"Entrepreneurs, Start Building Your Support Network" Rachel Beider in INC Magazine

As with most things in life and business, getting started may be the most difficult part of the process. But the sooner you start, the more benefits you'll reap, according to FreeeUp Co-Founder and CMO Connor Gillivan.

"Go on LinkedIn and identify a group of key people you'd want to be your mentors. Reach out to each of them with a custom message explaining that you are looking for guidance and that you'd love to buy them a coffee (if local) or have a brief call together to learn about their story," Gillivan advises. "I did this early on and was able to build an amazing support network that I still tap into 10 years later."

Ask for help.

"Asking for help makes a huge difference for entrepreneurs just starting out," says Rachel Beider, CEO of PRESS Modern Massage. That's why the importance of having a strong support network cannot be overstated.

Beider recounts that when she opened the first location of her business, she looked for mentors in her field and in unrelated fields. "I created an unofficial 'board of advisers' who helped me problem-solve, plan more strategically and look at the bigger picture," she adds.

Keep your circle tight.

When building your support system, Matthew Capala, founder and managing director of Alphametic, recommends keeping your circle small. After all, it's about building long-term relationships with a few people who can have a big impact on your life.

"All you need is a handful of mentors -- sometimes one will do -- who are carefully selected, rather than networking with many people," Capala explains. "Networking is important, but for critical advice about business issues, too many opinions will confuse rather than comfort you."

Seek out people in the same life stage as you.

Another key aspect to remember is to surround yourself with people who will empathize with your situation and unique challenges, according to Vision Tech Team CEO James Guldan.

"When I was starting my company at 19, I hated that all the people in the business groups I was in were always talking about their kids or their wives. I was a decade away from their life problems," he explains. "Almost all of my scalability problems have been life-related, and having people who are in the same life stage as you helps a ton."

Get a business partner you can rely on.

For many entrepreneurs, the best way to start building a support network is to find a business partner with whom to share the highs and lows of the business. "The best decision I made when starting my business was to trick a co-founder into joining me," says Han-Gwon Lung, CEO and co-founder of Tailored Ink.

Lung taught his partner everything he knew at the time, and that paid off in countless closed deals and new business. "Perhaps more importantly, we weather the tough times together -- which makes them a whole lot easier to deal with," he underlines. "Our girlfriends often joke that we're married. They're not wrong."

Attend industry conferences.

"When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I went to a few conferences in my niche. It was a fantastic way to meet people in a similar place as myself and far ahead as well," explains Justin Faerman, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Conscious Lifestyle Magazine.

The key thing to keep in mind when building your network is not only to ask for help, but also to offer it. "During and after conferences, I had conversations and phone calls with the people I met and asked how I could support them," he says. "This led to many powerful collaborations that built strong relationships."

Article posted in INC magazine

Rachel for Influencive: Don’t Stress! 10 Ways to Make Decision-Making Easier

1. Be Purposeful With Your Time and Attention

Being purposeful is key to making solid decisions without stressing. Make a list of what requires your attention and set aside time to devote to truly thinking about a task or decision at hand. This allows you to dedicate the appropriate mind space to an issue, so you can move forward knowing that you are not making decision haphazardly; rather, you’ve given it the thought it deserves. – Stephen Beach, Craft Impact Marketing

2. Design Clear Decision-Making Processes

Decision-making is an energy-consuming endeavor. The easiest hack to relieve yourself from the burden is by designing robust, repeatable processes. Design flow charts and build use-case scenarios for common situations that your business faces on a regular basis. Sticking to an established workflow will streamline the process and increase productivity. – Mario Peshev, DevriX

3. Ground Yourself Before Making a Decision

Whenever I am making a decision, I get myself into a great headspace first, so I have access to the full resources of my mind. For example, if I’m feeling stressed or scared, I might make decisions from a place of fear instead of abundance. When I’m feeling unsure, I try to ground myself, usually through some kind of physical activity. Then, I decide and take massive action to accomplish it! – Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage

4. Delegate the Decision

One of the best decisions I ever made was not making one. Instead, I assigned that decision to someone I trusted who was better positioned to make the decision. I told him the final decision was his and he was responsible for implementing it. He needed to ask for advice from three people, one of whom was me. His decision and plan to implement was better than I expected and later he became our COO. – Kevin Getch, Webfor

5. Ask for Advice

I’m typically pretty good at making executive decisions and can do so quickly and without hesitation, but I’m not always right. It’s just part of my personality type. When I really can’t make a decision, it tends to stress me out very quickly. So instead of stressing, I gather more data. I ask my business partner or colleagues for advice. Then, I’m more confident in making a final decision. – Han-Gwon Lung, Tailored Ink

6. Narrow It Down to a Few Options

There are lots of things you can do, from consulting with others to giving yourself some time to think about it. But the best approach to making a tough business choice is creating a list of options, evaluating risks, and then eliminating the worst alternatives. When you narrow your list down to a few options, all those decisions will be good enough. Pick one and move on. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

7. Write Down All Your Reasons 

Writing all the reasons you made a certain decision helps solidify and justify it in your mind rather than leaving you in doubt and stressed out. The physical act of writing it down and reading it provides a way to work it out more in your mind. – Angela Ruth, Calendar

8. Give Yourself a Deadline

Often, the most stressful part of making a decision is being in the indecision time. If you give yourself a deadline for the decision, then you can make it and then be done with it. Depending on how important the decision is, you may want to give yourself more time and other processes (such as a pros and cons list). Otherwise, it’s more important to make the decision. – Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure

9. Filter Your Decision Through a Series of Questions

To avoid stress, I filter through these questions to make a decision: Will I help solve a problem that is important to me? Is it big enough to warrant my time, capital, and energy? Will I provide an identifiable competitive advantage, and can I influence the outcome? Am I uniquely positioned to cap on an opportunity that throws off significant income? Will it be fun? Is the team fun to do it with?  – Codie Sanchez, Cresco Capital Partners

10. Trust in Your Experience

Many times, we tend to second guess ourselves. As business owners, we are faced with difficult decisions every day. As much as we strive to be perfect and make perfect decisions, we need to remember that perfection is the enemy of progress. We have all made imperfect decisions in the past; however, we learn from them and continue to move forward. Trust in your experience and your abilities. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

Article for Influencive

10 DIY SEO Tips to Save Money

Search engine optimization is not advertising. But it still costs time and money. If you’re short on time but have the money, an SEO agency or consultant is an option. But if you’re short on money, use these do-it-yourself SEO tips to improve your organic rankings.

