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Small Business Accounting Tips

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Having an accountant on your in-house team is ideal, but not all small businesses can afford to have one. If this is the case, you can do it yourself or utilize some of the employees you may already have to do the accounting tasks.

It’s important to keep your personal and business finances separate in order to keep things straight when it comes to tax time. Don’t confuse yourself more by trying to mix the two together.

want to keep thorough records of business transactions and accounts receivables. When tax time rolls around, you can just use these to add up the figures instead of spending time shuffling through scraps of paper in a shoebox.

Balance the books right away. Don’t wait for several transactions to occur and then decide to balance them. Some business owners put it off and then the task seems insurmountable.

Be sure to check your financial statements often to determine where you’re spending too much or too little. You may discover if there are ways to cut costs in your small business or if there are ways to budget some extra items into your business.

Always keep up to date on the new tax laws and regulations. Don’t wait until tax time to check them out. There may be something you can use now that would help you save money when it’s time to file your taxes.

Don’t be afraid to use accounting software. There are many out there to choose from and they can keep track of all your information in one place. In most cases, all you would need to do is type in the necessary information and it does the calculating for you. Most accountants use these anyway, so why not do it yourself?

Always keep copies of all of your invoices in case the originals get lost. If using computer software, make sure you back up all of your files so that you have a copy in case something unforeseen should happen.

Research all of the possible tax deductions you can use in your business. Some items are deductible in full, while others take depreciation into account.  Also, the tax strategy will be different for small businesses operating out of the home versus brick and mortar businesses that are independent from the household.

An accountant can take the headaches away for you to some degree, and you don’t have to hire one onto your staff.  If you can’t quite afford one yet, then take pleasure in knowing that all is not lost with the vast amount of do-it-yourself resources available to the small business owner.

5 useful accounting tips for small business

Top 25 bookkeeping tips from the pros

How a Small Business Can Go Big on Customer Service

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Almost every company, whether they’re big or small, has a customer service department – or at the very least an owner who wears the customer service hat on a daily basis.

A small business can actually become big based on their customer service.  Before you start laughing at the idea, let’s take a look at the differences we see in small business customer service versus the customer service we see in the larger companies.

The bigger they are – the harder they fall. This rings true with the larger companies and their customer service. Call a big company with a complaint and you’ll rarely get a satisfactory resolution. In fact, you might hang up before you even reach a human because they keep you embroiled on their automated system until you finally feel defeated and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

customer service photo

can lose interest in a company fast if they don’t get their complaints taken care of in a timely manner. A small business owner can offer personalized complaint resolution in a timely manner.

Policies are a pitfall. The larger companies generally have some kind of policy in place to protect themselves – the fine print you forgot to read when you bought the product.

The smaller business owner tends to stand by his product or service, or is so intent on growing his business that he delivers above and beyond your expectations to ensure that you remain loyal to his brand.

Make sure you treat every customer the same and provide the kind of customer care you’d want to have if it was you on the other end of the line making the call.  Sometimes, you might lose a customer based on his or her dissatisfaction, but don’t let it cause you to tarnish your reputation by being rude or negative with them. Continue being polite, because even though you didn’t meet their needs, they could recommend someone to you in the future whose needs you will meet.

Customer service is meant to help support the customer whenever they have questions or problems. When you address them as a person and not a case number they’re more likely to come back and do business with you again.

The small business owner has the advantage in this respect. Their business focus is on their customers and getting them to come back.  Larger companies have the luxury of seeing an influx of new customers every day, so they’re sometimes not as concerned with keeping the old ones happy. Take advantage of your small business status and go big on customer service or it could be the one thing holding you back from achieving growth in your company.

10 ways to make customers fall in love with your small business

10 cheap and interesting ways to attract more customers to your small business

Choose a Niche That Lets You Cash in Across the Board

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Have you been floundering online for a long time, trying with a hit or miss approach to make money from various niches? Your passion for a certain niche may not necessarily translate into effective product creation.

It’s important to choose a niche which lets you make money in all areas of the Internet such as digital affiliate marketing, tangible products, coaching and other methods. It’s highly important that you have a passion for your niche, but not so much that you’re blinded to the reality of the marketing aspect.

You can virtually waste your time and money on a niche you’re passionate about and reap very little rewards for your efforts. Today’s Internet marketing world is highly competitive.

If you have certain financial goals you’re aiming for with your online business venture, then you have to make sure your niche offers enough profit potential to meet your needs.

