Home Wealth Project
Extensive Research On How To Build Wealth From The Comfort Of Your Own Home.
How To Build a Rockin’ LinkedIn Presence
Feb 9th
Let’s face it: Too many of us spend a lot of time actively ignoring LinkedIn. We don’t intend to, it’s just not as flashy as some of the other social networks. But if you haven’t checked out the business social networking site lately, it’s time to stop ignoring LinkedIn and go back. Because the site has added a host of new features in recent months that have helped transform it from a static resume site to a full-blown business networking site that SMBs will want to take advantage of.
One feature small business owners want to specifically be aware of is the ability to create company profiles on the site. By claiming and building out your profile, SMBs will be able to increase your company’s prominence on the site, help prospective employees find you, and use it as your own personal recruiting network. If you’ve ever had to hire locally, you know important this is.
So how can small business owners take advantage of this new feature? Here are five easy tips to get you started.
1. Create/Claim the Page
Your first step to creating a rocking LinkedIn company profile page is to create and your claim your page. By creating your page you give your brand an outlet to highlight your products or services, keep followers updated on what you’re working on, show career opportunities within your organization, tell your personal story, and highlight various aspects of your company. To get started, perform a company search to see if you’re already listed on the site. If you are, it’s a simple process to claim your profile. If you’re not, once you’re in the search feature you’ll see an option on the right-hand side of the screen to add your company. Select that and claim your company page.
Once you’ve added your company (or have found an existing listing), it’s really important that you take the time to fill out the profile in its entirety, including:
- Your Company Overview
- Company Product & Services pages
- Information about Career Opportunities
The more information you provide, the easier it will be for like-minded prospective customers to find you, AND the more likely it is LinkedIn will show your company for prominent search queries.
2. Get Your Employees Using LinkedIn
The more involved you can make your company with LinkedIn, the bigger payoff you’re going to see. For more information on how to use your employees to create a rockin’ social media presence, check out a recent Blueglass post entitled 8 ways employees can improve your company’s LinkedIn presence where writer Kerry Jones discusses, in impressive detail, what steps SMBs should take to maximize their exposure. I won’t ruin the post for you, but she mentions things like:
- Taking advantage of the activity field
- Properly highlighting the teams skills & expertise (and why this is so important)
- Including customized links
- And lots more
If you haven’t used LinkedIn much in the past, that post is a really great primer to get any business up to speed. SMBs can really increase what they’re showing up for simply by showing employees how to set up and use their own profiles.
3. Follow Relevant Companies
Another thing SMBs may not know is that with the creation of LinkedIn brand pages, you can now follow companies of interest. For example, maybe you want to follow what your vendors are doing. Or companies that you’re considering partnering with in the future. Or people whose radar you want to get on for media opportunities. Or to hire down the road. This feature allows businesses to do stay up to date on what other businesses are doing, who they’re hiring, what they’re working on, etc. If you like your social media with a high amount of signal and very little noise, you may prefer to follow a brand on LinkedIn instead of on a more socially-inclined site like Twitter or Facebook.
4. Build Followers To Your Page
Obviously if you’re taking the time to build a brand page, you want to get people follow that page. Doing so will help you increase your visibility and authoritativeness with relevant users. Without that following, all the work that you’re doing on LinkedIn may go relatively unseen.
Encourage people to follow your company page by:
- Using your profile to share exclusive information about your company and/or articles and news pieces relevant to your audiences’ interests.
- Highlighting your brand’s LinkedIn page on your Web site and in all company information (in email newsletters, direct mailings, etc)
- Following the LinkedIn pages of other companies in your neighborhood/industry with the hopes that they’ll follow you back and you can create a local referrer network.
- Participating in industry-relevant LinkedIn discussion groups and let them know about your business (without spamming them).
5. Stay Active
Unfortunately, you can’t simply create your LinkedIn page and then step away. Even though LinkedIn is a business social networking site, it’s still a social networking site. That means you’ll still need to be active there to develop a real presence and following, and keep the relevance of your company profile Being an active site contributor means making sure you’re using your page to share information via your status updates, participating in relevant discussions, joining and being active in groups, acting like resource in Linked Answers, and otherwise be a good site member. If you don’t keep up your site investment, you’ll lose all the goodwill you’ve created.
Those are some quick tips to help SMBs develop a strong presence on LinkedIn and keep it going. Are you using LinkedIn for business? Why or why not?