1. Master Keyword Research

Always start with keyword research. Don’t assume that you know what consumers want.

You likely understand your industry jargon. But your prospects might use different terms than trade colleagues to refer to your services or goods. Keyword research provides an understanding of the words and phrases that consumers use to find your products. It also helps to gauge the demand for them. It identifies the keyword themes that real searchers use in their search queries.

The best keyword tools offer a quantitative demand score that helps determine the relative value in targeting each keyword theme. Google Keyword Planner is the go-to keyword research tool, though you’ll need an active Google Ads — formerly AdWords — campaign to get the most useful data.

Non-Google keyword research tools include Übersuggest (a free Google Autocomplete scraper) and SEMrush and Wordtracker (two paid alternatives).

2. Understand Your Competition

Search for the most important products and services you offer and note the most prominent websites in the search results, those that share your business model as well as the ones that are dissimilar to yours but compete for the same searches.

What are they doing well?

What content themes do they have that you’re lacking?

Do they structure their site differently to target more valuable keywords?

Do they have interesting features to better engage their prospects?

Also, study their reviews and benchmark their social media activity to learn what their customers think versus what you hear, or not, from your own.

3. Plan Your Site

With an understanding of what consumers want and the keywords they use to find those products and services, identify pages on your website to address those search queries.

Having a list on paper or a spreadsheet of all top-, mid-, and low-tier web pages and their corresponding keyword focus forms the basis of your website’s architecture. Each high- and medium-priority keyword from your keyword research should have a corresponding page to optimize on your site.

Use long-tail keyword themes that drive fewer searches and are typically much longer and more specific — such as “how to get red wine out of carpet” or “where to buy wooden hangars” — in blog posts and FAQ pages.

4. Optimize Your Site

The next step is to create the pages. This is the hard part. Depending on your ecommerce platform and your access to developers and designers, you may need to outsource some of this work.

Any website today should be mobile responsive to cater to the ever-growing faction of smartphone and tablet users. A mobile-friendly site is important for two reasons. First, according to Google, more than half of searches come from smartphones. Make sure that the experience of those users is seamless and engaging.

Second, Google now ranks all organic search results — for desktop and mobile devices — based on a site’s mobile experience, including page speed.

5. Produce Regular Content

You don’t have to start a blog or turn your business into a publishing company by posting content every day. It’s unrealistic for many ecommerce sites. But publish your own content regularly. Schedule weekly or at least monthly updates. Consistency is key.

Content does not need to be text. For example, an architectural firm could publish photographs of its projects with short textual descriptions. Realtors could publish weekly video bulletins with transcripts. Publishing content that is tailored to the consumption habits of your target audience is the goal.

6. DIY Public Relations

Link authority is a major component of SEO, but purchasing links is forbidden by Google, Bing, and other search engines. That’s where outreach and public relations come into play. If you have PR representatives, coordinate with them so as to not invalidate their efforts. But if you’re doing it yourself, read on.

Google advises site owners to build compelling websites that users want to tell their friends about — sites that users visit over and over. This content-heavy approach to SEO is Google’s answer to the ever-present question of “how do I get more links ethically?”

The content you’re already producing should be targeted to different segments of the media or blogosphere. These pieces then become conversation starters with different sites, as an enticement for them to write about or link to.

The competitive research in step two, above, comes in handy here because you now have an idea of the most influential and best-ranking sites to approach.

7. Build Your Social Media Network

Join Twitter and one or two other social media platforms. You have many options — Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, many more. Social media enables you to connect with your customers and prospects and offers an audience for your content.

Understanding and nurturing these relationships boosts your SEO in the long run. Increasing the exposure of your content also increases the likelihood that some of those viewers will blog about it or link to it.

8. Understand Google Analytics

You can’t optimize what you don’t measure. The importance of analytics in digital marketing is akin to financial reports in business. Both are essential to track performance.

Have a basic understanding of Google Analytics (or whatever web analytics package your business uses). In Google Analytics, study the reports under Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels. By clicking on “Organic Search,” you’ll be able to analyze performance for your SEO program.

9. Read an SEO Blog

Study an SEO guide such as my “SEO How-to” series. Then subscribe to an SEO blog.

Helpful free beginner SEO guides include Moz’s “The Beginner’s Guide to SEO,” Search Engine Land’s “Guide to SEO,” and Google’s “Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.”

For quick updates on SEO changes, try two YouTube channels: Moz’s “Whiteboard Friday” and “Google Webmasters.”

If you have more time and are keen to follow the SEO industry, subscribe to Moz and Search Engine Land.

10. Ask Questions

If you are stuck or need answers, jump into SEO communities to ask questions. Google’s Webmaster Forum offers the largest SEO community on the web. Other good options are the WebmasterWorld Forum, Moz’s Q&A Forum, Search Engine Roundtable, and Search Engine Watch Forum.

