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ERP Software & Business Accounting Software to Support Your Growing Business Needs

Popular ‘shrinkwrap solutions’ Quickbooks and Peachtree have been the launching point for many a business. These products are easy to use, flexible, and with the built-in two dimensional reporting, are outstanding for accounting, and even some advanced application areas like project billing and procurement management.

When is it time to move on, some company owners may ask? While there are probably 50 or so good reasons, but for the purposes of this article, I will highlight a few. If you are running a standalone Ecommerce solution that does not tie to your accounting system, that may be reason one. If you are running a simple sales force automation system like ACT!, Salesforce.com or Goldmine, and the quoting and customer master records are not tied to your accounting systems items, that may be another. In both these examples, integrated systems allow you standardized pricing by customer, item, promotion, or even dealer (partner).

The biggest justification may come with people running simple production planning and scheduling functions on spreadsheets. By passing around spreadsheets, companies are wasting time, and errors can be easily made. Also, once your production scheduling is complete, there is usually no ‘put back,’ to the accounting system. The justification for a systematic planning and scheduling system tied to your back office may be in inventory reduction, improved customer service, or lead-time reduction. If you can add an ‘available to promise,’ to commit an order to a key prospect or customer, you may be able to improve your top line as well.

From an IT infrastructure standpoint, you may start to wonder why the servers in some hidden room in your company are growing. Well with all these disparate systems, it is often time easier to add a server than to try to consolidate applications on one server. This adds complexity and increases your reliance on costly IT personnel.

Find an online, subscription based solution that combines ERP, CRM, Ecommerce and business intelligence in one simple solution. All you should need is a web browser and a high speed line. In summary, small companies can benefit by:

1) Reducing the ‘islands of automation,’ that require rekeying and are conducive to mistakes
2) Reduce the dependence on internal systems and IT personnel
3) Dive into advanced integration application areas like aftermarket service, planning/scheduling, Ecommerce and configuration management and comprehensive sales force automation.

Take Your Customer Service Dept From ‘Cost Saving & Cost Reduction’ To High Profit & Business Growth

The more communication I have with people involved in telephone service and sales, such as Contact/Call Centers and Customer Service Departments, the more amazed I become at the reluctance to create more sales and profit opportunities through better interaction with current customers, reactivation of lost accounts and new business acquisition.

Companies are forever seeking ways to cut costs and reduce staff – particularly so in Call/Contact Centers (turning so many into ‘Call ‘n’ Wait’ disaster zones) – they often fail to see what rewards they can achieve by using the following formula:

1 humble telephone + 1 skilled operator + 1 established sales system = HUGE PROFITS!

Here are twelve ideas that can dramatically improve your bottom line RESULTS build greater customer RELATIONSHIPS and earn you (a company of any size and industry) more REVENUE.

1. Build the loyalty of your current customers

A ‘no brainer’ right? Why is that so many customers cannot get through to you, when it suits them?

Why are you constantly offering free incentives and reduced prices to gain new business?

CRM is meant to be the new service elixir. Well it is worth nothing if you don’t listen to your customers.

Here’s an example – in the last six months or so, a metropolitan daily newspaper has offered ten-week subscriptions for $39.90 (I pay more and have subscribed for 20 years), contests (win wine if you subscribe, see a rock group in concert!) and give-aways to induce new subscribers. Me, I get some sort of special club membership with the odd discount or special offer. But hey, so do the new subscribers! Who’s ahead?

2. Gain referrals from current customers

The cost of losing customers is almost incalculable. Add to that the people they tell about their bad experiences and the people they never refer to you.

Instead, offer your current customers a total strategy of satisfaction and benefits. Then, encourage them to tell others.

Don’t reward these referred customers (but do give them total satisfaction and benefits). Do reward your current customer for their referral. Develop a system that will encourage customers to tell friends, family, their customers and associates about you and then say ‘thank you’ or offer them something of value for their efforts.

3. Add VALUE to every sale

Here is a really simple equation: If you give value – you get more sales.

That’s it. If your people are trained to offer advice and information, educate customers, offer them creativity and innovation then your customers will buy more products and services, more often.

Even if your prices are slightly higher. This was the IBM way, back in the 60’s and 70’s with some great lessons to be learned. IBM charged the steepest prices in the industry but their service and support was legendary. The phrase ‘no one ever got fired for buying IBM’ originated way back then.

4. Turn an enquiry into a prospect

Then, turn that prospect into a customer. Then turn that customer into an advocate, one of your company’s ‘raving fans’.

All you need are trained people, a system and a monitoring and measuring plan. Simple? Yes it is, and like all things mentioned in this article, I will bet that some of your people excel at this and a number of them perform basic courtesies with callers – and that’s it.

5. Create an upsell program

One becomes two. Two becomes four. Four becomes … greater than the GDP of Argentina.

It is so simple, easy and effective and so few organisations employ this strategy. Many of your people don’t do this because they think the additional cost will put the customer off. It doesn’t. Not if the customer actually sees the benefit of greater quantity or improved quality.

