Stop Being Lonely Leaders and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

A lot of entrepreneurs are lonely leaders. Are you one of them? Then read on, for tips on how to assuage your loneliness and improve your business.

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Advice for Lonely Leaders 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! Help and advice for lonely leaders, 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. Bring Generation Z into the Fold

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about attracting Gen Z to the workplace. You know, millennials. Effortless HR says work is changing and hiring managers need to change with it. This means, among other things, adapting to the millennial way of life. It means political correctness (you know, courtesy) and even safe spaces.

It also means multitasking and digital nativism. What sort of technology did you use in high school and college? Millennials used PCs, laptops, and smartphones. Tech is in their DNA.

Your intrepid blog writer, heh, used pen and paper. Computers were found in a lab and printed on green and white paper with sprocket holes.

Here’s one tip we really liked.

Guided Career Choices

The truth is millennials aren’t necessarily the only people who are having issues with their career choices. Heck, I had no idea what I wanted to do for years. It’s not so easy to figure out what will make you happy for decades. It’s rather like a marriage.

For me, my ideal career hadn’t been invented when I graduated from college or even law school (1986). So, don’t be 100% shocked if Generation Z doesn’t know what will gladden their hearts forever and ever (or at least until retirement). This is also, in part, a function of our gig/specialized/personalized economy. We all want our own choices in this area. And why not? We’re getting our choices in every other aspect of our lives.

So, don’t be surprised if your interviewees aren’t certain of what they want to do with themselves. They might not know what they want to be when they ‘grow up’. And that’s okay.

How do you work with these people? Acknowledge the difficulty in knowing the future. And embrace the unknown. At the same time, don’t treat them just like a bunch of interchangeable parts. They’re people, not widgets. Giving your Gen Z (and all other) employees a measure of autonomy will empower them and give them an emotional investment in your business’s success.

It’ll also take some of the decision-making burden off you. You might even stop being lonely leaders (more on that later).

#9. Lights, Camera, Marketing!

The next awesome tip is about borrowing from the world of media for promotional ideas. Wistia notes we’re already preparing and releasing long form content. It’s a lot like a short form film. You know, the kind that gets Oscar nominations and wins while you’re getting more popcorn?

Er, sorry documentary and short subject film makers. But you know it’s true.

Getting back to the point (and I do have one), the idea is to promote your media like the big media companies do.

So, this may or may not work for your small business. You might not see this as being a viable strategy for a long haul trucking company or a nail salon.

But there was one strategy which should work for any business.

Share Your Positive Feedback, Awards, and Nominations – Everywhere

Chances are incredibly high that you’ve seen film reviews at some point in your life. Of course you have!

Did you mind the filmmakers tooting their own horn this way? Probably not.

So why do you have trouble tooting your business’s horn? Or, if you don’t, then why are you having trouble finding this positive feedback? And why aren’t you sharing it?

Positive feedback can come in all sorts of formats. There are reviews on Google or Yelp. Maybe you’ve got Sotellus or Better Business Bureau feedback.

There is no reason why you can’t share this positive feedback on social media. And if it’s not perfectly tailored to social (maybe it’s way over Twitter’s limits, for example), why not talk to your top customers? Ask them if you’re okay with paraphrasing. Or maybe you can ask them for something short specially for the platform.

Be nice, always. Say please and thank you like you learned as a child. And ask!

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! Help for lonely leaders, and more!

#8. Speed Out of the Starting Gate

Our following life-changing tip concerns growing your business during its first year. Entrepreneurship Life lays it all out for us.

Starting a business is an exhilarating, fun, scary, difficult, risky, fascinating wild ride. Fast growth isn’t guaranteed from the get-go. This article has some great ideas for kickstarting growth from the very beginning.

Our favorite tip was strategic planning. It can be tempting to just take any work you can get at the start. And maybe you should, at least at times. At the same time, planning strategy means having an idea of the kind of customers you want, and how much you want to make. Maybe your first clients are, shall we say, problematic at times. Planning means working directly toward easier to work with clients. It may even, eventually, being in a position to fire the clients who are more trouble than they’re worth.

But you still need to plan. Business is a place where you need to be intentional pretty much all the time. And that means here, too.

#7. Digital Marketing to the Max

So for our next sensational tip, we looked at squeezing the most out of your digital marketing budget. The Self-Employed says that your first moves may be a touch counterintuitive. You need to have updated content and a good website which loads quickly. Pay attention to SEO and SEM (search engine marketing – this tends to mean paid search). And connect to a well filled-out Google My Business Profile.

Consider this. A lot of these are free or close to free activities (of course, labor isn’t free). And a faster website or better SEO aren’t just good for digital marketing. They’re also good for sales, potentially pulling prospects down the sales funnel more quickly.

And that never hurts!

Here’s the tip which really stood out for us.

Up the Customer Experience to Infinity

Okay, well, maybe not exactly infinity. But generating and promoting and continuing an excellent customer experience is a valuable form of advertising. One reason is because you can stimulate word of mouth, a very valuable form of marketing. And another is that a fantastic customer experience can give you a reason to suggest customers review your business online.

By the way, even bad reviews link back to your site and can help with SEO.

Just sayin’.

#6. A Business Proposal (Engagement Ring not Included)

This tip is so helpful, and it works! HubSpot tells us all about writing a business proposal. There is a rather specific sequence of operations for this task. While it’s not identical to a business plan, there are some places where the two documents overlap.

The article goes into significant detail, and it adds a template for free which anyone can use. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Business proposals are terrific professional documents. They set expectations and they get deliverables in writing. Are they contracts? Not necessarily – they’re just you proposing what you’re going to do for someone else. But if there’s no contract in writing, they might be reviewed and referred to.

Clear communications are always a good idea. And covering your company in case things go south is an even better idea.

#5. Lonely Leaders – You Are Not Alone

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

You know what they say about the top. There are a lot of lonely leaders out there. Are you one of them?

Young Upstarts says leaders can shut themselves off from others when they become leaders. This is especially the case when they are promoted from within. And that makes sense – after all, now the dynamic with coworkers has changed. If you’ve become your colleagues’ boss, then you probably can’t go out for a beer with them anymore and complain about your boss.

Ewps.

We really liked their idea to bat back questions from the people who report to you with more questions. As in, ask them what they think. And do so rather than spending your nights just looking for solutions. Talk about lonely leaders! And, let’s face it, you’re not being paid for that time. Not to be solely mercenary about it but burning the midnight oil isn’t making you a better leader much of the time. It’s not even helping your bottom line.

An Extra Tip and a True Story

So, there’s one tip which this article didn’t cover. Gather ‘round the electronic hearth, ‘cause it’s time for a true story.

I love channeling my best managers. I’ve had great managers and I’ve had horrible ones. Very rarely, they fell into the middle. But usually, they were in one camp or another.

I also love channeling the opposite of my worst managers.

Back in the day, I had managers who sat in their little ivory tower. They rarely emerged to do anything beyond commuting or getting lunch – which they always got alone or with the other top level managers. This was a law firm and these were the partners. I was fresh out of law school, waiting to hear if I had passed the bar (I did; my coworker who was also waiting didn’t. Sorry, Joe).

The ivory tower guys didn’t know how anything was going unless it was making them money, or not. Did I feel seen? My God, no. Did I feel appreciated? Not even close. Spoiler alert – I was gone in six months.

Connection

Lonely leaders, at least in the case of that law firm, brought it all upon themselves. It would have been easy to open the office door and say hi. This is what small talk is for. Yeah, you might not care about the local sports team or the weather. But it’s a way to connect with others. We spend far too much time at work in our lives to shut ourselves off from all human contact.

And one more thing, although no one wants to think about it. Lonely leaders, you may be working yourselves into an early grave. You may love your business. And you may need the money. But please don’t do this.

It’s not worth 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! Help for lonely leaders, and more!

#4. Top Off Your Productivity Tank

So check out this spectacular tip, all about maintaining optimal productivity. Noobpreneur notes that people work in all sorts of ways. We have differing energy levels at different times of day. Your early bird colleague might conk out at five. Your night owl coworker could be awesome at 4 PM. As a result, and it’s a good bit of advice for pretty much anything in life – know your strengths and play to them.

The best tip in this article was perhaps and obvious one – to plan. How often do you stare at your wardrobe in the morning and are uninspired? Or it’s time for supper and you have no idea what you’re making? Wouldn’t it be easier to plan those sorts of activities in one block?

The same is true for work. Got a bunch of tasks to do? Then figure out priority (or ask). Determine who can help you or who might wait for something from you. Or vice versa. While you’re waiting for something on Task #1, there’s no reason you can’t start Task #2. You get the idea. Mapping this all out in advance makes it considerably easier.

#3. Convert Complainers to Brand Champions

So it’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you convert detractors into promoters. SCORE tells us a score of 6 or less (out of 10) is seen as being the rating of a detractor.

Say what?

Seriously, how often do you fill out a survey and hit 5 or 6 out of 10? How often do you feel such a rating is neutral, rather than negative? Raise your hand if that’s 100% of the time.

(raises hand)

But I digress – back to the action.

The article is great, and it goes into depth about how to find detractors online, even when they don’t tag you or your products. We highly recommend reading it in its entirety so let’s concentrate on one tip in particular.

