Marketing and selling are way more effective when you not only have an effective brand that positions you well in the marketplace, but you also have established yourself as a branded authority.
Are You a Branded Authority or One of the Crowd? Read More »
When We Talk About On-Page But Hidden SEO Techniques We Are Talking About Several Clues You Can Provide To The Search Engines To Tell Them What Your Content Is About. It Can Also Control What And How Your Message Is Displayed In Search Results
On-Page But Hidden SEO Techniques You Need To Understand Read More »
Most businesses have been encouraged to focus on relationship builders salespersons. Unfortunately, the study shows relationship builders have the fewest number of top performers. There are in fact 5 salesperson archetypes and one out performs the others by more than 2X.
The Five Salesperson Archetypes and the One that Performs Best Read More »
Using The Proper Keywords That You Have A Realistic Chance To Rank For In A Search Engine Is How You Become Visible To New Customers. The Key Is To Finding Powerful Keywords Is To Find Ones That Have A Good Search Volume But Limited Competition.
20 Steps to Find Powerful Keywords Google will Rank High Read More »
Word-of-mouth marketing is not just making a good product or delivering a good service, and magically your clients will tell their friends how great you are, which will, in turn, lead to a greater number of sales. To achieve an epidemic you must employ some specific strategies.
How to Achieve a Word-of-Mouth Epidemic Read More »
To Make Your Website Visible To The Public It Needs To Be Found And Indexed By The Search Engines And To Be Properly Indexed You Need To Focus On Your Keywords.
Keywords-Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask Read More »
SEO Primer – What Every Small Business Owner Needs to Understand About How to Improve Their Content to Generate More Organic Website Traffic
SEO Primer – Everything Small Businesses Needs to Know About SEO Read More »
Many entrepreneurs do not understand the difference between a business and economic model. Simply put a Business Model is primarily customer-focused while an Economic Model is owner-focused.
Why You Need To Know How Your Economic Model Drives Profit Read More »
Running a small business is complicated, especially if you have employees. As a manager, you have many tasks that have to be organized into a chain of subtasks and to assign responsibility to team members and subordinates if you want to succeed. A RASCI chart is the answer.
RASCI Chart – How to Manage Employee Roles and Responsibilities Read More »
Business owners can use a PESTEL analysis to assess which macro-environmental elements could potentially impact the success of their business. Each of the six elements of the PESTEL analysis can either impede a company’s growth potential or serve as a strategic opportunity.
How to Improve Your Odds of Success by Conducting a PESTEL Analysis Read More »
When buying or selling a business and the discussion comes around to financing options, few have ever considered the role of an earn-out. An earn-out can benefit both the buyer and the seller when used properly.
How to Increase Business Sale Profits with an Earn-Out Read More »
Economists looked at why different industries are more profitable than others and defined a model to explain why some have low-profit margins such as airlines and cafes, and why other industries have high-profit margins such as soft drinks and drug manufacturers.
How to Improve Profit Margins with Porter’s Five Forces Read More »
Business owners too often market the positives and ignore the negatives, hoping that the customer will not notice their shortcomings. Ignoring what your customer probably already know can be a mistake. Good marketers know how to turn the negatives into something that their prospects will value.
How To Turn A Business Negative And Make It Positive Read More »
What if you had a crystal ball that would let you see into the future to see if demand for your product or service was going to get stronger or weaker with time. Well, you can stop wishing. There is such a tool.
How to Predict the Future with Demand Curves Read More »
As consumers, we have a very hard time recognizing a business’s investment in expensive and specialized tools, or paying for a person’s knowledge or acquired skills. All they see is that they are paying a lot for something that didn’t seem too difficult for a person or business to deliver.
How Transparency Asymmetry is Destroying Your Value Read More »
The human desire for fairness can distort the perception of value and can have unexpected and often catastrophic outcomes, if not handled properly in your marketing.
What You Need To Know About How Fairness Shapes Value Read More »
Within the world of debt financing, there is a continuum, as different lenders have different appetites for risk and reward.
What You Need To Know About The Debt Continuum Read More »
A common belief in product development, born out of the day of mass markets prior to the long tail economy was that as a product developer, your goal was to find the best and most profitable segment and go all in. The theory of horizontal segmentation changed everything.
How to Crush the Competition with Horizontal Segmentation Read More »
5 reasons why you should not write a book and 5 more reasons why you should. Plus, several concise tips to make the process happen in a more efficient and less painful way.
Should You Finally Write Your Business Book? Read More »
When it comes to marketing there are two primary approaches. One approach focuses on what your offering does and the other is how it will improve their life. Unfortunately, many business owners spend too much time describing all the bells and whistles and not enough effort trying to connect them to the benefits.
Features & Benefits: Why It Is Important To Know The Differences Read More »
There are two basic types of wealthy people in the world-income statement wealthy and balance sheet wealthy.
Not All Sources Of Wealth Will Keep You Rich Read More »
Do you get calls from vendors nearly every day trying to pitch you on their products or services?
Self-Weeding Your Economic Garden Read More »
Rather than employ a more traditional sales or market-led approach, some SaaS companies have seen serious traction for their offerings using a product-led strategy that uses a freemium version to attract new users.
How to Make a Profit with a Product Led Freemium Offering Read More »
Many individuals with stellar academic performance go on to become wonderful scientists, engineers, and even professors but with mediocre earning potential. Entrepreneurs need to be a jack of all trades and not an academic master of one.
Success Comes From Being a “B” Student Read More »
What if you could create additional value for your product or service in the mind of your customer so you could charge more and that it would cost you nothing, would you be interested?
How to Use Consumption Vocabulary for Profit Read More »
Being labeled a “Creative” congers up someone who is right brained and unsuited for business. However, creatives have found a seat at the business table as their virtues are being valued as Elizabeth Diane explains.
Why You Need to Cultivate Everyday Creatives Read More »
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with tasks? Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night fretting over the next day’s tasks you have to accomplish? What if there was a better way to organize all the task you need to perform. Well, there is.
How To Make The Best Use Of Your Precious Time Read More »
Is Rainmaking an art form that some people have and others do not? We all can be rainmakers if we can identify those activities that fit our personality and build it into a process that becomes so automatic it looks like an art form to those around us.
How to be a Rainmaker for Professional Services Read More »
In June 2018 the US supreme court upheld a lower court’s ruling that the state of South Dakota could force the online retailer Wayfair, a retailer with no nexus (physical location) in the state to collect sales taxes. This ruling sent shockwaves through the eCommerce community. Therefore, online retailers may now be required to collect sales tax on goods they ship.
How To Be Compliant With Internet Sales Tax Laws Read More »
As humans we all are guided by our own self-interests. Savvy business owners should craft their marketing messages to appeal to the customer’s self-interest.
Why You Need to Harness The Power of Self-Interest Read More »
Consumers are predictably irrational especially when it comes to customer satisfaction. In fact, when you pay has more to do with customer satisfaction than what you pay.
A Simple Pricing Hack to Increase Customer Satisfaction Read More »
While there are plenty of books and articles about email marketing, there are some less discussed secrets that only expert email marketers consider as part of their strategy.
7 Simple Secrets To A Great Email Marketing Strategy Read More »
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 »
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 »
