Kristina Storey's Blog: July 2017

Monday 31 July 2017

6 Key Characteristics of a Successful Business

Everyone who starts a company wants it to be a successful business. Unfortunately, however, less than half of those who start a business actually succeed.

Is there a secret to how some businesses are more successful than others? Is there something you could be doing now that could help your company to flourish? There are many reasons why a company succeeds or fails, but there are some key characteristics of successful companies that you can apply to put your business on the right path.

1. Masterful Leadership

Your company is only as good as the leadership you provide. You, as the owner of the company, must instill core values, company missions, and best practices in your staff. This includes everyone, including management and supervisory staff, so that they, too, can lead their staffs to success. All leadership staff should understand the importance of being engaged and accountable. They must effectively learn how to promote better performance while providing sound direction and structure through company systems and processes.

2. Exceptional Customer Relationships

Outside of selling products or services, what does your company do to develop relationships with your target audience? Successful organizations put forth effort on a regular basis to connect with their target audience—and not just to make a sale. For instance, be willing to work with a social media management company. In this way, you will improve communications with your customers on these platforms. Then, you’ll connect with your customers a lot more than will a company who socializes with customers only once in a blue moon.

3. Great Employee Relationships

As important as it is to build and maintain positive relationships with your customers, it’s equally important to build good relationships with your staff. Your employees are responsible for helping to make your business what it is today. If they feel as though there is a disconnect between them and management, this can quickly reduce productivity. To cultivate a positive working environment, you need to take into consideration that your employees are more than just workers; they’re human beings, too. Some of the most successful businesses invest in their staff and provide fun work spaces, benefits for employees and their families, down time, and fun activities to show that they appreciate their top talent.

4. Impeccable Finances

A big part of being a successful business is properly managing the company’s finances. A company that sets budgets, generates reports, understands expenses, and does what they can to save money is going to flourish. On the other hand, a company that haphazardly manages the finances and only becomes concerned during tax season is not likely to do so well. A company owner who is aware of their finances and how to grow them is certainly more likely to be the owner of a successful business.

5. Outstanding Products and Quality Service

You can’t sell poor quality merchandise or treat your customers unprofessionally and expect to stay successful. When the quality of a product declines or service becomes slow or inappropriate, customers won’t remain loyal. No, they will start looking to your competitors for what they need. A successful business dedicates its resources and consistently focuses on providing quality service and products every single time.

6. Unfailing Resilience

Once thing you’re going to need as a business owner that you may not have been aware of is resilience. Companies will hit rough patches. On your road to success, you’re bound to make a few mistakes. Learn from your blunders and bounce back from setbacks. Even very successful companies—for instance, Jet Blue, Pepsi Co, and Johnson & Johnson—have faced some madness along the way. The great ones have been able to recover, though, and get back to servicing their customers.

Visionary leadership based on an inspiring mission plan and core beliefs, plus a supportive and talented staff who provide great products and excellent customer service are all important to your success. Add to that resilience, strong marketing, and competitiveness and you have a sure recipe for a successful business.

The post 6 Key Characteristics of a Successful Business appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/31/characteristics-successful-business/

Sunday 30 July 2017

Reseller Hosting: Understand Your Customers and Pick the Right Plan

A thorough market analysis at the start of a venture lays the foundation of a successful business, and a reseller hosting business is no exception to this rule. To explain, a reseller host purchases hosting services from a larger host, then sells them to customers, hopefully for a profit.

If you are looking to venture into the reseller hosting business, you need to understand the needs and requirements of your hosting customers. Only then can you decide which web hosting reseller package is right for your business.

Three Levels of Service

Reseller hosting packages are offered as start-up plans, professional plans, or corporate plans. Each of these plans has a bandwidth space, storage capacity, and number of domains specific to it, as well as an attached MySQL database.

Most resellers are small-business owners looking for a stable white label reseller package that they can resell to other resellers or end users.

Who Is in Your Target Audience?

In a nutshell, your target audience can be any of the following.

Web Design Studios

From an end user perspective, receiving web design and hosting service from the same provider is a convenient option. A compelling and aesthetically appealing web page design is essential. As well, the website needs the backing of a robust web hosting plan.

Through your reseller business, you can target independent web designers and small web studios who are looking to offers end to end solutions to their clients.

IT Service Providers

With the popularity of open source Content Management Systems (CMS), providing web development and app development services has become quite convenient. There are some mid-sized IT companies as well as freelance developers who host websites and web apps on behalf of their clients.

Product Companies

Typically, product companies do not use a reseller package since they usually have in-house resources to manage dedicated servers. However, in some cases, they may buy a shared plan from resellers to host a website for a specific product or service.

Professional Bloggers and Vloggers

Most novice bloggers start with free blogging platforms and then move into the customized domain for more bandwidth, security and disk space. Professional bloggers and vloggers generally prefer shared plans to host their website on open source platforms like WordPress. A personalized domain name offers these users the advantage of unlimited theme, bandwidth space, and website support.

Typically, the hosting requirements of professional bloggers are not that complicated. All the backend process that involves server security and management will be the responsibility of the upstream host. You can then conveniently sell the hosting service under your name or brand.

SEO and Marketing Agencies

Digital marketing agencies that run online campaigns on behalf of their clients often seek web hosting packages to host landing pages for websites. Many resellers also offer landing page hosting packages specific to this target group.

Smaller Web Hosting Companies

To kick start your reseller business you might have purchased or considering buying a web hosting reseller package from a major web hosting company. Similarly, there are smaller web hosting companies who might buy a reseller package from you. They will then go on to provide hosting services to small business owners, independent bloggers and others.

Affiliate Marketers

A reseller hosting package is a viable option for affiliate marketers who want a reliable reseller plan to host multiple domains but do not want to switch to a VPS, or virtual private server, plan.

What Is Your Position?

Besides analyzing the needs of your customers, you need to gauge your position in the web hosting spectrum.

Are you a novice player in the hosting business?

You do not have to be a hosting expert to start a reseller hosting business. However, you do need to have a certain level of expertise and technical understanding so that you can offer services to clients with sophisticated hosting needs.

A start-up plan is your logical choice. With this plan, you can reach out to customers whose hosting needs are simple. Independent bloggers, freelance web developers, small design studios and digital marketing agencies fall into this target group.

Are you the owner of a mid-sized IT company looking for auxiliary income from a reseller hosting business?

If you’re an IT service provider, a reseller hosting service will be relatively easy. You already have the necessary resources and technical expertise. Presumably, you already have excellent in-house customer support, too. These assets will allow you to easily handle the hosting needs of a wide range of customers and clients.

Most likely, a corporate or professional plan that includes higher computing resources would be your best option.