Fix the Problem or Offer Incentives

We’ve probably all seen this in action at one point or another. You complain about, say, your stay at a hotel. And the hotel responds. They offer you a coupon for a free meal for your next stay. If you don’t want it and say you’ll never darken their door again, they may offer a minor discount instead. Or they might offer to have you join a task force or fill out a survey so as to try to improve future service.

These are great ways to pull a detractor into the promoter camp (or, at least, into neutral territory). Often the value of these incentives isn’t too high. Even if your free meal runs $1000, your detractor spreading all sorts of negatives about you online is often worth a lot more.

It’s a simple cost-benefit analysis.

And the task force or survey idea is pure genius. Give people a say in your future operations. Will you take every suggestion to heart? Of course not. But providing a soapbox can be very empowering to people. Because even your detractors want to feel listened to.

And they might just have something valuable to say.

#2. Cool Down Your Burnout

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on getting over burnout. Entrepreneur reveals all about getting your mojo back. The slideshow is worth looking at in its entirety.

Our biggest takeaway from it was that people – surprise – find different ways to get their motivation back. One thread which ran through all of the methods was to do things for yourself and to focus inwardly. Whatever form that takes, then do that.

So, what do I mean?

It may take the form of getting away or getting exercise. Or it can be getting more education. Another fascinating tip was to talk to people who are different from you. The contrariness can be stimulating.

And through it all, the same message is on repeat. You do so much for others when you run a business. And that can understandably be draining.

So, do something for yourself to get your spark back.

#1. Be Intentional with SEO, Always

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on easy SEO. Copy Blogger says there are a few areas where you might forget – at times – to improve the SEO on a post or page.

Don’t.

We love the Yoast plugin, and we strongly suspect the Yoast plugin is the star of this highly informative article. We urge you to check out the article as there are subtle details and nuances which you should not miss.

So, let’s concentrate on one tip.

301 Redirects

Don’t know what they are? They’re detours for when a post or page is no longer working. But it doesn’t have to be the entire page that isn’t working. And that’s why this tip is so brilliant.

Welcome to the land of the limited-time offer. What happens when your Valentine’s Day (for example) promotion is over? Do you take the page the offer was on down?

Nope! You redirect people.

So, where should you redirect people? The best place is probably somewhere on the site where you have a more evergreen offer. Technically, you could just point people to your next limited-time offer. But you’d be creating far more future work for yourself when the second limited-time offer expires and now you’re left with two pages to redirect, versus just one.

Redirects are also great because your older limited-time offer page might still have SEO traction and even backlinks directing to it. Unpublishing it will lose all of that. Redirecting preserves all that lovely link authority.

Keep. Your. Posts and Pages.

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! Help for lonely leaders, and more!

The post Stop Being Lonely Leaders and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

What Digital Agencies Need to Know about ADA Compliance: Paper.li Blogs & More

Are you digital providing marketing services? Is usability and ADA compliance part of your auditing process? If not, you are missing out… Here’s why: What is ADA Compliance? ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for …

The post What Digital Agencies Need to Know about ADA Compliance: Paper.li Blogs & More appeared first on Paper.li blog.

Eliminate Business Failure and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

Do you want to eliminate business failure? Of course, you do! Don’t we all?

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Eliminate Business Failure and More

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business starts to fulfill 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. Yes, We Really Want You to Get Paid

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about invoicing best practices. Kabbage says creating invoices means you need to be consistent and organized. This means itemizing and it means basics like dates and numbers and project names.

And don’t send an invoice late! You are only harming your own cash flow when you do so. Our favorite tip concerned following up.

There’s a reason why companies send friendly payment reminders just before a bill is due. They want to be at the top of your mind. And, of course, they want to be paid. You should do the same. After all, you want the same thing.

Following up also allows you to have a touch point to the customer. Maybe they need more time to pay. Or maybe they’re ready for an upsell. Don’t just sit in the dark, hoping they’ll pay you eventually.

And, you can always try accounts receivable financing if you need it.

#9. Put it on Video

The next awesome tip is about creating a video sales letter. Foundr notes you can’t just brain dump the first 30 seconds of whatever you think of. Rather, you need to be intentional when it comes to a video sales letter. Because a bad video or script is a lot harder for prospects to forget.

We highly recommend reading the entire article. So, we’ll just concentrate on one tip here.

It’s All in the Script

You are not writing Shakespeare here. It’s not meant to be dramatic. Rather, your script exists so you don’t forget any detail. And it also exists so you can have a good, well-crafted call to action in your video. The article recommends cribbing from sales copy, and we agree!

After all, your sales copy was written by your marketing people. And it must be working – so repeat the process. It’s a lot better than reinventing the wheel.

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! Eliminate business failure – and more!

#8. Grow, Little Business, Grow!

Our following life-changing tip concerns measuring and achieving business growth. Fundera lays it all out for us. There are a half a dozen growth strategies you can try. And it doesn’t matter what kind of a business you’re in.

The strategies are:

Increase demand through strategic partnerships.
Improve your profit by removing unprofitable products and services.
Boost revenue by improving your conversion rate.
Increase sales by creating a sales funnel.
Fortify your workforce with new recruiting tactics.
Shore up market share with a customer relationship management system.

Consider each of these in turn. They are all ways to get more cash or lose less money. It makes sense to look at them all systematically. We recommend you check out the article in its entirety. So, we’ll showcase one of these strategies.

Remove Unprofitable Products and Services

It can sometimes feel a bit counterintuitive, eh? But recognize that you may be unnecessarily attached to, say, the first type of widget you ever sold.

With your sales figures in hand, take a good, long look at your underperforming products and services. But also consider the costs of creating them. If you make $5 from a $1,000 product, but it takes you only a minute to get that product out on the shelf, then it costs $300 to make that product every hour. If you only make two of these products per quarter, and they both sell, they might be worth it. But also consider the costs of shelf space. Plus, there can be a cost of ‘shelf space’ even if your business is solely online. Maintaining one more selling or landing page isn’t free.

The corollary is also true. If your $1,000 product costs $900 to make, and you make $950 on the product, then it might also be a candidate for weeding.

They’re products or services, not a marriage. You can change them up if they stop working out for you.

#7. Crush It on Instagram

For our next sensational tip, we looked at Instagram marketing (very, very hot these days). Business Knowhow says that Instagram has over a billion active users each month. Yes, that’s billion, with a ‘B’.

Over a third of all US adults use it. So, shouldn’t your business be there, if it isn’t already?

Now, the tips are mainly the kinds which we see for social media of any flavor. That is, be sure to have a business profile, engage with your readers, and track the right metrics. So, we’d like to zero in on the one tip which is more specifically Instagram-centric.

Tell Me an Instagram Story

Stories are a kind of fast-moving, almost disposable content. They don’t last for very long. Still, they get decent engagement – a good 20% get a direct response from users.

The best tip we can tell you is not just to use Instagram stories. It’s also to not take your business quite so seriously when you’re creating them. Hence while, yes, you want them to be brand-correct and accurate, maybe take the sales talk down a notch. How?

Let’s say you’ve got a long-haul trucking company. Your story might be about your favorite stop in Texas. “Hey, Instagram, I’m in San Antonio! Love this town – be sure to check out the Alamo. And if you need anything delivered here, I’m your guy.”

And then, whoosh, it’s gone.

Short, sweet, and to the point.

#6. Sales + Marketing = Best Practices

This tip is so cool, and it works! Heinz Marketing tells us all about the handshake between marketing and sales. Their article outlines seven best practices. We’ll home in on just one of those here.

Practice Empathy and Assume the Best of Intentions

Have you ever worked at a company where there was perhaps a little too much competition between departments? At times, these departments can even turn hostile toward each other. After all, even unintentionally, there’s competition for resources.

Still, you’re all supposed to be on the same page.

When the sales department assumes marketing is hiding all the good prospects, there’s a problem. And when marketing assumes sales isn’t following their directions deliberately, then there’s also a problem.

What to do?

Assume the best of intentions. The first time, every time. This can also get you to contact the other department if everything isn’t running smoothly. Maybe there was a breakdown in communications? These things happen.

Get the problem fixed before it gets bigger. And the start is to assume good intentions and work from there.

#5. Everyone Wants to Eliminate Business Failure

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

Look at a new way to eliminate business failure right here.

Success Harbor says business failures tend to come down to five issues:

Misguided intentions
Poor management
Lack of funds
Poor location (obviously, if your business is purely online, this is less of an issue. But you still need to have your goods available in places like Amazon or eBay, and you need to be positioned well on Google)
Unclear plans

Today, we’ll focus on all of these, but from my own perspective. See, I’m a writer. Have I mentioned that before? Well, I am. Published and everything.

A True Story

I hang around with other independent writers all the time. I see people who want to get rich, or who think this will be the perfect job due to their anxiety. Or they feel they will become famous. Or they will be treated well by reviewers and commenters.

Folks overspend and underdeliver. Or they have little to nothing to put into their projects, and it shows. Another issue is when they do very little marketing, or don’t do it well. Or they’re just plain vague about not only what their work is about, but how they’re planning on taking it to the next level.

They also have no idea that they’re not just writing. They’re also starting a small business, like it or not.

In short, they suffer from every single issue in the article.

Sometimes, dear readers, there just plain aren’t enough facepalms.

Let’s Turn Things Around

Maybe we can’t completely eliminate business failure for these folks. But we can make them a lot more likely to succeed, in some capacity.

How?

