Category: Tips and Tools

It won’t surprise you to learn that your reputation is bound up in the conversations that people have about your business. If those conversations are good, you’ll fly and do plenty of business, no matter what the season. If they’re bad, you’ll struggle to make a lasting impact on your community.

Today, your reputation isn’t just confined to conversations people have in the physical world. It’s moved to the digital world, increasing the opportunities and also the perils. There’s never been a better time to spread the word about your business and enhance your reputation. You can communicate with thousands of people, all with a few clicks of the mouse. And you can reach people you would never ordinarily have been able to reach in the past. But with these new tools, there are also significant perils. Make mistakes, or get your PR wrong, and you could end up with a bad online reputation that’s hard to shift.

So with that said, what strategies can small businesses use to improve their reputation in the online space?

Step 1: Create Content That Demonstrates Your Expertise

Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist from Harvard University. When it comes to convincing customers that you are somebody that they can trust, she’s an expert. She says that the best way to build a good reputation is to gain the respect of your customers. When customers respect your abilities and understand your talents, they are far more likely to hand over their money. They want people who they can trust to deliver high-quality products, no matter what.

She advises small businesses not to focus on sales, but to push out informative and educational content instead. This is, in a sense, marketing by the back door. You provide customers with valuable information they would struggle to find elsewhere. And in the process, you build up a level of trust that then makes it more likely that they’ll come to you in the future.

Let’s say for instance that you’re a veg box company. People are constantly looking for easy ways to eat more healthily. You could demonstrate your expertise by finding healthy and tasty recipes and providing them for free on your site. You’ll then get lots of traffic from people looking to eat better, and in the process, some might sign up to your scheme.

Step 2: Engage With Your Customers Online

Cuddy says that people make two fundamental evaluations when they meet a new person. They first try to figure out whether they can trust them to do what it is that they want them to do. And secondly, they try to find out whether they are worthy of respect.

The same holds true for small businesses. People want to know whether they can both trust and respect a small business. Arguably, the best way to do this online is through customer engagement, specifically reviews. Reviews are a great vehicle to establish trust since people are more likely to trust their peers than they are your own marketing. And they’re an excellent vehicle for gaining respect. The more issues that you resolve, the more confidence your customers will have that you can deliver for them too.

Building reviews and engaging with customers online takes time. There are software solutions, like Chatmeter, for instance, that help to reduce this burden. But you’ll have to spend a proportion of your time managing your online relationships. Make sure that you check-in regularly on your social media channels using dashboard apps. Ensure that you’re pursuing likes and uploading fresh content for your followers to enjoy. The more activity that you can generate the more that Google will see this as a “brand signal.” The stronger your brand signal, the higher you’ll climb the rankings, and the more people will find you.

Step 3: Get Your Audience Chatting

Companies struggle to get people talking about them, often because they think that they have to always promote their product. And when your product is cut timber or scaffolding, that’s hard.

But the truth is that getting people talking about your business doesn’t require a focus on your product. Instead, you can create a buzz around an offer or an event. Perhaps everybody who turns up to your timber yard on Mondays can help themselves to a free slice of cake. Or maybe you’re doing a discount for people who wear charity stickers. Pick something that will get people talking and sharing. Discounts, events and prizes are all great ways to do this.

Another tactic is to do personal shout-outs to your customers. Whatever it is, it all helps to get people talking and Google to notice.

Step 4: Use Local Publications

Small businesses want backlinks from authority sites, like Forbes and Inc., more than anything else in the world. And while links from those locations will do a lot to boost your ranking, they’re not the only sites you could approach. Small businesses need to start locally before they move to the national stage. That’s why it’s worth contacting local press first, as a platform before moving onto the larger publications. Featuring in local publications will help your geo-search rankings. If you’re smart, you can also target publications directly related to your business. Through these publications, you stand a good chance of getting referral traffic to your site.

Step 5: Use Branding Rather Than Ad Conversions Or “Impressions”

There’s a debate running right now as to whether impressions really are a good metric to use when it comes to online advertising. Both large and small businesses have questioned their ability to improve your reputation and build a brand. The main problem is that it’s tough to measure the ROI of impressions. Sure, MIT researchers may have found that ad impressions stick in people’s minds after just 13 milliseconds. But there’s no real way to connect the impression to the final sale or conversion.

