The prospect of writing a business plan can be overwhelming for a would-be entrepreneur. It is a time-consuming and laborious exercise, and it requires that you intimately know and understand your business, your product or service, your competition, and the market. Is it really worth the effort? Yes. Beyond helping you obtain a bank loan […]
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Here’s What You Need to Know About Content Marketing
Content marketing is a type of marketing that attracts prospects and customers by creating and sharing free content online. The technique does not involve direct sales. Instead, its goal is to build trust and rapport with a targeted online audience that leads to sustainable brand loyalty. There are a variety of options for providing useful […]
Give a Man a Fish or Teach a Man to Fish?
Are you delegating or training? A delegator is someone who assigns tasks and allocates responsibilities. A trainer looks for ways to give employees additional responsibility; helps them acquire the skills, confidence, and capabilities to succeed; and supports them as they progress. Managers must do both; but training must happen before and during delegation so employees […]
Flying High: A Guidance System Can Steer You to Success
It’s human nature to make goals to lead us to success. But it’s also human nature to lose those goals in the face of everyday concerns. As poet Robert Burns famously said: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley” or more simply put, the best-laid plans of mice and men […]
Features, Schmeatures: Just Tell Me ‘WIIFM’
Why do microwave ovens come with so many settings and buttons? Who really wants to stand there and figure out which setting to use and then press a series of buttons? We just want to heat up our food. According to an article on SmashingMagazine.com, product designers think consumers really love all the bells and […]
Failure Can Lead to Success … If You Learn from It
Nobody sets out to fail. Nobody plans to make mistakes. But perhaps they should—because everyone knows you can learn a lot from failure. While nobody likes to fail, studies show it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Mistakes may highlight flaws that, when overcome, lead to success. After years of failed electrical experiments, Benjamin Franklin finally […]
Desperately Seeking Leaders . . . for Today and Tomorrow
Real leadership requires two things: a vision of what’s possible, and a talent for motivating others to make that vision a reality. But how do we recognize leadership when we see it? And more important, how can we build those all-important leaders of tomorrow, today? In an Entrepreneur article, writer Nicolas Cole describes leadership as […]
Communication Styles Can Hamper Business Success
While a difference in communication styles can lead to simple misunderstandings, it can also threaten your relationship with customers and ultimately endanger your business success. Dr. Sherrie Bourg Carter noted in an article for Psychology Today: “…‘communication stress’ can be one of the biggest sources of stress in relationships. After all, we’re all talking the […]
Communicate Effectively With Words: They’re Back in Style
We’ve always thought our words were so much less important than our body language in communicating with others. That’s thanks to a 1967 study that concluded that only 7 percent of what a listener picks up comes from words. Thirty-eight percent comes from our tone and a whopping 55 percent from body language. Now, some […]
Cause Marketing: The Intersection of Business and Philanthropy
As millennials increase their influence and purchasing power, businesses large and small are looking for effective ways to attract their interest, their dollars, and their advocacy. One of the best ways to cultivate loyalty among younger consumers is with cause marketing. Cause marketing refers to a business’s support of an initiative, a nonprofit organization, or […]