Amazing original article by Jill Kocher Brown seen here

Rachel Beider in Forbes: Smart Ways To Collect And Utilize Customer Feedback

1. Use The Net Promoter Score

Most companies that want feedback overwhelm their clients with surveys. I know I’ve bailed out of 10-page surveys from hotels, airlines and others because they were too time-consuming. The best way I’ve found to get a pulse on how customers feel is using a Net Promoter Score (NPS). This simple question asks, “How likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?” The response ranges from 0, for not at all likely, to 10, for extremely likely. Averaging the responses across your entire customer base gives a clear indicator of how customers feel about you (and a number you can improve on). Anyone rating your business less than a 7 should be followed up with (they are unhappy). Someone who gives a 9 or 10 rating should be engaged for testimonials and referrals—they are your promoters! - Jeremy Brandt, WeBuyHouses.com

2. Combine A Feedback Request With Product Updates And Announcements

Make your customers a part of your business by asking them to participate in the development of your service or product. This will show them that you really care and make them feel valued. You can leverage your email list for this matter. For example, if you regularly notify your customers about updates and product/service news, you might as well ask them what they think about it and what else they would like you to add or change. The most active users may respond with honest feedback or even share some specific suggestions for improvement, which is something that you don’t always get from online reviews. This is the right time and place for asking people to share their feedback, because it makes the interaction more personal. - Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

3. Text Customers Immediately After Service

At my company, we use feedback software that sends a quick text survey right after their massage appointment is completed. This allows us to gather accurate feedback in real time, as well as the opportunity to respond immediately to any guest who was unsatisfied with their experience so we can remedy any issues. Getting feedback right away is seriously important to keeping our finger on the pulse. - Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage

4. Provide Incentives For Survey Participation

The importance of direct feedback from customers cannot be overstated. Customer surveys can yield important data about your product, marketing and customer service. When distributing a survey, make sure you offer your customers compensation in exchange for the time and energy it takes to complete a survey. This will increase your pool of respondents and encourage customers to offer their honest opinions and feedback. Evaluate the survey results by comparing them to past feedback, current practices and future goals, then make any necessary changes to improve your product, services, marketing and customer service. - Daniel Griggs, ATX Web Designs, LLC

5. Collect Live Chat Data

One of the best ways that a business can gather consumer feedback is by using a live chat feature on its website. It’s a simple way to gather real customer feedback in an affordable way. This also helps determine the issue or problem a potential customer has so the business can answer all questions and overcome objections in its marketing copy. We have a live chat function on our pricing page to increase conversions and lower the number of people who abandon carts. - Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Fem Founder

6. Read Their Comments On Social Media

Some customers aren’t comfortable speaking directly to brands. Instead, they’d rather ask questions of their peers or share their thoughts in social media comments on each others’ pages. To gather more consumer feedback, listen to the conversations happening about your brand, even when you’re not the direct recipient of the message. Simply tuning into what others are saying about your brand can help surface interesting insights about the questions, concerns or misunderstandings they have about your product. While some product messaging may feel obvious to you, it might not be for the average consumer. In other cases, you might notice that some folks appreciate certain aspects of your brand that you may want to promote more heavily in your marketing. - Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep

7. Check In With Customers Regularly

Customer satisfaction must be the No. 1 focus for any business to be successful. To ensure satisfaction at every step in the customer journey, the most important tip I would offer is to regularly check in on happiness, and don’t be afraid to ask regularly. We have two regular steps in our process: First, every two weeks, all customers with active engagements with our team are sent an automated survey asking how their experience has been in the last two-week period. Automated surveys, of course, do not have the best response rates, so this must be accompanied by a more manual method. So, as a second step, we have a member of the leadership team check in on all clients at random intervals through personal phone calls, asking if there’s anything we can do to better their experience. - Keith Shields, Designli

8. Talk To Customers Face-To-Face

In this internet era, we are too reliant on online surveys for feedback. Critical feedback is found when you engage face-to-face with your customers. Even if the sample set is smaller, you will learn an incredible amount. More than 90% of communication is nonverbal—how much more can you glean without saying a word? Even with e-commerce, tech or online businesses, the ability to rehumanize the products is critical. We took one company that had an incredible product for online reoccurring revenue capture for entrepreneurs but didn’t have a voice to it. We decided to let their clients give them a voice. This led to outreach to their longest reoccurring clients about why they used their tech, and how. What came out was their entire marketing strategy, spoken in their clients’ voice. Marvelous. - Codie Sanchez, Cresco Capital Partners

9. Ask The Right Questions

In order to collect effective customer feedback and make it useful, you need to be asking customers the right questions. For instance, instead of asking, “Do you like our product?” and getting a simple yes-or-no answer, you need to be asking questions like, “What is your favorite feature of our product? What is your least favorite feature? How can we improve our product?” and so on. The quality of the answers depends on how you ask the question. So, if you want information that you can actually take and use to improve your product and not just gauge how happy your customers are, you need to be asking the questions that will give you that particular type of feedback. - John Turner, SeedProd LLC

10. Make It Easy To Provide Feedback

If you want feedback from your customers, you can’t make it complicated. Keep questions short and simple, and don’t make your surveys too long either. There’s a thing called “respondent fatigue,” in which survey participants become tired of the survey task and therefore the quality of their answers decreases. So, be sure to keep your customer feedback surveys short by including only the most important questions. You could also use an online form-builder tool that has a feature that allows logged-in users to save their survey and resume it later. - Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

Article in Forbes

Rachel in INC Magazine: 6 Valuable Qualities All Great Mentors Should Have

Any working professional, whether a business owner or an employee, can benefit from the support and advice of a good mentor, both to advance their career and achieve long-lasting success. Especially for those who just set out on their career path, a solid mentorship can help provide answers to important questions and offer valuable guidance when it comes to major business decisions.

However, finding the right mentor is not always easy, as you have to make sure they have enough relevant experience in your field and that they're someone you could easily mesh with. To help you choose, these six entrepreneurs discuss some of the best qualities a mentor should have and why they are so important for a mentee's growth.

They can be truly honest.

Arguably the most important quality to look for in a mentor is honesty, even when what they say is not what you want to hear, insists Bouquet.ai co-founder and CEO Adrien Schmidt: "A great mentor will be honest with you. Sometimes their critiques may be tough to hear, but better to hear the truth than to be let down by reality later down the road."

