SBA Loans Explained

This short video describes the most popular Small Business Administration loan program, the 7(a) loan.

This post is part of a network of sites interested with the intersection of small business, the philanthropic sector and government in creating healthy and sustainable communities.

Find additional information and resources on small business grants and loans, home buyer programs and Community Foundation programs from around the world.

Managing Your Reputation For Success: Tips And Tricks

Reputation management is something many people wish to learn about, but they’re not sure of where they should start. Maintaining a good reputation is crucial to the success of any business, and this article can show you how. Continue reading to learn how you can properly manage your reputation.

Check on your customers after the sale. This is even more important if your business is large. They need to feel like they matter to you. See if you can use automated contact systems. Also, ask them for feedback after they make purchases.

A good offense helps to deal with negative content. Put up positive testimonials from customers so others know what your business is really about. Be sure you’re posting content that’s positive about your brand so it will keep things fresh, and negative feedback is going to fall away in the search engine’s listings.

Be a person that’s personable on the Internet. It’s great to post tweets and update your social media status, but this is ineffective unless you are really trying to communicate with those that follow you. If you get someone posting a question to a social media site you run, be sure you’re answering things as fast as you can. If you get asked a question and you don’t know how to answer it, tell them that you’re working on finding the answer.

Try your best to be personable when you are online. You have to actively engage your followers in order to make tweets and updates work. If you receive a question on a social media site, be sure to respond immediately. If someone poses a question to which you do not know the response, advise the follower that you are attempting to find an answer.

Optimize your web pages. For example, your company name plus “best” or “trustworthy”. The biggest search engines favor authoritativeness. You will receive a higher search ranking when you are seen as an authority on the subject.

Social Media

Make sure all customers are satisfied. Reversing a customer’s opinion of you in a positive way is a good way to show them you care. If you’re doing this on the Internet, it’s even better. Others will see how you assist the unhappy customer and will leave with a positive impression.

Keep an eye on social media pages. Many consumers expect their questions to be answered on social media websites. Be sure that you’re replying fast, preferably in a couple of hours at least. This will help you to stand out from the rest.

Look at your presence on the Internet. One negative result on Google could sink you. Go over the search engine results to prevent anything negative about your business from making it to the top. Do your best to do this on a bi-monthly basis.

Reputation management is easy as long as you have the right information. Use what you learned and watch the positive effects. Do not wait, get started immediately.

Optimize your web pages. The key search term will likely be the name of your firm. The biggest search engines favor authoritativeness. When they consider you an authority, they’ll be more willing to move up your site in search results.

Learn More About Self Improvement With This Article

Are you attempting to live a life of higher quality? If you are ready to get started on a focused self improvement campaign, the tips below will be a big help.

Make friends who are positive-minded and bring joy to your life. This will help to boost your self-esteem as well as give you a bit of a break from the kind of people that spend their time badmouthing your dreams and goals every chance that they get.

Don’t put off making decisions, as this could deny you opportunities. You should not avoid decision making, even if you feel that you do not have all the information. Being able to make good decisions sometime requires you to trust your instincts. Even when your decision is incorrect, you can learn a lot from the mistake that you made. A wrong decision will help you choose the right path next time.

Try and surround yourself with people who think like you do. This will reinforce the aspects of your personality that you are seeking to develop, while allowing you to distance yourself from toxic individuals in your life.

Do some reading on personal development. You could well derive some great, life-changing ideas from the right books in the field. Be sure that you pick out a book that has been favorably reviewed because a lot of the times, these type of books can be poorly written.

Know the obstacles you face before you hit them. For a lot of people, this is very hard to do. Think of identifying your weakness as the first step in getting rid of them. Once you have removed the obstacles to your success, you can enjoy smooth sailing to your goals.

Take a notebook around with you to jot ideas in. Carry paper with you everywhere. Write down your idea in detail, then implement it at a later time when you can expand on the issue.

Try to get the most out of your work time to get more accomplished. Allow yourself more time for breaks. This might seem counterproductive, but having constant breaks will help you recharge and unwind, so that you will get a lot more things done when you go back to working.

Rather than bragging to others about all of your accomplishments, instead ask people about theirs. This is a wonderful means of learning more about your peers and their abilities; you also might discover a new role model.

It doesn’t have to be a difficult task to become happier. Keep in mind the fantastic benefits you can gain from developing your life into something you love.

Top Tips For Reputation Management In Business

If you would like your business to do well, you have to work on creating a great business image. You must know that the success and failure of any business is dependent upon how others perceive your reputation. Continue reading and learn what it takes to manage your business the right way.

The best way to deal with any online negative content is to prove a good defense. With a lot of positive feedback, it can help to drown out a negative or two. Continually update your image so that positive impacts overwhelm the negative.

Stay up to date on news and information pertaining to your product or service. This way, you will always be able to give customers useful information. Take a few minutes each day to run an online search to get the newest facts about the industry you’re in.

Check on your customers after the sale. A big business will find this even more true. Customers would like to feel as if they actually matter to your company. You can even use automated systems to follow up. Also, ask them for feedback after they make purchases.

Keep all private promotions private. This rings particularly true when you are discounting to satisfy a complaint. Do not post what you’re doing to take care of issues. Some people might complain to get free things.

Go to places where your customers go. If you know you have customers who frequent a particular spot, join them there. When you’re where your customers are, you can understand them better. A lot of people will be comfortable when they’re in a setting that’s more social and may open up to let you know what they think.

You will receive more responses as your customer base grows. This will include complaints every once in a while, and you have to learn how to address them. In addition, you should address them properly so others will approve of how you handled them.

When dealing with some negative content regarding your online brand, have a good offense. Counteract any negative comments online with tons of positive remarks. Post positive content regularly to keep things fresh, pushing the negativity down in those search engine results.

When you see something negative in print about your company, it’s natural to get angry at the person who wrote the comment, especially if what they commented on wasn’t completely truthful. It is best to maintain a level head and address the accusations directly. When people read both sides, they can judge things for themselves.

When something bad happens to your business, what follows is damage to your reputation, and that can lead to lower profits. It’s important to deal with them and learn from them. Now, you can begin practicing it today.