Concluding Thoughts

Reseller hosting is a competitive field of business. In order to succeed, you’ll need to offer excellent service. In addition, you will need to budget for marketing and make plans to promote your business.

Additionally, you need a basic infrastructure that will support your reseller hosting business. Importantly, your hosting website needs to offer numbers to call for sales and customer support.

Finally, get to know your target audience and understand how your company fits into the reseller hosting field.

The post Reseller Hosting: Understand Your Customers and Pick the Right Plan appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/30/reseller-hosting-complete-guide/

How to Plan a Thrilling Trip to Thailand with Friends

Once you have your business up and running, give your mind and your body a break by taking a trip to Thailand. A vacation in Thailand is one of the most exciting things you could ever do, especially if you go with friends.

Do you know you can book cheap airline tickets to Bangkok if you purchase them one or two months beforehand?

Then after you’ve purchased your tickets and booked your hotel, how will you know which places to visit? Here is a short list of some must-visit places while you’re there.

Sights to See and Things to Do Around Bangkok

There is lots to see and do in Bangkok. You might want to start your trip off with an evening at Tiffany’s Cabaret Show. Highly popular, this is the first true transvestite cabaret show in Southeast Asia. Tickets run about $850.

Of course, you’ll want to see the massive complex known as the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The home of the Thai king, it is a historical treasure, having been built in 1782. This beautiful palace also serves as the royal court and the administrative seat of government.

Want to stand on top of the world? Climb to the peak of Wat Arun and thrill to the unforgettable view of the Chao Praya River below.

Visit Bangkok’s floating markets for colorful sights and fresh fruits and vegetables. You’ll even find refreshing and freshly made coconut water. Get a close look at the boats’ floating kitchens by taking a guided boat tour of the Damnoen Saduak market.

Next, sail through the city of Bangkok in a water-taxi on the Chao Praya River and visit some of the oldest settlements of Bangkok, including Bangkok Noi. Your tour will glide past areas such as Wat Arun and the Phra Sumeru forests.

If you love sports, be sure to catch the Muay Thai match. Western boxing on steroids, Muay Thai fighting makes use of punches, kicks, elbows, and knee strikes.

Include a Run to Pattaya, Too

In Pattaya treat yourself to the stunning sight of the largest image of Buddha in the world at Buddha Mountain. Continue to the Nong Nooch Village, which will soothe both your eyes and your soul with its orchid garden and its lovely zoo. Then give yourself a day at Jomtien Beach for some jet-surfing, parasailing, or windsurfing. On the other hand, you could frolic in the surf, play in the sand, or lie on the beach and soak up some sun there.

You’ll also find the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, a labyrinth of wooden carvings built as a religious structure in 1981 by Thai businessman Lek Viriaphant. Constructed entirely of wood, the elaborate structure is filled with sculptures based on Buddhist and Hindi motifs.

Finally, be sure to visit the beautiful aquarium at Underwater World Pattaya. However, do be sure to book this spot in advance, as it is extremely popular.

Plan now for a 4-night, 5-day trip to Thailand, or even longer if you can spare the time and want to see more sights. Your trip to Thailand will be an adventure that you and your friends will talk about in years to come, and you’ll make memories you will cherish forever.

The post How to Plan a Thrilling Trip to Thailand with Friends appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/30/trip-to-thailand/

How to Budget for Your First Home

You’ve got your startup off the ground and you’re feeling pretty good about things. As a matter of fact, your business is doing so well that you’re ready to embark on the grand adventure that is owning your first home, right?

Not without a budget, you aren’t. It will be all too easy to get swept up in the excitement of renovated kitchens, picturesque yards, and master suites with hot tubs once you start touring potential properties. That’s why you need to sit down and set some financial limits for yourself ahead of time. You don’t want to jeopardize your fledgling business—or your peace of mind—by getting in over your head.

Here are a few tips on how to budget for your first home. The process may seem daunting at first, but when you’re looking back on it from the comfort of your new abode, you’ll be glad you took the time to crunch the numbers.

Do the Math Yourself

It’s very important that you steer the ship when it comes to creating and sticking to a budget. You can’t trust a bank to do it for you—both because they have their own motivations and because they don’t know the reality of your finances.

Some people with lots of disposable income on paper actually have hefty student loans, a brand-new car to pay for, retirement savings goals to meet, financial dependents and unpaid medical bills. Likewise, people with a modest income may live a debt-free lifestyle and be ready to take on a higher mortgage. As Investopedia points out, the last thing you want to do is borrow more than you can afford to pay back on the bank’s recommendation alone. It’s time you get comfortable with a spreadsheet and your financial statements.

When you’re figuring out what you can afford, don’t just factor in the price of the home. You’ll also need to factor in the interest you’ll have to pay on the loan, as well as property taxes and insurance. Part of creating a comprehensive budget is researching these figures. For example, a homeowners insurance quote comparison will help you assess monthly premiums, while researching average property taxes in the areas you’re interested in will help you get an idea of these annual fees.

Gather Your Down Payment

You will need a down payment of at least 20 percent of the total cost of your first home. Maybe you’ve been squirreling away money for years in anticipation. Or perhaps you plan on reallocating your living expenses to beef up your savings. Either way, you need to have at least this much ready to go for a one-time payment.

Frugal Rules writes, “The key to a proper home buying budget is to have not only the down payment, but also cash reserves on top of that.” Remember: Buying a home is always more expensive than you think it’s going to be. You don’t want to get halfway through the process and realize that you’ve drained all your resources dry. A situation like that could force you to rack up more debt or abandon ship.

There’s no such thing as saving too much. Your budget can help you figure out areas in which you can save ahead of time. With dedication and effort you can meet and even surpass your goal of having 20 percent down.

Three Rules to Guide You

When it comes to budgeting for your first home, you can use some common ratios to guide you. Money Under 30 lists their three rules of home affordability, which may vary a bit by lender but will give you a solid starting point:

Your maximum mortgage payment should be less than 28 percent of your gross monthly income.
And your maximum total housing payment needs to be less than 32 percent of your gross monthly income.
You need to keep your maximum monthly total debt payments to less than 40 percent of gross monthly income.

When you’re making your budget, consider the big picture: down payment, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance premiums and other debts. That way, when you get the keys to your first house, you’ll know you have a solid financial foundation.

The post How to Budget for Your First Home appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/30/budget-first-home/

Thursday 27 July 2017

Why You Should Hire a Jazz Band for Your Next Corporate Event

Whether you’re planning a product launch party, a milestone celebration, or a farewell dinner for your CEO, you should hire a jazz band. That’s because, in addition to food, your guests will be expecting high-class musical entertainment.

