October 27, 2021

How to Keep Your Startup Team Adaptable

One of the most important traits in a successful startup is adaptability. Over time, you’ll face new competitors, and your existing competitors will launch new products and services to try and out compete you. New technologies will emerge that could drastically change how your business operates (or even render your business obsolete). Market conditions will change, and consumer preferences will […]
October 23, 2021

Is AI Going to Radically Transform the SEO Industry?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is working its way into every imaginable industry. With it, we’re opening the door to automation, better data analytics, higher productivity and a host of other business benefits. But we’re also seeing radical industrial transformations, with some market segments reinventing and redefining themselves in the wake of this new technology. AI is already here, at least in […]
October 16, 2021

Why Are Most SEO Campaigns Unsuccessful?

Open a conversation with a business owner or a marketing professional and ask them what they think about search engine optimization (SEO). Depending on the context and the experiences of the people involved, you might get a glowing review of how great SEO was for their brand. But you might also get an eye roll and an excoriation of the […]
October 8, 2021

Why Good Content Isn’t Always Enough To Compete In SEO

Not long ago, if you wrote good content on a regular basis, you had a decent chance of trouncing your competition in search engine results pages (SERPs), attaining a higher search ranking and therefore getting a higher share of organic traffic. These days, good content is still a major boon for your website — but it’s not enough to compete […]
October 7, 2021

How to Avoid Scams in SEO

Let’s be honest. Search engine optimization (SEO) sounds a bit like a scam on the surface. Google is a search engine designed to give people the best, most relevant and most authoritative results possible. SEO is a collection of tactics designed to “game the system” in a way, ensuring that your site ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). […]
September 29, 2021

Why Is Link Building So Controversial?

It’s loved. It’s hated. It’s promoted and criticized. And in my opinion, it’s misrepresented and misunderstood. Link building, in the general sense, is a marketing tactic closely associated with search engine optimization (SEO). The idea is simple. Construct links pointed back to specific pages of your website, using external domains (and preferably, high-authority ones). Allow those links to funnel traffic to your […]
September 21, 2021

What White Hat SEO Looks Like In 2021

If you’ve ever watched an old Western, you know the person in the black hat is the villain and the person in the white hat is the hero. The person with the white hat will do what’s right. They’ll fight for justice. They’ll speak honestly. They’ll even show restraint and mercy when defeating their opponent. By contrast, the person with […]
September 20, 2021

Is It Too Late to Start a Podcast for Your Business?

Podcasts can be an amazing marketing tool, giving you increased publicity and a built-in platform to advertise your products and services. Over the last decade or so, podcasts have grown from niche hobby to mainstream media channel. In line with this growth trajectory, superstar podcast creators have won big; Joe Rogan, for example, recently landed a $100-plus million deal to become exclusive to […]
September 16, 2021

What is Google Page Experience, and Why Does it Matter?

Have you heard of Google Page Experience? If you haven’t, and you prioritize search engine optimization (SEO) as a strategy to support your business, you’re behind the times. Google’s Page Experience is described as, “a set of signals that measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page beyond its pure information value.” But what exactly does that […]
August 18, 2021

How to Use Authority to Boost the Power of Your Content

Most business owners investing in content marketing know that you have to distinguish yourself if you’re going to be successful. There are millions of people competing for visibility, and although the web is a big place with billions of potential readers, you’ll still have your work cut out for you if you want to stand out. One of the best […]
August 12, 2021

How Content Creation and Content Curation Should Work Together

Most entrepreneurs realize by now just how valuable content can be. With excellent content, you can improve your reputation, attract more people to your website and ultimately score more conversion. What’s more, your content can work synergistically with a variety of different marketing and advertising strategies. You can use it with email marketing, social media marketing and even paid advertisements to […]
July 27, 2021

Should Your Business Try Domain Hacking?

Domain hacking sounds like a nasty cyber attack, but the terms refers to an increasingly common domain selection process. As a business owner, you already know that it’s incredibly important to choose the right domain name. With a better domain name, your company website will be more memorable, more marketable and more highly differentiated. It can even have SEO benefits […]
July 22, 2021

Is It Better to Stay Evergreen or Jump on Trends in Content Marketing?

One of the most common pieces of advice in content marketing is to write as much “evergreen” content as possible. Evergreen content, as the name suggests, has the potential to remain relevant indefinitely. Just as evergreen trees remain lush even in winter, evergreen content remains relevant even as seasonal trends come and go — and even as the news cycle rises and […]
July 14, 2021

6 Ways to Increase Average Order Value for Your Online Business

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’re always thinking about ways you can optimize your business to make more money, whether it’s increasing revenue or cutting costs. If you’re running an online store, one of the best steps you can take is increasing its average order value — in other words, the average dollar amount of products purchased by a single user in a […]
July 1, 2021

The Beginner’s Guide to User-Generated Content

By now, most entrepreneurs are familiar with the tenets of content marketing. You write, record or produce content from scratch, promote it, then reap the rewards of higher brand visibility and traffic.   But what if someone else developed that content for you?   That’s the idea behind user-generated content. Put it to work for you, and it could elevate your brand to new […]
June 25, 2021

What Makes a Customer Valuable to Your Business?

