Successful Blog

Make the Right Call When it comes to Legal Advice

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Having the right attorney to handle your small business’s legal affairs can literally mean the difference between success and failure. But don’t make the mistake of waiting until you’re in legal hot water before finding a lawyer to represent you.

Paying an attorney to oversee and review all legal matters pertinent to your business operations can help to protect your company’s interests and keep you out of trouble.

The fees you’ll pay for this kind of ongoing legal service are relatively modest when compared to the costs you’ll incur if you put off getting legal representation until you’re already in trouble.

What to Look for

What should you look for when you’re shopping for legal representation?

Like medicine, the legal profession has become increasingly specialized over the past couple of decades. Fortunately, there are some law practices and individual attorneys that specialize in business or corporate law.

If your business operates in a small town or rural area with a relatively limited selection of lawyers to choose from, you should shop for an attorney with knowhow in areas of the law most relevant to business.

In an article for Entrepreneur.com, Cliff Ennico, author of “Small Business Survival Guide,” suggests you look for lawyers or law groups that can provide guidance in the following key areas:

  • Business Organization –  Of particular value if you’re just starting up your business, an attorney familiar with the different types of business organizations and the pros and cons of each can help you decide whether it’s best to set up your company as a partnership, S- or C-Corporation, or limited liability company. Once you’ve decided what best fits your needs, the attorney can prepare the necessary papers needed to make your business legal.
  • Contract Law – Having a lawyer prepare or check over contracts that cover transactions between you and your customers and suppliers can ensure that your interests are protected and that the contract language is legally sound.
  • Intellectual Property – If your company’s goods and/or services are essentially the product of in-house creativity, you’ll want an attorney who can register those products for copyright or trademark protection. Failing that, look for an attorney who has an ongoing relationship with a lawyer specializing in the protection of “intellectual property.”
  • Real Estate: – Even though your business itself has nothing to do with real estate, you will find it necessary to negotiate leases for office or retail space, production plants, and/or warehouses. An attorney can help to get you the best possible deal and ensure that the lease agreements covering such transactions have no legal loopholes that could prove problematic in the future.
  • Licenses and Taxes – No matter where your business is located, local and state licenses probably will be needed to legally operate your company. Your attorney should be familiar with regulations so that all necessary licenses and permits are in order before you open for business. While your in-house bookkeeper or outside accountant will probably prepare your tax returns, your attorney can help get your business registered for state and federal tax identification numbers.

Legal services aren’t cheap.

Generally speaking, large law firms bill at higher hourly rates than smaller law offices. However, larger law firms are more apt to have attorneys in virtually all specialties needed to address your company’s needs.

Seek Out Recommendations

If you want the best legal talent you can afford, talk to other business owners in your community to get their recommendations of attorneys or law firms that have served them well in the past.

If you’re new in the community, you might want to use the services of a lawyer referral service that can steer you to a select number of attorneys that specialize in the types of legal services you require.

Shopping for a lawyer based on ads in the Yellow Pages or TV commercials is definitely not recommended.

Retainer Agreement

When you find the attorney or law firm that seems right for your business, you can draw up a retainer agreement that outlines the types of services you will require, the rate at which such services will be billed, payment and billing terms, and guidelines that govern the renewal or termination of the agreement.

Lastly, you will probably be asked to pay a retainer fee that will be deposited into the trust account of the law firm and against which future bills for services rendered can be charged.

Photo credit: retailtrust.org.uk

About the Author: Jay Fremont is a freelance author who writes extensively about a wide array of business and financial topics, including where to look for the best personal financial advice.

10 Great Sites to Easily Add Graphics to Your Content

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By James White

Great images and illustrations are crucial to generating viewer interest and engagement with your site. However, unless you’re a professional photographer or designer, finding fresh, interesting graphics to add to your text can be difficult. Luckily, there are sites online that offer great visual content that can be easily added to your site.

Unsplash

Unsplash features free, copyright-free, high-resolution photos. They post 10 new photos every 10 days, so you won’t run out of great images for your content. You can subscribe to the site to get alerts when they post new images, too.

