Return on Investment. Those magical words that tell you what something is worth. That "investment" word usually applies to costs which includes your time. In my opinion, you should take advantage of any possibility to reach a broad audience with your message - as long as you can afford it. Marketers believe there is still value in webinars, even though the medium has been around since the beginning of the internet. Most believe a successful webinar gives away free content in exchange for the possibility of a qualified sales lead. Anyone who attends a webinar and sits through most or all of

Consider content marketing in everything you do online. Did that sentence just send you into a panic? Relax, it's not that hard. Even the most experienced marketer needs a reminder once in a while, and tips are always helpful! Here are a few of my own: Have you visited a site where the top post is several months (or years) old? How did that make you feel about that information? Unless you post regularly (like every day) and unless your posts are specific to a timeline, consider turning off the date/time stamp on your posts. ALWAYS make your content about your target, not about you. If

If you can’t tell me what you do in 15 seconds, I’m not buying, I’m not investing, and I’m not interested.  Building a message map can help you pitch anything (a product, service, company, or idea) in as little as 15 seconds. A message map is the visual display of your idea on one page. It is a powerful tool that should be a part of your communication arsenal. Here is the three-step process to using a message map to build a winning pitch. For this exercise you will need a notepad, word document, PowerPoint slide, or whiteboard. Step One. Create a Twitter-friendly headline. Ask

Infographics do more than tell data and statistics. They tell a visual story about an important topic. Though concise and simple, infographics are filled with valuable information that is presented in a user-friendly and easy-to-recall layout. In fact, infographic search interest on Google increased nearly nine times more over the span of five years. Similar to our recommendations for PowerPoint presentations, with infographics "less is more". Bullet points, short statements and a lot of graphics are the key. But unlike a PowerPoint, you will not be making a presentation using this tool

Infographics have been around for thousands of years, we've just called them by different names. Infographics are another attempt to explain and present the world around them through a combination of words and visual representations. From primitive cave paintings to Egyptian hieroglyphs, history shows us that human beings are visual creatures by nature. We know infographics as a fun and quick way to digest and absorb information without a ton of heavy reading, and this is very valuable (and necessary) way to reach today's markets. Here are a few ways you can use infographics to convey

Video marketing has changed the way businesses create multimedia content. From boring infomercials and sales gimmicks, businesses have shifted to creative and engaging videos.  In a survey of over 600 marketing professionals, 93% of them used video for marketing and communications! If you already have videos or are planning to produce videos, consider one of these online tools for your video distribution. If you want to make videos and you don't know where to start, we would love to help you! YouTube:  Online video has become synonymous to YouTube. Owned by Google, YouTube is the

When properly harnessed, technology has the ability to change lives for the better. In fact, its impact extends far into the business arena — to the extent that technology has the potential to make or break most businesses; this is especially true for small businesses. Does this mean that technology can negate the effects of bad business fundamentals, poor management, or inept leadership? Absolutely not! However, it does mean that small businesses who at least score average in most areas can benefit immensely from the tech sector. Namely, it can help them grow and become more effective.

Try this tool to clean up your inbox. A clean inbox, checking email less frequently, and taking action on each email you receive are keys to a more productive day! Visit the web tool unroll.me Sign up using your email address unroll.me will search for all subscriptions attributed to that email address Choose whether you want to keep the subscription in your inbox, unsubscribe, or add it to your "rollup" list. When you have completed your list, the next step allows you to choose the time of day you wish to receive a digest of your subscriptions in your inbox. Choose how freq

Ask yourself What would it mean to you if you could save more time, and be more productive? How would you life and business change as a result of having more time and more energy to accomplish your goals? Imagine, how would you feel right now if you actually had more free time to do the things you wanted? But… what if you’re already working at maximum capacity, or you’re working long hours everyday? How can you possibly relax and get the rest you need when you have so much to do? How can you get more time out of your 24 hour day and get more accomplished? The answer is s

You can't make employees more accountable, but being a great leader and manager will naturally result in a higher level of accountability among your team. Source: Why You’ll Never Make Your Employees Accountable

By Armela Escalona When we fail to resist behaviors, they become habits. Habits can be good or bad, chronic or temporary. In many cases, they are the cause of decline in our productivity. When we develop destructive behaviors, they make us do unnecessary things that waste precious time. We lose important hours to do useful work. However, it is important to note that productivity fluctuates. Like levels of happiness, it is often affected by our mood and the environment. A newly hired employee may be productive on the first few weeks on the job; however, when comfort sets in, he will fin

By Rieva Lesonsky Are you an organizationally challenged small business owner? These 6 steps to getting organized will help you get a grip. One of my biggest challenges as a small business owner is getting organized—it’s something I’m always trying to get better at. Apparently, I’m not the only one pursuing this goal. In a recent study by Office Depot, 83 percent of small business owners say a well-organized office is important to a business. What’s more, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) believe that the more organized the office, the more profitable the business. Specifically

