Member Since 2015
Blue Corona
Washington D.C. Metro Area
As President and CEO, Ben is responsible for Blue Corona’s vision, strategy, culture, and leadership team. Ben leads from the trenches. Working alongside and in support of the team, Ben has transformed Blue Corona from a bootstrapped startup into a seven-time Inc. 5000 company with 75+ employees, industry-leading reviews—from clients and employees, and 11 consecutive years of top and bottom-line growth. Ben is an action-oriented, dynamic, and passionate leader and team builder. From Blue Corona’s inception, Ben defined a set of core values and made it his mission to surround himself with other passionate, growth-seeking people who share the same mindset and values and with whom he enjoyed being around. Today, all of the hiring at Blue Corona is conducted with this same philosophy and values in mind, resulting in cohesive, high-performing teams, all working together toward the goal of becoming a world-class company. Over time, Blue Corona’s culture and values have become defining factors in the ongoing success of the company. Ben is a subject matter expert and top-rated conference and workshop speaker. Ben has a BS in Communications and Marketing from Ohio University. Ben lives in Rockville, Maryland with his wife of 15 years, Becky, and son Jack (age 11), and daughter Kelly (age 8).
A toxic workplace can lead to lower-quality work, a decrease in productivity, and employee dissatisfaction—all of which may lead to staff turnover. When you’re a leader, it’s important to address the signs of a toxic workplace as soon as you notice them in order to avoid cultivating a negative company culture.
When you're a solopreneur, it can be difficult to find time to both run your business and market it on social media. However, if you want word to spread and your customer base to grow, building a presence on social media is a key way to achieve that goal.
When an entrepreneur brings on a business advisor, they often do so with the intention of gaining sound insight and advice—finding that “second opinion” that can help steer their business in the right direction. But, many times, an advisor turns into something more: a true mentor who can offer guidance, support, motivation and understanding when times get tough, as well as the advice needed to help get you back on your feet.
A company's mission serves as the foundation for everything it does. While the specific goals of the business may change over time, your original mission, vision and values should remain intact until you and your team consciously decide to change them.
As employees climb the corporate ladder, some may feel their natural next step is a managerial position. However, managerial roles aren't suited for everyone.
Marketing is both an art and a science. It requires acute attention to detail, in-depth analysis, an understanding of mass psychology and a level of creative thinking that not many people possess.
Helping employees understand and acclimate to your company’s culture is a critical part of any new hire onboarding process. But when it comes to onboarding new managers, there are additional considerations to keep in mind.
One of the best ways to attract customers to a business is by offering discounts. Whether your business is brand new or a multimillion-dollar company that's been in the game for over a decade, this tried-and-true tactic will always increase traffic. However, small businesses often can't afford to offer deep discounts on their products or services in the hopes of attracting new customers — They need to be strategic and creative in offering other incentives instead.
Even when candidates for a role have all the knowledge and experience necessary to excel in a position, they may not end up being the best fit for the job. For this reason, many employers choose to put new hires on a trial period before they decide whether or not to keep them on full time.
Every business that's been created was built by the entrepreneur taking some sort of risk. Some risks are obvious, such as taking out a large loan from a family member. Others are more subtle and harder to recognize as they're happening.
One of the biggest challenges for new entrepreneurs across the board is learning how to manage their finances. This is especially true of cash flow management. If you're not used to handling a business budget or invoicing, it's easy to lose track of how much money is coming in versus going out of the business.
When you first started your business, you may have found a few trustworthy team members to back you up. As the business is growing, you may be noticing your original startup team isn't aligning with your overall vision or perhaps you've simply "outgrown" the need for the roles you hired them to do. This misalignment can ultimately lead to stagnation within all facets of your company as well as an unhappy workforce.
At one point or another, most professionals face a crossroads in their career. Whether they simply want to change jobs, pursue a different career path or still don't know what their true calling in life is, there are a lot of questions a person can ask themselves before choosing a direction.
As a leader with a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, you'll likely experience many moments that cause you anxiety or fear. Whether you're battling imposter syndrome or simply taking on too much work, it's easy to feel like you're just treading water.
Business leaders have a lot of responsibilities to juggle, which often lead to non-stop workdays and sleepless nights. The overwork culture naturally drives entrepreneurs to burn out, whether in the short or long term.
Devastating occurrences sometimes happen in business without a lot of forewarning. Entrepreneurs can leverage insurance to protect themselves from things such as fire or theft, but there are other less obvious disasters that are more difficult to prepare for.
There may come a time for certain employees when they notice that their skills or interests are better suited to another part of the company and they ask to switch to a different department to better serve their goals. When this happens, managers may not know how to react as the request may come out of the blue or it could be taken as a slight on their current department.
Marketing is a crucial element of any successful business, and even small business startups will need to begin building their marketing department as soon as possible. However, some marketing roles are more critical to your business’s success than others. To help you determine which role you need to hire for first, 13 experts from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) answer the following question:
As an entrepreneur, it’s important to create and implement a branding strategy for your business. This will help you better connect with your customers and share your company’s story/personality with your target audience.
As a manager, you likely have a long list of responsibilities and many demands on your time. This may leave you with little time for unplanned meetings or additional questions from your team members, let alone time to complete your own work.
It's no surprise that cold calling remains one of the most effective means of getting leads. Unfortunately, people tend to be averse to getting calls out of the blue. Some people even reject unknown numbers to avoid cold calls altogether. Despite this, user engagement with phone calls remains high, and the number of people you connect with increases your chance of success.
Blue Corona is a 9-time Inc. 5000 digital marketing and technology company that helps businesses accelerate growth and scale by delivering measurable marketing solutions that increase sales, reduce costs, and differentiate brands online.
Marketing & Advertising