when reality sets in

When Reality Sets In

by Launch

It’s great to have a dream. Right? I think we all have some sort of dream that we’d like to accomplish someday.

And having that dream of a better life is always a good thing. Because not everyone can have those positive thoughts and ambitions. Not everyone even knows how to dream big…or even dream at all about a better life.

I know I wasn’t brought up to think that way. It never even came up. I’m certain of it. My dad didn’t graduate high school and my mom never went to college, but somehow, I really don’t know how, she learned how to take shorthand and become a secretary at the Towns City Hall.

But for some, dreaming can come harder than others. For some, it can be something that maybe exists in the back of their head, but if it seeps up toward the surface, it can quickly get squashed down to where it came from…the depths of the inner conscience.

success

What Does Success Look Like For Your Business?

by Launch

Business success is different for everyone. Creating a strategy and outlining what success looks like for you gives you a way to measure your success. The 2 ingredients to the recipe of success are hard work and persistence, no matter what business you’re in.

Just showing up…not quitting, is half the battle. Many new business owners start with a goal of “being successful.” But what does “being successful” really mean? The truth is, is that small business success is different for everybody. And, as with everything else for your business, it’s up to you to define what success looks like for you. What one person would call a failure, another person would call it a success.

What do I mean by that? Well, for example, if the goal for the year was $250K in profits, in your sole proprietor business, but you fell short of the goal and ended up with ONLY $100K in profits. Some would call that a failure. But from where I’m sitting, I would not call that a failure.

marketing

8 Ways to Market Your Startup Business Online

by LaunchPlan

As we all know, marketing our business to potential customers is a necessary part of having a successful business.

The issue with traditional advertising, such as newspaper, radio, and television ads, is that they can be expensive and may produce little or even no return on investment.

Advertising online may be a better option. You can track the effectiveness of each advertisement. Then, you can focus your marketing strategies on the techniques that are the most profitable. Plus, there are options for online advertising that don’t cost you any money at all!

Winning the SEO Game

by with No Comment DevelopmentLaunch

If you want to get traffic to your website, it’s important to understand Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Up until about 2015, if you created a blog post with an interesting title and an eye-grabbing picture, you could bet that a lot of people would click on it when they saw it on Facebook.

Since then, however, things have changed dramatically. Facebook realized that they were basically giving free publicity to businesses. So, Facebook started making it much more difficult for businesses to grab people’s attention. If a business wanted to get a lot of exposure, they would have to pay for it.

The end result of all this is that it’s now super tough to get as much traffic from social media. You either need to have a massive following or be willing to shell out a fair amount of cash.

This is why SEO matters so much.

Building a Personal Brand and Becoming an Influencer

by LaunchPlan

A personal brand is much more than a flashy logo or a color palette. A personal brand goes far beyond having a nice-looking business card. A personal brand is not just about having a website with your name on it, although that’s certainly part of it.

Your personal brand is how you present yourself, both online and offline, to your ideal audience. Your personal brand is the image you put forth. It’s what you stand for. Your values. What you’re all about. The core of who you are as a person.

It’s the combination of your values, unique skills, experiences, stories, personality, and image, all presented authentically to your audience.

social media

Growing Your Business Using Social Media

by Launch

Many business owners think that if they simply start posting on social media, they’ll be successful and attract new customers. But it doesn’t work this way. In order to build your business through social media, it’s essential to have a strategy for engaging with your audience.

It’s not enough to post across a variety of social media networks. Without a definitive plan for how you’re going to use social media, you probably won’t get the results that you want.

survival knife

Small Business Survival Guide Tips

by Launch

Running a small business isn’t easy, even during the best of times. Any small business owner will tell you that running a small business is challenging. When circumstances get tough, running a business becomes an even greater challenge.
During these difficult times, many small businesses fold under the pressure. They simply weren’t able to keep going. But many businesses have survived these incredibly challenging circumstances. Some of them have even thrived.
The point is that your business can make it through hard times. You’ll need to get creative. You’ll have to take decisive action. And you’ll need to make tough decisions. But you can do it!