Take Courage and Don’t Let Difficult Customers Drag You Down –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Handle Difficult Customers and More Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. Yes, you can even … Continue reading Take Courage and Don’t Let Difficult Customers Drag You Down –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

Take Courage and Don’t Let Difficult Customers Drag You Down –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Handle Difficult Customers and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. Yes, you can even take that to the bank – these are foolproof! You don’t have to let difficult customers defeat you!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Email Marketing Works If You Can Get Your Customers Engaged With It

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about getting more email marketing engagement. Foundr says there are four things you can do. We highly recommend reading the entire article to get the full benefit. So instead we’ll just concentrate on a part of the article.

Relevance

Our favorite tip was all about creating relevant content which your customers and prospects actually want to read. Personalization matters! Why should your customers and prospects read your ad copy if it doesn’t relate to them personally? Admit it – you wouldn’t, either.

So spend some time, and personalize what you can. Yes, you’re busy. We all are.

But email marketing is truly great. It can have a terrific open and conversion rate.

But you need to put the work in.

#9. Where Will Your Advertising Dollar Go? Where Will They Do You the Most Good?

The next awesome tip is about creating the best, most cost-effective ads. Wordstream tells us there are a ton of reasons why you would want to get started with digital advertising. That is, in contrast to traditional advertising.

We recommend checking out the article in its entirety. It gets into the specifics of cost per click on platforms such as Google search, LinkedIn InMail, Google maps ads, Amazon sponsored advertising, and more. The article has details on industries. You’re bound to find yours!

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Don’t let difficult customers defeat you!

#8. Churn, Baby, Churn? Er, Actually, Please Don’t

Our following life-changing tip concerns how to get to net negative churn with your pricing. Open View Partners lays the facts on us.

What the heck is churn? And why do you want it to be negative?

Churn is when your subscription business loses customers. Why does it happen with subscriptions so much?

It all has to do with billing.

So if you see a subscription service which you think you’re going to love, you might even be happy to pay for a month or two, to see what it’s all about. But when you get to the second or third month (or perhaps later), you realize the Spaghetti of the Month Club (or whatever) isn’t worth the $85 you’re paying per month (or whatever).

If you don’t think you’re getting value, then you’ll be reminded of that the moment the bill comes due. And then you’ll cancel.

On the business side of things, of course we don’t want that.

So, what do we do?

Let’s Cut Through the Math

There’s some esoteric math in this article but we’ll try to translate it.

Our fave idea is to determine what your customers want to do, and then put a value on that.

The idea of goal-oriented pricing makes sense to us. Further, the article goes into a fascinating rule of thumb. For whatever money the customer thinks they will save with your solution, charge one-tenth of that.

Hence if you create a solution which will save them $100 per month, then the way is clear. Charge ‘em $10 per month.

But that price is not set in stone! Adjust, test, and see what you get. That brings us to another rule of thumb. If you raise your prices, you can keep doing so until you get more than 20% of your prospects balking at the cost.

Because when that happens, you know you’ve gone too far.

#7. Oh, Behave!

For our next sensational tip, we looked at using buyer behavior to grow your business. Founder U has the answers. What are your buyers doing? And why? Because if you can tap into what motivates your customers, you’ll be really onto something.

We loved the idea of helping people to buy more. This is basically when you get a notification from (for example) from Amazon that tells you people who bought X were likely to also buy Y.

So one idea we liked was that of using social proof. Social proof is when you show prospects how people are using your product or service. So if you sell women’s clothing, you can show women wearing your creations for job interviews or for parties or whatever you like. Because sometimes it helps to see the product in the wild, as it were.

#6. Talk to Your Difficult Customers – Here’s How

This tip is so helpful, and it works! Freelancers Union gives us the lowdown on the kinds of communications solutions you need to draw on to deal with difficult customers.

These communications solutions are actually good for talking to pretty much anyone. Possibly the best tip is to restate their concerns. Why do you want to do this? Because it makes it clear whether you understand what it is they’re complaining about. Or maybe you don’t. Just going ahead without clarification is a recipe for more difficulties.

Another reason is to be able to restate their concerns and complaints in language which softens the situation.

“Oh my God! You’ve ruined me!”

But maybe they really mean: “Delivering my order late is costing me money!”

The softer statement is also far more specific. It has details in it which may be actionable.

One Person’s Meat is Another Person’s Poison

True story time.

Before the internet was much of a thing, your intrepid blog post writer was a data analyst.

This was difficult, slow work, requiring lots of precision. My boss at the time was a rather disorganized person. Furthermore, this person just plain did not like dealing with a certain internal customer.

As a result, when this internal customer asked for reports, their requests were often buried under mountains of paperwork. This meant that not only didn’t an acknowledgment go out – it also meant the reports were often done under extreme pressure. Because the request for a report might have come on the first of the month, but the request didn’t actually get to me until the last day of the month.

You know, the day before the report was due.

This was a lousy way to do things and I told my boss as much. When the boss was away on business, I took to looking through the top of their desk (not in the drawers; that would have been far too intrusive) to see if there were any buried report requests. I would do them, assuming I could find them.

One day, the internal customer called and demanded to speak with me. My boss said, “You’re about to get an earful. I’m sorry.”

Instead, the customer was calling to thank me for being on top of things. And we arranged for this customer to make requests directly of me, thereby leaving my boss out of the equation entirely.

My boss was relieved, my stress level went down, and the customer got what they needed.

Ducking and avoiding this hard to work for internal customer was the worst way to handle things. Please don’t do that to your hard to work for customers and prospects!

#5. Don’t Be Daunted by Difficult Customers Demanding Discounts

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

Difficult customers getting you down? Are they demanding a discount? You’re not alone. Fortunately, HubSpot has the solution.

It’s All About the Strategy

There are several reasons why difficult customers might want discounts. And sometimes they’re not even trying to be difficult! So, when do you give in?

HubSpot says it’s more important to figure out why, and how.

Haggling For the Sake of Haggling

If you don’t think this exists, think again. Possibly our favorite tip concerned this very subject. Essentially, if you seem close to a meeting of the minds, but the rug keeps getting yanked, that should tell you something.

Sometimes, customers and prospects push for discounts because they unfairly believe every product and service is overpriced. How do you deal with these difficult customers? Ask why they want a discount.

Having to give a reason is very powerful. If they can’t – that is, it’s not a budget consideration – a lot of people will back down.

Quid Pro Quo

Another great strategy is a form of compromise. Such as, I’ll give you 15% off if you commit to an extra year on your service contract. Or whatever bargain you think is best.

But no matter what, don’t just hand out discounts willy-nilly, to anyone who wants them. That’s a sure-fire way to fail in business. You just won’t make enough money. Your difficult customers and prospects will smell blood in the water, and they’ll all want less.

And, most importantly, it gives off a clear signal that you don’t believe in your own work product.

Ouch.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Don’t let difficult customers defeat you!

#4. Tackle the Triple Bottom Line

Check out this spectacular tip, all about balancing your profits to a higher purpose. Startup Professionals says there’s currently a kind of triple bottom line. It’s not enough to just make money. You also have to be socially responsible. And green. Also known as people, planet, and profit.

So, how do you juggle all of that?

What Does Success Mean to YOU?

That’s the first step, and we could not agree more. If your sole concern is social responsibility and being green, you may find you don’t make too much money. And so the article (rightfully, we think) suggests you might not want to be an entrepreneur. Maybe a nonprofit or a government role is more your speed.

You know, there’s nothing wrong with either.

Measure!

Hey, there’s our favorite thing to do. Measure not just your profits. How about seeing if you can quantify how much you’re helping the planet? One ton less paper used every quarter is something you can point to. It’s tangible. And you can adjust as well. Maybe that’s hard to do. Or maybe it’s a lead pipe cinch, and you can do better. But you won’t know that until you start measuring.

#3. Get More Done – Yes, You Can!

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help make you more productive. Fundera tells us a lot of it is about procrastinating. We all do it. So what happens if we do something at least semi-productive during that down time?

Two ideas they had which we really liked were to do minor chores and to change your scenery. If you’re putting off a task, how about spending a few minutes tidying up your desk? If you’re procrastinating about something, why not change the venue? You may find getting a little exercise, or just a new set of walls to stare at, can bring your productivity mojo back.

So one of our favorites was a bit of relaxation therapy. Apparently, there’s a real-live Japanese study which supports a few minutes looking at pictures of baby animals can increase your concentration and, thereby, your productivity.

Note: we said minutes, not hours.

One, two, three, everyone – awwww.

#2. Back to Email Marketing – We’re Talking About it a Lot Today…

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on email strategy. Sumo has some excellent ideas.

Now, we’ve looked at this kind of marketing before. Yet it bears repeating. Essentially, one of the things you want to do is communicate with your customers and prospects at logical times.

