5 Tools For Testing Your Website For Mobile Compatibility

mobile website testing tools On my previous post, I had discussed about some tips on building a mobile business website. Inspired by a comment from Martin Lindeskog, I have decided to share with you, my dear readers, some tips on how to test whether your mobile viewers are getting optimum viewing capacity on their mobile browsers.

That said, I have scoured the net for a cornucopia of sites which can be useful to test mobile compatibility of your site.

Here are some mobile browser compatibility-testing sites:

1. mobiReady – This site is fairly easy to navigate and the best part is, it’s free.…

Continue reading →

Five Surprising Health Insurance Tax Tips For Small Business Owners and The Self Employed

health insurance tax tips

Whether you’re self employed or a small business owner, preparing your taxes can be a daunting task – scrambling to find every little deduction within “hidden” tax codes to make the most of your return. And with Health Reform underway, there are new laws in effect that may translate into a bigger refund check.

Here are five health insurance-related tax tips to consider before you file your taxes this year:

1. New this year! Take a one-time opportunity to reduce your self-employment taxes – In addition to the standard “˜above the line’ deduction described below, self-employed persons can also deduct the cost of their health insurance premiums from their self-employment taxes on Schedule SE.…

Continue reading →

How To Deal With Unhappy Customers

dealing with unhappy customers For a new small business owner who is seeking to grow his or her business, brand reputation is an important consideration to keep in mind, which is why any negative press about the business can be detrimental to its success. All it takes is one unhappy client or associate, the lightning-fast pace of the internet, and a negative blog post to derail even the best laid plans.

If you follow publishing at all, you might have seen this example in the fall of Cooks Source Magazine, whose editor plagiarized a freelance author’s work, and then refused to apologize. What followed was a barrage of negative press, which led to the magazine’s advertisers pulling their support, thus ending the magazine’s life.…

Continue reading →

Tips For Building A Mobile Business Website

tips for building mobile business websites

These days, it seems unlikely that there is still a small business owner who doesn’t use smartphones. Since the internet is more accessible now than everybody thought possible, mobility has taken on a whole new different meaning.

Our smartphones have become a bigger part of our lives than we’ve all imagined and it just makes sense then that websites are being rebuilt to be more mobile compatible. But really, how can a small business owner make their site mobile?

Inc.com published an article not too long ago on how to design and build a mobile website. Here are my take-aways:

Look for an online service that would enable your site to be available on a mobile version.

…Continue reading →

Take Your Banker Out to Lunch

Starting a small business means having as many allies as possible and few allies are as important to new business owners as the banker.

build a relationship with your banker

It always pays to be on the good side of the person who has a say over whether or not your emerging business will be extended the loan it needs to get through the initial stages. Well as you might already know, it’s important to be on the good side to anybody that influences your business in any type of way.

Here’s a tip: Take your banker out to lunch and build a relationship with them.

For years, entrepreneurs and company associates have taken clients to lunch as a way to either establish a potential relationship or strengthen a rapport that had already existed.…

Continue reading →

Should Small Businesses Outsource SEO Or Take Care Of It In House?

The questions that plague small businesses seem to never change – only the subjects small business is asking these questions about. Unlike a corporation or large company, resources within a small business are often scarce. As it is, you likely are doing the jobs 10 or more people would be in charge of in a larger company. SEO may sound like another truffle on your plate that you simply don’t have the stomach for.

“We have a great product, people will find us.”

This is a reaction you want to avoid. The most important aspect of SEO, or search engine optimization, any small business (or large for that matter) must realize is that it is not another “option” in how you market your business, it is a necessity born of a real and fast change in the way consumers search for various goods and services.…

Continue reading →

Why Maintaining A Business Is Like Maintaining Relationships

maintaining a business is like maintaining relationships

Maintaining a business is very much like keeping a relationship. It’s a two-way street; it’s about giving and taking. Since Valentine’s Day is today, I won’t be dispensing with the usual tips, advices and general opinion about business. Instead, I will be discussing what I have personally observed and experienced on how relationships and business operations are more alike than they seem to be.

On Giving Special Attention

Businesses and relationships have the tendency to demand your utmost attention that at times, it may seem draining. But you know for a fact that both are attention-seekers and you have to fulfill that craving because you just don’t run a business for fun, you do it because it ignites what you are passionate about.…

Continue reading →

Is Your Small Business Ready to Go Global?

The National Export Initiative is an encouragement for small businesses to give aid in tapping into the global marketplace. Exporting is a great opportunity, however small business owners need further assistance before jumping into this with both feet. According to the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI), the United States ranks third in the field of entrepreneurship. In the quest to grow your business, it is not surprising that you want to take it to the next level.

doing business on a global scale

Exporting your products and services to other countries denotes that your client base has grown to include the international market. This is growth for your business.…

Continue reading →

Five Ways to Tell the Recession is Over

recession recovery0

One of the largest recessions in recent history has been plaguing our economy and impacting the worldwide market for over four years. With unemployment rates still high, market shares making vague, inconsistent progress, and a record number of homes in foreclosure, the question on everyone’s mind is: when will this recession end?

Unfortunately, as people with online finance degrees will tell you, the only way to determine the exact point at which the economy starts its recovery is by living through the tough times and studying the records once it’s over. However, in the meantime there are a few indicators you can use to figure out when the economy is starting to recover and the recession has an end in sight.…

Continue reading →