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Every small business needs revenue, and while many companies rely on sales of products or services as the main income source, there are other ways to raise funds. Corporate sponsorship is a mutual business proposition that offers something in exchange for a financial commitment from a corporation. These relationships have been growing throughout the years. So how can your small business tap into this market? Let’s look at five ways you can get sponsorships from Corporate Sponsors. Know your platform and the companies that match it. Companies are interested in reaching audiences they typically do not have at their fingertips. It’s less expensive than purchasing traditional media advertising and helps them target these individuals through an intermediary that already has their attention and trust. Make sure you can articulate exactly who you serve. Are your customers male or female? How much income do they make? Do they have children? Do they travel frequently? Once you identify all the characteristics of your customer base, start researching companies that advertise to or want to reach that group. For example, if mothers are your primary customer, look through the pages of parenting magazines and research parenting websites. What companies advertise on those sites? Then make a list of those businesses as potential corporate sponsors. Offer Value. Sponsorships come in many forms, including: Sponsored posts from the corporation on your blog Giveaways of their products to your audience Product reviews Advertising Events Come up with a few packages that offer a mix of these activities, or let your potential sponsors pick items from your cart. Remember, you want to build a long-term relationship with your sponsor, so it’s in your best interest to come up with ways to engage them and work with them for years. Write a compelling proposal that makes it clear why a corporation should sponsor your business. You want to write a story about you or your business that is exciting and meaningful. Don’t simply state what you sell; explain why you impact lives. Remember, sponsorships are not just about your business: the company you want to partner with will want to know what’s in it for them. How will the company reap benefits it wouldn’t otherwise get? Also include in the proposal your target audience demographics and discuss your reach as well as how you’ll help the corporation reach its target audience. Ask for your worth. Many small businesses make the mistake of not asking for enough money in sponsorships. Remember that you are offering these corporations value and direct access to the customers they want to reach. In addition, many of these corporations are used to making deals in the tens of thousands. Don’t ask for $1,000 from a company that has the pockets to give $10,000. Value your connection to this demographic and charge accordingly. Follow up! How many times have you ignored an email or phone call because you’re busy or on a deadline? Corporate executives feel the same way. So many people lose sponsorship deals because they do not follow up. If you don’t hear back from an organization after you’ve submitted your proposal, pick up the phone and check in. Corporate sponsorship is a great way to partner with large corporations looking to expand their reach, while at the same time increasing your company’s bottom line. Make it a goal to start researching corporate sponsorship opportunities and diversify your revenue stream today. #corrporate #sponsorship #business #scaling #startups #smallscale #success

If you’re looking for really customized and personal social media images on a budget, your best bet is to DIY your photography. Gone are the days where it would take an expensive camera and a PhD in photoshop to produce beautiful imagery, you can actually take stunning social media pictures with most smartphones now. Smartphones have pretty impressive cameras nowadays that shoot photos in such high-quality that the untrained eye could easily mistake the photos for professional. With that said, there are a few things to consider when shooting with your smartphone: Wipe off your camera lense. This is true no matter what you’re using to shoot, but especially so when you’re using a cellphone. Because we manhandle our phones all day, the lenses tend to get smudged. These smudges can distort your image, make it look foggy, or just decrease the quality overall. Tap on your subject when taking the picture. Once you’ve framed your picture, before you hit the shutter button, tap on the subject of your photo. This lets your phone know where to prioritize the focus, and will help your image come out sharp. Be wary of the lighting. Lighting can make or break a picture, whether you’re using a cellphone or an expensive DSLR. Shoot your images using natural light if you want to shoot on a budget, or you can invest in a ring light or kit lighting set. (Consider setting up a DIY photo and video studio!) Shoot from several angles. Don’t shoot one picture and call it a day. Play around with angles and perspectives to give yourself flexibility when choosing a picture to post. Utilize negative space. When I was learning how to take photos, my biggest mistake was making every picture a close up. That oftentimes results in a very tight, claustrophobic feeling photo that’s hard to look at. By adding empty, negative space around your subject you’ll actually demand more attention to the object or person you’re photographing. Lastly, if you’re taking photos on your phone, it can be a pain to send them to your computer just to edit them and then back to your phone to post them to social media. Luckily, there are a ton of great editing apps that you can download straight to your phone, and many of them are free! #photography #DIY #socialmedia #posts #professsional #lightning #engagement #promotion #customers

