Three Key Strategies Any Business Can Adopt in 2016 to Boost Profitability

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It is a competitive market in today’s economy. After 26 years since the creation of the businesses now have a number of methods and channels to distribute marketing and information about their products and services and are able to reach a varied and broad audience. While this may be an effective marketing approach, it generates an almost cutthroat atmosphere of competition. Here are three key strategies any business can adopt in the coming year to boost profitability:

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About the Author

Richard MilamRichard Milam is the president and CEO of EnableSoft. Prior to founding EnableSoft, in 1995, Richard was a partner and Senior Vice President of FiTech PLUSmark, and held other positions in Information Technology, Operations, and Sales.

4 Services You Need For Your Business To Succeed

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4 Services You Need For Your Business To Succeed
It’s nearly 2016 and that could mean a new start for your company. Perhaps this year wasn’t as profitable as you hoped so it’s time to make some changes. If you want your business to be successful, we suggest you invest in the right services. That way you can save on costs as well as making sure your business is run more effectively. These are the services and solutions that we suggest.

Legal Advice

It’s crucial for a modern business to hire the right legal help. There are a number of different ways your business can find itself with a legal issue. It could be related to your employees. This might be to do with human resources, bullying or even an accidental injury. You’ll be thankful that you have employment law consultants at hand, ready to help.

You could find that you have a contractual dispute with a supplier. When dealing with contracts for your business, it’s best to think ahead. You need to make sure that you always have legal help whenever you are making a new deal with business partners. That way you will be completely protected. Of course, legal solutions are just one of the ways you need to protect your company.

IT Support

We imagine that a large majority of your business is dependent on online networking. If that’s the case you need to make sure that it doesn’t break down or falter. It’s difficult to do this without hiring a full IT team for your business. That’s costly so instead you should outsource this job to an IT support service. They’ll keep a check on your computer systems and ensure everything operates smoothly. This is particular beneficial if your business is using cloud-based software.

Using cloud-based software, you might be running your company from outside of an office. In fact it could be a global machine with lots of different parts. But if the server breaks, then you will almost certainly run into issues operating your business.

A Business Consultant

Business consultants come in all different forms and with various charges. You could get a marketing consultant or a customer service consultant. Either way, they are sure to boost the effectiveness of your business, offering you key advice in their specialised area. That said, the cost is troublesome. That’s why we suggest you use a person business advisor instead. These are far more cost friendly and will provide your company with great support.

A Market Agency

Lastly, any successful business owner will tell you just how important marketing is. It’s not just about getting your business noticed. It’s about making sure that your company is remembered by customers and that you are constantly making waves. The best way to do this is to hire a digital marketing agency. They’ll run promotion for your business on all major platforms, ensuring customers find and use your company.

Use these solutions and we guarantee your business will be more effective, and you will maximise your profits in the new year.

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Outsource These Tasks For Business Success

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Success in the business world relied on many different factors. You need to supply the right products or services at the right price. You also need to place your operation in the best location possible. All company bosses have to seek suitable team members to push their business forward too. However, sometimes it’s better to outsource certain tasks rather than employ more people. We’re going to draw your attention towards some of the most commonly outsourced jobs in this post. With a bit of luck, the information will help to save money and take your business to the next level. We’ll explain the reasoning behind outsourcing each process to set the record straight.

Outsource These Tasks For Business Success
Photo courtesy of Dream4U

Customer service

Most savvy business owners outsource the customer service part of their companies these days. That is because it’s much cheaper to let dedicate firms handle the job. You simply have to provide them with lots of information about your operation. You can even hand them a script if you would like their staff to use certain language. The best thing about outsourcing customer service roles is that you can keep your team small. It would cost a fortune to employ ten people just to answer emails, letters, and telephone calls. As you will discover when you research the market, you can get other people to handle that task for much less.

Marketing

You need lots of spare time to work on the success of your company. That means you might have to attend lots of networking events and such. You might also need a couple of hours each day just to sit thinking about your next moves. It’s impossible to have that much time on your hands if you don’t outsource your marketing efforts. There are hundreds of professional firms out there who would happily deal with the matter one your behalf. Most of the people working for those companies have official qualifications in the subject. So, you just need to trust in their expertise. Again, outsourcing that job is cheaper and more efficient. You could get amazing results in only a couple of days.

SEO

The guys at www.LosAngelesSEO.org say all company bosses now understand the importance of SEO. While that might be true, many of them are still handling the process in-house. That is a terrible idea because professionals working in that field know more than you. The simplest SEO mistakes could cause a penalty and damage your online reputation. At the same time, Google changes the rules far too frequently for you to keep up. Outsourcing the SEO process should mean you appear at the top of relevant search results very quickly. You’ll have to pay a premium for the service, but anything less makes you look like an amateur.

Web development

Some people decide to employ a web designer directly. That is a great idea if your company is making a decent profit and you can afford the cost. However, outsourcing the job will help you to save money during the early stages. Don’t make the mistake of trying to design your business website without expert help. Those free site building tools advertised on the TV might look good, but they’re not. Any internet user worth their salt can spot an amateur website a mile away. You need to present the right online image, and it’s impossible to do that without a professionally designed domain. Also, most web development firms will offer maintenance deals you should consider.

