Matthew Podolsky

July 22nd, 2021

Eight Ways Leaders Can Step Out Of Their Comfort Zone

As a business leader, you may already possess ideal traits, such as assertiveness, adaptability and conscientiousness. But perhaps you've noticed that you're lacking in other areas in which you could become a better leader. The first step is to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

July 20th, 2021

14 Ways to Build Brand Loyalty With Social Media

As social media becomes a go-to communication platform for consumers across all demographics, it’s important for companies to increase their brand awareness on the platforms their audiences use. Leveraging these social media platforms effectively can help create strong connections with customers, draw them to your business, and build brand loyalty.

July 13th, 2021

11 Ways Marketers Can Reach More Millennials on Social Media

One common piece of marketing advice is to meet your audience where they are. For the many companies looking to reach millennials, that means social media — and especially through the use of Instagram and TikTok. These social platforms provide great opportunities to engage with millennials and influence their purchasing behaviors. But how can you ensure your social media marketing efforts will be successful and won’t actually turn millennials away from your brand?

July 13th, 2021

10 Expert Tips to Minimize Annoying Chatbot Features and Delight Your Customers

Chatbots can enhance the customer experience on your company website if they’re designed well. But all too often, these little bots have features that disrupt the user experience, resulting in bounces and a feeling of poor customer service.

July 12th, 2021

15 Tips to Make Meetings More Efficient and Useful

One of the most common complaints in the business world is about being forced to attend unnecessary meetings. Nobody wants to sit through an in-person meeting or video conference to hear things that could have instead been summed up in an email message. To help business leaders run more purposeful meetings, we asked 15 members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share their best tips for how to make meetings more efficient and useful.

July 8th, 2021

Eight Ways Leaders Can Encourage Employees To Share More Ideas

It’s important for leaders to know that, when it comes to teams, just because the weekly team meetings are quiet or the suggestion box hasn’t seen a valid recommendation or criticism in a while, doesn’t mean no one has anything to say. In fact, more often than not, employees have thoughts, suggestions and criticisms to offer, but they don’t share because they’re not sure how their leaders will respond if they do.

June 28th, 2021

10 Effective Methods for Measuring Employee Happiness

Gauging how happy and fulfilled employees are in their jobs is important for small business leaders to do in order to determine the health and strength of their businesses. The more satisfied employees are, the more likely they'll stay with the company long term and the higher their productivity will be. But how can you know if your staff is enjoying their work, especially when they may not feel comfortable expressing their true feelings with their superiors?

June 24th, 2021

13 SEO and SEM Tips for Businesses With Limited Budgets

Thanks to search engines leveling the marketing playing field, even the smallest business can today benefit from the reach that search engine marketing (SEM) offers. But when you’re short on money, time, and resources, learning all about SEO and SEM—and how to leverage them effectively in your digital marketing strategy—can be a challenge. Here, 13 leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council share SEO and SEM tips that work for them, and that won’t break the bank.

June 17th, 2021

14 Podcasts That Have Impacted How These Entrepreneurs Run Their Businesses (and Why)

With the rich educational value podcasts often provide their listeners, it’s no surprise that the business community turns to this popular form of content to improve their skills and strategies. Some entrepreneurs even make major business decisions based on the information they’ve learned and the stories they’ve listened to on podcasts.

June 15th, 2021

Eight Major Signs Your Company Might Need Additional Support Staff

For new business owners, it may not always be clear when to move beyond core employees and begin bringing on some new teammates. Growing pains are normal for a startup that is doing well, so until you see your employees are struggling, you may not realize that it’s time to bring on additional help.

June 10th, 2021

12 Questions Managers Should Ask Their Employees in Order to Lead Them Well

One of the best ways to learn how to manage your employees is to ask them questions. If you pose the right questions, you'll get to know what motivates your employees and what their goals are. You can then use this information to manage them more effectively and help them succeed in their jobs.

June 4th, 2021

10 Ways to Attract Young Talent to Your Company

Hiring talented new employees can help a company grow. Young employees, in particular, often bring fresh perspectives, new skills, and lots of creative energy to the businesses they join. However, it can be difficult to attract young talent, especially in today’s competitive hiring environment. Here, 10 members from Young Entrepreneur Council share how your business can attract the best young professionals.

