Startups

Build a website that effective converts visitors into customers

As the e-commerce industry grows, it is increasingly important to build a site using the best practices for optimizing conversions. If you are looking to decrease your website's bounce rate, here are a few simple techniques:

Follow These Tips to Keep Your Startup's Website Relevant

A website is a often a vital part of any modern business. It’s usually one of the first things on the checklist of a savvy entrepreneur, and is often the first impression a potential client gets about you. However, it takes more then just creating a website for it to work for you. Here are five website elements that are overlooked and could end up hurting your online presence.

Do it with Passion or Not at All

Many moderately successful businesspeople build successful businesses without having a burning passion for them, but there are downsides to this approach. It can be compared to physically pushing a car with brute force to its destination — the car may eventually get there, but you run out of steam at some point along the journey.

Are you doing what you can to protect your future?

You’ve spent years working on perfecting, marketing, and selling a breakthrough product. Its growth and success have been your singular focus. But has this tunnel vision caused you to narrow your market to the point that any growth will inevitably be short-term?

Looking to upgrade your office space?

Making the big move into an office can be an important step towards business success for an entrepreneur. If you’re finding the home-working environment is no longer ideal, listed below are some of the key things to consider when you’re searching for your first workspace.

Demystifying the mechanics of going public

You took your company public. Now you’re rolling in cash to use for advertising, a new line of business, and paying down debt. You’re anticipating a renewed and stronger credit rating, and you love seeing your very own company stock symbol listed on the stock exchange and on the new T-shirts you’re all wearing around the office.

A guide to finding the one that will meet your shipping and logistics needs.

Apps. They’re the must-have add-on for every smartphone, tablet and hand-held device. Anyone can create an app, and small business owners are under increasing pressure to bring out their own app to make the mobile experience for their customers better. But just because you can create an app, does it mean that you should? Here are some pertinent questions to ask yourself before you invest time and money in developing your own mobile app.

A guide to finding the one that will meet your shipping and logistics needs.

Starting your own business takes an incredible amount of energy, focus, and time. As you try to accomplish your revenue goals, evaluate customer feedback, and form a resourceful and reliable team, you can be overwhelmed quickly by your daily duties. Fulfillment companies (like NPFulfilment) help allow you to focus on larger goals by taking on the jobs of storing, picking, packing, and shipping your customers’ orders. Finding the right company for this significant responsibility can greatly benefit your business and schedule.

Four safe and convenient mobile tools for on-the-fly entrepreneurs

I’m a small business owner, so I know what it’s like to have a mobile office, meaning you meet with clients in cafes, drum up business leads at conferences and social events, and try to sell your services at conferences and even via word of mouth! What this means for mobile entrepreneurs like myself is that I’m on the road a lot—in fact, probably way more often than I’m working at a desk in my home office. So I’ve come to rely on mobile devices such as my mobile phone to conduct my day-to-day business meetings, transactions, and financials. I’m often found using my mobile phone to edit documents, sending and signing invoices, I even use my mobile phone to collect and process credit card payments.

Ready to step out of the box?

 In the world of small business financing there are the financing sources that you hear about in the media like angel investors and venture capitalists. Then there are specific platforms that you hear about like Kickstarter, Kiva, and Gust. Then there are the funding sources that have been quietly funding hundreds of thousands of small businesses each year. The primary reason that you don’t hear about these organizations is because they are non profits and economic development agencies. They don’t advertise well, or at all, but they make a huge impact, and they are financing early stage companies. Here are 3 major funding sources that you probably have never heard of:

Free Apps that will help you as an entrepreneur

There’s not much harm in trying something for free. That’s why more and more startups are getting on social media to promote sales, services, and brand image. However, there are many other free tools out there that can help you as an entrepreneur. What do you do when you're on the road and are out of business cards, need to create an invoice, sign and fax a document, or all of the above? This is when free mobile apps can save the day. Here’s a list of some great start-up friendly apps you should not miss!

Is it Right for Your Business?

 It can be difficult for small businesses to find the right IT solution. In-house solutions are often inadequate and quickly become expensive. Plus, there are space limitations as the business grows. Building an off-site data center from the ground up is a financial impossibility. Retrofitting is equally cost prohibitive and does not offer the same benefits as a purpose built data center. Colocation has consistently proven to provide small businesses with a variety of benefits no other alternative can match. A colocation center rents equipment space and bandwidth to small businesses for a regular fee. Colocation facilities provide space, power, cooling, and physical security for the server, storage, and networking equipment of other firms—and connect them to a variety of telecommunications and network service providers—with a minimum of cost and complexity.

A loan can make or break your business. Is your business ready?

Can your business handle a loan? This may seem like a strange question. You might be thinking that you could always use more money. You might say, “certainly a loan wouldn’t hurt my business.” In reality, a loan can kill your business, and your potential lender knows this, so they are going to carefully analyze your financial situation to determine whether or not you can actually afford to borrow money. Here are 3 metrics that your banker will look at closely when you submit your loan application.

It’s often said that “Any publicity is good publicity.”

While the truth of this may be debatable, there’s no disputing that receiving unpaid, positive media exposure can add meaningful revenue to your bottom line. No one knows this better than Steve Harrison.

 Steve is a publicity expert who’s been credited with helping Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad), Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul), and numerous others, launch their book sales and careers into the stratosphere. Rather than a mere “15 minutes of fame,” Steve teaches authors, bloggers, Internet marketers, and others how to remain in the spotlight for their entire careers. Let’s take a look at a few of his key strategies for leveraging the media.

10 tax tips to help your startup and calm some of your stress

You have finally made the decision to do it. You have officially decided to start your own business. When you start a new business there is a rush of information coming in your direction. While it is a time filled with excitement over your new venture, you will also likely feel overwhelmed and unsure of everything that you must do. One of the most difficult things to know for many entrepreneurs and startup companies is how to manage taxes. With the amount of record keeping, receipt tracking, and the fear of the unknown when it comes to tax season can fill any entrepreneurs mind with some level of anxiety.