Lillian Vernon Corporation

Is the Web the best place to market and sell craft items?

Sales and Customer Service mentor Lillian Vernon responds to the following question from an inc.com user: I design floral wreath...  Read more

From My Kitchen Tabletop to Your Computer Laptop

When I founded Lillian Vernon Corp. on my yellow Formica kitchen table in 1951, I couldn't have imagined selling to customers linked by little boxes calle...  Read more

How can I build customer loyalty?

Sales & Customer Service mentor Lillian Vernon responds: I believe the customer must be treated with respect. I built my company b...  Read more

How did you make the transition to online selling?

Sales & Customer Service mentor Lillian Vernon responds: In 1995, when the Internet and e-commerce were becoming popular, I decide...  Read more

Meet Lillian Vernon

Lillian Vernon is the founder and chief executive officer of Lillian Vernon Corp., a leading specialty catalog and online retailer that m...  Read more

From My Kitchen Tabletop to Your Computer Laptop

When I founded Lillian Vernon Corp. on my yellow Formica kitchen table in 1951, I couldn't have imagined selling to customers linked by little boxes calle...  Read more

Make Someone Happy -- Your Customer

In 1951, when I started Lillian Vernon Corp. from the yellow Formica kitchen table in my apartment in Mount Vernon, a suburb of New York City, I spent hou...  Read more

Letting Go Of Paper

Is the dream of a paperless world reallly a dream or more of a nightmare? I think most of us fear the latter and that is probably the biggest reason why i...  Read more

How can traditional and Internet sales effectively integrate?

Sales mentor Lillian Vernon answers the following questions from an inc.com user: I own a small but quickly growing specialty pu...  Read more

How do I develop a good order fulfillment process?

Sales & Customer Service mentor Lillian Vernon responds: Fulfillment is the nuts and bolts of any mail-order or online business. I...  Read more

How do I build a mailing list for a mail-order company?

Sales & Customer Service mentor Lillian Vernon responds: Customer lists are vital to the prosperity of any mail-order company, and...  Read more

I'm taking my traditional business online. What should I expect?

Sales & Customer Service mentor Lillian Vernon responds: First, your company's expectations must be realistic. You cannot expect y...  Read more

I'm taking my traditional business online. What should I expect?

Sales & Customer Service mentor Lillian Vernon responds: First, your company's expectations must be realistic. You cannot expect y...  Read more

SMALL COMPANY INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS: AUGUST 1987 Offering First Size Price after- O-T-C ...  Read more

The State of Woman-Owned Start-ups

Statistics on women-owned businesses in 1992, plus a quote from Lillian Vernon.  Read more

Best Customer-Service Practices

Today, competition is fierce, and customers have more options than ever -- a tough combination for smaller companies trying to gain mar...  Read more

CEO's Notebook

CEOs give advice on: boning up on employment law; making the most of customer feedback; finding big-time IT for your small company; and streamlining the due ...  Read more

Six Ways to Position Your Company for Success

What do you think the most important trend affecting small business will be? How best can owners position their companies to take advantage of it? We pose...  Read more

Desperation Capitalism

What do Clorox and Apple Computer have in common? Both were launched by bootstrappers-- and here are some other bootstrapping Hall of Famers.  Read more

How should a brick-and-mortar business approach online marketing?

Marketing & Advertising mentor Jay Conrad Levinson answers the following question from aninc.com user: I am the marketing vice ...  Read more

How should a brick-and-mortar business approach online marketing?

Marketing & Advertising mentor Jay Conrad Levinson answers the following question from aninc.com user: I am the marketing vice ...  Read more

Regional Entrepreneurs of the Year

A list of 1992's Regional Entrepreneurs of the Year.  Read more

State of the Art: CD-ROM Marketing

Three start-ups that are exploring opportunities in CD-ROM marketing are featured in this short article.  Read more

Letters

Readers react to articles from the August issue of Inc., including Dr. Steven Berglas's "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" and Edward O. Welles' "Burning Down the H...  Read more

Warming Up to Cold Calls

Why it's time to rethink one of the most derided marketing tactics.  Read more

Power of Poverty

A group of vignettes that examine various successful companies that were started with $10,000 or less.  Read more

Resources

A comprehensive guide to subjects covered in the August issue, including start-up information.  Read more

The Evolution of the Professional Entrepreneur

Characteristics of some company builders from days past and how they differ from those building businesses today.  Read more

He SCORs!

A company founder describes the process he went through to file a small-corporate-offering registration to raise money.  Read more

CEO's Notebook

Short articles on such topics as how much misclassified workers can cost you; changing your distribution strategy; and getting commitment from contractors.  Read more