January 2013
2 posts
5 tags
Micro Loans: Your 2013 Solution to Fast Small...
In today’s economy it harder then ever to secure a small business loan…or is it? Trying to obtain a traditional loan for your small business can be difficult or hands down impossible, the good news is there are several other options. This article will detail the benefits of utilizing a Sunovis Financial Micro Loan to grow your small business.
If you are like many small business...
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Make Your Business Goals “Unrealistic”: Why it’s...
This may seem like a ridiculous philosophy. When attempting to build a business you want to feel like you’re progressing forward and therefore having safe, reachable goals in a manageable and rewarding course of action. However, Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of the #1 book ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ and advisor to companies such as Facebook and StumbleUpon, proves time and time again that this is...
December 2012
1 post
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4 Tips in Increasing Your Profit with an Online...
As a business owner, you are probably always searching for ways to increase your profit. This is true of any type of business. But, for this article, I am mainly going to concentrate on how to do this through the use of the Internet, and for online businesses in general.
If your business is strictly online, then you probably have already cut a lot of overhead cost by not having to have staff...
November 2012
23 posts
2 tags
Protect Your Business with a New Employee...
The first week on the job tends to set the tone for employees. Based on their experiences during the first week, they will either be on the road to a great career with your company or on the road to becoming apathetic, frustrated and depressed. Disorganization and unclear instructions are among the chief causes of new employee dissatisfaction. There is no greater nightmare than working a job...
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Entrepreneur of the Year: Shawn Amerlinck
Shawn Amerlinck, is a Registered Vet Technician (RVT) and owner of My Pet’s Butler located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I tracked him down for a feature here in Small Biz Diamonds back in April after finding an amazing response of his about how he strategically utilized a press release to grow his then four month old business. His efforts got him press on TV, local newspapers,...
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3 Ways Christmas Cards Can Create a Lifelong...
A few years ago, I had only been in business for a couple of months when Christmas rolled around. I had about a dozen clients I had worked with in the few short months I had been in business. It was mid-December and I was kind of scrambling for a way to send something to them for the holidays. I decided to send some custom Christmas cards with a promotional message for a discount on my services....
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Obama Small Business Policies: Tax Reforms and...
Obama’s recent victory secured his second term as the President of the United States, and as with the start of any new Presidential term, businesses and the general public are eager to see how policy reforms will affect them directly. The Obama small business policies reiterated in his campaign called for action and not politics, which is comforting for entrepreneurs and small business owners....
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Top 5 Financial Apps for Small Business
You’ve heard it time and time again, “there’s an app for that.” In this case it holds true, there’s an app for just about everything – including apps that help busy business owners manage their business’ finances. Make the day-to-day operation of your business, tax time and expense management a breeze by using the top five financial apps highlighted below.
[[MORE]]Square
Square is a mobile...
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12 Innovative Uses of Print Marketing Materials
Print marketing materials have different uses aside from their normal function. Business cards, known as identity cards of professionals, can also be produced as discount or label cards by various establishments. The unconventional applications of print materials are useful when you you’re looking for more affordable substitutes for your needed print products. Listed below are print materials...
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Celebrity Hair Stylist @IamMingLee is Beauty,...
Ming Lee knows what it’s like to go from nothing to something. From a young age she always knew that she wanted to ‘take over the world’. To carry out her mission Ming relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, USA from Detroit, Michigan to focus on her life long passions: hair, fashion, and glamour. With strong influences from her father Ming knew that she had to have a vision and a plan and not be...
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5 Ways To Make Money Online By Providing a Service...
It’s easy to provide services these days to companies from your own home. The Internet is fast becoming the way a new group of people are making their living. Have you thought about joining them? It means you can get up from your bed and start working within 2 minutes. It sure beats having to spend an hour in traffic before you get to the office. It’s a great way to work, but you...
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A Big Problem Means an Equally Big Business...
In today’s world of instant gratification it is vital that small business owners have a mobile-friendly website to better serve their clients’. According to HubSpot, 91 percent of adults have their mobile phone within arms reach, but how many businesses are effectively reaching them? By having a mobile-friendly website businesses can increase sales and profits; engage with current...
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5 Signs That Your Most Recent Hire Is Not Working...
