Everyone needs a helping hand. Look around the world, the country or even your own community and you can find plenty of worthy causes to support. The problem is your resources are limited, so you have to pick and choose. To complicate matters, some of these ‘charities’ will help the people or issues they say they will, while others will just help themselves.

How do you tell the difference? The first place to stop may be the Internet. Here are 3 of the top charity online vetting services:

Featured Resource this week - iMember360

WordPress Membership Plugin for Infusionsoft™

Unleash the power of WordPress and iMember360 to create your Infusionsoft™ driven membership site instantly! iMember360 - a WordPress plugin that turns a normal WordPress site into a full-featured membership site with all the protection controls you can imagine, almost limitless customization, and driven by Infusionsoft’s second-to-none CRM and e-commerce engine.

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You’ve heard about the importance of social media a thousand times. Tools like Facebook, Twitter and others are the new way to help establish your company in the market. And even if you’ve already carved out a niche, you can’t rest on your laurels. In a constantly changing market, yesterday’s successful media strategy may become tomorrow’s albatross.

So what are the new social media trends that are popping up in 2017?

If you’ve gone through the supermarket or drug store lately, you’ve probably come across a display ad for Calgon soaps. Most of these ads feature attractive young women with dreamy expressions on their faces and the catchphrase: “Calgon! Take me away!”

And if you’re like many of us, the ad probably inspires thoughts of a well-deserved vacation. The cold weather many of us are facing, the deadlines and the pile of work we have waiting for us back at the office, don’t help turn our thoughts away either.

So what type of vacation will it be this year?

April 15th.  It’s a day that’s become seared into the memory of millions of taxpayers each year as they eagerly gather their forms for that nice big refund or perhaps wait until the last minute to make their reluctant contribution to Uncle Sam’s coffers. But depending on how you’ve organized your business, there may be an even more important date on your calendar: the corporate tax deadline on March 15th.

For some types of businesses like sole proprietorships and some single member LLCs, the middle of March is nothing more than another day on the business calendar. However, if you’ve set up your business as a partnership or an S-corporation, you may want take the advice Julius Caesar so flippantly ignored and beware the Ides of March.

Featured Resource this week - Digital Product Delivery

Digital Publishing for eBooks and Downloads

DPD is an easy to use digital publishing platform for selling and delivering downloadable content. Upload your products to DPD and start selling in minutes. With DPD, all sales are paid directly to you with no per-sale fees, bandwidth charges, or commissions.

Check out others who we recommend - solid vendors and products that could benefit your business today.

 Christmas and New Year’s Day have come and gone, and with them, the color, the celebration and the good feelings seem like they’ve gone as well. Now there is an endless stream of gloomy winter days in front of you.

If the winter doldrums are getting to you, maybe it’s time to consider closing up shop and getting away to the country’s biggest party this side of New Year’s Eve— that’s right, we mean Mardi Gras. Sounds great, right?

If only.

“There’s a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal one.”

    —Shep Hyken

When a customer walks out the door, we hope they’re satisfied that they received good value for their purchase price and that they’ll be coming back. It’s the basic goal of any business.

However, if your business is going to thrive, you need more than that. You want them walking out the door so delighted with your company that they’ll tell their family and friends about you and praise you to the skies in online reviews. It’s the kind of hidden advertising money can’t buy. 

When you’re planning out your mid-year marketing, it’s important to remember summer will be back even though it might not feel like it at the moment. More importantly, it’s a chance to remind your customers of it, too. Winter is a harsh time when customers aren’t inclined to open their wallet. Summer brings good memories of sun and fun, and when people are feeling relaxed and comfortable, they’re a lot more inclined to make purchases.

It’s that mindset you want to get them into with your marketing. To do this, look for ways to incorporate summer themes into your marketing.

Featured Resource this week - TurboDial

This Personal Communicator brings the Power of Infusionsoft to your Inside Sales Campaigns!

With turboDial you never leave Infusionsoft – place a phone call to any contact at any time right from MyDay, from a saved search or from contact and opportunity records!

Plan your calls in advance or make them spontaneously – turboDial is the only solution effective for both

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Featured Resource this week - Time Fusion

Automate Your Appointments

Are you using TimeTrade or Full Slate to give your clients online access for setting appointments with you? If not, you should be!

TimeFusion integrates Infusionsoft with TimeTrade and Full Slate to automate your appointment scheduling!

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Lead magnets are as old as time. They are at least as old as selling and advertising. We definitely didn't invent them in our era, even though they are a frequent topic in discussions of Marketing 101 to marketing trends.

First let’s be clear what a lead magnet is, and isn’t.

Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day because it helps you start your day out right, giving you the nutrition and energy you need to get things rolling. Just like breakfast, hitting your Q1 goals will help you get things rolling for your business. Your Q1 success is the foundation to base the other three quarters of the year on, and while finishing strong is also important, getting off to a fast start is even better.

So how are you doing with those early goals?

Featured Resource this week - XtendIn

We LOVE this! XtendIn is a Google Chrome Web Browser Extension that extends ActiveCampaign / Infusionsoft / Xero Web Application Interfaces with a variety of features. (Get a 90-Day Free Trial, then inexpensive subscription - worth every penny!)

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Featured Resource this week - Grammarly

Grammarly is the world’s most accurate grammar checker. 

Grammarly makes you a better writer by finding and correcting up to 10× more mistakes than your word processor.

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