As a business mentor with over 10 years experience assisting people to start their own business I thought I would put pen to paper and make a list of some of the small business ideas I have seen over the years, some I am sure you will have seen before and others may be more interesting and unusual.If I tell you that I have spent two days a week for 4 years, with the Governments New Enterprise Allowance scheme mentoring the unemployed into self-employment and it has been a joy to behold, every week brings with it new faces, new ideas and plenty of enthusiasm to get started and become independent of the man.Some business ideas are weak and ill thought through, others are a sound principle with good solid practical human skills behind them and they are destined to succeed.My top 10 frequent flyers small business ideas in no particular oder are as follows:

Cleaner

Gardener

Joiner

Plumber

Handyman

Web Designer

Painter and Decorator

Crafter

eBay seller

Motor Mechanic
Fairly routine you may say and yes I would agree, however, the more time I spend with start-up businesses the more I realise that if in your past you have no experience of the skills needed to run your perfect small business idea, then it is doomed for failure.For instance lets consider someone like myself. If I wanted to be a builder, joiner, plumber etc I would not have a hope or prayer as my DIY skills are terrible let alone to have the audacity to claim to be a professional, and yet I still see people who have come from a background working in travel and tourism and such like, who want to convert without any training to working in the allied trades, or specialist professional sectors. What makes them think this is a good idea.My advice is to write your business ideas in a pad, go to bed, sleep on it and if it is still a good idea in the morning then expand the thought process from an idea into a basic business plan. Just one side of A4 paper will do, covering the following sections, and don’t forget to check out local free resources to help you on the way.What do you want to do?Who will do what in your new business?What has led you to this, and what skills needed to run a business like this?Who are your top 5 local competitors?How are you going to be different from them?How do you intend to charge for your services or products?What will it cost to get started?At least then you will have a clearer idea of what you want, how much it will cost, if you have the skills needed, and will it make money.Some more interesting small business ideas:

Blues Box Guitar Manufacture

Trampoline Centre

Fine Artist

Mortgage Broker

Glassware Manufacture

Promotional Goods Manufacture

Internet Millionaire ( PPC Sites )
So no matter what your small business ideas is make sure that you have clearly thought about it, and began to map it out on paper before you take the plunge and invest your money and time, in the hope that all will work out.

Chief among the specialised skills that your business should outsource, you should outsource SEO content writing.Writing SEO content is a specialisation that marries insight from two important areas: how the human psyche works, and how search engines crawl. In other words, the science of keyword analysis applied to the art of human communication.SEO content development is more important than everIt’s been maligned and misunderstood as trying to “game” search engines, but is it really an evil word, “SEO”? No.According to the Wikipedia SEO content definition:Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s “natural” or un-paid (“organic”) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users.As long as there are search engines, content will have to be optimised for search engines. As search engines become more “human”, backdoor tactics and deceptive methods will more and more become obsolete. And that’s a good thing for us all.Now – more than before Google’s revolutionary algorithm changes of recent months – our chances of ranking high are better than ever. The scammers and spammers who used awkward tactics to block up our search engine results pages have been flushed away. But you still do need to understand how search engines “think”, if you want to score well with them and attract more traffic to your websites.Is “outsource” an evil word, then?Since SEO content writing is such an important and specialised skill, is it a mistake to outsource it?Yes – if you outsource such crucial work to a part-timer working out of his parents’ bedroom halfway around the world. But if you hire a professional to provide a well-defined product into a well honed workflow: No, it’s definitely no mistake.Outsourcing can open up a whole world of talent at your disposal, for a fraction of the cost of traditional employment. And thanks to the internet, you can quickly and easily take advantage of the global outsourcing company boom.It used to be that you could just write keyword rich content and rank wellYou know what those look like:”Dog training trainers are always looking for the best dog training resources they can find. Unfortunately, dog training resources are not always available at dog training pet stores. However, at dogtraining.com, you can find all your dog training needs at our dog training website.”Not only is copy like that annoying as heck to read, but it now gets penalised by Google’s algorithms.Google is always trying to get its search engine to think more like a human – maybe one day it will, and “SEO content” will simply be called “content”. But until that day comes, if ever, SEO will always be an essential need for all businesses online.

Keyword stuffing is dead.

Indiscriminate backlinking is dead.

Deceptive methods are dead.

But SEO is alive and kicking harder than ever, especially with LSI.
LSI isn’t a drug, but it’s a cure.Today, search engines use a methodology called Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), which uses mathematical models to figure out the overall theme of a body of copy, the way people normally talk.So, instead of ranking an article based on keywords, Google now ranks an article for using the key phrases that real people use when they talk about a given subject.This means that today’s solid SEO content is creative SEO content. Unlike the bad old days of keyword stuffing, LSI themed keyword content reads and sounds the way a human speaks – because it uses the actual phrases that a real person would use.3 reasons why you need outsourced content:1. It keeps your content writing freshWriting new SEO content on a regular basis is not an easy task, but a dedicated SEO Content Writer can provide you with fresh SEO copy regularly, no problem.2. Content writing for social media has gone SEO as wellSocial media marketing begins with solid SEO content. How so? You want people to tweet, like, share and otherwise upvote your content. Which they can only do if:

