I'll be the first to admit that you don't need a logo, business cards or even a website to do business because you don't. I often advise folks just starting out to not even worry about such things until you have lined up your first paying customer. So while JimRaffel.com Ventures (the umbrella for … [Read more...]
Why building a better mousetrap will increase your sales
The relaunch of our ProofPass.com site has taught and reinforced a number of business lessons and principles for me over the last month. The new ProofPass.com is an enhanced and improved version of the original product/service. In other words, we built a better mousetrap and it's getting noticed. … [Read more...]
3 reasons why to sell with affiliate marketing
I've struggled with how to reward those who help us sell future ProofPass.com subscriptions. Some of this has to do with ColorMetrix being rooted in an industry that for many years has relied on the dealer model to move product to market. Heck, we even had a fairly successful relationship with … [Read more...]
Keep It Simple Stupid
The other day a commercial came on TV for a furniture-moving device. It was basically a simple machines (a lever and fulcrum) combined to make it easy to pick up the end of a piece of heavy furniture. Then, you could slip a plastic disk under the feet of the furniture and easily slide it across the … [Read more...]
Social Media Doesn't Work
Nor do cell phones, the internet, email or billboards for that mater. No, really none of it works without a message to communicate. It all comes down to communication. So, if you don't know what to say and when to say it, what's the easiest thing to do? Blame the medium. Stop complaining and start … [Read more...]
Business grown with content marketing
Have you ever wondered why there has been an explosion in the number of blogs over the last five or six years? Content marketing, that's why. Blogging, whether by intention or accident, is a powerful form of content marketing. Here's what content marketing looks like to me: Share your intellectual … [Read more...]
Affiliate Marketing: I'm done being bashful about it
This post and tomorrow's "Use affiliate links, but please use them honestly" by Shelby Sapusek are part of our ongoing "She said, He said" series. Hello, my name is Jim and I'm an affiliate marketer. There, step one is out of the way. Eleven more to go. What is affiliate marketing? First, in case … [Read more...]
10 reasons why you should start a business instead of be an employee
It's fun day Monday, so here we go with 10 reasons to start a business! 1. Because you love working half-days. And by half-days, I mean you get to pick which 12 hours to work each day. 2. You love that the buck stops with you. Of course, you also don't love that often times you have no bucks in … [Read more...]
How being human takes the stuffy out of business
"Business is stuffy. Your being human makes you approachable and someone I want to talk to." That's a comment I got recently when a client and friend watched the video below. My friend's comment got me thinking about how both the quality and number of relationships I have with those I used to … [Read more...]
How work looks in 2011 and beyond
Starting now and into the foreseeable future, how work looks has changed for all of us. If you don't believe me, ask the public sector union employees in Wisconsin and other states. Government jobs once seemed secure and immune from layoffs, pay cuts, benefits changes and furlough days of which many … [Read more...]
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