Over the holidays, I had a friend’s 10 year-old son ask me if I could help him with a small business that he wanted to open in 2012. Really? A 10 year-old kid? I know kids are much more advanced than I was at 10 with smart-phones, tablets and all the techno-devices but a business? Yup, he was … [Read more...]
Selling With Personality to Help Grow Your Small Business
I came out of a networking session with some entrepreneurs the other day and I was surprised at their “selling approaches”. I would “break the ice” by introducing myself and then telling them: “I’m in the market for [insert their product], why should I buy from you?” When I say surprised, I mean, … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Presenting an Idea to Grow Your Small Business
What makes an entrepreneur successful? That's a loaded question but in my experience there is one trait that sticks out; the successful entrpreneur is always looking for problems (i.e. gaps) to solve (i.e fill). If you are a true entrepreneur, you probably come up with about half-a-dozen ideas per … [Read more...]
5-Fantastic Tips to a Successful Elevator Pitch for Your Small Business
Picture this…you’re a small business owner and you’re the only one waiting for an elevator in the lobby of a building, the door opens, you enter the elevator and then…Mr. Rufus shows up! Who’s Mr. Rufus? Well, he represents your biggest potential client. If Mr. Rufus buys what you’re selling, it … [Read more...]
Calling All Consumers to Act: 4 Call to Action Ideas to Grow Your Small Business
As a consumer, how many times do you delete an email newsletter you subscribe to or throw-out the many pieces of direct snail-mail (DSM) that are delivered to your home? How about that one email or direct mail that you don’t delete or toss? (for now, let’s ignore the fact that one strategy is … [Read more...]
3-Tips to Building Long-Term Relationships to Grow Your Small Business
As I have suggested on many occasions, for small business owners, time is the most valuable asset they have. How an entrepreneur uses it will ultimately determines the success of their business. Building a strong-relationship with prospects and existing customers is key to building loyalty, which … [Read more...]
4-Tips to Improve Email Marketing ROI to Grow Your Small Business
True or False? Email marketing is a more effective marketing tool as traffic driver than social media? According to an article posted by Search Engine People , this statement is TRUE. The study was conducted by ForeSee Results and concludes that email marketing is a more effective marketing tool … [Read more...]
Fab-5 Presentation Tips to Grow Your Small Business
As a small business owner (or even someone who works in Corporate Canada, for that matter), coming up with a business (or idea) is the easy part. The hard part is presenting your business or… selling it. When I meet small business owners, the first question I ask is: “what do you do?” or “what is … [Read more...]