The list of things I’d like to do is rather long. While looking over that list, it hit me. I don’t need to focus more on all of these things. I don’t need to add more to the list. What I actually need to do is cut some things off of the list so that I can intensify my focus on just a few of those things.

On a personal level, I have two main goals:

• I’m going to finally earn my black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
• I’m going to publish an eBook.

The former has been a work in progress for quite some time, with some extenuating circumstances. The later is something I’ve started but haven’t finished.

On a business level, my goals are pretty simple. I’m going to focus more on creating products you can use to enhance your business. I’m going to write better blog posts and articles. I’m going to offer the best guest posting service possible. I’m going to do what I can to help you build your website and meet your goals.

To do those things, I have to set some sub-goals. I have to finish revamping this website – a task that will be done in the next week or two. I’ve already started. I also need to find some better small business software to organize the projects I’m working on both individually and with a team. I love the systems I’m using, and they work, but they could certainly stand to be tweaked.

I am focused and driven and I hope you’re feeling the same way about your business. What I know is that we can work together to drive ourselves forward. Here’s hoping you’ve enjoyed the holiday season with your family and friends. I wish you nothing but prosperity and success in the New Year!

Thanks!

Deborah

Amazon Gift Cards

If you aren’t sure what to get your employees and don’t want to box them into categories by getting them all the same trinket, give you Amazon Gift Cards. They’ll enjoy being able to choose their own gift and they’ll be appreciative of the gesture.

Everybody Eats

You really can’t go wrong with a food related gift. Specialty chocolates, gift certificates to local restaurants, and even a bottle of wine show that you’re thankful for your employees and appreciate their services. They can also use the food to alleviate holiday party expenses or to enjoy a quiet night out with a spouse, something they may not usually be able to do on their regular budget.

Gift Baskets

Depending on the size of your organization and your budget, you might want to send gift baskets to your employees. I once had a wonderful manager send me a fantastic can of snack goodies. It arrived at my home and was filled not only with popcorn but with packaged cookies, candies, and other food items. It was a welcome and appreciated treat. You can find and order all kinds of gift baskets, ranging from chocolates to Tastykakes – just about anything you can imagine.

Personalized Gifts

If you need to buy for a lot of people, things you can order in bulk are probably more cost effective. You can order bulk gifts with a personalized feel, though. Business card holders, customized gift cards, and personalized gift baskets with books and CDs or games can be very thoughtful – and they’re usable.

Fun and Friendly

One year, I came to work and found a small portable DVD player on my desk. My manager had purchased one for each of us (a team of 4). They were thoughtful gifts and it turned out to be something I used frequently in my home – especially after my old DVD player died. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on unique items. You do need to keep your eyes peeled for great bargains while you’re out shopping.

Go to Lunch

If you’re the manager of a small group, take your team out to lunch. Get approval to take your team offline for more than the standard lunch hour, too. They’ll appreciate being able to really relax while socializing and enjoying a meal – all without the stress of watching the clock and wondering what’s next on the online project management task list.

Take some time to think of gifts that will show how much you appreciate your employees as people – not just as team members. They’ll appreciate your consideration and you’ll have a great holiday season together.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

What does this really mean for your business? It means you need to carefully consider whether your regular website is really enough. Most carefully constructed websites are fantastic. They have a great deal of color, eye catching design, and information. The problem is that these sites don’t show as well on the small screens of mobile devices. If your site doesn’t show properly, your visitors will likely move on to one that does.

So what can you do? You don’t have to ditch your PC-ready website. You simply need to create a version of your website that has been simplified for the mobile world. You can do this yourself or a hire a professional, but the main goals are the same:

• Less graphics, more functionality
• Limited information on the page to prevent too much vertical scrolling.
• Eliminating the need for horizontal (right/left) scrolling).
• Easy touch-device buttons. Many people use touch-screens on their phones, so your links and buttons need to be large enough to touch without accidentally triggering the wrong link.

