Running a successful business is not easy. There are numerous factors that can affect your business success, especially if your business is still in the startup phase. The online market is highly competitive and overcrowded, which means you need a way to make your startup stand out from the others. Another important thing to understand is that, in order to make sure your business reaches success, you can never stop improving it.

Content is at the heart of SEO, but not the run of the mill type of content created just for the sake of it. When creating content, you must be clear about what SEO goals you want to achieve through it. Content connects businesses with the audience and builds relationships with them and turn them into loyal followers of the brand.  Therefore, you have to create content that goes viral and enjoys wide sharing so that it creates a buzz for business. Since you want to create viral content, you have to know how to ensure at the time of content creation that it would create a stir.  The content has to impress the audience, leave a lasting impact and encourage them to share it.

It’s official: the sharing economy is booming. Companies like Airbnb, Homeaway, and VRBO have made it easier than ever to capitalize your properties when you’re not occupying them. This can net a tidy profit, but what if you want to take the next step and make your living renting out your properties? Becoming a landlord or property manager is a fantastic way to generate income while also being your own boss, but navigating the business itself may be daunting for some.

We're celebrating Idea Cafe's birthday in a big way... For our 23^rd birthday we are partnering with DigitalOcto to bring some exciting gifts to fellow small business owners who need to boost their social media presence.

If you've been struggling with making great quality graphics to grow your social media brand, then you need DesignPro, because it will help you astound your audience with ease.

DesignPro is an easy, drag-and-drop graphic design tool with more than 1500 pre-made templates based on the latest social media trends, business niches and holidays.

If you’re a business owner, somebody’s probably already encouraged you to change your website over from HTTP to HTTPS encryption.

Why is this so important? What’s the difference between HTTP and HTTPS, anyhow? What sort of benefit does HTTPS bring for your company’s search engine optimization? How does that one extra letter make any kind of difference?

Let’s talk.

We moved into our house 10 years ago. At the time, I made one promise: “I’m never moving again. They’re carrying me out of here in a box.”

“Why move?,” I thought. “The neighborhood is great, the schools are nearby, and the house has everything we want.”

Besides, it was such an ordeal to move that I did the math and quickly determined that death was preferable to packing boxes, painting bedrooms and killing/trapping whatever appears to be living beneath the back deck.

There are certain things in life you just can’t get back. And a first impression is one of them. No matter how hard you try, your initial interaction with someone leaves a lasting impression. It’s how they see and judge you for the foreseeable future. This is true not only in your personal life but business as well. If you’re a new business owner you want to make a memorable, positive first impression with customers. Sadly, all it takes is one bad experience for a customer to write you off as just another shim-sham operation. And even worse, they’ll likely tell their friends about their terrible experience, keeping those people from ever stepping foot inside your establishment. So how do you make a good, lasting first impression as a new business owner? Read on to find out.

With only one full month of the summer left, many seasonal businesses will no doubt be starting to evaluate whether their peak months have been a success. If that’s you, and you’re certain that they have - congratulations! But what are you going to do once it’s over, and the dreaded post-peak period starts to swoop in?

It felt like we had been waiting an eternity for July to finally arrive. On July 10th, we would have our public zoning hearing and hopefully, obtain our final zoning approval. With our special exception granted, the schedule would begin to complete the last steps we needed to take in order to open.

Startups make a big proportion of businesses and in most parts of the world, startups are the drivers of the economy. However, despite this fact, most startup businesses fizzle out within months of incorporation. Failure of these initially promising businesses has been due to lack of funding and financing. If you are an entrepreneur, you need to have a strategic plan on how to survive in the market and how to manage your finances well.