7 Surprisingly Simple Tricks to Get More Done…and They’re Backed by Science!

Getting stuff done and being more productive as a small business owner doesn’t have to be complicated. And when a change requires little effort, it’s easier to stick with than one that requires a lot of preparation or special tools. In fact, you’ll find that some of these productivity-boosters are simple enough to try as soon as you’re finished reading this, and their effectiveness is backed by science. So here are seven simple tricks to becoming more productive – starting now.

6 Things the Most Successful Business Owners Do First Thing in the Morning

Front loading your day with the most important activities on your to-do list can have a huge impact on your small business and your effectiveness as a leader. Here are six activities you can do at the start of your day to improve your life as a small business owner:

Last Minute Tax Tips for Small Business Owners

Tax time is upon us. Every year, millions of American business leave tax credits on the table. These small business tax tips can help ensure you consider some of the credits and deductions you are entitled to – and ensure that now and in the years to come you are prepped and ready for tax season.

Are You Paying Yourself Enough as a Small Business Owner?

Are you paying yourself enough?

3 Easy Ways to Take Your Small Business Paperless

More and more businesses are moving toward going totally paperless. And aside from the slight learning curve and minor upfront investment in time and money, there’s practically no downside to running a paperless business. A paperless business enables you to:

6 Customer Loyalty Tips for Your Small Business

Loyalty programs are seemingly everywhere these days. Visit any consumer business—whether a coffee shop, a clothing store or a florist—and there’s a good chance you’ll be asked to sign up for its rewards program. It could be as simple as a punch card that offers a freebie after a certain number of visits, or giving special perks to certain loyal customers.

How Your Small Business Can Effectively Use a Virtual Assistant: The Small Business Owner’s Guide

One of the first things to tackle when you want to improve productivity as a small business owner involves effectively delegating duties you don’t need to do yourself. And with so many tasks required to run (and hopefully grow) a business, getting good help is critical. Not all business owners, however, want or need the cost and commitment of a full-time staff. For many productive small business owners, virtual assistants (VAs) can shoulder the burden of regularly required tasks, freeing up time to work on activities that grow their businesses. If you’re looking to get more done right away but don’t have the budget or desire to take on new employees, consider hiring one—or more—virtual assistants. Here’s the lowdown on why you should get a VA, what they can do for you, where to find one, how much they may charge, as well as what to watch out for.

How We Badly Used Email Marketing Services at My Company

For the past seven years my company has been running an email marketing strategy. Sometimes we help our clients set up theirs too. There are many good email marketing services – MailChimp, JangoMail, AWeber and others – we use Constant Contact. We’ve been very happy with the service and have had no reason to switch. We’ve learned a lot about email marketing. We’ve also made a lot of mistakes. Let me share five big ones.

Four Places to Network for the Busy Business Owner

I spoke to a business coach recently who told me she goes to four or five networking events a week. I cannot even imagine doing that. It would kill me. I’m not a great networker. But I get that it’s important for any business. You can’t just hole up in your house watching Game of Thrones, as much as you’d like to. To run a successful business you have to be out promoting it. Not four or five times a week like that crazy person. I think a couple of times a month is plenty. And if you’re going to get out and do this, here are four suggestions that have worked for many of my clients.

10 Ideas to Grow Your Small Business in Uncertain Times

Every small business goes through rough patches where business growth sometimes must take a back seat to “just getting by”. Maybe you lost a key employee, maybe family concerns have eroded your laser focus on your business, or maybe the economy is going through an uncertain time. But growth may be possible even in tough or uncertain times. Actually, down times can also be the perfect time for making positive shifts that will benefit your business later. These 10 tips can help you position your business for future success.