Nurture Your Leads

A business doesn’t exist until someone sells something. And sustainable sales can’t happen without a qualified lead. Generating and nurturing sales leads are the lifeblood for every company. As a small business, marketing dollars can be scarce. And when you spend those dollars on acquiring new leads, it’s vital that you convert a high percentage…

Selling Simplified

Sometimes we make things harder than they need to be. When it comes to sales, we often think we have to be the flashiest, the funniest, the pushiest or the most eloquent in order to close the deal. But it’s actually a lot simpler than that. Find out what a person wants, needs, or desires…

8 Free Bootstrapping Business Tools

Free stuff is great. Free stuff that helps your business is awesome. Here are 8 free online services that a small business can use to make life a little less complicated. MailChimp “Forever Free.” Love it. That’s MailChimp’s promise to its subscribers. The “Forever Free” plan allows up to 2,000 email subscribers and 12,000 emails…

The Smartest People in the Room

Have you ever had that moment when you listen to someone speak and you realize just how inept your communication skills really are? I’m continually humbled by people who are far more gifted, skilled, prepared, and just flat-out smarter than me. If you’ll indulge me for just a moment, I want to share such an…

Elevator Etiquette – The Ups and Downs

The elevator doors slide open. A few people pile in. We assess our surroundings and then act decisively. We press the buttons of our respective floors; heads drop and phones light-up. The doors shut and the awkward ride begins. A ride in an elevator is such an odd but predictable social experience. And for many…

Are You Addicted to Work?

It’s Saturday afternoon and I’ve already spent more than 5 hours working on work—things that could have waited until Monday. So I started to think about it: about work, and its impact on me, my family, friends, hobbies, and time. After some self-reflection, I jotted-down a few questions that I’ll pose to you. Do you…

Right Person, Place, & Time

Finding and keeping the right people is critical to your business’s success and ability to grow. To do so, you must have the ability to effectively recruit, hire, train, and develop talent, as well as assess, coach, and retain skilled employees. In a previous post, I shared 10 steps to follow when building a culture…

Advice for Entrepreneurs

I have the good fortune to meet and work with some extraordinary entrepreneurs. Without doubt, one of my favorites is Lara Hodgson. When Lara is in the room, I shut-up and listen. She always shares such powerful and practical advice on all things business. Here are few tips she shared with me while shooting a…