http://www.financealley.com en-us editorial@financealley.com Copyright (c) 2008 OnlineBizU.com "You give up too easily," is what my 10-year old next door neighbor, Mike, told me in 1972 or so when I wanted to quit playing our game of chase. I couldn't seem to tag him "out" a... http://www.financealley.com/article_686631_15.html 12th November 2008 Copyright (c) 2008 OnlineBizU.com Twitter is a microblogging platform that has taken the business world by storm, 140 characters per post. The purpose of Twitter is to post short updates (not to exceed 140 characte... http://www.financealley.com/article_635289_15.html 11th September 2008 Copyright (c) 2007 Donna Gunter Many business owners wrestle with this notion of "expertise", feeling certain that they don't know enough to be looked upon by anyone as an expert. I avoided that expert label as well for my first 5 or so years in busine... http://www.financealley.com/article_190907_15.html 24th July 2007 Copyright (c) 2007 Donna Gunter Once you have several products or services that are selling quite well, your customer will begin to ask if you will permit others to use your product as the basis for training that they are doing. Or, if you are doing t... http://www.financealley.com/article_170770_15.html 06th June 2007 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter In my experience, there is almost always something that holds an independent service professional back from either getting his/her business started or ramping it up to full capacity and keeping it there. I call it the "Fraud... http://www.financealley.com/article_103961_15.html 17th November 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter I have a new love -- and it's not a man or a house or a car. It's an edgy Showtime television suburban satire, "Weeds", in which Mary Louise Parker plays a widowed soccer mom, Nancy Botwin, in a fictional subdivision of Los... http://www.financealley.com/article_99293_15.html 15th November 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter Several years ago, in response to client requests for no-cost or low-cost marketing techniques, I coined the term "tightwad marketing". My definition of tightwad marketing is the art of doing more with less, or using your c... http://www.financealley.com/article_98838_15.html 15th November 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter One of the primary issues about which my clients complain is that they never stop running their businesses. They say their day is an endless cycle of completing tasks for clients, having conversations with prospective clien... http://www.financealley.com/article_89799_15.html 28th September 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter Have you ever wondered what it would be like to start all over again in your business and your life, knowing what you know now, but with a completely clean slate? I've often fantasized about going back to specific points in ... http://www.financealley.com/article_68772_15.html 30th June 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter Like anyone else who operates a small service business, your word is your bond with your clients. A client might tolerate a broken promise here and there for a very good reason, but if the broken promises continue, the clien... http://www.financealley.com/article_65197_15.html 22nd June 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter You're probably familiar with the notion that there are no new ideas. I'm often told that I'm a great resource for brainstorming, as I can come up with many new ideas very quickly. However, I'm not really coming up with ne... http://www.financealley.com/article_59020_15.html 01st June 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter It's an issue faced by business owners worldwide -- having to let go of, or "fire" a client. When I started my business, it's not a situation I ever thought I would face, as I was happy to take on almost anyone that wanted ... http://www.financealley.com/article_52814_15.html 12th May 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter Thanksgiving rolled around last year and I decided that I needed a break, so I decided to pay a visit to southern California. I've been entertaining this fantasy for the last few months that I'd like to move there in a coup... http://www.financealley.com/article_51195_15.html 07th May 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter In the past week or so, I've had three distinct occasions to speak with others about the joy of being self-employed and working from home. The first came about as a result of being interviewed by a newspaper reporter from B... http://www.financealley.com/article_42730_15.html 08th April 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter One of my clients was asked, "How do you know when you need help?" at a presentation she conducted recently, and she wasn't sure how to respond, except perhaps to say, "Well, you'll just know!" As generic as that answer mig... http://www.financealley.com/article_39402_15.html 28th March 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter I first became acquainted with teleclasses back in 1997 when I stumbled across the coaching community. At the time, I lived in small town in western Massachusetts, and professional development opportunities were few and far... http://www.financealley.com/article_32515_15.html 05th March 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter I first heard of tips sheets and tips booklets from the author of Making a Living Without a Job, Barbara Winter, http://www.barbarawinter.com, a completely delightful writer and en... http://www.financealley.com/article_32285_15.html 05th March 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter I'll be the first to admit I'm the "Donna-come-lately" in this game of simultaneously managing a business and a romantic relationship. When I was married the first time around at age 26, I worked in higher education adminis... http://www.financealley.com/article_30011_15.html 16th February 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter Roughly 75% of the business owners I speak with in any given town or city see little, if any, need for an online presence. They believe in doing business the way it's always been done, with local advertising, foot traffic, ... http://www.financealley.com/article_29293_15.html 14th February 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter Being the goal-driven woman that I am, failure has rarely been an option for me. In so many areas of my life, from deciding on where to go to college to obtaining scholarships to pay for college to determining what I wanted... http://www.financealley.com/article_27134_15.html 02nd February 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter If you look at almost any issue of nationally published women's magazines, you'll find article upon article trying to convince the American public (and American women) that you can have it all -- a brilliant career/business ... http://www.financealley.com/article_26693_15.html 02nd February 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter Back in the early-1990's, after I had quit my job in higher education, I began my journey into the self-employment world by opening a business in which I made stenciled floorcloths and wallhangings and sold them at juried cr... http://www.financealley.com/article_24940_15.html 21st January 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter I'll be the first to admit that I went a little nuts when I moved to Little Rock in 2003 in terms of going all-out to participate in a variety of professional associations. I had some experience with most of the groups that... http://www.financealley.com/article_23612_15.html 14th January 2006 Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter In 2003, I moved to Little Rock, AR, and I was amazed with how helpful my new property manager was. If you haven't moved recently, you may have forgotten all the joy associated with having to arrange to shut off your utiliti... http://www.financealley.com/article_23395_15.html 13th January 2006 Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter There's an often-quoted statistic that the fear of public speaking is right up there with the fear of death as the two events people most fear in their lives. However, as a business owner, I can guarantee you that public sp... http://www.financealley.com/article_21689_15.html 01st January 2006 Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter "There's no way I can hire anyone to do what I do. No one can do it as well as I can." Do you resemble that remark? If so, you've got much in common with most other business owners in the world. We never think that any... http://www.financealley.com/article_21636_15.html 01st January 2006 Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter Typically, doing a tradeshow isn't an inexpensive proposition. There's a great deal of investment of money in your setup and materials, as well as the time you and your employees invest in staffing the booth. If you're wor... http://www.financealley.com/article_20861_15.html 24th December 2005 Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter I usually try to walk my talk as a business owner and live a fairly balanced life. However, despite my best attempts, life happens and blows my plans all out of whack. For me, this is especially pervasive during the winter ... http://www.financealley.com/article_19041_15.html 09th December 2005 Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter The notion of doing a business retreat for myself is very new, although not novel, as we used to conduct a retreat each year as a part of both the Student Affairs staff and the Residence Life staff at the college where I onc... http://www.financealley.com/article_17764_15.html 30th November 2005 Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter I'm a recent Hurricane Rita evacuee and survived the evacuation and the ensuing hurricane. Running from a hurricane isn't something I've ever had to do before, nor is it something I'd ever like to do again. However, as a s... http://www.financealley.com/article_13438_15.html 27th October 2005