Every entrepreneur knows that customers are important. Without customers, you wouldn’t have a business. These are the patrons who buy your products and services, supplying your company with revenue so it can serve other customers; they’re the biggest link in the chain.   Naturally, most entrepreneurs focus heavily on what they can do to become valuable to a customer. They want […]
June 22, 2021

How Much Education Does an Entrepreneur Really Need to Succeed?

Common sense might tell you that the more educated an entrepreneur is, the greater their chances of success will be. Going to college, getting an advanced degree and undergoing multiple training programs should equip them with more knowledge and experience they can use to build their business.   But at the same time, there are plenty of stories of entrepreneurs who […]
June 15, 2021

Does Being an Influencer Mean Anything Anymore?

A few years ago, you could have made the claim that we were in the “era of the influencer,” where influential experts on social media held tremendous power to direct narratives, persuade followers and even motivate purchasing decisions.   Today, I’d argue we’re entering the “post-influencer” era, where declining trust in influencers (and in each other) and the over saturation of […]
June 1, 2021

When Is It Time to Give Up on an SEO Campaign?

If you’re like most modern companies, you’ve at least flirted with the idea of starting a search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. Maybe SEO has allowed you to capture a massive stream of inbound traffic and currently represents the most successful element of your marketing strategy. Or maybe you’re somewhere in between.  The appeal of SEO is pretty obvious. Rank higher […]
May 26, 2021

How to Project Confidence as an Entrepreneur

Skills, knowledge and experience all come into play when you’re defining yourself as an entrepreneur and growing your company. But you also need to think about your image. In your personal brand, in meetings with clients, in pitches to investors and even when talking to your team, you’ll need to learn how to project confidence if you’re going to succeed.   […]
May 1, 2021

Why Marketers Are Suffering From Bad Content

Content marketing is one of the dominant strategies in the modern digital marketing world. That’s partially due to its accessibility (since anyone can write and publish content on the web). But it’s also a testament to its effectiveness.   Of course, practicing content marketing isn’t a surefire way to generate traffic or even build your brand reputation — especially now. The truth is, marketers […]
April 16, 2021

The Benefits of Using Multiple Domains for Your Business

You already know that choosing a domain is important. In fact, it’s one of the most important early decisions you’ll make for your business. Choosing the right domain can impact your visibility, your memorability and even your reputation. It’s going to influence your marketing and advertising strategies for years to come. And for the right domain, you might need to shell out […]
April 1, 2021

How to Stand Out in a Crowded Content Marketing Space

For more than a decade, content marketing has been a favorite marketing strategy for businesses of all sizes in nearly all industries. It’s straightforward, it’s cost-efficient and it has the potential to scale almost indefinitely, so its popularity is neither a surprise nor a secret.   Entrepreneurs and marketers are often eager to begin a content marketing strategy, especially because it […]
March 24, 2021

Here’s Where First Impressions Can Make or Break Your Brand

You’re likely already familiar with the power of first impressions. Maybe you’ve utilized it as a tool while professionally networking. Or maybe you’ve been the victim of a bad first impression experience.   Whatever the case, the psychological principle is pretty straightforward. The first few minutes a person spends with you — and sometimes, the first few seconds — have the power to […]
March 19, 2021

What Every Entrepreneur Can Gain From Mindfulness

Most entrepreneurs understand the importance of demonstrating confidence, leadership and patience in their role. They know the elements of good decision-making and are seasoned experts when it comes to time management.   But there’s a less frequently discussed tool that entrepreneurs can use to improve their performance in almost every area that counts: mindfulness meditation.   What is mindfulness meditation?   Mindfulness refers […]
March 19, 2021

How to Use Automation (and Avoid the Pitfalls) as an Entrepreneur

All over the world, entrepreneurs are turning to a powerful tool to improve their efficiency and raw output: automation.   Often hailed as the ultimate weapon for increasing productivity, automation certainly has a lot of advantages. But it’s not guaranteed to be effective. In fact, when used incorrectly, automation can end up working against you.   To use automation effectively, you need to […]
March 12, 2021

How to Spot Entrepreneurial Burnout (Before It’s Too Late)

Entrepreneurship is challenging. Some days, it’s downright exhausting. For many entrepreneurs, there comes a “last straw” breaking point where the conditions are too stressful or too overwhelming to continue. But for most others, the eventual loss of passion for entrepreneurship — better known as burnout — is something slower and more gradual. It’s a creeping feeling that grows from day to day and eventually […]
March 4, 2021

