Blogging is a terrific tool for small businesses, but the work of blogging eventually can get you into a rut. That’s why so many blogs stagnate and even die after a while. Long-time friend Chris Brogan asked a pointed question about this, on Twitter. Is your blog phoning it in? Are you tagging along in…
Greg Corombos and John Duoba from the Business Owner’s Toolkit Radio interviewed me for their radio show. We covered a lot of ground, including: What’s different in rural business, and what can all businesses learn? Do shop local campaigns work? How do you start one? What are some keys to success in small retail stores?…
Jeanne Cole, a regular contributor here, put together some basics for small business, for the Small Business 101 workshop held in Alva. Here are her 4 top tips. 1. Do a business plan for the right reason.Most people only write a business plan when they want money. But the top reason to write a business…
Just as soon as your small business includes more than just you, there will be people problems. To help you with those problems, our friend Phil Gerbyshak has put up a new resource, The Management Expert.Phil has pulled together a huge collection of over 500 of his management articles. His goal is to help new…
More audiences today are wired, with laptops or smart phones. They are taking notes, Tweeting, and much more. This changes the dynamic of speaking, so here are three tips I picked up at BlogWorld Expo this year. 1. Using a visual can make people stop taking notes and listen to you. This one came from…
Facebook can be a powerful tool for small business, and our friend Shama Hyder of Click to Client (2013 update: Shama’s firm is now called Marketing Zen) shared some outstanding tips in her presentation at BlogWorld Expo. Tip 1: Create a fan Page, not a personal Profile, for your business. Fan pages are the best way for…
Every so often, we feature common small business mistakes, so you can learn from them. Lots of small business make a mistake in setting and keeping their business hours. Here’s an example from a retail business, open only 11 hours per week. But hey, they do say you can call and they’ll come open up….
Many times, it is worth paying for help with what seem like free tools like social media, websites, or even photography. Look at it this way. If you want to build a house, you probably already have a hammer and all the tools you need. You can find some lumber pretty cheap. There are even…
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