Member Since 2018
Formidable Forms
Salt Lake City Area
I am the co-founder and CTO of Formidable Forms and Business Directory Plugin. After earning an RN license and a degree in nursing, I had my first baby which lead to a quick end to that career. I soon started learning to code to pass the time, and learned that I loved it. Over the course of several freelance projects, I had created a pretty cool piece of software, and started sharing it in order to help others like me to build powerful client sites fast.
If you’re looking to expand your business, franchising your business could be a great option. Growing a company by franchising can offer many benefits—but you need to be aware of the drawbacks, too. To determine whether or not you should franchise your business, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:
Young Entrepreneur Council members look ahead at consumer IoT device trends they expect we’ll see more of this year.
Communication is one of the most essential skills that a business leader needs to master to be successful. Great leaders may develop their communication skills early on in their careers, but they also have created and maintained habits that help them communicate more effectively.
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.
The dark and dreary months of winter often take a toll on people’s mental health. Thankfully, there are ways to keep your spirits bright through this season so you can stay motivated and inspired in your business and life.
Finding funding is typically one of the most challenging parts of starting a new business. The risks versus rewards of investing in new companies can usually have investors worried about jumping in. The responsibility is then on the entrepreneur to make their business idea exciting and attractive enough to warrant investors' attention.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council offer some effective ways to keep users coming back to your mobile app.
Members of Young Entrepreneur explain how hands-on CEOs can get more comfortable with delegation.
Small businesses, like any business, have finances that need to be kept in order. Owners can deal with these duties to a point; however, small businesses tend to grow, and hiring an employee dedicated to keeping the company's finances in check is often a necessary next step. Luckily, many small business owners can hire someone on a part-time basis. This route carries a lot less overhead in terms of time and money compared to hiring a full-time employee, but it also comes with its own challenges. That’s why we asked 11 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:
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.
Now that voice search is on the rise and gaining more popularity, there’s a whole new dynamic to consider when implementing SEO tactics.
As an executive, difficult conversations often come up in the workplace. It may be something as sensitive as expressing a concern to an employee or explaining why the company's letting someone go.
18 entrepreneurs from YEC look at the main reasons why an organization should get insurance.
Facing adversity can help you grow in ways you never imagined.
Onboarding a new employee is an exciting time for any business. While you're eager to get your new team member up and running on their tasks, you also need to ensure they understand the company culture and will mesh with your organization for the long term. That's why we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:
The easiest part of opening a business is coming up with the idea and filing the paperwork. The most challenging part often might not be apparent right away. No leader can predict or prepare for every obstacle they might encounter as a business owner, and hurdles can vary by industry and by each entrepreneur. However, with a little insight from more experienced entrepreneurs and the right mindset, you can successfully guide you and your business through any challenge.
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The end of this year is right around the corner, and smart business owners will already be setting up plans and goals for the coming first quarter. Planning helps a business take stock of what it's achieved thus far and what it can hope to accomplish in the first quarter of the new year, given its available time and resources.
Programming is highly in demand in today's digital-first world. Try these tools, courses and platforms recommended by business leaders.
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.
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:
It’s a myth that successful leaders never make mistakes – even the best leaders have slip-ups from time to time. It’s crucial to learn from those mistakes so they aren’t repeated and equally important to be transparent with your employees when remedying the situation.
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.
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.
Whether it’s frustration from limitations in their current industry or being shaken by the instability of the job market during COVID-19, many professionals are starting over in their careers, possibly in a new industry entirely.
It’s already well-known that entrepreneurs spend a lot of their time working on getting their businesses off the ground and keeping them solvent. It's not uncommon to hear a business owner working 50 or 60 hours a week. Many of us know how 10- and 11-hour workdays feel and the negative impact this amount of work can have on one’s mental and physical health. To address the issue, busy professionals need to find a way to work smarter and gradually reduce the number of hours spent to run the business. That’s why we asked 12 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:
There are several ways your business can take advantage of personalization to increase sales, improve lead generation and more. When you use the elements of your brand that set you apart, you give your customers a reason to choose you over your competitors.
