Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Most small businesses have now forgotten the recent pandemic, and are back to “business as usual.” They don’t realize that business as usual is gone forever. With social media and smart phone apps, real product information spreads at astounding speeds.

Agile 379

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 379

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

Marketing ,” which provides some pragmatic marketing tips for small businesses as follows: Don’t tell customers how great you are. Don’t dumb it down for social media. Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit.

Marketing 353

Marketing Technical Review Social Media Technology 353

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2019

An all-too-common question I get from startups and small businesses is “Which is the right social media platform for my business?” The “Tyranny of the OR” is a concept from the classic business best-seller “ Built to Last ,” by James C. United Airlines spend a long time recovering from that debacle.

Social Media 246

Social Media Media Reputation Viral 246

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

Image via Pixabay After a frustrating meeting with a small business client recently who didn’t “have time” for social media, I was surprised to find evidence on the Internet that up to one quarter of small business owners are still hesitant to invest time, money, and effort into a social media strategy.

Social Media 247

Social Media Media Reputation Viral 247

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

The most cost-effective marketing approaches have changed; from catalogs to web sites, and from television commercials to social media. But I often see premiums being paid for social media monitoring, standard accounting, and facilities mgmt. Ineffective and expensive marketing campaigns. Excessive support and return activities.

Technical Review 306

Technical Review Metrics Social Media Channel 306

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2023

With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people. Yet nearly half of all small businesses still lack any website, much less a mobile-friendly one. Reach your target audience intimately through interaction.

Global 267

Global Marketing Technical Review Mobile 267

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Most small businesses have now forgotten the last recession, and are back to “business as usual.” They don’t realize that business as usual is gone forever. With social media and smart phone apps, real product information spreads at astounding speeds.

Agile 315

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 315

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2014

Sponsored by VISA Business With all the new technology available today for video conferencing, interactive social media, and webinars, you may think that travel is no longer a requirement for starting a small business. Small businesses today may be highly specialized, but not highly localized.

Small Business 251

Small Business Advisory Board Silicon Valley Boston 251

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2020

With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people. Yet nearly half of all small businesses still lack any website, much less a mobile-friendly one. Reach your target audience intimately through interaction.

Mobile 434

Mobile Marketing Technical Review Differentiation 434

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2013

An all-too-common question I get from startups and small businesses is “Which is the right social media platform for my business?” The “Tyranny of the OR” is a concept from the business best-seller “ Built to Last ,” by James C. United Airlines is still recovering from that debacle. You need to be there.

Social Media 271

Social Media Media Startup Reputation 271

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2013

When my friend’s small business was struggling a while back, I suggested he add some social media marketing initiatives, and his answer was that he was “too busy.” His business has since closed, but his mindset is still out there. Currently, social media is the least used of all customer interaction methods.

Social Media 267

Social Media Media Social Network Viral 267

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2019

With the advent of instant communication and social media, customer service starts at the first hint of interest by you, and never ends for repeat customers. One bad customer experience will kill not only one customer, but many future ones, who hear the message via social media and friends. The world has changed.

Customer 211

Customer Social Media Metrics Technical Review 211

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

Marketing ,” which provides some pragmatic marketing tips for small businesses as follows: Don’t tell customers how great you are. Don’t dumb it down for social media. Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit.

Marketing 244

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Social Media 244

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2013

As I visit the websites of many startups, as well as more mature businesses, I still too often see a “contact” page offering nothing but a sterile form for customers to submit, never to be heard from again. Social media connections, if they exist, are buried elsewhere or reserved for monitoring purposes only.

Social Media 249

Social Media Media Customer Viral 249

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

Unfortunately, even today, building a good product doesn’t guarantee you a business. Most entrepreneurs realize and budget for the additional costs of incorporating a business, marketing, equipment costs, and manufacturing. Then there is the need for more substantial business accounting, database, and social media monitoring.

Cost 264

Cost Founder Software Review Startup 264

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Being a consultant is a role that works with big companies, but I have found that it doesn’t get much traction in small businesses and startups. Over the years since, I have honed my own list of rules for those of you who wish to migrate from big business to this new world: Re-focus your efforts from consulting to freelance.

Silicon Valley 140

Silicon Valley Social Media Software Review Leadership 140

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2017

An all-too-common question I get from startups and small businesses is “Which is the right social media platform for my business?” The “Tyranny of the OR” is a concept from the classic business best-seller “ Built to Last ,” by James C. United Airlines spend a long time recovering from that debacle.

Social Media 120

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Reputation 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

Marketing ,” which provides some pragmatic marketing tips for small businesses as follows: Don’t tell customers how great you are. Don’t dumb it down for social media. Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit.

Marketing 188

Marketing Technical Review Social Media Technology 188

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2017

If you are an entrepreneur today, and not using social media to promote your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. Most social media outlets don’t require a subscription charge, but they certainly require an investment to be hard hitting – in people, in technology, your reputation, and your time.