Picjumbo

Like Unsplash, Picjumbo offers free photos to use with your content. There is a new photo posted every day, and you can subscribe to their newsletter to stay on top of new offerings.

NVD3.js

This content site, NVD3.js, may have a strange name, but it has great content. Need a chart for your article or blog? NVD3.js gives you a plethora of pre-made graphs you can customize with your data. You’ll need to know a little about coding to use this site, though.

Lettering.JS

Lettering.JS is a jQuery plug-in that allows you to create your own graphic text, kerning type, logos and more. If you ever wanted to jazz up your content’s text, this is the tool to use.

Scrollorama

Have you ever thought, “Gee, I wonder how blogs make their text zoom and spin when you scroll down the page?” Well, Scrollorama can make your content dreams come true in the form of a jQuery plug-in. This tool will help you make text flip, zoom, fade and practically jump through hoops.

Mapbox

Trying to explain what your town would look like with a few adjustments? Decided to map out your next road trip? Want to illustrate what the Union would look like if France never sold the United States all that land? If so, Mapbox can help. This tool helps you create the map of your dreams and post it with your content.

Flat Icons

Elegant Themes offers 384 flat icons you can download for free. All you have to do is press the download button, and all of the icons are at your fingertips in just seconds.

Ease.ly

Infographics are a huge crowd pleaser. Who doesn’t like ingesting bite-size information with a scoop of interesting illustrations? Ease.ly is one of the top free infographic tools online. You can use it to build your own custom infographics, like this example from CJ Pony Parts, for your site.

Meme Generator

Okay, infographics are hot right now, but nothing can beat the meme when it comes to graphics popularity. You can create your own meme to fit any occasion using the Meme Generator. It allows you to edit already popular memes to fit your needs, or you can make one from scratch. Don’t feel like making or editing a meme? Just use one that someone else created (with attribution, of course).

Openclipart

Clip art may be the old stand-by for graphics, but it’s never gone out of style. Openclipart offers thousands of images that you can download and use. There’s everything from cartoon bunnies to drawings of sticks and everything in-between.

Text got you down? Take any or all of these tools out for a test drive, and you’ll never have boring content again.

Author’s Bio: James works for Inbound Marketing, Inc. and is the founder of InfoBros. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, cooking, and blogging about health, tech and communication. Connect with him on Twitter at @JGtheSavage.

4 Ways To Make Your Blog More Newsworthy

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By Kelly Gregorio

Business blogs are great; they can connect you with your audience, provide you with an outlet to interact and help in your ever-lasting effort to develop a positive brand image.

But as the popularity of business blogging has increased, so has its blandness. Hundreds upon hundreds of business blogs are out there, making it difficult for audience members to know which quality blogs are worth following.

One deciding factor is a blog’s newsworthiness. Now, no one is asking you to break hard news, but there are some steps you can take to position your blog as relevant and timely. Read on to discover 4 additions you can make to your blog while providing content that is relevant, relatable and on-trend.

1. Host an Interview

Even if you aren’t well-versed in the latest news within your industry, there other experts out there who have that expertise. Consider inviting a newsworthy person onto your blog’s pages in the form of an interview. Audience members will enjoy a fresh perspective and a twist in your normal content delivery.

Once more, even though it’s not you who is providing the “newsworthy” commentary, your effort to connect your audience with this type of information will still position you as a leader in your field. When prompting someone for an interview, point out ways in which you could cross-promote (perhaps they have an upcoming book or service they’re offering); your best bet for landing an awesome interview is to craft a win-win.

2. Comment on Current Events

When big news hits it seems like every news outlet is reporting on it (and based on the same passed-around press release, the same story easily gets recycled.) However, just because a hot story has been reported on doesn’t mean you can’t provide your own unique twist and angle, i.e., your own perspective.

