Tips to Finding New Business Ideas

John, the author of http://www.businessopportunitiesandideas.co.uk/, has written a really very helpful post. It is an extensive, brilliant tips helping us find new business ideas. Check out below the first three on the list.

1. Expect to have ideas . If you believe you’re incapable of coming up with ideas then you won’t come up with any. Put aside any negativity about yourself or you creativity and expect to have ideas.

2. Keep and open mind. Ideas can come from anywhere and some of the best ideas will seem daft or impossible based on your current knowledge, experience and assumptions. Try to be prepared to explore new ideas and to change your view of the world.

3. Keep a written record of your ideas, ideas that inspire you or ideas that are new to you – When you write things down you are more likely to remember them and if you don’t you’ve got a record to refer back to. I keep a record of all the ideas I see, read/hear about or have and I review it regularly. My written record has also evolved into this blog full of ideas.

Check out the full 10 Tactics For Finding New Business Ideas here.

Online Marketing Made Easy

I happened to pass by a site named: SMBCEO where guest blogger has written an excellent post about social media marketing tools. The guest blogger is  Amanda Moshier, a staff writer and editor at Wpromote, Inc., the #1 search marketing firm in the US as ranked by Inc. 500.

While many businesses have realized search engine marketing is a smart way to grow a business, some launch a website, start-up a PPC campaign, or invest in professional SEO, and neglect to spend time optimizing their efforts, leading to low conversion rates to less than stellar search engine rankings.

The good news? A variety of tools are available to help you boost your online marketing results. Here is a breakdown of five of the best to help you get started. All tools reviewed in this article are either free to use or available as a free trial.

To name the tools are:

1. Twitter

2. Google Analytics

3. Site-Perf

4. Click – Tale

5. Crazy Egg

Check out how it works in this post — 5 Free Tools to Boost Your Online Marketing Results.

Give Your Employees What They Deserve

It’s a give and take! If you give good, good things will come too. So, now it’s about time to bring back some goodness to the employees who have worked  well for your business. Below I quoted few sentences from Amanda’s post –Employee Rewards For A Job Well Done.

I think rewarding employees is a great motivational tool.  Even though your business may currently be suffering some setbacks, you want your employees to remain inspired and eager to push your business ahead.  As Tim Berry suggests in his recent U.S. News & World Report article, “give a specific individual award or bonus quickly, right then. Don’t wait.“   I can definitely agree with Tim that employees respond better when rewarded quickly for their efforts.  Will you be rewarding your employees this year?  If so, what is your reward procedure for a job well done?

SEO is Important, So as the Service Providers!

One very important activities that small businesses must consider engaging to is SEO or Search Engine Optimization. SEO have proven so many times how it can help generate leads to your business but even how popular this technique maybe there are still a lot of people who are now well-versed to this, doesn’t even have any idea sometimes.  As results, many sought help from companies who said to provide SEO services.

Considering to avail of this SEO service providers might be a good move for you or for anyone but there’s a big RED light warning here. We must be cautious. Why? Simply because there are rampant cases of  deception.

So if you are one of those seeking help from SEO service providers, you must check this article written by  Janet Meiners Thaeler: Five Tips for Avoiding Deceptive SEO Companies.

Fix Your Business By Your Own

There’s no one in this world who can better solve our problems than ourselves. Just like any other physicians do, they try to cure themselves according to what they have learned from a long, difficult years of studying for their profession. Same goes with business. We, entrepreneurs must also learn how to be consultants for our own business.

I have found a great article from Entrepreneur.Com where Sid Kemp, the only globally acclaimed project management professional focusing on small business, have pointed out really great tips on how we can be consultants to our own business. I quoted a few below of these tips below.

1. List your problems.
Here’s a technique called The Power of Negative Thinking, from Barbara Sher’s Wishcraft. Get a friend and give him a pad and pen. Launch into a standup comedy routine. That’s right. Stand up. Talk loudly. Complain. Bitch and moan. The theme is: Here’s what’s wrong with my business. Have your friend write down every complaint.

