In June of 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that even if an online business does not have a physical presence in a state, the state can require online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes.
Many businesses fail not because they have a bad product or service. They fail because they are not located in the right location.
Why Your Location May Be Bad For Your Success Read More »
When entrepreneurs look at debt financing, their credit score (FICO) plays an important role in being able to get a loan. Essentially, a person’s credit score is computed on five dimensions, each with a different weight.
Why You Need To Understand Your Credit Score Read More »
Consumers have been conditioned to focus more on what they are spending than on what they are buying. Consumers buy things today not because they need them, but because they are convinced that they can get it for a great price.
How to Tap into the Consumer’s Emotional Need For a Bargain Read More »
If you are facing stagnant or declining sales on one or more products and services, it may be because the way you are either packaging or pricing (or both) is not resonating with your prospects and customers.
Do You Need a New B2B Pricing or Packaging Model? Read More »
One of the biggest obstacles that prevent a buyer from making a purchase decision is the fear that they will pay too much. From the seller’s perspective, there is also the fear of pricing a product or service too high or low leaving money on the table.
How to Remove Buyer and Seller Remorse Read More »
Have you ever discovered something new and thought “What a great idea for a new business?” Often the signals you observed are only part of a short-lived fad.
How Responding to Popular Fads will Destroy a Business Read More »
Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can prove to be a very expensive mistake for a business.
How to Avoid Misclassifying an Employee as an Independent Contractor Read More »
Every day, business owners face the challenge of finding ways to differentiate their products and services while remaining relevant in an increasingly competitive market.
The 4 Dimensions That Will Transform Your Business Model Read More »
Veterans are more likely to become entrepreneurs then non-veterans. However, not all veterans have the same propensity for entrepreneurship. There are a few sweet spots.
Do You Know Why Veterans Make Good Entrepreneurs? Read More »
A Cognitive bias is the psychological tendency of the brain to draw incorrect conclusions, even in familiar situations or when presented with clear information. When talking to small business clients I refer to a collection of three common cognitive bias as the Everest Effect.
How Your Cognitive Bias Can Destroy Your Business Read More »
I often ask people I meet if they ever consider business ownership and if not, what is holding them back. This post list 19 popular responses I get from people on why they are not following a path of business ownership.
The Top 19 Reasons For Not Launching a Business Are Wrong Read More »
The age-old marketing question is “How do you get people to talk about your product or service?” I believe the answer lies in being able to change the way your customer thinks about your offering.
How to Supercharge Word of Mouth Read More »
With the rapidly changing business landscape, companies who are beholden to their shareholders are shifting their risk from the business to the employee.
Income Security: Why Being an Employee is Just too Risky Read More »
Have you ever heard the saying “any customer is a good customer” or that “the customer is always right” Did you know that such mantras have destroyed many a business?
How to Quantify a Customer’s Economic Attractiveness Read More »
CEOs are not born they are made. However, the attributes and experience of what it takes to be the leader in a small business are distorted by articles and books based on the needs of large companies, little of which pertains to a small business.
What is More Important For a CEO, Sale or Marketing experience? Read More »
The Buyers Utility Map is a valuable tool to help businesses document the buyer’s experience, and discover areas that can be leveraged to create a leap in value.
How to Create a Leap in Customer Value with the Buyers Utility Map Read More »
Mystery is a powerful tool that creates a powerful desire in a person to discover the answer. Used properly it creates a kind of gravity to make a prospect want to spend his time and energy to learn more and creates buzz. I often drink Rolling Rock beer. For people unfamiliar with Rolling Rock, on the
How To Create Customer Desire With Mystery Read More »
In a perfect world, what a customer spends for something should be based on their opportunity costs. However, customers are irrational when it comes to money. By distorting a customer perception of their opportunity cost, a savvy business can make the customer spend more and be happy to do it.
How to Grow Profit & Satisfaction with Pricing Read More »
While being self-employed, a freelancer, a jobber, and even having a side-hustle technically make you a business owner, you’re are not a small business in the eyes of the government or lenders.
