First Step in Starting A Business
First Step in Starting A Business
For those of you who are ready to take on the challenge of Starting a Business!
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04/05/2011 11:29 AM
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First Step In Starting A Business - A Rule to Understand
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In the movie “Wall Street” Gordon Gekko said to Bud Fox “First Rule in business. Never get emotional about stock, it clouds your judgment.” I would like to add an additional rule of business. This is a rule that a business owner needs to be consistently mindful whether they are currently in business or just Starting a Business. The rule is "there is simply no state of neutrality". Your business is either going up or going down. Let’s say you are doing 1M in sales in a year and from that you as the owner are able to take a 100k salary per year salary. Let’s say that a 100k per salary is very comfortable for you and you can see yourself living comfortably with that salary for the rest of your career. So you try to develop a strategy to do 1M per year every year. My point is that no matter how great that strategy sounds it is likely to fail. Since there is really no state of neutrality if you are not striving to increase you will probably decrease. I know things can feel very comfortable with a certain sales volume but in business, things can get very uncomfortable in a hurry by just a few unfavorable events. If you are a business owner you must understand that something always challenges your business, whether it is losing a big customer, the economic conditions are down, your industry is down or anyone of a million other things go wrong. Since this condition of “something always challenging your business” always exists you must always figure out how to increase sales. You as a business owner must always be proactively seeking ways to do things more efficiently, more profitable and you must always seek ways of increasing sales because there simply is no state of neutrality. Whether you are currently in business or just Starting a Business please keep this rule in mind.
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03/22/2011 08:40 PM
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Do it, Do it, Do it! - Author: admin Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:34 pm ... http://ow.ly/1bTaWc
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02/26/2011 07:29 PM
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CFO Services - Guidance to the Entrepreneur with an Idea - As a Part Time CFO who performs multiple CFO Services I v... http://ow.ly/1bwtjk
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02/26/2011 07:29 PM
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CFO Services – Guidance to the Entrepreneur with an Idea http://ow.ly/1bwtjg
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02/06/2011 07:29 PM
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CFO Services - Financial Numbers Can Play Tricks - If a baseball bat and ball together cost $1.10 and I told you the... http://ow.ly/1bd6HD
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02/06/2011 07:29 PM
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CFO Services - Financial Numbers Can Play Tricks http://ow.ly/1bd6Hz
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02/06/2011 07:29 PM
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CFO Services - Financial Numbers Can Play Tricks - Author: admin Posted: Sun F... http://ow.ly/1bd6HB
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01/17/2011 07:35 PM
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CFO Services - Quick Cash Flow Metrics - Author: admin Posted: Sun Jan 16, 201... http://ow.ly/1aUt66
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01/16/2011 07:30 PM
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CFO Services - Quick Cash Flow Metrics - As a Part Time CFO I am called upon to do some quick cash flow analysis for... http://ow.ly/1aTzTn
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01/16/2011 07:30 PM
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Safe Way In Preserving Privacy - Author: admin Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:55 p... http://ow.ly/1aTzTl
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12/26/2010 07:28 PM
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CFO Services - Don't Shoot From The Hip - Author: admin Posted: Sat Dec 25, 20... http://ow.ly/1aCdkc
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11/29/2010 07:41 PM
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EPISODE26 - Cyber CFO Show 21 - Author: admin Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:17 pm... http://ow.ly/1adKPj
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11/28/2010 07:31 PM
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Pick One Strategy and Go For It! http://ow.ly/1acFJN
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11/28/2010 07:31 PM
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Pick One Strategy and Go For It! - As a Part Time CFO, I have clients who are either startups looking for investor m... http://ow.ly/1acFJP
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11/14/2010 07:31 PM
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If you are thinking of starting a business... - Author: admin Posted: Sun Nov ... http://ow.ly/19YmOB
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11/14/2010 10:09 AM
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If you are thinking of starting a business…
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If you are thinking of starting a business you must possess four things before you waste your time:
1. A Strong Passion and love for what you will be doing 2. A discipline to do the things you need to do 3. An undying faith that what you are doing is productive and valuable to the customer 4. The courage not to be frozen by fear.
