3 Steps to Successful Competitive Market Research
As the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. When you’re a business owner, it’s critically important for you to be aware of what your competition is doing. Of course, this is important when you’re in the startup phase, but even once you’ve been established in business for years it’s still a…
Read MoreThe Customer Experience: What Good Customer Service Really Looks Like
What does Customer Service really mean? From a very young age I’ve had the privilege of learning about good customer service from the master of them all: my mentor, my dad. As a manager at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor, and then at Newport Bay restaurants in the Portland area, dad learned from Bob Farrell, author…
Read More5 Keys to Actually Making a Difference with Your Customer Service
We’ve likely all experienced good customer service and bad customer service. Chances are, they both stick out in your head for different reasons. And while our individual experiences differ, the statistics don’t lie: According to Retently, 82% of consumers are likely to leave your brand because of the service they get, not your pricing or…
Read MoreThe Impact of Branding (it’s not just about a logo)
What impact does branding have? Let’s start here: When you hear the word ‘brand’ what do you think of? It may be a company like Nike, or Apple, or Target. You might picture a particular product that a company has advertised or that you’ve come across that impacted or spoke to you. You may recall…
Read MoreEstablishing A Brand Voice
“This widdle piddy went to market…” Tweety bird says as he pulls off one of Catstello’s toes from the wire he’s hanging onto in ‘A Tale of Two Kitties’. (1942) But how does a business create a unique voice? Let’s review a few key components… #1. What is your mission? Without a Mission Statement, a business can get trapped…
Read MoreMovement: The Ultimate Form of Self-Care
The fact that movement is extremely vital to our physical and mental health isn’t exactly groundbreaking news. These days, there’s articles aplenty outlining scientific-based evidence that demonstrates exercise is a positive influence on our overall wellbeing and longevity. I’ve been involved in sports since the tender age of 4, so I’m well-accustomed to the benefits…
Read More40 Self-Care Ideas To Keep You Balanced
Self-Care Keeps You Balanced I’ve had to learn this one the hard way. Multiple times. Since I hope I’m done learning it, I hope you’ll learn from my mistakes and prioritize your own self-care. As entrepreneurs, hopefully we feel we are made to do what we do. Even knowing you must wear all the hats…
Read MoreDisabled By Instagram: When Social Platforms Shut You Down For No Reason
UPDATE 6/26/19: After going through every route available, pleading with Instagram to return my account to me, or send me a full download of ALL of my captions and photos, I received an email on Wednesday, June 26th. Instagram informed me that my account had been reactivated and they apologized for the inconvenience. Before I…
Read MoreBlogging: Make Search Engines Love You!
Create SEO friendly content and hone in on your keywords “What SEO keywords should I use?” has become a cubical question to ask in business blogging. We can no longer install a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plugin and add an exhaustive list of words to every page of our blog. With each of Google’s releases…
Read MoreThe Greatest Showman: Going 7 Levels Deep with P.T. Barnum’s ‘Why’
Editor’s note: This blog category, Business Lessons We Learn From Movies, is one of my favorites, and the movie I’m reviewing today, is one of my new favorites, too! As a movie buff it’s not difficult for me to find beauty, inspiration, emotion, ideas, or even motivation watching a great flick. I might be behind…
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