In the context of a corporate party, music needs to do more than entertain guests. It should also create an environment that encourages socializing, networking, and bonding. However, the type of music you provide will determine the quality of interactions your guests experience.

If your music is loud, your guests will have trouble communicating with each other. Agitating music will leave your guests on edge. If your music is soothing, your guests will feel relaxed. Further, if you choose music that is soothing, yet also activates the brain and stimulates creativity—like from a jazz band—your guests will feel deeply fulfilled and connected.

Which Type of Music Should You Choose?

Knowing that music has the power to organize physical matter and affect people’s moods, it’s imperative to choose the right kind of music for your corporate event. Let’s look at the pros and cons of a few popular choices.

Hiring a Professional DJ

Your first thought might be to hire a professional DJ for your event. They’re readily available and really know how to pump a crowd. That kind of environment is great if you’re hosting an event where you want people to get up and dance. However, at a networking event, loud dance music makes it difficult to converse. Hiring a DJ is a better option for a party where dancing, not conversation, is the focus of the event. At a cocktail party, people are more interested in relaxing—and talking—with their fellow guests.

Hiring a Tribute Band

Tribute bands are fun, and people love watching their favorite legendary bands recreated without having to donate an entire paycheck for a ticket. Tribute bands present concerts where guests want to spend their time close to the stage, singing along with a beer in their hand. However, unless your guests are expecting a concert and happen to be fans of the particular band being featured, a tribute band will clash with their desires to converse and socialize at a corporate event.

You want your guests to connect with each other instead of focusing on the band. After all, you’re planning a corporate event, not a concert. Therefore, you should opt instead for a much more sophisticated style of music—like jazz from a jazz band.

“What is unique about jazz is that, while it is a popular form of music that will delight those guests who want to give it their attention, in the context of a cocktail party it also functions very naturally as ambient background music,” explains Chuck Braman, of New York Jazz Bands.

A Jazz Band Is the Best Choice for Your Corporate Event

When you consider all the angles, jazz is very likely the best choice for your corporate event. It’s the only musical style that:

Is elegant, sophisticated, and intimate.
Is uniquely appealing to all ages and all demographic groups.
Can be listened to as well as function as background music.
Is scalable to a wide range of budgets.
Incorporates some of the best crafted popular music of all time, from the Great American Songbook standards popularized by singers such as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, to the classic Bossa nova music from Brazil.

According to science, jazz music relieves stress, boosts creativity, and stimulates the mind. When your guests are networking with each other, they’ll be exchanging ideas. And jazz is the only musical style that can facilitate and enhance that communication.

With its unique feature of musical improvisation that’s both stimulating and soothing, jazz will create a memorable experience for your guests.

The post Why You Should Hire a Jazz Band for Your Next Corporate Event appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/27/hire-jazz-band-corporate-event/

“Get Rid of the Crappy Stuff” and Modernize Your Business

Steve Jobs is widely considered to have been one of the most transformational innovators of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. His products single-handedly changed the world—and have continued to do so after his passing. So when someone tells you a Steve Jobs story, you listen.

Get Rid of the Crappy Stuff

When Mark Parker became CEO of Nike in 2006, most would have assumed he had “made it.” Even Parker himself felt some sense of gratification knowing that he was now in charge of leading one of the world’s largest and most successful brands. But just a short time after accepting the CEO title, Parker received a call from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and the feedback he got probably wasn’t what he expected to hear.

“Well, just one thing,” Jobs told Parker. “Nike makes some of the best products in the world. Products that you lust after. Absolutely beautiful, stunning products. But you also make a lot of crap. Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff.”

“I expected a little pause and a laugh,” Parker later admitted. “There was a pause but no laugh. He was absolutely right. We have to edit.”

Instead of acting offended or telling Jobs off and going back to business as usual, Parker recognized the value in the insight and made it a priority to refocus the brand’s product lines around the good, quality products that allowed the company to build its name in the first place.

Can you do the same?

If a brand as large and successful as Nike still has “crappy stuff” in its organization, then you probably have more than your fair share. And while you may find comfort in sticking with the status quo, the reality of the matter is that you have to refocus your attention on the products, technologies, and practices that matter.

Ditch These 3 Technologies and Practices

Are you thinking that you want to modernize your business but you’re not sure where to start? In many cases, the following three things are holding businesses back from realizing their full potential.

1. Desk Phone Systems

The phone is one of those business communication tools that is hard to imagine becoming obsolete. And while it probably won’t disappear in the immediate future, the way in which leading organizations are using phones is evolving.

If you still have a traditional desk phone system, you need to modernize. Desk phones are clunky and inefficient. They also tether employees to the office and prevent them from being mobile. Instead, you need to invest in a modern system, like this voice and video platform from Dialpad. Because it works over WiFi, there’s no need for wires and cumbersome hardware. Users can communicate via smartphones, computers, or tablets—from anywhere.

2. Annual Performance Reviews

For decades, the annual performance review has been a staple in businesses around the world. At the end of each year, managers and bosses call employees into their offices to update them on their progress and evaluate what they’ve done in the previous year. But have you considered that this is a really archaic way of doing things? Millennials hate annual performance reviews and would much rather have the luxury of immediate feedback. If you really want to modernize your business, you’ll ditch this old-hat approach.

3. Fax Machines and Paper Filing Systems

Finally, you have to get rid of your old fax machines and paper filing systems. They’re inefficient and take up large amounts of space. Instead, you should have a plan for digitizing all paper documents and going with a digital document solution, such as ViewCenter from ICM Document Solutions. You’ll be shocked by how much more flexible this makes your organization.

Identify, Replace, and Modernize

Before you can get rid of the crappy stuff in your organization, you must be willing to identify it. It’s not always easy to come to terms with the fact that there are rough spots in your business, but being honest with yourself will go a long way. Take steps to modernize your business, starting today. You’ll be glad you did.

The post “Get Rid of the Crappy Stuff” and Modernize Your Business appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/27/modernize-your-business/

7 Simple Tips for Attention-Grabbing Headlines

If you do any sort of web writing at all, you have written your share of headlines. You also know firsthand how much time and effort goes into your pieces. We know the first step is creating online content that will generate real traffic and backlinks to your site.

What you may or may not give much thought to, though, is how many people will actually read what you’ve gone to all that trouble to write! The key to this puzzle lies in your headline.

Your headline is crucially important for getting your message out, which is why we now present to you 7 tips for creating the best headlines out there.

1. Include a Number

You’ve seen how often this happens in internet ads, right? And in headlines for things like Top 10 lists? There’s a reason for that. For some reason, we as humans gravitate toward numbers. And keep it simple—3, 5, 10—all of these will work. (If you’re using 50, though, the number concept can start to lose meaning.)

