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The Sure Bet: 4 Reasons Putting Profits Back Into Your Business is a Sound Strategy

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By Angela Freeman

The ultimate goal of any company is to generate profits. This leads to an important question: what do those companies do with the profits they create? These 4 reasons should convince you that putting profits back into your company is a sound strategy that will improve your business’s future success.

1. It Gives You the Opportunity to Grow

Your company thrives at what it does right now, but will it continue to thrive in the future?

All companies must grow to experience continued success. When you put profits back into your company, you can use the money to explore new industries or improve on the services and products that you currently offer.

For instance, you could use the money to purchase new lab or tech equipment that will let you conduct more of your own research. That reduces the amount of money that you have to give other companies to conduct research for you. It also gives you more control over the quality of your research.

Both of these advantages will help your company succeed in the future.

2. It Lets You Spend More on Advertising

If your company is earning profits, then you know it has something special to offer clients. Putting money back into the company could help you pay for advertising that lets you reach even more consumers and businesses that want to use your services.

No matter what kind of advertising you choose, it will take a sizable amount of money. Radio, print, and Internet advertising can quickly add up to thousands of dollars.

Spending that money on something intangible might feel like a waste, but it’s the only way to get a bigger segment of your target market. If people don’t know you exist, they can’t choose your services.

3. It Helps Improve Training for Employees

Without properly trained employees, you can forget about continued business success. Every person working for your business plays an important role, so you must place an importance on making sure every person receives good training.

Good training costs money. Depending on your company’s size, you might decide to build your own HR department to handle training, or you might hire an outside contractor to do the training for you. Regardless, you’re going to need to put your profits into the training program.

In the long-run, you’ll see good results, because you won’t have to worry about employees who don’t know how to do their jobs.

4. It Means You Can Avoid the Pitfalls of Debt

Many companies borrow money when they want to expand, investigate new opportunities, or upgrade their training programs. Borrowing money, however, means paying interest. That can weigh your business down for decades.

Even if you get a good interest rate of six percent, which is really quite good, on $100,000 that you pay back within ten years, you still end up paying over $13,000 in interest. You’re better off putting your profits back into the business so you can avoid that extra expense.

What have you done with the profits your company made in recent years? Have you put the money back into your business, or have you made other decisions?

Author’s Bio: Angela is a freelance business, tech and travel writer. When she isn’t writing she is being a science nerd, messing around with her lab equipment, and attempting to bake. Follow her on Twitter @Ang_Freeman3.

On Being the Kind of Boss People Want to Work With

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By Stacey Thompson

More often than not, the average employee views management in a negative light. Feared, resented, or even reviled, bosses are seen as cruel, unfeeling taskmasters that care only for the bottom line and will readily sacrifice any of the rank and file to attain their objectives.

This culture of hating on the management can go two ways: either employees aspire for these positions in order to propagate the perceived cycle of tyranny, or they will not make the effort to become better workers, seeing that promotion will only turn them into the same monsters they so despise. Neither of these attitudes does justice to the employees, the management, or the company they work in, for that matter.

Are you a boss people like to work with?

In the case of companies, I firmly believe that the culture is propagated from the top down. This places the responsibility of maintaining a prosperous and positive work environment squarely on the shoulders of the managers and supervisors. Just as bad habits and mentalities spring from negative examples provided by the people on top, productive and motivational attitudes are spread by good bosses.

Many people have plenty of theories on what managers should be doing to keep their people motivated, happy, and productive. In my own experiences as both a subordinate and as a manager, I can summarize all these lessons into four pieces of advice:

Open Lines of Communication

No amount of mutual understanding and teamwork will happen if the boss doesn’t even talk with his/her subordinates. This isn’t limited to meetings or official office correspondence; the ability to be able to shoot the breeze with the troops at the water cooler is an important ability to have, if you want to be an exemplary manager of people. It will give you more insights on what motivates (and de-motivates) your people, and in turn, it will humanize you in their perceptions. You’ll cease to be a cruel monster in their eyes, and that can’t be all bad.

Try smiling a little more, too

Though you want to appear a tad more friendly and approachable, do not overdo this, either. Being too chummy with your subordinates will often result in them respecting you less, and your ability to reprimand or correct them will be severely hindered. This does make things lonelier at the top, but remember, this is for the sake of all of your livelihoods.

Give Them a Chance to Shine

You shouldn’t be taking all the glory and credit for yourself, either. This is probably one of the fastest ways to lose favor with your constituents. When they do something above and beyond the call of duty, or have stayed consistently productive and cooperative, give them due praise, and possibly even a material bonus. Let the entire team know when one or more of them have done well, and if your own boss recognizes your team’s accomplishments, let them know where the credit should go.

