Levi Strauss was an unusual businessman. Rather than seek riches from mining for gold he sold goods to the miners. Here are 6 Business Lessons
6 Business Lessons From Levi Strauss – The Blue Jean Millionaire Read More »
Many coaches earn little to nothing for their efforts as a coach because they fail to recognize that coaching requires a unique set of skills to source the right kind of coaching clients.
How To Source the Right Type of Coaching Client Read More »
When Hiring A Business Mentor For Your Small Business, You Should Look For Five Attributes To Ensure You Get The Most From Your Experience.
One of the advantages of a small business is their ability to change direction quicker than larger corporations. Moreover, the rate of business change continues to accelerate which has given small business a leg up on larger corporations. However far too many small businesses continue to rely on business principles defined long ago when the rate of change was much slower. In this video discover that has changed and what you can do as a small business to be more responsive to change.
VIDEO: Why You Need To Be Better At Responding To Change Read More »
Customer Service Is a Defensive Strategy to Keep Clients from Defecting. Account Management Is an Offensive Strategy for Growing Your Sales Within an Account and Driving New Business. Account Management Is an Investment and Your Most Valuable Account Management Efforts Should Be Reserved for Your Best Clients
How To Strategically Apply Account Management to Grow Your Business Read More »
In Some Sales Situations, the Prospect May Ask to Conduct a Pilot Project Before They Agree to Buy. Most Of the Time, the Request Is Related to Some Kind of External or Internal Trust Issue. You Must Understand Their Reasons Before Agreeing.
Why Prospects Ask for a Pilot Project and How to Respond Read More »
A person’s age and life-stage can help predict their purchasing decisions. There are a few more specific generational dynamics that can provide a clearer picture of their economic drivers
You Need To Know The Attitudes And Behaviors Of Your Target Demographic Read More »
Most Initial Sales Meetings Create High Expectations but Stall When the Prospect Begins to Feel That the Devil They Know Is Better Than the Devil They Don’t. Creating A Documented New Client Onboarding Process Can Alleviate Many of The Prospect’s Fears Related to Risk, Time, And Pain That Are Often Deal Killers.
How to Avoid Deal Killers with a Documented 13-Step Onboarding Process Read More »
Before Investing Time and Energy in Engineering a Final Product, Founders Need to Begin by Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to Validate Their Overall Idea and Concept, Progress to a Minimum Marketable Product to See If Others Will Exchange Money for It and Get Genuine User Feedback, and Finally Scale the Solution to Create a Minimum Lovable Product That Appeals to The Mainstream Users.
Small Businesses Looking to Capture a Market Need to Build Meaningful Customer Relationships Because Customers Rely on Relationships to Make Buying Decisions
Why It’s So Important for Small Businesses to Cultivate Customer Relationships Read More »
Small Businesses Need an Active Referral Program by Earning the Right to Solicit Referrals Several Times Per Year Using Open-Ended Questions. Active Referrals Involve Client Facilitated Introductions and Incorporate an Incentive Program to Get Clients to Actively Share Referrals.
How to Create an Active Referral Program Read More »
Many businesses sell undifferentiated products and services and need to focus on the buying experience and look for ways to sell differently than the competition.
How To Improve the Buying Experience to Generate More Sales Read More »
Statistically, Mental Health Issues Among Entrepreneurs Are on The Rise Yet People Don’t Talk About Them Enough.
7 Ways to Deal with Mental Health Issues Among Entrepreneurs Read More »
Your Business Development Plan Should Include 3-Steps: Create a Target Client Profile, Identify the Key Decision Influencers at a Target Client, And Have “If You Were Me” Discovery Calls with Decision Influencers.
How to Use a Target Client Profile and Decision Influencers to Increase Sales Read More »
When Is the Best Time to Start a Business? The Answer Is It’s Complicated but A Lot of It Has to Do with Your Age and Age-Related Factors.
Video: What You Need To Know How The Founders Age Can Affect Business Success Read More »
Marketing Efforts Too Often Focus on Demographics and Psychographics to Define What the Business Will Make and Sell to Customers. Better To Embrace a Sense and Respond Mindset and Ask Customers About Their Jobs to Be Done and Their Journey.
