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Small business owners Tagged Articles

How Email Marketing Can Grow Your Business
Email marketing offers one of the most economical as well as effective marketing tools for any business. It especially makes sense for small business owners to rely on email marketing as other promotional medium are way too expensive and many times ineffective in grabbing the attention of the prospective customers.

Women Entrepreneurs: Three Important Lessons from “Merry Jane”

According to a new study by Jane Out of the Box, a website devoted to women entrepreneurs, there are five distinct types of female business owners, each with her own unique characteristics and behaviors. In this article, readers will meet Merry Jane-a woman typically working less than forty hours a week, who started her business simply to pursue a passion-and readers will discover some of the surprising lessons Merry Jane has to offer for anyone considering starting a business in her spare time.

Marketing Your Business: What Works Now
Why would you waste one dollar or one hour on marketing that doesn’t work? It happens all the time and the reason is often just a lack of knowledge or understanding about what would work better. As small or solo business owners, who can afford to waste time or money on marketing your business that doesn’t work?

Is Your Business Ready for 2010?
Over the next few weeks, anything can change in your business. You’ll find that people often make decisions about what they will and won’t be doing in the new year. You will want to make sure that your business not only survives but thrives next year.

Resolve to Follow the 5 Stages of Planning for a Prosperous 2010

With the challenges and uncertainties facing small business owners in 2010, a well-crafted plan is more important than ever. Many companies with 2009 plans that were “in my head” or “sketched on a napkin” aren’t making plans for 2010; they’re no longer in business. Unless your 2010 plans include becoming a statistic, you must resolve to commit the resources necessary to develop a high quality plan for 2010. Developing an actionable plan that increases your odds of success is as technically demanding as any of the products or services you offer to customers.

Characteristics of the Entrepreneurial Mindset – Passion and Drive

It is a popular misconception that all small business owners are entrepreneurs. Small business owners often follow the same tried and true methods of conducting and running their business that larger corporations do. They are structured and methodical. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does not demonstrate any of the characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset. An entrepreneur creates and develops an often wildly successful business in a very short period of time. They think differently than other business owners. They are willing to try new things, implement new procedures and use new technology that has not been widely accepted.

Generating Leads and Dominating In Niche Markets
Developing niche markets focuses on identifying a small but focused segment of the potential customers, understanding their unique needs and addressing them by accordingly positioning your business. Generating leads and focusing on niche markets makes business sense for small business owners as big companies cannot survive only by focusing on these markets and therefore, often ignore them.

Two Business Owners -- Two Ways to Ring in Success in 2010

Women business owners can use the beginning of a new calendar year as a time for improving their businesses, whether that means hiring help, taking a good look at existing structures and systems or designing new ways to handle workflow. Different business owners will have different priorities when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. This article highlights two different types of female entrepreneurs and resolutions that will help build success now and in the future.

Small Business Liquidation? Then What? Get Ready To Start Over.
Small business owners who are going out of business and liquidating their inventory are often perplexed when it comes to their next move. Re-creating their original businesses online may not be the answer.

Article Marketing For Small Business Owners: Promote Your Brand
Article writing is a very effective marketing tool that can help small business owners reach their target market.

Do You Have A Brainstorming Partner?

Most small business owners don't have a person or a group of people to effectively brainstorm with. Quite often, it's simply the business owner throwing his or her ideas on the table and the staff just nodding their heads in agreement without really bringing too much to the discussion. Or the owner simply talking to himself or herself. If you are a successful business owner or if you know any successful business owners, chances are pretty high that they'll have a brainstorming group they meet with regularly. They may refer to it as a mastermind group, a sounding board, a partner, a business coach, or just someone to bounce ideas off.

What Does It Mean To Be An Entrepreneur?
I wanted to share my thoughts on a recent article from Inc. Magazine on an economist named Joseph Schumpeter who had a very insightful way of looking at entrepreneurs. I found that it captures the essence of the day-to-day grind most small business owners experience.

What Makes A Good Customer?
How do you define a good customer? This is a question that many small business owners rarely, if ever, stop to ask themselves. After all, aren't all customers good customers, you ask? Quite simply, NO! I mean, the fact that someone wants to give you their money in exchange for your product or service is a good thing, but that doesn't automatically make that customer a good customer.

What's It Take To Run A Successful Business?

I was reading an excerpt from a New York Times article that profiled a woman (Charlita) who opened a restaurant that failed after about 1 year. This is a woman who had spent 20 years in the legal field. A quote from the article that talked about her speaking to herself grabbed my attention: "How could someone with a law degree and as smart as you blow it this big?" I know that is a question that many small business owners ask themselves every day.

Where Did All My Cash Go?

We hear this all the time from small business owners. They look at their Profit & Loss statement (a.k.a. Income Statement) which shows all this activity in their business, and yet their Balance Sheet (and checkbook) show little to no cash! So where did it all go? A big challenge for a lot of business owners is understanding the difference between profit and cash flow. While the P&L may be showing growing sales and profit, the owner may notice that their cash balance is shrinking or that they are struggling to meet payroll.

Do you Qualify for Home Office Tax Deduction for Small Business Owners and Professionals?

For several years taking a Home Office Tax Deduction was considered a red flag, inviting the IRS to Audit your tax return. But that may no longer be the case, with more and more businesses and individuals taking advantage of working from home and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. IRS is well aware of the rising trend in working from home office. As long as you use the ‘Home Office’ as IRS defines it. This one tax deduction alone may save you several thousand dollars in tax. For example if you are an independent Information Technology contractor and mostly work out of your client’s office, however you use part of your home to manage the administrative aspects of your profession or business, you may qualify to take the Home Office Tax Deduction. IRS has specific rules to qualify Home Office Tax Deduction.

How much Home Office Tax Dedcution can I Take?

Home Office deduction can probably save you thousands in expenses as well as Taxes. As more and more professionals and small business owners recognize the need to cut down on office expenses and have a better work life balance and with the growing square footage of American Homes in the past decade, it makes sense to use part of your home as an office. Not only can you save thousands on office expenses, you may also be able to reduce your taxes. IRS code provides a special tax deduction for Business use of your Home. You can deduct insurance, utilities, rent or mortgage expense as part of the Home Office dedcution. However there are specific guidelines and limits to the extent of how much you can deduct.

Small Businesses and Professionals can Save on Taxes - Top Tax Deductions

Most small business owners and professionals overlook their Biggest Expense in the Year – Taxes. Independent studies estimate that Small Businesses pay up to $150 Billion in excess taxes each year. This is money you can save through proper tax planning. As with everything else in your business, it takes careful planning and professional execution. Here are Top 5 Tax Deductions for Small Businesses and Professionals to Save on Taxes.

Make More Money by Increasing Follow Through

Are you a follow through kind of person? Or do you start a bunch of projects and ideas and complete none of them? Small and solo business owners with 6-figure incomes have learned a secret--- they make a lot more money by following through meticulously on their plans, strategies and ideas. It’s easy to do what I call “dream and dabble”. This is where you are very emotionally invested in a dream, but you may lack the confidence or skill you need to actually achieve it. So you dabble at it, but you never get outside your comfort zone.

For Entrepreneurs And Small Business Owners: How To Avoid Six Big Business Expansion Mistakes
The number of entrepreneurs, family owned businesses and small business enterprises are growing in both Canada and the United States. This article gives you six funding and growth mistakes to avoid whether you are building, selling or passing ownership to the next generation.

Five Tips For Building A Wildly Successful Team Based Business
Learn about five simple steps entrepreneurs and small business owners can take to increase their business volume and employee satisfaction.

The Toyota lesson, risk management and your business plan

Small business owners need to pay attention to the disastrous decision of Toyota to ask its suppliers to cut cost by 30% over the next three years. Most probably this is the reason for the acceleration nightmare issue surrounding many Toyota vehicles right now. Small entrepreneurs should learn from this and make a decision on their business ethics and management principles while writing or re-visiting their business plans. What is your standpoint on cost cutting – especially essential expenses? Be careful, as your attitude towards this important issue might result in great success or huge losses… or even failure!

Small Business Owners - Seven Simple Steps to Get You Started As an Entrepreneur

Many of my Non-immigrant readers are getting excited to start their own business. Here are some questions I get asked. I am currently on pending adjustment of status and have a work permit. Can I start my business? What are the requirements? Can I start a business in my home country? Can my relative in my home country become my business partner? I want to start my business, but I don't know where to start. I can relate to my reader's feelings, as many of my clients have been there. First, I wish I had answer to all these questions, but I do not. However from my experience I can say that following step by step method has worked for my clients in establishing their business. It can be very challenging to make a decision with a mind confused with too many questions.

Bookkeeping – An Expense or an investment
Many small business owners struggle with keeping their bookwork up to date. Yet good record keeping is an essential part of any successful small business. How can you make an informed decision about your business if you don’t know where you are at financially with your business?

Most businesses fail because of cash flow - Understand it!
To be competitive, small business owners must plan and prepare for all future events and market changes. Possibly the most important aspect of preparation is effective cash-flow planning. Failure to properly plan cash flow is one of the leading causes for small business failures in the United States.

Leadership: Now More than Ever!
Winston Churchill is a hero of mine. Partly, I think, because he wasn't perfect. He was neither an obvious hero nor someone acknowledged early on to be the leader that he eventually became. He just put his head down, plowed through and never gave up. He was honest and hard-working, pragmatic and passionate. Sound like any small business owners you know?

Tax Tips for Small Business Owners
Paying taxes is unavoidable. However, minimizing tax liability is your choice. By taking advantage of the many tax deduction options available for small business owners, you can significantly reduce your tax burden. Knowing a few home business tax tips will help you save some of your hard-earned money.

C.A.D.D: The Reason Your Advertising Isn't Working As Well As You Need It To

There are no doubts that direct response advertising is important to small business owners. In fact for a lot of small companies it is the only prospect/customer acquisition method they use on a regular basis. However, unless done correctly this form of advertising can be less than useless. So what determines the success of your advert and by success I mean make the phones ring and the cash registers full. To find the answer to that, you must understand the biggest problem you face in your marketplace...and it isn't your competitors!

Advertising: The Nuts And Bolts Of Making It Work: Step Three: Make sure your advertising is specific, has substance and is credible
Being specific is essential in advertising. It answers questions and lends credibility to your advertising. Being specific is a surefire way to convert prospects into customers. The more specific you are about what benefits your service and/or product has to offer to your customers the better response you will have from your advertising

Stretched Beyond the Breaking Point? How to Manage Your Stress Better!
As the economy grinds to a halt, more small business owners are starting to feel stretched - for cashflow, for goodwill, for sanity. The first step away from stress and feeling over-stretched is to consolidate with your support team.

Overcome Stress - Use the Racehorse Strategy!
For many small business owners, stress and exhaustion are a 'normal' part of life. The good news is, it doesn't have to be this way. For a long time I thought "I don't have time" to look after myself properly - there's too much to do if I want my business to succeed. And then someone asked me whether I'd rather run my business like a racehorse or a donkey...

Small Business Coach - Increase Your Business Productivity - Find More Time!

"Not enough time" is one of the biggest challenges for small business owners and people setting up home-based businesses in addition to their day job! As the economy tightens, that nasty feeling of 'frantic, panic, manic' has intensified for many people. The 'should, must and ought to do' lists are getting longer and the resources available seem to be shrinking fast. How we are used to working doesn't work for us anymore! (And maybe it never did...)

Small Business Coach - Revive Yourself - How to Get Focused Fast!
Often as small business owners, we have so much happening in our business and our life that we almost forget to breathe! As a small business coach, I recommend to my clients that they revitalize their energy by simply becoming conscious and present in the moment.

Tips To Raise Capital For Your Small Business
Raising capital for your small business can be a tiresome exercise unless you know how to approach prospective investors. As the first step to raise capital for your small business, find out the capital required to get the business up and running. Your business plan should highlight this.

Tasks You Can Outsource to a Virtual Assistant
As your business grows and expand, your "to do" list grows too. You find yourself with too many items on your plate to handle by yourself. Have you considered outsourcing those tasks to a Virtual Assistant (VA)?

Going GaGa For Business
As small business owners we can probably learn some great marketing lessons from her story and those of other pop music performers.

5 Reasons Why a Small Business Should Hire a Photographer

Many small business owners don't realize the importance and value of having photography that best represents their company brand. Images, in the form of still shots or made into videos or slide shows, can be extremely effective in showcasing a company, particularly in these days of social media and online marketing. This is the first of two articles in this series so please check out the second article for continuing tips, whether you're a franchise owner, a manufacturer's dealer or a stand-alone small business. In the meantime, make your own list of reasons why your company should have an image bank. You'll be surprised at all the benefits and how having available photography that represents your brand can help your business gain visibility and grow substantially.

5 More Reasons Why a Small Business Should Hire a Photographer

Many small business owners don't realize the importance and value of having photography that best represents their company brand. Images, in the form of still shots or made into videos or slide shows, can be extremely effective in showcasing a company, particularly in these days of social media and online marketing. This is the second of two articles in this series so please check out the first article for continuing tips, whether you're a franchise owner, a manufacturer's dealer or a stand-alone small business. In the meantime, make your own list of reasons why your company should have an image bank. You'll be surprised at all the benefits and how having available photography that represents your brand can help your business gain visibility and grow substantially.

Personal Branding: Why is it so important?

Whether you're working for an employer, in career transition or a small business owner, personal branding and reputation management is an important aspect of marketing yourself or your business. Perhaps it is the first step and the most important, to really learn who you are (apart from being associated with your company or business). Often, those in career transition and even small business owners realize the importance of having a solid reputation and large network and what that can do for them in terms of leads and opportunities. But many people have really thought about it nor have they invested the time into figuring out their personal brand. As much as we often hide behind them, we're not defined by our companies. We're defined by who we are and how we show up each and every day.

SEO Tip: Get listed, get local, get business.

Having recently discovered that many small business owners often do not understand the importance of getting their business listed in the local search engine directories, like Google's Local Business Center, we've begun to ask questions about what small business owners know and what they need to learn. And what is the value of maximizing and managing their listings. This article is meant to be more thought-provoking than instructional about this subject and why a small business might make this an important and perhaps first priority aspect of managing their online brand.

Do You Own The Business? Or Does the Business Own You?

It's not about the money. I have made this statement often, but today it takes on a new meaning. Today I am not talking about value over price in a sales model. I am talking about why business owners are in business in the first place. At their core, most entrepreneurs and small business owners are in business because they want freedom and opportunity. How sad, then, to know that all too often they end up with neither because their business goals are not aligned to their personal goals or because their life is out of balance trying to make their business live up to their dreams and expectations.

Quality is Not an Action, It is A Habit

Small Business Owners, have you ever faced this situation? You develop or improve your systems for product or service delivery. Along with your new systems you establish quality standards and measures, and then you train your employees to make sure that everyone knows how to do what they need to do to get the job done to meet the new standards. You feel good about what you have put in place and so you go about looking at other areas to grow or improve only to find out later that the employees go right back to the old way of doing things as soon as they can. How frustrating is that?

Internet Marketing Education For Professional Services And Small Businesses
Internet marketing can be simple, effective and inexpensive, if small business owners and professionals take the time to get educated.

BusinessTM Review
Business™, a website launched earlier this year, is providing current, relevant and in-depth information for online entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Strategic Internet Marketing Online Advertising Is Apparently the Solution for Small Businesses
Strategic Internet Marketing Online Advertising Has Quickly Become A Solution To Struggling Small Business Owners. The Ability To Increase Their Profits And Customer Base Using The Internet Has Helped To Maintain Not Only Their Doors Open, But Their Employees Employed. Read This Article To Get A Full Understanding How To Increase YOUR Business Using The Net.

What Small Business Owners Can Learn From Franchising
Franchising has proven to be an efficient and successful business model.Many of the factors which have caused this to take place can be applied to small businesses. This article presents valuable lessons from franchising and how to apply them to small business operations.

How to Make Your Customers Feel Welcome

In this excellent article the author shows you and your employees how to create the kind of atmoshphere that makes your clients and customers prefer to do business with you over the rest of your competition. Too often small business owners blame the economy and the government for their slumping business. If they would only look a little further they would identify a major cause of their business decline-their own attitude towards their clients and customers.

Creating a Company That Cares: Costco's Climb to the Top

Sinegal was in one of the top two positions of power of a rapidly expanding company, when he decided to give it all up on a whim. Sinegal wanted to be on his own, to have the feeling of success that only comes from when you have started your own company from scratch. And so, in 1983, Sinegal joined forces with Jeff Brotman, a lawyer and the son of a former clothing retailer, and created his own warehouse retail club.

BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD!
Oooh my that hurts. The shock of suddenly being told that your business isn’t making any money.

Guerrilla Marketing as Sex
The whole idea of guerrilla marketing is to transform cold prospects into consenting partners. As with superb sex, marketers shouldn't be in a hurry, shouldn't direct their energies to disinterested people and must realize that the consummation of a loving relationship won't take place without proper wooing, without knowing exactly what turns on the prospect.

