Small Business Success Strategies

How To Make Your Competition Vanish

2012-02-24T15:00:00-05:00

Nancy Marmolejo, our official PR and Media Expert

An age-old marketing tool is the SWOT analysis. You examine your STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, and THREATS to determine how you should direct your marketing efforts.

It's always a bit disconcerting when you reach the THREATS column.

A threat? Oh no, we better PROTECT! Circle the wagons, ward off the enemy, batten down the hatches, hide the virgins!

That's a lot of energy spent going on the defensive.

The "Threats" column is where folks start talking about the COMPETITION. Those nasty, beady eyed creeps who are out to steal business from under your nose . . . the cutthroat scalawags out to make a buck and throw you into the sewer . . . and we must annihilate them, right?

What if you could completely reframe your approach and see that yes, competition exists, but it doesn't have to scare the bejeezus out of you and make sounds that go bump in the night?

Your competition can vanish from under your nose if you follow these simple, non-violent, warfare-free tips. Put your weapons aside, drink some herb tea and get into the groove of Vanishing Competition.

Read Nancy's entire article Make Your Competition Vanish

Surviving an IRS Tax Audit (You Can Too!)

2012-02-15T17:42:37-05:00

Stephanie Chandler, our official Small Business Growth Expert

Though I read the letter three times, there was no mistaking the grim news: I was being summoned to the IRS for an audit. I had an instant flashback to the third grade when I was called to the principal's office. I didn't know what I had done, but it must have been something bad.

After a tense conversation with my husband, I called my accountant. "You have nothing to worry about," she assured me. "We have everything in order."

The letter indicated that I needed to bring several items including bank statements, credit card statements, the prior year's tax return, and charitable contribution receipts. To my great surprise (and relief), my accountant informed me that she kept copies of all of my statements. I had them too, but mine weren't exactly in good order. I subscribe to the "shoebox" method of filing. It would have taken days to locate everything I needed.

Read Stephanie's entire article How I Survived an IRS Audit (and How You Can Too!)

Will Your Coaching Niche Go the Distance? Test it!

2012-02-11T17:09:48-05:00

Rhonda Hess, our official Coaching Business Success Expert

Coaches are taught to choose a coaching niche based on what we are passionate about. That approach to niching speaks to us, because we're people of the heart. We tend to think that if we follow our true purpose, the money part will take care of itself.

Then there's the real world of business. Coaches make money by selling a service. Like every other business, we have to get in front of people who don't already know us, and show them that we offer something they are willing to pay for.

Nearly all of us start out thinking we know how to do that, and nearly all of us get humbled when it turns out not to be so easy. It turns out, the money part doesn't take care of itself.

Read Rhonda's entire article Test Your Coaching Niche -- Will It Go the Distance?

Get Real Money Online: Be an Expert of a Niche Market

2012-02-09T18:58:56-05:00

Glenn Dietzel, our official Business Coaching Expert

Most of what is taught about becoming an expert is incredibly outdated and reflects a former era that you don't live in anymore as I will explain in this article.

To set the stage, I want to be really clear about the purpose of this article. If you want to win BIG and make real money online, you must be THE expert in a single category of a niche market.

The rules have changed immensely in today's market place. Despite what many experts tell others about selling information online, what worked, even a year ago, will not cut it anymore.

This means that product creation gimmicks like ‘interviewing yourself', ‘interviewing others', or paying someone to create your front end product simply won't work anymore.

Read Glenn's entire article To Make Real Money Online You Must Be Expert In A Single Category Of A Niche Market: Read This Now!

Need Help Branding the Proper Voice in the Social Network? 5 Ways to Make Money Online

2012-02-06T13:27:20-05:00

Phillip Davis, our Branding and Naming Expert

For most savvy marketers, social media has grown from a curiosity to a vital component of their online strategy. According to a survey conducted by Regus, nearly 50 percent of U.S. based businesses use some form of social media to connect with existing and potential customers. But is having a mere presence on social media the same as having a voice? The simple answer is "No!"

Having a presence is like sitting in the corner at a cocktail party and observing the crowd. Sure, you can say you were there, but you will have had little to no impact on the conversation. And it's not just a matter of Tweeting out volumes of words either. Your brand message must communicate authentically and consistently to be effective, to warrant a share of the discussion, to make a lasting impression. To ensure your online success, it's important to follow these common sense guidelines.