How To Transition From “Make and Sell” To “Sense and Respond” Read More »
When It Comes to Sales, Too Many Small Businesses Spend Too Much Time Pitching Their Solution and Not Enough Time Listening to the Prospect. Small Businesses Need to Use Sales Discovery Questions to Control the Buyer’s Journey and Uncover Their Needs, Challenges, and Goals Before They Offer Their Solution.
How to Use Sales Discovery Questions to Close More Deals Read More »
Many businesses these days have a lot of invoices that their clients have left unpaid. According to Entrepreneur, the estimated amount of outstanding invoices across the US is somewhere around $825 billion. This puts every small business’s average amount of unpaid invoices at $84,000. It is not uncommon that some of these debts are paid
Five Things You Need to Know Before Hiring a Debt Collection Agency Read More »
Losing a Deal is Often Framed as a Pricing Issue When it is Not. Most Deals Are Lost Because the Salesperson Simply Failed to Demonstrate the Value of Their Offer.
How To Understand The Root Of Price Issues To Refocus On Value Read More »
Small Direct to consumer Companies Are Finding It Harder to Maintain Margins and Profitability Given Rising Customer Expectations and Customer Acquisition Costs, Along with a Worsening Ability to Measure Ad Effectiveness, Ad Fraud, and Ad Blindness. Coupled with Soaring Shipping Costs and Supply Chain Issues, Direct to Consumer Companies are Feeling the Squeeze.
8 Challenges to Direct to Consumer Business and How to Overcome Them Read More »
Industry Knowledge and A Great Business Idea Are Often Considered Crucial Business Needs and Often Get Too Much of The Founders’ Attention. However, For Most Businesses, They Not Only Don’t Apply but Can Sometimes Even Have Negatives Associated with Them.
2 Myths About Business Needs That Will Shock You Read More »
Every Business Needs Three Things to Survive and Thrive: Access to Capital, Business Acumen, And Energy.
3 Important Things Every Business Needs to Survive and Thrive Read More »
Robert Kiyosaki, the author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, discussed the value the game Monopoly had in his education when he wrote that “You buy four green houses and trade them in for a red hotel.” The message here is that to have a successful business you don’t buy the red hotel right out of the gate. You build up your tacit business knowledge so that when you can afford the red hotel you are more likely to be successful.
Successful Business – Buy Four Green Houses Before You Buy a Red Hotel Read More »
Business Leaders Should Avoid Getting Feedback on Their Startup Idea from Friends and Family That Are Likely to Not Be Very Honest in Their Assessment of Your Business Idea.
Beware of Advice About Your Startup Idea from Your Friends Read More »
Using Prospect Theory, Small Businesses Can Frame Their Marketing Content Around Potential Gains and Losses, Leveraging the Customer’s Cognitive Bias to Improve Sales Conversions.
How To Use Prospect Theory to Improve Marketing Read More »
The Dunning-Kruger Effect Is a Cognitive Bias of Founder Overconfidence That Alone Is Responsible for Most Startups Failures.
The Truth About the Dunning Kruger Effect and Startups Read More »
Horizontal progress is about creating a better mousetrap while vertical progress is about making a better way to trap a mouse.
You Need to Understand Horizontal vs. Vertical Progress Read More »
Just as The Internet, Social Media, and Smartphones Have Changed The Way Companies Conduct Business, So Too Will Digital Currency And Cryptography.
What You Need to Know About the Emergence of Cryptography and Digital Currency Read More »
The friendship formula consists of four basic building blocks. It was developed by the FBI to convince spies to flip their allegiance and to make suspect confess to their crimes. In the hands of a salesperson, it can create fierce loyalty from prospects and customers.
How To Use The Friendship Formula To Improve Sales Read More »
Good Design Creates a Great Customer Experience (CX). A Great CX Leads to Satisfied Customers, Driving Word of Mouth Referrals, and, Ultimately, Greater Business Success.
How Good Design Creates a Great Customer Experience (CX) Read More »
A Corporate Management Structure Represents the Way That a Company with Shareholders Needs to Be Organized. A Corporate Structure Represents A 3-Level Hierarchy Composed of Shareholders, A Board of Directors, And Corporate Officers.
Corporate Management Structure – How to Be Compliant Read More »
Small Business Owners Deal with Critical Projects and Deadlines Yet Have to Deal with A Constant Stream of Interruptions Causing Stress and Feelings of Being Out of Control. Sharing What Color Is Your Time Will Define to Others How Open You Are to Interruptions and Improve Your Office Productivity.
