Archive for Planning
Protecting Your Business from Malware
Posted by: | Comments
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that if you do any part of your business on the internet (even if it’s just a simple website or blog), then you’re at risk of an attack from hackers. While we tend to read about the large corporate hacking targets most often in the news and think of hacking only in terms of big companies, in truth every business with an online component is a target.
Even if your website doesn’t collect any personal information from your customers, or have any financial assets that could be stolen, it might still have value to hackers. For example, a hacker that compromises your website could gain access to your web server and use that server to send spam, store illegal files or engage in other illicit online activities.
Stay Current on Security Updates
Hopefully you’re already in the habit of staying current on all the security updates for whatever web platform your website is based upon. For example, WordPress users who stay up to date on all of the underlying security updates are generally quite safe.
But the current trend in web business and web commerce (a trend that is continuing to accelerate) is using custom functionalities and custom applications along with the standard web platform. For WordPress users, one common type of custom web application is a “plug-in” that’s used to provide a new function on the website. These plug-ins can take many different forms, and are currently being used by many websites.
WordPress Plug-In Safety
Many WordPress websites use plug-ins that are available either on WordPress’ own plug-in directory, or through the plug-in author’s own website. One advantage of sticking with plug-ins that are available through the WordPress plug-in directory is that you’ll be able to read feedback from other users who have already tried the plug-in.
For this reason, you might want to avoid using any new plug-ins until there is enough feedback for you to feel comfortable that any security risks are minimal. Positive feedback is certainly no guarantee of a secure plug-in, but that feedback should be helpful to your decision-making process.
If your custom application is truly custom (in the sense that you retain a programmer to build the application to your specifications), then the best way to protect your business is to be confident that the programmer or company that’s making the application for you is highly qualified and has created other secure applications in the past.
Test and Verify
In addition, if your business is large then you may have the budget available to hire a computer security consulting firm to review and verify the security of the code that makes up your custom applications. If you’re unable to hire a security firm to test the security of your custom applications, then you can gain some level of comfort by using the various open source tools that are available, including those at w3af.sourceforge.net and www.websecurify.com.
Because your web presence is so valuable, it’s ultimately up to you to be confident that whatever custom applications you include on your website don’t compromise your overall site security.
Do you need a coach?
Posted by: | Comments
An increasing number of people are hiring life and solopreneur business coaches. Coaches help you set goals and achieve them. Like a sports coach, life and business coaches help you develop your strengths and work around your weaknesses.
Many types of people can benefit from a coach, but people that work from home can may reap more benefits than someone in a corporate atmosphere. This is due to the fact that people that work from home are generally isolated. If you miss having someone to bounce ideas off and have someone to brainstorm with, a coach may be for you.
Coaches will hold you accountable for your actions. For instance, if you are in direct sales and your goal is to sell $400 worth of product each week, your coach will help you set mini goals to accomplish that. When you meet with your coach and they ask you what you have done, you need to be honest.
Coaches can also help you with time management, leadership, and customer service skills. If you tend to procrastinate or have a fear of success or failure, a coach can help you work through it. Some other issues that a coach can help you with include: creating a balance between work and family, creating an organizational system, and improving your communication skills.
Good coaches will also give you honest feedback. They will let you know if you are lacking in certain areas and give you tips on how to improve. It can be hard to hear criticism, but if it makes you a better business person in the long run, it is worth it.
Many coaches will offer a complimentary session; this will help you determine if your personalities match. Different coaches have different styles, so you may want to talk to a few coaches to determine which one you feel most comfortable with. You may also want to ask them about their accreditation. If you are having specific issues with your business, ask if they have experience in those areas.
A coach may choose to work with their clients via email, through one-on-one telephone calls or group calls. If you feel intimidated to speak up in a group session, let your coach know. However, you may enjoy group sessions as you will get to see that other people are going through the same type of problems. The rates a coach may charge can vary quite a bit so it’s quite difficult to give an exact price per session or month.
It is important to remember that a coach is not a therapist. A coach cannot fix your problems They can guide you along the way to success, but you will need to do the actual work.
When It’s Time for an Accountant
Posted by: | Comments
When you become a solopreneur there are a million things that you are responsible for. If you can, outsource your needs to those who are better qualified to handle it for you. One of those individuals could be an accountant.
As a solopreneur you may not need an accountant starting out. With the advent of bookkeeping software like QuickBooks, you can enter your financial information. There are instructions to help you keep everything organized.
As your business grows you may hire others to work for you – full time, part time or on a contract basis. There are additional tax concerns as well as financial obligations. If you don’t have time to deal with it, then it may be time to work with someone else.
