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Grow Your Business
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Building Community While Creating Your Company: The Value of Social Networks to Solopreneurs
In order to learn more about the entrepreneurial experience, The Office Providers conducted a survey of solopreneurs, with the intent of learning about their startup experience. After analyzing the results of the study, we dove further into one of the questions we asked of the survey respondents to assist those just starting up: “What would...
The Fear of Commitment: Why ‘No Obligation’ Is Music to Your Customers’ Ears
We live in a world with endless options and opportunities: where to live, where to eat, where to travel. Things to do, things to see… …Things to buy. With so many options (and many at their fingertips), why would customers want to commit to something? They wouldn’t. And often don’t. After all, having too many...
5 Tips for Closing a Sales Deal
A deal usually has several parts: the hatching of the idea by one party, its conceptual embrace by the other side and finally the closing. In most cases, the first two phases of a transaction or sales cycle are much easier than closing a sales deal. Sealing a deal (because of the prospect that it...
Top Fintech Startups in the Midwest 2022
The Midwest is rapidly becoming home to some of the best fintech startups in the country. Chicago, for instance, is becoming a top tech hub for fintech startups, seeing massive growth and funding for its companies. In Columbus, the city’s long history with top banking institutions has created a fertile ground for fintech startups to...
7 Critical Elements for Your Startup Landing Page to Convert
So, you've decided to launch a startup. Congrats: That's a bold decision! Now it's time for prompt actions. You need to make the world know about it, claiming your place in the bottomless sea of online businesses struggling for a customer's attention. And while your ambitions may spread to designing a fully featured website with...
Win a Business Negotiation in 3 Simple Steps
Getting what you want does not always come easily. You have to work for it. But, if you are properly prepared, you can conquer almost any business dilemma. Things do not always go as planned, and it can be tough trying to negotiate with someone who just will not budge. There is a myriad of...
Don’t Miss Your Chance at a $10,000 Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Grant
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is committed to helping small businesses grow. It’s why we are partnering with this program to arm businesses just like yours with the tools and resources needed to thrive in today’s digital economy. By joining this free platform, you’ll not only get access to courses, live coaching sessions and invaluable...
5 Tips for Getting a Yes and Closing More Sales
An entrepreneur needs to have a well-rounded understanding and knowledge of all components involved in running a business, and being comfortable with sales is especially essential for small business growth. Sales are, quite literally, the thing that make or break your company, so it’s in your best interest to learn how to get more of...
5 Strategies for Building a Great Startup Team
The way you treat your employees, their time, skills and abilities in the early phases of your union as a team influences the rest of your company's course of action. Mark Zuckerberg once said, "The most important thing for you as an entrepreneur trying to build something is, you need to build a really good...
The 4 Essential Factors That Make a Good Business Pitch
The following is excerpted from "Brag Better: Master the Art of Fearless Self-Promotion" by Meredith Fineman, in agreement with Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © Meredith Fineman, 2020. Natalia Oberti Noguera is founder and CEO of Pipeline Angels, a network of women investors that’s changing...
Dell Helps Businesses Identify the Best Display Monitor for Each Employee
As companies of all types and sizes struggle to survive and thrive in highly competitive markets, increasing employee productivity can provide a crucial edge. Even small gains, multiplied across all employees, can drive considerable growth. The less quantifiable benefits can be even greater, as happier, more productive employees are far more likely to deliver exceptional...
Why SMBs Shouldn’t Be Afraid of AI
Data overload is a common challenge that unites businesses of all sizes; whether they’re multinational corporations with millions of customer records, or small and medium businesses (SMB) with hundreds of receipts to log. Large enterprises are handling their data by embracing AI in their droves – so why are some SMBs still holding back from...
PR Is About Perception: The 5 Stages to Positive Branding
The following is an excerpt from “You Need PR” by Jenna Guarneri. Copyright 2022 by An Inc. Original. When a new house is constructed, the builder pulls together the brightest professionals from each construction trade. It takes twenty-two subcontractors to build the average home. Specialists are needed to build out the foundation and others to...
The Role of a Recruiter and HR in Small Business
You’ve launched your business and it’s humming along. Like most entrepreneurs, you wear plenty of hats, including chief human resources (HR) and recruitment officer. Here’s the problem, though: You can’t handle all your employee-related responsibilities forever. If you do, you could find yourself in trouble. The issue isn’t just that you’re going to spread yourself...
How to Stay Top of Mind and Boost Referrals in Any Business
Referrals are the highest compliment to your business — but it takes work to get them. There’s a fine line between staying top of mind with referral sources and being pushy. Here’s how these relationship masters and advisors in The Oracles find this balance and win referrals. 1. Create content and meet right away We do our...
For a Better Pricing Strategy, Think Like Goldilocks
Being more profitable is the result of a successful campaign to cut costs and to pump up sales. But the real profit comes about through a pricing strategy that works. The most popular pricing strategy for startups and small businesses is to follow the lemmings and charge what everyone else charges or to calculate the...
As You Scale Your Business, What Role Will Content Play?
There’s a startup renaissance going on right now, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. 2021 was a record year for U.S. venture capital, with investment nearly doubling year over year and first-time, early stage financings on the rise. But that doesn’t mean it’s getting any easier to start your own...
10 Negotiation Techniques to Make You a Better Entrepreneur
Startup entrepreneurs are not always the best negotiators. They step into the shoes of a business owner for the first time and find (to their surprise) that nearly everything involves negotiation of some kind, and they may not always have those negotiation techniques down. Starting a business requires, quite literally, hundreds of negotiations. Some are...
How to Design and Deliver a Business Pitch That Secures Startup Funding
A business pitch is a presentation put together to entice an investor or group of investors. The goal of your pitch is to secure funding to proceed with your value proposition so you can take your idea to the market. Remember, the pitch process is about getting investors to back people; it’s not about backing...
How to Write a Press Release Editors Won’t Toss
You think your company news is a big deal but will an editor feel the same way? Getting your press release published for free online in a newspaper or other media isn’t a sure thing. The decision to print or delete business news often pivots on the value placed on it by an editor or...