By Dan H Grijzenhout  |   Submitted On October 17, 2015

It had been quite a while since I had gone through some of the Google tutorials that I used to watch when I was first getting started with building an online business presence so I decided to go back into these and nose around a bit and I was startled with what I had found.

Despite all my work recently trying to understand SEO, keyword searching, building backlinks, building more website content and doing a myriad of other things all in the name of building organic traffic, I found the traffic had not been growing like I thought it should be doing so I decided to go back to basics and that meant taking another look at Google itself, which brought me back to some of their tutorials.

I quite literally stumbled upon their “Google Console” tool which I hadn’t looked at in close to a year and I found it by going to my browser and initiating the “site: (and then your full site domain name)” command which is a quick method of looking at your own website’s page names and descriptions with a view to improving on your text for them.

I reacquainted myself with the Google Console tool and was totally startled to find just how much I had fallen off the wagon with respect to running a clean website as Google would view it. Google by the way is motivated by its advertisers to present quality websites to its consumers so they are regularly surfing our sites and recording things that they notice which we need to be fixing up to remain high in their search engine rankings. You may have great content, terrific SEO keywords and descriptions in place, lots of quality backlinks etc., but if your site is not “Clean” they just won’t be seeing you.

The Google Console application by the way, is found in the “webmaster directory section of the Google website – you can also find it under the “Google Tools” selection if you are using Chrome as a browser. Before you can start using the tool, you will need to open it for the first time and copy the “SPF – TXT” record link they will give you and then go to where you have registered your domain and paste it into your.txt record line attached to your domain. Then you will need to go back to the tool and verify your ownership of the domain (just a button click to complete this step). Once done, you will probably need to wait about 24 hours or so to give Google a chance to run its queries against your site so it can start recording for you within your console what your site errors are.

So here is what I was startled to find out about that needed to be repaired.

First, I had 14 error 404’s where links were still going to pages that did not exist any longer.

I had several “Duplicate Record” Description/Meta Tag errors where I had copied old pages to create new pages and had not remembered to change the Meta data on the new pages. Google does not like duplicate pages with the same Meta data in place.

There were several web pages where I had become lazy and had not filled out complete descriptions in the Meta data area.

There were a few pages where the Meta tags did not match up with the page titles and descriptions – this again as a result of copying new pages from old ones and forgetting to update the Meta tags or the descriptions or the titles – in any event, they were out of synch.

Google now places a big emphasis on your webpages being friendly to mobile devices in order for your site to be seen as being clean. This was a new requirement from when I had first started building this site so a number of the pages were not “Responsive Design” compliant – 19 pages in fact. This is fixable. The first thing you have to do is ensure that every one of your pages contains a line of code it the meta area of its header information that configures your “Viewport” – and that is how Google describes the error it gives you the message “Viewport Not Configured”. Search Google help for Viewport Meta code and you can get to the instructions for inserting this code along with the code string itself.

Font to small: There were 4 webpages with font set too small to work properly on mobile devices.

Touch Elements to Close: There were several webpages that had buttons installed too closely to be easily and separately usable on a mobile device – they would overlap on that platform so they needed to be spaced further apart.

Flash Usage error: The site still been using some older “Adobe Flash Player” scripts that had to be deleted in about a dozen places. Apparently, Google does not like how the older Flash players work on mobile platforms – there are issues on some of them so they would like you to abandon your older flash players on your webpages in favor of newer technologies.
So bottom line here is that the website is in process of becoming fully “righteous” again with Google and I should get there in the next day or so and would hope to see the search results start to pick up again. All these months I have been regularly working on the site to improve it, I have also been sloppy at times and/or just didn’t realize that I was doing some things wrong and as a result, was hurting the Google rankings.

So a word to the wise, get setup with Google Console and get your site righteous with them to see your viewing numbers go up. And they will know you are working on these tasks and I suspect you will be rewarded accordingly because as you fix items, you can hit buttons within the console to say the item was fixed and you can retest pages for the mobile platform errors so you can see what you need to do page by page to get them compliant as well. Once righteous, you can focus on your SEO again and really start to rack up the viewing numbers and the sales.
Dan has lived a successful entrepreneurial career for over 30 years. He has been a consultant, entrepreneur, systems architect and developer, investor and business owner and is now using this knowledge to create a series of “no charge to the consumer” videos and articles in an attempt to help others pursuing entrepreneurial business endeavors of their own.

