Tag Archives: growth

The Top Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Blog- Part #3

3 Dec

The Top Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Blog- Part #3

Ok folks I changed the title- like it better?
I think its a neater version; concise. So I’m going to round out this trifecta with 4 more tips.

Customer Support Help.
Getting repeat questions from your customers? Are people intrigued by the same issues- or perhaps they are befuddled by one step in your process? Well the easy cool way to fix this is to make a blog post for each issue that pops up often. It takes the burden off your customer support department- which in the early days if your anything like me is just you. Your small business has enough challenges so let’s meet this one head on and kill two birds with one stone. This also shows customers and potential clients that you are dedicated and serious about helping your customers.

Author Credibility.
Want to make your Ceo POP? Perhaps you want to have more of your key employees share their insights and let new ones shine. Well your blog is the place to do it. Doing this will give your employees (and the CEO) some ‘street cred’ and make them feel good. Make this more effective by having every author create a Google+ profile. If they have one, let them take it up a notch. And adding the aforementioned Google Authorship status will really make your business and your blog shine.
Last step- don’t make every post just admin posts.

blog comments and commentors are heaven.. Did I say heaven? I meant pure gold. These comments are essentially you and your customers and clients dialoguing. It gives you key insight and ideas for the future. You can mine this gold for better products or great blog posts too.
It takes a bit of effort and time to comment on a blog post so anyone who takes the time is worth a look. Ask questions, comment, but speak up. These people are potential clients, business partners and more. You may find a twitter worth following or that testimonial for your site you’ve been looking for. Also these comments and your replies add meat to your blog. They also do this for both you and your readers when it comes to search engines. This will make your blog better and easier to index.

Blogging Shows you are still in the game, Still Relevant, Still in Business.
Ever look at a companies website and its obviously dated? You guys know what I mean- the 1990’s theme and scheme aka bad layout. Did you see any social media links or an embed button? Pinterest?
If the site has a blog, is it old with the last post dated 1 year ago or worse? People don’t blog if you won’t do it frequently. Google wants to see you blogging often if you are going to be considered active and worth revisiting regularly and re-indexing. If your site isn’t updated often that tells Google to visit you less. It lowers your sites value to Google. This may even cause Google to rank you lower and lower.

The blog will build for you almost on autopilot, you just have to blog regularly.

For tips and help see my pal @blogheavy. He’s sharp and sets up and manages blogs for small and large businesses. If not feel free to contact me here.

#thriveorsurvive.

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Top Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Blog- Part #2

2 Dec

The Top Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Blog- Part #2

Well folks now that you cut your teeth on the first part- let’s embark on part two of this magical journey into why your company needs a blog.

Rich Snippets, CTR and Google Authorship.
Ever seen those pics when you do a Google search of the authors face and then the topic underlined etc etc? Well that guy or gal is hooked up with Google Authorship and that look they have is what you see through Google SERPs.
Why do these rock? They have a higher CTR aka click-through rate. Statistics have shown that that posts with a Google+ portrait in search results are s-5 times more likely to be clicked- and that means more traffic, more hits, more followers and ultimately more conversions. Nice.

Social Media posts rock- but You own your blog content.
And you also benefit directly from it.
Facebook might say you naw bro, you violated terms. Twitter goes down some times and if you’ve seen recent news- they are cracking down here and there. Pinterest may come down with a case of the buyouts and you never know what the new parent company will opt to do. I could make a longer list but this suffices.
When you post to social media outlets you get some benefits. You close some sales. However they get millions and millions of pages that Google will index. Then they sell more advertising, get better stock valuations-and its all thanks to you.
So you should give them their pages to index in my opinion, without question.
Just don’t let blogging be under-sold or left out of the equation.

Obtaining fans/followers on your site is pretty sure to help achieve your business goals.
Want people to buy your products? Maybe call about your services or fill out a lead generation form? Any of the above and more work more friends and I guarantee you want all of it.
Well folks- people who read your blog are twice as likely to convert or more.
Blogging puts the odds in your favor.

Blog posts have much longer shelf lives.
Ezines, tweets, fb pages and the likes are fleeting, and will be forgotten or lost in the comings days, weeks, and months. Furthermore every timeline refresh pushes you to the side..
Your blog is a great place to create timeless content and focus on matters that either you care about or that are extremely relevant. Not to say you shouldn’t tweet and post about current events, elections and the like. However the important stuff is what you want people to see. Now and later, and all published on your blog.

#thriveorsurvive.

