All posts by SUASB

Sam Lewis is a small business manager and consultant specializing in small to mid-sized businesses.

Tips for Selling Your Services Online

In order to successfully sell your services online, you must have a few skills. The first is a reliable system for finding good clients and making it easy for them to find you online. Second is the ability to communicate fluidly and consistently—even if it is only via email messages. You must develop a rapport with your clients that lasts from the start of the project right up until the end. Thirdly, you must demonstrate that you are a true and trusted expert at the service that you plan to provide. Finally, you must have great organizational skills, as you will often find yourself juggling multiple clients and projects at the same time. Here are a few simple tips for success if you plan to sell your professional services online.

Provide Contact Information to Gain Trust

When you sell your services online, trust is a major issue. Potential clients need to be assured that you are a legitimate business person before they send you money and it is customary to ask for a deposit before work begins on a service project. One way to reassure your client that you are trustworthy is to provide as much contact information and details about your business as possible. Get an 800 number for your business—some toll-free services even allow you to pick a local number. Provide a business address as well, even if it is just a post office box (some offices now allow you to use the post office’s full mailing address along with your box number) or a rented office address where you can receive mail.

Always Lay Out Terms in Writing

One common challenge that you may experience when selling your services online is managing confusion regarding your terms after the project begins. Some service providers figure that it’s such a small job that a contract or discussion isn’t really necessary, but that can turn into hours of unpaid work. Avoid this issue by making it a point to outline your general terms on your website for all to view. Go over the specific terms of your service project in an email so that you both are clear before you proceed and outline them all in a clear-cut contract. In some cases, the email itself can serve as a contract for a very small project. Some clients like to finalize things over the phone, but this is tricky because there’s no proof of your agreement. Get everything in writing.

Provide As Many Samples and Testimonials as Possible

When a potential client is deciding whether you are the right service professional for his needs, he’ll want to know if and how you’ve helped other clients in the past. If you’ve successfully completed projects in the past, contact your past clients to ask for a review of your services along with permission to publish their comments.

Selling your services online is not a simple feat and comes with its share of challenges. But you’ll find success if you set forth a clear-cut process for attracting, accepting and servicing clients.



Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.

Tips for Working as an Independent Contractor

An independent contractor is a professional who often acts in the capacity of an employee to a business, but without the strings attached. As a contractor you may work with multiple clients on very different assignments. The way you market your services, manage your time and choose your clients are all key to success in this type of job.

Market Your Services

Consistently finding clients who need your services is one of the most difficult challenges of working as an independent contractor. The ideal scenario is to have multiple projects going at any given time to ensure a consistent income. Put your virtual business card down in as many different reputable places as possible. Set up a profile on the major reputable freelance sites. Send bids to businesses who request contractors online. Create an SEO-optimized website to draw traffic for keywords that specifically describe your service. Consider hiring an online advertising expert to help you use Google AdWords and other advertising vehicles to bring in serious potential clients.

Set a Reasonable Schedule

It is very easy to find yourself working well into the night as an independent contractor. After you spend a long night burning the midnight oil, you finally go to sleep at 4:00 a.m., then your client on the other side of the country calls at 7:00 a.m. To avoid this scenario, you must set firm business hours that clearly indicate time zones and make sure that all of your clients know them. Request that clients email you in advance to set an appointment for a phone call or instant messaging session so that you aren’t thrown off of your schedule with other clients.

Be Choosy

As excited as you may be to have a potential new client, sometimes it is best to pass on certain projects. Evaluate the client the same way he is evaluating you. Are his demands reasonable? Does he communicate with you in a productive and respectful manner? Does he complain about past contractors? If you ignore warning signs you might be setting yourself up for issues down the line. Work for people who have plenty of experience working successfully with independent contractors, and who communicate their needs clearly.

It takes time to get the hang of working as an independent contractor. Ideally, over time you will learn how to successfully navigate different personalities and situations. If you need help, talk to more experienced contractors and read their blogs to learn how they manage client relationships.

 



Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.

When Starting a Small Business Family Members Can Be Your Worst Opposition

Woman talking by phone
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When you’re starting a small business, you might assume that your family members will be your staunchest advocates. Surely they’ll be the first in line to buy your stuff and give you a positive review. Surely they’ll call you up and say “congratulations.” Surely they’ll call and offer you some assistance to help your business grow…

But a lot of new small business owners (myself included) have a very, very different experience. In fact, the reaction from family members when you’re starting a small business can be downright cold!

Resisting the Negativity

If you find yourself in this type of predicament, your biggest challenge is going to be overcoming the negative thoughts, beliefs, words and actions of your family members. These are the people who know you best, so they also know how to really hurt your feelings if they really want to. You can probably think of one person in particular right now who seems to get a kick out of annoying or hurting your feelings.

