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Good tips for any overworked small business person. Remember, if you drop over dead there will be no one to manage your small business either. ShawnHessinger 28 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Slave of Your Own Business 953 days
Susan, I've always liked bootstrap startup advocate Greg Gianforte's concept of sales as a form of market research...and what a time saver! When launching his company RightNow Technologies, Greg reportedly cold called customer service managers with an idea for a new piece of software that automatically responded to customer queries then, if they said they didn't want it, he asked them why and added whatever extra functions they wanted to his list of features and built them into his final product. The story of Gianforte's startup adventure can be found by searching "Greg Gianforte Inc.com Start with Nothing". ShawnHessinger How Market Research Can Help Your Business 953 days
Like all five of these kind of unexpected suggestions. Thanks for the link, Wayne. ShawnHessinger 5 Ways to Get Your Customers Talking 953 days
Hi Steve, No definitely not coming at things from a Michael Moore direction and have no belief that all CEO's are evil. I'm an entrepreneur only at the moment who simply believes that the small and agile sometimes, but not always, have a surprising advantage over the large and well-funded in a rapidly changing marketplace. I've worked for much larger corporations in my career and, though not at the top management level, high enough to see some shockingly out of touch decisions being made sometimes for no other reason than that the organization was simply too large or too immersed in an entrenched company culture to realize until it was too late. I understand that the current method of large scale investment has to do with a large number of investors often with limited control and perhaps limited interest in what the company does beyond making money. Though there is certainly nothing wrong with making money, I am not sure this should be a company's only goal. Consider entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki's thoughts on "making meaning" with a company as an alternative. I think many small business owners and entrepreneurs, the lifeblood of this online community and of our economy, can appreciate this point of view, have a passion for what they do and in some cases could find another easier way of making a living if making money was their only goal. I have nothing against large companies or working for them. I have learned a lot from them about organization, professionalism and persistence of mission and have taken those lessons with me into the small business community. But I think the reverse is also true. I believe that larger businesses can sometimes learn from their smaller relatives too, important lessons about leanness, improvisation and taking the road less traveled. I believe most would be better for it. We have a great deal to learn from each other and I believe the result would be a better economy for us all. ShawnHessinger Corporate Boards: 14 Questions for You | Biz Money Matters | 953 days
I think Twitter's greatest asset is that it is in real time. psprofess How to use Twitter to engage your customers and prospects 954 days
Shawn, thanks for the response. I understand what you're saying but I think you may be starting to veer into the Michael Moore--CEO's are evil people who only want to swindle the rest of the world--territory here. (And if that's your social leaning, I'm not sure I can debate you here on that point.) I'm not sure your example of the CEO who makes ten time the company earning really happens today I think it's more of a stereotype. I do think the majority of CEOs do listen to shareholders, and have been more motivated to due so with boards now tying bonuses to stock performance and company growth. Thanks to corruption in firms like Enron now this practice is drawing criticism. Also, I'm not sure if shareholders need to have that much influence over the company. Most people invest to get a better return on their money, when that doesn't happen you sell and find something else--rarely to you try and replace the board and CEO for the way the company has been run. If the CEO takes the company in a radically different direction, perfect market rules means that none of this happens in the dark, so if the company is functioning in a contrary way the market will respond. SteveRogersCFA Corporate Boards: 14 Questions for You | Biz Money Matters | 954 days
I agree. Forbes did a great job on this one. JimmiAmbrose 16 Must-Try Marketing Techniques 954 days
Definitely. Not enough attention is paid when starting your own business and this article really reminds those looking for success of the things they need to do. JimmiAmbrose Small Business Ideas for Beginners, Employment and Marketing--It's in the Details 954 days
Another on-point post. Thanks Cindy! JimmiAmbrose Why It Is So Important To Show Confidence In Your Company In International Sales 954 days
It is a good article Shawn and the examples that were given show that it can be simple gestures that make a big difference. m4bmarketing Small Business Ideas for Beginners, Employment and Marketing--It's in the Details 954 days
Thanks...I liked the affiliate article regarding effective Tweeting too! TweetDeck looks interesting! bradfordpp 16 Must-Try Marketing Techniques 955 days
How about investing in gold? Have you read The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It: Make a Fortune by Investing in Gold and Other Hard Assets by James Turk & John Rubino? lyceum Chinese Value Stocks! | My Wealth Blog 955 days
I will maybe tweet about if the conference room is wired. Otherwise I could write a short summary later on and post it here. lyceum Small to Medium Sized Business and India 955 days
Zane, I will soon start to read Trust Agents by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith. lyceum Three Things Our Bosses Deserve 955 days
I definitely agree 100 percent with this post. I have to say that I try NEVER to worry about the newest gadget or trend or feel pressured to adopt it. I only look for tools that can help my business and try to keep growing. This tends to naturally lead me toward using some of the latest tools while discarding others. But why worry about what a competitor is doing. Just because a tool will work effectively for them does not mean it will work for me. ShawnHessinger Getting back to basics. 955 days
Woops. It's www.chrisbrogan.com ZaneSafrit Three Things Our Bosses Deserve 955 days
Teaser: John Jantsch likes apple pie. :D Read #5... ;) lyceum 5 Ways to Get Your Customers Talking 955 days
Hi Martin, Will you be posting about it on your blog and, if so, can you share it with the community here? ShawnHessinger Small to Medium Sized Business and India 955 days
Tomorrow I will attend a seminar on doing business with India. It will be interesting to see if they mention the cross-cultural business behavior. lyceum Small to Medium Sized Business and India 955 days
From the post: "Anita Campbell: Anita is the Executive Editor of Small Business Trends. She’s also a renowned speaker. Anita has dedicated herself to helping small businesses thrive in today’s economy. Through her site, she spots business trends and relays them to her followers in a way that’s easy for us to understand. I recently began following Anita and the results have been impressive so far. If you’re a small business owner, I suggest you visit Anita’s site, go hear or speak, or follow her on Twitter: @smallbiztrends" Anita: Congratulations! :) lyceum Today's Top 5 Business Influencers 955 days
Thanks for the great comments, Ken. ShawnHessinger Leadership in Small to Medium Sized Business 955 days
AI appreciate this list, but it is severely lacking any tips for leading a company financially from small to medium-sized. It is well known that companies that make this leap often find a lack of both debt and equity capital to help them. Too big and too small are common responses when these companies look for the right financial partners, and they rarely if ever hear "just right." I would add to the article that the strategic leadership team should have at least one member that has been through the small to medium transition before and knows how to maneuver a company through the financial pitfalls that often beset so many who try! CFOWISE Leadership in Small to Medium Sized Business 955 days
Jimmi, For online business, visitors translate to revenue whether through online advertising or prospects who may eventually become clients. Blogs bring traffic, hence blogs bring customers (or partners.) How many depends on the business and its model and how much those who visit value the service or product being offered. However, obviously, with no traffic and no customers there is no business. So blogs that bring visitors have a direct impact on revenue. ShawnHessinger Small Business Blog Marketing 955 days
Social media is no different than any other tool. It must be used wisely. ShawnHessinger Social Media Risks 955 days
Helpful video - I have begun doing drop shipping on my own site at www.girlsdresses.me and it has been very successful. charlottemadeline Drop Shipping for Small Business 955 days
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