You want strategies that will allow you to raise your business to the next level. Here I’ve put together some of the best ideas that you can use. Though not every piece of advice will work for everybody, there is enough for you to bring it to life.

Learn to delegate

When I was working in the writing service, I had this Boss who was just incredible. He’d roll out, give the orders and then return to his desk to play FreeCell. Then, when the clock struck five he headed homeward. In our modern-day society, you might think this was a recipe doomed for disaster.

It was anything but.

You see, this Boss was an absolute star at delegating. He knew exactly how much people could manage and who could deliver the best result. And, because he didn’t do the work himself, he was there to manage any situation when it arose immediately, without ever losing oversight of what was going on.

Sure, we weren’t happy he didn’t actually do any of the work himself, but nobody could fault him for being highly efficient.

So do what he did. Learn to delegate, avoid micromanaging and, though you might not want to play computer games, make sure you’re not up to your eyeballs in work. Because when you can avoid that you’ll have the time you need to deal with the problems that come along.

Know when to hire and when to fire

Hire slowly. This really is important as a bad hire will costs you severely. Not only will they not do their job, but they’ll bring down morale, suck up valuable resources that you could have used to train better staff and in other ways just cause headaches. Besides, there are plenty of extra costs associated with hiring extra staff that most people forget. And, of course, you can also get professional help anytime you need it.

For that reason, spend a lot (And I mean a lot) of time reviewing candidates and don’t be afraid to keep looking if somebody doesn’t fit the bill.

Similarly, if you know somebody isn’t working out, fire them. Yes, sometimes they’ll grow into the role. And in that case, you might be well pleased that you kept them on board. The thing is that only happens sometimes. More often, down the line, you find yourself regretting not having fired them before. And in the long run, that’s going to cost you more than you save when giving somebody a third chance works out well.

Work on your communication

A company can only ever be as good as how well people that work there communicate with each other. For only if people communicate clearly can you make sure that the message gets across and the job gets done properly. Of course, the most important person that needs to be able to communicate well is you. So start there.

Make your writing great and straightforward, whether you’re writing papers or emails. You don`t always have to be a thesis writer to succeed in this situation; just do your best to make everything as good as possible.  Also work on your phone communication, your body language and whatever other channels you use to communicate with. Then you can be sure that you get the message across directly – no matter whether you`re assisting in dissertation writing or giving your staff their evaluation.

Business needs tracking

Big data is changing business. And so, obviously, you want to use it as well – perhaps not today but somewhere soon. The thing is that you can’t work out your internal factors or how they relate to the world at large unless you actually have the data to put into the algorithms.

For that reason, track everything. It doesn’t matter when the lights get turned on or off, what the temperature is at or how many emails people send out and who needs writing help. Track it all. You never know what will be useful somewhere down the line. And as storage is so cheap it might as well be free, what’s stopping you?

In that way, when you do get around doing that data analysis you’ll have so much data that the data analysts won’t even need to spend any time collecting new stuff. It’s all there. They just have to compare it.

Lead from the front

You can lead by telling and you can lead by showing. Which one do you think inspires people more? The great advantage of showing people how to behave is that it doesn’t just add more words, but instead creates an atmosphere and a culture. And as you’re the Boss, that culture can easily become the governing mentality at your company.

In that way, you can make sure that people behave the way you want them to. All you need to do is say ‘be like me’. If you can’t say that, then you really need to re-explore your behavior. Because a lot of people resent being told to do things that you yourself obviously won’t.

So show good leadership.

Last words

So there you go. Five simple strategies that will take your business to the next level. Try one, try them all, whatever route you take you’ll be sure to make your business that bit more effective and that will allow you to boost growth and your company’s opportunities.

And remember, these are the types of strategies that take time. So keep going. A week won’t do. These need to percolate through your entire business structure to be effective. So keep going.

Image via globaldigitalcitizen.org

Over 500,000 startups are launched every year in the U.S. alone. The majority of them fail. While there are many reasons for their failures, probably the most common is the lack of resources – money and manpower. New business owners are low on cash, and they need expertise that they cannot hire, for essential business tasks. One of the great things about launching a business today, however, is that a lot of “expertise” is free or very inexpensive, if the new business owner finds the right tools for those tasks that he cannot or does not have the time for, then lots of pressure is removed. Here is a list of 9 such tools.

1. WordPress

If you have a business you have to have a website. And if you have a website, you have to have a business blog. A blog is an essential part of your marketing strategy –part of giving your customers and potential customers great experiences, information, entertainment, and inspiration. WordPress itself is free, and you can add plugins that allow for sharing, media, conversations, SEO, and an array of other things. Easy setup, no coding, and you or any member of your team can pitch in to create the posts, publish them, and make sure they are “pitched” all over social media. There is a great support community for WordPress too, so solutions to any issues can be found quickly.

