Tip For Small Business Owners

I've been on a rampage lately about businesses being listed on the online local business directories. It's such an overlooked piece of the SEO puzzle - and often the first piece that should be in place before any other - that I find myself trying to figure out why that is the case. Do business owners underestimate the importance of having their business found on Google, Yahoo and Bing? Is there a lack of both awareness and understanding about how powerful and critical a detailed business listing is to a business's overall success? Are businesses not cognizant of how consumers or other businesses find them through the search engines? Do businesses work with and adjust their keyword list as their business grows? Better yet, do they even have a keyword list? Do business owners know which listings are important and how to find them? Do business owners know that if they can't own certain competitive keywords with their local directory listing, they can more heavily focus on them by other means, such as their blog, and may still get on the first search page for those terms? And then I have to ask myself, did I know about all this a year ago? Even just six months ago?? Well, the answer is emphatically "no." I was aware of the search engine local directories but I certainly didn't know exactly how they worked or what it meant to get in the 3-pack or 10-pack - or that Google may be changing their 10-pack to a 7-pack or anything like that. In fact, the questions asked above are derived out of my experience of working with several business listings over the period of many months, including now my own business, in order to even begin to ask questions like those. So I have to give business owners a break here. hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h hello24h I just recently worked with a company who has been in business for 8 years that had never claimed its Google Local Business Center directory listing. While the successful business had a general listing, it didn't appear at all if one was searching for any of the relevant keywords or phrases. Only their competitors showed up as well as a few other businesses that did not provide the same service. The only time their business listing appeared was if one searched on their full business name. And, frankly, that's the only time their website appeared in the organic searches as well, so their website was not optimized either. After claiming the listing and massaging it in order to get it to appear more often on the prominent keyword searches, the business comes up on the "board" in all the main keywords except for one highly competitive one, and they often appear in the top 3 business listings. In a couple of cases, they are #1 and/or the ONLY business listed. I was thrilled beyond belief with my before and after results, even taking screen shots to remind myself of the major difference, by making changes that were relatively simple if you have a bit of experience with gaining SEO value. Admittedly and openly, the business owner didn't share my enthusiasm. "I'm not sure I fully can appreciate what you just did for us," the client said. The business owner didn't know how to put a value on what was just accomplished. The business is primarily B2B, and not consumer-driven like some other businesses who would rely heavily on internet searches. Still, the business would only need to gain one new client from an internet search for it to be more than beneficial. Last time I checked, there are very few businesses in this economy that are doing so well that it would be okay for them to remain invisible on the internet. I mean, if it were okay to be invisible on the internet, then why have a website at all? Why have a social media presence? Why invest the time and cost? If the only people who are finding the business are the people who already are familiar enough with your service or product to search your business by name, then what's the point of using the internet for generating new business leads? Am I wrong in my thinking here? Frankly, I don't know how to value what seems like such a simple change either: From a TIME standpoint, even with my experience, it took some hours to write a comprehensive listing, add logos, verify and then test/edit the listings on Google, Bing and Yahoo. It would take some further time if I were adding photos and video as Google allows. The client had a Google account, but the other accounts I had to create. It took additional hours to figure out the best keywords and key phrases (he didn't have a keyword list for his business), as well as to perform the before and after searches on the multiple search engines and save the screenshots and report the results in writing with a phone discussion. I would guesstimate 15 hours total. Sure, a business owner could pay someone with less experience to verify the listings but the effect would not be as pronounced, that's for sure. They wouldn't understand the strategy and tactics to get the same desired results. From a VALUE standpoint, I guess it would depend on what kind of business it was. A bricks-and-morter retailer would benefit greatly as would any kind of local professional service business. And larger businesses can benefit as well because of the sheer volume of people searching, as would most franchise owners. Perhaps a true B2B business like my client's, not so much. Although I feel like I could argue that point greatly in that maybe they're the ones that get the MOST value from an internet lead because the sale would be large in terms of dollars coming in over the length of the project and/or relationship, versus a retailer or service business that might get a one-time, small-dollar purchase from a lead. Internet sales based on local search and/or organic searches can range from the hundreds to thousands to perhaps even hundreds of thousands for some businesses - and some businesses would kill for that 3-pack listing, or even to be on the board somewhere in the 7-pack listing. What about YOUR business? Are you effectively managing and maximizing these local business directory listings? Did you know that getting your business listed can also create link backs to your site which can eventually increase your website's page rank? There are so many benefits to consider we find it mind-boggling that more businesses don't take advantage of what Google and others offer for free or for minimal cost.