June 3rd, 2021

15 Effective and Creative Ways to Market to Local Customers

As a new small business, engaging your community is crucial to getting your business off the ground. The goal is to nurture lasting relationships that will drive your revenue and increase brand awareness; however, forming genuine connections with members of your community requires strategy and patience.

May 28th, 2021

First Time Firing an Employee? Advice for New Business Owners and Managers

Sometimes an employee just doesn’t work out within an organization and needs to be let go. Firing an employee is a task that needs to be handled with delicacy and care, and the process can be intimidating for someone who has never been responsible for terminating an employee before.

May 27th, 2021

Nine Factors To Consider When Creating The Perfect Product Packaging

Product packaging is often overlooked as something unimportant. However, like an extension of the product itself, it can attract customers as well as build the brand's reputation. But the look of the product packaging is only the start. The packaging should not only appeal to the customer, but also to any potential retailers.

May 20th, 2021

10 Business Leaders Share Their Best Tips For Creating An Effective Webinar

Webinars have increased in popularity since the world has gone virtual and they’re only expected to maintain their prevalence. Many companies are now looking to create webinars to expand their reach, connect with their audience and establish themselves as industry thought leaders.

May 20th, 2021

Try These 10 Strategies To Get Hours Of Time Back Each Week

Regardless of how many hours you work in a day, not all of that time is going to be completely productive. Sometimes it's because of procrastination, other times it's because you've been so bogged down in "busy work" that you haven't made progress on important tasks. Whatever the reason, it's important to find ways to optimize your to-do list to maximize your time for important strategy work as well as personal endeavors.

May 17th, 2021

13 Common Mistakes Hiring Managers Make (And How to Avoid Them)

May 16th, 2021

10 Critical Tips to Applying for Business Awards (and How to Find Ones Worth Your Time)

Getting recognized by peers can significantly increase a business’s exposure, potentially resulting in increased visibility and more customers. However, not all awards are worth the time and effort to apply to them. Some of them don't carry a lot of weight with other experts in the field, some you may not even qualify for and others try to get businesses to pay them for consideration. But which ones are worth it? To offer their best advice, 10 professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) respond to the following question:

May 14th, 2021

Nine Leaders Share The Traits They Look For In New Remote Hires

The pandemic has made remote and hybrid work arrangements mainstream. But it has also given managers a unique opportunity to bring different talent to their teams from all over the country and the globe. That being said, it's also important to think about how those new hires will work and be managed in a remote setting.

April 28th, 2021

Eight Tips To Bounce Back After Making A Mistake At Work

For many professionals, making a mistake at work can be a big hit to their self-confidence. The scenario can weigh on your mind and cause you to feel like you’re bad at your job or that you’re not cut out for your particular profession. Recovering your self-confidence after a mistake takes some time, but it can be done, and the faster you do so, the more effective you'll be in the future.

April 19th, 2021

12 Effective Ways to Use Short Video Content for Your Small Business

The face of social media has changed significantly in a short time, and today short video content is dominating user news feeds. While some social media platforms use video as a feature, like Instagram Stories, others, such as TikTok, use short videos as their main form of communication. Businesses can then leverage this content on their own social media pages to help improve their customer engagement and boost sales. To share insights on how to do just that, 12 experts from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) answer the following question:

April 16th, 2021

Nine Small Actions Business Leaders Can Take To Ensure Diversity In Hiring

With the increasing awareness of the need for diverse workplaces and teams, diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) policies have become a pressing issue in the business world. Yet, not every business owner knows where to begin or what to do to ensure their company is hiring for diverse backgrounds and skills.

March 30th, 2021

Nine Underrated Skills All Entrepreneurs Should Possess

Entrepreneurs can come from any background, any place and with any experience level. Yet because entrepreneurs task themselves with starting companies to develop solutions and generate value, it’s vital that they have a specific set of skills that help them get the job done. These skills are a necessary part of the entrepreneur’s tool belt.

March 30th, 2021

Eight Ways Companies Can Educate Customers About Cybersecurity Threats

For many companies, it’s not always clear whether or not they should be responsible for educating their customers about the dangers of cyber attacks and malware. But as cybersecurity becomes a greater threat, even non-tech companies are considering the best ways to communicate these dangers to their customers.

