Are you ready to revolutionize your email marketing strategy and propel your business towards success?
If you’re an ambitious small business owner constantly seeking growth opportunities, then this blog is tailor-made for you. In today’s digitally-driven world, social media has become a vital tool in our quest for expansion.
So why not harness its power to build an unstoppable email list that will skyrocket your profitability?
A lot of people don’t understand the consumer credit system, and many more don’t understand the business credit system. Today, I’ll cover some common business credit myths and explain what can be learned from them.
Myth #1: Business Credit is Just Like Personal Credit
This sounds like it ought to be true, but it isn’t. Sure, the credit systems are similar, but there are some major differences that can seriously affect your business. For starters, the consumer credit system has, both in court and in congressional testimony, been shown to be fairly anti-consumer.
The system works against consumers often, is prone to errors, and tends to resist the correction of any errors by consumers or their advocates. In one example, even after a credit bureau lost in court, they continued to refuse for months to remove incorrect information from the person’s credit reports.
The business credit system is different. It is not anti-business (or anti-consumer) and is less prone to errors. And when there are legitimate errors, it tends to be easier to correct them.
Myth #2: It Doesn’t Hurt to Use Personal Credit in Place of Business Credit
This is a problematic way of thinking that can lead to big problems down the road. Using personal credit for business purposes puts your personal credit at risk for the sake of your business. By doing so, you limit the resources available to you personally and to your business.
The end result could be disastrous. Imagine when your business credit needs exceed your personal credit capacity, and then you need to use your personal credit and can’t because it’s tied up by your business. No matter how you spin it, in the end, using your personal credit for business is a bad idea.
Myth #3: Business Credit and Personal Credit Are Not Related
Using your personal credit for business use is a bad idea, but we can’t 100% separate business credit and personal credit. Often, especially when starting out with business credit, a company owner must provide a personal guarantee for the business credit loan or line of credit.
When providing a personal guarantee, the company extending credit will not only check your business credit, but they will also check your personal credit history. While the business account won’t show up on your personal credit report, the personal guarantee could eventually affect your personal credit if the business fails to meet its obligations. Aim to avoid that scenario (and you can) with careful planning and smart use of business credit.
Want to learn more? Text “business credit” to (720) 507-6187 to schedule a brief educational session. Walk away with increased business intelligence to grow your business with confidence.
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝟱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀
As a small business owner, you will face several challenges daily. From attracting and retaining customers to managing cash flow, these issues can be challenging to overcome. However, by taking the time to understand the most common challenges small businesses face, you can put yourself in a better position to succeed.
Try these helpful techniques:
1. Lack of capital. Starting a small business can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t have a lot of capital. However, there are several ways to overcome this challenge and get your business up and running.
One option is to start by selling products or services online. You can reach a wider audience without having to make a significant investment in a physical space.
Another option is to start by offering consulting services or teaching classes. Offering additional services can help generate income while building up your client base and perfecting your product or service.
Finally, tap into your network of family and friends. They may provide financial support or connect you with other resources that can help you get started.
2. Time constraints. As a small business owner, you are likely to wear many hats and have multiple responsibilities. However, there are several ways that you can overcome this challenge.
One way is to set aside specific times each day or week to work on your business. It will help you stay focused and on track.
Another way is to delegate tasks to employees or contractors to free up your time to focus on the most critical aspects of your business.
Finally, create effective time-management systems to boost
productivity and reduce burnout. For example, use the Pomodoro Technique to manage your time effectively.
The Pomodoro technique can help you if you want to be more productive. The method is simple: you work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. After four of these sessions, you take a longer break of 20-30 minutes.
3. Attracting and keeping customers/clients. Acquiring new customers is essential, but many small businesses find attracting and keeping new customers challenging.
One way to overcome this challenge is to offer a unique product or service to help you stand out from the competition and attract new customers. Build your special offer by creating a compelling offer using the conversion equation.
Another way to overcome this challenge is to provide excellent customer service to build customer loyalty and keep them coming back for more. To improve customer service, provide staff training and conduct regular customer service assessments.
Finally, market your business effectively. You will need to create a detailed marketing plan and budget. Allocate enough resources to marketing to reach your target audience.
4. Managing cash flow. One of the most important aspects of running a small business is managing cash flow effectively. Often companies that experience seasonal fluctuations face this problem.
Understand your business’s financial situation and develop a realistic
budget. Ensure that you have access to emergency funding in case of unexpected expenses by building business credit using your EIN.
Create a strict budget and stick to it to control your spending and avoid overspending. Monitor your cash flow regularly and make adjustments to your budget as needed.
