7 Reasons to Set Up a Separate Bank Account for Your Home Business Income

Guest Contributor: Cristina Par

When you start a business from home, your priority will typically be to get it up and running so that you can serve those first customers successfully and start bringing in some money.

Unless you’re particularly well prepared, you probably choose to make use of your personal bank account to take payment for your products or services during this early phase. But eventually, opening a separate business account is a necessity.

To understand why, we’ll talk you through the main benefits that come with having a home business with its own, unique bank account.

Admin is easier

Arguably the top reason for having a bank account that you use for all of your business finances is that this makes it less of a pain to handle everyday administrative tasks, whether that’s calculating expenses, analyzing earnings or filling out your tax return.

If, on the other hand, all of your business transactions are mixed in with personal transactions, it’s a nightmare to unpick everything and keep track of figures. So from an organizational perspective, setting up a separate account is a no-brainer.

Customers will trust you

Home businesses can struggle to win over prospects for all sorts of reasons, and a lack of trust is likely to prevent people from making purchases in the first place, let alone returning in the future.

One red flag is if payments are made to a bank account that’s in your own name, rather than that of your company.

Choosing the likes of a SoFi online bank account will let you overcome this concern, and reassure customers that you’re a reputable operator, even if you’re very new on the scene.

Loan approval is more likely

When applying for a business loan, lots of factors are weighed up by lenders to decide if they should back your commercial endeavors.

Having a bank account for your up and coming company shows them that you mean business, and may even be an eligibility requirement, depending on the bank in question.

The same is true of applying for a business credit card; providers will be pleased to see a business account on your records, and will give you access to better deals as a result.

Credit score is calculated separately

Businesses and individuals have their own, distinct credit score. So if your own credit history is patchy and your score is low, this might stifle your ability to grow your business through loans.

With a business bank account, you’ll be starting afresh, and so you can build good credit here, improving the rates that you’re offered on loans and credit cards.

A separate payment card will be issued to make paying for business expenses a breeze

A business bank account is like a standard account in the sense that customers are entitled to use a payment card to carry out transactions, whether online, at bricks and mortar locations, or while paying independent contractors.

With this card you’ll be able to make sure that all of the money you spend on business expenses is channeled in the right way, linking back into the earlier mention of administrative convenience.

Business debts won’t be a burden on your personal finances

Just as your personal credit score doesn’t need to hamper your business borrowing options, so too any debt that’s attached to your business through your bank account and other financial activities won’t be something you’re liable for as an individual.

It’s this safety net that allows entrepreneurs to justify taking risks and pursuing innovations, without the fear that they’ll be financially ruined if things go south.

You’ll avoid the unseen restrictions of personal bank accounts

Most people don’t realize that their personal account is more tightly controlled than an equivalent business account, often for the simple reason that banks want to incentivize people who start their own companies to open new accounts with them.

For example, a personal account might have a cap on the number of transactions that can be carried out by the customer in a given period. Hit this, and you might be charged extra, or have your account activity limited. It could even be flagged as fraud, which puts more jobs on your plate.

A business bank account is designed with the needs of business users in mind, so annoyances like transaction limits will not get in the way of your day to day operations.

Wrapping up

Business bank accounts are there to serve you as you grow your home business, so it’s better to embrace one sooner rather than putting it off for any longer. If you’re serious about making your company work, you’ll need solid foundations like this to achieve your goals, and the process of finding the right business bank account is easier than you’d think.

 

Cristina Par is a content specialist with a passion for writing articles that bridge the gap between brands and their audiences. She believes that high-quality content plus the right link-building strategies

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How to Outsource Like a Boss for Home and Work

Have you ever looked at your to-do list and realized you need about 30 hours to accomplish everything you outlined as critical for the day? If so, you aren’t alone. Caring for a family and working are both hugely satisfying undertakings. But, let’s face it, it’s also a tremendous amount of work. 

Here’s some good news–you don’t need to tackle it alone. By strategically outsourcing some tasks, you can find more time and energy to put toward the people and projects that mean the most to you. Here’s a round up of the tasks–work and personal–that are great candidates for outsourcing.

Business Tasks

When you run a small business, it’s tempting to want to do it all. You became an entrepreneur because you’re motivated and hardworking.This combination makes it tough to let go of the reins, even for a task you don’t enjoy or could easily outsource. It helps to have a framework for considering what tasks/jobs make sense for outsourcing. When considering outsourcing, think about:

  • What are you great at doing?
  • What do you like to do?
  • Where would you like to grow professionally?

If a task doesn’t fall into one of those categories, it’s a good candidate for outsourcing. 

 

Quickly Find Virtual Help 

When you are looking for outsourcing help for a business task, consider a virtual team member. With remote employees, you don’t need to provide office space and you aren’t limited by geography. You can find and hire a team member who’s located anywhere with good internet access. 

Using a platform like HireMyMom is a great way to source qualified candidates who are specifically looking for remote work. You can save time and money by turning to a site dedicated to connecting driven mom professionals with small businesses. 

If the prospect of a nationwide search daunts you, consider our concierge service to help reduce the amount of leg work you need to do. HireMyMom’s Concierge service was created for busy entrepreneurs and small business owners, like you, who need to hire help but don’t have the time or desire to go through the time-consuming process. With our full service Concierge service, our HR Specialists will do it all for you start to finish and present you with the top candidate(s). 