2. Add Adjectives

And not just any adjectives. Try something that’s interesting. Again, think Internet ads—1 weird trick, or 3 outrageous methods. People want to be drawn in, so give them what they want in your headline.

3. Use Compelling Words

The first word that pops into your head isn’t likely the best. To captivate your audience, you need to brainstorm. “Ways,” for instance, is a fairly descriptive word. Nothing wrong with “ways.” But maybe there’s a better choice to draw readers in. Could “secrets” be it? It has an air of the forbidden, that by clicking through to your article the reader will be party to “covert knowledge” that will set them above the rest. “Tricks” works similarly; readers feel like they’re going to be able to get around the system and get a leg up on everyone else (and on life!).

4. Use your “W”s

Who, what, when, where, why, and how — These are “trigger words” designed to instill curiosity. Curiosity, of course, is going to be one of the main reasons someone clicks through to your article. Be careful, however, before you use a question word and a number. They often do not pair well together in headlines.

5. Be Bold

If you want your readers to be curious, you need to give them something to be curious about. And it needs to be worth their time and interest. While it may otherwise be beautifully crafted, a headline such as “5 Secret Tricks for Collecting Stamps They Don’t Want You to Know!” probably won’t draw a lot of readers.

6. Emphasize the End Result

Your readers might be curious, but is there any other reason they’d click through from your headline to learn about burning belly fat? Yes! Remember, think like a marketer. People don’t want to lose weight to lose weight. People want to lose weight to be happier, to be healthier, to feel better about themselves, to be more attractive, etc., etc., etc.

Remind them in the headline of what’s at stake and you’ll see your click rate jump.

7. Know What You’re Doing

There are many different types of headlines you can craft, depending on the type of article you’re writing. This article has given you some general principles, but there’s no reason not to be more specific. Writing a news headline? Probably the best place to put a statement is your headline. Want to sell something? Consider broadening your repertoire with a celebrity endorsement in your headline. And so on.

Your headline may be crucial but, as you’ve seen, writing it doesn’t have to be that hard. With these seven tips, you’re well on your way to writing headlines with the pros.

The post 7 Simple Tips for Attention-Grabbing Headlines appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/27/attention-grabbing-headlines/

Is Your Company’s Online Social Media Presence Letting You Down?

Social media marketing seems like such a simple thing. You write a descriptive paragraph about your company, post it on your social media sites and check in occasionally, right? Well, it’s a start. But if you that’s all you do, you’re really missing out on everything a great social media presence can do for your company. What can you do? Follow these five tips.

1. Brand Consistency Reigns with Social Media

A failure to be consistent is one of the biggest mistakes business owners make when they create online business profiles.

The company Facebook site business name says “Acme Company” while the Twitter company account says “Acme, Inc.” Your CrunchBase company logo is in blue hues but your LinkedIn logo is red. These may not seem like big differences, but they are when you’re building your online brand and trying to create a community of followers.

For example, if you look at the social media accounts of LBF Travel, you’ll see that each, from CrunchBase to LinkedIn, has the same logo and business name. That’s the kind of consistency your business needs.

2. Make a Standout Profile

You have your company logo and a brief business description on all your social media pages, but you need more. LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook give you ample space to add variety and interest to your pages to make them stand out and attract followers.

Graphics, including the cover photos you choose, are instant attention-grabbers. Choose graphics that relate to your business and the information you present. Videos also add user interest.

3. Write Engaging Posts and Work on Growing Your Community

Another mistake many business owners make when they’re using channels such as Twitter and Facebook is posting boring messages that are way too long.

Twitter limits post lengths, but posts still have to be interesting to catch the user’s eye. Learn how to write concisely and in a way that makes the reader want to know more. Add links to your website or to lengthier content for those who wish to learn more.

Let users know who you are, what your business is about and introduce them to the people behind the scenes with whom they’ll be working. Social media is not, however, where you practice your hard-sell techniques or engage in one-sided conversations.

Encourage conversation by asking questions and engaging in discussions with those who answer. Add contests and polls. Keep people engaged enough to make them want to come back.

4. Grab Them with Headlines

When you post informational content, top it off with a catchy headline that makes readers want to keep reading. Follow these tips to make your headlines stand out:

Use simple and personal language. The word “you” immediately addresses the reader and makes the content seem written especially for them.
Use the phrase “How to” when appropriate.
Include a keyword or phrase for the search engines.
Use numbers. For example, if your how-to article is about installing your own floor, the headline might say “How to Install Your Own Hardwood Floor in 5 Easy Steps.”
Turn your headline into a question to grab interest.

5. Make Social Media Work for You

Another often overlooked feature of social media is that posts and pages show up in Google searches. Your business description as well as your posts should include keywords, key phrases and specific descriptions about what your business does.

Who knows? One of your Facebook or Twitter posts could be a viewer’s first introduction to your business. Keep search engines in mind as you post throughout the week.

The post Is Your Company’s Online Social Media Presence Letting You Down? appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/27/social-media-letting-down/

Freight Bill Factoring Can Keep Your Fleet Running

Freight bill factoring can help freight and trucking companies to manage the intensive cash expenditures of their day-to-day operations.

The nature of the transport industry is such that customers pay for services rendered only after they have received the goods. Oftentimes, the customer will take weeks or even months to address the invoice and pay the balance owing. In many cases, this causes stress on cash flow management that can hinder operational efficiency. Trucking companies that are affected by these factors can benefit enormously from receiving advance funding on account receivables.

What Is Freight Bill Factoring?

Freight bill factoring is one of the easiest, most reliable, and cost-effective ways to manage cash flow for your trucking or freight company. Factoring is the practice of selling account receivables at a discount in exchange for immediate funds. A freight bill factoring company will effectively buy your invoices for freight that you’ve already delivered. They then collect the money when your customer pays the invoice, and they retain a small fee from you in exchange.

Large fleets and established freight companies with deep pockets may have the financial resources to better manage cash flow issues. However, smaller operations and growing businesses often encounter up-front expenses without adequate funds to make payment when due. These operating expenses often include:

cash for fuel
fleet repairs
tire purchases
rental/loan payments
driver payments
myriad other maintenance and overhead expenses

Freight Bill Factoring Stabilizes Cash Flow

While your company might have to wait 30, 60 or 90 days to close out an invoice, you still need to pay your expenses daily.

This creates a funding problem for transportation, mail carrier, and haulage companies, which can be extremely difficult to overcome without improved and stable cash flow. Financing from large banks or financial institutions is invariably not an option for trucking companies. That’s mainly because conventional lenders consider the transportation industry to be volatile and therefore high risk.

Further, since new carriers or freight companies are seldom able to demonstrate profitability or show proof of their past performance, they fail to qualify for commercial operating lines of credit.