Finally, invoice promptly and collect payments on time to improve your cash flow and keep your business afloat.
5. Competition. Small businesses often face stiff competition from larger firms. While this can be a challenge, there are several ways to overcome it.
Identify your unique selling proposition. Your USP is what sets your business apart from the competition. Once you know your USP, highlight it in your marketing and promotional materials. Ensure that you provide quality products and services to help you attract and keep customers. Consider implementing quality control measures to improve and monitor the quality of your products.
Finally, stay up to date with industry trends to help you expect changes in the market and adjust your business accordingly by hosting focus groups.
Small business owners face many challenges, but they can overcome them with some planning and effort. The key is to identify the challenges, develop a plan to address them, and take action. With perseverance and dedication, any small business owner can succeed.
Many people think that creativity and organization are mutually exclusive. You either have a messy desk and a cluttered home or an office that’s a flurry of productivity. But the truth is, there are ways to simplify your life without cutting out creativity.
The key is getting creative with managing devices, documents, project files, and other clutter in your life.
There are many steps you can take to simplify your organization.
For example, you can scan important documents to keep safe and store them digitally. If you’re working on a project, create a shared folder or file that everyone involved in the project can contribute. If you’re working from home, use a project management app like Asana to help keep your projects on track without feeling too cluttered.
Try these tips for simplifying your organization without cutting out creativity:
1. Avoid taking on more than you can handle. It’s natural to want to keep busy and have a lot of projects going at once. But you’ll only succeed if you can manage your time effectively.
● Save time by creating a timeline for each project and focusing on the relevant tasks of that project.
● If you’re switching between multiple projects, prioritize them so that you’re working on the most important one at any given time.
2. Don’t marry your great ideas. You may have unique ideas. But making those ideas happen won’t happen if you don’t manage the details first. Also, you can’t expect to fulfill any of your thoughts if you keep switching between them.
● Try scheduling a few hours of your day to focus on one thing. If you have more than one project going on, schedule blocks of time for each project, so you can focus on getting it done and meeting your goals.
3. Arrange your to-do list. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of projects and tasks you have. By consolidating your lists into one place, you make it easier to stay organized.
● If you plan on creating a digital file that everyone involved in the project can edit, make a template to gather all of your needed information and work together on it.
● Create a central document with all your tasks for different projects arranged logically. This type of document helps you see each project from a bird’s eye view and identify any issues that might arise.
4. Break your tasks further down into weekly items. To further simplify your organization, break down each project into weekly deadlines. Breaking down tasks gives you a strong sense of what’s coming up and what’s over. It also helps you target specific tasks and ensure that they’re completed on time.
● Check in with yourself at the beginning of the week. Try to see how much work is left and how much time is left.
● Remember to stay realistic. Don’t expect to go from 0 to 100 overnight. It takes time to achieve your goals, so adjust your timeline accordingly based on the work that’s left.
5. Make the most of your greatest asset. There’s no way around knowing that time is one of our greatest assets. It’s the only thing that we can’t get back. So, use it wisely.
● Try not to overschedule yourself, or you’ll find that you’re busier than ever with little to show for your efforts. Also, remember that every decision you make wastes a small part of your time.
● The more decisions you have in a day, the less time is left for actual work. So, try to avoid micro-decisions that don’t rely on logic and streamline your daily task list.
If you’ve found yourself struggling with organizing your tasks while maintaining your creativity, this guide may help you simplify your system. But they’re not enough to guarantee success. The one thing that all of these ideas have in common: time management.
Time management is the lynchpin for any productivity-related endeavor. If you’re too busy to manage your time correctly, then things slip through the cracks – no matter how organized you are otherwise. So, if you hope to achieve new heights of organization, remember that time management is critical – first and foremost!
#skills #work #productivity
Whether you’re a team leader, manager, or business owner, your team is one of the most valuable assets your company has.
Without dedicated members of staff, you wouldn’t be able to complete necessary projects, inspire your customers, drive sales, or build your brand presence.
Unfortunately, many companies spend so much time focusing on their customers and profit margins that they forget to retain and engage their staff. Around 3 million Americans quit their job each month in search of better opportunities.
Now that remote work solutions are making it easier for staff to find new roles anywhere, it’s even harder to convince your people that they should stay with you.
With difficult times on the horizon for most businesses, here are some of the top strategies you can use to retain your employees and team members.
Although there’s a lot more to having a happy workforce than offering them the right salary, it pays to provide a decent wage. Most of the talented team members that are looking for jobs right now know how much their skills are worth. If you’re not willing to pay your employees what they’re worth, they’ll find another company that is.
