10 Secrets to Making Money While You Sleep

1. Automate marketing, sales and customer care chatbots.

While you may have already delegated some of your marketing, sales and customer care duties to team members, or even automated them with tools such as Hootsuite, there is an easier way to take the time and monetary load off your shoulders.

Chatbots have become extremely popular recently because the technology powering them has evolved dramatically. Today, creating an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot is a piece of cake, and thanks to chatbot-building platforms, you don't even need any coding knowledge.

You can create a chatbot that:

• Can take orders and answer customer queries from Facebook Messenger, comments, and posts
• Integrates with all the major payment platforms
• Is available 24/7 to answer customers from across the world
• Can push personalized promotions, offers, and deals, on demand 

2. Promote yourself as a brand.

Whether you have already found success or are still on the path to finding it, you should look at ways in which you can promote yourself as a brand. Of course, your chatbot will help with minor marketing tasks, but you need to promote yourself in a way that makes others aware that you are a trustworthy, reputable, and a reliable authority figure in your industry.

To achieve this, create informational products, such as books, videos, and online magazines for your audience. Once you've put in hours creating these pieces, the next step is simply to market them and watch the money roll in. 

3. Simplify your outputs.

You can't do everything, especially if you want to automate the operational aspects of your business. To get everything done to the best of your ability, you need to simplify your outputs. To do this, hone in on what you are offering.

Instead of offering a huge variety of products and services to your audience, focus on a maximum of five that you do perfectly and grow from there. Take Starbucks, for example. The brand offers coffee, sweets, and some fast food. The simplicity by which it operates is a key reason why it's able to expand its offerings on a global scale. 

4. Sell at a flat rate.

Selling your products and services at various rates is complicated and not efficient. Aside from the fact that you probably have clients big and small, from across the world, it can make your invoicing system messy. Create a company that offers specific services at a flat rate and allow customers to buy these subscriptions and packages directly from your website. You'll make more direct sales and your customers will automatically be more invested in you.

Create a company that offers specific services at a flat rate and allow customers to buy these subscriptions and packages directly from your website. You'll make more direct sales and your customers will automatically be more invested in you. 

5. Create a product or service that never goes out of fashion.

You need to create a business that either offers a product or service that many people need now or better yet, one that won't go out of fashion. When it comes to products, think of one that can be created cheaply and that requires refills to function.

With this, you'll not only make huge amounts of money selling the original product, but you will receive a steady stream of revenue from the individual refills. Think about a printer, for example; you can now buy one at a very reasonable price, but to use it, you will always need ink. Printers are the product and ink cartridges are the refills. 

6. Become an affiliate.

There are a number of ways you can make money without really doing much. For example, you could become an Amazon affiliate. If Amazon makes a sale that comes from the link on your website, you make a profit. Simple. If you have the right following, you could find affiliate marketing extremely profitable. 

7. Teach others.

By teaching others, I don't mean switching careers altogether to teach math in a primary school. I'm referring to taking an authoritative role in your field of work and teach entrepreneurs your methods. There are a number of ways you can teach others, some of which include:

• Mentoring
• Lecturing at a college or university
• Writing a blog
• Creating a book
• Talking at events and conferences 

8. Invest in other companies.

An investment is, in simple terms, a way for your money to make more money. Although your lending needs to be calculated, you should invest some of your profits into other companies that fulfill other needs your customers may have. It's a good way for you to make more money while establishing yourself as a figure that helps others and understands your audience's desires. 

9. Hire a team.

As I mentioned before, you can't do everything on your own. Simplifying your outputs is great, but you need to have the right team to back you up. You need a team that is reliable and diverse. Every area of your company needs to be covered by an expert in that field. You will need a marketing, sales, customer care, finance, and human resources guru, among others. 

10. Optimize your efforts.

Once every aspect of your company is up and running, you must evaluate, re-evaluate, and optimize them to ensure they are performing to the best of their ability. You wouldn't write a blog post without proofreading and optimizing it; the same goes for the rest of your marketing, sales, finance, and other operations.

5 Mobile Marketing Practices Every Profit-Minded Business Should Adopt

1. Location-based marketing
The era of location-based marketing is here. Businesses send customers notifications when they pass a store and promotions when they are near strategic locations where the brand's products or services would be useful.

In this context, Foursquare recently released Foursquare Analytics, which grants client businesses and marketers access to location intelligence and technology for more than 90 million geofenced locations around the world.

The company has also moved to integrate Uber into its system, enabling users both to discover places to go and also get there, using the same app. In fact, users can now order a ride from inside Foursquare without having to switch applications. No need to type in the address, look up directions or struggle through translations.

2. In-app marketing
Google Play currently offers 2.8 million apps, while Apple has 2.2 million. With such intense competition, apps must offer the most personalized service possible, or risk being ditched. In-app marketing fuels relevance and engagement, which in turn drives retention, loyalty and lifetime value.

An example of this is the challenge faced by India's Federal Bank as a result of that country's 2016 "demonetization plan" (when it replaced its 500 and 1,000 rupee notes with 2000 notes). Within months of the plan's implementation, over 14 million Indians downloaded the bank's new apps, and digital-payment use surged up to 80-fold among India's 260 million smartphone owners.

To capitalize on this deluge of new app users, the bank turned toInsert, an in-app marketing platform that allows marketers to create and publish targeted campaigns quickly, independent of development resources.

It further deployed contextual campaigns around a national holiday, as well as other targeted promotions, directly in the app. This resulted in an immediate uptick in conversions and retention.

3. SMS marketing
Mobile text marketing is the focus of many misconceptions, but with91 percent of millennials text messaging weekly, marketing is essential. Many corporations, including Coca-Cola, Walmart and Toys 'R' Us, have integrated text messaging into their mobile-marketing strategies.

When a Domino's pizza franchise in North Carolina wanted to improve advertising at college sports games, it turned to EZtexting, a short messaging marketing service (SMS). Previous campaigns had displayed Domino's web address in ads, but the franchise found that most fans didn't bother jotting down a URL during a basketball game.

In response, Domino's reconfigured its new ads to tell viewers to text a certain number to get free or discounted pizza. Responses skyrocketed.

4. Mobile marketing measurement
Mobile ad revenue recently surpassed the amount spent on desktop ad revenue. With billions of dollars being dedicated to reach customers on their mobile devices, a scientific approach to mobile marketing has become necessary. AppsFlyer illustrates this approach, as a mobile attribution and marketing data-analytics company that helps marketers pinpoint their targeting, optimize their ad spend and boost their ROI.