Allowing them to take the lead and enjoy the benefits of their own achievements will inspire them to work more effectively, and it will give them lessons that will be of use to them when they become managers and supervisors themselves.

Be The Final Word

The two previous bits of advice portray a softer, more yielding kind of management strategy. One cannot be a boss without putting one’s foot down, however. The final lesson on being the boss your people can respect involves being the authority within the team or organization. You are the go-to guy/gal when they want a decision made, the King Solomon that will decide who gets the baby, so to speak.

As a leader, it is on you to set clear goals for you and your team, and you have to be firm when it comes to these things. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to change your mind; it means that you will only do so if your colleagues make a strong enough case for an alternative, or if you yourself have evaluated the factors and have found that a course alteration is in order.

Are you an effective boss? What are your strategies for leadership?

Author’s Bio: Stacey Thompson (@RedHotStacey) is a professional writer, marketer, entrepreneur, and a lover of weird little animals. She is based in San Diego, California, and aspires for her own little company to grow successful enough for her to qualify in entering an elite CEO peer advisory group, one fine example being The Sage Executive Group.

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Five Lessons Small Businesses Can Learn From Liz Strauss

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By Shonali Burke

Like many bloggers in the PR and marketing realm, I’ve been in awe of Liz Strauss ever since I became aware of the “name bloggers” in my professional world. When I started my own blogging journey, four years ago, Successful Blog was one of the first to become a regular stop; always for inspiration, and sometimes as I asked myself the question, “Will I ever be able tolike that?”

I met Liz fleetingly a few years ago, when she spoke at a DC-area event. Our meeting was brief. She was standing outside the event venue and, spying her in a rare moment of solitude, I couldn’t help but go up to her and tell her how much I admired her. She didn’t know me from Eve (probably still doesn’t), but that didn’t stop her from graciously thanking me. Later, she was kind enough to connect with me on various social platforms, even though the benefit was certainly skewed towards me.

As Liz recuperates from her illness, I couldn’t help but think of five lessons small businesses could learn from Liz Strauss.

1. You’re only a stranger once.

This is the tagline of Successful Blog, but is applicable to your business if you approach your customers as people first. Sure, customers come and go. But a successful business will convert first-timers into repeat buyers, and repeat buyers into evangelists. I don’t care how large or small your business is, this is possible and applicable…if you treat them as people first.

How do you start doing this? By using today’s myriad two- and multi-way communication channels to build relationships instead of email lists.

2. Building relationships takes time.

Especially with the number of (how many? I don’t know! Too many to count!) social media/self-help/gurus shilling their wares, I am not surprised at how many small businesses that think the way to use social media is this:

The path to social media failure

After all, once you have a presence, the rest will fall into place, right?

Wrong.

Connecting – i.e. following/being followed back – on a social network does not automatically translate into a relationship. All that that first connection means is that a door has been (slightly) opened to you; how you now conduct yourself will determine whether that door opens more fully or slams shut in your face.

How do you start doing this? Be a human super-collider. Find out what makes the people you meet, whether they are customers, or prospects, or business professionals you come across at networking events, tick.

3. When you build relationships, your community steps up when you most need it to.

Look at the way this blog has been running for the past several months. Liz’ health situation was announced at the beginning of 2013. The last post I read, as I drafted my own, was dated May 10, 2013. That’s a full five months later.

Had Liz not spent several years genuinely building her community via real relationships, do you think she would have had people like Rosemary O’Neill step up to manage the blog in her absence?

No way, Don Juan.

How do you start doing this? Part of the answer is in #2 above, so first I will say, “Read above, lather, rinse, and repeat.”

4. Educate and empower your community.

The second part of the answer is to educate and empower your community. Tell them, as you engage with them over time, what’s important to you… and why (and if your business is community-centric, chances are it’s what’s important to them too).

How do you start doing this? As you continue to engage with them, find people who can become your de facto or de jure community managers, and empower them with enough know-how – such as your engagement goals and guidelines, and your content needs – so that they can step into the breach if and when they need to.

The great thing about this approach is that you may never need them to fill a void in your absence… but if you do, they are ready and willing to do so.

5. Focus on what works.

A recent Constant Contact survey reported that 66% of small business owners use mobile technology. Continue reading, though, and you’ll see: “… it’s important to note that, of the 34 percent not using any mobile device or solution for their business, a resounding 65 percent have no plans to do so in the future, mainly citing a lack of customer demand.”

