10 Things To Do in Your First Year of Business

Here are ten things to do by the end of your first business year. Some are essential while others will grow your business. Take a look and get that business going.

1. Make sure you are set up to pay sales tax.

2. Create a business Facebook page.

3. Go to 10 networking events and connect with at least one new person.

4. Register a website domain.

5. Create a mission statement.

6. Start a business checking account.

7. Attend at least 3 workshops.

8. Set up a bookkeeping system (Quickbooks).

9. Read at least 3 books that will teach you to be better at what you do.

10. Create an organization system to organize all business documents and emails.

How to Get Your Maximum Small Business Write Offs

Taxes suck. And so does having to pay a 15% small business tax on all of your income. Whether you are a 1099 contractor or individual business owner, make sure to take the maximum deductions possible to pay the least amount of taxes possible.

Below are some deductions that people usually don't consider.


1. Cell Phone Bill

If your cell phone is used at all in running your business or doing your consulting, make sure to deduct a portion of your bill. Just estimate the percentage usage and multiply it by your monthly cost.

Example:
$100 monthly bill
35% business use
35%*100=$35
$35*12 months= $420

2. Rent/Mortgage

If you have an office in your home, or rental, you can deduct that cost from your taxes. You need to multiply the % of square footage your office by the mortgage or rent payment.

Example:
Rent Payment: $800/month
Total square footage: 1000
Office square footage: 100
100/1000=10%
800*10%=$80
$80*12= $960

Trendy Small Business Packaging Round Up

Whether you're on Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, or have your own site, how you package your product is important. I have rounded up the best Pinterest packaging ideas I've found in the past month.

1. If cute, casual, girl power is what you're looking for, this is for you.

2. Need some free help? Use this to get some free printables to get going fast!

3. Boxes your thing? Make sure to do it right with this tutorial.

5 Entrepreneur TED Talks for Women by Women

(Click the picture above to view my marketing board on Pinterest!)

Whether you're currently a small business owner or thinking about becoming your own boss, these TED Talks will inspire you to take that leap forward.

Leah Busque: Have Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals And Take Baby Steps

This bad-ass knows what she's doing. When it comes to connecting small businesses and getting stuff done, this is the woman to give you the knowledge.

Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend

Contrary to popular belief, she was not in the Harry Potter movies. But, she is a fiesty ginger psychologist who can give you great advice on how to deal with all the stress that comes with a small business.

Tina Roth Eisenberg: Don’t Complain, Create

This incredibly creative woman gives great insights on using the things you complain about to make you more creative.

Margaret Heffernan: Dare to disagree

Love a good argument? Always playing devil's advocate? This TED Talk tells you why disagreeing is essential to progress.

Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep

Whoa. Make money and still sleep? Count me in. Arianna will tell you why sleep will help you succeed.

3 Digital Products You Can Easily Create and Sell

When starting an eCommerce site, sometimes having physical products and dealing with shipping can be overwhelming. More and more sites are choosing to create digital content to sell instead. Then, they can offer instant downloads. Below, I have collected my top 5 digital products that you can make your own.

1. PowerPoint Design

Students are constantly looking for presentation designs that help them stand out in class. They are willing to spend a few dollars to have a great template to use. This is a great way to show off your design skills and can be fairly straightforward to create and upload as a downloadable product.


2. eBook

This is possibly my favorite. Technology has allowed for our creative ventures to be easily viewed and distributed. If you are an aspiring writer or would like to create an informational eBook, it's easy! There are multiple eBook creators out there, and my favorite site to create an eBook cover is Canva. You have all the resources to make this something that people are willing to pay for!


3. Printables

College kids are always wanting fun decor for their apartments, dorms, or houses. Designing high quality, attractive printables is a great way to earn some extra cash. Be sure that the images or designs you use are loyalty free, and WATERMARK your printables. If you don't watermark your design, people will find a way around paying for the printable that you worked hard to design.

3 Ways to Make Your Small Biz Insta Bio Better

Instagram bios are always hard. You sit down and look at that blank space and feel like everyone needs to know everything, and you only have a few lines to use. You have worked hard on your small business AND NEED TO TELL THE WORLD. Yes. I agree. People need to love you. But, your Instagram bio needs to tell people why they want to hit the follow button. So, take some of these steps to make sure people want to follow you.

1. LOGOS ARE NO GOs

One of the first items a person views when they go to your profile is your profile picture. Although you worked hard on creating a cool logo, your potential customers don't care. People want to know there is a real person creating fun and engaging content. Don't be afraid to put your picture, or a picture of your team as your profile picture.

2. BE RELATABLE

Seems reasonable right? Here is where you need to be careful. Don't just write your bio based on your users, but also write it based on your users. Yes. You read that correctly. Down to earth is in, and people don't want to follow fake, self promoting Instagram accounts. But, they do want funny, interesting user centered Instas.

3. EMAIL AND WEBSITE

Let people know where they can find out more about what you do. You should make it easy for potential customers to get more info. If you have a killer Insta, people will click through to your site! If that isn't currently a goal for your Instagram, it should be. The end goal is to get people to interact with your business.

Top 3 Web Design Aspects to Grow Your Small Business

With website becoming more prevalent and an excess of data being available for small businesses, it is hard to sift through all of it. These three tips are at the top of my list.

1. Email Subscription Area (with Freebie if possible)

EMAIL EMAIL EMAIL. You need to be constantly growing your email list. No matter what you sell, or how small you are, gaining email addresses allows you to directly market to your potential and current customers. For new viewers of your website, giving a freebie for an email sign up will allow you to gain more email addresses. Using anything from a free download, or an email of tips and tricks, will allow you to gain more email addresses. People love FREE.

2. Write with Your Audience in Mind

In my opinion, this is the hardest thing to get right. You usually write with your own business in mind. You want to convey all the business value that you think you have to the consumer. This is not what a viewer of your website wants to see. They want to know that you have them in mind.For example, they want to know how your lipstick will make them look like a super model, not that you have great company feminist values. (Not that this isn't important, it just isn't at the top of the list.)

3. Call to Action

You need to make ti easy for someone to buy  your product fast. Within the first half of the homepage, there should be a button that takes them straight to your goal for the website. Whether that's downloading free templates, or purchasing your product, make it easy for a newcomer to do what you want them to do.