The key to a good FAQ page is to anticipate all of the important questions that your customers are going to have when they read the rest of your site. Don’t shy away from the tough questions either. For example, let’s say that you sell human growth hormone. People are going to have questions about the side effects of hgh. Don’t just ignore that on your site. Use the FAQ part of your website to address that question with honest information. This clears up your customer’s concerns and turns curious browsers into buyers on your site. If you don’t have a FAQ page on your website then you’re probably losing business.

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I think that you should describe your job to others as if you love it even if you don’t. This gives them a more positive image of who you are. It generates positive energy for the conversation. And you know what? It might even make you like your job more because you’ll be focusing on the things about it that you do like.

Of course, you also have to make sure that what you say is interesting to the other person. I have a friend that works for a document imaging company. She actually loves her work. She thinks it’s great that she can help people learn how to organize their documents in an eco-friendly, efficient, high-tech way. Because she explains this in laymen’s terms, she can make anyone she talks to understand her work with document management software solutions. And because she loves it, she makes you want to talk about it with her. We could all learn a lesson from her in this. I know that I have!

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The company is obviously based in Tampa. The reason that they want me to do training there is that they use a content management system in Tampa that they say is kind of complicated. They don’t want to train me over the phone or via email. They’d rather show me the whole system in person.

Once I know the system, I’ll be able to access it from anywhere. This means that I’ll still be able to work remotely away from the Tampa office. The job is going to be a full-time long-term position which is something that I’ve been looking to get for awhile. So it might be worth it to travel to Tampa to do this training. On the other hand, the travel isn’t paid for so I’d be investing my own money to get trained. What do you think – should I do it?

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An important thing to maintain during times like these is good benefits for your employees.  A lot of Americans are hurting for health care right now, and people are scared about what that means.  It’s difficult sometimes to find affordable health insurance in Florida on your own, particularly if you’re trying to buy an individual policy on your own, without a job’s benefits.  So if you take care of your employees during these tough times by being sure to always provide good Florida health insurance, your employees are more likely to value their jobs and stay with the company when times change.

Many employers assume that with the job market the way it is, they can easily replace employees that leave.  However, don’t forget that new employee training costs a lot of money — and training new employees regularly costs at least as much as providing a good benefits package for your existing (read: experienced) employees!

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She decided to try selling her jewelry on Etsy, and started a store there.  Unfortunately she has noticed that the market is saturated with tons of jewelry almost just like what she is making.  Therefore she is having a hard time selling what she makes.

As a sole proprietor of my own freelance writing business, I’ve been advising her a little bit on the technical end of running a business, such as keeping good records and paying taxes.  But she gathered, without any help from me, that if she is offering a product very similar to everyone else, the difference between her and them has to be marketing.  So she is working on ways of getting the word out there about her jewelry, via a blog and a few other methods.

These are the kinds of considerations you need to think of whenever you are starting up a business, whether it is making jewelry, writing, or just about anything else you can think of.  Anytime the market is saturated with your  products or services for sale, you have to find a way to make YOUR business stand out from the rest!

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After a day or two of basically shuffling papers around, I decided that I needed help.  I asked around and discovered that there were document imaging companies whose specialty was helping people just like me get their documentation in order.

I called up a local company and the rep who answered the phone was nice enough to give me a quick explanation of the various document scanning solutions that I had available to me through his company.  To me, every option sounded like a Godsend.  We talked about my specific needs and came up with a solution that was perfect for me. 

Within a couple of days I was well on my way to having not only organized documents, but a system in place to make sure that any further documentation that the company gathered was stored in such a way that finding what I need would be a cinch.

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Do you use colocation or dedicated server hosting for your business? If so, is your host provider using energy-saving methods of cooling down the servers to reduce waste? How about the people that you get business deliveries from? Are they using vehicles that get good gas mileage and have reduced emissions? When you hire a catering company for events do you make sure that they use locally-produced and organic foods? If you think that you’re being green but you haven’t started working solely with green businesses then you need to take things up to that next level.

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For instance, a couple of my clients seem to be doing really well.  A real estate agent, of all things, whom I write articles for is even reporting increases in home sales in his area — presumably because the deals are so good right now.  And the online marketing company I write for doesn’t seem to have been adversely affected; in fact, online marketing actually seems to be more in demand right now, as it is considerably more cost effective than traditional marketing.

Conversely, a couple of my freelance writing colleagues have reported dramatic drops in their workload and income.  One reported a drop of nearly 50 percent in January — which could be partly because January is usually a slow month for us, but still!  That’s quite the drop!

And in some cases, I think the variances appear even in the same industry.  For instance, I haven’t noticed the drops my colleague has — I’ve been trucking along just like normal.  But then, I focus my writing efforts in different areas than she does — she’s more of an article and traditional marketing writer, while I primarily write online marketing types of materials.

But all these different reports have me curious — if you run a business, how is the down economy affecting you, or is it at all?  Does it seem to make a difference whether you provide necessities or luxuries?  For instance, if you offer sedation dentistry in Washington DC, have you noticed that necessary work still gets done at the same rate, while Washington DC cosmetic dentistry does not?

I’d be really interested in hearing how other small businesses are faring in this economy, and any trends other business owners may have noticed!

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For example, say you own a company that sells KWA airsoft guns online.  When you receive an order for an airsoft gun, you pack and ship the order — from your garage, where you store the guns.

Now, even if the  computer you use for your business is in another place, and the area isn’t exclusively used for business so isn’t applicable for the home office, if you use your garage only for your business (or at least that part of it only for your business) you can claim that under the home office deduction — or at least, so I understand.  It is, as always, best to check with a tax lawyer or accountant for sure before making any changes to the way you file your taxes.

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I’ve been able to cut some costs and spend more money marketing my ideas. It has helped, and the business has grown. I still maintain a small sales staff for physically calling on customers, but for standard calls the outsourcing has really helped. It is a pretty tough economy today, and in order to really stay on top business owners need to limit their spending. It really is an easy step, and can save a lot of time and frustration further down the line.

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