Make Mine to Grow: Building Your Solo Business to Outgrow You!

Written by Eileen 'Turtle' Parzek


Continued from page 1

Takerepparttar time to set up a good business accounting system like Quick Books Pro or Quicken. When you are using this or any other software system, pretend at all times that someone else must see what you are doing and understand it. Do not use abbreviations or acronyms without explaining what they mean, since whoever takes over this system might not have any idea what you were saying. When faced with doing something very quickly or takingrepparttar 104983 extra moment to documentrepparttar 104984 transaction with a note of some sort, take that opportunity to leave a trail for anyone who might take on this duty for you later.

Set up a “creative” system as well, for any design or branding information. It could be a directory on your hard drive that is backed up regularly, or a folder in your drawer – as long as its all together. Save everything that has to do withrepparttar 104985 image and marketing of your business in one place – original logo, artwork, ads you have run, fonts, and colors that are used for a consistent identity. Having this information organized will not only give yourepparttar 104986 ability to quickly market your business with a consistent brand, but will also providerepparttar 104987 beginnings of a corporate identity program that can be shared with future employees and vendors.

It is critical to any business that you do regular backups, have a disaster recovery plan, and have assessed any threats to your business information and that of your clients. As you set up these systems, do it in a way that also adds a sense of history. For example, if you back up weekly, store all of these backups somewhere with dates and specifics written on them, in case you ever need to return to that time period for any reason.

Whenrepparttar 104988 time comes to consider growing your business beyond yourself, reviewrepparttar 104989 documents you’ve developed, and make a list ofrepparttar 104990 tasks you could probably delegate to someone else. There are many ways you can testrepparttar 104991 waters of growth. You might want to try hiring a temporary assistant or a part time virtual assistant. You should also consider what you can best bring torepparttar 104992 business, and which areas you might want someone else to handle. Then consider outsourcing aspects of your business to another independent professional. In whatever direction you decide to grow, you will have already created a strong foundation on which to build.

Eileen 'Turtle' Parzek (c) 2003 All Rights Reserved

Eileen 'Turtle' Parzek is a veteran web designer and an online marketing & communications consultant who has been working from home and virtually since 1995. Her business, SOHO It Goes! (www.soho-it-goes.com) functions as an online design marketing department for small businesses and organizations.




SEO Writing Strategies for Graphic-Oriented Sites

Written by Karon Thackston


Continued from page 1

4. Go Belowrepparttar Fold - Copy can always be placed “belowrepparttar 104982 fold.” This term is used to describerepparttar 104983 section of your index page that is not visible whenrepparttar 104984 page first loads. In order to see it,repparttar 104985 visitor would have to scroll vertically. If you’ve designed your index page to be fully visible without scrolling, consider usingrepparttar 104986 space belowrepparttar 104987 design to insert your copy.

5. Userepparttar 104988 Sidebar - If your site design uses a sidebar forrepparttar 104989 navigation links, userepparttar 104990 empty space for short bits of copy. Evenrepparttar 104991 statement “Order ________ Now” will give you one more instance of keyword placement.

6. Create Bulleted Lists - Many people don’t perceive lists as copy. For this reason, you can use bulleted lists (or numbered lists) where traditional “sentence” copy wouldn’t work. Tip: Instead of creating a list that reads:

We meet all your ____ needs by:

·offeringrepparttar 104992 lowest price. ·providing first-rate service. ·shipping your order in just 24 hours.

Create a list that reads like this:

At ABC Company, we offer you:

·the lowest price on ______. ·first-rate service. Ask us any questions you have about ____. ·shipping of your _____ in just 24 hours.

Seerepparttar 104993 difference? More keywords inrepparttar 104994 same amount of copy.

If you use a little creativity, you can get enough keyword saturation in your copy without it cluttering up your site. This is sure to please bothrepparttar 104995 search engines and your site visitors.



Copy not getting results? Let Karon write targeted, SEO copy for you. Visit her site at http://www.marketingwords.com, or learn to write your own copy at http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Karon’s free ezine at http://www.marketingwords.com/ezine.html




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