Marketing Mistakes That Will Crush Your Growing Startup
Growing a successful business is incredibly difficult. Less than one in five businesses survive after the first few years. A number of factors can contribute to failure, but marketing mistakes are the most common. Too many promising entrepreneurs have shot themselves in the foot by failing to have a good marketing strategy in place. Avoid…
Read MoreCommon and Costly Bookkeeping Mistakes
Tax Question What are common and costly mistakes made in corporate bookkeeping during the year and how can these be avoided? Facts There are many simple checks and cross checks that can be done monthly to help find and correct common and costly bookkeeping mistakes. Discussion Bank accounts, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Sales Tax…
Read MoreSales Funnel: When Are They Going to Buy?
For the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring how you can use your website to move prospects into and through your sales funnel. In this week’s post, we’ll examine what needs to happen once someone has been in your sales funnel for a while and is continuing to show interest. Having the right timing matters. You don’t…
Read MoreBusiness-Focused, People-Centric
Often in understanding business leadership, people tend to focus on two extreme models of leaders. The first is the “It’s all about the numbers” leader. Typically, these are portrayed as hard charging, data driven, task and goal focused, and sometimes ruthless executives. The other model is the human/people focused leaders. These are portrayed as caring…
Read MoreHow Far Can You Niche Down and Still Have a Viable Audience?
When I was thinking of starting a new internet marketing agency, I was considering different passions I had. One of those is technology, and more specifically the very latest in technological developments. I decided that the ‘new technology releases’ angle was too big and too competitive to enter. However I did consider one very specific…
Read More7 Glaring Signs You’re Due for a Website Redesign
Your website can say a lot about your business. For your users, it’s not merely a place of information and engagement but also a reflection of your values and philosophy. If you think revamping your site is only necessary to make it “pretty,” you’re definitely mistaken. Business websites can gain a lot more from a well-designed website…
Read More4 Steps to Skyrocket Your Outbound Sales Call Closing Rate
Sales representatives are classic workhorses for businesses who want to skyrocket their sales or generate leads. We know this to be true since according to Discover.org, “78% of decision makers polled have taken an appointment or attended an event that came from an email or cold call.“ The figure is quite telling, isn’t it? If…
Read More8 Ways to Pivot Your Business to Kickstart Growth
Every entrepreneur I know starts out with a strong conviction that their solution is a perfect match for their target market, and yet almost every one later admits a need to “pivot” before finding their groove. Course corrections, or pivots, are normal for new ventures, so expect them and don’t make excuses. Failure is the…
Read More4 Things to Know About Working with a Business Broker
Brokers can be a great mechanism to rapidly grow your franchise. Particularly for corporations without the financial means to employ in-house staff or purchase leads out of the gate, it’s a cost-effective route to go. At PLAYLive, we have used brokers to bring in over 50% of our franchisees. Like any business relationship, there are different…
Read MoreLeadership Skills: 4 Ways to Achieve the Ultimate Customer-Focused Company
In May 2007, Ranjay Gulati (Michael Ludwig Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management), wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review entitled “Silo Busting: How to Execute on the Promise of Customer Focus”. Galati’s main point is as true today as it was then — that while…
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