Advantages Of A Good Business Plan

Planning is a vital ingredient in the success of any business. Developing a business plan is not just a requirement, but a basic necessity for building one's business nowadays. It is an honest truth that every business needs a plan, starting from large corporations to entrepreneurs. Developing a business plan will help one build a framework that would push his business to his actual destination. The business plan helps one develop work guidelines, map out strategies, understand one's target market, measure performance, monitor progress, make future plans and raise additional capital either for expansion or to boost operations. Quite often, the thought on the mind of most business owners or investors is failure. The only way to overcome this failure is to address the common reasons why businesses fail up front. Presently, the world is facing though economic challenges, global economic meltdown, high cost of commodities, high rate of foreclosure and difficulties in obtaining credit from banks, stiff competition, complicated tax laws and high operational costs, etc.. All these challenges faced by businesses today, even make it more challenging for start-up businesses to survive. In today's world, both small and large-scale businesses have come to realize the need to evaluate their business potentials and formulate strategies for the future. However, inadequate planning has been the reason so many businesses fail, and the rate at which they fail is overwhelming. It is usually believed that most businesses fail in their first year of operation and among those that fail, 80% of them do not have a well researched plan. It has been observed that business failure is not only connected with small businesses alone which I chose not mention here, go down too. Though the rate of failure is highly significant in small businesses, and it is the main reason why a good business plan is needed. Probably for raising additional cash and to provide potential investors and lenders with the information required to make investment decisions. This makes developing a business plan extremely important. One's business plan has to stand out and his projection has to be firm due to higher competition in attracting funding for his business. Investors no longer risk their money on businesses that do not prove to have great potentials for them. A business plan is like a road map, it shows one the route to take, the pitfalls to avoid in order to reach his destination, For instance, if one decides to travel by road from one place to another, he would first need a road map that shows him the route to take. He will need to determine the distance and how much gas his car will need to take him to his destination. Moreover, he will need to calculate how much the journey will cost him, if he intends to raise money, if he's borrowing, how he intends to refund the money. Putting all this into consideration, he now has a traveling plan that will take him to his destination. In the same vein, that's what a business plan provides one with, the strategies, the route, and a road map to success. Incidentally, the idea of working with a business plan is for one to keep focus on his set goals. Statistics has it that many businesses fail due to inadequate planning. If one doesn't know where he's heading to, any route seems to be the right one. Most people make great mistakes by jumping into business without adequate preparation and planning. A good business plan helps one maintain focus on his goals and execute the strategies that the plan assisted him in creating. Just like a road, one's business plan has to be consulted to make maintain his focus and not running business in a layman's way. Working with a business plan, it will prevent one from entering unfamiliar territory. The plan becomes a working map for him and his organization. I t spells out the things to do and things not to do, the functions and how everyone and every department should operate. It helps one become more efficient, reduce waste and redundancy, channeling one's resources to rightful place and being a guide to the successful running of his business. bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti As a performance tool, it measures the progression of goals in one's business by tracking, monitoring, as well as evaluating, and can also be used as checkpoints in measuring performance. The world today, is so dynamic that what applied today might not apply tomorrow, and as a result of this dynamism, a good business plan needs to be setup in order to protect one against risks associated with business. In addition to a performance tool, perfect business plan should contain other necessary tools in its system, which really make it a perfect plan. It must have a human resource tool, a marketing and strategy tool, financial tool, communication tool, and most importantly, an investor's guide. A well-defined business plan attracts others to be part of the vision. It has to have a well-defined goal and objective that will set the stage to bring others into the business. It should inspire teamwork and creativity among its people and ensures everyone understands the goals and objectives. However, a good business plan defines one's target market, the class of people he intends to sell his products to, how to reach them, promote his products, in addition, defines one's market mix- people, place, product and price. People- this defines the people involved in the promotion one's goods and services. Product- this defines what one's goods and services are. Place- defines the location which also includes the means of delivering the goods and services. Price- defines how much one's products and services are worth in the market which will enable him analyze and evaluate his return on investment (ROI). A marketing and strategy tool defines one's business strength, his weakness, his opportunities and threats. It plots a graph that helps one reduce cost while maximizing profit. A financial tool in a good business plan enables one understand his business financial position, develops his budget and determine how his finances will be allocated. It also calculates one's return on return on investment, analyzes his income statement, cash-flow, balance sheet, break-even point i.e. the analysis that tells one how much sales needed in order to cover expenses, which gives the basis for pricing his products and services, and at the same time calculates how much that is needed to finance one's business which helps in making his financial needs clear. A good business plan communicates one's ideas to people, communicates his mission, objectives, management approach, responsibilities and demonstrates how one's strategy will increase profitability and performance, identifying his audience without overreacting his aims and objectives of his business plan. A business communicates in two ways- Internal communication and External communication. Internal communication includes communication of corporate vision, shared value, strategies, guiding principles and employee motivation. External communication includes branding, customer relation, marketing, advertising, media and public relations etc.. A good business plan is used to attract funding from investors. Most investors will look at a business plan as a decision-making tool. There are certain things investors look out for in a business. These include one's management team, every investor will want to know a business owner's managerial skills, passion, and his dedication to his business. A comprehensive description of how one's products or services should be discharged, his customer base, his market and financial analysis. A business plan should have a realistic financial forecast. Every investor will always like to see his business associate's return of investment, cash-flow and break-even analysis. Hence, a well prepared business plan is the key to attracting investors.

