LinkedIn is a social media website.  Unlike other social sites, LinkedIn caters to the professional crowd.  It is designed to help you build a professional network to benefit you and your growing business. Here’s how to use LinkedIn to your Advantage. Register with LinkedIn and connect with past and present colleagues.  As a professional and a business owner, you likely have a rolodex full of people you know or have known.  Perhaps they were customers, perhaps they were colleagues or associates or perhaps they were providers, LinkedIn enables you to connect with all of them. Why is this helpful?  Having…

One of the first steps when starting a business, beyond researching and creating your business idea, is to find the money to launch it.  This process can feel overwhelming however, the key is a little preparation and a bit of out of the box thinking.  Here are three ways to raise start-up-capital. 1. Friends and family can be a great way to raise start-up capital however before you pick up the phone, it’s important to approach them in a highly professional manner.  That means creating a comprehensive business plan.  Depending on how much start up capital you need, you can…

Your home office is your productivity center.  An organized home office means everything is easily accessible, in order and you’re at your most productive.  A disorganized home office can cost you lost time, which often means lost money, and the clutter can drain your energy making you feel less productive, overwhelmed and frustrated.  Therefore, it pays, literally, to have an organized home office.  Here are ten tips to organize your home office, and keep it organized! How to organize your home office – 10 tips to get the job done! 1. Create zones. Zone 1 is anything you need on…

Website traffic is essential to internet business success.  Without that valuable website traffic, there’s no one to market your products or services to.  However, many traffic generation strategies can be expensive.  The good news is there are also low cost and no cost ways to get traffic on your business website. How to get free traffic to your website – three strategies to drive traffic, business, and profits. #1  Article Marketing. Article marketing is perhaps one of the best ways to generate free traffic via organic search results.  Organic search results are what happen when someone goes to their favorite…

Today’s prospects and clients are savvy ones. They want more from a provider than they used to.  They want to become part of your network, they want to connect, and they want to feel like they belong.  One way to help prospects and clients connect is to boost interactivity on your website.  Here’s how: Technology is a wonderful thing and many blogs and website functions make it possible to boost interactivity. #1  Blog. Blog comments are a way for people to be interactive on your website.  Of course, you’ll have to offer regular and valuable content and you’ll want to…

Turn on the news, read a paper or eavesdrop at the local coffee shop and one might think the world is coming to an end.  Bad news seems prevalent and negativity is around every corner. However, around the other corner, and hidden in quiet smiling groups of people, is the reality that things aren’t as bad as it seems.  In fact, some people are staying quite positive and even prospering during these interesting times. Here’s how to stay positive during negative times: #1  Tune out the negativity. The news, the newspaper and even online media sites thrive and prosper on…

Outsourcing is one of the wisest business decisions you may ever make.  It helps you complete projects and tasks that don’t affect your primary income.  So for example, if you’re a service provider your primary income comes from the service you provide, your time with your clients. Tasks like invoicing and product creation while they are important and do affect your bottom line, they don’t have a direct effect on your profits. Here are five steps to outsource successfully. Step #1 Determine your hourly value.  For example, if you work 40 hours per week and your annual net profits are…

One of the most important factors to succeeding online is managing your cash flow.  It’s a balancing act to be sure, particularly in the early stages of your business.  You want to receive money in a timely manner from your customers and pay out money as infrequently as possible.  However, there are also items you want and need to buy and it’s easy to overspend, particularly when you’re shopping online. Here are three tips to manage your expenses effectively. #1  Develop a system.  It doesn’t matter what your system is, as long as you’re consistent and you stick to it. …

As your service based business continues to grow your rates and value will continue to grow too.  Many business owners are reluctant to raise their rates or to command higher rates because they feel they’ll lose clients and prospective jobs.  However, the opposite is true.  When you command the best rates, your perceived value will rise too.  Here are five tips to command the best rates. #1 Be professional. This may seem like the most obvious statement imaginable however, you’d be surprised to find out how unprofessional your competition can be.  Always, be on your most professional behavior.  That means…

By Listening To Your Customers Innovation is what keeps new businesses alive, fresh, and ahead of your competition. If you aren’t periodically adding new products and services to your line then customers may run out of reasons to be customers. Keep them invigorated and excited about doing business with you by developing new products and services, here’s how: Listen To Your Market Your customers are likely sharing information and stories with you. Take the time to actually listen to them. You’ll be surprised what they have to say and how that information can be used to create new products and…