Monthly Archives: August 2011
20+ Social Media Power Tips To Generate Leads
Social media has become the cornerstone of business marketing efforts. It’s no doubt that this phenomenon will only strengthen over time. And now with the new powerhouse Google+ on board, even more exciting times are upon us. But for many …
Young Entrepreneur Interview: Ben Lang of MySchoolHelp.com
Find a need and fill it. We hear that mantra over and over as advice on how to start a business. And that's exactly what Ben Lang of MySchoolHelp.com has done. Much like a lot of household name companies of …
With Daily Deals Websites, It's All About The Exposure
In the heart of an economy that's far from healthy and a growing number of unemployed in the U.S., it's no wonder that daily deals websites like Groupon and Living Social are an attractive solution for businesses and consumers alike. …
What the App Store Taught Me About Making an Awesome First Impression
Getting our new game Goop prepared for the App Store was no easy task, once we realized what we were up against. We had millions of potential customers at our fingertips, each with different cultural backgrounds, speaking different languages, and …
The Joys and Challenges of a Home-Based Business – Is it Right for You?
Being able to work from the comfort of home sounds like an ideal situation to many people. After all, who wouldn't like to have the ability to set their own hours, be at home for their kids during the day, …
How to do Due Diligence on Investors Before Funding
Due diligence should always be a two-way street. A while back, I published an article on "Understanding the Dreaded Investor Due Diligence," describing what investors do to validate your startup before they invest. Here is the inverse, sometimes called reverse …
7 Financial Habits of Strong Businesses
The road to business success can be a fairly rocky one. But as with most rocky situations, there is a lot to be learned along the way. Unfortunately, one of the lessons many entrepreneurs learn the hard way is the …
What Does Every Small Business Need?
Starting a business is a slow process that takes significant and often precious resources — time, money, and energy. Often times a new business focuses on gaining new clients but it can be easy to forget the essentials to doing …
How to Take Your Social Media Global
As part of the social media generation, it's probably a given that you're already using it to further your business efforts. Those little 'likes', follows (and more recently +1s) can really get your business known. It seems simple enough. Set …
6 Good Reasons to Rethink Discounts
Believe it or not, one of the biggest mistakes that new business owners often make is offering discounts for their services. While discounts may seem like a logical way to bring business in, the truth is that they can actually …
Passion without Perspective: A Recipe for Disaster
It seems like there are thousands of people out there dreaming of becoming the next Internet sensation. Specifically, there are countless people trying to turn their personal passions into content-driven websites. If you search the web, you'll find hundreds of …
5 Common Marketing Myths — Busted!
With all the information that's coming at us from all directions these days, it can be difficult to discern which marketing methods are effective, from those that aren't. This is especially true when you consider the myths that are perpetuated …
Learning to Embrace Failure
A young entrepreneur's ability to embrace failure is paramount to his or her long-term success in business.
Four Steps to Strengthen Your Sales Strategy
We can have the best products or the most quality services, but if our sales strategy is not strong, our success will not be as great as it could be. And while business owners and sales managers can easily debate …
As the Office Turns: How to Deal with Workplace Gossip
Most business owners welcome positive discussions between their employees about their business. On the other hand, negative discussions that can be seen as gossip are problematic. Gossip comes naturally to us, because people generally find it much easier to talk …
Lessons Learned: The Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
By Brett Orzechowski and David Tomczyk HAMDEN, Conn. — A movement continues across college campuses to simulate "real-life" situations that are equal parts emotional, professional, practical and educational. My colleague and I set out to do just that. We took …
Build a Strong Brand While You're Young
Brand management is more important than ever in a society that has currently grown accustom to the internet being readily available through smartphones and tablets. Managing your brand goes beyond the usual keyword searches and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics, …
4 Times when Hiring a Lawyer Makes a lot of Sense
Ah… lawyers. One of the most ridiculed professions there is. But if you're a business owner, the right attorney at the right time can save you a ton of money and heartache. There are so many lawyers, and they charge …
Whatever It Takes: Entrepreneur as Project Manager
Most entrepreneurs are known for being visionaries — big thinkers with big ideas, who sell their vision to investors, customers and staff, who help implement the vision. If they're well-funded, presumably, Founders can bring in managers who take care of …
Investors Love Founders with These Attributes
I've noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even …
One Thing a Business Will Fail Without
Too often, entrepreneurs focus so intently on one thing, and they completely forget the other important pieces that are vital for their business. For example, a business may look just at making themselves better with social media, when they completely …
5 Things Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know about Keywords and the Art of SEO
I’m often surprised when otherwise business savvy entrepreneurs tell me they are interested in building a Web presence but can't articulate the reasons why. Invariably, it turns out, their goals are mostly the same: driving traffic and converting visitors into …
Congratulations to all Small Business Influencer 2011 Nominees!
Nominations are in, and the voting is down to the final week in the “Small Business Influencer 2011″ awards, produced by Small Business Trends and Small Biz Technology. Small Business Influencer 2011 is meant to honor companies, organizations, and people …
The Biggest Mistake Internet Entrepreneurs Make
My last post was all about why you shouldn’t give up on the dream, and as I sat down to think about my next post here I realized the logical follow-up was something along the lines of Okay, now what? …
