Does Your Business Have A Power Team In Place?

If not, you could end up with heavy fines, huge tax bills and penalties without realising it!

Read on to find the top 5 members of my power team, what they do for my business, and exactly why I need them…

Whether you’re setting up, running or managing your business, one of the best things you can get together is what I call – ‘Your Power Team’

So what can a power team do for your business and why do you need one?

A Power Team consists of vital professionals you can call on for business advice, instruction, planning and compliance. These professionals will form the backbone of your business and can help you secure your personal finances and family assets too.

Business is all about making money. Let’s face it, even if it’s a passion, you still need to make a profit or the story ends there. It is also about Compliance. Whether we like it or not, there are rules, regulations, laws, and an untold number of issues that may arise as a direct result of trading and, unless you are an expert in the fields of law, finance, accounting, you could end up doing something that quite possibly would mean you have to stop trading or incur heavy fines and penalties.

Here’s My Power Team:

(in no particular order!)

Business Banking Manager

– I have had the same bank manager for years now. I talk through all the new opportunities I come across, and discuss funding where necessary. My relationship with him has been built on trust and business performance and he was there for me in the early days when things were rocky. He has a lot of experience with businesses in other industries and often provides valuable insights.

Accountant

– For Tax Planning, Compliance, Business Planning, Employment, Staff Management, Cost cutting, Analysis – I use my accountant for help and advice with all the above and more.

Solicitor

– For Business disputes, Property/Premises advice, Wills, Legal issues and consumer law – My solicitor deals with any worries or concerns I may have regarding any products, services or regulated activities. He also deals with all my personal and family requirements.

Financial Adviser

– Pensions, estate planning, family protection, business protection, savings and investments. My Financial Adviser puts the money my accountant saves me to good use!

Business Mentor

– Business ideas, strategies, services, product launches, new business, lead generation, marketing, creative ideas and content. My Mentor has helped me through a wealth of issues and always helps me find a way to focus on my projects. We discuss everything and factor in all possibilities to produce a suitable strategy built from our combined experiences.

 Summary

So, now you see how important a power team is for you and your business, and you can see how I use my team on a daily basis. It is essential that you gather and assemble your own ‘Power Team’ build a relationship of trust and leverage their expertise to help build your business into a success.

Your team will provide you with; expertise, sound advice and planning and will save you time and money in the long run.

When you are seeking members for your team, always ask friends, colleagues or family who they are using, and ensure you seek references from existing clients if you have sought them out without contacting them off the back of a recommendation.

Do you have your own ‘Power team?’ Who are your most important members? Are you having difficulty assembling one for your business? Comment below.

Five Ways to Increase Twitter Engagement

Looking to increase your Business engagement on twitter.Follow these simple steps to make your Twitter account come alive and promote your business on twitter.

1.  Provide Your Followers With Lively Content.

Give your followers quality content. Don’t just waste their time. People will read and follow new and interesting information with interest. Get them hooked on your tweets by creating updates with vibrant and worthwhile information.

Example: Quotes, Images, News.

2.  Be More Engaged With Your Followers.

Keep the conversations going. Tweet at different times of the day. Interact with your followers often by retweeting (RT) and replying to their tweets. Use # Hashtags to get involved in global conversations. If you take part actively in Twitter conversations it will strengthen your relationship with the community and get you more followers too!

Example: Tweet and re-tweet, comment on posts, take part in current trending debates etc.

3. Add the Twitter Button To Promote Your Business

Add a Twitter button to your website so that visitors are able to share content as well as connect with your business. Make it easy for your audience to promote your business easily and quickly.

Example: Add a sharing plugin to your blog so your readers can share your content at the click of a button.

4. Start Conversations By Asking Questions.

Initiate conversations by asking direct questions. People are more likely to react to question rather than plain statements. Make your questions interesting and targeted. Give people a reason to react to the situation. Promote your business indirectly by asking your customers what they think of related services or products and provide them with the best solution 😉

Example: What’s the best….? Have you seen…?

