This is a digital age and no matter what others like to believe, I think that it makes sense to go digital with regards to almost everything there is to be done in your small business. Think of accounting and invoicing for example.

You need to do this yourself and keep track of your payments which take your time away from the primary aspects of your business like marketing and sales – wouldn’t it be nice if there was someone for you to do it all automatically? Alas, you don’t have anyone like that and even if you did, you would spend way too much on that one glorified assistant. So what do you do? Use Zoho Invoice.

You can get started with Zoho Invoice for free as long as you just have 5 different clients to be invoiced regularly. For someone just starting out, this makes for a great option since you just get started in 30 seconds or less and get started right away. You could set up those invoices, add products or services that you sell (you could list services). Enter all your payment details like prices, the online accounts that will receive online payments for you – think paypal.com, authrorize.net, Google Checkout, etc.

If you have short term clients, you might just want to use paypal’s invoicing feature and get paid. However, if you have clients who pay you a retainer, or a monthly fee or any other kind of recurring payments, too much of time is lost trying to create invoices, send them, track them and then send follow-ups too.
All of the above can be automated by using Zoho Invoice. For each client, you would set it all up once and then it would all work by itself, leaving you free to focus on revenue generating activities of your business.

There are certainly other accounting and invoicing methods online and it is finally for you to choose. Zoho Invoice has been a webware winner and also comes with a complete suite  of web apps that you could use and most of them will be free initially. You will automatically want to upgrade when you need to.

Have you used any of these web based invoicing tools before? What’s your take on being able to invoice your clients professionally?

I was watching this movie called ‘Freedom Writers” the other day on HBO and I was very much moved by it. I was close to coming to tears, even. I even tweeted about it. What moved me so much was something, but I thought it has some lessons for the entrepreneurs today. Want to know what it is that I picked up as an entrepreneur myself? Here goes:

1. Toast For Change: One of the scenes in the movie I really liked was when Mrs.Gruwell — the temporary teacher a bunch of kids who sign-up for a voluntary education program get–  asks them to come forward, pick up a glass of sparkling cider and asks them to toast for change – what it means is that from  that day on, they will make one little change to their life that would mean a lot to them; that they will not let destiny design its evil schemes on them and that they acknowledge that it is in their control to do what they like with their lives. Are you entrepreneurs listening? It’s time for you to ‘Toast for Change”.
2. The time for change is today: Yeah, some people do keep making plans to change all the time. “I will start a business one day”, “I will travel through-out the world, one day”. When your “one day” would come, only God can tell. But I can tell you this much – having told myself that a million times already – that your “one day” is “today”. The time is now, do it or leave it.
3. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it: The bunch of kids in that movie is a special lot. They saw violence when they should be watching cartoon network. They saw killings when they should be home discussing school with parents. These are kids who are told everyday that they don’t “belong”, that they don’t “fit” and that they are a bane to the society.  However, they learn that they must not live by others’ sanction. They must not let others tell them whether they are good or bad; capable or incapable and that they must do what’s right for them. If you are a small business owner, I am sure you will be told similarly – that you can’t start a business; that businesses fail and that you aren’t capable. Don’t let those losers tell you that. You do it and fail if you must, then get up and do it again.

There are lessons that can be gleaned from anywhere. Where was it you picked your last lesson from?

Microsoft is now all set to release a complete web-based Office Suite 2010 (might or might not be named differently, later) in response to its chief nemesis Google having introduced a new web-browser called Chrome, which is all geared up to work as an operating system – which is then a direct rival to Microsoft’s long-time successful OS markets.

The web wars are on. Each day sees something new and I am afraid there is too much to catch up with. — new gadgets, software and technology and new ways to do old things. It’s getting too exciting to be sitting at home and watching TV. The question is, have you taken to the cloud yet?

Office Suites: Zoho and Google already have some incredible alternatives for the ubiquitous Microsoft Office. Not only are the former free or inexpensive to use, but they are also web-based and machine independent. There is no need to lug laptops around when you could access your documents from anywhere on the web. There is no fear of systems crashing and losing data due to machine theft or damage.

Accounting on the cloud: Why would you need an accountant when there are ways to manage your business accounting needs with cloud computing again? Products like freshbooks and Bionic Books make it incredibly easy to manage your entire accounting needs right on the Internet – as easy as checking your emails. Here is a post I found that talks about 5 Accounting Software You Could Consider.
Data back-up: There are plenty of reasons why you should back-up your data online and not go for the conventional methods of doing it. Cloud computing has always been in use for web-hosting companies but it is only now that we are beginning to use it for pure data storage and back-up. You could now put this fact to use and port all your data storage to third-party servers,

Customer Relationship Management: Products like Zoho and salesforce.com have no made it easy for you to manage and improve your customer relationships.com. Additionally, Infusionsoft — although a little expensive — still promises to put your lead generation on steroids. Most of your lead generation and customer management can be automated.