Listen up: you have to do whatever you have to do to stay motivated to achieve your goals. If that means that you have to separate from your family members for a while, then so be it.

Second tip: that person in your family who gets a kick out of seeing you down and out? Don’t tell him or her anything about what you’re planning to do.

Third tip: Understand that when someone reacts negatively to you trying to better you life, it’s because they’re unsatisfied with their own life. They don’t want you (or anyone for that matter) doing better than them. That’s their problem — not yours.

Things don’t always happen immediately when you’re starting a small business; it takes time. That’s why it’s so important to stay around positive people who motivate you to keep pushing forward. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always include members of your family. Take the advice of the late great Napoleon Hill who suggests that all entrepreneurs join a mastermind group of like-minded people who all want each other to succeed.

 

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Can Listening to Audiobooks Give You a College Level Education?

Did you know that some experts believe that listening to audiobooks in your industry of choice can give you the equivalent of a college education? Zig Ziglar talked about this in one of this famed speeches. In my personal experience, listening to audiobooks every day for a year can give you the same level of training that someone would receive pursuing a bachelor’s degree.

Listening to an Audiobook
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Think about it — when you go to college you’re basically sitting in a lecture hall (barely) listening to a guy talk for an hour or two. Then you go home and read materials based on the same things your professor was talking about in lecture hall. Besides taking an exam at the end of the semester, how is this that much different from self-educating yourself with audiobooks?

The Message Sinks In…

I’ve been consistently listening to audiobooks for the past year or so. In that time I feel as if I’ve acquired a superior body of knowledge in my field of interest (marketing, writing and communications). Though I was formally educated at an Ivy League college I feel as if the vast majority of the knowledge and training that I use today is due to a) experience and b) listening to books on tape.

The audiobooks that I prefer to listen to are a mix of motivational, scientific, informational and educational works. A few of my favorites include Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People and all of Les Brown’s speeches on personal achievement. I listen to those on repeat.

When it comes right down to it, they all pretty much have the same general themes: making your life better, making more money and getting better at what you do. Something special happens when you listen to this same message over and over again: you start to believe it can happen for you.


1 FREE Audiobook Credit RISK-FREE from Audible.com

Learn While You Live

When you’re studying a book, you have to set aside a special time to sit down and do so. Maybe, just maybe, you can turn on some music in the background while doing so.

The great thing about audiobooks is that you can accomplish a variety of other tasks while listening to your book. You can drive to work, workout, run around a track, prune your garden, mow your lawn, cook and even write or work while absorbing these books. There’s some kind of “left brain, right brain” activity going on where you can take in the message while doing other things.

Compare the Costs

As more stories hit the news about how kids are graduating with loads of college debt that they’ll never pay off, I think that we’re going to have to evolve as a society to a better way of getting educated for success. According to CollegeData.com, the average cost for a college education at a private institution as of 2013-2014 was $30,094 per year. The lowest cost is just under $9,000 for a state college (state resident). So the average student can expect to pay between $36,000 to $120,000 for a 4-year education at a private institution.

The cost of your average audiobook is about $15. Listening to three educational audio books per week for a year will cost about $45 per week or $2,340 for the year. Even if you were to purchase one book a day for a year it would be an investment of $5,475 compared to $30K.

Sometimes you have to look at things from a different perspective to find a better solution. Whether you’ve never gone to college or you’ve already gone to college but still feel like you’re not adequately prepared for success, consider investing in an audiobook education for the next year and beyond.

Bookmark this page of StartUpaSmallBiz.com for book reviews and more helpful information on self-educating yourself for small business success.


Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.

Audiobook Review: No Boundaries by Les Brown

This is a quick review of Les Brown’s audiobook “No Boundaries” — now available at Audible.com .

About the author: Les Brown is a motivational speaker known the world over. He hits home with listeners with his honest, no-nonsense and often humorous message about personal success and achievement.

My favorite highlights from this audiobook are as follows:

– Les makes a very real joke about how it’s best to be nice to your kids and tell them you love them when they’re young, because you never know if the time might come when you can’t get up from bed and they have to take care of you… “Remember that time when you beat me!” I laughed so loud at this that it got my neighbor’s attention.

– Les talks about his early influences that helped him become a success after being called “the dumb twin” by his peers and deemed “educable mentally retarded” by his teachers.

– I could relate to the part when when said that we often have a lot of stuff going on in our heads that even we don’t know it’s there, and that this “stuff” could be holding us back from achieving our dreams. This “stuff” makes it so easy for us to give up.