Banner ads are becoming an increasingly unpopular way for businesses to build the reputation or customer base. Instead, many are not turning to the very branding methods we’ve discussed in this article. Click through rates are poor performers compared to other types of digital outreach.

 

We can all be stuck in a rut when it comes to the day job. We head out to work, we earn the same amount of money, and sometimes we can just feel like we aren’t achieving anything. Our income can only stretch so far, but yet it feels like everything has a cost to it. But don’t despair, you don’t have to rely on the day job to support you. I thought I would share with you a few extra tips that could help boost your monthly income. I hope it offers you a little inspiration.

Consider investing to make a profit

You may have a little bit extra disposable income. But find that it isn’t doing anything in savings accounts you have now. So make that money work harder and consider investing it in different ways. This might seem a little scary at first and you may be apprehensive to part with your hard earned money because of the risk. But thanks to certain software, that worry has been diminished. You can take a look at options available from places like fintech ltd

Try your hand at mystery shopping

If investing isn’t your thing, or you find you don’t have much spare, then you could consider boosting that income by mystery shopping. It could be as simple as making a few purchase in a store or having a meal out where you need to review the restaurant. Often mystery shopping assignments not only reimburse you for any costs but also pay you for your time. It could become quite a lucrative earner and still provide opportunity to enjoy life a little. There are plenty of websites online which can provide you with advice on how to get started.

Sell unwanted items

Sometimes cash opportunities are sat in our own homes. They could be in the attic in storage boxes or sat in drawers unused. Quite often we can accumulate items that just end up cluttering our homes when they could present us with a tidy profit. Give your home a big clearout and anything that could be utilised elsewhere consider selling. You might want to do this online on websites like eBay. Or even hold yourself a garage sale and try and get rid of things there and then. You would be surprised what might be junk to you could be treasure for someone else. It not only gives you a chance to boost your income but also declutter your home at the same time.

Use the digital world to your advantage

Finally, there are plenty of ways that the digital world can provide you with opportunities to earn some extra income. You could consider starting a blog if you are quite creative. AFter time you may be able to use affiliate links or advertise through your blog. You could also be paid for filling out surveys or even answering job opportunities. Things like writing, copywriting or administration service. There is plenty you could be doing, you just need to be presented with the opportunities.

I hope this has inspired you to boost you income.

Big data. That’s undoubtedly the buzz word of this decade. It is used to refer to the mountains of data, often disparate, that today’s Internet enabled devices and systems are able collect.

As the volume of data in organizations rises, the adoption of business dashboards has become inevitable as companies try to organize data into bite sized chunks which they can use for smart decision making and to make policy adjustments.

When organizations are able to configure and deploy dashboards across the organization, they become indispensable tools and actually work to their advantage in a competitive environment.

When implemented incorrectly, the organization fails to appreciate the immense benefits of business dashboards and views them as little more than nice visuals for use during staff meetings. Often, when this happens, the business is missing some (or all) important aspects of a business dashboard.

The following are three essential aspects of a business dashboard that must be present to derive the full benefits.

1.      The Underlying Data

There is an old computing saying that was popular in 1980s and still holds true today. Garbage in, garbage out. A dashboard is only as good as its underlying data. And here, we aren’t just talking about quality.

In addition to the quality of data, there is also the issue of making a dashboard that relies on manual data updates. This is a big mistake because it becomes an enormous drain on time and also leads to errors. Errors are introduced through human fatigue. The results can be devastating to the organization. To remedy this, the data feed must be automated.

The second thing is failure to include data from several different sources and only using one aspect of the organization’s data. An effective dashboard must have a complete view of data; there shouldn’t be any grey areas.