What Color Is Your Time? How To Improve Office Productivity Read More »
As A Business Owner, You Will Need to Know How to Compute the Value of a Company Be It Your Own Business or One That You Hope to Acquire. Discover The 5 Reason to Conduct a Business Valuation, Things That Affect a Valuations Outcome, How to Value a Lifestyle or Micro-Business and 6 Other Methods to Establish the Value of a Company.
That Employ Labor in Industries Such as Hospitality, Construction, Healthcare, Or Education May Benefit from Having a Pool of Per Diem Employees That They Can Call at A Moment’s Notice to Help with Staffing Related Issues.
How To Use Per Diem Employees to Solve Staffing Needs Read More »
For most inventors with a new product idea, they are far better to license their idea to a manufacturer than to raise the capital to manufacture and distribute the product themselves.
How to License Your New Product Idea Read More »
Traditional interviews that explore a candidate’s experience, character, and goals are close to useless. Elon Musk and Thomas Edison employed tactics to discover the true value of a candidate during a job interview.
How To Reveal A Candidate’s True Value During A Job Interview Read More »
Customer Acquisition Cost Is the Amount of Money A Business Has to Spend to Get a New Customer. Knowing Your Customer Acquisition Cost Helps a Business Measure the Return on Investment of Efforts to Grow Their Client Base.
How To Compute and Reduce Your Customer Acquisition Cost Read More »
Upstream Thinking Is a Metaphor for Problem Prevention. There Are Three Problems That Prevent Upstream Efforts and Seven Critical Questions Leaders Must Ask to Fix Upstream Systems.
How To Find More Time And Save Money With Upstream Thinking Read More »
Did You Know You Register Entities with The SOS To Associate the Business Name with The Registered Agent and Not to Get Liability Protection?
Video: What You Need to Know About Registering an Entity Read More »
There Are 3 Content Marketing Goals; Attracting New Customers, Retaining Existing Customers, And Building Brand Authority. There Are Also 3 Content Marketing Types; Inbound, Addictive, And Tentpole.
How To Integrate Content Marketing Goals and Types into Effective Strategies Read More »
Most Businesses Require Some Form of Funding to Get Started. However, Based on What Business Stage the Business Is At, The Sources of Funding Will Be Different. This Is Where Your Funding Plan Comes in To Identify How the Business Will Secure Financing for Each Stage.
The 5 Stages of a Funding Plan Read More »
A Go-To-Market Strategy Is an Action Plan for How a Business Will Launch a New Product or Service So That It Can Concentrate Its Marketing and Sales Resources on The Functions That Will Generate the Greatest Return.
How To Design a Go-To-Market Strategy That Works! Read More »
Business licensing is one of the most confusing aspects when starting a new small business since it varies so much from state to state and from industry to industry.
How to Know If You Need a Business License Read More »
Pricing Strategies – How to Price Your Product or Service to Achieve Strategic Objectives Such as Building Customer Loyalty, Ensuring More Consistent Business Cash Flow, Or Encouraging Customers to Buy in Larger Quantities?
How To Achieve Strategic Objectives With 14 Pricing Strategies Read More »
A Complete Checklist of On-Page SEO Tips So You Can Use to Ensure That the Content on Your Website Is 100% Optimized for Search
The Ultimate Checklist for On-Page SEO Content Read More »
Within the Discipline of Sales Is the Element of The Pitch or Direct Selling Where You Sell Products Directly to Consumers in Non-Traditional Settings.
What Ever Happened to The Pitchman and Direct Selling? Read More »
The Small Business Administration (SBA) does not lend money, it simply acts as insurance for lenders, such as banks, with 3 loan programs
What You Need To Know About The Role Of The SBA Read More »
Many Naive Entrepreneurs Think That All Web Traffic Is Created Equal and Fail to Correctly Target Traffic. Traffic Can Be Divided into Traffic You Attract, Rent, Or Own. The Goal of Every Business Is to Get a Prospect into Its Communication Funnel to Build Trust.