You are not a Small Business in the Eyes of the Government Read More »
A business that offers products and services just like everyone else’s in their industry are viewed as a commodity. Commodity businesses compete on price meaning low or often negative margins, especially for a new small business. Instead of just following the crowd there is a better way.
Why Compete – How To Find An Uncontested Market for Profit Read More »
There are a few steps that a franchisee considering a franchise will go through to get to a decision about investing in the franchise. In this article, we will break the process down into four basic steps.
How Do I Research a Franchise Investment? Read More »
Many individuals with a new idea for a product have the wrong idea about the role patents play in business. They see patents as a way to simply make money off their idea. However, patents exist to encourage innovation which is not the same.
The Honest Truth; Why Patents Are Often Not Worth It Read More »
A business can create value even before the business has revenue. This is important when giving equity to early-stage partners and investors.
Raising Capital: A Lesson From The Ship Of Gold Read More »
Scientists have discovered that as we go through life, our senses are constantly scanning the world around us and sending messages to our brain. The brain processes this incoming information automatedly to assess if a given individual can be ignored, is worthy to approach, or is somebody to be avoided
How to Master the Friend-Foe Continuum to Hack Relationships Read More »
Business owners too often confuse cause and effect and expend significant effort solving the wrong problems. A tool that can help business owners to separate cause from effect is known as a fishbone diagram.
Do You Suffer From a Cause and Effect Fallacy? Read More »
People like to work with and buy from people that they like. However, sometimes you need them to change their direction without leaving a stink on your relationship. Here are three strategies that can be used to help you get what you want in business relationships, with the added benefit of making you come out smelling like a rose.
3 Simple Business Relationships Strategies to Get What You Want Read More »
There are six easy-to-implement strategies that can intensify your offer to make customers on the fence buy from you.
Six Ways to Intensify Your Offer Read More »
When a prospect feels good about themselves and they do not attribute the good feeling to a specific cause, they tend to associate the cause of that good feeling with the person or persons who are physically close to them at the time.
How to Use Misattribution of Memory for Better Sales Read More »
The successful entrepreneur is one that keeps his eyes and ears open and takes stock of events happening around him. This is important not only to determine the margin price but to consider the impact potential events could have on the margin price in the future and develop contingency plans to deal with them.
To Maximize Profit You Need To Understanding Margin Pricing Read More »
With respect to sales, the similarity principle is based on the idea that certain facts when presented during a sales presentation can serve to heighten the probability that two individuals will be drawn to each other and experience a positive outcome in their interactions. Since prospects are far more likely to buy from a salesperson that they like and trust the similarity principal is an important tool for sales professions to understand and master.
How to Leverage the Similarity Principle for Better Sales Read More »
In the world of business, there are eleven popular business models that have survived the test of time.
VIDEO: 11 Tested & Proven Business Models That Drive Profit Read More »
Empathetic statements and complements that are crafted properly go a long way to predisposing a person to like you. That is because when someone feels good about themselves, they will also like you.
Verbal Statements That Will Improve Your Sales Read More »
In our tech-savvy world when it comes to communications, we are losing our ability to read and transmit subtle nonverbal signals. As a result, our nonverbal skills continue to atrophy.
How to Master Nonverbal Communications to Improve Sales Read More »
When it comes to service-related business, one of the biggest misconceptions about business is that the more things a business can do, the more valuable it will be in the eyes of the customer. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Profitability comes from being an “inch wide and a mile deep”.
You Need to Be an Inch Wide And a Mile Deep Read More »
The human brain is a fascinating and complex organ that is capable of being subconsciously manipulated by savvy business owners. When it comes to marketing and sales most strategies focus on the conscious side of the brain. However, tapping into the subconscious part of a prospect’s brain can pay huge dividends.
How To Tap The Subconscious Mind For Greater Profits Read More »
All successful entrepreneurs have experienced failure in their careers. The key is to not give up but to use failures as lessons.
