I found that persuasion plays a critical role in personal relationships and business relationships. Whenever two or more people get together to complete a task, whether it be a social actively like picking a restaurant or being part of team, there is always the possibility of an argument instead of agreement, which is where the power of persuasion comes in. With persuasion, there are no winners or losers. Persuasion is the art of convincing others to do what you want them to do because they want to, not because they are forced to. And it can be tapped using these simple techniques.

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Being an entrepreneur is synonymous with being financially unstable at times. While you are growing your company, it is important to be focused. But what if you could get a side hustle that would help bring in a healthy secondary income to alleviate some of that financial stress? And, best case, what if this side hustle could also help you grow your core business?

The good news is that there are a lot of companies that create opportunities for entrepreneurs that do not require full-time work and can become a great companion to the work you are doing.

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Having a clear vision of your expected customer base will increase your business chances of success. Clearly defining your target audience — whether it is senior citizens, busy moms or millennials in California — can help answer a lot of questions and overcome obstacles that may be plaguing you as you kick-start your online store. Some of the business questions you will be addressing include:

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What is a Domain Name Strategy?
The purpose of a domain name strategy is to proactively protect your brand online by reducing the chance for others to use your brand name in their online activities, specifically, in their website URLs.

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Starting a small business is tough, but growing one — or just keeping it afloat — is even harder.

Even though more than 500,000 small businesses are created each year in the U.S., only half of them survive past their fifth year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

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Trucking companies and building contractors dominate the fastest-growing industries for small businesses, according to new data from Sageworks, a financial information company.

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Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec stunned viewers in May by making a handshake deal to invest $5 million in Zero Pollution Motors, maker of a $10,000 plastic minicar that runs on compressed air. The deal would have doubled the previous record for the largest Shark Tank investment ever, but ultimately fell apart during the due diligence process. Still, a handful of entrepreneurs have successfully attracted million-dollar investments from the Sharks. Here are the five largest deals made on Shark Tank in which money actually wound up exchanging hands.

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According to a new study, one in six marriages that began in the last three years has resulted from an interaction that started online. At the same time, Nielsen also reports that four out of every five corporations in America are now leveraging social media to help expand their client base and build relationships with customers.

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Across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Brazil, China, and Australia, international ecommerce is predicted to triple by 2018, reaching $307 billion. The number of international shoppers will grow to 130 million, with 72 million of them using mobile devices to make cross-border purchases. Buying foreign goods online today is so easy that you no longer need to wait to take a vacation to purchase international items.  

Small business owners who want to participate in this massive global market can do several things now to start growing their sales across borders.

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For the fourth year running, California and Rhode Island earned an F in a massive survey of small business owners rating state and local governments’ friendliness to small business. At the other end of the spectrum, also for the fourth year in a row, Texas and Utah earned an A+ from entrepreneurs.

What matters to small business owners? Nearly 18,000 entrepreneurs surveyed by Thumbtack.com said: Chamber of Commerce-style training and networking; regulatory and licensing simplicity, helpful government websites to cut red tape, and taxes.

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You built a stellar reputation for your business. You sold your heart out bringing in a new client. You gave that client your best work. And months later, you are still waiting to see the money in the bank.

And waiting. And waiting.

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There is a lot to be said for those rare few that possess the ability to create huge companies with hundreds or thousands of employees that are all just ecstatic to be at work. It is exceptionally difficult and equally as impressive, which is why they end up taking up space on the front page of a major magazine or journal.

Although it appears flashy and glamorous, particularly with the amount of celebrity that todays super entrepreneurs wield, there is a tremendous amount of flexibility that is lost, almost by default, once you pass a certain size. Now, not only am I not one of those few, but I really do not want to be.