Take the example of Game Circus, creators of the smash hit mobile video game Coin Dozer. Without the right data, mobile game developers were having difficulty reacting quickly to changes in the market or determining if the quality of users generated by certain ad channels was improving or declining over time.

The marketing team took action: It began using AppsFlyer to linkattribution data to the engagement and LTV metrics it was monitoring at the game or campaign level. The result? Coin Dozer subsequently achieved a 2.3-times increase in total installs and more than a 40 percent increase in gross profit.

5. QR codes
One way to swiftly provide relevant information to mobile users is through the use of QR codes. These digital bar codes act as shortcuts for getting valuable information into the hands of customers and prospects. QR codes are highly versatile and can function as a Facebook "like" button as well as offer coupons, provide tourists with information and perform other functions.

One memorable QR campaign was the "Guinness QR code on a beer glass" action brilliantly dreamed up by advertising agency BBDO. When customers poured a Guinness -- and only a Guinness -- into a special glass, the beer's black color filled out a code on the glass that was scannable with a smartphone. Once it was scanned, customers could tweet about their pints, update their Facebook status, check in via Foursquare, download coupons and promotions and invite friends to join them.

The QR code could even launch exclusive Guinness content.

#6 Things to Keep in Mind While Running a Business from a Different Country

Few tips for a new set up:

1. Research Business Practices – Business law and practices vary from country to country. So, before you make the big move, get started and study the laws and requirements for the county you plan to set the business up.
2. Study Cultural Differences – You need to understand the cultural differences that could affect your business's viability. Research the culture surrounding the product you'll be selling to ensure that there's a market and need for it.  
3. Understand the country's political climate – It's very important that you understand the political climate of the country you're entering.
4. Get legal advice – Seeking legal advice is always a good idea, especially when starting a business abroad.
5. Seek Local Guidance – Just like you might get involved with the process you should seek to get involved with other business owner.
6. Give yourself time – Even if you're excited about moving abroad and getting started remember that all good things take time. Don't rush.

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9 Low-Budget Marketing Strategies Every Startup Can Afford

1. Referrals
One of the best ways to market is to avoid marketing altogether; instead, create a system that lets your customers do the marketing for you. Consider the fact that people are four times more likely to buy a product when it's referred to them by a friend.

Despite tech publication reviews, we still trust personal recommendations more than anything else. What's more, establishing a referral program doesn't cost much, and depending on how you structure it, might be entirely free. You could offer your current customers a discount on their subscriptions in exchange for referring a new customer, or offer a cash reward, if you're really invested in this strategy. Just make sure to get word to your customers (possibly using one of the other methods listed below).

2. Press releases and news features
People read the news regularly, and if you have something newsworthy to report, most news outlets will gladly report it for you. Press releases are an inexpensive way to get your brand mentioned in major publications, and possibly pick up some inbound links along the way. If you do all the work yourself, hunting down and emailing journalists, press releases can actually be a free marketing strategy.

Otherwise, you might pay a couple of hundred dollars to have a release syndicated through a service like PR Newswire. If you're only interested in getting yourself referenced, check out Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to provide tips to journalists just waiting for them.

3. Content marketing
Content marketing takes many forms, but none require significant investment. The simplest approach is to manage an on-site blog, adding new content a few times a week that informs or entertains your readers in some unique and practical way.

Infographics, videos and podcasts all belong to the content-marketing category as well. Reason? All these content mediums have the power to improve your brand reputation, increase your inbound traffic and complement the multiple other strategies you draw from this list (as you'll see).

4. SEO
If you're spending time writing articles for your content-marketing campaign, you might as well invest in improving your search engine optimization (SEO).

New to SEO? It might seem technically complex, but the reality is, with a bit of reading and dedication, you can easily understand the basics. You'll use online tools like Moz's Keyword Explorer to identify relevant keywords that could attract high traffic to your site with low competition; you'll then tweak your site to include those keywords.

You'll also need to make structural changes, write consistently high-quality content and attract backlinks to your domain. It's a lot of work, but if you do it yourself, your only cost will be time -- which is worth it, because the long-term benefits are enormous.

5. Social media marketing
Social media marketing isn't something you can do casually, but it is freely available, and it's something you can master if you invest the time. Start by establishing profiles for your business on major platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Flesh out your profiles; and start syndicating content that your target market would like.

Reach out to individuals, and make sure to stay connected. In time, you could grow an audience of thousands, representing an anchor stream of traffic to your site.

6. Email marketing
Email marketing remains one of the most cost-efficient marketing strategies around, with some sources claiming a return on investment (ROI) of 400 percent or more. As long as you have a good list (organically curated, rather than bought), and a steady but non-invasive stream of outgoing email blasts, you should be able to see a significant return on any time or money you put into it.

7. PPC ads
Pay-per-click ads can get expensive if you're targeting high-traffic head keywords, but there are niches and platforms that are friendly even to the most budget-conscious startup entrepreneur. For example, on Facebook, you can pay as little as $1 a day for certain ads (though you'll probably want to invest a little more than that if you want to see significant results).

8. Personal branding
Personal branding works much like corporate branding, except it's going to apply to you as an individual. You'll promote yourself and your expertise across social media, and possibly on a dedicated blog, earning new followers and a separate source of traffic and interest.

The value here is that people tend to trust other people more than corporations, so eventually, you'll have a separate, powerful outlet you can use to syndicate your content or attract new leads -- all without paying a dime.

9. Forums and groups
Don't underestimate the power of lurking on public forums and social media groups. You might see someone asking a question that you can answer (with your expertise), or catch wind of a local event you can use to promote your business. The more involved you are with your respective communities, including your local neighborhood as well as your broader industry, the more you stand to gain.

Best of all, it usually doesn't cost anything to become a member of these communities, so you can reap the benefits with nothing more than a few hours of your time.

The takeaway here? If you find yourself struggling with your business's budget, don't resort to cutting marketing out of the equation. Instead, find creative ways to build recognition for your brand and products that don't require significant up-front investment.

06 Steps to Go from Procrastinating to Productive

Don't overwhelm yourself.

It's easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work on your plate, meetings and deadlines. Lately, I've been focusing on launching new avenues for C-Suite TV, and it can be overwhelming sometimes.

When tasks seem insurmountable, here's one way to lessen that burden: Get out your "to-do" list. Then, instead of writing down that big task as one huge thing, break it down. Breaking a big task into multiple line items makes it more manageable. You have your end goal, but by reducing it to its smaller components, you get a clearer picture of what you need to do.

