Dear US-Based Small Business Owner: It is Time to Get Your Books Ready for Year End

Profits, depreciation, travel costs, healthcare, startup costs, training expenses, charitable donations – all these and more represent little numbers on a page that can save you money if you have your books in order when the “Revenue Man” comes a calling in the next couple of months. Rules and paperwork vary significantly from one country to the next, however most do employ many of the same basics.

For those of you with businesses based in the good ‘ol “US-of-A”…

It’s crunch time!

working with business tax documents

If you don’t have your tax paperwork in order, then you’ll be in for a real slap in the face when business resumes full-swing in the New Year, and your accountant starts hassling you for the receipts from that big move you made to a new location this year, so they can deduct it from your individual 1040 return.…

Continue reading →

PPC Advertising is Not Just About Keyword Match Types

Novices to PPC Advertising might very well believe that managing a PPC Advertising Campaign is all about selecting the right keywords and attaching those keywords to appropriate advertisements and their respective landing pages.

Even though this is the basic idea behind PPC Advertising, without a doubt, and one of the reasons why Google AdWords Advertising is one of the easiest to get involved in, this is not the be all and end all to PPC.

pay-per-click advertising

The possibilities for getting really creative with your PPC Advertising are endless. The types of PPC Advertisements available to the average online marketer are expanding all the time.…

Continue reading →

Easy Step by Step Approach to Make a WordPress Site for Your Small Business

Almost every small business owner is faced with the challenge of building a website to help develop and market their brand at some point. To those of us who’ve successfully built a few, or dozens of sites, it seems almost silly that anyone would anguish over such a task – it’s really not that difficult right?

small business website building

However, for those of you who haven’t, but desperately want to: you probably have a hundred different questions running through your head:

  • “Do I really have the time to mess around with this darned website thinga-myjiggy right now?”
  • “What if I do all this work – research, planning, executing, outsourcing, maintenance – and it doesn’t make me any money?”
…Continue reading →

Top 10 Business Trends for 2014

Business in 2014 is bound to be more vibrant, connected and tech savvy. Here’s how things are set to be in the year to come:

business trends 2014

1. Visual Explosion

Pictures can speak a thousand words and they are really more effective in communicating ideas and messages. This is probably why platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have become platforms and vehicles for those who’d like to tell a story with their products and services. The super duper success of YouTube perhaps is why we have a phenomenon called Vine today. More power to images which in turn propel businesses to a new level.…

Continue reading →

Critical Business Mistakes to Avoid in the Coming Year

As the new year approaches, most of you will be thinking of ways you can improve both your personal and professional lives in 2014. Oh, the agonizing decisions we’re going to be faced with whence the New Year’s bell rings in Time Square: app development; content marketing; social media; new competition taking established customers; what’s the bloody government going to tax us on this year; tech changes; will the first quarter be strong – or will our profits reign in the fourth; will the economy get stronger – or flatline as it has without warning in so many past years?

business mistakes

All these and many others weigh on the minds of any business owner.…

Continue reading →

Google Hummingbird and its Impact on SEO and Content Marketing Strategies

The new Hummingbird update from Google has hit the online marketing world by storm, much like every other update they’ve ever done! Site owners, marketers and search engine enthusiasts alike seem to go into frenzy-mode every time Google changes something. And rightly they should, every update makes a significant leap forward for the actual users.

google hummingbird algorithm update

While it usually sets most marketers back a few, or several steps – where they have to head back to the drawing board to figure out a game-plan to fight their way back to the top of the search engines for terms like “Test fit black elastic underpants sizes 1-20”, or “prefabbed concrete slabs in Glendale”.…

Continue reading →

Why You Need a Company Blog

Running a company blog can take up a significant amount of time. As a result, many small business CEOs are reluctant to start one. However, a company blog can reap long-term benefits for your business, particularly in terms of web traffic, viable leads, and brand reputation.

company blog

According to one survey, businesses with a company blog get 55% more traffic and 70% more leads than those that don’t. Here are the reasons why you should seriously consider starting a company blog.

  • A business blog is a hallmark of authority and quality. It demonstrates that your company is run by knowledgeable people, who have a deep understanding of their industry.
…Continue reading →

PPC Advertising is the Perfect Marketing Solution for New Startups

PPC advertising is the best marketing strategy for startups and business entrepreneurs for a number of reasons, three of which are outlined clearly in this post.

pay per click advertising

All businesses need an online marketing strategy, but it’s important for new businesses to understand why PPC advertising would be so incredibly useful for their needs. It’s important for startup entrepreneurs to recognize why PPC advertising campaigns are the perfect marketing solution for a young business.

1. PPC advertising is about testing and tracking

All new businesses benefit from a very tight system of testing and tracking in all areas of business because everything is fresh and unknown.…

Continue reading →

Three Reasons Your Business Needs a Blog

With the emergence of social media sites that keep you instantly connected, blogging has become increasingly neglected by small business owners. Most business sites have a tab to their blog; however, that tab often brings customers to an outdated page that hosts a handful of articles that are irrelevant to both the customer and the business. The incredible return blogs offer should make them the number one priority of small business owners looking to increase their sales and customer base, though.

business blogging

These three reasons should provide plenty of incentive to start – or restart – your small business blogging efforts:

Work Your Way Up Search Engine Rankings

Any business owner with an online presence knows the importance of search engine rankings.…

Continue reading →

How to Do Surveys for Your B2B Demand Generation Strategy?

These days, B2B marketing is experiencing dramatic change. The marketing experts are finding themselves under enormous pressure to convey results and validate important program and head-counts investments. Moreover, products and service sales are the core of any business and without generating lead as well as clients it can not continue to exist. Although, there are several techniques to generate leads, surveys are among the most effective techniques for performing an exclusive lead generation.

b2b demand generation survey

Furthermore, conducting market research is really essential in order to understand the market behavior, customers, characteristics, etc. Today, there are numerous lead generation companies that promise to bring quality and effective leads and it becomes confusing which one to choose.…

Continue reading →