Home Wealth Project
Extensive Research On How To Build Wealth From The Comfort Of Your Own Home.
7 Gmail Tips Every SMB Should Know
Feb 2nd
So many of us in the small business community rely on Gmail as our default email provider, and with good reason! We use Google because it comes at a price point we love (often free) and it integrates with other applications that we use on a daily basis – like our calendar and To Do list. If you’re a small business using Gmail to manage your email and your customer relations, why not make sure you’re getting the most out of it that you can?
To help you do just that, below are seven tips for how to use Gmail smarter. Because if you think Gmail is great on its own, you don’t even want to know how powerful it is once you supercharge it.
1. Get a Gmail account at your own domain with Google Apps: Just because you like the simplicity of relying on Google for email doesn’t mean you want @gmail.com to append your email address. You know that customers will trust your business more if they see you have a branded email account connected to your business. They’re looking for that name@yourdomain.com in order to trust your business and that you’re a “real” company. And you don’t have to sacrifice this important authority metric just to use Google. You just have to become a Google Apps users. For five dollars (per email address) a month, small business owners can become a Google Apps users andCanned Responses comes into play. By turning on Canned Responses it gives you the ability to write your message once, save it, and then use it based off certain keywords in your message.
2. Juggle multiple email accounts from one interface: You probably don’t have just one email address. Most of us practically collect email addresses. There’s our personal email, our work email (name@domain.com), the generic company email (info@domain.com), and other email addresses we use for other purposes. But just because you have five different emails doesn’t mean you have the time to be logging in and out of accounts all day. By setting up Mail Fetcher in Gmail, you can download messages from up to five other accounts in one interface to help you centralize all of your email. This way you’re spending your time answering it instead of trying to access it.
3. Use Labels: SMBs can use labels to help organize their inbox and keep them on task. To create a label, select the message you want the label to apply to, hit the Label button in the toolbar (it looks like a tag), and then choose Create New. Once your label is created, you’ll be able to apply it to different messages in your inbox or even nest it under a broader category. This is really helpful in organizing your inbox. You can even then create filters to have certain messages removed from your inbox until you have the time to deal with them.
4. Use Boomerang: Boomerang is a Gmail plugin that lets you take back control of your inbox by giving you the ability to write emails now and schedule them to go out later. Want to respond to an email to get it off your plate but don’t want to have to respond when the other person tennis balls it back to you? Schedule it to go out in an hour. Or at the end of the day. Or perhaps you can’t sleep and you’re answering email at 4am. You don’t have to alert your business contacts to your raging insomnia. Write it now and then schedule it to go out at 8am when the rest of the world is awake. You can also use Boomerang to remind you to check up on people who haven’t gotten back to you or use it for link building.
5. Answer faster with canned responses: Take a look at your email right now. How many emails are waiting for you to write the same answer to the same question over and over again? If you’re like most small business owners, probably a lot. And that’s where Google’s Canned Responses comes into play. By turning on Canned Responses it gives you the ability to write your message once, save it, and then use it based off certain keywords in your message.
6. Reply by chat or video: Or why answer the email with another email at all? End the cycle and take advantage of Google’s option to reply by chat or by video.
7. Mute emails: For emails not sent directly to you (for example, if you’re part of an email group or listserv) you can mute emails that you wish not to see. Perhaps there’s an email discussion going around that you’re no longer interested in or people are all leaving their thoughts on a topic that doesn’t involve your business, by using the shortcut M, you can actually mute the thread to hide the emails so you don’t have to deal with them. It’s like magic.
Those are some ways that I supercharge Gmail to work better. What works for you?
7 Gmail Tips Every SMB Should Know
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
The Consumer Needs Every Site Must Meet
Jan 19th
There’s a lot that goes into creating a strong Web presence. In fact, yesterday I shared a number of local search-inspired infographics which covered the many, many things we SMBs have to worry about. Stuff like getting reviews, building links, earning citations, being mobile-friendly, and, of course, the social media elephant. But there’s one area that’s even more important than all of those in the eyes of your customers. And, oddly enough, it’s the only real part of your presence that you have complete control over so you’d be wise to take advantage of it.
What is it? It’s your Web site.
Earlier this week, Myles Anderson wrote a great piece for Search Engine Land about the key to converting local consumers to customers. In it, Myles argues that the key to boosting rankings is simple Web site improvements.
Actually, it’s really, really simple Web site improvements.
