Quickbooks

I'm almost starting to feel like a legitimate company now that I can create professional looking invoices and sales receipts! I have wanted to use this program for awhile now, but I had felt slightly overwhelmed by it, as I don't have an accounting background. Luckily I gained some experience using it while helping out at Aero-Supplies & Express, after which I felt much more comfortable with the every day uses of Quickbooks Pro. However, to my frustration it took me quite some time to figure out how to email invoices out to my clients. As it turns out, this was a software glitch, not user error!
This should provide an invaluable program as I continue to build Hayes Aviation.

What good is a company website if no one finds it?

Soon after the agitating process of completing the Hayes Aviation website, I had one of those "now what?" moments. Do I just sit back and wait? How long can I afford to wait for people to notice me. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) was the obvious answer. By the use of SEO techniques a company can climb the ranks within the Google search engine. If you can land on a top page ranking, your website is seen by infinitely more potential customers. Less obvious however, is knowing where to turn for these services. There are plenty of companies out there that offer their SEO services at ridiculously high rates, certainly not rates I could afford as a small business owner. One company quoted me $2000 upfront, followed by $400/month. There had to be a better way, and there was. I spent months searching anything I could find on "SEO". I even considered having a try at attempting SEO techniques myself, but quickly realized that it would end similarly as when I attempted to create my own logo, and website. After abandoning DIY thoughts, I stumbled upon oDesk.com. oDesk, is a web company that connects users with consultants all over the world. After a few weeks (I usually need time to build up courage to try something new like this) I had emailed a few different SEO consultants to get a feel of what I was getting into. SEO is a slow long term process where results are not realized immediately, as such I faced a dilemma. Previously I had utilized a low end provider to create my website. The website creation process was wonderfully disappointing and in retrospect I learned that I should have spent more for a better experience. With this freshly in the back of my mind, I needed to decide on how to place my SEO investment. I could either invest in a more expensive consultant, hoping for a better service, for a more limited time run. Or, I could hire someone on the low cost side, and run a longer SEO campaign. Ultimately I settled on an wonderful woman in Bangladesh who would charge me $2.22/hr for 40hrs a week. I still don't know which option would have been more effective, but at $2.22/hr, the low end was a potential mistake I could afford. And I have to admit that I'm pleased with the results so far. With only a few months of working with my consultant I have managed to reach page one in Google's search engine for one of the search terms we are using to drive people to my website.