Marketing
[Video] Business Planning: What is an Executive Summary?
In short, the executive summary is the one part of your business plan that investors will actually want to see. When you meet an investor and give your elevator pitch (whether it’s actually in an elevator or wherever else you might meet them), their response will not be a request for your full business plan.…
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Business Mentoring Series — Marketing Your Startup with No Money
On last week’s show, Dan and Aaron shared lessons they learned in the first few months after starting their business. This week, they talk about how they marketed their startup before the profits started coming. When you don’t have any money, you have to get creative to market your business. Ironically, it’s very common for…
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Nourish Water — Creating a Brand
Forming the most effective brand for your business is a challenge for any business owner, but you can take cues from what other brands are doing. In this segment, Lara Hodgson, CEO and founder of Nourish, talks about the steps she went through to create the Nourish brand. Sure, she created a great product, but…
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5 Reasons Your Business Needs to be on Facebook
OK, you’ve done it. You’ve started your small business. You have a great product. You’re making sales. Things are going well. But you can always use more customers, right? How can you continue to grow your reach? Increasingly, social media, and Facebook in particular, is becoming the answer to this question. The number of businesses…
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Business Mentoring Series — Trust and Authenticity in Negotiations
On last week’s episode, Molly talked to Fran about overcoming obstacles during a negotiation. This week, she discusses the importance of trust and transparency as you negotiate. The foundation of any relationship is trust. So if negotiations start with relationships, then it all boils down to trust. Trust is a combination of credibility, reliability, and…
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4 Free Social Media Listening Tools Every Small Business Should Be Using
I think most business owners have grasped the importance of having some presence on social media; but now the question becomes what to do with it. It’s great that you’re there; but if you aren’t putting it to productive use, you’re really just making noise. An often-overlooked, yet important use of social media is listening.…
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Business Mentoring Series — Choosing the Right Social Media Platform
On last week’s show, Jen walked you through developing a social media plan. This week, she talks about the differences between the platforms and helps you choose which one(s) are right for you. There are more social media platforms out there than you can think of, with new ones appearing all the time. So how…
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Who’s Gonna Whack Yelp?
Yelp can (and should) be a helpful tool rather than an online cheap car salesman. Yet their business practices continue to suggest they proudly avoid the high road in exchange for revenues. Now, both businesses and consumers have reason to want the site to disappear. Business owners are angry over a federal appeals court decision…
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5 Fundamental Twitter Tips
For some, tweeting is a language of love — others may associate it with another 4 letter word (insert word here: _______). Despite your take on it, Twitter can be a great marketing tool. When it comes to being a successful tweeter, fundamentals matter. Like Jim Rohn said, “success is the natural consequence of consistently…
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Guerrilla Marketing for Startups
Marketing is tricky for startups. Spending money to get the word out about your business tends to be expensive, and excess cash is usually not something that start up businesses have. TJ Muehleman and Jared Malan, founders of We&Co, say that their company doesn’t market a lot. Instead, they rely on guerrilla marketing—leveraging existing platforms…
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