Online Scheduling System

The best strategy for staffing your small business is to know how to hire the right people. Still, from time to time, problems with employee productivity do still arise and success will depend on your thoughtful management of the issue. If you are a manager who is looking for optimal performance from your employees, it pays to understand what makes them better. A lot of money and time can be spent on improving performance through training and coaching methods, while simply understanding how to communicate with, motivate and manage your employees will go a long way.

 Approach the Employee About the Problem

Your employee is never going to improve unless she knows what the issue is. Have a sit down meeting and talk about what you have seen and where improvement needs to take place. Good communication with employees will ensure that they can strive toward making the positive gains you want to see. In fact, communication is critical no matter what aspect of the business you are thinking of. Communication and commitment are keys to success!

Make a Plan

Have some sort of concrete plan that your employee can use in order to get better. If there is an issue with attendance you can arrange for a wake up call, or maybe carpooling to work in the morning. Perhaps there is an alternate route your employee can take to work, or perhaps a more flexible schedule would be beneficial for the employee. Whatever the issue is, make a plan to get the employee to overcome that issue.

Track Progress

You have to be able to follow through with your employee just as much as the employee needs to actually follow through. Tracking progress is sort of like car insurance in that you do a little more each month until you have paid the entire car insurance premium. If the employee feels like you don’t care, or aren’t watching anymore, it could be taken as a sign that improvement would just be in vain, or that nothing will come from showing improvement. This could be a major step backwards for your employees, and for the whole team in general.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Make sure that your employee knows that the door is always open and that you can be approached at all times. Allow other managers to be able to talk about issues that your employee might be having. The more resources that an employee has, the better off that employee is going to be.

You never want to stifle the opinions of an employee and you never want to make an employee feel like issues cannot be brought up or explained. That is one sure fire way to encourage that your employee regresses instead of improves.

Provide Feedback

As your employee progresses throughout her career, it is important to provide feedback so that she knows where she stand in regards to how much progress is being made. An employee who has no idea if she is doing what she needs to is just as bad as the employee who has the serious issue in the first place. The employee who always comes in late might not know how you feel about his progress unless you provide feedback.

If progress is satisfactory, let your employee know that he is doing a good job and that you notice. As childish as it might seem, we all need feedback to allow for positive reinforcement so that we continue with the proper behavior.

Final Follow Through

Set a target date for when the problem should be corrected and what the consequences are for not accomplishing your goal. Have a final meeting and talk about the things that the employee did well to accomplish the goal and things that could have been done better.

If your employee is showing effort, it should be noted and the she should be considered a work in progress, like all employees ideally should be. If the employee does not try enough, she should be let go, or should be reported to other management for a final decision on their status.

Note that the example given above was for an employee that needed to show improvement to save their job, but it can be used for a good employee as well. Perhaps you want to push someone to do better so that they can be promoted to management, or so that they can be groomed to reach their full potential elsewhere.

Whatever side of the fence that employee falls on, these six steps will ensure a higher level of accomplishment in the workplace.

Jeffrey Crews is a writer and marketer who writes about how to compare car insurance and other topics. Follow him on Twitter: @AutoInsurance

A strong network is surely one of the keys to success in business. As the old adage goes, it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters most. The term networking has a negative connotation for some people who interpret it as a way of getting something  from other people. In actuality building real relationships and actively maintaining them is what networking is all about. Many small business owners tend to become buried in the day-to-day operations of their businesses. For them, actively networking can become an afterthought or even go completely overlooked.  Here, for busy business-owners and the networking newbies alike, a few tips to help bring this effective tool into regular practice.

Be Visible

Busy business-owners sometimes forget to get out there and network. While there’s lots of work to do at the office it’s as important to also be out in the world. While networking opportunities may present themselves at almost any time, it helps to also participate in networking groups. These can include networking events or industry mixers, professional associations, organized professional networking groups that meet frequently and online networks such as LinkedIn. Some experts suggest being active in one of each type of networking group.

