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Tips on Improving Your Business Sales

No matter what industry you find yourself in, there are probably multiple ways that you can improve on what you’re doing. Many companies have a hard time figuring out how to improve sales numbers without spending a ton of extra money to get the job done. If you are interested in improving your business sales, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

sales promotion girl — Image by nSeika / Flickr

1. Motivate the Sales Staff

If you want to be able to improve your sales, one of the best things that you can do is make sure your sales staff is motivated. When your staff is motivated, they’ll be much more likely to produce numbers. One of the best ways to motivate sales staff is to make sure that they are fairly compensated for the sale that they bring in. Come up with a compensation plan that rewards sales and extra effort. If your sales staff doesn’t think that your compensation plan is fair, they won’t be willing to go out of their way to get sales. Besides offering a better compensation plan, you should also consider offering some other incentives along the way. For example, recognizing your top performers were giving them some type of a prize for making the most sales can go a long way toward motivating them.

2. Get Your Marketing Efforts in Line

One of the biggest mistakes that many businesses make is that they allocate too much money to the wrong types of marketing avenues. You will probably need to spend a big chunk of your money on advertising, but you need to make sure that you’re putting your money into the right channels. For example, if you are throwing money away on a television advertising campaign that doesn’t work, it might be in your best interest to try to advertise online with pay-per-click ads or banner ads. Track your marketing efforts to make sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck regardless of which channel you choose.

3. Get Pricing and Promotion Right

As part of the marketing mix, every business has to focus on pricing and promotion. If you have your products at the right price point, this will go a long way toward helping you increase your sales. In some cases, you may have your product overpriced just slightly, which can drive business to one of your competitors. In addition to making sure that you have the right price, you also need to offer the right promotions. For example, you may want to offer a coupon discount or advertise a sale periodically.

Once you implement some of these strategies, you should be able to improve your company’s sales over time. Tweak the different variables involved until you have a strategy that works.

About the Author: This guest post is contributed by Debra Johnson, blogger and editor of Liveinnanny.com. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: – jdebra84 @ gmail.com.

8 Ways to Determine Whether Your Business Future is Bright

Throughout the lives of our career, we must make several choices that can directly determine and impact our future success. Sometimes it’s pretty easy to tell when we’ve made the right choice, but many other results from decisions we’ve made are less clear. How do we know when our choices are effectively leading us down the path to future success? Having the foresight to weigh all options, and the resources to be properly informed is key to making a strong success prediction. Find out how you can improve your chances for success by staying on the right path with these tips.

1. Recognition

Recognition from your boss or management, and even from co-workers, is important for many reasons. It keeps you feeling good and motivated, but also lets you know that you’ve done a good job. Strong recognition from peers is a pretty good indicator for a success prediction, letting you know that whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it right.

2. Motivation

So long as you can stay motivated and excited about the work you do, you’ll likely be able to perform your job responsibilities effectively and successfully. We all have lapses in motivation from time to time, but so long as these lapses are only short and temporary, you’ll be able to feel accomplished and fulfilled.

3. You Are Well Organized

Strong organizational skills are a common cliché skill listed on many resumes, but how many of us really possess such a skill. If you can stay focused and organized throughout the day, on a daily basis, then you’ll be well on your way to improving your chances for success. Staying organized helps you improve your productivity and keep things running smoothly, also serving to reduce stress.

4. You Possess Expertise or a Special Skill

If you can establish yourself as an expert on a particular subject, or can excel in a skill or trade that sets you apart from others, then you’ll be able to better improve your chances for success. Your work or knowledge will be valued and sought out, and you’ll be an asset to your team or company.

5. How Do Others View You?

This is a different aspect than simply receiving recognition for the work you’ve done. Do your co-workers respect you? Do they see you as a team player? Are you a good communicator? Do they perceive you as someone deserving of recognition, or simply singled out as the bosses pet? Perception may not always paint the most accurate picture of you, as everyone sees things a little differently. But the more positive perception other possess of you, the more you can use that as a gauge for your success prediction.

6. Do You Make Rash Decisions, Or Analyze Choices Carefully?

As stated previously, there will be any decisions you will face along the path to success, and making the right choices will directly impact your future. If feasible, you should always take the time to analyze both the short-term and long-term effects of any decision you make. Taking the time to think things through and make an informed decision will help to improve your analytical skills, which is beneficial for both yourself and your company.

7. What Have Your Accomplished?

This should be an obvious clue, but many often overlook it, thinking they are doing well when in actuality they are pretty much staying in place. You can’t be successful without accomplishing anything. What projects have you completed? Have you gotten any promotions? Are you acquiring new skills? Anything that can be seen as a betterment to yourself, your skills, or your body of work can be seen as a suitable accomplishment.

