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Weekly Small Business Roundup for January 13, 2012

Friday, January 13th, 2012

Weekly Small Business Roundup

This week’s Small Business Roundup includes Google+ integration in Google Search, Gmail phishing message, and un-resolutions for 2012.

Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut – Google really wants you to use Google+. I suppose that’s one way to guarantee your social media venture is a hit – integrate it with the world’s most popular search engine and no one has a choice. Many differing opinions on this. There are so many more articles out there, but this is another one I particularly liked: Google Search Plus Is Shaking Things Up a Bit

Stop Looking Like a Phisher in Gmail – There are a lot of us using Gmail and you’ve probably seen this error message before: “This message may not have been sent by [email address]. Learn more Report phishing.” If you use Gmail and people see this when you send email to them, read this article to figure out how to fix it.

Freelancing Un-resolutions to Make 2012 Your Best Freelancing Year Yet – There are 10 really great suggestions here. There are a few of them that I could definitely put into practice.

How to Compute Your Business Income – This is a good article if you need a refresher or if you are just getting started and want to know how to figure out these numbers. I highly recommend working with a financial professional but you really should know what these numbers mean and how to calculate them yourself, too.

I Am Not a Web Designer – I thought this article was fascinating. And, it’s very true! As small business owners or freelancers, we do a lot more than our job title indicates. I primarily identify myself as a web developer because that’s mostly what I do. I mean, it’s what pays the bills, right? But I’m also business consultant, customer service, billing/accounting, blogger, project manager, adviser, brainstorm-er, troubleshooter, and – maybe most of all – fixer. That’s something to really think about the next time someone asks you what you do. Maybe I should drop the “web developer” and just go with the “Internet Business Consultant” title. Except that always confuses the heck out of everyone, so maybe not. ;)

Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Small Business Roundup for January 6, 2012

Friday, January 6th, 2012

Weekly Small Business Roundup

This week’s Small Business Roundup includes cleaning up after a hack, rate increases, SOPA, and the power of failing.

Finding the Cleanup Crew After a Messy Hack Attack – This article provides a real-world example of a small business responding to being hacked. It gives you some good tips on what to do and how to respond, namely: act quickly, secure your entire network, and inform affected users. These are all extremely important and, of course, how you tell your users is also vital. Something to keep in the “just in case” file in the back of your mind.

More Small Businesses Plan to Push Up Prices in 2012 – With 35% of small businesses increasing their prices in 2012, what are your rate plans? A lot of folks have trouble raising their rates for various reasons and I will say it can be difficult. But if you make it a regular part of doing business it takes some of the pressure off. Also, as suggested in the article, you can try increasing rates for new customers only and grandfathering in your current clients. That’s something I’ve done and had success with. And, it makes it less scary!

Rethink your professional profile photos – Some good tips here. It boils down to: don’t misrepresent yourself or your company. One thing I’ve noticed people have trouble with is professionalism. Because professionalism varies by industry, a good rule of thumb is to be professional for your profession.

Will Google, Facebook, others ‘nuke’ Internet over SOPA? – Several weeks ago I was going to do a whole series on SOPA but I wasn’t sure the level of interest and I got caught up in other things. Now that I’ve come across this, I think it’s time to give it a mention. There’s a lot of information out there on SOPA and the controversy, but this is a good start: Setting the Record Straight on SOPA: Some Evidence-Based Analysis. If you’d like more, post a comment below or contact me and I’ll send you more info.

The power of failing – This is a really great article on the positives of failing. If you don’t fail at something, it’s probably holding you back. A must read.

Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Small Business Roundup for December 30, 2011

Friday, December 30th, 2011

Weekly Small Business Roundup

This week’s Small Business Roundup is all about the year-end and the new year.

Five Things You Should Stop Doing in 2012 – These are really excellent. Everyone should read this and take it in.

What to Do About All that Stuff – I admit that I’m a saver. And not in the money way, but in the save stuff way. I’m getting better, though. If you are like me and need some help de-cluttering, take a look at this article.

8 Metrics Every Freelancer Should Measure at the End of the Year – Another good one from Freelance Folder. Just in case you don’t already have a shiny spreadsheet to do all of these calculations for you (they exist!), the article details how to figure each out.

Lifehack has a series of New Tools for the New Year this week:

Communication

Management

Technology

Lifestyle

Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend! Happy New Year!

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Weekly Small Business Roundup for December 16, 2011

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Weekly Small Business Roundup

This week’s Small Business Roundup includes a productivity twist, taming your website, and some wonderful blog post inspiration ideas.