Dream Blocks, Removing YoursI highly recommend the audiobook No Boundaries by Les Brown and his series of other audio titles if you’re looking for motivation and inspiration to keep moving forward as a new small business owner. Stuff happens along the way, but that doesn’t mean you should stop and give up. You might just need to make a few adjustments to your plan.

 

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Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.

Why Do 55% of Small Businesses Not Have a Website?

A recent news story revealed new data showing that a majority of small businesses still don’t have a website as of 2013. To be exact, about 55% of small businesses surveyed said they don’t have an online web address. The process of creating a website is fairly simple thanks to easy web tools and WordPress, so what’s stopping small business owners from establishing websites in this day and age?

Fear of Uncontrollable Growth

You know, most people want their businesses to grow, but not everyone does. Some people are comfortable with their current volume of business and don’t want to expand. When a company gets to a certain level of success and notoriety, it can become overwhelming for some people to manage. So some owners may not want to get online out of fear of uncontrollable growth and too much of a demand on their time.

Little to No Computer Knowledge

A good portion of small business owners are over the age of 55 (about a third). They don’t have much knowledge or interest in the Internet or computers. If they do use the computer it’s to check email occasionally — managing and updating a website is out of the question. Lack of knowledge and general mistrust of the world wide web could be a reason why so many small businesses aren’t online.

It’s Just Not Really Necessary

Although I’m one of those people who believes that every business can benefit from having a website, some companies just don’t see the point. For instance, unless a pizza restaurant plans to take online orders, it doesn’t really need a site. It can get plenty of foot traffic by simply getting listed in online directories and putting up a huge sign outside of the door.

However, some storefront businesses can actually benefit from having a website but just don’t know it. For instance, a small neighborhood boutique could double its business by setting up a quick web store and posting fashions for sale online. A dance studio could post videos of classes on a simple WordPress website and get a surge of new visitors ready to hand over some cash.

There are some viable reasons why 55 percent of small business owners still don’t have a website — plenty of companies stay in operation without one. But at a time when close to 80 percent of Americans and over a third of the world population are online you have to ask yourself, why not?

 

Louise Gaillard is a social media manager, prolific writer and author.



Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.

How Can SBA.gov Help Me with My Small Business?

SBA.gov is a website where prospective and existing small business owners can come for help. It’s divided up into several sections including starting and managing a business, getting loans and grants, getting contracts and seeking local assistance. Learn more about how SBA.gov (The Small Business Administration) can help you launch your small business and find long-term success.

Information and Advice

One of the main reasons why prospective small business owners go to SBA.gov is to get general information and advice about starting a small business. The site provides countless resources, including a learning center section for entrepreneurs and categories on starting and managing a business. Topics include everything from hiring employees to business laws and healthcare options.

SBA Mentors

The SBA also has a program called SCORE, which helps you find a business mentor in your area. You can talk to your mentor about your business idea and get expert advice on how to proceed via email or in person.

SBA Loans


A lot of prospective and existing business owners look to the Small Business Administration for help with financing. If you walk into a bank and ask for money to fund your business, the chances of getting approved aren’t that good. New small business ventures are extremely risky. But if you get approved by the SBA, the loan funds are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, which greatly improves your chance of getting financing from a bank.

SBDC Centers

Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) are scattered all over the country. They’re commonly located on college campuses, where students are studying business, economics and entrepreneurship. The representatives at an SBDC can help you develop your business plan, do research, find a business location, apply for financing and complete countless other tasks that are necessary to start your company. Just locate and call your local center to schedule an initial appointment.

There are a number of other ways that SBA.gov can help you establish and expand your small business. It’s good to know that there’s assistance out there when you need it.



Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.

3 Secrets of Successful Small Businesses

Statistics show that the majority of entrepreneurs start small businesses with lofty plans and ideas that eventually turn to mush (to the tune of 8 out of 10 within 18 months) while others become successful rather quickly.

What is it that makes a small business thrive? Here are 3 secrets of successful small businesses.

Good Communication and Management

No one wants to deal with a difficult, stubborn or unreasonable business person. They might tolerate a person like that for a while, but eventually they are going to bail as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Entrepreneurs who master the art of relating to and with other people often find success. Smart small business owners understand the importance of learning superior communication skills so that they can effectively interact with their employees, suppliers, colleagues and customers or clients.

Staying Up to Date with Trends

Another secret of small business success is keeping up with what’s happening in the world and the industry as a whole. What’s working now might not work a few years or even months down the line. Resourceful business owners do their research, follow trends and make observations to get an idea of what’s likely to happen three, five or even 10 years into the future. They make adjustments or develop new product offerings to head off changes that might affect their businesses.

