Successful Blog

The Facts on the Benefits of Starting Your Own Business

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Ideas and Infographics
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Starting your own business can be difficult, but it can also be highly rewarding. For many people, it’s a dream that is never realised, but for a lucky few, it’s a reality.

If you’ve considered going it alone and pursuing your dreams then take a look at this infographic from the team at www.xlntelecom.co.uk which is full of useful information about how to approach starting your own business.

Click here to see the image full size.

A Mini Guide to Starting your own business

The freedom of being your own boss can be one of the best things about being self-employed. For many, the thought of managing your own workload without being under the watchful eye of an employer is very appealing.

Your own business can also give you the opportunity to purse something that you’re really passionate about. It’s often said that if you can find something which you enjoy doing, you never have to work a day in your life. Turning a hobby or an interest into a profitable business can give you immense satisfaction.

Running a business can also be very profitable. When working in traditional employment, your remuneration will be set by the company, and whilst promotions are possible, the money that you take home will generally stay the same. When you’re in control of your own empire, no matter how small it may be, the sky really is the limit. If you run your business well, the rewards can be huge.

Finally, the prospect of cutting out the commute is very attractive for many people. Many businesses start trading from a spare bedroom, so it will take you two minutes from getting out of bed to starting work. If you’ve spent years getting up early to take a crowded train to your office, you’ll know just how tiring and time consuming this can be. Your own business can take away this previously essential part of your working day.

Author’s Bio:
Nadine Bourne is Marketing Executive at XLN Business Services. Nadine has written guest posts for business sites such as Crimson, British SME, Growingbusiness.com. She has also written for publications including Vogue.com, Good Housekeeping and Cult Beauty.

Does Your Business Make Subtle Promises You Can’t Keep?

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Making Promises Without Thinking

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Back when every client was a “new” client, I occasionally got caught up in the spirit of doing what I loved with people I like. In quest to give them an outstanding experience, I’d make a promise without thinking about it and fall down when I tried to keep it. Eventually, I learned to think through what I say I can do.

Most of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned by doing something wrong.
I don’t recommend that tactic. Falling down hurts. Falling down on the job often injures customer relationships.
Still doing things wrong it’s a powerful way to learn.

I got a reminder of that this week, when I received an email from a hotel confirming my online reservation.

Be Sure You Can Keep ehe Promises You Make

A fundamental key to credibility and influence is keeping promises. None of us wants to make promises we can’t keep. Broken promises lead to disappointment and disappointment leads to loss of trust. It might be easy enough to catch ourselves when we offer what we can’t deliver. But sometimes we make subtle promises we can’t keep without knowing it. Or can we.

Does your business make promises you can’t keep?
Think not?
I’m willing to bet this company thinks not too.

The promise was simple.
It’s described in this email.

I got this email yesterday from a hotel where I’ll be staying soon. Because I’m waiting to tell them in person when I stay at the hotel, I’ve removed the identifiers from the email. That’s only fair.

Elizabeth Strauss
We look forward to serving you during your upcoming stay at the XXXX Hotel. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to reply to this e-mail or contact us at 416-XXX-XXXX.

Sincerely,
The XXXX Hotel Team
416-XXX-XXXX

As it turned out, I had a simple 5-word question regarding the hotel.
I replied to the email with my question. Minutes later I received an email that said

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

The email made an offer, a promise of service, that I didn’t expect.
I spent time writing an email back.
When I did, they couldn’t deliver on the promise.
I was disappointed.

I know how technology works.
I know that sometimes this happens to everyone.
Perhaps that’s what happened here.

Another story that happened the next day.

I was in a nice department store. It was also a first contact with the business. The sales associate was firmly focused on helping me find boots to fit my hard-fit-feet.

When I got to some that seemed to fit (if the boots stretched just a little), I asked if they had this boot a 1/2 larger, so that I could check that fit against the ones I had on.
She said, “No, I could order them. Wait a minute …” She left for a moment. Then she returned to say that she’d the manager for permission to have a stock person check the ladder-high shelves of unopened shipments to find the boots in my size.

In a great example of service, the manager came over and said we would have to wait for a stock associate to come over from another department. He said, “Can we get you some water and perhaps buy you lunch? This might take some time.”

I asked ‘Are you sure that my size will be in those boxes?”

He said, “Yes, the associate checked the store inventory.” Then in a moment of clarity. He said, “Let me be sure of that.” He approached the associate and after their conversation, the associate returned to say that they didn’t have my size.

Broken promise averted. My time wasn’t spent.