Becomes Important For All Businesses

You may have noticed that a Google search result now shows the local map on the right side and the local listings (aka as Google Places at Google) are part of the organic search results. If you follow the evolution of local listings on search engines since 2007 you will find that this local marketing tool is invaluable to any business. The disappointing issue is that most businesses have not tapped into this local marketing tool. While the industry is 3 years ahead of businesses, the businesses that are dependent upon the local geography for their revenue are unclear that they can actively manage these listings instead of watching them passively. All Businesses Can Take Advantage of Local Businesses First of all, a local company is not a small business. While we will discuss this in more detail in the future, we have to keep in mind that national chains with local presence are also dependent upon the local economy for their revenue. So, it doesn't make a difference if you're as large as a Target store or as small as a local florist, local listings will benefit any size business. Secondly, the recent change at Google is a telling sign that this is related to both Business-To-Business (B2) as well as Business-To-Consumer (B2C). If you think that B2B won't have its customer posting reviews then you are in for a surprise. Also, a B2B business that requires revenue from the local marketing should equally be tapping into local listings like a B2C business. Customers Decide To Business Based On Search Results The recent search results change at Google not only displays the regular organic search results, but if there are local listings that are relevant to the requested search they are showing up above fold and tend show more results than the organic website results. The local listings results are also interesting in that they show quite a bit of information to a local customer or consumer. Of course the basic information like business name, address, phone number, telephone number, website link and location on the map is pretty standard. However, the number of customer reviews and the average star rating is prominent to the person searching. Translated this means the local customer or consumer are very quickly see if they want to even click on your local business listing or call you. Optimization Becomes Important Businesses now have two marketing tools that need optimization: their website and their local business listing. Since the local business listing is effectively the interactive yellow pages of the 21st century, businesses need to stop passively watching and actively engaging with their local business listing. The process requires that you first claim your local business listing, followed by your initial update, and then you have to consider monitoring and managing the local business listing just like your website. bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti bookatti You will find that the local business listing can actually be a website, but probably better to use it as a support tool to your primary website. In order for you to show up in the search results you have to be sure the local business listing has all the right information about your business, products and services. That is then followed by adding photos, videos, coupons, offers, discounts, events and other information that will help the local customer decide to do business with you. Managing your local business listing includes managing customer reviews and engaging with them not only to secure positive reviews from satisfied customers, but to insure positive public relations with any customers that are less than satisfied. Finally, the optimization process includes watching the local business listing analytics (separate from your website) and making decisions about how to tweak your listing. ...and did we mention this goes well beyond Google? Variety of other websites are included such as Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, Local.com, Merchant Circle, Citysearch and many others that include search engines, social communities, 411 websites, GPS websites, and business directories. Outsourcing Your Local Business Listing Management There are generally two types of companies that provide local business listing management services. The first are those that provide "data" only services, which really doesn't help you much since they don't get involved in the claiming process. The second provides marketing services, but be careful here since some of them are not well staffed to do anything beyond Google. This is no different than seeking professional help for your website's search engine optimization. You will need to not only have professional help in the optimization of your local business listing, but someone has to monitor for duplicate listings, customer reviews, updating your marketing information, and analyzing the analytics.