5. Use Twitter Hashtags #

The hashtag (#) shows conversations your are engaged in. Tweets that are tagged with the same hashtag mostly discuss the same topic. They make it easier for the users to search tweets about a particular topic. This also increases the chance of your tweet being re-tweeted as it will be found whenever someone searches for that particular tweet.

Example: #business #entrepreneur #music #FF (follow friday)

Although some of these methods may seem a little indirect, they are perfect for engaging users and will keep your Twitter account alive and vibrant.

So there you have it. 5 simple ways to promote business on Twitter.

What methods are you using to help promote your business?

Top 3 Ways You Can Find A Suitable Business Name

Naming your Business is always a tricky part of your setting up phase.

Below you will find my 3 top tips you can use right away to help you choose a business name.

1. Make It Easy To Remember!

It’s important that your Business Name is easy to say and easy to spell! Customers love quirky branding, and a memorable business name, but don’t make it so creative that no-one can pronounce the name or type a search for your Company! Be clear and concise, and check spellings. If you are using a mis-spelling as your Business Name, ensure you research first. Share your ideas with friends and family and get some feedback.

2. Check Your Business Name Availability

Always check if there is a trademark against the Business Name you have chosen and remember to check with the appropriate company registering body if Limited. In the UK that is Companies House, and in the USA the new Business USA Website includes all the links you need to register in the appropriate State. Both websites provide comprehensive information regarding registering your business, so have a good read and take some notes!

3. Make Sure Your Business Name Is Available Across All Platforms

There’s nothing more frustrating than choosing the perfect Business Name and finding there is Facebook availability but no Twitter, or Youtube availability but no .com. When helping clients or registering my own business or a domain, I always check availability on Namechk. This gives a comprehensive search across all platforms, including domain name searches. Perfect!

Naming Your Business – Summary

So There you have it! Three ways you can start researching your business name today. I have found it easiest to write a list of all the possibilities and then check all 3 steps, one at a time. Brainstorm first, check after.

Do you have any tips for Naming Your Business you would like to share? Feel free to comment below.

Welcome To Business By The Sea, a place to learn and share business ideas and strategies. If you’re dreaming of quitting the 9-5 or simply looking for a way of generating extra income online, then you’ve come to the right place.

Thank you for coming here. Below, you will find links to the basics of the site, and FAQ’s if you’re just starting your journey starting a business.

Firstly, you will need to check out the following important links;

If you’re new to starting a business and have no idea where to begin, read my start a business articles here

If you’re already starting a business and have got sidetracked along the way, there are some great starter reads here

If you’re up and running, and want a collection of inspiring business tips and guides, then check my articles here

If you’re just being nosy, and want to find out my amazing story, then click here

Business By The Sea is my round up of the best possible guides, reviews, tips, how-to’s and other business related information that I can gather and present to you in an easy to read format.

If there’s something you’d like to see here, then you can email me here

I am currently trialling Listcrew on my blog, to try and increase subscribers.

I get a reasonable amount of traffic, and you earn credits everytime the Listcrew pop up is shown, so I thought I would give it a go!

Listcrew is a free service (although I belive there are upgrades for additional credits on a monthly basis inside the members area. In exchange for your credits, your newsletter ad is shown on a pop up on another members website or blog.

I am monitoring my list subscribers, and will share the results with you here soon!

You can try it out yourself by clicking the banner below

Are You Starting A Business ?

If you’re thinking of starting a business, you need to read this post.

Quitting the 9-5 is everyone’s dream, and I’m happy to say I quit the 9-5 over 12 years ago. Having said that, I am now busier than ever and have made Internet Marketing my main source of income and success. As an entrepreneur, I have gained experience in the Offline and Online business circuits, and I love sharing my experiences and helping others starting a business get up and off the ground.

Starting a Business Online

With so many ways to make money online, it can seem daunting when you try and business opportunities in 2011 is no exception to that. It’s true, you really can make money online – Internet Marketing is a very lucrative field, but you won’t make a cent without alot of hard work and commitment.

I see lots of people selling ‘fast dollar$’ – ‘Make $478,639 in 3 days’ ‘I made $30,678 in my first month’ ‘make 100,000 in one click’ I can tell you right now, it’s not going to happen. There are thousands of products out there claiming to be the next big thing, promising huge income, showing you the secret to making millions of dollars just by using a piece of software or by clicking your mouse.