March 23rd, 2021

Lost Your Job? How To Discuss Getting Fired With A Potential New Employer

Many professionals have been fired from positions in the past. Getting fired from a job can be embarrassing and anxiety-inducing, especially when you have to explain the reason why you were let go to a potential new employer.

March 16th, 2021

12 Ways to Make Hiring a Priority — Even When You’re Swamped

March 12th, 2021

15 Free Tools Solopreneurs Can Use to Start Their Business on a Budget

When an entrepreneur starts a business, the immediate concern is how much it will cost to set up. Cost can sometimes seem like a barrier to entry for those hopeful business owners looking to get started on a budget. Luckily, evolving tech has provided many free alternatives to the paid tools other professionals use.

February 22nd, 2021

Eight Lesser-Known Ways To Encourage Brand Engagement

Encouraging and maintaining a high level of audience engagement is critical for any brand keen on building a loyal following and a tight-knit community of reliable customers. Engagement serves as a foundational pillar to growing a business’s presence in the broader market, and those happy customers are often your best form of advertisement.

February 20th, 2021

7 Product Design Trends to Watch For in 2021

2020 brought a plethora of changes to consumer behavior. Many of these changes will serve as inspiration for new product ideas and functions that will help businesses better serve their customers in the year ahead.

February 19th, 2021

Have You Tried Video? And 8 Other Strategies for Narrowing Down a Mountain of Resumes

February 8th, 2021

Want a Candidate to Accept Your Job Offer? 12 Things to Include in Their Offer Letter

If you’re trying to attract highly qualified professionals to your company, it’s likely that they’re mulling over multiple offer letters in addition to yours. To incentivize a top job candidate to accept your offer, you have to find a way to make it stand out. To help, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) members answered the following question:

January 26th, 2021

Nine Marketing Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Don't Even Know They're Making

As a new business owner, it isn't easy to sort out which business strategies work and which ones don’t. There's no standardized roadmap that guarantees success. Instead, success in business is a series of trial-and-error tests that result in a positive outcome, with plenty of mistakes along the way.

January 22nd, 2021

18 Tools Businesses Should Leverage for Customer Engagement in 2021

Entrepreneurs share their favorite tools, apps, and software for managing and interacting with customers.

January 21st, 2021

13 Tips for Attracting Top Candidates When They’re Already Employed

January 17th, 2021

13 Recruiting Lessons to Remember When Hiring for a Senior Position

Hiring for a senior position at a company usually requires a lot more time and effort than hiring for other positions. In many cases, business owners may have a hard time finding the most effective way to source senior talent for their organization. You don't want to lose out on great talent, but you also need to spot the best talent out of the field of applicants, because making a wrong hire at this level can spell disaster for the organization.

January 15th, 2021

Nine Strategies To Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Really Stick This Year

As the new year signifies new beginnings, most people come up with things they want to change as the January rolls around. If these resolutions stick, they could lead to an entirely new way of life. Yet so many people let these goals falter, and within the first few weeks of the new year, these resolutions are relegated to the proverbial garbage heap.

January 15th, 2021

12 Uncommon Yet Effective Places You Should Post Job Listings

When posting a job listing, businesses generally have their go-to, established platforms that they know are frequented by potential candidates. Sometimes, however, a company needs to think outside the box when sourcing talent. Occasionally, the least obvious places to post vacancies may result in the most remarkable outpouring of candidates. That’s why these 12 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) reflect on the following question:

January 14th, 2021

17 Creative Ways to Bring Together Company Leaders for Productive Conversation

17 members of YEC share effective tactics for gathering together leaders in a way that will lead to actual productivity and strategizing.

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 30th, 2020

18 Things to Consider Before Committing to Business Insurance

18 entrepreneurs from YEC look at the main reasons why an organization should get insurance.

December 30th, 2020

Eight Smart Strategies For Getting Informative Feedback From Your Customer Base

When you understand your customer, you can better tailor your products and services to their needs. The most reliable way to get to know who your customers are and what they're looking for is to get that information directly from them. But how can you persuade customers to give you the comprehensive, actionable feedback you need?

December 22nd, 2020

Entrepreneurs Share Eight Key Takeaways From Their Own Positive Experiences As (And With) Customers

Most of us can look back and remember several less-than-ideal experiences we had as customers. Even more memorable, however, are those times when a company's customer service exceeds our expectations—even delights us. In almost every instance, receiving outstanding service from a business creates a loyal customer for life. Therefore, taking note of and learning from excellent examples of customer service can be an invaluable tool for any entrepreneur or business leader looking for ways to "wow" their own customers. 

