Tips from March 19, 2010 The Small Business tips today discuss having a guest blogger contribute to your blog. Do your research. Find out who has good information to share and who you can trust. Reach out to colleagues, industry experts, or even other employees. Send emails, tweet, or pick up the phone and call. Give guidelines, but allow creative freedom. Give a word range that guest bloggers should shoot for. If you would like your guest to talk about a certain topic, tell them. Be as specific as you need to be to generate the post you want, but don't be too picky. Give them freedom. Prep your guest blogger. Give them a rundown of your blog, including the style, typical length, and readership. Additionally, announce your guest on blog a few posts in advance. Spread the word! After the guest blog is published, thank your contributor. Gauge the results and your reader response. Suggest your guest blogger posts a link on their... [Read Full Article]

Tips from September 29, 2009 The Small Business tips today will be about accounting software for your business. Quickbooks is a fast, easy, popular payroll & accounting support. Versions for both Windows & Mac formats. Quicken is more for small business intertwined with personal finances. It separates them & regulates each. Use the program which you feel more comfortable with. Talk to other biz owners. See what they use & why. Look for updates for your accounting software. Make sure you have the most recent edition for efficiency. Daily Overview: Accounting software is meant to help & not leave you confused. Research, test, & evaluate. [Read Full Article]

I remember the first time that I ever had to make a cold call. It was with a past internship and I was so nervous I thought I was going to pass out. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing, rejection, forgetting to mention something about the product, forgetting who I was talking to; you name it, I was afraid of it. I read the script like it was my favorite novel instead of trying to hold an actual conversation with the person on the other end. After the opening of the pitch which was just about twenty seconds (only it seemed like an hour), I heard an angry "NO THANK YOU!" and an abrupt phone slam. After throwing a pity party for myself for a second, I realized that I was neither fully prepared for the cold call nor confident. After learning more about cold calling, I became comfortable with calling strangers and able to pitch myself, business, and the product or service I was selling. Picking up the phone to call a complete stranger and asking for some of their time to listen to you talk ab... [Read Full Article]