2. HootSuite

Speaking of social media, every new business has to have a presence – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for starters, and other platforms where customers hang out. This is where you make really meaningful connections with your target audience and grow that audience because people want to share what you post or come to your site to see what you have to offer or to read an intriguing blog post. Managing all of your social media accounts can be a pretty large task, and if you are generally busy with running a business, it’s easy to neglect your social media marketing. This will “kill” you, because today’s customer is getting a lot of information and recommendations from his/her community. You have to be “in” that community with engaging stuff all the time. HootSuite is a tool that will streamline your social media postings, with a schedule you pre-determine. Write a blog post, give it a phenomenal title and teaser phrase, and let Hootsuite take care of distributing it – several times a day on Twitter, a couple times a week on Facebook – whatever you want. The other great thing about HootSuite is that it monitors all of your platforms – showing you which platforms are getting the most activity, which are not working for you, and what your audiences are saying about you and your brand. A huge time saver and assurance that you are developing the right relationships with your target audiences.

3. Top Writers Reviews

Creative and engaging content is not optional. And writing that content is often a talent/skill that new business owners and other team members do not have. If you can’t produce content that is creatively written, with intriguing titles, engaging text, and the right media, then you can review the best writing services and choose what you like best. They have an entire department devoted to content marketing – content creation, media creation, social media profiles, and more. If you want your blog to “rock” and your social media profiles to engage, then these creatives are what you need.  Reasonable cost too – and far less expensive than hiring a full-time employee for this task.

4. Desk

Customer relationship management is another one of those tasks that, in the past, has been left up to a salesforce. It used to rely on each salesperson have a customer base and being mindful of taking care of those customers well. It also has always meant taking care of issues, complaints, returns, and so forth. Whether you are selling a product or a service, your customers and how they feel about you have to be the “kingpin” of your company, especially since customers are so active on social media and can make their complaints publicly known. This tool allows you to get customer feedback, to track all communication and contact you have had with customers, and to make certain that their questions are answered, their issues resolved and that they are happy and satisfied. You probably don’t have a large sales force with a database of customers – you have to keep track of those customers in the most efficient and time- saving way as possible. This tool lets you do just that.

5. MindMeister

Mind mapping has traditionally been thought of as a tool for students to organize their notes and to brainstorm ideas for essays and papers. Mind mapping has now gone to a whole new level for business, and this tool is probably the best on the market. What are your thoughts on revising your content marketing strategies? Access this tool and get them into an organized fashion with a whole host of options for representing them. Then share them with your team members and let them add, revise, and share again. The entire history is saved, and you and your collaborators can end up with a plan that is easily seen, so that it can be implemented. Planning a presentation to a potential investor? Use this tool to develop that presentation and then automatically convert it into a slide show. Need to manage a project and delegate tasks? This is your tool, and everyone on your team will know who is doing what and when. The possibilities are truly endless – you need this tool for virtually any planning you may do.

6. Wave Apps

You may have experimented with a number of accounting tools, but this one is specifically for small businesses and startups, and it’s free. This is a full app to handle your accounts, payments, spreadsheets, etc. One really great feature is that it ties into your bank or PayPal accounts and makes manual entry a thing of the past. Professional balance sheets can be generated with a few clicks – balance sheets that are perfect for presenting to a potential investor. Add unlimited payroll and invoicing elements and you have the perfect tool for everything financial.

7. Optimizely

Here is an all-in-one tool that gives you an amazing array or methods and strategies to grow your business. First, there is the analytics feature. Know who is accessing your content, where and when they are accessing your content and what platforms are working (or not). Second is the personalization. Suppose a customer has looked at specific products you offer but has not purchased. Use this tool to re-target that customer and keep that product in front of him/her. And, finally, there is the testing feature. Are you wondering which CTA button works best? Do A/B testing through Optimizely and get the stats you need to make decisions that will grow your business. Check out the website to see all that this tool can do for you.

8. LeadzGen

Wouldn’t it be great to know that Joe Smith visited your site and stayed 10 minutes looking at a product? He’s probably a hot prospect. And you can also know there he lives and get other information that can allow contact right away. Reach out to Joe and get him into your sales funnel with this tool.