I once had a client who after just listening to a few sentences I could tell this person’s primary reason for starting a business was they thought they could make a lot of money. There was no passion and love for what they were going to do. Which means as soon as the first obstacle comes along (and it will) this person will get bored and frustrated easy and the effort will dwindle.
You could easily see that whatever had to be done in the business to make it successful would probably be put aside as it is very difficult to have the discipline to do the things that need to be done if you do not have the passion and fire in the belly about what you are doing. When obstacles start to appear in rapid succession you can see this person will lose faith easily and then as the cash flow suffers they will be frozen by the fear.
Starting a business is not easy and it starts with a gut check. Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you have these four characteristics and if you do then go for it! If not, you need to re-think the situation. Remember the primary reason to start a business cannot be to make a lot of money. Money is the result of running a successful business. It cannot be the reason to go into business.
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11/07/2010 07:32 PM
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CFO Services - Selling Your Company to Employees - As a Part Time CFO I often get involved in exit planning and exec... http://ow.ly/19QX3v
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10/26/2010 08:37 PM
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CFO Services - Explanation of Accrual Versus Cash Reporting - As part time CFO I constantly get asked the question a... http://ow.ly/19Ewhz
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10/25/2010 08:39 PM
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Cash Needs - Author: admin Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 7:33 pm http://ow.ly/19Dle1
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10/24/2010 08:31 PM
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Cash Needs
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When starting a business venture I have never seen an entrepreneur (including myself) estimate cash required for a venture any where close to what actually happened. The inherent optimism of being an entrepreneur automatically seems to dictate that cash needs will be underestimated. By the way, most venture capitalists, angel groups and private investors whom you generate interest to your venture know this. I have spoken with many investors and investor groups and they tell me they basically throw out the window whatever the entrepreneur projects for cash needed. The problem is that underestimating cash needs at the beginning of a business venture creates cash flow problems somewhere down the line. Because entrepreneurs always underestimate cash needs, the search for money needs to be consistent and continuous. However it is always wise to take the money you think you need and double it. It is also wise to have someone on your management team or better yet outside your management team who is good with numbers and forecasting challenge the entrepreneur’s projection of cash needs. I cannot over emphasize the need to overshoot your cash need projections otherwise you are almost certain to undershoot them. Even if your cash needs are conservative you still need to constantly look for more money. As I have said many times, since cash flow is the life blood of any business it is critical to make sure your cash supply is always right.
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10/17/2010 11:25 AM
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Starting A Business
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When Starting a Business unexpected events can cause cash flow problems. All of the forecasting tools in the world is not going to catch this one. No matter who you are and no matter what business you are in, I am telling you that by virtue of the fact that you are in business something always happens in a business that you never expect. By the way, something unexpected usually happens more than once. These unexpected occurrences can put you out of business and they are inevitable. This is why your salary needs to be conservative; this is why you need to constantly cut overhead, this is why you cannot withstand slow paying customers, this is why you have to be on guard for employee theft, this is why you have to manage your debt and this is why you have to make decisions proactively versus reactively.
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10/10/2010 08:30 PM
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What is Educational Marketing? http://ow.ly/19nSd6
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10/07/2010 08:47 PM
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Do you keep growing your backlog? http://ow.ly/19lgJP
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10/03/2010 08:52 PM
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Employee Theft or Embezzlement
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Let’s talk about one cause of cash flow problems that turns every entrepreneur’s stomach, I know it turns mine and that is Employee theft or embezzlement.
Most business owners never think it can happen to them. Someone they trust needs money and has figured out a system for stealing and embezzling. It happens a lot more times than you think. By the way 80% of business theft is employee theft while 20% of business theft is customer theft. The key is implementing checks and balances and making sure one person doesn’t have too much responsibility.