Manage your expectations. Even overnight successes had to start somewhere. And they’re often nowhere near as overnight as you might have been led to believe.

Also, as they say, don’t quit your day job. A surprisingly small number of books have to be sold for you to have a New York Times bestselling novel. No, seriously. So, that means, while being a bestseller isn’t stratospheric, it also doesn’t make the writer a mint.

And, treat a business like, well, a business. This means budgets and planning. And if you’re up for neither, then you hire someone who is.

Oh, and speaking of locations…

#4. Be a Motivator, Even When Things are Tough

Check out this spectacular tip, all about motivating employees during stressful times. Talk about eliminating business failure right there! Entrepreneur notes that it’s impossible to get rid of all stress. Much the same as it’s impossible to truly eliminate business failure, of course. The basic idea is to lower both, yes?

Beyond being an empathetic manager and encouraging clear communication, we wanted to highlight one rather specific tip.

Encourage Vacations

Does that feel counterintuitive?

It shouldn’t.

Do you remember when you were a worker bee? You probably wanted your vacation time to come sooner. And you probably hoped it was longer than it truly was. Furthermore, you likely dreaded coming back to backlog.

Your employees have those exact same feelings and desires.

If you can’t afford to offer more than 2 weeks of vacation per year, then so be it. You can still make that a better time for your employees. You can be cheerful and encouraging when they want to take time off. And you can assign someone to help alleviate the backlog so they don’t come back to a huge tsunami of work and get stressed out all over again.

Besides, cross training is good for teams!

#3. Put Together Your Business’s Own Personal Think Tank

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you build a high performance team. Logic 2020 tells us this isn’t exactly the same as the people you hire for a work group. A work group solves basic, quantifiable problems. Such as, you need to expand into New Mexico. Or maybe you need to raise production by 20% this year.

A high performance team, on the other hand, is for abstract, creative problems. They might still be tackling a problem like raising production. But instead, they would be approaching it from an angle like adding AI or buying new software. In contrast, the work group would be looking at hiring more workers or coaxing faster delivery times from suppliers.

Here’s our fave tip of the bunch.

Pay Attention to Recruitment and Hire Specialists, Not Generalists

This is a favorite tip because it has a personal angle to your intrepid blog writer.

Because I have been hired to work on problems which were existing for the first time. Case in point: one job was to create a legal vocabulary for a voice recognition product. The team already had medical vocabularies. But they had no idea how to start with legal.

Rather than being good at voice recognition, the truth is, I had never worked on it before. But I knew legal and I knew (still do!) writing. This meant thinking about use cases which I had personally experienced. Those included dictation with spelling and creating legal citations. A lawyer or police officer would have to add new names and street names just about every single day. Contrast this with a doctor who could add the names of diseases and treatments maybe once and then be done.

It’s this kind of lateral, off the wall thinking that you want in your high performance team. It’s one way to eliminate business failure.

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! Eliminate business failure – and more!

#2. Come on Board, New Employees!

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on your onboarding process. Manta reveals all about what to do with that awesome, high performance team once you’ve hired them.

One way to help eliminate business failure is to treat your employees right. And you need to do so from the very start. This goes beyond education and training and providing regular feedback. Although we’re not knocking those.

Being in a remote work location, we wanted to focus on one aspect of the article.

Employee Social Connections

When I’m in Boston, you’re in Boise, and our coworker is in Biloxi, we aren’t going to go out for drinks after work. Maybe ever.

So, what can we do?

Work toward connections. Part of this is programmatic. That is, you spend time on virtual meetings, and maybe more of those than you would have if you were in the same office. Make it a regular habit to check in and check in regularly.

Another thing you can do is to keep teams from being isolated from each other. We at Credit Suite do this via collaboration using a tool called Slack. You may find other ways to do so.

And here’s a tip, straight from me to you: organize some sort of an employee gathering, once a year. You probably can’t invite everyone, but at least get the team leaders in. Give them the opportunity to get in some face time. Add in some teamwork – and that can be bowling or a trivia competition or whatever. It doesn’t all have to be about work, 24/7.

Your employees don’t have to be close pals and love each other. But they should be at least collegial to each other.

#1. Save Your Startup $

We saved the best for last. One way to eliminate business failure is, of course, to save money. Here’s how.

For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on trimming startup operating expenses. Young Upstarts says there are a few areas where you can cut expenses which you may not have thought of.

One is to negotiate with your suppliers. We agree with this and also see it as a prelude to getting vendor credit with them. Perhaps you could get a trade reference if your supplier likes your business that much (and you have a good payment record with them).

Another option is outsourcing. Could you work with freelancers, or even people overseas? The beauty of this approach is, you can try people out with less risk than a full-blown hiring process. Like them? Then hire them full-time when you can. Don’t like them? Then cut your ties.

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! Eliminate business failure – and more!

The post Eliminate Business Failure and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Support Work Place Mental Health and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

Are you supporting work place mental health at your business? We show you how to make your workplace friendlier for mental health. Plus, nine more awesome tips to close the deals while treating your employees right.

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Support Work Place Mental Health 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. Be Real!

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about building an authentic Instagram audience. Entrepreneur says your aim should be to create a community, and not just a bunch of followers. But the tip we loved was the first one – and it leads directly into the one about a community.

Follow Hashtags to Instagram Glory

Now, the truth is, you can do this on Twitter and Facebook as well. Although, note that on Facebook there’s less of a culture of using hashtags on posts, replies, notes, etc. People use hashtags to cull the tsunami of information they get every day on social media. It’s easier to read enough content to fill, say, an hour, versus 24 hours. Heck, it’s not possible to keep up with everything anyway.

This takes advantage of a truth for everyone. We all curate our social media feeds, or we let algorithms do that work for us. Because none of see everything. It’s physically impossible.

This means your ideal audience is doing so as well. The posts they click on and react to are fueling the algorithm. They’re essentially telling the algorithm what interests them. So, let’s say you have a dry cleaning establishment. People might not be taking about it too much on Instagram. But for those who are, they’re probably using hashtags like #drycleaning and #drycleaner. They may even be using hashtags like #laundry and #delicatefabric or #lookinggood.

As you find these people, engage with them. This means commenting on photos and maybe sending a personal message. But be mindful of the fact that not everyone likes personal messages. And, you probably shouldn’t lead with one. ‘Cause that’s just creepy.

#9. Soften Your Sales for Success

The next awesome tip is about how to use soft selling in your sales efforts. Mail Shake notes that soft selling doesn’t mean passive selling. You are still trying to sell, after all.

Personalization

We have been beating this drum for quite a while, and so have many of the articles we’ve been reading lately. Because of technology, personalization is possible on a grander scale than ever before.

As a result, we loved their comparison between hard and soft selling. For hard sales, you get the prospect’s contact information. But there’s no specifics on that. Whereas for soft sales, it comes from personal contact, such as networking, social media engagement, or inbound marketing.

We are all on the lookout for scams. What sounds more like a scam to you? Is it someone calling you out of the blue with a sales offer, or someone you know, at least a little, making that same offer?

In the next tip, we’ll cover building trust.

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! Support work place mental health and treat your employees and customers right – plus nine other great tips this week.

#8. Build Trust Brick by Brick in Current Relationships

Our following life-changing tip concerns building trust in extant relationships. LinkedIn lays it all out for us. Of course, we are talking about this in the context of sales. But this could work for your not-so-commercial relationships, too.

Don’t believe us? Then try this tip on for size.

Treat Your Customers as if They Were Prospects

Essentially, as in life, don’t take people for granted!

Kind of a good idea no matter what, eh?

Checking in on existing customers is a great way to build trust and to set the stage for, perhaps, renewals or even upsells. And, let’s face it, you’ve spent a ton of time courting a prospect and converting them to a customer. Abandoning them once the check is cashed is the very antithesis of that.

And how should your customers feel if the only times you contact them are when it comes to getting your hands on some more of their cold, hard cash?

How would you feel?

#7. Perfect That Elevator Pitch for Investors

For our next sensational tip, we looked at avoiding errors in your first meeting with investors. Startup Professionals says that there are eight errors which you should be doing your best to avoid.

Actually, this is good advice for any sort of an elevator pitch, such as when you’re bucking for a new job. We encourage you to read the article and see for yourself. Hence, we’ll concentrate on one tip.

Stop. Talking. So. Fast.

Did you know that the attention span for elevator pitches is just 30 – 60 seconds? And that means about 150 – 250 words.

Any more than that, and you’re just overloading your potential investor. This means two things are in order. One, practice, practice, practice so you don’t lose words to um, uh, and er. And two, consult a thesaurus and find better, more descriptive words if you need them. This doesn’t mean $100 words. Rather, it means being succinct, so long as you can be understood.

That means instead of saying “our product is between blue and green”, you say, “our product is teal”. It’s not just faster and more succinct. It’s also more confident-sounding.

https://creditsuite.wistia.com/medias/94z8msbn94

#6. Empower Your Employees with Productivity Software

This tip is so cool, and it works! The SBA tells us all about productivity software to empower your employees. That’s a great way to support work place mental health, eh?

Our favorite tip had to do with showing big goals to your entire team. We loved that because it gathers all of the trees into a forest. That means it’s time for a true story.

Your Work Matters

Way back when – as in, the 90s – your intrepid blog writer worked as a data analyst for the Legal Department of a large insurance company. This company routinely spent millions of dollars every year on outside counsel. Their list of law firms topped 3,000 firms.