6. Cross-sell at every opportunity

What can your people add on the original purchase? Extended warranty, on-site service, insurance, a savings if they purchase an additional item(s), a special offer or other options?

If everyone in your organisation upsold and cross-sold at every given opportunity, your sales would soar. I have witnessed increases of between 15-45% in companies where a simple upsell/cross-sell strategy was installed.

7. Negotiate on price

Don’t just offer a discount or ‘best price to you’. Let me reiterate, if you give value – you get more sales. Negotiate price. Train your people that by dropping price, they are giving away margin. So, if you offer a discount negotiate an upsell and/or cross sell. Package or bundle your offer to make it attractive and a genuine customer benefit.

8. Follow up

Every time your people give a quote, send a proposal or brochure out via fax, mail or e.mail, they should record a follow up timeframe.

Between one hour and three days. Everyone who requests information should be followed up by telephone. This leads to a higher close or conversion rate (I have witnessed 20-50%) or, if they have purchased elsewhere – your follow up call may be the commencement of a relationship … or not. But you won’t know if you don’t follow up.

This rule should also be applied to complaint management. Most companies have no follow through with people who have complained.

9. Adopt a ‘keep in touch’ program

What can you do for your customers that will allow you to contact them on a planned, regular basis?

Special offers, new product or service introductions or …? The best forms of ‘keep in touch’ are e.mail combined with a regular phone call.

But be warned – you should have a purpose for every call you make or email you send. Don’t just bombard your customers (and prospects) with garbage.

10. Develop a systematic approach to lost customer reactivation

The longer you fail to make or maintain contact, the likelier you are to lose customers forever.

If you check the most recent contact vs previous contact frequency, you can detect a lost or about to be lost customer. Do something to regain their business.

This is the most costly part of your operation – the lost customer, the lost referral.

Do you have a lost customer reactivation plan?

11. Gain new customers

Why are there so few high quality telemarketing divisions in companies? Certainly, the ‘T’ word is considered dirty and grubby in some quarters and indeed it can be. However, where you have trained professionals, comprehensively developed objectives and strategies why wouldn’t a well run telemarketing campaigns gain new business and new relationships for your organisation?

Quality telemarketing will generate leads, open up new business channels/market segments, build business with small, marginal and distance customers, give you real value (as a follow up) from exhibitions and seminars.

This is one of the most under utilised resources for business acquisition (and reactivation).

12. Develop and work your system

Success will come in all of the previously mentioned guidelines, tips and hints if you adopt a systematic approach. That is:

a) A sales and service oriented contact management system, based on a quality CRM package.

b) Well trained people who consistently add value to and gain value from every call they take or make.

c) Monitoring, Measuring and Reviewing each of the above and seeking continuous improvement both in contact management and people skills.

It is simple and what’s more, it works. Use the power of the humble telephone (and quality people) wisely, and you will gain great RESULTS: Relationships and Revenue.

The CEO’s Guide To Succession Planning – Managing Risk & Ensuring Business Continuity

Introduction

Once reserved for the upper echelons of senior management, and often viewed as replacement planning should catastrophe strike, today’s succession planning is being redefined. The discipline has broadened in both breadth and scope to become a central component of board-level strategy.

Succession planning focuses on managing risk and ensuring continuity across all levels of the organization – risk of untimely departures of critical personnel, risk of retirees taking their skills and knowledge with them and leaving nothing behind, and risk of losing high value employees to competitors. It does so by helping your business leaders to identify top performers within the organization, create dynamic “talent pools” of this critical talent that other leaders can leverage, and prepare and develop these high performing employees for future roles.

If this was easy, everyone would be doing it. The problem that exists today is that succession planning is barely automated, let alone optimized. This CEO guide provides five key tips for jump starting your succession planning efforts.

1. Automate and Reduce Costs

Today’s succession planning efforts are characterized by fragmented, inconsistent, paper-based processes. Indeed, 67% of companies are still primarily paper-based, according to a global survey conducted by SumTotal.

Conventionally, business and HR leaders will spend weeks or even months manually scouring different parts of the organization for information needed to build lists and pools of nominees and successors for specific job families or positions. The information required to generate the lists often includes self assessments, past performance appraisals (often paper-based), and 360 feedback. After a lengthy period of information gathering and aggregation followed by manual analysis (e.g., nine-box, gap analysis), the results are printed and collated into large three-ring binders for use in executive planning meetings. This time-consuming, inefficient, and costly process is still commonplace today.

To effectively transform succession planning from a manual, paper-based process to one that is systematic and technology-enabled, CEOs must focus on laying a solid foundation supported by strong executive leadership.