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Attempting to be creative when it will not come to you naturally can be an excercise in futility. Traditional means of conjuring those creative impulses, like taking a walk in the park, can often spur creativity, but getting a better idea of what a business needs can be an even more effective way to divine logo inspiration. When working with a business, it is important to gain a sense of what the business is about and what role the logo will play in the clients business and marketing plans. To make this process simpler, we have compiled 7 questions to consider asking a client before commencing logo design:

7 Questions to Ask Before Designing a Logo

In fact, a prominent study from the financial services company U.S. Bank found that as many as 82 percent of startups and small businesses fail due to poor cash-flow management. So, even if you are a brilliant entrepreneur in every other way, you must stay squarely focused on managing your company’s cash flow to avoid putting your business in imminent danger.

Here are five of the most common cash-flow problems:

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No business owner ever expects it to happen. After closing up for the day or the week, a phone call at 6 a.m. lets you know that the severe storm that passed through town overnight took a punch at your small business, with flood damage, fire, tornado or other damage.

Or it could have been an earthquake or hurricane. Still, what may have taken years to build is in ruins. How do you begin to recover?

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Fear stops the decision-making process because fear is a decision, a decision not to take action, a decision to accept the status quo.

For some small business owners, fear is seen in their reluctance to speak, to share an emotionally compelling reason why a potential buyer should connect with them.

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You know you want to start a business and give yourself the best shot at success, but perhaps you’re still considering the kind of business you want to pursue. After all, you probably have a number of small-business ideas.

One thing is for certain: the type of business you start should be well-suited for your expertise and business goals. Successful entrepreneurs bring their varied experiences and skills and allow these assets to inform their business decisions.

So, assess your priorities and lifestyle and business goals.

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You nominated them and now it’s time to cast your vote to support your pick. Small Business Trends and Small Biz Technology bring you the Small Business Influencer Awards 2015. Here’s a chance to celebrate the people, businesses, and even apps that have made an impact in the small business market.

Even if you missed the nominations, you can still jump in and vote for your favorite. But you might want to hurry. There is less than a week left to vote!

To see a full list or to submit your own event, contest or award listing, visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

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Millions of small businesses are vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks that can cost an average of $20,000 per attack. Here is some basic wisdom to help SMBs protect themselves.

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Cash flow is a common concern among many small business owners, with many business models dependent on incoming cash flow at various, often unpredictable times a year versus a steady flow of income. Sound familiar to you, by chance? If you are among the thousands of businesses that are not sure when your next paycheck will come in, pay attention.

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Brainstorming ideas for a small business can be a fun yet frustrating experience. It requires a serious analysis of areas of expertise and interests, and consideration of where those areas intersect in such a way that can make a business viable.

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For many businesses, getting paid is not the problem – it’s when. Lumpy cash flow is a stressful experience for business owners because the consequences can include delayed paychecks to employees, missed bill payments or stalled growth due to an inability to take on new clients. So, how can business owners avoid putting themselves at the mercy of clients and when those clients mail their checks?

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Today, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announces its fourth quarter 2015 earnings. But it is also going to do something different. The company plans to separately break out the results of its core businesses from its other bets. By doing this, the company opens itself up to some criticism about the investments that it makes in unproven, risky technologies – from driverless cars to Glass. But without those investments, Google would never be the kind of company that it is today.

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A full half of small business owners see growth opportunities in the next six months, while 17 percent say they are already seeing that growth.

Only 33 percent say they see no immediately growth opportunities ahead. That’s according to the most recent survey by the National Small Business Association.

According to the National Small Business Associations 2015 economic report (PDF), nearly 75 percent of small business owners surveyed are confident in their businesses — the highest percentage recorded in the last four years. However, there was a relatively less positive outlook among the small business owners on the overall economy than even six months ago.

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Over 51% of businesses will fail in their first five years (U.S. Census data), and even 25-30% of venture-backed businesses fail.

If you want to innovate and put yourself out there, you have to accept that every entrepreneurial venture is a risk.

But how can you reduce that risk of failure for your next startup?

Often, it helps to turn to the experience of others, to learn what lessons we can from their failures, and cut the learning curve for ourselves. Even if you feel like you are reaching (or surpassing) your prime, it is never too late! Jeffrey Brotman, founder of Costco, didn't launch that successful company until he was into his forties.

