Thursday 3 July 2014

Running Your Small Business from a Distance

Small business owners have many problems that they will run into. Every line of business across the spectrum deal with the same issues as a general rule of thumb. One of the biggest issues is with hiring; trustworthy and hard working staff is something that is difficult to find. If they cannot find high quality staff to work with they will find that the result mean they will end up spending much more time at their business than imagined. A work-life balance that is completely out of whack ends up happening.

A book that focuses on restoring this work-life balance for business owners who need it is titled How to Succeed as a Small Business Owner and Still Have a Life. There is no joy in having a successful business if you cannot enjoy some quality time away from it. Your small business should help make your personal life more enjoyable and not to eliminate it. Making sure that your life thrives away from your small business was the reason that Bill Collier wrote this particular book.

Running a successful business while enjoying time away from it will only be possible with a staff that is the major tool of your business. Collier focuses on developing a business plan with your staff at the center of it. Making sure they are successful really directly relates to the values that you can provide to them. If you run your business by a strong set of values you will be able to help guide your employees without actually being with them. The ultimate goal of small business owners should be here.

Centering around goals, Collier writes 20 chapters in this book. The guidance that he provides focuses on a process of creating goals for your business, making a plan around them, and then carrying out the plan you create. This three step process should provide you with a great base for success. How well you can run this business without you needing to attend it every day will be the measuring stick for your success. Soon you will be able to take time away without worrying every moment.

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Looking At Three SEO Tips You Might Not Have Thought Of

When you are working on search engine optimization within the content of your website, one thing that will be important is that you pay attention to all the little things you can do that will help; while most of your competition will be paying attention to the big things, adding these little things to your repertoire of SEO tricks will go a long way in setting your site apart - and bringing you extra traffic as a result.

One thing that you need to realize is your site will probably rank a lot more highly if search engines are "crawling" your site on a regular basis, and search engines are unlikely to crawl your site on a regular basis if you are never adding new content; if your site does not "have a reason" to add new content at least three times per week, consider adding a blog section to your site, and update this at least three days a week in order to increase your crawl frequency.

Sharing link juice with yourself is another thing that will help your site; typically, when you think of link juice, you will think of the links you are giving to other sites, and the links they are giving to you, but you can also spread link juice throughout your own site - linking to certain posts or sections throughout your site.

And finally, remember that writing off-site articles, and submitting these articles to article databases, is a big key to SEO success: one of the benefits of this is that you will create an opportunity to gain new traffic through people clicking on the links in these articles, and another benefit is that you will increase your search engine ranking through the backlinks these articles create.

Regardless of whether you are running a website in order to promote your business or as a means to hopefully make money on its own, make sure you are always keeping your eyes open for the "little things" your competitors are missing - and take advantage of these as a way to gain an edge in the long run.

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Professional Marketing Ideas on Social Networking

A great way to get the word out on your business is to get online and onto sites like LinkedIn and Face book. The problem is the tremendous amount of time they can consume. In order to truly get the most out of either of these sites, you need to set aside the time necessary to be fully involved. This time investment is the main driving force behind businesses hiring professionals in this area to run their pages.

Marketing using traditional methods almost always involves a business hiring an outside marketing agency. Making commercials, printing newspaper ads, and designing logos aren't things that businesses do own their own. To do these things you need to have expert skills and ideas. The same type of view needs to be given to social network sites for businesses. The face of your business is created not only by traditional marketing, but also these social networks.

Your business must have a social network page in today's world. Social network pages are places people desire to visit, while a lot of traditional marketing is unwanted by most people. So why wouldn't you market to consumer's tastes? Amateur looking traditional marketing would not be used by any successful businesses. Your social network page should be given the same amount of money and care as other methods of marketing.

All of the important aspects of a social network page center on being involved. You will want to give your clients access to your expertise in addition to giving everyone information on your business. These are two main reasons that it is a great idea for a professional to handle your pages. A professionals full time job is to provide feedback to your customers and to give them information that they need to have.

Social networks now give businesses ways to reach their clients that didn't exist in the past. These new opportunities require some responsibility too though. The most important thing to remember is that your business is represented by anything that your name is attached to. Be sure to treat anything that represents your business with care.

Monday 30 June 2014

Choosing Real Estate Over Stocks

A lot of people start each day waking up earlier than they want to, and then they drive further than they want to drive and work all day at a job they do not particularly enjoy, around people they do not particularly like; at the same time, however, many of these people have a desire to quit this job and change up their lifestyle - finding a way to instead work for their own self, from the comfort of their own home - and nevertheless fail to ever take the necessary steps.

One thing that tends to especially stand in the way of people taking the leap of faith required for them to quit their job and go out on their own is the fact that "making their money work for them" - instead of "working for their money" - can be an intimidating proposition, and this is especially true when it comes to investing, where the risks are heightened because of the chance you might lose the money you risk.

If you have an interest in starting a life of your own, however, you should realize that it is entirely possible to do so - and when you take the right approach to investing in real estate, you will actually be able to make good money in the short term and great money in the long term, while also protecting your money from risk.

If you are interested in making great money on your own, the best thing for you to do is start looking closely at the ins and outs of rental real estate; the simple truth is, when you invest in the right sorts of rental properties (most particularly multi-family dwellings), you will be able to make truly great money, and will be able to move toward the life of your dreams.

It can be scary to take a leap into the unknown - but when you think about it, this is actually a whole lot less scary than reaching the end of your life and feeling like you wasted it; take the time to start learning about things you can do to make money on your own - then get out there, and start doing it!

Sunday 29 June 2014

Great Investment Books For Every Investor

Hundreds of new investment books are published annually. Some of these books claim to be the investing equivalent of a miracle drug, helping you to get rich quick. Other books claim to be packed with principles that have been around for ages, that are "tried and true." Some books tell you how to play the market right now, and others tell you how to play the market in the long run. Some of these books have been written by immensely successful investors, and quite frankly, others have been written by investors whose advice you would never take if you could see their portfolio. So the question becomes: How do I know which books are the right books? The answer is actually rather simple: forget about all these books; instead, go back to the ones that have been around, the ones that have stood the test of time. While there are surely books from the last few years that could help you, it is absolutely vital that you lay a foundation with books that the passing of time has proven to be invaluable. Whether you are a new investor or have been building your portfolio for ages, these three books are full of wisdom and advice that can help you moving forward.

1) The Intelligent Investor: This book, written by Ben Graham, was originally published in 1934, and even today it is still considered a must-read. This book has even been called "the best investment book ever written" by none other than Warren Buffett.

2) The Essays Of Warren Buffett: Speaking of Warren Buffett, this is a collection of his essays, arranged by topic and relevance. While every Buffett book is a good book, this option is a wonderful starting point, as it will aid you in every area of investing.

3) Common Stocks And Uncommon Profits & Other Writings: Philip Fisher wrote this excellent collection of the fifteen qualities of an excellent business. You are sure to learn to expand your own portfolio as you dive through these in-depth thoughts from one of history's greatest financial thinkers.

While many people think of the stock market as something scary - akin to gambling - you can follow the tips of the men who knew how to make money in the stock market, and by so doing, you can begin to do the same yourself.