How To Build a Rockin’ LinkedIn Presence
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Understanding Women Workers
Feb 9th
One of the secrets to getting the most from your employees is understanding the challenges they face, not only in the workplace but in the rest of their lives. A comprehensive new report, Women & the Workplace, by Inforum and Sphere Trending has some insights on a key group of employees: women.
The recent recession had been dubbed a “mancession” as men lost jobs in record numbers. By comparison, the study found, women fared better at keeping jobs (however, men are faring better in the current recovery). Not only that, but “Single, childless women in their 20s are more likely than their male counterparts to graduate from college,” says Sphere Trending CEO Maxine Lauer. “That demographic segment is going to be where a lot of the new young talent will come from in years ahead.”
Overall, some 70 percent of U.S. women now work outside the home, and one in four married women earn more than their husbands. What else do you need to know about today’s female employees? The study examined women in three age groups—Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomers.
Each faced special challenges:
Gen Y: Overall, this age group is doing great. They’re out-earning their male counterparts and embracing technology and social media as tools for both business and personal life. In fact, 53 percent identified themselves as early adopters of technology, and women were more likely than men (32 percent vs. 24 percent) to use social media to network and connect with co-workers. Younger women believe work-life balance is crucial and are less likely than older generations to sacrifice their personal lives for a job. Instead, they’re using tools like flextime, remote work and mobile devices to get it all done.
Gen X: Stress is the key word for this age group, which has more family responsibilities than Gen Y. Even though men are taking on more duties at home, most of the childcare and housework still falls on Gen X women, who may also be dealing with elder care. Gen X has high standards and these women often feel like they’re letting down their families and their bosses, satisfying no one. In the workplace, Gen X’s strength is “brokering” between Gen Y and Boomer employees and serving as a facilitator to smooth the generation gap.
Boomers: Boomers face many of the same issues as Gen X. Although their children are generally adults, the economy has pushed many of those adult children back into the nest, leaving Boomers in a tough position. With Americans living longer, even the oldest Boomers are often caring for aging parents, which can lead to lost productivity and greater stress. At the same time, Boomers may feel they’re getting pushed aside or left behind by younger employees, especially as Gen X employees rise up the ladder.
How can you help your female employees succeed? As with many employee motivation issues, the key is understanding what they need. That will vary from age group to age group, from life stage to life stage, and from person to person.
If your workplace is filled with young women, allowing remote work and making sure they have the mobile technology they need to work anytime, anyplace can be key. Be more focused on results, not on hours spent in the office.
If your team is mostly moms, flexibility to handle family responsibilities is most important. Like Gen X, they’ll appreciate being measured on their results, not the hours clocked.
If you’re dealing with Boomers, be aware they may be reluctant to share their challenges, especially eldercare. Being sensitive, providing resources to help them and finding ways to let them share their knowledge and experience with others on your staff can keep them feeling valued as members of your team.
Generational Women Photo via Shutterstock
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Is It Time to Fire That Client?
Feb 8th
There’s a natural lifecycle for any freelancer’s business. When you’re just starting out, you indiscriminately look to attract as many clients as you can to build your business. But inevitably, some clients won’t be the right fit.
Whether it’s an overly-demanding client who’s prone to instant message you any time of day (or night), an indecisive client who’s sole feedback usually entails “that’s not quite it,” or the client who’s perennially slow to pay, some clients just aren’t worth the business. An extension of the Pareto Principle says that 20% of your customers probably account for the majority of your time and trouble.
Most of us strive to avoid conflict and stick with the mantra that clients are good for business. However, staying too long in negative client situations can take a significant toll on your job satisfaction, emotional wellbeing, and business.
If your attempts to actively manage the negative aspects in a client relationship ended up hitting a brick wall, it’s time to cut the cord. Firing someone may not come as easily to you as Donald Trump, but here are some ways to make the process as pain-free and professional as possible:
Take emotion out of the equation: When deciding to fire a client, don’t act rashly from frustration or a bruised ego. Take a few days to consider the situation before acting. Although, if you find yourself going through this process multiple times in a month or year, it’s time to listen to your gut.
Review the contract: Before approaching the client, go through every line of your contract and check for loose ends. If you don’t have a contract, gather any documents you have (including initial emails) that define the project scope and expectations. Make sure you have completely lived up to your obligations. If a client has already paid for certain parts of the project, make sure you have delivered on them. If you’re concerned the client may fail to pay what they owe, consider how to minimize the damage. This could mean waiting until they have paid before telling them your intentions.
