I got a LinkedIn invitation the other day from a woman I had never met. I usually accept such requests, and follow with a short note asking what prompted the invitation and how I may be of service. In this case, she responded with instructions on how to like her business (an automobile related business, Read more...

The Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel. Apple's bitten-into Apple. TD Bank's Green Chair (for my Canadian friends). These are three different kinds of icons that these big businesses use in their brands. Let's examine how they're using them and what makes them so powerful - and see how we can apply those principles to small business Read more...

Recall a time when you felt knee-deep (or neck-deep) in problems you weren't sure how you'd solve? How did you decide which problem you'd tackle first? Prioritizing time and energy is a daily challenge even for experienced consultants. Try one of these ideas for prioritizing the next time you're knee- or neck-deep in problems and have to Read more...

You’re probably quite familiar with two pieces of your branding strategy: visuals and words. When you hear, “Branding”, your mind likely goes straight to the way things look and what you say or write about your company. There’s a third piece of a branding strategy that small businesses almost never talk about… and it’s the Read more...

As consultants and business owners, we get paid to solve problems. If you're successful, it's easy to get so busy working with clients and running your consulting business and solving problems that you forget to stop to take a look at all the positive things that help to make your business a success.  Your consulting Read more...

“I want what I want, and I want it NOW!” That sounds like a little kid having a tantrum, right? It wasn’t.  That was me 27, at the time, on a gray, blustery day in the new city where we were moving. My husband...who’d just accepted a great new job we didn't expect just then, but which Read more...

You’ve built your Facebook page. You’ve posted some content… Now, how many people are actually seeing your messages? What can you do to increase your chances of reaching more people and building your community? Last year, a comScore study found that on average, only 16% of a Facebook page's fans are reached by branded content Read more...

As a Consultant, it’s always good to understand trends in technology to get a better understanding of what startup companies are receiving funding.  So, if you are interested in new startups and ventures, you will find this blog post quite interesting. I recently participated for the third year as a mentor in the Annual UC Read more...

When you don’t know the content - Draw them out – they’ll tell you In my training company I select from over 40 instructors to place the right person with the right content to satisfy my clients’ requests.  Between even just the half a dozen instructors I use most often, they probably could teach several Read more...

With one third of 2012 now complete, it’s a great time to do a business performance review.When you pause regularly - even briefly - to compare performance to plans and goals, you’re more likely to end the year having met what you set out to do...or even better than that. Set the stage First, set aside Read more...