 

Build a Remote Team 

Here’s a list of jobs that are often outsourced:

  • Bookkeeping
  • Social Media management
  • Graphic Design
  • Writing/Editing
  • Marketing/Email Marketing
  • Project Management
  • Customer Service
  • Facebook Ad Manager
  • Online Business Manager
  • Virtual Assistant (VA)

 

Consider a Virtual Assistant

In some cases, a virtual assistant (VA) may be the right fit for you. A VA can take care of many tasks, including email response, appointment setting, travel planning, and calendar management. You can find a general VA, who does a wide variety of tasks or one with a speciality in your industry or need. 

 

Personal Tasks

Personal tasks can easily add up and cause stress, making it more difficult to manage the day-to-day workings of life. What’s more, many of them are urgent and important and time sensitive. (For example, dinner must be served every night.) Tasks that can wait tend to grow in time commitment and urgency if you put them off. (I’m looking at you, piles of dirty laundry.) Here are some ideas to help relieve some of the steam:

 

Put Meal Prep and Grocery Shopping on Auto Pilot

Planning, serving and cleaning up multiple meals a day takes a huge time investment. (Especially if your whole family is home all the time.) But outsourcing some meal-prep tasks can make every day easier.

  •  A weekly menu hanging on the fridge takes the guesswork out of each meal. If you don’t enjoy menu planning or just need a break from it, consider using an online meal planning service. Several are available and they allow you to quickly select a week’s worth of meals based on your health goals, family preferences, and budget. Once you select your meals, you can automatically create a shopping list for the meals selected.
  •  We all need groceries every week (sometimes more). But driving to the store to collect them is a major time commitment. You can regain that time by signing up for grocery delivery. Several companies such as Amazon Fresh, Peapod, Shipt, and Instacart, are ready to make it easier for you to fill your pantry. 

While it takes some time to initially get set up with these services, it’s well worth the initial time investment. Chances are you make many of the same purchases each week, so many items will stay on your list for each order. You can even use a menu planner that automatically creates a grocery list and sends it to your preferred delivery service. 

  • If you don’t have grocery delivery available locally, consider the pick up service offered by many large grocery store chains. You submit your order online, pull up at the appointed time, and drive off with a car full of groceries. Both pick up and delivery help you save money by limiting impulse purchases.

Cut Down on Cooking

There are several ways to lighten the cooking load through outsourcing. Consider:

  • Sharing the load by finding four like-minded families and forming a cooking co-op. Each family makes four, family-sized servings of one dish. Meet to swap meals and go home knowing that you have five homemade dinners ready to roll–even though you only had to make one. Keep your circle of chefs small until the COVID-19 situation is resolved.
  • Ordering a meal delivery kit to take away the prepping, planning and chopping.
  • Finding a local chef who offers pre-prepped meals for pick up or delivery. 

 

Find Help with Child Care

You choose to work at home to spend more time with your kids and avoid the expense and hassle of day care. But, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t benefit from some help with the kids. Finding a good babysitter, even if it’s only for a few hours a week, can really change the flow of your day. Having a few hours set aside without interruption makes it easier to power through your work. Also, depending on the age of your kids, the sitter can help with other tasks, such as:

  • Driving a carpool route for you.
  • Running errands with your kids–think the post office or picking up dry cleaning. This gives you a few hours of peace and quiet, keeps the kids busy, and eliminates tasks from your to-do list.
  • Working with the kids to go through their toys or books to find things they have outgrown.
  • Picking up the stray items you forgot to add to your online grocery order.
  • Walking the dog or other pet care needs.
  • Putting laundry away.
  • Supervising homework/online school instruction.

 

Clean with Ease

Everyone loves a clean house, but the work to get it sparkling can take all day. The easiest way to keep the house spic and span is to hire a cleaning service. If that’s not practical based on your budget or circumstances, these ideas can help lighten the load:

  • Buy a Roomba or other automatic vacuum or mop so you wake up to fresh floors every morning.
  • Drop your dirty laundry off at the laundromat for wash and fold service each week. This frees up an enormous amount of time and cuts down on the anxiety created by looking at baskets full of clothes–some clean, some dirty, and inevitably, one that’s mixed between clean and dirty clothes. 
  • Hire a service for big jobs that can really nag at you. For example, window washing or other seasonal jobs.

 

Reduce Yard Work

Many people find yard work relaxing, but elements of it can be outsourced to free you up to focus on the things you like most. For example, mowing and weeding are good candidates to outsource. With that out of the way, you are free to focus on tending to flowers or other things that truly bring you joy.

 

Don’t Wait to Reclaim Your Time

Outsourcing tasks is a great way to focus your time and energy on the things that matter most to you. Don’t delay–identify the things that someone else could do for you and start enjoying the increased time and energy it provides. 

Tell us what you’ve outsourced and how it changed the game for you.

 

 

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7 Ways To Start Your Workweek Right

After the weekend comes and goes it can be difficult to find the motivation to get back to work. We’ve put together our top tips to help kickstart your workweek right.

Eat Right

It’s important to eat properly throughout your workday. All too often we tend to reach for the sugar-laden snacks and drinks for a quick energy fix only to find ourselves in an energy slump by midday.  It’s important to have healthy snacks and meals on hand to keep your body and mind healthy and full of energy for improved concentration and overall work productivity.

Take Set Breaks

It’s easy to get caught up with your daily to-dos but if you aren’t taking any time to regroup, you can lose steam quickly, make mistakes more frequently, and be at risk for burnout.  Common workplace practices are two 15-minute and one 30-minute lunch break per 8-hour shift. If you’re putting in full days, these suggested break increments are put in place for a reason and are backed with plenty of research on the benefits.

Get Outside

Some people find working from home to be isolating which can also lead to feeling “cooped” up or trapped inside. When the weather is nice, get outside and take your breaks with some fresh air. You can go for a walk or have tea on your patio for example.  Whatever you choose to do, as long as you’re getting away from your home office, it will help change up the environment you see every day.