The offer to check the stock WAY up was a subtle promise that I didn’t expect.
The manager investigated before he made a promise.
The undeliverable promise wasn’t made.
I was delighted that they’d tried on my behalf.

Does Your Business Make subtle Promises You Can’t Keep?

Great and growing businesses want to do well for customers. They know that customers are what keep them great and growing. But the first incident has left me wondering if that business lives up to their aspiration of service while the second lets me know that when they say something they mean it.

I was disappointed with the first.
I was delighted with the second.

That’s the ROI of being thoughtful about the promises we make.

How do you make sure your business isn’t making subtle promises you can’t keep?

Keep every subtle promise you make this week.
Keeping promises is irresistible.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

How to Wow with Your First Resume

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Ana Rose

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In these days of online job sites, it may seem the resume is dead. In reality it’s far from that. Whether it’s a traditional hiring process or one that starts on the Internet, you’ll find that having your goals and what you can offer organized will make any job search easier.

How to Wow with Your First Resume

Resumes always tend to make a candidate jittery for basically two reasons, viz., if the proper format is not known to them and secondly, if they do not have any experience to show and I mean the voluntary kinds. A candidate also gains advantage if he or she is involved in some extracurricular activity. At the entry level resume, one has the liberty to mention about the activities that are not totally related to the job profile.

Resume – Tricky Document
First resumes are the easiest and at times the trickiest to write, depending on the job field and the profile of work. Since freshmen have no substantial experience in the practical field, they need to pay special attention to the presentation of their credentials in the resume. The resume thus functions like a document that represents the candidate to the recruiter and employer. To ensure there are no chances of getting rejected in the initial selection rounds, the entry level resume template will come to your rescue.

Purpose of Resume

The following will tell you what to include in the resume, but before that it is important to know and be sure of the purpose of making the resume, i.e. to get a job or to secure an internship. In case of the former, we will see the points below, but in the latter case one needs to highlight the interest in the subject, marks scored in those subjects, hobbies or special efforts taken in order to learn more about it.

Tabular Format for Systematic Presentation

Entry level and college resume templates focus on the academics; make sure you present your details with respect to what subjects you have studied, which college, the university, the academic duration, specialization subjects, etc. Do make use of tables (tabular format) for putting in your details systematically.

Special Sections to be Highlighted

Extracurricular activities of the candidates are something which they can cash in on. In case the candidate has interest or some experience in their choice of line, then it should be highlighted right after the education section or just before it, if one has something of outstanding nature to mention related to the same.

Skills

A dedicated section for mentioning the special skills set and abilities, technical competencies, etc., is advisable. Use bulletined points and include two line elaboration with details like where did you participate in the activity, what you are competent in, for example, computer skills, using some particular software program, etc.

Creating a good impression is important whether you’re new graduate, a college freshman, or someone re-entering the workforce after a long absence. Use these tips to create a strong image.

Author’s Bio:
Ana Rose is a freelance writer who writes on various career related subjects and she keeps her interest in writing about resume and cover letters. For more info visit bestsampleresume

How to Rebuild Rankings after the Penguin Update

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B. Lyttle

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The Penguin Update by Google came into effect on April 24th, 2012. Although it received its fair share of contradictory criticism and appreciation, it made one thing very clear – the webmasters trying to trick Google by finding loopholes in the system and indulging in spam will constantly be weeded out, sooner or later, with every algorithm update.

How to Rebuild Rankings after the Penguin Update

If you’re a webmaster who’s still trying to figure out ways to rebuild a new SEO strategy after the Penguin update, these tips will help you recover your site from the oblivious pages to the top rankings that receive all the limelight once again:

1. Remove Irrelevant Links – Sure guest posting is a great way to get some free content while adding value to your site and giving your readers a fresh perspective on things. But if yours is a sports website accepting guest posts related to a completely different niche like cooking or finance, you’re only paving way for your website to sink in murky waters. Get rid of all such links on your site that are not relevant to your niche.

2. Provide Quality Content on Your Website and Contribute Guest Posts to Relevant Sites – Buying backlinks is a quite popular SEO tactic and is gaining huge momentum these days but it doesn’t always pay. Instead, it can lead to a lot of trouble for you when these paid links are automated links. If you have any such links or have any spam websites linking to you, contact the webmasters of these websites immediately and politely request them to remove these links.

It is best that you earn backlinks only from the sites that are relevant to your niche. The best way to do this is, by providing good quality content on your website that encourages natural link building of your website, as well as contributing guest posts to other established blogs in your relevant niche.

3. Vary Anchor Texts – If your SEO strategy was using your 2-3 main keywords as your anchor texts, there’s no way your site could come through clean in the Penguin update because this clearly indicates spam links. And, Google’s Penguin update’s aim is to eliminate all spam.

