“You’re giving away too much.”   I had just finished telling a good friend and fellow business owner my plan for launching a site for small business owners. She loved the idea, but was apalled at the notion of my providing so much useful information without charging anything for it. “You shouldn’t give all that away. People would pay for that kind of information. If you don’t charge, they’ll just suck you dry.” “Maybe she’s right,”...

Sad Truth #1: Your Friends and Family Will Say They Support You. They Will Be Lying. Unless your friends and family are a bunch of self-made entrepreneurs themselves, they won’t really get why you’re doing what you’re doing. Sure, they’ll say they’re proud of you and they may provide warm words of encouragement and support. But they will do this mostly because they love you. On the inside, they’ll silently wonder why you’re leaving that cushy corporate job, or whether you harbor some...

I didn’t even know Tupperware was still around. But apparently that doesn’t matter, because as you can see from the video below, ‘Aunt Barbara’ is making a killing at it! All because she figured out the perfect gimmick that would give her an edge. Take a look: While I’m not suggesting that you go dress up in drag to sell your products and services, I think there’s a lesson we can all learn from Aunt Barbara. What is it about you – your personality, your...

“Ok, before we get started. Let’s go over some ground rules.” The atmosphere in the room just dropped a couple of notches on the congenial barometer. I can almost hear each and every one of the people seated at the U-shaped table in front of me thinking the same thing. Uh-oh. Ground rules? Ground rules suck. Ground rules mean you’re going to tell me to do something I don’t want to do. Or worse, you’re going to tell me NOT to do something I love doing. I want to tell them, “No, these...

Fact: In early 1999, there were an estimated 23 weblogs, or blogs, on the Internet* Fact: In 2008, Technorati (the world’s leading blog search engine) claimed to be tracking over 100 million blogs (and those are just English-language blogs!). In less than 10 years, blogs have become an integral part of the way business is done and information is shared online.  And in my opinion, they’re the most reliable, efficient way for companies and business leaders to communicate directly to their stakeholders...

Since the new year started, I’ve been reading articles and predictions on the top business trends for 2010. Invariably (and unsurprisingly), the use of social media for marketing, branding, and customer service has been at the top of every list. In just a few years, social media has gone from a recreational diversion used by youngsters and bored office workers, to a proven tool for engaging customers and increasing brand awareness. Like all business functions, marketing and branding continues to...

Congratulations! You’ve made it all the way to step 30 of 30 Steps to Build a Better Business.  The last thing that you need to do at the end of any action you’ve taken to improve your business, is to plan what you’re going to do next. Maybe you’ve gotten the basics in order and you’re ready to move on to bigger and better improvement projects. Or  perhaps you need to monitor the changes you’ve put in place for a while and tweak them until they’re just...