Archive for the ‘Business Tips’ Category

In these turbulent and unpredictable times, you need every competitive advantage you can get to stay ahead.  One powerful and low-cost tool is Online Video.  Video has a small learning curve, but can create big results.  In fact, video can become your secret weapon in the battle to buck the recession.

Using video to build your brand and boost your business – whether on the now ubiquitous YouTube or on your own website – actually attracts new customers and accelerates the sales process.  There are many compelling arguments for adding online video to your marketing mix, but none more important than the simple fact that video brings you closer to your customers and closer to the sale!

Adding online video to your marketing efforts also leverages your time and increases your online presence, 24/7.  Your video can be promoting you and working for you even while you sleep.  However, to make the most of your video, you’ve got to get it “out there,” and blast it to the widest possible audience.

My friend and colleague Lou Bortone is an online video branding specialist who has developed a complete, step-by-step process for maximizing your video distribution.  You can get a look at his “Video Traffic Blast” system here:  http://tinyurl.com/o8de44

Everyone who makes a video hopes it will go “viral” and spread like wildfire, but that rarely happens by accident.  You’ve got to make your video easy to share, and make sure it’s optimized to get the most mileage. 

Fortunately, video sites like YouTube and Blip.tv make it simple to share your video to other social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.  Once your video is uploaded to Blip.tv, for example, you can cross post to your blog or to a number of social networking sites with one click.  You can also use TubeMogul.com to blast your video to many sites at once.  Best of all, all of the video hosting sites are free to use.

You can learn much more and find out about the new “Video Traffic Blast” system by visiting the website here: http://tinyurl.com/o8de44

See you online!

You did it! You decided to take the leap and start your own business. You’ve invested in the necessary materials and you’ve developed your website. Now what? How can you make sure that your business will be successful and run longer than six months?

Many new business owners are very excited when they first make the leap to their own business. The problem is the excitement only lasts so long. To really be successful in a business, strategy has to come into play. Without strategy or a business plan, many new businesses fail in the first six months. Do not worry. Just follow the tips from the successful entrepreneurs below to help you develop a business strategy that meets your expectations.

Find a Mentor
“Would you open your own restaurant without ever eating in one, or without trying your hand at working in one? Of course not. Why, then, do so many people embark on a new business without talking to even one successful businessperson in their field? I encourage you to find – and meet – at least a couple of people who already have the kind of business you’d like to create. Find out how they got started. What’s working well for them and what’s not. Ask them what they wished they had done differently. Ask what suggestions they’d like to give you. In short, pick their brains! With this information in hand, it’ll be much easier to develop strategies for your own business. You’ll have the beginnings of a business model – and maybe even a mentor.” – Kathy Gulrich, Real Estate Expert

Developing a Plan for Your Business
“I’m a huge fan of planning and processes. Start by creating a goal plan for your business each year. Set goals that seem slightly out of reach and then find ways to achieve them. You might be surprised by what happens when you put your goals in writing. If you have employees or plan to, develop an operations manual. Countless hours of training time can be saved, not to mention the fact that you can minimize the number of mistakes made. Understand your target audience! Anyone who can fog a mirror is not a target audience for a business! Do you want to target women with children who are 30 to 45? Do you want to reach single dads aged 40+? Do you want to help teenagers who are struggling with math? Once you identify your audience, every action you take should be with your audience in mind.” – Stephanie Chandler, Entrepreneur Expert

SOMEDAY Is Not a Day of the Week!
“Having mentored many new business owners over my 20+ years in Direct Sales management, I would say that one key is to write down a date in your planner to get things done. One great technique is to put all the ideas or “to do” items on single note cards, paper pieces or sticky notes and then arrange them in the order you need to accomplish them. Next transfer these to a planner or calendar to give yourself a roadmap and some accountability. Even when things get bumped back a bit you will still be working on the details (which there are about a zillion of) in a logical order.”- Debbye Cannon, Shortcuts Expert