Think about it – if you had found a way to make a million in just a few days or even a few months, would you sell that for $47?

Well, this is best business advice you’ll get this year, so read on, or check out my other post here – Top 10 questions to ask yourself when starting a business

How to start a business

The key to starting a successful business online is to Plan.

So many people fail because they don’t see internet marketing as a business. They fail to take notice of the common pitfalls and traps that apply to EVERY business, whether you are running a small store or creating the next technical gadget!

Once you’ve decided to start a business, I would always recommend writing a business plan. It doesn’t have to be a professional 25 page marathon, just a simple what where why and how. Below are things to consider including in your plan for online or offline domination…

• What Market Am I Going Into?
• Who Are My Customers?
• Where Can I Find Them
• Who are my competitors?
• What can I do better than them?
• What Am I Going To Sell?
• How Much Will I Sell At?
• How Will I Promote?
• How Much Will I Need To Start Up? (seed money)
• What Will I Spend My Seed Money On?
• How much money do I need to make?
• How long will this take?
• What are the risks involved?
• How can I avoid them?

Having helped prepare professional business plans for all types of business start ups when I was doing offline business consultancy, I guarantee the points I have listed above will really help you see a light at the end of the tunnel and will also help you stick to your long term plans and goals.

This is just a few of the points you will need to consider when you decide to start a business, and the list is not exhaustive. Sometimes a little cashflow sheet of all the anticipated in’s and out’s of your business is a good idea, especially if you are going to outsource some aspects of the business. There are many free resources online to help you start a business, but I would think that just answering the above questions and writing them down carefully will help you produce a business plan that rocks!

Good luck and please share important points you consider for starting a business below.

“I Need To Start A Business”

In the current economic climate, where jobs are few and far between and the luxury of choice is absent, many people are thinking that they need to start a business yet they often get stuck at the hardest part – the business research phase.

Maybe you’ve been dreaming about starting a new business, and are now starting to move things into reality. Providing you carry out research correctly, you can set up a new company and ensure that it is a strong competitor.

If you’re in the planning stage of and want to start a business or you just want to know how to research your competitors, this post will help you in the early stages of your business plan and will not only free up your time, but it will provide you with useful ideas, related information and will keep you up to date with current and relevant news in your industry!

If You Need To Start a Business, My One Minute Golden Tip Will Do 90% of your business research on Autopilot.

First – write down the following;

1. Your Chosen Business Name
2. Your Competitors Names
3. Your Industry/Trade Press Companies
4. Your Product Name (if applicable)

Once you have done this, go across towww.google.com/alerts and login with your gmail account.
(NOTE – If you don’t already have a gmail account, then you can set one up here – www.google.com)

When you’re logged in, you will see something like the screenshot below. It’s pretty self explanatory, but I took a screenshot anyway just so you can navigate quickly and easily when you set up your business alerts.

As you can see, you have many options – you can select what types of alerts you require, how often you want to receive theme and also the volume of results you want to be delivered.

Depending on the frequency you have selected, Google will send you an email with a round up of the latest alerts related to your business.

Once you hit Create Alert, you will see the settings you have chosen on the next screen and can edit or add further business alerts from here.

The information you receive is crucial to planning starting a business – every time a competitor appears on the internet, or they update their website or blog, you will receive instant notification!  This will help you keep your fingers on the pulse while setting up your business and will ensure your strategy is never outdated.

Other ideas for Business alerts could  include;

1. Your Business Location / Area
2. Consumer Forums In Your Niche/Industry
3. Other Products Your Consumer May Choose (competition)
4. Overseas competitors (for fresh ideas)

Hopefully, readers who need to start a business will be using Google Alerts alot more now, and will no longer suffer the frustration of trawling the web doing research!

Top WordPress Plugins for your site or Blog

I have probably built somewhere in the region of around 50 websites/blogs using the WordPress platform, and rely on some really cool plugins which make it a real breeze.

