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

From Small Business Trends

Tips for Managing Your Small Business Now

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Tips for Managing Your Small Business Now is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

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?

From Small Business Trends

7 Gmail Tips Every SMB Should Know

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

7 Gmail Tips Every SMB Should Know is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

We asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invitation-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs, this question:

“What one employee management tip would you give entrepreneurs who are building their team?”

Here’s what the YEC community had to say:

1. Train Them

“Many entrepreneurs have the deluded expectation that an employee should show up able to do their job. No matter how competent they are, an employee will require train up and integration time. An added upshot, thinking about employee training cycles and growth paths really gets you thinking about how to grow your company.” ~ Charlie Gilkey, Productive Flourishing

2. Create an Entrance Interview

“We’ve created some documents for new employees to fill out right when they start about how they like to work, be rewarded, have meetings, etc. By having this written down it gives our whole team an understanding of how new team members might fit in and creates a better work culture.” ~ Caitlin McCabe, Real Bullets Branding

3. Get a Good Project Management System

“Entrepreneurs can keep the big picture in their head, but employees need to have the details in front of them. A good project management software (Manymoon is free) is a great way to keep the team focused and on task. Efficiency and productivity increase when you measure accountability with project management software.” ~ Lucas Sommer, Audimated

4. Teach Employees to Never Need a Manager

“Teach and empower your employees by giving them parameters to help them do their job autonomously. A sales rep doesn’t need a script, she must understand what makes a product valuable to a customer, and the many ways to point out those benefits. A service rep does not need a “company policy” to refer to, but rather a strategy for solving problems so the client is satisfied.” ~ Vanessa Nornberg, Metal Mafia

5. Set a Quarterly Theme and Vision

“Our first year in business we just did business day to day. But we found that even though we were doing awesome things, sometimes we got stuck in a groove because we weren’t shooting for a big goal. So we started setting a quarterly theme for our company. This theme goes into everything we do those three months, and everyone is focused on making that goal a reality. It helps focus efforts.” ~ Trevor Mauch, Automize, LLC

6. Open Door Policy

“Employees (especially new ones) are bound to make more mistakes than necessary if they feel they can’t ask you questions or get your feedback. Make sure you are accessible and available as much as possible. Literally, keep your door open to give the impression that anyone can visit to bounce an idea or ask a question of you.” ~ Benjamin Leis, Sweat EquiTees

7. Culture Is King

“Put your employees first, and they will take better care of your customers. As you are building your team, you must define what the inside of your company is going to look like. Your internal brand ultimately dictates how the company is represented on the outside. If you try to design the customer experience first, it will be forced and unnatural. Try to design the employee experience first.” ~ Nick Friedman, College Hunks Hauling Junk

8. Hire for the Ability to Get Stuff Done

“A small company cannot tolerate people who are lazy, procrastinate or are unable to use limited resources to push forward projects. You need people who can follow-through, find clever solutions and workarounds with a sense of urgency, and can take charge of a problem and drive it to a successful solution.” ~ Matt Mickiewicz, 99designs

9. Practice Transparency

“I’m always very honest with my team regarding financials and clients. In this economy, it’s important to be upfront with folks in every aspect of the business — particularly when you’re first getting started. Young professionals enjoy being an integral part of the planning and decision-making process, and it can also help them better understand how the business is run.” ~ Heather Huhman, Come Recommended

10. Tell Them How To Kick Butt

“I’m working on this, but it’s become obvious that letting someone know how to kick butt increases the likelihood that they will do so. Smart, talented people want to feel smart and talented, and that’s on you as a business leader. Entrepreneurs are often self-motivated and we forget that getting the most out of people means showing them how to succeed.” ~ Derek Shanahan, Foodtree

11. Encourage Openness and Honesty

“You never want your employees to be afraid to tell you the truth. You can encourage openness and honesty by: 1) Responding calmly when they tell you something has not gone as you expected 2) Talking through a plan for moving forward 3) Agreeing on follow up and accountability.” ~ Elizabeth Saunders, Real Life E®

Tips Photo via Shutterstock

From Small Business Trends

11 Tips for Building and Managing a Team

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

11 Tips for Building and Managing a Team is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

The perfect gracious host may be Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan).  At least that’s the premise of his terrific book, Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything.  This book is the first one to provide a primer for Google’s new platform.  It’s a needed tonic. Reportedly driven by Android sales according to Business Insider, Google+ now has 62 million users.