Social media is beginning to take its rightful throne in the world of marketing as for many businesses it’s the key catalyst for brand growth. If done right, it’s domino-effect can create waves of positivity for many businesses to boost brand awareness and increase conversions to improve company profits. Promoting your brand through social media is therefore vital to businesses, but getting your content on these channels isn’t what gets you the sales. The key to becoming a successful social media user is in the engagement. Follow these top tips for increasing social media engagement below to achieve business growth. Talk About Your Topic (Not Just Your Brand) In many new situations when you come into contact with new people it’s important to get talking to them. Obviously creating content and publishing it onto your social feeds is perfect in letting people know what you are about. But, if you don’t have a following, which many new users won’t have, joining groups and creating them will help to get your name about. Join Question & Answer Sessions Handing out nuggets of gold to customers is as easy as giving them useful information and answering their queries. Joining Q&A answer sessions is a great way to provide users with value and gets you seen as a helpful brand. If you can offer relevant answers to customer queries and spark discussion with your prospective customers, all before your competitors, you will become the go-to seller. With consumers becoming more impatient and wanting answers to their queries almost immediately, having a dedicated customer response team is perfect for catering to those needs. Share Other People’s Content If someone else can provide better answers to a query, make use of their content. Your customers will see that you are there to give them what they need, whether it comes from yourself or not. If your social media feed can provide them with relevant information, whether it’s yours or not, they will be attracted to your brand and hence will be encouraged to follow you. Keeping your content diverse (yet relevant) and from different contributors, will keep customers interested. Sometimes hearing the same person talk about the same stuff, day in day out can become a little boring. So get sharing! Make Your Customers Feel Engaged Not only should you just share your customer’s posts, but to really make them feel engaged, it’s best to give direct responses to their content. Responding to every customer post that doesn’t just directly address the brand but perhaps mentions it through a specific hashtag is great for ensuring each customer feels like they are valued by the business. Using social media tools to find every user who is posting about the brand is vital to ensure users feel like they are connected to the company or. Creating a Conversation Another great tool for getting engagement to not only occur but continue is to create a conversation with customers to get them talking to you. By asking questions about personal experiences the customer has with the goods and services, it can help the brand to obtain customer feedback as well as sparking discussion among users. #strategies #socialmedia #promotion #interaction #build #customers #business

Whether you’re an online company or you’re using the web to market your offline business, you’re going to need a great social media business description for your business. A meaningful and memorable business description can change how customers perceive your brand—both online and in real life. But sitting down to write about your business can be intimidating. To help you break through that writer’s block, here are some specific pointers for writing a business bio for popular social media and review platforms. Each platform has different guidelines for business descriptions, and the audience and focus for each platform are also slightly different. For each site, you can start with your standard business description and tailor it for the particular nuances and requirements of the particular site. Yelp Your free business page on Yelp includes three sections where you can write about your business, and you should write something for each one. Below are tips for each. Specialties: Lead with keywords, but don’t overstuff, and don’t include things you don’t offer. This is your opportunity to share how your business is unique and what you’re known for. Character limit: 1,500. History: Share the story of how your business got started—this is where your storytelling skills can shine. Include the year the business was established and any important milestones along the way. Character limit: 1,000. Meet the Owner/Manager: This is your chance to put a human face to the business. Share your passion for your work and include a few personal details that you’re comfortable sharing. Character limit: 1,000. Do not use these areas for offers and announcements, contact information, or links, and never attack competitors, customers, or people who have reviewed your business. Twitter Just like a tweet, your description should be short, searchable, and include 1-2 hashtags that apply to your business. Feel free to use incomplete sentences, short phrases, and abbreviations. Twitter is not a place for formality, but do keep it professional (not stuffy, though). Tag any related business or personal accounts, if applicable. Include a call to action and link if you have something to promote. Facebook On Facebook, you have the opportunity to add a description for the “About” tab on your page. Write the story of your business, service areas, events, and more. Facebook is a very interactive platform, so write your profile to create a sense of community. Character limit for your general description: 255. All other business detail sections don’t have a character count, but that doesn’t mean you should write a lot of text. In the “Business Info” section, you have the opportunity to include core details like date created, business type, and mission. “Contact Info” includes website, phone number, email, and contact