Most digital marketing experts agree that coming up with timely, informative, and engaging real estate blog ideas is one of the most cost effective ways to generate warm leads online. In fact, according to a study by Impact branding and Design, an astonishing 53% of professional marketers agreed that content creation was the single most… The post Real Estate Blog Ideas 2017: 25 Killer Ideas with Examples appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/real-estate-blog-ideas-2017/
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Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my online talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Anita Campbell @Smallbiztrends. Anita is the Founder and Publisher of Small Business Trends and has been following trends in small businesses since 2003. She is the owner of BizSugar, a social media site for small businesses, and also serves as CEO of TweakYourBiz.” This chat was sponsored by FedEx, Enter the FedEx Small Business Grant Contest and you could win a $25,000 grant and $7,500 in FedEx Office® print and business services to give your small business a boost. Show FedEx why your small business should be recognized. Enter between February 21 and March 29, 2017. Learn more at fedex.com/grantcontest. SmallBizLady: What’s the first step to growing an online business? Anita Campbell: Have a crystal clear idea how you plan to make money. That sounds obvious but too often entrepreneurs don’t clarify their business model. Business model is a fancy phrase for “how are you going to make money.” You can get caught up in the excitement of starting a blog, getting website visitors and amassing social followers. But if at the end of the day you’re not making any money — or have no clue how you will make money any time soon — you don’t really have a business. SmallBizlady: Can you build a business by blogging or through social media? Starting a blog is not a business model by itself. Gaining an active social media following is not a business model. But if you set up an online store to sell your handmade goods and use your social following to engage and build an audience, NOW you have a business model. Or if you turn your blog into an online community where you charge a membership fee, now you have developed a business model with your blog. SmallBizLady: How do you promote an online business today? Anita Campbell: Blogging, social media, search engine optimization — those are all fantastic DIY ways to grow an online business. Your customer base for an online business is already online, so those techniques help you find them. And the beauty of those techniques is that you can often learn enough to perform the work on your own. This is a godsend at first when you still have time but don’t have much money. Just know when to stop trying to do everything yourself. Don’t forget about advertising, such as Google AdWords. They are especially good for ecommerce businesses where you can track the ad click all the way through to the completed sale. That way you can measure ROI. Leverage platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Meylah and Etsy. They draw a large ready-made audience. Learn the ropes for success there. SmallBizLady: What if you sell software or an app? How do you grow online? Anita Campbell: For software businesses a key way to grow is to create an app or integration, and get listed on various marketplaces. Not just the huge places like iTunes or Google Play or the Windows App Store. Look at software vendors that reach millions and if your product integrates with them, it’s a benefit to be seen on their marketplaces, including Intuit, Zoho, Shopify and other marketplaces. Develop and share content on topics related to whatever you are selling to attract an interested following. Social media is a great way to spread word of mouth. Share your content on social media, and engage with those who show interest. SmallBizLady: What role does content play in growing an online business? Anita Campbell: Content is a fabulous foundation of an online growth strategy. Everyone should become a content creator. Here’s why:
SmallBizLady: Can service providers and vendors make a difference to a startup? Anita Campbell: Good partners make all the difference. When you’re starting out, you can’t do everything. Figure out your core functions and perform those internally. Look for opportunities to outsource or partner with another entity for non-core functions or anything you’re not good at. For instance, if you run a consulting business, your core functions would be the actual consulting. But go outside for creating marketing materials. Likewise, if you sell handmade goods online, find a good shipping partner like FedEx to make shipping the goods easier and faster. This will free you up to focus on creating your goods and marketing them. SmallBizLady: What’s your secret to growing online traffic? Anita Campbell: Quality, quantity and consistency of content output. It all starts with content:
SmallBizLady: What role do systems and processes play in growing a business? Anita Campbell: A huge role. To me this is the most underestimated factor on small business success. Too many of our small businesses are inefficient. Most small businesses have to create their own processes and systems from scratch. Not everyone is good at that. An even bigger issue is that processes take time to establish and refine. The right technology is crucial. Yet investigating and deploying technology such as a CRM system or a help desk system, can be a major undertaking for a small business. If you can outsource pieces and parts of your processes to partners that already have technology in place, you’ll be further ahead. SmallBizLady: Do you need money to grow an online business? Anita Campbell: The answer is yes — and no. You always need money to do things, but not necessarily that much money. At first many entrepreneurs fill in for the lack of funds by working hard and doing a lot of things themselves. You can bootstrap, i.e., fund yourself first with savings and later with customer sales. Many do it successfully. I grew my business that way. But bootstrapping takes time. If you bootstrap, make sure you have your living expenses covered at first to give yourself enough runway to become successful. SmallBizLady: What if you don’t have savings to use as seed funds? Anita Campbell: Other options are to keep your business as a side business, while you hold down a day job. Or do some kind of freelance work on the side. Lots of entrepreneurs use their own earnings from something else, to fund their startup businesses. Remember, this method too will slow you down. You’ll essentially be working on your business part-time or with divided priorities. SmallBizLady: Do you recommend loans or other financing to grow your online business? Anita Campbell: In my opinion, financing may be an appropriate option for those who have been in business a while – at least 6 months or more. Not newbies fresh out of the gate. Prove your business is viable. Get some customers. Then once you have a bit of a track record, you’ll have a better clue of how much money you really need and more importantly, what to spend it on. Otherwise you could misspend that loan, and if the business doesn’t work out, find yourself in debt and possibly loosing your collateral. Once exception to this is a franchise. You typically have to buy a franchise up front. If you do seek financing of any kind, do a detailed plan — for your own benefit. By doing a detailed plan of how you will use the money, you’re less likely to overextend yourself. SmallBizLady: How do you hire your first help to grow your business? Anita Campbell: I always recommend starting with project help or freelancers at first, if you can. Advantages:
This blog post is sponsored by FedEx. The FedEx Small Business Grant Contest offers significant opportunity for small businesses across the United States to share their inspirational stories and achieve national recognition while simultaneously rallying support from local communities to grow their businesses. For more information visit FedEx.com/grantcontest If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/1hZeIlz The post How to Grow an Online Business appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss. from http://succeedasyourownboss.com/grow-online-business/ Like many real estate marketing ideas, there is fierce debate among agents about the ROI of single property websites. Some say they’re simply not worth the time, effort, or money, while others claim they’re great for lead generation and winning new listings. Who’s right? In this article, we give you everything you need to know… The post Single Property Websites: The Ultimate Guide 2017 appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/single-property-websites/ Looking for a free payroll software to help manage your business? We’ve rounded up several great free and low-cost solutions. You may not get taxes and new hire reports filed automatically, but these do offer reliable systems to pay employees with direct deposit and calculate payroll taxes. Plus, as you’ll find below, many of these programs offer bonus… The post Best Free Payroll Software for Taxes, Direct Deposit & More appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/free-payroll-software-2/ While hiring employees can be a benefit, it does require you as an employer to make payroll tax payments and report those payments to the IRS as well as your state and local tax authorities. FICA, which stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act, is a fund that both employers and employees contribute social security and… The post FICA and Form 941: What Employers Need To Know appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/fica-and-form-941/ One of the most important but overlooked steps of hiring someone is doing a reference check on the candidate. Most people think that former or current employers will not answer reference check questions or provide much insight, and that is usually not true. If a person has given you professional references, most of them should… The post Reference Check Questions – What Should You Ask Employee References? appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/reference-check-questions/ Sponsored Post Want a shot at a $25,000 grant to grow your small business? Starting today, you can enter the 5th annual FedEx Small Business Grant Contest for a chance to win a cash boost, plus up to $7,500 in FedEx Office® print and business services. As a winner, you would join an exclusive group of entrepreneurs across the country who’ve been able to take their businesses to the next level, thanks to their FedEx grants Meet the small business owners who won the 2016 FedEx grants. Whether they’ve been jumpstarting their e-commerce business, improving their websites or expanding their marketing teams, past FedEx grant winners around the country have used their winnings to help make their small-business dreams come true.
This year’s contest will award grants and services to ten small businesses, distributing a collective prize pool of $120,500 — the largest sum since the contest’s inception. The awards will include:
Entering the FedEx contest is quick and easy: go to fedex.com/grantcontest and enter your contact information, write a short profile about your business and upload four photos of your business or product, including your logo. While not required, you’ll also have the option of submitting a 90-second “elevator speech” video to supplement your entry. Jump on this great opportunity now because the contest entry period is only open from February 21 to March 29, 2017. Voting will take place from March 1 to April 5, 2017. Following a judging period, winners will be announced on April 25, 2017. The 2017 contest is open to U.S.-based for-profit small businesses that have less than 99 employees and have been operating for six months or more. What are you waiting for? Enter today at fedex.com/grantcontest. About the Sponsor: FedEx. Solutions that Matter.® for Small Businesses The FedEx portfolio of services allows small businesses to gain access to the global marketplace and to shipping, logistics and printing solutions. For more information on how FedEx helps small businesses, please visit the FedEx Small Business Center at SmallBusiness.FedEx.com. The post FedEx Small Business Grant Contest Opens Today! appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss. from http://succeedasyourownboss.com/fedex-small-business-grant-contest-opens-today/ Units of production depreciation is a depreciation method that is designed for manufacturing equipment or machinery. It calculates depreciation expense based on the number of products that your machinery or equipment can output each year. Units of production depreciation cannot be used to get a tax deduction. However, it is one of the six methods… The post How to Calculate Units of Production Depreciation appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/units-of-production-depreciation/ Real estate lead generation services offer lead generation websites, ad management, and integrated CRMs. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and decided to review RealGeeks, Zurple, and BoomTown. These companies covered the range for Realtors in terms of lead generation and CRM features. Read on for our comparison and review of… The post Best Real Estate Lead Generation Websites: RealGeeks vs Zurple vs Boomtown appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-real-estate-lead-generation-websites/ As a future real estate agent, you have many options when it comes to choosing the best online real estate school. In this guide, we review three leading online real estate schools that can help you complete your state’s pre-licensing requirements and pass your state’s licensing exam. Best Online Real Estate School: Kaplan Kaplan is our recommended online… The post Best Online Real Estate School – Kaplan vs Career Webschool vs Real Estate Express appeared first on . from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-online-real-estate-school/ |
AuthorHello I am Teri Crawford 26 years old living in Toronto, Canada. I have recently finished my MBA and planning to start my own business. Archives
November 2018
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