In an environment where it’s all too easy to chase the next big thing or make things more complicated than they need to be, Myles post reminds us that sometimes our customers’ needs are pretty simple. And that’s pretty awesome.\
To find out what IS important to local consumers, Myles’ company ran a short survey with their local consumer panel and asked them their opinion on four questions related to local business Web sites. You can read the full findings over at Search Engine Land, but I wanted to share a small snippet. To read about all the findings you’ll have to go read his piece, however, I wanted to share one questions
When asked what information is MOST valuable on a local business Web site, the responses shaped out like this:
Hear that? Consumers are on your Web site most looking for
- Pricing information
- Your list of services
- Contact information
- Your address
- Driving directions
- Testimonials
That’s it. Sure, the social profiles and the fancy site features may be nice, but when it comes to really converting a local consumer, the above information is what they’re really after. They’re looking for the basic and most essential information about you so that they can get off your site and make a purchase in your store.
As we head in 2012 with those long To Do lists, keep that in mind. Take a look at your Web site and make sure you’re taking care of those core needs and information points.
If a consumer landed on your site today would they be able to find clear information about your products and your business? If not, then you need to change that. Because all the mobile-friendliness and social media won’t help you if your Web site doesn’t address the questions that a customer would have about your business.
The Consumer Needs Every Site Must Meet
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Make Over $30+ With Every Upsold Sale! 75% Payout!
Dec 2nd
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Nov 25th
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Student Software – Every College Student Must Have!
Nov 7th
Knowledge Notebook Is A New Generation Study Tool. It Organizes Information Automatically And Has Numerous Study Tools & Much More! As A Parent, You Want Your Child To Have It. As An Affiliate, You Want To Sell It For A Hefty Commission Of 70%.
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One Of A Kind Product That Every Prospective Inventor Needs!
Oct 23rd
This Is One Of The Most Informative And Actionable E-reports Available. This Is A Unique Pitch And Is Something That Is Not Copied All Over The Internet. We Have A Smiple Straight-forward Pitch Page. Perfect For Niche Marketers!
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10 Apps I Use Every Single Day
Oct 5th
10 Apps I Use Every Single Day
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
More and more, we’re becoming an app happy world – Apps that run on our laptops, apps for the mobile and apps for the iPad or tablet. Even better are those apps that sync across all of our chosen devices, keeping us on task and on track in an increasingly online world.
Below are ten applications that I use on a daily basis to get more done, manage more information, communicate more ideas and generally keep the plates spinning.
TweetDeck – This is my primary social media dashboard. It’s a desktop application that runs on Adobe Air and while there are lots of alternative choices, I’ve just always stuck with TweetDeck. I do however use the Twitter app for the iPhone too.
I have groups, lists and searches set up at all times and use the scheduled Tweets feature to meter out content I want to share throughout the day.
Evernote – This is my brainstorming, idea clipping, bookmark storing powerhouse. Evernote syncs beautifully across all devices and allows me to outline my life in so many ways without having to commit anything to memory.
I’ve stored everything from ideas for my books to wines I want to remember. Here’s my Evernote routine in case your interested.
Dropbox – This is my online backup and file storage tool of choice. I probably overuse this tool, leaning on it as a file server for my team as well as a backup for important files, but it just works so well.
I also use it to share large files and grant conference attendees access to my PowerPoint presentations.
You can see my Dropbox routine here.
Reeder – This is an app that turns my chosen RSS reader, Google Reader, into something much more functional and much more attractive.
I do most of my blog reading on my iPhone or iPad and the Reeder app gives me a ton of functionality. I can easily share a post on Twitter, clip to Evernote and bookmark to delicious right from the post in Reeder. Great time saver.
Dragon Dictation – This iPhone app (at least that’s the only version I use) allows me to speak a memo and have it converted to text. I’ve not really tested this out, but I think I could compose a blog post using this tool.
The app then allows me to email the text or manage it in various other ways. I use this tool whenever I get a flash of brilliance while driving or think of something when trying go to sleep and want to capture the idea right away.
HelloFax – Actually this is billed as a fax machine replacement, but I don’t really use that function. What HelloFax allows me to do is receive a document, like a contract, agreement, vendor form or non disclosure (I get lots of these.) that need edits and my signature.
Instead of editing, printing, signing, scanning and emailing back I simply download the document, upload it to HelloFax, make my edits, drop in my stored signature and email it back.
