Does your company have multiple locations, or are you part of a bigger franchise? I recently had a client with multiple coffee-cart locations needing an inexpensive marketing promotion to get her customers to visit those other locations. We were looking into custom printed paper coffee cups (or cup sleeves) with scratch-off or pull-off pieces for an “instant [...]

The April issue of Entrepreneur magazine has this article by Jennifer Lawler on new tax deductions from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Five-year carryback on net operating losses. Allows small businesses to offset a net operating loss against income earned in previous years. COBRA premium assistance credit. Allows a tax credit against certain employment taxes [...]

You’re an entrepreneur or small business owner who has decided it’s the right time to develop a business website … better yet, a business blog … now what? Here are my personal must-haves for any new website ( blogsite) that I develop for clients: WordPress – WordPress is the best option to choose for a blogging platform. It’s [...]

When I go out prospecting for new clients, I’m flabbergasted by how many small business owners don’t think it’s necessary to have a website. Then there are those that know they need a website, but think they don’t have the content, effort, or time for maintaining a blog. For all those entrepreneurs and small business owners out [...]

The Survey is in … I’ve heard back from Clients, Contacts, and Industry Professionals! My entrepreneur and small business clients find all the design-related information to be unnecessary clutter for the majority of them. They prefer the information and ideas of how they can market their business better. Very few of them care about the how and [...]

At my previous job, I remember asking the owner of the business how much the PBX phone system that we were always having trouble with cost him when it was  brand new. “I believe it was about $15,000 at the time”, he replied with a resigned frown. I worked at that company for 6 years and [...]

Reading through my March issue of Entrepreneur magazine, they have a new feature asking business leaders to name their Top 10 Twitter Feeds and why. First up they list the choices of their Editor-in-Chief Amy Cosper @EntMagazineAmy : A mix of business, culture, tech and news. Here’s her list if you choose to follow: @TheEconomist Economic news from around [...]

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, are you guilty of creating goals like: “Increase Sales”, “Get More Customers”, “Write a Marketing Plan”, “Develop Our Branding”, etcetera, etcetera? You’re not alone. That’s the way most people misconceive that they are setting goals … when in fact they are laying a foundation for failure instead. Use the simple [...]