Psychology of the Purchase

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The psychology in making a purchase is both simple and complex. It’s simple, because each element of the psychology is easy to understand. However, actually using it in real life and business can be pretty complex.

The most important elements behind the buying psychology?
Emotions and logic.

Buy on Emotions, Justify It with Logic

Does anyone buy a Mercedes because it logically makes sense? No – they buy a Mercedes because of the way they believe they’ll feel when they are driving the car. [Read more...]

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What Are Those Funny Looking Boxy Symbol Pictures?

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If you live or work in the city, you’ve probably been seeing QR codes for awhile (in rural areas like me? not so much…YET).

These are scan-able bar codes, similar to the ones the grocery store uses to ring up your purchases, except you can access them on your smartphone. They can be used as a click-to-call (or click-to-text) function, give the back-story on a product, display a virtual business card, send you to a specific web page, even generate a mobile coupon for your business.

They can be printed on price tags, posters and brochures, business cards, table tents and menus, signs, the applications aren’t unlimited, but you can get pretty creative with them.
[Read more...]

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Managing Your Online Reputation

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You know how it works: if a customer absolutely adores you, and if it’s convenient, they will leave a positive review for you…. somewhere.

But when customers aren’t happy – for whatever reason – it seems as though they will climb mountains and jump through whatever hoops necessary to make sure everyone knows what a creep you are.

The Internet, and social networks in particular, have created a new generation of amateur reviewers and critics. The web gives equal voice to a wide variety of opinions that range from pleasant appreciation to wild attacks and prejudiced comments from disgruntled customers, former employees, and competitors.

Read the rest here

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Still Think Facebook Won’t Help Your Biz?

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Undoubtedly, Facebook has made huge strides (leaps and bounds, rather than steps) in the past year. There are so many new features, you couldn’t possibly even use them all.

This article in Web Pro News outlines, month by month, just what Facebook accomplished in 2010.

Here is a taste:

Remembering What Facebook Has Done Since the Beginning of 2010

Why 2010 Has Been the Year of Facebook

2010 has been a huge year for Facebook – arguably the company’s biggest yet. CEO Mark Zuckerberg was named Person of the Year by Time magazine, a Hollywood movie about the founding of the company was released in theaters, and attracted a great deal of critical buzz. The company launched the “open graph”, possibly the most important feature the company has ever implemented, as it connects nearly the entire web to Facebook itself. Then there was the messaging product, the privacy fiascoes, and much more.
[Read more...]

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Making Persuasive Presentations for Your Business

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If you learn to be a good speaker and are able to persuade your audience through speech, then you will be in a good position to close deals and sell your services or goods. Which obviously leads to improved profits and an expanding business.

With the help of Persuasive Presentations for Business and the insights of an experienced top speaker, you learn the secrets of how to deliver a persuasive speech. [Read more...]

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The Small Biz Start-Up Kit

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A Step-by-Step Legal Guide

The Small Business Start-Up Kit gives you answers to most any question you might have about starting up a business. It’s a very practical guide on small business start-ups with lots of common sense information.

It steers you through the pros and cons of finding the right legal structure for your business, to choosing a winning business name to finding the right business location. It then moves onto topics such as business plans, marketing, finances, taxes, how to achieve good market presence online, bookkeeping, social media, and any other important topics relevant to being self-employed.

The enclosed DVD is also a great help, containing useful spreadsheets, such as Cash Flow Projection, Break-Even Analysis, Profit/Loss Forecast. These can easily be downloaded onto your computer for future use.

The book also includes helpful tear-out forms, such as Partnership Agreements, which again might prove helpful when starting up a business.

The Small Business Start-Up Kit is, in my opinion, a very useful and in-depth business start-up guide. It’s written in straight-forward and common sense language, which makes it easy to “read and do.” This kit is highly recommended for anyone starting up a business or even considering it.

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Small Business Help: Top 25 Websites

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With the large amount of information and resources available on the internet it can be quite a challenge for entrepreneurs and small business owners to find the small business help they need.

From deciding whether to start a business, setting up or acquiring a business, raising capital, acquiring credit, marketing, social media marketing, working with customers, growing your business, working online, selling online, and much more it’s vital to have access to resources you can depend on.

Below are my top 25 all time favorite websites that provide small business owners the much needed support, news, information, resources, and tools to succeed in business today.

1) AllBusiness.com

AllBusiness.com has a variety of small business resources, advice, and business ideas for entrepreneurs and small businesses to start, manage, finance, and build a business.

2) Bplans.com

Bplans.com offers free sample business plans, business plan software, business calculators, and articles on writing a business plan, starting a business, and other small business topics.

3) Business.com

Business.com provides an extensive and helpful business search engine and business directory designed to help its users find the companies, products, services, and information they need to make the right business decisions.

4) Business.gov

Business.gov helps small businesses understand their legal requirements and locate government services from federal, state, and local agencies.