Here is an example:
I had a client who really trusted their bookkeeper. This bookkeeper did everything. She did the entire bookkeeping job, made bank deposits, prepared payroll, recorded sales transactions, entered accounts payable, printed checks and prepared quotes. She had no watchdog, there were no checks and balances and she did everything. She just bought a new house and was having problems making payments on the mortgage. It appears she overpaid for the house beyond her family’s means and did not want to go into foreclosure. She understood that she literally controlled the company finances and the temptation to steal was building. The owner had two companies of which one was dormant. She began by writing extra payroll checks out of the dormant company. No one knew as no one audited or oversaw the dormant company. Then she got lazy and simply wrote checks to herself out of the main company account. The theft was discovered but not until several thousand dollars were stolen.
Sometimes the temptation to steal gets too great and people with weak characters give in to the temptation. Never have any one person assume this much responsibility. Have a professional financial person, like a CPA or part time CFO review the books at least quarterly and implement internal controls to prevent theft and embezzlement.
I know there is someone in your business that you entirely trust, unless it is a family member you can never be 100% sure that they are not stealing. I am not saying you go and assume everyone is stealing, but you must be aware that employees are human beings and if they are faced with a temptation to steal and they have personal problems where they need money. You simply cannot be sure.
Other ways for employees to steal includes putting inventory in dumpsters and picking it up after work. Putting inventory in duffle bags, using dressing rooms as a tool to stuff product in a bag or inside clothing, wearing merchandise under other clothing, accepting cash from a customer and not ringing it into a register and throwing away a sales slip. You never live long enough to see all the ways an employee can steal, but I have seen a lot of them. Get the necessary controls for your business to reduce employee theft.
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09/12/2010 08:29 PM
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CFO - Profit Does Not Equal Cash Presentation - Author: admin Posted: Sat Sep ... http://ow.ly/18YILp
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Cyber CFO Show
Cyber CFO Show
The Cyber CFO is Michael Barbarita of Next Step CFO. My main Objective is to provide you the listener with useful business information from the perspective of a Chief Financial Officer to help make your business improve cash flow and increase profits.
This Podcast was created using www.talkshoe.com
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Young Entrepreneur - Small Business & Entrepreneur Community » Blog
Young Entrepreneur - Small Business & Entrepreneur Community » Blog
Young Entrepreneur Forums - your online discussion forum to share and talk about Entrepreneurship. A place to learn and to help others with starting, managing and growing successful business ventures.
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01/27/2012 06:00 AM
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Amp up Your Revenue Now – with Video
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Think you need to be a big time player to deploy e-commerce video on your business’ website? Think again. Adding e-commerce video online is no longer the domain of top retailers. Shrinking costs and increasing benefits of using video is moving many smaller businesses to give the flexible and entertaining platform a shot. In fact, 73 [...]
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01/26/2012 06:00 AM
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10 Do-or-Die Tactics for Facebook Success
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A couple years ago, having a Facebook page devoted to your business would have been enough. Simply existing on the site had the ability to set one business apart from the rest. Times have changed, though. Boasting over 900 million accounts – both personal and business, Facebook has now gotten to the point where it [...]
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01/25/2012 06:00 AM
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6 Tips to Get People to Look Past Your Age and See an Expert
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You want to make the big deals and the big bucks. However, your hurdle is the fact that your looks and voice haven’t matured as much as your ambition has. You have the disadvantage that your potential clients and business partners think you’re a young cub, rather than a king of industry. Here are some [...]
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01/23/2012 06:00 AM
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Time Management – No, But Really This Time
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We all want to do more things in less time. It’s a common theme throughout all of corporate America, and it even extends into professions like healthcare, education, and civil service. We can’t rely on the institution we’ve placed ourselves in to help us accomplish this goal. Rather, I believe we must rely on multiple [...]