information. “More Info” includes sections for additional information such as products, menus, awards, and more, depending on your business category. Instagram Casual and friendly in nature, Instagram is a highly visual channel, so let your description paint a vivid picture of your brand. While the focus on your Instagram presence is the imagery that you post, you should still take the time to write a description that will inspire your followers and give context for your images. Emojis bring a playfulness to your bio and are also searchable. Include your location and hashtags so the right people can discover your account. Include any related business or personal accounts, if applicable. LinkedIn If your business has a large staff, consider a LinkedIn company page. Highlight the talent running your business and attract new employees (and even some customers) with industry hashtags. Character limit for company name: 100. About page: 2,000 (although even LinkedIn recommends keeping it short and sweet). Optimize pages with industry, company size, specialties, and headquarters, and include relevant keywords to help people find you in LinkedIn search. Create a Jobs page if you’re hiring. Writing a business description for social pages doesn’t have to be tricky. Think about your story, write about what makes you different, and let the power of social proof allow new and existing customers to find you. #socialmedia #media #description #business #highlight #promotion #marketing

Social media is a great way to capture your audience, but you must be smart in how you use it. You still need to understand your audience and create content that is specifically geared toward them. Before using social media, review these tips to help you make the most of all social media channels. Over the years, many social media tools have been developed to help businesses break through the noise on social media and reach their customers. These tools can help improve engagement with your audience through social channels. Here are some steps to planning a great social media campaign – and specific programs that can help you execute it. Identify your ideal outlets. A great way to plan and begin your social campaigns is to figure out where to run them. Define your audience. After you've identified the social platforms your business should focus on, identify the audience you want to target. Create your content. Now that you know your platform and your audience, you need to create content. Use strategic hashtags. One of the most difficult parts of social media is reaching and building your audience. various tools can elevate your visibility by finding popular hashtags that fit your industry and audience. Encourage sharing. An important piece of social media marketing is encouraging your customers to share their experience, which builds your audience. Write strong leads. You need a headline that is going to get the attention of your reader. You want to encourage your reader to click on the link. You should use keywords and action verbs to make that happen. You always want your writing to be accessible to everyone. Simple writing is always best. Use visuals. Recent data that shows relevant images get 94% more views than content that does not have images at all. Photos on Instagram that have faces have 38% more likes than those without faces. As a result, pictures and visuals get a lot of activity, so they should be colorful and catch your attention with each post. Implement videos. Video is the most engaging type of content regardless of the social media platform. Whenever possible, you should add video content to your post. Adding video to your content can increase the engagement of your reader. Listen and be responsive. There was a time when people would give you 24 hours to respond to a request. That time is long gone. We live in a world where the expectation is an immediate response. You must plan to respond to the needs and requests from your users. You will lose them if you do not. Making sure they enjoy their experience is only half the battle. You must also make sure that you listen and respond to them, as well as thank those who repost or like your posts. If you recognize them publicly, you are more likely to turn them into your biggest cheerleaders. Update your images. Your profile and cover pictures are some of the most viewed and liked parts of your social media profile. You should utilize them as much as you can by using them to show how your business impacts others and how people can benefit from your business. Be inviting. Give people a reason to follow you across all social platforms. Make sure you specifically customize your information to match your users in that channel. Sending out the same automated messages to everyone is not usually the most effective. #business #interaction #socialmedia #engagement #startups #scaling

In this crisis, the world is upside down, and adaptability is more important than ever before. SMEs and large corporations are questioning the sustainability of their business models in the face of this pandemic. COVID-19 has changed how concepts manifests. These dire circumstances lead to businesses losing customers and profits because of rigid business models that fail to pivot to present times. If your business is also suffering during the pandemic, then it is time to pivot to more relevant strategies. After all, adaptability is the characteristic of any successful business. So check out the best ways to pivot your business model during COVID-19. Play to Your Core Competencies Each business possesses skills that set them apart from the competition. These skills and resources that companies excel at are known as core competencies. If you are going to develop new pivot strategies for your business, they must be in line with your core competencies. Even though going out of your comfort zone is positive, if you are trying to survive, it’s best not to venture out too far. After all, pivoting your business model in a new direction requires playing to your strengths. Chances are the new area of interest already has real competition.  