For small businesses, a local customer base can be extremely lucrative. But to reach customers in your immediate area, you’ll have to develop a concrete strategy that addresses their specific wants, needs, and expectations. Try These 5 Local Marketing Tactics In a business world where large, sweeping marketing strategies dominate the landscape, there’s something to be said for adopting a simple, focused approach that prioritizes customers in your…
Common wisdom says businesses can either provide personal service or create scalable systems. In the old days, that was true. Small businesses couldn’t scale without becoming impersonal — and big companies couldn’t keep up with the volume if they wanted to improve service. Fortunately, times have changed. Today’s businesses can get the best of both worlds by using better tools to improve service in scalable ways. Customers get…
Relationship building and networking are important to entrepreneurs, but they may not come easy. No, it’s not just you: Americans across the board are becoming lonelier. According to a Cigna study released last May, 46 percent of American adults say they always or sometimes feel alone. Just 53 percent say they experience meaningful in-person interactions, like engaging in a deep conversation with a friend or family member, on…
Today’s tight labor market is flipping the script on recruiting. Rather than job seekers trying to impress employers, the opposite is happening. Apprenticeship opportunities, in which employees are paid to be trained rather than incur student debt, have grown by 42 percent since 2013. And they’re no longer limited to blue-collar fields: Most of the growth has been fueled by companies in science and technology. The global talent…
You thought “promposals,” undercooked cafeteria pizza, and hallway passes were things of the past. And hopefully, those unfortunate realities are indeed behind you. But to become a successful entrepreneur, it turns out you have to relive at least some of your high school experiences. Despite the challenges of being a teen, those years taught you valuable lessons that you can use as a corporate leader. From discovering and…
Your brain is locked in a never-ending battle between now and later. This tug of war is why you eagerly tackle nonessential tasks instead of pressing ones. You might know that a deadline is looming, but it feels so good to remove something from your to-do list that low-hanging fruit lures you away from more urgent matters. Simply put, we’re all wired to crave instant gratification. Researchers at…
Lead generation is the heart of business growth. You need to drive new customers into your sphere in order to make conversions and build loyalty. When businesses talk about lead generation, though, they rarely address the role of link building. Instead, they emphasize increased lead generation through local marketing, better CRM, and predictive analytics. Without the layer of link building, however, businesses are undermining their lead generation strategy,…
It doesn’t matter the industry, niche, size, or budget — all clients are ultimately looking to work with businesses they can trust. If you can find a way to cultivate trust with new clients consistently, you’ll be successful. 6 Ways to Cultivate Trust Trust was once an expectation in the consumer-business relationship. But today, it sometimes seems like an optional bonus. Many businesses unwittingly adopt a posture that…
Fear is a company’s food: It comes in many flavors, but it must be swallowed for the business to live. The trouble is that many of us learn to be picky eaters from an early age. Although we’re curious about what happens when we put our hand on a hot stove, we don’t attempt it — we know we risk hurting ourselves. While our early risk aversion protects…
When you’re a business owner, the sale of your company can be one of the most bittersweet experiences of your professional career. But if you expect to enjoy more of the sweet and less of the bitter, it’s crucial to avoid committing certain all-too-common mistakes. The Three Mistakes You Want to Avoid Selling a business is a challenge. It doesn’t matter how big or small, successful or unsuccessful,…