If you want a Blog or Site that rocks, WordPress Plugins are the answer to your own personal coder! No need to learn how to integrate functions such as contact forms, seo, sidebar widgets, downloads etc, quite often, there is a plugin available to do the job for you.

Plug-in Junkies beware though, too many plugins can slow a site down, and some can even cause conflicts depending on which theme or framework you have chosen.

You should always try to map out your Blog / Site before you start building, and have a good idea of the types of wordpress plugins and widgets that you will need to use to complete the look and feel of your site.

Below is a list of Top WordPress Plugins I use on a regular basis.

• All In One SEO
  This Plugin Optimizes your WordPress blog for Search Engines (Search Engine Optimization).
• Ultimate GA
  Plugin to add Google Analytics JavaScript to each page on your weblog without making any changes to your template. The plugin can also add tracking to outbound links, downloads from your own site and mailto: links
• W3 Super Cache
  This Amazing Plugin speeds up the load time of your site (keeping it ever so Google Friendly) It makes your pages load faster and stores static versions of your site on the server, decreasing the CPU processing required to view your site. Get it!
• Pretty Link
  Shrink, track and share any URL on the Internet from your WordPress website. Create short links suitable for Twitter using your own domain name!
• Google XML Sitemaps
  This plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com to better index your blog. With such a sitemap, it’s much easier for the crawlers to see the complete structure of your site and retrieve it more efficiently
• Contact Form 7
  Contact Form 7 can manage multiple contact forms, plus you can customize the form and the mail contents flexibly with simple markup.

The plugins you use will depend on the type of site/blog that you are building. Many plugins will add widgets which you can simply drag and drop into your sidebar, which is a huge time saver and will eliminate the need to write any html code whatsoever.

Looking for More Free WordPress Plugins?

You can visit the Official WordPress site here where you can simply search what you want your plugin to do and WordPress will fetch back the best results for you.

What WordPress Plugins have you found the most useful?

It’s new years eve and I just wanted to touch base with everyone. I hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday season and are ready for a fresh start tomorrow.

The last couple of days, I have been reflecting on 2011 – on my successes and failures. Did I achieve everything I set out to this year? In a word – no. some things have gone great and others have been a massive fail…

My offline business has gone from strength to strength. We have really worked as a team, and concentrated hard on delivering outstanding customer service, and have invested in new technology to enhance our range of services. This has reflected in income and pushed our sales up for the 12th successive year. WIN!

The business consultancy has been a great success. I have taken on more clients for seo work and small business marketing and strategy advice and have been blessed to work with some truly amazing business men and women alike. I have enjoyed it so much that I signed up for my degree (yes at my age!) in business management and consultancy to further enhance my skills and resources.WIN!

My list building has also gone from strength to strength and I have managed to meet some wonderful peeps who signed up and took some action to get in touch.WIN!

My online coaching has done reasonably well too. Having not marketed this widely, I have worked with some great students who are all moving forward for 2012 with a positive outlook and a solid income to base their future plans on.WIN!

There a quite a few projects, however that didn’t come to fruition. BIG projects. This is a huge disappointment to me, and rather than flog a dead horse, I will be putting a close to these projects and putting the work, money and time spent on them down to experience. MASSIVE MULTIPLE FAILS!

Where did I go wrong? Taking on too much, trying to manage multiple large projects, focusing on the negative rather than the positive, working too hard at one way business relationships, unbalanced joint ventures and learning far, far too much!

This year hasn’t entirely been a failure though. It’s been more of a stepping stone for me.  Having been in the motor trade for 16 years now, I have found this year a real challenge breaking out into my new online business field.

So what’s on the cards for me in 2012?

Well, I intend to start some training workshops here in the uk for business start ups, marketers and entrepreneurs looking to take the jump into creating their own financial success both offline and online.

I will also be creating some fantastic products to help others get started in business along with some great training and advice.

With the current economic climate thinking outside the box is essential and I have spent a lot of time focusing on sharing this information with others. This is where I will start 2012 – with secure business relationships and partners and affiliates.

I hope this didn’t bore you too much, but I felt it may help inspire you knowing that everyone can have massive fails and recover.

What will you be doing in 2012? I would love to hear from you, either by email which I will reply to personally or you can comment on this here on my blog.