It doesn’t matter how much effort you put into your hiring efforts, you may still occasionally hire an employee who is a poor fit for your business. You can do a great job analyzing resumes, asking the most probing interview questions, and calling references, but you may still make a hiring choice that is not right for your company. It happens.
So how do you know that your hiring choice...
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Breaking Point: Are The Little Things You Do...
Every customer has a breaking point when it comes to being charged for something. Often, it is not what you would’ve predicted. I’m sure Bank of America did not see the $5.00 debit card charge as their customers’ breaking point. But indeed, this little charge was the proverbial straw that broke the backs of the card holder.
[[MORE]]Years ago, when I directed the marketing for corporate...
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Using a Calendar as a Marketing Tool
Keeping your product name in front of customers is always an effective marketing strategy for any business. A simple and well organized wall or desktop calendar featuring high quality photo shots of your products can easily market your company more effectively, as compared to other direct marketing strategies. As one marketing strategist pointed out “people are prone to throwing business...
3 tags
Using Plastic Gift Cards for Better Business
Gift cards have always been effective marketing tools especially in the restaurant business. By selling gift cards, you’re not only giving something that can be used as a present but you’re restaurant is assured of making a profit every time the card is used at your establishment.Initially, merchants and retailers offered gift certificates to customers and potential clients. Profits were earned...
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How Small Businesses Protect Their Investment and...
Have you considered the grand scope of your business when it comes to risk management? You may be at a competitive disadvantage if something occurs that closes you down temporarily, or if you experience a loss due to theft or fire. Another consideration is if someone gets hurt, the principal passes away, or if a lawsuit occurs due to circumstances that may have been prevented with a sound risk...
2 tags
The Importance of First Impressions: An Etiquette...
What’s the most critical factor to make an excellent impact on prospective clients or first-time customers? Bowling them over with your terrific personality may create a wonderful impression, but may not necessarily convert to a sale in the business world. You clinch the deal by presenting a solid case from the get-go. Convince them that you understand their needs and can offer the right...
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Hire Promotional Staff to Help Market Your Small...
When the public are dealing with a living personality, they are far more inclined to be moved or convinced than when they are watching an advertisement or reading a billboard. This is what you can come to expect from an expert team of marketing personnel. An attractive, friendly representative will gain the maximum amount of positive awareness and reputation. When they are dealing with...
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Newbie Tweetie: The Do's and Don'ts of Social...
Social media networking is probably one of the greatest things that happened with the advent of the Internet a couple of decades ago. Social media networking revolutionized the way people communicate with each other by tearing down geological walls and making the world even smaller than before. You only need a PC and an Internet connection to communicate with your loved ones and business...
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4 Ways to Make Your Employees Smile
There’s a simple secret to a productive workplace and a successful business - maintaining high morale amongst employees. So how can you ensure that your employees are happy and subsequently more effective at work? Here are a few tips and tricks to make everyone smile.
1. Remember your manners
As the old adage goes: “Good manners cost nothing.” However they are an excellent way to make your...
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How to Manage Business Debt
If you’re struggling with business debt, you might be feeling overwhelmed. With such a variety of mechanisms available to potentially insolvent companies, it is easy to become confused. The situation becomes even more bewildering when you’re having to fight off several different creditors, all owed different amounts, but making similar demands: pay us, and pay us now. Even the Government...
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4 Ways Businesses Can Cut Shipping Costs
Regardless of the size of your business, your shipping costs probably account for a big chunk of your expenses. If you have not carefully evaluated all aspects of the process, you are probably spending more money than you need to get your goods out; considering the amount of money that goes to shipping, this could seriously be affecting your company’s bottom line. Here are some tips that can...
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The Upside of Downsizing: Why Small Businesses...
Many small businesses actually foil their own chances of success by trying to expand too rapidly — hiring too many employees, taking on too many contracts, buying too much equipment etc. This mistake is known as premature scaling, and it’s estimated that it accounts for the failure of up to 50 percent of small businesses.
Surprisingly, having a smaller workforce and fewer resources may...
3 tags
Magnetic Signs: A Low Cost Marketing Move That...
One low-cost marketing move that can attract a large audience is the use of magnetic signs, particularly for placement on vehicles. These types of signs have proven quite effective as they provide a versatile, affordable and mobile way to spread the word about your business, cause or message. They are highly visible to a wide range of people from fellow motorists trapped in traffic on the roads...