And so, I was asked to do two things – figure out if a firm is being paid fairly and determine if we can let a firm go and get another to pick up the slack.

This meant gathering a ton of supporting information from local offices. It also meant putting together a system for deciding ‘fairness’. Now, this is before much of the internet (we didn’t have access, anyway) existed, so there was no looking up salaries online.

With no information on the big picture, I never learned just how much money the company saved because they ended up with a workable system to decide how much to pay their outside counsel. With no information on the overarching reason for my task, I felt purposeless.

And, you guessed it, I finished the project and left shortly thereafter.

Employees want to have a sense of purpose. Showing them what their work is leading to can do that.

#5. Take the Time to Support Work Place Mental Health at Your Business

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

Support work place mental health – it’s the right thing to do.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization says work place mental health is not a subject everyone is comfortable with. But they should be.

Now, keep in mind that the article does not suggest that managers or entrepreneurs need to become therapists. In fact, one of their tips is to bring in a work place mental health counselor. This can be someone accessed remotely.

But here’s the tip we really liked and think should be explored in some depth.

Give Your Managers Training

This is not necessarily to be able to tell if someone has a mental health issue. It’s more to train your management to be more sensitive to the employees who report to them. This means praising people publicly when they do well. And it also means kindly addressing problems early, and in private.

If your employees feel comfortable talking to you about their work performance, then they just might feel comfortable talking to you about their work place mental health. And if you are a sensitive manager who pays attention to your employees, then you may notice when they are feeling off.

Depression Isn’t Just Feeling Down

We would be remiss if we didn’t touch upon this. And it wasn’t covered in the article, but it’s still vital. There are a number of memes flying around which claim that depression in particular is just an instance of temporary sadness or even inattention. As if counting your blessings could cure a serotonin imbalance!

So, keep in mind that an employee suffering from depression might not, to you, look ill. They may be holding it together as well as they can during business hours. But then at home, it all comes out.

And, the corollary to this is also true. An employee who’s down – particularly if there’s a readily identifiable cause – isn’t necessarily a person with mental health issues. That doesn’t mean you can’t offer counseling services, of course. Divorce, death, miscarriage, estrangement from family – these can all make people feel bad, of course.

Supporting workplace mental health means accounting for that, too.

In short, be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

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! Support work place mental health and treat your employees and customers right – plus nine other great tips this week.

#4. Hello, My Name is Email

Check out this spectacular tip, all about how to successfully introduce yourself over email. HubSpot notes that there’s an actual formula to writing an email to someone you don’t know – at all.

This is an excellent article, and we strongly encourage you to read it through to the end. It truly is that good.

So, instead we’re going to concentrate on one of their steps.

Make Your First Line About Them

How many times have you received an unsolicited email that started with – my name is ___? Or it started with – I’m writing to you because ___. You may have sent emails like that. Your intrepid blog writer sure has (oops, sorry).

But it’s an email. The sender’s name is already on there. And it isn’t, then the sender can add their name in their signature line, and they should.

Rather, try opening with a line like – I see that you won the __ prize recently. Or, I just saw your post about __ on ___. Here’s another: I’ve never learned so much from one piece of content.

Then, segue into why you’re writing – and it should be related to your opener. By definition, that means it needs to be related to the recipient. Here’s an idea:

I’ve never learned so much from one piece of content. To that end, I would love to get your quote for a similar article I’m writing.

By the way, this approach could work for anything from sending a resume to contacting someone’s dating profile…

#3. Where Do You Want to Go Today?

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you create a vision board. Score tells us that vision boards are a way to see where you want your life to go. And that can be for either your personal or professional life.

This article concentrates more on vision boards for a personal life. But there’s no reason why it can’t be adapted for professional use.

Consider the Future

For a personal vision board, it might be representations of a place you’d like to live or visit. Or it may be images of fitness or other goals. For professional goals, it could be visuals of success – for you or the business.

What does this spell, in terms of images? It could be a corner office or a picture of a second location. Or it could be an image of a lot of employees.

So, Where Do You Want Your Business to Go?

What are your business’s goals? If you own a trucking company, maybe you want to be the premier provider in Utah. Or maybe you want to hire more drivers or get more trucks. It could be that you have a company you’d like to snag as a client.

Having a visual representation of success can be inspiring to a lot of people. Why not decorate your workplace with a vision board? Talk about supporting workplace mental health, too. Because when you take others’ ideas into consideration, then they can feel a lot less isolated. That might make a difference for someone.

#2. Are You Meeting 401(k) Standards in Your Business?

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on making sure you meet 401(k) standards in your business. Effortless HR reveals all about this essential part of benefits handling.

Our fave tip was about having what is essentially a form of insurance. It’s actually an ERISA fidelity bond. The bond has to be equal to the lesser of $500,000 or 10% of the total investment accounts that you hold. This insurance bond protects your business if errors are found in your management of the 401(k) plan.

Did you know you needed that in order to offer a 401(k) to your employees?

#1. Master the Clock

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on improving time management. Under 30 CEO says better managing your time means you’re that much more likely to achieve your goals.

We’ve seen some of these tips before, to spend your leisure time on leisure, and to stop multitasking. Another tip we’ve already seen is to leverage your commute for minor work tasks (which is technically multitasking).

And while this tip is also something we’ve seen before; we’d like to showcase it anyway because we think everyone should do.

Banish Distractions

Quartz says the average smartphone user gets 63.5 notifications per day. We think this figure is grossly understated.

Of course, this isn’t the only source of distractions out there. But it’s one over which we all have some control. Do you honestly need to know every time someone has commented on a topic you answered in a forum? Or can you wait for a daily digest? Maybe you can skip the notification 100% and just visit that forum whenever you feel like it.

Yes, we all want to know when our appointments are. And we need to know if family are ill or otherwise need us. But do we really need to immediately know how many people liked a tweet?

Go into your apps and any sites you visit, and fiddle with the notification settings. See what works for you. You’ll probably find you don’t need to know everything, all the time, ASAP.

Take back your life.

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! Support work place mental health and treat your employees and customers right – plus nine other great tips this week.

The post Support Work Place Mental Health and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Great Generation Z Marketing and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

Looking for Generation Z marketing tips? We’ve got those and more this week for our ten brilliant business tips of the week. Find out how to reach the generation after the millennials.

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Grab Some Great Generation Z Marketing Tips 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. Better Bonuses? Yes, Please!

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about building an effective bonus plan. Because who doesn’t love bonuses? Great Game says bonuses need to have a connection to the goals of the business. And the time for being secretive and mysterious about them is over.

Here’s our fave tip.

Rally Everyone Around a Common Goal

So, how many times have you worked for (or heard of) a company where the only bonuses went out to people who made sales? Or who could prove their contributions cost less than what they brought in?

Good golly, that’s unfair. But why?

Because there are plenty of disciplines which are fully important to business operations. But they are cost rather than profit centers. After all, where can human resources show a profit? What about loss prevention?

And the clerical staff or the front-line factory workers? Fuggeddabout it. They will never see a bonus under these circumstances. By definition, they can’t.

So, where’s the incentive for them?

Communications Are Key

Now, this is true under most circumstances, anyway. But if a person who did really well for the company can’t get a little public recognition, then who can? Or should?

And in particular, if your employees need to meet some sort of quota or goal, let them know how they’re doing. How close are they? And how much further do they have to go? Is it possible for them to meet their goal, or not? Knowing they’re close might help some workers work just that much harder to meet their goal. And if you keep them informed early and often, some might not get discouraged if they are a little behind.

So, don’t just leave the feedback to the last minute.

#9. Grab Your Advantage and Become a Market Leader

The next awesome tip is about lower risk innovation which can help you become a market leader. Entrepreneurs’ Organization notes you should get started with ‘jobs to do’. That is, understand what your product actually does for your customers.

This gets into a bigger theme we’ve noticed for a while.

Let Your Customers Take the Reins

The biggest thing we have learned while writing these marketing posts is to listen to your customers.

Listen to your customers.

Let’s repeat that.

Listen to your customers. They know what they want. And it may not be what you think they should want.

It’s time for a true story. And it’s a new one. As in, this just happened this morning.

Please Don’t Treat Me Like Everyone Else

So, I am not in Generation Z. Heck, there are plenty of places which say I’m not even Gen X, although I tend to act and consume like that cohort. For the record, I’m ‘officially’ a late boomer. Birth date in 1962, yo’.

But I digress. I am on Twitter, and I tend to follow fellow writers. This morning, a profile I recently filed sent me a generic DM with their links and all. At least they had the foresight to call me by name. But it was my full name on Twitter.

Anyone who thinks their program scraped my name from the appropriate Twitter field, give yourself a cookie.

That was the sole attempt at personalization.

So, I sent them a return PM. And I told them in no uncertain terms that their DM was tone-deaf, generic, and clearly mass-produced. I also told them that if they didn’t have the time to get more personal with their intended audience, then they either need an assistant or they’re trying to be all things to all people.

And, let’s face it. I am most likely not in their target audience. The writing community reads, yes. But our Holy Grail is to find readers.

The person who DM’d me was savvy and gracious enough to thank me for my thoughts. And so, in return, I apologized for being harsh.

Smart Move on the Part of the Marketer

The kicker is that the writer, in this case, absolutely salvaged the situation. Will this person change their ways? Maybe. I have no idea. But they were wise enough to acknowledge my opinion and, dare I say, treat me like an individual.