This is why many trucking companies are looking to factoring their bills as a cash-flow solution. If your freight business is growing and your clients are credit-worthy, a freight bill factoring company such as Accutrac Capital will buy your outstanding invoices for as little as 1.59% in fees.

Convert Your Receivables into Cash

With freight bill factoring, you can convert your slow receivables into cash, which will provide you with a convenient and flexible financing line, which is itself directly related to your ongoing sales. This means that the more you invoice to reputable clients, the more funding will be available to you.

freight bill factoring2

Factoring your freight bills is a fairly simple process. Once you establish an agreement with an invoice financing company, they can arrange services to fit your needs. Accutrac Capital, for example, offers one-time flat-fee factoring starting from 1.59%. They also have a factoring line of credit designed for larger operations. In addition, they provide flex factoring for trucking companies that expect faster turnaround on their invoices.

If your growing trucking company requires a bit of leeway while you’re waiting for invoices to be paid, consider freight bill factoring. Further, think of factoring as a regular extension of your accounts receivable process. With freight bill factoring you’ll have access to improved, flexible, and dependable cash flow solutions.

The post Freight Bill Factoring Can Keep Your Fleet Running appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/27/freight-bill-factoring/

Wednesday 26 July 2017

Promotional Items: A Classic Method for Increasing Brand Awareness

While most folks consider promotional materials a luxury more than a necessity, there is good reason to believe that promotional materials do a lot more to build brand awareness than is typically believed.

Fortune 500 companies and startup companies alike spend millions of dollars each year on promotional items. T-shirts, key chains, letter openers, and other objects are the usual suspects. Why do they bother?

Interestingly, there is research into how and why these items are most effective. As it turns out, they’re most likely to be the most successful in increasing brand awareness when people use them in places where they do most of their business decision-making.

Why Are Promotional Materials so Effective?

As a technique of marketing, promotional products work on the concept of gift giving and reciprocity. Company-branded promotional items remind your customers of your brand. Importantly, they also cause your customers to feel just a tiny bit obligated to you. Because you gave them a gift, they feel compelled to reciprocate in some way. They may not even consciously realize this. But as a result, they might purchase your company’s products or services. Or maybe they will just say nice things about your company on social media.

That’s why each year, businesses spend millions of dollars devising creative ways to market materials. Promotional items can be obvious objects of interest like t-shirts, coffee mugs, and key chains. Or they can be not so obvious ones like stress balls, toys, and cookies. The market for promotional items is growing, largely because of how effective they still are for building confidence in your brand and increasing awareness and recognition.

In addition, promotional items like stress balls introduce a tactile component to the process of association. This can further help customers to remember you when they need a product or service your company sells.

creative promotional items

Unique Promotional Items Help Your Company Stand Out

T-shirts, business cards, baseball caps, and key chains will always be popular promotional items. However, the industry is homing in on other items that are surprisingly effective for marketing brands. Companies like Next Trend Designs have found a niche by marketing their products to a wide variety firms in various industries.

For instance, they suggest sending contractors out with a company-branded tape measure and screwdriver. This is a great way for companies that specialize in installations to market their company. It builds customer confidence in their brand.

On the other hand, company pens and pencils make great items for employees to use during their day-to-day business. Desk accessories like mugs, glasses, and calendars show prospective clients that your company has invested in its image and is proud of what they do.

Even better, sometimes employees are willing to wear company-branded apparel. This can be more effective in marketing terms than two-minute radio slots or newspaper advertising.

Promotional Items Are for Small Businesses, Too

For years, larger businesses have invested in promotional branding, but now more than ever it’s important for smaller businesses to do the same. For sports fans, there are good number of items that can be used for promotional materials. One of the most popular is company-branded golf balls. Nothing says your company values the business of a golf enthusiast like a set of company-branded golf balls.

One study conducted on the efficacy of promotional products determined that 66% of the individuals who had been given promotional products were able to remember the name of the company better. Promotional items also delivered a better return on investment than radio or billboard advertising and ranked alongside television and print, in terms of the quality of return. Indeed, promotional items are a classic method for increasing brand awareness, and in a world that continues to evolve from the corporeal into the digital, they remain an effective method of advertising.

The post Promotional Items: A Classic Method for Increasing Brand Awareness appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/26/promotional-items/

How to Prepare to Run Your Own Business While Still in School

A lot of people have a dream of one day running their own business. They go to school with this goal in mind, dreaming of graduating with a degree and then starting up their business one day. However, you don’t have to wait until you graduate to start preparing to run your own business. There are many things you can start doing while you’re in school, and by taking these steps early, your business can hit the ground running once you graduate.

Take Business-Related Classes

The first thing you should be doing is taking as many business-related classes as you can while you’re in school. Some of the classes you should take include accounting, marketing, economics, management, and information systems. Each of these classes will provide you with a base knowledge that you’ll need when you try to start up your business. While many people choose to learn these things as they go, if you’re going to be in school anyway, you might as well use that time to get a head start and learn something useful.

Get an Internship

For many degrees, you need to complete an internship as a part of the course requirements. Internships allow students to get real-world experience, typically by working in an office, doing basic tasks, and learning how an office operates. While many degrees require you to take at least one internship, you should consider completing more than that. Internships help you to gain real world experience while still in school, meet new people, and learn things that you might not otherwise learn in a classroom. Try to complete internships that are related to your interests, or ones that will at least introduce you to core business concepts.

Gain Work Experience

Besides an internship, you could also get a side job while working your way through school. Getting a job provides you with necessary experience, and the income will help pay for your schooling. If you can find a job related to the business world, this is even better. For instance, Vector Marketing offers work for students, which allows students to gain experience, earn a paycheck, and practice working on their own. While your dream may be to one day run your own business, you likely won’t be able to do it without first working at someone else’s, so take the opportunity in school to see what is out there.

Learn How to Network

Another skill you’ll want to pick up during school is how to network. Networking is important for all people entering the workforce, but it is especially important for those people who are going to be starting their own business. Your new business may succeed or fail based on the contacts you are able to make, and before you can make these contacts, you need to learn how to network. Many colleges offer seminars on how to network, or you can simply attend things like career events to try and meet new people. For more tips on how to network, you can read this article.

Take Pride in Big Projects

Finally, throughout your academic career you will likely have to complete some big projects. You may need to come up with a marketing campaign for a product, design a website, or give a lengthy presentation. When these big projects come up, it is important that you take pride in them. Your goal should be to not only get a good grade, but to have something you can take with you after you graduate, and use as a part of your portfolio. When you’re first starting out—either in your own business or applying for a job—you might need something that showcases your talent. Rather than building something from scratch, you can use the projects you worked on in college, as long as you did a good job on them.