Set The Mood To Work

When you work from home, it’s important to have a good environment to work in.  Setting the right mood can make you more productive and efficient. Paying attention to the little details is the key – from music to decor to furniture and organization aids. Adding your personal touches will make your home office feel more welcoming and inviting and easier to perform your work in.

Create a To-Do List

When you work from home, it can be very easy to lose track of your workday. Before you know it, you could be faced with tight deadlines, overlapping projects, and inefficient use of time if you’re not careful. A great way to start the day off right is to have a to-do list. This should be done the night before each workday. Having a sense of what needs to get done from the start sets you on the right path plus it’s gratifying when you’re crossing those to-do’s off and seeing your progress.

Utilize Time Increments

Complimenting the to-do list suggestion, time increments can help you stay focused and on task, plus, it breaks up the workday so it doesn’t seem so long and drawn out.  Setting your time increments the night before can help you determine your work start time, stop time, and checkpoints in between.

Use Daily Affirmations

There’s a reason why motivational videos and phrases are some of the most shared on social media. Inspiration and motivation go hand in hand and can help set the tone for each day.  You can find mugs, posters, pens, and notebooks with motivational phrases on them or, you can sign up to an inspirational blog site where you will receive positive messages in your inbox daily.

How do you kick off your workweek? We would love to hear from you. Visit our Facebook Group for more information and to share your tips with us.

 

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How to Help Your Small Business Thrive in Uncertain Times

With everything that’s gone down in 2020, it may be time to look at your business with fresh eyes to assess your current state and determine where you are headed. One way to do this is to perform a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for:

  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats

This analysis is quick and gives you a good sense of where you are at this point, where you are heading and how to make the most of every opportunity. Grab some paper and a pen (or sit down at your computer) and use this guide to get started. Here is a free worksheet to help you in this process.

 

Assess Your Strengths

Let’s start with the positive. Make a list of the strengths your business shows right now. They may be the same as pre-COVID-19, or they may be wildly different. Either way, be generous with your strengths. Include things like a great staff, dedicated customers, and your killer website or social media presence. The objective here is to get a good handle on all the things you have in your corner. Listing strengths helps affirm all the things that are going well. Put yourself in the shoes of a customer or staff member and consider your business from that perspective, as well. 

 

Consider Your Weaknesses

Next, make a list of the flaws you see in the business right now. Like the strengths, you may see faults that resemble what you saw before or a different set of disadvantages. It’s essential to create a complete and honest list but think big picture. Don’t include small issues that happen on a one-off basis, like a customer complaint or a minor hiccup. Don’t be overly critical. The goal here is to objectively consider areas of your business that could use some attention. A good list of weaknesses makes it easier to address any issues and solve for them going forward.

 

Identify Your Opportunities

Now, it’s time to look at your opportunities. The world has changed in the last six months, which likely means new opportunities have opened. The point of considering opportunities is to see new possibilities–both short and long-term options. You may see a long list of options right away. If you are struggling, that’s understandable. But, try to identify at least three opportunities on the horizon. Cast a wide net. Here are three ways to help frame your thinking:

  • Jot down the opportunities you have traditionally pursued if they are still viable. 
  • Consider what new avenues may be available for the future. You don’t need a plan to pursue the opportunity to list it–it’s ok just to see the prospect and note it. Planning to capitalize on the opportunity can come later.
  • Think of opportunities in many ways–perhaps you have a chance to hire a virtual staff member to bring in some expertise or reduce your workload or that of a team member.

Generating a list of possibilities will make you feel better about the future and start the wheels turning for new options in the future.

 

Outline Threats on the Horizon

Finally, write down the threats facing your business right now. I know–this can be scary. But, don’t be afraid to list the risks. Identifying them and committing them to paper won’t make them more likely to happen. Instead, looking at the list of risks can defang them a bit and make them feel more approachable. 

As you think about the threats, identify those you can control and those you can’t. For example, you can’t control what happens with the pandemic. But, you can make a staffing tweak that reduces the threat of staff turnover. List both in different categories to make them easier to assess.

 

Sample Worksheet

Here’s a worksheet to help you conduct your SWOT analysis. As you can see, it’s not fancy, but it serves as a good starting point for organizing your thoughts. You can also download one using the link above.

 

Products/Services            Staff               Marketing        General Environment
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats (Use an * to denote threats outside of your control)

 

Final Tips Before You Get Started

Here are my best tips for conducting a successful exercise:

  • Do your initial thinking, then set it aside for a week. I find creating this space helps make the reflection more in-depth and more insightful.
  • After a week passes, revisit your work and write down your initial edits. 
  • Do this again over a few days before you start making plans to address what you uncover. 

Once complete, file your completed analysis. Review it in six months to see how things have changed and how much progress you’ve made. 

 

This is the Perfect Time to Conduct a SWOT Analysis

With so many things going on, spending an hour conducting a SWOT analysis may seem like a low priority item. But, this is a great way to look at your business with fresh eyes and consider how the future may unfold. I always find this process valuable, and I look forward to hearing what you learn. Send us an email and share your experiences. 

 

 

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Which Time Tracking Software is Right for You and Your Remote Team?

Which time tracking software is right for you and your remote team?

Having an accurate time tracking system in place is crucial in order to successfully manage remote work. It’s one of the best ways to monitor your team’s progress, understand your productivity rates, and properly measure your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators).

The three main reasons for time tracking are to gauge client work, to manage your remote team, and to help improve productivity and profitability.

This article covers the benefits of having a time tracking system in place plus our top 5 recommendations for time tracking software.