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There are 28 million small businesses in the country, and they provide most of Americas jobs and sales. According to the Small Business Administration, large companies have cut four million jobs since 1990, while small businesses have created eight million. Most small businesses want to become big businesses, so a new dog-walking service is probably not going to turn into the next Uber (though you never know! Dream big!).

Here are some of the top, best, most promising industries you might want to consider where businesses are growing. They are also ripe for disruption.

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Ninety-four percent of independent workers love the control that independence provides, but 67 percent say their top concern has to do with inconsistent income in their micro businesses.

This is according to a recent survey of more than 600 independent workers conducted by the folks behind Invoice2go, an invoice app that allows small businesses to create and send professional invoices from any device.

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When you first start a business, you have your work cut out for you. Not only do you have to figure out if you have a viable product that people will actually pay you for, but you have to also find your customers, manage administrative tasks and deal with your staff, if you have one.

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These companies are making major strides--and major revenue gains. Check out the fastest growing businesses in the U.S.

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If you want to start a small business but you do not have large cash flow, there are still many great opportunities available.

These jobs can be side businesses to start, but they may eventually replace your entire income.

A small business on the side was once a novel idea, but it has become more mainstream with the help of the internet and social media.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that freelancers and self-employed individuals may make up 20% of the workforce by 2020. The Small Business Association estimated in February 2015 that there are about 28,443,856 small businesses in America. Nearly 23 million of those businesses are single worker operations.

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You do not have to be an adult to start your own business. In fact, there are many different business opportunities that teens can use to get their entrepreneurial journeys started. Here are 50 business opportunities for teens.

50 Business Ideas for Teens

Why Your Business Needs Virtual Assistants

If you are looking to de-clutter your business life so you can focus on serving your clients and customers, then virtual assistants are the perfect solution. They excel at the everyday tasks that keep your business up and running and can also handle the more complex tasks that you’re ready to hand off to someone else.

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U.S. small businesses are wrapping up 2016 with stronger sales and improved profitability.

Businesses with less than $10 million in annual revenues have experienced, on average, 7.3 percent annual sales growth during 2016, according to a financial statement analysis by Sageworks, a financial information company. That represents the fifth consecutive year that sales have grown more than 7 percent.

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The founder of a multiracial beauty company shares how she coped after her “personal and professional victory” angered many fans.

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Are you starting a business for the first time? It can be challenging to step out of your comfort zone and go head to head with competitors, manage customer orders and deliver a desirable product. Putting in the right amount of market research goes without saying. But how do you increase your chances of success when starting a business? Check out these 6 ways here.

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The internet is the perfect forum for small businesses to compete with big brands. Audience reach, social sharing and unlimited sales and marketing opportunities have leveled the playing field between big and small companies. Still, a surprising percentage of small businesses have remained on the sidelines. Either they do not have an online marketing strategy, or the one they are using is inadequate, and therefore unsuccessful. So why are some smaller companies not taking full advantage of this potent and indispensable marketing tool?

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The try-out period for social media is long past. Even tiny businesses – even many who don’t even have their own websites – know they need to be on social.

10 Classic Small Business Social Media Mistakes

Want to start a business from the comfort of your own home? There are plenty of business opportunities out there for homebodies. So if you are looking for a way to make some money without having to be away from home most days, here are 50 ideas.

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The big question therefore is: are you prepared for a cyber attack? Small business credit provider Headway Capital, has compiled data to help you check yourself.

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Recently, I was asked to take over an existing project. And, like most people, my first inclination was to feel completely intimidated and overwhelmed.

This assignment -- along with its longstanding processes and its related team members -- was all brand new to me. And, if that wasn't enough to have me breathing into a paper bag, managing this project also required me to branch out and exercise some skills that I had previously left untapped.

My chest gets tight at the very thought. Can you relate? Being asked to take on a new work endeavor is a great thing (hey, you must be doing something right!). But, it can also plant plenty of seeds of self-doubt.

Fortunately, this recent experience opened my eyes to some better, more productive things you can do when you're tasked with a new project -- aside from just panicking.