By listening to your audience, your customers and your prospects, you are treating them like people and not a monolith. And that’s not just good for marketing to the post-millennial generation.

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! Start Generation Z marketing today, and more!

#8. Up with Productivity; Down with Stress!

Our following life-changing tip concerns lowering your stress levels. Score lays it all out for us. And be sure to check tip #7, which is also about combatting stress.

But first, let’s tackle productivity. After all, it can be extremely stressful when you don’t seem to be able to get everything done on time. And beyond that, if you’re constantly getting everything done after hours, that will take a lot out of you physically. Not to mention, it could interfere with parenting or even threaten your marriage.

There were some great tips here, but we’ll just focus on one.

Om Shanti – Meditate Your Way to Less Stress

You don’t need to climb a mountain and meet a yogi. Rather, you can just download a meditation app onto your phone or computer. The main point of meditation is to train your mind to essentially go to a ‘happy place’, even if everything else around you is going to hell in a handbasket.

This doesn’t mean you ignore your problems. It’s more that you are able to approach them more dispassionately. That can make it easier to solve them.

Consider this. It’s a lot like listening to your friend’s problems with their love life, and you have the solution on the spot. But when it comes to your own issues, you’re stumped. Well, sure, because you’re too close to those problems.

Stepping back could be the key to seeing solutions all the more clearly – and faster. What better way to increase productivity than to lessen the amount of time you spend fixing stuff?

#7. Banish Your Financial Stress in 2020

For our next sensational tip, we looked at financial stress in your business, and how to minimize if not outright omit it. Small Biz Club says that over half of all entrepreneurs say debt is a problem.

But you may be asking, don’t you advocate carrying debt here at Credit Suite?

Not exactly.

In reality, we advocate building and leveraging credit. But we also feel you should never bite off more credit you can ‘chew’. Being incapable of paying your business debts is hardly the definition of success.

While this article is mainly about personal finances, we suggest checking it out anyway. Many issues with personal financial stressors are similar to business finance stressors.

In particular, if there’s more than one owner of your company, be open and honest with each other about money. Your business’s survival will depend on your open communications in this area, so don’t clam up about business cash.

#6. Soothe Those Ruffled Feathers

This tip is so helpful, and it works! Inc tells us all about dealing with difficult customers.

Talk about your stressors!

We highly recommend reading the entire article, as it offers a good framework for this inevitable issue. Hence, let’s talk about one tip which really stands you in good stead with difficult customers. Heck, it should help you in your relationships.

Seriously.

Own Up, Apologize, Address, and Resolve

These are actually two separate tips, but we feel they’re related closely enough to talk about them together.

For any issue in life, you can cover it up and deny it. Or you can own up to it. So, if you did it – whatever it is – say you did. Of course, we all have egos. And we don’t necessarily enjoy or want to confess to our mistakes. But they are going to come out, sooner or later.

Admit to them and you’ll be able to control at least a small part of the narrative.

And then apologize.

“I took the last cookie. I’m sorry.”

Then address the issue. It’s not just an admission of guilt that’s necessary. You should also be working to prevent a recurrence.

“I took the last cookie. I’m sorry. I’ll make sure we keep cookies permanently on our shopping list, so we don’t run low again.”

Finally, resolve the issue, as soon as you can.

“I took the last cookie. I’m sorry. I’ll make sure we keep cookies permanently on our shopping list, so we don’t run low again. This afternoon, I’ll go to the store and get more.”

There, now, that wasn’t so bad, now.

#5. Learn All About Generation Z Marketing

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

Go beyond the millennial generation and get into Generation Z marketing!

Manta says this generation is going to become 40% of all consumers by year 2020.

Wait a second – that’s this year.

Now, you may be saying to yourself – Generation Snowflake is still a bunch of kids. They aren’t interested in my widgets. Not so fast. Per Wikipedia, the post-millennial generation was born between the mid- to late-90s to, well, they’re not sure when. 2010 seems to come up a lot as the endpoint. But so do 2012 and 2014.

And no, we don’t know what the post-Generation Z cohort is going to be called, either.

That means the eldest among them are turning 25 this year. So, these are people who can drive, vote, drink, join the armed forces, and marry. They’re already done with their bachelor’s degrees (if they have them). They may even be past a master’s degree by now. And they may be parents by now – more than once.

For Generation Z Marketing, Find Out What They’re All About

Generation Z was born into the internet – and it was already a place where a lot of non-technical people were hanging out. Their celebrity heroes are folks like Pewdie Pie, Kylie Jenner, and Millie Bobby Brown.

How Do You Get Started with Generation Z Marketing?

Start with shareworthy content. That’s easier said than done, though.

Catchy information with a high level of expertise is a great place to start.

Another tip we really liked was to share your content in bits. For one thing, this cohort has an average attention span of – gulp – 8 seconds. Perfect for Twitter, eh?

So, instead of sharing the entire article (like this one), a better tactic for Generation Z marketing is to just refer to tip #5 in one tweet. And then tip #10 in another tweet. Then, feature tip #3 in an Instagram post. You get the idea.

Oh, and share user-generated content. And if you can convert your content to video, do so.

Is this perfect for Generation Z marketing? Maybe not. But it’s a dang fine start.

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! Start Generation Z marketing today, and more!

#4. Up Your Business Growth with Terrific Online Listings

Check out this spectacular tip, all about leveraging your online listings to help your business grows. Succeed as Your Own Boss notes that how you list products and services online can make a difference when it comes to sales.

And, we might add, when it comes to search.

As is often the case, we highly recommend reading this article in its entirety. But one tip really stood out to us.

Tell Your Product’s (or Service’s) Backstory

What does that mean?

In fiction, it’s the history of your character, before the book or series started. In fiction writing and presentation on TV and film, the backstory is generally better told in pieces. Otherwise, it rightfully feels like an information dump.

But in your online sales listings, you kind of have to. So, our suggestion is to do this, but also to edit the heck out of it. Consider your Generation Z customers and, really, all of us. After all, everyone is busy, and we are all bombarded with information all day long.

Hence, you probably shouldn’t be writing about how your widgets are locally sourced, unless you can spread that story out across several pages. Maybe the first bit of the production process can be a part of the online listing for one product, and then the second step can end up on the online listing for another.

Experiment!

#3. You Can Lead a Prospect to Your Business…

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you with lead generation. United Capital Source tells us that generating low-quality leads is a surefire way to basically just waste money and time. And, probably, the goodwill and energy of your sales staff.

Hence the article is devoted to various forms of lead generation. We recommend reading it in its entirety as one or the other of their strategies may work for you. Hence, we’re only going to zero in on one of their tactics.

Swap Leads with a Partner

This makes so much sense, and we are kind of surprised we haven’t seen anything like this before!

That is, get to know noncompeting businesses which serve the same demographic niche(s) you do. Their leads could work as your leads, and vice versa.

So, let’s say you have a nail salon, but you don’t do hair. There’s nothing wrong – and a lot right – with talking with nearby hair salon owners and seeing if you can do a lead trade. It will probably be beneficial to both of you.

And you’re not left out if you offer services! If you have a long-haul trucking company, there may be freight companies with a similar lead profile. After all, if a business knows it needs shipping of some form, it may start with air or rail. But then they would quickly realize that there also has to be good, reliable, and fast ground transportation to complement those methods.

So, look for the jam to your peanut butter. And you might just create a partnership in other areas, like sponsoring a local Little League team or running a conference together or – whatever!

#2. Go and Get More Done

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on multitasking while on the go. Addicted to Success reveals all about stretching the hour, almost like some people stretch a dollar.

Now, multitasking gets a bad rap at times, because it’s sometimes a not so efficient way to get things done. So, we’d like to concentrate on one tip which just might help save the planet.

Rethink Your Commute

Unfortunately, not every area allows for this. But for those that do, why not use public transportation to get to the office? Yes, the bus is probably not as fast as your car – and you’re beholden to their schedule.

But if you can make it work, having someone else do the driving means your time can be spent on something else. And, it just may be less stressful. Commuting time will never come back to you, so you may as well make the most of it.

Plus, we think there are a few things you can do which the article didn’t go into.

First, could you carpool? Maybe just one day per week to start. Save gas and spend time with someone, maybe someone on your team. You can meet, after a fashion. Or just spend time together quietly sitting or even having some fun. Getting to know your colleagues better is probably not a bad thing.

And another idea is, if it’s safe and feasible, how about bicycling to work? We all know that more aerobic exercise is good for us. You may even live longer. Bring a change of clothes – don’t wear your good clothes to bike. No good bike paths or bus routes by you? Then talk to your local government.

Because you may not be the only person who wants to change their commute.

#1. Hire the Right People, the First Time – and Keep Them

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on developing and keeping top talent. HBR says keeping top talent is an ongoing process. You don’t just offer (for example) a company gym. You give your best people a chance to better develop themselves.

This kind of individual treatment is what we’ve been advocating for customers and prospects, too.

Treat people like they were the only person in the world. What a concept.

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! Start Generation Z marketing today, and more!

The post Great Generation Z Marketing and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Start Smarter Hiring Practices in 2020 and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

It’s 2020, time for smarter hiring practices. Hiring is costly, but bad hiring can be devastating to a business. Learn how to perfect this essential business skill. Plus, nine other ways to take your small business to the next level this year.