Be Clear on What You Provide

As you meet new people for the purpose of building your business network, you will need to describe what you do and whom you serve. You’ll need  to do this clearly and concisely in 30 seconds to a minute. Also known as your elevator pitch, your description of what you do should be straight forward and easily understood by others. If you are doing too many things and try to fit them into your 30 second elevator pitch, it will come across as unfocused. In general, as you develop your elevator pitch consider how it will land on your listener. Will it instill trust? Does it intrigue people to hear more? As Jolene McKenna, a business consultant and the founder of the Solopreneur  Success System points out, you need to go beyond telling people what you do and instead “tell your story.”  It’s the story you tell that intrigues listeners. Combine what you do with your benefits and differentiators to create one smooth story.  It takes some work to develop your elevator pitch but it is essential to your success to be able to speak about your business effectively. Write it down, practice delivering it, ask people you trust for feedback – how does it sound to them? Then get out there and speak confidently about what you offer.

Be Generous

Now for the good stuff. Generosity is what networking and relationship building is really all about. Networking is not about what people can do for you, it’s about establishing relationships. It’s about being a resource for other people. In other words, think not what your network can do for you, but what you can do for your network. Help whenever you can. Share your expertise and information freely. Only ask for help when you must and never before having provided some assistance first. According to strategic business coach, Jackie Nagel, you want to figure out how you can support those in your network and their endeavors before asking for support.  Nagel also advises that people should be careful to not spread themselves too think with networking. As she points out, networks need tender loving care to survive. “Know how many people you can truly serve,” she says in her article Five Ways To Make Your “Net” Work and Grow Your Business. According to Nagel, “when you can no longer cultivate the current relationships in your network, you may have reached your capacity.”

Follow Up

Whether networking at a casual event or through a professional association, the first contact is merely the beginning. According to business innovation & growth strategist, Sandee Hemphill, “the glue is in the follow-up.” According to her, “the game really begins at the second contact more than the first.”  Patrick Powers, an expert on marketing and entrepreneurship concurs this point. According to him, the purpose of the follow up is fourfold. The follow up should:

1. make you stand out so they remember you
2. build trust in you as a person, not just in your company
3. show them that you are a pro at what you do
4.  have them refer leads and/or do business with you

According to Powers, the fourth and final step is impossible without the first three. Be sure to immediately send a follow up note after meeting at a networking event and consider some of these follow up strategies as you take this important step in your networking.

Remember, networking is a marathon not a sprint. Building longstanding relationships takes time and effort yet offers much in return. Practice often and avoid missteps. As your network grows so will your business.

Additional Reading

Networking is a skill you can develop. Like any other skill it comes more naturally to some than others and practicing will make you better at it. For the total networking newbie, it helps to start with some basic information. These beginner books will get you started.

How to Work a Room, by Susan RoAne

Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi

Networking Like a Pro, by Dr. Ivan Misner

SimplifyThis is an online invoicing and appointment scheduling application that helps small businesses and solopreneurs streamline administrative tasks. Try it for free.

SimplifyThis’ web based invoicing software enables clients to easily pay you online though a merchant account or Paypal. Choosing a merchant account provider can be a daunting task. Here’s what to look for.

In business you are only as good as the services you use. Whether you are deciding on a shipping method, a web host, or a distributor, your business depends on their efficiency and overall operational success. One aspect of business that is often settled upon rather than carefully chosen is the merchant account provider. Many take the first company they come across with the best price. In business this can cause immediate setup for failure. When choosing a merchant account, careful consideration should be taken in a few areas.

Choosing a Merchant Account Provider

When you are choosing your account provider you have a choice between a merchant account service and your bank. Some businesses will choose their bank out of convenience and loyalty. However, this may not be the best choice. As banks utilize merchant account services as an alternative source of income, their focus on merchant accounts is less than ideal. Most banks actually outsource their merchant accounts to real merchant account providers, which will cause you to pay more for a service you could be getting directly. These merchant account providers are the best choice as they are up to date on today’s e-commerce technology.