Schmidt speaks from personal experience, as his own mentor pulls no punches when it comes to offering critiques or advice. "My mentor can be incredibly tough. Early on, I wondered if she disliked me or if I had any skills at all," he explains. "I later realized she was being honest. She was grooming me to be the best individual I was capable of being."

They have all the relevant experience.

Another crucial quality to look for is the right experience and the willingness to share that experience with those who are at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey, says Solomon Thimothy, co-founder and president of OneIMS.

"The best business mentors I've ever worked with had a strong business background themselves. They either built several businesses before or were building one at the moment," Thimothy explains. "I think it's extremely important for the mentor to have enough experience so that they would have something to share and something to teach other people who have not been through the same challenges yet."

They know how to ask the right questions.

"A fantastic mentor doesn't just have or give all the answers, but they know how to guide and lead you by asking the right questions," adds Rachel Beider, CEO of PRESS Modern Massage.

According to Beider, it's important for a mentor to let their mentee find the answers themselves instead of spoon feeding them the solutions, as this approach is more likely to help the mentee develop healthy problem-solving habits for the future: "I've worked with some incredible mentors and all have asked phenomenal questions that helped me grow and look within."

They don't just talk -- they listen.

But a good mentor should also know how to listen, not only how to give advice, argues Andrew Schrage, co-owner of Money Crashers Personal Finance: "Lots of times mentors, through no fault of their own, are too concerned with imparting knowledge and wisdom without really listening to what the mentee really needs."

Good listening skills can help strengthen the relationship, making it easier for the mentee to trust their mentor and communicate more openly. "My mentor was great at this, and it was always very easy for me to communicate my specific issue or challenges, and then we worked toward a solution," Schrage explains.

They offer plenty of encouragement.

"In my experience, a good mentor is always there to celebrate your victories and help pull you through your failures," underlines WPBeginner co-founder Syed Balkhi, speaking about how important it is that a mentor be constantly supportive.

According to Balkhi, one of the key goals of a mentor should be to encourage the mentee to be a better business owner and person. "I believe that you need someone there to give you praise when you do well and share words of encouragement when things don't go according to plan," he adds.

They're passionate about what they do.

A quality trait of a great mentor that perhaps encompasses all of the others, according to LTVPlus CEO David Henzel, is true passion for mentoring and guiding others.

"When someone is teaching you what they know, it's much more effective and memorable when they have a burning passion for what they do," Henzel explains. "My mentor lit a fire inside me by talking with such passion and hope for the future. This really inspired me and is reflected in every professional decision I've made."

Article originally posted in INC

Rachel in Forbes: Tips For Improving And Measuring The Impact And ROI Of Your Customer Service Efforts

1. Calculate Customer Retention

It’s easy to think of customer service as a necessary but not-so-fun part of doing business. But when you flip customer service into a customer success perspective and consider how helping customers succeed with your products and services can have them stay on longer, it becomes a clear contributor to your bottom line. One way to calculate the return on investment of customer service is to track customer retention. Some tools do this more easily than others, but you can observe patterns in how often customers reach out with issues and if having a call or written communication with them reduces cancellations or refunds. From there, you can work to improve your metrics and customer service to keep customers happy longer! - Nathalie Lussier, AccessAlly

2. Educate Your Staff

If your employees just have a vague understanding of your product or service, it may be time for you to offer refresher courses for all of your customer service employees. In order to deliver excellent customer service, it’s crucial that your employees understand all of the programs and systems you use and can navigate them with ease. If your employees are confident in their ability to help the customer, they are far more likely to deliver a stellar experience, which helps you make a solid return on your investment. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

3. Identify The Right ROI indicators

The probability of selling to an existing customer is much higher than the probability of selling to a new customer. That’s why you want to provide top-notch customer service. Solid proof of ROI will show you whether your customer service department brings profit to your business. ROI is calculated based on how much you invest and how much is earned as a result. Different investments aren’t all going to have the same return rate. Identify which customer service ROI indicators are easy to monitor and can actually prove the results. For example, you can measure the number of existing customer upgrades, saved time and money due to better customer support, customer retention rate, etc. If the chosen indicators don’t demonstrate ROI clearly, tweak your approach. See what works for you. - Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

4. Implement Feedback Software

At my company, we use feedback software to get detailed information on how a customer’s experience was at any of our locations. This powerful information, coupled with retention analytics, helps us understand what’s working and what’s not, as well as who is really shining and who is having difficulties and needs more support or coaching. We take the information that we learn from interviewing our top performers and use it to help shape and guide our lower-performing members. This approach consistently leads to massive improvement. - Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage

5. Use Polls And Surveys

Customer service is measurable by your relationship with your clients. When you have clients returning year after year—some increasing their budgets—you can tell they are happy with your services and that you are doing something right. That being said, client questionnaires, polls and surveys also help. Initially, by creating our project briefs, the client tells us what they want, and we can refer to that to ensure that we are delivering what they asked for. This is true with their approval of our site architectures as well. As clients are further along in their internet marketing campaigns, surveys—both anonymous and not—can provide customer service ratings that we may not always have a quantifiable tool for. - Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design

6. Reward Employees For Practicing Great Customer Service

There is no doubt that instituting policies that promote great customer service help maximize ROI on all types of other investments the company makes. By having great service and company incentives that reinforce having a great customer experience, a company can expect to gain customers from direct investments in marketing and from referrals that come as a result of word of mouth. For example, at my company, we’ve created bonus programs for our team to generate as many positive reviews on a monthly basis as possible. Review incentives drive them to make sure their service is worthy of five-star reviews—it’s also rewarding for them to earn extra bonuses on top of a nice online compliment. In addition, when new prospects see reviews, they are eager to become new customers. - Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.

