Why your business is NOT too boring for Pinterest. Pinterest is more than just a photo and video-driven community for people interested in food, fashion, weddings and lifestyle: it’s become a marketing force. Recent studies have shown that it’s a massive driver for referral traffic to websites, exceeding Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined. However, Pinterest can also appear to be a little intimidating for companies that aren’t in the lifestyle sector. Companies in manufacturing, IT, finance and other business-to-business sectors may worry that what they do is a bit too boring to promote on Pinterest. How to make Pinterest work for your brand The good news is, that’s not the case at all – as I’ll show later in this article.
But first, here’s a quick overview of what Pinterest is, and how it works. Pinterest is an online pin-board for web content: images, videos, documents, text, articles, case studies and more. Other Pinterest users can choose to “follow” your brand, and you can follow others. General Electric Cambro Manufacturing 1. 2. Richard Branson on 5 Vital Startup Basics. Editor's Note: Entrepreneur Richard Branson regularly shares his business experience and advice with readers. Ask him a question and your query might be the inspiration for a future column. Q: I'm a high school student in Sydney. I've been selling key rings and other collectibles on eBay for over a year. I've found that I love doing business, and would like to continue this in the future - I'd like to own a company myself. I would like to expand my business to selling clothing and other items, but a large amount of homework and a lack of money is holding me back. What do you think I should do?
Felix, I really admire your enterprising instincts and ambition to expand your business. You've made some great choices so far. Given the fact that you're considering expansion, it sounds like your enterprise is doing well, which brings me to your question about homework: I left school at 16 to run Student magazine, because I felt that I could not do well at both. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Good luck! The Single Most Important Habit of Successful Entrepreneurs. In his book No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, business coach and consultant Dan Kennedy reveals the steps behind making the most of your frantic, time-pressured days so you can turn time into money. In this edited excerpt, the author describes the one habit you should adopt--and stick to without fail--if you want to be successful. I’m sure there are exceptions somewhere, but so far, in 35-plus years of taking note of this, everybody I’ve met and gotten to know who devoutly adheres to this discipline becomes exceptionally successful and everybody I’ve met and gotten to know who ignores this discipline fails.
Is it possible that this one discipline alone is so powerful it literally determines success or failure? The discipline I'm talking about is punctuality -- being where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there, as promised, without exception, without excuse, every time, all the time. Let me give you one example. Dan S. 5 Ways to Get Customers to Consider Your Brand. One of the things entrepreneurs and chief marketing officers of Inc. 500 companies have in common is their desire to turn "consideration"--marketing-speak for having prospects think of their product or service--into sales. As the head of a marketing communications firm, I hear the word "consideration" multiple times a day. The good news is that there are some surefire ways to get your product, service, or organization added to a buyer's consideration list. In fact, one McKinsey study found that "brands may 'interrupt' the decision-making process by entering into consideration, and even force the exit of rivals.
" Consideration doesn't guarantee your cash register will ring--you'll still have to close the sale--but you can't discount its importance. So in the spirit of the upcoming Super Bowl, allow me to help you carry the ball across the consideration goal line. Here are five tips: 1. Earned media provides credibility, which in turn can impact consideration. Here's a tip: Go old-school. Self-assessment tax returns: the common mistakes to avoid. By Bobby Chadha Updated: Jan 23, 2014 Published: Jan 23, 2014 As anyone who is self-employed or runs their own business will know, HMRC requires a full breakdown of expenses and taxes by the end of January. For many, this means hours talking to their accountant and searching for lost documents.
If there are mistakes in a return, then the whole process can result in hours and – in the worst cases – money wasted needlessly. Here are the common errors people make when filing their self-assessment returns and how you can avoid them. The common typo The most common mistake made by small business owners or entrepreneurs is simple: not triple checking every last detail. There are plenty of mistakes that can creep into your form, so, while it may seem like an obvious piece of advice, force yourself to look over it again and again until you are absolutely certain that every piece of information is recorded in the right place.
Not using an accountant Ignoring your business Not leaving time Not paying HMRC. Barry Schuler: The Most Important Skill Is Knowing How to Build a Team. The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship | Inc. 5000. 12 Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast. 5 Questions That Measure Team Toxicity: Organizational Health Matters. Being a great team is a choice. It doesn't just happen naturally when you bring together a group of talented individuals; it takes hard work and a firm commitment. The sum of a team's parts is tremendous when working cooperatively, as is the pay off for all that hard work. That's the good news. The bad news: Most startup teams are actually functioning more like working groups, which look like teams but don't achieve the same results because they're just not as productive.
What's the key difference? Organizational health. So how do you know if your team is healthy? 1. You can tell a lot about a team by its meetings. Equally bad is the meeting that plays like one PowerPoint deck after another, leading up to a foregone conclusion. When a healthy team meets, it discusses issues relevant to everyone present. 2.
Do people hold back their honest opinions from the group? The reason doesn't matter. 3. Do team members hold one another accountable and discuss destructive behaviors openly? 4. 5.