Your Journey to Your Own Business Begins Now

You don’t have to wait to start preparing to run your own business. While you may not have the time, money, or skills yet to begin your operation, that doesn’t mean you have to sit still. There are plenty of things you can do while in school to get yourself ready to run your own business. Take relevant classes, meet new people. and get a side job to help finance your business venture when you graduate. All of these are concrete steps that you can begin taking now, and when the time comes, your business will have a head start because of it.

The post How to Prepare to Run Your Own Business While Still in School appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/26/183042/

This 3-Step B2B Marketing Plan Will Bring You More Sales

I get it: You’ve read your fair share of online articles about B2B marketing strategies, haven’t you?

And if I’m guessing right, most of those write-ups are generic—borderline useless. You can’t imagine why anyone would even take the time to write such a piece.

Don’t worry. This article isn’t one of those.

If you’re sick and tired of reading pointless articles about B2B marketing that trick you into reading them by claiming they’re “must-read guides,” then you’re in the right place.

I’m going to share with you a 3-step B2B marketing strategy that you can use to grow your customer base. If you take the time to implement and use the steps detailed in this guide, I promise you’ll get positive results out of your marketing endeavors one way or the other.

Let’s hop right in.

Step 1: Scrape data from directory sites to get leads.

The YellowPages is the best thing since sliced bread for business owners and marketers who are looking for clients in a B2B setting.

Not only does the website have bazillions of people visiting them on a monthly basis (Similarweb says they have about 40 to 50 million unique monthly visitors), but the platform also houses truckloads of businesses in their database.

Don’t believe me?

Allow me to show you a glimpse of what the platform has to offer.

First example: digital marketing agencies in LA

For the sake of example, I’ll look for digital marketing agencies in Los Angeles, CA.

Here’s what you’ll see after you click YP’s search button.

B2B Marketing - YP

In the first page alone, I’m seeing 30 businesses listed.

B2B Marketing - YP2

Now here’s the kicker.

B2B Marketing - YP3

Next example: massage spa

I tried entering another type of business (massage spa), and I still saw numerous results.

B2B Marketing - Massage Spa

While I doubt that all of the business listed are real (some of them are probably closed already), I’m sure you’ll agree that a good number of the businesses listed here are still alive and kicking.

Now put all that info to good use.

That being said, if you go to YP to scrape the website and contact information of your target business, you’ll be able to come up with a list of people to target real fast.

Once you have your list ready, you can start sending outreach messages to business owners. Depending on your take on what B2B selling is all about, this might or might not be a good tactic for you to try. If you’re more comfortable with pure inbound marketing, as opposed to inbound mixed with outbound, then scraping the YellowPages and then reaching out cold is probably not a good fit for you.

Just remember, there is more to scraping data from the internet than just using it to come up with a list of people to reach out to. The benefits of web scraping are far overreaching. Not only can you use web scraping to find leads, but you can also use it to study your competitors’ marketing strategies, get better insights on how people in your target audience are reacting to offers, or extract data from websites.

At this point, you should already have a list of businesses you can reach out to. However, before you do that, I urge you to do step number 2 first.

Step 2: Use Twitter to establish your personal brand.

Before you reach out to others, especially to business owners, do what you need to do to have an established brand. With all the spammers on the internet, almost everyone tends to be wary of anyone who’s reaching out to them. If they do their research and see that the person who contacted them has little or no clout, then they would likely dismiss that person as a spammer. Therefore, they would ignore the person.

Of course, you do not want to be ignored by the business owners whom you’ll reach out to. That would not do at all for your B2B marketing plan.

After all, what good will the list that you’ve put together in step number 1 be if none of them will reply to your outreach message, right?

Well, it’s a good thing there’s Twitter.

Establishing your brand through Twitter is fairly simple to pull off, since there are Twitter automation tools that you can use to increase your Twitter following.

There are a couple of nifty things that these automation tools can do for you. Narrow.io’s features allow you to follow and unfollow people automatically. It also “likes” other people’s posts if those posts have keywords that you added in your account settings.

B2B Marketing - Narrow

B2B Marketing - Narrow2

With these two features alone, you’ll be able to grow your Twitter followers (therefore establishing your brand, to some extent), without you having to spend countless hours on Twitter. You just need to set the Twitter automation tool once, and you’re pretty much ready to go.

Step 3: Start your outreach.

At this point, you should already have two very crucial ingredients to your client acquisition endeavor:

1) A list of prospects that you can reach out to, and

2) An established enough brand as evidenced by your Twitter profile having thousands of followers.

Now that you have these two points readied, it’s time for you to put your B2B marketing plan into action by reaching out to your list of prospects.

There are several angles you can take when reaching out to your leads. You can either offer them freebies to get them to open up to you, you can straight up pitch your services on your first email (rarely should you do this), or you can contact them offering to collaborate with them on a project of some sort (among other things).

Some guidelines for creating your outreach message.

Because there’s no way I can predict which approach you’ll take, allow me to share with you some guidelines that you need to consider when creating your outreach messages.

If you do these things you’ll get better conversion rates:

Talk about how the recipients can benefit from you. Not how awesome you are.
Keep your message as concise as possible.
Make sure that your message have these elements: a) How they can benefit from you, b) A short statement telling why they can trust you, and c) A clear statement telling them what exactly it is that you want them to do. When you have these points in your message, your chances of getting a reply drastically increase.

But wait. There’s more.

Another tip I’d like to share with you is how you can use an automatic email finding tool to find a person’s email in a matter of seconds.

VoilaNorbert is one such tool.

You have only to enter your prospect’s name and their domain name, and the tool will automatically find their email for you.

B2B Marketing - VoilaNorbert

Here’s an example.

B2B Marketing - VoilaNorbert2

Here’s what you’ll see when you click the green “Go Ahead, Norbert” button.

B2B Marketing - VoilaNorbert3

Pretty awesome, huh?

When you have tools like these in your B2B marketing arsenal, you’ll be able to do your outreach twice as fast.

Whether you’re pitching a guest post, straight up selling your services, or trying to build a strategic partnership with your prospects, you’ll get better results out of your outreach methods with the points above.

What’s next?

What are some of the most straightforward yet highly effective B2B marketing strategies that you’ve used so far?

If you have ideas and strategies that you’d like to share, then please add them in the comments section below. Cheers!

The post This 3-Step B2B Marketing Plan Will Bring You More Sales appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/26/b2b-marketing-plan/

The Art of SEO: How to Increase Your Search Ranking

Constantly changing algorithms and new developments make search engine optimization (SEO) more of an art than a science. To say the least, it can be difficult to achieve or maintain a high search engine ranking. Every time Google or another search engine makes a change to their algorithm, it can wreak havoc on the world of SEO. The field is dynamic, so business owners need to constantly monitor the latest developments in order to avoid falling behind the competition.

