If you have a fantastic idea for starting a business, congratulations. You've taken a huge leap past millions of people who would love to found a start-up company but just haven't been inspired yet. Of course, it's just as easy to run into the opposite problem. You have that great idea, but where do you start? You might not be ready to give up your day job, and you might have concerns about how you will possibly finance a new business. Or you simply might be new to start-ups and not really … [Read more...]
Online and Offline Marketing: Rounding Out Your Strategy
Online and Offline Marketing When you're trying to decide how to really take your start-up to the next level, advertising can easily be your biggest concern: How much do you spend? What will guarantee the best return? What do people really pay attention to? Advertising experts usually suggest 7% of your projected sales should go to ad campaigns and promotions, but when you factor in variables like cost of transaction, rent, and geographic location, the budget formula can be much … [Read more...]
Traditional Advertising Strategies that Still Hold True in the Digital Age
The internet has revolutionized advertising in many ways. Never before has such a global audience been so easily accessible, and it's easier than ever for small businesses to get their name out there through social media and website promotion. Online advertising has risen 16 percent in 2013, and Google's business department believes that 50 percent of all advertising will be online in the next 5 years. But it's still a relatively small percentage of a company's budget, and it's had much less … [Read more...]
Starting a Business: How to Build a Strong Foundation
You probably don't need to be told how easy it is for a start-up business to fail. According to Forbes Magazine, nearly 80 percent of small businesses don't make it through the first three years. If your business is based online? That number rises to 95 percent. Most people might get chased away by such staggering statistics, but really there's a simple explanation for them. Starting a business is easier now than it ever was before because … [Read more...]