technorati tags: hp, Hewlett Packard, printers, laser printers, laserjet, inkjet printers, small business, medium business

How a Chat with HP can save you time and headaches!

BlogArchive — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:43:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Shopping
for tech products can be a chore. Often that’s because it’s difficult to find a
quick answer to a simple yet vital question.

Who hasn’t
experienced the pain of shopping in a big box store and not being able to find
someone – anyone -- with enough expertise to explain a product feature or
comparison product? And while websites are packed with info to help you easily research
a purchase decision, not every question gets asked and answered on the FAQs
page.

Sometimes,
you just need 30 seconds with an expert. We understand. And that’s why HP small
and medium business shoppers can get assistance in real-time with our HP Chat team.

I talked
with HP Chat manager Diann Davids last week. HP Chat provides pre-sales
support for hp products online on hp.com for small business, enterprise and
public sector customers. They are chartered to help customers with
their purchase process by answering questions about product specifications,
helping customers understand their needs, and creating solutions for customers
to meet those needs – regardless of whether you buy products from HP or your
favorite reseller. The HP team offers live chat Monday through
Friday from 8am to 8pm EST (5am to 5pm PST) for many product lines.

(I’ve
personally used HP Chat function on several occasions. I recently upgraded my
home computer to Windows Vista and had to get new drivers working for my
peripherals. The support I received from
HP Chat was fantastic.)

I encourage
you to take a listen
to our conversation. Diane has a
great ability to focus in on customer needs and wants to make sure HP meets
those needs. Come see if the team can meet your business
needs: visit hp.com and
engage in a chat conversation today!

To listen
to our entire SMB Community Podcast series, go
here.

Technorati tags: hp, Hewlett Packard, printers, laser printers, laserjet, inkjet printers, small business, medium business

Branding Bootcamp: Build your company’s story

BlogArchive — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:41:00 GMT

Does your business have a brand? Can you rely on your brand to represent your
company? More importantly, does your
business have a story? Is it easy for
people to understand your value proposition?
If you answered no, or you are at least scratching your head, you need
to take a look at HP’s Branding
Bootcamp …

Branding
Bootcamp is a new offering from HP that helps you and your business be more
successful in communicating your brand’s value and telling your story. We are working with small business owners
like you and walking them through the steps needed to build a better brand.

Our first
case study features Sweetpea Bicycles, a small business in Portland, Oregon.
Sweetpea wants to enhance and expand their marketing materials to cover
customer acquisition, product manufacturing, and repeat orders from their
existing customer base. But they’re not sure where to start.

HP – with
the help from the members in our Small and Medium Business Community –will take
Sweetpea Bicycles through the process of developing a complete marketing kit,
including a logo refresh, brochures, letterhead, postcards, and more.

You can
participate in the featured case studies by voting, contributing comments,
asking questions and sharing your experience and expertise. Your opinions could
possibly affect the design decisions that Sweetpea has to make, so make your
voice heard.

In return,
HP’s Branding Bootcamp will provide you with tools, templates and step-by-step
guides for building your brand no matter what stage your business is in. HP
will summarize each phase of Sweetpea’s Branding Bootcamp into free eBooks that
you will be able to download and use for your business.

Have some fun with this!

Like
all businesses, we at HP need to evolve and change too. To do that, we need to hear from you. What do you think about these tools? Do you have recommendations on how to improve
them? Please share your thoughts by
submitting a comment.

Technorati tags: hp, Hewlett Packard, printers, laser printers, laserjet, inkjet printers, small business, medium business. Branding bootcamp

Podcast Series: HP and Staples-- Serving SMB customers is our job

BlogArchive — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:42:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Serving SMB
customers is at the heart of what I do here at HP. I had a great conversation recently with
someone else who cares a lot about those same customers. I’m excited to share with you the first
channel partner interview we’ve done via podcast for this community.

This
conversation was with Candy Murphy from Staples. She is Vice President of Staples’ Contract
Technology Solutions business and is responsible for serving small business
customers through all their “non-store” selling motions. Staples has a strong business-to-business
selling motion and looks to help small businesses solve problems. Candy has a great and interesting background
and has been an insightful business partner over the past few years.

Take
a listen and let us know what you think.
What kinds of things do you consider when you are choosing where you
will purchase HP products and services?
You can also check out the HP store within the Staples site here.

Technorati tags: hp, Hewlett Packard, printers, laser printers, laserjet, inkjet printers, small business, medium business, Staples

Free eBook for Small Businesses from HP: Nine Steps to Outstanding Market Success

BlogArchive — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:40:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Nine Steps to Outstanding Market Success is a new eBook from HP offered to small
businesses to help improve your marketing activities and increase your
sales. You can check out the eBook
website here.

How does it
work? Every month we will publish a new
chapter that you can download; All chapters are available for free before it is
published and sold (retail price will be $39.95 at that time). There is also a
nice feature on the site that allows you to sign up for e-mail reminders when a
new chapter becomes available for download.