Reputation

Just as you work towards building a great reputation in your business, your merchant account provider should do the same. Choose an account that has a great reputation for tending to their customer’s needs. Check with the Better Business Bureau for any complaints or compliments.  If you find there are more complaints than you feel comfortable with, move on to another company. A good standing with the BBB is a great indication of what to expect when doing business with the merchant provider.

Satisfaction

Your satisfaction should be the most important aspect of choosing any partner in business. Research the account provider’s satisfaction guarantee. Many will offer a 90 day money back guarantee in case you are unhappy with their service. This shows their confidence in their business and services they offer. If you find a provider with no guarantee, be weary and continue your search. You will want a company that is confident enough in their operations to offer you a full refund if they fail to satisfy your needs.

Customer Service

Your merchant account provider needs to be reachable. During your search, take into consideration their customer service practices, rating, and availability. If you have a problem at 3am with your service, you want a company that has staff on hand to address your concerns and provide a solution. Take the time to call their customer service department to get a feel for what to expect. Searching Google for customer recommendations and reviews is also a great way to get a firsthand opinion on the type of customer service they have.

Cost

One of the most important aspects of any business service is the cost to do business with them. Whether you are a small start-up company or a large corporation, cost is always the bottom line. Choosing a merchant account provider is a way to receive credit card payments, online payments, and expand the options for your customers to pay for your products or services. It should not be the one service that sends your company into bankruptcy.

By searching several different companies, you will be able to estimate the industry standard for the services you need. While many businesses tend to choose the lowest cost service, this may be a mistake. Just as you have a cost of business, so does the merchant account providers.  Those account providers that offer the same services for much less may be lacking in their customer service, reliability of service, or could be a scam all together. Choose a moderately priced service that has all of the options you are looking for.

Also look at initial fees. There shouldn’t be an application fee, setup fee, maintenance fee, or annual fee. The cost of the service is paid for by the transactions your company makes. Also avoid companies that require you to sign a lease for equipment. Merchant account providers understand the world of business and the success to failure rate. If you are forced to sign a lease and your business doesn’t succeed you will find yourself paying for unused equipment for the remainder of the lease.

Business Practice

The last, but not least important, is the account providers business practices. You want to choose a company that is reliable and up to date. Call the company and grill them with questions regarding how long they have been in business, accuracy of their deposits, whether the deposits are made in a timely manner and if there are any additional services that may be beneficial to your specific business. You will want to be sure you are receiving accurate records in order to keep accurate records.

Before settling on a merchant account provider, take your time to consider all the aspects of doing business with them. If one company is lacking in one department, continue your search until you find a company that meets all the needs of your business. Don’t make the mistake of settling for a provider based on price or convenience. After all, you will be doing business with them for a long time.

Jesse Ramirez is a credit counselor and also writes for sites in both the U.S. and Australia, where you can find credit card comparison charts for rates, fees and also instantly approved for a credit card special promotions.

At one point or another, maybe now, your small business may require the help of others to continue to grow. This may be a huge decision as hiring a staff member requires what amounts to a substantial investment for many small businesses. Having quality employees in a company has long been one of the secrets for being successful.  I have had the opportunity to work on both innovative engaged teams and uninterested stagnant teams.  It is amazing how much money a company wastes when they have individuals that aren’t vested into the success of the organization.  It is also interesting how a few influential team members can be cancerous to and entire team, department, and company. When it’s time to hire, follow these tips below to ensure that you are on the path to success.

