Coffee and Markets
The Brothers Sloan point out that Starbucks created a new market ($4 coffee) where before there was none. (Read their post.) Seth Godin has a great observation about picking a market for your startup company:...
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Market Your Business
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Weasel Words
Maybe it's political correctness run amok. Maybe it's a desire to avoid accountability. Whatever the cause, the business world is full of weasel words: evasions, exceptions, and buts. Maybe it's just me, but it seems...
Business Owners Need to Know When and How
I blogged earlier in the month about a contest that we ran at StartupNation.com and the overwhelmingly “I LOVE THIS CONTEST” reactions we received. I was surprised and surmised that the combination of competition and...
RSS – How to Make Really Simple Syndication Really Simple
Even if you’re reasonably Web savvy, you may know RSS only as the cryptic monogram on a tiny button you’ve never bothered to click when it shows up on sites you visit. Too bad. RSS...
Entree to the Food Business, Everythings Coming Up Organic
Fifteen years ago, Marla Reis wanted to open an organic teahouse. Instead, she went to graduate school, became a psychologist and an Orthodox Jew, had three kids and started eating only organic food. All of...
The Top Ten Email Marketing Tips
Let's begin with the most important information first. Here is a Top 10 Countdown on the important tips for anyone managing the email marketing process from my perspective. Tips Five through One will be coming...
Creating Financially Fit Adults: Make It Child
Joline Godfrey knows that kids are targets. Every day, whatever the hour, they’re the focus of intense consumer come-ons, sales pitches, pressure-tactics to spend – and always want more. In 1992, Godfrey set out to...
Taking Talent to Market: Party Planning is Former Teacher
Carolyn Hefner was one of those mothers. She could handle raising two young boys and still manage to make the coolest treats and trimmings for any school occasion. While others shopped for store-bought cookies, Hefner...
Is One Web Site Enough? Yes…and No
Most small business owners know that a Web site is an important marketing tool. So it might seem to follow that if it’s smart to have one site, two – or three, or more –...
Target and CK’s Book Club
Happy New Year! My holiday was a blast, and now it's back to work. January is always a busy month and this one is looking to be no different. We have a ton going on,...
Small businesses can learn from Netflix and Blockbuster
Suzanne and I gave each other a Christmas gift this year that we're really excited about – a Netflix subscription. Friends have been touting the internet based movie rental service for a few years and...
The Freemium Model: Making Money With Giveaways
Want your startup to be a magnet for the eyes and ears of venture capitalists? Think about giving away your service or product. Free. No charge. And it’s more than a gimmick. You'll attract more...
Service Points
When Beth Schoenfeldt created Ladies Who Launch, providing resources and networking for women to get into business, projects and friendships, she had limited startup funds and didn’t want to pile up debt. So Schoenfeldt decided...
8 Steps to Win at Blogging for Dollars
“When Patty Briguglio took a “bone-crushing fall,” people stopped her on the street to ask how she was doing. She looked at them quizzically, wondering, “How did you know about my fall?” The answer: They...
What’s in a Name? The first step to branding your startup
“It took an episode of I Love Lucy for Troy and Nancy Scheer to decide on a name for their Dallas-based marketing and advertising company. “I saw Desilu as the name of their production company,”...
If you don’t like it – tell us. If you love it – tell others!
My sister tells a great story about her daughter Jordan. When she was about five years old, she loved to watch infomercials. One morning she came running into the kitchen, very excited and blurted out...
Holiday Hints for Better Sales: 3 Tried-and-true Sales Strategies to Increase Holiday Transactions
Take advantage of the seasonal spending spike and increase your small business sales. To maximize holiday transactions, the Sloan brothers offer this series of six key strategies. Holiday series: Focus on customer’s ‘pain points’ during...
Holiday Hints for Better Sales: Focus on Customers” "Pain Points" During the Holiday Season
Take advantage of the seasonal spending spike and increase your small business sales. To maximize holiday transactions, the Sloan brothers offer this series of six key strategies. Holiday series: Focus on customer’s ‘pain points’ during...
Holiday Hints for Better Sales: Organize a Holiday Shopping Season Clearance Sale
Take advantage of the seasonal spending spike and increase your small business sales. To maximize holiday transactions, the Sloan brothers offer this series of six key strategies. Holiday series: Focus on customer’s ‘pain points’ during...
Holiday Hints for Better Sales: Building Customer Relationships Through Email Marketing
Take advantage of the seasonal spending spike and increase your small business sales. To maximize holiday transactions, the Sloan brothers offer this series of six key strategies. Holiday series: Focus on customer’s ‘pain points’ during...