Add in some commentary on relevant current events; see if you can get people sharing and debating certain ideas. Add a twist to a popular subject by posing “what if” scenarios to your audience. Use your imagination to spice up the contemplation of black and white facts.

3. Report on Personal Trends

While it may not be the top trending topic, within your own small business you break news and witness the emergence of new trends all of the time. Consider ways in which you could turn your own entrepreneurial experiences into relevant story lines. Not only will audience members get use out of your action-oriented advice, but by sharing your personal stories and situations, you are likely to increase loyalty and engagement by opening up and letting followers in.

4. Set Up “Google Alerts”

Based on your industry there are certain key words that float around your immediate atmosphere. Setting up a free and simple Google alert is one way to get a jump on new developments and reports.

Whether you end up reporting on the information your alerts deliver or not, an act like this is just good measure as it allows you to stay on top of what’s trending within your industry. In one way or another that engaged education will be reflected either in your blog or other areas of your business. Staying current and educated is everything – especially for the busy entrepreneur.

How newsworthy is your blog?

Author’s Bio: Kelly Gregorio writes about small business topics while working at Advantage Capital Funds, a provider of merchant cash advances. You can read her daily business blog here http://www.advantagecapitalfunds.com/blog/.

How To Get Over Your Fear of Sales

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Twenty thousand bees were swarming just on the other side of the wall.

They were honeybees, and no real threat to our family, but it was pretty much my worst nightmare come true. As the beekeeper came and scooped them off into a cardboard box, his little boy stood next to him, completely unconcerned.

(This is an actual picture of the actual swarm of bees.)

face your fear of sales

Many business owners and entrepreneurs feel the same way about sales that I do about bees. They approach it with stark, abject terror, or they try to get someone else to handle it. “I’m no good at sales.”

First, Understand that Your Fear Isn’t Rational

The most effective sales person is someone who is knowledgeable and passionate about the thing being sold. Guess what? That’s you!

If you have the privilege of sharing your service or product with someone, remember that you’re helping them. You’re only going to gain them as a customer if you provide them with something they need. You don’t need to be apologetic, you don’t need to fret over your pricing, and you don’t need to worry that you’re “bothering” them if you follow up.

Don’t Learn Sales, Learn to Connect with People

One reason why entrepreneurs or consultants fear sales is because it seems to be mysterious and difficult. It’s no mystery. It’s all about uncovering a human connection with the potential buyer.

Yes, you need to be able to articulate your unique value proposition, but it doesn’t need to be a fancy, memorized pitch. Just ask them for their story, and then you get permission to share your story.

Enlist some Technology Tools

If sales isn’t your primary function, it can be daunting to keep track of the contact information, background notes, and requirements of your prospects. Fortunately, there are a lot of inexpensive sales and CRM tools out there that suit the small business owner. Nimble is fantastic for keeping up social networking connections with your contacts, Nutshell has very good pipeline reporting, and OnePageCRM is a one-stop-shop for the sales process. Check them out and find the one that supports your organization’s personality.

Get out of your comfort zone, and stop telling yourself that sales is scary. The next time a sales-related task comes up, use this visualization: you’ve just cooked a delicious meal, and the prospect is a hungry friend.

How would that visualization change the way you approach a “sales” call?

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

Working Moms That Are Making a Difference

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Often that big idea strikes, and it’s those take charge people that follow them through to fruition to create a successful small business.

In many cases, those people are moms that see an opening and a need for a certain niche, and then turn it into something big.

In doing so, these women don’t give up their “momminess,” they just add “mompreuneur” as one of the many hats they wear.

It All Starts With Passion

The key to becoming a successful small business owner is doing something you love and find passion in. Being good at it helps, too.

Whether you are artistic, practical, crafty or persnickety, you probably have some good ideas rolling around.

