In a recent blog post here, we talked about "Building A Fence Around Your Herd." One of the strategies there was having a membership site. I recently wrote an article published in the July 2015 issue of the Joomla Community Magazine, that offers 10 reasons why you NEED a membership component to your website. Check it out by clicking here to go to the article.

If you have a membership site, how do you use it? Paid? Free? How do you use it to drive traffic and revenue?

When school lets out for the summer, it's the perfect opportunity to spend some time with your children and teach them some of the skills you've learned. And perhaps this year you can thwart those cries of “I'm bored” with some of these fun activities:

1. The art of brainstorming. Regardless of whether you're 7 or 70, you are going to encounter problems of one type or another. Sometimes these problems could be as simple an issue as the inevitable summer boredom. An important skill you can help your kids learn is how to come up with possible solutions. Here are some ideas that can help you get started:

• Play “what would you do if--”. What would you do if it were snowing? What would you do if there were no electricity? What would you do if you were Superman? What would you do if you had no hands? Ask serious questions, share funny answers, etc. This is a good way for kids to see things in a different light.
• Start with the desired end result and work backwards. For example, if your child wants to dive off the diving board, have him/her tell you the story of how he/she became a great diver, all the steps that he/she took to get there.

In A. E. Hotchner's 1966 book Papa Hemingway, the author relates a conversation between Marlene Dietrich and Ernest Hemingway. When Dietrich told him that she couldn't decide about accepting a job offer, Hemingway told her: "Don't do what you sincerely don't want to do. Never confuse movement with action"—meaning she shouldn't accept the job if it wouldn't put her closer to her ultimate goals in life.

When we set goals for ourselves, particularly when we're enthusiastic about them—losing weight, for example—we may give it our all only to find we've accomplished nothing. There are usually two reasons we fail at achieving our goals: not being clear about what the goal is, and not having a way to measure success at reaching the goal.

As a small business owner, there are bound to be times when you have questions and aren't exactly sure where to find the answers. There's also bound to be times when you aren't certain what the right questions even are. What is a business plan, and why might you need one? What kind of security measures do you need to take for your business? How should you set your prices? Is it better to lease or buy your equipment for your office? How can you get financing?

Who can help you answer your questions??!?

Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) are organizations set up around the US to provide assistance to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Hosted by universities and state economic development agencies, there are over 1800 SBDCs which are funded in part through the Small Business Administration.

If you’ve ever talked to a web-site designer, you’ve heard about ‘making your website search-friendly’or heard the term ‘SEO’thrown around. The purpose of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is to ‘get them in the door.’These days, that’s likely to be with Google. Creating content for the right keywords will help your business appear in the search results that your customers use.

But what words to use? That’s where the fun starts.

24 hours. It seemed like an eternity when we were younger. As adults, we often wish there were more hours in the day. It always seems like there’s too much to do and too little time to get it done. It can seem like a daunting task to keep on track when there are deadlines everywhere we step. Fortunately, technology has given us the tools we need to keep the deadlines at bay. For every need, there is a productivity app to fill it. 

Here are 3 good ones that will leave you with more to-do time:

The beginning of each new year often brings cold, chilling winds, hailing the promise of another long dreary winter. And just when that wintry depression threatens to take hold, we often find ourselves temporarily saved by that army of precocious females: the Girl Scouts and their annual cookie sale. 

Originally a money-making scheme for a single troop during World War I, Girl Scout Cookies have become a much-anticipated institution for girls and customers alike. According to Wikipedia, sales of these cookies average 200 million boxes per year.

Business blogs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are must-have players for any serious small business owner’s lineup, while others need to be sent back to the minor leagues. Here are 5 business blogs that will be worth their spot on the team.

• First up to bat is Infusionsoft’s marketing blog, designed with small business owners in mind. Written in a casual format, the site contains articles about a wide variety of business topics. Want to know how to woo your perfect customer or learn ways to boost your content strategy success? The Infusionsoft marketing blog has you covered. It also contains handy links to Infusionsoft’s toolbox of goodies for the small business owner.

Herding cats is hard work. Just ask any of the ranch hands in the award-winning EDS ad made back in 2001. The slippery felines gave them all they could handle and more. Proud, independent and stubborn, every cat wanted to make its own way whether the ranch hands wanted it to or not. Does it sometimes feel like keeping your customers happy is a lot like cat herding?

A key recommendation by Dan S. Kennedy, the marketing expert, is to build a fence around your cats (customers) to keep out poachers and to prevent them from going off on their own. Just because your customer has made a purchase from you in the past doesn't mean he or she is your customer forever. It's important to try to offer your clients extra products and services -- extra value -- that will keep them coming back to you.

When we left for Pine Point Beach in Maine for a few days of R&R, I had high hopes of doing some research I’d been wanting to do in between relaxing on the beach and generally chilling out.

That was Tuesday.

On Sunday, I was shocked to realize our time away was slipping like sand through an hourglass. I completed only about ¼ of my research and didn’t really start relaxing until Friday. Clearly my plans and my execution were not in sync.

In addition to being one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin was also an inventor, scientist, author, printer and a diplomat. He is well-known for having created libraries, fire departments, and the postal service. If that weren’t enough, he invented bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod. He was involved in politics, wrote a newspaper, traveled, had an active social life and was a single father.

Franklin was also a man who made to-do lists. Mr. Franklin's lists included things like housecleaning and reading, as well as reminders to bathe and be frugal. No doubt someone as busy as Ben needed to be reminded of those things!

Are you thinking of opening a larger office? Perhaps you’ve been contemplating expanding your inventory or trying a new product or service. Starting or expanding a business requires time, planning, and money. A small business loan or line of credit might be the answer; community banks and credit unions can frequently offer lower interest rates to small business owners. 

But what about "free money", or a small business grant?

What kind of grants?

It may take a bit of research, but there are grants available to anyone who is interested in building their business. Many grants are out there for minorities, women, the disabled, military members, or those businesses located in rural areas. If your business is trying to recover after a natural or economic disaster, there may be special opportunities for you as well.

Spring is here, and no doubt you are itching to get out and enjoy those nice warm days. Whether you want to catch a baseball game, work in the garden, or visit a local festival, it can be hard to justify taking some time off when you know you haven’t done your marketing.

Lucky for you, Infusionsoft has you covered with some simple campaigns, designed especially for small businesses.

Infusionsoft’s Campaigns of the Month posts feature great, easy-to-use campaigns (and some have video instructions as well), so you can launch these marketing campaigns and boost your business with a minimal amount of time and effort.

If you could read just one book on business and marketing this year, what would it be? Well, one of the great things about the modern world is choices, and rather than confine you to just one, we’ve assembled a list of 10 books some of the top entrepreneurs are leafing through. 

The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!  This is a hands-on guide written by Stoney deGeyter that walks you through the process of building a website that not only attracts visitors, but increases sales.

“I know every mile will be worth my while. I would go most anywhere to find where I belong.”

The words come from a song in Disney’s 1998 animated film Hercules, but they can just as easily apply to many small business owners struggling to find their place in a competitive market.Breaking in can be daunting. It often seems the competition is bigger, badder and more importantly, already entrenched.  If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll end up spreading yourself too thin. To find where you belong, sometimes you have to find your perfect niche. If you’re good at something no one else is, why not take advantage of it?