Crossing off the smaller parts of the larger task gives you a sense of accomplishment you wouldn't have if you tackled the massive task all at once.

Flip the script.

I don't care who you are: Whether you're a worker, a manager or a CEO, you're just like everyone -- and we all hate doing certain tasks. So why not flip the script? 

Bite the bullet, kiss the frog -- whatever you want to call it: Put that task at the top of your to-do list that day. You'll eliminate the task quickly and move on to the rest of your day. Not to mention, you'll have a bigger sense of accomplishment knowing that you've steam-rolled the largest obstacle you had awaiting you.

Forget perfection.

Everyone wants to make a good impression and put his or her best foot forward at work. Procrastination comes not from the inability to get the job done, but from fear and insecurity. Being unsure how to perform a specific task makes us fear failure and being seen in a negative light by the boss.

I always tell my team that, "No one's going to die." What's the worst thing that can happen if a specific task isn't perfect? I might get mad if the task is not completed within the given deadline, but not if it merely needs to be tweaked. Many times, the worst conversations happen inside our own heads and we let that imaginary conversation rule our other decisions. That's when we make mistakes.

If you're worried about your work quality, allocate a set amount of time each day to complete (or revise) parts of the project. It's possible to perfect a task without obsessing over it and losing focus. That's when you know it's time to let go of the project and focus on other things. Say it with me: No one will die.

Kill the squirrels (or distractions).

It's easy to procrastinate with the million distractions we have every day. According to a survey by Stop Procrastinating, 68 percent of Americans surveyed said they'd been distracted from their work duties by checking their emails, browsing the web or engaging in social media. And that was a 9 percent increase from a year before. Of that 68 percent, 39 percent said distractions cost them a whole hour a day.

Sure, it's tempting to constantly check your Facebook or Twitter feeds, but here's a radical concept: Log out of your social media accounts for a few hours every day.

Instead, focus on your tasks and nothing else. Do whatever it takes to get into the "zone," to accomplish your goal. Some people at my office use headphones to muffle outside noise. I block out time on my calendar, which my employees have access to, and dedicate that time to a specific task I need to accomplish. I may even specify "no phone calls" to ensure I stay in my zone.

Be a good time manager.

To transition from procrastinator to proactive leader requires organization on your part, from your mindset to your schedule. It's hard to be organized when you feel you're juggling multiple things, but to succeed, you must learn to juggle. Deciding how much time to dedicate to each task makes you more efficient.

For some of us busy executives, even our down time needs to be scheduled.

Recently, I attended the Rocky Mountain Economic Summit, where I mingled with top economists, business leaders and policymakers. I had a busy schedule, interviewing a top CEO. But I also managed to schedule down time. Being from South Dakota, I enjoy the outdoors so I scheduled some fly fishing time -- away from technology, emails and phone calls.

If you're a good time manager, you'll have time for everything, including play time. It takes some dedication and discipline, but it's not impossible.

Remember that the early bird gets the worm.

I operate on little sleep. As any workaholic will tell you, when you go to bed at night, you can't wait to start your day the next morning. Indeed, dawn is the most productive part of the day, according to this Wall Street Journal article. That hour of the morning brings minimal distractions, no email and hardly anyone on social media.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, starts his day at 3:45 a.m.. Richard Branson likes to "sleep in" until 5 a.m., and even my friend and fellow entrepreneur Peter Shankman gets up before it's light out. As a business owner, entrepreneur and keynote speaker, I've done my fair share of early mornings; You'd be surprised how much you can get done by the time everyone else walks in the office.

The one takeaway here is that in order to make a successful transition from procrastinating to productive, you have to be disciplined, motivated and focused: disciplined enough to curb distractions, motivated enough to want to reach your end goal and focused enough to execute a plan that works for you.

8 Unconventional Ways to Grow Your Instagram Following

1. Don't use banned hashtags.
Yes, Instagram is actively censoring and blocking a huge list of hashtags. The list of banned hashtags is dynamic, so new "unsavory" search terms get added all the time. What is most interesting, however, is that even the most innocent-looking hashtags, like #petite or #singlelife, can be banned. That's because quite a few pornographic or otherwise unacceptable images have seeped into hashtag streams and the team behind Instagram is working hard to clean the platform.

How can you be sure your engagement rates aren't dropping as a result of banned hashtags? The easiest way to spot a banned hashtag is to search for it on Instagram and check whether it's shown in both the "Top" and "Recent" categories. If the hashtag is temporarily suspended or blocked, Instagram will only display a few top posts and remove all recent posts. 

2. Always use a location sticker for your stories to gain local exposure.
This new feature gives Instagram users an opportunity to quickly check what's going on in the chosen location. It is particularly handy for gaining exposure and capturing the imagination of users who are looking for ideas or inspiration. It has become second nature now to browse Instagram images of travel destinations, hotels, restaurants and events as part of the research phase. If you want your Story to be seen by anyone who's searching for your location or is in the area, be sure to add location tags to your Stories.

3. Use less popular hashtags for a chance to make into the "Top" section.
It can be very tempting to pepper your image descriptions with the most popular hashtags that are, in fact, just simple words, such as #summer, #love, #dog and so on. It's true that these hashtags have millions of posts, but they won't do much for your account's growth in the long run. What you need are community-oriented, specific hashtags that will drive more engagement and help you build a brand. INK361 is a free tool you can use to find less popular hashtags. Simply search for a term and choose a hashtag to see the search volume. If your account is small, don't target hashtags bigger than 50,000 in search volume. 

4. Test and play with your bio.
You have 160 characters to charm your potential new followers. Yeah, no pressure. The importance of this element cannot be overstated; if you succeed and manage to tell people what you do, who you are and what drives you in a compelling and personal way, you'll be picking up new followers every day. Play around with your bio copy to find what clicks with your audience.

5. Choose your Instagram name (not username) wisely.
Don't use your name (unless you're famous), but rather pick a keyword or keywords that people will be searching for. That's why my name on my account is Travel Lifestyle Entrepreneur, which is easy to change and test while my username @tomaslaurinavicius stays the same. 

6. Consider joining or creating a pod.
Instagram pods are the pro Instagrammer's answer to the removal of chronological posts. To beat the algorithm, bloggers, businesses and passionate Instagrammers that have similar audiences are creating private groups of 10-15 people (otherwise known as pods). The goal of Instagram pods is to increase engagement and get new followers by getting exposure to the right audience. Once someone in the pod publishes a new post, he or she shares it with the group via a direct message and asks all the other members to like it and comment on it. The genuine comments give the post more weight and generate more engagement. In the end, everyone wins.

