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Blog Entries
Steven Schlagel
Find the latest blog entries here!
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Is Your Personality Killing Business?
Is your personality killing your business? We all know someone who seems to chronically get in their own way. Short-tempered and short-sighted, they don't realize that these personality traits are getting in the way of greater business and personal success. . . .
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When Your Enthusiasm Fails
Kelly Livesay
Many small business owners are feeling emotionally kicked around after the last two years, worried about the economy, their own customer base and pending health care changes. Doubt can start to creep in and your enthusiasm of operating your own business can wane. Here's help... . . .
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Are You Neglecting Your "Offline" Networking?
Steven Schlagel
Building online relationships via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other sites has taken the spotlight off of the old school way of networking with potential customers and partners. Building real, in-person relationships is as important, if not more so, than it ever was. . . .
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Making Time for Time Off
Steven Schlagel
People are not meant to function at an extreme pace year round, but many small owners forget this. They are in "survival" mode, not realizing this can create more problems than it solves. To thrive instead of just surviving financially, you must schedule routine time off. . . .
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Make a Daily Marketing Habit
Kelly Livesay
Marketing can slip to the back burner when you are trying to manage a business. But small business owners must move it to the front or there might not be a business to manage! I understand, though, that working with staff, customers and product can suck a lot of time and energy from the guy or gal who runs it all. But despite understanding, I can't encourage you enough to make a habit of marketing. . . .
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Do You Have a Compelling Offer?
Steven Schlagel
Your marketing efforts should always have a "call to action", i.e. something requesting a next step from a prospective customer. This next action could be returning a form, heading to a web site, making a call, or signing up for a newsletter. But before the "call to action" should be a compelling offer. WHY should they do this thing? . . .
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If Disaster Strikes
Steven Schlagel
Mother Nature is unpredictable and so are your fellow human beings! Disaster used to imply just weather issues, but these days it can be violence or hacking. Companies that thrive after disasters like Katrina were companies that had a plan and were prepared. Are you? . . .
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Drive Traffic to Your Website
Steven Schlagel
As a small business owner, I'm assuming you have, or are at least in the process of building, a website. But once you build it, how can you be sure people actually find it. Unlike Field of Dreams, building it does not ensure that "they" will come. There are easy ways to increase traffic to your site. . . .
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Is Your Business All Over the Place?
Steven Schlagel
When developing your small business's online presence, don't be all over the place. Make sure you have a design that goes across all platforms and that potential customers can find out everything they want to know about you via your website. Don't be all over the place... . . .
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Bad Employees Can Kill Your Small Business
Kelly Livesay
In a business like landscaping, finding and keeping qualified, committed employees can really be difficult. I don't want to diminish this. Fortunately, the current job market makes it a bit easier, but generally business owners managing this type of employee will encounter two primary challenges: ATTENDANCE and PERFORMANCE. . . .
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What Do Customers Want?
Steven Schlagel
Do you know what your customers or clients want? What would drive them into a store or to a business and then keep them there? You probably think you do, but have you ever taken time to really find out, to talk to your satisfied customers to find out why they are satisfied? . . .
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When You've Failed a Customer
Kelly Livesay
No one, and thus no business, is mistake-free. Sometimes these mistakes cause our customers great headaches, or even heartache. What do you do when this happens? How can you retain or regain a dissatisfied customer? . . .
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Get More Business, Show Them You're The Expert
Kelly Livesay
As a small business owner, you have a wealth of experience and information that you can share. In the Internet age, it is easy and possibly lucrative to brand yourself as an "expert". Whether you are a retailer, a craftsmen or a service provider, going the expert-route is a great way to drive interest (aka customers) to your business. . . .
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Get Customers in Your Door!
Kelly Livesay
We've been having some interesting Twitter conversations about the concerns of small business owners like yourself. Of course, the number one is HOW DO I GET CUSTOMERS IN THE DOOR? If they don't come in, they can't spend money, right? Not necessarily, let's see how. . . .
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Go for the Small Business GOLD!
Kelly Livesay
Entrepreneurs and small business owners are like Olympians. They gotta have hope and nerve and go for the GOLD. Sometimes there are great rewards. Often there aren't. To even get to the Olympics you have to be better than hundreds of thousands of competitors. . . .
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Would You Let The Government Run Your Business?
Steven Schlagel
Would you like to have a government official or agency running your business? Not unless you want to run it into the ground. Unfortunately many small business owners pursue their marketing program like a government official. Discover the insight you need now ... . . .
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