Everyone online shopper has added items to their cart, only to close out of the website before completing the purchase. This behavior has led to an average online cart abandonment rate of 60% to 80% for many e-commerce sites.
16 entrepreneurs from YEC share their favorite sales automation tools and strategies and explain why they work.
When you first start your business, every member of the “founding team” -- i.e. you and your first employees -- is crucial to its early success. As your business grows and changes, there may come a time when you feel yourself starting to outgrow your original employees.
Blogging is a great way to share information and valuable content with your audience. It also brings a great chance to send potential consumers your way based on your search engine optimization (SEO).
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Entrepreneurs can be easily distracted. Whether it's new ideas popping into their heads or the demands of their businesses, distractions abound and can easily steal away your focus.
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:
When you set out to pitch your idea to an investor, you usually go through the most common questions that they're likely to ask. Discerning investors are careful about where they put their money, but a well-prepared entrepreneur can quickly answer a surprising amount of what they ask.
With most people working from home and away from their office’s internal server, data security is a pressing concern for employers. Companies and employees must make security a priority and understand how to keep their data safe when they’re working outside of their business’s secure network.
Innovation is the key to a successful and progressive business, and your staff should constantly be looking for ways to grow your brand. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to keep your workers engaged and motivated.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their best tips for getting things back on track when your business is going through a turbulent period.
LinkedIn is often thought of as the go-to social network for professionals, but it’s more than just a social media platform. It’s a powerful marketing tool for brands to engage with customers, employees and business partners.
A website can be a critical marketing tool as long as you manage to keep your audience engaged. Marketing can drive traffic to your website in several ways, with video, text, or image content. But once they get there, how do you keep them there?
It's often said you only get one chance to make a first impression, and that holds true for your company website. The visual appearance and written copy on your sign-up and landing pages must be compelling enough to grab a visitor's attention and convince them to take the next step in their relationship with your brand.
A business is only as good as its employees. In order to thrive, you have to ensure our workers are on the same page and willing to grow with you. A truly loyal team will stand with your business during the ups and downs and dedicate themselves to the business’s overall success.
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.
As a business owner, it’s important to know who your competitors are so you can keep up with the market. However, it’s just as beneficial to show your support for other small businesses, regardless of their industry. This is especially true in today’s economic climate, when many entrepreneurs are struggling to stay afloat.
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.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some creative ideas for tech companies that want to leverage more user-generated content.
Taking risks is always intimidating. It can be scary to leave comfort and safety behind and leap toward a potentially difficult and life-altering decision. But anything worth having rarely comes from taking the easy path.
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Assess your current situation and fill the cracks.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share the upcoming technology trends they're most excited about and how they plan to jump on board.
There's some merit to the adage of working hard to play hard. With workers devoting their all to a business, especially when it's just getting off the ground, it can be easy for them to lose sight of their need for relaxation. Therefore, it is up to the leaders to intervene and help employees realize that their peace and mental health are just as important as the valuable work they do.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council offer suggestions for entrepreneurs that want to change up their mobile ad campaigns.
Being able to close a deal is a crucial part of an entrepreneur’s skill set, but sometimes, vendor agreements and partnerships can fall through due to unavoidable circumstances. Knowing that a deal is about to fall through before that actually happens can be quite beneficial for a company, as it gives the opportunity to choose its next steps in advance: pursue the agreement more aggressively, back off and let it fail, or do nothing and see if it corrects itself. However, before the business can take any action, it must be able to identify the telltale signs of a deal collapsing. To help, we asked 11 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:
Everyone wants to be successful, but not many people understand what success brings with it or what it means exactly. Success is a personal thing -- where one person may see achievement, another may see settling for what they can get. Success is a goal, and there are many roads to get there, but not everyone's version of success is the same.
These 20 entrepreneurs from YEC discuss their favorite market research tools and why you should be using them.
