Don’t get me wrong. The promise of social media automation is both alluring and useful.
Unless you have a dedicated social media team – a luxury few SMBs have – you have other tasks and responsibilities during your workday. As well, you might need the illusion of a 24/7 presence to address the different time zones and locations of your prospects, clients, and fans.
Scheduling posts is essential for most marketing teams, and we are not talking […]
Reflecting back over the last year, we’ve seen a number of local businesses close their doors and countless more struggle. It hasn’t been an easy year for us either.
Through tough times come some of the most valuable business lessons. The biggest one is to avoid facing tough times whenever you can. In my opinion, it is far better to be struggling with growth challenges.
Part of being in business for 17 years is making […]
Last month you had a healthy looking pipeline. So healthy you stopped actively prospecting and had to focus on meeting prospects, analyzing needs, and moving people through the funnel.
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Now you are working on three to five hot prospects that just won’t close.
They were super excited at first. Now your leads won’t return your calls and emails go unanswered. You’ve even tried contacting other people in the organization to figure […]
Your prospects naturally compare your business to what they perceive as your competition. If you want to get leads and acquire customers efficiently, you have to choose your market and ideal clients carefully.
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It turns out how we feel about our achievements is relative to how we measure ourselves. How we perform in the future, is impacted by how we relate to the results of the measurement.
If you graduate at the top […]
As you grow your business and hire a new salesperson, you are likely leaving money on the table. Are you making one or more of these mistakes and setting your team up for failure?
Over the last few weeks, I’ve met several people who were hired to work […]
Arsheen Dhalla has been busy doing remarkable work in Zanzibar through the Daraja Foundation. Daraja means bridge in Swahili. During one of her infrequent visits to Calgary, I had the pleasure to sit down with her and listen to her story. There are many stories to tell. For the third video in the series, we decided to focus on business skills and the bicycle empowerment center.
The first time Arsheen traveled to Zanzibar in this volunteer capacity, her work primarily focused on an orphanage and a local […]
Are you holding both the business and your marketing team accountable for marketing results? Wise business leaders understand that effective marketing amplifies the message the company is already putting out – the two must be in sync.
Three things that you control determine your perceived position in the market include your
Most small businesses start with someone who has an innovative idea, or at least the desire to build a business around what they do. In most cases, these entrepreneurs fall into sales out of necessity. You either figure out how to get more clients, or you fail.
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Our story started this way. Early successes led us to underestimate the power of mastering marketing and sales, both the skills and the […]
Most businesses seem to hit trade shows as if they are a necessary evil for lead generation. They do what is needed, but don’t try to stand out. At a time when budgets are tight and trade show attendance is dropping, is this approach wise?
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As I was walking through the Global Petroleum Show here in Calgary on Tuesday, I was struck by a few insights.
The […]
The key to being the ultimate survivor in business in an extremely competitive landscape is to have a strategic plan. These five components will help you thrive.
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Before I stopped watching television, I used to watch Survivor. One of my favourite scenes was an episode where Rupert stole shoes and other items from the other tribe, and then they used the pirated loot to trade for more useful – and untraceable – […]