You can find more on Dan’s publications via his website at howtoguru.club and you can view his Blog site at howto-guru.com/Home.php/blog/
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By Robert Dokhani  |   Submitted On June 30, 2015

“You have inherited $1,000,000 from a government institution in Nigeria and your personal details are required so that the transfer may be completed. You must act now.” I’m sure all of us have received this email at least a dozen times. Or how about the one where you receive a mailer (or text message) stating that your email address (or phone number) has won a huge sum of money in an overseas lottery and all the so-called “contest officials” need is a small amount of money to release your winnings?

While the boom of the internet has been beneficial in many ways, it is also made us extremely vulnerable to a world of manipulative and unscrupulous elements. And no matter how careful you think you are, it isn’t long before you find yourself the victim of some sort of con or financial theft.

Now, this is not to say that there aren’t any legitimate online businesses. From setting up websites to writing your own blog, there are many ways for retirees, part-timers, the disabled and even the illiterate to earn decent money over the internet. Service platforms such as Freelancer, Odesk, and others have created and offer good avenues for regular income. Likewise, well-established affiliate programs offer great opportunity to earn money online.

Yet, the web is full of predators just waiting to scam you out of your hard-earned money. One of the main reasons for this, of course, is the complete anonymity afforded by the internet. Another is the naivety of the people. Simply saying, “That would never happen to me” is not enough, because, the reality is that we are all vulnerable in some way or the other. If you’re not careful enough, you could find yourself the unfortunate victim of an internet scam.

Awareness is thus the key. Remember that old adage, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”? No one wants to just give out money. There’s always a catch. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Scammers rely on an inherent quality we all have – greed (not called one of the seven deadly sins for nothing). They exploit desperate situations, earn your trust and take undue advantage.

Some scammers rely on your generosity of heart. Also called the “stranded traveler” phishing scam, this is where you receive an email from a friend saying that he/she was mugged while travelling overseas and lost all his/her credit cards and money. There is an urgent plea requesting you to wire some money to pay for the hotel and the trip back home. Always be wary of such requests and confirm with your friend or his/her family the veracity of such claims. You would be surprised to learn that over 3 million people in the UK fall victim to such rip-offs each year.

But aren’t we partly to blame for falling for these hare-brained schemes? Are we just being caught off-guard? Or our curiosity and our need for making easy money without doing any of the hard work getting the better of us? Whatever the reason, just remember that the next time you receive an email offering you money, don’t even spend time reading it, just hit that delete button as fast as you can.
Robert Dokhani, founder of Web Insight Seminars ( http://www.webinsight.ca ), has over twenty years of experience as an entrepreneur and business consultant. These days, Robert is ecstatic to give back to the business community through this site and his seminars run globally. Much of the high quality content on this site is completely, no-strings-attached, free. Have a look around – we look forward to seeing you…
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By Emily J. Jacques  |   Submitted On April 16, 2015

Would you like to start a business from home? If so, there are many options to choose from. Many people earn a nice side income, and some, a handsome full-time income, by putting their interests and talents to work.

But those who actually make a nice profit with their businesses have not just jumped into something that looked promising and hoped for the best. To establish a successful work-at-home business, you need to learn certain secrets. And the most successful micro-business owners learn this one well:

You need to research the market.

How do you do that? After thinking about what your business might consist of, based on your interests and expertise, you need to first take a look at what your target market is already buying the most of. Go to major online stores and look on the bestseller lists of the categories that fit with your business. Take a look at non-fiction books related to your business idea.

What people are already buying is what you need to be selling.

This sounds counterintuitive. After all, won’t you be in competition with businesses that are already established? To an extent. But when there is a large demand for something, there needs to be more suppliers.

Take shampoo. A lot of companies make shampoo, because it’s something most people use every day. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t earn a good living selling shampoo. On the contrary, since the product is in such high demand you would find customers a lot more easily than if you were selling wedding garters.

You can also figure out what kind of business might work by going to a bookstore and examine the magazine titles. First, whatever topic that has its own magazine is bound to have some good business ideas hidden therein. Second, glancing at the article teasers on the front cover can give you some ideas about what the target market is interested in.

Want to go into digital self-publishing? You’ll make a lot more money selling romance than junior science books.

Another way to research your market is to find out what problems they are struggling with. Overweight people who want to lose weight struggle with finding a diet that works. Dog lovers may want to know what the healthiest food for their pets is. Mothers of young children are desperate to know how to find peace and relaxation when they feel like they’re being torn in several directions every moment of every day.

To succeed with a work-at-home business, you have to do your research. You need to know what people want, and then figure out how to meet their needs within the context of your business model and unique skill set and talents.
However, diligently researching the market is really only a minor step to succeeding with a work-at-home business. To truly trump the competition, there are nine critical keys you need to know and put into play. Find out what these keys are when you download your FREE copy of my special report, “9 Work-At-Home Keys”, which is available at http://liveyourdreamswithemily.com/keys.