Chris Brogan is no stranger to social media advocates. Brogan co-authored the New York Times bestseller Trust Agents and wrote Social Media 101, which was reviewed here on Small Business Trends. He has a Top 5 Advertising Age Power150 blog, Chris Brogan, and is a featured Entrepreneur magazine columnist.  I learned about this book while checking out publisher Que’s book list and requested a review copy.

Agreement of material and writer enhances instruction to grow Google+

The book’s structure is an interesting mix of product timing and author experience that works as the “baby-bear’s porridge” of information many small businesses seek – not too large, not necessarily shallow.  Google+ is less than a year old, but Brogan’s writing style can make social media newcomers feel the access to the material.

Brogan’s established perspective contributes value to Google+ for Business, avoiding a huge problem I have seen in a few Facebook guides. Many books, regardless of being phone-book thick or car-owner’s-manual thin, are so bloated with Facebook features descriptions that tactical or strategic recommendations are flat-out overlooked.  Add Facebook changes into the mix, and it can become a second job to infuse new material into your business plans.

However, Brogan’s choice to cover a nascent Google+ with his insights makes one awesome, just-right porridge.  The usages for Google+ is explained with enough flexibility to fit within your organizational structure.

The first three chapters documents why Google+ is essential, while Chapter Four lays out first steps. This is where you’d want to start if you generally understand Google+ already.

The three chapters dedicated to Google+ features are:

• Chapter 5 – circles, the grouping convention in Google+
• Chapter 6 – streaming posts
• Chapter 12 – business Pages

Most of the other chapters provide corporate examples and solid organizational tips.  Chapter 7 may be the most broadly applicable, as it focuses on content.  But Brogan wisely differs from the “content is king” mantra by covering ideas by business type.  He is spot on when he suggest to online store owners to “post profiles and interviews with the owners” as well as to tell writers, photographers, and artists to “start a Hangout.”

Insights made for Hangouts and Circles

Brogan ensures that his revealed experience and tips are tailored to the Google+ environment so that you appreciate the reasons for the recommendation.  Take for example how he notes a key difference with Twitter against managing a Google+ circle.

“On Google+, different than Twitter, I decided not to follow everyone back who adds me. The reason is that the more people I add, the harder it is to manage the stream of information I choose to consume.  You’ll come to your own opinions, and you’ll likely change them a few times.”

This is pretty basic but works well if the reader is starting to differentiate social media platforms.  Brogan goes on to note some cool circle label ideas for a beginner – Local, Thinkers, Competitors, Vendors, Personal Passion, and so forth. And while content suggestions may sound straightforward, they do play into the benefits of the Hangout and Circles features. Brogan get an A for the homework he has done for Google+ for Business.

Brogan has written in past posts how businesses should “Make Your Buyer The Hero”, but in Google+, the suggestion is expressed immediately to the point.

“If you write about your products and how great you are, only you can benefit from that. If you create interesting posts with concepts and ideas for your community to take so that they can improve their own experience in life, you have something.”

The suggestions sound like they are only geared for newbies, but Google+ for Business can compliment deeper works such as Social Media Metrics and Digital Impact, as well as community building topics covered in Empowered and The Social Organization.  Its tone can draw small business owners and corporate managers that still remain on the social media sidelines.

Brogan does share some steps for upcoming Google+ changes – most are from Brogan’s view, but he wisely limits suggestions just enough to not render the book dated for the future.  Just like the Facebook guides, you may want to follow online sources for further updates (after this book’s publication, Google added a second admin capability to match up to that in Facebook Pages). But rest assured, the material will not grow stale as your Google+  abilities grows.

Your Google+ is a “Minus” if You Skip This Book

Google+ for Business is the right manual at the right time.  It captures enough of the basics, but also offers great insights so you can make effective use of the new platform.  In Digital Impact, authors Vipin Mayar and Geoff Ramsey reveal that social media users budget new platforms into their time online instead of replacing one with another.  Well, if you plan to squeeze more Google+ into your social time, Chris Brogan is an excellent host that you would want to make you feel at home.

Or in this case, in Circle.

From Small Business Trends

“Google+ For Business” Adds Great Tips For Small Businesses

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

“Google+ For Business” Adds Great Tips For Small Businesses is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

The bottom line is that it’s hard enough if you’re a small business owner in need of capital (or might be in need of capital in the future) so if you’re a husband-wife team, a family-owned business, or a partnership of any kind then these are the 3 key tips you’ll need to plan for (or respond to) if you want to have the best possible chance of getting your funding.

