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Merra Lee Moffitt Articles

Written by: Merra Lee Moffitt

23 Tiny, Easy Tips to Use at Networking Events - Click To Read Article
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. People refer people they know, like, and trust. Think about what makes you know, like, and trust others. Then take that laser focused intent with you to every networking event you attend. You’ll have more fun, expand your influence and become more successful. What could be better?

51 Ways Your Business Can Pay You - Click To Read Article
With a tremendous number of tax favored ways your company can pay you, you’ll want to decide which ones help your family and business most. Best news, you can make changes that fit your changing lifestyle & business, adding selections as your family and business grow.

Building your Starter Business Dashboard, in Excel? - Click To Read Article
Running your business without a dashboard is like driving your car without one. You can't manage what you don't measure. Your business dashboard keeps you running fabulous, fast, and forever.

iPhone Invoicing Can Yield Cashflow Magic - Click To Read Article
Spending your night and weekends invoicing? Invoicing whenever you can find your desk? Waiting to get paid for a job that you finished weeks ago? Technology just handed self employed awesome, easy profit capture tools. You can now quote, invoice, provide evidence, and get paid with your iPhone. Even if you are not a technology wiz, these are easy.

Strategic Debt Payoff – Consider future business flexibility when you choose which ‘debt’ to pay next - Click To Read Article
Many small business owners have multiple debts to pay thanks to the Great Recession and the debt culture we unwittingly bought into over the last 10 years. Stunned as banks have tightened rules, and frightened by the uncertain economy many have become focused on reducing overall debt. Many business owners have numerous debts such as equipment loans, lines of credit, or personal loans.

IPhone Apps as Profitability Tools - Click To Read Article
Upgrading my iPhone 3 to an iPhone 4 may seem like an unnecessary up grade, but hear me out. Many look to their iPhones for cool games and music, a few cool grocery, gas, and gadgets they can share with their friends. Not me; I am a total productivity gal. In my opinion, the evolving tools worth seeking on iPhone transcend beyond mere productivity, they are starting to make a difference in profitability.

Are You Shortening Yourself on Your Invoice - Click To Read Article
If you sell services, you may be working for free. When I’m working with self employed business owners who sell services, I nearly always find that they are not billing for some part of their work. That is, their invoices are missing what they could get paid. These lost billings can be the difference between making a living and having money for business and family security, expansion, and retirement.

SYSTEM – Save YourSelf Time Energy & Money - Click To Read Article
How many yellow sticky notes can you juggle before they mysteriously start crawling away? In desperation, you start doing things the same way each time and voila you’ve developed a system! Let’s take it to the next level; actively search for routines you can systematize.

Measuring your Referral Network - Click To Read Article
First the real question. Do you measure your referrals and where your customers originated? It really isn’t difficult if you just want to get started. A tally sheet kept at the cash register, a customer database, even a 29-cent Palm Pilot (a pocket-sized spiral notebook) will get you an initial measure.

Follow Up Fatal Flaws: Why Self-Employed Fail at this Most Basic Sales Skill - Click To Read Article
Okay, I admit it. I don’t always follow up promptly every time. And when I don’t, it ruins my whole week; I feel like a complete fool. I resolve to get better, put in a place a fail-proof, simpler follow up system and get on with my life. So here are my pitiful, real life reasons for not following up and what I am doing about them.

The “Five R’s” of Recovery Marketing - Click To Read Article
While many self employed are still focused on survival; now is the time to plan for growth. The recovery is underway; those with the stamina, drive, and forethought to enhance marketing efforts now will see the benefits in increased sales.

Get Ready for Recovery Without Committing Cash Today - Click To Read Article
Many of the self employed business owners I talk to are skeptical about when, how fast, or how prolonged any coming economic recovery will be. That leaves them reluctant to spend money right now when they are unsure of how soon they’ll be getting a return on that marketing or expansion investment.

Who’s Recovering the Quickest – Is it You? - Click To Read Article
We hear that the recession is on the wane and that there may be growth this year, albeit with high unemployment plaguing us for a while. Notwithstanding that you as the self-employed entrepreneur may not yet be feeling a recovery, it is happening.

The 7 Deadliest Financial Mistakes Self Employed Make Coming Out of Recession - Click To Read Article
For many of my self employed clients, the sales cycle is already on an upswing. Recovery recession has turned from a deep desire to a slow spiral of reality. Now comes regroup, refocus and rebuild. As you build plans for the rest of this year and into next, avoid these deadly financial mistakes that may kill your business during the next recession. Yes, there will be a next recession; they’re a normal.

Low Cost & No Cost Marketing Ideas - 10 for 2010 - Click To Read Article
As you finish up your 2010 business game plan, what did you add for marketing? It’s not too late to add a few low cost marketing ideas that can bring you new customers without ballooning your budget.

10 Invoicing Tips for Rapid Cash Flow - Click To Read Article
Invoicing secrets you may have forgotten that get you paid faster, with less effort. Get back to basics and get paid what you are worth!

2009 Tax Changes Every Business Owner and Employee MUST Know - Click To Read Article
Your money might go a little farther this year, thanks to new raised limitations of several common IRS deductions. Use this information to plan your savings and contributions and to take advantage of what good news there is going into 2009.