December 17th, 2020

10 Effective Methods for Locating the Right Talent

Businesses are in an unenviable position of having to find the most talented individuals in their field and entice them to work at their organization. In many cases, finding qualified candidates has come down to creating the right ads and vetting candidates properly.

December 17th, 2020

12 Considerations When Creating Your Pricing Structure

Prices can make or break a business, and deciding on what to charge for a particular good or service varies by the company. Finding the "sweet spot" for your pricing takes a bit of market research and a lot of trial and error, especially for new entrepreneurs. Sometimes, their approach to pricing structure can change over time, evolving to account for further information they learn in their journeys as business owners and new key considerations that affect a company’s pricing model. That’s why we asked 12 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:

December 17th, 2020

Want to Boost Your Team's Programming Skills? Try These 15 Expert-Recommended Tools

Programming is highly in demand in today's digital-first world. Try these tools, courses and platforms recommended by business leaders.

December 15th, 2020

12 Unique Ways to Boost Social Media Engagement

If you've been around the marketing world at all lately, you'd realize how much of a game-changer social media can be for a business. Setting up posts, scheduling them to come out, and engaging with those who follow your social media feeds can help you cultivate your audience.

December 15th, 2020

12 Foolproof Methods of Growing Your Email Subscriber List

Email marketing is still among the most effective ways to target an audience. However, for email marketing to be successful, you need to encourage people to sign up for your email list. This step might seem like a simple task, but recently consumers are extra-protective about their email addresses. Individuals have been flooded with spam and have become a lot more cautious about who they share their information with.

November 24th, 2020

Build Your Brand Via Speaking Engagements With These 10 Tips

Public speaking is a great way to gain exposure for your brand and a reputation for expertise in your field. Events with an audience allow for transparency and vulnerability—two key pieces to success when you're working to build a brand that consumers are eager to engage with. Speaking events also help you show off the core solutions your business has to offer.

November 23rd, 2020

Eight Key Steps To Securing Retail Distribution

There's no question that retail is a challenging industry to master. However, for investors or manufacturers, the challenges it presents are more than worth the rewards. Retail distribution allows a business to serve its offerings up to a much broader population than direct distribution, thus increasing an enterprise’s visibility and revenue.

November 23rd, 2020

14 Traits That Will Get Employers to Notice You

November 23rd, 2020

12 Ways Service-Based Businesses Can Take Advantage of the Holiday Season

The holiday season is usually a goldmine of opportunities for product-based businesses that deploy specific marketing strategies to make their offering stand out and be relevant for that time of the year. While service-based businesses typically find it more difficult to capitalize on this season’s business opportunities, there are still several creative strategies they can deploy to make holiday marketing work in their favor. To help, we asked 12 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:

November 13th, 2020

10 Ways To Stay In Touch With Your Growing Team About Their Performance

Keeping up with your employees on an individual level makes for good leadership. As you hire more and more people to your team, it can be difficult to maintain that one-on-one time with each employee. However, doing so is crucial to ensuring everyone is on the same page and performing their best.

October 29th, 2020

Got Negative Feedback? Nine Smart Strategies For Handling It The Right Way

No matter how diligent a person is, they will, at some point, receive negative feedback in their career. Whether it’s an unsatisfied customer, an upset manager or a tense situation with a colleague, you can’t make everyone happy 100% of the time.

October 28th, 2020

13 Pros and Cons of Using Personality Tests to Evaluate Employees

As entrepreneurs, we understand how powerful the classification of personality types can be in recruitment. From Myers-Briggs to Enneagram, the number of ways to gauge a person's innate traits can be measured in a hundred different ways. Several companies use one or more of those personality tests to develop their employees' potentials.

October 14th, 2020

How To Scale A Service-Based Business: Eight Top Tips From Experts

Growing a business seems like a simple prospect, and it can be deceptively simple on paper. However, once you start to delve into the heart of the matter, you realize that a service-based business requires some deep thought before you can scale it.

October 12th, 2020

20 Uniquely Useful Tools for Conducting Market Research

These 20 entrepreneurs from YEC discuss their favorite market research tools and why you should be using them.