Are you on the cloud yet? Do you think you should jump with both your feet together onto the promises of the cloud?

Given today’s environs, investing in a physical office is foolishness unless your business demands it – like a retail store or a huge office backed-up by corporates. For a small business owner, it is not necessary to have a brick-and-mortar office. If you have one, it’s fine. However, if you are started out today, there is a way to do everything virtually. Here’s how:

Pick Up People Online and allow them to work virtually

Finding and retaining good people to work with has always been a challenging proposition for many companies world-wide. However, once the company is set-up on the Internet and you are looking for help globally, you have a wider pool to cast your net into. You can now use elance.com or guru.com to find the right people for your business. Almost anything that can be done on the computer can be done using these resources.

Manage resources online

The only problem with élance.com and guru.com is that the projects you might post there are strictly project-based deliverables. For instance, a web designing project you need to get done is posted, you’d receive bids which state that it could be done for so-and-so price within a week or two. Sometimes, this kind of set-up might not work for you in case you pay people per hour or if you felt the need for extreme supervision and vigilance. Use documentation software, scheduling software and collaboration software along with time-tracking software to manage your employees effectively.

You may even use odesk.com since it already has a lot of sophisticated technology to keep track of your providers’ activity using time-tracking and automatic payment facilities. Alternatively, you could then use basecamp, activecollab or some other collaboration software and have strict vigilance on team activities – it’d be just like working in the same floor of a company, except that it isn’t.

Use online data back-up

Why invest in expensive servers and data centers when you could just jump into the promise of “cloud computing” and use data back-up services on the Internet? Precious data like consumer records, financial information and any other sensitive data regarding your business doesn’t need to stay on-site and be at the risk of theft, loss or damage. Just activate any of the online back-up services like mozy.com, carbonite.com or livedrive.com and let things take care of themselves. You data is stored off-site in a remote location and with two such services in two different places, you will have more than sufficient data back-up.

By using the tips herein, I am sure you could start a company almost with no investment and all set to flush in great returns almost from day one. It takes smarts; but it isn’t difficult. Have you thought of setting up your business yet? What do you think of setting-up virtual offices for almost any kind of business?

Not everyone can be an entrepreneur; but everyone can be if they wanted to. Being an entrepreneur isn’t about getting out of college and picking up a job where you are probably hand-held, trained and taught things. You are backed by ardent support from your seniors up in your company and you have peers to share things with.

Business owners forego all of that. The path of entrepreneurship has its own pedagogy; its own way of teaching the ways of business to those who take it up. To be able to survive the punishing ways of entrepreneurship, you got to have the following traits:

1. Paranoia: Yes, paranoia. Constant fear of competitors, of business going down the tube, of employees leaving your company and of economic slow-downs and a hundred other externalities you have limited or no control on. Paranoia induces fear which is powerful. Conquer your fear and you have success sitting there coyly waiting for you to do what you want to do with it. If you aren’t paranoid, you will be complacent. Complacency can kill.
2. Hunger and Thirst: How badly do you crave for success? Assuming you had already thought of what you want out of your business, are you well on your course to get that? Do you have a fire raging in your stomach? How badly do you need to get where you want to go? To be successful in business, you got to have a degree of hunger and thirst to go for more. More customers, more profits, cut expenses even more, bigger offices, more branches, International expansion. More is everything. More is the mantra. No thirst? Go back to that job.
3. Doggedness and Determination: It won’t be easy to get there. You will be mocked; things won’t happen as you expect them to happen; partners cheat; customers walk away; brand takes a hit; employees join competition; economy slaps right across your face. What will you do? Keep at it. Continue doing it no matter what. If you don’t have this trait, you can’t do pretty much anything, anyway.
4. Decisiveness and Accountability: You don’t have all the time in the world. You got to make decisions and all decisions you make might not be the best ones. You should be able to live with the bad ones and ride on the good decisions. You are solely responsible for the success of your business. Suddenly, you transform into a payer, an employer and you would be responsible for many peoples’ livelihood. Can you handle all that?
5. Social: You will be doing business with people and some more people. If you aren’t a people person and can’t develop rapport with them, you will find it difficult to cut it. I am not saying that you should be an extrovert and talk endlessly; all I am saying is that you got to work assiduously to  build a network.  A regular remploye can afford to be grumpy their whole lives, but not entrepreneurs. Sorry, you don’t have access to this perk.

