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How to Create a Google Plus Page for Your Small Business

by Shawn Hessinger

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Just like Facebook and Twitter, Google+ offers you the opportunity to create a business page to promote your business, organization or a specific product you have in mind. The Google Plus community is growing in numbers and you can take advantage of a Google Plus page to get your business to a wider audience.

I want to take you through the process of creating a Google Plus page for your business or organization. Just like Facebook, you will need a personal profile on Google Plus to get started. If you don’t have one yet, sign up and create a personal Google Plus profile first. You can only create that business page once your profile has been created.

If you have a Google Plus personal profile, follow these steps to create a new Google Plus business page.

How to Create a Google Plus Page

Pick a Category for Your Business

1. Visit Create a business page on Google Plus (or follow “All Your Google Plus Pages” in the pull down under your profile photo) and hit “create a page.” Pick a category for your business. Pick the right category that perfectly describes your business or organization. You can choose from local business or place; product or brand; company, institution or organization; arts, entertainment or sports and other if the specific choices mentioned do not apply to your business.

2. Depending on the main category you select, you will be presented with subcategories that go into greater detail describing what you do. For example, if you selected “local business or place” you would first be asked to provide the country where your business is located and then a primary telephone number. If you selected product or brand, subcategories will include “antiques and collectibles,” “apparel and accessories,” “appliances” etc. Select your subcategory and click next.

Add Basic Information

3. If you have successfully selected the best category for your business, you can then add basic information for your brand, product or business page at the add info page.

Begin by choosing a name for your page and a link to an external website, if you have one.

It’s not a requirement to enter a link to your website but a website with detailed information about what you do can significantly improve the image of your business or product.

Then select the kind of Google Plus user your content is appropriate for. For example, your content may be appropriate for “any Google Plus user,” “users 18 and older,” “users 21 and older” or content that is “alcohol related.”

The final step on the add info page is to check the “I agree to the Pages Terms and I am authorized to create this page.” Take some time to really check out the Google plus page terms to see their notes on Authority, Access, Content, Data, Contests and Suspension & Termination. Once you take note of the terms of use, click “continue” to customize your page.

Begin Customization

4. Begin customizing your Google Plus by adding a cover and profile photo. Click on the icon in the default profile picture and add a profile picture. Select a profile picture from your computer or photos you have already uploaded on your personal profile. Google allows you to select from images on Picasa if you already have a Picasa account and your preferred image is hosted on the photo sharing service.

5. Use the same procedure to change the cover picture. Cover pictures are larger than profile pictures. If you have an image of your product, company or brand that can promote and enhance your business, the cover photo works best for that purpose.

6. Under story, add the ten words that best describe your business. Choose carefully. This will be your business’s tagline, at least for Google Plus users. Your tagline must be consistent with other taglines you have used for branding purposes on other sites. Finally fill in your contact information including phone, mobile, email, fax, pager, chat and address. Hit “finish” to complete the customization of your page.

7. When you complete the basic information, you can begin using your administration dashboard to manage your new Google Plus page. You can use the “About” section of the dashboard to fill in any additional information about your page and begin building your network.

Under People, you will be able to determine how Google Plus users see your business page. For example, you can group your page fans (once you have them) under customers, following, team members, VIPs. You can also see who has added your new business page to their circles and then follow them back to their pages and follow them in return.

Edit your Story to add an introduction to your page. You should complete the introduction with a description of your business and what you do. Keep in mind important keywords related to your business. You can still make changes to your contact information if you like. You can also add links to other pages that interest you or that are related to your business. Finally, you can add links to your other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Start Sharing Content

8. Once your Google Plus business page is ready, you can start posting to your page by sharing links, photos and videos just like you do on your personal Google Plus profile or Facebook page. Make your posts interactive and engaging by adding photos, videos or links. And you can share your posts with people in different circles.

To make it easy for your fans to interact and engage on your page, Google has provided navigation tabs just below your Google Plus business page name: About, Posts, Photos, Videos and Reviews. All the tabs are shown to visitors so be sure to upload content to give visitors information and updates when they visit your Google Plus page.

9. If you want to find out who has added your page to their Circles, on the left sidebar click “Circles” under “More.” On the display screen, you can drag your fans into one or more of the four default circles and you can also create your own circle.

To interact and engage with your fans, follow their posts, comment on their status messages, and +1 their updates using your page profile. Share relevant information your fans will find most useful. Do not just promote your products, educate your fans as well.

10. Use your Google Plus page to add data to your Google Local Plus page. If you get these two pages confused, you’re not alone. Google Local Plus expert Mike Blumenthal explained to Small Business Trends recently:

One of the issues is that most businesses do not understand that their listing at Google is a search result. And that Google gives the business the privilege of adding some trusted data to that listing from either the Places Dashboard or from Google Plus.

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve your Google Plus business page? What have been your experiences with Google Plus for business thus far?