Hiring the Right People

There are many reasons companies have bad employees. The most common reason is hiring the wrong people.  Many times, I have seen employees that have the talent and intelligence to make a significant contribution.  Most of the time the reason these individuals don’t work hard is they think they are underpaid.  The fact of the matter is they figure they aren’t going to put in 100K effort when they are only making 45K.  The big problem is they want a significant raise before they put in the maximum effort.  In business, it never seems to work like that.  Normally, a boss or manager needs to see an outstanding contribution before they will consider a significant raise.

A Matter of Attitude

There are ways to make sure you hire a team that is going to take the company to the next level.  The first thing I look at when hiring an employee is their attitude.  Do they seem like the kind of candidate that is going to do everything in their power to make a difference on a daily basis?  If not, there are probably better candidates to be interviewed.  Learning a skill set or trait can usually be picked up on the job.  The guy with the good attitude may not be the most qualified, but will do the most long-term good for the company.

Monitoring Performance

After you have hired your team, you need to think about how you are going to monitor their performance.  The most important thing is to have clear success metrics in place.  It is also wise to have those metrics public.  That way, employees can see how the stack up against their coworkers.   A new form of performance monitoring that has been gaining popularity in the last few years is 360 degree feedback. This gives you the power to get input from everyone that works with an employee.  Many times this type of analysis will have the boss, coworkers, subordinates, and suppliers fill out a survey that has questions about an individual’s performance.

Hiring a quality team is definitely one of the main ways to ensure company success. Hiring the wrong people at an early stage will lead to failure. Be smart about it, and don’t settle. Follow these additional tips for finding the right people for your small business, at the same time, consider your own role in how you will manage your employees. Good luck!

SimplifyThis is an online invoicing and appointment scheduling application that helps small businesses and solopreneurs streamline administrative tasks. Try it for free.

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Out to conquer the world? Be sure to plan ahead. Consider these steps first.

There are many potential entrepreneurs aspiring to establish their own business and begin a life running a small business of their own in a niche or industry that they truly enjoy. It’s fair to say there is a lot of success to be had in starting your own business; if done properly and with great dedication there is no limit to the popularity and revenue you can hope to generate. Take British entrepreneur and face of ‘The Apprentice’ Sir Alan Sugar for example; famous for his ‘rags to riches’ tale of success. Over a period of forty years he has produced a personal fortune, and all this started by just selling electrical equipment out of the back of a van.

It is important to plan far ahead when intending to start a small business; so here are a few simple tips to help ensure you have a bright future with your business.

Research Your Industry

Throwing yourself into an industry without having a proper understanding of how popular it is and how successful similar products or services are is a bad move and is likely to waste any time and money you have invested. Gather enough information about your competition and potential niche to judge whether or not there is a suitable gap in the market for your product or service. If planning to sell a product locally then properly research the area, see what rival competition currently exists and where they are located. Is a more advantageous location available? Does the rival business provide a quality product or could yours snap up their customers? Ask yourself as many questions as you can about the area and gauge exactly how suitable your business idea is to the locals.

Business Plan

Constructing a business plan is absolutely essential looking to raise money or expand your small business; it also works well as a list of goals and objectives when planning for the future of the business. Ideally for a starting business, try and aim for your business plan to be between 10 – 25 pages long; it should include all information and statistics that possible investors could hope to see, be it a bank or otherwise.

Include information on the service or product you provide, any specialist staff you may have and any details outlining the history and owner/s of the business.

Feedback and Market research

Get feedback on all aspects of your business as early as possible. Create a range of questionnaires to gather the thoughts of your target market on subjects such as your brand name, the quality of the product or service you provide, your customer service, and any suggestions they may have. This can help you to tackle any serious problems early on, before mistakes are made on a much larger scale. Keeping customers happy early on is a great way of starting as you mean to go on, it can help to iron out any creases and build a great reputation; after all, word of mouth is one of the most effective means of promotion.

These simple tips can help you establish a great foundation on which to build a successful and popular business. Remember to always take in the opinions of your target market, they are the ones who can make or break your business!