Business Failure: Your Path to Success & Wealth Read More »
As consumers, we often have no personal experience with a new business and subconsciously look for observable clues to make our decision. I think many prospective clients, consciously or sub-consciously, judge a business by what they see.
How to Make a Business Look More Professional with This Simple Trick Read More »
For the business owner, it is important to understand the difference between a customer and a consumer. Often the terms are used interchangeably, but each requires a different message during the marketing and sales process.
Customer or Consumer? Why Knowing The Difference Is Important Read More »
Isaac Singer didn’t invent the sewing machine. He just perfected it. However, as a businessman, he was quite an extraordinary individual. His ability to spot opportunities and develop unique solutions was unmatched by any of his rivals.
How To Grow Rich By Thinking Like Singer – A Business Lesson From Isaac Singer Read More »
One of the first things most new business owners do is register their entity with the Secretary of State. While this may seem like a logical first step there are several important questions that need to be addressed first that you will come upon once you begin the application process.
How to Properly Register a New Business Entity Read More »
Insurance by definitions is a hedge against catastrophic loss. Having personal property insurance has its benefits. However, when it comes to insurance for a business, having too much insurance is not a good thing.
Insurance – Your Friend or Your Enemy? Read More »
Many small business owners come from corporate America and adopt their outdated contracting and payment processes when they set up their project and billing processes.
The Best Way to Contract and Get Paid as a Service Business Read More »
As an entrepreneur with employees, it is unrealistic that you will always be the smartest person in the room in all aspects of your business. You will need employees that are smarter than you in their assigned areas.
The Power Of Selling The Passion For The Vision Read More »
Even the Best Business Owners Can’t See Their Blind Spots. Just as Legendary Athletes Relied on Trusted Guides, Entrepreneurs Need Mentors Who Can Challenge Assumptions, Offer Perspective, and Help Them Avoid Learning Every Lesson the Hard Way. Surrounding Yourself With the Right Advisor Could Be the Difference Between Plateauing and Reaching Your Full Potential.
How To Be All That You Can Be – Get a Mentor Read More »
Your customer acquisition costs are likely one of your single biggest indirect expenses, yet most entrepreneurs design an economic model based on a single transaction. As consumers, we often have a recognized need for a product or service. Perhaps we are going fishing this weekend and need some new gear or notice that our home
Do You Sell The Second Glass Read More »
When it comes to driving greater reach and engagement, Twitter might be the answer. Just using an @mention is better than using an @reply for your content.
How I Use Twitter to Extend Reach and Engagement Read More »
Here is the test of whether your B2B branding message is truly unique: If there are several other companies that can make the same claims as you, then you are not unique. You may be good, you may be better, you may even be the best. But that is not the same as being the only one who does what you do.
When It Comes To B2B Branding, Different Beats Better Read More »
Understanding The Elements of An Offer. What Are You Selling, How Much Will It Cost, What Is in It for Then, And Why Should They Buy from You?
The Elements of An Offer Read More »
The content marketing funnel can be divided into three layers, top, middle, and bottom. The content you provide is different depending on what layer the prospect is in.
How to Improve Conversions with a Content Marketing Funnel Read More »
The people that reside in your inner circle of friends can profoundly influence your success in life and business. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to evaluate the company that you keep to see if it is aiding in your success or hinder it. Are your Friends preventing your success?
Are Your Friends Preventing Your Success? Read More »
Bo Peabody the author of the book Lucky or Smart said that successful entrepreneurs are what he called “B” student. What he meant was that the entrepreneur can not afford to be an “A” student in only one subject because they need to be more of a “Jack of all Trades”.
VIDEO: Why You Should Be a “B” Student To Be Successful Read More »
Social media has matured as a marketing channel over the years and is often paired with other channels like websites, blogs, videos and more to accomplish a specific business goal. I believe there are essentially six social media goals worth considering.
How to Define your Social Media Goals for Leads and Revenue Read More »
It is usually not easy to decide to do either project A or project B because we cannot accurately measure the return on investment (ROI) on dollars spent or the return on effort (ROE) on time spent. You don’t have to do everything, but you do have to do something. Action almost always trumps inaction and there are things that you can do in 30 minutes or less to add value and create positive momentum.