Follow Your Instincts and Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
“Some of the earliest mistakes I made in business were due to not following my instincts. I love to read business and personal development books. I enjoy getting ideas from other successful business people. But each of us is in business because we had an idea that inspired and motivated us. (If that’s not why you’re in business for yourself, stop right now and find a business that will inspire and motivate you). That same motivation and inspiration can serve to guide us through each step in our business when we learn to trust and follow it. Then just go for it! One of the most common pieces of advice I give people starting out in business is, “Get out there and fail!” Sometimes, we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. “Failure” has become a dirty word as people expect to launch a business and become the next overnight success story. (HINT: Most overnight success stories are 10 to 20 years in the making. We just don’t find out about them until they become successful!). When people meet me today, they assume that the success they see is the success I have always had. They don’t see the long nights of lost sleep, the mistakes along the way, the “lean times” or the times when I wondered if I was on the right track. Do what you love. Follow your instincts. Don’t be afraid to fail. And learn from every experience along the way.” – Brian Rooney, Autoresponders Expert

Design a Strategic Theme
“When designing a strategy for your business, I highly recommend that business owners design a “strategic theme,” which can serve as an umbrella for business direction. As an example, a strategic theme may be to use the power of social capital as foundation for driving the business forward. I also believe in using the Strengths Finder Profile by Buckingham and Clifton, because it will quickly reveal the strengths of the team and who can then drive each aspect of the strategic theme. Business strategies are only as effective as the people who implement them. When the right person is put on the right task, implementation becomes a breeze.” – Bea Fields, Leadership Expert

Start with Clear Vision
“When you start a business, the first order of business is to get clear on who you are and what you and your business are all about. Most everything else is a matter of tactics and tools that can be learned. When you begin with clarity of vision and purpose, making decisions is easy because you know where you are going. Get clear, then move from that solid core and you will bypass a massive amount of struggle and effort that most business owners experience.” – Ronda Del Boccio, Storytelling Expert

Starting a new business can be exciting. However, as taught by the experts above, developing a business plan is a big key for success. What advice would you give in developing a business plan?

What is the biggest problem that small internet business owners face? Lack of time. It takes a lot of time and energy to run a profitable business. Someone has to answer e-mails, market and promote the business, develop and send out a monthly newsletter, write articles to optimize search engine placement, develop or update a website, search for content to add to the website, and drive customers to the website! Are you tired yet? You may ask, “After all that how does anyone have time left to enjoy their business?” Well, the answer is…there isn’t any time left. Small business owners become stressed and frustrated. Some even end up quitting their business all together.

How can you avoid this problem? What is the key to being a successful small business owner? Hiring a reliable Virtual Assistant. Virtual assistance can give you that one precious gift you most desperately need–time. A Virtual Assistant can handle all the time consuming tasks so that you can actually enjoy your business.

Make a list of the things you need to do to run a successful business. Then, put a check by the things that you can delegate to someone else. For example, do you enjoy writing articles, or E-books? But, you don’t have time to promote them and write them? Then hire a Virtual Assistant to help you submit your articles to web sites, post blogs, create a newsletter, and update your web site so you can actually write.

You may ask, “Is hiring a Virtual Assistant cost effective?” Well, how much is your time worth? When you can delegate mundane tasks needed to keep your business running, then you will have more time to put into your business–thus, being able to increase your revenue.

So, give it a try. If necessary hire a Virtual Assistant on a trial basis to see if it works for you. You’ll be surprised at how much your business will actually grow.

What are your concerns about hiring a virtual assistant?

Being a mom and being a work at home mom are two things I really enjoy!  I’ve enjoyed being able to be with my kids this summer (ages 10, 7 and 4).  However, one thing I’ve noticed is that I don’t get nearly as much work done with my little darlings’ home 24/7.

I’ve tweeted and Facebooked about my dilemma and haven’t found any answers that worked for me.  So, I decided to put the topic to the experts on Ideamarketers to find the answer.  The question I asked was, “How can you be productive with your kids’ home in the summer?”  These wonderful expert business women came up with some great ideas.  I wrote an article from their tips called, “Tips for the Work at Home Mom” (click here to read entire article).

Today I want to share my tip with you.  I have found that if I tell my children that I need to work until a certain time, and if they’ve let me be productive, we will do something fun together. It could be as simple as playing a board game, running through the sprinkler, watching a TV show together, making s’mores in the microwave, watching them play video games, going to the library or going to the pool.

Let’s all share our tips.  We all have different aged children–so share what works for you at the age your children are.  How do you get work done with your children home during the summer?