Author: John Beagle

Top 5 ToDo’s for SMBs to GROW online fast.

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by Van Jepson

There are over 500,000 new startups each month according to Kaufman Research, with most of them using the Internet to launch their business. After creating a website, the biggest challenge is attracting new customers at the lowest cost.  SMB owners are stretched for time and don’t have access to the right software or an efficient way to buy and they don’t have the leverage that big businesses do – until GroupPrice came along.

Here are 5 ToDo’s that SMB owners need to GROW online.

1. Know how your audience searches online for your offering: Place yourself in your audiences shoes and find out the words they use to search for your offering, and then carefully build online campaigns using those words in your sites title tags, links and content.

2. Capture 100’s of email addresses to find 1 buyer a day: An email address is the global identifier and the best way to interact with your audience and convert them into paying customers. Your website needs an enticing way to exchange an email address for either a trial subscription to your newsletter, a white paper or to enter a drawing.

3. Build a referral process that becomes viral. Provide an incentive for your friends to email their friends, and when you have a new customer or important news, email it as validation of your offerings value.

4. Send relevant information from your blogs and social media: Beyond email, these are your platforms for broadcasting your message. So, connect a blog to your site and use Twitter to do micro blogging of your message. Post your messages to Facebook and Linked In sites, telling your story of growth.

5. Have fun with it all, knowing that SMBs are moving online quickly. Our service enables the business owner who wants to BUY and also those business owners that want to SELL online. Check us out at GroupPrice.com.

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Firing Bad Customers

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Sometimes, when customers are excessively rude, tell half truths and run up costs because of being a ‘high maintenance’ customer, we fire them.

Just fired a customer today. I thought he was going to jump through the phone and choke me. Good thing is was a phone firing.

I think in the long run we are better off because we will be able to dedicate resources to more productive clients and projects.

Still I struggle with any client loss. In these tough times, firing a customer is something that on the surface seems to fly in the face of logic.

How does the Tech Army Troop Count Work?

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The number you see on the home page of the Tech-Army.org website is the ‘live number’ of troops, active, approved and ready for duty.

Some 5% of these troops are still in boot camp. They are are yest to be considered active members of the Tech Army, they have not been fully tested, certified and approved.

Only the best survive in the Tech Army.

Thousands of troops arrive monthly. Some troops are dismissed from duty or don’t make it out of boot camp.

The Tech Army holds itself to a higher standard, in fact many troops consider membership in the Tech Army an honor. It is The Tech Army Organization’s intention to honor as many of our troops with tech army missions. And to award the most missions to our best and brightest troops!

All Tech Army Troops are ranked and rated.
More information on the Tech Army rank and rating system.

“We expect to have 15,000 tested, rated and ranked troops by years end (2008).” Raymond Truss, Recruiter, Tech Army Organization

Got a computer disaster on your hands?

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All SMBs should have at least thought about contingency planning. Businesses that are heavily dependent on computer access should have a written plan that evolves with the computer network.

Keep your important company data in more than one place, storing one copy off-site for your best protection. If you have the data, we have the hardware, operating systems, software and engineering staff to get you back in full swing fast.

SMB Disaster Recovery Services

10 Accounting Tips for Small Business

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1. Maintain records regularly. This is one of the most basic rules: If you don’t keep accurate daily records, you don’t have an accurate way to track the financial condition of your business. Different people use different record-keeping systems; what matters is that you have one and use it every day. Once you have a good system set up, accurate record keeping will take just a few minutes a day.

2. Handle and review checks carefully. It’s easy to be on autopilot when you’re writing checks and tossing canceled ones into a filing cabinet without reviewing them. Remember: Those checks are as good as cash. And if something goes wrong, you — not the bank — will be on the hook. This means keeping your checks in numeric order, not skipping checks, and keeping separate bank accounts for your business and personal funds.

