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Sifting through piles of job applications and resumes can be tedious work. However, you can take advantage of certain recruiting “hacks” to find the best job candidates, people who are likely to be a great fit right from the start. To learn more about methods that work, 14 successful entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) shared their favorite recruiting tips for finding the best of the best.

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The holiday season is fast approaching, which means it's time for businesses to start planning and executing their marketing strategies for the busiest time of the year. With so much riding on this season, it's not enough to recycle the same old marketing campaigns you've used in years past. Instead, try thinking outside the box and coming up with a fresh, new strategy that will entice and engage consumers throughout the season. To help you shake up your holiday marketing, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared some innovative tactics they believe companies should try this year. Follow their advice to set yourself up for a successful holiday sales season.

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In an era when cybercrime and data breaches are more prevalent than ever, businesses can't afford to ignore data security. From phishing and ransomware attacks to careless password practices, there are countless ways for thieves to penetrate your company's digital walls and access sensitive information. That's why all businesses should implement any strategies they can to improve the security of their company data. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members offered some quick and easy solutions that will help you shore up your defenses. Follow their tips to make your business more secure.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share the innovative apps and software that help them better manage their work. When it comes to getting work done, a myriad of tools are out there, all designed to save you time and effort. But with so many options on the market to choose from, with many having the same features and benefits, you may feel overwhelmed when trying to select the right one for you and your team. To help narrow down your choices, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members each shared their favorite software or app for managing their daily, weekly or monthly tasks and why they simply can’t live without them.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some important qualities companies should look for in their CTO candidates. Because the chief technology officer position is so important, you need to ensure that the right person assumes the role. A CTO needs to not only have a strong command of technology, but also project management, organization and team dynamics, among other things. If you’re hiring a CTO for the first time, you may not know exactly what to look for when reviewing applications and interviewing job candidates. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared 14 traits they look for when hiring a CTO and why each quality is so essential to the job. 

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Technology can be an incredible asset for a small business when its uses are carefully considered and researched. Some business owners, however, may feel overwhelmed by the amount of technology they do or don’t need to succeed. To help you avoid making poor decisions around business tech, we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members to weigh in on the common business technology mistakes startups make that you should definitely steer clear of.

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Seeking a mentor is a crucial step to success, especially if you're a young person just starting out in your career journey. Mentors can help their mentees learn from their own mistakes, widen their networks and encourage them to pursue their dreams. Entrepreneurs often make great mentors, as they can speak from experience on the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurial success. However, it's not always easy to find and convince an entrepreneur to be your mentor. Below, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared what young professionals should know about seeking mentorship from a business owner.

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One of the most significant milestones for any business is the day it reaches a point of expansion. While every business owner looks forward to the day they can grow their business, it's important not to be hasty in doing so. A successful business expansion depends on a number of factors and needs to be carried out at the right time. To help you understand when the time is right for you to expand your business operations, 13 experts from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) answer the following question:

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As a leader with a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, you'll likely experience many moments that cause you anxiety or fear. Whether you're battling imposter syndrome or simply taking on too much work, it's easy to feel like you're just treading water. Thankfully, there are ways you can address these stressors and insecurities to become the most empowered leader possible. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared some "brain hacks" to help leaders overcome these fearful moments. Follow their advice to help you move forward in your business with confidence.

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There's a lot of planning that goes into designing the look of a retail store. While you definitely want to add style elements that are expressive of your brand, you also need to consider your target customers. A well-designed store will not only attract more customers, but can also lead to higher sales. To help you figure out the most important aspects to consider when designing your retail store, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) answered the following question:

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When you're looking for advice on how to manage certain parts of your business, it can be wise to seek an advisor to counsel you. However, hiring the wrong advisor can lead you down a long and frustrating path that could even result in losses for your business. There are some unwritten rules to follow when seeking out a professional to advise you on business matters. Here, members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their expert tips on what all entrepreneurs should keep in mind when seeking out a business advisor.

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Whether it’s about a job offer or a potential business partnership, every professional will find themselves negotiating at some point in their career. The secret to achieving a positive outcome for both parties doesn’t have to be a mystery, however, and the key is often in thorough preparation and knowing some effective negotiation strategies. To help professionals who are looking to hone their negotiation skills, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared important steps to negotiating well.