Program & Process Foundation

Establish dedicated management function (e.g., program management office) with CEO-sponsored executive leader or council (with senior representation from line-of-business, geography, and corporate HR)
Define core succession process along with key constituents and tasks at each step of the process; Clearly articulate touch points to other business processes (e.g., performance management, career development)
Understand implications of change with emphasis on managers & employees
Align program with broader business strategy
Determine initial scope (e.g., enterprise-wide, divisional)
Define processes independent of technology

Technology Foundation

Must support and enable key processes
Must integrate learning and development
Must link seamlessly to other business processes, especially performance management
Must be flexible and configurable to meet unique needs
Must centralize and consolidate key information and data
Must be easy for managers and employees to use

2. Drive Succession Planning Deeper into Your Organization

Many CEOs still view succession planning as replacement planning to designate successors in the event of a catastrophe befalling senior company leaders. Indeed, succession planning penetrates only the highest levels of the organizational hierarchy, according to survey data. Only 35% of companies currently focus their succession planning efforts on most critical roles within the organization.

Yet a most dramatic transformation is underway: 65% of the organizations surveyed plan to extend succession planning to all critical positions within the two years. Applying succession planning beyond the top layers of management is critical to retaining high performers across all levels of the organization and mitigating the risk of untimely departures of personnel in high-value positions.

The key to extending succession planning into the organization is to provide career development planning to employees. Indeed, fully 97% of business and HR leaders believe that a systematic career development process positively impacts employee retention and engagement. These leaders also believe that providing career advancement opportunities as well as dedicated development planning to employees are the two most important mechanisms for retaining high performers.

Retaining existing employees not only has the potential to minimize the effects of talent shortages, it also provides significant and tangible cost savings (since replacement costs range from 100%-150% of the salary for a departing employee).

3. Establish Dynamic Talent Pools to Improve Pipeline Visibility

Centralized talent pools provide CEOs with global visibility into their talent pipeline and overall organization bench strength. They provide a mechanism for ensuring that the organization’s future staffing plans are adequate, thereby reducing risk and ensuring continuity. To be truly effective, talent pools need to be dynamic in nature. For instance, if an employee is terminated, that person should be automatically removed from existing successor pools. Alternatively, if an employee closes a key skill or certification gap that had previously kept her from being considered as a successor, the pool should be updated appropriately. Talent pools that are inaccessible or not up-to-date are of little use to decision makers.

A key element of making talent pools accessible is in-depth searching for talent exploration. A talent pool is not much good if managers cannot easily view, track, update, and search for potential successors. Dynamic talent pools should take the guess work out of succession planning by aligning employee assessments, competencies, development plans, and learning programs. Proactive system monitoring ensures that as employees learn and grow, talent pools are dynamically updated to reflect the changes. It is this element in particular – supported by robust reporting and analytic capabilities – that helps CEOs make more objective staffing decisions and better plan for future staffing needs.

4. Promote Talent Mobility to Retain High Performers

Industry analyst firm Bersin & Associates defines talent mobility as “a dynamic internal process for moving talent from role to role – at the leadership, professional and operational levels.” The company further states that “the ability to move talent to where it is needed and by when it is needed will be essential for building an adaptable and enduring organization.”[1]

Talent mobility is:

A business strategy that facilitates organizational agility and flexibility
A mechanism for acquiring and retaining high performing and potential talent
A recruiting philosophy that favors internal sourcing over costly external hiring
A method for aligning organizational and individual needs through development
A proactive and ongoing approach to succession planning rather than a reactive approach

A systematic talent mobility strategy enables business leaders to more effectively acquire, align, develop, engage, and retain high performing talent by implementing a consistent, repeatable, and global process for talent rotation. Without a cohesive talent mobility strategy, CEOs face several risks:

Focus on costly external recruiting vs. internal sourcing
Wrong hires (cost can be 3-5x person’s salary)
Increased high performer churn
Reduced employee engagement
Reduced flexibility as business conditions change

CEOs should consider the following integrated processes – and a complete technology platform to support them – to promote and enable talent mobility:

Current workforce analysis:Includes detailed talent profiles, employee summaries, organization charts, competencies, and job profiles.
Talent needs assessment: Assess employees on key areas of leadership potential, job performance, and risk of leaving.
Future needs analysis:Development-centric succession planning to create and manage dynamic, fully-populated talent pools.

5. Integrate Succession Planning to Broader Business Processes

Succession planning is not a silo. It implicitly relies on other talent processes and data, especially assessments that provide a performance and competency baseline. Yet unlike a performance management process, which can be executed in a relatively self-contained fashion (assuming it has access to core employee data), the same is not true for succession planning.

Succession planning requires foundational data (e.g., competencies, job profiles, talent profiles, and employee records) and inputs (e.g., appraisals, feedback). Outputs include nominee pools, successor pools, development/learning plans, and reports. To facilitate the level of integration required to get succession planning right, a single, natively-integrated technology platform that centralizes key talent processes and information is required. With this single platform, the time to develop succession plans can easily be reduced from weeks or months to mere hours. The benefits can be significant: reduce costs, reallocate personnel from tactical activities to more strategic endeavors, and mitigate the risk of untimely departures of essential personnel.