Meet face-to-face: As tempting as it may be, firing a client doesn’t mean you just stop answering their emails or calls. Meet your contact face-to-face (or over a phone call if you’re a web-based contractor).
Keep it brief: No doubt you have a billion reasons why you don’t want to continue working with this client, but you only need to offer one. And it can be as simple as, “I no longer think my services are meeting your needs.” The more details you provide, the more you open the door to an argument.
Give sufficient notice: If a client relies on you for regular work, give them time to find a new contractor or vendor. This could be 30 days, the end of a major deliverable, or whatever works in the context of your relationship.
Offer alternatives: Unless the client was disrespectful or a major problem, help them find a new solution by referring a colleague who could meet their needs. If you don’t have a specific person in mind, you can still offer guidance on the type of provider who might be a better fit such as, “Your needs have grown, you may need to consider a full-size agency.” Or, “Why don’t you look for someone who specializes in x.”
At the end of the day, firing a client is never easy. Yet the difficult conversation will be over soon enough and you can move on to more restful nights and bigger and better things.
Fired Photo via Shutterstock
Is It Time to Fire That Client?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Tips for Managing Your Small Business Now
Feb 8th
Managing a small business is always a challenge. Here are some tips to help you excel in a tough and competitive market.
Building Efficiency
Motivating employees without cash. Getting more performance out of employees isn’t always about money. Here are some other major considerations that could bring better results from those who work for you. The Fiscal Times
How IT audits can help your business. The way your small to medium sized business uses technology is clearly important. But is your current IT giving you the most bang for your buck in a difficult economy? Entrepreneur
Rules & Regs
Tips on hiring independent contractors. Hiring an independent contractor can be an excellent option for small businesses when addressing short term needs not requiring a full-time employee, but beware of the rules guiding this relationship. New York Times
Special Initiatives
Getting more green with your business. Green businesses are all the rage, but don’t make the mistake of being inauthentic. Here are some ways to keep your green initiatives on track. Small Business Trends
Getting your small business site to go viral. It’s the ultimate hope of small business owners these days. With limited resources, they hope to spread their message through their Website. But here are some things to think about first. ProBlogger
Marketing & Client Acquisition
Finding the clients that are worth your time. Part of the problem with small businesses is the wasting of time and resources on clients that don’t pan out. Here’s how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you. Business How To
What’s your marketing style? Every entrepreneur and small business owner has a unique style and approach. Match that style to a marketing strategy you can maintain over time and you’ve found the secret to getting the word out about your small business. Open Forum
Corner Office
Paying the cost to be the boss. As the old song says, being the boss comes at a price, but being a better boss may be easier than you think. Here are some tips that should make being in charge an easier thing to handle. Small Business Bonfire
Building Brand
How important is your brand? Very! In fact, for entrepreneurs and small business owners trying to build a company, branding can be the key to opening many doors. How are you building your business branding? The Work at Home Woman
Building your small business following. You may have heard that your business needs fans. If you think that makes your company feel more like a rock band than a serious venture, you may just be right! BusinessInfoGuide.com
Tips for Managing Your Small Business Now
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
5 Ways To Improve Your Web Site This Week
Feb 8th
Small business owners are notoriously busy. You have a business to run, a Web presence to manage, customers to serve, vendors to hunt down, invoices to pay, social media to keep up with, and, oh, sometimes you like to pretend to have a social life. With so many different things on your plate, wouldn’t it be nice if this week left time to get just ONE under control? If perhaps there were just a handful of things you could tackle to wake up in a better place next Monday?
Well, there are.
Today is Tuesday. Below are five simple things to tackle so you can start next week off ahead of the game and with a stronger Web site.
1. Focus On Your Navigation
Often overlooked, your site navigation is crucial to creating a successful Web site. Your nav is what a customer will use to get around and find the information on your site. To aid them in this journey, you want to make your navigation as intuitive and easy to use as you can. Don’t hide your navigation, don’t try and be “clever” when naming certain items – focus on giving your customers something they can use, and use quickly.
As general rule, your main navigation bar should be easy to find, look and feel consistent, have properly named tabs (“trash cans” not “garbage receptacles”) and should always let customers know where they are on your site. If you’re not sure how well your site navigation does at helping customers on their way, a service like usertesting.com can help you see, from a user perspective, what it feels like navigating around your site. It may also be time to do some keyword research to make sure the keywords and phrases you’re using in your site navigation are still relevant.
