Running a Business
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3 Steps to Time-Saving Templates
Most business owners perform numerous small activities during the day that can add up to a lot of time. They can save time on these common tasks by creating
templates with these three easy steps.
As a solopreneur, you are likely to perform numerous small activities during the day that can add up to a lot of time, especially when it comes to content creation.
For example, every time you tweet a link to a page on your site, you spend a few precious minutes creating that tweet. And every time you answer an email, you spend
even more time (and probably more than you think).
You can save time on these common, albeit important, tasks by creating templates. Here are three simple steps to accomplish that.
Identify the Task
Think about the many tasks you perform each day or week. Do you send invoices? Do you post a lot of information on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook? Do you
answer a lot of emails or send numerous communications to your contractors? What about blog posts and article writing?
4 Questions to Know if Outsourcing Is Right for Your Solo Business
Many business owners wish they had more time and energy to get more done in their business. How can they tell when the time has come to pay someone else to take tasks off of their plate?
By considering the following four questions.
How often have you thought to yourself, "I could get it all done but I just don't have the time..."?
It may be that the time has come to pay someone else to take tasks off your plate. But how do you know? When is outsourcing the best choice for your business?
Consider the following four questions carefully.
What Would You Outsource?
Before you think about your budget or more practical concerns, start by asking yourself, "What would I outsource if there were no obstacles?"
Asking yourself this question first helps you analyze your business's needs objectively.
6 Steps to Using Google Docs for Ease and Speed
Google Docs is a top-notch word processor that is absolutely free. Find out how easy it is to use.
Most word processing software programs don't come cheap. Even the most commonly used, MS Word comes at a hefty price tag if it's not preinstalled on your computer.
So if you're looking for a top-notch word processing software that is absolutely free, don't look any further than Google Docs, Google's web-based word-processing system.
This system makes creating and editing documents quick and easy.
Perhaps most importantly, it makes sharing documents easy. If you work with clients or contractors on projects it can be challenging to track everything. One missed
deadline or message can derail an entire project. Google Docs can help when used as a project management tool to help you stay on track.
7 Tips for More Effective Outsourcing
In most businesses, as they grow, it begins to make sense to outsource some work to others. These are 7 tips to outsource work more effectively.
So you've decided that you want to outsource some of your work? Congratulations!
You'll find yourself with more time to do the kinds of work only you, as a solopreneur and the boss of your business, can do properly.
That is IF...if you outsource effectively. Here are 7 tips to make sure you do so.
Tip #1: Choose the Right Task to Outsource
Before you begin looking for the right contractor, first take a moment to get clear on what specific work you want to outsource.
Ideally, outsourced work should be of a kind that's not directly part of your business's mission. You want to outsource tasks that lie outside your sphere
of expertise, so you can focus on being a better CEO for your business and further your business's mission.
7 Ways to Motivate Yourself Every Day
In order to achieve goals, motivation is essential. Nothing gets accomplished without it. With a few simple strategies, anyone can get motivated day in and day out.
There are some days when it feels impossible to get motivated. Yet in order to achieve your goals, motivation is essential. Without it, nothing is accomplished.
Responsibilities and tasks pile up. Life becomes overwhelming. Motivation becomes even harder to find.
However, with a few simple strategies you can motivate yourself every day. Here are seven. Even doing only one of them will help. Try all seven and you'll find
yourself revved up and ready to go on a regular basis!
Understand what motivates you.
Some people are motivated by a sense of accomplishment. Other people are motivated by praise. Still others are motivated by money. It's even possible that you're
motivated by something else. Understanding what you're motivated by will help. When you're feeling unmotivated, you can tap into that desire and get the kick-start
you need.
For example, if you're motivated by money, you might kick-start your day by doing something that earns a profit. Or you might look at the task you're facing
differently, if you realize that it generates income.
10 Business-Boosting Ways to Use Google Alerts
Google Alerts can be a business owner's best friend. They can think of it as their own automated, fully customized search engine service that's both free and
easy to use. Here are 10 ways they can use it and receive meaningful, business-boosting results.
Think of it as your own automated, fully customized search engine service. That's Google Alerts, a service that generates search engine results, based on criteria
provided by you, and delivers the results to your e-mail account.