The 30-Minute Recipe for B2B Revenue Growth Read More »
Social media has matured as a marketing channel over the years and is often paired with other channels like websites, blogs, videos and more to accomplish a specific business goal. I believe there are essentially six social media goals worth considering.
How to Define your Social Media Goals for Followers and Traffic Read More »
As business owners, we make a lot of assumptions. Many of them turn out to be true however many times we do not have enough information to make a good decision. This is especially true when it comes to the way that we expect our customers will react to our product or service.
Social media has matured as a marketing channel over the years and is often paired with other channels like websites, blogs, videos and more to accomplish a specific business goal. I believe there are essentially six social media goals worth considering.
How to Define your Social Media Goals for Awareness and Engagement Read More »
Every day, entrepreneurs invest huge amounts of time and money to build a business that they think will be better than the competition. However, all too often entrepreneurs struggle to articulate how their value proposition is fundamentally different from their competition. These businesses are what I call clone businesses.
How to Transform your Clone Business and Stand Out Read More »
There is a science to getting a prospect to say yes to your offer. There are six universal principles that every salesman should master. In this post, we will discuss the last three.
3 More Influencing Principles That Will Help You Close More Deals Read More »
When a seller of a product makes a sale to an end user of a product, the seller is responsible for collecting sales taxes on behalf of several taxing jurisdictions. Leanr how sales taxes and use taxes work together and what taxes the seller is responsible for collecting.
Video – What You Need To Know About Sales Taxes Read More »
There is a science to getting a prospective client to say yes to your offer. There are six universal principles that every salesman should master. In this post, we shall discuss the first three.
3 Influencing Principles That Will Help You Close More Deals Read More »
The field of marketing uses the study of behavioral science to make sense of how the brain processes information so that businesses can implant their message into a prospects head. One of the principal scientists in the field of marketing psychology is Dr. Jeffrey Lant who developed a theory that he calls the rule of
How The Rule of Seven Can Transform Your Marketing Read More »
The convention wisdom about hiring a new employee is to ask for a resume to screen candidates followed by a face to face interview of a few candidates that made the cut and to ask then a series of frequently asked questions. This old-school process is no longer effective.
How To Hire An Employee The Right Way Read More »
Every business needs five things to be successful. This video describes the five things every business needs to have to be a success in their order of importance.
Video – The five things every business need to be successful Read More »
Have you ever told someone how to do something and then looked in the mirror and realized you don’t practice what you preach? Well, that happened to me recently and I think the message is worth sharing.
Why It Is Important To Heed Your Own Advice Read More »
Conventional business advice is that in order to have a successful business you need to write a business plan. However, did you know that the simple act of writing a business plan can often lead your business to fail?
The Simple Truth Why Business Plans Cause Business Failures Read More »
It is important for every business to benchmark their business against others in their industry and in their local area from time to time to see how they stack up. A free tool offered by the SBA called “Size Up” can help.
Powerful Free Tool to Benchmark Your Business And Make More Money Read More »
Many Libraries offer tools for entrepreneurs free of charge to help them in business. One awesome tool to target consumer’s preferences is SimplyAnalytics
How To Better Target Consumer’s Homes And What They Buy For Free Read More »
More and more people are creating a side hustle for a myriad of reasons.
6 Reasons Why You Need to Have a Side Hustle Read More »
Businesses have to make money and turn a profit to survive. While personal consumption can be influenced by personal ideals and values, in business, it is all about making a profit.
Are Your Personal Values Destroying Your Business? Read More »
Many small businesses give their customers tokens of appreciation from time to time. Most are doing it wrong because they fail to realize the five principles of strategic gift giving.
The 5 Killer Principles of Strategic Gift Giving Read More »
When it comes to content marketing there are three primary goals, search engine optimization, customer retention, and authority. In this post, we explore the three content marketing goals as well as review the content marketing strategy types so you can develop a solid content marketing strategy that will pay dividends for your business.