#1 – Think about the loan you will need in 2-3 years NOW! This is advise that comes from the perspective of being able to borrow money more efficiently after you get the business going.  There are many credit mistakes that I’ve seen husbands and wives and partners make over the years.  Some of the mistakes are minor and others can be more costly and limit your borrowing capabilities as you grow your business.  Borrowing money for your business is like anything else.  You can do it the right way or you can do it the wrong way.  You need to think about whether you want to “co-sign” for your mortgage(s), car loans, and credit cards.

You may both need to be part of the mortgage for qualification purposes but that is rarely necessary for car loans and credit cards.  When there is only one PG (personal guarantor) on your credit cards then you get the best of both worlds.  From a credit perspective, all your accounts are considered “trades” or “trade lines.”  So your credit profile is really just a compilation of all the individual trade lines therein.  If you could choose which trade lines you wanted on your credit report then imagine what that could do.  If your spouses credit cards are old and have low balances then you’ll want to be an authorized user on those credit cards.

On the other hand, if the credit cards are less then 2 years old or have high balances in relation to their credit limits (high utilization) then you do not want to be an authorized user on those accounts because that trade line would hurt your credit.

#2 – If you or your spouse/partner have “less than perfect” credit then fix it NOW! I realize that a lot of people get frustrated with credit scores and how credit works.  It’s actually not as confusing as you may think it is but instead of focusing on what may not make sense, let’s focus on how to work within the current banking system and how to have success with your loan requests given the current credit & lending terrain.  If you or your partner don’t have the credit profile and score that will help you get approved for financing then it’s simple.  Fix it.

There’s only 2 ways to improve your credit profile.  You can either add some good stuff or remove the bad stuff.  The problem is that most credit repair companies are…ahem…not good.  Find a quality individual or company and hire them to improve your credit.  The National Association of Responsible Credit Repair Advisors (NARCRA) is a good resource to find a credit professional.  You can improve, repair, or fix your credit if it’s not good but it’s unlikely you can do it yourself.

Technically, there’s nothing a credit repair agency can do that you can’t do yourself…but you could also represent yourself in court instead of hiring a lawyer.  Would you do that?

#3 – Strategically determine how you share the ownership % of your business! 50/50 Ownership or 80/20 – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen businesses who needed $50,000 – $200,000 to take their business to the next growth level but there’s one “minor” problem.  One owner has good credit and the other owner has poor credit…so the bank said no to their loan request.  When determining the ownership % of your business it’s a wise idea to keep in mind that most banks – for most loan requests – require that anyone with 20% or more ownership in the business be included in the credit and underwriting portion of the loan request.

In other words, their credit gets checked and if they have bad credit then you don’t get approved for your loan.  If you have bad credit and your spouse has good credit then it would be wise to consider making your spouse the majority owner.  You’ll probably want the spouse with the good credit to be the 85% or 90% owner since that puts you in the clear with most ownership requirements from most lenders.  This all sounds easy if you’re starting a new business but what if you’re an established business and you’ve already established the ownership at 50/50?

Just make a change.  It’s a simple addendum or revision to the articles.  Just ask your business consultant, corporate formation consultant, or attorney and they can help you if you don’t know how to make this change yourself.

As a husband/wife team there are some great ways to properly separate and utilize your credit profiles so you can maximize your credit scores and position yourselves in the best possible way to get your financing.  As always, consult with your business consultant, lawyer, and accountant but remember that they work for you.  Most people resist ideas and strategies that they are unfamiliar with and there’s a good chance that if these advisors haven’t presented these concepts to you then they probably are unfamiliar with them.

Marriage Photo via Shutterstock

From Small Business Trends

Credit and Financing “Insider” Tips for Husband and Wife Teams

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Credit and Financing “Insider” Tips for Husband and Wife Teams is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

How To

Travel tips you’ll want to take with you. Here are 41 suggestions you won’t dare leave behind on your next business trip. Traveling constantly can be hard on anyone. Without the right preparation, it can be even worse. Some simple suggestions can help you make the best of your trip without letting it bring out the worst in you. Don’t Do It Yourself

Using online classes and events in your business. Whether marketing them as information products or services or using them as tools to gather prospects and disseminate information about your business, Stephanie Chandler has these suggestions for building classes and events that can transform your business. BusinessInfoGuide.com

Tips & Resources

Tips to transform your business blog. This post not only offers you 10 free ebooks to change the way you blog for your business, but also the beginnings of a whole new blueprint for business blogging that can help regional, brick and mortar or just about any business build a strong following and potential new customers. Ryan Hanley