Small Business Growth: It's A Capital Idea

The key for small business growth is to start with a solid foundation. That foundation includes a marketing business plan. As we so often hear, planning to fail is failing to plan. And, small business success is about following that plan. The second part of the foundation is to have sufficient capital. What is sufficient capital? Sufficient capital is to have enough set aside to take care of you and the business for at least six months. As a marketing business coach I have seen anywhere from six months to a year. The key is to be in a position to sustain yourself. Also, you want to have enough capital to not only sustain your business but to grow it. There are the two components of the small business growth cycle. You must have a marketing business plan and sufficient capital. Otherwise your probability of getting where you want to go is greatly diminished. Small Business Growth-Do You Have The Capital What is capital? You hear about it all the time. Quite simply, it is the funds you are willing or capable of investing in your business and business growth without knowing when you may see a return. This is where I have seen most business owners come up short. Somehow they assume that magically there will be enough profit in what they do to support business growth. Starting your own business is a great challenge. But, running a business in a manner to where it can grow is an even bigger challenge. In the beginning most businesses spend more money on start up and the first few months than anticipated. This leaves them short of capital to invest in the business. As a personal business coach I can assure you that it is a very good idea to have a budget. This way you know in advance what to expect and hopefully have contingency plans if things, as they usually do, don't work out as intended. If you don't have extra capital or know where to get it then you really don't have a plan for your business growth. Small Business Growth-It Depends On Capital As a personal business coach I have observed that the number one killer of small businesses and the dreams that they represent is lack of capital. Very often small business will start out and be growing. Yet, the funds aren't there to help build the processes and structure to support the growth After the unforeseen expenses and unexpected needs there isn't much left over for business growth. manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato manausdefato This is a problem for several reasons. If you can't fund growth, your level of service or the product quality that enabled you to grow diminishes. When your level of service or product quality diminishes there is a decline in customer confidence. With a decline in customer confidence there starts to be a decline in business. If the decline isn't addressed early on then the business gets a bad reputation and then business growth goes from a hill to climb to a mountain that cannot be scaled. Small Business Growth-Have A Capital Plan For all self-employed business owners entrepreneurs and solo professionals it is important to have a capital plan. Some sources of capital can be a bank, the Business Administration or private investors. I caution against private investors. At a bank maybe you can set up a line of credit. The Business Administration has some good loan programs. If you have a receivables problem there is factoring. There are also business capital sources outside of banking. There are business capital companies that can help you set up business lines of credit or use your assets as collateral for growth capital. They can also help you set up leases and this can improve your balance sheet. The key is to have a plan before you start your own business Know your options when it comes to capital. When you know your options you are much more likely to achieve the success and business growth you desire.

Your Business Slowed Down

Many owner operated businesses grow quickly in their early days but more often than not they reach a plateau. Growth slows, if there is any at all, and profits do too. Many business owners are happy with this, or say they are, particularly if the business is generating enough profit to be comfortable. mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass mktvpass

best place to buy a mattress on black friday

Finest Mattress Brand Researches 2014 Black Friday Mattress Gross sales In Newest Information

It is that time of year again! Over the past few a long time, the day after Thanksgiving, identified in retail as Black Friday (November twenty seventh in 2015), has turn out to be synonymous with one of the best buying deals of the year. As retailers attempt to spice up 12 months-finish numbers and buyers get into reward-mode, many stores provide incredible promotions every little thing from electronics to house furnishings.

There are thousands of TV models out there available in the market right this moment, and this leaves many people wondering which one is the most effective one and in addition one of the best time to buy one. There are certain instances in the course of the year which are higher suited to making purchases, especially when we are speaking of consumer electronics. By understanding the very best time, you will get one of the best deal, or the newest model (though they won't come low cost), as one prefers.

One factor you can do is get a doctor's excuse. Significantly. Your physician or chiropractor can write a prescription for a mattress without flame retardants. That's one step toward a healthier night's sleep. Of course, that does not eliminate best place to buy a mattress on black friday step up. has a unbelievable Black Friday sale going on this year, with $1200 off all of their one hundred% organic pure latex mattresses and $600 off their GreenGuard Gold licensed memory foam mattresses.

The Sealy Posturepedic is one in every of four mattress strains Sealy provides, the others being Sealy Brand, Embody by Sealy and Stearns & Foster. The Sealy Posturepedic has a coil rely of 736 or 782 in a queen size. This is an possibility one can select. The 782 coil count is claimed by Sealy to be the best for proper orthopedic assist. Coil rely is a function of the dimensions of the mattress and a larger mattress may have extra coils than a smaller mattress. The Sealy Posturepedic additionally makes use of a Unicased Edge System, designed to make the sting of the mattress every bit as agency and comfy as the center.

Nevertheless, be cautious as typically what you assume is tempurpedic is in no way. There are some sellers on-line particularly on eBay who sell fake tempurpedic mattresses and other tempurpedic merchandise. So it's important that you just examine the eBay seller's feedback received from other customers (if there is no then don't buy from the vendor). Also if you are able to e mail or cellphone the vendor to make it possible for what they are promoting is a genuine tempurpedic mattress.