Additionally, a single technology platform promotes the linkage of learning and career development to succession planning. By bridging these processes, nominees who are not ready for advancement can be assigned detailed development plans that guide them to improve the competencies and skills required for new job positions. Learning paths and specific courses can be established for employees to facilitate their career growth. By providing learning opportunities and development plans to employees, CEOs can take a more active role in promoting employee growth, retention, and engagement.

Finally, with a single system of record, reporting and analysis is vastly improved, since all relevant talent data resides within a single data structure. Strategic cross-functional metrics can be readily established (e.g., measure the impact of learning and development programs on performance). Reporting and analysis are key to the CEO’s success in managing employee resources and implementing strategies that support corporate objectives and initiatives.

Conclusion

Organizations can realize significant efficiency gains and cost savings by moving from a manual, paper-based succession process to one that is fully technology-enabled. The shift to a single technology platform facilitates extending succession planning deeper into the organization, since a well-architected solution seamlessly links succession to career development and learning. A complete platform improves senior management’s global visibility into the talent pipeline and bench strength, and promoting talent mobility to retain high performers becomes a viable engagement strategy. Succession planning, done correctly, is all about process and supporting technology integration. Without integration, succession planning becomes just another organizational silo.

Endnotes

[1]Lamoureux, Kim. “Talent Mobility: A New Standard of Endurance.” Bersin & Associates, November 30, 2009.

Teaching Business English With "Risk & Reward"

Any English teacher knows the value of using an occasional game in an English classroom. The game is often a welcome change from grammar lessons, short readings, writing practice, and contrived conversational situations. Learners are more at ease and put their more of their mind toward the challenge of the game rather than the English. But the English conversation practice to resolve those challenges–whether it’s learning the rules of the game or actually playing the game–is what is most important to these learners. They are practicing English while having something else (i.e., the game) to think about.

“Risk & Reward” is a business game for business and technical English learners. The class is broken into teams of two to four learners each. The teams will compete against each other as to who can best manage business risk.

Each team is given some seed money to start investing. At each turn, the team is given four possible investments, each with its own risk and reward profile. Some investments are quite safe but have a low return. Other investments are very profitable but are risky. Some investments are a good balance of profit and safety. And some investments are not good investments at all. The team will use their English to discuss their four investments and choose the best one.

The team then calls the instructor over and draws from a set of random number cards. The card determines whether the investment is successful or not. If not, the team proceeds to the next turn and is given another set of four investments.

If successful, the team then enters the awarded cash flow into their ledger sheet. This ledger keeps record of their investing throughout the game. For most business people, this ledger will be quite easy to understand: the English that explains it will be their challenge. The instructor’s manual has a very thorough explanation for the instructor to learn how to use this ledger.

When entering the numbers, it should be done with the supervision of the instructor or appointed assistant. The team and assistant will use their English to reconcile the team’s rightful amount according the rules and the successful investment’s profile.

Some learners will have already had some finance training and will understandably want to do some financial calculations to make their decision. When the instructor hears words like “discount rate” and “present value,” he or she should bring out the one-page financial analysis sheet which has all the appropriate financial calculations already completed. With this sheet, the learners can concentrate on their English conversation, not business calculations.

The game is designed so that the teams need not be all at the same turn. Some discussions will be lengthy; some will be short; successful investments will take more time to process than unsuccessful investments. In other words, each team goes at its own pace. As well, working with this formula provides another unique opportunity for “numbers English” practice.

The learning from “Risk & Reward” is enhanced by its complementary online activity: “Risk & Reward Online.” By listening to actors play this game before they come to class, learners will get a better understanding of the rules of the game. So the learning curve, which can be a somewhat frustrating experience in an English classroom, has been reduced by having the learners first go through the online listening activity. Some learners may even glean some useful strategy to help them win the game!

But the dialogue has another innovative teaching feature: it was done totally impromptu! The actors used the language they normally would use. And like most native speakers, their English was far from perfect. To help explain the imperfect English from native speakers, “Risk & Reward Online” has identified about 300 troublesome spots and provided popup explanations. For those English learners who find understanding native speakers difficult, “Risk & Reward Online” should be used to its fullest.

“Risk & Reward” and “Risk & Reward Online” provide a very unique business English training experience. Here’s a summary of benefits not found from the established BE publishers:

Business game to generate classroom conversation
Ledger to generate accounting English conversation
Online activity to support classroom activity
Online activity to analyze the imperfect English spoken by native speakers
Both the game and online activity are free to the instructor and learners

The downside to Risk & Reward is the extra prep time for the instructor. There is no showing up ten minutes before class to make this BE activity work well. However, the improved learner engagement and unique learning experience should make the instructor’s time investment worthwhile. And BE instructors who do invest the extra time will be recognized as the masters of their profession!