7. Monitor Social Media

There are a few ways to quantify customer service, such as a Customer Satisfaction Score and Net Promoter Score. While these methods provide valuable data, I’d recommend not relying entirely on such metrics. Not all customers take the time to fill out surveys, and some do so without giving it much thought. It’s also helpful to study more qualitative and subjective feedback such as you find on social media. When people discuss their experiences with a company on social media, they often get very specific. By monitoring social sites you have a chance to learn particular pros and cons of your customer service that surveys alone might not tell you. However, it’s always good to use a variety of methods to keep track of how your customer service is performing. - Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting

8. Assign A Dollar Value To Each Type Of Review You Earn

The more reviews you earn, the higher your conversion rates. I value a single review on a third-party website like Yelp, Google Business or the Better Business Bureau at $250. I value reviews on our own platform at $100 each. I find that people value ratings on third-party sites higher because companies are not able to control them. Over the years I have seen our conversion rates rise in sync with the increase in five-star ratings. A single review brings in increased conversions for many years. Third-party review sites typically leave ratings up for three years. This means that the reviews you gain today continue to help year after year. It helps to give a monetary value to each review type. It allows you to place a real value on something that is otherwise difficult to measure. - Brian Greenberg, True Blue Life Insurance

9. Coordinate Your Marketing And Accounts Activities

At Killer Infographics, we’ve focused on improving the end-to-end customer experience—from the time they first hear about us all the way to the end of their first project with us. To achieve this, we’ve put together a committee that involves both our marketing and sales teams. The goal is to find ways to improve customer service at every level of their interaction with us and to ensure we’re providing consistent messaging. This also helps our team members see the customer as a whole person, rather than someone we just encounter along a single step of their journey. The committee has undertaken several projects to improve customer service, including updating the messaging and FAQs on our website, creating new customer resource materials, and planning customer appreciation initiatives. - Amy Balliett, Killer Infographics

10. Focus On User Experience

Being a UX agency, good user experience and customer experience is ingrained in what we do. In fact, we say that good UX is good business. Customers are willing to pay more for a good customer experience versus a bad customer experience. So, we let the numbers do the talking, and the first thing we do for every project is to establish a benchmark for the current state of things. Then as we implement the changes, we measure continually to ensure we’re on the right track to improve performance of the KPIs we’re measuring. As they say, you can’t improve what you don’t measure, so setting the benchmark and measuring along the way is key to improving any kind of user/customer experience. - Andrew Kucheriavy, Intechnic

Article in Forbes

Rachel's advice in INC Mag: Essential Things to Consider Before You Sell Your Business

For many entrepreneurs, there will come a time when it makes sense to consider selling their business. Whether you're approaching retirement or simply ready for your next career challenge, finding a buyer to assume responsibility for the company you've built might seem like a very wise endeavor.

Although you may know it's the right time to sell, that doesn't mean the decision will be an easy one to make. Not only are there key practical elements to consider -- the financial arrangement, the strategy of incoming management, the impact on your employees, etc. -- but letting go of the business you built from the ground up can be very emotional, too.

According to a panel of successful entrepreneurs, here are some of the most important things to think about before you put your company up for sale.

The timing of your sale

In his experience of selling previous businesses, John Rampton, founder of Calendar, found that timing was a critical factor, both personally and professionally.

"I had to know that this was the market and the moment in which to sell," Rampton says. "Timing also related to where I was in my life with family and goals, and when to start my next business. The timing will be different for each person."

Your emotional preparedness

It can be difficult to let go of the business you put your heart and soul into building. That's why John Turner, founder of SeedProd LLC, recommends assessing whether you're emotionally ready to let go.

"Selling your business isn't a split-second process. The entire process can sometimes take a year or more," he says. "Being emotionally ready is key to making sure the process goes smoothly, instead of it being emotionally draining."

Why you want to sell (and for whom)

In today's world of social media, many individuals seek out social approval in the form of likes, views and followers. Kim Kaupe, co-founder of The Superfan Company, believes it's easy for this people-pleasing attitude to seep into other decisions, like selling your business.

"Who are you selling for?" Kaupe says. "Make sure others -- investors, fans, followers, that friend from high school who said you would amount to nothing -- aren't influencing such an important decision in your life."

What a potential buyer in your market wants

You may think you know what business buyers are looking for, but it's good to get the opinions of other people who have made successful exits, says Rachel Beider, CEO of PRESS Modern Massage.

"Reach out to a business consultant who can help you understand what potential buyers might be looking for specifically," she adds.

Your business's value

Andrew Schrage, co-owner of Money Crashers Personal Finance, says it's important to make sure your business is valued accurately before you try to sell.

"Fail to do that and you might never receive an offer or leave money on the table," he says. "Know what goes into a valuation as well, because it's more than just your net revenue."

Your financial prospects

According to Jared Weitz, CEO of United Capital Source Inc., a prospective seller must consider the net proceeds, and whether it's enough to get them through a non-compete period after the business changes hands.

"Often times, many get blinded by an upfront dollar amount, but that's not their net amount," says Weitz. "The number you're netting has to make sense with the amount of time you have to sit out with a non-compete."

What you're going to do next

As someone who's sold several companies, Erica Douglass, co-owner of 1Up Repairs, says the No. 1 thing to consider is your plan for the future.

"After selling my business, I immersed myself in the marketing world and learned copywriting and online selling techniques," explains Douglass. "I used those to start a new business."

Whether you're truly 'finished' with your business

Want to sell your business without any regrets? Bryce Welker, CEO and founder of Crush The CPA Exam, advises asking yourself if you've accomplished everything you wanted with it. If you haven't, ask yourself why.

"Was it a bad time in the market, did the risks outweigh the rewards or did you never have the time?" says Welker. "Truly examine whether or not you're actually finished with this business before selling."

