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Articles by Donna Marie Thompson

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35 articles by Donna Marie Thompson · showing 35

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By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Small Business Owners Negotiate For Profits

One of the everyday realities in small business is “Negotiating.” It’s a necessity for all small business owners who, whether you love it or hate it. Negotiating a new deal, the price of an item you need to purchase, payroll and contractor issues, deadlines, service arrangements, a joint decision with a client and a myriad other items bombard you all day long. Why not get out of in front of it? As a matter of fact, the sooner you master Negotiating, the more profitable you will be.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,425 views3/5 (7)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

How to Know Your Variable Costs to Increase Profits in Your Small Business

How to Know Your Variable Costs to Increase Profits in Your Small Business If you don’t know your variable costs you don’t have the information you need to maximize the profits in your small business. You don’t have the information you need to price your products and services. You can't operate your small business with the accuracy and precision to maximize your profits. Variable costs are a key com of your profit and loss statement. What Are Variable Costs?

Primary topic: Empowerment

2,909 views3/5 (4)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Outsourcing – How the First 30 minutes Each Day Affects Your Profits

With a small business to build, streamlining your day from the very first moment can mean productivity increases, peace of mind, and yes, even hidden profits. Finding profits in hidden places can be much easier than you think, I promise. As a small business owner, what you do at the very start of your work day – literally the first thirty minutes – can make all the difference in the world to your profitability. Believe it or not, your most important goals for each day depend on how you manage those first thirty minutes.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,412 views3/5 (4)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Baby Boomer Women: Is There a Business in Your Future?

Baby Boomer women are starting businesses in record numbers. There are three main reasons: flexible lifestyle, income, and personal passion. Many baby boomer women want to take these businesses into their retirement - early or otherwise. Women over 50 are looking for a personal and professional outlet for their time and energy. They are looking for some structure but not the 9-5 work commitment. Been there, done that. They are not thinking about golf, tennis, or shopping 24/7. There is so much more to boomer women. They have a lot to offer and they are ready to go into business.

Primary topic: Empowerment

2,257 views3.5/5 (2)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Small Business: Will Working Harder Increase Your Profits?

There are two common myths about running a small business that are simply not true. One is the myth of working harder and the other is the myth that changing everything is needed in order to increase your profits. Let’s take a closer look at these two myths and bust them one by one.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,403 views2.9/5 (9)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

3 Traps in Goal Setting

How are you doing on your most important goals? How do you even know unless you are carefully measuring your progress on each goal? You are not alone. You probably already know that 91% of New Year’s Resolutions -- you know the ones to lose weight, go to the gym, and clean out that junk drawer -- are abandoned in the first three months of the year. I’m not talking about those “goals”, they are more like wishes anyway.

Primary topic: Empowerment

2,025 views3/5 (3)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

How to Manage Your Feelings as You Cope with Divorce

Divorce often plays havoc with our emotions. Even when you think you've got it all pulled together, sometimes unwanted feelings can take over your psyche. Two steps forward, one step back... or on a paritcularly bad day, even three steps back. In time, you can observe these feelings as they come and go and begin to detect their hidden or overt meanings. As you process your feelings in divorce nothing seems to make sense. Some days you are not even sure how you feel. The goal is to find out how to get over your break up. The goal is to find a way to cope with divorce.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,486 views

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Costs and Revenues Define Your Break Even Point for Profits

The essential information on your fixed costs paired with the calculation of your variable costs will enable you to price your products and services with the accuracy and precision required to maximize your profits. The Break Even Point, or as others will define it, the no-profit, no-loss point or zero profit point, is the point where the total revenue equals to the total costs, both fixed and variable. The Break Even Point is used to calculate the Target Operating Income; total revenue equals total cost.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,497 views2.5/5 (4)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

3 Easy Ways to Boost Your Business Profits

In any business, and especially a small business, there can be countless valuable “potential” profits literally hiding right in front of you. For a small business, figuring out what those gaps in your profits are – and where they are hidden in your day-to-day activities – is almost as valuable as what you do about them afterward. Here are three profit boosts to help you locate the gaps in your profits and effectively turn them around. Profit Boost #1 – Work More Effectively with Suppliers.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,558 views3.3/5 (3)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Small Business Owners Go Mobile to Increase Profits

Small business owners discover that a mobile presence of their business will cause their profits to increase. This huge market is open and growing by leaps and bounds. Reaching customers or clients on their tablets or their mobile phone is rapidly taking over from older, conventional marketing methods. Small business owners are clear that mobile connections are here to stay. The fact is that the number of mobile device users is so high that it cannot be ignored any longer by your business, whatever your business.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,568 views2.9/5 (9)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

5 Tricks to Maintaining Momentum toward Your Goals

We all have goals – some are very difficult, while others are less so. How do you keep on track with all of your goals? What is the secret to meeting every goal every time? One of the biggest challenges we face in setting and reaching our goals is that many of us have too many goals going on at the same time. I call it goal clutter.

