By:  James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer

1)  Establish your Authority:

Through advice, anecdotes, and selective marketing, a blog allows business owners to establish themselves as leaders in their field. An interior decorator can post home repair advice. A computer technician can share cybersecurity tips. Your business is helping your customers in their everyday endeavors. A blog allows you to provide free tidbits to demonstrate your potential, nudging viewers toward deeper engagement.

2)  Promote your Brand to Attract Talent:

A blog allows a chance to profile your company’s employees, showing the human face of your enterprise. Whether a college degree, special award, or new business license, a blog enables a business owner to boast about their talents and human assets. This is the time and place to boast about achievements and milestones. Whatever a business has to offer, a blog allows a channel to share the value of their human capital.

3)  Share Testimonials:

A blog lets potential customers hear from the horse’s mouth. Did you know that 50 % of customers   make purchases after researching products online, and 92% trust referrals from people they know? Online testimonials offer a personal connection in researching your product or service. Blogs are the perfect venue to showcase good karma and positive goodwill.

4)  Drive Traffic to your Website:

When customers read your blog, they are nearly twice as likely to click on your website. The more engaging the blog, the more hits will accumulate on your main website. Blogs offer the perfect chance for engagement with clientele. One simple link multiplies exposure to the site providing information

5)  Analyze Demographics:

Any marketing campaign needs user data. The back-end data from site visits provides feedback on the geographic and behavioral characteristics of your audience, and hence allows wise use of advertising dollars. Google Analytics and SEO software can prove valuable tools in breaking down this information.

6)  Promote Business Partners:

Most businesses have partners involved in their supply chain or service delivery. A blog provides opportunities to plug fellow companies. Business relationships are by nature reciprocal, and owners can expect good karma from small acts to promote your fellow travelers in the industry.

7)  Involve Employees:

Your business allows creation of a fun, vibrant workplace community. A blog allows the showcasing of get-togethers, life events, and updates about your workforce. Every time a worker shares these updates on social media, more attention is drawn to your company. Every time they tell a friend about their fun workplace activity, you spread positive word of mouth.

Better yet, with each share, your SEO numbers go up. Engagement with your own website increases, and your business will more likely appear in search results.

8)  Earn Cash through Promotions and Advertisements:

A blog provides advertising space, and selling these promotional opportunities only adds to your company’s value. Not only can a blog provide saleable advertising space, but other ideas may include selling products online, providing internet-based courses, and conducting online market research.

9)  Inform Customers of Socially Conscious Activities:

Community engagement provides some of the best advertising opportunities. Did you know that 85% of customers are more likely to support businesses that donate or volunteer?  Bloggers should not hesitate to draw attention to their good works and promote relevant causes. Goodwill from customers and good karma follows.

Conclusion:

Online marketing is all about engagement. Engagement provides outreach as well as market feedback necessary to adapt products and services to their relevant markets. Blogs are vibrant, living documents that provide a dynamic, engaging sphere for client outreach. The above strategies can maximize traffic to both your blog and your website, adapting your business to your specialized market niche as well as changing demands.

If you are not already a member of VAMBOA, please consider joining.  There are not any dues or membership fees.  We provide a great deal of valuable information weekly.  You can also proudly display the VAMBOA seal on your website and collateral.

Here is a link to sign up:  https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

By Debbie Gregory.

The year 2020 has been a very shaky on numerous levels.   Many small businesses have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are some that have continued to operate profitably and even experience growth with the help of government loans, tax credits, and payroll deferrals.

All have seen drastic changes to their income, workforce, supply chains, and customers. As we head into the holiday season and New Year it is time to focus on what your potential tax liabilities for 2020 will be. What are the questions you should discuss with your accountant or tax professional to plan appropriately and not be surprised?

Below are five tax related issues that immediately come to mind that you will want to discuss:

1.) Will the government stimulus check impact my taxes?

The answer is both yes and no.  It depends on the programs and assistance you may have taken or not taken.  Below are three of the most popular COVID assistance programs and if they will help or harm your taxes for 2020:

• If you participated in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) you will not be taxed on any loans you took under that program. However, any expenses incurred that are eligible for forgiveness are not tax deductible that may create a tax liability for you.
• If you paid any employees for time off under the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act, you will be entitled to a tax credit once this year ends.
• If you deferred payroll taxes, you will still owe them; you simply delayed when you needed to pay them.

2.) How does working from home impact taxes?

You and your employees who are working from home may be able to deduct expenses incurred from running an office out of your homes.  Some of the expenses may include such items as the space you used, equipment, utilities, etc. However, if your employees are working from home out-of-state you may be liable for higher payroll taxes than your home state charges. It really depends on the makeup of your company and employees if you may be facing any potential tax liabilities or benefits.

3.) Should I be saving more for my retirement?