It isn’t easy; but it is worth every penny ever made. Entrepreneurs are the pillar of capitalism. Entrepreneurs make money, everyone else spends it. So, do you  have it in you? Which side do you want to be?

Twitter is a phenomenon on the Internet right now, whether I agree or not. I know I do a lot of social media bashing, but that won’t hurt twitter or any of the thousands of people using twitter at the time of this writing. Each tweet you send out could have the potential to make or break your business or brand image. Using twitter right could set you ahead of your competition pretty quickly. Here are some tools you could use to put twitter on steroids for you today.

MindmeTo: Do you spend all day on twitter? I bet you do. If you don’t, do it. Anyway, you could use twitter to keep reminding you of things. Like a pesky team manager who is forever breathing down on your neck. Use MindmeTo to help you t be reminded of things while you out there. That should take care of mindless tweeting and better business practices.

Twindexx: Let’s admit it; the more popular something is, the noisier it gets. How about crowd-sourcing the best of twitter to you? Twindexx helps you achieve that and you could add your bit in reducing the noise levels too. You might want to start with recommending something you really like in any category you like and help people find the best on twitter. Your business is incredible and amazing, so should people be finding you?

Twibs: How about a business directory to submit your business to? Would you like to push information about your products and services through twitter and let others take notice? Use Twibs to do all that and much more. Think of a director for those on twitter which focuses on those who use twitter( that’s a lot of people, eh?). Go ahead and submit your business information out there, tweet it out, create a community, link to others and spread the good word.

I know there are a lot more twitter-based tools out there that could help you milk the cows. Have you heard of any?

The world is moving at a fast pace and here we are, still dragging our feet doing nothing to tap into the treasures Internet, technology and modern gadgetry has brought in for maximum impact on our business. There is now more than a simple handshake to networking and phones aren’t just used to make and receive calls.

Do you have a smart phone yet? I can’t talk for an individual who has nothing to do each day but go to work and talk to his/her spouse, but if you are in business, you must have a smart phone. It is worth the investment and there are no short cuts. Go ahead and buy yourself an  iphone, a blackberry or one of the many other smart phones available in the market.

Why?

1. You are never far away from your business.
2. You can constantly be in touch with your customers, vendors, employees and clients.
3. You can send and receive emails while on the move; you can even chat on the move.
4. You can make free calls using VoIP apps specially made for smart phones if you have a wi-fi connection.
5. You can source new clients even while waiting for your coffee to be served.
6. Your iphone or blackberry turns into another device for you to make calls, receive calls, send and receive business cards.
7. It helps you to twitter, interact with others through social media and brings in high levels of productivity.

There are actually too many benefits to be listed out here, but you get it now, don’t you?

Here is a post called A  Guide to Better Web-Working From Your iphone which should help you give a quick start.

Remember the overall strategy we should have in our kitty to ensure you’re your marketing plan is almost fool-proof? One of the elements of such a fool-proof plan is to build “satellite pages” to build back-links and traffic as a part of your traffic generation system.

Building squidoo lenses is easy and quick; in fact, within a week, you could have about 10 different squidoo lenses ( each operating like a different website) all pointing to your landing page, blog or website with a “too-good-to-be-true” offer that should land you leads.

If you set apart one day for each squidoo lens and build them all through the week – complete with links pointing to your blog – you very well have an amazing network of satellite pages each working 24/7 to bring more traffic to your website, notwithstanding the precious back-links you will earn.

I know this is literally getting your hands dirty; all of this is down-the-trenches, mining sort of work. It has to be done though and you only have two choices:

1. You do it all by setting time aside each day for activities such as this.
2. You have someone else do it for you – plenty of people selling lens and even services such as these.

Squids will work hard for you, all the time. Get started today and start building those lenses.

You all know how much I rant about networking and getting into online forums or communities that not only provide you with immense knowledge but also allow you to network with people from all over the world. It’s even more exciting if they are all doing the same thing you wish to do or something that you just started doing?

We did talk about the warrior forum, a blake forum and some other communities that you should join in the post titled How To Put Your Business Networking On Steroids . However, I  stumbled across another forum called Wicked Forum, which I think you must join – I already did.

Now, the kind of attitude and language you might find on the wickedfire forum isn’t exactly for sissies. You will need an open mind and guts to be on that forum and interact with an intensity.

The Warrior Forum and Ablake Forum seem to have a lot of people talking, thereby rendering the forum noisy, clueless and pretentious while wickedfire has people cutting you off if you ask a question that has already been answered somewhere or if you just screw it all up.