7. Use tags that will get you featured on collective accounts.
Research the right tags or use branded hashtags, such as #SonyRXmoments, to get featured on curated accounts like @sonyrxmoments. The key is to find smaller, active and relevant communities to feature your photos. Always submit your work only! 

8. Organize an exciting giveaway.
A giveaway is an excellent way to grow your mailing list, get new followers, increase community engagement, raise brand awareness or connect with local businesses and like-minded people. Before you start working on a giveaway idea, though, make sure you pick one goal and stick to it! Like with every promotional campaign, the success of a giveaway depends on how thorough your plan is. For a contest to run smoothly, you need to consider things like finding the right theme and hashtags, deciding on an attractive prize, monitoring participant entries, promoting the contest and finally, picking out the winner. Giving away great stuff for free has never let anyone down.

06 Ways to Make Online Reviews Work for Your Business

1. Emphasize quality.

To be truly effective, reviews should go above and beyond star ratings. Customers want rich content that describes the product, its usage, its upsides and drawbacks, how it compares to other brands, and so on. So when you're asking for reviews, provide customers with an opportunity to do more than select a given number of stars.

Of course it's ideal if the major portion of this content is positive, but a few negative impressions are okay too. We'll touch on why below.

2. Emphasize quantity.

Studies consistently find that when it comes to customer reviews, the more the better. That's because the more reviews a product has, the more social proof and credibility are baked into it. Customers seem to believe that products with a high number of reviews warrant more trust.

If you're starting with zero reviews, then simply bumping that number up to 10 can have a significant effect on your conversion rates. But you'll reap the most benefits if your product generates 50-plus reviews. In fact, one study by Reevo found that increasing the number of reviews past 50 resulted in a 4.6 percent increase in conversion rates.

So, how can you generate more customer reviews? Start by providing your customers with a product and purchasing experience that's worth talking about (in a good way). Then, solicit reviews by asking for post-purchase feedback via email, on social media, via an app, on the product page itself, and so on.

The goal is to make it as easy as possible for customers to provide feedback via a platform that feels convenient to them. You may also consider providing customers with incentives for sharing their feedback such as discounts, free samples or sneak previews of new products. 

3. Respond well to negative reviews.

It might be tempting to censor negative reviews. But not only is that dishonest, it's also bad for business. Customers become skeptical when they see nothing but 5-star ratings for a product, because we all know that no product will satisfy 100 percent of its customers 100 percent of the time. So you're actually better off leaving negative reviews in place, because they lend authenticity to the product page.

But don't just let negative reviews sit there. Instead, turn criticisms into an opportunity by responding in a constructive, helpful and efficient way. Doing so can actually improve customer loyalty and satisfaction and endear your brand to potential customers.

4. Repurpose reviews across platforms.

The more you can get your reviews in front of potential customers, the more likely you are to establish credibility for and stir up interest in your product. To that end, don't be shy about utilizing reviews on multiple platforms and in a variety of media, from videos and social media to blog posts and email promotions. You can also look beyond your own customers' feedback to off-site or third-party review sites.

(For those not familiar, a third-party review site is a site that exists to review certain types of products and isn't affiliated with the actual maker of the product -- e.g. Security Baron, which provides third-party reviews of security systems; or Brain Wiz, which provides third-party reviews of nootropics.)

If you reach out to owners of these types of sites, be as courteous and transparent as possible. While you do want a favorable review for your product, you don't want to do anything that would be considered a bribe.

5. Optimise for SEO.

Product reviews can boost SEO in a number of ways, from ranking for long-tail keywords to increasing the chance that your products will show up in search whenever people search for "_____ review." One of the best ways to get product reviews to appear in search results is to use rich snippets. These are bits of code that alert search engines to your review and allow you to mark up individual reviews and/or aggregate content from a grouping of reviews.

Be aware that Google has some specific requirements for rich snippets; do your research before creating this code.

6. Be careful with sorting.

It's easy to sort reviews by most recent and call it a day. But you're missing out on valuable persuasion opportunities by doing so. When you think about it, this is a really arbitrary sorting system. For example, what if all the reviews above the fold are merely star ratings instead of ones that provide rich content? Or, what if you happen to get two negative reviews at the very top? Even if every other review on the page is positive, that's going to have a significant impact on potential customers' perception of your brand.

The right sorting option for your product will be determined through testing. That being said, a few options tend to perform best across the board--namely, "most helpful," "representative sample," "most positive" (for each star rating), "best linguistic style" or some combination thereof.

5 Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs to Save for Retirement

Develop a plan for caregiving responsibilities.

Because women are often the primary family caregivers for children and aging parents, it is important for women business owners to have a plan in place for how to manage and share these responsibilities. Building a support network is key. 

Considering the financial ramifications of a work absence is also advisable since less income means less retirement savings -- and a prolonged period away from work could negatively impact the future success of the business. That being said, finding work-life balance is important, since family time and life experiences often enrich and sustain the lives of female entrepreneurs.

Invest in retirement, even in those lean early days.

During the startup phase of a business, when companies are cash poor, business owners may have little to invest in their own retirement. And even as a business gets its legs and ramps up, entrepreneurs often feed the beast and reinvest in their business. Women business owners would be wise to work with a financial advisor who can make recommendations during these lean times for their personal retirement savings -- as well as for their business.  

Invest cash distributions in retirement vehicles, not the business.

When a business owner receives cash distributions from her business, she would be well-advised to invest her personal draw in stocks, bonds and non-traditional investments so as to diversify away from the single enterprise, concentrated risk of her business. Of course, it would not be prudent to invest business profits in these same investment vehicles. Businesses require a certain level of liquidity to meet their financial obligations and having funds tied up in investments like long-term bonds, for example, would be problematic. 

Consider cash balance plans when profits are soaring.

When a business is in its "cash cow" phase, women owners should consider fully funding retirement plans, including advance strategies such as cash balance plans. What sets these plans apart from other retirement savings vehicles for business owners is that they have higher contribution limits that increase with age.   

