Let’s face it. We need repeat sales to make this thing called business work. Even our best efforts fall short if we fail to get customers to buy the right products, at the right price, at the right time, not just once, but over and over again. But many of us settle for becoming a one hit…
If you’re a small business owner or run a non-profit organization, running short on time and resources isn’t an exception, but a hard and fast rule! In between setting appointments, preparing bids, keeping up with emails, and returning phone calls, you’re expected to provide exceptional products and services, raise much-needed funds, and manage to maintain…
Ok, so maybe not literally 3 seconds, but it’s close. Your customers or potentials are bombarded with thousands of messages everyday and let’s face it, they’re overwhelmed. Today’s information sharing age is rigorous and shows no signs of slowing. Forget about reading, people are glancing at things and you only have seconds to make a…
The truth is, as a business owner, regardless of the industry you’re in, you are first and foremost in the people business. It’s those people you encounter, be it in person or through social media, that you hope to win over and turn into lifelong clients. Business is very much people business and many of…
Let’s say you’re sitting in a room of familiar business owners. I walk in and give each of them a slip of paper and ask them to write one word on it that describes you best. What would they write? This happened to me once in a mastermind group. Attempting to work through a mock…
In my quest to find a picture for this blog post, I happened upon something else entirely, a fresh perspective. My original intent was to have a serious talk about the importance of online communities. For the small business owner who has been slow to adopt the idea of using social media as another way…
The most amazing and sometimes depressing measurement to see on an analytics report is site duration. For many, that number is low. Perhaps a minute or two? Or less – 30 seconds! And when you think of all the time, effort, and money you put into building your site, people have the nerve to click…
It can be argued that small businesses are the backbone of America, the ultimate expression of the American Dream. Many companies, though large today, started as a mom and pop store in the middle of Smalltown, USA but grew into the mammoths they are today because of you, our patrons. So, I want to say thank…
About ten years ago, I was working at an affinity marketing firm. From time to time, management would get all associates together in a large banquet hall for the all-employee meeting. You’ve been to those…free coffee and poppy seed muffins. Well, these meetings were often used to tell us how good (or bad) the company was doing and plans…
It’s fascinating to me to watch people network. The smiles and firm handshakes. The warm introductions and business card exchanges. All a necessary part of growing your business and getting your name out there. But I’ve also witnessed the other side of that. The whispers and eye rolls. The brush offs and avoidance. All unnecessary parts of growing your business and getting your…
I’m a talker. That’s a surprise to some, but not to most. But my daughter, a thriving kindergartener, puts me to shame. As soon as she opens the car door, it starts. Talking 100 words per minute, I know who did what to whom, who spilled milk in the lunchroom, who got into trouble – I know…