“Myself, Right, Through
An ignorant person with a bad character is like an unarmed robber, but a learned person with a blog is a robber fully armed.”
-Mickey Kaus

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Top Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Blog- Part #1

1 Dec

The Top Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Blog/b>

Everyone needs a blog. A great blog let’s people see what you and your company are about. So let’s make a strong list and get you on the right path. Here’s 5 quick tips.

A blog let’s visitors know you are on point..
Simple and easy folks. A blog will be a simple tool, almost a literary dialog that people can use to get to know you and your brand. They won’t buy products they don’t know. Show your expertise, let it speak for you. This will make them confident in spending both their time and money with you.

A Blog Builds More Traffic.
Sounds like heaven to many of my fellow entrepreneurs. It is real folks. If you blog regularly- and well- heck get it half right and you will draw the world of social media in. This will definitely bring more visitors to your sites. This can even add links to you from other sites, which brings the next point into focus.

Blog = SEO.
The more content you have on your site the better your chances of ranking much higher in Google search results for the keyword phrases Google will be looking for in anything you post. Every search engine is looking for pages that are specific, and from that viewpoint every post is a page. Ex: to rank in 90 different keyword phrases you need literally 90 separate posts. And each post/page has to be dedicated to a single concept aka keyword phrase.
You simply won’t rank well if you have about four pages. You know the typical spiel used: contact, about us, Meet the guy who….

Blog posts are link bait folks.
I’m pretty sure you all know that links from other sites to yours- aka inbound links and or backlinks are a key factor for getting higher results in your sites SERPs. Ill wager everyone also knows its hard to get a site to link from theirs to yours.
Most people won’t want to link to your home page, but you can lure them with great and useful content on your blog.
Lastly- when you see a good piece of content please include a link to that blog. The chance they return the favor rises astronomically.

A Blog is “Eats” For Social Media.
In the same way that you won’t rank well without blog posts its hard to get anyone anywhere to share your links on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ if you don’t blog consistently about interesting topics. Content and consistency in great blog posts will get people posting about your blog posts all over the social media world. Valuable Content gets shared throughout all Social Media. And don’t forget that all those social media links will help with your SEO. Both Bing and Google see the sharing of your posts as proof positive you are your site is considered valuable. And that will be used to rank your sites. Another bonus is you get more direct visitors from these social media links.

One last thought: these blog posts give you something to post on any and all of your social media accounts.
Hey folks even I run out of things to say some days.

#thriveorsurvive.

“Do today what you want for your tomorrows.” ~ Robert Kiyosaki

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

10 Quotes To Change Your Life- Zig Ziglar

30 Nov

Gone but never to be forgotten, Zig Ziglar passed on November 28th, 2012.

An entrepreneurial phenomenon who went on to become a motivational speaker and trainer, Zig set ablaze the minds and hearts of myriad people.

Below is a short collection of some of the favorites we’ve seen out there.

 

10) “Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”

9) “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

8 ) “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.”

7) “There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic.”

6) “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”

5) “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”

4) “If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.”

3) “A goal properly set is halfway reached.”

2) “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

1) “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.”

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Image

REACH FOR THE STARS

24 Nov

Tags: , , , , , ,

MAKE THE POOR RICH?

19 Nov

For today’s article I found myself motivated by an excerpt from the net:

In the words of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio

“The way to turn our economy around is not by making rich people poorer; it’s by making poor people richer.”
(Read more: http://bit.ly/RP1V65)

Now this I found very intriguing.  In this time of peoples unrepressed loathing of the 1% and the Occupy Wall Street movement there seems to be an every growing desire to rob the rich.  Now I know many people are going to ream me for this but I just can’t get with taking from those who built their fortunes.

The rich pay a vast majority of the taxes. 

The rich give the most to charities and non-profits globally (see buffet and gates).

If we are to simply take what they make, what incentive is there to keep making money and giving it as well?

In my humble opinion it is high time we find a way to incentivize people’s efforts to be rich.  Not everyone will make it, not everyone wants to- but wouldn’t the world be better if we all strived for greater gains?  Imagine if Michael Jordan only wanted single digit stats?  If Ali didn’t want to be the greatest? And what if Steve Jobs didn’t insist on perfection?  I think we would have lost as well.  Add Leonardo da Vinci to that mix to my friends and imagine what profound loss we as a species would have.  And it is in this vain that I exhort you to do as Rubio suggests.

Every economy in the world benefits when there are more wealthy folks or even those with healthy bank balances.  So let’s see how you would get there.

