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Ilya Bodner

Making Decisions

What does it take to be a good leader? You have to be able to handle big decisions. For example, does your business focus on a broad market or a narrow one? You have to be able to write a business plan and secure financing. Most businesses lack the solid, beneficial mentoring that I suggest. Keep track of your expenses and income, pay taxes and decide when it's time to buy new equipment or technology. Plan ahead for the good times and for the bad. Handle legal challenges, liability problems and insurance policies with expedience. And don’t underestimate the importance of having some kind of Human Resources (HR) function within your company: firing quick and hiring slow are two things that I recommend.READ»

Start Now, Don't Wait

Don’t wait around. Start now. Lack of inertia is the #1 killer of great ideas. According to a survey performed by Yahoo! Small Business, 66% of Americans over the age of 18 have considered starting a business, but many never take the leap. “There's a way to do it better - find it.” – Thomas EdisoREAD»

Email Spam, Online Spam, and General Conduct

E-mail spam is the most common form of internet spamming. It involves sending unsolicited commercial messages to many recipients. Unlike legitimate commercial e-mail, spam is generally sent without the explicit permission of the recipients, and frequently contains various tricks to bypass e-mail filtering. The most dedicated spammers are often those making a great deal of money, or engaged in illegal or immoral activities, such as pornography, online casinos, and internet scams.READ»

Driving Web Traffic - Common SEO Practices

What good is having a store without customers? A TV commercial with no viewers? Similarly, a website without visitors is a waste of cyberspace and money. The reality is that many businesses have ineffective website marketing that fails to deliver sufficient return for the time, effort and money spent. READ»

Web Marketing - The Strong Business Credit Way

Many companies are no longer satisfied using snail mail, faxes, radio, television, newspaper and magazine media advertising. If you are starting or own a small business and find that these media are not providing the results you want, it may be time to explore the benefits of website marketing.READ»

Internet Advertising - Keeping the Cost Down

In the past 5 years, we have seen a dramatic shift in the American media from print to online programming. With print ad sales shrinking dramatically in the last decade, the internet has seen a surge of new marketing money from all sectors of the economy. For example, in 1996, real estate agents, brokers and developers spent $755 on newspaper advertising for every home sold. This year, they are spending $605 per home. For the same period, online ad spending per home went from $14 to $148.READ»

A Glance At Payroll - Strong Business Credit

Initially, managing two or three employees may seem relatively easy. You may even be able to handle the tax aspects on your own with the right amount of research and advice. However, as your business grows, you may find it more and more difficult to manage the distribution of funds—as well as the calculations involved in taxes and other deductions—to such a degree that you may wish to invest in a new employee or even an outside service to help you manage payroll services.READ»

THE VIRTUAL LANDSCAPE

             In an age where email is indispensable and the entire world is just one click away, it might go without saying (but we’ll say it here so there’s no ...READ»

EXITING GRACEFULLY

            Sometimes the business owner would like to retire the business. Sometimes, it’s the best decision. If you are in that position, there are a few steps to follow. You ...READ»

CONTROLLING CHAOS DURING EXPANSION

            Chaos, confusion and catastrophe are what Michael Gerber of Entrepreneur Magazine calls “The Three C’s of Business Failure.” It is not uncommon for a small ...READ»

Economic Turmoil

In case you have not seen it, here's a great article that supports new business start ups in 2010 http://www.entrepreneur.com/trends/index.htmlIt's not the $700 billion bank bailout. And no, it's not the $787 billion American ...READ»

TURNING CHAOS INTO ORDER

            When it comes to running a small business effectively, nothing is ever as it seems. From the outside, it may appear that a business, large or small, is doing very well ...READ»

GIVE CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT

Finding out what customers want, and then setting out to meet their needs, provided it can be done at a profit, is what helps prevail in the marketplace. Demonstrating to customers how a product or service can satisfy their wants and ...READ»

TIME TO MARKET

            Who is willing to dedicate the time and hard work necessary to properly market your small business to the right people? There are countless books, websites and ...READ»

THE SPIRIT OF EXPANSION

            What exactly is an entrepreneur and how does it relate to small business expansion? There are many differing views on what makes someone worthy of this ...READ»

BILLABLE HOURS

            While the term “billable hours” is most commonly associated with law professions, this concept should be used by all business owners. It’s important to set the ...READ»

WORKING SMART VS. WORKING HARD

            Many people associate working long hours with working hard. As a business owner, you might pat yourself on the back after a long, hard day at work. But business owners ...READ»

PLANNING FOR THE SLOW TIMES

            It’s important to remember that all businesses have downtime. There are periods when business is slow no matter how much you advertise. Your business may be ...READ»

PRUNING TIME

            Your small business is bound to yield fruit when you keep long-term goals in mind during daily operations. In this chapter, you will find tips that will help your ...READ»

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

            Strategic Alliances are a strategy for getting what you need for your small business without necessarily incurring further debt. This happens when two or ...READ»