There are so many opportunities how can one choose?

Every time I lead a Dreaming Room® this question comes up. It’s usually asked by someone who has difficulty making up his or her mind. Who is so overwhelmed by the flood of thoughts that run through the mind as to be completely incapacitated by the sheer weight of them? At least that’s how it feels when you’re inside that person, as we all are from time to time. I call it the Reluctant Entrepreneur. I talk about that syndrome a lot in my latest book, E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Business.

Shopping Online for the Holidays
A recent Yahoo!/Harris poll had some telling results for small business owners.

Getting Corporate Sponsorship

"I run an event management and promotions company and put on seminars and events for small business owners. I'm trying to attract major corporations to sponsor my events. I have a strong value proposition and a targeted community of small business owners who attend. I don't have any connections into these large corporations. How do you suggest I break the ice to introduce my company to them without a warm lead in?"

A business without a dream is like a life without a purpose
I launched my present company, E-Myth Worldwide, in 1977 to transform the way small business owners do the work of growing their companies. Since then we have coached, trained and taught over 50,000 small business owners in more than 145 countries on how to transform their business to produce consistently better results. What we learned from those 50,000-plus owners could fill a dozen books.

The Abundant Marketing Mindset
It seems like every time I conduct a marketing workshop for small business owners about half the crowd admits that they don't really like marketing - it makes them feel like they are self-promoting. This mindset is particularly common among professional services providers. (Yes, doctors, lawyers, and accountants, I'm talking about you.)

Marketing is What You Do and What You Say
A lot of marketers get caught in the trap of figuring out what to say to get the sale. Then, well, then things go south a bit.

GOT MARKETING?
Why is Marketing your Small Business so Hard?

What's An Appropriate Web Site for Your Business?
Web design and features are a lot like fashion in a way - trends and looks come in out of style with the changing seasons.

What Gets Measured, Gets Converted, Gets Results
I'll attribute the title of this post to the legendary Peter Drucker, although, that's not exactly what he said - it does capture the spirit though.

The Hidden World of Bartering
I remember vividly my first experience scuba diving. As soon as I went beneath the surface of the sea, I realized that an entire world existed every day within my own world-and I wasn't at all aware of it. Whether or not I knew of it, that world was still alive and happening.

What's In Your Name?
The name of your company can and should carry some serious marketing weight.

Guerrilla Marketing With Technology
Up until a few years ago, technology was not something associated with small business marketing. Perhaps it was connected with databases or inventory control, possibly with electronic spreadsheets and word proccessing. Anyhow, it was complicated and expensive -- and its affect on small business didn't stretch into the arena of marketing.

Build Your Boats Before You Need Them
A lot of folks thinking about starting a business spend all their time doing the typical start-up stuff like incorporating, finding office space, and designing business cards. All good and needed steps mind you, but don’t neglect the most important step.

The Exhilaration of Intention
I just had an amazing realization during a keynote address I gave to the Chabad of California annual rabbis’ conference.

Could you work without a staff?
The Internet has made working, collaborating and sharing down right simple. With it many businesses are living the dream of running multi-million dollar business without any permanent staff. This magic is done increasingly at the hands of a growing world of workers known as virtual assistants. A virtual assistant is someone who is set-up to complete tasks remotely for a fee

Exchanging services for advertising
Large advertisers have been doing it for years - buy our product and get a free t-shirt to wear around and help spread the word about our company.

What is Marketing in the First Place?

Marketing is absolutely every bit of contact any part of your business has with any segment of the public. Guerrillas view marketing as a circle that begins with your ideas for generating revenue and continues on with the goal of amassing a large number of repeat and referral customers. The three keys words in that paragraph are EVERY, REPEAT, and REFERRAL. If your marketing is not a circle, it's a straight line that leads directly into Chapters 7, 11, or 13 in the bankruptcy courts.

The ultimate secret to business growth
I talk to business owners every day that want to take their businesses to the next level, but are puzzled as to why it’s so hard. They push and work and expand and contract only to find themselves right back where they found themselves last year.

What would the perfect business day look like?
Most days small business owners are juggling all the stuff that comes at them all day, either planned or self-inflicted, with a somewhat unsystematic, gut level kind of approach. I know I do that - sometimes it works, sometimes it really, really doesn’t work.

Is appreciation referral motivation enough?
I talk to lots of small business owners and marketers about referrals. One of the burning questions always revolves around the topic of motivation. In other words, how do you motivate someone to refer your business when the time comes. Or, the perfect situation, how to do you get them to proactively evangelize your business.

Go ahead, dream small
There’s a time and place to go big, lord knows we get told how small we are often enough.

The Press Release Triple Threat
PR is great, it’s not free, it’s earned, but when it is, it packs some very nice ROI. One strategy that small business owners should employ is to take their PR message online and directly to the prospect by consistent use of the age old tool, the press release.

Get Your Shine On
One of my most frequent mantras for small business is “Strategy Before Tactics.” In other words, you must develop a solid marketing strategy before you ever consider the what and how of the tactical side.

So You Think You’re Different?
Being different, or more accurately, having a point of differentiation that matters to a market, is one of the most critical marketing strategies for the small business.

But You Do Need To Be Smart Enough to Buy It
A lot of small business owners are good at what they do. But, they’ve learned that’s usually not enough to grow the business so they get outside help, quite often in areas related to marketing, so they can “focus on what they do best and let others handle the rest.”

All Tweet and No Cattle
Today I’m going to take on a topic that may not be altogether popular in some social media circles, but it’s a message that small business owners need to wrestle with.

Are You Right Brain Dead?
A ton of research suggests that the right half of our brain supplies the more creative aspects of our thinking. So it goes that more creative people use that side of their brain more predominately.

Introduction to Accounting

As a small business owner I have very little extra money available for extras. For me this includes a highly qualified accountant. Fortunately, for most small businesses hiring an accountant is not necessary. All small business owners should know the basics of accounting so that they can keep accurate records. When every penny counts then every penny should be counted. In essence this the definition of accounting. So, what does every small business owner need to know about accounting?

I’m not a sales person but I have to sell. What do I do?

After thousands of hours of study and many years honing technical skills to be a competent professional in your chosen field, it can come as a rude shock that you now need to sell your services and capabilities as well. In today’s busy market, a competent selling capability isn’t a nice-to-have it is an essential business and life skill. Interestingly, the topic of selling and growing a business often doesn’t feature in those university lectures does it? In fact, selling is in many cases covered over and, if spoken about at all, was only mentioned as an unsavoury aspect employed by the desperate. ‘We don’t have to sell because we are …’ are the famous last words of many failed professional or small business owners...

M is for Marketing Strategy
Do you have a marketing strategy in place? No, by this I don’t mean a marketing plan (although that’s great if you have one of these). I mean a marketing strategy – something that tells you end to end where each of your marketing fits in.

Top Reasons Small Businesses Fail - Mash Bonigala
If you are like most small business owners you will pour your heart and soul along with every last penny into your new small business during the first five years of operation. Unfortunately, for the majority of small business owners their businesses will still fail within five years. Why do so many small businesses fail? And what can a prospective owner do to increase their individual odds?

Changing My Small Business - Mash Bonigala

Most small business owners begin with a dream. It can be a painful process to realize that your customers may not buy into that dream. Inevitably, if a business is to survive, it must change. These changes can be small like changing the color of your package or building a website for your business. Unfortunately, at times drastic changes must occur. It is remarkably easy to keep to the status quo, so how do you know when your small business is ready for a change?

7 Best Practices for Facebook Pages for Franchise or Small Business Owners

Whether you're a small business owner or you've bought in to a franchise, setting up a Facebook Page for your business can seem easy yet daunting. Many business owners just don't know how best to get started, how to navigate their Page, how to set up a vanity URL and how to market it. In this article, Sally Witzky offers 7 best practices for your Facebook Page to help the small business owner avoid some pitfalls that others have made as well as to ensure awareness of Facebook insights and analytics, which are available to the Page Administrator. With these tips, the small business owner is sure to get on the right road in getting started in creating and promoting their Facebook Page.

Marketing - the Engine That Drives Your Business

What is marketing really about? Small Business Owners usually balk at the mention of Marketing because they feel they can never afford to do the sort of Marketing (Advertising) that the BIG BRANDS do. From the discussions with some entrepreneurs and Small and Medium business owners, it was discovered that Small and Medium businesses are looking for effectiveness and what will deliver results. This is probably due to the limited finances they have therefore every penny has to count.

Why Your Online Income Opportunities Websites need to be Self-Hosted
When learning to establish an online presence it is very important that your online income opportunities website is properly maintained. It is a pity that so many small business owners do not understand how essential it is to have websites that are self-hosted but opt for the free alternatives instead.

So You Thought Non-Compete Agreements Were Safe? Think again.
Have you ever had a departing employee set up shop next door (literally or figuratively) and compete with you? It's a frustrating experience, and one which leads many small business owners to overreact by imposing non-compete agreements on all employees from that day forward. If this is you, take heed. If the Massachusetts Legislature has its way, that option won't be open to you for much longer.

Creating Customer Loyalty

Think back 50 years. Most people shopped from the same supermarket, ate from the same restaurants, and frequented the same retail stores over and over again throughout their lives. These small business owners needed to do little beyond good customer service to retain the loyalty of their customers. Today, even excellent customer service, will not keep many of your customers coming back. It is too easy to shop online for the best deal, or go to the mall to do our shopping. As business owners, we need to go beyond the ordinary, to create customer loyalty and maintain a strong customer base to ensure financial stability.

Four Principles to Create a Successful Team
How do you find, hire, motivate, and keep the right people to help your business grow and thrive? For many small business owners team building is a mystery. The result is frustration, and sometimes failure. There is no quick fix or “silver bullet.” There are some central principles that any business owner can use to make team building easier.

Making The Right Money
5 Primary Factors That Hinder A Proper Financial Return For Small Business Owners

Strategic Debt Payoff – Consider future business flexibility when you choose which ‘debt’ to pay next
Many small business owners have multiple debts to pay thanks to the Great Recession and the debt culture we unwittingly bought into over the last 10 years. Stunned as banks have tightened rules, and frightened by the uncertain economy many have become focused on reducing overall debt. Many business owners have numerous debts such as equipment loans, lines of credit, or personal loans.

Is Selling Your Small Business Under Consideration? What's Your Formula For Selling Your Small Business?

Is Selling Your Small Business Under Consideration? What Is Your Formula For Selling Your Small Business? As a small business owner you have a range of options that you need to carefully consider to make sure you really maximize your business sale potential. Let's face it, many of you will fund your retirement with the proceeds of the business sale, so it is critical for small business owners to have a well thought out formula for selling a business regardless of selling your business now or in the future - It just makes good business sense and provides peace of mind. Here are a few ideas to help you put your own formula for selling your small business together.

Women Entrepreneurs Harness the Power of the Internet
Traditionally, when someone said the word ‘entrepreneur’ most people thought of men and not women entrepreneurs. With the growth of Internet marketing, and the entire home based business industry, that perception is rapidly changing.

Why Small Business Owners Are Valuing Their Own Business and Avoiding Business Brokers

Selling your small business for its true value and at the very best price is definitely challenging, however surprisingly straight forward. More small business owners are becoming aware of just how simple it is to sell their own business without having to share the profits with a business broker. Small business owners should keep track of the true and realistic value of their business periodically, if possible from the day they open their doors for business, so that when the inevitable time to sell comes, they are not caught unawares. Here are 5 reasons why small business owners are valuing their own business and selling fast without a business broker!

How to Set Your Professional Virtual Assistant Rates

Most virtual assistants start their business with a picture-perfect idea of flexible hours spent working with long-term clients on interesting and well-paid projects. Fast forward a few months and what many virtual assistants end up with are long hours, clients from hell and income that is barely enough to pay the bills. So what happens within the first few months of starting a virtual assistant business that separates successful VAs from the ones that are barely making it? It all starts with determining what your skill sets, core competencies are and then setting your professional rates.

An Interview With CMIT Solutions Franchise Founder
CMIT Solutions franchise network is a franchise company that’s on the right track, helping small business owners to manage their technology needs. In addition, this franchisor practices what they preach when it comes to supporting their franchisees.

How Small Business Can Also Offer Perfect Customer Service

Internet has made business operations easy and at the same time extremely difficult too. While you have better access to target markets, your customers have similar access to your prospects. Just one dissatisfied customer can negatively influence hundreds of other people online. Poor customer service can mar your company’s growth and can even bring your business down permanently. So, if your customers are not happy with your service (and they might not tell you directly about it) – then you have a thing or two to worry about.

6 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Public Relations Campaign
Discover six important reasons your small business needs to engage in a public relations campaign.

Play Your Position
Learn to play to win in life - no holding back.

Controlling Chaos During Expansion

Chaos, confusion and catastrophe are what Michael Gerber of Entrepreneur Magazine calls “The Three C’s of Business Failure.” It is not uncommon for a small business to be plagued with chaos. The best advice is to take control before chaos becomes habit. “Most small businesses are a hopeless mess,” Gerber says. Disorganization and confusion are irritating, but worst of all, they cost your business money. Chaos eats away at productivity and, ultimately, profits. How can you steer your business clear of chaos?

What are you really good at?
It's a simple idea: find what you are good at, and spend your hard-earned marketing money on finding customers who want just what you do best.

How a Business is Learning What Small Businesses Want to Learn
Sampling is a standard strategy in package goods marketing. This project by a training centre shows how the same technique can be used to develop or improve a product and build new business.

What Small Business Owners Really Want

We wonder where the time went, what the New Year will hold and how we can take our enterprise to what we euphemistically call the next level. This year there is an extra bit of haze in the picture because the mid-term elections have sent a lot of rookies to various legislatures and embracing small business may not be their #1 priority. I think that the biggest thing small business owners want from all levels of government is simply respect. With over 60% of all jobs created in the country coming from the small business community, won’t politicians and others simply say “nice job” to the men and women who hustle and risk ev

Should I use personal credit to fund my business?
Have you heard the saying when you don’t need it, it is there; and when you do need it, it is not there? We have seen many small business owners in this position when it comes to business financing. Do yourself a favor and put your company in a good financial position. Secure your business credit before you need it.

Increasing Your Business Through Internet Marketing
Traditional mediums like TV and newspapers have always been out of the reach of the entrepreneurs and small business owners who operate with limited marketing budgets. In this scenario, an internet marketing business is a bright ray of hope that has been helping business owners increase their business.

Funding for Small Businesses
While big banks refuse to loosen their grip on credit, one business consulting firm wants small businesses to know the news is not all bad. In fact, by working with smaller business banks, may provide funding for new and established small businesses in spite of the deepening recession.

Business funding sources for today's business owner...
Yes and no. Yes if you have a strong personal credit score. No if you are typically under a personal fico score of 720. The banking industry has significantly tightened the credit requirements recently in the last 12 months. If you do maintain a strong credit score then you are in luck.

How the millionaires are getting richer in this economy.
Everyone has been hit hard by the economy. Some predicted this would happen, and they are in better positions than most people. Wouldn't you like to be one of those people who were in the know?

Improve Your Email ROI with These Four Easy Techniques
According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) small businesses enjoy a $43.52 return on every dollar spent in email marketing. That's the strongest ROI-yielding direct marketing tactic, and it's a result that even small businesses on a small business budget certainly can't ignore.

CUSTOMER SERVICE CAN EITHER MAKE OR BREAK YOU BUSINESS.

When it comes to understanding the importance of good customer service, there are many small business owners who wonder why it is so important; why such a large focus should be placed on it. In all honesty, without trying to come across too harsh, if you don’t already know the importance of customer services, especially when it comes to running a small business, maybe you should re-think and have a diffuse understanding on your decision to be a small business owner. Yes, it is really that simple. As a business owner, you need to remember that your customers are what keep your business doors open; they are the reason why you have food to put on your table each week, and the reason why you receive a paycheck, they are the the life blood of your sales When you think about it like that, there is lots you are owning your customers.

Improve Your Email Marketing with these Non-Technical Changes
It's true that email marketing can get pretty technical. We've got HTML coding, and multi-part MIME messages, and cross browser compatibility, and designing for preview panes, and blacklists and blocklists and SPF records… It's enough to make non-techie marketers throw up their hands and give up on the thought of ever improving their email performance.

Apathy is killing Canadian Business
How to be a non-apathetic business owner

Mobile 4G internet service now available.
4G internet is the new wave of super fast internet speeds that allow you to download on the go as fast or faster than broadband speeds previously only available via cable. This new 4G service is bound to make Clear, the only player in the market, a handsome income as they gather up the hungry mobile internet customers.

Local Small Business: The Last Profitable Niche Market
Local Small businesses are responsible for 63% of the US Economy, but the majority don't know how to use the internet for their marketing. Do you know how? Can you help them? You may be their Godsend that will save their business.