So when entering this new environment, it’s best to ask yourself: “What does my business add to it?”. The answer lies in what your business does well, or your core competencies. Keep Consumer Needs at the Center Business is all about fulfilling customer needs at a profit. This fact remains the same in all situations, even worldwide pandemics. So keep your destination insight as you make new pivot strategies for your business. The resulting business model is likely to be more sustainable as it centers on the needs of customers. However, in the time of COVID-19, the needs of consumers are easier to estimate. People want health, safety, and security. Trends have shown that the luxury industry is suffering, whereas essential sectors such as pharmaceuticals are flourishing. People are also less likely to come out of their homes, and online businesses are booming. All of these trends show what consumers want. Understanding consumer needs and using core competencies to fulfill them may be the way forward for small businesses. Reciprocate Loyalty to Consumers Just because you move in a new direction, does not mean you abandon the customers that made your business what it is today. Loyalty needs to be rewarded by dependability, and pivoting your business model can help with that.  However, rewarding loyalty is difficult in the middle of a pandemic. Many consumers have moved off of brand loyalty because of hard times. If businesses stop taking care of their customers and shift focus away, so will the customers. That is why it is essential to stay focused on what consumers demand. As long as you pivot your business in a way that allows you to contribute positively to society, customers will remain loyal. Helping out the community and caring for people’s needs in a time of crisis can be immensely rewarding in terms of loyalty. Strengthen Digital Capabilities It is clear by now that having digital infrastructure is immensely vital for your business. As entire industries shift online, now is the time to strengthen your digital capabilities. We would suggest making digital infrastructure one of your business’s core competencies. This improvement will help to expand your business and implement pivot strategies effectively right now. When the pandemic is over, these capabilities will help you grow your business and gain new customers. All customers want is convenience. Digital platforms are the way to provide them that. So to remain competitive and relevant in the new business model, digital capabilities are a must. Businesses have earned millions by implementing simple digital marketing techniques such as SEO for business and Facebook advertising. Stay Compliant to Quality Standards The last way to pivot is to remain compliant with quality standards, no matter how you pivot. This compliance means following CDC guidelines, mandating masks, practicing social distancing, and disinfecting regular contact surfaces.  Another reason to comply with quality standards is to guarantee a foothold in the industry. There are countless examples of businesses that exploded into a new category without proper guidelines and failed. As such, following strict quality standards and guidelines will help you leverage your position to the max. Besides, without proper quality standards, the customers will not be satisfied. As already mentioned, satisfying customer expectations and needs is the only reliable way to guarantee success. If the quality of your new products or service lacks because of a lack of quality standards, it represents poor business planning. That is why your pivot strategies and unique business model have to consider quality standards. #pivot #business #covid #pandemic #scaling #entrepreneur

Choosing the best legal structure for your business requires knowledge of your line of work, and an understanding of local, state and federal laws. Tax laws are constantly changing and the need for capital is always present, so it's crucial for business owners to evaluate which business structure offers them the advantages that will save them money and help them grow. We've compiled the most common types of business entities and their notable features to help you decide on the best legal structure for your business. The most common types of business entities include sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations and cooperatives. Here's more about each type of legal structure. Sole proprietorship This is the simplest form of business entity. With a sole proprietorship, one person is responsible for all a company's profits and debts. If you want to be your own boss and run a business from home without a physical storefront, a sole proprietorship allows you to be in complete control. Here are some of the advantages of this business structure: Easy setup. A sole proprietorship is the simplest legal structure to set up. If your business is owned by you and only you, this might be the best structure for your business. There is very little paperwork since you have no partners or executive boards to answer to. Low cost. Costs vary depending on which state you live in, but, generally, the only fees associated with a proprietorship are license fees and business taxes. Tax deduction. Since you and your business are a single entity, you may be eligible for certain business tax deductions, such as a health insurance deduction. Easy exit. Forming the proprietorship is easy and so is exiting one. As a single owner, you can dissolve your business at any time with no formal paperwork required. For example, if you start up your own daycare center and wish to fold the business, you can simply refrain from operating the daycare and advertising your services. Partnership This entity is owned by two or more individuals. There are two types: a general partnership, where all is shared equally; and a