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A Photo can be worth a thousand words and shares

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Male hand holding cellular phone with image of happy family of three looking at cameraPhotos are a HUGE draw for posts to either your blog or social media.  They are a MUST!  There are some important considerations though when using pictures and they are:

-Ensure you are in compliance with copyright law.  Images are subject to the same copyright and fair use laws as written materials.

-Avoid using a search engine to find an image.  For the most part it is a waste of time because most of the images you will find are copyrighted and can’t be used.

-Find a source for photos and use the search within the website.  Most of the time you either have to pay for the image or give proper credit to the source to use it.

-Keep the image toward the top of the post to lure in readers.  It must be above the scroll line.

-Use your own images.  With cameras in every cell phone, it is very easy to take and post your own photos.

Consider including photos in all your posts.  It will bring more excitement and interest to your information.  Plus others will be more likely to share the content and isn’t that the whole point?

What sources do you use for your post photos?  Please share!

 

Swimming with a shark

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3-D Sucess, Lead by exampleOne of our favorite sharks from the Shark Tank TV Series is Daymond John.  Recently we had the opportunity to listen to him speak on a webinar titled “The Power of Branding”, but it was so much more.  Daymond spoke genuinely and honestly about his struggles and ultimately his rise to the mogul he is today.   It was very inspiring!

We would encourage anyone to take the time to seek out successful business people like Daymond to follow.  Even though they might not necessarily be able to personally interact, they can certainly have an impact on your life and business.

Through books, articles, websites and social media it is now easier than it has ever been to have access to successful people in  your industry.  We challenge you to seek out some of the people you would most like to follow and do just that.  You never know some day someone might be looking to follow you!

Please write in the comment section who you would suggest people follow.

Do you chose to accept your mission?

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Mission Definition Button Shows Task Goal Or Assignment To Be Done

Your business exists for a reason.  What is it?  How can anyone in your company meet expectations if they are not written down and shared?

Create a mission statement.  It is really needed so everyone understands the reason why your business exists.  The statement needs to be well thought out, concise, and specific.  Take your time with it and get every word just right.

A well constructed sentence or two is all that is needed to create your vision.  Some questions to consider during construction are:  Why do you do what you do?  What problems does your company solve?  Who works for your company?  How can your business make customer’s lives better?

There are many other questions to help narrow down this very important statement.  Please share more questions in the comment section below.

Where do your customers hang out?

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Facebook button
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net

Instead of walking over to go visit your neighbor to chat over a cup of coffee, lots of people, about 154 million are chatting on social media according to The Demographics Of Social Media Users 2015.  Which means chances are your customers are out there right now and if you are not paying attention to them another company in your industry is.  Get out there and find your customers.  Are you wondering where they are?  Here is some of social media sites and who is hanging out:

Facebook is still the big dog on the block, having the most users by far.  The user age distribution is pretty even so posting to this site will usually yield good results.

Twitter has a fairly young crowd and to stay on top of the feed businesses should post 15 to 20 times a day.  This could be very time consuming but posts are VERY short.

LinkedIn is business oriented and great place to research businesses or individuals to see what their background is.  This is more for the middle aged crowd, but a great place to get your business known.

We have highlighted only a few social media sites.  There are many, many more sites to investigate like Google plus, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterst, YouTube, Snapchat, etc.  Find out where your customers hang out and make sure you are there to connect with them.

Where do your customers hang out?  Please post in the comments.

 

Thousands of Opportunities!

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net

Looking for a place to sell your products and services?  The government has set up a website called FBO.gov which is the Federal Business Opportunities website.  Federal Agencies post their solicitations (stuff they need to buy) on this website so that vendors can respond with information or proposals.

Before responding to a post, a vendor must have a DUNS number (Data Universal Numbering System).  If you have already registered in SAM.gov then the information will be pulled into FBO.gov with just the DUNS number.  There is also free help to assist vendors in this process through Procurement Technical Assistance Program or PTAP which is available in every state.

This database is very comprehensive and worth a look by any business to see if they can provide the product or service the government is looking to procure.  There are thousands and thousands of listings for just about anything.  We have seen solicitations for toilet paper, construction, software, cleaning services, ice machines, interpreter services and  coveralls.  We are sure what you have to offer is being sought.  Check it out!

Please comment any tips on using FBO.gov for your business.

 

Please comment any tips on using FBO.gov for your business.

 

 

Home sweet work

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Image courtesy of photostock at freedigitalphotos.net
Image courtesy of photostock at freedigitalphotos.net

Want to start a business but need to be close to home?  Why not start one at home?  Thousands of businesses are run out of homes everyday which would be perfect for stay at home parents or adult caregivers.  Here are some business ideas to work from home sweet home:

  1. Medical Billing or Transcription
  2. Accounting services
  3. Child care
  4. Gift Baskets
  5. Virtual Assistant
  6. E-Books

There are many benefits to working at home.  How does, no commute, flexible hours, low overhead and start up costs sound?  Pretty darn good.  Work is a great way to exercise your mind and support your family.  We challenge you to investigate an at home business that interests you today!  Carpe diem!

Please share this post with others who may benefit from an at home business.

Can you share some other home based business ideas in the comment section for our readers?

Calling all service businesses, consider this

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.ne
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.ne

In a service business, generally time is traded for money.  If services aren’t rendered you don’t get paid.  You have to keep cranking out those services to generate income.  It is the nature of the service business.

What if you could create products to sell from your service business?  I know it may sound odd and you might be asking, how do I make a service into a product?  In your service industry you are an expert!  Use your knowledge to your advantage and create another stream of income.

If you don’t have a website, create or hire someone to get it up and running.  Sell some how to videos or podcasts.  Or if you are shy, create how to books or short ebooks in your industry.  These can create what we like to call “information vending machines”, you get to help many more people with your knowledge than you can by actually performing services.

Please share in the comments, how different types of service businesses can turn their expertise into products.

Stop, write, and roll

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Image courtesy of think4photop at freedigitalphotos.net
Image courtesy of think4photop at freedigitalphotos.net

Do you ever feel like your boss gives you too much work at once?  You can’t focus on what needs to be done because there’s too much to do.   Your mind swims and you jump from one fire (urgent need) to another. As a result, nothing gets done.  How do you sort it all out?

Stop, write and roll…. 

1.  Stop what you are doing, take a deep breath and clear your mind.  This will give you a clean slate to start from.

2.  Write all of the work down in a list.  Get it onto paper where you can evaluate each one and prioritize based on urgency and importance.

3.  Roll through the prioritized list one at a time.  This takes focus and discipline.  There will be phones ringing, emails coming in and instant messages that will pop up.  If need be shut all of it down so you can focus and go into what we call “the cone of silence”.  Make sure there are no distractions taking you off your task.

When each task is complete, be sure to cross out or check them off.  Make it a game and project how many items you will finish by lunch or by the end of the day.  This will give you something to strive for.

Even if you aren’t passionate about your job, there is satisfaction knowing you put out a bunch of fires and your boss will be grateful for it.

Please leave other tips on how to handle work overload in the comments.