Thursday, March 1, 2012

How Entrepreneurs Deal With Stress at Work

Being an entrepreneur is certainly not a shortcut or loophole into doing less work. In fact, most start-up entrepreneurs have to work much harder than they would at a day job in order to make the same amount of money. Another major stress factor is that their own money is at stake – many small businesses have difficulty in finding investors due to their lack of presence in the market and hence have to start off by taking out loans or being self-funded. So what is it that keeps these ambitious people pushing onwards and pursuing their dreams instead of giving in to all of the stress of financial debts and heavy workloads?

Finding Inspiration

It is important for you to find things that inspire you in life but also to have a business that inspires you on a personal level. For example, if you enjoy listening to music then you may consider opening a music store or creating a magazine that covers music news, events and personalities. If you feel that a music business would not be lucrative then you can still try to play music at your store or discuss music with your customers once in a while. Bring whatever inspires you on a personal level into your work life and make it a part of your business. Customers enjoy meeting business owners that can somehow personalize what they do and enjoy it more.

Humor

Having a laugh can get more difficult when you are stressed out. Try to look at things with a lighter perspective instead of being a worrywart. This does not mean that you should be a non-serious worker, but not all business matters are under your control and there is no point in worrying about the things that you can do nothing about. Do the best you can and leave the rest to fate. Befriend your employees and crack jokes with them once in a while, but never make mean jokes or pranks at work. You do need to keep the atmosphere professional and make sure everyone realizes who’s boss, but we are all human at the same time and should learn how to interact at a humane level as well.

Gratitude

You business may not be doing as well as you had wanted, but be thankful for whatever you have. Remind yourself of all the pros of being an entrepreneur such as being able to set your own work hours and being your own boss. Being an entrepreneur is not just about money but also about a lifestyle that should be appreciated.

Breaks and Getaways

Take breaks during your routine to relax. It is better to take many shorter breaks instead of just one long break, so plan your breaks in advance intermittently throughout the day. Force yourself to go on a break when it is scheduled even if you are too caught up in work to want to get out of the store or office. You can take the time away from work to go on a short walk, nibble on a snack or take a short nap. During off-seasons, consider taking longer vacations where you can get away from any stresses that may have been bothering you at work. Afterwards, you will come back to attend to business with a refreshed feeling and a more positive attitude.

Monday, February 20, 2012

How Small Businesses Are Surviving the Recession

Most businesses have taken a hit for the worst during the recession, but the key is get back up after you get knocked down. By no means can we say that we should look at the recession with optimism because people have lost their jobs and even some major banks have declared bankruptcy, yet some businesses have found ways to deal with the problems related to the bad economy. What has enabled these small businesses to survive the recession?

Adaptability

The economy and consumer behavior get extremely unpredictable during a recession. Companies need to adapt to the changing markets by first analyzing the consumer. The products that people could afford to buy a year or two ago may be out of their budget now and no longer in demand. You need to change your inventory with lower-priced products, and although they may not be of high quality most customers will probably be willing to compromise on quality for price.

Experimentation

It is important for you to test the new market. Don’t get stuck with business mottos or company rules and become open to new ideas. You should welcome whatever suggestions you can get that will encourage more cash flow. Perhaps you could start a side business or work more through referrals. Some changes may only be temporary while others will prove profitable enough to become a part of your permanent business setup. Don’t be afraid of change, in fact being able of changing is perhaps the best attribute that your business can have for surviving the recession.

Budgeting

Remember that there are two ways that you can increase your net income. The first is to increase you gross income, but this becomes difficult to do when the economy is bad because people don’t have the money to pay for the products that you are selling. The second method that you can use to increase your net income is to cut back on expenses, and this is in fact easier to do during a recession. The employer has the upper hand in the job market when the unemployment rate is high so you can hire employees that are willing to work at lower rates. Advertising agencies are also desperately seeking clients so the cost for marketing your products also goes down. Compare rates when hiring new employees or signing up for an advertising campaign and you are very likely to make a considerable saving.

Payment Options

Listening to your customers is vital at all times. Many customers may not be able to make a full upfront payment for your products, but if you offer them a financing plan that is practical for them to pay off then they may still end up purchasing your product and eventually paying the full price. In fact, some businesses may even be able to charge interest for offering financing plans, but keep in mind that the purpose of offering financing is to strengthen the customer’s purchasing power rather than scare customers off with high interest rates.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

2012 is Good for Entrepreneurs & Small Businesses

Are you having a tough time during the bad economy? It isn’t surprising to find people getting frustrated when unemployment rates are high and it is hard to hold on to the job you have due to lay-offs. However, you may also be surprised to realize that a recession can be the best time to pursue your dreams and perhaps start a business of your own. 2012 is proving to be good for entrepreneurs because of the following reasons.