It’s not about you. You’ve probably heard this before, whether it’s referring to social media marketing or to most of your other dealings with your customers. Here’s the thing. You need to communicate with them about their needs, get focused on solving their problems. The idea is for you to learn more about your customers, not to tell them more about you. Small Biz Survival

News & Contests

Best Buy to provide small business IT service. A report says the retailer will be acquiring Mindshift Technologies Inc., a company providing IT service for small business. The acquisition could mean a major boost in IT service directly aimed at the small business market. WSJ

No-no’s for Holiday gift giving. So, it’s the Holiday season again and one way to nurture the relationships you’ve built over the year is with Holiday gifts for clients, service providers and employees. But avoiding the wrong gift is important too. Share your tip on small business Holiday gift giving no-no’s and win $100 toward Holiday gifts in this contest from our sister site. Bizsugar Blog

Professional Development

Things to ignore in 2012. It may be what you don’t do that makes you a success. Or rather, it could be that much of what you do is just busy work, taking up your valuable time without improving your productivity. For small business owners, who wear many hats, the temptation can be even greater to overdo. Here’s a quick list of things you may want to forget about instead. Harvard Business Review

Tech Basics

YouTube Analytics transform video marketing. If you’re one of the many small business owners who use YouTube as a part of your marketing campaign, you won’t want to miss this. A new upgrade by the online video site makes tracking your video’s impact much simpler and lets you measure results. Basic Blog Tips

Hiring a cloud consultant. We’ve all heard, of course, about the importance of migrating your small business to the cloud and about the many benefits that cloud computing has to offer. But is there a benefit in gaining added advice when looking for the best cloud services and the best ways your business can make use of them? GetApp.com

Operations

Containing rising healthcare costs. It’s a problem all small business owners are aware of, but, let’s face it, healthcare costs aren’t going away anytime soon. So what can you do to control the healthcare costs in your business before they control you? Open Forum

From Small Business Trends

Travel Tips and Small Business Suggestions

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Travel Tips and Small Business Suggestions is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

1. No stranger or unknown company will ever contact you by mail or by phone with an actual method for making money easily or in your spare time. And if the person or company contacting you asserts that they are someone you know, double check before taking action.
2. Don’t have back surgery. See a physiatrist first, then exhaust all other options before wondering if you should have back surgery.
3. Borrow money to buy things that go up in value, but never to get something that decays over time.
4. Placebos are underrated by almost everyone.
5. It’s almost never necessary to use a semicolon.
6. Seek out habits that help you overcome fear or inertia. Destroy those that do the opposite.
7. Cognitive behavorial therapy is generally considered both the quickest and most effective form of addressing many common psychological problems.
8. Backup your hard drive.
9. Get a magnetic key hider, put a copy of your house key in it and hide it really well, unlabeled, two blocks from your house.
10. A rice cooker will save you time and money and improve your diet, particularly if you come to like brown rice.
11. Consider not eating wheat for an entire week. The results might surprise you.
12. Taking your dog for a walk is usually better than whatever alternative use of your time you were considering.

Told you they were assorted.

View full post on Seth’s Blog

Assorted tips, hope they help is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

If someone wanted to say something negative about your company online for the world to see, there is really no way you can stop them (short of a lawsuit). What you can do, though, is try to maintain and promote a positive online reputation through persistent monitoring and responding to negative comments.

Generally, when individuals leave negative comments and appear to be seeking a response, it is usually best to respond appropriately rather than try to remove the comments. Even when comment removal is ideal, it is not always possible. But you make those comments less prominent through the following tactics.

1. Monitor Your Brand Buzz.

Many business owners don’t think about online reputation management until they have an issue. The truth is that online reputation management is as much about being proactive as it is being reactive.

Get into the habit of searching Google and other search engines to check for any results that may be harmful to your reputation. At minimum, you should setup Google Alerts for your company name, brands and key employees. Google Alerts will notify you via email every time Google finds a new result for the desired search query. The goal is to make sure that the mentions are favorable, and if some are negative you have these alerts assisting you to contain any potential issues before they get blown out of proportion.

2. Build Positive Results in Search.

Most people trust Google enough to be confident about the results on the first page or two, without exploring further. According to a recent study, 89 percent of click-throughs on Google are from the first page. For the few individuals that look beyond the first few pages, at least the search results ahead of the negative results will seem more credible. This means that online reputation management requires knowledge in SEO to reflect a company in the most positive light. The decrease in views on a bad article when it goes from page one to two or from two to three is easily enough for a business to see a large increase in leads.

