Work/Life Balance in 2018
As a small business owner the hours in the day never seem to be enough. There is constant rushing from one place to another, packing in as many meetings as possible. When something breaks you fix it, when someone is out sick you cover it. Pretty soon it seems as though work has taken over…
Read MoreHow to Be the (Best) Face for Your Brand
In an ideal world, our products and business plans would speak for themselves, and all we would have to do is drop them into the laps of investors and watch the funding roll in. But let’s be honest: Our products aren’t great conversationalists, they don’t know how to answer follow-up questions, and they certainly don’t…
Read MoreWhat’s the Difference Between “A” Players and Others? It’s All in the Details
I was having a conversation with a colleague about the differences between top performers and everyone else. The conversation caused me to reflect on discussions I’ve had with 1000’s of sales people over the past year. Clearly, there are differences in sales people and their approaches. The skills and competencies vary by market/industry, customer base,…
Read More4 Steps to Prepare Your Business for a Required Pivot
You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. You can count on it and plan for it, or you wait for the next survival crisis brought your way by this rapidly changing world. You can even give it a more…
Read MoreWhat Can the Winter Olympics Teach You About Getting Your Small Biz in Shape?
It’s almost that time of the year again! Opening Ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics officially kick off on Friday, February 9th in PyeongChang County, South Korea. For the next two weeks, fans from countries all over the world will be watching athletes compete in winter sports ranging from skiing to figure skating and cheering their…
Read MoreTruss Launches in Washington, DC, to Help Startups and Small & Medium Sized Businesses Find Office Space
January 30, Chicago IL — Today Truss announced that its AI-based platform for finding and leasing office space is now available to startups and small & medium sized businesses (SMBs) located in Washington, D.C. Truss’ end-to-end platform significantly simplifies, speeds-up and tailors the office-search process for tenants looking for spaces under 10,000 square feet. Landlords utilizing the new platform…
Read MoreThe Price of Leadership
We just named a new president to run Maddock Douglas, the innovation consultancy I founded 27 years ago. As you can imagine, finding the right person was difficult, but the decision was made easier because Maria, our new president, understands the fundamental facts of leading that too many seem to be missing lately. Anyone can…
Read MoreHow Learning SEO Can Improve Your Writing
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a vital skill to learn if you have a website. SEO helps search engines find your site and helps you rank in the SERPs for your target keywords. If your site doesn’t follow SEO best practices, searchers can’t find your content and your traffic will remain stagnant. While SEO is important from a…
Read MoreA Basic Marketing Campaign Template to Ensure ROI
In marketing, as in life, there are no guarantees. But as a business owner looking to grow, you’ll understandably want to get as close as possible to guaranteed results and ROI with any given marketing campaign you launch. The best way to do this? Follow a proven, repeatable template that you can base campaign planning…
Read MoreBusiness Plan Events and Why They Matter
(Note: I posted this earlier this week on the SBA Industry Word blog. It’s reposted here for your convenience.) What do you think of when you hear the phrase “business plan?” Does that bring to mind a formal document that starts with a summary and includes modules describing your business’s products, market, strategy, team, and essential…
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