3. Protect your company from check fraud. Set up financial limits for checks with your bank. Require 2 signatures for checks over $5000. Ask that your bank never cash checks made out to an individual, except for payroll checks, which should be written from a payroll account and only to designated individuals. Keep inventory of blanks checks — and keep all checks secure in a safe or lockbox. Take the same care with checks as you would with cash. Sign checks using a clear, distinctive signature that won’t invite forgery.

Read Full Story: 10 Accounting Tips for SMBs

HSA Raises Contribution Limits for SMBs

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Great news for all those SMBs with employee HSA account holdders, the 2008 HSA Contribution and Out-of-Pocket Maximums and High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) Minimums have been raised.

The new Maximum Contribution for 2008:
* Increases the maximum contribution to $2,900 (individual coverage) $5,800 (family coverage) regardless of deductible and number of months in the high deductible health plan.

* Catch-up contribution (age 55 and over): $900 for 2008
As an FYI, funds contributed in excess of $6,700 ($5,800 + $900 catch-up) attributable to 2008 will be rejected for “over contribution.” The comparable level is $6,450 ($5,650 + $800 catch-up) for 2007.

Maximum out-of-pocket – increases to $5,600 for individual coverage (up from $5,500) and to $11,200 for family coverage (up from $11,000) for 2007
Minimum deductible for qualified high deductible health plans remains at $1,100 for individual coverage and at $2,200 for family coverage

Read the HSA Case Study

What’s not covered in an SMB HSA

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HSAs can make employee paychecks go further, but what are some of the downsides to HSA?
HSA stands for Health Savings Account. For more information on HSA’s visit the Wiki page on HSA

One downside is that many things are not covered. The following expenses are not eligible for reimbursement under a Health FSA, HRA or HSA:

Annual medical contract fees for exclusive provider care Arch supports, knee wrist braces (unless prescribed for a specific medical condition) Breast pumps (unless medically required to care for a premature infant) Blood pressure machines (unless prescribed by a physician as medically required for constant monitoring of blood pressure due to a
medical condition) Cosmetic surgery Dental bleaching or any other teeth whitening Domestic help fees (for services of a non-medical nature) Electric toothbrushes replacement brushes Electrolysis or hair removal Hair transplant Health club dues/memberships (unless part of a medically prescribed regimen to treat a specific condition) Humidifiers (unless prescribed by a physician to treat a specific medical condition) Insurance premiums of any kind (see below exceptions for HRA and HSA) Laetrile, even if prescribed by a doctor, is not reimbursable. Lens replacement insurance Marijuana, even if prescribed for medicinal purposes, is not reimbursable. Massage therapy (unless prescribed by a physician to treat an injury or trauma, or for rehabilitative purposes) Over the counter items which are items not categorized as a medicine or drug and may include, but are not limited to, hot pads, support
pillows, bandages, ACE wraps, nail clippers, pumice stones, feminine hygiene products, etc. are not reimbursable (unless used to treat
a specific medical condition). Over-the-counter toiletries or personal hygiene items which may include, but are not limited to shampoo,
toothpaste, conditioners, hand creams, deodorant, shaving cream, razors, dental floss, body powders, hair gels/sprays, make-up, nail
polish accessories, soap, mouthwash, etc. are not reimbursable. Physical therapy treatments for general well-being Supplements – The cost of supplements taken for general well-being are not reimbursable. However, the cost of supplements taken to
alleviate a specific medical condition is reimbursable. A physician should substantiate the diagnosis of a specific medical condition
and acknowledge that the supplement being used alleviates the medical condition diagnosed. Tuition for special schools (unless it is a special school to treat a specific condition such as blindness, speech, etc.) Union dues Vitamins – Daily multi-vitamins taken for general well-being are not reimbursable. Vitamins taken to treat a specific medical condition
are reimbursable. A diagnosis of the medical condition should accompany the vitamin claim. Prenatal vitamins obtained by prescription
are reimbursable. Weight loss machines
Source: Cigna

Here are some SMB employee and employer concerns we will review:
What are the excluded HSA Expenses?
What are the HSA Contribution Limits?
Is an HSA Taxable to the Employee or Employer?
What are some HSA things I should know?

Part 1 in 10 Year Case Study on an SMB