How to Correctly Target Web Traffic to Drive Growth Read More »
There are a lot of reasons why startups have trouble raising money but most of those problems are self-inflicted and can be avoided. Discover the 4 times startups try to raise money too early, and how waiting will increase their odds of getting the funding they actually need.
Raising Money? Increase the Odds of Getting Your Startup Funded Read More »
There is a very disturbing historical correlation between the causes that contributed to the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis and the current state of digital advertising. If your business is monetized by ad revenue, or your business uses digital ads to drive traffic to it, you should take into account the unstable nature of advertising and not get blindsided when the bubble bursts.
You Need to Prepare for A Digital Marketing Meltdown Read More »
Brand Awareness has two goals. The first is moving the knowledge of your product or service from the unknown or unconscious mind to the conscious mind. The second is making a positive association with the brand.
27 Free/Inexpensive Proven Ideas to Create Brand Awareness Read More »
Enjoy the following excerpt from my FREE What You Need to Know About Starting a Business course where I talk about the difference between a 1099 subcontractor and an employee. Video Transcript (Lightly edited for clearity) If you have independent contractors and if you tell them when to show up, you provide tools for them, and you
VIDEO: Know Your Hiring Options – Contractor Vs. Employee – What Is Better Read More »
The Great Resignation Is About Achieving Greater Personal Fulfillment from One’s Work. Ikigai Is a Concept That Allows a Person to Find What Makes Them Fulfilled.
How Ikigai Is Driving Personal Fulfillment and Changing Small Businesses Read More »
Different in That Regard. Here Are 8 Ways Entrepreneurs Think Differently from Most People
8 Simple Ways Entrepreneurs Think Differently Than Most People Read More »
The Taxes That You Have to Pay Is Related to Your Entity Choice. Learn How Entities Are Taxed and How to Pitch Investing to Investors.
Video: How Your Entity Choice Affects Your Taxes Read More »
Most Businesses Still Rely on Old Fashion Interruption Marketing Techniques. Stand Out by Not Going Wide but Deep by Employing Permission Marketing Techniques Instead.
The Complete Guide to Permission Marketing Read More »
Many People Associate Upselling with A Sleazy Sales Practice. However, When Done Properly, The Upsell Can Enhance the Customer’s Overall Perception and Enjoyment of The Product or Service, Build A Deeper Long-Lasting Relationship with The Company, While Improving the Company’s Profit Margins, And Customer Lifetime Value
3 Proven Ways to Upsell a Customer Read More »
Making your marketing message stick in a consumer’s mind is not about being charismatic pitchman, having lots of resources behind you, or even being a creative genius. To communicate a marketing message successfully the message must have a simple and relatable core message (Simple). It must make people stop and pay attention (Unexpected). It must make people understand and remember it (Concrete). They also need to agree or believe it (Credible), care about it (Emotional), and be able to visualize it (Story).
How To Make Your Marketing Message Stick Read More »
Search Engines Work by Crawling Websites, Gathering Info, Indexing It, And Then Ranking Based on Factors Like Content Quality, Load Speed, Mobile-Friendliness, And Keywords. Understanding These Steps Is Vital for Effective Digital Marketing and Higher Search Rankings.
How do Search Engines Work: Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking Read More »
The Gartner Hype Cycle Is a Graphical Depiction of The Expectations of The Market’s Perceived Value of a New Technology or Innovation Over Time and Is Closely Linked to The Five Categories of Adopters.
How to Apply the Gartner Hype Cycle to Small Business Read More »
Discover Some Important but Often Unknown Facts About the Role of the SBA, Using Retirement Funds, And Private Investors as Sources of Funding
Video: Important And Unknown Facts About Some Common Sources Of Funding Read More »
There is really only one way to break a person’s preoccupation (without physical contact) and that is to appeal to their emotions. Emotional appeals come in four irresistible flavors: money, self-protection, recognition, and romance.
How To Make People Stop And Pay Attention With Emotional Appeals Read More »
Building a product or service that leverages the network effect is the secret sauce that adds the potential to make it go viral. A network effect is when the more people use it, the more valuable it becomes.
How To Go Viral with The Network Effect? Read More »
Most Nascent Entrepreneurs Follow the Crowds and Target Products or Services with Mass Appeal. This Is Often a Horrible Strategy. Most Business Owners Are Far Better Off Focusing on The Smallest Viable Market Segment, Known as A Niche Market.