2. Create a Better About Page
If you’re like many small business owners, you do a pretty good job ignoring your About page. I mean, you created one. Mostly. You threw in some bio information, your address and you even included a nice stock image of a woman dutifully at work. It’s not like anyone really uses that page, right?
Wrong.
As an SMB, one of the worst things you can do for your Web site is to ignore your About page. This is where customers go to learn more about your business, to gain trust, to see what you’re about, and, ultimately, decide if you’re a company they want to do business with. Stock your About Page with the Must Haves like:
- Your story
- Your credentials
- Pictures
- What they can expect from you/your value
- Where they can get more info about you
- Humanizing details
It’s easy to look at your About page as a chore or something that makes you uncomfortable. Instead, think of it as your formal introduction to your audience. What do you want them to know about feel about your brand? Show it here.
3. Update Your Blog
Sometimes bringing life (and customers) back to your Web site really is that easy. Spend some time this week to update your blog. Create a new post that takes a look inside your business (and maybe highlights your new About page), answer a long-standing consumer problem, share your thoughts on where the industry is going in 2012. Just get writing and talking to your audience again.
Updating your blog not only gives your audience something to find and engage with, it gives the search engines something to find, as well. It gives them a reason to revisit your site
4. Get That Contact Form User-Ready
The goal for many service-based Web sites is to guide a customer to that all-important contact form. We need our visitor to fill it out and give us their information in order to continue a dialogue with them. If they leave our site WITHOUT making it to this point, we’ve lost them. Forever. Probably to a competitor.
What does your own contact form look like? If you’re not confident in its ability, you may want to go grab a family member, sit them in front of a computer staring at your Web site, and then ask them to navigate through your site with a specific purpose in mind. Are they able to get there and make it to the contact form or convert? Or do they get scared off along the way?
Your site’s contact form should follow a few rules:
- It should be intuitive.
- It should be simple.
- It should only ask for the information you absolutely need to take a relationship with your customers to the next level.
Where contact forms go wrong is when they either try to get too much information in one sitting or they intimidate your visitor – either due to length, scope or language. Keep it simple, only ask for the information you absolutely need, and you can be confident you have a form that will due it’s purpose.
5. Show Off Your Social Media
Another quick way to add some life to your Web site is to do a better job showcasing all of your different social media profiles. Are you on Twitter? On Facebook? Google+? Have a LinkedIn profile? Sweet. Make sure you’re including a prominent call to action for visitors to follow you on these networks. Include the icons directly on your home page and on other prominent pages of your site (like your blog, About page, or Contact Us page, for example). Not only does cross-linking these profiles increase their strength, it also gives customers another place to go engage with you. They can go to your Twitter account and ask you a question, or see what questions you’re already answering. They can head to Google+ and see the media you’re sharing. Or head to LinkedIn and hop into a discussion you’re leading. These are all great trust signals.
The more connected you can look to your customers, the more they’re going to trust that you’re a reputable SMB that will be around in the morning should something go wrong.
Those are just five small things you can do to your Web site this week to increase its strength and make it more valuable and engaging to a user. What plans do you have for your Web presence this week?
5 Ways To Improve Your Web Site This Week
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words: Pinterest Is On To Something
Feb 8th
Ok, I am a Pinterest newbie, arriving on the site because of the enthusiasm of an artist friend, Ann Kelle. As a surface designer, naturally Pinterest is one of her online stomping grounds. However, I’m a writer active in the small business arena so I was slow to respond to her excitement and reminders.
However, after attending a series of small business classes filled with artists and shop owners in the home and decor industry, it was easy to see that this social network is a mainstay for this creative group of entrepreneurs. And I wanted to know why. So I finally signed up. And quickly became addicted.
Something About Pinterest: Organic, Easy to Use
If you see something you like, then you “pin it” to one of your boards. Uou can come back to it whenever you need or want to. It’s fun. It’s mesmerizing. But is it business relevant?
Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then Pinterest is really on to something. It’s like an online scrapbook but better than that. It’s a little haven for the “neat freak” in some of us and perfect for the messy creative types too.
According to social media strategist, Kathryn Rose, “Pinterest is a great way to create interest in, and drive traffic to your blog posts.” Remember, traffic is the potential for conversion. Casual visitors to your website can become loyal subscribers and eventually paying customers (if you’ve prepped your site for the traffic but that’s a different post).