An Introduction – Web Hosting & Domain Name

Web hosting is a kind of a company which gives you a space in a server for your website, and you’re connected to the entire world. You can find lots of hosting companies out there so to make sure that you are getting the best deals and services, you should look and opt for some of the top web hosting providers.

Before you choose a company, some points should be kept in mind. First of all you should check company’s reputation and collect some information about that company. Do some research about a few company’s and their services and evaluate them according to your necessities, collect information about support and backup of that company, check companies creditability and customer services. Check how many features company gives you, how many space it provides, what is the bandwidth size, you should collect all the above information before joining any companiy’s services.

Basically Hosting is a business of storing and manage Web Pages of your website. A web server holds thousands of websites, runs 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. So web hosting is a method to earn money online.

You should take unlimited bandwidth facilities to your hosting company, so your visitors open many pages and you can load video in your site.

There are many kinds of Web hosting companies like Free web hosting companies, Reseller web hosting, VPS (Virtual Private Server) etc.

Domain Name

Domain Name is an address of a site on internet like http://www.example.com. It is an addressing scheme assigns names and numbers to identify the computers on the Internet.

A good Domain Name is that which clarify your business or your work, for example a website which gives you information about Tennis that Domain Name must relate to Tennis like www. Tennisedu.com, www. Tennissport.com Domain Name is difficult to remember so Domain Name should be short and easy.

Some Domains are

.gov = Government agencies

.edu = Educational institutes

.org = Organizations (Non Profit)

.mil = Military

.com = Commercials Business

.net = Network Organizations

.ca = Canada

.uk = United Kingdom

.in = India

Choosing The Right Photos For Your Website & Online Brand

How smart companies use images to boost their online presence

You might think for an agency that does so much web design and blogging, we’re just writing and geeking out on code all day.

And that’s partly true – we do do a lot of writing and custom coding.

But part of being a good digital agency is understanding the role that visuals play, both in creating a website and fostering an online brand and presence.

Forget the old saying. Online, a picture is worth way more than a thousand words.

That’s why today we’re covering how to choose photos for your website and online marketing that will really pop and make potential clients remember you.

And don’t worry. Even if you don’t have the budget for a fancy photographer, there’s still plenty of ways to get great images for your website, which we’ll also cover below.

Using Images in Marketing

Humans are visual creatures, and that doesn’t magically change when we go online. That’s why using images for online brand marketing is critical.

Every image you share should invoke an emotion and represent your brand identity – whatever makes you, you. Sure, taglines and content are incredibly important (and critical if you want to rank on Google).

But images tap into and relay your uniqueness in an instant. In fact, neuroscientists at MIT have determined that it only takes 13 milliseconds to process an entire image.

So if you want to create a connection with your audience in an instant, then crisp, beautiful photos that represent your brand well are the way to go.

Today’s customers want to connect with authentic brands. The better you’re able to serve them stunning images that paint a picture, the more likely they are to become raving fans. And the more likely they are to become ambassadors for you.

In fact, a study from BuzzSumo found that articles using an image once every 75-100 words received double the social media shares as articles with fewer images.

Clearly, images matter, and can dramatically improve your website content.

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READ: Is Your Business Brand Identity Memorable Enough?

When thinking of your product or service what comes to mind? What do people envision? What characteristics do they attach to what you provide? And does it stand out from your competitors?

When building a memorable business brand, these are important questions to consider; otherwise, you risk losing valuable business because your brand isn’t differentiated enough from others who are going after the same target audience as you.

Your brand should invoke an identity, an emotion, characteristics and something that makes you, you. This is where that differentiation comes into play – tapping into and relaying your uniqueness.

Read more on our website

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Importance of Images in Web Design

Given the fact that at least 38% of users will stop engaging with an unattractive website design, using attractive images in your website is a no-brainer.

But images do so much more for your website.

First, images on your website can improve your SEO.

When Google scans your website, it looks at all your content, including your images. So good, optimized images can improve your Google rankings.

In fact, website content with images gets 94% more views than content without. So if you want more traffic, you need to use more photos on your website.

Using images properly can also keep people on your website longer.

And the stakes are even higher if you run an ecommere website. According to this Kissmetrics study , 93% of buyers consider visual appearance to be the most important factor when making a purchase!

And like we’ve covered, images also keep users more engaged.

Remember that people are busy, and they tend to scan through websites. Breaking your text up with shorter paragraphs, and interspersed with interesting photos and infographics, can help make your website more accessible and user friendly

Of course, this only works if you’re using images properly. This means using only relevant and attractive images, with small file sizes. It’s also best to use images of people as much as possible.

And remember, one of the most important elements of using images on your website or other online efforts is to ensure that you only use photos which you own or have the right to use, which we cover next.

How To Choose Photos For Your Website

So how to actually choose photos for your website?

First, think about the first impression you want to give. Create a brand guide that includes your brand colours and fonts, but also what look and feel you want your imagery to portray. And decide what types of images should and should not appear.

