1. Keyword research

As others have mentioned the Google keyword tool is a good starting point for keyword research.

Google Webmaster Tools can also be used to see where your website is already visible in the search results. To enable this you need to upload a file that Google provide to your web server. - http://bit.ly/hPJWG4

Your Google analytics data should also become increasingly useful, as will Adwords if you are running PPC campaigns. In fact some people run Adwords PPC campaigns purely to collect data for their natural search strategy.

2. Design your website structure around these keywords

Ensure you have a page about each of the keywords you are targeting and the most important pages should be link to either form the home page or the navigation.

The navigation of the website is important as the pages you link to here will be seen by Google as the most important pages of the site.

The anchor text used for internal links is also important as Google uses it as an indicator of what the page is about.

3. Find related websites who may link to you

Open Site Explorer is a useful tool for running competitive back link analysis - http://bit.ly/ePKA3X

By looking at who is linking to competitors and related bloggers you should be able to compile a lengthy spreadsheet of online influencers you can try to build relationships with (using email, Twitter, etc).

You should also consider the type of content that other like to link to in your niche, which will help you with your content strategy.

There are lots of good seo articles and tools on seomoz.org and seobook.com. It's also worth following what Matt Cutts (Head of Google spam team) has to say www.mattcutts.com/blog

Thanks to Phil Berryman our E-commerce manager (@philberryman) for his help with this blog.

Factoring is a great way to borrow money for your business while keeping control of costs and managing your cashflow. These days you can also decide to hand over just a few big invoices to a factoring company. This is called single invoice discounting. It's usually expensive because there is much more risk involved for the factoring company. They rather want to look after all your invoices.

If you consider to use factoring for your cashflow, use these 6 tips from my invoice finance colleague David Summers:

1. Administration Fee
This charge is made based on your entire turnover and is usually a percentage charge on the gross value of your invoices.

2. Minimum Service Fee
This is not charged in addition to the administration fee, but if your actual turnover is below what you expected, a top up charge is made at the end of the relevant period. This is typically quoted annually, quarterly or monthly. 

Remember that if you go with a monthly charge, it may seem like a smaller amount, but in practice you could pay more if your turnover is “lumpy” or if your quote is based on a yearly forecast and the business turns over less in the early days.

3. Setup Fee (or Legal Document Charge)
The Invoice Finance company incurs its greatest cost at the inception of a facility and tries to recover some of this cost on day one.  Often providers who don’t insist on a minimum contract charge a higher set up fee to protect against early leavers.

4. Minimum Contracts
The standard in the industry is for an initial term of 12 months, with a lesser period thereafter. Factoring companies make very little profit from facilities lasting less than twelve months and most would say, they need two years to make any profit at all.
You need to source facilities carefully to avoid a bad fit, for your business.  Money saved initially may cost your company dear, if you do not get the service or funding you need.  It is wise to take advice, from an independent source, which has a broad experience of factoring and discounting.

5. Refactoring Charge
Not all providers charge this. In addition to the initial charges of processing and chasing your invoice, some lenders make an extra charge, where your customers get very late in payment.  This partially reflects the additional effort in preparation of legal action, which may be reasonable. However by this stage, costs may be disproportionate to the benefit.

6. Funding Limits
Some factors will set a limit on the amount which you can draw on the facility.  In practice, this can usually be lifted, without too much trouble.  However the limit can be restrictive if your business grows rapidly.  You should be sure you understand this and give yourself plenty of time to get this lifted before it becomes an issue.  Discuss this before you commence with your provider, to find out what notice will be necessary for them to increase the limit.

Using Twitter for business can be time consuming and challenging. As Mike and Beatriz point out, “competing” against their competitor can be overwhelming. Some simple rules should get you started and I hope to see Mike and Beatriz back on Twitter very soon:

Sales technique is obviously important when trying to sell. With regards to Marcela’s sales technique, it is obvious that she knows her Mexican food product very well and understands exactly what processes go into making the product. She hand-makes all of her products herself and her enthusiasm for her business and product means she is well set on her way.

What it seems Marcela currently does not do so well is trying to understand her customer’s needs and what they want to get out of the Mexican food product.

Employers' Liabiloty Insurance, as well as the requirements for employers which Steve Marjoram has already highlighted, is another requirement by law for a company with any employees, even if in this case they are part-time employees.

Along with motor insurance, this is a compulsory insurance for which you can incur heavy fines for not having bought cover. £5m is the legal minimum, although most insurers will provide £10m as standard. This is for the protection of both the business and the employee, who may be forced to pursue their employees for compensation, should there have been an accident at work. You only need to look at day-time tv adverts to see the market for these types of claim.