Originally seen in INC

Rachel in Forbes: Ways Leaders Can Encourage An Honest Brainstorming Session

1. Give Everyone A Chance To Speak

In many companies, only the top members of management communicate with the rest of the team. If you're having a meeting and want to have more innovation in your business, you must give everyone the chance to speak. The best ideas are fusions of thoughts between two or more people. Engaging in constructive dialogue involves multiple people discussing their thoughts, concerns and ideas. If you are going to have regular meetings, make sure you give everyone a chance to talk. - Blair Williams, MemberPress

2. Talk To People One-On-One

As much as I love having team meetings and discussions, many people don't feel comfortable voicing their ideas or concerns in front of a group. Holding regular one-on-one conversations, whether they're formal or not, gives people a chance to open up and share their most guarded thoughts. Sometimes a concern can turn into a brilliant new idea or solution, other times an idea can lead to another conversation that sparks a new product innovation. The key is to give everyone a chance to feel heard so when they do have an "aha!" moment, they will feel safe sharing it. This type of one-on-one conversation is also helpful between team members and their colleagues, not just between them and their leaders, so encourage lots of cross-pollination. - Nathalie Lussier, AccessAlly

3. Go Out To Lunch

Believe it or not, I've found that the best ideas come from doing something with your team as friends as opposed to a stiff business meeting. If you have the opportunity, try taking your team out for lunch or an early dinner and just hang out. While you guys are talking, bring up something that you would like to discuss and see where the conversation goes. When people are in a fun social setting, they are far more likely to talk openly, which could lead to a major breakthrough. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

4. Get Rid Of Rejection

As a business leader, you probably know right away what ideas will work and what will not. But instead of rejecting someone's idea right away, try saying "yes." Getting rid of rejection during your brainstorming conversations will make your team members feel more comfortable with sharing their new ideas. Even if you know that a particular idea won't work for your company, allow your team to hear the idea and talk it over. Being able to hear and discuss an innovative idea that isn't feasible can even inspire a related "aha!" idea that will work. - Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

5. Create An Environment Of Trust

You'll never be able to foster healthy conversations with your team if they feel like they can't trust their opinions to be respected, especially by you as their team leader. When an employee comes to you for whatever reason, it's imperative to create an environment for them where they feel heard, respected and cared about. If not, they'll stop coming to you when problems arise as well as when they have innovative ideas that could boost business. You want the conversations you have to flow and not feel forced and to do this, you must show your employees you're someone they can trust and look up to. Set a good example if you want to see positive, healthy changes around the office. - Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

6. Ask Better Questions

Asking better questions leads to more innovation and real self-reflection. I love using questions like, "How can we add more value to our products and services to add do more for our customers than absolutely anyone else?" and "How can we deliver even better customer service?" You can also ask, "As a company, what are we tolerating? What are we avoiding?" It's so important to ask new questions, seek new perspectives, explore new passions, conduct new experiments and speak to new voices within the company and other industries. - Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage

7. Schedule Regular Brainstorming Sessions

At Killer Infographics, we have a full-team meeting every week, and a lot of innovative solutions and new ideas arise at that meeting. We achieve this by structuring the meeting to make space for these kinds of ideas. For instance, we focus on a different company value every two months and have discussions around how each team is working to embody those values. Our values include "Keep Learning" and "Embrace Change," and the discussion of these values actively encourages team members to seek out new ways to grow and improve. We also dedicate a full half-day every six months to full-team brainstorms where we identify our goals, seek strategies to achieve them and identify KPIs for each team member. Lots of breakthroughs and solutions arise during these brainstorming sessions. - Amy Balliett, Killer Infographics

8. Cater To All Personalities 

Employees all have their own unique identities. Some of my employees relish the opportunity to discuss innovations in a group setting. On the other hand, some team members are more introverted and will be less inclined to speak in group settings. My approach is to cater to both personality traits to maximize employee feedback. For instance, I conduct team meetings in a group setting and allow for one-on-one communications and anonymous feedback for introverted team members. I require all team members to attend the meetings but allow them the freedom to determine how to best provide feedback. - Matthew Podolsky, Florida Law Advisers, P.A.

9. Allow People To Follow Up After A Conversation

As a business grows, you need to have open communication with employees that can lead to innovations in daily workflows and company vision. There are likely many introverted people on your team. Help them create ideas in a way that works with their thinking style. Once the conversation has ended, either open up the floor for comments then or allow ideas to be added a few days later. Once you give everyone the opportunity to mull through things, new and better ideas may present themselves from people you wouldn’t typically expect at the forefront of a dynamic conversation. The introverted team members likely did a great deal of observing and listening which will aid in building creative ideas. Consider hosting a follow-up meeting where everyone can bring their notes and ideas. - Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.

10. Encourage Improvisation

Actors who practice improvisational comedy have developed a set of rules that they rely on in order to foster creative breakthroughs in their performances. These rules include exploring every idea presented by a team member, focusing on the immediate present, and attempting to build and develop instead of block or destroy. Many of these tips can be applied to a brainstorming session in a business environment. If you or your team find it difficult to approach problems or goals in creative or innovative ways, consider looking into the art of comedic improvisation to create more "eureka moments." - Bryce Welker, Beat The CPA

Article posted in Forbes

Better Understanding Leadership: 17 Books Worth Checking Out

Originally seen in Influencive

You want to be a good leader: Someone who inspires action among your direct reports, and who can make things happen while being respected and honored. You may not, however, be entirely clear whether what you’re currently doing is the best approach, or if there’s a better way.

Understanding how you lead is crucial when supervising or managing a team. And, as there are many different styles of leadership out there — each with their own strengths and methods — lacking a clear understanding of the reasons behind the “why” you should do something can, sometimes significantly, hamper successful long-term communication and collaboration.