Ultimately, you want to be using high-quality images that deliver purpose and meaning. And it’s critical you have the right to use them.

If you have the budget to work with a photographer – great! Be sure to work with one who is willing to learn about your brand guide and work closely with you to create just the right images. This is one time where it really pays to be picky.

And if you don’t have the budget to work with a photographer – great! There are so many options for great stock photography available now, which can be much more affordable, or even free.

For paid stock photos, we recommend Depositphotos, which we’ve used for years without a hitch.

And if you’re just starting out and need to stick to free photos, check out Unsplash, which has a large amount of beautiful stock photos that are free to use, without attribution or permissions, for all commercial and non-commercial purposes.

When choosing stock photos, you need to be even more careful about choosing images that represent your brand well. Try to avoid stock photos where people are looking directly at the camera, which tend to be a bit cheesier and less authentic.

Finally, remember that visual clutter is actually a bad thing. Try to focus on using a few great images, smartly arranged. A good web developer can help ensure your website looks great and converts well, using just the right combination of beautiful images, captivating written content, and well-placed calls-to-action.

The better you’re able to use photos in your website and online marketing, the better you’ll be able to connect with your audience.

My team helps small businesses create just the right brand, along with website design, SEO and digital marketing. Talk with us to get started with an attractive brand that showcases your company perfectly.

To your business success,

Susan

Small Business Web Design & SEO Tips to Boost Your Website Ranking

If you are an entrepreneur, then it is very important to understand the trends & challenges of the business market in today’s competitive world. As a startup, you must have to compete with the industry giants in your business.

Online business is now overlapping the traditional way of business. Hence, it is very important to create a strong online presence for your business. No wonder you had to deal with those industry giants too.

The primary requirement for creating an online presence for your business is “A Website”. A website, that helps to establish a brand. A website, that helps to grow your online presence. A website, that helps to build trust in the market & brings you business.

In order to have such a website, you need to focus on two things.

Website Design(UI/UX)
SEO

There are two options to build a website. Either you hire a freelance web designer or an agency who can build you a website or you create a Job vacancy – pay salary to a web designer who can make your website in-house right in front of you.

If it is a small website that didn’t need frequent changes, then hiring a freelance web designer or web design agency is the best option. Simply, contact some of the website designers or website designing agency. Spend some time on their work portfolio. Analyze & evaluate their work. Talk with them about your business and then select the best you think for your business website.

If your website needs daily updation, then you can hire a web designer/developer to work in-house so that quick changes can be done according to your preference.

However, you can also hire an agency who can work for you on a routine basis or as website maintenance contract.

Whatever the way you choose, make sure to follow these Web Design Tips for Small Business Website

The second thing you need to focus on is its SEO.

It is highly advisable to hire an internet marketing agency who can handle your total internet marketing because such agencies have skilled experience experts along with the needful resource through which they can rank your website better in search engines.

You can also hire an SEO expert who can work for you in-house. Analyze your requirement. Depending on your business, you can choose either. Whatever you choose, make sure to follow this SEO checklist for your small business. It will help you to take care of your rankings in search engines and brings you a business and qualified leads.

Women & Business Partnership – The Good, the Bad and the Synergy

Team sports prepare boys for the corporate model of business. Girls, however, typically play closely with one or two friends. What great preparation for entrepreneurial partnership! So it is fitting, as women continue to start businesses in record numbers, that many are finding partnership is a comfortable format. In fact, business partnership works for women coming from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences including those tired of hitting the corporate glass ceiling, stay-at-home Moms, and women who want to turn their passions and their social connections into business ideas.

Partnership brings a wide variety of benefits including a sense of connection and someone to cover when you go on vacation. On the other hand, many partnerships end in crisis and conflict. To avoid partnership failure, your partnership needs to possess the following seven components of positive partnership.

Shared Values. Partners need a sense of shared standards regarding what is desirable, undesirable, good, and bad. These values will guide partners’ actions, judgments, and choices. Values, which often carry considerable emotion, may range from valuing family, prosperity, ambition, a work ethic, or a political persuasion. In addition to helping partners make congruent decisions, shared values serve to keep partners united.

Different (Complementary) Skills and Traits. Successful partners will possess different (complementary) skills and traits. The broader the partners’ range of skills, the clearer the division of their labor (and power) can be. It may be easy to distinguish the marketing person from the technical person in a business but other necessary variables are often not as easy to see. Michael Gerber’s classic book “The E-Myth” explains that a business owner needs to play three roles, Entrepreneur – the creative visionary; Manager, the administrator who brings planning, order and predictability; and Technician – the craftsperson. Partnerships have a distinct advantage in that two or more invested people are available to perform the three necessary roles.

Sense of Equity. Equity occurs when the rewards of a relationship are proportional to what each side perceives as his or her contribution. Strangers and casual acquaintances maintain equity by keeping track of the benefits they exchange. However, in long-term and more committed relationships it is not healthy to keep track. Instead, a sense of equity should be established. A perception of inequity (I am giving more then I get) takes a tremendous toll on a partnership.

