If you’re not careful you can get scammed on Craigslist – but I bet I don’t have to tell you that. One common scam deals with buying used cars from a private seller. A buyer will find a car on Craigslist, go out to see the car and when they look closer find that there’s […]
Read More »It seems counter-intuitive: you give a potential customer a free sample in order to get them to spend money. Why would you want to spend time on a free offering when you could be working on business for paying clients? Yet the notion of giving a “freebie” is actually a powerful sales tool, regardless of […]
Read More »On the second page of Google. I love that joke. It’s funny because there’s some truth behind it – 75% of people will never scroll past the first page on a Google Maps search. This means that it’s much less likely somebody will find your site if it isn’t listed on the first page. You […]
Read More »In the 1930’s, back when gas stations still had attendants, Texaco experimented with different methods to increase their oil sales to car owners. Attendants were instructed to ask the following sales question to each customer: “Did you check your oil today?” Using this sales line, Texaco was able to sell some oil, but most people […]
Read More »George Clooney is one of the most well-known and successful actors on the planet. But he didn’t start out that way. His first years in Hollywood were brutal, he got rejected over and over at every audition he went to. Each audition he’d go into he’d nervously think to himself: “God, I hope these guys […]
Read More »At some point you’re going to wonder when it’s time to redesign your website. No matter how much maintenance you put into your site, eventually it’s going to be an antique from the past. Ah, the joys of website ownership – a website is just like owning a house, the “work” is never done. But how […]
Read More »As humans, we love to boast about our intelligent, super-evolved brains. It doesn’t feel like we’re primal animals anymore. Even after millions of years of evolution, we humans still rely heavily on urges, impulses and emotions when making decisions. That’s right, all of that smart research and planning you did before you bought your last […]
Read More »I think can predict the future I’m going to pull out my crystal ball and make a prediction. The next time you visit a restaurant’s website, you’re going to be looking for one of three things… It’s going to be some combination of: 1 – Location 2 – Menu 3 – Hours That’s my prediction, […]
Read More »List reader Brian had a thought in response to Wednesday’s letter about failure in business (shared with permission): “A very popular keyword in startup culture is ‘fail fast’. It can be applied in almost all situations and it works at any business level, high or low.” “Failing fast” is something that I try to incorporate […]
Read More »As I was driving from my parents’ house over the weekend, I went by a house with a handmade sign in the yard that said: “Topsoil for sale” Makes sense, the homeowners dug up the ground for some project, they don’t need the dirt, so they’re selling it. It reminded me of a business concept […]
Read More »Every networking event I’ve ever been to feels the same – a room full of people looking to sell themselves. The worst type of person at a networking event is the person that introduces themselves and then immediately goes right into their sales pitch… “Hi I’m John, I’m a web designer. I’m great at making […]
Read More »A list member wrote to me with a question: “Sometimes with my business I see the list of “to dos” and it can seem overwhelming (especially when you’re an entrepreneur and you’re wearing many hats). Instead of looking at that list and saying “tomorrow I will get to it,” can you give tips on how […]
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