8 Tips for Stretching Your Company’s Budget

You got in business to make money, and sometimes you need to find ways to save money that aren't so obvious in order to stay afloat. Cutting corners is smart only if you can do it without sacrificing quality of work. Here are some tips to saving money wherever you can. Smart Marketing: Strategy The general rule for marketing budgets is to spend as much as you can afford up front. Most strategies call for businesses to spend big in the first three years — up to 20 percent of their total...

Top-Paying Jobs You Can Secure with a Business Degree

Graduating from college with a business degree or grad school with an MBA is quite an accomplishment. However, unlike some other niche degrees, a business degree doesn't necessarily lead you into a specific career, nevertheless one of the best paying careers out there. If you're like most college graduates, you'd prefer a fairly lucrative career to get you off on the right financial footing and pay down that student debt. Even though a business degree is generally thought of as the stepping ...

Keep the Money Coming in By Invoicing Promptly and Clearly

You got into business to make money, not to create paper trails around it. But those paper trails between what you buy, from whom, and for how much, are the backbone of your supply chains and expenditures. Invoicing isn't fun, but it is necessary. Follow this guide to solid invoicing practices. Comparing Vendors Later If you're a business owner who doesn't occasionally block out an hour or two to drag out old invoices and compare what you're paying to other market prices of what you co...

Using Video Marketing to Bring in More Business and Increase Revenue

Remember when that direct email went viral? How about that newsletter? Remember when that blog post took off across the Internet and got more than a million hits in just a few days? Me neither. Why? Because it never happened. There are a ton of ways to get a message out to a ton of people, but there is one that stands alone as being able to reach the most people and have the most impact in the shortest time: video. If you sell online or have an online presence, a video marketing campaign can...

Time-Tracking Software: Helping You Avoid Costly Payroll Mistakes

At first glance, having your employees track their time manually probably seems like the easiest thing for everybody. You won't have to buy, install, and figure out how to use potentially expensive software. You won't need any special equipment. In fact, having your employees log their time manually is not a good idea. While, sure, there's a learning curve involved for whatever time tracking software you choose to use, it is still your best option. Reasons to Use Time Tracking Software ...

Turning Your Blog into a Money-Making Machine

When you originally started a blog, your intent may have been to offer the financial lessons you've learned from your past mistakes. Maybe you wanted an easy way to keep your family and friends up to date on the crazy antics of your children and how you go about parenting a child with special needs. Maybe you're an avid reader and you wanted to write in-depth book reviews. After you've been blogging for a while and your blog has evolved in to a much larger project generating some interest, the ...

9 PayPal Alternatives to Keep the Revenue Coming In

When it comes to online payments, there's PayPal and there's everyone else. Introduced to much of America when it paired with eBay at the beginning of the age of eCommerce, PayPal quickly became the go-to middleman for online transactions - but it's not the only one. In recent years, several competitors have made gains in the market and are close on PayPal's heels. Intuit Merchant Service Intuit Merchant Services provides your business with an online terminal that allows you to accept...

10 Tips for Choosing the Best Payroll Service Company That Won’t Rob You

There are dozens of companies out there that will gladly take over all of your company's payroll services functions. On the surface, this sounds like a win-win situation. But too often, business owners don't realize they are being robbed blind by these providers - either through additional fees or via lost productivity from dealing with payroll-related problems. Before you outsource this important task, here are ten suggestions to help you choose the right payroll services provider. D...

Benefits of Small Business Credit Cards

When opening a small business, many entrepreneurs are unsure how to fund their operation. Instead of researching their best options they choose the immediate gratification of using their own credit cards “just for now” until everything starts falling into place. As a matter of fact, a study by the United States Small Business Administration shows 50% of small business owners who use credit cards use their own personal credit. The risks of using your own credit to fund a small business are many ...

Pointers for Choosing a Virtual Terminal That Won’t Rob You in Fees

The progression of technology over the last few decades has had phenomenal effects on business. Business owners are able to reach out to and do business with people around the world without leaving their office in Smalltown, USA. Likewise, customers can find what they want with the touch of a few buttons, pay for it without leaving the comforts of their home, and wait for their order to arrive in the mail. Technology has allowed merchants to conduct business transactions from the field, whil...