IndigoTea's Small Business Blog

Three Rules to Faster Payments

Wed, 16 May 2012 22:11:00 GMT

In April 2012, The Freelancer's Union launched the site "The World's Longest Invoice" website; the goal of the website was to highlight how many freelancers are unable to collect on debts owed them by deadbeat clients. In just over a week's time, the total of the invoices listed exceeded $15 million dollars.

Want to know how many times IndigoTea has been stiffed for services? None. That's right - zip, zero and nada. Would you like to know the three rules that have ensured that enviable collection rate? I'll share them here.

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What's Your Personal Plan?

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:25:00 GMT

Whenever two or more small business owners/entrepreneurs get together, the conversation is almost always dominated by their respective businesses. Budgets, marketing, customer service, vendors - you name it, we talk about it.

Once all that's been covered, the next thing that usually comes up in conversation is how little time we seem to have left over for our families, friends, and personal enrichment/maintenance.

Short of creating a time/space expander, or adding an extra 12 hours to every day, the answers to "how do we find the time?" seldom have the ring of a satisfactory solution. But wait - what if we approached the rest of our lives the way we approach our small business goals and direction?

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IndigoTea Wants to Say "Thank You!"

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:30:00 GMT

One of the secrets to the growth and success of IndigoTea is referrals from our wonderful customers. I've always considered it high praise when our customers refer friends, family and business associates to us for help with their small business needs.

Now that IndigoTea is entering it's second year as a full-time business, I've been contemplating ways to thank everyone who's been so supportive. Not everyone has the same needs to fill, and the one thing I know that everyone can use more of is something to tuck in the wallet

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The Growing World of Social Media Marketing and Small Businesses

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:20:00 GMT

by Becky Vickman - Wherever you go, you cannot help but notice the social media icons everywhere you look. You see them at the end of commercials, at the checkout of stores and on almost every website. But how important is social media for small businesses? It's more important than you think.

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Crabs in the Bucket: Handling False Reviews About Your Business

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:31:00 GMT

Ironically, a smear campaign by a disgruntled competitor turned out to be the best thing to happen to my business. I'll explain how that worked out for IndigoTea, and what you can do when someone attacks your business reputation online.

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Promote Your Products with a Pinterest Party!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:27:00 GMT

Pinterest is fun; the social aspect is a key element, as Pinterest allows you to see what your friends have added, and in turn they can see your likes, "pins", and such. Why not leverage that "fun factor" with your own customers?

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When You've Forgotten How To Breathe

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:53:00 GMT

There are times in life that breathing seems to become a conscious act, and it becomes increasingly difficult to move on to more deliberate action. ... the rest of the story

October 2011 - Free Skins for mojoPortal

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:35:00 GMT

Wow - this has been a crazy month! Busy, busy, busy - a new print ad for Dream Hats, new clients, big projects, and even more big things coming in November.

I'm grateful for all the good things that have come our way, but it's meant that we were a little slower in bringing you the mojoGeeks Skin of the Month; to make up for it, we decided to throw in a bonus skin for Halloween!

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Still Here - Just Busy!

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:41:00 GMT

I haven't gone anywhere; I've just been so busy lately, that I haven't had time to finish up the half-dozen articles I have draft versions waiting.

However, I have been pretty prolific elsewhere of late; my first article as a contributing author over at The Work At Home Woman came out yesterday (woohoo!); my mojoPortal tutorial articles are ongoing at Arvixe, and I've had puh-lenty of work from my customers (including new ones!)

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Live Events: Is This One Right For Your Business?

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:15:00 GMT

Our guest post today is from Sharon Sullivan, of Dream Hats. Dream Hats serves a wide range of clientele, including a strong contingent of historical/fantasy re-enactors. Where better to make contact with this market segment but at the conventions they convene at? As a result of this in-person interaction, Sharon's developed the following tip list for entrepreneurs considering live events.

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Turn the "Summer Doldrums" into "Powerhouse Prep"

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:21:00 GMT

It's hot. I mean the kind of hot that makes you just want to lie down on the floor, next to the cats, to try to find a cool spot. Even with air conditioning (read: life support) everywhere, the heat is relentless, and just performing normal activities (grocery shopping, meeting with clients, etc.) is absolutely draining.