While it is important that you are ranked for your main keyword, it’s very important that your linking strategy should look absolutely natural, according to SEO experts at Click Consult. Avoiding any kind of pattern, especially in the anchor texts can take you a long way in SEO and in restoring the rankings of your website.

Make your anchor texts look natural by varying your main keywords, using brand names as anchor texts and others. For example, a main keyword like “Halloween Costumes” can be made to look natural by using anchor texts, like “90s Halloween costumes”, “Halloween costumes for plus size men” and others.

Restoring your rankings after the Penguin update is not as difficult as it was at the time of Panda update. Though the Penguin update dropped the axe on a lot of companies, creating a spam-free site with quality and relevant content will help you climb the ranking ladder again.

Author’s Bio:
B. Lyttle is a SEO expert with over 5 years of experience under her belt. She’s a contributor for the site, Click Consult.com, the #1 SEO Company in UK.

The Secret to Success

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Rosemary O’Neill

Success in Life, Business, and Golf

Molly:
That was incredible! That was the shot of the tournament!

Roy:
I just gave away the U.S. Open.

Molly: It doesn’t matter.

Roy:
One time in my life I know
the safe play to hit and I still …,
I still can’t make myself do it.

Molly: It doesn’t matter.

Roy: My whole career, my whole life on the line …
I just made a 12 on the last hole of the Open!

Molly: You sure did. It was the greatest 12 of all time.
No one’s going to remember the Open 10 years from now, who won … but they’ll remember your 12! My, God, Roy, it was…Well, it’s immortal! I am so proud of you!

–Kevin Costner and Rene Russo in the movie Tin Cup.

Perhaps I have golf on the brain this week, since I live just a few miles away from where the PGA Tournament will be played this year. But I’ve always had a soft spot for Tin Cup, Kevin Costner’s movie about a washed up golf pro.

The enduring lesson of Tin Cup is that, sometimes, no matter how crazy you seem to the rest of the world, you’re still doing the right thing for you. After all, Roy gets the girl in the end.

The Secret to Success

In business, as in life, you often have the choice of the easy lay up onto the green vs the risky shot across the water hazard. It might even be in a clutch situation, with everything on the line and crowds of people watching.

The person who wins in that situation is the person who has clearly defined criteria for success. And that might not mean winning the tournament. It might mean getting past fear and going all out in a quest for knowledge.

Fear of failure, fear of looking stupid, these things keep us from going straight at our goals. We tell ourselves that it couldn’t possibly work. Stop worrying about how it’s going to work, and start focusing on what success means to you. See it, savor it, vividly imagine it every morning.

Then pick up your trusty 5 iron and go straight at that hole.

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

Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

Did You or Washington Build Your Business?

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Unless you have been living under a rock in recent months, you have likely heard the argument coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue regarding your small business.

It goes something like: “If you’ve got a business. you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”

First, let me assure you that I’m not here to discuss politics.

I have gone on the record in recent times as saying that if Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are the two best candidates come November we can find to run for the world’s most powerful job, we’re all in deep trouble. There, that’s my two cents on the politics in Washington, D.C., so onto the more important stuff.

There seems to be this notion out there that small business owners are unable to do anything on their own without the intervention of  government. Be it a loan or other assistance, Washington must somehow be involved in order for the next great small business idea to take flight.

While I was not a straight A student in high school and college history classes, I can assure you that our Founding Fathers wanted government to stay out of our lives as much as possible. Unfortunately, it seems like government is more involved in our lives these days than at any point in recent history. For the small business owner, that is not a good scenario.

Whether you have been running a small business for years, just opened one, or have that notion floating around in your head to do so, YOU are the one who makes it happen. You are also the one who is having to put forth the blood, sweat and tears to realize your dream. Lastly, you are the one that will sink or swim with your small business.

One of the best things about living in the greatest country in the world is the opportunities that are out there for each and everyone of us. Unlike other parts of the world where one can only dream of opening a small business, play your cards right here and you can be that person.

While we do need governmental help from time to time, YOU can start your own business, run it successfully, and even employ others without Washington lifting a finger.

Despite the fact that many small businesses fail, there are many, many more success stories that we see and hear about on a regular basis.

The question is, will you be one of the success stories?

If the answer is yes, tell the politicians in Washington that YOU built that business, not them.

Photo credit: cambridgema.gov

Dave Thomas has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer, covering news, sports marketing, SEO, press releases, social media and more. You’ll find Dave at: http://www.examiner.com/news-in-san-diego/dave-thomas