Written by Daniel Travis – Brown on behalf of Golf 24/7, suppliers of quality golf club sets Follow him on Twitter @DanTravisBrown

Overwhelm is a common feeling for many solopreneurs. As the chief, cook and bottle cleaner you have more responsibilities, and more different types of responsibilities than the average worker. As the boss or sometimes the sole employee, customers, colleagues and everyone else come to you with every question and need. You on the other hand have no one to turn to. The buck stops with you. Your list of responsibilities may be as longer than the number of hours you have available, yet all of it must get done. Then comes the overwhelm leading sometimes to paralysis. What is a solopreneur to do. Here a few tips for conquering that overwhelming feeling, bit by bit, one step at a time.

Don’t let it be an excuse

First step to conquering the overwhelm that is stopping you from doing whatever you need to do, is to tell yourself that feeling overwhelmed is no excuse for not doing something. You can feel overwhelmed and still do what needs to be done despite it. While you’re at it, don’t pity yourself for feeling overwhelmed. This will only stand in your way. Now that you accept that you have to do whatever needs to be done, with or without the overwhelm, you can do your thing and also work on feeling less overwhelmed. Read on for how.

Clean up your to do list

Put everything you need to do on a long list. Get it all down on paper. Now the fun part. Edit. First, cross off anything that isn’t important. Really important. As a business owner, making money is usually the most important thing on your list. Only you can decide what can be scratched off; be realistic, ask yourself honestly if each task is truly important for making money. People tend to become fixated on unimportant matters giving them more time and attention than they truly deserve. Put these things on a list to be done later. Next, outline anything that someone else can do and delegate. Delegating also can become work in and of itself. So start small. Buying supplies, for instance. Or delegate personal items so that you have more time for work. Send the laundry out rather than doing it yourself—any  little thing that doesn’t require your magic touch and can be handled by someone else. Now you have a list of important things that you yourself need to do.

Prioritize your important tasks

Now that you have a list of important things that you need to do, prioritize those tasks. Give each task a number, number 1 being the top priority. For the high priority stuff, establish a schedule. The point is to avoid wasting any of your precious time trying to decide what to do. Make a schedule of when you will do what, then do it.

Tips for handling your priority list

• The little stuff: Usually people have a long list of little things that don’t take long to do, but aren’t a high enough priority to get done first. For these, set aside a day or a day and a half and just blow through them, one at a time, keep going. Get them all done.

• The big stuff: Some things will take lots of time. Don’t let this stop you. Schedule blocks of time for dealing with the bigger projects. Let’s say every morning from 9 to 10 a.m. you work on your marketing, or bookkeeping. Create a routine, a set time for working on that project. Everyday move it forward. Acknowledge the progress you make.

• All the different stuff: Switching from task to task takes energy. To minimize the impact of switching gears, group your like projects together, so that you don’t have totally switch your mindset.

• The dreaded stuff: Maybe there’s something you are dreading doing. Not doing it can really add to your overwhelm. You will feel so much better when you do it. Get it out of the way and feel lighter as you go about tackling the rest of your list.

SimplifyThis is dedicated to helping small businesses to run more efficiently. Our online invoicing and appointment scheduling software helps entrepreneurs to better manage their time, while projecting a professional image to clients.

Need more sales in this tough economic climate? Here are 7 tips for growing revenue even in the hardest of times.

1. Build Retention

An existing customer is worth as much as 5 prospects or more. You can grow sales by keeping more of your existing clients around longer. Remember to reach out to existing clients with additional services to support their  growth and always provide excellent service.

2. Give quantity discounts

Offering discounts based on quantity can spur sales (i.e. but 10 lessons get 20% off). Developing a package deal to lure more business is one way to grow revenue. However, you need to know your breakeven point. Take note that offering package deals and discounts won’t be helpful if you lose money. Once you determine your breakeven point, you can easily tell how much discount you can give to customers without compromising cash flow and profit.

