Archives: April 2011

Dealing with Startup Challenges in India

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 29

India's 1 billion people and 9 percent annual growth are attractive to nearly any business, as are the 380 million new Internet users that will come online there by 2015....

Resist the Allure of Multiple Brands

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 28

If you think multiple brand names will make your company seem bigger, think again. It's tempting to create multiple brands, But if we think of a brand as a business...

Love Thy Customer: Let Us Count the Ways

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 27

When was the last time you were truly delighted as a customer? A colleague of mine was given a cookie after she bought her daily lunch at our favorite local...

Why Looking Ahead Is An Important Business Strategy

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 26

We've all been through rough patches with our businesses. Attitude has more to do with longevity than you might think. Winners acknowledge mistakes they might have made or the nature...

Don't Squander Time on the Wrong Marketing Tactics

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 25

How do you determine which marketing tools and methods make the most sense for your customer base? Below are some questions to ask yourself before you spend money on marketing...

Why the Rules of Old-School Marketing Still Apply to New Media

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 22

With two teenagers at home, I hear the terms "old school" and "out of touch" more often than I care to tell you. But being old school isn't always bad...

Draw More Attention to Your Business

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 21

No matter how busy you are, here are three things you can do today to get more attention for your business. In all, it should take less than 30 minutes....

Replace Your Employee-of-the-Month Program

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 20

To build a great company, with great people, performance must be the basis for any recognition and rewards program, or it may backfire on you. At Schwab, managers were surprised...

Build Rapport Quickly

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 19

To a small business owner, one negotiation with a prospect can make or break the company. With so much at stake, quick rapport-building becomes a critical skill. And what is...

Spend Time with Your Staff

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 18

The most important thing you can do to empower your staff is give them a voice and listen to their ideas. As entrepreneurs, sometimes this can be hard as we...

Four Considerations When Evaluating Cloud Computing

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 15

Recently many organizations have been looking to get out of the business of owning and maintaining their own information technology infrastructure. But for organizations new to the cloud, figuring out...

Retire Your 800 Number

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 14

Let's face it. The number of smartphone users is growing every day. In fact, 81 million smartphones were sold worldwide in 2010, a 96 percent increase from a year earlier....

Engage Your Website Viewers

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 13

People's opinions and memories are controlled by representational systems or the use of their most preferred sense to interpret the world around them. The majority of people fall into one...

Be Assertive to Get What You Want

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 12

Assertiveness is the ability to be aware of your personal strength, advocate your point of view, and take responsibility for your actions. It is this trait that allows business pros...

Get Face-to-Face to See Eye-to-Eye

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 11

Only 20 percent of a message's impact actually comes from the content of words. Another 25 percent comes from the use of your voice, and a resounding 55 percent comes...

What's Your 'Affordable' Loss?

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 08

Loss? Are we nuts? Don't we know your new venture has the potential to make you richer than Warren Buffett? We sincerely hope it does, but all new ventures involve...

When It Pays to Offer an Inferior Choice

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 07

Sometimes a client or customer is frozen into indecision because of tradeoffs among the prices, features, reputations of the brand and vendor, and predicted ease of use, among other qualities...

Where to Put Products You Want to Sell Quickly

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 06

If you're a retailer, you probably have certain items you want to sell more than others. It might be because these items carry high profit margins or come with promotional...

Use Low-Price Guarantees Strategically

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 05

With so many consumers currently placing extraordinarily high importance on price, many retailers are promising a payment or credit if the customer later finds a lower price on an item...

Give Loyalty Programs Momentum

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 04

Retailers are discovering that the effectiveness of frequent shopper and customer loyalty programs is fading. Findings from research studies at the University of Southern California and the University of Pennsylvania...

Which Business Structure is Right for You?

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 01

The Sole Proprietorship is the simplest form of business entity. However, without the protection of a corporate shield, personal assets are exposed to business liabilities. And even if a small...