October 5th, 2020

15 Entrepreneurs Share the First Hires They Made for Their Business and Why

October 5th, 2020

14 MAJOR TECH ISSUES OF 2020 (AND THE INNOVATIONS THAT WILL RESOLVE THEM)

Members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the past year's most pressing technology concerns and how we should address them.

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.

October 1st, 2020

14 Unique Ways to Encourage Innovation in Your Company

As a business owner, you know your company can't remain stagnant and stuck in its ways if it hopes to grow. That growth requires innovation and creativity, both of which are best sourced from everyone on your team.

September 28th, 2020

14 Simple Tips to Improve Your Recruiting Efforts Right Now

September 24th, 2020

Move Your Career Forward By Making Your Core Strengths Even Stronger

Whether you’re job hunting or starting a business, it’s important to play to your strengths throughout your career. By zeroing in your natural interests and aptitudes, you’re more likely to find the right opportunities and achieve success. That’s why it’s a good idea to continually refine and improve upon your core strengths.

September 23rd, 2020

17 Utilities to Automate Marketing for Better ROI

17 leaders from YEC share the tools and processes they use and why they work.

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 21st, 2020

13 Best Tips for Practicing Your Investor Pitch

Entrepreneurs should all know by now how nerve-wracking delivering a pitch to investors can be. If you've invested a lot of your time and effort into designing a business idea, you want to get the point across to investors effectively. As with anything, practicing your delivery can go a long way toward making a steadier presentation. That’s why we asked 13 successful entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

September 15th, 2020

THE 14 MOST EXCITING DIGITAL MARKETING DEVELOPMENTS OF 2020 (SO FAR)

Young Entrepreneur Council members share some of the most exciting trends and developments they've seen in digital marketing this year.

September 14th, 2020

15 Common Buzzwords Hiring Managers Hate Seeing on Job Applications

September 10th, 2020

11 Actions To Take Today If You Want To Become A Thought Leader

“Thought leadership” is a big buzzword in the business world right now, and it’s easy to see why it’s become such an important focus for leaders. When others look to you for your expertise and insight, you can become a leading, recognized voice in your industry.

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:

August 20th, 2020

14 Ways to Get HR Reps and Hiring Managers on the Same Page

August 20th, 2020

10 Smart Ways To Keep Up With Ever-Changing Social Media Functions

Social media is constantly evolving, as are the ways people use it. What was once primarily used for connecting with old friends and family has morphed into a platform for sharing perspectives and launching campaigns.

August 19th, 2020

12 Unconventional Ways To Generate Ideas For Fresh, Engaging Content

Being part of a creative team is an exciting job. However, it’s difficult to always be in an innovative, inspired mindset. Often, creatives experience burnout and roadblocks that hinder their performance.

August 18th, 2020

17 Valuable Recruitment Resources for Your Next Project

17 professionals from YEC share the best websites for locating fresh talent.

August 5th, 2020

16 Things You Should Never Say in a Successful Negotiation

When you're negotiating a deal, misinterpreted tone or poorly-chosen words could ruin an otherwise-successful conversation. Sometimes you may not know even which phrases might turn a deal sour. That's why we asked 16 members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

August 3rd, 2020

12 Business Planning Tips for First-Time Founders

August 3rd, 2020

16 Essential Skills to Look for in a New Hire

Within an organization, some skills are far more valuable than others. If your business is looking at hiring new employees, then these skills should be a primary focus for your interviews. Knowing what skills are crucial for an enterprise to grow and thrive helps you figure out if an employee may be worth hiring, even if they don't fit the ideal. Sometimes the company needs more than just the right qualifications for their employees.

July 30th, 2020

14 Things That Could Throw Off The Wearables Revolution

Electronic wearables were an exciting new concept just years ago. Now, they’ve slowly become the norm, with gadgets like smart watches and sleep trackers overwhelming the market.

July 22nd, 2020

13 Concrete Ways Aspiring Entrepreneurs Can Build Their Self-Confidence

As a budding young entrepreneur, you're likely to meet a lot of people telling you, "no." While some of these people are well-meaning, the constant negativity will eventually impact your self-confidence.

July 21st, 2020

13 Most Relevant Bits of Consumer Data to Collect

One of the most significant elements in helping a business get to know its customers is their data. Over recent years, consumers have started to take notice of how businesses use their data. While many aren't bothered, a few are against a company getting its hands on their information. As a result, they are averse to sharing access to their data.