Kathryn uses the second half of her “in-depth look” to give you some specific things you can do to maximize the SEO benefits and in turn get more traffic. Reb Carlson, Founder of NY Creative Interns, provides four tips to help you enjoy and add to the Pinterest community.
If You Fall in Love With Pinterest
Decide to make it your next social media hang out. Consider Reb Carlson’s advice:
“Brands need to be creative in order to fit with the environment without being disruptive.”
It’s a creative space so be sure to honor that. Have fun at Pinterest and start pinning some pictures or videos, including ones from your own website, and check out the pin boards of others, too.
Push Pin Photo via Shutterstock
A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words: Pinterest Is On To Something
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
10 Signs You Started 2012 Out on the Wrong Foot
Feb 7th
Half-assed resolutions aside, there are a number of ways you can examine the success of your new year thus far. If you don’t believe in ‘starting the year off wrong’ since our concept of years/the calendar is completely fabricated (or other various reasons), good for you. You don’t have to superstitiously worry about hidden omens in your day-to-day life which predict the happiness or unhappiness of the next 12 months. For the rest of us, here are 10 reasons you know that 2012 is off to a bad start.
Fighting Through New Years
While everyone else is partying and having fun, you and your mother are tearfully screaming at one another in the kitchen. Or maybe you and your significant other can be found in the back of the party, quietly sulking as everyone else tries to ignore you (friends have already tried to cheer you up to no avail; they were scared away from the bad and back into the party). It’s a bad sign to be The Sulker at any party, let alone the one that’s supposed to be the first giant extravaganza of fun and happiness in 2012. If you’re kicking off the new year by emitting negative vibes to everyone around you, just go home. Don’t kill yourself, but go home if you aren’t going to at least try and enjoy it. For some, trying to improve things may even worsen the situation. If you’ve ever had a significant other who sometimes embarks on a spiteful hellpath to make you feel terrible about every positive attempt you make, you can relate to this — and should probably get rid of them as soon as possible. If you dump them before the party ends, you can even pick up where you should have left off and actually experience fun for a few hours.
Waking up Sober on New Year’s Day
While waking up without a hangover that could murder God might be counted as a good thing, it can also be an indicator of a terrible year to come. Assuming for a minute that you’re not Mormon or a teetotaller, New Years Eve comes in slightly behind “Your Birthday” and “The Day You Got Dumped” as the most drinkingest day of the year. It is the one day of the year specifically associated with a type of alcohol (champagne), something that even your uptight grandmother will have a glass of at midnight.
So if you wake up feeling perfectly spritely on New Years Day, something must be terribly, terribly wrong. Where the hell were you last night? Enjoying a refreshing sparkling cider while watching TV at a reasonable volume? I bet you didn’t even fall over and nearly get arrested while peeing/vomiting in an alleyway. I bet absolutely no puerile joy-filled irresponsible times were had with friends last night.
You’ve Already Failed Your Resolutions
So perhaps you’ve decided that 2012 is going to be the year when you turn your life around. You have set yourself a stiff list of resolutions that you are determined to keep to. Much like all the years previous in your life, you set out to make this one different with sheer will power and careful planning. Look out 2012 — here comes a thinner, more ambitious you!
As often as you’ve likely failed at your resolutions, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% of people with resolutions actually manage to keep them past February. But you’re more likely in the remaining 80% unless you’ve laid out clear, realistic goals and a schedule for achieving them. In which case your 2012 is likely off to a bad start because of the near-universal inability to keep promises to yourself. But don’t be too hard on yourself…unless you want to make matters worse. Sulking or being upset about broken resolutions is going to increase your level of self-loathing, not productivity or success.
Christmas is Over, but You’re Still a Scrooge
Hate Christmas? So do a lot of people. If you were too immature to suck it up and at least not complain to people who do enjoy the holiday, people most likely ignored you with a bit of patience and ‘they’ll get over it’ attitude. Now that the holidays are over, however, it’s time to drop that Christmas-induced depression and come back to reality. Acting like a scrooge around the holidays may be forgivable, but maintaining that attitude afterwards just makes you a plain old jerk. No one likes those. Unless you’re trying to lose friends and break off connections with people, try to let go of the negativity that’s weighing you down (or at least quit doling it out to others). Maybe you could even be nice to other people on occasion — you’d be surprised at the doors that will open up just from acting kind, or, at the very least, decent.
