The Q&A session we have with Farnoosh is mainly on how mobile technology benefits small businesses in many ways, such as, such as in increasing productivity, enhancing efficiency and grabbing business opportunities on the go. Along with that, she also offers valuable tips on business blogging.
So, indeed, the Q&A is the one you should read and follow!
Noobpreneur.com Q&A with Farnoosh Torabi
Noobpreneur.com: Please tell us a bit about who you are and what you are currently working on at the moment.
Farnoosh Torabi: My name is Farnoosh Torabi, and I’m a personal finance expert that is passionate about helping everyday Americans boost earnings, save more and spend smart – something I’ve been able to do editorially on my “Financially Fit” weekly Yahoo! web series, as well as my article contributions to Money Watch, and The Today Show. In the past, I’ve also worked on helping young adults achieve financial literacy, publishing a book called You’re So Money – Live Rich Even When You’re Not that addresses key issues for personal finance. Currently, I’ve partnered with Intuit to reveal ways mobile technology can help small business owners – enhancing efficiency, conduct business tasks, and even take payments.
Noobpreneur.com: We all know how much mobile technology is on the rise, so how can small businesses make the most of mobile technology today?
Farnoosh Torabi: Once you’ve decided to integrate mobile technology into your business, there are several free products and apps, which allow users to enhance efficiency and conduct business tasks on a more productive level. In selecting these products/apps, I suggest that business owners do their research to choose the solution that is right for them, including understanding whether or not the offering is from an established company with a good reputation, pricing plans and what solutions may work with existing technologies they may use. Though it may seem intimidating to incorporate mobile technology into your business, it’s not. Most mobile products and apps have a accessible user interface that eases the learning curve.
Noobpreneur.com: I’ve watched your Financially Fit web series on Yahoo! And I regularly read your articles on Entrepreneur Magazine back in 2007-2008. With your vast experience in both small business and personal finance, can you share a tip or two about how to be a superstar business/finance blogger like you?
Farnoosh Torabi: The real key is being able to bring credible, honest insights that readers can take back for their business when they spend time looking at your content. For example, small business owners are some of the most of scrappy, hardworking individuals who wear many hats – I try to tailor my blogging experience to address key pain points like cash flow and finance. Additionally, it’s always important to make sure your blog has new, fresh postings that are relevant to the type of audience you’re trying to reach. Readers are attracted an ongoing voice – seeing an empty blogroll – even for a few days – can make it seem like you aren’t engaged. My last piece of advice – listen to your audience. Make sure you’re looking at the comments section of your posts, and see what they’re reacting to. Blogging is meant to be a conversation, not a speech.
Noobpreneur.com: Lastly, money is tight right now for many small businesses. Any tips for small business owners on how to better manage their cash flow or ways to increase profits without actually generating more revenue?
Farnoosh Torabi: A recent survey found that one third of small business owners say that they couldn’t operate their business without mobile apps… (source: AT&T http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=19326&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=31689&mapcode=enterprise.) Specifically, mobile payments technologies have become a critical method for small business owners to grow their businesses in new and innovative ways. This helps create stable cash flow and liquidity…allowing them to never miss a sale. Before mobile payment apps like GoPayment, it was too expensive for most small businesses to use a wireless terminal, which cost around $1,000 to rent, not to mention expensive processing fees. As a result, business owners and their employees often resorted to writing down sensitive card data on a piece of paper to process when they got back to the office. With the advent of mobile payment offerings, anyone can now easily and affordable process credit cards on the mobile device they already own and carry. Once you’ve chosen the right solution, remember that accepting payments on your mobile device should be geared toward your customers’ satisfaction, not only your business’ bottom line.