When Outsourcing Goes Wrong: What Not To Do

Outsourcing is undeniably a useful option for small and growing businesses. As the main operator at your business, you can’t possibly handle every task and role. You might be a one-man or one-woman show, but quickly you’ll realize that certain tasks are taking too much of your time without delivering the needed ROI. Enter outsourcing to solve all your business challenges.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing can be the best business decision you’ve ever made, or it can be the worst. The provider you choose and the way you implement their services will be the deciding factor in how effective outsourcing is for your business.…

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3 Ways User Reviews Can Impact a Small Business’ Local SEO

Some 88% of online users read reviews to determine the quality of a local business. If your businesses’ customer reviews are not visible on Google and the other various online platforms relevant to marketing your business, that one glaring fact alone should be all the inspiration you need to get started – PRONTO!

User reviews impacts local SEO

If you’re still not convinced, or don’t know where to get started with an SEO Company, keep reading to learn more about how reviews impact your business’ local search rankings, and some tips about how to get more honest-to-goodness reviews posted about you, your employees, and your products.…

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Compelling Benefits of Going for a New Launch Condo Instead of Old Property

As a business owner, you should always find ways to make money works for you.  Investing in financial markets is great, but real estate remains one of the most reliable form of investment, especially in growing region like Singapore. With influx of entrepreneurs and expats who want to live and work in the city-state, demand on real estate – especially affordable ones – remains high.

Chinatown, Singapore

Now, buying a property requires plenty of considerations. One consideration you may have to think about for a while is whether you will go for an old unit versus a brand new one. While both have their pros and cons, in this article, we will be discussing why you would prefer to choose a new piece of property over one that has been around for several years.…

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Business And Marketing: Local, National and Global Considerations

When it comes to a topic as broad as business and marketing, it’s smart to approach the topic from several perspectives in order to achieve the maximum potential for success. One set of decisions that you’ll have to make thoughtfully include the ideas of local, national, and global reach.

Businessman holding globe

Because the internet, through various online means, connects the entire world, your reach is essentially unrestricted. However, that doesn’t mean that just because you can get your message everywhere, it’ll be responded to in the same way by various audiences. So, during every phase of your branding process, consider global thoughts, national techniques, and local search methods.…

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How to Support Data-Driven Decision Making in Your Organization

Today’s IoT-driven landscape requires you to make data-driven decisions quicker than ever before. While companies have been collecting customer data for some decades, they’ve only recently realized that insights from big data can help them make predictions and identify trends that lead to long-term success.

Data-driven decision making

However, cultivating such a data-driven mindset is an obstacle for several organizations, particularly the ones that are just beginning to unlock and analyze the data accessible to them. In such enterprises, top managers shrug their shoulders when they’re asked to connect the dots from multiple data sources to make decisions that will optimize their company’s growth.…

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Why Use VoIP for Your Small Business?

VoIP is an up and coming internet-based communication method. Often touted as a replacement for traditional land telephone lines, VoIP’s many features beyond traditional voice calls are making it the choice for many small businesses.

Businesswoman making VoIP call

What is VoIP?

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a technology developed to allow users to place voice and video telephone calls over IP networks. The technology was developed to allow users to make phone calls from remote places in the world and is rapidly becoming the preferred type of telephone network for small businesses across the world.

To use VoIP you need either a handset specifically designed for the protocol, or software for your computer.…

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How to Start a Blog for Your Small Business

Starting a blog for your business takes a slightly different approach than starting a personal blog. Your business blog can be a marketing vehicle, but rather than a constant sales pitch, it should be a source of credible information for your customers. Done right, it can showcase your brand and increase customer engagement.

Establish Your Goals

Before you start blogging, establish your goals. What is it you hope to accomplish? Some common goals include:

  • Increasing sales
  • Increasing customer engagement
  • Building your email list
  • Distinguishing your company from the competition

Simply having goals isn’t enough. Use the SMART goal approach to make sure you’re setting achievable targets.…

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Dan Anton: SEO CEO Birthed in the Fires of Iraq

The transition from employee to CEO is typically engineered out of mental necessity, protection of the ego; whether it’s being disrespected, unappreciated, underpaid, the gamut of reasons is extensive and certainly valid in the eyes of the employee, turned would-be CEO. What if you loved your current role, and never had plans on leaving? This was the mindset Dan Anton embodied when he, serendipitously was confronted with a decision to become a small business owner.

Dan Anton joined the military because of the September 11, 2001 attacks on The World Trade Centers. He ascended to the rank of Major, where on his second tour, was injured in combat by an IED, medically retiring.…

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5 Unusual Business Funding Sources to Tap

When your back is against the wall and you find you need some significant cashflow, which you don’t have, for your business to make it in the next 30 days or so, often times conventional funding sources just aren’t an option.

Business funding

When the wolf’s at the door and/or you need money to launch/expand quickly, there’s simply no time to seek out bank loans, commercial mortgages, venture capitalists, angel funding, family loans, etc.

If that’s the position you find your business in currently, you might just want to give one of the following 5 unusual funding sources a shot:

1. Invoice Factoring

Invoice factoring is perhaps the most popular among the unusual methods for financing a business.…

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When You Focus on Building Customer Relationships, the Rest is Just Business

As the owner of a self-storage business, I serve people who are undergoing life changes every day. Relocations, divorce, college, and military deployment are just a few reasons someone might benefit from self-storage. Whatever the case, they’re likely tired, stressed, and generally unsettled. The last thing they want to do is slog through a long, confusing sales experience.

Helpful sales person

These days, the lines are blurred between “our business” and “your problems” in all industries. But what many business owners don’t realize is how easily they can soothe someone’s worries with good customer service — even if they have nothing to do with your business transaction.…

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