I don’t think this 65% of the 34% is necessarily behind the times. Being a small business owner myself, I know the conflicting demands placed on small businesses.

What will you pay attention to? When? How? Who’s going to do it?

It isn’t a question of never paying attention to technological advances, it’s a question of being attuned to the technologies your customers are using or expect, and providing the appropriate platforms, while planning for the future. Just as Liz does here on Successful Blog, by maintaining a framework visitors are familiar with, but by keeping an eye on what’s to come.

How do you start doing this? Stay on top of technological and industry developments. But don’t jump on the bandwagon until your business can sustain and recoup the additional investment… and don’t let anyone pressure you into doing so either.

I’m sure there are many other lessons you have gleaned, on a business level, from Liz’ incredible contribution to the blogosphere and our time. Would you share what you have learned, so that we can salute her collectively?

Author’s Bio: Shonali Burke takes your business communications from corporate codswallop to community cool™. She also blogs, teaches, and cooks. You can find her on Twitter as @shonali.

Thanks for the shout-out, Shonali! I was honored to be able to give back a tiny bit to Liz, who has shown her generosity and kindness to so many over the years. She is the nougaty goodness at the center of this amazing community.

Rosemary

Invoice Factoring for New Business Needs

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By Tina Hamilton

If you are an entrepreneur in your start-up year, you are still learning the ropes. You may have tenacity, family support, passion, and past experience in the industry. However, you can’t be managing every aspect of the business at once and all too often young companies find unpaid contracts and invoices piled on the desk.

In worse case scenarios unpaid invoices can sit around for months and cause companies to fail to meet payroll or face challenges in ordering inventory. Knowing your options is vital to keeping your head above water. One of the best solutions to this all-too-common problem is Invoice Factoring due to its successful record in helping businesses continue to flourish by providing instant cash. Continue reading to learn how it works, and what to look out for.

Cash Flow problems

Getting a cash advance on your unpaid invoices can be what saves your starting business. But finding the right invoice factoring company is equally vital to protecting your assets, as is the ability to get paid off your unpaid contracts.

Fee

When paying a company to collect on your Factoring Accounts Receivables you want to find one that will charge you zero money upfront and take no more than 10 percent of your recovered unpaid invoices. Asking a business to pay upfront is counter-productive and defeats the purpose of getting a cash advance.

Reputation

A factoring company’s reputation is extremely important. It is paramount that businesses take the needed time to do thorough research on any company they consider working with. If there are a lot of negative remarks surrounding a company is it best to keep looking for another provider. It is completely normal to find one or two bad reviews on any business in any industry. Perhaps your business even has a bad review. Do not let one bad review shake your faith in a company, but if the negative feedback stifles the positive, dealing with them is not worth it.

Terms

Make sure the terms are just as agreeable as the rates. You may not be buying a used car, but you can still try haggling a bit to get the terms to an appropriate arrangement. If you find a company with excellent rates but the terms need some improvement, try doing a little research until you do find a company with better terms and present your finding to the provider you are trying to work with. Often they will try to save face by matching or beating a competitor’s terms. When it comes to negotiating terms you can follow advise from online articles that help entrepreneurs negotiate traditional bank loans. Although the products are totally opposite from one another, the art of negotiating is not.

Moving forward

Once you have been paid out on your invoices be sure you learn from the experience so not to repeat the same action from happening again. Perhaps hiring someone to manage accounts is in order. This would also free up some of your time to spend elsewhere in the business.

Finally, positive thinking is a powerful, contagious force that helps drive business forward. Be sure that when you finally nail down your business processes, you line them in a silver layer of positivity.

Author’s Bio: Author Tina Hamilton is a veteran journalist currently researching invoice factoring as an option for her family’s business. You can follow her on Google+.

Find Your Ideal Peer Group

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You are the company you keep, online and offline

Finding a peer group that inspires and supports you is very important to the success of just about anything you do. If you find yourself frustrated or unmotivated, and can’t seem to make an internal change to remedy the situation, look around you.

Who are you spending time with? What blogs do you read? What books, magazines? Who do you go to the gym with?

If you want to take everything up several notches, seek out people who are successful doing what you aspire to do, and connect with them.

Action steps for today

Overhaul your blog reading.

Unsubscribe to the “debbie downer” blogger who is spinning wheels complaining about things, and find new writers who fill your brain with useful and inspiring content. Take a spin through Technorati or just Google “blog” and “keyword.” Better yet, just decrease the number of blogs you’re reading every day and start writing more!