Stop Being So Damn Productive – An interesting perspective on productivity. There’s definitely a difference between being productive and just being busy. Worth a read, even (especially?) for a productivity junkie like me.

Is Your Website Like A Jungle? – While I like a website that has as much useful information on it as possible, I think you really have to master saying all you need to say in as few words and pages as possible. The article includes 11 tips for reviewing and paring down your site.

Finding Blog Inspiration in Unlikely Places – There are five really great suggestions here. If you find yourself stuck for a blog post, these should be your go-to ideas.

5 Tips For Writing Your 2012 Marketing Plan – Have you started work on your marketing plan for 2012 yet? Use these 5 tips to get started or revise your plan.

Are You Talking Yourself OUT of Clients Paying You? – I think this is one a lot of us get stuck on. I know it took me a while and now I won’t even talk about numbers until I know all the details of a project. My favorite “fix” in this article is the last: “Let Silence Reign.” It’s my favorite because I know it to be true and I know I need to work on it!

Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Small Business Roundup for December 9, 2011

Friday, December 9th, 2011

Weekly Small Business Roundup

This week’s Small Business Roundup includes budgeting and taxes, productivity, simplicity, and a free Q&A call.

Building Your 2012 Budget in 5 Fast Steps – Have you started on your budget for 2012? I know I haven’t! And I’ve blogged about it for a few weeks now… I’m going to use this article to help me get going. This process is especially good if financials make you want to crawl back into bed or you’re just flying by the seat of your pants.

4 Ways to Stay Productive When You Answer to Yourself – You know I love productivity tips! It’s been a while so it was good to find this article this week. I think the Know/Don’t Know list is a really interesting idea.

200 Words That’ll Land Your Email in the Spam Folder – I know I’m guilty of using the exclamation mark (!). I do tone it down but I’m not going to squash that part of my personality. If you click through the article to the list, you’ll see it’s very useful. Remember this the next time you write up a newsletter or marketing email and compare the list to your copy. Also, if you use a service like MailChimp, they have spam filter testing you can run against your email.

Top 10 Small Business Tax Trends for 2012 – Check this out for what to expect in 2012. What’s new, what’s going away, and what’s extended. Tax surprises aren’t always fun so it’s best to be in the know. And find a tax professional you enjoy working with and trust. As #10 states, it’s just going to get more complex.

How You Can Simplify Your Freelancing Business – Simplicity. Isn’t that what we all want? And it can be so hard to achieve. Take a look at these 6 different areas where you can simplify your business. I really enjoyed the “How To Simplify” section because it doesn’t really tell you how (normally I hate that). I love this: “That said, the act of striving for greater simplicity, I’ve found, is often enough to begin enjoying some of its benefits. There’s less grasping for and more receiving, less chaos and more peace, less wanting and more enjoying.”

Last, but certainly not least, Amy and I are doing a free Marketing Preschool Q&A call next Thursday. Here is the call info:

UPDATED:
Thursday 12/15/2011 11:00 AM PST
Conference Access Number: 1-218-936-4977
Conference Passcode: 397389#

Join us with your marketing and technical questions and we’ll do our best to answer. Did I mention it’s free?

Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Small Business Roundup for December 2, 2011

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

Weekly Small Business Roundup

This week’s Small Business Roundup includes pricing, taxes, some handy Firefox and Chrome extensions, and interesting blogging stats.

Hide morning and night hours in Calendar – This could come in handy if you are a Google Calendar user.

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday Purchases You Can Write Off – You may be able to help your taxes with the goodies you picked up last Friday and Monday. Check out this article to see if your loot qualifies. While we’re on the subject of taxes, check out this article for three things you need to do before the end of the year: Small Business Strategies: Three things to do in December.

OneReceipt – This seems like a great idea but I have yet to try it. It’s a free online app that will store and organize your receipts and analyze your spending. If you’ve tried it, please post your feedback in the comments.

Chrome and Firefox Extensions That Protect You from Yourself – Some great ideas for productivity, in-browser spell check, and embarrassment prevention. Check these out if you use Firefox or Chrome.

Why We Are Afraid to Talk Pricing – Do you list your prices on your website? I know a lot of companies (particularly in my line of business) do not. I know, as a consumer, that is one of the first things to turn me off. I don’t want to have to contact someone to get a general idea of how much something will cost. I understand exact pricing can be hard (it is sometimes for my projects!) and that’s why I use “starts at…” for pricing most of my packages.

The Emergence and Explosion of Blogs, Blogging and Bloggers! – If you’re still wondering about this whole blogging thing, take a look at the stats in this article. They’re interesting. Don’t miss the three suggestions at the end.

Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend!

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