One of the methods that can put you at the top of your niche includes digital info product creation. This is a great type of marketing that can provide you with a passive income. You don’t have to work as hard each week to sell your product because once it’s done, it earns money for you time and time again.

These products may include a how-to eBook or video series or even a site membership. Anyone interested in your product can purchase it from your site at any time, 24/7, which is where all of that ìmake money while you sleepî jargon comes from.

Digital affiliate marketing is an amazing tool that lets others promote your products and share the profits with you. You’re building online relationships with other marketers in similar niches and divvying up the profits.

The key here is relationships. You have to know who promotes what, prove to them you’re worthy of promotion, and then cater to their needs in order to get them to email their list about your stuff.

Tangible product promotions allow you to be earning income based on items other people created. Examples of tangible products include essential oils, electronic devices, and more.

This is a great way to make money because you don’t have to create a thing. You simply find what consumers want, and act as the middleman to guide them in their purchase.

Coaching is an intangible product and is best offered after you’ve set yourself up as an expert in your niche, or if you have the credentials to be considered an expert. You may choose to coach new Internet marketers, financial entrepreneurs or life coaching clients just to name a few.

You should be ready to research your niche and make sure that it’s conducive to branching out in the above methods. It takes a lot of work and effort to establish yourself, but with these methods of expanding your online business, you should be able to make it a success.

Whatever you do, don’t latch on to a niche just because someone else does, or because you see some flash in the pan success. Trends are important, but not at the expense of your overall happiness.

5 steps you can use to find your niche

How to pick a profitable niche for your online business

Do not Accept Your Own Excuses

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Are you having a pity party with yourself because you just can’t get your online business off the ground? You’ve likely got plenty of excuses to justify watching those television reruns rather than getting off the couch and sitting at your computer to figure it out.

Whatever your excuses are, they’re not legitimate. Anyone can succeed in this business if they just put forth the effort to gain the knowledge and set aside the time they need to make it happen.managing photo

Here are some excuses you may use and why they’re just that excuses:

1. I’m too old. Are you on your death bed? If not, you’re not too old to make a success of your online business. Stop thinking of yourself as ‘old,’ and replace that thought with ‘I’ve got the time and the wisdom to succeed.’

Success has nothing to do with age but has everything to do with determination and faith in yourself. There are plenty of baby boomers and older who are online, cashing in. So don’t lie and say it has anything to do with when you were born.

2. I don’t have time. Remind yourself that everyone has the same amount of time every day and many success stories have happened with people much busier than you. Author Danielle Steele, had three babies (two in diapers) and managed to write five novels before she had one accepted. Now, that’s determination.

3. The market is saturated. That’s likely the biggest excuse people use for not succeeding in Internet marketing. It’s a myth. The market is not saturated and it’s primed for new ideas and new marketing strategies from someone willing to take the time and effort to make it happen.

Set yourself apart from other marketers and stop telling yourself you don’t have a chance. People have different teaching styles and everyone has an audience who wants to learn in the way that you teach.

4. No one will help me. Then help yourself! There’s plenty of help out there if you simply take the time to find it. There are forums and blogs, websites and videos which can bolster your faith in yourself and help you overcome obstacles during the journey to success. Don’t wait for someone to help you. Just do it.

5. I don’t have the money. Perhaps one of the lamest of excuses. There’s plenty of freebies out there for those who are struggling to make ends meet while getting their businesses off the ground.

You don’t have to purchase every shiny new object out there. That’s probably what you’ve been doing, if you’re honest with yourself. Concentrate on what will help you most in your business endeavors and go for it.

6. ‘They’ tell me not to waste my time. You’re wasting time by giving ‘them’ a second thought. If all the successful people in the world had listed to others tell them why ‘it’ couldn’t be done, we’d still be in the Dark Ages.

What is your excuse for not succeeding? Excuses are roadblocks you put in front of yourself to prevent you from achieving success. Analyze your ‘excuses,’ and you’ll find that they really can’t prevent you from reaching your goals only you can.

13 ways to stop making excuses

Stop your excuses and get out of your own way

Do not Be Stingy with Promo Planning

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One of the worst things you can do in your state of desperation is to rush things. But this happens all the time, and newbie marketers wonder why no one will promote their products for them.

A good promotion plan can mean huge monetary success to your online business. The first rule of promotion planning is ñ start early! Give yourself at least four weeks to plan and prepare ñ more if feasible.

