Monthly Archives: March 2012

Mar 27 2012

Are coupon sites good for small business owners?

GroupOn coupon sitesToday I’m going to cover a topic that small business owners ask me almost on a daily basis.  If you’ve done a quick search online, you’ll quickly discover that opinions are all over the map, ranging from celebratory at one end of the spectrum all the way to demonization at the other end.

So then, what’s the truth?  Well, to add to the confusion, they both are!  Running a daily coupon shouldn’t be a split second decision and you need to understand both the pros and the cons of making this commitment.  Yes, you heard that right.  Running a coupon is a commitment… it’s a commitment to your company, your employees and your customers in a huge way.

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Mar 21 2012

Using Pinterest to Grow Your Small Business

PinterestA few months ago, barely anyone even heard about Pinterest.  Today, however, a very different picture has been painted.  With a staggering growth of 261.6% in the last 3 months, Pinterest has been taking the social media nation by storm!

Having already reached 2.2 million daily active users and gaining the coveted rank of being the 59th most visited website in the world (16th most visited in the US), there are already rumors of Pinterest being considered as an acquisition target of social media industry leaders, Facebook and Twitter.  Think the growth is about to wane?  Actually, it’s the opposite… now that the site is getting to be known, it’s growth is about to explode at an exponential rate that hasn’t yet been witnessed to date!

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Mar 8 2012

Thinking Outside the Box Creates Industry Leaders

Industry leadersWelcome to the year 2002.  Meet Company X.  Company X is a manufacturer of one of the world’s most popular hardware devices.  The market share of their products is a whopping 95%!  They’re on top of the world and completely untouchable by any potential threat!  Everyone who tries to stand up against them gets punished severely, ultimately suffering a humiliating and painful defeat.

Flash forward to 2007, essentially rinsing and repeating this story year after year.  The story remains the same… until another company comes along, swoops down and over the next 2 years they even out the market.  Suddenly it’s a 50/50 playing field, but the momentum seems irreversible and another threat enters the market.

Who am I talking about?

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