BizSugar.com › User › TerryJackson › Voted

Why do budgets often bear little direct relation to a company's long-term strategic objectives? Because they don't take enough into consideration. A balanced scorecard augments traditional financial measures with benchmarks for performance in three key nonfinancial areas: 1. A company's relationship with its customers. 2. Its key internal proce Read More

Harvard professors Robert Kaplan and David Norton developed the balanced scorecard to help translate vision and strategy into action. This technique can make strategic planning a core part of any business. They showed that financial analysis, which is largely a look backward over past performance, isn't enough to guide long-term investment decisio Read More

While the majority of the country seems to be behind the Democratic Party as the political campaigns gain steam, it seems that small business is pretty content with the Republican Party and believes it's the party for small business. According to a new survey from SurePayroll, which polled 450 small business owners, most small biz owners are pull Read More

Wow! This is the kind of customer service that they'll be mentioning in business books for years. You never know what can happen when you add a little human kindness to your "customer policies." Kudos to Zappos! Read More

Over the past 12 months I have spent hours in conversation with some of the most inspiring individuals in business and education to pinpoint the exact techniques and strategies these men and women use to inspire others to follow their vision. TFA Founder Wendy Kopp was one of them. Her story is amazing. Kopp developed the idea based on a Princeton Read More

Getting rid of the unprofitable, the time wasters, and the crazy-makers in your midst Read More

Anyone who has worked with me over the past 25 years knows my mantra has always been: “Benefits, benefits, benefits.” Benefit headlines — benefit copy — benefit subheads — benefit captions — anything to hammer home the customer benefits. Benefits still are a vital key, but today, copywriting needs much more than just benefits. To sell the most, co Read More

Are you making the most of your "welcome" emails to customers? The Email Experience Council and the Direct Marketing Association announced the release of its second annual Retail Welcome Email Subscription Benchmark Study, examining the welcome emails of 118 of the top online retailers to identify best practices and benchmarks in the areas of me Read More

When Amanda Raab started online jewelry business PurePearls.com in 2004, she was excited, motivated and energetic. Less than two years later, she was just plain exhausted.

Like many entrepreneurs, Raab learned the hard way that she needed to maintain a more healthy balance between the work she loved and the personal life she neglected. Many bu Read More

Who needs Tony Robbins when you can motivate yourself? Overcoming the emotional hurdle to get stuff done when you'd rather sit on the couch isn't always easy. But unless calling in sick and waking up at noon have no consequences for you, it's often a must. For those of you who never procrastinate, distract yourself or drag your feet when you shoul Read More