The American Entrepreneurial Spirit There are a growing number of Americans who want to become their own boss. Among surveyed high school students, 72 % aspire to start a business, and 61 % would rather be an entrepreneur than an employee after they graduate from college.
Category: Business Development
No matter where you are in this business, how much you have accomplished or what level of success you have achieved, there is always a next level. Many of you reading this may have the mental scars and bruises to show for your hard work. For some, those scars and bruises may be piling up… Read More
Landing a new account is just the beginning. Keeping that business customer taken care of and satisfied is the key to building a solid relationship. But neither is easy and is often complex and time consuming. If you ever find yourself wondering why your close rate for new business is falling short of your goals… Read More
Anyone responsible for coordinating projects and campaigns appreciates the value of a team they can trust. Keeping every aspect moving on time and in the right direction can be a challenge, even when all collaborators are in-house. So when a project manager needs to outsource some or all of the work, relying on the wrong… Read More
In sales, one of the biggest challenges in converting a prospect to a customer or a customer to a client is getting more “face time” to continuously explain our value proposition. This is where most sales folks fail. Most sales folks, even seasoned professionals, don’t appreciate the importance of creating “excuses” to get back in… Read More
I love the saying, “success begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” I’m all for pushing oneself to the edge of their comfort zone, but not beyond. This is especially true when prospecting for new customers. It’s natural for most sales folks to want to reach for the stars and secure large marquis accounts. But… Read More
It’s that time of year again when business folks start to think about New Year goals, resolutions and planning. This year I’m suggesting you add another topic to the mix—internal and external account analysis. Let’s start with the importance of internal account analysis. If you have been in this business more than a few years,… Read More
I believe that many businesses have brands that suck. I mean, suck away opportunities for sales and profits! Let me explain. First, there are many companies out there with brand names that only indicate they sell printing or promotional products. Names like, City Printing Company or Peoria Promotional Products, LLC. These names suggest the company… Read More
No matter what you think about Amazon, you have to admire its founder Jeff Bezos. He has become the wealthiest person in modern history. Here’s what he says about failure: “He says nine times out of ten, you’re going to fail. But every once in a while, you’ll hit a home run that in business… Read More
The Endless Cycle of Giving
Nothing can be gained without giving something up first. It’s a concept that I’m sure we’re all familiar with, even if sometimes we don’t always like to admit the truth of it. We spend our day at work and give up our time in order to earn a living; friends and coworkers come and go,… Read More
White Space Does Not Equal Wasted Space
Not everyone has an eye for design and not everyone has a design team available to them. If you follow this one simple tip, you will have your ads looking like masterpieces in no time! PRO TIP: EMBRACE THE WHITE SPACE Yes you read that correctly, don’t be afraid to embrace white space when designing.… Read More
New Ideas for Old Content
Being given the task of re-purposing content can seem daunting. How do you take a perfectly good idea and change it while maintaining its effectiveness? Content re-purposing reminds me of a research project; taking someone else’s perfectly good findings and rewording or elaborating on them so that it’s original. Re-purposing content is similar in that… Read More