Research and self-study help you discover not only what you’re doing, but why, as well as highlight alternate approaches you can take to get results. To help you identify the various philosophies and methods out there in order to help you get a better idea of what systems make the most sense for you, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

Q. Which book had the biggest influence on your leadership style, and why?

Here’s what they said:

1. Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (Simon Sinek)

I strongly relate to Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek. In the book, Sinek discusses how inspiration is pivotal for happiness and personal/professional growth. I find that thinking about the real reason why I’m making a decision helps me make better choices, and I think deeply about the pros, cons, and intended outcome of my actions. – Blair Williams, MemberPress

2. The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success (Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman and Kaley Klemp)

It took four amazing founders and one trusted coach to recommend this book, but I finally woke up to understand the value. There’s so much to appreciate and learn. The most impactful part for me is helping me understand that a lot of decisions I make are based on fear, not trust. And when a leader shows trust in herself and her team, that permeates how everything in the organization is done. – Aaron Schwartz, Passport

3. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World (Adam Grant)

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant is all about how to champion and cultivate more original ideas that go against the grain — and originality is what will make you stand out as a leader and business. It covers how to recognize a good idea, how to speak up without getting silenced, choosing the right time to act, how to manage fear and doubt, and much more. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC

4. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … And Others Don’t (Jim Collins)

One of my favorite leadership books is Good to Great by Jim Collins. Good to Great shares valuable lessons on almost every area of management strategy and practice. This book challenges leaders to open their minds, get out of the box, and push their companies toward new heights. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

5. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Jim Collins and Jerry Porras)

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras is one of my favorite books about leadership. The book takes a look at businesses that were visionary and thrived for decades, while examining companies that had the same potential and blew it. It’s interesting to think about what could have happened if some of these companies made better choices. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

6. Leaders Eat Last (Simon Sinek)

Simon Sinek is already widely known for being a motivational thinker and strategist, so it’s no surprise that his books are well received and provide lots of insight. If you want to create a great environment for your team, as their leader, you need to be the one to provoke that change. He emphasizes putting your employees first, and so far, this tactic has worked wonders for me. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

7. Man’s Search for Himself (Rollo May)

This timeless book by Rollo May is a constant reminder that at any human’s core is a desire to find purpose and meaning. When I remember that as a leader, I win. The ability to rally others to their higher pursuits is one of the most powerful leadership traits I’ve encountered. Most pull the levers of carrots or sticks, but if you can get to the why, tactics become unimportant. – Codie Sanchez, Cresco Capital Partners

8. High Output Management (Andrew Grove)

This book is great at deconstructing business principles so that you learn the policy or true meaning behind each principle. I found it to be a very practical book with tons of real-life scenarios. The tools taught in the book helped me to better understand business metrics and communicate more effectively with employees. – Matthew Podolsky, Florida Law Advisers, P.A.

9. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (Stephen Covey)

I think every aspiring entrepreneur should read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. The content covered in this book is excellent for shifting your perspective and learning to grab life by the horns. Covey dives deep into strategies that make people more effective, and how you can practice these techniques in your own life. – David Henzel, LTVPlus

10. Meditations (Marcus Aurelius)

Meditations was written by the Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius. He wrote it while both ruling Rome as emperor and fighting several wars. The way he managed to maintain his composure while involved in two of the most stressful jobs ever (at the same time!) is awe-inspiring. I re-read this book every few years to remind myself how to stay calm when facing difficulty as a leader. – Bryce Welker, Beat The CPA

11. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses (Eric Ries)

The best leadership book that I’ve read lately is The Lean Startup by Eric Ries because he teaches us how entrepreneurs can use a simple framework to build and run a successful business regardless of the size. He essentially teaches leaders how to test their vision and modify it based on today’s fast-changing environment. – Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Fem Founder

12. How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie)

This book is the Bible when it comes to relationships in business and in life. You can’t go wrong with these principles. It’s been favored by so many people that it has become a classic already. I’d say it’s a must-read for anyone obtaining a leadership position. Dealing with people is also a skill, and this book gives practical tips as to how you can master it. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

13. Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity (Kim Scott)

This is a paramount book for my communications agency. It covers how to give feedback in a way that is kind, clear, and impactful. True, meaningful feedback is a rare and tough thing but essential for a high-performing and high-growth team. Without radical candor, you get stuck with “ruinous empathy,” “obnoxious aggression,” or “manipulative insincerity,” which are all horrid. – Beck Bamberger, BAM Communications

14. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein)

Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein has had a huge impact on my leadership style because it helped me reframe thinking around how to design systems that people interact with. Rather than focusing on rules and instructions, it prompted me to consider systematic approaches that drive people towards the right path rather than explicitly forcing them. – Ryan D Matzner, Fueled

15. The 4-Hour Workweek (Tim Ferriss)

In The 4-Hour Work Week, Ferriss discusses a method of delegation called “cultivating ignorance.” If a problem costs less than a certain amount of time/money to fix it, it shouldn’t be escalated up. I’ve used this method effectively for years. For example, I’ve empowered my front desk to fix issues under $50 without escalation, and this makes them feel really amazing and take ownership. – Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage

16. The Rhetoric of Reason: Writing and the Attractions of Argument (James Crosswhite)

In a society that seems polarized and hyper-digitized, this book offers a reminder that it’s still possible for people to reach reasoned mutual agreements through dialogue, listening, and understanding. Specifically, Crosswhite gives practical communication tips on how to reinvest argumentation, persuasion, and leadership with deeply ethical and multilateral interests. Highly recommended! – Shu Saito, Fact Retriever

17. The Consolations of Philosophy (Alain Botton)

The Consolations of Philosophy opened my eyes to the value of philosophy and how it can be applied to leadership. The section dedicated to Nietzsche especially relates to being a good leader. Nietzsche viewed us as gardeners. A skilled gardener can carefully cultivate a beautiful garden out of weeds and overgrowth, just as we can make great achievements out of difficult emotions and situations. – Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc.

Smart Ways To Encourage Employee Innovation

Rachel Beider shares insights with Forbes Magazine here

The most innovative ideas often come from a business’ junior and mid-level employees. After all, who better knows what your company is lacking, or how it might improve, than the people who are on the frontlines every day? These employees can easily spot challenges and brainstorm possible solutions to the issues they encounter on a daily basis.