Announce it to your JVs and affiliates so they can schedule, too. Depending on their time and efforts, they can create bonuses which will spur you on to even greater success.

sales promotion photo

And customers can plan for the promotion by setting aside some cash. Even small amounts are hard for some people, but if they want your product, they’ll save up for it over the course of a couple of weeks or a month.

You’ll want to build some enthusiasm for the promotion among everyone. Announce it on social media, blogs and any way you can to create some excitement among those who will likely provide the best results.

A little research of those who might benefit from your promotion is necessary to make sure you have a good idea of how many sales you might reap. Look for blogs and websites that offer similar products to yours.

Spend some time planning the promotion so it will be a huge success. Among the issues you need to remember are things like knowing your target audience. Existing customers (those on your list) are always a must.

They know you and are familiar with your products and are loyal. Other marketers who have similar audiences should also be informed about your promotion so they, too, can build excitement among their own lists.

Know your objectives. Pleasing your audience with a quality offering should be first on your list ñ not seeing how much cash you can rake in with whatever you slap up for sale.

If you do it with quality in mind, then the money and future customer loyalty will come. Offer a great and informative product for a reasonable price. Think about what your strategies will be.

Are you planning to promote on social media, with affiliates, JV partners, website, videos, webinars, podcasts or interviews? Will you have a commission contest? They’re all great ways to create anticipation for your promotion, but you need to assess how much time and effort to put into each or all of these that will be most advantageous to your promotion.

How are you going to put your promotion into action? This part of your promotion planning takes organization. Develop timelines (that should be met at all cost) for each part of your promotion and stick to them.

You can’t tell affiliates and JV partners that you plan to launch one day and then the day before, flake out on them and delay it for a few weeks. People have schedules for when they promote others, and if you’re lucky enough to be on it, you should respect their time.

A promotion plan should be carefully and extravagantly laid out so that you know every aspect of it and when it will launch. You’re offering a vision that you created to your audience and you want to give it every chance of succeeding ñ both for you, others involved in the promotion, and especially for your customers.

Promotion planning

Planning a successful promotional campaign

Find Faults with the Competition and Exploit Them

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Competitive analysis definition – entrepreneur.com

How to do competitive analysis in 5 steps

Don’t be mean simply analyze your competitors’ products and authority and be what they’re not! Or, be what they are, only better. You can stay in the white hat marketer category and still learn from the competition in several ways.

You’re not doing all you can for your business if you don’t use the competition to boost your online presence. There are some ways your competition can help. Gather intelligence first.

your competition is successful, you’ll be able to see what works and use the same techniques for your own success. It’s good to see failures, too because you won’t have to waste your time doing something that clearly doesn’t work.

For example, if they work hard on a big launch of a product you’ll be able to see by their success (or not) whether the product was the reason for the success or perhaps the launch day or time was off, resulting in a total flop.

It’s valuable information to have and use. Your competition helps you define yourself. When you know your competition and what they’re all about, you’ll know better what you identify with especially to your audience.

This information helps you discern how to compete in the niche you’ve chosen. For example, if your competition isn’t targeting a certain group in your niche, it becomes a perfect opportunity for you to become a leader for this area of competition.

Convert your competition’s customer base to yours. You won’t be taking them away from the competition (and even if you did, it’s not your fault you’re better at what you do), but only giving the audience a wider spectrum from which to learn information and choose products.

Online customers can tell you a lot about what’s working with the competition and what isn’t. For example, use the social media sites, forums and other sites to see what they’re interested or confused about and then offer solutions that nobody else is addressing.

Tout your expertise in the niche. You may have some advantages the competition doesn’t. Find out how their expertise compares to yours and then flaunt your own accomplishments and knowledge of the niche.

For example, if you’re a financial planner in the ‘outside’ world, tout your credentials if you’re in a niche which requires finances and planning. The best way to outfox those in your niche and soar to the top of the heap is to know your competition.

By watching what others are doing (or in some case, not doing), you learn much about what to do next in your own business. But, best of all you learn where the gaps are in your niche, or where others are failing your audience and you become the go to person for that topic.

Find Marketers Whose Products Complement Your Own

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Find complementary products- Economic definition

Complementary marketing – marketing strategy

Don’t think of other marketers with similar products as competition – think of them instead as a type of partners. Competition is good because it creates excitement about the product.

For example, if you have a niche in herbal health remedies, a person who markets essential oils would be a good match. If stress is your subject, nutrition or exercise products may be topics you can cross promote.

Finding marketers whose products complement your own isn’t difficult. They can be discovered through blogs, websites, advertisements, banners, social media and many other methods on the net.

marketing photo

don’t want to choose just any affiliate to promote your product. Do your research to make sure it’s worth your while for all the time, effort and possibly money that you’re going to spend on a promotion.

