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Grow Your Sales Without Selling

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Do you hate selling but are looking for ways to grow sales? Keep reading. Not every business owner is a natural born sales person. For some people, selling is only marginally more enjoyable than a root canal. I believe that selling is a skill that can be learned. For the most part though, the people that need to learn it prefer not to do so. They find excuses to do something other than selling. So how can you grow your business without selling? At first glance this seems to defy common sense. … [Read more...]

Building Out A Distribution Network

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Direct sales can be expensive, time-consuming and risky. What are the alternative options? Direct sales are an expensive, time-consuming and risky way to introduce new products or services to the marketplace. Yet companies seldom consider alternative strategies, like working with a distribution network, to handling their own direct sales. This mistake, however, is understandable. After all, how could anyone other than you actually sell your product? In reality, there are many, many … [Read more...]

Federal Reserve’s latest move

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Mike Periu explains the Federal Reserve's latest move. Operation Twist Leaves Economy In Knots One of my favorite shows on television is Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs which airs on the Discovery Channel. Mike travels the country putting himself in the shoes of people that perform dirty but necessary jobs—I’ve seen everything from dead crustacean removal to hog rustling. Given the way things are going with the economy lately, I would like to propose they cover the following dirty job: Chairman of the … [Read more...]

Fight Back When Your Profits are Under Attack

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As the economy continues its precarious path forward, consumers and business customers maintain a price-conscious attitude.  Many large companies have made the decision to use price reductions, sales and rebates to increase (or maintain) unit sales.  This tends to cause a great deal of grief to small business owners who are forced to decide how to respond.    In most cases, it would be a mistake to go head to head on pricing with larger competitors with seemingly unlimited financial … [Read more...]

Capture Someone’s Attention In 10 Seconds

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Networking with bigwigs is never easy. Refocus your strategy to get results at your next conference. How To Capture Someone's Attention In 10 Seconds Meeting the right people at a conference isn’t easy. Anyone that has tried to connect with a potential sales prospect or strategic partner can relate. It's infinitely more challenging if the person of interest is speaking at the conference. As soon as she utters her last word, a mob of attendees rushes the speaker, waving business cards and vying … [Read more...]

The Debt Crisis No One Is Talking About

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There's one more debt crisis we should be paying attention to but aren't: China. If I mention the phrase “debt crisis” most people will assume I’m talking about the U.S. federal budget deficit or the situation in the Eurozone. As if we didn’t have enough crises on our radars, there is one more that business owners need to monitor. This additional debt crisis could have a material impact on our profitability as it affects the largest supplier of goods for resale to the U.S.: China. There is a … [Read more...]

Solyndra Turns Promising Technology Into Political Scandal

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The promise of green energy has been a key driver of economic policy for several years. Solyndra Turns Promising Technology Into Political Scandal The promise of green energy has been a key driver of economic policy for the past several years. Energy generated from renewable sources emitting limited pollution would spur the creation of millions of jobs. That was the vision. The reality has been quite different. Green jobs have failed to materialize despite significant financial and … [Read more...]

The Most Business-Friendly States In The Country

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Relocating your business is a headache no matter where you're going. Here are the most business-friendly states in the country. Relocating your business—whether across town or across the country—is a grueling, complicated and expensive process. I’ve gone through this several times, relocating from D.C. to Buenos Aires to New York and to New Jersey, with more waiting around the corner. There are a number of steps you can take to be as productive as possible during a relocation process. But those … [Read more...]

A Revolution In Mobile Payments Is Underway””Are You Ready?

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User-friendly, cost effective mobile payment technology is about to enter the market. How can you prepare? I vividly remember a conversation I had about 15 years ago with a technology guru and electrical engineer. We were discussing—actually he was talking and I was listening—the future of mobile technology. He spoke of the future mobile phone as a platform that would allow consumers to accomplish multiple tasks from making calls to sending information, to even using it as a personal barcode … [Read more...]

What Is Driving Your Growth Strategy?

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Not all growth is created equal--the ideal type is accelerated, high-margin, manageable growth. How can you achieve this? What Is Driving Your Growth Strategy? When it comes to growing your business, remember that not all growth is created equal—some types of growth are far superior. The ideal type is accelerated, high-margin, manageable growth. But for many companies, the type of growth they experience only has one or two of these three characteristics: Accelerated, high-margin but … [Read more...]