Around 56% of employees say that healthcare and insurance concerns also keep them at their job. If you can’t offer the most competitive salary in your area, maybe you can make the job more appealing by offering additional benefits.
Everything from better flexible working options to access to private healthcare can boost your chances of getting and keeping the talent you need.
The easiest way to ensure that you’re going to keep staff members around is to give them a voice and listen to what they have to say. Employees are more likely to feel invested in a business that takes their opinions and insights seriously.
With that in mind, ensure that your company culture encourages feedback and regular discussions between members of staff. If your employees aren’t happy with the way you’re currently running things, give them the opportunity to make suggestions about things they might like to change.
Listening to your team members, even if that just means giving them a way to give anonymous feedback to your leaders, could mean that you become aware of significant issues much faster. This way, you can fix issues before they grow too large.
Everyone dreams of being the boss at their company. However, the reality is that it means a lot more to become a memorable leader. The unfortunate truth is that most of the employees in the current landscape don’t leave their business at all – they leave their manager.
The people in your team responsible for leading others should have all the characteristics of an inspirational and motivational leader.
Look for people who can handle challenges calmly and think outside of the box.
Provide your leaders with training that will help them to manage positive and negative feedback and support their teams in achieving their goals.
A good leader doesn’t just dump the responsibility for mistakes onto staff members and scream at people until work gets done. Genuinely incredible leaders are the people that keep the team moving forward, even in times of trouble.
If you’re not going to invest in your employees, why should they invest their time in your company? How can you invest in making your staff members more skilled in their roles?
Most team members want to see a future for themselves in your business, which means that they need to continue developing their knowledge and talents. Offering training and educational opportunities is a great way to ensure that your staff members feel as though they’re moving consistently in the right direction.
You can even build mentorship programs so that employees can teach each other.
If you’re not sure where to get started when it comes to offering training opportunities, try having one-to-one meetings with your staff. This could be a great way to develop individual plans for each of your team members.
Finally, we’re living in an age where employees don’t just want a great salary and lots of benefits from the ideal job. Your team members want to feel like they’re working for a company that’s making a positive difference in the world.
In today’s activism-fueled environment, you’re either part of the problem, or part of the solution.
Find out what your team members are passionate about and get involved. This could mean that you create a new green living strategy for your business where you can cut down on your carbon emissions. Another option involves getting involved with local charities and non-profits or investing in your local community.
The more you show your employees that you care about more than just money, the more they’ll feel happy working with you, and the more likely it is that they’ll stay with you for the long term.
Networking is one of the most valuable things you can do as a business owner.
Studies suggest that networking at events can gain companies up to 20% of their new customers, and a networking strategy can also be the key to finding new investors and partners that will help to grow your business.
Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to network successfully.
Not only do you have to get used to the awkward initial introduction phase when you’re trying to make connections with others, but you’ve got some serious time constraints to worry about too.
Building connections takes time. But, as every entrepreneur knows, time is money. So how do you ensure that you’re still working on your networking strategy when you’re strapped for time?
Try these strategies…
Make It a Daily Habit
The more you practice networking as a daily habit, the more naturally it will fit into your day.
Rather than setting aside an hour a week where you can go and talk to people who could help your business to grow, you use five minutes each day. Start the morning by sending emails to others online and connecting with your peers on social media.
Put phone calls with potential partners and investors into your calendar and work through them every time you’re stuck in traffic or waiting for something else to happen.
If networking is as much of a habit as brushing your teeth or your hair, then it starts to feel more natural.
What’s more, when networking becomes a habit, it also emerges as something that you force yourself to make time for. You’re less likely to make excuses that you don’t have a moment to spare.
Leverage New Connections
Networking isn’t just about building new relationships.
There’s a good chance that you already have some quality people in your existing network who could help to introduce you to important figures in your space. A great place to start building your network is in the workplace.
Get to know your teams and learn about their background. Grab lunches with staff when you have the opportunity and look for chances to get to know new people through them too. You might discover that your internal network has a lot more value to offer than you originally thought.
Getting to know your team could also reveal that certain employees have hidden talents that you could be utilizing better in your business.
Use Existing Activities
If you already take part in social activities from time to time, why not use those as part of your networking strategy? If you regularly volunteer at non-profit organizations, then you can strike up conversations with people in this environment.
Even if you don’t gain any valuable connections, making the time to connect with others and practice your networking skills will benefit you in the long term. You can chat everywhere — from your gym to your laundry place.
Getting practice into your day where you can work on your ability to build emotional links to others is a lot more valuable than most people realize.
Schedule Important Events in Advance
If you do want to make time for a specific in-person networking event, then it’s important to prepare well in advance. Chances are that you won’t be able to attend most events at the last minute, but you can go to the important ones by staying organized.