 

Benefits of Time Tracking For Remote Teams

Accountability

With remote work, it’s easy to become distracted. The freedom, though wonderful – can become a playground for bad habits to be developed (like going on your social media accounts when you should be working).

By using a time tracking software, you’ll be able to monitor your team’s time on and time off each task and catch any issues early on before they become much bigger ones. 

From the worker’s perspective, time tracking is a great way to help you keep to your schedule, stay on track with tasks from start to completion, and it gives you the chance to celebrate the wins and milestones of your job performance. 

It also gives you the confidence so that if your work were to ever come into question, you have a track record to explain the situation to the management department.

 

Project Management

The many offers of time tracking software make it easy to manage any project from virtually anywhere (or any device). Time tracking software contains many features that help you keep track of projects. From quick reports to visual dashboards that provide you with real-time project views, it’s easy to see everything in one place. 

It helps team leaders manage the projects within their team and provides the opportunity to make decisions about priorities, tasks, and project shifting at-a-glance.

 

Less Stress

Tight deadlines, misplaced files, uncertainty with team progress, and miscommunication can contribute to stress. Stress on the workers, the employer, and overall health of the company.

Time tracking software can do a pretty great job dealing with all of the above pain points. It helps you keep on track with due dates, can act as a hub for file tracking, provides team progress in a visual snapshot, and allows for stronger communication and clarity.

 

Cost-Efficient

There are many ways that a time tracking software can help the productivity and cost-efficiency of a company’s operations. It can eliminate wasted time that takes place in an office environment where employee socialization can steal from productivity. It can help monitor project progress and once completed, can help determine the baseline of tasks and their costs to create a better pricing structure for future clients/projects. Finally, because time tracking is automated, this can free up time on your management teams end which you can use towards other aspects of running your business.

 

5 Time Tracking Software for Remote Teams

Review our picks for time tracking software and evaluate (include pricing): 

Time Doctor

  • What it is: Time Doctor is a Software As A Service (also known as SaaS) platform which provides time tracking and productivity tools. It’s owned by the team at Staff.com and was founded in 2012. It has the ability to easily integrate with the most commonly used CRM systems.
  • What it does: Time Doctor provides time tracking and employee monitoring, online timesheets and payroll, project budgeting and management, distraction alerts, allows for screenshots, website and app monitoring, client login access, and more.
  • What it costs: Time Doctor offers a FREE 14-Day Trial with no credit card required. Packages range on a per user basis between $7 – $20 per month.

Wrike

  • What it is: Wrike is an online project management platform that provides a simple way to plan projects, streamline communication, and workflow. The company was founded in 2006 and has accomplished some noteworthy “street cred” including; 2020 TrustRadius Top Rated Award, 2019 and 2018 Customer’s Choice Awards, and is also mentioned as one of the Top Places to Work between from 2015 – 2019 consecutively.
  • What it does: Wrike offers task management, Gantt Charts, workflow management, task prioritization, workload views, custom reports, real-time activity, shareable dashboards, document collaboration, file sharing, real-time activity, custom calendar, and integration with calendars, dropbox, Google Docs and more.
  • What it costs: Wrike offers a Free Trial and plans ranging from $0 to $10/month per user. 

Clockify

  • What it is: Clockify is an attractive time tracking software because it’s the only software that is entirely FREE. There are no user restrictions, it’s simply free. But there must be a catch right? Clockify does charge to upgrade and allow for additional features. The additional features do make it hard to resist. Clockify was founded in 2009 and has over 2 million users, over 100 employees, and a substantial amount of glowing reviews.
  • What it does: Some features that Clockify offers include timesheets, time-off tracking, hourly rates, real-time tracking, time reports, multiple users, exports and share reports, and more.
  • What it costs: Clockify is FREE and their plans start at $0 per month and range up to $29.99/month with a combination of user and/or flat-fee pricing depending on the package you select.

Toggl

  • What it is: Toggl is an app for time tracking. It allows you to track your activities on a daily basis across different platforms. It gives you detailed insights so you can identify the areas you need to improve on.
  • What it does: Toggl offers a way to easily organize your team through their 3-Stage Hierarchy, provide a continuous backup of data, offer no signup or termination fees, allows for easy integration with FreshBooks, Basecamp and more. It provides real-time synchronization between web apps, desktop apps, phone apps, and more. Because Toggl is open source, it allows accessibility users need to build different third party integrations into it.
  • What it costs: Just like it’s competitors, Toggl provides a Free Trial with plans ranging from $10 to $20/month per user with Enterprise Packages for more complex situations.

Harvest

  • What it is: Harvest is a cloud-based time tracking software. It is built to handle small to large-scale businesses. It has invoicing and timesheet features. Harvest was founded in 2006 by Danny Wen and Shawn Liu who were looking for their own ways to solve some of their growing web design studio pain points. 
  • What it does: Harvest features time and expense tracking, invoicing, expense tracking, time-based reporting, and more.
  • What it costs: Harvest is free to try with no credit card required. The free trial includes 1 user and 2 projects. After the Free Trial, Harvest is $12 per user. 

 

We hope you’ve found this article helpful. You also might like our “How To Effectively and Successfully Manage Your Remote Team” here

 

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The Resources You Need to Get Through Coronavirus

No matter who you are, where you live or what you do, we all share COVID-19 in common now. We are all  living history, and not the kind of history we hoped to be living. It feels more like a Hollywood movie we’d all like to see end soon and end with a happy ending. 

One of our daughters is a recent graduate in nursing. She began her nursing career in February, and in March, she began treating COVID patients. She is one of our front line heroes. For the rest of us, we’re at home like most of you. I have worked from home for 24 years so that part is second nature to me. Having my spouse and two of my kids at home with me while I work is not nor is being in isolation from the rest of the world. 

