When you are in the midst of creating your business’ planning forecasts, do you use Guess, Estimate, Accurate and Precise interchangably? I don’t. I believe there are very distinct differences in these words — they are not synonymous. Here’s how I see them. Guess: Pulled out of thin air. “Oh yeah, sure, no problem, easy-peazy!...
I thought so, and now there’s data to go along with my hunch. In Social Media Users Profiled on the Marketing Profs blog, something called BIGresearch gives some statistics on social media usage, including this chart showing cross usage of different social media sites. The way I read those numbers, blog posters are more likely...
I’ve posted here recently–several times–on how important web search is for startups and growing businesses. Today I found one interesting new site and received a recommendation for another longstanding good site to follow in this area. Thanks to Josh Cochrane of bplans.com for these tips: The SEO consultants at SEOmoz have a couple of catchy...
I’ve had a couple of posts in the last week or so about the importance of SEO, and particularly Google and rankings on Google. So it seems like a good idea to point out this one on Small Business Trends: SEO–Just Snake Oil? Blogger Janet Meiners Thaeler does a very good job following up on...
If you’re starting or running a small business, particularly a high-tech small business, web-related, and you don’t know this pretty well, I suggest you click and read The Importance of Google PageRank: A Guide For Small Business Executives on HubSpot’s Inbound Internet Marketing Blog. This strikes me as a quick and easy summary, going through...
The Break-even Analysis is a simple calculation that lets you determine how much you need to sell, monthly or annually, to cover your costs of doing business – your break-even point. Below this sales level, you’re taking a loss. Above it, you have a profit. Example Say you’re selling boxes of candy bars at $1...
There are so many details to managing a good Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign that many people outsource the task to those who know the systems very well. Others try to manage their website’s keyword lists, advertising copy and landing page on their own – Some do it well, others do not. It’s important to go back...
Cash flow is how much money is coming in to your business, generally sales, and how much is going out, as bills paid. Cash balance is how much money you have in your business checking account. If there is no cash in the company coffers to pay the bills, the payroll, or the taxes, you...