limited partnership, where only one partner has control of its operation while the other person (or persons) contributes to and receives part of the profits. Partnerships carry a dual status as a sole proprietorship or limited liability partnership (LLP), depending on the entity's funding and liability structure. Here are some of the advantages of this business structure: Easy to form. Like a sole proprietorship, there is little paperwork to file. If your state requires you to operate under a fictitious name ("doing business as" or DBA), you'll need to file a Certificate of Conducting Business as Partners and draft an Articles of Partnership agreement, both of which have additional fees. A business license is usually needed as well. Growth potential. You're more likely to obtain a business loan when there's more than one owner. Bankers can consider two credit lines rather than one, which can be useful if you have a less-than-stellar credit score. Special taxation. General partnerships must file federal tax Form 1065 and state returns, but, usually, they do not pay income tax. Both partners report their shared income or loss on their individual income tax return. Limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is a hybrid structure that allows owners, partners or shareholders to limit their personal liabilities while enjoying the tax and flexibility benefits of a partnership. Under an LLC, members are shielded from personal liability for the debts of the business if it cannot be proven that they acted in an illegal, unethical or irresponsible manner in carrying out the activities of the business. Corporation The law regards a corporation as an entity separate from its owners. It has its own legal rights, independent of its owners – it can sue, be sued, own and sell property, and sell the rights of ownership in the form of stocks. Corporation filing fees vary by state and fee category. Here are some of the advantages of this business structure: Limited liability. Stockholders are not personally liable for claims against your corporation; they are only liable for their personal investments. Continuity. Corporations are not affected by death or the transferring of shares by its owners. Your business continues to operate indefinitely, which is preferred by investors, creditors and consumers. Capital. It's much easier to raise large amounts of capital from multiple investors when your business is incorporated. Cooperative A cooperative (co-op) is owned by the same people it serves. Its offerings benefit the company's members, also called user-owners, who vote on the organization's mission and direction and share profits. Here are some of the advantages of this business structure: Lower taxes. Like an LLC, a cooperative doesn't tax its members on their income. Increased funding. Cooperatives may be eligible for federal grants that help them get started. Discounts and better service. Cooperatives can leverage their business size, thus obtaining discounts on products and services for their members. For new businesses that could fall into two or more of these categories, it's not always easy to decide which structure to choose. You need to consider your startup's financial needs, risk and ability to grow. It can be difficult to switch your legal structure after you've registered your business, so give it careful analysis in the early stages of forming your business. Here are some important factors to consider as you choose the legal structure for your business. You should also plan to consult with your CPA for his or her advice. Flexibility Where is your company headed, and which type of legal structure allows for the growth you envision? Turn to your business plan to review your goals, and see which structure best aligns with those objectives. Your entity should support the possibility for growth and change, not hold it back from its potential. Complexity When it comes to startup and operational complexity, nothing is more simple than a sole proprietorship. You simply register your name, start doing business, report the profits, and pay taxes on it as personal income. However, it can be difficult to procure outside funding. Partnerships, on the other hand, require a signed agreement to define the roles and percentages of profits. Corporations and LLCs have various reporting requirements with state governments and the federal government. Liability A corporation carries the least amount of personal liability since the law holds that it is its own entity. This means that creditors and customers can sue the corporation, but they cannot gain access to any personal assets of the officers or shareholders. An LLC offers the same protection, but with the tax benefits of a sole proprietorship. Partnerships share the liability between the partners as defined by their partnership agreement. Taxes An owner of an LLC pays taxes just as a sole proprietor does: All profit is considered personal income and taxed accordingly at the end of the year. Control If you want sole or primary control of the business and its activities, a sole proprietorship or an LLC might be the best choice for you. You can negotiate such control in a partnership agreement as well. Capital investment If you need to obtain outside funding, such as from an investor, venture capitalist, or bank, you may be better off establishing a corporation. Corporations have an easier time obtaining outside funding than sole proprietorships. Corporations can sell shares of stock and secure additional funding for growth, while sole proprietors can only obtain funds through their personal accounts, using their personal credit or taking on partners. An LLC can face similar struggles, although, as its own entity, it is not always necessary for the owner to use their personal credit or assets. Licenses, permits and regulations In addition to legally registering your business entity, you may need specific licenses and permits to operate. Depending on the type of business and its activities, it may need to be licensed at the local, state and federal levels. #entity #business #structure #license #permit #startup #legal