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01/20/2012 06:00 AM
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Holding Strong: How Working with a Holding Company Benefits You
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Most start-ups know they can’t go it alone. They hire consultants, bring in interns, and look into developing relationships with other companies who can increase their chances of success. Because of their desire to prove they can make it on their own merits, many entrepreneurs opt to work with agencies. Although it’s appealing, developing this [...]
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01/19/2012 06:00 AM
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Entrepreneurship 101: Are you Ready?
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You’ve decided that you want to own your own business. You’ve got a great idea you’re sure will take off, and you’re pretty sure you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur. Whether you’d like to run a company on your own or with partners, your goal is to be a successful entrepreneur, and [...]
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01/18/2012 06:00 AM
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The Golden Rule About Your Great Ideas
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Every young entrepreneur has great ideas. They come all the time. In the shower, on the bus, while pouring milk into your cereal. When the idea arrives from somewhere in your soul, it is perfect. Your excitement rises as you realize it is exactly what the world needs – what the world has been waiting [...]
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01/17/2012 06:00 AM
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5 Important Trends to Watch in 2012
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A new year is upon us and now is the time for your small business to break through the rut and get back on top. There has never been a better time to formulate a new marketing plan and put it into action. Why now? The answer is simple; the internet has expanded rapidly over [...]
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01/16/2012 06:00 AM
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Oops! Common Mistakes Young Entrepreneurs Make on Their Websites
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As a businessperson, it’s understood that website traffic is one of the biggest factors in your success. Making sure that search engines find you and push customers to your site is of utmost importance. The real question, however, is what happens when people land on your page? Getting prospects to your site and converting them [...]
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01/13/2012 10:28 AM
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Successful Startups Often Come With a High Price
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Most entrepreneurs expect to face the “normal” challenges of starting a business, which include finding the right opportunity, building and executing a winning plan, and financing their venture. But many forget the pitfalls associated with traditional business jobs which can apply even to the smartest and most dedicated people running their own business. Often these [...]
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The Financial Guru & Online Marketing Entrepreneur» Online Marketing Los Angeles The Financial Guru
The Financial Guru & Online Marketing Entrepreneur» Online Marketing Los Angeles The Financial Guru
Learn how to market successfully online & offline to skyrocket your revenues!
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09/30/2010 12:32 PM
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“REAL web site or FANTASY web site?”
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Recently, I stumbled across a newbie business owner offering a raving testimonial about working with a local young graphic designer, who recently built them a web site from scratch for what sounded like a very pretty penny.
Importantly, this new web site had zero keywords, keyword site plan, keywords in the title tag, and keyword density. [...]
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08/11/2010 04:22 PM
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7 Tips To Being More Resourceful
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Have you noticed the great divide for entrepreneurs in today’s marketplace? There seems to be a bevy of entrepreneurs who are just trying to get by, unconsciously trapped in tough times and then bringing that reality to their business and life results.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are entrepreneurs who view today’s economy [...]
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07/01/2010 01:26 PM
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8 Tips To Copy That Sells For You
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Online marketing takes you from marketing one-to-one offline into marketing one-to-thousands online. Whether your business is service- or product-based, writing good copy that sells for your social media, e-newsletters, blogs, website, special promotions, sales pages, etc. is essential to get massive ka-chings (i.e., sales). These eight tips will ensure you get results fast.
Before [...]
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06/23/2010 02:59 PM
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Facebook Game Changer: Don’t Miss Out
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Business owners like you are excited about social media tools such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. But, the trouble is, with such explosive growth and widespread popularity, how do you get recognized among 500 million Facebook users and get a piece of the action to drive your business growth?
The Answer: Set-up The Best [...]
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06/09/2010 09:34 PM
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4 Quick & Easy SEO Tips
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In today’s competitive business landscape, you need the internet to help you drive sales. Period!
With that out of the way, it is imperative that the keywords you specifically choose are geared at serving two masters; the clients as well as the search engines. Keywords are the defining element of Search Engine Optimization.