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/06/create-a-google-plus-page.html

Build and increase your Google Plus business presence! Know your target audience and grow your business online.

www.strategizeandorganize.com

www.annemcgurty.com

303-881-0174 Colorado/New Mexico 480-442-2014  Arizona

Strategize And Organize Your Business On Social Media With Anne

Social Media For Business

Share your brand with millions of social media users around the world. Small businesses all over the world have proven success optimizing social media. They invest on marketing and the ROI (Return of investment) is incredibly awesome. However, in order to understand and be able to succeed on getting your business on the virtual world there are a lot of things to consider and be familiar of. And Every business is unique and thus the approach should also be unique. 


Social media will increase your online presence which helps you find new customers, expand your audience and gather leads. One example and very important feature of Facebook is their insight for your page and content. When you posted something and as soon as you refresh the page you will see how many reach and clicks you've got. When you explore more of the insight, you will then see the gender, age, location, language, etc of the engage audience. Using this feature helps you see what content for your business is engaging, what content is not working and what kind of audience are of interest. You can also start reaching out to your new likers or followers by inviting them to see more of what your brand could offer. 


You are also allowed to choose which target audience you would like to reach for your business.
Social media is such an easy way to learn more about your audience. The key to success for every small and large businesses is going with what the people like or need to read, see or use. In the virtual world you can get an instant feedback if your brand seem to interest them by liking, commenting and sharing your post. Whether it is negative or positive as long as there is an interaction your business seem to be relevant but be sure to work and improve on the negatives!


Also as long as you are online and the potential customer has questions to asked, you can then exchange messages in real time which brings you more chance of getting more leads for your business.


When you just started building your social media account for your business the secret incredient is to ask your friends to like, interact or share your post. For others this might seem awkward but this is really effective and really works for starters. You and your customers can share content easier and faster. 


Building a social media account is free but with the overwhelming information around, you could be lost from time to time, one wrong move can give negative impact on your business. And infact investing on social media marketing for your online business is much cheaper compared to traditional marketing. 


Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest will automatically generate similar business for your brand. You can monitor the competitors, their strategic approach, therefore you can improve or create an offer that is somehow unique and an offer that is missing with your competitors.


Using social media helps you build more traffic to your website. The more share, mentions, comments you get, chances are you'll get high ranking on google search engine.


Should you have an account on every platform? Yes but not necessarily. We at Strategize and Organize strongly believed that no matter what type of business you are in, you should have an account for each social media and at the same time we will help you focus on each platform one at a time.


Businesses worldwide are going virtual, social media success rate are increasing from small businesses to large corporations!


Why do we suggest to have your business on every social media platform? Well it’s better to get started than to get lost and left out on the virtual world and no matter what it will increase your social presence and connections.


Strategize and Organize your business on social with Anne. Get started with all of the social networks Facebook Twitter Google+ Instagram Pinterest. We can help you figure out which social network will work best with your business.


Social media for business is a very powerful tool to promote your brand and get in touch with your customers.


Build and increase your social media presence! Know your target audience and grow your business online.

www.strategizeandorganize.com

www.annemcgurty.com

303-881-0174 Colorado/New Mexico 480-442-2014  Arizona

Strategize And Organize Your Business On Social Media With Anne

Executive Spends Six Weeks Per Year Retrieving Or Replacing Lost Documents

Paper Tiger Top 10 Tips

Did you know that the average executive spends six weeks per year retrieving or replacing lost documents?  Naturally, it makes sense to create a system that is quick and easy so you can save that lost time.  Here are some ideas to get it done now once you have The Paper Tiger.  If you don’t have The Paper Tiger now,download this link to get started.  Here are the top ten tips I recommend:    

    1.   Look at the “hot spot of files”.  You know the pile that seems the most urgent and makes your stomach churn every time you look at it.  Take the paperwork and make a decision on each piece and separate into four piles:

• Reference, those items you need, just not right now
• Action, current projects, ongoing projects
• Toss, you know where those are going
• Timed, you need these on a specific date.

    2.  When deciding on whether to file something or throw it away, ask yourself if how difficult would it be to find this information again?  Does it have any legal or financial ramifications if you were to throw it away?  If you can live with the answer of throwing it away after those thoughts, let it go.

    3.  Set up the Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management, an indexing system that works like a search engine for paper files to help you get organized and stay organized.  It’s essentially creating an inventory for all of your files.

    4.  Use names that you will be able to recall easily. The obvious file names that you’ve used in the past.  Then the interesting thing is with The Paper Tiger is that will also be able to add keywords into the database so that any name you think of when you need to find a file, the software will be able to tell you where it is in seconds. So in the case of “Auto” the Item Name would be “Ford Explorer”, and in the keywords section, you would input the name of the company, i.e., “Vehicle, Car”, possible the name of the dealer, the service person’s name, etc., and you might use “Personal” in the Category section.