Overhaul your offline friends.

It’s admirable that you want to help others, but make sure your mix of friends includes people who are taking action, going places, full of energy and happiness. Minimize your time with the “takers.” Be proactive about finding live events and local meetups that get you going. Check out Meetup.com for some possibilities.

Overhaul your online friends.

First, recognize who is a friend and who is a distant connection, just looking for a “like.” Find groups of connections who are helping each other, who aren’t looking over your virtual shoulder for someone more important to come along. Keep an eye out for up-and-comers you can grow with. Why not start a Triberr group among folks you admire and want to support?

Consider aligning yourself with a built-in peer support group like SOBCon. It’s just one example of an event that is also a year-round community. By taking the leap and extending yourself, you get a launching pad for your dreams. And who knows, someone out there may need YOU as a peer! Heck, you’re amazing.

Are you taking steps to surround yourself with the right peer group?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Our Top 15 Posts Ever

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By Andy Crestodina

Since the beginning, this blog has helped more than a million visitors learn hundreds of important lessons. You, the readers and writers, have shared your experiences and techniques through more than 1000 posts and nearly 100,000 comments.

In this post, we’ll look back the 1000+ posts on Successful Blog and review. All of these, of course, were written by our beloved Liz. Some of these were instant classics. Others were their own mini-viral events. Each is an example of great writing on relevant topics.

So here they are, the top 15 posts in the history of this website…

1. The How to Happiness – Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life

“You don’t need to get a life, you’ve already got one.“

2. 10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments

“It seems that we have the same secret reasons for not leaving our calling card. We want to leave our thoughts, but things get between us and that comment box.”

3. How To Make Your Dream Come True – Through Thought, Strategy and Action

“Wonders, wishes, and waiting without commitment are a whole lot of nothing happening.“

4. 5 Reasons People Don’t Get Hired and the Only 3 Questions that Count

“An interview or a client presentation is a test. It’s like an oral exam in which the subject is you.”

5. Ideas? 20 Questions to Kickstart New Thoughts

“Imagine you just landed on this planet. You’d have a passel of questions and a totally beginner’s view. The key is not to fix things, but to find new reactions to what you encounter.”

6. Are You a Writer? 7 Traits that Writers Have in Common

“Every person is struggling to find a meaning that makes sense. It’s not about money. It’s not about volume of work. It’s about meeting a self-defined goal of becoming a writer.”

7. How to Receive a Compliment Without Being a Self-Centered Idiot

“Focus on the speaker and the value of the speaker’s words. That guarantees your response will be graceful, respectful, and not about you.”

8. 25 Outstanding Links to Help You Write a Compelling Tagline

“How do you pack all of that promise into four or five simple words that will resonate with the folks you want to reach?”

9. Conan’s Good-bye: 10 of 10 in Leadership, Reputation, and Community

“Corporations, small businesses, every one of us could learn a lot from how Conan said good-bye. His words were the careful words of a leader delivered from the heart in a difficult situation.”

10. What Is Humility?

“The funny thing about humility is the second you think you have it, you don’t.”

11. The Problem with Writing… 25 Things to Know BEFORE You Write for a Living

“Writing communicates through across the world, through time, to people I have never met. It captures ideas, inventions, and information. It’s worth it to be even a tiny part of that.”

12. What Is a Social Community

“An online community isn’t built or befriended, it’s connected by offering and accepting. Community is affinity, identity, and kinship that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.“

13. 10 Reasons Creative Folks Make Us Crazy

“What are the traits that creative folks have in common? Are we all creative? Is there anyone who’s not? Can I boost my creativity? Am I a creative freak?”

14. 27 Things to Know Before You Work in Social Media

“This is not a rant, simply a set of observations which are quite similar to the challenges of any communication-based, people-centered endeavor.“

15. 10 Ways to Live In the Moment Every Moment of Your Life

“Ever talked with a guy who’s passionate about his life? He doesn’t give one kind of energy during the hours of 8 to 5 and another when play time arrives. His moments are filled with enthusiasm and determination for being part of everything that he does.”

We hope you enjoyed this round-up. Hopefully, this was a discovery of some of the great posts you missed. Or perhaps it was a rediscovery of posts you read and loved. So many classics.

Feel free to reshare the greats. Better yet, leave a comment and tell us which of these you loved most …or perhaps which of your favorites we left out!

Author’s Bio: This list was compiled by Andy Crestodina, the Strategic Director of Orbit Media. Andy is on and Twitter.