An effective internal communications strategy is essential when trying to build a cohesive team working together toward the same goal. Especially when it comes to announcing important news to your team, using the right internal communications approach is of utmost importance. The right communications strategy ensures the communicated message is clear and easily understood, leaving no room for error. That’s why we asked 15 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:
Artificial intelligence is an extremely valuable tool that can save your business time, energy and money. However, implementing AI can be a big challenge for any company. From choosing the right AI-powered tool to setting up the right data inputs and workflows, the process of adopting AI can be stressful and cumbersome, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the inner workings of this technology.
A truly timeless brand sticks with people for a long time, no matter how many trends emerge or how the world around them changes. Not every business ever reaches this stature, but it’s something your brand should work and strive toward if you want to be memorable.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council explain which qualities a hiring manager should seek out in a senior creative director who's working on both print and web campaigns.
Many companies that shifted to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic have helped employees eliminate their daily commute. However, some professionals do still need to make regular trips into the office – and spending time commuting to work can feel stressful and counterproductive. If you use your time wisely, though, there are plenty of ways to maximize your commute and make it a productive one.
Young Entrepreneur Council members share some upcoming tech trends they believe will have an important impact on business leaders.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the past year's most pressing technology concerns and how we should address them.
When a business advertises for a position, you can be assured that there will be a flood of applications coming in. If you're a young entrepreneur with a small company, you'll be doing most of the application sorting yourself. The first step is determining which applications suit the character, demeanor, and qualifications you're looking for.
With each passing year, demographics change. Where a company's core demographic might have been millennials a few years ago, today it's shifted to Generation Z. Unfortunately, there's a marked difference in values between generations, and businesses need to revamp their marketing strategy to reach out to their newest client base without alienating their other followers.
Members of Yount Entrepreneur Council offer their tips for effectively growing a service-based company.
If you're like the hundreds of content marketers out there that have invested in blog content, you want people to read it. If you've been watching your metrics for visits, you might realize that many visitors don't even bother with your blog. Sure, they might follow a social post from your media to your blog, and possibly read a single entry, but they won't engage further than that.
Social media following is an integral part of executing a successful marketing strategy. Engagement on social media is far higher than other channels. However, despite their constant presence, social media networks aren't the only way for a company to do outreach and connect to their core audience.
For online businesses, a high-performing website that encourages engagement and conversions is the key to successful growth. It often takes time to build up a steady stream of website visitors and consistent buyers. However, there are some things you can do to help accelerate the process.
If your company has a blog and social media presence, you know how challenging it can be to keep up with the constant demand for new content. Recycling and updating existing content is a great way to put a fresh spin on what you’ve previously published without the hassle of coming up with a brand-new idea.
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.
17 leaders from YEC share the tools and processes they use and why they work.
Having the right clients can make all the difference in your business’s success. Of course, finding those ideal clients isn’t always easy. You don’t want to be too selective and turn down a good business opportunity, but you also don’t want to overextend yourself for a client who won’t stick around in the long run.
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.
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:
When people know who you are and continue getting to know your brand and its values, they’ll slowly build your customer base.
The entire marketing world knows how powerful a well-funded social media campaign can be when growing a brand image. It can be challenging for smaller entrepreneurs to determine how much money should go into this part of your marketing, as there are several dozen social media channels that you can invest in. How do you determine how much money to dedicate to one or more of those social media accounts?
Motivation works cyclically. There are moments when you feel as though you can take on the world, punctuated by moments when you feel like it makes no sense to do anything. If you've been feeling unmotivated at work recently, you're not alone. Workers worldwide go through the same moments of "boom and bust" when it comes to their motivation.
Young Entrepreneur Council members share some of the most exciting trends and developments they've seen in digital marketing this year.
No other feeling comes close to hitting the ball out of the park for your investor pitch meeting. Unfortunately, many business owners see these small wins as overcoming the largest hurdle. The truth is that nailing the investor pitch is only the first significant hurdle.
When you’re overworked, it’s easy to burn out. The extra hours and workload can cause you to become stressed and ultimately less productive at work.