Grab your copy now – it can help you make a lot more money down the road.
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By Lakeisha B McKnight  |   Submitted On April 06, 2015

Marjorie Alfus, one of the leading advocates of women in business once said that women business owners are growing and there don’t seem to be any signs that it is slowing down. For several years, she has funded lots of charities and offered lots of grants just so women could make it in the business world. The good news is that her help and the help of all other advocates are now bearing fruit.

Over the past 10 years, the growth of businesses run by women has doubled up. Further studies show that, more or less, the market share is equally divided. Likewise, the same trend is seen worldwide. Women becoming entrepreneurs or “womentrepreneurs” are now becoming widely celebrated because of the jobs they bring and the added value they bring to the economy. How exactly was this accomplished though? Here are some takeaways.

Added Competition

While there has always been competition in the market, the influx of more competitors, both male and female, is a cause for improvements in the various industries. Providers that used to dominate would think of more cost-effective packages in order to retain their customers. Likewise, they would also provide a better range of services given that others would soon compete with their basic offerings.

Better and More Attractive Service

Women have always been better at relationships and the customer-provider relationship is no exemption. Women know what customers want and are quick to realize their needs. That’s why women CEOs are able to package and market services better than their male counterparts. Women leaders are also known to communicate well with their clients.

Vision

The end-goal for entering business is usually money but women are able to see past that. They care about tons of things aside from just positive revenue. Some of these include their employee happiness, other ventures, designing the workplace, collaboration mediums and many more. This heightened corporate vision also enables these women to be well-rounded. Such traits are crucial when managing businesses as they are able to place themselves well in any situation.

Practicality

Yes, women are quite practical. When packaging services to offer, sometimes men tend to fluff it all up with value-added services that they overlook practicality in the long run. Sometimes, understanding the basic and authentic needs of the customer is all that is needed to make a business successful.

The rampant growth of “womentrepreneurs” has clearly made a huge impact on the business world. With more bright minds entering the industry, the world will definitely benefit from it and will bring us an awesome future.
Ladies, you can learn a lot more about purpose and passion by reading my book.
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By Rashida Begum  |   Submitted On March 19, 2015

If you are a father or mom, you undoubtedly would like to create something big to pass onto your generations. Starting a family business also offers an excellent way to bring together your entire family to work on something that will be mutually beneficial to the entire family. As a parent, you get to mentor your kid and help them cultivate desirable traits such as office management.

Gather the Right Skills:

If not properly planned, starting a company has the potential to cause fractures in the relationships within your family. Therefore, before you set up the family, clearly analyze the capabilities, skill and knowledge of each family member involved. Carefully plan the management roles that each one has to play such that they are in line with what the person is capable of doing. Wrongfully assigning unmanageable tasks to your members may result in discord whereby some members feel oppressed or under appreciated. Any gaps that exist in capabilities and skills can adequately filled by employees hired outside the family.

Assess the Environment:

Besides bringing your family together, the business ought to be profitable. This is what will make the entire venture enjoyable and stress-free. You must, therefore, work out a detailed business plan that looks at risks, target customers, and productivity among other things. If for instance you and your wife invest money together, you have to be sure that you will not be sinking your fortunes in something that will amount into nothing. It is also essential that everyone involved is convinced that the decision is the proper one and that the family investment is worthwhile.

Work Together:

A successful firm will only be realized if the members are committed to working towards similar goals. Sacrifices may have to make, and everyone ought to be willing to make one when the time comes. Personal commitment is thus critical to business development and progress. This may at times come at a cost of lifestyle adjustments and other extra demands such as time and money. Starting any business is not easy, and it may be time before business picks up. Therefore, the family members involved ought to be patient and wait for the business environment to pick up.

Be Informed:

Trends in business keep on changing. It is essential that you keep your company ahead by moving with the latest developments especially in information technology. Technology is constantly being developed to streamline business and enhance productivity. Such emerging trends in business such as e business will ensure that you compete favorably with competitors.

Structure the Business:

Family and business are distinct entities that may adversely affect the business when they are mixed. Therefore,create a management information system or a proper business structure that clearly outlines the roles of each family member. When each member clearly discerns the limits of his or her responsibilities and authority in the company, conflict will be averted, and success for the enterprise will be ensured.
A family venture may be an excellent way to get your family integrated to your career. Your business day could be transformed to a day with the family. You thus get wealthy and keep family ties.
family business, information technology
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By Russell D Armstrong  |   Submitted On March 02, 2015

The best strategies for business development include focusing on the outcome of the endeavors such as about the market demand for a product or service. There are several fascinating products that are simply limited by the universal application of the product. Therefore, the strategies must include a focus on a niche or wider market. The new business may provide a service that is not offered by the current competitors such with services for mobile windshield replacement. The service would allow the customers to have a windshield installed at a home or office location.