You can still use graphics and text, but most people accessing your site on the go will be looking to make a business transaction or phone call. As a matter of fact, another study showed that of the people who use their mobile devices to find your business, 61% will at least call you. Of that number, almost 60% will actually stop by your store. Even if you’re not a brick and mortar business, some studies show that up to 50% of the people who find you online while mobile will end up making a purchase. Those are staggering statistics.

The Reality of the Situation

The question is whether or not your business can survive without a mobile website. The truth is that it might, but even if it does, you won’t see nearly the same level of results, traffic, and sales as your competitors that have taken the time to build strong online presences. The costs associated with adding a mobile version of your site or even using Mobstac’s mobile site builder to the web are negligible, so there’s no reason to neglect the online world. As time passes and the statistics concerning mobile use change, you may find your business dropping off a bit.

The choice is up to you, in the end, but is avoiding a mobile site really worth the potential loss of business? Probably not.

Thank You Cards

Thank you cards are a great way to thank your clients if you have several and simply want to send a formal acknowledgment. Order some nice cards customized with your company name and logo. You can have your company name printed on the inside during production, but don’t have your name printed. Make sure you and your staff members sign your names by hand and/or write personalized notes inside each card.

Handouts for Walk-In Customers

Do you have a bunch of walk-in customers you’d like to thank? There are several unique gift ideas you could choose from. Personalized magnets with calendars are great, as your clients can stick them to a fridge or filing cabinet, ensuring your brand sticks throughout the year. Customized pens, highlighters, key chains, and other trinkets are great as well. These are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased in bulk so that you can hand them out to as many visitors as you’d like.

Food and Treat Gifts

Having once worked in insurance, I’ve also seen a wide variety of unique gifts come through. One insurance company used to send all of its agents Lennox tree ornaments. Another sent us blown glass ornaments. These were touching gifts that showed they cared and were relatively inexpensive because of the bulk nature of the purchases.

Fruit and candy baskets are also great gifts for customers, especially if they’re long-term or high-value customers. You’ll want to make sure they know you appreciate them. Traditional flower and fruit baskets are alright, but there are so many other options to choose from. Consider Tastykake gift boxes, Ghiradelli chocolate baskets, and even fruit flower arrangements with fruit, chocolate, and marshmallows. The options are virtually endless.

Finally, if you are local to some of your more valued customers, you could offer to take a few to lunch – together or at different times for each. You don’t generally have to go anywhere upscale, but a nice mid-range restaurant where you can enjoy a meal and not talk shop is often very much appreciated.

Don’t forget, your customers aren’t the only ones that help your business stay afloat. Your vendors and service providers are incredibly valuable, too. Make sure you send out some sort of tokenism showing how much you appreciate their contributions to your success.

The holiday season is a time for giving but, more importantly, it’s a time for giving thanks and showing appreciation!

Create an Ergonomic Work Station

Do you work from home? Sit at your computer all day long? If so, you need to make sure you have an ergonomic setup to protect your back, shoulders, arms, wrists, and eyes. Make sure your computer monitors are at eye level and that the settings are rather dim instead of irritatingly bright. Make sure your keyboard is positioned at an appropriate height and use a wrist-wrest to support your hands. They make smaller wrist support devices for use with the mouse as well. You’ll also want to have a comfortable, durable, and supportive computer chair. These can cost a bit of money upfront but are well worth the investment.

Stretching and Breaks

I have a small chart pinned to my wall with a series of computer and desk stretches for my neck, shoulders, and arms. I try to do these a few times a day to keep from becoming stiff and uncomfortable after hours of focusing on work. Another trick is to step away from the computer for a few minutes every hour, focusing your eyes on something further away, like the end of a hallway. This gives your eyes a chance to rest from the close-up work you’re doing.

Vision Care

Your eyes are important – you can’t work without them. While eye exams and glasses can be relatively expensive, there are plenty of great places offering affordable eye exams and deals. Places like America’s Best offer 3-year exam programs for only $99, and the program gets you discounts on contacts and glasses as well. Even if you only used the deal for exams, you could still find other great deals and coupons for eyeglasses from WarbyParker and other groups and for contacts online and in other stores. Shop around, but don’t neglect your eyesight.