Disagreements and conflicts are inevitable in the workplace. As a leader, it’s your job to mediate any issues between workers so your company culture remains positive and productive. However, this is often easier said than done: It takes a truly empathetic and effective leader to listen to each side and help both parties come to a mutually-beneficial solution.
Members of Young Entrepreneur Council explain how companies can optimize their mobile shopping experience.
Congratulations! You’ve just had a great pitch meeting with an investor. But holding an investor’s attention during your pitch is only the beginning of securing a deal. The real challenge lies in staying top-of-mind afterward.
Many businesses see a major shift in their success once they establish a website that lets them provide new information and tools to their customers. However, some may see even greater success if they develop a mobile app.
Once seemingly confined to the spheres of gaming and technology, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are becoming increasingly common in both personal and professional ventures. In fact, VR and AR can be used to great effect in one’s personal branding strategy, especially if it's giving your audience a deeper connection or more intimate look at your business.
Businesses thrive on interaction with large clients. They form the most significant inflow of money to the enterprise and help you meet your obligations from month to month. With so many companies closing down, it's not far-fetched to think that one of your massive clients might face bankruptcy. When that happens, you will need to have a clear plan in place to recover any overdue payments and soften the blow until you find new customers. That’s why we asked 12 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:
Free advertising has leveled up, as there are now more alternatives to paid ads than ever.
Improve user engagement, grow your audience and boost conversions with valuable live video content.
Businesses are increasingly focusing on wellness in the workplace to increase employee productivity and overall satisfaction. Choosing a wellness program for your company is an important first step, but you’ll also need to ensure that it runs smoothly and that your employees get the most out of it.
For many growing teams, in-person leadership conferences have been the go-to method for training and developing the organization's future leaders. In today's world, though, there's a lot of uncertainty around when these types of conferences might return.
Building your brand is an important part of running a business. To truly connect with your audience, you must define and express who you are and your goals as a business. Often, the best way to do this is by telling your story.
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.
Entrepreneurs have some bad habits, one of which is not knowing when they need a break. With many young entrepreneurs, it's almost impossible to take a step back and relax. Yet studies have shown that entrepreneurs that don't take time out to smell the roses risk serious health problems later on in life.
17 professionals from YEC share the best websites for locating fresh talent.
Switching a “bad” habit for a good one is not always the best option.
Business advisers have the potential to be instrumental to a company's success. Unfortunately, not all business advisers make a positive impact, and it's up to the entrepreneur to decide which adviser they want to work with.
No business’s recruiting process is the same, largely because of the fact different organizations look for different things in their candidates. Each company has a particular skill or set of abilities it values above others.
In today's world, every business knows that consistent, quality content is the key to engaging consumers. Publishing giants like BuzzFeed have mastered the art of drawing people in with engaging headlines and interactive features, and encouraging repeat visitors with well-researched, valuable articles.
A marketer's job is a challenging one in today's always-on, digital-first world. Not only do they have to come up with an appealing brand image and message, but they have to figure out how to adapt marketing collateral to countless different channels and learn best practices for each one.
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:
These tools and strategies can make email marketing more efficient and less time-consuming.
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.
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.
Every job candidate’s goal is to stand out from the rest. However, it’s not enough to talk about your education and work experiences, which may be very similar to other qualified applicants. Great candidates shine by saying things that are truly unique.
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.
Ensure your customers feel safe shopping with you and on your site.
Business legal matters can be intimidating, but these tools can help you understand and streamlining the process.
Running a business is not easy, especially as a young entrepreneur. It always feels like the industry is stacked against you, and that you're destined to fail. Keeping hold of your morals while navigating a field like this can be a challenge.
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.
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.
Leadership is a battle for constant improvement.
Learning from others is vital to your success.
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.
A strong daily routine can make all the difference in a team's productivity. Things like creating a to-do list at the start of each day and blocking off time for "deep thinking" work often help people get organized and feel more focused throughout the workday.