Asking for Help from Others


Napoleon Hill, the man who is considered the father of the personal success movement, among other accolades, taught about the importance of having a “mastermind” group. This is a network of people with similar aspirations, dreams, hopes and activities that help each other achieve their goals. Successful small business owners aren’t afraid to ask for assistance and advice from their colleagues and actively seek other motivated and resourceful people to join their mastermind networks.

Of course there are other factors in play that determine whether a small business will be successful, but these three play a major part. Be open to learning new things to ensure that your company keeps going strong.

 

Louise Gaillard is a social media manager, prolific writer and author.



Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.

Starting a Small Business: Is Someone or Something Discouraging You?

When I first started out as an entrepreneur, my family and friends definitely weren’t very supportive of my decision. They laughed at me, to my face and behind my back. They basically told me that I was crazy and needed to go get a job!

Years later, I may still have my ups and downs as an entrepreneur from time to time but as Frank Sinatra sang: “I did it myyyyy way!” I earn a living doing what I do and I do it all on my own terms. I am not at the mercy of an employer or boss, which is possibly the most rewarding part of having your own business.

I believe to this day that if I had more support and less doubt from the people in my life at the time, I would have gotten a lot further as a small business owner in a shorter period of time.

So my question to you today is, do you have someone or something in your life that’s discouraging you from moving forward with your plans to start your own business? If so, here’s a little motivational post to help you eventually pull away from and around that roadblock.

You’re the Only One Who Can Live Your Life Successfully

From the time we’re children, many of us are conditioned to live our lives based on the wishes and desires of others – our parents, teachers and peers. But the truth is that they don’t know what’s best for your life. Only you know that. You are the only person who can live your life, so keep that in mind when you find yourself making decisions based on what other people want for you.

Relieve Yourself of the Opinions of Others

There’s a saying that goes “your opinion of me is none of my business.” A lot of people go through life making decisions based on what other people will think of them. Why do we care so much about what others think? When it comes right down to it, the opinions of other people really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The only opinion that matters is the one you have about yourself. Are you happy? And if not, what do you need to do to get happy?

Some Day…

Are you taking up space on “someday isle?” That’s a place where people sit by idly, speculating on what they’ll do “someday” instead of taking action today. They make excuse after excuse about why they can’t take action: someday when my kids graduate from high school… someday when I get my master’s degree… someday when I save this amount of money. What is really stopping you from taking the first step to make your small business idea a reality? You can start today, even if it’s just sitting down and writing a plan of action. JUST DO IT.

If you’re serious about starting your own small business, you will do it. It’s as simple as that. As Tommy Lasorda said “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” There comes a moment in life when you have to decide that nothing and no one will stop you from pursuing and achieving your dreams.

Using the Law of Attraction to Jump Start Your Small Business

The law of attraction is a theory that says we attract things into our lives based on the way we think and communicate with the world (but mostly our thought process). Having a positive thought life creates a positive real life. The ideas behind the law of attraction can be applied to your business activities. Here are three principles of the law of attraction and how you can use them to jump start your small business.

The Power
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The Way You Start the Day Defines the Day

What is the first thing you think of when you start the day? Is it positive or negative? Do you think about what a horrible day you have ahead or do you think about all the wonderful opportunities that lie ahead for your small business?

The very first thought that you have in the morning before you even get out of bed can determine how your day will go managing your business and your employees. Even when it’s a struggle to do so, tell yourself something positive about how your day will go before you get up and head to your small business office.

Visualization

Another idea associated with the law of attraction is that you can visualize your way to success. Do you have a clear idea of where you want your small business to be in three, five or 10 years from now? If not, go somewhere quiet for at least 15-20 minutes. Close your eyes and start meditating on it. Visualize every detail that you can think of, from the chair you’ll be sitting in to the figures printed on your business bank account statement to the car you’ll be driving to your state-of-the-art office. Do this every day until it’s like you’re actually living life in that other reality. Something powerful happens when you do this visualization exercise regularly — it becomes more and more like a real possibility.

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Practicing Gratitude

One of the most important tenets of the law of attraction is that you need to show gratitude on a daily and consistent basis. As a small business owner there are countless people who you can show gratitude to in the course of a day. Thank your employees for a job well done. Thank your suppliers with a special note or card for getting your items to you a day early at a good price. Thank your social media followers for sharing your content by offering them a discount. Thank your repeat customers with free stuff. Show your gratitude in every way, every day.

If your small business needs a boost, try incorporating these principles of the law of attraction in your daily business activities. You may be very pleasantly surprised at the results.



Starting up a small business, even if it's just on the side, is no longer an option -- it's a necessity. Why? Because everyone needs an additional source of income in our new economy. Click here to sign up for educational and motivational posts to keep you on track.