Professionalisms
Internet Growth Means Big Changes For How Businesses Connect
IPv6 is the biggest upgrade in the 40-year history of the Internet. John Curran, President and CEO of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) recommends that businesses make sure their websites are available over both IPv4 and IPv6 connections.
Eight Year-End “Must-Dos” For Entrepreneurs And Small Business Owners
Life can be hectic for business owners. As the year winds to a close and a new year approaches, it pays to take a breather and spend some time thinking about the big picture. Entrepreneur and author Bill McBean lists eight very specific things you can do, starting now, to set your business up for success in 2013 and beyond.
How to Stay On Your Customers’ “Nice” List This Holiday Season
How will your customers view the service they receive from you this holiday season? Will you delight them… or disappoint them? Ron Kaufman provides a breakdown of service behaviors that will decide whether you land on their naughty or nice lists this year.
How To Use Power Questions To Turn Your Office Holiday Party Into A Career-Boosting...
Talk too much about yourself or have too many cocktails, and the office holiday party can turn into a missed opportunity if not a disaster. It doesn’t have to be that way, says Andrew Sobel. Go in armed with a few power questions, and you can leave the party having created and strengthened key relationships.
Competencies vs. Behaviors
Dr. Andrew L. Thorn, author of "U-wun-ge-lay-ma" ponders over two very critical leadership requisites, namely; professional competencies and personal behaviors.
Should Your Small Business Engage In Newsjacking?
To newsjack or not to newsjack? For many young entrepreneurs and small business owners, that’s becoming an increasingly important question with respect to their social media activities. Jeremy Goldman, author of "Going Social: Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media", weighs in.
Why You Should Never Give Up On A Client (Even A Really, Really Tough...
As a business owner - in this case, a realtor - you’ll inevitably have clients who make you want to run screaming in the opposite direction. But instead of “firing” them, Joseph Callaway encourages you to stay the course. Here, he explains why putting even the most difficult clients first is a good idea.
Why Your Customer Service Overhaul Has To Happen Fast And Furious
When looking to revolutionize the way your company approaches service, you might think it’s best to slowly ease into things — to start with one group of employees and let the new initiatives flow to the rest of the company. Actually, says Ron Kaufman, the
opposite is usually true. When you want a revolution, you need to go big and go fast!
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) For Small Business
For SMEs (small-medium sized enterprise), efficiency and integration are key to managing time and processes. Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP, integrates internal and external information across your entire organization. Monica Shepherd shares how ERP work for small businesses.
Dealing With Distressed Clients: Nine Ways To Stop Dreading Them… And Start Helping Them
If you’re like most businesspeople, you’d do almost anything to avoid a fearful, tearful, or angry client. Joseph Callaway, who has helped many people through the worst times of their lives, urges you to change the way you view these customers in distress. Not only might you change their lives, you might change yours.
5 Tips To Making The Most Out Of Your Small Business Saturday
On Saturday November 24th, Small Business Saturday will be making its yearly (since 2010) return in an effort to help drive shoppers to local storefronts and merchants across the United States. Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation, offers some tips to rally your community together and prove that shopping small is big for business.
Top 5 Happiness Tips For Business And Sales Professionals
J.B. Brocato, CEO of Intense Coaching and Consulting Worldwide and author of "A Service Provider's Guide to Starting a Unique Business Networking Group" offers 5 keys that, while applicable to everyone in creating a life of long-term happiness, are particularly relevant to the sales professional.
Protect Before You Connect! Simple Precautions To Avoid Online Personal Privacy Disaster
The Internet is an amazing, fantastic, vibrant place. But there are also evil people out there who steal identities, hack credit card accounts, track personal information, violate privacy, insert malicious programs that can exploit your company or home network, destroy your hard drives and raid your social network. Mark Weinstein, Mark Weinstein, CEO and founder of Sgrouples.com, shares some ways to protect yourself.
Sales Survival Tactics For Struggling Companies
Closing deals and increasing sales can be challenging in the best of times, but with the ongoing recession, it's even tougher for sales reps to hit their goals. David Mattson, CEO of Sandler Training, offers five sales survival tactics for struggling companies.