July 14th, 2020

Here's How To Ensure Your New IoT Product Keeps Its Data Secure

The internet of things (IoT) has given consumers and businesses the ability to make their homes and offices "smart." Because IoT devices can communicate and exchange data with one other, they have vast potential for streamlining workflows and making us more efficient. However, with all the data each internet-connected device collects, stores and uses, there's also an inherent security risk.

June 30th, 2020

10 Smart Social Media Moves That Can Help Boost Your Business

Social media is becoming an increasingly important part of every business’ marketing strategy. Making the right move with your social content at the right time can help bring positive attention and new customers to your business.

June 26th, 2020

14 Ways to Ensure Company Growth Doesn't Outstrip Business Communication

Businesses have seen a period of massive growth, especially those that deal solely with online sales and services. While this development is promising, it also opens up a business to another problem -- that of having their growth outscale their ability to communicate.

June 24th, 2020

16 HR Quality Checks to Ensure You're Recruiting With Equity

June 19th, 2020

27 Books for Success to Add to Your Summer Reading List

June 16th, 2020

11 Things Every Good Employee Referral Program Needs

An employee referral program is a win-win for you and your team. Referral candidates tend to be well-qualified, since they're pre-vetted by staff members you know and trust, and hiring referrals shows you value your employees' input. To help you build a great referral program, we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

June 15th, 2020

15 Ways for Leaders to Encourage Employee Self-Teaching

Within any company, the ambitions of individual team members should aid the overall organization. However, it takes a leader to fuel, direct, and inspire this ambition into a way that helps both the team members and the organization as a whole. One way leaders can get their team members to realize their ambitions is by guiding them toward self-teaching and taking initiative, as a way of expanding their knowledge and skills while also seizing new opportunities within the company. To help, we asked 15 members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following:

June 12th, 2020

15 Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams (That Aren't Slack)

With so many remote working teams in the world today, productivity requires utilizing tools that can connect the team through voice, chat and video. Slack rules the roost as the team collaboration software, but it’s far from being the only reliable one. Dozens of team collaboration tools have gained growing popularity over the last two months. Some of them offer similar functionality to Slack and might even be better at some things. Others are sorely lacking in utilities to help a team get organized.

June 8th, 2020

How to Make the Most of Self-Discovery Practices: 15 Proven Strategies

Entrepreneurs can be so busy in today's business world that they lose sight of themselves. Introspection has an essential place in an entrepreneur's mindset. Understanding one's goals and motivations can help one come to terms with what one wants out of life.

June 5th, 2020

10 Effective Ways To Develop Employee Trust During Periods Of Change

Trust is essential in a team, especially in times of change. Leaders need to believe employees will carry out their tasks properly, and employees need to believe heir leaders are taking them in the right direction. But trust between people isn’t a given -- it has to be earned.

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 4th, 2020

15 Effective Ways to Reach Gen Z on Social Media

As the up-and-coming generation of consumers, Gen Z has become a hot target demographic for many brands. This generation of true digital natives is even more entrenched in the world of technology than the millennials who came before them. Therefore, companies that want to reach them need to go all-in on social media, Gen Z's preferred place to "hang out" online.

June 2nd, 2020

19 Places to Find Talented Freelancers

19 entrepreneurs delve into where online freelance talent is most readily found

May 7th, 2020

8 Strategic Ways to Handle a Professional Disagreement

**NOTE: This is a long-form piece for Inc, edited off-platform and emailed to Kelsey. I selected the wrong export format by mistake!**

Effective teamwork is important to any business, but not everyone will be on the same page 100% of the time. Disagreements, big or small, seem to be inevitable when working with others – but that doesn’t mean your team is doomed. It is possible to work through a dispute and move forward as a team, with better understanding than before.

April 16th, 2020

14 Ways to Define Your Unique Personal Brand

April 16th, 2020

16 Ways to Encourage Engagement With Your Brand

April 15th, 2020

14 Thing To Consider Before Making a Major Business Purchase

Making a major spending decision in your business, whether that be a new hire or a new marketing campaign, is often intimidating. You want to make sure you’re investing your money wisely, in a way that will yield a worthwhile return. To help you, we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members how to make financial decisions with confidence.