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Bring Smarter Hiring Practices to Your Business 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. How to Excel in Your Business

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about working with our old friend, Excel. HubSpot says this old workhorse program is on many if not most resumes. That is, for people looking for office jobs. There are any number of traditional uses for Excel. The article provides instructions for how to create a business model. That’s worth the price of admission all by itself.

So, instead, we want to concentrate on one specific use in the article.

Time Tracking

There are any number of time tracking apps and software out there. But before you go and plunk down serious money for one or learn a new system (even if it’s free), our old friend Excel can also do the job.

All you really need is a spreadsheet with the following:

Dates Covered	1/17/2020	to	1/23/2020
Date	Time In	Lunch Start	Lunch End	Time Out	Hours Worked
1/17/2020	8:45:00 AM	1:00:00 PM	1:30 PM	5:00 PM	7:45
1/18/2020	9:00 AM	12:00 PM	1:00 PM	5:30 PM	7:30
1/19/2020	8:15 AM	12:15 PM	1:00 PM	6:00 PM	9:00
1/20/2020	8:30 AM	11:30 AM	12:00 PM	5:30 PM	8:30
1/21/2020	9:00 AM	11:45 AM	12:30 PM	5:00 PM	7:15
1/22/2020	9:00 AM	12:00 PM	12:45 PM	4:15 PM	6:30
1/23/2020	9:15 AM	12:30 PM	12:45 PM	5:45 PM	8:15
		Total Hours Worked			54:45:00

Formulas

Here’s how the formulas work. Let’s start with cell A1 (that’s where you type Dates Covered). In cell A3, put the first date of the time period you’re covering. Obviously, if your time period is longer or shorter, add cells accordingly. In our example, you put the last date of the time period in cell A9.

For cell B1, type =A3. This gets you the first date of the time period. In cell A4, type to. And in cell A5, type =A9 (if you’re adding or subtracting dates, then you want the cell including the last date after the equals sign).

Format cells B3 through E9 under Custom. Add h:mm AM/PM as the format. For cells F3 through F9, format under Time, 13:30. In cell F10, format it under Time, 37:30:55.

The F3 formula is: =(C3-B3)+(E3-D3). Place your cursor in the right lower corner of cell F3 until you see a black cross. Pull down until cell F9 and you’ll get the right formula for all of the cells where you need it.

The F10 formula is: =SUM(F3:F9). Everything else is just formatting and depends on how pretty you want the spreadsheet to be.

To calculate salary, add a column where you convert the hours to regular format (it’s probably easiest to do this manually). Hence, 8:30 should be written as 8.5. Add one more column and type in =(cell name*salary), where cell name is the designation of the cell with the converted format and salary of course is what you pay on an hourly basis.

Excel Rocks, and It Works

When your company gets larger, Excel might no longer be a feasible way to handle your time tracking. But until it is, this hardworking program can be your best friend.

#9. Get in the Ring with Business Heavyweight, Amazon

The next awesome tip is about competing with the 700-pound gorilla in the room: Amazon. Small Business Bonfire notes smaller enterprises can successfully compete. They are often nimbler and can be quicker to react to new information or business conditions. Those are huge advantages. Here are a few more.

Personalized Service

There are only a few areas where Amazon can truly offer a personalized sales experience. For example, when installation is offered. And even then, installation isn’t offered everywhere. It’s a lot more likely to be available if you live in a major urban center (like I do).

So, you, as a small business owner, have got something that Amazon doesn’t.

In your shop, you can greet customers by name if you know them. And you can use data to give them personalized recommendations. While Amazon tries to do so with offering related products, they don’t always hit their marks.

You’re smarter than Amazon’s suggestion database.

I guarantee 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! Make smarter hiring practices a part of your business’s DNA in 2020, and more.

#8. Improve Your Website Rankings

Our following life-changing tip concerns upping your website rankings in search. Success Harbor lays it all out for us.

Now, we’ve blogged about a lot of their suggestions already. Here, they’re in a convenient format. But I will caution you: some of the information is out of date. For example, they suggest getting backlinks from StumbleUpon. Well, they shut their doors in June of 2018.

So, take their suggestions with a grain of salt.

We suggest, of course, to create as good a website as you can. That means speed, links that work, user security, and relevance. Because what helps you succeed in search will also help you succeed in business.

#7. Google, Let Me Talk to You About Search

For our next sensational tip, we looked at improving and optimizing your website for voice search. Doers Empire says that voice search is getting big – which is exactly what our SEO people are telling us. Current reports say a good 3.5 billion voice searches go on every day. Yeah, that’s billion with a B.

We recommend reading the entire article as there are details which you shouldn’t miss. So, instead, we’ll concentrate on one area only.

Long-Tail Keywords Rule

You may have heard the term before (at least, I hope you have). If you haven’t, no sweat. Here’s what they are.

Let’s say you go shopping for a birthday present for the six-year-old daughter of a friend. And you know this little girl loves animals. The more exotic, the better.

Instead of searching for just gifts, your search might look something like this.

Show me zebra-striped barrettes for a little girl. The seller must offer free shipping.

You’ll get a lot fewer results this way. But the chances of them being on point are extremely high.

By being specific in your prose on blogs and product and landing pages, you’ll get prospects who are a lot closer to buying. They know what they want. And once search serves them with choices, they’ll decide.

You may pick the first return you get. Or the one with the best prices, or a seller you know and trust. Maybe you’ll select a local retailer or made in the USA or even a seller where you have an account and can get loyalty points.

To make your search even faster, you might even specify those particulars from the start. If you only get one search result, then so what? If it’s precisely what you want and need, you have no need for a second search result.

Specify. You’ll never regret it.

#6. Save Bucks on Search

This tip is so cost-effective, and it works! Word Stream tells us all about improving your pay per click (PPC) budget. Paid search can be a godsend. It can get your product or service in front of so many more people! So, don’t spend an arm and a leg on it.

A lot of this article is about budgeting and forecasting, so please check it out for the details.

Our biggest takeaway from it was to keep in mind that results in search aren’t immediate. So, be patient! And recognize that any budgeting will need to take multiple month payments into consideration.

You won’t be an overnight success. But with smart paid search planning, your not-so fast success won’t come at the expense of too much of your company’s budget.

#5. Smarter Hiring Practices Can Be Yours

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

It’s 2020, time to bring smarter hiring practices to your business.

Small Business Bonfire says there are some understandable legal pitfalls when it comes to hiring and firing.

The article provides valuable advice for both hiring and firing. It really should be read in its entirety – we highly recommend it. This includes doing a business background check, of course.

But first, here are some personal stories/observations on both.

Hiring – a Personal Story

Of course, your intrepid blog writer has been hired in places. And I have also done hiring in some places.

My first tip is to make candidates feel comfortable. Remember, you were in the exact same situation before. Being kind costs your company nothing (whereas the hiring process for just one new employee can run about $4,000). And being kind can help more introverted candidates shine.

Not all of your employees have to be live wires, unless you’re hiring for the Sales Department. Hiring some of the quieter people out there can help better balance your workforce. Going out of your way to make them comfortable can help some people who otherwise may not interview well most of the time. More perspectives are good for any business.

Firing – a Personal Story

Yeah, I have been through this as well. And I have had to fire people. It’s never easy. It shouldn’t be.

My suggestion is to, assuming the person wasn’t actively stealing from the company or harassing your other employees, make it easy for them to collect unemployment. There are states where there are a lot of restrictions on who can collect. You may be disappointed in a hire who didn’t work out and didn’t really do much. But keep your personal feelings out of it if you can.

You may be less than thrilled with your ex-employee. But your okay could be all that’s standing between them getting an unemployment check and being able to feed their family – or not. You’re angry at them, maybe. But you’re probably not angry at their spouse or significant other. And for God’s sake, you’re not angry at their children. Right?

So, don’t begrudge them the ability to collect on insurance that you and they have paid into. You won’t get that money back by being nasty.

Do this, and you’ll be able to sleep at night.

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 smarter hiring practices a part of your business’s DNA in 2020, and more.

#4. Use Your Smarter Hiring Practices and Put Together a High-Performing Team Through Leadership

Check out this spectacular tip, all about building higher-performing teams through leadership. Talk about your smarter hiring practices! Proof Hub notes that their first suggestion is to do just that – to engage in smarter hiring practices and bring in people who you feel can excel. And, they need to be people who you feel will work well together.

We wanted to focus on one particular tip.

Address the Team, Not Individuals

We found this to be a fascinating idea. Now, of course teams are composed of individuals. Their roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined. Underperformers should be shored up and helped, so they can succeed.

But this particular tip is about when things go a little, shall we say, ca-ca.

When one person is continually blamed for problems, it doesn’t just hurt them. It doesn’t just make their work life miserable. It can also make others’ work lives miserable. If you have put together a good team who like to work together, then blaming X for really anything is going to be felt by the entire team.

We would like to add not just addressing the entire team when things go haywire. We also strongly suggest any personal issues for one employee in particular be handled in private.

Because dressing down an employee in front of others, no matter how well-deserved, makes people uncomfortable.

Do the right thing and wait for a time when you’re not in front of the rest of the team. HR may need to be involved, of course. It can’t always be one on one. Just, eliminate the audience.

Treat that employee like you would want to be treated.

#3. Huddle Up and Get Your Business Going

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you more effectively handle your short huddle-style meetings. Great Game tells us a company huddle should be handled more or less like an actual sports huddle.

