Make Buying Easier!

As sales people, we want to make it easy for our customers to buy. We have endless amounts of data sheets, cases studies, presentations, and information about our products. We seek to be super responsive to our customers’ informational needs, immediately burying them with information, conducting endless demos to respond to their questions. Marketing helps…

Read More

8 Small Business Hacks for Growth and Productivity

I view small business hacks as falling into two categories: strategies and habits. And, whether it’s a strategy or a habit, I think that what makes a hack a hack is the ease at which it can be implemented. Following through on a small business hack is more about taking Nike’s advice of “Just do…

Read More

Theo Epstein and the Trust Factor in Leadership

Does trust really matter when it comes to leadership? After all, leaders pay people to do their jobs. Trust is somewhat beside the point, right? Actually, not by a long shot. Research both formal and anecdotal proves that organizations run as such suffer in big ways, including the bottom line. On the other hand, leaders who treat…

Read More

Hackers, Stay Away: Protect Your Social Media Marketing Today

For many small businesses, social media marketing is a tool to get your message out to potential customers cheaply. So many small businesses have turned do it, and are putting information on it that they should not, that hackers have started making them targets. Protecting your social media marketing accounts from hackers is possible on…

Read More

What to Do if Your Employee is Convicted of a Crime

Having an employee who is convicted of a crime affects your business adversely, regardless of the circumstances. If the employee has committed a crime on the job, the effects can be long-reaching and expensive. You need the advice of an attorney to explain your rights and the consequences that the employee is facing. It could…

Read More

Every New Business Needs a Unique Selling Proposition

Every startup and every new business needs a unique selling proposition (USP) to get people’s attention these days, and make it stand out in the information overload we all see. Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would…

Read More

Do You Make Excuses When Customers Complain?

What do you do when customers complain? Do you listen? Do you try explaining or rationalizing your responses? One thing we can agree on from the top. When you serve customers, it’s not always easy to manage complaints. There’s a fine line between explaining and crossing over into the excuse realm. And, I’ve got a bad customer…

Read More

Moving Your Startup from the Garage to an Office Space

For most start-ups and small businesses, the move from a den, garage, basement or worse into a business location is usually the result of a major milestone being achieved. Generally, the milestone is funding or profitability indicating that the long-term viability of the business is secure—and with that comes the ability to make this monumental…

Read More

5 Tips for the Introverted Thought Leader

Just because you’re an introvert doesn’t mean you’re not well-suited to be a thought leader in your industry. As a matter of fact, there are a good amount of introverts among the most influential movers and shakers of today. If you’re genuinely passionate and knowledgeable about your realm of expertise, you can be a great…

Read More