To help improve your chances of regularly networking, attempt to attend at least one each month – even if it’s an online event. Make a list of the events that you most want to attend and add them to your calendar, so you have plenty of time to prepare.
Be selective about the kind of events you choose. Ideally, you’ll want to visit an environment where you can reach people who are going to benefit you and your business.
Use Social Media
Finally, social media is one of the most popular and convenient ways to network these days.
Make a little time each day to go through your LinkedIn connections and reach out to those who might be valuable to your social circle. The key to success with social media networking is ensuring that you don’t let it eat up too much of your day.
Set a specific amount of time aside so you can avoid getting distracted for too long. If you have multiple social accounts, consider consolidating them with a social media marketing tool, so you can share content more easily and attract potential connections to you.
Looking Forward
Networking is vitally important for your success and that of your business. Keep these tips in mind to enable you to perform critical networking activities without it taking time away from the rest of your business.
About the author:
Michelle Salinas is a well-versed Consultant with 20 years of experience in client relations, sales, marketing, and project management.
She helps c-level executives and business owners find $100,000 or more of additional revenue in their company without having to spend extra dollars on marketing or advertising. She has found $10 million dollars of additional revenue in the businesses she has assessed.
Download her book at https://TheDigitalEdgeInc.com/book
Follow her on social media at https://MichelleSalinas.co
#instabiz #success #studies
Are You Aiding & Abetting E-Myths?
We are going to embark upon a journey through the world of e-myths and debunk them to help you avoid falling into the e-myth trap.
First, let’s take a minute to talk about what an e-myth is. An entrepreneurial myth, or e-myth, is an assumption that anyone can succeed at business with:
This sounds great, but it just not realistic. Think of starting a business as a marathon. Sure, everyone starts out of the gate at record pace, but after a few miles people start slowing and some drop out entirely. Building a successful business takes stamina and agility.
The reality is that there are many different facets to a successful business and none of them can be ignored if you plan to find success.
Let’s take a minute to talk about entrepreneurial seizure. This defines the roller coaster of emotions that comes with starting, nurturing and the potential failure of a business.
The emotions that occur, in order, are:
This is usually cause by the e-myths and assumptions we talked about. You can get your hopes so high on instant success that even the smallest lag and you are sent into an emotional tailspin. This is also brought on by the stark realization that you can’t do it all and will need help in the areas where you don’t have the knowledge. Now, faced with limited choices you may feel like you need to back out and hide, but don’t do this. Use our GUIDED TOUR to get the business coaching you need to avoid feeling overwhelmed and defeated.
🔺 READY TO TAKE A TEST DRIVE?
Download my FREE e-book “The Hidden Profits” at https://MichelleSalinas.com
Attend a FREE webinar for proven strategies and actionable steps to increase your cash flow!
Register at https://thedigitaledge.clickmeeting.com
Today we’ll take a look at how the kings of industry wine, dine and otherwise cajole prospects.
Most of successful professionals use a series of information-based ads that build emotion and a call to action. These are much more effective than a standard company branding advertisements. The same principles that go into putting together a high impact (and, often, high priced) ad campaign can be adapted to fit your needs with similar results.
Here are some ways to put together and execute a professional, effective ad campaign:
So, there are 30 great ways to market to other professional and businesses. Some other great ways to get your name out there for little or no cost are:
Advertising should never be your only method of marketing, there are a myriad of ways to get your name out there in a way that feels personal to potential customers/clients.
“Effective advertising…must be used to get your name out to the public. If your name is not familiar to people, they will not come to you.” Jay Abraham
If you’re not sure where you start with your marketing plan or how to reach out to your local community, competitors, customers/clients and others who could influence your business in a highly positive way, try our GUIDED TOUR to experience the tools and resources we have to boost your business to the next level and beyond.
🔺 READY TO TAKE A TEST DRIVE?
Download my FREE e-book “The Hidden Profits” at https://MichelleSalinas.com
Attend a FREE webinar for proven strategies and actionable steps to increase your revenue and profits by $10,000 or more WITHOUT spending a cent on marketing or advertising. GUARANTEED! Register at https://linktr.ee/MichelleSalinas
It’s extremely important to build relationships with your vendors and those around you can bring in new customers/clients and increase awareness of your company branding.
The people you work directly with on your products and services are really the ones with the most to gain when you find success. By taking the time to get to know them, you’ll find a whole host of opportunities you didn’t realize were there.
Look for great ways to offer your vendors rewards for helping grow your business and everyone wins. One of ways you can do this is by offering performance based incentives that are much larger than their normal charges.
