When I was younger, I always thought that I was going to grow up to be a professor. I don’t know where that career choice idea originated, but it was there, nonetheless. (I’m still not sure about the part where I grow up, as my wife would certainly debate that idea.) But it seems like my career path was always …
6 Common Mistakes of New Business Owners
Starting a new small business is often the most difficult thing most people will do in their lifetime. Short of a major tragedy in your life, nothing else will cause you the pain and suffering of creating a new business from scratch. While a handful are successful, the majority of new businesses fail; some dying out like embers in the …
My Shameless Plug
Marketing is a necessary evil for small business owners. It’s something that we need to do, but not something that most of us like to do. Most people get a bit uncomfortable when it comes time for self-promotion. And once we’ve been in business for a while, we start to think that we’ve already done all the marketing we need, …
Story Time
If we take a moment and think back on our childhood, it’s quite likely that some of our most vivid memories take us back to story time. We often recall, in vivid detail, the tales told to us by people we admired: friends, family and mentors. These stories not only helped to educate us, but they also served to cement …
Is There a Shortcut to Success?
Practice makes perfect. We’ve all heard that old axiom. As a child, we probably heard it enough from our parents to make us sick. But, like most old sayings, it was grounded in truth. Think back to your childhood, to any skill that your parents forced you to learn. Would you have ever achieved any level of proficiency without the …
When is a Customer More Than Just a Customer?
Running your own service-based small business can be overwhelming. It often seems like the list of things to do never ends. You’re not only responsible for doing the actual part of your business that makes money (like selling a house or doing an inspection), you’re also the person who takes care of all the “behind the scenes” stuff that comes …
Embracing the Challenge of Constant Marketing (part 2)
Note: This post is the second of a two-part article. Click here to read part one. I hope that everyone is doing well and prospering in their business. In the second half of this article, I wanted to expand on the idea of Constant Marketing, and the fact that every move you make has an effect on your business. In part …
Embracing the Challenge of Constant Marketing (part 1)
Depending on how we choose to live, our life may be calm and even-keeled, with little variation in our daily routine, or it may be filled with challenges: new decisions and experiences popping up at every turn. One of the good things about living in an advanced country is that (typically) we get to choose the path we desire: calm …
Positive or Negative, Your Marketing Matters
Marketing and advertising. These terms are often used interchangeably, but have different meanings. Merriam-Webster defines marketing as “the process… of promoting (and) selling… a product or service.” Dictionary.com defines advertising as “the act… of calling public attention to one’s product… especially by paid announcements…” While advertising is typically thought of as a campaign, specifically developed to induce the viewing public …
Show the World That You’re a Star
Today we’re going to talk about marketing and it’s effect on our business. If we’re just starting out in the business world, trying to figure out marketing can be a daunting task. Even if we’ve already got an established brand, marketing can still cause us headaches and plenty of sleepless nights. It seems like everywhere we turn, there’s someone who’s …