Many solo entrepreneurs choose to curtail their businesses growth for purpose of lifestyle. Others have visions of expansion right from start. Being only person in a business, wearing all of hats, is just a stepping stone to increased prosperity. What steps can you take if you plan to expand your business some day? Right from beginning, develop a business plan and marketing plan. Think of them as road maps to where you want to go with business and directions on how to get there. They provide foundation for future success of your business. Although it may seem like a daunting process before you start, creating snapshots of most important elements of your business is priceless.

The critical component in preparing your business to grow is to make a habit of developing documented and well organized systems. If you use same documents regularly, turn them into templates to use repeatedly. Better yet, have them turned into Microsoft Word forms you can fill out quickly on computer. Take time to write important documents like policy or privacy statements, and save a copy on your computer hard drive and a printed copy in a book. One of best ways to formalize and organize your business is to get a large 3 ring binder, buy some page protectors, and start creating a corporate book. It might seem like overkill now while you are “it,” but will be extremely useful when you bring on your first employee.

In this corporate book, you can store contract templates, forms, terms of service, government certificates such as your DBA statement - plus anything else that supports past, present and future of your business. Keep a copy of your business and marketing plan there as well.

As a copywriter, I’d love to tell you that every site on Web needs tons of copy. However, simple truth is not all do. Many sites simply produce better sales when they use more graphics than words. Since search engines are hungry for words you simply have to use copy if you plan to get ranked high. Quite a dilemma, isn’t it?

So what do you do if you’re a graphic designer, if you sell jewelry, or if you have another site that needs more pictures than copy? Don’t despair. There are some strategies that can help you reach a happy medium satisfying both your visitors and engines.

1. Use Descriptions - Place keyworded descriptions under each graphic on your pages. Just a sentence or two for each one can add up and give you enough room to achieve good keyword saturation.

2. Break Copy Into Sections - Instead of having all 250-350 words of copy in one place, break your copy into small sections. For example, place a headline and three sentences at top of page, a few words under your bottom navigation bar, and a short paragraph above your “Order Now” link. The engines will find words regardless of where on page they are, but your visitors won’t be overwhelmed by seeing all copy in one place.