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Whether working from home or in an office setting, it can be easy to get distracted from work. Grabbing coffee with a co-worker or taking a quick break to surf the web can quickly turn into time lost from the task at hand. Even too much work can lead to overwhelm, frustration and, ultimately, procrastination. While managers want employees to take breaks when needed and have some freedom with their workloads, it can be challenging to balance all this while also fostering productivity. For leaders looking to help their teams achieve that balance, try encouraging your employees to take up these daily habits, suggested by a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members. Below, these experts list the habits they’ve instilled in their own teams to help them gain more focus and boost productivity.

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Businesses have access to a treasure trove of valuable customer data, from how their audience is engaging with a social media post to their feedback on a product or service. When properly collected and analyzed, this data is invaluable for improving the customer experience — but you need to be collecting the right data. Below, 12 members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) share their insights by responding to the following question:

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Time management can be a challenge when you’re faced with work that’s piled up over a period of time. It can be overwhelming to look at a list of tasks and determine which are priorities and which can be temporarily moved to the side, causing some employees to stress or panic about where to even begin.  To alleviate this situation, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council explained what an overwhelmed employee should do to get back on track. From actionable advice like speaking with management to tips for adjusting your mentality, these entrepreneurs share their best habits for better managing your time despite an overwhelming workload.

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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. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their best tips on how to step outside your comfort zone.

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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. To help businesses boost brand loyalty, 14 Young Entrepreneur Council members offer their best advice.

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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? With more than three billion users spread across the most popular social networking platforms today, it’s easy to get lost in the mix — even if you are spending top dollar on paid advertising and influencer outreach. The good news is, there are always new methods that are grabbing attention, while other advertisers and content creators are focusing on stale content methods. To help in this process, we’ve reach out to eleven experts from YEC to discuss their best tips on how to catch the attention of millennials and help your brand stand out among the competition. Follow their advice to provide the value this generation so desperately wants.

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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. Avoid creating annoying and frustrating customer experiences with chatbots by following the insights from these 10 YEC professionals. They’ve pinpointed the most irritating features and designs of chatbots and offered ways to instead maximize their usefulness.

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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.

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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. Listening to your employees and their ideas is a powerful and important way to help your business grow and progress, so how can you get them to speak up? To help, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council provide tips on how to encourage employees to share their ideas at work.

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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? To help, 10 small business experts from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) answered the following question:

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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.

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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. With this in mind, 14 members of Young Entrepreneur Council responded to the following question:

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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. To help you better spot the signs, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members offer eight indications that your company needs additional support staff. Look for these issues within your business so you can face the problems head-on and give your employees the help they need to do their jobs well.

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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. To help you figure out which questions to ask, 12 business leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) respond to a question of their own:

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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.

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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. To help you do this, 15 members of Young Entrepreneur Council answered the following question:

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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. If you find yourself in this situation, follow this advice from the members of Young Entrepreneur Council:

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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. Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council examine the key elements that businesses should look at when developing packaging for a product and explain why these factors can help the product be more attractive.

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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. When done correctly, these virtual sessions can be just as effective and engaging as in-person meetings. To help you create an educational and helpful webinar for your business, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their best advice. Follow their recommendations as you plan your next online business event.

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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. Below, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council discussed strategies busy professionals can use to reclaim up to five hours of their time back each week. Here's what they recommend and how these strategies have worked for them.

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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:

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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. It takes a certain skill set to succeed in a remote work environment, so it's vital to identify some key traits that will set a candidate up for success. Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared the qualifications they've been looking for in new hires lately, especially those who will be working remotely.

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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. But forgiving yourself isn’t always so easy. Below, eight professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss how to bounce back after a mistake and how not to be too hard on yourself going forward.

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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:

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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. Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the steps a business owner can take to ensure that they have a hiring process that embraces diversity, as well as explain why this is so important to creating a truly successful business.

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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. But what's the most effective way to do so, given how complex an issue cybersecurity really is? To shed some more light on this topic, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their opinions on whether or not companies have a responsibility to educate consumers about cybersecurity and list some effective ways to go about doing so.

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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. However, there are some skills that are more valuable than others and some that are highly underrated. Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council examine some of the underrated skills that they think entrepreneurs should cultivate, even if others aren’t.

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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. While some employers won't bother to broach the subject, others could view the termination as a questionable part of a candidate’s work history unless the issue is brought out into the open and discussed with transparency and honesty. So how should a candidate approach this topic? Below, eight professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council offer some advice about how to discuss your previous job loss so that you won't dissuade a potential new employer from hiring you.

