small biz 100

The best channel to communicate with customers

The best channel to communicate with customers is ... the one the customer chooses.OK, you can stop reading right there, if you'll take that sentence to heart. But for this installment of the Small...

Hiring your first assistant

For this installment of the Small Biz 100, Liz Strauss shares some insights on hiring an assistant, virtual or local. Where can a small business person find an assistant locally?Liz suggests looking...

How to work with a Virtual Assistant

For small town small business people, virtual assistants could be one of the best kept secret tools. A good VA can take some of the administrative load off of your shoulders, and make your business...

Hook customers with your compelling offer

Our Friend Susan Reynolds has a terrific story of a marketing success you can learn from. It's so good, I'm including it in our Small Biz 100, so you can develop your compelling offer that gets you...

Working with independent contractors without getting into trouble with the IRS

In our massively connected professional networks, handing work off to friends and associates is pretty common. But it also triggers some tax issues in the US.When you pay someone to write an article,...

Checklists for starting your first business

"I just got my first paying side gig! Now what? Am I a business? What do I have to file? How does all this work?"If you are active in the world of social and creative media, you may find yourself...

The Small Biz 100

Based on the enormous success of Checklists for starting your first business, we are starting a series of 100 practical, how-to small business posts. I stole (or borrowed) this idea from Chris Brogan...