What To Do When You Just Can't Concentrate
My email in-box is jam packed, I have several calls from sales people that I haven't returned yet, my desk is a mess, and I'm finding it very hard to concentrate. What in the world is going on here!

How to Enchant Your Customer

I love to do business with small businesses-in-store, online, for myself, for others, for pleasure, for work-it doesn’t matter to me. I love to find great products and services made by entrepreneurs who are trying to change the world. And I love to help small business owners because they aren’t flying around in corporate jets and lunching with investment bankers. American Express’s idea for Small Business Saturday is a marvelous one, and I’d like to help out by them explaining 10 ways that small businesses can enchant their customers.

Is Temporary Insanity Keeping You From Growing Your Small Business?
Successful people, and businesses, recognize the need for change early. They embrace it. And they go looking for it. Because of this, they are also usually quick to see when something is not working and not afraid to change it.

Don’t Go There-6 Small Business Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Like the Plague
Every promotion you do should give people a good reason to want to know more, and an incentive to do it-right now. Fixing even one of the following 6 mistakes is sure to catapult your marketing results.

Personal Branding - How To Jump Start Your Home Business

Though it may sound like a high-concept marketing idea, personal branding is actually a very simple way of selling yourself as a package. This can be done in the same way that one would sell a service or product, with identifying the consumer that you will be selling to, and then figuring out how to best serve their needs. With the advent of internet marketing, usually this is done solely online these days. Both image and branding are best done with the help of a marketing professional if one is just starting out. A virtual assistant could be a very valuable tool towards helping a person promote themselves online.

Business Survival Tips from "WILD THINGS"
Perhaps the "solution" to many business survival obstacles can be found by watching the "wild things" of nature! What do they DO that we DONT? What can we learn? business growth, small business marketing, small business success.... Let's take some ACTION today!

Email Marketing Tests to Get You Started
If you’re utilizing email marketing, you should be utilizing email testing. But it can seem complex and costly, and many small business owners aren’t quite sure where to start. If you’d like to use email testing, but aren’t sure where to start, here are 4 of the easiest tests to get you going:

How You May Be the White Rabbit in Sales and Losing More Than Just Time
Are you feeling like the White Rabbit in Sales? Rushing around, late for this or just barely on time for that? Read about an important study that connects time to leads and how you maybe losing more opportunities than you realized?

How By Being in the Bottle Is Keeping You From Reading The Label and Growing Your Sales
Being in the box is a common analogy. How about being inside the bottle? If your goal is to increase sales, what is more productive, reading the label from inside the bottle or outside the bottle?

Beyond the Glass Ceiling: 7 Habits of Highly Successful Female Entrepreneurs
US businesses owned by women are growing at a phenomenal rate. But women in business tend to face different challenges than their male counterparts, and are far less likely to reach the million dollar mark. Based on a study of over 750 women in business, this article details some of the habits of highly successful female entrepreneurs—and how to emulate their secrets for success.

Advertising - is it for you?
Advertising is one of those things that just about every small business owner considers at some point. After all, that’s how big companies promote their businesses, right? So, shouldn’t you be doing it as well?

Autumn Tips For Small Business Owners
If you enjoy the changing seasons you should enjoy the changing business environment. If you look for growth in your small business think about how you created your garden and how your plants and trees flourished after your tended to them. Think of the seasons as a way to Spring clean, think of the slow times in your business as a time to put your office in order.

Incorporation Separating Fact From Fiction

One of the most common questions I receive is should I Incorporate and will it mean I can deduct more on my tax return. The question comes up when I teach classes for small business owners and prospective new business owners. It also comes up at in email and phone calls I receive from clients and prospective clients on a regular basis. Many of those asking the question start with "I heard that if I incorporate I can deduct all my expenses and I will pay less in taxes". Although there are many reasons for Incorporating a business it's always important to do it for the right reasons and to understand the real costs, benefits and drawbacks. To do this it's important to start out by separating fact from fiction.

Time Off: Do Small Business Owners Get Any?

Time Off: Do Small Business Owners Get Any? - People might become business owners because they want to get ahead. However, once you're living the life of a small business owner, you quickly discover that you have a much shorter-term goal: Trying to take a vacation. Business ownership is busy and a vacation may feel like it will cause serious business disruption. But there is a way that you can enjoy a vacation. In this article, you'll learn how some businesses are breaking out of the entrepreneur time trap to allow the owners to enjoy some renewing downtime.

The Risks And Rewards of Being Self Employed
Some people think of being self employed when they can’t find a job. Others become entrepreneurs out of passion. Regardless, you have to consider both the risk and the reward. The potential benefits are unlimited, yet there’s a 50/50 chance or greater that you’ll fail.

Landing Page Optimization Tips

When we hear the words Landing Page we generally think of PPC campaigns or some other form of internet advertising. But I like to use landing pages for all of my off-line advertising also. However, you’re using it, a landing page is a web page, typically hidden from the site’s menu bar and other navigation – meaning the only way you can get to the page is to type the URL directly into the browser.

One Small Step for Business

One small step for business - Many business owners want to take their businesses to a new level. They know they need help but hiring employees might be an expensive, daunting task. However, it is a common misconception that the next step up from "solopreneur" is "multi-employee enterprise". In this article, you'll read about the concept of scaling and how you can grow your business with an intermediate step between running your business yourself and running your business with some help.

Does Marketing Work?

I was at a networking event the other day, explaining to someone what we did. In response, I received a smile back and the comment “well, marketing doesn’t really work anyway does it?” Interesting question! And I can completely understand why he said that. For a lot of small business owners, that’s exactly what they find – that marketing doesn’t work. The result is that many business owners feel frustrated with marketing and give up on the process, choosing to rely instead on referrals and word of mouth.

Attention Small Business Owners - 5 Deadly Mistakes You Must Avoid at All Cost!
Thinking big about your small business? Then make sure you don't fall in the trap and make these 5 common business mistakes...

Understanding Diversity in the Workplace
As a business owner, consultant, and entrepreneur I have been told by many small business owners that "diversity" is really only applicable to larger businesses. When asked what diversity means to them (the small business owner), many respond it is about differences in race or gender. It is not about making the workplace a better place in which to work, but more about following the law.

Coaching through the Recession
Tips to get businesses through the recession.

Focus on Problems Not Symptoms To Improve Strategic Execution and Results
Consistent execution and therefore results vex many small business owners to C suite executives. Possibly the reason for this is the strategy may focus on the symptoms and not the real problems.

To Sell or To Educate That Is the Question Behind What Makes a Great Salesperson
The answer to what makes a great salesperson is desired by many from small business owners to sales managers to C suite executives. Many sales training programs still focus on selling and fail to embrace a more rewarding approach.

How Fear of the Competition May Potentially Keep You From Your Goal To Increase Sales
Do you fear the competition? No? Then have you ever made some comment about your competitors that probably was not as nice as it should have been? If you answered yes, you do have fear and that fear may be keeping you from your goal to increase sales.

Social Media and Customer Service How The Disconnect Continues
Social media and customer service for many businesses have become integrated partners. Yet there is still a disconnect for many small businesses to even those crazy busy sales people.

How The Cost of New Business Sales Leads Can Improve Profits While You Continue To Increase Sales
Do you know what your new business sales leads cost you? Many small business owners to crazy busy sales people do not know. By understanding these costs can help you improve profits while you continue to increase sales.

Benefits of a Virtual 800 Number
For a small business there are many benefits to having a virtual 800 number. A virtual 800 number offers you freedoms like you've never known before and allows you to conduct business from literally anywhere you are so long as there is a phone.

Three Strategies to Keep Your Clients Even in a Bad Economy

One of the CEO Rule for small business owners is: “The Transaction is the Result of the Relationship.” Every business owner wants to build great customer relationships but what happens when the customer calls with a money problem? If the relationship is first in your mind, your options are endless. Find a way to keep the customer today and you are well on your way to keeping that customer for life.

Survivor Innovation Island
Small businesses that want to have a chance at surviving the recession have to make innovation an integral part of their business strategies.

Smooth Sailing
A cash flow crunch could cause a wave of problems for your business. Making finances a top priority will help to ensure that you donâ€™t capsize.

Get clear on your niche, claim expert status and get more clients
One of the most important things you will ever do in your business is to decide on your niche or specialism. Having this pinned down is vitally important, yet many people try to be far too general in what they offer. A clear niche can get you more clients.

9 Steps to Turn Your Website into a Sales Tool and Lead Generator
So many small business owners contact me asking how to get more traffic to their website or wondering why no one is buying or signing up for their mailing list. No wonder they’re fed up. However, a website can be made into a very effective sales tool.

6 Questions You Should Ask A Lender Before Applying For A Loan

Many small business owners today are finding that qualifying for bank financing is not easy. Even if you are using non-traditional lenders, there are important things to know before approaching them. Having great credit scores and tangible assets does not necessarily mean you can get the loan amount you need. Traditional lenders must follow strict guidelines in their lending procedures that small business owners might not be aware of. As for non-traditional lenders, they have also tightened up their lending guidelines. It is important to know what questions these lenders might and can ask. The questions below will assist you, the business owner in knowing what the lenders are looking for before you complete their application.

Top 5 Reasons To Develop An Employee Handbook
Do I really need an employee handbook? This question comes up so many times, especially from small business owners, and the answer is YES! But the reasons may not be what you think.

If you could name just one marketing method…what would it be?
Small business owners often ask me if I could pick just one marketing method what would it be. Well, don’t worry I’m not going to say to you that it depends on your target market or on what you do. I really do have just one marketing method that I would pick above all others. Do you want to know what it is?

How Top Sales Performers Stay Ahead of the Flow to Increase Sales
To increase sales suggests you may need to stay ahead of the flow especially if you wish to be a top sales performer. To take this action may require you to invest some time to learning about where the flow is going.

It Takes Planning
Some companies hit on just the right product or service and find success, business plan or not. But generally, operating a business without a business plan is a mistake. A business plan gives you a blueprint to follow during the life of your business. If you update it frequently, it will tell you when, where and how to implement changes that will make your business more profitable.

What's the End Game for Small Business Owners?

I have had the pleasure of working with several new clients over the past few months, all of which are in very different businesses and at very different stages in their growth. They range from 12 months old to 10 years old, and yet they all have one thing in common: They are all focused on today. Maybe next week, maybe next month, but definitely not five or 10 or 20 years out. And yet, that's where I need to keep them focused, until they agree on how to position themselves for the end game.

How to get 28 hours out of your dayDo you look at other small business owners / entrepreneurs, and admire their focus, effectiveness and drive? Do you wonder how they seem to be so organised and in control, and how they always seem to do the right thing at the right time in the right way?
Do you look at other small business owners / entrepreneurs, and admire their focus, effectiveness and drive? Do you wonder how they seem to be so organised and in control, and how they always seem to do the right thing at the right time in the right way?

A Cunning Cost Cutting System for the Busy Business Owner
Smart small business owners are finding ways of cost cutting in their businesses. You don’t have to be struggling to think cost cutting is a good idea in this recession. If you want to thrive not just survive, here’s a system for cutting costs with just a little time.

Better Cash Flow – 11 Ways Small Businesses Conserve Cash
Let’s talk about better cash flow – how to hold onto and conserve the cash you have on hand. This is not about cutting expenses. This is about holding onto your cash for as long as possible.

Should your Small Business go Viral?
Whether your business is large or small, viral marketing should be an integral part of your marketing strategy in order to compete, and succeed, in today's fast paced market.

The Small Business Owner’s Conundrum
In the current economic climate, small business owners understand that under-performing is not an option. Not if they want to survive, that is. They constantly face situations that call for skills or experience they may not possess on their own. Add to this the fact that small business owners often wear far too many hats and face a unique set of pressures that only they can fully appreciate.

To Increase Sales You Must Separate The What from the How
Sales professionals are asked at least once if not 10 times a day, What do you do? Unfortunately, far too many share the how and not the what. Are you one of them?

Sales – Are You Up for the Challenge?
Selling is not easy. The last thing sales professionals should do is to make it any harder. The question is "Are you up for the challenge."

10 Summer or Anytime Quick Sales Coaching Tips
With spring just passing and summer now here, the cold winter months are now a distant memory for some and there is new energy. These 10 summer sales coaching tips may help you secure your goal to increase sales.

Burnt-out, tired, had enough?
Sales is not for the faint hearted, nor is running your own business. For those of us who run our own businesses and/or have careers in sales or sales management, we find we are often faced with stressful situations. How do we manage ourselves in times of stress?

Is Your Sales Message Is Sending the Wrong Message?
Successful selling is all about sending the right message. Are you making this mistake?

Let Go of What You Cannot Control to Increase Sales & Reduce Stress
Is your inability to increase sales directly related to where you are investing your resources of time, energy, dollars and emotion? Is this increasing your stress levels? Learn a quick way to regain control of your sales and your life.

Office Space by the Hour

Recently Intelligent Office had an article written in the Financial Post discussing our services and how it is complimenting and supporting the growing trend for telecommuting. With more and more people working from home, from employees working for fortune 500 companies to new business start ups, professionalism and image has never been more important. For the fraction of the cost of leasing an office and having a full time receptionist, Intelligent Office provides traditional office services to support the home based business model.

Low cost marketing strategies – is there such a thing?

I recently spoke at an event covering the topic of using time more effectively in business. The audience was a group of small business owners who are often stretched for time and have to manage multiple projects and tasks in any given day. Being the owner of a small business myself, I reflected on what I have done today. In summary, I have been the Account Manager, Sales Person, Book-keeper, Project Manager, Debt Collector and IP Lawyer all in the space of a few hours. Just in a days work really!

Marketing & Sales tools – going back to basics

During this time of economic downturn, it is a great time to get ‘back to basics’ in all aspects of your business. From a marketing perspective, I have been focusing on this for a number of my clients. All of these efforts have not only delivered immediate sales results, but has helped to position each of the businesses as strong market players for the future as the economy starts to bounce back and boom once again.

To Increase Sales May Just Be As Simple As Being In Your Office
Crazy busy sales people possibly spend a lot of time out of the office. Yet maybe to increase sales requires some office time?

Converting Prospects Into Customers
Most small business owners are challenged when it comes to converting their prospects to customers. This article outlines three simple marketing strategies to help you move prospects into actual paying customers.

Two Must Have Tools To Dramatically Increase Sales
Imagine for a moment, as a sales professional, you are allowed only 2 tools to begin to increase sales. What would be your first two choices?

Winning in Prospecting to Increase Sales
Prospecting in business is a word that elicits feelings of joy to dread. After all, many small business owners to sales professionals content that prospecting is hard work. For some, they strike more veins of Fool's Gold are hit than the real gold. So if the rewards from your prospecting efforts are not where they want to be, what are you doing to change the results?

Sales Training Is Much More About Great Attitudes than Superior Sales Skills
Do you believe great sales is about having the best sales skills or sales attitudes? Read why Attitudes are the foundation for great sales.

Online Marketing And Lead Generation Tips For Business Owners And Professionals
Finding new customers and generating leads online is something professionals and small business owners can do for themselves. Here’s how.

The Desire to Increase Sales Is Reflected In Knowing Sales and Other Critical Numbers
Do you know your sales numbers along with the number of days remaining before the end of the quarter to the end of the year? Knowing your numbers is critical because your business operates in the global economy. As each day starts, means that you have just 86,400 seconds less to achieve your goal to increase sales.

The Art of The Conversion Conversation: 5 Simple Steps To The Soft Sale
I am a mediator-type of person meaning that my head often over rules a decision that could (and should) have been made with my heart. Because I have this personality characteristic, I have become a great at teaching clients how to get their prospects to make a decision from their heart. Let's talk about what it takes to close the deal!

How to Market Your Small Business Without Breaking the Bank
In today's tough economic environment it is more important than ever for small business owners to find low cost marketing strategies that work. Sure advertising your small business on buses and on billboards would be great, if you could afford it, but if you can't that doesn't mean you can't get the word out effectively about your small business without going broke.

3 Killer Business Skills -- Master These or You'll Wind Up in the Business Boneyard
You've got to learn how to network with other professionals, ask effectively for referrals and conduct consultative sales interviews with people or your business will die.

7 Ideas Owners Must Consider About Succession Planning
Statistics show that 70% of entrepreneur-owned businesses do not survive the founder. Did you work this hard, for this long, to see your life’s work implode?

Getting Your Feet Wet: Entrepreneurship On A Part Time Basis
One of the great hazards of running a home based small business are the benefits you get from full time work for a conventional employer. Why are they a hazard? Because they'll convince you that your business needs to replace the money and benefits you'd make now with what it can pull in.

How to Buy a Media List That Gets You, Your Products, and Your Services in Front of the Right People
Before you buy a media list, be sure to ask these questions, so You Get the Most publicity for your buck...