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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. But with so many of these tools on the market, you could spend months sorting through them to find the ones that work best for you and your business. To help you narrow down the list, 15 leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council offer their best suggestions for free tools that solopreneurs can use to help keep startup costs down.

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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. However, building a loyal community is only possible if the brand is strong enough and forges a robust relationship with those customers. To offer guidance on how to achieve this goal, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss a few lesser-known ways brands can encourage engagement and why those methods are so successful.

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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. In many cases, serving customers better begins with great design. This applies not only to the design of physical products, but to the user experience and interface of digital products. To provide their own expert insight, a group of successful entrepreneurs shared some design trends they expect to see in 2021 and why these trends will be so impactful.

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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:

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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. When it comes to marketing, many business owners make mistakes without even knowing they’re doing so. If not addressed, these issues can lead to failed campaigns, unjustified expenses and very few results. Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council look at some of the most common mistakes new entrepreneurs make when planning their marketing efforts and the best ways to remedy them.

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Entrepreneurs share their favorite tools, apps, and software for managing and interacting with customers. Connectivity is of the utmost importance in the modern world. In business particularly, social media, email, and other outreach methods have the potential to engage consumers like never before. In such a highly connected society, a business that doesn't leverage these tools for consumer engagement is at a disadvantage compared to its competitors.  This is why many businesses utilize several channels of communication to ensure that their customers always feel engaged. But what sort of tools do they use to accomplish that job? Here, 18 members of YEC discuss their favorite tools, apps, and software they use to drive customer engagement efforts and connect with their audiences.

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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. To offer some guidance, 13 professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) use their own experience hiring for senior-level positions to reflect on the following question: “What's the best recruiting lesson you've learned when it comes to hiring for a senior position within your company? How has it affected future hires?”   Here’s a few of their most important tips.

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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. However, some people really do manage to attain their goals. Some entrepreneurs have developed great success by sticking to their New Year’s resolutions, but what's their secret? Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some helpful tricks to ensure that you can achieve your own New Year’s resolutions this year.

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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:

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17 members of YEC share effective tactics for gathering together leaders in a way that will lead to actual productivity and strategizing. For a business to thrive it needs its leaders to be able to communicate, plan and execute effectively. In order to do this, it’s vital for leaders to gather together — whether in person or virtually — to discuss plans and exchange ideas. For most leaders, these meetings are a chance to have their say in how the business runs. And with companies these days looking at ways to pivot and take advantage of a new business environment, it's not strange to see companies branching out to find more creative ways to bring leaders together. In the past, boardrooms or conference venues were the preferred meeting point for leaders. But as busy executives, it can be challenging to find a time that works for everyone. And even if you can get together, meetings that don’t have a game plan may not always lead to the most productive conversation. Below, 17 members of YEC look at different creative ways business leaders can gather together for effective strategizing and conversation.

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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. To help business owners handle this situation tactfully and professionally, we asked 13 members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question: Whether it's politics during an election year, a major crisis or even just a regular day, controversial topics are bound to come up on a business's social media. What's one tip you have for dealing with these issues, and why does it work?

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18 entrepreneurs from YEC look at the main reasons why an organization should get insurance. New entrepreneurs sometimes look at business insurance as a luxury, not a necessity. For a lot of small-business owners, business insurance is a gamble -- it covers the business from liability and in the event of property damage, but unless either of those happens, it seems like wasted money. Before a company decides to avoid insurance altogether, the owner must look at what the insurance offers in more than just economic terms. Insurance also deals with how efficiently the business can operate. Businesses that have the assurance that they’re covered in any eventuality may be more inclined to take risks and innovate. Insurance, by design, can help or hinder a business. By focusing on the important details that impact a business’s everyday operation, an owner can determine whether insurance is a crucial consideration for the long-term health of the company. In some industries, insurance can save the company tens of thousands of dollars in liabilities. Some professionals require coverage before they’re allowed to open a firm in some states. If your industry requires that you have business insurance, you will need to examine what each of the providers offer with their policies to ascertain the level of coverage they provide. An additional element that business owners ought to consider is what the insurance covers. Some insurance companies only offer the bare minimum of coverage. Their policies don’t cover damage to assets or the building, and may only offer third-party coverage to individuals the business may have caused damage to. It’s vital that a company that takes out business insurance know what their insurance can cover and whether they may need more than the basic third-party coverage. To help, 18 associates of YEC discuss what a business owner should consider when deciding on business insurance and why these elements are crucial to the decision.