How to Define Your Content Marketing Goals to Pay Dividends Read More »
When it comes to content marketing there are three broad content marketing strategy types you may want to consider; inbound, addictive, and tentpole. In this post, we explore the three content marketing strategy types so you can understand how to apply them in your business.
How to Crush The Competition With 3 Content Marketing Strategies Read More »
At its core, content marketing is the creation and distributing of online material that will attract the attention of a prospect. By design, content marketing exists to help the prospect come to know, like and trust you. Once they trust you, they may come to buy from you but not before. This post looks at five more forms of content marketing.
5 More Helpful Content Marketing Ideas to Attract New Customers Read More »
Many new businesses are starting to find content marketing indispensable. At its core, content marketing is the creation and distributing of online material that will attract the attention of a prospect. This post looks at five popular forms of content marketing.
5 Helpful Content Marketing Ideas to Attract New Customers Read More »
Some marketers and business owners believe that the strength of their product or service is what determines success. While this is no doubt true in a few rare cases, most often, even a great product or service has to be marketed properly to succeed. And the best marketing is centered around what we call a BIG IDEA.
Your Brand Promise – Why You Need a Big Idea! Read More »
Many new businesses find content marketing strategy indispensable. At its core, content marketing is the creation and distributing of online material that will attract the attention of a prospect. By design content marketing exists to help the prospect come to know, like and trust you. Once the prospects trust you, they may come to buy from you but not before. Sounds simple but the devil lies in the details.
Confused About Content Marketing? Here Is What You Need to Know Read More »
Most companies utilize website marketing as part of their lead-to-revenue (L2R) process. Whether you use your website for creating awareness, educating prospects, generating leads or selling directly you need to maximize its efficiency and effectiveness.
10 Quick Fixes to Make Your Website Marketing More Effective Read More »
When it comes to marketing channels there are five channels which can help you make the most of the contact list that you already own.
5 Marketing Channels That Make The Most of Contacts you Own Read More »
When it comes to marketing channels there are 12 channels which can rent you access to their audience for a fee. These 12 marketing channels attract a particular demographic based on their content and will rent you access to their customers for a fee. Previously we discussed the first six channels.
6 More Powerful Marketing Channels That Rent You Access to Prospects Read More »
When it comes to marketing channels there are 12 channels which can rent you access to their audience for a fee. These 12 marketing channels attract a particular demographic based on their content and will rent you access to their customers for a fee.
6 Powerful Marketing Channels That Rent You Access to Prospects Read More »
When it comes marketing channels designed to attract prospects to your brand, there are nine primary channels. These nine marketing channels rely on the type of content prospects will find via some form of search. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), therefore, is essential to create the kind of gravity to attract people to your business.
9 Marketing Channels to Find Contacts You Attract to Your Brand Read More »
No matter where you turn social media is making an impact on small business marketing. While social media is not the “be all end all” of marketing efforts it does have some significant advantages over more traditional marketing. This post looks at six reasons you need to consider social media marketing for your business.
6 Reasons Why You Need to Use Social Media Marketing Read More »
History especially when it comes to war is chocked full of lessons for the small business owner if they take the time look at the messages and consider how they might apply the lessons to their own business.
How The Graf Spee Can Teach You To Be Successful In Business Read More »
The attributes that consumers have always associated with luxury items have changed in the last few years. The terms that business owners use to convey their value proposition also needs to change lest they miss out on this trend. In this post, I share a personal experience that has galvanized this lesson in my own thoughts.
A Relieving Look at How the Definition of Luxury has Changed Read More »
Being a business owner requires that you communicate with customers on a regular basis. However, there are five deadly sins of speaking that will cause your customer to stop listening to you.
How To Avoid The 5 Deadly Sins Of Speaking So You Will Be Heard Read More »
The changing landscape of the US tax code continues to create tailwinds for the business owner. Today, when it comes to earned income, the amount you make may matter less as compared to how you make it giving rise to more small businesses. With the massive surge toward small business ownership will be an increased need for qualified small business knowledge.