So as we journey through this Corona season, I’ve compiled some great resources for mental health, faith, hope, fun, finances, kids, fitness and more that I hope bring hope, help and fun to you all.

 

Business & Finances

 

Mental Health / Sanity

 

Faith & Hope

Kids

 

Fun

 

Fitness / Health

 

Good News

 

So we take this one day at a time, looking for ways to bring hope and encouragement to others. For our family, our hope and encouragement comes from our faith in God. We know that God is our protector, our provider, our hope and our peace. He is our sovereign, powerful, faithful and trustworthy Father. No matter what hard times we go through, we know that in all things He works for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

If you have other resources to suggest, have questions or need prayer, please feel free to contact me

 

 

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How Smart Entrepreneurs and Mompreneurs Use LinkedIn to Attract New Clients

With over 562 million members in 200 countries and across all industries, there is no denying LinkedIn is the top professional networking site. Facebook is where you have a strong circle of friends, Pinterest allows you to tap into evergreen marketing and boost your blog content but LinkedIn is where you can take your business to a whole new level.

LinkedIn is indexed by Google so when it comes to marketing your personal brand and your business, LinkedIn is definitely an important tool to leverage in your marketing efforts. LinkedIn also gives you the ability to search for and connect with your ideal client. 

Here are some tips to help you fully leverage LinkedIn as a smart entrepreneur / mompreneur!

 

  1. CREATE AND FULLY COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE

Your profile is the most important aspect of your LinkedIn account. It’s the first impression people have of your personal brand and business. 

  • Ensure you have a high quality photo and make sure your face is 50% of the size of the circle. 
  • Create a banner image that will be displayed at the top (Canva.com has lots of free templates to help you). Think of this a free highway billboard and use it wisely to promote you and your business. 
  • Add your name and you can also add a title with it to let me know right off the bat what you do. For example “Amanda Jones | Digital Marketing Professional”
  • Add a short bio
  • Complete the ABOUT section. This is a great opportunity to highlight what you do and the ideal client you are looking to work with and use as many characters of the max 2,000 as you can. Think of LinkedIn like Google. Your goal is to create a profile that comes up in search results. And remember, most people will only see the first 3 lines so make them count. 
  • Complete all sections to add your experiences, work history, education, volunteer work, skills and website
  • Add samples of your work or blog posts

It’s important to spend quality time on this and to fully complete this before moving on and connecting with other professionals. Feel free to hop over to my LinkedIn profile to see how I have set up my profile and I would love to connect with you too while you are there! 

 

  1. ENDORSEMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Once your profile is fully complete you can reach out and connect with people you know and have worked with on LinkedIn. People you already know is a great place to start because you can ask them to leave you an endorsement and recommendation. This helps to edify you to new people you want to connect with. Be sure to return the favor and leave a recommendation for others as well. 

 

USING LINKEDIN

  1. MAKE NEW CONNECTIONS

Now that you have created your profile, connected with people you know and received some recommendations and endorsements you are ready to start making other connections, especially with people who are your ideal client. Think of LinkedIn as an online network group and search engine. Let’s say for example you are a logo designer and you are wanting to network with website designers who can refer clients to you who will need a logo designed for their website. 

You can go to the search bar in LinkedIn and type in “website designer” and have it filter for “people” and it will pull up search results for those that have “website designer” in their profiles. LinkedIn will filter the results by mutual connections you have with other people. 

When you click on the “connect” button, you will have the opportunity to type out an invitation before sending. LinkedIn will have a generic one but it’s important that you personalize every invitation you send. Take the time to look at their profile and make the invitation all about them not about you.

“Hi Lori, I see that you are a website designer and as a graphic designer in the same industry I would love to connect and know how I can support you and send referrals your way. Look forward to connecting with you.”

People will be a lot more likely to accept your invitation to connect if they feel valued and not like you have an agenda. 

 

  1. POST UPDATES

Make LinkedIn part of your daily marketing routine. Use LinkedIn to share your blog content and other articles that would interest your network of connections, tips, resources and to highlight your work. Remember as with any social media platform, the goal is to tell instead of sell. 

LinkedIn also has an app that can make posting and the time you spend networking easier too. 

 

  1. CREATE A SOCIAL VIBE ON LINKEDIN

Ensure you are engaging with your network through their status updates too. You can’t expect to post and not spend time supporting others on their posts. Social media doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Set a timer to spend 10 minutes to like and comment (5+ words on any social media platform shows the algorithm that your comment is a real genuine comment and not a bot).

 

  1. THE POWER OF GROUPS

LinkedIn has a lot of great groups that you can join to connect with more like-minded people and share your expertise. You can use the search bar to search for groups in your niche. Be selective and only commit to joining groups that you feel you can actively participate in. You will need to send an invitation to the moderators for them to approve your request. Once they do, be sure to read the group rules and be a respectful member of the group and give value. It’s a great opportunity to find more people to connect with. 

Take the time to implement these tips and you should see some great connections and future clients before too long!

 

ABOUT HIREMYMOM…

Over the past 12+ years, HireMyMom has helped thousands of small businesses find the perfect candidate for their projects while helping thousands of mom professionals find in their remote dream jobs. We do that by providing a platform that brings the best group of qualified and passionate women together with the best group of successful and growing small businesses who are looking for highly qualified virtual professionals with skills, experience and expertise. 

How is HireMyMom different?