SCORE, the nation's largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, has gathered statistics on popular small business technology, such as mobile tools and the cloud, while revealing a need for improvement in customer relationship management (CRM) and data security. Mobile technology is prevalent: 80% of small business owners use a mobile device at least once a day 56% use it for communication and scheduling 30% take notes and create to-do lists 29% check social media 24% bank online The cloud is popular with entrepreneurs: 92% use at least one cloud-based solution, a

By Nicky Tatley Owning Owning a small business is not easy when you’re constantly in the shadow of major chains and online retail giants – but there are some perks to being petite. The trick is to take advantage of what your bigger rivals can’t achieve. Here are eight ways a small business can shine: Be agile Go niche Get personal Be brave Be choosy Make friends Innovate Get flirty   Read More: 8 ways your small business can outshine your big business rivals

Do you love the job that you do, or is it just ‘okay’? If you’ve been working in the same profession, or job, for 10 years or more, it’s likely that you’ve become a little bored or disillusioned with certain aspects of it, and maybe your output is no longer your best. Often we continue to ‘make do’ simply because we worry that making changes could be risky, or push us too far outside of our comfort zone. But considering we spend at least 40 years of our life working, it’s important that we’re doing something we enjoy. The good news is if your career has become a bit stagna

There comes a time in every successful startup company where you have tooutsource work. As a business owner, you know that your time is valuable, and it should be spent doing the important things you excel at. Don’t get me wrong, every part of running a business is important, no matter how small- but some things are worth paying someone else to do. One of the first things that people outsource are small administrative duties, which a virtual assistant can do. What Is A Virtual Assistant? A virtual assistant by definition is usually a self-employed professional who carries out many differ

You probably don't experience slow days too often, but when you do, you'll want to make the most of that time. With help from Mark Strong, a life, career and executive coach based in New York, Teri Hockett, the chief executive of What’s For Work?, a career site for women, Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant, and Cynthia Kyriazis, president of Productivity Partners, Inc., here is a slide show list of the 14 things you could do on a slow day at work. View slide show: 14 Things To Do On A Slow Day At Work

Microsoft's Office 365 cloud software has become a wildly popular alternative to Microsoft Office. Office 365 is a little unusual in that it is cloud software and you install it on your PC or Mac, to give you the best of all worlds. As you or your company keeps paying for it, Microsoft automatically adds cool new features. We asked Microsoft to send us a list of the best, little-known things you could do with the software. Read the tips: Useful hidden features in Office 365

Many solopreneurs and even big time CEOs feel inundated with “to do” lists and deadlines. Do you think you need an assistant? Answer these four questions: Do you often feel that you need more “day” at the end of your workday? Do you avoid certain tasks or make excuses for why they remain on your to do list? Do you hate doing certain tasks in your business? (admit it, you do) Are there parts of your business that you need to spend more time on, but you can’t or don’t because you’re caught up in other parts the business? Read More: How to Hire Your First Virtual

I read an article recently that claims "cold calling is dead". I'm one of those people who reads the comments at the end of the articles. In this article, one person commented "The only way a cold call will work is if you have something they want or need." I've never worked with a company with enough $$ laying around to spend it on sales & advertising practices that aren't at least somewhat targeted. I would guess, in some perverse way, even those annoying junk calls I get on my home phone, office phone and now even my cellphone are probably targeted in some way. So if they are targe

Landing pages are any location on the internet that a web visitor can "land on". In their purest form they are independent web pages and the only way on is to have the direct link (from an email, text or other communication) and the only way off is to interact with some kind of call to action - completing a form, clicking a link, etc. This guarantees you know where the visitors are coming from, and if the landing page does it's job to attract a prospect, only "warm" leads will interact. A landing page may look just like your website or have a completely unique design. Like building a g

I was thrilled to see this list of 10 Qualities in Entrepreneur magazine. Excerpted from Shelby Larson's book, Moonlighting on the Internet, they define our business model. Reliability Accuracy Integrity Kind and friendly personality Resourcefulness An “ideas” person Help grow the client’s business Follow through and follow up Work well under pressure Ability to multitask Source: 10 Qualities You Need to Keep Your Virtual Assistant Clients Happy

If you own a sandwich shop your competition is pretty clear. But if you sell services it gets a little fuzzy. Depending on your market area, you may have a few direct competitors: other electronics repair shops like yours, a fair number of auto mechanics offering similar services, a few pet groomers with splashier advertising, etc.  Each market may require a different type of advertising to gain new customers and keep your current customers.  But what about the unseen competitor all service-based businesses (and some specialty businesses) share - APATHY? Merriam-Webster defines apathy