    5.  Oftentimes, people receive notices of an event and they never know what to do with the postcard. Set up a monthly filing system (a Tickler File) to keep track of when to throw them away.  Create 12 hanging file folders, one for each month.  As you rsvp or pull the information for “dress code” or directions. When the day rolls around, you can retrieve it for a reminder. This will ensure that you never miss an event or an expiration date on an rsvp or offer.

    6.  When sorting through paperwork make a decision. If you’re not in a decision-making mood, have a place set up for “unprocessed paperwork”.  Then when you’re ready, if you need to take action, do it now or place it in the appropriate action file.  If someone else needs to attend to it, give it to them.  If it is something to reference later on, add it to a reference file and place it there. Putting it back in the pile to address later is no longer an option for you as an organized person.

    7.  When you have a lot of tasks to do for the day, quickly sort the tasks in order of importance.  Do what is most profitable or important to you first, then move on from there.  Therefore, if you only have a little bit of time you will be addressing the most critical issues first.  All other tasks need to be scheduled for the when it makes sense.  This final step is critical otherwise you’ll be starting a new pile.

    8.  Print out reports of what you have inventoried in your filing system, place a folder in the front of each door labeled “File Index”.  Having a quick and easy reference when you don’t want to open your computer makes it easier to find quickly.

    9.  Get into a maintenance habit of printing out a report of all of your files, quarterly or no less often than annually, and identify what you no longer need and purge or create steps to archive via off site store or scanning.  

  10.  Finally, create a time management habit.  Take 10-15 minutes every morning looking at your priorities, including your Actions within your Paper Tiger system and pulling files from your Tickler File.  Do the same thing each evening by placing all documents collected through the day back into your systems.

Congratulations on your progress, if you haven’t done it yet.  Set up your Paper Tiger system now and get started.  As you go throughout your day, keep in mind the task at hand and focus on completing that one task.  Remember that “things don’t clutter, people clutter”.  When we make simple decisions and take action, we can improve the quality of our life at work and at home.

Anne McGurty

www.StrategizeAndOrganize.com

480-442-2014 – Arizona

303-881-0174 – Colorado/New Mexico

Anne McGurty is CEO of Strategize & Organize, a company devoted to training individuals to be more effective with the tools and resources to be productive in their work environment.

If you liked these tips, Anne is a dynamic strategist.  She can help you organize your business — and yourself — ranging from consulting to keynote speaking and corporate training programs to improve efficiencies in the workplace and improve productivity.

While Anne is best known for her expertise in productivity and expert office organizing, her clients share that her biggest impact comes from her philosophy of “personalizing her programs to fit the needs of her clients so they can streamline more efficiently with existing processes” – ensuring to create a sustainable work environment. This, Anne says, is the most important key to bringing an individual to personal freedom with time and organization.

You can learn more about Anne and her services, programs, and products for small businesses and to book her as a speaker or trainer, visitwww.StrategizeAndOrganize.com.

For residential organizing services, please visit www.ResidentialOrganizing.com.


Twitter: @StratOrg for business, @organiz for residential, @AnneMcGurty for personal  

www.StrategizeAndOrganize.com

303-881-0174  Colorado/New Mexico 480-442-2014  Arizona

Social Media Phoenix in Albuquerque

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Why Do People Procrastinate?

Procrastination is a habit that does not go away easily. As an executive coach, I recommend to my clients to use technology to help make tasks easier. Although, even as the technology in our world today continues to advance with rapid speed, it only prompts us to become more laidback in our lifestyle letting others do the job for us.

Procrastination is the most expensive invisible cost in business today. A recent study of 10,000 U.S. employees polled, revealed that the average worker self-admitted to wasting 2.09 hours each day on non-job-related activities. Considering the average salaried employee makes $39,795, that means procrastination costs employers $10,396 per year – per employee.

It is extremely common for us to put off doing something simply because we are too lazy to do so. However, procrastination goes beyond that. It is a habitual and intentional act to delay doing or completing their responsibilities, and over time, can have severe negative impact on the person’s life. Their overall well-being suffers as well, as feelings of guilt, inadequacy, stress and depression may kick in.

Why do people procrastinate then? More often than not, people procrastinate not because they are lazy. There are many causes and reasons for procrastination, and below we shall identify a few of the more common ones. By understanding the reason and the emotions behind your procrastination, you can then go about getting rid of this bad habit.

Perfectionism

Some people have unrealistically high standards and expectations, and this causes them to procrastinate as they feel that they do not have the skills and abilities that are needed to complete it satisfactorily. They are afraid of attempting it, and not doing it perfectly, hence they make excuses that they need to acquire more knowledge before they can attempt it. The best way to break out of this cycle is to tell yourself that you can do it, and the task is easier than what you think it is. Or perhaps, you need to speak to your superior to draw up accurate and realistic level of expectations.