How to Build a Compelling Marketing Communications Folder
What do you give your prospects after they’ve expressed an interest in your products or services? Most small business owners simply pass out a single sales brochure. It’s much more effective to present a complete folder of information that works to further build trust and confidence. This article discusses the inserts I recommend you include in your marketing folder.

Filing a Trademark: Plain Text Vs Stylized/Logo
When filing a trademark, the USPTO gives you two options: Standard Characters or Specialized Form (Stylized and/or Design). Let's look at each one in detail and that should help you decide the best way to file for your mark.

Will Stimulus Bill Create New Franchises?
Read how about how the new economic stimulus bill and some of its spending priorities has the potential to create new franchise business opportunities in the market place. This includes new opportunities in the health care and renewable or green energy industries.

Smart Branding for the Smaller Enterprise
Build your brand Big Time . . . not with a Big Budget . . but by providing Big Benefits to your clients. Think Small Before Thinking Big . . . and concentrate on Building Better Relationships.

Should you accept feedback in your business?
This morning I received an email from a contact of mine. It went something along the lines of “Just listened to your new audio. I have some feedback if you are interested.”

Why Small Businesses Won’t Double Their Revenue This Year
Here is what we have learned are the biggest reasons why small businesses will not double their business this year (yes, this year—even in the current economic climate):

How to Keep Your Financial Records Organized
Tips and strategies on financial organization

6 Home Based Internet Business Opportunities To Pursue
Regardless of what your interests are or what you have skills in, you are bound to find something to make a career out of online. Here are six different home based internet business opportunities you may consider starting a career out of.

Paralyzed by Fear
Fear can be a useful tool or a crippling enemy in the work environment. Read on to find out how you can turn your fear into a useful, profitable, and conquerable tool.

How To Build Credibility With Your Prospects
How small businesses can quickly build trust and credibility with brand new prospective clients.

The Never-Fail Recipe for Ads That Work Like Crazy
It’s always surprising to us to see so much advertising, especially in print, which does not work. It simply doesn’t contain the ingredients needed to successfully communicate with customers. If you make a cake, you don’t leave out any ingredients — right? Then why leave out an important part of your advertising message?

Giving Customers Away
No one can take your customers from you. Not with a cheaper price. Not with better service. Not with better processes. Not even with more innovative products. You must first give them away. Obviously this is the one thing you don't want to do. This article helps introduce some easy steps you can take to ensure you won't be giving your customers away easily.

Three Types of Marketing Your Small Business Needs to Grow
When it comes to marketing and advertising your small business, you need to focus on more than just attracting new customers or clients. In fact, that’s the most expensive and difficult way to grow your business. Instead try using a mix of these three types of marketing tactics to get new clients and keep them coming back for more…

The Small Business Grant Misnomer
Business owners seeking grants for their businesses must understand the process. Grants, just like other methods of financing, have their unique qualities. Knowing how and when to access grant funding is important in not wasting time and money, then not winning the grant.

The Survival Of The Fittest

Whether you’re already an entrepreneur, or just thinking about becoming one, you are invariably motivated by one of two things, or maybe even both—passion and necessity. Very often, entrepreneurs do what they do simply because they like it and want to do it. And because entrepreneurs, particularly very successful ones, rarely do anything half-way, they tend to pursue their lives and their businesses with a unique intensity. In short, they are passionate about how they live and work.

How to Use Keyword Research to Search for Clients
So many small business owners, coaches and infopreneurs make the mistake of creating or promoting products and services they’re passionate about without really knowing if there is a market for them. This is where keyword research can make the difference between success and failure.

Profit Success Using LinkedIn – Actions You can Replicate
LinkedIn is networking virtual style. But will it help you find and get new clients. See the latest research.

Are You a Thought Leader
Random Thoughts On Life and Entrepreneurship

Reuse, Repurpose, Reduce: The Secret to Making More Money with Less Effort
Are you struggling to constantly reinvent the wheel when it comes to marketing and growing your small business? Are you so swamped with running your business you can’t even think about putting together new products? If so, then you need to start following the successful small business owner’s secret of reusing, repurposing, and reducing to get more done with less.

Business Loan Fundamental: What Small Business Owners Need to Know
Small Business owners seeking capital to grow their business or just to survive through the current economic downturn are at their wits' end. Money to these businesses is not flowing as freely as in years gone by. Here is one business fundamental to consider.

No Shortcuts
Understanding that there are no shortcuts is the first step to starting and running a successful company.

Entrepreneur vs. Small Business Owner—Why You Should Care
If you run your company (or career) from a place that is what you think you “should” or are “supposed to” do, not from what is right for you, it may be a very bumpy ride. Knowing the key differences between being an entrepreneur and small business owner should help guide you down the right path:

How to Attract More Legal Clients for Your Small Law Firm & Thrive in a Recession
The key to survival and success lies in expanding your reach. Here are 5 Low Cost Ways to Combat the Recession and Attract more Legal Clients for your Small Law Firm

The Fifteen Most Common Publicity Mistakes Businesses Make
While many business owners understand the importance of publicity, many of these businesses are making common mistakes that are taking away from their publicity efforts. By being aware of these mistakes, you'll be able to make the most out of every publicity opportunity.

The Economic Stimulus Package Can Help YOUR Business

Taking Obama’s strategy to the next level is encouraging the “risk takers” to step up. They are the entrepreneurs and small businesses. Entrepreneurs and small business owners are agile, hungry for success and quick on our feet, unlike our cousins the large companies, who are busy circling their wagons, laying people off and retrenching. I cannot emphasize enough how important a time this is for us all in our businesses. It is during these economic downturns that businesses and markets reinvent themselves and evolve the markets and economy on to greater heights.

President Obama, Small Businesses & Growing the American Dream during Tough Times
Just as lending institutions need to free more credit to allow small businesses to grow, small business owners in turn are going to have to get much savvier about marketing and promoting their businesses in order to reach their target market and have their businesses grow.

Dating the Trysumer
Where lack of choice and distribution channels in the past made it simpler to market and sell to prospects, today small business owners need to EARN the trust and credibility of this new breed of consumer by allowing them to TRY before they BUY.

8 Tips For Successful Newsletters
Many businesses could benefit from using an email newsletter to keep in contact with clients and prospectives. But a badly-written newsletter can hurt you more than help you! This is a primary reason why many small business owners put off creating a newsletter. Use these tips to create a newsletter your audience looks forward to!

Home Business Expert: Top 10 Myths About Home Based Business
Today we have more home businesses than at any time before and the number of such businesses seem to be increasing with each passing day.

Is Your Marketing Missing Purpose?
What do you stand for in your business? Tough question or easy to answer? When you are clear about the purpose of your business, marketing is so much easier and can actually be exciting.

The Dirty Secret of Why Many Chambers of Commerce Fail to Increase Sales
Throughout the United States, Chambers of Commerce engaged in annual or even bi-annual membership drives. Yet, the 800# gorilla in the room is this dirty secret. Read on if this is of interest to you.

The Power of Integral Marketing
Many small business owners know they need to have some type of marketing program in place, yet many are unsure just how to develop one that will maximize business profits. This article outlines a simple system to help ensure you maximize the effectiveness of your marketing.

Are You One of Those Coaches Who Engage in Overkill?
Are you a sales coach, business coach or a small business owner who is experiencing some less than stellar sales results? Possibly, you may be engaging in overkill and thus hurting your own opportunities to increase sales?

Want to Double Your Sales? Cut Your Market in Half

Two years ago, my firm suffered from split business disorder and as the owner, so did I. Offering marketing services for small business owners, we also offered team building and training services to Fortune 500 firms. Neither segment was large enough to stand alone, so I spent my time split between both. When someone asked me what I did, I was never quite sure how to respond and often said too much. Networking associates overloaded with T.M.I. (Too Much Information) rarely had a good referral for me. How could they? If I didn't know what I did or who I wanted to meet, it was unrealistic to expect others to be able to help me. A drastic change was required!

In Marketing - one size does not fit all
One of the great things about travelling overseas is that it makes you look at things from a new perspective. I have just returned from a trip to Japan and was fascinated by the number of international brands operating there and how they prosper in what are very different trading conditions from their home countries and Australia.

Marketing – my three start up priorities
Are you considering establishing your own small business, or perhaps you are currently operating a business that you bought or started yourself? If you are, then we have found common ground. My name is Jo Macdermott and I am writing this article about my own marketing journey in creating a business that does just that: Marketing.

Dwindling Cash Flow is a Big Problem
Business owners today are tapping into whatever available cash reserves they have. This is not always the best thing to do but they might not have an option. Survival is the primary reason entrepreneurs are using their cash reserves. It is vital to stay afloat and be able to come through our current economic situation that is affecting many.

Simple Steps To Finding Small Business Grants
Generally speaking, the hardest part of starting a small business is finding the money. Getting a loan can be tough if you don't have good credit or collateral and finding a group of investors can severely diminish your profits, but there is another option: a small business grant. Here's some tips to help you find out if you qualify for a grant and steps to walk you through applying.

Do not neglect Your Accounting Functions

In trouble times, outsourcing is the only solution. Neglect to your accounting functions can bring serious consequences. Not to mention, that the financial aspect is the second (the first one, of course, is the core of your business) most important function of your business. You financial position is view by a set of financial statements that speak for themselves. So, no matter how small or how big you are, it is important to keep all your accounting records straight. The great benefit that you gain is that you know exactly where each penny has been spent.

Ten business time savers to help bring order to your day, and more money to your bottom line.
Does it seem like you have more tasks to do than hours in which to do them? Don't feel alone. Lack of time is a problem most small business owners have all faced at one time or the other. This article gives you 10 business time savers that will put more time back into your day, and more money to your bottom line.

How the Choices You Make Will Determine Your Sales Results
Norman Vincent Peale once wrote: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your World. Your choices come from those thoughts. In sales, have you ever consider the impact of those choices as to your sales results?

Build Value Not Discount To Avoid Becoming A Commodity in Your Industry During Good or Bad Times
Many sales professionals to small business owners to C Level executives believe that by discounting their products or service during good or bad times that they can increase sales and maintain customer loyalty. However, what these folks are really doing is just the opposite because they have turned their products and services into a commodity.

Ad battling in a crisis
It's a financial crisis, and it's tempting to sacrifice ads when you don't have the cash. Here's a few pointers on how you can get the most for your money.

Top 7 Things You Have to Know to Market and Grow Your Small Business Effectively
My experience working with hundreds of small business owners has shown that while you might get by for awhile solely on referrals and word of mouth, typically that’s not going to be enough over the long haul.

Marketing to Your Customer Types
Marketing to your customer types is the key to attracting clients at various stages of development. This article discusses how to effectively market to your suspects, prospects, first-time customers and Repeat Buyers.

The Customer Contact Database
One of the most important assets of any small business is the customer database. It is the foundation for all successful marketing programs but many small business owners either fail to keep one or do not properly code it for use as a marketing tool.

The Power of Recency and Frequency in Growing Your Small Business
The most powerful predictor of future behavior is past behavior. This article explains the predictive power of Recency and Frequency when marketing to your customers.

Dont just survive - thrive in 2009
Throughout history some of mankind’s greatest achievements have happened in the most challenging times. That being the case, 2009 should be a great year for many smart small businesses…and these business survival skills should make it easier.

5 Must Dos To Grow Your Business Using Email
Few mediums come close to matching email marketing's ability to grow sales and customer relationships. However, doing effective email marketing is hard - VERY hard. If you're a small business using or looking to use email marketing, here are 5 key things you should know.

Big Business Tactics for Your Small Business

If you are a small business or even a good sized business that wants to get bigger, you must first develop the systems and structure, or the foundational components that will allow your business to support a larger organization. For that to happen, you must find ways to work on your business, not just work in it. This is an old saying. The question is just exactly does that mean? This article talks about things you must do in order to help your business prepare for becoming a large business.

Nine Tips for a More Successful Business

Nine Tips for a More Successful Business - Not all small business owners are fully qualified to run every aspect of their business. They might be good at one or two things, but rarely is someone good at everything. So, here are nine tips, compiled over the years of running successful businesses, that you will find can help you in your business if applied. Take the time to apply these tips right away and you will see stronger, more competitive, and more profitable results!

Small Businesses Get BIG Results With Business Gifts
Owning a small business means wearing a lot of different “hats” – and often serving as your own marketing department as well. That’s where business gifts can have such a big impact.

10 Small Business Web Design Disasters to Avoid
Many web designers are talented, skilled and reasonably priced, but there are also some who don’t have their client's best interests in mind. How do you avoid falling into this trap?

Good Bookkeeping To Secure Business Capital
How does good bookkeeping help you to secure Business Capital? Well, many observers agree that the global economy will create far more challenging situations than first anticipated. So when the going gets tough in the market place, it is even more imperative for you to have a handle on the financial position of your business

Thousands are getting fired What are people doing in tough times
Thousands are getting fired; What are people doing in tough times? The nation is being hit with unemployment. We all know someone who has been affected. What are those people doing about it? What is everyone really searching for right now?

Small Business Owners Can't Hire Good Staff
When you are a small business owner, the dilemma is quite ironic. On the one hand you need good people, and on the other, you know good people want to receive good pay. That is easier said than done when you are on a tight budget!

Effective Small Business Marketing is About Building Relationships…Not Just Making Sales
So the key to getting more people to buy from you—especially high-dollar items—is to create a series of smaller steps that let them wade in and test the waters before taking a bigger, more risky leap.

Education Based Marketing the New Sales Paradigm for Relationship Selling
Are you engaged in the old paradigm of sales based marketing? Have you heard of education based marketing? If you believe in relationship selling and wish to increase sale, then you may need to change your sales paradigm.

Where Can I Get Start Up Money For A Business
Starting a new business can be tough, but if you have the drive and ambition, you can be your own boss and make great money running your own business. Now the hard part: where on earth are you going to find the money to start your business?

7 Ideas Owners Must Consider When Succession Planning
Recently we’ve been reading reports and statistics on succession planning. Did you know that according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses more than 40% of business owners plan to leave their businesses in the next 5 years. Are you one of them? Then read this article and start ensuring your success.

Budget Salvation! 10 Ways for Small Business Owners to Save Money

You may have noticed that the economy is on shaky ground pretty much everywhere. It's been in all the papers. While everyone from the consumer to the corporation is on edge, the small business owner is probably the most nervous. They share the concerns of everyone, while also worrying about their budget in relation to the future of their business and their employees. The real challenge for small business owners is how to make their budget dollar go further - expenses can't be slashed any further because they're already running lean, and they don't want to stifle potential business growth out of economic fear. So, how does the small business owner balance the budget to ensure the prospects of future success?

Start Off The New Year With A Low Cost Small Business Franchise
2009 is here, and one thing that nearly every economist can agree on is that it takes a different approach to business to survive in the current market. Here's a look at some low cost ways to start a business that can generate serious profit, even in a tough economy.

Seven Strategic Actions to Deal With Stress At Work From “Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”

Look around you and you will see stress. People are being challenged in this new economy. Stress is a fact of daily life and it is especially true at work. And the stress is heightened because many small business owners must face these challenges essentially alone or with some minimal support system for assistance. While some people will strive on stress and will use stress to improve their performance, there are many others who fold or breakdown under the strain of stress. Here are seven strategic actions from “Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” to deal with the stress at work.

The Value of Outsourcing

The Value of Outsourcing - "I'm too small to hire staff" say many entrepreneurs. But that's an expensive assumption to make. In this article, you'll read why paying someone else to do specific parts of your work actually makes good business sense, and can set you up to grow your business faster and more effectively. Think your business is too small to staff? Think again! Keep an open mind and read this article and you just might post a "help wanted" sign!

How to Outsource to Free Up Your Time and Increase Your Income

How many tasks do you take on in your business? Do you pride yourself on doing the bookkeeping, reacting to email, preparing your own proposals and presentations, attending networking events, making appointments, keeping on top of the paperwork, providing your service, packaging and delivering your products, running around doing all your errands, looking after children, taking the dog for a walk...and then fitting in time to take care of yourself? How about marketing and developing your business? Where does that fit in?

Working "On" Your Business!
As small business owners we ofter overwork ourselves in the midst of working "on" our business. Find out how to work "in" your business instead of "on" it.

Small Business Owners: Where Is the Source for Your Success?
Success for the small business owner in many cases comes from outside resources. Read about how one small business owner has transformed himself through 11 simple words.

How Does Your Business Stack Up to your Competition?

Recently we have been hearing more and more about business failures like Circuit City and Linens and Things. These “Big Box” retailers showed tremendous growth over the past years. The concept rolled into town in earnest over a decade ago and was instantly embraced by consumers. Their creation facilitated the birth of the “Power Center” and wreaked havoc on locally owned small businesses. Wall Street applauded the growth curve of these concepts and rewarded the stock price with each announcement of new store openings. Once they hit maturation, the same store sales “boogey man” kicked in.

How Much Does A Small Business Owner Make?

