Cities should purchase from minority and women entrepreneurs | Fast Company

January 30, 2019January 29, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The population of Memphis, Tennessee is 63% black. Over half of the local businesses are black-owned; if you’re a black entrepreneur, it regularly tops the list of best places to start a businesses. But a 2012 study found that black-owned businesses take in less than 1% of all the money spent in the city. Women-owned businesses–particularly those owned by women of color–also struggle.

Part of the issue, says Joann Massey, a businesses consultant who now heads up the Memphis Office of Business Diversity and Compliance, is how Memphis spends its money. Cities contract with vendors for everything from paper and pencils to construction work and technology services. In Memphis, as in most cities, those vendors are typically run by white men.

2019 Tax Refund Chart Can Help You Guess When You’ll Receive Your Money

January 30, 2019January 29, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If anyone tells you that they have the 2019 tax filing season all figured, they’re lying. By all accounts, the upcoming tax season is going to be tricky. Despite a shoestring staff due to the shutdown, new tax forms and new tax rules, the 2019 tax season is still set to open on January 28, 2019. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claims that the season will operate as close to normal as possible—including issuing tax refunds.

So when are those tax refunds coming? Assuming no delays, what follows are my best guesses for expected returns based on filing dates and information from the IRS:

Weird February Holidays Small Business Owners Can Use for Marketing | Small Business Trends

January 29, 2019January 28, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

January’s going by in the blink of an eye as businesses of all sectors channel their energies into starting the new year as they mean to go on.

The good news is that while it might not be home to a ‘momentous’ holiday like Christmas or Easter, February is brimming with some wacky and wonderful holidays that offer business owners opportunity to promote themselves, extend their reach and ultimately make money.

Weird Holidays in February

Take a look at the following weird February holidays small business owners can celebrate and make money from.

14 Overused Business Phrases We Must Retire (And Better Ways to Communicate) | AllBusiness.com

January 29, 2019January 28, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There are over 470,000 entries in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, with scores added every year. Yet in business, we tend to overuse the comfortable phrases we’ve become accustomed to, thinking we sound smart. News flash: We don’t actually sound smart.

I’m guilty of it. You’re guilty of it. Your clients are guilty of it. Using these clichés must stop now. Communication (read: good communication) is critical for your business to succeed. It helps you establish credibility among clients and even employees.

I reached out to business professionals across the United States for their number one buzzword pet peeve, and better ways to communicate it. You’ll want to save this list.

The Best Way to Sort Consulting Clients into “Types” | David A. Fields

January 28, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As consultants, we are masters of a particularly human trait: simplifying. We boil down a confusingly multifarious muddle into orderly, digestible bites. We apply this ability to trends, situations, strategies, opportunities, and virtually everything else. Including people.

Yep, we will happily reduce incomprehensible complexity (which pretty much describes humanity) into a handful of characteristics (which pretty much describes tiddlywinks pieces).

This makes sense, of course. You don’t want to address your English-speaking clients in Korean, serve pastrami sandwiches to vegan prospects, or invite a supremely introverted decision-maker out to the disco.

Is It Time to Consider a Fixed Fee for Your Consulting Services? | Liz Steblay

January 28, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Generally, the more experience you have as an independent consultant, the more likely you should move from billing by the hour to a fixed fee. At some point you’ll master your specialty and work much more efficiently than others. This means to earn what your services are truly worth, you’ll have to keep raising your hourly rates. But at some point, you’ll reach an invisible rate ceiling when clients think you’re too expensive, even if it takes you half the time to do the work.

When you reach this point, it’s time to start thinking about billing for your services by the project instead of by the hour or day. The idea is to price the project as if you’re going to do it from scratch, even though you know you’re going to adapt plans and materials from prior projects. By doing so, you’ll boost your income per hour.

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5 Ideas for Your Loyalty Program | Business

January 25, 2019January 24, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Want to boost customer loyalty? These rewards program tactics can help you build a loyal customer base and drive more sales.

Everyone loves to save money when they shop. When customers join a loyalty program, they expect brands to give them the freedom to use their points to get better deals.

However, roughly 54 percent of memberships for loyalty programs remain inactive, indicating that many customers are not using the loyalty programs for which they signed up. This is possibly because the program isn’t relevant to them or is inconvenient for them. With this in mind, you need to find ways to improve your loyalty programs so your loyal customers can get the most out of it and become even more loyal to your brand.

Amazon’s Slick Fire TV Recast is a Great Way to Record Broadcast TV | Digital Trends

January 25, 2019January 24, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’re a dedicated cord-cutter or a rural viewer without reliable cable, on-demand access to your favorite network shows can be a pain to find. Sure, a quality HDTV antenna is a great way to get local programming for many, but who has the patience to rearrange their schedules for appointment viewing in the streaming era? Thankfully a whole new generation of over-the-air (OTA) DVRs has emerged to solve this problem, including Amazon’s own Fire TV Recast.

Smart Fridge | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

January 24, 2019January 23, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Samsung has been sticking touchscreens on fridges since 2016, adding a few new features every year. Right on cue, the company unveiled the latest Family Hub fridges at CES 2019, with the main new addition being a Family Board screen dedicated to posting photos and messages, and support for the latest version of the Bixby voice assistant.

The annual updates to the Family Hub are fairly incremental, but the basics of the smart fridge stay the same. There’s a 21.5-in touchscreen built into one door that lets users peer into the fridge without opening it, share photos and messages with the family, get news and weather updates, set reminders, play music and video, add items to a shopping list, find and follow recipes, and keep track of expiration dates.

Unique Careers to Pursue | The Startup Magazine

January 24, 2019January 23, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In choosing a career path, there are so many possibilities that you can pursue. The whole idea about enjoying your work is getting into a career path that is interesting and unique. While careers like working in a web design agency, law and healthcare can be extremely satisfying, there are more interesting career paths that you can choose that are completely out of the box.

Having a unique job can make waking up every day to go to work very satisfying. Not only will you be making money that will sustain you and your family, but you’ll also have a chance to truly enjoy what you’re doing every day. We will share some careers that some lucky individuals call jobs. It is never too late to change your career if this is something that would truly satisfy you.