Business Blogs: Trends, tips, and real-life anecdotes from industry experts.

It’s an entrepreneurial mantra: find a niche and fill it.
Not so obvious, perhaps, is the definition of a niche. Over lunch today with my very inspiring friend Scotty, we were discussing a retail idea of his, and how to market it.
The idea itself is very unique, and has the potential to serve a wide [...]

Do your employees make their own hours? This week, the subject of “Flex-Time” kept popping up on my computer. USA Today said the practice of flexible hours and allowing your employees to work at home has stalled. Major companies aren’t offering the option, and many employees fear that having such an arrangement [...]

How do you know the right moment to actually make the leap–to start your dream business?
One of our best friends is a woman–we’ll call her "Jan" for privacy–who works for a big corporation in a CRM capacity (customer relationship management). She sits in a cubicle with an entire department of other CRM people in their [...]

I was a bright-eyed 15 year old at the Detroit Auto Show in 1995 when a then-conceptual Audi TT was on display. "I will have that car by the time I’m 21," I told myself.
Five months before my 21st birthday, I was driving away from Fred Lavery Audi with a new, Brilliant Black Audi [...]

I get my clues from a variety of sources, but I need your help with my wardrobe. Have times changed? Has the dress code for business changed? Can you have success in casual dress? Let me get to the point: Can I wear my jeans?
First some questions. Who (no [...]

This past weekend on StartupNation Radio we were joined by guest host, Patrick Byrne, founder and CEO of Overstock.com.
The theme of the show was all about creating a web presence that takes your business to new heights. Patrick should know… his company is on a course to do a billion dollars in revenue this year!
During [...]

Joan Isabella’s recent post about answering your phone struck a chord with me. I remember how much we spent buying and servicing our ridiculous Lucent phone system back at my last company, and not even having a dial-by-name directory for all the cash we dropped on it. More importantly, though, the post reminded [...]

Following on the theme of our previous blog entry, you might get a kick out of this story. We’re focusing on an unforgettable impression someone made on us by going to lengths to do something nice (and smart). Maybe it’ll spark an idea for you in your business dealings…

We recently went to a conference in [...]

I love it when a human being answers the phone.
Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of trying to telephone a list of 67 people. I’ve spoken to five of them. In the process I have encountered every imaginable type of answering system. Among them:
- The automated voice gives [...]

I ended a recent blog with this statement: "I’ve got my superstar list. Who’s on yours?"
A superstar list includes people that you’d love to have on your team in some capacity. They could become employees, partners, advisors or part-time consultants. I believe you should have a list of 12 that you constantly cultivate. Keep them [...]