  • As more of a boutique site, candidates on HireMyMom do not have to compete with 100s or 1,000s of other applicants and our small businesses do not have to wade through 1,000s of applicants, 
  • We do not take a percentage or commission of earnings from virtual professionals OR the small businesses,
  • HireMyMom is more than a job site; we are community offering personalized services, training, support and virtual high-fives,
  • Our site is primarily for those in North America and native English speakers familiar with U.S. Business culture and in or near the same time zones,
  • We offer our Small Business VIP Concierge program where our HR Specialists will hand select top candidate(s) for our Small Business clients.

Mom Professionals looking for legitimate, remote jobs and projects, start here

Small Businesses looking find high-quality, independent candidates, start here.

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Complete Guide To Creating A Client Attracting Facebook Business Page

Social media can feel overwhelming and while it’s easy to get discouraged with things like algorithm changes, there is great value to be found in leveraging these platforms as a business owner.

A Facebook business page is one of them and yes the organic reach can be low but the reality is that as business owners, we must embrace the professional way of marketing: having an advertising budget and providing strong, consistent content. 

Before I dive into how to create a client attracting Facebook business page, let’s first address why it’s important:

  1. As with most social media platforms, a Facebook business page and the content on it, is indexed by Google where as your personal profile page is not. When someone searches for you or your business, your fan page will appear in Google search engine results. 
  2. While it’s tempting to use your personal page to market your business, it’s also a violation of Facebook’s terms to use your personal profile page for commercial gain. Some have even lost their accounts for this practice so it’s just not worth the risk. 
  3. Your business is seen as more professional with a business page. Consumers are becoming more savvy and want to research people and brands before doing business with them. Running a business from your personal profile can look sloppy and overwhelm your personal network, many of them are not even your ideal client.
  4. Facebook Insights. As a business owner, it’s important to analyze the data for the content you are creating on a regular basis. A Facebook business page provides detailed analytics for every post. How many people are seeing the posts on your personal profile page? Without Facebook insights you have no clue and therefore can’t measure what kind of content gets better reach in the feed. 
  5. Sponsored Ads. I know it can seem unfair as a small business owner to have to pay to have your content seen, but the reality is you are a business and if you want to market it the right way and reach the right audience you will need to have a budget for advertising. The beauty of a business page is you can target your ideal client for a very minimal budget (I will get into more of that later in this post) and grow a following of people who need and want your services, something your personal profile simply can’t do.  

So now that we have covered the reasons why it makes sense to grow a Facebook business page, let’s jump into the how!  

 

COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREATING A CLIENT ATTRACTING FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE

Your Facebook business page is tied to your personal account so you don’t need to create a whole new Facebook account for this (it actually goes against Facebook’s terms to have two accounts). Here is a step by step guide from Social Media Examiner on how to create a business page.

The focus of this article is how to properly brand your business page and strategies to market it so be sure to read this post in its entirety before setting up your page. 

 

Business Page Name. Ensure you are creating a page that makes sense for your business. Are you branding yourself personally or under a business name? Once you have determined that you can name your page. Take your time and keep in mind that Facebook is like a search engine and it will be indexed by Google, so think about keywords that need to go into your page name. 

For example, are you a graphic designer, virtual assistant or design websites? Include keywords into your page name – “Whitney Smith, Virtual Assistant” (if you are branding yourself personally) or “Twisted Vines Website Designs” (if you are branding under a business name)  

An important element to mention here is if you are creating a business page centered around your personal brand, to ensure you have your name in the page name. One of the biggest mistakes I see is people not including their name into their page name. 

For example, if someone searches for you they will most likely search for you by how they know you, your name, right? Without this piece of information in your Facebook page name people will not find you because they have no idea that you have branded yourself as the “Holistic Virtual Assistant” so ensure that the business page name includes how people know you “Tina Jones, Holistic Virtual Assistant” so you will pull up in the search results.

 

Complete Page Information. Take the time to complete all of the info related to your business page: upload a professional photo, create a cover photo for your page (you can easily do this for free with done-for-you templates in Canva), about section, hours, website, etc. It’s important to share your story, what drives your passion, your experiences and expertise. 

Spend time on this and put some thought into it. This is like meeting someone for the first time so make that first virtual impression count!

 

Creating Content. The content on your business page should be 80% value based that will resonate with your ideal client and 20% about your products and/or services. Create blog content regularly to share valuable information that positions you as an expert in your niche, create free offers to help you build an email list, share quote graphics your audience would resonate with, helpful tutorials, etc.

Creating content for your business page shouldn’t be a stressful so don’t over think it trying to come up with perfect posts, just share from your heart with the goal of serving others.

 

Facebook Ads. As you create content for your business page, you can boost those posts to target followers who will find the information useful and attract the right people to your page. 

For example, share a helpful blog post and boost it once a week for $10-$15. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on ads for it to be effective. By driving traffic to your blog, you can grow your email list while getting new eyes on your business page at the same time to attract new followers. 

Of course the more you spend on the ad the more people you can reach and the more results you will have but test this strategy out with a low budget first to ensure that you like the results before spending more. A post that does well you can always boost over and over to spend more. 

Here’s a tip: Stretch your sponsored post out over 14-21 days v. boosting it for only 1 day. Facebook will actually show it to more people when it’s stretched out over a period of time, meaning you will get more bang for your buck. 

 

Consistency. While experts like to say how many times per day is ideal when posting, I find that quality definitely rules over quantity so find what works for you. If you can commit to posting once per day with good quality content, great but if you find that overwhelming, at the very least try to be consistent 3 times per week. 

Here are some tips to help you create consistent content for your business page:

  • Facebook has a separate app to manage business pages, Facebook Pages Manager. You can view your insights, boost posts and schedule content. Find what works for you to sit down for 30 minutes on Monday mornings and schedule out your content for the entire week. That way it’s done and you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the week except to check on your posts for comments, likes and shares so you can respond. 