How Much Does A Small Business Owner Really Make? In this article, Heather Villa looks at the question "How much does a small business owner really make?" and shows how the question has misled entrepreneurs. She first describes how owners all too often over-estimate their personal income simply because their finances are not in order. Then, she points out three must-do financial activities that entrepreneurs need to regularly practice in order to create a successful business. Once these are in order, she points out, that business owners will be able to earn a higher wage and build a more valuable business for the short and long term.

How To Survive Tax Season
How To Survive Tax Season - The very words "tax season" can send shivers down the spine of every small business owner. While tax season might never be fun, it can be far more manageable than it is with a few simple best practices. In this article, you'll read how you can prepare for tax season in order to lessen its time-consuming, work-time-stealing burden. It IS possible!

Deep Blue Sea
Be wary of scammers offering bogus loans to desperate small business owners.

The Art of Social Marketing: Is It Right For Your Business?
When the economy takes a downturn, small business owners look to in-person networking to keep cash flow moving in their business. What most business owners don't realize is there may be a simpler way. Would it be beneficial to grow your local business with social networking and web 2.0 ?

Winning the Ohio Lottery or Obtaining a Business Loan What is harder
According to Google Trends the top 20 most searched words in December include: Michigan Lottery Mega Millions Winning Numbers Ohio Lottery Georgia Lottery Megamillions.com Russian Roulette (currently 32, but is this a bad sign?)

Strike While the Iron is Hot Using the Recession to Your Advantage
These last few weeks of our economic downturn got everyone wound up. From business owners, to CEO’s and back to the consumers – everyone is at a panic about the recession, and the bailout we are in. But what is a recession, really? How is it lack of bailout impacting your life?

Five Link Building Sins To Avoid
One of the most important keys to getting good placement in search engines is to get other websites to link to your site. To acquire relevant, high-quality inbound links and avoid being pegged as a spammer, steer clear of these five deadly link-building sins.

The Art of Email Marketing Campaigns Wealth Creation via Email Connection
Email marketing isn't about purchase this from me - today - now. It’s about writing, sharing and giving information to real people. It's about cultivating real relationships and providing incredible services to them. If you can offer authenticity, personality, humor and valuable information, subscribers will become eager to read your information and purchase products from you.

Sales Coaching Tip: Lose the Business Development Title If You Want to Increase Sales
Are you really busy, but your bank account is not as full as you want? Possibly you are confusing business development with sales. Learn if you are suffering from this sales malady.

The Top Business Best Practice

The top business best practice - Is it marketing? Is it branding? Is it sales? Is it a social media plan? No. Those are important activities but aren't the top business practice. In this article, you'll read about how your business is a bucket and marketing and sales send water into the bucket… but most businesses have big holes in the bucket. You'll learn the one best practice to identify the holes and stop them up so your marketing and sales and branding and social media can be more effective and can contribute to a more successful company.

Did you start today with the M-I-T?
Make a habit of identifying the "Most Important Thing" every day.

Categorize to Maximize Efficiency
No matter how you keep track of your projects and tasks, it can be extremely beneficial to categorize your activities and tackle like-items at the same time.

The productivity problem...
Today's small business owners are complaining about time-related pressures more than ever, saying that there's simply no way possible that they could EVER complete everything that's expected of them.

How Crunching Key Sales Numbers Will Increase Sales & Help You Sell Smarter not Harder
In sales, it is the simple actions that generate the greatest results. If your desire is to increase sales, then take some time to crunch your key sales numbers. Taking this action allows you to work smarter not harder. So what are those key sales number?

How to Win More Sales Is by Knowing Where to Find the Best Help
Do you know where to find the best help to increase sales. Maybe it is time to learn rethink current actions to determine how to win more sales?

Increase Sales By Dropping the Excuses, Now!
Are you sales not where you want them to be? Are you finding yourself making reasons why sales are down? Have you considered those reasons are really excuses in disguise?

How to Win More Sales in the Business Race to Be Number One
Do you want to know how to win more sales? Then possibly a trip back to an old fable may show you that path.

Want more sales? Who doesn’t? Have you considered introducing new products or services to demonstrate that you are truly listening to your loyal customers?
Want more sales? Who doesn’t? Have you considered introducing new products or services to demonstrate that you are truly listening to your loyal customers?

CHOOSING AMONG FINANCING OPTIONS

You have a million dollar idea for a small business, enough motivation and drive to launch an effective marketing and advertising campaign, and logistic channels established to get your product or service to the masses. Now the only thing missing is the funding to get your new company up and running through new business financing. If unsuccessful attempts to acquire a traditional bank loan have left you stranded, where do you go? How do you get the funding for your new venture?

Recession Effects on Small Business and What that Means for Franchises
With recession in full swing, many are wondering how small businesses are expected to hold up. Things are tense, but franchises aren’t down for the count yet.

A Goal Driven Marketing Plan, Sales Plan and Customer Loyalty Plan Must Be United to Increase Sales
Are your sales actions the direct result of pre-determined goals or a lot of flying by the seat of your pants? Learn the 3 questions that you need to answer to increase sales.

The One Entrepreneurial Risk You Should Never Assume-Insurance Requirements of the Self Employed

Could your business survive an extended, forced shut down? If you don't have a plan that ensures your rent, utilities, payroll, suppliers and your own income can be payed even while your business is shut down for months the answer is no and your small business is at risk. Business Interruption or Loss of Income insurance bridges the gap between the businesses normal income and its income due to a forced closing. It also can assure certain business critical expenses will be paid.

Increase Sales by Identifying Your Target Market and Stop Spraying and Praying Your Sales Activities
Do you feel that you are not getting your fair share of the market place? If so, then can you answer exactly how big of a piece of the pie is that fair share? Now is the time to rethink and refocus so that you accurately know your target market.

The Rule of Three: When to Invest in Your Business
It is the businesses that consistently and carefully spend money and invest wisely that make the most money. Many businesses have gone on cost-cutting rampages only to find they are less profitable than before. Why? They crippled themselves by removing profitable business investments.

Protecting Your Small Business in Today's Economy
As a small business owner, keeping your business prospering in today's economy is probably one of your biggest concerns. With a business cash advance, you can get funds to maintain and/or promote business growth.

Expand Your Advertising Budget By Getting Free Publicity From Local Media
Owning a home based business often means working on a frugal budget. These small business owners often find themselves in a Catch-22 situation: they need to advertise their business to get clients and yet their budgets often don't allow for advertising dollars.

A Goal Driven Marketing Plan, Sales Plan and Customer Loyalty Must Be United to Increase Sales
So many times small business owners including service providers such as real estate agents, insurance agents, mortgage brokers to distribution providers including restaurants and retail stores decide to embark on a new marketing message without checking the existing marketing plan and current sales plan. This type of behavior is very dangerous.

Increase Sales By Harvesting Instead of Farming
Are you a sales professional who harvests or one who continues to farm all with the goal to increase sales? What makes more sense?

Increase Sales By Discovering the Facts, Just the Facts
The ongoing quest of "How to increase sales" is never ending since mankind first began peddling his or her products or services. To realize this goal to increase sales must include the sales skill of fact finding or in simpler terms – research.

The Lack of Professional Courtesy Is the New Business Behavior
Are you a small business owner, sales professional, C-Level executive or front line worker? What are your top major complaints as you travel the roads to greater business be it locally or globally?

Why Is Building Customer Loyalty So Difficult?
One would think that building loyal customers is truly a no-brainer? Yet, businesses continue to turn off far more customers than they turn on! So what is the answer to building customer loyalty?

What Fork Will You Take to Increase Sales?
Successfully increasing sales whether you are a small business owner including a real estate agent to a mid size firm requires you to continually make decisions. The consequences of those decisions will ultimately determine your success or failure as you strive toward your goal to increase sales.

Website A Must For Every Business That Wants to Increase Sales
What does it take to be successful in today's business marketplace? Are you confident that you have all the essential elements necessary to increase sales?

What Is In Your Wallet?
A very popular commercial asks the following question: What’s in your wallet? The answer for many in business might be a driver’s license, some money, an insurance card, treasured photographs of family and friends, credit cards and even association membership cards. Yet, are they missing the most important item that can immediately increase sales?

How to Increase Sales and Reduce Costs by Using These Simple Sales Coaching Tips
Are sales down and costs up? Consider these simple sales coaching tips to reverse those unacceptable trends.

Keep Your Word, Be Reliable, if You Want to Achieve the Goal of How to Increase Sales
Do you know what makes your customers buy from you? Do you think it is your price or maybe your extensive product line? You may be surprised by the answer.

Does Your Website Jingle
Because people are being saturated with marketing messages, your message needs to be on-target but also worth remembering.

How to Improve Your Sales through What You Offer
There’s a gap between what you offer and your understanding of that offer and what your prospects perceive you offering. You think you’re being crystal clear and that anyone can see how you can help them. The problem is anyone can’t see. They can’t and won’t connect the dots between what you’re saying and how what you’re saying applies to them.

Does my small business have employees or independent contractors
Make sure you are doing business right when working with other people.Do you have employees or contractors. Do YOU really know the difference?

Your Estate Plans for Your Business: What to Do Now
In light of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act ("Tax Relief Act"), which was signed into law on December 17, 2010, small business owners should review their estate plans now to protect their families and the existence of their businesses.

How to Increase Sales and Reduce Costs Using These Simple Sales Coaching Tips
With the economy slumping for some, professional sales people to small business owners are always looking for some quick, simple sales coaching tips s to rev up those slumping sales.

Sales Help Through the Six Universal Funnel Laws for Businesses
If you, as a small business, entrepreneur or sales, believe in What’s Goes Up, Must Come Down, then why not apply similar principles to your daily business actions? Using the Six Universal Funnel Laws for Businesses, should help you quickly double your results because what goes in, must come out.

Are Your Sales Lagging Because You Are Failing to Ask for the Business?
Do you want to increase sales? Then possibly, you may need to do a lot more asking.

Valuing Goodwill: A Pig-in-a-Poke?
This article discusses what goodwill is, how it is valued and gives an example of how it is applied in a certain case.

Double-Entry Accounting: A Place to Start
A brief explanation of double-entry accounting and the framework upon which it is based.

APPLYING FOR A BUSINESS LOAN: PUTTING YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD
Some tips on how to prepare properly before sitting down with a loan officer at the bank. Understanding what criteria the loan officer will be looking for.

The Importance of Bookkeeping
If you've been running your business for any length of time you understand the importance of bookkeeping and how neglecting it can create havoc!

How Do I Find Clients For My Bookkeeping Business?
When you decide to run your own bookkeeping business, one of your biggest problems getting started is finding clients. If you are smart, you will have a few clients set up before you quit your regular job. But, where do you find these clients?

Basic Bookkeeping for Small Business
Have you ever wondered why there are so many bookkeepers and accountants out there and how they can ALL be making money? No, it's not because they charge so much. It is because most small business owners don't know even the basics of accounting.

How Much Is A Three Dollar Customer Worth

Do you really know the value of your existing client base? You can spend a huge amount of money on promoting your business, and still see little result. The best (and cheapest form of advertising for a small business owner is word of mouth. It's reported that if you do the right thing by a client, they'll tell a handful of people. Do the wrong thing, and they'll tell over twenty people. So do you know how much a three dollar customer is really worth?

World's BEST Golfers Use Coaches, and So Should You
The world’s best golfer, Tiger Woods, uses various coaches to continuously improve every aspect of his game. That’s right, Tiger has coaches to help him with his golf swing, short game, mental approach, and strength training. Not one coach, several coaches.

How to Spread the Word About Your Business: Learning the Terminology of it All
Learn the meaning of and the difference between the various ways to get your business noticed.

Small Business Interview Series – Website Design and Development
Understanding the website development process is important for small business owners - a well designed and programmed website will add value to your bottom line by engaging your target audience and generating leads. In this edition of the small business interview series, I speak with Jordan Klassen, Vancouver Web Designer, about website design and strategy.

Putting the marketing basics in place Part 2
This week is part 2 of my guide on getting your marketing basics in place. Last week, we covered why it was important to know who your customers are; decide on what you actually do and know why your customers buy from you. But, there are three other things that you need to get in place before you’ll be sorted on the marketing basics. They are:

Help Your Way to More Sales
People buy because they want something they don’t have, they want to avoid something, or they want to solve a problem. They’re looking for someone to help them. Can you be the exact person to provide that help?

There are do’s and don’ts in starting your opt-in mailing list.
As excited as you may get to see your list growing, don't get too excited and blow your chance to develop a long term relationship with these people!

Increase Sales by Becoming the Maytag Repairman of Your Niche Market
Have you ever considered that being the Maytag Repairman in sales is potentially a good thing? Learn why you may want to adopt this philosophy.

5 Simple Steps To Forecasting Your Sales

One common goal of most small business owners is to grow their sales. The trick is, most aren't sure quite how to go about doing it. One of the things we work on in our business coaching practice is to find simple and practical ways for business owners to run their business better. When it comes to sales, the best place to start is with a sales forecast. Forecasting your sales for the remainder of the year isn't as difficult as you might think. Here are 5 simple steps to forecasting your sales:

How Do I Know If I Have The Right People?

One of the most vital roles of any small business owner is to make sure you have the right people in your organization. The vast majority of the small business owners we meet, spend too much of their time mired in people situations. There are lots of "how" questions on the people front. How do I: i) find them, ii) hire them, iii) train them, iv) motivate them, v) pay them, vi) get them to take ownership, vii) fire them? All of these questions will eventually boil down to one big question, "How do I know if I have the right people in my organization?" If you've ever read the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, then you know there are two questions to ask to help you figure out whether or not you have the right people:

Sales Coaching Tip: Do Not Confuse Activity with Sales Results
Do you believe yourself to be very busy and yet your sales are still suffering? Possibly, you are confusing activity with results?

Effective Networking Will Create Marketing Imitators, But Not Marketing Innovators
Is your networking marketing messaged being copied? Consider this perspective as you try to stay the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits.

The Right Team Helps MOMtrepreneurs & Women in Busines Succeed
Understanding the importance of creating a strong support team in life and business can make one's world of living easier as an entrepreneur and make the difference between succeeding and failing in business.

Perfecting Policy
Even entrepreneurs need to have company rules in writing. It could offer protection in the event of a lawsuit.

Marketing - 7 Ways To Increase Your Leads, Customers and Sales
One common mistake I see small business owners and entrepreneurs make time after time is this -- relying on one source for leads. So how do you avoid that situation? By not relying on one lead source but instead diversifying and having leads come in from multiple sources.

Let's face it... employee wages are sacrosanct
The sooner Massachusetts small business owners accept this, the sooner they can stop having skirmishes and "misunderstandings" with the Attorney General's office that only result in frustration, penalties and ill will on all sides.

The Fatal Mistake Most Entrepreneurs Make and How You Can Avoid Them

Lack of time is the most common complaint I hear from entrepreneurs and small business owners. So if that's the key challenge why is it so difficult for them to overcome it? Some time ago I used the services of a mortgage broker who in the first instance was very prompt and appeared very efficient. Although it took some time for the refinance to go through (that was caused by the bank and their legal people), all went smoothly.

Are You Reducing Your Income Through Lack of Sleep?

John is a personal coaching client and has been getting coached for several months. Since he's started coaching he's been resisting filling in a time sheet so we can both see where he is spending his time. I find he's not the only one. It seems that many people avoid doing this very simple activity... call it laziness, procrastination, being allergic to writing things down, being scared of what they might find out or being undisciplined. The benefit of doing this for a period of 1 - 2 weeks helps identify where you spend your time either productively or unproductively.

4 Ways to Finance your Franchise
If you are interested in buying a franchise, you have probably taken into account all of the benefits that a franchise offers over starting your own business. You will benefit from a proven successful business model and an established brand name.

Small Business Interview Series – Executive Coaching, Team Building and Leadership Development
Coaching is a great way for small business owners to develop leadership skills, build strong teams and grow their organizations. In this installment of the small business interview series, I speak with leadership and learning specialist Tammy Dewar, Ph.D., Principal at Calliope Learning in Victoria, B.C.

Website Role In A Brick-And-Mortar Business
Website is not a substitute for old fashioned foot traffic and many people still seek human help and customer service, but small business owners should use their website to complement their business.

Fear Factors in Small Business: Sales & Marketing
Generating new sales is often the most difficult and challenging jobs for small business owners. That shouldn’t be a big surprise, generating new sales is the most difficult and challenging tasks faced by big business as well, which is why they spend billions of dollars every year trying new sales processes, new sales techniques and different customer relationship management approaches.

A Successful Sales Model: The Key to Franchisee Success

With many individuals transitioning from corporate America to entrepreneurial ventures, it is no surprise that new franchised businesses are springing up everywhere. Many franchise owners are attracted to entrepreneurship because they like what the franchise business concept represents. However, while they come to their role as a believer of the concept they buy into they do not necessarily have the skills they need to sell themselves and their services — the skills that are needed to keep the business alive.