Sumo shows off two different flavors of welcome emails. One is a welcome for signing up for a webinar. The other is a welcome with a giveaway. By using two separate welcome emails, why not try a little A/B testing?

Our fave bit was the emails both set expectations. They both tell you how often you’ll hear from Sumo. So if it’s too much or too little email, you can’t say you didn’t know.

#1. Human Resources Means Managing Actual Humans

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on HR management tips. Effortless HR says communications are key. Kind of like our tip #6, although presumably your employers are easier to take than your toughest customers!

So our fave idea was one which we truly hope is something of a no-brainer. That is, encourage all opinions and ideas.

Yes, even the ones that maybe aren’t so positive. You just might learn something.

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Don’t let difficult customers defeat you!

The post Take Courage and Don’t Let Difficult Customers Drag You Down –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Smash the Summer Selling Slump and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Smash the Summer Selling Slump and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! Smash your summer selling slump and keep your revenues so hot you could fry an egg on them. And more!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Your Marketing WILL Be Televised

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about cutting costs and improving customer experience with your business’s TV set. That is, if your business has one. Lots of businesses with waiting rooms do. Noobpreneur says there are a few things you can do to take advantage of this bit of advertising real estate.

Our favorite tip was not to advertise your own business. Although of course we can see and applaud the use of a business TV set for this particular purpose.

Nope. What we liked better was using the TV to advertise other businesses. Of course you will charge for the privilege. And keep in mind, this will not succeed if your business isn’t much of a business leader in the area. But if your business fits the bill, then why not try this?

Pro tip: why not reach out directly to related businesses? So, for example, pharmacies could sell advertising space to local dentists. Day spas could sell ad space to local aesthetician-type businesses, such as hairdressers. Marketing synergy is a good thing.

#9. Do You Speak Design?

The next awesome tip is about presenting UI/UX designs to non-designers. Dribbble tells us one issue is just plain communicating. So, in the interests of full disclosure – UI means user interface. And UX means user experience.

The idea here is to make your website easy and enjoyable. And it should be clear and easy to understand. If you’ve ever loaded a s…l…o…w website or didn’t know how to get back to an earlier page, then you’ve witnessed, respectively, a lousy user interface and a terrible user experience.

What we really liked were the emphases on identifying a problem and demonstrating how your solution works. For the money people, this is key. After all, why pay for a design overhaul if you’re still left with the same old problems?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Smash the summer selling slump and keep your business as hot as a summer sidewalk.

#8. Push-Me/Pull-You

Our following life-changing tip concerns using pull marketing when push marketing just plain isn’t cutting it. Startup Professionals lays it all out for us.

One thing which surprised us was how there are still some 25% of all businesses which don’t use social media at all.

Huh?

We can’t conceive of that these days.

And of the 75% which do, there are a number which just monitor and don’t engage.

Don’t be one of those companies. Not engaging, or worse, not being on social media at all, is like leaving free stuff behind. You’re tossing away free and (pretty) easy chances to get your brand out there.

Why the heck would you do that?

#7. How Much For Just the Planet?

For our next sensational tip, we looked at setting the proper prices for your goods or services. DIY Marketers has all the details.

This is a terrific article, and we recommend reading the whole thing as the process makes the most sense when you look at it in order. It’s a fascinating exercise. But it all starts with one thing – how much do you want to be making?

Say what?

Now this makes more sense than you might think at first glance. Consider this: we have covered goals many, many times here. And what’s the first thing you need for a goal to succeed?

Anyone?

Bueller? Bueller?

You need a target!

And what better target than to decide how much money you want to make?

A Fer Instance

Let’s play with a few quick numbers, for illustrative purposes only. So let’s say you want to make $100,000 per year. And let’s further say that you sell widgets. If you sell one widget at $100,000 then you’re done, right?

Not so fast.

More expensive goods and services require excellent customer service. So if you sell your one $100,000 widget, then you maybe you need a dedicated person to handle that account. They might not handle any other accounts, in particular if the customer is fussy.

So if you have to hire a dedicated account manager for $50,000 per year, then you’re only making a $50,000 profit on your one overpriced widget ($100,000 profit – $50,000 in overhead costs for your account manager’s annual salary).

Now you need to sell two widgets. And you need an account manager for each of them. This is a simplistic sample. So we’re not looking at other costs such as manufacturing or shipping.

Now let’s sell your widget for $10,000. Your account manager may be able to handle ten accounts now (just to use a simple number here). Understandably, the customer service expectations are lower for cheaper widgets. So if your account manager still makes $50,000 per year, then once five widgets are sold, you’ve paid your account manager’s salary.

Sell 20 widgets and you’ve made your profit (you’re paying 2 account managers at $50,000 per year). If you give your account managers raises, you need to sell more product, or raise the price.

But at least you have a measurable goal. You know how close you are to making it. That matters more than nearly anything when it comes to pricing and budgeting.

#6. Improve Your Selling!

This tip is so helpful, and it works! The Work At Home Woman gives us the lowdown on how to get better at selling.

This one, of course, goes far beyond smashing a summer selling slump. It goes directly to the ultimate success – or failure – of your business.

Confidence Sells

This was our absolute favorite tip. Of course, this can be easier said than done. But the bottom line is, we like to buy from confident people. And there is a huge reason for this.

Who wants to buy from someone who doesn’t seem to believe in their own product?

So no matter if you are desperate in real life – and don’t think there aren’t any seasoned salespeople who aren’t – do your level best not to show it while selling. Now, that may be easier said than done.

But practicing, as the article says, is a great idea. No matter what, you need to know your product or service backwards and forwards. And a quick pro tip from your intrepid blog writer – not having to worry about knowing what to say rather effectively removes one reason to be nervous.

Get out of your summer selling slump and for gosh sakes, don’t let it turn into a winter sales slump.

#5. Smash Your Summer Selling Slump

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

The summer selling slump is real. Fundera tells us how to smash it.

From June to September, Things Get S…L…O…W

Even if you don’t actually have a summer selling slump, the truth of the matter is, your employees are going to be distracted.

The kids are out of school – and perhaps underfoot. It’s light out longer, so the end of the business day doesn’t coincide with nightfall. As a result, the days might feel longer, or shorter. It can be a bit disconcerting during about a month before or after the solstice. In all fairness, the same can happen around the time of the winter solstice.

We loved that some of the best suggestions had to do with keeping employees happy!

Keep Your Employees Happy

A few of these may very well seem like no-brainers. For example, creating Friday hours and allowing work from home seem to be almost intuitive. And so is changing to a casual dress code, even if it’s only for one day a week.

We also liked the idea of hiring a passel of summer interns. They can bring in a fresh perspective, even while they do the scut work. It’s hard to have a summer selling slump when there are new people around, with new perspectives.

A True Story

Over two decades ago, your intrepid blog writer worked in the insurance industry. Egad, has it really been that long? Eek.

But I digress.

Now, keep in mind that this is before businesses got too comfortable with the internet. And it is also before casual Fridays were the norm, rather than the exception.

So what happened?

We did what we could. And since this was an office in beautiful downtown Boston, there were plenty of places to get the signature food of the summer.

I’m talkin’ ‘bout ice cream, of course.

We used to get cones every Friday, just after lunch. So it would be maybe 2 PM or thereabouts. This activity did not take too long. It had the added bonus of getting outside, however briefly. We would come back to the office if we were not finished beyond a certain time. That was around 1:30 if memory serves.

It was fun and easy. And it didn’t even cost the company any money. We bought our own cones. This tiny break made it a lot more tolerable to sit in an office, in a suit, no less, during the best weather of the year.

Keep Your Customers and Prospects Happy

Of course, one part of a summer selling slump directly relates to your customers and prospects. Unless you want your employees to just sit around and play backgammon all day long, you are going to want to do something or other to bring in revenue.

So we really liked the idea of test launching a new product. In particular, if your website isn’t too busy, you will have an easier time of it when it comes to A/B testing and other details that go along with launching a product. Now, we would not recommend launching something big during this time. But if you have something minor, or just an extra to fling to the universe, why not do so during the slow months?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Smash the summer selling slump and keep your business as hot as a summer sidewalk.

#4. Let the Leads Come to You

Check out this spectacular tip, all about effective inboard marketing strategies. Word Stream says it’s all about the quality content. That is, the high quality content.

One excellent point W0rd Stream makes at the very start is something we have been observing for quite a while now.

There is just a ton of content out there. And it comes at all of us, 24/7. So what is happening is, essentially, people are tuning out a lot of that content.

Don’t act so surprised! You do it. I do it. Everybody does it.

After all, there are just so many hours in a day. If we felt the need to consume every moment of content, every pixel of it, we would get nothing else done. Ever.

Consider this: in 2017, a good 300 hours of content was uploaded to YouTube. Every. Single Minute.