Most of the current workforce working from home has seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of money they spend on food, going out to restaurants, entertainment and other consumer goods that may translate into building greater savings.   Now is a very good time to put those savings away for the future. Consider contributing more to your 401(k) or IRA accounts.

4.) Is now a good time to invest in capital equipment?

Right now, there are a lot of outstanding deals out there and interest rates are very low too. Lots of businesses are taking advantage of that fact and are buying needed equipment, furniture, technology, and other capital items at steep discounts. A lot of these purchases are deductible and can equal huge tax savings.

5.) Can I estimate my 2020 taxes based on last year?

Candidly, 2020 has been so chaotic and unprecedented that your estimation based on the prior year should be tossed out the window! You may have made way less this year than anticipated, or way more, and your actual tax implication may not even properly reflect the reality of your income. Take a close look at how your business did this year overall to make a better estimation of what your taxes may be.

Taxes are an unavoidable and annual huge expense for all of us. This year taxes are going to be more confusing and difficult than ever before. The earlier you can get together with your accountant or tax professional to go over what your potential tax liability will be, the better it will be, and you can prepare accordingly.   These are questions that you need to address with your account or tax professional.

If you are looking at updating your technology, please check out the very significant discounts being extended to VAMBOA family and friends by Dell Technologies.  Here is a link to check them out:  https://vamboa.org/dell-technologies/

By James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer

Just when we thought we were “over the hump,” coronavirus cases spiked. Many brick-and-mortar stores took fatal blows trailing the last wave of shutdowns. Hopefully, the lessons from the first wave may cushion the impact of the next.

The necessary steps include education about the necessary measures to protect customers and staff, and to balance this information with the needs of your business. Then business owners can plan the necessary steps for reopening in a safe manner.

Always ensure that information sources are reliable. Some of the best sources for information include the CDC:

• at cdc.gov, Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Guidelines-for-Opening-Up-America-Again.pdf.
• gov, OSHA, www.osha.gov, and the World Health Organization, which has a coronavirus information site at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019?gclid=CjwKCAiAzNj9BRBDEiwAPsL0d__FIHt2u10uM-dKWoXQl4IBp3X91iqydExOfZ9XS0g9XCYolOYN7RoCgKcQAvD_BwE

Misinformation abounds about coronavirus, and the importance of accurate information about this crisis cannot be overstated.

We can expect another spike in coronavirus cases over the winter. Brick-and-mortar businesses will face a larger impact than online businesses. Brick-and-mortar stores should consider the following:

• the ability to enforce proper social distancing
• any lockdown orders that may exist within that locality
• the severity of the pandemic within your locality
• the level of contact with customers.

Examples of businesses facing the worst impact include gyms, restaurants, and beauty establishments.

Depending on the structure of the business, human resources issues may prove tricky. For example, last spring, a business had to shut down for two weeks because an employee called in to lie about having coronavirus: https://www.thestate.com/news/coronavirus/article241351951.html.

The company’s facility needed a thorough cleaning, that led to huge financial losses in the meantime. Other, more small-scale companies may have the flexibility to deal with such issues on a case-by-case basis, given the management’s closer relationship with the employee. The ABA (American Bar Association) notes the importance of input from both employees and clients. They also note that each reopening plan will be different, given the circumstances of the company. For example, some businesses may require brief health screenings by qualified health professionals, such as quick temperature checks.

The ABA notes that “[r]eopening a business during the pandemic is essential and inevitable but it will certainly be a daunting process that will require consideration of how workers can be brought on safely, how customer concerns will be addressed, and how everything can be done in a way that allows the company to survive financially.”

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/publications/blt/2020/10/protecting-workers/.

On the plus side, news is positive about defeating the pandemic in the next several months. Recently, several companies and institutions have developed several vaccines with amazing success rates. On the negative side, winter promises to bring a spike in cases before return to a semblance of normal. Dr. Anthony Fauci estimates a rollback of coronavirus measures sometime in April:

https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2020/11/13/21562555/coronavirus-dr-anthony-fauci-covid-19-vaccine.

In the meantime, small businesses can use this next spike as an opportunity to expand their horizons, build their online presence, and augment their human resources expertise. This pandemic will not last forever, and resources abound for struggling business owners, despite its devastating impact. Such a crisis arises once in a blue moon. Hopefully we will be able to strike a balance.

Companies now “get it” and realize the value that Veterans bring to the their companies.  This has increased their recruitment offers for Veterans.  Recruiting Veterans also hits many of the boxes for Diversity and Inclusion.   As a result the jobless rate for Veterans has decreased significantly, less than half from 6.6 percent in 2013 to 3.1 percent in 2019 (pre-Covid).

We think that this list might be an asset to Veteran Small Business Owners that more often than not, hire Veterans when they are looking to add employees.

