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.
on Tuesday, 12 May 2015.
Posted in Business Strategy
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.
on Tuesday, 05 May 2015.
Posted in Business Strategy
For years now, anyone of my marketing coaching or Infusionsoft clients who asked me about open rates of their Infusionsoft emails (or emails in general), I have said something along the lines of: "Open rates are very unreliable....if it says that the email was opened, then it was, but if it says it was unopened, you have no idea if it was opened or not."
On top of that, many email clients (Outlook and Apple Mail for example) are configured to have a preview list on one side of the window and the email itself on the other. If you use your arrow keys to move up and down the preview list, then as you pass emails, they become "read"....you know that you haven't read them....you are passing them so you can get to the latest comment on your cat video Facebook post. But all the ones you scrolled through will be reported back as read.
Written by Dom Cassone
on Thursday, 30 April 2015.
Posted in Marketing Tips
Your back hurts and your wrists feel like someone’s tried to twist them off. Your neck and shoulders are so stiff you’re convinced they’ll crumble to dust if you try to move too suddenly. Was it playing basketball the day before? Or maybe that large rock you tried to shift when you set in to do some yard work over the weekend? Maybe the culprit is closer than you think.
How you sit and move at your desk, also known as desk ergonomics, is serious business. Every year thousands of work hours are lost because of repetitive-motion injuries. Productivity suffers because of tendon or joint pain caused by of all things: just sitting at your desk. Here are some ways to optimize your workspace and to save both money and your joints:
on Tuesday, 21 April 2015.
Posted in Life & Lifestyle
It better be for Google
Google’s Mobile Update is Looming! Are You Ready for April 21st?
On April 21st, Google is planning to rock its mobile search results with an algorithmic update that will change everything. This update is expected to affect more sites than Penguin and Panda combined because searches from mobile devices are estimated to make up more than 50% of all Google searches. To be clear - there is no site that is safe so do NOT pass over this update thinking it isn't relevant to you.
Written by Dom Cassone
on Wednesday, 08 April 2015.
Posted in Marketing Tips
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:
on Tuesday, 31 March 2015.
Posted in Business Strategy
With Guest Sarah Watz, President of Open Source Matters Inc.
We are super excited to announce another video in our collection for you! This one demystifies Joomla!™, the popular global CMS (content management system) for building robust business websites.
In March 2015, Dom co-presented with Sarah Watz, President of Open Source Matters Inc., the nonprofit organization that supports the Joomla! project which is completely run by volunteers. The webinar was originally presented for Infusionsoft Certified Partners but there is plenty of value there for the small business owner or marketing consultant.
on Tuesday, 17 March 2015.
Posted in Zacaw News