If they have not worked with a financial advisor, it is possible that older female entrepreneurs may need to make up for some lost time on the retirement savings front after spending their prime savings years focused on building and investing in burgeoning businesses. For them, the higher contribution limits permitted in cash balance plans are appealing, allowing them to accelerate retirement saving. In 2017, the contribution limit for 401K plans with profit sharing is $59,000. With cash balance plans, business owners and executives are able to amass more pre-tax dollars; up to $137,000 in total employer and employee contributions for a 50-year-old, up to $235,000 for a 60-year-old and up to $303,000 for a 70-year-old. Of course, significant cash flow is required for businesses to be able to make such sizable contributions to these plans. 

Reduce tax liabilities through HSAs.

For those female entrepreneurs with the ability to pay for upfront medical expenses through a high deductible plan, the tax advantages of health savings accounts (HSAs) are many: a) if the contribution is made as a payroll deduction, no taxes are paid on the contribution, b) investment earnings in an HSA account are not taxed, and c) qualified health expense withdrawals from an HSA account are tax-free.  

By adopting these strategies to balance retirement savings with business growth, female entrepreneurs can look to their futures more confidently -- which can only be good for business.

7 Myths About Emotions That Will Prevent You From Being Mentally Strong

1. "I can't control my emotions."

When it comes to your emotions, you don't have to be a passive victim. Yet many people think they're stuck in whatever emotional state they happen to be in right now with no control over anything.

If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you can take steps to feel better. If you're angry, you can calm your mind and your body. If you want to change the way you feel, change the way you think and change the way you behave.

2. "I should feel differently."

Even though you do have some control over your emotions, your feelings aren't wrong. But people often say things like, "I know I shouldn't be so upset over something so little," or, "I really should be happier than I am."

Rather than waste energy beating yourself up over how you feel, accept that you feel that particular emotion right now and recognize that you have choices in how you react to that emotion.

3. "Venting will help me feel better."

Venting about your bad day or your mean boss won't make you feel better. In fact, research shows the opposite is true.

Talking about all the things that contribute to your emotional state adds fuel to the fire. So don't call your friends to complain and stop telling kids to get their feelings out by punching pillows. Acknowledge your emotions, label your feelings, and move on if you want to feel better.

4. "Controlling my emotions means behaving like a robot."

Regulating your emotions isn't the same as suppressing them. You're capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions, but you don't have to be controlled by them.

Emotion regulation is a skill that can help you build mental strength. The more you learn about how to cope with your feelings in a healthy way, the better equipped you'll be to heal from emotional pain, turn your feelings into productive action, and make the best choices for yourself.

5. Other people have the power to make me feel certain emotions.

Your boss can't make you mad and your mother-in-law can't make you feel insecure. No one can make you feel anything.

Clearly, others can influence your feelings. But they can't control them. It's up to you to be in charge of the way you think, feel, and behave.

6. I can't handle uncomfortable emotions.

Doubting your ability to deal with uncomfortable emotions, like anxiety or sadness, can lead to avoidance. And the more you avoid discomfort, the less confidence you'll have in your ability to deal with hardship.

Although some emotions are uncomfortable, they're tolerable. Allowing yourself to experience those emotions can be part of healing and they can be the key to creating the best life for yourself. So give a speech even though you're nervous, speak up when you're afraid, and say good-bye to someone even when you feel sad.

7. Showing emotion is a sign of weakness.

While it's healthy to be able to behave professionally even when you're not feeling at the top of your game, letting your guard down isn't a sign of weakness. In fact, being aware of your emotions and making a conscious decision to share those emotions with others--when it's socially appropriate to do so--can be a sign of strength.

Expressing emotion also signifies a certain level of trust in a relationship. Telling someone you feel angry or sad shows that you are willing to be vulnerable.

9 Signs Your Workplace is Emotionally Unintelligent (and What to Do About It)

1. Business goals are uninspiring at best.
Do you genuinely care if your business unit hits a 25 percent market share? Unless you've got a major equity position, I'm guessing no.

What people do care about are goals that translate to something that serves a higher purpose, a goal with personal meaning. Something they can relate to. Who is that 25 percent and how are you serving them and making their life better?

That's your goal.

Yes, numbers matter. Until they're numbing.

2. The people affected by decisions are rarely enrolled.
Being cc'd rather than enrolled on a decision is disempowering and deflating. Frankly, leaders that do this show low IQ and EQ.

Is it so difficult to understand that people must weigh in before they can buy in? Has the art and science of showing people they're valued and valuable actually become rocket science? Is it completely missed that decision-making processes can unchain instead of drain energy?

Enroll early and often.

3. Leaders conduct inquisitions, not inquiries.
Some of the most emotionally bereft behavior leaders can engage in happens at leadership team meetings. Employees come in for a checkpoint on projects and instead of helpful questioning and curiosity, they're met with a "you must get past us" mentality. Leaders might even lash out more than they listen.

No, no, no.

Role model interactions with teams that leave them looking forward to leadership meetings rather than licking their wounds thereafter.

4. It's all head, no heart.
Environments rich in analysis, planning, and preparation still need one other critical element.

A pulse.

High EQ'ers need to know that a passion for people, in addition to rote progress, is a priority.

Put empathy, compassion, and the needs of employees on the agenda along with that topic on inventory levels.

5. Micro-management is used like a security blanket.
Raise your hand if you like to be micro-managed.

Micro-management is a sign of many things, most troubling of all is insecurity. It demonstrates zero trust, indicates selfishness, and smacks of low self-confidence.

Show your leadership peers what astonishing empowerment looks like. Macro-managing exhilarates.

6. Problem employees go unaddressed.
One word for you--fester. That's what unaddressed problem children will do. It saps the energy of great employees, shows a stunning lack of concern, and is a knife in the heart of an organization. A lack of courage in addressing the negative ions is the ultimate in callousness.

Fix. It.

7. Meetings are for advancing a career, not a cause.
I use the word "cause" knowingly here--a cause is worthy, and worthy of a meeting. Cultures that leverage meetings primarily for opportunities to look good is kryptonite to a high EQ'er.

If meetings are used in part to help showcase the deserving, different story. But such is far too uncommon.

Go ballistic on the number of meetings held, and the reason for holding them.

8. Rewards and recognition are cookie-cutter.
Nothing says "I don't care" like "caring" the same way for everyone, all the time, with no thought.

A cookie-cutter approach to rewards and recognition can make recipients feel as unappreciated as if they weren't getting rewarded or recognized at all. Take the time to understand how each employee likes to be recognized and what makes each individual employee feel valued.

Personalize, so you don't trivialize.

9. Deciding not to decide is the infuriating norm.
Not understanding the impact of indecision reeks of low EQ. Timelines stretch, costs skyrocket, and employees want to impale themselves on a letter opener.

