Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Many small businesses struggle with creating a marketing budget and plan.  Often times you can create successful marketing campaigns within a relatively small budget.  Here are 3 tips proven to be successful on a limited budget.


1. Create Relative Content - Whether utilizing social media, blogs or electronic newsletters, make sure your content is relative to your audience.  This does not always mean your content must be related to your industry.  For example, creating content that solely promotes your business is a quick way to drive loyal clients away from your online media.  Mix up your content to include items that will engage your audience. Think about what you actually take time to read on social media / blogs and create similar content for your audience.  Conversely think of what content you skip right over and avoid it!

2. Utilize Online Media - Social media and blogs are FREE ways to generate buzz regarding your business.  Take the time to encourage your loyal clientele to engage in your online media.  Ask them to join your social media pages and follow your blog.  Inform them they will receive incentives for being great customers. Then deliver on your promise. Post exclusive promotions for your online followers.

3. Develop Online Marketing Strategies -  Facebook and Google offer ways to target very specific audiences with paid advertising campaigns.  You can set your investment to fit your marketing budget and adjust throughout your campaign.  If you are not familiar with online search engine marketing search for outsourced help with this part of your plan.  There are many experts in this field that can achieve your exact goals.  Paying for this service will be well worth your investment if you are inexperienced in online paid marketing campaigns.  Otherwise you might waste your money by paying for advertising and not actually reaching your target audience.

urBook$ is ultimately your biggest advocate as your small business bookkeeper, bill pay and payroll service provider.  Ensuring that your budget accurately reflects a realistic marketing budget is a key piece to your success.  Contact urBook$ today if you are not already a client!

5 Money Saving Tips for Moms

Many families struggle with managing their monthly budget.  Often times, people find their expenses increasing at a greater rate than their income.  Below are a few tips for Moms everywhere, that can trim your expenses and free up your hard-earned money.

1. Review your monthly bills for hidden fees.  Many bills such as credit cards, wireless phones, internet and home phone bills will gradually increase over time.  Keep a close eye on your bills each month.  If you notice a trend of services and fees increasing, simply take a few minutes to contact the company and ask them why your bill continues to increase.  Often times, customer service will be able to remove the increased fees and lower your bill.

2. Set an automatic savings deposit from your pay check.  Whether it be your pay check or your partner's, set aside an agreed upon amount from each pay period to directly deposit into your savings account.  Over time you will see your savings increase.  Forbes suggests that the ideal savings amount to aim for is 3 - 6 months worth of living expenses.  Once you reach that goal, set a new one and keep increasing your savings.

3. Decrease your insurance premiums.  Many insurers will cut home owners policies up to 15% for customers that have a burglar alarm or deadbolt locks.  Similarly, many auto insurers will cut your policy rates for good driving records.  Periodically check with your insurance companies to see if there are any discounts you are not taking advantage of to lower your premiums.

4. Sign-up for rewards programs.  Many businesses such as your local grocery stores offer reward programs for the shopping you are already doing.  Make sure you take the time to sign up for reward programs at stores you frequently shop.  Then take the time to learn about the reward program to learn how your family can benefit best.  For example,  if your store offers fuel savings as a reward, make sure you take advantage of this savings.  Cents off each gallon over accumulated tanks of gas will add up.

5. Enjoying the fruits of your labor.  Many people will allocate every dollar of their budget to pre-determined expenses.  Re-visit your budget and see where you can carve out some personal spending money each month.  You might find that taking advantage of money savings tips mentioned above will free up money in your budget.  Take an agreed upon amount of that savings and divide it up for personal spending.  Allow yourself to splurge on that cute outfit you have your eye on at the mall.

urBook$ wishes all moms a very Happy Mother's Day.  Hopefully these tips will be beneficial to you and your family.  Contact urBook$ today to become a client and experience the urBook$ difference.

What to expect as a urBook$ client...

urBook$ is committed to provide services to our clients in a meaningful way.  We are not simply data input and transfers.  Below is a blog from www.entrepreneur.com titled "11 Expectations to Set for Your Bookkeeper."  

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/159788

At urBook$ we take pride in our relationship with you, the business owner, and want to make the most out of our relationship.  We strive to achieve the highest level of client satisfaction and are proud to state that we meet all 11 expectations set forth by the above mentioned blog.

If you are tired of scrambling to get the financial data straight within your business, contact urBook$ today so you can begin to focus on what YOU are passionate about, your business.

urBook$ Utilizes Secure Smart Vault

Easy to Store, Secure to Share — Online Storage & Secure File Sharing in One

urBook$ utilizes client vault software for ease of secure information sharing.  SmartVault makes secure file sharing easy. Whether you’re sharing tax returns, legal documents, or even your secret family recipe, SmartVault gives you a single solution for storing and securely sharing your files in the cloud. Uploading files is easy — you can scan with one click, or drag and drop your files in and share them from any web browser or smartphone.

In just minutes, you can build a custom client portal for secure file sharing, branded with your company logo, color scheme, and URL. You decide who has access to what file, and each user only sees the files they’re granted access to. Automated email alerts notify your clients when new files are available, and secure links are a secure and convenient alternative to emailing documents.

More than just a cloud drive…

Enjoy all the ease and convenience of a cloud drive, but with the best-in-class security and advanced file sharing features that you need to run your business. Securely share files and stay in compliance with:

• Power tools for secure file sharing made easy, including Inbox, Drive, and Client Portal
• Online document storage built-in, so you can store and share files with a single solution
• Mobile apps for secure file sharing on-the-go
• Bank-level security with industry standard encryption of documents in transit and at rest
• Activity reports tell you who accessed or modified a file and when – important for staying in compliance
• You control access to every file and folder with granular user permissions

Become a urBook$ client today and experience the simple secure client vault.  You will find the convenience of up to date information that is accessible anytime between urBook$, your small business bookkeeper, and you our valued client - YOU!

