Business tips

The busiest season for most businesses is around the holidays. When your business has defined highs and lows, capitalize on those highs by working a strategy during the lows. Here are five tips to help you prepare for the busy season when business is slow.

Even if you enjoy going to new places, traveling can be tiresome. Security concerns have made getting through the airport a hassle, and airfare rates are nothing to sneeze at. These are some of the reasons why online conferencing has become a much more attractive option.

Creating documents for online use can be a huge task for many web-based businesses. Many companies struggle with compatibility, integrating graphics and creating the right overall effect with their documents.

Many businesses are turning to PDF to create forms, brochures, and other documents for online use and exchange. This allows them to create print quality displays that are accessible by users on a variety of different software platforms. PDF gives companies a broader reach with their online content.

The Internet age is great, with video conferencing and sending emails back and forth. However one of the most annoying things in this age is when an email is sent to someone who does not reply. When there is no reply to a business email, it can be extremely frustrating and annoying. Believe it or not, it doesn't mean you're being ignored. Sometimes it’s just a way of saying “I'm extremely busy and I'll get back to you when I can.”

That leaves the burning question of what to do about it? Ignore that business contact? Absolutely not.

When dealing with employees, keeping them motivated is essential to our success. We can have the smartest, most talented people in the world, but if they're not motivated, business will suffer.

The funny thing about motivation is that it means different things to different people. Some enjoy competing against others, and the opportunity to do so brings out the best in them. Others simply like to be acknowledged when they do something extra. But how do you find out what it takes to motivate your employees? Just ask them.

When running a business, sometimes it seems like there are so many things to do that we don't know where to start. Setting priorities is essential. But sometimes that's easier said than done.

Prioritizing tasks may seem like a daunting task all by itself. It does take some thought, but if you come up with a system and stick to it, you can prioritize business tasks much more quickly and effectively. Here are some pointers.

Assistants are invaluable to small business owners. They handle administrative and other tasks that we don't have the time or patience to handle. They allow us to concentrate on making our businesses more profitable and doing what we love to do.

When working with assistants, it is important to keep tabs on the work they are doing. It helps us ensure that everything is taken care of. It eliminates confusion about pay. And it helps us determine when our assistants need to be rewarded for a job well done.

Whether you are in a full blown brick and mortar business, operating a business out of your home, or maybe a traveling salesperson, you will have customers, business associates and various other contacts. And like the rest of us, you will need to have access to their contact information. This information can and will be anything from a simple phone number to complete mailing addresses, fax numbers and maybe certain dates. If you have it written down, chances are it is important.

Being organized is essential to the health of any business. An organized office runs more efficiently and provides a less stressful environment for business owners and employees. And it's just more pleasing to look at than a disorganized office.

Disorganization makes everything much more difficult than it needs to be. This affects more than the obvious aspects such as filing. It tends to spill over into virtually every part of the business, and that can be disastrous.

Do you find yourself wishing there were more hours in the day so you would have enough time to get everything done? We all do. When it comes to business, it sometimes seems that there could never be enough hours in the day.

Time management is a stumbling block for many business owners. Sometimes it helps to find a way to hold ourselves accountable for how much time we spend on certain things. Timers are a great way to accomplish this.