Why You Need to Focus on A Niche Market Read More »
Enjoy the following excerpt from my FREE What You Need to Know About Starting a Business course where I talk about two common small business funding options for small businesses. We will discuss what I call the debt continuum, how lenders control risk and reward, and the value proposition for equity financing investors you can use to convince investors to fund your business.
Video: What You Need To Know About Your Funding Options Read More »
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything to get it? That feeling does not happen overnight; a sales process created that yearning inside you.
16 Powerful Principles to Influence a Sale Read More »
The Three Ts Stand for Teach, Tailor, And Take Control and Come from The Book the Challenger Sale and Act as A Reminder to Salespersons of The Three Steps Necessary to Conduct More Successful Sales Presentations.
How To Improve Sales With The 3 Ts – Teach Tailor Take Control Read More »
Understanding A Prospect’s Or Customer’s DISC Profile Is One Of Those Concepts That Small Business Owners Should Really Grasp If They Want Sales Success.
Recognizing A Prospect’s DISC Profile for Better Sales Success Read More »
A break-even analysis is a technique used by business owners to assess how many units and at what price they need to sell them at to make a profit.
VIDEO: Why You Need to Conduct a Breakeven Analysis Read More »
Most business cultures follow a rather predictable business evolution as they progress and grow. There are four stages that a business must go through from birth to death.
What You Need To Know About Business Evolution Read More »
Work style is the foundation on which businesses grow, operate, and thrive. It refers to the way we think, organize and structure our work. There are eight different work styles.
What is Your Work Style? Definition and Importance Read More »
Consumers that visit your website don’t want to hear your life story. They will scan the page for key elements. The story brand framework will allow you to cut through the noise and clutter and deliver the concise message that will compel them to buy.
How To Use Your Story Brand Framework to Refine Your Homepage Read More »
The following video excerpt comes from my FREE What You Need to Know About Starting a Business course where I talk about the five things every small business needs to be successful.
Video: The 5 Things Every Small Business Needs To Be Successful Read More »
Your story brand framework can be used to create a roadmap to grow your business by creating a one-liner for your company, a lead generator to collect email addresses, an automated email drip campaign, collecting and telling stories of transformation, and a system that generates referrals.
How To Turn Your Story Brand Framework into A Roadmap to Grow Your Business Read More »
Stories are a great way to clarify and communicate your brand’s message to employees and to prospective customers to get them to buy from you. The story brand framework is a 7-step process to help craft that story.
How To Develop A Story Brand Framework For Your Small Business Read More »
Draws and distributions are simply a mechanism that allows owners to take out excess cash from the business. In pass-through entities, there are no tax consequences for doing either an owner draw, distribution, or a cash infusion in the normal course of business. This concept often creates a level of confusion for founders not versed in a few basic principles of accounting.
The Truth About Why Draws and Distributions Are Non-Taxable Read More »
One of The Most Important Decisions A Founder Will Have to Face Early on In Their Journey Is to Retain Power and Control or Focus on Creating Wealth and Growing the Business Fast in What Is Known as The Founder’s Dilemma.
How To Choose Between Wealth and Power, Understanding the Founder’s Dilemma Read More »
There is a mismatch between what science knows about motivation and what the business does. Many businesses continue to use techniques designed for the industrial era workers that no longer work.
Your Old School Management Practices Are Dooming You To Failure Read More »
Education-based marketing involves sharing information and educational resources with potential buyers while setting the purchasing criteria they should use that favor your offering.
Why You Need to Employ Education-Based Marketing Read More »
Measuring the Right Things When It Comes to Business Is Critical. Too Many Businesses Measure Inputs and Not Outputs.
Why You Need to Be Measuring the Right Things Read More »
The Maverick principles consist of eight steps and outline how small businesses need to define their social media strategy.
Why You Should Adopt the Maverick Principles for Social Media Read More »
Being Self-Employed Is Not in The Economic Interest of the IRS. They Get Paid Less Frequently, Earn Less, And Expend More Effort to Process
4 Reasons the IRS Really Does Not Want You to Be Self-Employed Read More »
Simply put, branding is your reputation and is your most valuable asset. Branding builds trust between you and the consumer and takes time to build. A trusted brand is more profitable and creates gravity for customers, employees, and the media.