Outsourcing Is a Viable Option

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners look at their abysmal search rankings and try to cobble together a solution. While there is nothing wrong with that approach, sometimes it makes more sense to outsource your SEO and digital marketing needs. This is a surprisingly competitive market with packages that are accessible to businesses of any size.

There are many benefits to outsourcing this type of work that can justify the expense. First, if time is a factor, experts are going to be better equipped to make the necessary changes quickly to ensure quick results. Another benefit to outsourcing is that you won’t be working with outdated data. While it is certainly possible to find the most current data on SEO trends by searching the internet, those who are completely unfamiliar with the field may find material that was relevant a few months ago, but is no longer going to provide the same kind of results.

The Key Is Good Content

Ranking well in search results was once possible by researching the right SEO keywords for your business. Currently, this often means long tail keyword phrases that are very specific. While keyword research is still an important part of the process, those keywords must make sense in content that is valuable for the reader.

What does this mean?

To put it bluntly, don’t just stuff your content with keywords. Your website needs fresh and interesting content that will appeal to your target audience. If your content offers nothing of substance not only will your audience drift away, but also your search engine rankings will drop, too.

In the past, some marketers used enticing and keyword-laden titles just to get more traffic to a website. They did this to increase their search rankings. Referred to as “click bait,” this practice still occurs occasionally. However, as search engine sophistication has increased it has become more difficult to fool the algorithms into believing this is high quality traffic which reflects valuable content.

One important way search engines assess valuable content is by how many other sources are linking to it. This happens organically when readers share your content or discuss it on other websites or blogs. New companies might have difficulty being discovered, which can make it more difficult for them to obtain those valuable back-links.

If this is the case with your website, offer to guest post on more well established sites. When you do, link back to your main business site and be sure to include your bio. However, some websites do not link to contributor’s sites so be sure to ask. Don’t just assume this will be allowed.

Mobile Dominates

People have steadily been accessing the internet from their mobile devices more frequently over the past decade. We have reached a point internationally where individuals spend more time online from their phone than from their desktop computer. Because of this trend, you want to be sure that your website is designed with mobile users in mind.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to implement responsive web design. This simply means the website is responsive to the type of device from which it is being accessed. It doesn’t simply shrink to fit the viewer’s screen, which often makes the text illegible. With responsive design, the entire design actually changes to enhance the reader’s experience.

Many search engines will rank your site higher if it is optimized in this way. Especially if your company is focused on local traffic, this can be a huge benefit.

SEO is a complicated and constantly evolving field. If you’re diligent, you will master it. However, in order to succeed, plan to spend the necessary time to craft and implement your own SEO policy. If that is simply not possible, outsource the task of SEO so that you can focus on the core of your business.

The post The Art of SEO: How to Increase Your Search Ranking appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/26/seo-increase-search-ranking/

Monday 24 July 2017

Five Places You’ve Probably Forgotten to Put Your Logo

For sure you’ve placed your logo everywhere you can think of. For instance, you’ve covered all the usual suspects—your website header, your profile photos on social media, your product packaging. But where else can you display your logo, the all-important image that represents your brand?

Here’s a roundup of five places you might have missed:

1. As Your Favicon

A favicon (short for “favorite icon”) is that tiny icon you see next to a website’s name on an open tab—so tiny that sometimes it gets overlooked.

Your client can have multiple tabs open at a time, and without your own favicon, your site will be represented by a default favicon (which looks like a blank page and won’t do your painstakingly crafted website any favors).

On the other hand, you can simply add your logo as your favicon and make your website stand out from dozens of other open tabs. Who knows? You might even make it to the client’s bookmarks!

2. On Your Email Signature

Signing off with a personalized signature on your emails makes a world of difference to the client on the receiving end of your messages.

For example, a strategically placed image breaks the monotony of walls of text in an email. It adds a professional feel to your correspondence, as opposed to just your business name in type.

Insert your logo into your email signature to subtly get it across to the client that they’re transacting with a business that’s the real deal, down to the tiniest of details. One place to get a logo for your email signatures free of charge is at Free Logo Creator. Just make sure to opt for the free download version to receive the free email signature version of your logo.

3. On Your Thank You Page

Some sites may redirect a client to a thank you page after they perform an action on the site. That action could be just about anything, including buying a product or filling out a form.

Apart from a genuine message expressing thanks, you can add your logo to the top of this page for a consistent brand experience all the way through to the end of the transaction.

Seal the deal and sear your brand into your client’s memory.

4. On Your Maintenance Page

During those unavoidable down times on your site, create a maintenance page with a witty message apologizing for the inconvenience and stating when you’ll be back. Then, top it off with your logo.

You’ll be making your brand work for you even when you’re not open for business.

5. As Your Gravatar

A Gravatar (short for Globally Recognized Avatar) is an image that automatically represents you whenever you interact with any Gravatar-enabled website.

Use your logo as your Gravatar photo. Have it represent you as you browse other websites and leave comments on blogs in your niche.

It’s an easy, convenient way to put your brand out there as you build your network.

To Recap

Take note of these points whether you’re jumping headfirst into digital marketing or you’ve been around for a while and are looking for a boost. That is, consider the little known, often missed details that could be the key to getting your client to remember your name.

Breathe new life into your logo by putting it out there in new places. On the other hand, if you feel your logo is no longer doing the job for you, you can even make a new one.

In the infinite space that is the Internet today, there is one thing that matters more than any other. That is, that you owe it to your business to maximize every bit of real estate you can get. Give your brand the most exposure possible by placing your logo even in the least likely places.

The post Five Places You’ve Probably Forgotten to Put Your Logo appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/24/5-places-put-your-logo/

How to Write Compelling Content

To write compelling content is a choice.

Either you choose to put in the time and energy it takes to represent your brand and do it well. Or you take the easy route and create boring content, a route that leads nowhere in the end. Boring content wastes energy, time, and resources.

The choice is clear. To boost search engine research page (SERP) rankings and achieve your goals, you need to offer compelling content on your website or blog.

Why You Need Great Content

To really understand why you need great content, see the 6 biggest content marketing mistakes travel brands make, mistakes that are relevant to brands in every industry.

Sites with original and compelling content get all the exposure from search engines. For example, Google has made it obvious that they will punish you and penalize your site if it contains duplicate content. In other words, Google rewards sites that provide high-quality content to users.

Besides that obvious result, though, there are many other benefits to providing users with quality content. Great content helps your website rank higher in search results, which brings more users to your website and can mean more money in your till.