Spring Cleaning Tips to For Your Business

According to www.sba.gov it is wise to set a date each year, perhaps even more frequently, to re-evaluate your business plan and update or “clean-up” any struggling areas.  Below are 4 tips to guide you through “spring cleaning.” 

1. Staying up to date with technology to improve your business.  Sometimes improved technological services within your industry can drastically improve your business efficiency and accessibility for your clients.  For example, is there a POS software update that allows for your business to spend less time on merchandise and more time focused on customer service?
2. Update your website content monthly & incorporate a blog to keep your online presence “relevant” to Google. Algorithms are updated and changed constantly regarding how search engines index businesses for online listings.  One way to keep your business as high on search engine lists as possible is to keep content on your website updated on a regular basis.  One way to achieve this is a blog that streams current information regarding your business 
3. Update your listing and memberships within the community; i.e.: BBB; Local Chamber of Commerce; any civic and philanthropic organizations you can be a part of make sure you have business info very visible for maximum exposure. 
4. Know your demographic well and position your business to that demographic.  Every business owner would like detailed information regarding their target demographic.  If you have a specific audience you can target them directly through online marketing.  

urBook$ continually strives to ease the financial burden of bookkeeping, bill paying and payroll for your business.  Together you can access and update your information online daily along with our team of experienced accounting professionals. To inquire about becoming a urBook$ client today contact us at 469.304.0036 or www.urbooksplano.com and get started today. 

How well do you know your business?

Your employees may be able to tell you a lot about your business you may not know. What do customers really think about your product or service? Are there more complaints (or less) than usual? What could be done to improve sales, marketing and customer service?

It seems simple enough just to ask the people who work for you, “What’s going on and how can we improve?” and expect an honest answer. But, due to the nature of the boss-employee relationship, things don’t always work that way.

Employees rely upon you for their livelihood, so they are less likely to speak truthfully.  Non-candid feedback is meaningless, and will not help you run your company more effectively.

So how do you get people to open up? Here are four tips to nudge them toward sharing creative suggestions for growing the business:

1. Share the big picture. 

If employees don’t understand the financial state of your business — and what you’ve 

got planned for the future — it’s difficult for them to offer useful feedback. Take every 

opportunity to share information about the business, both successes and setbacks, so 

they have a better sense of how their knowledge and creativity might help spur growth.

2. Actively encourage participation. 

There are plenty of ways to encourage employees to share their ideas for improving the company: 

 • Have an “open door policy” (at least during part of the work week).

 • Hold occasional brainstorming sessions outside of the workplace.

 • Put up a suggestion box.

 • Create a “shopping list” of topics you’d like to see addressed and invite employees to offer comments and suggestions.

Encourage employee participation by communicating the benefits of their ideas to your organization, your customers, as well as employees themselves. Make it clear there’s no such thing as a bad idea. Employees (like just about everyone else) are generally risk-averse. An idea could mean they will have to explain it, give a presentation, or risk difficult questions on unfamiliar topics.

Some employee ideas may be game-changers. Some will result in only marginal improvement. Others will simply fall flat. You must make it clear that, regardless of the outcome, there’s no penalty for sincerely offered ideas that fail to move the needle.

3. Reward your employees’ creativity. 

Whether an idea results in explosive growth or simply helps overcome a minor operational 

hurdle, people are more forthcoming when some type of reward is involved. Always start

with a publicly delivered “thank you” to everyone who offers suggestions. Other low-cost

rewards might include an extra day off, special notice at a staff meeting, a coffee shop or

movie gift card, a free car wash, or a company-hosted lunch at a local restaurant.

The trick to giving your people rewards that make a real difference is to personalize them.

4. Get to know your team. 

Encouraging open communication and rewarding ideas for improvement to your business cannot be a one-size-fits-all type of reward.  Take a few minutes each week to connect with your employees.  Personal interaction and knowing what motivates your employees will make your rewards effective.  

Hopefully you stay in tune with your business and employees as much as possible.  urBook$ strives to communicate pro-actively when it comes to your bookkeeping. bill pay and payroll services.  Contact urBook$ today to become a client and experience the urBook$ difference! 

urBook$ offers SmartVault for Secure Information Sharing

Many business owners and managers prefer to keep their files and accounts up to date on a daily basis. Bookkeepers and businesses have struggles in the past finding a secure way to continuously share and update information related to their business.  E-mail is a great form of communication but unfortunately it is not very secure.  Who wants the personal financial information of their business accessible to anyone with access to e-mail?

With SmartVault urBook$ client's can access their data anytime of day or night and know it is up to date and secure.

SmartVault offers the ability for clients to:

1. Access files at any time and from any device.  Enjoy the ability to access your data without having to be in front of a computer.  SmartVault is mobile friendly and can easily be utilized from any device you are using.

2 Securely share files with clients, employees and partners at your discretion.  You can customize your vault to have select groups that can access certain files without having to share your entire vault of sensitive information.

3. You can attach and view files utilizing apps such as Quickbooks from any device.  SmartVault allows you to have the ability to update your information or attach new data directly from software to your vault.

These 3 key features of SmartVault allows urBook$ to maintain accurate and up to date data for your business, and allows you access to your data any time and any place.  This feature can allow urBook$ to serve it's clients anywhere in the world.  No more trips to your bookkeepers office - it can all be done securely online with urBook$.  Contact urBook$ today and get started as a urBook$ client.  You will find our secure vault and data sharing allows you to easily pass off the day to day bookkeeping, bill paying and payroll tasks - saving you time to focus on what you do best...YOUR BUSINESS!