You can find the Facebook Pages Manager app in your iTunes or Google Play Store.

 

Create A Marketing Plan. Write down all your favorite resources, blogs, etc. to pull relevant content from while you work to create your own. For example, if you are a logo designer you can pull articles from some of your favorite bloggers about why having a logo for a business is important or why branding is an important aspect of logo creation. Relevant articles like this help to edify what you do as a logo designer.  

Having a marketing plan you can refer to allows you to sit down and schedule out your content more quickly because you don’t have to think about where to find good content to share.

It’s important to be consistent so don’t go days without posting to your business page. It requires hard work and consistency but it’s all worth it to share your God given talents and grow your business for the long term. 

 

Ask questions. With the more recent Facebook updates, they are favoring posts that ask questions to promote engagement and spark conversations so think about how you can get your audience talking. 

People love to give their opinions so for example, maybe you are working on a new logo design for your Etsy shop and you have two variations you are trying to decide on. Put it to a vote on your business page! This is a subtle way of showing off your skills while valuing the thoughts of your followers.

 

Quote Cards. Quote graphics are very popular on social media and can be a great way to brand yourself and your business. The key is to be consistent with your design and to create graphics that resonate with your followers. 

At HireMyMom.com, our audience is primarily moms so the quote graphics we create are faith inspired or poking fun at motherhood as that is what resonates with our followers. 

So think about what kind of quote graphics you can create that will set your brand apart on not only your Facebook business page but Instagram and Pinterest as content like this can be used on multiple platforms. 

 

Go Live. Facebook is giving live video 6x’s the organic reach than regular posts so this can be a great strategy for your business when you focus on how you can give value that centers on how to solve a problem for your audience. 

For example, if you are a virtual assistant, think about how you could create value around something that your ideal client struggles with. Maybe they are having a hard time learning MailChimp. Give them a quick tutorial on how to create a list and send a newsletter. 

This shows your followers that you know what you are doing and yes, some will watch your tutorial and feel empowered to do it themselves and that’s okay. You were a blessing to that person while others will watch your video and say to themselves “Yeah, okay, I totally do not have the time to do all of that so I really need to reach out to her and find out what her pricing is to do it for me” and that right there is why giving value regularly on social media is so important. It’s one thing to tell people you are a great virtual assistant but it’s much more powerful to show them!

Were these tips helpful in creating a client attracting Facebook business page? Be sure to share it with other hard working mompreneurs and I would love to hear from you so please contact me with comments or questions

Need a word of encouragement to help you in your business building journey? I pray you take these words to heart today for God truly does want to see you prosper! “Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you.” Job 22:21

Looking for a community that can give you support, training and more job leads or even help you set up your own Facebook Business Page? Check out more of what HireMyMom.com has to offer. Click HERE

 

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9 Tools to Help Your Virtual Team Succeed

In our last article, we gave you 10 Key Questions to Ask during the Interview and prior to that we shared 4 Tips on Writing a Great Job Post.

Now that you’ve hopefully found your virtual professional, we wanted to share some tools to that can help you and your team be more efficient, effective and organized. Below you’ll find a variety of tools from time tracking to management to organization to help your team soar to success!

Harvest makes it easy for users to keep track of the time users spend on tasks and projects. It also allows you to spot trends and compares someone’s work hours vs their capacity week over week. Here are four other time tracking options to consider.

Slack– a platform to connect teams with apps, services and resources. From Slack’s website, “When your team needs to kick off a project, hire a new employee, deploy some code, review a sales contract, finalize next year’s budget, measure an A/B test, plan your next office opening, and more, Slack has you covered.”

Loom allows you to connect with your team via videos. You can record yourself, your screen or both. Save time by videoing notes, how-tos, directions, and more without spending valuable time emailing back and forth.

Asana  is a free team management tool that allows you to delegate and organize tasks into projects. You can track the progress of group projects while also displaying individual to-do lists.

Trello is a task management tool that gives you a visual overview of what is being worked on, who is working on it and what’s next to do.

Zoom is a great tool if you are looking for face-to-face meetings, a way to share your screen or conduct online meetings.

DropBox and Google Docs let you share and access files remotely. No more emailing files back and forth, now you can easily edit and share files instantly.

idonethis makes it easy for your team to provide quick daily status updates and helps you run your team more efficiently.

And don’t forget we offer, our personal “Small Business Concierge Service” which includes:

    • consultation to learn about the position,
    • writing a professional, descriptive and thorough job post,
    • posting the job on our website (once approved by client),
    • reviewing all applicant resumes and cover letters, including a check of LinkedIn to reality check the resume.
    • Scheduling interviews – Reach out to selected candidates, coordinate interview scheduling,
    • Interviews -prep & conduct interviews, record interview notes, save interview recordings, etc. ,
    • Select top candidate(s) to pass along to client, write candidate summaries, upload interview video file(s) to Dropbox, email client with resume, summary and link to video file.
    • Follow up with client, answer questions about candidates, etc.
    • Wrap-up – Send turndown email to candidates interviewed but not selected, etc. along with final notes.

Contact us for details!

 

 

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2019 Small Business Conference Resource List

Conferences are an excellent way to learn new ways of growing and improving your small business. They also provide a great way to learn new trends, tools and resources. Another great benefit to conferences is that they are a great way to network and meet others in your same or similar industries where you can connect and learn.

And let’s face it, if you work from a home office or a small office, just getting outside those four walls can inspire and motivate you in new ways! So here are some Small Business Conferences we have gathered for you.