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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? Luckily there are tried-and-true methods for establishing a dialogue with your customers so you can serve them better. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share strategies business owners can use to get concrete feedback from their customer base.

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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.  Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council recall a positive customer experience they've had or have been part of and what it meant to them. Take note of these examples to learn effective ways to boost your customers' happiness with your business.

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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:

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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. However, some organizations have refined their candidate sourcing. They've streamlined the process to ensure that they only get those that are already qualified for the position. In such a case, it's just a matter of choosing the most viable candidates. Narrowing down these candidates is a lot easier with filtering early on in the process. Here, 10 experts from YEC explore their preferred methods for locating the ideal candidate for their businesses and explain why those strategies work so well to net them the best individuals for the job.

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Programming is highly in demand in today's digital-first world. Try these tools, courses and platforms recommended by business leaders. Today's world is all about technology, which means people who can develop software and applications are in very high demand. However, many companies that need help with development have found there simply aren't enough qualified programmers to go around. Businesses that are in need of programming talent but can't find or don't have the budget to hire top tech candidates often choose to build the skills of their internal team to supplement their needs. Fortunately, there are countless free and low-cost tools, courses and programs that can help teams boost their programming skills. We asked 15 members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share their top tool recommendations for businesses that want to build programming into their professional development flow.

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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. However, you may have noticed that not a whole lot of people engage with your posts immediately after they get published. Engaging people with your social media platform requires a little bit more skill and strategy than just posting regularly. These 12 associates of YEC examine some of the lesser-known or unique ways companies can use to get their followers to engage more on social media.

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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. Even so, there are a few handy tips and tricks that you can use to get people to trust you enough to give you their email -- most notably by being transparent and showing the value you will provide them with. These 12 experts from YEC discuss some of the most effective methods and take a look at why they're so good at convincing people to sign up for your email list.

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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. The pandemic may have slowed in-person conferences and presentations, but it's likely a temporary effect—and there are plenty of virtual opportunities out there right now. We asked 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council their advice on finding great speaking engagements to build up your brand. Here are their recommendations for tracking down the best opportunities for you.

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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. However, entering retail distribution is complicated and requires a carefully planned strategy. To help, eight business leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council share their insights into what steps a company can take to move its invention or product close to retail distribution and why those steps are likely to result in success.

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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:

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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. To help you, we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share some creative and effective ways to give regular performance feedback to your key team members. Follow their advice to stay connected to your team, even as your company grows.

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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. But negative comments don’t mean you’ve failed. In fact, you can use them as a learning tool and an opportunity to build a positive outcome with the other party. To help you do this, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council their strategies for responding to negative feedback the right way. Their best responses are below. 

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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. As with all approaches, however, there are significant positives and negatives to using personality tests this way. To help us understand the extent to which employers should rely on personality tests to gauge an employee's viability for recruitment or development, we asked 13 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

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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. In any business place (but especially in a service-centered organization), time is money. You can only be present so often at locations that need you to be there. As the business grows, these locations multiply, while just one of you remains. How does an entrepreneur deal with this? Eight experts from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss how they grew their own service-based companies, offering actionable advice for any entrepreneur who wants to follow the same tactics.

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These 20 entrepreneurs from YEC discuss their favorite market research tools and why you should be using them. Without a proper view of the market, a business has no chance to resonate with the consumers most likely to buy their product. In the past, the best way of interacting with consumers was to simply put out an ad in the most-seen public medium at the time and hope it would land on fertile ground. Thankfully, the approach has changed in modern days, and now we have a lot more tools to offer us in-depth insights into what our ideal customers like and dislike. Using this as a basis, we can adapt our marketing attempts to appeal to those customers. The question now is, how do we obtain that data? Market research tools go hand-in-hand with e-commerce and internet marketing. Visitors to a website provide the best and most accurate picture of the kind of people the website already attracts. Using this data as a baseline, a business can feed it into an analytics engine and get back valuable information about the kind of customers already coming to its site. Based on those results, the business can then adjust its marketing push to reach out to a broader demographic or drill down into converting more of those visitors to buyers. There are many layers that marketing data reveals that can be priceless to a business looking to raise its conversion rates. Today, a business that doesn't depend on market research to guide its advertising and marketing is at a distinct disadvantage to other companies that do. The companies that make the best use of available tools will be more successful in reaching out to their ideal customers. Here, 20 associates of YEC discuss their favorite market research tools and explain how those solutions can help any business achieve its marketing goals.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the past year's most pressing technology concerns and how we should address them. The past year has seen unprecedented changes to public health and the global economy. Many facets of daily life and work moved into the digital realm, and the shift highlighted some underlying business technology issues that are getting in the way of productivity, communication and security. As successful business leaders, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council understand how important it is to have functional, up-to-date technology. That's why we asked a panel of them to share what they view as the biggest business tech problem of the past year. Here are the issues they're concerned about and the innovations they believe will help solve them.  