*Mind your Business.  Yup- not what your mom said, what Tony says.  Simply put make your own money.  Don’t be a wage slave forever.  If you don’t agree why not simply start a part time business from home?  Extra money in your spare time or a business that sets you free from having a boss is ideal.  The average millionaire was middle to lower class.  It doesn’t always take vast sums of cash to make more cash.  Bloomberg wasn’t born a billionaire but will die one.  He set lofty goals for himself and let his ambition move him beyond simple things.  Id dare say all his dreams have been actualized.  Doesn’t that sound great?  What separates us from him? Nothing. 

*SAVE, SAVE, SAVE.

Can’t find the time to build an empire?  Just not sure that’s what you want?  That’s not a problem.  Its fine actually.  Simply save and live below your means.  Start out trying to put aside 5% every month.  After the bite of this begins to fade up shift to 7%.  After that 10%.  Your goal should be to stash 20% of your take home every month from now to eternity.  Even after you reach your targeted amounts and goals- save more.  In retirement as well, save more.  The greater your capital cushion the easier you will weather the financial storms and the less stress you will feel.  When you hit a financial curve you will pause and then continue your forward motion.  Imagine not worrying about money, because you have an excess.

Your economic future is in your hands.  Therefore why would you not craft the most amazing, dynamic, wealthy personal economy you can?

#thriveorsurvive.

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
Confucius

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

5 Little-Known iPhone and iPad Apps for Startups

13 Nov

5 Little-Known iPhone and iPad Apps for Startups

Being a small business owner can be trying.  Times are tight, the economy is dreary, and you have to make every dollar stretch.  To add to the general mayhem you have all the day to day tasks of accounting, management, sales tracking and administrative needs on your shoulders.  Find this daunting?  Well I’ve got 5 iOS apps to make you more efficient.

Invoice2Go: This app lets you create invoices and estimates on your iPad and even your iPhone. You can make one complete list of all billable items and store them cohesively. Perhaps you might prefer the Receipts2go plugin to bill for items that are specific only to certain jobs or accounts. To top it all off your completed invoices can be printed right from the app or emailed if you are so inclined.

You can get three free invoices and after that its about 25.00 bucks a year for a 100 invoices.  By the way, you can even see your financials at a glance with this app.

 

Docusign Ink: No more printing and scanning with this app. Sign all sorts of documents electronically and save time you can use your phone or devices camera to take a picture of relevant documents or upload from a cloud drive- cool right?  Docusign Ink even converts documents easily so you drag and drop your signature. Simply save and send to complete the process.

Client forgot to sign? No problem, simply have them sign vial email. The catch is simple: unlimited documents can be signed for free.  However there is a limit of five additional signatories. After that they will ask you to purchase a plan starting at 15.00 bucks a month.

FYI- Doucsign Ink is also available on Android.

 Bento 4 for iPad: A recently redesigned personal database app that helps you present and organize data. What makes Bento 4 stand out from the crowd is that it allows you to combine tables and text fields with images by simply drag and dropping utilizing one of the 40 free templates.  Highly useful in multistep projects or sales meetings, Bento is quite versatile. With a price tag of 9.99 your wallet doesn’t get beat up either.

Concur: An organizational tool/app for frequent travelers. Manage your itinerary, book hotel rooms, check airline reservations. Concur is also great for tracking your expenses on the go.  Input information by hand, or use e-receipts. You can also scan receipts. Trips over? Concur will combine all the info into one cohesive expense report.  While the app is free on iPad and iPhone you will need to link it to a desktop Concur account.  This however is 8.00 bucks per person, per month.  A little more than some want to spend but a great report, and it’s a tax deduction I’d bet (See your CPA for that info though).  Concur is also available on Android for my so inclined cohorts.

Delivery Status Touch: Move a lot of merchandise? Delivery Status Touch can help keep track of them. 4.99, gets you an app that works directly with all of the major delivery companies/services and automatically gets information from Amazon, Apple and Google Checkout. As soon as a package is added it will appear on the the home screen. After that point you can track the progress of each and every package you have; coming or going.

 

 

#thriveorsurvive

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s word is: COMMITMENT

25 Oct

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/1u-MTd6W85U” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We Accept What We Think We Deserve

19 Oct

We Accept What We Think We Deserve.

Simple. Wrong. Frustratingly Factual.
Its kind of upsetting folks that this one thought process ruins lives and dreams systematically.