Growing Together. From the moment we are born until the day we die, we are in the process of growing and changing. Partners and their partnerships are continuously undergoing this process of change. However, we are often not aware of the changes we’re experiencing. And, sometimes change is viewed as a threat to the status quo. Successful partners embrace change and growth, knowing that this attitude benefits both their individual and shared professional identities.

Proactive Conflict Management Strategies. Competing and avoiding are not effective conflict management strategies for partnership. Instead, successful partners will use proactive and strategic approaches to conflict management such as accommodation, compromise and collaboration to resolve their differences.

Shared Vision. Partners need a shared vision or plan for the future. Vision is what determines and expresses where an organization wants to go and how it intends to get there. A shared vision allows partners to focus on their goals and the methods they will use to achieve those goals. When partners hold different visions they become discouraged, overwhelmed, and disconnected. In order to create and effectively benefit from a shared vision, four tasks are necessary: creating the initial vision, translating that vision into the necessary physical actions, articulating and selling the vision to others, and holding true to the essence of the vision when reality changes the plans.

An Exit Strategy. It has been said that a graceful exit is proof of a successful venture. Without an exit strategy in place partners can be faced with making crucial decisions at a time when they were least levelheaded. An exit strategy is a shared sense of when and how an alliance will end and one should be included as the end-point in a business plan. However, while planning for the end may be a critical aspect of owning a business, it is also one of the most neglected. Exits are easy to avoid when the issue is not pressing and raising the issue might sour the deal or suggest a lack of trust. Four questions should be addressed when considering an exit plan: what events might trigger an end to the partnership; how will the business be valued at the end; which options for future ownership are acceptable; and what post-alliance ties and restrictions, such as non-compete clauses, need to be included.

When you enter into a partnership that is strong in these seven components you have the potential to create synergy and reap some amazing benefits. True synergy comes about when two (or more) people work together to create results that would have been unobtainable independently. In a synergistic partnership 2+2>4 and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Small Business Idea – Home & Office Cleaning Business

For the cost of cleaning supplies and a stack of marketing materials – you can be well on your way to starting a Home or Office Cleaning business! A cleaning business is flexible and versatile in many ways. You can offer your services to small business offices, churches, day care centers, private homes, and much more. Due to the ease of start-up and low overhead costs, the cleaning business is often crowded and can be very competitive in some areas.

Here are a few things you will want to keep in mind if you are considering a Home or Office Cleaning Business:

1. What range of services will you offer?: This is one service based business where it may be best to keep your list of services as flexible as possible. Where one client may want to hire you for a weekly deep cleaning of their home, another client may need a one time service of clearing a cluttered garage. Someone may want a laundry service while another wants carpet cleaning. Be open to your clients needs and wants.

2. In what ways can you set yourself apart from the rest?: A home-owner or business in the market for a cleaning service ultimately want just two things – a clean home or office and peace of mind. How good you are at providing those things will determine the success of your business. When a person allows you into your private space, they are trusting that you will not steal or do anything else to betray their trust. As a small business owner, you do not have the brand recognition of a larger cleaning company, so you will have to work harder to gain clients. To give them peace of mind it may be wise to insure and bond your business, keep an up-to-date copy of your driving record, and criminal background check. You should offer to show any new client this information.

As society grows more conscious of the environmental impact of certain chemicals, people are moving towards eco-friendly or “green” alternatives. You can reach that demographic by offering green cleaning solutions and child-friendly methods. This will be very important for families.

3. How can I market and advertise my cleaning business: When it comes to advertising – you will want to concentrate your efforts to high volume social places. Your local grocery store, day care facility, church or shopping plaza are ideal locations. Consider spending the money to run a print ad in your towns newspaper and CraigsList.com is another great (free) alternative. Building your word of mouth reputation will be important, offer to clean the homes of friends and associates in exchange for a testimonial of your services. You may also want to consider marketing a contract deal to local apartment complexes, Realtors and credit unions. These companies will always need a reliable service to thoroughly clean apartments and homes after leases end, evictions and foreclosures. In fact, specializing in foreclosure clean-up may prove to be highly profitable.

Though the overall start up costs of a cleaning business are very low, you don’t want to make the error of skipping over the important steps. Make sure to register your business legally with your county, state and the IRS. Purchase a domain name and establish a website. Finally, you are a cleaning professional and must present yourself as such at all times. Although you are cleaning messes, your appearance should remain tidy!

Top 9 Online Jobs & Part Time Work From Home For College Students, Housewives & Freshers

Most people have certain unique skills that can be monetized. Also, you can re-skill yourself anytime nowadays. After starting to do these part time online works from home, your income would increase.

You can become a successful businessman / woman and increase your income and profits by starting these types of online businesses. These business ventures require little or no investment.

You can operate and sustain many of these business activities from your home. Even, if you are already employed, you can operate a small business. For many, these ventures can become a full-time business.