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How To Avoid Procrastination
It is commonly believed that procrastination is born out of laziness, but this is generally not the case. Some people feel that they work better under pressure, while others may be dreading the work they have to do so much that they spend hours avoiding it. Still more people procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed by the amount of things they have to get done and have no idea where to...
October 2012
32 posts
2 tags
Blunders That Send Visitors Scurrying Away from...
Many marketers and brands will agree that maintaining a blog is an essential part of a successful online marketing strategy. This is not surprising at all considering that blogs are among the channels where consumers get to know more about the products and services that they favor. If you maintain a blog for your brand, chances are, you are aware what a well written blog can do to increase the...
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Laying Out a Warehouse for Drop Shipping
Drop shipping business ideas are popping up all over the place. One little seller or company needs someone to run their logistics, their shipping, and their material handling. With all of these ideas sweeping around, it would be great to be over their shipping- wouldn’t it? Just like their business plan for success, if you can order and maintain the shipping facilities, you can have a piece...
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Are You Overwhelming Your Followers? How Much...
By now, you know that social media is popular. You may use it for personal reasons, for business or for both. Some people have social media accounts but they don’t use it very often, and others are constantly posting, liking or sharing content throughout all of their channels. Those who fall into the latter category may be going about social media all wrong. Yes, social media is intended for you...
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Success Coach Antoinette Sykes, Encourages Women...
My first encounter with business coach extraordinaire, Antoinette Sykes was at the 2012 Stiletto Woman in Business Awards (#SWIBA). She was one of the featured speakers with an extremely powerful message and memorable story. Antoinette shared her tale of a corporate lay-off that left her with lots of education and skills but no paycheck. She also shared some very personal relationship...
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The Importance of Promotional Items
Every business strives to bring in new customers on a consistent basis. Customers are the main element that keeps a business operational. Therefore, business owners want to take every step possible to keep the base of new faces growing and expanding. Low-cost promotional items have a very high success rate among both existing and prospective customers. These inexpensive kind gesture trinkets...
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Are You Creating a Culture of Innovation or Follow...
Establishing a culture of innovation, a popular phrase these days, is something many companies these days are interested in doing. After all, who doesn’t want to create a climate similar to Apple, where staffers feel empowered to change the world with their ideas? But how do you get people to think different, to use an Apple-ism and yet fulfill your business vision? Here are some tips:
...
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7 Awesome Apps You Can Use to Run Your Small...
These days, modern technology has made it possible to run a business almost solely from a mobile device. Want to know how? Check out these seven awesome apps you can use to run your business:
[[MORE]]
FormMobi. This is a virtual clipboard that allows you to collect signatures, fill out forms, and create CAD-quality drawings while on the go. From the...
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How to Get the Most From an Average Employee
The workforce is full of different types of employees. You have the overachiever who tries to take on a variety of projects at once, the slacker who barely skates by and the average employee. The average employee does their job, maybe a little more, but is more than content to be average. Here are some ways that you, as an employer, can get the most out of your average employee and turn them...
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Group Brainstorming Exercises for More Effective...
The generation of new ideas is vital for the success of any organization, whether it is a business trying to come up with new product ideas or a non-profit organization trying to raise more funds for its cause. Ideas can come from many places and group brainstorming sessions can be one such avenue when done correctly. While you may think of brainstorming as just shouting out any idea that comes...
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Let's Get Some Wholesale Cash In Your Pocket!
When retailers get stuck with unwanted merchandise, closeout companies can help! There are all sorts of reasons why a retailer can’t sell their inventory. Sometimes a retailer over-anticipates how much of a product they can sell within a period of time. There are instances when a retailer is presented with a hot lot of products that they’ve obtained at a sweet price, only to find...
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The Benefits of Outdoor Advertising
Every day we are bombarded by advertising, whether we realize it or not. Some of it you may almost filter out from your everyday life. This is because you are so used to seeing it. But advertising is a huge business which is with us to stay and can bee seen in just about every place that we look:
TV
Radio
Magazine
Internet
Leaflets
Billboards
Posters
Shop Window
If you actually take a...
3 tags
Using Your Car for Small Business Use? What Uncle...
