Many small business owners understand that having an online presence is a great strategy to grow their business. We live in a world today where you cannot stay for a long time away from the internet. You need to see what emails you received, you want to see what your family and your friends are doing on Facebook, you must find out the information that you need so you go on Google or you want to find out the latest news as well. So, as a business owner, it is important to know and realize the fact that a large number of your customers are online.
So, what do you do when you want to market your business online and you don’t have a clear idea of where to start?

Here are 5 free tips that you can implement right away and start making some noise about your business online.

Create yourself a blog and start presenting yourself

To install a blog on a website is quite easy to do but if you don’t know how to do it, you can ask someone who knows how to do it for you. After you have the blog, start creating content about your business like special promotions that you have, write about your products and events if you have any. The bottom line is to create and share great information in there. Make blog updates regularly. One update a week is a great start. It will generate traffic to your site which is what you want.

Use the power of social media

I know…everyone is talking about social media for quite some time now and that’s because it is a great way to market business. It is even better than that! When you use social media in the right way and have a strategy plan for it, it will create engagement for your business and your clients will start loving your business. Create accounts on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google plus and start interacting with people…and watch how the magic will happen.

Article marketing

If writing is one of your passions, you will looove this one. Create 400-500 words articles about your business, one of your product or latest service that you have and submit them to article directories. EzineArticles and GoArticles are just two of the most popular of these. If you search on Google for article submission directories, you will find a lot of them but if you use these ones, you will be fine.

Use the power of videos.

Video marketing can become a very, very effective way to market your business. First, create some great videos about your business, your products and services as well and market them on sites like YouTube and Vimeo which are free. If you have never created a video in your life and don’t know how to do it, don’t panic. You can hire someone to do this for you or ask a friend who knows how.

Email marketing

Email marketing is one of my favorites. It is an amazing feeling to send an email and generate income for your business. But before doing that, you need to have clients in your list. As long as you do the steps that we talked above and you have a sign up form on your site, you are on the right track to get clients in your list. So, while working for your business to grow, start building your list and use email marketing to market yourself online.

Often two or more persons own and run a business together. If one owner gets divorced, the other owner suddenly finds himself (or herself) in a tough spot. The records of the business–particularly its profits or losses– may be scrutinized in the divorce court case. The spouse of the owner will likely claim an interest in the business and may try to exert management control. Similarly, if an owner dies or wants out, what should he or she receive? How is the business valuated? What is the obligation of the remaining owners? If they are going to “buy out” the departing owner who sets the price and the terms?

A buy-sell agreement also known as a buyout agreement, is an agreement between owners of a business that concerns what happens when an owner dies, or leaves the business. It can also govern what happens to an owner’s interest if the owner divorces. In community property states like California having an agreement concerning what happens to an owner’s interest in the event of divorce can be critical to the survival of the business. Absent a prenuptial agreement, all of the property obtained during a marriage in community property states belongs to the spouses equally. A buy-sell agreement for business owners that covers owners’ divorces may be thought of as a prenuptial agreement between business partners.

It makes sense for business owners who are not married but are planning to marry to seriously consider a prenuptial agreement. The content of a prenuptial agreement varies, but usually includes provisions for division of property and spousal support in the event of a dissolution of the marriage. Having one prior to marriage doesn’t mean you are a heartless miser; it means you have good business sense. Defining the business or your ownership interest in it as separate property will avoid problems for the business in the future. It’s also easier to obtain partners or investors in a small business that has no exposure to divorce problems.

Pursuant to the California Family Code a prenuptial agreement must be in writing to be valid. Section 1612 of the Family Code describes what can and cannot be done with the agreement. All financial issues relating to ownership and management of a business as they relate to the relationship of the spouses can be addressed in a prenuptial agreement.

Buy-sell agreements can legally address any issues concerning the division of the ownership interest a person has in a business whether it is a corporation, a partnership or a limited liability company (LLC). The owners can set values and terms of buy outs. For instance, it’s generally easier to make payments over time than it is to pay out a lump sum. Lump sum payments may strain the business or even be impossible without a loan.

Buy-sell agreements and prenuptial agreements for business owners should be straight forward, clear and understandable. However, writing them that way takes some effort, time and skill. If you fail to plan in business, you are planning to fail. Many business owners worry more about the nature of the legal entitiy they will operate such as whether it will be a partnership or corporation than they do about a much more pressing issue–how the owners deal with each other in the event of the death, departure or divorce of an owner.