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Technology has made it so you can start a new business without even paying for a lease. Simply using your laptop and smartphone, you can create an ecommerce site and have customers buying items from you with minimal expense.

But technology solutions are not always as helpful and convenient as they’re cracked up to be. A brick-and-mortar store is still a huge plus for many types of businesses, especially if you sell products that people want to try out.

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Twelve months later we have a full-time team and a company successful beyond our wildest dreams. Digital Press, named during one of our many coffee-on-an-apartment-balcony conversations, has been our attempt to empower the world's smartest people to share what they know. We work with carefully selected CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, and venture capitalists (primarily at businesses doing $10M to $300M in revenue) to share their hard-earned insight with the internet. None of the atrocious writing most PR firms peddle as acumen. None of the ad-speak or jargon nobody finds helpful. Just the hard lessons learned and the personal stories of how these successful people learned them.

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Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

1 — Amazon Go cashier-less convenience store opens to the public in Seattle.

This week in Seattle, Amazon opened its cashier-less convenience store to the general public. At Amazon Go, customers scan their smartphone on the way in and are then tracked with cameras and other sensors as they browse.

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Although there are still many unknowns about the tax law that took effect Jan. 1, some small business owners have already figured out that they stand to gain from some of its changes and are changing their plans to maximize their benefits. Some believe they will get a break on income taxes for sole proprietorships, partners and what are called S corporations. Those who buy new computers, vehicles or other equipment can take a bigger deduction.

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In fact, some business leaders get so overwhelmed by the din of competing voices from service providers, they sit on the sidelines and fail to take advantage of some productivity and profitability enhancing systems.

I want to point out several good apps and SaaS tools, but before I get into specifics, I want to create a simple framework in which you should evaluate these tools. Further, keep in mind that one of the biggest advantages these tools give you is the ability to successfully manage virtual teams. However, you will find almost all of them appropriate for local use as well.

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Why does qualifying for a small business loan have to be such a mystery?

According to a CB Insights study, cash flow issues are the second most common reason startups fail, accounting for 29% of failures. In many cases, access to capital would make a big difference. Yet the loan application process is notoriously opaque for small business owners. Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows the average small business owner spent 26 hours searching and applying for credit, contacted three financial institutions and submitted three credit applications. Despite this time-consuming work, only half of small-business applicants end up being approved for the loan amount they applied for.

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So much of success is knowing when to stay the course, even when you’re met with rejection after rejection.

30-year-old Melanie Perkins has been launching creative businesses since she was a teenager. Her first venture, designing and selling handmade scarves to sell in her hometown of Perth, Australia, was launched when she was just 14.  

At the age of 22, Perkins founded her next company, an online system for schools to design their yearbooks called Fusion Books. Today, Fusion Books is the largest yearbook publisher in Australia and has a presence in France and New Zealand.

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Below I have outlined three circumstances that should give you pause about the timing of asking for a raise:

1.You have been out of school for less than a year.
2.Your job has not changed at all.
3.You have not made your company any more money.

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As an entrepreneur and an angel investor, I get really excited about the future of personal finance.

As new technologies develop, from cryptocurrencies to virtual wallets, I see advantages for businesses. I also see opportunities for everyday Americans and our families to make--and keep--more of our own money.

In meetings with financial technology startups, I am seeing so many incredible new developments on the horizon. Any innovation that improves how we live, shop, and pay sets off alarm bells--of the good kind--in my friendly neighborhood Certified Financial Planner brain.

Here is a sneak peek of why I think the next five to 10 years are going to make making money easier for all of us. It is thanks to these five emerging technologies:

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The business terrain is one that changes much faster than most -- basically because the way business is done evolves based on cultural changes, changes in technology and even generational changes. It is safe to say that at all times, at least one of these things is changing.

We are in the era of giving back and social impact. Businesses should face this, and stop using the fact that they are not yet big businesses as an excuse for boycotting charitable involvements or social responsibility. Businesses that do this are missing out on the great benefits hidden on the other side of socially responsible companies.

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