You’ll want to find reputable and profitable affiliates who have the same value system as you and who have the reputation of being on time and giving quality partnership advantages.

Don’t be a churn and burn type of marketer. There’s nothing worse than a greedy newbie who advises his or her people to buy any and everything out there just to line their pockets with money ñ quality or not.

There are some online tools you can use to try to find marketers who might offer similar products as your own. One is jvnotifypro.com. On that site, you can find such help as a list of community forums, new launch announcements, job boards, various announcements and more.

It’s a good place to begin to find out what’s going on in the affiliate world. You might also find some websites of similar marketers by entering a search term in google such as product reviews plus the name of your niche topic.

Not all that pop up will be a good match for you, but spending some time in research might yield a few good possibilities. Another way to find marketers for a JV venture is to advertise your own affiliate plan and see what responses you get.

As you become more familiar to other marketers, you’ll get many more inquiries to your promo plans, but in the beginning you may need to dig a bit deeper to find an affiliate that fits your requirements.

When you find affiliates you want to work with, find ways that you can tie the two topics together and the best methods to promote each other. The Internet is full of marketers who will want to promote your product ñ but the best ones probably won’t come beating down your door right at first. You’ll need to build a reputation by doing what you say you’ll do ñ when you say you’ll do it.

Forget You Ever Heard the Phrase Shiny New Object Syndrome

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As a marketer struggling with finding success, you might look for excuses as to why you haven’t found your footing. It’s human nature not to want to accept blame for your failures.

One way we do this is by claiming it’s not our fault! It’s that dreaded Shiny New Object Syndrome that’s done it to us. We’ve been busy buying and buying, without every implementing.shiny photo

Because to admit that you followed through, implemented and still failed well, that’s a bit humiliating (even though all successful entrepreneurs have done just that). Shiny New Object Syndrome is real, but it’s an excuse crutch that you use to excuse away your lack of success.

Shiny New Object Syndrome is a malady that makes you attracted to objects that are glittery and gleaming something like seeing a light in your peripheral vision and turning toward it.

When you see that it’s only a reflection or a shiny penny not worth much – you’ll turn back to concentrate on your previous goal. It’s a phrase that’s actually given marketers a way to get out of following through on their implementation plans.

Chances are, if you’d never heard that phrase, you might not be participating in it! It’s especially prevalent in Internet marketers to look for the shiny new objects because there’s an atmosphere of desperation in this niche.

That means they’re always looking to find a quick and easy way to make more money, get their brand out there faster and go into the back door of success rather than using tried and true methods from start to finish.

The commitment to your current plan of action is abandoned (at least for awhile) and you’re off to the land of hype and empty promises where you’re almost certain to crash and burn leaving all of your goals and good intentions behind.

If you’ve used this catch phrase as your excuse for failure in the past or are doing it now keep in mind that the product (shiny new object) will be around for a long time to come (unless it’s a scam or fad) and it’s best to follow through with your current commitment rather than get off track and lose momentum now.

You’re not alone if you suffer from ‘SOS.’ You can overcome it if you take some steps to prevent the distractions. There are some simple, but important steps you can use to bypass the scary SOS malady.

Make a decision. What are you going to focus on? You can’t really go to the next step until you decide which direction you’re moving with your business. A good business plan can be written and implemented after you’ve done the research needed to formulate the idea into something solid.

If the reason you keep buying new things is because you never sit down and think things through, then you’re wasting time. Would you allow an employee to fly by the seat of their pants in your business or would you prefer they have insight into how something will pan out?

Make a commitment. Unless you commit wholeheartedly to the decision you’ve made you may as well stop right now. Without commitment, the SOS will take over your best laid plans and demolish any chance you have of being a true online business success.

Begin your implementation. You can’t finish anything until you take a beginning step toward success. Trust in yourself that you’ve hatched a great plan or idea and begin the outline, setting goals, creating a budget and all the dozens of things that need to be done to make it a success.

Don’t stop. Don’t get caught up in the SOS or anything else that works as a distraction. Keep going until you meet one goal after another. You may have to go to Step 1 a few times before you can keep going without being tempted to stop and rethink or go to something new. When you reach the finish line of success, you’ll realize you’ve also kicked the habit of crying, ‘I suffer from Shiny New Object Syndrome!’

