Build Your Business by Starting an Online Community
Our reliance on the internet for information has dramatically changed how we buy products and services. Easy access to friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, classmates, vendors, and potential customers has increased the time we spend online. And because we collectively spend more time online, more business than ever is being done online. However, deciding to sell […]
4 Steps to Attracting More Referral Business
Despite all the money businesses spend to attract new business, one of the best ways to gain new customers and clients is through referrals, or having others recommend your product, service, or company to someone else. Used synonymously with “word of mouth marketing,” referrals and recommendations actually generate $6 trillion in consumer spending each year. […]
Choosing the Best Location for Your Business
Any company that serves customers face-to-face should take extra care when selecting a location for its operations. This is especially critical for newer businesses that don’t already have a large customer base. To find a great location based on what your business is like today, versus where you hope to be five years from now, […]
Leverage the Power of Scent in Your Business
Scents and odors can have a significant impact on our perception of companies and brands. In fact, research has shown that scent marketing can be used to increase brand loyalty and sales. Meaning, adding a pleasing smell can help create a positive customer experience that leads to higher sales. This realization was driven home last […]
Payroll Options for Small Businesses
Confused about how to pay your employees? You’re not alone. Calculating federal and state tax withholding amounts, along with other potential types of withholdings, such as retirement or health insurance, for example, which need to be deducted from an employee’s paycheck, can be confusing. Yet despite the complexity of payroll calculations, 58% of small business […]
5 Steps to Building a Personal Brand
Your personal brand is how your potential market perceives you. It’s important because your brand impacts their willingness to buy from you. Your personal brand can enhance, or detract from, your ability to sell your products and services. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to try to shape your personal brand to be an […]
Should Your Business Hire Family Members?
When you’re in the early stages of starting or running a business, it can be comforting to know that you have family members who support you. Some may even tell you they’re happy to help out here and there. As a startup, this may sound like music to your ears! But before you start taking […]
What’s so Great about Being a Thought Leader?
For the last few years, we’ve heard the term “thought leader” and “thought leadership” thrown around as something to which we should aspire. But what’s so great about being a thought leader? Why should you want to be perceived as a thought leader in your industry? New Opportunities Because with this perception comes respect, influence, […]
To Win, Be Easy to Work With
“Be easy to work with. It matters,” Wen-Szu Lin, author of Deliver, shared in a recent guest lecture at Johns Hopkins University. Whether you’re working to attract clients, hold onto clients, recruit employees, or negotiate with a potential vendor or partner, being easy to work with can make or break you. It can even be […]
Saying “No” is Good for Business
Given that growing a business requires customers and clients willing to pay you money, you may assume that saying “yes” regularly is essential for success. “Yes” can mean more customers, more sales, and more business opportunities. The Downsides of “Yes” As women, many of us have been taught that saying “yes” is the right thing […]
How Small Businesses Can Conserve Cash During a Downturn
Ask a group of small business owners whether we’re in a recession and you’re likely to get a variety of answers. Although we’ve been hearing about an impending recession for months, it’s unclear if it’s on the horizon, already here, or if the chances of it occurring have receded. If you’re nervous that a business […]
Charge More, Earn More by Reducing Customer Price Sensitivity
With the word recession being thrown about as a warning for months, many business owners are bracing for a downturn in sales. Some have already witnessed a slowdown, while others are seeing sales rise. The discrepancy is likely due to how price sensitive your customers are. That is, can they afford to continue buying what […]
Want to Go Paperless in 2023? Here’s How
Gartner Inc. estimated that buying, using, and storing paper documents costs an average business 3% of its revenue—and that was 10 years ago. The cost today is likely even higher. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the average office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of paper a year and that the cost of […]
Planning for a Profitable 2023
Have you started planning out your next 12 months yet? With the start of the New Year next week, now is the perfect time to think through how you want 2023 to go. Look Back First Before looking ahead, take some time to reflect on what went well in 2022 and what did not. For […]
How to Generate More Sales Leads
Most business owners know that marketing is critical to success. Marketing is essential because it connects your company with potential customers and helps persuade them to spend money on your products or services. Marketing is what leads to sales, which is every company’s life blood. There are two basic types of marketing methods—outbound and inbound. […]
Advice for Amber Grant Applicants
Filling out grant applications is an art form. And while there are professionals who specialize in crafting grant requests, odds are good you probably aren’t one of them. Few entrepreneurs and business owners are, and that’s okay. No one at WomensNet expects you to have grant writing experience or expertise. The reason that the application […]
Get More Done in Less time by Reducing Distractions
The opportunities for distraction today are greater than they’ve ever been. With phones by our side 24/7, social media calling our name, and anxiety seemingly ever-present, it’s challenging for anyone to stay focused on any one task for more than a few minutes. And yet, staying on-task is critical for progress to be made. Spread […]
The Basics of Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Businesses working to grow their social media following often decide at some point to explore the merits of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Where blogging and content creation contribute to organic growth of your audience, paid online advertising can be a shortcut. Digital advertising consultant Barry Hott recorded a video for the WomensNet community to try to […]
It’s Time to Prepare for the 2022 Holiday Season
Now that Labor Day has come and gone in the U.S., you know what that means—holiday season is just around the corner. Yes, even as we’re enjoying fairly warm temps across the northern hemisphere, smart business owners are beginning to plan for Q4. Although retailers are best-known for generating a large portion of their annual […]
Business Bookkeeping and Accounting for Beginners
“Running a business takes a lot of work,” confirms Elisabeth Lee of Lis Lee Accounting, who helps service-based solopreneurs learn how to manage their finances with confidence, so they can become more profitable. When you get the financial piece of your business to run more smoothly, you’ll begin to feel more in control and on […]
How to Incorporate Your Business Simply
One of the first decisions you should be thinking about while starting your business is what legal structure makes the most sense for your company. But even if you’ve been in operation for some time, it’s a good idea to occasionally consider whether a change should be made to how your business legally operates. Toni […]
Choosing the Best Website Platform for Your Needs
Whether you’re starting a new company or have been in business for a while, when it comes time to design or update your company’s website, one of the decisions you’ll need to make is which platform on which to host your site, says Ronke Bade-Ojo, founder of The Pink Creative, a branding and website design […]
Building a Social Media Presence
Having a social media presence should be part of any small business’s marketing strategy, mainly because using social media platforms to connect with target customers can be extremely cost effective. Tia Meyers Grado, founder of Freelancing Females, provides a quick rundown of the primary social media platforms small businesses may want to pay attention to […]
Protecting Your Business with Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents
What steps can you take to protect the brand name you’ve come up with for your business or product? Can you prevent others from copying the sales page you’ve crafted or the course you just rolled out? How about a product you invented or an app you developed? The short answer is… yes. The U.S. […]
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