Employees who work on small teams may need to play multiple roles to ensure everything runs smoothly. With such limited resources, you may not be able to have a dedicated full-time marketing person to help you reach your full potential as a brand. That's why we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:
It takes more than just raising your voice
All entrepreneurs are excited to see their businesses grow, but this growth isn't infinitely exponential. Occasionally, the company's growth may become stalled. This contraction might happen due to any number of factors affecting either the business itself or the industry as a whole.
As a leader, you know your workplace dynamic directly impacts employee morale and, in turn, your bottom line. No matter how great your company culture might be, there is always room for improvement. But to make impactful changes, you’ll have to first understand which areas warrant the most attention.
The only way a business can garner new customers and retain current ones is by laying out the benefits that its product or services present to the consumer. In the past, all it took was a flashy headline and a few bullet points that punched home the usefulness of the product or service. Today's world has evolved to a point where traditional advertising no longer makes the same impact. Even newer, more modern methods of advertising are having a hard time getting traction among some demographics.
Customer complaints are a necessary part of a business, but it can be discouraging to deal with them. A good leader knows how to look at customer complaints and extract the positives out of those disparaging comments. A skilled leader can take these complaints and turn them into a power to motivate and direct the business's positive growth.
Customer feedback is an invaluable asset to any company. Without this information, businesses would struggle to figure out what’s working, what isn’t and how they can improve their processes. But how exactly do you get your customers to share their honest opinions – and what do you do with that information once you have it?
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.
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.
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Winning a business or industry award can be a great honor for your business, as well as a highly effective PR opportunity. However, to be considered, you'll first need to submit an application to be reviewed by the award committee. To help you with this process, we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:
Start by creating stellar content, catering to your customers and providing them with value.
Since the internet has permeated business to such an extent, PR crises are becoming far more common for companies. Many of those PR faux-pas are due to misuse or misunderstanding of social media interaction. However, as much as social media can be a tool to cause a PR crisis, it can also be useful in helping to manage it. Social media is still the best way to create a rapport and interact with a particular demographic of customers directly.
Every company has both the need and the potential to grow over time. Whether a business must adapt to new trends or is simply looking to improve its internal processes, high-level change is simply part of a company's journey.
[long-form emailed to Kelsey]
Transparency in business has become a practice that’s favored by not only consumers, but by employees as well. When leaders are transparent with their team about the business, it builds a sense of trust and equips employees to make informed decisions. However, sharing more information than necessary can be distracting at best, and detrimental to company culture at worst.
A strong creative team can help your business develop great ideas and soar to new heights. However, simply having the most talented or innovative people on board isn’t enough. They must not only be willing to make unconventional moves, but they must also place trust in their other team members.
Professionals, regardless of their work environment, sometimes find their focus flagging. If you're someone who has to deal with divided attention between multiple tasks, the amount of effort you put into a job will start telling on your psyche before too long. To deal with this situation, you'll have to figure out how to retain your focus and discipline within the workplace.
[long-form emailed to Kelsey]
Business plans are more than just documents outlining your steps to launching and growing your startup. This plan acts as a map throughout the entire process, and helps you figure out what to do when you face roadblocks or wrong turns.
When you spend time in the business leadership world, you start to hear a lot of cliché phrases and vague terms that other managers frequently use. Sometimes they use them sound smart; other times they're not sure of a better alternative. Either way, these overused words begin to sound like jargon over time, and may lose their meaning when you're communicating with your staff.
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.
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.
[long-form article emailed to Kelsey]
In all walks of life, there will be pitfalls that plague professionals. For an entrepreneur, especially, it may occasionally feel like nothing is working out, no matter what you do. There's a saying that success only comes to those who get back up each time they get knocked down. The problem is that the saying doesn't detail how you get back up from a fall. Some leaders can find themselves falling over and over, and each time the recovery takes more out of them.
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Working remotely has become the new standard in the COVID-19 era. Companies that followed a traditional in-office model have had to adjust to how they presently work, and soon have to learn how to hire remotely.
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.
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.