Your content is great and

They can find your great content
A good SEO Content Writer hits both targets.This goes for content writing for Facebook, Google+, blogs – everything.3. Premium content is even central to video – which is skyrocketing in importanceVideos are based on scripts and introduced by copy on web pages, whether your own or on YouTube. This copy must be SEO copy.What do you need to successfully outsource? 1. A well-defined workflow, eg, a website into which you simply plug and play solid content2. A willingness to benefit from a world of top talent – not just what can be found in your particular geographical location3. Expert SEO Content Writers who are well versed with what works in SEO todayThere’s a difference between SEO Content Writers and conventional writers: professional SEO writing is qualified and optimised to be ranked highly by today’s search engine algorithms, whereas general writing is not.Additionally, for English content, you want to make sure that you hire English-speaking writers. Native English-speaking writers can give you an edge that non-native speakers can’t.Sidebar: Are you a Web design or SEO agency?Do you offer an SEO reseller programme or maybe even run a turnkey SEO outsourcing agency? Professional writers can help you with white label SEO content.Let’s say that you offer a complete marketing solution for online. This would include web page content, website design, blog content, hosting, SEO, SEM, PPC, etc. You would hire specialists to fill each of these roles: a designer for the website design, a webmaster to handle the hosting, a marketer to oversee the advertising campaigns and a writer to provide copy for the Web assets.It pays to have a dedicated professional in each role; with outsourced SEO services, you can afford to hire a dedicated SEO Content Writer, not just general purpose writers.To outsource successfully, outsource it to a professional, not a pretenderWhen you outsource content writing services, make sure you contract a supplier who provides premium online writing, not “content mill” hash. Your content reflects your company – and your clients.Outsourcing to an SEO dedicated content writer can make the difference between having content that is loved by both people and search engines – or content that is simply fluff. A professional knows the tips to SEO content that converts.

Internet Marketing is growing by the day. In such a situation, it is not enough for a business to have just a website. It is important for this website to be visible to the users and appear in search results when users search for related keywords. With so many companies and websites selling the same products or services as your business, how do you make sure that you get noticed and get more business?This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into picture. Many companies are incorporating SEO into their marketing strategies. This raises one more question. Is In-House SEO better or should you Outsource the SEO of your website to an agency? What are the pros and cons of getting the SEO of your website done In-House as compared to outsourcing your SEO needs? Both In-House SEO and Outsourcing SEO have its pros and cons. Each company needs to look into both these models and then decide based on their needs.Pros of In-House SEO1. An In-House SEO expert will know your business well and hence will understand the nuances of company and its challenges as well.2. Doing your SEO In-House gives you complete control over the strategies and their execution. The SEO expert can be contacted immediately for any changes since he sits in the same office as the other members of the company.3. The In-House SEO expert works only on your website and not on any other websites. This means that the expert can give full attention to your site and can work on improving the rankings of your website.4. Sometimes In-House SEO is lesser expensive that Outsourced SEO agencies.In-House SEO Cons1. SEO is a rapidly changing field. The algorithms of search engines keep changing. One needs to always be updated with the changes. The skills in SEO also keep changing. If you decide to do the SEO of your site In-House, then you need to spend time and sometimes money to learn the new aspects of SEO and keep yourself updated with the changes.2. It may be time consuming if you have to keep up to the trends of the business. And it is important to keep with the trends of the business if you choose to do your SEO In-House. You will also have to pay attention to the overall marketing of your website and may not find the time to update yourself with the latest in SEO. This can result in outdated SEO practices which can further affect your sites ranking.3. SEO requires a number of tools. If you choose to do your SEO In-House, then you need to buy these tools. This can be very expensive. Just having these tools is not enough. You also need to learn how to use them which can further take up a lot of your time.Outsourced SEO Pros1. The biggest advantage of outsourcing your SEO needs to an agency is that you get the expertise of an entire team of SEO experts who will work on your website. Since, it is a team that only works on SEO projects, they will be up to date with the latest trends in business and hence you do not have to spend time or money in getting yourself familiar with these trends. The team will create SEO strategies for your business keeping these trends in mind.2. SEO agencies work with a large number of clients. The advantage of this is that they have the experience of working on different kinds of businesses and understand their needs better. This wide perspective can be a big advantage in getting visibility on the web.3. If you outsource SEO to an agency, you don’t have to spend time, effort and money on hiring an In-House SEO team, training and tools.4. The outsourced SEO agency will not be affected by the pressures of other aspects of marketing your business and can concentrate only on the SEO of your website.5. Outsourcing SEO means faster execution of tasks since you get a team of people working on your website as opposed to one or two in-house experts.Outsourced SEO Cons1. Outsourcing SEO may require you to sometimes invest a little more money than you would if you were to do the SEO of your website in-house by yourself.2. If you outsource the SEO of your website to an agency, then they would need sometime to get to know your business and the way you work. This would take up sometime till the agency gets used to working with your company.3. Since the agency will be handling more than just your website, you cannot be sure of the time and focus that the agency will be giving your website. You may have to constantly keep checking on the work done and on the progress of your site.4. Some of the SEO agencies may use cheap tool based SEO or black hat SEO techniques to get the results that they promise their clients. You may have to be involved with the agency’s work to make sure such techniques are not being used for your website.