9. Mailchimp

Email is still one of the most effective means to keep in touch with customers and prospects, as long as you make those emails full of great stuff – updates, entertainment, videos, and the ability for your recipients to share right then and there. You can design opt-in newsletters that will go out automatically to your entire list or just a targeted list; you can monitor who opens, reads, and shares your emails. Manage every part of your email campaign and strategy with this great tool.

Conclusion

As a startup, you have two challenges: Get everything done as efficiently as possible with as little staff cost as possible, and streamline those tasks that you just don’t have time for. These 9 tools will do that for you. Incorporate their use and you have what you need to move forward.

via Wikimedia Commons

Everybody has dreams. Don’t you have an image in your head of the career and life of your dreams? Maybe you would like to start your own business and build your own small empire. Maybe your idea of living the dream is a nice big home where you can raise a family. Perhaps you belong in a big city, or rural living might be your thing. No matter what your dreams are, you are more likely to fulfill them if you are financially comfortable. This is why cost of living is so important when it comes to choosing the city of your dreams. Take a minute to learn about ten cities that have a lot to offer, including an affordable lifestyle. We’ll start with a breakdown of the numbers for each city, then we’ll discuss the appeal of living there.

1. Pittsburgh, PA

The Numbers: Unemployment = less than 8 percent. Cost to purchase a home = less than 120k. Cost of living = close to 15 percent less than the national average. Pittsburgh residents also enjoy a low rate of crime.

Pittsburgh living: Take a moment to think about what your ideal living situation is. Would you like to live in an easy to afford home near parks where your children can play? Is diversity important to you? Do you want access to cultural offerings? Is it important to live near great schools and colleges? Whatever you prefer, one of Pittsburgh’s amazing neighborhoods is probably perfect for you.

2. Columbus, OH

The Numbers: Unemployment = less than 4 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 124K. Cost of living = close to 10 percent less than the national average.

If you want the amenities of a big city, but don’t want to experience the crowds and high cost of living, Columbus Ohio should be on your list of cities to consider. Columbus is young, growing, and full of great cultural offerings.

3. Rockford, IL

The Numbers: Unemployment = less than 7 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 94k. Cost of living = 18 percent less than the national average.

If you are willing to take a chance, you may find that Rockford, IL is a city making a comeback. The city has attracted a major aircraft maintenance firm, and it looks like that is just the beginning of the expansion of the aviation industry in Rockford. This will surely bring new opportunities and growth in other industries.

4. Memphis, TN

The Numbers: Unemployment = less than 7 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 110k. Cost of living = 27 percent less than the national average.

You really can’t beat Memphis TN. Not only are the numbers great, business growth is great as well. Of course, nobody wants to live in a city that’s all business. Memphis is full of great restaurants, live music, bars, parks, and other local hangouts.

5. Rochester, NY

The Numbers: Unemployment = less than 7 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 114k. Cost of living = 20 percent less than the national average.

If you are young and passionate about the arts, you may want to consider making Rochester your destination city, and bypassing the more expensive New York City. If art isn’t your thing, you can still enjoy beautiful upstate living in a growing city that is full of opportunity.

6. Grand Rapids, MI

The Numbers: Unemployment = less than 5 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 132k. Cost of living = 11 percent less than the national average.

Are you interested in starting a family in a city where jobs are plentiful and quality of life is high? If so, Grand Rapids is definitely a city to consider. Many large employers have offices in and around the city, the schools are great, and you can practically steal a house!

7. Fort Wayne, IN

The Numbers: Unemployment = less than 5 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 98.5k. Cost of living = 16 percent less than the national average.

Fort Wayne is yet another city that is making huge strides in recovering from the housing crash. The efforts the city government has been making to encourage growth has certainly been fruitful. Businesses are moving into the city, unemployment is down, and taxes are being used to wisely fund amenities such as parks and trails.

8. Winston-Salem, NC

The Numbers: Unemployment = 5 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 122k. Cost of living = 14 percent less than the national average.

If creativity and culture are important to you, both can be found in the Winston-Salem area. This, combined with a great employment base make this a great place to live.

9. El Paso, TX

The Numbers: Unemployment = Less than 5 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 169k. Cost of living = 16 percent less than the national average.

Are you considering launching a business of your own, or do you prefer to grow along with an already established company? In either case, why not consider the very business friendly city of El Paso a chance?

10. Madison, WI

The Numbers: Unemployment = Less than 3 percent. Cost to purchase a home = 259k. Cost of living = 16 percent higher than the national average.

Don’t let the cost of living scare you away. The growth and job opportunities more than covers that base. You’ll also enjoy living in a great city with plenty of things to do.

If you use software such as Google Analytics to keep track of traffic on your website, you have a good idea of how many site visitors you receive each day, and how long they stay on your website. Chances are, you also have a good idea of the percentage of visitors that actually become customers.

