When running a small business you wear many hats. It can be a struggle to maintain and follow through on everything you need to do to grow your business. Here’s an infographic that provides you with some great information to increase your “business intelligence.” Boston University Online

There was a time when you started a business and the first thing you did after putting up the shingle was to start building brand awareness. The first order of the day was to find a location. If it was a business that met with consumers you chose a location that was convenient for them to visit you. If you had a services business you like chose a location that was prestigious and would immediately impress those who crossed your threshold. Next order of the day was to decorate. If your budget for decorating was several hundred or several thousand…

Over many years a business’s brand accumulates dreaded branding debt. The more branding debt accrued the bigger the challenge to come out from The Branding experts, Branding Debt under it’s weight and move your brand forward. The more branding debt you own the harder it is to differentiate yourself and grow your marketshare. If you haven’t figured it out yet, “Branding debt” is real and it’s damaging your company from the inside AND out. Branding debt is all the negative things that is dragging your company down. Branding debt can include but is not limited to:…

Running a small business has so many things to consider to be profitable. Keeping expenses down is just one of them. By using The Cloud rather than expensive hardware, you can save money by keeping your data in The Cloud which also allows you and your team to work together seamlessly on projects. These are just a couple things utilizing The Cloud can help you with, to learn more read How the Cloud is Reshaping Small Business Productivity.

Social networking has created helped level the playing the field for many small business owners. While Facebook and Twitter has always been the giants, the world of social networking is constantly evolvingÂ’ and smaller, somewhat newer networks such as Instagram has some great opportunities to offer. Photo Credit © Depositphotos.com/ gustavofrazao If you don’t know already, Instagram is a photo sharing app, with a social networking component. Since pictures are easy to take and have a low barrier of entry, they also make it a wonderful tool for promoting your brand without a ton of work.…

When companies of any size spend money they expect (or at least) hope to get a rerun on that investment. It’s not too much to ask. Of course the trick is to determine “what” will bring in the greatest return. You have to be honest with yourself and recognize that that return isn’t always about the money. We know the end game is money but the road to getting there – the motivator, is often times something entirely different. It’s usually some event that motivates brands to take a hard look at themselves and determine whether or not a brand…

Why is it when you sit down at your desk to do a few minutes of work and hours later it’s still not done? Is it overwhelm? Distraction? Could be. Another reason could be you’re operating outside of your productivity zone. Not many of us are conscious where our productivity zone lies. Even long after we have left the corporate world, we continue to wake up and go to work during the same times as we did before. Depending on your business, sure we do have to operate a certain number of hours within the socially accepted business hours. However,…

Today’s marketplace is a great place for brands and their advocates to exist. Traditionally, prior to the web, all a brand could do was to make their consumers “aware” of their brand was using advertising channels such as bill boards, transit, radio, TV and public relations. Once a consumer got wind of the brand that interested them, they would have to physically visit the bricks and mortar location for more information. Or they could look in their mail boxes for flyers, or their daily newspapers for inserts and printed ads etc. The entire buying cycle was initiated by the brand…

Apart from financial gain, the desire to have more time for themselves and/or family is among the top reasons many give for starting their own business. Yet, those of us who have ventured out know – family time is the first to get sacrificed. We want to fulfill a lifelong goal, but we don’t get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We want to make our family happy. Instead, they think our business is a poisonous fruit. Ironic isn’t it? Will you finally have time to live your life this year? The answer is (and should be) Yes! Like…

2015 is the year that you're going to do things a little differently. The time is right to step up your game. Without gazing at the past too much, recognize that that was how you used to conduct business. That's when all you're best strategies delivered on making your brand better, more memorable amidst your stakeholders. Give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.