Growing Your Business Articles For Entrepreneurs & Small Business OwnersBack to BasicsWhen was the last time you were asked to prepare an East-West Seafood Bisque with Gosling’s Aioli & Shrimp-Garlic Chive Dumpling* ? I don’t think I ever have been. But if I were to be asked to, I’d invest the time necessary – but no more – to figure out how to do it, so […] Get Inside Your Prospects HeadDo you ever shake your head and wonder why so many prospects fail to pull the trigger when you’ve clearly made a compelling case for them to do so? To those of us in Sales, it makes no sense – it’s clear as day that they should. But for some reason we can’t fathom, it […] Ad Spending In A RecessionIn a soft economy, shortsighted executives will panic and bolster their next quarterly earnings report by cutting the ad budget. It’s a quick fix. But it is a costly one! Here are five good reasons NOT to trim your advertising and promotion budget in an economic downturn. Telling is not SellingI know you have heard that before, and probably understand it at some level. I’ve heard plenty of people use that phrase, and then in the next breath say, “sell the benefits not the features” – which shows that they truly do not have a full understanding of the concept. I think it might be helpful […] Small Business Ideas: How To Evaluate Your Business IdeaIf you are considering starting a new business in the near future then you either have aspirations to be your own boss or you have viable small business ideas. It may be that you have both. However, without good business ideas that have the potential to fulfill a need your business will struggle to take […] The Top 5 Small Business Marketing Tips for Budget-Minded Business OwnersWhen it comes to running a successful business, marketing is essential. For a small business, marketing often seems like a daunting task – especially when it comes to marketing your business on the web. Many times, budget-minded business owners fear that small business marketing needs to be expensive in order to be effective. Fortunately – […] The 3 Things Your Web Professional Must Provide to Ensure a Site’s SuccessBuilding and developing a website is an ongoing process, but you need a firm foundation in place to ensure your site’s success for the long-term. Your web professional must be able to provide three critical elements that will drive your future success, and each component plays a role in the overall look, feel, functionality, and […] Which Comes First – Website Design or Website Promotion?Many business owners get stuck during the phases of website design and website promotion; how do you decide which strategy to deploy first? At first glance, it may seem as though one project comes before the other, but the truth is you need to employ both simultaneously to keep your site on the right track. […] The Three Reasons Your Small Business Needs a BlogJust a few short years ago hardly anyone knew what a blog was, but now, because they are so easy to set up and maintain, their popularity has blossomed beyond all expectations. Blogs are not just for ordinary people who wish to expound on their hobby or area of special interest. Blogs are for the […] You’re Not After Clicks… You’re After Sales!Driving traffic to your site is great, as far as it goes – but it’s not enough. You need proven ways to convert prospects into buyers. When your site is primed for search engine optimization (SEO), you get tons of traffic coming to you for free. Great, right? But many small business owners make the […] How to Get Your E-Mail Marketing Past Spam Filters and Firewalls and Into Your Customer’s InboxE-mail marketing is a tremendously valuable tool for small and large companies that do business online. However, some companies find that there are a number of challenges that get in the way of their e-mail marketing campaigns. In part, this is because many of your customers and prospects take advantage of Spam filters that have […] Want More Web Traffic? 5 Make-or-Break Tactics to Help the Search Engines Find Your Small BusinessChoosing effective small business keywords can be an intimidating task. Everyone knows that going to search for anything on a major search engine like Google can often return thousands of results. But does that mean defeat for your local small business? No! There are a lot of things that can be done to get your […] Are You Making These 5 Common Pay-Per-Click Advertising Mistakes?Because of the ability to specifically target your unique prospects based on interest as well as geography, the ability to tightly control your ad spend and to precisely measure results, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is probably the greatest breakthrough to come along in advertising since the launch of television. And, because of those same benefits, it’s much […] Social Media Optimization Can Lead to Better Social Bookmarking ResultsSocial bookmarking sites are an extremely valuable tool for those who are looking at all of their small business marketing options. Of course, in order to fully take advantage of the results that social bookmarking sites can yield, it is important to look into social media optimization, and to understand that it is up to […] 7 Things You Can Do Today to Make Google Fall Head Over Heels in Love with Your Small Business WebsiteCreating your own small business website can be a scary thing to do. It requires some planning to get it right and make Google sit up and take notice of your site at first glance. Small business website search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the keys, but all too often, astute business people leave […] Premium Sales and Service, On Rye. Hold the Baloney.At a party I started chatting with a nice guy, late 20’s or so, neatly dressed, with bright, intense eyes. We talked weather, current events, the usual stuff, and then I popped the question. “So, what do you do?” He smiled. He said he recently bought a route in his area selling cold cuts and […] 5 Public Relations Musts During Economic Tough TimesIf you put a strategy in place, you can not only weather, but grow your business during uncertain times. Preparing to Sell Your Business: Guidelines for Local Growing CompaniesWith the capital markets remaining relatively strong and stable and with the overhang (e.g. raised but yet to be invested) in the private equity markets still estimated at nearly $500 billion dollars, many technology, IT, software, defense and government contractors in the Washington, D.C. regions remain prime targets for acquisitions (or a significant investment) by […] Raising Growth Capital In 2008 And BeyondAfter more than two decades of being an entrepreneur, serving as a legal and strategic advisor to entrepreneurs and growing companies, and speaking and writing on entrepreneurial finance, I have found one recurrent theme running through all of these businesses: Capital is the lifeblood of a growing business In an environment where cash is king, […] Two Low Cost Ways to Jump Start Your Marketing ProgramGoogle AdWords You’ve heard of Google AdWords, but have you tried it? It may at first seem daunting, but once you get the hang of it, it can fast become an asset. In AdWords (www.google.com/ads) you can create text, print, radio or even TV ads. Start with a text ad, the kind you find on […] |
|