5) Businesscreditblogger.com

Businesscreditblogger.com has been the go-to source for business credit information, providing expert information about building business credit, business credit scoring, business credit reporting and business credit cards.

6) Copyblogger.com

Copyblogger.com is an invaluable source for business owners wanting to learn more about how to attract more traffic, links, and subscribers for their company website.

7) Credit.com

Credit.com covers all aspects of personal credit and includes free interactive tools and unbiased product comparisons.

8 ) Entrepreneur.com

Entrepreneur.com offers a comprehensive range of practical information for small business owners including articles, videos, tools, newsletters, and message boards.

9) EntreWorld.org

Entreworld.org is a collection of resources for entrepreneurs designed to support and help build entrepreneurial economies. The content on the site focuses on starting, growing, and locating support for your business.

10) Franchise.com

Franchise.com serves the franchise community by serving both as a unique search tool for locating the right business for sale and a franchise industry resource that offers franchise information, franchise industry news, and resources.

11) Frannet.com

Frannet.com provides an overview of franchising and provides helpful advice and guidance to determine if you are suited to being a franchise owner.

12) Inc.com

Inc.com is the online version of the magazine Inc. It provides information, products, services, and online tools for entrepreneurs.

13) IRS.gov/businesses/small/index.html

The IRS Small Business Resource site covers a broad range of tax resources for entrepreneurs and small business owners including workshops, forms, and publications.

14) Knowthis.com

Knowthis.com is a leading information and resource website in marketing, market research, advertising, selling, promotion, and other marketing-related areas.

15) MoreBusiness.com

MoreBusiness.com is filled with sample business plans, marketing plans, templates, sample contracts and business agreements to help entrepreneurs start and grow a small business.

16) Mashable.com

Mashable.com is the top source for news in social and digital media, technology, and web culture. The business section offers tips, tools, social media resources, and guides you will find extremely helpful.

17) SBA.gov

SBA.gov is run by the U.S. government and it is dedicated to helping small business owners by giving a wide range of sources for technical, managerial, and financial help and assistance.

18) Score.org

The SCORE Association is a nonprofit and resource partner with the SBA. It offers a wealth of free online and face-to-face business counseling, mentoring, and training for startups or for existing businesses hoping to grow.

19) Smallbiztrends.com

Smallbiztrends.com is an award-winning online publication for small business owners and entrepreneurs. A great source to track, explore, and learn from trends affecting the small business market.

20) Socialmediatoday.com

Socialmediatoday.com helps teach business owners how to leverage the power of social media with insightful information, tools, tips, and strategies.

21) Startupnation.com

Startupnation.com is a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs with easy-to-follow, practical information to start and grow a successful business.

22) Toolkit.com

Toolkit.com offers more than 5,000 pages of free cost-cutting tips, step-by-step checklists, real-life case studies, startup advice, and business templates to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

23) Vfinance.com

Vfinance.com is a great site for business owners searching for sources of venture capital. It provides a directory of venture capital firms and angel investor networks as well as sample business plan templates.

24) WelcomeBusinessUSA.com

WelcomeBusinessUSA.com has an alliance with SCORE and is created exclusively for small businesses that are in their initial stages of development. A great resource if you’re thinking about starting a business.

25) Youngentrepreneur.com

Youngentrepreneur.com is one of the largest online forum communities for entrepreneurs worldwide. Learn and network with business professionals including venture capitalists, private investors, industry experts, inventors, and successful entrepreneurs.

By utilizing these invaluable resources you can be assured that your business can obtain the help it needs in order to thrive in today’s marketplace.

By Marco Carbajo
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Marco Carbajo is founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. Looking for help in acquiring credit for your startup or existing business? Claim Marco’s popular free business credit seminar ($597 Value), available at: => startbusinesscredit.com. Follow Marco on Twitter @MarcoCarbajo and read more of his insights on businesscreditblogger.com.

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No More Problems Remembering Passwords

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Especially in this age of Social Networking, if you’re using the Internet very much at all, it means logging in and out of forums, membership sites, networking platforms like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, banking institutions, bill pay services… the list goes on and on.

For some people, using the same password for all their accounts is the answer. That would make your life easier, BUT…

If you ever got hacked, the thief would also have easy access to all your accounts. Not so fun.

Here is another, safer, and more practical, answer.

A nifty little piece of software known as RoboForm.

And it doesn’t just remember your passwords, it will actually fill out and submit your forms for you. Very cool. And I don’t know about you, but it does this much quicker than I can type.

Here’s another bonus – RoboForm will automatically generate those weird secure passwords for you, if you want.

Try RoboForm for FREE:

Free Download - Roboform Password Manager

I liked it so much that I opted for the paid version. So now I have Roboform installed on my office computer, along with the portable version on my little USB memory stick (if I’m on a client’s computer, I still have all my passwords AND my files available to me).

But if the trial version works for your needs, you get to use it as long as you want.

Download Free Version of RoboForm.

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