2.      Presentation

The next step is the visual display. There are three vital aspects to consider:

• Actionable metrics – only include data that is actionable. Many organizations clutter their dashboards with so much information, little of which is actionable. This is done to wow the audience during meetings but is of little value. Only metrics that can help make a decision should be included. If you currently have a dashboard that looks like the cockpit of a Boeing, consider trimming it down to the bare essential metrics needed to make a decision.
• Organization – the second thing with presentation is how it’s organized. Dashboards are about simplicity. All aspects of the organization should be clear to anyone reading the dashboard. Also, keep to the golden rule of dashboards; it should fit on one page. If it doesn’t, it’s no longer a dashboard but a report. If you truly need more than one screen/page to present your key metrics, then consider using a tabbed dashboard to segment the different kinds of metrics you want to present.
• Customize – the third and final bit about presentation is that users should be able to organize the same data differently. Hence, a user should for example be able to sort and filter as well as view different time periods.

3.      Delivery

The final aspect of a business dashboard is the delivery. How will people access the dashboard? This depends on your business and goals but a few general points include:

• Don’t restrict to a desktop – despite the proliferation of many different types of hardware, it is interesting to note that some companies still create applications that are only accessible via desktop. For your dashboard to truly have great impact, consider making it accessible via smartphones and tablets. People should be able to access the dashboard anywhere, at any time and using any Internet enable device.
• Don’t restrict to a Screen – Sounds contradictory? It isn’t, the point here is that there should be intelligent alerts built into the dashboard that notify someone or the entire team when, for example, a key milestone has been reached or not reached. The alert could be an SMS or email alert. You can even be more creative and have the sound of an overflying plane play across the office once a milestone has been or an alarm bell if the milestone has been missed. This keeps everyone focused on the goals.

Conclusion

Dashboards are an important decision making tool for business. Organizations that have set them up and used them correctly swear in their ability to keep everyone focused on the key performance indicators and to deliver impressive bottom line results.

If you’re trying to balance family life with running an online business, it’s vital to understand what aspects of your business are the most important and which aspects of your business need to be addressed first. Once you do this, your personal life and business life will be a whole lot easier to manage. Below are some of the most important aspects of your online business, you need to get right.

Think Carefully About Your Website

Every online business needs some kind of website. Some require a simple brochure website that includes the basic details about your company such as the products and services you provide, your location, testimonials and contact information.

Other online business owners require a more complex website, such as an e-commerce store or membership site. The type of website you choose will determine how much your website will cost and how much maintenance it will require when your business is up and running.

Every website requires a domain name and hosting. You should choose wisely before selecting a domain name for your website because this is the name that will appear on all of your marketing materials.

Choosing the right hosting provider is just as important. Your hosting provider should be able to ensure that your website is always available. Your hosting can also determine how fast a website is. A slow website is a huge problem because you could lose a large number of online customers and not even realise there is a problem.

These are all important factors you need to consider before deciding what website solution you need, because it can take up a large amount of your budget and the amount of time you spend with your family.

Develop an Efficient Payment Process

If you will be accepting online orders through your website, you need to think the process through. It should be easy to buy products or services from your website. This includes a reliable and secure checkout facility and a payment processor you can count on like the payment processor found at http://mypaymentsavvy.com/. Once all of these components are in place, your delivery process should also run smoothly.

Get Active on Social Media and Interact with Your Potential Customers

With so many people visiting social media websites every day, there’s a good chance a large number of your potential shoppers and customers are members of these websites. This is why it’s vital to create and maintain pages on the most popular social media websites. This gives you a much better opportunity to communicate with a larger audience of people who may be interested in your business and the products and services you can offer them.

As you can see, there are certain areas of your online business, you need to get right from the start. If you do this, you will avoid many of the stresses and difficulties that occur when business women attempt to run an online business and still require the time to look after a young family.

So you have been thinking about becoming an entrepreneur? It is a great job if you want to work from home and spend more time with the kids. However, that doesn’t mean that it will be an easy ride. Quite the contrary, in fact! You will need to have a lot of time and energy to put into your new business venture.

Are you wondering if you are ready to make the move into self-employment? Many women agonize over whether they are ready or not. But making the decision shouldn’t stress you out too much. You can use this blog post to help you out! I’ve come up with a handy checklist that can help you decide whether or not you’re ready to become an entrepreneur. If you can check off all the following points, then you’re good to go!

