How to Make the Most of Small Business Saturday
Think the only November shopping holiday your business needs to plan for is Black Friday? Think again: Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, has grown incredibly over the past 10 years since its inception. The shopping holiday has helped local small businesses and entrepreneurs garner attention in their communities and drive sales before the...
Mistakes This Entrepreneur Made With Her Startup’s Finances (and How to Learn From Them)
Business owners are dealing with unprecedented times right now. Many entrepreneurs are struggling to keep their businesses afloat, with financial struggles as their main priority. Prior to this crisis, I began thinking about my own company's finances. I considered myself adequately adept at managing this aspect of my business, but after taking on a new...
8 Tips for Writing Amazing Product Descriptions
For e-commerce companies, standing out against the competition is always a challenge. Especially when you consider Amazon and other large online retailers in the mix. While you may not always be able to compete with the lowest price, the content you have on your site can be the differentiator that helps you to win more...
Ready to Launch a Business? Here’s Your 12-Month Plan to Making it a Success
Is this the year you make your entrepreneurial dreams come true? Congratulations! But... you’ll need a plan. Consider this your month-by-month guide to ensuring that the business you launch thrives. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here Month 1: Dream big (and write it down) I know you’re excited...
Conducting a Year-End Review: What Did Your Company Accomplish This Year?
Before we start going crazy thinking about New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a beat and reflect on the past 12 months. I find that most entrepreneurs spend a lot of time looking forward to what they want to accomplish in the future, but less time looking back at what they’ve done... and what they could...
5 Frightening Causes of Small Business Failure
This time of year, ghosts and ghouls aren’t the only things that should be sending chills down your spine. As an entrepreneur, you need to be aware of how very real and serious the potential for small business failure is. "My business is fine," you think, and that might be true.Yet, consider: does anyone ever...
5 Business Tips from a Seasoned Female Entrepreneur
I don’t know about you, but I love getting advice from entrepreneurs who have been in business longer than me. Whether they’re sharing what to do...or what not to do, I squirrel away that information for when I need it. I’ve been running my own content marketing agency for 13 years, so I might have a...
Weighing the Pros and Cons: Should You Sell Your Products on Amazon?
If you run an e-commerce business, you know how challenging it can be to consistently attract new customers, in addition to getting repeat buyers. Even if you currently sell products on your own website or a marketplace like Etsy, you might be considering also selling on Amazon. But you’ve heard negative things about Amazon. You...
Franchise or New Business: Which is Right for You?
Thinking of starting a business? Before you do, consider an option that gives you an established system and known brand: a franchise! There are many benefits to running a franchise, as there are benefits to starting a new business. The truth is, which one is right for you will depend on what your goals are...
How to Bring New Life and Innovation Into Your Business
Perhaps you’re struggling to find new customers, or you’re feeling stagnant in your startup. Maybe you’re having difficulty competing with others in your industry. Whatever the case, you feel the need to breathe new life into your business. Shake things up a little! Here’s how to bring new life and innovation back into the business you so...
5 Productivity Tips to Prepare for a Summer Slump
If you stop to think about it, is your business cyclical? Do you have some months or times of year where business is booming, and others where it all but grinds to a halt? For many entrepreneurs (myself included), summer is often that slow period. It can be frustrating, both financially and mentally, to have...
How to Determine Which Social Media Platforms Your Audience Uses
If you’re just starting your social media marketing efforts, you might be tempted to jump in and create profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and whatever else the cool kids are using. Please don’t. The fact is, your customers probably only frequent one or two of these social media channels. It’s up to you...
6 Ways to Master Your Startup’s Social Media Marketing
Maybe you’re using social media, but don’t feel like you’re maximizing your efforts. Maybe you’ve resisted jumping on the bandwagon thus far and realize you can no longer ignore what others are saying is a powerful marketing channel. Using social media isn’t complicated, but it can help to have a few tried-and-true tips to get...
What is Influencer Marketing? And Should My Business Try It?
When it comes to reaching today’s consumers, advertising simply doesn’t have the effect that it once did. Consumers are savvy and know they can’t always believe what a brand says about its products. But when they hear about a product from their peers, that’s where the magic happens. That’s the basis of influencer marketing, a popular...
Digital Nomads: How to Work From Anywhere in the World
One of my true joys as an entrepreneur is having the ability to run my company from anywhere in the world. I’m also a travel blogger, so I find myself exploring ruins in Sardinia, wine tasting on California’s Central Coast, or eating my way through France several times a year. I can’t afford to completely...
7 Reasons Why You Should Hire an Accountant for Your Startup
If you’re just starting out with your business, it’s understandable that you’d want to do as much of the work yourself as possible, rather than spending any of your hard-earned revenue on help. I was the same way when I launched my marketing firm in 2006. But since then, I’ve come to realize one valuable...
10 Questions Every New Startup Founder Has (and Should Be Able to Answer)
Launching a startup can send even the most Type A founder into a whirlwind of questions and concerns. Will this idea work? Where to begin? What am I missing? While your questions may be specific to your startup and industry, here are at least a few answers that may help you along your journey. 1....
Should You Start Your Business with a Partner?
Starting a business is no walk in the park. It requires an inordinate amount of patience and fortitude, not to mention time and money! Deciding to start up with a partner might seem like a great way to split your workload (and risk) in half, but think carefully before doing so. Partnerships aren’t for everyone. A...
How to Make Your Holiday Content Marketing Stand Out
For many businesses, Q4 is the biggest sales season of the year. You may bring in more business in the final weeks of the year than you do at any other time. Even if you haven’t done much seasonal or holiday marketing in the past, competition is going to be fierce this year, so any...
5 Ways to Be More Innovative in Growing Your Startup
Innovation. It’s a hot buzzword in the startup world, and yet, when you’ve been working 15 hour days and struggling to find funding, it’s a concept that you may find difficult to actually capture. While defining innovation and what makes for innovative concepts may vary from one founder to another, I think we can all generally...