On a Budget? Try These eCommerce Platforms!
The ability to make files available online for customers to purchase and download is an increasingly valuable tool for small business owners. Check out four popular e-commerce platforms for selling digital products online to learn more about available options and select the best option for your business. WooCommerce Businesses are often drawn to WooCommerce for…
Read More12 Top Trends in Franchising’s Restaurant Industry
Restaurant franchises had their second biggest month of the year and are responsible for adding two-thirds of the 48,600 jobs created in December 2015. Continuing with the food industry’s positive momentum, here is a specific look at franchising trends in the food and restaurant industry for 2016. According to the SVP of Operations at Applebee’s…
Read More5 Essential Factors in Planning a Successful CRM Implementation
Whether you’re implementing your first customer relationship management (CRM) solution or merely transitioning away from outdated software, careful thought should be put into the implementation of any new CRM. Your CRM solution will be the backbone of your organization’s customer experience. It’s important to craft a solution that meets your company’s goals and objectives, while…
Read More11 Key Elements of a Good Business Plan
Somebody asked me what the key elements of a good business plan were, and I’m glad they did—it’s one of my favorite topics. It gives me a chance to review and revise another of the lists that I’ve done off and on for years (such as the one on common business plan mistakes). 1. Measure a…
Read MoreGood Content Marketing Isn’t Enough. Make It Great!
Last year, we did a pretty incredible internal study. And we found some pretty incredible results. In our sample of over 10,000 keywords we monitored daily, we found that 91% of sites that held Page 1 Google rankings were sites that consistently created and shared content. The results spoke for themselves, reiterating that played out…
Read MoreSelling the Vision is Easier Than Selling the Product
I’ve never sold a computer or licensed software in my career. I’ve never sold consulting services in my career. Frankly, it’s really difficult selling those things. Take licensed or even SaaS software products. You have to know about things like GUI’s, software architectures, installation, coding, memory utilization, caching, pipelining, and all sorts of little details.…
Read MoreWhy Market Research is Essential
Whether you are just starting your business, planning to grow, expand into a new market or launch a new product or service, market research is absolutely essential. A great idea doesn’t instantly equate to success; in your day to day life you don’t blindly make decisions without any information about what you are doing, so…
Read MoreAre You “Intelligent” Enough to Be an Entrepreneur?
Many people feel that they just aren’t smart enough to be an entrepreneur, yet there seems to be no convincing evidence that a high IQ is a prerequisite for this lifestyle. We all know of successful businesses started by first-time entrepreneurs who dropped out of school, and according to many sources, “street smarts” (experience) tends to…
Read More2 Simple Ways to Boost Sales in Your Small Business
It is often said that nothing happens until a sale is made. A corollary to that is if you make a lot of sales, a lot of things—and good things to boot—will happen. I’m not here today to sell you some secret sauce to improve sales, but give you two simple, and very concrete, easy-to-understand,…
Read More5 Things to Know About Starting a Business with Family
It sounds magical, doesn’t it? Living your dream with someone you trust, love and enjoy being around. Ditching the 9-5 where you’re surrounded by cubical walls, to sit in your garage with your spouse or sibling to build something all your own. Not so fast. Before you quit your day job, here are five things…
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