7 Ways to Follow Up Persistence without Being a Pest - Click To Read Article
Follow up on every lead without appearing too persistent. Be viewed as a professional and not a pest.

Self Employed: What Goes into Your Billable Hour? - Click To Read Article
How do you determine what hours are billable? Click here to find out what billable hours you can charge to the client and what are the overhead hours.

Profit Success Using LinkedIn – Actions You can Replicate - Click To Read Article
LinkedIn is networking virtual style. But will it help you find and get new clients. See the latest research.

Your Self Employed Hidden Paycheck – How to Pay Yourself More with Less (Part 1) - Click To Read Article
You get a hidden paycheck from being self employed! There are numerous things that your family gets huge benefit from that the business needs and pays for. And you also get the small business tax deductions, too! Check it out and increase your own hidden paycheck.

When Customers Lie – Don’t be Lead Astray - Click To Read Article
It's a sad truth, some customers don't tell the truth. They want time to decide, they are not sure about you, or they just don't want to put you on the defensive. Either way, don't get angry, get educated so you can adjust the way you talk to people.

Cutting Costs Now: 9 Hot Areas for Creative Small Business Owners - Click To Read Article
In good times and bad, it is always a good idea to look over your business costs. Keeping an eye on the bottom line means watching both the income and the expenses. Here are the hottest ideas my clients are implementing right now.

Follow Up is Free and Profitable - Click To Read Article
Looking for ways to increase sales without increasing expenses? Follow up with the people and prospects you know. Now is the time to be persistent, systematic, and supportive of those who have an interest in your product and service.

Easing out of Recession not so Easy for Small Service Companies - Click To Read Article
Very recently, several of my clients have begun sharing that their sales have turned up over the last couple months. Yeah, finally! Since I talk to business owners every day, and no one has expressed that sales are getting worse, this constitutes a trend, albeit an unscientific one. But, hey, any good news brings a sigh of relief at this point.

Raising Service Prices in a Recession - Click To Read Article
You may think it impossible, but some businesses are raising their prices during this recession. How about you? Are there specific areas you can target? How about specific products? One thing for sure, if you give up without trying, your prices will not get raised this year.

Is LinkedIn a Profitable Use of Business Owner Time? - Click To Read Article
Will LinkedIn succeed in expanding beyond pure social networking? Will it get you new clients or maybe more business with existing clients? Is it profitable for you to spend your precious time there? Let's find out.

Service Pricing Strategy: 3 Steps to Finding your Average Billable Hours Target - Click To Read Article
So how many hours a year can you realistically bill if you have a growing practice? What should be your target billable rate? Have you set your own goal for billable hours this year?

Your Self Employed Hidden Paycheck – Little Things Add Up (Part 2) - Click To Read Article
You get a hidden paycheck from being self employed (part 2)! There are numerous things that your family gets huge benefit from that the business needs and pays for. And you also get the small business tax deductions, too!

A Business Dashboard is as Essential as a Car Dashboard - Click To Read Article
Your business dashboard tells you whether you are cruising for profits or headed for a seize up. Whar does your small business dashboard tell you?

Your Service Pricing: Get Ready For the Recovery - Click To Read Article
Wondering how to price services as the econmy recovers? Have you been pricing your services below value just to get and keep clients? 8 essential elements to raising your service prices as the economy recovers.

Cut Payroll without Losing Employees in a Service-Based Small Business - Click To Read Article
Just because sales are down or threatening to go down, doesn't mean there's less work. In fact, there may be even more work as you scramble to improve sales and develop faster and better service delivered more frugally. So how can we possibly cut payroll costs? Here are 9 ideas worth considering and implementing.

Increasing Services Sales in Your Business in a Recession – 12 Techniques - Click To Read Article
Now is the BEST time to be in business for ourselves! Many people are getting laid off and those that aren't are concerned they might be. Here are some ideas for increasing your services sales during this recession.

Does Your Client Pay Slow? - Click To Read Article
If your clients pay slowly, here's how to collect client pay faster and with less effort.

Better Cash Flow – 11 Ways Small Businesses Conserve Cash - Click To Read Article
Let’s talk about better cash flow – how to hold onto and conserve the cash you have on hand. This is not about cutting expenses. This is about holding onto your cash for as long as possible.

14 Ways to Collect Cash Faster - Click To Read Article
In this new era of difficult credit, cash is the life blood of your business. In this series of articles, we’ll look at bringing in cash faster, keeping cash longer, and increasing cash holdings.

A Cunning Cost Cutting System for the Busy Business Owner - Click To Read Article
Smart small business owners are finding ways of cost cutting in their businesses. You don’t have to be struggling to think cost cutting is a good idea in this recession. If you want to thrive not just survive, here’s a system for cutting costs with just a little time.

How Small Business Owners Can Blog for Profits - Click To Read Article
A Blog, a contraction of the term “Web log”, is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Here’s what’s great about blogging:

Big Mistake: Not Billing for all your Consulting Time - Click To Read Article
Have you billed all the hours your customer agreed to pay, you did all the work, and delivered satiafactory results? Why not? Is it your invoicing? Your time tracking? Or your delf-talk? Stop giving away your time.





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