Business Integrity: quality characterized by honesty, reliability, and fairness, developed in a relationship over time. When doing business, I think most of us would consider strong ethics and integrity to be top of the list of qualities we seek out in business partners. Reputation is extremely valuable in 21st century business. In an age of corporate scandals, suspicious customers, and budgets with very little breathing room, there is simply... 

What is it that your customers value? Is it a live person answering their call? Being able to get information from your web site or in email? Find out why focusing on your customer’s preferences is the surest path to a thriving business.  Read More →

17 Terrific Tactics to Inspire Customer Love (and Get New Business) This content from: Duct Tape Marketing This post is a special Make a Referral Week guest post featuring education on the subject of referrals and word of mouth marketing and making 1000 referrals to 1000 small businesses – check it out at Make a Referral Week 2010 There are two fundamental approaches to generate more business…  Read More →

One year after profiling new business ventures started by the recently unemployed, we check to see where they are now  Read More →

I got the word this week: The Blue Ocean Cafe has  Read More →

Today  is the first day of the 2010 Make-A-Referral Week . Make a Referral Week is an entrepreneurial approach to stimulating the small business economy one referred business at a time. The goal for the week is to generate 1000 referred leads to 1000 deserving small businesses in an effort to highlight the impact of a simple action that could blossom into millions of dollars in new business.  One of the educational programs related to Make-A-Referral... 

Small business owners, who often borrow against homes and offices, are suffering from the vicious cycle that’s keeping credit tight and pushing real estate down  Read More →

I spend a lot of time in Twitter search. I do it for several purposes. One is for my client partners. For instance, if I’m thinking of ways to do things for MolsonCoors, I might start up searches on various beer brands to get some competitive analysis. I might start figuring out if there are location-specific tweets about Molson products. For instance, during the Vancouver Olympics, I might have found several people tweeting about their... 

Often misperceived as nothing more than hobbyists and part-timers, home-based business owners represent one of the most educated, successful and growing sectors of the small business economy. And home-based businesses are on the up!  Read More →

Do you want to open your own business without emptying your bank account? Read these 10 helpful tips on how aspiring business owners can “start smart.” …  Read More →

I just put up an offer on Third Tribe Marketing : ask me almost any business question and I’ll do my best to answer it in the next couple of days. It costs $47 to join Third Tribes. I charge approximately 466 times that for a day of my time. So, the way I look at it, if you join the Third Tribe , and ask me the question, I’ll save you plenty of loot. Also, when you’re done with that gimmick, you’ll  Read More →

Call it “the rule of three:” Refining business presentations to a few key messages will make audiences more likely to remember what you say  Read More →

For many new business owners, business incorporation may not be a four-letter word. Step back and ascertain whether incorporation is right for you — here are some points to consider.  Read More →

Having just looked at the sea of little red “down” arrows that is the  Read More →

As business owners, we place trust in our employees that they will represent the company well in all public interactions. But have you ever thought about what could happen when a customer overhears your employees talking to each other. Do you know what they are saying? Your customers do and they are listening.  Read More →