When you’re running your own small business, especially if you’re a solo operator, you need four pairs of hands, eyes in the back of your head, and psychic abilities don’t hurt either.
Managing Up
If you are like most people, when you think about the everyday meaning of the word manage you are usually referring to a manager dealing with a subordinate. But a subordinate can certainly influence his or her image among the higher-ups by using some common sense suggestions and by following some strict rules. It’s called “Managing Up.”
Managing Performance Every Day
Your company has decided it needs to eliminate costs. Hundreds of jobs are on the line. The executives of each division have been directed to cut costs by 35%. The tension throughout the company is so thick you can cut it with a knife. You know some departments will be totally eliminated because the work can be outsourced to save money.
Managing Downtime
Managing downtime requires creativity, which shouldn’t be a big problem since all of us are pretty creative. To get your creative energy flowing, here are some tips for managing your downtime.
Work on new or existing projects of your own. I would bet a dollar there isn’t a freelancer alive who doesn’t have some sort of work in progress, such as a book, series of articles yet to find a publisher or other project. Use your downtime to dust one or two off, and get to work!
Managing Slow Payers
When you’re running your own small business, especially if you’re a solo operator, you need four pairs of hands, eyes in the back of your head, and psychic abilities don’t hurt either.
Most of your clients will be wonderful, but some will be difficult. And unless you have a system in place to manage them, slow-paying clients fall into the difficult class. If you allow it, slow-paying clients can damage your cash flow.
My system for managing slow-payers is simple. So far it’s worked well, but I’m thinking of revising it, and following up more quickly.
Managing a Responsible Pay-Per-Click Campaign
What is PPC?
Pay-Per-Click is a paid form of advertising, popularized mostly by the “search engine” GoTo (now called Overture). The concept is fairly simple. Businesses bid to be placed at or near the top of the search results for particular keyword phrases. The bidding is done on a “per-click” basis, meaning that a company pays a specific amount every time the engine sends them a visitor. In addition, the top results on Overture also show up in the results of many of the popular search engines (usually listed as “sponsored” or “featured” results). Google has also recently come up with a similar version of PPC (AdWords Select) that has taken over some of the engines that used to display Overture results (most notably AOL Search).
Tips for Managing Your Shipping Costs
If shipping and handling is one of your profit centers, you already know that this can be an expensive and time-consuming aspect of your business operations. Try these tips:
Mind your Inventory
By keeping sufficient inventory on hand, you’ll avoid the high expenses associated with making a second mailing to cover back- ordered items. Your customers will be happier, too.
Creating, Managing, and Building Your Opt-In Lists
An opt-in list is a list or database containing email addresses of individuals who have chosen to receive your email messages. Your messages may be web site updates, product updates or an ezine. They provide you with a direct line of communication with potential customers and enable you to promote your products or services.