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I will likely sign up for an online course if I have seen testimonials and have heard positive feedback from real people I know.

Or if I know the person professionally (which sometimes mean I have developed a relationship with them over social media)

There are several things that stop me

• Not offered at a convenient time (based on my schedule - during the week is not great as some companies don't help pay for course so you have to use vacation time to attend - so you are paying twice, the course fee and the vacation days you have to use)
• Not offered at a convenient location (if it isn't close enough to get to by car or mass transit it will impact decision). If I have to pay for a hotel room (one or more days) that also ups the "total cost" of the course.
• Negative reviews from other trusted professionals - If I hear that the course instructor was unpleasant or that the material covered was not beneficial, I'd probably not attend.

Hi Rachael,The EA/PA you're targeting probably gets hundreds of sales calls/emails and as a result probably already has a rejection wall built. I've got to say, it's damn hard work trying to sell/market to anybody unless you are helping them with a problem they currently have.If you genuinely think you can help them, the following idea will definitely warm up your potential client:Send them something in the post that doesn't look like a piece of 'junk mail'.-Mail is great because it isn't obtrusive. -It's that initial soft approach that's needed in the beginning stages of your sales cycle. -I've used clear envelopes, blank (un-printed/no branding) envelopes, kraft boxes and black shiny bubble bags. This way, you can at least give your mail a chance of being opened. Now what you put inside is important. Don't make your EA/PA think she's been tricked to open your mail!-Become the solution for your potential client, don't try and sell. -Nice giveaway that your EA/PA will use-Offer / call to actionAs an example: I have a 'launch-pad' with launching business tips on each page as a giveaway to any start-up that enquires. It's an A6 sized quality pad that has my branding on the cover and on each page. If you'd like any more info on this, feel free to contact me.I hope this helps you :)

Allow them to experience your product. That's the best way. I see you are in the transport industry? offer them a complementary trip. That way they will brag about it and recomend you to their bosses.

Good answer Phil. The thing I'd add to that is that your business will be worth much more if you are not in it! By that I mean that if the business relies on you then the purchaser of the business really needs to buy you as well - or at least some of your time. You want to make yourself redundant through effective systems, training etc. You can still work in the business if you want to of course.

Hey Nick, 

Great question. I think as business owners we often wonder about our business valuation but perhaps never get around to ask it.

I'm neither a qualified business valuer nor have extensive experience in this field, but I can talk to some of my personal experience and give you some ideas. In fact, I just went through a similar process involving a family business.

I used a combination of 3 methods below - initially as a back of the envelop exercise, then refine it iteratively: 

1) income based - i.e. earnings such as EBITDA and cashflow calculations

2) asset based - asset values, liabilities, liquidation costs, etc. I'd argue that you should consider both tangible and intangible assets, such as IP, brand recognition i.e. assets that have net positive effect on the business long term

3) market based - basically what the market is prepare to pay, based on comparing of recent sales of similar companies. For instance, sifting through sites like realcommercial.com.au or domainbusiness.com.au gave me a ballpark idea.

I reckon business valuation is a combination of science and art. The methods I used above is merely a guide, but you will find that there are lots of intricacies in applying these methods. What I found is that different assumptions will easily throw your calculations off a tangent. This is where a good professional business valuer can really help with bringing the art of applying these and other methods based on their experience. What I found critical too is a good business broker who knows the market inside out, and knows how to market your business accordingly.

At the end of the day, you need to be confident that the right combination of techniques and experience are used reasonably to valuate your business when you're ready to sell.

Hope this helps.

Its not what's more effective, they are two different things. On-page SEO is the technical elements that make up each individual webpage and the complete website. So things like optimising for page load speed, mobile responsiveness, crawl ability etc and page elements like Title tags, Meta descriptions, page content etc.

On-page is the foundation of a website. In low competition niches, its possible to rank high just with great on-page optimisation.

Off-page is any activity on another website that points to your website. So links, social shares etc form the basis of Off-page SEO.

If your site is not ranking for your desired keywords, then look at your On-page SEO first. Get your site optimised to todays standards.

Then if you still need a boost to the first page, you will need to start acquiring backlinks and social signals from niche relevant (and local relevant for local businesses) websites.

I have been 'changing tables' all my life and so far so good. I can't see how you can stay at the same 'table' for very long without stagnating. It's a cliche but, "if your not growing you're..."   

An often-quoted benchmark for small business advertising is to allocate 2 percent of your sales revenue for advertising. However, we asked Sageworks, a financial information company, if that figure was still accurate. We asked what is the average amount small businesses spend on advertising.Confidential Detective is the best detective agency in Delhi. It offers Pre matrimonial investigation, Divorce case investigation, Post matrimonial investigation, etc.

Absolutely - test and measure.But perhaps you're on the wrong track"The price of being unremarkable is advertising."So how can you make yourself more remarkable so that word-of-mouth (still the best form of introduction) can happen? Check out the Gaddie Pitch as a way to articulate this.

If your selling products via an online store you can reach out to your customers by sending them a satisfaction survey. You could reach out to them with thank you messaged including a discount voucher for their next purchase.

There are so many way to communicate with your customers when you don't have physical contact with them.

It all comes down to the type of relationship you want/need with your customers. In some cases having online portals is needed, support desks or a simple email is needed.

Most of my customers will call me if they need anything. However there is nothing stopping you from calling them if you believe it is necessary. Not all customers want to have a chat, some just want to make a purchase and move on with their day.I am always travelling and at the moment I am overseas, however my clients can still call a local number if they want to speak directly with me. It just comes down to making sure you have the correct systems setup and software to ensure your customers don't feel like you have left them in the dark.

Providing a good service/product is usually enough to retain most customers though.

I don't know how they do. Often one real meet, call or skype conference in the beginning will be enough to cement that lasting relationship for future communications when email will be the norm.

Automation is generally the solution, also reviewing your workflow. Automating invoices is common practice in most companies. If you still want manual invoicing you just need to change the workflow so checks are in place.Staff will always make errors. This could be careless as you say, in that case training or reviewing their position in the business is required. Over worked is also a common cause. Either way, you need to review all the errors that are being made. Review the workflow you have in place and safety checks. Once you have an understanding of the issue, start looking for the appropriate solutions.As companies grow, work load increases. It is common for staff who have been employed to do one thing are now taking on extra responsibilities without the correct training. Take this opportunity to review your entire companies process, your growth and look at your current systems and processes. It could be a very good turning point for your business.

Hey Andrea! :D

Agree with all 3 responses. 100% behind Louise's point on processes. With any business, we should focus on creating processes and systems because fact of the matter is that until such time that we have those in place, us as business owners are crossing our fingers and hoping that good people stay. So even if we improve the people and get them working well, once they leave, we're left in the same position. With processes, we can relieve that stress and anxiety. It might take a little longer to get them in place but is much easier to 'scale', whether you're replacing existing staff or growing the team. 

By the same token, don't take the human element out of it as per what Melissa discussed. To have the right processes in place, we need to know why things aren't working. Sometimes as managers, our expectations aren't aligned with reality of being in the role of a staff member. So is worth having a frank chat with your staff and really understanding what the issues are. Are they simply careless or is there something else we haven't considered because we're removed from the situation?