Multiple Arrests
Multiple arrests in the past month? You’re doing it wrong. Our incredibly flawed laws and justice system may have roped you into the courtroom on frivolous charges (smoking pot, peeing on the side of the road, bludgeoning a prostitute) once or twice, but you should probably try not to make a habit of it. If you’re continuously caught committing the same offense over and over, you should pick new methods or a different crime. As long as you have no use for your criminal record nor are you concerned with it interfering with your ability to work, this isn’t so bad after all. But for those who woke up on New Year’s day covered in blood in the drunk tank at some random police station while being expected to show up at the office the next day, you should probably brush yourself and move on — with a three drink limit in effect.
Permanent Vacation
For those of us living in the real world, vacations can only last so long before work demands that we return or a lack of money forces us back into the workforce. While it’s unrealistic to expect anyone to be thrilled with a transition from sipping drinks on the beach to sitting in a cubicle 8 hours a day, the disappointment of returning to the real world should be tempered or at least partially masked. Everyone already knows how miserable you are to be sitting back in front of your old Trinitron; there’s no point in making it known unless you want your bosses to take notice and start narrowing their eyes at you. It’s also a bad sign if you hate your job so much that a small respite has caused you to forsake it entirely, which leaves you ‘working’ in the office after you’ve mentally checked out. It’s bad for productivity, your own personal health, and the future of your job to let your vacation linger on as a long string of small-to-moderate office offenses: showing up late, taking too many days off, making more mistakes than usual, cutting corners, etc.
Dumped in Anticipation for Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s day is coming up. Your significant other cares — but not about you. You’ve been dumped just in time for the holiday, and they’ve either run off with someone else or are thrilled to finally be alone. Whatever the reason, getting the boot right before one of America’s favorite days to consume, consume, consume, is not a great feeling. It leaves you sulking at home while everyone you know is scrambling to do something sweet and impressive as a means of courting the one they want to get sexy with. You may feel like getting dumped is a terrible start for the new year, but you should really be rejoicing: not only will you save money, but there are plenty lonely and horny singles on the cesspool that is OKCupid.
Indicted by the IRS
That about sums it up. You’re screwed. Now you’re poor forever and the government owns everything in your life, including you. 2012 certainly sucks the big one, and it’s only just begun.
Existential Crisis
Already? Put down the Dostoevsky and go outside, please. Existential crises can last for months, years, or even the rest of your life. In fact, it will most likely plague you until you die. Accept it and move on; dwelling on the meaninglessness of your existence is going to make it hard for you to reach all those goals in 2012. Goals? Who cares about goals? Goals don’t mean anything. Nothing means anything.
Having and then cultivating your existential crisis at the beginning of 2012 is a terrible sign of things to come. Get out while you still can, even if it means reading the books on Oprah’s book club list or your old copies of Animorphs, lest you find yourself in a pile of chinese takeout boxes and bedsores at the end of the year.
You Care Too Much About Starting the New Year Right
You should really get over it. Bad stuff happens, good stuff happens, and then other stuff happens. None of it means anything about the future (except for that one about the IRS — if this happens, you have no future). There are no omens, and no psychic foreshadowing. The only foreshadowing that happens in real life is the kind that can be used to alter the future, such as your girlfriend hinting at the idea of seeing other people and then suddenly wanting to actually do it two months later. In a case like this, you can make decisions or start conversations that will help you decide what you want to happen a few months down the line. In a case like ‘New Year’s was bad so this year will suck, too’, you’re being ridiculous and should probably live your life without the pressure of a completely imagined black cloud looming above you. The things that happened in the past happened and are gone. Nothing has happened in the future yet, because it’s the future. What’s going on right now? That’s what your priority should be — not predicting how you’ll feel 12 months from now, reflecting back on a time that hasn’t even happened yet.
View full post on Business Pundit
President Obama: Small Business is Part of His Reelection Strategy
Feb 7th
President Obama is urging Congress to support legislation to expand tax cuts for small businesses and free up capital for startups.
His proposed “Startup America Legislative Agenda,” would eliminate taxes on capital gains in investments in small businesses and provide a 10 percent income tax credit on for new hires or to spur job-creation, double the deductions a startup business could take from $5,000 to $10,000, and extend 100 percent first-year depreciation for qualified property. The President will offer details of his proposals in the fiscal 2013 budget that will be submitted to Congress on February 13.
In an election year in which the economy will likely be the determining factor, both Democrats and Republicans will want to be seen as supporting small business, and cutting taxes is always popular with the electorate.
