The Dos and Don’ts of Business Directories & SEO

You’ve heard it before – listing your small business or professional profile in online business directories is great for SEO. And, it’s true. It doesn’t matter if you’re an entrepreneur like Alex Perdikis or a small-business owner looking for investors or building a web presence, online directories offer some the best SEO bang for the buck.

Online directory

The kicker is that botching the job can do more harm than good. Here are the Dos and Don’ts of business directories and how you can effectively use them to boost your SEO.

Do: Make Sure It’s Right

Business directories are different – some provide ready-made listings and others count on submissions.…

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6 Simple Ideas on How to Build Strong and Long-Lasting Business Relationships

When you start a business, you have the hope that customers will buy your products and services. But besides that, you hope that they will come back for more. However, establishing strong and long-lasting business relationships with your clients is easier said than done. This is because most people are not ready to put in the effort and commitment required to establish such. In the end, you might be selling a good product, but you still wonder why the clients never come back.

Business relationships

Here is a clear guide to help you build strong and long-lasting business relationships:

1. Never promise what you can’t deliver

The reason why most clients are reluctant to shop (especially online) is that most of the things are so overrated.…

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Streamlining Supply Chain Management: Perfecting Your Purchase to Pay Processes

Supply chain management is the lifeblood of any business: without a proper, streamlined supply chain, your company risks being left without the proper tools it needs to get things done. If you already have a great supply chain, then you are ahead of the game. If your supply chain isn’t as efficient as you’d like it to be, it’s time to fix it quickly.

Supply Chain Management - SCM

There are many points where problems can arise along the supply chain, but one of the most common areas that managers can look at to create more efficiency is the purchase to pay process (P2P). Streamlining your invoicing procedures will not only ensure that your company always has what it needs, but it will allow you to collect your money — or pay your bills — quickly.…

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Create the Marketplace – Own the Marketplace

People want something unique and different, so don’t compete—create your own.

In a nutshell that’s the motto CEO and business founder Jeff Pedersen lives by, and what enabled him to start, and continue running, his successful business, Cariloha.

Jeff Pedersen, CEO/Founder Cariloha

Many of today’s current marketplaces are saturated. So if you don’t have the time and/or money to compete with well-known and well-funded brands, find a niche where you can create your own marketplace.

Pedersen recalls first starting his company in 2007 where they produced and sold island-leisure products. Unfortunately, sales were not anywhere close to what he and his executive team had projected they’d be at after opening their first three stores.…

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Before You Start a Tiling Business – Read this First

Starting a tiling install business is arguably much easier than other businesses, provided you have a few years of real-world tiling experience, and are comfortable managing a crew, if applicable. The difficult part comes after registering your new business and setting it up for the taxmen at HMRC.

Tiling business owner

First Thing’s First: Planning and Registration

Before setting out to find your first customers (though, hopefully you have this step taken care of already) it’s important to head on over to Business is Great Britain website to get the paperwork side of things all figured out – such as creating a business plan, choosing and registering your business structure, becoming licensed, bonded and insured, and all the financial considerations you’ll need to know including how to file business taxes with local and state governments.…

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Office Options: 5 Things to Consider When Renting a Workplace

There are many options a business or enterprise has when looking for a place to conduct their daily duties. Often-heard buzzwords, like ‘co-sharing’, ‘open-plan’ offices, and ‘time-share’ renting all sound like viable and important things worthy of your consideration and time, but what are they exactly?

And, more importantly, why should you even be considering them in the first place (hint: unless you’re in the process of getting together a tech start-up, they’re probably not for you).

Here are five (more) relevant, universal, and tangible things for you to consider when you’re looking at renting a workplace.…

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5 Commonly Overlooked Network Security Threats

When it comes to network security, there are two types of companies:

  • Those that are serious about security, realizing that something or someone dangerous is lurking around every corner.
  • Those that don’t think anything bad will ever happen to them.

Where does your company fit in? Even if you’re serious about network security, it goes without saying that you could overlook a threat that could cause major damage, financial loss, and hundreds of hours of lost time.

Hacked

Despite the fact that no network security threat should be overlooked, some of the most common continue to sneak past companies of all sizes in all industries:…

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Why Bigger Can Be Better When Choosing a Surveying Company

There are times in life when you might want to work with an individual – such as an artisan baker or dressmaker – but choosing a surveying company is generally not one of those times.

A good number of talented individuals and small surveying firms are out there and quite capable of doing the job, but generally speaking, bigger is better for several reasons.

Surveying construction worker

We spoke to an established Liverpool based surveying company City Surveys & Monitoring Ltd to find out just why a bigger company, can provide more efficient results.

It’s a matter of scalability and resilience – if an individual falls ill or a piece of equipment breaks, a larger firm is in a better position to replace them quickly and keep your project on track.…

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How to Market Your New Independent Pharmacy

Opening up the doors of a pharmacy is not like any other kind of business. The aim of a pharmacy is genuinely to assist the clientele that walks through the doors with sometimes the most personal of needs. Those needs can range from the medications they need to stay alive and at their healthiest, to lighter and more topical needs like a new package of Band-Aids –and everything in between.

Pharmacist in a drugstore

When first starting up your independent pharmacy, there are quite a few options you have in how you may want to market your new business to the surrounding community. Below are some methods you may want to consider to get your new and independent pharmacy off to a running and sustainable start.…

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6 Practical Steps to Grow Your Small Business

How do you turn your small business into a major corporation? You may have a brick-and-mortar business, or you may have a digital business, or you may have an offline business with an online presence. Regardless of the business structure of your company, it is possible to gradually grow it into a large business.

Managing business

On the surface, it may not appear self-evident how to grow a small business into a big one? Should you just borrow more money and amplify what you’re doing? Should you create new income streams? Should you try a combination of both strategies?

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple to transform a business.…

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