Forbes in partnership with the market research firm, Statista surveyed more than 5,000 United States Veterans who served including National Guard and Reserves.  All of those survey work either full or part time for over 1,000 employers.   The survey was conducted from March, 2020 to June June, 2020.  It asked respondents to evaluate their employers’ working conditions and approach to diversity and inclusion as well as whether their environment is veteran-friendly.  Below is a list of the Best Employers.   On a personal note, a company in my own county, Harbor Freight Tools in Camarillo, California (located in Ventura county) came in first.

Some additional factors to consider in this survey are that men outnumbered women in Forbes’ survey, a reflection of the predominance of men in the armed forces, and a substantial percentage of respondents, 40%, held upper management positions. Some 8% of veterans said they worked in the aerospace and defense industry, compared to 2.7% of respondents for Forbes’ 2019 list of America’s Best Employers.

On a personal note, I want to add a few companies that I personally know values, hires, and invests in Veteran Employees.  Johnson and Johnson not only hire Veterans but has an entire department to provide resources as does Dell Technologies.   VAMBOA salutes all these Veteran Friendly companies.

Below is the Forbes full list of the 150 Best Employers for Veterans:

AMERICA’S BEST EMPLOYERS FOR VETERANS 2020 LIST

By Debbie Gregory.

The mission of LinkedIn is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.  Over the last few years LinkedIn has grown to be one of the most widely used social platforms for business. It is currently the third most popular social site, right behind Facebook and Twitter. If you are not yet on LinkedIn, you are missing out on a huge audience for your recruiting efforts, business networking, and potential new customers.Below is some information on ways to use LinkedIn to expand your Small Veteran Owned Business:

1.) Craft your Profile and Pages with SEO in Mind:

LinkedIn is a valuable source for business to business (B2B) marketing and other business-related connections. As with your website or blog, your LinkedIn profile and pages should be optimized for SEO purposes.

Areas of Focus:

• Include a title along with your last name in the name field. For example, instead of listing just Jill Brown, make changes to it reads: Jill Brown, Sales Professional. In this manner, Jill Brown’s profile will pop up when someone performs a search for a salesperson.
• Add keywords to your headline too and not simply your title. For example, instead of Sales Professional list something such as “No. 1 sales professional in the city of Portland for the last 3 years.”
• Make sure to include other keywords in your summary in a more natural fashion. Yes, LinkedIn has a specific place in your profile to list up to 50 skills (make sure to ask for recommendations on your skills too) but you should also try to pepper them into your summary text.

2.) Make Sure to Create and Optimize a Page Dedicated to Your Company:

A business page on LinkedIn is a powerful marketing tool. Make sure that your business is easy to find on LinkedIn and that all visuals on your page match the look and feel of your other online presences (website or other social channels).  Additionally, keep it up to date with regular posts!

Basics for your page:

• A concise, yet engaging, company description and overview.
• Your company logo.
• An attractive banner image.
• A call to action.

3.) Put Together Showcase Pages for Products or Services:

Once you have your business page ready to go, you should consider adding showcase pages for specific products, services, or separate arms of your core business to help users better find you and engage with the parts of your business that most interest them.

4.) Promote Your Page:

Your page will not help your business grow if no one is looking at it! Once your page, and showcase pages are setup to be robust, and compelling, your next step is to promote it and gain followers. Of course, you can simply run paid ads on the platform to boost your visibility, however, there are other ways to promote your page that will not cost you anything.

Free Ways to Promote Your Page:

• Add the page to your own LinkedIn profile.
• Add a “follow” button to your main website to drive traffic from there to your LinkedIn page.
• Promote the new page(s) in your company newsletter, blog posts, and other social media pages.
• Add a link to your LinkedIn page in your company email signature.
• Ask current employees to promote the page on their own LinkedIn profiles.

5.) Join LinkedIn Groups or Create Your Own Group:

LinkedIn groups are intended to connect like-minded individuals and similar businesses with one another to foster camaraderie and to expand knowledge. You can join existing groups and actively engage in conversations.  You may also create your own group to help establish yourself as an expert in your industry. We strongly recommend that you consider both options to make sure that you are active in the group and provide valuable tips and add robust posts.

As you can see from the information in this blog post, LinkedIn offers a variety of ways for businesses to network, market themselves, and connect with new customers. These are just a few of the ways to join in and start reaping the benefits of LinkedIn for your business.   One last kernel of information, a regular account on LinkedIn is free.  They also offer premium accounts at a reasonable cost.   Start your engines and join LinkedIn today or enhance the profile you have already set up to promote your Veteran Owned Small Business.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association invites you to join as a member.  There are not any fees or dues.   You may also proudly display the VAMBOA seal on your website and collateral.   We provide several articles on our blog weekly with all types of valuable information.

JOIN TODAY here:   https://vamboa.org/member-registration/