Why Branding Is So Important for You and Your Business Read More »
Social Sector Organizations Are Very Different from For-Profit Businesses. Their Economic Engine Is Replaced with A Resource Engine and The Leadership Required Focuses More Upon Legislative Leadership vs Executive Leadership Common in For-Profits.
Several Revealing Ways That Social Sector Organizations Are Unique Read More »
A Value Ladder Takes A Prospect From Free To Your Highest-Priced Product Or Service Through A Series Of Rungs On Your Value Ladder. Each Rung Provides Increased Value And Monetary Commitment From The Customer As Their Trust In The Business Increases.
How to Extract More Revenue Using a Value Ladder Read More »
“The Window and The Mirror” Is A Leadership Metaphor. The Window Is Looking at External Conditions and The Mirror Is About Self-Reflection.
Mirror Leadership: The Window and The Mirror (Neurons) Read More »
Business success is not the result of a single intervention or initiative. Rather it is the result of consistently pushing in one direction over an extended period of time or what is known as the Flywheel concept.
The Flywheel Concept – How To Become A Great Company Read More »
There are 11 distinctly different steps required to conduct a successful crowdfunding campaign which can take upwards or 20 weeks to complete
Crowdfunding Primer – What You Need To Know For A Successful Campaign Read More »
There are many good companies but to make the leap from good to great, the company needs to discover the intersection of what they can be the best at, what drives their economic engine, and what drives their passion.
The Hedgehog Concept – How to Become a Great Company Read More »
The traditional view of marketing captured by the 4P’s comes from the perspective of a business looking at its prospects. However, a fascinating new concept known as the 4A’s reverses the viewpoint to consider how the perspective view of the business.
How to Transform Your Marketing With The 4A’s Read More »
To Raise Private Equity from Acquaintances to Sophisticated Accredited Investors, Founders Will Need to Consider One Of Seven Funding Options.
An Introduction To 7 Useful Funding Options Beyond Friends And Family Read More »
Pricing mechanisms come in two principal forms: fixed and dynamic. Fixed pricing has predefined prices based on a static set of variables while dynamic pricing changes prices based on market conditions. Price mechanisms can affect both your revenue stream as well as your costs.
Why You Need To Understand Pricing Mechanism Types Read More »
A Value Investor Looks Beyond Just Financial Metrics When Investing in A Business. They Will Consider Both Quantitative Factors Such as The Amount of Return on Their Investment and Qualitative Factors Such as The Management Team and Commitment of The Founder(s).
Why Founders Must Acknowledge the Value Investor Mindset Read More »
If your industry requires practitioners to be licensed by a state licensing board then you likely cannot organize as an LLC because you are considered a professional service company. You can however register as a Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC) which is a bit different.
What You Need to Know About State Licensing Boards and Creating a PLLC Read More »
Is it a good idea to have your spouse as a member in your LLC to make it a multi-member LLC? While it is often better to have an unrelated 3rd party be a member in your LLC, having a spouse as a member can work if you follow 3 rules.
The Truth About A Husband And Wife LLC Read More »
Choosing the Right Business Entity Is Not to Be Taken Lightly. There are 39 Considerations You Should Explore Before Selecting the Best One for Your Business. Here Is A Side-By-Side Comparison of the 5 Types to Help You Decide
39 Considerations When Choosing The Best Business Entity Read More »
Centralized management in an LLC is where a professional manager, who is not a member/owner makes most of the decisions in a company.
What You Need To Know About Centralized Management In An LLC Read More »
Paying Taxes at The Corporate Level Is Undesirable for Most Small Businesses, So the LLC Was Born. To Avoid Being Considered A Corporation by The IRS, You Can’t Look Like One. There Are Four Selectable Characteristics that Are Common to Corporations. As an LLC, You Can Only Pick Two Of The Four.
How to Know If Your LLC Is Compliant with IRS Rules? Read More »
Research shows that what you name a business can powerfully influence the way your prospects see your product or service offering.
15 Rules When Naming a Business Read More »
An “Assumption” is where you believe something to be true, but it is yet unproven while a “belief” is something you are certain is true. As a small business owner, you should always challenge a belief and treat it as an assumption because your beliefs may not be facts.
Assumption vs. Belief – Why You Need To Know The Difference Read More »