8. Are You Using Your Talents?

It’s no good having a great skill set if you don’t get the option to use it often. Make good use of your skills, whether they apply to a particular trade, or if they are a reputable quality such as being a good communicator, salesman, or team leader. Using your skills well, will only serve to improve your talents as you gain more experience, subsequently improving your chances for future success.

About the Author: Jennifer Carter writes on career advancement for Outbounding.com. In her spare time she’s quite handy and is currently working on the 40 hour hazwoper training from Etraintoday.com

Your Viable Service: Maximum vs Minimum

The way in which you market yourself is obviously an integral part of your business. You can’t rely on jobs just falling into your lap of their own accord, you need to go out there and pull them in. There are plenty of different techniques and styles of marketing, but there is an underlying choice you have to make first before bombarding the world with your amazing adverts and website. This is all based on the viable services you are able to offer. Do you want to stick to one specific part of your field, or do you want to be able to offer as much as you’re able to do. Let’s look and the advantages and disadvantages of both.

wedding photography niche — Wedding photography – an example of minimum viable service. Image by Mike Baird / Flickr

Offering a minimum viable service can easily be summed up by a photographer who chooses solely to do wedding photography. Essentially, rather than being a something (copywriter, filmmaker, composer) you are a type of something (product copywriter, documentary maker, film music composer).

One of the benefits of this is that you’ll find it much easier to build a portfolio. If you’re concentrating on one field then you don’t need to show a wide range of examples. Get a few jobs and your portfolio will already be looking great. It is a lot more focused too. Prospective clients will be able to get a much clearer picture of your style and vision this way.

You’ll also find it much, much easier to market yourself. Your website and adverts will concentrate on the one thing you offer and that means you can target your marketing much more efficiently. Rather than advertising across a broad selection of sites and publications, you can now just pick out the ones that are relevant.

Of course, there are some downsides. First up is actually deciding on the specific service you want to offer. If it isn’t something you’ve thought about, it may take some time to really decide. There is also a bit of trial and error in this too as you try out services which just don’t work for you. Time is valuable and you can end up wasting a lot of time trying to figure out what you want to do.

Once you have decided on what you’ll offer, prepare yourself for letting jobs that you can do pass by. You might see an advert on Gumtree for something you know you could do really well, but as soon as you show your client a portfolio concentrating on something else, they’ll be put off and consider you unfocused. On top of that, taking on other types of jobs defeats the whole point of offering a minimum viable service.

On the other side of the coin you could decide to other a wide range of services. This means, for example, that as a photographer you will make yourself available for any kind of job you can do, be it band, sport, nature or press photography.

One advantage is quite obvious. Advertising yourself as a photographer with wide-ranging skills means you have a bigger pool of clients to attract. This should mean more business for you and the ability to build up a very varied portfolio. Another little positive is that you might be able to get those more niche or obscure jobs that appear from time to time. The people advertising these jobs are likely to more interested in someone who has a varied skill set.

There’s a phrase that is quite relevant to this. “Jack of all trades, but master of none.” Simply put, some people will want a specialist for their job. To them, this is paramount, no matter how good your portfolio is. They don’t want to take any risk so they want the person they hire to be a safe bet. They won’t see you as a photographer, so much as an ‘all-round photographer’ which, unfortunately, just doesn’t sound good.

Have a good think about how you want to approach your marketing. Both ways have their pros and cons and it is simply down to your preference. Choose wisely!

About the Author: Joshua Danton Boyd is an in-house copywriter for the online accounting firm Crunch. He also regularly contributes to Freelance Advisor and Urban Times.

3 Ways Taxes Could Change for Small Businesses in 2013

The big problem for small businesses planning for tax changes in 2013 is that almost everyone doesn’t really know what will happen until January 2013. Congress and the President struck a budget deal in 2012 that essentially imposed spending cuts and tax hikes that take effect in 2013 if they can’t come to a better deal legislatively. In addition, the tax cuts from President George W. Bush also expire in January. So for many, if nothing is done, 2013 represents a major set of tax changes, including impacts on small businesses.

Sole Proprietors and Schedule C

Many micro-businesses and small businesses are owned by one person and the related taxes are declared as a Schedule C business on the owner’s personal income tax returns. That in turn causes the businesses net taxable income to become part of the owner’s personal, taxable income.