You’ve Got Childcare Sorted

Just because you’ll be working from home doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to look after the kids at the same time. You will be very busy with your business, so don’t assume that you won’t need childcare. You could even need to arrange more childcare than what you need now! So this is one thing that you need to work into your budget. If you can’t afford childcare right now, maybe it isn’t a good time to become an entrepreneur. However, there are plenty of ways you could get cheap or even free childcare. The best way is to ask your close family and friends to see if someone could look after your kids for a couple of days a week. Even if they only have them for a short period of time, it will still give you chance to get a whole load of work done!

You Definitely Can Afford It

During the first few months, you should expect to experience a significant cut in your income. That is because you will be working on setting up the business, and it can take a significant period of time to build up your client base. Many people try and do all of this initial set-up while they are still in full-time employment so that they are guaranteed a decent wage. However, as you have to juggle a family as well, you may not be able to find the time to do two jobs at once. Instead, try and save up as much as possible before you take the plunge into self-employment. If your partner has a well-paid job, you will find it a lot easier during the first few months of your new business.

You’ve Got The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Most entrepreneurs share the same kind of personality and drive. One thing that you absolutely need during your entrepreneurial ventures is to be completely driven. As you are the driving force behind your whole business, you need to be putting in 100%. Still unsure if you have the spirit needed to set up your own business from scratch? You could read this Five Hundred Stories’ interview of Richard Brasser from rFactr. See if you share the same motivation and values as the successful entrepreneur.

You’re Good With Stress

One thing is for sure; you will certainly experience a lot of stress when you are in charge of your own company. You need to be able to handle this appropriately and not let it affect your work and performance. Entrepreneurs are good at living with very high levels of stress. If this doesn’t sound like something you would be good at handling, it might be best to think of a different career path. But that doesn’t mean that you should completely give up your dream of becoming an entrepreneur. You could start practicing mindfulness and other techniques that are used to combat high levels of stress. Once you are able to live with stress, you’re ready to enter the world of the entrepreneur!

Your Partner Is Also Ready

You aren’t the only person who should be ready for your career change. Your partner also needs to be ready for the move as well. They may not be working with you, but they will still be living with you. So they might have to deal with any fallout! They need to be ready to support you in your venture, no matter how stressed and agitated you may become! They may also have to step into help with things financially. For instance, you may have a reduced income for the first few months of your business’s life. If this is the case, your partner may have to support your family financially. And if your business ever needs bailing out of a tough spot, it may be your partner’s paycheck that does the bailing! Make sure your partner is 100% happy with all this before you make the switch to self-employment.

You’re Very Disciplined

Once you run your own business, everything will be on your head. You won’t be able to blame anyone else for your business’s failures or problems. But think of that on the flip side; you can also take all the praise for its successes! How do you navigate around all the usual problems that many business owners often fall into? The best way to make your business a complete success is to be disciplined. This isn’t the time to start slacking off. You should be extremely organized and get all your work done as soon as it lands on your desk. Getting everything done on time, and to a very high standard, is key for your business to succeed. And being extremely disciplined with yourself if the first step to achieving this.

Is Your Health Up To It?

Being an entrepreneur usually means long days. Your body and mind need to be up to these marathon work hours. And you will also need to find the energy to enjoy time with your family once you are finished work for the day! It’s also important to remember that you won’t be paid for sick days when you are self-employed. So any time you take off for sick health will be doing a disservice to your business and your finances. As you can see, it will certainly pay off to be in peak fitness. You also need to have the mentality to be able to continue working even if you aren’t feeling very well. This may sound like a lot to ask, but it is just one of the many things entrepreneurs have to deal with in exchange for a successful business!

Are You Good With Others?

I may have made it sound like being an entrepreneur is quite an isolated career path. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth! In fact, as an entrepreneur, it is incredibly important to network and keep in touch with clients and customers. This is extremely important once you start your business. You will need to build your client base so that you have a constant stream of work coming in. How you get your business out there to clients is up to you.One of the best ways is to go to local networking events. These kinds of events bring together business professionals. And they also give them a chance to advertise their services and products.

As you can see, there is a lot that you need to consider before diving into life as an entrepreneur. But there are many benefits to doing so. You will be entirely in control of your professional life. And there is nothing better than being your very own boss!