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Make something people want to buy instead of something you want to sell

Far too often people get really excited about a product that they design that they forget the big picture, which is to make money. It is better to have a small piece of a niche category that has been proven to buy than to go after a large, broad slice of no market.

When budget planning overestimate expenses and underestimate revenues

The numbers side of business is unfamiliar territory for many entrepreneurs. Don’t get caught up in your focus of making a sell and completely ignore the financial planning aspect

Being employed in the traditional workforce if you are disabled is not always easy. There are laws that require employers to accommodate the special needs of their employees, but this is not always handled properly. Many people who use service dogs or have invisible disabilities frequently experience issues in the workplace, and some decide to start their own business instead.

Learn how business ownership may impact your benefits

There are a lot of decisions to make when you are in the early stages of considering business ownership. Not only do you have to come up with an idea, develop a

While a good portion of online marketing is driving traffic to a website, social media account or online store, the end goal is to turn that traffic into a sale. Here are some tips to increase traffic and make that sale.

To turn traffic into a sale you have to have traffic in the first place. If your website is lacking in these numbers then consider the following:

Run targeted online ad campaigns

This is a simple, yet effective way to easily drive up traffic numbers. The best part is that it is easy to target the specific audience you want visiting your site based on location, age

A company’s culture can make or break a business. No matter how hard one individual tries, it takes to a team to build something great. Employees should look forward to going to work and be constantly trying to think of ways to improve their workplace. Here are some ways to foster a company culture that rivals those of Google and Facebook.

Knowing the company values and mission

Everyone at the company needs to have a common goal and core values. If everyone has an agreement on what this is, it’s much easier to work towards those goals and encourage those values. Try not to confuse values

Online reviews can really help your business which means bad reviews can really hurt it. There are ways to manage the bad ones and encourage people to leave good ones. Here are a few tips to build a long list of great reviews.

Know how to respond to the bad ones

Most of the time when someone leaves a bad review it is because they want acknowledgment. Telling them that you hear them and their complaints goes a long way. Whatever you do, do not start fighting with a customer online.

Respond quickly

Whether it is a good or a bad review you should always respond, and do so shortly

One of the perks of setting up a Facebook business page is having access to the business page analytics. While this data can seem overwhelming it offers you great tools to help grow your business. Here a few areas to focus on when you first start out.

Likes

This section allows you to see how many likes your page received and where it received them. It can tell you what people want to see more of. This can also serve as a general overview of growth and tells you how interactive your audience is.

Reach

The reach section shows you how many people are viewing your posts, reactions

Attend Local University–a full-day workshop about Internet marketing for Austin area businesses.

Featuring a presentation by Google: Learn how to use Google’s local products to acquire new customers, while also engaging and retaining existing ones. We’ll start by walking through claiming your Local Plus page, and then explore other local products.

We’re bringing in some of the leading online marketing experts for an intensive eight-hour crash course in Internet marketing that will help you navigate the possibilities for marketing your business on the web. You’ll learn Search & Social

Can unchecked emotion be beneficial in business negotiations?

It depends. Some researchers who study negotiation skills say yes, but you must follow certain rules.  If not well managed, your anger or frustration may keep you from thinking clearly, resulting in a less profitable outcome. There are a few rules about using strong emotion, which can manifest itself as a feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility in a business negotiation.

Define your objective(s)

Manage your emotions by having a solid negotiation plan to ensure you stay focused on the outcome you want. Do role

By Brian Kieley, SCORE Mentor

With Thanks to:  Ralph Coker

Ready to open your business?  Focus on these 3 things to improve your chances of success

Congratulations! After a lot of work and planning, you’re ready to open your business! While there is much to do, here are the three things that need the biggest investment of your time and brainpower.

Marketing

Marketing is used to create, keep and satisfy a customer. Unless you’re incredibly lucky, you need to let your potential customers know your business exists to entice them to your location or visit you online. If you don’t have a

We’ve all seen Mark Cuban and his cohorts on Shark Tank, the popular ABC TV reality show. One of the first questions investors ask is “What protected assets do you have?”

This pertains to a patent, trademark or copyright on any goods or inventions. Between these three protectable aspects, there is only one that is crucial no matter the business: the trademark.

Not all businesses require or may make use of a patent. If you sell a service, it is unlikely you would ever need or would be able to receive a patent on anything that your business does. Unless you’re inventing a manufacturing

SCORE Austin

Advisory Board Consulting Process

A Real Value and FREE to Select Small Business

Here is how it works

Identify Clients who are in need of Business Assessment, identify their challenges, tailor a solution and create an integrated action plan

While offering hands on support through the Process

The Process

1)Lead Mentor will conduct a business assessment to Identify a companies challenges or needs with owner

2) Develop a team of mentors to address the companies needs

3) Meet with company owner & executives to discuss the detail of these needs

4

By Brian Kieley

As the owner of a small business, you’re busy – serving customers, managing staff and tending to a million other things. The last thing you need is to fall prey to a scam artist.

Unfortunately, there are scammers out there who have finely-tuned sales pitches to get you to buy good or services that don’t exist. This could be space at a trade show that doesn’t exist, a booth at a weekend market with a “seller” that is not legitimate, registration in a business directory that isn’t distributed, or anything else you think may be useful to your business. The question