When you build your own business the number one factor that can ruin your business plans is quite simply hiring the wrong person.  The list of flaws is endless.  People can be lazy, they might not care, they might not be as good at something as they claimed to be, they might just love to waste time.  The big problem is, when you are a young company you simply cannot afford to pay someone who won’t do the job right.

It took me a while to figure this out, and even longer to figure out how to solve the problem.  However the solution did come to me, and it came by accident.  

When I first set up my company I needed someone to perform all the day to day admin, it was part time, moderate pay, and boring work.  This seemed to be reflected by the quality of job applicants I received. The first employee seemed good on paper, but I quickly found out that he was using my time to run his own ebay drop shipping business. My second employee seemed to think that staring into space for hours on end constituted work. As for the third… Well his browsing habits definitely were NOT related to his job role.

Then a friend called me, he had left the army and for the last three years had been using his GI Bill benefits to attend Pennsylvania Strayer University Online as part of a business course. I had never wanted to risk work and friends before, but I have to admit, by this point, I was desperate.  I brought him on board, and I was amazed.  His military training had given him a great work ethic, with perfect organization, time management and discipline.  

Furthermore, after using his GI Bill benefits to pursue higher education, he now had plenty of business knowhow, which did more than just help with administration, it improved my company’s processes and workflow.

After this absolute hiring success I found another military veteran looking for work, I made sure that he had used their GI Bill benefits (Which I think shows drive). I had one more fantastic employee!

Now I am not saying that all veterans make great employees.  There is a risk that they may have psychological issues after being in battle (PTSD and similar disorders are common). However if someone has successfully used their benefits to complete higher education, this reduces the risk that a potential employee might cause problems.

Remember that the military is not just the infantry too.  Look at the jobs potential employees had during military service!

You might easily find a person who has experience in a role that could have huge benefits for your business.

If you have a business you know how important it is to keep one step ahead of the competition.  In this fast paced world in which we live not keeping up your competitors can mean the difference between seeing soaring profits and having to put a “for sale” sign on your front lawn.  In this particular article I would like to offer you some tips in which you can keep ahead of the competition.

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Embrace social media is probably the most important tip that I can offer to you at this stage of the game.  Social media sites are those that help people get and stay connected.  Examples are facebook, twitter and Google circles.  The reason that you need to have a presence in these types of sites is that people often use them to search for products and then in turn recommend them to their friends.  If you have a facebook page for example your customers can link to it and say that they “like” it and recommend it to their friends.  If your webpage happens to go “viral” as they call it you can make a small fortune overnight.

Twitter is a fascinating application that you might want to really start focusing on.  If you happen to have a mobile catering service for example, twitter has quickly become one of the greatest tools in your arsenal.  As you are driving up to a certain location you can send out a simple “tweet” and let people know where you are.  In turn, your customers can leave their desks or shops and come to see you.  No longer do they have to fret by waiting outside as you are stuck in traffic.  Real time information…this is the new game when it comes to the world in which we live.

Get yourself a company website and a good webmaster to maintain it.  Enough said.  Just look at the webmaster job description…he will help put the site up and make sure that everything runs smoothly.  You need to focus on building your business, not the nuts and bolts of the technical aspects of maintaining a website.

There is no need to feel overwhelmed as we enter into a brave new era of technology.  Things are moving at a rapid pace for sure, but if you keep a steady pace to keep your business ahead of the game you will surely succeed.

Sports tickets are still the best gift that you can give CEOs and the Vice Presidents. All the better if you attend the game with them. It’s truly a chance to relax and get to know the gang. It’s face time that’s hard to buy. It also shows them that you have the money to spend on expensive outings. All the better if you can fly them in a private jet -say to the Masters in Agusta.

Sports outings are also a fantastic way to ingratiate your way into the favor of a potential clients top dogs. Find out what the poshest golf course is in your area and set up a foursome. Grab a great tee time and show your influence with the golf pro.

Not everyone is a sports fan or not every person on the staff rates that kind of treatment. In that case take them out to a great dinner and symphony after. It’s good to show that you’ve got some culture and know your way around a black tie event.

I also think it’s a good idea to give high-quality office decor. I love figurines that have to do with the profession in question. I would give a bookkeeper figurine to an accountant or a lawyer figurine to an attorney. You can find an exquisite bronze or wood figurine that has a very masculine feel to it.

Quality crystal is another fantastic corporate gift. A Waterford bowl or vase looks beautiful on an office side table. You don’t have to worry about matching a crystal pattern because both items can stand alone and look stunning. Waterford is a name brand recognized by everyone. It can also be expensive so you’ll doubly impress your gift recipient.

You will notice that most of these items are similar to the things you would need to set up for a regular business. That’s because they are. Since an online business is still a business, you should understand that whatever effort you put into a regular store will also be used for an online store. Essentially, your online store is different just in that it isn’t a physical business and that it may potentially cost less to start up. Other than that, there is really no difference to managing an internet business.

Just as with a regular business, you have to start off with a plan. Your plan will then be used to create strategic items to focus on. These will then be broken down further into a host of smaller tactical plans as you move forward. This may seem easy, but it isn’t – especially if you aren’t equipped with the right tools and concepts. It is also hard to plan ahead when you get stuck in the nitty gritty of what you are seeing at the moment, especially if things aren’t going according to plan.

Managing a business boils down to a lot of things not just skill. It also means being able to take problems along the way and be able to handle them properly. At the same time, it also means being able to carefully lay out a plan of action and follow that plan whatever happens.

Without marketing, your business will likely end up like one of the thousands of businesses online that fail each year. It doesn’t matter if you have great products or service. If you can’t get customers due to them not knowing that your business even exist, you’re going to have a tough time making money.

Marketing your business comes down to doing anything that will give your business some exposure. That could involve SEO work on your website or advertising with Google or even having a popular website mention your business. Big companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year in advertisements so that should show that marketing is vital to your business. Create a marketing plan and execute it. Test and measure your results to find what works best and then go do more of what’s working.

First lets step back and consider what a service like BMR provides for clients. Its an easier way to get a client’s website to rank well in the organic search results. Its a method that you can easily outsource link-building, and its a system that works.

Which brings me to the second question. If BMR works – why would you want an alternative? Well frankly because its always better to be a a more than one trick poney! BMR could disapear tomorrow, or it could get devalued by the search engines. That would be a disaster for many webmasters and SEO’s. But it doesn’t have to be a disaster for you.

So what alternatives are there out there for the smart SEO? Well the best option is to develop your own network of sites. This will take time, and initially will probably cost more than a monthly subscription service. But its the best way to future proof this business for both you and your clients.

So start thinking about Build My Rank alternatives – before you need t

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