And that’s just YouTube. So it is just plain not physically possible to consume every bit of content.

As a result, we have all become curators. Like it or not, we sift through the tsunami of content. And we inevitably search for what moves us. This means that ho-hum content is not going to cut it for much longer.

So as a business, your mission is to release quality content.

What Sort of Quality Content?

The article – which we truly feel should be read in its entirety – goes over a lot of familiar forms of content. these include podcasts and, surprise! YouTube videos. And it does our hearts good to see the suggestion of books.

What is this telling us? It’s telling us that longer form content has heft. And that makes a ton of sense. We all consume the equivalent of an all-junk food diet when it comes to most content.

So throw your prospects and customers a full-course meal and they’ll see you as an expert. And that means they will trust your product or service.

#3. Don’t Be Spammy!

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help keep your sales emails out of prospects’ spam folders. Succeed As Your Own Boss tells us there are some tell-tale signs of spam – at least, that’s according to email carriers and internet service providers.

Some of these may be self-explanatory. For example, clean up your email address lists! The more bouncing back you get, the more you look like a spammer. And don’t email all at once – a big bulk email screams ‘Spam!’

Our favorite tip was to keep triggering words out of your emails! Those are phrases like ‘absolutely free’ or ‘instant access’.

Consider this: if your email looks like spam to you, it’ll look like spam to ISPs and email providers. And, even worse, it’ll look like spam to your customers and prospects.

You don’t want that. Ever.

#2. It’s All About the ‘Gram

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on making your business Instagrammable. Small Biz Trends lets us know all about it.

For some businesses, Instagram is where they post images of their product or service. But for others, customers may be posting about the company.

For those latter businesses in particular, the idea is to showcase the work place well. Our fave tip was to create an interesting wall. That’s a real wall, by the way. The idea is, if there’s a good backdrop for photographs, then people will be all too happy to use it.

This is why you see so many exterior walls with wings or the like.

Pro tip: why not hire an artist for this? This person can even be an art student. Of course, ask for samples to be sure you like what you’re paying for.

And by the way, while this is likely to be best for businesses where the customers come there in person, why not paint an interesting exterior wall? Which just so happens to have your signage in the background?

#1. Things Can Always Get Better

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on how to change your business – for the better. Score says there are a number of steps you can take which will help you, no matter what sort of business you’re in.

We particularly loved two ideas – to get organized and to take a class. Both can refresh both you and your business.

Getting organized is key for your business and for you, personally. Consider all the time you may be spending looking for stuff. Now imagine having that time for something a lot more fun. Or more profitable. Or at least something which you need to get done.

Now you can.

And taking a class dovetails well with another tip, which is to get out of your comfort zone. You might be able to save time or money with what you learn. Pretty cold, eh?

But wait, there’s more!

While the article doesn’t get it, we couldn’t help but think about how taking a class in something utterly unrelated to your business can be just about as helpful.

So don’t feel confined to just taking accounting courses or software use training or the like. Unless you want to, of course.

Why not take ceramics, or philosophy, or music theory?

No learning is ever wasted.

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Smash the summer selling slump and keep your business as hot as a summer sidewalk.

The post Smash the Summer Selling Slump and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Make Meaningful Business Connections and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Make the Most Meaningful Business Connections and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! So let’s start making meaningful business connections!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Let HR Lead the Way in Fulfilling Business Objectives

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about hitting your business objectives with Human Resources. Effortless HR says Human Resources is a great place to start when it comes to meeting certain business goals.

Our favorite tip was all about corporate culture. We particularly loved the idea of HR being a vehicle for anonymous surveys and other means of taking the temperature of the workforce.

Getting a handle on whether employees are happy is a laudable goal for any organization. By putting HR in charge of that, it removes the personal nature of such an inquiry from the equation. Rather than being pressured to say everything is awesome, employees can feel free to be honest in their assessments.

A corollary to this is working with HR to get a pipeline of employee suggestions set up. Because on the other side, HR can be the buffer between employees and management. A more frank discussion can happen if there is a referee. And HR, with its traditional tact-filled role, is perfect for the job.

#9. Stop Shrinking!

The next awesome tip is about effectively stopping shrinkage in your business. Business KnowHow lays it all out for us.

Er, what’s shrinkage? If you are a seller of goods rather than services, then you are all too familiar with it. It’s when the amount of stock you think you have on hand does not correspond to the amount of stock you actually do have on hand.

What Causes Shrinking?

The article lays out four reasons and three of them are criminal in nature. Those are shoplifting, employee theft, and return fraud. Return fraud comes in many forms, such as fake receipts or ‘returning’ goods which were shoplifted in the first place.

The only one of the four which is not criminal in nature is administrative errors. Even with computers and impeccably honest employees, someone just might enter a 9 when they meant to enter a 6.

Fix Your Incredibly Shrinking Problems

The solutions are likely the ones you would expect. Better store layouts with fewer blind spots can deter shoplifters. Improving employee hiring practices can cut down on employee theft. That is, if you ask for references, follow up on them! As for return fraud, better employee training can help, so your employees can spot this fraud and feel empowered enough to push for receipts and even identification. As for administrative errors, an improved point of sale system can help, as can better employee training.

We would also suggest doing inventories more often, so if there is a problem, it’s found before it snowballs into a disaster.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make meaningful business connections today.

#8. Bring it All Home

Our following life-changing tip concerns your inbound marketing strategy. G2 says it’s all about the specificity.

Inbound marketing is, essentially, the use of a website to attract prospects. By creating sharable, findable content, you bring people to your website (more about making your website awesome in tips #4 and #3). These often are ‘warm prospects’, i.e. people who are seriously considering plonking down some money on either what you sell or something awfully similar thereto.

Hence inbound marketing is an exceptionally important tool in your kit. But when you’re scattershot, your inbound marketing efforts are wasted. Or, at the very least, they involve a lot more effort than they should.

The part we really loved was the ‘blink test’. Which is: can you find the value on any given page in two seconds?

Yes, two seconds, less time than it takes for the fastest humans to run a 100 meter dash.

So the moral of the story is, get to the point. Yesterday.

#7. Defrost Your Emails

For our next sensational tip, we looked at cold email tips. Sales Hacker tells us there are some basic, almost universal components to a good cold email.

A cold email, of course, is a lot like a cold call.

But the first element is, unlike a 100% cold call, you introduce yourself and give a reason why you’re emailing. You make the contact a little less out of the blue this way.

Next up are the offer, and proof that it works. After all, why should your prospect download your e-book or schedule a demo or whatever if they have no idea what’s in it for them?

Last are the call to action and what to do next. “So hit reply and I’ll….”

That’s it? That’s it!

#6. Why Don’t You Write Me?

This tip is so cool, and it works! Foundr tells us all about how to make money with your email list.

We have written about email marketing before, but it bears repeating: it may not feel glamorous or cutting edge, but it sure does sell. And that’s kind of the whole point, now, isn’t it?

Segmentation, Measurement, Timing, and Calls to Action

Let’s say you own a residential real estate business. Don’t your childless clients have different needs from those who have kids? So why are you sending emails with information about school districts to people who aren’t parents and aren’t planning to change any time soon?

Measurement and metrics are, of course, some of our favorite things (we also kind of like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, if you must ask). But measurement, ah measurement. It’s the surest way we know of to know if we’re succeeding. So bring on the yardsticks (and see tip #2)!

Timing matters because your customers and prospects might prefer weekend shopping, so an email on Monday is too late. Or they might want to take advantage of a sale – so they need some lead time.

As for calls to action, we sprinkle them throughout our blog posts and you have undoubtedly noticed them. These can be anything from ‘click her to buy’ to ‘call now for a free consultation’. Because your customers and prospects won’t know what you want from them unless you tell them.

#5. Make the Most Meaningful Business Connections

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

Meaningful business connections will help you sell – because it’s all about the business relationship these days. And customers don’t want a summer fling – they want a business relationship with some heft to it. Entrepreneur gives us the lowdown.

Go beyond networking and create meaningful business connections. But how?

Everyone Has Value

We had really hoped this would be 100% intuitive. You know, the kind of common sense which turns out to be utterly uncommon? Yeah, that stuff.

So the concept here is to be kind to everyone. As in the taxi driver, the receptionist, and the person who delivers your food. This should, when we get right down to it, be the kind of thing we all do instinctively. But unfortunately that is not always the case. So consider this a little refresher, okay?

And gather ‘round the electronic hearth because it’s time for a true story.

True Story

Nobody starts at the top, and your intrepid blog writer is no exception. Hence, way back (as in the Reagan Administration), I was a receptionist. It’s a fairly repetitive job. You answer calls, leave messages, and occasionally file or make copies. Keep in mind, this is way before the internet and a PC on every desk.

Of course job seekers would come in. They were always pretty obvious – nervous-looking people who seemed overly uncomfortable in their good clothes. They rarely accepted any offers of water or coffee.