Take Time Off

Freelancers tend to overwork themselves. After all, time spent not working is time you are not getting paid for. Even still, you need to schedule time away from the computer and take a break. Set standard work hours each day or week; or schedule a mini-vacation. Your work will still be there after a day away and your mental and emotional health will be better for it.

Massages, naps, baths, meditation, yoga, and even time at the gym are all other things you can do to ensure you are taken care of – day after day. Make time for yourself and you’ll never have to worry about being unable to work or care for yourself.

Survey Your Situation

If you were to retire today, how much money would you need to live comfortably? Sit down and determine how much income you’ll have from pensions (if any) and from the federal Social Security program. How much more will you need in order to meet your expense projections?

Create a Budget

No matter what type of retirement plan you ultimately create, you’ll need to add a line in your budget for retirement savings. Treat your retirement savings contributions the same way you’d treat any other savings contribution or monthly expense. Saving for retirement is not an option – it’s mandatory.

Choose a Savings Plan

Here’s where things get hairy. You’re going to need to choose a tax-deferred plan for your retirement savings. While most people are familiar with the traditional 401(k) or Roth IRA, it’s important to note that there are several other options out there and many are more appropriate for self employed individuals.

The Solo 401(k) is one of your options and includes two parts – a 401(k) and profit sharing. The limit for contributions to this plan is $49,000 annually if you are under the age of 50 and slightly higher if you are older. Of that amount, up to $16,500 can be contributed to the 401(k) portion and the remaining balance can be contributed to your profit sharing plan.

The SERP IRA plan is more flexible but does not include the profit sharing component. Your contribution to the SERP IRA plan is based on a percentage of your Schedule C earnings. This means the maximum amount you can contribute annually will fluctuate from year to year based on your income.

Keogh plans are often set up by sole proprietors, LLC members, and partnerships and is, by definition, a plan designed for businesses that are very small. The plan was created by Eugene Keogh in 1962 and has evolved greatly over the years. The government actually refers to the plan as the HR10 or as a qualified plan. Keogh plans are great for individuals who make a lot of money (like self employed dentists or lawyers) but aren’t necessarily optimal for smaller contractors because of the defined contribution limitations.

These are just a few of the options available to self employed individuals planning for retirement. Talk to your accountant about creating a retirement savings account and about the possibility of opening some other investment accounts or learning to trade stocks as well. The more you save now, the more comfortable your future will be.

Forming a Business

Have you been operating as a sole proprietor or did you already form an LLC or some other form of corporation? There are plenty of tax and legal benefits associated with the different types of formal business arrangements, but all provide more protection than remaining a sole proprietor. Talk to your accountant and lawyer about the tax and legal benefits of your different options.

Freelance or Employee?

Your next duty is to determine if you want to hire freelancers or formal part- or full-time employees. If you hire employees directly, you’ll have to worry about payroll and taxes. If you hire freelancers, you will merely have to keep track of your projects and the amounts owed and they’ll have to take care of their taxes on their own. There are advantages to each scenario – such as loyalty – but it’s ultimately up to you and your workload.

Office Space or Online?

Working for yourself is one thing, but adding an employee can be difficult since you’ll need to be in constant communication. Even though your business is conducted online, you may find it more convenient to find a small office space and hire those who are local enough to visit. If you rent a space or even share a Manhattan office rental, you’ll also have to worry about furniture, office supplies, and utility payments. If you have multiple employees, you’ll also have human resource concerns ranging from dress codes to sexual harassment. Do you have the legal knowledge and expertise to deal with these things?

If you don’t feel an office is necessary, you’ll need to learn how to incorporate scheduling functions, Skype, and file-sharing tools into your routine.

Insurance Needs

Will growing your company create insurance needs? If you hire employees directly, you’ll need workers compensation insurance as mandated by your state. If you open an office, you’ll need general liability, at a minimum, in case someone visits and gets hurt. Are you prepared for those extra expenses?

You may need help with your online business, but you have options. Whether you choose virtual assistance to permanent office staff, one thing remains true – your business is growing in the right direction.