Wickedfire members do street-talk; they are low on tolerance and high on knowledge and experience. They will cut your head off or bite your tail. If you will just take your time out there – read first, ask later – you will have a whale of a time on the forum making contacts with people who are really making money on the Internet. (The itrader point system on the forum will you let you know who’s who).

If you had to spend time on just one forum or community; I recommend you join here. Leave your ego at home though; you have been warned.

It is easy to get lost in the vast desert the Internet is; in fact, no amount of help can bail you out of the information overload. Earlier, information was hard to find; now it’s availability is more than required. What happens when you are hit with information from all sides?

Confusion. Chaos. Choking.

That’s why it’s important to think “strategy” and ‘tactics”. The MBAs would have glossed and fantasized about it but little do they use it in their lives. Well, they settled for nice jobs which don’t require them to think. But entrepreneurs have to think; they don’t have a choice.

Strategy is like knowing what you want out of a war. Tactics are more like the little things you do in line with what you want (strategy) to win that war.

For most business — unless you are too rich, too naïve or too stupid – the strategy is to profit. Tactics? Pick the best ones that work and just keep doing that until it works. Why should this be so difficult to understand? Don’t forget to leverage technology in between and this solves the “work smart, not hard” part of the equation.

No one said it’s easy. It takes years of slogging in this direction to win that profit war. It might seem like it would take forever, it might. But that’s all  there is to it. There is where most entrepreneurs give up; they don’t stay the course. They don’t persist and they lack faith.

You are now in business, my friend. There was no rocket science here, was there?

Let’s admit it: podcasting isn’t new at all, but using it in new ways will always be, well, new and unique. We website owners and blogger folks on the Internet always assume that the text is de facto information dispensing method; but you do know that it isn’t. There are ways you can dress up your website or blog with little things that could mean so much for your readers. Did you consider podcasting, ever? Here’s a great video I found on marketingprofs.com that talks about this very issue.

Here are reasons why you should consider podcasting:

1. Gives a voice to your business: Think about it, when was the last time you purchased something out of the blue from someone or some brand you barely heard of unless we are talking about purchasing some commodity?  A voice renders a lot of confidence to customers and that is precisely the reason why you should create podcasts of your featured articles or posts on your website. It is also pretty easy to do so. Head over to odiogo.com which can automatically convert all your text into high-quality audio podcasts which can be used anywhere and anytime. From the site itself, this is what is proclaimed on their website: “Odiogo’s media-shifting technology expands the reach of your content: It transforms news sites and blog posts into high fidelity, near human quality audio files ready to download and play anywhere, anytime, on any device.” It’s free to sign-up so you can get started right away.
2. Captures audience who hates reading but wouldn’t mind listening: There are a lot of lazy people in this world and that includes people online looking for information. Why not make information available to them in manner using which they could absorb information passively? Audio podcasts will allow you to do that. Don’t let these readers go away just because they feel lazy to read, bite their ears instead.
3. Invoke Trust: When you lend a voice to your website or blog, it is the one of the forms available to get closer to your audience. They can at least hear you and that invokes trust, which is big when it comes to getting what you want from them. Trust is the cornerstone to establish rapport, which if you have noticed, is the only way to acquire and retain your customers for life.

Good times are preceded by bad times and vice-versa. That doesn’t mean the end of world for any of us. It’s a cycle we all come to accept, don’t we? However, payments have to be made in the lap of uncertainty, employees to be paid, creditors to be paid and the quest for a tidy profit that the business exists for in the first place, are all strong reasons not to let circumstances get the better of you or your business.

If you were just an individual, counting on Ms. Fate to allow things to happen and un-happen in your life is perfectly acceptable – simple because no matter what happens you bear the responsibility for it.

Not with business. So what should you do?

1. Keep Cash Coming In: One of the most fundamental things to do would be to ensure that cash is always coming in, no matter what. If the wells of your normal cash flow sources seem to be drying up, find new wells. Seek new sources for generating cash flows at all times – in fact, this should be your only job as an entrepreneur.
2. Reduce expenses and do smart business: While you keep working hard to generate cash, you must be able to reduce your expenses. No one gives a damn if you sit on a stool and do business or occupy the empire state building. No one cares about the huge mahogany desk, air-conditioning and anything fancy in your office. All people care about is “what’s in it for them?”. Give that to them and go laughing to play golf later.
3. Manage profits: It is important as to what you do with the money coming in the form of profits. Spend too much of it and you know the obvious. Spend too less and not invest back into your business, again you know what happens. That’s why it is important to manage your profits well, stay invested in the business to an extent and find ways to make money work for you.