Why Entrepreneurship Is the Engine of Economic Development

We often hear that entrepreneurship is important, but it’s hard to overstate just how vital entrepreneurship is for the economy at large. Entrepreneurial activity, or in other words, the creation of new businesses, is what supports local economies, what supports our country’s GDP and what helps the stock market continue to grow. So why is it that entrepreneurship is such a […]
February 19, 2021

How to Form Better Habits as an Entrepreneur

For better or worse, our habits define us and, if significant enough, can shape our future. The habits we practice every day, whether big or small, eventually add up as the sum total of our behavior. They impact our decisions, our actions and even our internal thoughts and feelings. Good habits can make us smarter, more physically fit and better […]
February 11, 2021

How to Host Better Virtual Meetings

If you’re like most professionals, you spent a lot of time in virtual meetings in 2020 and will in 2021 — more than you ever thought possible in, say, 2015. And if you’re like most professionals meeting virtually, you’ve lamented the fact that they could be better. Virtual meetings suffer many of the same drawbacks as traditional meetings, including poor organization, bloated […]
February 4, 2021

Why Your Business Plan’s First Draft Is Terrible

You’ve written a first draft of your business plan, and you’re getting ready to shop it around to investors. But I don’t even need to read it. I already know it’s terrible. You may consider this presumptuous of me. How could I possibly know what’s in your business plan if I haven’t looked at it? The answer is simple. All first […]
January 19, 2021

Can You Run a Successful Business with No Experience?

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs — the ones running multi billion-dollar corporations — have their experience to thank for their success, at least in part. In fact, most “successful” entrepreneurs have failed at least once in previous business endeavors. It’s not surprising. Spending time as the leader of a business will introduce you to a host of new ideas, skills and […]
January 12, 2021

How to Cultivate Humility as an Entrepreneur (and Why You Should)

There are many traits that define successful entrepreneurs (and successful leaders in general). They’re confident. They’re decisive. They’re calm under pressure. But there’s an underrated quality that may be even more important: humility. Learning to cultivate humility within yourself, and possibly within your team members, can help you lead more efficiently and see the world in a different way. The […]
January 4, 2021

The True Failure Rate of Small Businesses

Have you heard that 90 percent of new businesses fail? Or that 50 percent of new businesses fail? Stick around in the entrepreneurial community long enough and you’ll likely hear a wide spectrum of claims, mostly falling between these two extremes. But what is the true failure rate of small businesses? And should it influence your decisions as an entrepreneur? […]
December 29, 2020

How to Help a Business Thrive During an Economic Recession

Most entrepreneurs at least partially depend on the state of the economy for their businesses to thrive. During times of high consumer confidence, spending is higher, companies are willing to take more risks and most businesses are able to generate more revenue. But during times of hardship, it’s harder to get financing, revenue dries up and the entrepreneurial environment is […]
December 23, 2020

How Content Marketing Became So Saturated

Content marketing has been a favorite strategy of entrepreneurs in practically all industries for the past decade or so. It has synergy with dozens of other online marketing tactics, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing and email marketing, and offers one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) of any marketing strategy. Accordingly, it’s easy to see why content marketing […]
October 27, 2020

The Problems With Passive Income for Entrepreneurs

“Passive income” is a phrase uttered by most modern entrepreneurs, as they seek to achieve the greatest amount of profit for the least amount of effort. It’s such a popular concept that it’s become a veritable buzzword, losing meaning each time it’s included in the title of an article or the foundation of a business plan. And don’t get me wrong; […]
September 17, 2020

Creativity Is Your Best Problem-Solving Tool — Here’s How to Harness It

Entrepreneurs are problem solvers at heart. Most businesses are designed to solve some kind of consumer problem; for example, you might sell a product that allows people to do something they’d otherwise be incapable of or sell a service that makes someone’s life easier. And in the course of business leadership, you’ll be responsible for solving a multitude of problems, from […]
September 16, 2020

Should You Tap Into Personal Savings to Start a Business?

Building a business takes money. If you’re starting a brick-and-mortar traditional business, it could take tens of thousands of dollars to get things rolling. If you’re dealing with intensive infrastructure needs, you may need even more — in the realm of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. At the other end of the spectrum, you may be able to start a microbusiness […]
August 19, 2020

Online Content Monetization 101: How to Make Money From Content

Online content has gotten incredibly popular for a handful of motivating reasons. First, it’s easier than ever to publish your own content: Anyone (even those with no money) can start blog, upload recorded videos or even live stream. Second, demand for online content is skyrocketing; more people are reading blogs, watching videos and engaging with social media influencers than ever before. Third, […]
July 29, 2020

5 Successful Remote Businesses That Paved the Way for Modern Startups

Can you replicate the models of these businesses and go fully remote? Remote work is becoming more popular, in the short term because of the global health crisis, but in the long term because of increasing acceptance of the value of remote work. Operating remotely, companies can save money, access a bigger talent pool and look more attractive in the […]