 

Small Business Expo

12/10/19

Houston, TX

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Small Business Expo

12/17/19

Austin, TX

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Know of any other small business conferences not listed?

Please send them to us!

 

 

Past Events:

 

Tony Robbins: Business Mastery

1/26/19

Palm Beach, FL

Price not listed

https://www.tonyrobbins.com/events

Learn from industry leaders, gain an edge on your competition, realize the #1 chokehold to growth, increase your profitability, grow your business 30-120%

 

10X Growth Conference

2/1- 2/3/2019

Miami, FL

$147-$347

https://10xgrowthcon.com/

Learn strategies from the most successful entrepreneurs that will guarantee you to 10X Your Business, 10X Your Income and 10X Your Life

 

Small Business Expo

2/6/19

Dallas, TX

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Startup Grind

2/12- 2/13/2019

Redwood City, CA

Full Access price:  $795 ( early bird until Jan 16- $355)

https://www.startupgrind.com/conference/

Roster of world-class speakers, thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators looking to build relationships, hours of impactful networking and partner opportunities

 

Small Business Expo

2/13/19

Miami, FL

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

EntreLeadership 1-Day

2/19/19

Grand Rapids, MI

Price TBD upon completion of submitted form

https://www.entreleadership.com/all-events

Businesses or leaders at any level.Knowledge and tactics to give you and your business the edge in a market that’s constantly changing

 

PubCon

3/5-3/7/2019

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Platinum Pricing All Access Pass: $799
Gold Badge:  $699
Networking Badge: $499

https://www.pubcon.com/

Insights and techniques in SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, paid social, local search, Google Analytics and more that will help them revamp and improve their online marketing strategies.

SXSW Entrepreneurship & Startups

3/8- 3/17/2019

Austin, TX

Prices: Badges range in price from $495- $1450

https://www.sxsw.com/conference/entrepreneurship-and-startups/

The Entrepreneurship & Startups Track brings together founders and funders of all stages to talk about current best practices as well as the most exciting new companies and services across industries.

Tony Robbins: Unleash the Power Within Conference 

3/14/19

Los Angeles, CA

price not listed

https://www.tonyrobbins.com/events/

Learn secrets to peak performance, discover the 3 steps to change, master the skills of rapport, decide what you want most in life, dramatically increase your energy.

Social Media Marketing World

3/20-3/22/2019

San Diego, CA

Price Rangs from $297- $1337

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld

Social Media Marketing Tips from World’s Top Experts

Small Business Expo

3/28/19

Charlotte, NC

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Global Entrepreneurship and Business Management Summit

 

4/10- 4/11/2019

Toronto, ON

Business Speaker Price: $599
Entreprenuer Price: $599
Exhibition/Vendor: $2039

https://entrepreneurship.global-summit.com/

Innovation and Latest Trends of Entrepreneurship

 

Small Business Expo

4/12/19

Philadelphia, PA

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Small Business Expo

4/17/19

Orlando, FL

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Summit 2019

4/28/19- 5/1/19

San Diego, CA

Price TBD upon completion of submitted form

https://www.entreleadership.com/all-events

Business owners, senior/mid-level leaders, leaders looking to grow. Business and leadership strategies that you can immediately implement in your organization.

 

Small Business Expo

5/1/19

Boston, MA

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

99u

5/8-5/10/2019

NYC

Price: Badge- $999

https://conference.99u.com/

Hands-on workshops give you a chance to dive into new disciplines, trends, and technologies. 99U provides you with endless opportunities to meet fellow attendees and get exposed to new ideas

 

Small Business Expo

5/9/19

Washington, DC

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Small Business Expo

6/5/19

New York City, NY

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Small Business Expo

6/20/19

Chicago, IL

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Entrepreneurs Cruise

7/7-7/14/2019

Orlando, FL

Cruise Event Pass: All Access Pass $697 ( family members are free)
Booking Cabin for Cruise ( price ranges from $1500- $2000

https://entrepreneurscruise.com

Content Strategy, Web Experience Management, Usability/Design, Mobile Marketing, Customer Engagement, Social Media, Targeting & Optimization, Branded Search, Marketing Automation, Analytics & Data

 

Tech Cruise

7/7-7/14/2019

Orlando, FL

Cruise Event Pass: All Access Pass $697 ( family members are free)
Booking Cabin for Cruise ( price ranges from $1500- $2000

https://techcruise.co/

Content Strategy, Web Experience Management, Usability/Design, Mobile Marketing, Customer Engagement, Social Media, Targeting & Optimization, Branded Search, Marketing Automation, Analytics & Data

Small Business Expo

8/22/19

San Francisco, CA

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Small Business Expo

9/27/19

San Diego, CA

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Tony Robbins: Leadership Academy

9/30/19

San Diego, CA

price not listed

https://www.tonyrobbins.com/events/

Master 3 mandates of leadership, learn 7 steps of lasting change, hone your unique leadership style, persuade and captivate an audience, tools to coach and empower others

 

Small Business Expo

10/24/19

Phoenix, AZ

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Small Business Expo

10/30/19

Los Angeles, CA

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Master Series

11/3-11/7/2019

Nashville, TN

Price TBD upon completion of submitted form

https://www.entreleadership.com/all-events

Business owners and leaders who make ownership decisions at their company. A definitive operational plan for scaling your business

 

Small Business Expo

11/14/19

Atlanta, GA

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

Small Business Expo

11/20/19

Brooklyn, NY

Free

https://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com

Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales Strategies, Website Best Practices, Legal Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid, Business Budgeting & Planning, Marketing on a Budget, New Technology Demos, And many, many more!

 

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