Does Your View of Value Limit You and Your Customers?
Value is one of those $25 words everyone talks about. We all want to talk about our value and value propositions. But we have huge variations in the way we interpret value and the way our customers interpret value. Value in its simplest form is price. Unfortunately, that’s where the majority of sales people compete.…
Read More8 Ways to Get Off the Ground with Angel Investors
Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. According to the Angel Capital Association, at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S. alone. These are all accredited investors who…
Read MoreDon’t Ignore These 4 Goals in 2016
Now is the perfect time to evaluate your old goals from last year and see what needs to change, in order to bring fresh and new ideas into your business. While it may seem obvious, don’t ignore these four important goals in the coming year. Employees Your employees are one of, if not the most…
Read MoreDon’t Make These 5 Common Inventory Mistakes
Believe it or not, inventory management is one of the most important things in the creation of your product. It is the movement of the inventory from raw materials to finished goods and from items to products that creates the flow of money. But, what if you weren’t managing your inventories well? Here are the…
Read More3 Franchise Ideas for Creative Minded People
Many times, the people who choose to enter the world of franchising are creative. These are the people who embrace the path to entrepreneurship. Does that sound like you? Not every franchise is built to let creative minds come to life. Some are better suited for the franchise owners who want more guidance and support…
Read MoreSocial Media Marketing is Disappointing Marketers
Last month, I blogged about the CMO Survey that demonstrated how few companies are able to prove the impact of their social media activities quantitatively. And, that social media contributes little to company performance. So, now what? The Leapfrog Marketing Institute’s 2016 Planning Report adds more fuel to the fire. The report focuses on how marketing executives are evolving…
Read MoreLocal SEO: 6 Critical Mistakes You’re Making
So why does Local SEO matter anyways? You’ve probably heard people squawking about how important it is. Most likely someone told you that it’s an urgent matter and that you’re crazy for not attending to it sooner. To be fair though, you might be a little numb to this type of hyperbole. After all, you’ve…
Read More5 B2B Brands Who Rocked Storytelling
B2C storytelling has a long and stable history. Think Don Draper from Mad Men, whose whole thing was basically telling good stories (and acting less intoxicated than he should have been). But B2B? It’s harder to come up with good examples of businesses successfully marketing to other businesses with compelling brand stories. And while they could’ve…
Read MoreForget Millennials: Time to Prepare for Generation Z
This post is not meant to dis Millennials. In truth, I’ve had my fill of Millennial-bashing comments and commentaries in recent years, often promulgated by the not-so-silent ranks of disdainful Boomers and disgruntled Gen Xers, much of it undeserved. The largest demographic group in U.S. history, the Millennial generation (aka Gen Y) already has and…
Read MoreThe #1 Website Killer: Slow Loading Times
A small and growing business needs leads. Generating them can be done with a number of different strategies, but if someone reaches your website and waits too long for it to load, they’ll turn around and leave. The worst part? They won’t come back. You get one chance to make that killer first impression. Today…
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