 Anger

This occurs when you find yourself avoiding the task, or simply refusing to complete it. The cause of this could be an argument with your superior, or your teacher or project team. The feelings of anger and resentment against them can translate into an unwillingness to do what they have assigned you to. Another common reason for procrastination could be the anger felt at having the task forced upon you, when you are either unwilling or uninterested in it, and have expressed so and been ignored. This would cause feelings of resentment and result in avoidance.  As a business coach, it's important to recognize that if the anger isn't eventually dealt with responsibly, it can be a major block to business and personal growth.

Negative Thinking

This one personally exhausts me!  When I hear someone start a sentence with "The problem with me (referring to themselves)" or refers to "see what I have to deal with all the time", I absolutely cringe and think, here we go with a victim mentality.  These people who constantly harbor thoughts that they are not good enough, or that they always fail, and are probably just lacking common sense and incapable. This kind of negative thinking makes it difficult for them to attempt projects, especially important ones as they feel so inadequate that they should not even be doing a task of this magnitude or importance. The root cause of this form of thinking could be previous failures, or abrasive and abusive comments from people around them, causing them to be labelled with their own inadequacies and perceived shortcomings.

Hence, there are many different reasons why people tend to procrastinate, and this is a bad habit that many people are guilty of. There is a difference between being momentarily lazy, and procrastinating as a habit. By identifying the reason for your procrastination, you will be able to eliminate it and finally get your work done on time.

Anne McGurty is CEO and Founder of Strategize and Organize, Inc. Productivity Expert and Problem Solver and author of the Amazon published "Lost in Your Own Office: Tips for Getting Organized." For more information, visit www.AnneMcGurty.com.


Source:
www.AnneMcGurty.com
480-442-2014
303-881-0174 mobile
amcgurty@gmail.com
Lost in Your Own Office; Anne McGurty, 2010-2015; Amazon.

3 Reasons to Keep Your Day Job

Watching people and their habits is something that I've done for years. Growing up on the east coast, visiting New York City, my parents owning a hotel, all were tremendous opportunities for me be curious about people's habits. As a business consultant today, I use those natural observation skills to identify problems that affect people's personal productivity. Lack of productivity often transfers to lost business opportunities, translating to losing money. Time management is always a hot topic. I hear people say all too often, I don't have time. I want to meet with you but we're too busy. When things settle down, we'll sit down and figure out what to do next. And I think in my mind, well when is the right time? NOW! The time is going to pass whether you do something or not. Stop right now and list out your priorities. Know what your long term goal is? Don't know what your long term goal is, let's take a look at why?

Why? What is your why. Why are you doing the things that you are doing? Are you you busy going to work everyday so you can have enough money to retire? so you have enough money to go on vacation? so you can have all the nice trappings of the latest gadgets and household comforts. None of these reasons are bad, they all motivate you probably to get up each morning. But do you have a plan to how to enjoy what you are working for. let's take a look at each of these possibilities.

Retirement:   You work hard so you can retire. Great! So have you met with a financial planner to know what you need financially to retire?  Ignorance and denial keep too many people sticking their head in the sand every day not wanting to deal with the reality of what they really need to retire. Put on your big girl panties, so to speak, and sit down with a financial planner to know how you can have investments, and products that will help you retire in comfort. I started my career with Merrill Lynch on Wall Street, and I learned some wise investment strategies -- unfortunately not all did I put into place.  Looking back now I have tremendous insight to help friends and clients today.  You may also find out that this will inspire you to get a better job, pursue some more business certifications or go back to school so you can earn more. There's also the opportunity to develop a entrepreneurial business for a some residual income. I encourage you to think outside the box to create hope and security.

Vacation: Does this just sound like a dream, something other people do? Do you just end up visiting family or staying home because your annual time off has come up and you had nothing planned. Or if you're an entrepreneur or business owner, are you thinking you 're too busy to leave or too broke to go anywhere. Sounds kind of pathetic doesn't it. Working so hard, that you can't enjoy what is supposed to be a vacation. Make an intention. I moved to Phoenix a couple of years ago and last year, i realized that the business climate slows down in the summer for obvious reasons. So I said "next year, I will work/live somewhere cooler for the summer". Funny how it all transpired because by putting it out there, I found an opportunity to stay in a country  village in New Mexico and work virtually. Now I'm enjoying an extended vacation while maintaining my income. Wouldn't you like to take some time off and know that it enhanced your life and rejuvenated your energy.

Materialism:  I'm not going to judge anyone for being materialistic.  I enjoy nice things too.  I've had the drive for the Gucci shoes, the Louis Vuitton handbags, and driving the latest Mercedes Benz.  The problem is, you don't want to be a slave to your work or job for the materialism.  Again, it's like working with the financial planner, work with an accountability partner, or someone like me a business coach, to help you plan out what you want your life to look like.  What provides the comforts to support your hard work.  I see clients randomly purchasing items, then repurchasing them because they either didn't know they had them or they were too distracted to take the time to understand or appreciate what they had, so they would just push their purchases aside.  They would continue the cycle because they had the money or credit available and would "crash" wondering why they felt overwhelmed, frustrated, or came home to clutter.