Two Time Management Concepts That Will Help Grow Your Small Business
Time management is an important tool for small business owners - organizing your time and understanding its value to your small business is a great way to become more focused and successful.

How Organized Is Your Business? Part 1
According to the Small Business Administration small businesses make up more than 99.7 percent of all employees. Add to that the latest figures that show small businesses create 75% of the net new jobs in our economy and you can see how important small businesses are.

Organized Business! How Organized is Yours?

According to the Small Business Administration small businesses make up more than 99.7 percent of all employees. Add to that the latest figures that show small businesses create 75% of the net new jobs in our economy and you can see how important small businesses are. Small Business Owners have a very challenging job. Many small business owners go into an industry because it matches their passion or is something that they are really good at. What many start up business owners do not realize is that it takes a LOT more than being good in a particular industry to successfully run a business.

Top 10 Small Business Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Next Tradeshow
Many small business owners take part in trade-shows and networking events. But how should you prepare yourself to get the maximum return on your trade show investment?

Yes, It Does Involve a "Secret" Victoria…
People don't know what you want until you tell them--and asking for what you want results in landing exactly the kind of client you are hoping to reach.

Hottest Canadian Franchise Business Opportunities

Though businesses sometimes like to restrict themselves to certain geographic boundaries, the entrepreneurial spirit knows no borders. With the right kind of self-starting, hard-driven business owners living on both sides of the US/Canada border, there is no reason to neglect the franchise needs of either group. As such, here are some of the best possible business opportunities which are mostly US based, but are available to the business-savvy Canadian entrepreneur.

Small Business Tips - Energy Conservation Isn't Just For Light-Bulbs And Water

One thing that most small business owners forget with all of this focus on the environment is their own personal energy conservation. It is nothing for a business owner to try and cram in a few hours after the kids are asleep – even if their eyes need superglue to remain open. But when you are a business owner your personal energy conservation is vital. In most cases without you there is no business. Unless you conserve your own energy, your body will eventually exhaust itself and force you to slow down, usually at the most inconvenient times when you have clients on a deadline.

Financial Fundamentals
It's very easy to go into business, and running a business is easy if you have great systems to track your finances automatically, effortlessly, and accurately. Those systems don't "cost", they truly pay off in wonderful ways. Follow the basics. There will likely come a day when you'll be delighted you did!

Tailoring Your Marketing to Different Audiences
Whether you’re looking for a job or trying to find customers, you are engaging in a sales and marketing presentation. The only difference is, when you’re job hunting, the potential employer is the customer.

Lead Capture Pages for Network Marketing
Lead Capture Pages? What are they? Which Lead Capture System Should I Use? What Happens With Your Leads?

Word of Mouth
Word of mouth (WOM) is an elusive form of marketing that has the ability to either build or erode your small business brand. What are some of the characteristics of WOM as a communication medium that make it such a powerful marketing tool? What can you do to try to develop positive word of mouth for your small business?

Why Are Strategic Alliances Important to Your Small Business

Global Edge defines a strategic alliance as a “collaborative agreement between two companies designed to achieve some strategic goal.” Traditionally, strategic alliances take place between larger companies and encompass formal arrangements such as “international licensing agreements, management contracts, and joint ventures” - but more and more small businesses are banding together in less formal ways to form strategic partnerships of their own. What are some of the benefits of forming small business strategic alliances? As a small business owner, how can you reach out to start conversations with potential allies and what should you look for in a strategic partner?

Using the Phone to Gain a Competitive Edge
How well does your organization answer the phone? It may seem like an odd question, but it could be very relevant to the success of your small business.

Using New Event Marketing to Promote Your Small Business

Organizing an educational event such as a seminar or conference is a great way to get out of the office and network with prospective clients and promote your small business within your community. However, a traditional event marketing format presents some challenges to small business owners, including the costs of putting on an event, creating buzz ("Not another breakfast speaker series"), being able to offer attendees value, etc. So how can your small business take advantage of the benefits of educational event marketing while minimizing some of the risks and pressures associated with putting on a successful seminar or conference?

The Fear of Differentiation

Building a unique small business brand requires some courage. Why are unique brands so scarce while middle of the road products, services, retail stores, etc dominate the business landscape? My theory is that it has something to do with an innate fear (we all have) of being different. In a branding context, this poses a problem because differentiation is one of the key elements in the development of a great brand. So how do small business owners face the fear of differentiation?

Small Business Interview Series Employee Benefits
Employee benefits are an important topic for many small business owners and managers. In the first installment of an ongoing series, I speak with benefits specialist Rachel von Sturmer, Principal at True Benefits Financial, about employee benefits best practices, trends and challenges.

Small Business Change Management
Change is an ever-present component of small business ownership. The ability for small business owners to effectively manage change lays the groundwork for growth and helps build the foundation for the development of a positive corporate culture. What can small business owners do to make themselves better change leaders? What are the most important factors to consider when managing change?

Reputation Management

One of the most important assets of any small business is its reputation – stakeholder opinion can be a driving force when it comes to establishing the value of your brand in the marketplace. As consumers continue to enjoy unlimited access to information and unprecedented freedom of expression online, it seems that Reputation Management has taken on a heightened level of importance for small business owners. What is “Reputation Management” and how important is it to your small business? What is involved and can small business owners manage the process themselves?

Get Tuned In by Leaving the Office

I just started reading an advance copy of "Tuned In", a new book by David Meerman Scott, Craig Stull and Phil Myers that is due to hit stores in July. Tuned In offers up an in-depth six step process that helps businesses understand and connect with markets in order to provide products and services that customers really want. The first step in the process flushes out a point that I feel is very important to small business owners and managers: "The critical first step to becoming tuned in is to understand, in great detail, what existing market problems your organization could solve. The only way to accomplish this is to get out of your office."

Coaching for Small Business Owners

Business coaching is a relatively new discipline. As a result, many small business owners are probably not aware of the coaching process and why they might consider coaching as a resource to fuel their business growth and personal leadership development. What benefits can a coach bring to you and your small business? Will a coach help you become more effective in the day to day management of your small business? What specific skills or experience should you look for in a business coach? How do you find a business coach?

Trump This - Small Business Lessons

Just when you think that you’ve heard everything about Donald Trump, there’s another chapter being written in the semi fictional book of his life. Last week, I was in New York, the place where he has marked out his most prized territory with tall, expensive buildings. Though his recent dust-up with President Obama is forcing people into “love him” or “can’t tolerate him” positions, I think that small business owners can get some wonderful lessons from a closer look at the Donald’s adventures.

Business Basics from Pablo Picasso
What do Pablo Picasso and business basics have in common? Read this article to discover how focusing on the right business tactics can help you, the woman business owner, succeed.

Should you join a networking group?

Someone told me a couple of years ago that there were over 300 networking groups in the UK each with their own networking events – who knows what the situation is right now? The number of networking groups has grown exponentially while I’ve been in business and what’s more each of them has a membership structure where you can potentially join the group. So, should you join a networking group and if so, which one would be the best for you?

Just For Women: Buy a Business, Fulfill Your Passions!

A transition into small business is a natural progression for countless women who have invested the first phase of their careers in the corporate world. Paradoxically, many women are not focused on these opportunities, or if they are, they are unaware of the entire spectrum of possibilities, which includes not only starting a business from scratch, but buying an independent business or franchise as well as partnering with other small business owners.

How to make leaflets work for you
I meet several small business owners who use leaflets as a way of promoting their business. But, one of the biggest complaints with this method is that it hasn’t worked. Whenever, someone tells me this though, my question back to them is “how do you know?”

Why Micro Loans Could Be The Answer to Many Small Business Owners Financing Needs

Small business owners, if you have never considered accessing a Micro Loan, you might want to take a look at this viable financing option. Some of you might think that these types of loans are used only in Third World countries. Perhaps you have heard of lending sites such as Kiva.org, which primarily finances individuals living in countries other than the United States who are starting their own businesses.

5 Things Business Owners Must Consider During Growth or Survival Periods
Growing a business in today’s market is all about survival of the fittest. Surviving through the uphill battles of being an entrepreneur is critical. Surviving through the growth stages of the business is just as vital as when your business is in a negative cash flow period or downhill mode.

Growing Your Small Business with Non-Traditional Financing
Small business owners are always seeking ways to grow their business. Whether you are going after business-to-business (B2B) clients, business-to-government (B2G) contracting opportunities, or business-to-consumer customers (B2C), growing your business is the foremost thing on your mind.

Are You Tracking for Increased Sales?
How you track your sales funnel and sales cycle can significantly impact your sales success. All too often the way you track is complicated and cumbersome when a simple system would be more efficient and effective.

Marketing explained
Marketing is essential for the survival and growth of your business.

Funding Your Start Up
Learn the basics about funding your start up.

Should you advertise?
A question I’m often asked by small business owners is whether they should advertise their products and services. My standard answer to this question is usually no and there are several reasons why. But there are some exceptions to this rule and during this article I want to go through both why I don’t think you should advertise and the exceptions in which you should.

10 Things You Should Know Before Hiring A Freelance Copy Writer
If it's a large project, ask to see a draft of the first piece or section before the writer does any more work. That way if you need to make any major changes you can do it before they get too far along and costs go up.

Focus on Your Talents

Most people are focused on where the opportunities are and then try to fit themselves into that mould, without giving appropriate thought to their own unique talents and abilities. However, that's not always a great idea. Because today's business playing field is slippery, time is a commodity you don't have, the future is unknown, and security is a thing of the past! In this environment it is important to remember to try differently, rather than trying harder!

What do Barbara Streisand and Tiger Woods have in common?
In addition to being at the top of their respective fields, Streisand in music and Woods in golf, they both work with a coach. Why would someone at the top of their chosen profession need a coach?

Market Your Business on the Web
Web marketing isn't just about buying ads anymore. Learn how social networking and blogging can bring the world to your doorstep.

Umbrella Insurance
Despite the introduction of new legislation to help small business owners, crippling lawsuits are still a real concern. Learn how a good umbrella insurance plan can protect your assets.

Terminating an Employee
Firing an employee isn't always cut and dry. Learn your rights before you get burned.

Get Involved in a Charity
Your community is the foundation of your small business. Giving back to it can be rewarding for both your spirit and your bottom line.

Crunchless Credit
Think borrowing money from family and friends is risky business? Virgin Money acts as a middleman to ensure the safest transactions.

5 marketing activities a day keeps the feast or famine away

One of the biggest complaints I hear from small business owners is that they don’t have time to do marketing. What this probably translates into though is that they don’t like marketing; they find it frustrating and they’re not sure where to start. And if I even dare to suggest that ideally you should be doing five marketing activities a day, most owners would tell me that this is unrealistic and there is absolutely no way that they can do this.

How to create and send out an email newsletter
Ever since I started my business, we have been sending out an email newsletter on a monthly basis. I meet small business owners all the time who tell me they’d like to send one out too, but often don’t end up doing one for a number of reasons. So, I thought I’d explore what some of those reasons are and how to get around them.

Personal Branding: How to Market and Position Yourself

The problem is that most people bungle their best opportunity to position themselves in their client's mind by using their title or occupation to answer the “What do you do?” question. Depending on the type of business you are in, each time that question is asked, it could be worth thousands of dollars. When you position yourself by title or occupation, you put yourself into a box that at least half the people you meet, will never care to open.

Why you should stick to one business idea
Something that’s really common amongst small business owners is running two or more businesses. I see people who own a massage therapy business also run a greeting card company or someone who owns a networking company who also own a florist and so on. Two or more businesses happen usually for one of two reasons:

Start with the End in Mind
How to Balance Your Business for Success!

The Call to Leadership
As a coach working with small business owners for over a decade I've seen the difference it makes when entrepreneurs consciously choose to function as leader and learn to apply the fundamentals of good business practice. Learn them here.

Marketing Means Networking
Branding is always about YOU. Yes, branding your company name is helpful, and branding your goods and services is a nice idea. But the more people who know and appreciate you, the more business you'll do. In the end, marketing is about networking.

Critical Small Business Mistakes
There are many traps that small business owners can fall into when they are first starting out. However, by recognising these common mistakes, you can avoid them easily and be well on your way to success.

How To Find A Loan For A Business Franchise
There are some basic steps that can help the soon to be franchise owner acquire the loan and financing that allows them to go into business for themselves.

7 Common Mistakes Business Owners Make

Being in business for yourself is an incredible opportunity. It is a chance to be your own boss, to spend more time doing the things you love, to increase your income and earning potential, and to escape from the corporate “rat race” where you have to do whatever someone tells you to do. There are a few common pitfalls that first time business owners typically don’t see coming. These are the 7 common mistakes business owners make when starting a new business or franchise.

How to Stop Fear from Blocking Your Small Business Growth
A few years back I wrote an article called "Facing the Fear Factor". Surprisingly it's the most widely read of any small business growth article I've ever written. Why?

How to Use an Autoresponder as a Valuable Marketing Tool
Lots of small business owners miss out on a highly effective, inexpensive marketing tool because they don't know what an autoresponder is or if they do, they don't know how to use it effectively

Common Mistakes Work At Home Business Owners Make

Every day thousands of Americans decide that it is time to go into business for themselves. Whether the reason is a need for greater income, a desire to be their own boss, an escape from the grind of a corporate office and a commute, or simply because they are ready to be at the top of an org chart, there is a great push in America to run a small business. Today many of those small businesses are run via the internet and can be home-based businesses. It’s important to be cautious however and there are five common mistakes that home business owners often make when starting to work at home for the first time.

LEADERS ATTRACT THE TEAM THEY DESERVE
Because a team follows the leader, leaders have to be both careful and clear about the message they put out, not only in words but also in actions. They will attract the people who subscribe to whatever image they project, good or bad.

Why You Should Ignore Your Cell Phone and Laptop: Six Keys to a Great Vacation
You work hard, long for a vacation and when the time comes, you drag along your laptop, cell phone,iPod, portable DVD player and other tech gadgets so you can play 'catch up' while you're 'enjoying' your vacation. But wait, isn't a holiday supposed to 'free you' from these obsessions. Discover the six key secrets to having a vacation worth taking.

Technology and the Small Business

The technology available to the small business owner is comparable to that available to large corporations. This is a remarkable fact, one that will allow small business owners to create and build sophisticated operations. To explore this further I knew I would have to have a conversation with Leslie Babel, President of DigitalFire Inc, an IT Support and Technology company. Leslie’s passion is technology and how he can apply it to make small businesses more effective, more competitive and more fun!

Outsourcing-how to work less and make more.
Learn how to affordably outsource tasks you don’t like to do and where to find outsourced help.

How to get and keep great staff (1)
What if I told you that people don’t work for money!

When is the right time to expand?

When is the right time to expandis a question that many small business owners have. There are many issues that need to be addressed to find the answer but one of the big ones is how much will the expansion cost (the initial outlay) and how much cash (operating cash flows) will be generated. A tool to help evaluate whether the operating cash flows generate a return to justify the initial outlay is called Net Present Value (NPV).

Getting Referrals for your Business
Ah referrals from business contacts – the one thing most small business owners would like more of. Why then, doesn’t it happen as much as most people would like? I have a theory and it goes somewhere along the following lines...

Are You Guilty of Shotgun Marketing?
"Shotgun marketing" is basically going about marketing your business without a strategic plan, complete with measurable and meaningful outcomes, strategies, and specific action steps, as well as a plan for consistency. The cure for the shotgun approach to marketing is "Lifetime Laser Marketing." Read on to learn more...

Is your business a kitchen table or barstool?
The most effective way to multiply revenue is to build your business like a solid kitchen table. What are you talking about, you say! Consider that each leg of a kitchen table represents a potential revenue stream; most businesses generate significant from only one, perhaps two legs. If you want to maximize the revenue potential of your business, read on to learn about all four legs.

Tax Cheats Ultimately Cheat Themselves
For many, tax time is an exercise in creativity. How much can I get away with before the Uncle Sam catches on. A few years back we needed a new accountant for our air tour business. One we talked to, a former I.R.S. agent, said to us, ““Some business owners want to sleep well, others want to eat well.” Which are you?””

The Small Business Marketing Success Secret

The biggest problem that most small business owners have with PR is that they don’t fully understand the process or how it can help build their business or establish their brand. Most think that public relations is only for large corporations or those in the entertainment world and that it has to do with stunts and smoke and mirrors. None of those perceptions are correct. Why should entrepreneurs and small business owners use PR? Because it can build a business and establish a company’s brand. Because it works!

Where Has All the Originality Gone?

As time goes on, the internet seems to be turning into a large field of "sameness". Fresh, new ideas and concepts are quickly snapped up by competitors who want to ride on the coattails of success of similar companies. These actions of copy cat behavior are not limited only to the internet, but the internet has made it very easy for individuals to take advantage of someone's hard work in order to create a business for themselves. I know a large number of small business owners who spent years perfecting a business, creating a unique company after much planning and research, only to have someone come by and take all they have created and put up their own "shop" sign without any of the hard work.

