Survey Reveals Top 10 Most ‘Always-On’ IT Jobs and The Workplace Benefits of Being Out of Touch
4 Surprising Facts About Social Media For Small Businesses
3 Easy Ways to Improve Your Search Rankings
Job Stress Raises Women’s Heart Attack Risk
The 10 Smartest Web Analytics Tools
Woeful Websites: How to Guarantee Your Startup Won’t Get Funding
It’s back! This week’s Small Business Roundup includes long content pages, website RFP redesign, and underbidding projects.
Don’t Be Afraid of Content and Long Web Pages – This is an interesting topic. Not too long ago it was standard to tell website owners that their content couldn’t be “below the fold” or they’d lose visitors. All you have to do is think about your own browsing habits. Do you scroll? Yes, everyone scrolls. The real issue is having valuable content. If you have excellent content that is easy to read, no one is going to mind scrolling to soak it all in. Just remember to keep it relevant and to the point.
Promote Your Business Without Being Pushy – This is a really simple concept but we tend to make it really hard. It’s all about the brand message and strategy. If you have that down, the rest is easy.
Redesigning the Site Redesign RFP: Eight Do’s and Don’ts – This is an excellent article if you are looking to do work on your website. You have to sign up for their site to read the whole thing but there is some really good information in here. It discusses mobile integration, content sharing, SEO, community features, and personalization. The tips for what not to ask for are even better.
Seven Ways to Whip Your Website into Shape – These tips are perfect. I think it would be a good idea to print these out and go through them once or twice a year, particularly: simplify, fix the problems, and refresh the about page. The final tip may be the best of all, though.
What to Do When You Underbid on a Project – This is a really hard one for me. I usually end up eating the cost because I think it’s my fault if I underbid. But the reality is you are doing work for the client and they should pay for it. To keep your lights on and because they need to know how much your services cost. The author suggests eating the cost might help land a long-term relationship with the client but then you’ve started the relationship off by giving them more than they paid for – and they may expect that in the future. You have to set expectations.
Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend!
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!
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!
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:
Tech news is up next. Have a great weekend! Happy New Year!
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