Do you have shiny object syndrome and how to beat it

How to avoid shiny object syndrome

Know the Difference Between Gut Instinct and Fear

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Fear is normal. As an entrepreneur, you may sometimes fear taking a chance on a certain business model so much time and effort expended and what if it doesn’t do well?

But, your gut instinct tells you it’s the right thing to do, so you have to work through the fear. The fastest and most effective way to do that is to take immediate action. Your gut instinct (also known as intuition) rarely leads you down the wrong path and you can learn to hone your intuition so that you really listen when it’s trying to tell you something.fear photo

Sometimes your fear can get the best of you and hold you back, even though you’ve prepared, researched and are ready to embark on a new and different way of doing things.

Your instinct tells you that you’ve done everything you can to make the project a success, but there’s that little kernel of fear holding you back. Fear may be based on false evidence, such as someone telling you that your idea won’t work, fear of criticism after your idea is launched or a fear of failing and having to start all over again.

It’s important that you analyze whether your fears are real or not and learn how to tell the difference between real fear and a gut instinct. When you’re confused about whether you’re feeling fear or intuition, think about the reality of the situation.

Do your feelings consist of the ‘fight or flight’ sensation that includes a rush of adrenaline, pounding heart and sweating or, is it your mind doing a number on your emotions?

Running and hiding from your feelings won’t do a thing for your emotions or your future success. After all, you’re not running from a bear in the woods what you’re feeling is likely a lack of confidence in yourself that you’re doing the right thing.

If your intuition is guiding you forward, it’s best to heed the ‘advice’ and gather up the strength to face and deal with any negative occurrence that might happen. It’s easy to mistake fear for a gut instinct.

Sometimes the symptoms are the same. When you’re faced with false evidence, which appears real to you, you can make the mistake of ignoring your gut instinct and going along with the negative thoughts of fear and failure.

Remember these three things next time you’re faced with wondering whether your feelings are a gut instinct or rational fear:

1. A fear is often irrational and emotionally draining.

2. A reliable gut instinct conveys information unemotionally and rationally.

3. Gut instincts rely on facts fear is irrational and involves self-doubt.

When you suspect that a feeling is an irrational fear rather than a gut instinct, try to transform the fear into a rational thought process by taking action. There’s also a saying you might want to keep handy whenever you’re faced with fear. ‘Do it afraid courage will come later.’

Your gut feeling: fear or intuition

Going with your gut: how to tell the difference between fear and intuition

Learn Which Shortcuts to Take and Which to Avoid

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Are you one of those marketers who is always looking for the fastest, easiest way to do things? In fact, you might waste so much time trying to find a shortcut that it would have been faster to just do it the regular way!

Shortcuts can be great for the harried marketer whose time and budget are limited. But, they can also be bad for business if you don’t take the proper shortcuts or use them in the right way.road photo

Certain shortcuts can get you through the most harrowing of times and keep you on top of your game, but they can also mire you down until you feel stuck forever especially if they’re hard to master.

All of the elements which constitute your business have possible shortcuts you can take to grab the attention of your customers and build trust that’s so important for the future success of your business.

And the best part is that shortcuts allow you to do it in a timely manner. At any one time, most marketers have clutter on our desks and computer (and minds) that need organizing, or have a deadline to make and no time to meet it.

A content deadline is near and you don’t have the time or inclination to write and release it. That’s when PLR come in very handy. PLR (Private Label Rights) is content that you can purchase usually in bundles about a particular subject matter (your niche).

After you purchase it, it’s yours and you can use it as you like. This is a great shortcut for your business, but you have to take time to know whose content is quality, and whose is a hot mess.

Most marketers tweak the writing to match their own styles and also add some relevant content of their own or remove some of the content that isn’t relevant to a particular subject.

Change them to look and read unique and not like cookie-cutter prose. Good deals can be found from successful marketers and knowing how to use them as your own content can be a huge timesaver and, stress saver for you and your business.

When you take shortcuts in your business, whether it’s PLR for content or something else, make sure it’s quality when you introduce it to your audience. You want it to be informative and offer them something they haven’t heard a million times already.

Whether you’re adding content to a blog, a website, social media or other method, it should grab their attention and give them something of value and that builds trust in what you have to offer.

There are many free, downloadable apps, which also offer shortcuts for your business. Organizational apps, budgetary apps and apps to help you design and write pages are available.

Some are very good and some aren’t worth the time it takes to download them. Be discerning in your choices for shortcut apps and content. If it’s something that takes a long time to master, don’t introduce it into your business.

7 shortcuts you will regret taking in life

Stop looking for shortcuts