Some Tips for Writing Quality Content

Whether you want to create compelling content for your side projects or your full-time business, you need to do it the right way. In this article, we’ll look at some tips and tricks for creating great content.

Let’s look at what makes content great.

Be Original

As we’ve covered, both Google and your visitors love original content. Moreover, Google punishes sites that copy other people’s content. Often, that is the end of the story.

We’ve all seen it happen.

Do you remember seeing e-zine articles ranking at the top of Google? There’s a reason you don’t see them anymore. One of Google’s algorithm updates aimed at preventing low-quality content from ranking took them out in seconds.

For example, one of the most persistent content farms to date, Mahalo, provided new content every day. However, this content was not very original, and Google didn’t like that. Therefore, Mahalo had to redesign their business model.

Original doesn’t just mean original in the eyes of Google. Your readers are the ones who are really going to experience the content. Because of this, you need original ideas and original content. It is important to note that content that is just repeating what everyone else is saying won’t get any backlinks.

Don’t Think This Way!

This is the type of thinking that gets you in trouble:

“Okay, Google says we need a lot of content on our site. What is the cheapest and easiest way to do this?”
“How about we turn scraped content into something Google sees as unique?”
“Let’s outsource the work to cheap writers who can write unreadable filler.”
“How about we just re-post articles from around the web?”

DON’T THINK THIS WAY!

Rules to Remember

There are two rules you should remember in life:

You get what you pay for.

If you don’t have anything useful to say, then don’t say anything at all.

If you follow these simple rules, you are well on your way to crafting high-quality, compelling content that is sure to bring a great return on your invested time and money. What’s more, these rules can even help you in other aspects of your life!

The post How to Write Compelling Content appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/24/write-compelling-content/

6 Tips for Starting an Ecommerce Business

More than 200 million shoppers are going to be spending money online this year. There’s never going to be a better time to start that new ecommerce business you’ve been thinking about. If you want to start an ecommerce business and sell products online, this checklist will guide you through it.

1. Find a Business Name

After you’ve decided what it is that you are going to be selling, you need to settle on a business name that is memorable and unique. This helps consumers to remember you. To ensure your ideal business name is not already in use, we recommend that you perform a corporate name search. Then, register your new business name quickly once you’ve got one. If you register your business as a corporation or limited liability company (LLC), this will be done automatically.

2. Grab the Domain Name

The ideal situation is that your business name is available as a domain name. If it is not, you can either buy the domain name from whomever owns it, or you can use another memorable domain that relates to your business.

For example, if your business was called John’s Amazing Coffee, you would grab the domain name JohnsAmazingCoffee.com or try something similar if it was unavailable.

One of your biggest expenses in starting your ecommerce business will likely be web design. Having a website that is both functional and appealing to consumers is essential. There are some out-of-the-box solutions, like Shopify, to help you get your feet wet, but these are not good long-term options. You will likely need (and want) something a little more capable.

3. Register Your Business and Decide on a Business Structure

In the US, if you decide not to register as an LLC or corporation, the IRS will automatically see you as either a sole proprietor or a partnership. It is important to know that when you operate as a sole proprietor, your personal assets may be at risk if your company gets sued. That’s because the courts can seize your personal assets if your business can’t cover its debts. An LLC or corporation will set your business apart from your assets and protect them. At the same time, it will give you other tax benefits as well.

It is possible to register on your own by filling out the necessary paperwork from the IRS. It is also easy to hire a business filing company or lawyer to do it for you. For most small business, however, a lawyer is likely overkill.

4. Get an Employer Identification Number

An employer identification number (EIN) is what allows you to open a bank account for your business and file business taxes. Oftentimes the EIN of a business is compared to the Social Security number of a person. The reason for that is that the EIN is a unique number that identifies your business explicitly. Despite the fact that it’s called an employer identification number, you will need one whether or not you have employees.

5. Get Your Permits and/or Business Licenses

Just because you’re running an ecommerce business doesn’t mean you are excluded from the permit and license requirements in your area. Do your research and find out what is needed in your city, state, and country. This will allow you to see if you need any home business or sales tax licenses before you start operating.

6. Get the Best Vendors

The internet is filled with competition. It is essential that you get the most reliable and consistent products to sell. Do some research and shop around until you find the provider best suited for your needs.

The post 6 Tips for Starting an Ecommerce Business appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/24/6-tips-start-ecommerce-business/

Getting the Most out of Your Cloud System

Too many businesses aren’t getting the most out of their cloud set-up. They just view it as somewhere to store data, a way to save money and keep their information safe. However, the cloud also offers companies a large number of other functions and options that can bring real benefits.

These benefits aren’t anything fancy or complicated, but they will give your business a bit of an edge. If you have an existing cloud system and you’re not sure how to get the best out of it, then you should bring in IT specialists to review it and help you to use it to its fullest.

Once you’re fully au fait with your cloud, you’ll get:

Increased Collaboration

It’s often the case that when your employees are getting on with their daily tasks and routines, they can forget to keep colleagues in the loop. Inter-departmental communications can flag. Having a common portal—the cloud—teams and departments can easily keep each other informed. They can easily catch up with one another with message boards, data sharing and forums. This can make big differences to productivity and efficiency as well as morale.

Constant Access

It doesn’t matter where you are or what time it is, cloud-based storage gives employees access. Everyone can get to the files they need. Anyone who needs them will be able to access sets of notes, minutes and company data with just a few keystrokes.

This facility is particularly important if your company is to keep up with its competition. The global markets move fast and it’s easy to get trampled and lost. If your people can work despite a delayed flight from Rio, you don’t need to worry about slowed operations.

Regular Software Updates

There are so many gadgets and networks involved in the office now. Tablets, laptops, PCs, smartphones, smartwatches—every employee has at least 2 or 3 of these devices. It can add up to a dizzying amount of tech going on at any one time.

If all these devices are synced to your cloud system, then they’ll automatically get the bug fixes, the new updates and the latest features without having to fiddle with each and every one. If a software update is coming, you can give everyone a countdown and then do it for everyone simultaneously.

Freedom and Power to Innovate

Since cloud-based systems became commonplace, many companies, large and small, have found that their product and service development has improved. Using the cloud has freed up employees so much that they can spend less time on routine IT and maintenance tasks and more time thinking about what could be—then making it happen.

A cloud system lets everyone, especially the techier people, focus on freer thinking and innovation rather than worrying about data protection and backing up. The more time that’s spent on dreaming up the impossible instead of doing the very possible and very boring, the more of an edge the company has. People aren’t held up by the “grit” of routine tasks getting in their wheels and they can get involved with some, ahem, blue sky thinking.

The post Getting the Most out of Your Cloud System appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/07/24/cloud-system/