With Technology Everything Has Become Possible

Why am I not getting enquiries from my website?
One of the biggest complaints I hear from small business owners is that they’re not getting enquiries from their websites. And I agree – I think that’s incredibly frustrating, especially when you’ve spent a great deal of time, money and effort setting up the website in the first place.

Top Qualities of Small Business Owners
Many people dream of owning their own business. The idea of getting rid of the boss, making your own hours, and doing something that you love is quite tempting, especially if you are burnt out from the corporate rat race.

10 Ways to Use an Autoresponder Service as a Valuable Marketing Tool
Lots of small business owners miss out on a highly effective, inexpensive marketing tool because they don’t know what an autoresponder is or how to use it.

Maximize Your Small Business Website: 12 Crucial Web Design Tips for Small Business Owners
If you’re like many of the small business owners we work with, you may have spent a bundle paying your web designer for your website, only to find that it’s not generating much traffic. Or if it is, those visitors are bouncing right off your site. I call this a “rubber” site, when what you really want is a “sticky” site where people hang around and take action.

The Expert Advantage- How to Attract Clients with Ease
When your potential clients are deciding whom they will do business with, they are less concerned with price. As a business success coach working with small business owners I tell my clients over and over 'everybody wants to do business with an expert.’ If you want to increase your business success establish yourself as an expert.

Pain Free Business 8 Ways To Make Sure Customers Want What You Sell
I’m distressed about how many entrepreneurs and small business owners are driving themselves and their business into the ground because of the chase—running after for customers, running after new business, running after another day to keep their business open. This chase has put them into a cycle of emotional pain, even if they haven’t brought themselves to admit it…yet.

Leveraging Your Way to Big Brand Status
When it comes to creating a business brand, small business owners often feel they can’t do it alone. No surprise. You can’t! Yet throughout school we’re taught that we have to “do it” on our own otherwise we’re “cheating.” This lone ranger approach is the demise of millions of businesses.

Branding Is Not Selling Out ITS SELLING IN
Ever see an amazing band perform and wonder why you’ve never heard of them before? Ever see an astonishing artist on the street and wonder why isn’t their work isn’t in a gallery? Ever see an astounding independent film and wonder why people all over the world don’t know about it?

How to Create Simple Systems To Save You Time and Make You More Money

Time flies by very quickly. The oldest member of our family, (my husband) turned 53 last week and the youngest member, 'Casper' is nearly a year old! This reminded me of the experience we had at the local vet when we first brought Casper home. If the owner of that practice only realised that by making simple changes she could have increased her profits by at least 10% - 20% without working any harder. This week's article will show how you can too!

How to Avoid Your Personal Life By Keeping Busy
Do you spend most of your week working and wish you could have more time off? It may well be that you deliberately keep yourself busy to avoid having time for yourself... and do you know why? In most instances you either don't know what to do with that time or you're avoiding your personal issues. Check out the featured article this week...it may stir up some hidden truths.

How to Start a Home-Based Business
Owning a home based business gives the business owner a lot of freedoms. You can choose a line of work that makes you happy, you can choose who to work with as clients, and you can possibly become debt-free by eliminating the need for childcare and a work wardrobe.

Business Continuity Planning - What Happens If Something Happens To You?

Many small business owners end up being the ‘centre’ of their business. All their passwords and accesses are locked away in their head or their personal password list and if something goes wrong, there is no-one who can step in and make sure the business remains operational. Have you considered how your processes will cope if you, as the ‘centre’ of your business, will operate if you are incommunicado or just incapable of ‘being there’? Seriously – this is a big thing. Recently, I was affected by the need to make a certain change to one of my systems and the ONLY person who could authorise the change was not available – and NO ONE knew when they would be available. My only option at that point was to transfer my business to another supplier that could allow the change to occur….

Working Twice As Hard, Making Half As Much
This article describes the dilemmas in which many small business owners find themselves. And wome ways for getting out!

How To Get More Customers
Are you tired of struggling to create a world-class business... and spending more than you make each month?

Small Business Opportunity Faux Pas
Running a successful small business is definitely partly about identifying opportunities and acting on them. However, I see many small business owners missing out on these opportunities due to one of a number of faux pas. Here are my top five opportunity faux pas and what to do about them:

Good financial management
Good financial management is essential to the survival and success of every business.

My top 10 tips for staying in business
Each year about 440,000 new businesses start-up in the UK and yet each year and yet so many (around 60%) will close their doors within 18 months and walk away from what was their dream. So, why does it go wrong for so many?

Retail Brands Using Free Product Giveaways To Boost Fan Base
In an attempt to boost fan base, many companies offer free product giveaways to their customers. While this method not only applies to retail companies, it is very effective for them. Many small business owners send samples of their product or small items to new customers or customers who answer some kind of call to action.

Value your time as you can bet your customer’s won’t

Owning your own small business isn’t just a normal job, its 15 jobs or more all at once. You have to be your own PR specialist, marketing manager, bookkeeper, and receptionist in addition to the overseeing the primary product or service of your business – be it website design, marketing consulting, or pottery production. It is highly likely that you work 16 hours a day and only have time for the bare necessities. Maybe you even miss dinner every other day and hardly have time for your family.

Are your prices working for you?
Funny thing prices. If I ask one group of small business owners whether or not they’re happy with their prices, I can receive the answer yes. Check with another group however and I find they’re not. Yet, many business owners struggle with this area.

How To Spend More Time With Your Family
A coaching call with a new client prompted me to write this week's article. Mary admitted with great sadness that it was her family that suffered the most from her being so consumed by her business. When you make your family a priority, you will find the time to spend with them. I hope this week's article will move you to get a grip on your priorities and take action.

Am I in the Right Business?
Are you tired of working constantly without a vacation and having the money to show for your efforts? If you are wondering whether you are in the right business, consider the following questions:

Great Jobs for Stay at Home Moms
Here are some great ways for stay at home moms to work from home and contribute to the family's income.

Relief for Small Business Owners
What can a VA do for your business?

Going It Alone
In a recent poll by Small Business Guru, 66 percent of small business owners said they were not involved in any sort of peer group. It’s all too easy for small business owners to feel isolated.

Setting up a marketing system
Did you know that there is a taboo word in business? That word begins with “M” and it’s a word that every small business owner knows they should do, but so many don’t. That’s right, you’ve guessed it, the word is “Marketing”.

Annual Government Filings & Minutes - Corporate Maintenance and Compliance

Many new business owners are unaware of the important obligations that must be upheld AFTER they have formed a new business entity. All too often there are accounts of entrepreneurs starting a business, incorporating that business, then failing to comply with various government imposed formalities and filings. There are many ongoing government requirements that small business owners need to comply with, namely: annual government reports/returns and fees, notice of a name change, notices of change of registered office, directors and in certain jurisdictions, their shareholders. These forms are different than tax related forms such as tax returns, GST/PST filings and payroll deductions.

Protect Your Time, Don't Solve Everyone's Problems

How much time do you spend solving everyone else's problems? At one of my workshops when we were looking at how to save time with unnecessary interruptions from other team members… one of the business owners said he tells his team ‘do not bring me problems, bring me solutions'. What he meant by this is whenever they come in to see him with a problem or face a challenging situation, they must also provide at least two solutions.

Leverage Your Time and Energy - Untie Your Shoes!

A while ago, I wrote a short post for small business owners and managers called “Building a Sustainable Infrastructure”. In it, I touched briefly on the idea of leveraging your time and energy by addressing problems and challenges from the standpoint of sustainability, or how to solve problems for good, using the least possible amount of time and energy. This seems to be a topic of great interest and value for many of my clients, so I thought I’d finally give it some of the attention it truly deserves.

Management Coaching: How and When to Give Feedback
One of the smartest things you can do to empower yourself as a leader is to create a culture around you where corrective feedback and constructive criticism are expected, welcomed and valued. You can start creating this kind of culture by grounding yourself in a fundamental context of respect and commitment to the growth and success of your people and your organization.

You Should Also Do It.
I could go on all day, but the fact is we see Joint Ventures all the time with large business. It’s been going on for centuries. Why? Because it makes a lot of sense. It makes EVEN MORE sense when small businesses do it, especially when they do it with no money and no risk!

Action and Speed Creates Results
Taking action with speed sets successful entrepreneurs apart from those that dawdle, and therefore stay in mediocrity. Small business owners and entrepreneurs have the edge in this regard. They can take action with speed, because they, unlike many larger organisations, can decide quickly and then move forward...

Web Hosting Templates

Especially if you’re new to the whole website design thing, then web hosting templates are sure to have a lot of appeal for you. Many templates look good to the eye because they are designed by experts and usually use the latest in design software. If you don’t know what you’re doing, then templates do offer an advantage. On the other hand, however, templates have numerous disadvantages, the both of which this article will explore below.

What Are the 7 Top Do Nots If You Want to Be An Extraordinary Business Coach?
With all the business coaches to executive coaches entering the marketplace, what is the most effective methodology? Avoid the nots might be the best way to start.

Speaking Can Increase Sales If You are A Business Coach or Business Consultant
Would you like a quick and proven way to increase sales? Learn and then use this great strategy.

Stop By All That Business Your Are Driving By If You Want to Increase Sales
Most sales people drive by more business than they will ever realize. Read how this one simple strategy can increase your sales.

Do You Know the Top 7 Reasons Why Business Coaches Real Estate Agents Share Similar Failure Rates
Are you a business coach or real estate agent? Then read on to learn what you have in common with each other?

Strategic Commitments To Build Trust With Clients According to Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Today many small business owners are accountable only to themselves. And guess what? That means they are really accountable to no one. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach strongly believes that accountability is a non-negotiable business and personal trait. We look around today at what is happening in the workplace and observe one example after another where no one is stepping up to be accountable and where no one is being held accountable for their actions. Whatever happened to accountability? How can an individual or a business be trusted if there is no accountability? Who will be a leader ad take responsibility when things go awry and corrective actions must be taken? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach suggests that there are ten (10) strategic commitments to make to build trust with your clients through accountability.

Why I always Keep my Promises
It's a small thing, but it is important. In your business, forgetting little things promised causes erosion of trust and belief in you. And ultimately, those little things add up to a lot for your people. And that affects you and ultimately, your business success.

Top Ten Tactics for Team Building Success
Bosses who lead the best businesses. realize early on that they cannot run their business alone. As their business grows, it just becomes unmanageable. Then, trying to lead it alone, it will either kill them or, slowly but surely, they will fail. Time to call for help and get your team building off the ground!

Launching Your Own PR Campaign
If you’re at the point where you need some media coverage, but can’t afford to retain the services of a firm, what are your options?

You wont necessarily get customersjust because you have a website
You won’t necessarily get customers…just because you have a website. Helen Dowling from Exceptional Thinking shows you how to turn this around.

Five Characteristics of Highly Flawed Small Business Advertising
Small business advertisements that that come up short on response fail for good reasons. Use the ideas in this article to see if your small business advertising is making any of these common mistakes.

Promoting Your Products with Organic Search
Organic search results are the most cost effective way to promote your product or service online. Stop spending on search engine marketing and invest in a productive SEO campaign.

Passing On Your Home Business
A big part of the business world is passing on your business to someone as you get older. There are many home or small business owners that make a big production of this, in the same way that a larger business is going to do. The idea of building up a business that you put many years into, and handing it off to a child or another person that you care about is...

Want Vacation Time Learn to delegate
Either you did a lousy job hiring, or you have a good staff: Use them. In the world of the small-business owner, life can be very challenging and rewarding. Don't get caught by your business and loose your freedom. If you have beaten the odds and created a successful small-business, now is the time for you to leverage that success into bigger and better things.

What do you want out of your business?
Do you know what you want out of your business? Helen Dowling from Exceptional Thinking (http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk) challenges you to look again.

Search Engine Optimization for Small Business Owners
As a small business owner, you may be asking yourself, can I really compete against larger websites? I'm here to say that when it comes to improving organic search results, size doesn't matter.

The Importance of Following up
Why is it that small business owners find following up with people such a struggle. Helen Dowling from Exceptional Thinking (http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk) explores this and looks at ways to make it easy for your business.

Self Care on the Fly: Or 7 Strategies to Resolve Work/Life Imbalance - NOW
Stress is high, your energy is low. Sound familiar? This is the common experience of most small business owners I know. Owning a business can be like running a marathon. You know you're in it for the long haul, there's not much time to catch your breath, yet you push on. You can easily see how this scenario can lead quickly to an out of balance life.

You CAN Sell - 10 Steps to Break Through Sales Resistance
I hear it all the time. "I hate selling". It seems most small business owners would rather clean the toilet than focus on selling for their own business. While it's an understandable resistance it's not acceptable IF you want to make money. Chances are you didn't start your business to become a sales person, but - as reality dictates, this is a skill you must develop in order to be successful.

Develop Your Interpersonal Communication Skills for Success at Work and at Home
Do you know the top six ways to improve your communication skills? Interpersonal communication skills are a big part of your success and fulfillment with your work. Read on to learn how to develop your interpersonal communication skills using a variety of sources.

Top Ten List Survive the Big Boomer Business Bust
In the next decade half of all small and medium size business owners will exit their business. Unfortunately, only about 20% will be succesful in selling their businesses. This article will explain some ways to improve your chances of selling your company for big bucks!

Top 7 reasons to hire a small business marketing consultant
When should your small business hire a small business marketing consultant? Here are the Top 10 conditions for hiring this all important member of your small business team.

How to Generate New Business Telling People What You Do
What do you tell people when asked what you do? Many small business owners and independent professionals repeatedly miss great opportunities to generate new business or develop leads by answering the "what do you do?" question with a poorly crafted or completely unplanned answer. If your answer does not regularly start a conversation about your business you need to change your answer.

How to Accelerate Small Business Marketing Momentum
What's keeping you from reaching new success with your small business? If you're like many small business owners the problem is that your marketing efforts have leveled off and your list of prospects isn't growing as fast as it used to grow.

A Strategically Structured Outline For Business Succession Planning From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

One major question I ask business owners is: “Do you have a succession plan or exit strategy for your business?” I also ask employees: “Do you know if a succession plan or exit strategy exists in your company or organization?” My experience has more than 90% telling me they have no succession plan or exit strategy. Succession planning is a critical factor for the long-term success of any business. Leadership transitions in business affect the entire organization’s continuity, employee retention, client retention and returns on investment. It is essential to create and implement a process that creates visibility, accountability and greater integration of all facets of the business. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has developed a strategically structured succession plan outlnine and shares it in this article.

Tips On Dealing With Delinquent Clients and Customers From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Business owners know all too well that dealing with delinquent clients and customers is a necessary part of running his or her business. And many of those business owners are not proactive about pursuing those delinquent clients and customers. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach strongly recommends that all business owners (especially small business owners) use strategic thinking to develop a plan to actively and aggressively pursue those delinquent accounts. Collecting overdue bills while maintaining good relationships with clients and customers requires very strategic people skills. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following tips on how to deal with delinquent clients and customers.

Are You Ready To Buy A Franchise?
Are you tired of your job? Do you want to own your own business but you don't have a unique idea? If so, then a franchise might be the perfect avenue for you to become your own boss.

Women Small Business Loans

The number of female entrepreneurs across the world, and particularly in North America, has increased enormously over the past few years. That, however, is in no thanks to the amount of women small business loans that have become available. Women might act and think differently than men when it comes to running their business, but they have proven equally as successful in the long run. The only tricky part comes in raising the capital to get the idea off the ground. Read on to find out how to make the most of the available sources of financing.

Small Business Consulting
a discussion of the problems facing small business owners with regard to the difficulty they face in realizing the need for professional management consulting assistance.

Find Franchise Success with Connecting...Not Selling
Many franchise owners buy their business because they like the concept. So, food lovers may buy into the Foster's Grille franchise system while carpet installers may buy into the Carpet Network franchise system. And while these owners absolutely believe in their concept, they may still have difficulty selling it.

How to Calm Disruptive Workplaces
Recently I was reading a letter to the editor in a business publication directed at small business owners. The letter, from a business owner, stated that he had two principals, a CFO and VP who seemed to always be at odds. He was concerned over the disruption in his business even though these two individuals were very productive.

Generate Sales Leads with PR and Media Relations
Being written about in the media conveys more credibility than marketing yourself through paid advertising; and media relations and PR can be vital elements of any integrated marketing campaign.

Watch Your Business Expenses (Self-Employed)
Don't get carried away with business expense deductions. You want to keep your business afloat.

Effective Lead Generation Tactics From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

A key element of a strategic marketing plan is the generation of qualified leads. No matter what type of business you have, there is the need to generate quality leads. The challenge for many businesses owners (and especially small business owners) is that they are unaware of how to generate those quality leads for their businesses that will result in clients and customers. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach believes that generating quality leads involves the use or a combination of art and science and that it requires strategic thinking. There are many different ways or tactics that can be used to generate quality leads for your business. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following list of twenty (20) effective lead generation tactics that businesses can use to generate quality leads in an effective manner.