Well, enough about me, let’s hear about you…Please leave a comment below.

Here’s to a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous 2012 for us all.

Best wishes

Caroline

Top 10 questions to ask yourself when starting a business

Starting A Business

What do you need to know when you are starting a business? These simple questions will help guide you when starting a business, and hopefully give you a head start to your journey as an entrepreneur.

If you really want to quit the 9-5 and are serious about starting a business, this post is a must.

If you’re thinking of starting a business, ask yourself the following questions;

• How am I currently making money?
• How much start up capital do I have to invest in my new business?
• What am I really good at or passionate about?
• Am I an expert in a field already?
• Will I create my own product or promote someone elses?
• How much time can I commit to making money online?
• What tools will I need for starting a business?
• What am I not good at?
• What do I need to learn?
• What are my timescales?

Planning and focus is one of the most important stages of starting a business, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and money if you make sure you are open and honest with yourself when in this stage.

Let’s go into the questions a little deeper…

How am I currently making money?

How are you making money right now? Do you have a job already? Are you working full time or part time? Are you helping someone else out? Are you looking for a job? It’s easy to get confused, and think that you have to start from scratch, but if you’re making money already, consider incorporating the way you are making money into your new business. E.g are you currently in sales and have good product knowledge? Consider using this knowledge and the power of your existing contacts when starting a business.

How much start up capital do I have to invest in my new business?

So many people try starting a business and fail miserably due to lack of funding. Set your sights on what you can afford. Start small and invest however much you can afford in you or your business. Prioritise your spending and make sure you are investing only in essentials such as training, marketing or products.

What am I really good at or passionate about?

What skills do you already have? Is there a subject or a ‘niche’ that you are passionate about? If you are stuck for a business idea, look into your hobbies, passions and current skillset for direction.

Am I an expert in a field already?

Are you already an authority? Are you well known in your Niche? If you are already an expert in something, you can quite easily promote or sell that expertise online. No need to re-invent the wheel! Many people fail when they start a business because they launch into a completely new field that they know very little about and fail to do proper research. Don’t get caught out.

Will I create my own product or promote someone elses?

Affiliate marketing is perhaps one of the fastest and easiest ways of starting a business. Affiliate marketing involves promoting someone elses product in return for a commission when a sale is made. having said that, it is relatively simple to create your own info product such as a tutorial, a course or an e-book, so make sure you decide which route you will take before you start.

How much time can I commit to making money online?

Plan your time around your lifestyle. When I first started internet marketing, I was working all day and learning all night. I burnt the candle at both ends and got nowhere. When I finally used common sense and practised what I preached, I organised my work on a weekly schedule and got more done in those couple of hours a day than I had in the months of long days and nights before! Ensure you can afford to spare the time you are dedicating to starting a business.

What tools will I need for starting a business?

After speaking with lots of people who have spent thousands on products and software, make a list of what you really need and keep it simple! You don’t always need that ‘must have’ software, and remember, there is NO push button product that will make you money. Stick to these guidelines and save yourself a fortune!

What am I not good at?

Be honest with yourself. Just because you’re not good at something, you shouldn’t dwell on it and let it stop you starting a business. If you’re confident that you can learn the necessary skills with relative ease, then go for it. If not, With the power of outsourcing and sites such as odesk, elance and fiverr, you can get work done relatively cheaply, and free up your time to get on with other work.

What do I need to learn?

With so many courses available in all different areas of starting a business, making money online, software etc, it is important that you don’t try and do ‘everything’ Plan out what you need to learn and what can be outsourced, and try and stay focused on that plan. I am saying this because one of my WordPress Coaching students had spent $7,500 on courses without making a cent online – think about it, – do you really need to be a photoshop expert before you launch your blog, or can you outsource the graphics and design work? Don’t let the learning curve hold you back.

What are my timescales?

Setting timescales are a really important factor when starting a business. Don’t turn into someone who will ‘do it later’ or ‘start that tomorrow.’ Set yourself goals and timescales for important milestones for your business start up.

So, Are you set? Write the answers to the questions you have asked yourself, and go plan Starting A Business!