Is It OK To Be Facebook Friends With Your Boss? 5 Steps That Lead You To a Yes

As Michael Scott   from the popular T.V. show “The Office” would say – bosses are getting cooler and cooler. As the connecting, following, and friending age gets going, bosses and their employees are finding more ways to interact. The difference, however, between interacting face to face and interacting through social mediums is the idea that the social networking accounts come home with you, while the office is left behind at 5:00.

As someone who grew up with social media, I know that no matter how private you may set your accounts or how much you may manage those accounts, the unexpected always seems to find its way onto your page.…

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Keeping Your Customers Coming Back For More

Attracting customers is relatively easy, you just need to have a very convincing marketing strategy. The hard part is getting them to come back. If you are running a website (as most of us are), the challenge is to get a steady, if not increasing, number to visit your site everyday.

keeping customers coming back

It is not as easy as it seems, mostly because some people think that there’s no compelling reason to visit your site again. When you check your site statistics, you have a fairly good idea of what attracts your customers but what if you stray a bit from that? Does it mean that you won’t get enough attention?…

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Running A Business Is A Popularity Contest

Have you ever joined a pageant? If not, have you ever watched one? I’m sure you have. Apart from a contestant’s beauty and brains, people look for personality. A kind of joie de vivre which would entice the audience to vote for them and the judges to like them.

running a business is a popularity contest

Running a small business is a lot like joining a pageant, it is first and foremost a popularity contest if you will. The more people know about you, like what you do and what you offer, the higher likelihood that they would actually do business with you. That’s one of the reasons why social media is a great place to market your brand.…

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Take Your Banker Out to Lunch

Starting a small business means having as many allies as possible and few allies are as important to new business owners as the banker.

build a relationship with your banker

It always pays to be on the good side of the person who has a say over whether or not your emerging business will be extended the loan it needs to get through the initial stages. Well as you might already know, it’s important to be on the good side to anybody that influences your business in any type of way.

Here’s a tip: Take your banker out to lunch and build a relationship with them.

For years, entrepreneurs and company associates have taken clients to lunch as a way to either establish a potential relationship or strengthen a rapport that had already existed.…

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Antisocial Media: The Opposite of Social Media

Engaging with the media in an interactive manner is no longer a “nice to have” – it is a necessity.   But, how much is enough and what are the true consequences of doing “just enough?”   And, what if “just enough” isn’t? More often than not, “just enough” is anti-social, if not anti-business.

antisocial media

Here’s an example of “just enough” thinking:

Client: “Yes, we are even more active on Twitter and LinkedIn. We even post a blog now and again.   We are with the program and making great progress. Let’s move on to talk about upcoming press releases.”

It was another one of THOSE meetings.  …

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