Check out these notable moms who have started small businesses and then turned them into great big giant businesses:

  • Heather Allard is a mom of three and successful entrepreneur who, among other successes, is the inventor of Swaddleaze and Blankeaze, wearable swaddling blankets sold in more than 200 stores around the world, including some of the big name catalogs like One Step Ahead. She saw a need when her children were young to find something to help them sleep, and followed up on it, turning her blankets into a small business and then a thriving company with a worldwide market. She also began TheMogulMom.com, a community website for momprenuers.
  • Kelly Lester is another mom who saw a hole and filled it. She is the owner and creator of EasyLunchboxes.com and Art Plates. Art Plates was created after Kelly noticed the bland light switch plates everywhere, so she designed plates with a creative flair. Later, as her children brought their lunch to school, she wanted simple and healthy food without all the extra packaging, hence EasyLunchboxes. Now she owns a top seller on Amazon.com.

Both of these women used their momminess to spot a need for something useful to their families, and then used their drive and creativity to fill that hole, tuning a vision and a need into successful businesses.

Social Media is a Great Marketing Tool

Another thing both of these moms, along with many other small business owners, did was use the heck out of social media.

With blogs, websites, online ordering and social media, they marketed their product and themselves. Moms also usually have great networks, an essential piece of starting a business and getting your name and product out there.

Small businesses begin with a vision and a passion.

With those two things, and a thirsty drive and maybe a Facebook or Pinterest page, your creative insight could turn into a successful small business, and you will still be home to cook dinner for your family and maybe squeeze in a soccer game.

And if all goes well, your small business may end up being not as small as time goes on.

Photo credit: liberatingworkingmoms.com

About the Author: Heather Legg is a writer and mom of two, who covers a variety of topics ranging from parenting to social media to how to become a surrogate mother.

How to Streamline Your Business Routine in 2014

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By Ryan Harrison

Running a business requires certain skills and expertise that customers need and are willing to pay for. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to succeed. There are always routine tasks related to business operations that can be frustrating for business owners. For this reason, many small business owners turn to outside help to handle everything from payroll to office services.

Use Tools That Support and Improve Your Overhead

If you’ve been outsourcing routine work for a few years, you should have picked up some basic skills by now that will enable to handle some of these tasks. Don’t underestimate what you’ve learned in all those meetings with your accountant. Before you spend your entire outsourcing budget for 2014, investigate the potential of using business automation tools.

Online Accounting Tools Integrate Your Current Project Data

You probably already handle some aspects of your company’s financial tasks, such as invoicing and tracking projects. And these are probably handled in entirely separate programs on your desktop, with no way to easily access and integrate both functions. Programs like Quickbook’s online accounting keep everything in one place that has to do with operating your business. A basic package gives you wizards and tools to help with these functions:

  • Payroll, including tax withholding
  • Project estimates
  • Project time and expense tracking
  • Invoicing
  • Bank transactions

Many online accounting programs also provide automatic data backups and integrate data you’ve stored in programs like Outlook, Gmail, and Excel. Quickbooks online accounting is one of the cloud-based services that also automate tasks like system updates, which can save a lot of your time. Cloud-based accounts can be accessed from virtually anywhere with a secure Internet connection to your desktop, smartphone, or tablet.

Stop Struggling with Paper!

If you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, you’re inquisitive and acquire a lot of paper that ends up in disorganized piles around your office. Put an end to this and start scanning everything you bring to the office. Scan your important documents and save the files digitally; encourage employees to do so as well. If you have a lot of paper you want to access electronically, there are services that will handle the document conversion for you. Or you can invest in a sheet-feed or portable scanner that scans more quickly than printer-scanners. Some scanners integrate with other documentation systems, including Quickbooks.

Take Advantage of Free Trial Offers

Many vendors offer free product trials, some for as long as 60 days with money-back guarantees. Try out a few to see how many functions you can take over yourself. If you decide to take the plunge, keep in mind that the costs are likely to be much lower than outsourcing. Best of all, these tools can help you gain a deeper understanding of your business’s operations and identify more opportunities to save time and money.

Author’s Bio:Ryan Harrison writes about business, marketing, operations, and more at www.producersweb.com. He also finds time to write at yfsmagazine.com. You can find him on Twitter as @RyanHar13790076.