start-up tips
Key Digital Marketing Trends For 2013
Ross | December 20th, 2012Whether you run an established small business or startup, or plan to start one in 2013, you will need to understand how to leverage digital marketing to find new customers and increase sales. Market firm eMarketer recently put together a helpful slideshow, highlighting digital marketing trends they believe to be most important. The five key [...]
The Power of Thinking Long-Term
Ross | December 19th, 2012Amazon is an unusual company. It focuses on the long-term (typically 10 to 20 years) instead of short term (typically quarterly earnings). For example, in talking about the Kindle, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, offers the following insight: Go back in time when we started working on Kindle almost seven years ago. There you just have [...]
What Job Are Your Customers Hiring Your Products To Perform?
Ross | December 18th, 2012If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner developing a new product or service, how can you figure out what jobs people want done that they have difficulty doing? If you have an existing product or service, how can you improve that product or service to increase sales? Clay Christensen suggests an interesting approach: [...]
The Science of Persuasion: How To Persuade Others To Do What You Want
Ross | December 13th, 2012Most successful entrepreneurs and small business owners are skilled at persuasion and negotiation. Those skills are critical when hiring employees, negotiating with co-founders, investors and vendors, acquiring customers, and in many other situations. Did you know there are six scientifically validated principles that explain how you can better persuade others to do what you want? [...]
Your Startup Or Small Business Sucks But You Can Fix It
Ross | June 28th, 2012Don’t take it personally, but your startup or small business sucks. Most do. Here’s why. Even the best companies become complacent, over time. At its peak, Kodak controlled 90% of the US film market and was one of the most valuable brands in the world. Sony, not long ago, dominated the market for televisions, cameras, [...]
5 Tips: What Being an Angry Customer Has Taught Me About Great Customer Service
Mike | June 11th, 2012I am notorious. I have, probably deservedly, developed a reputation around the office for being fierce when it comes to customer service. I don’t mean that I direct my savagery towards our own support agents, rather the pain I can sometimes cause customer service agents from other companies. Every so often, I find myself on [...]
Six Words Of Advice From Our Small Biz Community
Amanda | May 30th, 2012Each week, we ask small business founders and owners to distill their advice to new entrepreneurs into six words, as part of our Small Business Spotlight series. What we’ve learned–besides many pearls of wisdom– is that you guys are pretty darn pithy. From witty to practical, here quite a few of our favorites: Start [...]
Small Business and Startup Tips: Analyze This (a Data Primer)
Mike | May 21st, 2012Our awesome Customer Service Master, Bianca, came to me last week with a simple request: “Let me have more responsibility.” Well it’s not everyday that a member of the team asks for the opportunity to do more, and it’s not every person in the world who expresses interest in learning new skills. We had a [...]