Epic Tax Code Changes to Increase Interest in Entrepreneurship Read More »
Is it really better to price your product or service at $59.99 vs $60.00? I’m pretty obsessed with the idea of pricing and the psychology at play. In fact, there is a science that applies to pricing.
3 Powerful Reasons Why a Price Ending in $.99 Sells Better Read More »
The human brain has limitations. Chunking of information is a life hack that allows us to overcome some of these limitations and is ubiquitous in storytelling forever and for a good reason. By incorporating chucking into your communication, you will improve your ability that the other party remembers your message.
How to Apply the Rule of Three to Improve Your Communications Read More »
Every once in a while, a business comes along that creates a revolution in its industry that is so profound competitors have a hard time following suit. Southwest Airlines was one of these businesses. Today businesses can take some of the lessons from Southwest and apply them to their own industry to change their trajectory.
4 Amazingly Simple Lessons From Southwest Airlines Read More »
Many businesses fail because the founder didn’t know what he didn’t know. As entrepreneurs, we always want to project that we have all the answers even when we do not. Moreover, admitting our ignorance to others makes us feel inferior which bruises our ego.
Will You Fail Because You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know? Read More »
There are three questions you and your company need to ask to be a successful content marketing practitioner.
1, How do we get people to read our marketing content? 2, How do we get people to engage with our company? 3, How do we measure results and get better over time?
How to Get Prospects to Read and Engage with Your Marketing Content Read More »
Conspicuous consumption is when someone spends money on goods or services in an effort to either convey a higher social status or invoke envy in others to gain their respect. Product badging is a way to draw attention to items that convey status. Yet, not all consumers want you to know the relative price of their products based on its badging.
The Secret to Product Badging Read More »
One thing contributes to more business failure. If the reason you want to start a business is you want the flexibility to work when or where you want, to become rich, or because you just want to be your own boss, you have a higher likelihood of failure. You are more likely to fail because your reasons for starting a business are self-centered and not externally focused.
The 1 Simple Thing That Contributes to Most Business Failure Read More »
There are 3 essential questions about content marketing that need to be answered to determine your go vs. no-go content marketing strategy: 1, Can we be industry thought leaders? see the benefits of being a thought leader/branded authority but aren’t sure how to get there. 2, If so, what do we talk about? 3, Can we create enough quality content?
Use Content Marketing to Establish Thought Leadership Read More »
Attraction characters fall into one of four identities: explorer, thought leader, interviewer, and duty calls. Each attraction character has a preferred way of sharing information and creates a persona that relates to and attracts an audience.
The 4 Attraction Characters: A Sure-Fire Key to Genuine Engagement Read More »
People do not relate to the business itself – they relate to the spokesperson that represents that business. Good brand marketers know that they need to create an attraction character that consumers can relate to and bond with.
How to Use Attraction Characters to Make Prospects Hear You Read More »
When you are deciding how much of time and financial resources to allocate between push and pull marketing strategies, keep in mind that the battleground has shifted and the prospect is the one who holds the high ground. Rather than fight this reality, just accept who has the real control and find the best ways to help people buy in the way they want to buy, instead of the way you want to sell to them.
PULL Marketing vs. PUSH Marketing – The Shifting Battleground Read More »
Naively many entrepreneurs think all traffic is the same. They use advertising to get in front of a prospect and then ask for the sale before they have even had the opportunity to build a rapport. It is important to understand that not all traffic is created equal and that the goal should not be to get the sale up front but to convert all traffic to owned traffic where you can control when and what message they see.
How to Drive Growth by Correctly Targeting Web Traffic Read More »
Asking the right questions is crucial to your ability to optimize or turnaround your B2B marketing and sales operations. But even if things are going well, it is a good idea to periodically test your assumptions. Competitors are not standing idle and technologies, channels and customer needs are constantly shifting. Here are eight important questions to get you started:
8 Essential B2B Marketing Questions: Ignore these at your peril Read More »