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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. It's tempting to just put these arguments down to strong personalities butting heads, but reconciling these differences is critical for the good of the company. Below, nine professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council offer their insight into how co-founders can maintain a healthy relationship, even while the company grows around them.

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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. To help you put your staff in an innovative mindset, we asked 14 members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

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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. To that end, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council how they recommend capitalizing on those existing strengths and making them even stronger. They shared their best strategies below.

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17 leaders from YEC share the tools and processes they use and why they work. In the digital age, a company not tapping into automation is losing time and productivity. Relying on human contributors to produce content is still the best approach. However, in distributing this content, automated processes, tools, and strategies are always more efficient. In marketing, efficiency means a better return on investment because it speeds up turnover time and costs less than manual methodologies. Companies can ill-afford to waste time on manual methods when automated means of getting the message out to an audience exist. In the world of marketing, time is money. Automation utilities save time, and as a result, increase the company's ROI on their marketing budget. How does a business automate its marketing? Some entrepreneurs think automation is complicated, requiring a long process of learning how to use new tools. Others fear it requires adding a specialized IT department to their company, which might be a considerable upfront cost to the company. Neither of these things is true. In fact, some of the best automation tools that you need to use are both simple and cost-effective. Even those with an associated price tag usually pay for themselves in the savings the business makes through its automation. Automation doesn't have to be a scary, unknown landscape. To help, we consulted 17 entrepreneurs from YEC about the marketing automation tools, strategies, and processes they utilize to make life easier and increase their marketing ROI.

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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. While stress is an inevitable part of life, it doesn't have to consume you and get in the way of your success. That's why we asked 15 members of Young Entrepreneur Council how they manage to overcome the mental and emotional stressors of living and working in the modern world. Try their practical, actionable strategies the next time you're feeling overwhelmed at work or at home.

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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:

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Young Entrepreneur Council members share some of the most exciting trends and developments they've seen in digital marketing this year. Digital marketing is constantly evolving, and professionals must stay on top of trends to remain competitive in their respective industries. This year in particular has presented new and unprecedented circumstances for businesses around the world. As a result, companies have had to adapt their digital marketing strategy to customers’ ever-changing needs -- which, while challenging, has also led to incredible innovation. We asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council about the most exciting digital marketing developments they’ve seen this year so far. Below, they share 14 of their favorite trends and how they’re impacting the future of the industry.

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“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. But what does it take to become a thought leader, and what actionable steps can you take toward that goal? We asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share some specific factors that define an industry thought leader and what actions people can take to start stepping in the right direction. They shared their responses below.

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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:

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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. As an entrepreneur, it’s important to be aware of these changes so you can adapt accordingly. Your business’s social presence can make or break your reputation. That's why we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members how they keep up with evolving social media functions. They offered their best tips for using such changes to engage your audience.

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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. To help you stay inspired, we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share some unconventional ways content teams can create fresh content that will engage their audience. Their best answers are below.

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17 professionals from YEC share the best websites for locating fresh talent. There has been a change in how companies approach the idea of outsourcing. In recent years, businesses have grown less fond of doing everything in-house and more open to hiring freelancers to lend them a hand. This new reality in the world of employment has spawned a massive explosion of websites that cater specifically to professionals providing talent to companies. Searching for local expertise, in particular, can help to enhance the region and support the local community. Additionally, local contractors are easy to get in touch with, either though message or by direct phone call. Occasionally, you may need someone familiar with the region you're operating in, which is why outsourcing to a local freelancer is the right call. Many companies overlook local talent because they have the misconception that imported talent is automatically better. Knowing where to look to find the best in local talent might encourage you to reconsider your opinion on hiring locals to work for your company. Many of these websites offer businesses access to a wide pool of qualified candidates, as well as the possibility of fine-tuning their search so as to identify the most relevant candidates. Filters you can get access to include the location (for local or regional talent), ratings, and expertise. All of these are critical factors in determining whether a freelancer or professional will fit the business's needs. However, not all of these websites are built in the same vein. Seventeen professionals from YEC share valuable advice on the best websites for finding outside talent -- local or not – and explain why those resources are vital to their own businesses.