Direct Mailing Techniques

Direct mailing techniques aren’t dead. There are plenty of people who spend a lot of time looking at flyers, circulars, postcards, and mailers. The drawback is that it can be difficult to design a mailer that will really catch someone’s eye. Keep your mailer, like a postcard, simple. Include bright colors and images and just enough text to get your point across and drive some traffic towards your website for more information.

Place Your URL Everywhere

Don’t send anything out – to anyone, anywhere – without your business URL address on it. Do you have company stationary? Your website address should be listed. Do you have business cards? Your URL should be on those, too. Pens? Magnets? Custom t-shirts? You get the point. Even your invoices should include your URL. If you have a small office location, use some brass letters to add the URL to your outdoor signage. Make yourself stand out.

Join Networking Groups

Networking groups are becoming more and more common. While the traditional group was once only hosted by a local Chamber of Commerce, many business owners are now forming their own groups, encouraging other entrepreneurs to gather, share information, and help each other out. You may find a business owner who needs your services, or you may find someone willing to swap information with his clients if you share his information with yours. May business networking groups only allow one professional per niche market, ensuring there is no direct competition.

Vehicle Decals

Vehicle magnets and decals are also an increasingly popular method for promoting your business. You can have these printed relatively inexpensively, too. A decal with your logo, name, and web address can be place in the back window of your car, more permanently. A magnet can include the same information and can be removed and stored when you’re simply at home or parked for the night. The more you are in public, the more the decals will gain exposure and generate interest.

Sponsor an Event

This may not be financially feasible for new or small businesses, but sponsoring an event can ensure your name and brand is in the public eye. Sponsoring can be a small as buying a business advertisement in a local high school playbook or as large as sponsoring your town’s little league baseball organization. The more you are able to do, the more people will be willing to throw some customer loyalty at the businesses they know support local events and groups.

Don’t discount the offline world when marketing your online business. Many people will be loyal to the brands they know an trust, whether that means going online or driving to a local store. Build solid relationships with your potential clients and make sure they remember your name. You’ll be pleased with the ultimate results.

Professional Developers Understand the Market

Developers need more than technical expertise when they’re developing apps for businesses. A good app developer knows how to judge the market to determine what type of platform to use. You will, of course, give your developer an idea of what you do and what you wish the app would offer. He will then take that information and choose the right tools and platform pieces to create an interactive app that will actually appeal to your target audience. An app is nothing if no one will ever agree to use it due to lack of originality or functionality.

Confidentiality is Key

Hiring a professional will ensure your business ideas and concepts are protected, whereas hiring someone who is creating an app as a hobby may not necessarily be best for your trade secrets. Most professional app developers will sign a NDA (non disclosure agreement) before discussing a project with you. This gives you the freedom to really share your ideas and visions without worrying about someone running off with your concepts and stealing them for another project.

Sales Rights

Hiring a professional actually does cost you less in the long run, especially when you consider the number of hours you’d have to put into learning how to develop a basic app, let alone getting it to function with the features you’d like. The other benefit is that if you plan on selling your app, you will end up with third-party rights so that you can use it to generate revenue, meaning once the developer is finished, you can do whatever you want with your app as the sole owner. While your app will likely be free if you are a service or retail-based business looking to drive visitors to your store, this added benefit can be incredibly helpful to those with online ventures.

True Customization

The simple tools you can use to create your own app are great – if you want your app to look exactly like the apps other people are using. A true professional developer is familiar with several different types of coding and will be able to create a customized application that looks nothing like anything else on the market. You’ll stand out from the crowd with an app that is unique in both function and aesthetic design, whether you’re looking for POS for restaurants from Ambur for internal use or for something to benefit your clients.

Keeping Pace with Changing Technology

Professional app developers have a tough job to do, keeping pace with the new operation platforms that are constantly being introduced for the iPhone and Android. A professional will know which platforms are the longest lasting and which will give you access to the most users, allowing him to create an app that will work for the longest time period possible. You will eventually need to upgrade your app to be compatible with newer phone versions, but what you start with should last for quite a while.

Don’t waste your time and money trying to learn how to develop an app if you have no experience or technical background. It’s less expensive and more direct to let a pro do the work for you and you’ll end up with an app you’re happy with in a very reasonable amount of time.