John Hall

March 6th, 2023

12 Tips for Publishing Your First Book as an Entrepreneur

For entrepreneurs, publishing a book can be an excellent opportunity to share their expertise, experiences and perspectives with a broader audience. However, for first-timers, the process of writing and publishing a book can be daunting, and they may not know where to start or what to expect. 

February 9th, 2023

Seven Ways Entrepreneurs Can Leverage Virtual Reality To Better Their Businesses

With advanced technology like virtual reality (VR), it can sometimes be difficult to fathom all the potential applications it can have in the business world. However, nearly every day there seems to be new and exciting innovations in the VR space that can impact both businesses and their customers. 

December 14th, 2022

10 Ways Any Company Can Tighten Up Their Cybersecurity Efforts For The New Year

Especially given the growing remote workforce, companies may be looking to tighten up their cybersecurity efforts come the new year. Hackers and cybersecurity threats unfortunately aren’t going anywhere, so finding new ways to secure your company’s technology and protect your customers’ data is a good practice to begin to ensure your business’s safety all year long.

November 28th, 2022

Is Your Workplace Becoming Toxic? 13 Signs to Look for and How to Respond

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.

November 14th, 2022

Making Your First Hire? 11 Questions to Ask to Ensure They're the Right Fit

November 7th, 2022

Business Leaders: Nine Ways To Regain Order Amid Holiday Chaos

The holiday season is a joyous time of year—but for many companies, it can also be stressful and chaotic. Backed-up workloads, increased customer pressure and a general sense of urgency can all start to weigh on leaders and employees alike, leading to reduced productivity and low team morale. 

September 30th, 2022

10 Areas To Dedicate The Bulk Of Your Social Media Budget To (And Why)

When it comes to social media marketing, much of it can be done on a limited budget—or sometimes even for free. It costs nothing to create an account and start posting, but there are other aspects of social media that will likely require an investment. And whether you’re working with limited funds or you have a much broader budget at your disposal, choosing the right areas of social media marketing to dedicate the bulk of your budget to can help ensure you’re set on a path toward success.

August 31st, 2022

Nine Skills And Traits These Entrepreneurs Look For When Hiring For A Creative Role

While nearly every role has some degree of creativity involved in its duties, heavily creative roles such as those in social media content creation, marketing, video production, copywriting and more naturally require a different skill set from those roles that may rely more on logical or analytical thinking. When hiring for these roles, then, employers will be basing their decisions on a different list of desired traits and skills.

August 30th, 2022

Feeling Anxious? Eight Tips These Entrepreneurs Have For Calming Your Mind

When you're feeling anxious about a presentation, a looming deadline or even a decision you made, relaxation is likely the last thing on your mind. However, the business world is full of stressful situations, and if you want to navigate it successfully, you’ll need to pick up a positive habit or two that can help you cope when things get tough.

August 10th, 2022

Leaders: Eight Ways To Prevent Work From Piling Up During Staff Vacations

When it comes to employees taking vacations, it’s all about achieving balance. Too many staff members off at once can cause heavy workloads and stress for the remaining team, but too few staff members taking time off can also mean your team isn’t getting the rest and relaxation they need to do their best work. 

July 29th, 2022

Hit A Business Growth Plateau? Here's How To Regain Momentum

When a company’s growth seems to be slowing down or hitting a plateau, it may be indicative of a bigger problem. However, it’s how you address the problem that can make or break your business.

July 26th, 2022

10 Tips For Defining And Achieving 'Meaningful Work' In Your Career

In 2022, employers are still feeling the effects of the Great Resignation as employees continue to quit their jobs in droves. Research points to burnout and dissatisfaction as two of the main reasons people are leaving their organizations in favor of more "meaningful work."

July 25th, 2022

Nine Work Habits That Can Improve Your Productivity And Focus

Increasing productivity and focus is something most professionals strive for. But while there are different tricks and tips for being more productive and focused on your work, the tips don’t always work for every person. The key is to find advice that works for you and your lifestyle.

July 19th, 2022

8 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR REMOTE TEAM'S INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share advice for creating a solid internal communications strategy for remote businesses.

July 18th, 2022

11 Perks You Should Offer Hybrid and Remote Employees

Hybrid and remote work models have quickly become the new normal for many companies. While working remotely offers many benefits to employees, many of the perks that used to keep staff productive and happy in an office setting are no longer relevant when employees are working from home.

July 12th, 2022

10 Clear Signs You May Need Better Work-Life Balance (And How To Get It)

In the remote work era, the boundaries between work and personal time have become increasingly blurred. But regardless of work environment, industry or even job level, it can be difficult to "turn off" work when the day is done, leaving professionals to struggle with consequences like burnout, mental health crises and increased stress levels.

