CRM

Post image for Put the Spark Back into Your Business: Step 1 of the Business Tune-Up Program

Entrepreneurs are an odd lot.  We pursue a passion but end up with a business. Sure, launching a company seems like a good idea at first. We start with stars in our eyes, but end up married to the dreary demands of running a company. If your business is not helping you pursue your dreams [...]

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Curating, Content and Fun: 3 rules for business in 2012

The CEO of Gilt.com (an amazing luxury ecommerce company), Susan Lyne just revealed her vision of the future of “curated“ commerce. She describes why Gilt ”curates” their site and shares 3 new rules for doing business online.  That’s great, but let’s go further and just say it — these 3 secrets apply to all businesses.  Whether you sell online or otherwise,  to attract [...]

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4 Advantages of FreshBooks: A Fresh Look at Ditching QuickBooks

Thumbnail image for 4 Advantages of FreshBooks: A Fresh Look at Ditching QuickBooks

Everybody loves to hate QuickBooks. Sure, it is the most complete small business accounting software, but sometimes that’s the problem.  If you are simply looking to track hourly income and a few expenses, QuickBooks is too much of a good thing. (Read a great Quickbooks review here) Why worry about double-entry accounting if what you [...]

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Collect International Debt – 7 ways to make foreign customers pay

Thumbnail image for Collect International Debt – 7 ways to make foreign customers pay

You know times are tough when you start spending your time on lawsuits to collect your invoices.  Over the last two years, I’ve had to beg, borrow and yes, sue to collect money owed to me by foreign customers.  It’s humiliating and a complete waste of time.  But it’s also a fact of life: international [...]

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Yuck: The Billion-Dollar Girl Scout Cookie Revolt

Thumbnail image for Yuck: The Billion-Dollar Girl Scout Cookie Revolt

The Girl Scouts of America is learning an important business lesson this week, as a couple of pissed-off  teenagers are jeopardizing their billion dollar cookie empire.  It’s a business lesson worth learning. The problem?  GSA preaches ecology and good stewardship of the planet, but each year it sells 198 million boxes of cookies made with apparent disregard [...]

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American Idol made my business ROCK!

Thumbnail image for American Idol made my business ROCK!

After 10 seasons of watching American Idol, the endless Coke commercials and Ryan Seacrest jokes have paid off: I’ve gleaned great business wisdom from watching American Idol. The idols, judges, and millions of wanna-be’s have taught me at least three things that every entrepreneur should know: Idol Wisdom #1: It takes 6 months to make it big Between [...]

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What’s a Tweet Worth? About $5…or $50,000 if you are Charlie Sheen

I've always wondered… what's the value of a Tweet? Fortunately, someone far smarter than me has put pencil to paper and come up with a good guess.  (Here's the whole story about the Value of Facebook Likes and Tweets, but I'll save you the click.)  Here's the results: So how do tweets get value?   [...]

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Make it Easy to Buy: 3 Strikes for AT&T

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Monday Rant: Evidently, AT&T has too many customers. They certainly make it hard to spend money with them! Any one else have too many customers?

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The $64 Penalty — Why Pricing Matters

I stayed at a World-class “Kessler” hotel this weekend… and learned all about “Penalty-based Pricing”. Did they really want me to stay there? Short rant… big lesson for pricing strategies. Richard Kessler, are you listening??

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A Rant about Missed Opportunities & a $52 piece of tape

I’m on a rip today folks… got a bee in my bonnet and a twist in my shorts.  Can I tell you why? So many smart people missing such golden opportunities.  Big, smart companies that just don’t seem to get it. The opportunities?  A chance to really connect with their prospects. To go above and [...]

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Half Your Customers are Already Dead … do you know which half?

Thumbnail image for Half Your Customers are Already Dead … do you know which half?

It’s tough to sell anything if you don’t know the name of your buyer.  That’s been the problem with Business to Business sales… “prospect databases” are hard to find and are rarely accurate.  People move around and change jobs so rapidly that yesterday’s prospects are today’s wrong numbers. In an excellent interview, Ruth Stevens of the Columbia [...]

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The $24 Wrong Number — the cost of phone sales

Quick!  Do you know the TRUE cost of a phone call? If you are like me, you may have answered smartly, “almost zero — unlimited phone calls are free from most phone companies”.  Well, yes, that’s technically correct, but there’s more to it than that. Alright, let me be more specific.  What’s the total cost [...]

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Business Cash Crisis? Push the Cycle

Thumbnail image for Business Cash Crisis?  Push the Cycle

At some point, every business owner feels it. It starts with a tightening of the chest.  Then there’s the ache in the pit of your stomach.  And the fuzzy feeling in your head. Why? It’s almost payday and you’re short on cash. First, breathe.  Stressing out won’t put cash in the bank.  Now, when you can [...]

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