2. Pick one.
So now you have a list of problems. But you can only fix one at a time. So pick one.
How? Well, try this. Which problem:

• Is killing your business?
• Is driving you nuts?
• Looks like an easy place to start?
• Can you fix yourself, with little or no help?
• Will bring in, or save, the most money?

There are a lot more to learn. You must check out this article — 6 Steps to Better Business Solutions.

Answer any of those questions. Pick one; then get moving.

Entrepreneurs Must Always Be Cautious!

Entrepreneurs must always be cautious!

Subcontractors.  This is a relationship that screams for a contract.

You are asking someone who is not an employee to do work for you. You will be paying them. There are parameters that should be nailed down, agreed to, and put in writing.

A subcontractor contract does not have to be long or terribly wordy. The purpose is to detail the expectations on both sides of the table.

• What will the contractor do for you and your client?
• What will you pay the contractor?
• When will you pay them?
• How and when will they report to you?
• How will the contractor interact with your clients?

Guys, you must read this story that Diane shared.  Let’s all learn from this story –Subcontractors – One More Reason For A Contract and may this won’t happen again to any entrepreneur out there.

What to Do if Your Startup Is Failing

Jason Calacanis offers some advice from Business Week, what should entrepreneurs do if start up is falling and presented key points for evaluation whether or not an entrepreneur  could overcome a common business failure signs.

Here is a really easy way to figure out if you can deal with the mess in front of you. Ask yourself if you can handle the following situations:

1. Laying off half your staff.

2. Laying off half your staff again three months later.

3. Spending 20 hours a week on the phone being yelled at and threatened while trying to renegotiate a dozen contracts—like your T1, phone system, rent, equipment leases, etc.

4. Having an investor scream at you and tell you they will ruin you, your career, and that “you’ll never raise money again.”

5. Laying off half your staff for a third time.

6. Getting served a half-dozen lawsuits, courtesy of the folks who you tried to renegotiate with in point number three who wouldn’t deal.

7. Having one of the people you’re renegotiating with come to your office every week and ask for his check in person.

8. Having the same media outlet that once claimed you were the next Barry Diller write that you’re a fraud.

9. Not getting a good night’s sleep for six months.

10. Having dozens of paying clients default on their bills.

11. Having staffers who you really need to double-down and focus walk out the door after you helped make their careers.

So, you think you can face the key points presented above? Check out more of this in his post -> What to Do if Your Startup Is Failing.

10 Tips from Marketing Start Up Blog

Today, Marketing will no longer requires us to spend thousands of dollars before we can market our business and get our start ups noticed. Below are The 10 Tips from Marketing Start Up Blog.

1. Submit Your Site To Relevant Resources
2. Blog
3. Comment On Other Blogs
4. Your Logo
5. Your Text
6. Twitter
7. GetSatisfaction
8. Go To Events
9. Create offsite resources
10. Videos

Learn from our Mistakes

I am not trying to scare anyone here but we have to know the reasons that might cause your business to fail. You can relate it to an illness. If the cause of that certain illness is identified then the remedy for that will certainly be identified as well.

So for today, it is really worth noting the Top 5 Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail :

1. No Viable Market
2. Poor Capital Structure and Cash Flow Crunch
3. Lack of Marketing Expertise
4. Poor Management
5. Out of touch with customers

Check out  how Shaila Rao clearly identified these reasons and her explanation to each why it affects small business failures. As the popular saying goes — “Learn from our Mistakes!”

What Can We Do To An Effective Decision Making

“Entrepreneurs are faced with tough decisions everyday.” — Which is so true not only to entrepreneurs but toeveryone else. In times that you are torn to different options, decision making just becomes extremely difficult.

Ben Jones in his excellent post, shared 8 Steps to Effective Decision Making:

1. Identify the problem
2. Determine the Importance
3. Identify the Facts
4. Identify the Options
5. Consider the Outcome
6. Pray About It
7. Make a Decision
8. Create a Backup Plan

Check here in this article –8 Steps to Effective Decision Making on how Ben clearly explains what to do in each step.