Small Business Expert

Unless you’re using every advantage of Personal Branding, you’re not achieving all of the potential success which is sitting there waiting for you.  Personal Branding means that you’re providing the right impression of your small business, right down to the smallest detail.  If you want to be more successful in all your various endeavors – and especially in the case of a small business – you need to know the 6 “P’s” of personal branding.  This is a set of concepts developed by business and entrepreneurship experts which give you the key to unlock your potential.

PERSONA

Who are you?  What is your small business all about?  What kind of customer service do you provide?  What are your business values?  What are you proud of?  What makes you different from the competition?  These are questions which your potential customers and clients must answer for themselves in a short period of time.  How they answer them depends not just on what you say or what kind of persona you have managed to convey to them.  Your policies, atmosphere, customer service, integrity, and overall quality are all factors that you can usually control.  Your business “personality” has to shine through, so don’t waste time wondering if they’ll like you.  Simply be yourself and they will. (more…)

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Niche marketing is one of the most powerful and underutilized secret weapons for small businesses. 

Why don’t more small businesses niche? 

Most small business owners think they will miss out on potential sales by selling to everybody. (more…)

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The quickest way to getting eyeballs on your business these days is by establishing an online presence.  Central to establishing a powerful online presence is choosing a domain name which will attract the right customers.

Somehow, there hasn’t been enough emphasis placed on choosing a domain name which attracts the right customers, so allow me to expound on this subject with some tips you can put to immediate use for your next website or blog. (more…)

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Starting a small business is a serious decision which can feel quite daunting at first.  After all, there is a great deal that needs to be considered.  But as so many successful entrepreneurs quickly discover, overcoming this first overwhelming feeling by actually starting a small business can be extremely beneficial to your life, both personally and professionally.  There is great power in starting a small business which brings you advantages you may never experience in a career absent of being self-employed.

Naturally, starting your own business isn’t all fun and games.  You will need to work for your success, and never expect that it will be handed to you on a silver platter.  However, many entrepreneurs find that these efforts are well worth the power of self-employment, and are ready to sacrifice the relative security of a steady wage for their entire lives. (more…)

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Trust yourself.  You know a lot more than you think you do and thousands of individuals and companies are ready to pay you handsomely to share your knowledge with them.  Stop trading time for dollars as an Independent Professional.

You have specialized knowledge that is of valve to others.  (more…)

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As a small business owner, you can have one of the most eye-catching and professional looking websites ever, but you will have wasted precious time, money and effort if no one is visiting your site.  If it’s traffic that you’re looking for, then local search engine marketing is the way to go.  There are lots of things involved with SEM.  From personal experience, I can say that it can be quite daunting, even for small business owners with lots of experience.

The good part is that if you take it one step at a time, it isn’t too difficult to learn.  And once you know all there is to know, local search engine marketing can be one of the most effective methods of driving traffic to your small business website. (more…)

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The other day a colleague of mine asked me what online social networking is all about.  Connecting with people!  In my view, this is the whole purpose of social networking - or networking of any kind.  One of the main differences between conventional business networking and online small business networking is the ability to create a personal profile and connect with people all over the world – even people you may not otherwise meet, or reconnect with colleagues you haven’t seen in years.

Networking is not just about interacting with people and exchanging business cards.  It’s about creating a pool of small business contacts which can exchange referrals, ideas, resources, information and in some cases, clients.  Due to the advent of the Internet, you are now able to network without even leaving your home or office!  How amazing is that? (more…)

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Small business marketing is all about determining the needs of your target market and then providing solutions to meet those needs.

These 7 steps are aimed at entrepreneurs starting a small business and those who want to create a successful small business marketing plan for an existing business. (more…)

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How often have you either referred to or considered the expression, “Success is a journey, not a Destination?”  Probably many times, yet often being in a hurry to get there, we forget that success is not an end unto itself, but is instead an ongoing process.

Though some people seem to have the Midas touch, easily turning everything to gold, most of us have to give our endeavors lots of time, effort and the sweat of our brow before seeing things come to fruition.  The simple truth is that most of us are simply not born leaders, but become leaders by who we are and the actions we take.  Consequently, whether or not you’re an established entrepreneur or just beginning your journey, there are particular traits you’ll usually find among exceptional entrepreneurs.  

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Your business plan is an essential part of your small business success strategy.  It is a vital document that lays out all of your professional goals and the means by which you intend to achieve them.  It is what brings your business out of the concept phase and turns it into an actionable reality.

It is very important that you write a business plan for your own small business.  With it, you can focus your ideas into realistic techniques and achievable, but not too unchallenging, goals.  Your business plan is what will keep you on track and motivated throughout the growth of your business.

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