Social Media 147

Social Media Media B2B Analytics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2012

As I visit the websites of many startups, as well as more mature businesses, I still too often see a “contact” page offering nothing but a sterile form for customers to submit, never to be heard from again. Social media connections, if they exist, are buried elsewhere or reserved for monitoring purposes only.

Social Media 228

Social Media Media Customer Viral 228

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2012

An all-too-common question I get from startups and small businesses is “Which is the right social media platform for my business?” The “Tyranny of the OR” is a concept from the business best-seller “ Built to Last ,” by James C. United Airlines is still recovering from that debacle. You need to be there.

Social Media 198

Social Media Media Marketing Reputation 198

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2011

He is not alone, according to a recent study , which concludes that only 47% of companies use social media today for marketing, despite the fact that 78% of executives polled feel it’s critical for success. I suspect that a good part of the problem is that startup and small business owners still don’t know where or how to start.

Social Media 261

Social Media Media Marketing Social Network 261

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2019

While the author’s focus is slanted toward enterprises, I believe I have seen and can characterize comparable steps for small businesses and entrepreneurs: Aspire: Set strategic objectives and business health goals. Create a compelling long-term change vision with milestones and deliverables.

Technical Review 226

Technical Review Leadership Portfolio Matching 226

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business. In my view, Bill failed on an earlier project, despite being a technical visionary, before he teamed with Steve Ballmer, who was trained at Procter and Gamble on business and marketing.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2018

Most small businesses have now forgotten the last recession, and are back to “business as usual.” They don’t realize that business as usual is gone forever. With social media and smart phone apps, real product information spreads at astounding speeds.

Agile 172

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 172

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2010

According to this study from last year, over 65% of existing small businesses still ignore social media for marketing, so he is still the rule rather than the exception. I suspect that a good part of the problem is that startup and small business owners still don’t know where or how to start. Or are you too busy?

Social Media 222

Social Media Media Marketing Social Network 222

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

Marketing ,” which provides some pragmatic marketing tips for small businesses as follows: Don’t tell customers how great you are. Don’t dumb it down for social media. Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit.

Technical Review 259

Technical Review Technology Marketing Entrepreneur 259

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2021

As a business consultant, I often have to remind small business owners that their marketing needs to be more interactive, versus the traditional “ push ” model, where you broadcast your message to as many people as possible. Everybody wins, and it spread quickly on social media.

Customer 420

Customer Marketing Social Media Campaign 420

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

The local Small Business Association (SBA) offices, or their equivalent in other countries, can often provide market statistics on key market domains in your area. New business development specialists there can also provide good additional sources for the specific information you may need.

SBA 300

SBA Venture Capital Business Plan Social Media 300

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2017

A classic article in the Harvard Business Review “ The Truth About Customer Experience ” defines it as your customer’s end-to-end journey with you, not just the key touchpoints or critical moments when customers interact with your organization. Yet we are all still learning what that means, in terms of hard business practices.

Customer 213

Customer Product Technical Review Marketing 213

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Yet, according to statistics from the Small Business Association (SBA), over half of new businesses offer something else - personal professional services, including consulting, business coaching, and advisory services. Use visibility and social media to pull clients in.

Differentiation 141

Differentiation SBA Social Media Dividend 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2014

Most small businesses are trying to forget the recent recession, and get back to “business as usual.” They don’t realize that business as usual is gone forever. With social media and smart phone conversations, real product information spreads at astounding speeds.

Agile 250

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 250

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2015

This may work for big companies who have specialized staffs, but it doesn’t work for startups and small businesses who are already understaffed and overloaded. That’s called leading by example, and it is actually appreciated by businesses of every size. Adapt a style to meet the new business work models.

Startup 120

Startup Software Review Social Media Curation 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2022

Here is an outline of some key force multipliers that I have seen used effectively in the ongoing battle for business survival and success: Establish a presence on multiple social media channels. Amazingly, I still find that many small businesses still don’t use any social media, much less appear on a range of platforms.

Marketing 299

Marketing Social Media Merger Acquisition 299

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

Marketing ,” which provides some pragmatic marketing advice for all small businesses as follows: Don’t tell customers how great you are. Don’t dumb it down for social media. Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit.

Marketing 258

Marketing Startup Technical Review Social Media 258

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2023

Here are some key drivers that will likely lead you to a fundable idea: A business crisis. The impact of the current pandemic on small businesses and staffing is causing us all pain, and forcing new ways of thinking. I hear this term every day, wrongly applied to new social media site, or a new productivity tool.

China 295

China California Government Global 295

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Since I’m a fan of real-world feedback, I was intrigued by the insights on differentiation in the classic book, “ Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives, and Small Business Owners ,” by Michael Mazzeo, Paul Oyer, and Scott Schaefer.

Differentiation 308

Differentiation Social Media Reputation Cost 308