So far, so good.

Most people are good and kind-hearted. We’ve all been in the same or a rather similar boat. Most people are polite and can sometimes be to a fault.

Then there’s the (thank goodness) minority.

Being barked at is no one’s idea of fun. It’s not even a cocker spaniel’s idea of fun.

Have you ever heard a story about a person who didn’t get a job because they were rude to the receptionist? That is a 100% true story. Yes, of course I told the powers that be if someone was rude. You better believe it.

Meaningful business connections start with being good to everyone, for you never know who can help you. Be a jerk or be successful. It’s your call.

Make Networking a Lifelong Habit

For a lot of people, networking can feel like a minuet of sorts. We trot it out only when we need work, and then it feels forced and weird.

But what if you did it every minute of every day? And what if you stopped calling it networking? What if, instead, you called it talking to people?

When networking and other attempts at forging meaningful business connections are only done when you want something, you’ll never get comfortable with the process. By the way, this also applies to your personal life. If you only talk to the gender of the person you desperately want to ask out when you want to ask someone out, then every single one of those conversations will be fraught with meaning. The stakes will be unbelievably high. The pressure will be enormous.

So cut yourself some slack and communicate more often with your fellow human beings. Yes, even if the pretty ones where you get all tongue-tied. This is the best way we know of to relieve that kind of social pressure.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make meaningful business connections today.

#4. Don’t Let Your Domain Name Crush Your Business

Check out this spectacular tip, all about choosing the right domain name. Lead Pages tells us there are a lot of ways you can mess up your domain name. And some of them you might not even realize.

Scrap, Therapist, and More Unintentionally Funny and Cringeworthy Domain Name Words

Woe be unto Benjamin Dover, a scrap metal dealer with multiple hits and a therapy business on the side. And consider the problems William Todd Farmer (he’s a real person – just Google him) has when he just wants to use his initials.

So write out your proposed domain name. Then write it out again. And again. Get people you know and trust to give it a look-see. They might spot something you don’t.

And be prepared to change your idea of an ideal domain name.

So perhaps the best piece of advice is one we get from reading between the lines. And it is this. Until money changes hands and you actually own a coveted domain name, don’t get too attached to it, just in case you find out it’s a bad choice after all.

Top Level Domains

The article also repeated some information which we find to be exceptionally helpful. And that is, if you are buying .com, then you should buy .net, .us, etc. as well. Why? Because you don’t want someone to spoof your site, particularly when you are right in the middle of a social media crisis. And you also don’t want to have to buy those extra top level domains at an inflated price if you need them some time later.

So spend a few extra bucks at the start and cover these bases. You will be unbelievably glad you did.

#3. Build Your Business Empire Online

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you create a business website – fast! Crowdspring lays it all out for us.

One of our imperatives when it comes to business credit building is to set up a professional business website. The first step is one we discussed in tip #4 – get a good domain name.

Logos, Design, and Coding

You may or may not be artistic, and you may or many not understand HTML or WordPress. But lots of other people do – and they are easy to hire.

Why do you want to hire a professional? Because otherwise you run the risk of getting a generic logo, a boring design, and out of the box, by-the-numbers coding. We highly recommend Upwork and Fiverr for these necessities. You can spend less and still get a great website.

#2. Bring on the Yardsticks!

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on using Google Analytics. Main Street ROI tells us there are lots of great ways to use this amazing data. But they recommend five rather specific measurements.

Channels, Pages, and Products

Do you know where your visitors are coming from? Do you know if you’re getting more visitors from Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter? And do you know if your widget page is doing better than your signup page?

Measuring People

What are the main characteristics of the people who visit their website? What makes them ditch their shopping carts? How old are they? Where are they? When do they visit your website?

Google Analytics makes all of this measuring possible. We loved this article, and we highly recommend reading it in its entirety.

#1. From Local to Online and Back Again

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on how a home services company can improve their online sales. Young Upstarts says a purely local business such a plumber can still get great sales from online visitors.

Our favorite tip was to provide more detailed information. As in, probably a lot more detail than you might expect.

For instance, let’s say you own a day spa. Do you offer manicures? And if you do, do you offer gel manicures, or nail art? You may think it’s overdoing it, but giving your prospects a better idea of what you can do for them will tell them whether it’s worthwhile to head on over to your shop.

And much like in tip #8, you’ll attract prospects who are searching for what you can provide. After all, they won’t know what that is, unless you tell them. So tell them!

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make meaningful business connections today.

The post Make Meaningful Business Connections and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Let Oracle Loans Reveal Your Brilliant Future: A Business Line of Credit or Loan Option for All Your Business Needs

Oracle Has Valuable Financing Options to Fit Virtually Every Situation

In ancient times, an oracle was someone who delivered a divine communication or revelation. Often, these revelations were about the future. However, you don’t need an oracle to tell you your future. You need Oracle Loans to help you make your own.

We have to make our own luck and drive our own destiny. No one can tell you your future. To do that with your business however, you are going to need funding. The problem is, traditional funding doesn’t come easy to everyone.

What do you do then? The answer is non-traditional funding, and Oracle Loans offers just that. They offer a variety of flexible loans and business line of credit options that virtually ensure that business owners from a broad range of income and credit score levels can find something that will work for them.

What is Oracle Loans?

Oracle loans is part of Oracle, which offers a broad range of business solutions including:

Service Management

Financial Management

Human Capital Management

Project Portfolio Management

Advances Procurement

Supply Chain Management

Value Chain Planning

Value Chain Application

The range of services offered under is category is huge, but the financial services are what we focus on here. They offer both loan management for those businesses that offer loans, and financing to borrowers needing small business funding.

What Makes them Different?

The flexible funding offered by Oracle loans is different in a couple of ways. First, there are several options for low credit scores. This means even those businesses that have trouble obtaining financing through traditional means can find success with Oracle.

In fact, some of the loans do not require any minimum time in business or annual revenue. Many do not require any sort of collateral, and some do not even ask for income verification.

The Nitty Gritty Details

There are multiple financing products offered by Oracle loans, so without further ado, here is what you have on the menu.

Learn more here and get started toward building business credit attached to your company’s EIN and not your SSN.

Unsecured Business Loans

These are the most popular loans offered by Oracle, and they come in four categories: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Startup.

Gold Level Loans

These loans range from a minimum of $10k to a maximum of $500k. The terms range from 1 to 20 years, and the minimum credit score is 680. They do allow you to have a cosigner if you do not meet the credit score requirement, so no worries there. Typical funding time is 3 to 5 days.

Silver Level Loans

Loans at the silver level range from $5,000 to $250,000. The terms can go up to 20 years, and there is no minimum time in business or monthly revenue requirement, just like on the gold level. Funding is faster at this level, usually happening within 1 to 3 days, but the 680 minimum credit score still stands. Again, if you do not meet this requirement, you can always use a cosigner that does.

Bronze Level Loans

The loans on the bronze level are $500,000. They have terms that go up to 20 years, and the same credit score and cosigner details apply. However, funding can take 5 to 7 days.

Startup Unsecured Loans

The rules are a little different when it comes to unsecured loans at the startup level. The amounts can range from $5,000 to $250,000, and the term lengths and credit score requirements are the same. However, there is a 6-months or more in business requirement as well as a requirement

that monthly revenue be at least $10,000. Funding for these loans takes 1-3 days.

Secured Business Loans and Business Line of Credit

Of course, another option is secured business loans. These are loans that are secured by the borrower with some assets. Oracle offers loans secured by real estate as well as those secured by other assets.

Secured Real Estate Loans- Residential

When you use residential property to secure a business loan through Oracle, you receive up to 80% LTV. The “as-is” value has to be at least $140,000. Loans range from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $15,000,000, and interest rates start at 5.49%. Terms extend up to 30 years.

The really great part for many is that the minimum credit score requirement is only 550, meaning that you can get this loan even if your credit isn’t the best. The one catch is that it cannot be your primary residence that you use as collateral. You must have either an investment home or 2nd home to use as security.

Secured Real Estate Loans-Commercial

If you have commercial property that you can use to secure a loan, Oracle will lend up to 75% LTV. There are similarities with the residential property secured loans, with the as-in value and minimum and maximums being the same. The terms and credit score requirements are the same as well, but the interest rates start at 6.24%, which is slightly higher than the residential property loans.

Other Assets as Security

There are a host of other assets that can used as collateral for a loan or business line of credit. They includes but is not limited to:

Equipment

Machinery

Luxury vehicles

Classic cars

Motorcycles

Yachts

Airplanes

Fine art

Jewelry

Basically, any asset of value that you own can be security for a loan. These are some of the most popular loans because they have some pretty great perks that unsecured loans do not come with. For example, you can make interest only payments if needed. There is also no pre or post payment penalty, and they offer free appraisals on the asset you are using.