The White House sees small business growth as a primary driver of the economy. In fact, my company has been providing data on loan approval rates at big banks, small banks, credit unions and other alternative lenders to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers for the past several months. While the economy has risen above the dark period in early 2009 when the country was in a tailspin, the recovery is far from complete.
Credit markets are still tight for entrepreneurs, and big banks, in particular, are making it more and more difficult for startups. For example, many ask for three years’ worth of financial data before granting loans. How can a startup provide such numbers? Therein lies the challenge.
President Obama is positioning himself as an advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation. It is a good platform for reelection. Recently, he elevated Karen Mills, head of the Small Business Administration (SBA), to be a member of his cabinet. The President called this decision:
“A symbol of how important it is for us to spur entrepreneurship, to help startups, to move aggressively so that we can assure more companies that create the most jobs in our economy.”
The SBA has been instrumental in getting funding for startups, particularly during a period when financial institutions have been reluctant to lend. The agency’s 90 percent loan guarantee program was very successful, and only a very small percentage of SBA-backed loans defaulted.
Although it is admirable that the President is trying to be innovative, I believe the government’s most effective vehicle to help small companies has been the SBA, which was created by President Eisenhower almost 50 years ago. Ironically, it has been the Republicans who have called for the scaling back of the agency. President Obama has repeatedly bolstered the SBA, and its loan programs have helped countless businesses get the funding they need for growth.
President Obama Photo via Shutterstock
President Obama: Small Business is Part of His Reelection Strategy
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4 Ways to Be More Authentically Green
Feb 7th
Business owners are often natural sales people. They love to talk about their successes – and yes, occasionally glaze over their setbacks, their shortcomings. It’s human nature, in fact.
But when it comes to green business, there are risks to downplaying your weaknesses or only trumpeting achievements:
- One, your customers will see through it.
- Two, they’ll trust you less.
- Three, they will feel less loyal.
Another problem is that there are many companies these days guilty of “greenwashing,” or plastering green leaves and vague words like “natural” and “pure” on their packaging when there’s little substance behind them. This only makes consumers more mistrustful of all green messaging. They have to look more closely to find out if it’s for real. To really make an impression on consumers anymore, a business’s environmental sustainability efforts need to feel genuine, transparent and earnest.
Here, then, are four ways to improve the authenticity of your green efforts:
1. Dig for data. Sustainability leaders are focusing more and more on tracking and analyzing data. They know how many gallons of water they’re saving each year, or how much emissions are created transporting their products from a factory in China to their U.S. distribution centers. Communicating real numbers and targets to your customers adds credibility and brings your initiatives to life.
2. Don’t overplay “green marketing.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking being green is all about image and messaging. In fact, it might be better to not think about your green efforts as marketing at all. Think about them as something you want to communicate to customers. But when it comes to actual marketing, focus on other benefits of your products – whether it’s their design or usefulness. Research shows most consumers consider eco-friendliness a secondary purchasing concern, anyway.
3. Increase transparency. Give consumers more substance about your green initiatives. Write a sustainability plan and track your annual progress. Devote a part of your web site to your green efforts, so consumers can easily find it if they’re interested.
4. Expose your challenges. As you talk about your green successes, don’t forget to discuss the challenges. Let your customers know when you miss a sustainability target – and why. Explaining the hurdles involved with reaching your goals only adds legitimacy and shows you’re truly committed to reducing your environmental footprint.
100% Natural Photo via Shutterstock
4 Ways to Be More Authentically Green
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media [Infographic]
Feb 6th
It’s undeniable that small businesses today benefit greatly from the use of social media sites. Whether for promoting their enterprise, reaching out to clients and responding to queries from customers, regular networking efforts on social media indeed has its rewards.
A big chunk of entrepreneurs using Facebook, Twitter and so on belong to the small business industry. It should be noted, however, that even the Fortune 500 companies are also taking advantage of these sites.
Apart from the real time communication that the sites offer, it’s absolutely free to promote a business and keep in touch with customers. One does not need to have technical skills to be able to manage a social media account and this ease of using the sites is what primarily attracts business owners to use them.
Below we share an infographic design from Infographic Labs showing the latest studies and surveys on how businesses are using and benefiting from the top social networking sites. Recent figures tell only one thing – entrepreneurs regardless of the field they’re in will continue to tap social media for their marketing campaigns.
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