Consider the cost of not deciding and decisively change the standard operating procedure.

Workplaces with heart, soul, and intellect are a beacon. So leave a light on for the emotionally intelligent--and maybe they won't flutter away.

8 Traits of Healthy Narcissism That Drive Success

1. Self-aware

People with healthy narcissism have a quiet, comfortable confidence. They are aware of their strengths as well as their shortcomings, and view both as essential to their wholeness. They know they are not perfect, and have no expectations or intentions to be so. People with healthy egos view themselves as learners who are constantly growing, and are not at all seduced into trying to be better than others. Because of their high levels self-awareness, they set realistic expectations comparative to their abilities. They are fully aware of their "separateness" from others, and have faith in their own set of beliefs and ideals to live by. 

2. Collaborative

People with a mature sense of self-confidence gett their needs met without pushing others down in the process. People with healthy egos have a conscious and balanced perception reciprocity; allowing them to build and enter into mutually satisfying relationships. They do not lose themselves into the needs, opinions or pressures of others. They maintain their sense of self and see no benefit in "one-up-manship" or "one-down-manship" in when comparing themselves to others. 

3. Earns approval.

Those with mature narcissism do not operate from a sense of entitlement. They know to reach the levels of success they desire, they must earn it. If there is a failure, a person with healthy narcissism will trust that the failure or disappointment had less to do with their ability, genius or talent and more to do with needing to work harder or receive further training.

They are not resentful of hard work, and if anything, are inspired when they do not measure up. Not measuring up inspires a person with a healthy ego to dig deep to prove themselves beyond a shadow of a doubt. They are willing to take courses to learn more, to sit with mentors who can help guide them, and to take feedback wherever and whenever to gain the necessary improvement to get back on top of their game. 

4. Flexible

Those with healthy narcissism are flexible, and see little value in being rigid or controlling when it comes to success. They maturely accept that things change in business every day so they can anticipate and roll with changes as they occur.

Being able to flex with shifting circumstances makes these types excellent negotiators and problems solvers. Their overall goal is to head deals which benefit all involved. This flexibility keeps them on the cutting edge of the learning curve in business. It also keeps them open to learning about the needs of those they work closely with. The more flexible they are, the more in touch with their gut instincts they become, which is irreplaceable when it comes to be innovative and successful. 

5. Firm

Although those with healthy narcissism are flexible, they also know when not to bend. Being flexible does not equate to pleasing, giving in, or getting taken advantage of. These types see no path to their success or advancement if they are unable to say No when the need to say No. This knowledge is what makes others develop a highly felt respect for them. People with a healthy sense confidence do not tolerate bullies, users, discourteous treatment or devious motives. Their bottom line cannot be pushed, which places others in a position to raise their own levels of integrity if they want to get anything accomplished with them. 

6. Respectful

Those with healthy narcissism hold the concept of "respect" as the highest form of treatment. They respect opinions and ideals which vary greatly from their own, and which they may not even support. People with healthy egos do not approach business in a black and white, right or wrong fashion. There are always grey areas when it comes to agreement, and those with healthy narcissism can stand firm in their opinions without being disrespectful of another's. Further, these types show respect to everyone, from the parking lot attendant to the CEO of their company. They come to work to fulfill their role with the upmost respect and commitment. There have zero need to feel they are above those below them, and nor do they feel less valuable than those in superior roles to theirs. This makes them likable to all, which creates a reputation of being genuine and humble. 

7. Team player

Those with a healthy sense of narcissism are unselfish. They understand that selfishness and being a team player cannot co-exist. They enjoy being part of a team. They value the success of the team, as much as their own individual success. They are ready to contribute, rather than to take, or to ride on the coattails of the movement of other team members. A person with a mature ego views it as part of their role to support their team members to succeed at higher levels, and they are happy to take the backseat when necessary. They work hard and desire to make their numbers for the bonuses, commissions and other rewards, but also work hard to make sure their governing manager makes his/her number, which is based in the collective sales of the team. 

8. Emotionally intelligent

Those with a healthy sense of narcissism know better than to vent and poison the morale around them with their own frustrations. They know who they are, and what triggers them into their more exasperating, negative states of mind. When feeling frustrated, they are able to hold on to themselves and regulate their emotional state. When feeling reactive, they choose to listen, say very little or say nothing at all in an effort to control their impulses to react emotionally. They take time to think before they speak. This ability to remain mindful allows them to come to clarity and speak from a place of calm knowledge. Not all narcissism is negative, envious, superior or undercutting.  It comes down to a balance. Too little narcissism can be just as pathological as too much when it comes to success. Too little narcissism leads to a lack of confidence and low self-esteem. Without confidence and solid sense of who we are, we become too fearful to be successful.  Too much narcissism puts us at risk of having inflated egos, and putting ourselves in danger where we may compromise social cohesion in order to make ourselves stand out.  However, when we are balanced we can use our healthy ego and self-confidence to move us forward into success. 

05 Ways to Tell If Your Workplace Is Really Toxic

1. Major communication problems.   

An initial sign of a dysfunctional, toxic workplace is the prevelance of significant communication problems often across multiple areas -- between employees and their supervisors, between management and departments, across different departments, with suppliers and even with customers.

Problems can be demonstrated by a lack of communication (often referred to as "no communication at all"), whereby employees find out about decisions after they have been implemented. Other variations of dysfunctional communication patterns include indirect communication (sending messages through others), withholding information and giving misleading information.

Why is communication so crucial to a healthy organization? Because without effective communication, working together to accomplish the the organization's tasks is virtually impossible.

2. Inconsistency in following policies.

Have you ever been a customer of a business where no one really seems to know what he or she is doing and you get different answers to questions depending on whom you ask? Eventually the employee just seems to say whatever and do what he or she wants. In this way, you've experienced a company that has major problems with its implementation of policies and procedures.

When a company's policies and procedures are not followed, chaos, inconsistency and poor quality follow. Customers, vendors and employees wind up hating dealing with the company and its staff. 

3. Narcissistic leaders.

It's not clear whether toxic leaders create toxic workplaces or toxic workplaces are a magnet for toxic leaders. In either case, the two go together.

The hallmark characteristic is the narcissism of such leaders. They are all about themselves. They view themselves as categorically brighter and more talented than anyone else around and therefore more deserving of special treatment. The rules for everyone else are beneath them, they think.

Toxic leaders relate to others in a condescending manner. They take credit for others' successes and manipulate others (and information) to ensure that they look good. Others don't really matter to them. 

