Kristopher Brian Jones

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Did someone say “well-rounded?” Well, your SEO manager should be exactly that.

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Business plans are often considered an essential tool to help set a new entrepreneur up for success. This document typically encompasses the vision for your company, including your mission statement, while also pinpointing your target audience, sales projections and growth goals. If you're a new entrepreneur, developing a business plan can be intimidating and you might not know where to start. You may also be prone to making some common errors that business owners tend to make on their first plan. To that end, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council each share one mistake new entrepreneurs often make in their business plans and what they should be doing instead.

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As much as things change, there are a few pitfalls that remain ever-present threats, regardless of how big or small your business is.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss their favorite tech that's come about in response to ongoing culture changes. The ongoing pandemic has permanently changed the way we behave. Working remotely more and leaving the house less means that our whole culture has had to adjust in order to meet new and ongoing needs. As a result, a whole host of innovative technologies have been created or improved upon, giving people the chance to more easily adapt to a world turned upside down. Below, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council share a few of their favorite new or improved technologies that came about in response to the pandemic and why they’re excited to see them grow in the future.

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When you invest in ongoing education and professional development for your employees, it shows them that you value their contributions to the company and, in doing so, it may also bolster morale and loyalty. To support this development, many companies will host speakers or workshops, but it's important to ensure your employees are feeling engaged — especially if it's a virtual meeting. To help you do this, 14 members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) answered the following question:

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss how companies can make the best use of their customer relationship management tools. One factor that separates great companies from good ones is the relationships they build between themselves and their customers. Moving beyond merely transactional interactions, great companies work to get to know their customers on a deeper level and keep track of their communications with them. Cultivating this type of relationship is where customer relationship management (CRM) tools come into play. All the data companies collect to learn more about their customers can be entered into a CRM tool and used in a number of different ways. To help show you and your company how to best make use of your CRM tool, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss their favorite methods of using them below.

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Just like email marketing, you are going to need a solid plan for creating and sending content to your customers.

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By implementing the following growth hacking techniques, you can stay on top of the ever-changing interests of your customers and leverage them to your advantage.

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Nothing good comes easy, but there are some proven ways to go about landing your first enterprise client.

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More and more people in the real estate business are taking advantage of the ways they can use digital marketing to their benefit, and you don’t want to fall behind. 

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share alternative fundraising solutions for entrepreneurs not looking for investors. Entrepreneurs may have many reasons for not seeking out investors for their startups, not the least of which is the desire to maintain total control of their companies. New entrepreneurs may not realize that other options are available that can be just as effective for getting a business started without all the cons of an investor. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council leaders list some alternatives to investors that entrepreneurs can explore in order to fund their projects. Whether you choose to pursue one or a combination of these suggestions, effective fundraising solutions exist for every type of business.

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Email marketing can be extremely effective for advertising products, whether through sale announcements or updates highlighting new items. But this marketing channel can also be leveraged in a number of other ways to connect with customers on a more direct and personal level, ultimately leading to more purchases. If you're looking to expand your current email marketing efforts, it's important to explore and execute the right strategies for your business. Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared some of their favorite email marketing strategies that go beyond just selling a product.

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Yes, businesses are groups of people, human beings working together to achieve common goals, but the public doesn’t necessarily see it that way.

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Getting your voice out there is an important part of becoming a successful thought leader. However, it can be difficult to know the right way to convey your perspectives on different topics without a strong writing foundation. For those entrepreneurs who have never written before, the thought of publishing a piece can seem like a far-off goal—but it doesn’t have to be if you have the right strategies in place. To help guide you in the right direction, 10 Young Entrepreneur Council members shared their best writing tips for aspiring thought leaders.

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In the growing gig economy, there's fierce competition in many freelance markets. Far too often, contractors will try to earn repeat work from a client by going the extra mile and taking on extra work only to not get properly compensated for it. As business professionals, it’s important for freelancers to stand up for themselves and their work and get the compensation they deserve. To help, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared their advice. Below, they discussed what freelancers can do before or after taking a job to ensure that they don't get taken advantage of by their clients.

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For those working within a small business or team, it can be difficult to take time off. No one wants to go on vacation at the expense of their company and peers—especially during periods of rapid business growth. Still, employees and leaders need to establish healthy work-life boundaries, even when their team is small and the work is plentiful. To provide guidance on how to do just that, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared some strategies to help small teams establish balance while their company is growing quickly. Follow their advice to help you and your team better prioritize rest and relaxation.

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As with everyone else, CEOs need the time to think through decisions and then execute the actions and duties that turn those decisions into realities.

