Business

Promotion Checklist for Small Business Owners – Free printable PDF!

  We small business owners are constantly looking for new ways to market our products and services. New approaches to old ways are welcome too. I've recently put together this awesome PDF checklist and I wanted to share it with you. It includes 15 creative marketing ideas that will help you increase your visits, social media interactions and sales. You can print it to mark that actions you have already taken and keep it close to work on those still pending. Download...

Read More

Worth-reading insights from 14 small business owners

Very often the advice we most need is not the one from the prestigious business magazine or the ultra famous marketing coach, but that from the fellow entrepreneur and small business owner who is still on his/her way or has even just started. A different approach to the same problem or a reminder of something we actually once had in mind but have been forgotten during the process can be of great help. On this massive post, I've wanted to gather the experiences and...

Read More

9 essential websites for small business owners and entrepreneurs

    Whether you are thinking about starting your own business or you are already there, you don't have to do it alone. There are a lot of really good reference sites out there packed with useful tips, free guides, podcasts, forums and news about social media, marketplaces and trends. Keeping an eye on some of these websites will help you stay connected to a broader community of people with the same needs and interests as you as well as eventually finding new...

Read More

3 inspirational TED talks about learning, creativity and design

    If you are a small business owner you already know you need a fair amount of these three things in order to keep things going: a pinch of love for learning new things and wearing many hats, a great deal of creativity to help you solve problems and engage your audience, and a good taste in design in order to present your brand in an attractive, trustworthy way. In the following videos John Green, Sir Ken Robinson and Tony Fadell share some...

Read More

5 things to do during slow business season

As small business owners we have all experienced that moment of anxiety when sales are low and there is no sign of movement on the horizon. When this happens we tend to 1) freak out as if it were the first time, and 2) spend hours of precious time marketing our products or services in the most ridiculously inefficient ways. What if we took all that (mostly) wasted time to actually improve our businesses? Here you have some ideas on things...

Read More

5 guerrilla marketing ideas that will help you gain more exposure

    What is guerrilla marketing? Wikipedia says: a concept of advertisement strategy designed for small businesses to promote their products or services in an unconventional way with little budget to spend. It sounds worth trying, right? I'm sure you are already using some of these tactics but here you have 5 simple ideas to help you reach more potencial customers and give some love to those who are already there.   Use a points system/reward card for loyal clients. Allow your clients to "collect"...

Read More

Know your files: A quick guide to JPG, PNG, RGB, CMYK and all that jazz

    I'm sure every small business owner with a minimum of online presence has asked him/herself these questions at least once: Is it better to use my logo in PNG or JPG for this? What's a vector file? What's the difference between RGB and CMYK colors? Even if you aren't online the time always comes when you have to order some profesionally printed business cards or posters and you are asked to send the design in AI format. What does that even...

Read More

“Everyone” is not your target market

    Everytime I start a custom logo or website design project with a new client I send him/her a detailed questionnaire in order to get to know them and their businesses better. It is extremely important to have this extra information in order to start working on the initial design concepts. Having a clear aesthetic idea is never enough. One of those questions I always ask is "Who is your target market/audience?". Very often I receive the wrong answer: "Everyone" or...

Read More

5 videos on starting an online business

  For those of you who are thinking about starting a new online business, renewing your current one or just need a reminder of the good reasons why you started, today I bring you a selection of 5 videos by some of the greatest female business coaches on the net: Denise Duffield-Thomas, Laura Roeder, Natalie Sisson, Marie Forleo and Alex Beadon. If you can listen to music/poscasts while working this is perfect for boosting your business creativity. Enjoy and don't forget to share!             ...

Read More