That is, check your current game conditions. What works, and what doesn’t?

Check the score. That is, what are your numbers?

And plan the next play. As in, what are your upcoming plans?

But our fave tip was to get all fired up. Being psyched about who you are, and what you do, is a great way to lead your business into future success. Dare we say? It helps make your smarter hiring practices really pay off.

#2. Polish the Shine on a Dull Industry

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on creating compelling content, even when your company and your industry aren’t exactly excitement fests. Noobpreneur reveals all about garnering attention even when you’re industry is kind of, for lack of a better word, dull.

Sorry.

So, how do you do it? We really liked the examples and ideas this article had, so we recommend reading it in its entirety. Hence, we’ll zero in on just one of their ideas.

Focus Your Blog Topics

We firmly believe in this! Consider these Friday posts. While they aren’t about business credit, per se, they are about running a small business. Marketing is a huge part of business, and it can lead directly to success. Furthermore, the better you can market yourself and your business, the better you’ll handle important business moments such as meeting with investors or talking to a lender about a loan.

Going utterly off-topic is a poor idea pretty much 100% of the time. Why?

Because your readers aren’t coming to your blog for your movie reviews if your company is all about baking cookies. With no connection to your main topic, your readers will see the off-topic post for what it is – a waste of their time.

Ouch.

There’s nothing wrong with branching out a bit. But you need a connection to the main topic at hand. Without that connection, you just look like you’re trying to be all things to all people. And that never works out.

#1. Become an Investor Magnet

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on attracting investor attention with your personal attributes. Startup Professionals says a personal connection between you and angel investors and venture capitalists can be the difference between success and failure.

They cited a few examples of how you can become catnip to investors. Here are a few that we especially loved.

Integrity, Humility, and Stability

Yeah, we know. There are a lot of wacko geniuses out there. But stability goes a lot further with investors. You could be brilliant. But if the investors think there’s a chance you’ll crash and burn, they’ll lose interest. And if they think you’ll skip town with their funds, then they’ll be happy to have the law on you.

Effective Communication

You don’t have to be a salesperson. The two suggestions in the article were to personalize communications and to listen as well speak. And let’s face it, that’s good life advice anyway.

Already Set and Achieved Fundamental Milestones

Many investors want to see you’re already on you’re way. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to already be profitable. It’s more that you have set goals and have met some of them. This doesn’t just show you’re operating well. It also shows that you’re capable of making SMART goals and follow through.

Expert in Your Chosen Field

This, we felt, is key. This doesn’t just show that you know your stuff. It also means that you keep up with your industry. And it means that you are willing and able to continue your education. You don’t rest on your laurels. You read, you network with people in your field, and even return to school if necessary. And you care about being right.

Pro tip: it’s not just investors who love that.

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 smarter hiring practices a part of your business’s DNA in 2020, and more.

The post Start Smarter Hiring Practices in 2020 and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Improve Your Business and Avoid Workplace Drama and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week

Office interpersonal relationships got you down? Watching your employees snipe at each other? Is the gossip train speeding through your company? Then it’s time to avoid workplace drama. Plus, nine other excellent tips to get you going in this new year.

The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Avoid Workplace Drama 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. Take Your Customers on a Journey

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about a new process to close sales. G2 says your sales process is a kind of roadmap. It pulls your salespeople along from prospect to consideration to sale to after-sale nurturing. But your sales methodology is the ‘how’. Your sales methodology shows you several ways to go through the steps in your sales process. It is your company’s philosophy of how a sale should be carried out.

We really liked this article because it carefully lays out the various steps in a standard sales process. As a result, we highly recommend reading the article in its entirety.

In particular, we draw your attention to the section on after-sales nurturing. The word ‘yes’ isn’t the end. It is just the beginning.

#9. I Pledge Allegiance to the One, Unique Product – Yours

The next awesome tip is about making your product stand out. The Self Employed notes there are a number of ways to showcase your uniqueness. And, yes, you can do this even if your product is toothpaste or your service (yes, services can benefit from this article) is dog walking.

We truly loved the concept of, essentially, being human. Seriously, how many times have you read a company blog or About Us page which was just so much jargon?

So, be human and be approachable. It’s perhaps a little concerning that being human is a unique sales proposition. But there you have 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! Avoid workplace drama and be more productive – and more!

#8. Kick Your Sales into High Gear

Our following life-changing tip concerns creating the ultimate sales kickoff. LinkedIn lays it all out for us.

Did you know that a good 29% of attendees rate their company’s sales kickoffs at a C or below?

Ouch.

A smart way to get your sales kickoffs out of the doldrums is to consider the ultimate goal. It’s to inspire people, right? And it’s also about getting everyone on the same page.

So, does that have to happen via a PowerPoint presentation where the presenter drones on and on while everyone checks their phone, or wishes they were?

Our favorite tip was to continue with learning after the kickoff is done. And that makes a lot of sense to us – reinforce what was said so it sticks!

#7. Time to Focus Like a Laser on Your Customers

For our next sensational tip, we looked at focusing on your customers. Startup Professionals says that customer expectations have changed radically in the past few years.

Some of this may be generationally driven, as Generation Z (born after 1996) is now outnumbering the millennials. Millennials are born after 1981.

But it’s also just a function of how markets have been changing. As customers demand more and more personalization and attention, they get it. And then, because they like it, they want more.

It is, without a doubt, a self-perpetuating cycle.

Analytics FTW

Oh, we do so love analysis. For the bottom line is, without measurements, we have no idea how anything is doing. Analytics are also great because they push us to create goals and attempt to achieve them. If the goal is for 5% more sales during the quarter, and we know how many sales were closed in the past quarter, then we know what’s expected for the current quarter. We know what success looks like. And that is very powerful.

There’s another aspect of this article we really liked.

Ask What Your Customers Want

What is the easiest way to find out what people want?

C’mon, this is not rocket science.

You ask.

So, ask.

#6. Save Your Money on Ads (for the most part)

This tip is so cool, and it works! Succeed as Your Own Boss tells us all about attracting customers without having to pay for advertising.

This is a great article and it really should be read in its entirety. Here’s our fave takeaway.

Don’t Just Throw Jell-O Against the Wall, Hoping It’ll Stick

Well, that’s not exactly how Melinda Emerson put it. This is actually a combo of two tips. One is to know your audience. And the other is to measure (our fave!).

Reading between the lines, this advice is virtually identical to what you should be doing with paid advertising.

The conclusion we draw from this is, treat free advertising like paid. That is, be intentional about it. And be organized so you’re not just playing around. Make every move count.

#5. It’s Time to Get Out of Middle School and Avoid Workplace Drama

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

It’s time to avoid workplace drama and get down to business.

Young Upstarts says there are a number of ways to derail the gossip train and avoid workplace drama.

We are so listening.

Model the Behavior You Wish to See

Also known as – be the change you wish to see in the world. Or, at least, at the office. You can avoid workplace drama by not encouraging it. And you can also avoid workplace drama by not spreading rumors.

We really loved this tip because it’s all about leadership. And, the truth is, anyone can do it. From the CEO to the cleaning crew, everyone can avoid workplace drama simply by stopping it and cutting it off at its knees.

Transparency Looks Good on You

This tip also really spoke directly to us, and it’s all because of something your intrepid blog writer remembers from, egad, a good 30+ years ago. So, it’s story time.

True Story

Drama, drama, drama.

There never seemed to be so much of it in my life until I worked for a certain firm. This was the 1980s, so it was back when there was a clerical pool.

The firm did something which, in my opinion, was a disaster.

While hiring a clerical office manager is often a great idea, the person who was hired was just plain awful. They were, among other things, overly and unnecessarily secretive. Compounding problems was the fact that things were allowed to deteriorate for a long time.

As a result, secretaries left. In droves. It was hard to keep anyone on staff who could actually type.

Don’t laugh – this was a big, big deal back in the day.

So, this office manager once asked me – what do you hear about me? And yes, I heard stuff on occasion. But I said nothing. Why? It wasn’t because I disliked this person, although I did. It was more because the request was an improper one. I wasn’t in charge of anything. So, asking me about what the rumor mill said was just plain nuts.

It would have perpetuated the problem instead of being a way to avoid workplace drama.

I don’t recall anyone telling this person, although it’s been over three decades, so my memory may not be perfect. Perhaps someone else did. But either way, the inquiry didn’t help this person. Instead of trying to avoid workplace drama, they were fueling it. And instead of being open and transparent, they hid.

They were let go not too long after that. And so much of it had to do with not being transparent. Which leads me to ….

Encourage People to Carry Their Own Messages

This one also really resonated. Some of this relates to the above story. Essentially, instead of asking me what others were saying, this office manager should have asked people directly. Now, it’s entirely possible they wouldn’t have been truthful. But they should have asked. Having me carry water for her was an absurd notion. She was the boss and should have been confident enough to speak directly to the clerical staff.

Instead, by trying to use a go-between, she perpetuated the problem.

Talk directly to people. Even if it’s unpleasant or uncomfortable. You’re the boss if not the owner. This is why they pay you the big bucks.

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! Avoid workplace drama and be more productive – and more!

#4. Overworking is no Good for You or Your Business

Check out this spectacular tip, all about avoiding becoming overworked. Work It Daily notes that overworking makes you a less effective worker.

But it can be easier to say you’ll stop overworking than to do it.

