Start-Up
You Don't Know Jack About PR
- Tue, 31 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
Think you're great at getting the word about your business out there to the world? Think again. Here's what you're getting wrong.
It seems whenever I explain to someone I've just met socially that I'm a public relations executive, I'm typically asked one of two questions:
"So, what did you think of the Super Bowl commercials?"
…or…
"So, how many politicians do you have in your pocket?"
When I respond by saying I have no more knowledge...
The Philosophical Quandary of Work-Life Balance
- Tue, 31 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
Experts of all stripes offer tips on how to rethink the work-life juggle and escape stress. Here's why doing so is nearly impossible.
Work-life balance is one of those problems that is so hard to solve in terms of concrete actions that we often try to get rid of the tension by creatively re-conceptualizing it. Telling your client that their project will be late because you didn’t want to tick off your spouse is probably off the table, as is...
The Right Way to Increase Your Klout Score
- Tue, 31 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
It's not really about your score; it's about expanding your network and extending your reach. Here are 7 ways to do it.
“We’d like to send you one of our new laptops,” the voice on the phone said.
“Thanks, but I have a laptop,” I said.
“But we want you to try out our new model before we release it,” he said. “You have nothing to lose. It's free.”
“That’s nice…” I said,...
8 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty
- Tue, 31 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
Top salespeople use these simple rules to keep their customers buying from them--even in the face of steep competition.
Customer loyalty is the key to profitability. The reason is simple. It costs more–geometrically more–to acquire a new customer than to keep a current one.
Without customer loyalty, customers leave. Then you can end up sacrificing as much as a third of your sales year just to get your numbers back to where they were...
How to Land a Great Columnist Gig
- Mon, 30 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
Have a lot of war stories from your start-up days? Here's how to get a byline in a high-profile publication -- no experience required.
Dear Jeff,
What is the process for getting a regular column on a business website or major blog? Is that even a possibility for someone like me, who isn’t high profile and hasn’t written for other sites? — Name withheld at request
It's absolutely possible. (I'm a prime example.) Obviously while...
How Heroes Inspire You To Be Your Best
- Mon, 30 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
When you study the lives of great leaders--their actions, thoughts, choices, struggles, failures, and triumphs--it unconsciously motivates you to be your best self every day. The second article in a four-part series.
Some time back, I was out with my wife and daughter for a night at the Metropolitan Opera. We were having such a marvelous evening infused with stirring arias, enveloped by the resplendent red carpets of the Met. At the...
How I Got My Business Model Right With My Second Company
- Mon, 30 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
The CEO of Stage 2 Networks, an Inc. 5000 company, recaps his $100 million education.
In 1999, Joe Gillette was managing his telecommunications firm, Gillette Global Network, out of New York City, generating revenues of $10 million. As many entrepreneurs do, he began fantasizing about the story that he might be telling in his old age one day.
"I thought I'd call the story 'How I Turned $40,000 into $40 million'," said Joe. "But it ended up being...
Weight-Loss Tricks: Create Explosive Growth
- Mon, 30 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
Lessons from my diet: Use these 5 steps to move your company past a plateau and on to the next 'set point.'
I dropped about 20 pounds last spring–and in doing so, changed my weight "set point" to 175 pounds. That means that my body–metabolism, habits and choices–adjusted to a "new normal" that was easier to maintain than it had been to attain.
Like the body's systems, businesses also develop along a series of set points and set...
4 Ways to Turn Less into More
- Mon, 30 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
Money, time, connections -- you need more of everything, right? Stop whining and start using your contraints to your advantage.
Sometimes less really is more, especially when you’re starting a company.
If you have plenty of resources, it’s easy to convince yourself you’re doing well. Problems get overlooked, waste goes unnoticed, and revenue shortfalls are covered by cash reserves… often until it’s too late.
More&mdash...
Who Are Your A-List Customers?
- Mon, 30 Jan 2012
BLOGS Start-Up
Which customers should you be rolling out the red carpet for? Follow these three steps to identify the customers and prospects worth nurturing.
Attention this time of year turns to the Golden Globes, Oscars, and A-list celebrities. It got us thinking about our own A-list customers–the companies we would love to have as large and active clients.
Each business has, or should have, an A list of its most valuable customers and prospects, but...
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