Ten Deadly Succession Planning Mistakes To Avoid, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach strongly recommends that all business owners (especially small business owners) develop succession plans. And to develop them now, rather than later. Succession planning is very important to the long-term success of any business. Leadership transitions in business affect the entire organization’s continuity, employee retention, client retention and returns on investment. It is essential to create and implement a process that creates visibility, accountability and greater integration of all facets of the business. Too often, mistakes are made in succession planning efforts. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following list of ten (10) deadly succession planning mistakes that small businesses make and that you should avoid. The ten (10) deadly mistakes are:

WHY AREN'T YOU EARNING MORE?
Nearly 50% of independent professionals don't earn enough to meet their expenses. If you are one of these struggling professionals, are you ready to break out of under earning? You may need to do more, learn more, or charge more, and it may not be easy.

Marketing The Misunderstood Child within the Sales Process
Business and sales people really confuse marketing with selling and the overall sales process. This confusion potentially creates a lack of clarity resulting in not understanding the desired message. TV commercials have the potential to be compelling and yet many fail that challenge.

Business Branding
Most people think that the best way to go about business branding is to spend a lot of money on big, flashy ads that are sure to get a lot of attention. But, while that may work for some, not all of us want to go that route. And, not all of us might have the dollars to do it either. So what is the alternative? How can small business owners build up their brand without breaking their budgets?

Proven tips to improve cash flow

Ever heard of the saying that “a sale is not a sale until the cash is in your bank account?” If we you were paid for your sales the moment that you made them, you would never have a cash flow problem. Unfortunately, that does not always happen in many businesses. Credit is a privilege (not a right) and too many customers seek to abuse this trust and often never pay for the service or product you have supplied.

Internet Branding

A lot of people, especially small business owners, are wary of relying to heavily on the Internet for business means. Sure, it can drive traffic here and there, but why risk another dot com fallout like what happened a few years back, they ask. Why invest in something that could just give way in a few short months? I am not going to lie to you and say there are no risks involved in the online world, but I can assure you that the risks of not getting involved are far greater. Creating a strong strategy of internet branding can help take your company to the next level. Read on to find out more.

SEO Consulting

It’s one of the hottest, freshest industries that have people around the world clamouring to get into. SEO consulting has become the latest cool job among the typically not so cool. People who were once thought of as nothing but geeks are today proving invaluable to small business owners looking to take their website to the top. If it’s a line of work that you are interested in getting into, read on for further tips on how to succeed.

The Top 5 Small Business Marketing Tips for Budget-Minded Business Owners
Budget-minded business owners fear that small business marketing needs to be expensive in order to be effective. Here are five simple tips for small business owners who are looking to save dollars, while still running an effective online marketing campaign.

Marketing Secrets for Small Business Owners
Do you own a small business or are you looking for more out of your marketing budget. Marketing secrets for small business owners is all about increasing your marketing results.

Strategic Thinking For Business Owners For Successful Retirement, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Small business owners know that running a small business requires constant attention. They tend to work “in their business” rather than work “on their business.” So, it should be no surprise that too many entrepreneurs and small business owners put their own financial planning squarely at the bottom of their “TO DO” lists. A survey conducted by Harris Interactive for ShareBuilder indicated that 47% of small business owners are not confident that they are prepared for retirement. The survey also shows that 60% of the business owners surveyed have NO PLANS to sell their business to help fund their retirement – but for other owners, such a sale can be a crucial part of a successful retirement plan. Here a list of actions to consider when developing your strategic retirement plan as a business owner.

Strategic Thinking For Business Owners For Successful Retirement, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

How To Deal With Stress Its Potential Damage To Your Business According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Stress is a fact of daily life and it is especially true in the daily life of small businesses. Small businesses experience a myriad of seemingly unending problems in dealing with employees, customers, suppliers, business partners, bankers, insurance companies and on and on and on. Many small business owners must face these challenges essentially alone or with some minimal support system for assistance. While some people will strive on stress and use stress to improve their performance, there are many others who fold or breakdown under the strain of stress. Dealing with stress is an important strategic goal for you and your business. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers ten (10) strategic steps to take to deal with stress in your business.

How To Know You Are Ready For Business Coaching According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Business coaching has become very prevalent in today’s business world. So, what is business coaching? One definition I like is that business coaching is a collaborative, professional relationship that assists and guides individuals, entrepreneurs, professionals, executives, and small business owners to manage and grow their business in an organized manner. The business coach can be a confidant, a strategic advisor, sounding board, creativity partner, an accountability source and a guide. A business coaching alliance is a strategic and proactive business tool that will add value and will build help build your personal and business success. Are you ready for business coaching? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following list of situations that indicate you could be ready to benefit from business coaching:

What It Takes To Be A Successful Small Business Owner, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Did you ever wonder why some small business owners are so successful and are always steadily growing their business, as compared to others who constantly struggle to manage and grow their business? In my research and in reflecting on my own business coaching experiences I have found that there are several key characteristics of successful small business owners. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following list of ten (10) key characteristics that describe the successful small business owner.

How A Business Coach Can Help Entrepreneurs According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

In the United States there are over 250,000 new small businesses started each year. Entrepreneurs start many of these businesses. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners are highly skilled, very intelligent and highly motivated. They love a challenge and are willing to take risks. In my business coaching practice I have also found that the majority of the entrepreneurs that are clients have had no formal business education. In other words, they typically have had no training in running a business. And so, they start their businesses and things start to go in the wrong direction. It is not uncommon for them to experience many problems and challenges, which provide the opportunities for assistance from business coaching. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach shares how entrepreneurs can be helped by business coaching.

Introduction to Web Marketing (SEO) - How to Rank Your Web Site
Start learning how to increase targeted web traffic with the purpose of increasing overall sales. The purpose of this article is to provide some foundational explanations and keys to help entrepreneurs and small business owners alike begin their web marketing and search engine optimization initiatives.

Top 3 Reasons Why Banks will Close a Small Business Credit Line
Small businesses access to credit lines is still stagnant. Entrepreneurs continue to face tight credit and limited access to loans. Some business owners who once had excellent credit are now facing financial strains. This is due, in part, to the decline in business sales or other opportunities. This could also be due to the cost of goods or services, in order to perform at their best.

7 Steps to Creating a Successful Small Business Marketing Plan
Small business marketing is all about determining the needs of your target market and building relationships. There are 7 steps to building a successful small business marketing plan for entrepreneurs starting a small business and for those who want to grow their businesses.

Human Resources Outsourcing

As small business owners, we have all come under the dual crunch of time and money pressures. Often times, when we’re trying to run an entire company, we can barely find the time to look after ourselves. How many of us out there have gone to work in the morning with different coloured socks? Or maybe even forgotten to bring our Blackberry? As such, how on earth are we supposed to find the time to manage all of the other people who work for us? Well, that is where human resources outsourcing comes into play.

The Five Best Ways You Can Use Publicity To Get Free Advertising For Your Small Business
There are several different ways to be creative in how a small business owner markets and advertises, with the goal of finding new local customers and better ways to increase local sales.With a little work and steadfastness on your part, you will find a way to turn local small business publicity into a profitable venture for you and your family.

The Big Advantages of Small Business
Every business needs to grow to be healthy. Small business has been accurately referred to as the backbone of the economy. Although this is true, perhaps you could benefit from a renewed appreciation of how much being a small business works in your favor.

Let's Skip the Offshore Horror Stories
When you mention the subject of offshore outsourcing, there are many different reactions to it. While there are horror stories that could be told, let's look at the issue from a common sense perspective. With so many going offshore, you might be able to gain advantages in an unexpected way.

Direct Marketing

When you don’t have enough money for a large-scale advertising campaign, sometimes the best way to go is with direct marketing. Here, for just a reasonable cost, you can reach your potential customers in a much more upfront way that could have huge benefits for your business. It can also be a good way to test a market in a small way before you spend away your budget on an advertising campaign that might backfire.

How do I set my price?
Small business owners, especially at startup ponder this very question often: How do I decide what my price is. In this article, learn a step by step process of looking at your own costs as well as the market and specifically your competitors to set the right price.

Your Mastermind Group What You Dont Have One
No matter what business legend you think of, it is 100% certain that he or she absolutely did not act alone, and had at their disposal the hearts and brains of a group of likeminded souls who were out to help each other succeed. You will not succeed unless you know how to form and work with your own mastermind group.

Why Business Owners Work So Hard and Why They Shoudnt
Most business owners are well aware of the fact that they can’t take a holiday, or in many cases even a day off sick. They are very aware that in fact they ARE their business, and without them, there is no business. And they are very aware that every other area of their life is missing out, including their partners and family.

Ten Major Fears That Scare Small Businesses Away From Strategic Planning

An often offered comment to me when I speak about strategic planning to small business owners and managers is that their company or organization is too small for strategic planning. Or they will offer any number of other excuses why they do not use strategic planning for their business. In my opinion, this is a sad commentary on the thinking of these small business people. They do not realize or comprehend that their business or organization is on a pathway to the business graveyard without a strategic plan. Well, I really believe if the truth were told, the real reason they do not do strategic planning is related more to fear than anything else. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following ten major fears that drive small businesses away from strategic planning.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners need to take ownership of worklife balance discussion

The mantra of the late 90’s and the first decade of the 21st century is “Be proactive.” And corporations are doing a fine job of being proactive in claiming ownership of the “work-life” discussion. They’re doing this because when they launch the discussion first, they get to define the parameters—they get to make the rules. Entrepreneurs and small business owners should not try to emulate what large corporations do. Instead, you should look towards owning your own work-life discussion.

Do You See Through Your Client's Eyes?
It’s a big shock to realize that no one really cares about your business, at least in the beginning of the process. What people do care about, and want to know, is what your business can do for them.

The Plain Truth About Sales
Selling for Small Business Owners

Smart Mind Set for Success
Get Rid of Limiting Patterns That Block Success!

Micro Entrepreneurs Need to Go Global

When we hear or read about globalization, we often think of medium to large companies that have the right products and financial resources to either export, set up factories in foreign countries, or hire salespeople or outsourced workers overseas. As “micro entrepreneurs” who own small businesses with 0 to 10 employees, we may not think globalization has much to offer us. We don't equate the power of our websites and internet marketing with going global.

How to Make Next Year Your Big Vision Year

As we look forward to relaxing over the holidays, it’s the perfect time to put together a dynamic plan for your small business to get big results next year. Many small business owners are so busy they don’t take time to visualize, create and plan their path forward. Lack of planning is proven to lead to stagnation, burn out or failure. Take the time to answer this question carefully--if everything goes well for your business in coming year, ideally what would your life look like at this time next year?

Getting Maximum Results from Small Business Employees

A small business owner from the UK recently e-mailed me with this question: " I currently have a small business staff of 8 and expected that when I arrived at this point I would have more time for strategic planning and my personal life. Instead, I constantly have to oversee everything. Do you have any suggestions as to how can I get better results from my employees so I can trust that things will run smoothly when I’m not there?"

Facing the Fear Factor

As small business owners, one of the most daunting obstacles to reaching our Biggest Vision for our small business is our very unique personal fears. Most of the time we don’t even realize that we’re deciding not to pursue a great opportunity or try something new or different in our business because of fear. We get locked into an idea of how we should market, sell, manage, or structure our day. We hesitate to change, and when we get mediocre or even poor results, we still refuse to abandon our approach.

Becoming a 'FIT' Networker

Do you have a strategy to develop referrals for your business? Or do you just leave it to your customers to refer you if happy? Most businesses will admit that referrals and recommendations are their most effective source of new leads, but most do anything proactive about it. Business Networking Strategist Andy Lopata looks at how you can be more proactive about generating new leads through your existing network.

Connecting Business - The Growth of Networking
More and more people are leaving corporate life to set up in business on their own. With the growing number of small businesses setting up, networking is becoming more and more vital. Are you grasping the opportunity with both hands?

Top 7 Tips in How to Pitch and Catch Business Referrals
Business referrals are much like the game of baseball where you pitch and catch. These 7 tips may help you pitch and catch more referrals to increase sales.

Not Hiring a Business Coach, Executive Coach or Corporate Coach is Costing You Thousands of Dollars
Hundreds of business owners to executives have hired coaches. What do they know that you do not know?

2007 May be the Break Out year for Business Coaching
Are you in the coaching business? Read about the good news if you are a business coach, executive coach or corporate coach.

Top 7 Mistakes Made By Small Business Owners When Joining a Business Networking Referral Group
Referral networking is the best way to get new business. Ask any successful networker. However, many business owners make some fatal mistakes when joining these groups.

Strategic Planning Transports Business Owners From Sea Level to See Level to See the Bigger Picture
What keeps business owners from achieving their goals? Maybe it is their elevation.

How Much Will it Cost to Get More Traffic to My Website?
Small business owners just want their websites to DO something other than prettify their computer screens. So, they shop the web for a marketing expert, an "affordable" marketing expert who will dish out rankings like chowder at a soup kitchen.

How to Start up Your Small Business on a Small Budget
If you're committed to starting a small, solo or home based business, these tips will get you started right, and show you how to do it on a small budget.

The 3E Model for Success of Small Business or Enterprise

Profitability and growth is the life blood of any business, particularly small businesses or enterprises. The need to constantly review the best methods to adopt in achieving that goal is heightened when it comes to owner operated businesses. By learning and applying the 3-E model for success, any small business or owner-operator can significantly enhance his or her profit performance through the use of consulting firms that specialise in the operations and performance improvement of small to medium enterprises.

The 3E Model for Success of Small Business or Enterprise

Improving the Health and Safety of Your Small Business
Despite workplace fatalities and injuries now at an all-time low, health and safety experts contend that the majority of small businesses still face significant problems in these areas.

Tough to Tackle Taxes without Tax Pro’s Help
With the Internal Revenue Service stepping up its auditing of small businesses, tax professionals are advising entrepreneurs to get the jump on tax planning now so they will be better prepared in case they are targeted for an audit.

What to Look for When Buying a Small Business
On the surface it seems like a sure-fire winning formula for an aspiring entrepreneur: Buy an existing profitable business and the money should keep rolling in, right? Not quite. Experts remind aspiring small business owners that past performance is no guarantee of future profits no matter how great the acquisition target seems to be.

Dealing With Stress In The Small Business Workplace, Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

It is certainly no secret that stress is a fact of daily life ad is especially true in the small business workplace. And what makes it worse is most small business owners must face the challenges alone or with little or no support systems. A strategic thinking small business owner knows that he or she must be very aware of their own level of stress, as well as the stress levels of their employees because of the potential negative impacts. How extensive is this stress in the small business workplace? CareerBuilder.com found in a 2006 study of 2,500 American workers that 77% of the workers felt burned out at their jobs. The reduction of stress in the small business workplace is a very important goal. Here are some tips on how to deal with stress in a proactive way, according to your strategic thinking business coach.

Finding the Right Accountant for Your Small Business
Getting referrals has become part of life, so much so that most people won’t visit a professional—whether it’s a doctor, dentist, lawyer or even an auto mechanic—without a ringing endorsement from a friend, relative or co-worker. So why should this process be any different when it comes to a small business owner selecting the right accountant?

Finding the Right Accountant for Your Small Business
Getting referrals has become part of life, so much so that most people won’t visit a professional—whether it’s a doctor, dentist, lawyer or even an auto mechanic—without a ringing endorsement from a friend, relative or co-worker. So why should this process be any different when it comes to a small business owner selecting the right accountant?

The Dangerous Consequences of Micromanaging Your Business According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

One of the most dangerous and damaging practices of business owners is MICROMANAGING their business. And this practice is entirely too prevalent in today’s business world and it wastes valuable resources of time, talent and financial assets. It is particularly prevalent in entrepreneurial businesses. The first commitment a business owner must make is to stop acting like an employee and start thinking and acting like a CEO. A transition is necessary for the business owner to think and behave more strategically and less tactically in their role as owner. The business owner must stop micromanaging and delegate. The business owner must start reducing the amount of time they spend involved in the daily transactions of their business.

How to enjoy Christmas in your business

If you’re anything like me, December in the business is a bit of a mad time. You’re trying to clear out everything you’ve got to do so you enjoy at least a couple of days off and you’ve also got to write Christmas cards, decorate your office and go out for some Christmas drinks! Helen Dowling from Exceptional Thinking (www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk) gives you her top tips for enjoying Christmas in your business.

Small Business and the Internet?
I have been working with Websites for a number of years and have found that for small business owners, they are so confused with how the whole system works. Most small business owners either not have a website or have a website that doesn't work.Let's take a look at some of the processes that need to be considered by the small business owners when setting up a website.

Results are all that matters
Small business owners typically do not take the time to measure the results of the actions they take. Many small business owners cannot document where their business comes from. Does the business come from referrals? Does your business come from cold calling? Does your business come from direct mail? Does your business come from the internet?

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