If those numbers are not what you would like them to be, they problem may not lie with your products or services. It may be that your web design that is the culprit. If you believe this is the case, here are some things to consider as you evaluate and remodel your website design.

Ease of Navigation must be at the Forefront of your Web Design Strategy

To put it simply, if your visitors cannot easily figure out how to go where they want to, or how to do what they need to, they are going to click away from your website. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can compensate for this. You can provide your readers with great content and an extremely appealing design, but you will lose them over navigation each and every time. This is a double whammy for your business. First, you’ve lost the customers who have clicked away (most likely permanently).

Second, as part of their process of ranking websites, search engines track bounce rates. This is basically the amount of time visitors spend on a website before they click away. The assumption on the part of search engine algorithms is that, if the customer clicks away quickly, your website wasn’t a valid “hit” for the keywords that they entered. Lower search engine rankings mean that it is less likely that your website will show up on the much-desired first or second pages of results.

If you are unsure whether or not navigation issues are costing you conversions, here is a great article about determining that, and then fixing it. And, because navigation is such an important factor, using a third-party site tester is pretty critical here.

Responsive Design

Responsive web design (RWD) is not an option – it is design philosophy that focuses on maximum UX no matter what device and not matter what the screen size. Fortunately, responsive design is not that difficult to implement because it only requires a single front end set of code that responds to the screen size. And, given the fact that new SmartTV’s have become so popular, it will important to ensure that UX is not sacrificed on this new platform. Once responsive design is in place or tweaked in any way, user testing must occur to be certain that there are now flaws. The critical aspect is that the user has the same quality and speed on any device

Are You Trustworthy and Reputable?

Before customers click on the “Place Order” link, they want to know that they are doing business with an entity that they can trust. What can web designers do to foster a feeling of confidence in those who visit their website? It is important to keep in mind that there are three areas of concern that most people have when making a purchase from a website.

• Whether or not previous customers have been satisfied
• That their financial information is not at risk if they conduct a transaction
• That the business has a good reputation and respectable industry standing

This can be dealt with in web design by including logos from and links to any accrediting agencies, licenses, professional organizations, or special certifications. Including a company bio is also desirable. Visitors who can easily access customer testimonials are also more likely to become customers.

You might also have a small banner announcing the number of satisfied customers to day (with a button for testimonials).  If you are a B2B company, then incorporate the logos of other organizations with whom you have conducted business. Finally, it is of utmost importance to prominently display evidence that financial transactions are processed securely. Other issues that can impact customer confidence in negative ways include failure to update content on a regular basis, intrusive banner ads and pop-ups, and poorly written content.

Attention from Search Engine Spiders

First of all, you must know a bit of vocabulary to understand this. SERP is an acronym that stands for Search Engine Results Page.  This is essentially the list of web pages a search engine returns after a user has conducted a search. SERP will include organic search results (websites that naturally appear on the list), and sponsored results (websites that appear at the top of the results because the owners have paid for that positioning).

Ideally, you want your website to appear at the top of the organic listings. This is an indication that your website design has received “points” from the search engine for very specific things – excellent UX, keywords in your metatags, and rich content in your blogs, that is being shared by others, so you’ll need a professional writer. Most important, however, is the data that is collected based upon speed and navigation, bounce rates, etc. that spiders report.

Having a user-tested site that is loaded within 2-3 seconds, is easily navigated and that has content engaging enough (don’t forget about visuals) for visitors to want to stay will go far in improving your rankings.  One key point of this process is understanding how search engine bots and spiders work. Then you must design your website to get those spiders and bots to work to your advantage.

Incorporating social Media

You have to be present everywhere – on every social media site and then some! And every bit of content, every email, every post on your blog, every infographic you include on your site that is shareable, must have buttons prominently placed for such sharing. And get a little creative about the buttons themselves – this will call attention to them and maybe give that visitor the extra push to share, if only because s/he thinks your buttons are pretty cool.

CTA Buttons

CTA buttons are more important than you think. There has been a lot of A/B testing of buttons with some pretty important results. First, your buttons should have curved rather than squared edges. Why? Because curved edges draw eyes and attention inward, while squared edges draw eyes and attention outward. Second, they must be in the line of sight of the viewer. Third, put a command right on the button. Now, your command can be very common, (Buy now, download, etc.)  or it can be more specific. A/B testing shows that commands that are a more specific get more clicks.

