February 22nd, 2012
I own and operate a business directory site, Bizcompare.com. I feel like I know this industry very well and have a good grasp on why people use sites like mine.
In fact, well over a year ago, I penned blog called Business Directories: Are they worthwhile? Part 2 0f 7: 50 reasons to research company info. It’s a quick read, so I encourage you to skip over there for 2 minutes to scan the 50 reasons …but do come back!
More recently, I decided to test my theories by doing a site user survey. Using Survey Monkey, I asked folks to tell me a few things about themselves so that I would have a more empirical viewpoint of site users. Results:
Who? What is your primary function at your place of work?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: competitive research, job search, lead generation, recruiting, sales, sales prospecting, smallbiz
Posted in BizCompare.com, Business Directory, Business Information | 2 Comments »
February 15th, 2012
In this continuing series of real life small business dilemmas, as profiled in the Globe & Mail’s small business “challenge” section, we have a company called Domain7 Solutions.
With 50 employees (and plans to add 10 more this year), they operate without any middle managers. Instead, they have 3 directors who “find themselves spending an increasingly disproportionate amount of their day – about 70 per cent – dealing with staff and client issues, instead of their own revenue-generating duties“.
The issue for the founder and CEO: He’s thinking of implementing a layer of middle managers to relieve the directors but doesn’t want to negatively impact the culture of the company that values openness, collaboration, autonomy and individualism.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: culture, focus, HR, Leadership, leadership team, middle management
Posted in Human Resources, Management, Small Business, Small Business Case Studies | 2 Comments »
February 14th, 2012
If you are hoping to be a great leader then there are a number of possible pitfalls you should be aware of. While there are many positive attributes of leaders that you should emulate there are also some flaws you should try to avoid to ensure you meet your goals. Avoid these pitfalls and you’ll have a much higher chance of success…
1. Overconfidence
It is important to be confident of your ability but if you are always overriding others and refusing to take advice then not only will you make enemies but you may be missing the best solution. You will be seen as a better leader if you can recognise that somebody has had a better idea than you. Choosing the right idea is better than choosing your idea when it comes to decision making. Recognise potential in others and your superiors may recognise the potential in you for finding talent.
Tags: Leadership, leadership advice, leadership skills, management, management skills, management training
Posted in Leadership | No Comments »
February 11th, 2012
Word cloud for all the content in this week's picks!
Throughout each week, I share what I consider to be interesting articles, blogs or web pages/sites about B2B and small business. I appreciate quality so I’m somewhat selective about what I pass along.
The best way to keep track of these is to follow me on Twitter at @bizcompare. But in case you missed any, here’s a list of my faves that I sent out this past week.
Sales & Marketing:
Leadership, Management & People:
Web & Social Media:
Thanks for reading my blog and please visit again.
Vincent out.
Tags: entrepreneurs, infographics, marketing, marketing starts, marketing stops, PR, sales, sales leadership, social media
Posted in Small Business, Weekly Favorites | 1 Comment »
February 9th, 2012
Toronto’s Globe & Mail newspaper features a weekly column that depicts a particular business issue for a small business. I love to read them and think about what I’d do in their shoes. If I think I have a decent idea, I write about them in this blog as Small Business Case Studies.
Today’s challenge is called Is a launch party still a smart way to build buzz and details a new online home insurance company called Square One Insurance Services Inc. They are considering spending up to $20,000 to throw a launch party and create some “buzz”.
They would invite friends, clients and industry professionals. Their thought process includes the fact that, for their industry, this would be a very non-traditional method to promote themselves.
In the article, three experts are called upon to opine. All of them tentatively say yes, have the event. But make it stand out in various ways or it’ll be a waste of money.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: buzz, product launch, SEO, smallbiz, social media
Posted in Marketing, Small Business Case Studies | 2 Comments »
February 8th, 2012
Hi, and thanks for your interest in possibly becoming a guest writer on the Bizcompare.com blog.
So you’re not groping in the dark, I’ve put together some info about blogging on this site, what I would ask for and what you’ll get in return.
Who we target and what we talk about
My blog presents an ultra-pragmatic point of view on B2B and small business sales, marketing, leadership and management best practices. Its really about helping smallbiz CEOs with ideas and suggestions about these important elements of their business.
Any guest blogging articles would also need to speak to small business or the B2B world with ORIGINAL content. A few other thoughts/guidelines: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: guest articles, guest bloggers, guest blogs
Posted in BizCompare.com | 1 Comment »
February 7th, 2012
My daughter is at university and so I’ve heard and read a lot about helicopter parents who “help” their kids at school. You know, things that a typical 18-22 year old can’t do for themselves like finding the laundry facilities, selecting courses, finding lecture halls, taste testing the dorm food.
Yes, we helped our daughter with some things but mostly she either did stuff on her own or we pointed her in the right direction and said “OK, you take care of this now but let us know if you need help”. Its called trusting your kid and having confidence in your upbringing skills.
Helicopter parents in the workplace?
It seems that for some parents, their kids aren’t much brighter after they finish college. They continue their hovering techniques, “helping” their offspring find a job and once hired they’ll advocate for things like promotions and raises.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: feedback, helicopter parents, hiring practices, initiative, motivation, recruiting, resilience
Posted in Human Resources | 2 Comments »
February 6th, 2012
Word cloud for all the content in this week's picks!
Throughout each week, I share what I consider to be interesting articles, blogs or web pages/sites about B2B and small business. I appreciate quality so I’m somewhat selective about what I pass along.
The best way to keep track of these is to follow me on Twitter at @bizcompare. But in case you missed any, here’s a list of my faves that I sent out this past week.
Sales & Marketing:
Leadership, Management & People:
Web & Social Media:
Thanks for reading my blog and please visit again.
Vincent out.
Tags: content marketing, Gmail, Google reader, HBR, introversion, LinkedIn, pinterest, retention, sales feedback, VP Sales
Posted in Small Business, Weekly Favorites | No Comments »
February 2nd, 2012
My little caption is stupid, I know. It’s completely ridiculous that any smallbiz CEO would ever throw money away on anything, least of all sales compensation.
Having said that, I have witnessed first hand a sales compensation approach at a small business that was remarkably close to the above. You don’t have to have oodles of background or experience in sales compensation to have something that’s cogent. It’s mostly common sense.
Having strong views on this topic, I recently wrote a guest piece entitled Small Business Sales Compensation: How to Pay for Performance But Not Over Pay and its posted on Famous Bloggers.
I hope that you’ll take a moment and give it a read. It includes a Basic Sales Compensation Plan that could be adopted for most small business sales environments.
Happy reading and thanks for visiting my blog.
Vincent out.
Related links:
Tags: cost of sales, incentives, pay for performance, sales commissions
Posted in Performance Management, Sales compensation, Sales management | 2 Comments »