1. Determine your objectives

Before engaging in social media, first determine your goals. Are you trying to inform? Inspire? Educate others about your industry? Announce job openings? Blast a sales special? All of the above? It's important to think before you speak, to develop an overarching goal that you want your social media to serve. In most cases, using it as a sales tool to announce discounts will do little or nothing to advance your company's brand image, and even less to endear yourself in the eyes of potential customers. So think about your motivation for being online, and stay true to that goal.

Read Phillip's entire article Does Your Brand Have a Voice in Social Media? 5 Ways to Online Success

Cleaning Out That Overflowing Inbox

2012-02-03T18:19:10-05:00

Terri Zwierzynski, our official Solo Entrepreneur Expert

If you are like me, your inbox is full of emails you intend to read "someday". Newsletters are a particularly insidious culprit; full of info-packed articles, tips and resources, we often save them to read later, only to find ourselves accumulating more and more email, and never finding the time to sit down to that task.

Why do we keep them? Because we believe that possibly, somewhere in there lies the magic answer to some problem we've been experiencing. And then we feel guilty every time we open our email, because we haven't gotten around to reading that vitally important information that might change our business or our life for the better.

And so our inbox is overflowing with:
*   articles with info that we think we need to learn
*   links to products or services we might need to buy
*   ebooks we think we need to read

I'm here to tell you that you don't need any of those emails. In fact, you need to delete them -- and you'll move your business ahead much faster as a result.

Read Terri's entire article Three Tips for Cleaning Out Your Overflowing Inbox

Online Fax is Cheaper Than Conventional Faxing

2012-02-02T16:37:53-05:00

Titus Hoskins, our official Online Fax Expert

One of the major reasons online fax services have grown steadily in popularity over the past few years is due mainly to the lower costs associated with these web based fax services. If you're not familiar with these types of services, you may just be wondering how they are cheaper than using the traditional fax machine in the office? Just what makes online fax services more cost-effective than traditional methods?

First, you have to realize this is a computer based system and is completely paperless faxing. It uses your web connection and your email program to send/receive all your faxes. This is also a type of "cloud computing" where a third party stores and facilitates all your faxes, in return for a small monthly fee.

Why is all this cheaper?

Read Titus's entire article How Exactly Is Online Fax Cheaper Than Conventional Faxing?

Social Media Etiquette: 7 Unwritten Rules

2011-12-22T12:09:04-05:00

Social media seems easy especially because the barrier to entry is low. You can be up and running on any social media platform in minutes, and usually for free. In reality, social media is hard for exactly the same reason. When the barrier to entry is low, the barrier to attention is high. The fundamental path to succeeding with social media is to consistently contribute meaningfully--engaging with you should make the lives of those engaging more meaningful. The bonus would be to achieve this without adding costs to the others. As you think through your social media strategy, here are seven unwritten rules of social media etiquette.

Read Cynthia Lett's entire article Social Media Etiquette: 7 Unwritten Rules

Cynthis Lett, Our Official Business Etiquette Expert

How to Advertise Your Website on a Budget

2011-12-20T13:42:07-05:00

When you are starting out in a new home business and no one knows who you are, one of the greatest challenges you will face is how to drum up new business.

If there were not people in your community or marketplace that you knew who needed your products or services, you probably would not have started your business to begin with. But, once you have talked to those who you personally knew who needed your what you offer, then your next task is to find others who will help keep your doors open.

Read Stone's entire article How to Advertise Your Website on a Budget

Stone Evans, our official Home Business Expert

Get Outside Your Comfort Zone and Take Risks: It's the Only Way to Grow

2011-12-14T10:06:27-05:00

Part of what you signed on for when you started a small business was calculated risk-taking and moving outside your comfort zone. A client once asked when she'd get to the point where it would be easy and she could just operate her business on autopilot and just sort of float. When I told her never, she was shocked. Since change is the one constant in life, it's the same in your business.

Although the right processes and systems can make you very successful, you need to keep pushing yourself outside your comfort zone if you want to grow. Think bigger, and then act bigger. If you're not feeling just a bit of fear, you're probably operating in your safe zone. But your safe zone will soon get boring and your business will stagnate.

Read Janis's entire article Get Outside Your Comfort Zone and Take Risks: It's the Only Way to Grow

Janis Pettit, our official Small Business Strategy Coach Expert