April 19th, 2022

12 Tips to Effectively Differentiate Your Social Media Content Across Platforms

Having more than one social media account for your brand may mean reaching more people, but it doesn't mean businesses can simply post the same content to each platform. If you want to grow your audience, it's important to differentiate your content across accounts while still ensuring everything feels cohesive and consistent.

December 22nd, 2021

12 Ways to Breathe New Life into Your Social Media Strategy Next Year

December 7th, 2021

Eight Elements Of Company Culture That Get People Excited To Come To Work

Building a positive company culture is crucial, especially with so many businesses shifting to a permanent remote work model. Employees want to work in an environment where they feel accepted and appreciated. When they feel this way, employees are more likely to be motivated and work efficiently.

November 1st, 2021

15 Tips To Realign And Resolve Conflict With Your Business Partner

No matter how well-aligned two business partners may be, there will inevitably be times when they don't see eye to eye. However, when larger issues arise and the partners are no longer on the same page, it's critical for both parties to get back on track to resolve their conflict. Otherwise, they risk making decisions (or making no decisions at all) that could ultimately harm the business and its culture.

October 28th, 2021

13 Top Ways To Increase Your Confidence In The Workplace

Confidence is an important feeling to have if you want to succeed at work, in relationships and in everyday life. It's also a trait that seems much easier to possess than it actually is—Sometimes it takes a step outside your head and comfort zone to achieve it.

August 20th, 2021

Improve Your Digital Brand by Taking These 8 Practical Steps

August 16th, 2021

15 Positive Habits All Entrepreneurs Should Develop to Become Successful Leaders

Success starts with building one small habit at a time.

August 16th, 2021

GIVING A VIRTUAL SALES PITCH? 10 WAYS TO SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS

Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share strategies for making your sales pitch over Zoom more effective.

August 12th, 2021

10 Ways To Live A Healthier Lifestyle As An Entrepreneur

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. 

July 31st, 2021

11 Important Lessons About Humility Every Business Leader Should Learn

Being a business leader means being the boss. It means being at the top of the company, making key decisions that affect not only the business, but also those who work for it. But being a successful business leader also means being humble and understanding that you are not alone in your trials and that you can trust your teams to help you through the harshest of times.

July 29th, 2021

Leaders: Encourage These Daily Habits For A More Focused And Productive Team

Whether working from home or in an office setting, it can be easy to get distracted from work. Grabbing coffee with a co-worker or taking a quick break to surf the web can quickly turn into time lost from the task at hand. Even too much work can lead to overwhelm, frustration and, ultimately, procrastination.

July 26th, 2021

Are You Being The Best Leader You Can Be? 10 Questions To Ask Yourself

An individual who factors self-reflection into their everyday development is on their way to becoming a great leader. To advance, managers have to ask themselves regularly if their performance is in line with their leadership goals. The evidence can be in how well their team is performing and the results they have achieved.

July 26th, 2021

8 Facts You Need to Know Before Launching a Business

Starting a business is one of the most challenging career moves you can make, but knowing some important facts beforehand can help.

July 23rd, 2021

Solopreneurs: 11 Tips for Hiring Your First Employee

July 20th, 2021

Looking For Work? Don't Follow These 10 Overrated Job Search Tips

Searching for a new job can be a huge challenge. Modern recruiters have an influx of applications to sift through and judge, and it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd.

July 13th, 2021

Eight Ways To Calmly Handle Company Crises

A normal part of running a business is having ideas fail. However, sometimes these circumstances lead to crises within the business. When this happens, employees look to business leaders for guidance on how to respond.

July 11th, 2021

10 Questions Every Sales Professional Should Ask Potential Customers

July 2nd, 2021

Nine Successful Entrepreneurs Share The Top Marketing Advice They Wish They Knew When They Started

When it comes time to start marketing your business, you either have a ton of ideas you want to try or you have no clue where to begin. You likely understand the importance of sharing the benefits of your products and services with prospective customers, but it can be hard to know if you're taking the right steps in sharing your brand's message.

June 23rd, 2021

Business Owners: 9 Things to Stop Doing When Creating Marketing Content

June 22nd, 2021

Eight Tips To Set Boundaries And Achieve Greater Focus At Work

Work can be a distracting place. You have questions and requests from your co-workers or boss interrupting your workflow. You have your cellphone to distract you—emails and texts you feel compelled to answer, social media messages you need to respond to and calls you need to pick up. Without a doubt, maintaining focus is a challenge if you're not strategic about how you spend your time.