And while some on the Internet use it to monitor their children, celebrity gossip or current trends, it's actually a powerful business tool that is both easy and
free to set up AND can provide you with meaningful, business-boosting results.
Here are 10 important ways Google Alerts can help your business:
1. Monitor your brand and your reputation. You'll want to set up alerts for your business name, your personal name, website and blog names, product names and any
other names unique to your business so you can monitor what is being said about you on the Internet. This gives you an opportunity to respond, express thanks and
give links to your work.
Accepting Credit Cards on Your Website—Make Sure It's Safe and Secure
Whether a business owner sells a product or a service, offering customers a fast, easy and secure payment method should be a high priority and credit
cards are the most convenient solution. Here's how they can safely accept credit cards on their website.
Whether you sell a product or a service, it's important to be able to offer your customers a fast, easy and secure payment method. Credit cards are by and
large the most convenient solution.
As a small business owner, you don't want anything coming between you and a sale. And it's a known fact that without an easy payment option, potential buyers
will decline to complete the sale. The fees associated with accepting credit cards are minimal when considering you might not have a sale in the first place without
offering that option.
Plus, accepting credit cards conveys a level of professionalism that increases trust in your potential clients and customers.
That being said, it's vitally important that you as the "merchant" make sure the payment process is safe and secure. You want to protect your customers and earn
and maintain their trust in you.
Before You Choose a Merchant Services Provider, Consider These 5 Must-Haves
Selecting the appropriate credit card processor is a critical business decision. Accepting credit cards can increase revenue by an average of 23%. Discover five
things a merchant services provider should provide.
Industry research shows that accepting credit cards can increase revenue by an average of 23%, making it not only a way to give your clients and customers additional
payment options but also an opportunity to beef up sales.
Therefore, selecting the appropriate credit card processor is a critical business decision.
Narrow your search before you sign up or switch to a particular credit card processor. In addition to fast, secure transactions, here are 5 things you shouldn't do
without when it comes to your merchant services provider.
1. Business Acumen
It's all too easy to end up with a payment solution that doesn’t fit your specific business needs. Choose a processor that can—and will—do more than just
sell you a merchant account.
Customer Service Standards for the Solopreneur
In any business, it pays to spend some time considering customer service processes and procedures before an issue develops. Check out some important ways business
owners should handle customer service concerns that provide the best possible opportunity for a satisfying result.
As a solopreneur or small business owner, you will either be handling customer service issues yourself or overseeing a customer service team (or team member).
So it pays to spend some time considering your customer service processes and procedures—and the underlying values—before an issue develops.
Believe it or not, most of the customer service interactions that go wrong are based on complete misunderstandings between the client/customer and the person
handling the complaint. Any customer who complains is already on edge. Simply keeping a positive, upbeat attitude and watching how you say things can avoid escalating
the situation.
Here are six important ways to handle customer service concerns that provide the best possible opportunity for a satisfying result—for the client/customer
AND for you.
Listen
You might be surprised that most customers tell you what issues they want to be resolved if you simply listen to what they're saying. Listen without comment or
interruption. If they're tight with information, ask open-ended questions designed to elicit answers beyond yes or no.
Disaster Plans: Save Your Small Business by Planning Ahead
Business owners need to plan for times when natural disasters or emergencies interrupt their businesses, but how can they go about actually creating a disaster plan?
When you're the boss and business owner, disaster planning takes on a whole new meaning and urgency: if you go down, your business stops.
As a solopreneur, you know you need a plan for times when natural disasters or emergencies interrupt your business. But how do you go about actually creating
such a plan?
Identify Your Likeliest Scenarios and Risks
The first step in disaster planning for any small business is to make a list of the likeliest disaster or emergency scenarios, and the individual risks that each scenario
presents.
How do you go about identifying the risks? Here is a three-step approach:
1. Make a list of all reasonably possible scenarios, then categorize your scenarios as “not likely" to “moderately likely" to "very likely." Include any significant natural
disasters or weather emergencies applicable to your geographic area, as well as the personal scenarios that would render you unable to work as you usually do for an extended
length of time.
Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Your Business
For a small business owner, growth of their business may be limited to how much stamina and time they have. If they're handling all of their daily tasks alone, growth of their business may not be possible.
Hiring a virtual assistant can help.
The object of any business is to grow and make a profit (not necessarily in that order). For the small business owner, growth may be hindered by the stamina in your body. If you are handling
all of your daily tasks alone, growth may not be possible in the way that you'd like to see it. Consider hiring a virtual assistant for help.
What Is a Virtual Assistant?
Unlike a jack-of-all-trades, a virtual assistant is a master of them all. These contract business professionals makes their living by meeting the needs of other business owners like yourself.
Their skill set can comprise everything from bookkeeping to marketing and customer service to website design.
Those who categorize them as "glorified secretaries" are way off the mark. Virtual assistants are proving themselves to be invaluable to small and large companies, and online and brick and
mortar businesses, as well.
How to Create and Use a Team as a Solopreneur
Solo business owners can still enjoy all the benefits that come from having a support team to back them up, freeing them to concentrate on their passion for their true work, even if they don't
have room in their budget to hire actual employees. Here are several options to accomplish it.
Even as a busy solopreneur, you can enjoy all the benefits that come from having a support team backing you up, supporting you in your decision-making and freeing you to concentrate on your
passion for your true work.
Hiring actual employees, even part-time or temporary ones, may not be in the budget right now, but that doesn't mean you can't still get necessary support, if you know where to look and
how to approach potential team members.
As a solo business owner, you have several options. Below, you can read more about five of those options at different price points, ranging from free to a few thousand dollars annually.
Mastermind Groups
Popularized by coaches and consultants within the last several years, mastermind groups consist of a number of individuals with similar experiences, situations and goals who support each other
in pursuit of those goals.
Outsourcing: How to Find the Right People
Finding the right outsourcers can make a business run faster, more efficiently and more easily. However, finding those outsourcers can be a daunting and tough
process. Here are some smart outsourcing tips to make sure a business owner finds the right people for the right task.
Finding the right outsourcers can make your business run faster, more efficiently and more easily. However finding those outsourcers can be a daunting and tough
process.
Here are 5 steps to make sure you find the right people for the right task:
Know What You Want and Need
Before you contract with anyone—maybe even before you begin looking at or placing ads on job boards—take another moment to jot down for yourself
what traits, skills and experience level your ideal contractor would possess. Be willing to negotiate on these points, of course—it's rare for any
employee or contractor to measure up to the boss's "wish list"!—but look at this list as a starting point.
The Business of Frustration
Many business owners get frustrated when their business isn’t making money as fast as they think it should or when things aren't progressing as quickly as they'd
like. Many give up before they reap the rewards of their efforts. Help them overcome their frustrations with these strategies.
Your business isn't making money as fast as you think it should. Or your career isn't progressing as quickly as you'd like.
Both are breeding grounds for frustration and discouragement, which can be deadly enemies of success.
In fact, many give up before they reap the rewards from their efforts. The reality is, however, that everyone goes through discouragement from time to time. How
you get through it is what will determine your success.
So how do you overcome frustration? Here are five strategies you can try:
Step Back
Taking a break will enable you to look at the situation with a clear head. This will make you less attached to the outcome, and will probably help you see things
about your situation, or your business, that you couldn't have before.
The Solopreneur's Easy Guide to Shopping Carts
If a business owner is going to sell products from their website, whether they're physical products or digital products, they're going to
need a shopping cart system. Here is a simple guide to getting started.
If you sell products—physical products or "soft" products, such as software, apps, membership in a program or class, or information products
including ebooks—you're going to need some way to sell those products from your website if you want to compete in today's market.
And to do that, you're going to need a shopping cart.
What Is a Shopping Cart and How Does It Work?
Shopping cart solutions may vary in many respects, but at their core, they're just bits of code or scripts that are either installed on your website, or
that connect your website to another site. Their purpose is to allow customers to browse inventory, make selections, and complete the process of purchasing
your items.
Sounds simple enough, but within that broad definition, there are a number of factors and features to consider, which can confound even the savviest
solopreneur.