While these leaders may appear to be successfull for a while, over the long term their attitudes and actions catch up with them. Trust and teamwork deteriorate in their areas. They have a high turnover rate in their departments and will eventually destroy the health of the organization.

Toxic leaders might not be at the top of an organization; they often crop in midlevel management and even in front-line supervisory roles.

4. Seething disgruntlement.

Just like rusty holes in the side of an old car that traversed streets that were salted in the winter, a toxic work environment exudes negative communication across the organization and in multiple forms. 

Grumbling and complaining by employees is common. They can find something to complain about almost anytime. Then sarcasm and cynicism gain sway, demonstrating a growing lack of trust of management and leadership and turning into a low-level seething disgruntlement. 

Making excuses and blaming others is commonplace. Eventually, team members start to withdraw, stop interacting with others (except in a very defensive manner) or leave the organization.

5. Physical and emotional health effects.

When a workplace is toxic, it is, by definition, unhealthy and damaging to those who work there. Individuals who work in toxic work environments (especially over a long period of time) begin to experience problems with their personal health. This might include not being able to sleep, gaining weight or racking up medical problems. 

Emotionally, employees become more discouraged, which can lead to depression. Some become more irritable, touchy and exhibit problems managing their anger. Others experience anxiety and a general sense of dread when they think about work. These symptoms can lead to increased use of alcohol, prescription drugs or illegal substances.

You know your work is affecting you negatively when friends and family members start to make comments such as "how you've changed" or "you seem stressed" and "maybe you need to talk to someone." When personal relationships are affected, it's time to take a serious look at what is going on.  

If you work in a toxic workplace -- one that is poisonous, damaging and even potentially dangerous to the mental and emotional health of employees -- you can take steps to make it less toxic. You are not just a helpless bystander.

6 Ways Beloved Leaders Demonstrate Strength and Empathy

1.  You face troubles without being troubled. Whatever the challenge you encounter, you are steadfast in believing things will work out in the end.

2.  During a crisis, you keep open communications with others. You make everyone part of the solution.

3.  You listen and acknowledge the points-of-view of others. You want people to know they are valued and being heard.

4.  You don't panic and you don't lay blame. You remain calm, clearheaded, courageous, and supportive of the team even when frustrations are mounting.

5.  Your actions come from a genuine place. You are sincere in all that you say and do.

6.  You speak with a relaxed conversational tone and that signals your willingness to create an open dialog. Leaning forward and smiling will show you're engaged and help put people at ease.

10 Simple Tasks All Extremely Motivated People Do During Summer

1. Use your self-awareness to schedule an optimal work-life balance.

This takes time and practice, but if you know your tendencies, you can maximize your productivity. If you tend to become more social in the summer, try holding yourself accountable for working prior to meeting up with others. If you tend to become a recluse, build a schedule that asks you to reach out to others.

2. Prioritize time to network with colleagues and catch up with important friends.

Build your network and make time to relax with people that bring you other types of value. It's important to use this time to focus on both aspects of yourself--your career and your personal life. The more you can attend to both--especially while other people are feeling social--the better.

3. Schedule activities that you can't do during other months to boost your energy and refresh your mind.

If you don't live in a state with consistent excellent weather, go outside! Your mind benefits from different types of stimulation than its used to, which is one reason the change of seasons can be beneficial.

4. Push yourself to do activities outside of your comfort zone for maximum growth.

Summer camps aren't always easy--they push you outside of your comfort zone and ask you to try new things. Challenge yourself to take actions or engage in activities that you would typically avoid so that you can overcome your fears and expand your comfort zone. Doing so will boost your confidence and your mental strength.

5. Value your long-term health by abstaining from unhealthy eating and drinking routines (and exercise regularly).

The summertime can be a trap when your social group suddenly becomes more focused on unhealthy habits. Instead of following suit, try to practicing healthy habits. Make sure that you exercise consistently so that you can spend your summer feeling your best.

6. Maintain a consistent sleep-wake cycle to build sustainable energy and increase emotional stability.

Consistent sleep schedules synch circadian rhythms that give you energy and improve your mental stability. People who value their sleep are typically more productive during the day and, due to their regular sleep, feel better over longer periods of time.

7. Make time for creative play to use different parts of your brain.

Connect to art or music this summer. Do activities that you typically don't so that you can use parts of your brain that you haven't connected to in a long time. This one task--doing something creative that you typically don't--is an easy way to guarantee increased creativity (and perhaps a moment of joy).

8. Schedule moments of downtime to completely disconnect from all electronics to completely recharge.

Start each day free of electronics, or pick a day to go off the grid. While an hour won't have the same benefits as an entire day (or more!) without electronics, your mind needs to have down time. This time isn't wasted! It actually helps you clarify thoughts, feelings, and values that you may not typically notice while constantly connected.

9. Re-evaluate your current habits to see if they align with your values and long-term goals.

One of the most important tasks of summer is measuring your progress. Assess whether or not your behaviors are aligned with your values--appreciate the actions that are and modify the things that aren't. Don't wait until New Years to get back on track--every second counts.

10. Practice gratitude for the small things that make each summer unique.

You're not perfect, and you're never going to be. Allow yourself to spontaneously indulge in something that's not "productive" and "professional," just make sure you hold yourself accountable for your long-term goals. Keep coming back to your values and ensure that your behaviors and your schedule are going to help, rather than hurt, your mission.

05 Acts of Appreciation That Drive Employee Engagement

1. Words of Affirmation.

This language involves positive verbal or written expressions of appreciation, as well as recognition. A study by Make Their Day and Badgeville, found that 83% of participants found recognition for contributions more fulfilling and meaningful than a reward or gift.

How to Do it: Publicly acknowledge a job well done, in an all-hands meeting or company newsletter, and hand-write them a note that they can keep.

2. Acts of Service.

For some, going above and beyond your required duties can show employees, co-workers, and clients that their bosses and co-workers value them.

How to Do it: Offer to help with a stressful project, assist with a technology issue, or pick up and deliver someone's documents from the printer.

For clients, consider hand delivery, arranging travel plans, or giving discounts to make them feel appreciated. Additionally, helping with a task or moving an appointment that prevents someone from getting home to their family is one of the best ways to show you value someone.

3. Quality Time. 

In a culture where time is precious, setting aside quality time is a great gesture of appreciation.

How to Do it: For clients, select personal ways to connect, instead of limiting communication to impersonal methods such as email.

For employees, schedule a lunch or coffee break, where you give them an opportunity to speak with you in-person about their chosen topics.

