When people start their own business they often think it’s going to be all dollars and doughnuts, not realizing that it’s also work. To produce dollars to buy doughnuts, productive billable work will need to be accomplished, or sellable products will have to be made and sold. In business there are tasks that produce results and some that are out-and-out wastes of time. But, how do you know when something is a fruitful task and something is just a time waster? There are a few major ways business owners waste time: Busy Work Many business owners spend a lot of time doing things that feel like work, but aren’t really…

You probably already know about native advertising, just did not know what it was called or how to get started, or why you should do it. There are three different types of native advertising, some of which you’ll be familiar with. 1. Open – You place the content on your website and then promote it to other platforms, knowing it will send everyone back to your website. 2. Closed – Platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are all closed platforms that allow you to put your content on them and promote them. 3. Combination – Uses a combination of the above, usually by installing a private platform that permits bidding…

Just like investing, earning business income should not be done from only one source. When you invest, you choose a wide variety of different types of businesses in which to invest in order to leverage losses and keep them to a minimum. The same thing can be accomplished with your business income if you diversify the places from where you can earn, and the types of products from which you can earn. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have; you can multiply your earnings by creating multiple streams of income. First, create a product or service. Then figure out different ways to make money from it. You can…

Most marketing starts with content. It doesn’t matter what type of marketing you are doing; it all begins with content. Brochures, business cards, blog posts, articles, vlogs, eBooks, eReports, podcasts and so forth are all content. Content comes in so many forms ready for your audience to digest. But, creating content that is easy for your consumer to digest depends on many factors. Consider these questions: 1. Who is your audience? 2. What types of devices does your audience use? 3. What social media do they use? Types of Content Knowing the answers to these questions can help you determine what type of content your audience wants to consume. You…

If you do the same things over and over again it’s likely that you’ve developed a checklist. Many business people use checklists – from the realtor who sold you the lot to build your house on, to the builder who built the house, to the lawyer who handled the closing. Checklists are essential parts of doing business even if you’ve done something over and over again. It’s the one way to ensure that something isn’t overlooked. When you embark on building a website and implementing a link-building strategy, it helps to have a workable checklist. This is a checklist for beginners. You might choose to add or subtract from this…

Your unique selling proposition (USP) explains to you and your audience why your products and/or services are preferable over someone else’s products or services. Figuring out and writing down your USP is an important part of helping you develop a profitable business. To be able to create a working USP you’ll need to: Understand Your Target Audience – Who exactly are they and what problems do they have that you can solve? Get to Know Your Competition – How is your competition serving your audience? Know How Your Product Provides Value – How does your product provide value and solve problems for your audience? Know Why You Created It –…

If you’re in business long enough, it’s going to happen. Someone is going to say something bad about you online. It may or may not be true. It will be upsetting, and it will cause you to doubt everything you believe in. But, there is a way that you can turn bad online reviews into a demonstration of your company’s values and dedication to customers. Take a Time Out and Get Offline When you first see a bad online review your heart will likely stop, then start beating really fast. You’ll feel hot, and you’ll be bothered. It will hurt your feelings, and it will make you angry. But, it’s…