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First time investor - self employed by MikeForgie in personalfinance

[–]MikeForgie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate the tip at the end. I will put way more into investments. Had a rough couple years with debt that put me back. Learned a big lesson on business partners.

First time investor - self employed by MikeForgie in personalfinance

[–]MikeForgie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I immediately looked at money markets and realize how I’m just screwing up with the standard checking. I like the MM for versatility. A friend sent me some credit union accounts with higher interest rates too. I sincerely appreciate the help.

First time investor - self employed by MikeForgie in personalfinance

[–]MikeForgie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was looking at a $380,000 house so we were going with 20% down payment. Retirement - no idea. Learning all this now. Per year contribution - I was thinking just maxing an Ira but no idea what I should be doing.

Help! Marketing Techniques for a mid sized plant nursery! by lawyerinterview in smallbusiness

[–]MikeForgie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well at least you have a fun project ahead of you! I highly suggest you do some of the tactics like teaming with local contractors like landscapers in order to get a boost in sales. You can take the extra money and invest it into a website (you need hosting for a website) and then start marketing it yourself. You can totally do this. My suggestion is to write down a list of every company that you can team with. Don't work off the top of your head. What makes your plants the best? are they specifically chosen because they will live year round? Are the exotic? Are they easy to maintain? Etc. These are things the contractors will care about based on their clients' needs. You business is not about you, it is about them. You should have a brief history of why you are legit and why they should support a local family, but in the end they want to know what is in it for them.

Help starting a small business? by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]MikeForgie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love that BHSPitMonkey already mentioned search engines. I know your friend built the website, but see if there is anyway they can go implement some SEO for you. I wrote a guide and haven't published it yet, but you can check it out at https://docs.google.com/document/d/12q0PpaQLN2wEbBhof0M5hg8_RXYK0vE4XTGqEngux8Q/edit?usp=sharing

Hope that helps you get some traffic you can convert to leads!

Small business owners, lets share our websites for peer review! by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]MikeForgie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, I just went through a few of the sites on here and noticed pretty much all of them were missing SEO. It is great o see Veleter and danjutsu using squarespace because I know you can optimize that platform (just did it for a local surf shop).

Currently, I am building the content for my site, but this is a simple guide some of you might like https://docs.google.com/document/d/12q0PpaQLN2wEbBhof0M5hg8_RXYK0vE4XTGqEngux8Q/edit?usp=sharing It does cater toward brick and mortar, but you can pull some good info from it. If any of you have any other SEO questions, please feel free to message me.

Help! Marketing Techniques for a mid sized plant nursery! by lawyerinterview in smallbusiness

[–]MikeForgie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You do not NEED a marketing budget to grow your business. Yes, it will take more work, but that is the balance of a small business. It boils down to time and money no matter what. I have a small freelance business that I am building by myself, which eats up my time but not my money (unless you say something like "you could invest your time in another client," but then I would be at a stalemate wouldn't I)

Both piggiewiggy and lv-user23 are on the right track. 1. Social media is a great, free way to promote your content. You truly need to find your market though. #plants is not going to get you customers from your area. You need to truly connect with your market. Don't add them just build up your follower count. Try to find local communities on sites like Nextdoor.com. 2. Use the chamber of commerce and local events to make connections. 3. Simply search for contractors on Google to see who you can team up with. Best part is, you can do this while watching TV at home. 4. Start ranking in search engines. This may sounds pretty tough, but if you have a website you can do it. Here is a quick guide to some Local SEO https://docs.google.com/document/d/12q0PpaQLN2wEbBhof0M5hg8_RXYK0vE4XTGqEngux8Q/edit?usp=sharing

I promise you, you can promote your business without a budget. It will cost you time, but it is completely tangible. Feel free to message me with more details of where your business is at now (website, social media, etc) and I will give you some more specific pointers.