3. Keep up your sales effort

Make sure that your sales effort is highly productive. Take note that the more productive the sales effort, the higher the profit. You can use your sales force to market your business to your existing clients or new prospects. You can make phone calls, emails, or write your customers about the new products and service.

4. Keep your prices steady

You may think that the fastest way to increase revenue is to sell your product or services at a higher price. Think again. Pricing is part of a long term strategy, not a short term fix. If your product is priced properly, you shouldn’t have to worry about this issue now. Instead, keep prices steady, while finding ways to slash expenses.

5. Promote your product online

One of the most effective ways of selling your product or service is marketing your business online. Setup a website and list yourself in online directories to help your prospective clients find you when they are looking for you.

6. Accept credit cards

It’s about time that you accept credit cards online as a mode of payment of your customers. There are some people who buy products or services using their debit or credit card instead of paying through cash. You will need a merchant account to accept credit cards. There are several credit card processing companies with whom you can open a merchant account starting with your local bank. They will check your credit history and other factors about your business and determine the terms for your merchant account.

7. Build Word of Mouth

Word of Mouth is still a leading method for marketing. In simple terms, people trust their friends’ recommendations and endorsements more than a sales pitch. Keep your customer service on point, and your social media marketing up to help ensure people are speaking positively on your behalf.  As you pursue social media, avoid these mistakes. Otherwise, full speed ahead, following these seven tips to increase sales.

Lauren Tessin is the writer of MyJobApps.com, a website that offers 1,000+ Job Applications as well as the salaries and job descriptions for each.

Blogging is an effective marketing method for climbing to the top of search results. The best part is blogging can very well be a D.I.Y. marketing activity.  The only barrier to entry is your own time available to the task of maintaining your campaign. Much of the success of a blog lies in the planning and prep. Here, a list of 7 steps you’ll want to take before you get started blogging.

1. Identify your audience, and what their information needs are. What do they want to know. Think back to the types of questions clients typically ask you. Put yourself in the heads of your readers. Make their information needs your editorial objective. i.e. this blog helps small business owners and solopreneurs to manage and market their businesses. Write yours down, so that you can measure all of your future ideas for blog posts against it.
2. Search for similar blogs. Get familiar with the space in which your blog will exist. If you will be blogging about the benefits of massage therapy, check out other massage therapy blogs. Subscribe to blogs that you like, read them regularly, become part of their communities and comment when you can.
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Blogging serves many business purposes. A well executed blog can help to position you as a thought leader, help you to network with other professionals online, humanize your business, foster brand loyalty, encourage people to form an emotional connection with your brand and more. A blog can also increase your online visibility, or what is known as your Web presence, and help people to discover your services.

Blogs can be a lot of work and take time to maintain. As you’ll be investing time and perhaps money into your blog, it’s wise to determine what your objectives are for blogging, and a plan for achieving them. You’ll also need to understand who your audience is, and how they use the internet. If your audience is actively looking for your type of service through search engines then blogging with the objective of gaining visibility online may in fact be one of your best options for marketing your service. If your customers don’t typically look online to find your services, but rather turn to their friends for referrals, then your time may be better spent invigorating your existing clientele.
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Blogging tip #1: Write for people, not Google

Whether you’re blogging to increase visibility online, or you’re blogging to build credibility, or for another reason entirely, you want to make your content as readable and shareable as possible. Follow these tips while blogging for your business.

Write for People, not search engines

Search engine optimization is about making your site easy for Google to read and classify, so yes, fill in the title tag and description tag in the content management system. Use your keyword in the blog title as well as the title and description tags. Also use your keyword at least once in the first few lines of text on your page, but beyond that, don’t get too crazy about SEO. Your best bet for content that ranks is to write for people, not search engines. When you write for search engines, and stuff your post with keywords, not only does your post read badly, but you risk even getting penalized by Google. Remember, all Google is trying to do is to simulate a human experience—and it’s getting smarter all the time. Your best bet is to write for people.
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