4. Receiving Gifts.

For some individuals, material gifts and money are the most effective ways to express appreciation.

According to the results of an employee appreciation survey by Harris Interactive and Glassdoor, 75% of employees say receiving a pay raise is a valuable form of showing appreciation, while 46% say they would enjoy unexpected treats and rewards such as snacks, lunches, and dinners.

How to Do it: Provide on-the-spot cash bonuses, tied to specific outcomes, for a job well-done. Or present an employee with a gift certificate to a nice restaurant, a store that aligns with their hobbies, or a weekend getaway.

5. Physical Touch

Finally, there are some individuals who value appreciation expressed through physical touch. Handshakes, fist-bumps, high-fives, and pats on the back are all part of a healthy workplace, says Alexander Kjerulf, author of Happy Hour is 9 to 5: How to Love Your Job, Love Your Life, and Kick Butt at Work.

According to Kjerult, appropriate touch "helps create better relationships at work. It promotes closeness, inclusion, intimacy, and trust among a group of people when their daily interactions also allow them to touch."

Of course, it's essential to use proper business etiquette to remain professional, as well as consider personal boundaries, with this language of appreciation. Further, this language is typically a secondary language to one of the other 4 languages.

How to Do it: Being sensitive to boundaries, and considering your personal connection with the other person, decide what type of physical expression is most appropriate for your relationship. It may be a handshake or a hug.

05 Most Common SEO Myths

Myth No. 1: Blogs will help your SEO.

For some reason, everyone thinks posting a blog on your own website will magically increase your SEO presence and make your website stronger.

If you have a very strong website to begin with, internal blogs can help drive more traffic to your site. For example, I wrote a blog on The Media Captain's site about Snapchat geofilters for local businesses. We're based in Columbus, Ohio, and we received a lead from a pizza shop in Lafayette, La. This is the purpose of a blog: to drive traffic for long-tail keywords.

Here's the deal though -- I've spent seven years, day in and day out, building the SEO for our website, The Media Captain. Since we have a relatively high domain authority at this point, this allows our blog to rank well nationally, which is the reason the pizza shop in Lafayette was able to find us.

Domain authority is a score (on a 100-point scale) developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines. We like to use domain authority when comparing one site to another or tracking the "strength" of your website over time. If you have a website that has a high domain authority, internal blog posts can be great. If you are in a line of work where there is not a lot of competition, you can rank well with blog posts as well. 

If you website is new, however, or you have a low domain authority, just posting a blog to your site is going to have hardly any benefit from an SEO perspective. People like to think that when you post an internal blog, Google will see your website receiving "fresh content." While this is not inaccurate, on a scale of 1-100, this scores a 1 in terms of how much it will move the needle for your SEO.

Tips on succeeding with your blog strategy:

• Try and write blog content for external websites, which will link back to your website and boost your domain authority. Backlinks are the foundation of Google's algorithm.
• If you start writing content on your own blog, run a Facebook advertising campaign to promote your blog to drive traffic to the piece of content. It frustrates the heck out of me when people write a great piece of content and don't get any eyeballs on it because it doesn't have any exposure. 

Myth No. 2: All backlinks are created equal.

When I explain to prospective clients the importance of quality backlinks for their SEO strategy, some tend to think that all backlinks are created equally. They believe that if you hyperlink on Facebook, Twitter or your email newsletter, this will help you rise in the ranks of Google.

This is not the case. On powerful social media sites, the hyperlinks you include in your posts don't get counted as a link that will help improve your backlink profile. Also, on a lot of websites, they'll have what's called a "no-follow" link. According to Google, "no-follow" provides a way for webmasters to tell search engines "Don't follow links on this page" or "Don't follow this specific link." This helps websites prevent untrusted content or paid links. The backlinks you want pointing to your site are natural, authentic, industry-related and authoritative. Don't get suckered into believing that all backlinks are created equally. Spammy backlinks can actually cause more harm than good.

In a prior Entrepreneur article, I listed out a step-by-step beginners guide on "How to Build Backlinks." Make sure to read this article carefully as it will help you formulate a solid back linking strategy.

Myth No. 3: You can get on page 1 of Google for $99. 

I know that everyone reading this article has received constant email pitches and phone calls about "1st Page Google Ranking for just $99." There is a lot of B.S. in the SEO industry. There is no "quick solution" to get onto the first page of Google.

I've helped many businesses recover from Google algorithm penalties because they signed up with some oversees company for $99, and this "company" built spammy backlinks to their site, resulting in a Google penalty. (You can read a prior article on "what your business needs to avoid the wrath of Google.")

If you are really interested in improving your SEO, a strategy needs to be formulated. An expert will need to identify the services or products that drive the most revenue for your business so he can deploy an SEO strategy based on your actual business model. Keyword research is involved, as is onsite SEO optimization.

If anyone guarantees you page 1 ranking on Google within a three-month timespan, run for the hills. 

Myth No. 4: I have a contact at Google.

If any SEO professional tells you that he has a contact at Google and the conversation pertains to search engine optimization, he is full of it. 

Our agency is a Google Partner and we do have a contact at Google. This is for Adwords though, the online advertising beast that generates billions of dollars for Google yearly. 

Google doesn't have employees who can help businesses with their SEO. That's the fascinating component about this industry; you have to follow the latest trends to make sure your SEO strategy aligns with Google's constant algorithm updates.

Make sure to follow Barry Schwartz, Glenn Gabe and Marie Haynes. All are great SEO experts whose insight and opinion I highly value. There is also Gary Illyes, a webmaster trends analyst for Google, who provides best practices and insight. 

Myth No. 5: Stuffing keywords is going to help me.

Long gone are the days where you could buy a domain name like SEOCompanyDenver.com and rank at the very top of the search engines in the Mile High City. Google is looking for authoritative sites that are actual businesses that are getting legitimate visitors to their site.

If you have too many keywords stuffed into your domain, this can be viewed as a spammy tactic that Google can pick up on. Including a keyword within your company is a good practice though, if it is a natural fit, of course. Let's say I wanted to start a commercial roofing company. A name like "JP Roofing" would be a good option because it has a personal connection based off of my initials, and the keyword "roofing" will allow Google to clearly understand that I own a roofing company.

I've also seen many instances where a company will create a URL structure similar to the example below. They build out a ton of pages trying to rank for every single suburb in their area. Again, a big no-no. Google can view this as duplicative content and a deceptive practice, which can do more harm than good for your site.