Transportation of your asset is insured, and they are stored in high security vaults that are usually within 25 miles of your home.

Secured business loans from Oracle are only available in select states.

Learn more here and get started toward building business credit attached to your company’s EIN and not your SSN.

Business Lines of Credit

There are several different options at Oracle for a business line of credit. The most popular is the Stated Income business line of credit. The big draw is that they do not require any sort of income verification and no financial documentation. All industries are eligible for this type of financing, but you must be a legal United States business entity.

The minimum amount is $5,000 and the maximum is $250,000. There is no interest for the first 6 to 24 months, which makes it startup friendly. In fact, this type of financing can help you build business credit. There is a minimum credit score of 680, but if you do not meet that you can get a cosigner that does. The cosigner does not have to have any association with the business.

Stated Income Real Estate Investor Line of Credit

You can also get a business line of credit for investing in real estate with no income verification. It reports to your business credit report so it does not affect your personal credit, meaning you shouldn’t have issues accessing financing for personal needs due to this line of credit.

This line of credit is useful to fix, flip, or hold real estate for income. Amounts range from $10,000 to $250,000 and the interest rate is 0% for the first 6 to 12 months. You can get his type of financing even if this is your first property to flip!

The days in business requirement is only one day. Your credit score has to be 680 or higher, but if you do not meet that a cosigner is fine. There is no collateral required.

Traditional Business Line of Credit

Oracle also offers a more traditional business line of credit. It is available nationwide, and you can have funding in as little as 24 to 48 hours. The minimum amount is $1,000, but the maximum goes to $250,000.

The whole process is fully automated so there is no paperwork, which is a huge bonus. You may be in business for at least 6 months and have at least $50,000 in annual revenue. In addition, there can be no bankruptcy in the past 2 years. You do have to have business bank account however.

If you meet these requirements you can have a traditional business line of credit available to you pretty quickly. There is no origination fee, no minimum credit score, no fee for early repayment, and no application fee.

Invoice Factoring

This is another funding option for an established business that needs cash fast. You can get an immediate advance on outstanding invoices from $10,000 to $2.5 million, and you can have it in as little as a day.

Bridge Loans

Oracle offers bridge loans for investment in residential real estate. They range from $100,000 to $15 million and start at a 6.99% APR. Terms range up to 3 years, and the LTV is 75% or less. The really cool thing is the minimum credit score is 500! They also offer hard money loans with the same terms.

How to Apply for a Business Line of Credit or Loan with Oracle Loans

It is super simple to let Oracle help you see success in your future. Just go to the Oracle Loans website here and click to apply. There is no requirement to enter sensitive financial information online, but you do need to fill out the online form as completely as possible. That is the only way to see the complete list of the Oracle loan and business line of credit options available to you.

Once you have your list, click the loan program you want and start the pre-approval process. You could have an answer as soon as the same day.

Is Oracle Loans Legit?

Non-traditional lenders do not have the best reputation. In fact, some of them turn out to be downright scams. However, Oracle Loans has been in business for 3 years, and they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. There have been no complaints filed against them with the BBB, and the one review on file offers a rating of 5 stars.

How Business Credit Can Help You Get a Business Lines of Credit

As mentioned earlier, some of these financing option can actually help you build business credit. Also, some of the options only report to business credit agencies, not your personal credit report. What is business credit, and why does it matter?

What is Business Credit?

Business credit is a credit history, including a credit score, for your business only. It is not reflected on your personal credit report, and your personal credit history is not reflected on your business credit.

What does this mean for you and your business? It means that even if you have terrible personal credit, it is still possible to have a good business credit score. It also means that if you run into financing problems with your business, your personal credit will not suffer.

How to Establish Business Credit

It is pretty obvious why business credit is a good thing, but how do you get it started? There is a process. While it isn’t difficult, it does take time, and there are steps that must be taken in order.

The first step is to establish your business as a separate entity from yourself. Here is how that happens:

The very first step is to incorporate your business. This is essential when it comes to establishing your business as separate from yourself. You choose whichever method works best for your business, whether it be an LLC, S-corp, or a full-blown corporation.

After you incorporate your business, apply for an EIN through the IRS. This will be the identifying number for your business, and when you apply for credit, you will use this number instead of your SSN. They may ask for your SSN for identification purposes due to new fraud standards, but it will not be used to check your credit.

Next, set up a business banking account. Run all of your business financial transactions through this account.

Learn more here and get started toward building business credit attached to your company’s EIN and not your SSN.

You also need a separate address and telephone number for your business. The number should be an 800 number, or from some other toll-free exchange.

The next step is to set up a professional website for your business and acquire an email address with the same URL as the website. Do not use a free email service such as Gmail or Yahoo.

Get Established with Dun & Bradstreet

After you complete these steps, the next thing to do is get a DUNS number. This is a number assigned by Dun & Bradstreet. As the largest and most used credit agency, you need to be sure that your on-time payments get reported to them. If you do not have a DUNS number, that will not happen. You can get a DUNS number for free on the Dun & Bradstreet website.

How to Build Business Credit

Once your business has its own identity, you can begin to build business credit. Since in many cases you must have credit to get credit, this can be tricky. The secret to being successful at building business credit is the vendor credit tier.

This is a group of vendors that will offer invoices with net terms, and then report your on-time payments to the business credit agencies. Once you start having payments reported, your credit begins to build. When you have 5 or more vendors from the vendor credit tier reporting, you can start to apply for credit from the next tier, which is the retail credit tier.

The process builds like a snowball. As you gain more accounts at each tier, you can begin to access credit from the next tier. Your business credit will only get stronger and stronger as long as you are making your payments on time.

What are the Other Tiers?

There are 4 credit tiers all together. After the vender credit tier comes the retail credit tier. These are the store cards like Best Buy, Amazon, and Office Depot. After that comes the fleet credit tier which includes those cards that you can use for automobile repair and maintenance as well as fuel costs. Examples of these are Fuelman and WEX. Then comes the coveted cash credit tier. This includes standards we all know such as Visa, AMEX, and Mastercard.

Oracle Loans Can Help You Use Your Business Credit to Create a Bright Future

Oracle has a great mix of products so that you can get financing based on your personal credit if you have not yet established your business credit. However, if you already have business credit, you can use some of Oracle’s financing products to build it even further. This is especially true of their business line of credit products.

You don’t need an oracle to tell you your future, with Oracle Loans, you can make your own future.

The post Let Oracle Loans Reveal Your Brilliant Future: A Business Line of Credit or Loan Option for All Your Business Needs appeared first on Credit Suite.

Kick Off a Student Startup and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Kick Off a Student Startup and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! You can do more than just kick off a student startup.

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Get on Google’s Good Side

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about improving your search engine rankings. Young Upstarts lays it all out for us.

It’s all about search. Seriously. Because unless you’re a big company (and if you’re reading this blog, then you probably aren’t. Yet), you are going to depend on people discovering you. There are, of course, things you can do offline. Send out paper newsletters, buy radio ads, go to conventions, or hand out flyers. Buy billboard space or run ads on TV. But you also have to get discovered online. Yes, even if your demographic group isn’t normally online. Why? Because their friends or family undoubtedly are.

Hitting the top of Google searching rankings is key!

Discovering You

So you’re scanning the internet horizon for figurative ships. How do you send up a signal flare to them? We really loved the idea of essentially asking typical questions and then answering them in your blog or other website copy.

Where can I find a great auto mechanic? Who makes the best gnocchi? Which home projects will add the most value to my house? How do I introduce a new puppy into my household? What is the best way to get an ink stain out of a dress shirt? When is the local Little League team next playing? Why can’t I mix bleach and ammonia?

Asking and answering questions on your website can help you rank on Google – so long as those are the questions your customers and prospects are asking.

#9. More Love for Google – and Facebook – Ads

The next awesome tip is about writing your best-ever Google and Facebook ads. Wordstream does us a huge favor! There are two great tips per platform. We loved this article so much that we think you should click through and read the whole thing.

Yes, it’s worth it.

Platforms and Uniqueness

It used to be, if you were advertising in the local penny saving paper and the area’s big newspaper, you would use the same or almost the same ads. Don’t do that here.

For Google, the best takeaway, we feel, is to get to the point fast and make every letter count. Most people are just scanning Google, so you want to get them as quickly as you can.

And for Facebook, we think the best point is to blend in. After all, how often do you click on obvious ads on Facebook?

We’ll wait.

Okay, we got tired of waiting. But in all seriousness, many people go to Facebook to connect with family and friends, and to relax. They may or may not be shopping. But while they’re busy looking at a cousin’s new baby or playing Words With Friends, or arguing politics, they are still the same people who need haircuts or to sell their homes or ship their goods out of state.

When an ad looks a lot like something that isn’t an ad, it can really shine on Facebook.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Kick off a student startup and more!