Market

The market may have several competitors that offer a variety of services for a wide range of prices. Therefore, the target market for the new business should be identified with demographic details, occupational details, economic details and details about the method for doing business. There are several things to consider to develop a business such as the information about the customers who will use and purchase the services. The product or service must have a marketable value to customers, which could include homeowners or songwriters.

Prices

The prices for products can be lowered with more advanced methods of production. Large corporations make huge investments in equipment and machinery, which can produce an individual product for less costs than would be incurred if the product was made by a skilled craftsman who had used hand tools. Therefore, the product should not be an item that can be mass produced more cheaply such as a plastic toy. The best approach for lowering prices is to offer products that are unique or to offer customized services, which includes landscaping services.

Outsourcing

Some of the functions within the business may need to be outsourced. Several companies may not be able to afford the costs for monitoring a phone line for 24 during each day. Those same companies may also prefer to not have recorded messages from the customers because the managers want to be advised immediately about any concerns. Therefore, those companies may need to use an answering service or outsourced customer service department that will contact a manager if there is a problem such as with hazardous wastes.

Partners

Some companies may form a network of partners who can work together to complete a project. There could be system designers, experts who make models, software engineers and plumbers who work together to install a new plumbing system in a building. The software engineers could write code for new software that would be used to make virtual presentations that would be presented to the customers for the projects. Therefore, the best strategies for business development include planning for solutions to any potential problems such as with finding an electrician who has the necessary skills to complete a project.

Quality

The business organization should have a structure with ethical business practices. The customers should receive the best services, which must be protected by a promise from the company to correct any problems. There is no attraction for a customer to do business with a company that does not stand behind the services and products because a lawsuit is the only way to achieve a resolution. Therefore, there are several things to consider to develop a business, which may be financed with the personal investments from entrepreneurs who only want to succeed.

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By Kristy M Lopez  |   Submitted On January 27, 2015

Our experiences mold our views and decisions in the future. For example, if the first time you ate raw sushi it wasn’t prepared correctly or the fish was bad, then you could very well develop an opinion that you don’t like sushi. On the same track, if you have tried something for your business and it didn’t work, do you just give up because it’ll never work, or do you change your strategy a little and try again? I would venture to say that the majority of small business owners do the former, but they should be doing the latter. Just like the sushi – I don’t always get the best sushi when I try a new place, but then I move on to the next restaurant and try their sushi until I find a place where I like how it tastes.

Maintaining an open mind, especially when doing things for your business, is critical to learning from your mistakes to help grow your company.

Have you looked back to last year yet to see what worked and what didn’t? If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend doing this now. If you launched a new product line, entered a new marketing space, targeted a new demographic, changed your business structure, changed vendors, or even changed your business hours – look at it and determine if your business increased, decreased, or stayed the same around that change.

If you didn’t see any change in the business, then that specific change may not have impacted your bottom line. If it didn’t it may not have been a large enough change to make a difference. Maybe it wasn’t a change that was meant to change the business. If it wasn’t, then no change is a good thing.

If the profits dropped at all directly after the change, then the change may not have been good for the business. Another explanation is that more funds went out than came in due to the change, which happens a lot, especially when a new product is introduced. Account for ramp up time if this is the case and then reevaluate the change in profits. If no ramp up time is required and you determine that the profits dropped, look at how you can learn from that change and do it better this year.

If the profits increased, then you certainly did something right! Look at what that change was, when you made that change, what else was going on in your business and the industry. Plan for similar changes this year to continue growing your business and increasing the profits.

Remember to keep an open mind with the things that didn’t work the way you had hoped the first time. Maybe the timing wasn’t right, maybe the industry wasn’t stable enough at the time, maybe it wasn’t peak buying time for your specific product… there are tons of maybes for every situation. Look at the big picture, what exactly was happening in the industry, with your customers, and with your businesses. You have surely made other changes to your business since then. Look at it from a different approach and try again, possibly changing a few details (small or large) of your plan.

Of the businesses I have worked with that do look back at what they did yesterday to help guide their decisions for tomorrow, most do this at least once a year. Looking back more frequently may not give you the big picture you need to make informed decisions about why something did or did not work.
For more information on business, sales, and profit visit http://www.kristymlopez.com
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By Mike Mirshams  |   Submitted On February 16, 2015

If you are a business owner, you must already know that any business absolutely cannot operate without a reliable customer base. So, it makes sense that you should make customer focus a top priority in the workplace. Here are 5 easy tips to improve the customer focus of your business.

