This Week in Small Business: Go to War with General McChrystal, Attend the Sage Summit via Video and Get Four Free Marketing Tools
Here’s a concisely curated collection of great small business information that was published throughout the last week.
Leadership, management and productivity
We use the language of war in business – rally the troops, battle for sales, win the contract – but when retired general Stanley McChrystal uses that language, he’s not speaking figuratively. In this podcast he talks about trusting your team.
Hiring for emotional intelligence is just – if not more – important than hiring for skills. These seven interview questions will help you recruit the best people for your team.
Joe Calloway comes away with three important lessons after he spends a couple of days with the Starbucks leadership team.
Sasha VanHoven decodes the way people communicate via email like linguists decoded the Rosetta Stone. Make sure you really understand what people are saying so you won’t miscommunicate.
It’s official – the 9-5 job is dead. Actually, it has been dead for quite some time. Your mission now – should you decide to accept it – is to manage talent in a flexible workplace.
With about half of 2015 behind us, it’s incumbent on small business owners to find which of the current trends need to be capitalized on to boost growth and profitability.
If you’re a company trying to secure your data, where do you begin? What should you think about? This Harvard Business Review article is a good starting point.
When Ron Karr’s daughter smiled and said to him, “I can’t get you out of my mind. Help me!” he knew he was making a difference in her life. In this article he reflects how leaders and sales professionals can make lasting impacts on people.
Marketing and sales
Successful brands are likeable brands. Check yourself against this list of three habits of exceptionally likeable brands and entrepreneurs.
Managing day-to-day operations, talking to customers, growing your small business through digital marketing keeps you super busy. These four necessary – and free – marketing tools will help.
Remember how in elementary school science you learned about the physical laws that ordered the universe? Well, in that same spirit, here are nine laws of social media marketing for your small business.
You’ve created an account for your company on every social media platform you can think of, but you still want more exposure and better results. Should you pay for social media? Here are an article and infographic that explore the question.
Direct mail. Postcards are particularly popular with small businesses due to their affordability and impact, although sometimes a brochure-mailer can also be appropriate. Check out this direct-mail checklist.
A key to growing your audience: Partner with subject matter experts. Discover where journalism and digital marketing overlap.
Entrepreneurship, startups and innovation
Getting ready to start your own business? Be ready for the hidden costs.
Small business loan approval rates are at their highest level since 2008. However, equity financing can still be the best option for many startups. Here are the basics.
Miss the Sage Summit? Enjoy a taste via video replay: Discover three women who, through business, reinvented their lives leveraging education, technology, and most important, perseverance: Jane Seymour, award-winning actress, artist, author, designer and humanitarian; Brandi Temple, founder and CEO, Lolly Wolly Doodle; and Karren Brady, Government small business ambassador, CEO, Business Woman of the Year.
Want to quit your job and start your own small business? Make sure you manage your exit properly.
Politics, government and the economy
The SBA put the brakes on its small business loan program. The federal program reached its funding cap, yet there were two months left in the fiscal year. Fortunately, the Senate and House acted in a somewhat timely manner and passed legislation to increase the cap and get the loans flowing again.