#8. A Place for Every File – And Every File in its Place

Our following life-changing tip concerns getting organized with a filing system that works for your office. Small Biz Trends gets us in line. Now, this article is about paper files. But the truth is, you can adapt it for computer files with almost no effort. But first, let’s look at paper.

Sort, Classify, and Keep it all Together

After talking to your staff about filing – because they’re going to be using the system, too – sort your documents! Maybe you thought there would be a lot of documents from the Houston office, but it turns out you only have 5, whereas you have 500 from your Little Rock office. Then you’d best make sure your system allows for different amounts of storage for each section.

Tag everything! And hey, that works for purely electronic files as well. If you are, say, a wedding photographer, your sections might be something like traditional, religious, LGBTQ+, and destination. As a result, for weddings with a full Catholic mass, you should tag them as religious.

Pro tip: to adapt for purely electronic files, use the tags section of Microsoft Office documents. And when it comes to Google docs, you can do it with a naming convention. That naming convention can work for both your documents and the folders they live in.

Think of one thing, and one only – if someone arrived tomorrow, and they had never seen your office or files or industry before, would they be able to find most things? If not, then it’s time to get organized.

#7. Unwind Your Brain and Dust Out Your Mental Cobwebs

Speaking of getting organized, for our next sensational tip, we looked at decluttering our incredibly busy days. Entrepreneur tells us something we already know or at least can guess. That is, our lives are filled to the overflowing with … stuff. We are on constantly. We are distracted every moment.

Egad, that’s no way to live.

So this great article has some ideas for cleaning out some of that detritus. One of our favorite ideas was strategic time blocking. That is, the concept is to list what you need to do and rank them in order by priority level. Then block off time periods to get each of these tasks done – and focus only on that task during the allotted time frame.

This is, by the way, how your intrepid blog writer gets these Friday blog posts accomplished. Writing time is spent, well, writing. It’s not spent answering emails. Does this mean there are never any breaks? Of course not. And if a quick email will get someone unstuck, then it’s done. But otherwise, the time is spent getting the blog post written and out the door.

#6. CPR For Your Startup Dream

This tip is so cool, and it works! Entrepreneur tells us all about keeping the startup dream alive.

Our favorite tip was about preventing burnout. The idea is to, essentially, cultivate a growth mindset. How can things change? And how can your company benefit from such changes?

This dovetails well with another tip, to have a business plan which allows for change. And that makes a lot of sense to us. Consider this: a decade ago, would you have believed it if someone told you that you could get same-day delivery from a non-local company? Yet you can with Amazon. Would you have believed it if someone told you people would open up their spare rooms and rent them out to vacationers? Yet that is precisely what AirBnB is all about.

So why assume anything is going to always be the same. Business is kind of like a shark that way. It keeps moving forward, or else it stagnates.

#5. It’s Time to Kick Off a Student Startup

So, speaking of startups…

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

If you’ve ever begun a business while still listening to lectures, then you’ve undoubtedly kicked off a student startup. But how do you do it? Noobpreneur says you just might never be too young to start a business. So why not kick off your student startup while you’re still going to class?

Balance Your Life and Your Student Startup

We loved this tip! Because it speaks to something that is an issue for, well, just about everyone. That is, just when do you say no? When and how do you turn off the clock and phone? What happens when you put the laptop to bed?

Of course your new student startup business is wildly important. But so is your education! Considering how many small businesses fail, it behooves you to continue and complete your schooling.

Just like not quitting your day job until you’re absolutely certain your business can make it financially – don’t quit your school, either.

Focus! Also Known As: Ignore the Squirrels

This tip is good for anyone, any age, any generation. Basically, of course, we all need to focus and master the clock. This means creating a schedule, and sticking with it. Why? Because it means certain aspects of your life can go on autopilot. It makes those tasks a lot easier.

So it’s story time.

A Fer-Instance

Consider this: you set your alarm clock for, say, 6:30 AM every day. While you don’t necessarily micromanage every moment of every day, you finish eating, working out, and showering by 7:30 AM every day. Sometimes you’re ready at 7:29:59. Sometimes you’re early. But no matter what, you hit that drop dead time of 7:30.

As a result, you make it to the 8:00 AM commuter train almost every single morning. Every now and then, there’s traffic when you’re driving to the station. Or you can’t find a parking spot in time. And if you walk, there are going to be days when the going is slow, such as there’s a lot of snow on the ground, and your neighbors haven’t cleared it yet.

For a good 200 – 250 days per year of work, you make it to the 8:00 train over 95% of the time. That is, 190 – 238 days per year, you get to work on time. Hey, that’s awesome.

And Then There’s This …

Now let’s look at what happens when you don’t set your alarm clock. Or maybe you do, but you have to remember to do so. And like most people, you don’t remember every single thing you need to do. So sometimes you just plain forget. Now you get up at 7:00 AM when the alarm isn’t set. That is, you’re not sleeping till noon.

But now you’ve got choices to make. Do you work out and miss your train? If you do, then the 8:15 AM train will probably be more crowded. And more so for the 8:30 AM train. And if you thought it was hard to find a parking spot at around 7:55 AM, it’s going to be considerably harder at 8:25 AM. So you might be at the station on time but you miss the next train anyway, because you can’t find a place to keep your car.

Or let’s say you skip the workout and get in on time. Er, yay? Kinda, sorta. But you miss out on the energy boost you get from working out. You break your streak. And maybe it gets harder to focus.

Of course these are simple examples. And pretty much everyone has some sort of an alarm. But consider what life would be like if you put a hard end time on your binge watching? Or if you laid down a mental law where you can’t spend more than 5 minutes selecting your clothes for the day?

Tick tock.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Kick off a student startup and more!

#4. Selling Your Products and Services By the ‘Gram

Check out this spectacular tip, all about selling on Instagram. Foundr tells us this platform has more features for sellers of goods rather than services. But that doesn’t mean companies which sell services are out in the cold! Rather, they need to be a bit more creative.

One great tip we liked was to do Instagram Live. This doesn’t require you to be a seller of goods to work! So, what do you do if you don’t sell stuff? How about a quick how-to? Or a tipoff of when you’re next having a sale – or where your next new outlet is opening? Maybe you can offer a fast tip to help your followers.

You have expertise. Now share it live on Instagram!

#3. Let’s Be Business Friends!

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you forge new relationships with collaborators and customers. Copyblogger lets us know how.

Our favorite tip, hands down, was to craft a shareable summary. Because the last thing most people want is a long, drawn-out pitch or explanation.

Why, It’s a Lot Like This …

Elevator pitches. They didn’t go out with shoulder pads. They are as relevant today as they ever were before. And, it can be argued, they are even more vital now. After all, how much free time have you got these days?

If you said ‘not much’, then you are far from alone. So how do you summarize a complex concept? And, more importantly, how do you get people to want more than just your summary.

Here comes a secret from the world of publishing.

Blurbs.

Hear us out.

Back Cover Copy

Grab a paperback off your shelf. Doesn’t matter which one. Look at the blurb on the back.

It began for the Losers on a day in June of 1958, the day school let out for the summer.

That’s the first sentence of the blurb for a book that’s over 1100 pages long – Stephen King’s It. You don’t have to read 1100 pages to know what the book is all about. You don’t even have to read 100. The entire blurb is 16 sentences long, and it makes you want to read more.

Consider a similar exercise for your summary. Your summary will undoubtedly be longer than 16 sentences. But it’s got the same purpose – give information, enough so a person knows what’s going on.

And then give them a reason to want to know more.

#2. On Bended Knee, Engage Your Customers

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on creatively increasing customer engagement. Succeed As Your Own Boss states there are some great ways to actively engage your current customers. Some are a bit involved and may be costly. Others are pretty easy to implement.

But it all comes down to one irrefutable truth – keeping your current customers is easier than cultivating new ones. And it’s also cheaper! So instead of thinking – what have you done for me lately? – adopt an attitude of gratitude.

Also, you can enlist your employees to the cause. Consider this – what if your company does tech support? There’s a big difference between bored workers who can’t wait to get a customer off the line and enthusiastic, interested employees who are friendly and offer extras.

Case in Point

Your intrepid blog writer has a website and a blog. As in, not for work. And like many websites, there have on occasion been technical issues. Contacting the internet service provider is a decent experience. The downsides are wait times. But that’s understandable once you realize what the tech support people are doing.

Tech support goes the extra mile. They suggest products which can prevent future issues – and they often find discounts for those products. Or they hand out their direct numbers and ask for a call back to find out if everything is still going all right.

Are these employees incentivized? Probably. But they can still make customers feel special. And they can convert angry customers who are ready to quit into customers who want to stay. You know, customers who just might blog about their experiences for work. Like, er, me.