And the article smartly acknowledges there are people with financial goals who take on a side gig because they need cash in the short term. Plus, they may be trying to start a business. You may be one of those people or have been.

But then there’s another reason for overworking.

Time Management Matters

Quick true story here.

In the 90s, your intrepid blog writer worked for a person who. Could. Not. Stop. Yapping.

All the livelong day, they would talk to this one or that one. And it turned out to be fortunate that this boss didn’t like me. I was left alone!

As a result, I got my work done on time and left at 5, 5:30 most nights.

This person and their coterie did not.

They also complained (as a part of their constant gabfest) about being overworked.

Whatever this person wanted to do with their life, whatever goals they had for themselves outside of work – those were all sacrificed at the almighty altar of incessantly chattering.

Don’t be that person – and you won’t be overworked.

#3. Throw Some Water on Your Burnout

To go along with tip #4, it’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you avoid burning out. Acorns tells us it’s all about four D’s.

Delete

Is the task really worth the time and money you’re putting into it? Not?

Then why the hell are you doing it?

Delay

You probably don’t have to do everything at once, the very moment you’re asked to. If so, then you have got to ask about priorities. Once you have the priorities down, guess what? You know what you can put off. And keep that in mind for the future. If that task comes up again, you just may be able to defer is again.

Diminish

You can diminish tasks by finding a shortcut to get them done. Even if it just saves you a keystroke, that will pay off if you have to perform a similar task over and over again.

Your intrepid blog writer firmly believes laziness is an evolutionary advantage. The basics of it are not to sit around and do absolutely nothing, though. Rather, the idea is to find faster and easier ways to do nearly anything.

After all, many of us have dishwashers. Are we lazy for not washing and drying our dishes by hand? Of course not! And by having a machine perform this task, that frees us up for all sorts of things. Those things can be everything from a task which cannot be performed by a machine (yet) to working on our relationships. Or binge-watching Netflix.

So, when you have a moment, consider what you do at work which takes a lot of time or feels repetitive. You just may be able to find a faster way of doing it.

Delegate

This one, we hope, is self-explanatory. You do not have to do everything. That way lies madness.

#2. Ready, Aim, Customer!

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on how to reach your target audience. Noobpreneur reveals all about determining your target audience and how to best and most effectively reach them.

Target audience? Say what? But won’t everyone love, love, love my product or service?

Get real.

Sorry, that was harsh.

But consider this. Even water isn’t sold to everyone. And it’s branded, anyway. Some waters are flavored to appeal to dieters or to fitness enthusiasts. Others have snob appeal. And then there are folks (me, I’m guilty) who just open the tap and wonder why the heck anyone would want to pay for H₂O if they didn’t have to, beyond paying for utilities.

But I digress.

Reaching an audience means defining that audience.

#1. Start Mastering Digital Marketing

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on digital marketing tips for you to win social, email, and search. Nextiva says the most underrated digital marketing is email. Yeah, good old email!

But let’s look at something kind of disturbing.

Google, Thy Name is Legion – and Maybe a Monopoly?

Let’s think about Google search for just a moment. And I mean Google, not search in general.

Google’s basic mission is to serve seekers what they are looking for. The first time, every time. And with the enormous number of webpages (that figure is in the trillions if not the quadrillions by now, folks) and the exceptional competition out there, Google has to make decisions every picosecond about what’s better and what’s best. Because it’s impossible for human beings to do this, it’s all done via algorithms.

Ya with me so far?

Here’s where it gets tricky.

Google says they don’t suppress results. And maybe they don’t. Let’s operate under the assumption that they don’t. After all, for Google, what does it matter if Coke or Pepsi gets the top search spot when someone searches for best cola?

But What If Google Gets into a Side Business?

Google could enter a market like hospitality or music or food service, let’s say.

What’s to stop Google from giving more credence to their own ridesharing service, or music streaming platform, or string of restaurants? Or whatever they decide to try their hand at?

Let’s even say everyone is 100% ethical and above-board.

What’s to stop Google’s search division from sharing inside information to another division of the company? Maybe even inadvertently? How many times do you get misdirected internal mail? I do, every single month.

Or what’s to stop Google from bending their algorithms to better serve how their side gigs have their webpages set up?

One thing the article doesn’t mention, but should, is that this is bound to draw the attention of the fine people at the Federal Trade Commission. And they won’t take so kindly to allowing this.

Before you say the government would never want or need to break up Google, think again. People said that about AT&T, over 35 years ago.

It’ll be fascinating to watch as this unfolds in the future.

And do check out the article for some more insights into digital marketing.

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! Avoid workplace drama and be more productive – and more!

The post Improve Your Business and Avoid Workplace Drama and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.

Lennar board more than triples dividend

Lennar Corp. said late Thursday that its board more than tripled the homebuilder’s dividend as part of its program to increase returns to shareholders. Lennar will pay a quarertly dividend of 12.5 cents a share on Feb. 7, up from its previous dividend of 4 cents a share, to shareholders as of Jan. 24. “Given our focus on operational excellence, land strategy and cash flow, we believe a diversified program of debt reduction, stock repurchase and now an increased dividend, is appropriate,” said Stuart Miller, Lennar chairman, in a statement. Shares of Lennar rose 0.9% after hours, following a 0.2% rise to close the regular session at $57.69.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

The post Lennar board more than triples dividend appeared first on WE TEACH MONEY LIFE SELF DEFENSE WITH FINANCIAL GOALS IN MIND.

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Understanding More About Cord Blood Banking

When the umbilical cable has actually been disposed of after the child’s birth, after that you will certainly shed the possibility of being able to acquire priceless cells that the cable consists of which are a specific suit with your child and also that you can have protected. By maintaining your child’s stem cells with cable blood financial, your child will certainly be guaranteed to have actually an assured resource for flawlessly matched cells that can assist your kid throughout the unfavorable occasions (like a life harmful ailment).

Stem cells that are maintained due to the cable blood financial can in fact assist a youngster be treated of the adhering to serious diseases: leukemia, lymphoma, bust cancer cells, Hodgkin’s condition, aplastic anemia, numerous other cancers cells, sickle cell anemia, blood conditions, hereditary/genetic problems as well as different immune system problems. Solitary cell transplants that can be brought around by cable blood financial can additionally be made use of for the therapy of ling cancer cells, AIDS, lupus, numerous sclerosis as well as several various other hereditary illness.

Due to the fact that you might have just one youngster undertake the cable blood financial procedure, you might additionally be asking yourself if cable blood financial can in fact be useful to all of your children. Well in cable blood financial, your child will certainly be well made sure that the stem cells will certainly be an ideal suit for him or her in addition to when it comes to having a twin.

If one more kid that has actually not gone with the cable blood financial procedure is in fact requiring some stem cells to aid deal with off a dangerous illness, it is very crucial to keep in mind that they can additionally be made use of for a brother or sister because it will perhaps a close suit for them. There is the 1:4 opportunities for the cable blood financial to be confirmed as useful for the various other youngster. Family members or various other buddies that have not experienced cable blood financial might additionally gain from the stem cells that can be originated from cable blood financial if as well as just if they will certainly position a close suit with the cable blood financial contributor’s stem cells.

Well, the collection procedure for cable blood financial will in fact take area right after the distribution of a child where the cable has actually currently been divided from the newborn baby. The going to doctor or registered nurse or also midwife will certainly be the one to gather the cable blood for the cable blood financial by using it in a clean and sterile package which will certainly be offered by the Cord Partners Blood. The accumulated cable blood will certainly after that be secured in a specifically made bundle for cable blood financial and also will certainly after that be supplied to the cable blood financial lab for the screening as well as the handling.

One more issue by mommies when it concerns cable blood financial is just how risk-free will certainly cable blood financial be for the child along with for the mommy; if there will certainly be any kind of discomfort or pain associated with the entire cable blood financial procedure. The initial top priority will certainly constantly be the well being of the infant when it comes to cable blood financial.

The stem cell removal for the chilly financial procedure will really be really secure both for the child in addition to for the infant’s mom due to the fact that the blood for cable blood financial will certainly be accumulated right after the umbilical cable has actually currently been divided from the infant. Later on, blood will certainly likewise be removed from the mommy for the cable blood financial procedure. The child, in addition to the mommy will certainly not truly experience any type of discomfort or pain when it pertains to cable blood financial.

Family members or various other close good friends that have not gone via cable blood financial might likewise profit from the stem cells that can be obtained from cable blood financial if as well as just if they will certainly present a close suit with the cable blood financial benefactor’s stem cells.

Well, the collection procedure for cable blood financial will really take area right after the shipment of an infant in which the cable has actually currently been divided from the newborn baby. The participating in medical professional or registered nurse or also midwife will certainly be the one to accumulate the cable blood for the cable blood financial by using it in a sterilized package which will certainly be given by the Cord Partners Blood. The accumulated cable blood will certainly after that be secured in a particularly made bundle for cable blood financial and also will certainly after that be supplied to the cable blood financial lab for the screening as well as the handling. The stem cell removal for the chilly financial procedure will in fact be extremely risk-free both for the infant as well as for the infant’s mommy due to the fact that the blood for cable blood financial will certainly be gathered right after the umbilical cable has actually currently been divided from the infant.

The post Understanding More About Cord Blood Banking appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.

Understanding More About Cord Blood Banking

The post Understanding More About Cord Blood Banking appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.