Your search engine keywords [...]
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04/08/2010 01:09 PM
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Why These Top 5 Social Media Sites To Grow Your Business?
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As my clients know, I have been hesitant to recommend going gangbusters when it comes to social media sites to grow your business.
Why?
It is often difficult to cut through the noise of social media to ensure you are getting the maximum return on your time (ROT) and return on investment (ROI).
It also truly depends on [...]
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03/30/2010 03:58 PM
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8 Reasons To Add Video To Your Marketing Strategy
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If you are still scratching your head and wondering about “online video,” especially given the amount of time it probably already takes to run your existing business–check out the following eight compelling reasons to make a little time to produce and post videos on your website.
1. Video Is A Minimal Cost. With flipvideo.com in full [...]
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03/17/2010 04:38 PM
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5 Steps To Leapfrog In Your Industry!
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Every week you are experiencing changes in the marketplace as business owners. During certain market cycles, it is easy to ride the crest of the wave and rack up profits. But we all know it ain’t all peaches and cream, by any stretch of the imagination, right?
I am witnessing from behind the scenes business owners [...]
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03/05/2010 01:08 PM
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8 Quick Tips To Improve Your Website
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As a business owner, you have an incredible opportunity to get it together when it comes to your website being a key tool to generate traffic, appeal to visitors and, ultimately, provide a powerful gateway to more clients + sales along with more revenue + profit.
So, if you aren’t generating biz from your website, here [...]
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02/24/2010 01:30 PM
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Claim Your Google Maps Listing . . . and More
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Have you claimed your listing in Google Maps and made sure the information it displays is accurate? If not, you need to do it now–even if you don’t have a website yet. This step is vital.
Why? You reach millions of internet users, quickly and for free. Think about it: More people search for businesses online [...]
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Lost Job Start Business
Lost Job Start Business
How to Start a Business | Business Plan | Venture Capital | Business Angels | Marketing | Finance
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10/04/2011 06:10 PM
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Can You Make Your Product Relevant to Different Customer Niches?
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Many tech focused entrepreneurs believe that their product is made for one thing. That it can only satisfy the needs of one niche. In may ways, this is a good thing. It makes the entrepreneur think about how to service that particular customer group with regard to their specific situation. It also gives an unambiguous [...]
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09/22/2011 07:29 AM
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Earning Through Investment
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If you’ve lost your job, but you’re keen to start making money, then you don’t always need to start your own business company or organisation. Indeed, not everyone is suited to the role of an entrepreneur, which can be essential in ensuring that any business is a success. However, there are other options available, such [...]
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07/12/2011 11:41 AM
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Why You Want People to Hate Your Product
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Art is subjective. Not everyone will like your art but some people may. These people will identify with your product and hold your product as a badge for their own self image.
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06/21/2010 10:43 AM
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Advertising Explained for New Entrepreneurs
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Advertising has lost it's sparkle. Talkvertising is the key
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06/02/2010 10:24 AM
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It’s Not About Being Perfect
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Perfection is not what it's about. It's all about making progress. That's the key.
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05/27/2010 08:29 AM
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Are we too hard on Facebook?
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The criticism of Facebook resulting from the recent uproar over their privacy policy is unfair and undeserved.
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05/25/2010 11:32 AM
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New Ebook – The Rebound
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My new ebook called "The Rebound: The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Business After You have Lost Your Job."
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05/13/2010 11:48 AM
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Jupiter and Start-ups
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Jupiter losing one of it's stripes is a lesson for start-up entrepreneurs.
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05/07/2010 11:44 AM
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New Ebook On The Way
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I am working on an ebook that will contain edits and re-writes of articles and posts that I have written over the last year and a half.
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04/23/2010 09:03 AM
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Substance, Substance, Substance
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You can't bluff a start-up. It's a no bluff zone. That's the reality. You can't achieve anything without substance.
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