Small Business

Don’t Try to Trick the Search Engines!

March 3, 2011

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing the content of your webpage  so that your site is easily and readily found by your potential customers who are using search engines to research their purchases. SEO is necessary and although time consuming, can be done fairly easily. Whether or not you choose to tackle [...]

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For Goodness Sake, Interview Before You Hire!

February 24, 2011

One of the biggest reported problems for small businesses is less than reliable employees. This seems to be especially true for service types of business who hire employees to help them work in more jobs/hours. Today I was sitting with a client who is a successful business, running a successful commercial service. He told me [...]

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Inc.com Features the Iowa Western SBDC as One of the Most Helpful in US!

February 22, 2011

Every once and a while it is nice to toot our own horn!  Check out the www.inc.com article featuring what they label as 10 of the most helpful SBDC’s in America (inlcuding the IWCC SBDC in Council Bluffs Iowa.) We are so proud to be a part of such a great and rich national network [...]

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Is Your Small Business Idea Feasible?

February 17, 2011

As a Small Business Development Center Director I see countless individuals who have a dream to start a small business.  As you know the first thing that needs to be done is a Business Plan.  But where do you start? How long does it have to be?  At what point do you see if this [...]

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What’s your motto?

May 24, 2010

by Julie Mierau We all know that physicians pledge to “first, do no harm.” But do you know Google’s company motto? “Don’t be evil.” Yep, it’s true. That’s the guiding principle at arguably the world’s premiere Internet-based company. Pretty big statement for a pretty big company. But why not something equally as ambitious for a [...]

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Coupon Customer Service

May 19, 2010

By Coreen Trost, Entreprenerial Center Office Manager Does your business use coupons?  If you do, how do you or your employees treat the customers who use them?  Do you thank them for using the coupon?    Or do your cashiers roll their eyes and check the expiration date like you are the biggest annoyance that had [...]

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Tips to Heat Up your Summer Business

May 11, 2010

Summer is coming. Really. I can feel it in the distance. Sure, it is unseasonably cold right now in Southwest Iowa, but summer is right around the corner and it is time to add a bit to your marketing regimen to your Iowa small business. Having a marketing strategy is key and every business should [...]

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Don’t pass over your current customers to get new ones

May 3, 2010

Maybe it’s just me, but I get really annoyed when a business or organization I do business with offers special deals for new customers but nothing for existing customers. Just this morning, a business association announced that if you join during May, you can be entered into a drawing for $7,500 worth of free marketing [...]

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Your mama was right

January 12, 2010

Remember when your mama told you there was no such thing as a free lunch? Turns out, she was right. Imagine that. Now, repeat after me: There’s no free grant money out there to start or expand my business. That’s right, boys and girls, there is no free grant money out there. No matter what [...]

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Do you love what you do?

January 5, 2010

On my drive in to the office this morning, an NPR reporter was quoting a report, due out today, that says most Americans hate their jobs. The report, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households conducted for The Conference Board by TNS, found that 45 percent of those surveyed are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61.1 [...]

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