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In the life of a busy entrepreneur, there's so much to do, yet so little time. Thankfully, we now have more productivity tools, apps, and services than ever before. These productivity tools are designed to help us make sense of the countless tasks, overflowing to-dos and endless distractions we encounter on a daily basis. For entrepreneurs who juggle running a business, family life, staying fit and having...

Nearly any business can reap benefits from the tools available on a computer—core office software like word processors and spreadsheet creators, such as Microsoft Word and Excel, have become essential. While a single, unconnected computer is powerful, that computer connected to a network becomes vastly more scalable in its power and usefulness to your business. Does Your Business Need a Network? If you want your business to be competitive in...

Word of mouth is excellent small business advertising – but it’s slow, and may be practically non-existent for new businesses. If you want to grow your customer base more quickly, you have to advertise. This collection of small business advertising ideas presents both the tried and true and some you may not have tried yet – advertising ideas for your small business to effectively reach your target market...

Do you have a marketing strategy that provides the confidence you need to make key decisions regarding this aspect of your business? Are you willing to consider each and every marketing method, even if it initially appears outdated? Most companies understand the importance of creating a detailed marketing plan. While some rely solely on the “latest and greatest” methods, such as social media marketing and content...

Entrepreneurs who make it onto a “Shark Tank” episode have the opportunity to introduce their company to a viewing audience of 7 million potential customers. The companies that land a deal with one or more of the show’s investors then have the chance to scale and, in some cases, become a nationally recognized brand. We looked through old episodes and asked the Sharks themselves about their most...

Good marketing strategy for a new product begins with social listening and benchmarking competitors. This statement seems matter-of-fact, but it moves beyond traditional product marketing thinking that places the usefulness of the product before its place in the market. Times are a-changin' and when you're ready to make the change to a social and data analytics based approach, we're ready to help. Over and again, I have found...

Wondering what SEO copywriting is  — and if it’s important for your site? SEO copywriting is a specialized form of online writing that: Contains keyphrases — words your target reader types into a search box to find the information she wants. Helps online content rank higher in search results (such as Google.) Drives qualified traffic.2 SEO copywriting is quality writing. Period. The keyphrases shouldn’t make the writing hard-to-read, sound repetitive,...

Mark Cuban remembers the exact moment he became a billionaire, and how he celebrated. He did a "little naked billionaire dance," and bought himself a plane. The "Shark Tank" investor and technology entrepreneur is the first to admit that reaching billionaire status has a lot to do with a fortunate twist of fate. "Being a billionaire requires a lot of luck, a lot of great timing," Cuban says during...

When it comes to brand training, it’s tempting to focus on small groups. For example, it might seem most advantageous to focus on the sales and marketing people who sell the brand, the employees who work in the executive office and represent the brand to the industry, or on new employees who aren’t as familiar with the brand. Taking the time and money to train...

Business-to-consumer (B2C) companies have long been on the social media bandwagon, and business-to-business (B2B) firms are quickly realizing that social media use is critical to finding and engaging with clients. But social isn't everything: Sometimes B2Bs need to go back to the marketing basics that B2Cs already know. B2B marketing communications firm Bop Design recently published a series of lessons that other B2B marketers can learn from the tactics and strategies of...