Wishing you the best as you keep showing up each day.  Should you want to improve the quality of your life at work and at home, call me NOW at 303-881-0174 or visit my website at www.annemcgurty.com to schedule a FREE 20 minute strategy session.

Anne McGurty, Your Productivity Partner
Project Manager and Small Business Consultant
www.AnneMcGurty.com  Mobile: 303-881-0174

What Slows You Down More? Multitasking or Marijuana?

Did you know that #multitasking hurts your IQ more than marijuana? #ProductivityCoach #BusinessOrganizer Strategize and...

Posted by Strategize and Organize on Tuesday, May 26, 2015

How many emails are in your inbox?

Source: www.annemcgurty.com 480-442-2014

The Key to Making Your Day More Productive

Organize to Find Essential Information (Paper or Electronic Files)

As a business consultant, I see that more and more people are keeping less paper each year, but we still have paper files that are important to keep in hard copy format. Not only is it important to keep these paper files, but just as important is the ability to retrieve them when you need them.

Organize important documents

Do you need to get it together?

Following is a list of documents that we all most likely have someplace in your own home or office, (some more relevant than others), but can we get a hold of them when we need them? And in most cases when we need them, we need to find them quickly. It can be incredibly nerve-racking when these items can’t be found easily. There may be others, but this list will get you started in ‘getting it together’.

• Certificates and/or licenses:
• Birth
• Marriage
• Educational
• Religious
• Death certificates of family members
• Citizenship document (i.e.: Social Security card)
• Divorce decree document
• Estate documents
• Last Will and Testament
• Trust/Living Trust
• Living Will or Advanced Medical Directive
• Durable Power of Attorney for Finances
• Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
• Funeral information
• Passport
• Insurance
• Health
• Life
• Homeowner’s or Renter’s
• Auto
• Other (worker’s comp, person, family, circumstance-specific)
• Titles
• Property/Real Estate
• Auto

A few of these items you may choose to keep in a safe deposit box, so establish which items those will be. Scan a copy and store on your hard drive or upload to the cloud for easy access, ie. Google Drive, and the original can then be placed in the safe deposit box or other designated safe place.  When creating the file of the electronic copy, tag the location of the original.

For all other documents, index them into Paper Tiger. The Location name in your Paper Tiger database might be “Family Docs”. You can file them in any order you wish, then type the Item Names and keywords into your Paper Tiger database. The Item Number in the database will coincide with the hanging file folder number in your desk or file cabinet drawer.

Just a quick story about a client to show you how easy it can be to allow important documents to get scattered. Before I started using Paper Tiger, she thought she was reasonably organized at home. Her husband and she  kept titles and financial documents in our desk drawer. All other documents were kept in a file cabinet. When they moved, the big desk we used in our previous home was placed in the basement office where her husband would now work. Those same documents were still there, but now some of the newer important documents found a new home in a file box that was more convenient for her to file into upstairs. When she needed to find a car title, she thought, ‘is it still in the desk downstairs?’ or ‘did she put it in the file box?’ Needless to say, getting all those important documents together, and documented into Paper Tiger’s database is now a priority. Instead of a 10 minute exercise of going through the upstairs file box, then downstairs to search in the desk drawer, she can now conduct a quick search in Paper Tiger and be able to put her fingers on it in about 5 seconds!

Be organized to find important documents

Retrieval is the Goal!


Another advantage of indexing your files into Paper Tiger is that you don’t have to be the only one that knows where everything is. Anyone that you give access to your Paper Tiger database will be able to retrieve what is needed in seconds. Finding files that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger will no longer be a scramble to search all over your home or office, but will be as easy as typing in a search keyword in Paper Tiger’s search box, and the results will lead you directly to the file where it is stored.Paper Tiger

Source:
www.ThePaperTiger.com
www.annemcgurty.com
480-442-2014

Three Fundamentals for Organizing a Home Office

I often talk to people and they say they know they need to get their office organized, yet very few people take the time out to strategize and organize their office.  These simple three things you absolutely have to possess for organizing your office.  This simple office strategy will help you get started.  You're a busy executive and highly productive, your office at home needs to reflect what you have at your office -- no excuses.

As with almost all other areas of spatial arrangement, organizing a home office does not need a good deal of new items so much as it necessitates time to go over what you have and decide on what you want to do with it. As a business consultant, I tell my clients "don't buy anything before we talk."  It often saves them from making mistakes.  You can get started with a couple of items that you actually have to get in any home office

1. A filing system is one of those things. It could be a crate under your desk with a couple of file folders or it could be a full 4 or 8 drawer filing arrangement. The total you must keep depends on your position and on your private tastes. But either method, you do want some primary files and someplace to store them so that you may set your hands on them when wanted. Figure out what documents you must hold onto and see a path to sort out them that makes sense for you.