You can do this by examining what may be causing any negative content to rank highly, and promoting quality content to outrank the bad results. There are many different methods and practices for SEO, but it almost always involves getting links on other websites that direct to the site you are optimizing. The amount of links and the quality of the linking websites influences the rankings. This is where tools like Yahoo Site Explorer and OpenSiteExplorer.com come in handy. These tools can be used to help determine what sites are linking to the bad content and what factors are influencing their ranking.

There is a great deal to learn when it comes to SEO and a little can go a long way. If you plan on practicing SEO and do not have prior knowledge, you should read Google‘s SEO Starter Guide at the very least.

3. Learn About Social Media.

For most companies, social media knowledge is a necessity for good online reputation management. This involves keeping up on your own profiles such as a blog, owning a domain name that is your full name and using tools such as knowem.com to claim profiles for your name. Social profiles such as Facebook and Twitter can be used to build a fan base and encourage positive interactions. These profiles should be monitored, maintained and updated daily.

You can ask followers for feedback, share news, give coupons and hold contests through social media platforms. In time, you can have a loyal fan base that may even defend you when people leave negative comments. Which social profiles you choose to use depends on the company and what it has to offer. For example, Last.fm is a website for bands and musicians to share music and promote upcoming albums and concerts. Just make sure to read the terms of service for the social media websites you use.

4. Create Quality Content.

Sure, you hear the same advice everywhere. But guess what? It’s true. Quality content that will help you go far in keeping your presence pristine. And optimizing good quality content is far more likely to having a lasting effect than if you hurry to create content and promote any articles you come across. If you optimize content that has no potential to generate interest from viewers, you will likely only see the immediate results of your SEO, and there will be no long term results. Long-term results come when people find the article you have optimized, and then share it on social media sites, blogs, websites, forums or elsewhere online. This process will continue to naturally optimize search results, meaning that even after any intentional SEO efforts, the public is still optimizing with the natural occurrences in which search engines are intended to base their results. If it sparks enough interest, this can have a viral effect, which will spread links to a variety of places on the Web.

You can do all the SEO you want to make pages rank higher, but natural, unplanned occurrences, such as 100 people tweeting an article because they actually liked it, will have a much more powerful influence than anything you could do on your own in the same amount of time.

5. Maintain a Clean Reputation Offline.

If you practice good ethics, you will likely be rewarded. It may even lead to more positive content showing up online from third-party sources. However, if people have a reason to bash you, many of them will. Online reputation management is not going to work out very well if you are trying to appear as something you are not. If there is something you need to own up to, do not try to hide it away. When a company runs into a crisis it is their responsibility to determine when it is appropriate to confront it by apologizing to the public, responding to the crises, taking preventative action and moving on.

It is also advisable to have employees set their privacy settings on their personal social profiles so that only people they approve can see what they post. People often associate employees within a company directly with the image of that company. You don’t want to be the next company with a bad buzz in the media because your CEO posted something on Twitter that unexpectedly raised concern among the public.

For more about online reputation management, check out this article: How to Engage for Online Reputation Management.

View full post on Business Pundit

5 Tips For Managing Your Online Reputation is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

Monetization

PPC ads or affiliate marketing? Which works better for your small business site? If your Website is your primary business, you will need to monetize your site with advertising, products or some other means to transform at least some of your visitors into customers. Unless you have a product of your own to sell or a direct sponsor, here are some other options you might consider. Scott Fox

Monetizing online content for beginners. You have content, a personality or brand. How do you transform this content into an online business? David Siteman Garland does a video consulting session with a local broadcast personality about how to monetize online content to create a business. The Rise To The Top

Online Strategy

How local search may be changing. If you haven’t yet heard of Apple’s Siri, a feature of the iPhone 4S, you may not be aware of how this new technology could transform Search Engine Optimization, especially on the local level. Need to know what to do to prime your online marketing? Here’s more. Entrepreneur

Breaking into ebook sales. If you have knowledge to share there may be no better way to build your online business than through the booming ebook market. In this guest post we learn more about how to create a knowledge product that becomes a thriving business overtime and how to boost that business with some simple techniques. MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

Tips & Trends

Models still vary for bringing small businesses online. Yelp Inc. and Angie’s List Inc. show that the models available for sharing information about small business online still vary widely. What has been your experience with making sure your business is visible and talked about on the Internet. WSJ