Collecting customer data is the single most important key to your marketing strategy. Without data, you’re marketing blindly, hoping to reach your target audience or persona. Many businesses that collect data don’t know what to do with it and end up only pulling it from a single source. Social media, email sign-ups, site usage, purchases, and feedback forms all offer valuable insight into who you’re marketing to. If data collection isn’t a priority, it’s time to switch gears. Customer analytics is a subset of business analytics that focuses on metrics that tell you more about your customers. Where traditional forms of financial and operations analysis only tell the story of what's happening inside your business, customer analysis tells the story of what's going on outside your offices, where your customers come from and how they make decisions. What Are the Benefits of Customer Analysis? Customer analytics isn't just one of the latest business buzzwords. It has a direct impact on your bottom line. According to a McKinsey DataMatics survey, businesses using customer analysis to make decisions are: 126% more likely to be ahead of the market in profits. 131% more likely to be ahead of the market in sales. 186% more likely to be ahead of the market in sales growth. Customer analytics can help you improve your business in the following areas: Marketing Efficiency Focusing on the individual customer takes your marketing analysis beyond just knowing your spend and the eyeballs you received in return. Knowing which marketing channels bring the highest value customers in terms of order size, retention rate and profitability allows you to either cut marketing costs or expand your reach more efficiently. Customer Retention Customer acquisition is expensive, so it's important to understand what causes customers to leave. Customer analysis can help you identify common denominators among lost customers and give you an early warning that existing customers may be in danger of leaving if you don't take corrective action. Discover how to improve Consumer data collection gives you the opportunity to improve your marketing along with your products and services. For instance, sending out a survey to the most frequent buyers to ask about marketing preferences gives you valuable insight on how to improve, and customer data analysis can clue you into which channels work best. It also allows you to determine which channels are best when working together. Use the data you collect to fine-tune your marketing. Increased Sales Understanding customer purchasing decisions is the key to increasing sales. Use customer analysis to identify factors that have both a positive and negative impact on sales. This could include shipping times, how customer service interactions are handled, whether you have a minimum order or bundled discount, or the customer's location or income. Improved Profit Margins Not all customers are equal. Some customers are more profitable than others, and some may even cost you money. Factors that affect customer profitability include order size, cost of handling the order, time spent servicing the account and returns. If you don't want to take direct action against unprofitable customers, you can learn what attracts these customers versus more profitable ones so you can shift your focus to attracting higher-value customers. How Do You Implement a Customer Analytics Strategy? Customer analytics requires a combination of data collection, sound management decisions based on the data and a willingness to experiment with alternative strategies to create new data. Your controller services can help you generate customer analysis reports. Key measures to track and try to improve on include the following: Customer Acquisition Customer acquisition measures include cost, conversion rates, and breakdowns by marketing channel and campaign. Businesses tracking customer acquisition KPIs are 23 times more likely to say they are outperforming their competitors in this area. Migration to Profitable Segments Many businesses offer service or product tiers where the lower tiers may have lower margins or even be unprofitable. The goal is to move customers up to a higher tier. To find out if this strategy is working, you need to know the number of new versus migrated customers in each tier, how long it took a migrated customer to do move, what causes customers to migrate, and if any of your sales or marketing efforts make migration more or less likely. Customer Profitability Tracking customer profitability measures leads to being 18.8 times more likely to report as outperforming competitors on profitability per customer. Income metrics should include total sales to the customer, average sale size, time between purchases, and what specific goods or services the customer purchases. Expense metrics should include both direct and indirect expenses. Direct expenses include things such as the cost of goods sold, shipping costs and losses due to returns. Indirect expenses include hidden costs such as the time sales reps have to spend with each customer or the need to divert resources to fulfill unusual requests. Customer Loyalty and Retention Customer loyalty and retention is divided into two parts — identification and tracking. First, you must be able to identify individual customers. Once you know your customer, tracking retention is a matter of determining the average amount of time between a customer's first and last order and how many customers don't place a second order. To improve your retention rates and times, you can mine the data to look for trends that separate customers retained for a long versus a short period. #data #customer #analytics #analysis #collection #loyalty #business

Human resources compliance is a necessity for any business in today’s legal environment. Between the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), OSHA, sexual harassment, and anti-discrimination laws, a business that isn’t aware of its HR responsibilities is headed for trouble. When done correctly, HR compliance is a process. It’s a way of defining proper individual and group behaviors and assuring that laws and policies are understood and followed. This means you must know the laws and develop appropriate policies in relation to these laws. Compliance also means you and your managers need to communicate these policies to the troops, along with your expectations for adherence and the consequences for nonadherence. The latter requires specific investigative and punishment procedures. Effective HR compliance programs need to be integrated into your business strategies and given more than just lip service. Compliance has to start at the top and trickle down to all levels, so everyone in the company knows that the workplace must be kept safe and discrimination won’t be tolerated. These eight steps will help you achieve your compliance goals: Educate yourself. HR laws change constantly. You must stay up-to-date on current laws, so you can establish appropriate policies and communicate them to your employees. Get good advice. Hire an HR staff with the experience and skills required to support an effective compliance process. If you can’t hire someone full-time, contract with an HR consultant. It’s also smart to get a good HR lawyer to work with your staff as necessary. Create an HR policy manual and regularly update it. Or develop a handbook that meets your initial needs and can be expanded over time. Your lawyer should always review your handbook and any new policies before you implement them. Train your managers. Since they have the most significant day-to-day interactions with employees, review your policy manual with each manager. Make sure they understand that they must uphold expected standards and be role models for other employees. Train your employees. Build employee awareness of expected behaviors. Your HR manual shouldn’t be something your employees keep at the bottom of their drawers. Provide updates to the manual, and provide periodic retraining on important issues, such as sexual harassment. Open your ears. Listen to your employees, listen to your managers, and listen to your internal and external experts. Together these people can help you get to the root of your compliance risks, help you manage those risks, and heighten your awareness about the goings-on in your company. Give feedback. Let people know whether they’re meeting your expectations. Reinforce the importance of success, and give your employees the opportunity to correct areas of weakness. Emphasize accountability, and stress the consequences for noncompliance. Document your decisions. Memories fade over time, and a lack of documentation can leave you vulnerable to HR non-compliance claims. Document all key decisions and employee evaluations, establish written policies, make sure everyone gets a copy of your written policies and signs them, keep a written record of critical communications, and maintain all personnel records. Documentation is critical. #humanresources #business #entrepreneur #startup #HR #feedback #employee #management

Small business owners benefit from accounting software because it helps them track accounts receivable and accounts payable, have a clear understanding of their profitability, and be prepared for tax season. In the world of accounting software, a small business is one that can use out-of-the-box software without requiring extensive customization. As a business grows, its accounting needs become more complex, and a custom enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is often needed. Below are accounting softwares best suited for small businesses: QuickBooks Online QuickBooks Online is the best overall accounting software for small businesses of those reviewed. Not only do the majority of small business accounting professionals use QuickBooks Online, but there are also endless online training resources and forums to get support when needed. All accounting features can be conveniently accessed on one main dashboard, making bookkeeping more fluid and efficient. Pros Scalable Commonly used by accounting professionals Integration with third-party applications Cloud-based Mobile app Cons Upgrade required for more users Occasional syncing problems with banks and credit cards Xero Xero is the best in our review for micro-businesses that are looking for very simple accounting software. This software has a clean interface and also fully integrates with a third-party payroll service. Businesses can collect payment online from customers through Xero’s integration with Stripe and GoCardless. Pros Cloud-based Mobile app Payroll integration with Gusto Third-party app marketplace Simple inventory management Cons Limited reporting Fees charged for ACH payments Limited customer service FreshBooks FreshBooks offers more customization for invoicing compared to other accounting software. Its primary function is to send, receive, print, and pay invoices, but it can also take care of a business’ basic bookkeeping needs as well. This accounting software makes it easier for service-based businesses to send proposals and invoices, request deposits, collect client retainers, track time on projects, and receive payments. Pros Cloud-based User-friendly interface Third-party app integration Affordable Advanced invoicing features Cons No inventory management No payroll service Mobile app has limitations Wave Wave is an ideal accounting software platform for a service-based small business that sends simple invoices and doesn’t need to track inventory or run payroll. For many freelancers or service-based businesses, Wave’s free features will cover all of their accounting needs and is the best free software in our review. At year-end, accountants can pull the necessary reports from Wave to prepare a business’ tax return. Pros Free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning No transaction or billing limits Run multiple businesses in one account Unlimited number of users Mobile app Cons Limited third-party app integrations Higher fees for credit cards and ACH payments Full-service payroll is limited to only 14 states No inventory management #business #accounting #finances #software #management