2. An action folder is a different thing you want when organizing an office filing system. This tip is a game changer for many of my business coaching clients.  You may have it a file folder, a box, a basket or anything else you desire. The genuine trick is to just make certain that you make one. This action folder, box, whatever, should receive all of the items which you must fulfill on in the next 30 days and they ought to be organized in rank of main concern with the ones you must fulfill on firstly at the topmost.   

3. A method to coordinate your indispensable office supplies is a different one of the staples. (No pun intended!)  You want some basic office supplies and a way for preparing them in your office so that you could get the things complete which you need to do speedily and expeditiously. Get a list of every office supply that you necessitate on a ordinary basis in your office. Then make certain that those things have a place in your house office and that everyone in the household realize that these things need to be remaining in the house office area of your home. They might be utilized by other people of your house but they must remain in the your office place while utilized and need to be returned to where they belong after they are done being applied. Making this as a rule in your household keeps you from having to search for these items when you necessitate them.  You would expect the same from your colleagues at work, so having the same rule at your home office naturally makes sense.

Source:

www.annemcgurty.com

480-442-2014

Are you an Internet Entrepreneur? Then You Probably Need Some Tips to Manage Your Cash Flow

As an internet entrepreneur, you are managing a business that requires you to manage your cash flow. Managing your cash flow is an important task and not to be neglected. It will aid your business to soar to greater heights or fall from grace.

Weigh the Opportunity Cost

During the first few month or even years, your start-up or internet business will be generating little to no profit. You would most likely be working for free, being the owner of your business. Most start-up or internet entrepreneurs will be faced with the same problem, tight cash flow. Naturally, most people will tend to save cost by selecting the cheapest offerings or product. It is not wrong to select the cheapest but I would recommend you to weigh the opportunity cost of the spending. There are some task and projects which are suitable for cost reduction and some not so appropriate.

Quoting an example: If your company is promoting high end software for sale, in a bid to save cost you signed up low priced hosting that makes your site loads slowly and crashes many times in a month. Before even trying your product or look at the pricing, your clients would most probably not have much confidence in your product.

As a business consultant, it is my recommendation that you ensure the decisions made be inline with your company goal and objective

Planning ahead

You do not have to be an accountant or finance person to manage your cash flow well. It is all about planning ahead, it does not matter how well or bad you are currently doing, sometimes it makes a huge difference if you are able to pull through the difficult time by hanging in there and just be in operation before the next big break comes along. Therefore, managing your finances well is very important. Plan ahead by generating a report on when and how much funds are coming in and which period to take note of when cash flow are low.

Back-up Funds

Some companies do not keep track of their finances and they tend to stretch their finances to the maximum.  A business coach can help you be accountable.  A company generating negative cash flow could risk the chance of getting into liquidation. It is always good to have back-up funds ready so when there is a essential need for the  funds, you would be prepared. With strong cash flow, you would be able to carry out your expansion plan smoothly. Or during any difficult period, these back-up funds might just be your life boat.

I hope the above pointers mentioned will help you better in managing your cash flow. With a healthy cash flow and sound financial decision you should be able to manage your company well.

Source:
www.annemcgurty.com
480-442-2014

If You Forget About Your Customers, They'll Forget About You!

Have you ever wondered how are you going to keep up with it all?  How can you run your business, have stellar customer service and still be innovative?  Last week, I had the great opportunity to attend the Infusionsoft Annual Conference #ICON15 in Phoenix.

Thanks to Infusionsoft's new partnership with  eliances, I had the chance to receive a valuable ticket.  I had tons of notes, pages in fact and I'll share with you some of the key takeaways for me.

How do You Fascinate?

I have been a DiSC(R) facilitator for years and have used these profiles with my clients to identify their communication style.  That has been a great foundation and now I have a new tool that I learned from Sally Hogshead.  This tool will help you find even more focused key words to help you with your marketing and even a job search.  If you would like a free sample of this report, through April 30, 2015, add a comment to this post.  I learned that the three adjectives that best describe me are 1. Precise, 2. Sharp, and 3. Under-the-Radar.  As a business consultant, I think that was a great summary.

Automate, Automate, and Automate

Considering automation is the underlying core competency of Infusionsoft, you have to assume that you will learn about automation.  By attending Ryan Deiss' workshop, I got the nuggets of what to do to keep my relationships through newsletters automated with what to say and when.  That may seem a little calloused as I'm writing to my audience now, but let's face it, I do want to keep in touch with you because when you think about needing a business coach, accountability or business consulting, I do want to be top of mind with you.  With automation, I can get those processes in place to keep in touch and be spot on focused when we work together.  

Facebook for Business

Hooray for Krupa Patel.  Like me, she grew up in a family owned business.  Growing up in a day when social media was simply attending the Chamber of Commerce meeting, I related to her stories.  I was also thrilled to know how she used Facebook for Business was spot on for how I coach my clients to use Facebook and other social media platforms like Google Plus.  Make sure you have a personal profile as well as a business page if you want to use Facebook for your business.  The goal of social media is to educate your audience. If you want to sell on social media, do spend the money to boost your posts.  Personally, I'm a little guilty of being a little salesy - it's a process.  Think before you post.  I've been coached to think, will what I tell my audience save them money, make them more money and is it interesting or something they didn't know.  (That's thanks to my friend David Green, author of The Invisible Hand.)

