Daily Biz Solutions

Building a business reputation is easy when you know. The first step towards this goal is to have a long hard look at yourself and start building your own self esteem.

Think about the code of conduct by which you want to lead your own life. Write it down and try and observe it as much as possible. Do not live life by other peoples’ ideals. It is far easier and better to live by your own. Be true to yourself.

Greed might work better in the here and now but in the long run honesty will definitely pay off and make you happier.

As your self esteem grows, this will start to have an impact on everything you do and in all your relationships.

Once you think you have built a good reputation with yourself then you can start looking at ways to build your business reputation:

1) Never be the cheapest – better to offer the best service.
2) Always deliver on time – if you can not deliver on time say so as soon as you know.
3) Live up to your marketing material – don’t make claims that you can not keep.
4) Pay your suppliers on time and if you can not, negotiate longer payment terms.
5) Look after your staff and they will look after you.
6) Be brutally honest even if it costs you money.
7) Admit your mistakes when things go wrong.
8) Do not overextend yourself – learn to say no.
9) Speak less but speak with more authority.
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One of the newest aspects of running a successful business involves “online reputation management.” While most entrepreneurs and managers understand why it is important to create an official Web site, some don’t realize that their online reputation may already precede them. Have you Googled your company’s name lately? If not, then what you find could be distressing.

 

When people consider becoming your customer, they will often conduct an online search to find out more about your company. A few bad reviews on sites like Yelp, Yahoo! Local or YellowPages.com could really harm a small business. After all, content from all of those sites can rank very highly in search engine results… perhaps even higher than your company’s Web site!

 

Unfortunately, most companies don’t mobilize an online reputation strategy until after something goes terribly wrong. Even if you run a very tight ship, the occasional disgruntled customer who could do a lot of damage in a short time. Even if 100 percent of your customers are satisfied, a past employee or a bitter competitor could launch an online attack. I’ve heard stories from people who say their manager would purposely leave bad reviews of competitors on sites like Yelp and Yahoo! Local.

 

Below are three steps to maintaining a positive online image:

1. Observe –

Since your online reputation can affect your bottom line, it is very prudent to monitor any negative comments about your company that show up in top search engine results. An easy way to keep track of newly published content about your company is by using Google Alerts. With this handy tool, you can enter any search terms you want, such as “Bob’s Roofing Company” and you will receive an email every time something new is published online with those keywords.

 

2. Participate –

By participating with Internet culture, you can be responsible for many of the top search engine results concerning your company. With an official Web site, company blog and professional profile on Web 2.0 sites like LinkedIn, you can directly foster a positive online image of your company.

 

3. Defend –

If someone you know personally is saying terrible things about your company online, it would be wise to contact this party directly and try to resolve the issue. Likewise, you can make a case for yourself in a more public forum. The popular site Ripoff Report, for example, allows business owners to make a rebuttal against complaints.

There are instances, however, when simple measures cannot take care of the character assassination you are experiencing. Some companies actually look to professionals to take care of the situation. Yes, in our digital age, we now have online reputation specialists. Companies like ReputationDefender have made a sizable profit from handling such cases. Mind you, no such company can guarantee this negative content goes away… at least, not forever.

 

Hopefully, you will never be on the receiving end of online harassment or a large amount of negative attention. By following the steps above and developing your own online reputation strategy, you should be able to contain any problems before they irreparably damage your business.

 

This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on the topic of job descriptions. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my business, I am constantly redefining myself, my services and my products in order to stay ahead of or at least keep up with the ever changing industry of marketing. If I don’t bring fresh new ideas and material to my clients and contacts on an ongoing basis, then someone else will.

To stay at the forefront, I spend a significant amount of my time working “on” my business, not just “in” it. That means, instead of always consulting with clients, I lock myself up with my computer and write up my ideas, products, figure out how to market them, get them on my website or decide how to offer them to my clients.
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Small businesses can always use an extra infusion of cash. Here are four ways to find money for your company you might not have thought of.

Franchising

You can franchise your business to raise capital. You are selling the rights to use your business, name, practices, and methods. You basically are selling a clone of your business and the method to reproduce your success. In exchange, you receive a cash payment up front which can range from a few thousand dollars to substantial amounts of money. You may receive an on-going percentage of the franchisee’s revenues.

Every kind and type of business has been franchised. If you want to see a wide variety of examples, Entrepreneur Magazine has an annual issue devoted to the top 1000 franchises.

You can retain control of how the franchisee operates, how and what they advertise, and their product quality. You can even mandate what suppliers the franchisees must purchase from.

Franchisees get a proven method of doing business.

Franchising must be done with the advice of an attorney experienced in franchise law.

Licensing

Licensing is less complicated than franchising. It is primarily selling the rights of either a product or a business name. Fashion designers often license their name to a company that has a product that doesn’t compete but would benefit by the association with the designer. The company sells more product, the designer receives a percentage of those sales. The major sports leagues generate billions of dollars annually from sales of licensed products with their logos.

You can also license an individual product. You can sell exclusive rights to a geographic area or industry or the rights can be nonexclusive. You can demand a minimum level of sales to maintain the licensing agreement. Your payment can be in a lump sum, a sum of money now and a percentage of sales throughout the time period of the agreement, or just a percentage of sales.
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In everyday life survival of the fittest is still applied, in the financial world you need to keep fit to survive, not only physically fit but mentally fit as well.

Japan and China are two of the worlds economic forces, there is a word called “Kaizen” in their vocabulary which means improve. The idea of kaizen has been a like a flesh in Chinese and Japanese people.

Kaizen is an idea about continually improving day by day, even a little and small improvement is very important to ensure that one is continually moving forward everyday. Japan is located in the center of earth quake zone, surrounded by mountain which is not suitable for agriculture and economic activity, in 100% of the land only 30% is flat and in that 30%, 20% for agriculture activity and 10% for economic activity, trust me  it’s not the best place to live. With all that hardship, the Japanese have emerged as a developing country with a class of their own. All thanks to the idea of kaizen.
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