It’s not unusual for small business owners to use their personal vehicle for company errands and meetings. If you can afford it, buying a separate car for business use often entitles you to more tax benefits. There are a variety of tax laws that pertain to the use of your car for small business purposes you need to be aware of. If you don’t want Uncle Sam breathing down your neck,...
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6 Marketing Tips for GSA Schedule Contract...
Are you in possession of a General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contract and looking for an opportunity for promoting your products and services to the federal government? With these GSA marketing tips you can connect with a wide network of federal government purchasers to do business with. The following GSA marketing tips can help you to become more visible and ultimately have more...
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How Do You Target Hispanic Web Surfers For Your...
If you have a product, a website or both, then you probably consider how to target many types of populations. If you are not already considering how to target the Hispanic population, then you are behind the game. Don’t worry – you can catch up quickly with our tips. Latino marketing is easy to do using the web if you do it the right way. The Hispanic population is a huge portion of the United...
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Designing Effective FAQ Pages
Frequently Asked Questions also known as FAQ pages, are online pages that contain a series of commonly ask questions and answers on a particular topic, usually revolving around different aspects of the website. Ideally, FAQ pages should help users find answers to their questions quickly and easily without the need for support. This article will explore several aspects of FAQ page creation,...
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The Importance of Personal Development for...
Many people shy away from the idea of personal development. Strangely enough, the idea of becoming a better person and being happier is seen as some silly activity. But, in reality, we all want this and we resist it because we shy away from personal responsibility; also, the idea of actually facing all our internal junk kind of scares us and we would rather not. No matter what type of person you...
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How to Create a Lasting Impression with Your...
Although some people think that the catalogue business is being pushed out of the way by online retail stores, there are plenty of consumers out there who purchase items from catalogues on a daily basis. By following a few easy tips and creating an attractive catalogue, you can leave a lasting impression on potential customers and existing customers alike.
Use High Quality Paper
Although it might...
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Spam, Glitches, and Cost: 5 Drawbacks of Email...
Businesses use email marketing as a way to get in touch with their customers and provide them with information. Unlike direct mail, email places the company’s marketing message directly in front of their customer—or so they hope. Email marketing is not perfect, and while it does have a few benefits, it also has its fair share of disadvantages. Before you opt to use email as your next marketing...
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Win FREE Tickets to the #SmallBizTechTour in...
The third annual Small Business Technology Tour, produced by Smallbiztechnology.com, and sponsored by Intel, will be visiting Atlanta on November 1st. The tour will be a full day of information, insight, energy and fun; organized by Ramon Ray, editor and technology evangelist of Smallbiztechnology.com. This all day event shows small business owners how to use technology as a tool to grow their...
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Happy National Boss Day!!!
Boss’s everywhere today is your day! National Boss Day is traditionally celebrated on October 16 in the United States and Canada. It is a day for employees to thank their bosses for being kind and fair throughout the year.
Patricia Bays Haroski registered “National Boss Day” with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1958. She was working as a secretary for State Farm Insurance...
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The Most Affordable Methods for Accepting Credit...
If your online business accepts credit card payments, you likely understand that there are an incredible number of fees involved in doing so. You will be charged transaction fees, interchange fees and authorization fees, among others. Accepting a credit card payment for a $100 invoice can easily cost you between $2.00 and $5.00, depending on the third-party processor you choose to use. If you...
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Small Business Owners WIN a $6,000 Custom Website
Switch It Up web design is hosting a contest for small business owners. If your small business does not have a website or your current website is old and out-dated this contest is for you! Switch It Up wants to help your small business get noticed and stand out online which is why they are giving away a custom website worth $6,000 to one small business owner. The top three contestants...
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Yes, You Can Legally Spy on Your Competitors!
You don’t need to hire a detective or a computer hacker to get the juicy details on your competitor. There are a lot of tried and tested legal ways to get the next big plans of your competitors. Here are some of them.
Read
You can read the newspaper or your competitor’s blogs. If a magazine has a feature on them, buy that magazine and start reading. They usually reveal company secrets and...
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Need a Steady Stream of New Customers? Target New... →
When it comes down to marketing to acquire new customers the key is to check out what your competition is doing and then do the complete opposite. Even if what they are doing is working for them it is vital that you still stray away from what they are doing, because the key is to stand out. One surefire way to stand out and get your business in front of an audience that is ready to buy is to...