Here’s the step-by-step process to putting together a partnership with a vendor:
Think of all the vendors you work with and the creative ways you can put together an incentive plan that entices them to be part of your business. Use their talents, capabilities and connections and you’ll both be winners.
Putting together an incentive plan doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Use our GUIDED TOUR to come up with some great ideas and put your incentive plan together for maximum results.
The most common reason why people get self-help guides and attraction mindset products is so that they can attract wealth. Most people will agree that they could always use more money.
You’d think that with all the guides and products out there, everyone would be rich and living an abundant life. Yet, most people struggle daily.
When we came across the “Manifestation Magic” website, our first question was, “Does the world need another product on the law of attraction?”
Putting our skepticism aside, we decided to review this product… and give you a brutally honest review about it.
Manifestation Magic is a series of audio tracks that have brainwave entrainment frequencies. By listening to these tracks when you’re about to sleep, your brain will be more receptive to the hypnotic suggestions.
There will be much less external and internal interference. It’s a brilliant concept.
What You’ll Find Inside:
Before looking at the benefits of Manifestation Magic, let’s look at what you get – and you do get a lot.
This package sure doesn’t hold back. We were quite surprised to receive so much content for a reasonably low price.
Manifestation Magic is a complete system that’s more comprehensive than most books in this genre… BUT… content alone isn’t enough.
There is still one VERY IMPORTANT question that must be answered…
Will Manifestation Magic Help You?
Manifestation Magic is not only about wealth. It fixes the underlying and fundamental issues in your thinking that is sabotaging every aspect of your life in one way or another. It helps you to get healthy and stay healthy.
It’s very difficult to do this solely with books, because we are creatures of habit. So, by listening to the audios, we can delve deeply into the mind and fix the inconsistencies that are sabotaging our efforts. Manifestation Magic does this better than any book we’ve seen.
You must treat the problem. Manifestation magic has “Energy Orbiting” audio sessions to clear abundance blocks in your mind. By clearing the old obstacles, your path will now be clear to manifest miracles without your attempts being impeded.
There are audios, a QuickStart guide and about 14 bonus audios that will help you with your wealth, love life, spirituality, etc. It’s so much more than a wealth attraction product and it lived up to its promises.
Manifestation Magic is a very practical and down-to-earth program that understands that you need to make changes WITHIN before you can make changes in your life. The canvas must be clean before you can create a masterpiece. We loved the audio tracks with the gentle pulsating sounds!
If it doesn’t work, you can always get your money back. We’re guessing that you won’t because Manifestation Magic will add magic in your life. Still, it’s a risk-free purchase.
What are Subliminal Messages and NLP?
Subliminal messages have been around for decades. Terms such as ‘self-hypnosis’, ‘binaural beats’ etc. have been used to describe audio tracks that gently work on reprogramming your subconscious mind while you sleep. These tracks are easy to use because they require very little effort on your part. All you do listen to them when you’re in a sleepy and more suggestive state.
NLP refers to neurolinguistic programming and it was invented by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. NLP is used to change your behavioral patterns by altering your neurological processes. It’s akin to creating new outcomes by changing your habits.
What makes Manifestation Magic so powerful is that the audio tracks that come with this program infuse both subliminal messages and NLP. That makes these tracks even more potent and effective.
Any downsides to this product?
There are a few downsides. No product is perfect… and thankfully, the only 2 cons we could fine were just minor issues.
1) Can only be purchased online You’ll not be able to purchase this product from a bookstore. It’s a digital product and you need a computer and an internet connection to access and download it.
The product vendors intentionally made it this way so that they could keep the production costs low and make it affordable to the masses – and help as many people as possible.
2) Audio tracks may not be suitable for everyone Some people may find it difficult to listen to the tracks because the frequency may be jarring to them. This is a very small minority – but it happens.
The good news is that you just need to contact the support team of Manifestation Magic and they’ll mix a new audio track for you with a different frequency that you can easily listen to – and they will do it for FREE! Excellent customer support here.
Should You Buy It?
Definitely! This product delivers what it says on the tin. You’re backed by a guarantee and you’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain.
It bridges the gap between visualization and results. The audios will accelerate your results if you’re already practicing daily visualization. It’s the missing piece of the puzzle.
There must be action, if you wish to see results. Listening to the audios is the action that you must take to change your life fast and manifest the health you wish to see.
The house of your dreams, the fast car your heart desires, the extra money in your bank and the financial freedom you want is within reach. It may seem like hype, and we were cynical too… but Manifestation Magic does give you the edge you need to make your dreams come true.
Give it a try and you’ll never look back.
>>Get Manifestation Magic Now!<<
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