Most successful entrepreneurs and small business owners are skilled at persuasion and negotiation. Those skills are critical when hiring employees, negotiating with co-founders, investors and vendors, acquiring customers, and in many other situations. Related posts: Start-Up Tip: Leadership Is Not Management. MORE >>

A few simple tips to help your presentations stand out amongst even your biggest competitors. The first step in landing a big deal with a new client or customer is getting them interested in what you have to offer. That usually entails an initial presentation that will whet their appetite for more information. What do you do?" works much better. MORE >>

Which program is right for your startup? The answer to that question depends on a number of factors, including you, your idea and your team. recently gave a talk at the Northwest Entrepreneur Network University (NWENU) about Accelerators, Incubators and the Startup Ecosystem, specific to Seattle, but the general rules apply as well. Here MORE >>

If you're not yet tracking your performance on Pinterest, you should. These useful tools can help. Want to get more out of Pinterest? Start analyzing your success: Find out who is clicking and repinning your images and track the results. Check out these four new tools designed to do exactly that: 1. Pinfluencer This analytics tool is indispensible. MORE >>

In 2011 the publisher of one of my books, Enchantment, could not fill an order for 500 ebook copies. Because of this experience, I self-published my next book, What the Plus!, and learned first-hand that self-publishing is a complex, confusing, and idiosyncratic process. As Steve Jobs said, “There must be a better way.” Cool stuff MORE >>