In a previous life when I sold web-based Human Resources software, my “marketing funnel” included a step to send a white paper to the prospect. I recall how much a pain the process was… checking e-mails, seeing which white paper was requested, responding to the e-mail, finding the PDF white paper & attaching it to the e-mail, sending, and then manually entering the prospect into a spreadsheet for documentation and tracking purposes, etc. After doing this a dozen or so times a day, every day… pretty soon my ears started to stick out and I lost use of my opposable thumbs. Any chimp could do this!

Back then, I was inexperienced enough to manually handle the process, but I DID recognize the value of offering white papers in exchange for the prospect’s information.

Something I didn’t know at the time was there are a bunch of secrets around white papers. I caught a solid blog post on white paper secrets by white paper expert Michael Stelzner. Michael claims that, “all you need is a good title and a great first page… the rest of the paper can suck.” My style is to provide value to prospects & clients throughout the relationship, so I don’t fully agree with Michael’s statement. However, he goes on to clarify and provide some really great insights. Stuff I’ll be using.

To read Michael’s post, click here.

First off, I’ve gotta say that the term “small business” has always bothered me. When I was younger, I’d tell others about my budding business ventures and it seemed the responses I got always smacked of condescension. “Well, good luck with your small business.” Their emphasis always seemed to be on the word “small.” Hey, it didn’t feel small to me! I had plans. I had hopes and dreams. I was working hard to grow the business. Why did everyone respond in belittleing ways? (By the way, I prefer the term “small and growing business” over “small business.” It communicates the hope, ambition and drive that characterize most small businesses.)

Well, it seems to me that the small business owner just doesn’t get much respect. Same goes for the employees of that small business. After all, if you’re working away at a company with 5 employees, how much respect does Uncle Jim give you at the family reunion compared to the respect your brother gets because he’s working at Microsoft? Yup–no respect for the little guy.

But actually, that’s not such a big deal. It doesn’t bother me that Uncle Jim pays no attention to small businesses. Here’s what does bother me: the business world doesn’t pay much attention to small businesses. And that’s a big problem if you’re a small business trying to get your hands on top-notch resources to help you grow your business.

For years, Corporate America has feined interest in small businesses. You hear marketing dribble about “the mid-market” and “small-to-mid-sized businesses.” But when you take a closer look at products offered to these “SMBs” you quickly realize these products are intended for companies with “under 1000 employees” or “less than $500 million in annual revenues.” Uh, yeah… that doesn’t seem like small business to me. So, it’s been pretty frustrating for small businesses over the years. But something’s changing, and it’s good news for small businesses.

More and more, technology vendors are popping up, providing powerful products and services to true small businesses. Of course, our company, Infusion Software, is serving these businesses. But I’m seeing many others out there taking genuine interest in true small busiensses. And I think that’s a GREAT thing for all of the entrepreneurs and small business owners out there looking to grow their companies.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a flash of insight about a perfect domain name that is sure to bring instant success… …And keep your hand up if you’ve ever spent (wasted) a significant amount of time at your favorite registrar (mine) searching over and over until you find one that’s available. OK, if you’re hand’s not up, I know you’re lying :). The Google Story (thank you Pat Sullivan founder of ACT! for turning me on to the book) tells the story of the original search for Google.com When Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided that BackRub (the original name for their search engine) wasn’t going to cut it, they settled on Google, a “smaller” version of Googolplex (a very large number). The domain name was available, so Larry Page registered it and wrote it on the whiteboard: Google.com Someone else in the office came in and added ‘You misspelled it. It is supposed to be G-o-o-g-o-l.’ Googol.com had already been taken. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Google has suffered from it’s “less-than-perfect” domain name. Appropriate thought was given, a decision was made, and an empire was built. I agree that BackRub needed to go. But I also believe that had the brainstorming conversation that night taken a slightly different course, the empire that we know today as Google could have easily carried a different name. Different name, different domain name perhaps, but it would have been the same great search capability, and had the same impact. The success isn’t in the domain name… the domain name just gets to be part of the success. And for all those small businesses out there angsting over finding just the right domain, let Google’s story be a lesson. P.S. Today, Googol.com is just a redirect to another site.