It's easy to get aggravated when there's constant distractions, and people you work with may not be available. However, instead of pulling your hair out in frustration, take a step back and look at it from another perspective. Maybe this isn't "the doldrums" - maybe this is the time you can look at as "Powerhouse Prep".

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Ad Manager 1.0 for mojoPortal Is Now Available!

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:30:00 GMT

Ad Manager 1.0, a 3rd-party module by IndigoTea for mojoPortal, is now available at the introductory price of $49.99.

This is an ad management tool created by IndigoTea, and used by our customers. This is a great add-on feature, and designed to be very easy for non-technical people to use. It's flexible, so it accommodates all sizes of ad banners, buttons, and even supports animated .gif images.

Some of the other features of Ad Manager for MojoPortal:Start/End dates for ad, Advertiser integration, Click-thru tracking, Payment history.

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4 Boundaries - Know Where to Draw the Line

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:24:00 GMT

(Today, we're fortunate to have as our guest blogger, Amy Kinnaird of UnCommon Sense Marketing.) When I first started my business and wrote my business plan, one of the components was putting down on paper what my business boundaries were. As my business has evolved and grown, I revisit and tweak these ideas. You may have found like I have, that when I start to feel a little resentment about a business situation, often it's because I have haven't kept my boundaries. Here are... the rest of the story

A Waste Of Time? (Things You Shouldn't Say When Networking)

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:54:00 GMT

When networking with other small businesses, you should always bear in mind that you're not the only one making decisions about future opportunities or relationships. Keeping an eye on potential referrals and future possibilities for mutually beneficial projects should always balance your desire to move on to "the next big thing".

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What's Your Error Message?

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:14:00 GMT

In the programming world, there's a thing called a "friendly error message"; like it's kindred "friendly fire", it usually isn't. A "friendly" error message says something like "Oops! You should contact the site administrator and tell them you wound up here". This leaves the poor site administrator to try to figure out the real error message, which could be any one of a thousand things. A "real" error message is usually ugly and not a whole lot of fun to deal with, but it's... the rest of the story

Factors to Consider When Building Your Business Website

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:45:00 GMT

Every new business knows that in this century, the key to continued growth and prosperity is to have an appropriate online presence for their business. The challenge we most frequently run into at the initial stage of a project is that our small business clients quite often don't know what they need, and what's available. The situations that hit me the hardest are those where we're called in to consult with a client who has already made an investment in a website that absolutely... the rest of the story

How to Prep Your Small Business for "Business Unusual"

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:33:00 GMT

So - What's YOUR Plan?

What is the continuity plan for your small business? If you're like most small businesses, the answer is "mmmm...well..." - and then a long pause, broken only by the sound of pen to sticky note; something along the lines of "disaster plan???"

Illness, accidental injury, regional disaster, or other catastrophic event; any of these can wipe out an unprepared business. Is your small business ready?

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It's Never The Right Time

Sun, 29 May 2011 17:24:00 GMT

I almost didn't write this entry today; I have a ton of other things to get done, and it just wasn't the right time to sit down and write (see where this is going? You will.) Then I stopped and realized that it was a perfect example of "not the right time", and so I opened the editor back up, and commenced accordingly. When we're planning our daily, short-term, and long-term activities, we have certain things in mind, to be done in a certain time and sequence. Then life... the rest of the story

Eating Your Own Dogfood - Why IndigoTea is Using MojoPortal

Mon, 09 May 2011 18:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the newly updated IndigoTea.com! There's a lot to see in this updated edition, but first, let us explain the reason for the update. "Eating your own dog food, also called dogfooding, is when a company (usually, a software company) uses the products that it makes...For example, Microsoft and Google emphasize the internal use of their own software products. The idea behind "eating your own dog food" is that if you expect customers to buy your products, you should also be... the rest of the story

5-Minute Tip for Growing Your Business: #1 - Reach Out with Facebook!

Tue, 03 May 2011 08:26:00 GMT

One of the challenges of a successful business is finding the time to both do the things you do as a part of your business offerings, and also grow the business via new clients, new business/product offerings, etc. The adolescent stage of growing a business, when you're not quite ready to outsource or otherwise hire other help, is especially challenging. This is the beginning of IndigoTea's second year as a full-time business, and while growth is good, it can be hard to find that... the rest of the story