May 7th, 2021

Eight Software Features To Look For To Set Up And Maintain Your Business’s Online Store

Not every online storefront is the same and, when looking to set up and maintain their own online store, business owners can end up spending hours researching various components, add-ons, features and capabilities to find the right software to use. 

May 7th, 2021

IMPROVE YOUR MOBILE APP’S USABILITY AND DESIGN WITH THESE 11 UX TRENDS

Members of Young Entrepreneur Council explore some user experience trends every app developer should be implementing.

March 22nd, 2021

13 Entrepreneur-Recommended Habits To Maintain Productivity (Even When You're Busy)

No matter how stressed or busy you get, the right habits can keep you moving forward.

March 1st, 2021

13 Easy Changes to Your Daily Routine That Will Boost Long-Term Productivity

February 19th, 2021

How To Make The Best Use Of LinkedIn And Virtual Networking Opportunities

At a time when in-person meetups are typically off the table, virtual networking platforms like LinkedIn can be valuable resources for business owners. The opportunity to connect regardless of location can open doors that just aren’t possible without these online tools. But while LinkedIn has some of the same features as traditional social media sites, its purpose, and therefore its use, should differ.

January 4th, 2021

Tips for Dealing With Controversial Topics on Social Media

Social media is a place for anyone to express their opinions and beliefs, and often that means talking about controversial topics. Sometimes, a business may post something that sparks a heated debate, or its social media followers might bring up these touchy issues on the business’s page, leaving the brand to come up with a response that won't offend or alienate its audience.

December 3rd, 2020

14 Ways to Achieve Personal Goals While Successfully Running a Company

November 2nd, 2020

13 Signs You May Need a Motivation Boost

Staying motivated as an entrepreneur takes a lot of effort. In several situations, business owners find themselves struggling to point themselves in the right direction, whether in their profession or in their personal life. In both of these cases, your inspiration dictates the drive you have to accomplish your goals.

October 1st, 2020

How To Maintain A Healthy Co-Founder Relationship: Nine Essential Tips

When you create a company with someone else, the initial stages require you to work closely together. Eventually, a bond forms, as it usually does when people work closely together. However, as a business grows, you and your co-founder may decide to work on separate parts of the business. Sometimes this may lead to disagreements between founding members -- whether caused by lack of communication or different views on how to expand the organization.

September 21st, 2020

Stressed Out? 15 Practical Actions to Combat Doubt, Fear and Anxiety

Today's world is more stressful than ever. The fast-paced, always-on environment many of us operate in is enough to cause anxiety among even the most organized leaders. Throw in the current global pandemic and an economic recession, and it's no surprise that many people are experiencing doubts and fears in their personal and professional lives.

September 17th, 2020

Eight Critical Factors To Keep In Mind When Considering A Business Partnership

When you start a business, one of the first questions you ask yourself if you should be doing this alone, or if you need help. This decision determines whether your company is a solopreneurship or a partnership. Some entrepreneurs work better by themselves, but others realize the benefit of having a partner.

September 8th, 2020

Nine Best Methods for Determining Pay Raises for Employees

Each company gauges the contribution of its employees differently. Some focus on deliverables, while others rely on employee loyalty and worked hours to determine a worker's contribution to the business.

August 31st, 2020

15 Tips for Developing an Effective Success Plan

Plans are crucial to success in any endeavor. It doesn't matter if that project is building a business or writing a book. Without planning, even the most well-intentioned projects can hit a roadblock and stop. Developing a success plan takes time and effort. It also requires a certain level of experience, and newcomers are unfortunately hit with this realization after they start their projects.

August 26th, 2020

14 Ways to Increase Brand Loyalty Through Social Media

Brand loyalty forms a core concept of marketing in the 21st century. In a paradigm shift, thanks to better interactivity with consumers, brand loyalty is now easier to achieve than ever before. With a medium where the brand can interact directly with clients in the form of social media, all a company has to do is use their social media presence cleverly. Once they leverage their following and provide value to the audience, brand loyalty is sure to follow. To help, we asked 14 successful entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

July 30th, 2020

10 Leadership Habits That Will Set A Great Example For Your Employees

Great leaders don’t simply tell their team what to do; they lead by example and “walk the talk.” Staff members are much more willing to listen to instructions and respect leadership if their boss is doing the same. 

