Small Business Success Strategies

Branding: How to Discover Your Brilliance and Let It Shine

We've all been there before ... that dim place where you feel a bit lost, unsure of your business and life direction and hesitant to move forward. To make matters worse, we then pressure ourselves to buck up and "do something about it!" So with little sense of clarity we redouble our efforts, take on new initiatives and blindly charge forward. Instead of making progress, we often manufacture more headaches. Our responsibilities double and our energy goes in half. Like the old saying goes, "The harder I work, the behinder I get." Stretched in all kinds of directions we feel worn out and exhausted. When we look for advice, the answers seem to come in the form of "do more!"

Sound even vaguely familiar?

Well the good news is that you are not alone! These issues are ones that thousands upon thousands of small business owners face each and every day. As Marnie Pehrson, found of IdeaMarketers says, "Lack of clarity is almost a chronic epidemic amidst entrepreneurse marketing themselves online. People put out so many mixed messages in their marketing that it makes it difficult for potential customers to know what to do."

Read Phil's entire article Branding: How to Discover Your Brilliance and Let It Shine

Phil Davis, our official Branding and Naming Expert

Investing in Your Business: Turning Cash into Cash!

Many business owners don’t like to part with their money and with good reason. The constant barrage of vendors who want a piece of your cash pie can cause you to cling tightly to the purse strings. But have you ever considered that you could be missing opportunities to invest in your businesses and turn some of that valuable cash into even more cash?

It’s called Return on Investment (ROI) and many big companies go to great lengths to evaluate the ROI of large expenditures such as technology purchases and real estate transactions. But for small business owners who are worried about cash flow, ROI can be an important consideration when parting with just a few hundred dollars.

Read Stephanie's entire article Investing in Your Business: Turning Cash into Cash!

Stephanie Chandler, our official Small Business Growth Expert

Keywords Are It! Seven Powerful/Useful Keyword Marketing Tools

After years of running websites and earning a full-time online income, I am constantly reminded that it all comes down to keywords. Actually, it all comes down to obtaining top rankings for your profitable keywords in the search engines, mainly Google.

And that statement has to be refined even further, it's all about obtaining top keyword rankings and keeping them at the top. You must consistently keep your keywords in the top spots on that all important first page of SERPs since your keyword rankings can make or break your online marketing.

Read Titus' entire article Keywords Are It! Seven Powerful/Useful Keyword Marketing Tools

Titus Hoskins, our official Online Fax Expert

Those “Crazy” Business Ideas Often Turn Out to Be the Best

When Bob Page told his friends and family he wanted to quit his auditing job to start his own business, they were less than encouraging to him. Well, that's actually an understatement. Basically what they told him was he was crazy.

Fortunately he didn't listen. Instead he figured that if he could devote time to doing what he loved, he could make money -- even if it was less than what he was earning at a CPA. Bob was right on the first count. When you love what you do, it's hard not to make money. What Bob didn't realize at the time was that his "crazy" idea would wind up making him more money than he'd ever dreamed of.

You see, today Bob's company, Replacements Ltd. is the world's largest supplier of discontinued china, glassware, flatware, and collectibles.

Read Valerie's entire article Those “Crazy” Business Ideas Often Turn Out to Be the Best

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

How to Work From Home Without Feeling Isolated

If you work from home as I do, it's very easy to slip into the habit of holing up at home for days. When you first get the idea of starting a home based business, it sounds so appealing--work in your pajamas if you want to. No commuting, no interruptions from colleagues, more time freedom.

But when the reality sets in you find yourself socially isolated in a virtual world. Your world shrinks and becomes your computer and your family. Even the occasional business lunch or networking event doesn't help much.

I've battled this and found that social interaction is absolutely necessary for humans! Here are some ways to help you keep you from becoming a cloistered hermit.

Read Janis' entire article How to Work From Home Without Feeling Isolated

Janis Pettit, our official Small Business Strategy Coach Expert

5 Tips to Make More As A Coach

Last year, the coaching industry magazine choice featured an issue devoted to “The M Word” — too discreet to even print the word in large type. Money is perhaps the most taboo topic, yet it’s in the back of every coach’s mind – how to make more of it, more easily and consistently.

For me, it boils down to this question – why do some coaches make more than others? I’m studying this right now, not only for myself, but also for coaches who seem to only get pro bono or trade clients. And for the coaches who continuously over-deliver, under-fill their business, place a low value on their services, and haven’t yet realized how the power of coaching grows when clients fully invest in themselves.  It can be different for you, if you really want it to be.

Read Rhonda's entire article 5 Tips to Make More As A Coach

Rhonda Hess, our official Coaching Business Success Expert

Build Your Business Through 100 Conversations

Ever reflected back on your last 100 conversations you had about your business and tallied up the results?

Talking about your business is key and can literally transform your marketing and your income.

It transforms your marketing because it puts new words and phrases together in a real life setting. You may notice yourself describing what you do in a more powerful way and that alone can create dramatic results. Verbal processing does wonders for finding the best way to say something!

Your income transforms because as you find more powerful ways to talk about your business, people will undoubtedly become more interested.

Read Nancy's entire article Build Your Business Through 100 Conversations

Nancy Marmolejo, our official Visibility Expert

How Perfection Paralyzes Productivity

My motto is: Close enough is good enough!

Have you ever watched a toddler perfect a new skill? I have. This week I observed with great interest as my grand daughter tried something new. She had discovered a pair of dress-up high heels in her toy basket. She knew exactly what they were for. SHOES!

Immediately she began to struggle to put them on her feet. They were too large. They were on the “wrong” foot. Nonetheless she wobbled to her feet and then across the room. Eventually she even managed to climb up on the sofa.

Read Debbye's entire article How Perfection Paralyzes Productivity

Debbye Cannon, our official BusinessMom Mentor Expert

'Organizing Magic' To Acheive Your Goals

7 Simple Steps to "Organizing Magic" To Acheive Your Goals

1. DREAM- The Law of Attraction teaches that the first step to getting what you want is to visualize it as specifically as possible. Pause frequently to day dream about what you truly desire, in whatever area of your life that is currently chaotic. Make a goal poster or vision board full of pictures of your ideal reality. Write positive denials and affirmations. Be conscious of your self-talk. Keep it positive! Retreat from people who discourage you and limit your beliefs.

2. CLEAR- POOF! Make clutter vanish! When your space is full of clutter and your day is crammed, there is no room for abundance to enter in.

Read Debbye's entire article 'Organizing Magic' To Acheive Your Goals

Debbye Cannon, our official BusinessMom Mentor Expert

What Every Customer Truly Wants -- And How You Can Provide It!

It finally hit me this week what every single client, customer, person and patron truly wants -- and it's not what we're giving them. What we're giving people is details, lots of details. They come in the form of product specifications, a list of attributes, qualities, claims, guarantees, and service promises. These are all great but they don't scratch the itch... they don't satisfy the real craving that each person longs for in their day to day experience.

That constant craving is for meaning.

Think about it. When we are born, we are all basically blank slates -- empty notebooks upon which nothing yet is written.

Read Phil's entire article What Every Customer Truly Wants -- And How You Can Provide It!

Phil Davis, our official Branding and Naming Expert