A few top proved and profitable part time jobs from home and small business ideas are listed here, which would suit the skills, knowledge, and temperament of different types of people. Here are some excellent online business ideas here for everyone.

You can start a small business on your own. You can set up a home office. You can utilize the workspace at your home.

Most of the times, a fast/reliable Internet connection, a computer, phones and the required skills are all that is needed to start a small online business.

Profitable Home-based Online Jobs For College Students/ Housewives/ Fresh Graduates/ Unemployed/ Working Professionals

1) Social Media Expert

You can offer your social media promotion and marketing services from your home to the small-scale businesses.

You may manage their Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media profiles, groups, and pages as a freelancer. You will be implementing the right methods for managing the posts, content, and followers.

2) Make Money From Home By Freelancing

One can earn money by offering various types of freelance services to the companies. Fiverr.com, Upwork.com, Peopleperhour.com, and Freelancer.com are some popular platforms for freelancers for getting projects. Numerous assignments and jobs are available for all kinds of skill sets.

Register at these sites as a freelancer to get projects. Technical services, website designing, content writing, logo designing, illustration, translation, proofreading, editing, ghostwriting, etc. are some sought-after areas for contract work.

Freelancing is one of the best online jobs for college students, fresh graduates, housewives and retired persons.

3) Creating a YouTube Channel

If you prefer online part time work and home based business ideas, then starting a YouTube channel is quite profitable.

Independent channels can be started by the users on YouTube and videos can be uploaded there for free. YouTube videos are highly popular. YouTube receives about a billion monthly visitors.

Videos showing and reviewing the latest gadgets, digital devices, electronics, cosmetics, etc. are very popular. You can create informative and entertaining videos, how-to video guides, videos on beauty/makeup tips, life and relationship tips, recipes, etc. that are highly profitable.

Most of us have seen advertisements while watching any video on YouTube. “Skip Ads” is clicked to watch an interesting video. This way the makers of the videos earn money. When the visitors play any video in which an ad is shown, the owner of the channel gains some money from Google. This process utilizes YouTube AdSense.

If needed, you can re-skill yourself anytime joining a short course, to learn the secrets of becoming a successful YouTube Channel owner.

4) Monetize Your Blog / Website Using Google AdSense and Affiliate Marketing

Do you have your blog/website where you have been posting great content? Does this site or blog have many visitors? If your answer is ‘Yes’ then you can start monetizing your blog. This is a profitable small business at home.

A great way to convert your blog into a source of income is using Google AdSense. Sign up for your Google AdSense account.

AdSense allows you to display ads on your blog or website. The ads are targeted at your website’s content. For including the AdSense ads to your website, you just have to add the script where you wish to display the ads. You can earn money if the site-visitors click on the ads to view them.

You can also register for affiliate programs. If your web content or blog post focuses on a specific topic, you can include affiliate ad links of products relevant to your content. If the reader clicks on the affiliate product link and purchases it, you will earn money as commission.

Amazon Associates Affiliate program is quite popular since Amazon.com has a vast range of products.

Monetizing your blog is a profitable part time work from home. Manage your blog or other’s blogs.

5) Online Tutor and Online Courses / eBooks

If you excel in the academics and can explain complex topics lucidly or have a flair for teaching you can become an online tutor. Earn money by sharing knowledge through online, virtual classes. You can teach and guide students online via video-calling.

Online tutoring is one of the best part time jobs from home.

You can work as an online trainer for your favorite subjects/skills. Also, if one is adept at creating videos and eBook, he/she can create online video courses and eBook courses. Reasonably priced online courses are very popular nowadays.

After creating eBooks, you can sell them via online retailers such as Amazon. Also, you can sell your courses, eBooks, and videos via your website.

6) Content Writing

A ghostwriter sells his/her articles or other written content to another party, without claiming any ownership or rights over those write-ups.

If you possess excellent writing skills, you can start your own writing business or work as a freelance writer. You can work as a content writer. This is one of the most popular part time work from home jobs.

For becoming a web content writer, you need to cultivate the proper reading, writing and research skills. You will get paid for writing creative or technical content such as reviews, articles, blogs, press releases, website content, social media content, etc.

7) Editing or Proofreading

Proofreading and editing are necessary for all significant write-ups. If you are good in the languages and have good reading and writing skills, you can start your editing/proofreading business.

8) Translator

Vital documents or articles often require translation services. If you are good in English or other languages, you can earn money by working as a translator online.

Create your online portfolio and register at the top freelancing websites.

9) E-commerce Business

Selling products and services online is easy nowadays. Collect your chosen products from a wholesaler and sell them at higher prices via your websites or sites like Amazon or eBay. You can also ship your goods to Amazon, and it would sell and ship them to the customers for you.

If you can make various types of the latest jewelry or other exciting handicrafts or attractive soft toys, you can sell them on sites like Etsy.

This is a great part time work from home for housewives, fresh graduates, students and retired people.