Primary topic: Empowerment

3,398 views3/5 (3)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

How Do You Maximize Profits on Declining Sales?

In a small business, there’s no denying that there are products that reach the end of their life cycle. There comes a point where sales and profits are no longer growing, but instead, they are declining. The good news is that orders are still arriving, so you have time to make a plan of action.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,490 views3/5 (5)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

The Top 3 Early Warning Signs of Eroding Profits

For small businesses, profits never take a back seat, and watching out for changes in your profit stream before they happen is the key to a long and vibrant life for your company. It can be easy to miss the signs though, in the day-to-day race to find and maintain customers and clients, fulfill on orders and tackle everything from marketing to employee turnover.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,401 views3/5 (5)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Small Business Owner Confesses: “I Hate Numbers”

“I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is not to be afraid of making mistakes, or of appearing naive.” (Abraham Maslow) One of the most frequent reasons I hear from business owners to not get started on boosting profits is, “I hate numbers.”

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,435 views2.9/5 (7)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Earning Income thru Affiliate Marketing.

Yes, it may be hard to believe, but you can discover hidden profits in your business just by using your customer list. The stagnant economy that has plagued small business owners definitely has us seeking uncommon ways to make more profits. One thing to consider, if you’re not doing it already, is affiliate marketing. Passive income creates more profits to the bottom line without creating more work – you simply agree to showcase and promote another business or individual’s products for a percentage of their sales. Before you begin, however, it’s vital to set it up so that your passive incomer

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,301 views2.5/5 (2)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

On the Brink of Breaking Up? What To Do Next

On the Brink of Breaking Up Your Relationship? If you are now facing rocky times in your relationship, you could very well be on the brink of a break up. What can you do to bring it back?

Primary topic: Empowerment

10,026 views

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Small Business Use Key Financial Ratios to Boost Profits

Boost your profits with a few key financial Ratios that provide quick visibility into your small business? Ratios come in all different is shapes and sizes and can be made to be quite complex; my intent is to keep it simple here. Why not peel back the layers to see what really is going on in your business as shown in objective data? Select a product or a process. After you start using the analysis that best suit your business, you’ll have visibility into multiple layers of your business and the information you need to boost your profits.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,714 views2.7/5 (3)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Small Business Owners Uncover Opportunities For Profit

Way back when you first conceived the vision for your small business, you definitely projected your future to be very profitable. If you haven’t reached that target yet, could it be partly because you’ve missed opportunities along the way? Thomas Edison said that "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." When buried in the minutia of the ever bulging to-do lists, opportunities are missed because they seem so similar to the endless tasks of your projects lists.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,438 views3/5 (7)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

How Tracking Time Can Change Productivity and Boost Profits

In today’s economy small business owners need solid information on productivity and time spent on revenue-producing tasks. More and more, employers are using tools to boost their profits and raise productivity. Time tracking software is a great asset to assist small business owners in tracking the true productivity of their team members (even virtual team members), both for their work hours in total and to measure time spent on each project.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,440 views2.8/5 (5)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

How to Cope With Divorce: Sara’s 7 Steps to Heal Her Broken Heart

Divorce. Whoever thought it would be happening to you? To most people, there was no way that this was happening to them. What ever happened to till death do us part? Tame the Pain of Divorce There are many ways to cope with the pain of divorce - no one way works for everyone. Luckily, there are a few common steps. Let’s follow the story of Sara and she what she did to deal with her divorce. She used 7 steps to help guide her in those difficult days when her feelings were swirling all around - when she felt lost and abandoned.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,937 views

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Align Your Life With Your Values: Get Down to the Core

“Integrity is not so much a value in itself; it is rather the value that guarantees all the other values. “ Anonymous Your core values govern the way you live and the way you respond to life. They govern the way you react to situations that present themselves. Your core values help to guide your decision making. They govern the way you react to your friends and to your non-friends. We are in harmony when we act in alignment with our core values. We can consciously act outside of our values. This brings on dissonance because our true values are still there at our core.

Primary topic: Empowerment

6,054 views3/5 (14)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

3 Ways for Small Businesses to Build Profits by Marketing on a Shoestring

As a small business owner, profits mean having superb skills in your line of business. This is definitely a big asset, but sadly not enough to create success. The plethora of competition and the turbulent markets add tremendous obstacles to making it big.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,398 views2.8/5 (5)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

6 Hidden Profit Leaks

In any business, there are almost always hidden and potential profit sources resulting from profit leaks. Generally they are hiding in plain sight. Here are six common places to detect profit leaks in your business. Profit Leak Detection #1: Purchasingr

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,621 views2.7/5 (3)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Protect Profits by Meeting Adversity Head On

With protect profits always top of mind, small business owners are advised to be vigilant against possible threats and adversity. Adversity is a potential problem for a small business. You’re not sure where it came from, how much it will cost, and when it will end. Left unchecked it can undermine gross sales and eventually profits. But prepare yourself; because adversity or bad PR of any type is almost unavoidable somewhere along the line.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,261 views3/5 (5)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Your Joy is a Lot Closer Than You Think: Find Your Joy Now