The book is
organized well. The chapters are as
follows:

Chapter
1: Focusing
Chapter
2: Innovating
Chapter
3: Prospecting
Chapter
4: Budgeting
Chapter
5: Branding
Chapter
6: Being Found
Chapter
7: Promoting
Chapter
8: Connecting
Chapter
9: Growing

It really
goes through all the steps you would need to consider when starting a business,
developing your company’s brand, staying true to your business purpose and
philosophy and figuring out how and when to grow. The creators of the book are Oliver Fritsch
and Ines Bitsch, who are part of Cendesic;
both have sales and marketing expertise that, when brought together in this
eBook, delivers a powerful tool for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

I
downloaded and went through the first chapter myself to get a feel for it. Chapter 1 is all about “focus” and figuring
out what business you are really in. It
is about getting really clear about your passion, what your skills are and
honing in on defining what you are trying to sell as a business owner. The part I liked the most was about
understanding your strengths. Knowing
what you are good at and how you plan to use those skills is critical to
running a business. By knowing your
strengths, you will be able to determine which areas will require the
assistance of others.

Is your
focus clear in your business? How did
you determine what you could do on your own versus what you needed help with?

Feel
free to share your ideas and experiences by using the comment link below.

Technorati tags: hp, Hewlett Packard, printers, laser printers, laserjet, inkjet printers, small business, medium business, small business marketing

Outshine your competition with HP In-House Marketing Solutions & save up to 50%

BlogArchive — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:03:00 GMT

Anneliese Olson
Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Today, we are launching a number of new printers and printing solutions for you, our small business customer. It is exciting for me to finally be able to talk about them publicly! You can see the detailed press release here, but here are a few of my personal highlights:

1. First, take a look at this video about one of our customers, Far and Away Adventures (the video is called “Adventures Come Alive with HP: In-House Marketing Increases Bookings.”) It is neat to hear things straight from customers themselves.

The people who own Far and Away Adventures said that being able to deliver customized pieces like this to send to their customers “blows them away.” Customization is everything to them now; they are able to create a custom piece for someone they speak to on the phone about their services and put it in the mail right away. They can tailor the piece to the services that were discussed on the phone call to make it match with the desired experience or vacation that the customer is looking for. Think how great you feel when you get that level of personalization from someone.

And, the fact that they have saved money and grown their business at the same time is something all businesses could use.

2. Another cool thing is the new Marketing Impressions site we have launched; this site is focused on helping you grow your business while saving you money. There are a number of free resources, templates, and tools at your disposal. One new piece we have listed on this site that I will write more about this week is the Market Success eBook. Go have a look and download the first chapter for free.

3. The new Color LaserJet CP 1518ni is a cool LaserJet printer (Mike Forbes is the product manager on my team responsible for this product and he is very passionate about his printers and his customers. I’m inviting him to do a podcast soon.)

It is very compact and fits nicely on a desktop- and it is priced at $399. It has media slots so you can just walk up and print out whatever you need. The printer also ships with marketing resources in the box, one of which is the HP Print View software. The software allows you to view print jobs in advance and estimate the document costs to avoid the frustration of unanticipated costs and reprints, depending on how many copies you are looking to print.

4. We also released a new version of HP Easy Printer Care. This software makes your devices easier to maintain, easier to monitor and easier to keep up and running. You can generate usage reports and reorder supplies- all in a single tool!

Take a look around the sites and let me know what you think is interesting. Does the story of Far and Away Adventures resonate with you? What do you think about the Marketing Impression site?

Inquiring minds want to know …

Technorati tags: hp, Hewlett Packard, printers, laser printers, laserjet, inkjet printers, small business, medium business, Color LaserJet CP 1518ni, HP easy printer care, marketing impressions

Do you have a chief creativity officer in your business?

BlogArchive — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:27:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Creativity
is a skill that all businesses need to have.
However, creativity isn’t always something that comes naturally. As a small business owner, you probably have
many hats to wear. You are the owner,
manager, accountant, product developer, supply chain manager and marketing director
all in one.

At HP, we
are big enough to have different people in all of those roles, and in some
cases, we have entire departments covering a particular function. There are times when acting like a small
business comes in handy. For example,
small businesses are started out of passion and creativity; that is a great
thing for a larger business to remember.

We have a
person in our group that helps our “large” organization remember our passion,
our creativity and our customers; her name is Tara Agen. Tara is our Small and Medium Business “Chief
of Staff” in the HP Imaging and Printing Small Business group here in the US. She is responsible for keeping the group on
strategy (and she makes sure our boss stays on track J) but
she also moonlights as our “Chief Creativity Officer” (I made that title up for
her).

She manages
to both generate new ideas and help guide us down the path to get those ideas
kicked off. She has great vision and has
a knack for planting seeds of creativity everywhere in our organization. She sees trends in the technology industry
and draws connections for various teams in our group for how we might apply
them. She reminds people that they need
to look up from their desks and their day-to-day job and pay attention to
things around them. Most recently, she
has been an internal champion for our Print
2.0 initiative and making sure we stay relevant to customers like you.