• Lower Living Costs

You get more bangs for your buck during a recession because other businesses are more desperate to earn the dollar in your pocket. The cost of food tends to go down because people are looking for deals at restaurants and the same goes for groceries shopping. All this means that your savings will last longer, giving you more time to explore options for starting up your own business.

• The “Big Fish” is Dying

You may be wondering why you should even consider opening up a business of your own when so many preexisting shops are shutting down. Well, the truth is that it is the larger companies that are hit worst by the bad economy because they have higher overhead costs. Many franchises and big fish names such as Sears and Taco Bell are expected to disappear in 2012, making more room for the smaller fish to take their place. There will be less monopoly in the market because the big companies will no longer dominate and you will have a better chance of filling the void in the market and making a name for yourself as a startup company.

• Lower Shop Rent

Usually it would cost an arm and a leg to open up a shop in a mainstream mall, but large businesses and franchises are cutting down on their store locations so there are many vacant spots available right now. Hence, the rental rates are much cheaper and commercial real estate owners are willing to show more flexibility and negotiate according to your terms. The store location that was way beyond your budget a couple years ago may well be within your reach this year.

•  Affordable Supplies

Brand owners are desperate to get their products on as many store shelves as possible and willing to offer very appealing incentives to shop owners. You can get the products that you want to sell at much cheaper prices and sell them with a higher profit margin. You can get great deals on whatever you need to fill up and operate your store, including everything from cash machines and computers to furniture and vending machines.

• Cheap Advertising

Advertising agencies are looking for new clients and are offering some very cheap advertising options. You could have your company website built for less than $100 as a one-time payment and hire sales companies to promote your business and sell more products for you on a purely commission basis. Advertising companies are realizing that the consumer trend is switching towards small businesses so they are customizing more packages that suit the entrepreneur’s needs and budget.

Friday, February 10, 2012

SEO Content Development Deal

Here is what we will do for the company:

- We will edit existing content and create more content for the website, especially for the landing pages being used for AdWords.

- We will analyze the content on individual pages in terms of word count and keyword density to make sure they meet expected SEO standards.

- We will enhance internal links and build more to create a more integrated and browser-friendly website in order to retain traffic (keep visitors on the website for longer durations and earn their trust).

- We will find and implement more ways to generate more leads and have more website visitors follow call-to-actions (purchase products/services, fill forms, sign up to receive more information, etc.).

- We will contribute towards building a company blog, subscription newsletter or new website pages if requested.

The intended results of this will be a website that provides more practical information to the viewer, which is a major appeal for attracting more website visitors and also increasing conversion rates. It will increase the page rank of the website on search engines such as Google/Yahoo/Bing and also make the AdWords campaign and all offpage SEO/advertising more efficient because the website's Quality Score will go up.

Suggested invoicing method: $/article.

Email me at nadeemalim@gmail.com for your content writing needs. Thank you.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

AdWords Management Deal with Enhancements

Here is a list of what we will do for the company:

- We will enhance their list of desired keywords (what they want to sell) using industry-related keywords research, Google tools and information provided by the company.

- We will further focus their campaigns according to their target locations (where they want to sell) using location-specific keywords and ad types (geo-targeted advertising).

- We will revise, improve and manage their AdWords Campaign Management, Ad Groups/Types/Text, bidding strategy (Max CPC's and CPM's), Conversions (CTR/URL tracking reports), Analytics (click-rate, traffic sources), etc.

- AdWords account will be handled by people who have passed the Google Advertising Professionals exam/program and have been certified by Google as an "AdWords Qualified Individual."

- We will present reports to show the results of our efforts as requested.

The intended results of this will be an AdWords campaign that is more organized and unified in its theme and also has more optimized advertisements. This will enable us to utilize the budget better by eliminating clicks from customers that we don't want and reaching out to more of the type of customers that we do want (ie. attract more relevant traffic).

Suggested invoicing method: $/month.

Contact us at nadeemalim@gmail.com if you'd like us to manage/enhance your AdWords campaign.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

SEO Services Deals

Initial Setup Deal (one-time cost):

The following brand enhancements will be made:

Create profile page on Aboutus.org (a professional Wiki page)

Add to online business directories (Google Maps, Yelp, Yahoo Maps, Superpages, etc.)

The following onsite enhancements will be made to the blog:

Indexing/Organizing Content:

- Add index page (a live feed of all content).
- Add labeling system (label feeds, label links and label tags to categorize blog posts).
- Add site search (allows users to search within the site).

Retaining Visitors/Integrating Pages:

- Create internal links within blog posts.
- Add menu links (“Featured Articles,” “Topics,” “Popular Posts,” “Archive,” “What is Citycast?”).

Onsite Social Networking:

- Add Facebook “Like” button.
- Add Google Plus button.
- Add “Share” buttons (so visitors can share links to blog posts via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.).

The following offsite enhancements will be made for the website:

Submit blog URL to search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing).

Setup live ping feeds so search engines are notified whenever new content is added or old content is updated.

