Since I began my time on this blog, I have (for the most part) always tried to take the optimistic view. And with good reason, as that's how I feel. You are going to succeed. It is not a matter of if, it is simply a matter of when. But I like my optimism with a healthy dose of pragmatism, and that's something we'll touch on a bit today. After...
This is going to be a touchy subject for some. I will do my absolute best to be as sensitive on this subject as possible, but I am not a perfect human being (none of us are), so I may inadvertently word something in a way that some might consider offensive. For this, I apologize. I assure you, it is not my intention. I would also like to add that...
I've spoken a lot about various personality traits over the course of my time writing this blog. It takes a certain kind of person to cast off the shackles of the 9-5 world and strike out on their own on the path to PIE. You need to be motivated. Confident. Professional. Intelligent. Creative. But one specific personality trait I haven't really touched on, and will today, is patience. And in...
I want to try a little experiment with you all. If you own a smartphone (and you should), pick it up, and go to your phone's application store (Blackberry App World, Google Play, Apple's App Store, etc). Now take a look at the most downloaded apps. More specifically, take a look at the prices. Notice anything? Apps generally fall into three categories. Free, which is, well, pretty obvious. Premium, which...
The title really says it all, doesn't it? There have been numerous studies done over the years that people are more likely to listen to someone who exudes an air of confidence. This is actually proven scientific fact. So it should be a bit of a no-brainer that this is something you should be doing at all times, to go along with your consummate professionalism, leadership skills, sense of timing, organizational...
When starting up a business and coming up with a plan of attack, there are numerous factors you have to take into account. Many of these have a dollar figure involved, such as operating costs, manufacturing, design, website upkeep, and so on and so forth. But there's one factor that I've noticed a lot of people don't take into account. For some, it's simply because it never really comes up....
For all I like to talk about social media and how it's a huge part of online marketing, there is some older technology out there that can also play a huge part in how you market your business. I speak of course of the good old fashioned email mailing list. I'm sure you're all familiar with them. You only really need to take a look at your email inbox, and...
I'm sure everyone reading this is familiar with the 19th century expression, "The customer is always right." I'm sure many of you have even used it at one point or another. The idea was actually fairly innovative for it's time. When Harry Gordon Selfridge or Marshall Field (depending on who you ask, history is not completely clear on this) first came up with the quote and its associated business practices (unconditional...
Ahh complacency, the easiest trap for any business to fall in to. Let's say your business is up and running, you have a dedicated client base, and you're experiencing steady, or increasing revenue. Sounds pretty great, doesn't it? It certainly looks like success. Everything's going smoothly, money is coming in, your PIE is growing at a fairly steady rate. Sounds like a job well done. The problem is, at hitting...
Whether you're buying a product, engaging someone's services, or simply browsing a website, the last thing you want is extra work getting between you and your objective. Maybe it's filling out a ton of paperwork, or answering too many questions, or getting repeated upsell attempts; no matter the nature of the obstacle, every additional step is going to add to your frustration. Now, flip that around and come at it...