And 4 just for the Mac
Text Expander – There are dozens of snippets of text that I need to use frequently. Text Expander allows me to write chunks of copy once and then paste those chunks whenever I need to with a couple keystrokes.
I have entire emails that I send in response to certain requests, email signatures, blog sponsorship messages, and even HTML code snippets that I use frequently committed to short, time saving keystrokes that are easy to recall.
Pixelmator – This is my replacement to Photoshop. Now, I’m not a graphic designer, so I don’t have major league design challenges, but I’ve used Photoshop for years and for $29 this tool does everything I need it to do and is much easier to use than Photoshop.
I’m sure Adobe would challenge this statement, but this tool is at least on par feature wise with the $99 Photoshop Elements.
Adium – I use Adium for all things related to IM – this Mac only client allows me to converse with folks via instant message regardless of the IM platform they use – Facebook, GTalk, or AIM. .
Transmit – This is my file transfer tool. It’s lightening fast and allows me to upload and manage files via FTP to my web sites. I also use it to access my Amazon S3 file storage as I use Amazon’s cheap hosting and streaming for my videos and other larger downloads that I make available on my sites.
I also use Transmit to move files around on my laptop. Instead of using two instances of the Finder on my Mac, I use a split window in Transmit that allows me to drag and drop files more easily.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Four Stories Every Business Must Build
Sep 21st
Four Stories Every Business Must Build
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Stories build commitment. They allow us to go on journeys in search of our best self. They entertain, simplify, and inspire. They are easy to share. Great leaders are often great storytellers.
Sugar Pond via Flickr
The power of story as a business building and marketing tool is undeniable. A simple story can draw upon our emotional desires in ways that reams and reams of logical data never will.
While an uplifting story or even a tragic story can capture the listener’s interest, the real power of storytelling in business is that it permits a business to illustrate values and beliefs in action.
It’s one thing to say we’re trustworthy and quite another to share a story about the day your employees went without a paycheck because they so believed in what you were building and trusted you would make things right when you recovered from this unforeseen challenge.
I believe that every business must find and tell their core stories over and over again and then they must invite their employees, customers and networks to help build these stories into journeys worth taking over and over again.
Below are four core stories that must live in every business
The Passion Story
The is often the owner’s story, a tale of why they started the business, how the business serves their own personal mission or purpose in life. Why they get up and go to work, why they love what they do or what happened in life that set them on their current path.
The interior of the Grand Jury hearing room was anything but grand. It consisted of a handful of plastic chairs arranged in a way that made the jurists feel more like an audience than a court appointed arm of the United States Justice Department. Although I distinctly remember the lights, maybe it was me, but they seemed awfully bright.
What could I possibly have to offer as a witness in a hearing determined to bring federal charges upon one of my clients? As it turned out I was very boring witness with nothing to offer the case, but it was a turning point in my business and perhaps my life.
In the effort to build my business I had taken on a client that I knew was doing things I couldn’t support, that were counter to my own values, and I knew also in that moment that I would never again do business with a customer I didn’t respect.
And that’s part of my passion story. (To get the rest you need to buy the tell all book. Well, not really.)
The Purpose Story
This is mostly the story about why you do what you do in business and not at all about what you do. For many people this can be a story about mission or higher calling, but it can also be about who you serve and why.
When I was just starting to dream up the concept of Duct Tape Marketing I was operating my business as a traditional local marketing agency and doing work for organizations large and small – although I had already determined that I loved working with small business owners the most.
I had completed a very small amount of work for a very large organization and sent them in invoice for $1,525.00. When they paid the invoice, 90 days later, I opened the envelope and found a check for $152,500.00.
While there was a moment of temptation, I knew I had to return the check. I called and was directed to the five forms I needed to complete in order to return the check if I was to have any hope of getting my original bill paid.
That was the day I determined I was going to work with small business owners exclusively and set out to figure out how I could do that. There’s something equal parts gratifying and terrifying about doing work directly for the person paying the bill.
And that’s part of my purpose story.
The Positioning Story
This is the story that illustrates how you want the market to perceive your brand. Of course, perception is partly a goal and partly a measurement because some things are out of your hands. A true positioning story, however, is one that authentically captures your purpose in action – it’s how purpose is packaged in a way that allows the intended market to connect.
And, the best positioning, the best positioning stories can usually be summed up in one word.
Early on in my marketing consulting business I was invited to be part of a pitch for a very large piece of business. It was a national firm that wanted to hire a national ad agency, but also include a local marketing support company for the local branch.