#1. Permanent Solutions to Temporary Business Problems

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on the Holy Grail – solving business problems – for good! Entrepreneurs’ Organization says there are some pretty permanent ways to solve systemic issues.

Our fave tip was the first one – to get to the root cause of issues. But we caution you, gentle reader, that sometimes this can be a little painful. It can feel a touch too much like rocking the business boat. But you’re going to need to rock it anyway.

Case in point.

Dig Up the Roots of Your Business Problems

Over 35 years ago (egad, has it really been that long?), your intrepid blog writer practiced law. Well, one year, secretary after secretary found a new job. Or they would take maternity leave and never return. One retired. Why?

It all came down to one reason – the office manager. Once the managing partner started exit interviews, the truth came out. This office manager had been an expensive hire, and was supposed to be efficient.

Yet the quite literal bottom line is, efficiency isn’t worth a hill of beans if all of the employees abandon ship.

So the office manager was shown the door. And the clerical staff stopped finding other jobs. The ones on maternity came back – and the firm could ooh and ahh at the pictures of their little ones. All it took was digging at the root of the problem, even though it was not an easy decision.

You can make those decisions, too. And you can get to the heart of your business problems, and change things for the better.

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Kick off a student startup and more!

The post Kick Off a Student Startup and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Create a Perfect Practical Project Plan and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Create a Perfect Practical Project Plan and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! Let’s get you started with a perfect practical project plan!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Start Selling!

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about setting up your first ad campaign on Amazon. Score says Amazon selling could be huge for your business, and we are inclined to agree. After all, where else are you going to be able to buy a toothbrush, a screen door, fresh raspberries, and a tee shirt for a baby? And check out with them all in the same cart?

So if you sell a good (as opposed to a service), then this tip is all about you.

Get Going

So our favorite part of this article, without a doubt, is how it just launches right into step by step instructions. About the only way it could possibly be any more helpful would be if there was a video. But that’s okay.

And we also loved the drum which he seem to beat an awful lot around here – measure! Because, as we have said it before, but it bears repeating. You can’t really know if you’re succeeding if you don’t measure.

#9. And Speaking of Amazon…

The next awesome tip is about generating leads on Amazon. Side Hustle Nation writes that Amazon, at bottom, is basically another search engine.

So think like an SEO person.

This means attracting your prospects with content to start bringing them into the sales funnel.

In the case of the article writer, it was about books. So his initial bait was to offer a book for free. As in, zero dollars and zero cents.

The book is still on Amazon, and it is still free. So, how does this guy make money? Well, it may be obvious by now – the free book reels in the prospects. So those people are qualified leads by definition. So they might read the book and visit its accompanying website. Or maybe they just order one of the books you have to pay for.

Either way, the bait is working precisely as intended.

Not a writer? Then offer something else (small!) for free. Sell widgets? Then why not add a free explainer video? Or you could even price something in your Amazon storefront at $0. For fun, why not change it up on occasion?

Free is always loved. And free always has attention paid to it.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! The perfect practical project plan is in reach.

#8. Reel in Your First Customers

Our following life-changing tip concerns starting up and landing your very first customers. Success Harbor tells us it might take a while to get your first customers. So their first top is perhaps a surprising one – figure out what you’re going to live off for the next six to twelve months.

Because that will not only keep food on your table. It will also – at least, that’s the idea – keep you from being desperate. Well, at least in the beginning. Because the truth is, we have all seen desperate people.

How often do you want to buy from them? This is not out of the goodness of your own heart or anything like that. So it’s not to help out a friend. This is more, someone who you have no connection with is trying to sell you something. Or, better yet, two people are. One is desperate, the other’s not. You’re more likely to buy from the confident seller.

It’s just like in the dating scene. So shore up your budget before you get started, and keep desperation at bay, at least for a while. Let your perfect practical project plan exude confidence.

#7. But What Are You Going to Sell Them???

For our next sensational tip, we looked at finding products to sell online. Small Biz Trends informs us that startups, of course, are up against not only each other, but also Walmart and Amazon, among others. So instead of trying to compete on that hopelessly tilted playing field, why not look for unique items?

And don’t forget about scalability. That is, prepare for success. If one product does incredibly well, you don’t want to be fine-tuning it by hand all the time.

Hand in hand with this tip is to consider the logistics. Your rainbow widget might be incredible, but if you’re importing from a country about to go to war, you might want to think twice about using such a supplier.

Like with so many other things we talk about here, try to make things easy on yourself.

#6. Find ‘Em Online

This tip is so cool, and it works! Word Stream notes there are five great strategies for reaching your B2B audience online. While we may often think of B2B as business to business, what are companies composed of?

Anyone?

Bueller?

People!

And those people, just like you, are online. They are pinning and tweeting and Facebooking and snapping.

And they are also, probably, on LinkedIn. This social media platform often seems to be forgotten in marketing articles, but it’s truly ideal for finding a B2B audience. So then have LinkedIn find lookalikes.

Hey, you just might get some new customers.

#5. The Perfect Practical Project Plan Can Be Yours

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

Learn how to put together the perfect practical project plan! Copy Blogger says it’s best to bite into a project in small chunks. Which makes terrific sense.

A Fer-Instance

So, picture this. You bought a house from the little old lady down the street who only drove it to church on Sundays. Er, you know what I mean.

It’s a lovely house. But it’s huge! And it needs to be cleaned. So, before you say you’ll just hire someone, or you’ll put it off, let’s throw out those options. For the sake of this example, okay?

How do you clean your messy mansion?

In stages.

How do you tackle a project?

In stages.

Wait – that’s kinda the same thing.

Yep.

Templates and Timesavers

We really loved this tip, about essentially eliminating nagging, repetitive tasks. Do whatever it takes to stop reinventing the wheel all the time.

Create macros. Save Excel templates. Create a custom style in Word. Whatever it takes. Even when your perfect practical project plan is done and dusted, if you do whatever it takes to stop reinventing the wheel, you’ll still have those templates and macros. There’s no need to stop using them.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! The perfect practical project plan is in reach.

#4. GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

Check out this spectacular tip, all about helping your team accomplish their goals. Inc notes management can do a lot to help team members get to where they personally want to be.

Let’s Talk About the Future. That Perfect Practical Project Plan Won’t Write Itself!

What we really liked was the first tip, to essentially open up a dialog on employee goals. And to share your goals with the people who work for you.

Say what?

Yes, tell them what you’re planning for yourself, too. Because singling out the people lower on the totem pole for goal-setting and achieving means you might not see anything accomplished. You can’t have a perfect practical project plan for your employees without having one for yourself.

True Story

Your intrepid blog writer, over 20 years ago had, shall we say, a difficult boss. Now, there were a lot of reasons why this person was difficult to work with and for. But one major reason was the goals were dictated. By her.

And of course no one ever saw her goals. There was, therefore, no accountability at the middle managerial level. To this day, your blog writer hasn’t got a clue whether this person’s own goals were created by her or dictated to her.

Either way, this was a recipe for rebellion. This was particularly the case because the selected goals were a lot less about employee enrichment, and a lot more about the great glory of said difficult boss.

That didn’t go over so well.

So we were particularly pleased with the idea that the dialog about goals is just that: a dialog. It is a give and take and it’s not the boss telling the employee what to do. After all, the employee gets that all the livelong day.

At least let them make their own goals.

#3. Make/Produce/Create

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you be a more creative teammate at work. Creative Live tells us creativity does not need to be a solitary pursuit. Hoorah! The best perfect practical project plan allows for diverse voices.

Check Your Ego at the Door

This is maybe the most valuable tip to us. Creativity is just not going to happen if you continually shout down other people’s ideas. So go around the room. And listen, fer gosh sakes! Seriously, if you’re not going to listen to other people, why work in a team setting to begin with?

Walk a Mile in My Sneakers

This tip was a close second for us. The concept is, bring in as many points of view as you can. Get different perspectives, and you may find what you thought was an amazing idea is anything but to the people who will be most affected by it.

So haul in someone from sales, and another from engineering or accounting, and more. They have rather different vantage points from yours. So in that, there is strength.

#2. It Must Be True; I Saw it on TV

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on small business public relations and dealing with the media. Succeed As Your Own Boss states there is a kind of art and a science to PR.

Our fave tip was all about how ‘off the record’ is basically a unicorn. It doesn’t exist! For all of the times you’ve seen a politician yammering on a hot mic, just imagine it’s your face and your yammering.

If you don’t want some piece of information to come out – surprise! – don’t talk about it.

Or, as we said when your intrepid blog writer was a kid (which was when the dinosaurs roamed the planet), “Shut up!”

#1. Om Shanti Success!

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on 19 amazing success mantras from Zig Ziglar. Addicted 2 Success says these are words to live by.

And, holy cow, we say a lot of the same things. Coincidence? We think not!

In all seriousness, the list is just terrific. We highly recommend reading the entire article. Our favorite success mantra?