The Bush era tax cuts, mentioned above, were time-limited, but they created significant savings for personal tax return filers. This included lower tax brackets on personal income as well adjustments of the alternative minimum tax to avoid its dreaded hit on the average income earner. So just by doing nothing, Congress and the President in 2013 can essentially allow a tax increase on personal income, jumping from 35% to 39.6% on income earners over $200,000 and $250,000 if married. For those owning a business, it’s very likely that they would be hit by this tax increase, especially given the partisan positions in Washington D.C. at the end of 2012.

Foreign Account Impacts

Given the flexibility of the Internet, many small businesses are doing and earning from business overseas. For some, such business activity can involve using and working with foreign financial institutions and setting up bank accounts overseas. 2013 will authorize a 2014 implementation of new tax rules on deposits made, transferring funds out of the U.S. Funds transferred will be subject to a painful withholding amount of 30% unless involved businesses provide all the required tax identification information and location of overseas accounts on tax returns. This allows the IRS to collect all applicable taxes on income earned by U.S. taxpayers, even if earned overseas.

Deduction Changes

Many small businesses take advantage of Section 179 asset deductions, which essentially allow a business to write off certain asset purchases in total in one tax year rather than depreciating the cost over five years or longer. The limit on this deduction option is $139,000. However, in 2013 this powerful and useful small business tax savings will be serious limited. First off, computer software won’t be an allowable asset expense anymore. Second, the maximum allowable deduction of Section 179 assets will be capped at a far lower amount of $25,000. For any small business relying on these deductions to purchase valuable equipment, tools, assets and more, this change represents a serious loss on tax returns. As a result, if there is anything to buy for a business, many small companies should be making those purchases in 2012 before the end of the year.

In Summary

Many will advise businesses should continue to make their decisions as needed, regardless of tax rule changes. If a business’ profit margin is so thin that the above tax changes create losses, that business needs to change how it pursues revenues and sales quickly or it will be facing bankruptcy fairly soon. That said, the above changes will reduce profit margins regardless, hitting small businesses in their own unique way. So here’s hoping Congress actually tries to get along for a change before January 2013; everybody’s taxes depend on it.

Walt Douglas is a corporate accountant and guest author at Best Accounting Schools, a site with guides and resources to help prospective students review top-rated online accounting degree programs.

Nightlife Do’s and Don’ts for the Travelling Businessman

Your business trip isn’t a vacation, but that doesn’t mean it has to be all work and no play. What are you going to do when your business meeting is over and your flight isn’t until the morning? Check out the nightlife, of course. But beware – you’re still on company time, so remember these do’s and don’ts.

Business Man Typing on Computer
Photo Credit: charlottepurdy

DO Go Out with the People You Know

You’re on a business trip – whether you’re attending a meeting or a conference, your primary objective is to do business. It doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun, but if you go out on the town alone, you could miss a good opportunity to continue networking or close the deal. It’s always more fun, anyway, to go out with a friend rather than try to make a new one.

DON’T Overdo It

You should enjoy your night, but you shouldn’t go crazy. You’re on a business trip, not personal, and anything you do will reflect on your company or determine your networking success. Don’t drink too much or do any other risky behavior. You might embarrass yourself, and if you get in trouble, your boss will be the one you’ll have to call to bail you out.DO Relax and Have Fun

DO Relax and Have Fun

Staying in your hotel room working is probably the worst thing you can do on your business trip. It’s a trip, after all, so get out there and have a good time. Drink a little, dance a little, and mingle. You’ve been working hard, and you deserve it.

DON’T Hook Up

It’s an unfortunate fact that sometimes businessmen cheat on their wives while they’re away. Meeting a random person in a far-away city means little likelihood of word getting back home, so it seems like a good chance. But don’t do it – you never know who that random person you meet out really is or what the ramifications could be (no pun intended).

DO Check Out the Local Scene

One of the benefits of going on business trips is that you get to visit a lot of new cities and towns across the country (or even the world, you lucky son of a gun). Don’t waste an opportunity to check out the local scene and attractions. Have dinner at the best restaurant in town; visit the hottest nightclub; find a swanky little lounge with a jazz band playing. Whatever you do, get a taste of the atmosphere – the nightlife is always unique wherever you go.

DON’T Run Up Your Company Tab

Another perk of business trips – they’re all paid for by your company. You can probably use the company credit card to take your colleagues out to dinner, for example, and you can probably get away with using it for a few drinks while you’re out on the town. But don’t spend too much – now isn’t the time to buy ten bottles of Dom in the VIP section. You may be having fun then, but when you get home, your boss will probably dispute your need for quite so much champagne.

About the Author: Jared Grant is a writer and travel agent who works with luxury Bahamas resorts. He loves to write about travel and all the various things to do while on business trips.