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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:

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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. That's why we asked 16 professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

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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. These devices collect personal data and monitor things like increased heart rate, steps taken and hours slept. But just how long will they remain in consumers' good graces? We asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members about their thoughts on what might derail the wearables revolution. Here’s what they had to say.

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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. The unfortunate truth is that you can't just stick your head in the sand and avoid naysayers altogether. While their negativity is depressing, sometimes they have valuable knowledge and information you will need. How can an aspiring young business owner deal with this situation? We asked 12 members of Young Entrepreneur Council about their experiences dealing with those types of people and how they overcame the negativity to be successful. Here's what they had to say.

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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. By limiting the data you collect to just the most pertinent bits, you will still be able to extract useful knowledge about clients while also  earning their trust for not asking access to all of their information. To help businesses wondering what kind of data to collect, we asked 13 professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

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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. The companies that make IoT products have a responsibility to ensure the security of its users' personal data. That's why we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share some often-overlooked ways IoT companies can make their newest products more secure. Their best insights are below.

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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. As successful business leaders, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council are constantly watching and analyzing marketing trends to improve their growth and brand recognition. Below, they share the smartest social media moves they’ve seen, and how you can execute that same strategy to achieve great results.

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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. Business communication deals with how the company interacts with clients including their overall branding promise. Naturally, a small company is likely to have a different approach to a larger one, simply because of the scale of the communication involved. We consulted 14 entrepreneurs from YEC to ask them about the best ways for a business to ensure that their communication scale keeps up with their business growth. Here's what they had to say.

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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:

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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:

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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. To help those working remotely in a group, we asked 15 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

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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. The underlying problem that affects leaders that don't delve into self-discovery when they should, is not fully understanding how this exercise can benefit them. Introspection is more than mere navel-gazing. It imparts in-depth knowledge about oneself that can go on to aid a leaders' business interests. Fifteen associates of Young Entrepreneur Council offer insight into how any entrepreneur can make the most of daily reflection or journaling practices.

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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. So how can you effectively build trust among your team during times of uncertainty? We asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council how leaders can earn and keep employees' trust during a pivot or critical point in the company. Their best responses are below.

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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. To help with this important task, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council how they recommend keeping customer conversations productive and positive. Follow their tips to help you build strong, long-lasting relationships with your buyers.

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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. However, the way Gen Z uses social media is different than older generations, and reaching them can be a challenge. You need a targeted approach that speaks to their values, interests and lifestyles. Here's how 16 members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend connecting with Gen Z-ers on social media.

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19 entrepreneurs delve into where online freelance talent is most readily found Businesses have changed their approach to hiring in recent years. More and more companies are relying on freelance talent as opposed to in-house contracts. It's not surprising that the paradigm has shifted in this way, however. Freelancers can be less of a drain on company resources, but they can also be more efficient than in-house hires. Even so, businesses need to find freelance sites that offer talented individuals, accessible search functions, and escrow services in some cases. All of these factors contribute to developing a long-lasting relationship with a freelancer. The rise of freelancing has seen several different locations open up around the internet that offer businesses a chance to interact with professionals. Unfortunately, there are many freelance sites to sort through, and finding the right fit for your needs may take some trial and error. Businesses need to be careful about sourcing their freelancers to avoid hiring someone who is not good for the project or who may have a nonprofessional behavior. How does a company narrow down the best places to source a freelancer online? We consulted 19 entrepreneurs from YEC about the best places to source freelance talent online. Here's what they told us.

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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. We asked eight successful entrepreneurs to share their best approaches for handling disagreements with colleagues. Follow their advice the next time you and your colleagues seem to be butting heads.

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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.

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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.

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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. However, with a little bit of know-how, an entrepreneur can implement effective methods to save money, even in the early days of a company's operation. Below, seven professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council describe their proven methods for saving money while trying to get their business off the ground.

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

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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.

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

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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. But with so many available options, how can a busy entrepreneur identify the most suitable tools for their own needs? To help, we’ve asked eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council about their own essential gadgets and applications that they can’t do without, whether in their personal life or at work. Here's what they had to say.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Should you conduct a structured or an unstructured interview?

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

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

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

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No business is immune to cyberthreats.

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

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

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

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