Don’t compare yourself to others.

Or, as Teddy Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” So give yourself a break, and stop thinking others are better. You’re better, too.

Talk about your perfect practical project plan!

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! The perfect practical project plan is in reach.

The post Create a Perfect Practical Project Plan and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Profit from Amazon Prime Day Sales and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Turn a Great Profit from Amazon Prime Day Sales and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! It’s that time of year – so we’re here to help you get Amazon Prime Day sales, and even more!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Closing Up Shop the Right Way

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about something that’s a little bit negative. That is, it covers how to close a business and remain in compliance. And while your business will succeed (we certainly hope it will, and are here to help!), you’ll undoubtedly know some entrepreneurs who aren’t quite so lucky. So maybe pass this tip along to them, okay?

Because we know you’re going to be all right.

Score.org says it’s more than just shutting your doors one last time.

Wait, There Are Forms to Fill Out?

Now, do you remember when you got a license with your Secretary of State? It’s almost the same thing in reverse. That is, any business on its way out must file articles of dissolution. This is vital, as otherwise the state still thinks you’re in business. And that means they might come after you for fees in the future.

Similar to this is the advice to file an application of withdrawal. This is only for companies doing business in a state in which they’re not based. Similar to the articles of dissolution, you take this measure to avoid future fee assessments.

Therefore, if your business is in, say, New Hampshire, then you would probably need to file an application of withdrawal in neighboring Massachusetts. You may need to do the same for Maine and Vermont, too.

Note: for online sales, ask your Secretary of State and make sure you don’t miss any forms you may need to fill out for sales out of state and maybe even around the world.

Dot those I’s and cross those T’s!

#9. Advice for Managers Just Hatched

The next awesome tip is about how first-time managers can be best prepared. Succeed As Your Own Boss notes there is a major paradigm shift that goes on when you become a manager for the first time.

First-time managers are suddenly responsible for other people. And that can be daunting at first.

Perhaps our fave tip was to get your act in gear – and clean it up. As in, you’re setting expectations from the first moment of every day. So if you’re habitually late, then the time to cut that out is yesterday.

Of course this involves all sorts of other ways to behave professionally. It means not favoring people. And it also means getting off the office gossip train.

Get to Know Your Team

We also loved this tip. Your team is – shocking, we know! – composed of actual human-type people. This means they have ambitions and fears and weaknesses and strengths. They have histories and quirks and they just might have hidden talents. So don’t shut your door. Make sure you spend time getting to know them as more than just the people who help you get stuff done.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Amazon Prime Day sales can be yours.

#8. Your Brand Has its Own Personality – What’s Yours?

Our following life-changing tip concerns how to influence buyers with the power of your brand personality. Buzz Sumo tells us it goes past brand voice. Although to our eyes, the brand voice seems to be a large part of it.

What Does it Mean for a Brand to Have a Personality?

It goes beyond how you speak and write. It also has to do with aligning your words to your deeds. And it means your brand has values.

How so?

Have you been noticing various brands getting political? It doesn’t has to be big and in-your-face. Sometimes it’s as simple as teaching a trans son how to shave. Or it can be how REI actually closes its doors on Black Friday – because they’re all about getting people outside.

This isn’t about CEOs making gaffes and turning off a big percentage of their customer base. Well, not really. It’s more about how your brand shows empathy for your customers and prospects.

So if you own a salon, it could be about how anyone can be beautiful. Own a long haul trucking company? It could be all about love for the open road. So do a little thinking about what your brand can really mean. You might find you connect even better with your prospects and customers.

And that’s exactly what you want to be doing.

#7. Sell to the BIG Bosses

For our next sensational tip, we looked at how to sell to executives. Sales Hacker has all the details.

Our favorite tip was shamelessly stolen from Apple. That is, keep your presentations at or under 10 minutes. Yeah, really? Apparently it’s supported by neuroscience! But no matter what, we all know we’ve got shorter attention spans these days.

You know, squirrels.

So keep it short and sweet. Your audience has very little time! So you have got to respect their time, and their schedules. If you don’t, then you’ve just shot your presentation in the foot.

Don’t do that.

#6. Reach for the Sales Stars

This tip is so cool, and it works! Success Harbor notes there are ten great sales tactics that work. So get ready to increase your sales.

Our fave tactic is to consider branching out to new and different demographic groups. How so?

Let’s say your demographic is small, or it’s shrinking. If you’ve ever sold dial-up modems or tape recorders, then you know this all too well. So as you watch your demographic shifting, you’ll need to shift, too.

But the bottom line is: this entire article is fantastic and we highly recommend reading the whole thing.

After all, you want to sell more, right? Otherwise, er, what’s the point?

#5. Time to Get Some Amazing Amazon Prime Day Sales

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!

It’s July, and you know what that means! Amazon’s annual event is just around the corner. So here’s how to get coveted Amazon Prime Day sales. Small Biz Trends says this amazing event is in its fourth year. And last year, merchants raked in a cool billion in sales! During just that one event.

So according to the source itself, Amazon Prime Day sales are on July 15 and 16, 2019. Yes, the ‘day’ is now two days long. You’ve got the chance to get twice as many Amazon Prime Day Sales!

So, what are you waiting for?

Prepare and Prepare, and then Prepare Some More – Did We Mention You Need to Prepare?

Getting ready for Amazon Prime Day sales isn’t just about tossing an ad out there. It’s about things like getting your inventory ready, and making sure you’ve got the right kind of selling account.

Our favorite tip was one we feel a lot of entrepreneurs might overlook. And that is to set aside a larger budget for keyword advertising. Price per click is bound to go up now – everyone wants in on Amazon Prime Day sales! So a bit of getting ready for Prime is just to abide by that old adage – you’ve got to spend money to make money.

And by the way, if your company doesn’t sell on Amazon, you can still take advantage of Amazon Prime Day sales as a buyer. And be sure to use an Amazon business credit card! They report to both Dun & Bradstreet and Equifax. And we just so happen to offer them through our Business Finance Suite.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Amazon Prime Day sales can be yours.

#4. When Can We See Each Other?

Check out this spectacular tip, all about scheduling software. Join Home Base tells us there are seven terrific players in this space (as of the writing of this blog post).

Consider how your schedule is put together. Does an assistant help you? Do you do it on your own? Either way, it can be kind of time-consuming. Not to mention all the back and forth.

Tuesday? No, wait, that’s when I take the kids to soccer. Friday? Nope, it’s the sabbath. Monday? I’m booked solid.

You get the idea. So with scheduling software, the back and forth is virtually gone. Customers and prospects just choose the time and date they want and that’s that. And if they change their minds, or something comes up, no problem! With scheduling software, they can just fix the issue on their own and, for the most part, you don’t have to be a part of it at all.

Whew!

#3. Online? Make Your Home-Based Business Stand Out There, Too

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can turn your home-based business into something to be reckoned with online. The Self Employed has the details. Some of this may be familiar. But it certainly bears repeating.

A Pro Website is a Must

We love this tip because we tell new business owners to do this. All. The. Time.

A professional website makes a difference when it comes to credibility and sales. These days, there really is no excuse to not have a pro website. Seriously. Go to Upwork or Fiverr and get help with design and you can be up and running in no time.

And a non-professional website? It’ll cost you in sales. Would you want to do business with someone who couldn’t even be bothered to make their website user-friendly?

And don’t get us started on businesses with no online presence. Don’t. Just, don’t be that business.

#2. The Change in Your Couch Cushions Just Won’t Cut it Anymore

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on how to smartly finance your startup. Young Upstarts notes there are some great, outside-the-box ways to fund a startup company. We also recommend grants and crowdfunding. And there’s a special place in our hearts for angel investors and venture capitalists. Plus, of course we think business lines of credit and microfinance are fab.

But Forex trading? Seriously?

What an interesting idea! Foreign currency trading isn’t for everyone. And, it should go without saying, you need a reputable, licensed broker. But it can all be done online. And, once you get good at it, it can be truly help you raise the capital you need to start and run a business.

Pretty cool, eh?

#1. Follow Up and Follow Through

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on terrific emails you can write to follow up – and get results! Sumo says there’s an art and a science to following up. And you absolutely should follow up – you can raise response rates that way!

Consider this – how busy are you? How busy are all of us these days? If you’re like your intrepid blog writer, then you barely have 2 free minutes to rub together. And you see tons of content all the time. As in, blog posts, music, newspapers, videos, heck, even billboards. Messaging is everywhere!

So things fall through the cracks. Following up gets your product or service back to the top of your prospect’s inbox. And it gives you a chance to be personable. It even gives you an opportunity to address concerns and objections.

We highly recommend checking out this article in its entirety. Yes, it’s that good.

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Amazon Prime Day sales can be yours.

The post Profit from Amazon Prime Day Sales and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.