July 10th, 2020

11 Strategies to Make Your Voice Heard in a Crowd

It takes more than just raising your voice

June 29th, 2020

16 Ways Leaders Can Stress Less and Adapt to Opportunities

Stress is common when you’re in a management position. With countless tasks to complete, employees to manage and business operations to oversee, it’s no surprise many leaders end up feeling overwhelmed at one point or another.

June 29th, 2020

13 Top Strategies to Up Your Twitter Game For the busy entrepreneurs looking for fast and effective ways to build a social media presence, connect with their peers and engage with their target audience in real time, Twitter is the ideal place. If used correctly, the platform can become a true goldmine of relevant industry information, valuable relationships and new customers. To help, here are several strategies busy entrepreneurs can use to up their Twitter game.

June 23rd, 2020

15 Smart Ways for Leaders to Thrive Under Stress

June 22nd, 2020

12 Key Elements Leaders Should Consider When Doing Live Video

June 5th, 2020

Nine Tips For Keeping Customer Conversations Productive And Positive

Your relationship with your customers shouldn’t exclusively be transactional. To build a bond that leads to customer loyalty, you have to thoughtfully connect with them and continue the conversation with them.

June 5th, 2020

Offering Live Customer Chat? Follow These 15 Important Tips

In today's always-on, digital-first world, consumers increasingly expect companies to offer fast and convenient channels for customer support. To this end, many brands now offer live chat so customers can reach them faster than an email or phone call.

June 1st, 2020

Eight Strategic Approaches To Encouraging Employee Innovation

There's no question as to how vital innovation is to a business. However, the pitfall that most entrepreneurs fall victim to is thinking that all change must come from the top. If a company hires right, its talented employees could offer a vast resource in terms of their innovation to the company.

May 29th, 2020

10 Effective Ways To Retain Customers Through An Unanticipated Business Disruption

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every business and industry in some capacity. Some non-essential employees have taken to remote work, while many others have faced reduced hours or layoffs.

May 21st, 2020

Measure Your Customer Service ROI More Effectively With These 10 Tactics

Customer service is vital to any organization, and investing in it can make all the difference in attracting and retaining clients. But the true return on those customer service investments -- whether you're hiring and training staff or increasing your support channels -- can be hard to quantify with a single number.

May 21st, 2020

15 Practical Ways to Fit More Time Into Your Day

One of the most common complaints that professionals have in the 21st century is how little time there is in a day. The truth of the matter is that the day hasn't changed, but how we manage our time has. Losing time on frivolous activities is nothing new. However, with the advent of attention-stealing applications, we lose more time than ever before without even realizing it.

April 30th, 2020

Eight Effective Methods Of Tracking Employee Work

With the number of tasks that an employee has to accomplish daily, many managers believe that it's impossible to monitor staff workloads accurately. The problem becomes even more involved in organizations where it's difficult to track the movement of jobs between departments.

April 6th, 2020

Eight Methods Entrepreneurs Can Use To Work On Their Weaknesses

Human beings are fallible. With every strength, there is an attached weakness. However, we are also self-aware, and that gives us an advantage. We can actively seek out our weaknesses and find ways to shore them up.

March 24th, 2020

15 Vital Approaches to Staying Positive, Tenacious and Confident

Each day is different for each person. For entrepreneurs, a string of disappointments or rejections can lead to a significant impact on your psyche and your confidence. Many business coaches maintain that the best way to keep motivated is to stay positive and to keep a firm sight of what your goals are and how you intend to attain them. Ensuring that this works hinges on your confidence. These three things are essential contributors to your overall motivation.

November 21st, 2019

Dealing With Social Media Controversy? 15 Tips for Handling It Gracefully

In the age of social media, a controversy -- and a potential public relations crisis -- is always lurking. It's impossible to completely avoid controversial issues and conversations if your business is on social media, but knowing how to handle them with grace and professionalism can save you from landing your brand in hot water. To help you, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

November 19th, 2019

https://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/6-actionable-steps-you-can-take-toward-a-more-inclusive-business.html

August 22nd, 2013

Best Advice I Ever Got: John Hall

The CEO of Influence & Co explains how to keep customers happy so you don't have to put out fires later.

October 10th, 2012

How To Vet That 'Expert' Product Before You Buy

Sales pages can be deceiving. If you're looking for vetted business info, do your homework before you click "buy."

July 4th, 2012

3 Reasons Your Company's PR Strategy Needs A Revamp

Times are changing, and so should your PR strategy. Demand more from your PR agency -- or ditch them altogether.

May 2nd, 2012

5 Tips for Creating Business Content Publishers Will Love

Marketing yourself through web content is great -- unless the content isn't. Here are 5 tips for entrepreneurs who want to build their brands with high-quality Web content.