Your Contact Info

Some of the “big boys” really don’t want you to find their contact information too easily. But you are not one of them, and it is really important that your customers have multiple methods of getting in touch. They have questions; they have issues; they have comments/feedback. And you want them to find you easily – by phone, by email, by messaging. And in return, of course, you will respond! The thing about well-displayed contact information is this: it gives you credibility and greater trustworthiness.

Use of Color

Use what psychology and neuroscience tell us about brain responses to things, such as color. We now know that certain parts of the brain are activated in different ways when exposed to different colors. While colors may not “make or break” a final decision to stay for a while or to click that button for a “free trial,” certainly, knowing what colors trigger certain emotions or reactions can certainly not hurt.

Having a lot of website traffic is a great thing. In fact, it is the first step in attracting customers. However, if your website is not intuitive to use, if it doesn’t work on all platforms and environments, if it does not appear in search engine results, if it doesn’t have engaging appeal, or your visitors do not feel comfortable doing business with you, those visitors will never become your customers. Fortunately, if you employ the concepts above in your web design, you will see your conversion rate increase.

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Studies show that at least 50% of all businesses go “belly up” within five years of their start-ups. Small retailers in strip malls open and close on a regular and consistent basis; that specialty burger joint lasted only a little more than a year; e-commerce websites come and go on a regular basis.

While there are probably dozens of reasons for these failures, many of the fatal errors are due to lack of critical pre-launch activities. With that in mind, here are 10 of the most important steps to remember and write down before you launch.

1. Research Your Marketplace: You may really believe that you have a great product or service, and you are fully emotionally “attached” to your idea. Everyone else, including your target market, may not be so “attached.” Is there really a need for what you plan to offer? Who is your competition and how are they doing? How is your product or service going to be an improvement over theirs? You have to ask and answer these questions – it’s a certainty that any potential investor will be asking them too!
2. Develop Your Business Plan: You will have to have it for your investors anyway, but it is important for you to get everything down on paper for yourself as well. You need to “see” your plan and to determine if there are important aspects you have overlooked or contingencies for which you have not planned. The clearer your plan, the more potential you have for getting investors, and the better your own “roadmap” can guide you.
3. Consider a Partner: Most hugely successful entrepreneurs who began small had a partner (e.g., Jobs, Gates, and Zuckerberg). And there is good reason for this. The two of you can complement one another’s strengths and weaknesses and provide a balance; you can “pump each other up” when things go awry or look glum; and you can kick ideas around rather than spinning them around in your own head with only one perspective.
4. Check Your Flexibility “Meter:” If your product or service is not the huge success that it is, are you willing to admit that and re-tool your business? Being flexible rather than rigid will allow you to accept when changes need to be made and to make them.
5. Make Sure You Have Enough Startup Cash: A good “rule of thumb” is 6-months of living expenses, in addition to the money needs you have developed through your business plan. Your business budget should be realistic and should have some reserve built in. Investors need to see this budget; and once you find them, get that commitment in writing through an investor loan or stock agreement. One newer trend for entrepreneurs is to go “local” for their investors, using soft rather than hard money – this is a great idea if you can keep them from attempting to micro-manage.
6. Line up Technology Pros: You may be a master in your business niche, but unless that niche is web design and content marketing, don’t be a “do-it-yourselfer.” You need the wickedest website out there, and it needs to be a grand “experience” for any visitor, on any device. Further, you need an SEO and Web marketing expert – someone who can blanket all of social media, spread your brand everywhere, develop your business blog, launch press releases, etc. Relationships with customers and potential customers today are built online, and you need to make use of every available strategy.
7. Get an Attorney: Don’t “cheap Charley” this item – yes, there are all sorts of legal forms for start-ups, agreements, etc. all over the web. But your business may have aspects that are unique. An attorney who specializes in business law will be able to explain all of your incorporation options, draw up a partnership agreement, along with investor documents. She can advise you on the need for insurance and a host of other things. You are not a “legal eagle,” – your attorney is!
8. Get a Mentor: Find a local successful entrepreneur, perhaps in a business niche that is related to yours, to provide advice and counsel. This individual will have already faced much of what you are about to, and will be an invaluable “sounding board.”
9. Explore Business Networks: Of course, you will get on LinkedIn and other social media sites specific to your niche; however, local networking groups that meet face-to-face are critical as well. Join the Chamber of Commerce; join other business networking organizations that hold regular meetings. You’ll develop relationships even before you open your doors, and there is no way to tell where those relationships will lead you.
10. Check Your Enthusiasm Level: How excited and motivated are you? What is your level of commitment to this whole entrepreneurial thing? Here is the test: If you are eating, drinking and sleeping you plan, then you are probably ready for this endeavor.