Social Networking & Maintenance Deal (monthly subscription):

Add fresh content regularly (write and publish at least 2 blog posts/week with enhanced keywords optimization).

Edit any additional blog content submitted by other writers to enhance SEO.

Comments exchange (exchange comments with other bloggers).

Blogroll exchange (exchange template links with other blogs).

Feed exchange (exchange blog feeds with other blogs).

In-page links exchange (get mentioned with links to website/blog on posts of blogs by other individuals and companies).

Twitter correspondences (create Twitter account, post blog feeds, share company/product updates, gain followers, etc.).

Press releases (write and publish press releases on prominent PR websites such as www.pr.com).

ADDITIONAL SERVICES/DEALS:

AdWords – account management fee depends on PPC budget.

Website monitoring (measuring and assessing page views, Google ranking, traffic sources, trends in traffic, etc.) – fee depends on website traffic and amount of detail required in reports.

Email us at nadeemalim@gmail.com if you wish to hire for any of these services. Thank you.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Annoying Manager at Ralphs Store

Today I took my mum grocery shopping at a Ralphs store in Irvine, California (this one is on Culver Drive near the 5 freeway). We bought a bunch of stuff from their discounts aisle including chocolate and sprinkle mini donuts, bread, garlic bread, and a cake. The cake looked very nice; it was a fudge brownie cake with smooth chocolate icing that was on the manager’s special price. Greatly pleased at our baskets full of goodies found during our shopping spree we proudly walked to the cashier line.

The store was not crowded at all and we went to a counter that just had one customer who was about to leave. There was no line so we did not go to the self-checkout since the Ralphs cashier could just scan in the barcodes for us. However, a manager walked by us and asked whether we are ready to check out the products that we had collected. We told him that we were, which turned out to be a regrettable mistake.

The manager walked us to the self-checkout counter and started scanning in our products. “Oh well,” I thought. At this point I did not have any problem with this Ralphs manager. However, after scanning in the items that we had bought and putting them in plastic bags he started talking to us about upgrading our Ralphs rewards cards. He gave us a marketing spiel saying that the old rewards card used to give customers a 5% discount but now it doesn’t. Although the old card can still be used to get the discount prices, there is no additional reduction on the final purchase. The new card on the other hand has some points system where you get $5 back after you have made purchases totaling to $500. This did not sound so good to me since in essence he was saying that now Ralphs is only giving 1% instead of 5% discounts. Anyway, my mum agreed to sign up for the new card.

So this is where this manager at the Irvine Ralphs store becomes rude. Of course his language is still all sugarcoated but his actions are disrespectful and selfish. He stops scanning the products from our shopping basket and goes off looking for a sign-up form that my mum has to fill out to get the new Ralphs rewards card. As he trots off my mum asks him what we need to do about our groceries and he says we need to select the “Pay” option and make the payment. So my mum completes the process on the self-checkout machine by herself. After that we just look at the manager wandering about in the store and then from a distance he says that he can’t find the sign-up form so we will have to come and fill it out some other time.

The story gets worse. I pick up the 2 shopping bags hanging on the self-checkout bar and put them in the trunk of the car. When we get home my mum checks the receipt and we realize that there are some items missing, including the chocolate fudge brownie cake that we were looking forward to eating! Although I do share the blame in this mishap occurring, here is what I think happened: the manager either did not take out the cake and other remaining items in our basket to scan on the self-checkout machine (although the items are on the receipt so this probably was not the case) or after scanning them in he put them in a shopping bag and placed the bag somewhere where I did not notice it when it was time to leave the store. You see there are many empty bags at the self-checkout counter and when a customer scans the items he or she knows which bags the items have been put in, but when a manager does it without handing over the bags to you or at least indicating which bags the customer needs to pick up they can easily get mixed with the cluster of empty bags and left behind. On a regular cashier counter I always check that I have not left any shopping bags behind, but this is harder to do at the self-checkout machine especially when someone else is processing your items. I wish this manager at the Irvine Ralphs store had just minded his own business rather than pretend that he wanted to help us just to act busy or look for an opportunity for a sales pitch. Now we have a bag missing from the groceries that we brought home and there is a delicious cake either sitting somewhere in the store in Irvine or has already landed in the stomach of some other customer who came by it while using the self-checkout machine. Just to clearly indicate the level of agony involved in this incident I’d like to remind you that this was a fudge brownie cake with creamy chocolate icing!

After-note: I called the phone number for the Ralphs store in Irvine the next day and they said they would replace the missing items. We managed to get all of the items that were missing, including the cake that was no longer on manager’s special price, although I did have to drive out there again. I told the manager upfront how I felt about the whole experience and he apologized, and I know people are just trying to do their job so I don’t hold any of this as a personal grudge. It was partially my fault too for leaving the bag behind but still I feel I shouldn’t have received such poor customer service. It got to me at first but now I’m okay!