-Accepting less than you deserve.
In life you deserve the best. No questions asked. The question is will you accept that?
Will you accept the blessings and responsibilities that come with it?
Your Mindset will literally predict your income and success levels. When we tell ourselves we deserve nothing- WE GET NOTHING! Simple as that. I can predict a prospect or students fiscal trajectory with a few questions. And the less they expect out of life and out of themselves the less income they will generate. The less mental wealth they will accrue.
To get to the top you have to first believe you actually belong there. If you don’t, well you don’t. A champion first believed that they were already champions, it was only a matter of time and commitment. Nothing else. Ever hear doctors tell sick patients that a positive outlook literally effects them? It does. What is your mindset?
Are you willing to accept that you are amazing? That you deserve it all?
Don’t forget the responsibilities of greatness. To whom much is given much is required. When you reach your zenith you must give back. Others must be shown the same path. This will reward both your heart and your wallet. Pretty cool I say.

-Playing small.
Playing small serves no purpose.
No one was made to be nothing- pardon the double negative, it’s intentional. Greatness is destiny. There is unlimited potential in all of us. Reach for it. When you achieve build off of it. Every achievement is a stepping stone. as such you must continually progress to being greater than you are today. Your tomorrows don’t belong to you so make them amazing for others and you will in turn be amazing. Be a wellspring of true greatness.

-Manifest your success.
The easiest way to break this down is that its exactly what it sounds like. Only you have the ability to create your success. You may come from wealth, or have a huge family company- irrelevant. And I know a lot of people will argue me on this but my position is simple: you are only successful by your OWN hand. What you create, design, or maintain. How many lottery winners aren’t broke 5 years after they win? Heck 2 years creates a path of tragedy that for some even culminates in suicide. How sad that is. Some people inherit vast empires and run them into the ground ruining that which their forefathers sweated for. You see what you don’t have equity in you don’t value. As this works out in my head means only one thing: you make yourself what you are. Statistics would label me a failure based on generic acquired data. To put it another way an unacceptable percentage of males in my position, sex, race, etc fail at life. Yet I never accepted failure as an option. I have had numerous pitfalls and I myself have been the author of my disaster at times- and I always bounced back. Deep in my heart there is a fear of failure. But there is a bigger fear of not being me. And I’ve always wanted to be the best or amongst the best. I want to win. I meditate on thriving and not surviving (#thriveorsurvive).

#thriveorsurvive.
#findyourfuel

Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Aside

7 Tips to Build THE LinkedIn Super Network

18 Oct

7 Tips to Build THE LinkedIn Super Network

Social networking has increased internet use and become a boon to big and small businesses alike., LinkedIn may just be the most critical as many business owners and decision makers congregate there.  The key to making it work is to not simply connect with your cousins, bros, and frat members, but cultivate, unique and critical relationships with both other business owners and potential clients.

However this Super Network won’t happen in 24 hours.  I’ve got 7 tips to get you the true benefits of a LinkedIn

1. You must Optimize your profile: right out the gate the easiest way to do this is change your profile picture. LinkedIn considers this freshness so to speak and it may help your ranking when others are searching for just what you have or are.

2. Tell people who you are, who you help and how you help them in your headline: If your headline communicates these it will grab a person’s attention. If I don’t read your headline and know exactly what you offer and why I need you and not the next guy in the cue- you’ve already lost me.  Be clear and compelling folks.

3. All current and past work experiences must be filled out: People are always looking for you.  Maybe not you but what you offer and a past acquaintance may be just the thing to swing their vote in your favor. When you list all of your places of employment, including where you went to school, you create a vast net for catching those who are a perfect fit and those who need your resources and skills. Also these connections may be through people you don’t know personally but through other relationships you’ve made.

4. Join targeted groups: This is perhaps the most effective way you will connect with professionals of the same mindset.  These groups are filled with people serious about their LinkedIn network.  These are the folks looking for deeper connections. Participation in these groups fosters a greater exchange of knowledge between you and others.

5. Create a targeted group: Leading a group can give you a certain level of credibility.  It also allows you to connect with serious professionals on your field.

6. Use personal invites: I think these surpass connection requests. This is the first time people hear from you.  So make what they see count.  Be cordial, engaging, and helpful.

7. Endorsements and recommendations go along way: This will enhance your profile.  However done wrong you are self-sabotaging.  Mass/generic e-mail to clients or colleagues asking for written recommendations etc isn’t proper. . 1st, make a list of those who have great stories about you to share.  2nd, contact them personally.  A call is best but a personalized email will do.   Let them know your intentions and discuss how you helped them in the past so they know what story would work best.  Endorsements are the same, and are a simple click of the button too. And don’t forget to let them know you will be endorsing their strong suits, or unique skills as well.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started