Size Up the Competition:

Step one of improving your customer focus is to size up the competition. What do other businesses in your field have going for them? What do they have in common with you? What do they offer that makes their company different from your company? Make note of the things that you think are better about your business and the things that you think are worse. Then, look at how you can improve to get a leg up on the competition.

Focus on the Customers:

It may seem silly, but one of the simplest tips for improving the customer focus of your business is to focus on the customers. In other words, make sure that you have a clear understanding of what your clients want and expect.

There are a number of common methods for figuring out what the needs of your clients are. They are commonly known as customer relationship management techniques. One such technique is doing periodic customer surveys. Those can be done by phone, e-mail, regular mail, or even in person, if you regularly have face-to-face meetings with your clients.

Another customer relationship management technique that cannot be ignored is social media. These days, it’s absolutely amazing how much can be accomplished online. If you don’t have the time to manage your social media websites yourself, you may want to hire a person whose sole job it is to handle online customer service and social media interactions.

Make Your Customers Feel Important:

The next tip for improving customer focus in your company is to make your customers feel important. People like to feel like their opinions are valid and their concerns are being addressed. So, you need to be able to really listen to what your customers are saying. Depending on the size of your company, you may even want to set up a designated customer service department to handle complaints.

Agree with Your Customers:

The phrase “the customer is always right” may seem like a cliché, but there’s a reason that it’s still a common phrase. It can often pay in multiple ways to replace goods or give refunds, even if your company didn’t necessarily cause the problem. Of course, there are some times when that’s not practical, but most of the time it pays to agree with your customers. After all, happy customers will refer friends and family members to your business.

Adjust Your Business for Your Clientele:

A large part of customer relationship management and general customer focus involves adjusting your business for your clientele. Consider what types of clients you have and when and how you can cater to them best. For example, if most of your clients are other businesses, you may want to adjust your hours of operation to accommodate them. You might also want to offer special bonuses or incentives to larger businesses that use your products or services.

If, on the other hand, the majority of your customers are individuals, it helps to take a more hands-on approach to customer service. Be sure to make yourself accessible and visible to the clients. Essentially, you can build up your client base as if it is a big, happy, family. Something as simple as a friendly smile can go a long way towards turning a one-time buyer into a repeat customer.
eLearningChampion.com offers high quality online training in management, specially for PMI PDU hours, NASBA credits and HRCI credits. Whether you need to get a start on a new career, want to study for pleasure or simply looking to complement your university degree, eLearning Champion has something for you.
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By Brian Hurlburt  |   Submitted On January 30, 2015

Minding your business is a short look into the many aspects to minding, or managing, your business. The things that nearly every business owner is aware of, and perhaps a few things you never thought about!

Minding your business in a way that you understand the wide range of activities, is important in making your business run smoothly. This can mean the success or failure of your business.

Somethings may come easy to you, others may seem more daunting, while others may mean hiring someone else to do things for you.

Things like recruiting and training employees, or finding consultants, and sales and marketing are key components and things with which most, if not all business owners should become proficient.

While other things like the accounting, payroll, and taxes, may require professional services. Additionally, depending on the type of your business you may also want legal services regarding local regulations, city ordinances, and so on.

Also, depending on the size and scope of your business and the day-to-day operations there may be additional areas that need special attention.

Another, I would say, crucial aspect to all businesses today is that of e-business! It’s not enough to simply create a website and expect the sales to start flowing in! Much the same as opening a business on main street would not guarantee your success if no one knew you were there!

For small, and home based, businesses many of these things are often handled by the proprietor… That’s you!

So, knowing where to go for answers becomes crucial.

Although there are a ton of articles online and increasing on an ongoing basis, one of the places I like to gather information is definitely online! However, it’s also nice to go visit the local library, and it’s a good idea to find others in the same, or similar niche.

Seek out someone you can confide in, someone who deals with the type of situations you’ll be encountering in your business. Other business owners may, or may not be receptive, but when you can find those you can trust they can be a very valuable resource. Mainly because they have likely encountered and already addressed many of the situations you’re likely to experience.

Another thing about business owners, especially small, and home based, business owners who have become successful, is that they are often lonely! Which often leads to a willingness to help! Especially those who recognize their success and doubly for those who sincerely want to learn!

So, seek out someone who is successful in the field of business you’d like to become successful in. Put in the time to become a friend, and you may just find a mentor! A most valuable asset in teaching you to mind your own business!
For more information on minding your business please contact me… Brian Hurlburt, or visit http://YourIndependentBusinessConsultant.com
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