"Success is not determined by your background or your cash on hand. Not many industries will be able to escape this fact in the near future."ġ8. "The entire business world is learning that transparency is really the way to do business. Smart marketing can give you the edge you need to succeed in any economy."ġ7. And during an economic downturn, marketing matters more than ever. "Whether your business is just starting out, or whether you're a seasoned veteran, marketing is a must. There is no room for dogs in a company that is bootstrapping."ġ6. "Each product and product line must stand on its own merit. It's not how great you start it's how great you end up."ġ5. There will be plenty of time for refinement later. "Don't wait to develop the perfect product or service. "Craft a strategy that compels customers and partners to voluntarily participate in your marketing, to create positive buzz about your products and services to friends, neighbors, and colleagues."ġ4. "Change the mode of your web site from a one-way sales message to a collaborative, living, breathing hub for your marketplace."ġ3. Take advantage of what you have so you can beat the competition with what they don't."ġ2. "You have to go where the other guys can't. "One of the most valuable exercises an entrepreneur can perform is to take a step back, not looking at what's popular, not consider what everybody is doing or what people are expected to do, and really ask what rules you need to set for your business, from a process standpoint and a cash flow standpoint, so that it can be successful."ġ1. Even if you just make one sales call a day, send out one helpful tweet a day, write one article to promote your expertise, or send one follow-up email a day."ġ0. "You must do something every day to tell the world you are open for business. "If you actually do own a business, keeping your business and personal purchases separate can be crucial for tax purposes."ĩ. And using the right words in the right persuasive way determines not only how well your site converts visitors into sales, but also how much traffic you get and how well you rank in search engines."Ĩ. "People want compelling content, so compelling content is your advertising. By doing so you will have the ability to obtain 10 to 100 times greater credit capacity."ħ. "Avoid putting your personal credit and personal assets at risk and start establishing business credit under your corporate entity. If you don't at least know the basics of SEO and social media, you'll have a harder time growing your website and your business."Ħ. "When competition is tough as it is today, you have to have more arrows in your quiver. "We sometimes get so wrapped up in our business that we risk losing our grip on the things that really matter: health, happiness and those who love us. While everybody should have planning to help run a business, not everybody needs to develop a complete formal business plan suitable for submitting to a potential investor, or bank, or venture contest."Ĥ. "Remember that your business plan should be only as big as what you need to run your business. I think that finding passionate people with applicable communities and audiences and then enabling their ability to profit from selling a product they support into their community is the gold standard of marketing on the web."ģ. "I continue to believe that affiliate marketing is the best possible method of extending your salesforce on the web. People want to talk and you gotta give 'em something to talk about."Ģ. "If you want people to talk about you, you got to listen to something nine-time Grammy-winner Bonnie Raitt told us way back in 1991. Top 25 Small Business Tips from Leading Industry Experts in the U.S.ġ. I'm sure you can, and what better way to help small business owners like you then to share some of my favorite tips from our country's top industry experts in their respective fields.īelow you will find a personal collection of some of my favorite golden nuggets from the country's brightest minds in the areas of startups, small business, corporate finance, internet marketing, social media marketing, blogging, working online, selling online, branding, and much more. Could you use a handful of helpful small business tips to grow your company?