Minority owned business certification, often referred to as Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Certification, is generally restricted to businesses who are at least 51% controlled by a minority owner. Minority business owners, for the purposes of certification, include African-Americans, Latino, Pacific Islander, Asian, and Native American owners. The process of becoming certified as a minority-owned business for the purposes of participating in special programs like those offered by the NMSDC and the SBA’s are significant, but the benefits of being a minority-owned business with certification are vast. From federal and government agencies to private corporations, there are many organizations that want to do business with minority-owned businesses and would prefer to do so when your business is certified. Certification may provide your business with opportunities it might not otherwise be able to compete for. Minority-owned businesses that are certified can take advantage of special government programs, including increased access to government contracting opportunities that can help them grow quicker. Many federal government agencies are even mandated to reward a substantial number of contracts to certified minority-owned businesses. For example, the U.S. Department of Transportation requires that at least 10 percent of the money spent on contracts for certain projects go to businesses that are minority-owned. The rise of minority business certification programs comes from the resounding business benefits that arise from pursuing a supplier diversity strategy. In other words, companies that embrace diversity are more profitable than companies that don’t. But the benefits extend beyond profits. When governments and businesses are fostering more diverse, inclusive supply chains, everyone wins. As a result, there are numerous supplier diversity initiatives found throughout government and private business. These programs are formal, intentional efforts to contract with disadvantaged business owners. And that’s why minority business certification is important. It authenticates that the business is owned, managed, and controlled by a minority and opens the door to participating in government and corporate supplier diversity initiatives, where new relationships and bid opportunities await. #minority #business #certification #government #certificate #small #startups

The goal of any content marketing strategy is to drive website traffic and conversions. In order to do that successfully, your content needs to be more than just readable, it needs to be shareable as well. Personalize your content Personalization moves beyond personas, segments, and buyer stages. It’s not just a broad, gunshot method of displaying or delivering content that may not have relevance to your visitors, prospects, and leads. It also uses actions to deliver a custom experience and content, based on the individual. Post Social Proof Social proof is even more powerful when it comes from someone your prospect knows. Ever wonder why Instagram shows you when someone you follow Likes a photo? It’s because they know the power of social proof and that if someone you follow Likes a picture, then you probably will too. If you’re not using the power of social proof to your advantage, your landing pages, social media posts, product pages, blog content, and other marketing channels may not be converting as well as they could be. Interact with Your Audience Audience engagement is “the process of interacting with customers through a variety of channels and strengthening your relationship with them…Companies can interact with customers via social media, email, websites, community forums, or any other space where they’re communicating or consuming content.” Essentially, when you are communicating with your customers or audience in a positive manner, you are engaging with them. Investing time and energy in developing customer relationships through your marketing strategy can lead to increased business in the long-term. Design Your Content Well Writing great content is a choice. You can choose to put in the time and work required to create great content and build a prosperous brand. Or you can choose to take the easy path and write poor content – a path that ultimately will get you nowhere. It will only result in a waste of time, energy, and resources. The path for content marketers is clear. In order to boost SEO rankings, gain traffic, and/or leads, you need to have great content on your blog or website. If you write original content, search engines will help your site get more exposure. Offer Freebies You’re starting a new business and you want to have customers? You’re already in business, but you want to enter a new market/segment? Do you want to grow? All these are good reasons to offer freebies. But to maximize your results, it must be done the right way. Tell a story People love to hear someone tell a good story. Well, businesses have stories, too. There are the stories of how the company got founded, why it decided to pursue a particular philanthropic endeavor, and how customers' lives have changed due to your product or service. Capitalize on trends If you can join a popular hashtag on Twitter, or weigh in on a current event that’s getting a lot of traction, you should. People who are searching for that topic will come across your content, and if they care enough to search, if they like what they read, they’ll likely share it. #content #marketing #business #promotion #startups #entrepreneur