April 7th, 2020

10 Ways To Craft A Truly Captivating Brand Story

Competition among companies can be fierce, especially those in the same field with similar messages. With so many other brands out there, it can be difficult to make your story stand out among the crowd. However, you need to identify that “something special” about your business that truly makes it shine.

To help you, we asked 10 Young Entrepreneur Council members how to captivate customers through the art of storytelling. Here’s how they recommend crafting a brand story that captures attention and engages your target audience.

March 11th, 2020

https://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/7-ways-to-effectively-build-rapport-with-new-customers.html

March 4th, 2020

Wondering How To Save Money While Getting Your Business Off The Ground? Read These Seven Tips

Businesses run on money the way engines run on fuel. Knowing how to effectively save money, especially when a business first gets started, is a great way to build capital to help the company grow. Funding is usually one of the most significant hurdles for a new business to overcome. Unless the company already has an angel investor, this stumbling block might be the one that dooms the enterprise in the long run.

February 28th, 2020

Understanding Market Research For Your Business Plan

Market research needs to happen early in the process to inform your sales and marketing strategy.

February 24th, 2020

10 Entrepreneurs Share One Piece Of Advice That Has Stuck With Them

The world's most successful entrepreneurs are often fiercely independent and self-reliant. They have the courage to keep going when things get difficult and know how to push themselves to overcome even the most challenging of situations.

However, no one becomes a success completely on their own. Entrepreneurs also need a strong support network of peers and mentors who can offer them sage advice and wisdom throughout their journey.

Below, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council share the one piece of advice that has stuck with them over the years and helped them get where they are today.

February 7th, 2020

When And Why Your Small Business Needs An Accountant

When you consider the cost of your time, getting an accountant to handle your complex finances makes a lot of sense.

February 3rd, 2020

Eight Essential Gadgets And Apps For The Modern Young Entrepreneur

With tech innovation happening at an unprecedentedly fast pace, businesses and entrepreneurs should stay abreast of the latest developments and find ways to leverage new technology to make their life easier. For entrepreneurs especially, using the right technological tools can streamline their work and free up more of their time, helping them attain that ever-elusive but much needed work-life balance.

December 10th, 2019

Should You Let Your Employees Work From Home?

Telecommuting comes with a host of benefits, though there are drawbacks to consider as well.

November 19th, 2019

Preparing A Great Marketing Section For Your Business Plan

Your goal is to show how you’re going to expose potential customers to your product or service and convince them to buy.

October 28th, 2019

Simple Invoicing Upgrades For Small Businesses

Make it easy for customers to pay you in full and on time.

October 7th, 2019

Basics Of A Business Plan Financials Section

Without an impressive financials section, you’re looking at an uphill battle when it comes to scoring capital.

September 27th, 2019

Technologies That Benefit Small Businesses

Here are some tasks you can automate or streamline with technology, without breaking the bank.

August 9th, 2019

The Different Types Of Business Plans

To find the right plan for your business goal, you first need to understand the potential benefits and applications of each type.

July 19th, 2019

Structured Versus Unstructured Interviews

Should you conduct a structured or an unstructured interview?

June 28th, 2019

Job Benefits Millenials Want You To Offer

If you want your millennial employees to stick around, provide the financial and lifestyle benefits they crave.

June 7th, 2019

Five Signs You’re Ready To Grow Your Small Business

Rely on these indicators to assess your chances of successful business growth.

May 17th, 2019

Overlooked Startup Costs For Small Businesses

Overestimate your startup costs to increase your chances of surviving in the long run.

April 29th, 2019

Six Simple Cybersecurity Tips For Your Small Business

No business is immune to cyberthreats.

April 8th, 2019

Five Tips For Conducting A Great Job Interview

Take the time upfront to craft questions that reveal exactly what you need to know.

March 18th, 2019

Four Affordable Ways To Improve Your Employee Onboarding

When you set up new employees to feel welcome and prepared to succeed, they're more likely to stick around.

February 25th, 2019

Why Every Entrepreneur Needs A Business Plan

Building a solid business plan ensures you are ready to navigate any potential pitfalls of your growing business.

January 4th, 2019

Three Signs It's Time To Hire Your First Employee

Rushing into a hiring decision or hiring for the wrong reasons will cost you.