Lodge Your Complaint
You've been wronged. The goods you ordered arrived intact, but the craftsmanship is shoddy. You've been handed a bill, but you haven't received satisfacto... Read story
Kimberly Stansell
Polish Your Prose
Everything you write is a chance to make a good impression. Yet companies lose business every day because they submit proposals that contain grammatical, ... Read story
Sell Your Offering in Smaller Bites
People are more cautious spenders these days. Some buyers can stare down the most effective marketing ploys and not be persuaded one iota. Others are will... Read story
Practice the Art of Effective Negotiation
Negotiation is a fact of life. The key to success is remembering that everything is negotiable -- and to get a deal you must ask for one. Many businesspeo... Read story
Employ a Virtual Helper
A tight labor market and work style choices have forced small-office professionals to seek other ways to grow with few or no workers. Some opt to simply d... Read story
Turn Up the Heat
Summer gets a bad rap in business circles. Many businesses turn off their marketing engines -- marketing directors ignore summertime promotions, advertise... Read story
Hire a Sales Rep to Peddle Your Wares
The creator of The Busy Woman's Daily Planner needs to get her product into stores far and wide, including globally. Her own door-to-door legwork... Read story
Create an Ergonomic-Friendly Workplace
This commonsense advice will help you take the pain out of your work space. Read story
Operate with Financial Fitness
Just as becoming physically fit accrues tremendous benefits, so does making your business financially fit. Whether your business is in a start-up, growth,... Read story
Befriend Your Community
When you lend support through goods, services, or time, you're strengthening your community -- making it a better place to live and do business. In turn, ... Read story
Get Your Inventory under Control
If you're like the average entrepreneur, you're trying to juggle 25 balls at once. The result, all too frequently, is that you may mismanage your inventor... Read story
Cut Travel Expenses without Compromising Quality
Travel can be a big-budget expense for small businesses. Yet it is one of the largest controllable expenses for many firms. You can save money by picking ... Read story
Exhibit at a Specialized Event
Specialized trade shows allow small-business owners to promote, sell, network, and check out the competition in one location. Recent growth in the trade s... Read story
Maximize Freebie Online Tools
Implementation of the right technology tools can empower you to save time, make money, and work smarter. Whether you're starting a new business or trying ... Read story
Turn "Free" into the Passageway for "Fee"
Freebies can be an effective or expensive proposition. E-zine subscribers of The Marketing Minute recently chimed in on the subject. The survey r... Read story
Tend to the Business of Collecting Your Money
When you're running your business on a shoestring budget, you may find yourself operating in two cycles: one of elation or despair. Project deposits and p... Read story
Maximize Freebie Online Tools
Implementation of the right technology tools can empower you to save time, make money, and work smarter. Whether you're starting a new business or trying ... Read story
Boost Your Profits Through Customer Retention
Focus this week on keeping the customers you already have. You can enjoy profit swings of 25 to 100% if your customer defection rate is reduced by 5%. Cus... Read story
Think Multipurpose Marketing
Effective marketing strategies always work double time -- feeding off each other and creating a ripple effect. Just like multi-function equipment, your ma... Read story
Handle Complaints with Finesse
Most business owners deal with one to five complaints a week. More than 64% of owners cite that the biggest complaints are about billing and pricing, foll... Read story
Attract Angels of Support
A growing number of universities are willing to "preseed," or invest in companies in their most infant stages. Here's an example of someone who was touche... Read story
Tap the Untapped Billion-Dollar Co-Op Fund
Co-op advertising is a cost-sharing arrangement between a manufacturer and a retailer for customers' advertising programs. Collectively, manufacturers ear... Read story
Beef Up Your Disaster Preparedness Plan
If your office were affected by flood, fire, earthquake, or another natural disaster, could you bounce back? Your recovery from a disaster begins with hav... Read story
Work on Being "Just in time"
"Just-in-time management" is an industry phrase that means manufacturing products as you need them. In lieu of stocking huge inventories of raw materials,... Read story
Inspire People to Talk about You
Referrals from satisfied customers are fuel to your business's engine. Yet statistics show that the average satisfied customer tells only five other peopl... Read story
Beef Up Your Disaster Preparedness Plan
If your office were affected by flood, fire, earthquake, or another natural disaster, could you bounce back? Your recovery from a disaster begins with hav... Read story
Develop a Smart Shopper's Mentality
Did you know that less is more? It's a smart shopper's cornerstone: The less money you waste, the more you haveto build your business, to make investments... Read story