Clients First: Move You Beyond The Cliché And Change Your Business Forever
It’s not easy to stop thinking about your own needs and start thinking about the client’s. In fact, it goes against the grain of human nature. And yet, it’s the magic bullet that makes everything else fall into place. Joseph and JoAnn Callaway, authors of Clients First, explain precisely how to make the shift.
Seven Reasons Why Customer Reference Programs Fail
Customer references can be a cornerstone of your growth strategy — but only if you collect, manage, and deploy them the right way. Too many companies don’t, says Bill Lee, author of The Hidden Wealth of Customers. He reveals the most common
mistakes that cause customer reference programs to wither on the vine.
Project Management For High Performing Lazy People
Project management sucks. Yet without it, we fall apart. Will Schroter, serial entrepreneur and founder of Fundable.com, shares a few project management tips.
Proof Positive: Seven Facts To Breathe Life Into Your Business
Just as there are facts of life that affect us personally, there are facts of business life that affect us as entrepreneurs. Bill McBean shares what he has learned over the course of a successful career to help you avoid common mistakes and steer your company in the direction you want it to go.
The Facebook Trap: How Social Media Gets Co-opted By Traditional Marketing
It’s easy to see why companies are seduced by the buying potential of Facebook’s one billion users. Unfortunately, many try to market to them (and those on similar sites) using old-school tools and tactics that are inherently unsuited to social media. Bill Lee, author of The Hidden Wealth of Customers, describes a better approach.
Top 10 Ways To Save Time At Work
Time is our most precious commodity. Adam Gurian, president of Timex, offers ten ways to save time at work, so that you can increase productivity and makes the best use of your time at the job.
Are You Putting Your Rock Star Customers To Work?
If you think of your customers only as buyers of your products or services, think again, says Bill Lee. By finding, nurturing, and leveraging your potential “Rock Star” customer advocates, you can put them to work selling, innovating, building your brand…and growing your business in the best possible way.
Community Relations And The Small Business
If you own a small business, good public relations is essential to its success. TJ Saunders shares five ways that you can develop positive relationships with the community that you serve.
Is Your Customer Communication Up to Par?
There is a need to communicate with clients, suppliers, partners, investors and most importantly customers. Customer communication is often overlooked in business. If you are looking for a way to increase communication with your customers, you need to know how to communicate.
Oops, My Bad!: Five Ways Your Business Can Improve By Admitting To Mistakes
Mistakes are a fact of life. No matter how much you try, you can’t completely avoid making them. And according to Michael Houlihan, they can actually help to improve your company’s effectiveness and reputation if you handle them well.
Finding The Right Words For Every Customer Interaction And Situation
As a service provider, it’s your job to give great service to all of your customers, but you know it can be really tough to do that. Renée Evenson, author of "Powerful Phrases for Effective Customer Service" offers 5 powerfully effective phrases to help you deal with difficult customers.
Five Tips To Climb The Corporate Sales Ladder
Climbing the corporate ladder can be challenging in any industry, and sales is no exception. David Mattson, CEO of Sandler Training, offers five tips for gaining the skills and experience needed to earn that coveted promotion.
7 Guidelines To Consider When Starting An eCommerce Business
Like any new business, setting up an eCommerce store involves an abundance of research, strategy, planning and business savvy. Tallya Rabinovich, CEO of IzzoNet, shares 7 important guidelines to consider when starting your own e-commerce business.
10 TED Talks Every Team Should Watch
While individual achievement can be great, sometimes it takes some serious teamwork to get things done. These TED talks explore the power of collaboration and offer tips and tools for better communication, productivity, and more.
Seven Things Your Customers Can Do Better Than You
If you think your customers exist solely to “buy your stuff,” you’re missing a huge part of the picture. Bill Lee, author of The Hidden Wealth of Customers, says your customers are uniquely equipped to influence your product development, sing your praises, and even close sales for you. He describes seven things they can do better than you.
Brand Innovation: 8 Ways To Amplify Your Brand Across Platforms Through Content Marketing
Content marketing isn’t just about creating as much stuff as possible. It’s about helping people innovate their lives through gifts of art, says Nikos Acuna, author of "Mindshare: Igniting Creativity and Innovation Through Design Intelligence". He suggests some ways that you can gradually build on your brand innovation platform.