How To: Launch a Conference
South by Southwest, TechCrunch Disrupt, TEDx—these conferences have grown from wonky industry events held in hotel expo halls to hip gatherings infiltrating the popular vernacular. Ever wonder how the organizers made it happen? It’s not just that great talks captured on YouTube mushroomed across the web. The Convention Industry Council reports that the meetings and conferences […]
How To: Survive a Lawsuit
Lawsuits are scary. According to Bolt Insurance Agency, which offers coverage to small businesses, legal woes cost small companies more than $35 billion per year in legal fees alone, not to mention the costs of business disruption, employee morale and entrepreneurs’ mental health. While many suits against entrepreneurs can never be foreseen, you can take steps […]
How To: Profit from Good Public Relations
“All press is good press,” goes the adage. Maybe. But not all press leads to sales. Just ask colleagues about their public relations efforts. Landing a solid media mention usually requires hiring an expensive professional agency, or investing considerable time and efforts in-house. And entrepreneurs are often surprised to find that there’s no direct correlation between media […]
How To: Grow Your Company from Within
Promote from within and boost profits. It seems like a simple equation, especially after a glance at examples such as Costco, which fills 98 percent of store manager positions from inside the organization and enjoys an industry-low turnover rate of below 6 percent after the first year. Mark Murphy, CEO of the human resources firm Leadership IQ and […]
How To: Branch Out to New Markets
When business plateaus or slides, the answer may not be to boost advertising or further incentivize your sales team. Instead, maybe it’s time to consider new opportunities. “To be relevant long-term, you have to grow and evolve,” says Janet Rives, president of In Plan Sight, a new-market-entry and product-development strategy firm based in Franklin, Tenn. […]
How To: Form an Advisory Board
You can do a lot of things by yourself, including start a business. But how far can you really go if you’re flying completely solo? “If you don’t grow, you die—and you need an advisory board to grow,” says Dan Weinfurter, the founder of two Inc. 500 companies and author of Second Stage Entrepreneurship: Ten […]
How To: Inspire Employees with Ambience
When it comes to creating a workplace environment, good design is more than a pretty space that impresses prospective clients. As the famed furniture designer Charles Eames once put it, “Eventually everything connects—people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.” At the office, an inspiring ambience translates into […]
How To: Publish a Book
Who hasn’t dreamed of seeing their name on a book jacket at the local Barnes & Noble? Signing cover pages for lines of adoring fans? Watching your very own title climb the New York Times best-seller list? As any recent author will tell you, the arduous process of writing a book hardly resembles this glamorous […]
How To: Brand Yourself
The idea of the personal brand in marketing is nothing new. Donald Trump. Orville Redenbacher. Oprah Winfrey. These are all names that immediately evoke a product, a sentiment, an experience. The strategy of applying one’s personal attributes to a business isn’t just for real estate, popcorn and media moguls. In fact, experts say every business […]
How To: Fire Someone
Parting ways with employees can be one of the worst parts of being the boss, but it usually cannot be avoided. The key is to do it with clarity, sympathy and documentation. “Communication should be very civil no matter the circumstances—even if you’re [furious] with the employee,” says Kathleen Brush, author of The Power of […]
How to Make a Business Partnership with a Spouse Work
When done well, a business partnership with your spouse can be great. Here’s how to draw the line between home and work—and keep a balance.
How To: Let Go
The entrepreneur builds a successful enterprise by overseeing everything with meticulous attention to detail. You’ve heard this story before. It’s her vision, hard work and special skills that make the business thrive. But revenue eventually plateaus. Consultants tell her that to reach the next level, she must focus on what she does best and hire […]