Business today is more personal than ever, so every relationship takes more nurturing,  I know that I have over 6,000 people in my database so that's a lot of conversations and faces and businesses to remember.  Keeping in touch with everyone does need to have an automated system in place, with understanding my personality strengths, I can be focused in my conversations and with social media we can tune in on what's going on personally and professionally.

Thanks for being part of my community. 

Files and Paper: To find it, file it There is a place for everything.

Today, the average executive spends six weeks per year retrieving misplaced information. Disorganization is costing companies millions of dollars every year. Productivity experts tend to group people into two categories: pilers and filers. Which are you?

When filers get a piece of paper, they put it away––in a folder, in a binder, or in a drawer. When pilers get paper, they leave it out––on the desk, on a credenza, or on the floor. Sometimes it can look messy, which is why pilers tend to get a bad rep. But a healthy distribution of clutter actually can be good for creativity. For many people, those piles are a physical representation of what’s going on in their heads, a ment
al map of whatever they’re thinking about.

You may think that filers are the more organized of the two. Most people do. But are filers more productive? Not necessarily. Studies show that 80 percent of papers that are filed are never referenced again. And half of all filed materials are either duplicates or expired information.

Files
What’s going on here? Here are some keys on how to get organized with your paper files so you can check out of your office each day.

File as it comes in
File as you go or once a day. If you are absolutely too busy, put items in the “To File” tray and file once a week. Hire someone to help you file!

Set daily priorities
Make forty-three files:  Thirty-one files (one for each day of the month), plus
Twelve files (one for each month of the year)
File papers into the day you will need them. No more harried moments looking for tickets or invitations at the last minute!

Label trays
Use stackable file trays (bins, boxes). Put each item in its labeled slot. Make eight file trays.

1. In tray
Use for:
• Papers to review
• Coupons and discount offers
• Professional journals (one tray per title)    
• Action: Current projects (or require frequent attention)
• Reference: Less frequent use (if the office space is small, put in another room)
• Fire safe: Legal documents, warranties (put each in a plastic sheet protector)

2. Out tray
Use for outgoing mail.

3. To file
Keep it out of reach, not where you sit.

4. To scan
Put papers here to store on your computer hard drive.

5. To recycle
Remember the three R’s––reduce, reuse, recycle. Follow these steps to keep paper out of landfills and reduce pollution.
Paper in an office really adds up! And, recycling can pay (e.g., electronics, such as phones, screen monitors, and computers).

6. To donate
Keep track of business write-offs for your taxes (e.g., furniture, donations, pro-bono work,  equipment).

7. To shred
Protect your identity and confidential data.

8. Trash!  Throw away materials immediately that are not eco-friendly, recyclable, or confidential directly into a trash can.

Use a file cabinet
Box-bottom file folders
Use these when you have a large amount of content for a file or multiple manila folders within a file. Don’t overstuff.

Tab-hanging file folders
Put these in the front of your hanging file folder. This position makes it easier to pull a file.

Product manuals and warranties
Put these in a three-ring binder or box. Use top-loaded plastic sheet protectors when possible.

Inventory or create a table of contents of what is in the binder or box.  Tape the table of contents or inventory list to the front of the binder or box, or use a binder with an insert cover page.

Retain files and keep updated
Cull your files regularly. Know when it is time to throw something out. No more haphazard decisions. Write a list of which files you want to keep for future reference.

Mark favorite websites
Organize favorite websites by category or project in your computer hard drive (like a filing system).

Paper
If 15 percent of all paper handled is lost and 40 percent of U.S. workers think paper is a waste of their time, what’s going on here? Systems in place to manage your flow of paper can reduce the frustration of finding what you need when you need it.  Another benefit is that you will have clarity of what information you really need.

Here are some keys to managing your paper flow and information management.

Clear your work space
Clear it. Sometimes, you just need a fresh start. A clean desk can clear your mind.

Sort the mail
Sort it when it arrives. Put it in its designated container: in tray, out tray, file, scan, recycle, donate, shred, trash.

Minimize paper volume
Keep it at a minimum. Continually ask yourself, “What will happen if I do not keep this?” When it is old enough, throw it away or recycle it.

Organize great offers
Organize to take advantage of them.
Toss them when they are past their offer deadlines.

Sort magazines and journals
Cancel the ones you never get around to reading.
Have a deadline for how long you keep them (e.g., six months, not more than a year).
If they are for research, box, label, and store them in another room.

Recycle your unread collection.

Sign up for “do not mail” lists
Feeling inundated with junk mail? Forty-four percent of mail goes to the landfill unopened, yet we still spend eight months of our lives dealing with it all. More than one hundred billion pieces of junk mail are delivered each year—that’s more than eight hundred pieces per household. In fact, junk mail in the United States accounts for one-third of all the mail delivered in the world. It’s not just cluttering our homes and wasting our time, junk mail also destroys our environment.