I had a
chance to talk to Tara recently at our FY08
Small Business kick-off. You can
listen in on our conversation here. She cares a lot about small business
customers and their perspective. You can
also catch her blogging in various locations on the web (on the Small and Medium Business Printing Community, you
can see her as TaraPrintingPlus).

Do you have
a chief creativity officer in your business?
Is that you? What kind of things
do you need creative help with to run your business?

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What do you have to say? HP wants to hear from you

BlogArchive — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:10:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Prizes,
prizes, prizes! We have them, but we
need to hear from you. If you haven’t
heard, HP is running a contest for small businesses. Here is the deal- in your own words, describe
your business and your marketing/branding challenges and why you would benefit
from refreshing or recreating your business’ brand image. The winners can receive HP printers and
supplies or, even better, the grand prize of a Logoworks by HP
Start-Up Package along with a color laser printer and supplies; the package
is valued at $3500.

If you
haven’t had a chance to check out the services Logoworks by HP offers, take a look. Whether you are just starting with a concept
or a logo idea, or you are already creating brochures and other marketing
materials, they have some great ideas for you.

Click
here to learn more…contest ends February, 28, 2008!

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Podcast: Manage your printing with one easy, monthly payment with HP Smart Printing Services

BlogArchive — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:10:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

I have
talked to a number of small business customers over the years and one statement
I hear time and time again is that you are willing to consider anything that
would save you time and money. You are
in business because you have passion and expertise in a particular product,
service or experience you can deliver; you are not in business to make
technology decisions.

I had a
conversation recently with John Ball, our program lead for HP Smart Printing
Services here in the US. John and I talked about HP’s Smart Printing
Services offering and the value it can bring to small and medium
businesses. You can also find more
information at our Smart
Printing Services website.

Take
a listen to the podcast and let me know what you think. Are Smart Printing Services something that
could help you save time or save money in your business?

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series

Making New Year’s resolutions for your small business? HP can help!

BlogArchive — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:29:00 GMT

Anneliese
Olson

Director, HP LaserJet Category Management

Happy New
Year! I hope you all had a fun and safe
holiday. Here we are…starting off
2008. We’ve all made resolutions- some
personal, some professional. Setting
goals is a good thing; however, we need to be SMART when setting them (many of
you have probably heard of SMART goals; SMART is a goal-setting acronym, which
stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-based
goals). Another easy way we talk about
setting goals inside of HP is the following formula:

Noun + Verb
+ Date = Results

I picked up
my local paper after the new year and read Rhonda Abrams’ column titled
“Resolutions for Small Businesses” (she is the president of The Planning Shop,
a publisher of books for entrepreneurs- our paper features her once a
week). She had a good list of twelve
resolutions for small businesses but a handful of them stood out to me in
particular:

*Evaluate
what you did right

*Treat your
employees right

*Increase
your efforts with best customers

*Market,
Market, Market

*Keep
Learning

Evaluating
what you did right and treating your employees right are two things you can do
to really set a positive stage for the year.
Employees are the backbone of a business’ success. You can have a great product or service but
if employees don’t like what they do, if they are treated poorly or if good
employees aren’t retained, you will have a challenge growing your
business. Good employees are a key asset
to success. Also, evaluating what you
did right in your business and continuing to do those things well as you
improve other areas is important.

Increasing
your efforts with your best customers is an area not everyone thinks about very
often. We’ve all heard the research
that getting a new customer costs 8 times more than retaining an existing
one. If you foster the relationship you
have with existing customers, you build customer loyalty. The higher the loyalty, the harder it is for
that customer to switch and go somewhere else.
Also, loyal customers will often provide you a chance to sell them other
products and services.

Based on
what we’ve heard from you and research we’ve seen, Rhonda is right on by
telling businesses to “market, market, market.”
Being able to effectively market your business is critical to your
success. There are so many opportunities
to market your business that range in price and complexity. In this economy, you may have to get creative
on how to market to your customers. Most
importantly, every time a customer or potential customer sees or hears about
your company, you need to convey your brand identity. There are multiple in-house marketing
solutions from HP that can help you along this continuum- whether you are
just starting out and need your logo and business cards created or you are
ready to create new marketing brochures.

Finally, a
focus to keep learning is a mantra I try to live by every day. We all have to keep up with market trends,
industry trends, and other areas that impact both our professional and personal
lives. Rhonda had a great quote in the
article: “Your brain is your most important business asset. Add to it.”

As a small
business, what are your resolutions for 2008? Does this list of resolutions apply
to you? What other ones would you add?

Lastly, I have to apologize. I did not plan to take such a long break over
the holidays from writing for this community!
Well, I wasn’t on holiday this whole time…just got a little consumed
with work since January 1^st.
I promise to get back in the saddle to bring you relevant content. Please
remember to share your thoughts with me about what else you’d like to discuss.

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