BASEMENT TO BOARDROOM  

Janine Popick


Thanks for Coming Clean Domino's; Comcast Should Take Notes!

We all can learn a lesson or two on how to correct a negative image. Here's what Domino's is doing right.  Read story

How Much is TMI on Your Website?

Most CEOs are hesitant about putting their e-mail address on their company website. Here's why I do it.  Read story

Cause Marketing: Do a Good Deed to Get a Good Deed

Everybody loves to do good. Here are four steps - and a few creative ideas - to kick-start a cause marketing campaign for your business.  Read story

Internal Communications to Employees: How Much Is Enough?

Internal communications can be a challenge for a growing company. Here are ways to keep "water cooler chatter" to a minimum.  Read story

How to Handle Comments on Your Blog

Blogging is a great engagement strategy, but you need to be prepared for both positive and negative feedback.  Read story

How Do You Know When Employees Need to Get Out of the Box?

Figuring out whether or not an employee will thrive if let "out of the box" is not always easy to do. Here are some pointers.  Read story

Turning Negative Customers Into Positive Ones

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes we fail a customer. And in this era of online communications, it's even more important to address the situation.  Read story

What to Do When Angry Employees Leave

What do you do when you have a bad "break up" with an employee? Here are a few things to think about when it happens, because it will.  Read story

How Your Employees Can Be Your Best Salespeople

How can you get your non-sales employees to help "sell" your business?  Read story

How to Write a Great Internal Newsletter

An internal company newsletter about what's happening day to day can be a great way to create a sense of transparency and open the lines of communication at ...  Read story

Why Documenting Business Operations is Important

How a boring thing like documenting business processes can make your company hum.  Read story

From Lifeguard to CEO

How my first job as a lifeguard ultimately prepared me for running an e-mail marketing business.  Read story

Women Business Owners – Stand Up and Be Recognized!

It's about time women are recognized for their contribution to businesses big and small. Check out what I think about amazing women business owners!  Read story

8 Places To Find Advocates for Your Business

Your business has customers who love you and who love to talk about you. Now it's time to locate those people who love to shout from the mountain tops about ...  Read story

My Company Has Been an Inc. 500|5000 Winner 5 Years in a Row!

How winning and marketing awards can help your business grow.  Read story

CEOs Have More Clients Than Anyone

Trying to make everyone happy - from employees to customers - is a tough job, but someone's gotta do it. This article takes a look at all the different types...  Read story

Managing Your Inbox

So your inbox runneth over with emails. How do you manage to get through it all? For busy CEOs and executives it all comes down to sorting and prioritizing ...  Read story

The Importance of Goal Setting

Your employees would love to know what they can do to not only be successful themselves, but to help the company succeed. The top goals are usually around re...  Read story

9 Things I Learned In 9 Years as a CEO – Part 2

This post is about the final four lessons I learned throughout 9 years leading VerticalResponse. Areas covered include core values, training and loving what ...  Read story

9 Things I Learned In 9 Years as a CEO – Part 1

This two-part post is about the 9 things I've learned leading a growing business for the past 9 years. These lessons might help you ease over your own bumps,...  Read story

Angry Customers: Kill 'Em With Kindness

We’ve learned something over the course of 9 years at VerticalResponse: killing people with kindness will get you everywhere. Here are 3 examples that have...  Read story

How Respecting Competition Wins Business

What should you say when a prospective customer asks, "How are you different from your competition?"  Read story

A Woman in Tech Speaks Out

I run a high tech company in a fiercely male-dominated industry. And even though I accept it, it can be pretty lonely. So I wondered, is it just my imagin...  Read story

How to Deal with Bitchy Co-Workers

There, I said it. I've even used the B-word on my own occasionally. And I'm not talking about using it when it comes to ambitious, driven women, I'm talki...  Read story

GrowCo.: How to Finance Anything

All good ideas for how to fund a company.  Read story

More from GrowCo.: How to Pitch Your Business to Investors

I was sitting in the "How to Finance Anything" session last week at GrowCo listening to Andy Craig, author of  Read story

GrowCo.: 5 Sales Myths of Fast Growth Organizations

I'm listening intently at this GrowCo. session to Tom Searcy, founder of Hunt Big Sales , and co-aut...  Read story

GrowCo.: Growth by Involvement at Amy's Ice Creams

I'm at the Inc. GrowCo. conference here in Orlando. What an exciting group of small businesses and what an amazing ...  Read story

George Foreman Kicks Off Inc. GrowCo. Conference

I'm here at Inc.'s GrowCo. Conference where over 400 small business owners have convened to network with other business owners, listen to some great speak...  Read story

Winter Olympics, Incorporated

I am intently watching the Olympics this year and it occurred to me, these brave and strong young people represent a business, the business of the Olympic...  Read story

The Power of Saying "I Don't Know"

Imagine six business colleagues in a meeting and the leader of the meeting says: "Did everyone get the TPS report?" Everyone in the room nods. If you have...  Read story

Miss Universe on Women in the Workplace

I spend a lot of time thinking about running my business, VerticalResponse as a CEO, but not a ton of time ...  Read story

Small Businesses Speak Out on Healthcare

There's been a lot of talk in the news about how important the small business community is to the economy as they are the source of 65 percent of all new ...  Read story

The Best and Worst of Female Bosses

I don't know what kind of boss I am at VerticalResponse—you'd have to ask my staff about that. I think they'd say I'm fair, fun, I like to cut to th...  Read story

How Training Employees Can Boost Sales

When I started VerticalResponse we had just four employees. With such a tight knit group there wasn't really a need for company or product training. We a...  Read story

Inc. 500 Conference: Stay Small or Go Big?

Last week I was at the Inc. 500 Conference listening to Doug Tatum, CEO of Tatum LLC, an executive services consulting firm. He's also the author of ...  Read story

Inc. 500 Conference: How to Get Your Message Right

Last week I was at the Inc. 500 Conference and caught a session with Michael Sheehan, CEO of Sheehan Associate...  Read story

Inc. 500 Conference: Small Beginnings, Big Dreams

Last week, I heard Jill Blashack Strahan, CEO of Tastefully Simple, speak on the main stage at the Inc. 500 Conference. Today Tastefully Simple is a $140 ...  Read story

Being Strategic: Live from the Inc. 500

I'm at the Inc. 500 Conference, America's leading conference for entrepreneurs. I'm at a seminar listening to speaker Erika Andersen who is the CEO of Pro...  Read story

The Business Chef: Gordon Ramsay

I'll admit it, I love watching any TV show with Gordon Ramsay in it, but "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" is my current favorite. He's the antithesis of the ...  Read story