Do Small Business Failure Stories Get You Down? Serendipity, Venture Capital, and Do Only the Paranoid Survive? Sometimes my blog posts are motivated entirely by serendipity, and this morning that’s exactly what happened with this post. I read a couple of small business failure stories, and they didn’t get me down at all. They made me want to respond. I … Read More ›
Most Facebook Groups and other online communities put guidelines in place and use moderators to ensure the community is a healthy place. Effective Facebook Group Moderation adds value in the following ways: It discourages the Internet Trolls who can quickly spoil things for the rest. I’ve quit more than one online forum just because the trolling gets so objectionable the pain isn’t … Read More ›
Early in the history of any new business comes the naming decision. You’ll need a name as soon as you create a website or blog. Naming a new business is something many entrepreneurs obsess over. They’re right–the business name is important. You want to choose a name that will be good forever. Changing names is a messy business that’s expensive … Read More ›
100 Days of Productivity? What would you say if you could guarantee your next 100 days would be super productive for your business because you used a simple goal setting worksheet to decide what to do during those 100 Days? What if you were sure you could get everything done within the time frame? What if you knew exactly how … Read More ›
Are you the cow or the rancher? What if you went to sleep one night, secure in the knowledge you’re a successful rancher, only to wake up the next morning realizing you’re just a cow on somebody else’s ranch? That would be a very shocking realization on all kinds of levels, yet it happens all the time in the wild … Read More ›
Find your Audience first… Many Entrepreneurs identify too much with their product or idea. They want to go from a product idea to a plan for success. But that’s not the best way and if you insist on following that approach, it can often lead into a long blind alley. Here’s a question I saw on Quora recently: I want … Read More ›
Don’t get me wrong–I love Mailchimp and I used it for years as my main email provider. I looked at a lot of packages when I started, things like Constant Contact and AWeber, but nothing beat the simplicity and core features of Mailchimp. And then I outgrew it. Note: If you’re at the very beginning of your online marketing journey, … Read More ›
If you’ve spent any time at all looking for help starting or growing your small business, you will have come across the “Hustle Harder” crowd. They’re going to tell you they or some other prominent success story got ahead by giving up absolutely everything, becoming a total workaholic, and grinding out 100+ hour work weeks. Invariably these guys are Young … Read More ›
Desperate to find marketing help for your small business? I don’t blame you. It’s really tough to do. Almost impossible, in fact. Your choices are not happy ones: Go with the Big Name Firm, realizing that you’re such a small fish to them you’re going to get their B-, C-, or even the D-Team working on your account and they’re … Read More ›
For those of you who desperately want to start your own business, I want to caution you about the worst possible thing you will be tempted to do: You are going to want to quit your Day Job and go all in. Don’t do it! I know. I know. The classic image of the entrepreneur includes quitting the Day Job … Read More ›