What sales 2.0 can do for you. What can the tools of sales 2.0 do for your small business? Well, if you or your sales team are already effective, the Web tools offered by Sales 2.0 will likely make you better. But be warned. These tools will not turn a bad sales team into a good one. Proven techniques must exist behind the technology. Partners in Excellence

Marketing Basics

SEO and social media marketing. This post and creative infographic show the transition occurring in the search engine optimization field as social media gains a stronger footing in how we market online. Are you using these two key approaches to create an irresistible online presence for your small business? WebSuccessTeam

Using Google Analytics tools. To succeed, it helps to have goals and that’s where these tools to manage your online presense come in. Google Analytics is a high quality and free tool to monitor your online business progress. But are you using its features to the greatest potential to benefit your small business? Small Business Bliss

Final Thoughts

Setting up a cost effective local AdSense campaign. Online marketing can be effective even for local business and such a campaign need not be expensive if set up correctly. Here we are walked through the procedure of setting up a cost effective local marketing campaign for a brick and mortar business. Heart Internet

Improving your small business Facebook presence. Your presence on the world’s largest social network should not be taken fo granted. Facebook’s traffic and membership are huge and so is the number of people who may be looking for businesses or partnerships there instead of on Google. If you want to figure out how to make your site shine, look no further. Quantum Marketer

From Small Business Trends

Tips For Building Your Online Business

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Tips For Building Your Online Business is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

So we asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invitation-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs, this question:

“As a Gen Y entrepreneur, what do you look for when seeking out mentorship from business leaders?”

Here’s what they had to say:

1. Failure Plus Success

“I want advice from people who’ve done it a few times, and seen failure and success along the way. Failure gives an entrepreneur a lot of insight into the raw process of building a business. Alongside a breath of experience I look for specific domain knowledge–someone who’s got deep insight into distribution, fund-raising or product development, for instance. Specialized insight is valuable.” ~ Derek Shanahan, Foodtree

2. Experience in My Industry

“You should select your mentors based on their lifestyle. For instance, if you want to run a big technology company someday, then it’s wise to choose a tech executive. On the other hand, if you want to become a professional speaker, you should go after an experienced speaker who can offer you insights and advice.” ~ Dan Schawbel, Millennial Branding

3. Someone Who Aligns With My Values

“There are tons of successful people in the world; however, only a few will truly align with your values and world view. Make sure to find a mentor who can truly connect with your vision of the company and how you are looking to change the world. Also, look to see if their track record is similar to the one you envision for yourself.” ~ Brenton Gieser, JoynIn

4. More Than Just Advice, Relationships

“I look for a successful individual in a complementary business to my own–someone who has established relationships with a network of potential partnerships. By involving a mentor in the process of building my business, he or she will take pride in it and want to see it grow and prosper. With their existing relationships, the access is just an introduction away.” ~ Benjamin Leis, Sweat EquiTees

5. A Track Record of Proven Success

“I look for great business leaders with a track record of proven success. I also consider their story, where they started, what they started with and what they have become. I like to connect with mentors who share a similar story to my own because those are the mentors who have truly been in my shoes. Of course, mentors with good connections are nice as well.” ~ Lucas Sommer, Audimated

6. Someone Who Recognizes That My Path Is Different

“When I decided to go out on my own, obviously my mentors were some of the first people I turned to with the news. If you’re lucky enough to have awesome mentors, they’ll know that the path they took is going to be different from yours but can still offer advice that can help you. If your mentors start trying to dissuade you or mold you into a younger version of themselves, find new ones.” ~ Sydney Owen, 3Ring Media

7. A Straight Shooter

“As a Gen Y entrepreneur, I look for business leaders who are straightforward to mentor me. I value the unedited, honest and sometimes brutal experiences and truths that they have to share. I don’t want them to sugarcoat their advice because their wisdom will undoubtedly make me a better businessperson.” ~ Lauren Maillian Bias, Luxury Market Branding

8. A Two-Way Street

“I look for someone who can not only bring value to me with their advice and connections, but also someone to whom I can bring value. The best mentorships are two-way streets. If you are just trying to learn from someone, they are a teacher, not a mentor. It should be a give-and-take relationship.” ~ Nathan Lustig, Entrustet

9. Someone Who Gets Where I’m Going

“It helps if we’re simpatico, if they ‘get me’ and understand where I want to go with my business. I also look at how they run their business.  If they look like they’re happy and having fun, that translates into someone I’d love to learn from.” ~ Nathalie Lussier, Nathalie Lussier Media

From Small Business Trends

9 Tips for Finding the Right Mentor

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

9 Tips for Finding the Right Mentor is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice