Posted by Christina Lopez on June 13th, 2010
Our friend Roger Wohlner, a fee-only financial planner, who blogs at Chicago Financial Planner, sent me an email after reading the Marshall McLuhan reference in yesterday’s post, Communicating 401(k): Is the Medium the Message?
Roger reminded me about McLuhan’s cameo in Woody Allen’s classic 1977 firm, Annie Hall. Thanks, Roger. The rest of you may enjoy it also.
Posted by Christina Lopez on June 10th, 2010
Small business owners have some overwhelmingly favorable data on their side. Small businesses represent the vast majority of all businesses in operation, and the small business sector is responsible for nearly all new job creation. Yet, even with these two powerful facts, the small business sector constantly struggles with obtaining adequate credit lines.
The following statistics have been compiled by the National Association of Credit Management and provide a snapshot of the small business sector.
Posted by Christina Lopez on June 9th, 2010
I was helping a friend out with her business recently…giving her some advice and coaching on pricing. She is setting up a workshop to teach others how to start a business in her niche. I felt her price for the workshop was too low, and told her so.
Her response: “Well, these people are just starting out…they don’t have a whole lot of money, right?”
I replied: “Be careful. Don’t write the story for your potential customers.”
We all have a story: a compilation of thoughts and beliefs that got us to where we are today. Where we go wrong is that we tend to assume that everyone else’s story is the same as our story. Case in point: my fri
Posted by Christina Lopez on June 1st, 2010
A product roadmap helps you figure out
where your business is going.Amy asked, in a recent comment, “Do you have a plan on how not to overwhelm yourself promoting 10 products after they are all launched? Thinking of your 10 separate products reminds me of the traditional business advice of only focusing on one start-up at a time. Do you think it’s better to launch 10 products that perform ‘ok’ as opposed to 1 product that performs great?”
Great question, Amy! I’ve shared my goal about creating 10 products in 2010, but I haven’t talked much about how they all fit together…
It is possible to do a nearly infinite number of things to make money online. There isn’t jus
Posted by Christina Lopez on May 31st, 2010
In today’s tough economy, more and more businesses are filing for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy can happen to any company—from the smallest to the largest. If your company caters to business clients, this means your business is at risk. How can you protect yourself from a customer’s bankruptcy?
The best strategy is to start on the right foot from the beginning of the relationship to ensure you don’t do business with a company that’s on shaky financial ground.
When taking on a new customer, always do a credit check. Have new customers complete a credit application and verify their information by contacting D&B, credit-reporting agencies, and other companies they have done business with in the past. Be particularly cautious when doing business with new or very small companies without much history. In these
Posted by Christina Lopez on May 28th, 2010
There’s a lot of peace of mind that comes from knowing your small business is insured. But it is important to understand your business’s risks and what the various types of business liability insurance are intended to cover.
For example, understanding what general liability insurance is not intended to cover is just as important as understanding what it does cover. The ideal time to find out what’s covered and what’s not is before you purchase a policy. As you consider your policy purchase, determine what is excluded. Once you receive your general liability policy paperwork, it may be tempting to file it away and move on to the next challenge. But, before you let your guard down, take a little time to be sure that your policy covers everything you think it does.
Keep in mind the following exclusions found in nearly all general liability insurance policies.
General liability insurance is the most common type of business liability insurance. Ba
Posted by Christina Lopez on May 27th, 2010
Blog Set Up. I’ve just released product #4 of 10 in my 10 products in 2010 goal, and if you’re interested in becoming a blogger, it will be of great interest to you!
If you’re new here, I write my goals publicly on my blog every year, then update regularly with new information. My biggest goal for 2010 was to create 10 products and release them. This was a challenge to myself to learn to create and release products quickly.
So far I’ve released:
And now, my latest creation: Blog Set Up.
One way to get more customers for your products is to create more customers. Guest P