It's often said that a happy employee is a motivated, productive one. If your team members are feeling good about themselves and their work, they’ll bring that positive energy into everything they do. That's why it's so important to keep a close eye on your overall team morale.
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.
It takes a lot of mental fortitude for an employee to approach their employer for a raise. There's no playbook for managers and business owners to know how to gauge whether an employee deserves a raise or not. The factors as to whether an employee deserves to earn more can be approached in several different ways. From the addition of value to the support they provide, each plays an integral part in determining whether a raise is warranted. That’s why we asked 10 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:
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.
Despite the overwhelming preference for digital media among modern marketers, traditional advertising methods are still being implemented today and driving great results. Newspaper, TV and radio spots can offer tons of potential for businesses looking to reach a local market -- if they're used the right way.
If you have the means, it's important to spread the wealth and give back to the community that has always supported you.
At times it can be difficult to turn off our emotions -- especially when it comes to separating personal feelings and work. While it’s perfectly normal to have negative feelings in the face of difficult work situations, wallowing in these emotions for too long can affect your job performance as well as your overall well-being.
Moving into the second quarter of the year, entrepreneurs should be well aware by now that the only way to ensure that their company gets more efficient is to examine its performance in the previous quarter and see where it can improve. Performance evaluation is much more than just assessments that focus on a small core of metrics.
As more businesses start to realize the benefits of outsourcing, they slowly start cutting down on the number of things they do in house. In many industries, the reduction in costs is so significant that it allows the business to thrive and grow much faster. However, even though outsourcing is an excellent idea for increasing profitability for a business, not all solutions should be outsourced, even if they could be.
As an entrepreneur, it’s useful to have strong business acumen -- an almost intuitive skill that can and must be honed. However, good business sense alone isn’t enough; there are several other traits an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed.
As some of the top leaders in their respective industries, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council know what skills are required to succeed in the business world. Below, they share 10 underrated skills that all entrepreneurs should possess, but often don't.
What video trends will your brand take advantage of this year?
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.
Accessing capital is one of the biggest challenges many new entrepreneurs face. From loans to investments, securing the proper financing is a long and taxing process, but it can be overcome. Members of Young Entrepreneur Council explained how they worked through their funding challenges.
Spending time alone and focusing on the year ahead are among the most effective strategies.
Every business owner hopes to succeed in their venture. Access to the right resources plays a huge role in that success -- but barriers do still exist, especially for female entrepreneurs.
Women in the business world often talk about the importance and benefits of supporting each other. That's why we asked the women of Young Entrepreneur Council how they tap into the right resources and lift up other female leaders in the process. Here's how they've achieved their own success, and helped their fellow female entrepreneurs do the same.
It's up to you to put in the time and effort to complete your project -- even if it means waking up earlier.
A business is built on the reputation it gets through its dealings. Not all the press a company receives will be positive, however. Depending on how the consumers see the business, a company might have mixed reviews on social media.
A business is built on the reputation it gets through its dealings. Not all the press a company receives will be positive, however. Depending on how the consumers see the business, a company might have mixed reviews on social media.
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.
As your business develops over time, you may find its original purpose changing as well. Whether you’re incorporating a new service or changing industries completely, trying a new direction for your company can be risky.
Fortunately, taking the steps to ensure a smooth transition can set the stage for success, as well as make the process easier for all involved. Below, 10 members ofYoung Entrepreneur Council shares their best strategies for companies looking to pivot to something new.
Many a company had to reinvent themselves and especially their customer interactions in order to stay in business. Listening closely to your target audience is often the first and best step your organization should take when planning a major shift.
Running a business is no easy feat, and with each new challenge that arises, an entrepreneur risks becoming buried under the weight of the responsibility. There's no way that an individual can stop the flood of responsibilities, so the only option that a new business owner has is to find an effective and efficient process for managing the situation.
Entrepreneurs have habits that can both aid and hamper their efforts to be better businesspeople. Some practices even seem to be completely harmless but we don’t truly realize how damaging they can be until we make a small change that impacts them and shows how die-reaching its consequences are.