Your Joy is a Lot Closer tha You Think: Find Your Joy Now “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Abraham Lincoln Sometimes it seems that there isn’t much within our control – but we can control what is playing in our heads. You have the power to experience joy – you can change the channel. Think about something that is very special to you, it could be: an event: (birth, graduation, wedding), a special person (child, a spouse, a friend),a pet, a painting, a sunset – something wonderful that fills your heart. Happiness is on the way.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,795 views3.5/5 (2)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Objectives and Measures to Boost Profits

What is the path for Objectives and Measures to boost profits? Brian Tracy claims that only “the companies that provide excellent product(s) with excellent service at profound excellent prices will survive” these turbulent times. It is true that different businesses will require different types of measurements which could all possibly be under one or more of the there umbrellas: Operations, Financing and/or Administrative. What dimensions do you need to re-evaluate to focus on what is most important? The objective is to deliver the highest value while optimizing your profits.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,477 views2.7/5 (3)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Can You Create More Balance AND More Profits?

The reality is that most of us in small business today barely make it through the top 20% of our to-do lists. We get tangled up in issues, emails, phone calls, drop-ins…the list is endless. We severely strain our relationships, miss important life events, and generally take care of ourselves last. Stress builds and builds. Life starts to seem out of control, not even close to what we dreamed of when we started our small business. Surely, something has to give, but what? Where to start?

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,494 views2.9/5 (7)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Forgiveness Can Set You Free: Unshackle the Chains of Resentment

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive peace and happiness.” Robert Muller Often when we are wronged we hold on to the hurt. We own it – it is our hurt and we do everything we can to keep it. In the early stages, we use this as a coping mechanism to protect us from further pain. But as time wears on we tend to hang on to the wrongs with pit-bull tenacity – just a little too long for our own good. A better course of action is the act of forgiveness.

Primary topic: Empowerment

4,113 views3.3/5 (3)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

2 Common Myths in Small Business’ Path to Profitability

Smart small business owners on the road to profitability never set the expectation that it would be easy. But 60- hour work weeks without solid results are growing old and tiresome. It’s time for a change. Clearly, there has to be a better way. Let’s look at two of the common myths about running a business.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,522 views3.1/5 (8)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

A Buffet of Increasing Your Profits Platters

The basic path to success: increase sales and reduce expenses in order to improve profitability. The goal is definitely one and the same, but how you reach each milestone may vary. I would like to share random thoughts on ways to open doors to profits. These items usually elude our attention during our every day running of the business.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,521 views2.8/5 (4)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

7 Tips for Singles to Survive the Holidays

Are you dreading the upcoming holidays because you are single? The holidays are right around the corner and you thought you'd have plans by now. Well, many people are going into the holidays single. But being single does not need to mean being alone. Perhaps it's your first time as a single during the holidays. Or maybe you've been here many time before. Not to worry - all you need is a plan. How to Make the Best of the Holiday Season

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,752 views3.8/5 (4)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Finding Pitfalls in Your Small Business and Turning Them Into Profits.

When asked how to increase profits, most small business owners will readily answer with “increase sales.” I definitely agree. There is nothing like enjoying a healthy top line. And yet, while working feverishly on that goal, there are many owners who have not yet discovered the hidden profits that could be available to them simply by walking a few new profit avenues.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,369 views3/5 (4)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Want More Profits? Keep A Close Eye On The Competition

As a small business owner focused on profits, looking at your daily to-do list can find you loaded down with many issues to tackle during your day. This can take you far off your primary profit course if you let it. After all, you have to handle customer service issues, respond to potential business ventures, deal with your team – and you have to be on your best game and impress your customers or clients with the best possible product, delivered with impeccable service, in an overall friendly environment, every day.

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,274 views2.8/5 (5)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Do You Know the Value of an Hour and How it Affects Profits?

The tug of war for small business is always profits vs. costs. Undoubtedly you see costs everywhere you look as a small business owner. It’s easy to see them in the costs for equipment, supplies, utilities and the space you lease. While many of these expenses are fixed over the short term, and you can’t reduce them – there are other costs you can effect. Let’s try something: Switch your thinking from costs to value. The two key questions are: 1) what is the value of an hour? and 2) what is the cost of an hour?

Primary topic: Empowerment

1,151 views3/5 (4)

By Donna Marie ThompsonRecently published1 topic

Rely on your Faith in Troubled Times: Reach Out for Help

“When you have come to the edge...and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing...that there will be something solid to stand on -- or you will be taught how to fly.” Patrick Overton When life’s circumstances seem overwhelming, when life has got us down, we often wonder: “Why is this happening to me now?” We are confused. We question our possible role in the situation. Did our behavior directly or indirectly cause this? Or is this due simply to a random series of events? Why is it that we seem to encounter similar difficulties over and over?

Primary topic: Empowerment

3,444 views3.5/5 (2)

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