Hiring an Accountant
You have options for accounting services: hire an accountant firm or hire an individual accountant on a consulting basis. Depending on the scope of your need, you may want to start out with the latter. As the company grows bigger, you can then consider bigger issues like investing company funds, retirement accounts and such.
To find the right person for you at this time, here are some tips.
Know what you need – Accounting firms can handle such responsibilities as tax return preparation, analyzing your books and preparing fiscal statements. A part-time accountant can deal with the more day-to-day activities like balancing the books, taking care of payroll and bill payment.
Check their credentials – You want a person who is qualified for the job to handle your financial needs. Whether using a firm or contracting an accountant, know how they have been trained. Interview them. Ask for certification verification, work history and recommendations. Also ask about their specialty in accounting if they have one.
Check their work history – What type of accounts have they handled? Were they large or small?
Time commitment – Even if they are working on a consulting basis, does the accountant have time to handle your work? You will need some face-to-face time with them. If that can’t be managed when you need help, then maybe you will want to find someone else.
Ask for referrals – Do you know other small business owners? Who do they use for their accounting needs? Use this as a starting point.
Check references – Ask questions about your potential accountant. Be diligent in your pursuit. You want to find the right person who will handle your job with as much attention as any of their larger accounts.
At some point, your business may need the services of an accountant. Choosing the right one to handle your financial affairs is necessary to keep you in the black. Use the above tips to make the best choice possible.
How to Increase Website Traffic
Posted by: | Comments
Website traffic is always a priority for online solopreneurs – without some type of web traffic people won’t know your business exists. So just what is the right formula for more website traffic?
Here are our top tips:
1. Write and distribute articles. This may seem like a simple strategy on the surface but it can be very powerful. Just writing one or two articles a week will quickly add to a lot of incoming one-way links (the type of links the search engines love most) for your business.
Once you write the articles distribute them to a few top ranking directories, but don’t stop there. Think about distributing a few articles to large online traffic websites directly. Give them exclusive use of the article in exchange for the incoming link. This is a great strategy you can easily apply.
2. Make your pages search engine and reader friendly. Striking the balance between writing for your human visitors as well as the search engines is simple if you stick to this rule – write for the reader first and then naturally insert your keyword phrases into your copy.
It’s also a good idea to include all the appropriate SEO tags on all your pages. These tags help the search engines find you.
3. Set up a search-engine friendly navigation structure. For the search engines (and your human visitors) to find the content on your website, you need a clear navigation structure. This structure should consist of your top topics which are also your keywords and then for each of those main pages you’ll have sub pages including extensions of that main keyword.
By having the main keywords as your top topics on your navigation structure, your readers and the search engines will easily find your deeper pages of content. It’s also a good idea to include a back link to your home page on each page of your website. A clear and well-defined site map is a great addition as well.
These three key steps are the starting point to your traffic success. Apply them regularly and ensure that your content is fresh and up-to-date and you can’t help but to win over both the search engines and your human visitors too.
Kim Clausen Shares Her Business Plan Secrets
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s time for the January Easy Biz Teleseminar call for coaches and we’ve convinced Kim Clausen to join us once again – this time to share behind the scenes ideas that lead to success. It’s the time of year to make plans about how your coaching business will grow in 2012 and highly successful coaches know that having a solid plan is absolutely required to reach your dreams.
Here’s what Kim says:
“ Too many business owners
haphazardly invest their time, energy
and money without planning and forethought
and often end up feeling frustrated because
they see only marginal success for their efforts.
Then they get frustrated, overwhelmed
and start to think that maybe they don’t have
what it takes to be a successful business owner.
But it’s not your fault. All you really need is a plan.”
Join global marketing expert Kim Clausen for this free call. Kim will show you how to create a powerful plan for your coaching business, and make it so simple that you’ll have a new level of confidence, energy and excitement moving forward into 2012.
Here are the details:
Date: January 12, 2011
Time: 1-2 pm ET (10am pacific, 11 mountain, 12 central)
Registration: http://easybiztelesummit.com
The Easy Biz Teleseminar is a monthly series that I host in order to help coaches succeed. My expereince is that planning is one of the keys that can turn a business from survival to flourishing. If you’re not planning for the future and your business growth – it probably won’t happen. As I tell my clients, enthusiasm and hope are not business strategies.
Join Kiim and I for this powerful call. We will make time for questions and answers at the end of the call so try to be there in person if you can. Of course the call will be recorded and will be available at no charge for one week only. Be sure to register at http://easybiztelesummit.com in order to get access to the recording.
Hope to see you on the call!