Businesses rely on their stakeholders for services, marketing, and their bottom line. Each of a company's stakeholders has a role to play, but in return, they have certain expectations for the business. Meeting those expectations and exceeding them is the ideal goal for a business. When the company inspires confidence to its stakeholders, it benefits from their increased support.
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.
There's always room for improvement and setting a better example for your team.
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.
Expect a bigger emphasis on building authentic relationships, social purchasing and humanization.
In the modern world, entrepreneurs typically need to maintain both an online and offline presence to generate business. It’s important to connect your digital and real-life persona to keep a consistent image, which can ultimately help build trust with your potential customer and follower base.
The members of Young Entrepreneur Council have spent time honing their personal brands to grow their business. Below, they share 10 ways to successfully connect your offline and online marketing efforts.
Nobody knows everything when they start their first business. Even if you take the time to educate yourself on potential challenges and seek mentorship from more experienced entrepreneurs, there are still some lessons you'll only learn in hindsight.
The members of Young Entrepreneur Council know well the challenges that new founders face when they're first starting out. We asked nine of them to share the one thing they wish they'd done before they launched their company. Below, they reflect on their entrepreneurial journey and share their wisdom with fellow aspiring business owners.
A New Year’s resolution is a great way to kickstart the year on the right foot, while setting the stage for continued growth. However, most people struggle with sticking to their resolutions beyond the first few weeks (or days) of the new year.
So how can you beat the odds and meet your goals in 2020? We asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share how they make their New Year’s resolutions work in the long term. Their best answers are below.
Everyone feels down from time to time -- especially when you're dealing with the stress of running a business. Those negative feelings can make you question everything.
While it's OK to feel down, the best way to relieve that feeling is to actively seek out positive thoughts. That's why we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members what they do in moments of doubt to help remind them of their potential. Ask yourself the following questions to regain your confidence during a mental or emotional rut.
As your company grows, managing both company-wide and department goals can become more and more challenging. It can feel like a delicate balancing act -- and if it's not coordinated properly, prioritizing broader company goals could come at the expense of the individual departments.
As successful business leaders, the experts of Young Entrepreneur Council have learned how to track their department-specific goals as their companies have grown. That's why we asked a panel of YEC members to share their best tips for monitoring departmental objectives. Here's what they had to say.
As an entrepreneur, you’ve likely encountered various risks and obstacles while juggling a myriad of responsibilities. With all these challenges, it’s common for self-doubt to strike at some point in your career. However, it's important to not let those negative perceptions and fears get the best of you.
Many members of Young Entrepreneur Council have felt the sting of uncertainty throughout their careers -- and they’ve figured out how to conquer it. Read on for their best practical tips for banishing self-doubt and growing from the experience.
Building a solid team is one of the best ways to ensure success and longevity for your business. However, finding the right people isn’t always easy.
Small business hiring can be an especially daunting process, since you’re seeking qualified team members who are also aligned with your business’ vision and growth goals. That's why we asked, nine Young Entrepreneur Council members how you can be sure you’re hiring those who are going to help take your business to new heights. Read on for their best advice.
The winter months mean less sunlight, colder temperatures and often, dampened moods. It’s common for people to feel more tired and less motivated in the winter, which can negatively impact work performance. However, a winter slump is not inevitable -- it may require a bit of extra effort, but you and your teams can stay just as motivated during those colder months.
To help you out this winter, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share how they raise spirits in the workplace throughout the season. Follow their recommendations to keep your team feeling productive until spring arrives again.
How will you improve your content this year?
Starting a business always comes with a certain amount of risk. You’re opening yourself to the possibility of both the successes and challenges that come with entrepreneurship, many of which are difficult to predict before you start.
As successful business owners, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council have experienced firsthand the unexpected challenges of starting a company. Below, they share 10 of the toughest obstacles they didn't expect to face, and how other leaders can prepare for them.