1. Set Aside Brainstorming Time

There are many ways to incentivize internal innovation, but most are tied to individual achievement (or worse yet, team success), despite research proving time and again that successful innovation is the direct result of process and practice. Google was one of the first to implement dedicated time (and resources) for employees to work on personal projects. But the real genius behind Google’s decision wasn’t dedicated time, it was the freedom to explore! We keep a running list of “stuff that sucks,” and I allow my team to work remotely on Fridays with a simple ask: When not on deadline, spend a few hours tackling things on the bleep list, and return Monday with some candid feedback. The focus of this exercise is not on the outcome, but on practice. To be effective, you must have an organizational strategy (70% incremental, 20% acquired, 10% new, etc.), then empower your team to practice the habits required to achieve those goals. - Scott Kitun, Technori

2. Develop A Culture Of Constant Improvement

The most important value that companies can build their culture around is one of constant improvement, both as individuals and as an overall business (and your processes, workflows and the way you handle customers). If members of your team know and understand that the business is always looking to improve itself, then it becomes easier to talk about gaps and areas that may be able to be improved. Be accepting of proposed solutions or changes that are brought to you by employees, and reward them for what they are doing—which is actively working to make your business better. It is hearing these suggestions out and giving them serious thought and discussion rather than brushing them aside that is the ultimate incentivization for employees. - Keith Shields, Designli

3. Attend Workshops

A fun and easy way to encourage innovation with your employees is to take them to workshops. Look for innovation workshops in your area or, if you’re in tech, see if there are any local hackathons you can attend. At workshops like these, your employees can take part in projects and contests, sharpen their skills, and collaborate with like-minded individuals. Taking your employees to events like these can really spark their imagination, boost their brainstorming skills and encourage them to come up with innovative solutions for your business. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

4. Create A ‘Startup’ Program

At our organization, we love to give our team members opportunities to grow within the areas where they feel they can achieve the most—for better wellbeing and professionally, of course. Their ideas and plans also bring more responsibility and, at times, cost to implement, so to be effective and incentivize our team, we have come up with the “Startup” concept, in which our team members need to do their research to validate their product and present it. Winners get the opportunity to work with our project managers to roll out their idea, and if done well, we help them launch it and manage it as if they were a service provider or vendor. - Jonnathan Trilleras, LED Truck Media

5. Brainstorm Together

I have a weekly strategy meeting with my team specifically for strategic innovation in our services and delivery. We are constantly asking new questions, seeking new perspectives and speaking to people outside our industry to see how they handle certain issues. I love the idea of conducting new experiments based on my employees’ observations so we can try something out without committing to it. My team feels satisfied and rewarded knowing that they have a real impact on the company. - Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage

6. Don’t Just Acknowledge Ideas—Act On Them

I believe it begins with having a culture where ideas are welcomed from all levels and collectively there is a mindset of restless improvement. We have found that most people are inherently incentivized simply by feeling that their ideas and solutions are acknowledged and acted on. A culture that doesn’t do this creates employee apathy, and that is the killer of innovation. Of course, employee appreciation, bonuses and awards programs matter, but without employees feeling like they have a voice and an impact, material incentives risk being ineffective. - Patrick Bardsley, Spectrum Designs

7. Hear Them Out And Put Them In Charge

I think there are two things to keep in mind here. First is to create an environment where people’s ideas are listened to. I like the approach of listening to someone fully explain their idea before saying anything. Then always try to find something positive about the idea, even if it is not something that you would actually do. This allows the person to feel heard and respected. The second thing is that I try to give the person with the idea ownership over the idea. Allow the person to run with the idea if possible since they will be far more motivated to see it accomplished. - Tony Peccatiello, Parallel Markets

8. Make Them Responsible For The Outcome

I’ve found the best way to incentivize an employee’s innovative contribution to a project is to empower them with responsibility for its outcome. If you give them a level of ownership or authority over a project, it will help personalize the results. In this way, the success of a project can truly be their success—motivating them to proactively cultivate ways to achieve it. - Eric Saleh, Circle for Roommates

9. Make Time For Deeper Conversations

The best way to incentivize employees to innovate solutions and bring them to management is to first understand more about your employees and show that you care. People want to be heard, and as someone that they should look up to, it is imperative for you to take time to see what really inspires your employees. It is very good to have an open dialect with them and to never shut down ideas—rather, allow all people and ideas to be heard. Also, take time to meet with the employees and team. Sometimes having a 30-minute block of time to talk to an employee creates time and space for a creative and deeper conversation to be held that may not have ever occurred had that time not been set aside for them. - Alec Friel, Prosperity Flow

10. Have Them Work On It On Their Own Time

Ask your employees to prove out their idea on their own time first. Almost 50% of HubSpot’s revenue is generated from their partner program. The program got started when a rep brought the idea to their CEO, to which he responded, “If you want to do it so bad, start doing it nights and weekends and show us this will work.” The rep did just that, and their multimillion-dollar partner program was born. - Sara Rose Harcus, Dmanna

11. Find Out What Motivates Each Employee Individually

The best way to incentivize your employees to innovate solutions and bring them to management really depends upon the employee in this day and age. If they’re older, you might want to go with a straight cash payout, as they’ll value it more. Younger folks who are of a different demographic might appreciate a more experiential reward, like a gift card to a local business, or an educational course related to their professional development. There’s no easy answer, but if you think about the needs and wants of each staff member who might benefit from the reward, you’ll be able to come up with a more appropriate answer. - Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

12. Build A Company Structure That Fosters Dialogue

Innovation comes from collaboration, so build a flat company structure that encourages open dialogue and communication without bureaucracy. I love Jeff Bezos’ two pizza rule: Every internal team should be small enough that it can be fed with two pizzas. - Alexander Bird, Kiss My Keto