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The world of marketing is ever-changing, especially in today's digital-first world. Successful marketers not only need to be masters at capturing customers' attention and showing them the benefits of their product or service, but they also need to know how to leverage the most up-to-date digital tools to reach those customers. As business leaders, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council understand the importance of staying up to date on marketing skills. Below, a panel of them shared nine of the most important habits and skills all marketers should pursue. Read on for their insights on which actions can advance your marketing career.

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Leaders often fall prey to and mistakenly share myths about sales with their team. Believing these misconceptions can hurt their ability to sell. Ten professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council debunk common sales myths and provide the truth on how to be successful in sales. Beware of these myths trying to pass as sage wisdom from salespeople of the past.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their best tips for marketing your newly launched mobile app. When launching a new app, you’ll want to invest your time, money and effort into marketing it. Otherwise, you won’t reach your intended audience or boost your sales. If people don’t know about your app, they likely won’t be able to find it or won’t feel inclined to try it out.  To that end, 13 members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared marketing tactics a company can use to get people excited about their new application before and after launch. Here’s what they recommend and why these methods work so well.

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When establishing a startup, it can be difficult to know which metrics you should be focusing on. You may be watching and reporting on basic key performance indicators (KPIs) such as your gross profit margin, but are there metrics you're overlooking? The answer is most likely yes. These eight Young Entrepreneur Council members have learned through experience that not measuring certain metrics could mean missed opportunities for company growth. So review this list of often overlooked KPIs to see if you're missing any important metrics from your reports.

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A positive role model is someone others want to emulate and follow, and successful entrepreneurs often become — sometimes unknowingly — the role models for other professionals. Whether it’s at work or in their personal lives, these leading entrepreneurs become a focus of attention because they have qualities that aspiring founders strive to replicate. The members of Young Entrepreneur Council recognize, however, that in order to be positive role models for others they need to work on being the best versions of themselves as well. Below, 13 of them share some ways you can work to become a great role model not only for other people, but also for yourself.

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CEOs must know that they cannot do it alone.

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You still have a vital job to do: Perpetually grow the business.

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Digital marketing agencies know that building their SEO teams isn’t always easy. Even the top agencies in the world may have struggled at one point to find the talent that was just right for how they operate.

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This kind of structure lets you look at how your employees contribute to the company and conduct themselves as members of their teams.

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The power to make these choices is all in your hands.

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What the power of stillness and mindfulness in the workplace invites you to do is to cast aside doubts, make your mind a quiet and confident place, and solve your problems with the fullest mental clarity you can muster.

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Be on your way to the audiences you really want.

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Leadership training helps individual employees achieve their professional goals, while regular growth and development workshops can guide entire businesses in determining their direction.

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Keep these four points in mind as you go through the hiring process, and you'll be on your way to building the business you have always wanted.

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You learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes.

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The word "sacrifice" doesn't need to have a negative connotation.

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Investing in leadership training isn’t just a way to refresh and reset the mindset of your existing leaders.

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Hold on tight to the vision of what you want to achieve to see it come to fruition.

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Personal stories about budding business leaders and their eventual successes can help to motivate other aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Show prospective clients that your digital marketing expertise will make their lives easier, not more complicated.

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Develop your company naturally by focusing on improved communication and team bonding.

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Optimize your holiday SEO starting this month, if you haven't already.

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Your goals as an angel investor should begin and end with human beings above all else.

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Meditation can have inexorable effects on your creative output and may help you establish greater harmony with those around you, as well as your inner self.

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Find a system that works for you to maximize productivity and reach your goals.

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Set stretch goal that are still grounded in reality.

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By refreshing your ad display and rotating your audience and network, you can fight ad fatigue and lower your conversion bids.

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It's just a matter of discipline, dedication, and execution.

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Happiness creates a ripple effect in your business.

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Search engine algorithms continue to grow smarter. How will you stay ahead of the curve?

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There's no better time than right now to get started.

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How do you get folks everywhere on board with investing in your idea?

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Instead of raising a round, bootstrapping may just be the answer for accumulating funds for your startup.

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Keep these tips in mind as you navigate the winding road of raising venture funding.

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Whether you're new to the game or are a seasoned pro, it's likely you'll fall victim to one of these common leadership mistakes.

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When it comes to SEO, always modify and iterate.

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Get would-be investors to trust not only in your product but also in you.

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Don't make the rookie mistake of confusing leadership with management.

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SEO agencies and specialists are a dime a dozen, but finding the right fit is key.

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Startup founders have just a few seconds to impress potential investors. Unfortunately, most squander the opportunity.

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If you lack these qualities, you're going to be on the wrong side of some very bleak startup failure rates.

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When Kristopher B. Jones was invited to a meeting with Michael Rubin, he defied conventional wisdom--and ending up selling his company for millions. Here's how.

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Want to sell your startup someday for a big-dollar figure? Start by taking a hard look at your financials today -- even if a sale isn't on your immediate horizon.