A business can learn a lot from data. Business intelligence is the methodology that takes data and derives actionable results from it. When a company utilizes those suggestions, it can lead to higher efficiency and productivity. However, there has been a reluctance in some businesses to give data-driven results a chance. Many feel as though data can't provide the 'human element' that leads to positive change.
Entrepreneurs usually have to locate a source of funds to make their dreams into a reality. Sometimes, all you have is an idea, and as good as that idea is, unless you know how to get funding, it'll remain a thought in your head. Convincing people to invest in a business is more than just laying out the positives and negatives. Finding the right pitch for the correct type of investor is crucial in securing their financial help.
Get your share of increased customer spending this season.
As digital payments evolve and become more commonplace, an increasing number of businesses are accepting them, with some businesses rejecting cash payments entirely. While digital payments can certainly be convenient for customers and businesses alike, it’s important to understand the process and avoid any potential pitfalls.
We asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council for their takes on digital payments. They shared 10 things you should keep in mind as digital payment options evolve, and how those offerings will impact your business in the future.
End-of-year reviews are useful surveys because they help a business better understand its strengths and weaknesses. However, the analysis doesn't have any set way of being done. Different companies conduct their end-of-year surveys in unique ways, tailored to the needs of the business. Regardless, at the heart of every year-end study is the data collected. Analyzing this data can offer an enterprise essential insights into what it could be doing better, and what it excelled at over the previous year.
Risk is often inherent in business, especially when you’re running your own. However, there are steps you can take to manage that risk.
As highly successful entrepreneurs in their industries, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council have learned a lot about effectively mitigating risk and minimizing its impact on their businesses. We asked them to share some practical tips for new business owners who are also new to risk management. Read on for their best answers.
Office culture doesn't stagnate, and there will always be a constant change around how a business operates. Instituting new office procedures and policies as the company culture changes may mean taking some chances. Not all new plans are guaranteed to succeed, and some of them require considerable risk on behalf of the company.
Fundraising for a startup is an involved process. At any step of the way, the system may falter and lead to the company missing out on significant funding. There's no step-by-step methodology for developing a startup funding plan. Each startup is unique, both in the ideas they present and the promise that they make to customers.
An awkward conversation can be a minefield -- one wrong move could spell disaster. The stakes are even higher within a workplace environment. Since colleagues tend to be in close quarters throughout the day, uncomfortable situations that stem from these difficult conversations can fester and lead to unhappiness for both parties.
Make 2020 the best year yet — for your business and life.
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:
Online videos are one of the most successful marketing materials that a business has at its disposal. However, crafting an online video to draw people in takes a bit more skill than merely recording something and adding branding to it.
The rate of technological advancement has seen the world change almost entirely in just a single decade. In a short space of time, humanity has managed to develop advances that people only 50 years ago would be unable to fathom.
The rate of technological advancement has seen the world change almost entirely in just a single decade. In a short space of time, humanity has managed to develop advances that people only 50 years ago would be unable to fathom.
13 Great Methods of Expressing Gratitude
long form emailed to Kelsey
Encourage both individuality and togetherness to make your remote team feel connected and productive.
Help put your company at the top of consumers' minds for years to come.
Help your sales team blow past their weekly, monthly and yearly revenue targets.
This is a great way to dip your toes into becoming a business owner because you don’t have to stock the items that you’re selling.
Customer trust is the foundation for a successful business, but it takes time to build.
Fuller pockets, more happy customers and a better environment is a win-win-win situation all around.
Make your marketing smarter.
Instagram marketing isn't just for social media influencers and mega brands.
Don’t leave your social media engagement up to guesswork; use these proven psychology-based tips to make sure your social media platforms are bustling with activity.
Building a strong bond between your employees—even if you live on opposite sides of the planet—is a vital step to building a healthy work environment.
Strategy11 LLC is a web-development company that specializes in a wide range of web projects and applications from single, static sites to large corporate platforms. We develop and support several WordPress plugins that streamline the development process by reducing timelines and cutting costs. Strategy11 is owned and operated by Steve and Stephanie Wells.
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