Content writing

Professional writers will always create better content than other people. For that reason, you should try to find a good and reliable freelancer. The people over at www.freelance.com have helped to make that process much easier. Ask them to create the content for your website, and your marketing emails too. In fact, you could ask them to write every letter you ever send. Outsourcing writing tasks should mean you always present the best wording to your customers and clients. Also, some writers will know how to use psychology to get better results. The way in which your text is written can make a huge different to success levels.

So long as you outsource all the processes mentioned on this page, your business should grow and expand quickly. Some company bosses have an issue when it comes to letting go of the reins. However, you must understand that trusting other people with certain parts of your business is essential. The last thing you want to do is build a company that needs thousands of staff members. There is just too much risk involved when you could simply pass work to other professionals.

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A Quick Guide To The Marketing Benefits Of A Greener Business

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A Quick Guide To The Marketing Benefits Of A Greener Business
Photo courtesy of Gui Seiz

There are plenty of reasons why businesses all over the world are becoming more eco-friendly. It’s a money-saver, for a start. All those high electricity bills, waste paper – it all costs you far less when you try and limit the use. But, one of the most overlooked benefits of running a greener business is that it is great for your marketing efforts. In this brief guide, I’m going to outline some of the reasons why.

It’s an instant profile changer

You hear a lot about ‘values’ in business these days. And, let’s be honest, most of them are nonsense. But with a greener outlook, you have something to shout about. Embracing a more eco-friendly approach with your company places you in an area that is more interesting for more people. And, it works on a local and national scale. Journalists will be more likely to pick up on your story, and, in essence, it gives you a much wider field to play on.

You make up your customer’s minds for them

We’ve spoken before of one particular problem that many businesses face when trying to build their customer base. It’s all about what makes buyers choose one product over another. Some people will buy only when they are at that stage of the sales cycle. Others will prefer a color or a brand name. And, most importantly for this article, some will buy for ethical reasons. People actively look for companies that embrace a green outlook. Nobody actively seeks out a business that damages the environment. So, it’s a no-brainer: pursuing eco-friendly values will make you more appealing to a large part of the market.

It’s trackable

One of the oldest marketing techniques in the book is sending out literature or greetings cards at certain times of the year. You can track these – to an extent. But, in most cases, you never know whether those flyers and leaflets end up in the trash or whether you get a direct response. It’s also a tremendous waste of paper and printing, especially for unsuccessful campaigns. However, try those marketing methods online and it’s a different story. Whether it’s holiday ecards for business customers or special offer emails to customers, you can track it all. You can see who opens them, who responds, and you can get a better grasp of what works – and what doesn’t.

You get access to your local community

With the web being all encompassing for marketer’s minds these days, it’s easy to forget what your local community can do for your business. It’s a strong market that can give you a backbone for growth, and local firms from different industries often work with one another. If you embrace a greener strategy, it’s something you can champion at a local level. That gives you access to all the other businesses in your area that are doing similar things and puts you on a pedestal of sorts.

So, there you have it: some simple ways that show going green can give your marketing a boost. Let me know if you have any ideas on how you can change things for your company and I’ll get right back to you. See you again!

How to Make Money with a Blog

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So, you want to get rich off a blog. Maybe you’ve seen pictures of Marcus Frind, founder of free online dating site Plenty of Fish, holding up his check for $901,733 – money generated through Google’s AdSense. Or perhaps you’ve heard of Jeremy Schoemaker – they call him “Shoe Money” – who also posted a picture of himself holding a check from Google for a month’s worth of clicks: $132,995.

You’ve heard these outrageous tales of success, and you know that you have great blog ideas yourself. And you, too, want to get rich, quick.

As the founder of Today’s Growth Consultant and Income Store, two companies that collectively own over 200 income-generating websites, I regularly partner with industry thought leaders, CEOs, authors, and athletes to create a generous amount of blog content. Our websites are seen over 50 million times a year, and we’re currently under contracts to split revenues in the eight figures. I’m here to tell you, you can make money on a blog. But not if you are exclusively focused on dollars.

The bad news: the days of monetizing a blog simply by plastering it with ads were well over by about 2008. Back then, you could get $40 per CPM, where today, it’s about $2. Even if you decide to go that route, you’ll need a substantial amount of traffic to make it lucrative. If you’re new to the blogging game and don’t have traffic yet, that’s going to take a while to build. So, you probably aren’t going to turn into the next Marcus Frind or Shoe Money simply by pasting ads all over your blog.

But there’s another way.

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About the Author

Ken CourtrightKen Courtright, speaker and author of multiple best-selling Internet marketing titles, is the founder of Today’s Growth Consultant (TGC) – a two-time Inc. 5000 designee – that launched www.IncomeStore.com. TGC/Income Store partners with individuals, companies and private equity firms/fund managers procure, develop and manage revenue-generating websites at two times earnings. The company’s portfolio currently boasts over 400 websites that are seen approximately 100 million times each year. Ken may be reached online at www.TodaysGrowthConsultant.com.