Register on the national databases to eliminate unwanted junk mail. Although it is not a 100 percent guarantee, your paper volume will significantly reduce (www.donotmail.org/take-action).

Make a daily “to do” list
Use whatever method works for you.
Create one. Use it every day.
Using your computer saves paper.
Use it whenever feasible.
Keeping paper lists means constant rewriting.

Organize books
Keep frequently used materials at your desk (e.g., dictionary, trade magazines, and reference books).
Keep periodic references in your immediate work space.
Keep occasional reference materials in a second room.
Keep long-term references in storage (the back room).

Whether you’re a piler or a filer, my message is the same: unless you can see the status of all your projects at a glance, you’re probably not as productive as you think. And that means you’re working harder and longer than you need to. Studies show that 90 percent of office documents are merely shuffled from one pile to another. Ninety percent. What’s going on here?

When you have the right key, the right system, for managing your files, physical and electronic, and for getting control of your day, physical and emotional clutter disappears. And when it does, it becomes much easier to manage your time and energy.

Source:
www.annemcgurty.com
480-442-2014
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Squeezed into a corner? Maximize whatever space you have.

Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us.” How true, not just for hotels but for our offices as well.

Studies have found that the physical space in which we work affects satisfaction, productivity, and even learning. Yet few of us take time to strategize and organize our workplaces or our homes.

Imagine an office where you show up every day and feel excited each day to get started because your desk is inviting you to sit down. Your chair is ergonomically correct, you have all the latest technology, and you have comfortable seats for your guests. When your office is right, you will feel comfortable and energized. When you check into your office each morning, you will have the right keys for being organized.

Here are a few keys and a few simple steps, ranging from the right work-space system to ergonomic-friendly products that can help businesses boost employee productivity and ease.

Be ergonomically correct
Keep a massage ball handy to free your hands from stress. People performing repetitive activities on a keyboard or an adding machine can injure their hands. A stress ball will help you exercise your hands in new ways, rather than just typing.

Arrange your office room in such a way as to maintain appropriate air circulation. Position yourself away from air conditioning vents that push air right on top of you.

Position your computer monitor twenty-four to thirty-seven inches away from you with the screen at or below eye level to reduce strain on your neck and shoulders.

If you are on the phone a lot, use a headset or a quality speakerphone so that you can listen and write notes at the same time.


Create an at-home work-space 
Designate a spot in your home to do your business and money activities such as Internet research, writing thank-you notes, managing your schedule, and paying bills.

Always do work activities in that space and only that space.  Then you’ll always know where everything is.

Arrange your main office
Arrange your office furniture for maximum use of the space.
Create a specific location for specific things, such as client files, supplies, books, calendar, briefcase, and appointment book.
Place your most frequently accessed files nearest your work desk.
Place peripherals and hardware where you can reach them without crossing the room.
Secure cables off the floor. Label them, so you always know what they are and to which equipment they connect.

Work anywhere
Wherever you are, keep your works flowing.

Create a portable office 
Have an “on the go” system ready to roll whenever and wherever you go. Even at a moment’s notice, you can always have your schedule, work plan, and appointments list handy—in the car or however you travel.

Get set up for mobility
Keep your critical information at hand by using a PDA (personal digital assistant). These devices have become mainstream and have the functionality of a computer but are compact enough to throw in a briefcase, handbag, or pocket (e.g., iPhone, SmartPhone). This mobility can also be done with a laptop, which can be set up so you can work offline on your email, and once you hook up to the Internet it will synch, send, and reconcile your email.

Through Microsoft Outlook, you can synchronize your task list, calendar, and address book to your home computer using Microsoft Exchange.   However, assess your true needs before you purchase. Keep it simple.

Use the same organizing methods
Wherever you work—at the office or at home—consistency simplifies your thought process.  Use the same system.

Unclutter your brain. Let organizing do the work for you…so you do not have to try to remember what you were doing or where you put something.

An inefficient work-space is seldom life threatening, but it still hurts us on the job. Studies show that each year 1.8 million workers develop injuries related to ergonomic factors.

That translates into an annual productivity cost of more than $60 billion. The personal cost is even greater. A messy office hampers our job performance, robs us of our confidence, and prevents us from spending valuable time with our family and friends.

In 1982, there was a criminology theory called “broken windows theory.” The theory was about the effects of urban disorder and vandalism on crime and anti-social behavior. You know—park a car in a nice neighborhood and chances are no one will hurt it. Throw a brick through the windshield, however, and the car is likely to be vandalized. That’s the broken window theory. And that’s also the power of image and respect.

What about your workplace? What message are you sending out about your office? That you’re competent and efficient? Or that you’re disorganized and out of control?

Source:
www.annemcgurty.com
480-442-2014
Lost In Your Own Office:  Tips for Getting Organized