The New York ad agency sent five people, all clad in black head to toe and armed with a 100-page deck filled with research and recommendations.
When it came time for me to offer my two cents I said something like – I don’t know, why don’t we just talk to some of your current customers? The meeting ended and the next day the VP that was conducting the search called and said he wanted me to do the entire project without the New York ad agency. To this day I can hear him say why – “you were the only one that said anything that was practical.”
And that’s part of my positioning story.
The Personality Story
This is the story that gets at how people experience your purpose or brand. This is the story that illustrates the traits that are on display in every action, product, service, decision, hire, process or promotion.
There’s a story behind how I came up with the name Duct Tape Marketing, but the real reason this name has served my brand so well is the association that people already have with all things duct tape. This allows them to connect their own personal stories of simple, effective and affordable use of this cuddly gray sticky stuff. (Okay, cuddly might be over the top, but you get it.)
The name comes packaged with its own personality traits and the only trick is to make sure that people experience the brand and the business in that same way.
And now for where the name came from . . . with apologies to my daughters.
My wife I decided to take a little mini vacation and figured the two oldest girls (high school sophomore and junior) could act as babysitters. You probably know where this is going and you’re right.
The party peeked at about 100 people I’m told. One of the guests decided to take my car for spin as well and bumped it into something just hard enough to knock a piece of plastic bumper off. In an effort to hide the damage my daughters duct taped the piece masterfully back in place.
There is a chance they would have gotten away with it too, but they carelessly left the role of duct tape sitting on the car hood, creating immediate suspicion when we arrived home.
The thing is, that’s when I knew Duct Tape Marketing would be the perfect name. If a sixteen year old could recognize the simple, effective and affordable use, then it might just be universally true as well.
And that’s part of my personality story.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Instant Credibility! Your Very Own Newsletter Every Week
Sep 19th
Your very own private label internet marketing newsletter every week – completely customized with your details and ready for you to send to your subscriber list. A fantastic way to gain instant credibility without the work!
Instant Credibility! Your Very Own Newsletter Every Week
Every Business Must Manage Only These Three Things
Sep 17th
Every Business Must Manage Only These Three Things
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
While one business may be organized in departments, job titles and roles and another basically made up of a long person doing it all, every business that grows and thrives internally and externally figures out how to manage three things at all times: purpose, projects and process.
Lots of employees come into businesses hoping to rise to the ranks of management. The thing is every employee in a business is a manager of something. Lots of business owners start a business and quickly realize they must manage everything. The question is manage what?
As a customer, if you enjoyed a remarkable experience with a business there’s a very good chance that experience enjoyed the complete attention of management from three very distinct points of view – but what really made it remarkable was that it didn’t feel managed at all.
No matter how simple or complex a business may seem if it is to come to life it does so essentially orchestrating these three things – communicating purpose as strategy, delivering innovation, growth and positioning through the implementation of project after project and creating a remarkable culture and consistent customer experience through the operation of process after process.
The cartoon above was done for me by Mark Anderson. Check out Mark’s custom cartoons and consider commissioning one for yourself.
No matter how many people actually go to work in a business, every business needs to fill the role of Purpose Manager, Project Manager and Process Manager even if all three of these roles are played by the same person.
The role of the Purpose Manager is to create and tell the story of why the business does what it does, create and keep the picture of where the business is headed and act as the filter for business decisions made in the name of the brand’s positioning.
The role of the Project Manager is to continually look to break every business innovation, question, challenge, initiative or campaign into logical projects complete with required action steps and resources.
The role of the Process Manager is to receive and implement the tasks and action steps that fall from each project plan and operate established processes that ensure trust is maintained through consistency.
No matter how complicated we want to make our businesses, this is what success comes down to.
But, this is what makes owning a business such a challenge, this is what makes managing people such a challenge, this is what makes doing a job such a challenge. Finding the places where these three roles divide and where they come back together again is the art of the business and it’s not always obvious or even natural
If you’re the sole employee you must spend some part of each day playing these distinct roles no matter that your innate talents may reside squarely in one or the other.
As you hire staff you must focus on first hiring for your weaknesses in performing or managing one or more of the three roles not on job titles or departments.
As you grow your business you must build purpose, project and process thinking into every new department, innovation and initiative.
You must also guide your entire team to approach their work in this manner and give them the tools that will allow them to embrace purpose, think in terms of projects and know when and how process that delivers purpose is the right path.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
