THE Small Business Expert

4 Ways to Turn Your Company Into an Innovation Machine

Published on May 23, 2013

The world’s future leaders overwhelmingly believe that today’s businesses can grow only if they can innovate – and that today’s business leaders aren’t demonstrating they’re up to the task. While that’s the thinking of nearly 5,000 millennials – the 20- to 33-year-old generation – at least one baby boomer, the innovator who transformed the U.S. [...]

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Tagged: customer feedback, customer ideas, front line employees, innovation, kayak, On Innovation, small business, Terry Jones, travelocity No Comments

Want to Pitch to the Sharks? Get Creative

Published on May 23, 2013

Recently I was in Dallas, TX appearing on WFAA-TV’s Daybreak program sharing tips with viewers on how to pitch Shark Tank. Thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs, dream about the opportunity to pitch some of the most successful business minds in the country. In comparison, only a few small business owners make it to the national stage. [...]

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Tagged: ABC, ABC's shark tank, how to pitch to Shark Tank, pitch to Shark Tank, product, Shark Tank, Shark Tank producers, small business, television No Comments

New Book Provides 52 Tools to Amaze Customers Everytime

Published on May 22, 2013

No matter how great your product is, you won’t attract and keep loyal customers if you don’t provide amazing customer service. There is no one better to help you build that success than Shep Hyken, New York Times bestselling business author and customer service expert. Hyken’s newest book is set to launch this fall, and [...]

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Tagged: Ace Hardware, Amaze Every Customer Every Time, customer service, leadership, shep hyken, small business No Comments

Mobile Technology Helping Small Businesses Soar to Success

Published on May 21, 2013

Are you a hold-out when it comes to leveraging mobile technology for your small business success? If so, you’re now in the minority which means most likely your competitors are using new technologies to increase their market share. New survey data from Constant Contact found 66 percent of small businesses are using mobile devices, including [...]

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Tagged: Cisco, Constant contact, email marketing, management, management operations, marketing, mobile applications, mobile applications for business management, mobile devices, mobile technology, small business, smart phones, social media No Comments

Get Out of Your Own Way so Your Small Business Can Flourish

Published on May 20, 2013

Entrepreneurs are creative, energetic, visionaries and risk-takers who see business opportunities everywhere. In fact, most people who are entrepreneurs wind up as founders of more than one company in their careers because they derive their energy from the challenge. I certainly fit into that category. I’ve been starting businesses since I was 15 years [...]

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Tagged: business founder, entrepreneurs, founder, reinvent, risk-taker, small business, small business growth, small business success 1 Comment

Six Tips to Enhance Your Job Interviewing Skills

Published on May 19, 2013

True confession. I’m horrible at interviewing job candidates. “Susan, you can’t run a successful business without learning how to conduct a good interview,” a friend and fellow business owner recently told me. Why am I not good at interviewing job candidates when as a journalist I interview people all the time? Probably because I don’t [...]

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Tagged: employee, hiring, Human resources, interview, interview questions, interviewing, job candidate, job experience, job responsibilities, job skills, management, small business No Comments

Freedom and Passion Top List for Entrepreneurial Start-ups

Published on May 19, 2013

For today’s entrepreneurs, starting a business is not all about the money. According to the 2013 State Of The Business Owner (SOBO) Report, recently released announced by the business coaching company EMyth, the top three reasons today’s entrepreneurs start their business are: freedom to pursue new opportunities; following their personal passion; and, to gain independence [...]

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Tagged: business coaching, coaching, eMyth, eMyth business coaching, money, passion, small business passion, small business success, start-up, start-up business, State of Small Business Report No Comments

Resources to Stop Cyber-Criminals From Attacking Your Small Biz

Published on May 18, 2013

Every day it seems I hear of yet another “phishing” scam. There are so many cyber-criminals out there and many are focusing their efforts on small businesses. If you aren’t familiar with the term phishing — it’s when someone pretends to be from a major company, organization or government agency and tries to trick you [...]

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Tagged: Consumer Federation of America's, Cornell University, cyber-criminals, fraud, fraud.org, identify theft, National Cyber Security Alliance, onguardonline.gov, Phish Bowl, phishing, small business No Comments

3 Tips to Sales Success

Published on May 17, 2013

No matter what type of business you’re in, you’re in the business of selling. And many small business owners admittedly don’t like sales. They are passionate about their product or service, but when it comes to closing deals, they fall short. Why? Often it’s the fear of rejection. But good sales people view “no” as [...]

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Tagged: how to close a deal, how to sell, increase sales, revenue, sales, sales tips, small business No Comments

Customer Service Tool: One to Say Yes, Two to Say No: Empower your people to come up with a solution.

Published on May 16, 2013

It’s easy to say, “I’m sorry, we don’t have that… We can’t get it… We can’t do that… It’s not our policy” Blah, blah, blah. In other words, it’s easy to say, “No.” But, that is not what amazing companies do. Amazing companies empower their employees to find solutions for their customers. They train, motivate, [...]

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Tagged: Ace Hardware, Amaze Every Customer, customer service, customer service training, empower employees, shep hyken, small business No Comments